Aftermath: part 3 (all about my new OT3!)

[peroxidepirate]

Last but not least, I have some observations on threesome fics and Kel/Buri/Raoul, which is my new OT3. I think it's a great thing for bi(-ish) girls to reclaim f/f/m fiction from skeezy straight boys who just want to look at two naked girls. (Edit to add: I don't mean to make it sound like I think a guy being interested in this kind of thing is automatic skeeze, only that it has to be handled with respect and it's 2/3 about the girls.)

  This triad is the perfect vehicle: all of the characters are pretty well developed. I can definitely see the two women having a relationship independent of the relationships they each have with the guy – actually, I see each pair within the triad having their own close relationship, which is essential to good threesome!kink. Between the three of them, it would be a fairly egalitarian relationship. And their personalities are just, generally, complementary.

This actually got so far into my head that, at one point, I couldn't write Kel and Buri without Raoul; my feminist consciousness didn't like that, and I had to find a way to get away from it. But honestly, the more I think about it, the more I like it. It'll be a while, I think, before I want to imagine another future for Kel. The other fights I wrote for, this round, were essentially writing exercises and crack!fic: “Well, what if?” This one, I want to see actually happen. It's part of my head!canon, at least for now.

The thing people have probably been waiting for me to explain: why Nathan Fillion? Why does Raoul, in my head, look like Nathan Fillion? And why, if I say I'm a lesbian, do I think Nathan Fillion is so hot? Erm, well, I don't have a good answer for that last question... I have a pretty sketchy grasp of gender identity, and a lot of times what I want is closely related to what I want to be, so it's partly because I want to be Malcolm Reynolds. Partly because it just happens, every so often. And partly because he's just that great.

And, well, a guy would have be pretty great for Kel and Buri to bother with him, when they already have each other... which I guess is where Nathan Fillion comes in. q_sama  said, “Wow... I'd write a LOT more Raoul if I had that problem.” For me it's the other way around: I was writing so much Raoul(/Kel/Buri) that he morphed into a guy I think is hot. ;) Sadly, I'm fairly sure it's a completely inaccurate mental image. I feel like I should try to shake it off... but if I think I'm going to write Kel/Raoul next round, maybe I should just hang on!

ETA: And why threesomes in the first place? Relationships are interesting, but relationships between two people are (or can be) relatively straightforward. Relationships between more than two get complicated, fast, because the component relationships multiply. And the world is full of those: between friends, coworkers, family groups... I have trouble navigating them, frankly. If it comes out in my writing, that's a good thing. If I'm writing for a shipping-based challenge/competition, it turns into a series of threesome fics. I see no problem with this.


(In case anyone's wondering, Part 2 is f-locked because it's a little personal. If you want me to friend you, just comment here with how we know each other!)

Comments

[q-sama.livejournal.com]

I think I latched onto this OT3 because it fits so nicely. I was tired of writing the other half of a canon relationship out of the picture, and - like you said before - the sneaking around element didn't really work for me. Especially with Buri and Raoul. It's much easier to think of them as having a more open relationship than it is to think of them cheating.

I like that the OT3 fics were always *about* Buri and Kel, and Raoul just got the perks of his wife's interests.

That said, I love your assessment (all parts) and I'm really glad that I've friended you on LJ. We're a lot alike in some ways, though you're much better at expressing yourself. :)

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

"I latched onto this OT3 because it fits so nicely. I was tired of writing the other half of a canon relationship out of the picture..."

Yes, exactly!

"I like that the OT3 fics were always *about* Buri and Kel, and Raoul just got the perks of his wife's interests."

Well, that's largely because *this* was Buri's fight... ;)

Also, your fantastic Kel/Raoul series kind of got the ball rolling for this, with, "No, srsly, Buri's ok with it" being a running component. By the time I started writing Buri/Kel, I was sure it should be that way!

That said, I love your assessment (all parts) and I'm really glad that I've friended you on LJ. We're a lot alike in some ways, though you're much better at expressing yourself.

Aww, thank you, a zillion times! I'm glad we're friends, too. But re: self-expression, it's just that I have no life and no shame, so I write everything...

[q-sama.livejournal.com]

Well, that's largely because *this* was Buri's fight... ;)

Oh, most definitely. But I think the fandom at large is rather guy-obsessed (myself included, though I do love femmeslash), so there was a fear in me that we'd get too focused on Raoul at some point.

Also, your fantastic Kel/Raoul series kind of got the ball rolling for this, with, "No, srsly, Buri's ok with it" being a running component.

LOL! I just couldn't break up Buri and Raoul, even to let him sleep with Kel. Just thinking of it fractured my brain.

it's just that I have no life and no shame, so I write everything...

LOL! I have troubles finding the right words, so I'm still totally envious. :P

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

I just couldn't break up Buri and Raoul, even to let him sleep with Kel. Just thinking of it fractured my brain.

Yes, I feel that! I made myself do it eventually, because it was the only way to get back to a head-space where I could write just Kel/Buri. But I'm the least happy with that series, out of everything I've written for Smackdown, because I feel like the characterization was off.

(And at the risk of repeating something I just spent a whole entry babbling about, I think it's very charming that you're concerned about this fandom being guy-obsessed! There's obsessed=fascinated, and then there's obsessed-to-the-exclusion-of-everything-else, you know?)

[q-sama.livejournal.com]

LOL! I know what you mean - I guess my thing is... I'm appreciative that the smackdown has gone so well for the f/f pairings because while there are definitely people in charge who like femmeslash, I thought that a majority of the writers would be less inclined. :)

It's definitely one of the healthier fandoms I've been in, all things considered.