how DARE this writer imply i'm STRAIGHT?! on the rarer, definitely rusted flip-side of reader insert... have ya'll ever seen non/dub-con reader insert? or just me? i mean. write what you want and ppl who don't like it dont gotta read but that... raises a few red flags to me if they publish it? idk why it squicks me out so bad haha. unless it was just those few times i've run into it and literally no one else knows what the hell i'm talking about LOL
i think non/dub-con reader insert is basically a more extreme version of the "I DID WHAT?!" thing i mentioned before, so that might be what's squicky about it, the idea of other people writing about you doing bad things that you wouldn't actually do. like, it's much more personal than non/dub-con without-reader-insert often is.
I don't really see the difference there; it's not like fluff or UST or romantic drama (or any other genre) are any less appealing on the id level to some people than porn is to others. And it's pretty common for people to get attached to and invested in their own story ideas or fantasies, even if they might not hold that same personal appeal for others. I mean, everyone is so familiar with the concept self-indulgent OC/Canon Character fic for a reason. I think the only reason the amount of that in Undertale fandom seems surprising is because most of us are used to that kind of fic being largely Not Done in our corners of fandom and seen as annoying or embarrassing, so when it does become popular and mainstream for once it seems new and surprising.
... huh. These reactions always really throw me, because I'm so used to using second person for all sorts of distinct characters that it never even occurs to me a reader would take the "you" in narration to actually mean them, the person reading it. Which on reflection is a bit silly in this case, since the use of "Reader" rather than just "OC" suggests that writers are very much trying to make the reader actually imagine themselves as the protagonist, but I guess I just personally can't imagine reading a second-person story and feeling like the POV character is actually ME rather than some fictional person I'm being told about. I just can't imagine how anyone could possibly make that feel believable, you know? (I have played a couple video games that managed to make the PC feel impressively close to a real representation of me, but that's not really the same challenge, and in those cases it was significantly accomplished through interface or meta elements.)
do you ever have that One canon trait (or hell, even headcanon trait) that you absolutely refuse to read a fic that changes it/doesn't have it for your fave character if i ever read anything even implying cronus or latula is straight i immediately exit out because thats an Instant nope button
yeah, second person doesn't bother me when the character it refers to has a clear personality separate from mine. a lot of homestuck fics achieve this by, like, directly transplanting a character's feelings and internal monologue into second person. but if the "you" IS supposed to be me, it would be jarring to be taken out of that.
yeah, the use of "reader" does suggest me for me 'cause that's clearly what the authors are trying to accomplish with it, even when it doesn't work. canon character and oc second person feel different to me, since in those cases, the authors use those labels and write the stories themselves differently, i think. like, when it's not about the reader, i get a sense that there's more development and emphasis of the character's independent characterization and physical appearance and all the other things that make them distinctive and that the character is not just a hole to slot myself in.
the ones i ran into were unfortunately featuring "me" as the victim, not the perpetrator, but yeah, i see what you mean. i guess it would be appealing to some people, but very far and in between? idk. of course, there's a difference between second person POV being the protag, whoever it is, a second person POV being you. the difference really only becomes crystal clear when you have blank fields of [insert your x trait here]. everything not that can be muddy. though who's to say i haven't made reader insert OC insert in my own head. fuck the establishment, what if i want siv to get some steamy action with my fave?
i don't know why i imagined it would feature the reader as the perpetrator, since i actually haven't even seen any dub/non-con reader fics yet. maybe 'cause i was thinking about the reader doing things, not having things done to them...
Ohh yea. Big time. One of my favorite pairings in DAverse is Fenders and I know it can be problematic, like, hoo boy do I ever know but unfortunately that means for the pairing there's lots of fics out there that make it problematic...for the wrong reasons (cough) and I'm just like >:C fffFT I have standards for my uncomfortable ships dammit!
fluffy blackrom fenders: ok this is probably healthier than it would turn out but it's fun to read so Sure really fucked up fenders: hell yea (but i might need to take a break at some point) fluffy redrom fenders: ???????? ??? ? ?? ? ?? ??
...that particular fandom term puts a very different image in my head when one of the characters is the party healer.
