Slash? Check. Het? Check. Middleground? Where?

[lareinenoire]

I'm not sure if this counts as a cliché, but I posted something vaguely related on my own journal a few weeks ago, and thought it might be interesting to put to the crowd at large.

Comments

[mizbean]

I agree with you with the One True Love phenomenon. I see this a lot in Harry/Draco fics. I am a shameless romantic, don't get me wrong but even I've read stories where I've thought the pairing as written weren't well-suited for a long-term happy ending, even though it was implied that we should expect it to be. I just realized that I've gone a bit off topic. I also have a soft spot for infidelity fics, but I may be in the minority there. Although I tend to get lots of interesting comments when I write them

[lareinenoire]

Why is it that when Harry is stuck in a loveless relationship (usually he is married to Cho or Ginny) only to be "rescued" from the dull monotony of it all by the handsome, sexy, mysterious Draco, he is always in a relationship with a woman?

Ugh. I'm glad I haven't read those. Note to self: avoid like plague.

[lizardlaugh]

While I agree with you that sexual orientation most likely falls on a spectrum, I think people IN GENERAL tend to stick overwhelmingly to one sex if they are bisexual with a strong preference for one sex over another. I am mostly heterosexual, I do find women attractive, but I prefer men and my sexual/romantic experiences have been overwhelmingly with men. It makes things easier, for one thing. Not that I wouldn't date a woman if the right one came along, mind you, just that since I prefer men over women it's much easier to focus my efforts there

[lareinenoire]

I think people IN GENERAL tend to stick overwhelmingly to one sex if they are bisexual with a strong preference for one sex over another.

Oh, I don't argue with that. I was addressing the apparent nonexistence of any other option. And--somewhat tangentially--the preponderance of One True Love fics.

[tiferet]

I think the preponderance of True Love fics, as a writer of True Love fics, is due to the fact that if you want infidelity, divorce, settling for less, relationships by default, moving in for convenience, cohabitation in general, et cetera, you can find it anywhere you look, and the popularity of True Love fics is a sign that, thank G-d, people still want something better than that, even if they don't know how the hell to find it or do it.

[lareinenoire]

Honestly, I've got no problem with True Love fics in general. I really don't. Hell, I'm writing a novel that's got True Love and Tragedy as its central themes. I just wonder when *every* romance-centred fic seems to be a True Love fic. Variety as spice of life and all that.

[zambonigirl]

I totally see what you're saying. Even if someone ends their life with a partner, there's usually explorations of both sexes somewhere in the middle. I think I took one of those LJ quizzes, and I came out 43% gay, which made me laugh, and a VERY gay friend of mine was only 35% gay or something. We both had a good laugh over the irony.

However, if someone is bisexual, they can oftentimes gloss over their attraction to the same sex, and go straight (no pun intended) for the opposite sex without looking back. I think that a lot of people do that.

But what you're talking about is something that always bothers me. The conversion of Sirius from Lady's Man to Raving Homosexual. If he enjoyed the company of women, it's very doubtful that he just turned away completely.

But then you have my least favorite R/S stories-where Sirius goes out and plays around on Remus and leaves poor Remus crying in his pillow that Sirius could be so indescrete. Oh, the humanity! Or...you know...

Anyway, good thoughts.

[lareinenoire]

But then you have my least favorite R/S stories-where Sirius goes out and plays around on Remus and leaves poor Remus crying in his pillow that Sirius could be so indescrete.

Le sigh. Any fic that involves Remus crying into his pillow makes me cringe. Remus is not a crybaby! And if Sirius did go out and play around without prior consent, I'm convinced that Remus would give him a very large piece of his mind. As well he should.

[tiferet]

Sirius loves Remus, I'm not talking about romantic love here, but friendly love. If they're a couple, he'd never hurt him on purpose.

Except for that whole thing where he set him up to do in someone else that he didn't happen to like, in a way that would probably have got him put down by the government had it actually happened.

One of the big reasons I don't ship S/R is that I'm amazed Remus is even still speaking to Sirius after the prank. Forget what Sev may or may not have done to 'deserve' it; what did Remus ever do to deserve being put at risk that way?

[good_conduct]

It's coherent enough!

I most definitely agree with you. This last semester I took a performance studies course called Erotics, and your idea of the sexuality continuum is precisely the lens through which we viewed each "lesson." (I use quotations because they were more explorations than lessons.) Karmen - one of the most interesting and caring teachers I've ever come across - used the term "polysexual" more than once.

When I write fan fiction, I tend to focus on Remus, and though I prefer my Moony straight, I like to acknowledge any other leanings on the continuum within the context of my story, depending on relevance.

I've got no objection to slashy Sirius or to het Sirius; I read both indiscriminately. I do wonder, however, how he manages to nosedive from one straight into the other without even pausing in the middle.

I'm actually in the midst of writing one with Sirius as the protagonist, and as he's still at Hogwarts and quite young, he's confused and experimenting. He doesn't have to stick with being gay after one

[lareinenoire]

They're schoolboys. I don't have the same life-experience, but somehow, I don't think that's how it works... especially when Sirius seems to really like the girls he's snogging. Giving that up for your OTP at 15 or 16, dear Padfoot? Wow.

Indeed. Now, I know people who met their soulmates at age sixteen (both sets of grandparents come to mind) and had very long, successful lives together. However, for every one of those, there are multiple others who go through a few tries before they find one that works. Of course, I've also written James as having dated other people before Lily finally agrees to go out with him, and that seems to be a rare thing as well...

And as for Sirius...I think impulsive might be the best word. The way you're writing him seems very much in line with the way I'm writing him. He's informed me that he's bi, and may well have a crush on Remus while simultaneously being in an entirely functional quasi-relationship with a girl.

[good_conduct]

And as for Sirius...I think impulsive might be the best word. The way you're writing him seems very much in line with the way I'm writing him. He's informed me that he's bi, and may well have a crush on Remus while simultaneously being in an entirely functional quasi-relationship with a girl.

Oh gosh, yes. Impulsive is the very definition of Sirius. Or Sirius is the very definition of impulsive. Can't decide. And yes, very much in line.

Now, I know people who met their soulmates at age sixteen (both sets of grandparents come to mind) and had very long, successful lives together.

::sigh:: I thought I had that, but... well, now I'm 20 and resigned to the fact that no real human being will ever live up to my Remus. And I'm going to end up like Arabella Figg because I won't settle. I really am. Cats and even dogs. Lots. :-P

[lareinenoire]

I thought I had that, but... well, now I'm 20 and resigned to the fact that no real human being will ever live up to my Remus. And I'm going to end up like Arabella Figg because I won't settle. I really am. Cats and even dogs. Lots. :-P

Been there, had that thought. There was a time when my goal in life was to be the mad lady at the end of the street with three hundred cats who every self-respecting child thought was a witch. ;) Not so much now. Of course, I'm twenty-two and therefore Old. ::grin::

[millieweasley]

I would say that what bugs me the most isn't the lack of bisexuals, but the lack of different kinds of sexualities in one and the same fic. Either everyone is gay - from Remus to Snape to Harry to Dumbledore's cousins aunt's mailman - or everyone is straight. There are very few fics where some are straight and some are gay and/or bi. Now this particularly bug me in slash fics, since in real life gay people are a minority - and I really don't see the wizarding world as so different in that respect (unless that is the reason for the inbreeding of purebloods :D)

And if you really want a story about a bisexual Remus (that also include a bisexual Sirius and Bill) you can read my Remus/Tonks series for pervy werewolf - The Changes of Time (Crappy title I know but the story is better than that.)

[lareinenoire]

I really don't see the wizarding world as so different in that respect (unless that is the reason for the inbreeding of purebloods :D)

That explains everything! ::grin::

As I said in the reply above, the Sirius in my WIP has declared that he's bi. Jury's out on Remus. But I'll certainly take a look at your series. I'm quite fond of Remus/Tonks as well as Remus/Sirius.