Fandom Discussion: Rarepairs and Response

[themostepotente]

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and I've just now gotten around to posting about it.

What is it about certain rarepairs and a lack of feedback that has some wondering; Is it worth my time to continue writing them?

I'm talking Snape/Lucius, Snape/Draco, Lucius/Sirius, Snape/Filch, and a host of others I can't think of right now, because fuckin' A it's 4 a.m., time for us vampiric types to be in their coffins.

But I mean c'mon -- Snape/Lucius? WTF, people. So effing hot, but every time I see a SS/LM fic, it gets next to no feedback. It doth boggles thy mind.

Snape/Draco is another one. I've seen some GORGEOUS Snaco, and yet the feedback SUCKS MY CYBERCOCK.

Not very encouraging, I can imagine, if you've ever wanted to attempt something different.

Someone once told me that Snarry, Harry/Draco, and Remus/Sirius comprises the backbone (skeletal system) of fandom. But man, what about the other systems?

So if you are a rarepairs writer, does the lack of feedback influence your writing them? Or do you just say 'Fuck the masses. I like it, and I'm still writing it!'

--P

Comments

[rillathegrape.livejournal.com]

I love rare pairs. Snucius is one of my favorite things on earth. I do have to admit that as much as I love them, I'm more likely to write a rare pairing as a one-shot than a longer fic possibly because of the feedback issue. I don't want to pour huge portions of time into something no one's going to read, you know? But on the other hand, I like writing it. Most of the rare pairings I've written have been het (Arthur/Hermione, Narcissa/Dumbledore, Snape/Luna), but a few have been slash. I love the challenge of making it believable.

I wrote a Percy/Charlie once that was not only rare, but it carried the incest squick and posted it on an archive. The funny thing is that it got tons of hits and almost no feedback. I'm wondering if sometimes people don't want to admit that they like something (Snape/Filch would probably fall into this category too), so they just don't comment?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I wrote a Percy/Charlie once that was not only rare, but it carried the incest squick and posted it on an archive. The funny thing is that it got tons of hits and almost no feedback. I'm wondering if sometimes people don't want to admit that they like something (Snape/Filch would probably fall into this category too), so they just don't comment?

Snape/Filch is my fandom guilty pleasure :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_riz/]

I'm wondering if sometimes people don't want to admit that they like something (Snape/Filch would probably fall into this category too), so they just don't comment?

I think that ALL THE TIME. The invisible reader syndrome is likely to get far worse the stranger the pairing/warnings/whatever are. I really wonder what the ratio of readers/feedbackers for any given fic are, and then that as compared to a squickfic or something kinky or more out-there. I've noticed that people tend to comment on my f-locked "here's the link to the fic I just posted at [insert comm here]" posts sometimes who never comment on my actual public fic posts. As if they just don't want their name associated with reading that for the world to see.