Good lord, I love me some Goodreads anyway if you remember my review of Thom Lane ~ Dark Heart where basically I pointed out it was not really “BDSM proper” but more Slave Fic like the Gor novels or the Anne Rice “Beauty books”.
In other words it was boring and idealized to me.
So in my comment section on Goodreads a writer by the name of Ocotillo expresses distaste at my low esteem of the book…
Do GR ratings represent the opinions of people who basically approve of the genre/kink (whether the genre is m/m in general, or slavefic in specific), reflecting how well that author served the genre? Or do they represent a wider population of people who might take exception to the genre/kink in its entirety? In any case, it isn’t up to me to decide the role of GR ratings (and the two aren’t always easily unraveled), though obviously, I do prefer the former.
How many times are people going to ask me the same thing like “do I really like Gay Romance or BDSM that gets written as Gay Romance”? Is Slave Fic an actual genre?
I pointed out Thom Lane ~ Dark Heart is sold as “BDSM LGBT Fantasy Paranormal”. I read it as such and even though it is not labeled Romance… Yes, I still pointed out how I felt there really was none there anyway being it was the story about a supposed “real” slave. I tend to read for romance so sue me.
Hell, I would have a hard time categorizing the slave in this fic as even being gay since he did not have any choice in the matter.
The thing was I had just finished reading Rachel Haimowitz ~ Anchored around the same time and despite how violent that book had been to me I felt as Slave Fic went it was just as boring as Thom Lane ~ Dark Heart.
Both came off the same way with not so much “BDSM dynamics” in play as much as just some excuse for abuse or coercion being used to create some “hurt and comfort” dynamics while sometimes using some rough sex maybe. Nothing really all that edgy to me.
Also nothing showing any real romantic commitment either as I stated in my review of Thom Lane…
Can any BDSM based story be considered Romance if there is no hard choices made between freedom and love? I don’t know but I have not read any that worked for me that did not have those considerations made or at least implied somewhere in the story.
As I tried to explain later in the comments section on Goodreads to me a commitment even out of love can be seen as giving up of one’s freedom. So that translates into something romantic to me which I guess is what I am looking for in a BDSM Romance. It also seems to be where these Slave Fic stories tend to fall flat in my opinion.
The other part I tried to explain is where I jokingly refer to the contractually obligated butt plug scenes.
Then there’s the “advanced stuff” I NEVER SEE in these Gay BDSM Fantasy books and they are Fantasy so why don’t we see even more intense BDSM scenes like OMG! people using slings or actually liking the taste and smell of another guys smelly armpits or nipple play or CBT or needles or hell how about just licking another guys boots which can be erotic but you never find an author with even that understanding of the scene…
Oh god, I could go on how domestic and denatured most of the perfunctory Gay BDSM sex is in these books next to say a Friday night at a DC dungeon party. That is what I mean when I joke about contractually obligated butt plug scenes.
I really do feel this way and yes I was being sarcastic because most of that shit is actually pretty tame.
I find it surprising that with all these writers coming up with supposedly “edgy” BDSM scenes again and again and no one has ever really struck me as catching on to the fact that boys have other senses like taste and smell that are just as much a part of the sexual experience. In other words we do not leave our sense of smell or taste at the door when participating in anal sex with another sweaty hairy guy or licking their boots.
Anyway this quickly got turned down as of any interest to the typical Gay Romance reader because…
I think there’d be a significant portion of modern m/m readers that wouldn’t like them. Because ewww, gross.
That is my impression of the average m/m readership, but I could be wrong.
Now I am not bringing up anything new here though.
I think there have been several Gay Romance reviewers who have stated similar questions regarding Gay Romance and the propensity for many writers to not want to even think a guy might get off smelling another guys sweaty jock strap or armpit or “heaven forbid!” a rim job.
I have also not whipped out any examples where I have seen this “rule” broken because they are all over my top picks for Gay Romances that I love. In other words I have pointed them out already when I see a writer has taken an extra step in this direction. Funny how those books also happen to be top selling stories.
But anyway, I thought that was an interesting discussion.
What do you think about this topic?
Tags: eBook Commentary
Angelia Sparrow wrote,
I think anyone who skips the boot-worship is really missing out. 8) I blame George Lucas for that particular kink.
I seldom read other authors specifically for kink. (I do read for genre) I find it terribly bland. Like they all read Beauty and decided they could write it, too. But their fantasies never get any farther than a spanking or some rough sex or a few semi-adventurous toys..
Boot worship, suspension, clamps. I would love to see someone run a zipper along a bottom’s arm, just to show it doesn’t have to concentrate on traditional erogenous zones. Cages. Medical play. Licking armpits is not to my taste, but getting turned on because someone is kinda sweaty and smells very much of themselves? That’s hot. (now if he’s spent a week without a shower outside in triple digits, it’s a specialized kink)
Or for the harder-core, what about body modification? Piercing and tongue splitting.
And why don’t we ever see breath control?
There are exceptions to this. Jodi Payne and Chris Owen. James Buchanan, who can make a rope session sexy (and I find those dull even off the page).
Link | March 8th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Well that is why I said I had not whipped out my numerous examples.
J.L. Langley wrote sweaty Jock Straps and Fisting into some of her best work. Victor J. Banis wrote a Western Romance where one of the romantic heroes would not be what I call “monogamous” most of the time.
So my thing is that in my opinion for a writer there really is “no limits” but when I see a writer doing the “same old same old” BDSM scenes and point them out people seem to get upset and say it’s the genre’s fault or the readers would hate whatever I am talking about so it’s obviously not the writers fault. blah blah blah
I just do not buy that at all. Lack of imagination or real interest in the subject matter is really easy to spot.
Link | March 8th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Emilie wrote,
Personally, I think the reviewer is perfectly justified in rating a book according to how well it fit into the labels it was given. There are many kinks readers like in their books that are not my thing, but if it’s labeled right, they’ll know where to find it, and I (and perhaps others) will know what to avoid. I’d like to see books labeled “forced consent” or “slavefic” if that’s what the books are. I know lots of readers love those kinds of books.
I haven’t changed my mind since the start of this discussion a few weeks ago. I still don’t think slavefic has anything to do with modern-day BDSM. I don’t know why modern-day BDSM equipment gets transplanted wholesale into fantasy books. With a little imagination, writers could get the same effects using items that could plausibly be found in their fantasy worlds.
I really dislike it when authors who obviously have no idea what they’re talking about throw in a couple of scenes of what they think is BDSM to “spice up” a story. You’d hope the writer could make it interesting by writing about things they know.
I could go in all different rant directions on these thoughts, but I just don’t see why a book can’t be labeled honestly for what it is. It’s not like everyone’s going to see what someone’s reading on a computer or e-reader (or your favorite, the iPad).
Link | March 8th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Well that is sorta my point. I mean it’s BDSM Fantasy so no rules it has magic so where is the going nuts part?
Most of this stuff comes across tamer and more well mannered than I would ever put-up with in a real BDSM scene. Where is the gusto?
Where is Conan being whipped while pushing that heavy stone wheel around while wearing his tight sweaty smelly jock strap making my heart go pitter pat?
Instead we get twinks who think a spanking is life threatening dangerous.
Link | March 8th, 2011 at 6:17 pm