Heh, why couldn't we have had full frontal nudity on a chapter with a hotter guy??

Pen, it does depend on the skin. Llen happens to have one of the "enhanced" Louis skins which includes the texture of some generous soul's genitalia. It looks startlingly real. So he's a candidate for the nudity.

Whereas other guys, like Young Aed, say, have Enayla skins, with no texture down there. So unless I make some nude clothes with appropriately shaded penis textures applied...

Oh wait...

EXACTLY! I have a photo that looks like Attack of the Fifty Foot Aia wrapping her entire hand around Llen's waist. I will try to remember to post that in the outtakes as soon as the chapter is written. For art's sake!

I really don't know how I'm going to explain this to Mr. Lothere if he comes by at the wrong moment. I was already kind of antsy with the last chapter because I made some nude shots of Young Aed so that I could Photoshop the bare feet overtop of the boots...

Mind you, he's French, so it isn't as if the nudity will bother him. The fact that it's Sim nudity will just be another sign that I'm losing my mind to this story.

Oh and *confetti* for your, uh, Forum Anniversary. *toots paper horn*

Other people's Sims are cartoons for me, more or less. Especially if the CC tends towards the Maxis-like. But my own Sims are just windows onto characters who seem very real to me... so I just don't see their nudity the same way I guess. They're real people seen through a glass, darkly.

Alright, so I'll be the one going slightly against the flow on this one. Diagonally upstream. I really do not mind nudity for art at all, but I do really enjoy the humorously hidden parts. Maybe it's just me but I would rather rely on the writing for the parts requiring nudity. Eh. I suppose I just like how things are now. And, you never know what non-adults or non-young adults could be secretly following this. Though everyone here is mature and great, I just don't feel like it would add more than it might take away from the descriptive writing.

Yeah I get you, Nimue. It's funny, because up until this chapter I was certain I would never do full frontal nudity. Like you, I didn't think it was necessary. Breasts are hard to shoot around, and butts are kinda cute (especially baby butts à la Beddy), but for the rest...

And then this chapter hit me, and to paraphrase Finn, I just could not NOT do it. And your comment gave me an idea about why: the subject of this chapter simply doesn't allow humor. I am kind of retroactively analyzing myself here (and preemptively too, since I haven't written a word yet) but when I was taking the pictures I was going for something rather bleak and spare. They're monochromatic and full of shadows and half-illuminated limbs. I think that having a "conveniently placed" hand or chair show up in one of the pictures would derail your attention (or worse, make you snicker) in the middle of a chapter that is supposed to be keeping you on edge.

I have plenty of waist-up shots too and could probably squeak by with those alone, but even that would seem a little contrived to me. You could say that the penis in the room is a character in this chapter, so it seems a little odd to keep shooting around it. What I'm trying to say is: you need to be aware of it, but neither in a "wait--is he naked or not?" way nor a "giggle-snort at the well-placed hand" way.

With nothing written yet and only the pictures before me, I honestly feel like it will be least obtrusive if it's simply THERE, without a big fuss being made around it in the way the shots are framed.

I also find there is something poignantly vulnerable about the sight of a naked and unaroused man, the sort of thing that's hard to describe in words. Writing about sex is insanely hard... every word you can choose is either thickly crusted with snicker-inducing connotations through no fault of your own, or worse, the sort of nonsense you find in chintzy romance novels. (MANROOT!) So it's a case where a discreet picture can say a lot.

Of course, I haven't written the chapter yet, and all this discussion may prove moot. But I wanted to get at least a little sense of how it would be received if I used some of the pictures that I rather hope to use.

And all that said, the fact that I've made it to nearly 1700 chapters without showing genitalia means that I probably won't suddenly find tons of chapters that require them. (On the other hand I seem to have found a sudden need to show shirtless men in kilts as often as possible... *cough*)

And I think that in the right chapter -- like, say, a nude pillow fight between Britamund and her lawfully wedded spouse, or anything involving Fergus and Cian in the same chapter -- a well-placed hand or pillow would be just the thing to add to the humor.

But I would like to have the possibility of including a little nudity where it's appropriate. I actually wasn't being tongue-in-cheek when I said "in the name of art". Sometimes it's probably the more natural and effective way to handle the situation, as many film-makers will tell you. Sometimes -- like this time -- it's what the chapter needs.

As for the age of my readers... Well, I hope there aren't any real kids out there. I doubt there are -- this story simply isn't that easy to read, and if its boobies they're after (or even just pretty pictures of Sims), there's lots better out there on the Internets. I don't like to think that I'm talking about the poignant vulnerability of naked men to an audience containing ten-year-olds. But I can only write one story, and if it is toned down so that it appeals to everyone, it won't inspire passion in anyone.

Ultimately I have to trust my muse (aka my judgement) on this, I suppose, but I was curious to know what you guys thought about it. It has certainly helped me understand my own unconscious reasoning (aka my muse) better.

As long as the nudity is tasteful and isn't full on porn. Then I'm okay with it.

Only if you can say it with a straight face!

I think we can count on Estrid for that.

I'm looking forward to a Magog/Rua sex scene with full-frontal nudity too, Devin, but for a different reason

Although Magog has a pixie skin, doesn't he?

Brillig!

Great, now I'll be grinning like an idiot all through school today. My teachers will be pretty weirded-out, considering I'm normally one of those gloomy, apathetic types.

*pssst* there's someone in the chat, if you're around...

I am ok with small amounts of sim nudity. Nudity doesn't bother me in a story, but I am not interested in seeing nude characters either. I think that nudity is ok when you have a good reason for if. And if you don't have to use full nude characters, it's better that you don't.

Personally, I think that the problem with full male nudity is that naked men look silly. The beauty of male body is kind of ruined with that extra piece of meat hanging down there. Can I vote for more butts? On the other hand, you could put them all in line and we could compare... (For some reason, I find that idea hilarious... )

EDIT: But I think that you are manipulating the poll results with your picture. I am positive, you can take pictures without that kind of absurd Austin Powerness.