Another Category Question

[dmallord]

I have a story pending approval. I placed it in humor although I was not sure it belongs there. I asked the moderator to place it elsewhere if they felt it more appropriate. Is that within the scope of their role?

What category would you have chosen?

The story is about a divorced cowboy type construction worker who's Ex takes him to the cleaners. Of course he goes to the bar for advice. He also meets a 'Fixer' who solves his problems and repays his Ex with street justice - even gets his dog back! The MC also 'fixes' the Fixer, e.g. they make love - she was kinda lonely too.

The story title is - Life Is a Bucket of Shit. The opening lines are below so you can get the feel of it.

The music was thumping out of that old jukebox in the corner, but nobody was dancing to my quarters. Who does that at 5:30 when the joint is half full or half empty; depending on how you look at it? Most guys in here are on their way home to a house full of kids and a flagging woman caught up with rug rat chores at the wind down of a long day. They just needed a mug of courage to make it all the way home. Me? Just chilling. Sitting on my favorite stool covered in sawdust and looking pretty much like a weary old man – ‘cept I’m not old; just weary. My best bartender had just wiped up some beer I spilt at MY end of the bar. The corner that still needed a sign saying, ‘Commiserating Corners – Open for Business.’ At least that was the one I thought about hanging up there today. Tomorrow, well that could be a different sign, but just now this one fits my mood just fine.

He heard me talking, in a deep conversation, with an empty mug. We was discussing about thinking how I needed to see a doctor. Larry, my personal bartender, chimed into my private conversation with my BFF beer mug. “For my two cents worth of advice, kid, people really don’t need a head shrink. Much of your life can be self-analyzed just by sitting on an ass-polished barstool for two hours a day. A few bucks and a few rounds for a few like-minded guys sitting there with you, really provides all the diagnosis required. You don’t have to pay for some psych doctor to tell you that life is like a bucket of shit.”

A Penny for your thoughts on the appropriate category. So I can retrieve it before it gets posted. Thanks in advance. dmallord

 

[KeithD]

Your story will be processed by the sole submissions editor here, Laurel. There's only one and it isn't a moderator. Not only can she assign the category, she reserves the right to assign the category regardless of what you ask for. I can't tell from what you posted whether this is the best category for this one. You've asked her to take a look at it with that in mind and that's probably the best you can do. If you pull it back to change the submission in any way, incidentally, be aware that when you resubmit, it goes back to the bottom of the submissions line.

 

[RejectReality]

It's basically a Loving Wives BTB story, even though from the description, it seems as if the ex-wife is little more than a plot point. In my mind, that disqualifies it from the category, but I'm not so sure the BTB readers would agree with me. They may not care if it's just the fixer giving a run-down of how she's ruined the ex's life today without ever 'meeting' the ex.

If the ex has a more prominent presence, then it certainly belongs there.

I suppose you could get away with Erotic Couplings, though that's a tough call. It may not get as much hate there, and thus score higher, but it's also going to get a fraction of the reads.

Have to decide if you have thick enough skin to survive the feeding frenzy that is LW. My guess is that if you leave it up to Laurel ( and maybe even if you don't ) she's going to put it in LW.

 

[PennameWombat]

(Didn’t realize this thread was double-posted. Moved here to unify.)

I have a story pending approval. I placed it in humor although I was not sure it belongs there. I asked the moderator to place it elsewhere if they felt it more appropriate. Is that within the scope of their role?

What category would you have chosen?

The story is about a divorced cowboy type construction worker who's Ex takes him to the cleaners. Of course he goes to the bar for advice. He also meets a 'Fixer' who solves his problems and repays his Ex with street justice - even gets his dog back! The MC also 'fixes' the Fixer, e.g. they make love - she was kinda lonely too.
<snip>Thanks in advance. dmallord

You don’t give us enough info. The opening implies a possible rough-hewn humor, but IMHO the key is the Fixer. ‘Street justice’ implies things could get rough, the term usually means someone’s getting their ass kicked. That sounds like a stretch for humor.

Unless it’s like the movie The Sting, where revenge was a complicated con job, not violence, played in a light-hearted manner.

The Site also has restrictions around intermingling violence and sex. Non-consensual needs to walk a fine line. We don’t need more text, we need the theme.

 

[gordo12]

I have a story pending approval. I placed it in humor although I was not sure it belongs there. I asked the moderator to place it elsewhere if they felt it more appropriate. Is that within the scope of their role?

What category would you have chosen?

The story is about a divorced cowboy type construction worker who's Ex takes him to the cleaners. Of course he goes to the bar for advice. He also meets a 'Fixer' who solves his problems and repays his Ex with street justice - even gets his dog back! The MC also 'fixes' the Fixer, e.g. they make love - she was kinda lonely too.

The story title is - Life Is a Bucket of Shit. The opening lines are below so you can get the feel of it.

The music was thumping out of that old jukebox in the corner, but nobody was dancing to my quarters. Who does that at 5:30 when the joint is half full or half empty; depending on how you look at it? Most guys in here are on their way home to a house full of kids and a flagging woman caught up with rug rat chores at the wind down of a long day. They just needed a mug of courage to make it all the way home. Me? Just chilling. Sitting on my favorite stool covered in sawdust and looking pretty much like a weary old man – ‘cept I’m not old; just weary. My best bartender had just wiped up some beer I spilt at MY end of the bar. The corner that still needed a sign saying, ‘Commiserating Corners – Open for Business.’ At least that was the one I thought about hanging up there today. Tomorrow, well that could be a different sign, but just now this one fits my mood just fine.

He heard me talking, in a deep conversation, with an empty mug. We was discussing about thinking how I needed to see a doctor. Larry, my personal bartender, chimed into my private conversation with my BFF beer mug. “For my two cents worth of advice, kid, people really don’t need a head shrink. Much of your life can be self-analyzed just by sitting on an ass-polished barstool for two hours a day. A few bucks and a few rounds for a few like-minded guys sitting there with you, really provides all the diagnosis required. You don’t have to pay for some psych doctor to tell you that life is like a bucket of shit.”

A Penny for your thoughts on the appropriate category. So I can retrieve it before it gets posted. Thanks in advance. dmallord

I don't see anything really humorous in what you wrote. Maybe there's more to the story. Loving Wives seems a better shot based on that short section.

 

[lovecraft68]

It's basically a Loving Wives BTB story, even though from the description, it seems as if the ex-wife is little more than a plot point. In my mind, that disqualifies it from the category, but I'm not so sure the BTB readers would agree with me. They may not care if it's just the fixer giving a run-down of how she's ruined the ex's life today without ever 'meeting' the ex.

If the ex has a more prominent presence, then it certainly belongs there.

I suppose you could get away with Erotic Couplings, though that's a tough call. It may not get as much hate there, and thus score higher, but it's also going to get a fraction of the reads.

Have to decide if you have thick enough skin to survive the feeding frenzy that is LW. My guess is that if you leave it up to Laurel ( and maybe even if you don't ) she's going to put it in LW.

But I thought the point of BTB stories was revenge? If the ex barely factors in, its not going to deliver what the pondscum over there expects, which is usually violence hate and abuse of women....the story sounds like its above their 3rd grade reading level.

 

[dmallord]

(Didn’t realize this thread was double-posted. Moved here to unify.)



You don’t give us enough info. The opening implies a possible rough-hewn humor, but IMHO the key is the Fixer. ‘Street justice’ implies things could get rough, the term usually means someone’s getting their ass kicked. That sounds like a stretch for humor.

Unless it’s like the movie The Sting, where revenge was a complicated con job, not violence, played in a light-hearted manner.

The Site also has restrictions around intermingling violence and sex. Non-consensual needs to walk a fine line. We don’t need more text, we need the theme.

dmallord comments -

The 'rough-hewn humor you note is pretty much the tone I attempted to set in the storyline. Street justice in the story comes not through violent actions against persons - although a house gets burned in the process.

My apologies for the lack of info. My humor element needs some work, apparently. I didn't want to overburden those of you who responded to my request with an elaborate plot layout - however all three of you pointed that I did not provide enough insight. [Not sure what Loving Wives BTB means either. so new to this world!]

Second attempt at a theme:

A cowboy-type construction worker marries a gold digging waitress against his mother's advice.
He recounts the first three years of his marriage in first person mode to the readers as he sits in a bar talking to an empty beer mug.

The first year of marriage is like roses - he has great sex and one night at the height of it, she tells hi she needs a new gold Cadillac - he takes out a loan.

The second year of of marriage is like wildflowers and crabgrass - his wife says she can't show her appreciation for how much she loves him because their apartment walls are too thin. She buys them a house - one that his momma will appreciate. He takes out a mortgage for that and also gets a second job. She quits her job - back pains she tells him just like the kind her mother has. That puts a bit of stress on his bedtime efforts.

The third year is like a bucket of shit - his wife tells him right after a sexual interlude that he is just not inventive enough to keep her cunt entertained. She suggested some spice in their life. Hang her upside down in a spiked harness and take lots of pictures of his penis doing all that movie kind of stuff. The next morning the sex crimes police and a process server show up at his job site and arrest him, delivering a restraining order and divorce papers.

His lawyer, the only one who would take his case, because of the pictures and his wife's girlfriend's testimonies at the trial, tell him he is fucked. He's got to pay alimony, the house, the car, and even for the vet care of his beloved dog, Humpy - she got him in the settlement also!

In the midst of all his woes, driving home in a rainstorm he almost ran over a woman on a bike petaling furiously toward home to get out of the storm. Thinking he almost killed her, he stops. Enter the "Fixer". A mysterious woman who goes home with him [no electricity at her place due to the storm, just so happens he has a generator at his mamma's place] She cooks for him and he breaks down and recounts his misery for her. Then, just so lonely herself they make love all night. in the morning she provides him a 'Fixer Solution'

The short of that is provides a bit of an elaborate plot for his alibi as to the time in question where his house burns down. The Fixer cons the EX and her new live in aerial yoga instructor boyfriend into setting the house on fire for double the insurance payout. She got pictures and well the police got a mysterious envelop with those. Resulting in the Ex going to prison. The MC gets the burnout shell which is a real bargain as it turns out, his dog back, the alimony canceled since she goes to prison.

Meanwhile, the Fixer had disappeared never to be heard from again.

A storyline kind of like the old saying that if you play a country western song backward - you get your life returned to you.

Dmallord

 

[gordo12]

Definitely Loving Wives. BTB stands for burn the bitch or burn the bastard. IE revenge.

 

[lovecraft68]

Definitely Loving Wives. BTB stands for burn the bitch or burn the bastard. IE revenge.

Still doesn't seem like there's a enough. I'd gamble EC for this.

Plus what is it, 99 bitch to one bastard story there in incel nation?

 

[gordo12]

Still doesn't seem like there's a enough. I'd gamble EC for this.

Plus what is it, 99 bitch to one bastard story there in incel nation?

I certainly wouldn't argue the 99-1 ratio. Them boys love their bonfires with helpless wives staked in the middle. But I don't control how people write or what. Based on his description that seems the best category.

He could always find another story to write!

 

[dmallord]

Thanks to all! For sharing your insight on placement for this story. The time you all make for commentary is greatly, greatly appreciated. I've not wandered into the Loving Wives category. Sounds as though one should cross that ground with asbestos sole shoes when submitting a story there. BTB is a new vocabulary term for me! Thanks for that! BTW the Microsoft Word puts the vocabulary level on this story at 4.6! So maybe too high for that area then ;-)

 

[dmallord]

My dry humor attempt - Divorce of all Subjects!

The story has been posted! It went up over night before I could retrieve it and place it in the EC category. Guess Laurel was okay with my original Humor/Satire placement; my note to relocate if there was a better category was not changed. After the site maintenance thing cleared I was able to get this note to let you know its current status: 767 views, 4.58 rating, 92 raters, 4 favorites, and two positive comments. Not being familiar with the various categories, it will be interesting to see what the views will be in a month or so compared to my other submissions.

https://www.literotica.com/s/life-is-like-shit-not-chocolate is 9,999 words. If you have some time, I,d like to see what your thought of the post. https://forum.literotica.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif