June 2016

hi!! um, i want to read your fic - i've been v interested in it every time it popped up on my dash - but i was wondering if it would like... be possible for you to go into some detail on the warnings?? specifically, the dubious consent, the incest, and the fact that it's an explicit fic?? because i want to read it v badly but i also don't want to like.. freak, because those are typically the kind of things that put me in a Bad Place, but knowing more could help. thank you either way!!

Hi, anon! I’m happy to help. Here’s some clarification on warnings!

So far, no actual sex has happened in All I Know Are Sad Songs. The explicit rating is for later on, since I’m in the practice of disclosing all aspects of a fic in advance so there are no unpleasant surprises. Eventually, there will be sex scenes. All outright nsfw chapters will be marked as such.

EDIT: Oh shit, I forgot. Dave actually does have a fairly explicit sexual encounter in the first chapter with a woman in a club while both are high.

Karkat in this fic is a 17 year old European prostitute, and he and Dave meet when Dave picks him up while he’s in an especially dark place. No sexual encounter actually happens between them, but the dubious consent warning is there for a biiiit of fully clothed foreplay before Dave backs off. (Consent being dubious because Karkat is underage and paid.)

As for the incest: Dave is very much in love with Rose. Rose is gay, but something happened between them on Rebranding Day when they were both at their darkest point. A major part of the fic is Dave and Rose trying to heal their relationship from that indiscretion. In the fic, they aren’t aware that they’re ectobiological siblings and didn’t grow up together in a sibling sort of relationship. The dynamic is biological incest, rather than emotional incest.

Hope this helps you make up your mind about whether to read or not!

thank you so much!! so there's no incest being cast in a good light or anything? (i guess that would be difficult given they don't know it's incest but i digress). does the sex take place while they're underage? thank you, seriously, i really appreciate it!! i think i'll give it a shot when i'm prepped for some darker content!

Dave’s feelings for Rose are definitely written as being poison to their relationship, and their one stupid encounter together completely wrecks their friendship, at least for now. You’ll have to read to find out if they manage to work through it. They’re also in their mid-thirties when it happens, so well and truly of age!

Glad I could help :) Hope you like the fic!

Dude I love your fic youve got me wrapped around your finger every chapter hurts but i cant stop reading also your blog is gr8 just had to say.

Ahhh, thank you so so much!! I’ve poured so much heart and soul into it that it’s so, so nice to hear things like this! I swear eventually it’ll hurt a little bit less as we move into Part 2!

ive been reading your fic all i know are sad songs, and i really like it, its very well written and its a super interesting concept and i like the way youre going about it,, but like i just can not get over the age difference man. it is super skeeving me out. so i just wanted to know if there is going to be any actual sex scenes between dave and karkat? just so i can like,, idk,, decide if i want to read that. also im just curious about what your reason for making karkat so young was?

would answer this on more in detail if asked off anon, because I don’t want to spoil too much! As it is, I’m going to go into as much detail as I feel comfortable under a cut here, please don’t click unless you’re comfortable with some All I Know Are Sad Songs spoilers!

Yes, there are explicit sex scenes between Dave and Karkat coming up. Even under a cut I don’t want to go into too much detail about how I intend to handle the age difference in this fic, except to say that all chapters where sex things happen will be clearly marked, and both I and Dave are fully aware of the questionable aspects of the relationship. The age difference won’t be glossed over in the story, but will be explored.

As for why I chose to make Karkat so young, there were a few reasons.

The first is that I was inspired by a lot of other AlphaDave/Reincarkat fics out there, almost all of which have this same dynamic of Dave being much older. I liked the feeling of springing off from that point.

The second is that I liked the idea of there being a lot of things that divide Karkat and Dave. This is the same reason I made Karkat non-American. They’re from different cultures, different languages, and different generations, and they still find one another and connect.

Of course, I could have done both of the above without making Karkat seventeen. I made a decision to have him by, by the federal American definition, underage when he and Dave first meet. Part of this is actual plot reasons, which I will get into, dealing with why Karkat exists in this time continuum and universe at all.  But even that, I could have glossed over.

Here is the biggest reason, and it is full of spoilers! So only read the next paragraph if you’re sure you want them!

It was important to me that this version of Dave I’ve written, someone who has chased his morals down the rabbit hole and is basically a piece of shit with all the drugs, the sex, the utter lack of honesty in any aspect of his life, first make a choice that is objectively evil (soliciting an underage prostitute) and then eventually turn it into something objectively good (being strong enough not to do anything with Karkat until Karkat is eighteen.) His relationship with Karkat begins at his absolute darkest moment, the second his life turns a corner where he could become someone like Dave’s Bro, but instead chooses to become a better man and do something more difficult and do something difficult and right. This fic isn’t about the end of the world or the Condesce or even Dave/Karkat. It’s about this man turning a corner and becoming a person worthy of living in a world he realizes that, even doomed, still has joy and goodness in it.