How is this likely to go over in R/NC?

[joy_of_cooking]

Laurel reclassified my dark fairy tales story from Fetish to R/NC.



The titular king is a bookish young man who has no interest in anything outside his books, not even sex. He literally doesn't know how to do it.

His new wife has to teach him how it's done, namely, he mounts her by lying across her knees, she warms him up with her hand or a slipper or her hairbrush, and then they make the beast with two backs (she dry humps his tenderized bottom). Later she introduces bondage, to help him with his problem of coming too early (being unable to hold still for the warm up), and caning, so he can be "ridged for her pleasure."

I thought I portrayed this as explicitly consensual the whole way through. She asks when he is ready. They talk about how happy he is when she canes him, even though it hurts. She lets him choose when they use the cane and it's described as a point of pride for him to initiate that at least once a month.

He says no twice, and both times it's respected. Once she suggests riding his penis instead of his ass. He doesn't think he could bear to have her warm him up there, and she accepts that. Another time she suggests spanking him with one of his books and he refuses. He offers to let her take him for a ride in the woods (if you know what I mean ) as a consolation prize.

At the end, someone offers to spirit him away to a neighboring country and he begs them to leave him alone. He says, "I'm happy. I read and I write and I fuck my wife. It's everything I ever wanted."

I have two questions:

1. Why do you think this was put in R/NC? because his consent wasn't informed? I usually think of that category as being about coercion, often quite heavy-handed coercion (blackmail, quid pro quo harassment, rape). In my story she just tells him this is how it's done and he signs on enthusiastically.
2. What do you think R/NC readers will make of my story? I mean, I guess we'll find out in a day, but I want to prepare myself mentally.

I don't want to ask her to put it back. I would rather publish in the wrong category than not be included in the challenge.

 

[StillStunned]

There's always the "reluctance" aspect of R/NC.

I'd trust Laurel. She's been doing this for a long time and presumably has a better feel for what works in the various categories.

What category did you originally want?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Wait!! What?? A new story is getting published???? Does the rest of the AH know that?

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!

 

[joy_of_cooking]

What category did you originally want?

Fetish. I figured the caning would fit in there, without irritating the real life bdsm people.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Wait!! What?? A new story is getting published???? Does the rest of the AH know that?

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!

Looks like a batch of dark fairy tales went through just in time to make the list that's getting published on Monday.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

What category did you originally want?

^^^ ... vvv

Laurel reclassified my dark fairy tales story from Fetish to R/NC.

 

[TheLobster]

Based on your recounting, I would’ve expected it might’ve been moved to BDSM, not R/NC, even though Fetish would of course work as well.

All in all, pretty strange. Now I’m also curious how it’ll be received.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I ended up messaging Laurel. I suddenly remembered that I tagged the story dubcon. I wonder if that was all that prompted the change.

I added the tag because one could argue his consent is not fully informed. He doesn't know the sex acts he's doing are not vanilla. However, he knows what he's doing and he's fully on board with that.

I don't blame Laurel for not reading every word of my story to find out exactly how dubious the consent was. It certainly sounds like submissions volumes are overwhelming right now.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Based on your recounting, I would’ve expected it might’ve been moved to BDSM,

I considered bdsm but I was worried the real life BDSM people would take exception to him not knowing that he was doing BDSM, not having a safe word, etc. I feel like there's a contingent over there that doesn't appreciate "BDSM-flavored objects."

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Well, I'd be miffed about it. The choice of category means something, and I assume you picked Fetish for a reason. Fetish is a catch all category, which accepts many different kinks and is always a good choice for stories that touch on more than one kink.

I don't think it's okay for Laurel to change the category based on one borderline tag.

 

[Erozetta]

It'll probably do better than mine. I forgot to include any actual sex scenes but put it in r/nc due to the insinuation of force being used off screen and the situation itself being fully accidental and not at all consensual.

I basically dangled R/NC throughout the story but never delivered. Heh. Oops.

It sounds like yours has reluctance around sex at least. I do think yours would probably do better in fetish, but the dubcon tag (did you include a reason in the note to admin?) probably reclassified it in a "better safe than sorry" direction.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

did you include a reason in the note to admin?

I didn't and in retrospect I should have. That will be good for me to remember if there's a next time.

 

[Erozetta]

I didn't and in retrospect I should have. That will be good for me to remember if there's a next time.

Yeah, it's a good practice to have when you use a tag that *could* point the story somewhere it doesn't fully go. Although, more than once I've run out of characters when writing the note, so be mindful to keep it short and direct, lol.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I've just done some browsing and saw a new story in LS, named Lesbian Blackmail 02. These are the tags.


Why isn't this in R/NC as well then?

 

[Erozetta]

I've just done some browsing and saw a new story in LS, named Lesbian Blackmail 02. These are the tags.

View attachment 2567694
Why isn't this in R/NC as well then?

The six lesbian tags might've trumped the three R/NC tags.

Or they might've included a note to Laurel explaining their category choice and she agreed. Or they asked to keep it in LS, which Laurel will sometimes listen to and sometimes won't.

I had one I wanted in EC that got put in I/T for a paragraph about a dream with a sibling, it was ultimately a little sister/brother's best friend story. And one I wanted in fetish that ended up in I/T. It was a lactation fetish between step siblings stories. Weirdly, both still did really well in I/T despite the lack of either I or T.

 

[nice90sguy]

Well, I'd be miffed about it. The choice of category means something, and I assume you picked Fetish for a reason. Fetish is a catch all category, which accepts many different kinks and is always a good choice for stories that touch on more than one kink.

I don't think it's okay for Laurel to change the category based on one borderline tag.

It's happened to me so often I vented about it in my open letter to her: A Timely Letter to the Site Owner

But seriously, she actually does know best, quote often. I've pushed back (always successfully), and regretted not listening to her.

The weirdest decision she made was to place my Sherlock Holmes spoof in "Celebrities and FanFic" -- like Holmes could sue me for libel.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It's happened to me so often I vented about it in my open letter to her: A Timely Letter to the Site Owner

But seriously, she actually does know best, quote often. I've pushed back (always successfully), and regretted not listening to her.

The weirdest decision she made was to place my Sherlock Holmes spoof in "Celebrities and FanFic" -- like Holmes could sue me for libel.

I don't doubt Laurel's expertise. But I doubt that she actually reads the stories and that she can thus make an informed choice.
But even then, unless we are breaking some rule, the choice of category should be our "mistake" to make. I am not talking about cases where a story clearly belongs in a certain category due to its content; putting such a story in a different category could be misleading to readers.
This is obviously not such a case. I've seen and read harsh forced slavery stories in the BDSM category. These are such glaring inconsistencies.

 

[AwkwardMD]

It really sounds like, underneath everything, you wrote a story that's more complicated than Lit's categorization system. That's to be commended.

I've had a few of mine recategorized. I still disagree, but I respect that Laurel's change probably aligns more correctly with audience expectations. At that point, I'm just being stubborn (but I reserve the right to be a cranky old B).

 

[AwkwardMD]

I don't doubt Laurel's expertise. But I doubt that she actually reads the stories and that she can thus make an informed choice.
But even then, unless we are breaking some rule, the choice of category should be our "mistake" to make. I am not talking about cases where a story clearly belongs in a certain category due to its content; putting such a story in a different category could be misleading to readers.
This is obviously not such a case. I've seen and read harsh forced slavery stories in the BDSM category. These are such glaring inconsistencies.

If I'm doing head canon for the site administration, I suspect the only category she makes time to read is non-con, because it has the most specific rules about what's allowed. Even then, I don’t believe she has time to read them all, or even all of any of them. Everything else, every other category, I think is just getting a scan for occurences of keywords.

 

[Britva415]

I don't want to ask her to put it back. I would rather publish in the wrong category than not be included in the challenge.

You can ask.

The story is already published. I don't see what would preclude it from being included in the challenge, if you were to ask for a category change using the regular old submit-edits process. That process doesn't unpublish the story.

 

[ChuckWolf]

I considered bdsm but I was worried the real life BDSM people would take exception to him not knowing that he was doing BDSM, not having a safe word, etc. I feel like there's a contingent over there that doesn't appreciate "BDSM-flavored objects."

That is good to know; I will NOT be uploading to that category.

 

[ChuckWolf]

I've just done some browsing and saw a new story in LS, named Lesbian Blackmail 02. These are the tags.

View attachment 2567694
Why isn't this in R/NC as well then?

Are there lesbians in this story?

 

[TheRedChamber]

That is good to know; I will NOT be uploading to that category.

You can never say for sure that someone wont get offended, but I think you would be okay in bdsm if, as you say, everything is 'explicitly consensual' What that Bdsm crowd mostly objects to (fairly in my view) is semi-realistic stories with the presentation of 'serious red flags' treated as normal within a relationship/the community. Otherwise known as Fifty Shades of Grey Syndrome.

There are others with more real life experience who could say more, but knowing your stuff generally, I doubt you'd go too far wrong there.