Oh yeah. I have definite Ideas, based on their personalities and the dynamic between them so far, how things would go once they get in bed...but actually GETTING them there? Oy...
OK, non-shippy generalizations first. I don't think either of them is a virgin: Rock I'd imagine has had at least a few relationships, but maybe nothing long-term enough to get truly serious, and possibly not even much in the way of more short-term casual things since his college days -- when he joins the Lagoon there's no angst about leaving behind a girlfriend or even an unrequited crush, and his talk about the empty routine of his salaryman life makes it sound like he didn't really have a lot of time or energy to be dating much in recent years.
Everything about his old life, trying so hard to play by the rules and do everything the right way, makes me think he was probably doing the same thing in relationships -- dating because everyone else was and you're supposed to find a nice girl and get married eventually, going for all the most conventional romantic gestures on a date or following a mental checklist of what the advice columns say you're supposed to do in bed -- so worried about giving the right impression and doing all the right things that he's never really entirely relaxing and being himself. All the little bits where he seems to want to be more of a hero, even when the story and circumstances all work against it, makes me think he's probably got more than a bit of a romantic streak, too -- he wants to be something bigger and more dramatic than the drab little emotionally empty paint-by-numbers life he was living, and throwing his entire old life away to follow a scary violent gunslinger girl into the underworld or mouthing off about his ideas with a gun trained on his head shows the potential he has for making big, crazy gestures in chasing that more dramatic sort of life.
Revy, with all the hints of her horrible childhood, I'm guessing quite likely was sexually active from a younger age, and quite possibly not under the best circumstances; it wouldn't surprise me if she's had at least some unhappy runins with non-con/dub-con situations, especially before she picked up her gun skills, and we know that she's done sex work; the way she looks, and the places she's lived and worked, encounters with skeezy guys would be inevitable, and judging by how blase she was around Chaka, or the strip-club boss, she's experienced enough of that sort to be pretty blase about dealing with them.
I'm not sure if I can see her involved in actual prostitution rather than just the live BDSM shows that have been mentioned in canon, but her will to survive at any cost is strong enough that I wouldn't totally discount the possibility; if she were in a place where it was her only option, she'd definitely do it. I'm not getting any real sense that she's been in love before: emotional intimacy is I think something she'd be vastly warier of than physical closeness. I don't think she has a lot of body-image issues in general, she clearly has no problem running about in very skimpy gear or even being seen in her underwear; any insecurities there I'm thinking would be most likely to crop up only in the context where she's starting to develop an emotional attachment, and it would be more of an outgrowth of general insecurity about her self-worth and shady background -- like with those hints of jealousy around Yukio, I'd see potential issues there being less that Yukio was younger and conventionally pretty, and more that her lack of physical scars, conventionally feminine appearance and mannerisms, etc., all reflect a sort of good-girl innocence that Revy has never had -- so it'd be less "crap, she's so pretty and I'm not" and more "if this is the sort of sweet-and-innocent milquetoast girl he likes, I don't stand a chance".
Pretty much everything about Revy's appearance, language, behavior, habits, etc. all suggests that she really, really doesn't give a rat's ass if she lives up to any of the good-girl rules, so I'd tend to think that in general she'd be every bit as aggressive and forward if she wanted to get laid -- and in Roanapur in general, with her reputation for violence, I'd imagine that even the guys who might ogle her scantily-clad figure would be wary of getting on the bad side of her guns if she wasn't in a mood to be hit on, so she might have to make all the first moves when she's on the Lagoon's home turf. And I absolutely cannot see her being coy and retiring once she gets them in bed, either -- a pickup who's sexually selfish or incompetent would probably have the error of their ways pointed out very forcefully, with no fear of bruising fragile male egos, if they're lucky...if they're unlucky, guns probably get drawn. But I don't think she'd have much patience for truly submissive guys who want nothing but to be bossed around and told everything to do -- from the way she reacts in those big arguments with Dutch and later Rock, I think she doesn't have a lot of respect for anyone who's too soft around her; notice how things don't thaw between her and Rock until he stands his ground, tells her off bluntly and even gets roughly physical, grabbing her shirt just like Dutch, getting shot at and taking a punch, only to grab the gun and her fist in turn. I don't see her being a snuggler with the casual pickups -- again, a little too much in the way of vulnerability to let that much of her guard down; unless she's too drunk to stay awake, I think it'd be a post-coital cigarette or two and she's on her way back home, or else kicks the guy out of her room so she can sleep alone.
So, going from the generalities to Rock/Revy specifics...while I think in general she'd have no trouble bluntly going after some guy she fancies for a quick tumble, the whole fear-of-emotional intimacy could make her a lot more twitchy and nervous here than she generally is. She already thinks Rock knows her well enough to see through some of her acts, and I think she has him up on a bit of a pedestal as a Nice Guy who's maybe a little too nice for a amoral, soiled guttersnipe like her, all of which might make her a little reluctant to go for her usual "You. Me. Bed. NOW." approach. And Rock in turn I think is still struggling with some of his lingering Nice Guy Who Plays By The Rules programming, which would make it tricky for him to take that final step of openly expressing interest in a friend and coworker. This is the big hurdle I have trouble plotting past in my head, something has to give one or both of them a push; Revy in particular I think could throw all caution to the winds if she just got the right hint of encouragement, and we've seen time and again already how Rock's more bold and impulsive streak comes to the surface when faced with a challenge; it's just a matter of who gets triggered, and how, but once that trigger is set off I think it could be very much sparks on dry tinder; lots of room for second thoughts and emotional insecurities flaring up again later, but instant conflagration for now. And they really seem like a wonderfully volatile pairing IMO because Revy's bluntness and aggression could bring out a more forceful, passionate or even flat-out kinky side that Rock might have been afraid to ever express before, while at the same time he's still enough of a nice guy that he'd also be bringing in a level of tenderness that she's probably not at all accustomed to; not to mention the unaccustomed emotional charge of intimacy and vulnerability in sleeping with someone she actually has feelings for, and who cares for her, even if neither of them has come out and said anything about it. I definitely don't see her being one to have an easy time verbally expressing love rather than lust, and while Rock seems like the one who'd have an easier time talking about his feelings, I can picture her even freaking out a little just from having the big scary unspoken laid out on the table like that...
You're thoughts and mine are pretty damn bang-on with regards to Revy and Rock.
I definitely thing that Rock's love life was rather by-the-book -high school or college sweetheart, one or two relationships afterwards, both of which ended before marriage could really be called into question.
Revy, with all the hints of her horrible childhood, I'm guessing quite likely was sexually active from a younger age, and quite possibly not under the best circumstances; it wouldn't surprise me if she's had at least some unhappy runins with non-con/dub-con situations
So very much word. I think Revy has a had a lot of really ugly relationships/sexual interactions. Part of the reason that I don't think she's done straight up prostitution is that she seem a little... too raw for it. Like, I don't think she'd quite detached enough. She might have done it once or twice when she really, really had to, but I highly doubt it was a regular thing in any way.
any insecurities there I'm thinking would be most likely to crop up only in the context where she's starting to develop an emotional attachment, and it would be more of an outgrowth of general insecurity about her self-worth and shady background -- like with those hints of jealousy around Yukio, I'd see potential issues there being less that Yukio was younger and conventionally pretty, and more that her lack of physical scars, conventionally feminine appearance and mannerisms, etc., all reflect a sort of good-girl innocence that Revy has never had -- so it'd be less "crap, she's so pretty and I'm not" and more "if this is the sort of sweet-and-innocent milquetoast girl he likes, I don't stand a chance".
Agreed. Honestly, body issues is one things I DON'T think Revy would have any trouble with. It would be much more issues with her personality and history and scars (emotional, mental, and physical).
So, going from the generalities to Rock/Revy specifics...while I think in general she'd have no trouble bluntly going after some guy she fancies for a quick tumble, the whole fear-of-emotional intimacy could make her a lot more twitchy and nervous here than she generally is.
Agreed. I can totally see her hanging Anko-esque pick up skills when she's just in the mood for a quick fuck, but I think Rock would throw her for enough of a loop that I can't quite see her be the aggressor.
This is the big hurdle I have trouble plotting past in my head, something has to give one or both of them a push; Revy in particular I think could throw all caution to the winds if she just got the right hint of encouragement, and we've seen time and again already how Rock's more bold and impulsive streak comes to the surface when faced with a challenge; it's just a matter of who gets triggered, and how
*nods* And that's the hardest part of it - figuring how where to push them and with what.
while Rock seems like the one who'd have an easier time talking about his feelings, I can picture her even freaking out a little just from having the big scary unspoken laid out on the table like that...
Oh, certainly. Actually, Revy's freak-out when/if Rock ever said 'I love you' would be pretty damn epic.
I definitely thing that Rock's love life was rather by-the-book -high school or college sweetheart, one or two relationships afterwards, both of which ended before marriage could really be called into question.
Yeah, he seems to have been so alienated and emotionally disconnected from everything else in his past life -- family, schooling, job -- that I tend to imagine his romantic life would be more of the same; things would just sort of fizzle out before they ever got really serious. No huge blowups or infidelities or anything, just more of a vague mutual ennui eventually leading to a "you know, this isn't really working, let's just be friends" deal; ending not with a bang nor a whimper, but more of a resigned shrug.
I think Rock would throw her for enough of a loop that I can't quite see her be the aggressor.
Or at the very least, definitely not in her usual style. I can maybe see her going after him if he gives some initial sign that he's interested, and maybe there's the right mix of circumstances -- drunk off their asses, buzzed on adrenaline and/or endorphins from a particularly close call or injury, whatever, something to lower her inhibitions enough to get past the hurdle of the vulnerability of making a move on someone she actually gives a damn about, and doesn't want to lose as a friend. But just in a more everyday sort of situation and dead-sober, I can't see it. She's already softened up so much around him, even compared to how she acts around the handful of other people she likes and treats as friends, even if she might never use the word herself. And I'd think that closeness and exposure of a vulnerable softer side has got to be scary and unprecedented enough for her that she would be intensely wary of taking things any further and fucking it all up beyond repair.
Actually, Revy's freak-out when/if Rock ever said 'I love you' would be pretty damn epic.
Ooooh yeah, especially since we've seen the one thing he won't tolerate is her being a coward about her feelings...
No huge blowups or infidelities or anything, just more of a vague mutual ennui eventually leading to a "you know, this isn't really working, let's just be friends" deal; ending not with a bang nor a whimper, but more of a resigned shrug.
Yep, yep.
Ooooh yeah, especially since we've seen the one thing he won't tolerate is her being a coward about her feelings...
Bwah, great minds do think alike! XD I just can't decide which image is yummier, Rock doing his usual tie-comes-off-this-means-I'm-SERIOUS thing, or Revy ripping the tie off him or using it as a handle. Not to mention a little light necktie bondage...yum!
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Can you tell me more about this, please?
Because writing meta for these two is so much easier than plotting porn...
Everything about his old life, trying so hard to play by the rules and do everything the right way, makes me think he was probably doing the same thing in relationships -- dating because everyone else was and you're supposed to find a nice girl and get married eventually, going for all the most conventional romantic gestures on a date or following a mental checklist of what the advice columns say you're supposed to do in bed -- so worried about giving the right impression and doing all the right things that he's never really entirely relaxing and being himself. All the little bits where he seems to want to be more of a hero, even when the story and circumstances all work against it, makes me think he's probably got more than a bit of a romantic streak, too -- he wants to be something bigger and more dramatic than the drab little emotionally empty paint-by-numbers life he was living, and throwing his entire old life away to follow a scary violent gunslinger girl into the underworld or mouthing off about his ideas with a gun trained on his head shows the potential he has for making big, crazy gestures in chasing that more dramatic sort of life.
Revy, with all the hints of her horrible childhood, I'm guessing quite likely was sexually active from a younger age, and quite possibly not under the best circumstances; it wouldn't surprise me if she's had at least some unhappy runins with non-con/dub-con situations, especially before she picked up her gun skills, and we know that she's done sex work; the way she looks, and the places she's lived and worked, encounters with skeezy guys would be inevitable, and judging by how blase she was around Chaka, or the strip-club boss, she's experienced enough of that sort to be pretty blase about dealing with them.
I'm not sure if I can see her involved in actual prostitution rather than just the live BDSM shows that have been mentioned in canon, but her will to survive at any cost is strong enough that I wouldn't totally discount the possibility; if she were in a place where it was her only option, she'd definitely do it. I'm not getting any real sense that she's been in love before: emotional intimacy is I think something she'd be vastly warier of than physical closeness. I don't think she has a lot of body-image issues in general, she clearly has no problem running about in very skimpy gear or even being seen in her underwear; any insecurities there I'm thinking would be most likely to crop up only in the context where she's starting to develop an emotional attachment, and it would be more of an outgrowth of general insecurity about her self-worth and shady background -- like with those hints of jealousy around Yukio, I'd see potential issues there being less that Yukio was younger and conventionally pretty, and more that her lack of physical scars, conventionally feminine appearance and mannerisms, etc., all reflect a sort of good-girl innocence that Revy has never had -- so it'd be less "crap, she's so pretty and I'm not" and more "if this is the sort of sweet-and-innocent milquetoast girl he likes, I don't stand a chance".
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So, going from the generalities to Rock/Revy specifics...while I think in general she'd have no trouble bluntly going after some guy she fancies for a quick tumble, the whole fear-of-emotional intimacy could make her a lot more twitchy and nervous here than she generally is. She already thinks Rock knows her well enough to see through some of her acts, and I think she has him up on a bit of a pedestal as a Nice Guy who's maybe a little too nice for a amoral, soiled guttersnipe like her, all of which might make her a little reluctant to go for her usual "You. Me. Bed. NOW." approach. And Rock in turn I think is still struggling with some of his lingering Nice Guy Who Plays By The Rules programming, which would make it tricky for him to take that final step of openly expressing interest in a friend and coworker. This is the big hurdle I have trouble plotting past in my head, something has to give one or both of them a push; Revy in particular I think could throw all caution to the winds if she just got the right hint of encouragement, and we've seen time and again already how Rock's more bold and impulsive streak comes to the surface when faced with a challenge; it's just a matter of who gets triggered, and how, but once that trigger is set off I think it could be very much sparks on dry tinder; lots of room for second thoughts and emotional insecurities flaring up again later, but instant conflagration for now. And they really seem like a wonderfully volatile pairing IMO because Revy's bluntness and aggression could bring out a more forceful, passionate or even flat-out kinky side that Rock might have been afraid to ever express before, while at the same time he's still enough of a nice guy that he'd also be bringing in a level of tenderness that she's probably not at all accustomed to; not to mention the unaccustomed emotional charge of intimacy and vulnerability in sleeping with someone she actually has feelings for, and who cares for her, even if neither of them has come out and said anything about it. I definitely don't see her being one to have an easy time verbally expressing love rather than lust, and while Rock seems like the one who'd have an easier time talking about his feelings, I can picture her even freaking out a little just from having the big scary unspoken laid out on the table like that...
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I definitely thing that Rock's love life was rather by-the-book -high school or college sweetheart, one or two relationships afterwards, both of which ended before marriage could really be called into question.
Revy, with all the hints of her horrible childhood, I'm guessing quite likely was sexually active from a younger age, and quite possibly not under the best circumstances; it wouldn't surprise me if she's had at least some unhappy runins with non-con/dub-con situations
So very much word. I think Revy has a had a lot of really ugly relationships/sexual interactions. Part of the reason that I don't think she's done straight up prostitution is that she seem a little... too raw for it. Like, I don't think she'd quite detached enough. She might have done it once or twice when she really, really had to, but I highly doubt it was a regular thing in any way.
any insecurities there I'm thinking would be most likely to crop up only in the context where she's starting to develop an emotional attachment, and it would be more of an outgrowth of general insecurity about her self-worth and shady background -- like with those hints of jealousy around Yukio, I'd see potential issues there being less that Yukio was younger and conventionally pretty, and more that her lack of physical scars, conventionally feminine appearance and mannerisms, etc., all reflect a sort of good-girl innocence that Revy has never had -- so it'd be less "crap, she's so pretty and I'm not" and more "if this is the sort of sweet-and-innocent milquetoast girl he likes, I don't stand a chance".
Agreed. Honestly, body issues is one things I DON'T think Revy would have any trouble with. It would be much more issues with her personality and history and scars (emotional, mental, and physical).
So, going from the generalities to Rock/Revy specifics...while I think in general she'd have no trouble bluntly going after some guy she fancies for a quick tumble, the whole fear-of-emotional intimacy could make her a lot more twitchy and nervous here than she generally is.
Agreed. I can totally see her hanging Anko-esque pick up skills when she's just in the mood for a quick fuck, but I think Rock would throw her for enough of a loop that I can't quite see her be the aggressor.
This is the big hurdle I have trouble plotting past in my head, something has to give one or both of them a push; Revy in particular I think could throw all caution to the winds if she just got the right hint of encouragement, and we've seen time and again already how Rock's more bold and impulsive streak comes to the surface when faced with a challenge; it's just a matter of who gets triggered, and how
*nods* And that's the hardest part of it - figuring how where to push them and with what.
while Rock seems like the one who'd have an easier time talking about his feelings, I can picture her even freaking out a little just from having the big scary unspoken laid out on the table like that...
Oh, certainly. Actually, Revy's freak-out when/if Rock ever said 'I love you' would be pretty damn epic.
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Yeah, he seems to have been so alienated and emotionally disconnected from everything else in his past life -- family, schooling, job -- that I tend to imagine his romantic life would be more of the same; things would just sort of fizzle out before they ever got really serious. No huge blowups or infidelities or anything, just more of a vague mutual ennui eventually leading to a "you know, this isn't really working, let's just be friends" deal; ending not with a bang nor a whimper, but more of a resigned shrug.
I think Rock would throw her for enough of a loop that I can't quite see her be the aggressor.
Or at the very least, definitely not in her usual style. I can maybe see her going after him if he gives some initial sign that he's interested, and maybe there's the right mix of circumstances -- drunk off their asses, buzzed on adrenaline and/or endorphins from a particularly close call or injury, whatever, something to lower her inhibitions enough to get past the hurdle of the vulnerability of making a move on someone she actually gives a damn about, and doesn't want to lose as a friend. But just in a more everyday sort of situation and dead-sober, I can't see it. She's already softened up so much around him, even compared to how she acts around the handful of other people she likes and treats as friends, even if she might never use the word herself. And I'd think that closeness and exposure of a vulnerable softer side has got to be scary and unprecedented enough for her that she would be intensely wary of taking things any further and fucking it all up beyond repair.
Actually, Revy's freak-out when/if Rock ever said 'I love you' would be pretty damn epic.
Ooooh yeah, especially since we've seen the one thing he won't tolerate is her being a coward about her feelings...
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Yep, yep.
Ooooh yeah, especially since we've seen the one thing he won't tolerate is her being a coward about her feelings...
There could be tie-loosening. *rarw*
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Bwah, great minds do think alike! XD I just can't decide which image is yummier, Rock doing his usual tie-comes-off-this-means-I'm-SERIOUS thing, or Revy ripping the tie off him or using it as a handle.
Not to mention a little light necktie bondage...yum!no subject
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