Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

Better late than never, I hope!

--How would you describe your style?

Oh, hmmm. I guess some words off the top of my head that at least I'm aiming for would be "clear," "understated" and "romantic." I'm not sure those all work together or that I achieve all--or any--of them!

Almost done with one short series and making lots of progress on another! I'm going to confess quietly here that part of the reason I've had a hell of a time lately writing any smut with Clark and Bruce is that some people have very strong opinions about who should be topping and bottoming, and while I have my own tendencies, they're not set in stone. As a result lately I end up seriously overthinking and worrying about how people will react about a sex scene, with the end result being a mental block on writing much of anything at all in that area. I know, I know, just write what works, but... yipes, some people have strong opinions. Well, I shall gird my loins (and Clark's and Bruce's) and plunge onward to this ultimate chapter and sex scene! Hope you're feeling less blocked and having fun (I'm still having fun, just seriously overthinking!)

Comments

[prince0froses]

That description of your style is perfect - and I think I would also add 'subtle'. There are things you do with words that I am continuously astounded by.

I would probably not be terribly flattering to myself. The things that spring to mind are 'hamfisted', 'amateurish', 'cliched', 'purple-prose'. I stress that I am not fishing for compliments with those descriptions - that's genuinely how I see my work and I spend a great deal of my time writing either fighting to make it -not- those things or going full in and indulging them and bouncing back and forth between the indulgent and restrictive mindsets. My strongest literary influence after fanfiction writers (yes, they are at this point), is Anne Rice. And sans 'amateurish', all of those could describe her work at it's worst...but also at it's best. I'm a high fantasy and lush romance, heavy metal and chirpy pop, style fan - so the primary ingredient in things I love is unironic (or only slightly ironic) Cheesiness and Epicness...and so it's that impulse I'm trying to either indulge or stifle. I guess two more neutral descriptors I'd assign it are 'character driven' and 'self aware', because those are indisputably factually true.

As a suggested solution to your sex scene problem - no penetration. Go for 69'ing, thighsex or frottage. Speaking as a gay person (though not of the same exact configuration as Clark and Bruce), the notion of someone always having to top/bottom and penetrate/be penetrated is overdone to death and primarily a het notion imposed on us anyway...why make Clark and Bruce conform to it? Then none of your commentators will have to have their hearts broken by one or the other topping or bottoming 'wrongly'.

Personally I prefer that particular ship to be switchy in tops/bottoms so I'm pleased either way and thus not the best sounding board.

Still injured but I've spent so much time away from a proper computer I feel like I might scream, so I indulged myself with answering this comment (which will probably be the arm's limit today, alas - sleeping on the hard futon hasn't helped). As both a curse and a blessing, in this time where I -can't- write, I've been stricken by very few ideas -to- write, so the only sense in which I feel a loss is that I miss the entire process intensely, but there aren't specific ideas burning a hole in my mind. The only thing that popped into my head was the thought of tweaking (yet another) character's orientation/identity and I went NOPE and promptly crammed that back into it's box because I arbitrarily feel like I've done 'too much' of that (despite the fact that my id still cries out for more representation in my own work).

[mithen]

Oh dear, if we were going to go with what I thought my style IS rather than what I WANT IT to be, I'd have had to go with "cliched," "predictable" and "bland," lol. Which are all just negative ways of describing the same thing I described positively, just like "purple prose" is just "lush and sensuous" in a bad mood, basically. I really like character-driven and self-aware for you, too! Those seem solid descriptions.

I've had remarkably little penetration in my sex scenes lately, and honestly it's been a huge relief. LOTS of frottage and blowjobs, which I find a lot more fun to write, on the whole. The scene is while Clark is still depowered and so he's focused on sensations he doesn't get to experience the same way as powered, so I was leaning toward him bottoming...but a handjob could well serve the same purpose (would it be difficult for Superman to get a handjob because he's so impervious to pressure? Or would he be hairtrigger sensitive due to super-senses? These are the Important Questions).

The only thing that popped into my head was the thought of tweaking (yet another) character's orientation/identity and I went NOPE and promptly crammed that back into it's box because I arbitrarily feel like I've done 'too much' of that (despite the fact that my id still cries out for more representation in my own work).

When you're feeling healthier and more able to type I might ask for details! Honestly, your id has been very very reliable on choosing wisely with these, I think...