>> I've noticed that ace sexuality is handled more gently than most issuefic I've read. <<
That matches my observations.
>> Soapbox warning: I loathe and detest 99.9999% of all "abuse survivor" stories I've read because they tend to be so HORRIBLY over the top, before even getting to "sex can be wonderful, SEE?" as a significant portion of the plotlines. <<
My ratio isn't that far, although I agree that it's an issue more often done badly than done well.
On the other hoof, I write a lot of characters who are abuse survivors, and I know other writers who also handle it well. Not all the stories are even about that; sometimes it's just background. For the Rescuer, he's already dealt with it, so it mainly applies to sympathizing with other survivors. Lawrence/Antimatter has touch issues. Path of the Paladins has trauma recovery as a primary theme, though, appearing in multiple installments. Diminished Expectations has a lot of it, some extremely dark, although much of that series hasn't been sponsored because only a few people like it at all.
>> So, acefic fills a need for comfort-without-sexuality, or a voice for ambivalence about our American-oversexualized-culture, or just as a totally different LOOK at sexuality in general. <<
Agreed. I see a lot of people reading acefic for the comfort or the nonsexual context.
*chuckle* Last time I saw a post with a really cute quote about nonsexual intimacy, I said, "I have written pr0n of this," and got asked for a link. Which of course was the Stan/Lawrence cuddlefluff, though I also do that with Victor/Igor since they're both heterosexual but their primary relationship is queerplatonic. It's like the reverse of trying to "lay away the gay" where they both discovered that they were flexible enough to shift aside from their main orientation and find happiness elsewhere -- enough that, in fact, they wouldn't trade what they have for a conventional relationship given that opportunity.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Ace as a parallel
Date: 2014-08-23 08:58 am (UTC)That matches my observations.
>> Soapbox warning: I loathe and detest 99.9999% of all "abuse survivor" stories I've read because they tend to be so HORRIBLY over the top, before even getting to "sex can be wonderful, SEE?" as a significant portion of the plotlines. <<
My ratio isn't that far, although I agree that it's an issue more often done badly than done well.
On the other hoof, I write a lot of characters who are abuse survivors, and I know other writers who also handle it well. Not all the stories are even about that; sometimes it's just background. For the Rescuer, he's already dealt with it, so it mainly applies to sympathizing with other survivors. Lawrence/Antimatter has touch issues. Path of the Paladins has trauma recovery as a primary theme, though, appearing in multiple installments. Diminished Expectations has a lot of it, some extremely dark, although much of that series hasn't been sponsored because only a few people like it at all.
>> So, acefic fills a need for comfort-without-sexuality, or a voice for ambivalence about our American-oversexualized-culture, or just as a totally different LOOK at sexuality in general. <<
Agreed. I see a lot of people reading acefic for the comfort or the nonsexual context.
*chuckle* Last time I saw a post with a really cute quote about nonsexual intimacy, I said, "I have written pr0n of this," and got asked for a link. Which of course was the Stan/Lawrence cuddlefluff, though I also do that with Victor/Igor since they're both heterosexual but their primary relationship is queerplatonic. It's like the reverse of trying to "lay away the gay" where they both discovered that they were flexible enough to shift aside from their main orientation and find happiness elsewhere -- enough that, in fact, they wouldn't trade what they have for a conventional relationship given that opportunity.