OPJ Discussion

[boomqueen]

This meta is brought to you by the letters M and F.

M is for Malfoy because this future!fic by cynthia_arrow has me thinking that a particularly nasty and villainous Slytherin might just make the hottest reformed-but-still-snarky bad boy evar. I've never really cared for Malfoy, in the books or films, and now I'm having the smutty type thoughts...

F for Faith because this vid by heresluck has been eating my brain with its amazing angsty and lush deliciousness for weeks now (plus it's to one of my favorite Tegan and Sara songs!).

I didn't like Faith at all at first when I started watching Buffy and now I luuuuuurve her. Just like I didn't like Starbuck at first, or Lex, or Sawyer, or Logan for that matter...or any of the other Obligatory Psychotic Jackasses (OPJs) that I seem to fall for eventually.

Which brings me to a pattern I have noticed over time regarding the characters I gravitate towards in my various fandoms. It goes something like this:

1. Why is ___ so obnoxious/cruel to beloved protagonist ___ ?
They are too loud, too rude, too self-absorbed, too angry, too harsh, too under-handed...
I can't believe they did ___ to ___!
OMG! we hates them!!!

2. Oh, but wait, it is actually driven by teh UST...
Oh, but wait, it is actually covering a mountain of woobie...
Oh, but wait, look at the pretty angst...
Oh, but wait, they are conflicted about their dark side and are trying to atone (even if it's a somewhat erratic path of redemption)...
Oh, but wait, ___ is a royal bad-ass in battle/sheets/smarts/you-name-it...

3. Now that you mention it...___ is pretty hot...
...and they always have snappy come-backs
Yup, I officially want to sex ___

4. OMFG best OPJ ever!!!
And I am now officially obsessed.

You may fill in the above blanks with any of the following (by fandom):

1. Faith - Buffyverse


2. Spike - Buffyverse


3. Lex Luthor - Smallville


4. Logan Echolls - Veronica Mars


5. Sawyer - Lost


6. My current #1: Kara "Starbuck" Thrace - Battlestar Galactica


7. and now presenting: Future!Draco Malfoy - Harry Potter (I'm totally agreeing with this fan-artist's ideas about what Future!Draco would look like)

Now we get to the part where I try to figure out WHY I have developed this pattern. Because at some point in time I developed a major kink for people that are mean/bad/wrong but in a sexy and potentially redeemable way.

Bad and/or broken girls and boys are hot? Evil is hot?
Villains get the best dialogue/snark?
I'm a sucker for angst? (though, to be more specific, I don't just want angst. I want snarky angst, not non-stop wailing/crying/moping emo angst.)
Morally dubious characters are more likely to be written as flirty/slutty/sexually charged?
I have a pathological need to mother/fix everyone including fictional characters?
I never quite got over that crush on bad-boys Axl Rose, River Phoenix and Johnny Depp when I was 12?
My brain is broken and I just need help?
All of the above?

And does this explain my relationship to other shows: maybe part of why I haven't truly bonded with Heroes is the lack of hot, snarky OPJ's? (In addition to Heroes' lack of overall character development...) Or why I loved Firefly but never had one character in the ensemble that I really felt uber-invested in?

Now my brain's all fuzzy. Now I kinda want to do a bigger J's Bad Girls and Boys of Fandom picspam... Well, here's hoping this meta has left you as thoroughly horny and conflicted as me :)

What about you guys? Any pathological fandom and/or attraction patterns you've noticed in yourselves?