Do you think it would help?

[GuiltyCowboy]

It seems to me there's a whole bunch of readers who want tags and intros to be squick warnings, who expect authors to mind read and warn them.

My contrary view is to expect adults on an adult website to act like adults, to know how to back click and go away. There's too much catering for the nervous, if you ask me.

That is, of course, the grown up approach.

However, if you think of all the bits of info a reader gets about your story - the tags, the title, the subtitle, even your bio etc - as opportunities to get them excited then the intro is just another way to positively affect that experience.

In that light, the intro is superficially a polite warning - a genuflection to the nervous - but, really, you could intend its actual purpose to work up a bit of anticipation. Like letting the cooking smells waft through to the dining table before the dish appears. Or telling someone you’re going to kiss them before you kiss them.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Authors I love to death have discussed NC topics outside of that category. It's... tough. The world wasn't designed to make me personally comfortable. I know (or fear I know) why they do it, I wouldn't begrudge them doing it, but if I had a magic wand...

But they're all good about not just tagging but also putting trigger warnings up. Of course if you're halfway through an epic and find you have to stop, that's not great either, because you're invested and you can't finish it.

To add to this, some NC stories are lighter than others. Some NC stories are fantasies that aren't really deep. Others (probably fewer) are darker and actually show the consequences of these acts. It's fair to give readers a sense of which side the story falls on.

 

[Stanfield2025]

That is, of course, the grown up approach.

However, if you think of all the bits of info a reader gets about your story - the tags, the title, the subtitle, even your bio etc - as opportunities to get them excited then the intro is just another way to positively affect that experience.

In that light, the intro is superficially a polite warning - a genuflection to the nervous - but, really, you could intend its actual purpose to work up a bit of anticipation. Like letting the cooking smells waft through to the dining table before the dish appears. Or telling someone you’re going to kiss them before you kiss them.

Yeah, I see those little intros as appealing. It's like those Warning: Viewer Descretion is Advised blurbs right before a cool TV show begins. It just makes the show seem cooler.

 

[SmilingLez]

Nothing wrong with the categories that wouldn't be solved with more accurate re-naming.

The list with improved titles in Bold, enhanced reader-interest-focus:

Erotic story categories

Anal
Up yer Ass(Arse)

Audio
Listen

BDSM
Bind & Flog Me

Chain Stories
Serial Stories

Crossdressing
Dress Up

Erotic Couplings
Miscellaneous Drawer

Erotic Horror
Scare Me

Exhibitionist & Voyeur
Flash Me

Fan Fiction & Celebrities
Fan-Fuck

Fetish
Special Squicks

First Time
Firsties

Gay Male
Guys Only Ghetto

Group Sex
More the Merrier

How To
If you wanna know something...

Humor & Satire
Laughgasms

Illustrated
Art/Photo Stories

Interracial Love
Orgasmic Miscegenation

Lesbian Sex
Women Only

Letters & Transcripts
Write Me

Loving Wives
Schizophrenic Monogamy

Mature
Old Coots

Mind Control
Make Me Do It

Non-English
Non-Anglophonic

Non-Erotic
Asexual

NonHuman
Non Sapiens

Novels and Novellas
Big Books

Reluctance/NonConsent
Force Me!

Reviews & Essays
Cerebral Navel-gazings

Romance
Love(sic)

Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Dreamscape

Taboo/Incest
All in the Family

Toys & Masturbation
Toys ‘R Orgasms

Transgender
Non-Binaried

A big part of me wants to turn that into free verse.

 

[liliput1]

Go into any story, Page 1 top left, click on the A. Fourth box down, there's a Story Card format box with three choices. Pick "Expanded". That will show the tags on every Author's story page.

It's a very odd way to get to it, but once it's done, it's your default view. It can be changed instantly, at any time.

In the middle of the fonts tab??? Flames. On the sides of my face.

I’m going to go outside, get some air, and not think bad thoughts about people who are doing great stuff for me out of the goodness of their hearts, and soothe the tears of my inner designer. Shhh. You’re okay. Just breathe. Have some coffee, I got you your favorite. Yes it’s iced. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

Yeah, I see those little intros as appealing. It's like those Warning: Viewer Descretion is Advised blurbs right before a cool TV show begins. It just makes the show seem cooler.

'Are you really sure you want to watch this? I should warn you, there's quite a lot of nudity by Monica Bellucci/Brad Pitt/Steve Buscemi...' [delete as necessary].

 

[liliput1]

To add to this, some NC stories are lighter than others. Some NC stories are fantasies that aren't really deep. Others (probably fewer) are darker and actually show the consequences of these acts. It's fair to give readers a sense of which side the story falls on.

Definitely a big difference between “I don’t want to do it… here/now” and “I don’t want to do it at all.”

I could have done with more encouragement to youthful indiscretions so I sometimes get tingles from reluctance, particularly if it’s done really well. But I’ve seen the wreckage of the other and I can’t divorce that from “just fiction”. That’s a straight up ick that has gotten worse every year for many years. It’s been a long time since I was over there but I vaguely recall a few authors who telegraphed really well up front which flavor they’d done, and I respect both of them for being clear, even though I won’t read the latter, you did me a solid by being up front about where this was going.

I also seem to recall at least one comment accusing an author of basically trying to be meta NC by tricking the readers into reading something they didn’t want to. That’s one baked my noodle almost as much as the horrible plot twist. Which I thankfully no longer recall.

 

[liliput1]

'Are you really sure you want to watch this? I should warn you, there's quite a lot of nudity by Monica Bellucci/Brad Pitt/Steve Buscemi...' [delete as necessary].

Monica Bellucci knows people watch her for her body. God bless her.

Naked version of Black Mirror:Bandersnatch

Actually, that one is so on the nose why isn’t there an x rated version of that?? Band her snatch

 

[Britva415]

I'm not sure whether stories about ENM within marriage and those outside of marriage should be placed into separate categories.

I don't even know he difference between ENM within marriage and outside of it is.

Do you mean "unmarried" ENM?

 

[Britva415]

Erotic Couplings
Miscellaneous Drawer

It isn't, though - except to the extent that people put stuff there because they forget or fail to put something into a more appropriate category for that story. It happens.

EC is filled with stories which really do belong there. That's not "miscellaneous."

I mean, I guess it could be renamed "vanilla" but shit shouldn't be marginalized just because it isn't niche.

 

[Ianus4]

I don't even know he difference between ENM within marriage and outside of it is.

Do you mean "unmarried" ENM?

What I mean is that two people can live together for decades without being married, whether in a monogamous or non-monogamous relationship. Just like married couples, only without rings and vows.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Definitely a big difference between “I don’t want to do it… here/now” and “I don’t want to do it at all.”

I could have done with more encouragement to youthful indiscretions so I sometimes get tingles from reluctance, particularly if it’s done really well. But I’ve seen the wreckage of the other and I can’t divorce that from “just fiction”. That’s a straight up ick that has gotten worse every year for many years. It’s been a long time since I was over there but I vaguely recall a few authors who telegraphed really well up front which flavor they’d done, and I respect both of them for being clear, even though I won’t read the latter, you did me a solid by being up front about where this was going.

Yeah, I think it's fair to turn away a reader who will be negatively affected by such a story. It benefits both the author and the reader.

I wouldn't say I have the same ick (I assume you're referring to a violation of hard and non-negotiable boundaries, and correct me if I'm wrong), but there was a story I read in which a character violated another's hard boundaries and by the end of this story, both of the characters got together. As soon as one of them said "I love you", the incident no longer mattered.

Now, I have no issue with the story itself, but I felt perturbed by the way the incident was brushed over. I was actually physically restless afterward. It's actually one of the main reasons I started writing here in the first place. I wanted to depict that same relationship dynamic, but this time without the non-con incident in question being swept under the rug. I wanted to explore what the relationship looked like with the incident as a shadow that cannot be escaped.

That goal probably doesn't jive with what the majority of readers here look for, but it was worth doing.

 

[liliput1]

(I assume you're referring to a violation of hard and non-negotiable boundaries, and correct me if I'm wrong),

Now, I have no issue with the story itself, but I felt perturbed by the way the incident was brushed over. I was actually physically restless afterward.

Yeah I know too much about trauma response. That’s trauma bonding and it’s psychological abuse.

It's actually one of the main reasons I started writing here in the first place. I wanted to depict that same relationship dynamic, but this time without the non-con incident in question being swept under the rug. I wanted to explore what the relationship looked like with the incident as a shadow that cannot be escaped.

That goal probably doesn't jive with what the majority of readers here look for, but it was worth doing.

Everyone is wrong and I’m gonna fix it! I know that response all too well, and I telegraph it all over every project I work on.

I’ve read a few stories lately where I wonder if the author would benefit from doing an abridged version of a work without one or two scenes. Because if the story holds together without it…

However if that’s the author’s kink, who am I to tell, say Erozetta, to pull her favorite(?) scene out of her own story just because I loved the rest to bits but no likely that exact part? Maybe that story wouldn’t exist without that scene. Probably, even. “Take it out!? But that’s the best part!” So we get what we get and we don’t throw a fit.

 

[Britva415]

NB != trans

That's a subject for probably a whole thread or essay, but in short it isn't as simple as that.

Some NB people identify as trans people, and some get gender care, and some don't do either. My own take is, until assigning NB at birth is a thing, anyone who identifies as NB is "not cis" because there's no such thing as "cis NB."

Trans isn't limited to trans masc and trans fem.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Yeah I know too much about trauma response. That’s trauma bonding and it’s psychological abuse.

I did quite a bit of reading on trauma-bonded relationships while writing my story. Someone I showed the story to looked at the first five or so chapters and said there was a trauma-bond, and the relationship wasn't supposed to be obviously trauma-bonded during those first chapters. The full reveal came later. So for someone to see it early means I must've done something right in my depiction.

However if that’s the author’s kink, who am I to tell, say Erozetta, to pull her favorite(?) scene out of her own story just because I loved the rest to bits but no likely that exact part? Maybe that story wouldn’t exist without that scene. Probably, even. “Take it out!? But that’s the best part!” So we get what we get and we don’t throw a fit.

Yep. That other story does what it does well. Who am I to say what should be in it?

So instead of throwing a fit, I just did my version of the trauma-bonded couple dynamic. My version asks different questions. What if, this time, the victim has a vengeful best friend who refuses to forgive the perpetrator? What if the perpetrator has children who eventually find out exactly what brought their step-parent into their lives?

 

[Britva415]

What I mean is that two people can live together for decades without being married, whether in a monogamous or non-monogamous relationship. Just like married couples, only without rings and vows.

Got ya. For that matter, they could just be bf/gf for six months and do ENM