*boggle*

[ratcreature]

Okay, I dread boring exposition dumps as much as the next reader, but while I'm not actually opposed to AUs that randomly cast canonically purely human characters as something with claws, merely encountering a sentence like "His extended claws clicked on the metal." will throw me out of a story. I mean, some kind of noticeable setup for this would have really helped, as I tend to assume (not unreasonably I think) the character's basic anatomy to be like what I'm familiar with, especially if the source media doesn't have any humanoid clawed creatures at all. So I'd like some hint what the character is supposed to be now that he suddenly isn't human anymore. Were-creature? Shapeshifter? Animal-hybrid? Mutant?

ETA: Why did I read on? Right, I was curious, only did I still not get an explanation for the claws, but instead there's now added a similarly unexplained "double row of extra-mammary nipples" -- albeit on another formerly human character, who btw is male in canon. Seriously...what?!? I don't think finding out why there are claws is worth more of this.

Comments

[elynross.livejournal.com]

I think for me it would really depend on how it was introduced, and where it went from there. If that sentence was my first encounter with the fact that something was very different, I think it would be rather intriguing, as I wondered what the author intended by it, and where she intended it to go. I would expect further information as I read would be required, but I don't think I'd require setup before that sentence, really; the sentence itself would be the indication that this wasn't the universe I was used to, entirely.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, it definitely worked as a further hook (though there were obvious universe differences before, just not anatomical ones). Unfortunately a bunch of paragraphs down, the anatomical weirdnesses get worse *points to the edited post*, and still no explanation for the claws is forthcoming.

[elynross.livejournal.com]

Um. Yes. Well. Apparently claws intrigue me, additional... whatever they are just makes me want to flee. *g* So, I say go with your instincts!!!

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Depending on who the author was, and the way the rest of the story was presented, I'd wonder if perhaps bits of the story were plagiarized from another fandom where characters *do* have claws?

I mean, it'd be a REALLY dumb move, but I've seen plagiarized stories where a search-and-replace missed a nickname (say, "David" replaced by "Clark," but with a "Dave" or two left in,) and there was a case just recently where you could tell that the plagiarized text had been pasted in from a different source because it used smart quotes and the non-plagiarized text didn't.

Alternately, it could certainly just be a sort of avante-garde, "Now someone is a mutant" story, or a subtle attempt at starting a plot in medias res-- it's hard to say without context.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

... And now I just read your ETA and it seems clear that this story is all about the body modification kink which, really, needs no explanation. Heh.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, there could be that. I mean, it is a somewhat trashy slavefic, which fits with my kinks, and I could have gone along quite happily still even with the claws, but... extra mammary glands on guys? Not so much.

[brownbetty]

*bwaahaahaaa* Yes, you know, I might not be opposed to this, but I do like some warning.