Master/servant slash

[princesshannah4.livejournal.com]

So I think it's safe to say that this fandom has warped any and all master/servant relationships in fiction for me (not that I have a problem with that ;D). That established, I was just a little nervous about reading/seeing Comedy of Errors this past week because it has TWO master/servant pairs and a housemate that I have a crush on was playing one of the two servants. This could have ventured into RPS. However, the actual performance seemed to justify my suspicions of Syracusian bromance. Antipholus and Dromio did a CONSIDERABLE amount of touching and clinging to each other and giving meaningful looks.

But what I'm really getting as is, do you guys see master/servant relationships as automatic potential for slash, or do the undertones from Jooster just bleed over into other fandoms? Just curious.

Discuss.

Comments

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Personally, it really depends on the personalities of the master and servant involved. For me, Jeeves and Wooster lend themselves readily to slash because while Bertie enjoys his status as a member of the idle rich, he also realizes that without Jeeves, he's nothing. Sure, they have disagreements, but no relationship between two people is not without a disagreement here and there -- it's just the nature of people. Jeeves (at least Stephen Fry's version) lends himself to slash because he's completely devoted to Bertie. One could argue that Jeeves would be devoted to any such employer, but judging from comments that Jeeves himself has made (either in the books or the show, I can't remember where at the moment), his relationships with former employers were not as close as his with Bertie. Bertie gives him free rein to do as he wishes (though the subject of clothing that Jeeves finds objectionable comes up from time to time), and Jeeves in turn solves the situations that Bertie, being the good soul that he is, inevitably finds himself embroiled in.

I'm not really familiar with fandoms outside of Jooster that have master/servant relationships, so I can't really say one way or the other if the undertones bleed over, but for me, 99% of the slash pairings that I get involve the personalities of the people involved, as opposed to the, "Ooh! Two hot guys! Let's write stories where they break the bed having awesome sex!" that some fandoms have to deal with. Heck, I can see some serious slash potential for Bertie and Bingo (though book!Bingo tends to be more of a shit than Michael Siberry's Bingo of the earlier TV seasons), though I tend to think that Jeeves would be a better fit for Bertie because of how they work with each other.

So, I vote option C, personalities play a big role in whether two dudes have the potential to get it on. *^^*