Confusion

[jm_kaye]

Hello editors. I'm posting this question here because I've combed through the FAQ and can't find any instructions on how to get help on this particular problem.

I've had a story rejected, for reasons that make absolutely no sense to me. The story was a fantasy concerning a naga, which in Hindu mythology is a half-human, half-snake creature. Nagas also appear in many other Southeast Asian folk tales.
http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_naga.htm

Although I used imagery from Indian mythology, my story was specifically an erotic re-telling of the old English ballad, Alison Gross.
http://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch035.htm

Before I submitted the story, I first looked through the Non-human section of Literotica to make sure it would be okay. I was happy to see that there were other stories with similar subject matter, in particular these two:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=255036
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=359300

The first story is also about a naga, the second is about a woman who has sex with a magic snake.

For comparison, here is my story, as it was posted in my blog:
http://jm-kaye.livejournal.com/18975.html#cutid1

I was naturally very surprised when my story was rejected, and this was the reason given:

Is there bestiality in your story? (As stated in our FAQ - http://www.literotica.com/faq/ - mythical creatures
like aliens, unicorns, and talking magic beasts are allowed, but not real life animals such as dogs, horses, etc.)

First of all, even if a person knows nothing about Southeast Asian folklore, I can't see how a man transformed into a thing with a snake body, human head, human penis and human intelligence can be construed as anything but a "mythical creature." If it is a "real life animal," I'm sure the scientific community would be very interested in hearing about it.

Second, if a snake/human hybrid is unacceptable, then why were those other stories accepted? And why even have a non-human category at all if the standards are this strict?

What am I missing here? If it's a matter of making revisions, I don't mind doing that as long as they don't affect the plot structure or characters. But I honestly can't see how I could make it any more obvious that a naga is not a real animal.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[Darkniciad]

The rejections are posed in the form of a question for a reason. With as many stories as are approved in a day, they only get a quick scan -- probably first by a computer for nuts and bolts grammar/spelling, and then by human eyes for a quick glance.

That quick glance set off the "bestiality flag" and the moderator moved on to the next story to get the full 60+ approved for the day.

A lot of time ( and I've had this happen to me ) all you need to do is re-submit the story with a note in the "Note" section of the submission form. Just say, there's no bestiality in this story. The creature is a _______ and not a real, normal animal. The "Note" will ensure closer scrutiny by human eyes.

That's probably all you need to do.

I'll scan through it and see if I can detect any red flags that might cause a legitimate bestiality rejection, but from what you've posted, it sounds like a common case of quick-scan mistaken identity.

EDIT: I think the creature is pretty obvious as a mythical critter. Just put the note in the notes section, and it should go up fine the second time.

 

[jm_kaye]

Thank you for the input. I will try submitting it again, with notes. I apologize if I was a little testy before, but I seriously thought I had lost my mind.

 

[Darkniciad]

Thank you for the input. I will try submitting it again, with notes. I apologize if I was a little testy before, but I seriously thought I had lost my mind.

Not a problem. Rejections happen to almost everyone. The only one I had was a similar quick-scan mistake, and you'll hear the same from most people who've received content based rejections.

Only those who never looked to see what was prohibited or are purposely trying to sneak in under the radar usually get fully-founded content rejections.

Just a price we have to pay to have as short of a waiting period for posting as we have now. If every story was picked through with a fine toothed comb, it would take a month for a new submission to see the light of day

 

[sr71plt]

I had the same problem with a story, although my snake was more metaphorical rather than mystical. I just refiled, without changes, with a note in the notes section that, no, there wasn't any bestality in the story, they were all humans--and it went through as originally submitted.