I love the discussions this story has generated and the way it invites meta on so many levels! (and if I said any more I'd probably be in defiance of the community rules)
But yes, I do think that Helen consciously defies traditional slash bdsm tropes only to--on some level--still rely on the larger "shipping" trope that makes us accept the two together and their meant-for-each-otherness. In fact, I wonder if the underwriting we're so fond of in slashdom *can* function in the same way in pro literature.
[Yes, there's always Hemingway... But I knowI wasn't the only one who loved Naomi's stories but wished there'd nbeen *more emotion...something I never feel in fannidsh stories that underwrite...]
no subject
Date: 2006-11-19 01:30 am (UTC)I love the discussions this story has generated and the way it invites meta on so many levels! (and if I said any more I'd probably be in defiance of the community rules)
But yes, I do think that Helen consciously defies traditional slash bdsm tropes only to--on some level--still rely on the larger "shipping" trope that makes us accept the two together and their meant-for-each-otherness. In fact, I wonder if the underwriting we're so fond of in slashdom *can* function in the same way in pro literature.
[Yes, there's always Hemingway... But I knowI wasn't the only one who loved Naomi's stories but wished there'd nbeen *more emotion...something I never feel in fannidsh stories that underwrite...]