DEADLINE open thread. Have a party.

I wondered too.

Even though incest in fiction is generally a squick for me (consensual or not; hell, consensually together stepsiblings have been a squick for me) somehow Shaun and Georgia aren't.

Yep! That's how I see it, since they were obviously from two different sets of parents, and were six weeks apart -- RL twins occasionally have birth delays, but not SIX WEEKS.

On the first read, I had my suspicions they were a couple.

On the second, they were firmed up, so seeing it confirmed here -- very gratifying in a weird sort of way.

Poor oblivious Shaun.

Poor clueless Becks who could've had Alaric if she wanted him.

Me too - it was "OK - not the healthiest emotional choice, but then again, NO ONE in these books is entirely emotionally healthy"

Kinda difficult to be emotionally healthy in the Mason household in particular, but in the post Rising world?

Shaun says as much -- crazy has kinda become redefined.

My take on it in Feed was... huh. Well, there's no mention of intimacy with anyone else, no suggestion that would even be possible. So if they're having sex, it's with each other. But that's Not My Business so I'm not gonna worry about it.

From a personal standpoint, I 100% agree.

It bothers me a bit that I had deliberately avoided thinking about a plot-relevant point, though. Gosh, I'm going to have to re-read Feed and look for other blind spots! The horror!

Hmm, I had missed it right up to this thread (no, Shaun using her name didn't clue me in either, I just assumed that Georgia was the closest to him emotionally and he was reacting to Becks as an emotional equivalent). But then Shaun seems to be about the same level of Aspergers as I am in many ways, especially the puzzlement at the reactions of others.

Is it plot-relevant? Not to me, I see plenty of emotional attachments which are stronger than sexual ones, what people do with the plumbing is pretty irrelevant as far as I'm concerned (unless they are wanting to do it with me). The emotional bond between them was the important one as far as I'm concerned.

(Not that it bothers me, I picked up my views on incest from Heinlein, that if there is no danger of genetic problems then there's no harm, and outside that it's no one's business other than the participants.)

It's plot-relevant inasmuch as Shaun and George were (may have been? Condoms were apparently used) fluid-bonded. That is, close enough physical contact for Shaun to maybe become immune because of George; bear in mind that even in people with reservoir conditions, only 2 in 10,000 recover from amplification (according to Kelly, who is kinda suspect...). Is this why Shaun didn't amplify? Hell if I know. There are a lot of possible reasons, but it is plot-relevant. And important tot he characters, with there being a George clone now.

I don't have this huge squick over incest. I volunteered at a zoo while I was in high school, and kinda got over it around the time that I learned we were giving our lemurs contraceptives because otherwise we'd have major breeding stock problems. The incest taboo is 100% cultural, as far as I can tell.

I had managed to miss it too, and I'm not sure how. Maybe because that's one aspect of literature I have a harder time picking up unless it's shoved in my face--which neither Sean nor George did. It's mostly significant to me because a friend of mine was very happy about their relationship with each other and I *think* she thought it was not sexual at all. She's worse than I am about that sort of thing, though.

Hmm, I had missed it right up to this thread (no, Shaun using her name didn't clue me in either, I just assumed that Georgia was the closest to him emotionally and he was reacting to Becks as an emotional equivalent).

Me too! The thought that they were romantically involved had crossed my mind, but I rejected it. Then a friend said, "uhh, no," and I immediately came over to this thread to gape at the answers.

You will probably be pleased to hear that my reaction, after digging through this comment thread, was, "I've got to IMMEDIATELY reread both Feed and Deadline."