~~ martyr!Remus, grr, argh.
Nov. 15th, 2004 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaI've only been reading S/R fic intensely for less than a week, and I already have a #1 pet peeve, ahahah. It's not at the must-strangle-someone stage yet by far, but it's... present.
What weirds me out is that there's this trend where fics keep making it that Remus is with Sirius as some sort of favor, because really, Remus knows better and Sirius is such a bastard (...and someone has to mention that at least once-- often Sirius himself). It's like, I wonder why Remus is friends with Sirius, if he really judges him so harshly-- or it really such a huge jump to respect someone enough to be their lover rather than their friend...?
It's like, even when I love a fic, I realize that the Remus cannot realistically be that above it all. Sometimes it's even felt like the whole fic, Sirius basically spent his time apologizing to Remus for who he is (with Remus forgiving him out of his innate-- well, I don't know! hard to tell), and that seems even more dysfunctional than the assholish behavior does. There seems to be a game of 'spot the bastard' going on, and The Bastard is pretty much Sirius. And it's not like with Snapefics, where the assholish behavior is part of the appeal for his partner-- no, Remus doesn't actually enjoy it. At all.
No, Remus is actually kind of... Oppressed, you see. By Sirius' assholish not-really-charming-thank-you behavior. But he tolerates it because... because.....
See, here's where I get stuck. A lot of fics focus on Sirius boycrushing on Remus and finally realizing that, and it's all intense and everything-- and Remus wants him back, right. But it's not a question of Remus -falling- for Sirius-- or realizing he fancies him back. No, Remus holds back. Remus... basically, Remus doesn't trust Sirius with his heart.
Man. I know I've said the trust issues with this pairing interest me, but. It seems like the holding-back thing is some kind of moral judgment on Sirius, which really bugs me, for it reminds me of Harry's attitude towards Draco in fics, and dude, that's what I was trying to get away from. I mean, the main reason it bugs me so much is that there's no canon reason for it that I can see-- I mean, I can't really see evidence for Remus being the grudge-bearing type-- that's more Sirius' thing, dude.
Moreover, it seems like a nasty case of projection on the writers' part-- like, it's clear favoritism with Remus-- who apparently has little to no real offensive qualities, and is actually a long-suffering martyr. And I don't hate martyr!Harry as much 'cause well, at least that's canon. But. Remus doesn't have to be. So... wah. I thought the point of S/R was that Sirius could get Remus to loosen up-- let go of his reservations and feel. And if Remus spends the whole time basically making Sirius feel sorry about being himself (as far as Sirius is capable of)-- well-- that makes me feel like they're bad for each other. Which kind of... seems to be missing the point, no?
What weirds me out is that there's this trend where fics keep making it that Remus is with Sirius as some sort of favor, because really, Remus knows better and Sirius is such a bastard (...and someone has to mention that at least once-- often Sirius himself). It's like, I wonder why Remus is friends with Sirius, if he really judges him so harshly-- or it really such a huge jump to respect someone enough to be their lover rather than their friend...?
It's like, even when I love a fic, I realize that the Remus cannot realistically be that above it all. Sometimes it's even felt like the whole fic, Sirius basically spent his time apologizing to Remus for who he is (with Remus forgiving him out of his innate-- well, I don't know! hard to tell), and that seems even more dysfunctional than the assholish behavior does. There seems to be a game of 'spot the bastard' going on, and The Bastard is pretty much Sirius. And it's not like with Snapefics, where the assholish behavior is part of the appeal for his partner-- no, Remus doesn't actually enjoy it. At all.
No, Remus is actually kind of... Oppressed, you see. By Sirius' assholish not-really-charming-thank-you behavior. But he tolerates it because... because.....
See, here's where I get stuck. A lot of fics focus on Sirius boycrushing on Remus and finally realizing that, and it's all intense and everything-- and Remus wants him back, right. But it's not a question of Remus -falling- for Sirius-- or realizing he fancies him back. No, Remus holds back. Remus... basically, Remus doesn't trust Sirius with his heart.
Man. I know I've said the trust issues with this pairing interest me, but. It seems like the holding-back thing is some kind of moral judgment on Sirius, which really bugs me, for it reminds me of Harry's attitude towards Draco in fics, and dude, that's what I was trying to get away from. I mean, the main reason it bugs me so much is that there's no canon reason for it that I can see-- I mean, I can't really see evidence for Remus being the grudge-bearing type-- that's more Sirius' thing, dude.
Moreover, it seems like a nasty case of projection on the writers' part-- like, it's clear favoritism with Remus-- who apparently has little to no real offensive qualities, and is actually a long-suffering martyr. And I don't hate martyr!Harry as much 'cause well, at least that's canon. But. Remus doesn't have to be. So... wah. I thought the point of S/R was that Sirius could get Remus to loosen up-- let go of his reservations and feel. And if Remus spends the whole time basically making Sirius feel sorry about being himself (as far as Sirius is capable of)-- well-- that makes me feel like they're bad for each other. Which kind of... seems to be missing the point, no?
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 12:11 am (UTC)Dude, so do I. Thus the icon reflected pairing. ;)
And you know, I wonder that, too, about what the fuck is so cool about Remus. I mean, I like Remus, honest I do, I even like that he's cold, but... I only like that he's cold because it's a flaw. I mean, being so passive-aggressive, so self-contained, that's not good! And I like that he's cold because he warms up so well with Sirius, even in canon. Because that is part of what makes them work together, what makes them special together: that Sirius's fire can melt Remus's ice, at least temporarily, and Remus's restraint can give Sirius some sense of self-control.
As it is, a lot of the fic leaves out the give and take, and yeah, that's sucky.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 12:22 am (UTC)See, my first non-slash-but-kinda-smarm 'pairing' (which I never quite shipped as I didn't know what slash was) was Kirk/Spock-- and I loved Spock's coldness-- because there was all that passion and fiery emotion he was suppressing. That's what makes those people so fascinating, no? Well, you'd think. It's the chance to show the things they hide-- make them lose control. 'Cause when they blow up, they blow up harder than a normal person, right. It should be spectacular, really. And with Remus-- beyond those stupid why-god-why 'wolf inside' references (which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get the feeling the writer has no idea of what the 'wolf inside' would actually feel like or how that even relates to werewolves since by all evidence, he's not really constantly aware of another consciousness or anything)-- Remus is clearly repressing majorly and desperately holding on to sanity & composure & such. And yet it's Sirius who's the mad one -.-
Le sigh.
PS
Date: 2004-11-15 12:44 am (UTC)Though... yet another one down for the count for someone saying that Sirius Deserves It.
I mean. WHY IS IT IN EVERY FIC WHY WHY WHYyyyyyyyyyyy?
Re: PS
Date: 2004-11-15 11:40 am (UTC)And I hate saying that, cos I'm very fond of the author of that one. ;)
Re: PS
Date: 2004-11-15 11:45 am (UTC)Honestly though, the whole not-deserving thing is just mean. And then (wouldn't you know it) everyone uses this to say, SEE S/R DOESN'T WORK, too. :(((
(my life = so hard)
Re: PS
Date: 2004-11-15 11:48 am (UTC)But then, I have very little tolerance for things that irk me, and very little inherent love for fanfiction, so I can pretty much be tossed out of a story by any little thing. Because I don't really have an investment in my ability to read fanfic, you know?