This post is from my first website, and so may be out of step with my current thoughts on the subject.
Litkris Said: This is with respect to Who is this story written by you in literotica. I liked story a lot but though a draw would have been a fair result instead of Claire winning David and Lauren losing… Nevertheless is there possibility of re-match story please
So, I tried to write back to Litkris, but as often happens with messages sent by members of Literotica, the email did not work. But don’t take that to mean Literotica did something wrong, as I do not allow persons to contact me on that site. Nor do I allow my stories to be commented on or voted on there.That across-the-board restriction I have for a couple of reasons, and I’ll cover those in a separate blog post. Still, let’s get back to his feedback. Here is what I tried to write them:
“Hey! I definitely feel your pain with the way that story ended. There have been ton of conversations on various forums and with me in private about how gut-wrenching the ending of that story was. And specifically how painful it was for most readers that Claire won.
And though it seems like universally everyone felt like the ending was brutal, the feedback on having a sequel or not has been very controversial.
Some people really, really want one. And others, with the same passion, say it would ruin the story which was perfect on its own.
As a writer I’m left in an odd place. I’d love to revisit Claire, Lauren, and David’s story, especially when they meant so much to people. But at the same time, I don’t want to ruin my own story — especially one so many people enjoyed
So I’m left unsure what to do. That being said, I’ll count you as a vote towards a sequel.
So, my friends know that I struggle with this issue on my own. In fact, I’ve even tried writing sequels to this story, only to abandon them midway through. Not because I don’t like where they were heading, but instead because of the ferocity of the disagreement about there being a sequel.
The thing that made Who Is This? special, was how hard the ending was to swallow. I think it took female fight fans, even bloodthirsty ones, and showed them the despair of losing. Of fighting desperately, both the winner and the loser, only to come away with a victory that feels pyrrhic and hollow.
In my attempts and plans to continue that story, when I have them, I try very hard to make sure that that feeling is preserved and that any battles between Claire and Lauren’s would be zero-sum. That all they do by fighting, from their first meeting on, would be hurting each other. That their involvement in the other’s life only causes regression and pain, not victory and advancement. And though all of that sounds good, and even now makes me want to write such tales, I don’t know that I could get that feeling across any better than I did in the ending of the original story.
Lauren and Claire ruined each other for David. Fought tooth and nail for David. And no matter who David is, were he to be fleshed out further, he would never be worth what they did to each other –what they sacrificed for him. And in a way, that’s how I would prefer to always have the men in my stories; never worth the battle. Now, on occasion, I will leave that unsaid and even ignored, if nothing more than to give some fights a flavor of a victory worth having. Or if someone I am writing with REALLY wants the fight to be to win a man. But most of the time I like my stories to be about the women wanting the feud, the hatred, and the excitement they get from playing adverse roles in each other’s lives. Making my stories about them, and not their men. Their desire and need for what their rival gives them, and not the bobble they fight over.