Bryce/Chuck manifesto -- Outtakes
This is sort of an extra post from my Bryce/Chuck manifesto. It's for topics I wrote about but ultimately decided shouldn't really be part of the main essay, but were still part of my analysis. So, here are the outtakes, if you will.
As such the following mini-meta is:
1) not perfectly thought out
2) un-proofread and un-betaed
3) heavily opinionated.
Bryce/Chuck versus Sarah/Chuck
Characteristically speaking, Bryce and Sarah have a lot in common since they are the show's cool CIA spies. And they have other things in common, like the way they treat Chuck -- mainly, in how they both try to shelter him from the job. I recognize the parallels in the relationships, especially if you're looking at 'shipping.
Why Bryce over Sarah when it comes to Chuck? There are a few reasons for me. For one, Sarah's character falls victim to much of the FAIL that comes from being the show's hot chick and all that implies when she's written the way she is, mainly to be an object for the male gaze, both in the show and in the audience. But for this discussion, I'm going to shelve all that and just focus on the in-universe reasons.
So, there's all the history -- Bryce has eight to nine years of history with Chuck that Sarah doesn't, even if they haven't spoken for the last five. This has always been one of the selling points for me, for Bryce/Chuck. We get to see (from the flashbacks) that Chuck and Bryce have a lot in common besides the spies' life. Thanks to their time in college, they know each other and they like each other. We don't get to see that with Chuck and Sarah, especially since Sarah can't be honest about her past.
Then, there's the fact that Bryce seems to stick with the choices he makes when it comes to Chuck, while Sarah just can't seem to make up her mind. Bryce distances himself from Chuck to protect him; Sarah comes to the same conclusion a few times (she can't be with Chuck because it's dangerous) but can never really act on that for more than a few episodes. It gives the impression that Bryce ultimately places Chuck above all else, where Sarah doesn't. (In this way, I mean; I know she similarly sacrifices for Chuck in other ways, like going against orders, etc.)
Related to that is the fact that Sarah doesn't seem to be able to function well as a spy because of her feelings for Chuck, where Bryce doesn't have this problem. This is a frustrating point for many reasons, including the ones prefaced earlier -- ie., hot chicks written shoddily, etc. But it doesn't change the fact that we are presented with a Sarah who can't perform necessarily because of her feelings for Chuck, while Bryce can still be the uber-spy, no matter what he feels for who.
And really, I'm not above the superficial: I love Matt Bomer, while Yvonne doesn't do much for me. Every time he makes the soulful eyes at Chuck, I melt. How can't Chuck do the same thing?
Bryce and Chuck and Sarah: Re-interpreting Canon
Absolute truth: the Bryce/Sarah/Chuck triangle is made a pretty big deal in the first two seasons of the show. It always comes up for Chuck in regards to Bryce in the episodes from "Alma Mater." So really one of the issues of slashing up part of the triangle is looking at what to do with the het aspects that are canon or semi-canon.
So, in writing the manifesto, I re-watched the major Bryce eps about a billion times, which I count as the pilot, "Alma Mater," "Nemesis," and "Break-Up." "The Ring" is also a major Bryce ep, but I only watched it once, for obvious reasons. Anyway, what I noticed and what I found interesting is that Bryce's current feelings for Sarah (Nemesis, Break-Up, Ring) are left way more ambiguous than I first thought.
I know we the audience -- and Chuck -- automatically assume Bryce is after Sarah romantically, but it's never as obvious as I thought it must have been. Even in "Nemesis" when he kisses her, he focuses on reminding HER how she felt about him, not vice versa, and since he really needs her help to clear his name, it plays as much like a tactic as it does a romantic overture. The same for the ending -- we only have Casey's interpretation to know what Bryce wants from Sarah. But since she never takes his calls on-screen, we never know.
In "Break-Up," Bryce does make with the flirting, but he never seems very wounded when she brushes him off. And when he talks to Chuck about it, he keeps it vague enough that it's entirely possible his jealousy is about Chuck and not Sarah. In the end, after all, his objection is that Sarah's feelings almost cost the mission and Chuck's life. It's way too easy to replay every one of those conversations in that way, actually, which is why it stands as one of my favorite. Re-watch some of those scenes, and see if you can really figure out who he's watching more closely.
We get more of the same in "Ring" where Bryce asks both Sarah AND Chuck to join his team. He figures out that Sarah is going to turn him down just like Chuck does, but he doesn't seem all that tore up about it when he does. The closest he comes to any real declaration is asking Chuck to take care of Sarah when he's dying -- but for all we know, that was him making peace with the fact that he's lost Chuck and Bryce wanting him to be happy.
So while Chuck's feelings for Sarah and Sarah's feelings for Chuck are always pretty clear, Bryce's isn't. And this is why I will always believe in the complete canon-ness of Bryce --> Chuck.
Bryce: Good or bad friend?
My thoughts here actually started to form thanks to a discussion I had on my LJ with autumnist a little bit ago about Bryce and Chuck. She rightly pointed out that Bryce is pretty arrogant in the way he keeps making decisions for Chuck, by deciding to protect him from the CIA and getting him kicked out of school. This is definitely true. He does the same thing when he sends him the Intersect and then again when he feeds him the update and so on. Fact: Bryce is pretty damn presumptuous about knowing what's best for Chuck and about how Chuck will let him get away with it. I actually love what the second point says about Bryce's perception of his place in Chuck's life, but I digress.
In admitting that Bryce wasn't being very thoughtful toward Chuck, even when he was being incredibly self-sacrificing, I was reminded of another character essay I wrote, about Jecht from FFX and his relationship with his son. My conclusion there was that while Jecht wasn't a good father, he was a loving father, in that he loved Tidus better than anything -- he just sucked at it. This is pretty what the way I feel about Bryce when it comes to Chuck. He is definitely a great friend for protecting him, for caring about him, and all that...he just sucks at the way he goes about it.
And, like in the first discussion, I fall about on Nietzsche:What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
Edited to Add:
Soundtrack Notes
I'm a big old music girl and everything I have ever written has a song -- or part of a song -- that I used as a musical accompaniment. Here are some of the songs/lines that I used in writing this manifesto:
It's looking like a limb torn off
Or altogether just taken apart
We're reeling through an endless fall
We are the ever-living ghost of what once was
But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do
-- "No One's Gonna Love You," Band of Horses
And I guess I said I couldn't see
How things could turn out like they've come to be
And if I lied, if I knew
I was only trying to think of you
-- "Aces," Suzy Bogguss
So long ago
It's a certain time
It's a certain place
You touched my hand
And you smiled
All the way back you held
out your hand
If I hope and if I pray
Ooh, it might work out someday
-- "Seven Wonders," Stevie Nicks
Okay, the end, until I write more fanfic. LOL.
As such the following mini-meta is:
1) not perfectly thought out
2) un-proofread and un-betaed
3) heavily opinionated.
Bryce/Chuck versus Sarah/Chuck
Characteristically speaking, Bryce and Sarah have a lot in common since they are the show's cool CIA spies. And they have other things in common, like the way they treat Chuck -- mainly, in how they both try to shelter him from the job. I recognize the parallels in the relationships, especially if you're looking at 'shipping.
Why Bryce over Sarah when it comes to Chuck? There are a few reasons for me. For one, Sarah's character falls victim to much of the FAIL that comes from being the show's hot chick and all that implies when she's written the way she is, mainly to be an object for the male gaze, both in the show and in the audience. But for this discussion, I'm going to shelve all that and just focus on the in-universe reasons.
So, there's all the history -- Bryce has eight to nine years of history with Chuck that Sarah doesn't, even if they haven't spoken for the last five. This has always been one of the selling points for me, for Bryce/Chuck. We get to see (from the flashbacks) that Chuck and Bryce have a lot in common besides the spies' life. Thanks to their time in college, they know each other and they like each other. We don't get to see that with Chuck and Sarah, especially since Sarah can't be honest about her past.
Then, there's the fact that Bryce seems to stick with the choices he makes when it comes to Chuck, while Sarah just can't seem to make up her mind. Bryce distances himself from Chuck to protect him; Sarah comes to the same conclusion a few times (she can't be with Chuck because it's dangerous) but can never really act on that for more than a few episodes. It gives the impression that Bryce ultimately places Chuck above all else, where Sarah doesn't. (In this way, I mean; I know she similarly sacrifices for Chuck in other ways, like going against orders, etc.)
Related to that is the fact that Sarah doesn't seem to be able to function well as a spy because of her feelings for Chuck, where Bryce doesn't have this problem. This is a frustrating point for many reasons, including the ones prefaced earlier -- ie., hot chicks written shoddily, etc. But it doesn't change the fact that we are presented with a Sarah who can't perform necessarily because of her feelings for Chuck, while Bryce can still be the uber-spy, no matter what he feels for who.
And really, I'm not above the superficial: I love Matt Bomer, while Yvonne doesn't do much for me. Every time he makes the soulful eyes at Chuck, I melt. How can't Chuck do the same thing?
Bryce and Chuck and Sarah: Re-interpreting Canon
Absolute truth: the Bryce/Sarah/Chuck triangle is made a pretty big deal in the first two seasons of the show. It always comes up for Chuck in regards to Bryce in the episodes from "Alma Mater." So really one of the issues of slashing up part of the triangle is looking at what to do with the het aspects that are canon or semi-canon.
So, in writing the manifesto, I re-watched the major Bryce eps about a billion times, which I count as the pilot, "Alma Mater," "Nemesis," and "Break-Up." "The Ring" is also a major Bryce ep, but I only watched it once, for obvious reasons. Anyway, what I noticed and what I found interesting is that Bryce's current feelings for Sarah (Nemesis, Break-Up, Ring) are left way more ambiguous than I first thought.
I know we the audience -- and Chuck -- automatically assume Bryce is after Sarah romantically, but it's never as obvious as I thought it must have been. Even in "Nemesis" when he kisses her, he focuses on reminding HER how she felt about him, not vice versa, and since he really needs her help to clear his name, it plays as much like a tactic as it does a romantic overture. The same for the ending -- we only have Casey's interpretation to know what Bryce wants from Sarah. But since she never takes his calls on-screen, we never know.
In "Break-Up," Bryce does make with the flirting, but he never seems very wounded when she brushes him off. And when he talks to Chuck about it, he keeps it vague enough that it's entirely possible his jealousy is about Chuck and not Sarah. In the end, after all, his objection is that Sarah's feelings almost cost the mission and Chuck's life. It's way too easy to replay every one of those conversations in that way, actually, which is why it stands as one of my favorite. Re-watch some of those scenes, and see if you can really figure out who he's watching more closely.
We get more of the same in "Ring" where Bryce asks both Sarah AND Chuck to join his team. He figures out that Sarah is going to turn him down just like Chuck does, but he doesn't seem all that tore up about it when he does. The closest he comes to any real declaration is asking Chuck to take care of Sarah when he's dying -- but for all we know, that was him making peace with the fact that he's lost Chuck and Bryce wanting him to be happy.
So while Chuck's feelings for Sarah and Sarah's feelings for Chuck are always pretty clear, Bryce's isn't. And this is why I will always believe in the complete canon-ness of Bryce --> Chuck.
Bryce: Good or bad friend?
My thoughts here actually started to form thanks to a discussion I had on my LJ with autumnist a little bit ago about Bryce and Chuck. She rightly pointed out that Bryce is pretty arrogant in the way he keeps making decisions for Chuck, by deciding to protect him from the CIA and getting him kicked out of school. This is definitely true. He does the same thing when he sends him the Intersect and then again when he feeds him the update and so on. Fact: Bryce is pretty damn presumptuous about knowing what's best for Chuck and about how Chuck will let him get away with it. I actually love what the second point says about Bryce's perception of his place in Chuck's life, but I digress.
In admitting that Bryce wasn't being very thoughtful toward Chuck, even when he was being incredibly self-sacrificing, I was reminded of another character essay I wrote, about Jecht from FFX and his relationship with his son. My conclusion there was that while Jecht wasn't a good father, he was a loving father, in that he loved Tidus better than anything -- he just sucked at it. This is pretty what the way I feel about Bryce when it comes to Chuck. He is definitely a great friend for protecting him, for caring about him, and all that...he just sucks at the way he goes about it.
And, like in the first discussion, I fall about on Nietzsche:What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
Edited to Add:
Soundtrack Notes
I'm a big old music girl and everything I have ever written has a song -- or part of a song -- that I used as a musical accompaniment. Here are some of the songs/lines that I used in writing this manifesto:
It's looking like a limb torn off
Or altogether just taken apart
We're reeling through an endless fall
We are the ever-living ghost of what once was
But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do
-- "No One's Gonna Love You," Band of Horses
And I guess I said I couldn't see
How things could turn out like they've come to be
And if I lied, if I knew
I was only trying to think of you
-- "Aces," Suzy Bogguss
So long ago
It's a certain time
It's a certain place
You touched my hand
And you smiled
All the way back you held
out your hand
If I hope and if I pray
Ooh, it might work out someday
-- "Seven Wonders," Stevie Nicks
Okay, the end, until I write more fanfic. LOL.