Forum Closure

[PaperDummy]

I understand. It enjoyd my time here. I hope there will be a similar forum in the future.

[DeckerDary13]

I understand, thank you for hosting this forum for us

[MillieDynamite]

I have the inclination to save this site. What I lack is twofold: knowledge and time. Unfortunately, my ghostwriting work and my own writing (both for money) prevent me from helping the site survive. Here's hoping someone has the knowledge and the time. There are few outlets for the therapy writing I do other than here. @RapeU and @Claire, you've done a wonderful job holding this place together. Wishing the two of you all the best.

[Claire]

@MillieDynamite If you are primarily looking for a site that accepts noncon stories, give AO3 a try. Don't get me wrong, the feedback culture is even worse than here, but you get more views and likes (they are called kudos on AO3) than you get here. AO3 accepts all kinds of stories and is so huge that it will likely outlast any small forum like this.

I'm not trying to discourage you from taking over the site if that is what you want to do. My point is just: A small forum like this can't compete with the number of readers and ratings a story might get on AO3. The one unique thing a forum like this could offer to authors is active engagement with their writing. That would start with a bunch of authors supporting each other, setting a positive example, and then you build from there. But the vast majority of members of our community categorically refuse to help with that. But if that is not important to you, if you're just looking for a place that accepts taboo erotica without prejudice, then AO3 already offers you that.

[mcpa1597]

It is a shame. I've read some pretty great stuff here.

[MillieDynamite]

No, @Claire, I couldn't possible run this site. I think I have a membership on AO3, but it's been years, and I'm not sure I can even remember how to sign in. My noncon stories are therapy writing, and I have another pen name to publish those stories under. I just started really getting back in here, and it's shutting down. Not that here is the here I mean. The old RU is where I was once active, but I fell off years ago. Even so, this seems like a good place to post. Not many sites out there are good for feedback.

[Claire]

@MillieDynamite I got that you write noncon for therapeutic purposes. That's why I was recommending AO3. My point is: It offers you everything this community has to offer except for nostalgic vibes maybe. The response to your writing will be just as lacklustre on AO3, but you get more views and likes. So if just writing for yourself isn't an option and you find posting your stories helpful from a mental health angle, I think it's a decent alternative to consider.

Some of us feel attached to this kind of forum. And RavishU was also the first kind of platform for noncon writing that I ever encountered. So I have this kind of nostalgic attachment to it too. But when I look at the state of the community, then my honest assessment is: it has nothing to offer for an author that they can't get from AO3. And it pains me to say that as the one who created the forum and who has spent countless hours at this point trying to change that.

So when I read you or @RapeU for example talking about how writing noncon helps you with mental health, I just want to gently point out: There are other places to post noncon stories. If writing noncon is something that helps somebody, I just want to tell them that they don't need to attach those benefits to a firum like this.

Posting here means that you can observe the view counter increase a bit over time and get the occasional rating. But you can get that same experience on AO3 or Literotica. Admittedly, Literotica is more restrictive in what it allows, but AO3 offers an author everything this forum has to offer and more for as long as the feedback culture stays as bad as it is here. The one thing this community could offer, it doesn't. And as long as that doesn't change, forums like these will keep disappearing because they serve no purpose.

[MillieDynamite]

Thanks, @Claire, my very proud adoptive father thinks all my writing should be for paid publication, not for free. I disagree with him; I publish here, probably have at AO3 and may again, and SOL is all free to read for anyone who cares to.

[HistBuff]

I've just been on SOL. Haven't been there in over a year. I have four rookie stories over there, three of which will eventually get pulled since there are characters who are 16-17 and they were written before a recent change in rules. Perhaps I could write over there when the story is suitable. AO3 will certainly become my go-to site. Publishing for money on HappyBooks could be another option, but there I have to beware of real-life persons as characters due to potential legal issues with families, but if I stay within the confines of pure fiction and write by HappyBook's rules, I could perhaps craft something interesting. I feel that all my stories so far are rookie stories and my best ones are still inside me.

I think my issues on this site were similar to the ones @Vile8r ran into. This being said, there were times where I had fun interacting with other members, although I'm quite the introvert. I wish I had joined Ravishu around 2008. We can still interact with each other through comments on AO3.

[WolfishTarot]

While i have no experience running a site, Id be up to helping out with it, if thats a step you're willing to take. I love this site, its my favorite place to find stories, and I'd be so sad. I understand the necessity to close it though.