Purple Plots

nkkingston · May 8, 2009

There's so many sites dedicated to purple prose in erotica, I thought I'd take a sidestep and see what kind of purple plots people had come across. The really, strange, unexpected, crack-out ones. Not necessarily bad (usually well written) but so over the top you can't believe they got away with it.

For example, I picked up an early Ellora's Cave anthology at a local charity bookshop, and one story left me a little... stunned. This is in the company of vampires, time travellers, and executive werewolves, so I thought I knew what I was getting in to.

I mean, the genetically modified cat girls were par for the course, and the male protag also being mysteriously modified. Beautiful tropical island, check. Near future setting, check. So far so good. It's all cosy, there's a menage appearing around the corner...

And then a nuclear bomb goes off. Somewhere over the horizon, but it still blasts the island and burns everything on it.

And then a massive tidal wave hits the island. That they ride out in his yacht.

Why was there a tidal wave? Well, apparently the nuclear bomb melted the ice caps. They're likely to be the last survivors on the whole planet.

Oh, and he's a day-walking vampire. The final cherry on top of the nuclear cake.

You see what I mean about purple plots? Got any good ones? Written any good ones?

Darklite · May 8, 2009

I once read a book where a couple were kidnapped by the Russian mafia and made to have great sex together. Highly improbable plot, but I could forgive that as the characterisaton and the sexy bits were fab.

I don't tend to read anything that looks as if it's going to be too out of the ordinary though, so shape-shifters and genetically modified people are definitely off my list. I can only suspended my disbelief for so long.

thethinker42 · May 8, 2009

Darklite said:
I don't tend to read anything that looks as if it's going to be too out of the ordinary though, so shape-shifters and genetically modified people are definitely off my list. I can only suspended my disbelief for so long.

I like SF and Fantasy, so I'm okay with shapeshifters (particularly one that I've been reading lately, but can't name because it's not published yet) as long as it's done well and not part of a lame excuse for a plot that's nothing more than a pathetic reason to tie sex scenes together. Aside from that example though, I haven't seen it done well in an erotica context.

Brindle Chase · May 8, 2009

nkkingston said:
And then a nuclear bomb goes off. Somewhere over the horizon, but it still blasts the island and burns everything on it.

And then a massive tidal wave hits the island. That they ride out in his yacht.

Why was there a tidal wave? Well, apparently the nuclear bomb melted the ice caps. They're likely to be the last survivors on the whole planet.

Oh, and he's a day-walking vampire. The final cherry on top of the nuclear cake.

You see what I mean about purple plots? Got any good ones? Written any good ones?

but does he sparkle?????? *anxiously waiting like a doormat*

Seriously. Obvious that the author did very little research. Little things like how many nukes it would take to melt the ice caps... and if that happened, we'd have nuclear winter, not summer... Ice caps melting wouldnt cause a tidal wave either, but flooding would occur... and anyways, none of that would matter, because everything would be completely destroyed... yada yada yada.. so I go back to my 1st question.... does he fricking sparkle??? If so, I think everything will be okay!

*lmfao*

sunandshadow · May 8, 2009

Well I did read one steamy romance where the vampires turned out to be King Arthur and company, and the werewolves were created to fight the vampires in case the vampires decided to forget their role as protectors of earth from aliens and start abusing their power.

But in my experience it's unusual for erotica to have a great deal of plot - they may very well have one really unusual plot element but it's usually there from the beginning of the story, they don't usually pop up as a surprise.

scarletpeaches · May 8, 2009

The erotica I read does have a plot; there are plenty of books out there.

If it doesn't have a plot, I call it porn and toss it (!) aside.

Brindle Chase · May 8, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
The erotica I read does have a plot; there are plenty of books out there.

If it doesn't have a plot, I call it porn and toss it (!) aside.

Amen... well, unless it was really good porn! *lol* But yeah... if there isnt a plot... and a good one, one I would expect to find in the same genre, sans the erotica parts, then I don't consider it erotica and its simply porn.

scarletpeaches · May 8, 2009

Bravely, I have decided to research this more closely.

nkkingston · May 8, 2009

Brindle Chase said:
but does he sparkle?????? *anxiously waiting like a doormat*

This is pre-sparklepyres, though he was hanging about in the tropical sunlight.

Some people'ld probably find it weird, but I'm fine with shapeshifters and fantasy and science fiction (they're the genres I grew up on), but inconsistencies and inaccuracies just get me. The whole 'plot' made no sense, not compared with the erotica! I had no idea what the point of it was.

I can deal with plotless porn, but it's got its place! Plot points that appear two thirds through for the sole purpose of pretending it's not porn are just unfortunate and forced. It's like the writer suddenly realised it was going to be short, so decided explosion would help. Love it in films, not so much in books.

sunandshadow · May 8, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
The erotica I read does have a plot; there are plenty of books out there.

If it doesn't have a plot, I call it porn and toss it (!) aside.

I don't know if this was in response to me. If so, I wasn't talking about books that don't have a plot, I was talking about books that have a simple plot. For example, character gets abducted by aliens, mild adventures follow but mainly provide reasons for progressively more exotic sex scenes, then eventually the character either settles into their new role in life or escapes the aliens and goes home. That feels a bit thin if the author stretches it to 300 or more pages of novel, but is IS a plot.

MargueriteMing · May 9, 2009

How's this for a plot?

She is impregnated by an artificially-intelligent spaceship, gives birth to a plant-like being, that grows in the ocean into a telepathic being that communes with the universe and develops faster-than-light travel? Along the way we have machine-female, female-plant, machine-plant, and plant-fish sex.

Any editors want this submitted to their slush pile?

Marguerite is searching hard for the next hot genre.

thethinker42 · May 9, 2009

MargueriteMing said:
How's this for a plot?

She is impregnated by an artificially-intelligent spaceship, gives birth to a plant-like being, that grows in the ocean into a telepathic being that communes with the universe and develops faster-than-light travel? Along the way we have machine-female, female-plant, machine-plant, and plant-fish sex.

(bolding mine)

*imagines ship trying to impregnate woman*

*is baffled beyond words*

*seriously considers committing a horrible act of parodying by way of Photoshop...*

thethinker42 · May 9, 2009

thethinker42 said:
*seriously considers committing a horrible act of parodying by way of Photoshop...*

Scratch that. I HAVE committed a horrible act of parodying by way of Photoshop. There's no way in HELL I'm going to post it here, so PM me or e-mail me if you want to see it...

scarletpeaches · May 9, 2009

Your starship is made of wrong.

sunandshadow · May 9, 2009

Maybe if it were a biological sentient starship... but I'm still boggling over plant-fish sex.

MargueriteMing · May 9, 2009

sunandshadow said:
Maybe if it were a biological sentient starship... but I'm still boggling over plant-fish sex.

Bees pollinate flowers. Nature is stranger than fiction.

sunandshadow · May 9, 2009

MargueriteMing said:
Bees pollinate flowers. Nature is stranger than fiction.

That's not the issue, I was just trying to figure out which if either of the fish and the plant was supposed to be the intelligent, sympathetic viewpoint character.

thethinker42 · May 9, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
Your starship is made of wrong.

My starship is made of WIN.

I would totally post it here, but I think that might get me banned.

MargueriteMing · May 10, 2009

sunandshadow said:
That's not the issue, I was just trying to figure out which if either of the fish and the plant was supposed to be the intelligent, sympathetic viewpoint character.

The telepathic plant, obviously. I know it's beastiality, but it's a symbiotic relationship, genetically engineered by the ship AI, and implemented by splicing DNA in the egg during the act of coupling. I think it makes perfect sense. Really.

BTW, the fish benefit by having their gills tickled erotically. It's very sensual.

Stella Omega · Aug 3, 2009

MargueriteMing said:
How's this for a plot?

She is impregnated by an artificially-intelligent spaceship, gives birth to a plant-like being, that grows in the ocean into a telepathic being that communes with the universe and develops faster-than-light travel? Along the way we have machine-female, female-plant, machine-plant, and plant-fish sex.

Any editors want this submitted to their slush pile?

Marguerite is searching hard for the next hot genre.

Huh, well, I do have an AI spaceship that's planted herself with a tentacle symbiont so that she can consummate her lust for her captain who is a half-breed (natch) who hasn't really faced the scorn she gets from both sides of her family and only wants to drink and swive her way across the galaxies until the love of a Good Ship saves her.

This is a funny thread for me. I swore I would never write furries, and here I am writing genetically-altered cat girls et al.

MargueriteMing · Aug 10, 2009

Stella Omega said:
Huh, well, I do have an AI spaceship that's planted herself with a tentacle symbiont so that she can consummate her lust for her captain who is a half-breed (natch) who hasn't really faced the scorn she gets from both sides of her family and only wants to drink and swive her way across the galaxies until the love of a Good Ship saves her.

This is a funny thread for me. I swore I would never write furries, and here I am writing genetically-altered cat girls et al.

When you take out the fish and the plant, it becomes an obvious metaphor for gerrymandering political boundaries.

Purple Plots

nkkingston

Bemused Girl

Darklite

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

Brindle Chase

Dancing on the edge

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

scarletpeaches

Brindle Chase

Dancing on the edge

scarletpeaches

nkkingston

Bemused Girl

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

MargueriteMing

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

scarletpeaches

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

MargueriteMing

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

MargueriteMing

Stella Omega

Strange Brew

MargueriteMing