Season 1: Sexual Fangtasies
I am going to explore the world of sexual fantasies—what they are, what the science has to say about them, and how they connect to erotica and smut.
Mating season is nearly upon us! For this inaugural season of Consentacles: Monstrous Thoughts on Ethical Erotica, I am going to sink my teeth into the world of sexual fangtasies—what they are, what the science has to say about them, and how they connect to erotica and smut. Sex scenes in books can serve a lot of thematic functions, but for 95% of them, the main purpose is turning the reader on. So it made sense to me to start this series with what we know about fantasies and turn-ons. The research I did for this has already helped me immensely as an erotica writer and reader. When I’m reading, I can better identify why a scene that should’ve ticked all of my boxes just didn’t do it for me. And when I’m writing, I know a little bit more about what my ideal reader (aka a person already fantasizing about the thing I’m writing) would be looking for. I also just feel better as a person, independent of my reading and writing habits, knowing that my own sexual fantasies aren’t THAT weird and that there’s some very human reasons behind why I like what I like.
My primary source for this is Dr. Justin Lehmiller’s study on American sexual fantasies, the largest study of its kind ever done:
“A massive survey of more than 350 questions taken by more than four thousand Americans, including persons from all fifty states… participants ranged in age from eighteen to eighty-seven, and had occupations spanning everything from cashiers at McDonald’s to homemakers to physicians to lawyers. This group included all sexual and gender identities, political and religious affiliations, and relationship types, from singles to swingers.” (xv-xvi)
In his book about this survey, Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life, Lehmiller explains the raw data of his findings, what the sex psychology field already knows about why people like these fantasies, and how you can use this knowledge in your own sex life. In Season 1 of Consentacles, I’m going to take it a step further and talk about how you can use it to find or write better erotica. I’ll also be referencing some writing books like my favorite writing book of all time, The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes, as well as famous erotica writer Guy New York’s Write Till You’re Hard and Rachel Kramer Bussel’s How to Write Erotica. Near the end of the season we’ll be discussing non-consensual/forced sex fantasies1, so I’ll be referencing Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent by Dr. Katherine Angel then. And I’ll even bring in a little bit of philosophy with Octavio Paz’s The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism.
I’ll be using all of these books and more to tell you about what the most common kinds of sexual fantasies are according to the data, and who is having them. I’ll explore how these fantasies might connect to common trends in the reader and writer spaces, like face-claiming, sword-crossing in why choose/reverse harem romances, and why the dark romance girlies like what they like. And I’ll talk about how to use what we know about why people fantasize to write or find better smut, including breakdowns of sex scenes I’ve read that I think really showcase the fulfillment of the fantasy. If you haven’t already, subscribe to this substack so you can get all these topics and more straight to your inbox! I also publish my own free monster smut short stories here. If you’re only interested in the Consentacles series and don’t want to get monster lovin’ in your inbox, or you’re only here for the smut and don’t want to think too hard about it—you can actually update your preferences to only follow one newsletter or the other. If you click on “manage my subscriptions” under your profile, you should see toggles that allow you to opt in and out of one or the other.
Once you’re subscribed, make sure to put a water bottle by your bed and charge all your toys… mating season is about to begin!
At the beginning of this section, I will put out a content warning so that if you’re not interested in reading about this, you can skip those essays and come back when they’re done.