So....

[hmpf]

I've been bad. I've gone and read some fic. HL, Methos, my eternal number one fic reading fandom, the one I always keep coming back to.

And... there was some really nice characterisation there and all. And yet... suddenly, a bit of romance creeps in, and takes me right out of it, and I can't get back into the story, afterwards.

Why am I so bloody allergic to romance? It's not even like it would be out of character for Methos (unlike Sam and Gene, whom I really can't see having candlelight dinners and giving each other flowers)! Methos' entire relationship with Alexa is straight out of a romance novel. And I've written some bad romantic angst for him myself, in my very first fic, way back... Yet I can't read that kind of thing.

*sigh*

I also notice that I - hypocritically - tend to avoid fics featuring OFCs, and to some degree even OMCs. Hypocritically, because I've written both - in particular, I've written an OFC who's only a hair's breadth away from being a Mary Sue (maybe even is a Mary Sue) - and in a Horsemen fic, no less! I really should give some of those fics a chance.

Comments

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I do enjoy reading OFC/Methos fic (and writing it) but it has to be just right. Though what makes it so I can never quite put my finger on. I'm just fickle [g]

I've read and liked some...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

but it's incredibly rare for that kind of thing to work for me. Sylvia Volk's fics are an example of fics involving Methos in a relationship with OFCs that I like, even when they incorporate elements of traditional romance. But actually that's the only example that readily comes to mind.

When I said romance in my post I didn't just mean het romance, though. Slash romance is just as big of a turn-off for me. The fic that prompted my post was something involving Joe/Methos. I love Joe and Methos, they have a wonderful dynamic, and the fic actually portrayed that mostly quite well, but... eh.

Well.

Re: I've read and liked some...

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

[nods] I like romance, but at the same time, I don't think I'm a very romantic person, so finding fic that I enjoy in that genre is difficult for me. I think that was why I started reading a couple different mystery series, even though I'd never been much one for mysteries before. But in them, there was a relationship/romance, but not the focus.

Yes, I confuse even myself [g]

[loz]

...unlike Sam and Gene, whom I really can't see having candlelight dinners ...

... it happens in canon, Hmpf!

But, actually, yeah, I do sort of know what you mean, mostly.

Candlelight dinners? In canon?

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

I must have missed that ep.

(But seriously? I don't remember anything like that. Then again, it *has* been years...)

Re: Candlelight dinners? In canon?

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

... Perhaps it was in 2.08 - then I naturally would have blocked it out completely. ;-)

Re: Candlelight dinners? In canon?

[loz]

Episode 1.07. Pretty sure there are candles. There are, at least, lovehearts and lanterns. Photographic proof.

Re: Candlelight dinners? In canon? It's more likely than you think!

[loz]

They also eat breakfast together in 2.07, having spent the night sleeping together in the same room. There are no candles, but it's romantically dim.

Re: Candlelight dinners? In canon? It's more likely than you think!

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Okay, I do remember both of those scenes, but neither of them counts as a romantic candlelight dinner in my book... It's really only the real romance novel type stuff I'm allergic to; I'm fine with Sam and Gene eating together. Or even sleeping in the same room. Hell, Mikey's stuff has demonstrated to me that I can even be fine with them sharing house and bed... under certain conditions.

[unovis-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm not fond of romance in Highlander. It has to be very well done for me to read it in slash, and by someone I trust (I can see carenejeans waving her arms at me from the side). I avoid Methos/OFC like the plague, as with most het, unless it's highly recommended by someone who knows me. And even then -- ugh.

I try to write love without romance, when I can, which is a hard line to walk. I think most of my Darius/Methos things are like that -- you could try looking at "Of Late," and see what you think. It's not mushy and most of it deals with Darius facing the mortality of mortal friends.

But I love my OCs in other stuff, and Poor Roger has a romantic fool confronted with Methos at its heart. It's mostly about romantic disillusionment.