#TropeChats Only one bed: I generally like forced proximity tropes, but "only one bed" is frequently about sexual attraction which means as an acespec person I don't always get it or care about it. It works best for me when there are a lot of feelings other than just attraction
@Forestofglory i’m always kinda fascinated by the way bedsharing (or even just roomsharing) has become *so* intimate in modern western culture that we project only one bed trope assumptions into cultures / pasts where bed-sharing happened in all kinds of relationships
@Forestofglory curse of learning too much history is someone tries to only one bed trope Les Mis and I’m like “no no the *real* question here is why any of these characters were expecting to get their own room at the inn in the first place”
@Forestofglory they’re not two to a room being horny, they’re an awkward pile of college boy elbows and knees!
@Satsuma An awkward pile of elbows and knees does sound adorable (when I'm not the one getting elbowed)
@Forestofglory @Satsuma I wish sharing space and beds hadn't been so sexualized by the time I was alive because the time we managed a five or six person cuddle pile on a futon soon after college was really a treasured experience for me.
@Satsuma @Forestofglory But sharing a room when traveling is a normal thing to do also now. ..? I'm sometimes surprised when the juniors are divided in pairs per room and the more senior disciples like lsz and ljy get their own single rooms, but I guess you can easily chalk that up to their high status and wealth.
@Satsuma @Forestofglory really good point!
when I wrote this trope in a canonverse MDZS fic, I specifically pointed out that it was a small bed and the people sharing it were tall and athletic. 😅 not that I’m claiming the fic was particularly accurate, mind you!
@villainousfriend @Forestofglory ha! i do think its reasonable for characters to have feelings about it, even when its something normalized by the culture they’re in—they’ll just be more hmm like how you might write someone overthinking getting to sit next to their crush you know? “I’m getting a lot more out of this proximity than is socially expected and I’m not sure the other person realizes, or if I even WANT them to realize” rather than “ohhh no beds, the most intrinsically horny place that I cannot help but think about fucking in”
@Satsuma @villainousfriend @Forestofglory YES YOU GET IT. Like, "This interaction should be perfectly normal and platonic because of our cultural situation, but my feelings are very much not normal and platonic"!
@lirazel @Satsuma @villainousfriend @Forestofglory Is it culturally authentic though that a very high ranking person would share beds with whoever? I get what you mean but I think it would be something that might happen to regular people, not the big shot cultivators in cql (except rogue cultivator wwx).
@thalassa @Satsuma @villainousfriend @Forestofglory I don't know much about ancient China, but judging based on other societies, I assume that a very high-ranking, rich person might not. But someone like WWX or even Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen? Yeah, they'd probably take what they could get.
@Satsuma @Forestofglory yeah, I agree! What I love about the only-one-bed trope is how inescapably present the other person’s/people’s bodies are: when they roll over, you feel the mattress move; you have to share the covers somehow; you might have to get into an uncomfortable position to accommodate them, or even to stay wedged onto the bed! It’s a great little crucible for any feelings people might have for one another (especially if they end up sleep-deprived).
@villainousfriend @Forestofglory I also feel like we’re due for a slight trope inversion—imagine WWX traveling with LWJ and babbling awkwardly when he realizes Lan money means they’re NOT going to be sleeping with six other strangers who can safely diffuse the sexual tension
@Satsuma @Forestofglory ohhh, that’s fun 😄
@villainousfriend @Forestofglory inns arent supposed to work like this! he thought he was safe!!!
@Satsuma @villainousfriend @Forestofglory I want this so bad!!!
@Satsuma @villainousfriend I love this idea!
@Satsuma @Forestofglory Such a good point!
The Great Bed of Ware, y'all!
@Satsuma @Forestofglory Okay, now I want some historically accurate bed-sharing where you're sharing one giant bed with six other strangers or whatever.
@Forestofglory @lirazel @Satsuma I considered doing that to Song Lan in a different fic and just couldn’t bring myself to be so cruel. 😂
@villainousfriend @lirazel @Forestofglory Song Lan probably has a lot of practice navigating those kinds of situations! But yeah probably the meaner characters to pick on with historical accuracy 😂
@Satsuma @Forestofglory oh that is a GREAT point
@Satsuma I hadn't thought about it that way, but that's a really interesting point!