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Language:
English
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Published:
2023-12-03
Words:
516
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
118
Kudos:
13
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2
Hits:
2,910

Love the One You're With

Summary:

I noticed there isn't a single fic in this fandom categorized as F/M without M/M. Since yaoi is so popular in almost every major fandom regardless of whether M/M ships are canonical in them, I decided to write this. I fully expect this fic will be unpopular simply because I wrote a straight fic in a yaoi fandom (AKA, doing the reverse of what's so popular on AO3).

And thanks, AO3 mods, for deleting my third fic (out of a whopping 5) and banning me for a month with no warning. Because, in case you didn't know, AO3 deletes fanworks even if they aren't in violation of their TOS. See https://freespeechhub.blogspot.com for more info on AO3 censorship.

Fic Summary:
Jack and Ennis mutually decide to just stay friends and to work on patching up their relationship with their wives.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

“You know, Jack, I've been thinkin',” Ennis says as he stokes the campfire.

“'Bout what?” Jack replies as he prepares a breakfast of eggs in the frying pan.

“'Bout us and where this whole crazy train we're on is leadin' us.”

Jack perks up at the mention of what they have. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Me and Alma've been talkin'...” he stares off into the distance. “We...we went to a marriage counselor recently and have been workin' on...” He kicks at a patch of dirt on the ground listlessly as he deliberates over his word choice for what he wants to say next. “Jeez, why is this so fuckin' hard to say!?” He hesitates for several moments as he messes with his already unkempt hair, taking a deep breath before mustering the courage to continue: “We've been workin' on patchin' up our relationship recently, Jack. I...I really wanna stay with her since we got the kids and all, y'know. And...and I think it's not right to keep cheatin' on her like this. She's a good gal. She don't deserve this.”

A nearly interminable silence follows as Jack lets his words sink in. They both simply stare off into space. Fearing the worst, Ennis finally turns to his lover and prods: “So? Ain't ya got nothin' to say about that?”

Jack sighs deeply. He likewise has to muster some courage before he can speak. “Well...truth be told, Ennis, I was thinkin' about goin' to a marriage counselor about me and Lureen too. I think we could still work things out between us, that it's not too late. Guess now's as good time for that as any, huh?”

Ennis laughs. “Yeah...guess so...”

Jack places the frying pan over the campfire, watching the eggs as they slowly cook. After a long pause, he adds: “I'll never forget what we had here, Ennis. I just...I think things are gonna be better this way. And y'know what? I'm abso-fuckin'-lutely positive that one day, relationships like ours will outnumber the straight ones. Just the child support payments alone'll make sure of that!” he snickers.

“Yeah, no kiddin'!” Ennis chuckles. “I just wish that time would hurry up and get here already...” he adds wistfully.
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10 years later...

Jack and Ennis sit side by side at a sprawling dining table filled to the brim with all manner of delectable foods. Alma and Lureen sit opposite them, holding glasses of wine high in celebration. Their children sit at the opposite end of the table, flinging peas at one another as they giggle maniacally. Each face at the table sports a wide smile as they all laugh at some silly joke they just shared about the shortcomings of the current president.

It seems that, ever since Jack and Ennis went to the marriage counselor with their wives, their relationships improved to the point that each couple now regularly holds grand get-togethers for all their closest friends. And the closest of these friends is, of course, the one that each family's patriarch made up on Brokeback Mountain all those years ago...

Notes:

I made this fic as a test of my theory that there are a large number of heterophobes on AO3. After all, I can't think of any reason why so many fandoms are infested with nonsensical, implausible pairings (the vast majority of which are yaoi, of course, and a ton of them are irrationally popular despite offering no context for the 'ship) other than avoidance/ignorance of the canonical pairings due to heterophobia...Although I guess there are some people who do it just because hot guy + hot guy = canonical context is no longer necessary for the relationship to be “hot.”

Despite how there's a ton of fans of many straight ships too, it appears that just about none of us is infesting the yaoi fandoms with nonsensical straight pairings despite the fact that, yes, many of us do occasionally partake in and even enjoy entertainment revolving around same-sex relationships.

Please note how my fic went further than the vast majority of yaoi fics by, y'know, acknowledging that the canon relationship exists and by having the characters from the canonical pairing offer a rational explanation of why they're leaving that relationship for one with a person of another gender (a relationship that they were already in, even!).

Flames are more than welcome and will only serve to prove my point because, believe it or not, I like some fandoms & fics that contain yaoi pairings but only if they're canonical or at least plausible (Jack/Ennis is one of those I do actually like).

Update: Since the only intelligent comments I got came from people who either supported me or at least didn't flame/troll (just b/c I welcomed flamed doesn't mean that flaming was all you could do) is yet more evidence that a ton of fanfic readers & writers are heterophobes who get easily outraged over even legit criticism of their "fanworks." I'm still waiting for a decent counterargument, but at this point, I'm all but sure I didn't get one because my theory is 100% fact