Welcome!

For those who have managed to get all the way to this page without knowing what the site is about: This is Francesca Bathory’s website where she (that’s my alter ego ^^) harbors her stories, poems, art, articles and recommendations. Most created in and about a genre that some call a sort of Yaoi/Slash or lately, Original Slash. This genre really doesn’t have a proper name. What ever it’s called, it’s original fiction and art with M/M contents. That is to say, men having sex with other men. Original Slash is (as is Slash and Yaoi) mostly written by women - for women, and as such it may be a bit different from gay fiction. In spite of this, men and women are equally welcome to read of course! The sort that I write is mostly in some sort of Fantasy/SF setting, and are a bit dark. Power differential themes are also very dominant in my stories (^^ no pun intended) since I mostly write slavefics, and the sexual situations described are often of a more or less non-consensual nature.



About/FAQ – sort of

Maybe this is more of an ICPSA (= In case people should ask) than a FAQ really ^^ I’m not really expecting anyone to actually read these endless tirades. Nor am I all that sure that it is really necessary to write all this down in the first place. But I wanted to be prepared for all sorts of situations, and explain a few things (not least to myself). Chances are that if you have a question/questions, or want to know something in particular, you will find the answer here.



Topics brought up on this page:



General Disclaimer

The warning/disclaimer page for this site can be found here



Who am I? A lunatic?

Well… most probably ^^ But this isn’t going to be a long explanation about why I like these sort of things, and why I’ve chosen to express it in this way. (However, if you should want to read something like that it can be found here.)

Most people who seek my relatively small site out probably does it because they already like this sort of stuff. And whether or not this particular site corresponds with their preferred kind of the presented themes or not, they are probably familiar with, and not all that shocked, about the themes in themselves. Most people on the whole know to separate fantasy from reality as well. But in case someone might actually think I would endorse things like this in Real Life, I would just like to clarify a few things.

I do not in any way support, endorse, enjoy or like people being raped, hurt, enslaved, humiliated, used or killed in reality, whether they are male or female and no matter what age they are.

The stories in themselves are not really pro all those things either. Dealing with certain themes does not automatically mean that you support them in RL, or want them to become real. On the other hand I would be a hypocrite if I denied that most of it is written to feed my kinks and fetishes. But whether or not the themes in my fics are moral, sane or politically correct or not, is really beside the point, because it is all fantasies, and it can only hurt real living people in one way. – If you are too young to handle things like this, or if you are very sensitive regardless of age, but still read it. But that’s why there are warnings at the entrance to a site like this! So such a situation is not likely to occur… is it?

About erotic/pornographic fiction and art on the whole: It’s work of fantasy and imagination, and therefore I don’t judge it. I find the whole discussion about what is "correct" or "right" or "morally defendable" to write and draw totally unnecessary. It’s all about preferences and personal taste in my eyes, nothing else. Everyone is entitled to create by their own set of codes, but no one have the right to judge people who creates by different codes.

That's how I see it!

An it harms none, do what thou wilt



Copyright, texts & graphics

The stories and the original characters are mine, the themes are not. The themes are not endless in amount, and people are using the same themes in thousands of variations. Sometimes our hentai minds work in almost frighteningly similar ways as well. And the same books, movies, animes, net-writers and so on, also influences many of us, so it’s not strange that works of fiction sometimes remind of each other. But to download a fic from one site, put it on another, change the name of the characters, and claim you have written it, is hard to explain away with things like not enough themes to go around, or coincidences. As far as I know I haven’t been stolen from like that, so far, and I hope I never will be. Should such a situation arise however, know that you will be cursed… and… and not liked… ^^

As for the images. My guests or I, have made the images and the graphics on this site personally. They are drawings, oil paintings, watercolor paintings, and so on, that took time and effort to make. They were scanned and used for graphics or illustrations on my sites by my guests or me. I do NOT want to see any of these pictures on any other site without express permission from their respective creators.



Linking

Since I assume you would link me because you like my site ^_~ the site is free for linking. You don’t have to ask me first, but it would be nice if you let me know. The chance is also so much bigger then that I will link you back if you want me to. But here comes the confusing part. So pay attention! ^^

I am now sharing this domain, originalpain.com, with my writer collegue Paddy. We have a mutual Enter-Page from which you can reach both of our sites! That page also has got sufficient warning for both sites (they both consist of the same sort of fiction.)

So if you want to link to originalpain.com, use this banner, and this URL:

Original Pain Banner
originalpain.com

But if you want to skip the entry page and link directly to my fiction page, Bibliotheca Doloris, or my Main Page it doesn’t really bother me, just be sure to let people know what kind of site it is! Use this banner and these URLs:

Francesca Fiction Banner
originalpain.com/fiction.html
originalpain.com/main.html

I’ll be happy to give you a reciprocal link, but I will not use banners. That’s simply because I have so many links at my link’s page that it would download very slowly with banners. Using our banners is of course optional ^^ I am grateful for an ordinary text link as well.

And this should go without saying I guess, but... Download them to your own hard drive!



Posting on sites & archives; commissions

Hm, I get very few requests like this so this section is probably totally redundant ^^ But in case someone would actually want to post any of my fics on their site, or in their fic archive and so on. I thought I might as well decide what my policy on this really is.

I have decided, at least as the situation is now, to say no to such requests. The reason for that (and that’s probably one of the reasons to why so few people ever ask to have them too) is that several of them are still works in progress. Most of the ones that are completed are not betaed yet. And most of the stories, completed or not, need a lot of work in the form of editing, re-writing, revising, cleaning up… you name it. There is simply a lot of work still to be done on them. I will re-post stuff as I work on them, and I don’t want my stories to turn up in different places in different versions in the meantime. I hope to get all of them completed and cleaned up some time in the future, and when I am relatively happy with them I might change my mind. But for now the only place I want them to be is on my own site where I can continuously work on them. Or on self-posting sites like FF.net and the like where I also can control them directly myself.

However, I also decided to make ONE exception. I decided to let one fic become sort of a representation fic for me. And if you ask me about that one you’ll probably get it. The fic I’m talking about are called The Gift. NOTE: That does NOT mean that it’s free for the taking. I still want to be asked, and I might still say no. I reserve that right without having to explain myself. Though it’s not very likely that I will say no ^^ Should we agree on posting it I want a link back to my site with it, and I will of course link you too.

You might wonder why I didn’t wait to create this site until all the stories were properly completed and worked over… Well *squirms* I stand corrected there. I guess I simply didn’t think anyone would ever really read it, and I suppose that if I hadn’t posted what material I had, I would never had thought to finish any of it at all. To have posted these fics, and to get feedback and response for them, do work a little bit as a push to keep writing on them, and to keep trying to fix them up.

In spite of what’s been said here there are a few exceptions and you will find a list here of exactly where a few of my fics can be found apart from my own site. If you ever see any of my fics on any other place than what’s specified on this list, it’s there without permission, and I would be eternally grateful if you would mail me and tell me about it.

If I seldom get requests about the fics, I do get questions now and then about doing commissioned artwork. It’s really flattering to be asked, but unfortunately the answer is generally no because I simply don’t have the time. I won’t say though, that inspiration would never hit me big time, and that I would never do it. Now and then I do enjoy illustrating the works of friends and netbuddies - it’s sometimes a "I scratch your back you scratch mine" thing as well. But that is exceptions. Feel free to ask by all means, but know that the chance that I’ll do it is not that good.



Posting on this site

It doesn’t happen very often that people ask me to post creations of theirs on my site so this might be yet a redundant section. But I thought I might as well decide on a sort of policy concerning that too while I am at it with all these rants anyway.

Most people in my guest section are netbuddies that I already know, and the stuff posted are gifts, works that I nagged until they gave me it ^^ or collaborations of various kinds. RL friends made a few things as well, and a few things are stuff that I approached artists on the net about.

It almost never happens that people approaches me wanting me to post their work. However, should anyone want to, it’s not something I have anything against. I would be especially ecstatic about people illustrating my written work (it’s an ego boost, and heart warmer if anything when people present me with surprise "fan art"), so if you feel inspired, don’t hesitate ^_~

Again, working out some sort of policy regarding this is probably not necessary, but… I’ll do it anyway. ‘Be prepared!’ That’s my motto (no it’s not, really ^^)

What things would I post?

A common denominator for all of it should of course be that it’s m/m related in some way, and that there’s a somewhat dark feel to the themes. My threshold of pain when it comes to controversial themes is very high, and I often read much harder stuff than I write myself. So you don’t have to be afraid to go overboard on the squicky stuff, or not being as explicit as you want with the sexual scenes. You don’t have to be afraid to be sappy either. I am, as most people, a complex individual, and I love sappy romantic stuff too if it has some kind of edge to it. I don’t judge people’s fantasies whatever they might be. Fantasies are things going on in people’s mind, and how can anybody judge or trying to limit anyone’s thoughts? Some fantasies should probably not be acted out, but that’s a whole different discussion. This being my basic opinion, I will only base my decision to post something or not on one thing, and one thing only – my own personal taste.

What do I not want?



Warnings, ratings & under-aged readers

Warnings are tricky things because they really don’t say all that much. If a warning is justified or not mostly depends on how sensitive the reader is. Therefore some people might think that I do not warn enough, and some that I warn too much. Some seem to think there will hide a sappy rosy story behind the warnings no matter what they say, and then they write me and tell me I made them depressed. Some seem disappointed about that it wasn’t tougher than that.

Well, "to cover my back" there are all sorts of warnings in connection with every story, but remember that you as a reader have a responsibility as well, in knowing yourself and your limits, and the writer is not responsible for the possible reactions of the reader.

So, how horrible and explicit are these stories then? Not that frightening at all ^^ It varies of course, it’s a mix, some of it are rather explicit I guess, some of it are only implied, some of it are sad (or so I’ve been told) and some of it might be a bit humorous. Some of it are a bit cruel and abusive, and some of it are embarrassingly sappy and romantic. Some of it have sad endings, some have… not quite as sad endings ^^ But again, it’s all in the eyes of the beholder, and it’s really impossible for me to know what will squick people out, or what will be regarded as lame. I try not to think about it that much. I don’t want to limit myself. If I feel like writing abusive stuff I will, if I feel like being sappy and silly, and write recovery fics I will. I hope that I can write it fairly well, no matter the themes or state of explicitness.

Well, here you’ll find an article in which I share a few personal views and opinions on what the stories are about, and what my thoughts behind them are. That is to say, another useless text ^^

As for under-aged readers… I live in Sweden and here the age of majority is 18 years old, and the age of consent is 15 for both sexes. I regard a person who is 18 or over as an adult, and if you are 18 or over you are, as I see it, very welcome to visit my site and enjoy what’s on it, if it’s in your taste. However, other countries may have other laws concerning things like this, and you are obliged to know about them and take your own country’s laws into consideration.

I’m not so stupid though as to think that people younger than that won’t visit this site. If you are under 18 and want to visit my site there's not much I can do to stop you. And to be really frank, I wrote things like this when I was 15 (the same themes, the stories were of course crap ^^) so I don’t by default think that all people between 15 and 17 would not be able to handle it. There are certainly not worse things in here than what you can easily find anywhere on the net. There are certainly not more violent things in here than you can watch on TV every day, or on the news. Real Life, for that matter, is much harder sadder and more tragic than anything any writer in this genre can come up with. When it comes to abuse and cruelty, reality (both through history and in our own time) outdones us all. But fact is a fact. This site has sexual contents, and therefore it has an age limit.

//If you are a concerned parent checking this out. Believe me I understand you, and I am truly sorry your under-aged kid visited my site. But your children are your responsibility, not mine. You don’t pay me to baby-sit him or her… so I won’t! As a parent it is your duty to know that the Internet, as a whole, is an unsafe place for children. It is not a place that children should peruse on their own, it is a very bad babysitter. Most writers on the net in this genre do our best to warn about the contents, and already restrict ourselves, voluntarily, in ways that no one demands of professional writers, who publishes their work as ordinary books, and sometimes write things that are ever as violent and sexual as our stuff is. And I simply don’t want to restrict myself even more because you didn’t do your duty as a parent.//

That is also why I don’t use ratings, if you have to be 18 to visit at all, then individual stuff does not need to be marked R or NC-17



Feedback

I certainly don’t mind feedback. Feedback is probably almost as important as air or food for writers ^^ You are very welcome to write me. I try to answer all the mails I get, but if I didn’t get back to you, it’s probably for one of three reasons.



Info about the written work

I think that the second most common mail I receive are questions/speculations about what is going to happen in coming chapters, and when I will post it. I don’t mind this kind of mails, and I try to answer to the best of my ability. However I think I must restrict myself a bit when it comes to answer such questions, and be more careful about what I am promising, because all too often I have to break those promises. So take anything I’ll tell you with a grain of salt when it concerns this ^^ because…

  • …there is that pesky annoying thing called Real Life. Read more

Lastly, when things do get changed, updated, or I do have plans that I know something solid about, I’ll inform all about it, and anything else that might be of interest, on my ‘What’s New’ page, found here, and on my Mailing List. Things regarding my site lamented over at my Live Journal can not be fully trusted ^^

I thank everybody for their patience and understanding.



Bad English

A comment I get now and then: My English is a bit weird. Uh… yes, that’s true *embarrassed grin* It’s because… I’m Swedish!! ^^ And English is not my first language.

If you want to read an article about what it can be like to write fiction in a language that’s not your own (or really, a very long defense speech ^^) go here



Wanted: Beta readers

I’m always on the lookout for beta readers. I have a few wonderful girls helping me with this, but they are naturally busy sometimes, and I have rather much text to go through. Beta reading is not as uncomplicated an affair as I first thought it was, and I admit I used to have no idea what it was that I really wanted help with. After having been betaed a few times in different ways I know more now about what works for me, and what does not work that well for me. Hence I, of course, wrote a long article about that too ^^

This is of course not a set of rules for beta readers in general, but only what I personally am looking for. If you are an aspiring beta reader please read this first.

Note, again, that this is not me telling people how it should be done, far from it. These are personal opinions and reflections on the subject, and if you see things differently it doesn’t mean that I am right and you are wrong (or the other way around) – it only means that… we see it differently. (A statement I think can be applied on most other things said on these pages as well.)

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