Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

And on a completely different topic: Why do shippers have to demonize one person to favor their OTP? If only this was exclusive to shippers. I've seen gen fics that follow this similar, Canon Sue pattern. Sure, it's got the canon character's name, but the other characters are demonized and marginalized while the beloved character's halo is shined. :roll: It's a weird, all-or-nothing fannish tendency that I don't really understand. I mean, yes, X or Y character is my favorite, but that doesn't mean the others are eeeeeeeevil or something.

What I hate is the bait & switch where a story starts off Chase/Cameron and, really, the only point is to demonize Chase so House can save the day. {barf} I'm sure that happens in other pairings too.

What I hate is the bait & switch where a story starts off Chase/Cameron and, really, the only point is to demonize Chase so House can save the day. {barf} I'm sure that happens in other pairings too. That's not right in the slightest. And as for the canonized demonization, I try to avoid it by giving another some sort of sub plot. Example: Tick's Last Bow: The story was about Tick and Chase seeing each other again, but I through in the Foreman resigning sub plot. Granted, it was to help put pressure on Chase, but I wasn't all "And Foreman's quitting so you better step up to the plate, Chase!" it was more a matter of giving Foreman his time to shine with a sub plot and letting the two connect at the end. In my personal opinion, the best fan fics have that sort of sub plot going. I like it for two reasons. A) It takes the focus off just one character, which can get tiring, and B) it gives a story depth. Now that's not to say that I haven't written centric fics before, but I try my damndest not to make it strictly about that character. (Unless it's a flash back fic to their child hood. Then that can't be helped.)

And on a completely different topic: Why do shippers have to demonize one person to favor their OTP? I've seen a large handful of authors demonize Stacy, especially in the framework of Cameron-centric pieces. She becomes a two-dimension cardboard cut-out of evil, which in grossly inaccurate. I've tried to give some Cameron fics a chance, but when I see sentences like, "Cameron wouldn't leave House. She wasn't Stacy." I can't hit the back button fast enough. It's a cheap method of comparison, I think. Ah, shutterbug, you beat me to it! I was going to say this very thing. And I've seen so many painfully juvenile (if not virginal) descriptions of House/Cameron lovemaking (yes, though now I can't stomach it, there was a time when I read some House/Cameron) that end with "House never reached such a level of ecstasy - not even with Stacy". :? In any case, I find it interesting that those House/Cameron writers at least acknowledge on some level that Stacy was House's big love - otherwise, they wouldn't feel the need to qualify Cameron as *better*. I have seen Stacy demonized in a similar manner in a few House/Wilson fics and maybe one House/Cuddy fic, but it definitely seems much more prevalent in House/Cameron fics. ETA: Thank you to everyone who clarified "erotica" vs. "smut/porn". I thought it was probably something like that. I think I'm a much bigger fan of erotica. :wink:

In any case, I find it interesting that those House/Cameron writers at least acknowledge on some level that Stacy was House's big love - otherwise, they wouldn't feel the need to qualify Cameron as *better*. In canon, Stacy is the only point of reference writers have in terms of House's romantic relationships, so I suppose it's a natural comparison to make. But, in the cases I've run across, authors are willing to ignore Stacy's characterization as it's laid out in canon, ignore the intensity of House and Stacy's relationship, and the extremely difficult situations that brought about their breakup, and create their own mega-bitch version. I enjoy reading fics that feature (or at least give it a good shot) the characters as we see them in canon and, as far as I'm concerned, that Stacy isn't a good representation or extension of what we've seen. Also, while we're talking about bringing particular characters down, I should say that I have the same issues with attempts to bolster a character. The "virginal Cameron" sort of thing. Or the "teddy bear Wilson" thing. Cameron is definitely not virginal and Wilson can be as manipulative as House. That's not to say Wilson, for instance, can't express concern or care, and those kinds of moments can be very sweet. He's just not all warm and fuzzy all the time. Demonizing characters is definitely irksome, but, in general, characters written so obviously out of character is what bothers me the most, I suppose. I really appreciate writers who go to great lengths to make sure they're writing in-character dialogue, actions, etc. It's something that really makes a fic for me. Wow, talk about long-winded. I'll go shush up.

And I've seen so many painfully juvenile (if not virginal) descriptions of House/Cameron lovemaking Did you see the House/Cam fic that very, very strongly implied House was a virgin the first time he slept with Cameron? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Did you see the House/Cam fic that very, very strongly implied House was a virgin the first time he slept with Cameron? I know, I know! Well, that one shot canon to hell! Thank you to everyone re the comments in writing Cameron, its nice to know I'm not the only one with difficulties ;D I would like to pick up on Roga's comment - that makes her harder to understand, but it can also give you the freedom to write her however you want her and for it to still make sense. So I think you can turn Cameron into whatever role you need her to play in your fic, or into whatever angle you want to explore, or just to however you'd like her character to be like, (my italics) I wonder if readers don't also do that a bit too, regardless of what's on the page, but its also fed by the ambiguity of what she does on the screen. For example, when she gives Foreman the framed paper, is she really being nice, or is she just twisting the knife? (Never mind the WTF of giving that as a gift in the first place.) It seems to me often that most Cameron fics out there get wildly differing interpretations based on the readers feelings towards her & that this is much more the case for her than any other character.

But perhaps what Roga is saying is that we don't need to see Cameron's flaws as weaknesses, but rather as interesting traits to be explored.

Zulu, very true. Unfortunately I know I get a bit overwhelmed by the level of options for her - and in particular making her consistent throughout something I write. (& Roga, thanks for all the recs, definitely somethings I haven't read there).

wildly differing interpretations based on the readers feelings towards her & that this is much more the case for her than any other character. I'm not sure it's more the case for her - after all, we do see extremely different interpretations of other characters too: emo Chase vs. strong and smart Chase, teddy bear Wilson vs. manipulative Wilson, to use some cliches. I do think that in Cameron's case, she gets more negative representations, where you can tell the author doesn't sympathize; whereas for other characters, even when they're not displayed as the virtuous good guys of the fic, you can usually tell that the author likes them. (And I'm generalizing, of course.) What I was actually trying to say - or will at least develop that point now - is that while writing In Character is important, sometimes it's okay to write not how the character is, but how you think they should be - in particular, when you think there's a genuine case of the writers doing a bad job with one of the characters, or of a character's not getting enough screen time to be fully explored when it comes to certain issues. Sometimes there are characters that have a lot of potential, but since they're not the focus of the show screenwriters have neither the time nor inclination (nor, sometimes, talent) to make them what they could be. I'm not even just talking about House here, but on TV in general. So it's okay, as fic writers, to sometimes take the reins on that character and say, "okay, canon, thank you for that little input, but THIS is how it should be".

What I was actually trying to say - or will at least develop that point now - is that while writing In Character is important, sometimes it's okay to write not how the character is, but how you think they should be - in particular, when you think there's a genuine case of the writers doing a bad job with one of the characters, or of a character's not getting enough screen time to be fully explored when it comes to certain issues. Sometimes there are characters that have a lot of potential, but since they're not the focus of the show screenwriters have neither the time nor inclination (nor, sometimes, talent) to make them what they could be. I'm not even just talking about House here, but on TV in general. So it's okay, as fic writers, to sometimes take the reins on that character and say, "okay, canon, thank you for that little input, but THIS is how it should be". I don't think I agree with that, because it's too close to the slippery slope of saying: I don't agree with canon, therefore I'm changing it. What I would say is that it's OK to get into the character's head and rationalize or interpret their thoughts if you think the show hasn't given a firm reasoning for an action, but not to ignore what we've seen. With Cameron, I used this technique to get into why she wanted FWB, why she pushed the envelope and in general what she got out of it beyond just the sex. (To be specific, she found it an escape from this person that she'd created, the Allison Cameron who was supposed to be perfect.) So rather than taking the attitude: "this is how it should be," I tried to say: "This is why it is."

I tried to say: "This is why it is." Agreed. Sometimes when canon makes you go WTF, the only thing to do is try to write out some kind of justification. Cameron's really run a gamut of motivations over the course of the show so far, and she's definitely difficult to pin down. Which I suppose makes her a very interesting character in some ways, because there is some degree of molding her to the will of the story that can occur, but I find that riddling out her backstory is too time-consuming. We know enough of the men's histories to riddle them out, but Cam seems (to me) to always be a little stuck in the past, what with the PDH, and so I tend to stay away from her. Unless, of course, I'm writing gen, because then it just turns into ensemblefest. :roll:

I don't think I agree with that, because it's too close to the slippery slope of saying: I don't agree with canon, therefore I'm changing it. Well, yes, that's actually what I'm saying :-) Not that everyone should do it all the time, but that if it's done well, there's nothing wrong with it. It doesn't necessarily mean "taking the easy way out" out of rationalizing character actions. Sometimes, characters undergo changes that have nothing to do with the inner logic of the show - because the writers need the characters to keep changing, because they need to keep the viewers interested, because of whatever external reasons. And sometimes they do it well, but sometimes, frankly, they don't - and again, I'm not specifically talking about Cameron and this show's writers here. But if you think that's what's happening, and you work carefully and thoughtfully and aware of what you're doing - yeah, sure, change canon. Why not?

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