: Re: How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy? terror is a real and powerful thing. A monster is ever-so-slightly scarier if it violates you in some way.Â there have been many of these

Deviant in reproduction

One of the better uses of a deviant monster is in Alien. A male crew member is "impregnated" orally. The resulting baby is described as something that "shouldn't exist", grows full-sized in hours, has acid for blood, etc. The monster is deviant from conception and defies all of nature's laws.

The sexual violation is all metaphor â€“ if you don't recognize the rape subtext you can still empathize with the body anxiety and Kane's vulnerability. If you do recognize the subtext your sense of dread is elevated and the setup pays off.

Deviant in pleasure

The Cenobites from Hellraiser are expected to be beautiful women who are skilled in the sexy arts, but turn out to be sadomasochistic flesh monsters that want to peal off your skin. Their sexual deviancy is a promise that is taken to the unwelcome extreme.

Both blur sexual imagery and universal body anxiety. The first victims are male, making them instantly scarier and stronger. Arguably, the body violation would not have the same impact if the monsters were selectively hetero-normalized.

Actually just sex, but unpleasant and one-sided

As Kirk so wonderfully said in his answer "If you write without reason, it will show."

I'll paraphrase: if your monsters are just a thinly disguised sexploitation fantasy, no one will be fooled into thinking it is something dark and angsty.

Monsters of the flesh have to be monsters of the mind too. If the idea scares/threatens/violates you personally it is worth exploring. If it is there just to shock and titillate with power fantasies against "empty skirts", it will deservingly get eyerolls from anyone who doesn't share that fantasy, and sees it as a Mars Needs Women trope.

Worst case scenario the rape-y space slug scene backfires and becomes a legendary bad joke.

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: Introduce light. Change course. Learn to love again. Have a child and see the world through hope and innocence. Come to terms with the decisions of the past. Take the time to dig graves

: Re: How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy? terror is a real and powerful thing. A monster is ever-so-slightly scarier if it violates you in some way.Â there have been many of these

More posts by @Kaufman555

: Cool is confidence Confidence may inspire people to follow you, but you don't have to be a leader to be confident. You need neither physical strength nor physical endurance to exude confidence.

: Have him sleep with a lot of women (ladies' man). He does not dress to impress "the guys". He's a lover not a fighter. Give him a rich father and an expensive car. Most people are willing

: Flashforward Tense I am a new-ish author. I've written a lot of books, but they've never been published. Anyway, for this new book I'm about to write the first scene is a flash-forward to

: Introduce light. Change course. Learn to love again. Have a child and see the world through hope and innocence. Come to terms with the decisions of the past. Take the time to dig graves

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