If you’ve read my fiction, you might be aware that I write speculative fiction featuring a romance. Many (though not all) of my romantic couples express themselves sexually.
What you probably don’t know unless you follow me at Mastodon.art is that I’ve also been braver lately at learning to draw and paint fictional scenes, including sex scenes. This is helping me (re)learn how to make this type of art without being bored, because with the technology I have, it’s slow going and repetitive.
But this practice is repeatedly bringing up a question for me: where can I share my visual art? It might not be especially good, but I would prefer not to keep it all to myself.
The easiest answer to the question should be “wherever I’m sharing my stories.”
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work out.
Here’s an example of why it doesn’t. Sex scenes are allowed only in text, not as images, where my website is hosted, WordPress.com. The User Guidelines says the following can not be on the site.
Sexually explicit material.
We know that there may be different definitions of this, but generally, we define sexually explicit material as visual depictions of sexually explicit acts.
When people talk about WordPress, the .org and .com versions are often lumped together, but they’re different. They’re different in what they’re technologically offer, and the terms for use (that’s the agreement between the product user and the company) are different. So I’m assuming this applies only to the .com host I use and not the .org sites.
Anyway, I deleted a few of my images from the Media folder for my my website. (Only one was public, to my knowledge.)
Where to Share These Erotic Images?
Photos are shared on the big porn sites. Finding a place for non-photographic images of explicit sexual acts to share isn’t the easiest. Many of the recommendations from years ago are no longer available, and moderator guidelines continuously change. I couldn’t rely much on articles or my own experiences about what’s allowed where at this time.
An annoying number of Tumblr knockoffs from around 2018 cater to Nazi-like White supremacists. The search got very ugly.
Awkward, too. Everyone has a different idea about how to describe this type of art (or where to put moderation info). I had to dig while not getting distracted.
Of course, there are places to go. They’re not ideal but available. Keywords to look for in the policies (also referred to as rules, codes of conduct, or terms of service/use): 18+, adult, lascivious, lewd, mature, NSFW, sexual, and pornographic.
To save you time, here are four websites that I found that allow non-photographed visual art depicting sexual acts. Links to their current policies are provided.
- Obscured ownership.
- Rules: https://www.hentai-foundry.com/site/rules/ratings
- ⚠ Please note that the forums are full of suspicious spam.
- Based in Pennsylvania, USA.
- Terms of Use: https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/help-information/terms-of-use/art-guidelines
- ⚠ Racist and homophobic comments are a main reason why I’m considering closing my account on this site.
- Based in California, USA.
- Policy: https://www.patreon.com/policy
- Visibility is restricted to patrons, who will be unable to search for your account with the on-site search. ⚠ While the rules are currently more inclusive than in the past, Patreon has a reputation for changing its moderation without prior notice toward heavier censorship.
- Based in Texas, USA.
- Terms of Service: https://www.pillowfort.social/TermsOfService (“‘NSFW’ Content”)
- ⚠ The company, Pillowfort Blogging LLC, is located in a state known for secret, and sometimes intentionally deceptive police surveillance of online and offline activity. Its laws involving artistic content are also changing quickly toward more censorship and heavier penalties for creators, distributors, and consumers.
As I said, the choices aren’t ideal. What else is there?
The Fediverse, including Mastodon and WriteFreely sites, is another area to explore. The server locations and site rules vary, so pay attention to where interesting artists are located. Then read the rules for those locations.
The most accepting Fediverse instance I’ve found is Mastodon.art. Unfortunately, it is quick to sever ties from the largest general instances in addition to queer-focused instances, which limits potential (consenting adult) audiences.
Additional Tip: Know where not to share your art. Avoid sites with a domain name ending in “.io”, which may may not be used “for any purpose that is sexual or pornographic or that is against the statutory laws of any nation.” The entire site may be deleted without prior notice for hosting unallowable content.
This post was originally published January 30. The “Where to Share These Erotic Images?” area has been expanded with updates.
Shadow Fals 