Consent in Stories (18+)

[CaptiveDan]

What is your preferences in fiction when it comes to consent? Obviously in real life tying someone up and doing things to them without their permission is illegal, immoral, and harmful. But stories and fantasies about people being captured against their will can be fun and harmless as long as people know they're not rude and not condoning the behavior.

Do y'all prefer reading stories where people all agree to be tied up? Stories that follow good practices with safe words, discussion before hand, hard limits and boundaries? Times when the characters are excited to be bound and ask for it?

Or do you like the fantasy/fiction of people being taken against their will? People being kidnapped and used and desperately trying to get free? Nefarious actors tricking naive victims, kidnapping people by force, or pushing things way further than they thought.

Personally I lean a lot more towards the "we want this" side, though I like to have some amount of "against their will". Like scenes and dynamics that are consensual, but the tied person is still trying to get free / still resists what's happening even if they trust their partner not to hurt them. That being said, I've have really enjoyed reading stories in the past where someone is taken against their will, even if its not what I usually write.

What about y'all?

[WhereAmI]

I'm sorry Mr Character but I have to ask you "Do you approve of me tying you up?", Oops sawry times up, im going to have tie you up no matter if you approve or not cuz that's what I do.

[Kyle]

I started interested in capture/kidnap/hostage kind of dynamics you see in TV shows, books, or movies, which would be nonconsensual scenes. Of course, an actual game should be consensual, though I do kind of like the idea of someone who's hoping to avoid it or something similar, like making it a bet, a game, or some other type of competition.

[silvertejp590]

Great question! I think I lean slightly more towards non-consensual. On just a basic level, having someone tied up against their will is an important source of a lot of the dramatic tension in bondage fiction. Which in turn makes for a more engaging story.

That said, I do enjoy reading and writing good stories about consensual bondage. There's something that makes me feel good when I read stories where all characters involved feel safe doing it and are having fun.

[JulieG]

For me bondage is fun, so the “victim”should a,ways enjoy it in th end. My favourite is someone being tied up, by surprise (unwilling) yhe discovering they enjoy it.

[ExcessivelyCurious]

In general I enjoy a variety of stories, so whatever fits that specific tale.

There are certainly a number of things I can enjoy in fiction that would be quite unacceptable in reality. And especially for something more plot-heavy, good for fiction to have some conflict, drama, perhaps even peril (although for these stories I still prefer a happy ending).

Of course, can still have a good story of consensual bondage. Particularly when it gets more intimate.

[illest]

I like both in different ways. Generally when it's consensual it's fun and makes for my usual realistic setting. However occasionally it's hot to see certain fictional scenarios in which they are taken prisoner kidnapped as long as it's either tongue-in-cheek or in a scenario where you know eventually the damsels will be free.

My two favorite comics in that respect are Discipline Diary by Benny Paan and the Goth Domme arc with Elijah Pink. Discipline Diary became my favorite bondage series of all time with the two main characters being bound by one. It was light-hearted but became progressively dark towards the end. Not so much as real torture or brutal but they became more accepting that they were going to stay as toys for their captor.

Elijah Pink's story was very similar. Both were dealing with their captor acting out in revenge. However Goth Domme was much more aggressive in her ties and the predicaments she had the trio in. It was to the point that she was using one strictly as furniture, not even calling her by name any more and keeping her in complete confinement when not being used. Scenarios like that while not (entirely)fun in reality are hot to think about and when the damsels finally do get freed and their own measure of revenge it's so satisfying.

[YourCaptor75]

I like when it oscillates.
'I consented to this as a bet, but it went too far'- or 'it ain't bondage till you want out' takes you from willing to unwilling.

Stockholm syndrom, of various levels, takes you from unwilling to willing.

Both are really, really fascinating templates for looking at the psychology of bondage.

[YourCaptor75]

For me bondage is fun, so the “victim”should a,ways enjoy it in th end. My favourite is someone being tied up, by surprise (unwilling) yhe discovering they enjoy it.

Exactly; yer a woman of culture Mrs. JulieG

[KidnappedCowboy]

First and foremost, I write fiction. Real life is completely different, where consent between adults with all related rules beforehand agreed to applies.

It depends on my stories. They are all fanciful. One is about an organization kidnapping male athletes, law enforcement officers, and other good looking men because it wants to control the world through them. In that story the characters who are kidnapped do not consent. Another story involves a gentleman jewel thief who likes to tie up men in ingenious ways that they end up enjoying it.

Other stories involve nonconsensual bondage with characters ranging from a slimmed down and muscular Santa Claus to well-established professors kidnapped by a villainous, younger professor.

I like to let my imagination run wild with stories about men (9 x's out of 10 gay men) getting tied up and gagged. It's fun, and probably stems from all the 007, superhero, and cowboy films, tv shows, comics, and books I liked reading when I was younger, where the hero and others usually ended up getting bound and gagged.

[Amberbound]

I think non-consensual stories have their place in fantasies and the like, but there’s always something fun about a victim who is completely on board with being tied.

I think some of my favorites actually end up being “consensual non consent” where one agrees to a rough scenario without safe words or the like. Could never irl, but for a fantasy it’s fun

[puddy300]

In real life, it's only fully consensual bondage. In fantasy/stories, I like a mix. Sometimes I want everyone to be fully on board, and sometimes I want it to be more like consensual non-consensual. I think my favorites are my own biggest fantasy, which usually involves someone not wanting to be tied up, but finding out they love it once they are. Or agreeing to being tied up, and then their captor takes it too far.

[Flyingvulture]

I like having all ranges of consent in stories, from non-con to Consent-Non-Consent.

IRL of course, everything must be with consent.

[tiedinbluetights]

I selected "Signed up for this! Agreed to be bound, just like real life bondage (hopefully)", but have been thinking about this more. It actually depends for me on multiple factors.

For starters, true stories for me must absolutely always be mutually and continually consenting, regardless of anything else. As clearly pointed out, it would be illegal, immoral, and harmful otherwise.

However, for fictional stories it is not so simple, and it depends for me on multiple factors as I already stated. One such factor is exactly what type of "adult (18+)" elements are involve. Bondage isn't sexual for me, and can exist without sexual undertones, but it can become entwined with sexual acts, and when it does so, non-consent is a hard no-go for me, even if the story is 100% fictional.

Another is how close to reality the fictional story is. The closer to reality the fictional story is, the more uncomfortable I am with fictional non-consent and thus more likely to not read it or give up on reading it.

[DeeperThanRed]

While I like stories where characters consent to getting tied up beforehand (either directly or implicitly), a lot of my writing tends to fall under the rules of classic bodice ripper books: characters don't want to get kidnapped and tied up against their will but suddenly discover they... enjoy it? when they actually end up trussed up and gagged.

[Croup]

If playing in real life I 100% want enthusiastic consent from all sides, safewords, discussion of boundaries, limits, etc.

If reading a story I 100% want the fantasy of hunks kidnapped against their wills and put in hot, sexy peril where they must struggle to escape.

I can only speak for myself, but reading a story that gets bogged down with rl consent issues can often feel boring, because I'm much more interested in the fantasy of strong men tied up like I always saw in comics, cartoons, and movies as a kid. It's great to depict kink scenes realistically, but that's just not what I'm here for.

In addition, and this is more from a storytelling perspective, but a story where a sub wants to be tied up, asks to be tied, and then is tied up is just... not particularly exciting to read. Where's the conflict? In order to have one you have to start introducing other factors, and those usually only get the story further from the bondage fantasy I'm looking for. There are exceptions of course, but that's how it is for me in general.

Your own work, CaptiveDan, toes the line really well between both consent and nonconsent, with your characters all part of a competitive bondage club so they're all consenting on some level to be bound but compete over who wins each contest. It's actually a very interesting dynamic I don't see often.

[Terry]

All my fanfics and fantasies etc are always non-consentual and involve kidnapping etc. A lot of them are always in fantasy worlds also.

[gothindistress]

I always like it to be against my will! (I usually write stories about myself haha) it’s way more fun that way, to struggle and fight as much as I can, act all angry and scared and helpless, and get totally humiliated when I can’t do anything to get free! Sometimes it’ll be like, I maybe secretly like it, but I still don’t want it

[Tsuhaya]

Like most people here have already said IRL, consent is mandatory in any practice or relationship, and that's non negotiable. But in fiction, I enjoy reading and writing about reluctant victims and non-con scenarios, guys who don't want to be bound and gagged but end up that way regardless. I really like the dynamic of danger, struggle, and urgency in stories like that.

[Pfaster]

Of course IRL needs to be 100% consent all the way.
But in stories, I prefer the "something in between". Best description i could think of would be "biting off more than you can chew" or "in over your head". A scene where, while willing or even enthusiastic, participant doesn't foresee every situation and ends up "stuck" in bondage of their own making.
One thing i also like is role reversals or turnabout. Doesn't have to be strictly switching sides it can also be the "lower" position dominating the "upper" position. Best example, and a staple of my fantasies, would be a magician/escape artist ending up at the mercy(or a full on submissive) of their new assistant. The more experienced "boss" hires a new and inexperienced "employee", the "employee" does better than expected so the "boss" pretty much trapped themselves in a no way out position and they are the mercy of their own assistant.

[Redman]

It depends on the story. Some stories are about two people playing a game, others are about kidnappings or robberies. Those need the correct amount of consent for their situations. I guess I fall somewhere in between, as I've written both. In "Vacation Games" and "Father Son Bonding," everything is 100% consensual. Whereas in "Propper Planning" and "Doppelganger" I wrote completely non-con bondage.

I think my main preference is CNC. Like in my work "Intruder" and "Son Swap" where there is an understood enjoyment of tugs, but the subs did not get the option to consent to the game at the time. So, hybrid Consent wins in my book.

[Fay4you]

I like it best to put myself in the subject's shoes. An embarrassing position where I want to to say no, but feel I can't. Reluctantly agreeing.

[CaptiveDan]

Thanks for all y'all's responses! It's great to see just how varies peoples' preferences for fictional consent (and the lack thereof) is!

[Janbound]

Full consent preferred, may be staring off resisting or forced but ultimately enjoying it all