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monkeysmut · 1 month

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please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

#really love the concept here #most of my modern shit is Watsonian / diegetic #especially Amy and Careful #you could argue either way for Self Serve #but the Arithrakus series is probably Doylist #anyway what a great framework

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monkeysmut · 2 months

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I feel like many people have a fundamental misconception of what unreliable narrator means. It's simply a narrative vehicle not a character flaw, a sign that the character is a bad person. There are also many different types of unreliable narrators in fiction. Being an unreliable narrator doesn't necessarily mean that the character is 'wrong', it definitely doesn't mean that they're wrong about everything even if some aspects in their story are inaccurate, and only some unreliable narrators actively and consciously lie. Stories that have unreliable narrators also tend to deal with perception and memory and they often don't even have one objective truth, just different versions. It reflects real life where we know human memory is highly unreliable and vague and people can interpret same events very differently

#unreliable narrators

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monkeysmut · 2 months

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how do draw good

fill 14 sketch book

bad stuff is good stuff bc you made stuff

do you like sparkle???? draw sparkle

draw what make your heart do the smiley emote

member to drink lotsa agua or else bad time

d ont stress friend all is well

your art is hot like potato crisps

don’t let anyone piss on your good mood amigo

if they do

eat

them

#the business

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monkeysmut · 3 months

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Kara strode towards the medic's tent with a pace that she hoped didn't look as desperate as she felt. The guard pulled the tent flap side with a sneer, but she paid him no attention as she ducked under the crossbar and went inside.

He was an absolute mess: bandages on his torso, bandages on one knee, a splint immobilizing the other ankle, a broken hand, and a patch over one eye. But despite all his wounds, his smile lit up when he saw her coming. He tried to lift himself to a sitting position but could only manage to shuffle slightly backwards, groaning with the effort.

"I did it," he croaked.

"You did it, love," she echoed.

She sat next to the bed and ran her hands over his chest, making him wince. The clan's doctors had done a good job; human anatomy wasn't all that different from an orc's, really, but still Kara was pleasantly surprised. Still, his bandages were already spotted with blood and anything that wasn't covered with bandages looked bruised and swollen.

"Oric says you should heal up okay so long as you keep your weight off that foot."

"Bah, medics. I can heal while we travel."

"Travel? You're out of your mind. You need to rest."

"Fancy hearing an orc say that to a human."

"I'm your orc and you're my human, thank you very much. And there's no way you're traveling right now. You can't even walk under your own power."

"Who needs to walk? I can ride."

"Not with three broken ribs, you can't."

"They're only a little broken."

"That's not what Trog said."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Remind me which one is Trog?"

"The youngest."

"Ah, the short one with the stubby legs."

"Yes, the one who threw you through a stone wall, that's right."

"He's got a low center of gravity. He got under my guard."

"You won, Will. You don't have to make excuses."

He smiled. "They let me win, you mean."

"What do you mean? You knocked Durkon out cold."

"He practically threw his face into my elbow. Are you sure he wasn't drunk?"

"Are you accusing my brothers of throwing a fight?"

"Kara," he said, grabbing her shoulder with his not-broken hand and pulling himself upright. "I love you very much, and I am telling you that there is no way on this earth that I am capable of beating the three toughest orcs in this clan in a fight when all's fair."

"Well... okay, they might have been a little drunk."

"I know. I could smell the grog."

"So what? No human has—"

"'Has ever taken the Trial of Marriage and survived', I know. I heard your father's speech. So how was I the first? What makes me so special that your brothers threw a fight for me?"

"I think you're pretty special," she said, brushing the hair out of his eyes with the back of her hand. He beamed that smile at her again, and she briefly thought about rolling on top of him before realizing how much damage that was likely to do. "Isn't that enough?"

"Enough for you, enough for me, yes. But enough for your brothers? Enough for your father?"

"You worry too much. He likes you, you know."

"He likes me? He threatened to throw me to the wolves the first time you brought me home."

"And the second. And the third. And you kept coming back anyway."

"Of course I did."

"Don't you see, Will? That's why they like you. You're not the first human to show up and claim they wanted to marry one of our clan, but you are the first to come back after learning about the Trial. You didn't back down even when you knew there was no way you were going to win. But winning and losing was never the point; my brothers get into rougher fights than that for fun. The point was that you showed up. Do you realize that no human has ever taken the Trial in the first place?"

"I knew it!"

"It's your fault that Dad has to come up with a new speech now. He'll be grumpy about that, but if anything he respects you all the more for it. You're one of the bravest people I've ever met, Will, orc or human. And around here that counts for a lot."

A tear formed in the corner of his eye. "Dammit, Kara."

"What?"

"Every part of me hurts right now, and that's the only reason I'm not dragging you into this bed with me."

"You're not the only one who's thinking about it, love."

"Seeing me lying here all bruised and battered turns you on, doesn't it?"

"You liked getting beat up as much as I like seeing you like this."

"I never."

"Freak."

"Sicko."

"Orc-lover."

"Oh!" he shouted indignantly. "Wait, is that an insult in Orcish?"

"No, you fool!" They fell into laughter together, doing their best to embrace each other despite the awkwardness of his injuries and the sick-bed on which he lay. She pulled him into a hug from the side, resting her forehead against his and closing her eyes, letting their breathing fall into sync.

"I guess we can stay here for a little while," he said.

"You don't have a choice," she smirked.

"My parents are expecting us in two weeks."

Her eyes widened and she pulled away from him. "Oh, no. Is that a problem?"

"I mean, Mom is kind of a stickler for lateness, but I think—"

"I'll send a messenger!"

"It's not that important—"

"No! I'll find one right now!" She stood and started to search the medic's tent for something to write on.

"Kara!" he shouted, stopping her in her tracks. "It's okay! It doesn't matter. You can send a messenger tomorrow. It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We'll just tell them it's going to be another week." A sudden coughing fit sent him into spasms and she sat down next to him again in concern. "Or two."

"Oh, love. You're never going to be able to sleep tonight. I'll get you something to drink."

"No, wait. I mean, yes, but not yet. There's something you're not telling me. Why are you so upset about this trip? What's got you so worried?"

Her eyes fell away from his. "I... I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do. This isn't about my recovery; you'd carry me in a litter by yourself if you had to. You don't want to go."

"Of course I want to go! You passed my clan's trial, and now I will do the same for... your village."

He tilted her chin until she was looking at him again. "I told you, sweets, there is no 'trial'. It's a party! It's supposed to be fun! There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I'm not nervous!" she shouted, pounding the bed. The mattress bounced underneath him and he fell into another fit of coughing. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry."

His coughing subsided into a chuckle. "Never thought I'd see an orc get scared off by something as simple as a party."

"A party, I could handle! Believe me, this clan knows how to party – I grew up drinking and fighting with my brothers all the time! But if I have too much wine and hit your sister with a blindside hook, I don't think she'll be keen to stand next to me at the wedding. No offense to Janet."

He laughed. "No, you're right. She can't take a punch as well as Trog, and I'd like her to not have a black eye when we tie the knot."

"If we even get that far," she sighed.

"What's going to stop us?"

"What if I offend your mother? What if the village thinks I'm a dumb brute who doesn't deserve you? I don't know what even happens at a... a..."

"A bachelorette party."

"Yes, that. I just don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do!"

"Well, I can't say I've ever been to one either, since they only invite the ladies."

"I'm hardly a lady."

"No, you're a cegnuk."

She looked at him suspiciously. "You've been studying your Orcish again. But Dad's not a 'warlord', and I'm hardly a 'princess'."

"Is there a better word for the daughter of the clan's chief? Look at it this way: you outrank anyone else who's going to be at this party. Unless the Lord Mayor decides to send his wife, which he won't."

"This is not helping."

He took both her hands in his. "Okay, then try this. You said that your clan respected me because I showed up, right? All I'm asking you is to do the same. I don't want you to go this party and be the perfect human wife, because that's not what you are. You're you. If you go, and you act like an orc who's about to marry the love of her life, everyone there is going to see that. And that's going to get you a lot farther than holding your teacup with the right fingers, or whatever other ridiculous ideas you've got about human society."

"Wait, there's a correct set of fingers to use when you're holding a teacup?"

"No! I mean, probably, but I don't care!"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't been trying to take an entire crash course in how to behave in front of my parents for the last two weeks."

He blinked. "I haven't? Then what were we doing every night on the journey here?"

"... fucking in front of the campfire?"

"Okay, before that. I meant the sparring."

"We do that all the time."

"Yes, but you don't usually mimic your brothers' moves and show me how to counter them."

"I was trying to boost your confidence, so you wouldn't be too scared by the time we got to the village."

"Right! Exactly."

"So why is it so hard for you to understand that I want to learn about your village's customs, too?"

"I..."

"I know you think I can just show up and be who I am and everyone is going to love me as much as you do, Will. I want to believe you, but you know it isn't that simple. Has your village ever thrown a bachelorette party like this?"

His eyes flashed mischievously. "No one's ever survived to tell the tale!"

She tried not to laugh. "Come on, I'm serious. I bet no one's even brought home an orc before."

"Not that I know of, no. But that's the thing, Kara. Most folks who leave... once they leave, they're gone for good. We don't get a lot of kids coming back at all, much less ones who bring a partner with them. That's why Mom's so excited about throwing this party for you, and it's why you don't need to worry so much. I promise she won't throw you to the wolves."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You will probably have to meet our dogs, though."

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"If I can get along with Fenrir, you'll do okay with Snout."

"Keep throwing sausages to him and you'll be fine."

"Exactly."

She sighed. "If going to this party is the thing that stands between us and getting married, I wouldn't miss it for anything. But I'm sure going to be nervous about it until then."

"I get it. And the fact that you care enough to learn our customs means a lot, to me and to my mom. I promise, if there's anything I can possibly think of that might help, I'll tell you. But in all honesty, Kara, if the village idiots decide that you're not good enough for me, they can keep it to themselves. Nothing is going to stand in the way of us spending the rest of our lives together, okay? Not the ladies of the village, not my mom, not anything."

"You romantic sap. It's a good thing you didn't become a minstrel."

"Never could play the lute. And you always were better with words."

"Don't you forget it." She punched him in the shoulder, and he yelped in pain. "Damn. Sorry, love."

He laughed weakly. "It's fine. After what your brothers did to me, it barely registers."

"Ooo, you...!"

"Didn't you say you were going to find me something to drink so I can sleep tonight?"

"Hmph. Fine. I'll take it out of your hide once you've healed up."

"Promises, promises."

She stood up, looking over his battered form one more time before turning to leave.

"I love you, Will."

"Love you too, Kara."

"Sorry I'm such a mess."

He gestured weakly. "That makes two of us."

"I'll get over it."

"I know you will. And I'll heal up."

"I know you will. But I still want to know what fingers I'm supposed to use to hold a teacup."

You’re an orc woman. Your human fiancee,somehow, survived the pre-marriage trial of beating three of your brothers in bare handed combat to prove himself as husband and is now being treated by the healers. Now, according to tradition, you’re going to his clan to prove yourself as wife to him.

#writing prompts #writeblr #orcs deserve love too #they're actually very sweet #once you get to know them #i bet those 'sparring' sessions get pretty spicy tho

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monkeysmut · 3 months

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#dang i want to do this one

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monkeysmut · 3 months

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THANK YOU BUCKAROO that is exactly why i did not want to have a separate pen name or even a name variation like C TINGLE. erotica is art, queer art is valid, and fantastical fun ideas are not automatically 'unserious' LOVE IS REAL BUD

#the business #erotica is valid literature

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monkeysmut · 4 months

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Writer Goal Ask List for a New Year 🎉

These writer asks are always so fun to both ask and answer. Fanfic or original fiction writers, reblog away! These are asks based in new goals for a new year.

💖 What is your primary writing goal for this year?

🛳 Are there any new ships you want to write for? (Platonic, romantic, or anything in between.)

🤔 Are there any new characters you want to write about?

🥸 Does anyone in IRL know you write fanfic or original fiction? If not, do you plan on telling anyone this year?

🥵 Any plans to write steamy or spicy content this year?

👻 Is there a new genre you'd like to write?

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

🐌 What is one of your smallest writing goals?

🦖 Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you'd like to return to?

🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?

🌈 What research do you plan on doing for your writing?

✨What's one area of your writing that you think needs the least amount of improvement?

🥕 What's one area of your writing that you think needs the most amount of improvement?

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

🥳 How are you going to celebrate when you achieve one of your writing goals?

🎃 Do you plan on writing any seasonal fics?

🐾 Do you plan on writing for any fests or competitions?

✍️ Which stat matters most to you (if at all!): subscriptions, kudos/favorites, comments, bookmarks, word count, or hits?

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

🤖 Are you looking to change your current writing setup? (Or establish one, if you don't have one?)

🦷 Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're dreading to write (but is necessary to your plot)? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

🍕Will you be making any changes to your posting schedule (if you have one)? (Or do you want to establish a posting schedule?)

🛏 Is there a new trope you'd like to write this year?

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

🎉 How are you going to be kind to yourself if you don't meet your goals?

💌 Are you willing to take requests or prompts for writing?

#ask game #writeblr

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monkeysmut · 5 months

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10 First Lines Tag Meme Go!

I only have about ten stories, so you're pretty much getting them all, but I'm happy to rank them from best to... less good. Here you go:

1 Careful What You Wish For

One of those moments where I am way too pleased with my own Clever Bit, here's the first lines of the first four chapters of CWYWF:

The door to my apartment blew open, and Molly flung herself through it like an April thunderstorm.

The door to my apartment swung open, and Molly washed over the threshold like the briefest of rain showers passing by.

The door to my apartment banged against the door jamb, and Molly crashed through it like a wave hitting the beach.

The door to my apartment opened so gently I didn't even hear it.

2 The Abduction of Amy

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

A word of warning to both the character and the reader... it fits.

3 Two Vines, No Waiting

Lina tugged her cloak around her to ward off the wind as she wandered through the Temple District, looking for the shop that her friend Mary had sent her to. It should have been easy enough to find, since most of the buildings in this part of town were still actual places of worship, and hadn't been converted into playgrounds for perverts with more coin than sense.

I do like to pepper my stories with puns. This time I managed to get one into the opening paragraph.

4 The Golems (Director's Cut)

Isobel stepped back, dusting her hands and examining the evening's effort with a critical eye while her student continued to chip away at the rock from her perch.

One of my better examples of "start in the middle, then go backwards to show how we got here, then roll forwards to tell the story".

5 WIP (an enemies-to-lovers romance novel)

They say "you can't go home again," but I don't think this is how they usually mean it.

Another one that I'm way too proud of, and probably doesn't work nearly as well as I think it does.

6 No Good Deed...

"Why do you have to take this trip at all?" asked Celia.

Similarly in-media-res; the line itself isn't much to look at, but the opening is pretty strong. The intro came together after I decided to bring Celia back from Golems and rewrote it a few times.

7 Dominance and Shrubmission

Rae hurried past the throngs of worshipers bustling about the Temple District. Mysterious figures with their hoods up and their cloaks wrapped around them weren't an uncommon sight in this part of town, even on a common worship day like this one, but people still mostly moved out of her way.

Maybe not my best work, but it does set the scene.

And now we're into the "well, if I have to pick ten..."

8 The Radio Show

I was a guest on a college radio show about polyamory once.

When you write shorts, there's not really a ton of room for an expansive opening paragraph. Sometimes, shorter is better.

9 Self Serve

Caroline brushed her long hair in the mirror, glancing at the outfit for her catering gig on the bed behind her.

10 Coffee

It's the end of another long work week, which means another chance to engage in one of my favorite rituals: losing myself in the crowd at my favorite coffee shop, alone, but surrounded by people.

Neither of these are particularly good, although Self Serve is a far better story than Coffee, possibly because I've gotten better at writing in the 15-20 years between them.

10 First Lines

I wasn't tagged, but saw this reblogged by @indy-gray and it looked like fun. I write almost all one-shots, so here are ten of my favorite opening lines (more like couple of opening paragraphs, honestly...) from various stories I've published. ♥

1 From "Paying The Tentacle Boss":

SCREEEE!

Nico cringed as the metallic whine of metal on metal echoed through the docking bay. His ship was having some navigational system trouble, which was the whole reason he was docking at this very expensive-looking space station in the first place. Catching the edge of the bay on the way in from the airlock tube had not been part of that plan.

“Shit,” the pilot laughed nervously, feeling the ship shake as it finally cleared the edge. He was inside the station now, in atmosphere again, and so nav had to deal with artificial gravity on top of everything else.

Okay, so the ship had a scratch on the outside. Big deal. He could still fix this. Just had to land and find a ship tech to hire for a little tune up, and everything would be—

KRSSSSH!

Nico jumped in his seat as the ship shuddered to a stop, accompanied by a deep metallic crunching sound.

“Landing successful,” chimed the ship computer cheerily.

2 From "Tentacle Confessions":

Jax bit his lip and did his best to stay focused on his work as he heard the familiar shuffling of bare feet. For nearly an earth month now, Jax had been stationed on this swampy little untamed planet with one other scientist as his roommate and coworker. Unfortunately for Jax, the other scientist was both male and distractingly attractive.

Jax sneaked a glance as the other man walked to the table on the kitchen side of their habitat bubble and sprawled in the nearest chair.

“Morning,” he yawned, holding up a hand in a half-assed wave at Jax.

Jax couldn’t help a small sigh, looking at the guy’s open-chested pajama shirt and low-slung pants. While Jax had maintained his usual professional attire during their time here, the first thing his roommate had decided to ditch was neckties. And shoes. And shirts, half the time. Right now he was over there with his bare feet up on the table, his smooth, sexy abs on full display. The white pajama shirt just made his complexion look even darker and more perfect.

God damn it.

3 From "Pleasing The Tentacle Warden":

“The warden’s on his way, and he’s gonna make you regret this,” the guard sneered, holding his bleeding nose. Novalee smirked up at him from where he’d tossed her to the floor of the cell.

“You gonna cry to him about how a five-foot-nothing woman beat you up, Walliss? A big tough guard like you? Yeah, I bet he’ll be real sympathetic. Poor baby has a booboo!” She shouted the last at the cell door as the guard slammed it, listening to his rapidly retreating footsteps.

4 From "Caged With The Dogmen":

Crystal watched the steady red glow of the stoplight, knowing she didn’t have to wait on the abandoned nighttime street, and choosing to anyway. The people she was meeting with didn’t take kindly to showing up late, but Crystal was pretty sure she was screwed either way.

5 From "Railed By The Hat Man":

“Wow, somebody’s got a date with the Hat Man,” the barista had said when he saw Julie’s order.

At the time she’d rolled her eyes and pointed out that six shots of black espresso couldn’t possibly be the weirdest thing somebody had asked for. Now, back in her apartment with the mostly-empty cup still in hand, she couldn’t get the comment out of her mind.

Who the hell was the Hat Man, anyway? Somebody who loved coffee, she was guessing.

6 From "Stretched By Alien Eggs":

“You’re late,” Miah said, crossing her arms. Her contact, a weaselly-faced little man who had been trying to undress her with his eyes from the moment he saw her, grinned and extended a hand.

“I’m Ovitch. Miah Solari, I presume?”

“Yep,” Miah said shortly, ignoring his hand. “And you’re late. Get on with it.”

Smirking, Ovitch drew out his Wallet, the tiny microchip used to exchange funds, and held it up for her to see.

“You’re moody for a woman who’s about to be so filthy rich. Ready to sign on the dotted line?”

7 From "Impregnated By The Ovipositor Space Dinosaurs":

“Nice view of the moons today,” Naya commented, hefting the smooth matte black energy rifle in her hands.

Like all security officers on Poros Station, she was required to hold a weapon for her entire eight-hour shift. The damn thing hadn’t felt so heavy in training, but training hadn’t made her stand around for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

“You get over it,” muttered the other guard on duty, Caleb. Naya wasn’t sure if the forty-something man was sick of babysitting her brand new self, or just sick of life in general. He hadn’t smiled once since she’d met him. Judging by the frown lines around his mouth, he’d had Resting Sour Face since long before that.

8 From "Paying With His Cherry":

Chase had never been so down on his luck. First the shipping job he’d dragged his “vintage” ship to the edge of settled space for hardly paid enough for the fuel home, and then right after he fueled up at this seedy little space outpost, the warp drive wouldn’t power up

If there was one thing an independent pilot like Chase was used to, it was doing his own mechanical repairs. He’d been so sure he could slap a patch on it, at least until he got back to a bigger spaceport.

Luck really wasn’t in the mood today, though. Chase quickly assessed that the problem wasn’t repairable—the ship needed an entirely new part, one that cost around 16,000 credits.

That was 15,995 more credits than he currently had.

9 From "Bride Of The Alien Tentacle Gods":

The blue and pink surface of Telyn II looked unreal on Avah’s view screen. It reminded her of cotton candy. This particular cotton candy would become the shield that protected Avah from a lifetime spent in prison.

Being on the intergalactic government’s “lock ‘em up for life” list was still a pretty new development. Avah just might have stolen files too precious for the government to let her ever walk free with what she knew a few days ago. She might have also done so by sleeping with the war general’s son Daxten and hacking his computer afterward.

Possibly, even, she was already making a short list of people to sell them to once she lost her pursuers.

10 From "Stuffed By The Poltergeist":

Out of all the things Allie wanted to do with her fiancé on a Friday night, ghost hunting was at the bottom of the list. Dave had some idea they would film some spooky real-life ghost encounter at this abandoned house on the edge of town and use it to win the PhastasmoVideo contest.

Allie was sure that ghosts weren’t real. Pretty sure. Okay, just unsure enough that the idea of walking around a creepy old building actively trying to get their attention scared her.

What GOOD things ever happened in a haunted abandoned house? If ghosts were real, they’d probably make her and Dave disappear, and blurry found footage on the little digital camcorder Allie carried would be their legacy.

I don't know many folks on writing Tumblr yet, so if anybody sees this and would like to join in, feel free to consider that me tagging you. 😁

#writeblr #tag games #writers on tumblr #erotica #indie author #first lines #just don't nominate me for Bulwer-Lytton

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monkeysmut · 5 months

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love is so cool

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monkeysmut · 5 months

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Apropos of (almost) nothing: I'm the kind of pedant who dislikes calling tentacle porn "tentacle porn" not because I think it's aberrant but because, 98% of the time, what's being depicted are octoform arms or tendrils, not tentacles. Tentacles are defined by the clubbed ends, which are the only part that have suckers. If it's tapered and has suckers all the way down, it's an octoform arm; if it has no suckers at all, it's a tendril.

You're welcome.

#i am absolutely part of the problem #at least in the sense of #using 'tentacles' to tag Two Vines stories #although i also use 'planticles'#because tbh i don't think anyone would look for #tendril porn #as a tag

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monkeysmut · 6 months

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Dang, y'all.

Not only is Self Serve over 50 ratings in just over a week, which is nuts, but at this point more people have read it on Literotica (5,000 views!) than made it all the way through Careful What You Wish For.

Maybe there's a shred of truth to the whole "write whatever you want, and the audience will find you" thing, huh? I'm not exactly doing Annabelle Hawthorne numbers but frankly I'm pretty stoked with the response.

If you're one of those 5,000, or even one of the 53 who rated the story, thank you.

Self Serve

Hey, guess what? I finally put the finishing touches on another story, and you can go read it right now. This one was inspired by the description of "Keys to the City" from my book "Careful What You Wish For," but it came out different enough that I decided to change the title.

Synopsis: Caroline takes a catering job for a rich guy who throws elaborate private sex parties. At first, wearing a chastity belt and a sexy outfit while serving hors d'oeuvres seems a bit odd, even for a sex party. But pretty soon Caroline discovers that her new employer's proclivities are starting to grow on her... A story of teasing, orgasm denial, and self-discovery.

Read it on Literotica: https://literotica.com/s/self-serve-1

Read it on StoriesOnline: https://storiesonline.net/s/31938/self-serve

As always, I super appreciate it when people leave ratings for my stories, or even a comment if you're so inclined. Erotica authors like me receive shockingly little feedback so in all seriousness, every little bit helps.(E-Book coming soon to Bookapy and Smashwords.)

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monkeysmut · 6 months

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@charlesjeffries is my side blog for posting actual writing updates, but this one's doing pretty good numbers right now and I'm hoping it will get over Literotica's 50-vote threshold for their monthly "best of" contest. The cutoff's November 15, so give it a read and a rating if you're so inclined?

Self Serve

Read it on Literotica: https://literotica.com/s/self-serve-1

Read it on StoriesOnline: https://storiesonline.net/s/31938/self-serve

#self promo #erotica #chastity play #orgasm denial #original fiction #writeblr

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monkeysmut · 6 months

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I used to work for a trade book reviewer where I got paid to review people's books, and one of the rules of that review company is one that I think is just super useful to media analysis as a whole, and that is, we were told never to critique media for what it didn't do but only for what it did.

So, for instance, I couldn't say "this book didn't give its characters strong agency or goals". I instead had to say, "the characters in this book acted in ways that often felt misaligned with their characterization as if they were being pulled by the plot."

I think this is really important because a lot of "critiques" people give, if subverted to address what the book does instead of what it doesn't do, actually read pretty nonsensical. For instance, "none of the characters were unique" becomes "all of the characters read like other characters that exist in other media", which like... okay? That's not really a critique. It's just how fiction works. Or "none of the characters were likeable" becomes "all of the characters, at some point or another, did things that I found disagreeable or annoying" which is literally how every book works?

It also keeps you from holding a book to a standard it never sought to meet. "The world building in this book simply wasn't complex enough" becomes "The world building in this book was very simple", which, yes, good, that can actually be a good thing. Many books aspire to this. It's not actually a negative critique. Or "The stakes weren't very high and the climax didn't really offer any major plot twists or turns" becomes "The stakes were low and and the ending was quite predictable", which, if this is a cute romcom is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not to mention, I think this really helps to deconstruct a lot of the biases we carry into fiction. Characters not having strong agency isn't inherently bad. Characters who react to their surroundings can make a good story, so saying "the characters didn't have enough agency" is kind of weak, but when you flip it to say "the characters acted misaligned from their characterization" we can now see that the *real* problem here isn't that they lacked agency but that this lack of agency is inconsistent with the type of character that they are. a character this strong-willed *should* have more agency even if a weak-willed character might not.

So it's just a really simple way of framing the way I critique books that I think has really helped to show the difference between "this book is bad" and "this book didn't meet my personal preferences", but also, as someone talking about books, I think it helps give other people a clearer idea of what the book actually looks like so they can decide for themselves if it's worth their time.

Update: This is literally just a thought exercise to help you be more intentional with how you critique media. I'm not enforcing this as some divine rule that must be followed any time you have an opinion on fiction, and I'm definitely not saying that you have to structure every single sentence in a review to contain zero negative phrases. I'm just saying that I repurposed a rule we had at that specific reviewer to be a helpful tool to check myself when writing critiques now. If you don't want to use the tool, literally no one (especially not me) can or wants to force you to use it. As with all advice, it is a totally reasonable and normal thing to not have use for every piece of it that exists from random strangers on the internet. Use it to whatever extent it helps you or not at all.

#media analysis #good advice #critique what IS there #not what ISN'T there #separate it's bad from i don't like it

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