Weird comments

[TarnishedPenny]

OK, my question relates to ‘odd’ comments. Have you received any doozies? Not hateful, bilge-water poison or malevolent threatening, just comments which, in context, made absolutely no sense.

I’ll give some examples.

First, and this has happened a couple of times with different words, I had a comment which was basically that they liked the tale, found it well-written, good plot, good eroticism, but they were disappointed that I had used the word ‘boobies’.

I hadn’t used that word; it’s not one on my list. To check, I even did a word search both in the published story and in my (Word) draft. Nope, ‘boobies’ weren’t in town that night.

A comment on another story corrected my use of the phrase ‘savoir-faire’, noting that my use of ‘saviour faire’ [sic] made no sense. Which might have been so - had I used either phrase.




As a second example, mentioned merely because it was cute, I’ve had my spelling studiously corrected when I haven’t made an error. “You said ‘a hunting licence’, but it shoulda been ‘license’ ‘cause that’s a vowel.”


Last one. I had published a pretty hot story and one comment said that they really liked it, but why hadn’t I mentioned birth control and STDs, ‘cause those are important. I managed to not point out the essential fantasy nature of free online erotic fiction…


What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

 

[Zenith77]

Last one. I had published a pretty hot story and one comment said that they really liked it, but why hadn’t I mentioned birth control and STDs, ‘cause those are important. I managed to not point out the essential fantasy nature of free online erotic fiction…

I think it's a fair point. I always put in my disclaimers that 'No animals were harmed in the writing of this fiction and all characters are over 18, regularly tested, and on birth control.'. I do regard that as pretty important.

For my fantasy set not-on-Earth it's doubly important, in case the reader is worried that birth control measures are still available. Fortunately, they are.

 

[alohadave]

I got this one:

With orivocation comes motivation. With motivation cones decision. With decision comes action

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Since I write chaptered stories, I occasionally get a comment that I am "Losing control of the plot." While I have some chapters with fairly complicated plot, somehow I get these kinds of comments only in the ones where the plot and the story are pretty much straightforward. Maybe for some readers find it confusing when the plot isn't complicated?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Well, AD, you’d best get orivocating, hadn’t you?

 

[Djmac1031]

I got a "girl" (Anonymous of course) who decided to write a comment almost as long as my short story "Dear Daddy," telling me all about "her" adventures with her "Daddy" stealing her panties and so on and so on, all obvious bullshit of course, and I couldn't help but wonder why this person didn't just write their own story instead of leaving this long, rambling comment on mine.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I think the oddest comment I received was this anonymous one:

"Why not post under your normal identity? Why play games?"

It made me chuckle. I'd love to know who I really am! It would be fun to do a Scooby-Doo-style villain reveal. "Wait. It was really [normal identity] all along!"

That comment came on my "Art of Deception" series, which is about a master forger who initially conceals her identity from a forensic art detective. Maybe reading the story predisposed the commenter to view me in a suspicious light. If so, I'll chalk that up as a positive review.

 

[ElectricBlue]

What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

Other than those loonies who have responded, I'd say you've got your own unique loonies.

I wouldn't have thought your content was sufficiently oddball to attract your oddballs - but am I reading it wrong?

 

[oneagainst]

So, I wrote Amie's Present about a wife paying to be mummified in wrap, toys inserted, packed in a box in the back of a store and then delivered anonymously to her husband as his birthday present. There were breathing tubes, there were remote control vibrators, there was impeccable customer service. I generally went way off into the woods with that one. Of all the weird stuff that happened in the story, I got this comment:

"We all know that appliances are delivered from the manufacturer IN boxes and stored that way The local seller does not have stacks of broklen down boxes in the warehouse But - Literary Licens, i guess"

...because the MC had access to a stack of flat-packed cardboard boxes somewhere in the middle of the circus...!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

My oddest was the only one I received for my first few years on Lit. Thought my story was OK but was downvoting me because they didn't like kumquats. Too bitter, apparently.

 

[EmilyMiller]

OK, my question relates to ‘odd’ comments. Have you received any doozies? Not hateful, bilge-water poison or malevolent threatening, just comments which, in context, made absolutely no sense.

I’ll give some examples.

First, and this has happened a couple of times with different words, I had a comment which was basically that they liked the tale, found it well-written, good plot, good eroticism, but they were disappointed that I had used the word ‘boobies’.

I hadn’t used that word; it’s not one on my list. To check, I even did a word search both in the published story and in my (Word) draft. Nope, ‘boobies’ weren’t in town that night.

A comment on another story corrected my use of the phrase ‘savoir-faire’, noting that my use of ‘saviour faire’ [sic] made no sense. Which might have been so - had I used either phrase.




As a second example, mentioned merely because it was cute, I’ve had my spelling studiously corrected when I haven’t made an error. “You said ‘a hunting licence’, but it shoulda been ‘license’ ‘cause that’s a vowel.”


Last one. I had published a pretty hot story and one comment said that they really liked it, but why hadn’t I mentioned birth control and STDs, ‘cause those are important. I managed to not point out the essential fantasy nature of free online erotic fiction…


What is it with some people? Or am I the only one to attract them?

I had someone tell me that I had misspelled “nemesis”, I had to point out that “emesis” is a term for vomiting. “Nemesis” would have made zero sense in the sentence.

Em

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Well, AD, you’d best get orivocating, hadn’t you?

I just hope it's not catching!

 

[onehitwanda]

I just hope it's not catching!

it's better than masticating, at any rate. Hopefully.

 

[nice90sguy]

Lit is a place where people feel it's safe to let out their inner Weird.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I still feel weird/disturbed when people tell me what they do and how much they'd secreted while/after reading my stories. Some things I just don't have to know; in that case, telling me they liked it is more than sufficient for me.

Really? I actually like people telling me that they came and how they came. Makes me feel I’m not writing for just me.

Em

 

[Zenith77]

.... they didn't like kumquats. Too bitter, apparently.

I suppose it depends on what you've been eating.

 

[NoTalentHack]

The ones I always find weird and very amusing are the ones where they say something like "well, I'm sure she was still cheating, but he just didn't write about it." They're just so deeply entrenched int heir thinking about what they wanted to happen in the story (usually some form of retribution) that they insist that it actually did happen, just offscreen. And if I corrected them, said "Word of God says, no, she didn't, she was as loyal as implied by the ending," they'd still insist otherwise. I even had one that told me I wrote the story wrong!

 

[onehitwanda]

I've noticed a distressing smattering of hatred for any sort of female empowerment. In my most recent work, Man-eater, I got a number of comments raging about the protagonist being disease-riddled (she was promiscuous due to <reasons>) and that her love interest should get a full bevy of std tests because she was "a whore"

I do wonder, sometimes, whether a male protagonist would get anywhere near the same level of abuse.

The cynic in me says that of course they wouldn't :/

 

[EmilyMiller]

I've noticed a distressing smattering of hatred for any sort of female empowerment. In my most recent work, Man-eater, I got a number of comments raging about the protagonist being disease-riddled (she was promiscuous due to <reasons>) and that her love interest should get a full bevy of std tests because she was "a whore"

I do wonder, sometimes, whether a male protagonist would get anywhere near the same level of abuse.

The cynic in me says that of course they wouldn't :/

Really?

I’ve never had anything like that. I’ve had guys saying they want to do to me what happens to my fictionalized version (or assuming my life now is exactly like it was when I was 18-19).

I’ve had the opposite, people saying that my male charcters are too weak and too in need of a female savior.

Em

 

[nice90sguy]

I've noticed a distressing smattering of hatred for any sort of female empowerment.

I haven't.

 

[Whanmore]

How do you guys Handle comments that you simply disagree with. I had a comment from a nice gent who was complimentary but he offered Advise such as narrate what the characters are saying rather than use dialogue. Which I don't think is the best way to go about dialogue. I went back and forth on replying to him but decided I would, since I reply to most other comments. Basically thanked him for commenting but told him I wouldn't likely take that specific advice.

 

[Zootonius]

How did I miss this thread. Anyway, I recently had a commenter hope that I'd psychoanalyze a female character's desire to not be attached and why she preferred the freedom of playing the field.

Um, why?

 

[Zootonius]

Really?

I’ve never had anything like that. I’ve had guys saying they want to do to me what happens to my fictionalized version (or assuming my life now is exactly like it was when I was 18-19).

I’ve had the opposite, people saying that my male charcters are too weak and too in need of a female savior.

Em

Sounds like they want you to write a bodice ripper. What would a bodice ripper from Emily look like?

 

[tenyari]

They're just so deeply entrenched int heir thinking about what they wanted to happen in the story (usually some form of retribution) that they insist that it actually did happen, just offscreen.

Stuff like that makes me kinda glad my stories are usually about aliens, magical creatures, and super beings all getting into erotic situations. If anyone believes any of it 'actually happened' they have bigger issues than me.

I've noticed a distressing smattering of hatred for any sort of female empowerment.

I've a long history of writing very strong self empowered female character within genres that are usually the extreme opposite, like ENF, CMNF, Free Use, etc. Yet I can't recall getting comments like this. I have seen others get them when they've written characters that were a lot LESS empowered than my own. So I recognize what you're talking about but I'm not sure what the trigger is that sets things apart.

 

[SimonDoom]

Lit is a place where people feel it's safe to let out their inner Weird.

Which is, generally speaking, a good thing. But the results can be awfully peculiar at times.