It's fiction, of course, but most of the people here wouldn't play a game starring a serial rapist.
So if I have a stomachache with blackmail then just because I can't ignore how the woman would feel.
That's one reason. The other reason is that as the blackmail stories are written in most games,
they run again in a parallel universe to the virtual game world. They remain without consequences for
the blackmailer and the blackmailed (provided it concerns their previous social status).
Because that's exactly what we as players don't want to deal with the consequences of blackmail.
We want the side door.
Most blackmail stories amount to a breach of will. This is simply reinterpreted here as "she enjoys it".
It just messes up the story for me when the developer makes it so easy for himself. Even in a fictional story,
an emotional logic must follow. And that doesn't mean I put Sophia in underwear in front of the school class
and then call it erotic.
No, most people wouldn't play a game with a serial rapist, anymore than we would revel in a game where the protagonist is a torturer or a killer. Such niche fictions exist, however, so it becomes a case of where do you draw the line? AWAM has gained popularity because of a focus on breaking taboos such as incest. I don't pretend to have the moral high ground with my personal detestation of this facet of the game (which is one of the main plotlines, after all) & my post was in reaction to a welter of contributions which seemed to suggest that any form of coercion, such as blackmail, was reprehensible to the point of being unacceptable, even if conducted in the realms of fantasy. A taboo too far, so to speak.
Put directly, if I don't spend my time denigrating incest at every opportunity & just accept it as someone else's kink, I can't then appreciate 'holier than thou' tirades from fans who don't like blackmail & choose to declare this fact in fairly strident terms. There has to be a toleration of each others' preferences, along with some modicum of understanding that we all have different tastes.
I appreciate that it's easy to become invested in fictional characters & I sometimes find myself hoping for a happy ending to AWAM but I still enjoy the blackmail. I am one of those who'll never reinterpret anything along the lines of, "she enjoys it." This is a lazy, unrealistic formula which plagues much of erotic fiction, (as well as RL but with hideous consequences). When Sophia becomes a happy participant or takes the initative in Aiden's schemes, it will cease being blackmail & as I've said elsewhere, it will be another routine sex game with consensual participants. If & when this happens, it signifies, for me, the end of the fun.
There was more to be gained, as I saw it, from maintaining the Bennett storyline, if he'd found some better leverage for his blackmail. I prefer Sophia dealing with other adults. Bennett illustrates the appeal of blackmail when he has Sophia take off her panties in the restaurant. If he'd asked her to do this & she'd readily agreed, this would not have been erotic. It was the element of being compelled to do something against her nature that made this such a memorable scene. This was real progress. Sophia standing in front of the class in her underwear, although a delightful sight no doubt, would not be erotic. There has to be a subtler approach that I feel doesn't chime with Aiden.
I don't wish to see any long-term damage to Sophia. I don't even want her marriage to break down, not really but I also don't want to wrap her in cotton wool. Blackmail provides the edge this game needs. It's a question of how long will it do this. Again, put directly, incest fans are well catered for & I'm not complaining. Where I will complain is when the blackmail descends into a sex romp farce.
