daredevilkink | Discussion/Off-Topic Post #1

Ha, I love me some good slavefic, that's why I write it.

I personally also sometimes like darkfic, but a huge part of why I like slavefic, especially from this fandom, is because it allows for a narrative where a character (Foggy's, usually) heroism comes from their decision to just be a good person, even though it's hard.

I love how compassion and loving someone else is explored and emphasized as what makes a character be a hero, especially because in a lot of more realistic superhero genres (like Daredevil), the canon itself often falls short on showing how much kindness is a heroic and difficult act.

I also really like how it has characters with completely different, clashing worldviews trying to understand each other, and how characters have to try to connect despite practically living in different worlds. (My own fic has a ton of misunderstandings, and I love writing them.)

I do enjoy the kind of h/c fantasy aspect of them, where it's like 'if you get someone who loves you enough/if you win the lotter, you get to be all better', though it's not what I myself want to write. But also, I do like well-done fluff and h/c, and snuff-bait, iPad, Trouble!Matt etc are all very good fluff and h/c as well as comedy.

(I prefer writing more realistic 'that is not how brainwashing/mental illness works' stuff, personally, because I feel like it provides for a more nuanced story. That, and you get more of an opportunity for some truly fucked-up shit. Never let it be said I'm not a trash baby for certain horrible things, or that I didn't learn from my time avidly consuming the hydra trash party what I liked about horror.)

Medfet!Matt trips my triggers hard because it has a Foggy who decides to hurt Matt 'for his own good' because Matt is bad at self-care, which makes me froth at the mouth a bit. (I can think about it apart from the fic itself, as in the universe of a not-so-saintly Foggy, but I can't read the fic itself even a little bit.) And something about 'Lost and Found' does, too--probably the dystopia? I'm not sure. Anyway, that's actually complimentary to both writers, ofc, because if it was badly written, it wouldn't be triggering at all. (See also: 30 Hs).

I was discussing this with a friend today... as auth of Lost and Found... I've heard it said quite a few times that it's dark and disturbing but I don't see it. A lot of it is ripped from news stories, real life, and sociopathic family members. (Might be why it's disturbing).
Could also be because I know what's going to happen and everything is going to work out in the end. :)

I mean, my own fic is pretty disturbing at times, but I can get why people find it that way. (I mean, brainwashing is kind of inherently disturbing.)

if your fic is the opp-matt fic- I absolutely love the disturbing nature of the brainwashing. :)

I grew up reading Stephen king and watching horror movies...
I have a high tolerance for fantasy-disturbing scenarios... where as things like Criminal Minds I can't watch because it scares the crap out of me. LOL
I think the scariest part of Opp is the home invasion. :)
Brains filter differently.

Yep! Like, for example, I can definitely watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre without once being scared, but I absolutely cannot watch Inception at all. Fear is a tricky thing.

Isn't it wonderful! :)

let me amend---- I don't see it- but I can understand why it can be seen that way. :) Re-reading my comment I saw how I could come across as dickery. Not intended. :)

I think that bit about knowing how it's going to end is what matters. I'm a friend of the fluff, I get scared for characters quickly and feel bad for them when they suffer in someone's fic, but often I get similar ("NOOOO, omg, why is this happening STAHP D:") reactions from readers to my own fic, where I think 'What? This isn't so bad, is it?' so I think it's true that you can be a lot more relaxed about the stuff you personally control. I think that lack of control (I can't do much at all as a reader, the author controls everything) is what makes bad stuff happening in a fic so terrifying.

I think you have nailed it! Thank you!

Eh. Slavery fic is very hit or miss for me, and one of the big reasons for the 'misses' is because that darkness you mentioned tends to feel over-exaggerated.

When characters start railing and cursing righteously at the world they're in (or other characters) because of some horrific thing that happened in the story, it tends to throw me right out of it. Because bad things happen in life, obviously, but some of the 'dark' things can feel overblown just to showcase the torture porn. I'm reminded that these worlds are fictional and I drop out of the story. So for me, it's not a case of not being able to handle the dark stuff as it is that after a while I just don't buy it.

Something I like quite a bit in slavery fic are those quiet moments of connection between characters when they overcome their respective stations in life to bond with each other, when there's emotional progress in the face of horrible odds. But if there's no progress, just horrible thing after horrible thing with tons of misunderstandings always heaped on top? Eh. There's only so much of that I can read before I get bored/exasperated.

Big ole IMO disclaimer here, but for me, strong emotional journeys are the heart of stories, not the showcasing of 'this world is fucking horrible, let me show you how horrible it is.'

(also, just to be clear, this is in no way directed at you, anon I replied to! I haven't actually read Lost and Found, but I have read every other slave!fic on the meme. ime, they tend to all be a grab bag of what I described above. but then again, that's just what I feel when I read slavefic, other people get other stuff out of it.)

Disclaimer accepted. :)
psst you're more than welcome to pop over to AO3 to give Lost a found a read and let me know what you think. LOL

I agree. I love the emotional journey too. Angst with a happy ending is my porn. :)

I can ride the fun-train through some pretty wild tunnels, but weird medical things sometimes throw me off. Like characters being so beaten and tortured or broken (physically) just getting back up and keeping on going.

I haven't really been into the slave au until it started up on here... the Avengers and slave matt fic got me totally hooked. :)

as writer of that fic, thank you! :D I hope once exams are over I can post some more again instead of just the round robin snippets with Ipad (though they're so fun!XD)

Ward-Matt auth here: I would love to play in some round robins if someone lets me know when they happen. :)

Hah, if I see the next one, I could mention it in a review for a fic, I comment on it pretty regularly :p Meanwhile, I typed up an attempted masterpost for all the round robins so far, so maybe I can just add on to that one, when the next one happens:

http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/5006.html?thread=13628814#cmt13628814

mention it in a review for *your* fic (on Ao3), dammit!

ok. I put a monitor on the link so that when it changes I'll get an alert. thanks!

Different slavery AU filler here, and, hm, I'm actually always torn - like, I often have a feeling I'm not showcasing the bad side of slavery *enough*. I'm all about the fluff, and oodles of comfort with minimal hurt, and characters being nice to each other and becoming friends and snarking, and the slave characters I write often get protected from most of the bad shit going down and are therefore quite cheerful (if often very nervous when they narrowly avoid something) in comparison to a lot of other slavery fics. I sometimes wonder whether that's...disingenious or too unrealistic for a slavery universe, though. Like, I feel like I want all of the trust!fluff and morbid comedy, without taking on the realistic consequences of dumping them into a verse like that if I blend out the various consequences of living in a world like that. So I sometimes write in such bits on purpose to give it a...more genuine feel? I dunno. What do you think of that? How much (if any) mention of bad stuff is required for a slavery AU that isn't a pure comedy/pwp?

I feel like understatement can be a powerful force in storytelling, and that your genre of slavefic is legit. I mean, that's a very different way of writing it/putting in violence or awfulness than I end up doing, but it's a totally legit and cool way to do it, and I like basically all the slavefics on the meme, so.

It's AU, there are no rules and you can write it however you want. There-in lies the fun.

If you really think of it though- they are all really offensive when you take into consideration that slavery does exist, it has nothing to do with collars and pets, and everything to do with human suffering.

But- they aren't real. It's a fantasy AU.
kind of like creating your own gods and religion in a fantasy story. You aren't offending actual religions. It's just a story.

Hm, I guess I should word it differently. I didn't mean 'realistic' in the way that fantasy-slavery has anything to do with real-life slavery, but that, in direct opposite to what excessive torture/gorn does for you, it breaks the suspension of disbelief if it is *too* fluffy. I guess I'm wondering how to keep the balance, and where the lines can be drawn. I do agree with the other poster that understatement is a great way to go, often probably more powerful than downright stating what is going on, but even that is of course not always easy.

I mean, for me, I try to tread the line by having both realistic progress in the Matt + Foggy relationship, followed by setbacks and new problems arising, because IME that's how relationships go between people who are traumatized/have issues, you take one step forward, two back, and three to the side into crazy town. I also think that having things build up requires some downtime afterwards, but my own ratio of fluff to fucked-up leans heavily on the fucked-up.

Discussion/Off-Topic Post #1

Re: What do other slavery fans/authors like from it?

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Re: What do other slavery fans/authors like from it?

Re: What do other slavery fans/authors like from it?

Re: What do other slavery fans/authors like from it?

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