Alternatives?

[SkyBubble]

I'm curious if there's a site out there like Lit? The current discourse is that things are looking bleak, at least that's my interpretation of what's being said. I don't often visit the boards, but lately...

So, if things go tits up, where do we go?

Yes, but none nearly as big. Try Lush Stories, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tales After Dark, XNXX, Wolfhub, Inkitt, WRIST, many others.

They're all teeny-tiny compared to this place. But you can often get stories posted more quickly.

 

[SkyBubble]

20 years ago I read a lot more from other places like ASSTR and STO

What is STO?

 

[shelleycat1]

Stories on line

Google does not seem to find it.
https://storiesonline.net/

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Yes, but none nearly as big. Try Lush Stories, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tales After Dark, XNXX, Wolfhub, Inkitt, WRIST, many others.

They're all teeny-tiny compared to this place. But you can often get stories posted more quickly.

I'd hardly describe AO3 as 'teeny-tiny' given that there can be 10,000 stories filed under a single TV show, but what it's really missing over there is a forum and a PM system.

 

[Duleigh]

I'd hardly describe AO3 as 'teeny-tiny' given that there can be 10,000 stories filed under a single TV show, but what it's really missing over there is a forum and a PM system.

I agree - AO3 is quite a site, but it's not a social site. I have a few stories there and posting a story is a fairly complex operation, especially a story that's part of a series of stories.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

WRIST.pub
WRIST stands for Writers Readers Interactive Stories @ Themes. It's a much smaller site, but it's hardened against troll attacks It's a fun place for writers who are tired of trolls and getting lost in the shuffle.
Tell them you're a LIT survivor and Duleigh sent you.

It's not possible to see even a preview without an account. Can you show us some screenshots of what the stories look like? Also, any indicators of what the feedback looks like? How many members are there? How many stories?

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Yes, but none nearly as big. Try Lush Stories, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tales After Dark, XNXX, Wolfhub, Inkitt, WRIST, many others.

They're all teeny-tiny compared to this place. But you can often get stories posted more quickly.

AO3(which is the biggest fanfic site) isn't small. I wouldn't consider Lush that small either. AO3 came about along with Adult-FanFiction as rivals to FFN, because folks were sick of it's puritan ways. It became the powerhouse and has surpassed AFF, FFN, and Quotev. The only site that rivals it in fanfiction is probably Wattpad. Lush seemed to have came about in the 00s.

 

[Duleigh]

It's not possible to see even a preview without an account. Can you show us some screenshots of what the stories look like? Also, any indicators of what the feedback looks like? How many members are there? How many stories?

It's all forum based so it's a little unsual compared to the structured 'march in lock step' life here on Lit. You make your own page and populate it with links to your stories. I'm trying to get them to add more help for newbees. They allow things that will get your story kicked off of Lit, the best bet is to get with the top folk at the site like ahorsewithnoname or RedCzar or Gigi1995 (an outstanding blind writer)

Stories look like this Feedback looks like this

 

[SkyBubble]

Is that still going?

Looks like it's dead but someone archived it. How long that will last, I don't know. C-S-S-A got archived after its demise too, but that archive seems to be gone now.

 

[SkyBubble]

I know a couple of other sites, but I shouldn't mention them by name here. I'll send you a message later when I have some time.

I'd also be interested. I like to be on multiple sites.

 

[SkyBubble]

I wonder if either Lush or SOL could handle the large influx of authors coming over if anything happens here. Some authors won't bother, but I think quite a few will look for another place.

Maybe, but they have their own restrictions. Lush doesn't take celebrity stories, for example.

 

[SkyBubble]

Eventually Disney will probably buy Literotica from Laurel, since they own everything else.

And that may not be a bad thing. We'd be able write porn stories using Disney IP without risk of getting sued for instance. I've long had this idea of a spicy love triangle between Iron Man, Minnie Mouse and Flounder....

You might get away with that at AO3.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It's all forum based so it's a little unsual compared to the structured 'march in lock step' life here on Lit. You make your own page and populate it with links to your stories. I'm trying to get them to add more help for newbees. They allow things that will get your story kicked off of Lit, the best bet is to get with the top folk at the site like ahorsewithnoname or RedCzar or Gigi1995 (an outstanding blind writer)

Stories look like this Feedback looks like this
View attachment 2569173 View attachment 2569174

So you post a story in the same way you would make a regular forum post. Interesting.
The only thing I don't understand is the fact that stories can't be seen or read at all unless you're a member. Authors usually want as much exposure as they can get.

 

[lovecraft68]

Maybe, but they have their own restrictions. Lush doesn't take celebrity stories, for example.

Probably afraid of getting sued because of people who can't help trying to write them into underage or non con.

In other words, what real celebrities are, and can't have that.

I know Lush had taboo, the dropped it, then brought it back after they lost a lot of readers, but no idea now.

 

[Duleigh]

So you post a story in the same way you would make a regular forum post. Interesting.
The only thing I don't understand is the fact that stories can't be seen or read at all unless you're a member. Authors usually want as much exposure as they can get.

It is a site that was set up by a group of authors from XNXX and they were seriously burned by trolls over there, so they built WRIST to be troll proof. No anonymous anything anywhere, and trolling will get you booted. It's a fun community there. Tonight is music night, several of us gather in the chat room and we play music videos for each other. Friday night is trivia night. There's a writing contest every month, 1000 words on the current topic. Blogs, all kinds of things. It's Social social media.

 

[SkyBubble]

I know the hateful maniacs all ran to Bluesky where they pretend they're not hateful maniacs, but everyone else is.

That's standard; that was happening before the internet.

 

[SkyBubble]

I would be very sad to see this place shut down, because I do NOT see good alternatives.

Then we'd have to populate one of the newer, smaller sites and help grow it. But i's unlikely any would grow to Lit scale.

 

[SkyBubble]

There are very few places in social media where you can exchange ideas and express differences of opinion in a way that seems worthwhile.

True, but I don't think that's all the fault of social media. Leaders on all sides seem to promote this.

 

[SkyBubble]

If Literotica is really being ran by only two people, and it's actually struggling, I would just sell ad space.

No ads with audio, no 'wait to skip' ads, no pop up ads with tiny close buttons hidden, those obviously suck and would ruin the overall experience of being on Lit.

A few banner ads at the bottom of the page or along a side would be visible but not noticeable in a way that interferes.

Interestingly, on some of the other sites, I've seen ads for this site.

 

[SkyBubble]

But to be honest, it kinda seems find. Maybe the influx in AI stories is making it take longer to review everything at times, or some times people behind the scenes are taking some time off or dealing with a seasonal flu. We never really know what could be going on, but with the fluctuation in how fast or slow stories are published for certain periods of time isn't enough for me to want to start panicking and searching for new erotica sites.

A little more communication would be helpful, though.

 

[SkyBubble]

I don't know about Lush, but SOL could, no problem. For two reasons:

First, Laz has helpers. Second, there are very few authors on here who write actual stories. Most just share their masturbation fantasies or 750-word projects which, if posted on SOL, would only earn you comments telling you to post that stuff on Reddit.

Though, maybe, if enough people complain, the site would finally get an overhaul and no longer look like it's stuck in the 90s.

There are several people working on stories at Lush too. I've communicated with several different people there about story acceptance and requirements. It's a well-run site.

 

[SkyBubble]

Though, maybe, if enough people complain, the site would finally get an overhaul and no longer look like it's stuck in the 90s.

Yes, they could definitely update their interface.

 

[SimonDoom]

True, but I don't think that's all the fault of social media. Leaders on all sides seem to promote this.

I'm more inclined to believe it's just because people are shits. Human nature. Not all people, of course, but there are plenty of people out there who, if they can be bad and get away with it, will be bad. And the Internet is great for letting people get away with things.

 

[SkyBubble]

I've only been here a very short while and I'm absolutely astonished at how people with such different politics and experiences and ages manage to keep this community together. I think it's great. It would be a real shame if it disappeared.

My thinking is that I already know my own views; I find them a bit boring in fact. Other people's views are fascinating.

I'm not interested in your views as much as I am in how you got to those views. And that's one of the problems with contemporary discourse. Most people aren't really interested in either.

 

[SkyBubble]

Maybe it will be Paramount Communications - excuse me, Paramount Global

They own CBS and just bought The Free Press. (Hopefully, they don't mess with it.) I'm interested to see what they do with FP and wiht SeeBS.