Was my story rejected because it was too extreme?

[TheNovelist2000]

First off, why am I posting this in Author’s Hangout?

1. I don’t think the story has any editorial issues such as incorrect punctuation or grammar. (So I didn’t post it in the Editor’s Forum.)
2. I don’t think the Story Feedback forum is really thriving. (I haven’t seen many replies there.)
3. I’ve grown to like the people in Author’s Hangout, who have always been eager to help me at every turn. (Thank you, guys.)

Alright, let’s get into the problem.

I received an automated rejection slip yesterday, and I believe the issue may stem from this part of the guideline:

• Ravishment/non-consent fantasies in which the “victim” receives no thrill or enjoyment from the acts, or is seriously and/or permanently physically harmed, abused, maimed, or killed.

The story is called The Beauties and the Caged Beast. It’s about a girl named Mira who discovers that her cousin Cher keeps a man named Brucie in a cage in her basement. Initially, Mira believes the arrangement is inhumane and totally wrong, but she gradually grows into her role as his gentle sitter.

The story’s background—how this arrangement came to be—is not yet explored in the first six chapters, but it will be revealed later that Brucie was initially forced to live this way after allegedly raping Cher (or being accused of it). Over time, however, it becomes a consensual dynamic. This is foreshadowed early on when Mira tries to help Brucie escape, only for him to voluntarily return to Cher. Since the story is told entirely from Mira’s POV, she interprets his return as a sign of manipulation rather than genuine consent. In fact, everything is filtered through her perspective, and she initially sees an exaggerated version of what’s really going on—until she begins to care for him herself.

Here are the potential reasons I believe my story was rejected:

1. Brucie’s consent is not explicitly stated or shown. From Mira’s perspective, he appears coerced or brainwashed.
2. The moderators may view the treatment Brucie receives as abuse, even if he secretly enjoys it. While he is never violently harmed, he is spanked twice—once by Cher with a cane (leaving his bottom red but within common BDSM limits), and once more gently by Mira using a belt.
3. The depiction of Brucie being treated like a dog might be considered too extreme. For example:
   • He sleeps in a cage, though only at night or when there are guests in the house.
   • He is required to relieve himself outdoors or on the floor, consistent with the petplay theme.
   • He is occasionally fed scraps rather than full meals, as part of his submissive role.
   • It is implied that Cher sometimes withholds food for a limited period (never more than a day), usually as a form of discipline.
   • He crawls at all times, never walking upright, in order to fully embody his role as a submissive pet.
4. The use of dehumanising language like “rump,” “paws,” or “mutt” may have triggered concerns about bestiality—even though the story is clearly framed as petplay within a BDSM context.
5. The use of words like “child” or “schoolgirl” to describe Cher might have been misinterpreted, even though these terms are never used in a sexual context. For example: “I found Cher sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs together like a guilty schoolgirl.”
6. The moderators may not have read the story thoroughly. I included a note stating that the story does not involve bestiality, but perhaps they assumed from the summary that it’s about abuse, rather than a consensual, long-term petplay dynamic. I also got the rejection within 24 hours, so may be Laurel didn’t even read it.
7. The story contains themes of psychological domination and cuckolding. Later in the narrative, Mira manipulates Cher into financial and emotional dependence—charging her to visit her boyfriend, exploiting her debts, and even enabling her drug use to control her. These developments are intended to serve as a moral arc. Mira will eventually recognise her own cruelty and attempt to rehabilitate Cher, but that comes much later. It’s possible the moderators considered this too abusive or disturbing.
8. The narrative is not in Brucie and he doesn’t talk (as per rules of Petplay), so he is often depicted quite passively. One of my own flaws is that I don’t have the ability to flush out his character or his moods through behaviour. He appears to be quite flat although he obviously is very obedient, does not try to struggle or anything and participate willingly in tricks. So, he may come across as a lobotomised, brainless, drone.
9. One scene depicts Mira recounting how Cher has told her to never stimulate his caged cock. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get pleasure or a thrill. In one scene, Mira tells him about what her boyfriend does to her, and he leaks a string of precum. That should clarify Laurel that he’s getting sexual pleasure from it even though he is not allowed to cum. And his cock straining against the cage is depicted more than a few times. Maybe a permanent denial is too harsh in Laurel's eyes?
10. One scene depicts Mira’s boyfriend, Jason, getting drunk, and what begins as soft domination turns unexpectedly rough. Mira is tied to the kitchen table and only released after halftime. She is spanked like a 1950s housewife by her drunken boyfriend using a belt, made to wear a waistband with a thin strip, and forced to serve him during the game. Later that night, she is essentially raped on her own bed—Jason, too intoxicated to realise what he’s doing, has sex with her while she’s still restrained. She remains tied up until morning. The next day, she breaks up with him, calling him an “asshole.” This scene may have been a major factor in the rejection.

So, what are your thoughts on my opinions? And how do I proceed? Convince Laurel? Fixable? Or do you know another other site where I can upload it if it’s impossible to fix.

I am not sure whether I’m allowed to add a google doc link in this forum. (I’ve seen it in the story feedback forum.) If it is allowed, please let me know. I will tag the link for you guys to get a better picture of my situation.

 

[Bamagan]

One of the perils of posting chaptered stories is that the moderator is kept in the dark about things that are made clear toward the end of the story, the same way the author probably hopes readers will be, as a 'surprise' or whatever. If you posted the whole work at once you probably wouldn't have received this rejection.
I had something sent back for content which was understandably vague when it was introduced. I combined six chapters of a long-running series together so the mod could see the full extent and it was accepted with no other significant edits. Someone else got their story rejected for snuff because it involved a vampire feeding and creating a new vampire (during a blood-and-sex kind of event), but they tried to end a chapter on the cliffhanger of the victim's POV fading to black, with the intent of having them wake up undead at the start of the next chapter. It was accepted after they reworked the break point.
Basically, if you're going to have content that skirts the boundaries of prohibited content, it's better not to try teasing it out. The site will generally not extend benefit of the doubt if they catch such unresolved ambiguities. Artistic license in this case takes a back seat to practicality.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Yes, it does sound extreme. Since the rejection says it's the consent aspect, it's probably safe to assume it's that rather than any misunderstanding about bestiality or age. It's hard to know if it's fixable without making it 'not the story you wanted to write.' In theory, I don't think any of the individual elements you've described are that far away from being acceptable. It may be that the combination of two main characters, both of whom are receiving some kind of abuse, pushes it over the line. The trick would be to play up the fact that both of them are enjoying what is happening to them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So, what are your thoughts on my opinions? And how do I proceed? Convince Laura? Fixable? Or do you know another other site where I can upload it if it’s impossible to fix.

You've said your story has six chapters (if I skimmed that right) but you don't say which chapter got the rejection. If it's the first, then you might know the whole context, but the content reviewer doesn't. If there's a victim and non-consent, that victim must eventually enjoy the experience in the chapter being submitted. Look at the chapter as a stand-alone, if that's what's been rejected.

You don't try to "convince" Laurel of anything, you write something that unambiguously gives your victim satisfaction eventually, in the chapter that's been rejected.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

One of the perils of posting chaptered stories is that the moderator is kept in the dark about things that are made clear toward the end of the story, the same way the author probably hopes readers will be, as a 'surprise' or whatever. If you posted the whole work at once you probably wouldn't have received this rejection.
I had something sent back for content which was understandably vague when it was introduced. I combined six chapters of a long-running series together so the mod could see the full extent and it was accepted with no other significant edits. Someone else got their story rejected for snuff because it involved a vampire feeding and creating a new vampire (during a blood-and-sex kind of event), but they tried to end a chapter on the cliffhanger of the victim's POV fading to black, with the intent of having them wake up undead at the start of the next chapter. It was accepted after they reworked the break point.
Basically, if you're going to have content that skirts the boundaries of prohibited content, it's better not to try teasing it out. The site will generally not extend benefit of the doubt if they catch such unresolved ambiguities. Artistic license in this case takes a back seat to practicality.

Thank you. I wonder if the story will go through if I try to let Laurel know about what will happen in the next part. But I think the rape scene still won’t be justified even when Mira forgives Jason later. Mira might enjoy the first part before he’s drunk, but she will never admit that she enjoyed the rape because that the rape was put there to make the two of them break up. The plot that follows doesn’t work unless the two of them break up.

 

[NotWise]

You don't need to worry about anything but the non-consent issues. If Brucie does ultimately get something from his role, then condense your explanation down to one or two paragraphs and resubmit the story with your explanation in the "Notes" box.

And her name is Laurel, not Laura.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

Yes, it does sound extreme. Since the rejection says it's the consent aspect, it's probably safe to assume it's that rather than any misunderstanding about bestiality or age. It's hard to know if it's fixable without making it 'not the story you wanted to write.' In theory, I don't think any of the individual elements you've described are that far away from being acceptable. It may be that the combination of two main characters, both of whom are receiving some kind of abuse, pushes it over the line. The trick would be to play up the fact that both of them are enjoying what is happening to them.

Yes, if I explicitly state that they are enjoying the process, their masochism doesn’t shine through.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You've said your story has six chapters (if I skimmed that right) but you don't say which chapter got the rejection. If it's the first, then you might know the whole context, but the content reviewer doesn't. If there's a victim and non-consent, that victim must eventually enjoy the experience in the chapter being submitted. Look at the chapter as a stand-alone, if that's what's been rejected.

You don't try to "convince" Laurel of anything, you write something that unambiguously gives your victim satisfaction eventually, in the chapter that's been rejected.

All six chapters are submitted together. So, Laurel could read the parts where Brucie is getting hard or leaking precum. Throughout those six chapters, there is nothing to suggest that he doesn’t like being treated as a dog. He’s treated most of the time gently. (Softdom- Like you would treat your own dog.) I am more worried about the rape scene because Mira can’t be seen to be enjoying the process because it needs to be the reason for their breakup. They’d been quite a healthy couple, and their sudden break-up has to come from Jason raping her while being drunk.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thank you. I wonder if the story will go through if I try to let Laurel know about what will happen in the next part.

I doubt it. You need to address the chapter that's been rejected, not wait for context in the next chapter.

But I think the rape scene still won’t be justified even when Mira forgives Jason later. Mira might enjoy the first part before he’s drunk, but she will never admit that she enjoyed the rape because that the rape was put there to make the two of them break up. The plot that follows doesn’t work unless the two of them break up.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You don't need to worry about anything but the non-consent issues. If Brucie does ultimately get something from his role, then condense your explanation down to one or two paragraphs and resubmit the story with your explanation in the "Notes" box.

And her name is Laurel, not Laura.

Thank you for pointing out how ‘Laurel’ was spelt wrong. I’ve already caught it and fixed it. How about the rape scene? Mira didn’t enjoy that one.

 

[ElectricBlue]

All six chapters are submitted together. So, Laurel could read the parts where Brucie is getting hard or leaking precum. Throughout those six chapters, there is nothing to suggest that he doesn’t like being treated as a dog. He’s treated most of the time gently. (Softdom- Like you would treat your own dog.) I am more worried about the rape scene because Mira can’t be seen to be enjoying the process because it needs to be the reason for their breakup.

You're answering your own question now. You need to read the chapter as Laurel will read it - if Mira can't be seen to enjoying it, I doubt it will get the pass. You've said so yourself.

They’d been quite a healthy couple, and their sudden break-up has to come from Jason raping her while being drunk.

Are you writing a rape story (with consequences) or a rapist story. There's a difference.

 

[PennyThompson]

I am more worried about the rape scene because Mira can’t be seen to be enjoying the process because it needs to be the reason for their breakup. They’d been quite a healthy couple, and their sudden break-up has to come from Jason raping her while being drunk.

Literotica is probably not the right place for you to publish this story.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You're answering your own question now. You need to read the chapter as Laurel will read it - if Mira can't be seen to enjoying it, I doubt it will get the pass. You've said so yourself.

Are you writing a rape story (with consequences) or a rapist story. There's a difference.

The rape scene isn’t central to the story at all. Jason has been dating Mira for a long time, and he’s been described as quite a charming gentleman. (Someone who is dominant only in the bedroom.) Then, I needed him to be out of the picture. The only character flaw I could find to get him out plausibly is to make him get drunk. (Like the cliche that charming guys always have something ugly hidden in them only to be revealed when they are drunk) The rape also helps Mira to become more empathetic towards Cher, which will propel the story in another direction—Cher’s rehabilitation. If it is the only problem and the scenes where Brucie is hard or leaks precum is accepted as his enjoyment, I can write something else instead of rape.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The rape scene isn’t central to the story at all... If it is the only problem and the scenes where Brucie is hard or leaks precum is accepted as his enjoyment, I can write something else instead of rape.

If it's not central, why is there at all? That makes the rape sound gratuitous.

Once again, you seem to be answering your own questions.

Maybe you should back away from the implications of the extreme non-consent, and focus more on the dynamics of the pet-play? That has to be consensual, if he's allowed himself to be in the kennel. Sounds like the story is too complicated, and you're tripping over the different strands.

 

[NotWise]

Thank you for pointing out how ‘Laurel’ was spelt wrong. I’ve already caught it and fixed it. How about the rape scene? Mira didn’t enjoy that one.

Then it won't fly. Simple rule.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

I believe the entire story would need to be rewritten to make it suitable for Lerotica. I'll just upload it somewhere else instead. Thanks for your help.

 

[TheLobster]

You can probably 'fix' the auxiliary rape scene by Mira physically enjoying it at least a little bit but still being pissed off at Jason for violating her consent. She'd probably have to be somewhat annoyed at her body's involuntary responses, but that aspect doesn't have to be a particularly big deal.

In other words, what would matter the most for their breakup would be the violation of trust and consent, and less the exact physical details of the non-consensual encounter (which can be made more 'favorable' then to Mira).

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I’ve grown to like the people in Author’s Hangou

You are one sick fuck. : P

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You can probably 'fix' the auxiliary rape scene by Mira physically enjoying it at least a little bit but still being pissed off at Jason for violating her consent. She'd probably have to be somewhat annoyed at her body's involuntary responses, but that aspect doesn't have to be a particularly big deal.

In other words, what would matter the most for their breakup would be the violation of trust and consent, and less the exact physical details of the non-consensual encounter (which can be made more 'favorable' then to Mira).

It can work, if the only problem is the auxiliary rape. It might lessen the gravity of the incidence, which allows a clean, no-looking-back break up. But I guess I can still compensate it by making Mira try and forgive him one more time, then reveal that she is too traumatised for the relationship to resume.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You are one sick fuck. : P

Aren’t we all?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Literotica is probably not the right place for you to publish this story.

Sometimes, rules are good.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

One of the perils of posting chaptered stories is that the moderator is kept in the dark about things that are made clear toward the end of the story, the same way the author probably hopes readers will be, as a 'surprise' or whatever. If you posted the whole work at once you probably wouldn't have received this rejection.
I had something sent back for content which was understandably vague when it was introduced. I combined six chapters of a long-running series together so the mod could see the full extent and it was accepted with no other significant edits. Someone else got their story rejected for snuff because it involved a vampire feeding and creating a new vampire (during a blood-and-sex kind of event), but they tried to end a chapter on the cliffhanger of the victim's POV fading to black, with the intent of having them wake up undead at the start of the next chapter. It was accepted after they reworked the break point.
Basically, if you're going to have content that skirts the boundaries of prohibited content, it's better not to try teasing it out. The site will generally not extend benefit of the doubt if they catch such unresolved ambiguities. Artistic license in this case takes a back seat to practicality.

^^^^
THIS

Posting a story "piecemeal" will always run the risk of the context of certain scenes not being clearly visible to Laurel. You can send her DMs and add notes to the admin while submitting, but until she has the opportunity to see the whole picture, why should she take the chance?

 

[TheNovelist2000]

Sometimes, rules are good.

I have nothing against the rules at all. I am more than eager to comply them. If NC itself is a category, I am not at faults for writing an auxiliary rape scene. My only failure was focusing only on the negative aspects because mind you I was aiming for a break-up and hatred between the two characters. As an author, I strive to make the scenes as plausible as possible and sometimes make the mistake of writing outside the guideline. I have nothing against modifying necessary bits to make it work before publishing again. @Five inch heels And I believe I haven’t discussed ravishment without thrills in details here in a way that makes people become aroused from my thread. I’ve used technical terms like ‘rape’ and only gave bare-bone descriptions, which were necessary to discuss the boundaries.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

You can send her DMs and add notes to the admin while submitting, but until she has the opportunity to see the whole picture, why should she take the chance?

Right. She has the right to publish only when she feels that the publication complies the guidelines. But sometimes she can make the mistake of overlooking some bits that would indeed convince her that the author is well within the guidelines. That’s what the massage box is for. I agree with the rejection if she was displeased with the rape scene (due to lack of the subject’s enjoyment. My mistake.) But I think if she finds Brucie’s character problematic, it can very well be the case that she missed the bits where Brucie enjoyed or was thrilled and explaining those bits to her would make a difference.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Some stories should not be published here.