I read that as an honest compliment. I'm just thick. :))
Sorry, bad wording -- when I said "I can only read that as", I meant "that's the only way of reading it I can come up with that would make any kind of sense to me"... :-(
Unless she is a big fan of B/A slash (and if she was a Tarrant fangirl that seems unlikely, Tarrant being Blake's 'replacement' -- in terms of the number of actors under contract rather than in terms of actually taking over the earlier character's role, that is) I find it very hard to imagine anybody reading Blake making a declaration like "I wish to exploit you for the rest of my life" with a straight face, never mind all the stuff about mellifluous baritones and so on.
I mean, this is what is, by canon standards, a touchingly open and affectionate exchange between the characters, in which Avon makes a massive admission towards Blake in the wake of an earlier angry exchange (from Lillian Shepherd's The Machiavelli Factor", which gets more fluffy about the relationship between the two than anything I've ever written):
As I drew closer I saw that it was indeed Avon, sitting and watching me. He made no attempt to get up; I suspected that he couldn't.
I slewed the hovercar to a stop about ten metres away and ran through the sand which swirled and curled about my knees. Avon's eyes lifted to meet mine as I stopped in front of him. He said: "You took your time getting here."
"I..." I was so stunned by this reception that I just stood with my mouth open and stared at him. "You're mad. Why didn't you let Taamo take you home?"
Avon said, very slowly and carefully, "Because I will not put myself into the hands of someone I do not trust."
I could not believe that I had heard him correctly.
"Well," he went on, in the same calm, emotionless voice, "aren't you going to help me up?"
I stared at him incredulously, unable to move, unable to break the spell. It was not until I saw his face freeze in the recognition of imagined rejection that I was able to act. I held out a hand to him. He caught it and I hauled him up, putting my other arm around his back to keep him upright. Let him think of that as purely physical support, if he wished. At that moment, I simply did not care.
"You crazy, stupid... did you have any idea of the risk you were taking?" I demanded.
"You came back, didn't you?" Avon muttered. "Knew you would. Stupid fit of pique. Anyone would have thought-"
"That I believed you meant what you said? I did. I even think you did. Never mind that now. We have to talk - but later. This storm-"
My voice was drowned in an ear-splitting crack of thunder.
As I said, I don't read B/A slash, so I don't know what goes on in that world (probably much the same as goes on in Erik/Christine fics), but otherwise I can't imagine any explanation for why Blake coming up with lines like "the balm your presence has on my soul" would strike anybody as in character, when even a quasi-hug between the two (as implied in the scene above) needs to be rationalised away for Avon to find it acceptable...
Not sure if cathrl is British, but, for whatever reason, I always assumed she is. And from what I've noticed from my British work colleagues, there's this peculiar habit of either being painfully candid or veiling criticism in so many layers of politeness that I can't see the intended message anymore. It's strange. And very complicated. :))
Yes, cathrl is English (which isn't quite the same thing :-p) And she is usually blunt to the point of inadvertent offence, so... I find it hard to imagine (a) that she would actually mean what she said there and (b) that she would say something she didn't actually mean. *scratches head*
There aren't many things, in my perception, that can make a *sexy scene* less sexy than throwing Snape in it. :)) Not because of the hooked nose or anything like that but simply because of his nature and the way he is written.
Well, I haven't read a lot of sexy scenes with Snape in, either ;-) I know I've read at least one, because I remember the author providing an 'alternate version' of the chapter with a fade-to-black ending, and remember coming to the conclusion at the time that she would have been better served to stick with the concise version -- but I don't remember any details about it to explain precisely why! She was an excellent writer, so I assume it was tastefully done...
(Apparently it was "Pet Project" by Caeria: https://sshgreview.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/pet-project-by-caeria/ As this reviewer notes, "This fic gets it. He’s not Fanon!Snape or Dark!Snape or SadLonely!Snape or SexyMasculinePowerhouse!Snape or OverlyTortured!Snape – he’s just truly Severus Snape". And she also writes "I was also a bit disappointed with the romantic content" and "The consummation was a bit awkward for me", so it wasn't just me -- although her reservations appear to have been of an altogether different nature :-p I don't remember anything of the sort, but then I would have been skimming the scene at the time!)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-01-25 11:03 pm (UTC)Sorry, bad wording -- when I said "I can only read that as", I meant "that's the only way of reading it I can come up with that would make any kind of sense to me"... :-(
Unless she is a big fan of B/A slash (and if she was a Tarrant fangirl that seems unlikely, Tarrant being Blake's 'replacement' -- in terms of the number of actors under contract rather than in terms of actually taking over the earlier character's role, that is) I find it very hard to imagine anybody reading Blake making a declaration like "I wish to exploit you for the rest of my life" with a straight face, never mind all the stuff about mellifluous baritones and so on.
I mean, this is what is, by canon standards, a touchingly open and affectionate exchange between the characters, in which Avon makes a massive admission towards Blake in the wake of an earlier angry exchange (from Lillian Shepherd's The Machiavelli Factor", which gets more fluffy about the relationship between the two than anything I've ever written):
As I said, I don't read B/A slash, so I don't know what goes on in that world (probably much the same as goes on in Erik/Christine fics), but otherwise I can't imagine any explanation for why Blake coming up with lines like "the balm your presence has on my soul" would strike anybody as in character, when even a quasi-hug between the two (as implied in the scene above) needs to be rationalised away for Avon to find it acceptable...
Yes, cathrl is English (which isn't quite the same thing :-p)
And she is usually blunt to the point of inadvertent offence, so... I find it hard to imagine (a) that she would actually mean what she said there and (b) that she would say something she didn't actually mean. *scratches head*
Well, I haven't read a lot of sexy scenes with Snape in, either ;-)
I know I've read at least one, because I remember the author providing an 'alternate version' of the chapter with a fade-to-black ending, and remember coming to the conclusion at the time that she would have been better served to stick with the concise version -- but I don't remember any details about it to explain precisely why! She was an excellent writer, so I assume it was tastefully done...
(Apparently it was "Pet Project" by Caeria: https://sshgreview.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/pet-project-by-caeria/
As this reviewer notes, "This fic gets it. He’s not Fanon!Snape or Dark!Snape or SadLonely!Snape or SexyMasculinePowerhouse!Snape or OverlyTortured!Snape – he’s just truly Severus Snape".
And she also writes "I was also a bit disappointed with the romantic content" and "The consummation was a bit awkward for me", so it wasn't just me -- although her reservations appear to have been of an altogether different nature :-p I don't remember anything of the sort, but then I would have been skimming the scene at the time!)