attempt at efficiency: FAILURE
Apr. 3rd, 2009 02:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meretriculaugh, so much Herodotus. it isn't even that it's hard at this point. there are just too many words.
Rafa lost his quarterfinal, sadface. I was upset for a split second and then remembered that I am in this fandom for the slash, not the actual tennis. my faith in Rafa's invincibility has been a little shaken, though, I admit. ~shrug~ whatever, he's still pretty. I kind of want the Davis Cup boypiles back. nothing can be upsetting when full-grown professional tennis players are bouncing up and down singing about how much they love Rafa.
in a strange convergence of fandoms, I have been thinking about threesome dynamics. (for those of you going: uh, what is she talking about, the threesomes I have been pondering are Tharkay/Laurence/Granby from Temeraire and Rafa/Feli/Nando from tennis slash.) perhaps this is because I have never quite been able to wrap my brain around polyamory, but I see them both (and they are both very different dynamics) as starting from two people in love with the same third person. however, I would fully buy Tharkay and Granby, both of whom are sort of hopelessly in love with Laurence the epically oblivious in canon, as getting with each other independent of Laurence, and I sort of rank that scenario as more probable than either of them getting with Laurence independently, just because Laurence is so deeply bound up with Temeraire that he would probably fail to notice sizzling sexual tension if it set his coat on fire. once Tharkay and Granby are involved with each other, they gain confidence and stability (which I think neither has had in, let's see, ever) and would be more comfortable approaching Laurence from the secure position of an established couple. rejection is scary! but less scary if you already know someone loves you. (thinky thoughts on Temeraire prompted bynovembersmith's deliciously hot OT3 fic, which is through no fault of its own not really compatible with my personal canon. I love it to pieces! but it's not how I see it going down.)
by contrast, I think the Spanish OT3 absolutely cannot exist without Feli Lopez. I'd buy him with either Rafa or Nando and pulling the other one in, but Rafa/Nando? absolutely not. no spark. (and I say that having seen many Davis Cup pics where Rafa and Nando are snuggling shirtless or rolling around on the ground on top of each other. really. no relationship spark.)
as I try to analyze these findings, I'm wondering if it's based on how I see the... I don't know how to describe it, the balance of effort in the relationships? Laurence is a lot of work, and dearly as I love him, he doesn't give it back. he's too invested in doing his duty. he loves Temeraire, and so much of his energy is spent on looking after Temeraire that he really doesn't do a lot of caretaking for other people. (being a responsible commander is not caretaking as I'm defining it here. I mean looking after someone because of an emotional investment in their wellbeing.) Tharkay and Granby are following him to freaking Australia. that is some serious emotional investment. and they both, throughout the books, really do spend an increasing amount of time trying to take care of Laurence. (Laurence appreciates this irregularly.) unless Laurence changes somehow during the trip to Australia, I think he would destroy a lover who was in love with him. he wouldn't understand that he was doing it and he would be very sorry afterwards, but it wouldn't change the result. which is why Jane is awesome for him: she's not down with that nonsense! but seriously, Laurence is an absolute sink for energy, affection, and worry. two people making a concerted effort and also making sure to take care of each other could manage him, but... yeah. (Laurence, I still love you, bb!)
I see Feliciano as being the caretaker for both Rafa and Nando. a fun caretaker, someone who will tease and act like a friend, not a parent, but still, he's the one making the effort. he's part of Rafa's entourage, not the other way around, and I think Verdasco needs a lot of affection and reassurance. that's maybe unfair to Rafa; I don't know. based on pictorial evidence of him hugging everyone on the planet he's very comfortable giving physical affection, and absent any work on an author's part to convince me otherwise, I see him as the caretaker in the Roger/Rafa relationship. but I don't see him as willing to be the giver with Nando, which I guess is the relevant point, and I just don't see Lopez as needing the kind of effort and energy that would require him to be.
...I think my conception of the threesome dynamic is alarmingly co-dependent. will contemplate this further.
rambling meta brought to you by procrastination! whatever, I'm not sleeping anyway.
Rafa lost his quarterfinal, sadface. I was upset for a split second and then remembered that I am in this fandom for the slash, not the actual tennis. my faith in Rafa's invincibility has been a little shaken, though, I admit. ~shrug~ whatever, he's still pretty. I kind of want the Davis Cup boypiles back. nothing can be upsetting when full-grown professional tennis players are bouncing up and down singing about how much they love Rafa.
in a strange convergence of fandoms, I have been thinking about threesome dynamics. (for those of you going: uh, what is she talking about, the threesomes I have been pondering are Tharkay/Laurence/Granby from Temeraire and Rafa/Feli/Nando from tennis slash.) perhaps this is because I have never quite been able to wrap my brain around polyamory, but I see them both (and they are both very different dynamics) as starting from two people in love with the same third person. however, I would fully buy Tharkay and Granby, both of whom are sort of hopelessly in love with Laurence the epically oblivious in canon, as getting with each other independent of Laurence, and I sort of rank that scenario as more probable than either of them getting with Laurence independently, just because Laurence is so deeply bound up with Temeraire that he would probably fail to notice sizzling sexual tension if it set his coat on fire. once Tharkay and Granby are involved with each other, they gain confidence and stability (which I think neither has had in, let's see, ever) and would be more comfortable approaching Laurence from the secure position of an established couple. rejection is scary! but less scary if you already know someone loves you. (thinky thoughts on Temeraire prompted by
novembersmith's deliciously hot OT3 fic, which is through no fault of its own not really compatible with my personal canon. I love it to pieces! but it's not how I see it going down.)by contrast, I think the Spanish OT3 absolutely cannot exist without Feli Lopez. I'd buy him with either Rafa or Nando and pulling the other one in, but Rafa/Nando? absolutely not. no spark. (and I say that having seen many Davis Cup pics where Rafa and Nando are snuggling shirtless or rolling around on the ground on top of each other. really. no relationship spark.)
as I try to analyze these findings, I'm wondering if it's based on how I see the... I don't know how to describe it, the balance of effort in the relationships? Laurence is a lot of work, and dearly as I love him, he doesn't give it back. he's too invested in doing his duty. he loves Temeraire, and so much of his energy is spent on looking after Temeraire that he really doesn't do a lot of caretaking for other people. (being a responsible commander is not caretaking as I'm defining it here. I mean looking after someone because of an emotional investment in their wellbeing.) Tharkay and Granby are following him to freaking Australia. that is some serious emotional investment. and they both, throughout the books, really do spend an increasing amount of time trying to take care of Laurence. (Laurence appreciates this irregularly.) unless Laurence changes somehow during the trip to Australia, I think he would destroy a lover who was in love with him. he wouldn't understand that he was doing it and he would be very sorry afterwards, but it wouldn't change the result. which is why Jane is awesome for him: she's not down with that nonsense! but seriously, Laurence is an absolute sink for energy, affection, and worry. two people making a concerted effort and also making sure to take care of each other could manage him, but... yeah. (Laurence, I still love you, bb!)
I see Feliciano as being the caretaker for both Rafa and Nando. a fun caretaker, someone who will tease and act like a friend, not a parent, but still, he's the one making the effort. he's part of Rafa's entourage, not the other way around, and I think Verdasco needs a lot of affection and reassurance. that's maybe unfair to Rafa; I don't know. based on pictorial evidence of him hugging everyone on the planet he's very comfortable giving physical affection, and absent any work on an author's part to convince me otherwise, I see him as the caretaker in the Roger/Rafa relationship. but I don't see him as willing to be the giver with Nando, which I guess is the relevant point, and I just don't see Lopez as needing the kind of effort and energy that would require him to be.
...I think my conception of the threesome dynamic is alarmingly co-dependent. will contemplate this further.
rambling meta brought to you by procrastination! whatever, I'm not sleeping anyway.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Here I come fashionably late, sleep-deprived, and rambly. UH-OH.
Date: 2009-04-05 02:03 am (UTC)we are like brain twins or something. ~agrees with everything~ was the fic that got you to see the slash
ugh, I want to have intelligent things to say in reply to you and all I can think of is YES ABSOLUTELY. failure!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 05:23 am (UTC)THAT IS OKAY. I am glad we agree and that my thoughts aren't totally outlandish.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 05:29 am (UTC)but now look at us being all fannishly proactive! ~hugs~
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 05:37 am (UTC)BUT WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. YOU WRITE WONDERFULLY AND EPICALLY. PERIOD.
*snugs* And by proactive, I hope you mean "devising crack plots and unrealistic realistic scenarios". <3
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 05:47 am (UTC)~blushes~ ~is unworthy~ ~but grateful~
ahaha, well, that too! but actually I meant this whole "commentfic" thing, which I've never done before and is very fun! you get to bat ideas around with other people who share your squee!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 03:24 pm (UTC)Oh, yes? That is what I meant too. xD
no subject
Date: 2009-04-05 03:32 pm (UTC)I suppose the two are pretty synonymous!