In conclusion, we should all be Centauri
Feb. 25th, 2010 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakNot that it hasn't been said before, often and better by other people, but being a reader who likes both slash and het fanfiction involving the same characters makes for regular moments of disconnect. To wit: if character A is in love with female character B in canon, but also has an intense emotional connection to male character C, and this results in B getting dissed, bashed or dismissed in "I know that wasn't what it looked like, but I never really loved her, I only ever loved YOU!" fashion, I'm not continuing with the A/C slash story I'm reading. Simultanously, if an A/B story manages to include a paragraph that somehow C presents C as unimportant to A, I'm out of there, though that's rarer the case. (I did come across the het equivalent quite often, but usually in stories where there are two het relationships and the fanfic writer clearly has a grudge against one of them, feeling the need to reassure the reader that C can't possibly matter to A the way B does/did, and so forth.) Rather than further complain about this fannish pet peeve of mine, I shall indulge in a "think positive" manner by reminiscing about fanfiction which DOESN'T do that but manages to, gasp, allow their participants to be emotionally invested in more than one person, or figure out they love character X without suddenly concluding that of course they never ever loved Y.
First of all, there arepenknife's and artaxastra's X1 and X2 based stories, in which Xavier and Magneto used to be an item in the past, and Magneto and Mystique are one in the present. Yet strangely, I can't recall a single one where it's implied or outright stated that one of these relationships is better/worse/trivial/not as fulfilling as the other. At the same time, they weren't presented as interchangable, either. They were both distinct and important to all characters concerned. Still my golden standard for relationships with two male and one female (though Mystique is of course her own category, strictly speaking, as she can and does change between genders) characters which are not applicable for an 0T3 solution. Then there's my favourite corner of Babylon 5 fanfiction. Now as a Centauriphile, canon practically hands you a present because of the Centauri polygamy, but I still think it's grand none of us fell into the temptation of including a paragraph in a Londo/G'Kar story wherein Londo realizes G'Kar is his One True Love and he never loved another. This just does not work for the character, especially given the importance canon puts on his love for Adira, and the splendidness that is Timov (plus the parallels between his relationship with her and his relationship with G'Kar). Not to mention that G'Kar's penchant for non-Narn women as evidenced throughout the show would make it ridiculous to declare he suddenly finds out he really doesn't like women sexually. If I remember rightly, there was even Londo/G'Kar slash - written by the immensely readable kakaidamon - wherein their first time together isn't exactly the sexual revelation of the ages but for various reasons something of a let down, and they have to work on the sexual compability some more. (Sidenote: this reminds me that I have a weakness for first time stories where the sex is neither the solution to the interpersonal problems nor the best thing ever, complete with revelation of sexual identity. There was one in a B7 zine which did this very well for Blake and Avon, and it was mostly Avon's fault because of course he was too proud to admit he didn't have any gay experience befor.) (And a more recent Marvelverse one featuring Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, wherein Tony when they finally get to it is just too drunk for it to be really work. What does work, though, is that they both find it more funny than anythiing else and that Steve is around for the morning after.) Good times, good times.
Moving on chronologically, back when I started to read Alias fanfiction there wasn't much featuring my beloved Arvin Sloane. What was there, however, and what continued to be written in subsequent years, whether bykangeiko, andraste or more recently nomadicwriter, all managed to do justice to all the key relationships of his life (other than Rambaldi, ahem), with both Bristows and his wife Emily. (And later Nadia.) The bigger problem with Jack Bristow/ Arvin Sloane is anyway that a) Jack usually comes across as straighter than straight, and b) he seems to be Derevko-sexual even where women are concerned, but you can still pull it off. Without ignoring or belittling the women in their lives. Here's a great example.
It occurs to me, not for the first time, that it's easier to find stories without that annoying "*Love interest X? Bah, never loved her/him" element with pairings that aren't the most popular in their respective fandoms. (Certainly movieverse X-men fiction was dominated by Wolverine pairings back then; and probably is even more so now; B5 was always Sheridan/Delenn and Marcus/Ivanova-centric; and Alias was dominated by Sydney/Sark, Sydney/Vaughn and Jack/Irina.) Which makes it tricky for me on those rare but existing occasions when I do get invested in popular pairings, because there inevitably the dissing of the other relationship(s) occurs quite often. (Or the other relationship is just plain ignored, which makes for "but what about X?" on my part but is still preferable to bashing.) However, even with very popular pairings, there are great exeptions. In my most recent fandom, Merlin, there are, believe it or not, Arthur/Merlin season 2 or onwards stories which also contain Arthur/Gwen, and warm my heart by emphasizing the importance of both. One of my favourite examples. Or the Gwen story I linked the other day, which is as much about her relationships with Morgana and Merlin as it is about her relationship with Arthur.
Also while we're talking Merlin fanfiction, and on a completely different topic, the reason why I was somewhat apologetic about all the angsty character pieces I wrote was because one of the charms of the show is that it's often very funny, and the banter between the characters is one of the most endearing elements. As a reader, I miss that if I don't find it it in fanfiction. Especially if it's replaced by non stop earnest and open emotional declarations, the likes of which I usually can't imagine these particular characters saying. So when fanfiction manages to seamlessly interweave fun with pathos, snark with occasional revealing asides, I'm breathless with admiration. Again,penknife can do it even in a PWP, like this one ("We're not lost," Arthur says. "Except in the sense of not knowing where we are?" Merlin can't help asking.) astolat can do it in the middle of a big dramatic "Uther is about to burn Merlin alive" scene as in this story ("Did you know?" Uther said, low and coldly. "Did you know he was a sorceror?" "No," Arthur said, after a moment, and reminded himself he really was going to beat Merlin for that when this was all over. "Then you know nothing of him," Uther said. "He has lied to you from the moment you met him. He has wormed his way into your confidence so he might undermine the realm and everything that we have built—" "What, by being a completely rotten manservant?" Arthur said. "I'm not that bad," Merlin muttered. "Yes, you are," Arthur said. Uther's jaw tightened), and the bickering in the middle of the life-or-death situation really sells me on these being the same characers I watched on screen. In conclusion: fanfiction: love the hell out of it. Except when I don't.
First of all, there are
penknife's and artaxastra's X1 and X2 based stories, in which Xavier and Magneto used to be an item in the past, and Magneto and Mystique are one in the present. Yet strangely, I can't recall a single one where it's implied or outright stated that one of these relationships is better/worse/trivial/not as fulfilling as the other. At the same time, they weren't presented as interchangable, either. They were both distinct and important to all characters concerned. Still my golden standard for relationships with two male and one female (though Mystique is of course her own category, strictly speaking, as she can and does change between genders) characters which are not applicable for an 0T3 solution. Then there's my favourite corner of Babylon 5 fanfiction. Now as a Centauriphile, canon practically hands you a present because of the Centauri polygamy, but I still think it's grand none of us fell into the temptation of including a paragraph in a Londo/G'Kar story wherein Londo realizes G'Kar is his One True Love and he never loved another. This just does not work for the character, especially given the importance canon puts on his love for Adira, and the splendidness that is Timov (plus the parallels between his relationship with her and his relationship with G'Kar). Not to mention that G'Kar's penchant for non-Narn women as evidenced throughout the show would make it ridiculous to declare he suddenly finds out he really doesn't like women sexually. If I remember rightly, there was even Londo/G'Kar slash - written by the immensely readable kakaidamon - wherein their first time together isn't exactly the sexual revelation of the ages but for various reasons something of a let down, and they have to work on the sexual compability some more. (Sidenote: this reminds me that I have a weakness for first time stories where the sex is neither the solution to the interpersonal problems nor the best thing ever, complete with revelation of sexual identity. There was one in a B7 zine which did this very well for Blake and Avon, and it was mostly Avon's fault because of course he was too proud to admit he didn't have any gay experience befor.) (And a more recent Marvelverse one featuring Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, wherein Tony when they finally get to it is just too drunk for it to be really work. What does work, though, is that they both find it more funny than anythiing else and that Steve is around for the morning after.) Good times, good times. Moving on chronologically, back when I started to read Alias fanfiction there wasn't much featuring my beloved Arvin Sloane. What was there, however, and what continued to be written in subsequent years, whether by
kangeiko, andraste or more recently nomadicwriter, all managed to do justice to all the key relationships of his life (other than Rambaldi, ahem), with both Bristows and his wife Emily. (And later Nadia.) The bigger problem with Jack Bristow/ Arvin Sloane is anyway that a) Jack usually comes across as straighter than straight, and b) he seems to be Derevko-sexual even where women are concerned, but you can still pull it off. Without ignoring or belittling the women in their lives. Here's a great example. It occurs to me, not for the first time, that it's easier to find stories without that annoying "*Love interest X? Bah, never loved her/him" element with pairings that aren't the most popular in their respective fandoms. (Certainly movieverse X-men fiction was dominated by Wolverine pairings back then; and probably is even more so now; B5 was always Sheridan/Delenn and Marcus/Ivanova-centric; and Alias was dominated by Sydney/Sark, Sydney/Vaughn and Jack/Irina.) Which makes it tricky for me on those rare but existing occasions when I do get invested in popular pairings, because there inevitably the dissing of the other relationship(s) occurs quite often. (Or the other relationship is just plain ignored, which makes for "but what about X?" on my part but is still preferable to bashing.) However, even with very popular pairings, there are great exeptions. In my most recent fandom, Merlin, there are, believe it or not, Arthur/Merlin season 2 or onwards stories which also contain Arthur/Gwen, and warm my heart by emphasizing the importance of both. One of my favourite examples. Or the Gwen story I linked the other day, which is as much about her relationships with Morgana and Merlin as it is about her relationship with Arthur.
Also while we're talking Merlin fanfiction, and on a completely different topic, the reason why I was somewhat apologetic about all the angsty character pieces I wrote was because one of the charms of the show is that it's often very funny, and the banter between the characters is one of the most endearing elements. As a reader, I miss that if I don't find it it in fanfiction. Especially if it's replaced by non stop earnest and open emotional declarations, the likes of which I usually can't imagine these particular characters saying. So when fanfiction manages to seamlessly interweave fun with pathos, snark with occasional revealing asides, I'm breathless with admiration. Again,
penknife can do it even in a PWP, like this one ("We're not lost," Arthur says. "Except in the sense of not knowing where we are?" Merlin can't help asking.) astolat can do it in the middle of a big dramatic "Uther is about to burn Merlin alive" scene as in this story ("Did you know?" Uther said, low and coldly. "Did you know he was a sorceror?" "No," Arthur said, after a moment, and reminded himself he really was going to beat Merlin for that when this was all over. "Then you know nothing of him," Uther said. "He has lied to you from the moment you met him. He has wormed his way into your confidence so he might undermine the realm and everything that we have built—" "What, by being a completely rotten manservant?" Arthur said. "I'm not that bad," Merlin muttered. "Yes, you are," Arthur said. Uther's jaw tightened), and the bickering in the middle of the life-or-death situation really sells me on these being the same characers I watched on screen. In conclusion: fanfiction: love the hell out of it. Except when I don't.
