ext_1019 (
millefiori.livejournal.com) wrote in
the_comfy_chair2006-11-15 05:57 pm
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Take Clothes Off As Directed by Helenish
Take Clothes Off As Directed by
helenish is NC-17, BDSM themed, and an unauthorized homage set in the alternate universe created by
xanthelj in General & Dr. Sheppard and Coming Home.
I read Helen's story both as a sly, clever reflection of male/female relations in Western society, and a look at the potential pitfalls of a society with an institutionalized BDSM lifestyle. And it's an interesting contrast to Xanthe's stories and style.
First off, I have to say I feel kind of cheeky posting about this, because I've only read parts of General and Dr. Sheppard, and I haven't yet decided whether or not to read Coming Home. I have some strong feelings about BDSM, and (of course) that colors how I read stories with that subject matter. I think BDSM in the bedroom is a kink, and I take a live and let live attitude toward kink. BDSM (and Domestic Discipline) as a lifestyle is something else, and it's something which for personal reasons makes me uncomfortable.
Having said all that, I think I read enough of General & Dr. Sheppard to get something of a feel for the writing, and I think it's an interesting contrast. Xanthe's writing feels lush and emotional, sweeping the reader along like a fictional Tchaikovsky. Helen's writing is more spare, quirky and at times almost uncomfortable, more like, say, Erik Satie. And I think these different styles suit the different stories very well. I can see these two styles/stories existing in the same universe, the lush, operatic story told of people who are happy and suited to their lives in this society, and the quirky, sadder story of people who don't quite fit and aren't quite as happy.
I found Helen's story to be very sad, the only hopeful part being that John had finally found in Rodney a partner who loved him and would treat him the way he wants/deserves to be treated. I'm not sure if it was Helen's intent, but I read this as John not really being a sub per se (nor Rodney being much of a top), but both of them forced into the roles by the rigid hierarchy of their society, and going along the best they could. I read it as John being the sort of person who wants to play BDSM games in the bedroom, not live it as a lifestyle, and the only reason he wasn't crushed by this society is because he's a stubborn, contrary bastard.
I was almost nauseated by the way Elizabeth so obviously and earnestly felt she was doing the best, right thing for John with her inappropriate 'discipline', when in actuality she was more of a hindrance, just one more thing to be ignored/overcome in John's attempts to be himself and to do his job. Because being routinely beaten, undermined and humiliated is just the downside of being a sub who's trying to do his chosen job. (And, of course, he wouldn't have these problems if he hadn't got above himself and stayed in his proper place.) It felt very realistic, and therefore very unsettling, to see just how easy it was to strip John of his dignity and humanity, and turn him into a second-class citizen, essentially a slave. And perhaps it's all the more unsettling because there are still people in the world who are slaves, and who are routinely treated in degrading, disrespectful ways, and they too have no choice but to suck it up and endure.
Although it's a bit of a slap in the face to overlay this dynamic on our society and see the sub=women angle, I think (I hope) things are not quite that bad for women anymore. At least not in first world Western societies. It's also good to remind myself that fantasy universes aside, most of the people living rigid BDSM lifestyles are doing so because they want to, not because they have no choice. Nevertheless, I think this story is going to stay with me for a long time.
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I read Helen's story both as a sly, clever reflection of male/female relations in Western society, and a look at the potential pitfalls of a society with an institutionalized BDSM lifestyle. And it's an interesting contrast to Xanthe's stories and style.
First off, I have to say I feel kind of cheeky posting about this, because I've only read parts of General and Dr. Sheppard, and I haven't yet decided whether or not to read Coming Home. I have some strong feelings about BDSM, and (of course) that colors how I read stories with that subject matter. I think BDSM in the bedroom is a kink, and I take a live and let live attitude toward kink. BDSM (and Domestic Discipline) as a lifestyle is something else, and it's something which for personal reasons makes me uncomfortable.
Having said all that, I think I read enough of General & Dr. Sheppard to get something of a feel for the writing, and I think it's an interesting contrast. Xanthe's writing feels lush and emotional, sweeping the reader along like a fictional Tchaikovsky. Helen's writing is more spare, quirky and at times almost uncomfortable, more like, say, Erik Satie. And I think these different styles suit the different stories very well. I can see these two styles/stories existing in the same universe, the lush, operatic story told of people who are happy and suited to their lives in this society, and the quirky, sadder story of people who don't quite fit and aren't quite as happy.
I found Helen's story to be very sad, the only hopeful part being that John had finally found in Rodney a partner who loved him and would treat him the way he wants/deserves to be treated. I'm not sure if it was Helen's intent, but I read this as John not really being a sub per se (nor Rodney being much of a top), but both of them forced into the roles by the rigid hierarchy of their society, and going along the best they could. I read it as John being the sort of person who wants to play BDSM games in the bedroom, not live it as a lifestyle, and the only reason he wasn't crushed by this society is because he's a stubborn, contrary bastard.
I was almost nauseated by the way Elizabeth so obviously and earnestly felt she was doing the best, right thing for John with her inappropriate 'discipline', when in actuality she was more of a hindrance, just one more thing to be ignored/overcome in John's attempts to be himself and to do his job. Because being routinely beaten, undermined and humiliated is just the downside of being a sub who's trying to do his chosen job. (And, of course, he wouldn't have these problems if he hadn't got above himself and stayed in his proper place.) It felt very realistic, and therefore very unsettling, to see just how easy it was to strip John of his dignity and humanity, and turn him into a second-class citizen, essentially a slave. And perhaps it's all the more unsettling because there are still people in the world who are slaves, and who are routinely treated in degrading, disrespectful ways, and they too have no choice but to suck it up and endure.
Although it's a bit of a slap in the face to overlay this dynamic on our society and see the sub=women angle, I think (I hope) things are not quite that bad for women anymore. At least not in first world Western societies. It's also good to remind myself that fantasy universes aside, most of the people living rigid BDSM lifestyles are doing so because they want to, not because they have no choice. Nevertheless, I think this story is going to stay with me for a long time.
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Meanwhile, Helen's whole story is predicated on that *not* being true; her John Sheppard is bucking the system, unhappy, insecure, and alone. The connections made are fumbling near-misses. Neither John nor Rodney is confident in their roles. And while it's great that they work something out in this story, their connection feels tentative and liable to collapse under the ponderous social weight upon it.
Which is why I don't think the two stories particularly co-exist in the same universe all that well. I think that change is so significant that it makes them two distinctly different worlds.
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Xanthe's world is a happier place, and my issues aside, it feels that way because of the connections between and happiness of the characters. Helen's world feels very grim and scary, and John's cautiously hopeful ending is precarious indeed.
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Helen's story on the other hand is how a society like this would work in reality. Where people very often have problems defining themselves as only one or the other. Where rigid social structures lead to many people wanting to break out of it rather than decide to regulate themselves that way. Where you can't have (or at least I don't think we ever could achieve) a society that is that structured and yet allows for everyone to live their live as they please.
Because the more freedom you have to live your life the more diverse its going to get...and Xanthe presents us with a world that is free but not really diverse.
Either I can look at these two stories and see different eras within the same universe (like maybe the difference between a seemingly perfect 1950's era and the more diverse and seemingly unhappy 60's) or one as a created utopia and the other as the mirror image set in reality.
So yeah, both stories have their merit bringing us the look at reality and fantasy and its fascinating to see each of them play out.
Also, as a big old romance fan, as much as I loved the romance part of Coming Home, Helen's idea of looking at this relationship as something where they both have to make compromises to live together totally got to me. Maybe because this tentative connection they do make rings more true to me. They get together not because they were made to fit together but because they care enough to work very hard on making things fit when they normally wouldn't.
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I'm really reading the two Johns and Rodneys as different responses to the same system. John's parents seem to enjoy their relationship as do most other people around him.
Again, I think our initial reading of different tone/mode may be closer than trying to say they're completely differnt universes or at different times...
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I also think that this John really is a sub, in Helen's world, but one comparable to a (straight) woman in a 50's style traditional environment who doesn't want to wear dresses and act helpless -- but still wants to have sex with a man (top). He's enough a product of his environment and experiences that he doesn't expect anyone to really want him if he can't dress and act the part, and he honestly sometimes wishes he could. Rodney, on the other hand, is a top who has totally rejected the whole BDSM-world equivalent of being "macho"; it's not clear whether that has more to do with him, or with the fact that the sciences are a much less traditional environment that the military. To say that they're not "really" sub and top is to sell short the story, in my view; it's like saying a tomboy isn't really a woman. I suppose what I'm saying is that Helen isn't trying to indict the BDSM underpinning of this shared world, but rather use it to indict the cultural expectations that come along for the ride.
(Hope that makes sense; I'm up far too late...)
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I agree with you that Rodney doesn’t feel that out of place. On a social level, he is in the traditional position of power. It gives him more freedom to be himself than John does. At one point in the story, he does say outright John is pretty mouthy, implying mouthy for a sub. He has his own subconsciences social expectations about subs. But Rodney in the canon and the AU, mostly ignore the correct social mode. He does and says whatever he please. As a top, he gets away with it, but if he was a sub there would be more backlash.
I think he feels confused by the relationship w/ John. But that is partly due his failure to live up to John’s expectation of a traditional top. He just wants to make John happy.
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As for the not 'really' a sub, that gets back to what I said in the original post about the difference between BDSM in the bedroom and BDSM as a lifestyle. I think John and Rodney are sub and top in terms of their private, sexual relationship, but the way I read it, neither of them wants to take that dynamic into their everyday lives. Hmmm. On second thought, I think John might want to take it into his everyday life with Rodney, but not into his job or his dealings with colleagues and strangers. (That's what I meant by 'not really' in terms of how they fit into the societal hierarchy.)
To compare that to a straight woman, I think it's more that she wants to have sex with a man, but also be able to go out into the world and be herself and do her chosen job without her sex mattering.
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