i know the words that you long to hear
Oct. 7th, 2009 11:16 amI posted a story last night for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
angelgazing's birthday:
Or Perish Together as Fools
Supernatural; Sam/Dean; pg; spoilers through 5.04; 1,000 words
If they fail, at least they'll fail together.
It's a coda for 5.04 that features snuggling boys, as requested. As generally happens to me when I plan to write Wincest that doesn't actually have explicit sex in it, it came out gen, except for one small moment that could be interpreted as a kiss. Or not.
When I posted it, I originally labeled it "Sam and Dean; gen" and then at the last minute I switched it to "Sam/Dean; pg" - mostly because my original intention was Wincest, even though it didn't end up going there, and there wasn't anyone around for me to harass into making the decision for me. Much like with Han, where I had the same dilemma, but ended up labeling it gen (after conferring withluzdeestrellas, mousapelli, angelgazing and amberlynne), even though, in my head, "Han" is a much more Wincesty story than "Or Perish Together as Fools."
I really don't like it when people label their stories "gen, but [X pairing] if you squint!" It feels like cheating to me, even though I completely understand the dilemma of labeling as a writer. My feeling is mostly that if a reader wants to see X pairing in your story, she will whether you label it that way or not, whereas putting that pairing label (or the "if you squint" business) on it may keep someone who only reads gen or who dislikes that pairing from reading it at all, when it's entirely possible they might like the story and never even see the pairing. But I also sometimes get caught up in authorial intent - as a writer, I think, "Well, I intended this to be Wincest when I started, so clearly even though there is no actual sexual touching of any sort, I should label it Wincest, because in my head that's what I mean." But if what's in my head isn't what's on the page, then that's not really correctly representing the story.
As I've said before, with Wincest, my general read on things is they could be sleeping together, or not, at any given time. If I don't specify, it's because to me it doesn't really have an impact on this particular story.
What makes these two stories different is that even though there is no explicit way to tell one way or the other, I think it does make a difference in how you read them. In "Han," Sam wants to climb into bed with Dean for comfort, and Dean says no. In "Or Perish Together as Fools," Sam just does it and Dean lets him. Is the meaning of those acts changed by whether or not they've had (or want to have, or are having) a sexual relationship? And does it matter if the sex is not actually in the story? Does my labeling one gen and one Sam/Dean change the way you see the story (aside from enticing you to or repelling you from reading it)?
I keep running into this problem, and sometimes it's easy - when I'm writing for someone who ships Sam/Dean or who is squicked by Wincest, I'm pretty clear on how I'm going to go (though again, I often have the problem of having them refuse to even touch each other when I want to write Wincest, and having to hose them down when I intend to write gen) - but sometimes I just don't even know. It would be far less difficult if it weren't incest, I think, because I'd care less about accidentally squicking people by choosing the "wrong" label.
Anyway, work keeps interrupting, so that was a really long introduction to this short and highly skientific poll:
the poll on LJ.
***
angelgazing's birthday:Or Perish Together as Fools
Supernatural; Sam/Dean; pg; spoilers through 5.04; 1,000 words
If they fail, at least they'll fail together.
It's a coda for 5.04 that features snuggling boys, as requested. As generally happens to me when I plan to write Wincest that doesn't actually have explicit sex in it, it came out gen, except for one small moment that could be interpreted as a kiss. Or not.
When I posted it, I originally labeled it "Sam and Dean; gen" and then at the last minute I switched it to "Sam/Dean; pg" - mostly because my original intention was Wincest, even though it didn't end up going there, and there wasn't anyone around for me to harass into making the decision for me. Much like with Han, where I had the same dilemma, but ended up labeling it gen (after conferring with
luzdeestrellas, mousapelli, angelgazing and amberlynne), even though, in my head, "Han" is a much more Wincesty story than "Or Perish Together as Fools." I really don't like it when people label their stories "gen, but [X pairing] if you squint!" It feels like cheating to me, even though I completely understand the dilemma of labeling as a writer. My feeling is mostly that if a reader wants to see X pairing in your story, she will whether you label it that way or not, whereas putting that pairing label (or the "if you squint" business) on it may keep someone who only reads gen or who dislikes that pairing from reading it at all, when it's entirely possible they might like the story and never even see the pairing. But I also sometimes get caught up in authorial intent - as a writer, I think, "Well, I intended this to be Wincest when I started, so clearly even though there is no actual sexual touching of any sort, I should label it Wincest, because in my head that's what I mean." But if what's in my head isn't what's on the page, then that's not really correctly representing the story.
As I've said before, with Wincest, my general read on things is they could be sleeping together, or not, at any given time. If I don't specify, it's because to me it doesn't really have an impact on this particular story.
What makes these two stories different is that even though there is no explicit way to tell one way or the other, I think it does make a difference in how you read them. In "Han," Sam wants to climb into bed with Dean for comfort, and Dean says no. In "Or Perish Together as Fools," Sam just does it and Dean lets him. Is the meaning of those acts changed by whether or not they've had (or want to have, or are having) a sexual relationship? And does it matter if the sex is not actually in the story? Does my labeling one gen and one Sam/Dean change the way you see the story (aside from enticing you to or repelling you from reading it)?
I keep running into this problem, and sometimes it's easy - when I'm writing for someone who ships Sam/Dean or who is squicked by Wincest, I'm pretty clear on how I'm going to go (though again, I often have the problem of having them refuse to even touch each other when I want to write Wincest, and having to hose them down when I intend to write gen) - but sometimes I just don't even know. It would be far less difficult if it weren't incest, I think, because I'd care less about accidentally squicking people by choosing the "wrong" label.
Anyway, work keeps interrupting, so that was a really long introduction to this short and highly skientific poll:
the poll on LJ.
***
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