>...or perhaps not so crypto.

Erm... crypto? Subtext?

No, it's not hidden. And it's not subtext -- it's right out in the open. Sheesh.

>Kaitlyn and Juri.

Juri's an established lesbian in the source material. I've only seen the movie and I know this. (In the movie Shiori seems to reciprocate, unless I'm reading it wrong.) Kaitlyn is an established bisexual who hasn't met very many men lately who have rung her bells. The last one who came close annihilated her trust and deserves to be fed to the Sarlacc. (Not that I want to have one more word concerning M*ke C*rp*nt*r ever to appear in another Eyrie story.)

> Utena and Anthy.

A canonical relationship. Also, Utena is straight, except for Anthy.

> Amanda and her bodyguard.

This has more to do with the Dessler-Dragonaar thing than the gender thing. It's made pretty clear that all pairs concerned tend to be intimate, and Gamilons have a completely different set of sexual mores anyway.

> Azalynn and Liza.

With all due respect to Azalynn, she falls into the "if it's got two legs then it's fair game" philosophy (with the consensual rider, of course). As for Liza... well, spend some time with daughters of rich families. Her behavior is downright <i>chaste</i> compared to some of what I've heard about.

> The Centauri guy.

He's not a lesbian.

> And the scene in SoS1 (Paris IIRC) when
>Kate sees the "Roman-nosed" lady and the Nebari girl (and I think, "Uh
>oh, Farscape!" and then reflexively panic "NOOO! Aeryn and Chiana
>can't be lesbians! John will be devastated!" and then attempt to relax
>and tell myself that of course it's not *them* in particular --
>right?).

The purpose of that has more to do with establishing the differences between Cephiro and modern Midgard human culture in regards to sexual mores.

>Not that I'm narrow-mindedly objecting to alternative lifestyles
>chosen by fictional characters, just...

You're not making a good case for this.

> (1) Why? Is there any
>particular *reason* EPU decided to make (mostly female) homo-
>and bisexuality a major theme at this time?

Theme? No, I think emerging sexuality and the importance of love in all its forms in general are the themes. Devlin is, erm, trio'ed up with Rina and Amanda; Kaitlyn and Utena both have their respective... traumas to deal with; Corwin is learning about the emotional half of it, etc. Miki and Dorothy are a heterosexual couple. So are Wakaba and Saionji (and I suspect their sex life is rather conventional, honestly).

>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 unmarried, to boot.

...Your point?

> --Yes yes, I know real-world
>US statistics indicate kids as young as 12 are engaging in carnal
>relations, and there's precedent in anime, but I nonetheless carry
>this silly old-fashioned notion that fiction should *set an
>example*.

Well, as soon as I start piloting mecha and making FTL hops to neighboring star systems, I'll be sure to look to space opera fanfiction for an example of sexual mores. Christ.

><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.

Then don't read it. Simple as that.

-- Sean --
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
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