Kink and Fiction
Sep. 27th, 2014 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithA while back, a discussion with a friend led me to raise this question:
Does your kink polarity (Dom or sub, top or bottom, sadist or masochist, etc. if you have one) influence your taste in reading material?
Frex, a Dom might seek out character weaknesses while a sub might look for what strengthens them. They might favor different points in the hurt/comfort plot cycle. Of course it also depends on which character people identify with and how.
Thoughts?
Does your kink polarity (Dom or sub, top or bottom, sadist or masochist, etc. if you have one) influence your taste in reading material?
Frex, a Dom might seek out character weaknesses while a sub might look for what strengthens them. They might favor different points in the hurt/comfort plot cycle. Of course it also depends on which character people identify with and how.
Thoughts?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-28 04:42 am (UTC)I identify as a sub, but I read all over the place - with narratives that expect you to identify with the top, the bottom, the masochist, the sadist. And as a writer - I tend to write switches and happily identify all over the place in the narrative. Though it does take me a little longer to get in the headspace of one of my sadistic doms - because it's not my organic/natural headspace. But then I'm writing fae, none of their headspaces are necessarily natural to me, even with those who lean towards being submissive, heh. I am generally drawn to moments of subs breaking, and subsequent aftercare in the hurt/comfort genre, but I also enjoy identifying with attentive doms who enjoy tormenting their subs, so...
I mean I'm aware it does influence me. I will read good puppyplay fics over and over and over again because they're so damned *rare.*
Thoughts
Date: 2014-09-28 08:51 am (UTC)That makes sense. There are lots of different things someone might want from a story.
>> I identify as a sub, but I read all over the place - with narratives that expect you to identify with the top, the bottom, the masochist, the sadist. <<
It's cool that you're flexible.
>> And as a writer - I tend to write switches and happily identify all over the place in the narrative. Though it does take me a little longer to get in the headspace of one of my sadistic doms - because it's not my organic/natural headspace. <<
Come to think of it, that's true for me too; I can write or read a range of things, but it takes more time and energy to shift away from my assorted natural leanings. And there are some places I just don't want to go.
>> But then I'm writing fae, none of their headspaces are necessarily natural to me, even with those who lean towards being submissive, heh. <<
That's interesting too. I've got some cultures and races where the divisions are just so different.
>> I am generally drawn to moments of subs breaking, and subsequent aftercare in the hurt/comfort genre, but I also enjoy identifying with attentive doms who enjoy tormenting their subs, so... <<
I like breaking and rebuilding, or hmm ... not the kind of breaking that someone can't come back from, where the worst possible thing happens, but where it pushes the edge of the envelope. Things that make strong characters realize they're not invulnerable. Things that make wounded characters realize they're not unsalvageable. That fine line between yellow and red.
>> I mean I'm aware it does influence me. I will read good puppyplay fics over and over and over again because they're so damned *rare.* <<
Hmmm ... don't think I've tried my hand at writing that before. I could probably do it; I've read some good examples and have no trouble understanding the appeal of pet play. Feel free to ask for it sometime if you wish. Next couple of fishbowl themes aren't a close match, don't know about the Creative Jams, but the December theme will be "games & fun."
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2014-09-29 07:42 am (UTC)I'd never thought of it as any kind of flexibility. I mean I also read characters who are black or brown, straight, cis, abled (mentally and physically), different religions to me, or different species, and so on - and I identify with those characters to. Like, my identifier as sub isn't *more* important to me than being a spiritual animist, or identifying as someone with a disability etc. and yet mainstream media expects me to identify with people I'm not all the time. So...really, as a puppy and a sub, it wasn't so much a stretch to identify outside of that when reading. It was already something I'd been doing all my life as an avid reader.
That being said, when I find something that speaks to me *personally*, it does tend to be because of an affiliative identifier. Like, a story about a genderqueer character. Or someone with PTSD. Or a puppy with PTSD, and so on.
I like breaking and rebuilding, or hmm ... not the kind of breaking that someone can't come back from, where the worst possible thing happens, but where it pushes the edge of the envelope. Things that make strong characters realize they're not invulnerable. Things that make wounded characters realize they're not unsalvageable. That fine line between yellow and red.
Yes, omg very much yes, I completely agree with this. Breaking to the point of 'not coming back from it' I hate - though I do like ahh...people with very likely permanent psychological effects post-trauma in relationships that challenge some of those fears and limits (gently and with respect) so that healing is more likely. A sort of 'permanent breaking' by something in one's history, followed by a more deliberate, consensual remoulding.
I'll consider it with the puppyplay. It's not something I talk about much, though I'm a lot less repressed / frightened of that side of myself now than I used to be. Fetlife helped me realise that it's more common than I thought it was. Though like with so many things - sexual puppyplay is more common as a kink than nonsexual puppyplay, which once more puts me as an outlier in a community I'm technically a part of, lol.