Preferences and popularity, a ramble

[Sablesword]

Or maybe more of a rant. Something I have to get off my chest, anyway.

Audiences are persnickety. I know I am when I'm the audience for a story or piece of artwork. Some of it is a matter of technical quality, but although that's important to me, high technical quality isn't sufficient. Hitting my 'hot' buttons (and not hitting my 'cold' buttons) is just as important, and pure luck plays a role as well.

And of course different people have different hot & cold buttons. My own set includes:

o M/M and F/F - cold. I'd like to see most anything but those two.

o Strong bondage - hot. I want lees to be able to struggle without being able to escape, avoid the tickling, or hurt themselves.

o Tickling as a terrifying agony - cold. I like tickling to be a not-torment, or a fake torment, or an ambiguous torment. Or something the lee is trying to learn to like, for whatever reason. Although for some reason I do have more tolerance for male lees suffering torment from the tickling.

o Lers as sadists - cold. Unless they're failed sadists who are getting fooled. And lers who are sadistic and degrading toward the lees in other ways are also a big ugh for me. (E.g. a ler who eats well while making the lee eat slop between tickle-sessions.)

o Science fiction & fantasy - hot. Or exotic settings in general. Mainstream settings I don't care for so much. However...

o Fanfic/fanart - cold. This applies to tk fan-stuff based on non-tk works. (Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, various anime, etc.) A story based on a tk drawing (or vice versa) is a feather of a different color.

o Likewise "celebrity" tickling leaves me cold. No, I don't want to read a story about a famous actress getting tickled silly.

o Poser art - cold. I can recognize that some of it is very high quality, but I just can't warm to it.

Finally,

o Licking of feet - cold. I'll make an exception for purely non-sapient animals (e.g. goats vs a stocked lee) here. But - and this will brand me as a total pervert - I just don't get the whole "oral sex" thing. I find the whole concept of the mouth wandering below a partner's waist to be so icky that I wouldn't even want to be on the receiving end, much less the giving end. Yes, I'm a total pervert - I DON'T WANT a "blowjob" thankyouverymuch.

As I said, different people will have different druthers. These are just mine, and I *know* that many people are the complete opposite of me on many of these points. There are people out there who would really really like more sadistic f/f celebrity mainstream footlicking bondage-free fanfic.

And from my point of view that feels like the majority position, even as the fans of such think that my preference is the over-catered-to majority. I think there is a Rule that everyone feels like their own preference in these matters is a beleaguered minority.

Now that I've ignited the fla- er, started the discussion, what are other peoples hot & cold buttons?

 

[Sockstickler]

I have to admit, this is a very interesting subject, and one that I feel can provoke some very interesting discussion. I too do have some sort of hot and cold buttons as you put it. Some of them might sound weird, and at least one or two might get me chased off the forums, but this is a place for posting of opinions, is it not? Viva la difference!
1. Preferences of victims and ticklers: F/F and M/F: Hot. F/M and M/M: Cold. I would sooner see females tickled than males, though it doesn't matter to me who's doing the tickling itself.
2. Tickling in socks and stockings: Very hot. To me, stockings look very sexy, and socks look both sexy and adorable at the same time. Anything where a girl gets tickled in these is always welcome.
3. Bare feet: Cold. Now here I can hear axes being sharpened and pitchforks and torches being brought out. I can't help it though. Ever since I was a kid, I've never really liked the look of bare feet. I'd much rather see them in socks, even if it means the tickling isn't quite as effective. To me though, this also has a bonus. It does mean the victim in a story can be tickled for a longer time without being driven nuts, which brings me to...
4. Tickling as torture: BIG cold. I see tickling as something fun and enjoyable, not torturous and unbearable. Some people may be into that kind of thing, but I can't say I am.
5. Playful tickling: This is my favorite kind. There aren't too many stories that work this part in, which is really sad. It can be even more enjoyable when both parties are having fun.
6. Tickle Monsters: Can be hot. This can be really cool if done right. I've seen some tickle monsters turn out really well.
7. Ass or pussy tickling: Major league cold. Absolutely frigid. As weird as it sounds, I also don't see tickling as sexual at all, and those often involve removal of clothing, which I'm not too big on either.
8. Ripping off of clothing: Big time cold. If I see this, odds are I'll just back away. Tickling is fun, but I don't really see the need to be destructive when getting set for it. Leave those clothes be I say. Taking off shoes or something, that's one thing. Ripping socks, stockings, shirts, or pants, that's something else.
Now, I'm not getting on anyone's case who does like these or who does use them, because I know there are a lot. These are just my personal preferences, crazy though they may be. Thanks for your time reading this one🙂

 

[Sablesword]

3. Bare feet: Cold. Now here I can hear axes being sharpened and pitchforks and torches being brought out. I can't help it though. Ever since I was a kid, I've never really liked the look of bare feet.

"Pitchforks! Get your pitchforks herel!" 😀

I make a big fuss about bare feet on the various bondage sites ("If the model isn't barefoot, she isn't in bondage. She's just... tied up.") But somehow I didn't even think of this when listing my own hot & cold buttons for tickle-stuff. For me, bare feet: Hot. But I should have guessed that mileage varies even among tickle fans. Especially given the number of tickle-fans who complain about too much emphasis on the feet and want to see more upperbody tickling.

So it goes.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

OK, I'll add my two bits here. And yes Sable my interests diverge from yours somewhat. We are all different, thats pretty apparent. I like your system here rather straightforward and easy to interpret. I don't see any reason for flames you have your preferences and I have mine. If somebody don't care for mine. Oh well, too bad. 🙂

o M/M cold, F/M usually cold, M/F warmer, F/F hot

o Strong bondage - warm to hot. It really depends on the story. Its not a dealbreaker or a requirement.

o Tickling as a terrifying agony - warm. Again, it depends on the story or the setting. Sometimes it works or it doesn't. Not a requirement.

o Lers as sadists - cold to warm. I would tend to agree with you here. I've read stories where the ler totally pissed me off by the superior attitude. Yet, I do have a sadistic streak but its tempered with the reality that the setting is pure fantasy. Nothing is truly being inflicted.

o Science fiction & fantasy - hot. I agree here there is just so much more freedom when the bonds of reality are shattered.

o Fanfic/fanart - Varies, some stuff I like some I don't. No hard and fast opinion here. The pic / story needs to be good that's all.

o "celebrity" - cold, agreed. I find this stuff annoying.

o Poser art - cold usually. One or two I have liked most just don't seem right. An illustration or drawing is one thing. A poser image tries to be real and in that attempt at reality the result is warped and tells me to be afraid because this person is not of this Earth.

o Licking (smelling) of feet - cold, agreed. Nothing to see here, move along.

A few of my own additions...

o Animals involved in the tickling - cold, I just don't get it. I hate the goat licking clip *shivers*.

o Furry art is different though, its a totally different animal, err... I can get into it... sometimes...

o Zerbits cold... go away...

o Beard tickling cold... ditto...

o Female lee in an unbound position, required to remain in given position or else... hot hot hot (danger situations, remaining silent falls into here as well).

Finally,
"I DON'T WANT a "blowjob" thankyouverymuch." Couldn't disagree more. 😀

 

[TKLVR181]

1. Preferences of victims and ticklers: I don't really mind. M/M and F/F when it's sexual can get nasty, so that's cooler than m/f or f/m. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in at the time as to which I prefer.
2-3. Foot tickling in general. I'm not really into it, probably because my feet aren't ticklish in the least. I'm just not a foot fetishist. I don't have a problem with those that do, and it's not a cold for me either.

4. Tickling as torture: BIG cold. I see tickling as something fun and enjoyable, not torturous and unbearable. Some people may be into that kind of thing, but I can't say I am.
5. Playful tickling: This is my favorite kind. There aren't too many stories that work this part in, which is really sad. It can be even more enjoyable when both parties are having fun.

We both know we feel the same on this subject, so let me re-iterate. Tickling as torture--biggest turn off I can think of for me personally. Playful tickling is definitely my favorite, definitely the most fun for me to read, watch, experiance, whatever.


6. Tickle Monsters: It has to be done right, not vulgar, but if it is, it's a hot.
7. Ass or pussy tickling: Um, yuck.
8. Ripping off of clothing: Too violent for my tastes. Like I said, I like playful and consensual, not violent in any way.

~K