plausible human sexual behavior

[Lifestyle66]

I always think Dialogue. Ill read a story where a college girl is like

"You are eighteen now and surely are interested in women's breasts"

And it's like no one talks like that. Even with the Wildness in the world there is sill a nuanced language of subltly when it comes to things like sex. So you can have an 8-person orgy but it still needs to feel like it could have realistically come about.

It takes the right amount of character building to make the girl's attitudes and interests come out.

I've read some stories which are written with such simplistic monologues or thoughts. They're usually between 1,500-2,000 words long. When I find one, I'll rate them a 2 and leave a comment; "the whole story sounds like an author's set of notes, needing fleshing out to make it a real story."

But even when you put the effort into building the characters, there are some readers who "skim" the stories and leave shitty comments, because they fail to pick up those building block explaining WHY someone acts the way they do.

As the saying goes: "You can't fix stupid."

 

[SimonDoom]

If the OP is asking whether there are certain kinds of sexual experiences or behaviors that are just too outlandish to be the basis for an erotic story, I would say No. In that regard, I think there are no limits. If you want to write a story about a guy with a sexual fetish for women's ear wax, do it. You probably won't have a large appreciative audience, but that doesn't mean you can't write an effective story.

 

[AG31]

I'm fine with real world implausibility, fantasy and sci-fi, but I'm pretty sensitive to whether or not a human body can do the things described. If I can't figure out how you can get this part in that part while simultaneously caressing in this way, that takes me right out of the story.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

I'm fine with real world implausibility, fantasy and sci-fi, but I'm pretty sensitive to whether or not a human body can do the things described. If I can't figure out how you can get this part in that part while simultaneously caressing in this way, that takes me right out of the story.

When two or more contortionists are getting it on, who are we to question their choices?

 

[TheDok]

I think most readers are capable of accepting stories that probably wouldn't happen in real life, are a bit far-fetched or which have fantasy themes like time travel, body swaps, alternate realities etc.

From my experience what takes readers out of a story (or movie or TV show) really fast is unrealistic reactions and behaviour of characters. As an example, say there was a Geek Pride contest story about a nerdy first year college guy in the present day who creates a time machine and travels back in time to 1960 where he meets his grandmother's super-hot sister (his great-aunt) at age 18, one thing leads to another and they end up becoming erotic lovers. Time travel (from what we know) is impossible, incest a bit far-fetched and the hot girl falling for the nerd could be a bit of a cliche, but if written well enough the readers will accept these.

However if there was a scene where they are having sex in the girl's bedroom and her parents (obviously his great-grandparents) come home unexpectedly and walk in on them, are completely swell with the whole situation, tell them to have fun but be sure to use a condom then close the door and leave them to get on with it, this reaction by the parents to their 18-year-old daughter 'entertaining' an unknown young man in her bedroom is completely unrealistic especially in this era, and will lose readers at that point.

Rather than unrealistic reactions on the part of a protagonist, what really spoils any story for me is incongruous behaviour when an individual who has previously been portrayed as kind becomes very unkind or an intelligent individual becomes stupid. This often happens in tv serials to shoehorn a plot, but it jars and in my opinion is very lazy and unimaginative, and I try very hard not to do this when I write series.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I'm fine with real world implausibility, fantasy and sci-fi, but I'm pretty sensitive to whether or not a human body can do the things described. If I can't figure out how you can get this part in that part while simultaneously caressing in this way, that takes me right out of the story.

Tentacle monster!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I've been wondering about this kind of thing for a long time. Given all the wildness that happens in real life, what do we mean when we say a story is not realistic?

Also, if we're portraying some of that wildness in our stories, should we try to make it seem more plausible to readers who say it's not realistic? If we want to do that, how do we do it?

Characters should act believably within their character for their given situation. Obvious example, one does not confront a balrog every day, but in the land of Mordor or wherever, sometimes a balrog will pop up and if Gandalf is faced with one, he stands off with it appropriately, and it is believable because it is well within the character of a wise old mage in the land of Mordor to do so.

Furthermore, we can be certain that in the vast majority of his days, Gandalf does nothing more than read some texts and make himself a pot of tea, etc. We're not going to write about those days. We're going to write about that day that he ran into a balrog because hey, now that's a story!

"Hey Gandalf, what's hangin' today?"

"Aw, nothing much, but last week, you'll never guess."

"What? What happened, bro?"

"I ran into ... a balrog!"

"No shit? Whoa! What did you do?"

"Well, let me tell ya, kid ...."

 

[alohadave]

For Lit, I think a lot of readers' suspension of disbelief is probably higher than someone reading Literary Fiction.

There is a lit fic book about a woman's husband turning into a shark. It's played completely straight.

Shark Heart for anyone interested.

 

[alohadave]

I'm fine with real world implausibility, fantasy and sci-fi, but I'm pretty sensitive to whether or not a human body can do the things described. If I can't figure out how you can get this part in that part while simultaneously caressing in this way, that takes me right out of the story.

There are a bunch of stories by men who apparently never took health or biology classes that think that the penis can get past the cervix to deposit semen directly into the uterus.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Characters should act believably within their character for their given situation. Obvious example, one does not confront a balrog every day, but in the land of Mordor or wherever, sometimes a balrog will pop up and if Gandalf is faced with one, he stands off with it appropriately, and it is believable because it is well within the character of a wise old mage in the land of Mordor to do so.

Furthermore, we can be certain that in the vast majority of his days, Gandalf does nothing more than read some texts and make himself a pot of tea, etc. We're not going to write about those days. We're going to write about that day that he ran into a balrog because hey, now that's a story!

"Hey Gandalf, what's hangin' today?"

"Aw, nothing much, but last week, you'll never guess."

"What? What happened, bro?"

"I ran into ... a balrog!"

"No shit? Whoa! What did you do?"

"Well, let me tell ya, kid ...."

Well said. We write stories about the moments when interesting things happen, which are by definition out of the ordinary or they wouldn't be interesting.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

There are a bunch of stories by men who apparently never took health or biology classes that think that the penis can get past the cervix to deposit semen directly into the uterus.

Just thinking about how painful that would be makes me want to drink a glass of wine and lay down for a minute.

 

[TheLobster]

Well said. We write stories about the moments when interesting things happen, which are by definition out of the ordinary or they wouldn't be interesting.

I'm almost certain this idea has a name, but I'm drawing a blank and all I can think is the anthropic principle and the 'man-bites-dog' observation about journalism, both of which are obviously analogous.

Maybe we can call it the Bitten Dog Principle?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I'm almost certain this idea has a name, but I'm drawing a blank and all I can think is the anthropic principle and the 'man-bites-dog' observation about journalism, both of which are obviously analogous.

Maybe we can call it the Bitten Dog Principle?

That's not bad.

Another interesting real world example is the movie Hacksaw Ridge.

They took some liberties with the character, but when it comes to his actual heroic acts, the movie sells him short.
Apparently they were concerned if they showed just how bad ass he really was people wouldn't believe it. His Medal of Honor citation is wild.

 

[NuclearFairy]

There are a bunch of stories by men who apparently never took health or biology classes that think that the penis can get past the cervix to deposit semen directly into the uterus.

Not just men writing that and believing it, women too.

 

[WittyUserName]

I've been wondering about this kind of thing for a long time. Given all the wildness that happens in real life, what do we mean when we say a story is not realistic?

Also, if we're portraying some of that wildness in our stories, should we try to make it seem more plausible to readers who say it's not realistic? If we want to do that, how do we do it?

I think what bothers people is logical inconsistency. There's an example from Game of Thrones. Everyone was fine with their being dragons, but there were complaints when one guy somehow managed to run several hundred miles to get help in a single day. You establish dragons are real in your universe, people will accept it. What they often won't accept is if you break your own rules.

There are definitely people who won't accept anything unrealistic from real life though. I stated up front that my story universe has no STI's. And I've gotten comments complaining about that. You can't please everyone, but you should strive for logical consistency.

 

[anthrodisiac]

There are definitely people who won't accept anything unrealistic from real life though. I stated up front that my story universe has no STI's. And I've gotten comments complaining about that. You can't please everyone, but you should strive for logical consistency.

Yeah, I had to retcon STIs because I realized there would be so much hooking up and I didn't feel like having the responsible, "So, have you been tested? Can you prove it? Let's go get tested together!" scene every single chapter because the MC would be fairly conscientious about it, or the whole condom dance every time. It's anthros, STIs don't jump species. Does it make sense? Kinda? If you actually think about it, does it make sense?

Everyone was fine with their being dragons, but there were complaints when one guy somehow managed to run several hundred miles to get help in a single day.

It's the sole reason I refuse to watch Game of Thrones, in solidarity with actual ultramarathoners.

 

[TheLobster]

STIs don't jump species.

HIV and monkeypox have entered the chat

 

[anthrodisiac]

HIV and monkeypox have entered the chat

Yeah, but I don't have any primate anthros yet, so I think I'm safe

Now I have a good in-world explanation for why I won't have any, so thanks!

I just have to hope nobody gets Covid from that cute pangolin girl or the hunky bat guy...

 

[EmmAgain]

Focus too much on making your story realistic and you’ll end up giving readers real life - which is presumably what they’re trying to escape for a little while.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Focus too much on making your story realistic and you’ll end up giving readers real life - which is presumably what they’re trying to escape for a little while.

If by "realism" you mean "most common," then I'd agree. Not a lot of clamor for a story about some engineer struggling with outdated backend software all day coming home to her husband, having a quiet dinner where neither really talks about their day. Then before they go to bed they engage in missionary for a couple minutes (after he puts on a condom because with prices these days they'd like to wait a little bit to save up money before having kids), he cums, rolls over, and asks if they want to go see that new Goat movie. She's not satisfied, but that's okay because he's a decent guy, and she thinks Goat could be kinda cute.

But you can make a story hyper-realistic without playing to the common experience. It's more the realism is the idea that the events are plausible in a way that fits for the in-world logic and characters. You can have incredibly sharp, realistic stories involving aliens. I always appreciate sci-fi and fantasy authors who put a lot of thought into how their non-human creatures are constructed, given evolutionary pressures, ecological niches, environment, energy requirements, morphologies, biomechanics, etc. As someone who writes non-human, I think about this a lot, and have put this level of thought into monsters/aliens/creatures I've done outside of Lit.

Something like a heptapod (from Arrival) is more plausible than going halfway across the universe and finding an alien that's a human with slightly pointy ears on a planet almost nothing like Earth.

There's also the "realism" that comes from reader expectations from a genre. So while the in-universe logic might not track, if a trope is repeated enough, the reader comes to expect it from those types of stories. Take alien abduction for medical tests and the inevitable anal probing. Why would an alien need to use an anal probe if their species figured out how to fly halfway across a galaxy? You'd think a less invasive method would be pretty easy for a civilization capable of using wormholes, FTL, nanotechnologies, scanners, teleportation, tractor beams. But probing is a reader expectation in these stories, so its absence causes a not-insigifnicant subset to wonder where it is. After all, it's what they expect to see when an 18-year-old jock is abducted. If the alien abducted him because she wanted a friend to teach her how to play football, I bet a large chunk of readers would say, "That doesn't seem realistic."

The whole situation is hardly common or realistic, but the extra touch of "I want to learn how to play football," would throw a lot of people for a loop, because it goes against the expectations of the genre. But you could set it up where this alien grew up watching Earth as part of an observation post and in her free time watched football games, so she really comes to appreciate the sport. Her species isn't very sporty and most of them don't get her fascination, chiding her for liking silly primitive things. But her love of the game cannot be denied, so she sneaks out in her parents' saucer, abducts this guy, sneaks her into her station habitat and asks him to teach her how to play football. t's a highly unlikely scenario if you buy into the in-universe alien abductions, but her motivation are clear in a way that, despite going against the trope, is easily understood by the reader, giving the writer more leeway in pushing the envelop of what a "realistic" story is for that trope.

 

[k_east]

The thing is, most sexual behavior you can possibly imagine (while still falling under the broader realm of realistic fiction as opposed to fantasy or sci-fi) has definitely occurred more times in real life than you would think. People do wild and crazy things when it comes to sex, they have sex in the most insane places, in the most ridiculous situations, etc.

If anything I think a story can take me out of it when non-sexual human behavior is poorly written. And thus I do agree with many people in this thread that unrealistic dialogue can be a death sentence for a story.

 

[anthrodisiac]

The thing is, most sexual behavior you can possibly imagine (while still falling under the broader realm of realistic fiction as opposed to fantasy or sci-fi) has definitely occurred more times in real life than you would think. People do wild and crazy things when it comes to sex, they have sex in the most insane places, in the most ridiculous situations, etc.

If anything I think a story can take me out of it when non-sexual human behavior is poorly written. And thus I do agree with many people in this thread that unrealistic dialogue can be a death sentence for a story.

I like to think of it as: no matter how crazy you write a story, as long as it's not outside the realm of physical possibility, someone's probably topped your crazy scenario, and probably more than one person.

 

[Britva415]

I like to think of it as: no matter how crazy you write a story, as long as it's not outside the realm of physical possibility, someone's probably topped your crazy scenario, and probably more than one person.

I think the crux of the original question was whether readers would find it plausible. And like others have said, there are readers who won’t ever find some particular idea plausible at all, some will cream over it no matter how bonkers it is and how shitty it’s written, and most will “play along” (suspend disbelief, if they even have any) if the story is compelling enough.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I think the crux of the original question was whether readers would find it plausible. And like others have said, there are readers who won’t ever find some particular idea plausible at all, some will cream over it no matter how bonkers it is and how shitty it’s written, and most will “play along” (suspend disbelief, if they even have any) if the story is compelling enough.

I absolutely agree. I was speaking less to the reader plausibility issue, and more that it's pretty hard to outbonkers the universe. She's a tricksy beast who, just when you think you've come up with maximal unlikelihood, throws a meteorite that blows up 1500 square miles of Siberia and kills almost nobody.

Humans are much the same. Just when you think it can't get any crazier than two girls, one cup, a guy decides to do one guy, one jar...

 

[alohadave]

I like to think of it as: no matter how crazy you write a story, as long as it's not outside the realm of physical possibility, someone's probably topped your crazy scenario, and probably more than one person.

And the crazy sex act that you just discovered, people have been doing that for centuries.