(no subject)

[tammaiya]

Okay, this is the lamest most pointless post ever, but this is one of those things that has idly bugged me for YEARS, and I am gonna ask while I still goddamn remember.

Has anyone ever had to break off a kiss in the name of oxygen? I mean, do you need to break for air? Because that happens in fic ALL THE TIME, okay, and it makes no sense to me. It's not like I haven't got ample personal experience, here, and I personally have never needed to. Breathing is what my NOSE is for. Unless it's blocked, in which case I don't particularly feel like kissing anyone.

So, tell me. DOES THIS ACTUALLY HAPPEN? Inquiring minds want to know!

Comments

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I'm just like you on this. And I've seen other people make the same observation. Maybe it's only :
1/ writers who never kissed (not that likely)
2/ sorta confusing with the panting you do when you're aroused?

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Yes, I considered 1, but given how widespread it is in fic I decided it was fairly unlikely. And I'm really not sure; the way it's described it's always, you know, driving need for oxygen etc. Maybe it's just one of those things that changes from person to person...

[mefiant.livejournal.com]

Iiii am not a fan of heavy tongue kissing, which I imagine blocks off the air supply a lot more. Howevarrr, in intense situations I have had to pull away for air? Possibly more of a psychological thing, coupled with the fact that breathing just through my nose doesn't seem to get me enough air in any circumstances. God that makes me sound like a nerd. 8)

Dude, if Seishirou made out with me I would need to take a break to hyperventilate. XD

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Even tongue kissing hasn't blocked off my air supply, but maybe it just IS easier for some people to breathe through their nose automatically. Because I guess you're not really going to be thinking about HOW to breathe if it's that intense a kiss, so if it's not natural to breathe through your nose maybe breaking for air is something you do. Or... something.

You might be right about the psychological thing, too. Hm.

[mefiant.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of allergies, so I guess that explains me away. 8)

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Probably so! *g*

[choffman.livejournal.com]

The only time I've ever had to "break for air" so to speak, was if I'd already been breathing pretty hard.

In other words, havin' teh sexx0rz is likely to do this to me, but I personally don't get that excited just by kissing someone. You'd have to be pretty lame to get all breathless just from sucking some face in my book, as I honestly don't find kissing to be very enjoyable to begin with. And I know the number of people who agree with me is pretty vast.

Conclusion: if you routinely write characters having to break for air when kissing they'd better be lame little virgins just like you. ;P

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to say I never use it in fic because... it just doesn't ring true for me. And maybe it does for some people, but they say to write what you know, and, I mean, I'm already going far afield enough from that by writing slash, so I personally prefer to heed that advice when it's a more universal experience like kissing or whatever. Plus I tend to stare suspiciously at a fic whenever that kind of thing is said and stop to ponder if it's actually POSSIBLE. I don't have any desire to throw my own readers out of the narrative like that.

[miscellanny.livejournal.com]

I was pondering the exact same question the other day. It's not happened to me...

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Dude, I know! It's just, you know. One of those things that I've been wondering on and off for YEARS now. And finally I could not take not asking any more.

Fiction writing and human... anatomy? sexuality? are all such odd things.

[kurushi.livejournal.com]

I've had to break for air every spring; perhaps all fic writers have allergies?

occasionally, I pull back for strategic positioning purposes, but that's hardly the same.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean, it's not like I never break kisses, but it's not for air. I've broken kisses so I can laugh, before, when something insanely stupid happened... but not just to breathe. XD

[nextian.livejournal.com]

I do. I mean, clearly I am lame, or have extremely epic kisses, or something, but after a couple of solid minutes psychologically my brain goes MORE AIR NOW and I have to break. *shame*

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well at least now I know that this isn't just some mass hallucinogenic trip by all fic writers everywhere? XD That's interesting, thanks. ♥

[kurushi.livejournal.com]

Hmm... perhaps it's just because "and he wiggled his tongue around" can only extend a kissing scene so far...

[link621.livejournal.com]

I tend to agree that it's more psychological, if it happens at all - it's more like "needing a breather" than "needing to breathe." Unless, of course, you have trouble breathing through your nose for some reason or another. I have experienced that moment where my brain says, "okay, now you stop."

Either way, it does facinate me how it has spread like wildfire through ficdom.

[calindy.livejournal.com]

I am/was a swimmer - and don't have trouble with the whole breathing through my nose continuously and without problems thing, but my partner-in-crime did have trouble initially. I think for some people they actually have to think about it/practice otherwise they find themselves coming up for air?