[HPFGU-OTChatter] Slut!Seamus and other ships

[Morgan D.]

>    From: "jeffl1965" <jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com>
> 
>     So, I've seen that I'm not the only one curious about this, so I 
> wanted to ask if anybody wants to guess why Seamus is made a slut, 
> regardless as to the nature of the story or his realtionship. Even if
> he's het, he's a slut, and usually even if the story is het, Seamus 
> is gay and with Dean or in some cases with Percy! Why is that? 

First thing, it's always complicated to claim there is *one* reason why
many ficwriters write similar plots or similar characterisations.
Unfortunately, many people are very fond of such generalisations and
end up inadvertently offending lots of writers. So what I'm saying here
is not what happened, but what *might* have happened. 

Slut!Character is a plot function, a stereotype common to many kinds of
fiction, particularly TV shows. There's a group? Then there's likely to
be one character, either a male or a female, that dates pretty much
everyone that comes around. The Slut!Character is useful to plots that
deal with jealousy, with the conflict between sex drive and true love,
or with smut, pure and simple... So it's not really surprising to me
that some ficwriters would introduce that function in their HP fics. 

Now, why Slut!Seamus? Well, in my humble opinion, the reasons to write
Slut!Seamus are different from the ones to write Slut!Harry. The latter
is likely to be a result of speculation about canon: could Harry's
dysfunctional background lead him to promiscuity? It's a valid
question, whether you might say "yes" or "no". 

But what do we know about Seamus? We have but a simple profile of his.
Muggle dad, witch mother, Irish... doesn't go much farther, does it? So
if you need a Slut!Character in a secondary role to a plot that takes
place mostly in Harry's dorm, he's a good candidate.

Why Seamus and not the others? Well, assuming the protagonist is
Harry... Ron might have been written out because he was supposed to
take another role (Harry's true love, for example), or because the
author felt canon discourages the idea of a Slut!Ron (his unsuccessful
date at the Yule Ball). Slut!Neville? The author might have thought he
was too clumsy for the role. So we end up with only Slut!Dean and
Slut!Seamus as possibilities. 

Why not Dean? Well, maybe it was a silly word association: Slut/Sex
starts with an S, Seamus starts (and ends!) with an S. Or maybe the
author loathed football and didn't want to write about Dean because of
that. Or maybe the author had conscious or unconscious bias against
writing Harry having sex with a black boy. Or maybe the author had
conscious or unconscious bias against both Irishmen and sluts, so if
someone has to be the slut, let it be the Irish kid.

And then you have to remember that ficwriters are mutually influenced.
After reading three or four fics with Slut!Seamus, if you need that
particular plot function you'll automatically think of Seamus because,
hey!, the guy has a reputation already! ^__^

So if you're looking about canonical suggestions that he's a slut...
no, I don't think there are any, and I don't think that's how the
phenomenon started. (I could be wrong, of course.)


>    Another thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its 
> quite cool for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry and 
> Ron? The same arguments I always hear can apply to them as 
> well. "They're best mates, and it would ruin things", "They're 
> obviously straight", hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't 
> even obvious clues many times. So why is it really ok for D/S, but 
> not H/R? Even H/D or D/R makes less sense to me than the other pairs,
> and they even squick me a bit. ;) I won't even touch the subject of 
> *anybody* with Snape. :)

If you find someone (as in one single person) that says both
"Seamus/Dean is cool" AND "Ron/Harry can't be lovers because they are
best mates", you please ask that person to explain this. But if you're
talking about different people... you know, one ficwriter can't be
responsible for the opinion of another ficwriter. 

Why some fans like this pairing and detest the other... Why some fans
think this pairing "makes more sense" than that other one.... that's
all VERY subjective. I could tell you about *my* preferences. They
might make you understand, in a rational way, why I think the way I do,
but it doesn't mean you'll start thinking my chosen pairings will
become appealing to you. 

Hope this helped somehow,

Morgan D.
Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br

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