FAWC You, Two!

[sr71plt]

LOL, there's a challenge! Just remember - I was the one who pinged the sado-masochistic incestuous lesbian story for yours last time! after we all went round the houses for a while being very gentle in case it had been written by an actual lesbian woman.

You can probably spot mine, our styles are apparently very similar, ha ha ha! It was hilarious that people thought you had written my story last time.

Yes, I was both surprised and ticked that you ID'd the Lesbian one last time. Although I do have some lesbian ones here, I thought all of the elements in that one together would push off the bets.

If you want yours to be recognized, you'll have to put condoms on everything in sight.

I think I've only pegged two of the stories in my mind so far. I don't read many stories of others here, so I'm not good at identifying individual styles. I think I've read eleven of these now, though, and, although I'm enjoying most of them, I don't think I'd go so far as to say they are significantly better as a group than those in the last exercise. Some got pretty difficult baskets, though, I have to say (and some seemed to have written their stories basically before getting the basket too, I'll also have to say. Some are written with the basket firmly in mind better than others were. But that's to be expected.)

 

[sr71plt]

Something fishy going on.

The better stories and superior stories didn't climb much after Laurel did whatever she did to the scores. The low-riders went up like rockets.

It looks like Laurel tossed all the ONEs overboard, and that explains why the low-riders went up so much more than the others (the others had fewer ONEs to start with).

Where this is headed is to a High School Style G.P.A. Duel where GPAs are as inflated as 6th grade bras, and moms sue schools over hundreths of a point GPA.

There wont be enough room at LIT for stories and egos.

I'd say Laurel has moved on to tossing all of the 2s (and some form of the 3s) overboard, as well.

 

[FAWCker]

Yes, I was both surprised and ticked that you ID'd the Lesbian one last time. Although I do have some lesbian ones here, I thought all of the elements in that one together would push off the bets.

If you want yours to be recognized, you'll have to put condoms on everything in sight.

I think I've only pegged two of the stories in my mind so far. I don't read many stories of others here, so I'm not good at identifying individual styles. I think I've read eleven of these now, though, and, although I'm enjoying most of them, I don't think I'd go so far as to say they are significantly better as a group than those in the last exercise. Some got pretty difficult baskets, though, I have to say (and some seemed to have written their stories basically before getting the basket too, I'll also have to say. Some are written with the basket firmly in mind better than others were. But that's to be expected.)

I pretty much figured at least a few of the stories would have already been written -- either figuratively or literally -- prior to the assigning of baskets. In the case of one of mine, I had the basic idea already formed before Lynn gave me my basket. I almost didn't write it, though, because the ingredients didn't seem to mesh at first. One of them, I think, still has that "just stuck it in there 'cause I had to" feel, at least to me.

Oh, well. We'll see what happens during the critique.

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, well. We'll see what happens during the critique.

I would hope that the use and integration of the basket would be key to the discussion (and to the votes). That was, I thought, what the exercise was about this time. Not sure I've seen that in a lot of the comments on the stories I've seen so far.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Yes, I was both surprised and ticked that you ID'd the Lesbian one last time. Although I do have some lesbian ones here, I thought all of the elements in that one together would push off the bets.

If you want yours to be recognized, you'll have to put condoms on everything in sight.

I think I've only pegged two of the stories in my mind so far. I don't read many stories of others here, so I'm not good at identifying individual styles. I think I've read eleven of these now, though, and, although I'm enjoying most of them, I don't think I'd go so far as to say they are significantly better as a group than those in the last exercise. Some got pretty difficult baskets, though, I have to say (and some seemed to have written their stories basically before getting the basket too, I'll also have to say. Some are written with the basket firmly in mind better than others were. But that's to be expected.)

Oh no! I should never have put that condom on the banana in the bowl of fruit that was presented in such a sarcastic manner, LOL.


Ha ha ha! next time you should put in a story with English spelling and condoms hanging from the chandeliers, then everyone will say it's mine.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the way people have used their baskets. I'm looking forward to the discussion, I found it really interesting last time. It's good to have comments at a time when people are not quite sure if it is your story. It's great to get feedback from experienced authors, normally we rely on the Anonymice and although they are often kind and sometimes helpful, there's of course a big difference when another writer is commenting on your work. That's one of the things I value about this competition, I get people who wouldn't normally be looking at my stories reading them and I get good feedback from that.

 

[FAWCker]

I would hope that the use and integration of the basket would be key to the discussion (and to the votes). That was, I thought, what the exercise was about this time. Not sure I've seen that in a lot of the comments on the stories I've seen so far.

It's been brought up in a few of the comments. I'm personally not sure if those comments were left by other Lit writers or not, but at least a few, it seems, latched onto the purpose of the challenge.

 

[sr71plt]

Oh no! I should never have put that condom on the banana in the bowl of fruit that was presented in such a sarcastic manner, LOL.

But . . . but, "sarcasm" was one of your basket elements--and I gave your story a 10 (voted 5 twice) precisely because you put a condom on the banana--and then hung the banana from a chandelier.

 

[FAWCker]

But . . . but, "sarcasm" was one of your basket elements--and I gave your story a 10 (voted 5 twice) precisely because you put a condom on the banana--and then hung the banana from a chandelier.

Great . . . now we know which one is Naoko's. Good going, sr.

 

[NaokoSmith]

But . . . but, "sarcasm" was one of your basket elements--and I gave your story a 10 (voted 5 twice) precisely because you put a condom on the banana--and then hung the banana from a chandelier.

OMG! I thought that was your story! I gave it 50 and am about to write a rapturous review of it on my blog! The way you managed to incorporate the three sweaty guys on a hot summer's day leaving a lawn half-mowed was so masterly.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I'd say Laurel has moved on to tossing all of the 2s (and some form of the 3s) overboard, as well.

I suspect youre right.

I'm thinking of detective writers. Chandler is the man, in my opinion. I don't know what Hammett had that I cant see, but I aint impressed, tho his wares aren't bad. Ditto Cain. Chester Himes is a solid 4 until success and popularity made him indignant, and he started cranking out crap to make political points, and was forgotten (people don't wanna read gloom & doom). Walter Mosley is okay. He's Chester Himes on Haldol.

My point is, the FAWC stories are good enough, with a few that are better, and a few that are superior. But some of the RED H's are affirmative action.

 

[FAWCker]

I suspect youre right.

I'm thinking of detective writers. Chandler is the man, in my opinion. I don't know what Hammett had that I cant see, but I aint impressed, tho his wares aren't bad. Ditto Cain. Chester Himes is a solid 4 until success and popularity made him indignant, and he started cranking out crap to make political points, and was forgotten (people don't wanna read gloom & doom). Walter Mosley is okay. He's Chester Himes on Haldol.

My point is, the FAWC stories are good enough, with a few that are better, and a few that are superior. But some of the RED H's are affirmative action.

We can debate the veracity of red Hs 'til doomsday. There are always going to be votes that are higher or lower than they should be. It's the nature of the beast at Lit.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I suspect youre right.

I'm thinking of detective writers. Chandler is the man, in my opinion. I don't know what Hammett had that I cant see, but I aint impressed, tho his wares aren't bad. Ditto Cain. Chester Himes is a solid 4 until success and popularity made him indignant, and he started cranking out crap to make political points, and was forgotten (people don't wanna read gloom & doom). Walter Mosley is okay. He's Chester Himes on Haldol.

My point is, the FAWC stories are good enough, with a few that are better, and a few that are superior. But some of the RED H's are affirmative action.

I'm hoping that you will leave some personal individual comments as feedback on the stories or in this thread. I would value your opinion.

I hope FAWCker forgives me briefly hijacking the thread for this purpose. I have long wanted to say that your stories seem the most Hemingwayesque of the ones I've read on here. I admire the spare style in which you depict strong characters. I would have liked to have left a comment to that effect on a story, however I didn't wish to annoy you since you didn't want to continue to communicate with me.

 

[PennLady]

There's a whole lot more involved than trying to file a corrected version (after or before the deadline? A deadline is a deadline is a deadline--in respect for those who met the deadline and stuck with what they turned in on the deadline, all having been given the same time to meet the deadline), PL.

I'm not arguing about deadlines here. We were all under the same constraints, I'm just saying that personally, knowing what I did at the time, it didn't bother me.

And yes, I agree he gave away the title in this thread; I missed it at first because, well, I simply didn't pay that close attention and didn't read the story in question until yesterday. It probably won't matter much with readers, as I don't imagine too many read this thread, but that wasn't fair.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm not arguing about deadlines here. We were all under the same constraints, I'm just saying that personally, knowing what I did at the time, it didn't bother me.

And yes, I agree he gave away the title in this thread; I missed it at first because, well, I simply didn't pay that close attention and didn't read the story in question until yesterday. It probably won't matter much with readers, as I don't imagine too many read this thread, but that wasn't fair.

There's a self-check folks can take to determine how "entitled" they feel they are and "it's all about me" they come across.

You are driving in town on a three-lane section that's congested. You find you are in the right-hand-turn-only lane and you want to go straight. If the lane is forced to turn right at the intersection, do you habitually stop traffic behind you and hinder the through lane to the left of you as well to force yourself into the through lane, or do you go ahead and turn right and find a place to turn yourself around and have another go at going the way you wanted to go without inconveniencing anyone else?

And if the right lane isn't forced to go right do you go up into the intersection and force yourself into the through lane when/as you can or go ahead and turn right, not disturb the flow, and fix up your own direction problem yourself by finding a place to turn around and get yourself going in the direction you want without disturbing the flow?

Applies here. If you didn't make the deadline everyone else was working toward, do you disrupt the flow and force yourself in, or do you take your lumps as it having been your problem that you didn't make the deadline with what you would have liked to have there? Are you more entitled than the others in the exercise?

But, again, that was only one aspect of what was going on here in the "I'm entitled" and "It's all about me" and "I gotta win" realm.

 

[sr71plt]

One aspect of the FAWCker stories being on the Chain Stories listing I find curious and a little head scratching. Although the FAWC stories are the whole story of the category new list for a couple of weeks at a time, FAWCKer hasn't managed to get higher than third place on any length of the "most popular author" listing in the category (either this time or last). More readers apparently are currently reading the stories of authors of long-ago Chain Stories than they are of the seventeen current FAWCKer stories. Strange.

 

[slyc_willie]

One aspect of the FAWCker stories being on the Chain Stories listing I find curious and a little head scratching. Although the FAWC stories are the whole story of the category new list for a couple of weeks at a time, FAWCKer hasn't managed to get higher than third place on any length of the "most popular author" listing in the category (either this time or last). More readers apparently are currently reading the stories of authors of long-ago Chain Stories than they are of the seventeen current FAWCKer stories. Strange.

To be honest, I had not looked at that particular list. That FAWCker doesn't show up as a most popular author doesn't really surprise me, though, considering that the stories are only briefly under that name before being reassigned. And other chain stories have been around for quite a while and presumably have their own specialized readership. I still get reads on the old ones I was a part of (A Royal Sacrifice, Modern Fairy Tales, and Midnight), and I would hazard a guess that's because they are all part of a recognizable theme.

The stories in FAWC, on the other hand, are as different as can be when it comes to genre. The only thing tying them together is the premise of the exercise. In most chain stories, the authors are either building a similar house or getting together to build one great big one. With FAWC, we're just giving them the lumber.

 

[PennLady]

One aspect of the FAWCker stories being on the Chain Stories listing I find curious and a little head scratching. Although the FAWC stories are the whole story of the category new list for a couple of weeks at a time, FAWCKer hasn't managed to get higher than third place on any length of the "most popular author" listing in the category (either this time or last). More readers apparently are currently reading the stories of authors of long-ago Chain Stories than they are of the seventeen current FAWCKer stories. Strange.

I wonder if that's because most Chain Stories (as far as I can see) are a series around one idea -- I looked at the category listing and saw things like "The Literotica Olympics," "The Sibling Diaries," etc. This is a little different, with all stories by the same "author" but not about the same thing. That might play in.

ETA: Yes, well, like slyc said.

 

[sr71plt]

Maybe, but the first FAWC exercise was on a single theme--and probably the last 30a stories to be posted to Chain Stories have been by FAWCKer. And the "popular author" listing is set up on "today," "the last 7 days," and "the last 30 days." That's a lot of old stories to read by specific authors to overcome the 30 recent stories by one author.

 

[Darkniciad]

I'm pretty sure that the "most popular author" lists are for authors who have written in that category, but is based upon some nebulous set of statistics from across the board of that author's work.

So, if favorites is part of the equation, then the favorites acquired for a pack of incest stories counts when determining the popular author in every category the author has posted in.

The reason I say that is that when I hit a homerun with a story as RR in Mature ( 1k+ votes, lots of comments and favorites ) I quite often show up on the Most Popular listings for several categories I've written in, while the reverse doesn't really happen when a story does really well in another category ( with "really well" being a lower bar for me than in mature, which I've had a lot of homeruns in )

If it was based only upon statistics generated within that category, I wouldn't anticipate as much bleed-over into other categories, and would anticipate more bleed-over into Mature where I have a larger number of stories.

On top of that, many of my stories as RR in other categories also have a secondary theme of age-difference, which would cause them to share a readership with all my mature stories.

That might seem to be a reason for the bleed-over from mature to others, but one that almost always gets a popular author listing is the Anal category, and both of my stories in that category are young couples, which don't fit that shared readership bill.

That would explain why FAWKer, who is only generating numbers from a relatively low-read category, can't seem to get a toe-hold despite large numbers of stories coming out in a relatively short span of time. There are too many other authors in the category generating numbers from higher-read categories.

 

[FAWCker]

Voting has now closed. I know it's abrupt, and the voting period was only about six days long. However, in that time we had a major sweep and saw a definite lull in voting as well as where it was heading. In addition, given that the winner will be announced on Friday, I wanted to give everyone time to freely and openly discuss the stories in the challenge, guess as to who wrote what, and enjoy giving and receiving critiques.

 

[sr71plt]

Ulp. I was in the middle of reading one. Well, alrighty then. I'll wait until the voting and comments have been turned back on and then start reading it all over again.

Can I guess who wrote the hockey one now?

 

[damppanties]

Ulp. I was in the middle of reading one. Well, alrighty then. I'll wait until the voting and comments have been turned back on and then start reading it all over again.

Can I guess who wrote the hockey one now?

There's a hockey one?

And... go sr! Start it off.

 

[sr71plt]

OK, I think Slyc wrote "Karma."

Now, it's your turn.

 

[damppanties]

OK, I think Slyc wrote "Karma."

Now, it's your turn.

Phbbbt.

I think xelliebabex wrote Sydney Surprise.

Right back at you.

 

[slyc_willie]

And the two people I thought would argue the most about my closing the voting so soon aren't arguing at all.

OK, I think Slyc wrote "Karma."

Now, it's your turn.

No comment . . . .

Phbbbt.

I think xelliebabex wrote Sydney Surprise.

Right back at you.

I can neither confirm nor deny.