Inconsistent rules?

[SEVERUSMAX]

We all know that this is an issue. The same stuff depicted by two different authors gets different treatment. I post a story where castration took place offscreen, it gets rejected. The Technician and others (nothing against them, but just making a point), post stories with offscreen castration and it's approved. The official reason is that it was done "for titillation," but the sex didn't happen until several paragraphs later, and not at the hands of the same guy who castrated the victim.

Sheesh....

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't think its preferential treatment as much as there is no real screening process. The site puts up 75 or so new stories a day and there is no way any of them get more than a quick glance unless maybe its a brand new author.

The solutions are...

Less stories go up daily, but they are thoroughly checked, which of course would lead back to 5-6 day posting times. I'd be fine with that, but many would bitch.

The site pays someone to help the screen stories

The site finds a volunteers to help screen stories. I know on the volunteer note it was said, 'well they won't look for what Laurel looks for."

Nothing is being looked for at the moment. There is a story in the Halloween contest that is a Christmas story. Santa in the title and the first line of the authors note says its Christmas themed so the author was not being sneaky in anyway

But it shows things are just being 'approved'.

I've been here five years and I have never seen so many 'rule breaking' stories as what I've been seeing the last few months.

As for your example.

Hilarious, a man can't be castrated for titillation (and I am fine with that rule I don't think that should be portrayed as arousing) but there is an entire section where women are brutally raped for titillation.

But categories get different treatment. Look at Loving wives there is castration for titillation there because that sick readership gets off when the 'boyfriend' of the cheating wife has his dick lopped off and what gets done to the women there makes non consent look like a feminist movement.

When it comes to LW nothing is off limits and its the biggest example you'll ever see here of 'don't feed the trolls' because lit is bending over backwards for the worst readership on the site.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Laurel skims stories and makes what I take it to be a snap decision.

I've always surmised that her decisions are driven by legal fears; if the site appears to espouse underage sex and someone in the states gets hurt trying to emulate such a story, I think there's fear the site would get named in the lawsuit and I suspect it would take exactly one such case to break the bank and close the site. I doubt this is a high margin business with lots of money for lawyers.

On the other hand, incest is a huge draw here, and without a lot of visits the site can't sell advertising. Non-consent is also a huge draw (and if my feedback is any indication, it mostly pulls in female readers, which is the demographic you want to keep in this business.) So I think the legal fears and the Laurel Squick Factor are balanced by economic need.

And then as mentioned, Laurel is reviewing a bunch of stories a day (and I can't imagine a more hideous job - dealing with pages of what's generally awful erotica every single day.) I'm willing to bet her gag factor increases as she reads, and stories at the end of the pile for the day are rejected more easily than ones at the start.

Upshot, the selection process approximates shaped randomness. It's possible to write a story that will definitely get rejected ("At 16, Jamie was the most sexually active slut in school, and this is the story of her first gangbang"), but anything else, who knows. You can always contact her if you think somethings's been badly decided, but there isn't a Right or Wrong to this - private site, Laurel's rules, full stop.

Yes, it's a little frustrating. I have a strong interest in exploring human nature under different social structures - using scifi and fantasy settings to create different civilizations with different rules, and then writing about how human ethics and human sexuality fares. But you pretty much can't do that here, because in a dystopia, or a more progressive society than the US today - or for that matter in most historical ones - people have sex before 18. I end up requiring a lot of suspension of disbelief to explain why some characters waited as long as they did. Laurel happens to be enforcing the most restrictive view of "under age" the world has ever held; don't try to post Romeo and Juliet here. But her restrictiveness is likely why the site still functions, so what can you do?

 

[GoldenMaia]

Intent

I haven't read either story so take that as you will....

I would assume that your story had some undertone of this being a pleasurable experience for someone involved (male or female) or for the purpose of exciting the reader for the process of the act. (he/she licked her lips in anticipation...)

While the other story may have had it for punishment or not for the intent of exciting the reader. (that SOB was going to pay! The price? The family marbles!)

This might not be the case--I've had stories stopped for being 'under-age' when I called a guy a 'boy' in dialog to insult the character, even though earlier on I indicated he was over the legal age.

 

[lovecraft68]

Laurel skims stories and makes what I take it to be a snap decision.

I've always surmised that her decisions are driven by legal fears; if the site appears to espouse underage sex and someone in the states gets hurt trying to emulate such a story, I think there's fear the site would get named in the lawsuit and I suspect it would take exactly one such case to break the bank and close the site. I doubt this is a high margin business with lots of money for lawyers.

On the other hand, incest is a huge draw here, and without a lot of visits the site can't sell advertising. Non-consent is also a huge draw (and if my feedback is any indication, it mostly pulls in female readers, which is the demographic you want to keep in this business.) So I think the legal fears and the Laurel Squick Factor are balanced by economic need.

And then as mentioned, Laurel is reviewing a bunch of stories a day (and I can't imagine a more hideous job - dealing with pages of what's generally awful erotica every single day.) I'm willing to bet her gag factor increases as she reads, and stories at the end of the pile for the day are rejected more easily than ones at the start.

Upshot, the selection process approximates shaped randomness. It's possible to write a story that will definitely get rejected ("At 16, Jamie was the most sexually active slut in school, and this is the story of her first gangbang"), but anything else, who knows. You can always contact her if you think somethings's been badly decided, but there isn't a Right or Wrong to this - private site, Laurel's rules, full stop.

Yes, it's a little frustrating. I have a strong interest in exploring human nature under different social structures - using scifi and fantasy settings to create different civilizations with different rules, and then writing about how human ethics and human sexuality fares. But you pretty much can't do that here, because in a dystopia, or a more progressive society than the US today - or for that matter in most historical ones - people have sex before 18. I end up requiring a lot of suspension of disbelief to explain why some characters waited as long as they did. Laurel happens to be enforcing the most restrictive view of "under age" the world has ever held; don't try to post Romeo and Juliet here. But her restrictiveness is likely why the site still functions, so what can you do?

There are no legal reasons. It is not illegal to write about anything in fiction . The rules are all based on what laurel does not want posted here.

I have no issues with the rules here. Only issue I have is the point of this post and that is actually enforce them.

Its frustrating for an author to be rejected for something then see 100 stories with the same content. The answer here is always "tough shit" rather it ever be expected to be handled properly.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Yeah, well, the castration is totally offscreen, and it is meant not to titillate, but as a sort of personal tragedy or crisis, a catharsis of sorts that allows the Top guy to come to the rescue of his lifelong friend after everyone else, especially the bottom guy's fiancee, for whom he had gone into debt with a loan shark, just turns against him. He has no one else, so when his friend saves him, it becomes a highly vulnerable and intimate moment that leads to them becoming lovers.

Why is that worse than castration for revenge by a jilted spouse (husband or wife)? Or because someone lost a poker game that was a setup to begin with?

 

[HandsInTheDark]

There are no legal reasons. It is not illegal to write about anything in fiction . The rules are all based on what laurel does not want posted here.

I have no issues with the rules here. Only issue I have is the point of this post and that is actually enforce them.

Its frustrating for an author to be rejected for something then see 100 stories with the same content. The answer here is always "tough shit" rather it ever be expected to be handled properly.

I said legal fears. The site doesn't have to do anything wrong to end up paying lawyers to deal with harassment suits.

Laurel can comment if she cares to but I can't imagine a 17 year old having sex is more offensive to her than incest and noncon. I'd be startled if this was an ethics driven decision. It has to be economic.

Better enforcement would be nice, but who is going to fund the extra work? You really only have a right to complain about service you pay for. So the obvious solution is to pay to submit, and then you can expect something better. Personally I'd ask 50$/hour to review this shit and that wouldn't even cover the therapy I'd need afterwards. All in favor?

(Sorry, laurel, no vote from you

 

[Hypoxia]

>> This message is hidden because lovecraft68 is on your ignore list.

I'm guessing that's where the castration bit came in. Anyway, back to underage: Write all the explicit underage-human sex you want -- just don't submit it to LIT. Or write all the underage sex you want -- just don't describe it. "He looked forward to nailing more sophomore girls" is fine. "He dreamed of her luscious 16-year-old boobs" is not. Or even adjust your mindset to describe sexual activities of over-18s, not minors. It's not hard.

No, people do not wait till they hit 18 to commence fucking. But you may not describe such activity here. Allude; infer; hint; report from afar; be creative. This is an Author's Challenge, y'know. Think of it as LIT's Pons Asinorum.

 

[lovecraft68]

I said legal fears. The site doesn't have to do anything wrong to end up paying lawyers to deal with harassment suits.

Laurel can comment if she cares to but I can't imagine a 17 year old having sex is more offensive to her than incest and noncon. I'd be startled if this was an ethics driven decision. It has to be economic.

Better enforcement would be nice, but who is going to fund the extra work? You really only have a right to complain about service you pay for. So the obvious solution is to pay to submit, and then you can expect something better. Personally I'd ask 50$/hour to review this shit and that wouldn't even cover the therapy I'd need afterwards. All in favor?

(Sorry, laurel, no vote from you

Laurel mentioned before that when it comes to under age its not the stories, its the crowd it brings-in other words pedos-and the thing there is law enforcement tends to follow them. LIt would still technically have nothing to fear, but I guess they don't want undo attention

I think its a valid point, but again....interesting how there is no concern about the type of reader hard core non consent/rape porn draws. Every serial rapist has tons of rape porn on their computers (and in movie/magazine form etc...) but it seems its okay that when the convicted rapists and and women abusers come here and they are followed by the law, that's okay.

But putting that aside if legal concerns are the concerns....the GB and the comments left here on stories are why Law enforcement takes an interest here. Constant threats of rape and violence, sexist, racist and homo[phobic hate being spewed.

That's what draws the authorities and there is no concern with that

So I fall back on the opinion Laurel herself draws a personal line on underage which is her right.

It used to be the only rule really enforced, but not even that is anymore. Its all over here.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Laurel mentioned before that when it comes to under age its not the stories, its the crowd it brings-in other words pedos-.

Pedos have no interest in stories about 17 year olds. Pedophilia is desire for prepubescent children, formally 12 and younger. The distinction is important unless you want to give a mental health diagnosis to every 18 year old male on the planet.

Maybe the problem is that we'd be overrun with incest stories involving 16 and under. I could see that being a problem and it would certainly incite me to leave.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

That aside, there was a story where the title was "The Ball Tax", and which made it plain that men's testicles were being taxed or removed.....there have been horror stories involving castration, often by monsters, or vengeful wives punishing men for real or imagined cheating, as in "The April Fool." (By the way, if a wife ever did to me what she did to her husband, whether I was guilty of cheating or not, I'd seriously divorce her and press charges.) Not to mention, have you read any of edrider73's work? Yeah, I rest my case.

I think that it is quite clear that castration is not necessarily the dealbreaker, so what rule did I break? I wasn't doing it to titillate, but to create some backstory, invent a crisis/emergency/catharsis, and demonstrate Dave's compassion and love for Nicky (the victim). Not to mention that it permitted Nancy (Nicky's ex-fiancee) and Sly Mackenzie (the loan shark who ordered the gelding) to be shown for the scum that they were.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Without seeing the story it's hard to offer a theory, I can't see a problem with it the way you've described. Have you tried asking for a reevaluation?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Without seeing the story it's hard to offer a theory, I can't see a problem with it the way you've described. Have you tried asking for a reevaluation?

Yes.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Yes.

Dang, figured you probably had but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Dang, figured you probably had but thought I'd throw it out there.

Well, it was a thought.

 

[lovecraft68]

Pedos have no interest in stories about 17 year olds. Pedophilia is desire for prepubescent children, formally 12 and younger. The distinction is important unless you want to give a mental health diagnosis to every 18 year old male on the planet.

Maybe the problem is that we'd be overrun with incest stories involving 16 and under. I could see that being a problem and it would certainly incite me to leave.

You're right. Pedo's are interested in children and usually not sexually developed(ugh)

That argument is one used when people try to lobby to go under 18 to say 16 which is age of consent in most places and still no interest to a pedo.

her reply was if she went to 16 people would want 14 etc....She's probably right....

And if that was allowed many would leave. I like incest 18+ but would be as appalled as you if it involved 14 year old boys/girls. Non con would feature 12 year odl girls being raped and even group would have a 14 year odl girl getting gang banged and even if consensual....just gross and disgusting.

But the enforcement of the under age rule, like other rules, is a joke and I have long ago decided its "wink wink" in other words, don't say "I was 14" just say you're 18 and act like your 14.

There are countless stories here of '18' year old girls wiggling and giggling on daddy's lap and saying "does daddy want to make cummies?" and they are just fine apparently.

Rape rule? Good luck convincing us of that when you have a non consent section.(rather than just reluctance which would show you did not want those stories)

No bestiality? Right because we all know that when a woman is sucking a horse's cock its not a horse cock if there is a horn on its head

In the Halloween contest there is a Christmas story...seriously? That should not have been allowed in the contest abd it says in line one its a Christmas story and "Santa" is in the title. That story was not even looked at.

No snuff? Oh, look a story in the contest with Snuff in the title....

All the rules here are like the ones on amazon...meaning we'll allow it just don't be blatant, be 'clever' so that way if the law for whatever reason did become involved she can blame everyone for breaking the rules and sneaking those stories in.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

UPDATE: After re-submitting with a note that indicated that the violence was offscreen, my story was added. This makes it seem as if the original decision was indeed based upon skimming, so it was a simple matter of convincing the team that it wasn't a "snuff" tale.

 

[MagicaPractica]

UPDATE: After re-submitting with a note that indicated that the violence was offscreen, my story was added. This makes it seem as if the original decision was indeed based upon skimming, so it was a simple matter of convincing the team that it wasn't a "snuff" tale.

Yay!

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Yay!

Thanks.

 

[Athalia]

I can relate, Severus. My story "The Path of Pain" bounced the first few times I submitted it, once for overlong paragraphs, and once because I was describing a form of torture. However, I was able to point out to Laurel that it was self-torture, deliberately undertaken by the protagonist, and that there was a precedent for that sort of thing in another story that had been on the site for years. I got the green light for the story, finally.

As has been pointed out, Laurel sees scores of stories every day, and many of them do not survive a superficial glance. But if one has made a real effort to stay within bounds, she can be accommodating. I would think that your track record as a Lit author must have helped, as well.