my fannish weaknesses
There was a conversation at Escapade this year about the diminishing use of the term "slash." (See link for a recap.) In this and another panel, there were conversations about what identifying as a "slasher" has meant at various times across the past 40+ years.
Remember when, ages back, there used to be fights over whether something could even be "slash" if the couple was already canon? And now, here we are, watching ship wars fought over what gets to be canon.
Speaking for myself, part of the joy of slash has always been the charge and energy that came with the act of slashing something. Historically, for me, "slashing" implied queering a text, sexing up a text, and playing with a canon. While I never only read fic for pairings that weren't canon, that project of reading into/against a text has certainly been a big part of the fun.
All of this is to say, at Escapade
lola conspired to introduce me to Guardian. (Which, I mean, let's be real. I'm a very easy target for that show.) And, of course, in the month since Escapade, I have watched every episode, watched multiple meta and explanatory videos on YouTube, and started reading the translation of the original BL novel on Wattpad.
The thing is, for me, at least 50% of the appeal of Guardian is the fact that the Guardian I'm a fan of doesn't exist outside of fanon. It will always be this censored webseries that references the original BL novel just enough to be both maddening and fascinating. It's like Yuri on Ice, where the show can't actually directly show anything, but everyone making and watching the thing knows exactly what's happening. With Yuri on Ice, I found that experience more frustrating. However, that act of not showing it, the dodge, is a huge part of what makes Guardian so compelling to me.
For me, the next 50% of Guardian's magic comes from the other ways that censorship policies have altered the story. The original novel is about Chinese gods, mythical figures/tropes, and the supernatural. Many of these are things that can't be shown on television. So, instead of ghosts we get aliens. Instead of powerful monks to fight the supernatural enemies, we get scientists concocting things in labs. And, most importantly, we get a whole different context for the first meeting of our two male protagonists.
All of this means that the web series is riddled with holes and inconsistencies. Which means its a brilliant text for fans to work with. There are so many strange gaps to fill or glitches to explain. There are 10,000 years of fictional history to play in and the fact that the canon is a heavily modified adaptation means it is already inherently an AU. It feels tailor-made to be fannish about. At least, it does for me. :D
I'm comparing my experience with Guardian to my experience with my current favorite TV show, The Magicians. The Magicians is queer, it has characters and friendships I adore, but I have no real interest in slashing anyone on the show. If I was going to write fic about The Magicians, it would probably be gen fic exploring things we don't get to see/know. Or epic side-plots where Margo and Elliot go off together and just feel exasperated with everyone and everything in Fillory.
All of this is reminding me how much power there is incomplete and/or unfulfilling canon. I'm not saying I don't want my pairings to be canon-- I have several pairings I follow which are technically canon. However, if I'm going to read/write fic, I think I need the canon to be missing something and for the fic to be filling the gap.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth here and has
comments. Feel free to comment in either place.
Remember when, ages back, there used to be fights over whether something could even be "slash" if the couple was already canon? And now, here we are, watching ship wars fought over what gets to be canon.
Speaking for myself, part of the joy of slash has always been the charge and energy that came with the act of slashing something. Historically, for me, "slashing" implied queering a text, sexing up a text, and playing with a canon. While I never only read fic for pairings that weren't canon, that project of reading into/against a text has certainly been a big part of the fun.
All of this is to say, at Escapade
lola conspired to introduce me to Guardian. (Which, I mean, let's be real. I'm a very easy target for that show.) And, of course, in the month since Escapade, I have watched every episode, watched multiple meta and explanatory videos on YouTube, and started reading the translation of the original BL novel on Wattpad.
The thing is, for me, at least 50% of the appeal of Guardian is the fact that the Guardian I'm a fan of doesn't exist outside of fanon. It will always be this censored webseries that references the original BL novel just enough to be both maddening and fascinating. It's like Yuri on Ice, where the show can't actually directly show anything, but everyone making and watching the thing knows exactly what's happening. With Yuri on Ice, I found that experience more frustrating. However, that act of not showing it, the dodge, is a huge part of what makes Guardian so compelling to me.
For me, the next 50% of Guardian's magic comes from the other ways that censorship policies have altered the story. The original novel is about Chinese gods, mythical figures/tropes, and the supernatural. Many of these are things that can't be shown on television. So, instead of ghosts we get aliens. Instead of powerful monks to fight the supernatural enemies, we get scientists concocting things in labs. And, most importantly, we get a whole different context for the first meeting of our two male protagonists.
All of this means that the web series is riddled with holes and inconsistencies. Which means its a brilliant text for fans to work with. There are so many strange gaps to fill or glitches to explain. There are 10,000 years of fictional history to play in and the fact that the canon is a heavily modified adaptation means it is already inherently an AU. It feels tailor-made to be fannish about. At least, it does for me. :D
I'm comparing my experience with Guardian to my experience with my current favorite TV show, The Magicians. The Magicians is queer, it has characters and friendships I adore, but I have no real interest in slashing anyone on the show. If I was going to write fic about The Magicians, it would probably be gen fic exploring things we don't get to see/know. Or epic side-plots where Margo and Elliot go off together and just feel exasperated with everyone and everything in Fillory.
All of this is reminding me how much power there is incomplete and/or unfulfilling canon. I'm not saying I don't want my pairings to be canon-- I have several pairings I follow which are technically canon. However, if I'm going to read/write fic, I think I need the canon to be missing something and for the fic to be filling the gap.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth here and has
comments. Feel free to comment in either place.