All these years later, I'm still not sure if this is true: are people's preferences for bottoms in slash pairings directly correlated with which character they'd want taken care of? And if so, what does this say about feminism, ideas about gender roles, etc.
The cliche I remember most (probably because it rings true-ish for me) is that we tend to want our favs on the bottom. Or more generally, we like it when our favs are the chased, the beloved (also the tortured and the victim). It's likely there's a societal reason for that, since I think many many women have it in common.
But I think it's also a way of "proving" a favored character is awesome. Flashbacks to the zillions of characters and love triangles in one of my 1st fandoms, Ranma, here.
There's a lot of stuff to sort through in fic about "top" vs "bottom" and sex and whether the writer actually translates it into domination in personality (topping from the bottom etc etc), though. It's all kind of complicated and tangled, especially since, as you say, realism isn't really the point and it's all kinda symbolic or fantasy-esque.
I will say, for me, a lot of it is about wanting certain characters put through certain motions and enjoying certain configurations. Like having X pine after Y, having A misunderstand and then pin B to the mattress in a dub-conish way. Sometimes these configs are done with skill, sometimes not. Other people's configs are more obvious when I don't share them (and when they require bending the plot--I'll read my narrative kinks done poorly, but my antikinks require tons of writerly skill to swallow).
It's probably a reader personality thing. Like woobie!Draco (or woobie!Krycek or woobie!Loki or woobie!villain) ... I have absolutely no interest in. I roll my eyes. I cringe at the twisting of the source material.
But I can get down for a woobie!underageHarry getting taken care of by Snape or something so... lol. I would much rather read an evil!Draco topping Harry than a woobie!Draco. So... I think my point is that a lot of it comes down to the overlay/judgment the reader brings to the source material. (Like some people thinking Slytherin is just misunderstood and outcasts, and some thinking they're basically Hitler youth)
I do think there are some tropes that will always be strong, since many female readers share similar overlays through.
no subject
The cliche I remember most (probably because it rings true-ish for me) is that we tend to want our favs on the bottom. Or more generally, we like it when our favs are the chased, the beloved (also the tortured and the victim). It's likely there's a societal reason for that, since I think many many women have it in common.
But I think it's also a way of "proving" a favored character is awesome. Flashbacks to the zillions of characters and love triangles in one of my 1st fandoms, Ranma, here.
There's a lot of stuff to sort through in fic about "top" vs "bottom" and sex and whether the writer actually translates it into domination in personality (topping from the bottom etc etc), though. It's all kind of complicated and tangled, especially since, as you say, realism isn't really the point and it's all kinda symbolic or fantasy-esque.
I will say, for me, a lot of it is about wanting certain characters put through certain motions and enjoying certain configurations. Like having X pine after Y, having A misunderstand and then pin B to the mattress in a dub-conish way. Sometimes these configs are done with skill, sometimes not. Other people's configs are more obvious when I don't share them (and when they require bending the plot--I'll read my narrative kinks done poorly, but my antikinks require tons of writerly skill to swallow).
It's probably a reader personality thing. Like woobie!Draco (or woobie!Krycek or woobie!Loki or woobie!villain) ... I have absolutely no interest in. I roll my eyes. I cringe at the twisting of the source material.
But I can get down for a woobie!underageHarry getting taken care of by Snape or something so... lol. I would much rather read an evil!Draco topping Harry than a woobie!Draco. So... I think my point is that a lot of it comes down to the overlay/judgment the reader brings to the source material. (Like some people thinking Slytherin is just misunderstood and outcasts, and some thinking they're basically Hitler youth)
I do think there are some tropes that will always be strong, since many female readers share similar overlays through.
blah blah blah