It was a thought that came out of no where, but it's a thought that I really need to give some sort of voice to. I find that I've yet to talk to anyone on here that distinguished themselves as a male. So, as a male, it seems rather strange to me. Am I the only guy that actually writes Sess/Kag fanfiction?

To answer my own question, I know I'm not. It's just strange that I've never met another one. Actually for that matter, I've never met another dude that wrote fanfiction for anything really. So yeah... I guess that's what the thought was. Just figured I'd see if someone else had something to say.

You need to talk to Walter205... he's been here for years, and writes some pretty good - if somewhat twisted - fics!

~~Wiccan~~

Though fanfic is predominately a woman's genre, like 90% i believe, I do know plenty of men that write it. Walter, as Wiccan mentioned from here, Foe, ShadowKnight, Melrick, Keith, and Kelk from AFF as well as many others from over there. There are a few others from AFF I know of that write Sess/Kags but they are the minority.

Well that could be because, from what I've read of most Sess/Kag fics, there is a really strong focus on Sesshoumaru. I mean in a physical manner. While I have no real problem reading things like this or writing them I think some guys do. I'm generalizing though and that's bad for my health. Regardless, it is nice to know that there are some guys that are well known enough to be memorable by others. It makes me feel a little better in the end I guess.

While going through source material for my thesis, I found an article about fanfiction. They also noted that fanfiction is to such a large degree a female phenomenon, and their argument was that it's because women read differently from men. They focus on different things in the text.

"David Bleich asked a mixed group of college students to comment, in free-association fashion, on a body of canonized literary works. His analysis of their responses suggested that men focused primarily on narrative organization and authorial intent, while women devoted more energy to reconstructing the textual world and understanding the characters. He writes, “Women enter the world of the novel, take it as something ‘there’ for that purpose; men see the novel as a result of someone’s action and construe its meaning or logic in those terms.” "

Just something I found interesting.

Men think in such a different way then women, but I never thought about them reading a story in a different way, but I suppose it makes sense.

I heard the other day that sales of men's romance books have risen significantly over the last year or two with the freedom that ereaders are offering. Now the guys don't have to try to hide their book cover to prevent any 'ridicule' they are afraid they might get. I'd love to read one or two of these books and try to write a Sess/Kag in that fashion.

Well, what actually brought it on was a friend of mine. I was having a conversation with her and she pointed out, that, in her opinion, she reads into stories that are dark and deviant as romantic and passionate. This seemed to strike me for a moment, mostly because she was commenting on a short that I sent her to read. Which in turn led me to ask a male friend of mine to read it, in which he replied that it was just smut to him. He saw it for what I did. Something dark and deviant.

Which I suppose plays into what Chie said. A male won't read into the characters as much as simply associate them with their place in the story. It might also explain why Midori sees everything I write that makes most women run, for instance an overly possessive partner, as something to be desired.

I will think on this more, it would be something that would prove interesting if I don't come to a conclusion that satisfies my endless questioning.

In my experience, nearly everyone I've run into have been women. There have been a few men (Walter, who has already been listed as an example), though not many. Most of those that I have met, though, tend to write some amazingly dark tales that were worth every moment spent reading!

I've seen some women right some extremely disturbing and dark fiction as well. While I would like to say that men have the hold on the evil side of fiction I would be lying to myself. Though dark fics are just so fun.

Just as an interesting side note to this about how we read things differently... the publisher I'm signed with that does specialize in romance stories now has a new genre designed for men (if I remember right, it's called the Man Cave). The criteria for that is different than what they call for when it comes other things. So that does add weight to the fact that men and woman do look for different things when it comes to reading.

Just an interesting side note is all...

I wasn't aware of that, my contact with publishers in general has been limited. Other then contact with the occasional agent I haven't made it very far with any of my previous original works. It would be something to look into though. Thank you for the information.

It may be a part of what makes men and women different species.

True story...

A professional writer friend of mine, when he was starting out, wanted to write part of his story from a female character's POV, so he went to the closest source for information on how women's thinking differed from men's. One night at dinner, he asked his wife what she was thinking about. Her answer was pretty much a list of her day: her worries over her job performance, if their eldest was enjoying music lessons, her mother's health, etc. Then she asked him what he was thinking about.

His answer? "I'm chewing."

I've also known male fanfic writers who can make you laugh until you cry, sit up until 3AM finishing the next chapter, and who write love scenes that can get *me* hot and bothered.

On second thought, maybe we're not as different as we think.

Differences or not, fanfiction is my practice. It's how I work out characters, and figure out how situations will turn out. It just so happens that I find the Inuyasha universe far more entertaining then any other... that's not exactly true but it's as close to the truth as anyone is going to get.

That is a very interesting story. And he sounds horribly like Sesshoumaru. Get asked what your thinking about and you respond, "I'm chewing." I would probably just look at her shrug.

And I thoroughly enjoy being a test subject for your "practice". Keep up the hard, and very good, work.

Flattery will get you everywhere... that's a lie...