What category could you NEVER write?

[nice90sguy]

Are there any story categories you just couldn't write? If so, why?

For me it's probably interracial -- not because I have anything against it, it's just not a turn-on for me. It would be like trying to write in the "freckled" category. I don't have a problem with freckles, some of my best friends are freckled. Really.

 

[SimonDoom]

The only one I can think of is Non-English, because I don't have enough foreign language skill to write a story in another language. I might be able, with enough work, to fake it in Spanish, but I wouldn't want to try.

 

[Bamagan]

Any of the realistic ones.

 

[TheLobster]

I don't know about never, but Gay Male would be very challenging for me to write convincingly. So perhaps the "never" category for me would actually be NC/R, since I just plain don't want to deal with nonconsensual situations.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Celebrity/Fan Fiction to be sure. I mean, I'd love to read all about Harry and Ron spit roasting Hermione(Oh, come on, you know it happened).
I just don't think I could handle the weight of the existing world JKR built and the expectations of the millions of fans out there that love it.
The same would be true for picking up the mantel of any existing work. The more popular, the heavier the assumed responsibility to be true to characters I had nothing to do with shaping.

 

[THBGato]

So perhaps the "never" category for me would actually be NC/R, since I just plain don't want to deal with nonconsensual situations.

This.

Though, to be honest, I'm only interested in reading and writing Lesbian love stories, so that's me ruling out most categories.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

As a newer writer of erotica, my list of never categories is much longer than the one's I'll tackle. This may change over time... assuming my breadth as a writer grows.

 

[samhasstories]

Interracial, but just because I wouldn't actually put anything in that category. I have characters of different races sleeping with each other already, but that isn't a kink or a fetish, it's just a thing people do.

Non-consent, because quite frankly I find that kind of horrifying.

Anal, just not into it.

I don't think I'd write anything else off completely, though I have no plans to do much category-hopping.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

For me it would be Anal, Gay Male, and Lesbian Sex. One of my personal kinks is breeding/impregnation, and I like to feature it prominently in my stories, so for obvious reasons, that rules out categories which don't involve a penis inside a vagina.

 

[intim8]

Anal, GM, Lesbian, Interracial, BDSM, Fetish, TC.

I'm not a fan of anal IRL or in stories, though I don't mind it in a story when it isn't the focus. So I'd have no inspiration to write there. The others are too far outside my experience to do right, or even come up with a story idea that would be specific to those categories. Interracial as a specific kink/fetish, whatever, rather than just people getting it on, kinda bothers me.

I have one NC/R story, but it is campy and way over on the side of reluctance rather than NC, and even that doesn't last long. That's not a category I'd be too comfortable playing it straight in.

There's others I am unlikely to ever post in, but I don't rule it out up front.

I/T is one I would have said I am unlikely to write in, but I actually have an upcoming series chapter that will probably go there (and it results in pregnancy). But again, it isn't playing it quite straight with the category, it's a science-fiction-ish series and the circumstances are way outside the usual draw in that category.

 

[StillStunned]

The "New Stories" category.

 

[THBGato]

Interracial, but just because I wouldn't actually put anything in that category. I have characters of different races sleeping with each other already, but that isn't a kink or a fetish, it's just a thing people do.

Yes, ditto.

Lesbian Sex. One of my personal kinks is breeding/impregnation, and I like to feature it prominently in my stories, so for obvious reasons, that rules out categories which don't involve a penis inside a vagina.

Challenge accepted ;-)

(Seriously though - turkey baster, choice of two wombs? I mean, obviously don't write in Lesbian Sex if it's not your thing, but I wouldn't let the lack of a penis stop your characters from putting buns in ovens.)

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Interracial, but just because I wouldn't actually put anything in that category. I have characters of different races sleeping with each other already, but that isn't a kink or a fetish, it's just a thing people do.

Non-consent, because quite frankly I find that kind of horrifying.

Not trying to get you to reconsider, but in both cases it very much depends on the execution.

Regarding interracial, it's certainly true that people in bed together who happen to be of different races isn't interesting, which is why you have to make some use of tropes and stereotypes to make them interesting. Certain readers love it when you go all in with that (and no, I'm not casting aspersions on them), but for most readers of interracial you need to find creative ways to make the racial aspect appealing without fetishizing the characters.

As for NC/R, this definitely depends on the execution, because most people who enjoy NC/R content specifically enjoy "dubcon" or "dubious consent". In the real world, that's obviously a contradiction in terms, but in the fantasy world of erotica, NC/R fans enjoy having their boundaries pushed by these scenarios while still having the psychological safety net of thinking that she (or he) was *probably* into it.

There's more to both categories than meets the eye.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Yes, ditto.


Challenge accepted ;-)

(Seriously though - turkey baster, choice of two wombs? I mean, obviously don't write in Lesbian Sex if it's not your thing, but I wouldn't let the lack of a penis stop your characters from putting buns in ovens.)

Meh, turkey basters really don't do it for me, not even custom-made squirting dildos. It's not about the biological process of insemination and fertilization, it's having it done to you by a living, breathing, sweating, grunting, thrusting (male) human being. For me, nothing beats an actual penis, like a long hard beautiful pink key sliding inside a warm wet welcoming lock...

And I think I just got a little carried away there...

 

[intim8]

it's having it done to you by a living, breathing, sweating, grunting, thrusting (male) human being.

You should look at my Aces series.

 

[NoTalentHack]

For me it would be Anal, Gay Male, and Lesbian Sex. One of my personal kinks is breeding/impregnation, and I like to feature it prominently in my stories, so for obvious reasons, that rules out categories which don't involve a penis inside a vagina.

Amusingly, my only Anal story thus far includes impregnation as a major plot point. There’s a brief, lightly detailed PIV segment at the beginning, then a celebratory first time anal scene at the end.

 

[StillStunned]

I can't see myself doing non-consent, but I've written a reluctance story.

I also can't see myself doing interracial, except in one SF story where a human has sex with a cat-woman.

And nothing I've read here about LW makes me want to venture there.

But I've only been doing this for a few months, so who knows? Inspiration strikes, and a story is born.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

You should look at my Aces series.

I guess it's now on my reading list.

 

[Writer61]

Won't write NC/R or Incest because those activities revolt me.

Can't imagine Taboo, Gay, T/CD, or SF because those don't feature in my fantasies (so far) but never say never.

An interracial story is unlikely because that is not a theme that excites me, but I do include characters from different races. Similarly mature & anal.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

Not sure it is productive to dwell on what we would not do. Clearly others do. I tend to think, if not my thing, none of my business.

But since you asked... yes, there are categories that are not my thing. Being hetero cis, probably won't ever exercise the effort to write and publish for GM, LS, or T&C.

Not sure why Anal is a category at all. And if so, why not have a category for "Oral"? Or "Doggy" or "Cowgirl"? It may be a less common sex act, but that is all it is, ergo, any story there can probably go somewhere else with an Anal tag. Similar argument with Toys and Masturbation. Both could probably be subsumed into Fetish if that is the main thrust.

In my mind, iR has as much reason for being as Mature. And having written stories both of people that have sex and are from different "races" and people that have sex that are ~20 years apart, but published in neither, they are not quite necessary in my view. Or they both are, and you should leave their respective devotees alone. You either think a category that dwells on the complexities of "experience gaps" (people of different races have different experiences because of racism) is worth existing or you don't. But you can not have it both ways.

Finally, I get the existence of Group and E&V categories. And I have published stories that have group and E&V elements in them. But I still think that is not their main thrust and have therefore gone somewhere else. Not sure I would ever make those aspects the main thrust of a story, and hence I would be unlikely to publish in them.

At the risk of going off the rails... perhaps there should just be a bucket of ALL stories with a few "toggles" you can turn on or off for the very few, but very prominent, things that tend to be very polarizing, "Non-monogamy", "Kink", "Not Hetero/Cis", "Noncon", and "Incest" among them, and leave it at that?

 

[Djmac1031]

Non English for the fact I don't know another language.

Chain stories - I'm not entirely sure what that even means, honestly. Continuing a story from where someone else left off?

I've collaborated on and co-written on stories with @EmilyMiller and we've built our own little shared Fantasy universe, but I don't know about just jumping in on some random chain story, whatever that entails.

Illustrated- I don't draw and I'm assuming any pictures must be originals.

Interracial- I understand the attraction to people of different skin tones. I don't get nor do I care to get all the racist "white girl / Big Black Bull" nonsense. It's 2024. Grow up.

Non Con - I have an idea in mind for one that flips the typical script on these things. But I'm repulsed by the idea that rape is okay as long as she "likes it."

Transgender/ Cross Dressing - I highly doubt it as I don't feel qualified to write from that perspective. That said, I said the same thing about Gay Male but managed to write a simple 750 word GM that was recieved well enough.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Transgender/ Cross Dressing - I highly doubt it as I don't feel qualified to write from that perspective. That said, I said the same thing about Gay Male but managed to write a simple 750 word GM that was recieved well enough.

And all the hours I've spent imagining your avatar in a bodycon micro dress and six inch heels...

 

[intim8]

Not sure why Anal is a category at all. And if so, why not have a category for "Oral"? Or "Doggy" or "Cowgirl"? It may be a less common sex act, but that is all it is, ergo, any story there can probably go somewhere else

Most of those kinds of threads, the difference is, in a general story, sometimes anal happens, in the anal category, it's the main point.

I'm repulsed by the idea that rape is okay as long as she "likes it."

Not calling you out specifically, DJ, but I just realized that in every discussion of NC/R that I've seen, I think without exception, it is she that is reluctant or only maybe kinda sorta not really consenting. Though that probably is 99% of that category.

I never thought of it in this connection before, but the second story I ever posted here, the first (MF) sex scene is one where the guy feels ambushed, shanghai'd, reluctant, and has sour memories of it. The rest of the series is him struggling to deal with it because it was his first time and he feels like she took that from him. Then later, he flips it onto somebody else, perpetuating the damage.

I didn't mean it to demonstrate a point, I wasn't even conscious of it being a point, it just flowed from who the characters are and the overall situation, organically. But I think it does make a point, now that I think about it in this context.

 

[Britva415]

my list of never categories is much longer than the one's I'll tackle

Same. In my case it's because I'm genuinely just kinda vanilla. AH authors pooh-pooh EC all the time, but it's the biggest category for a reason.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Interracial- I understand the attraction to people of different skin tones. I don't get nor do I care to get all the racist "white girl / Big Black Bull" nonsense. It's 2024. Grow up.

I've actually played with the idea of doing a raceplay version of Kayfabe. I've known a couple of women who were into mild raceplay, both PoCs, and their take was really interesting to me. It read to me like consensual noncon; they wouldn't want to touch anyone who was an actual racist with a ten foot pole, but as a sort of turbo-charged version of D/s humiliation kink play, it got them off. Their choice to engage in it was a sign of extreme trust: "you aren't the monster I want you to pretend to be, and you won't use this against me to hurt me outside of this consensual space; because of that, I want to explore this potentially extremely harmful thing with me."

The way they talked about it seemed, honestly, kind of sweet to me. It was a thing they did with someone they really trusted, a long-term boyfriend or spouse. It's also one of those things that's totally forbidden these days; I think someone could say they were into I/T fantasy without catching flak more than saying they were into raceplay, whether saying that as a white person or a PoC. All of that makes for an incredibly interesting sort of character study, at least to me.

I even thought about doing it for Geek Pride with the title "Cos and Affect," with a pair of cosplayers who drill into the question, "Is it wrong that this makes me hot? Is it wrong that, after you got over the squick of saying these awful things to me, you did, too?" and drawing parallels with how cosplayers (not just people that put on costumes, but the folks that go to cons and mostly stay in character) put it on and take it off, the "cosplay does not equal consent" stuff and how that mirrors the "only in this context, only with you" aspect of humiliation kink, etc.