Ixtili wrote:wouldn't you discuss the kind of roleplay your going to have before you have it?
I, personally, absolutely would. But in the same vein of things having an appeal whether I enjoy them or not, IC approaches are a thing, and time constraints/assumed norms can throw a wrench or two into the works.
TSaPA wrote:Now I'm just picturing a sort of zombie apocalypse based on those weird rainbow maggot things that inhabit snail eyestalks and pulsate in different colors so predators will spot and eat them.
After Toxoplasma Gondii, Leucochloridium paradoxum makes its appearance in being mentioned. At this point we might as well shove in the Cordyceps fungi for nature's mind control bingo.
Ixtili wrote:Plus I don't think taking on the urges of another organism always has to feel cheap, Mushishi the anime had lots of episodes where characters were swept up in symbiotic and parasitic relationships with the part spirit part micro biotic Mushi and those stories tended to be quite poignant or at least I found them to be that way.
Trope and execution are separate things. In the same way parents getting Disney'd, mentors seeming to eject from the plot via existence failure or otherwise the moment their lessons are taught and falling off a cliff to off-screen presumed death having a weirdly high survival rate can be convenient without having to detract from what they're in and, there is likely some poignant or good way to execute a story around attraction stemming from an altered mind and exploring the concept of consent in it, it's just that at it's core, the attraction has first been drawn into attention, but then immediately been given an out that throws up more questions.
"The prince rescued the princess, they married and lived happily ever after" - Is silly in that nothing about the relationship forming was established at all, but usually that's because the interesting part of the story was elsewhere, and we kind of understand the story is just kind of wrapping up for a happy end at the expense of trophy princess McGuffin.
"Upon casting the love spell on the princess whom he rescued, she fell in love with him, they married and lived happily ever after" - Here, first the question of how this relationship was formed is drawn attention to, but then immediately given a hackneyed shortcut of an explanation that's arguably in itself problematic, because now you have first invited scrutiny, but immediately fed it a roofie.
So as previously established, in the cases of roleplay consent, fetish and maybe extensively crafted execution that explores the subject matter, this is a valid fantasy or trope.
But outside of that, and at its core, what you get is: "If the reason someone is attracted to a pred is a means of mind-alteration, are we still really talking about attraction to a pred, rather than a possession/mind control kink?".
I get that when writing a story around it alone, it can be coded or justified any way someone wants, especially for a personal fantasy, whereas because I'm thinking about it on a more personal level, a partner that is so much as drunk has dubious means of judgment and consent, so that's probably a bit of a disconnect.
