Weird comments

[RetroFan]

These comments weren't incoherent or overly bizarre, but in some of my stories I found it strange what readers reacted to.

For example, in one of my Romance stories, Learning to Love Louise, in one scene one of the characters is looking it his late fiancee's obituary, which stated that she died on 10th September 2001. As the story is set in Adelaide South Australia, I wrote the date as 10/09/2001, the Australian format. One reader commented that this was a major mistake, and that she died on 9th October 2001, which would be the American date format. It just seemed such an odd thing to comment on in an emotive story.

One of my most amusing experiences was when I wrote the IT story series 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend' back in 2019, where a nerd swaps bodies with his bossy twin sister's dumb jock boyfriend. It was never meant to be taken seriously, or a piece of classic literature, in fact it was full of immature jokes, slapstick comedy, and lavatory humour, with many of the scenes in the story featuring humourless characters who are not in the slightest bit amused by the chaos taking place around them. It was kind of ironic that like many of the characters in the story, the humourless readers found absolutely nothing funny about it at all and were so angered by the content, and the story became something like Literotica's answer to 'Freddy Got Fingered'.

 

[CyranoJ]

What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

Some people have super-specific tastes or kinks that just bounce off of certain approaches to writing.

When I asked for feedback on one story from @SimonDoom's promised feedback thread, for example*, I got feedback from an unrelated reader who had not registered that the story was already published and had run its course (I wasn't looking for writing feedback, but for reader feedback), and they tried to tell me how to rewrite the story from the assumption that character development apparently could not happen when people weren't speaking. It was fucking bizarre, but everyone has their own thing, I guess.

One of my fave comments of all time accused one of my stories of aping Steinbeck. Far from negative, really, but still bizarre.

[* I'm not asking for news on that, @SimonDoom, but I'm also not not asking, if you know what I mean.]

 

[SimonDoom]

Some people have super-specific tastes or kinks that just bounce off of certain approaches to writing.

When I asked for feedback on one story from @SimonDoom's promised feedback thread, for example*, I got feedback from an unrelated reader who had not registered that the story was already published and had run its course (I wasn't looking for writing feedback, but for reader feedback), and they tried to tell me how to rewrite the story from the assumption that character development apparently could not happen when people weren't speaking. It was fucking bizarre, but everyone has their own thing, I guess.

One of my fave comments of all time accused one of my stories of aping Steinbeck. Far from negative, really, but still bizarre.

[* I'm not asking for news on that, @SimonDoom, but I'm also not not asking, if you know what I mean.]

I get it. I've been a hopeless slacker on that whole enterprise. But at least it gave rise to an interesting story to tell, right?

 

[CyranoJ]

I get it. I've been a hopeless slacker on that whole enterprise. But at least it gave rise to an interesting story to tell, right?

That's the spirit!

 

[onehitwanda]

So I recognize what you're talking about but I'm not sure what the trigger is that sets things apart.

Maybe it's just down to the phase of the moon

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The weirdest comments I have seen, and there were several, all occurred in response to a scene in one story where female characters went to a strip club and participated in classes to learn how to please their men.

Here, on an erotic story site, several people found this scene objectionable.

 

[Rob_Royale]

This one surprised me today. It's from a story with a developing polyamory relationship. I try to write likable characters, but in the end, I just write porn.

Anonymous about 10 hours ago
I particularly enjoyed the way you allowed each character to maintain their self-respect and allowing each character to be respectful of the other characters own self-respect. Truthfulness to each other seems the link that makes this work, Lack of honesty seems to always disable others of the respect they should be due. Thank you!

 

[SimonDoom]

My favorite weird comment got deleted, alas. It was a long and rambling one about how I had no skill and I should permanently give up all kinds of writing altogether, but the spelling and grammar ironically were terrible. I hope I saved it somewhere. I know I've posted it in a previous thread.

 

[yowser]

'You had me at "incanabula"'

 

[Rob_Royale]

Wow got this one today. Someone looking for plausibility in erotic fiction. Who knew?

by XXXXX  on 4 hours ago

You could see the deus ex machina coming a mile away. And I'm sorry to say it wasn't handled all that well. The wrap-up (e.g., medical tests finding nothing after someone goes missing for two weeks) left something to be desired.

But the biggest problem was the time/,place setting. I could see, with a modest strain on credibility, a place like this in southern California during the relatively freewheeling Caryer years--maybe. But remote Tennessee in 1962? Zero chance. That whole atmosphere re: sex in the US at the time was far too repressed in general. Furthermore, Tennessee is the buckle of the Bible Belt, so that no matter how discreet the operation was, it would never have flown. No way you could keep a place like this quiet, either: the locals who do things like trades work will see things and talk. Next thing you know, the sheriff and his boys arrive and close it down.

"A" for effort but not very plausible at all.

 

[Duleigh]

I got slapped down by a anonymous poster for "Using a plural verb in a singular situation" and described in detail where it occurred. Unfortunately for the poster who didn't have the intestinal fortitude to have a username, no such plural verb existed anywhere in the story nor did the situation he/she/it described. I figured that this comment was made for a story a disparate me wrote in an alternate universe where I went to the same loser school he/she/it went to

 

[onehitwanda]

Just got an odd one on my latest story:

Is this a remaster? I'm sure I've read this story before.

It's not the first time I've been obliquely accused of plagiarism. A prior, much more blatant accusation made me wish the accuser had linked the supposed source story, but sadly they didn't.

It bugs me a lot more than it should because I never claim other people's work as my own.

Does anyone else get these sorts of comments or am I uniquely blessed here?

 

[alohadave]

Just got an odd one on my latest story:



It's not the first time I've been obliquely accused of plagiarism. A prior, much more blatant accusation made me wish the accuser had linked the supposed source story, but sadly they didn't.

It bugs me a lot more than it should because I never claim other people's work as my own.

Does anyone else get these sorts of comments or am I uniquely blessed here?

I've read many stories over the years, and sometimes you get this feeling that you've read something before.

Usually it's a case of similar plot and style. Though I have read stories that felt awfully familiar and I realize about halfway through that I had read it before and forgot. Sometimes happens when I come across a story on two different sites and don't realize they are the same.

 

[Duleigh]

Just got an odd one on my latest story:



It's not the first time I've been obliquely accused of plagiarism. A prior, much more blatant accusation made me wish the accuser had linked the supposed source story, but sadly they didn't.

It bugs me a lot more than it should because I never claim other people's work as my own.

Does anyone else get these sorts of comments or am I uniquely blessed here?

Not me, maybe he read it twice, the second time he was sober. Just a thought.

 

[onehitwanda]

Not me, maybe he read it twice, the second time he was sober. Just a thought.

That's a nice explanation. I'll take that.

 

[Zootonius]

I do seem to attract those obsessed with grammar.

The past tense of “thrust” is... Thrust [...] “Thrusted” simply sounds inelegant and amateurish.

I do find it amusing how many complain about something they don't pay for.

 

[Duleigh]

I do seem to attract those obsessed with grammar.

The past tense of “thrust” is... Thrust [...] “Thrusted” simply sounds inelegant and amateurish.

I do find it amusing how many complain about something they don't pay for.

That's probably the founder of my "Fan Club"

 

[anniebaby10]

OK, my question relates to ‘odd’ comments. Have you received any doozies? Not hateful, bilge-water poison or malevolent threatening, just comments which, in context, made absolutely no sense.

I’ll give some examples.

First, and this has happened a couple of times with different words, I had a comment which was basically that they liked the tale, found it well-written, good plot, good eroticism, but they were disappointed that I had used the word ‘boobies’.

I hadn’t used that word; it’s not one on my list. To check, I even did a word search both in the published story and in my (Word) draft. Nope, ‘boobies’ weren’t in town that night.

A comment on another story corrected my use of the phrase ‘savoir-faire’, noting that my use of ‘saviour faire’ [sic] made no sense. Which might have been so - had I used either phrase.




As a second example, mentioned merely because it was cute, I’ve had my spelling studiously corrected when I haven’t made an error. “You said ‘a hunting licence’, but it shoulda been ‘license’ ‘cause that’s a vowel.”


Last one. I had published a pretty hot story and one comment said that they really liked it, but why hadn’t I mentioned birth control and STDs, ‘cause those are important. I managed to not point out the essential fantasy nature of free online erotic fiction…


What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

there are nit picking Karens who have way too much time on their hands

 

[RetroFan]

The pregnancy comments in the Incest Taboo category are quite odd, one would think that this category would be the least one in which readers would want pregnancy to occur. But in quite a few of my stories in the category - aunt/niece, cousins, brother/sister - readers have stated that they wanted the female partner to become pregnant, and I've seen similar comments on other IT stories. I've never seen this in other categories.

 

[oneagainst]

Just received this comment on Alena's Game Ch 18: "What a depressing story this has been, I shan't be reading anything more of yours".

On chapter *18*. After making it all the way through all of 123,121 words.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Just received this comment on Alena's Game Ch 18: "What a depressing story this has been, I shan't be reading anything more of yours".

On chapter *18*. After making it all the way through all of 123,121 words.

That's just... odd!

 

[Rob_Royale]

This one put a smile on my face. This story is about a wicked little resort in the Tennessee hills that existed from the 1920s to the 1980s and somehow my protagonist ends up there in 1962. It makes me laugh that someone reading erotic fantasy is looking for plausibility. His notes on my ending are valid, I could have put more effort into it, but I was really looking forward to finishing the story.

by xxxxxxxx  on 03/12/2023

You could see the deus ex machina coming a mile away. And I'm sorry to say it wasn't handled all that well. The wrap-up (e.g., medical tests finding nothing after someone goes missing for two weeks) left something to be desired.

But the biggest problem was the time/,place setting. I could see, with a modest strain on credibility, a place like this in southern California during the relatively freewheeling Caryer years--maybe. But remote Tennessee in 1962? Zero chance. That whole atmosphere re: sex in the US at the time was far too repressed in general. Furthermore, Tennessee is the buckle of the Bible Belt, so that no matter how discreet the operation was, it would never have flown. No way you could keep a place like this quiet, either: the locals who do things like trades work will see things and talk. Next thing you know, the sheriff and his boys arrive and close it down.

"A" for effort but not very plausible at all.

 

[RoperTrace]

That's just... odd!

When I started a book or story, I always used to finish them out of sheer stubbornness. Then about 15 years(?) ago, if they didn't grab me early on, I valued my time too much to waste on something that wasn't enjoyable. I adopted the same practice with new television shows. It was like getting a monkey off my back.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Umm, as a follow-up to my post about nice comments on my On the Job story, I received this one from Anon.

Based on the rating, I'll assume this is a wonderful tale. Unfortunately, as with many of these stories, it heavily involves alcohol, in this case, wine, which I'm so tired of reading about. Try writing a good romance story that doesn't involve any form of alcohol whatsoever. Also, no tobacco or illegal drugs either.

It's set in a winery!

 

[Erosfan]

OK, my question relates to ‘odd’ comments. Have you received any doozies? Not hateful, bilge-water poison or malevolent threatening, just comments which, in context, made absolutely no sense.

I’ll give some examples.

First, and this has happened a couple of times with different words, I had a comment which was basically that they liked the tale, found it well-written, good plot, good eroticism, but they were disappointed that I had used the word ‘boobies’.

I hadn’t used that word; it’s not one on my list. To check, I even did a word search both in the published story and in my (Word) draft. Nope, ‘boobies’ weren’t in town that night.

A comment on another story corrected my use of the phrase ‘savoir-faire’, noting that my use of ‘saviour faire’ [sic] made no sense. Which might have been so - had I used either phrase.




As a second example, mentioned merely because it was cute, I’ve had my spelling studiously corrected when I haven’t made an error. “You said ‘a hunting licence’, but it shoulda been ‘license’ ‘cause that’s a vowel.”


Last one. I had published a pretty hot story and one comment said that they really liked it, but why hadn’t I mentioned birth control and STDs, ‘cause those are important. I managed to not point out the essential fantasy nature of free online erotic fiction…


What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

There are people out there who's main purpose in life is to find something wrong in everything they see, hear or read.