possibly I'm overthinking this

[pellucid]

Recently I decided that as something of a fic writing experiment, I should break out of my habitual mold and try to write a sort of fic I usually do not write: fluffy ship fic. The idea was spurred primarily by running into a couple of pairings that I wanted to read fic about but whose fandoms had a dearth of the sort of thing I wanted to read. If

Comments

[kernezelda]

Hm. I don't know about fluffy fic being interchangeable as a rule. When I've written fluffy fic, it's arisen out of characterization as set in canon. John and Aeryn can, in fact, be fluffy, but it's mostly one-sided with tolerantly indulgent responses, to my mind. I'm thinking of fics in which John teases or banters with Aeryn, or goes ga-ga over offspring while she rolls her eyes.

Which may not be the kind of fluffy fic you're even talking about, of course. *g*

[pellucid]

John/Aeryn would fit into my "exception" category, along with Booth/Brennan and probably most other couples that have a canonical relationship (assuming said canonical relationship isn't so screwed up and/or angsty that it allows for no fluff at all--but that would be sad, really!). Though I didn't really specify it, I'm really talking about a fairly narrow subset of pairings and fics that push particular buttons. We'll call them the "angsty cop partner buttons," in the model of Mulder and Scully (before Mulder and Scully actually got together). Said pairing is not in a canonical romantic relationship, but there's a close friendship and lots of sparkly chemistry. They're attracted to one another but can't/don't act on it for any number of reasons--because they work together, because they're afraid of ruining the friendship, because they've got various issues from other relationships or other things in their lives, etc. If there's a bit of codependency involved, all the better. It's all very cookie-cutter--so much so that Bones can

[pellucid]

There certainly is lots of good shippy fic that does fluffiness and good characterization (and I thought of naming names of people who write it and then figured I was destined to leave people out if I did that). I think part of my problem here is that I haven't been specific enough about what I mean by "fluffy ship fic," or at least the kind that pushes my buttons. It's a fairly specific thing I'm looking for here, perhaps best typified by angsty cop partners (and I think the repetitiveness of the procedural tropes also plays in to my desire for repetitive romantic tropes in accompanying fic). There are only certain kinds of pairings I'm inclined to ship like this, and then there are certain kinds of fic I want to read about them. All very repetitive within one sub-genre but then perhaps completely lacking in another. Even if I had ever been inclined to ship, say, Adama and Roslin in a traditional sort of way, they don't quite fit my tropes, so it would have been a different kind of shipping--a kind of shipping, frankly, that I don't

[daybreak777]

Hmm. I write mostly shippy fic. But I don't think my characters are interchangeable. There are just some things some couples wouldn't do. Kara/Lee are different than Kara/Gaeta, which is different that Baltar/Gaeta or Baltar/Six. I tried to write one couple's typical scenario for another couple and it just didn't work.

But that's not why I'm commenting. I comment just to ask: Could this CSI story be a precursor to Bruce/Amy fic? I have found more former Judging Amy watchers! You might have an audience of three!

*supports fluffy fic-writing*

[pellucid]

As I probably should have made clearer in the post itself, I'm really only talking about a particular subset of shippy fic here. I have angsty cop partner buttons, and I tend to ship couples in a Mulder/Scully mold. I'm not all that interested in other kinds of pairings, so I actually like more sameness in my pairings (and accompanying fic) than most people would tend to, I think. I didn't properly ship anyone on BSG because there was no potential pairing there that really pushed the right buttons, for instance. So I can't comment, really, any of the shippy fic in that fandom, which probably isn't interchangeable. But what I, personally, am looking for in shippy fic is a high degree of repetitiveness--I like replaying my favorite tropes for the pairings for which they apply. I'm not so interested in pairings where they don't apply

[callmeonetrack]

If your characters are interchangeable with others in ANY kind of fic, then I think you're probably doing it wrong. Motivation and conflict (of the romantic kind as well as the general kind) should always stem from the characters and their personalities.

I think maybe you have a preconceived, sort of dismissive notion of what shippy fic should be and you're trying to force yourself to write it, even though you don't really even read much of it. So perhaps you don't have the right (write?) tools for this job.

[pellucid]

Hmm, I don't think I was clear enough in my post. I should have been more specific about the particular kind of shippy fic I'm talking about (and of which I read TONS--I actually have a long history as a shipper, though you wouldn't necessarily know it!). I fell for Mulder and Scully when I was, oh, about 15, and I have a strong proclivity for pairings in the Mulder/Scully model. I have angsty cop partner buttons. I have almost no interest in pairings outside that model--so, for instance, I didn't properly ship anyone on BSG because there were no pairings that pushed my buttons.

But for the pairings that do hit my buttons, I have very particular tropes that I like to see in fics: I want to read the same kind of thing over and over again for these pairings. I'm not being dismissive; that's just what I like to read. It doesn't mean I can't appreciate the occasional better-written fic that gives a different spin to the same characters--that's always a great find--but honestly, I'm thrilled with my predictable shippy post-eps where

[callmeonetrack]

Ah. I definitely misunderstood. And...I'm not sure I understand your...conflict? Is there a conflict

[boutondor]

First of all, this was a very interesting read.

Unfortunately, I have been told numerous times that fluff is my forte. That sucks for someone who loves the not melodramatic, but heartwrenching angst fics. Anyway, I kind of embrace it now. I still try for other genres -- I can do comedy well when I'm in the mood and my angst is decent). Anyway, characterisation is a MUST for me. The fics I've written that I hate the most are the ones who seem OOC.

Anyway, I think fluff and good characterization can go together. The trick is to find the parts of each character that's softer and more sensitive. Even the badasses (if a series has gone long enough) have shown a softer side at some point. I'm not sure what kind of advice I can give you for characterisation in flully fics. I haven't written a fic in ages.

[pellucid]

I think different people are naturally more inclined to write certain kinds of things, for whatever reason, and I'm definitely an angst girl more than I'm a fluff girl. But it's fun to try new things!

I do agree that fluff and good characterization can go together, and there are certainly lots of writers that do it really well. But I think my own realization is that what I'm looking for when I want to read fluff, particularly of a certain kind, is the repetition of familiar tropes rather than some insightful character study. Now, I don't want to read OOC fic, but within certain parameters, it doesn't bother me so much if characters that are canonically pretty similar (as many in the angsty cop partner model are) also have similar fic written about them. In fact, that's sort of what I'm looking for. :)

[boutondor]

I adore angst. Proper angst, not melodrama. Some really good fics have made me cry in such a good way. I hate that I'm better at fluff and, to a degree, comedy. I really wish I could write angst well. Angst and UST is why I love TV series so much