mash_slash | Slashing dramedies/comedies

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agnosticmantis.livejournal.com posting in

Last night I was watching something, it could've been just the tvguide channel for all I remember and the guy said something like "Remember when comedies were just funny? Where did those days go? I blame you, Alan Alda!" It was really funny. So I don't slash MASH, (yet?!) while I've loved the show and its characters forever, but I do slash the two cops on Monk have friends who slash Hogan's Heroes, and I even know of friends who've talked about slashing characters on Northern Exposure and Trapper John MD! Would anyone be interested in talking about the differences between slashing dramas/science fiction shows and slashing comedies or dramedies. I slashed a drama for years and am now finding out how different it is to slash a dramedy. I think it's harder to slash a dramedy. It's just as hot, but there are things about it that are more difficult.

AM

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From:

agnosticmantis.livejournal.com

I write on Monk for the captain and his lieutenant. The lieutenant character is not as well drawn a character as the other three (Monk, Captain Stottlemeyer and Natalie). My friend who also writes Monk says he is the "-edy" in the dramedy of Monk. The writing of that character is really inconsistent. I used to write Starsky/Hutch. We had a decent timeline, we knew the characters, what they would do, how they'd react.

In Monk with these two, they rely on one another and work well together one week, then the next, one of my pair is shown as being just comic relief. I'm working on a longer story now where I'm trying to show him as being mature and responsible and sexy. I am going off of the eps where he was like that on the show! There are some fans of the show who don't like that character because of eps where he's shown as being bumbling, and they can only remember his being like that. I don't off-hand recall anyone on MASH like that. It's the inconsistent writing that bugs me. They don't pay attention to timeline (Halloween was two-three eps before Columbus Day), little things like that. If you take stuff like that into consideration for fanfic, you want to refer back to episodes, then readers will try and call you on it. What do you do?

I'm guessing it would be a little like writing Hawkeye/Radar. The real meat is written about Hawkeye/BJ or Trapper. There just isn't enough about Radar or Klinger. But also, they serve a different purpose on the show. The main relationship on the show, in a way is Hawkeye and BJ or Trapper. It isn't him with Radar or Klinger. If you see the slash with him and Radar, what's a slasher to do? ;) That's my problem. Most people in MonkSlash write Monk and the police captain. The writers spend lots of time fostering that relationship.

I don't know if dramas are that inconsistent these days too. Anyway, it's that one of my pair is comic relief and inconsistent. They put all the good stuff, the angst and real relationship stuff in the main characters. It's tough. I see the slash in those two. Can't help it. Ha!

Thanks - hope this does not post twice,
AM

From:

jaybee-bug.livejournal.com

*nods* Writing a romantic pairing with the more minor characters is always more difficult. The minor characters, whether they're used as comedic foil, an exposition foil, or any other reason, get the short end of the stick. They're being used to make the major characters look good, to push along the plot, or whatever. A good show can balance the characters out and have more of an "ensemble" type cast rather than a few "stars" with their supporting minor characters. . .IMHO. But the "major/minor" character style is still often used on shows, it seems. Which means there always will be characters who are less consistent, get less characterization, less screen time, less everything, basically. They are there for the writer's convenience only, to be "used" for the sake of the plot and major characters. :oP

But, such a style can show up in both dramas and comedies. And dramadies. I guess straight (no pun intended) dramas TEND to use the ensemble style more often, and comedies/dramadies TEND to use the major/minor style more often, though it's by no means a hard-fast rule.

I seriously commend you for writing a more difficult slash pairing, though. Those often end up being way more fun anyway. ^_^

From:

sarcasticsra

Haha! This is why I need to read previous comments before commenting myself. *facepalm*

Most people in MonkSlash write Monk and the police captain. The writers spend lots of time fostering that relationship.

Actually, I was under the impression that Monk and Randy were more often slashed. Of course, I'm mostly on the outskirts of this fandom, so I wouldn't know for sure.

The thing about Randy is that I like him because he's bumbling. ^^ It's not that he can't be intelligent, (I mean, he got to be lieutenant somehow, right?) I just think he's jealous of Monk, and in his effort to be just as good as him, he screws up. He wants to be that awesome and to have Stottlemeyer say so, what with the "you're the man" ep. Poor Randy. I love him. *hugs Randy*

I think Hawkeye/Radar is a good comparison! Sometimes it seems like Randy just has this hopeless crush on Stottlemeyer. However, he's older, and not as innocent, so it's less squicky to me.