A question on popular tropes.

[NegateGivity]

So lately I've been delving in to the LW category. Don't judge me! A lot and I mean a lot of the stories have the common trope of, usually the wife, saying
"We've been married X number of years. I deserve to take a lover, and I'm going on a date with him tonight."

Having never been married, how actually believable is this? It just seems like crazy talk to me, but there are hundreds of these stories. I can understand marital problems and all, but I just don't get this trope.

 

[alohadave]

Having never been married, how actually believable is this?

In real life, extremely rare. In the LW fantasy, completely normal.

Cucking/NTR is a popular trope in the last few years.

 

[NegateGivity]

I'm aware how normal it is in LW fantasy. Even the writers have been calling it a cliche. So many don't even ramp up to it.

So many are just "Hi honey. Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes. Oh and I have a date tonight, I'll be back on Sunday." And you have a dumbfounded husband that has no idea what's happening. He's also usually just about the best guy around and everyone loves him. But his wife just needs to try someone else.

Sorry, I just need to try to wrap my head around these stories. Also the comments, just... just sad.

 

[DarkSollat]

Well, there is yousands of tropes in erotica, LW or not, some more popular than others. I think they're used strictly because they work, and sometimes because they work only in fiction. It's escapism.

 

[lc69hunter]

So lately I've been delving in to the LW category. Don't judge me! A lot and I mean a lot of the stories have the common trope of, usually the wife, saying
"We've been married X number of years. I deserve to take a lover, and I'm going on a date with him tonight."

Having never been married, how actually believable is this? It just seems like crazy talk to me, but there are hundreds of these stories. I can understand marital problems and all, but I just don't get this trope.

That genre has been totally corrupted by porn depictions. In reality, it generally doesn't happen that way. Most of the time it happens as the couple gently, and then vigorously, explore their fantasies in the bedroom, and then start to roleplay, which then eventually leads to consensual sharing or cuckolding. It is rarely a unilateral decision by either spouse, and the journey is fulfilling and loving for both spouses

 

[NegateGivity]

That genre has been totally corrupted by porn depictions. In reality, it generally doesn't happen that way. Most of the time it happens as the couple gently, and then vigorously, explore their fantasies in the bedroom, and then start to roleplay, which then eventually leads to consensual sharing or cuckolding. It is rarely a unilateral decision by either spouse, and the journey is fulfilling and loving for both spouses

I understand all that. I just read the same thing multiple times from different authors, I start wondering 'Is this actually a thing that happens?' I mean the whole premise seems crazy. I understand cuckolding and straight up cheating. It's just the trope of Happily married, almost always wife, saying she's going on a date. That I don't understand.

That and 'I can have an affair and my spouse loves me enough to let me, even though they have explicitly said they won't'. There are so many of these stories that I just needed to make sure I wasn't crazy.

 

[LupusDei]

He's also usually just about the best guy around and everyone loves him. But his wife just needs to try someone else.

Well... it does happen. No idea how frequently, but I know for a fact it in principle can happen, and does happen. Well, if we accept the universe is infinite, absolutely anything that may happen within laws of physics is happening somewhere, but yeah. Has happened.

Yet, I do believe it doesn't normally happen in vacuum. As in, there must be unmet needs. Those may not always be conscious, may not be at all connected directly with the affair, not in a way it's framed. It also doesn't happen out of the blue, but, it can be revealed out of the blue. As in, there's actual cheating has likely happened for same time, emotional if not physically, before it's taken out.

He might be the nicest guy around, and he may be experienced in sex and keep her as godess, and he may even live in a mansion. But his whole darn family is living in said mansion. And she can't stand sharing kitchen with his grandfather. And thus when a drunk glaciologist sends her a dick pic, she has to try that big dick. Because she was married a virgin, and hubby has bragged a little too much about all those scores of sluts he had before her? Not really. Because that rude creep lives alone. And of course they have been sexting and exchanging love correspondence for many months before the idea is aired openly for the first time. And it will take a couple drunk beatings before she realizes it's not worth it. But she won't come back to the mansion, she will run away with a pimply programmer to live with him and his mother in a tiny apartment. Apparently after drunk beatings that mom is more tolerable than that grandfather. Or was it actually the hubby's sister he had near-incestius relationship with she was so afraid of constantly?

There's always complexity and unanswered, unanswerable questions, but that is too complicated for the LW crowd and would shatter their belief they're themselves flawless and blameless, so it gets abbreviated to her coming out with a random date out of the blue.

 

[NegateGivity]

My chief complaint there it was basically jerking themselves off over their characters. You read the story and you can practically hear the author telling you "He's so cool. He's awesome and has done nothing wrong. Gosh he's so cool."
That really bugs me, because reading about paragons is boring. They are never at fault for anything. Interesting characters are flawed, they make mistakes. A lot of the LW stories are just super cool guy has bad things happen to him, that he is in no way responsible for.

 

[LupusDei]

That really bugs me, because reading about paragons is boring. They are never at fault for anything. Interesting characters are flawed, they make mistakes. A lot of the LW stories are just super cool guy has bad things happen to him, that he is in no way responsible for.

I haven't gone there myself, but as far I understand the game going in that category (by proxy, reading all kinds of rants on the forum), it's not a bug, it's requirement.

 

[Euphony]

Sorry, I just need to try to wrap my head around these stories

Sometimes something isn't your thing and you just don't.

Tropes are often tropes for ease of narrative. Readers agree to believe in a fiction of the LW "universe" and everyone moves on to the more group interesting action/sex/conflicts what have you.

If there were an "outie belly button" trope in LW, most wouldn't waste precious mental resources on figuring out if it's "valid" to like an outie more than an innie.

The reason readers come here and seek it out is b/c it ISN'T common place in real life and LW is very into escapist fiction.

Modern monogamy is under a billion more pressures than even a couple generations ago. People work their feelings out over that in a myriad of, often unusual, ways.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm aware how normal it is in LW fantasy. Even the writers have been calling it a cliche. So many don't even ramp up to it.

So many are just "Hi honey. Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes. Oh and I have a date tonight, I'll be back on Sunday." And you have a dumbfounded husband that has no idea what's happening. He's also usually just about the best guy around and everyone loves him. But his wife just needs to try someone else.

Sorry, I just need to try to wrap my head around these stories. Also the comments, just... just sad.

The guy is always the bestest ever because the main point of a large faction of the category is to hate and perpetuate said hate of women, while men are always the victim.

It's a pit.

 

[NegateGivity]

I noticed that with the comments. What's even stranger to me, is the comments often sound like they don't understand the difference between fiction and reality.

 

[sirhugs]

In real life, extremely rare. In the LW fantasy, completely normal.

Cucking/NTR is a popular trope in the last few years.

Popular might be the wrong word for it. see the many discussions of trolls over in the Author Hangout.
Now is there a story Idea here, or should I move this to that forum?

 

[sirhugs]

I understand all that. I just read the same thing multiple times from different authors, I start wondering 'Is this actually a thing that happens?' I mean the whole premise seems crazy. I understand cuckolding and straight up cheating. It's just the trope of Happily married, almost always wife, saying she's going on a date. That I don't understand.

That and 'I can have an affair and my spouse loves me enough to let me, even though they have explicitly said they won't'. There are so many of these stories that I just needed to make sure I wasn't crazy.

It has happened.