Fanart - SHWC - Post 15

[leskuh]

ART

Fandom/Universe: Strangetown, Here We Come
Character(s): Ripp, Johnny









a/n: Fixed up scrap. Johnny/Ripp is my most favorite of possible JRO pairings (ruling out keeping them as a trio). This is actually really strange, because I don't really tend to favor M/M pairings. I don't have a problem with slash and enjoy reading it from time to time and I like how Strange deals with sexuality in the story, but I naturally gravitate towards Het first, and then Femslash second. Boy slash doesn't really tickle my fancy in a fan sense.

But I just adore Johnny/Ripp. Probably because it's all subtext with them. They are very romantic with one another, but they don't really seem to dwell on what that could mean. Also, I just love the turmoil inside Johnny when it comes to Ripp. On one hand this guy is trying to lay claim to something that is Johnny's and on the other hand this is RIPP - his best friend. And these two sides are constantly warring with one another. He wants to both attack Ripp and make him hurt, and at the same time he only wants to protect and hold onto him.

Ripp isn't so conflicted. Johnny is his best friend. Ophelia is his perfect girl. He loves them. He loves them together. He loves them together with him.

Comments

[abbycat900.livejournal.com]

<3

I think you should get an award.

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Lol. The biggest dork award. I'm making fanart for a fan...thing.

In any case it's hella fun to do.

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

So adorable! *melts*

And I like your interpretation of strange's interpretation of their relationship too *lol*

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Heehee, I feel my interpretation is a lot more melodramatic than the original, so it's probably good that I'm not the original source. Also, she's just kickass at character development.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

This is a very nice drawing. I love how zany and cartoony it is, and the look on Johnny's face is priceless.

I loved your thoughts on their relationship, especially the description of Ripp's feelings. They're so directly to the point (as I also think his feelings are in the story, even though it takes him a while to fully accept them).

I'm happy to hear that you like how I deal with sexuality, because I do give it a fair amount of consideration. I really want that side of it to seem honest, and also balanced. For me, it does reflect the world around me. Some people are gay, some are straight, and a hell of a lot of them are somewhere in between. I try not to do anything just because it's hot, although that's a bonus. :P In that regard, I can get into m/f, m/m, and f/f pretty equally. It's all sexy to me, as long as the characters and emotions work.

The sim games have always struck me as an excellent vehicle for exploring sexuality like that. You can select any sex as the point of view character, and pursue any other. I actually wrote a little essay on it in university, which looked at how you might use the game in a classroom setting to talk about sexuality and gender (and it went over very well).

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty obvious that Ripp wouldn't mind Johnny being in the bed with him and Phi. I don't think Ripp would mind being with Johnny too. He loves Johnny and he loves Phi and when to him love and sex are so mixed together that it would fit that he could see Johnny on a sexual level. Johnny instead sets love and sex together, but sex doesn't mean love and love doesn't mean sex. They can be the same, but they don't have to be.

I feel the same way as you do on sexuality. For most people sexuality is fluid, for some it seems more set one way or another. Some people are devoid of sexuality entirely. And with so many people, it only seems RIGHT for it to be that way.

Yeah, there's got to be some kind of emotional pull in the stuff I read. I think the main reason that I'm not altogether fond of M/M is because so much of the fic for it is taking common stereotypes and reusing them over and over again. Also because I think girls are prettier to look at and I usually relate better to females in stories than males.

Ooo, that's nifty. I always find it awesome when people take things that they enjoy and apply it to papers. I do it from time to time, but I'm always kind of embarrassed about my nerdy things, so I don't do it that often.