How likely is this guy to know about a Sybian?

[joy_of_cooking]

I've got this guy who's kind of a nerd stereotype:

Startled, Zach looked up. Emma was smiling now. She was playing with a strand of her hair too, wrapping it around her finger and then pulling it free. Didn't they say that was a good sign, when a girl played with her hair?
...
They could have some fun together? He played the words back in his head. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe how quickly his fortune had changed. The world didn't work that way. It especially didn't work that way for him.
...
Impulsively, she darted in and gave him a peck on the cheek. Something jangled. She looked down. He had dropped his keys. He was staring at her in bug-eyed wonder.
...
It was a three-seat couch. She took one end. He took the other, wringing his hands. Across the empty seat between them, Emma could see the sheen of sweat on his brow. She had her work cut out for her.
...
She was probably not his first kiss, but it was immediately clear he wasn't bringing a wealth of experience to the table. He was enthusiastic, though.
...
"Well, it's just..." Zach cleared his throat. "I thought we were going to...I thought you said..."

He couldn't even say it. She wanted to laugh, but something told her he would take that entirely the wrong way. As an experiment, she said, "I said you couldn't put your dick in me."

She had always thought that <em>dick</em> sounded cruder than <em>cock.</em> That was why she chose it now. Indeed, he flinched. He wasn't used to talking about this. Oh, the poor boy.
...
The bed and desk were Ikea. The chair was all mesh and chrome, with knobs and levers sticking out everywhere. She was not surprised to see that his keyboard flashed every color of the rainbow.
...
"Do you have any lube?"

Again he blushed. Was he completely unable to talk about sex? But then he pointed, and she understood the reason for his embarrassment. He kept his lube in his desk drawer. The massive pump bottle had probably contained a liter of lube. It was half-empty now.

Given all that, how jarring would it be to find that he knows what a Sybian is?

My excuse is that he probably came across it in a video somewhere, since we've established that he watches a lot of porn. I don't know how realistic that is. Do vanilla straight guys watch Sybian videos?

 

[StillStunned]

Yes.

Or so I've heard.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Okay, I see which story this is...

All it takes is for a person to see one reference to it and then they know what it is. There's a Sybian reference in a Coen Brother's movie (Burn After Reading I think?) I'm sure some sitcom or stand-up has riffed on it at some point or another. If he knows he knows. If he doesn't know, that's also believable.

I'm neither fully vanilla nor fully straight, but Sybian videos really don't appeal to me. A real person would be better. Hell, even a dildo in the performers hand would be better. Sybian always seems so impersonal.

That said, if a particular performer is on fire, they are on fire.

 

[onehitwanda]

He has a liter of lube. You don't find that at your local Co-op. So he's buying sex stuff online. Which means he knows you can buy sex stuff online. Which means he does research, which almost certainly means he's been beyond the fluffy happy newbie areas of the internet and seen some things...

He may not be "experienced" but I'm sure our lad's seen a girl or two riding the electric express somewhere along the way.

 

[StillStunned]

When I first saw the word, I confused it with "sybil". I kept waiting for the message from the gods.

 

[TheLobster]

Long ago I did have Sybian but these days I prefers phones with Adroid.

 

[onehitwanda]

When I first saw the word, I confused it with "sybil". I kept waiting for the message from the gods.

that's what happens after you're done riding the Sybil.

 

[StillStunned]

that's what happens after you're done riding the Sybil.

I've heard it can be a heavenly experience.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

He has a liter of lube. You don't find that at your local Co-op. So he's buying sex stuff online. Which means he knows you can buy sex stuff online. Which means he does research, which almost certainly means he's been beyond the fluffy happy newbie areas of the internet and seen some things...

He may not be "experienced" but I'm sure our lad's seen a girl or two riding the electric express somewhere along the way.

The ads on various sex shop sites may have been educational for him.

 

[Fatdog25]

If he's hit the masturbation category on any of the porn sites, he's seen Sybian videos.

Not that I would know, I heard it from a friend...

 

[HordHolm]

He has a liter of lube.

We should be grateful it's not 1,000 bottles...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I would suspect that any young man with internet access knows all about the Sybian.

 

[Jorunn]

It would be more fun if he doesn't know exactly what it does, and thinks it is a video game chair, and that the thing sticking up is a joystick.

 

[alexgriffin74]

Maybe he knows what it is but not what it is called?

 

[Rob_Royale]

Oh yes. If he's watched porn to the point that he keeps a liter of lube, he KNOWS what a Sybian is. Because he's a learner. He's read the Joy of Sex, he's watched Nina's Hartley's how-to videos, he's watched videos of women pleasuring themselves and has taken notes. He knows that when and if he ever gets a naked woman in bed, he's probably not gonna get a second chance. He knows what to do and how how to do it. He just needs the opportunity to shine.

Your geek might be all sorts of shy and awkward, but when he gets to work Emma is in for the shock of her life.

 

[Britva415]

Being a nerd doesn't mean being sheltered and uninformed.

Maybe he's never seen a girl ride one in real life, but as others said, unless he's been living under a rock without internet access his whole life...

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Wow, so what I'm getting from all this is that Sybians aren't nearly as obscure as I had thought.

Maybe I'm the sheltered one...

Thanks, everyone!

 

[AllenWoody]

When I first saw the word, I confused it with "sybil". I kept waiting for the message from the gods.

Did you not see the entrails they sent?

 

[Trionyx]

I'm sure our lad's seen a girl or two riding the electric express somewhere along the way.

You always had a way with words…

 

[LonRivers]

I've got this guy who's kind of a nerd stereotype:



Given all that, how jarring would it be to find that he knows what a Sybian is?

My excuse is that he probably came across it in a video somewhere, since we've established that he watches a lot of porn. I don't know how realistic that is. Do vanilla straight guys watch Sybian videos?

I am 55 years old, and I have known about Sybians for many, many years. You saw ads for them in magazines all the time. Him knowing what one is would not be that unusual if your character looks at porn. You can still see them in porn videos and on the internet being used by women.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Like others have said, I think it's entirely plausible for anybody who watches porn online to be aware of the name and what it means. I wouldn't assume everybody who watches porn would know, but common enough that it wouldn't cause me any "how does he know THAT?" if I was reading about a character who did.

 

[StillStunned]

Like others have said, I think it's entirely plausible for anybody who watches porn online to be aware of the name and what it means. I wouldn't assume everybody who watches porn would know, but common enough that it wouldn't cause me any "how does he know THAT?" if I was reading about a character who did.

Sometimes I think that half of what I know of contemporary culture comes from watching porn.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Sometimes I think that half of what I know of contemporary culture comes from watching porn.

I think about half of contemporary culture is porn, so that seems proportional.

 

[Duleigh]

since we've established that he watches a lot of porn.

If he watches porn then he knows about the sybian. He doesn't have to watch porn, shock jock Howard Stern used to have one on his set and he'd have porn stars riding it. (That was before Covid took his balls) Straight vanilla guys LOVE it when women cum, so they would know about it. Your guy isn't deformed, he's just shy.

 

[alohadave]

Sybians aren't nearly as obscure as I had thought.

They've been well known to anyone who watches online porn since the 90s. It was created in the early 80s.