It's not fluff in and of itself that makes it hard for me to get into a fic, it's the oversaturation of fluff combined with the lack of emotional arcs.
I didn't bring this up because I rarely see it in f/f, but I don't like fics that are one-note angst either. "I can't be with the one I love, I am sad" and "I love my girlfriend, we are happy together" both make for great fanart, but there's a reason published books never take place on an emotional plateau. And as you can see from the other comments, plenty of other readers feel like "fluffy pastel femmes who have no emotional tension" is so prevalent in f/f they can't find a compelling reason to get emotionally invested in any of it.
...but when you do find non-fluffy femslash, it turns you off, because it isn't the femslash you would want for yourself on a personal, attraction level?
I don't usually read things for pure titillation. Titillation helps, of course, but I don't exclusively read E-rated fic; as mentioned, I like a basic Jane Austen comedy of manners setup just as much as a kinkfic, if not more.
It sounds to me like you've set yourself up for a condition of zero femslash that makes you actually happy?
When I find f/f fic that does have angst/pining/emotional journeys, there is a good chance I'll like it, despite the other difficulties described in this post. I do collect femslash that I like, and I write it myself, and I've prompted folks to write it, and I've even literally paid other people to write it for me on multiple occasions! I'm not just sitting here complaining that it's not enough for me. I'm explaining why I don't like it more than I currently do.
While it's not my first choice, I do love a lot of that fluffy, non-porny fic and I finish reading a story and think, "That's great! It would be perfect if it only had porn too. But I did like it." Then I either add it to my pinboard recs or I move on. If I wish it had porn of the type I want, I either hope someone writes it for femslash_kink or I save a note to prompt it for that during a run.
Fanfic is so much bigger than just what you can get out of requests. Despite the steps I personally take to put more femslash of the type I like into the world, fanfic is an escapist pastime and our reading habits are always deeply influenced by what's easy to find. If 90% of femslash is a certain way, I can maybe involve myself in the creation of a dozen or so fics that are more to my taste, but it still makes sense to discuss why the category as a whole isn't more appealing to me as-is.
I don't really understand why you think I've "set up" a zero-sum condition. I just happen to have multiple personal difficulties with femslash that unfortunately often stack on each other. I didn't create or choose those conditions myself.
I only joined Dreamwidth last week, so I didn't know there was an active femslash_kink community. There's a reason I asked for recommendations throughout my post!
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It's not fluff in and of itself that makes it hard for me to get into a fic, it's the oversaturation of fluff combined with the lack of emotional arcs.
I didn't bring this up because I rarely see it in f/f, but I don't like fics that are one-note angst either. "I can't be with the one I love, I am sad" and "I love my girlfriend, we are happy together" both make for great fanart, but there's a reason published books never take place on an emotional plateau. And as you can see from the other comments, plenty of other readers feel like "fluffy pastel femmes who have no emotional tension" is so prevalent in f/f they can't find a compelling reason to get emotionally invested in any of it.
I don't usually read things for pure titillation. Titillation helps, of course, but I don't exclusively read E-rated fic; as mentioned, I like a basic Jane Austen comedy of manners setup just as much as a kinkfic, if not more.
When I find f/f fic that does have angst/pining/emotional journeys, there is a good chance I'll like it, despite the other difficulties described in this post. I do collect femslash that I like, and I write it myself, and I've prompted folks to write it, and I've even literally paid other people to write it for me on multiple occasions! I'm not just sitting here complaining that it's not enough for me. I'm explaining why I don't like it more than I currently do.
Fanfic is so much bigger than just what you can get out of requests. Despite the steps I personally take to put more femslash of the type I like into the world, fanfic is an escapist pastime and our reading habits are always deeply influenced by what's easy to find. If 90% of femslash is a certain way, I can maybe involve myself in the creation of a dozen or so fics that are more to my taste, but it still makes sense to discuss why the category as a whole isn't more appealing to me as-is.
I don't really understand why you think I've "set up" a zero-sum condition. I just happen to have multiple personal difficulties with femslash that unfortunately often stack on each other. I didn't create or choose those conditions myself.
I only joined Dreamwidth last week, so I didn't know there was an active