Well, I can only speak for myself, but I have read most of the Contract Verse... but I have only "saved" a portion of it. I agree that some of it seems gratuitous - and those are generally the portions I do not re-read. I have also had to suspend belief upon a few occasions when the reported amount of trauma or torture inflicted reaches a point I am not sure "any" human - no matter how wonderfully stubborn and hard headed could endure. Every bone in the body broken? All 206 of them? Really? But, as previously said, most of it is very well written, and I am a sucker for hurt/comfort, and it would not be the first time I have had to overlook what I feel are inconsistencies to enjoy the rest of something fantastic - I do that with the show all the time! I guess it come down to what one likes to read... when I am in a certain mood, I love a long, well written, hurt/comfort fic - even if it puts characters I care about through hell. Part of the fun is watching them emerge from the other side. You question isn't really about "The Contract Verse" so much as it is about the whole genre of Hurt/Comfort - and WHY? is a question befuddled people have been asking since fiction began and readers have been trying to answer for just as long. Why do some people like to read "romance" novels? For the life of me, I do not get it. I would rather have a tooth pulled than read a romance book, but some people love them... different strokes, you know?

On the hurt/comfort angle, I find that while I like it in other fandoms, I'm not a big fan of it within the "House" world. In general hurt/comfort fans often say that they enjoy it because it's a way to get the stubborn, recalcitrant House to admit his feelings, to admit that he cares about people. But that's exactly why I don't like it for the most part in this fandom. To me, the times when House is at his most sincere are the ones that come out of left field. They're warped. They're skewed. They're moments in which he helps Wilson, shows he cares, through a prank war. They're in the way that he keeps Cuddy's secret, even while taunting her privately. It's even in the way that he doesn't go to see patients, because he does better when he thinks of them solely as faceless cases, rather than as real people. That's not to say that there hasn't been some good hurt/comfort written in the House fandom -- and it's not that I don't have some guilty pleasures -- but to me the vast majority of hurt/comfort takes House out of character through an over-the-top setup, solely to get him confessing his true feelings at the other characters' bedside. Or, for that matter, getting other people weeping at his bedside. House doesn't want sentimentality or true confessions. He'd rather make a backhanded compliment and walk away.

TrooperCam, that's a brilliant article. Another piece of fanon (I think) is Cameron smelling of lavenders... I keep seeing fics with lavender perfume / shampoo / in vases round her flat... You know, we should have a thread where people can confirm if it's canon or fanon.

You know, we should have a thread where people can confirm if it's canon or fanon. I love this idea I want to say that Sheepw as responsible fo rthe lavender thing as I recall something like that in one of sheep's stories, but I could be wrong

I've also read a number of fics in which her scent is vanilla -- or vanilla plus something else (jasmine is the only one that comes to mind, but I've read other vanilla and... combos). She's a vanilla girl in my fics because it's my favorite scent. I'm in the process of beta-ing a fic in which she smells of raspberries.

oh, just a thought which I'll edit into my Dean of Medicine one- just a canon thread. You can ask questions for reference (you know, what does House like in his burgers yadda yadda) and people will tell you the answer and where it came up in canon, and, obviously if it's fanon or not.

Didn't spot that. Probably should have, sorry.

Moderator Announcement: Bored? Like Fan-Fiction? House's House of Whining is officially sponsoring the Evil Nurse Brenda Fest over at Live Journal. In the spirit of the affiliate fan-festivals, the ENB_Fest aims to create a great base of fanfic/fanart/fanvids that are centered around our favorite nurse - Brenda Previn. More information can be found in the forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=374>HHoW thread or at our Live Journal Community. Check it out! We can't wait to see what you all are capable of!

new adult-locking on LiveJournal?
What do all you writers, particularly those on LJ, think of the new adults-only locking feature? I used it on my latest story, locking it for 18-only. Of course, it doesn't really prevent under 18s from reading locked stories, since all you have to do is click Yes, I am over 18, and I think you need to have your age listed as such in your LJ profile. Ironically, if I thought the adult-locking was really going to prevent under-18s from reading my story, I wouldn't use it. I guess it's more of a symbolic gesture. But, I've since changed my mind and changed my last entry to the over-14 lock, instead of over-18. The reason is that locking the entry as over-18 means that no-one can even see the summary in my journal layout, and that's not fair to the readers, to not have even a general idea of what they're clicking on. And probably over-14 is more apt. While 14 might be a little on the young side to be reading explicit porn, I think 15 is okay. I was reading fairly descriptive romance stories at 15, and so were a lot of my peers. It's just hard to use such a broad definition, because there are 13 and 14-year-olds out there who are mature enough to read my stories, and probably some 17-year-olds who are not. Though I write porn, it is only words, and my stories are very romantic; I never portray sex without love. I don't think it's actually harmful to kids; at the same time, I don't want my stories to be their introduction to gay sex, because I think kids should learn about gayness from a more social standpoint first, and understand that gay couples are not all that different from straight couples in their home and family lives. After that, they can read all the gay porn their hearts desire. Is that a strange point-of-view? Going forward, I'll use the over-14 lock. I can't see how anyone would accidentally click on my story links and not realize what they are getting into, and I also don't think the locks are going to stop under-14s from reading my stories. As I mentioned, it's just a symbolic gesture; my stories aren't intended for kids and the lock just allows me to make that clear. What do other writers of explicit fics think of the adults-only lock? Do you use it for your own journals?

MissViolet, I was under the impression that the reader could only not see the story header if they weren't logged into a Livejournal account that says they're 18. So if it comes up on their f-list, they shouldn't have any problem...unless they're under 18. (If they're not an LJ user and just checking out your page, then yeah, I guess that would become an issue.) I would lock adult stories (I haven't written any since this filter issue came up), personally, but the level would probably depend on the content. If the "smut" in question is no more explicit than a romance (or Judy Blume!)novel, than a teen listing theoretically should be fine. They could, after all, walk into a bookstore and purchase it. Anything with a more complicated psychological theme or that's more explicit, I would mark as such. (I figure if someone's parents really don't want them reading anything like that, they'll have proper filters installed on the computer anyway, no matter what I say it's rated.) Of course, it was only the other day that I realized that Fanfiction.net's default setting shows only K->T rated stories. :blushing:

MissViolet, I was under the impression that the reader could only not see the story header if they weren't logged into a Livejournal account that says they're 18. So if it comes up on their f-list, they shouldn't have any problem...unless they're under 18. (If they're not an LJ user and just checking out your page, then yeah, I guess that would become an issue.) Sometimes I browse stories without logging into LJ, especially if I'm at work where I don't want to risk leaving a cookie trail of logins on a public computer. So yeah, I was thinking on non-LJ uses as well as LJ users who just don't log in. I would lock adult stories (I haven't written any since this filter issue came up), personally, but the level would probably depend on the content. If the "smut" in question is no more explicit than a romance (or Judy Blume!)novel, than a teen listing theoretically should be fine. They could, after all, walk into a bookstore and purchase it. Anything with a more complicated psychological theme or that's more explicit, I would mark as such. (I figure if someone's parents really don't want them reading anything like that, they'll have proper filters installed on the computer anyway, no matter what I say it's rated.) Some of Judy Blume's writing is explicit, IMO... not her teen novels but the adult stuff. I write explicit smut which, if it were a movie, would never be suitable for the NC-17 rating but would have to be a firm X. But I changed my lock to the over-14 rating, only because I want my summaries to be public. It's not just a whim; I feel strongly about that. if the over-18 lock didn't cloak the summary, I'd be happy to use it. It's a funny thing to ponder: whether one's own fiction could harm children. I'm not sure my fiction would actually harm children, but nor do I think it's an appropriate introduction to sex.