Mutually Beneficial

Mutually Beneficial by Juou no zan (女王のザン) first appeared in issue Issue 92 in 2021.

Creator's Notes

When S2B2 initially made the switch from m/m content with special f/f and all-queer-content issues to all-queer-content-all-the-time, I joked I was only going to write about trans people from now on. This is my third submission in a row with a major trans character, so, you know, it took me a while, but I was only sort of joking!

I love arranged marriage stories. There’s something so satisfying about people building a relationship on purpose and working towards shared goals together. Like, you’ve got to make this work on SOME level, but everything beyond “functional” is up in the air. Plus, there’s kind of a mirror of that tension that comes with crushing on a friend–like no matter what happens here, you’re going to have to stay married, so you better be PRETTY SURE things are going to work out, or that you can at least move past it if it doesn’t.

Not that this story goes into a lot of detail about that part. I wanted to write a t4t story that was positive about PIV sex and pregnancy. It felt like something I didn’t see much, even though I am a trans person who has only had t4t sex that has mostly been PIV (which also puts my sex partners in the same position), so it couldn’t be THAT rare. (Not that there’s anything wrong with not enjoying PIV sex, but often in porn it feels like it’s maybe for the convenience/comfort of the cis characters and/or audience.) I also like to show trans people who do have dysphoria, but it’s mostly social dysphoria, because it has been my experience that it’s a hell of a lot easier to like my own body when I know the other people in the room aren’t going to be weird about it. I think Zodwa and Kabelo both have things about their own bodies they don’t necessarily love or would change if they could, but most of their insecurities come from appearances and the fear of being judged by other people. With each other, they can set aside most of those insecurities and focus on what feels good.

Initially this story had a vague Regency setting in my head, but then I thought, why make a story about white people when you don’t need to, and picked out some more African-flavored names and fashion references. Frankly, it was a lot more fun to look at African mens’ fashion than to draw another European-style suit.

Also I finished this story ages ago, and then took my time with the family portrait at the end, because I knew I had a different story that would fit the “Be Gay Do Crimes” issue way better than this one, which makes this the longest I’ve sat on a S2B2 story after finishing it…at least until December. Because that story is already finished, but is too long to go anywhere but the December issue. Apparently some people write 100k of porn to cope, and I’m some people.