So here we are living the dystopia, now what?

[SexyInTyvek]

I found myself on lit first to blow off steam from work with other people living this hell we are trapped in. Then I saw it was a community of writers who care about their craft. I never thought that I would find myself fantasizing about the things that I am, much less writing about them, but I conversely never expected to experience what we are experiencing, and all of us are indeed in this together, regardless of our divided opinions. If anyone finds themselves wondering at their own sexual self discovery as I am, I believe the quote that sums it all up is:

“Eroticism, it may be said, is assenting to life up to the point of death.”​

— Georges Bataille

Please be safe out there, protect each other, and keep writing.

 

[AlexBailey]

Sensuality is good for society. Sexual activity and closeness can help produce Oxytocin in the human mind and body, so by getting off you can help make the world a better place.


https://www.psycom.net/oxytocin

"Released into our brains under the right circumstances, oxytocin has the power to regulate our emotional responses and pro-social behaviors, including trust, empathy, gazing, positive memories, processing of bonding cues, and positive communication.3 Thanks to oxytocin, we get a toasty, tranquil feeling whenever we’re with the people we care about. And the more we engage in these feel-good behaviors, the more oxytocin we get—you might even call it addictive.

Oxytocin is also connected to serotonin and dopamine. This trio of neurotransmitters is often referred to as the “happy hormones,” and for good reason. Under the right conditions, they work as a team to make us feel butterflies. Whenever we’re with someone who we’re attracted to or care about, our brain releases dopamine, serotonin levels increase, oxytocin is produced, and presto—you get the buzz that love songs are written about."

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm all for eroticism and the celebration of sexuality, but I'm not sure what you mean by "dystopia." I cannot speak to your particular circumstances, but we do not, collectively, live in a "living hell."

I'm what I would call an optimistic Hobbesian. Life has always been bad. Full of shit, villainy, selfishness, disease, war, everything bad--they've always been with us. Things are a lot better than they used to be, though. Life for most people is much less hellish than it was in the past, and one of the delightful proofs of that is that we have the ability, which we did not 30 years ago, to log on to this fun website and at no cost publish stories about our fantasies and have people read them. It's pretty great. It's not heaven, but it's not hell, either.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm all for eroticism and the celebration of sexuality, but I'm not sure what you mean by "dystopia." I cannot speak to your particular circumstances, but we do not, collectively, live in a "living hell."

I'm what I would call an optimistic Hobbesian. Life has always been bad. Full of shit, villainy, selfishness, disease, war, everything bad--they've always been with us. Things are a lot better than they used to be, though. Life for most people is much less hellish than it was in the past, and one of the delightful proofs of that is that we have the ability, which we did not 30 years ago, to log on to this fun website and at no cost publish stories about our fantasies and have people read them. It's pretty great. It's not heaven, but it's not hell, either.

I know not the place for politics, but the recent story about Roe V Wade had me thinking, if you're a woman, or stand for women's rights, here are your options

The 'right' who wants to control women and take them back to 1950
The left who wants to do away with the word and gender woman/female, the new Supreme court justice literally wouldn't answer the question what is a woman? She knows the answer, she's afraid to say it because the left will squeal she's conservative

One side wants to control women, the other wants to remove them....next year we'll have "Birthing Person's day" instead of mothers day

welcome to Dystopia.

 

[SimonDoom]

I know not the place for politics, but the recent story about Roe V Wade had me thinking, if you're a woman, or stand for women's rights, here are your options

The 'right' who wants to control women and take them back to 1950
The left who wants to do away with the word and gender woman/female, the new Supreme court justice literally wouldn't answer the question what is a woman? She knows the answer, she's afraid to say it because the left will squeal she's conservative

One side wants to control women, the other wants to remove them....next year we'll have "Birthing Person's day" instead of mothers day

welcome to Dystopia.

There's plenty of absurdity. You don't need to persuade me. But my reaction to things like this is to ask, When were things better?

I feel that when I look at the insanity of MAGA hats: Make America Great Again. What? When was America greater than it is now? When women and black people couldn't get jobs and you could get thrown in jail for having gay sex? Yeah, that was really great. Those were the good old days. No, not so much. My point about perspective is: badness has always been with us. But it's not as bad as it used to be, and if you don't see that, you're not paying attention. We are a flawed species and that's why badness exists but badness does not equate to dystopia. We've lost perspective. Both the right and the left. It's not a partisan thing.

I remember thinking in the mid-90s, at the dawn of the Internet age, that with an infinite quantity of information available to almost everybody at no cost, we were going to become a much more rational and informed world. That prediction didn't pan out so well. But even so, the world in 2022 doesn't suck as bad as the world in 1992. There's at least a smidgeon of comfort to be taken from that.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I know not the place for politics, but the recent story about Roe V Wade had me thinking, if you're a woman, or stand for women's rights, here are your options

The 'right' who wants to control women and take them back to 1950
The left who wants to do away with the word and gender woman/female, the new Supreme court justice literally wouldn't answer the question what is a woman? She knows the answer, she's afraid to say it because the left will squeal she's conservative

One side wants to control women, the other wants to remove them....next year we'll have "Birthing Person's day" instead of mothers day

welcome to Dystopia.

Birthing person's day sounds like a blast. Do caesareans count?

 

[ChloeTzang]

....But my reaction to things like this is to ask, When were things better?

“plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”

 

[SexyInTyvek]

"L'incertitude est le pire des maux jusqu'au moment où la réalité nous fait regretter l'incertitude"

 

[Winter_Fare]

We dance
To subtle music
For a time

We dance until
We cannot
Catch a breath

Then fall
Becoming
 Just another beat

 

[Voboy]

These aren't the good ol' days, but neither was any other time. Back in the "dearly-departed" fifties, there were plenty of people pining for the twenties, and so on. You can read the same sentiment in letters ancient Romans wrote to each other.

We're living when we are, and we're all supposed to do our best with what we're given. We're like all other humans, always, at any time and in any place. This is not a dystopia: it's our lives.

Besides, once Yellowstone erupts? This is going to seem idyllic. But there'll still be people whackin' it to racy stories, guaranteed.