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I wish I could live a little more Look up to the sky, not just the floor I feel like my life is flashing by And all I can do is watch and cry 

So, some of you who have read my latest Janaya fics probably noticed the explicit consent they give each other. And thank goodness I've only gotten good responses about it so far. It isn't very common in fanfics for characters to ask for and give explicit consent, especially in smut.

I've talked to a writer that basically laughed at me when I said maybe it'd be cool if the characters would actually give each other clear consent. "That's not sexy, it kills the mood" was one excuse, the other being: "The characters know each other and have been together for a while already" ... Yeah, so? Doesn't matter if you've been together for a week, three months or five years. Ask for consent!

Have your characters ask each other for consent! And if you think it isn't sexy, it's probably because you wrote it in a way that isn't super sexy. "Want me to fuck you?" doesn't sound all that sexy, unless it is a certain dynamic and a more lustful scene. But there are so, so many ways for characters to ask each other for consent! Here's some examples:

• "I really want to kiss you" But have the character (A) actually wait for a response from character B! "I want you to kiss me" or "Please do" can be a great way for character B to give consent for character A to kiss them.

• "Is this what you want?" as character A's hand touches closer to a certain spot on character B's body.

• "Can I touch you here?"

• "May I...?" Before kissing, or any sexual actions.

• "Does this feel okay?"

• "Would it be okay if I (...) ?"

• "Are you enjoying this?"

• "Can I/we try (...) ?"

So it is also important for the characters to keep asking each other for consent throughout, because anyone could change their mind at any moment, or just not feel ready for ... (fill in the blanks).

In case of Janaya, with Amaya being deaf, I had to think for a bit how I could best do this, since Amaya doesn't speak. She can read lips, but has to make sure she sees Janai's lips. I did come up with quite a few ideas that could work, also @solitae gave me a great suggestion!

So ways for them (or deaf/non-speaking characters in general) would be slightly different.

• Have the characters agree on a sign or certain tapping pattern (anywhere on the body) that will make clear that they don't want the other to continue.

• If the hands are tied or something like that, they could hold something and drop it to indicate the other needs to stop/not continue any further.

• If they both know sign language, they can still ask each other for consent, but instead of verbal, it will be done with signing.