How could you be so very wrong about your own story?

[BiscuitHammer]

At this point, I'm used to readers commenting or PM'ing me to tell me how I fucked up and wrote something that my characters never would have done. Either she acted too slutty, or they made a decision that in the reader's estimate they never would have made, blah, blah...

I find it rather amusing that most of the rebukes concern bodily autonomy of the female characters and how worthless they are as people if they've slept with anyone other than the reader's chosen male/proxy for themselves, even if it was before they met said proxy.

The term 'out of character' gets thrown around, 'they never would have', 'such a horrible slut', yadda yadda. It happens regularly. The lesson seems to be that empowered and independent women are sluts.

"I'd never sleep with Alexa, she's a slut!"

Well, don't worry, cubby, I can guarantee she'd never sleep with you anyway. I'm the author, so I know this for a fact.

But yesterday, I got a scathing PM from a reader who had apparently rewritten my Alexaverse stories, correcting the behaviour of my errant characters, and infinitely improving it. They have half a mind (no argument there) to publish their rewrite for everyone to enjoy, show everyone how it OUGHT to have been done.

Time out...

This ninnyhammer tells me he has completely rewritten my Alexaverse stories. That's seventeen chapters of Alex & Alexa, twenty-three chapters of Mike & Karen, and four chapters of Freja & Jeanie. That's hundreds of thousands of words.

And apparently he only started reading them six months ago.

Does that strike anyone else as a wee bit obsessive? Should I be flattered that my story meant so much to him that he needed to tear it apart and make it his own, because he understands my universe better than I do?

If the Alexaverse ever gets turned into porn, this dude is NOT writing the screenplay. Alexa will be a virtuous nun until she meets Alex, I've no doubt.

So my crazed, obsessive fans who hate my work aside, how about the rest of you? How many of your readers have had to set you straight on your own world and show you how it's done? Show you where you fucked up, because you don't understand the universe as well as they do?

And aren't you so very grateful afterwards?

The Incel is strong with this one...

- BH

 

[TxRad]

I had one reader that says I never finish a story so he's going to finish all my stories. I asked him in one thread, anymous, ya know, how he finished stories. To please PM me and point out how he did it so I could see for myself. I haven't heard from him since.

I have a couple of series that I lost interest in or got sidetracked to something else but I don't do series. I do standalone stories. Okay they could go places but I'm not interested in continuing them. I said what I had to say.

If ya don't like the way I write, write your own stories.

 

[SimonDoom]

Obsession is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

[ElectricBlue]

This ninnyhammer tells me he has completely rewritten my Alexaverse stories. That's seventeen chapters of Alex & Alexa, twenty-three chapters of Mike & Karen, and four chapters of Freja & Jeanie. That's hundreds of thousands of words.

And apparently he only started reading them six months ago.

Does that strike anyone else as a wee bit obsessive? Should I be flattered that my story meant so much to him that he needed to tear it apart and make it his own, because he understands my universe better than I do?

That's unbelievable, that someone would do that. It might be some weird, back-handed compliment, but really, it's far more disturbing than that. You've been able to establish he lives on a different continent?

The last I got when someone didn't really like where I went with a character, was for them to put their hand up and say, "Maybe if you write another chapter, she could sit on his lap?" Which is in a different league of innocence compared to your guy.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

That's unbelievable, that someone would do that. It might be some weird, back-handed compliment, but really, it's far more disturbing than that. You've been able to establish he lives on a different continent

His English is somewhat formal yet stilted, so I'm assuming it isn't his first language. And he seemingly HATES women having control of their own urges and bodies. This leads me to surmise that he's not from the immediately English-speaking world.

If he's that desperate for an alt-u of the Alexaverse, he oughta just pay me a handsome sum to give him his own version and then we both win.

Then again, if he's griping about free erotica not meeting his grubby li'l fapping needs, I don't see any big payout in my future. Especially if he has the time available to rewrite 500k+ words to his own liking.

I guess he can just fap away to his rewrite.

 

[LilyWaters]

At this point, I'm used to readers commenting or PM'ing me to tell me how I fucked up and wrote something that my characters never would have done. Either she acted too slutty, or they made a decision that in the reader's estimate they never would have made, blah, blah...

I find it rather amusing that most of the rebukes concern bodily autonomy of the female characters and how worthless they are as people if they've slept with anyone other than the reader's chosen male/proxy for themselves, even if it was before they met said proxy.

The term 'out of character' gets thrown around, 'they never would have', 'such a horrible slut', yadda yadda. It happens regularly. The lesson seems to be that empowered and independent women are sluts.

"I'd never sleep with Alexa, she's a slut!"

Well, don't worry, cubby, I can guarantee she'd never sleep with you anyway. I'm the author, so I know this for a fact.

But yesterday, I got a scathing PM from a reader who had apparently rewritten my Alexaverse stories, correcting the behaviour of my errant characters, and infinitely improving it. They have half a mind (no argument there) to publish their rewrite for everyone to enjoy, show everyone how it OUGHT to have been done.

Time out...

This ninnyhammer tells me he has completely rewritten my Alexaverse stories. That's seventeen chapters of Alex & Alexa, twenty-three chapters of Mike & Karen, and four chapters of Freja & Jeanie. That's hundreds of thousands of words.

And apparently he only started reading them six months ago.

Does that strike anyone else as a wee bit obsessive? Should I be flattered that my story meant so much to him that he needed to tear it apart and make it his own, because he understands my universe better than I do?

If the Alexaverse ever gets turned into porn, this dude is NOT writing the screenplay. Alexa will be a virtuous nun until she meets Alex, I've no doubt.

So my crazed, obsessive fans who hate my work aside, how about the rest of you? How many of your readers have had to set you straight on your own world and show you how it's done? Show you where you fucked up, because you don't understand the universe as well as they do?

And aren't you so very grateful afterwards?

The Incel is strong with this one...

- BH

YIKES.

I guess the most positive spin on this is that... your work has fanfic now? So that's something...

I'm sort of joking, but I'm sort of not. While I don't write fanfic, on the whole I think it's a great creative pursuit, and I know some writers who really learned to write through that medium. But it can also leads to a whole world of crazy (the stories of MsScribe and the Omegaverse lawsuits spring to mind.)

And this is a whole OTHER world of crazy. I'm really sorry you have to deal with it. This is where it is very nice to basically be a nobody on this site.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

YIKES.

I guess the most positive spin on this is that... your work has fanfic now? So that's something...

And this is a whole OTHER world of crazy. I'm really sorry you have to deal with it. This is where it is very nice to basically be a nobody on this site.

I somehow doubt I'm anybody on this site. And fanfiction to me is usually a graceful continuation of existing work, rather than what this guy seems to have done.

This reminds me of one of the kaiju in the Godzilla universe, Gigan. Somebody found a kaiju they didn't like, and tortured and mutilated it into some cyborg monstrosity that suited their needs before they unleashed it on an unsuspecting world.

"Alex & Alexa : The Gigan Adaptation".

Now I'm picturing Alexa with a glowing, cyclopean red eye, blades for arms, and a buzzsaw in her thorax.

Annnnd now I'm not. Yikes.

This yahoo Gigan'd my Alexaverse. There oughta be a little Gigan icon we can put next to readers' names, warn everyone about their tendencies.

PS- don't be so hard on yourself or say you're a nobody. I've read your stuff and liked it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So my crazed, obsessive fans who hate my work aside, how about the rest of you? How many of your readers have had to set you straight on your own world and show you how it's done? Show you where you fucked up, because you don't understand the universe as well as they do?

Not often, but I got a very long comment on Red Scarf telling me that I'd got the ending all wrong and needed to write an extra chapter to fix it. I wrote a story about two friends who sleep together as a paid arrangement; the commenter was looking for that to be a standard-issue romance. Despite one of the characters practically saying "I think I might be aromantic, but I need some time living on my own to be sure".

The commenter went on to tell me that their only previous knowledge of autism was from watching Rain Man, but nevertheless they knew what two autistic people needed better than I did. Bleah.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Obsession is the sincerest form of flattery.

And the creepiest.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Nobody has rewritten my stories, but there have been 2 unauthorized “sequels” to my Office Wife story. One of them began his story with “Thank you to MajorRewrite for allowing me to write this sequel”, implying permission that I never gave. What a dope.

Both “sequels” are BTB/revenge garbage. The fans of that stuff are fanatical loons.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Nobody has rewritten my stories, but there have been 2 unauthorized “sequels” to my Office Wife story. One of them began his story with “Thank you to MajorRewrite for allowing me to write this sequel”, implying permission that I never gave. What a dope.

Both “sequels” are BTB/revenge garbage. The fans of that stuff are fanatical loons.

I've had angry readers who hate liberated women tell me that they want to punish Alexa for being a slut by tying her down in a chair and throwing acid in her face.

So... many... incels...

 

[LilyWaters]

I somehow doubt I'm anybody on this site. And fanfiction to me is usually a graceful continuation of existing work, rather than what this guy seems to have done.

This reminds me of one of the kaiju in the Godzilla universe, Gigan. Somebody found a kaiju they didn't like, and tortured and mutilated it into some cyborg monstrosity that suited their needs before they unleashed it on an unsuspecting world.

"Alex & Alexa : The Gigan Adaptation".

Now I'm picturing Alexa with a glowing, cyclopean red eye, blades for arms, and a buzzsaw in her thorax.

Annnnd now I'm not. Yikes.

This yahoo Gigan'd my Alexaverse. There oughta be a little Gigan icon we can put next to readers' names, warn everyone about their tendencies.

PS- don't be so hard on yourself or say you're a nobody. I've read your stuff and liked it.

Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I'm too much of a newbie to have raised any real ire (at least I think I haven't?) Nobody has ever Gigan'd my few stories, anyway. But thank you so much for reading them, I really appreciate it.

May I just say that I am 100% here for this terminology, the icon, and Gigan as the identifier for these people. This straight up awesomeness could be the bright side of this whole situation.

Now I'm seeing a vision of William Shatner as James T. Kirk, shaking his fist, and screaming "GIGANNNNNNNNN!"

 

[LilyWaters]

I've had angry readers who hate liberated women tell me that they want to punish Alexa for being a slut by tying her down in a chair and throwing acid in her face.

So... many... incels...

Oh my God.

They should be fun during the Pink Orchid contest. I have a story planned, but that makes me want to write ten.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I'm too much of a newbie to have raised any real ire (at least I think I haven't?) Nobody has ever Gigan'd my few stories, anyway. But thank you so much for reading them, I really appreciate it.

May I just say that I am 100% here for this terminology, the icon, and Gigan as the identifier for these people. This straight up awesomeness could be the bright side of this whole situation.

Now I'm seeing a vision of William Shatner as James T. Kirk, shaking his fist, and screaming "GIGANNNNNNNNN!"

https://www.google.com/search?q=gig...AQ&biw=360&bih=572&dpr=3#imgrc=OUSDVFoAkk9zXM

Aka, reasonable response to some of our readers' comments...

 

[lovecraft68]

Few years back I had someone send me a nasty gram about a story I wrote, the premise, the ending...it incensed him.

This was a rare occasion of a nasty gram that had an e-mail to reply to, and I replied and told him he's entitled to his opinion, but I write the story I feel compelled to write and I take his exception to it as flattery because no one wastes time getting pissed off and explaining what I should have done if they didn't get vested in it.

They replied with an apology, and we ended up becoming friendly and talking about writing as he also had stories here-usually the people bitching about how you write don't write at all-he eventually asked permission to write his version of the ending of my story, and I said sure and he published it.

The interesting thing is I never really questioned the story(this was written back in 2012) in any way, and for whatever reason I was looking at it a few months ago, and for the first time I saw what he was talking about and I realized I would never write that story today, at least in the way I did it.

Guess our muses mature and change just as we do over time.

 

[Lovecraft_lore2]

I like the ones who will go on that they could have written it so much better but they have never once written anything on lit. Never, not once. They have profiles that were created years ago. If they think they could do a better job, then they should write a story and post it.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

May I just say that I am 100% here for this terminology, the icon, and Gigan as the identifier for these people. This straight up awesomeness could be the bright side of this whole situation.

Now I'm seeing a vision of William Shatner as James T. Kirk, shaking his fist, and screaming "GIGANNNNNNNNN!"

Thus far my readership is divided into two distinct but equally weird and annoying groups- the Smut-Zulus and the Gigans.

Charming. No wonder my muses hate me...

 

[LAHomedog]

All I can say is wow! Nothing like that for me, thankfully yet.

Maybe it's the simplicity of my stories. Maybe the categories I work and post in. And I don't get a lot of comment, generally. I now get at least one really negative comment on each story. I believe they are from the same person because I recognized patterns in the writing of the comments. A troll who one-bombs. But nothing like yours.

I think there is some mental issues happening here with yours.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

All I can say is wow! Nothing like that for me, thankfully yet.

I think there is some mental issues happening here with yours.

Between this looney tune and that one from last week who wants me to write him a story about two pregnant women ripping one another to bloody sheds, I'm beginning to wonder about the mental stability of my readers.

I mean, I don't THINK my stories are that outré. Mostly they're kinky romances or comedies. Only The Great Khan is graphically violent, but it's a war story. And Amberley Bloodstar is high fantasy.

No damn clue why I trigger and attract these ding-dongs.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Though, in your case, I would probably assume any future such trolling you get is the angry outlet of the pregnant catfight dude trying to trip you up for not fawning over his idea.

I'll count my blessings before the Almighty if I don't hear from that particular Gigan again. I said it before and I'll say it again- dude needs a hug from his mom, but her skin is probably already sewn into his clothing...

 

[SimonDoom]

I've long since gotten used to the fact that some readers cannot separate fact from fantasy, and they will judge your fantasy by how well it conforms to their own personal view of what the facts are. Your claim that it's just fantasy will fall on deaf ears. There is nothing you can say to these readers. You cannot reason with them. Your best course is to acknowledge to yourself that they are out there and there's nothing you can do about them, and just move on.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

"It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with. It doesn't feel pity of remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead."

- a large percentage of Lit readers, seemingly.

 

[PennameWombat]

I just received my most recent comment on a two year old story that finished on a cliffhanger. Clearly a sequel needed, as this comment (not the first such one) pointed out. I've actually meant to write one...

But I've never written it So I don't know if I should feel lucky or simply lesser that no one's told me they're finishing it for me . I must not inspire the same level of obsession .

I have also received some very few comments on my very... slowly... advancing... chaptered story about how... slowly... it's advancing. But again, just that very small number of complaints.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I just received my most recent comment on a two year old story that finished on a cliffhanger. Clearly a sequel needed, as this comment (not the first such one) pointed out. I've actually meant to write one...

But I've never written it So I don't know if I should feel lucky or simply lesser that no one's told me they're finishing it for me . I must not inspire the same level of obsession .

I have also received some very few comments on my very... slowly... advancing... chaptered story about how... slowly... it's advancing. But again, just that very small number of complaints.

I thought I'd read all your stuff, PDubs, but I'm drawing a blank about the one that is a cliffhanger.

Then again, I've been awake an unacceptably long time and my brain is pretty fernuckered. I guess I'll use that as an convenient excuse to read your stories again.

And don't worry about the pace at which you update. If they want more, quickly, they can bloody-well pay you. If they're consuming free erotica, they can sit down and stfu about the pace you publish at. Where are THEIR submissions of free stories?

 

[PennameWombat]

I thought I'd read all your stuff, PDubs, but I'm drawing a blank about the one that is a cliffhanger.

Then again, I've been awake an unacceptably long time and my brain is pretty fernuckered. I guess I'll use that as an convenient excuse to read your stories again.

Well, thank you <blush> (since we don't really have a blush icon).

It's A Dream of Age and Beauty. As to how 'cliffhanger', it definitely leaves, um, things hanging. I ended it where I did because thematically it wraps up the story to that point. But I left my focus couple facing big decisions.

And don't worry about the pace at which you update. If they want more, quickly, they can bloody-well pay you. If they're consuming free erotica, they can sit down and stfu about the pace you publish at. Where are THEIR submissions of free stories?

I think I've used this same suggestion to others. Yeah, to some degree, that's why I haven't tried to 'go pro' (and no, I'm not claiming I'm good enough to do so even if I did so want!) I enjoy writing what I write, and I like exploring with it. Not grinding stuff out.