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Caliban, about a woman who meets a hot amphibian.

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He picked up the skirt from around her knees and lifted it over her head.

He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her down gently on the bed.

He sat beside her.

Mrs. Caliban, by Rachel Ingalls

He said, looking at her, Ive never seen.

Men, but not someone like you.

A woman, she whispered, her throat beginning to close up.

The Third Hotel, by Laura van den Berg

He asked, Are you frightened?

But its very strange.

A lot more than strange, she thought.

And then: no, its just the same.

They rolled backwards together on the bed.

Not like that, she said.

Im a bit embarrassed.

What does that mean?

She didnt really know.

What the hell could it mean in such an encounter?

Most of their talk consisted of asking and answering questions.

She asked, Where do you come from?

Does everyone make love so many times in one day?

But maybe theres something about just really committing to that first, sudden, alarming impulse.

For obvious reasons, this scene withMrs.

Calibandid really stick in my mind.

She asks herself if she might be going crazy.

She really has no outlet for the emotions shes feeling, not in her ordinary life.

And Larry needs help because hes escaped from this terrible laboratory that hasaShape of Watervibe.

Unless people have failed them.

We suspect early on that Dorothys husband may be having an affair.

One thing thats moving to me about this is theres this deep loneliness thats being assuaged.

I do think that there is something of particular interest about this trend of women and mer-creatures.

This is an old narrative in a lot of ways, but were getting a new permutation of it.

I wonder if being a hetersoexual man is not a great look at the moment.

Its back to: You dont turn to sea creatures unless the world has failed you.

There is something naturally erotic about it, too.

For some people, of course, water is the most terrifying thing.

But I love how completely mundane Ingallss handling of sex is.

It could be any two people.

But you never actually see the creature, the Babadook, in full.

And so the movie ends up toeing this very interesting line of ambiguity where, as withMrs.

Caliban, we wonder: Is the Babadook a real entity, or is the Babadook psychological?

When you show the monster, it becomes a different narrative.

Its also rather unusual to read sex scenes that feel egalitarian.

That kind of history makes anyone vulnerable in highly specific ways.

Its equally weighted in a way that might make you ask,Where is the trouble?

Where is the friction?

Where is the tension?

and we dont necessarily find that in really tender, super-egalitarian sex.

But I think the friction comes from these two characters creating this new beautiful world together.

The protagonist has shaved her head and theyre covered in hair and so on.

I always approve getting weird in fiction in a variety of ways.

I think about the public, private, and secret self.

But what interests me most as a writer is the secret self.

And to me, sex is often so much about the secret self.

When were in the realm of, What is your kink?

And what are your deepest desires?

And what are your fantasies?

that stuff is coming from an unconscious layer.

Thats part of what makes it erotic, actually.

Too much scrutiny or too much understanding, for me, deadens the sense of eroticism.

When we have a haze, a mystery, we are more erotic.

In this scene inMrs.

Writing about sex is hard, but everything in fiction is hard.

My work tends not to be overflowing with tons and tons of sex.

So when Im reading, I get bored unless its really sexy sex.

Its gotta be super hot, though.