Little Slice of Hell by Clio Evans: a deep dive

 

Is Escapist Media Real?

A slim 80 page gay monster-fucking book. Books like these are often marketed as wish fulfillment and escapism. I'd like to discuss this novella, what I liked, what I didn't, and why ultimately, there is no such thing as escapism in media if you have been sexually assaulted.

A bit of backstory. I was recommended this book from a friend who loved it, and so I borrowed it, read it in two days, and it caused me to think. I understand why people enjoy this sort of book, the appeal is not lost on me. 

The setting is a Cafe where the mysterious barista acts as a matchmaker for humans and monsters. The aesthetic of a cozy setting, the promise of romance through erotica–of course it has appeal! The book is easy to read, fast paced, shows a variety of dom/sub BDSM, has brief drama and violence, and ends on the beaming scene of them back in the Cafe a year later, this time with the human (submissive) partner pregnant in true omegaverse fashion! 

I'm not sure if this book is omegaverse, but the dom is referred to as an alpha at one point, and it ends with a pregnant cis man, so I can already deduce that the author is at the very least, a fan of omegaverse. 

I would like to give some brief positives and recommend who this may be for, before I deep dive. 

This book is very funny at times, the comedic timing is well done, the characters are simple but entertaining, the sex is competently written and I did enjoy the exploration of kink! If you are a reader who enjoys queer, fast paced, BDSM stories, you might like this one a lot!

As for some general negatives, this book doesn't give time to develop the characters or relationship. It takes place over the course of about two days. In those two days: 

The couple (Dante and Peter) meet, have a brief coffee date. They leave and have public sex in a park. Then they go to Dante's mansion and it is revealed that they are mates, they will live and spend eternity together. They have more sex, it is revealed that Peter was raped by a monster in the past. Dante comforts Peter and contacts the barista for information, the barista tells him to leave it alone and that the vampire is locked up. Dante and Peter have more sex. Peter gets frightened off after Dante says “I love you” and leaves. After Peter leaves, the rapist vampire escapes and kidnaps him, Dante goes to save him. They have more sex. A year later they are truly mated and Peter is pregnant, they leave the Cafe to go have more sex.

The worldbuilding is not explained past a line here or there to justify what you see on page. If you are looking for a story with relationship development and worldbuilding, this book will not be for you.

However I'd like to spend time talking about the portrayal of a rape survivor in this book, and perhaps discuss another piece of media, or two, with a queer man who is a rape survivor. And I'd like you, my reader, to ask yourself, is this truly just fiction? And is it escapism if those of us with SA trauma see these portrayals so often in popular media?

What is it to be a cozy book? What is escapism?

A large trend we've seen in the writing world in recent years (2024/2025) is “cozy fiction”. People want low stakes stories, stories that are quirky and fun and in cozy settings, such as a cafe. This atmosphere is commonly used in SFF, especially SFF romance and erotica. The idea behind it is very easy to parse. People want relaxing books to sink into, that are simply fun and sweet and not mentally or emotionally taxing. 

But that gives us a question to answer. What makes escapism…escapism? And for whom?

Escapism, ideally, would be something that readers on a broad scale could go into, and connect to without having to worry about the work portraying anything “too real” such as “anything political”. But haven't you heard? All fiction is political. 

And so you ask…how does this tie to this 80 page novella? This novella is set in a cafe grounded setting, it is a romance/erotica (heavy on the erotica), it is an urban fantasy setting, and it has a happy ending. Would you describe this as cozy and escapism? Would you still if I told you that it features a very visceral description of rape, and a rapist villain?

Why is sexual assault so common in mlm romance and erotica?

Well, to dive into why this book may be labeled as cozy and escapist, we must first understand mlm fiction, and ask ourselves, why is it so fixated on rape?

The easiest answer: it's a fantasy. It is a fantasy held by people who either haven't experienced it, or who have and who use fiction as a guise to explore it. I have noticed some common trends in stories like these, I am going to list them out and give examples. 

Number one: Colourism of the perpetrator and victim. The sexually dominant one tends to have darker features, the submissive one lighter features.

Our first example is Joo Jaekyung and Kim Dan from the popular webcomic Jinx by Mingwa. Joo Jaekyung has overall darker features (black hair, nearly black eyes, his skin is a bit more tanned than Kim Dan’s). Kim Dan has very pale skin, softer brown eyes, light brown, kind of sandy hair.

Our second example is the ever popular Angel Dust and Valentino from Hazbin Hotel, created by Vivienne Medrano. Not technically mlm focused, but this “pairing” is based off a mlm ship Medrano had with her friend's original character and her own Angel Dust. She incorporated character design motifs from said original character for Valentino. Valentino by comparison to Angel Dust has an overall darker colour palette, he has grayish purple skin, red eyes, he wears mostly red. Angel Dust has pure white fur? Skin, look they’re demons. Pink eyes, wears mostly pink.

Now to bring this back to Evans’ work with Dante and Peter. Dante has dark red skin, black eyes, long wavy black hair (in a man bun), Peter has short dark (no colour description) hair, brown eyes, skin that tans in the sun/summer but is otherwise pale/creamy. This story is implied to take place in winter, therefore Peter is pale, described as creamy against Dante's dark skin at one point. 

This might seem like a moot point, but it is a common trend and deserves to be observed. The unconscious idea that many have is that dark features are masculine while pale features are feminine. This plays into racist beliefs in real life, used especially to deny the womanhood of women of colour.

Number two: Masculinization and feminization, the sexually dominant one tends to embody traits of toxic masculinity, they are aggressive, bigger, stronger, quick to violence, controlling. The submissive one tends to embody traits of effeminization (not necessarily femininity, but what is expected of feminine assumed people), they will be smaller, weaker, docile in nature, controlled/subdued even if they seem to fight back at times, they often are also portrayed with more delicate or round or soft features vs the dominant one having more sharp and sometimes stern features.

Joo Jaekyung is introduced by the reader seeing him beat and bloody an opponent. He is stoic and known to use violence against anyone who slights him. He is tall and muscular, chiseled facial features, sharp eyes, he is called “the strongest man in the world”. Kim Dan is smaller, slimmer, with a softer face and rounder eyes. He is docile, trying to take care of his family, in a care-giving medical profession. Even before giving into sex, Kim Dan is seen giving into Joo Jaekyung's requests despite his better judgement. Joo Jaekyung treats Kim Dan as though he is playing with his food.

Valentino is a pimp. He is demanding of the sex workers under him, spares no empathy or care for their health or safety. He is taller and stronger than Angel Dust and is shown using force to punish Angel Dust. Angel Dust is effeminate in presentation, in the pilot and show he is written as a gender-non-conforming man. His original character design had him confirmed as genderfluid, so there is also a sort of transgender undertone to him (but it is complicated, and I am not advocating this character as transgender representation). His body is shaped more feminine, he “fluffs up his fur” to make it look as though he has breasts, he can alter his genitals so that he has an “innie” or an “outie”. Medrano confirmed this during a livestream: 

“I feel like all his parts just go inside of him, like he’s kind of one of those characters that stuff just goes inside him. Like his third set of arms goes like, inside him. So, he can extend it, kind of like uh–kind of like Stitch. Like, pull it in and have it come out.” From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iz68YwlZo4&t=7260s at the 2:01:00 mark. 

In Evans’ work I would not call Dante “toxically masculine”, he is not abusive like the two above examples, he doesn’t jump to aggression like they do. He is, however, presented as dominant in personality as well as sexually. He is literally referred to as an “Alpha”. He initiates the sexual encounters, he takes the dominant role, all consent is implied (which is not inherently a bad thing, it does however, yes, paint this character as sexually aggressive). Peter is shy and more outwardly expresses emotions other than anger. Peter is comfortable with the idea of getting pregnant when it is presented to him, he accepts immediately the submissive role in this primarily sexual relationship. He expresses trepidation at how fast it moves, but much like an effeminized character, his emotions do not cause the dominant party to take pause, but rather to take control of the relationship. As a character he is not as effeminized as Angel Dust is, but he fills a role that is primarily assumed to be a feminine one.

Number Three: The sexual assault is either used as a tool to show the dominant protecting/saving the submissive, therefore framing the current dom in contrast to the rapist, as a means to narratively make the dom look better, even if the dom still exhibits violent or controlling behaviours–or the sexual assault is used as kink fuel for a dom/sub relationship, as a powerplay and the submissive is shown as accepting it, even if begrudgingly, the sex is still shown explicitly as “it is just fiction” and there for a “forbiddon kink” regardless of whether it is content warninged (it often isn’t), however both of these can exist in the same story, and it is not uncommon.

“You’re right. It is fiction, and believe it or not, that can make what happens in Jinx even more egregious. Fiction in general has a capacity in general to create irrational expectations about relationships and life.” - LABY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUj7l68y7eM @ 28:20

In Jinx, Kim Dan is incentivised to let Joo Jaekyung use him sexually because he needs the money to cover his grandmother’s healthcare. They have an extreme power dynamic as Kim Dan is of a lower social status and has to work multiple jobs to get by. Joo Jaekyung is a rich celebrity who is viewed as “the strongest man in the world”. Within their dynamic, it is explicit that Kim Dan does not want to be in a sexual relationship, there are multiple eroticized rape scenes between them, with little to no character development. It is simply rape porn. Kim Dan had been previously sexually assaulted by an employer, and there is a scene where he is being attacked and Joo Jaekyung comes to his rescue. Joo Jaekyung is at once a rapist but also he is compared narratively to other violent men to make him look “better than them”. 

In the musical number “Poison”, Angel Dust is shown engaging in self-destructive behaviours following a scene where Valentino physically and verbally assaults him. This musical number is also sexy and upbeat–interspersed with scenes of Angel Dust being abused. 

“Having a character like Angel Dust, and giving him an abuse storyline, while not taking it seriously by adding musical numbers like “Poison”, then having somebody who finds the abuse by Valentino to be hot storyboard your musical number–what it ends up doing is creating a parody of itself…Abuse is not something to be fetishized, and being a survivor of it is not an aesthetic, nor is it as glamorous as the show tries to make it look in musical numbers. It’s something that sticks with you for the rest of your life. It never goes away…If we have gotten to the point where scenes of clear fetishization and romanticism is viewed as powerful representation, then the indie animation scene is in desperate need of a paradigm shift. Because this is not how abuse survivors should be written in the future. Hazbin Hotel and Angel Dust should be viewed as example of what not to do when it comes to that.” - Limus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m34B3UVx9Es @ 13:28

Valentino is violent and controlling, he is not portrayed as a positive character, but the connotation of a “ship” still remains as that is the basis of these characters’ relationship. Medrano has publicly defended the decision to hire an artist to storyboard “Poison” who has admitted to having a “rape fetish” and who has drawn ship art and NSFW of Angel Dust and Valentino, thusly, it is fair to say that those connotations are present in the final product. 

In Evans’ work, Dante is sexually aggressive, but there is clear implied consent. Dante is contrasted against the villain of the book however–a vampire who raped Peter and left him for dead years prior. Dante saves Peter from his rapist and proceeds to be sexually aggressive with him in another sex scene, claiming Peter as his own. Dante exhibits similar traits to the rapist villain, he is possessive, he is dominant and masculine, he views Peter as submissive to him, for there can be no other role for Peter. And yet, the narrative portrays him as the better of the two because he is not a rapist, and he kills the rapist. Peter’s agency be damned. 

“But, Sol” you ask me, “Do these pieces of media take this subject matter seriously?”

You may ask me “Is there content warnings for this content?” because if there is, it is to some degree excusable. We are talking about erotica, and exploring kink in erotica is sort of the point, this does include power dynamics, and rape is in fact about power. But to give you an answer: no. Jinx is marketed as a kinky yaoi manhwa, there is no tag or content warning for sexual assault. Hazbin Hotel is marketed as a crude and dark comedy musical animated feature (its label is as disorganized as the writing itself). It does not take its serious subject matter seriously, and you get some basic T.V. warnings that may give you a hint, that is all. Little Slice of Hell does have content warnings, but they are written as a lighthearted gimmick, lessening the the effect of having them in the first place: 

“Hello, my little monster loving creature. This is just a friendly reminder to make sure you check your triggers before reading. This story has bondage, tail fucking, consensual non consensual scenes, public sex, mentions of rape and assault, and more. If any of those things are for you–do not read this story. If those sound right, then maybe you need some help. But then again, maybe I do too…” 

Let’s break this down a bit. A content warning page exists to tell you if and what triggering content is in the book. It is not part of the story, it is not a moment to be silly and have fun with the reader, it is there for the benefit of the reader who may have some trauma and who may not be able to read about certain topics, or who may need some prior warning to emotionally prepare themself. Bondage and tail fucking are not triggers, they are kinks. CNC is valid as a content warning because it inherently means that there will be sex scenes that have rape dynamics, that can be triggering, yes. Public sex is not a trigger, it is just a kink. Mentions of rape and assault are triggers, yes–except in this book the rapist shows up, kidnaps Peter, and threatens to rape him again whilst making unwanted physical contact with him, this goes beyond what that warning states. Then we have “and more”. Pray tell me, what kind of trigger is “and more”? If the implication is that there is triggering material that is in the book that the author chose not to list, then this content warning page is pointless at best and a slap in the face at worst. 

All three of these pieces of media were written to be fun, to be sexy. They are not serious drama pieces about trauma, but in order to have some drama, some stakes, some power dynamics, they turn to rape. So, no, they do not take this subject matter seriously.

Why is this a common problem in mlm media?

We live in a society that simultaneously downplays rape and the effects of rape. We also live in a society that generally classifies rape as “a man penetrating a women without her consent” not accounting for transgender people, of course. So in mlm media, rape simply often isn’t seen as rape. It is “rough and kinky” sex, it is “a power dynamic”, it is “edgy”, and maybe a little “forbidden”. So while the angle and the perception of the sexual assault of men is different, much like when women get sexually assaulted, it is downplayed by whatever means is reachable. Rape is an uncomfortable word, instead we call it “noncon” right?

You might be thinking that I am saying with this that writing about rape is wrong. I am not saying that. It is an important topic to discuss in media, fiction, nonfiction, what have you. Many of us who have been sexually assaulted use fiction as a means to explore our experiences, sometimes we find catharsis in reading and writing about them. Having a CNC dynamic with a rape survivor is actually an interesting take, and Evans had a lot of potential with it. This book isn’t so bad that I hate it, it is simply part of a larger trend where the stories of queer men are told in a way that reinforces rape culture, in these cases, specifically in ways that downplay the harm in queer male relationships. 

And if this is common in “escapism” and romance and erotica…is there a such thing as escapism in media for people who have been sexually assaulted? 

This one is for you to chew on, dear reader.