Just saying.Anyway, interesting results of the Lady-to-maid survey. Unfortunately there appears to be no way to publish them (or I couldn't figure out how) in an easy-to-see form, so let me just spell them out with my brief comments. Alternatively, you can see them yourself when/if you vote. For the rest of you here are the main takeaways (bold is how I voted myself):
What lady-to-maid scenario do you enjoy most?
I like it when someone forces it on the main character: 37.6%
Doesn't matter as long as the character ends up as a maid: 33.4%
It has to be voluntary, at least in the beginning: 29%
Relatively evenly spread between the three options, but a bit surprising my preferred option did noŠµ win. For me a scenario where someone ends up stuck due to own stupidity/curiosity/bad luck is so much more powerful than when there is an evil protagonist playing with others' lives.
Does the story need to be as realistic as possible for you to enjoy it?
Yes, fantasy/sci-fi elements or implausible plots are story-killers for me: 48.1%
Fine either way. A lady-to-maid story is a fantasy anyway: 36%
Not really, I can enjoy unrealistic lady-to-maid plots: 15.8%
As someone mentioned in comments, the question may have not been worded best as fantasy does not necessarily mean "unrealistic" and "implausible" is a very relative term. However, given the genre and its tropes, I do think most respondent did understand what I had in mind - that is, plots that don't follow internal logic and/or are not rooted in reality. My personal preference is for stories that could theoretically happen in real life or, at the very least, have characters that act like real human beings and not like talking fetishes.
What settings do you prefer?
Does't matter: 49.7%
Contemporary: 36%
Historic: 14.3%
No big surprises there. Lady-to-maid stories tend to be the most powerful if you can empathize with a heroine. None of us lived in the Victorian era and few of us are knowledgeable about the period enough to really care about the social travails from 100+years ago. I do have a soft spot in my heart for historic stories precisely because I think that lady-to-maid plots work best in socially stratified societies and with strict class boundaries, but being in the minority on this is hardly a shock.
What age should the main character be?
Very young, under 21: 11%
21-30 years old: 59.9%
31-40 years old: 21.5%
40+ years old: 7.6%
I am actually ambivalent, but chose 31-40 years bracket because it offers just the right balance of youthfulness/physical attractiveness and career/accumulated wealth and doesn't force one to resort to the tired "rich young orphan" trope.
Do you prefer stories that have explicit sex scenes or 'clean' ones?
Don't mind some sex in a L2M story if it's meaningful to the plot: 57.6%
Social downgrade is erotic enough in itself, no need to add sex to it: 26.2%
Don't care much for "clean" downgrade stories, the more sex the better: 13.7%
Categorically against sex in such stories, a major off-putter for me: 2.4%
What elements do you like to see in lady-to-maid stories?
Humiliation by former equals/friends: 76.2%
Uniforms: 76%
A strict/demanding mistress: 68.3%
New legal identity/name: 62.4%
Haircut/makeunder: 50.7%
Race/cultural change: 44.9%
BDSM/sex games: 36.1%
Age regression: 23.5%
Weight gain: 20.5%
Age progression: 16.9%
Also quite a number of "other" answers that I found interesting (although I can't say I'd approve of all of them in a lady-to-maid story specifically). What I found particularly surprising is lack of interest in AR/AP elements and only mild interest in race/cultural change. I think both work perfectly with lady-to-maid stories - at least a lot more than humiliation in all its forms per se. Losing one's status, including race or age, is a lot more powerful than just plain "lick my boots" kind of plots. At least for me.
How do you like a lady-to-maid plot to end?
With the main character stuck with no feasible way of ever going back: 50%
Doesn't matter as long as the journey to the end is exciting: 27.2%
With the main character staying as maid at her own free will: 17.5%
With the main character returning to her old life: 3.8%
No surprises here again. On the other hand, it may be an interesting experiment to write a lady-to-maid story where everything goes back to where it was, if only to see if it's feasible...
What are your favourite fetishes/kinks other than social demotion?
Uniforms: 71.6%
Slavery: 59.2%
Collars: 49.1%
Spanking/Whipping: 42.9%
BDSM: 41.1%
Crossdressing/Transgender: 37%
High heels: 34.7%
Corsets: 34.1%
Prostitution: 30.1%
Ponygirls/Animal play: 28.2%
Age play: 25.5%
School girls: 22.7%
Silk/Satin: 22.5%
Latex/Leather/Rubber: 20.2%
There are some many fetishes, sub-fetishes and sub-sub-fetishes out there so it's really hard to list even the relevant ones (as manifested in dozens of "other" answers, including feet worship, chastity, mind control, bodyswap etc.).
Thank you for taking part, that was extremely interesting.
The co-author of The Secret Slave didn't even vote for slavery?
ReplyDeleteThat's right. I just think it is associated with BDSM or non-consensual sex. For me the strength of the Secret Slave is not in the slavery itself, but in the fact that it is just a way of life, something seen as normal. This just goes back to my preference for realistic and historic settings. I am assuming that for most slavery as a fetish means sexual slavery, but for me it is secondary.
DeleteThe results would seem to contradict your assumption.
DeleteRoughly 60% of the respondents liked slavery, yet only 13% preferred stories that were raunchy. This means that the overwhelming majority of slavery enthusiasts do not equate subjugation with sex.
Sexual does not necessarily mean involving sexual intercourse. When I said sexual slavery what I meant was kinky roleplay between consensual adults and not human trafficking, kidnappings, forced sex etc. Sorry for not being clearer.
DeleteI noticed when I voted that the preferences were very evenly spread and in any case a preference for one does not necessarily mean a dislike for the others - just that they are not liked as much.
ReplyDeleteI also so like the gradual slide resulting from some poor choices early on. That's what I like about Camille's story 'Scrubbing his record clean' which is on Amazon Kindle (and well worth a read btw ;) )
An interesting survey. I hope it results in some equally interesting fiction.
Robi
Thanks, Robi. It was also interesting how very specific and to the point some of the preferences were. I know from experience how very frustrating looking for that one story or theme can be.
DeleteThis shows that fetishism, in all its many guises, is a very personal thing. There are certain things on the various lists that I'm in complete agreement with, and there are others which I don't get at all.But that's just the point, that's why not everyone on this forum likes every story. Each to his or her own should be our motto. Although clearly, if you want to be popular you now know from the lists what you should be writing.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. That is why it always amazes me when people start denouncing other people's kinks. As if their own were somehow superior!
DeleteThanks for doing this, interesting to see how we compare. I totally agree, we do all have a unique profile of what appeals to us and Camille you are right that it can be staggering when people complain. For me, personally, cross dressing is not one of my things but I'm not going to slam an author for putting that in their story - not when someone might slam me because I do like ponygirls/animal play.
DeleteThat said, I have to say when reading the comments for the various stories I find the vast majority of them on this site very respectful, even critical thoughts are not laced with the thoughtlessness and vitriol you find say in online newspapers. I think there is enough content here of differing types that really we should all find *something* that will appear, testament to the authors and Camille's custodianship.
The majority of issues of surrounding discontent with the subject matter of a story could be avoided if the reader were presented with all the pertinent information up front. There are a number of kinks that remain unaccounted for in the labeling system. Weight gain can be divisive and yet, there is no way for anyone to either avoid it or seek it out.
DeleteThe tags, “Downgrade, maid, mistress” don’t serve much of a purpose as they are applied to almost every story. The ones I would consider of any real value are, “role swap, age progression, victorian, culture change, tg”. Consider adding additional tags to assist the reader.
Would love to know how many respondents there were so that you get some idea of the number of people those percentages represent.
ReplyDeleteYou can see how many participated by clicking on the results after you have voted. (It's over 500)
Delete574.
DeleteThe survey shows that there were higher percentages of votes for certain elements as would be expected. But likewise there were a broad range of likes voted for, which to me shows that there will always be appreciative readers for any story written on Lady2maid, what is not preferred by some will be very much preferred by others.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see the results and pleasing to see 574 readers voted.
I just posted my comments (at such length that I was forced to post it as 2 comments) on the poll topic...you are free to respond either here or there.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a weekly visitor but now it is more like a monthly visit. L2M is not my preferred plot but I enjoy the the events of humiliation and social downgrade. I took the survey, it was interesting and thoughtful. But I think in some cases there were several options I liked or didn't find what I actually prefer; though it was said above already.
ReplyDelete