[UET all the way, baby]

[reenka]

People say that writers have a driving 'theme' that influences all their work, something far-reaching and constantly being reshaped and revisited. I think my theme is probably 'longing'; it's what I'm most invested in writing about, what keeps me at the edge of my seat, what ultimately seems most satisfying when well-portrayed. And of course it's all the better if it's hopeless, desperate longing, something that tears you apart and fills your every waking moment-- but then, it's not really longing any other way, right? And I don't mean just romantic longing-- there's many types, like nostalgia for instance, which is longing for the past, or loneliness which is longing for contact.

    Mostly, I'm thinking about this because of a comment on this recent post on slash (a subject which I seem to never tire of seeing redefined), where koimistress says, there's a long dramatic tradition wherein the audience sympathizes with the One Who Longs. And I was like, ding! Well, mostly because anything that makes me feel more normal is yaye, and also because I -have- always sympathized most heavily with characters who longed, were driven by the many shades of desire. And of course Draco is one such character-- and Harry in a way, though what he longs for is in no way centrally Draco to my mind but rather a family.
    I guess, also, I've been frustrated with the seeming necessity of making Harry the One Who Longs post-HBP because he doesn't seem very suited for dwelling in it-- he's more driven to action and/or manfully suppressing it if it interrupts his life like with Sirius.

Possibly, you could make a case that desire-- a central drive-- is related to longing, and is the bedrock on which dramatic fiction is built. So of course we as readers are drawn to the characters with both the most conflict and need unfulfilled. If you started working with a character who basically had what they wanted in life, where would you go with that story?
    Also, perhaps you could make a case that slash & stories about m/m attraction would be more wholly and explicitly about this Desire because of the sheer difficulty and the obstacles in pursuing it even currently in the Western world. Slash sort of-- purifies this theme, or maybe just strengthens it. Gives it that dramatic push that you would need outside circumstances for in m/f romance and even in f/f stories because of the implicit greater ease of communication in those.

All of this is related to seeing slash as "emotionally transgressive", what with men showing obvious un-repressed emotion, which seems much more on the money than that whole thing with it being -sexually- transgressive. I must admit I've always loved this smarm-centric argument because I think I've always gotten this emotional kick from slash-- or rather, close m/m relationships, friend or foe-- way before I knew what slash was. The 'sexual glow' is what gives it that overt UST and it's definitely yummy, but what really grabs me is the UET-- Unresolved Emotional Tension :D

With Harry/Draco, the reason I keep harping on it is because I think the pairing ultimately packs the transgressive punch on several different levels-- the standard m/m, interpersonal conflict and societal conflict as well. It's not like it's conflict personified or anything-- it's just that there's such a huge emotional transgressiveness involved, sort of like Romeo & Juliet except with like, (more) fists and cocks. (I mean, I just love how -wrong- yet right it would be for Harry to touch Draco's cheek tenderly. You just can't beat that sort of cognitive dissonance, man.) Yeah, I mean, I blame Shakespeare for everything :>

Comments

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hehehe, in an odd way I do believe your affections are more canon-based than mine :D Like, I like -slash-, yeah, not so much for the sake of slash itself or the sex or anything but just in theory, I like m/m relationships, not so much sexual as just-- uh-- intense? Also, as I believe I've told you, you're (commendably) quite a lot more focused on the healthiness of relationships and all that balance/stability/compatibility... type positive stuff. Er. I just want a good game half the time, and the other half I want eternal love and cookies. I really can't decide :D But yeah, most of the time I'm less with the positive outlook and more with the uh, angst, longing and heavy petting bonding :> Not that I -want- anyone to die in the end or anything, I mean, I actually tend to hate deathfics, but I just... dwell too much on the build-up & conflict stuff and less so on the resolution and happy bunnies and all that stuff.

...I really would think much more of D/Hr if I had any sense for Hermione at all. Like... at all.


It would probably also help if I wasn't so unable to have conflicting ships most of the time, ahahaha.

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Well, I am a big fan of the angst and longing and heavy petting myself, y'know. It's - hmm... I don't know, I suppose people rubbing each other up the wrong way is even more important to me than them rubbing each other up the right way.
If you know what I'm sayin', and I think you do.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

But of course, ma cherie! <3
...You know it ain't no fun when people rub each other the right way to start with.

Er... in fics. In real life, esp. with friends, it's... nice not to be annoyed all the time, that's what I've found through my, er, exhaustive studies... yes....
Although it's nice if somehow they could do both at the same time, 'cause you know Mr Wrong and Mr Right were just so MFEO, ehehe.