LAST EDITED ON Jan-31-02 AT 00:44 AM (EST)

>...or perhaps not so crypto.

Ah, right. You're the guy who reads too much into everything.

>Not that I'm narrow-mindedly objecting to alternative lifestyles
>chosen by fictional characters, just... (1) Why? Is there any
>particular *reason* EPU decided to make (mostly female) homo-
>and bisexuality a major theme at this time?

Ummmmmmmmmm... well... three of the characters you mention brought it with them as part of their canonical design...

(You know, it's funny... ever since I started plotting this series and realized the distribution of sexual preferences, I knew it would be only a matter of time before the first "D00D, what's with all the lesbians?!" post. I didn't expect it to be couched in pseudo-critical gobbledegook about "crypto-(foo) subtext" though. Shows you I should learn to expect more from my readers. :)

>No, *this* is where I will be narrow-minded and object: (2)
>Most of these characters having sex are *teenagers*, well under
>the age of 18.

... And? In my home state, the age of consent is 14. Or it was when I was of an age to give a damn about it, anyway.

>I nonetheless carry
>this silly old-fashioned notion that fiction should *set an
>example*.

Yeah? Then how about looking at the conditions under which most (if not all) of the sexual relationships in SOS are occurring. Look at the respect and trust that exist between the partners. Look at the care that's taken to avoid hurting people. Look at, in short, the maturity of the characters involved, rather than an arbitrary, artificial, useless guideline like calendar age.

><uncle>ONE MORE THING!</uncle> --I have another objection, an
>idiosyncracy you could call it, against: (3) Sex in the stories I
>read: specifically, anything describing before, after, and especially
>-- and thank the Muses that EPU doesn't do *this* -- during.
>(I can name SF pro-authors who are horrible horrible offenders.) By
>the end of "SoS2:7:Ceremony & Celebration", Kate and Juri have
>apparently consummated their relationship. That just creeps me out.

Then piss off! For Christ's sake, I didn't hold you down and force you to read it, Bucky. Sexuality is an important part of life, and to omit "anything describing before, after, and... during [sexual activity]" is to leave out a major component of what makes these people who and what they are. I'm not saying they're defined entirely by their sex lives, any more than they're defined entirely by what subjects they study or what hobbies they have - but it's as important as either of those.

If it bothers you that much, then you're in the wrong aisle. Don't complain to me, because I don't intend to change the way I do things in order to accommodate your puritanical squeamishness.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/