Try To Keep Each Other Safe.

[rionaleonhart]

I passed a pair of Mormon missionaries in the street, and th_esaurus laughed at me because I got so excited about it. My involvement in the Book of Mormon musical fandom is definitely going to get me converted.

'And they were Mormon missionary companions' really seems like it should be a fic trope. You're assigned to someone, you're sent to an unfamiliar location together, and for months or years you're forbidden to be apart except when one of you is in the bathroom.

I assume the idea is to prevent debauchery, but the church has accidentally come up with the perfect recipe for weird claustrophobic same-sex romance. (The church may have realised this; the handbook Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ includes the rule 'You should sleep in the same room but not the same bed.')

I can understand why it's not a huge fic trope, of course; you're going to invite complicated feelings if you start mining people's faiths for AU concepts. I suppose 'handcuffed together' is basically a secular version of this: being forced by extended physical proximity to get to know someone better.

I actually made a mistake when writing Redrawing the Map, because it turns out the rules for Mormon companions are even stricter than I'd realised. I thought it was fine so long as you were in the same room, but it turns out you're supposed to stay within earshot of your companion as well, so Price and Cunningham should have stuck close enough to hear each other's conversations at the party. Then again, it's a story about coming to terms with being a heretic, so I suppose I can explain it away as heresy.

Oh, damn, just realised that See Where You Belong also includes a bit where Price and McKinley talk out of earshot of their companions! Mormon missionaries are so tricky to write!

(After we saw The Book of Mormon together, my mum listened to peasina's podfic of See Where You Belong. 'I enjoyed it,' she said. 'The things you write are very weird, though, aren't they? A lot of suffering.')

I was always very bad at religious studies as a kid. Turns out the key to getting me to learn about a religion is to get me invested in a character for whom faith is a big part of their life, although what I end up learning is strongly biased towards 'aspects that are relevant for fanfiction'.

My current burst of Book of Mormon fannishness seems to be dying down, but I'm grateful to it for carrying me through my bout with COVID. You've served me well, Kevin Price. Thank you for getting me through my illness, and I hope to obsess over you again; you're delightful.

Comments

[simplecoffee]

I suppose 'handcuffed together' is basically a secular version of this: being forced by extended physical proximity to get to know someone better.

It sure is! *Death Note noises*

[simplecoffee]

(I'm glad you're doing better; COVID sucks. 💛)

[rionaleonhart]

I was definitely thinking of Death Note when I wrote that, I have to admit. (And thank you!)

[wolfy_writing]

I assume the idea is to prevent debauchery, but the church has accidentally come up with the perfect recipe for weird claustrophobic same-sex romance.

Yep. That would get intense for anyone with repressed feelings.

Glad you’ve recovered from COVID!

[rionaleonhart]

I didn't know anything about companionships before I first watched The Book of Mormon (I knew very little about Mormonism at all), and I was very surprised to learn about the 'stay together at all times' rule. That's such a strange, intense dynamic to impose on your young missionaries!

Thank you!

[horselizard]

ooh, i hadn't seen See Where You Belong before! i thought it was great! lol @ your mum's critique XD

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you! I had a blast writing that one (in part, yes, because it involved so much suffering).

[necrophilia]

I got you sick and then you found religion. I feel like I've committed a grave injustice.

[rionaleonhart]

If it's any consolation, at least the Mormons will be pleased by my conversion.

[apiphile]

nd they were Mormon missionary companions' really seems like it should be a fic trope.

Oh God there's actually a gay movie (NOT porn) from the late 1990s / early 00s with a similar premise and I cannot for the life of me remember the fucking name. I remember a gay Mormon being sent off to sit in a bath of ice to get it out of his system.

The church may have realised this; the handbook Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ includes the rule 'You should sleep in the same room but not the same bed.'

Oh like people can't have intense longing from a couple of beds away, have these bastards never been in boarding school?!

A lot of suffering.

Yes Riona's mum that's what makes fiction great :D

[rionaleonhart]

Oh God there's actually a gay movie (NOT porn)

This immediately reminded me of perhaps my favourite WhatsApp message I've ever received: embarrassed to say that between my first and second viewings of the book of mormon i forgot that i had watched SO MUCH mormon themed gay porn. that. that really coloured the performance ngl.

[apiphile]

I think that would certainly have an effect on it, but I'm not sure it would necessarily be a negative one (although perhaps disappointing when the gents on stage do not exchange handjobs as part of the grand finale).

[rionaleonhart]

I also saw a couple of Mormon missionaries in the street recently, and they made me think of you …

I'm both entertained and alarmed by this. People have associated me with Final Fantasy VIII for a long time; being associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is new!

I never realised they had to be so close to each other all the time! What a fascinating set of rules.

It really is fascinating! It was so strange to glance over, see the shirts and ties and nametags, and instantly know that these people I'd never met didn't just happen to be walking together; they're mandated to stay with each other for twenty-four hours a day. It feels like such a personal thing to know about two complete strangers!

[clawdine]

You should sleep in the same room but not the same bed.

I laughed!

[rionaleonhart]

I have to wonder whether the 'not the same bed' rule existed from the start or was introduced later, when they realised they'd made a terrible mistake.