Forum: Lost Stories

I don't. Reminds me too much of certain IT consultants waffling about the opportunities for business-to-business applications.

Nah. That one is always spelled B2B.

https://storiesonline.net/s/13643/a-shitty-way-to-end-a-marriage for a humorous take on the topic. I would also mention that there are a ton of these stories here. BTB -- I like the acronym

Loved this story. I read it and work and busted up laughing with people watching me lol

👍👍👍👍

Thanks guys

https://storiesonline.net/s/62029/junkin-duncan
https://storiesonline.net/a/happyhugo

I REALLY like how he got revenge on his wife in LOOSE CANNONS.

One of Lazlo Zalezac's better ones.

I just re-read Penny Whimsy for probably the fifth time. I heartily second this suggestion

Shrink42's stories aren't really BTB stories. The Pygmalian Project, Redemption, and the stories following, they try and fix the relationships.

In a BTB story, the relationship is not going to be fixed. It's over, done with, and the MC is going to give back a bit of what he's put up with for far too long. It's pay back time. Just desserts. Getting what's coming to her. Making damn sure she reaps what she's sown.

Not Shrink42'a style.

You are correct. I obviously wasn't thinking before I responded.

Well, yes and no.

You had a very good recommendation for stories concerning relationships which have gone sour, and actions taken as a result of that.

It's just that the OP is looking for stories where they aren't going to get better, in fact where the male MC extracts some sort of retribution, and your recommendation was for stories where changes are made in individuals behaviours such that relationships are saved.

In both story types the relationship is doomed if changes aren't made by at least one of the individuals involved.

In a BTB story, it's far too late for that, and the failure of the relationship is clearly the fault of one party, and the actions resulting in the failure of the relationship were unneccessarilly hurtful to the other party; they could have handled things much better, but just couldn't be bothered to do so, they had so little concern for their former partner. So the injured party is after payback. [My phrasing is deliberate; theoretically, a BTB story could involve a male Bastard rather than a female Bitch, although such stories are rare.]

With Shrink42's stories, those changes are commenced before the utter and irrovocable death of the relationship. It must be admitted that some level of coercion is applied to the individual(s) whose behaviour patterns are being modified, they are forced to recognize that their behaviour is destructive, and given a final "shape up or ship out" notification. It's not all sweetness and light. They are held accountable for the results of their actions, it's just that there's still one final opportunity to salvage the relationship, if they feel it's worth salvaging.

If BTB stories aren't your thing, you'll spot that the stories are about relationships which have gone sour without catching the precise sub-genre. And they are sub-genre's of the Relationship Gone Sour genre. I enjoyed Shrink42's stories when I read them, and while BTB isn't my favorite sub-genre, I've read a few that were excellent.

So your recommendation wasn't that far off, really. A near miss; the debris from the shell's impact peppered the actual target.

[My phrasing is deliberate; theoretically, a BTB story could involve a male Bastard rather than a female Bitch, although such stories are rare.]

Can anybody name one story that fits the description (Bastard instead of Bitch)

Can anybody name one story that fits the description (Bastard instead of Bitch)

This is a sub-plot in a few of Argon's stories,

https://storiesonline.net/s/75144/her-apple-pie and
https://storiesonline.net/s/11892/in-her-genes-romantic-sex-story (same Bastards)

https://storiesonline.net/s/70198/his-lucky-charm-ii (reading https://storiesonline.net/s/65806/his-lucky-charm first helps)

https://storiesonline.net/s/44826/in-the-navy

Then there is Todd-d172's "The Shack" series, https://storiesonline.net/s/14800/shameless and https://storiesonline.net/s/16264/the-shack-a-parable-of-wolves are the same events from two different different povs.

red61544 3/9/2018, 1:32:31 PM
"Not Guilty" bu Harddaysknight.
https://storiesonline.net/library/authorFavorites.php?id=5797

omg! i almost choked on my drink i was laughing so hard!!!

There are others but they have lower story scores than I had as search parameters.

Unfortunately, this is because there's a lot of poorly written BTB stories out there.

My personal opinion is that many of these stories have scores that are higher than the quality of writing deserves, but the subject matter resonates with the target readers. resulting in score inflation.

(but then again, I liked the 3-part rating because some well written stories aren't worth the time it takes to read them, and there's also some great stories that are very poorly written)

Unfortunately, this is because there's a lot of poorly written BTB stories out there.

I agree, though I tend to find that the score seems to be lower for 'cheating' stories for the same quality of writing. Just my observation and you are most welcome to disagree.

Bottom line, scoring is subjective and always will be. Readers will vote the way they vote and we just have to use that info in whatever way helps us best. Yes the 3-part helps to differentiate good writing from good storytelling but that is not the system we have unless writing reviews.

I posted a link to that about halfway up the thread. Good story. :-)