Okay, just one quick fic question...

[trinityofone]

...and then I am showering going to the library, I swear.

On the left you have: ages where you make up elaborate fantasy stories in your head and play pretend and run around thwacking your friends with sticks.

On the right you have: ages where you're starting to feel the first stirrings of sexual awakening, (mostly) innocent and vague, yes, but there.

In the wacky Venn diagram that is this story, where do those two circles intersect? How old are you?

Remember: also, you are a boy.

I was going to say 12, because at 12 I think I was still semi-convinced that I could still find the wardrobe to Narnia, but also I was crushing on Harrison Ford like mad and cutting his picture out of magazines and stuff.

Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts.

(And sticks are still TOTALLY the best toys ever, OMG.)

Comments

[randomeliza.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely say 12 - just before my first real kiss, but old enough to want in that kind of vague way. And I have never stopped believing, at least partially, that at some point I will find a portal to someplace better, preferably with dancing penguins and a handsome prince with a cool sword. (I never read the Narnia books.) But I seem to remember my guy friends being all, "Ew, girls!" at age ten, but by age 12 they were trying to look down my shirt. So that sounds about right.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Yes, but if AU John and Rodney have a first fumbly mostly-very-innocent kiss at 12 in the same story in which they're also chasing imaginary dragons through the woods, is that icky or kind of sweet? *so confusèd*

I have never stopped believing, at least partially, that at some point I will find a portal to someplace better, preferably with dancing penguins and a handsome prince with a cool sword.

Sigh. I still kind of believe it, too. Or at least, I exist in a state of perpetual disappointment that it has NOT happened.

[randomeliza.livejournal.com]

It'd be icky any earlier than 12. But 12 makes sense, and is kind of sweet. Any earlier than 12 it'd be a little, "Um, how old are they supposed to be?"

It'll happen yet. You live in Ireland - people get taken by the fairies all the time, don't they? *cough*

[siria]

More often than you'd think.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Boys grow up slower than girls, but there were always some boys (especially the better looking ones) who seemed to be precocious. The trick is dealing with one boy who's more sexually aware than the other one.

Let's see... in the real life My First Time gay stories book I have... hmm... the very youngest seem to be 12, but 13-16 is by far the most common age for first time experiences with sex. There's almost no instances of kissing for boys under 15. In fact, I can't find a single one.

The later first time stories (age 15-22) tended to have kissing, just not the ones with younger kids.

Most of them seemed to involve skinny dipping or other excuses to look at each other naked, rolling around in barns or on camping trips and showing each other their dicks, which devolves to watching eachother as they stroke their (own) dicks. They don't seem to count it as anything that crosses the line until they touch eachother's cocks.

Icarus

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not totally sold on the kiss. At this point, I'm pretty much waiting to see how the scene plays out--mostly there's just talking so far, as Rodney, unsurprisingly, will not shut up. ;-) But I'm gonna try not to force it, and hopefully just go with whatever seems natural. There is actually supposed to be some rolling around in a barn at some point. *g*

The trick is dealing with one boy who's more sexually aware than the other one.

How do you mean? Because that is, kind of, what the situation is; I can't seem to get John and Rodney to stop playing Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. Anyway, if you feel like elaborating further, that'd be cool. Thanks!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The nice thing about young boys is that one of them will take the lead and just flat out suggest something. If the other one doesn't want to go along with it, he'll look openly disappointed, or argue for his good idea ("my brother does it" "you're chicken"). If the one is sexually mature enough to realize where this is headed he'll try something subtle.

'Subtle' at that age is suggesting some sort of game, like strip poker, complete with some beer they steal from dad's fridge. Which turns the whole thing into an adventure of James Bond proportions.

If he doesn't realize where the sort of play he has in mind could lead (which happens, he just has as a starting point that he wants a look), he'll probably say something direct like "I can shoot farther than you" "What do you mean, guns?" (withering look) "No." Then ends up teasing the hell out of his friend because he hasn't discovered masturbation. "That's not fair! I have an older sister."

99.9999999% of the time the less mature of the two goes along with ideas that he doesn't quite comprehend because he doesn't want to look uncool or slow down the game to ask questions. So they get pretty far along, pretty fast. Very often watching each other masturbate, which moves into mutual masturbation (either over time or in one afternoon). If one of them has seen a dirty movie or magazine they might try a blowjob, but something has to put the idea in their head. An initial attempt at anal sex is extremely rare, and usually when one is much other than the other or is exposed to a lot of sexual input (such as spending a lot of time at the Y).

What's surprising is how often two boys can meet that day and get sexually involved. They can splash each other in the public pool all afternoon then beg their parents to play longer. Kids make friends like that. *snaps fingers* Then one will suggest "Hey, I know someplace where we can go...." and they end up sun-bathing in the nude. "So no tan lines!"
"I'm going to get sun-burned."
"You're too white, especially your ass."
"Shut up about my ass."
"If you let yourself get some sun, you wouldn't get sun-burned." (says the kid ignorant of different skin-types who only knows how he burns).
"Really?"

The kids are so blunt, one will point out "You're hard."
"Shut up, I can't help it."

The nifty thing about age 12/13 is that they don't seem to freak out, especially in the late 70s' suburbia. The idea of being 'gay' was not really part of popular culture so most kids were fairly innocent and didn't know a whole hell of a lot about it. It's a joke that's tossed around but they don't really have any idea what it means beyond someone acting feminine (yes, that ignorant, I'm fortunate to be Rodney's age). They know enough not to tell anyone, and just assume that they're not gay because they're not any different from the way they were before.

Isn't one of them a little older than the other? Because that's a huge difference at that age and the usual pattern is the slightly older one initiates the slightly younger (even if neither one knows very much).

Hey, I hope this flood of information helps. Can't wait to read the story.

Icarus