Realism in incest? Slippery slope?

I recently talked to someone about putting realism into incest stories. I think most people like a sense of realism as it grounds the story with plausibility, but I recognize that too much can make a person uncomfortable and kill the mood. So my question; can an author dip into realism with incest without making things uncomfortable?

I think so. The 'realism' that unnerves readers in the category is any form of non consent or strong reluctance. Reason being in real life we know incest is mostly abuse and there is nothing sexy about that.

So the incest stories you read here are pure fantasy 18 and over happy go lucky taboo fun between consenting 18+ adults.

But realism can be added very easily.

The most unrealistic thing about incest stories is first off their very nature, this stuff does not happen in real life. Beyond that though what to me as a fan of reading and writing them makes them unrealistic is that incest is crossing a huge line and there should be some conflict.

Stories where a mother sees her son naked and immediately hops on? Or sis wearing tight shorts is enough to make her brother want her? Flat out porn and although they have their own charm, total eye rollers.

Realism is conflict. Putting hesitation in, things like "I want my mom, but..she's my mom..is something wrong with me?" anything that adds some thoughts a person would have in those situations is realism, but not a turn off. If anything it builds the heat for when the characters finally cross that line

This is a link to an incest essay I wrote, I touch quite a bit on what you're asking about.

https://www.literotica.com/s/write-incest-like-a-mother-fucker

I say that in each of your stories the characters and the world should be plausible, and that demands a certain degree of realism. Your characters should have imperfections, worry about their mundane things and talk random stuff with their friends. They need to have lives with their share of trouble and joy, need to have opinions on certain topics.

The world needs to breathe. Unless you do utopia on purpose, your word should have all the things that real world has - bad weather, people who are dicks for no reason, garbage on the street, malfunctioning machinery, etc.

But if you write about controversial stuff like rape and non-con, incest, monster sex - that's where your realism should end. The fantasy of incest and rape is great, it makes people horny. The reality isn't. Make it too real - and you just wrote an un-erotic psychological horror, because that's where such stories end up for 99% of the victims.

Add realism where it counts. But always remember that you are writing fiction, and that these topics are supposed to turn people on. For example I'm currently working on a slavery/non-con story, and there are tears and there are physical punishment. But it's still very glamourish, and the girl can't help but like it on some deep level (which, let's face it, would probably never happen in reality, because you would be so scared and upset that sex would be the last thing you think of, even if you are a kinky person).
Instead, I write about the fantasy of slavery, the fantasy of having control taken from you and then being sexually used, cumming hard every time.

chorizotaco said:

I recently talked to someone about putting realism into incest stories. I think most people like a sense of realism as it grounds the story with plausibility, but I recognize that too much can make a person uncomfortable and kill the mood. So my question; can an author dip into realism with incest without making things uncomfortable?

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Realistic incest is likely to break Lit's rules about under-18 sex.

/r/incest over at reddit has a whole lot of consenual incest that is remarkably close to your average incest erotica, i.e. "accidentally saw family member naked and now lusts for them, made a move on them and they went along with it no problem".

Whether that means your average incest erotica is realistic or that /r/incest is full of people passing fiction off as their IRL experience (not an uncommon accusation among the "IRL sex story" type subreddit), I have no idea.

Bramblethorn said:

Realistic incest is likely to break Lit's rules about under-18 sex.

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True, but funny how realistic rape is more than welcome despite their claims otherwise.

Incest has no age limits. When a brother and sister who are both well into their forties have sex - this is still incest.

So no, realistic incest does not break the rules any more than realistic vanilla sex. Because just like with sex, you may (and often do, when you are still young) end up fucking someone who's younger than you are and hasn't hit 18 years old yet.
Technically, this breaks the rules of Lit. But that shit happens, and it's normal.

I don't think "realistic incest" necessarily implies underage sex.
This claim comes from picturing the "bad incest", the one that hits the news, the kind that is basically rape.
At the same time, I'm quite sure there's a ton of incest happening in the world that is consensual and thus stays private. It's not any less realistic because it's less talked about.

For example I personally knew a pair of siblings (a boy and a girl) who shared a room since they were young, because there wasn't an option to separate them, and they were going to sauna together and stuff like that. I don't know if they ever actually had sex afterwards, but they were very comfortable with each other's bodies and nudity.
It wouldn't be unrealistic for them to develop interest at some point. I stopped hanging out with them before we hit that age though, but I remember their relationship caused an impression on me.

Interesting subject

I have a take on this. For me the bad "unrealistic" incest is when there is no taboo. Many of the incest story I see that don't "do it" for me, suffer from the same issue as a lot of the porn videos does. Bad story and bad "acting". They just jump each other at the drop of an eyelash.

If there is no taboo for the characters, no reluctance, no second guessing if what they are doing is "okey", then it is just two people having sex with the words "boy" and "girl" exchanged for "brother" and "sister" (or whichever roles works for the story).

To me a good "realistic" incest story is one where the characters involved in the incest and certainly the people around them actually consider incest taboo and the (mutual) seduction takes time and goes gradual. I just feel a little cheated when I invested a lot of time in several pages (or a chapter) of slow build up and character build up and then they "happen" to see each other in a sexy outfit and are banging like a porn movie pro in 3 sentences.

Goes without saying that I still want it to end up being a mutual relationship between consenting adults, but they should do some work to get there!

IRL incest is usually vicious, an abuse of power, not erotic. LIT incest is necessarily fantasy. I've written many incest pieces and don't pretend that any are realistic.

I've tried unsuccessfully to write some incest stories based on real experience. They get rejected. It's almost impossible not to trip the censors for many reasons.

And that's why most of these stories seem so fantastical. It's hard to relate something when you have to place it ten years in to the future and try to make it seem realistic.

Not a tough question

For me the question as to weather or not to write a realistic incest themed story is simple. I don't do it. Almost every story I write is incest themed but none of them are realistically plausible.

While they could technically do the things that they do, let's face it they wouldn't or couldn't get away with the things that I have my characters do IRL.



I write stories first for myself. Because they turn me on. And realistic incest doesn't turn me on. I have been asked and propositioned many times in pm's, emails and comments if I want to fuck my mother. The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT, NOT EVER. The mere thought of my mother in a sexual way is enough to send me to the bathroom vomiting.

I happen to think my mother is one of the greatest people in the world and I love her and would never do anything to hurt her.


So, when I write my characters they look nothing like my own mother. In fact I make them all basically look like porn stars. I do this also because this is all a fantasy for me. I don't want to see ugly people fucking.




I have been criticized at times because a few of my stories are popular. I have also seen the same things in the comments for some of the other popular writers.

Like Heyall, silkstockingslover, and txtalltales. Just to name a few. Some of it is jealousy we know that. The biggest reason our stories are popular is because they are fun.

Incest is the ultimate taboo and that makes it fun in a fantastical story. Sure we try to leave a seed of realism. But for the most part it is supposed to be unrealistic and that's why people like them.



I would submit that if you want a realistic incest story maybe you have some repressed feelings IRL that need to be addressed. And I am not judging people. I say whatever gets you off, more power to you.

Hey I like feet many people IRL would definitely look at me different if they knew I got turned on by toes. If you IRL fuck or want to fuck your mom once again more power to you. It's just not for me and I dare to say most.



So in summation I think that with very rare exceptions a realistic incest story probably wouldn't be a good one. It would probably push the boundaries of the sensors here and most places.

However if you can do it right and cover all the bases. It might be one the best and most popular stories ever written on Lit.

For me I will stick to my fantasy world.

Thanks
richman3

mom son

Do you think there is an ethical issue writing about a real life situation you know about even though you don't know all the details?

I do not think there is an unethical barrier that you cross about writing the story involving others. You may not know all the feelings and nuances involved so it may be like a story involving 2 people that you know in your mind but not entirely.

I think of it like a movie.

Some movies are realistic. Some are purposefully unrealistic.

You wouldn't compare a comic book movie to a serious crime drama. There different things entirely.

That said, if you made a comic book movie, you can't have a guy fall off a building and get up and walk away. You can, however, put a guy in a bat suit and allow him to jump off a building and be able to land with just his cape to slow the impact.

People will accept that, but you can't get crazy with it.

As for incest stories, there are plenty of realistic ones that people enjoy.

HeyAll said:

I think of it like a movie.

Some movies are realistic. Some are purposefully unrealistic.

You wouldn't compare a comic book movie to a serious crime drama. There different things entirely.

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I've seen more that a few comic-book crime dramas, and some comix that are rather more 'real' than contrived police procedurals. But superhero flicks, no, we don't expect much reality there. And don't even start with vampires and zombies.

Vampire incest is probably a kewl niche.

As for incest stories, there are plenty of realistic ones that people enjoy.

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A 'real' incest tale would have a guy screwing his daughter, sister, or niece since she was way underage. Won't fly on LIT because rules.

IMHO the most 'real' tales that are legit here feature long-separated kin whose intimacy may be inadvertent but at least doesn't suffer from the power imbalance of IRL incest. That's where LIT incest goes fantasyland: absence of long-term exploitation.

I disagree totally with those who assume incest to be linked with abuse, l have had various incestuous relationships over the years and have recently started another, not once has there been any hint of abuse or coercion.
Abuse and coercion should have no place in any sexual relationship unless it is in role play situations in which both parties are compliant.

I agree

Larkfield61 said:

I disagree totally with those who assume incest to be linked with abuse, l have had various incestuous relationships over the years and have recently started another, not once has there been any hint of abuse or coercion.
Abuse and coercion should have no place in any sexual relationship unless it is in role play situations in which both parties are compliant.

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Incest betyween my cousin and I was consentual. No abuse
I look back on it with great affection, she however admits that she liked it, but when she found Jesus, now she is ashamed.

chorizotaco said:

I recently talked to someone about putting realism into incest stories. I think most people like a sense of realism as it grounds the story with plausibility, but I recognize that too much can make a person uncomfortable and kill the mood. So my question; can an author dip into realism with incest without making things uncomfortable?

Click to expand...

You are spot on. Most of the stories in the 'Incest' category tend to be a bit too predictable. There are a few exceptions where the characters resort to sex for reasons other than sexual frustration but in general it involves someone who is horny while the other is less reluctant.

I have read many incest stories which have an undercurrent of emotions in Literotica itself. They are not among those run-of-the-mill incest stories where action starts from the second para. Real-life situations can be taken as the crux of the story around which the actions can be woven so that the stories doesn't seem so monotonous as they normally do.

Having said that, I myself have posted an incest story and must admit that I have just followed the tried and tested pattern. Cheers!

The key to a good incest story is realism. It has to be. Unless its your typical wank story, but those get tedious for me after five minutes or so.

Remember, this is the ultimate taboo. There has to be some method behind the madness. Once an incest story ventures into full penetrative sex, it loses all plausibility. It has to be about foreplay. And bridging the gap from foreplay to full blown sex is a difficult one, impossible some might say.

That said, after many years of trying, I feel I've finally created a scenario with which to bridge that gap between foreplay and full sex. I've written about 10,000 words but am having difficulty finishing it. I'd upload the chapters I've written already but I know people will moan that it's not finished.

Randy_Scribbler said:

The key to a good incest story is realism. It has to be. Unless its your typical wank story, but those get tedious for me after five minutes or so.

Remember, this is the ultimate taboo. There has to be some method behind the madness. Once an incest story ventures into full penetrative sex, it loses all plausibility. It has to be about foreplay. And bridging the gap from foreplay to full blown sex is a difficult one, impossible some might say.

That said, after many years of trying, I feel I've finally created a scenario with which to bridge that gap between foreplay and full sex. I've written about 10,000 words but am having difficulty finishing it. I'd upload the chapters I've written already but I know people will moan that it's not finished.

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I'd like to read this even if it's unfinished, Randy. I'm interested in your method and approach.

To me I would rather read something like a stepmother teaching a stepdaughter and her boyfriend or stepbrother and stepsister,to me that is better than pure incest.

123pickme3 said:

To me I would rather read something like a stepmother teaching a stepdaughter and her boyfriend or stepbrother and stepsister,to me that is better than pure incest.

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Better than pure incest? Hell, it's zero incest.

Randy_Scribbler said:

The key to a good incest story is realism. It has to be. Unless its your typical wank story, but those get tedious for me after five minutes or so.

Remember, this is the ultimate taboo. There has to be some method behind the madness. Once an incest story ventures into full penetrative sex, it loses all plausibility. It has to be about foreplay. And bridging the gap from foreplay to full blown sex is a difficult one, impossible some might say.

That said, after many years of trying, I feel I've finally created a scenario with which to bridge that gap between foreplay and full sex. I've written about 10,000 words but am having difficulty finishing it. I'd upload the chapters I've written already but I know people will moan that it's not finished.

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I agree with all that you said except the part that when full sex occurs it loses all probability. If you have created a good story and built it up to the point the reader is on board with foreplay or a sexual act like fingering/handjob or oral then how is it a stretch to leap into full sex?

Family or not, these are males and females. Family which has now entered the realm of lovers. Think back to your first Bf/GF sure maybe at the start it was heavy petting, using the hands....moving up to oral....did you stop there? no, you went on to sex.

This is what people lose among the taboo....your brother/dad sister mom...are men and women with the natural desires of men and women.

If the desire is there sex is the next plausible step.

"Oh, honey, I want you so bad, but if I fuck you someone might think that's implausible so for the rest of our lives I'm just going to give you hand jobs and you can rub my clit."

Realism in Incest

Hi, I just want to throw my two cents worth into the discussion.

I have read many incest stories on Literotica. Too many stories are so completely unreal, the wham, bam, slam me ma'am, kind of story. I don't care what genre you take into consideration, life doesn't usually work like that. Unless you're talking about drunken, bar hookups.

As far as incest goes, and I have first hand knowledge, the attraction and the actual consummation of the relationship, may take years.

In my stories, my concession to reality is the time leading up to the consummation. I put more emphasis on building the relationship and the foreplay. "Baby steps" is my mantra.

I truly believe, in real life and erotica, that the actual intercourse is anticlimactic. It's the getting there that is actually the most erotic.

Thanks for considering my opinion.

petskunk said:

I truly believe, in real life and erotica, that the actual intercourse is anticlimactic. It's the getting there that is actually the most erotic.

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Well of course that's true. Sex is sex no matter who the guy and girl are, the point of taboos is why this forbidden paring got together.

And frankly sometimes a lame-ass stroke story plot is sufficient. It's called suspension of disbelief. Porn is filled with it, nothing says incest has to be the exception.

Of course longer stories with slower, more "realistic" events leading to the sex are fine too.