Traffic (compilation post + author's notes)

[petronia]

Aka That One Viewfinder Fic. First bit in a twelve days' thing or whatever XD; (the actual Twelve Days of Christmas are after Christmas, but that never seems right to me psychologically). I've been posting this to yamane_ayano, backdated in order not to bother the flist overly (some ppl have seen the first chapters several times over the years), but this is the compilation post. Thanks again to sub_divided and marej, who did the most to make this happen.

Traffic
Chapters: Parts I-II | Parts III-IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII

Author's Notes:

* Odd sort of story to be posting for Christmas (but wait til you see the Yuletide one). Nearly all of it was written during November, though (2009 and 2005, cough), and it's set before the NYE Love Prize short, so it was always meant to be this time of year - apart from Part IV which was written in August and feels like August. Let's say the Kantou region had a cold snap; weather, yanno, it happens. XD;

* This was started before the HK arc of Naked Truth *dies*, so Yoh didn't exist yet - if he had, he would've shown up for reals, I wouldn't have had to make up Shan, and this would be a different story. But in retrospect the fact that I needed a character like Shan or Yoh was interesting, because I didn't make him up so much as the narrative demanded he exist.

* One can imagine poetically that it is the same predestined pill Feilong and Winston were looking at that was shipped out to Japan, ended up in Masa and Jouji's case and from there into Asami's hands via Takaba. So it's at least as much The Red Violin as it is Traffic. orz There are other details tying the structure together, like Misato in part VI is the daughter Harunoyama was calling in part IV.

* My other VF fics are here (ignore the older version of Traffic XD;;). They're all set in this same universe, or variations thereon, but Asami x Feilong or Feilong x Takaba, because that's what my friends in their infinite wisdom kept requesting. XD I'm not a devoted Asami x Feilong or Asami x Takaba shipper - I feel like the story wouldn't be as interesting with any of those characters missing from it. Also like, get real, this shiz is HILARIOUS.

* At first I figured naming the OC "Asari" would be confusing, then I just went with it. I always liked that in the NYE Love Prize they made fun of Asami having one of those last names that are a girl's name, like "Lindsay" or "Beverley".

* ...There's a lot more I can say about the characterization, like how Feilong is Old Money obv but Asami always gave me the sense he was an arriviste, of the self-confident type - eg. he doesn't know a thing about modern art or interior design but he doesn't care because he'll just hire the best money can buy to do the job for him. But actually, for those of you guys who've read my Tenipuri stuff, the scene part VII most resembles is the one in "Flor de Yemanja" where Yuuta barges into Mizuki's bedroom. XD;;

* Per Cathy's unpopular BL manga opinions (so much better than the Animal Collective wank!), the reason Tyrant doesn't work for me while VF does is because the mangaka succeeds too well in selling Souichi as basically this giant emotional retard who actually does care, he's just dumb and prone to violence (not that those are likeable traits). Which makes Morinaga a huge passive-aggressive self-justifying user, because he boxes Souichi in to such an extent that Souichi doesn't have a choice but to go along with it, because he's not self-examining enough to think his way to a whole picture of wtf is happening there. Whereas Asami, despite being an indubitably horrible person, is a proponent of the If You Love It Set It Free school of thought - he doesn't so much allow Takaba or Feilong a great deal of rope as there is no rope at all, they're totally free to find a rope elsewhere and hang themselves as creatively as possible. XD;;

* I did a ridic amount of research on the international trade in illegal drugs, particularly synthetics (speed, E, etc.). At this point it may as well be general knowledge as far as I'm concerned, meaning that I tend to spout off with facts that make ppl look at me sideways, like... why would you know that... orz A good book on the topic I found afterward is Misha Glenny's McMafia: A Journey Through The Global Criminal Underworld (here's a TED blog entry about a talk he gave at a conference very much like the one I heard him give in May).

Insofar as the sempiternal My Ideas, Let Me Show You Them aspect goes, "Traffic" is about Drugs in the same way as "A Proof By Contradiction" is about Death. I wouldn't write a story if I didn't have mixed feelings: as pointed out via Takaba, it's difficult to call even many of those actively involved in the trade evil. They're just doing their thing. There are essentially druggy aspects of raver culture and stoner culture that are positive. I also basically support the right of thinking adults to do whatever they want with their own lives. But at the same time, drug-taking is not a personal choice nor a purely hedonistic activity: it's political, in the same way that anything going into or onto one's body - food, clothes, cosmetics - is political. If one eats meat, animals are killed to satisfy one's hunger, and that has economic, environmental, and ethical implications (nb I am not a vegetarian but this is fact and I don't shy from it). If one takes drugs, it's very likely that human beings were killed along the line that gets that product to the consumer. And one stands a good chance of financially supporting organizations that take actions on the global stage with which one would disagree in principle. So there is a moral issue, even if one isn't hurting anyone in sight, or even oneself.

Anyway; that was not a lecture intended for anyone reading LJ. XD; Just, well, life is full of pitfalls for the thinking person. There's the parallel with the Asami x Takaba relationship (insert own awful joke re things going into the body etc.).

Comments

[one-if-by-land.livejournal.com]

oh sabina, of course you would consider politically-responsible implications whilst writing viewfinder fic. /g srsly, though, I did enjoy how you used the drugs theme - that little pink pill is quite symbolic, and I like that you showed the production process, from hong kong to japan, from supplier to dealer to buyer. the entire chain was v elegant.

one thing that I still don't quite understand: in the beginning, what exactly did sam leung try to do? I'm assuming that was a catalyst for asami's takeover & harunoyama's demise? keeping track of drug-trafficking etiquette is not my strong point, obvs XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Sam Leung was producing pills (including some new varieties/formulations - the impetus for him getting into this business is really the fact of him holding Winston's debt, and realizing he can put that chemistry PhD to use) and shipping them to Japan so the rest of Baishe wouldn't find out. He got dinged for it because 1) the HK triad policy is not to do production themselves in the Territories because it's too risky, they outsource it, 2) Harunoyama used the revenue from the new cool drugs + alliance w/ local Chinese mafia to escalate an ongoing turf war with the Miura, the rival gang in Yokohama. Feilong was also building alliances in Tokyo/Kantou in order to confront Asami and didn't want any crossed signals, and 3) in principle, Leung's not supposed to do shit like that without Feilong knowing about it and getting a cut. XD; Since 1) and 2) were fait accompli, Feilong just took the whole operation over and folded it into his own. Then it turned out that Asami actually was involved, supporting the other side, which basically turned Yokohama into a proxy war between Feilong and Asami.

So to comfort Chrissie etc. I have always told her that on the personal level this story is Asami x Takaba but on the political level it is Asami x Feilong XD;; which is the level on which it is most fun to have those two operate anyway.

[koyuki]

Your note about seeing Asami as "arriviste" is really interesting to me, especially since fandom has so many takes on his backstory. That's a lot more plausible than him coming off the streets. He's certainly less traditional than Feilong or Ranmaru from IIR, but at the same time he's a bit too young for me to believe that he created an empire by himself. He doesn't seem like old money but he doesn't seem like he was brought up as someone Ordinary who just rose to great success.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I've seen some great backstories for Asami in other people's fics! It's interesting to think about because he's so whole, in a way, like he's always been himself. XD He's definitely not completely self-made, because in High Loft he was sent to Hong Kong on a mission of sorts (and must have gotten into trouble at the end, though that was never shown). So he was part of an organization, and either inherited it or rose to the top or took it over.

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

he doesn't so much allow Takaba or Feilong a great deal of rope as there is no rope at all, they're totally free to find a rope elsewhere and hang themselves as creatively as possible. XD;;

I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS VERY HARD and I have come to the conclusion that you are right (you always are!!). Takaba rarely gets into situations because Asami is involved-- in fact, he usually just blindly blunders into things, and Asami either saves his ass, makes it worse, or does both at the same time. The sex is just like, something that happens along the way. Whereas in Tyrant, the blundering is usually manipulated and or being used for manipulative purposes, and the sex is the point, and it's all very ick.

Also YES: it's political, in the same way that anything going into or onto one's body - food, clothes, cosmetics - is political.

Why are you so smart all the time. :( ALSO part VII most resembles is the one in "Flor de Yemanja" where Yuuta barges into Mizuki's bedroom. XD;; I WAS TOTALLY GOING TO POINT THIS OUT but then you did it yourself so orz.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah exactly - most of the Asami x Takaba sex falls into two categories from Asami's POV, 1-"now that you're here I will distract you from attempting to topple my empire or whatever" and 2-"despite your usual state of denial, drunk dialing me 5 times in one night does count as a date".

And LOL, this is a scene I keep writing over and over. It was so like the Winston-goes-to-see-Feilong one earlier that I had to change it. There was also one with Schuldig iirc, and that scene in Proof where Ashiwara goes to visit Hikaru, and. I guess I'm just really into the idea of living space as an extension of personality...?

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

I love that drunk dialing story, it's actually my favorite VF episode. XDDD Mostly because of that part where Takaba is holding his nose and speaking into the phone and he is saying nonsense like "YOUR STOMACH IS BLACK BLACK BLACK" and Asami is like ._.???? Takaba: the only person insane enough to drunk dial Asami.

[naanima.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the fic yet, but you know, I always forget how hilarious your brain actually is. Responsibility of any sort within a VF fic is, um, special.

I shall not run along and read the fic.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for the book rec, how did you know I kept thinking as I read, "This is something I need to research..." XD;;;

(I'm a terrible commenter but I really do mean to comment on Traffic. Soon, even. It was a really excellent read and I'm not even a particular Viewfinder fan.)