| Subject: SxK- Plausible? Yes! |
Author:
Ari
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Date Posted: 10:01:26 07/05/03 Sat
In reply to:
Aeanagwen
's message, "SxK Plausibility" on 12:35:07 06/28/03 Sat
Well, here we are again.
>He's certainly not the type to have casual sex after
>Seishirou's betrayal.
Coming from someone who admits she doesn't have a very good understanding of the character, that doesn't mean a great deal. Subaru wouldn't be the first person to have sought out comfort for past traumas through that means. I think it entirely plausible, and highly likely, that Subaru would have had sex in the interim between X and TB. Especially during the first few years when he was still trying to 'erase all traces of [Seishirou] from inside [his] heart'. What better way to erase Seishirou's touch than try to replace it with another's? Not to mention that this would coincide with the years of peak sexuality for a male: 17 to 18. Remember that Subaru was trying to forget him for a time before he gave in to the hopelessness of the act.
>As for sex with Seishirou,
>well, I just don't see it.
Again, that doesn't mean terribly much. Many people who do seem to have an impeccable grasp of Subaru as a character hold the opposite opinion, and, influenced by both them and my own interpretation of the manga, so do I.
CLAMP showed us Arashi and
>Sorata's first time; I don't see why one of their most
>popular pairings ever would be any different.
That's very simple- mystery and marketability. The beauty of the S/S relationship is that it forces the reader to make interpretations- to read between the lines and catch small hints and subtle changes of expression. It is the epitome of the 'show, don't tell' ideal: nothing is certain, to the casual observer, but the nuances are there for the trained eye to see. This is what makes the pairing so utterly fascinating to so many fans- CLAMP is letting us make what we will of it. The hints are there if you're looking for them, easy to miss if you don't want to see. The changes in mannerisms between the two 'on-screen' meetings between the two and the fact that they HAD to have at least one 'off-screen' interaction are excellent examples. But I'd imagine you don't even know what I'm talking about- that's not really surprising, if you don't want to see it you won't, as I said. I'd suggest you go back and look for it before I spoil it for you, though.
And on a slightly more shallow note, it is also no doubt in part because it IS one of the most popular pairings they've written, in both North American and Japanese fandoms- as a quick search through Japanese fansite will demonstrate- and thus the subject of countless fanfictions, fanart, and doujinshi. These things draw others into the fandom and act as a free but very real form of advertisement. Since these are based off of the 'off-screen' interpretations of S/S, making something between them as important as sex an absolute canon would lessen the appeal of writing it for oneself. For Sorata and Arashi it doesn't matter- it was a plot device to begin with, and they didn't kill the potential for thousands of fans. I don't think CLAMP is as popular as they are as a result of poor marketing skills.
For
>that matter, I'm afraid I've never understood why, if
>the relationship is so fascinating and complex and
>dark and convoluted etc., it's so neccessary to add
>sex to it and make it something it isn't.
'Isn't' in your opinion, which I- and most of the fandom, it seems- disagrees with. Sex doesn't 'make it something it isn't', is ADDS to it. Every S/Ser, quite naturally, wants to try their hand at encounters between their favorite characters- which are usually VERY heavy on dialogue, description, and metaphor- and sex is like icing on the cake. There are many, MANY excellent S/S fanfics that have no sex whatsoever, if you'd care to look. The two of them are sexually appealing as well as emotionally... is that really something to hold against them? And the fans that write them together?
An
>interesting AU, perhaps, but done to death. For
>random yaoi smut, sure. But actual canon? I doubt it.
Well, it's obviously not canon- and I'm sure it won't ever be in your mind until Mokona Apapa shows them fucking each other into the bedsheets- which is fairly impossible now. But neither is it necessarily AU, which you added on your post below. That's good- because it isn't AU by any stretch of the imagination. AU is changing the dimensions of the story. There's absolutely NOTHING in the canon that makes it impossible or even unlikely for Subaru to have had sex with Seishirou during X. The story follows Kamui, not him. We can only assume what he does while the other dragons are at work/play- he doesn't live with them, they don't see what he's up to. Sex between two adult men in love with each other hardly seems out of place to me.
At this point I'd like to ask: if K/Y is so good, inspiring, hopeful, etc. why don't you WRITE about it? I tout S/S all the time, write fanfiction about it often, have a site dedicated to them, cosplay, and more. Yet I look at your fanfiction and see nothing besides a little flame bait ficlet bashing 'stupid' ((From your very own blog, darling)) fan interpretations of Seishirou that sort of includes Yuzuriha and a very AU fic that delves into the S/S medium that still hasn't gotten around any K/Y. I look at your rants and essays and see many of them bitching about the many evils of the X yaoi fandom and its OOC writing, S/S God-Complex, etc. Where are the essays on the exemplary relationship between the characters you like? On the possibilities, the symbolism, the drama, or the originality? You gave me a tiny bit of an explanation of the two when I asked, and even that reluctantly. Are you a fan of these pairings at all, or do you just like them because its one more thing to rant about as the yaoi fans generally don't? Is there any meat to these pairings you 'love' whatsoever, or is it simply because you can't stand the popularity of the alternatives?
>As someone who actually likes Kotori (and I
>know that's rare in this fanbase)
As none of her 'fans' ever fail to point out. Try some adjectives besides 'disliked' sometime. Unpopularity doesn't make a character good.
>Being maladjusted does not make him horny. He
>certainly seems to have his hormones well enough in
>check around Seishirou that Seishirou never guessed
>what Subaru's real Wish was and had to be told that
>his assumption was wrong by Fuuma.
Because Subaru's true Wish had plenty to do with SEX. Seishirou doesn't realize that Subaru is still in love with him either, but everyone else seems to see it. Perhaps possessing very little emotion himself makes him not the best judge of other people's feelings. That doesn't mean Subaru has flawless control of his urges, that means Seishirou can't see what he feels. I fail to see what the two even have to do with each other.
As to the next part, you seem to have an awful lot of faith in the infallible moral qualities of a character you profess to have no fondness for. In short, you say that Subaru would not have sex with Kamui because of the damaging effects it would have on him. What's to say Subaru wouldn't give in to temptation? Subaru ISN'T perfect, DOESN'T always make the right decisions, and can be VERY selfish- all attributes CLAMP aptly demonstrates through his actions over and over, and which you gladly give him when convienient for you. But as far as Kamui's concerned he's suddenly a paragon of virtue? Sorry, CLAMP's already got that covered with some of the other Seals. There's nothing stopping Subaru from making another mistake. I'm not an S/Ker myself, but even I'll admit that the pairing is entirely plausible. Subaru knows how much it hurts to be left by the one you love- how desperate and lonely- and he might just offer himself to Kamui to fill the void that no one filled for him.
It's funny how, in your opinion, Subaru's obsession with Seishirou is enough for him to avoid sex with Kamui but not give into sex with Seishirou himself. Or perhaps you're just making what you want to of it.
Everything you mentioned is covered, over and over again, by many S/K fics out there. Those are the many things S/K has to work through- and those problems form the basis of many fics. They aren't arguments against it, they're plot points to cover. Kamui's vulnerable, Subaru's still in love... but the chemistry between them is obvious. If Subaru were ever capable of getting over Seishirou and moving on, I've no doubt that's exactly who he would end up with. It doesn't seem likely to happen now, but a little romance or sex during the earlier books of X is hardly out of line.
Always happy to respond,
-Ari
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