Post by Kyatto on Feb 21, 2007 2:40:06 GMT -5
"I think sexuality is fluid (and research backs this up), and doubly so in fiction. Everyone (in a piece of fiction) is bi until proven otherwise (though that doesn't mean that everyone in the FIC should be, because that's just not believable). Because of the tacit (usually unconcious) implication on the author's part that the audience will assume that the characters are all straight (unless we're talking about Joss Whedon, in which case, who the hell knows?), there's rarely any statement about a character's sexuality unless they *are* gay/bi, and so interpreting them as closer to the homosexual end of the spectrum is just as valid as interpreting them as closer to the straight end of the spectrum. Of course, the more serious relationships the character has had with the opposite sex, the higher the burden of proof of plausibility on the slashfic author. (Conversely, the more short, vapid, ineffective relationships/attempts with the opposite sex the more likely I am to believe the character might be gay and closeted/just hasn't noticed yet.) I tend to do less interpreting characters as having a specific sexuality as I do interpreting them as having some sort of attraction to another character (of whatever gender- makes no nevermind to me).
And yes, "because I do" is a valid answer to "why do you like slash?" Why is purple my favorite color? Because it is."
^Quoted for absolute truth.
When it comes to Avatar I'm personally irked by the whole Zutara/Kataang and Het/Slash mumbo jumbo.
Where is the cold hard and solid evidence that either Zuko or Aang is going to wind up being with Katara in the end? How do we know some new guy is not going to appear in Season Three and sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind of romance? We don't. It's all just speculation.
Same with the accussations of "X Character can't be bi/gay because ____" Where's the proof? Bisexual people can kiss anyone of either sex because they like both. I have a feeling that if Avatar wasn't a Y7 Nickelodeon show and instead something animated by the Adult Swim team we'd see more Slashy elements. I'm sure it's the rating and the fact Nick wants to shield kids from "the bad" that there is nothing gay. You know why? In reality, not everyone is straight. More and more people "come out" every year. So having a world where every last person is absoulutely straight as a line just doesn't seem possible. Therefore if I, or someone else, wrote an in-character romance fanfiction about a relationship between Mai and Ty Lee , it'd be the same as if instead there had been written a story about Sokka and Ty LEe instead. Love comes in many ways and shapes and sizes.
But this is all just my two cents. Carry on~
And yes, "because I do" is a valid answer to "why do you like slash?" Why is purple my favorite color? Because it is."
^Quoted for absolute truth.
When it comes to Avatar I'm personally irked by the whole Zutara/Kataang and Het/Slash mumbo jumbo.
Where is the cold hard and solid evidence that either Zuko or Aang is going to wind up being with Katara in the end? How do we know some new guy is not going to appear in Season Three and sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind of romance? We don't. It's all just speculation.
Same with the accussations of "X Character can't be bi/gay because ____" Where's the proof? Bisexual people can kiss anyone of either sex because they like both. I have a feeling that if Avatar wasn't a Y7 Nickelodeon show and instead something animated by the Adult Swim team we'd see more Slashy elements. I'm sure it's the rating and the fact Nick wants to shield kids from "the bad" that there is nothing gay. You know why? In reality, not everyone is straight. More and more people "come out" every year. So having a world where every last person is absoulutely straight as a line just doesn't seem possible. Therefore if I, or someone else, wrote an in-character romance fanfiction about a relationship between Mai and Ty Lee , it'd be the same as if instead there had been written a story about Sokka and Ty LEe instead. Love comes in many ways and shapes and sizes.
But this is all just my two cents. Carry on~