Appeal of unwilling prey in vore?

[EloquentOrc]

I have a question that might seem provocative, but please know that it is not meant to be.
So here goes:

What is the appeal of unwilling prey? I have never quite been able to understand this. I am not talking about ex. use of force or pain in stories. These can be a part of the vore, but it can still be an enjoyable experience for the prey.

I am talking about prey dying in agony and misery, begging for mercy and the pred enjoying their torment. I just can't get into this mindset. To me, the enjoyment of one's partner is an inextricable part of sex. Even in a fictional setting, I cannot imagine getting pleasure from someone having an undiluted horrible experience and only wish for it to end.

And it feels different than say, furry. Something that doesn't appeal to me at all. But I can still understand how someone with other tastes can enjoy it.

Again this is not meant to be provocative. I am not making some stupid judgement of people's character based on their spank preferences.

It is just something that has been in the back of my mind for long time, as I scroll down, seeing stories with the "unwilling prey" tag, wondering what people get out of it.

I hope someone can give me some insight

[TheKawaiiCommie]

We crave pain and suffering. There's not much more to it, at least for me.

[ObsidianSnake]

I write/draw varying levels of willing and unwillingness. I'm more interested in the domination and submission elements, but unlike many others interested in those themes, I'm not very interested in sadism or deliberate cruelty. That's why I take so much inspiration from the relationship between natural predators and their prey: they each have their needs that put them into conflict in which both agents are sympathetic.

To be fair, you expressly asked about the sadistic elements, "I am talking about prey dying in agony and misery, begging for mercy and the pred enjoying their torment", but I want to highlight that there's other narrative motives for writing unwilling prey stories.

[IcyDead]

I think one of the differences comes from comparing vore to sex, and thus trying to add a sense of realism to the pleasure in a fantasy scenario. I see this need for realism in your comment of "Even in a fictional setting, I cannot imagine getting pleasure from...", which appears as if you are using yourself as a self-insert. As such, you seem to take the pain and suffering of the prey rather literally. There's nothing wrong with any of this, but I don't believe this is the angle that those who are into unwilling prey usually take.

[Trebortron3]

I may be wrong, but you seem to be conflating two concepts there that aren't necessarily connected. There's unwilling prey, and then there's graphic, fatal digestion or hard vore. I'm sure there's a significant overlap between fans of those two ideas, but as someone who is exclusively interested in unwilling prey, I also don't find graphic/painful digestion appealing, and I am immediately and entirely put off by hard vore.

So to offer my perspective as a fan of unwilling prey, for me it's entirely about domination. In real life I'm entirely and exclusively interested in consensual relationships, and I'd take a hard line on attempts to subvert that, but in terms of fantasy, I always enjoy interactions where one partner enjoys the situation more than the other (and I usually identify as the sub/prey etc). Power dynamics and domination are just really enjoyable for me. And the pred swallowing the prey is just the most complete expression of domination imaginable - leaving the prey to the mercy of the pred's body, where the pred continues to dominate the prey simply by existing, with no effort at all. Sometimes I enjoy the idea of fatal digestion, but not going into graphic detail - simply the thrill of 'using' the prey's life for the pred's pleasure - but I'm equally or more interested in unwilling full tour/endo and in other forms of vore (unbirth/anal) which I usually prefer to be non-fatal. In fact, my earlier preferences when I was just getting into vore were entirely non-fatal, and in fact the unwilling prey was more inconvenienced/annoyed by the act rather than begging/screaming etc. I find the "Ugh, do you have to?" or "Here we go again..." vibe quite enjoyable, including when the pred and prey are friends and being eaten every now and again is just something the prey has to put up with.

So yeah, for me, unwilling prey is nothing to do with hard vore and graphic digestion, and is entirely about power dynamics and domination. If you can understand the appeal of BDSM, you can understand the kind of interest I have in unwilling prey.

[PhantomOfMars]

Trebortron3 really does cover a point of view close to mine.

For context, I really like being in the prey situation in a scene. I am also into unwilling vore. What this comes down to is that I enjoy pretending to not be excited about being eaten. Yes, above table/board/whatever I'm consenting and having a great time, but in character I am trying to avoid certain doom. Related again to what Trebortron3 said, I also don't dig graphic digestion or hard vore. The violence really doesn't do it for me (for anyone who it does though, I tip my hat and mean no offense).

I like my...ecosystem to make sense and I go to great lengths to make sure that, as a person who over thinks things, that I won't get hung up on a plot hole or glaring inconsistency at some point when I'm fantasizing about my own peril. So, with that in mind, I cannot assume that any character would seek out some situation where they would be used as energy and nutrition.


How this relates outside this is that I really like playful resistance or mild resistence in media or things I did not make. If it's a drawing or something mild distress is okay to me. Bawling and panic takes me out of the situation and I often just want to help. If it's live action, my favorite stuff actually involves the actress stifling laughter or cracking a grin from time to time. Vore can be silly or ridiculous, and I feel really good about any scene where it looks like people are having fun. If she want's to playfully struggle and resist a silly costume monster between the humor, that sounds great to me.

I hope this helped explain that being into unwilling vore is not the same as enjoying the suffering. For me anyway. : D

[Indighost]

Quite simply, Catharsis.

Remember moreover that we are not enjoying real-life pain and suffering, we are enjoying dramatic, fictional, fantasy pain and suffering as a way to purge and cleanse our emotions, or just make sense of the nonsensical emotions that we build up in the vagaries of everyday life.

[blergle]

For me it's exactly the same as the enjoyment I get out of a horror movie. I like being transported to a different set of emotions, and tragedy does not get my heart beating faster. Horror does, the scarier the better. It's not a lust thing for me, it's an excitement/entertainment thing. The scarier the predator and the more unfair the situation to the prey, the better. I don't want real-life drudgery like relationship drama or illness or terrorism or all the shit that happens in real life that's scary, I want a totally fantasy horror that I know isn't real so I can completely detach it from real life and *enjoy* the trip into scary-land, and then leave it behind when I'm done.

[fixated1]

For me, it's a power dynamic thing, and a wanting/being wanted so bad the predator doesn't care about the prey's feelings. Also it's a common taboo fantasy in regular vanilla bdsm. What do you think safe words are for? So you can say no and stop without them stopping.

[AbsorbingMarkovState]

I like vore in a more naturalistic context, so prey being unwilling is just more sensible to me as most people aren't going to want to become a predator's dinner. Similar to some other posters here, I'm not really a fan of gratuitous suffering, and while being unwillingly swallowed alive is realistically going to imply some amount of suffering on the prey's end, I prefer it to be minimized.

[DevilSCHNED]

In my case, I feel like willing prey is just too... easy. I like watching the prey squirm, and be emotionally, mentally, and physically affected. Willing prey can have those things if executed well enough, but it just doesn't scratch the itch. A bit strange, since I consider myself prey and would be willing if someone could somehow swallow me alive.

[EnderDracolich]

In my case, I feel like willing prey is just too... easy. I like watching the prey squirm, and be emotionally, mentally, and physically affected. Willing prey can have those things if executed well enough, but it just doesn't scratch the itch. A bit strange, since I consider myself prey and would be willing if someone could somehow swallow me alive.

Oddly enough, I like those things, but feel I get more gratification of them from willing prey.

[coop500]

Another angle that might not get explored much haha.
For starters, I actually only like safe vore/endo, so no dying or pain, all my vore stuff is quite gentle and soft.
But sometimes I prefer a more unwilling AT FIRST result for a varying number of reasons. For starters, if the predator and prey don't know each other too well, then the reaction of being nervous and scared is more expected.

for a scenario example, one (just one, I have many others haha) of my favorite vore tropes is the predator swallowing the prey to protect them from other predators. This might mean the nice predator has to act as a bad predator, to not get in trouble while storing the little one, or just doesn't have time to explain that it's safe. This will cause the prey to be scared, unwilling and fearful of their fate. Once the predator gets out of the situation though, they can comfort the prey and assure their safety, so kind of some added fluff there for comfort belly rubs and talking as the predator tries to calm the poor prey down.

Another trope is protective instincts. Predator is holding the prey or hugging them or whatnot, but then notices that they're cold, or just realizes how small and vulnerable they are. So protective instincts take over and they just... gently gobble them up~ All good natured, but if the prey doesn't fully trust the predator or never even experienced it before, then it could freak them out. Then we circle back to the predator comforting and apologizing to the prey.

[Hozomat]

Quite simply, Catharsis.

That, and for me, add realism.
In my point of view, eating -> digesting. The stomach is meant to digest, and it will, killing the food if it has to. Therefore, in a "realistic" setting (as far as vore goes), who in their right mind would be fine with a painful death by being eaten alive?
Then there's also the power play, both physical and mental. The pred's body clearly dominates the prey's physically and reduces it to nothing. To that, add a cruel personality and you have mental domination as well. I also enjoy the Unwilling pred scenario, where the pred's personality is "dominated" by her own ravenous body, if it makes sense.
In the end, I just enjoy seeing an entire person being reduced to nothingness inside a woman's body, and react accordingly, that is to say unwillingly and painfully.

Now, I'm not looking down on those who are into Willing prey. In fact, sometimes I did RP as a willing prey in some safe endo scenario. But when it comes to a story where I am observant/not involved, willing prey is just... dull, most of the time. The few exceptions which I enjoyed had the prey's perspective very well described and somehow relatable.

[Hagen]

Along the same lines of someone wanting a virgin. The idea of it being unpleasant for the partner.
I'm some what guessing,
I get teasing, and humiliation. Straight up my partner telling me "noOOOOOOO" with out there being some kind of "i need convincing" doesn't do it for me.
If it doesn't do it for you,
I mean I suggest not heading down that road. Just be happy with what you like.

[Megaladong]

Oh boy... I am exactly what you describe here, so I’ll try to answer it.

I guess what I love about unwilling, torment vore is the risk and the thrill that comes with the high-stake endeavor of being hunted - or, the intensity of the prey pred relationship: the hunt, the chase, the catch, and ultimately, the prey being overpowered/outsmarted/tricked/outlucked then eaten; the more realistic, animalistic side of vore, you could say. And then where I derive pleasure is from the dread the prey feels for failing and from them having to endure experiencing themselves be either swallowed whole or ripped to shreds alive - the punishment of the sin of being weak prey.

In the end, to have those stakes there have to be consequences. And the higher those consequences the better: Gruesome death? Great! Mocked and humiliated? Even better! Forgotten by the pred as just another meal? Hot. Failure results in not only the prey’s death but negative outcomes for their loved ones? Now we’re talking.

No one truly wants those things listed above. Or if they do, they’re not going to be happy or excited about it. No one has put a gun in their mouth and thought, “well this is a high-point in my life“ then pulled the trigger. So the unwilling thing comes with the territory.

To be honest, I don’t like torture or gore or any of that kind of thing from a purely sexual standpoint (I’m squeamish actually) but in the context of vore, I love it.

Why do I find this arousing? I think simply put, power dynamics or something like that. But that doesn’t feel exactly right to me. I don’t know how to describe it well though. It has been something I’ve been pondering in my head for over a decade now, but I have never been able to express.

We sound like vore opposites. I do not get willing, low-stakes vore at all. It would be like to me, watching soft-core porn with the model being clothed in full winter gear so much so that you could not even make out the shape of the person’s body. All of the oomph, risk, and taboo is taken out of it. Like you, I’m not judging; it’s just not my thing. I think it is actually a strength of vore that so many come at it from different angles.

[DefragmentScout]

As a sub myself, it's a domination thing.

[randomthefox]

People like different things

[Jinxopow]

Don’t think I can add much, but wanting to be eaten is just kinda... not that cool for the pred. Most of the time they’re like “oh well, I guess I can end your life” I mean this in the fatal sence.
Now, when the pred has the intent to kill, digest, etc. Now that’s awesome! It doesn’t matter what you think, you’re getting eaten, wether they like it or not. Which is more in the dominance department.
It’s just the scenario which, you have no control. I hope that helps

[estel]

i just think that having willing preys on stories is just bad writing
for characters to crave death feels really unnatural, if there's anything that feels forced and stupid is putting a character in front of a situation that will result in their death and be like "that's okay, i'm into that shit" and not change its posture during their final moments, it completely destroys any immersion the story could have, and most of the time its just the author expressing their fantasy instead of trying to write something meaningful

while i'm not into graphic fatal digestion, it just makes sense that in a vore scenario the prey fights back, gets eaten anyways as a result of being overpowered by the pred and struggles to their very last moment

i do RPs as pred too, and willing prey characters are quite one dimensional and boring (though when rping i focus on size rather than vore, and i prefer my tinies be rebelious because that makes sense)