#*sexuality

But like. Contrary to what the wording suggests, there was no ONE point in history in which queerness suddenly became unacceptable and was censored everywhere. That’s not how history works. Leaving aside the fact that making generalizations about locations ALL OVER THE WORLD, over a very vast and poorly defined period of time, is never going to yield a solid argument, whether or not a given piece of literature was “acceptable” or “normal” in its portrayal of queerness is heavily context dependent, and how it’s received is going to go through cycles. People have been denying the queerness of Sappho’s poetry since antiquity! Certainly one would expect the nature of that denial to shift depending on the era, but using that as an example of something that was considered “normal” at its time is just misleading.

(Which, relatedly.... so many posts about how queerness was universally accepted in The Past seem to completely ignore misogyny and patriarchy. “Oh, it was totally fine and expected to express attraction to your own gender” I mean sure, to a degree.... for men. For M E N. f/f relationships were often perceived and treated very differently.)

Every single era in which something is published has varying and often contradictory ideas about sexuality and gender and relationships. And the way in which those elements of a given work are construed is very dependent on context and specific audience. (Because, you know, the past is not a monolithic entity, but rather populated by many diverse people and organized according to many complex institutions.) Like, just looking at Western society now - narratives about what queerness /is/, and what it means, and whether or not or under what circumstances it’s acceptable, are so, so different depending on where you are, what you’re talking about, and what subcultures you’re interacting with! I don’t know why people expect historical periods and locations to be any different! Like, in the English Renaissance, for example - attitudes towards homosexuality were actually very complicated! It’s not just something that can be distilled into “it was accepted” or “it was condemned.” (I mean, what do we even mean by “acceptance”? How are we even constructing relationships and personal identity under this model? This all has to be teased out.)

I feel I’m not being very coherent, but basically - treating the past as some sort of amorphous blob in which queerness was totally normal and accepted right up until it wasn’t, at which point everything was censored and completely unacceptable, is inaccurate and does a disservice both to the censorship that happened in antiquity and after AND to the ways in which people were able to express those sorts of feelings even in the face of repression. Good day!

      one of Jack’s most consistent traits is possessing a blind spot when it comes to judging character, and altogether being too trusting for his own good -- although in Christophe’s case I really don’t think any blame should be put on Jack whatsoever since he is so clearly the victim of what goes on to happen. Christophe is narcissistic and sociopathic; he presented himself in a positive light and had the entire Cove fooled as to his true intentions but, as Jack was closest to him, he suffered the most for it. as Crispin says about them both: 

      With his strained relationship with Teague, Jack was hungry for approval and affirmation. Christophe appeared to the young Jack to be everything he admired -- wealthy, good sailing skills, excellent swordsman, well-dressed, good teeth, handsome and debonair. And Christophe, like most sociopaths, was looking for someone he could impress and ensnare, then victimize and abuse.

      [...] Christophe was Jack's buddy, obviously currying his favor and enjoying his company and the bit of hero-worship. That would suit a narcissist just fine, to have a smart, savvy young man like Jack tagging along as his sidekick in Shipwreck Cove. [x]

      whispers think Gaston and Lefou okay. now whether or not Crispin intended for subtext to be read into their exchanges of Jack ‘crushing’ on his best friend is debatable and probably unlikely, but given the sheer amount of references that we get from Jack’s POV concerning Christophe’s appearance and what we know about Jack being sexually ambiguous and attracted to both men and women, I don’t think it’s much of a leap to make the connection ( even despite the age gap ). also, with how blinded Jack is to Christophe’s faults -- that even after hearing about his appalling behaviour towards Marie and witnessing his pushiness with Esmeralda he still stands by his friend and refuses to believe that he would be capable of being a rogue pirate. this also speaks to just how loyal Jack can be ( and how much his loyalty has been used and abused over the years ), but that’s another topic entirely. as I said in that post, I don’t believe Jack was aware of exactly what he felt for Christophe -- whether it was a desire for a close friendship or more than that, whether he wanted to be Christophe or be with him -- but he certainly felt hurt enough after the man’s betrayal to be incredibly angry at him for it -- and angry at himself, too. 

       I continue to go back and forth on whether this confusion over his feelings for Christophe may have translated into a confusion in regards to his sexuality at that point in his life ( though I personally doubt it -- I think he may have been more confused over his romantic feelings rather than sexual feelings ), I’ve also noticed that Christophe absolutely fits Jack’s type when it comes to men ( aside from the sociopath thing lmfaoo ). he’s witty, charming, cocky, debonair and, while those are all traits that also apply to Jack, they are traits in guys that tend to appeal to Jack as well. so there’s a pattern here that fits. and Christophe’s subsequent betrayal only adds weight to Jack’s intense distrust of the male sex as a whole, too. Jack is bisexual but, while he absolutely adores women, he is hugely distrustful of men and you largely have the mutiny to thank for that.

      so, with this in mind, under the assumption that Jack would have been crushing on both Christophe and Esmeralda during the Shipwreck chapters of TPOF ( however unconscious that might have been in regard to Christophe ), Christophe’s decision to force himself in on his and Esmeralda’s meetings would have been incredibly confusing and difficult and isolating for Jack tbh. like I often wonder what Christophe’s motivations were for doing so and, while it’s obvious that part of it was simply his desire to seduce Esmeralda, I think another aspect of it could well have been to further control and isolate Jack in a more passive-aggressive way -- since it has always seemed to me to be very passive-aggressive. 

black:  does  your  muse  have  a  ‘bucket list?’ ,  some  things  your  muse  wants  to  accomplish  before  they  die.

       haha.      marcus  has  been  ready  to  die  for  over  2000  years  now.  there  is  nothing  he  still  wants  to  do  except  to  finally  fall  into  ashes. 

silk:  does  your  muse  care  about  appearances  much?  do  they  spend  a  lot  of  time  on  their  own  appearance,  or  do  they  just  go  with  the  flow  each  day?

yes-ish.  I  don’t  really  agree  with  what  the  movies  (not  sure  about  what  the  books  said?)  gave  us  when  it  comes  to  his  clothing  style.  they  really  wanted  to  emphasize  that  he  completely  gave  up  on  looking  presentable.  and  while  I  can  agree  with  the  fact  that  he  cares  less  about  his  own  appearance,  he  still  wouldn’t  greet  guests  in  his  pjs.  before  the  whole  didyme  fiasco  and  in  his  human  verses,  marcus  was  extremely  neat  when  it  comes  to  his  wardrobe.  would  dress  very  elegant  and  classic,  care  for  his  hair  and  beard.  he  wouldn’t  get  manicures  but  still  makes  sure  his  hands  and  nails  are  clean  and  neatly  cut.  as  he  fell  into  depression  after  losing  his  wife,  he  slightly  gave  up  on  many  of  those  strict  clothing  rules  he  gave  himself,  but  he  would  still  been  keen  to  dress  appropriate,  to  brush  his  hair  every  once  in  a  while.  you  know,  the  small  things.  in  his  human  verses  you  probably  won’t  notice  any  difference  in  his  appearance  unless  you’re  either  really  close  to  him  or  pay  incredibly  close  attention  to  it.  because  he  has  a  rather  public  job  and  tries  to  perform  well  no  matter  his  mental  state,  marcus  would  be  forced  to  look  presentable.  only  little  things  would  show  the  chaos  behind  closed  door.  a  shirt  might  be  a  little  wrinkled,  you  might  find  a  small  stain  somewhere,  the  color  of  his  suit  might  not  perfectly  fit  with  the  one  of  his  shoes  or  maybe  he  missed  an  appointment  at  the  hair  dresser  and  now  his  hair  is  a  little  longer  than  how  he  likes  it.  little  things.  

baby  blossoms:  does  your  muse  have  a  favorite  scent?  what  is  it,  and  why?

not  really  to  be  honest?  it’s  nothing  he  cares  much  for?  of  course,  all  of  his  senses  got  enhanced  after  being  changed  but  olfaction  just  wasn’t  too  important  to  him.  he  values  audition  so  much  more.  he  despises  complete  silence,  it  makes  him  uncomfortable,  itchy  even.  there  always  has  to  be  some  kind  of  noise  around  him.  but  weird  smells  around  him?  whatever.  

raspberry:  what  food  and/or  drink  can  your  muse  not  get  enough  of?  do  they  indulge  in  it  often,  or  is  it  something  reserved  for  special  occasions?

even  though  I  chose  to  give  a  fuck  about  the  twilight  mythology,  and  my  marcus  can  consume  regular  food,  he  still  rarely  does?  he  isn’t  a  big  foody  in  his  human  verses  either.  food  just  isn’t  something  he  gives  much  thought  to?  however,  in  those  verses  he  cherishes  great  drinks.  he  loves  to  drink  expensive  wines  and  but  also  harder  liquors.  and  he  would  keep  them  for  special  occasions,  simply  because  they  are  too  expensive  to  have  a  whole  bottle  every  night.  once  he  would  slip  more  into  alcoholism  later  on  in  his  life,  he  began  to  buy  cheaper  liquors  because  even  completely  drunk  it  would  still  hurt  his  soul  if  he  would  just  down  those  special  bottles  in  one  go.  

coral:  what  is  your  muse’s  romantic  and  sexual  orientations?

I’ve  probably  talked  way  too  much  about  this  already,  maybe  because  it’s  not  a  very  simple  topic  (  ..?  )    but  here  we  go:  he  is  definitely  somewhere  on  the  asexual  spectrum.  lately,  I  think  he  could  be  seen  as  aromantic,  simply  because  it  can  be  defined  as  “experiences  little  or  no  romantic  attraction  to  others”  which  is  the  case  for  him  if  you  think  about  it?  he  has  been  alive  for  3.000  years  yet  only  fallen  in  love  with  /  felt  attracted  to  one  person.  of  course  his  grief  had  a  big  influence  on  him  potentially  falling  for  someone  else,  but  still.  so  yeah,  right  now  you  could  see  him  as  aromantic  and  demi-sexual.  though  he  wouldn’t  label  himself  that  way,  he  probably  wouldn’t  label  himself  at  all.  so  while  relationships  of  any  kind  dominate  his  life  through  his  gift,  marcus  isn’t  too  focused  on  his  own  relationship.  he  had  never  been  looking  for  a  potential  partner  and  had  he  not  meet  didyme  maybe  he  wouldn’t  have  dated  anyone  until  now.  furthermore  he  is  not  really  sexual,  hence  the  demi-sexual  part.  it  can  become  a  part  of  his  relationships  as  it  did  with  didyme,  but  he  needs  an  incredibly  close  emotional  connection  to  even  want  to  have  sex  with  someone.  it  also  include  him  not  flirting  at  all  or  speaking  of  any  kind  of  sexual  topics.  

malachite:  has  your  muse  ever  done  anything  that  they  winded  up  feeling  incredibly  guilty  for  in  the  end?

oh  yes.  I  touched  upon  it  a  little  in  a  previous  post  but  marcus  definitely  felt  guilty  for  leaving  behind  his  human  family.  I  mean  his  wife  had  already  passed,  his  sisters  had  been  married  off  and  his  family  was  rich  so  it  wasn’t  a  financial  problem  that  they  had  lost  him.  but  his  disappearance  made  his  son  an  orphan,  he  could  stay  with  his  aunts  but  still  lost  both  mother  and  father  extremely  early  in  his  life.  and  of  course  he  left  his  family  without  an  explanation.  they  never  found  his  body  or  a  letter  explaining  why  he  would  leave. 

champagne:  does  your  muse  drink  (alcohol)?  are  they  a  heavy  drinker,  if  so?

I mean, I figured it’d be take a nap with anyway, considering you’re ace