EUREKA!!!

[permetaform]

What's your template, what's the script that underlies everything? Or, if you don't have a story you keep telling, maybe there's a story you keep reading. Is there something that underlies all of your favorite fairytales and novels and television shows and fanfics?

~witchqueen by way of latxcvi

I'm encouraging all ya'll to go answer that in her journal...But!

I've figured out why the Sparrington wasn't working!! ::DANCE::

Namely: My 'One True Story' is Opposites Held by Golden Chord. It's pretty much the Pisces zodiac sign (two fish swimming in apart, tied together).

Or in other words, individuals (who are similar) that move in opposite directions but are held inextricably together and are forever circling each other despite themselves...

And, see, the only way that that the they can actively move in different directions is if they have complete identities in their own right. They are similar entities, but *separate*. They aren't joined because they *are* one another (ie. The Coin With Two Heads), rather, they are joined for a reason *beyond* that. They aren't *defined* by each other, be it in opposition or in similarity. They may be 'similar' or 'opposite', but they're not basing themselves on the 'presence' of the other.

And now everything make sense! Because, y'see, Jack and Norrington's existence *are* defined by each other, The Establishment and The Anti-Establishment. And THAT is also why I don't give two hoots about Sirius/Remus, Qui/Obi, Frodo/Sam, and the whole LotRPS!

And it makes the Sands/El, Superman/Batman, and the Qui/Maul make sense! ::DANCE:: YAY! so. incredibly. relieved!

[edit] and this might actually be why I love resurrection!fic so much, what more ultimate proof could you have that a pairing is tied together irrevocably than having them be reborn and finding each other again?

[edit2] y'know, this may be why I'm not especially interested in Jack/Bootstrap fic. Thing is, at this point, Bootstrap is almost purely defined through Jack, with bit here and there from Will and Pintel. But then because Bootstrap is delinated by Jack, I can't reconcile a relationship in my mind. It always feels flat or one-sided.

[edit3] and guede_mazaka totally rocks my OTS. Delivering stuff like The Mexico series and lines like these:

"Sands isn’t a wife, isn’t a soulmate, isn’t a missing half. He doesn’t fill anything that was absent in El; if anything, the little jackass tears out more holes. But then, so does El.
...
He’ll fight to keep that, to have the privilege of snarling and clawing and hurting this one man. And to let Sands snarl and claw and wound him back. He will turn the key in the lock and push open the gate, he will cross through and Sands will follow till they’ve torn themselves into one."

~ from Archetype: Gate


Exactly. ::happysigh::

Comments

[uguisubari.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean - at least I think I do. But I fail to see how your theory works with Remus/Sirius. Especially on adult Remus and Sirius ... in fact I would say if any Sirius and Snape define each other.

[permetaform]

With Remus and Sirius it's the MWPP thing, and although I do see how adult Remus and Sirius have separated their defining thing is the betrayals, that Remus thought Sirius was guilty and vice versa.

...or at least, that's my view of their characterizations. Their back-histories are too linked, for me.

With Black and Snape, I dunno, I'm not quite sure how you'd say they'd define each other...What would be a defining Black/Snape, was Slowly, But Exceedingly Fine, or Rat's Alley where it has them hating each other, but not completely...er. 'tied up'? with it?

Nevertheless, I've *tried* reading a variety of styles, versions, and qualities, some recced repeatedly, of Sirius/Remus but none of it resonates with me on some level. Like, I believe in them and in their cuteness, but there's no *spark*.

I think I need my characters to be actively moving *opposite* of each other, in a argumentative, moralistic, or combative sense. But without the direct opposite that results in The Coin With Two Heads.

For instance, I like H/D, but don't care for H/Voldemort or H/Snape (antagonistic but defined).

I like Legolas/Gimli, but don't care for Legolas/Aragorn (non-defined but not antagonistic).

I like Maul/Qui and Maul/Obi, but don't care for Qui/Obi (defined *and* similar goal-sets).

[uguisubari.livejournal.com]

With Remus and Sirius it's the MWPP thing, and although I do see how adult Remus and Sirius have separated their defining thing is the betrayals, that Remus thought Sirius was guilty and vice versa.

Hmm when did Sirius believe Remus to be guilty? I must have missed something. Imho Remus is much more defined by being a werewolf, it's what makes him an outcast and it also motivates him to try to get along with almost everybody.

With Black and Snape, I dunno, I'm not quite sure how you'd say they'd define each other...

They both come from a very similar background, dark houses and a not too cosy family life, but at one point took different routes.

Sirius hated his family and above all the Dark Arts, it's this rebellion against his heritage which defines him best. Then there is Snape, this greasy little kid with his overlong nose constantly in some book about black magic. He's the very embodiment of all that which is dark and which Sirius hates. Later on he becomes a Deatheater, Sirius joins the Rebellion. He might not be defined by Snape himself, but by hatred for everything Snape represents. (much like Establishment and Anti-Establishment, isn't it?)

Severus ... he's a bitter soul. He was ill-treated and hardened himself against the world. What defines him best is probably his hatred. His hatred for himself (for being such a weak kid), for the world which treated him wrong, Sirius who made his life living Hell. It's the driving force behind his urge for dominance - or power.

You could think of them as the light and dark side of a globe, the brighter Sirius shone the darker Severus grew. They are products of their hatred for each other - and for what the other represents.

Anyway, I don't care for Remus/Sirius either. *waves the Remus/Snape banner*

[permetaform]

Remus *himself* is much more defined by the werewolf, but in context of the Remus/Sirius dynamic it's almost a non-issue that becomes more h/c than antagonism. With the not-trusting Remus, it's the whole Secret Keeper business all over again...

With Black/Snape, your own definition of it is very nearly what I mean about the Opposites Held by Golden Chord. Or rather, two fish (similar creatures) swimming in opposite *directions*...

as for the light and dark side of a globe analogy, I don't think there's a direct cause-effect in their relationship in the same way that SB/RL does. My view of Snape is that he was affected more by his surroundings (family/friends/house/dumbledore's reaction to The Prank) than he is by Sirius himself. Or rather, less so with Sirius' actions than with the disapportionate favoritism that surrounds those actions. However Sirius is one of the few that Snape can directly lash out at while being a double-agent under Dumbledore's protection...

And especially with the Snivellus thing, I'm not sure that Snape is exactly the representation of what Sirius hates; he may *map* onto Snape that view, but it's not Snape *himself* that he's reacting to...

[uguisubari.livejournal.com]

And especially with the Snivellus thing, I'm not sure that Snape is exactly the representation of what Sirius hates; he may *map* onto Snape that view, but it's not Snape *himself* that he's reacting to...

I wonder if in this case what a person maps onto another and what the other person really is really make a difference? After all what the person believes the other to be is what is curcical for the person himself. (isn't this what representing means anyway?). Snape must remind Sirius strongly of his own family, maybe even what he himself is supposed to be like (studying Dark Arts, being in Slytherin), the fact that he's also "weak" in turn offers Sirius the wonderful opportunity to let out all his aggressions toward his family on Snape. He's both all that which is evil and ... well a pathetic wimp. (Which only makes black magic even more unattractive)

Apart from this while his surrounding of course did affect Snape, I wouldn't underestimate Sirius's direct influence either. It was Sirius who played the prank on him, it was Sirius and James who humiliated him none stop for seven years (if you go by some theories 24 hours a day). I think that's more than enough reason to be a direct cause.

..... I think we don't separate the fishes from the indestructible-connection in quite the same way.