hurrah! and something of a question/observation

[aesc]

Firstly, hurray hurray hurray, we'll have Season 5 of SGA!

You will, of course, notice my clever rhyme scheme.

Secondly, this is something I've always kind of wondered about, at least in terms of my reaction to it.


I've always had kind of a weird response to reading a story/fic in which someone (whether male or female) thinks about the person with whom they're having sex (whether male or female) as his/her lover, especially just before/during/after sex.

There are some people I know who object to the term, especially in slashfic, because it could be taken to imply that the relationship is purely sexual, and possibly illicit. (They understand "lover" as implying, I guess, an illegitimacy in the relationship, similar to the sense of, say, a lover in adultery.) I don't have any moral/semantic objections to it as such, but I've always found its use tremendously disconcerting to read.

I mean, say you're reading something set very decidedly in a particular character's perspective (say, John). And you get to the sexy time and are reading along, porn porn porn, and then you get something like:

John collapsed at Rodney's side, breathing hard, mind blank and reeling and amazed. He looked over at his lover, who was staring at the ceiling, looking as shattered and stunned as John felt.

Admittedly, it's hard to get the gist from such scant context, but "lover" just throws me right out of the moment. I mean, it's supposed to do the exact opposite--reaffirm a relationship the reader is, to some extent, already invested in--but I just find it incredibly jarring. Like, you're writing the characters into a deeply, deeply intimate moment, and to have one of them think of the other in terms of something that approaches abstraction... it's kind of jarring.

For me, at least with John and Rodney, it approaches John calling Rodney "his scientist" (*tries to imagine John calling Rodney that in bed*). Why bother with labels at all? It seems like in that kind of situation the name, the intimate and singular label, is more appropriate.

So does anyone else find it kind of weird/disconcerting/not-quite-right, or am I a bit nuts? I'm not sure why this is bothering me now, or why I'm thinking about it, but there you go.

Oh, wait, yes I am. weepingcock, which I started looking at because geeklite linked to it and I am one of those people who watches shows about surgery and medicine on the Discovery Channel because I enjoy being grossed out a bit too much.*


* so long as I can change the channel or click the back button. While I'm at it, I should tell you a lot of this stuff is not for the faint of heart or stomach, as you should expect from a comm named "weepingcock."

In other news: asdlkjf reading today, hiss.

Comments

[aesc.livejournal.com]

*dies!* Oh oh oh, that is too hysterical!

And oh, how John would tease him :D

[siria]

Ahaha, I think John would have to work up to the teasing after a couple of hours of boggling. ("Seriously, lover?" "I don't communicate well when I'm stressed!" "Or ever.") But then there would be lots of teasing sex in bed :>

[aesc.livejournal.com]

("Seriously, lover?" "I don't communicate well when I'm stressed!" "Or ever.")

This is so utterly perfect, I have no words for it! *snorfles you!* Also, perhaps something needs to be done with it :D

But then there would be lots of teasing sex in bed

And John would buy a romance novel for Rodney's birthday.

[siria]

Also, perhaps something needs to be done with it :D

*bats eyelashes at you and Cate and Jenn* You are so good at the writings, I know you three could do something with it :>

And John would buy a romance novel for Rodney's birthday.

John would so buy this romance novel for him:



And then find a way to, like, stick his head on the top of it (look at the, uh, shadow cast on his stomach to see why that amuses me so much)

[aesc.livejournal.com]

You are so good at the writings,

I understand Siris are pretty good with them too :>

You are so good at the writings,

It's very hard to laugh quietly, which I need to do because my mother is one room over.

Oh goodness, Rodney would have an apoplectic fit right at the kitchen table and gesture at John with the book and say "YOU! I am not talking to you ever again."

"What about sex?" John would ask, gesturing at the cover. "Don't you think I have a hot body?"

"No to both," Rodney would say. "Also, you're sleeping on the couch. Forever."

[siria]

I understand Siris are pretty good with them too :>

No, no, Siris still can't quite manage to progress beyond scribbling on a sheet with crayon. Or staying between the lines :(

"No to both," Rodney would say. "Also, you're sleeping on the couch. Forever."

And John would be all pouty, because hey, he had it gift-wrapped and everything (which got him some funny looks in Bookworks)! There was a big bow and some ribbon. He keeps up the pouting until Rodney starts to subside, uncertain as to whether or not John might have meant it as a serious gift, stranger things have gone on in that head of his—which is when John decides to start in on the dramatic recitation portion of Christmas morning.

[aesc.livejournal.com]

There was a big bow and some ribbon. He keeps up the pouting until Rodney starts to subside, uncertain as to whether or not John might have meant it as a serious gift, stranger things have gone on in that head of his

Oh goodness, I can see Rodney's face--going slowly from indignation and irritation to uncertainty (and irritation again because he doesn't like being uncertain), and he really wants to ask John if he's serious or not, but knows John will just look at him with that innocent, unreadable, and absolutely infuriating expression and shrug and say "maybe."

And I would love to know what the dramatic recitation is :D

[siria]

Well, John stands on the couch (barefoot, in sweatpants), plucks the paperback from Rodney's hand and begins to read:

"Finally she seemed to gather herself and open her eyes. Reaching down by her side, she picked up what appeared to be a piece of cloth." -- oh my god, what else could it be? some, some cunning piece of alien technology disguised as a piece of cloth? -- "Dipping it in the river, she reached over her shoulder, trying to wash her back." -- great, we've reached the anatomically implausible part before the sex has even started -- "He growled low in his throat. He’d love to wash her back for her—and any other part of her, for that matter." Please don't waggle your eyebrows at me. It's disturbing.

At which point John can't hold back the laughter any more, and Rodney practically tackles him in an attempt to get the book away from him.