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Firstly, a rec.
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poisontaster has written an absolutely wonderful Die Hard 4.0 Matt/John fic - Save As. (I think I've actually linked here to her Die Hard tag but the fic is at the top).
There's a lot of reasons I loved this and stories like this.
I prefer established relationship fics. Call it a kink or whatever but there is something about the bond already being there, there being a history behind actions and reactions. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the journey - I do. Something like PT's fic is a perfect example of that because there was a first time, but the characters are well and truly past that now and I feel like there's some payoff into the time I've invested in reading about the relationship. There's no assumed happily ever after because you've seen the characters go through a rough patch. You know there's more rough in their future, but you've seen them survive it so there's hope that they'll get past any bumps in the road.
I think one of the first and still favourite fanfic stories I ever read (no link because buggered if I could find it now, so if anyone has any clues?) was a LOTR Faramir/Aeowyn story. It began with them getting married so we were already past the first time flush and with the pressures of the war, Faramir's office and being away from her and misunderstandings, they slowly drifted apart. It was painful and joyous at the same time because you could tell that they still really loved each other, but both were hurting and the only people they could take it out on was each other. They managed to find a middle-ground and each other again so there was a happy ending but it just stayed with me.
When I'm talking established relationship, I'm not just talking about romantic entanglements either. I love (as you can probably tell from most of my stories) the very painful love story of SPN's Sam and Dean as brothers. Here are two people who can never break up to stop the torment. They're stuck with each other. You got a sense that they were very much with each other, even when hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
And what about SG-1's Jack and Sam? Why did I start out writing stories about them being together but mostly stopped? Maybe because I'd seen them (this is my very own warped perception mind!) move past that point in their relationship. They still cared about each other deeply but maybe there is a point where it's too late. I can still read stories from other writers I adore who make it all very plausible that they do end up together, I just can't seem to do it and make it sit right.
Then we have SGA's John and Rodney. I do read first times for them because generally they're funny with Rodney getting frustrated and John being laid back or dorky or both, but I get just such a sense of comfortable from them, with each other and in themselves that it's hard not to just jump ahead 1 or 2 or 15 years and still see them bickering and saving each other's asses and still enjoying the hell out of each other.
Circling back to SPN, the John/Mary story really fascinated me because other than a glimpse, we never really got to see them. Here is a show where most of the first season was driven by the loss of a character we barely met and yet everyone felt strongly for just because of the devotion showed to her by her three men. The relationship is a blank slate, to do with as we will (other than the impending S4 where we might all get royally jossed). I'm still planning to write 'And Everywhere That Mary Went' but it might not have a happy ending. The circumstances tore this family apart and even if Mary survived, I think it still would.
poisontaster has written an absolutely wonderful Die Hard 4.0 Matt/John fic - Save As. (I think I've actually linked here to her Die Hard tag but the fic is at the top). There's a lot of reasons I loved this and stories like this.
I prefer established relationship fics. Call it a kink or whatever but there is something about the bond already being there, there being a history behind actions and reactions. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the journey - I do. Something like PT's fic is a perfect example of that because there was a first time, but the characters are well and truly past that now and I feel like there's some payoff into the time I've invested in reading about the relationship. There's no assumed happily ever after because you've seen the characters go through a rough patch. You know there's more rough in their future, but you've seen them survive it so there's hope that they'll get past any bumps in the road.
I think one of the first and still favourite fanfic stories I ever read (no link because buggered if I could find it now, so if anyone has any clues?) was a LOTR Faramir/Aeowyn story. It began with them getting married so we were already past the first time flush and with the pressures of the war, Faramir's office and being away from her and misunderstandings, they slowly drifted apart. It was painful and joyous at the same time because you could tell that they still really loved each other, but both were hurting and the only people they could take it out on was each other. They managed to find a middle-ground and each other again so there was a happy ending but it just stayed with me.
When I'm talking established relationship, I'm not just talking about romantic entanglements either. I love (as you can probably tell from most of my stories) the very painful love story of SPN's Sam and Dean as brothers. Here are two people who can never break up to stop the torment. They're stuck with each other. You got a sense that they were very much with each other, even when hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
And what about SG-1's Jack and Sam? Why did I start out writing stories about them being together but mostly stopped? Maybe because I'd seen them (this is my very own warped perception mind!) move past that point in their relationship. They still cared about each other deeply but maybe there is a point where it's too late. I can still read stories from other writers I adore who make it all very plausible that they do end up together, I just can't seem to do it and make it sit right.
Then we have SGA's John and Rodney. I do read first times for them because generally they're funny with Rodney getting frustrated and John being laid back or dorky or both, but I get just such a sense of comfortable from them, with each other and in themselves that it's hard not to just jump ahead 1 or 2 or 15 years and still see them bickering and saving each other's asses and still enjoying the hell out of each other.
Circling back to SPN, the John/Mary story really fascinated me because other than a glimpse, we never really got to see them. Here is a show where most of the first season was driven by the loss of a character we barely met and yet everyone felt strongly for just because of the devotion showed to her by her three men. The relationship is a blank slate, to do with as we will (other than the impending S4 where we might all get royally jossed). I'm still planning to write 'And Everywhere That Mary Went' but it might not have a happy ending. The circumstances tore this family apart and even if Mary survived, I think it still would.
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Great piece! I totally agree with you! I like reading first times, but it's a whole different story with established relationships. It's more...huh, I'm more involved somehow? Ha, I'd written a half a page and then realized you described what I like and don't like, what I expect from stories in a way I could never express myself. Duh, I should've known!
the characters are well and truly past that now and I feel like there's some payoff into the time I've invested in reading about the relationship. There's no assumed happily ever after because you've seen the characters go through a rough patch. You know there's more rough in their future, but you've seen them survive it so there's hope that they'll get past any bumps in the road.
True! That happens to me all the time, not only reading first time fics, but say, when I watch a movie. It feels like it ends when it should begin. I always want to know more, know what happens next, you know? Because, yeah, we got a glimpse on how characters usually deal with problems, or their happily ever after, but it'd be nice to see a bit more of it, delve a little deeper, actually *see* the after. Fics usually try to explore characters more, go deeper into the storylines, start again from where the "official" storyline left off, which is good imho, and sometimes, if the writer's good, I might feel satisfied.
As for SGA's John and Rodney, or Sam/Dean for that matter, I love that sense you described as comfortable. It's just what makes them them. :) I tend to think every relationship should be like that. Or rahter it can only work if it has all the elements J/R's have. And it doesn't matter what kind of relationship it is, the lovers kind, the friends kind or the ones between siblings and parents/kids. I'm probably wrong, but from my experience, relationships between human beings tend to last only if there's that sense of belonging and "home", and of course humor.
And I'm such a sap! *facepalm*
PS: if you ever find the link to that LOTR fic, please link it. I've never read LOTR fics, but that sounds like something I'd enjoy