Fluffy Bunnies or Angsty Bunnies?

[childminerva]

There has been much discussion about this in some of the other threads, so I thought I'd make a poll.
I'm an angst person myself, I find it much easier to write than fluff. I never have very good ideas for fluff, but I can always come up with plenty of ideas for angst! ;D

[jayejaye]

Oh angst all the way for me ;D ;D ;D..but I think I already said that. I love to see the lives of our favourite couple run anything but smoothly. If I was a good writer (which I'm not ) I would only write angst. Lemons make it into second place though..

[childminerva]

I just looked at my list of fics on ff.net...5 of the 14 are marked angst. There are some angst entries in my fanfic 100 collection and there will be plenty more coming. I only have about 3 or 4 fics that could qualify as being pure fluff.

[jayejaye]

I love your fics.... Can't wait for more fanfic 100 (especially if it's angst). In fact I feel the need for a little angst right now...*heads off to ff.net).

[childminerva]

aww, thank you. I definitely have some angst coming...though it's easier to write little bits of fluff for the 100. But there are some angst prompts coming, maybe the next one...

[mmadlyinlove]

I like both.... ~mmadlyinlove~

[EloquentPhoenix]

Fluff, though sometime this week I really need to write some angst to make me feel better.

[StormAngel]

hmmm... I like both..

[ιady ταвz]

both is good...or great rahter

[osusprinks]

I love fluff. I can't really write anything that doesn't end with a smile. I think that is probably equally from lack of skill and personality. I do read angst but generally only because I like the author so I know it'll be good. Otherwise, I'm so fluffy I'm cotton candy!

[jayejaye]

osusprinks said:

I love fluff. I can't really write anything that doesn't end with a smile. I think that is probably equally from lack of skill and personality.

What nonsence !!!! I think it must be harder to write good fluff fics than angst...and yours are GOOD. I only read fluff by 1 or 2 writers and you are top of the list. ;D ;D ;D

[childminerva]

OSUSprinks does write amazing fluff..."A ChildMinerva Christmas", and the fic "And" are just two examples. I personally find it easier to come up with angst plots than original fluff plots and I am in awe of people who can come up with original fluff plots. OSUSprinks...you are one of them!

[Apocalypticat]

childminerva said:

OSUSprinks does write amazing fluff..."A ChildMinerva Christmas", and the fic "And" are just two examples. I personally find it easier to come up with angst plots than original fluff plots and I am in awe of people who can come up with original fluff plots. OSUSprinks...you are one of them!

*Agrees 100%*

Personally, I tend to like a mixture, reading-wise, but I can't help but write angst. I find fluff well nigh impossible to write.

[osusprinks]

Awh guys. Thank you, that means a lot. I'm glad you like reading my silly little stories.

[MinnieQuill]

Erm...well I write two genres. Angst and comedy. No fluff anywhere there! So I guess that means I'll have to vote for...angst! And it is SO much fun to write though I am occassionally quite scared of what I come up with (the backstory of Ruins or Don't Need the Sunshine anyone?)
Fluff is...nice. But not my favourite. I can get annoyed with it quite easily though there ARE some wonderful people. But a lot of fluff is absolute bollocks. But the good makes up for the bad.

[cubansombrerogal]

Angst is good and all, and something I'm really starting to get into, but after a while, it gets depressing, and I really need fluff ...

[Blue]

Angst is just the best. I mean fluff is okay for a while, but after a while when Ad's eyes won't stop twinkling and Min won't stop eating ginger newts I just get to a point where I think 'gah, this would never happen, ever, to anyone and if it did it'd actually be scary.' That's not to say I don't think the fluff writers here are amazing, because I really admire them, it's just too much fluff melts my brain.

Whereas, angst is like a drug, if I read one short bit of angst I have to keep reading until I find one that's so good I just sit there for a while like 'wow.' And I've always thought that good agst isn't the type that tries to make you cry because 'insertnamehere' loses the love of their life when they sacrifice their life for their own, I love the angst that takes a character and gives them a life that reeks of unfulufilled potential and unrequited love. That stuff's great. But I'm not so good at wrting it for ADMM, because they always have to end up together. I can write it for Snape. And Janeway is always my ultimate angst character, if anyone else likes Voyager...?.
It always depends on my mood though, what I end up writing, so I can't say I find it easier to write one or the other because I can find them both equally difficult or equally easy if the mood strikes me (which it rarely ever does.) But I prefer angst.

[MMADfan]

I guess if I had to choose among fluff, angst, or smut, I'd choose fluff. But I'm more of a dramatic romance kinda gal in fanfic (reading and writing). I don't do dark fics, and if a fanfic I'm reading takes too dark a turn and it looks like it's going to end on a dark note, I won't read it. In regular non-fanfic fiction, I tend to read stuff that's dramatic or romantic (but not "romance," romantic in the generic sense), but I also like some mystery/crime/detective novels -- both the Kellermans, for example -- and those definitely can have a dark edge to them, but they aren't what ends up being called "angst" in the fanfic world. I also like a lot of old standards, like Lawrence, Hardy, Trollope, and such, and they tend to have some very serious themes running through them -- although Trollope is really funny and doesn't tend to have any of the darkly dramatic tendencies that Hardy and Lawrence do. Among modern writers, I also like Margaret Atwood, and her books certainly have an edge to them. But despite that, I just am not a fan of angsty fanfic, and I can't say why. Maybe because it tends to take over the fic? Or maybe when I read fanfic, I do it because I want an even greater escape from reality than I get through fiction already, and so want my favorite characters to end up happily ever after? That could be it. Besides, RL is so serious, anyway, it's nice to have some smiling, happy, fluffy bunnies hoppin' around!

So, yeah, fluff. And if it's lemony chiffon fluff, that's nice, too! ;D

[MinnieQuill]

Fluff slides into cliche so easily. It takes a writer of great skill to prevent that from happening and as that can be nigh on impossible, I tend to avoid it all together. Angst has so many possibilities ...

[morgainegaunt]

Angst al the way.

[MMADfan]

minniequill said:

Fluff slides into cliche so easily. It takes a writer of great skill to prevent that from happening and as that can be nigh on impossible, I tend to avoid it all together. Angst has so many possibilities ...

I find that, unfortunately, angst can also become repetitive and pointless, and often degenerates into adolescent melodrama with no character or plot development, with the only point being to cause the characters distress, and so I actually think it tends to require writers of skill just as much as fluff does. It too often turns into, "Let's see how many horrific things we can put these characters through." Angst in a literary work is a tool for achieving an end, not an end in itself; in fanfic, it has a tendency to become an end in itself. And at the end of a story, in many angsty fanfics, there's often no moment of catharsis, and no resolution for the reader (let alone for the characters *grin*), and not even any kind of overarching theme, other than the pain, and no sense of purpose. Hence, I decided after thinking about it a bit, my preference for the RL genres of drama or tragedy (as opposed to the fanfic genre of angst), and why I can read novels that have a lot of tragedy, darkness, and pain, but tend to steer away from it in fanfic. I also think a steady diet of "angst" is unhealthy. However, it's all a matter of taste. And a lot of stories that are labeled "angst" in fanfic are actually not "typical" angst fanfic, and are more drama -- or tragedy.

Fact is, neither fluff nor angst are "well-rounded" fics and both have their fair share of cliches, but who cares, really? If a person enjoys reading a particular kind of fic and reading it gives them a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the story, both categories have their place. I don't find angst particularly satisfying to read, but others must, since so much is both written and read. It is a matter of taste, which is the point of this poll, and the board. Different things for different tastes. ;D

[fallingmoon]

I like a healthy mixture of both. I love fluff and I love angst.

FLUFF!!! I love cliche!

[tabbycat]

I don't like manic depressive angst. I like if it's... god, this won't make sense *blushes* ... but I like it if it has fluffy humor... but also when they don't end up together. But the angst that involves someone dying... I just can't even deal with that ):

[MinnieQuill]

I find that, unfortunately, angst can also become repetitive and pointless, and often degenerates into adolescent melodrama with no character or plot development, with the only point being to cause the characters distress, and so I actually think it tends to require writers of skill just as much as fluff does.

I agree, but I've found much more cliche fluff than cliche angst. Of course it depends on the writer, that's a given in any story hence I didn't write that. Skill is important in anything. You can't be a good swimmer without skill etc. etc.

As far as fluff goes, I just don't like it. Small doses is fine, but if it's fluffy for the point of being fluffy I can't handle it. That's just me though, I don't really like one-shots that much anymore for a similar reason. I love evolution, the how something got there.

[MinnyCat]

I always thought that I would like fluff better, but it turns out I like angst better. lol.

[Aribeth]

It depends on how I feel.