The army of pearl-clutching schoolmarms

[Salacious_Scribe]

I always shake my head when I see readers getting so upset about themes in stories when it is made very clear what the story is about.

For example, if I wrote a serious Romance story about a young GI who returns from World War 2 and falls in love with the attractive widow of a fellow soldier in his platoon who didn't make it home, and when it reaches the bedroom it without warning degenerates into Hucow fetishes, then I could understand readers making negative comments about this. But if I wrote a fetish story called 'Horace Humps A Hucow' then its pretty obvious what this story entails, so if you aren't into Hucows why read it in the first place?

I had a story with UNWILLING SLUT in the title and people complained about the non consent aspect. To be fair it was an incest story. Incest trumps all other categories. If incest is in anything but incest you get slammed. BEsides Laurel always puts incest stories in incest no matter what category the author asks for.

 

[RetroFan]

I had a story with UNWILLING SLUT in the title and people complained about the non consent aspect. To be fair it was an incest story. Incest trumps all other categories. If incest is in anything but incest you get slammed. BEsides Laurel always puts incest stories in incest no matter what category the author asks for.

The Incest Taboo readers themselves can be very prickly if a story ends up in the category with themes that they don't like. For example, my story series 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend' pissed them off big time mainly because it had immature and gross out humour. I didn't think sexual misunderstandings, toilet scenes and jokes about periods would bother people who like reading erotic stories about people who share DNA. But I was wrong.

I've actually got a story going up today in IT that is a fat fetish story between a fit brother and his fat sister. Despite plenty of warning, I wonder how they are going to react to this one?

A couple of my stories that had incestuous themes I did get into other categories, for example one with a family who unknowingly move into a haunted house and which involves a stepbrother and stepsister showering and having sex together did get into horror. Maybe this was because the main focus was the haunting and the story is pretty eerie and scary, but more likely because these characters were step siblings. If they were full or half siblings, it probably would have gone into IT.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I always shake my head when I see readers getting so upset about themes in stories when it is made very clear what the story is about.

For example, if I wrote a serious Romance story about a young GI who returns from World War 2 and falls in love with the attractive widow of a fellow soldier in his platoon who didn't make it home, and when it reaches the bedroom it without warning degenerates into Hucow fetishes, then I could understand readers making negative comments about this. But if I wrote a fetish story called 'Horace Humps A Hucow' then its pretty obvious what this story entails, so if you aren't into Hucows why read it in the first place?

Hey, a Hucow scene was at the end of The Grapes of Wrath, although it was about survival, not eroticism. I still have to give Steinbeck some credit for being fearless and writing it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Something just struck me about my comment, and maybe others.

Maybe it's... a turn-on? Maybe for these repressed people it's really, like, personally hot for them to post some shit like this on Lit, then read the filthy stuff anyway. If that's the case, then I'm cool with that.

 

[Voboy]

I started putting disclaimers up because I was tired of comments and emails that bored me. I don't go so far as to list the sex acts (I keep 'em concise), but I do try to head off points of concern.

I recently wrote a piece about a dog, narrated by a dog. I put on my prophet hat and realized I'd get a comment or two along the lines of, "Hey! It took me til page two to realize it was narrated by a dog! 1*!"

So I just posted it up front. Not a big deal. I'm hoping a pearl-clutching schoolmarm read it, though.

 

[KeithD]

I started putting disclaimers up because I was tired of comments and emails that bored me. I don't go so far as to list the sex acts (I keep 'em concise), but I do try to head off points of concern.

And did it cut down on the comments? I believe that if they're going to comment, they will, and trying to head them off will only rev up some of them.

 

[Lysander444]

When I had my blog about Italian politics I had commenters coming back for months to tell me that my prose and my political ideas sucked and that I was an idiot. Mate, if you hate the way I write and the things I write about, why are you coming back?

 

[Voboy]

And did it cut down on the comments? I believe that if they're going to comment, they will, and trying to head them off will only rev up some of them.

Hard to tell; at that time, I'd just posted in LW and gotten the predictable response, so I think I was generalizing from too little data.

Regardless, I don't get very many comments that I need to delete, FWIW. There's no way to tell whether the disclaimers have an effect, but I suspect not.

 

[SimonDoom]

Hard to tell; at that time, I'd just posted in LW and gotten the predictable response, so I think I was generalizing from too little data.

Regardless, I don't get very many comments that I need to delete, FWIW. There's no way to tell whether the disclaimers have an effect, but I suspect not.

I suspect -- but don't know for sure -- that disclaimers assist a small number of would-be readers in deciding not to read a story. But I doubt they head off the determined trolls, so I doubt they do much to keep one's story from being downvoted. You can flag a cuckold story every which way to Sunday at Loving Wives and it won't stop the downvoters.

 

[Small_Island]

Amen! I thought Loving Wives was pretty damn clear as a category, so am shocked when I see troll comments because a wife apparently loved too much and no guy can share without being cuckold. I had a friend on another island in our chain who actually stopped posting a story at part 5 of 20 because of the comments. I've pointed out that the stories are still scoring 4+ and have encouraged it to go ahead and post the rest.
You may be right about author warnings not stopping those types, but I personally find them helpful so I can skip or at least be prepared for elements I don't like a lot. If you've warned me and I read it anyway, I'll never vote you down for having the element - as long as you wrote it well.

 

[KeithD]

When I had my blog about Italian politics I had commenters coming back for months to tell me that my prose and my political ideas sucked and that I was an idiot. Mate, if you hate the way I write and the things I write about, why are you coming back?

Because they enjoy telling you that you're wrong? (Was this a trick question?)

 

[jaF0]

The more I read some of these threads, the more I wish for Human Extinction.

 

[SimonDoom]

The more I read some of these threads, the more I wish for Human Extinction.

Surely that merits some explanation?

 

[SisterJezabel]

I suspect -- but don't know for sure -- that disclaimers assist a small number of would-be readers in deciding not to read a story. But I doubt they head off the determined trolls, so I doubt they do much to keep one's story from being downvoted. You can flag a cuckold story every which way to Sunday at Loving Wives and it won't stop the downvoters.

I find them off putting! If a story has grabbed me enough to want to read it then I don't want spoilers at the start. But then again I suppose I'm not your average troll either ;-)

 

[yowser]

Disclaimer Exception: LW

The various disclaimers (best when short) may be useful for most categories, but in LW they seem to have the opposite effect, not alerting readers that they might not enjoy certain aspects of the story, but in fact providing a focus for their ire.

On a sequel series (after the predictable fusillade of vicious commentary of the first series) I thought it would be a good idea to indicate the second series was a 'wife sharing' story, not a 'cuckold' story so no one would be confused or stumble into something they might not like.

Silly me.

If anything, the commentary was even more voluminous and spiritedly personal and malicious, and I realised I had put a 'bullseye' on the whole business with a disclaimer.

I conclude there is no point in debating 'sharing' vs. 'cuckolding' on LW The faintest hint of the first is going to be interpreted as the latter and punished appropriately.

 

[Tombescent]

I just posted my first story in non-consent. It already has comments from people mad because of the lack of consent. They literally use the word.

In their daily lives do they go to No Frills and then tell the owner they're an immoral monster for not having enough frills?

 

[gunhilltrain]

I just posted my first story in non-consent. It already has comments from people mad because of the lack of consent. They literally use the word.

In their daily lives do they go to No Frills and then tell the owner they're an immoral monster for not having enough frills?

I read the story. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of this, but apparently there are dominant/submissive relationships like the one in there. Charlie even says he likes it although it's going too far.

A lot of erotic writing is going to be dark. In fact, a lot of writing, by well-known, established authors, is dark too. I mean, look at Poe. I was assigned The Fall of the House of Usher in junior high school and the teacher said, "It's pretty obvious that he [Usher] was sleeping with his sister." All right, so it was probably "consensual."