Stats from hp_ssc_fest

[swissmarg]

The hp_ssc_fest has wrapped up for the year with its master list. 'SSC' stands for 'Safe, Sane, Consensual'. This is a community that promotes 'a positive, loving, and healthy expression of BDSM', where 'the compound acronym, BDSM, is derived from the terms bondage and discipline (B&D, B/D, or BD), dominance and submission (D&s, D/s, or Ds), sadism and masochism (S&M, S/M, or SM)'. (Definition from Wikipedia.) Even if you are not 'into' that sort of thing, I encourage you to check out the fics. There are some very mild versions depicted and some really good fics.

And now on to the stats!

The fest produced:

25 fics
2 artworks

By rating (both fic and art):

G/K - 2 (but I would rate one of them R)
PG-13 - 1
R - 3
NC-17 - 21

By length:

1K-2K - iiiii iiii
2K-3K - iiii
3K-4K - ii
4K-5K - iii
5K-6K - i
6K-7K - iiii
7K-8K - i
12K+ - i

By characters featured as one of the main pairing or threesome:

9: Hermione
5: Draco, Pansy
4: Minerva
3: Lucius, Neville, Snape, Tonks
2: Ginny, Harry, Rolanda, Ron, Sirius
1: Astoria, Augusta, Bill, Dean, Fleur, James II, Luna, Millicent, Muriel, Padma, Remus, Scorpius, Stubby, Teddy, Wilhelmina

By pairing alignment:

HET - 9
FEMMESLASH - 8
SLASH - 5
HET 3-some - 5

By generation of pairings/threesomes:

Harry's Gen - 12
Cross Gen - 9
Older Gen - 3 (Professors and older relatives such as Augusta and Aunt Muriel)
Marauders Gen - 2 (including Lucius)
Next Gen - 1

By House affiliation of pairings:

Gryffindor/Slytherin - 8 (including threesomes)
Gryffindor/Gryffindor - 5
Gryffindor/Unknown - 4
Slytherin/Slytherin - 4 (including threesomes)
Gryffindor/Ravenclaw - 2
Unknown/Unknown - 2
Gryffindor/Hufflepuff - 1
Slytherin/Hufflepuff - 1
Hufflepuff/Unknown - 1

At least one Gryffindor was featured in the main pairing/threesome of 20 fanworks.
At least one Slytherin was featured in 13 fanworks.
One Hufflepuff (Tonks) was featured in 3 fanworks.
One Ravenclaw (Padma or Luna) was featured in 2 fanworks.

Thoughts: I was impressed that there were a few low-rated entries, showing that BDSM does not have to only be about sex. It can also be about comfort or power play. However, I really question the one fic that is rated 'K'. The BDSM part (in this case bondage) was tame, but the fic did clearly include intercourse and orgasm, and it wasn't just alluded to, it was described. I don't know of anyone who would want their primary-school aged child reading it.

The fic lengths were typical for an exchange of this nature, with many fics bunched toward the minimum length and the rest fairly evenly, although more sparsely, spread out up to 8,000 words. Then the one 'overachiever' (and I use the term lovingly, because who doesn't love more fic?) going for the length prize.

It always seems to be hit or miss which character will end up being the favorite in these anything-goes fests, and in this case it was Hermione, with Draco and Pansy second. I was surprised at the amount of Minerva (and 'older ladies' in general) love in this fest, which I attribute to the preferences of the participants. If you count them all together (Minerva, Rolanda, Augusta, Muriel, Wilhelmina), they were represented just as often as Hermione, being featured 9 times in the main pairing.

I found it interesting and heartening that really all types of characters were included, from quiet ones like Neville or Dean, and traditionally less attractive ones like Millicent or Muriel, to those I would expect to be staples of a fest like this, namely Lucius and Snape.

The big surprise for me was the amount of femmeslash, and especially that it beat out male slash (no pun intended) by a solid margin of 8 to 5. Once again, the 'older ladies' contingent had a lot to do with this, with 3 femmeslash pairings in the older generation.

Despite the strong showing by the older generation, Harry's generation still won out as being the most popular generation, with 44% of the pairings. Cross gen was also strongly represented with 33% of the pairings, which makes sense within the context of BDSM being about power to some extent. By adding cross gen to the mix, you either get a reinforcement of the age roles (older has more power/control), or an additional excitement by changing around the age roles, and giving the younger partner more power or control.

Looking at the House affiliations of the individual characters, the fest seems to have been skewed in favor of Gryffindors, but then if you look at the pairings, most of those Gryffindors were paired with Slytherins. Again, I think this has to do with the power play aspect. The Slytherins are traditionally the 'corrupt' ones who will use others for their own gain (or perhaps pleasure). And as with the age discrepancies, turning it around and putting a Gryffindor in a position of power over a Slytherin can also add to the interest or excitement factor. As usual, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were not well-represented, partly due to there simply being fewer named or developed canon characters from those Houses, and partly because, I think, there is not the inherent power struggle involved with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as there is with Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Overall, I found this an interesting and entertaining fest, and encourage people not to be put off merely by a 'BDSM' warning. It's not all that you might think!