A Few Fic Reccs and A Question about Larsa, Penelo and Shouta

[mariagoner]

Just a few quick fic-recs for things people have written for me in the past days weeks month, probably.

aorin107 cracked me up with a hilarious look into the cat-fight of the century between Ashe and Penelo. With none other than poor Basch stuck in the middle. (Scroll down for the ficlet!)

artemischan was excellent enough to pen me the second chapter of mistakes. I

Comments

[artemischan]

I don't know. This is a hard one to call, but I think I'd be cool with it, whatever the decision. I mean, it's not really unheard of, all told, and it's about the age difference between my sister and her now ex-boyfriend, and they started dating when we were 14-15, so...yeah, I'd be cool with it. ^_^

[mariagoner]

Heh, I started wondering about this topic as I tentatively started sketching out the next chapter of Knots and then started wondering about where most people would draw the line at Larsa and Penelo's relationship. I'm adamant about it never being a sexual one in that series but then I started wondering about just what sort of relationship it should be. Should it stop at friendship? Should it go a little beyong that? Should Penelo raise her fist to the sky and curse the gods for saddling her with the most mature preteen in all of Ivalice? ;) So really, I was just tyring to canvass the opinons of others, since I'm a bit stuck on how to develop those two crazy kids...

Incidentally, what IS the age difference between your sister and her ex-boyfriend, anyway?

[artemischan]

I think it could move onto some rather tentative kissing kind of stuff, but, seriously, anything more than that while he's still a preteen would be a bit much. I remember dating when I was his age, and it was mostly hanging around and being friends.

It's about 3 years or so, but hey, in high school, that is a huge age gap. And he turned into a total douche.

[mariagoner]

Tentative kissing, eh? It's been done between Penelo and Larsa very tastefully before by Moontear. I could see that... albeit, like her, I think it'd more be because of Larsa's trickery than because Penelo finds the wee little boy tagging along with her unbearably attractive.

(Larsa: Oh dear... I think my face must have slipped upwards a bit for that last kiss to have occured. And oh dear, I think it's slipping up once more...
Penelo: Dear god, somebody help. I think I'm stuck with the world's first child child molester here!)

It's trying to have that happen in character-- and realistically-- without having Penelo immediately want to go gargle with bleach that'll be the problem... ;)

[adore184]

Hmm, I'm really going to try to give a well-thought-out answer here. lol

[mariagoner]

Honestly, until I came into the fandom, I never thought of Larsa as being only 12 either. I just thought he was a rather short 14 or 15 year old boy and thus starting shipping him with Penelo while thinking they were only one or two years apart, at most.

After I learned how young he really was... er... well, I did my best to make the pairing work anyway. Yay for older!Larsa, everybody! XD But when you're writing a series where Larsa is 12 but clearly does want a relationship of some sort with Penelo... man, talk about blurring boundries.

And I think overall, I agree with you. I don't really see Penelo and Larsa as shouta or age kink either since they're really both kids. Even if Larsa is physically younger, Penelo seems to be mentally younger-- if only because Larsa was more or less born middle-aged.

Well, we'll see how it works out, honestly speaking...

[adore184]

Yeah, it's kinda a tough call at first glance. Of course writing hardcore sex scenes between a 12 and 16 year old isn't my cup of tea. (I don't even know if a 12 year old boy is really capable of that and well, I don't think I want to know,lol) Having their relationship progress though and be something more substantial is something I'm okay with. I think realistically there could definitely be mutual feelings despite the age difference and exploring that is okay.

[mariagoner]

...The thought of Larsa at 12 having actual sex really, really, really squicks me, so trust me... I wouldn't go there. Ever. At all. O.o

And yeah, I really do want to write something realistic, with all the issues that'd naturally come about due to being in some some of relationship with a young boy that might or might not become the freaking emperor of Archadia eventually. Penelo would probably feel considerable amounts of shame (people think I'm with him just because I'm a gold digger!), disgust (he's too young and I'm not even physically attracted to him), and guilt (I don't want him to think he's ugly... but I really don't want to touch him...), no matter what happens.

So if nothing else, writing their relationship would be interesting...

[mad_rex]

I have to admit that, while I like these two--and also like Penelo/Vaan, which also technically involves two minors (I think?)--I've never really thought about either pairing too hard. I tend to look at them both in a distant, "awww" sort of sense, the way television and other media have tempered me to. Thinking about it logically, I realize that teenagers and even preteens experiment with heavy petting, and sometimes even more. But the idea of looking in on it does squick me just a bit...even if, with written fiction, it's not guaranteed to turn me away. (Very little is with fic, I fear. >_>; )

Kissing is definitely okay, though. =D TV's conditioned me to accept that much, at least.

Would this qualify as shota? Umm...I'm not sure? =P I'm not terribly familiar with the term myself, I'm afraid. But what I've heard and seen of it so far involves an adult with a child. Penelo may be four years older, and even post-pubescent, but she's still not an adult--still not legal, and still not capable of making those decisions

[mariagoner]

I do believe the game developers in Japan stated that Larsa was 12 years old in a couple of interviews that they gave. It shocked the hell out of me two because, until then, I just thought Larsa was a rather midgety 14 or 15 year old boy. He sure seems that way in cut-scenes... though possibly that's because he apparently came into the world with a middle aged maturity!

And I admit, I get kinda squicked and tend to avoid fic where 12 year old Larsa is being sexed up all over the place. I just flashback to all the actual 12 year olds I know and that... kinda... short-circuits the whole suspension-of-disbelief thing most fic requires.

...Which of course makes it more than a little ironic that I'm writing a fic where he's trying to get married early on "for the good of the empire!" And that I'm trying to write it realistically, with all the problems that a twelve-year-old child-bride-groom would actually face. XD

So, um, stay tuned. It'll no doubt be interesting...

[schattenstern]

Yay, fic recs! Thanks for those. ♥

Hmm... shota. That's a difficult question. I don't define P/L as such, seeing as Penelo isn't of age yet (though, eh, we don't know what exactly counts as "of age" in Ivalice, right? And she sure had to grow up fast), but I wouldn't read sex scenes with a twelve years old Larsa either. I guess that's just one of my personal lines that I don't want to cross. (Now, would 16-years-old Larsa and adult!Penelo count as shota? Technically yes, I guess, but my brain does funny things and doesn't want to count it either. I'm not making terribly much sense, am I?
At least you're not the only one who's confused by terms and how to use them? ^^;

[mariagoner]

Hmm, I have to say, I don't think any pairing that has people who are fifteen or older counts as shouta. I mean, by the time you're that age, you're a teenager and shouta usually tends to include either very young teenagers or preadolescents, right? So I don't tend to think of a sixteen year old Larsa being involved with anyone as shouta...

And heh, at least the confusion is wide-spread right now! I'm not the only one who suffers! XD

[himehikari]

Honestly, I was never a fan of boy love fandoms, so I tend to stay away from that.Considering Larsa and Penelo's relationship, I would say that I will be uncomfortable reading a smut fic where Larsa is only 12. It's just weird, to me that is,so I will try to stay away.However reading grown-up and scheming Larsa is always a pleasure :)

I'm not sure if I answered the question... ^__^;;

[mariagoner]

Ooooooh, trust me. I'd be massively uncomfortable reading smut where Larsa's 12 as well. O.o And there's some out there but I don't think anyone written anything like that for Larsa/Penelo. As far as I can see, when that's done, it's been him being paired up with the Big Burly Older Men of Ivalice, and what not.

And grown-up and scheming Larsa is always a pleasure. ;) ♥