Crowd-sourcing HD fan-fair: Progress Report #4 - Poll Results and Spreadsheet Complete!

[snowgall]

This is the last update I'll make before posting the final results of the hd_fan_fair "Who Tops More" project, which I'll probably be posting in just a few hours if I can.

For anyone who hasn't followed the "Who Tops More" project, here's how you can get caught up:
Crowd-sourcing Fan-fair Proposal - Spreadsheet link (f-locked)
Progress Report #1
Progress Report #2 - My f-list rocks!
Progress Report #3 - Take a Poll
Only the first post with the spreadsheet link is f-locked. If you want the link, just PM me.

1: Spreadsheet Complete!

Guys, guys, I can't tell you how excited and thrilled I am at how well the crowd-sourcing worked! It was so much fun watching the information get added so steadily, and seeing how many people contributed. We compiled information on 231 fics in just over 2 weeks! I've already thanked everyone I know who helped with the spreadsheet in my earlier posts, but if you contributed anonymously you have my thanks as well. And my thanks also go to everyone who took time to leave comments on any of the previous posts and everyone who took the poll. You are totally awesome!!!

In fact, I'm so pumped up by this that I'm seriously considering doing this again for another fest...maybe hd_smoochfest? What do you think? Would anyone be interested in working on that project, or has this been enough and you're all worn out?


2: Poll Results!

The first three cases were pretty uncontroversial, while the last two were more problematic:

• Case 1: Sex does not occur during the story, but the implication is that one of them will bottom in the future.
  People overwhelmingly agreed that these fics should be counted as "no penetration" and so that's how it will be.


• Case 2: Sex occurs during the course of the story, but is non-explicit.
  People overwhelmingly agreed that these fics should be counted as "bottom-whoever" and so that's how it will be.


• Case 3: The sex that occurs during the story is explicitly bottom-so-and-so, but there is the implication that switching will occur in the future.
  There was a little bit of disagreement about this case, but still, a strong majority voted that these fics should be counted as "bottom-whoever" and so that's how it will be.


• Case 4: The sex that occurs during the story is explicitly bottom-so-and-so, but there is implication (non-explicit) that switching also occurs during the course of the story.
  OK, this one was almost a 50/50 split between counting as "bottom-whoever" and counting as "swtiching". In the end, I went back myself and skimmed through the three fics that were at issue and made my own judgment calls, basing it on just how clear/vague the implications were. In fact, for one of the fics it seemed to me that no explicit penetration had actually occurred (Look Back, Move Forward by blithelybonny) though a strong case could be made for switching. For another (Heavenly Bodies by leo_draconis) I decided it actually fit better as an example of case #3, and so should be counted as bottom!Draco. That only left ASSassSINSs by hogwartsvixxxen, which I judged to be an example of switching. If you disagree with any of these calls you can let me know in the comments.


• Case 5: Explicit sex occurs with another character during the course of the story.
  Those who voted in the poll almost all agreed that what happens between one of Harry or Draco and another character should not matter for the purposes of this project. Several people had reservations and brought up questions in the comments. In the end, there was only one fic in the data set that fit into this category (Torn Are the Soft Ties by sashaminx), and this fic will be counted as "no penetration" since Harry and Draco only share a kiss and nothing more.

I'm going to go work up the results and make some charts and graphs now. I invite you to take a look at the completed spreadsheet (find the link in this post, or PM me) and let me know ASAP if you find any errors. Note that I also went through and adjusted a few of the entries in the top/bottom field to better reflect the poll results, so you might want to double-check those fics if you're interested.

Off to do some math now :)

Edit: final results have now been posted!

Comments

[cagnurit.livejournal.com]

Really looking forward to your charts <3

It seems that 'switching' is the hardest to specify among the fics? :))) (My categories are just about two things: 1) no (on screen) sex, and 2) there's sex!, then who? I'm so the lazy type of reader. XDDD)

I'm all in for another fest *g* (I think the other fests that are over 5 years and still running are smoochfest & glompfest). Though actually my contribution was just adding the titles; reading? - not so much >____>.

[snowgall]

Your contribution was HUGE. Seriously, getting all the basic info in the spreadsheet is vital, and it's something that many people would find tedious to do :) Until that info is inputted, nothing else can be added, and many people wouldn't bother to collect the top/bottom info without the spreadsheet being ready to receive it. So I am hugely thankful for all you did!

And yay for being game for another fest! I'll probably give this one time to settle in and maybe we'll think about starting a new one in a couple weeks, assuming other people want to :)

[khalulu]

Cool, it's filled! I just added a note about Blood and Brimstone, but it doesn't change anything, it's just voyeurism of oral sex with an OC.

With some of them I only skimmed too, but I felt confident about what I put down or I would have left it blank.

[snowgall]

Thanks for double-checking for me! That's what I like so much about crowd-sourcing, you know? It's nice to know that the data is not solely dependent on me :)

And I'm sure your skimming skills are fine :) Some fics are easier to skim than others, I think. It depends on how colorfully the author writes a sex scene ♥

[khalulu]

Yeah, and from the tone of some fics you can tell that if there were going to be a sex scene it would be a big deal for the characters and involve lots of lead-in and you can skip to the end and see if they've gotten there yet or how far you might have to back up.

[khalulu]

I just edited the category for my Tapestry of Kinship fic here when I remembered these lines:

"Harry wanted to see again the beautiful sated peace of Draco’s face when he was spent from passion. So he stroked, and kissed, and peeled off clothes, and held, and licked, and sucked, and moved against and over and in his lover until they both came and collapsed in each other’s arms."

I guess that "in his lover" implies bottom Draco.

Maybe it should be rated R? I'm never sure how graphic something needs to be for various ratings.

[snowgall]

I think ratings can be so subjective. One person's R is another person's NC-17 and vice-versa. And PG-13 is also murky.

It's even worse when authors try to convert ratings from one system into another. I recently read a story which was rated R when it was originally posted to HD-holidays, but when it was uploaded to AO3 it was changed to "T". I disagreed with that; I think R was the right rating, and I think that maps onto "M" in AO3's system. But I also think that AO3's system is needlessly confusing, since "M" in many other archives is the highest rating - NC-17 equivalent. So I bet that the author assumed NC-17 -> M so R -> T.

So basically, ratings are never all that black-and-white anyway. What you describe in your fic seems like a particularly borderline case. I usually try to imagine translating it to film. And I think that the type of hazy description of sex that you give here is like the montage-esque way some sex scenes are filmed: implied nudity but careful not to actually show breasts/butts/genitals on screen, lots of close-ups of kissing and hands but nothing too clear. And I think I've seen things like that in PG-13 films, but with just a little more suggestiveness it could easily go R.

That's not really an answer is it? :) You're the author, so I think it's fair for you to make the call. I think either PG-13 or R could be correct.

And it's another reason why it would be great to get more info on the PG-13 fics as well :)