Response to Joxer?! And Other Things I Don't Get
by Sascha

#1 Joxer/Ares slash

First of all, I'd say that when reading fanfics, perhaps especially when reading slash, you gotta lower your expectation of accurate characterization. I'm not saying that characterizations are bad, I'm just saying that most often they vary a bit from the mainsteam characterizations. Though not always. If you don't believe me, read the three Moments of Transition stories by sidewinder or anything at all on Less Than Legendary Journeys.

Okay, back to the case at hand: Joxer and Ares. As in together. Holding hands. Being all lovey-dovey.

...Nope, not seeing it. The day Ares is acting like that, I'll know it's either a scam or a spell. But can I see Joxer and Ares in a relationship? Yes. Even without a spellfrom Aphrodite.

Why?

Now, that's a tough question. The truth is, I don't really know. All I know is I read 'Mistletoe' by Athea, and then suddenly I was involved in a whole new fandom! _Reading_ stories from a new fandom anyway. And they were good. They were really,really good.

So I stayed.

The whole 'opposites attract' thing and the opportunity to match two lovable characters might be at some of the reason. But mostly I stayed because of the stories. They are so.. well, hot, of course, and they do a lot for both the Ares character and the Joxer character by allowing me to see them from diffrent point of views.

They are the What if?s of Xenaverse fanfiction. Yes, all fanfiction are WI?s, but in J/A stories there is always some alterations in the characters made by the author (unless you're sidewinder. Then you don't have to) which most of the time wouldn'thave been done by other slashers. Though I could be wrong. I don't read stories from _that_ many fandoms.

J/A stories are sweet, innocent and romantic, even when they are angsty and depressing. They make me happy. Can I really, cross my heart and hope to die, picture Ares and Joxer together in a "serious-romantic-never-knew-love-like-this-beforething"?

Seriously?

No. I'm sorry, but no.

Moving ahead: #2 Mulder/Krycek Romance

UST? Are you kidding me? There are? Gee, I never noticed...

Seriously though. Can I see Mulder and Krycek involved, being "lovey-dovey life-partners" to quote Lucy?

Heck, no!

Can I see Mulder and Scully involved?

Nope.

Can I see Mulder and Skinner involved?

Oh Gods, no!

Can I see Mulder involved with anyone at all?

Er... Well... No. But if he had to be involved with someone, only one I can picture is Scully. She's the most important person in his life after all.

Don't get me wrong, I like reading Mulder/Krycek stories, I just don't really see how it could be possible at all. Okay so maybe Krycek isn't all bad and maybe Mulder isn't completely sane, but still.. Like Lucy said, there's just something fundamentely wrongwith it.

I like AU's though.

#3 Same Actor Crossover Pairings

I don't like X-overs. I really don't. Sillyfics I can read and enjoy, but dead serious ones? You won't see me for the dust. So, do I enjoy Same Actor X-over Pairings? No. Do I think they can be well written anyway? Yes and no. I have read well written SAXOP's (purely by accident, I assure you), but they are very, very few.

The 'Hong Kong' series (OaT/X-Files. Nick Lea's in both) does it well. It's not a Vic/Krycek story (is it just me or do you get queasy at that thought too?), but they are twin brothers. Don't read it unless you've got a taste for the sick and twisted. And I mean sick and twisted.

Adding a new topic: #4 Actor slash and fanfics in general

For me a good fanfiction story is when I can forget that the characters are played by actors on TV or in movies. (Could be why I enjoy reading fanfics from shows I've never seen.) And actually going to the step of bringing the actor into the story is such a big no-no that it should never be done.

But it is. And sometimes you can see it in stories where the characters have the right names. Like, say, Blair and Jim. I don't know quite how to say this (writing columns definately isn't my forte), but.. Have you ever read an 'Angel Blair' story?

Only thing I can see then is the actor (not that I think GM is an angel, I'm pretty sure he's not), because while Blair might be a great deal many things, he's no angel.

And then we have the stories where the author spends most of the time mussing on how good Jim and Blair, or Chakotay and Tom, or Methos and Mac, etc, look. Either together or through the other's eyes. Whenever I read one of those, I can't help but thinking "Oh boy! Excellent stalker material here."