#like. not gay in the m/m way but gay as in 'any intimate relationship with me will be inherently queer' kind of way
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#like. ugh. it feels like I have to try everything before I'll know anything.#like. not gay in the m/m way but gay as in 'any intimate relationship with me will be inherently queer' kind of way#and maybe that's okay. yaknow?#maybe it's okay to not fall into any of the predetermined narratives. maybe it's okay to not play any of the prerolled characters#it's a bigger pain for sure because then you have to figure out all that shit yourself. but like. idk. it's the only way I guess#yeah it's more work but if your options are either 'keep figuring it out' or 'kill yourself' it turns into a pretty simple choice#being gendered female is nice because I'm not being gendered male. maybe that's it.#being gendered female feels kind of restrictive still. like. I like being free to speak from 'male experience' without getting boxed in.#idk maybe that speaks more to the people I was hanging out with that I would feel like 'male' experience would somehow invalidate me?#ugh social constructs are so complicateddddddd. fuck#tag talk
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Do you have a list of good sex ed books to read?
BOY DO I
please bear in mind that some of these books are a little old (10+ years) by research standards now, and that even the newer ones are all flawed in some way. the thing about research on human beings, and especially research on something as nebulous and huge as sex, is that people are Always going to miss something or fail to account for every possible experience, and that's just something that we have to accept in good faith. I think all of these books have something interesting to say, but that doesn't mean any of them are the only book you'll ever need.
related to that: it's been A While since I've read some of these so sorry if anything in them has aged poorly (I don't THINK SO but like, I was not as discerning a reader when I was 19) but I am still including them as books that have been important to my personal journey as a sex educator.
additionally, a caveat that very few of these books are, like, instructional sex ed books in the sense of like "here's how the penis works, here's where the clit is, etc." those books exist and they're great but they're also not very interesting to me; my studies on sex are much more in the social aspect (shout out to my sociology degree) and the way people learn to think about sex and societal factors that shape those trends. these books reflect that. I would genuinely love to have the time to check out some 101 books to see how they fare, but alas - sex ed is not my day job and I don't have the time to dedicate to that, so it happens slowly when it happens at all. I've been meaning to read Dr. Gunter's Vagina Bible since it came out in 2019, for fucks sake.
and finally an acknowledgement that this is a fairly white list, which has as much to do with biases with academia and publishing as my own unchecked biases especially early in my academic career and the limitations of my university library.
ANYWAY here's some books about sex that have been influential/informative to me in one way or another:
The Trouble With Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life (Michael Warner, 1999)
Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences (Laura M. Carpenter, 2005)
Sex Goes to School: Girls and Sex Education Before the 1960s (Susan K. Freeman, 2008)
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (Mary Roach, 2008)
Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution (Revised Edition) (Susan Stryker, 2008)
The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women (Jessica Valenti, 2009)
Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex (Amy T. Schalet, 2011)
Rewriting the Rules: An Integrative Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships (Meg-John Barker, 2013)
The Sex Myth: The Gap Between Our Fantasies and Realities (Rachel Hills, 2015)
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Tranform Your Sex Life (Emily Nagoski, 2015)
Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men (Jane Ward, 2015)
Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education (Jonathan Zimmerman, 2015)
American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus (Lisa Wade, 2017)
Histories of the Transgender Child (Jules Gill-Peterson, 2018)
Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights (Juno Mac and Molly Smith, 2018)
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex (Angela Chen, 2020)
Pleasure in the News: African American Readership and Sexuality in the Black Press (Kim Gallon, 2020)
A Curious History of Sex (Kate Lister, 2020)
Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity (Peggy Orenstein, 2020)
Black Women, Black Love: America's War on Africa American Marriage (Dianne M. Stewart, 2020)
The Tragedy of Heterosexuality (Jane Ward, 2020)
Hurts So Good: The Science and Pleasure of Pain on Purpose (Leigh Cowart, 2021)
The Right to Sex: Feminist in the Twenty-First Century (Amia Srinivasan, 2021)
Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles (Eric C. Wat, 2021)
Superfreaks: Kink, Pleasure, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Arielle Greenberg, 2023)
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Interesting Linguistic Notes from Jun & Jun episode 4
In her phone conversation with Choi Jun, Young does not exactly call herself his "fiancé."
She uses the word 구녀로서, which roughly translates to "as your woman." 구녀 when used alone means "she/old woman," but when paired with 로서 (which means to do something as a person who holds a specific status) it transforms into the idea more along the lines of being that person's singular girl. So you'll sometimes see it translated to "as your old woman" because it's more akin to the slang way we refer to our moms and wives than it is to the way we might say "I'm your woman" to refer to ourselves as your romantic partner. It's less about the state of romantic ownership and more about the old and familiar. I don't know why the translation team chose to translate it as fiancé, unless it's possible they have access to later scripts and know something we don't. But even then, we can probably anticipate that she's not an official fiancé, but rather someone their parents expect him to marry.
My current bet is just on her being overly familiar with Choi Jun, as we saw from her speech patterns in the car ride with both Juns earlier that morning. When she realizes that she already calls Choi Jun "Jun-i Oppa" (an intimate and affectionate way to refer to an older male/brother, as spoken by a female) and she has to call Lee Jun something different, any normal Korean who wanted to breech that level of familiarity would suggest "Lee Jun Oppa" as a way to differentiate the two. But she's been raised in the US too and leaps into suggesting "Jun-i Eonni" (an intimate and familiar way to refer to an older woman/sister, as spoken by a female). Lee Jun comedically bristles at that, saying he'd rather she kept calling him "Pigeon" instead. But she doesn't care and brushes right past societal norms and even still refers to him as Eonni later in her phone conversation with Choi Jun. Choosing this is intentionally queer-coded language as well (because her Korean is otherwise so good, and she doesn't seem to be joking). It's like calling a gay man "girl," or "sister," or "queen."
Speaking of the ways others address Lee Jun, it's important to note that in the final scene Simeon repeatedly calls him 우리 이준씨, which basically translates "my Lee Jun." He's not speaking intimately, but he is claiming ownership. This is why we see Hyun Jae's bewildered and sad expression and Choi Jun's stunned and jealous expressions.
Finally, I'll share a tidbit that caused some confusion when @bengiyo watched the episode and take my comment out of the notes on Ben's post and put it here. In his breakroom conversation with Lee Jun, I think it VERY LIKELY Hyun Jae was vaguing about M/M relationships. Because Korean culture is still VERY homophobic, he was trying to feel out how accepting Lee Jun is towards diversity and possibly even invite him into a queer space. He begins by saying, "you know, people have different values depending on the environments they've lived in," and ends with "diversity is valued these days." But instead he "dug his own grave" because Lee Jun's brain immediately went to the morning's events and the confusion he feels from it all (particularly being invited to do a sexual favor for a man who then later received a kiss on the cheek from an overly familiar woman) and he basically said NO, SOME THINGS ARE TOO DIVERSE.
I expect we'll see Lee Jun try to draw more boundaries with Choi Jun, not because he's a man (he flirted back after all) and not because he's his boss (although that may play a role), but mostly because his current impression is that Choi Jun isn't serious. He thinks he flirts like this all the time because he's too American.
@absolutebl I'm tagging you again because you're a linguistic geek too!
#jun & jun the series#jun & jun#jun and jun#asian gay dramas#i love linguistics#watch all my predictions be wrong#i always feel like such a clown
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We probably won’t see it in great detail in the campaign itself, for a number of reasons (not the least of which is that this is a fade-to-black campaign that has to be Twitch-safe), but I’m just thinking about the symmetry of Laudna and Imogen and what it’s going to be like the first time they have sex (if ever, because it’s very possible for Laudna to be played as ace, which Imogen would of course respect, but just hypothetically and for no self indulgent reasons whatsoever).
They really mirror each other in such beautiful ways. They have a deeply intimate relationship built on years of comfort and trust and the safety that they find in each other. They are each other’s tether, and have the kind of emotional home in each other to have said so before they acknowledged these feelings.
These two women are absolutely reverent for each other.
They’ve been traveling together for at least two years. They went to a red light district together where they thought the tiefling girls and their tassels were pretty. Imogen canonically experiences the thoughts and feelings of the people around her, and experienced that in a red light district. We’ve known that for a year. In the negative space between the things she said about it, that was all but an admission of Imogen having experienced attraction to the female body. In Laudna’s company. During the time they spent traveling alone together. And meta-character jokes aside, Imogen has expressed pretty clearly that she finds Vex’ahlia beautiful. The woman Matilda Bradbury was chosen to represent for her similar appearance. (I mean we all knew this girl was gay.)
And these are two women who were driven from their homes by traumatic experiences with strange magic. Both of their bodies are marked with the scars of what that magic has done to them, and how that magic has chased them away from the homes they used to have. Laudna by her hanging and resurrection at the Sun Tree, Imogen by the will of some god-devouring monster imprisoned in the Red Moon. They literally have a sun and moon parallel hard coded into their character designs. They found each other on the road and found a kinship that neither of them have known from anyone else, even with the rest of the Hells, though those relationships are significant to them in other ways.
I definitely think their relationship will be healthier for the fact that they HAVE met the rest of these people. Especially for Laudna to have that rock-steady friendship with Ashton, who is such a great source of stability and mutual respect and emotional wisdom for her. Both of them have known acceptance from other people now, but the profundity of that connection they share with each other is still so deeply special, and the rest of the Hells give them that perspective. They both have the potential to trend towards unhealthy codependency, especially in their isolation, if not for these other people around to keep them from falling. The M9 were thought of as a much more chaotic neutral party than Vox Machina and their heroes-of-the-world story. But Laudna and Imogen might be two of the most neutrally-aligned characters we’ve seen so far (except Fearne). Both of them have been burned by the world, and there’s a part of each of them that would let the world burn back if that’s what it took to protect each other. Their moralities could truly fall in any direction with the right circumstances.
They would follow each other into hell as long as they were together, but it’s better that Orym is there to remind Imogen that his family died at the hands of the people she’s not sure she disagrees with. Laudna and Imogen are practically MADE for each other, and everyone they’ve met on the road since has picked up on the force of that connection, but having friends around them will make their relationship better than it would have been if they were still living alone with no one to keep the darker side of each of them in check.
They are, despite the current circumstances, so much better off having their relationship go in this direction NOW, as opposed to during their time together pre-campaign, or without so much intra-party development behind them.
But that is where it all started: when they ran away together and made home after home, protecting each other and that connection above all else, fostering this bond that they have, rooting each other to the earth with pure, unconditional acceptance.
Imogen was the first person who didn’t run away or try to chase Laudna away with pitchforks. Laudna was the first person Imogen could hear as music, a soothing presence in a world of psychic noise. And they found a quiet, private peace in each other that neither of them believed they would ever have again. They ARE each other’s home. They give each other something that neither believed they could ever have.
That connection, that intimacy, brings each of them a kind of comfort and trust that they have never known from anyone else. There’s no one else that could make either of them feel so safe with someone else’s body. One dragged back to life by magic twice, and one so flooded with power that it runs across her skin like inflamed, bruised veins. And yet there’s no judgment either of them will ever have to fear from the other. There’s such a beautiful, comfortable intimacy and safety between them.
And I really think that’s going to translate into something magical.
So many soft, reverent touches. Laudna tracing those scars, Imogen feeling that slow but full heartbeat, hearing only music. Two bodies scarred in different ways by strange magic, finding the safety and comfort of home in each other.
They just fit.
#yes all of this DID occur to me while thinking about Laudna seeing Imogen's lightning tiddies#Critical Role#laudna#imogen temult#imodna#critical role spoilers#crspoilers#cr3#bells hells#imogen x laudna#I will never forget about the Red Light District story#we knew Imogen had canonically experienced attraction to women a YEAR ago#anyway they're perfect for each other#they mirror each other so well
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My question has SPOILERS! So please look away if u don’t wanna see! Also, I’m sorry for so many questions ahhhhhhh
What is Phanuel’s feelings towards Michael? I know that Lucifer expressed feelings of jealousy over their closeness (or at least that’s how I interpreted it with Lucifer ripping Phanuels face off), but were they unfounded? The way I read Phanuel was more of a platonic friend (especially since he did tease Lucifer, that one time with Michael around— saying that Lucifer talked about Michael a LOT when he wasn’t around). But after the trauma they both went through, I do wonder if their friendship has gotten a lot more intimate since we last saw them.
Also, does Michael ever get jealous in Book 2 because of Lucifer and Baal’s ��closeness”? I imagine that Baal and Lucifer get closer in Book 2 simply due to the fact that he was kind of like… the runner-up love interest (?) in Book 1, and the fact that they would be spending a lot of time together after The Fall. (But I’m sure Lucifer is playing with Baal more than he actually cares for him).
Anyway, I’m excited to read Book 2 once it releases! And to read more about Azazel and how gender will be explored more after the creation of Woman. I love your characterizations of the angels and am so, so, so excited about how you’ll write demons :)
(PS I reread Paradise Lost for the first time after high school after I finished ABM and it was a trip)
Hello! Please dw! I am so bad at going through my inbox sometimes but I try really hard and appreciate any asks :')
SPOILERS for ABM (and a tad of A&M) under the cut
Lucifer was less jealous about their closeness and more so blaming Phanuel for Michael not joining him during the rebellion — which is unreasonable. Lucifer basically sees them together and invents this whole scenario where Michael was going to run away to Lucifer but Phanuel stopped him.
'You did this. You’re why Michael denied me. It had to be you.’ He saw it so perfectly in his mind that it had to be true.
Michael telling Phanuel that he regretted his decision, that he was going to apologize to Lucifer. Phanuel saying it was a bad idea. Michael, who would have left to find Lucifer and stood with him in the center, surrendering. This was all wrong because of Phanuel; it was his fault...
We know this didn't happen; Michael was sleeping and Phanuel was just there to comfort him. So Lucifer is being unfounded with his beliefs regardless.
But about Phanuel's relationship with Michael — I kinda hesitate to use the word platonic. Angels are very close and I think the lines between friendship and romance are incredibly blurred for them (typical gay friend group lmao). In a short (thought non-canonical) story I wrote a long time ago, I referenced that Phanuel once kissed Michael on the mouth during a celebration, which I still consider probably canon. I guess if I had to put a label to it, they would be more like queer-platonic friends. So, Phanuel and Michael don't have romantic feelings, but they are both respectively very queer and they would be comfortable doing things we might associate to be romantic (cuddling and even sharing a kiss or two).
If Part 2 never occurred, Lucifer could probably watch Phanuel and Michael cuddle and not think that much about it, except maybe pout because he wants to be in Michael's arms at the moment. (He might just squeeze in between them though; what's better than being squished between the angel you love and his nice friend?) Angels are just very queer platonic-y, really. Romance is less about actions for them and more about feeling.
And ohhhoho does Michael ever get jealous of Baal.... I'm hesitating to answer because the relationship between the 3 is hilarious to me and I don't want to give too much away. Also, "runner-up love interest" is making me laugh but it's very true I think.
I guess, if you asked Baal, he would say Michael is very jealous of him and that he loves being married to Lucifer.
If you asked Lucifer, he would say what marriage.
Michael would not reply.
Anyway!!! I'm really glad you're excited for the sequel :') I hope you enjoy it. It's very weird about gender and I'm a bit scared to see how people will react to it but ,, i hope it is good
#end game is michael x baal obviously#mine#ask#also phanuel may be aromantic but im not actually sure yet
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Since we’ve got his parents, Reinhard?
i love how you and like two anons put in reinhard for the ask game aljsldf yall already know i am an astrea blog now (affectionate). and. okay this post turned out to be far more complicated than i thought so expect an essay <3
Sexuality Headcanon: aroace OR gay + aroace spectrum. he HAS the ace flag color scheme guys!! (i think he does not know any of this about himself bc his sense of self is so fucked by the entire world weaponizing him since he was like four. GOD T^T). however i will also accept bi reinhard (bc reinhard x emilia. their parallels are fun.)
Gender Headcanon: if he doesnt got a Bit of gender going on, how come he also got the nonbinary flag color scheme?? (affectionate). i just think hes not Entirely cis okay. he probably hasnt even considered it much (bc hes repressed... bc Zero sense of self... someone pls help set him free) hes just kinda shrugged his shoulders and went "i GUESS i am a boy. do i mind? no. would i also like to Not be a boy? thatd be pretty neat too. anything goes. all of the above?? *insert thinking emote*". i simply think he is everything everywhere all at once.
A ship I have with said character: i AM fond of reinsuba!! i just like how much they foil each other (being able to die but unable to stay dead due to higher powers, subarus loving family vs reinhards mess of a family, hero expectations, both of them having their moms eyes but their dads hair and color palette, wilhelm favoring subaru over reinhard, heinkel and subaru's similarities, reinsuba both being loved by the world, the various if reinsuba dynamics that occur -)
BUT reinsuba is popular. i am here to spread my ultimate beloved reinhard ship agenda - REINHARD AND JULIUS. i made like a Long text post on them a while back but okay im INSANE over their dynamic fr. theres so much potential there. their dynamic is so complicated, and theres like such an Unevenness to their relationship from the get go because reinhard and julius dont even have the same STORY in line when it comes to how they even met each other?? like reinhard thinks he met julius when he (reinhard) was 14 and they were just knights in training.
JULIUS HOWEVER remembers that he was ten when he learned of reinhard (who was eight at the time) and reinhard singlehandedly crushed julius's knighthood dreams because julius will NEVER measure up to reinhard's level. and you can see it in the way he talks about reinhard when reinhard isnt there - especially in his conversations with subaru about reinhard in arc 5 and 6. theres a fondness there, because julius really does care about reinhard, but theres So Much distance. reinhard has always been above julius - in power levels, but also you get the sense that they are just Not Close. theyre friends, but theyre not Super Intimate, though it feels like julius kind of Aches to be at least a little closer, u know? bc julius doesnt feel like theyre equals. but it feels like to reinhard, hes just kinda head empty and he Already thinks he and julius are equals - reinhard might even be a little jealous about julius and joshuas relationship because reinhard is oblivious and doesnt know ANY of the details. reinhard just sees julius and joshua and goes oh theyre good brothers <3 its good they have each other.
AND its like.... reinhard x julius would be like that kind of childhood friend that you end up pining for, but for Multiple Reasons (bc reinjuli are both extremely Repressed with their own Traumas, julius doesnt feel like he'll ever be equal to reinhard perhaps, reinhard having such a loose sense of self probably. bc hes been taught to only think of himself through what he can do for other people) it never works out. neither party confesses to the other. neither of them get any closer than Just surface level friends that just pine from a distance. and this is further destroyed by the fact that 1. the fact that reinhard considers subaru a best friend when they REALLY have not talked that much and then 2. subaru being closer with julius while subarus friendship with reinhard isnt so intimate and then 3. subaru and julius, after julius's name gets erased, thinks that reinhard, AKA the sword saint, would be the person with the greatest chance of remembering julius, right?
and then reinhard doesnt remember julius at all. it just. URHG. there is so much tragedy to reinhard and julius's relationship. and i really do think that its possible reinhard, just as julius has, may have felt a tiny bit of jealousy towards julius - on the surface, it looks like julius has/had it all. a younger brother that seemingly adores him, and previously, julius had his two parents before they died, and julius had his uncle. julius is able to be a knight with a little less of the restraints and expectations that reinhard has. julius is able to be Normal but still be a knight...
oh and also. previously mentioned reinhard x emilia (foils bc. family drama given the sirius=fortuna theory and petelgeuse... being doormats... dehumanization, except emilia is in the shadow of satella and therefore Hated by many while reinhard is the Hero and thats all he'll ever be... struggling with doing things on their own in the sense that they Are used to doing what theyre told or expected to do a lot bc of others speaking over them? etc). reinhard/emilia/subaru is great too. yes. good stuff. they can fit so much foils and trauma and power dynamics between all three of them.
A BROTP I have with said character: reinhard and felt ALL the way... which i know other people have mentioned pfft but its true. theyre great. i will mention reinhard and felix also though!!!! aaa i just think reinhard and felix and julius forming a little trio is cute tho they do love each other <33 and reinhard is. such a doormat. like he folds like a paper towel :((( bc of Psychological Trauma. and bc hes a poor little meow meow. MEANWHILE felix is definitely more honest and absolutely will call out on any bullshit. reinhard is softer and more strained while felix Is Not. i like the balance they have. and i DO like to think felix seethes at least a little bit inside seeing wilhelm everyday. no way felix isnt at least a tiny bit defensive, given wilhelms prior treatment of reinhard and also wilhelm fighting AGAINST DEMIHUMANS IN THE DEMIHUMAN WAR.....
A NOTP I have with said character: PLEASE not reinhard x felt. PLEASE. she is like fifteen and he is like twenty T^TTT pls. they are SIBLINGS. she is his new little sister!!!
A random headcanon: ive done a few doodles of this before but - reinhard mustve been a little unhinged as a kid. i mean in the sense that Before Shit Hit The Fan, reinhard was just your average little kid, not traumatized Yet, right? raising a Normal kid that doesnt have superpowers is tough. AND THEN YOU HAVE REINHARD. mr. "i can get any divine protection ever the moment i specifically need it". im talking like - wild shit mustve happened. and it DID, because *insert the entire once upon a time in lugunica side story here*. but i also mean weird things like little baby reinhard mysteriously ending up on the mansion rooftop. reinhard tugging on his dads cloak and going "papa pls look at what i drew :D" - which is normal little kid stuff until he shows his paper and WOAH WHAT THE FUCK A HYPERREALISTIC DRAWING IN CRAYON?? YOURE LIKE THREE YEARS OLD??? or reinhard just climbing onto chandeliers hanging from a very high ceiling. or reinhard trying to play tag and then u fucking blink once and suddenly hes run like an entire mile away with no issue. you gift him a stuffed animal and he accidentally hugs it too hard and cotton explodes everywhere. that sort of thing. giving a child superpowers is a recipe for disaster and theyre all lucky reinhard was a very timid and sweet kid.
General Opinion over said character:
he is the poorest little meow meow. he is so kind and sweet despite his whole upbringing and the fact that people keep trying to make him into a tool to use. his monster complex makes me sad :((( he deserves the world and the world loves him but he is So So Alone because of the world's love. he needs a hug :((( i hope he gets ALL the development... ALL the happiness eventually.... and ALSO i am hyped for when we finally get reinhards POV in the story!!! you ALWAYS get the sense that hes untouchable while simultaneously being Human and im so sad about all the dehumanization hes faced and it is just so sad about how so many of the things he says is like a cry for help. and there Is No Helping Him Atm bc the kingdom has him in a vice grip. and hes still so loyal to his family, who absolutely hate him. and hes expected to have kids - hes the same age as his fucking frozen in time mom now - to pass on the sword saint dp but like he must be afraid of fucking up his kids too :(( of having to pass down that power and put the same pressure he faced On His Kids Now :((((((( i just wish him the best!!! but let me just *squeezes him like a chew toy first*
#TY FOR THIS ASK GUYS i did not expect this amount of words for this post but i really should have bc reinhard is my blorbo. cries.#rezero#ask#reinhard van astrea
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10 Best Ship Pairings in the New Pokemon Game
Here's ten pairings of named NPCs in Pokemon Scarlet / Violet, with some prompts and headcanons on what might make a good story for each! This post is rated M (but like, a softer, milder M) and will have some minor spoilers. No one is being shipped with a pokemon and there are no adult/minor relationships on this list (I think? It's hard to know some peoples' ages.)
Eri / Carmen - These two are obviously very close. Carmen is the only one who can talk Eri down and yet is also willing to put her body inbetween danger and her leader. It's adorable! They seem to be in the 16-18 range but I can see them getting married and running a business together and raising a whole family of baby Riolu. It might not be all sunshine and rainbows though--they do have a fraught backstory which would be interesting to explore.
Arven / Katy - They share a real passion for food! Katy appears to be a couple years older, which is fine, because Arven clearly needs a bit of mothering to be his best self. With Mabostiff in their supporting cast, these two cooking anime protags could share a fluffy romance that would be a delight to read about.
Raifort / Saguaro - He gets pegged. Ok, I'll expand on that. These are, like Barbie and Ken, two people who are so gender conforming that they tumble right over the bar into queer camp. Saguaro talks about struggling with the performativity of his masculinity, and I can see him wanting to experiment with a (incredibly gorgeous) strong woman like Raifort. She's very in control of her classroom, isn't she? Now, the way people act outside the bedroom is not necessarily indicative of the way they act in intimate moments. However, consider: he gets pegged. Argument made.
Geeta / Nemona - Big "notice me sempai" vibes between these two. Nemona is clearly at the end of her education, probably around 17-18 years old, and Geeta's face and frame puts her in her twenties--though her butch confidence and sharp fashion sense maybe makes her seem older. At any rate, the tension is there! A real power couple.
Mela / Iono - A crack ship in that they don't interact in canon, however, these two would be absolutely perfect for each other. Mela's snarky attitude would interact perfectly with Iono's cheerful personna and SPARK. They share off-the wall fashion styles and high energy combat styles, each prefering to be in charge of their own little realm. The fights would be epic. The make-ups would sizzle.
Clavell / Rika - I know what you're thinking. "Rika is clearly a butch lesbian." You are correct. This isn't about attraction and it certainly isn't about love or romance. It's about two people in positions of authority who clearly enjoy power and structure. It's about mind games and taking on different roles. It's dark and it's cruel and no one needs to know (except me. I need to know everything.)
Tulip / Dendra - Dendra lost a bet and now has to do whatever Tulip wants. This is classic fanfic trope territory. Please, I beg you.
Penny / Cassiopeia - Without getting too much into story spoilers, there is potential for something intricate and dark in this pairing, a sort of psychological exploration. Penny is always on her own and she needs someone who understands her. She can be nervous where Cassiopeia is decisive. And they have a lot in common. There's potential for love, hate, angst, and maybe even peace. Someday.
Hassel / Brassius - Two high drama art-gays who get overly emotional about EVERYTHING. If you haven't been through all the classes yet, I suggest doing so--these two have a passionate friendship and are practically proclaiming love in the scene they share. They inspire and aggravate each other. It's beautiful.
Jacq / Grusha - They don't have a ton in common except for being around the same age, being successful, and being underexplored in the story. I suspect Jacq is the one who gives you the Shiny Charm (not there yet, but I'm guessing) and I can see Grusha being interested in that. And I like the snowy aesthetic. If I was writing it, it'd be set at Christmas. <3
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Fic Rec Friday 7/21/2023
Title: the taste of domesticity
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Relationship: Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright
Characters: Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth, Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright
Additional Tags: First Kiss, Making Out, Love Confessions, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Getting Together, Seven Year Gap (Gyakuten Saiban), Not Beta Read, basically an alt universe of more than just a dream, this time something completely the same as usual, me and the basal need to write two lawyers making out with each other
Summary: For a wonderful, bewildering moment, Phoenix realizes that the other man stayed up waiting for him to get home.
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Y’all ready for some tooth-rottingly fluffy gay lawyers? Even if you say yes, I don’t think you are. Not this fluffy anyway.
Simple. That’s the easiest way to describe this fic. Simple and sweet. Practically fluff without plot. Just Phoenix and Miles being cute and domestic. It’s kinda in the title, lol. Their interactions, man. So intimate it hurts. The emotion, the LOVE, is palpable, even before they say the actual words.
It feels a lot longer than it actually is, but it still moves at a brisk pace. Which seems like it should be more of an oxymoron. Every time I reread it, I’m surprised by how fast it ends. And I wish I could keep reading it. There are some lines in this story that just cut me right to the heart. Like a punch to the gut, but in a good way? I don’t know if I can explain it any better than that. Sometimes you read a fic… and you FEEL it.
I get all the feels from this one.
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Next Week: I dunno about you, but I’m ready for some more Steddie, lol. Hmm…
How about a Modern College AU? A slow burn featuring a smitten-as-hell Eddie, self-assured Steve, their Ronance besties, some cute romance, and gooooooood smut.
That’s the stuff.
Bis bald!
#fic rec Friday#ace attorney#narumitsu#wrightworth#writer: Wrightworth_Anonymous#domestic fluff#so fucking sweet#my teeth hurt#lol#these two#forever in my heart#❤️
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(This is another post but they're both versatile about topping and bottoming in my brain, okay? Okay. But you do you.)
oh lol no i completely agree with you, that's why i put "bottom" in quotes. i just mean, a lot of people in fandom have very old fashioned views about same sex relationships, and one of the most common is that gay couples are just remakes of straight ones - with a "man" (top) and a "woman (bottom) - and therefore q, being the skinny one, is the woman which means he's the bottom, which means he must be short too. it's like an ourosborus of homophobic stereotypes. and so we end up with 4876847684 fics where q is now tiny just because people want to write him getting railed by a great big hulking manly bond.
We're definitely on the same page. Sorry, my little "you do you" line was aimed at the more general "you" 😊
So, obviously Bottom!Q and Top!Bond isn't a homophobic take just because it exists (I know that's not at all what you're saying anon, but I wanted to clarify in case there are any anons ready to jump into my inbox and accuse me of having that opinion). The specific type of writing and characterisation that gets padded around Bottom!Q and Top!Bond, though? It can absolutely be indicative of persistent stereotypes. Sometimes I don't think it's getting all that much better as time goes on, either. Even years after people stopped expliclty warning for M/M in their fics like it was something gross (RIP LJ and slash warnings and *lemon starts here* line breaks), I feel like reading through fandom slang often feels like a game of Wait is This a Joke, A Reclaimed Slur, or is it Actually Homophobia? Obviously it's also a problem IRL. People see a skinny gay man and immediately think "bottom" which is tragic.
I see evidence of it all the time in fic comments and tumblr tags where Q is described as either cute or adorable, and Bond is described as the hottest, most irresistible, most jacked man in the world. And it's not just Q's characterisation that suffers! If fic writers only see Bond and Q as those things it removes a lot of their agency as characters to act in really interesting and unexpected ways.
All this isn't to say people can't have their preferences, but as is the case in the wider world of dating and romance, preferences don't exist in a vacuum. When you see these assumptions over and over again, you start to see a pattern and it's clear what's driving the thinking behind it (which is, to be clear, centuries of cultural and social conditioning around gendered constructs and homophobia).
Anyway, I happen to think Q's really hot, and would occasionally be quite domineering if he was in the right frame of mind. He can be that way from the top or the bottom, IMO. And there's space for him getting railed too. But even that doesn't have to be written just one way. I often wish it was written with a lot more bantering/bickering.
There's a wider point to be made here about sex in fic often not feeling anything like sex in real life, which is messy and intimate and and (if it's good sex), starts with wanting to feel good, and not with implicit assumptions about who's doing what. Because we're all WAY more complex as individuals than media ever reflects us to be, and put two or more complex people in a room together to have sex? If you're doing it right, it's not going to feel like rote stereotyping. I sometimes wish both fic writers and romance writers had a better understanding of that.
Okay I feel the need to clarify if you've got this far and your opinions are different from mine and anon's, that's okay, we can all disagree. You can still want to see Q get railed, I promise.
Thanks for the ask, Anon! ❤️
#also i have 1000 thoughts on q's canon personality and traits#all of which i LOVE#but some of them go against the grain of queer-coded characters we're used to being exposed to#and i think that makes people uncomfortable#but being gay/bi/queer doesn't involve a fucking template#sometimes you like rugby and engineering and opera and weird little hairless cats and you have a terrible fashion sense#and you still want to suck dick baby!#ask box#unpopular opinions#ugh i've started Discourse haven't i?#00q
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What's the instant hit ship that prompted your post and do you hate it?
im spoilering all the ship names so I don't show up in any of their tags but heed my warning for some (polite) criticism
hrmm ok I don't really hate it but I just cannot get into cyn*nari. ships that are created before we even meet a character tend to not land for me cause I dont really care about the character yet and I'm the type who likes to observe and psychoanalyze before I mash my metaphorical barbie doll's faces together.
I do kinda hate y*eyato tho cause when it cropped up it seemed people were using it to intentionally piss off eim*ko fans. which like I dont even have a problem with m/f yae it just seemed weirdly targeted the way some people were talking abt it. also again- we hadn't met ayato at that point. now it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth cuz of the drama.
ch*lumi is another one I really dislike but that's more into why I dislike a lot of m/f ships. I feel like there's an assumption that you can just put a man and woman next to each other and itll imply romance and it makes for very very lazy development. (that's like a big problem in shounen action I've noticed cause like obviously the romance isn't the focus but damn dude if you can develop an emotionally intimate relationship between 2 of the main guys at least give us something between who we're supposed to believe is in love.) also the fanworks I've seen for it seem.. overwhelmingly cishet.
even with my ships that are already gay I'm usually playing 4d interdimensional chess with their gender and whatnot, mostly cause I find my own gender to be something complex that I'm constantly exploring. so my assorted headcanons give me a playground to explore gender expression in a way that mirrors and contrasts to mine.
I think it can be very present when a m/f ship is queer. I've written my own m/f relationships that are palpably queer. Even if both parties are cis. Most ch*lumi content I've seen though? It's not that. which is really a shame cause even though I'm not really a traveler ship person and I really like childe and lumine as a platonic duo and I think I might like them as a ship if people made them gay as fuck. I'm more attached to other ships tho so I don't really care to get any sort of investment in that.
I can also tell when queer content is written by straight people sometimes which is just as bad lmfao. not saying straight people cant write gay romance, in fact I know many people find learn about their sexuality through writing so I fully endorse it, but you can usually tell when it's written by someone who is straight in a "I am conceptually okay with gay people but I have done nothing to unpack my beliefs that have occurred as a result of being raised in a cisheteronormative society" way. gay people are also fully capable of writing and thinking like this though so more literally I mean straight in like, a cultural/ideological way. if that makes any sense. Straight™
also definitely have seen the same thing in gender fics but I try not to be too judgemental cause like. I know half of the time their egg isn't cracked yet and they'll figure it out in a year or two. I've read several gender fics that start with the author saying "I'm not trans I just relate to their experiences" and lo and behold pronoun change in bio so like. yeah. let the chick hatch on it's own and all that.
I also dislike je*nluc for the same "people write them too cishet to have any appeal to me" reasons but also I personally headcanon diluc as gay so there's that.
also dont like b*nnett/f*schl/r*zor or any variations cuz I have my silly little siblings razor and fischl hc and then just. idk either of them with bennett doesn't really spark anything in me and it's one of those "I like them as friends so struggling to find platonic content of them has made me mildly annoyed" type deals.
no judgement to anyone who likes any of these ships of course! I think they're all perfectly fine even if they don't resonate with me on a personal level :^] except people who're into y*eyato for spite that's weird <3
I kinda got off track with that but <3 yeah
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IGNORE IF I JUST UNFOLLOWED-REFOLLOWED BY ACCIDENT. SORRY BOUT THAT I CLICKED THE WRONG BUTTON.
Anyways. For the fanfic ask:
2, 5, 8, and 24? :]
Lmaoooooo don't worry about it!!
2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc.?
I don't plan on participating in anything simply because I'm only starting to get out of a major burn out, but I'm not opposed to it either! It could be fun!!
5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?
Ooh!!! I think the first thing I'll post is this Claudeleth sparring session I've been editing this past week, but have been hoarding it since September and it's a rewrite of something I wrote in 2019 for some OCs! My best friend dared me to rewrite it now that my writing has improved quite a bit since then, and it just was fitting for Claudeleth
Here's a snippet!
“Not bad, Teach, but,” Claude grins as he wipes away beads of sweat that drip from his forehead, “is that really all you got? I thought you said you weren’t going easy on me, make me work for that victory. Unless that really was your best shot and you’ve lost your edge, Ms Renown Merc.”
Byleth narrows her eyes, sucking in a heaving breath. The boy had gotten stronger since the last time they had sparred; maybe such is the effect of his becoming a man behind her back. He’s as cunning as ever, but there’s more to him now. Now, he seems stronger, more calculating, less predictable. He seems steadier on his feet; it’s not as easy to knock him back as it had once been. It’s not as easy to pin him down and claim victory.
8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you've never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?
I can't think of anything super concrete, but I've been thinking about writing sex scenes a lot more recently. I used to be super scared of writing (and God forbid posting) smut but I posted my first rated M fic last week! And I think I'd like to write more sex scenes in the future! It's a dynamic in relationships I'd like to explore and also it'll push me to develop my own way of writing it! Because I know I will never be extremely explicit, but I can still make those intimate scenes beautiful 💛 and Claudeleth is a ship I don't feel weird about the prospect of having sex, sooooo
24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as "that author who..."
Oh man, that's a really good question. For anyone who reads my fe3h stuff, id like to be that author who makes messes beautiful. Because that's how I've been portraying Claudeleth: a beautiful mess
I wanna write more renga stuff this year as well, and I'd like to be that author who writes Langa as unapologetically gay, confused, and Canadian. Or that author who portrays (gender) queerness in a way that will bring tears to their audience
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ok ykno what I think the general online atmosphere re: Attraction To Men is very horrible & stunting. I've realized recently that I probably do have some internalized biphobia that was a big motivator for why I identified with the word gay despite not Really having a gender preference. & yea I still identify with gay but also maybe I kinda identify with bi too. Bc my gender is fluid and it really just depends on the day, but overall I am potentially attracted to men too and that doesn't take away from my non-straight identity, & it's not Unfortunate or anything either.
Yes, I'm scared of men I don't know. I'm fucking Terrified of them. But men are still just human fucking people, with as much potential for good as anyone else. The masses of people who are all like "eww who even likes men lol" or ppl feeling ashamed for liking men, like. What's the fucking point? You're making trans men feel awful, you're making gay men feel awful, & hell even cis straight men don't deserve to be put down all the time simply for being men.
So sick of all those people who Genuinely think that's okay. Like lmao get the fuck out of here.
#speculation nation#my own identity is smth im still figuring out but im working on like. not feeling bad or guilty about being attracted to men#which WHAT a reversal of the usual narrative lmfao. i was somehow lucky enough to not end up with internalized homohobia#bc no one rly talked about it when i was growing up. never really registered homosexuality existed until i was a freshman in high school#& then shortly after i realized i was into girls lol#and then i joined tumblr and ive been around that 'eww men' mentality. also frankly an anti-straight mentality.#which yes ive long been over that Straight Shit. but ppl still act so allergic to any kind of m/f pair Regardless of how else#they might be part of the community. re: trans or bi or whatever else#it made me feel ashamed of my potential attraction to men. to the point where when someone i was dating realized they were a trans dude#i let the relationship fizzle and die instead of adapting to it. bc i didnt want to be with a guy.#i still dont rly wanna date cishet guys bc theyre just. kind of Bleh in a way i dont want romantically or otherwise#that's just personal taste. hard to feel personally understood in an intimate way with them#but trans men or bi men r like. Wonderful.#aka i dont like to date anyone who's not lgbt in some way. i think that's a better way to look at it.#girls i date r automatically not straight bc i very much look like a girl lol. guys could be cis and straight tho n im not interested in it#BUT yeah. ive been more open about my feelings re: guys on here bc im working to accept that part of myself#yes i have a girlfriend. no this is not an attempt for actual Application of the attraction. i just want to embrace all of my identity#the identity still exists even if im dating someone. that's how the bi stuff works lol#i still like gay as a descriptor bc it feels like a catch all to me. but also maybe i could be bi too#this is weird gender stuff talking dont come at me for equating the two things lol i just dont know what my gender is doing#anyways peace out it's 4:20 am and i need to get tbe FUCK to sleep
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Lesbian Dating Advice
Fem Jaune
Coco: I… I just don’t get it, Jea… I mean, she has to know I’m interested in her! Why can’t she see it?! Why can’t I hop my bunny already?! Please I need some help, I’m begging you!
Jeanne: Why did you come to me for dating advice? I’m not dating anyone, nor am I gay. Why me?
Coco: Because you’re the only girl friend I have, who else am I supposed to turn to? I mean, this is about my sweet little Bun-Bun, I can’t turn to her now, can I?
Jeanne: You think I’m your friend?
Coco: Hell yeah you are sister! We are ladies of fashion, and high class taste! There is no one I rather have by my side to help me judge fashion than you.
Jeanne: Aww… Thank you, Coco, that means allot to me too. Especially going shopping with you. None of my team knows how to coordinate anything, but their combat attire, bunch of slobs the lot of them!
Coco: Preach sister, preach!
Jeanne: As for you, and Vel. Well… I might know a reason, or two why you have been having problems.
Coco: Really? Tell me, tell me!
Jeanne: Its your personalities. They… clash.
Coco: What?! No they don’t, we get around famously, everyone knows that!
Jeanne: True, but while you are boisterous, and flamboyant, Vel tends to be more subdued, and reserved.
Coco: I don’t get it?
Jeanne: You project a presence that is louder than life, Coco. Vel may be intimated by it, so that’s why she’s afraid to, get the hint as it were. To put it simple: You’re scaring her away, Coco.
Coco: I’m scaring away, Velvet…?
Jeanne: Not intentionally, but passively.
Coco: My presence is too much for her to handle at times, so she’s having a harder time to break out of her shell… But, we are making such good progress on getting her to stop being so shy around others though.
Jeanne: Well, its one thing to say hello to a stranger, its another thing entirely to say I love you to your crush.
Coco: Oh… that makes sense… So what should I do then?
Jeanne: I think you just need to settle down around, Velvet. Just turn things down a couple of notches so she can feel more relaxed around you, and hopefully she’ll feel more comfortable around you to say she loves you. Or, you can do that, and ask her yourself. Of which, why haven’t you?
Coco: Ahh well… As much as I would love to tell her how I feel… for the good of any potential relationship, Velvet needs to be the one to tell me. So she has the better chance to grow as a person.
Jeanne: Hmm… That does sound like something she would need to do to grow as a person.
Coco: Plus, I bet it would be really cute to see! Velvet would be such a stuttering mess, with a deep blush as she hides behind her fluffy rabbit ears! Oh it would be so cute!
Jeanne: Pfft, now that’s something I need to see.
Coco: So what about you? Anyone catch your eyes lately?
Jeanne: Me, no… no one.
Coco: Why is that?
Jeanne: I’ve just been too focused on school that I just haven’t been focusing on dating anyone. Maybe, in my second year when I’ve settled down more in my schooling I could do it, but not now, not yet…
Coco: Fair… Felt the same way myself. I did hook up for the one night fling every now, and then to blow off some steam. But, nothing serious like I’m hoping to have with my little Bun-Bun.
Jeanne: But, would that have happened if you didn’t meet, Velvet though?
Coco: Maybe… I mean, if I didn’t have my little bunny, I may have fallen for this cute little blonde fashion model I met~!
Jeanne: Wait, are you talking about me?
Coco: Hell yeah I am, love~!
Jeanne: M-M-Me?! Why me?!
Coco: I love being around you, Angel~! I just thought the two of us, dating, imagine the fun we could have~!
Jeanne: I don’t know… I’ve always seen you as the beautiful older sister I’ve never had, but as my girlfriend?
Coco: Aww… Thanks little, Sis~!
Jeanne: There is one way we could test if we could be a thing…
Coco: What, we go on a date then? Hell, I’d be down for tha… Mph?!
Jeanne: Mmm… Mwah!
Coco: W-W-What the fuck…?!
Jeanne: Hmm… The kiss felt nice, but I didn’t feel any, ‘spark’ as they say… What did you think, Coco?
Coco: I… Uhhh…?!
Jeanne: Didn’t feel it either? Oh well, if it’s not meant to be, then its not meant to be… I bet it would have been fun though… Hm? Oh no… Sorry, Coco I’ve got to go, Nora is being… Nora. I’ll take to you later, bye~!
Coco: …
Coco: T-The Angel of Beacon k-kissed me…? I got kissed by an Angel?!
Coco: Oh no… Do I have a thing for, Jeanne?! I thought I was just joking! Oh gods?! What do I do now?!
Coco: …
Coco: Hold on, who says I can’t have just the one? Who says a badass girl like me, can’t have both!
Coco: Hehe~! Ohh, Mama likey~!
#rwby#jaune arc#coco adel#velvet scarlatina#jaune x coco#coco x Jaune#velvet x coco#coco x velvet#Rwby crosshairs#nora valkyrie#fem jaune
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Hi! Thank you for running this blog 🥰 do you have any recommendations for human AUs where Aziraphale and Crowley are parents?
Hello. We have various parental Aziraphale and Crowley fics on our #kid fic tag, so be sure to check those out. And here are some human AU parental fics...
It Was Always You by mltrefry (T)
A chance encounter during one of the worst times of Ezra Fell’s life reunites him with his once best friend and the one who got away. Though, that would imply he ever had him in the first place.
Anthony Crowley and his son, Warlock, relocate to the quieter city of Tadfield from that of London. In the process, manages to find again that one person who always made him feel less alone, the one person he was pretty sure he was never going to speak to again.
But the road to true love never did run smooth (something that’s been true from their very beginning). Despite the easy way they fall back into each other, their lives don't seem to follow suit, and if it's not one challenge its another. But despite everything they find themselves facing down, the ten years without each other taught them one thing: they’re better together than they are apart.
I Hear You're in Need of a Nanny emptymasks (G)
Aziraphale was trying his best to raise his son on his own, but at a certain point it was difficult to be running the bookshop while also keeping his eyes on Oscar all day. Crowley liked working with children, and children liked him, they’ve just always been drawn to him. A lot of people prefer hiring a female nanny to a male one, and as much as he thinks it’s a little ridiculous, it works out fine for him. He was happy to identify and present as female and tap into his maternal instincts. He’d been wanting to take a job closer to his apartment, but there’s not that many people wanting to hire a nanny in Soho; then he comes across a job advertisement in the local newspaper posted by a Mr. A. Z. Princer. When he meets Oscar, he finds a little girl tired of being told by the world that she's a boy.
Single Parent! Aziraphale & Nanny! Crowley, Human AU
A Modern Way Of Living With The Truth by CloseToSomethingReal (T)
Ezra Fell is just as stunned as Adam Young when he's granted custody of the boy after the untimely demise of his parents. Though their relationship is rocky, they eventually settle in a bookshop in London and try to live a normal life.
Across the road is a florist. Ezra thought him to be just another neighbour until he ran across the road, yelling that Adam had gotten into an altercation his son at school.
Crowley has been running "Fleurish Flowers" for the last nine years, exactly as long as he'd had Warlock, although those two were not connected. All was relatively normal in his life until the odd bookshop moved in across the street.
An odd bookshop, with an even more odd, yet somehow fascinating, owner.
Give me a title, I’ll give you my heart by NohaIjiachi (T)
Crowley blinked, and the man blinked back. The man currently holding a slipping, squirming Dog, a drenched, light blue shirt sticking to his chest and soft middle, and silver-y blond curls dripping all over the place above a pair of the most steely-azure eyes Crowley had ever seen.
Dog seemed to recognize him, because he stopped squirming and started wagging his tail, that went thump-thump-thump against the increasingly flustered looking man’s upper arm.
“Hey, Mr. Crowley!” Adam greeted cheerily, popping from behind the man and leaning against the door frame with a cheeky hand-wave. “We were just giving Dog a bath. What’s up?”
“Ngk,” Crowley replied, his brain currently in the clutches of what Crowley intimately called his ‘Useless-Pan-lizard-brain’.
Barriers, and the Breaking Thereof by Cardinal_Daughter (M)
Ezra Fell has long been comfortable in his loneliness. He’s content to simply run the Soho Public Library and otherwise keep to himself. However, when a handsome stranger bursts in one evening with a baby, frantic and in need of help, Ezra finds those carefully constructed barriers he’s long maintained begin to crack.
Perhaps it’s time to let them fall.
is he single or is he just gay by kermitwashingtonlincon (T)
Crowley, age twenty-three, works at a daycare with his friend Anathema because he just really loves kids, even if he's not great with their parents. Well, he might not mind the father of Adam Fell.
- Mod D
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One thing that's interesting to me about the VC fandom is how people approach the canon take on vampiric sexuality (i.e. that it doesn't really exist). A lot of people retcon the canon approach or find some other way of incorporating actual sex. Do you think an explicit depiction of sexuality adds to the canon or detracts from it? Should we let them bone down or not??
I have quite a bit to say about this because I've thought about it a lot when it comes to my own writing, so thank you for asking!
A brief preface: I debated for a long time whether or not I wanted to include explicit sex scenes in my VC fic. I was very hesitant because, like I've mentioned, I'm a lesbian, so all of this is theoretical for me. I can't really gauge whether what I'm writing would be appealing to someone attracted to men, so I was extremely worried that it would be awkwardly written or deeply unsexy.
But I ended up including it and I did hella research in an effort to do it well (and hopefully I succeeded), so to answer your question, yes. The vampires should bone, and here are the reasons I personally choose to have them do so despite the laborious process and defiance of canon:
Firstly, it's a bit of a middle finger to AR's "genderless" vampires. Her books fall very much into the tropes of desexualizing m/m relationships to make them more palatable to a straight audience, and yet the one real exception to this is the the CP in TVA that also serves to reinforce the stereotype of gay men as predatory. Gay relationships are as complex and three dimensional as their straight counterparts, and I want that reflected in my writing.
Just as important though (at least to me) is the opportunity for character building. There are so many ways to frame sex, so many different tones it can take. What a fantastic avenue for exploring character interactions! It's an extremely intimate and emotionally charged scenario that allows the writer to pause the narrative and explore the nature of the relationship they're writing about. A sex scene is a summative snapshot that's been stretched out over potentially thousands of words for close reading.
I approach writing a sex scene the same way I would an important conversation between the characters. It's really its own form of exchange and focused connection, and there's something very interesting about exploring emotions through physicality rather than words. How can I express what each character is thinking and feeling without much or any dialogue, only the way they interact physically? Touch and body language are such powerful tools, especially in writing where you're almost entirely dependent on what's said or thought to understand characters. Switching that focus to physicality can be very impactful with that juxtaposition.
For Loustat in particular, I think this works very well. Sex scenes are a great way to track how a relationship changes over time and that enemies to lovers arc is so integral to their story. For Lestat, sex showcases his intimacy struggles in a very concise and clear manner. In turn, how Louis approaches sex directly reflects his self acceptance journey.
I also find it to be quite cathartic for both characters when it comes to their personal trauma. Lestat has experienced two attacks that are essentially rapes, extreme violations of his body. Catholic religious trauma has deeply damaged Louis' perception of his own desire/pleasure. Depicting these characters in a healthy sexual relationship goes a long way towards healing these wounds. Lestat reclaims his sexual agency and repairs his relationship with his body. Louis is allowed to finish healing his self image and begin loving the parts of himself he was taught to hate.
(I find this especially important for Louis because while Lestat seems to have fully embraced his attraction to men as a human, Louis very much did not. The idea of his sexuality being essentially erased or "fixed" by vampirism and left forever as unfinished emotional business doesn't sit right with me. I want him to have a chance to deal with those feelings and accept that part of himself.)
I hope that answered your question! I know it was a pretty subjective answer, but that's my thoughts.
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I mentioned Paul's strong resistance to being recognized as effeminate man or gay (here). Although he can hang out with gay guys, wear rainbow flag in public [yeah I definitely need to write that again in case someone didn't see it], being considered gay or "cute" is beyond endurance. I know someone love to interpret this as "don't want to his sexuality being mislabeled", which indeed looks sensible when it comes to the homosexuality, but this excuse can't be applied to the "cute" thing, right? You can't say being cute or feminine is the same thing as being gay, can you? Well, I can hear Paul's every single cell screaming O!M!G! Feminine! all the time. He doesn't want himself have anything to do with feminine, which, unfortunately can not be simply regarded as personal preference, it's indeed a despising of femininity, and femininity? Of course it's about female. Yes, "phallicism", the worship of masculine are still popular in today's society, but it doesn't mean it's right. I have to say Paul's thought is the product of this society, not to mention that he is an old man who grow up in a working-class family six decades ago, we can't demand him that much. His attitude towards women is the same thing.
PAUL: We were more amazed to see the [Japanese] women leaping up out of the seats for the promoter, because we'd never seen that in the West. The subservience of the women was amazing. They'd say, 'Oh God, I'm sorry - was I in your seat?' I remember us getting back to Britain and saying to our wives and girlfriends, 'I wouldn't want you to do that, but maybe it's a direction worth considering?' Promptly rejected.
— The Beatles Anthology
Although Paul seems to know that it's pretty cool for a woman to pursue her own career, like admitting Jane was famous before he was, allowing Linda to write a cookbook or have a photography exhibition, the androcentrism is too ingrained for him to forsake. He acknowledged Jane's achievements but still wanted her to give up work completely:
'I always wanted to beat Jane down,' says Paul. 'I wanted her to give up work completely.'
'I refused. I've been brought up to be always doing something. And I enjoy acting. I didn't want to give that up.'
— Hunter Davies, The Beatles
He allowed Linda to do her own thing, but they are not entirely hers - all those projects are belong to MPL, and do not forget Paul said this after Linda's death:
She never did anything on her own because we were together so much.
— Paul McCartney, interview w/ Chrissie Henderson for USA Week-end: Tears and laughter. (October 30, 1998)
That's so sweet to see Paul would support his wife any time, but on the other hand it also shows that Linda never get the chance to do something entirely on her own without Paul's interference after she got married. No wonder so many people from inner circle [including Linda, yeah] described Paul as "typical Northerner":
Linda confided that Paul was a ‘typical Northerner’ who believed women should stay at home while men worked.
— Bonnie Estridge, The Mail on Sunday. (March 20th, 2005)
Paul was raised the old-fashioned way. Men were the breadwinners; women stayed at home, had babies and tea on the table. He's still an old-fashioned guy, very careful with money.
— Ruth McCartney
Like the other Beatles, he [Paul] was essentially an old fashioned Liverpool man, who wanted his woman tucked away at home cooking the dinner and minding the kids.
— Cynthia Lennon, John
Jane was a serious actress and wanted to continue her career, but Paul had other ideas. That’s why Linda was so perfect for Paul; she was just what he wanted, an old-fashioned Liverpool wife who was completely devoted to her husband.
— Marianne Faithfull, Memories, Dreams and Reflections
I'd say Paul was not that old-fashioned, at least he allowed his wife to do other things besides being a full-time nanny, but everything she does must cater his needs. As Jane once mentioned, he always wants his girl to adore him like fans:
The trouble is, he wants the fans’ adulation and mine too. He’s so selfish; it’s his biggest fault. He can’t see that my feelings for him are real and that the fans’ are fantasy.
— Jane Asher, Love Me Do! The Beatles’ Progress by Michael Braun
I know some of the fans can't wait to jump up now and shout "Paul and Jane didn't have a mature relationship!" "He's much mature after he meet Linda!" "Paul and Linda had a very very very healthy relationship!" Ok, if you really did some research, you may know that he's never mature enough to know how to fully respect women, at least before the end of divorce with Heather Mills. I have seen the theory appears too many times that Paul and Linda's marriage is the result of careful consideration: Linda came along with a ready-made child and she's ready to marry again - well, I regret to tell you both Paul and Linda wouldn't agree with you.
I was a great disappointment to my family When I got married [to a geologist] and moved to Arizona, it was crazy. I had been pressured by men all my life. I rather liked being on my own, making my own decisions. I had actually sworn to myself that I would never get married again.
— Linda McCartney, interview for Playgirl: An intimate conversation with pop’s preeminent pair. (February, 1985)
As she says, she's quite enjoy her freedom and had absolutely no interest in marriage. What did Paul do? He "twisted her arm" to make her agree.
I persuaded Linda to come to London for a visit. Then I rang Heather in New York and said, ‘Heather, will you marry me?’ She was five. ‘No, don’t be silly,’ she said. ‘I’m too young.’ ‘Well, I can wait,’ I said. So we went to New York and brought her back to London to live with us, and I twisted Linda’s arm and finally she agreed to marry me.
— Paul McCartney, interview for Playgirl: An intimate conversation with pop’s preeminent pair. (February, 1985)
Linda also said neither of them knew what they were doing when they got married:
LINDA: 'So instead of getting an agent I met Paul instead and got married. Or I was going through a transition then and didn't know quite what I was doing and he obviously didn't know quite what he was doing so we ended up marrying instead.'
— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now
Again, I'm not saying Paul and Linda never loved each other or their marriage was completely made up for media, but I don't think his marriage with Linda enabled him to prioritize other's feelings [his status as one of the four head monsters doesn't help]. Linda's overmuch unilateral compromises certainty don't make him look mature. Let alone his excessive dependence on her.
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Reply to all these who think feminize Paul/men is a bad thing:
You love to say that Paul doesn't want the cute title because people used to mock him by that. I understand it. But do you ever think about why being feminine is not taking him seriously? Do you ever think about this is the discrimination about femininity from the whole society? Why does a man must be despised when he has anything to do with femininity? And Paul's approach is denying his femininity, which is the same with those who mock it, like - a man being feminine is a shame because it means he can't be "respected" like other men. It's the recognition of this concept, which is outdated if you think about it.
P.S. Someone who reblogged my post doesn't seem to like the sentence "there must be many sweet moments between Paul and Linda". Ok, I delete it then.
#paul mccartney#jane asher#linda mccartney#the beatles#he is attracted to strong women but he wants them to do what he wants at the same time#he actually wants obedient strong women#a lot of trouble inevitably arise
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