fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3488 ]

[ SECRET POST #3488 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3488 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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13. [SPOILERS for All Souls Trilogy]

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14. [SPOILERS for Brotherhood]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #498.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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How do you explain the sexuality issue?

I'm in the mood to write fic for the first time in a long time, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do it. I can actually imagine a drunken one night stand or a fight leading to sex (they're friends but also sort of rivals...it's complicated) fairly easily, but I can't picture an actual relationship or real feelings, which is more what I'm wanting. I'm totally in the mood for them being secretly in love with each other, and confessing their feelings, and a bunch of sappy romantic shit. But they're both straight and married to women and I can't imagine how to get from that to where I want them to be other than going AUish and pretending their wives don't exist and they were gay all along.

How do you guys handle it?

If they haven't explicitly said that they're exclusively attracted to women, and not attracted to men, then they're not canonically straight.

ayrt
I'm pretty sure one has actually specifically said he's straight, although I suppose just because he'd only liked women in the past it doesn't mean he couldn't someday develop feelings for a guy. Thanks.

I would think the married to women part is the issue here, not the fact that the guys are straight. Sexuality is easily bendable but other relationships aren't without like, making them cheaters and pretty terrible people to their wives.

ayrt
OBVIOUSLY. Thank you. Honestly, I have no idea why that I wasn't thinking of it in that way (I definitely don't condone cheating or anything) other than I've been awake way too long and am not thinking clearly in general. That definitely is the much bigger issue. It could be set in the future when they're both divorced or something, and then they can start questioning their sexuality or whatever. Thanks.

Haha I thought this was going to be a sarcastic thank you Captain Obvious kind of answer but I'm glad it helped.

It's a character thing to me. Sexuality doesn't affect a character's personality because anybody could be gay or straight or bi, but if I make them married and willing to cheat on a partner, that definitely does impact the kind of person they are especially if they wouldn't have done that in canon. So to me that's always the bigger issue and potentially OOC, way more so than them falling in love with someone who happens to be the same gender or whatever.

ayrt
I was afraid my comment would come off like I was being sarcastic, but I'm totally serious. Like I said elsewhere in the thread, I'm not usually that dumb, so I'm totally chalking it up to being way too tired (and I notice now that I randomly put an extra word in my comment above). For whatever reason it just...wasn't making sense in my mind at first (and before I posted I was thinking it seemed soooo unlikely that TWO bi/closeted gay guys could be married to women, like that's some super crazy thing that could never happen).

But anyway, you're totally right. Sexuality doesn't have anything to do with someone's character, and I think they both seem like good guys who wouldn't intentionally hurt someone they care about, so definitely no cheating.

I haven't written a lot (of slash) but I'd agree that the biggest issue isn't sexuality but that they're in serious relationships with other people.

If a male character hasn't specifically said he isn't into men, then he can always be bi. Even if he says he isn't gay, he can still be bi. (The latter is the case often made for BBC Sherlock's John Watson). Honestly a lot of fics barely even deal with this anymore.

As for them being in relationships, that's a lot trickier. You can make it an AU, or set it some unspecified time in the future where they've both gotten divorces. Or you can do a really slow burn fic where they develop feelings for each other and it's angsty because what about their wives etc...I think it depends on how well developed their canon relationships are, how happy and maybe how well-liked? It's easier to dismiss characters/relationships in fic when canon and/or fandom doesn't care for them either.

ayrt
Thanks! I'm pretty sure one has said he's straight, but just because he thinks he's straight at one point doesn't mean he can't realize later he's not.

And yeah, the post above made me realize them both being married is a way bigger issue. An unspecified time in the future where they've both gotten divorced works for me. (Or one is already divorced, the other is going through a divorce and having a tough time and they bond over it/get closer, and then later start having feelings for each other.) Or like you said, they can develop feelings for each other and it causes angst because they're both married...I guess there are all sorts of different ways it could go.

Thanks!

Bisexuality is an actual orientation. Just cus they are married doesn't mean they're straight.

ayrt
Oh, yeah, definitely. I was mostly going by the fact that one has said he's straight (I should've mentioned that in the original post) but I guess he can always realize later that he actually isn't.

I handle it by pretending they're not straight and I rarely, if ever, address the fact that they are canonically straight. I just never have the pairing or the the other characters mention it. I've never felt a need to justify it before, except in one fic I've written. You don't need to explain anything in fanfic. People just take what you give them and go with it.

Oh, and in regards to the wives issues, that can very very easily contribute to your whole "sneaking around/confessional" issue. The will they/won't they will definitely be heightened by the fact that they're married and could get caught.

In other fics I've read, the wife either never knew, was written out of the fanon completely, or she didn't mind that he husband was also into dudes. The great thing about fandom is that you can do literally anything you want with the characters as long as their personalities remain unchanged. That's where the author has to come in and make their AU plot work with an existing person! :)

ayrt
Just going to respond to both comments here...

Thanks. Honestly, it's an insanely small, obscure fandom and although I've come across a few other fans online saying they ship it, I can't imagine many people would even read it, so I'm probably putting way too much thought into it. It might just be best to not even acknowledge it.

But, even though the one has said he's straight (or he might've said he only likes women, I can't remember the exact wording), that doesn't mean he can't realize later that he likes guys, too, or that he was bi (or even gay, I guess) all along and didn't want to accept it or admit it to himself or whatever.

Other commenters are right that both of them being married is a bigger issue than their sexuality, but there are plenty of ways around that, too. They could both be divorced, or the idea of them falling for each other while still being married and how they handle it could be really interesting, too.

When I posted the original post my brain was going "but they're straight...how could it work...does not compute" and I swear I'm not normally this dumb lol...I guess I can chalk it up to getting very little sleep the past few days and now having been awake for way too long. There are all sorts of ways it could go, so I probably need to just revisit the idea once I've gotten some sleep.

Seconding 'just ignore it'. No reason to bring it up.

There are couples out there with open relationships.

There are couples who are on again/off again and take "breaks".

There really are men who discover they're bisexual/gay later in life and have to figure out what that means for their current relationship. Sometimes they stay together, sometimes they break up and even stay friends.

Or you could just go the AU route if you wanted.

Less than half of MSM will ever call themselves gay or bi. There's no lack of straight dudes willing to be flexible if horny and drunk enough.

some of the slash I've written does start out with the guys being really drunk.

Basically, if it's not specifically said that they're straight in canon, then there's no reason to bother with the sexuality. Unless you want to write a story focusing on that.

Rarely does media explicitly say "oh hey these men are 100% heterosexual and have no attraction to guys." It often shows people being interested in heterosexual relationships, but doesn't explicitly say one thing or another. So it's pretty easy to say they're bisexual.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3488 ]

Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys

Re: Question for people who write slash fic about two straight guys