should I leave the elephant just standing there?

[telesilla]

So I'm trying to write this SGA fic; it's girl!Rodney(Meredith)/Ronon/John and I've come to one of those moments when I'm not sure what to do because I'd rather not a) piss my readers off and b) use a white girl writer cliche

Comments

[skywardprodigal]

Kill the lights.

[skywardprodigal]

:D

Also, there are other senses beyond sight.

[sugargroupie]

Agreed.

I guess my question would be what is the use of having John remark on the contrast in skin tones?

This. There are many other avenues to explore in a scene like this without having to touch the contrasting skin tones issue.

[darkrosetiger]

Go with your initial feeling: that you don't think about the contrast because most people aren't thinking about it in the first place.

My thought was that if Ronon's standing behind Girl!Rodney and holding her boobs, someone watching going to notice the fact that Ronon's all gold and bronze and Meredith is fishbelly white--just as you'd notice that Ronon towers over her, that Ronon has long hair and she doesn't, and that she's curvy and round and Ronon isn't.

From a design standpoint, contrast is a visual hook. You get used to it, but the first time, if you're watching from outside, it's kind of hard not to notice. To me, it's human nature to notice the difference--it's when you don't move on from there that it crosses over into fetishization.

[jlh]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. He can also just think about how her skin looks without making a big deal about the contrast with his own. I mean, people are always yammering about nipple color and the like in fics anyway.

I do want to say, it might not happen in fic but certainly in other fiction there's plenty of food-based fetishizing of white skin: peaches and cream complexion, or strawberries and cream, or just skin being creamy full stop. But maybe we're so used to that that we don't think about it?

In any case, I'd say, just describe her the same way you'd describe anyone, and the way she looks will naturally emerge, instead of being fetishized. That's how I usually write Seamus and Dean, and I think it works out pretty well.

[vito_excalibur]

You could hang a lampshade on it and have him get a little distracted by wondering if it's bad of him to notice...

[holzman]

What we finally figured was, if John doesn't notice the difference, then it's like the elephant in the room.

I humbly beg to differ. If John's watching Ronon and Meredith get it on and the thing that strikes his mind first or fifth has anything to do with their skin tones, they're having incredibly bad and boring sex.

[saltypepper]

Yes! This!

[sparkymonster]

If John's watching Ronon and Meredith get it on and the thing that strikes his mind first or fifth has anything to do with their skin tones, they're having incredibly bad and boring sex.

I'd disagree. They have bodies. Noticing skin color is part of looking at someone. I mean it just is. like, I notice skin color along with many other things about the person's body.