A new icon, "Lost" musings, and thoughts about writing...

[agilebrit]

Been playing with masks and layers in PSP, and this is what came out:



I was thinking about it the other day, wondering, why this group of people? What do they have in common? And then I figured it out.

Betrayal.

Every single one of them, with the possible exception of Hurley, and to a lesser extent Walt, has either betrayed someone, or been betrayed by someone. Check it out:

Sayid: Betrayed his country
Jack: Betrayed his father
Locke: Betrayed by his father and mother
Boone: Betrayed by Shannon
Shannon: Betrayed Boone
Kate: Betrayed her partners in crime, was in turn betrayed by the one-armed farmer
Sawyer: Betrayed by his parents, betrayed a bucketload of husbands, betrayed by Hibbs
Charlie: Betrayed by his brother, betrayed that girl in England
Claire: Betrayed by her asshat of a boyfriend, and then the psychic put her on the Plane o' Doom
Sun: Betrayed Jin by learning English behind his back, then was going to leave him
Jin: Betrayed his father by telling everyone he was dead
Michael: Betrayed by Walt's mom
Walt: Betrayed by Brian

Even Vincent was betrayed by Brian. The only one that doesn't really fit here is Hurley--unless I'm having a brain cramp and missed something.



I was also discussing with the Hubby and with jerib_78 the difference between a genfic writer and a romance writer. The Hubby was all "You write romance all the time. You're always putting Spike and Fred or Spike and Illyria together."

But see, I think I suck at romance writing, really. I can drabble it okay. But I don't think that just because two people are in the same fic, and there's loads of UST, that that makes it a romance. Sure, I write Spike and Illyria together all the time, but I've never had them so much as kiss. How is "Cold Comfort" a romance? "Gift"? I wouldn't even classify "Kitten Poker with a Physicist" as a "romance," even though Spike gets naked and tied to a bed. "Chicken Soup"? Maybe, but not really. I mean, hell, by the Hubby's definition, "Snake Eyes" is a romance, with Spike and Angel drinking in a bar and exchanging snarky commentary. Heh. I'm a slash writer. Who'da thunk?

The Lovely and Effulgent jerib_78 pointed out that, in my writing, any romance is generally secondary to the story. It's an element, sometimes, but it's not (usually) what the whole fic is about. So, in an exercise of shameless self-indulgence, I've decided to list all my fics (except the drabble collections) and see what comes out:

Salvation: No romance there.
Reflections: No romance.
Kitten Poker: UST, but not really a romance. Yes, he's naked and tied to a bed. Shut up.
Spark: No romance. At all.
Closer: Um, sorry. S6 Spuffy wasn't romantic whatsoever.
Indispensable, Exquisite Cats: Eh, maybe. But Fred's unconscious for most of it.
The True Love of Legolas: *snerk* Yeah, right.
Chicken Soup: Again, eh, maybe. UST, if anything.
Retained Skills: Xander and Cordy were a canon couple, there's kissage, but it's secondary.
A Mess of Pottage: Oh, she tries. He throws her across the room. A world of no.
Grief Reconciled: None whatsoever.
Remembrances and Plans: Dawn-centric, post-Chosen. Nope.
Cold Comfort: Everyone's dead except Spike and Illyria, she's holding him and crying and telling herself she feels nothing, he's injured. It's possible they had "Hey, we're ALIVE!!!" sex after they recovered a bit, but I don't think so.
Soulless, Evil Things: Pre-Spuffy, so, eh, maybe.
Blood Rite: Yeah, I'll give you this one. Kissage=romance.
Aftermath: No romance.
New Beginnings: I'll give you this one too. Wes and Lilah are adorable together, what can I say?
Gift: Spike tells Buffy that he and Illyria aren't together "that way." I'll say no.
Africa: Xander and Faith, in bed together. In a non-sexual way. No.
War Stories: More friendshippy than anything else. Pre-UST? Maybe.
A Complicated Relationship: Oh, yes, most definitely.
Final Assignment: Um, no. Holland Manners and Christian Shepherd? Nuff said.
Separation Anxiety: Honestly, no. Maybe later, but not in this fic.
Snake Eyes: No. Not a slash writer, here. Maybe some unintentional UST.
Solid State: Oh, yes, definitely. Kissage, drinkage... *eyes glaze over*

So, the count is:
No romance: 14
Maybe: 6
Definitely: 5

I'm pretty sure this makes me a gen writer.

Yeah. I think about this stuff way too much.

Comments

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

We write what we write. I tend to always write in the romance genre. Not sure why. It just seems to come out that way. It's OK to be a gen writer. But you probably know that. We really can't change what we like to write. Sure, we can branch out occasionally.

I tend to only write Wes/Faith. I've done a few Wes/Cordy fics, but they've always been more challenging, which is probably why I switch to them sometimes, to clear the cobwebs out. I'd love to write Spike/Fred, but I'm not sure I'd be able to get the snarky Spike down correctly. And anytime anyone writes Angel with Spike in a scene, they'll seem slashy, even though that's not what you intend. That's just the nature of their relationship, I think.

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

You write good...

[ms-burkle.livejournal.com]

Your style is nice, I think. You're doing romance good and you can write what you like. If some people say that you're making fics all mushy and/or romantic, it's their taste; just tell them not to read your fics. And most of people like your fics, by the way :)

Have a nice day, babe.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks! I was just kind of gobsmacked that the Hubby would think I'm a romantical-type writer, when I don't see myself writing it all that much. I think his skewed perception comes from the fact that most of the drabbles he sees are from Angel S5 (which he'll at least understand, having come into the show at that time)--and a lot of them are Spred-centric. So, he never got to see most of the BtVS drabbles, and a bunch of fic that he wouldn't get, I just haven't exposed him to.

He was proven wrong last night, when we went through all the drabble collections. Even after I flat GAVE him the Spred Collection, it still came out 69 romantical, and 77 NOT. Would have been even more skewed to my side if we'd gone through the "Lost" drabbles and added the "House" one too. He thought that wouldn't be "fair," because he "hadn't seen" the "Lost" drabbles (yes, he has). So, heh. I win, I guess. I'm a genfic writer, and that's the way I like it.

[ms-burkle.livejournal.com]

Good for you :)