I call the game, Real Ray, or Fake Ray? I will say a phrase. You tell me if I made it up, or if it’s something that Captain Holt actually said in real life, to an actual human being.
I was thinking about Jake Peralta and Charles Boyle from B99 vis a vis Holmes and Watson and I formed a hypothesis which I have just tested. My hypothesis was correct…but I don’t know why.
Hypothesis: B99 has actually successfully prevented viewers from reading the primary m/m partnership homoerotically. To put it more simply: people by and large do not slash Jake and Boyle.
I did a search on AO3. Would you like to know how many pics show up in the Charles Boyle/Jake Peralta tag?
THREE.
For purposes of comparison, there are 1692 Jake/Amy pics on AO3 and 172 Jake /Rosas, as well as over a hundred Rosa/Ginas.
This is amazing. It’s an author-intent miracle. Yeah, I know the show doesn’t ship them, but that never stopped ANYONE. How, Moffat and Gatiss must surely be wondering, did they manage to keep Eros out of that bromance?
I have formed a few theories.
1. The inclusion of openly gay characters makes people stop looking for coded gay characters.
2. Viewers are protecting the canon ship (Jake/Amy). Plausible but does not explain the much larger number of Jake/Rosas and Amy/Rosas.
3. Both characters are given multiple heterosexual relationships. True; again, never stopped anyone before.
4. It is precisely the absurdly self-abasing intensity of Charles’s devotion that stops people from reading it romantically. Variant: it is so obvious that Charles desires to BE Jake that we don’t ask whether he wants to DO Jake.
5. Nobody wants to imagine Charles Boyle having sex. This one has merit. Despite all the girlfriends he has, his sex life is always kind of disgusting to the other characters, as is his way of introducing it very inappropriately I to conversation.
I dunno. It’s fascinating.
Is it possibly because the bromance is so tender and so very much requited?? There’s not a lot of read into there because they’re both very comfortable with it.
Excellent theory! Yes, I like this: the relationship as is is so fulfilling for Boyle that there is nothing left for him to desire. And although Jake isn’t as…full Boyle about it, he also is getting everything out of it that he wants in a friendship.
I propose a refinement of the above theory:
Because Jake and Boyle are both largely comfortable with the intensity of the relationship, they do not appear to be repressing anything. In other words there is no level of bromanticism that either of them would deny or disavow. Therefore, the viewer actually believes that what you see is what you get: nothing is hidden or latent. So nobody has to write the fic that brings it to the surface.
I thought about this, and about the other intense, unrepressed bromance I can think of on television: J.D. & Turk (Scrubs). Of the 314 Scrubs stories on AO3, only 12 are JD/Turk (by contrast, Perry Cox/JD has 142 stories, and Turk’s most common partner is his wife Carla) . Like Boyle & Jake, they are repressing nothing, completely open about the intensity of their friendship, and emotionally secure with each other. So, I think there may be something to this theory.
I feel like the JD & Turk example is not exactly comparable because their slash representation is probably suppressed below what it would otherwise be by the White Guy and Black Guy Are Best Friends effect (also why there’s more Shawn/Lassiter than Shawn/Gus in Psych, why there’s more Loki/Tony or Bucky/Tony than Tony/Rhodey in the MCU, etc.)
Jake/Boyle should be an unreasonably massive pairing relative to the size of the fandom, going by the dynamics of… every other fandom… because they are The Two White Guys Who Talk To Each Other, but it’s NOT! That’s actually possibly an even bigger accomplishment than just convincing people not to slash best friends!
My guess on this part of the phenomenon is that
1) The show offers an actually really interesting and healthy het relationship in Jake/Amy, and as a part of that,
2) The Two White Guys Who Talk To Each Other are not even CLOSE to being the most attractive or interesting people on the show! Their emotional development, individually and in relation to each other, is not emphasized to the detriment/exclusion of all other characters and relationships! NOT EVEN CLOSE. They are SO DRAMATICALLY not the most interesting or attractive or emotionally-developed characters on the show that PEOPLE WRITE HET AND FEMSLASH ABOUT A SHOW WHERE THERE ARE TWO WHITE DUDES WHO TALK TO EACH OTHER!
I’m actually really glad you asked because oooh boy, let met tell you, Jake Peralta, in my humble opinion as a fellow sufferer, is currently the single most obvious but sadly non confirmed (yet… one can still hope) fictional character with (most likely) undiagnosed ADHD out there. His strengths as well as his flaws all point towards him having the disorder.
So let me start with the good things:
– He’s a quick thinker! He thinks in unconventional ways with his mind taking leaps and turns whenever it feels like it. Often allowing him to solve cases in creative ways. … It also makes for interesting conversations most of the time.
– Using his impulsivity in a good way! When he figures something out, he’s usually the first one to get up AND DO SOMETHING.
– Excitability! Have you seen how his eyes lights up when he feels like he’s doing what he thinks is right? He becomes like a little hyperactive child again. Usually, adults with the disorder, aren’t as much outwardly hyperactive anymore as children are. Instead, this tends to turn into feelings of restlessness and gets internalized. But of course, in a show like this, it makes sense to show him like this.
– Hyperfocus! Die Hard, anyone?! That guy has had the same hyperfixation for years!!! And I bet, he frequently uses his hyperfocus capability to get things done, too. That is, if he’s interested enough, of course.
– His energetic personality! Brings some energy and passion into the work place, don’t you think? And also it’s how many adults with ADHD are perceived if they feel well-integrated and at ease with their surroundings. Always the one coming up with new ideas? That’s us!
Now onto the not so good stuff when you’re the one struggling with it:
– Again, impulsivity. Saying the first thing that comes to your mind, talking… A Lot, acting without thinking and without regard for consequences. As seen on the show, it has not always been the best “decision” for him.
– Mood swings! Unfortunately, many are not aware of this fact but in many cases, ADHD actually comes with fast and frequent mood swings. The smallest things can trigger intense emotional responses. Jake definitely has that as he tends to jump from “Life is meaningless!” to “I’m the greatest!” without a problem. Just solved a case? I’M SO HAPPY!!! Oh no, they got away with it? Why bother anymore…… Yeah, that…
– You know the episodes where he and Captain Holt are undercover as part of the Witness Protection Program and Holt points out how Jake seems depressed lately? Yeah, people with ADHD can way too easily fall into this mindset (mood swings, anyone?). With the absence of regular work to keep his fast-pacing mind occupied, it’s not a surprise that he starts feeling this way.
– Not able to handle boredom! He has always something going. Games, ideas, looking for new cases. He never slows down and seems to keep himself occupied at all times. Classic ADHD!
– The way he handles words and numbers, anyone? How he never reads books? Oh, and then his troubles with finances? His locker and desk looking… like that? Classic signs of troubles with organisation and attention to me.
– Easily discouraged! It can’t be denied that he hasn’t had an easy childhood. Together with the troubles with his father, ADHD could be a way to explain why he now is the way he is.
– Problems with lowself-esteem (*cough* and definitely Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria)! Either he feels like THE BEST COP OUT THERE or he falls into this thinking pattern where you have trouble believing that people actually care about you. Probably something he should talk about in therapy, as he puts it himself.
Together with his tendency to procrastinate when it comes to boring stuff, his inability to express and cope with his feelings sometimes, his forgetfulness and not so ideal time management (for example, being late to work all the time), I strongly believe that Jake Peralta has ADHD and should be written and confirmed as such (hey, it’s never too late!). An episode focusing on him suspecting he has the condition and eventually seeing a specialist? I’d cry. Honestly.
Plus: The fact that so many real people with the disorder relate to him??? Okay, that’s not actually relevant here but definitely something the writers should take into consideration. BUT, don’t feel bad if you don’t! Not everyone’s ADHD is the same! 🙂
Psst, you won’t believe how many times I sit there thinking “that’s so me!” while watching the episodes. There’s even more “evidence” sprinkled throughout the show. All the small details not listed aboved. It’s marvelous and oh-so-relatable.
And just imagine the many excited faces watching the show when a main character on a immensely popular show like this would be confirmed as being one of them! Just thinking of the tiny, tiny, TINY possibility puts me into happy stimming mode!!! It would also help increase awareness in those who may not know anything about it and help reduce prejudices ‘cause ding dong, ADHD is not a fake disorder and adults can have it, too. Surprise!
knitting in the dark 