Clarification question on restricted content type: Bestiality

[djrip]

You remembered Rob, how sweet

I might have double checked before posting

 

[EmilyMiller]

I might have double checked before posting

“He’s” not called ‘Rob’ IRL - a little dramatic license to fit into the fabricated beginning of the plot .

Em

 

[Bamagan]

Well, we're talking sci fi/fantasy alien worlds here, so in the immortal words of Han Solo, "I can imagine quite a bit." What about something like a sex tribble -- like a furry, cooing fleshlight? I can imagine a world where things could be bioengineered for the sake of giving pleasure but not having intelligence, like specially bred octopuses or Venus flytrap plants.

I think it just boils down to whether or not Laurel thinks that a given author is simply trying to subvert one of the few content rules she enforces for the site. There is a fuzzy boundary (pun intended) between what is clearly allowed and what is clearly not, and some people are fascinated by trying to poke, prod, or cross those boundaries. You see it all the time with under-18 stuff, which is not hugely surprising considering the wide range of cultural and individual discrepancies about how young is too young. So I guess that she would be asking herself if the author was trying to tell a story to satisfy a fetish for fur or scales or tentacles, or trying to sneak in a character fucking a dog but masking it by saying it's a space dog and has human hands. Giving the space dog a human-like personality and agency makes it a little easier to argue that one is pursuing the former route as opposed to the latter, although it's probably not the only way to make such a story pass review.*
*Edit- And such might not pass anyway, I've never tried it.

 

[Euphony]

it's a space dog

I'm at a loss. Who couldn't love Space Dog?

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think it just boils down to whether or not Laurel thinks that a given author is simply trying to subvert one of the few content rules she enforces for the site. There is a fuzzy boundary (pun intended) between what is clearly allowed and what is clearly not, and some people are fascinated by trying to poke, prod, or cross those boundaries. You see it all the time with under-18 stuff, which is not hugely surprising considering the wide range of cultural and individual discrepancies about how young is too young. So I guess that she would be asking herself if the author was trying to tell a story to satisfy a fetish for fur or scales or tentacles, or trying to sneak in a character fucking a dog but masking it by saying it's a space dog and has human hands. Giving the space dog a human-like personality and agency makes it a little easier to argue that one is pursuing the former route as opposed to the latter, although it's probably not the only way to make such a story pass review.*
*Edit- And such might not pass anyway, I've never tried it.

As well as cephalopod sex, I got equine sex approved - kinda by the route you mention.

Em

 

[Bamagan]

As well as cephalopod sex, I got equine sex approved - kinda by the route you mention.

Em

But as we've established, you're Laurel's pet and get special treatment.

 

[EmilyMiller]

But as we've established, you're Laurel's pet and get special treatment.

Use of “pet” in this thread might give people the wrong idea.

Em

 

[Bamagan]

Use of “pet” in this thread might give people the wrong idea.

Em

Totally accidental word choice on my part, rest assured.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think there are two sliding scales at work here. One is the intelligence/consent scale. The other is the "how fantastical" scale. To the extent the alien organism with which one has sex has no resemblance to anything on Earth, the less problematic it seems to me, regardless of issues of intelligence or consent.

I'm not privy to the workings of Laurel's mind, but my sense from everything that's been said is that there is a common thread to the kind of content Laurel doesn't want to feature. There's a certain readership she doesn't want to attract. People who want to hurt other people, like pedophiles and rapists. And people who want sex with their pets. I don't think people who truly fantasize about sex with Fido are interested in sex tribbles. It's a whole different kink, and one that's probably harmless, since there are no actual tribbles to abuse.

Interestingly, I ran across a story about an intelligent alien that DISGUISED itself as a woman's pet dog. It obviously got through. But it seems to me it's more problematic, and that sentience doesn't cure the problem, because while the alien is sentient and intelligent, the woman doesn't know that, and as far as she's concerned she's having a sexual encounter with her pet. If you think about it from the point of view of what the reader is likely to be turned on by, then it ought to be problematic.

So it's a gray area, which doesn't bother me a lot, frankly.

 

[Bamagan]

I think there are two sliding scales at work here. One is the intelligence/consent scale. The other is the "how fantastical" scale. To the extent the alien organism with which one has sex has no resemblance to anything on Earth, the less problematic it seems to me, regardless of issues of intelligence or consent.

I'm not privy to the workings of Laurel's mind, but my sense from everything that's been said is that there is a common thread to the kind of content Laurel doesn't want to feature. There's a certain readership she doesn't want to attract. People who want to hurt other people, like pedophiles and rapists. And people who want sex with their pets. I don't think people who truly fantasize about sex with Fido are interested in sex tribbles. It's a whole different kink, and one that's probably harmless, since there are no actual tribbles to abuse.

Interestingly, I ran across a story about an intelligent alien that DISGUISED itself as a woman's pet dog. It obviously got through. But it seems to me it's more problematic, and that sentience doesn't cure the problem, because while the alien is sentient and intelligent, the woman doesn't know that, and as far as she's concerned she's having a sexual encounter with her pet. If you think about it from the point of view of what the reader is likely to be turned on by, then it ought to be problematic.

So it's a gray area, which doesn't bother me a lot, frankly.

That is an interesting test case. It could be used to support the idea that the alien's obvious sentience made it pass the 'no bestiality' check box, even if the woman was being deceived, since the reader knows the truth. Remove the alien angle, or make it a mindless one, and I wonder if the story still passes. Totally mindless plant-based tentacle creatures and robotic automatons generally get a pass, though, so maybe it's the particular state of quasi-awareness that animals fall into that makes people react particularly strongly one way or the other. Make it mindless, or make it mindful, but not in-between. Food for thought.

But at the same time, you're right, if she's worried about attracting certain kinds of readers then a story like that's probably like a beacon to them. I suppose, philosophically speaking, the likelihood is that bestiality fans do enjoy other kinds of erotica and the various offerings in nonhuman and sci-fi/fantasy probably already attract them here, so certain edge cases are allowed because they aren't likely to change the dynamic very much in the end.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I'm late to this game, but what if the alien is non corporeal and posses lower animals?


OK, I'm just roiling the pot, but, you know, um, what if...

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think there are two sliding scales at work here. One is the intelligence/consent scale. The other is the "how fantastical" scale. To the extent the alien organism with which one has sex has no resemblance to anything on Earth, the less problematic it seems to me, regardless of issues of intelligence or consent.

I'm not privy to the workings of Laurel's mind, but my sense from everything that's been said is that there is a common thread to the kind of content Laurel doesn't want to feature. There's a certain readership she doesn't want to attract. People who want to hurt other people, like pedophiles and rapists. And people who want sex with their pets. I don't think people who truly fantasize about sex with Fido are interested in sex tribbles. It's a whole different kink, and one that's probably harmless, since there are no actual tribbles to abuse.

Interestingly, I ran across a story about an intelligent alien that DISGUISED itself as a woman's pet dog. It obviously got through. But it seems to me it's more problematic, and that sentience doesn't cure the problem, because while the alien is sentient and intelligent, the woman doesn't know that, and as far as she's concerned she's having a sexual encounter with her pet. If you think about it from the point of view of what the reader is likely to be turned on by, then it ought to be problematic.

So it's a gray area, which doesn't bother me a lot, frankly.

Both parties in my equine sex scene knew the horse wasn’t a horse. It was a show they were putting on and they discussed how it was going telepathically during the act.

Em

 

[gordo12]

There is an excellent writer on Lit that has aliens that look like cats as lovers. His stories get through just fine. I wish I could remember his name.

Edit: Managed to track him down. Ripperfish. Try his Savage Shores series:

 

[EmilyMiller]

There is an excellent writer on Lit that has aliens that look like cats as lovers. His stories get through just fine. I wish I could remember his name.

Edit: Managed to track him down. Ripperfish. Try his Savage Shores series:

Like this?

Em

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Like this?

Em

Can I apply to be in the timeline where that atrocious movie never happened?
Please.

 

[onehitwanda]

Like this?

Em

Mammaries! All alone in the moonlight!

 

[onehitwanda]

Can I apply to be in the timeline where that atrocious movie never happened?
Please.

I'd gladly settle for a timeline where the musical didn't exist either.

 

[Bamagan]

Like this?

Em

A grisly reminder of what happens to people who misuse polyjuice potion.

 

[Djmac1031]

That's a knotty problem. Can't imagine the solution comes without some ruff corner cases. We should paws and consider this.

I'll see myself out.

And yet you send ME to the corner when I do this? Sheesh...

 

[onehitwanda]

And yet you send ME to the corner when I do this? Sheesh...

I'm cuter than you.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm cuter than you.

@Djmac1031 she is

 

[Djmac1031]

I'm cuter than you.

I can't argue with that logic.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'd gladly settle for a timeline where the musical didn't exist either.

The world would not be a worse place without the song "Memories."

I remember during my one visit to England I was in the city of Bath listening to a little girl playing that song over and over on the side of the street with a recorder and I thought, "For Pete's sake, the mother country can do better than that."

 

[Djmac1031]

I'd gladly settle for a timeline where the musical didn't exist either.

My (now Ex) wife talked me into going to see the stage show when it played in Philly quite a few years ago.

God I hated it. No offense to fans of it, but you do realize those lyrics were adopted from children's poems, right?

When the movie came out, i had to go see it though. By then the online word of mouth on just how atrocious the film was had spread far and wide, and I just had to see it for myself.

It's absolutely GLORIOUS how bad it is.

 

[onehitwanda]

I've seen Phantom four or five times and hope to see it at least another twenty.

I've seen Cats once, to prove I was stronger than it.