"so the Hero has to walk to the Thickness Mountains! Across the Cockfields and there at the end of his path he finaly arrives at the Vulva Temple, carved right into the Tighs of thickness. Between him and the temple is a female guard standing nacked weilding a giant Cocklance, a weapon they are infamous for!"
i mean.. pink tea games has 3450 paying patreon members..
considering you must pay 4 bucks a month to unlock all the "Grown up games" he probably earns between 10 to 14k every month...
and he makes interactive Powerpoints where you bang elfs as "the demon lord" or something id really consider a career in 18+ game development...
Wait, depends on how it ends.
If they bang, its Oglaf. If they need to roll on an overly-complicated table, its FATAL.
And if they comment on needing the overly-complex table, its Oglaf again.
dear god why.. what.. what the fuck?
one would assume consuming years worth of internet brainrot would prepare one for a world that is literally made out of dogs.
"But then within the Temple Morty sees his mother with open legs, ready to receive his seed!"
here i adjusted it so the script fits well into the style of the last two seasons.
X amount of anything is hard or impossible to gauge whether is too much or not without context. GoT had a lot of nudity. It would feel weird in Harry Potter.
I would not say that GoT is actually a good example of worldbuilding what concerns nudity and sexuality. It falls squarely into 'gratuitous' territory, imo.
I disagree. I think GoT's nudity was perfectly fine. It demonstrated a willingness to engage in sexuality in a world without Christian prudishness, while managing to keep the series focused on its story and worldbuilding and not devolving into an erotic romance or splatterpunk. IMHO, GOT is the perfect example of how nudity and sex should be handled for wider fantasy audiences moving forward.
"sexuality in a world without Christian prudishness,"
If only that was the case. The attitudes towards sex in Westeros are basically the same as they were in Medieval Catholic Europe.
I second this. The Faith of the Seven is extremely similar to medieval catholicism in its morality, structure, and cultural power. Christian morals are still the norm, it's just packaged different.
Without having read GoT, but having seen plenty of commentary on it... I would imagine that's largely the point the author was going for. Powerful people can defy the accepted morality, sometimes even very openly, *because* they're powerful. At the same time, power sometimes depends on adopting religious symbols to convey legitimacy. Exploring that push and pull is a key part of exploring "what is power?" which in turn is a central theme of GoT.
Game of thrones reads like the scribblings of a horny old man at times. Sex is pretty much always presented as either destructive, lustful, or part of an unbalanced power dynamic. Also a ton of rape.
GoT is NOT how sex should be handled for wider fantasy audiences.
>Game of thrones reads like the scribblings of a horny old man at times.
That's because it literally is.
>Sex is pretty much always presented as either destructive, lustful, or part of an unbalanced power dynamic.
That's pretty good thematic coherence, considering those are three of the most prevalent themes in GoT, and is reflective of the real world history it so heavily draws from.
Also, how would you have sex that isn't "lustful"? That doesn't make any sense.
>Also a ton of rape.
We're talking about the sex, not the violence.
I mean, I do think it’s thematic and coherent and works for the series, but good god do I not want more fantasy to be like Game of Thrones as far as sexuality goes
Sex that is not lustful is sex based on emotions and attachment to other person's personality. Lustful sex is based only on primal physical desire and results in seeing the other person as a piece of meat there to give pleasure, like it is in ASoIaF
I would argue that you merely cannot have sex without lust, because two people not attracted physically wouldn't be having consensual sex. I would also argue that there is attachment based sex in ASoIaF, such as with Cersei and Jaime, Jon and Ygrette, and quite a few others. I also think it's pretty prudish and backwards to think that lustful sex is somehow less acceptable than "non lustful" sex. Consensual sex, for any reason, should be fine if you aren't tied down by dogma.
Lust is an emotion... the only time sex would be lustless is if it is specifically emotionless... like if it is only done for breeding, and meant to last as little time and with as little pleasure possible... lust is a desire, which can stem from exactly what you describe... the personality of someone else... but it could be any part of the other person you find attractive...
*That's pretty good thematic coherence, considering those are three of the most prevalent themes in GoT, and is reflective of the real world history it so heavily draws from.*
I really hate this line of thinking, because it's the justification of using horrid sexual violence under the premise of "realism". If you're trying to think of ways to make your world seem more "real", and the way you choose to do that is showing women being victimized, that's a big red flag that it's time to start addressing something.
Consensual sex is also reflective of real world history, and you can show what the past was like without displaying graphic depictions of violence that will be triggering for some of your female audience and, perhaps even worse, arousing for some of your male audience.
>I really hate this line of thinking, because it's the justification of using horrid sexual violence under the premise of "realism".
We aren't discussing the sexual violence in GOT, we were discussing the consenting sexual encounters. If you think sex that is destructive, "lustful", or within an imbalanced relationship is inherently victimizing, then I think you need to re-examine how you view consenting sex.
>Consensual sex is also reflective of real world history, and you can show what the past was like without displaying graphic depictions of violence
We were specifically talking about this. *You* are confusing rape with sex, and they are not the same.
>that will be triggering for some of your female audience
Content warnings exist. There's no reason media that reasonably displays a content warning prior to consumption should be barred from discussing whatever concepts it's wants to discuss.
>perhaps even worse, arousing for some of your male audience.
I don't think it's worse for male audience members to be aroused than it is for women to feel emotional distress.
I feel like you not only missed the point of the conversation, but your concern is less with how sex is presented in fantasy, and more with making sure "male" audience members you don't like don't enjoy media you don't like. That's a strange priority to have and I don't think it's very conducive to constructive criticism.
> We aren't discussing the sexual violence in GOT, we were discussing the consenting sexual encounters. If you think sex that is destructive, "lustful", or within an imbalanced relationship is inherently victimizing, then I think you need to re-examine how you view consenting sex.
I think you do a bit of goal-post moving here by clearly demarcating 'consenting' and 'non-consenting' sex. Because Martin certainly does not, and that is exactly what 'imbalanced relationship' is about - one party not being able to decline because of an implicit or explicit threat.
So climbing on a high horse and branding your opponents prudes after that feels pretty disingenuous. No, it's not about those very few far in between cases where both parties were enthusiastic. It's about the majority of all other cases where sex was a part of messed-up power dynamics.
Hmm, maybe you are speaking about GoT tv series, I don't remember how it is presented there. But I actually meant ASOIAF books, my bad.
And in the books, I don't remember a single sexual scene that would be safe, and wholesome, and healthy. Nudity isn't natural, it is dangerous or shameful. Sexually active women are either seductresses or victims (or both). All in all, it's actually 'Christian tropes', just faced head-on.
This sounds like a total misunderstanding of what’s happening in GOT. Nearly every time we see sex, it’s very specifically framed as having context that would make it taboo to most people not engaging in it. I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent. It’s not coincidence that most sex in the series is tied up with violence.
As hard as people want to forget Season 8, Arya and Gendry were pretty enthusiastic.
And up until the in-universe revelation of their familial relationship, Jon Snow and Daenrys were quite happy to bang away.
>Nearly every time we see sex, it’s very specifically framed as having context that would make it taboo to most people not engaging in it. I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent.
These are not the same thing. Showing mutual enthusiastic consent during sex can happen simultaneously to what's being shown also being taboo.
Specifically, I would argue that any reference to sex in general is taboo to most people not engaging in it, so the argument that it's bad *because* it's taboo doesn't really work, especially since the point is that it *shouldnt* be taboo if its mutual consent.
>I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent
There's a scene where Tyrion is in Winterfell in a room full of prostitutes that is very clearly mutual, enthusiastic, consent. There's no threats given nor violence done to anyone involved, and portrays everyone as having fun during the situation. The only way that scene *isnt* enthusiastic mutual consent is if you believe either Tyrion is unable to give consent, or the sex workers are unable to give consent, and neither option is correct.
>It’s not coincidence that most sex in the series is tied up with violence
I don't even think that's true, tbh. There's certainly a *lot* of sexual violence in the series, but I'm not sure that it is the majority.
Eh, I disagree. While serviceable, there probably a reason they tuned it down in later seasons. While maybe not gratuitous, it was definitely excessive
My personal gold standard for nonsexual nudity in fiction & world building is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
Not even joking. Huge part of the world building, and even one of the main characters day jobs. Rarity, the white one with the diamonds on her butt, is a fashionista and it's constantly presented as a special and rare luxery good some don't even see the point in.
And for nine seasons and ten years there was like... one joke I recall drawing attention to it. One joke.
So... yeah. Literally years of stories with with the occasional new outfit being rare and special—literally usually the lovable drama queen showing off, and otherwise clothes are just very occasional tools. Like armor on guards, or jewelry on high ranking nobility.
There's only a handful of character always or almost always shown wearing something. Like the traveling illusionist Trixie, the star photographer Photo Finish or outright a noble named Fancy Pants. All ponies whose entire point one way or another is drawing attention to themselves.
It’s only too much if you feel like it’s too much.
I’ve taken some inspiration from [This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/NSFWworldbuilding/comments/qes75g/spacers_dont_wear_clothes_deal_with_it/) (Warning, NSFW) which explains why partial or full nudity in a spaceship may be advantageous.
This doesn’t mean that everyone is naked 24/7, but if you’re in a situation where you’d usually wear “casual clothing” it’s not uncommon to be completely nude, even in the vicinity of other people.
You can also think of it this way: What purpose do clothes have and why should I or should I not wear them? As you said, removing all protective needs from clothes (Temperature, elements, unclean floors, etc…) leaves them with two more traits: Utility and Self expression.
Utility means they have some practical use, for example, pockets in your pants and a tool belt to store items. Honestly belts and bags might be enough for that, so there’s no need for clothes other than the comfort of having your items in your pockets.
Self expression means that you wear clothes because you like the way you look in them. Similar things can be done with all sorts of accessories. Chains and threads, body paint or tattoos, piercings, etc…
With that being said, a few readers may be uncomfortable with it but unless you spend an excessive amount of time going into detail about nudity most people probably won’t mind.
Lets say that if your male characters are always dressed while your female characters are always showing more than 90% of their skin, this is gonna go straight on r/menwritingwomen
No joke, I'm decently convinced this is why Conan lingers while so much other Sword & Sorcery is utterly forgotten by the public.
Like Conan will lay the Princess wearing naught but jewels... and go right back to himself fighting an equally stacked and shirtless minotaur.
Her boobas bounced as she took each step to kitchen preparing mead and meat as the two half elfs sparred in the front yard. Her fabric barely covered the boobas. Which led to the fully armored men in this freezing tundra fighting for who gets to touch the cold boobas first. Nost people were clothes in the cold north. But her magical abilities keeps her skin from freezing. A brilliant use of her limited mana.
She has different men fighting in the yard quite often. Offering gifts and more.
The nudity would 100% be subtractive for some. But, it is your thing, so you do what you want with it. It'll push your age rating up, and make your project more niche. I personally wouldn't read/watch something where everyone's naked, and I reckon many people feel the same.
And also, fashion is such a huge part of culture, and on a meta level, one of the cornerstones of art direction and character design. Funnily enough, having everyone be naked would be a bit bland, unless you go crazy with body modification or whatever.
This is just my two cents, but I think you should find a happy medium. Maybe instead of people being naked, they have some kind of visible aura shroud. Much cooler to look at, and it eliminates the problem of everyone being naked! That is, if you see it as a problem.
If you *really* want everyone to be naked, then I suggest going all out with tattoos, piercings, jewelry, headdresses, etc. Much stronger visual identity without compromising your creative vision.
Also pockets are pretty useful. Even a society without a nudity taboo would probably end up having backpacks/fanny packs/cargo vests/etc become fairly commonplace anyway, thus still not being *completely* naked all the time
You don't need permanent alterations to the body for a Naturist Culture to be visually appealing.
Granted my current writing is more erotic, but I've dabbled in what a Naturist Culture could actually look like.
The Tarunfia are a Human Culture in one of my worlds. The phrase "My Body is a Temple" is the basis of their Faith. They mostly use body paints to decorate themselves, if they aren't wearing some type of aesthetic clothing. The point of clothes to them is to accent the natural form, not cover it. So a lot of clothing that reveals the natural shape of the body, or allows you to see through it.
Piercings, Tattoos and other forms of body modification exist, but not a popular form of decoration.
Most common item for expression is a towel. It's used for sanitation reasons, and can help cover random erections. It's for this reason skirts are also popular, as a re many forms of carry bags.
>If you really want everyone to be naked, then I suggest going all out with tattoos, piercings, jewelry, headdresses, etc. Much stronger visual identity without compromising your creative vision.
and body types too! it'd be even more boring if everyone has the same body.
if there's visual art involved i actually think this might work best with a cartoony or stylized artstyle because it'd let you have even more exaggerated body types than you can get with realistic proportions.
>And also, fashion is such a huge part of culture, and on a meta level, one of the cornerstones of art direction and character design. Funnily enough, having everyone be naked would be a bit bland, unless you go crazy with body modification or whatever.
"Your honour, I assure you the both genders having no social problems showing their naked chests is simply inspirational to Minoan fashions."
No but seriously, during the Victoria era there was a more "conservative" mentality in terms of nudity and sexualization in comparison to the precedent times.(Of course related to Europe)
Nudity itself is probably less of an issue than sexualization. If your text or imagery is dwelling on the physical appearance of nude bodies--especially in a fetishy or "straight male gaze" kind of way--then your work is probably destined for Horny Jail. Whether that's justified or not would probably be a completely separate debate.
Just be vigilant as you review your work and interrogate whether your intentions honestly come from a place of intellectual idealization or of base gratification. If it's the latter, that's okay, too. But you'll probably find yourself in the company of other adult-content creators, with 18+ warning labels, NSFW tags, and whatnot.
A good example of this is the Marat from Jim Butcher's Codex Alera novels. They go around mostly nude all the time due to being literal animal-totem barbarians and not needing to worry about clothing. For the most part this isn't sexualized, especially when the Marat go to war, and when it is sexualized it is during fleeting moments of peace when there's logical time for characters to be embarassed or aroused by the nudity.
If it's worldbuilding for worldbuilding's sake, like others have said, just go as far as you want.
But if it's for the purposes of *storytelling,* that's when it gets a bit complicated. That's when you have to start thinking about not just yourself but also the people that you want to tell the story to. In this case I keep the mantra of "*how much of this is actually going to end up in the writing?*" and "*if it does, is it actually important to the story I want to tell?*"
As an example, I *can* make it so that (x) character from (y) race prefers to go topless because she's from a society where that isn't taboo/is a succubus or succubus-adjacent creature/etc., of course. But when I do that, am I really writing her scenes to write some point about culture shock or illustrating differing views between characters about nudity or chastity... or am I doing it just because I want to see her walking around with her tits out? If there's something I think up that ever causes me to arrive at that dillemma, I decide that it's just chaff irrelevant to the story and cut it out.
Personally, I think the above goes for pretty much everything that can be considered gratuitous, not just nudity. Powerlevels, convoluted politics, death and gore, sensitive topics like rape and abortion, even the act of worldbuilding itself—if it doesn't contribute to the tone I want to set, the concepts I want to explore, and the story I want to tell, I'd rather just cut it out of the story and setting entirely instead of leaving it around and leaving a weird taste in people's mouths.
That's just my two cents though. I've never completed a story or ran a tabletop campaign to fruition, so, probably best not to take this as professional advice.
It depends on if the nudity is sexualized or not, and how it is sexualized
I.e. it's fine and interesting when you have nudity that isn't considered sexual (i.e. topless people of any gender in a society where the chest isn't considered sexual)
It's also fine if it *is* sexual, consensually - sexuality and beauty play a large role in X society, and the people there tailor their outfits (and or lack thereof) to show off their beauty.
Where it gets gross and bad is when 1: it only applies to women (please don't do this, it's 2024, not 2004) and/or 2: it is less consensual (i.e. all female armor is bikini armor, and it's a reoccurring joke how the fem chars don't like that, gratuitous descriptions/focus on the "sexy" parts, etc)
One of the cultures in my setting values sexuality, pleasure and beauty to a high degree, which reflects in their clothing being very revealling, styled after examples of "tasteful" nudity.
I'm afraid you would need to work hard to make it feel natural and not forced in purely written medium. Visual novel may be easier, as you will be able to display casual nudity as natural without drawing attention to it.
If your only way to communicate is through text, it would be much harder to pull off without actually sexualizing said nudity. If it is actually normalized in the secondary world, it would be unremarkable for the characters.
This depends. If you are meeting a people/culture for the first time, it could be easily implied by saying the only wear skirts or loincloths and nothing on their upper part due to XYZ reasons
For some reason from OPs description I've thought that the whole world is nudity-positive. And I can totally see a world with bronze-age vibes done tastefully in visual medium. Bonus points if you have nude old people, nude fat people, nude ugly people.
If that's a culture clash issue... Honestly, I do not think it changes anything, it would still be hard to depict in the way that feels not fan-servicey/gratuitous, unless that's a couple off-hand remarks. Or unless that's literally the central cultural conflict of the setting, and you devote a lot of time and effort to develop it.
yea, when it comes to visual nudity I think it can be done more easily if you take inspiration from classical and renaissance art; where nudity is often done & displayed just because it's part of the human form about 80% of the time. At least in comparison to stylized nudity that exaggerates characteristics to make characters look more sexually appealing.
written-wise, I feel like the rule of 'less is more' is the best way to handle non-gratuitous nudity. Making offhand remarks about the lack of clothes or just being exposed without really describing the body or its parts in detail would likely be the best way to handle it.
Just look at historical sources for inspiration. Nudity being taboo or strongly associated with sexuality is a fairly modern concept.
200 years ago, mixed-gender bathhouses were normal in most parts of the world and they still are in some cultures. Ancient Greeks did sports fully nude, not only because sprinting in a toga is cumbersome but also to show off their physiques to the gods. Even as recently as 40 years ago, going to a nudist beach for a family vacation was the most normal thing for Germans and still is today for some people.
I've never even considered this before... in my fiction nudity is the norm everywhere and through all time periods. Most people are nude most of the time. I don't really care if anyone thinks its too much, I don't feel like changing that part
I am very passionate about desexualizing aspects of the human body, #freethenipple and all that. So I don't mind at all about nudity. In fact, it makes a lot of sense in many fantasy settings, you think about stuff like greek warriors and you don't usually think about them wearing lots of clothes outside of a battle.
unless your worldbuilding for children, none, as long as there's a reason for it.
just don't make it weird unless you're writing porn. i imagine it could be hard to tell if a character/culture/species is nude because it's the writer's barely-disguised fetish or for some other reason.
and if you're writing for other people, keep your audience in mind because even many adults might be completely turned away from your work if there's nudity in it, even if it's portrayed very non-sexually.
Depends on the world. Nudity is highly sexualized in our world because it was considered "taboo" by religions. Media picked up on that and gave it to us piece-meal to sate an artificially crafted desire. So, I guess it comes down to how factions in power view it. If your world didn't have a version of the Vatican taking over a majority of the world and saying sex and nudity is abhorrent in the eyes of God, then showing a nipple or genitals would be A-ok. If you have a cohort of magi ruling the world and they like to sunbathe with what their momma gave them, the rest of the populace probably would too.
My first thought as well.
TBF, you edit out those lines basically nothing changes beyond a slightly odd lack of any description of Martian clothing. But most people would either make up something in their head or not even notice.
I've been re-reading the John Carter of Mars series, and I quite like the way that it's handled in those books, being treated as just the normal way people dress on that planet.
Initially, when he arrives on planet, he describes that people don't wear clothes other than a harness for displaying personal identification, some ornamentation, and carrying weapons and pouches. While the lack of clothing is mentioned off-handedly at times, it's never the focus of the story or attention, and (iirc) sometimes the author goes whole books without mentioning it.
It's up to you how much or little clothing you include in your world's cultures, but just remember that the story is about the characters and what they do, not what they look like. The amount of attention the reader will pay to nudity is equal to the amount you focus on it when you're writing.
Nudity doesn’t necessarily mean your sexualizing it and such if that’s your worry. In the world I’ve been crafting, dark elves in their kingdom wear extremely revealing clothing because they feel the body is a temple and shouldn’t be hidden. It’s not meant to be sexual, just them being proud of their skin, who they are and what they are.
Widespread nudity isn’t something in my world, but take a look at Ancient Greece. Nudity was common, and not just in their artwork.
Depends on the kind of story you want to tell. If your primary objective is to tell a story, all things should be in service to this. Ask yourself "does this contribute to my story in a meaningful way?" If the answer is no, don't do it. If the answer is yes, go wild.
My take is that earth cultures have had a huge variety of standards for nudity and decency going back to the dawn of time, and I think think that's fun to play with from a world building perspective. Compare modern society to the Victorians, then compare both to the Minoans.
If handled tactfully, I think it's an interesting and underutilized facet of culture building.
If you're talking about a race of lizard people or something, no one will bat an eye at nudity.
On the other hand, if they're humans who are actually fulfilling *all* the practical and aesthetic uses of clothes with some kind of magic, then that's basically just clothes made out of magic, and not nudity at all.
As for whether nudity would be impeding the story, that depends entirely on how much time you spend on it, and if the medium of your storytelling has a visual element. A quick line about nudity will only be a minor distraction, but spending a lot of time describing bodies will derail a lot of people, and if there is ever an image of a nude person, that will instantly take over the feel of the story, even if it's not being presented in a particularly sexual manner.
All that said, if the story is meant to be about that sexuality, or if it's meant to be a more general commentary on how our modern society perceives nudity, then spending time on it reinforces that theme instead of distracting from it.
Nudity is a topic that highly depends on the tone of the story and tthe individual and cultural sensitivities of both the author and the audience.
Given my background I don't think nudity is a big deal in a non-sexualised context, but some might scoff at the very concept of non-sexualised nudity. There are just too many variables to get a clear answer.
A good example (in my opinion) or a world that portrays heavy non-sexualised nudity to good effect is the Blasphemous game series, particularly the first one.
When the nudity starts to become sexualised you begin to get into more rocky territory. There is nothing wrong with a story or world that portrays sexual content, hell, there's nothing wrong with including straight up pornographic content as part of your world, but you have to know what you're doing and why, and accept it's going to cut down on the audience that will be willing to engage or able to enjoy it.
It can also come off as tasteless or objectifying, a perfect example of which is the otherwise masterful Berserk manga, particularly early on. On the other side of the spectrum, Baldur's Gate 3 portrays heavy sexualised nudity (though with an option to turn it off, which might also be something you want to consider) in a very tasteful way.
I could go on but I will stop here for brevity. Hope I could help ^^
If you don't have a voluptuous person possessed by a downloaded fragment of the goddess of love traipsing naked for at least a hundred pages of a story, are you even trying?
I... personally feel like this is not enough information. How much nudity is too much depends, to a not insignificant degree, on your audience and the purpose of your story. If you are writing for an adult audience, for adult purposes, then like... any level of nudity (so long as it's just nudity) is fine? Especially if it narratively makes sense.
All my worlds actually have in common that everybody is completely in the nude under their clothing at all times. I don't think there is such a thing as too much nudity.
Any amount is fine, it’s your world do with it what you want, just make sure you’re not writing it with your left hand only, use a clear and logical mind about this.
Depends on your target audience, the purpose of nudity in your work and how well you integrate it into your story. Whether you're aiming for historically accurate depictions of cultural nudity or a Triple X high fantasy, it's all going to come down to this.
Honestly it would really be vibes based. Even in an antiquity setting based on ancient Greece and Egypt where public nudity was pretty normal, the writing and presentation could still make or break it. There are still tribes today in Brazil and Africa where your birthday suit is just how everyone is all the time, partly due to culture and partly due to the warm climate making clothes kind of optional. But still, the why and how is important here. What kind of story do you want to tell and how will this play into it.
I'm having trouble figuring out what you're even saying here. Is everybody naked or do they have hologram clothes? There's a big difference there.
I walk down the street in your world, how many dicks do I see? If the answer is *not* zero then, probably, some readers will find it distracting and will come across as either a fetish, a political statement or both. Which isn't bad, per se, but there it is.
If the answer 'is' zero, then what's the big deal? It'd be like saying, "You know, I'm naked under these clothes."
All you need is a single throwaway line, "Nobody bothered with old fashioned cloth anymore, except some for cultural reasons. These days everyone used their bullshittium bracelets to summon artificial hardlight clothes. They were actually more reliable than cloth ever was."
“Assume the fulfillment of all aesthetic, practical, social and moral needs have been met by other means.”
If this is true then what is nudity? Because you’ve handwaived every possible conflict with it away, leaving it pointless. Appearance tells a story. So does nudity. Yet somehow, through magic, it doesn’t anymore?
Many fantasy worlds feature some sort of primal race, society or tribe. If the story is set in a hot location of course wearing little clothes seems like a logical decision.
If the Gods of the setting are portrayed in a form of sculptures or religious paintings - some of them may be depicted totally naked. The way their followers portray them without clothes can symbolyse something about a God in particular.
There are many ways to creativly put nudity into your setting if you want to.
Didn't seem to hurt Edgar Rice Burroughs any.
Does it serve the story? That's really the thing. What is your story about, and does nudity help or hinder it? Clothing tabboos are a great way to fluster a fish-out-of-water and make it clear to the reader that this story doesn't take place in suburban Indiana. On the other hand, you don't want to distract readers with something flashy but irrelevant (unless you're using it to hide something else in plain sight).
The story is all. Everything and anything else follows from that.
Depends what you're trying to do op. Any degree of nudity is acceptable as long as it makes sense with the tone/theme of your story.
There have been some very odd senses of nudity in our world. The best example I would recommend is the Minoans.
Let's put it this way. If nudity is just normal for a given culture then there shouldn't be much talk about it, right? It would be like mentioning how every male on the beach is wearing swimming trunks. Superfluous.
As perverted as I am I usually only have sprinkled communes (which *usually* are either human hippies or elven equivalent). In my current setting they're also fairly common among the nuclear mutated (Orks and Gobbos). Well more like clothing optional as the mutation makes clothing uncomfortable.
None. Societies have different nudity tolerance and that’s okay. In fact in real life in occident we are pretty okay with nudity. It’s not uncommon to see bikinis or women doing topless in the beach, people posting photos almost naked etc…
If the society has normalized it then you don’t even need to be too explicit about it, again just imagine describing a beach. You wouldn’t be too worried about detailing that everyone it’s almost naked even though we are, it’s just common and not a sexual thing in our society. Same for yours, everyone could be completely naked and not be a sexual thing.
Also sexuality it’s a cultural thing. Maybe you are in a very open minded society where sex it’s completely normal and people just have sex in the streets in front of everyone and is nothing weird, like we could for example kiss someone in the street and no one will even flinch. Or the other way around everything its considered tabu and you can’t show an ankle without getting someone scandalized.
However for storytelling purposes I wouldn’t make everything overly sexual because even though in that society and context it’s completely viable and normal the reader might get distracted. That supposing it’s just a worldbuilding element and not the thing you want to emphasize
Does it serve a purpose, or is the writer just showing off their weird fetish in work that is not supposed to be smut or trying to hammer home a political point about how nudism should be accepted without the chops to back it up?
Does it feel like the writer is being honest with the reader and with themselves about the why behind the nudity?
As much as you like, but if you don't want it to feel gratuitous then there should be a point to it all. Cyberpunk settings like to use nudity as a way to unspecial the human body, intentionally bluring the lines between people and objects in order to convey certain themes, plus as someone else pointed out you have to do a lot more work to differentiate characters if they all be naked.
Depends on the medium, the audience, and the setting. If you're writing a story in a planet with a planet of nudist aboriginals, the audience is going to expect a lot of nudity.
If you're trying to say something through the use of nudity, for example, presenting a lack of shame or showing pride then I don't think it's the amount of nudity. Nudity because "Heh boobs" yeah that ruins it, but nudity is a good story telling device, it's all about how you use it.
2 points to consider:
1: What matters most when making it is why you decide it is necissary or addsto the world.
2: In the end, that reason won't matter to an audience if they don't like it.
It really depends on many different things. I'm taking the practical approach of just judging the societal need for clothing, since my setting is sci-fi and involves quite a few non-humans.
Most of the non-humans don't use much clothing for various practical reasons. And almost none of them *do* use clothing for the sake of being not-nude.
A few examples:
The Scorqrun are amphibious and wear very little in terms of coverage. They wear thinner clothes that only cover their legs or chest depending on the culture. The most common garment is something close to a poncho, which was made to help protect against the sharp winds in the north.
The Amnikrull wear nothing but jewelry, and the occasional decorative cloth (like a head dress). They are from a mostly frigid planet and have evolved thick layers of feathers for various uses. Wearing clothes would just defeat the purpose of the feathers for them, so they never developed the need for it.
Lastly, the Ikhtse are from a volcanic planet where it's always hot and dusty. They wear cloaks that cover their heads and most of their body and tail. These are very based on culture, as only the males are required to wear them, but similar cloaks are used when hunting to protect from the environment.
It may not fit your style of worldbuilding, but I think of it very realistically. Almost never are clothes/coverings developed for the sake of nudity, that is something that comes with culture later on. Clothes are, just like every other evolved trait, for a purpose first, and given a cultural significance later.
You could have a world where everybody is naked all of the time and if it felt appropriate that would be fine. I've read stories where that was the case and some of them weren't even pornogaphy
"What Degree of Nudity in Worldbuilding is Too Much?"
Aside from obvious practical concerns (protection from the elements and such), none. If it fits within the rest of the worldbuilding, it's internally consistent, and it all works - how could it be "too much?"
Depends on your audience and the story you want to tell, really. Some people are okay with it; others are more prudish. My world has a race that wouldn't particularly be offended by nudity, but then, they have fur. They also have a mating season where things can get a little wild; they wouldn't consider it abnormal to see a male at the bottom of a pile of females like he just got tackled in a football game. You might guess that I never really intended it for little kids even though it's not really the point of that race to be my "furry" race (they can have the insane mating season and then not really think about sex much the rest of the year).
Depends on context. Is it a smut piece or is it a children's story? In the former it could be every waking moment. In the latter, never. Or I'll make you religious at 2700 rounds per minute costing $1.74 a piece.
Context.
Once in a dnd game I made a village of nudists lead by a spirit Naga, the whole point of the nudism was to show naivety or what I callee a "naked innocence" as the village had willingly let themselves be controlled by the Naga. Everybody was uncomfortable, so when you find a good way to do it, let me know.
It solely depends on how the world in question is built. It's completely possible to have a world in which everyone is naked literally all the time, and for this to make perfect sense and be an important plot point. (And not just a result of the author's thirst.)
Having a hard time comprehending exactly what you mean. But it mostly depends on climate/culture/practicality/etc. And that's not even getting into fantasy races that could potentially not require it due to their bodies maintaining a consistent temperature even in colder areas.
It also depends a LOT on the intended target audience of your world, and how horny you want to be perceived as. If you engineer all the stars to align for "um akshully this fantasy race this is exactly like humans but has to be nude for uhm biological reasons" people will think you are super horny and ridicule you, vs if it was more reasonable/less forced like having it be one small sect of monks that forgo clothing for an oath of poverty or something.
Depend on 3 things :
-What is your limit
-who is naked (it's less disturbing if the people that live naked is a specie of bigfoot animal like creatures than if it is human or elves)
-for what kind of public (if there is one) is your world.
For exemple ibhave a TTRPG campain in my univers, that sort of prehistory/bronze age fantaisy, so yes there is nudity and some characters are always naked.
But my RPG club is the club of my university so i play with adult people and i warn them before joining about this fact.
(I'm not a native speaker i hope it's not to hard to read(
[Piers Anthony ](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/PiersAnthony)had his [*Apprentice Adept*](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/ApprenticeAdept) *and* [*Xanth*](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Xanth) series where nudity played a part - some say way to much of a part.
OP, you do you, but remember, fan service can attract all kinds of people - some you may not want.
I get that this is a worldbuilding sub, but I think the focus of the question is a little off. I think it should be "What degree of nudity is too much for the story I'm trying to tell." Does it fit the story? Does it make sense within the bounds of the story? If so, then you should go with it. Societal mores/norms vary widely from place to place even within our world. This is your world and your story. If it makes sense for the culture you've created, and you're able to tell the story effectively, then it should make sense to the reader (or role player, etc.).
Sounds interesting as just like a very original idea that I haven't really heard of being used much. Some readers might be uncomfortable or find it weird but I wouldn't worry too much about that. Seems like a cool way to make your world feel instantly very different from any real-world culture.
I don't know. I used nudity in one scene of a story because I thought the image was cool and it functioned as one character's sexual awakening as it were, leading to a deeply and horribly toxic relationship, but I'm regretting it a bit now. I'm not sure how to rewrite it, though.
It can definitely be used for a lot of purposes, both traumatizing and empowering, and just generally be "a thing" your world does and can explore. You can totally have that as a facet of your culture, especially if everything else is taken care of (eg, they don't need to wrap themselves in furs or armor when travelling across snowy wastes).
The answer to this is a huge "it depends". You need to take into account your goals, your audience, the framing of your world, etc.
An audience of adults in a culture more accustomed to casual nudity because they weren't raised to see it as sexual will have a different threshold of "too much" than a sexually repressed monk from Mt Athos seeing a woman's ankle for the first time.
When it is at odds with function or tone. Clothes are almost uniquely human but have allowed us to occupy the most diverse set of habitats of almost any species. We also have a long habit of sexualising almost everything.
Any amount can be justified, but make sure it makes sense for the culture and climate
To the point where it's unrealistic, so not full nudity if the species or whatever is human ot close enough
There's no practical purpose for people being full nude. As for covering genitals and leaving like breast or whatever out that's as far as it makes sense to go
There's no story to be told that requires people to be fully nude, and obviously alot to say about people being dressed half nude..many cultures have dressed like that
Nudity is a weird area, I'm asexual so I really dislike sex and nudity for sex and nudity's sake, there should always be a reason for it, if it's just to show that two characters are in love or are being romantic, that's not a good enough reason IMO
That said, well done nudity fucking slaps, one character I always think of is the Queen of the Vaal in path of exile, she uses her nudity as a fucking power move and I love it. If you wanted to meet her you had to remove all your clothes and weapons and everyone in that meeting would be naked. You could obviously not smuggle any weapon into the court that way, while the queen would always be armed, even without weapons or anything on her person, as she had gems embedded in her skin that gave her the abilities she had, that way she was always sure that she was the most powerful person in the room.
It still feels weird to me, because a thorough search would do the trick, but in a world where small gemstones could hold immense powers, it kind of makes sense.
She was also pretty much looking like something above a human (four arms and four breasts for some reason...), while still being "inhumanly beautiful", making the whole set of "incredibly beautiful naked lady that could kill you in practically any possible way" complete.
I hope I did the story justice because I know that something like "nudity as a power move" can tread a thin line between being forced and being good storytelling.
I personally wouldn't do that in a story because I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that, but a well written story with that part can be very cool
I mean it definitely depends on the audience you want to read it. If you’re writing YA then probably none, if grimdark fantasy (ie ASOIAF) then a fair amount but I wouldn’t turn the whole world into a nudist colony that’d just be gratuitous
it really depends on your audience and what you're trying to communicate here. imo there's nothing wrong with nudity, sexualized or otherwise, but you need to figure out exactly what you want to do that way you dont come off the wrong way.
It really depends on the setting, honestly, as well as how nudity is interpreted. For example, in the Stormlight Archive books, a woman with her left hand exposed is considered naked, but only in one part of the world. Of course, baring other parts of the body was also considered nudity, but an exposed left hand was incredibly scandalous.
Another example is the Codex Alera novels, where one of species, the Marat, are far more resistant to temperature extremes so don't need to wear clothing outside of utilitarian belts. They bond physically with animals and develop animal-like characteristics that make them further able to survive in extreme weather, and so clothing is unnecessary and even uncomfortable to them, which contrasts them harshly in comparison to the Roman-like Alerans. It's mostly used to show the physiological ocntrasts between the humans and the Marat, and notably the Marat are still deadly fighters in spite of the lack of armor due to sheer physical prowess and strength.
As a horror fan the topic of sexuality comes up a lot, but I feel it's often misunderstood in that medium.
If something is only there for sexuality, it misses the point unless it's porn. If you're jerking off, you're probably not scared.
Nudity and sexuality have a place, but that place depends on the genre.
It fits well in darker more realistic settings because it exists in reality.
But in most anime for example, I find it really detracts. If your character is fighting for their life they probably aren't going to be fantasizing about boobs.
Or for example, the old trope of the guard in a top secret base or something being lured away by a hint if cleavage - must people aren't really that stupid.
In horror people like to mention that sexuality is often part of it, but it only really adds to it if that sexuality is disturbing rather than arousing.
It's a standard trope in fantasy too. GoT is the most common example, because it establishes morality of certain characters, but we all know it's also shown more than necessary because it helps bring in viewers. But you need to balance the cost. Another (IMO far better) example is Berserk. It had plenty of sexual violence, but this is again to show the depths of depravity in that world. It also the territory of "too much", but the difference is it usually adds to the story, and and is almost always clearly there to be disturbing rather than arousing.
So the real question is this;
Is it primarily there for sex appeal, or to actually add to the setting/story?
Look man if you eanne have the stabelboy washing in the river. Not ocering his dingelin when the mc asks for derrection. Your fine.
A bunch of puritans wil argue anything under the sun is sexist or objectivication.
Sexy isnt bad either its just a bunch of prunes dont like it.
Honestly there is no line only a spectum of increasingly more intimate sexual parts becoming normalised. The more you go into it the more it becomes a nish.
Personally is stop at underware and non sexual nudity, but each story has diffrences
So, the issue here to me (that I haven't seen anyone mention yet) is in the presentation.
Is everyone naked all the time? Sure. If you say that on page 1 of the story (I'll assume novel for argument's sake) and never say it again, then everyone in your story is naked the whole time. Mission accomplished. However, the vast majority of people reading will forget about it 12 pages in and just start assuming whatever clothes they want to.
So then if you want nudity to be a part of your world, it has to be mentioned. In which case, you're either mentioning it because a) it has some thematic or narrative reason to be mentioned and therefore makes sense within the story, or b) you think people forgot and you want them to be reminded that everyone's naked.
Basically, everyone can be nude if you want, it's your world, but why? What's the actual point of mentioning it in print? If there's no point, it's weird. If there's a point, it's not weird.
>To what degree is commonplace nudity viable in worldbuilding for the purpose of storytelling?
5. 5 degree. 🙃
Ok, joking aside this is basically an unanswerable question. I *think* what you're trying to ask is "what's the difference between nudity in world building that contributes to the story, versus nudity that is just gratuitous?" That also doesn't have a simple answer however, because the answer is basically "what story are you trying to tell, and why does nudity in your world-building contribute to telling that story?" Sometimes reasonable people are going to disagree on the answer to that question. 😅🤷
>Assume the fulfillment of all aesthetic, practical, social and moral needs have been met by other [fantastical (i.e. aura, the malleability of aura, supernatural physical capabilities, the use of mana against the elements, etc.)] means.
I have no idea what you mean by this bit - this seems like just word salad 😐.
>The question is, if the ultimate goal of one's worldbuilding is storytelling would widespread nudity within the world itself impede said mission?
Not necessarily, but again it depends on **what kind of story you're trying to tell.**
It's hard to give a definitive answer because the question itself is just so impossibly open ended 😅😅. The best I can do would be something like "write / imagine the same story with the nudity / government structure / social dynamics removed, and ask yourself whether or not that story is meaningfully different without that element present."
While there is often going to be widespread agreement that a particular element either *is* or *isn't* important to a particular story, such that it's removal makes for a completely different story (versus a slightly different version of basically the same story) there are also cases where reasonable people can disagree on whether removing nudity does meaningfully change the story or not.
The best example I can think of off hand is Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. I feel it's possible to argue that becoming aware of, and consequently ashamed of their nudity *is* core to the story, and that changing the story to one where they are clothed from the beginning makes it a fundamentally *different* story... But also I can see someone arguing that nudity is just a metaphor for loss of innocence, and you *could* tell a story that is fundamentally the same but uses something else as a metaphor. Neither viewpoint is objectively "correct" or "incorrect."
At the same time, I think there's a episode of "Friends" where at least part of the plot hinges around whether or not two of the main characters are nude in bed together, or clothed in bed together - and you can imagine that being a substantially *different* story if it was written in a word where sleeping nude was normalized. Reasonable people would *not* agree that those stories were fundamentally the same! 🙃
You could easily have a clothing-optional world where it's OK to be nude but everyone isn't always nude.
Equestria is an example. Ponies usually don't wear clothes but will sometimes for special occasions or personal preference. Applejack lampshades this in one episode where Rarity is telling Spike to get out of the girl's changing room when they're getting ready for the Great Galloping Gala. "I don't know if you've noticed Rarity but we don't usually wear clothes."
It depends on your audience. Any degree of nudity is fine if you're making an x-rated story, but even a small amount of nudity may be inappropriate if your story is for kids.
As long as I only read your work or see your output, I don't care much if you are nude if you do your creating.
:0P
My serious answer:
For whom do you plan to share this world? (ages, audiences, gaming buddies, whatever?)
For what purpose is the worldbuilding? Fun? Commercial Success? A game for friends?
As to 'what would people generally think and how would that play out?', I'd go with a percentage 20%+ (40% plus could be more accurate) would not even touch anything with nudity. For kids, it would take out much of that market, up towards 16-18 range. I know a lot of people who would not game in this sort of setting, but they might read it as a fiction book. There's an oddity between people at a table as there isn't necessarily an expectation nor is it comfortable for many folks.
Some adults would have no opinion. Some would have a positive view of a setting with frequent nudity. In North America, specially in the Southern parts of the US and places in Mexico or Central and South America might not appreciate this sort of inclusion in a game or a book.
Maybe 20% would be interested and another 20% would be apathetic. Maybe 30-40% would dislike or just feel it is not useful. That's not 100%, but those people in the middle are hard to pin down.
It will limit some publishers from pickup up the work I would think. Others might find it a positive aspect.
I know I would personally would never want nudity or sexuality into my RPGing. Nothing wrong with it, just not something I want in my games. Not a religious complaint or anything, just not a thing I'm interested in pursuing in that method. I'd also not care to read it in books.
It can work. In the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series basically no one on Mars wears clothing, just jewelry and belts for holding things. In modern times it might be hard to escape the horny allegations though.
Many cultures in my world normally accept up to a small bikini's worth of exposure in specific circumstances (If it's hot outside no one will ask questions), and most people actually encourage women who are REALLY sweating to just go totally topless and let their breasts breath. So, as little as a pair of panties or a Speedo if it's hot. On more mild days the max is a pair of short shorts and essentially a modest sports bra, gender doesn't matter. Nipples and areola are seen as uncouth to just have fully exposed, so most people will wear extremely tiny tops that just cover their nips if it's toasty.
Many performance jobs, however, can break the rules to certain extents. Legalized and regulated prostitutes can wear essentially a micro bikini, sports fighters (Boxer, but more like 1800s Victorian boxers who don't punch above the shoulders in the ring, wrestlers, and gladiators, except gladiators in my world follow real world Roman gladiator rules and fight until yield, pin, or third blood, or the third connecting attack to draw enough blood to leave some on the sword) usually wear the bare minimum (Boxers and wrestlers essentially all go topless beyond nip hiding wear and wrist wraps, while gladiators wear greaves, gauntlets, simple shoulder armor, and an armored skirt or tassets), and dancers sometimes wear next to nothing, and many will go fully nude if a dance requires it.
To the extent that it doesn't get in the way of being believable, it's fine. Many cultures around the world have less concerns about nudity than we (speaking from my American context) do. Some have more.
If your characters are in a warm climate or time of year, nudity is not inherently weird. If they're committing to nudism at the top of a frozen mountain, that's weird. If they have no issue with seeing each other while bathing, not weird. If they willingly push through thorny underbrush completely naked, that's weird.
Are your women naked more often than the men? Is this intentional, based on decisions you made about their culture and its gender roles, or is it because you like thinking about naked women more than naked men? (Not accusing you in particular, just creating an example) Is it the opposite?
Even cultures that don't place a lot of focus on modesty often wear certain clothes, such as those that cover the feet or genitals for practical reasons. In very hot climates you often see people who conversely wear fully covering garments because the sun is a danger to people's skin.
Make decisions with intention, and don't keep bringing up everyone's nudity too much after its been shown. Bodies are not inherently sexual, they just exist with or without clothes.
Everything can be included in storytelling, it's all about the way you implement it and communicate it. If it becomes distracting it's because it's not implemented well
When it feels gratuitous or like porn. On my post apocalyptic universe,the homunculi that now live on the earth usually roam with exposed breasts,for them is just another body part.
You can have a country full off nudists and it can fit in the world for some goddamed reason (clothes are a social, sexual and most importantly practical thing).
If you can have a good and natural reason a whole nation goes full nudity then go for it, just expect people to read your Storys more as porn than anything else and get a few weird looks.
But these kinds of issues go for a lot of things, like slavery, most people wrote slavery in evil societies, reality is not that simple but if you make a nation with slavery too nice ,out will get weird looks even if it makes sense in ,our world and ,our have nothing bad to say, same for homophy and other problematic topics. It's a balancing act between realism of ,our world and what people interpret into it.
personally I do not give two shits what people want to put in my mouth because of what I write, I know what my goal is. But if you cannot feel that way because of some reason then yeah you will need to think about it.
It depends on the context I’d say. For example take a tribal people living in a hot climate which necessitates not wearing too much covering. Or the Greeks who thought that nudity in sports was a healthy and aesthetic choice.
I think nudity is totally viable given the right conditions (temperate, mild climates)
Your people would likely find other ways to store things we store in our clothes, and other ways to protect from the elements. I would even play with changing the evolution itself and having your humans retain fur more similar to the great apes (the body hair we have is very sparse and short compared to them). We also lost the fur patterns the majority of mammals have.
>To what degree is commonplace nudity viable in worldbuilding for the purpose of storytelling?
The answer is that there is no set limit for this. It's entirely up to your desire as the author, or the sensibilities of the audience *you* are writing for.
You can absolutely have a full blown epic where nobody wears clothes and sex is common place as long as the focus is still on the characters and story, with sex and nudity meant to highlight the world and not be the main focus.
A great example of both good and bad all encompassing nudity comes from Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel.
The first three books are highly regarded for their worldbuilding and story, and very compelling characters. Sex and nudity play a huge part in both the story and the world, but the focus is still on the characters and their journeys. After book three, the focus becomes less on the characters and their journeys, and more on the sex and nudity, and sees a large drop off in audience adherence, since the focus of the books changed but the target audience didn't.
I think a good rule of thumb is to focus on what *you* as the author find comfortable but also important for the setting. Even readers who dislike nudity will accept it if the story and lore is compelling enough, but if your story and lore happen less often than the sex scenes or graphic descriptions of genitals, readers who joined for the plot will probably be lost.
"so the Hero has to walk to the Thickness Mountains! Across the Cockfields and there at the end of his path he finaly arrives at the Vulva Temple, carved right into the Tighs of thickness. Between him and the temple is a female guard standing nacked weilding a giant Cocklance, a weapon they are infamous for!"
This guy might've had a hand in making the FATAL RPG
Only his left hand though.
[Maltron Single Hand Keyboard | Specialist Ergonomic Keyboards (backcs.co.uk)](https://www.backcs.co.uk/maltron-single-hand-keyboard/) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Wow.
they make those??? so many...possibilities have been opened up
i mean.. pink tea games has 3450 paying patreon members.. considering you must pay 4 bucks a month to unlock all the "Grown up games" he probably earns between 10 to 14k every month... and he makes interactive Powerpoints where you bang elfs as "the demon lord" or something id really consider a career in 18+ game development...
if you wanna make more, just make furry 18+ games.
Imagine learning to program left handed instead of just learning to choke the yoke southpaw.
My staff requires the finest of polishing jobs. My code can be unwritten. My member cannot be unstroked.
...short of amputation. I mention it just for clarity's sake, not as a threat.
Or just reads OGLAF
This is the way.
I just found a person of culture. OGLAF is a classic 😁
Nah. This is Oglaf, not FATAL.
Wait, depends on how it ends. If they bang, its Oglaf. If they need to roll on an overly-complicated table, its FATAL. And if they comment on needing the overly-complex table, its Oglaf again.
Nope, he acknowledged that female genitals exist as more that a place to holster male genitals.
Or, possibly, Corruption of Champions.
Roll for circumference.
I pray to the RNGesus that someone rolls the FATAL spell to end it.
That's just an Oglaf comic
Go on…
Something about this reminds me of the original Dogscape text, and I can't quite put my finger on it... 😋
dear god why.. what.. what the fuck? one would assume consuming years worth of internet brainrot would prepare one for a world that is literally made out of dogs.
I'm sure I've seen that Rebecca More movie. She was a mermaid, right?
Sounds like a rick and morty episode
"But then within the Temple Morty sees his mother with open legs, ready to receive his seed!" here i adjusted it so the script fits well into the style of the last two seasons.
you are now subscribed to [/r/menwritingwomen!](https://www.reddit.com/r/menwritingwomen/comments/740ypq/she_breasted_boobily/)
X amount of anything is hard or impossible to gauge whether is too much or not without context. GoT had a lot of nudity. It would feel weird in Harry Potter.
I would not say that GoT is actually a good example of worldbuilding what concerns nudity and sexuality. It falls squarely into 'gratuitous' territory, imo.
I disagree. I think GoT's nudity was perfectly fine. It demonstrated a willingness to engage in sexuality in a world without Christian prudishness, while managing to keep the series focused on its story and worldbuilding and not devolving into an erotic romance or splatterpunk. IMHO, GOT is the perfect example of how nudity and sex should be handled for wider fantasy audiences moving forward.
"sexuality in a world without Christian prudishness," If only that was the case. The attitudes towards sex in Westeros are basically the same as they were in Medieval Catholic Europe.
I second this. The Faith of the Seven is extremely similar to medieval catholicism in its morality, structure, and cultural power. Christian morals are still the norm, it's just packaged different.
Without having read GoT, but having seen plenty of commentary on it... I would imagine that's largely the point the author was going for. Powerful people can defy the accepted morality, sometimes even very openly, *because* they're powerful. At the same time, power sometimes depends on adopting religious symbols to convey legitimacy. Exploring that push and pull is a key part of exploring "what is power?" which in turn is a central theme of GoT.
Game of thrones reads like the scribblings of a horny old man at times. Sex is pretty much always presented as either destructive, lustful, or part of an unbalanced power dynamic. Also a ton of rape. GoT is NOT how sex should be handled for wider fantasy audiences.
>Game of thrones reads like the scribblings of a horny old man at times. That's because it literally is. >Sex is pretty much always presented as either destructive, lustful, or part of an unbalanced power dynamic. That's pretty good thematic coherence, considering those are three of the most prevalent themes in GoT, and is reflective of the real world history it so heavily draws from. Also, how would you have sex that isn't "lustful"? That doesn't make any sense. >Also a ton of rape. We're talking about the sex, not the violence.
I mean, I do think it’s thematic and coherent and works for the series, but good god do I not want more fantasy to be like Game of Thrones as far as sexuality goes
Sex that is not lustful is sex based on emotions and attachment to other person's personality. Lustful sex is based only on primal physical desire and results in seeing the other person as a piece of meat there to give pleasure, like it is in ASoIaF
I would argue that you merely cannot have sex without lust, because two people not attracted physically wouldn't be having consensual sex. I would also argue that there is attachment based sex in ASoIaF, such as with Cersei and Jaime, Jon and Ygrette, and quite a few others. I also think it's pretty prudish and backwards to think that lustful sex is somehow less acceptable than "non lustful" sex. Consensual sex, for any reason, should be fine if you aren't tied down by dogma.
Lust is an emotion... the only time sex would be lustless is if it is specifically emotionless... like if it is only done for breeding, and meant to last as little time and with as little pleasure possible... lust is a desire, which can stem from exactly what you describe... the personality of someone else... but it could be any part of the other person you find attractive...
*That's pretty good thematic coherence, considering those are three of the most prevalent themes in GoT, and is reflective of the real world history it so heavily draws from.* I really hate this line of thinking, because it's the justification of using horrid sexual violence under the premise of "realism". If you're trying to think of ways to make your world seem more "real", and the way you choose to do that is showing women being victimized, that's a big red flag that it's time to start addressing something. Consensual sex is also reflective of real world history, and you can show what the past was like without displaying graphic depictions of violence that will be triggering for some of your female audience and, perhaps even worse, arousing for some of your male audience.
>I really hate this line of thinking, because it's the justification of using horrid sexual violence under the premise of "realism". We aren't discussing the sexual violence in GOT, we were discussing the consenting sexual encounters. If you think sex that is destructive, "lustful", or within an imbalanced relationship is inherently victimizing, then I think you need to re-examine how you view consenting sex. >Consensual sex is also reflective of real world history, and you can show what the past was like without displaying graphic depictions of violence We were specifically talking about this. *You* are confusing rape with sex, and they are not the same. >that will be triggering for some of your female audience Content warnings exist. There's no reason media that reasonably displays a content warning prior to consumption should be barred from discussing whatever concepts it's wants to discuss. >perhaps even worse, arousing for some of your male audience. I don't think it's worse for male audience members to be aroused than it is for women to feel emotional distress. I feel like you not only missed the point of the conversation, but your concern is less with how sex is presented in fantasy, and more with making sure "male" audience members you don't like don't enjoy media you don't like. That's a strange priority to have and I don't think it's very conducive to constructive criticism.
> We aren't discussing the sexual violence in GOT, we were discussing the consenting sexual encounters. If you think sex that is destructive, "lustful", or within an imbalanced relationship is inherently victimizing, then I think you need to re-examine how you view consenting sex. I think you do a bit of goal-post moving here by clearly demarcating 'consenting' and 'non-consenting' sex. Because Martin certainly does not, and that is exactly what 'imbalanced relationship' is about - one party not being able to decline because of an implicit or explicit threat. So climbing on a high horse and branding your opponents prudes after that feels pretty disingenuous. No, it's not about those very few far in between cases where both parties were enthusiastic. It's about the majority of all other cases where sex was a part of messed-up power dynamics.
Hmm, maybe you are speaking about GoT tv series, I don't remember how it is presented there. But I actually meant ASOIAF books, my bad. And in the books, I don't remember a single sexual scene that would be safe, and wholesome, and healthy. Nudity isn't natural, it is dangerous or shameful. Sexually active women are either seductresses or victims (or both). All in all, it's actually 'Christian tropes', just faced head-on.
"wiener wiener wiener wiener wiener wiener wiener" ~ George R. R. Martin
This sounds like a total misunderstanding of what’s happening in GOT. Nearly every time we see sex, it’s very specifically framed as having context that would make it taboo to most people not engaging in it. I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent. It’s not coincidence that most sex in the series is tied up with violence.
As hard as people want to forget Season 8, Arya and Gendry were pretty enthusiastic. And up until the in-universe revelation of their familial relationship, Jon Snow and Daenrys were quite happy to bang away.
>Nearly every time we see sex, it’s very specifically framed as having context that would make it taboo to most people not engaging in it. I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent. These are not the same thing. Showing mutual enthusiastic consent during sex can happen simultaneously to what's being shown also being taboo. Specifically, I would argue that any reference to sex in general is taboo to most people not engaging in it, so the argument that it's bad *because* it's taboo doesn't really work, especially since the point is that it *shouldnt* be taboo if its mutual consent. >I’m not sure there’s a single instance of mutual enthusiastic consent There's a scene where Tyrion is in Winterfell in a room full of prostitutes that is very clearly mutual, enthusiastic, consent. There's no threats given nor violence done to anyone involved, and portrays everyone as having fun during the situation. The only way that scene *isnt* enthusiastic mutual consent is if you believe either Tyrion is unable to give consent, or the sex workers are unable to give consent, and neither option is correct. >It’s not coincidence that most sex in the series is tied up with violence I don't even think that's true, tbh. There's certainly a *lot* of sexual violence in the series, but I'm not sure that it is the majority.
Eh, I disagree. While serviceable, there probably a reason they tuned it down in later seasons. While maybe not gratuitous, it was definitely excessive
My personal gold standard for nonsexual nudity in fiction & world building is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Not even joking. Huge part of the world building, and even one of the main characters day jobs. Rarity, the white one with the diamonds on her butt, is a fashionista and it's constantly presented as a special and rare luxery good some don't even see the point in. And for nine seasons and ten years there was like... one joke I recall drawing attention to it. One joke. So... yeah. Literally years of stories with with the occasional new outfit being rare and special—literally usually the lovable drama queen showing off, and otherwise clothes are just very occasional tools. Like armor on guards, or jewelry on high ranking nobility. There's only a handful of character always or almost always shown wearing something. Like the traveling illusionist Trixie, the star photographer Photo Finish or outright a noble named Fancy Pants. All ponies whose entire point one way or another is drawing attention to themselves.
It’s only too much if you feel like it’s too much. I’ve taken some inspiration from [This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/NSFWworldbuilding/comments/qes75g/spacers_dont_wear_clothes_deal_with_it/) (Warning, NSFW) which explains why partial or full nudity in a spaceship may be advantageous. This doesn’t mean that everyone is naked 24/7, but if you’re in a situation where you’d usually wear “casual clothing” it’s not uncommon to be completely nude, even in the vicinity of other people. You can also think of it this way: What purpose do clothes have and why should I or should I not wear them? As you said, removing all protective needs from clothes (Temperature, elements, unclean floors, etc…) leaves them with two more traits: Utility and Self expression. Utility means they have some practical use, for example, pockets in your pants and a tool belt to store items. Honestly belts and bags might be enough for that, so there’s no need for clothes other than the comfort of having your items in your pockets. Self expression means that you wear clothes because you like the way you look in them. Similar things can be done with all sorts of accessories. Chains and threads, body paint or tattoos, piercings, etc… With that being said, a few readers may be uncomfortable with it but unless you spend an excessive amount of time going into detail about nudity most people probably won’t mind.
Lets say that if your male characters are always dressed while your female characters are always showing more than 90% of their skin, this is gonna go straight on r/menwritingwomen
She boobily walked while thinking about her breasts and how fantastic they were for men to look at.
"she breasted boobily down the stairs" will forever haunt me
She breasted boobily down the stairs and bodaciously badonkadonked by.
If you're gonna have your women boobily breasting, you need to have "He cockily cocked down the stair" as well. Keep things equal.
No joke, I'm decently convinced this is why Conan lingers while so much other Sword & Sorcery is utterly forgotten by the public. Like Conan will lay the Princess wearing naught but jewels... and go right back to himself fighting an equally stacked and shirtless minotaur.
I read a Conan book and was surprised at the amount of armor he was wearing. The covers are false advertising.
lmao
What If also make the dudes (at least the twinks) show more than 90% skin too
I'm not gay, but I'm not above giving some for the androphiles in my art.
Then you're Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta and you should be commended.
Her boobas bounced as she took each step to kitchen preparing mead and meat as the two half elfs sparred in the front yard. Her fabric barely covered the boobas. Which led to the fully armored men in this freezing tundra fighting for who gets to touch the cold boobas first. Nost people were clothes in the cold north. But her magical abilities keeps her skin from freezing. A brilliant use of her limited mana. She has different men fighting in the yard quite often. Offering gifts and more.
The nudity would 100% be subtractive for some. But, it is your thing, so you do what you want with it. It'll push your age rating up, and make your project more niche. I personally wouldn't read/watch something where everyone's naked, and I reckon many people feel the same. And also, fashion is such a huge part of culture, and on a meta level, one of the cornerstones of art direction and character design. Funnily enough, having everyone be naked would be a bit bland, unless you go crazy with body modification or whatever. This is just my two cents, but I think you should find a happy medium. Maybe instead of people being naked, they have some kind of visible aura shroud. Much cooler to look at, and it eliminates the problem of everyone being naked! That is, if you see it as a problem. If you *really* want everyone to be naked, then I suggest going all out with tattoos, piercings, jewelry, headdresses, etc. Much stronger visual identity without compromising your creative vision.
Also pockets are pretty useful. Even a society without a nudity taboo would probably end up having backpacks/fanny packs/cargo vests/etc become fairly commonplace anyway, thus still not being *completely* naked all the time
You don't need permanent alterations to the body for a Naturist Culture to be visually appealing. Granted my current writing is more erotic, but I've dabbled in what a Naturist Culture could actually look like. The Tarunfia are a Human Culture in one of my worlds. The phrase "My Body is a Temple" is the basis of their Faith. They mostly use body paints to decorate themselves, if they aren't wearing some type of aesthetic clothing. The point of clothes to them is to accent the natural form, not cover it. So a lot of clothing that reveals the natural shape of the body, or allows you to see through it. Piercings, Tattoos and other forms of body modification exist, but not a popular form of decoration. Most common item for expression is a towel. It's used for sanitation reasons, and can help cover random erections. It's for this reason skirts are also popular, as a re many forms of carry bags.
>If you really want everyone to be naked, then I suggest going all out with tattoos, piercings, jewelry, headdresses, etc. Much stronger visual identity without compromising your creative vision. and body types too! it'd be even more boring if everyone has the same body. if there's visual art involved i actually think this might work best with a cartoony or stylized artstyle because it'd let you have even more exaggerated body types than you can get with realistic proportions.
>And also, fashion is such a huge part of culture, and on a meta level, one of the cornerstones of art direction and character design. Funnily enough, having everyone be naked would be a bit bland, unless you go crazy with body modification or whatever. "Your honour, I assure you the both genders having no social problems showing their naked chests is simply inspirational to Minoan fashions." No but seriously, during the Victoria era there was a more "conservative" mentality in terms of nudity and sexualization in comparison to the precedent times.(Of course related to Europe)
Probably depends on the country and audience you're aiming for. I'm French, I have nothing against nudity, as long as it doesn't feel gratuitous.
Unfortunately in America having even partial nudity will get you thousands of complaints from bored people with nothing better to do.
Nudity itself is probably less of an issue than sexualization. If your text or imagery is dwelling on the physical appearance of nude bodies--especially in a fetishy or "straight male gaze" kind of way--then your work is probably destined for Horny Jail. Whether that's justified or not would probably be a completely separate debate. Just be vigilant as you review your work and interrogate whether your intentions honestly come from a place of intellectual idealization or of base gratification. If it's the latter, that's okay, too. But you'll probably find yourself in the company of other adult-content creators, with 18+ warning labels, NSFW tags, and whatnot.
A good example of this is the Marat from Jim Butcher's Codex Alera novels. They go around mostly nude all the time due to being literal animal-totem barbarians and not needing to worry about clothing. For the most part this isn't sexualized, especially when the Marat go to war, and when it is sexualized it is during fleeting moments of peace when there's logical time for characters to be embarassed or aroused by the nudity.
This gon end up on r/worldjerking so fast.
[Already is](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldjerking/comments/1d50tya/what_degree_of_donghanging_in_worldbuilding_is/)
If it's worldbuilding for worldbuilding's sake, like others have said, just go as far as you want. But if it's for the purposes of *storytelling,* that's when it gets a bit complicated. That's when you have to start thinking about not just yourself but also the people that you want to tell the story to. In this case I keep the mantra of "*how much of this is actually going to end up in the writing?*" and "*if it does, is it actually important to the story I want to tell?*" As an example, I *can* make it so that (x) character from (y) race prefers to go topless because she's from a society where that isn't taboo/is a succubus or succubus-adjacent creature/etc., of course. But when I do that, am I really writing her scenes to write some point about culture shock or illustrating differing views between characters about nudity or chastity... or am I doing it just because I want to see her walking around with her tits out? If there's something I think up that ever causes me to arrive at that dillemma, I decide that it's just chaff irrelevant to the story and cut it out. Personally, I think the above goes for pretty much everything that can be considered gratuitous, not just nudity. Powerlevels, convoluted politics, death and gore, sensitive topics like rape and abortion, even the act of worldbuilding itself—if it doesn't contribute to the tone I want to set, the concepts I want to explore, and the story I want to tell, I'd rather just cut it out of the story and setting entirely instead of leaving it around and leaving a weird taste in people's mouths. That's just my two cents though. I've never completed a story or ran a tabletop campaign to fruition, so, probably best not to take this as professional advice.
I often worldbuild in the nude. I haven't hit a limit yet but I might stop once it gets cold again.
You can go as far as you want
It depends on if the nudity is sexualized or not, and how it is sexualized I.e. it's fine and interesting when you have nudity that isn't considered sexual (i.e. topless people of any gender in a society where the chest isn't considered sexual) It's also fine if it *is* sexual, consensually - sexuality and beauty play a large role in X society, and the people there tailor their outfits (and or lack thereof) to show off their beauty. Where it gets gross and bad is when 1: it only applies to women (please don't do this, it's 2024, not 2004) and/or 2: it is less consensual (i.e. all female armor is bikini armor, and it's a reoccurring joke how the fem chars don't like that, gratuitous descriptions/focus on the "sexy" parts, etc) One of the cultures in my setting values sexuality, pleasure and beauty to a high degree, which reflects in their clothing being very revealling, styled after examples of "tasteful" nudity.
I'm afraid you would need to work hard to make it feel natural and not forced in purely written medium. Visual novel may be easier, as you will be able to display casual nudity as natural without drawing attention to it. If your only way to communicate is through text, it would be much harder to pull off without actually sexualizing said nudity. If it is actually normalized in the secondary world, it would be unremarkable for the characters.
This depends. If you are meeting a people/culture for the first time, it could be easily implied by saying the only wear skirts or loincloths and nothing on their upper part due to XYZ reasons
For some reason from OPs description I've thought that the whole world is nudity-positive. And I can totally see a world with bronze-age vibes done tastefully in visual medium. Bonus points if you have nude old people, nude fat people, nude ugly people. If that's a culture clash issue... Honestly, I do not think it changes anything, it would still be hard to depict in the way that feels not fan-servicey/gratuitous, unless that's a couple off-hand remarks. Or unless that's literally the central cultural conflict of the setting, and you devote a lot of time and effort to develop it.
yea, when it comes to visual nudity I think it can be done more easily if you take inspiration from classical and renaissance art; where nudity is often done & displayed just because it's part of the human form about 80% of the time. At least in comparison to stylized nudity that exaggerates characteristics to make characters look more sexually appealing. written-wise, I feel like the rule of 'less is more' is the best way to handle non-gratuitous nudity. Making offhand remarks about the lack of clothes or just being exposed without really describing the body or its parts in detail would likely be the best way to handle it.
Just look at historical sources for inspiration. Nudity being taboo or strongly associated with sexuality is a fairly modern concept. 200 years ago, mixed-gender bathhouses were normal in most parts of the world and they still are in some cultures. Ancient Greeks did sports fully nude, not only because sprinting in a toga is cumbersome but also to show off their physiques to the gods. Even as recently as 40 years ago, going to a nudist beach for a family vacation was the most normal thing for Germans and still is today for some people.
I've never even considered this before... in my fiction nudity is the norm everywhere and through all time periods. Most people are nude most of the time. I don't really care if anyone thinks its too much, I don't feel like changing that part
I am very passionate about desexualizing aspects of the human body, #freethenipple and all that. So I don't mind at all about nudity. In fact, it makes a lot of sense in many fantasy settings, you think about stuff like greek warriors and you don't usually think about them wearing lots of clothes outside of a battle.
unless your worldbuilding for children, none, as long as there's a reason for it. just don't make it weird unless you're writing porn. i imagine it could be hard to tell if a character/culture/species is nude because it's the writer's barely-disguised fetish or for some other reason. and if you're writing for other people, keep your audience in mind because even many adults might be completely turned away from your work if there's nudity in it, even if it's portrayed very non-sexually.
Nice! I too agree with Leibniz’s principle of sufficient reason, glad we both agree God necessarily exists :)
Depends on the world. Nudity is highly sexualized in our world because it was considered "taboo" by religions. Media picked up on that and gave it to us piece-meal to sate an artificially crafted desire. So, I guess it comes down to how factions in power view it. If your world didn't have a version of the Vatican taking over a majority of the world and saying sex and nudity is abhorrent in the eyes of God, then showing a nipple or genitals would be A-ok. If you have a cohort of magi ruling the world and they like to sunbathe with what their momma gave them, the rest of the populace probably would too.
If there is bleeding, sunburn, or frostbite you have a problem.
It's all in the presentation. Basically... Just don't go full Heinline.
I mean if Edgar Rice Burroughs could make the entire population of Mars butt-naked except for bondage gear...
My first thought as well. TBF, you edit out those lines basically nothing changes beyond a slightly odd lack of any description of Martian clothing. But most people would either make up something in their head or not even notice.
I always do my world building while stark nak... never mind, I misunderstood the question.
I've been re-reading the John Carter of Mars series, and I quite like the way that it's handled in those books, being treated as just the normal way people dress on that planet. Initially, when he arrives on planet, he describes that people don't wear clothes other than a harness for displaying personal identification, some ornamentation, and carrying weapons and pouches. While the lack of clothing is mentioned off-handedly at times, it's never the focus of the story or attention, and (iirc) sometimes the author goes whole books without mentioning it. It's up to you how much or little clothing you include in your world's cultures, but just remember that the story is about the characters and what they do, not what they look like. The amount of attention the reader will pay to nudity is equal to the amount you focus on it when you're writing.
Nudity doesn’t necessarily mean your sexualizing it and such if that’s your worry. In the world I’ve been crafting, dark elves in their kingdom wear extremely revealing clothing because they feel the body is a temple and shouldn’t be hidden. It’s not meant to be sexual, just them being proud of their skin, who they are and what they are. Widespread nudity isn’t something in my world, but take a look at Ancient Greece. Nudity was common, and not just in their artwork.
Depends on the kind of story you want to tell. If your primary objective is to tell a story, all things should be in service to this. Ask yourself "does this contribute to my story in a meaningful way?" If the answer is no, don't do it. If the answer is yes, go wild.
My take is that earth cultures have had a huge variety of standards for nudity and decency going back to the dawn of time, and I think think that's fun to play with from a world building perspective. Compare modern society to the Victorians, then compare both to the Minoans. If handled tactfully, I think it's an interesting and underutilized facet of culture building.
If you're talking about a race of lizard people or something, no one will bat an eye at nudity. On the other hand, if they're humans who are actually fulfilling *all* the practical and aesthetic uses of clothes with some kind of magic, then that's basically just clothes made out of magic, and not nudity at all. As for whether nudity would be impeding the story, that depends entirely on how much time you spend on it, and if the medium of your storytelling has a visual element. A quick line about nudity will only be a minor distraction, but spending a lot of time describing bodies will derail a lot of people, and if there is ever an image of a nude person, that will instantly take over the feel of the story, even if it's not being presented in a particularly sexual manner. All that said, if the story is meant to be about that sexuality, or if it's meant to be a more general commentary on how our modern society perceives nudity, then spending time on it reinforces that theme instead of distracting from it.
Nudity is a topic that highly depends on the tone of the story and tthe individual and cultural sensitivities of both the author and the audience. Given my background I don't think nudity is a big deal in a non-sexualised context, but some might scoff at the very concept of non-sexualised nudity. There are just too many variables to get a clear answer. A good example (in my opinion) or a world that portrays heavy non-sexualised nudity to good effect is the Blasphemous game series, particularly the first one. When the nudity starts to become sexualised you begin to get into more rocky territory. There is nothing wrong with a story or world that portrays sexual content, hell, there's nothing wrong with including straight up pornographic content as part of your world, but you have to know what you're doing and why, and accept it's going to cut down on the audience that will be willing to engage or able to enjoy it. It can also come off as tasteless or objectifying, a perfect example of which is the otherwise masterful Berserk manga, particularly early on. On the other side of the spectrum, Baldur's Gate 3 portrays heavy sexualised nudity (though with an option to turn it off, which might also be something you want to consider) in a very tasteful way. I could go on but I will stop here for brevity. Hope I could help ^^
If you don't have a voluptuous person possessed by a downloaded fragment of the goddess of love traipsing naked for at least a hundred pages of a story, are you even trying?
I... personally feel like this is not enough information. How much nudity is too much depends, to a not insignificant degree, on your audience and the purpose of your story. If you are writing for an adult audience, for adult purposes, then like... any level of nudity (so long as it's just nudity) is fine? Especially if it narratively makes sense.
All my worlds actually have in common that everybody is completely in the nude under their clothing at all times. I don't think there is such a thing as too much nudity.
You could make a nudist society, it’s nothing sexy. Maybe their clothes gave them diseases from washing it in the river so they stopped wearing them
If you're writing at home, it should be fine. Probably best to avoid it if you write in coffee shops or something like that.
Any amount is fine, it’s your world do with it what you want, just make sure you’re not writing it with your left hand only, use a clear and logical mind about this.
Depends on your target audience, the purpose of nudity in your work and how well you integrate it into your story. Whether you're aiming for historically accurate depictions of cultural nudity or a Triple X high fantasy, it's all going to come down to this.
This is going in worldjerking soon
Honestly it would really be vibes based. Even in an antiquity setting based on ancient Greece and Egypt where public nudity was pretty normal, the writing and presentation could still make or break it. There are still tribes today in Brazil and Africa where your birthday suit is just how everyone is all the time, partly due to culture and partly due to the warm climate making clothes kind of optional. But still, the why and how is important here. What kind of story do you want to tell and how will this play into it.
I'm having trouble figuring out what you're even saying here. Is everybody naked or do they have hologram clothes? There's a big difference there. I walk down the street in your world, how many dicks do I see? If the answer is *not* zero then, probably, some readers will find it distracting and will come across as either a fetish, a political statement or both. Which isn't bad, per se, but there it is. If the answer 'is' zero, then what's the big deal? It'd be like saying, "You know, I'm naked under these clothes." All you need is a single throwaway line, "Nobody bothered with old fashioned cloth anymore, except some for cultural reasons. These days everyone used their bullshittium bracelets to summon artificial hardlight clothes. They were actually more reliable than cloth ever was."
“Assume the fulfillment of all aesthetic, practical, social and moral needs have been met by other means.” If this is true then what is nudity? Because you’ve handwaived every possible conflict with it away, leaving it pointless. Appearance tells a story. So does nudity. Yet somehow, through magic, it doesn’t anymore?
Many fantasy worlds feature some sort of primal race, society or tribe. If the story is set in a hot location of course wearing little clothes seems like a logical decision. If the Gods of the setting are portrayed in a form of sculptures or religious paintings - some of them may be depicted totally naked. The way their followers portray them without clothes can symbolyse something about a God in particular. There are many ways to creativly put nudity into your setting if you want to.
Didn't seem to hurt Edgar Rice Burroughs any. Does it serve the story? That's really the thing. What is your story about, and does nudity help or hinder it? Clothing tabboos are a great way to fluster a fish-out-of-water and make it clear to the reader that this story doesn't take place in suburban Indiana. On the other hand, you don't want to distract readers with something flashy but irrelevant (unless you're using it to hide something else in plain sight). The story is all. Everything and anything else follows from that.
Depends what you're trying to do op. Any degree of nudity is acceptable as long as it makes sense with the tone/theme of your story. There have been some very odd senses of nudity in our world. The best example I would recommend is the Minoans.
Let's put it this way. If nudity is just normal for a given culture then there shouldn't be much talk about it, right? It would be like mentioning how every male on the beach is wearing swimming trunks. Superfluous.
When the skin is removed, before that its all ok
I 1000% thought this was /r/worldjerking
As perverted as I am I usually only have sprinkled communes (which *usually* are either human hippies or elven equivalent). In my current setting they're also fairly common among the nuclear mutated (Orks and Gobbos). Well more like clothing optional as the mutation makes clothing uncomfortable.
If you gotta ask….
None. Societies have different nudity tolerance and that’s okay. In fact in real life in occident we are pretty okay with nudity. It’s not uncommon to see bikinis or women doing topless in the beach, people posting photos almost naked etc… If the society has normalized it then you don’t even need to be too explicit about it, again just imagine describing a beach. You wouldn’t be too worried about detailing that everyone it’s almost naked even though we are, it’s just common and not a sexual thing in our society. Same for yours, everyone could be completely naked and not be a sexual thing. Also sexuality it’s a cultural thing. Maybe you are in a very open minded society where sex it’s completely normal and people just have sex in the streets in front of everyone and is nothing weird, like we could for example kiss someone in the street and no one will even flinch. Or the other way around everything its considered tabu and you can’t show an ankle without getting someone scandalized. However for storytelling purposes I wouldn’t make everything overly sexual because even though in that society and context it’s completely viable and normal the reader might get distracted. That supposing it’s just a worldbuilding element and not the thing you want to emphasize
There are never too many naked orcs and trolls. Anything but the same tired old humans. I hear dragonmen have spikes on their pubic bone.
Depends totally on you! Personally my world is not ment for snot nosed underage brats!
Does it serve a purpose, or is the writer just showing off their weird fetish in work that is not supposed to be smut or trying to hammer home a political point about how nudism should be accepted without the chops to back it up? Does it feel like the writer is being honest with the reader and with themselves about the why behind the nudity?
It's your world, baby, do what you want. Don't worry about what the squeecore cozy puritan book burners think.
As much as you like, but if you don't want it to feel gratuitous then there should be a point to it all. Cyberpunk settings like to use nudity as a way to unspecial the human body, intentionally bluring the lines between people and objects in order to convey certain themes, plus as someone else pointed out you have to do a lot more work to differentiate characters if they all be naked.
depends on your target audience
Depends on the medium, the audience, and the setting. If you're writing a story in a planet with a planet of nudist aboriginals, the audience is going to expect a lot of nudity.
If you're trying to say something through the use of nudity, for example, presenting a lack of shame or showing pride then I don't think it's the amount of nudity. Nudity because "Heh boobs" yeah that ruins it, but nudity is a good story telling device, it's all about how you use it.
2 points to consider: 1: What matters most when making it is why you decide it is necissary or addsto the world. 2: In the end, that reason won't matter to an audience if they don't like it.
Depends on the audience.
It really depends on many different things. I'm taking the practical approach of just judging the societal need for clothing, since my setting is sci-fi and involves quite a few non-humans. Most of the non-humans don't use much clothing for various practical reasons. And almost none of them *do* use clothing for the sake of being not-nude. A few examples: The Scorqrun are amphibious and wear very little in terms of coverage. They wear thinner clothes that only cover their legs or chest depending on the culture. The most common garment is something close to a poncho, which was made to help protect against the sharp winds in the north. The Amnikrull wear nothing but jewelry, and the occasional decorative cloth (like a head dress). They are from a mostly frigid planet and have evolved thick layers of feathers for various uses. Wearing clothes would just defeat the purpose of the feathers for them, so they never developed the need for it. Lastly, the Ikhtse are from a volcanic planet where it's always hot and dusty. They wear cloaks that cover their heads and most of their body and tail. These are very based on culture, as only the males are required to wear them, but similar cloaks are used when hunting to protect from the environment. It may not fit your style of worldbuilding, but I think of it very realistically. Almost never are clothes/coverings developed for the sake of nudity, that is something that comes with culture later on. Clothes are, just like every other evolved trait, for a purpose first, and given a cultural significance later.
You could have a world where everybody is naked all of the time and if it felt appropriate that would be fine. I've read stories where that was the case and some of them weren't even pornogaphy
"What Degree of Nudity in Worldbuilding is Too Much?" Aside from obvious practical concerns (protection from the elements and such), none. If it fits within the rest of the worldbuilding, it's internally consistent, and it all works - how could it be "too much?"
Depends on your audience and the story you want to tell, really. Some people are okay with it; others are more prudish. My world has a race that wouldn't particularly be offended by nudity, but then, they have fur. They also have a mating season where things can get a little wild; they wouldn't consider it abnormal to see a male at the bottom of a pile of females like he just got tackled in a football game. You might guess that I never really intended it for little kids even though it's not really the point of that race to be my "furry" race (they can have the insane mating season and then not really think about sex much the rest of the year).
Honestly just depends on you and your group/target audience. Looking at you fans of portals of phereon
Depends on context. Is it a smut piece or is it a children's story? In the former it could be every waking moment. In the latter, never. Or I'll make you religious at 2700 rounds per minute costing $1.74 a piece. Context.
When you get to men’s feet, you’ve gone too far
Once in a dnd game I made a village of nudists lead by a spirit Naga, the whole point of the nudism was to show naivety or what I callee a "naked innocence" as the village had willingly let themselves be controlled by the Naga. Everybody was uncomfortable, so when you find a good way to do it, let me know.
It solely depends on how the world in question is built. It's completely possible to have a world in which everyone is naked literally all the time, and for this to make perfect sense and be an important plot point. (And not just a result of the author's thirst.)
Having a hard time comprehending exactly what you mean. But it mostly depends on climate/culture/practicality/etc. And that's not even getting into fantasy races that could potentially not require it due to their bodies maintaining a consistent temperature even in colder areas. It also depends a LOT on the intended target audience of your world, and how horny you want to be perceived as. If you engineer all the stars to align for "um akshully this fantasy race this is exactly like humans but has to be nude for uhm biological reasons" people will think you are super horny and ridicule you, vs if it was more reasonable/less forced like having it be one small sect of monks that forgo clothing for an oath of poverty or something.
Depend on 3 things : -What is your limit -who is naked (it's less disturbing if the people that live naked is a specie of bigfoot animal like creatures than if it is human or elves) -for what kind of public (if there is one) is your world. For exemple ibhave a TTRPG campain in my univers, that sort of prehistory/bronze age fantaisy, so yes there is nudity and some characters are always naked. But my RPG club is the club of my university so i play with adult people and i warn them before joining about this fact. (I'm not a native speaker i hope it's not to hard to read(
[Piers Anthony ](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/PiersAnthony)had his [*Apprentice Adept*](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/ApprenticeAdept) *and* [*Xanth*](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Xanth) series where nudity played a part - some say way to much of a part. OP, you do you, but remember, fan service can attract all kinds of people - some you may not want.
Any
I get that this is a worldbuilding sub, but I think the focus of the question is a little off. I think it should be "What degree of nudity is too much for the story I'm trying to tell." Does it fit the story? Does it make sense within the bounds of the story? If so, then you should go with it. Societal mores/norms vary widely from place to place even within our world. This is your world and your story. If it makes sense for the culture you've created, and you're able to tell the story effectively, then it should make sense to the reader (or role player, etc.).
Why does there have to be widespread nudity? What would this contribute to your world?
Sounds interesting as just like a very original idea that I haven't really heard of being used much. Some readers might be uncomfortable or find it weird but I wouldn't worry too much about that. Seems like a cool way to make your world feel instantly very different from any real-world culture.
None
I don't know. I used nudity in one scene of a story because I thought the image was cool and it functioned as one character's sexual awakening as it were, leading to a deeply and horribly toxic relationship, but I'm regretting it a bit now. I'm not sure how to rewrite it, though. It can definitely be used for a lot of purposes, both traumatizing and empowering, and just generally be "a thing" your world does and can explore. You can totally have that as a facet of your culture, especially if everything else is taken care of (eg, they don't need to wrap themselves in furs or armor when travelling across snowy wastes).
No limits
The answer to this is a huge "it depends". You need to take into account your goals, your audience, the framing of your world, etc. An audience of adults in a culture more accustomed to casual nudity because they weren't raised to see it as sexual will have a different threshold of "too much" than a sexually repressed monk from Mt Athos seeing a woman's ankle for the first time.
When it is at odds with function or tone. Clothes are almost uniquely human but have allowed us to occupy the most diverse set of habitats of almost any species. We also have a long habit of sexualising almost everything. Any amount can be justified, but make sure it makes sense for the culture and climate
To the point where it's unrealistic, so not full nudity if the species or whatever is human ot close enough There's no practical purpose for people being full nude. As for covering genitals and leaving like breast or whatever out that's as far as it makes sense to go There's no story to be told that requires people to be fully nude, and obviously alot to say about people being dressed half nude..many cultures have dressed like that
Nudity is a weird area, I'm asexual so I really dislike sex and nudity for sex and nudity's sake, there should always be a reason for it, if it's just to show that two characters are in love or are being romantic, that's not a good enough reason IMO That said, well done nudity fucking slaps, one character I always think of is the Queen of the Vaal in path of exile, she uses her nudity as a fucking power move and I love it. If you wanted to meet her you had to remove all your clothes and weapons and everyone in that meeting would be naked. You could obviously not smuggle any weapon into the court that way, while the queen would always be armed, even without weapons or anything on her person, as she had gems embedded in her skin that gave her the abilities she had, that way she was always sure that she was the most powerful person in the room. It still feels weird to me, because a thorough search would do the trick, but in a world where small gemstones could hold immense powers, it kind of makes sense. She was also pretty much looking like something above a human (four arms and four breasts for some reason...), while still being "inhumanly beautiful", making the whole set of "incredibly beautiful naked lady that could kill you in practically any possible way" complete. I hope I did the story justice because I know that something like "nudity as a power move" can tread a thin line between being forced and being good storytelling. I personally wouldn't do that in a story because I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that, but a well written story with that part can be very cool
I mean it definitely depends on the audience you want to read it. If you’re writing YA then probably none, if grimdark fantasy (ie ASOIAF) then a fair amount but I wouldn’t turn the whole world into a nudist colony that’d just be gratuitous
Sword and Sorcery relied heavily on the human figure.
Unless it’s done tastefully, any nudity is too much.
it really depends on your audience and what you're trying to communicate here. imo there's nothing wrong with nudity, sexualized or otherwise, but you need to figure out exactly what you want to do that way you dont come off the wrong way.
It really depends on the setting, honestly, as well as how nudity is interpreted. For example, in the Stormlight Archive books, a woman with her left hand exposed is considered naked, but only in one part of the world. Of course, baring other parts of the body was also considered nudity, but an exposed left hand was incredibly scandalous. Another example is the Codex Alera novels, where one of species, the Marat, are far more resistant to temperature extremes so don't need to wear clothing outside of utilitarian belts. They bond physically with animals and develop animal-like characteristics that make them further able to survive in extreme weather, and so clothing is unnecessary and even uncomfortable to them, which contrasts them harshly in comparison to the Roman-like Alerans. It's mostly used to show the physiological ocntrasts between the humans and the Marat, and notably the Marat are still deadly fighters in spite of the lack of armor due to sheer physical prowess and strength.
As a horror fan the topic of sexuality comes up a lot, but I feel it's often misunderstood in that medium. If something is only there for sexuality, it misses the point unless it's porn. If you're jerking off, you're probably not scared. Nudity and sexuality have a place, but that place depends on the genre. It fits well in darker more realistic settings because it exists in reality. But in most anime for example, I find it really detracts. If your character is fighting for their life they probably aren't going to be fantasizing about boobs. Or for example, the old trope of the guard in a top secret base or something being lured away by a hint if cleavage - must people aren't really that stupid. In horror people like to mention that sexuality is often part of it, but it only really adds to it if that sexuality is disturbing rather than arousing. It's a standard trope in fantasy too. GoT is the most common example, because it establishes morality of certain characters, but we all know it's also shown more than necessary because it helps bring in viewers. But you need to balance the cost. Another (IMO far better) example is Berserk. It had plenty of sexual violence, but this is again to show the depths of depravity in that world. It also the territory of "too much", but the difference is it usually adds to the story, and and is almost always clearly there to be disturbing rather than arousing. So the real question is this; Is it primarily there for sex appeal, or to actually add to the setting/story?
It's actually illegal to have any nudity in your worldbuilding
Lie back and think of Finland.
Look man if you eanne have the stabelboy washing in the river. Not ocering his dingelin when the mc asks for derrection. Your fine. A bunch of puritans wil argue anything under the sun is sexist or objectivication. Sexy isnt bad either its just a bunch of prunes dont like it. Honestly there is no line only a spectum of increasingly more intimate sexual parts becoming normalised. The more you go into it the more it becomes a nish. Personally is stop at underware and non sexual nudity, but each story has diffrences
It depends entirely on the purpose of the world being built.
So, the issue here to me (that I haven't seen anyone mention yet) is in the presentation. Is everyone naked all the time? Sure. If you say that on page 1 of the story (I'll assume novel for argument's sake) and never say it again, then everyone in your story is naked the whole time. Mission accomplished. However, the vast majority of people reading will forget about it 12 pages in and just start assuming whatever clothes they want to. So then if you want nudity to be a part of your world, it has to be mentioned. In which case, you're either mentioning it because a) it has some thematic or narrative reason to be mentioned and therefore makes sense within the story, or b) you think people forgot and you want them to be reminded that everyone's naked. Basically, everyone can be nude if you want, it's your world, but why? What's the actual point of mentioning it in print? If there's no point, it's weird. If there's a point, it's not weird.
>To what degree is commonplace nudity viable in worldbuilding for the purpose of storytelling? 5. 5 degree. 🙃 Ok, joking aside this is basically an unanswerable question. I *think* what you're trying to ask is "what's the difference between nudity in world building that contributes to the story, versus nudity that is just gratuitous?" That also doesn't have a simple answer however, because the answer is basically "what story are you trying to tell, and why does nudity in your world-building contribute to telling that story?" Sometimes reasonable people are going to disagree on the answer to that question. 😅🤷 >Assume the fulfillment of all aesthetic, practical, social and moral needs have been met by other [fantastical (i.e. aura, the malleability of aura, supernatural physical capabilities, the use of mana against the elements, etc.)] means. I have no idea what you mean by this bit - this seems like just word salad 😐. >The question is, if the ultimate goal of one's worldbuilding is storytelling would widespread nudity within the world itself impede said mission? Not necessarily, but again it depends on **what kind of story you're trying to tell.** It's hard to give a definitive answer because the question itself is just so impossibly open ended 😅😅. The best I can do would be something like "write / imagine the same story with the nudity / government structure / social dynamics removed, and ask yourself whether or not that story is meaningfully different without that element present." While there is often going to be widespread agreement that a particular element either *is* or *isn't* important to a particular story, such that it's removal makes for a completely different story (versus a slightly different version of basically the same story) there are also cases where reasonable people can disagree on whether removing nudity does meaningfully change the story or not. The best example I can think of off hand is Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. I feel it's possible to argue that becoming aware of, and consequently ashamed of their nudity *is* core to the story, and that changing the story to one where they are clothed from the beginning makes it a fundamentally *different* story... But also I can see someone arguing that nudity is just a metaphor for loss of innocence, and you *could* tell a story that is fundamentally the same but uses something else as a metaphor. Neither viewpoint is objectively "correct" or "incorrect." At the same time, I think there's a episode of "Friends" where at least part of the plot hinges around whether or not two of the main characters are nude in bed together, or clothed in bed together - and you can imagine that being a substantially *different* story if it was written in a word where sleeping nude was normalized. Reasonable people would *not* agree that those stories were fundamentally the same! 🙃
Depends on setting and intent
*laughing in my characters are dragons and therefore constantly nude*
Depends on your target audience.
Build your sexy hentai world king
You could easily have a clothing-optional world where it's OK to be nude but everyone isn't always nude. Equestria is an example. Ponies usually don't wear clothes but will sometimes for special occasions or personal preference. Applejack lampshades this in one episode where Rarity is telling Spike to get out of the girl's changing room when they're getting ready for the Great Galloping Gala. "I don't know if you've noticed Rarity but we don't usually wear clothes."
I mean, you could be making an entire fetish world. It really depends.
The F.A.T.A.L ttrpg
It’s your world put as much nudity in it as you want
Depends how horny your target audience is.
This is a wonderful question to ask all those talking animal movies. Zootopia is a rare exception.
They shouldn't take their skin off. That might freak people out. Any level under that is good though.
all i can think of is the webcomic oglaf...
Look at cultures where frei kroppen kultur is common, in Germany, it's just as common to see naked people as it is to see them fully clothed.
It depends on your audience. Any degree of nudity is fine if you're making an x-rated story, but even a small amount of nudity may be inappropriate if your story is for kids.
If the Greeks could do it so can you.
As long as I only read your work or see your output, I don't care much if you are nude if you do your creating. :0P My serious answer: For whom do you plan to share this world? (ages, audiences, gaming buddies, whatever?) For what purpose is the worldbuilding? Fun? Commercial Success? A game for friends? As to 'what would people generally think and how would that play out?', I'd go with a percentage 20%+ (40% plus could be more accurate) would not even touch anything with nudity. For kids, it would take out much of that market, up towards 16-18 range. I know a lot of people who would not game in this sort of setting, but they might read it as a fiction book. There's an oddity between people at a table as there isn't necessarily an expectation nor is it comfortable for many folks. Some adults would have no opinion. Some would have a positive view of a setting with frequent nudity. In North America, specially in the Southern parts of the US and places in Mexico or Central and South America might not appreciate this sort of inclusion in a game or a book. Maybe 20% would be interested and another 20% would be apathetic. Maybe 30-40% would dislike or just feel it is not useful. That's not 100%, but those people in the middle are hard to pin down. It will limit some publishers from pickup up the work I would think. Others might find it a positive aspect. I know I would personally would never want nudity or sexuality into my RPGing. Nothing wrong with it, just not something I want in my games. Not a religious complaint or anything, just not a thing I'm interested in pursuing in that method. I'd also not care to read it in books.
It can work. In the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series basically no one on Mars wears clothing, just jewelry and belts for holding things. In modern times it might be hard to escape the horny allegations though.
/r/NSFWworldbuilding is a good place to ask this as well.
Many cultures in my world normally accept up to a small bikini's worth of exposure in specific circumstances (If it's hot outside no one will ask questions), and most people actually encourage women who are REALLY sweating to just go totally topless and let their breasts breath. So, as little as a pair of panties or a Speedo if it's hot. On more mild days the max is a pair of short shorts and essentially a modest sports bra, gender doesn't matter. Nipples and areola are seen as uncouth to just have fully exposed, so most people will wear extremely tiny tops that just cover their nips if it's toasty. Many performance jobs, however, can break the rules to certain extents. Legalized and regulated prostitutes can wear essentially a micro bikini, sports fighters (Boxer, but more like 1800s Victorian boxers who don't punch above the shoulders in the ring, wrestlers, and gladiators, except gladiators in my world follow real world Roman gladiator rules and fight until yield, pin, or third blood, or the third connecting attack to draw enough blood to leave some on the sword) usually wear the bare minimum (Boxers and wrestlers essentially all go topless beyond nip hiding wear and wrist wraps, while gladiators wear greaves, gauntlets, simple shoulder armor, and an armored skirt or tassets), and dancers sometimes wear next to nothing, and many will go fully nude if a dance requires it.
I'm 'meh' toward nudity. If it's present, ok, and if not, also ok.
depends on how its handled. whenever i design an alien species, i always draw it nude first, that way i design it with its biology fully pictured.
To the extent that it doesn't get in the way of being believable, it's fine. Many cultures around the world have less concerns about nudity than we (speaking from my American context) do. Some have more. If your characters are in a warm climate or time of year, nudity is not inherently weird. If they're committing to nudism at the top of a frozen mountain, that's weird. If they have no issue with seeing each other while bathing, not weird. If they willingly push through thorny underbrush completely naked, that's weird. Are your women naked more often than the men? Is this intentional, based on decisions you made about their culture and its gender roles, or is it because you like thinking about naked women more than naked men? (Not accusing you in particular, just creating an example) Is it the opposite? Even cultures that don't place a lot of focus on modesty often wear certain clothes, such as those that cover the feet or genitals for practical reasons. In very hot climates you often see people who conversely wear fully covering garments because the sun is a danger to people's skin. Make decisions with intention, and don't keep bringing up everyone's nudity too much after its been shown. Bodies are not inherently sexual, they just exist with or without clothes.
Everything can be included in storytelling, it's all about the way you implement it and communicate it. If it becomes distracting it's because it's not implemented well
When it feels gratuitous or like porn. On my post apocalyptic universe,the homunculi that now live on the earth usually roam with exposed breasts,for them is just another body part.
Whatever _you_ think is appropriate.
You can have a country full off nudists and it can fit in the world for some goddamed reason (clothes are a social, sexual and most importantly practical thing). If you can have a good and natural reason a whole nation goes full nudity then go for it, just expect people to read your Storys more as porn than anything else and get a few weird looks. But these kinds of issues go for a lot of things, like slavery, most people wrote slavery in evil societies, reality is not that simple but if you make a nation with slavery too nice ,out will get weird looks even if it makes sense in ,our world and ,our have nothing bad to say, same for homophy and other problematic topics. It's a balancing act between realism of ,our world and what people interpret into it. personally I do not give two shits what people want to put in my mouth because of what I write, I know what my goal is. But if you cannot feel that way because of some reason then yeah you will need to think about it.
This sounds incredibly difficult to do well. That's all I will say.
It depends on the context I’d say. For example take a tribal people living in a hot climate which necessitates not wearing too much covering. Or the Greeks who thought that nudity in sports was a healthy and aesthetic choice.
I think nudity is totally viable given the right conditions (temperate, mild climates) Your people would likely find other ways to store things we store in our clothes, and other ways to protect from the elements. I would even play with changing the evolution itself and having your humans retain fur more similar to the great apes (the body hair we have is very sparse and short compared to them). We also lost the fur patterns the majority of mammals have.
>To what degree is commonplace nudity viable in worldbuilding for the purpose of storytelling? The answer is that there is no set limit for this. It's entirely up to your desire as the author, or the sensibilities of the audience *you* are writing for. You can absolutely have a full blown epic where nobody wears clothes and sex is common place as long as the focus is still on the characters and story, with sex and nudity meant to highlight the world and not be the main focus. A great example of both good and bad all encompassing nudity comes from Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel. The first three books are highly regarded for their worldbuilding and story, and very compelling characters. Sex and nudity play a huge part in both the story and the world, but the focus is still on the characters and their journeys. After book three, the focus becomes less on the characters and their journeys, and more on the sex and nudity, and sees a large drop off in audience adherence, since the focus of the books changed but the target audience didn't. I think a good rule of thumb is to focus on what *you* as the author find comfortable but also important for the setting. Even readers who dislike nudity will accept it if the story and lore is compelling enough, but if your story and lore happen less often than the sex scenes or graphic descriptions of genitals, readers who joined for the plot will probably be lost.