Let's talk about screaming orgasms.

[osaraba]

Acadia was reading hilarious badfic one-liners to me last night and though I don't remember the line, it started a semi-serious conversation about screaming orgasms. I don't know about you, but screaming orgasms aren't a regular thing, in my experience. Shouting? Much more likely. Keening? Hell yeah. Screaming? Not so much.

Unless we're talking about edging. In which case, SO HOT OMFG. Also, makes sense, right? Thus appropriate.

Okay, so I don't want to dictate what words people can and can't use to describe fictional orgasms, but the use of "screaming" seems to have really lost its meaning.

Does the (over-)use of screaming to describe an orgasm throw you out of a story as much as it does me? Why do you think people use that particular word? Is it because of the unrealistic depiction of sex in the majority of porn? Any other thoughts? I'm curious now.

Comments

[honeymull.livejournal.com]

I'm with you - screaming in orgasms throws me straight out of porn. I'm okay with "cried out" (although, even that I narrow my eyes at if it's m/m sex, since it implies a higher pitch, to me), but even words like "shouted" or "yelled" bug me, since I associate those as verbal noises. As in, a nonverbal shout is a super weird concept to my brain, so it seems out of place without accompanying dialogue in the scene.

I honestly almost always assume it's just lazy writing/lack of creativity. I tend to not come across it much anymore since the rest of the fic tends to be give away the game before I hit orgasm time, and I've back-tabbed out already. :D

[osaraba]

YES. For me, "scream" connotes a high-pitched, piercing or shrill sound. I was also going with the laziness/lack of creativity, but I was curious how it came across to others. There is also the point of what one considers a scream. I guess that's really at the root of why using the word bothers me.

I haven't read too much fic lately where someone screamed as they came, but I come across it every so often-- even in otherwise really well-written fic. =/