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Does anyone know of where I might find any combination of Spike/Jet/Faye or Spike/Jet? Cowboy Bebop yaoi is freaking rare, and I'm wondering why that is, because the pairings just seems incredibly obvious because actions and dialogue are freaking *random* otherwise.
Is it *because* it's obvious or is it because Jet is not conventionally attractive?
It's a bit odd to me and a bit distressing that it seems that so much is hinged on the attractiveness factor. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason why Legolas/Gimli is freaking rare compared to the other combinations (and I saw this pairing in the movie despite not having read the books, though I didn't see the Legolas/Aragorn until someone pointed it out). I'm also pretty sure that's why Londo/G'Kar is nearly non-existent which is an awful and tragic thing.
However, knowing that at least part of the whole deal with slash is the 'yay!pr0n!' aspect of it, it's understandable.
Interestingly enough, there's plenty of Snapeslash, despite how he's described as rather ...less than charming... in the books. It's facinating to note the evolution of Snape's appearence, the permutations of his descriptive words, and the near sexualization of ugliness.
Of course one can't discount that appearances are all the in eye of the beholder and it's all relative and such.
But: Snape is not attractive, conventionally; he has sallow skin, a hook nose, and greasy hair and none of these are descriptors used in conveying beauty.
Nevertheless, force of will (both the reader's and Snape's) has rendered him compelling. Ugliness is tranmuted and reformed into something to be admired. Or perhaps even that admiration exists for a qualities which seem to be 'overlooked' conventionally.
Or, and here's a flip-side that'll probably give the rest of you heart attacks to hear me say, but I didn't find Sands 'attractive' for most of the film. The 'pork' scene highlighted the flat qualities of his face and his character was pretty much an ass.
And oh, what an ass he is, compellingly ugly souled, horrendously garbed, petty and over cocky as he counts on ability that he didn't seem to have.
And yet.
And yet, he survived. He still stood, and he showed some scrap of a possibility of redemption with the boy... and my eyes are drawn to him helplessly, ugliness and all.
Yet another example?
Johnny Depp has a slightly asymmetrical face; his nose tilts towards the left. Yet I find myself thinking of it as a 'quirk' and 'eccentricity', despite the fact that for all intents and purposes it's a flaw. But it's a compelling flaw, a lovable flaw perhaps *because* it's a flaw (and how's *that* for a sexualization of ugliness?) but also because it's *him*. And my adoration of Johnny Depp renders this flaw forgivable and loveable, as it is part and parcel with his face as a whole.
(And isn't this simply love? Where flaws are smoothed away, overshadowed, ignored, sexualized, or adored?)
Perhaps this is why Snapefic is so common despite the book's descriptives, we as readers have collectly fallen in love with him and there never was a *visual* aspect to deter us from the beginning. Where in movies and anime there is the appearance first and the situation second and the personality last, in books (good ones) appearance and situation and personality are inseperable and it is *that* much easier for personality and situation to negate the effects of an ugly appearance...
::tilts head and ponders some more:: dunno...your opinions?
Is it *because* it's obvious or is it because Jet is not conventionally attractive?
It's a bit odd to me and a bit distressing that it seems that so much is hinged on the attractiveness factor. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason why Legolas/Gimli is freaking rare compared to the other combinations (and I saw this pairing in the movie despite not having read the books, though I didn't see the Legolas/Aragorn until someone pointed it out). I'm also pretty sure that's why Londo/G'Kar is nearly non-existent which is an awful and tragic thing.
However, knowing that at least part of the whole deal with slash is the 'yay!pr0n!' aspect of it, it's understandable.
Interestingly enough, there's plenty of Snapeslash, despite how he's described as rather ...less than charming... in the books. It's facinating to note the evolution of Snape's appearence, the permutations of his descriptive words, and the near sexualization of ugliness.
Of course one can't discount that appearances are all the in eye of the beholder and it's all relative and such.
But: Snape is not attractive, conventionally; he has sallow skin, a hook nose, and greasy hair and none of these are descriptors used in conveying beauty.
Nevertheless, force of will (both the reader's and Snape's) has rendered him compelling. Ugliness is tranmuted and reformed into something to be admired. Or perhaps even that admiration exists for a qualities which seem to be 'overlooked' conventionally.
Or, and here's a flip-side that'll probably give the rest of you heart attacks to hear me say, but I didn't find Sands 'attractive' for most of the film. The 'pork' scene highlighted the flat qualities of his face and his character was pretty much an ass.
And oh, what an ass he is, compellingly ugly souled, horrendously garbed, petty and over cocky as he counts on ability that he didn't seem to have.
And yet.
And yet, he survived. He still stood, and he showed some scrap of a possibility of redemption with the boy... and my eyes are drawn to him helplessly, ugliness and all.
Yet another example?
Johnny Depp has a slightly asymmetrical face; his nose tilts towards the left. Yet I find myself thinking of it as a 'quirk' and 'eccentricity', despite the fact that for all intents and purposes it's a flaw. But it's a compelling flaw, a lovable flaw perhaps *because* it's a flaw (and how's *that* for a sexualization of ugliness?) but also because it's *him*. And my adoration of Johnny Depp renders this flaw forgivable and loveable, as it is part and parcel with his face as a whole.
(And isn't this simply love? Where flaws are smoothed away, overshadowed, ignored, sexualized, or adored?)
Perhaps this is why Snapefic is so common despite the book's descriptives, we as readers have collectly fallen in love with him and there never was a *visual* aspect to deter us from the beginning. Where in movies and anime there is the appearance first and the situation second and the personality last, in books (good ones) appearance and situation and personality are inseperable and it is *that* much easier for personality and situation to negate the effects of an ugly appearance...
::tilts head and ponders some more:: dunno...your opinions?
no subject
Gimli vs. Snape is an interesting comparison, because I think they made Gimli *less* attractive in the movie, while Alan Rickman is *more* attractive than Snape as portrayed in the book. Also, as
Gimli / Legolas seems almost text in the book, but book!Legolas is also less human than movie!Legolas. The elves in the movie are portrayed as exceptionally attractive (maybe a little standoffish) people (and the emphasis on Legolas' friendship with Aragorn seems to be part of this), where in the book there's more of a sense of them as an alien race. Somehow, that sense made Gimli / Legolas more plausible to me.
Londo / G'Kar, again, virtually canon. It almost seems like the reason there's not much fic dealing with their relationship is that it *is* so canonical. People rarely seem to be interested in writing canon 'ships. Although appearance is probably a factor as well. Also, a lot of the stories that were written during the run of B5 posit one or the other of them as a villain (G'Kar early on, and then Londo in later seasons).
(And isn't this simply love? Where flaws are smoothed away, overshadowed, ignored, sexualized, or adored?)
Yes! I wonder, is there a fanfic genre equivalent to the "mousy librarian transformed by love" cliche from movies? It seems like so much tv / movie based fic is already dealing with beautiful characters that there's not much room for that, and yet that cliche is incredibly powerful, and I'm wondering if that's part of the attraction to Snape slash.
Lots of things to think about - I'm going to pimp this discussion on my journal. . .
no subject
I think this is a theme of fanfic in general, in a meta sense. I can't count the number of times I've been reading a story and have seen a character described in glowing, loving terms that are at odds with the visual reality.
I understand the potential reasons for it - the author thinks of the character that way, the author thinks the viewpoint character would think of the character that way, etc. - but it still irritates me sometimes. Though not as much as people who don't like characters/pairings because they're "ugly." Feh.