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gw fandom -- oh hell guys I'm starting to ship 1xR. D:
... Um, yeah. Wait, no, not really. Do I? I'm confused.
It's all this picture's fault.
And yes, it's official art, I think for a recentish DVD cover. I'd never seen it before, discovered it yesterday, and man, it's gorgeous and pings me in my special places.
The "sexy uniforms" button isn't one of my most efficient buttons, usually, but I really like Sank Kingdom uniforms. It's the collars and lapels and that fancy embroidery on them, they're gorgeous. Also, those shoulderpad things. Ngh. (in the same vein I really like the OZ uniforms, to the point that I even find Trowa sexy when he's in one. Usually -- I'm sorry, man -- he doesn't do it for me.)
The thing that pings me hardest here is that Relena is delightfully gender-ambiguous. I have to admit, I know that Relena in general has a marked preference for feminine clothing such as skirts, especially short ones (though her dress style really is a product of the show's era... ew, out-of-date fashion.) and that her little braids are pretty iconic, but when she's all dressed up like this she reminds me not so much of a queen (with all the sitting her butt on a throne and pontificating at people from up there it seems to imply) as a knight about to do battle.
I feel that Relena approaches her pacifism in a very combative fashion at times, and enjoy seeing it reflected. Mmh.
I feel like a bad person to realize that if Relena had been a boy in the series I would have shipped it all over the place. Or if she'd dressed in miniskirts less often, and put on pants and pulled her hair back in a serviceable ponytail. (honestly the braids were okay but the bangs made them look ugly -- part them in the middle!) Or if she'd worn her uniform more often. She wouldn't even have needed to change much -- my view of her would have changed on its own. Tomboy girls being one of my favorite types and all. I wouldn't have read her actions as "silly girl getting lost in places she shouldn't be and getting in trouble" and/or "following men/older, professional, take-charge women around" at such a instinctive level. (oh, internalized sexism.)
The thing that pings me second-hardest is the symbolism of her standing all proud and determined in a white coat in the light, looking at the viewer in an almost challenging way, and him being in the shadow in a darker coat and looking somber/pensive(/worried/discouraged?) at the ground. (Though when you look at the bigger version he's looking up through his bangs and there seems to be a very subtle smile on his lips that makes me prrt in another direction. Oh, Heero.) Also how she's all buttoned up in her cravat and stockings and shoes (the one issue I have with this outfit is, seriously, it would look a hundred times better if she wore knee-high black boots à la Zechs with it, instead of silly stockings and weird shoes), and he just has his own coat thrown over his shoulders, the sleeves hanging empty, and his usual outfit underneath. It's gorgeous and I like the symbolic contrast.
The third-hardest thing that pings me is the fact that he's pretty much half-naked under that coat. ... Not in the sense that he's wearing anything less than usual, and actually a little more, even, but that's it, his usual clothes (tanktop and skintight spandex shorts) only work as the kind of thing someone might wear when they go jogging. When you throw on the nobleman's coat it looks ridiculously underwearish by contrast. Seriously, the way Relena wears hers, I bet she has at least three layers on -- button-up shirt, waistcoat, vest -- and apart from her face there is not one inch of skin exposed. Not at her throat, not at her legs, she's even wearing gloves.
Heero and his bare legs, and that almost invisible bit of shorts. My god. He looks like a poor slum refugee who some nobleman draped a coat on because "what the hell kid, what are you wearing in this weather, you'll die of pneumonia." (or perhaps "my god, why are you in your underclothes." Yyyyeah. *cackles*)
Anyway long story short usually I pretty much see Heero and Relena as soulmates but I do not enjoy thinking of them in a romantic relationship, but I want fic for this picture. I want fic for this picture so bad. The dynamics of brooding!wondering-what-next (-or-perhaps-regretting-the-past)!Heero and determined!steel-will!Relena are ngh. Nobleman's heir/knight-to-be and outcast/low-caste/who-the-fuck-cares-about-caste are even more ngh.
Jo suggested an AU where Heero's the stable boy and/or Relena hires him because he's some kind of horse whisperer. I kind of want that. (it'd explain why a peasant guy knows how to handle fancy horses!) But I think I want something closer to the series' settings itself even more. Perhaps even something that happens in-series. (would have to re-watch the Sank Kingdom eps if I wanted to write it myself.) Dilemma, dilemma. Does it even exist in the fandom? I have no idea.
I'll try not to feel guilty that when Relena dresses as she likes to dress when on her own time (IE skirts and rather relaxed pullovers/loose tops) I don't ship them together. It's, uh, not rewriting her, just a costume/roleplaying kink. Yeah. *cough*
It's all this picture's fault.
And yes, it's official art, I think for a recentish DVD cover. I'd never seen it before, discovered it yesterday, and man, it's gorgeous and pings me in my special places.
The "sexy uniforms" button isn't one of my most efficient buttons, usually, but I really like Sank Kingdom uniforms. It's the collars and lapels and that fancy embroidery on them, they're gorgeous. Also, those shoulderpad things. Ngh. (in the same vein I really like the OZ uniforms, to the point that I even find Trowa sexy when he's in one. Usually -- I'm sorry, man -- he doesn't do it for me.)
The thing that pings me hardest here is that Relena is delightfully gender-ambiguous. I have to admit, I know that Relena in general has a marked preference for feminine clothing such as skirts, especially short ones (though her dress style really is a product of the show's era... ew, out-of-date fashion.) and that her little braids are pretty iconic, but when she's all dressed up like this she reminds me not so much of a queen (with all the sitting her butt on a throne and pontificating at people from up there it seems to imply) as a knight about to do battle.
I feel that Relena approaches her pacifism in a very combative fashion at times, and enjoy seeing it reflected. Mmh.
I feel like a bad person to realize that if Relena had been a boy in the series I would have shipped it all over the place. Or if she'd dressed in miniskirts less often, and put on pants and pulled her hair back in a serviceable ponytail. (honestly the braids were okay but the bangs made them look ugly -- part them in the middle!) Or if she'd worn her uniform more often. She wouldn't even have needed to change much -- my view of her would have changed on its own. Tomboy girls being one of my favorite types and all. I wouldn't have read her actions as "silly girl getting lost in places she shouldn't be and getting in trouble" and/or "following men/older, professional, take-charge women around" at such a instinctive level. (oh, internalized sexism.)
The thing that pings me second-hardest is the symbolism of her standing all proud and determined in a white coat in the light, looking at the viewer in an almost challenging way, and him being in the shadow in a darker coat and looking somber/pensive(/worried/discouraged?) at the ground. (Though when you look at the bigger version he's looking up through his bangs and there seems to be a very subtle smile on his lips that makes me prrt in another direction. Oh, Heero.) Also how she's all buttoned up in her cravat and stockings and shoes (the one issue I have with this outfit is, seriously, it would look a hundred times better if she wore knee-high black boots à la Zechs with it, instead of silly stockings and weird shoes), and he just has his own coat thrown over his shoulders, the sleeves hanging empty, and his usual outfit underneath. It's gorgeous and I like the symbolic contrast.
The third-hardest thing that pings me is the fact that he's pretty much half-naked under that coat. ... Not in the sense that he's wearing anything less than usual, and actually a little more, even, but that's it, his usual clothes (tanktop and skintight spandex shorts) only work as the kind of thing someone might wear when they go jogging. When you throw on the nobleman's coat it looks ridiculously underwearish by contrast. Seriously, the way Relena wears hers, I bet she has at least three layers on -- button-up shirt, waistcoat, vest -- and apart from her face there is not one inch of skin exposed. Not at her throat, not at her legs, she's even wearing gloves.
Heero and his bare legs, and that almost invisible bit of shorts. My god. He looks like a poor slum refugee who some nobleman draped a coat on because "what the hell kid, what are you wearing in this weather, you'll die of pneumonia." (or perhaps "my god, why are you in your underclothes." Yyyyeah. *cackles*)
Anyway long story short usually I pretty much see Heero and Relena as soulmates but I do not enjoy thinking of them in a romantic relationship, but I want fic for this picture. I want fic for this picture so bad. The dynamics of brooding!wondering-what-next (-or-perhaps-regretting-the-past)!Heero and determined!steel-will!Relena are ngh. Nobleman's heir/knight-to-be and outcast/low-caste/who-the-fuck-cares-about-caste are even more ngh.
Jo suggested an AU where Heero's the stable boy and/or Relena hires him because he's some kind of horse whisperer. I kind of want that. (it'd explain why a peasant guy knows how to handle fancy horses!) But I think I want something closer to the series' settings itself even more. Perhaps even something that happens in-series. (would have to re-watch the Sank Kingdom eps if I wanted to write it myself.) Dilemma, dilemma. Does it even exist in the fandom? I have no idea.
I'll try not to feel guilty that when Relena dresses as she likes to dress when on her own time (IE skirts and rather relaxed pullovers/loose tops) I don't ship them together. It's, uh, not rewriting her, just a costume/roleplaying kink. Yeah. *cough*
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