character's moral descending trajectory effect on series

[SimonDoom]

Well, I'm not into it personally, but you do you. :shudders:

And you too! What floats your boat doesn't have to be the same as what floats mine.

One of the reasons I chafe somewhat at calls for "responsible erotica" is that I don't want to read or write responsible erotica, and neither do many, many perfectly normal, healthy people. They don't want to read or write erotic stories the subtext of which is "this is what you should do." They want to read stories the subtext of which is "let's get naughty." It's fantasy. An indulgence. I indulge in it guilt free. I read and write about things I have no interest in trying in real life. And I'm not alone. Many erotica readers feel exactly this same way. Modest housewives who've hardly done anything naughty but want to read stories about being ravished and stripped and forced to run naked through the streets or made to turn tricks.

To me it seems obvious that this is a huge part of the appeal of erotica, but some people feel very differently about it.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

For some, the concept of being degraded or debauched is itself erotic. It's a pleasurable fantasy. Some actually like to experience it; others just like to fantasize about it. Some people find it a turn on to fantasize about orchestrating another person's debauchery.

Some people want to be degraded because that's all they've known in life. But not all people who like this fantasy are like that. There are strong, intelligent, successful people who fantasize about the concept of an alternate life.

I think there's something of a divide among authors in this forum on this subject. Some don't "get" the power of taboo as an erotic stimulant; others (like me) eat it up like candy. Whether it's incest, or noncon, or exhibitionism, or BDSM, I find the concepts of flouting conventions, abandoning normal moral scruples, being degraded, and submitting to others erotically interesting and powerful. I'm sure I could psycho-analyze my life history and come up with some reasons why I like stories that dive into these themes. I've just accepted the fact that I like them.

Check out The Art of Reconstruction. One, I think you'd appreciate it, and two, It was a massive stretch for me that I'm still nervous about. I'd appreciate an, um, educated opinion.

 

[SimonDoom]

Check out The Art of Reconstruction. One, I think you'd appreciate it, and two, It was a massive stretch for me that I'm still nervous about. I'd appreciate an, um, educated opinion.

I will! Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I haven't yet done a story where a person has evolved in a way the OP suggests. My stories are all about mature people having great healthy sex. It's something to think about though. Having a woman fall into depravity would seem overly formulaic and a man wouldn't fall, he'd run. Maybe a couple does it together? Set it in the 70s or 80s when adult theaters were a thing and porn wasn't readily available yet? In no time at all they could really lose themselves in the scene.

An interesting concept.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think there's something of a divide among authors in this forum on this subject. Some don't "get" the power of taboo as an erotic stimulant; others (like me) eat it up like candy. Whether it's incest, or noncon, or exhibitionism, or BDSM, I find the concepts of flouting conventions, abandoning normal moral scruples, being degraded, and submitting to others erotically interesting and powerful. I'm sure I could psycho-analyze my life history and come up with some reasons why I like stories that dive into these themes. I've just accepted the fact that I like them.

Being a kinky perv helps. And having a hot mom .

 

[SimonDoom]

Being a kinky perv helps. And having a hot mom .

And growing up somewhat repressed. I think you grew up with a whole different vibe.

 

[ElectricBlue]

And growing up somewhat repressed. I think you grew up with a whole different vibe.

Maybe I did, I dunno. My main frame of reference is my own family, including a radicalised sister - both politically and sexually - in an era where coming out as a lesbian was a very difficult thing to do. A younger brother picks something up from that, and pays it forward as best he can.

I do remember my dad, when I came home from school at lunchtime with my girlfriend one time, saying later, "Just make sure you don't get her pregnant." I've never forgotten that, since I was still a virgin at the time. So yeah, I had enlightened parents.

 

[EroticFriction]

I always gravitate toward stories with a strong dynamic arc, characters that are driven to or by change, which usually means falling or failing at some point. Although i occasionally love a simple stroker, I'm more turned on by tensions and the ups and downs of characters, and when there's smut in the mix I'm all in.

My fantasies tend toward the harder and kinkier aspects of sexuality, although in real life I enjoy the vanilla stuff every bit as much. When it comes to the domain between the ears... humans are complicated, and there are as many reasons 'why' as there are individuals on this planet. Far be it from me to judge or even try to guess why anyone on this forum enjoys what they do, but I do appreciate the input and suggestions. And I appreciate the hot pervy stories I run accross on this site!

 

[Britva415]

No kink shaming

Then I'm missing what the moral decline is.

I guess I have to read it to find out?

Is there a moral decline at all, or just increasing kink and erased inhibitions?

You see how calling that a moral decline, and suggesting that reversing/undoing it is redemption, looks like kink shaming?

 

[EroticFriction]

I'll plug @AwkwardMD's Human Resource as a great example of this kind of story.

Just read this tonight, thanks for the link. Really enjoyed it, though I found the start a bit too slow, I think it was the corporate setting. AwkwardMD did such a wonderful job with the MC's internal conflicts and urges. I find the paradox of strong individual and submissive 'whore' so fun to examine, wether it's male or female. It's the prime motivation for my current series.

My character starts in a different place, more repressed, less experienced. But she will find herself with a lot of similar urges and thoughts as Human Resource's MC as her journey unfolds.

 

[EroticFriction]

Then I'm missing what the moral decline is.

I guess I have to read it to find out?

Is there a moral decline at all, or just increasing kink and erased inhibitions?

You see how calling that a moral decline, and suggesting that reversing/undoing it is redemption, looks like kink shaming?

The moral decline is mostly internal, about the MC crossing her own boundaries and sacrificing her 'principles' for the good of her friend. Stepping over those lines can feel like stepping off a cliff. It's frightening and frustrating, and definitely has her questioning her choices on a number of occasions.

The redemption part is that It turns out to be less of a moral decline than an awakening, she doesn't turn into a 'bad person'. Many of her boundaries and principles have been imposed on her by her upbringing and 'society', so there is an element of liberation when she discovers what actually fulfills her.

I don't think it needs to come off as kink shaming at all. But everybody's got a different perspective on this, and different sensibilities. So I can imagine some readers seeing it that way, at least at some points in the story. The journey has it's ups and downs, and I guess some might find that difficult to stick with. That's ok with me, I'm writing the kind of stuff I like to read, I get not everyone will go along with that. Hell, some will hate how I write, or dislike that my MC has small breasts and black hair, or that I'm not realistically portraying the horrors of prostitution, etc... no way to please everyone.

 

[CalebZhass]

Yes exactly, thanks. It's why I'm reluctant to post, and may have to pull the gag. But I also think it's a shame to lose as I find it genuinely funny and kind of hot.

What you described in your original post I do not find all that extreme compared to other stuff out there. I can understand a concern that it might throw off the pacing, but you can also frame it as an outlier, reflect back upon the extreme experience that was so far out of her norm later and use the unintended consequences of her actions as a stepping point for her descent into further depths.

As for the morally descending trajectory in general, I find that to be an interesting topic to explore and I am also working on something similar, though personally frame it as a journey towards freedom from one's own shackles forced on by society's norms.

Morality is such a wonderful topic to write about, as it is this mushy, intangible, always changing, yet often very rigid thing we are expected to live by. So all I can tell you is go go go. Don't let your doubts stand in front of your creativity. You might need to re-frame your story a bit, re-think the timelines, work around this a little, but a good story is not a straight line, its called a narrative arc for a reason.

Think fractals. You can go down as deep as you want, and you will find the same repeating patterns on each smaller subdivision. I like to think of a story series as just that, a fractal that has a pattern to it, which determines the overall flow of the series. As I dig deeper, each individual story has its own subset of the fractal and so on. But then I am engineer, so what do I know? My world is 1s and 0s for the most part.

 

[EroticFriction]

Thank you Caleb, I appreciate what you're saying, sounds like we have some things in common

Yeah, food fetish is not that hardcore lol, lots of people do it, and I've read way further out on Lit. But would THIS character do that in that moment? That became the most important question for me, and so I've decided to postpone the food scene mainly because my desire is to keep the pace of her 'descent' or awakening in line with the character's dynamic and the plot, and as I read the comments and re-read the chapter it felt like too far of a stretch for her.

Having a bumpy or non-linear trajectory is a great thing, and I'll probably use that a bit later in the story. A re-grouping perhaps, or a moment of doubt kind of thing that puts her objective in doubt.

 

[Britva415]

The moral decline is mostly internal, about the MC crossing her own boundaries and sacrificing her 'principles' for the good of her friend. Stepping over those lines can feel like stepping off a cliff. It's frightening and frustrating, and definitely has her questioning her choices on a number of occasions.

Ah, I see. Sounds good! And compelling, tbh.