Stories exploring morally questionable things

[Heathcliff]

Last night I heard a radio program which mentioned the 'Ring of Gyges'. It's a story about a guy who finds a magic ring that makes him invisible, and how he uses it to act immorally because he has no fear of getting punished. It is really a philosophical question about whether humans are naturally 'good'.

I am vaguely thinking of a fetish story exploring this topic. A male fetishist who gains the power to become invisible, and at first uses it simply to watch people sneeze in public more closely, but then gives in to temptation to use it to spy on women in private places, clearly stepping into acts that are legally and morally wrong. (Please note! I would include some sort of comeuppance for him at the end).

I would be quite interested to do this as a more serious type of story- I would probably put it on the adult board. However, I don't want to start this if everyone will hate it, or it won't be allowed on the forum at all. So that's my question: can I write a story in which a character behaves in a stalker-like or voyeur-like way, if it is a fantasy and not glorifying or promoting such behaviour?

[Blah!?]

I can't speak for everyone, but I think it really depends on how far you take it. Personally I'd be inclined to allow it as long as the character doesn't actually do anything. Obviously stalking is hardly a sympathetic trait, and I probably don't need to warn you that a lot of readers here might not like a character who engages in it, but it could be a heck of a lot worse. Plus I think him getting some sort of comeuppance at the end would help a lot to avoid the impression that you're glorifying such behavior.

I think as long as he doesn't go beyond being a peeping tom, you're probably okay. Though I would suggest you wait to hear from others, particularly staff members, first.

[Heathcliff]

Thanks for your reply Blah.

Let me clarify something- I shouldn't really have used the word 'stalker', as that is not really the sort of behaviour I want to include. It would be, as you say, a 'peeping tom' (which in real life is still a serious crime, of course).

I'm not sure I would ever actually write this- but I am still very interested in whether such a story would be allowed on the forum.

[webmeistro]

Personally, I'd like to hear from the mods on what is and isn't allowed in adult stories. IMHO, given that we're allowed to post stories of people having sex, in full graphic detail (M/F, M/M and F/F), a moderate amount of moral ambiguity won't be seen as corrupting our fragile sensibilities.

[count tiszula]

Just a line to say that, even though there is a tendency to assume that sneezing is always illegal, in reality , at least in the UK, even spying on someone to see them sneeze is not illegal. It IS illegal to watch a private act in some circumstances, but the reasonable man is never going to regard sneezing as a private act......

[Heathcliff]

Just a line to say that, even though there is a tendency to assume that sneezing is always illegal, in reality , at least in the UK, even spying on someone to see them sneeze is not illegal. It IS illegal to watch a private act in some circumstances, but the reasonable man is never going to regard sneezing as a private act......

I take your point Count, sneezing itself is not a private act, however we may feel about it. But my thought was to have the character go further than that- going from watching someone and seeing them sneeze, in closer and more pesonal settings, until the guy becomes more tempted and abandons any pretence that what he's doing is not wrong, and progresses to spying on someone in their private property, watching them undress, etc. So we are certainly talking about (at least at the end of the story) things that are unquestionably immoral and serious.

The more I think about this, I realise it's more about me wanting to show off and write a 'difficult' story. It doesn't really need to be a fetish story, and I doubt I have the writing ability to make it work. So I really don't think I will ever write this! But I am still very interested in responses to my question, on what extent of moral ambiguity would be allowed in forum stories.

[Joal 555]

However, I don't want to start this if everyone will hate it, or it won't be allowed on the forum at all. So that's my question: can I write a story in which a character behaves in a stalker-like or voyeur-like way, if it is a fantasy and not glorifying or promoting such behaviour?

The general concensus among the staff is that it would be perfectly acceptable to post such a story as long as it was on the Adult Board and didn't break any of the "normal" story rules as per the constitution eg underage issues etc (of course, we are not suggesting that you had anything like that in mind)

Have fun writing the story if you choose to do so