Smut pet peeve: First times that aren't.

[resonant]

High on my list of unpleasant story surprises is the one where you're going along, thinking you're reading a first-time story, and then you hit a line like this:

"They'd been fooling around since fourth year, of course, but they'd never done this."

Or something like this:

" 'C'mere,' he said. 'It's been days. I've been going nuts.' "



Now, see, maybe this is just me, but when I read a slash story, and there's rising sexual tension but no actual touching, I'm going to assume it's a first-time story unless the writer finds a way to tell me otherwise.

A first-time story is a particular kind of pleasure. A fuckbuddies-turn-to-something-deeper story and an established-relationship story are different pleasures -- and while they can be done well, to my mind they're generally lesser pleasures.

So if your story appears to promise a first-time scene, and then it delivers a fuckbuddies-go-deeper scene -- even if it's a very, very good fuckbuddies-go-deeper scene -- I'm going to be disappointed.

This is something I don't get, because it's so easy to avoid. If they're in an established relationship, mention that some conversation took place this morning while Ray was shaving and Fraser was brushing his teeth. If you're planning to tell me eventually that they've been fooling around since fourth year, tell me on page one, not after I've been watching their apparently new attraction unfold for fifteen pages.

Just don't get my hopes up.

Comments

[stellahobbit.livejournal.com]

I love first-time stories. I like watching how the characters build up to the point where they've just got to do something.