Mark/Roger: RENT

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Title: Emotion, Devotion: Connection in an Isolating Age
Author: harmonyangel
Fandom: RENT
Pairing: Mark Cohen/Roger Davis
Spoilers: The entire musical, obviously, as well as bits of the 1994 NYTW workshop version.
Email: destroythemeek@yahoo.com
Thanks: Many, many thanks to the fabulous queenitsy, poisonivory, cycnus, and better_to_burn for their betas, encouragement, and overall awesomeness, and also thanks to pocky_slash, who, due to e-mail problems, could not help out as much as she wished, but is still awesome and is to be thanked immeasurably for inspiring me to ship this pairing in the first place. (The e-mail mishaps are the unfortunate reason that this is over a week late. So sorry!)




The Mark/Roger Manifesto

THE CANON
Jonathan Larson's RENT, a modern rock musical based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, opened on Broadway in 1996 after many years in development. It won four Tonys, including Best Musical, and has since been translated into a myriad of languages for productions around the world, in addition to multiple U.S. and Canada-based tours and extended stays in San Francisco and Chicago. With over 3,700 performances, it is now the eighth-longest running Broadway show of all time, and a movie version starring most of the original cast is currently in production, to be released in November of this year.

RENT, which is almost entirely sung-through, tells the tale of eight characters in their mid-twenties living in the East Village in New York City at some unspecified time in the late 80s or early 90s. The play opens on Christmas Eve with Mark Cohen, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, and Roger Davis, his roommate and best friend, a musician and former junkie. Roger is just coming out of a year of withdrawal and depression over the suicide of his ex-girlfriend, April, and the subsequent revelation of his own infection with HIV. Other characters are soon introduced: performance artist Maureen Johnson, Mark's ex-girlfriend who dumped him a month before the play for another woman, lawyer Joanne Jefferson; Benjamin Coffin III, or Benny, a former friend and roommate of Mark and Roger who married a rich woman, bought the building they live in, and is now demanding a year's worth of uncollected rent; and Tom Collins, another HIV+ former roommate who has just returned from a failed teaching job at MIT to teach "computer age philosophy" at NYU.

Soon enough, Collins meets Angel Dumott Schunard, an AIDS-afflicted drag queen with a heart of gold, and they fall in love almost immediately. Meanwhile, downstairs neighbor Mimi Marquez, an exotic dancer and junkie who also has AIDS, meets Roger, and the two begin a tentative and often volatile relationship. The rest of the play follows the lives of these Bohemians and their break-ups, make-ups, trials, and tribulations in the year that follows, including Angel's death and Mimi's near-death experience in the finale. The first act takes place entirely on that eventful December 24th and the second act spans the time from New Year's Eve until the show's finale on the following Christmas Eve.

As I mentioned, the show went through a number of changes over time, and an audio recording of one particular version, performed in a workshop production at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1994, has been widely circulated among fans. (The transcribed libretto for that version can be found here.) Although this version (which I'll call the "NYTW" version) can't be considered "canon" officially, it does provide some interesting extra info and possible alternative interpretations of the relationship between Mark and Roger, and I'll therefore make references to it in the essay that follows, though always with a disclaimer that these particular lyrics and interpretations are not to be found in the "official" version.


THE FANDOM AND ME
A friend first introduced me to RENT in the fall of 2001, and the two discs of the cast recording didn't leave my CD player for many months. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see the stage production until the summer of 2002, and in the meantime, I needed something to fill my RENT craving. Thus, I turned to fanfiction.net, a website I'd only visited a few times previously. It was there that I found a fanfic labeled "M/R slash". Naïve 15-year-old that I was, I didn't know the definition of "slash", and I assumed that "M/R" referred to Mimi and Roger, the pairing that is the major focus of RENT's plot. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that the story was actually about a relationship between Mark and Roger- two characters who were both male and, for all intents and purposes, straight. I was boggled.

My initial reaction was much like the initial reaction of most RENTheads (as the fans are known) who learn of the existence of Mark/Roger slash. It wasn't one of disgust- the play's myriad gay characters prevent members of this fandom from being opposed to homosexuality as a concept- but one of confusion: what is the point of putting two of the only "straight" characters together in a same-sex relationship?

And yet, something made me read that fic, the title of which, unfortunately, I don't even know anymore. And it was as if, quite literally, a lightbulb went off in my head. Their relationship just made so much sense. And as I read more and more fic, it began to make more and more sense to me. Mark/Roger was my first introduction to slash, and it's because of the RENT fandom that I'm the confirmed slasher I am today. Since then I've seen the show 5 times on Broadway and once on tour and written one ficlet and a handful of drabbles, and my love for slash has spread to an infinite number of other fandoms. But my obsession with RENT has cooled in recent times. My main fandom now is the movie Newsies, and RENT, a fandom that has become ever more sparse when it comes to fic (and ever more wanky when it just comes to fans of the show itself), has consequently fallen by the wayside of my mind. However, nothing has cooled my belief in the great love between Mark and Roger, and though I don't write or even read much fic about them anymore, they will always be one of my major OTPs. My sincere hope is that this manifesto will convince some others of that love as well, and the fandom will get the jump-start it so desperately needs.



THE CHARACTERS


The Filmmaker
Mark Cohen, the central character and essentially the narrator of RENT, is the most static character in the show- a man who, according to the official RENT book, left Brown University and came to New York to make films. Although he formerly planned out his documentaries, he is now beginning to "shoot without a script", documenting the real lives of his friends as they happen. He grew up in Scarsdale, NY, with a Jewish family that includes a stereotypical nagging mother who leaves incessant, obnoxious voicemails; a father with whom he presumably has a poor relationship; and a sister named Cindy, who is married with children. The only other information we know about his past is that he was in a relationship with Maureen, a flighty, needy, unfaithful drama queen, up until a month before the start of the play, and he still hasn't quite gotten over her. The question of how long that relationship lasted, as well as the length of his friendships with Roger and the others, is up to the discretion of the fic writer.

As this is a play, and many actors (including role-originator Anthony Rapp, Doogie Howser's Neil Patrick Harris, former boy band members Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey, and current Broadway cast member Matt Caplan) have played the role, physical descriptions are superfluous, but it is notable that Mark is always seen wearing his trademark black, squarish, thick-rimmed glasses, a navy and white scarf, and a blue and maroon sweater. His consistent costume represents his static character, and the scarf, especially, tends to take on special significance of some sort in fic. He is also never seen without his trusty 35mm camera, which is used to film his documentary but also serves as a way of hiding from the world.

Personality-wise, Mark is withdrawn, lonely, walled-off, and insecure. He longs for a "community of his own", a world where he and his friends can be "an us, for once, instead of a them"- he wants "connection in an isolating age" and life and love and friendship and beauty. And at times (especially in Act 1), he can be happy and silly and true to that ideal. But most of the time he draws back from the world, hiding behind his camera so as not to be scarred, destroyed in the way that his friends are being destroyed. As Roger puts it: "'Mark has got his work.' They say 'Mark lives for his work.' And 'Mark's in love with his work.' Mark hides in his work!" When Mark counters, "From what?" Roger responds, "From facing your failure, facing your loneliness, facing the fact you live a lie. Yes, you live a lie- tell you why: You're always preaching not to be numb, when that's how you thrive. You pretend to create and observe, when you really detach from feeling alive." To which Mark replies, "Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive."

However, despite this detachment and his loneliness (Mark is the only character who has no significant other over the course of the play), Mark obviously cares about his friends, sometimes to the extent of forgetting about himself. He drops anything at a second's notice, for instance, to help Maureen with even the most trivial of problems. And he is always the one trying to keep everyone together- extolling the group as a "family" and trying his hardest to stop it all from falling apart during "Goodbye Love". But his most consistent devotion is to Roger, as we'll explore in the section that follows.


The Songwriter
Very little is known about the past of Roger Davis, the romantic lead of RENT. We know that he used to play guitar (and possibly sing) in a rock band, which the official RENT book tells us was called the "Well Hungarians," and they played at popular New York City venues like CBGBs and The Pyramid Club. He also has a mother with whom he keeps in touch somewhat, enough to send her postcards, but she only calls once during the play and seems more confused about her son's life than anything else. We also know that, at some point, Roger met a girl named April, who announced their shared AIDS diagnosis in her suicide note. (In the NYTW version, Mark comments, "He says he loved her- what he loves is to bleed.") Roger was addicted to heroin (and possibly other drugs as well), and it is assumed that April was also a junkie (her suicide was caused by an overdose in the NYTW version), but no concrete details about the length of his addiction are given. All we know is that, at the start of the play, he has been going through withdrawal for six months and has not played his guitar in a year, and it is therefore assumed that April's suicide occurred a year before the start of the play.

Unlike Mark, Roger (who has been played by role originator Adam Pascal as well as many others, including Manley Pope, Jeremy Kushnier, American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis, and current cast member Cary Shields) is not a static character. At the beginning of the play, he is bitter, cynical, depressed, and untouchable. His AIDS infection has made him defeatist (the NYTW version actually includes a thankfully-cut line in which Mark describes Roger as "Mr. Negative, 'cause he's HIV Positive"), and he has closed himself off from the world both emotionally and physically- he hasn't really left the apartment since the diagnosis. He sits and broods and thinks of the past, using sarcasm and self-pity to protect himself, all the while focusing his mind on his singular goal to write "one great song" before he dies. Unfortunately, he's facing a terrible case of writer's block and can only manage to play "Musetta's Waltz" (from, of course, La Bohème) on his guitar.

After he meets Mimi, however, the cloud of depression begins to lift, and we see different sides of Roger. He becomes more hopeful, and at times his ability to be happy and excited by life, to laugh and joke without sarcasm, shines through. At points, it seems he can almost believe in Mimi's (and the show's) mantra of "no day but today". Unfortunately, Mimi's presence also unlocks the darker sides of Roger's personality: intense jealousy, fierce anger, and an unquenchable escape reflex that takes over when his pain is too intense and it seems that those he loves will leave him. He finds, however, that he can't ever truly leave them- and he especially can't leave Mark.


THE RELATIONSHIP
A very basic fact about RENT that makes it different from most other fandoms is that it is, the upcoming movie notwithstanding, a live piece of theatre. This means that the show changes in tiny ways each time it is performed, and different actors can bring out whole new sides to the characters. As a result, Mark and Roger's relationship and the way it is viewed by the audience can be completely different from show to show, from cast to cast. The words and plot are always the same, but the delivery of the lines, and all the near-imperceptible expressions and movements and reactions that truly bring out subtext and characterization, can vary greatly. Therefore, one person could conceivably see the show and witness a Mark and Roger who display absolutely nothing more than friendly affection, and not understand the potential for slashiness at all; while another person could see two completely different actors who, through their expressions and movements and vocal inflections, make the audience believe that the two are, without a doubt, in love. For instance, at one particular show, when Mark handed Roger his coat after the song "I Should Tell You" so that he could go off with Mimi, Roger actually leaned down and kissed Mark on the forehead. This action is definitely not in the stage directions, and has not, to my knowledge, ever been repeated. But it did happen one night, and a viewer who saw the show on that night probably would have gotten a much slashier feeling from the two men than he or she would normally get.

Therefore, much of my interpretation of their relationship comes from the particular performances that I've seen and the ways in which those actors handled the relationship. I also rely on the story and lyrics itself, of course, and, to an extent, on the NYTW and fanon interpretations. But my own personal experiences with the show have definitely colored my views, and I offer that fact as a disclaimer for my following opinions.

To me, Mark and Roger work together as a couple primarily because of their absolute devotion to each other. "Emotion, Devotion" is a line from "La Vie Bohème" that's actually sung by Maureen and Collins, but I didn't choose it as the title of this manifesto just because it sounded good. Mark and Roger are devoted to each other above and beyond the call of friendship, as a simple glance at the history between them suggests. Roger, as I mentioned, has been going through depression and withdrawal, as the play begins, for the better part of a year. The dates of all other events are fuzzy, but it can be assumed that Mark and Roger have not had another roommate for quite some time. After all, Benny must have bought the building at least a year before, to be demanding a year's worth of rent, and Collins clearly must have been gone for at least a number of months to have managed to move to Massachusetts and both gain and lose a college teaching job - in "Today 4 U," it's implied that he hasn't seen Mark or Roger for 7 months. And Maureen gives no indication that she's lived with the two of them in recent times; she may have only dumped Mark the month before, but she wasn't necessarily living with him at the time, and even if she was, with all her sleeping around, she wasn't actually present all that often.

Therefore, for the past several months, if not for an entire year, Mark has been the only person to stick by Roger. He has been there through April's suicide, through the diagnosis and treatments, through the intense heroin withdrawal symptoms and, most likely, the bouts of anger that Roger is all too prone to have, with or without the catalyst of withdrawal. He has stuck by his best friend through his hardest times, putting up with so much just for his sake, and he is the only one who has done this. In "Tune Up #3", Mark reminds Roger to take his AZT and tries his damnedest to get him to come out of the house, and it's safe to assume that this isn't the first time he's done this. The line "You've got to get out of the house", when given the proper delivery, can be one of the most emotional lines shared between them, filled with all the pain of Mark's many months of futile attempts to help his friend, and the small, continued bit of hope he still has that he can succeed in truly making things better again. With all that Mark has done for Roger, it's impossible to deny that what he feels toward his friend is love. Whether that love is romantic or platonic is up for debate, but the love itself is not.

Roger's devotion, though less immediately obvious, is also strong. After all, despite the fact that he's locked himself away from the entire rest of the world for the past year, he hasn't pushed Mark away. Despite all they've obviously gone through together, and the gloom that hangs over Roger for much of the time before his relationship with Mimi, he is still able to joke and laugh with his best friend, which certainly says something about the strength of their relationship. Even when Mimi comes, the friendship ties still bind the two of them, and Roger consistently goes back to Mark's apartment when he fights with Mimi. And then, of course, there's the fact that, though Roger comes back from Santa Fe ostensibly to find Mimi, he still stays in New York when he's unable to do so. None of the other friends seem to be paying much attention to Mark and Roger at the time, as evidenced by their surprise at the appearance of Collins, Maureen, and Joanne in the finale. Having failed to find what he apparently came back for, Roger could easily find an excuse to run off to Santa Fe again, with no real ties to bind him to New York. But there is a tie- Mark- and, though it's not stated outright, it's conceivable to believe that he simply doesn't want to abandon his best friend again. And that is what I mean by devotion.

Mark and Roger also work together because they know each other, in ways no one else knows them. They have a connection- they get each other. During "What You Own", Roger says with certainty that "The filmmaker cannot see", and Mark says, with equal certainty, "And the songwriter cannot hear". Even when they are apart, on opposite sides of the country, their connection, their absolute knowledge of each other and their flaws, cannot be severed. Sometimes, though, that knowledge is painful, especially when it's dished out at each other. One of the biggest dramatic moments between Mark and Roger in the play is their argument during "Goodbye Love", the bulk of which is quoted above in Mark's character description. Roger's breakdown of Mark's pathology, however, is not the only part of the argument. Mark does his own psychoanalysis of Roger, as well:

MARK: I hear there are great restaurants out west

ROGER: Some of the best. How could she?

MARK: How could you let her go?

ROGER: You just don't know... How could we lose Angel?

MARK: Maybe you'll see why, when you stop escaping your pain
At least now if you try, Angel's death won't be in vain

ROGER: His death is in vain!

MARK: Are you insane?
There so much to care about
There's me- there's Mimi

ROGER: Mimi's got her baggage, too

MARK: So do you

ROGER: Who are you to tell me what I know, what to do?

MARK: A friend!

After Roger changes the conversation to counter with his analysis of Mark, Mark continues:

MARK: Mimi still loves Roger
Is Roger really jealous
Or afraid that Mimi's weak?

ROGER: Mimi did look pale...

MARK: Mimi's gotten thin
Mimi's running out of time
Roger's running out the door...

ROGER: No more! Oh no!
I've gotta go

MARK: Hey! For somebody who's always been let down,
Who's heading out of town?

ROGER: For someone who longs for a community of his own,
Who's with his camera, alone?

He pauses, then, the anger seeping out of him, he adds,

ROGER: I'll call
I hate the fall

Even at the height of their anger, insulting each other with the deep knowledge they've gained through years of friendship, they are able to calm down and promise to keep in touch. Their relationship is much stronger than any argument (in a way, notably, that Roger and Mimi's is not).

It is interesting to note that in the NYTW version, Mark is the one who goes on the diatribe about "hiding in his work", criticizing himself, and Roger actually defends him:

ROGER: You don't live a lie- tell you why
You never finished your film

'Cause the standards you set for yourself are too high
But the fact remains that you're the one of us
With the talent and the drive
The fact remains, Mark
You're the one to survive

Although this was changed in the final version, it's yet more evidence that Roger, as a character, is truly supposed to "get" Mark- that Mark isn't the only one who has been paying close attention. And the lines that follow, also changed in the final version, give even more credence to the closeness of their relationship:

MARK: I know
I'm afraid the burden's gonna make me crack

ROGER: If it does, just let me know- I'll come back

MARK: Why's it easier to return to a friend
Than to burn with a lover till the end?

ROGER: Not as much to lose.

After that comes Mark's "Mimi still loves Roger" part, following through to Roger's "Oh, no! I've gotta go." Then, these lines follow:

MARK: Anything you need in Santa Fe?

ROGER: I'll be fine- make your film.

MARK: Okay. Love you. Call.

ROGER: Love you too. I hate the fall.

There it is, in plain text: they love each other. Yes, it's only in the rough-draft version, and, yes, they're only canonically talking about platonic, friendship love. But it's still love.

Then, of course, there are the little actions and visual clues that imply that the relationship could be sexual, which, as I mentioned, vary from performance to performance. At their best, Mark and Roger bring out their flirty sides in the first few songs, from "Tune Up #1" through "Rent", poking each other, leaning on each other, fighting playfully over the phone (and eventually putting their heads close enough together to use the phone simultaneously), and, during "Rent", singing at each other with their faces mere inches apart. This flirtiness returns during "Today 4 U" and again during "Finale A", and it's enough to send any slash fangirl into a fit of squee. Other actions are less squee-worthy but still notable, like the tendency for Mark to stare straight at Roger during the line (shared by all of the main characters) "It was bad for me- was it bad for you?" after "Contact"- leading viewers to wonder what, exactly, could possibly have happened between them during the summer sex montage that is "Contact". Mark, more so than Roger, is usually the one to send out these clues; the pain in his expressions and line delivery when Roger hurts him, or when he watches Roger falling apart, all point to feelings that are deeper than mere friendship. This is especially evident during the aforementioned "Goodbye Love" fight, when the angriest of Rogers often push Mark so hard that he is sent flying halfway across the stage.

And who's to say the relationship couldn't become sexual, like all these little things imply? Mark and Roger do not exist in a universe in which they would have to struggle with the very idea of same-sex relationships, as is the case in so many other fandoms. They live in the East Village at the end of the 20th century, and over half of their friends are gay. These are not men who are apt to sit around bemoaning the "sinful" things they're feeling. There is, of course, room for surprise at newfound feelings or other musings, but overall a sexual relationship between Mark and Roger is not so far-fetched. They are, canonically, interested in women (though the concept of denial is always an option for slash writers to circumvent this problem, and for Mark it's a definite possibility- after all, with her hot/cold personality and neediness, Maureen, the only girl in which he is canonically interested, could be easily called a "female Roger", and thus a substitute for Mark's true affections.) But this doesn't preclude bisexuality, or any subtle variation on the Kinsey scale. These are not the type of characters who would adhere to a belief in rigid sexuality- Maureen is more than enough evidence to counter that theory. And if they truly love each other, as is obvious, is it so hard to imagine that that love could be more romantic than platonic? The play's ideas, themes, and messages are perfectly suited for this type of relationship, giving M/R shippers a great advantage over underdog shippers in other fandoms.

Another advantage of the pairing, and the fandom as a whole, is that there's so much room to explore. We get such a brief snapshot of the lives of these characters- just 525,600 minutes- and almost everything that occurred before and after the play is a complete mystery. How did Mark and Roger meet? Did they grow up together in Scarsdale, or did they meet in New York? Did they possibly have a relationship before the play, perhaps before even April? For that matter, could they possibly have a relationship within the context of the play- hookups of some sort when Roger fights with Mimi, or something that fills the long months between the spring of "Without You" and Angel's death on Halloween? And what would happen after the play? After Mimi?

As I've stated before, the major focus of RENT is the relationship between Mimi and Roger, and I will never deny the reality of that relationship. Other M/R shippers may disagree with me, and some hate Mimi with a passion, as is the norm for the feelings of slash shippers toward the female who inconveniently interrupts the slash pairing. But I am not one of those people. I do believe that Roger loves Mimi, and she deserves all the credit in the world for bringing him out into the world again, opening him up, and allowing him to find his "one song glory". Their relationship, volatile as it may be, is real and passionate, and I do believe that they love each other.

However, when your fandom is a play about AIDS, you have to be realistic. AIDS is a fatal disease, and was even more life-shortening at the time in which RENT takes place than it is now. The reality of this fact is driven home when Angel dies, and is driven home even more when Mimi has her near-death experience during the play's finale. Therefore, even though Mimi is revived, and the play ends with that joyous moment, even an optimistic view of the post-play world of these characters cannot include a "happily ever after" ending for Mimi and Roger. Mimi's AIDS is advanced, she's been living on the streets for two months, and she's been injecting drugs all along. Even though she recovers at the end of the play, it's unrealistic to expect that she'll live much longer, with all of that working against her. Mimi will die, and she'll almost certainly die before Roger. So what is Roger to do after that happens? He certainly shouldn't have to live alone for the rest of his own truncated life. So why couldn't he find comfort in the arms of the best friend who has always been there, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad? Why shouldn't he turn to the one solid constant in his life, to the man who has so obviously been devoted to him for many years- to the man he's so obviously been devoted to as well- for love?

This pairing has an infinite number of possibilities. There's the possibility for fluff- for the two of them to have adventures in the city or their apartment, or just experience the power of the play's central idea of "no day but today". They can be humorous in their banter or in the exaggeration of their personalities (like Mark's tendency to be a bit anal retentive), or they can just simply be loving. But they've also got bucket loads of angst possibilities. Unrequited love (usually on Mark's part) is a big one, especially during the Mimi period. Mark's devotion, after all, is much more evident than Roger's, and it's possible to interpret the romantic aspects of their love as one-sided. It's also possible for Roger to hurt Mark in a myriad of ways, besides simply not feeling the same way- his anger or past addictions could catch up to him, or resurface, bringing with them a whole slew of new problems, or his escape mechanism could be triggered again, leading to betrayal in the form of another flight to Santa Fe. And then, of course, there's the undeniable fact that Roger has AIDS- and will, eventually, die. With the AIDS we have the dangers that sex poses for them, and all the strain the slow, painful death of one half of a pairing can bring. With AIDS comes hospital visits, lesions, and heartbreak- but dealing with the reality of it can produce some really beautiful fiction.


THE RECCOMMENDATIONS
The major resource for RENTfic of all kinds is the Musicals/Plays section of fanfiction.net. There are a few LJ communities and Yahoo groups, but they don't hold nearly as much fic and are fairly inactive. There also used to be a small archive, called "I Support Mark and Roger's Love", but it seems to have disappeared. So ff.net is really the best option.

Unfortunately, not only is ff.net, as you probably already know, a mess of a site with no quality control, it's also particularly cruel to the RENT fandom, because it lumps it with Cats fic, Wicked fic, and the Phantom of the Opera fic that people decide they don't want to put in the category for the novel, as well as all the other random musical and play fic people choose to write. Therefore, a search for good RENTfic not only causes you to have to sift through poorly-written fic, but also the fic of at least three other major fandoms, as well as a number of smaller ones. We have petitioned ff.net to divvy up the category in the past, to no avail.

Also, as I said before, I haven't been an active part of the RENTfic community for quite some time, so most of my favorite fics tend to be the older ones. However, that's not to say that the fics I'm about to rec aren't good; in fact, many of them are truly brilliant. I just have to disclaimer my list by explaining that most of them are from 2003 or before, and to find anything more recent, you'll have to look to the bowels of fanfiction.net.

First, some general communities.

Livejournal:

below14thstreet: Exclusively for M/R slash, but fairly dead.
rent100: RENT drabble community. Not exclusively slashy, and also pretty much dead, though there have been recent attempts to revive it.
_rentfic: The main RENTfic livejournal community, it is also not exclusively slashy, and not very active, though more active than the other two.
rentslash: A brand new community for RENT slash, it literally just opened last week. Where it goes is anyone's guess, but it might be worth checking out.

Yahoo!:

Rentfic101: The major RENTfic Yahoo!group, it used to be pretty active and now seems to be mostly getting spam.
RogerxMark: The only Yahoo!group devoted exclusively to M/R, it hasn't been really active since 2002 and tends to accumulate spam. But it might be worth it to go through the old posts.

And now, onto the fic:

No list of M/R recommendations would be legit if it didn't mention Kait. She was, courageously, the first person to put M/R on ff.net, and, at that time, the only one. Few ships can be said to have one "creator", but M/R does, and that creator is Kait. She inspired me, and I know she inspired many others, to ship this pairing, and she's really a fantastic writer in addition to being a pioneer. Unfortunately for M/R fans, she's since mostly left the fandom, but the fic she left behind is truly great, and it deserves primary placement on this list. Her old fanfiction.net profile can be found here, and things written more recently can be found at this site. You'll have to sift through some Mark/Benny and possibly a few other things, but really, all her fic is worth it, and if you happen to stumble onto something else I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I'd especially like to rec The Wisdom of the Drunk, which is a crossover with Remus/Sirius from Harry Potter and is quite possibly the best crossover I've ever read, with one of the most original and fitting metaphors I've seen in fic. There's also Control, which I believe is her longest RENT story, Letting You Go Free, which is a personal favorite of mine, and a myriad of other fics. Just read her stuff. Seriously.

Some other authors to read include:

BabyCaramel: Anything But Lonely (and its sequel) was one of the first fics I read in the fandom, and it made me stick with the pairing. And her other stuff is pretty good too.

Erato227: Heart of Mine is her best work, probably, but all her fic is wonderful, even the stuff that isn't M/R. Give it a try.

linnell: Community of Their Own was the first long fic I ever read in fandom, and continues to impress me to this day. She has some other good stuff on her account as well, and is definitely worth checking out.

wmmhija: She has some M/R on her account, but the real reason I'm reccing her is for Love Alone, which is one of the most brilliant fics I've read in any fandom. It's more strong friendship than slash, and she never labels it as slash, but it is more than worth the read nonetheless, tackling the AIDS issue with a raw truth that is rarely found in fic.

firedancer: Another cool author, I'm particularly fond of Chiaroscuro.

Sofie: All her stuff is generally good, but I have a weird obsession with Same, Only Different, an odd little story that's part humorous, part sad, definitely M/R, but not technically slash. You'll have to read it to figure that one out.

Also, anything by Larissa3 or Liss1 is definitely worth reading.

Finally, I'd like to recommend two fics by Yeats that can be found on LJ: Reality and Cup O' Noodles- both awesome stories by a writer with true talent in fandoms across the board.

~*~*~*~

Mark Cohen and Roger Davis are devoted to each other to an extent that can be witnessed in few other canon friendships. They know each other, they fit with each other, and, as a romantic pairing, they are painfully beautiful. They were my original OTP, and, though fandoms may come and fandoms may go, they will always have a place in my heart. I only hope that they can find a place in yours.

Comments

[second-batgirl.livejournal.com]

In a word, WOW.

Um. Thanks for the recs. I have a feeling I'll be reading all of them. Obsessively. Heh.

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

:) Thank ye. Glad to be of service. <333

[poisonivory.livejournal.com]

AMAZING.

The pictures are fantastic, too. Hee!

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I do love the pictures, myself; unfortunately, I never saved the huge collection that used to be on the I Support Mark and Roger's Love archive, but I think I managed to find enough. <333

[bibliokat.livejournal.com]

Great essay, and I love your icon! I just tried to rent the Newsies and was astonished to find that someone other than me had it. Off to read the fics!

[zippitgood.livejournal.com]

Do you still happen to have that web address? They might be saved on the web somewhere.

[sassygirl.livejournal.com]

this was fantastic to read! It makes me want to watch the trailer again!

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the compliment!

[queenitsy.livejournal.com]

I already gave you basic thoughts on this--I think it's very well written--but what I didn't say is: this is the only thing I've ever run across that's given me any interest in seeing Rent. At all. I was seriously turned off to it by the goddamn Seasons of Love song, and then had many pyscho fangirls squeal at me about it which just made me irritated, so I've been pretty negative towards it. But this is a fabulous piece of writing which lessons my bitterness. And that's hard to do. :-P So yes, wonderful. :)

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's... really high praise. *blush* I love you a lot for the help you gave me, and I thank you so much for this comment. <3333

deleted & reposted because I'm an idiot

[cheshireempress.livejournal.com]

Yay, you discussed the NYTW lyrics to Goodbye Love! Interestingly, the canon version of that song always sounds more slashy to me than the NYTW-- I think it's because the re-write replaced their "I love you"s with the "I Should Tell You" music, which automatically associates Roger's relationship with Mark to his relationship with Mimi. (But then, I've been known to describe Goodbye Love and What You Own as "Mark and Roger break up and make up." :-D )

Also, thanks for the recs! I'm pretty sure there's some stuff in there I haven't read, so I'm headed off to do that now. Great essay!

Re: deleted & reposted because I'm an idiot

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I've never thought about the fact that the I Should Tell You music is played, but that's a really good point. I tend to prefer the canon versions of pretty much everything (because a lot of the NYTW is just baaad- "Real Estate" never fails to send me rolling on the floor with laughter), and the Goodbye Love fight is included in that list- I don't really like the idea of Mark criticizing himself, and I'm not a fan of the "why's it easier to return to a friend" part. But they say they love each other, so, you know, I had to put it in here. But, yes. I, too, prefer the canon. (And it totally is like a mini breakup-and-make-up)

Anyway, thanks for the compliments! I hope you enjoy the recs.

[wisdomeagle]

Great! I'm pretty much at this point: My initial reaction was much like the initial reaction of most RENTheads (as the fans are known) who learn of the existence of Mark/Roger slash. It wasn't one of disgust- the play's myriad of gay characters prevents members of this fandom from being opposed to homosexuality as a concept- but one of confusion: what is the point of putting two of the only "straight" characters together in a same-sex relationship? right now, but thanks for going through the canon and pointing out why it could be something more... this was a nice, well-structured essay. Thanks for writing.

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Hey, I totally understand the feeling. Like I said, this was my very first introduction to slash, and I remember laughing about the concept of M/R with a friend of mine before we were both converted. Of course, you may never really ship them, and that's understandable (even my betas don't), but I'm glad I made good enough points to convince you of the possibility of slashy undertones. Thanks for the comment!

[wearemany.livejournal.com]

thank you for this! it was a really great, thoughful, and excited (without being crazy) overview and analysis, and i appreciated the background from other versions. after seeing the preview for the film, my roommate and i were talking about how maybe that would generate some good mark/roger stories, but we had no idea if any existed already.

also, you touch on the dramatic differences seen between one performance and another, but only briefly mention the degree to which the actors affect this. i'd seen several broadway and touring shows of RENT with various casts, but it wasn't until i saw joey fatone play mark that i ever believed mark to be straight. i think that probably had more to do with the actor than the character playing at all -- joey's notoriously, um, fond of women, so i know i came in with that bias, but there was a lusty interpretation (even in "tango: maureen") that made me consider how much of my mark-is-in-love-with-roger assumption was because of anthony rapp's gay vibe.

anyway, thanks for the time spent on this!

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the compliments. :)

I think the reason I didn't really go into the differences is because I haven't seen all that many different combinations. I've seen Matt Caplan as Mark 4 out of the 6 times I've seen the show- twice opposite Manley Pope, and twice opposite Jeremy Kushnier- and I see him as a very slashy Mark, with fairly complimentary Rogers (Jeremy more so than Manley), so I've never had a problem seeing the slash potential. The other times I saw RENT were the Collins Tour (Ashton Holmes as Mark and Brian Ashton Miller as Roger) and a more recent Broadway cast (Drew Lachey as Mark and Cary Shields as Roger). I barely remember the Collins Tour boys (but they didn't convince me otherwise about the slash), and Drew and Cary were surprisingly slashy- I didn't know what to expect, but they were extrememly flirty and playful. So I mainly just included that part as a disclaimer- I've always seen the slash because of the pairings I've seen, but I know that others haven't, with other Marks and Rogers.

(Also, as I noted, I started slashing the two of them before I ever saw the show- my entire frame of reference was the OBCR. So a lot of what I think, and still think, is influenced by Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal's vocal inflections on the CD. Despite all the casts I've seen, they're still usually my mental images of Mark and Roger when I read/write slash, so that's obviously had a big effect on me that I can't quite shake.)

It's interesting that you point out how straight-acting Joey Fatone was; I never saw him, but he was the Mark in question (with Manley Pope as Roger) during the forehead-kiss that I reference (I read about it on the message boards). I can see how a "lusty" interpretation could throw a wrench into the idea, though, and that was the sort of loophole I was referencing in my disclaimer.

Anyway, as I said, since I've always gotten the slashy vibe from the combinations I've seen, I didn't feel the need to make the essay even longer with the subtle differences between them, but I can definitely see how major differences could exist.

Thanks for reading!

[chance1562.livejournal.com]

You are one of my new favorite people <g>

Exceptionally well written essay, it gave me the same "zing" feeling I get when I'm listening to RENT - which is probably the highest compliment I can give, so thank you for the essay!

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

*perks up* Archive? Oh, please do! This fandom needs a homebase that's actually active and fuctioning.

Thanks so much for the compliment; it really means a lot. I'm glad you liked it. :)

[chance1562.livejournal.com]

Will put it on my list of things to do. Now to think of an archive name...

[zippitgood.livejournal.com]

Hey, has a Mark/Roger archive been created?

I stumbled onto this while looking for fic to pair sweet Mark with cause he deserves someone and now I'm hooked on Mark/Roger. *lol*

[quack.livejournal.com]

oh man, I love you. This was so well written.

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

[morbidmuse.livejournal.com]

You did a really great job with that. I loved that you included the NYTW lyrics for Goodbye Love. The change from NYTW to the RENT we know has always interested. Even though I love the current RENT, (a lot of a lot more than the NYTW version) that section you mentioned in Goodbye Love does have a lot of relevance for this essay.

Mark and Roger's relationship and the way it is viewed by the audience can be completely different from show to show, from cast to cast.

So very true. The first time I saw RENT, (with Drew and Jeremy) I didn't see the slash. The second time I saw RENT (Drew and Colin Hanlon) I kinda saw it. On the tour this March (with Dan and Andy) I certainly saw it. They played it the most slashy I'd seen. And I look forward to seeing how slashy Matt and Cary (if I don't see an understudy) will play it this summer.

Have you read the Roger/Mark fics by "the-fraulein" on fanfiction.net? Her stories where the ones that introduced me to the idea of this shipper.

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed the essay. :)

Like I said, I definitely agree about the differences in actors. It's interesting that you saw no slashiness between Drew and Jeremy, because I definitely saw slashiness with each of them opposite other actors (Cary with Drew and Matt with Jeremy), so perhaps it was the opposite actor carrying the slashiness when I saw it, or just a difference in chemistry. (I personally loved Jeremy, and the two Jeremy/Matt shows I saw were my favorites, and definitely the slashiest.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing Matt and Cary- they're both quite good (Matt Caplan, in particular, being my all-time favorite Mark), and both, in my experience, are quite slashy.

Also, I haven't checked out that author (as I said, I haven't been active in the fandom in the past year or two), but I'll definitely do so now.

[morbidmuse.livejournal.com]

I personally loved Jeremy

*fangirl squee*

I am love Jeremy so so so much. He is the reason I got the second tickets to soon after seeing the show the first time. I knew he was leaving in a month so I got the week before he left. Sadly, he was sick and I had Colin. *pout* But Jeremy is my boyfriend. He just doesn't know it yet.

Also, do you have his CD? Because it is really good.

I definitely saw slashiness with each of them opposite other actors (Cary with Drew and Matt with Jeremy)

Hm. That is odd.

they're both quite good (Matt Caplan, in particular, being my all-time favorite Mark)

I've heard this from a lot of people. That is why I'm really hoping I don't have an understudy. But the last time I hoped I didn't have an understudy was with Jeremy and that didn't work out too well so I'm trying to pretend I don't care... I'm weird.

I heard his song "Sideways" yesterday for the first time. It is really good. I played it like 10 times yesterday. He has a good voice.

Also, I haven't checked out that author (as I said, I haven't been active in the fandom in the past year or two), but I'll definitely do so now.

I understand. But I would definitely recommend her stuff. Especially "Short Careers, Eating Disorders", (if you don't mind darker, messed up fics) which is my favorite.

[bluerosefairy.livejournal.com]

This was such an amazing and wonderful essay, and it totally brought back all the reasons I fell in love with M/R way back when. I first encountered RENT when my best friend at the time got the OBC set when it first came out. I adore Adam and Anthony (and they're still THE image of M/R I have in my head), and spent most of my free time memorizing the libretto.

Then I went up to NYC one winter and saw Manley and Matt. I thought they were pretty good, but honestly, Jai Rodriguez as Angel was the highlight of that show. I've seen it twice more here in Philly with the touring casts. Last year, the cast was terrible, and the only redeeming virtue was the Maureen (can't remember her name).

But this year, the cast was amazing and fabulous, and the Mark/Roger slash-a-thon was in full force. Andy Meeks (Mark) and Dan Rosenbaum (Roger) were all over each other, and they even managed to inject slashyness into Finale B. Right during Mark's "There is no future, there is no past", Andy looked straight at Dan, and Dan took his arm from around Tallia Brinson (Mimi) to touch his forehead to Andy's before finishing with "Thank God this moment's not the last." Awesome cast, this past one.

Anyway, you've done a great job, and thank you so so much for all the recs. I'm going to be quite busy reading them all!

[saline-joy.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! M/R and the entire Rent fandom will always hold a special place in my heart. It was my first exposure to fanfiction, and my introduction to M/R was like yours--Mark and Roger? And then I really started reading, and I fell in love. When I've seen the show live, the actors always seem to have such amazing chemistry. The characters have been through so much together, and they really seem to *know* each other. I think part of it for me is that I just want them to be happy. Together. :-)

M/R essay

[jtriskell.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your essay tremendously. I was drawn to the pairing pretty much from the start (I was already a slasher when I first was introduced to the musical ;D).

What I particularly liked was your pointing out that each stage performance is different. That's very true and it's something I feel is very important to point out. It's something you easily forget.

I thought your essay was well-rounded and gave a really good view of the characters and the pairing. Thanks for sharing.

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Procrastination is my middle name, so I haven't read this until now. But it's a wonderful essay and I love the recs (particularly Same, Only Different which made me sniffle for several reasons, all of them good). So thank you for that.

[killerbeautiful.livejournal.com]

this is *awesome*. i absolutely adore this essay, it just lays it out so simply and beautifully. and omg, if i'd seen roger kiss mark on the forehead during a show, i'd have keeled over.

please add to the rec list marksykins' amazing the ballad of mark and roger. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/marksykins/138471.html#cutid1) this fic is, in a word, perfect, and any fan of mark/roger should check it out. :D

[rabidfangirlism.livejournal.com]

This is my unrequited love icon, that was made by a roger/mimi shipper. go figure.

So I just found this now, right?

WOW. +mem.

There's a new rent100 community out there - rent_100 - I'm doing Mark/Roger, so I might fall back on this several times when I am down in the dumps - thank you so much for that.

Rent (though one of my older interests) is new as far as diving into the fandom is concerned. Though I've always been somewhat of a slasher (my first pairing being the yaoi of Duo/Heero in Gundam wing five years ago, though I haven't slashed in every pairing), I haven't slashed in this particular till I entered the lj fandom in mid-novemberish. mark/roger didn't so much sneak up on me as it did sort of dawn on my like a revelation. And although I originally shipped both Mark/Roger and Roger/Mimi, I've been turned off to Roger/Mimi almost entirely, though I have no issue with Mimi herself. I acutally rather like Mimi. I'm one of those 'They're together after Mimi dies' kind of slasher, but generally my fanfiction just seems to make her.......well, she's not there.

Anyway, I ramble. What i mean to say is that what you wrote here is really amazing, and you touch on EVERYTHING i could ever hope to think about.

oh, could I add a fic to teh rec list? Insomniac (http://www.livejournal.com/users/stage_longsama/1547.html) by stage_longsama - a bittersweet piece that I find absolutely amzing. Oh, and ballad of mark and roger, that killbeautiful recommended, is also amazing.

[(Anonymous)]

fuckingartists

[cyanwitch.livejournal.com]

Awesome manifesto. I have to admit, one of my dreams is to see the actual show on Broadway, as I've only seen the movie. This just made me want to see it even more! (Actually, one of the boys from my school got a callback for the part of Angel; he had a prior obligation, but if he ever goes for it again and makes it, I'll definately find a way to see it!)
I'll have to show this manifesto to my friend, whose reaction was exactly as you said when I mentioned it to her -- It wasn't one of disgust- the play's myriad of gay characters prevents members of this fandom from being opposed to homosexuality as a concept- but one of confusion: what is the point of putting two of the only "straight" characters together in a same-sex relationship?
This is such a well thought out manifesto, honestly. It makes me love them even more.
And I have to thank you for the recs, because I once tried to delve into the fandom, and was horrified by what I found there. (The OOC... *shudders* And the Mimi-bashing inherent in ever Mark/Roger fic that I struggled through... Even if I don't like her very much... But that's just me. And, thankfully, I can honestly say I disliked her before I even thought of Mark/Roger.)

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

cyra

[clio21000.livejournal.com]

Hey - this is kinda old, but I still had to share my appreciation for it. Good M/R is hard to find! I've been mostly reading from the rentslash LJ, but like you said of several of the communities, it's not overly active. So I will greatly enjoy your recs, I'm sure!

(Can I also just say how funny I find it that so many of us from Newsies also are RENT slash fans? Or at least enough to read the manifesto? Maybe it has something to do with Santa Fe...)

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I haven't looked at this thing for forever, and I have to cringe at how outdated it is, but I'm glad the core of it still functions.

And RENT was actually how I discovered Newsies - someone in the RENT fandom was also in Newsies fandom, and talked about it a lot on a mailing list. Santa Fe, slashiness, singing and dancing, protesting against inequality, dancing on tables - (and, if we include RENT movieverse, "writing on big chalkboards in excitement" and "Aaron Lohr and Kevin Stea") - the two fandoms are pretty inextricably connected.

[mabelablitity.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to let you know that this is really awesome and even after almost five years people are still reading this. At least I am.

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, thanks! It's always nice to know I've created a useful resource that stands the test of time! :D

[splishsplashsty.livejournal.com]

Very good! One question though, is:
"'Mark has got his work.' They say 'Mark lives for his work.' And 'Mark's in love with his work.' Mark hides in his work!" When Mark counters, "From what?" Roger responds, "From facing your failure, facing your loneliness, facing the fact you live a lie. Yes, you live a lie- tell you why: You're always preaching not to be numb, when that's how you thrive. You pretend to create and observe, when you really detach from feeling alive." To which Mark replies, "Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive."
actually in the play? (sadly, I've only seen the movie).

[harmonyangel.livejournal.com]

Yep! Everything I quoted is in the play.