"The Scent of Jasmine Tea - Tales from the Orient” - the 2026 Story Event Official Support Thread

[Husky_Embrace]

The first thing I thought of was "Journey to the West," though I think it's out if scope and now that I have a kid I can't write it anyway.

Still nice to imagine it. Maybe a 15th century version in Japan, mixing the cultures and times.

Following a person meeting being from folk tales. The protagonist is someone who learned Tao, and it able to shapeshift into 72 erotic forms and personalities, made to overcome any obstacle.

Formal, respectful and seemingly slow speech filled with meaning, followed by bursts of action. Imagine a formal dinner at a shō-chi house that blocks the pass. During the dinner the daughter shows no behaviour of affection, but her speech and uncontrollable physical reactions tell a different story. When left alone they break composure, kissing passionately and drawing the other to the bed. Afterwards the daughter puts in a good word, so the protagonist can continue his journey.

 

[Voboy]

My story isn't going well, alas. It might be more than I bargained for.

 

[Writer61]

My story isn't going well, alas. It might be more than I bargained for.

I'm sure you can do it. Still got plenty of time.

 

[Voboy]

I'm sure you can do it. Still got plenty of time.

Oh, it's not about time. Having less time would probably benefit me more, honestly.

It's about will.

I no longer like the story, nor do any of the characters interest me. If they don't interest me, they surely won't interest anyone else. My setting is boring and claustrophobic, my conflict is FAR too complicated, and ultimately there's no good way to tell the story, sexually.

I'll see if anything else speaks to me.

 

[Writer61]

Fair enough.

 

[HyunnaPark]

So what are you waiting for? Next year?

Okay, everyone who was waiting for 2026 in order to get started, it's here

There are still seven months until this event winds down, so there's lots and lots of time if you haven't gotten started.

I thought I'd post the overview of my project in the hopes that it may trigger some ideas for someone else. And if the topic itself is one that you want to write about, I can share any research that I've done.

But the time period I picked was 1504-1506 in Korea (then called Joseon). The King at the time was a tyrant. He was I think 28 and obsessed with sex. That year, he found out that his real mom wasn't the former Queen, it was the Queen before her who had been deposed and executed. He went crazy and did some really insane stuff like ban Korean writing, purge his rivals with humiliating public executions, and turn the national university into a pleasure palace where he groomed kidnapped women (I swear I am not making ANY of this up, and it's only 5% of the insanity that this King put the country through).

By 1506, he was deposed in a coup.

And the topic I am writing about is kisaeng, Korean geisha, although they were very different from their Japanese counterparts. These women were extremely highly educated, they were almost the entire cultural & artisan industries of the peninsula for literally a thousand years, and they were also slaves and sex workers. The best ones were borderline rock stars and were frequent visitors at court, and kisaeng of all grades had freedom that no one else in Joseon had because they were outside the rigid, highly moral Confucian hierarchy. Although in general, they were not treated well so they're a very complex group of women.

 

[calmlikeabomb]

Just a small comment: I love the fact that we are doing "orient", but the exclusion of India bothers me. The Indian cultures have informed so much of Chinese, Japanese and Indo-Pacific cultures (Buddhism, Zen, Shaolin, Angkor Wat, Bahasa, The Journey to the West, the LITERAL names of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the sailing culture in HK, the architecture across all of the Indonesian archipelago) over millennia, and discarding Indian cultures because they might feel "different" to the uninformed doesn't sit right with me.

I would love to do a love story of an Indian sailor and a Singaporean courtesan, or an Indian pirate who has captured a Korean princess, or even gay romance between a Chola prince and his Chinese apothecary, but the way the contest is framed right now is, quite frankly, shallow and limiting. Most of the defenders of Singapore during the siege during WW II were Indians. The British Indian Army was one of the largest contingents during Opium Wars.

I know you have no reason to pay heed to my words, but if you have a bit of openness in your heart, I would urge you to broaden your world view. Us "brown" people might feel dirty or smelly to you, but for millennia, we have mattered, and we continue to matter.

/End drunken rant

 

[Voboy]

I would love to do a love story of an Indian sailor and a Singaporean courtesan, or an Indian pirate who has captured a Korean princess, or even gay romance between a Chola prince and his Chinese apothecary, but the way the contest is framed right now is, quite frankly, shallow and limiting. Most of the defenders of Singapore during the siege during WW II were Indians. The British Indian Army was one of the largest contingents during Opium Wars.

You're being silly, or perhaps just dense. It's quite clear that a story involving Indian pirates is just fine, so long as it happens in Singaporean or Korean waters. Indian soldiers in Singapore are just fine. The Opium Wars are perfectly acceptable.

Run your own writer event, if you don't like this one.

 

[YmaOHyd]

A South Asia event next year would be super fucking cool, actually. (I say that as someone who's a little bummed that I won't be entering this.)

 

[calmlikeabomb]

You're being silly, or perhaps just dense. It's quite clear that a story involving Indian pirates is just fine, so long as it happens in Singaporean or Korean waters. Indian soldiers in Singapore are just fine. The Opium Wars are perfectly acceptable.

Run your own writer event, if you don't like this one.

I'm being drunk and self righteous. There is a difference.

But there is a broader point here about the mystical "orient" and how special and wonderful it is, without acknowledging one of the major cultural influences that made it so.

And no, I will not run my own writer's event. I will bitch and moan about things I don't like, just like everyone else here.

Deal with it.

 

[Writer61]

I know you have no reason to pay heed to my words, but if you have a bit of openness in your heart, I would urge you to broaden your world view. Us "brown" people might feel dirty or smelly to you, but for millennia, we have mattered, and we continue to matter.

/End drunken rant

Stop posting before you embarrass yourself any further.

 

[calmlikeabomb]

Stop posting before you embarrass yourself any further.

That's not a very high bar, believe me.

Also, please see below. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

That is correct. And after listening to the excellent rendition of Blanket by Jeff Beck and Imogen Heap, I am completely cured.

I would like to apologize to everyone for my outburst. I am just a hollow man, a number like all of you.

You matter. Your writings matter. We are all ashes and worm food but what you do here matters.

I love you all and I shall masturbate to all of you tonight.

Lots of love and thank you all so much for being you. The world would be a worse place without you.

 

[spiderboi]

A South Asia event next year would be super fucking cool, actually. (I say that as someone who's a little bummed that I won't be entering this.)

I'd be into that as well! My Valentine's Day entry is my first foray into South Asia, and I've been doing some fun research that has given me ideas for subsequent stories that I would love to make work for a future event.

But I've got three outlines for this particular event, so I'm also hoping that we have a repeat of Tales From the Orient next year in case I can't get them all in this one lol

 

[HyunnaPark]

I would love to do a love story of an Indian sailor and a Singaporean courtesan, or an Indian pirate who has captured a Korean princess, or even gay romance between a Chola prince and his Chinese apothecary, but the way the contest is framed right now is, quite frankly, shallow and limiting. Most of the defenders of Singapore during the siege during WW II were Indians. The British Indian Army was one of the largest contingents during Opium Wars.

These all sound like great ideas to me. A big part of the spirit of the times are these empires smashing together and, as you point out, Indian people were active participants and constant influences on many levels in these times.

And I'd also like to point out that this isn't a contest, it's an event. The difference is that there are no winners and no prizes, it's just an excuse to write on a theme. Because of that, there's a lot of latitude to include stories that are close to the idea but not 100% on point. My own writing for this event is like that, it falls just a little before the scope and in "the Hermit Kingdom", which largely stayed out of colonial affairs during this time.

Since you've got ideas, it might be good to tag Chloe or DM her if you've got questions about how far she's up for stretching the event. My experience with her is that she's a big fan of a well-researched historical idea.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Just a small comment: I love the fact that we are doing "orient", but the exclusion of India bothers me. The Indian cultures have informed so much of Chinese, Japanese and Indo-Pacific cultures (Buddhism, Zen, Shaolin, Angkor Wat, Bahasa, The Journey to the West, the LITERAL names of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the sailing culture in HK, the architecture across all of the Indonesian archipelago) over millennia, and discarding Indian cultures because they might feel "different" to the uninformed doesn't sit right with me.

I would love to do a love story of an Indian sailor and a Singaporean courtesan, or an Indian pirate who has captured a Korean princess, or even gay romance between a Chola prince and his Chinese apothecary, but the way the contest is framed right now is, quite frankly, shallow and limiting. Most of the defenders of Singapore during the siege during WW II were Indians. The British Indian Army was one of the largest contingents during Opium Wars.

I know you have no reason to pay heed to my words, but if you have a bit of openness in your heart, I would urge you to broaden your world view. Us "brown" people might feel dirty or smelly to you, but for millennia, we have mattered, and we continue to matter.

/End drunken rant

You know what, if you feel the urge to write something set in India and you want to do it for this event, go ahead. India was always a question in my mind - it's not the orient, it's between Europe and Asia but it can overlap quite easily as some of your story ideas cover...... In my mind, India and the Raj was alway seperate, but I'm willing to broaden the horizons of the event so go ahead.....Burma....India....Ceylon....Nepal.....Bhutan....Assam and the hill tribes....Tibet and mongolia even..... have at it!

And I have to say for myself, I love stories set in the days of the Raj - MM Kaye's "The Far Pavilions," "Heat aad Dust," "A Passage to India," "Bhowani Junction," (and anything set in India by John Masters), Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet," altho my taste personally is more English writers writing nveks set in India rather than novels by Indian authors - altho I do have a few like VS Naipul, Rohinton Mistry and Vikram Seth and of course Salman Rushdie, altho he never grabbed me the way John Masters or MM Kaye does.

I won't include the MIddle East tho LOL. THAT is a stretch.....

 

[ChloeTzang]

You're being silly, or perhaps just dense. It's quite clear that a story involving Indian pirates is just fine, so long as it happens in Singaporean or Korean waters. Indian soldiers in Singapore are just fine. The Opium Wars are perfectly acceptable.

Run your own writer event, if you don't like this one.

I tend to veer towards being inclusive rather than strict with the guidelines, so if anyine has something that is close byt appears beyind the scope outline, just post it here and ask - the whole idea is to get people writing and contributing the sort of stories we don't often see on Literotica and in one event - so in general my approach is "go for it" - it's quite a broad theme and there's all sorts of things that COULD be included if you have a sudden flash of inspiration.

So what I would say is "dont be shy" - if yu have an idea that doesn't seem to fit, ask, and I will more than likely say yes, unless it's wildly off topic. THeres all sorts of things that COULD fit - the Dutch experience in the Dutch East Indies for example - they shipped a lot of slaves and prisoners from the East Indies to the Cape Colony in South Africa for example - and that could well fit. Likewise the chinese, japanese and other indentured workers who were shipped to the Pacific Islands, Hawaii and places like Australia to basically work as poorly paid slaves. The Japanese geisha who the Portugese bought and shipped back to Lisbon to work as prostitutes in the 15th and 15th centuries, those weird little portugese trading enclaves - a multi-ethnic and culture potpourri scattered across Asia - Macao, Timor, Malacca, Goa....all of which survived into the 20th century.....the British of course, who went everywhere and brought everyone with them whereever they went - Sikh guards to Shanghai and Hong Kong, people like Rupert Brooke (The White Rajah of Borneo - an amazing character), Icould go on and on but you get the idea.

Now my take is Euro and Sino-centric because that's my experience, but there are many other experiences - Indian not the least, and all the other European French, Italian, German, you name it_ and Asian (Hyunna had a GREAT idea for something set in Korea - a really unique perspective I have never thought of and history I have never heard of but I loved at first outline), so.....

Go for it!!!!!!!

 

[calmlikeabomb]

You know what, if you feel the urge to write something set in India and you want to do it for this event, go ahead. India was always a question in my mind - it's not the orient, it's between Europe and Asia but it can overlap quite easily as some of your story ideas cover...... In my mind, India and the Raj was alway seperate, but I'm willing to broaden the horizons of the event so go ahead.....Burma....India....Ceylon....Nepal.....Bhutan....Assam and the hill tribes....Tibet and mongolia even..... have at it!

And I have to say for myself, I love stories set in the days of the Raj - MM Kaye's "The Far Pavilions," "Heat aad Dust," "A Passage to India," "Bhowani Junction," (and anything set in India by John Masters), Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet," altho my taste personally is more English writers writing nveks set in India rather than novels by Indian authors - altho I do have a few like VS Naipul, Rohinton Mistry and Vikram Seth and of course Salman Rushdie, altho he never grabbed me the way John Masters or MM Kaye does.

I won't include the MIddle East tho LOL. THAT is a stretch.....

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!