in which i randomly attack a well-loved trope

[seperis]

This is, surprisingly, non-HP related. No, *really*. This is A Moment of Random Fanfic Bitching.



Okay.

I totally am behind the rentboy-kink thing. I do. Seriously. I'm not a huge fan of it (my only attempt at it went to the most depressing places *ever*) but I do get it. It's kink. It's hot (so I've heard. Not my thing, but I've read some I enjoyed that didn't verge on character assassination).

But God.

This is just--kind of a rule I wish I could set up. For fic that is not supposed to be kink. Because kink-fic is a different animal.

Unless your character canonically has no other possible skills up to and including the ability to use a spatula at McDonalds, maybe most of them *might* choose to not sell their asses (or other sexually-charged body parts) for money. I know, crazy thoughts.

But really--suddenly Random Character X is fired/wife dies/sister dies/mother dies/Dark Lord dies/Lionel dies/world ends/au-where-everyone-is-a-prostitute*/head-injury-so-terrible-they-lose-their-minds and boom, they are offering up asses like it's Christmas and someone gave them a hit of ecstacy to surpass all hits of ecstacy. It's *bizarre*.

*shusu has permanent exception to this rule because she's doing things with her rentboy au that I've never seen done before and also because, to me, she set up a universe where I could see John Sheppard doing this and still be John Sheppard. Also, no humiliation moments that seem so rife in other fic. Also, Jesus, hot.

But other than that--okay, admittedly, I don't get the attraction. Since it's not my kink, I can't go to that mental place very well or easily--frankly, shusu tricked me. I'm fairly certain this is one of the things I Just Don't Get because to me, I cannot imagine anyone taking it up willingly. Totally a me-thing. And it's a me-thing that is totally scraping my nerves raw when I see it, because it always seems to be paired with a fairly high level of humiliation like this is some sort of punishment for the character in question for whatever the author doesn't like about them in canon. Not always, and probably not even most of the time, but it does feel like it sometimes.

Right. Done here.



This has been A Moment of Random Fanfic Bitchery. Please return to your porn writing, plz.

Comments

Re: this comment is a lot shorter than I want it to be

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

In the last five minutes I had before heading off to work this morning, I skimmed the Memories section of your LJ and found nothing that slapped me in the face screaming "RENT!BOY AU!"

May I be a spineless sissy and ask for the link? please? [pitiful eyes)

Re: this comment is a lot shorter than I want it to be

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Really? I was sure that'd be in there by now... did you try Shusu's Fic 2?

(Sorry, am answering via e-mail, the link's not readily available to me either. And yes, I make 'em hard-to-find for a reason.)

Re: this comment is a lot shorter than I want it to be

[seperis.livejournal.com]

http://shusu.livejournal.com/tag/johns.

Shusu, if this isn't supposed to be public, I'll erase it? Not sure.

Re: this comment is a lot shorter than I want it to be

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Oh, duh. LOL. Silly me. Sure -- so long as it's labeled adults-only / porn / NC-17, so forth... it ought to be warned-up enough by itself, IIRC. It's difficult to navigate through the tag, though, since it contains all the trivia and notes. There should, however, be a "series index" link floating around there, which is the whole thing thus far in order.

Re: this comment is a lot shorter than I want it to be

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Thank you both!

It will be warring with the last half of "Deathly Hallows" when I get home. I don't want to examine too closely why slash fiction is winning over the final book.