why slash may not always be the best idea
All right, so I read this book, The Cardinal Sins, right? And I spent the entire book slashing Kevin/Pat. Kevin was the narrator and basically a parish priest; Pat was a friend he'd known from high school who ended up being Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago. Kevin is nice, normal, one of the good guys if slightly lonely and with a tendency to close out people he's close to. Pat is beyond fucked up. Most significantly, he had difficulty in remaining celibate; while in seminary he at least fooled around with one guy (canon) and has fucked more women. Specifically, he's carried on an affair with main character number 3, Maureen, for the entire book. Kevin has been in love with main character #4, Ellen, also for the entire book, but never once sleeps with her. He's also vaguely into Maureen.
Now, there's more subtext than you can shake a stick at for Kevin/Pat, but there's lots of canon protestations that Kevin is sooo heterosexual. There's also text for Kevin/Pat unrequited from Pat's POV. Lots of it:
[Pat] sobbed again, not hysterically but deeply, sadly. "I'm so ashamed. You and Maureen and Kevin are more important to me than anybody I know. Yet I mess up Maureen's life, I alienate Kevin, and then I try to rape you. I don't want to hurt any of you. I love you all."
"Especially Kevin," [Ellen] said in a burst of understanding.
He looked up at her. "You know that too, do you? Especially Kevin. You won't tell him?"
"Of course I won't tell him."
"I'm probably more of a homosexual than anything else. There's no anger or hatred then, only peace. Strange, that's the first time I've ever spoken the word about myself."
"That's too simple, Patrick. Your relationship with Maureen gives the lie to that explanation."
He stood up shakily, like a man recovering from a long illness. "Kinky, anyway."
And then in the very last chapter:
After a long while, Pat turned to me. "I did it all for you, Kevin," he said. He was calm, almost philosophical. "I did everything in my life to please you, and you never once said a kind word to me, ever. I played basketball for you; I went to the seminary for you; I became a priest for you; I saved the diocese for you you; I voted for the Pope for you; and you never gave a damn. You're still what you always were, the rich bastard who patronizes veryone and loves no one."
I said nothing.
Pat went on, almost as if he were in a reverie. "You're the leader and the writer and the intellectual, the priest everyone admires. I can be a cardinal, and I'm still the garbage man's son to you. You watch me and criticize me and judge me. You don't care about me; you don't love me; you don't give a fuck whether I love you or not. You've ruined my love; you've taken everything away from me. Now Maureen is gone, and I don't care whether I live or die."
His voice had become choked, his face twisted in grief.
"Maybe you're right, Pat," I said. "I haven't been the kind of friend you've wanted. I--"
"I loved you more than all the others," he said. He knelt beside the bed, sobbing quietly.
Now, on rereading that last line, I can't decide whether he's referring to Maureen, whom he loved more than any of the other women he fucked, or to Kevin, whom he really does love more than... anyone. Ever. On rereading, I think the ambiguity is intentional.
My problem is... well, if the Greeleyverse were a fandom, and if I had the motivation, I'd write slash for this. Because I'm insanely in love with Kevin/Pat, and I think a strong case could be made from the subtext that Kevin cares about Pat in a different way but with the same intensity as he cares about Ellen. However, I don't just suspect, I know outright that that would be subverting the author's intention to write this semi-queer relationship that could never and will never be realized but that... yes. It's a much more interesting, ambiguous relationship in canon than it would ever be if I wrote slash about it, because by slashing it I would normalize the relationship, simplify it, make it simply a matter of desire. Well, I'd do my best to make that not happen, but by slashing it, I would definately be changing the dynamic of the relationship.
I am reminded at this point, actually, of a word you brought to--er, no. I'm actually reminded of an essay about tS. It's a very short essay and you can find it here. Now, because I read with a pen in hand, the book has my thoughts on the first read-through, and it seems I missed a large quantity of the Point (I was more concerned with how AG managed to hold our interest during the Papal conclave despite his audiance knowing how it turned out than with the fact that this was the pivotal turning point in the Kevin/Ellen relationship--they acknowledge their mutual feelings and decide not to act on them) and didn't really care as much about 'ship, being all of eleven or twelve years old at the time. (No, pretty sure I was twelve/thirteen, actually. Still.) On the second read-through, I wondered if I missed much of the point about the ambiguity of Pat's feelings for Kevin and especially Kevin's feelings for Pat because I was so busy reading with a slasher's eye that I rather missed the large portions of active disdain and focused more on the "he described him as handsome! He wants to fuck him!"
It doesn't really matter that much how I interpret this rather cheap novel intended strictly for entertainment, but I think that an unfortunate consquence of my time in fandom is a tendency to simplify and make romantic/sexual all relationships I see in literature. Because, on the whole, fandom is rather pairing-centric, which isn't a bad thing, but I think it tends to make me miss the Point a lot.
This is one of the things that worries me most about the Harry Potter fandom. Unlike those who cry "purity! Canon! It's like slashing the Bible!" I'd actually much rather slash Sherlock Holmes or Lord of the Rings simply because Doyle and Tolkein weren't writing for queer-aware audiences. The relationships they wrote can legitimately be read as queer a lot more easily than... any current source, because current sources are aware of the possibility of queerness and write accordingly. And I think the ambiguity of several canonical relationships is destroyed by the type of slash that resolves everything nice and neatly and has them shacked up and decorating the Christmas tree. Specifically, I'm thinking of Jim/Blair and the Mauraders in HP, though I'm sure the same probably could be said of Jack/Daniel (though I don't think that the Stargate writers are as good at creating complex relationships; much of what I love about Stargate is the fannish interpretation thereof, so that's a whole 'nother story.)
This is one of my major problems with the concept of OTP. Once something becomes an OTP not just for one person but for a fandom, individual writers fail to establish the relationship before the story begins, so we end up with characters so far removed from their canonical relationship that the writer is essentially negating all that complexity and delving right into what is, essentially, a PWP. It's not so much the difference between first time and established relationship fic; it's possible to write established relationship fic that still recalls the canonical interaction and extrapolates from that the mode of interaction for the romantic/sexual relationship.
This is why I'm so drawn to reading and writing rare pairings. Yes, Jack/Daniel is the OTP. But so much more challenging to establish, oh, Hammond/Jacob for the reading audience, as I am forced to prove that I can extrapolate the relationship from canon.
Is this making any sense? Or has too much Christmas cake driven all semblance of sanity from my head?
I'm trying to decide whether to dive into my brand-new H/W slash or save it for later and re-read more unintentionally slashy Andrew Greeley goodness.
And GIP! I mentioned Bibleslash, so I feel that it's time to show off the brand-new shiny David/Jonathan icon wistful_fever made for me.
Now, there's more subtext than you can shake a stick at for Kevin/Pat, but there's lots of canon protestations that Kevin is sooo heterosexual. There's also text for Kevin/Pat unrequited from Pat's POV. Lots of it:
[Pat] sobbed again, not hysterically but deeply, sadly. "I'm so ashamed. You and Maureen and Kevin are more important to me than anybody I know. Yet I mess up Maureen's life, I alienate Kevin, and then I try to rape you. I don't want to hurt any of you. I love you all."
"Especially Kevin," [Ellen] said in a burst of understanding.
He looked up at her. "You know that too, do you? Especially Kevin. You won't tell him?"
"Of course I won't tell him."
"I'm probably more of a homosexual than anything else. There's no anger or hatred then, only peace. Strange, that's the first time I've ever spoken the word about myself."
"That's too simple, Patrick. Your relationship with Maureen gives the lie to that explanation."
He stood up shakily, like a man recovering from a long illness. "Kinky, anyway."
And then in the very last chapter:
After a long while, Pat turned to me. "I did it all for you, Kevin," he said. He was calm, almost philosophical. "I did everything in my life to please you, and you never once said a kind word to me, ever. I played basketball for you; I went to the seminary for you; I became a priest for you; I saved the diocese for you you; I voted for the Pope for you; and you never gave a damn. You're still what you always were, the rich bastard who patronizes veryone and loves no one."
I said nothing.
Pat went on, almost as if he were in a reverie. "You're the leader and the writer and the intellectual, the priest everyone admires. I can be a cardinal, and I'm still the garbage man's son to you. You watch me and criticize me and judge me. You don't care about me; you don't love me; you don't give a fuck whether I love you or not. You've ruined my love; you've taken everything away from me. Now Maureen is gone, and I don't care whether I live or die."
His voice had become choked, his face twisted in grief.
"Maybe you're right, Pat," I said. "I haven't been the kind of friend you've wanted. I--"
"I loved you more than all the others," he said. He knelt beside the bed, sobbing quietly.
Now, on rereading that last line, I can't decide whether he's referring to Maureen, whom he loved more than any of the other women he fucked, or to Kevin, whom he really does love more than... anyone. Ever. On rereading, I think the ambiguity is intentional.
My problem is... well, if the Greeleyverse were a fandom, and if I had the motivation, I'd write slash for this. Because I'm insanely in love with Kevin/Pat, and I think a strong case could be made from the subtext that Kevin cares about Pat in a different way but with the same intensity as he cares about Ellen. However, I don't just suspect, I know outright that that would be subverting the author's intention to write this semi-queer relationship that could never and will never be realized but that... yes. It's a much more interesting, ambiguous relationship in canon than it would ever be if I wrote slash about it, because by slashing it I would normalize the relationship, simplify it, make it simply a matter of desire. Well, I'd do my best to make that not happen, but by slashing it, I would definately be changing the dynamic of the relationship.
I am reminded at this point, actually, of a word you brought to--er, no. I'm actually reminded of an essay about tS. It's a very short essay and you can find it here. Now, because I read with a pen in hand, the book has my thoughts on the first read-through, and it seems I missed a large quantity of the Point (I was more concerned with how AG managed to hold our interest during the Papal conclave despite his audiance knowing how it turned out than with the fact that this was the pivotal turning point in the Kevin/Ellen relationship--they acknowledge their mutual feelings and decide not to act on them) and didn't really care as much about 'ship, being all of eleven or twelve years old at the time. (No, pretty sure I was twelve/thirteen, actually. Still.) On the second read-through, I wondered if I missed much of the point about the ambiguity of Pat's feelings for Kevin and especially Kevin's feelings for Pat because I was so busy reading with a slasher's eye that I rather missed the large portions of active disdain and focused more on the "he described him as handsome! He wants to fuck him!"
It doesn't really matter that much how I interpret this rather cheap novel intended strictly for entertainment, but I think that an unfortunate consquence of my time in fandom is a tendency to simplify and make romantic/sexual all relationships I see in literature. Because, on the whole, fandom is rather pairing-centric, which isn't a bad thing, but I think it tends to make me miss the Point a lot.
This is one of the things that worries me most about the Harry Potter fandom. Unlike those who cry "purity! Canon! It's like slashing the Bible!" I'd actually much rather slash Sherlock Holmes or Lord of the Rings simply because Doyle and Tolkein weren't writing for queer-aware audiences. The relationships they wrote can legitimately be read as queer a lot more easily than... any current source, because current sources are aware of the possibility of queerness and write accordingly. And I think the ambiguity of several canonical relationships is destroyed by the type of slash that resolves everything nice and neatly and has them shacked up and decorating the Christmas tree. Specifically, I'm thinking of Jim/Blair and the Mauraders in HP, though I'm sure the same probably could be said of Jack/Daniel (though I don't think that the Stargate writers are as good at creating complex relationships; much of what I love about Stargate is the fannish interpretation thereof, so that's a whole 'nother story.)
This is one of my major problems with the concept of OTP. Once something becomes an OTP not just for one person but for a fandom, individual writers fail to establish the relationship before the story begins, so we end up with characters so far removed from their canonical relationship that the writer is essentially negating all that complexity and delving right into what is, essentially, a PWP. It's not so much the difference between first time and established relationship fic; it's possible to write established relationship fic that still recalls the canonical interaction and extrapolates from that the mode of interaction for the romantic/sexual relationship.
This is why I'm so drawn to reading and writing rare pairings. Yes, Jack/Daniel is the OTP. But so much more challenging to establish, oh, Hammond/Jacob for the reading audience, as I am forced to prove that I can extrapolate the relationship from canon.
Is this making any sense? Or has too much Christmas cake driven all semblance of sanity from my head?
I'm trying to decide whether to dive into my brand-new H/W slash or save it for later and re-read more unintentionally slashy Andrew Greeley goodness.
And GIP! I mentioned Bibleslash, so I feel that it's time to show off the brand-new shiny David/Jonathan icon wistful_fever made for me.