Trading partners as a society

[TheOtherTeacher]

I don't know if I will write this, so I thought I'd share it. I might still come back to it later.

A world where everyone has a partner. From the moment you are 18, you are assigned (by the government) an apartment and a lover.

You can't break up. You don't HAVE to have sex with your designated partner, but it is expected.
It's illegal to have sex with anyone who isn't your partner.

However, you can trade partners.

So imagine you (a woman) are getting bored of your BF Dave. So you chat with Suzy from work, and agree to swap with her. She's not happy with her boyfriend Jeremy as he's too much of a party guy.

So you just message Dave, saying you've swapped with Suzy. You now live with Jeremy. Suzy is now with Dave. (Maybe there is a company who helps you swap your belongings over)

(If you initiate the swap, you don't keep the apartment.)

Maybe after a week you get a message from Jeremy. He's swapped you to get a girl more like him. A man arrives at the apartment a few minutes later, introducing himself as Edward, your new boyfriend.

Maybe you don't really like Edward, but you have to spend at least 3 days together before you can swap again, and you learn that he's not bad in the bedroom. You think you can cope with Edward for a while. Until someone better is available.

The plot of the story could be a main character determined to swap until they get with their dream celebrity? Maybe they get very attached to one of their BFs/GFs when they get the choice to swap to their dream celebrity. Do they follow their dream or choose love?

What do you think? Has the story got potential?

 

[Rob_Royale]

It's an interesting premise. Like the guy who started with a radio and kept swapping up until her owned a Rolls Royce. But it would seem like a very drawn out story, with assholes and disappointing sex in the mix and I'm not sure how the readers would react to it.

 

[GlennJenko]

I agree with Rob, but I also can't help but think of the implications around gay people. Are same-sex couples allowed? E.g this woman is gay and so really doesn't want sex with her partner, and wants to swap to be with a woman she really likes. Her partner isn't gay but has a friend that is, so after the first swap (and the alotted time has past), he can swap with his gay friend's partner so everyone would be happy.

PS. Also, can you swap back to a previous lover? So a couple could use it like a hall pass. The woman always wanted to fuck this guy but doesn't want a relationship. So she and her partner swap for a week or so she can do it without breaking the law.

 

[PennyThompson]

I agree with Rob and Glenn A Train of Deals is a classic story trope that can be a lot of fun, so I see the appeal of that part!

But the social logistics don't make a lot of sense, and I find the issues of consent and implications for LGBTQ people very squicky.

Maybe think more about other ways to do a sexy Train of Deals story without getting bogged down in this weird legal structure thing?

Adam always wanted to have sex with a much older woman.

His wife Brittany will give him a hall pass, but only if he helps her fulfill her fantasy of spending the night with Adam's co-worker Clara.

He floats the idea by Clara, who isn't saying no, but her boyfriend Derrick would feel really jealous and left out, so he needs to get something out of the deal too...

 

[TheOtherTeacher]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Regarding consent

Though I imagine it's expected to have sex with your partner, I would make it clear very early that it's always the characters' choice. Maybe have a swap where they just don't find the other attractive.

"I just couldn't get interested in him. He wasn't my type at all. It wasn't his fault. So we compromised and I let him jerk off to me before we went to bed, and agreed to swap as soon as possible."

Regarding LGBT

I had already considered gay people, but not mentioned it. I imagine that very quickly people swap to their preferred partner type. Maybe there are message boards to help people find suitable swaps.

"Gay man in accidental straight swap seeks solution swap. Preferred age range 30 to 40."

Regarding swap-backs

I imagine you can't directly swap back as a get-out-of-jail-free deal. It defeats the point of the swapping in some ways.

Regarding uninteresting, middling sex. I think a good writer could make it work. Perhaps you only write one or two middling sex scenes. Others are implied or short bullet points.

"My swap with Johnathan was short and unmemorable. The guy was the definition of vanilla in the bedroom. But luckily for me, he was tall. I ended up changing with a woman I met at a coffee shop who was also tall, and sick of having boyfriends shorter than her. So I got Gary. He was also shorter than me, but he knew how to use his fingers, and was a surprisingly good chef. I was happy with him for a good month, until I got the opportunity to switch for an upcoming artist called Chris."

 

[jaF0]

Community has 26 couples (52 people) and 26 residences.

On the first day of each month, a lottery is drawn and each each person is assigned a new partner and residence.

Could get a wee bit complicated to write the story though.

 

[PennyThompson]

Community has 26 couples (52 people) and 26 residences.

On the first day of each month, a lottery is drawn and each each person is assigned a new partner and residence.

Could get a wee bit complicated to write the story though.

Having a small community with a limited population does make the whole scenario make a lot more sense, though!

Put them on a sub-light generational space ship bound for Alpha Centauri, there are only so many living quarters to go around