newsmutproject

[newsmutproject]

Love this blog :3 (also how I learned that a dom who actually cares about me is a turn on-)

We're delighted to hear that! <3

[newsmutproject]

kintsukuroi, "to repair with gold"; understanding the piece is more beautiful for having been broken

a personal piece i used my body as reference 😵‍💫

[newsmutproject]

Things about boobs that everyone should know

Because I just keep finding out people don't know these things!

Most boobs "sag."

Actually, on that note: very very few people have the stereotypically perfect breasts that are round and perky and don't touch your ribcage/belly. Here is an entire gallery of non-sexualized, perfectly normal breasts. Here is another one, but in one image. There's an incredible range of size and shape!

Also related: very few people fit those molded foam-cup bras. Because very few people have a boob that shape. "Then why are those kinds of bras everywhere??" Because they're cheap to make and they hide your nipples.

Your "armpit fat" is probably not armpit fat. It is probably your tail of spence, and you have lymph nodes there. Some people have a bigger or smaller tail of spence, and it has very little to do with how fat you are or how big your boobs are. (Some bras can press on it or pinch it uncomfortably, like balconettes.)

When you lie on your back, your boobs will go into your armpits. That is true of EVERYONE WITH BOOBS, with the exception of some implants. Boobs are squishy! This also means that like, lying on your side will cause them to flop over. If that's uncomfortable when you're trying to sleep, there is such a thing as "sleep bras."

Lots of people's boobs get bigger and/or painful before their period starts. Some people gain an entire cup size every month.

Whether or not you wear bras has no effect on "sagging." The one "study" on this that was written about everywhere extremely badly done. The one exception: If you do the kind of exercise that has you jumping around/jogging a lot, and you don't wear a supportive-enough bra, it's possible you can injure the cooper's ligaments. But also: that would hurt, a lot.

Bras also have no effect on whether you get breast cancer.

Everyone has one boob that's bigger than the other. It's just a matter of degree.

The size of your boobs has nothing to do with whether or not you've had sex???? I'm stunned that there are people that believe this, but I've heard multiple people say they had relatives who absolutely believed this--refused to buy teenagers the correct size bra because "only sluts wear D-cups," or insisted a thirteen-year-old was "fast" because of breast growth during puberty...good lord.

It's possible for AMAB people to breast-feed--they have the same mammary glands AFAB people do! Some hormonal issues can cause people (both AFAB and AMAB) who haven't given birth to lactate, but also there's a few cases where transgender women have been given the same hormones that AFAB people's bodies make during pregnancy/lactation, and voila! Breast milk!

(I very intentionally didn't go into bra sizing with this post, but yes, if you hate your bras, you are probably wearing the wrong size and/or style for you. That's a much more finicky topic though, so I'm just going to point out that the letter doesn't mean anything about boob size by itself, D isn't big, and Victoria's Secret's "fittings" are garbage. For more info, go to the subreddit for r/abrathatfits, or try their size calculator.)

[newsmutproject]

Going to add a maybe controversial thing but:

Women who are attracted to men but also don't like penetrative sex - and I'm definitely + explicitly + it's very much the point including vaginal penetrative sex here - are also perfectly within their rights to have that boundary and to have it respected.

Straight or bisexual women, cis or trans women, doesn't matter - I feel like womanhood is often equated with enjoying penetration. But it's not. Your identity doesn't dictate what you like sexually. And what you like sexually doesn't dictate your identity.

And I think especially for women who are attracted to men, enjoying penetrative sex is considered such a must that many of us don't even question it - to the point that a) not wanting it is considered a medical issue by itself and b) with many medical complications or conditions or even psychological reasons that someone might find vaginal penetration painful, the first concern is often not even to fix the underlying issue or even to make that kind of sex pleasurable - but to make her "functional" for her partner again. (Prized example: The husband-stitch. Generally, I hear so often from women whose partners got impatient with their recovery after they gave birth and who felt pressured to have vaginal sex before they felt like it.)

So I just want to say:

Womanhood does not equal enjoying penetration.

Being AFAB doesn't equal enjoying penetration.

Being attracted to men doesn't equal enjoying penetration.

What you enjoy sexually is not a matter of your identity. It's only a matter of what you enjoy and what you and your partner(s) genuinely want to do.

And actually, yes, this specifically goes out to heterosexual cis women in particular: Even if you never ever ever want to have vaginal penetrative sex - that's perfectly fine. You are perfectly within your rights to have that boundary. And no man has any right to force you. And calling you "uptight" or "vanilla" or "weird" or "but you own a dildo" or "It'll be good with me, I swear!" - that's a way of forcing you. He has two options a) accept your boundary and find a different way to have sex b) accept your boundary and go home.

If there is an underlying medical issue like cysts or if you have vaginismus that diminishes your quality of life - of course I recommend seeing a doctor. And if you have experienced trauma, I recommend therapy. All of which should be focussed on helping you with the things that you deem important - and not what your partner or a potential partner deems important.

But if you simply just don't want to have penetrative sex - then don't. Nothing is wrong with you. No one has any right to force you.

We often say "don't do anal if you don't want to", "don't do oral if you don't want to" - and those are very, very true! But I feel like we don't say "don't do vaginal if you don't want to" or "don't have penetrative sex at all if you don't want to" often enough to women - because it's such an expectation that everyone would enjoy it.

And also, you don't owe anyone an explanation. Sometimes, trauma is a reason - but if you have experienced trauma, you're not obligated to tell your partner the details of it to justify not wanting to have that kind of sex. "No" is a full sentence. Sometimes the fear of pregnancy or contraception failing is a reason - and that's also to be respected.

And if you don't have any reason related to trauma or a medical condition - you're still perfectly within your rights to have that boundary respected. Sex is supposed to feel good for both partners involved. And any partner who doesn't care about your boundaries or pressures you - is for the streets. Gotta go. Is an ex. Shoo. Out. Over.

[newsmutproject]

sweethearts in photo booths (1920s-1960s)

[newsmutproject]

Wig

[newsmutproject]

e.e. cummings, from “[i like my body when it is with your body]” (excerpt from & [And]), Complete Poems: 1904-1962

[Text ID: “i like my body when it is with your body.    It is so quite a new thing. Muscles better and nerves more. i like your body.    i like what it does, i like its hows.   i like to feel the spine of your body and its bones,and the trembling -firm-smooth ness and which i will again and again and again kiss,   i like kissing this and that of you, i like,slowly stroking the,shocking fuzz of your electric fur,and what-is-it comes over parting flesh … And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you so quite new”

[newsmutproject]

One tip we picked up (actually from a story in one of our first anthologies, Annabeth Leong's "Return to Rope" in Between the Shores), is that "yellow" can sound like "no" because of the rhyme. If this would cause confusion, "orange" is a good alternative.

could you please explain how the safeword traffic system works?? i really cant wrap my head around it

Sure.

Red means stop. No more negotiation, something has crossed a line (too painful, something bad that wasn’t negotiated, etc.)

Yellow means that you need a break or that something is too much, or that if the top continues then you’re going to “red” soon.

Green means that things are going well and you want to continue if not ramp it up a little.

While a bottom might blurt out red or yellow, I’ve never seen a bottom volunteer “green”. It’s usually said in answer to when a top is checking in to make sure everything is okay. Asking “How are you?” and getting an answer of “fine” or “okay” might mean the bottom is just on autopilot and reflexively answering. Asking “What’s your color?” and getting “green” or “I was very close to yellow when you stopped” is much better.

One of my favorite doms to watch at parties was doing a pre-scene negotiation with someone he hadn’t played with before and said something like “Now, just between you and me here ;-) , my favorite color is yellow. It’s not about taking anything I can dish out. I promise you, I can always go harder. I want to know how you’re doing. I’ll likely yellow you, on purpose, a few times, just to find out where your limits are and then aim for a little below that. I don’t want to hear ‘green green green, green green red’ because then the scene’s over. I want some indication of how you’re doing and when you’re getting close to what you can handle, okay?”

And then, whenever she yellowed, he praised her. And why wouldn’t he?? She gave him vital information that allowed the both of them to have more fun!

[newsmutproject]

One 2015 study found that just seeing fat men more regularly increased attraction toward them in women who date men. The politics of desirability are shaped by who we are allowed to see as desirable, which is in turn shaped by who we are allowed to see.

-from "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths about Fat Peopleby Aubrey Gordon

[newsmutproject]

"There is a long-held stigma against people considered to be having “too much” sex, but there’s also one held against those having “too little,” with the goalposts of judgment moving for every person and their individual opinions. Slut-shaming is a huge problem, with women in particular being ostracized for having multiple partners. On the flip-side, vanilla⁠-shaming is a topic being spoken about a lot at the moment, with Tiktok trends glamorizing rough sex and shaming teenagers who aren’t thrilled with the idea of being choked when they haven’t even figured out what they like and what they don’t yet in terms of sex and sexuality.

People seem to have a problem with sex no matter how much or little you have of it, and that’s the true root of the problem. The number of people you choose to sleep with isn’t the crux of sexual liberation. People who choose to have sex with fewer (or no) people shouldn’t be ashamed, and neither should people who choose to have multiple partners. It’s all about the choice - having the agency to sleep with as many or as few people as you please. It doesn’t make you naïve or boring or a slut⁠ or a whore; it’s just a choice that you’ve made, and that in itself is sexually liberating."

Jess Thomson, My One and Only

[newsmutproject]

i was scrolling your “life is in your home too” tag, which I love btw, and saw a post about how you learned to be a good dom from experienced expert doms by reading how they dom and some of their best scenes, do you think you could point me in the direction of some resources for me to study that too? thanks in advance, if not, thanks anyway!

(post referenced is here - link 1)

first of all tysm for this ask (+ your incredibly kind follow-up), it was a delight to receive + i’ve been wanting an excuse to talk about a lot of this for a while so i very much appreciate the interest!

as always please keep in mind that i am Just Some Fem, nothing is universal including when it comes to D/s & i can only speak to what works for me. i try to focus on starting points rather than specifics but ultimately my advice will always be limited by what i needed to hear & wasn’t told, which may not be what’s helpful for a different person. with that being said, here’s some suggestions!

i’ve posted a previous reading list (link 2) with relevant recs; particularly the practicality + sex writing sections have the kind of thing you’re looking for. specifically, The New Topping Book (2003) is a solid starting point; i definitely have my issues with it (haven’t read it recently enough to recall many specifics but i have the sense of general pervasive racism & ableism) but it did a good job at making me think & i appreciate the supportive tone they were going for

another book added to my tbr since then is Coming to Power (link 3), released by SAMOIS in 1983

other authors whose sex writing has been influential in my life: Sandra Cisneros, Natalie Diaz, Joan Nestle, Judy Grahn

the fic At The End of His Rope by Letterblade (link 4) is genuinely some of my favorite sex writing of all time & accomplishes the incredibly impressive feat of representing a broad array of dom styles & changes over time in the same piece

my “impurity culture” tag (link 5) houses the building blocks of my sexual ethic

i’ve found many of those foundations by poking around the incredible bodies of work original & archived @newsmutproject @woman-loving @gatheringbones

for me, studying sex is the same as studying poetry – reading for craft is a different process than for pleasure (not that there isn’t a great deal of pleasure to be found in such practice, especially for sadists – perhaps that’s why as a child i never resonated with Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” like i love tying poems to chairs & beating them idk what to tell you). so, keeping in mind that these are suggestions not requirements, here’s how i read for + work on craft:

there is no such thing as too much journaling. this can take whatever form you prefer – voice memo, discord message to yourself, the noble notes app, your own personal sexy red string corkboard, a vast & stunning array of other approaches i can’t even begin to imagine. i personally have an elaborate web of spreadsheets & google docs lmao. what matters is developing a collection of ideas you want to play with + a practice of continually reflecting on past experiences.

pay attention to structure, not just content. find a scene you think is disjointed and pick at the seams, brainstorm better transitions. then find a scene that flows so smoothly it carries you with it and figure out what makes it work.

rewrite a scene you’re drawn to or affected by to suit your own preferences. i first did this when i couldn’t shake “Interlude 3” (link 6) from my head after reading The New Topping Book; you can read my variation on the theme here (link 7) if you’re interested.

write or think through a scene fantasy you have from negotiation to aftercare. obviously it’s very difficult if not impossible to fully script a scene in advance; the purpose isn’t planning something you’ll later do but rather getting used to coming up with ideas to get from one disparate moment / act to the next.

revisit a scene you’ve read, written, thought about, etc and list the physical & mental acts that are required / expected of the sub (eg, kneeling for 10 minutes; making eye contact; counting to 30, etc). then rework the scene for a sub who has the same interests & goals who cannot do 20% (or 50%, or any) of these acts.

revisit a previous scene and list the places where you think a sub might safeword & why. then rework it with the sub safewording somewhere that isn’t any of these places.

i also recommend keeping in mind that like… for me, reading about ethical sex can often be a very distressing process for the same reason that it’s liberating: because it proves that things i’ve experienced are not the way sex has to be. i’ll tell this story in its fullness one day but the first time i read S/HE by Minnie Bruce Pratt i literally had a flashback to events i’d repressed for years, it was devastating, i’m so grateful for it. hell, in the process of compiling resources for this post i cried twice editing this quote (link 8) because between reading that book the first time & now someone did “respond with scorn or ridicule” when i safeworded. so i would really encourage folks to approach this kind of work with as much grace & comfort for yourself as you can muster or borrow – if it’s really fucking hard, you’re not alone in that, & it’s okay to take your time + pace yourself + seek support.

your + others’ interest is definitely motivating me to actually write posts i’ve been tossing around for months so thank you again & feel free to keep an eye out for more shut-in sex tips in my new “tomorrow sexting will be good again” tag. would love to hear your thoughts on any of this post / these or other books / whatever really lol. wishing you all the best & i hope today is kind to you! 💓

[newsmutproject]

Some recent digital pieces. I offer all of these up as prints on my shop at store.anthonyhurd.com

[newsmutproject]

We've been asked if there's a way to be updated when the New Smut Project resumes with calls for submissions and publishing plans. You can subscribe to our newsletter for such updates.

An update on Erato II

Good morning, everyone! Co-editor T.C. Mill here.

This is not the update I would like to make, but after serious consideration, it feels like the best option for the editorial team and the fairest for the writers waiting to hear back from us.

At this time, we are not going forward with the anthology. This is because of a variety of health and other personal matters among the editorial team, enough to make the prospect of editing and releasing a book this year overwhelming. We've been reading submissions and whew, there are some wonderful stories you've sent us! But we don't feel able to do them justice with the time and energy we currently have available. Nor do we want to keep writers waiting any longer.

So we're going to release all submitted pieces and cancel publication plans for Erato II. In addition to this official announcement, we'll also be sending out emails to this effect over the next few days.

What this means for NSP: In the long term, nothing bad! You may have noticed this blog is posting less frequently; that's another effect of the more limited time and energy available, but we intend to remain active, keep our previous anthologies up for sale, and put together more anthologies in the future. These future anthologies may be smaller and more tightly focused, and we'll aim to be more strategic with scheduling (and hopefully more lucky). It's even possible we'll give Erato II another go someday. Now is, alas, not the right time.

To everyone who submitted: Thank you for sharing your stories with us! We wish you the best in submitting them elsewhere. The world deserves to read your good smut!

Again, we'll be sending out submission response emails with this information over the next few days to reach everyone who might not see this blog announcement.

[newsmutproject]

An update on Erato II

Good morning, everyone! Co-editor T.C. Mill here.

This is not the update I would like to make, but after serious consideration, it feels like the best option for the editorial team and the fairest for the writers waiting to hear back from us.

At this time, we are not going forward with the anthology. This is because of a variety of health and other personal matters among the editorial team, enough to make the prospect of editing and releasing a book this year overwhelming. We've been reading submissions and whew, there are some wonderful stories you've sent us! But we don't feel able to do them justice with the time and energy we currently have available. Nor do we want to keep writers waiting any longer.

So we're going to release all submitted pieces and cancel publication plans for Erato II. In addition to this official announcement, we'll also be sending out emails to this effect over the next few days.

What this means for NSP: In the long term, nothing bad! You may have noticed this blog is posting less frequently; that's another effect of the more limited time and energy available, but we intend to remain active, keep our previous anthologies up for sale, and put together more anthologies in the future. These future anthologies may be smaller and more tightly focused, and we'll aim to be more strategic with scheduling (and hopefully more lucky). It's even possible we'll give Erato II another go someday. Now is, alas, not the right time.

To everyone who submitted: Thank you for sharing your stories with us! We wish you the best in submitting them elsewhere. The world deserves to read your good smut!

Again, we'll be sending out submission response emails with this information over the next few days to reach everyone who might not see this blog announcement.

[newsmutproject]

When it comes to sex scenes, the rules say things like: Don’t write them at all, and if you do, don’t use these words. Don’t write them silly, porny, dramatic, tragic, pathological, grim, or ridiculous.

My whole practical thesis around the craft of writing a sex scene is this: it is exactly the same as any other scene. Our isolation of sex from other kinds of scenes is not indicative of sex’s difference, but the difference in our relationship to sex. It is our reluctance to name things, the shame we’ve been taught, our fraught compulsion to an act a theatre of types. It is indicative of the lack of imagination that centuries of patriarchy and white supremacy has wrought on us. 

To teach sex scenes is to talk about plot, dialogue, pacing, description and characterisation: all those elements that make a captivating scene. A sex scene should advance the story and occur in a chain of causality that springs from your characters’ choices. It should employ sensory detail that concretises and also speaks symbolically to the deeper content of the story. Or if not, it should service your work of art in whatever ways you want from your scenes.

“Mind Fuck: Writing Better Sex” in Body Work by Melissa Febos

[newsmutproject]

extremely dedicated scholar hunched over a desk studying scrolls by the light cast by an ancient roman lesbian oil lamp

[newsmutproject]

Hi! I was just wondering if there were any further updates on the anthology submissions. I hope everyone on your team is doing well!

Thanks for asking! We're hoping to get more decisions out this month, but haven't sent any out yet.