What would you like your Lit legacy to be??

[AG31]

Last night a thread was created on this theme. For some reason the OP chose to withdraw her initial post today, but a lot of people had already told us what they'd like their legacy to be. The thread is still live if you'd care to contribute.

This post in the thread contains some of the original OP.

 

[AG31]

Bump

 

[gunhilltrain]

Bump

I asked on that thread how you would define a "legacy" with an on-line site with 500 K stories and more pouring in every week. I guess I was downbeat when I suggested that few if any of us will have legacies here. Sure, a few people will favorite "older" stories of mine from two or three years ago. That's nice, but will anybody be reading them twenty years from now? I also asked: will the site even exist twenty years from now?

One stat I noticed on Lit's "about" page. It suggests that 100,000 authors have written 500,000 stories. That works out to five per person. From what I've seen on another site that compiles its stats differently, the large majority of writers will submit one or two stories and then disappear. I guess they had one big idea and that's it?

https://www.literotica.com/resources/about-literotica

 

[MelissaBaby]

Well, if I get to have a “legacy” thread pretty much to myself…

I have, to date, 75 stories and 2 poems posted to the site. All but one have a red H, the other sits at a perpetually annoying 4.49. I have collected six blue W’s as well, and if I may be petulant for a moment, would probably have about a half dozen more if the Monthly awards had not been discontinued.

I have not achieved great popularity; after more than seven years I only have slightly more than a thousand followers, and only one story has topped 100k views. But that’s fine, I have a fair number of very loyal, supportive readers, and most of my older stories still get a steady trickle of views and favorites.

If I had to pick one story as my “legacy”, I would have to reluctantly choose My Fall and Rise.

I say reluctantly because it was the first serious writing I ever did, and it shows. Through practice and study, I believe I am a much better writer now. So, rereading it now, I see so many things I could have done better. But, when I once floated the idea of rewriting it, a friend opposed that and said,”Imagine if, after London Calling, the Clash had decided their first album was too raw and amateurish and re-recorded it.” I took that as both high praise and sound advice.

More than seven years later, I still get messages from people thanking me for writing candidly about addiction, incarceration and recovery. If providing them with a small voice or just the knowledge that someone knows how they have struggled is my legacy, I’d consider that something to be proud of.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Normally I try to stay positive but if anything, my recent struggles have shown me that I could be gone sooner rather than later. Not that I wanted to - 50 isn't that old and I might have a couple good years in me yet. That said, it has been fucking difficult to keep writing (echoing Lovecraft68 here) and I'm not sure how much the Muse is willing to put up with.

Sigh. I hate being negative. I hate being depressed. I hate not having the strength to keep fighting. I hate having to rely on my lady love to keep kicking my ass so I get anything done these days. I don't want to burden her with my shit on top of her own problems.

That said, I've kept steadily plugging away at my elusive superhero story. No idea if it will appeal to anyone but me. I know the sex scenes are definitely an acquired taste and the heavy-handed use of politics, alternate universe or not, might cause a teeny tiny problem should Laurel be adamant about her "no politics" rule. But if "Flight Of The Red Queen" ends up being my last published story, I can sit back and be proud of myself.

I've basically ticked all my bucket list items in regards to writing over the past thirteen years. I've done high fantasy more often than I could count. I have several fantastic space opera stories under my belt. I did cyberpunk pretty well (well enough that some fuckturd tried to sell it on amazon as his own) and the two Sword'n'Sorcery tales I wrote with LoquiSordidaAdMe not only are amazing S&S stories but among the best collab stuff I've ever done. It's a pity that my most-read story ended up being "More Than Video Games", an I/T story I wrote as a joke. It has more views alone than the rest of my portfolio combined. If I could pick, I'd say people should rather read "Express Delivery" or "Mud & Magic" because that's where I put all my blood sweat and tearrs. But no, it has to be a fucking meme story about a dude playing Diablo 3 with his aunt and later fucking her. Woop-de-do.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I don't believe I'll have a legacy here. If I ever feel I'm a good enough writer to deserve a legacy, it won't be in erotica. When I think I have enough of the right stuff, I'll create a new pen name and use it for mainstream work—perhaps Millie Dee, my real name, or something totally different. For here and erotic writing, I want to be known as a good or competent author. Writing is a creative outlet for me, and I make money (not much) off my work, but much more from working for other authors than from my own stories. I am not sure I can sell anything outside of the erotic category. If or when I can, I'll be a different person than Millie Dynamite.

 

[ZOEOHZOE]

she made me smile and cum

 

[Artfan2]

she made me smile and cum

Done!

 

[dmallord]

It could be a few kind comments on stories that made me smile or laugh, knowing that someone cared enough to reach out and share their reactions to what I had written. That, and perhaps the thought that after I am gone, someone might stumble upon one of my stories and wonder what happened to the guy... why isn't he writing anymore?

 

[jomar]

she made me smile and cum

That’s about right, lol.

I have 62 works here that include a handful of poems. Most of my stories are strokers with thin plot lines and scant character development. A lot of experimentation going on, including my first story that took a totally surprising crossdressing turn and was well received so I did a lather, rinse, repeat to see if I could successfully expand on the theme, and some may still be on the top lists. And some of my best writing is lost among the blind/open AH authors challenges/contests of yore, as judged by authors, so that feels good as I reminisce.

So, in time, basically just passing through with no legacy beyond some readers enjoying the stories in a couple of satisfying ways.

 

[RetroFan]

Well according to comments on one of my stories, I managed to create the most hateful character in literary history - Breanna from 'Trailer Trash Teen Hates Rules'. In a perverse way this is quite an achievement, considering some of the vile literary characters from famous books by well-known authors - Dolores Umbrage from 'Harry Potter', Curley from 'Of Mice and Men', Nurse Ratched from 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', O'Brien from '1984', Bob Ewell from 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and both Humbert Humbert and Clare Quilty from 'Lolita'.

I also managed to write Literotica's answer to the movie 'Freddy Got Fingered' with an Incest/Taboo story series 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend' a few years back, the angry and outraged comments much like reactions to Tom Green's controversial shock comedy when it was released in April 2001.

Managing to create the most vile character in all of literature and writing a story in the Incest Taboo section of an erotic fiction literary website that offended and outraged so many people and set off a wave of moral panic are probably dubious legacies, but I'll happily take them.

 

[lovecraft68]

Our legacy-how we will be remembered-is out of our control so I'm not going to put any thought into it beyond knowing that even when I'm gone my stories will still be around the net, a form of immortality.

That's all that's important to me. Not scores, or favs or blue W's or any of that totally subjective crap, but just the fact the work itself will be around for people to enjoy, or maybe hate, but a reaction is a reaction and part of that is what I mentioned in the other thread, if anything I wrote hit someone hard enough to want to take their shot at writing, then that is truly a legacy because they are keeping me 'alive' in a way long dead popular authors have influenced new generations.

 

[Landshark1]

He was a filthy fucking dirty old man!