Virtual Reality Fantasy - reveal it's a fantasy from the start?

I think either way could work, although the second one's been done so many times in other genres it might be considered a cheat by readers. Can I ask--why does he need amnesia to not feel guilty in a pretend brothel? I can see him signing a release of indemnification because the experience is so awesome, but I'm a bit confused by the other.

How long is the book? With a short story it would work well to keep it hidden until the end, but with a longer book where more emotions and world building are involved it would be a bit more difficult. I've done VR in my Sodom series but it's a contemporary(ish) resort where people go to play in the VR that the resort offers and everyone is aware from the start that it's VR so it's a different premise from yours.

I'm not sure how the memory wipe would work. When someone is a blank slate, how would you deal with their confusion as they wake and don't know who, what, or where they are? Or is it selective amnisa? You could always have the VR place give him an aphrodisiac beforehand, could be real or a fake placebo to give him an excuse for being a horndog.

As far as lessening the intensity because it's known from the beginning that it's VR, well that depends on how you write the character.

My first question is, what is the main conflict in this? Does he feel guilty about wanting the shapechanger to assume a certain gender/species? Does he want the shapechanger to look like someone he can't have? Etc. Even in short story erotica there must be some kind of conflict, in my humble opinion, some kind of tension to give the story a backbone and life of its own.

My next question would be, why a shape changer in VR? Is this shape changer a real person, or just another aspect of VR. I like having real people populating the VR world and interacting with each other from an author's standpoint because it allows for, IMO, greater character development because you've upped the stakes by changing it from a wack off fantasy to a bit more romancy. Then again, this is your baby so you write it how you are most comfortable and what feels right to you. I'm just throwing ideas at you to give you a broader base to work with.

mfarraday said:

Should I reveal that this was actually a purchased fantasy at the beginning of the piece, a la Total Recall, or only reveal it after he wakes up at the end?

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If you don't let your reader in on the fantasy from the beginning, s/he's going to feel cheated, unless you can come up with some extraordinarily clever way to handle it.

It's just like the '...and then I woke up." ending where the author reveals that the whole adventure was a dream. Should you be able to get it published, your readers will hate you.

It's just like the '...and then I woke up." ending where the author reveals that the whole adventure was a dream. Should you be able to get it published, your readers will hate you.

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Truth. I'll burn an effigy of you in my backyard.

Reminds me of the lamest series ending ever in a TV show.

From: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllJustADream ((good website for tropes))

• Dallas infamously undid a season this way. The actor that played Bobby left the show, and they had Bobby hit by a car and died. After the ratings started to sink, and the actor came back, the writers retcon the entire season as a dream by Pam, causing several continuity snarls and messing up the Spin-Off, Knots Landing, where it referenced Bobby's death in the story line.
  • There's even more to this: Producer Leonard Katzman was kicked off the show at the same time Patrick Duffy left, only to be brought back at the cast's demand. Katzman hated a lot of stuff that was done to the show in his absence (primarily making the women much stronger characters), and so thought of a way to ensure they never happened.

Yeah "it was just a dream" is as horrible in erotica as it is in other genre. I would suggest letting the reader know what is going on at the beginning but somehow working in some real life consequences for the protagonist by the end.

I think there is more potential in the prior agreement leading to something unpredictable, than the events turning out to not be "real".