Scales and Tales

Today's Journaling January prompt from extrapenguin was Identity Porn


This is a trope that I really enjoy, and also find really difficult to describe. It's an umbrella kink that encompasses several different aspects of narrative play around the concept of identity.

The most general definition I can give is this: "Identity Porn" is a narrative examination of the tension caused by a character's efforts to conceal their identity in some way, or by uncertainty about their true identity. Stricter definitions might exclude the latter clause, but I feel that an identity "concealed" by outside interference from all parties can also meet the emotional and narrative beats of the Identity Porn trope.


Setup
Superheroes are the classic example, perhaps because of the double-whammy (a superhero passing as a regular person is in essence maintaining two concealed identities) but Identity Porn comes with lots of options. Spies, undercover detectives, clones, celebrities, military operatives, dethroned royalty, crossdressers, revenge seekers, amnesiacs, and time-travellers all get a slice of the Identity Porn pie! Identity is a complicated and very personal concept, so it makes sense that any kind of long-term manipulation of identity is going to pull a lot of emotional strings.

( Discussion and Related Tropes )

( Canon Recs for Identity Porn )

( Fic Recs for Identity Porn )

So there you have it, lots of rambling about Identity Porn. :D If you have recs for other canons or fics, or thoughts on what makes this trope satisfying, please comment with them!

Well, I'm falling behind on my resolution to post more, already; fandoms to the rescue!


Guess who just got Kings Rising and devoured it in a matter of hours? That's right, this snake! What a great finale - the juxtapositions went a fair way toward letting everyone have some "resolved" feelings about their past conflicts.

( More spoilery comments below the cut. )

I've also been rewatching the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime lately, and have just about decided - after browsing a whole lot of fic and having to skim over all the manga-verse and Brotherhood-verse choices - that it's time to pick up one or both of those, too. There's just not enough fic, especially longfic, for the 2003-verse! Not sure yet which I'll go for first; it'll probably come down to "whom do I know that will loan me theirs" and/or "which can I manage to download first." So we'll see!

Fellow FMA fans on my flist, which did you like best? Where would you recommend starting? Do you have any fic recs for me, either for now (from 2003-verse) or for later (after I've started the manga/Brotherhood)? I can hardly wait to have another thing to squee about!

I, erm, don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I am a HUGE FANGIRL of Freece's "Captive Prince" original-fic novel, and chapter 26 has been posted!

If you haven't read it: why not? :D Seriously. Yes, it's a WIP, but so far Freece has been extremely reliable and dedicated; and the writing is seriously (I cannot stop using that word) amazing. Freece has promised there will be an actual made-of-trees version when it's finished, and I will be buying multiple copies because this story? Completely deserves it. This is the kind of story I have looked for in vain on the fantasy shelves, and even incomplete it's better than four out of five of the fantasy novels I've read recently.

Slash (definite, actual slash, not just slash-potential) fantasy novels with cultural worldbuilding and antagonistic heroes, a wrongly-enslaved prince, and epic battles? SO MUCH YES, and if you haven't read it, go and do so! (Complete warnings for those who want them are here.)