By Bonnie Ruberg

The Clickable Clit continues this week with more online adventures from an SF-based cybersex expert…

Rude Virtual: Like Second Life without the Excuses
Sunday, September 21

I just got another PR email about Rude Virtual, a new MMO dedicated solely to online sex. Other cybersex worlds that have come before it — like Red Light Center — haven’t done so well. While you’d think that creating a 3D, multi-user environment specifically for sex would be a goldmine, it seems people want to at least have the pretense of general human interaction before jumping headlong into virtual bed.

Rude Virtual looks pretty much the same. With graphics reminiscent of Second Life, it seems like one more Internet night spot where men will far outweigh women and the few female avatars that do hang around are handled by real-life dudes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but since the world caters to a fairly mainstream market (i.e. not the open-minded subculture that roam Second Life) I’m thinking the average player is going to be disappointed.

The one thing that does make me sad I can’t play Rude Virtual — it won’t run on my Mac — is I’d be curious to see what the user interface is like when it comes to cybersex. As Google’s Lively recently learned, not all chat setups are created equal. Some work better for dirty talk than others. I would hope that this new program gives you lots of privacy, should you want it, and lots of options. From the site all it looks like it gives you is lots of flesh and awkward dancing.

What We Can Learn from Reading Erotic Fan Fiction
Monday, September 22

On Friday I’ll be presenting at Arse Elektronika 2008, a sex and technology conference held all weekend at CELLspace. That means this week I’ve been doing a lot of research into erotic fan fiction — the stories that fans of any particular movie, video game, etc. write about their favorite characters getting together and having sex. A lot of this fiction, often called “slash,” is written by younger fans, or by women. Because it can be pretty juvenile and absurd, we tend to overlook it as legitimate forms of erotica.

Still, I’m thinking there might be a lesson hidden in erotic fan fiction for fans of cybersex. Slash isn’t written by professionals, and it’s not written meticulously over a long period involving countless edits. It’s a lay person’s response to the sexual energy they feel around a series they love — written in the heat of fandom much the way a cybersex partner would write up his/her passions in the midst of an online encounter.

If so many Star Trek fans can express their sex drive in full sentences, so can we, cybersex enthusiasts!

See, Cybersex Can Be Well-Written and Hot
Tuesday, September 23

To everyone who thinks sex online has to be limited to “a/s/l?” gibberish, I present to you the following case to the contrary. It’s just a tiny extract from a transcript that was entrusted to me by a fellow cybersex enthusiast — and one with a PhD in writing. Check out this tidbit:

Dean (1:18:41 AM): *rubbing his tongue over and under yours, sliding one hand up the back of your shirt*
Jenna (1:21:20 AM): *pushing you back into a chair and easily sliding into your lap, her jean clad legs straddling your own, kicking off her heels and then laughing softly into the kiss*
Dean (1:21:55 AM): *running his hands up and down your legs now, and then up to cup your breasts through your shirt*
Jenna (1:23:16 AM): *moaning softly and then drawing back, moving her hands to the buttons of her shirt. Slowly undoing them*
Dean (1:23:47 AM): *gently squeezing and massaging your legs, watching you unbutton*
Jeanna (1:25:13 AM): *finally unbuttoning the last button, the fabric parted slightly, revealing a line of her smooth skin, her eyes playful*

Things to notice here: both parties can actually write. There are no abbreviations, and no one gets ahead of themselves by shouting out, “Then I stick my hot cock in your cunt.” Jenna and Dean (not their real online names) are long-time partners — actually the same couple who built the cybersex apartment together I mentioned a few weeks ago — so they have a rapport and a playfulness that makes their sexual energy seem more earnest.

What’s most fascinating though is that this kind of cybersex reads more like collective storytelling than an attempt to get off. Sure, those two had a good time while cybering, but it’s more impressive that after the fact they’ve ended up with a decent piece of erotica. Thinking of cybersex that way turns it almost into a game — like Exquisite Corpse. Have fun while it lasts then end up with instant fiction!

To reach The Clickable Clit, write to bonnie [at] heroine-sheik [dot] com—or follow her exploits in detail throughout the week at her cybersex blog, Cybersexy.