God. This place is getting as impossible to keep up with as TWoP! I had this conversation with zulu before, I think, when she raised it somewhere else - and I absolutely agree with her. I think House would predominantly bottom in the H/W relationship. I also don't believe in being publicly nasty to people whose fic is below par according to your own standards. I was writing XXX fic when I was 13 - and believe me, it was absolutely terrible (confusing 'crutch' and 'crotch' and spelling 'breasts' as 'brests', for example). If my online friends had told me that it was shocking, writing wouldn't give me the joy it gives me now. However, they were fabulously supportive of me, and I'm grateful now that they restrained themselves...

I think my take on whether fanbrats need to be disabused of the notion that their writing is the shit, when it's actually just shit, may be a little different than most, becuse I--teach college Freshman English. I usually have them write a little paragraph about themselves on the first day, and I can't tell you how many I get that are like, "I R reely gud riter. I rite all the tiem and my frinds luv my riting. I dunt no whay i haev 2 taek this klas. I tink I weel get a A becuz I m a rilly gud riter the end." That's actually only a little bit of an exaggeration. The kids who arrive at college under the mistaken impression that they're great writers usually do their damnedest to avoid learning anything in the required writing class, and often end up having to take it more than once (or pass by the skin of their teeth and do poorly in their future classes that require writing). Writing is a skill that goes way beyond fanfiction! Hearing "Your writing could use a teensy bit of improvement," from sources other than That Mean Teacher may help some of the young people to realize that they do, in fact, have some things to learn. That said, I don't usually give bad writers any concrit, because I do enough of that for my job.

Can I answer the Top/Bottom question as an obsessed H/W!porn reader? This is actually a fascinating topic for me, and consequentially, the theme of much fanwank. You've bee warned. The whole issue for me is about different kinds of power. House as a top and Wilson as a bottom feels right to me, because those roles seems to be the extension of their relationship on screen, sex as a symbolic(ating- what?) but also completing act to everyday life. Now, I don't mean the House being dominant and Wilson being a doormat concept, it goes deeper than that (teehee). From House's end - his jealousy and possessiveness towards Wilson, wanting to claim him completely, to own him. For House that would translate as fucking him. In Wilson, first of all there's the passive approval he gives House to intervene in his love life (he never really draws a line, never says "back off, it's not your damn business") Secondly there's his constant caring and worrying for House's sake, his lectures and demands and manipulations. It seems Wilson would want to be able to control House's actions entirely. Now this is trickier, but for me that translates into wanting to consume House ---> have House in him, as well as to be taken by him (passively agreeing to House's possessiveness). For some reason there's a notion going around that top=better (probably because it's, traditionally, the male's job). There is so much strength in receiving, in consuming, in submitting. A strength that, to me, House doesn't sustain and doesn't really get. But Wilson does. This fic depicts my views so much better than I just did. (it's also my favorite for a long time now). 4 parts, NC-17 with BDSM themes (naturally :P) House as a bottom and Wilson as a top is usually OOC for me, because as I've said, I see a lot of psychological meaning behind those roles and it clashes with the way I grasp the characters. The only time it felt right for me that I can remember, it was non-con. But I'm guessing that the right writer work it. TL;DR?

Re the top/bottom issue, too many writers want to turn Wilson into some sort of 16 year old girl ;D Jouse is quite right about the power dynamic issue, who tops or bottoms is much more about this - but how you see House or Wilson in each role depends on your interpretation of the characters though. That also becomes an issue when writing BDSM fics, its not about who ties up whom, there's a huge psychological/relationship component which tends to be missing in fic & dear writers, being a top isn't necessarily the same thing as being a dom and there are certain things doms (& subs for that matter) do or don't do. This is a huge problem area for me - I realize that most slash writers are women who obviously lack certain types of experiences (ahem) & I deal fine as long as the fic doesn't descend into dealing with House & Wilson as 14 year old girls (& then I just laugh), but nothing infuriates me more than het or slash BDSM fic written by people who are clearly clueless about the subject.

I'll disagree, Jouse. I think something we have to be aware of in terms of writing realistically is that the power dynamic of a particular couple may have little or nothing to do with what they like in bed. Having penetrator/penetratee depend on who is "in control" comes very close to turning one of the participants into "the girl", which hopefully is something to be avoided. And let's have a few cheers for sex that involves no penetration at all!

*applauds frottage* :clap: Zulu, I've never said the penetrator holds the power - read my post again. I do firmly believe, from personal experience, that who you are affects to a great extent what you like and what you are like in bed. Sometimes it's a direct sexual translation, sometimes it's the exact opposite of your everyday behavior. But there's always a connection. Specifically re:H/W - I guess we have different perspective of them, and that's cool ;)

Popping in to say, folks may like to check out a new fic thread we have "Desert Island fics" - which eight fics would you take if stranded per the radio show?

I saw it, tried to pick 8 and got all angsty. I'm so attatched to my H/W goodness, it has to be unhealthy. But it's a great read!

One other thing about the questions of tops and bottoms is how easy would it actually be for House to top, given the weakness of his leg? I think I'd write him as a bottom, despite the emotional and dominance issues involved, just because I think it'd be physically more feasible.

Yeah, one more time let me say it depends on the season and episode the author is writing about. Generally I stay away from H/W established relationship fics, because I like canon and I love it when fics can fit right into canon instead of deviating from it. So depending on the situation that motivated the author to write a smutfic... I mean, Tritter arc? At the beginning you could totally see House topping, but by the middle you could see Wilson might. "The apology? You didn't need to do that to make this work." "Believe what you want." Wilson would soooo have topped.

Points at post upstream - dom & top aren't synonyms, folks.

Got it. Thanks for setting me straight. (Ha! Straight...Oh dear.) I'm clear on it now. :)

How do you feel about cock? By that I mean the word "cock" in NC17 fan fiction. Do you like cock? Not like cock? In all seriousiness, I recently used the word 13 times in a fic and it has left me wondering. Do you prefer more specific like penis or more abstract like member or shaft? Also, does anyone know if I can get away with using it at the ff.net?

Top = Penetrator, Bottom = penetratee(?). jdr1184 - I feel comfortable with cock :P Shaft is OK, member is horrible, I don't like dick so much, too silly of a word for sex use and it throws me off. Penis is too clinical most of the times.