Comments | xf_book_club: Story 251: "Your Platonic Relationship: An Owner's Manual" by Nanda

wendelah1 in xf_book_club

Story 251: "Your Platonic Relationship: An Owner's Manual" by Nanda

Aug 21, 2014 19:38

I'm still going back through the older comments at the nomination post. Way back when, someone nominated "Syncopation" by Lilla Vaughan, which I wasn't that crazy about to be frank. I don't remember why. But then I remembered she'd written this fic, which I do like a lot ( Read more... )

pg-13, short, humor, msr

Comments 12

Part 1/2 amyhit August 27 2014, 22:35:22 UTC

I've always found this fic really interesting, and several times thought about reading it here at the book_club, so I'm glad it's on the block now. I feel like this is the kind of fic that appears different every way you turn it, if that makes any sense.

META?

First of all, Your Platonic Relationship has always struck me as having a subtle but pervasive meta dynamic to it. It comes across like a light, humorous amalgamation of about a thousand different MSR-centric casefics. This fic is the mean, the loose depiction of how the average Mulder/Scully shipper writes about, and/or reads about, and/or thinks about the Mulder/Scully dynamic. That's not to say MSR as it's depicted in YPR is the headcanon of any one person (perhaps not even Vaughan herself) - but it does a great job of sketching together a core group of tropes that are recognizably "MSR through a fandom lense."

MARY SUE?I also find Scully's characterization in YPR really interesting. Am I the only one who finds her Mary Sue-ish in this fic? Where that Mary Sue-ishness is ( ... )

Re: Part 1/2 wendelah1 August 31 2014, 00:18:51 UTC

Hi! I always enjoy reading your commentary ( ... )

Re: Part 1/2 amyhit August 31 2014, 03:25:58 UTC

I think the thing about Mary Sues is that nobody can really agree on what one is or isn't. My own loose definition is "A character who, due to how they are depicted, feels like a stand in for either the author, or for the hypothetical reader." I don't have any set-in-stone qualifications beyond that.

You asked me if I thought YPR's Scully was a stand-in for the author, and I'm gonna have to say yes, or perhaps a stand-in for the hypothetical reader. That wasn't ALL she was, but there was just waaaay too much "Character who women can easily identify with and live vicariously through" about her for her to not feel like some kind of a stand-in. Like I said, this fic turns her into the smart, long-suffering best friend who's crushing hard. Like Taylor Swift in that one song, or Bridget Jones with an edge.

My idea of a Scully Mary Sue is the completely OOC Scully in "Where There's a Will." The Scully who fake marries Mulder and happily turns herself into a stay-at-home Mom/Stepford wife in order to adopt two children. That's a Mary Sue ( ... )

Re: Part 1/2 wendelah1 August 31 2014, 07:58:59 UTC

However, it's a bit of a moot point in Scully's case, as canonical Scully seems fairly aware of how absurd her life is.

She does, indeed.

The point you raised about the slippery definition of a Mary Sue is a good one, too. The classic definition usually involves an OFC, but of course Scully isn't one in either of the stories I cited. I think Mary-Sueish works as an adjective.

Part 2/2 amyhit August 27 2014, 22:35:47 UTC

BEST FRIENDS

One final thing I want to talk about, regarding YPR, is Vaughan's choice to refer to Mulder as Scully's "best friend." I keep turning that over in my head, trying to decide how I feel about it. I want to like it. I definitely like fics that emphasize how much Mulder and Scully mean to each other even beyond their romantic feelings. In hindsight, that may have been one of the best things about the much beloved Parabiosis, the way it so clearly depicts Mulder and Scully's relationship as multifaceted, with such a strong chord of both professional and intimate friendship--and then love as something that essentially suffuses their friendship without subsuming it. So yeah, I'm a big fan of Mulder and Scully as "best friends." But I don't think I like the way YPR uses that idea. For one thing, it feels a bit forced - a "tell not show" kind of attitude. For another, it reinforces that Mary Sue vibe I get from Scully. Because crushing on, lusting after, falling in love with your best friend -- well that's just so normal, so ( ... )

Re: Part 2/2 rainatlas August 29 2014, 03:39:19 UTC

I agree with what you've said, except I think the best friends distinction feels forced because it is meant to be forced (subtly but deliberately, in that "tell not show" way), by Scully, rather than by the author. They are best friends, so Scully isn't lying to herself, she's just trying to separate shades of gray into black and white, using a term she has convinced herself is intimate enough for their relationship but lacking the sexual aspect she's trying to avoid, however seriously. "Partners" wouldn't have had the same tone or emphasis, I don't think, so I'm defending the author's choice.

There's a kind of somber, distanced, tongue-in-cheek thing going on here and I like it. I agree, it's very meta and I think that's what makes the whole thing work. I love the case file.

Re: Part 2/2 wendelah1 August 31 2014, 08:12:46 UTC

They are best friends, so Scully isn't lying to herself, she's just trying to separate shades of gray into black and white, using a term she has convinced herself is intimate enough for their relationship but lacking the sexual aspect she's trying to avoid, however seriously. "Partners" wouldn't have had the same tone or emphasis, I don't think, so I'm defending the author's choice.

That's what I thought as well. She's creating a more intimate relationship for them in her headspace, one that doesn't cross the line she's drawn, but which is light years away from work partner.

estella_c August 29 2014, 22:24:06 UTC

Very sorry to barge in the parade. But so nice, amyhit, to hear your learned voice again ( ... )

amyhit August 31 2014, 05:22:11 UTC

But so nice, amyhit, to hear your learned voice again.

Thank you! It's nice to hear yours, too!

This is meta? It is simply a boring FBI outing with a glaze of sexual frustration.

But that's what's meta about it. Because how many XF fics could be summed up almost exactly that way? Strip out a few details, and I've probably read a couple hundred XF fics that could be summed up "There is a case. Mulder and Scully investigate. Weird things happen, but not in a lot of detail because UST is more fun. The end."

Admittedly, YPR is less of an exploration of fanon than a parody-esque reflection of fanon. But then I've always thought parody was inherently kind of meta, because in order to create a working parody dynamic you have to understand the dynamics of the original. Well, in theory you do, anyway.

To my mind, the writer has made a basic mistake. She has tried to combine her notion with a not-particularly-interesting casefile.I'm being terribly contrary today, but I must say that I actually favored the casefile aspect of YPR. I agree ( ... )

wendelah1 August 31 2014, 07:46:30 UTC

I guess because I always did like the intimate little moments best - the moments where they were just Mulder and Scully Investigating Something.

Mulder and Scully Investigating Something. That's our show. That's what I love, too.

wendelah1 August 31 2014, 23:48:02 UTC

"The "owner's manual" should have been less lovestruck and more clever."

Sorry it didn't suit you. Now that you're a fic writer, maybe you should write your own "owner's manual."

"I suspect the writer is capable of a sophisticated do-over."

Again, sorry it wasn't to your taste. I hope I'll find something you'll like better for next time.

"But she's probably hung up on Benedict Cumberbatch now."

No, actually she's not, not as far as I know. She wrote the bulk of her fanfic for Stargate SG-1 (Sam/Jack shipper) after she moved on from TXF, and has dabbled in a few other fandoms.

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