Aargh!

[sholio]

I'm writing a rec for stargateficrec, and I cannot figure out how to describe this particular thing that I like in fic (at least without taking a few paragraphs ... see below). I've never been able to come up with a good, brief way to describe it, really, and I keep feeling like everything I try to write sounds like it's putting down the romance in this story, which is not my intent.

The thing is, when you fall in love and enter into a sexual relationship, it affects how you deal with other people that you're close to, and how they deal with you. I really, really adore stories that are about that dynamic, not about the whole falling in love, hearts-and-flowers thing. Most of the media that I'm fannish about have strong friendships or family relationships at their heart -- it's what tends to draw me to them, in fact. And I adore stories that deal with how those relationships are affected by one of the main characters falling in love with someone outside the group. Or within the group -- I think the purest form of this kink of mine is "friends + lover from outside", but it can go pretty much any direction; I just like to read about platonic bonds being stressed and tested and, ideally, strengthened or confirmed when they're pushed by one member of the group falling in love. I like to read about people trying to figure out how to be both a good friend and a lover at once, and about friends learning to deal (or not, as the case may be) with no longer being able to monopolize the attention of someone who has other commitments now.

Stories about people meeting and falling in love don't interest me nearly as much as stories about people who are already in love dealing with how their lives, and their relationships with other people, are changed by it. I think it actually works better for me when it's not a couple that's an easy sell for me -- if the writer has to work a little bit at making the couple work, then I can be convinced along with the other characters in the story.

But it's hard to find, because most pairing fic is about the couple falling in love or having their happy-ever-after, not about what's going on around them. On top of that, I really hate jealousy in fic, and while I think a little jealousy is going to be realistic in a situation like that (and I can handle it; I'm a big girl), I really don't enjoy such a story when it's all vitriole and unhappiness.

But how do you say that in a sentence or two? I've been wallowing happily tonight in a story that is pretty much a perfect example of everything I love about that trope done right, but I can't figure out how to describe the trope itself in a brief and lucid way. (The story is this one by bluflamingo, in case you were wondering.)

Comments

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Though, reflecting on it, I think the matter-of-factness of bluflamingo's story is a big part of what makes that work so well, in that particular case. John and Cam's relationship is rock-solid, and that's a good strong foundation for exploring how it then affects the way that Rodney and Cam, or Rodney and John, interact.

I loved the sense of warmth in the story, the way that it dealt with affection both sexual and non.