Because I'm nosy

[turps]

I was thinking about pairings yesterday, about how when I post stories different people will comment depending on the pairing I'm writing about.

This got me wondering how deep OTP reading goes. Personally I only used to read the Chris pairings, but that's changed and I'll read most things now. Admittedly I much prefer stories where he's the focus, but there's many great non-Chris focussed stories out there, and I was missing out by passing them by.

So, I thought I'd poll and see what others think. You don't have to explain anything but feel free to discuss in comments. Same if I've missed something, which no doubt I have.



[Poll #965020]

Comments

[ephemera-pop.livejournal.com]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here: unless it's an author I know and 'trust' then, yes, I read the info that comes with the link, or that's above the cut-tag. It functions kind of like the blurb on the back of a book - I have a look and see if it sounds like something I want to read. And just like the blurb on the back of a book - I make judgements extrapolating from key words in that blurb.

I see 'queen of chick-lit' in the blurb, I put the book down. I see Joshtin, I don't click the link.

In both cases, that's because I've seen that key word before, read the book / story and not enjoyed it. I don't remember the names and aliases of every writer in the fandom I've ever read, or of every writer who's books may end up with chick-lit-esque covers, but I sure do remember the association of chick-lit / Joshtin = not my cup of tea.

And if something listed the pairing as Joshtin, but the blurb and the extract both looked excellent, of course I'd read it, but if I'm making a decision and all I've got to go on is the title and the pairing name? Then what else am I going to go on?

[And 'cos it's hard to know what's going to hit other people's buttons (we've got preferences both way on JuC / Joshtin in the comments to this one post!) when I'm posting to listing communities, etc, I generally use name/name for both clarity and lack-of-irritation-risk. ]

[brighton-girl.livejournal.com]

The weird thing about the term "Joshtin" is that it was a password for a private message board. It was never suppose to be for the JC & Justin pairing. But people from the message board thought it was funny and started using it. Mostly because they didn't like "teerlove" or "JuC" which too many people thought was pronounced ju-uck and not ju-cee.

[ephemera-pop.livejournal.com]

I had no idea that's where it had originated - nifty :D etymology is fun. (as is the weird and wonderful ways pairing names - which are 98.7% written down - can be pronounced. Back when voice posts were a new thing, I remember a bunch of people recording a list of pairing names, just to see how people said them.)

[ephemera-pop.livejournal.com]

as *are*.

*wishes comments could be edited*

[rikes]

Oh really? I had no idea!

[diggybear.livejournal.com]

Oh my! I remember people calling it "ju-uck"!!! lol

[zaen.livejournal.com]

[And 'cos it's hard to know what's going to hit other people's buttons (we've got preferences both way on JuC / Joshtin in the comments to this one post!) when I'm posting to listing communities, etc, I generally use name/name for both clarity and lack-of-irritation-risk. ]

See, I think it's sad that anyone has to even *think* about the lack-of-irritation-risk. If *one* word is going to turn someone off to reading something they'd otherwise give a try, then I don't know what. Seems like people are going to *not* read much at all that way, which is obvious when seeing feedback in many communities.

Maybe all the JuC writers should just use JC/Justin and maybe then they'll get the respect they deserve.

[ephemera-pop.livejournal.com]

But surely everyone thinks baout how they present their fiction to an audience, don't they?

I mean, I'm not having angst every time I post about what pairing name I use in case I drive someone off. I just want my headers to be clear and inviting, so - names in full, spell check the blurb, avoiding the whole 'this probably sucks' stuff

But then the JuC / Joshtin divide seems to be serving a purpose in fandom, by denoting different subsets of style and characterisation. Or do you not think there's a corrolation?

[zaen.livejournal.com]

Or do you not think there's a corrolation?

No, I didn't see a correlation, but it looks like everyone else has. brighton_girl talked about the source of that, but I think the juc/joshtin divide happened in 1 place and I guess I've been hanging out in another. I wasn't in the Closet then. Hence my confusion over this.

names in full, spell check the blurb, avoiding the whole 'this probably sucks' stuff

Oh, absolutely, I see why people would do those things. But as far as the whole "juc vs joshtin" thing, I don't think all the writers out there are aware that the use of the specific descriptor was indicative of anything other than the pairing. I know I didn't know people had those presumptions, so I'm guessing some other JuC writers don't know, either.

[ephemera-pop.livejournal.com]

brighton_girl's etymology was news to me too, but it's definately interesting how it's spread.

I had no idea that's where the term had sprung from, but I have noticed the different 'subgenre' of pairing by that title in the past three years. It's a little frustrating to me that I can't point to examples!

I know I didn't know people had those presumptions, so I'm guessing some other JuC writers don't know, either. - fair point. It's easy to forget when most of the fans you circulate with are using the same linguistic 'short cuts', I guess.

[diggybear.livejournal.com]

It's quite interesting because no one was using Joshtin for awhile and then suddenly it became THE name for the JC/Justin pairing. The private message board wasn't even called Joshtin.

But yes, over the years, the term "Joshtin" has evolved to denote a certain type of fic. But it's quite funny. While it's probably easier to called it JuC - oftentimes I get a blank stare when I call it that. Probably because everyone is wondering what is "juicy". LOL So I tend to use Joshtin or JC/Justin in order to define the pairing I'm talking about.