Okay, here's how this is going to work. You comment with a fandom question. I answer it and then ask you a question that has some thematic relevance to the question you asked me.
Do you tend to look for the same things in het and femslash ships? Or do different things appeal to you for each one?
Same thing. I'd still ship Clint/Natasha if Clint was a woman, I'd still ship Regina/Emma if Emma was a dude. God, I would love it if Emma were a dude.
Do you find your male/male ships look different or have different dynamics than female/male, and if so, is that something about your tastes or just a lack of equivalent relationships. (i.e. there aren't any Loki/Tony esque relationships being written with a woman in either role).
Do you find your male/male ships look different or have different dynamics than female/male, and if so, is that something about your tastes or just a lack of equivalent relationships. (i.e. there aren't any Loki/Tony esque relationships being written with a woman in either role).
I definitely look for different things in slash and het ships. There are some common trends, like chemistry, enemyshipping, snark, etc, but I've noticed fairly dramatic differences. Sif/Loki and Tony/Loki are the easiest sampling to see it (both enemyships, same romantic interest, etc). My view of Sif/Loki is two people who used to be friends and had a huge falling out. When there's a threat being made, I almost exclusively keep it on Sif's side. It's about people working through serious obstacles to find something that used to be there that may or may not still exist. I think safety comes into play strongly for me when I ship het, which is sometimes a hard thing to account for with something like Sif/Loki. Basically, with het, I tend to look for relationships that are basically healthy or could be healthy, but also have tension.
With Frostiron, there's still that sense of balance and it has similar themes, but I'm more comfortable exploring this fun, mutually-destructive-maybe-beneficial side. I feel safer exploring things like "We're sitting down to have a drink and there might be cyanide in it so lets just enjoy the drink". It's fun, and that's not to say women can't have those kinds of relationships, it's just not necessarily the kind of relationship I personally am comfortable writing women in. I don't mind putting male characters at risk. Emma/Regina has taught me that those same narrative tropes mostly apply to f/f relationships too, but even then, my emphasis is less on the threat they pose to each other and more on how beneficial their relationship could be for both of them.
It's odd and confusing. I know there are differences, but I can't quite pinpoint why that is or why I have those hangups, or if it's even a bad thing to have them.
I think safety comes into play strongly for me when I ship het, which is sometimes a hard thing to account for with something like Sif/Loki. Basically, with het, I tend to look for relationships that are basically healthy or could be healthy, but also have tension.
Actually, Sif/Loki having an element of safety to it makes total sense to me - it's one of the reasons I ship Sif/Loki and not Darcy/Loki is because Loki could have a temper tantrum and kill Darcy - Loki could probably kill Sif, but he'd have to work damn hard to do so, and I buy that Sif is enough of a statigist and knows Loki well enough that most of his favorite tricks wouldn't work on her.
Emma/Regina has taught me that those same narrative tropes mostly apply to f/f relationships too, but even then, my emphasis is less on the threat they pose to each other and more on how beneficial their relationship could be for both of them.
Same here. I just want them to live in Regina's house and co-parent Henry and have awesome sex and also fight things.
It's odd and confusing. I know there are differences, but I can't quite pinpoint why that is or why I have those hangups, or if it's even a bad thing to have them.
I think it's just interesting - it also reminds me of when I was talking about my list of favorite male character and how all of those men are people I would feel safe with (whereas, I wouldn't automatically feel as safe with, say, Regina or Adelle deWitte). (On that subject, you are not the only friend of mine who's a fan of mad scientist characters, and I think that element of chaos and unpredictability is part of why I don't fall for crazy mad scientist characters.)
Actually, Sif/Loki having an element of safety to it makes total sense to me - it's one of the reasons I ship Sif/Loki and not Darcy/Loki is because Loki could have a temper tantrum and kill Darcy - Loki could probably kill Sif, but he'd have to work damn hard to do so, and I buy that Sif is enough of a statigist and knows Loki well enough that most of his favorite tricks wouldn't work on her
All of this. Plus, I think in a lot of situations, Loki's background with Sif means he's less likely to threaten her because he knows that she knows. Even at that, it's a delicate dance between keeping him IC and not crossing a line.
it also reminds me of when I was talking about my list of favorite male character and how all of those men are people I would feel safe with
Even Tony Stark?
That's really fascinating though. I have a lot of favorite male characters that are objectively unsafe people to be around, even though I'm fairly sensitive to in-story dynamics.
On that subject, you are not the only friend of mine who's a fan of mad scientist characters, and I think that element of chaos and unpredictability is part of why I don't fall for crazy mad scientist characters
That is 100% legitimate. With me, I sort of take it as a challenge to explain the method behind the madness. Like, if I can't see why that character is behaving in that way or what fuels their actions, I'm less likely to enjoy them.
it also reminds me of when I was talking about my list of favorite male character and how all of those men are people I would feel safe with
Even Tony Stark?
Even Tony Stark. Especially Tony Stark post the midpoint of the first movie. Like, I'd 1000x rather meet Tony Stark in a dark alley than, say, Toni DiNozzi (or whatever) from NCIS.
I have a lot of favorite male characters that are objectively unsafe people to be around, even though I'm fairly sensitive to in-story dynamics.</iM
Most people do! And I have a lot of favorite ladies who aren't safe people to be around but my list of favorite dudes is skews much more heavily towards legit heroic dudes. The outliner is Barney Stinsten who is... words fail.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
Same thing. I'd still ship Clint/Natasha if Clint was a woman, I'd still ship Regina/Emma if Emma was a dude. God, I would love it if Emma were a dude.
Do you find your male/male ships look different or have different dynamics than female/male, and if so, is that something about your tastes or just a lack of equivalent relationships. (i.e. there aren't any Loki/Tony esque relationships being written with a woman in either role).
no subject
I definitely look for different things in slash and het ships. There are some common trends, like chemistry, enemyshipping, snark, etc, but I've noticed fairly dramatic differences. Sif/Loki and Tony/Loki are the easiest sampling to see it (both enemyships, same romantic interest, etc). My view of Sif/Loki is two people who used to be friends and had a huge falling out. When there's a threat being made, I almost exclusively keep it on Sif's side. It's about people working through serious obstacles to find something that used to be there that may or may not still exist. I think safety comes into play strongly for me when I ship het, which is sometimes a hard thing to account for with something like Sif/Loki. Basically, with het, I tend to look for relationships that are basically healthy or could be healthy, but also have tension.
With Frostiron, there's still that sense of balance and it has similar themes, but I'm more comfortable exploring this fun, mutually-destructive-maybe-beneficial side. I feel safer exploring things like "We're sitting down to have a drink and there might be cyanide in it so lets just enjoy the drink". It's fun, and that's not to say women can't have those kinds of relationships, it's just not necessarily the kind of relationship I personally am comfortable writing women in. I don't mind putting male characters at risk. Emma/Regina has taught me that those same narrative tropes mostly apply to f/f relationships too, but even then, my emphasis is less on the threat they pose to each other and more on how beneficial their relationship could be for both of them.
It's odd and confusing. I know there are differences, but I can't quite pinpoint why that is or why I have those hangups, or if it's even a bad thing to have them.
no subject
Actually, Sif/Loki having an element of safety to it makes total sense to me - it's one of the reasons I ship Sif/Loki and not Darcy/Loki is because Loki could have a temper tantrum and kill Darcy - Loki could probably kill Sif, but he'd have to work damn hard to do so, and I buy that Sif is enough of a statigist and knows Loki well enough that most of his favorite tricks wouldn't work on her.
Emma/Regina has taught me that those same narrative tropes mostly apply to f/f relationships too, but even then, my emphasis is less on the threat they pose to each other and more on how beneficial their relationship could be for both of them.
Same here. I just want them to live in Regina's house and co-parent Henry and have awesome sex and also fight things.
It's odd and confusing. I know there are differences, but I can't quite pinpoint why that is or why I have those hangups, or if it's even a bad thing to have them.
I think it's just interesting - it also reminds me of when I was talking about my list of favorite male character and how all of those men are people I would feel safe with (whereas, I wouldn't automatically feel as safe with, say, Regina or Adelle deWitte). (On that subject, you are not the only friend of mine who's a fan of mad scientist characters, and I think that element of chaos and unpredictability is part of why I don't fall for crazy mad scientist characters.)
no subject
All of this. Plus, I think in a lot of situations, Loki's background with Sif means he's less likely to threaten her because he knows that she knows. Even at that, it's a delicate dance between keeping him IC and not crossing a line.
it also reminds me of when I was talking about my list of favorite male character and how all of those men are people I would feel safe with
Even Tony Stark?
That's really fascinating though. I have a lot of favorite male characters that are objectively unsafe people to be around, even though I'm fairly sensitive to in-story dynamics.
On that subject, you are not the only friend of mine who's a fan of mad scientist characters, and I think that element of chaos and unpredictability is part of why I don't fall for crazy mad scientist characters
That is 100% legitimate. With me, I sort of take it as a challenge to explain the method behind the madness. Like, if I can't see why that character is behaving in that way or what fuels their actions, I'm less likely to enjoy them.
no subject
Even Tony Stark?
Even Tony Stark. Especially Tony Stark post the midpoint of the first movie. Like, I'd 1000x rather meet Tony Stark in a dark alley than, say, Toni DiNozzi (or whatever) from NCIS.
I have a lot of favorite male characters that are objectively unsafe people to be around, even though I'm fairly sensitive to in-story dynamics.</iM Most people do! And I have a lot of favorite ladies who aren't safe people to be around but my list of favorite dudes is skews much more heavily towards legit heroic dudes. The outliner is Barney Stinsten who is... words fail.