How often, if at all, do you read stories that aren’t necessarily for you?

Yeah - actual POV of any kind is unusual in most visual media (Prodigy - smack my bitch up is a brilliant exception - - needs to be watched till the end...)
but you're right we need more content from female and non-binary standpoints too.

Hey - didnt realize that if I post a link to a vid, then it would pop up here. Sorry - wasnt my intention.
I'm still scratching my head over whether Dudepov is offensive. I dont take it as such and I think Id have to take a bit of a stretch to imagine it would be.

 

Personally, I don't like female POV because when I read an erotic story I usually reach the point to identify or emphasize with the MC and so if I read a female POV in my mind I am reading a story about "You are a girl and this how you fuck or you are fucked by some man" and not "the girl is being fucked" and that instead of turning me on has the opposite effect on me, especially given that many Chyoa stories are writing in the second person, so literally the author is writing "You are fucking or being fucked". I think the only type of full female POV story I could read is lesbian stories for that same reason, because is the only kind of female POV where I won't find that feeling that the story will tell me "You are fucking or being fucked by a man".

Well, sex orientation I think could be essential for erotic stories. And most of the other aspects in most erotic stories do not matter because usually, the MC is a random joe that could be anyone.

 

You don't need me to tell you that you are free to like or not any kind of stories but I must say I find your views a little too narrow. I purposedly avoided replying also to your post because I didn't want you to think I was going against you.
But since we are here, here's my two cents...

Maybe you didn't happen to read much outside Chyoa, I don't know, but second person PoV isn't that popular in general for what I know.
That is something you want for game stories, which are by the way just a fraction of the huge Chyoa database.

It's ok to want to immerse yourself, but there's so much more beyond that.
And if you really only care for that, you should give a try to VR porn, looks like it may be your thing.

Also the MC being a 'random joe', that's mostly a Chyoa thing I fear.
If anything, when you write a story you should aim to create fully fleshed characters, especially the main ones.

 

I partly agree with Serious above, and another thing that will make me stop a story instantly is if I can't get a handle on the MC's personality and they're meant to be a blank self-insert. It's just not something I enjoy, since I tend to get much more engaged in a sex scene if I can understand why the characters are together and how those motivations affect how they're behaving during the romance. It makes the sex much more exciting for me if they feel like real people with feelings. Also why I've never really been able to get into any of the big mind control stories, but that could be a whole thread in itself tbh.

While it's not something I enjoy, I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with writing a story with an MC that's meant to be a self-insert if that's all it's intended as, just as there's nothing wrong with writing a story with little to no character development that jumps straight into the sex, which is also something I personally don't enjoy. It's all personal taste, and with what I've mentioned above about being as picky as I am I'm not going to try and tell anyone they have to step outside their comfort zone.

 

I am totally in character development but only on the female characters, ideally for me, an erotic story would have a male MC who could be anyone while the female characters would have the opposite and have all the character developments. It makes the sex much more exciting for me if female characters feel like real people with feelings but this same for the male MC has the opposite effect because I am the kind of guy that in real life if another dude is telling me how he fuck some girl I would tell him to stop, I don't want to know, because I am not able to feel excitement for hearing other men sex stories (and also in real life I would feel is repulsive because I believe that men to boast about their sex conquest are horrible but that is another topic).

That is why I do not read female POV erotic stories, I do not dislike it, I do not hate it, that I would only say for extreme kinks that I am not able to digest, but female POV erotic stories I just feel is unexciting, or anti-erotic because it does not turn me on reading about women sex life with other men nor about other men sex life. It is not a case of the comfort zone, I dont't feel those stories are repulsive, disgusting, or something like that, it just doesn't turn me on and for erotic literature at least I expect it to turn me on for me to waste me time on it. If we compare this with non-porn I could compare it with literature that I found boring, even if I don't hate it I won't read something that bore me.

 

Fair enough. Not that it's a problem, but we definitely approach our enjoyment to erotica in a very different way. Though funny enough, I do also really hate men boasting about sex in real life and find it awful to listen to, it doesn't make me dislike male characters feeling like their own people in the stories I read, and I don't think they're the same thing in my mind at least.

Just as a writer, your kind of story is probably not something I personally could do. The male character would feel unfinished for me and I'd probably ask myself why he's doing things if he has no backstory or character to justify his actions to me as the writer. I'd probably also struggle to make it feel genuine for the fully developed female characters to be attracted to someone who is such a blank slate.

 

Sure, I am aware that combination of well-developed female characters and blank male characters can't be compared with a well written history with both characters well developed. If we compare this with videogames it could be equivalent to videogames with a customizable character that has less development so any player could be imaging that his character is exactly what he wants. A fixed character could have a better story than a customizable one, but sometimes it is good to sacrifice things in the story to have a more enjoyable experience. Just like videogames has the playable part, porn stories have also the porn part, there is a purpose to tell a story but also to excite the readers with that story.

But keep in mind I talking only about erotic stories, or even I could say porn stories, like many stories in Chyoa that have sex or things related to sex on almost every chapter which means the sex is what engages the readers to keep reading it. In that case, I prefer those type of MC even if the story is worst because if the main factor of the story is the sex and the sex does not turn me on if becomes an unexciting story, and therefore boring, no matter how well has been written. Another different thing would be with a story so good that there are more things engaging the readers to keep reading it than just sex, in that case, I would continue reading it even if the sex does not turn me on because instead of porn with a plot the story is a plot with porn.

If you allow me the vulgar expression, if reading a porn story the thing between my legs is all the time sleeping, I cant continue reading it, and that happens when I read about stories of other men, I don't hate those stories because it is not the same as real life men, it is just fictional, but while real life men telling me their sex life is repulsive and unexciting for me, fictional men sex life is still unexciting.

 

I think in writing is the best way to explore a little outside of your comfort zone because you can immediately tell if it’s not for you or if you’re somewhat intrigued. I also find that reading is probably one of the few times you’re completely in your safe space whether you’re snuggled up in your bed late at night gazing at your phone or taking the moment to relax in a nice bath or whatever else you do to read such texts. I for one sometimes am bold and might read/write a little in a public area. The awkward look around to make sure people don’t catch me reading porn at a McDonald’s or the doctor’s office. But at least if it’s in writing you can immediately stop reading whereas with a movie or video or even an audio reading, you might not have the time to immediately x out and might find yourself in a more uncomfortable position or having to see something you can’t erase. Maybe that’s just odd logic I’m using, but I dunno I have reading to be safer rather than watching or listening. Especially since I’m not a fan of headphones and well I don’t need my roommates/the mother sitting next to me in the waiting room hearing what I watch for pleasure. Plus it’s much easier to pass off reading than someone looking over your shoulder and seeing a woman getting drilled by a man or scissored by a woman or maybe both. I’m also just not a fan of visual porn so much as I am reading it. I do like looking at like comics/art work but not so much watching PornHub. I dunno I suppose that’s another part of the question.

Do you ever consume porn outside of your comfort/safe zone? Whether it be watching/reading/writing it in public or finding a medium that you don’t typically favor?