Sex, Drugs, and Rock-hard Cock!

[AMoveableBeast]

Recently, the Nude Day contest was won by a splendid story that featured as a main component some illicit drug use. This pleased me, not because I am super into illegal substances myself (I'm high on life, y'all!) but because I have noticed several stories in the past that were trashed or low-voted for heavily featuring recreational drug use.

I've always found the moral quandaries of erotica interesting--don't get me started on the whole "cheating" issue in porn--but the drug issue that I have sometimes run into truly befuddles me. If statistics are to be trusted, drug use is at an all-time high in much of the world. That should translate into an audience, you'd think. But I have found, and noticed, that there is a sizeable faction of the readership that finds smokin' a doob or snorting a line something of a boner-killer.

Have any of you run across this? Have you encountered the reverse? Folks that get stiff or wet for the icky sticky?

In the interest of full-disclosure, I should note that I am not drawn to drug stories, especially. In fact, I often skip them because they can get a little trite. Though, there are, of course, some wonderful examples out there. I have stories that feature drug-users in all lights because, well, I write about people, and people do drugs sometimes.

 

[lovecraft68]

I had negative reactions to the only story I featured drug use, but that was by design. I showed the pain and harsh reality of addiction, not the kicking back and chilling with a blunt or the wild ride of doing some lines.

I also featured Heroin and there is little if anything sexy about horse.

 

[sr71plt]

I only have a few stories with drug use--I don't shy away from including it in a story where I think it naturally fits, I'm just not into the drug culture--but I don't remember receiving a single negative comment for including it.

 

[sunandshadow]

I have a mild fetish for drugs in erotica (though preferably fantasy or science fiction drugs rather than real ones, because you can define them to not have the bad side effects that real drugs do, or you can define them to have an effect that isn't found in a real drug, such as being a true aphrodisiac). But yes I've noticed that there are very few cases of stories where drug use is treated as a fetish. I'm also surprised that it's not as popular as I would have guessed.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

Yeah, Heroin isn't exactly a glamour drug.

Most of my stories that feature drugs do so in a negative way, or in a MacGuffin role. But I have seen a lot of well-written stories that have hot scenes and--in searching the comments--have found things like "God, please tag this as a drug story. I can't fucking stand drug stories."

I know in Non-Con drugs often feature prominently, and also serve as a lubricant in a lot of character-driven erotica.

Also, we can't stop here. This is Bat Country.

 

[TxRad]

I've done a few stories based back in the sixties and early seventies. Most of them have negative comments on having a few tokes or a few beers and then driving. Some people know nothing of history in every day life.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I've done a few stories based back in the sixties and early seventies. Most of them have negative comments on having a few tokes or a few beers and then driving. Some people know nothing of history in every day life.

Yeah, this is exactly what I am talking about. You'd never expect to see something like that in regards to a critique of mainstream fiction. And you'd think erotica would be more permissive not less because, well, it's all about breaking taboos. But there is often this pervasive morality that just boggles my mind. Particularly in regards to minor offenses like drug use or driving buzzed.

 

[sunandshadow]

Yeah, Heroin isn't exactly a glamour drug.

Most of my stories that feature drugs do so in a negative way, or in a MacGuffin role. But I have seen a lot of well-written stories that have hot scenes and--in searching the comments--have found things like "God, please tag this as a drug story. I can't fucking stand drug stories."

I know in Non-Con drugs often feature prominently, and also serve as a lubricant in a lot of character-driven erotica.

Also, we can't stop here. This is Bat Country.

I generally can't stand the ones with drugs in a negative, realistic role either - negativity isn't hot to me, and I often wonder why people try to combine negativity with erotica. Then again I can't stand non-con or horror or grittiness, things I generally see as negative, but I know other people like them. *shrug*

But the role I want to see a drug in, in an erotic story, is the role of the forbidden desired thing that a character is hot for, and a little embarrassed to want but really thrilled when some other character comes along and encourages them to explore their socially-disapproved desires. So the drug should basically play the same role that any other forbidden, risky, embarrassing fetish interest would (like incest, omorashi, the desired to get transformed in some way you're not supposed to want like feminization or fattening, the desire to be cuckolded or dominated... there are over a dozen fetishes that fit into this paradigm of erotica.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Never a good idea to mix drugs with any task that requires cognition.

"Speed kills" doesn't just mean road speed, it means idiots using speed when driving.

Here in Oz we have random drink and drug road-side testing - the stats are terrifying. Amphetamines behind a wheel of an eighty ton truck - not a good combination, especially not with Australian distances.

... or driving buzzed.

 

[EverLux]

I know in Non-Con drugs often feature prominently, and also serve as a lubricant in a lot of character-driven erotica.

I posted my first submission to Lit in I/T. It's a very short story, involving siblings getting high and the brother taking advantage of her. It has by far my lowest-score and earned me my only viscous comments/feedback.

Knowing what I know now, I'm thinking it would have fared much better in non-con.

 

[EverLux]

I've done a few stories based back in the sixties and early seventies. Most of them have negative comments on having a few tokes or a few beers and then driving. Some people know nothing of history in every day life.

My father occasionally whips out the story of when he was eighteen and pulled over for driving while absolutely smashed. The officer basically told him to be more careful and drive straight home. Boys will be boys, right?

When I was 20, my tire grazed a curb while I was driving home (sober) one night. I was pulled over and made to do all the are-you-drunk exercises. Even in four inch heels, I aced those, but the officer still made me take the breathalyzer test.
I have no doubt I would've been arrested if I'd blown .001 over the legal limit.

Times have certainly changed. The stupidity of youth and everyday poor judgment have not--that's universal. But tsk tsk for acknowledging it!

 

[Carnal_Flower]

I don't think people are being judgy prudes. Maybe, but its more likely that drugs and erotica don't mix in some way. Not sure why except drugs are fake, harmful, and illegal. (I love drugs, but its a fact). I recreated a night of seXtacy in on another account. No one complained, but they do complain about a witch's magical aphrodisiac in an incest story, complaining that makes it Mind Control. Really the only bad comments I get are that one.

 

[EverLux]

I don't think people are being judgy prudes. Maybe, but its more likely that drugs and erotica don't mix in some way. Not sure why except drugs are fake, harmful, and illegal. (I love drugs, but its a fact). I recreated a night of seXtacy in on another account. No one complained, but they do complain about a witch's magical aphrodisiac in an incest story, complaining that makes it Mind Control. Really the only bad comments I get are that one.

I get it. And, honestly, I'm one of those readers (though, apparently, not one of those writers) who prefers the romance and heat to be real, not enhanced by outside influences. For me, that almost always makes it hotter.

I think that's especially true in I/T, which is why our two stories got flack. Daddy and Cindy should want to have sex despite it being forbidden, not because the drugs/magical aphrodisiac made them temporarily lose sight of just how forbidden it is.

Still, I liked playing around with that. Alcohol and drugs are real, and we use them to purposely lower our inhibitions and do things we wouldn't, otherwise. Though, maybe that's what's behind the problem--alcohol and drugs are too much like real life. Two (or more) people experiencing a passion that needs no chemical assistance to act on is the fantasy.

Also, the story that incited my most negative comments also garnered the most glowing ones. I wonder if the same goes for yours.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

That's what I'm thinking--it taints the erotic experience in some way, rather then Oh my god you're such a bad person for doing that! They don't mix well.

I guess like anything they could be incorporated in an interesting way--like you say, and it's made part of the story.

On the other hand they can really mess with the eroticism you're trying to elicit, and the readers will certainly let you know.

Personally I will definitely use them in a story if it should arise again. It was really fun, and too bad if they don't like it.

I get it. And, honestly, I'm one of those readers (though, apparently, not one of those writers) who prefers the romance and heat to be real, not enhanced by outside influences. For me, that almost always makes it hotter.

I think that's especially true in I/T, which is why our two stories got flack. Daddy and Cindy should want to have sex despite it being forbidden, not because the drugs/magical aphrodisiac made them temporarily lose sight of just how forbidden it is.

Still, I liked playing around with that. Alcohol and drugs are real, and we use them to purposely lower our inhibitions and do things we wouldn't, otherwise. Though, maybe that's what's behind the problem--alcohol and drugs are too much like real life. Two (or more) people experiencing a passion that needs no chemical assistance to act on is the fantasy.

Also, the story that incited my most negative comments also garnered the most glowing ones. I wonder if the same goes for yours.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I posted my first submission to Lit in I/T. It's a very short story, involving siblings getting high and the brother taking advantage of her. It has by far my lowest-score and earned me my only viscous comments/feedback.

Knowing what I know now, I'm thinking it would have fared much better in non-con.

Probably not. It's incest for one, which trumps everything else when assigning a category. Incest as a surprise in a non-con story wouldn't make you friends. And there's a sizable audience for non-con if it means forceful but skillful high pressure seduction; and another smaller ausdience if it's just brutal man-takes-woman. In other words there's attraction for male characters who know when and how to break rules to get the girl; and there's dark attraction for men who are just savage. Both kinds of characters can get fans here. But neither of those audiences are likely to be thrilled by using drugs as a cheat to get her legs apart. Basically it sounds like you wrote a weak male jerk that used drugs to rape his sister. There's no hero to root for, and even the misogynistic part of the audience is going to turn a nose up at the weak approach.

Live and learn, I'd say.

 

[Seanathon]

For a Summer Loving entry a couple of years ago I decided to try my hand at a noirish (is that a word?) tale centered around a twenty-something kid who makes his living selling weed out of an ice cream truck near the beach. There was zero actual drug use.

Nevertheless, the story was bombarded right out of the gate by a string of commenters disgusted by the presence of drugs in a Summer Loving entry (apparently weed and sex don't mix). The feedback became so negative I ended up deleting the story before the contest ended (maybe I'll resubmit it one day as non-erotic?).

When I saw the (well deserved) winner of the most recent contest had Weed in the title, the memories of my own experience with drugs (in fiction) came flooding back.

I'm not sure if it's an age thing (I'm guessing the majority of Lit readers are 40+?) or if it's a nationalism thing (maybe readers are from a country where marijuana is a big no no - I'm Canadian btw), but drug use seems to be a big taboo. Heck, I've even had stories criticized for depicting alcohol use.

It feels strange to have a reader tell you they found it distasteful that your eighteen year old main character likes to sneak a drink but then applaud her for letting her big brother plow her anytime his cock gets hard. But that's Lit for you, and a writer has to give the reader what they want, right?

 

[EverLux]

Basically it sounds like you wrote a weak male jerk that used drugs to rape his sister. There's no hero to root for, and even the misogynistic part of the audience is going to turn a nose up at the weak approach.

Live and learn, I'd say.

Yep, that's exactly what I wrote. And that's why, after doing the HEA thing in part two, I haven't written any more about them--I can't stand that guy. What can I say? First story, and like you said, live and learn.

 

[Kantarii]

I tend to keep drug use out of my stories I write. But, I have considered it. I do, however, let alcohol and tobacco use filter into my stories based against social acceptance. If I put drug use into any of my stories, I would show the horror side of it. Nothing good ultimately comes from drug use including alcohol. So to me putting drug use in my stories would take my stories down a much darker path.... Wait a second; I'm getting some ideas going here, might need to rethink my future chapters of "A Slut's Triangle". Who knows what can happen when I darken the mood on a confused transvestite that is struggling with self- identity and acceptance and at a pivotal point of making choices that will forever change him/her? Back to the drawing board we go.... Just kiddingKant.

 

[glynndah]

I have a couple with drugs in them, both set in the mid-seventies. If I didn't put drugs in those, the stories wouldn't have been "real" as period pieces. Besides, both of them were pretty much true stories. I couldn't honestly leave it out.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I'm not sure if it's an age thing (I'm guessing the majority of Lit readers are 40+?) or if it's a nationalism thing (maybe readers are from a country where marijuana is a big no no - I'm Canadian btw), but drug use seems to be a big taboo. Heck, I've even had stories criticized for depicting alcohol use.

It feels strange to have a reader tell you they found it distasteful that your eighteen year old main character likes to sneak a drink but then applaud her for letting her big brother plow her anytime his cock gets hard. But that's Lit for you, and a writer has to give the reader what they want, right?

No, we don't. We "have to" write what works for us and let fans find us. Giving most people on Lit what they want would have me puking.

I can't relate to the anti-drug, anti-booze comments. One of my stories is about a drug that's administered to non-consenting women to make them sexually willing. This is a very dark premise and you'd think I'd have got beaten up badly for it, even in non-con. Out of 20 some-odd comments, I got one which said the story was morally bankrupt (which it was) and even she admitted she repeatedly masturbated to it. The story averaged to about 4.7. It did so well I did another story to showcase the effect of the drug on society (not positive ones, inevitably) and it rated about as well. Of course, my drug was utterly fictional and the setting was noncon... the women couldn't be blamed or judged for using drugs.

My personal bias is that habitual drug users, especially vapeheads, tend to be morons. I wouldn't expect a lot of dope dolts to be big erotica readers or expect erotica readers to be too fond of druggy characters. It's only ok if it's noncon, apparently, and then it's hot.

Ages on Lit are difficult to measure. Most people with profiles leave age blank and Lit has a healthy crowd of under-18s who don't admit to it anywhere public. (Readership among females seems to start around 14-15). I think most of my fans are in their mid-30s to upper-40s. There's a smaller pool in the 18(supposedly)-25 range who gravitate to my stuff. I figure 25-33 is a void because they get enough sex in real life and/or have settled into marriages (and haven't gotten to the point of wanting extra stimulation on the side.)

 

[sr71plt]

The story I have posted here with the heaviest drug use is "Friday Nights with Lenny" (https://www.literotica.com/s/friday-nights-with-lenny), in which drugs drive characters downhill and kills a couple of them. There are no negative comments on it regarding the drug angle and it's got a red H.

 

[lovecraft68]

Oddly enough, I've gotten a few nasty remarks about having a couple of characters who smoked regular cigarettes.

 

[lovecraft68]

I suppose in general the reaction will be based on the authors use of drug use. If you have some hot young girls partying and getting high and blowing coke, then blowing cock, you most likely won't get complaints.

But if you're angling for the reality of hardcore drugs and what they can do to you, you'll get some abuse along the lines of "This is a sex site, not about reality"

In the end I think its up to the readers personal experiences. If they have never done drugs, or no anyone that suffered an addiction, then they'll think its an added sexy 'taboo'

If, like me, they grew up in a family riddled with addiction or had the addiction themselves, odds are they're not going to be thrilled with it, even if its done in a fun party way.

During SWB I got a lot of feedback from people saying they were ex-addicts and telling me how real I'd done it, so real I must be one too.

That's why I never write the fun sexy view of coke, its not like that. Very rare is the person who can do coke once in awhile and never let it affect them. And in the 'party girl' stories the reality is these girls will do anything while on it or in order to get it and the guys who feed it to them are pieces of shit. I'm sure some here had to do it to get a piece of tail and think its jerk off material in story form.

That is my take as a reader so although I won't bomb or leave a nasty public comment, I click off thinking "what a piece of shit" and move on, so all based on experience and I'm not alone in that negative connotation of drugs.

Then again, there are people who have lived a real life and those who are sheltered who think everything's a damn joke. I don't envy them, because when reality finally hits it hurts.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

Seanathon, your story, in particular, was one of those I was thinking of that I thought got unfairly roasted.

I'm not much of a drug user myself. Too many actual prescription drugs I need to take to go off the reservation on the illegal stuff. I tried a smattering of it in my youth and decided it wasn't much for me. Except for weed, which I smoked pretty regularly there for a while, but which I haven't enjoyed in years and years.

Thing is, even a little pot smoking seems to grab some goats around here. Marajuana is a huge part of American culture, as well as being immensely popular around the world. When virtually everyone has tried it, and nearly half of the country does it on a semi-regular basis, to have such a strong and violently negative reaction to it seems...out of balance.

And, as has been pointed out in this thread, it's a situation of varying mileage--some stories suffer from it and some do not. Even things like the ubiquitous confusion of loving wives, the appeal and revulsion of incest, and the somewhat unfair relegation of all gay male sex follows a recognizable pattern.