Whoops

[IWroteThis]

Where was this said? The comment implied that he didn't want votes from people who aren't the intended audience of the story. If a person reads a story with pegging and they don't like pegging, that doesn't mean the story is bad. It just means the reader isn't the intended audience. If that reader gives a 1 star, that's not a reflection of the story's quality.

I mean, personally I would laugh out loud if someone who doesn't like femdom came into my comments and complained about the femdom in my story. It's just more feedback and engagement for me, but idk what they'd be getting out of it.

"Why they can't just bail out of a story and move on" - Sorry if you don't understand what they're saying, but it boils down to, "If you don't like it, don't comment and don't rate. Just leave."

It's actually kind of ironic with them ranting about people getting their feelings hurt, when it's clear they are the ones who got their feelings hurt by honest feedback.

As for the intended audience bit, once again, that falls squarely on the person submitting the story. Of the available details when a reader is choosing whether or not to click on a story link, rating is the only one the writer doesn't control.

If you're hitting the wrong audience, the problem is you, not the audience.

 

[Stanfield2025]

As for the intended audience bit, once again, that falls squarely on the person submitting the story. Of the available details when a reader is choosing whether or not to click on a story link, rating is the only one the writer doesn't control.

If you're hitting the wrong audience, the problem is you, not the audience.

I don't see how that's the case, unless the writer tags their stories wrongly. And I've seen plenty of irate comments in people's stories that were obviously not intended for them (people against R/NC reading R/NC stories, people who dislike cuck stories reading an obviously cuck story, etc). No, plenty of readers blatantly ignore warnings, tags, etc.

If you don't like pegging, but you knowingly read a story with pegging in it despite being informed, that's not the author's problem. That's your problem.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I have no problem with someone giving me legit feedback on the story quality. If they honestly thought the story sucked because of how it was written, I'm not happy about getting a 1, but at least it was given in good faith.

But if the content of the story (i.e. the kink, fetish, what have you) isn't to the person's liking, they really should just stop reading, not rate it a 1 because they don't like the kink or were squicked out. A story, no matter the quality, doesn't deserve an auto-1 just because it features two dudes kissing and the person reading it is turned off by anything gay-adjacent. Or if the story features non-humans, and the person thinks I'm a disgusting pervert for writing a story like that, they automatically give it a 1 rather than rate on the merits. At that point, they should just stop reading and go on their merry way, because their feedback isn't about how good the story is or anything like that, it's just that they didn't like the kink. If gay men aren't your thing, don't read it. It's a disservice to the readers who might otherwise have liked the story, but perhaps skip it because the rating is artifically low due to homophobes.

Which is, I believe, kinda the entire point of this thread: that people who don't like a particular kink/fetish will sometimes automatically give a story a 1 because it features something they dislike, rather than give consideration to more than just "ewwww, gay stuff!" Otherwise, people are just being selfish because it's rating on the basis that all stories should take their specific preferences into consideration, and that's all that matters.

If the writer put it in the wrong category, that's a different story. But for a writer putting a story in the right category, with the right tags, I think it's hard to say that's on the writer for not catering to the reader's specific likes/dislikes.

 

[IWroteThis]

I don't see how that's the case, unless the writer tags their stories wrongly. And I've seen plenty of irate comments in people's stories that were obviously not intended for them (people against R/NC reading R/NC stories, people who dislike cuck stories reading an obviously cuck story, etc). No, plenty of readers blatantly ignore warnings, tags, etc.

If you don't like pegging, but you knowingly read a story with pegging in it despite being informed, that's not the author's problem. That's your problem.

Although there seems to be a change in progress, tags are still generally not visible before clicking on a story link. As I've said before, all readers have to go on when deciding whether or not to click on a story link is: title, description, category, and rating. This is a case of drawing in a reader, only to disappoint them. The specifics of how you disappointed them is not as significant to them as you seem to think it should be.

Ratings are how those who already clicked on the link share their opinion of the story with those who later consider clicking on the link. Ratings coupled with comments are a valuable tool for writers who want to improve their game, as it tells them whether they need to focus on better stories, better writing, better audience attraction, etc.

I've said this as well before. If ratings were just a means of feedback to the author, they would only be visible to the author. They are shown to the reader because they are also an evaluation tool for potential readers.

(As an aside, the HOT icon would be more significant if the actual ratings weren't shown to readers.)

 

[caleb35]

I can't say I've ever thought much about pegging, but are readers in NC/R that picky?

Yes -- yes they are

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Although there seems to be a change in progress, tags are still generally not visible before clicking on a story link. As I've said before, all readers have to go on when deciding whether or not to click on a story link is: title, description, category, and rating.

If the story is in an event or content and the reader finds it via the list of entries, they don't see the category, either. Or the description, though as that's under the title once they click through. they're more likely to see it, whereas the category is in small print some way above the title, so easy to miss.

I always put the category in my preamble for event stories, now.

 

[dirk2024]

Where was this said? The comment implied that he didn't want votes from people who aren't the intended audience of the story. If a person reads a story with pegging and they don't like pegging, that doesn't mean the story is bad. It just means the reader isn't the intended audience. If that reader gives a 1 star, that's not a reflection of the story's quality.

I mean, personally I would laugh out loud if someone who doesn't like femdom came into my comments and complained about the femdom in my story. It's just more feedback and engagement for me, but idk what they'd be getting out of it.

Thank you. You get it.

 

[dirk2024]

Which is, I believe, kinda the entire point of this thread: that people who don't like a particular kink/fetish will sometimes automatically give a story a 1 because it features something they dislike, rather than give consideration to more than just "ewwww, gay stuff!" Otherwise, people are just being selfish because it's rating on the basis that all stories should take their specific preferences into consideration, and that's all that matters.

If the writer put it in the wrong category, that's a different story. But for a writer putting a story in the right category, with the right tags, I think it's hard to say that's on the writer for not catering to the reader's specific likes/dislikes.

Thank you.

 

[Stanfield2025]

This is a case of drawing in a reader, only to disappoint them. The specifics of how you disappointed them is not as significant to them as you seem to think it should be.

Oh, I don't care if the specifics are important to them. Like I said, I'm flattered by any rating whether it's good or bad. But the specifics are objectively important in whether the rating was honest or not. Whether the reader reads the kind of story they want is a two-way street.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I can't say I've ever thought much about pegging, but are readers in NC/R that picky?

Yes -- yes they are

I have a popular story in R/NC (they renamed the category) that's about a man who becomes a woman. (She isn't strictly trans in the real-world sense, but it's as close as you could get). Another well-received one hinges on the revelation that one character is exclusively gay, as realized by another who is a cis bi male and reminisces about blowing other guys.

Is it specifically pegging you think can't succeed there?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I have a popular story in R/NC (they renamed the category) that's about a man who becomes a woman. (She isn't strictly trans in the real-world sense, but it's as close as you could get). Another well-received one hinges on the revelation that one character is exclusively gay, as realized by another who is a cis bi male and reminisces about blowing other guys.

Is it specifically pegging you think can't succeed there?

From my experience posting in R/NC, I suspect the overall tone of the story is as relevant as the individual activities in it. The New list over the last fortnight is mainly fluffy fantastical stories where 'oh no, I was forced to do such terrible things!' stories describe the terrible forced activities in breathtaking salacious giggly detail.

Which makes a pleasant change from when I read a bunch of NC stories a few years ago and there were rather a lot of rapist fantasies. But also explains why the story I just posted there went down like a cup of cold sick, because it's way too realistic for that audience. Some people did comment and all those who did seemed to appreciate it, but clearly a bunch of the silent readership didn't like it at all.

 

[Stanfield2025]

From my experience posting in R/NC, I suspect the overall tone of the story is as relevant as the individual activities in it. The New list over the last fortnight is mainly fluffy fantastical stories where 'oh no, I was forced to do such terrible things!' stories describe the terrible forced activities in breathtaking salacious giggly detail.

Which makes a pleasant change from when I read a bunch of NC stories a few years ago and there were rather a lot of rapist fantasies. But also explains why the story I just posted there went down like a cup of cold sick, because it's way too realistic for that audience. Some people did comment and all those who did seemed to appreciate it, but clearly a bunch of the silent readership didn't like it at all.

So you're saying that audience these days tends to not appreciate darker NC stories?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

So you're saying that audience these days tends to not appreciate darker NC stories?

Dunno. I suspect there's still an audience for man forcing woman with just enough enjoyment not to be deleted, but if the protagonist realises he's essentially a rapist and tries to deny that to himself, it's not going to be so popular.

That said, my story did get lots of views and some love, so even if the rating is 79th of 81, I'll take that and the lack of insults.

 

[redgarters]

I guess I just assumed everyone likes thinking about pegging sometimes.

Thinking about, hoping for, doing... like I've told some of my straight guy friends, if you aren't then you're missing out. But then I forget, of course, that anything that touches their ass is homo, even if it's their wife.
Straight men are weird sometimes.

 

[Bryan_C]

I think I'm going to start sticking the tags in the author's note at the start.

I generally do this, as a short warning in a [Note: ...] at the top - but that's mostly because my stories will often contain scat content, which is more likely to be something most people really would prefer not to be surprised with even if they skipped over the tags...

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Thinking about, hoping for, doing... like I've told some of my straight guy friends, if you aren't then you're missing out. But then I forget, of course, that anything that touches their ass is homo, even if it's their wife.
Straight men are weird sometimes.

Be fair. You could substitute all words that describe a group of humans in there, except maybe "People who are statistically entirely average." (Note: that would actually be weird.)

 

[Stanfield2025]

Dunno. I suspect there's still an audience for man forcing woman with just enough enjoyment not to be deleted, but if the protagonist realises he's essentially a rapist and tries to deny that to himself, it's not going to be so popular.

That said, my story did get lots of views and some love, so even if the rating is 79th of 81, I'll take that and the lack of insults.

That explains a lot about my ratings, then. I've kind of always figured this in the back of my mind but it's interesting to see it confirmed here.

Fuck, I'm honestly not sure about how to feel about that.

 

[ThomasPain]

Thinking about, hoping for, doing... like I've told some of my straight guy friends, if you aren't then you're missing out. But then I forget, of course, that anything that touches their ass is homo, even if it's their wife.
Straight men are weird sometimes.

What the world needs now… amiright?

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I was wondering why I was getting lower ratings on a recent story and I think maybe it’s because I didn’t warn the reader there was going to be some pegging happening. I guess I just assumed everyone likes thinking about pegging sometimes.

To be fair, your thread got people salty about votes, so I say Welcome to the Internet.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I was wondering why I was getting lower ratings on a recent story and I think maybe it’s because I didn’t warn the reader there was going to be some pegging happening. I guess I just assumed everyone likes thinking about pegging sometimes.

Yeah. I mentioned pegging in a story posted in Romance and really got railed (heh) in the comments and rating. No pegging actually occurs in the story... just the possibility. It wasn't incels who got irate.. seemed to be older gentlemen. Readers also didn't like that a character was not strictly straight and also vegetarian. Sigh.

I agree that tags aren't enough. Readers have to click the little tag icon to see them. Now for stories where anything slightly kinky is mentioned I stick a warning at the top of the story. (Especially for anything even slightly non-consensual... Lit stuck a huge warning at the top of one of my stories in Interracial that had mild forced nudity in it).

So for that Romance story (Back to Where It Almost Began) I added this disclaimer:

All sexual activity in this story is between people over the age of eighteen. Trigger warning: story mentions pegging, pansexuality and vegetarianism.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Readers also didn't like that a character was not strictly straight and also vegetarian. Sigh.

I'm sorry... he's not strictly straight AND vegetarian? I'm sorry, but you deserve all the vitriol. That is OFFENSIVE, sir, and I shan't stand for it!

 

[TheLobster]

But also explains why the story I just posted there went down like a cup of cold sick, because it's way too realistic for that audience.

Kind of expected, really. Topical categories on Lit are pretty much all about fantasies, and in order to realize the fantasy, the ugly reality of whatever kink or fetish they're about must necessarily be brushed aside.

You won't get much sympathies in T/I if you realistically portray the trauma and abuse that's almost always associated with real-life instances of incest (Okay, maybe if you're LC68 then you will). Conversely, you won't garner high ratings in TG for describing in detail how a post-transition MtF character deals with what's essentially a gaping wound between their legs.

So it's no surprise that R/NC readers want you to gloss over the horrible reality and consequences of (actual) non-consent. Couching it in a giggly faux-outrage, combined with a post-hoc discovery of the victim that yes, she did actually want it after all (shocker!), is one way of doing just that.

 

[Stanfield2025]

So it's no surprise that R/NC readers want you to gloss over the horrible reality and consequences of (actual) non-consent. Couching it in a giggly faux-outrage, combined with a post-hoc discovery of the victim that yes, she did actually want it after all (shocker!), is one way of doing just that.

The way I did the exact opposite of this, lmao. It explains so much. Given this, I'm surprised my ratings aren't lower than they are.

I have no regrets, though. You only live once.