June 10, 2003

Whee-hoo. Check that. I definitely won't post the story-in-progress to the Magneto list, because the moderator has declared the pairing in question to be "sick." In some detail. (Not that she's forbidden posting it, but there's no reason to make the effort in such case.)

This sort of thing...yes, it tires me out. Certainly, a spate of movieverse Xavier/Artie stories in which a (contemporary) relationship was presented as healthy fun and games would be appalling, and I could see how a person could say, "The pairing usually seems to be written this way, and that's just wrong." However, there's no reason (setting aside whether it would be in character) that one couldn't write a Xavier/Artie story that was a well-constructed, disturbing, heartbreaking tale of how pedophilia ruins the life of the victim. Would that be sick? I think not. And that's in the most extreme and vile case of exploitative, cruel, illegal, immoral sexuality (adult with pre-pubescent who is completely dependent on him as a caretaker). Magneto/Pyro--a pairing of an adult with a teenager/young adult (no reason to think that Pyro isn't past the age of consent) who has volunteered to be a student, a footsoldier, a hanger-on (the movieverse canon leaves the nature of their post-movie arrangement essentially undefined)--is nowhere close.

You'll notice that for all my deep and extended problems with Spike and his reception in some parts of fandom, I've never said that one couldn't, in theory, write a good Buffy/Spike story. I've recced Buffy/Spike stories. Hell, I wrote a Buffy/Spike story.

"A story which depicts an immoral/sick action must itself be immoral/sick" might work for people coming out of certain intellectual and religious traditions, but it is a pretty goshdarned unsophisticated position for a modern-day writer of fanfic, especially if she ever writes villains. Gah. This is the sort of thing I expect to have to deal with from my grandmother, not fellow-fans.

Posted by Sarah T. at June 10, 2003 07:57 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Bwahahahahaha!

Ahem, sorry.

Having been called a pedophile by various X-fans for writing Logan/Rogue, I feel your pain.

At least, if this is who I think it is, she's being consistent in her dislike of older/younger pairings, without the nasty ad hominems.

Posted by: victoria p. at June 10, 2003 12:29 PM

It probably is--I saw the comment in your LJ. ;)

I disagree with a person who argues that such a relationship is a very unethical thing, but I'm willing to admit there's some room to vary. But to say that writing them together is sick--as a blanket and absolute statement--makes me cranky.

Posted by: Sarah T. at June 10, 2003 01:22 PM
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