The 2023 Geek Pride Story Event: Official Support Page

[eroticstoryspinner]

I'm not sure that even Lee's assassination would have started a true guerrilla war. I think it's true that he was against such an idea. But the Confederates were completely depleted and war-weary by that point. When the Balkan wars started in 1991-92, the participants were still fairly fresh. The Taliban are hardly a good comparison. They had indeed fought the Soviets for a while, and then the Allied armies. They seemed to have a knack for insurgencies going back to he 19th Century, and the terrain was favorable for them.

The American South was quite different. For one thing, it's a much larger, and somewhat flatter area. The Confederates themselves were out of manpower and supplies, and what infrastructure they possessed was destroyed. The civilians just wanted it over already. It's true that they were bitter about Reconstruction. But when that ended, they got Jim Crow laws back and accepted the deal for the next eighty years.

Lee not only set the example for surrender and reconciliation, he prevailed on a lot of his officers to lay down their arms. An assassination under flag of truce would have inflamed the remaining military and indicated that there was nothing to lose. I don’t disagree that the South was tired, but by and large it was a "civilized" conflict. It was a different story in Western Missouri and Kansas. War to the knife and thr raiders being hard to discern from bandits. Remember too that every Union soldier pinned down in a restless and occupied South is one not available to go West or return to civilian life.The Taliban is but a faction of the Afghan tribes, who yes, have been at it for hundreds of years. The topography of the South wouldn’t be beneficial to the Union.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Lee not only set the example for surrender and reconciliation, he prevailed on a lot of his officers to lay down their arms. An assassination under flag of truce would have inflamed the remaining military and indicated that there was nothing to lose. I don’t disagree that the South was tired, but by and large it was a "civilized" conflict. It was a different story in Western Missouri and Kansas. War to the knife and thr raiders being hard to discern from bandits. Remember too that every Union soldier pinned down in a restless and occupied South is one not available to go West or return to civilian life.The Taliban is but a faction of the Afghan tribes, who yes, have been at it for hundreds of years. The topography of the South wouldn’t be beneficial to the Union.

Okay, I made some off-the-cuff remarks about events that happened over 150 years ago. The what-if's of alternate history are interesting, but ultimately they never happened. One historian has speculated that, even if they were bound by treaties, the British could have finessed themselves out of World War I and let the French, Germans, and Russians fight it out. In other words, they really didn't have to get involved.

But they did. Personally, I suspect the British couldn't keep their noses out of such things because, like everyone else, they thought they'd benefit from being on the winning side. Of course, they couldn't anticipate how dearly they'd pay for it.

I also think that the Germans blundered by invading the Soviet Union. They could have postponed it, perhaps indefinitely. (Hitler's generals I think warned him that they were not ready yet for such a conflict.) But they did it anyway. And they were several months late in getting started.

So it all becomes speculation in the end. There are more Civil War what-ifs that I could mention that I'm not going to get into here.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Only 600 views so far, but 8 ratings and 3 favourites, so that's a high engagement to view rate. Being in H&S it was going to rely on the Geek Pride page and tags for most readers (H&S gets about one story a day).

The first 5 ratings were all 5, so it's now probably 6 5s, a 4 and a 1. Which is better than I thought it might do - I did try to deter potential readers who would hate it.

 

[Priscilla_June]

This is my slowest going story so far lol odd for a ”challenege”.

 

[yowser]

An expansive collection this year, 29 stories in 9 categories, with two double contributors and one collaboration.

Unsurprisingly SciFi dominates with 15 entries.

4 in Noncon
2 in BDSM, Group Sex, Mind Control
1 each in EC, Fetish, Humor, Romance

Thanks to everyone, some fine reading to be had.

 

[gunhilltrain]

An expansive collection this year, 29 stories in 9 categories, with two double contributors and one collaboration.

Unsurprisingly SciFi dominates with 15 entries.

4 in Noncon
2 in BDSM, Group Sex, Mind Control
1 each in EC, Fetish, Humor, Romance

Thanks to everyone, some fine reading to be had.

You are welcome. Now I've got to stop doing those forum digressions like I had promised. It's like going to rehab - sometimes once is not enough.

 

[yowser]

So here's one of the more interesting comments on my offering this time around:

"The story forced me to look up more than a few terms,"

Bing!

 

[Duleigh]

Just received a 1 bomb on my entry Enchantress. An hour ago the score with 20 votes was 5.00, and now with 21 votes its 4.81

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Just received a 1 bomb on my entry Enchantress. An hour ago the score with 20 votes was 5.00, and now with 21 votes its 4.81

When this happens all I can assume is someone less talented is hating on you hard. Or it’s a troll who just goes around looking for fives to bomb, but probably the latter… jealousy. It would be nice after twenty consecutive five star ratings, the five locks.

I’ll read it when I’m home from work but I already know it’s fantastic.

 

[Duleigh]

When this happens all I can assume is someone less talented is hating on you hard. Or it’s a troll who just goes around looking for fives to bomb, but probably the latter… jealousy. It would be nice after twenty consecutive five star ratings, the five locks.

I’ll read it when I’m home from work but I already know it’s fantastic.

When I took second place in the April Fools contest I received an anonymous message stating that a target was put on my back and ever since then anything I publish has been attacked by trolls. This time the math was too easy. I don't mind if someone is going after my work with a jaundiced eye, I just ask that they give me a heads up when they do so I can be there to help them with the big words.

Put a lot of time aside, it's over 50K words. It takes me about 5 hours to get through.

 

[Priscilla_June]

I’m just happy my story broke 2k views

 

[gunhilltrain]

When I took second place in the April Fools contest I received an anonymous message stating that a target was put on my back and ever since then anything I publish has been attacked by trolls. This time the math was too easy. I don't mind if someone is going after my work with a jaundiced eye, I just ask that they give me a heads up when they do so I can be there to help them with the big words.

Put a lot of time aside, it's over 50K words. It takes me about 5 hours to get through.

Let's face it, anybody who puts anything out to the public, either professionally or as an "amateur," is going to take some criticism from somebody. The critics themselves can be professionals or amateurs. It doesn't matter if you are a writer, a filmmaker, a painter, or many other roles. And it was going on long before the Internet. Watch The Heaven's Gate documentary, for example. It wasn't "fair" but that didn't matter.

 

[Duleigh]

Let's face it, anybody who puts anything out to the public, either professionally or as an "amateur," is going to take some criticism from somebody. The critics themselves can be professionals or amateurs. It doesn't matter if you are a writer, a filmmaker, a painter, or many other roles. And it was going on long before the Internet. Watch The Heaven's Gate documentary, for example. It wasn't "fair" but that didn't matter.

I like that sentiment, and I look forward to criticism. I am currently discussing the possibility of re-writing the entire We're A Wonderful Wife saga because he raises questions about the content. That's criticism. Dropping a one bomb on everything I write because I scored higher on a contest than he did is immature hooliganism.

 

[ElectricBlue]

When this happens all I can assume is someone less talented is hating on you hard. Or it’s a troll who just goes around looking for fives to bomb, but probably the latter… jealousy. It would be nice after twenty consecutive five star ratings, the five locks.

But that's an artificial lock, it's not an honest reflection of the story in the long run. People have done it, but the story is then not allowed to place in any contest or be eligible for any prize. The only one you're fooling is your own ego.

You might just as well disallow voting on your story, if you don't want genuine ratings.

 

[Duleigh]

I would like genuine ratings, and I have 21 of them, unfortunately I have 22 ratings.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

But that's an artificial lock, it's not an honest reflection of the story in the long run. People have done it, but the story is then not allowed to place in any contest or be eligible for any prize. The only one you're fooling is your own ego.

You might just as well disallow voting on your story, if you don't want genuine ratings.

I wouldn't really consider a one bomb on a 50K word story submitted for an Event that had 20 five star ratings beforehand a genuine rating... but then again, I don't hold the rating system with much merit or concern toward the quality of anyone's work. When any random person can come along and effect ratings with or without having read the story at all, there's no such thing as 'genuine ratings'.

 

[NotWise]

The rating system isn't about the quality of your work. It's about whether or not people liked it, and I think a check is the only thing you could write that everyone would like.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

The rating system isn't about the quality of your work. It's about whether or not people liked it, and I think a check is the only thing you could write that everyone would like.

That doesn't quite nullify the point that anyone can rate a story without bothering to read it though, does it? Nor does it nullify the fact that a lot of people who vote do vote by the 'quality of work' rather than their enjoyment of the piece. There's a whole thread of people who admit to doing just that.

The system would be all fine and dandy if people stuck to the parameters, but they definitely do not. It doesn't bother me personally, I've accepted it long ago, along with the fact that someone might have honestly read a piece and just genuinely hated it. I shrug it off and keep it moving, but I can understand the nuisance of it and why some writers complain about it. I've sold stories offered here for free and have had offers for purchasing unpublished work, so you're right about that--money talks a lot louder than Lit's rating system. It's small potatoes at the end of the day, so I won't keep this unending ratings debate going, just thought to offer Duleigh a bit of understanding on a story he clearly put a lot of effort into.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Nor does it nullify the fact that a lot of people who vote do vote by the 'quality of work' rather than their enjoyment of the piece. There's a whole thread of people who admit to doing just that.

But the quality of the writing is intrinsic to enjoyment of the story, surely? I can't see how you can separate the two, to be honest. It can be the best story idea in the world, but if it's badly written, it's never going to cut it for me.

A random one-bomb doesn't fuss me, because chances are it will go in the first sweep that runs through the collection.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I like that sentiment, and I look forward to criticism. I am currently discussing the possibility of re-writing the entire We're A Wonderful Wife saga because he raises questions about the content. That's criticism. Dropping a one bomb on everything I write because I scored higher on a contest than he did is immature hooliganism.

That brings up the question of how to define constructive criticism. Perhaps the line is fuzzier than it might first appear. I have had a few comments that I didn't like but later decided that the person was right.

For filmmakers, it ultimately comes down to box office receipts and other revenue sources. What the critics say only matters as to how it affects the money.

The weird thing is that studios will often show films to preview audiences. The people don't realize this, but their written comments may then be used to then re-edit a movie that the director has already completed. It happened to Brian De Palma with The Bonfire of the Vanities, as described in The Devil's Candy. He had to remove scenes that had taken a huge amount of effort to film. Of course, the movie flopped anyway.

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Candy...prefix=the+devils+candy,stripbooks,116&sr=1-1

 

[SeraphNocturne]

But the quality of the writing is intrinsic to enjoyment of the story, surely? I can't see how you can separate the two, to be honest. It can be the best story idea in the world, but if it's badly written, it's never going to cut it for me.

A random one-bomb doesn't fuss me, because chances are it will go in the first sweep that runs through the collection.

I always thought the two were synonymous; quality of writing and enjoyment of the story. But looking at quality of writing for enjoyment as opposed to critiquing quality of writing based on technicality and possibly biases is where I believe some readers get overly fussy. It gets to the point they're literally 'grading' a story on every fine detail rather than reading a story for enjoyment, and that just seems so critical to me for what this site is and how it operates. Lit is a proverbial virtual glory hole; it's dirty, it's chaotic and most people are here to get off. Individuals who come here aspiring for top of the line literature crack me up.

It's like going into a McDonalds and complaining they don't have Wagyu... you knew it was a McDonalds when you stepped in the door. That's just my opinion though, I can't be bothered to police voting or fuss over it because I know it'll be a cold day in Hell before it changes. But... I can't help but to be empathetic toward talented writers who are a little hurt someone's bombed a story they've put a lot of time and effort into; kindness is my nature. I think harsh ratings on a good story are undeserved and a little unfair, but ultimately, it is what it is.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I always thought the two were synonymous; quality of writing and enjoyment of the story. But looking at quality of writing for enjoyment as opposed to critiquing quality of writing based on technicality and possibly biases is where I believe some readers get overly fussy. It gets to the point they're literally 'grading' a story on every fine detail rather than reading a story for enjoyment, and that just seems so critical to me for what this site is and how it operates. Lit is a proverbial virtual glory hole; it's dirty, it's chaotic and most people are here to get off. Individuals who come here aspiring for top of the line literature crack me up.

Gotcha! Same page - and you're right, there's a quasi /faux literacy aspiration from some readers such that I really don't know they bother. You'll notice, too that it's mostly expressed by those who have no content of their own here on Lit, or they're hiding behind Anon.

Maybe it's some form of writer envy - "You might be able to write, but I can be critical." My response is always, "Put your writing words where your mouth is, and I might pay attention; otherwise, it's just blah blah blah."

 

[yowser]

Individuals who come here aspiring for top of the line literature crack me up.

I assume that 'individuals' means 'readers', right?

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I assume that 'individuals' means 'readers', right?

Mostly readers, yes, but also some writers. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with wanting and aspiring for better quality of literature, but that's a strange hill to die on looking at this site as a whole. I personally don't let it take away from my enjoyment here on the site. For what it is, Literotica is a phenomenal free erotica website.

 

[Eisenloewe]

Just received a 1 bomb on my entry Enchantress. An hour ago the score with 20 votes was 5.00, and now with 21 votes its 4.81

Belated return to this support thread, but I now know the feeling; my cherry-popping entry on LE, Bound to the Turnings of the Wheel, just got its first 1-bomb after sitting at the 4.89 mark for a while, crashed to 4.5. Anonymous Internet curmudgeon, fie upon thee!

P.S. Whoever warned me upthread that the biggest timesink of publishing your first story here would be constantly checking to see how it did in the week afterwards: You are wise beyond your years and I don't even know your age.