Forums » RP Discussion » RP Etiquette - Smut RPs vs Plot+Smut RPs

If this isn't the right place to post this, I apologise. I was thinking about posting it in the 18+ forums since it's a mature subject but again, not quite the right place. ono But anywho.

As someone who enjoys both well developed story driven plots with lots of chances for character development as well as purely smut driven RP, I just wanted to know everyone's opinion on it. Does it put you off a role-player because they also enjoy smut RP, regardless of the fact they also have a keen interest in story plots?

I want to get back into roleplaying here. I honestly do, but I wanna try and find the right people to play with. Someone who is keen to get into some really deep plot of adventure, but also open to the opportunity to do something purely for the sake of smut. I'm having quite a hard time finding those sorts of role-players, always preferring one over the other, and I'm not 100% sure why that is. (Age and comfort aside of course.)

So I just wanna know what everyone here thinks about this. Since I'm planning on wanting to create a massive plot with the main characters of my plot, as well as get into some one-shot smut stuff on the side.

The sad part is, I know your pain, but on a different level. I adore smut with plot, but I also want one-shot sexy times too. However... The only thing holding me back isn't finding compatible partners, but my own characters.

My darling muses, as much as I love them, are one hundred percent stuck on smut with plot in terms of RP. They won't do anything else nowadays unless it's via NSFW art (which I rarely do anyway because intimidation reasons...). Over 50% smut, and they get angry and won't say anything. So it's not that I'm unwilling to do pure smut: my muses are the ones unwilling to do pure smut. They're just not built for it, and it's a shame.

In fact, I only have two characters that I'd love to use for pure sexy times one day. The rest are set on smut with plot or just having artwork drawn of them in those situations, and I can't change that, no matter how much I want pure smut in RP. (Then again, most of my muses are more focused on my BURST project rather than pure RP anyway...)

Overall, I'm kinda like you, though I lean towards one or the other depending on my mood. But I'm always open for pure smut or smut with plot. My muses on the other hand? Aside from two, not so much.

I always find myself drifting back and forth, honestly. I am pretty much always drawn towards Plot with Smut though.

I enjoy a good story, and I feel a good story that can lead to those sexy times makes it all the more enjoyable. That way once the sexy scene ends, there is something else to continue on with.

I think for me, I can't just do the same thing continuously. There has to be a shift, IC, of what is currently going on, every couple of posts. Otherwise I feel like I've been posting the same thing again and again. Now, that of course means I can easily go between heavy plot to pure smut, at the flick of a switch! Jumping back and forth, almost filling every 'in between scene' with Smut before getting into some heavy plot again... Mmmmph~!~



I know smut is a part of all my RPs though. It doesn't have to necessarily be between the player characters either though. I actually NPC other scenes going on as fillers to some spots as well. My character, Jericho, is actually infamous for such scenes as a club owner. I'll have him doing one thing completely non smut related, while in the same post fill in background details with something sexy still going on in the scene.

It's like an attraction to action movies. Lol
Just needs to have Violence and Nudity, and it's just plain enjoyable

That's my take on the whole thing though.

Finding just the right people for just what you had in mind is always a tough thing to do. They may be few and far between, or they might be waiting for the (scenario/plot/topic) to be posted for them to finally find and see.

Personally, I try to keep an open mind for the plot, and the characters I play are generally open to potential (love interest/smut) within the story. Very rarely will I want the story to revolve around sexy times, but if the situation within the plot leads to such, then I'm personally not opposed.

I'm pretty much alright with either. I like there to be at least a modicum of background as to why the characters are interacting, if I get that I'm good. I generally prefer a plot, even a short one, but I've done one off scenes involving smut before too. To each their own, really. As another said above, it can be easier justifying some characters getting 'right down and dirty' versus others.

Personally, I enjoy a good plot/story as well as a plot/story that has the potential for smut content to appear as well. I don't really do strictly erotica plots, Story is important to me as well, even with my character Jyotis who is in a rather mature environment most of the time. I love to RP as him in a plot with an amazing/interesting story that has the capability of smut arriving, But never strictly erotica.

As a few others have already mentioned, it can be hard to find roleplay partners with the same interests. Especially on a subject like this. Most like one or the other, but there are us choice few who enjoy the combination of the two! I really hope you find the RP partners you're looking for c: I only have a handful of them so far, myself. Hopefully my input wasn't bothersome.

I rarely go with a purely smut rp, because it rarely holds my interest. It's the why of the situation, and the situation itself, that holds a lot of value for me. Like Darkon said, I need some background and context. Also, the chemistry for the characters and myself and my partner's preferences have to match up. Whenever there is too much smut in an rp, I feel like I'm just being repetitive and get bored.

The plot:smut ratio, for me, is usually a lot more plot and smut for that reason. Maybe 70:30 or 80:20? But there are a couple rp partners that I have who are pretty much just a lot more smut than plot. But I have a great OOC friendship with the player, our characters have chemistry, etc. Kind of like some fun on the side.

I am always down for a fantasy adventure with some smut on the side, MxF scenes, if you wanna PM me sometime!

Anyone who knows me (under any of my guises as I've drifted in and out of this place) can affirm my unwavering belief in most all I'm going to say. And I intend to be painfully blunt about this, through and through. If it offends those of a differing opinion, well, I'm quite certain I'll be able to live with that, but it's really not my intent - just a possible outcome.

I say this, because I don't imagine that (given the above responses and countless interactions prior) what I believe is what one might call a "popular opinion". And I doubt that many who share my sentiments will really do so with great appeal to the point of indulging each viewpoint. Regardless of this, I'll make my points here and now:

Erotica is preferable to me over either smut or plot-based tales that disregard sexual exploit entirely. And the constant misuse of seeking/applying for smut when erotica would be more fitting is just outrageously gross; it is so rampant a misuse that I honestly believe that many do so out of pure ignorance to the difference than an abject distaste for erotica on the whole. Of course, as has already been shown, some truly do just find it icky.

I'm not out to convince such types, and they aren't really people I concern myself with, in this or elsewhere. Forgive me. I know that makes me sound rude. But I'm being blunt. The countering views, valid or otherwise, just aren't of any value to me. So, if you already don't agree, that's fine. I'd advise you to not continue reading. Otherwise, have at it...



Drawing context into a plot is, while intriguing, often nothing more than a smokescreen that is ineptly constructed, and then, blown over what could by itself be an engaging interaction between like-minded adults. The core of lewd and articulate assaults to one's psyche by interposing an experience that derives solely from the placement of sexual tensions is an exploration that isn't easily handled correctly. It is more than a use of terminology for genitalia in creative ways; more than a casual or additional placeholder for plot progression or characterized unions. There is a plethora of verbose expansions through emoting retrospect, inspection of social and personal experimentation, horrific traumas both created and diffused, as well as a number of powerful lamentations using a vast number of potential settings that cater to the nature of sex. It can imprint importance on world structure and the emotional economics of a fantasy-based tale. The unspeakable and unknowable is often best untangled through physical interactions that can only occur when a character is laid bare by initial intent, carried by the exacting purpose of doing so, and few plot mechanisms do this as richly as erotic stimulation.

But this is often overlooked, underplayed, and out-and-out shot with scorn by many who would seek partnership with someone who is aptly fit to provide and receive that manner of roleplay.

Again, to be perfectly clear, it's a shit ton of work to do right, and most are seemingly unwilling to branch out from the safety presented elsewhere.

It requires far more than a commitment to diversity in vernacular, a competent skill in pacing and placement of mystery, and a truly wild mindset. And that mindset must be open to accepting the physical form as a grandiose manifestation of the perverse - to be shown and used as such to the benefit of a tale that places these factors above much else.

Much. Not all.

It requires fearlessness and an abundant use of one's ability to exceed expectation with what can be contrived as a rather mundane set of tools by comparison to some other world building regiments.

I find that failure to do so stems heavily on a lack of real world experience in devious and delightful handlings within a bedroom or elsewhere, if you get my meaning. Not that I'm trying to insult those without it. But this can easily be conquered by research and personal drive. Placing one's education in the care of another in these arts isn't something that should be sneered at, nor should the delivery be expected to of the utmost quality at the outset. Growth and exploration take time, and while a firm yet caring hand is ideal, it can be difficult to find anyone who is willing to learn how to approach erotica with a fearsome style, rich in promising commitment to detail.

Looking at smut or erotica as nothing more than sex with words is just inaccurate at best, foolish at worst. Utilizing the atmosphere, social dynamics, cues and balances to the advantage of unearthing the most finite of details in a character and the world they exist in is not a child's plaything. It can have lasting effects, both good and bad...

Even so, it should be fun. That is, it should be written to be pleasing, even if the premise is one of torture and abuse. A tale of whores and slavery doesn't innately design an atmosphere in which the lines are already drawn and therefore labeled solely by expectation. This is roleplay. The devil is not alone in the details, and beside him are bountiful angels waiting to string up a free soul with tethers to a manifold of debauchery. That's where the root of hearts can be found. Getting those details to be explicit can be trying when a partner or creator doesn't grasp the possibilities, and is closed to seeing the full picture - or imagines they already have an idea what to expect and therein defeats the purpose of playing at all.

The idea that one sex-heavy tale is about the same as the last or one after is a jaded misinterpretation of just how enveloping erotica can aim to be in the right hands. Or how dangerous.

It starts to get very personal, at around that point, when one's ideals of what an enjoyable experience in the carnal affairs might be, and when contrasted, can become arguments in the making. Some fighting can be healthy among roleplayers as they unravel what makes the seedlings of an idea grow from nothing more than a sense of needling urgency to a bursting expanse of liquid heat spread through united wordplay. Tapping into another person's sexual nature is so very arousing that it's almost a drug, and getting a response from that drug that is truly worth the effort can be so difficult that it doesn't even seem worth it at times.

This large amount of improper return on investment should not, of course, govern the appeal. No matter how delicious or unpleasant the experience, it is always an experience, same as any other roleplay device.

Smut is a nice sheet laid over a story of substances otherwise crafted, where daring and the caprice of adventurous muses make us capable of sprinkling bits of tease and romance where it is plainly sex that is wished for. That is not always the nature of smut, yet it often labeled improperly as the medium it claims to be. And while this can be fun, it is not erotica as a literary platform. The two just aren't the same, and while I could argue and go further into that, I won't, because, "meh". It's easy to research yourself.

And yes, you could just go to some cyber chat and get your fix, if all you wanted was to see "boobs" or some such written out in dubious language with piddle-poor attentions given to the actual endeavor, under a poor landscape. It's just part of the issue when this is how the mediums are taken. It isn't enough. It doesn't capture the essence of roleplay when all that is required is to contrive that erotica is the act of writing out sex. That's hardly even the surface of its use, but some can't be troubled to see it any other way.

Labeling such pursuits as seeking "Sex over plot" or some such is just waving a hand at what is every bit as virtuous a task as building a world that disregards said sex in large portions. Tantalizing writing is not some easily managed feat that any bloke off the street can whip out like a streaker on fair day. It can entail every single facet that a plot-heavy, non-lewd story endeavors to unfold, except it comes with a focal point of the flesh, for any number of valid and interesting reasons, that can lead to very awe inspiring results.

If those reasons don't interest you, you aren't someone I'm interested in knowing in a roleplay setting when interacting in IC is concerned. We just wouldn't get one another. From visual acumen to character development to interposing real scenarios into works of vivid fictions, we'd be completely incompatible. The bare bones reason for this is that a "Smut RP" is not a "Plot+Smut RP" and both are - to me - nothing short of sips of water where I aim to become drunk with passion. Placing the right character with the right mental accessory to form is difficult enough; applying it a tale actively painted to erotic specifications is and should be a tentative endeavor, treated with respect to process and goal. While smut is not erotica or the reverse, in this, they share a very similar trait.

Even so, they aren't attacked in the a same manner, or approached with the same concepts on the whole, and plot that fiddles with smut is so far removed that it isn't really of the same accord at all.

Are either of these formats I strain away from worthy of my contempt? Hardly. They're enjoyable, exciting, rich in possibilities, and easy to embrace if one is so inclined. But I cherish the trials of crafting work that shares in the aspirations of uncanny tentativeness, that just so happens to be anything but bashful or ashamed of stripping itself down to the most primal and savage natures that often spring up in the world we all share.

When I say I prefer erotica, I prefer it for all that it can be, not only because there is sex within it at the core. I cherish the performance, and those who perform. I'm a human, and I know what my parts are meant to do. Putting that into fantasy excites my muse, and finding it in equal form has been all but impossible.

Finding one of a hunger for sexual frolic isn't the hard part. Finding a person with the courage to do it in the manner that leaves their characters exposed emotionally is more challenging. Locating an individual that respects the use of the body (no matter the setting from which they stem), and can engage in keeping to the actual formula presented without seeking to alter its state into something more than it is... well.

I wouldn't be here ranting if such a person was readily about my person. But I've had such persons in my presence, and have cemented myself in the opinion that erotica done right can be fundamental to making a world that I would want to read even if I had not crafted it with another myself.

Smut? It's... okay. It almost always undercuts its own nature by involving plot points that are clearly there simply to amend for it's existence, as though the parts that make it sloppy wet should have a finger waved at them. And when it is a telling of sex for the reading of sex, like many, I don't much see the point if there is no context by which to base the interactions. However, I can't for the life of me grasp why the examination of lewd exchanges between characters in a world ripe with such avenues can't be of equal context, of equal import.

I dislike anything that is uncomfortable being itself, openly, honestly; unapologetic to opposition. From bedrock to sky, all involved should be clear about what is on the table, what is the ambition, and the characters clearly ready and designed for the experience at hand. Even if some facets of the tale are left to mystery at the beginning.

In the end, smut made to breach delicacy and plot carved towards a goal of rich physical interactions in a world that supports this behavior with pillars of stone and not pudding is my sweet spot in heaven. Anything less and I just get the feeling it's trying too hard to avoid that which - when push comes to shove - is the ebb and flow of life itself. Then again, I've seen stories without it as the cradling ideal be fantastic. So I'm not saying it has to always be such to be entertaining.

You just won't find me anywhere near them.

Take it however you will. I will now remove myself from the conversation, as I really have nothing to add beyond this, and if you don't agree, then you don't agree. You have that right. Adios.