Complying with Guidelines in the case of an MC backstory of CSA

[spookym]

Hi all

I could use some advice about the likelihood of me being within the Literotica publishing guidelines in relation to underage and non-con references.

In my series-in-development, the MC has a backstory thread critical to his motivations and misbeliefs. While a minor in the care of the state, he was cynically targeted by the story's villain, for sexual abuse. While it ended due to his reporting, his decision to do so caused him and his friends (his residential-care housemates) to be split up for their safety. This created a rift between the MC and his then-best-friend, the resolution of which will be key to MC's growth arc, especially his recognition that he is not a threat to anyone he befriends.

The CSA is named in the narrative, most often in implied ways although these become more obvious as the story progresses. From "dark events he didn't want to think of, let alone name"....and....."the foul terms of their weekly arrangements"....to..."made to do things no child should ever experience"...and..."the regular weekly abuse that constituted her revenge-by-proxy on the boy's late father..."

The details of his coercion (the villain threatens to harm his resi-care friends if he doesn't comply) are made progressively clearer with each flashback/inner revelation. Similarly, his decision to report and how that was triggered - that the abusers decided to escalate his suffering by replacing him with one of his friends, leaving him desperate to prevent this and with nothing left to lose.

But at no point are the abusive acts themselves depicted, and in no way is it glorified or his abusers written in the least bit sympathetically. If anything, readers would come away with a sense of outrage and anger against the villain and her accomplice (the MC's youth worker) and hankering for them to meet a justifiably unpleasant fate.

In the main timeline the MC is "a few weeks away from turning eighteen", and so far, while he gets teased by his current friends about his attraction to certain girls, and has some inner fears about the impact of his past abuse on his ability to have intimate relationships, he does not get involved with anyone and won't until he turns eighteen (and even then I don't know if he'll be ready).

Meanwhile, other characters do engage in dom-sub style relationships. Some are clearly playful and involve fully informed consent. The villain however, has a recurring habit of "enslaving" other characters by understanding their weakness, playing on these and enthralling them into her service. None of these subs are minors. Ironically the only minor she has ever tried it on - and failed - was the MC. While there is a fair bit of emotional and psychological manipulation by the villain, and these dom-sub exchanges are written very explicitly, in every case the "enslaved" character is shown to have made their own choices (often unwise but always aware) and they are always depicted clearly as adults.

Your advice would be much appreciated.

 

[RejectReality]

The frequently bringing up way underage non-con is probably going to be difficult to get past, even when done vaguely. Combine that with not-quite-18 musing about attraction, and you're in absolutely dangerous water. You'd need to get past that to even begin worrying about the D/s stuff, and I have serious doubts you can. About the only hope you have of getting it approved is capturing Laurel so well that she reads all the context and decides the character development outweighs the dancing on the razor's edge. ( Assuming you don't tip over it ) Needless to say, the way the queue is overloaded nowadays, that's an unlikely prospect.

 

[THBGato]

I've come across characters who are recovering victims of CSA on literotica (arguably I have one in Twenty). So you should be fine.

 

[THBGato]

Combine that with not-quite-18 musing about attraction,

Yes, this is more likely to be an issue. Why not make the MC older at the start of the story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Your advice would be much appreciated.

Read your text with a critical eye. Don't read as if you think you know what you wrote, but concentrate on the words that are actually there. Can they be read differently, to inadvertently give an underage sexual reference?

If you're satisfied that the words can't be misinterpreted, submit with a Note to the Editor, drawing attention to anything you think could be slightly ambiguous.

 

[RejectReality]

The examples provided of how you're bringing up the CSA feel in-bounds to me. They get the point across without creating any titillation. Several of them is where I think it's going to get problematic. It's going to be hard to write friends teasing about attraction without tipping over the edge as well. That line of what's "sexual" is a lot sharper than most people think.

 

[spookym]

The frequently bringing up way underage non-con is probably going to be difficult to get past, even when done vaguely. Combine that with not-quite-18 musing about attraction, and you're in absolutely dangerous water. You'd need to get past that to even begin worrying about the D/s stuff, and I have serious doubts you can. About the only hope you have of getting it approved is capturing Laurel so well that she reads all the context and decides the character development outweighs the dancing on the razor's edge. ( Assuming you don't tip over it ) Needless to say, the way the queue is overloaded nowadays, that's an unlikely prospect.

Thanks RR. To clarify, while there is some friendly banter from his friends, the MC actively avoids any kind of sexual/intimate engagement and will do so adamantly at least until he ages up past 18. To keep this plausible within the plot, I depict is as him being worried he cannot be do so without bringing his baggage with him, but from an author point of view that is a device to keep him within Literotica Guidelines.

I can probably find and replace a couple of times other characters express romantic interest in the MC but even in those it is clear those characters decide not to act because they recognise the difficult journey he is on (although they don't know about the CSA). I figured this would keep it in the territory of other forms of teen-attraction threads which I have seen in many Literotica stories and series.

Finally, the CSA is never presented as an act of sex but an act of violence - a distinction I have been hoping makes it clear none of the story is about underage sexual activity.

 

[spookym]

Yes, this is more likely to be an issue. Why not make the MC older at the start of the story.

Thanks THB - the MC is still in the care of the state and his ageing out of the system during the story is a key part of his journey, His case manager and other Children's Services staff are key allies and his transition process enables him to get plot-critical revelations at the right time.

 

[spookym]

Read your text with a critical eye. Don't read as if you think you know what you wrote, but concentrate on the words that are actually there. Can they be read differently, to inadvertently give an underage sexual reference?

If you're satisfied that the words can't be misinterpreted, submit with a Note to the Editor, drawing attention to anything you think could be slightly ambiguous.

Thanks EB - this is very good advice. Will go over the critical passages. I am confident most would not be open to misibnterpretation like this but there are a couple that could be and I think will need editing. For example, a dream sequence where MC relives the moment he decided to record the villain's accomplice self-incriminating, in order to get the evidence needed to force the police to act quickly, thereby increasing the chances his housemates can be moved to safety. In that scene while I don't include any description of what went on in "the bad house" I do have some dialogue that could be construed as skirting close to descriptive of the perps' actions (or at least motivations) rather than strictly sticking to the weight of self-incrimination needed for the accomplice's arrest.

 

[spookym]

The examples provided of how you're bringing up the CSA feel in-bounds to me. They get the point across without creating any titillation. Several of them is where I think it's going to get problematic. It's going to be hard to write friends teasing about attraction without tipping over the edge as well. That line of what's "sexual" is a lot sharper than most people think.

Ok that is very good advice. I think I have kept that separation by having MC bat away his friends' banter by pleading that (as a recent target of peer bullying and self-imposed isolationsism) he is focusing on learning to be a good friend. And when he does consider the impact of his abuse as baggage that prevents him letting anyone close, even he tends to suppress any kind of detailed thoughts, not wanting to recall those times.

It's only much later in the story that he finally discloses his abuse to his closest friends and they immediately drop the matchmaking banter. And it's only in that context that the CSA and the teen-attraction themes intersect in any significant way.

The reader should have a clearer view than the characters of just how much CSA can f*ck with someone's ability to have healthy (1) self-esteem, (2) relationships and (3) intimacy. Both characters and readers will see the first two but the readers should understand the third in terms of the problems MC is going to have later once he is old enough and healed enough to think about becoming sexually active.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Laurel's is the only opinion that matters, but here's mine: this seems fine, from what you've described. None of the abuse sounds sexualized, and your descriptions don't sound graphic.

For the underage romance bits, could you tone it down? Make it part of his trauma that he rejects people's advances way before they even become advances. At even the slightest hint of romance (much less sex) he's like, oh no not for me.

 

[lovecraft68]

This could be done but you would have to take this major plot point and make it into a few quick references and avoid reference to the actual age. Maybe along the lines of the MC telling someone

"I was once in a group home and badly abused, I finally got someone to believe me and it stopped but I was then separated from my friends." I don't see why that wouldn't pass but note how vague it is. If you want to get into the details of the abuse its not going to work.

This idea reminds of the movie Sleepers.