Cimorene

This fandom seems like a perfect example to me of that situation where people like the woman in a f/m relationship - I'd bet that probably everybody who ships the protagonist with Nightingale instead (or in addition but not in OT3, as in... will read both/either) likes her - but are more interested in the other ship because of (1) interest in the other character (and a desire to put that character in a pairing) and (2) screentime and story weight devoted to the relationship.

The narrator Peter's partner Beverley is cool, well-written, significant to the story in various ways; but the focus of the stories is learning magic and solving crimes and the teacher-coworker character necessarily has a more important role in that. Because everything about Nightingale as a character is pretty much cool and mysterious (which doesn't even cover all of his appeal), the protagonist's positive relationship with him is also very interesting.

There has been a certain impulse in fanon to pair Nightingale up elsewhere, which I think is a reflection of how fascinating he is. But it's much easier to be interested in a relationship between two well-known characters, and the series doesn't have many characters left over that he could be paired with. The pool of secondary characters is limited and the amount we know about them is already enough lower to make them substantially less appealing (and for many people less easy) to write about.

In short, I... kind of think this is a character people are dying to pair up - often referred to as a Fan Favorite - Draco in HP, Dean in Supernatural, Fraser in Due South, etc. Fan favorites are sometimes main characters, sometimes not.

• In Supernatural, for example, it's often remarked that a portion of the interest in the original Sam/Dean incest ship was likely due to all the attention the relationship got and its being foregrounded in a show that lacked other emotionally compelling relationships - and that the season 4 introduction of Castiel had all the appearance of being specifically designed to draw shipping focus to Dean/Castiel instead.



• In the case of Loki, there are significant bodies of fanfiction and fanon pairing him with several other MCU characters (aside from the obvious, Thor) with whom he has had minimal interaction (and his status as a fan favorite character, and Hiddleston's as a fan favorite actor, are certainly undeniable...).

The introducton of Castiel to SPN and of Ray Kowalski to DS are both examples where the new (and seemingly more optimized for slashy storyline) character paired with the fan favorite took over as the dominant ship in the fandom relatively quickly after their introduction.

Loki, like Nightingale, is an example of a fan favorite who is paired with the only character with whom they have a complicated, interesting, important canon relationship with a lot of data to sink your teeth into.

Basically, if a new character was introduced to the series canon who was unattached, male, and, er, seemingly more optimized for a slashy storyline with him, I bet such a ship for Nightingale could really take off.

It wouldn't divert all the shipping interest from Nightingale and Peter, because their friendship does already have a lot to interest (and also, Always Slash Mentor and Pupil Pairs is one of the iron laws of slash); and part of the attraction of the ship is the mystique of Nightingale seen through Peter's eyes: the reader identifies with Peter, the newcomer to Nightingale's magical world, and through him admires both the magical world itself and Nightingale's character, his power and expert knowledge of magic, etc. A pairing that didn't capture that frisson of danger and excitement and the underlying poignancy and pathos - in other words, a character from Nightingale's world or more his equal - wouldn't be as compelling a pairing prospect.

Since I have a blog (tumblr) whose entire purpose is picspam, when I was fuming over SPN's representation of non-Abrahamic religions in 5.19 a couple of days ago I decided to have a day (which expanded then into three days) just for picspams of the gods in question, to wash the taste out of my mouth.

But in making said picspam, the ridiculousness of the episode was really borne in on me again, for several outstanding reasons:

• Dead pantheons: Dead pantheons - the Norse gods and Greco-Roman ones - were given equal weight with Hinduism, one of the world's largest living religions and one which exists in North America as well as in India. Chinese deities like Zao Shen (the kitchen god) are not included in the typically-taught list of Five Major World Religions as transmitted in American school, probably because China is officially Atheist, but then, Tibet and Taiwan are also officially part of China, and it's not like that is taught in school, is it?



• Exclusion of major living religions: The "Five Major World Religions" concept is obviously problematic for the above reason, but it's still bizarre that Buddhism and Shinto - both on said list because they're ginormous in reality - were not represented at the Elysian Fields motel at all. I mean, I wouldn't expect the Buddha himself to be there; but given how willing they were to fuck with two of the biggest gods of Hinduism, it's hard to believe they left it out from consideration or politeness, you know?

Gods present who were listed in the credits by pantheon:

• Hindu Kali and Ganesh;


• Norse Odin, Baldur, and Loki (the latter wasn't invited, so you could argue that representation was meant to be equal with Hinduism's);


• Chinese Zao Shen;


• Roman Mercury.

The other gods were unnamed, but included another white guy, a black man who was evidently Baron Samedi, and one silent, thin blonde woman¹. However, there weren't very many of these non-speaking roles. Even assuming that each pantheon had sent a delegation of just one or two participants, that doesn't include very many religions at all.

And even assuming that only living religions were meant to be represented (Roman and Norse worship are dead, of course, but their deities have been co-opted to varying degrees by modern pagans), the pool of religions was far too small. Probably they didn't include any native North American deities because they already felt they had too many non-white people in the episode, but again... several of the world's biggest living religions absent while three Norse gods were there.

It might be a coincidence that the Norse pantheon is the one most associated with the modern white supremacist movement, but I'm inclined to say it isn't. Even if the non-coincidence is just that both of those are caused by the glorification of violence / conquest / Manifest Destiny bullshit and deeply-rooted doctrine of white superiority a la The Bell Curve still present in American culture.


1. I had been assuming the blonde woman was meant to be another member of the Norse pantheon because of her hair color, but the fact that they cast a French-looking guy with a French accent as Baldur as well as a black man as Ganesh seems to indicate that they practice appearance-blind casting where the only division is between "white folks" and "chromatic folks". So perhaps she was meant to be the second half of the Greco-Roman delegation. Must be Vesta or something, because most of the Greco-Roman goddesses I can think of are hardly the wallflower type.

In this vid clip of a panel from Comic-Con, Misha Collins mocks that certain fannish mindset that fears, or even takes offense at, celebrities taking an interest in (or even verbally acknowledging) fanfiction about themselves.

"Isn't that weird though? We're not supposed to talk about it - well, I don't have anything further to say about it, but still, it's - people will get upset: 'It's our private thing that we do... about you.'"

cimorene: LOL in this ficlet by trinityofone, Dean has an amulet of Castiel's grace on a necklace, and all I can picture is the Evenstar from LOTR.
cimorene: Dean Winchester wearing the Evenstar!
effex: And it glows
effex: a pure, white, holy light
cimorene: The image of the glowy Evenstar and Jensen Ackles producing a Perfect Crystal Tear^TM on demand! You know the closeups would be all over that
effex: and gives him away when he's trying to sneak up on things
cimorene: Lovingly detailed portraits of his sad eyes and glowy necklace--
cimorene: HAHA YOU'VE ACCIDENTALLY MADE A PLOT FOR IT
effex: I'm seeing the *movie poster*. I could do it in Photoshop, it would be amazing
cimorene: And conversations like "We're out of hydrogen peroxide, so would you sharpen the stakes while I run to the drugstore, and why is your shirt glowing?"
cimorene: "Oh. That. Just a little somethin' Cas gave me."
effex: [snerk]
cimorene: That poster WOULD be amazing.
effex: He tries to wrap it in things
cimorene: I might produce a Perfect Crystal Tear just thinking about it.
cimorene: Blackout curtains
effex: But that shit glows through everything
cimorene: Tragic! He can never be stealthy again!

ETA: THE ACTUAL POSTER AND IT IS GLORIOUS

Is nobody else disturbed that the Trickster ( looks just like Joey from Full House? )

(You probably know, even if you're not into the show, that Supernatural last season introduced a prophet, who receives visions of the real-life actions of the protagonists and has written a best-selling series of books about them, including fan communities, Wincest, and most recently, cons. And if you didn't, now you do.)

This is touched on not infrequently in fanfiction, but there's an ongoing series that's a pretty good example called Fourth Wall by libraryofsol that takes it father than usual (while being pretty funny, so that's also a rec if you're into such things, even though the rec is not my point at all).

So in this story, Sam goes back to the internet to check up on the Wincesters, and is butthurt because he's become unpopular in fanfiction, with Dean/Castiel shipping having become more popular.

"Great, fabulous. So, according to the internet, I don't deserve to have sex any more. Not even creepy, incestuous gay sex with my brother."

"It's not that bad," Dean protests.

"Not even creepy, incestuous gay sex with my brother," Sam repeats. Because it's worth repeating he thinks.

(This is, in fact, what happened last season - for meta on the subject, see for example esorlehcar.)

Next, Dean tells Castiel about the slash about them and Sam's hurt feelings, and Castiel, with typical solemn curiosity, demands to be shown the Dean/Cas fiction. Next, Dean, feeling sorry for Sam because he feels left out, starts looking for any fiction at all about him. What he finds is that the newest trend is Sam/Lucifer (this is also true of actual fandom, although it might now be the second-newest trend after Sam/Gabriel--if that's a trend? I saw it come up as secondary pairing a few times at deancastiel). Sam is even more upset by this, and then Lucifer starts baiting him about it in his dreams. Next she explores wingfic (Dean's and Castiel's opinions), and then it gets even more meta: Chuck calls and asks them to stop reading the fanfiction:

"Is he writing about us reading porn about ourselves?" Dean expression is a complicated mess, like he's not entirely sure whether to be amused or horrified, or some sort of entertaining mixture of the two.

When it's phrased like that Sam's not entirely sure either.

"I don't know but if we keep doing it he's probably going to end up insane."

Now, this is what I really want to talk about: when the meta gets layered! Because that is both awesome and funny. The canon creators started a potentially recursive infinity of fiction-meta-fiction when they put the fanfiction in the canon. Why not take it even farther?

Like an AU where Dean, Sam, and Cas are actors on the tv-show Supernatural (typically in this kind of AU the characters they play are named after the actors - whatever, that works for me) which still has fanfiction about itself on the show, and also, of course, there is RPS about them. (Or the show Dean & co are in is like an SPN RPF show, about actors making the show Supernatural, and they talk about RPF against the backdrop of their characters on the show discovering RPF by accident after the episodes of the characters' show where the characters' characters talk about fanfic!)

Or an AU where SPN canon as it stands is actually a series of books written by Dean, and Sam and Cas are his brother and friend who find the fanfiction about them-in-his-books-where-they-are-hunters-with-fanfiction-written-about-them.

...What? I'd read it.

Along with catching up to the season finales of our favorite shows (CSI, Bones, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, Dollhouse), we also watched the Supernatural finale in the last couple of days (while I was wasting away, gradually coughing up damp bits of lung: seriously, the NoobFlu sucks) (I don't know if it still qualifies as one of waxjism's favorite shows, but if it does, I prefer not to know about it. I'm just watching so the Dean/Castiel fanfiction will make sense). And, like, just a few episodes ago Wax and I were saying "You know, I really like Ruby, and not just because this actress is really hot" and "I hope she doesn't turn out to be evil". It's not like we were holding out any hope, but the finale was still really WHOA-revolting in the Misogynist Visual Symbolism and Stereotypes Sweepstakes. I can't believe that I occasionally see people blaming the misogyny on the fanbase. That right there was the woman-hating coming from inside the building (of canon writing), and from several directions simultaneously (and increasingly poisonously). Ew. Just... ew.

In CSI news, Lawrence Fishburne continues to be retina-searingly awesome and adorable, and yet somehow, the overall production levels, budget for secondary characters, and writing have kicked up a notch on this already-outstanding show, and he's not even really the most awesome part. I'd say the increased subplots for all the beloved secondary characters are, especially Hodges and the Coroners.

And in Lie to Me news, they must have got a budget increase with being renewed, because besides keeping Sean Patrick Thomas as a recurring for Monica Raymund's hot, hot Secret Service boyfriend, they've added Mekhi Phifer as a new regular, and he's providing ass-kicking, FBI training, and access-character perspective (someone not indoctrinated in Tim Roth's truth-detecting methods) as well as intriguing signs of possibly being a Natural. Oh, and a nice current of burgeoning Mentor relationship with Tim, too: he's about the same age as Brendan Hines (Loker), but Loker's already graduated the Mentor School and has a more adult relationship with the boss. Other signs also point to Jennifer Beals as Tim's ex-wife continuing to recur frequently, to which I have only this to say: she's way too hot for him. I love me some Tim, but dude, he's an ankle-biting, charming little troll. There's no way he'd score with her.

And Dollhouse continues to be obviously trying, and apparently unaware that it's still failing regardless. Sort of like a puppy. Well... at least it's trying? And it's very entertaining. I vote for lots and lots more Alan Tudyk next season.

1. 
   Notes: This is a major major AU. I call it my drug dealer!Dean AU. (And the ages are messed up, Sam's much much younger than Dean)
   Warnings: Angsty; drugs; prostitution; implicit sex; etc.
   
2. 
   Summary: where a crucial question gets answered: did Castiel come or not? (well, I thought it was a crucial question, anyway)
   
3. 
   Angels with their grace still in tact do it better.
   
4. 
   Disclaimer: not mine. Me owning them would be a bad idea because then they'd be too busy making out to stop the apocalypse, unless they could somehow stop it from bed.
   
5. 
   Pairing: Dean/Castiel's [Castiel's... what?]
   

In non-plebefic news but relatedly - both because I found it at deancastiel and because it involves Dean/Castiel and crack - there's this hilarious YouTube vid of Dean and Castiel to... some kind of disturbing and bizarre internet fancartoon called "Llamas with Hats" about talking murderous anthropomorphic... llamas. Just watch, ok? Sample dialogue: "What is wrong with you?" "Well, I kill people and I eat hands; that's two things."

or: I Read Shipper Essays So You Don't Have To

This is what it says on the tin: an introduction/guide to getting into reading this pairing for people who aren't familiar (or up to date) with Supernatural canon.

I started wishing a while ago that someone would write something like this to make it easier for me to read because I was interested in dipping a toe in. I am nothing if not a voracious fannish omnivore - I read widely, and have frequently gotten into reading and shipping without any prior knowledge of the canon. That's more problematic in some cases than others, though. It depends on the canon (how complex? how long?) and the story (how canon-dependent? how much context does it provide? how many episode tags are there?). This pairing isn't the easiest to dive into headfirst, though. A little background explanation is probably necessary. (You can usually find information of this kind at crack_van and ship_manifesto - that was where I started looking.)

( I. For the Hypothetical Person Who Hasn't Even Heard of Supernatural )
( II. For the Person Who Knows About SPN Through Fannish Osmosis But Doesn't Watch It )
( III. For the Person Who Isn't Clear on Recent Events Pertaining to Castiel, Trenchcoaty Angel of the Lord )
( IV. Other Stuff That's Good to Know )
( V. Recs )


There are more bookmarks in my delicious: http://delicious.com/cimness/dean%2Fcastiel