"I meant it more straightforward and simple. By 'a picture can tell a story' I meant 'anime girl from xshow with faceless dude'. There's no plot, you can still wonder 'why not the protag?'. It's different than an erotic pose of a woman on her own." -Oeilvert
It was to make a point that there doesn't have to be a story in my opinion, at least for me. (Doesn't mean I don't like to have a story in the material half the time.) I get what you mean about the absence of action though, there's also stuff that turns people off. It certainly is a factor, but I mostly go for certain actions and not just any sexual action in h-manga/doujinshi. But that doesn't mean I can't masturbate to stories without sexual action, especially if it has art and/or story that I like.