One True Family, a manifesto

[salinea]

Most people have a One True Pairing, but lots of people have said that, instead, they a One True Character. Regardless, it's that one thing inside the canon story that makes us tick, hold and not let go, to the point that we go online to analyze them to death, seek more stories about them, and write our own stories.

But reading starysummer post about cross fandom character preferences, I was struck when she mentionned a few families, and had to mention my own favourite in the answer.

Because sometimes, fandom is all about the family relationships that make us tick.


I know a few fandom in which it's genuinely the whole ensemble of the family that people root for, hope for, and revel in reading about.

Some of us are Stark or Lannister loyalists; some are fascinated by the Sakurazuka and Sumeragi clans; some of us love the House of Black.

And of course. Family interractions is one of the best fodder for drama, angst, fluff and bittersweetness, definitly as much as romance is. These are the people that define you, define who you are and how you relate to things and will haunt you even if you try to cut off any links you might have had with them. These are the people who see you at your worst, at your most genuine. And these are the people who, no matter what happens, will always see you from the point of view of how they knew you when you were both younger. These are the people you can always come back to at the end of road. These are the people with the most power to hurt you, or to make you feel better. These are the people that, at one point of your life, you will hate as well love, and love as well as hate.

I know that for me, since I've joined the HP fandom, the part that's intrigued me and spawned the most plot bunnies were the Black family. There's just so much tragedy, plain fucked-up-ness, obscure zones and intriguing bits of data I can't help but love the whole dysfuctionnal lot of them and every. single. member. of the family tree from good old Nigellus Phinea to clumsy Tonks and snotty Draco.

In some cases, canon provides us with intricate genealogies, strong symbolics, and juicy histories. Look at Mikes Vorkosigan recapping some of his grandfather's childhood stories or how-many-ancestors-of-mine-were-crazy. Look at the age old rivalries and jealousies within the Amber family. Look at the curse and strange traditions haunting the Sohma clan.
And the good thing about complexe and intricate histories is, you'll never explain it all in canon, so it's an excellent thing to deepen in fanfic, where you can invent childhood memories where Percy developes his taste for ordeliness while Fred and George runs havok. Where Angelus, Darla, Drusilla and Spike travel the world leaving a trail of blood. There's just so much potential there !

But you don't need anything very complex to have an OTF. Sometimes what we enjoy the most and want to write about is the relationship between two siblings, like Ed and Al Elric; or it's the complicated relationship between a father and his son, for exemple Angel and Connor. And that's fascinating, there's so much depth and wealth of emotion there to talk about, write fanfics etc. about.

Well, because fandom is fandom, a lots of it turns into incest fics, and far be it from me to regret the smut, but sometimes it's a bit disapointing. Because there's so much more things to do, and sex isn't the only way to explore the relationships between characters. And I'm always thinking there should be a word for shipping two-or-more characters in a way that is not sexual or romantic. So at least, I propose this one.


So, am I the only one ?

What's YOUR One True Family ? ^_^

Comments

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

*ponders* While I like several families, or most members of a family, or any relative-relative interaction, I think I've never developed an obsession over one. Unless we can count the creators-creatures tandems, like Clow&Kero&Yue, Eriol&Spinel&Ruby, or even something as weird as Clow&Yuuko&Soel&Larg.

And there are cases in which I'd adore the ground a family steps on if it weren't for one single character I dislike. For instance, the royal family of Clow would so be my OTF if it wasn't for the fact I can't STAND Sakura. And I really loved the Skywalkers on my childhood, and then Lucas went and made young Anakin a wanker.

*ponders* I'm more of a character, friendship, and ship person, I think. While I love a lot of families in my fandoms, I'm not head over heels over one yet.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Argh, I wanted to mention the Clow-Li family, magical creatures and clones included and then I forgot >_<

I think it's more difficult for me also to think of any family where I love everyone. However it's got more to do with loving... the ensemble interraction. The whole idea of the family. Any family has someone who's not as liked, a black sheep ^^ but when you know that you love the ensemble of their interaction that you're willing to bear with the one you like less, I think it's a sign there's something going on.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

But the thing is, I truly, truly can't stand the royal family BECAUSE Sakura is there and is the omgsoluvedprincess!!!1 everyone in the fandom worships, so she's not the black sheep. I'm the only idiot who obsesses over Touya and the previous king. The fact of thinking those poor guys have/had a Sue as a sister and still love/d her... *shudders*

Maybe I'd adore Kurogane's family, if we had known the parents' names, thank you very much, CLAMP. They were the cutest and hottest thing. At least they gave Setsuka's name, and she had less screentime than Kurofamily. Gotta hate them.

I'm still guessing my OTFs are those I mentioned with the wizards and the winged people and the big cats and the fuzzy rabbit-like things. I really love the way they interact. Ain't it sad?

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

*giggles*
Yukito: To-ya, have you never thought...
Touya: Hm ?
Yukito: ...that might have a Sue as your sister ?
Touya: WHAT ? No, it's can't be... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !
Yukito : but we love her
Touya : *flat tone* yes, we do.

I think Setsuka had a name only because of the character file. Otherwise in manga or anime she's got no name. Maybe if they do character files for the Tsubasa characters...

I don't think it's sad. I love that family too ! Except for the part where I can't stand the Mokona. But I can even tolerate Kero-bero for the sake of the Clow family, so there : OTF !

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I ship families primarily in all my fandoms.

The "Unholy Family" in the Buffyverse is my favorite family there, with Angel+Connor as my OTP with the plus sign to indicate it's their father-son relationship, not any incestuous thing, that intrigues me.

In HP my favorite pairing is Harry+Sirius, in Trek, its Ben+Jake. In Terminator, Sarah+John, etc, etc. In my original fic, I write about a lot of mother-daughter stuff.

I get so weary of everything being turned into sex all the time. My favorite friendships in certain fandoms have to be taken as sexual by many fnas, which I think loses the complexity of the relationship in the translation. Sex is a beautiful thing, but it's not the only lens through which to view a relationship.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

hihi, very funny icon !

I was thinking of you when I mentionned Angel and Connor.

I love Sirius+Harry as well, and it's such a tragic relationship too.

I think in lots of cases it really cheapens things. There's a few cases where I do like incest fics (mostly SiriusxRegulus, BellatrixNarcissa and canonical pairings in Utena) but in lots of cases it simply doesn't fit with the characters when a good sibling interraction can be so much fun, jealousy, envy, tenderness and bickering without resorting to sex.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I wasn't just referring to turning family relationships sexual, but platonic friendships between unrelated people as well. I don't object to any specific pairing being slashed, but the general trend that *all* friendships end up being slashed (or opposite sex friendships sexualized) until fans see sex *everywhere* and are incapable of appreciating a platonic relationship and its depths and subtleties.

But your thread is about families, and so I'll stop my little rant. Families are great! I love family relationships. I don't think there's a single fandom I have where I don't 'ship a family pairing or trio. I really connect to that for some reason.

[shisakura.livejournal.com]

Sakurazuka. ALLLLL the way :D;

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I'm quite fond of the Sumeragi as well ^^

[shisakura.livejournal.com]

I don't mind them :3 But there's just something about the Sakurazuka clan that just.....makes me squeal. A lot XD;

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Setsuka and Seishirou are one of the cutest mother-son relationship indeed - in a fucked up way, that is ♥

[shisakura.livejournal.com]

That's true though for me 'Sakurazuka' means a bunch of non-canon characters that I love just so dearly XD So it's not just Setsuka and Seishirou to me :P

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

that does make things more complicated XD

[shisakura.livejournal.com]

And a whole lot more fun, too :D

[dizilla.livejournal.com]

Hmm, great points you brought up! ^_^ I don't think I have an OTF... I am liking the sibling thing with Sirius and Regulus of late though. Oh, I guess recently it would have to be River and Simon from Firefly. I just love the familial relationship they have with each other. ^_^

Whenever I try to describe nonsexual relationships I just attach the word GEN to it. I'm not into 'cest fics at all. The closest I'll get to them are like Weasley twins and snupin in one big orgy... Hehe.

*would seriously love a Sirius/Reguls OTF icon XD*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I love River and Simon as well. They're so sweet but sugar-coated for that much. And I adore River because she's that crazy wise fairy-like cruel innocent girl and I always love those kind of characters. And I love Simon because he's so earnest and so meticulous and so desperatly awkward, and that's a type I always adore too.

I've got lots of OTC types, I'm easy XD

Yes, Gen seems to have become the generic word to describe non sex stuff, but Gen isn't necessarly about relationship, you know ? And sometimes the squees definitly comes from two characters together. I'm a big squee-er of Snape and Draco, but I only feel so-so about the Snaco ship (it's nice, but not OTP business)

(is that a request for an icon ? ^^)

[dizilla.livejournal.com]

Simon has to be my all time OTC cause he just rocks. =D And yeah it's not always about relationships. I too like Snape and Draco, or Snape and Harry, but I really can't go for Snaco or Snarry cause.... yeah. XD

(I dunno, maybe? =P)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Likewise. I also think Snape and Harry's relationship can be very interesting without sexualizing it. Snarry can often seem awkward and unconvincing to me, but it's hard to find story exploring their interractions, Harry's fascination for the Half Bloode Prince etc., that don't end up being shippy.

[catrinella.livejournal.com]

Malfoys (with a side of Blacks, but mostly the nuclear Lucius/Narcissa/Draco family).

But that should not be a surprise to anyone who knows me.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I tend to see the Malfoys as an outshoot of the Blacks, myself XD because I'm snobbish like that and the Malfoys are such nouveaux riches, you know. But I love them all dearly too ^^

I really love Narcissa 'specially. But I'm quite fond and amused by Lucius too (sadly he's too often badly characterized in lots of fics)

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Shows how blindered I can be -- my first guess would have been Weasleys.

That it's the Malfoys is not a surprise, though, although it does make me ponder a bit about the characters we like to inhabit/play/portray vs. the characters we are attracted to vs. the characters we are most like vs. who we might write more about because they match up best with the themes/obsessions that interest us most. (And because, really, the Hogwarts faculty member I'm probably most like is Vector, but there's a reason there ain't a whole lot of Vector/anybody fics around.)

But that's a rumination for a different evening... I don't really have an OTF, though I'm rather fond of Bujold's Vorpatrils.

[catrinella.livejournal.com]

I love Weasleys, don't get me wrong, but I think there are more stories to be told about the Malfoys and more questions to be asked. Except for Percy, the Weasleys tend to be more out in the open with their issues.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I'm quite fond of Imperio-ed!Arthur and LuciusxArthur for this reason ^^

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

it does make me ponder a bit about the characters we like to inhabit/play/portray vs. the characters we are attracted to vs. the characters we are most like vs. who we might write more about because they match up best with the themes/obsessions that interest us most.

I'll hold my breath until that evening because that seems to be a fascinating topic !

I love the Vorpatril too ! Especially Ivan, such an adorable twit ^^ (<- is probably using insults in the wrong way) and Simon Illyan. He's such fun.

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Alys so totally rules (as it were). I've loved her ever since her reaction to Drou's original wedding-dress plans in Barrayar. I also have a soft spot for old Falco -- I find his cameos in Civil Campaign oddly endearing. (Being vague to avoid spoilering.)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Alys does rule too, definitly agreed. I love that whole female power of Barrayar that she embodies. The dreadful politics of mariage, gossip and mothering ^^

I don't even remember who Falco is O_O I must have been too focussed on Byerly and everything else in Civil Campaign

[momijizukamori]

The one true family I've been playing around with a lot lately is the Sparda family from Devil May Cry - the relationship between the twins (which I do 'ship romantically, although it goes a lot deeper than that. They're two halves of a whole), their relationship to their father, Eva's relationship with her husband and her sons (she's the only well-adjusted one in the family, at all). After that, the next lot is Asher and his crew, who aren't related by blood, but for the most part consider each other their own family - several of them don't have any blood-family left.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I don't know EMC thought I've heard a bit about it. It does sound like a very interesting family. ^^

[momijizukamori]

It is, especially Dante and Vergil and their relationships, which you get a lot more of if you read the manga that's the prequel to the third game...gives a lot more insight into how they feel about their parents, and exactly how many issues they have (a lot). They're both half-demon, half-human, and there's lots of messiness involving that - Vergil wants to be like their demon father (the pretty one in my icon), but Dante hates Sparda, for making him half-demon, and then dying when he and his brother were young.

[elihice.livejournal.com]

Sirius and Harry (HP) (Aaaagh I liked the 4th movie, but I terribly missed more Sirius scenes....) Komyou and Sanzo (Saiyuki) Batman and Nightwing. I guess you can see sort of a pattern there with the father figures....

A good community for OTF is relation_ships, too bad it needs more pimping.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

much thing was lack from that movie. It was a good movie, but it just doesn't compare to all the little juicy tibits the books give.

Father figures are very interesting ^^ there's often so much sense of expectations and being not good enough that it can cut right through the bones. Lots of resentment. And also respect.

I rather like everything around Hohenheim in anime-verse. With Ed and with Envy *shudders*

There was a very interesting discussion about Snape as a father figure to Harry the other day... well, I think it was at H_E, I don't remember. And he is in a twisted, negative way.

I'm at relation_ships it's sad there's so little posts there.

[catiechu.livejournal.com]

I definitely have a strong soft spot for the relationship between Nagare and Hisoka. I admit that my feelings are largely based on RP in which Nagare feels regret for not being the father he should have been, as I haven't been able to read the latest volumes since they're not out in English yet. I only make assumptions based on information I piece together from fansites. I have a strong love of strong platonic relationships in fiction. Romance, as sweet as it may be, just gets boring sometimes. You want something that feels real and doesn't need physical attraction to work. That's probably another reason I'm such a whore for Franz and Albert. Though romantically I think they would be adorable, I already love them as they are: best friends.

For some reason, I also really like Ludwig and Camus from Meine Liebe. They just make the perfect cousins, really - and I can totally see Lui curling up with his head in Camus's lap and whining about things when they're alone and Camus just being like, "there, there, poor baby :/".

[sakanagi.livejournal.com]

The Sakurazuka and Sumeragi clans are far too difficult to choose between for an OTF. I like them both too much. So instead, I think that if a particular xxxHOLiC-crazy-crossover theory I heard once is correct - Yuuko and Clow somehow being Watanuki's parents (in some other dimesion perhaps) - then that would certainly be my OTF. How could I argue with that one?

[cygna-hime.livejournal.com]

Myself, I am (currently...stay tuned for further developments) profoundly a family relationships addict. The House of Black is fun, when I feel like writing a Poe story (they're secretly the House of Ussher in a thin disguise), and the wacky extended family Reed-Kinomoto-Li can be very entertaining, but right now I am a complete Pevensie-addict. Family relationships can be at least as complicated as romantic or sexual ones, with the added bonus that I know a lot more about them.

Now, if only the incest stories would just go away and die somewhere I didn't have to see them when I was looking for family fic...

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I don't have a one true family but if I did it would be the Sakurazukamori Family. Yes, I made that name up^_^ Which would include Setsuka, Seishirou, Subaru and the Sakura as voyeur. *dies laughing*

Although Balian and Godfrey in Kingdom of Heaven have this suspiciously slashy relationship as well. Clow Reed/Eriol and Yue or Syaoran would make for an interesting study of interbreeding/inter-relationships in magical families.

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

You know, I had to think about this for a while. It'd have to be a toss up right now between the Elrics - so much love for the brothers and Hohenhiem - or the little fucked up Sin family I've created in my head. Because the dynamics of Envy/Sloth/Wrath are so weirdly familial. Both Sloth and Envy have this weird parental thing going towards Wrath.