The Plot Hole Spackle Thread

[Astrotrain]

I've seen a few isolated instances where people ask for help with their story, but I think we should have a general thread so everybody can chime in and help everybody else. I'll start:

Firstly, I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing? I'm not just talking about faded or changed colours here, I mean they're literally falling apart?

 

[StillStunned]

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing? I'm not just talking about faded or changed colours here, I mean they're literally falling apart?

That depends on the quality of the material. Some cheap nylon stuff on a hot programme, extended spin cycle, and - if the washing machine has a built-in dryer - an extended hot drying programme? I've seen clothes come out fit for use as a cleaning rag.

I also once dropped my brand new watch in the washing machine. It didn't survive.

 

[intim8]

Firstly, I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

I had a dream once where there was a common modern-day family ritual that once a couple of "kids" started getting serious, they would intentionally give them a day with completely free run of the house. They'd all leave for the day, sunup to sundown, and take all the couple's clothes with them.

It was kind of a callout to the medieval practices of bundling and things like that.

But any number of other, less deliberate scenarios are possible. The parents could have gotten stranded somewhere, unable to make it home when they were supposed to, say after school and well into the evening or even next morning.

If you're going for wacky, maybe the parents are in a bank robbing crime ring, under the guise of a normal middle class family, and are in jail. Or they're spies. Or some kind of secret hidden life where something happens.

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing?

Maybe the dryer has some kind of fault in it, or he never cleaned the lint trap, where it starts on fire, so the guy is not only entirely without clothes, but without a house?

 

[Seadog777]

I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

I was emancipated when I was 16 years old.
So I had my own place, went to school and worked.

 

[Bazzle]

I've seen a few isolated instances where people ask for help with their story, but I think we should have a general thread so everybody can chime in and help everybody else. I'll start:

Firstly, I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

Parents go away for 50th birthday holiday. All inclusive teenager free time.

Gives you two weeks with no parents.

 

[Djmac1031]

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing?

Here's the problem with that; even if you came up with a scenario to ruin his laundry load, how do you explain him ruining his entire wardrobe that way? Most people's entire wardrobe wouldn't fit in one laundry load.

Then you also have to figure out how to remove anyone else's clothes from the house. Sure if Dad lives there, there's a closet full of clothes.

Even if it's only women's clothing in the house, surely they own sweat pants and tee shirts.

Even in a worse case scenario, he could cover up with a towel or blanket. Unless they somehow magically disappear too.

 

[intim8]

I had a dream once

Shit, I'd entirely forgotten that. Maybe I need to write that story myself.

 

[intim8]

how do you explain him ruining his entire wardrobe that way?

Easy, on all your points, he's a bachelor.

He's young, not on his financial feet yet, hasn't built up much of a wardrobe. His one good suit that he uses for job interviews is at the cleaners. Maybe it was two loads in the washer, but it all goes in the dryer. He had a day off to just lounge around and decided to do all his laundry in one go and at the last minute decided to just throw in the shorts and t-shirt he's wearing and just sit around playing video games in the buff while everything gets washed.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Firstly, I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing? I'm not just talking about faded or changed colours here, I mean they're literally falling apart?

If you need an "excuse" for why parents could possibly leave two fully grown and presumably adult eighteen-year-olds by themselves for a few days, I guess that excuse would indirectly serve as an explanation for why they have no idea how a washing machine works.

And I heard that confusing pipe cleaner for a bottle of fabric softener will do very interesting things with your clothes... and the machine. Though, that was discovered by a pair of ten-year-olds who wanted to surprise their mother on Mother's day, not eighteen-year-olds on their way to college...

 

[intim8]

If you need an "excuse" for why parents could possibly leave two fully grown and presumably adult eighteen-year-olds by themselves for a few days, I guess that excuse would indirectly serve as an explanation for why they have no idea how a washing machine works.

Are we assuming the two scenarios are for the same stories, same characters?

And this is Lit, everyone is over 18, even when they still have to worry about their parents catching them getting frisky.

 

[lustychimera]

Secondly, to set up a CFNM scenario, is there any believable way possible somebody could accidentally put the wrong thing into a washing machine and completely ruin the clothing? I'm not just talking about faded or changed colours here, I mean they're literally falling apart?

They used homemade detergent made from old school lye? Let them soak too long, mixed to strong, whatever. Even if not 100% accurate, it wouldn't break my suspension of disbelief. Me-- and I'd assume most people-- aren't familiar with that stuff.

For the whole wardrobe thing, they were living out of a suitcase? In the process of moving or something.

 

[Djmac1031]

Easy, on all your points, he's a bachelor.

Okay maybe I misread the OP but I thought this scenario was two 18 year olds still living at home with mom and dad.

 

[intim8]

Okay maybe I misread the OP but I thought this scenario was two 18 year olds still living at home with mom and dad.

Yeah, but for some reason I just assumed those were two entirely unrelated plot holes.

We need @Astrotrain to clarify, because if they're related, that's quite a puzzle to work out.

But even then, I think my dryer fire scenario has better prospects.

 

[lovecraft68]

1-Parents travel, one in sales, one a traveling nurse so the kids-being 18-have the house to themselves for a few days at a time during the month.

2-if something gets caught around the agitator it can tear. Not sure how badly, but this is fiction.

 

[Djmac1031]

When I began writing Traffic 2 with @EmilyMiller I needed a scenario that would force the female character to be naked in the car while they were stuck in a traffic jam.

And so I had them stop for gas, both getting out of the car to stretch their legs. The car next to them pulls away with the nozzle still in and the couple get sprayed with gas.

She's wearing a sundress, no bra or panties, so her only option is to ditch the dress. He gets some on his shirt so he has to throw that away as well, and they have no spare clothes or even a blanket in the car.

He even checks in the gas station store but they don't sell clothes.

So I wrote all that just to make her have to be naked in the car foe the rest of the trip, which shouldn't have been too much of a problem until the traffic jam leaves them stuck and not moving.

Then I realized my major flaw; Gas pumps have automatic shut off switches. If the car had pulled away with the nozzle still pumping, it would have shut off immediately.

But hey, it's fiction. And no readers complained.

So... be creative with it.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Dryer fire works, for as much clothing as you can fit in one load.

 

[Bamagan]

I'm with @Djmac1031 regarding the implausibility of any accidental 'forced' nudity situation when they have the run of their home (or homes, if you're talking about two unrelated teens). The idea that there's literally nothing else in the house to wear or cover up with is a big reach.
Perhaps you can change the setting to something like a campground or isolated cabin? The parents are off hiking or boating or something, and there's some kind of issue with the teens' luggage: lost, damaged, packed wrong, burned up while trying to roast marshmallows, etc.

 

[MrPixel]

Perhaps you can change the setting to something like a campground or isolated cabin? The parents are off hiking or boating or something, and there's some kind of issue with the teens' luggage: lost, damaged, packed wrong, burned up while trying to roast marshmallows, etc.

Yeah, much more plausible. The CFNM component makes the "losing laundry" scenario unlikely, but also lost luggage - why would the MC lose everything while the FC's wardrobe is untouched, and why would he magically be naked due to a mishap? I could see falling into a lake or other body of water and drying the only clothes he had over a fire (campfire or cabin fireplace) which in turn ignites the clothes.

There are not many believable scenarios that would leave one without clothing and not the other.

 

[Djmac1031]

I could see falling into a lake or other body of water

People have been known to lose their clothing or bathing suits in rushing water, like a river.

But even camping, somebody has an extra set of clothes, or a towel, or a sleeping bag, SOMETHING someone could cover up with.

Best scenario I can think of is two hikers, one falls in the river, loses his back pack and his clothes.

Maybe she didn't bring anything he could cover with, and she's certainly not giving him HER clothes off her back, right?

in the end it's a story and most readers won't overly analyze it like we are here anyway.

 

[Astrotrain]

Yeah, but for some reason I just assumed those were two entirely unrelated plot holes.

We need @Astrotrain to clarify, because if they're related, that's quite a puzzle to work out.

But even then, I think my dryer fire scenario has better prospects.

Sorry, I should have clarified, these are for two completely different stories. The first is for a hypothetical story I plan to write sometime in the future, the second is for a story I'm writing right now.

It's a story where a guy is in an intense tease and denial situation against his will by his four stepsisters and he can't get out of it because of financial blackmail. I've been trying for an interesting thing where they don't really seem to realise what they're doing to him because all four of them are completely barking mad. And I'm trying to give a method to their madness, I want the reader to think "these girls are all fucking crazy but I can see why it would all make perfect sense to them." They're trying to save his soul from hell for the sin of self abuse.

I already have them living in a house out in the middle of nowhere for most of their lives so they're already used to isolation and only having each other for company. Meiko, the mommy domme, has taken control over Charlie's, the male viewpoint characters wardrobe, even insisting on dressing him.

I was going to have her say "those clothes you're wearing are the best of what you have and they're still pretty bad. I've burned all the other ones in the incinerator we have round back, I'll have new ones here by express delivery tommorow, I'm doing the laundry today so take off those clothes and give them to me. I'll have them back to you in no time."

Then she accidentally ruins his clothes in the wash and she's really apologetic and says not to worry, the new ones will be here first thing tommorow. And the others say "You haven't been keeping up with the news have you Meiko? There's a major industrial dispute going on right now." And it turns out that on that very day trade talks broke down, all the delivery guys might be striking for months and all deliveries are cancelled for the foreseeable future.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

People have been known to lose their clothing or bathing suits in rushing water, like a river.

But even camping, somebody has an extra set of clothes, or a towel, or a sleeping bag, SOMETHING someone could cover up with.

Best scenario I can think of is two hikers, one falls in the river, loses his back pack and his clothes.

Maybe she didn't bring anything he could cover with, and she's certainly not giving him HER clothes off her back, right?

in the end it's a story and most readers won't overly analyze it like we are here anyway.

I’ve actually got a WIP with pretty much that theme. A 6’4” man on a wilderness canoe trip loses literally everything but his shoes when he hits some rapids. He’s rescued by a 5’3” woman. Nothing of hers could possibly fit him and her towel is like a dish towel in size. It’s CFNM for however long it takes them to reach civilization.

 

[Britva415]

even if you came up with a scenario to ruin his laundry load, how do you explain him ruining his entire wardrobe that way? Most people's entire wardrobe wouldn't fit in one laundry load.

It doesn't take place at his own house with his own washing machine. He's traveling or visiting, and doesn't have his entire wardrobe, or even a change of clothes at all.

I need a bullshit excuse for two 18 year olds to basically have the run of their homes, with the parents being almost entirely absent.

Coincidence. One can easily come up with a reason for one set of parents to leave their own kid alone.

Rather than come up with a reason why both sets of parents are absent at the same time, just let it be coincidence? You didn't say for how-long. The longer the duration the less plausible the coincidence becomes, but I have no idea what you had in mind.

 

[StillStunned]

Coincidence. One can easily come up with a reason for one set of parents to leave their own kid alone.

Rather than come up with a reason why both sets of parents are absent at the same time, just let it be coincidence? You didn't say for how-long. The longer the duration the less plausible the coincidence becomes, but I have no idea what you had in mind.

Perhaps the kids are just shits, and the parents are having too much fun without them? I'm pretty sure that's why my parents left me and my sister alone when we were growing up.

 

[Astrotrain]

Even if it's only women's clothing in the house, surely they own sweat pants and tee shirts.

Good point, thanks for catching that. I haven't really gone into details about what they wear apart from Lucy, the bratty domme. I've already said that she wears pigtails all the time and only wears short pleated skirts. I'll just have to directly state that all the rest wear nothing but girly clothing and there's nothing else in their wardrobes.

If you need an "excuse" for why parents could possibly leave two fully grown and presumably adult eighteen-year-olds by themselves for a few days, I guess that excuse would indirectly serve as an explanation for why they have no idea how a washing machine works.

As Stephen King said, there's old 18 year olds and there's young 18 year olds.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Washing machines can break when full of water and be impossible to open, certainly front-loading ones.

I've got a draft where I'd appreciate a beta read of about 500 words, because I know very little about guitarists or bands. The scene is to get A and B to meet and get together again, after a one-night stand they had at a wedding.

A is the singer for a covers band. The guitarist has an emergency, so friends-of-friends are contacted until an appropriate stand-in (B) is found. B goes and practises a bit with the band's guitarist who confirms he'll do.

Two days later B arrives, warms up with the drummer and bassist, A wanders in, and has to be professional - but eventually quite enjoys showing off to B. And gets volunteered to give B a ride home after.

If anyone's willing to read, that would be very helpful.