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thefourthvine) wrote2004-12-02 02:49 am
thefourthvine) wrote2004-12-02 02:49 am
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Tell Me How to Celebrate, Part 1: the Slashiest Fandom
I'm about to ask an important question, maybe the critical question of fandom.
What is the slashiest fandom of them all?
Think you know? Tell me in the comments, and please provide examples.
Or read on, and I will tell you what provoked the question. Basically, it was the juxtaposition of two things: vids and a video game. Let's consider them in order, shall we?
See, I've been on a sort of vid-watching kick lately (in the same sense that the Trainspotting boys were on a sort of heroin kick). And one of my secret shames is an adoration of the "four minutes of the slashiest moments in this particular fandom" subgenre, aka the Slash Highlights vid; I love these, especially when I don't know the canon, which is most of the time. Jack pushes Daniel's glasses up his nose. Blair and Jim make breakfast together. Starsky and Hutch strip. Wesley feeds Angel from his arm. And my once-cold heart just melts. When I first started watching vids, these Slash Highlights ones astonished me. I kept thinking, did the creators know what they were doing? Did the actors come from some distant country that has no concept of personal space? And are those two guys just going to fuck right there on screen or what?
It was at this point that I encountered a bunch of Highlander Slash Highlights vids, and in particular this one scene where a short-haired guy (Methos?) walks into a room and sees or is introduced to a long-haired guy (Duncan?). And Methos checks him out. I mean, obviously, visibly, and with no other possible explanation for his actions, at least not that I can see. And then he smiles, and it is, in my considered opinion, an "Oh, yeah, I'm going to love fucking this guy" smile. It's the sort of scene that makes you turn to your Best Beloved, assuming your Best Beloved is watching the vid with you, and say, "Did I - did he - oh my god, did he?" To which your Best Beloved responds, through almost uncontrollable giggles, "Totally. Oh, God, totally. Gay! Gay! Gay!"
So I started wondering how many other fandoms have these moments, and which fandom has the most.
And then the Best Beloved and I got hold of Shadow Hearts: Covenant, a Playstation 2 game that easily takes the title Slashiest Video Game of All Time away from the previous title holder, which was the original Shadow Hearts game. In SH: C, you collect - seriously - gay porn to get a flaming tailor to make dresses for a doll. And you can see the gay porn, mind you, in the inventory screen. You have a party member who is a vampire professional wrestler who wears a butterfly mask and who is apparently conducting an intense UST-laden relationship with his teacher. You have character interactions that can only be described as "like the DCU, if all the writers got hit by pink kryptonite." Really, there's not a single hour of the game that isn't imbued with slashy slashiness. And that includes the slashiest cut scene I have ever beheld in all my born days, a scene so slashy that the BB and I have held on to the save right before it so we can watch it over and over, laughing like loons every time.
Yuri, the star of both Shadow Hearts games, is in a bar in Southampton. In walks a Mystery Man with muscles and a swirling cape and a dangerously tailored uniform. Yuri is transfixed. He doesn't just cruise Mystery Man, he doesn't just check out every inch of MM's body - he quite literally cannot tear his eyes away. Then MM turns around and proves to be a man Yuri knows of old: Kato. Kato makes it clear that the fascination is mutual. They have a conversation that is full of references to the lovely time Yuri and Kato spent in Shanghai, including the pleasures they experienced then and the loneliness they've experienced since. They make an appointment to meet later. "I'm staying in this hotel," Kato says. "Come by any time. I hope to see you soon." Later, Yuri meets Kato in his hotel room (and there's only one double bed in there, and every other bed in the hotel is occupied, and yet Yuri stays somewhere that night); they have another intense conversation, and the screen goes dark. The next morning, Yuri rubs his ass and says, "I think I need a doctor." I can't really tell you more without explaining the whole story of the game, but trust me: there is so much slash in this cut scene that boys have been known to turn bisexual just from watching it.
In short, Shadow Hearts: Covenant is the motherlode of slash. Surely, I thought when I first encountered it, surely there is no fandom as slashy as this game?
So I ask you: is there? If so, what is that fandom? And what makes it so insanely slashy? Tell me. Convince me. Make me clap my hands because I believe in fairies.
I'm hoping that this will help me do my 111th post. Because that post should be a celebration of this LJ's core values. (Slash. And fandom. Also, slash.)
-The Evidence: Vid Recs, Because, After All, This Is a Recs LJ-
Want to see some slashy moments in the flesh? I can't promise that these are the slashiest vids in their fandoms, but they do contain most of the scenes I mention above. And some others that are equally ohmygodtheirloveissoobvious.
Stargate, Jack/Daniel: "Let's Hear It," by Relic 1979, has Jack pushing up Daniel's glasses and a bunch more; you can download it from Relic's website.
Highlander, Methos/Duncan (I think): "Just Like You," by Luminosity, features the "I'm going to love fucking this guy" bit. You can find it at Luminosity's website.
Angel, Angel/Wes: "If It's Hurting You" contains the Wes-feeding-Angel scene, and "Completely Pleased" contains a whole bunch of other Angel/Wes-ishness. They're both by Charmax, and they can be found at Bronze Ambition.
Starsky and Hutch, Starsky/Hutch: "Mighty Fine," by Kassidy Rae, shows the guys stripping, together, happily, and at some length, for reasons best known to themselves. It can be downloaded from her website.
Multifandom: "Dirty World," by Diana Williams, has great slashy moments from a bunch of fandoms. You can download it at her website; that site only features her newest vids for downloading, though, so eventually you will have to order a hard copy to get this one.
Multifandom: "Wouldn't It Be Nice," by Laura Shapiro, features another cross-fandom parade of slash. To get the vid, you'll need to email Laura for the password to her website, so the link is for that.
What is the slashiest fandom of them all?
Think you know? Tell me in the comments, and please provide examples.
Or read on, and I will tell you what provoked the question. Basically, it was the juxtaposition of two things: vids and a video game. Let's consider them in order, shall we?
See, I've been on a sort of vid-watching kick lately (in the same sense that the Trainspotting boys were on a sort of heroin kick). And one of my secret shames is an adoration of the "four minutes of the slashiest moments in this particular fandom" subgenre, aka the Slash Highlights vid; I love these, especially when I don't know the canon, which is most of the time. Jack pushes Daniel's glasses up his nose. Blair and Jim make breakfast together. Starsky and Hutch strip. Wesley feeds Angel from his arm. And my once-cold heart just melts. When I first started watching vids, these Slash Highlights ones astonished me. I kept thinking, did the creators know what they were doing? Did the actors come from some distant country that has no concept of personal space? And are those two guys just going to fuck right there on screen or what?
It was at this point that I encountered a bunch of Highlander Slash Highlights vids, and in particular this one scene where a short-haired guy (Methos?) walks into a room and sees or is introduced to a long-haired guy (Duncan?). And Methos checks him out. I mean, obviously, visibly, and with no other possible explanation for his actions, at least not that I can see. And then he smiles, and it is, in my considered opinion, an "Oh, yeah, I'm going to love fucking this guy" smile. It's the sort of scene that makes you turn to your Best Beloved, assuming your Best Beloved is watching the vid with you, and say, "Did I - did he - oh my god, did he?" To which your Best Beloved responds, through almost uncontrollable giggles, "Totally. Oh, God, totally. Gay! Gay! Gay!"
So I started wondering how many other fandoms have these moments, and which fandom has the most.
And then the Best Beloved and I got hold of Shadow Hearts: Covenant, a Playstation 2 game that easily takes the title Slashiest Video Game of All Time away from the previous title holder, which was the original Shadow Hearts game. In SH: C, you collect - seriously - gay porn to get a flaming tailor to make dresses for a doll. And you can see the gay porn, mind you, in the inventory screen. You have a party member who is a vampire professional wrestler who wears a butterfly mask and who is apparently conducting an intense UST-laden relationship with his teacher. You have character interactions that can only be described as "like the DCU, if all the writers got hit by pink kryptonite." Really, there's not a single hour of the game that isn't imbued with slashy slashiness. And that includes the slashiest cut scene I have ever beheld in all my born days, a scene so slashy that the BB and I have held on to the save right before it so we can watch it over and over, laughing like loons every time.
Yuri, the star of both Shadow Hearts games, is in a bar in Southampton. In walks a Mystery Man with muscles and a swirling cape and a dangerously tailored uniform. Yuri is transfixed. He doesn't just cruise Mystery Man, he doesn't just check out every inch of MM's body - he quite literally cannot tear his eyes away. Then MM turns around and proves to be a man Yuri knows of old: Kato. Kato makes it clear that the fascination is mutual. They have a conversation that is full of references to the lovely time Yuri and Kato spent in Shanghai, including the pleasures they experienced then and the loneliness they've experienced since. They make an appointment to meet later. "I'm staying in this hotel," Kato says. "Come by any time. I hope to see you soon." Later, Yuri meets Kato in his hotel room (and there's only one double bed in there, and every other bed in the hotel is occupied, and yet Yuri stays somewhere that night); they have another intense conversation, and the screen goes dark. The next morning, Yuri rubs his ass and says, "I think I need a doctor." I can't really tell you more without explaining the whole story of the game, but trust me: there is so much slash in this cut scene that boys have been known to turn bisexual just from watching it.
In short, Shadow Hearts: Covenant is the motherlode of slash. Surely, I thought when I first encountered it, surely there is no fandom as slashy as this game?
So I ask you: is there? If so, what is that fandom? And what makes it so insanely slashy? Tell me. Convince me. Make me clap my hands because I believe in fairies.
I'm hoping that this will help me do my 111th post. Because that post should be a celebration of this LJ's core values. (Slash. And fandom. Also, slash.)
-The Evidence: Vid Recs, Because, After All, This Is a Recs LJ-
Want to see some slashy moments in the flesh? I can't promise that these are the slashiest vids in their fandoms, but they do contain most of the scenes I mention above. And some others that are equally ohmygodtheirloveissoobvious.
Stargate, Jack/Daniel: "Let's Hear It," by Relic 1979, has Jack pushing up Daniel's glasses and a bunch more; you can download it from Relic's website.
Highlander, Methos/Duncan (I think): "Just Like You," by Luminosity, features the "I'm going to love fucking this guy" bit. You can find it at Luminosity's website.
Angel, Angel/Wes: "If It's Hurting You" contains the Wes-feeding-Angel scene, and "Completely Pleased" contains a whole bunch of other Angel/Wes-ishness. They're both by Charmax, and they can be found at Bronze Ambition.
Starsky and Hutch, Starsky/Hutch: "Mighty Fine," by Kassidy Rae, shows the guys stripping, together, happily, and at some length, for reasons best known to themselves. It can be downloaded from her website.
Multifandom: "Dirty World," by Diana Williams, has great slashy moments from a bunch of fandoms. You can download it at her website; that site only features her newest vids for downloading, though, so eventually you will have to order a hard copy to get this one.
Multifandom: "Wouldn't It Be Nice," by Laura Shapiro, features another cross-fandom parade of slash. To get the vid, you'll need to email Laura for the password to her website, so the link is for that.
no subject
I'm - god, I'm so ashamed to say this - working on Yuri/Kato. No, really, that's why we kept the cut scene save, so that I could refer to it endlessly in my quest to write Yuri/Kato. The first time through, BB and I were translating everything that Kato and Yuri said to each other, so we pretty much wrote the story right there. If I had a recording of that I wouldn't even need to write, just transcribe.
And, yeah, I noticed totally the deal where Yuri drops Joachim like a rock when he beholds the Kato. Yuri, Yuri - you're such an ass. But a really slashy ass, mind.
(Southampton is really hard on Joachim. You can't tell me that he didn't first come to terms with his gay gay urges while lusting after Teacher. So Yuri dumps him, but then he meets Teacher and thinks "at last!" And he *defeats* Teacher, figuring, yes, this will show him I'm ready - and Teacher tells him he's not good enough yet, come back in a bunch more levels. Jeez.)
Have you played the first game?
Oh, yes. And there's gay there in spades - I mean, you cannot possibly tell me that Keith Valentine wasn't gay gay gay gay. (We named him "Wilde" in our game; he's so swishy nothing else could suit.) And the implied threesome when they're in - Rouen, maybe? - and the four guys share a room with two beds, and then Certain People complain about exhaustion the next day? Seriously, it was the gayest video game ever - until SH:C came out. And I mean "came out" in all senses of the phrase, of course.
no subject
...And then, omg, there's the way he reacts to Meiyuan's acupuncture. That's not even SUBTEXT anymore.
Can't wait to see your Yuri/Kato. Woo! I had the exact same reaction to that cutscene.
KATO: *suave*
YURI: *smitten*
EVERYONE ELSE: omgwtf!
YURI: er, oh, right. Everyone, this is
my dream guyKato. Kato, this is a bunch of people who aren't important.JOACHIM: *woe!*
I'm also writing Foxface/Yuri noncon set between Shanghai and Bistritz in the first game, because I just can't go to hell fast enough....
no subject
Yes! Totally! Those limp-wristed, languid hand gestures! And the humming! And the purple suit, and the Oscar Wilde hair, which is actually why we named him that, because we didn't know about the special attacks yet.
I still have a hard time remembering to call him Keith. Wilde Valentine is so much more him.
And then, omg, there's the way he reacts to Meiyuan's acupuncture. That's not even SUBTEXT anymore.
We boycotted acupuncture and moxibustion on principle in the first one (long story, but we're both very fond of the new judgement ring modification system, so yay for that), so I never got to see this.
Damn.
And, incidentally, I am so glad that you also saw the Southampton scene that way, because I was afraid slash had bent me. Not that that would be bad, mind you, but it would make it hard to talk to non-fandom people, so it's good that I'm still on the bead with regard to the gayness.
Please let me know when your stories are done. I can't always keep up with my friendslist, and I don't want to miss those. Because - Yuri/Joachim! So totally true. And Joachim left his home to be with Yuri, and then Yuri goes back to Kato.
My god. We've just inserted angst into the world's least angsty RPG.
(Did you get a whole "I love you, but we can't be together" vibe off Yuri and Kato? I did.)