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

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I agree with completely here -- I think there's a logical step missing between "the author didn't make it explicit that that the characters have a sexual/romantic relationship early in the story" -- which is what I read resonant8's annoyance as -- and what you're saying here, which is more like "the author has not taken that relationship and its effects into account in writing the characters." I mean, sometimes the two things go together, but I don't think they always do. Because, I mean, I've read some stories with Resonant's pet peeve clearly that, where I get halfway through before I realize the two guys are supposed to be together, and been able to go back to the beginning and reread them and have their interactions and dialogue, etc, strengthened by that background knowledge, even have it clarify things.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, but also think that a lot of it is about intention; like, I did a story that deliberately did this, which was Merry Go Round, where you're meant to suddenly see that you're in an established relationship story and be a little shocked by that. And it's not my best work or anything, but I think that a lot of it is about what you said, Peral--the writer taking the relationship into account when writing the characters.