mostly for my own records, this
Partly because the Memories feature is easier to sift through than saved email, I'm copying an email I sent yesterday here so I can find it again and link to it if I ever get a similar email . . . Leaving it open and public because, well, why not? None of the original message is in here, and I don't have any idea who the person was, so they certainly can't be identified from it.
So: the reply I sent to someone who said they liked my Fruits Basket fanfic but felt that the 'sex in most of the stories' ruined them; they pointed out that the characters in question are young and unmarried, and that not all Furuba fans are adults. (They also complained specifically about one of the choices I made in writing The Ceremony of Innocence, which still boggles me a little since it's not the sexual situation that bothered me about the novel . . . )
For the record, I think there have been actual sex scenes in TWO of my Furuba fics (Innocence and "Fear of Falling"), and I'm reasonably sure neither was very explicit or prolonged, or dangerous to the minds of teenagers . . . (My worry about the fragile minds of younger readers was pretty much eliminated when I realized how many *young* teenagers are busy flooding the internet with hardcore slash PWPs, frankly.)
[email response]
Hi there,
I'm not really sure where to start here, but I do want to respond to what you've said. I'll try to keep it shortish, but if you feel like discussing any aspect of the reply or whatever, I'm perfectly ok with that. I can't tell if you're looking for discussion or not. [Edit: this is totally not short. But the discussion offer remains open.]
First, thank you for the feedback. Feedback is always good, whether it's completely positive or not. ^_^
I'm not 100% sure which aspect of the sexual component of my work is bothering you (the actual fact of underage sex being portrayed? Its connection to the original work? The fact that I pay significant attention to it? and so on), so I'm going to address it from several angles. I'll also try to keep explicit spoilers to a minimum, since I have no idea how up to date you are on the manga.
To start with, the fact is that there *is* underage sex in Fruits Basket. Haru's no older than fifteen when he and Rin start dating (it's possible that he was fourteen, but I don't really think so), and it's explicitly stated that they have sex. They also pretty much have to have slept together (literally, I mean) quite frequently when they were together, because at least six months after breaking up, Rin was still accustomed enough to his presence while she was sleeping that she didn't wake up when he hugged her. No amount of "being in love" OR having sex is going to give people that familiarity, and she says that she wakes up when anyone else comes near her. She and Haru are both pretty matter-of-fact in their own memories of being together, and odds are good they were having sex frequently, so this is an established, canon sexual relationship. More later on why I think that's pretty important.
In addition to that, most of the sexual relationships in Furuba are extremely unhealthy emotionally, and *none* of the characters who have had sex in the series (other than the obvious parental figures) are married. So if you're worried about my presentation of less-than-desirable sexual relationships, that goes straight back to the source. Haru and Rin's relationship is the healthiest and most genuinely loving of the bunch, despite being far from perfect. And Rin's perspective on sexuality is really pretty scary--she really does, no two ways about it, offer to let Shigure have sex with her ("use her however he pleases") in exchange for information. A seventeen year old seriously trying to sell her body is profoundly messed up, no matter what her motives were. If non-adult readers of the series can honestly deal with that and grasp what it means, I don't think anything I've written is going to traumatize them.
Of course, there's the obvious fact that the sexual aspect of those relationships are expressed almost completely 'offscreen' in the manga. I'm not ignoring that. But then, I can only think of . . . two? . . . 'onscreen' sex scenes in my Furuba stories (chapter six of "Innocence", and in "Fear of Falling"), and they're *not* particularly graphic.
But the point of replying is to tell you why I think it's important, because I genuinely think it is. I've never written a scene in an effort to turn readers on, or just to have sex in there. I believe pretty firmly that Western society is very messed up about sex--on the one hand, there're the people who try to separate it from other aspects of life, and on the other hand, there're the people who seem to think there aren't any emotional consequences to it. Physical consequences are dealt with fairly frequently--STDs don't get much attention in fiction, but pregnancy does--but the emotional reality of being sexually involved with someone often gets glossed over. It's emotionally dangerous, and can result in people being very badly hurt, as well as in being happy. So when I write, I approach it as a fact of characters' lives (when it is--other than "Innocence", I try to stick to canon) and an important part of a relationship. I pay a fair bit of attention to the sexual dynamic between Haru and Rin because they're extremely young, with everything that implies: they're *not* old enough to just 'handle' sex, but they've presumably got all the hormones going, and they're both vulnerable and needy and trying their hardest to really love each other. Given that they *did* have sex in canon, the odds are good that it was a significant part of their relationship.
The other thing is that Fruits Basket is about a family made of people who *can't* touch other people normally. They've spent their whole lives in invisible cages, unable to do what everyone else takes for granted, and so I write Jyuunishi from that perspective, always. I think they're probably all obsessed with TOUCH--not necessarily with any sexual aspect at all, but with simple tactile contact. They've probably all been hyper aware of every time they've ever been touched in their lives. And I can't imagine that doesn't carry over into their sexuality, even though most of them haven't actually had sex.
And so I write about it. When I write about sex with these characters, it's not *because* of the sex; that's almost incidental. It's because I really think it matters and says a lot about them. And also, I don't want to dodge it, because sex in stories is so often overblown and all about the getting off and not at all about how it actually affects people. If non-adult fans of the series read my work, my hope would be that it gives them a different perspective on sex than the "it's perfect/it's shameful" point of view presented by the media and our culture in general. There *are* consequences, good and bad, and that's a large part of what I'm aiming for. Maybe I'm not succeeding as well as I'd like, and I'm sorry to hear it bothers you.
Two specific notes (and this definitely didn't stay short, did it? But I was thinking about what to say off and on all day while I was at work ^^), and I'll end.
First: you may want to avoid the next long piece I'm releasing. One of the things I'm specifically dealing with is the fallout from Rin's offering herself to Shigure, and how that's affected her. It doesn't have a title yet, but there's enough actual sex in it that I've been referring to it as the 'lemonesque'. So you probably wouldn't like it.
Second: regarding Tohru and Kyo in "Innocence" . . . it interests me that that's the sexual dynamic you picked out of that novel, because it's the least weird of the lot. (I have serious issues of my own with chapter six, and it almost got cut entirely several times while editing. But it had to stay for chapter seven to work.) I definitely don't think either of them are the type to have sex casually or without a lot of embarrassment, and I doubt the manga will ever even hint at things going that far. And that's good, because they're *not* that type of teenagers. I chose to have them sleep together because of the circumstances. Tohru *is* an idealistic, somewhat innocent person, and it seemed completely plausible to me that she would offer herself to Kyo when he was about to be locked away forever. That's a significant phrase: she's the kind of person who probably would see it as "offering herself", as giving the best of herself for someone she loves. She totally strikes me as the "wait until marriage" type (which I actually believe in very strongly--I just don't think that my belief in it changes the fact that too many people think otherwise for too-young, outside-marriage sex to be ignored in fiction or in the real world). In the situation I'd placed her in, there wasn't a "wait 'til marriage" option for her and Kyo; it was "I have one chance to try to let you know how much I love you, and to try to comfort you when your life is being taken away, and to give us both something concrete to remember and hold onto". And in that kind of situation, I really think plenty of people who otherwise wouldn't consider having sex might go ahead and do it. So I stand by that choice. I don't assume this'll make you say "oh, ok then", but it wasn't something I wrote casually.
Anyway, for all I know you've given up entirely on this email, so I'll stop writing. Again, thanks for the feedback, and I hope this offered some insight into my choices about how I write for this fandom.
Sincerely,
Ysabet
So: the reply I sent to someone who said they liked my Fruits Basket fanfic but felt that the 'sex in most of the stories' ruined them; they pointed out that the characters in question are young and unmarried, and that not all Furuba fans are adults. (They also complained specifically about one of the choices I made in writing The Ceremony of Innocence, which still boggles me a little since it's not the sexual situation that bothered me about the novel . . . )
For the record, I think there have been actual sex scenes in TWO of my Furuba fics (Innocence and "Fear of Falling"), and I'm reasonably sure neither was very explicit or prolonged, or dangerous to the minds of teenagers . . . (My worry about the fragile minds of younger readers was pretty much eliminated when I realized how many *young* teenagers are busy flooding the internet with hardcore slash PWPs, frankly.)
[email response]
Hi there,
I'm not really sure where to start here, but I do want to respond to what you've said. I'll try to keep it shortish, but if you feel like discussing any aspect of the reply or whatever, I'm perfectly ok with that. I can't tell if you're looking for discussion or not. [Edit: this is totally not short. But the discussion offer remains open.]
First, thank you for the feedback. Feedback is always good, whether it's completely positive or not. ^_^
I'm not 100% sure which aspect of the sexual component of my work is bothering you (the actual fact of underage sex being portrayed? Its connection to the original work? The fact that I pay significant attention to it? and so on), so I'm going to address it from several angles. I'll also try to keep explicit spoilers to a minimum, since I have no idea how up to date you are on the manga.
To start with, the fact is that there *is* underage sex in Fruits Basket. Haru's no older than fifteen when he and Rin start dating (it's possible that he was fourteen, but I don't really think so), and it's explicitly stated that they have sex. They also pretty much have to have slept together (literally, I mean) quite frequently when they were together, because at least six months after breaking up, Rin was still accustomed enough to his presence while she was sleeping that she didn't wake up when he hugged her. No amount of "being in love" OR having sex is going to give people that familiarity, and she says that she wakes up when anyone else comes near her. She and Haru are both pretty matter-of-fact in their own memories of being together, and odds are good they were having sex frequently, so this is an established, canon sexual relationship. More later on why I think that's pretty important.
In addition to that, most of the sexual relationships in Furuba are extremely unhealthy emotionally, and *none* of the characters who have had sex in the series (other than the obvious parental figures) are married. So if you're worried about my presentation of less-than-desirable sexual relationships, that goes straight back to the source. Haru and Rin's relationship is the healthiest and most genuinely loving of the bunch, despite being far from perfect. And Rin's perspective on sexuality is really pretty scary--she really does, no two ways about it, offer to let Shigure have sex with her ("use her however he pleases") in exchange for information. A seventeen year old seriously trying to sell her body is profoundly messed up, no matter what her motives were. If non-adult readers of the series can honestly deal with that and grasp what it means, I don't think anything I've written is going to traumatize them.
Of course, there's the obvious fact that the sexual aspect of those relationships are expressed almost completely 'offscreen' in the manga. I'm not ignoring that. But then, I can only think of . . . two? . . . 'onscreen' sex scenes in my Furuba stories (chapter six of "Innocence", and in "Fear of Falling"), and they're *not* particularly graphic.
But the point of replying is to tell you why I think it's important, because I genuinely think it is. I've never written a scene in an effort to turn readers on, or just to have sex in there. I believe pretty firmly that Western society is very messed up about sex--on the one hand, there're the people who try to separate it from other aspects of life, and on the other hand, there're the people who seem to think there aren't any emotional consequences to it. Physical consequences are dealt with fairly frequently--STDs don't get much attention in fiction, but pregnancy does--but the emotional reality of being sexually involved with someone often gets glossed over. It's emotionally dangerous, and can result in people being very badly hurt, as well as in being happy. So when I write, I approach it as a fact of characters' lives (when it is--other than "Innocence", I try to stick to canon) and an important part of a relationship. I pay a fair bit of attention to the sexual dynamic between Haru and Rin because they're extremely young, with everything that implies: they're *not* old enough to just 'handle' sex, but they've presumably got all the hormones going, and they're both vulnerable and needy and trying their hardest to really love each other. Given that they *did* have sex in canon, the odds are good that it was a significant part of their relationship.
The other thing is that Fruits Basket is about a family made of people who *can't* touch other people normally. They've spent their whole lives in invisible cages, unable to do what everyone else takes for granted, and so I write Jyuunishi from that perspective, always. I think they're probably all obsessed with TOUCH--not necessarily with any sexual aspect at all, but with simple tactile contact. They've probably all been hyper aware of every time they've ever been touched in their lives. And I can't imagine that doesn't carry over into their sexuality, even though most of them haven't actually had sex.
And so I write about it. When I write about sex with these characters, it's not *because* of the sex; that's almost incidental. It's because I really think it matters and says a lot about them. And also, I don't want to dodge it, because sex in stories is so often overblown and all about the getting off and not at all about how it actually affects people. If non-adult fans of the series read my work, my hope would be that it gives them a different perspective on sex than the "it's perfect/it's shameful" point of view presented by the media and our culture in general. There *are* consequences, good and bad, and that's a large part of what I'm aiming for. Maybe I'm not succeeding as well as I'd like, and I'm sorry to hear it bothers you.
Two specific notes (and this definitely didn't stay short, did it? But I was thinking about what to say off and on all day while I was at work ^^), and I'll end.
First: you may want to avoid the next long piece I'm releasing. One of the things I'm specifically dealing with is the fallout from Rin's offering herself to Shigure, and how that's affected her. It doesn't have a title yet, but there's enough actual sex in it that I've been referring to it as the 'lemonesque'. So you probably wouldn't like it.
Second: regarding Tohru and Kyo in "Innocence" . . . it interests me that that's the sexual dynamic you picked out of that novel, because it's the least weird of the lot. (I have serious issues of my own with chapter six, and it almost got cut entirely several times while editing. But it had to stay for chapter seven to work.) I definitely don't think either of them are the type to have sex casually or without a lot of embarrassment, and I doubt the manga will ever even hint at things going that far. And that's good, because they're *not* that type of teenagers. I chose to have them sleep together because of the circumstances. Tohru *is* an idealistic, somewhat innocent person, and it seemed completely plausible to me that she would offer herself to Kyo when he was about to be locked away forever. That's a significant phrase: she's the kind of person who probably would see it as "offering herself", as giving the best of herself for someone she loves. She totally strikes me as the "wait until marriage" type (which I actually believe in very strongly--I just don't think that my belief in it changes the fact that too many people think otherwise for too-young, outside-marriage sex to be ignored in fiction or in the real world). In the situation I'd placed her in, there wasn't a "wait 'til marriage" option for her and Kyo; it was "I have one chance to try to let you know how much I love you, and to try to comfort you when your life is being taken away, and to give us both something concrete to remember and hold onto". And in that kind of situation, I really think plenty of people who otherwise wouldn't consider having sex might go ahead and do it. So I stand by that choice. I don't assume this'll make you say "oh, ok then", but it wasn't something I wrote casually.
Anyway, for all I know you've given up entirely on this email, so I'll stop writing. Again, thanks for the feedback, and I hope this offered some insight into my choices about how I write for this fandom.
Sincerely,
Ysabet