do people like case!works?kallielJanuary 20 2014, 18:46:27 UTC
I guess I have a really basic question, to start with. XD What are your thoughts on case!works? Or I guess, more specifically, case!fic, since I'm more familiar with the world of fic than the world of art. (But if any artists want to weigh in, by all means--!)
Is it a genre you seek out? Or one you like to write? I've talked to people who will do anything to stay well the hell away from case!fic unless it's part of the dual genre that is H/C case!fic, because the stories are sometimes too dry. Though I'll admit, given the nature of our canon and our own heady investment in everyone's dramatic feelings, I think it'd be pretty hard to write a case!fic that wasn't, to some degree, also hurt/comfort. A show about emotionally unstable dudes hunting things that are actually quite dangerous, and often with a very slim margin for error
( ... )
Re: do people like case!works?tifachingJanuary 20 2014, 20:37:13 UTC
I really enjoy casefics, but since it's hard to write short ones I'm pretty horrible at writing them. I don't mind if they're not hurt/comforty, but most of my favorites are.
Most of my favorites are from back in the day, though. In Reverse, and Big Pink and p-dragon's fics. All really long and plotty. I'm sure there are plenty of good case fic writers around now, so if you are one(general you) or know of one, please point me their way!
Re: do people like case!works?kallielJanuary 21 2014, 00:12:08 UTC
I loooooove pdragon's "Blind Spot" SO VERY MUCH. Weirdly, I'm not as into "The Lee" or a lot of her shorter pieces, but "Blind Spot" was the first SPN fic I ever, ever read and it was a brilliant introduction to this fandom, and the perfect gateway drug for reading SO MUCH MORE. XD
Shorter caseworks are tricky, though totally doable. Once I tried an experiment where I tried to write a medium length case!fic by cutting out a lot of scenes, just to see if it would really matter. (I had this vague idea that I'd write the exact same case again, with ONLY the scenes I'd cut, from the other brother's POV.) I only got through half of the experiment, lol, and I think it was probably about half successful in terms of coherence, but I maintain that it can TOTALLY BE DONE and I'd love to try again sometime!
I'm trying to think of case!fic I've read recently... Unfortunately I feel like it's not the most popular genre to write. ALAS.
Re: do people like case!works?geckoholicJanuary 20 2014, 20:59:59 UTC
CASEFICS ARE MY FAVE. SERIOUSLY. I WISH I WAS KIDDING. XD
Casestuff (procedurals and the like, crime novels especially) has always been one of my favorite genres in anything ever, and I like the structure, the A-to-B-ness of it. Of course, they do need an emotional thread, something to care for on top of the investigation, but with SPN that's usually easy. But yeah, no skipping plotty bits over here, I live and breathe that stuff, heh.
#H/CworldproblemskallielJanuary 20 2014, 18:50:50 UTC
Whenever I write case-based things, one of my favorite things--but also one of the most difficult things--is writing the fic from the perspective of the hurt!character. Because sometimes things go downhill very fast, you know? And then is DEAN REALLY UP TO NARRATING AT THAT POINT, THAT'S THE BIG QUESTION.
Writing from an altered state (exhaustion, blood loss, delirium, whatever) is hugely fun, and actually maneuvering a character through a coherent narrative when they themselves are largely incoherent is hugely satisfying. But for me it's also one of the hugest challenges in H/C case!fic.
Re: #H/CworldproblemstifachingJanuary 20 2014, 20:40:32 UTC
One of the most fun things I've written (from my perspective not Dean's :D) had him delirious through the whole thing. But it was a challenge because you're right. An injured person isn't up to being a good narrator a good portion of the time. Maneuvering them around that problem takes a lot of thought.
Re: #H/CworldproblemsgeckoholicJanuary 20 2014, 21:03:43 UTC
Definitely, though I like reading it more than I like writing it. It requires a certain kind of creativity that's really hard for me, I have a much MUCH easier time with straightforward. But reading it is DELIGHTFUL. Kudos to the people who manage it!
Re: Case!art?geckoholicJanuary 20 2014, 21:43:41 UTC
Hmm, but I do think art can, just by the things it implicates, tell a story of its own? It's just not giving the viewer the whole picture, letting them interpret, fill in the blanks. But there CAN be a picture: the setting, who's in it, the situation... For example, there was a recent pic on the RBB that gives the viewer SO MUCH to chew on, even without the fic: *click*. Sometimes I like caseart BECAUSE it makes me think on my own, like this one: *click*. Art can't tell the whole story, maybe, but that doesn't mean it can't tell any story at all, imo. XD
Don't sell yourself short, though! I think it's totally harder, if not to draw case!art, to conceptualize what that might look like, or how it would work, or to what degree. At least, imho, because it was a little harder to think about a way to invite and interest artists in the challenge, because it's a genre that seems to lend itself more obvious to fic...
In the end, I think a lot of it rests on heady implication, and that means a lot of it is really up to your audience--how much time are they going to spend on this picture, really swim around in its details, and find the story 1) you want to tell, or 2) they find you telling?
Ideally, that's true of everything, all the time. But this is also the Internet, alas, so that's not always the case. Sigh!
I have the climax of a casefic written but I'm having problems with the rest of it, maybe because, like some of you, I often find myself skimming that part. Can I just write. Brief "then" section and pretend we've already seen if? ;-)
Your problems are my problems. XD Because there are certain scenes that HAVE to be written. But then you think, man, I want people to feel compelled to read this scenes!! They're important!! But how can they possibly feel that way about them if I can bring myself to write them? XP
I was telling tifaching upthread about an experiment I'd tried out (or tried out half of, whatever, XP) where I actually did try to write a case!fic with some of the key case!scenes omitted and just kind of presented as part of Sam's active thoughts hours later. Like, oh yeah, we totally did all of that, and now we're on to this other thing-- (And then I wanted to write the same case from Dean's POV, but including ONLY the scenes I'd skipped in the Sam POV version) I don't think my experiment actually worked out 100%. I maintain that it totally could, though! And I'd be wildly excited to read stuff like that.
Not that I'm advocating for skipping these scenes all the time, lol. BUT HEY. MAYBE I AM. MAYBE. I. AM. :P
Re: Case!Fic injury tropes/cliches!kallielJanuary 21 2014, 01:45:01 UTC
Lady, you are getting me all hot and bothered at the mere mentions of such things. XD I approve of any and all gravestone throws! I'm altogether too fond of the one from 5x10, even that it's like 2 seconds of an episode that's got a lot more going on, but that's what rewind is for, right.
HMMMMM. I really love anything that involves POISONING, lololol. I want to say there was one I read years ago that involved a poisonous monster porcupine or something that I just got a huge kick out of. I already mentioned this in the brainstorming post, but, y'know, the ocean is full of poisonous things, fic writers... Or djinn poison. Or... hm, okay, so there's a dearth of canonical moments with poison, but I guess we could count the siren in 4xwhatever and the wraith in 5x11. Not quite the same thing, but any and all altered states are golden with me!
Re: Case!Fic injury tropes/cliches!i_speak_tongueJanuary 21 2014, 02:34:45 UTC
GOD YES. Anything where everyone has to scramble around for the spell/magical object/thingie in order to save Dean from whatever unfortunate and painful thing is happening to him. YESYESYESYES.
Re: Case!Fic injury tropes/cliches!kallielJanuary 21 2014, 01:48:59 UTC
Another thing I really love about case!fic H/C is that it often leaves little room for C under ideal conditions (or as ideal as the Winchesters are ever gonna get), because either they're forced back out into the hunt and they can't catch the time to really sit down an caretake. OR they're stranded in the middle of fuck-all nowhere, and it becomes to a large degree an endurance game. That way the H/C doesn't necessarily need to be super serious, or likely to logically suggest long-term or permanent injury (which can be cool, too, but isn't my favorite)--so stuff that normally probably wouldn't be a huge deal to Sam and Dean ends up being of significantly more concern.
And TRIAGE. FIELD MEDICINE TECHNIQUES. STRANDED/SURVIVAL SCENARIOS. \O/
Comments 48
Is it a genre you seek out? Or one you like to write? I've talked to people who will do anything to stay well the hell away from case!fic unless it's part of the dual genre that is H/C case!fic, because the stories are sometimes too dry. Though I'll admit, given the nature of our canon and our own heady investment in everyone's dramatic feelings, I think it'd be pretty hard to write a case!fic that wasn't, to some degree, also hurt/comfort. A show about emotionally unstable dudes hunting things that are actually quite dangerous, and often with a very slim margin for error ( ... )
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Most of my favorites are from back in the day, though. In Reverse, and Big Pink and p-dragon's fics. All really long and plotty. I'm sure there are plenty of good case fic writers around now, so if you are one(general you) or know of one, please point me their way!
Reply
Shorter caseworks are tricky, though totally doable. Once I tried an experiment where I tried to write a medium length case!fic by cutting out a lot of scenes, just to see if it would really matter. (I had this vague idea that I'd write the exact same case again, with ONLY the scenes I'd cut, from the other brother's POV.) I only got through half of the experiment, lol, and I think it was probably about half successful in terms of coherence, but I maintain that it can TOTALLY BE DONE and I'd love to try again sometime!
I'm trying to think of case!fic I've read recently... Unfortunately I feel like it's not the most popular genre to write. ALAS.
Reply
Casestuff (procedurals and the like, crime novels especially) has always been one of my favorite genres in anything ever, and I like the structure, the A-to-B-ness of it. Of course, they do need an emotional thread, something to care for on top of the investigation, but with SPN that's usually easy. But yeah, no skipping plotty bits over here, I live and breathe that stuff, heh.
Reply
Writing from an altered state (exhaustion, blood loss, delirium, whatever) is hugely fun, and actually maneuvering a character through a coherent narrative when they themselves are largely incoherent is hugely satisfying. But for me it's also one of the hugest challenges in H/C case!fic.
What about you?
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In the end, I think a lot of it rests on heady implication, and that means a lot of it is really up to your audience--how much time are they going to spend on this picture, really swim around in its details, and find the story 1) you want to tell, or 2) they find you telling?
Ideally, that's true of everything, all the time. But this is also the Internet, alas, so that's not always the case. Sigh!
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I was telling tifaching upthread about an experiment I'd tried out (or tried out half of, whatever, XP) where I actually did try to write a case!fic with some of the key case!scenes omitted and just kind of presented as part of Sam's active thoughts hours later. Like, oh yeah, we totally did all of that, and now we're on to this other thing-- (And then I wanted to write the same case from Dean's POV, but including ONLY the scenes I'd skipped in the Sam POV version) I don't think my experiment actually worked out 100%. I maintain that it totally could, though! And I'd be wildly excited to read stuff like that.
Not that I'm advocating for skipping these scenes all the time, lol. BUT HEY. MAYBE I AM. MAYBE. I. AM. :P
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HMMMMM. I really love anything that involves POISONING, lololol. I want to say there was one I read years ago that involved a poisonous monster porcupine or something that I just got a huge kick out of. I already mentioned this in the brainstorming post, but, y'know, the ocean is full of poisonous things, fic writers... Or djinn poison. Or... hm, okay, so there's a dearth of canonical moments with poison, but I guess we could count the siren in 4xwhatever and the wraith in 5x11. Not quite the same thing, but any and all altered states are golden with me!
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And TRIAGE. FIELD MEDICINE TECHNIQUES. STRANDED/SURVIVAL SCENARIOS. \O/
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