(no subject)

[mrsronweasley]

So, I was thinking more about fanfic, in general, and due South and "Harry Potter" in particular, and here's what I came up with. And because I prefer torture as method of communication with others, you all get to hear it.

See, the reasons I can't get behind the concept of "Ray/Ray" all boil down to this one thing: it isn't the happy ending I am looking for. Let's face it: most of the time, slash is fulfilling something that we feel is missing or will never happen. Most slash fans are, as a rule, disappointed with canon outcomes, and they expect to be. We do, you know? What we saw in "Prisoner of Azkaban" was gorgeous, and it wasn't going to last. We knew this, on a certain level, though I certainly held out hope. It SUCKED. The hope lasted for years, because it took JKR so damn long to write OotP, and we almost came to believe it would be real. And, for the majority of OotP, it really was. Who didn't see it? Very few, in fact. They were THERE. As arborealis said, all those years ago, "we had them, we had them." Sure, HP fandom houses ALL sorts of slash, slash so crazy, even the most die-hard het-haters can't abide by it. (Dumbledore/Hagrid must have broken more brains than it took to think up.) But Remus/Sirius was the one pairing that actually had canon backing. With OoTP, the happy ending for those two was shattered. With HBP, the illusion was destroyed.

But, then...there's due South. Slash fans never had it better. If watching the show felt too good to last, if with every episode of another potential romance for either characters seemed like that was be it, there goes the slash that we see so clearly in canon, and they can only exist in fanfic from now on, the ending kind of, well, blew a lot of minds. Fraser has a chance with Frannie: he doesn't take it. Fraser has a chance with Thatcher: he doesn't take it. He takes Ray, he takes Dief, and they literally ride off into the sunrise. No slash fans have had it better. At least not that I've seen.

So, this is the reason I can't get behind Ray/Ray: it messes with my only happy ending. While Remus might have chosen to run back into the closet after Sirius's unfortunate demise (I may sound flippant, but all these years, it still hurts and pisses me off beyond belief), then Fraser never ran back, and neither did Ray. They ran forward. And for a popular television series, that is fucking amazing.

I read slash for the happy. I read it for the escapism. I read it for the real unreality, and I read it because I want to believe the world is a place where these things are possible. I mean...I honestly do see due South as a romance. A quirky, weird romance, but a romance. It's about all different kinds of love: platonic love, brotherly love, familial love, unexpected love, unrequited love, fulfilled love. And things like...Ray/Ray, or -eek- Snape/Remus, they... they don't work for me. Because they're more complicated than it's worth. I can appreciate it on a human level, on a level where mistakes happen, and things get fucked up, and it's sad and heartbreaking, but that's not how I want to see it. It probably sounds whiny and childish, but if we're here to fulfill a fantasy, I want mine to be happy and fulfilled.

Deep thought of the day. I'll go and write other "deep thoughts". Because work is slooooooooowwww... and it is gooooooooood...

Comments

[aneli8.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Due South, what are you doing for dsrecs today? :) Not that I'm nosy or anything...

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

I'll call you...

and we still have them

[arborealis.livejournal.com]

in <3 here

Re: and we still have them

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

True. :)

MWAH.

Re: and we still have them

[arborealis.livejournal.com]

is your number still the same? i'll call you cause we must meet up and catch up

Re: and we still have them

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

It is! Call me! :D

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

While Remus might have chosen to run back into the closet after Sirius's unfortunate demise (I may sound flippant, but all these years, it still hurts and pisses me off beyond belief),

Thinking about it like this is really the only way I can deal with Remus/Tonks which I will always think came from out of NOWHERE.

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

It came completely out of nowhere. Like, entirely. It still pisses me off beyond words, because there was absolutely NO reason for it, not at ALL. NADA. Just...UGH.

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

*nods* I'm not a die hard R/S shipper but I do like them and it still felt like a kick in the stomache to me. I even went back and re-read parts of OOTP (the parts that the R/T shippers said were 'hints') and I still saw NOTHING to indicated they were anything but friends.

Nothing like the Remus and Sirius hints. I imagine Jo found some R/T shippers online and just thought, "Oh, maybe I'll throw that in, then" more than anything else. Of course I can't help but wonder WHY she did that, though.

[airinshaw.livejournal.com]

See I kind of agree - being a slash fan I feel very much like someone sitting around hoping for the world to be a more open-minded place than it every is. But that reason why you love DS for making it basically canon is one of the reasons I love SGA. Because the writers are aware and they don't take it away. In SG1 they tried to kill the Jack/Daniel - in SGA they are more fandom savvy and let the shippers see things that can be so damn slashy, but then if you don't slash (is are BLIND) you don't have to see it.

Here's hoping for the day that the main slash pairing of something gets to officially, on-screen get together at the end. Because lets face it - if it's the last ep who cares if you piss off some of your demographic? *hearts!*

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that SGA is going in the right direction. Or at least not veering away from it. *g*

Here's hoping for the day that the main slash pairing of something gets to officially, on-screen get together at the end. Because lets face it - if it's the last ep who cares if you piss off some of your demographic? *hearts!*

Hear, hear! :D *toasts*

Love you!

[xjestx.livejournal.com]

Interesting points...I feel the same way for the most part.

However....

I actually do read Ray/Ray. There's tension there that I find interesting. It's not the same as 'shipping' the pairing or anything because all the tension actually comes from their respective relationships with Fraser. Even when Fraser isn't present as part of the pairing he's still there.

Now, if anyone tried to sell me a fic in which RayV and RayK are in love and cute hearts, flowers and puppy dogs I would make Anna's JKR snorts crack face.

But the tension, yes, I like tension.

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

There's tension there that I find interesting.

Oh, without a doubt. What I can't take (and this is a totally personal preference) is Ray/Ray as a means to an end in itself, if that makes sense. Fraser HAS to be there somewhere, somehow, and...yeah. Because he is their missing link, you know? He just IS.

Now, if anyone tried to sell me a fic in which RayV and RayK are in love and cute hearts, flowers and puppy dogs I would make Anna's JKR snorts crack face.

aksd;laksd
asdka;lskda;lskdasd
adka;lsdka;dka
sdkal;sdkas;dkasdk

I love you so much. :D

[riverlight.livejournal.com]

Dropping a line to say hi, I'm friending you--I loved your ds_recs post today so much that I couldn't help myself. ;)

[mrsronweasley.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I friended you back. :D And I'm very flattered, thank you. :)

[riverlight.livejournal.com]

::grin:: My pleasure!