#uni done time for yaoi analysis

[rubyreadd]

i was litcherally gonna ask u if uve read paint a pretty picture b4 goes absolutely crazy i feel like u know how in period romance esp arranged marriage stuff theres always this tug of war between the love interest having absolute power over the mc but also the fact the mc loves them anyways sort of like beauty and the beast i think that for sebmark that type of story almost takes the external professional difference between them and folds it into an interpersonal power dynamic which makes for great writing i think also abo has maybe 2 purposes to me 1-insane kinky sex 2-making a man experience misogyny and by god is mark my favorite sad lil man to see put in a situation

HELLO!! I am so so sorry it's taken me weeks to answer your ask, but now that I have my pesky academics out of the way I can fully commit myself to yaoi.

You're entirely correct about the power dynamics! One of my favourite facets of martian is it's a relationship built on the uneven distribution of power levelled in Sebastian's favour. Which is unusual for age gap relationships, but what makes martian so compelling to me. Seb is Red Bull's golden boy, the youngest ever F1 world champion, Michael Schumacher's successor; an indelible part of F1 history and culture.

Mark too is an influential figure in F1, but much of that, and especially the years he spent competing, is coloured by his relationship with Sebastian. Which puts Mark on the back foot in terms of defining his legacy as it's own entity, denying him power of this aspect of his personhood.

In the context of the omegaverse these power dynamics are further magnified by Sebastian also being an alpha, because not only is Mark at the mercy Red Bull polticking but also his own biology and the expectation and value placed upon it. Especially because Sebastian is this luminous Wunderkind alpha flush with charm and verve and Mark is an unmated omega who is too stubborn and too old and too tall to really be desirable, professionally and otherwise.

This is what becomes the crux of the power differential in Mark's and Sebastian's relationship. Sebastian is what he made of himself. Mark is what was left over.

Of course though this will all be made so much worse by them having sex about it. Drawn together by the intimacy of competition and primal compatibility Sebastian is going to show Mark just how much and what kind of verve he really has.

I also have fairly extensive lore on how Mark would handle being an omega, but I have another ask in my drafts where I'm writing out all those thoughts out in detail so I shall save the omega Mark character analysis for that.