To couple or to not-couple? First-Time vs. Established-Relationship Fics

[nos4a2no9]

belmanoir's excellent post on writing sex for ds_workshop brought up an interesting point, one that I've been mulling over for the past few days. In the comments to Bel's post, china_shop linked to resonant8's Smut Rants, and one entry in particular caught my eye. Resonant was writing about her smut pet peeves and said:

"A first-time story is a particular kind of pleasure. A

Comments

[umbrella_half]

I think, for me, the pleasure is very different. Established relationship is something warm and comforting and stable, and the pleasure of seeing the boys rock the boat of their relationship but have it settle, and conclude happily and possibly sexily. There's the pleasure of them being in a relationship, of it having worked, of them growing together and being buddies and partners and lovers.

Then with first time fics, it's more of a heart-stopping, jolting, will-it-work? please-let-it-work-please-PLEASE kinda thing. You're hoping and hoping all through the fic, and then the end (assuming that it's not a tirade of angst and woe) is the amazing, perfect conclusion.

So I guess what I'm saying is that first time fics take me on a roller coaster, with me constantly looking and desperately hoping for the conclusion of them being together. Established relationship fics are amazing in a different way; there's an overall sweetness about them, and the emotional journey is more rounded, more general and ... not exactly languid, but... something like that, anyway.

It's like drinking fancy coffee: first time is a shot of espresso with sugar drunk all in one gulp. Established relationship is the same shot of espresso topped off with a mug of steamed milk and some foam and chocolate (or cinnamon) on top. It's got the same satisfaction, it'll give you the same result, but the overall experience of it is different.

I love thinky posts. <3

[nos4a2no9]

Great insight here, umbrella_half! I do agree with you: ER and FT fics are distinct and different pleasures, and I find it interesting that what you like about est-rel fics is the warmth, stability and comfort they offer, particularly in the context of some of the other commenters who say ER fics tend to lack motivation or tension. Maybe that's what is so appealing about them, to a large degree?

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

[umbrella_half]

I think that while they're maybe not as motive as as FT fics, ER can have a lot of tension and dynamism. Looking at, for example, ardent_muses's Simply Ray, and your own very wonderful Price of Distance - both fics I really like - we can see two good examples of a lot of tension and motivation. I guess in both of them there's a hurdle already crossed; they love each other. But both of them ask the question: 'is that enough?'

Obviously you can have awesome little domestic snippets about the boys growing old together, and that's wonderful, but if you have an actual non-snippety fic with a plot, you're going to need some tension to keep anyone interested. I think the essential difference in ERs and FTs are where that tension comes from, and what it actually is.

[nos4a2no9]

I think the essential difference in ERs and FTs are where that tension comes from, and what it actually is.

Well said! I think that's probably why this discussion is ultimately redundant :-) It comes down to individual stories, and those choices and decisions their authors made during the construction stage. I don't think one form is easier to write or inherently has more tension, because (as you point out) it's where that tension comes from and how it's handled that matters. And now my brain hurts *g* And thanks for the kind words about that story!

[umbrella_half]

I don't think it's redundant as a discussion. Although I don't think that there's a right answer either one way or the other, I think it's kinda interesting! It's a bit like the competitions they had in classical Japan, with some people championing the season of autumn, and some people siding for spring. The ultimate outcome/argument is pointless, because they're different, but looking at the differences is kinda fun :)

And you're welcome! I think I downloaded it is a podfic and listened to it while walking to and from the station on a cold December evening. I was hanging around in the street, looking at the stars and willing them to work before I went inside!