*hooks pinky fingers*

[fishpatrol]

I don't visit spnpermanon frequently (more like never), but I've been glancing at the Big Bang threads as a way to decide whether or not to read particular fics. I try not to read the comments too carefully in case I skip out on a gem of a fic simply because a couple of nonnies have different tastes from me. (I'll admit that the comments did save me some time with the Chuck/J2 fusion one -- which was kind of disappointing because I was so looking forward to a Chuck/J2 fusion. D: How could that premise not be awesome?)

This particular thread caught my eye. I wonder how many fans secretly search+replace the names in fics that include pairings they don't like. XD I've toyed with the idea of replacing the names of main characters in original slash fiction with Jared and Jensen, but I've never done so because: 1) it's effortful, 2) the physical descriptions will be off (I'll miss the cliched mentions of Jensen's deep green eyes that are like grass in the sunlight! And Jared's bright, dimpled grins that light up rooms!), and 3) something just won't feel right.

Point 3 is the weakest argument out of the bunch (point 1 is the strongest argument, in case you're wondering. What? I'm lazy D:) because there really aren't any defined characteristics for Jared and Jensen, other than their physical appearances. If I posted several snippets, some from searched+replaced original fiction and some from J2 AU fics, I'm sure it would be tremendously difficult to identify which was from which. So...I guess my point is, if I weren't lazy and were willing to search+replace all instances of "blue eyes" with "DEEP EMERALD ORBS", I might be able to enjoy reading a Dean/Castiel AU fic (oh wait, the replaced eye colour should then be "BRIGHT HAZEL ORBS, WITH FLECKS OF GOLD AND BLUE AND GREEN").

--
On a completely different note, I introduced my dad to the show Castle (he watches a lot of movies, but rarely TV shows -- something to do with his attention span, I believe. ;) I convinced him to try Castle by telling him that James Patterson appears in the first episode, hee). He finds Detective Beckett attractive, but only in the pilot episode -- apparently, her face? features? skin? becomes rougher in later episodes (in other words: she's not as hot anymore). Idk, lolwtf, Dad? XD I don't know if he's going to continue watching Castle, but I did manage to convince both of my parents to watch White Collar with me. :> Man, the Neal/Peter/Elizabeth vibes are even stronger upon re-watching.

Speaking of TV shows, the characterization inconsistencies in Glee drive me nuts. D: But! Complaints aside, I am totally shipping Santana/Brittany ♥.

Comments

[fishpatrol]

That's a good reading strategy! :D I'm probably going to stick with authors whose previous works I've enjoyed and read the other fics based on recommendations (so I'm depending on lovely people like you do all the work and tell me what's worth reading! ;)).

because there are still qualities we attribute to jared, jensen, chad, misha, etc - and replacing one with another wouldn't read as "true", y'know what i mean?

Mm, true enough. I've thought the whole search+replace thing over since I posted about it yesterday, and since I've never tried the method myself, I can't actually say whether it would work for me. I suspect that switching names between familiar characters wouldn't work for me (e.g. switching a Dean/Cas fic into a Dean/Sam fic -- or even Dean/Cas into J2 because I would know that the fic started out as Dean/Cas and I would recognize certain interactions/behaviours/etc as very Dean/Cas-like -- it might be a different case if someone else sent me the fic with the names already switched and I thought that the fic was actually J2...), but I predict that swapping the names from an original fic with J&J wouldn't phase me much.