Although, I didn't mean my comment above to sound flippant.
Btw, one of the best comments I've heard repeatedly about why some women like to read/write m/m slash is because it removes obvious gender inequality from the story and they want to write "happy feels" fic where there is no sense of compromise -- the outcome is a clear win-win.
Given that most of the fic I write (m/m, m/f, f/f, or m/f/m) purposefully magnifies inequality in order to explore uncomfortable situations, I have learned that a lot of the fic I write is not fandom-majority's cup of tea. (At least, not in the US--my most faithful followers for the past 6 years are almost entirely in Germany.)
I admit ignorance to what is being discussed today on tumblr but something that I *repeatedly* see left out of these conversations is how many authors and readers are purposefully creating/seeking a world in fic that is far more equal than our world. Not surprisingly, one way for creating that equality is to remove or downplay the unequal elements. To put this in FFXII terms, Vossler/Basch is far more socially equal than Basch/Ashe or, gods forbid, Vossler/Penelo. And, if someone does write Basch/Ashe, they often recast the two characters as the WhiteKnight/Princess-Classic trope, which, despite its hetero-normative faery tale origins that are rooted in m/f inequality, feels "safe" due to its safe, fantasy normativeness. (Writing Basch/Ashe as an age-inappropriate, power-battle with Ashe at the *losing* end is guaranteed to be ignored by mainstream fandom ... when I've written Vossler as a creepy misogynist, fandom consistently passes it up unless Basch/Vossler is strongly featured in the story).
For a DA example that I see over and over again, a lot of people in Cullen/FemMage fandom insist on recasting Cullen as a dashing hero. To be honest, the best, in-character Cullen/Mage stories I've read are all M/M: Cullen/Anders, Cullen/GarrettHawke. This, I think, is related to something nyx and I discussed many years ago (and related to the above): fandom is far more receptive uncomfortable story conflicts that involve two male characters than uncomfortable story conflicts that involve a male/female pair.
(my semi-snarky take is that fandom usually prefers candy, over literature, but I say this with great reluctance because this comment, when taken out of context, becomes troll bait.)
no subject
Btw, one of the best comments I've heard repeatedly about why some women like to read/write m/m slash is because it removes obvious gender inequality from the story and they want to write "happy feels" fic where there is no sense of compromise -- the outcome is a clear win-win.
Given that most of the fic I write (m/m, m/f, f/f, or m/f/m) purposefully magnifies inequality in order to explore uncomfortable situations, I have learned that a lot of the fic I write is not fandom-majority's cup of tea. (At least, not in the US--my most faithful followers for the past 6 years are almost entirely in Germany.)
I admit ignorance to what is being discussed today on tumblr but something that I *repeatedly* see left out of these conversations is how many authors and readers are purposefully creating/seeking a world in fic that is far more equal than our world. Not surprisingly, one way for creating that equality is to remove or downplay the unequal elements. To put this in FFXII terms, Vossler/Basch is far more socially equal than Basch/Ashe or, gods forbid, Vossler/Penelo. And, if someone does write Basch/Ashe, they often recast the two characters as the WhiteKnight/Princess-Classic trope, which, despite its hetero-normative faery tale origins that are rooted in m/f inequality, feels "safe" due to its safe, fantasy normativeness. (Writing Basch/Ashe as an age-inappropriate, power-battle with Ashe at the *losing* end is guaranteed to be ignored by mainstream fandom ... when I've written Vossler as a creepy misogynist, fandom consistently passes it up unless Basch/Vossler is strongly featured in the story).
For a DA example that I see over and over again, a lot of people in Cullen/FemMage fandom insist on recasting Cullen as a dashing hero. To be honest, the best, in-character Cullen/Mage stories I've read are all M/M: Cullen/Anders, Cullen/GarrettHawke. This, I think, is related to something nyx and I discussed many years ago (and related to the above): fandom is far more receptive uncomfortable story conflicts that involve two male characters than uncomfortable story conflicts that involve a male/female pair.
(my semi-snarky take is that fandom usually prefers candy, over literature, but I say this with great reluctance because this comment, when taken out of context, becomes troll bait.)