Personal Favorite Themes you DON'T see a lot?

[brevdravis]

Just wanted to toss this one out there, since there's been a lot of good discussion, and just was wondering if there's any themes in stories that folks wanted to chime in with that they LIKE to see.

That for SOME reason... you just don't personally see. Plus if somebody knows where we can find that itch, so much the better. After all Tagging DOES work, but sometimes hitting that exact combination that you're looking for just doesn't happen...

For a REALLY bad, and very specific example: I really enjoy the cuckquean fetish, although whenever I try to hunt this particular one down, it's FAR faster and easier to find the opposite of it. As a result, it gets into a bit of a crapshoot, especially when you consider that this conflates consensual loving and hardcore domination into one fetish as far as tags go... (Some folks like different flavors... wish there was a way to sum it up EASILY, but explaining you like a willing accomplice who delights in the idea of seducing and sharing a harem, but at the same time is a full partner in everything... You get the idea... HARD to sum up in a tag, and pretty freaking Specific. )

Lets see... others I don't see often are twists that are well formulated. I like seeing them, but as i know how hard these are to set up well... Especially considering most critics HATE twists.

I greatly enjoy love stories, and I know that's less popular here, but I'm always happy to see them, especially when done well, so kudos to those who try. I like seeing characters have a reason to want to spend time together other than just the sex, but again, I know how hard this is to write sometimes...

Other than that... just felt like tossing out some stuff I LIKE and seeing where it goes.

 

[Haoro]

Yeah the cuckquean one's a bit of a niche I think, especially with your qualifiers. Problem is, most of the stories where the girl gets into gathering the harem it's because she's not an equal partner herself, like she's been mind-controlled to like it or something. I think a lot of authors would find it difficult to write a woman who just enjoyed that kind of thing full-stop. Some kind of power difference feels more natural in that situation because it just seems like the dude's getting so much more out of the arrangement.

As for your other points, I think I'd like to fit a good twist into one of my stories someday. It feels like an accomplishment as a writer if you can pull it off, but I don't really have anything like that planned yet. Maybe someday.

One thing I'd like to see more of is actual gentle femdom that isn't incestual. There's quite a bit of hardcore stuff, involving a lot of abuse and pain which I don't like very much. I find it much hotter if the female domme shows that she cares a lot for her male sub, while still being very much in charge. What little stuff I find like that always seems to involve Mom on Son, which I can't help but cringe at. Incest has always been kind of a turn-off for me.

 

[brevdravis]

One thing I'd like to see more of is actual gentle femdom that isn't incestual. There's quite a bit of hardcore stuff, involving a lot of abuse and pain which I don't like very much. I find it much hotter if the female domme shows that she cares a lot for her male sub, while still being very much in charge. What little stuff I find like that always seems to involve Mom on Son, which I can't help but cringe at. Incest has always been a massive turn-off for me.

Hmmm, well that was an idea I have been tossing around for about a year for another ending for one of my stories... good to know there will be an audience for that if I choose to write it. Never knew how to write that quite right, but your description makes my head work in a slightly different direction right now....

Thanks for letting me know! My motivation just got a shot of adrenaline, so... hopefully this heat will abate tonight and I'll get back to work. ;P

 

[MidbossMan]

I especially like the gentle femdom route going in your Captive Prince story, Juggernorth. When I first started reading it, I thought... "I'll do this one first and then the orc chief futa one... then I will know my full range from light hearted to dark and will know if I can handle every branch," ha ha.

As for stuff I like but don't see a lot... hmm... I like longhaul relationship development where you revisit characters and they slowly grow into each other (even if there is sex from the beginning). Of course, that requires a rather lengthy story.

I'm also a sucker for a good twist but especially in this medium I feel like there is a tendency to worry "well, I'm gonna lose em if I don't rush this out," which is a real shame.

Last but not least, I enjoy really cute, goofy characters that can get a laugh out of me. It can be pretty hard to find a sense of humor that lines up just right with mine though, the struggle of comedians everywhere I'm sure. I like it to be teasing but not too mean spirited.

Always up for new recommendations that fit these criteria!

EDIT: Just thought of another! A relooping death story. I'm a sucker for those, ha ha. My Umineko one is the only one I know of... if anyone knows any of those, I'm all ears!

 

[brevdravis]

I especially like the gentle femdom route going in your Captive Prince story, Juggernorth. When I first started reading it, I thought... "I'll do this one first and then the orc chief futa one... then I will know my full range from light hearted to dark and will know if I can handle every branch," ha ha.

As for stuff I like but don't see a lot... hmm... I like longhaul relationship development where you revisit characters and they slowly grow into each other (even if there is sex from the beginning). Of course, that requires a rather lengthy story.

I'm also a sucker for a good twist but especially in this medium I feel like there is a tendency to worry "well, I'm gonna lose em if I don't rush this out," which is a real shame.

Last but not least, I enjoy really cute, goofy characters that can get a laugh out of me. It can be pretty hard to find a sense of humor that lines up just right with mine though, the struggle of comedians everywhere I'm sure. I like it to be teasing but not too mean spirited.

Always up for new recommendations that fit these criteria!

EDIT: Just thought of another! A relooping death story. I'm a sucker for those, ha ha. My Umineko one is the only one I know of... if anyone knows any of those, I'm all ears!

Welp... gonna have to write that Femdom route I guess... that's the fourth time I've seen it requested... See a need, after all. got at least a sketched out plan... but... ok... something else to work on! Whoot.

And the funny thing is... the BEST stories with twists IMHO... don't advertise them. At all.
Sixth Sense worked because nobody was expecting it. Soon as people started expecting it, Shamalamadingdong's stuff didn't work. Kept trying to do the same thing, over and over. As a result... audience got bored FAST.
O. Henry's twists worked because they didn't advertise that a twist was coming, or where it would come from. As a result when it hit the audience... BLAMMO... YMMV of course, but that's why I like stuff like Tales from the Crypt, or Any of the other Anthology series that do interesting twists. You can tell when an author put effort into it and it's VERY enjoyable, even expecting it.. A bad one... eh... didn't work, we can laugh it off. A good one like Yellow? Oh man... Won't Spoil...but... REALLY good.

Yeah, I may be thinking that would be a fun idea. Hell this is hangout... let's spitball a few! Tales From the Boudoir. They all HAVE to have a twist of some kind, and would be good to keep the whole comic/anthology feel. Introduce the characters FAST, get the plot done fast... have a gratuitous sex scene or two... and finish with a fun twist and our Hostess... because NOBODY wants to look at the fucking Crypt Keeper while trying to get off.

 

[MidbossMan]

I could get behind that, for sure. I'm a big fan of The Twilight Zone and series like that. If you ever see something like that, Tales from the Crypt, etc., I'd love to pop in.

I've got a couple twists in my written stuff, but it's hard to say if they come too slow or fast. My spy story ought to have a bunch once it gets going but it'll take a bit to get to them.

 

[fyreant]

I could get behind that, for sure. I'm a big fan of The Twilight Zone and series like that. If you ever see something like that, Tales from the Crypt, etc., I'd love to pop in.

I've got a couple twists in my written stuff, but it's hard to say if they come too slow or fast. My spy story ought to have a bunch once it gets going but it'll take a bit to get to them.

+1 for this idea. It's a little bit harder to do a satisfying twist when you're in an anthology where that's expected, because the audience will be looking for it, but there are ways to do it. You can set up a twist with a red herring and then go in a different direction. You can go the 'the twist is that there is no twist!' route, but that only works once or twice. And alternatively, you can make the twist SO big and over the top that the audience still won't have been prepared for it.

On the subject of the "cuckquean" kink I was actually working towards adding something like that to a couple of my stories... but, that raises the question of exact definitions. On closer consideration I think that what I was planning (and which is ALSO a genre that there needs to be more of) would be more properly defined as "female NTR" rather than cuckquean since in the latter, the idea is that the female 'victim' is on board with it on at least some level and it's being initiated by her male lover, whereas I was imagining more of a scenario where the 'other woman' uses blackmail and forceful seduction (if not outright rape, at least at first) to steal the lover of the good girl, and then rubs it in her face at some point.

Another genre that I find to be dreadfully underused and frustratingly hard to find is the adventures of groups of slutty female friends who go on erotic adventures and have lots of casual sex, but not (usually) with one another, or at least not directly with one another. There are a few ero-mangas and webcomics out there with such a theme but it's always very rare and hard to come by, no pun intended. I like it because it allows them to tease each other and have rivalries and hang out together in ways that aren't possible if they are regularly hooking up with eachother, much less when they are immediately on the railroad to permanent exclusive couple-hood which seems to be the even more common route to take. CHYOAs with female protags are already a minority, and the examples where the protag encounters some other sexy, interesting girls and doesn't IMMEDIATELY get jumped on by them or vice-versa would seem like it's possible to count on one hand... if anyone has some good recommendations along those lines please do let me know.

My like of this gets doubly awkward because, sadly, (non-futa) lesbian content itself is also a bit more scarce on CHYOA than it ought to be, so when I write stories leading in such a direction, if it's getting any audience at all there will often be 2 or 3 commenters beating the drum of "Now have the girls start makin' out together!!! " and I often end up crumbling...

 

[brevdravis]

(BUNCHA REALLY GREAT STUFF CLIPPED)

My like of this gets doubly awkward because, sadly, (non-futa) lesbian content itself is also a bit more scarce on CHYOA than it ought to be, so when I write stories leading in such a direction, if it's getting any audience at all there will often be 2 or 3 commenters beating the drum of "Now have the girls start makin' out together!!! " and I often end up crumbling...

VERY guilty on my part too. I freely admit it. But it's FUN to write those scenes... sigh...

But great points all. I think the closest to MY version of Cuckquean... where the gal being "Cheated" on is actually an active and enthusiastic participant, up to an including joining in and hearing all about it... Enjoying the chase and the seductions... Would probably go with "Merteuil" just for the Literary/Porn Reference if I got to name it.

For your version... I think the closest so far is the "Homewrecker" Name? Where the gal breaks up a happy couple and humiliates the other woman. If there's more of a tinge to that, please let me know because I want to make sure I have it RIGHT.

Ok... have started working on "Tales of the Boudoir". Decided I wanted to do an anthology series, and CGUCE was just... silly, so dumped that IDEA. Have the first bits done, but want to get at least an example story for the format before I post. As of right now, it'll be a simplish one. You know... just to get the feel right. Going to crib from the originals, see what I can come up with, and will take a look at what I can do. Still in the middle of ASH, so will be a bit slow going, especially with my NND commitment as well. Gah... back to work!

 

[JWtts]

EDIT: Just thought of another! A relooping death story. I'm a sucker for those, ha ha. My Umineko one is the only one I know of... if anyone knows any of those, I'm all ears!

Do you mean like 'Happy Death Day' or 'Groundhog Day', but for the sake of CHYOA with sexy times involved? Or maybe the potential of sexy times, but *poof* fail/death before the act or right after and THEN you have to restart?

OR ... All you want to do is get home to have sexy times with your special person(s) (whatever category you want), but dammit, you keep getting dead along the way.

 

[MidbossMan]

Do you mean like 'Happy Death Day' or 'Groundhog Day', but for the sake of CHYOA with sexy times involved? Or maybe the potential of sexy times, but *poof* fail/death before the act or right after and THEN you have to restart?

OR ... All you want to do is get home to have sexy times with your special person(s) (whatever category you want), but dammit, you keep getting dead along the way.

Yes, that exactly! I love the potential for comedy, dark or otherwise. If you happen to know anything like that, I'd be very interested.

 

[JWtts]

Yes, that exactly! I love the potential for comedy, dark or otherwise. If you happen to know anything like that, I'd be very interested.

Haha, still pretty new here and haven't come across anything like that, but also haven't really looked. Though, I might've inspired myself with those ideas (or maybe another, faster writer who is adept at all the fancy CHYOA conditions, threading, looping, etc.).

Still reading, researching, analyzing, and trying to plot a manageable story to write for my first stab at CHYOA.

 

[insertnamehere]

On that note, I'd really like to see more stories that go all-in on game mode, like what MidbossMan and Almax create. Game mode has a lot of potential to immerse the reader. Far too often, it's open but unused; that is, the variable space will display "No score yet." for every chapter. Variable-heavy stories require dedication and effort, but the payoff is definitely worthwhile.

 

[Testytesterton]

Oh man I can really talk ad nauseam about this. A big one is character corruption. Too often stories have characters already immediately down for deviance or mildly reluctant to full on slut in one scene. I like seeing characters whittled away, and sometimes even able to try to pull back from the path they're on, only to get in even deeper later. It can take a lot more time, but it's my favorite thing to write and you can still include the quicker instant gratification scenes for more crowd pleasing fare.

I like building up a character almost as much. Seeing a character start at the bottom, and rising to the occasion after the appropriate amount of hardships so it feels earned. The rarer a happy ending and the harder it is to achieve, the more satisfying it is.

Also yes always to twists, especially if you can go back to earlier chapters to see where the foundation was laid.