rec: "Really Awkward Adulterous..." (Twelfth Night: Olivia/Viola)
I just stumbled across meretricula's "Really Awkward Adulterous Lesbian Sex Is Still Better Than No Sex At All" over at Yuletide while looking up something else, and I am blown away. It's needle-sharp and wry and honest and heartbreaking, and it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Here's a bit from the beginning, when Olivia is reflecting on being forced to socialize with Orsino (because the twins remain close and yearn to see each other every day):
...there were balls and banquets, which were bad enough, and intimate family dinners, which were worse. As soon as Viola and Sebastian saw each other, they lit up and embraced and wandered off hand-in-hand to hold confidential twinly tete-a-tetes, and left Orsino and Olivia staring at each other, trying desperately not to say something socially unacceptable, like "I never really loved you anyway" or "I think your wife might be the love of my life."
To be fair, it was still better than when Orsino had been in love with her. Uncomfortable small talk had nothing on the awful poetry he used to recite to her whenever he had her cornered at a party. Olivia sincerely hoped he didn't write poetry to Viola.
...there were balls and banquets, which were bad enough, and intimate family dinners, which were worse. As soon as Viola and Sebastian saw each other, they lit up and embraced and wandered off hand-in-hand to hold confidential twinly tete-a-tetes, and left Orsino and Olivia staring at each other, trying desperately not to say something socially unacceptable, like "I never really loved you anyway" or "I think your wife might be the love of my life."
To be fair, it was still better than when Orsino had been in love with her. Uncomfortable small talk had nothing on the awful poetry he used to recite to her whenever he had her cornered at a party. Olivia sincerely hoped he didn't write poetry to Viola.