thomas lodge
patreon
Very important note - Please read
🕑 Added 2024-05-16 15:43:54 +0000 UTCHey supporters and friends!
I am coming to you with some bad news today.
To cut to the chase: Patreon has suspended my page for a few hours as it has considered part of my content as being against their community guidelines.
I am quite sad about it but this is what it is.
Patreon is a platform which has the right to decide what type of content they deem (or do not deem) appropriate for their service.
That being said, if you can read this, that means the page is back up, but that also means that some important changes are coming.
*
What is the issue?
Apparently, some of my stories could feature elements not aligned with Patreon's guidelines.
Although my novels were all marked as fiction and were featuring only over 18 characters, my conclusion is that the dark themes of some of them (notably the mind games happening between characters, or the evil schemes of big corporations as featured in The Cure's universe) are simply no longer acceptable for Patreon.
As you know, I write two main types of spicy stories:
Some are very dark and could be classified as thrillers (or even sic-fi / horror novels);
While some are more "drama" oriented, focusing on the relationships between the characters.
Of course, I personally think that my dark stories should be seen as a complete work and not solely through the few instances where the evil characters are doing bad things in them...
For a trilogy like The Cure, I can understand how the general dark theme of this unhinged post-apocalyptic world might create issues, even if the story also features characters who try to overcome this regime.
This is my point of view but ultimately, I understand that Patreon can not make a special case out of this page and simply has to moderate every chapter which might contain elements going against their guidelines.
I am using a service and I intend to play by the rules of this service.
No need to debate on this or to trash Patreon in the comments' section.
*
How is this page going to move forward?
For the past / completed / archived stories: many of the previous books have simply been removed.
I may have been able to keep many chapters on here, but I did not want to have books with censored parts in them.
It was simply not making sense.
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For current and future stories: I have been working on stories which, while remaining erotic, should be more aligned with the current Patreon's guidelines.
Hence, why I do not want to give this page up, and why I keep going!
Comments
Florian LO SURDO
Hey Thomas, Will the full trilogy of The Cure be published on LPSG instead ? Can't wait to read more (that's actually why I did subscribe)
thomas lodge
Oh yes, just realized, I have added it (password: thomaslodge) but it is also available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/retaliation-09-104364729
Josh Goodfellow
Random question, but am I crazy or is Retaliation Chapter 9 missing from your archived post? By design or by accident?
Strikan
Well that is a shame. I just joined specifically for those darker stories to be honest. I understand you are dealing with a lot, but you can still make those stories available through a dropbox link. Not perfect, but better than not having them available at all. I will stick around to see what you do. I do hope you find a way around this.
LunchBee
yeah it would be nice if it got posted on literotica like a lot of other stories
Jamie Moffat
For Ebooks of completed works, you could have a google Dropbox.
Dante
Interesting. I was inspired to start putting my own series together because of your Patreon and started noticing this as well. Unfortunate move by Patreon. hopefully they will have to rethink this change like OF had to when they wanted to switch up.... with the stories being removed. unfortunate was catching up on The Bully. idk even know where I left off but unfortunate only the last 3 parts are here. hopefully you'll be able to post it elsewhere. but will continue to check in on the stories you are able to share.
thomas lodge
Thank you so much.
Jack Oliver
Such a shame to hear after all the work and time you've put into curating this. I for one will be sticking around as I have faith in your ability to write any type of erotic story and have it be engaging. Onwards and upwards 🙌
rkarbf12
Sadly I don’t think OF is a good platform for text contents.
Krobbie
TL just to let you know I’m back for what it’s worth. I was a bit too quick on the trigger finger yesterday. Looking forward to the continued ride. Living is learning. 🍿
Josh Goodfellow
Like shoot they should be paying you a subscription if they're gunna read your stories so much haha
Noah
One of my favorite stories. I miss it.
thomas lodge
The thought did cross my mind as well ahah
Josh Goodfellow
On a bright side, I do find it extremely humourous imagining these Patreon moderators who are not gay but forced to read your stories and analyze the content 😂😂
Josh Goodfellow
Thought about using OF instead? You could have a free page, and a paid page with different tiers to release the stories. I can't imagine OF banning anything 😂😂
rkarbf12
Very sorry to hear this. I remember you had a similar problems with “For the Love of God”, and you dealt with it by using another Wordpress blog (which is now down). I don’t know about the Wordpress guidelines, but I think that can be a solution to this (tho it’s really uncomfortable) Once again, feel very sorry about this situation.
Krobbie
Good luck to you TL. You know I have enjoyed your stories but this deletion has forced me to cancel my subscription. Damn. I love your writing. ❤️
Raul
I love your stories and will remain suscribed for as long as I can. My only recommendation, if possible, would be to make the ebooks available for us outside of Patreon for a limited time. Maybe dropbox or something.
Wendover
This Fuck’n Sucks. Your ‘dark stories’ I think we all will agree were some of your best and most interesting to read. The storylines had a way of completely enveloping you into the plot and taking those stories to the next level. Not just hot guys and hot sex, but suspense, high stakes and lots of intense emotions, along with all of the high drama. I guess it was just too good to last. That’s most unfortunate. As others have pointed out, the world isn’t all butterflies and rainbows but rather can be a very dark place. Shame on Patreon for trying to artificially make things all bright and happy, that’s not reality. Those were my personal favorite kind of stories, and it sucks that they won’t allow you to continue to create them and made all of your hard work disappear in the click of a button. Thanks TL, it was a great run, all my best to you, now and in the future.
thomas lodge
Mister Hottie will continue as planned! It's even coming back sooner than anticipated, Sunday May 26th!
Arnold Stone
Dear Thomas, luckily, I've loved all of your story types, so I'm sure you won't disappoint in the future. And over time, you may also develop a way to get your darker stories to readers. I know it's cliché, but I say: let's look around the world. Life is much darker and more unfair than any of your stories. I never felt that you glorified inappropriate behavior, nor did I feel that any of the stories received undeserved publicity. I also like The Bully as an excellent story, whatever I think of the two main characters. And one question: will Mister Hottie continue?
thomas lodge
As mentioned in the post, I am fully expecting losing subscribers over this and I also completely understand your decision. Because I know what types of stories I have in my back pocket and soon to be published here, I know why I am staying but I get why some of you will be leaving. As for people mentioning other potential platforms, I hear and see you, I will not be making any move in the upcoming few weeks as my priority is, for now, this page and the stories I want to release here. Writing stories and managing this page is a lot of work, time, and energy, and I want to do that with a clear / healthy state of mind. To anyone leaving: thank you for sticking around so far! Sincerely. To those staying: thank you for the continuous support - I will do my best to provide you a very entertaining spicy ride.
Larry Collins
Censorship of adult paid content is my reason for quitting. I will not tolerate or support any organization that censors free speech or content. Best of luck to you and thank you for the content I was able to enjoy with my paid subscription!
B
I am so sorry for you. It must be so painful to delete so many of your works. know that you have so much supports here. but please consider some ways to share The Retaliation or The Bully... this might sounds pushy but I'm really not. I'll wait patiently. hope you'd have no trouble anymore
thomas lodge
That's fair enough. Once again, I can only thank you for your support so far!
thomas lodge
Honestly, for a dark story like the Cure, i guess, fair enough, the themes can be considered as "too intense" (even though, indeed, I have always made it clear it was fiction / sci-fi, and the characters who have created this world of madness are clearly presented as the villains). I was mostly surprised when The Bully was moderated, sure there is literally bullying involved, but I didn't think overall the story was gloryfying harrassment, rather the contrary in fact. It was mostly a thriller / political story with mind games and shift of powers all the while being clear that being a bully was not right. The issue is that Patreon has no tolerance for featuring any sexual act which may be considered as biaised consent, (although once again, what is consent... and should we not be able to explore this in fictions?) and I could not pick and choose between chapters or paragraphs. I repeat myself but the next few stories have completely different themes so we should be fine, it's just sad that those specific stories could not be maintained on here.
Jaqc
As much as I enjoyed your work it ends here for me. What I loved most was re-reading stories and never got around to downloading any of them which makes me double disappointed tbh. There are other platforms you can have full creative control on. If you ever decide to move. I’d def follow, but I just can’t get behind the restrictions that are imposed.
Jack
I frankly find this unbelievable. I am more than capable of deciding for myself what is acceptable and what is not. I was surprised when I read what happened to Coach Gropper in The Bully, and Enzo(?) in The Cum Factory, but it’s frickin’ fiction. I’ve found your stories on Literotica to be compelling and when I saw you had a page here, you were the reason that I joined here. I hope Patreon’s issues with your stories get resolved. And if they will not let you announce where we can see the remaining chapters of your stories, please consider posting something on Literotica. Thank you for your writing.
Jamie Moffat
You could use an email subscriber list to finish out the stories and with the final chapters, have downloads of the completed works not available here.
thomas lodge
There are indeed many stories which are already public and a few which are not and which I intended to keep Patreon's only. The e-books were a way to ensure the avid reader who wanted something more tangible (and permanent) to download them. To answer your question: I have no idea what I am going to do. Honestly, I will think about alternatives but not now. This was very stressful and I have a lot to handle with many rescheduling to do, more chapters to write, and I need to think this through with some perspective. For the moment, my top priority is to keep my engagement of delivering 3 new chapters per week to my active subscribers. One thing I can say is that I idented to go more and more towards exclusivity on Patreon. Now that I have a solid community here, I don't want you guys to pay for stories which are otherwise available elsewhere. All the stories which were ongoing: The Bully, A Fall in the City, My Rooommate is Way too Hot, Retaliation were all 100% exclusive. I will see if that changes. Once again, your support means the world as I would never be able to write these books without you. Rest assured that i am doing my best to always come up with new ideas and exciting storylines to keep this entertaining and fun.
Damien
For stories that were patreon exclusive such as The Coach's Journal and The CUM Factory will there be no plans to make these available in any alternative way? I understand that they were not intended to be released publicly so you are in a difficult position. I regret not having been an avid reader to download these e-books. If there is any other way in which you could release those stories without clashing with your goals for this page I would be extremely interested.
thomas lodge
Honestly, guys, I am just glad that Patreon has been quick to unsuspend my page and the messages I read hear or that I have received in private warm my heart. As I mentioned, after the Bully and Retaliation (especially after the whole Cure trilogy actually), I was looking for a break from the darker stuff anyway so, at the very least for the next few months, I'm excited to share what is coming next. My main thing is that I am sorry that my supporters have lost an easy access to my archives but as you can imagine, this was not my wish and rather out of my control. Thank you so much for your support and understanding. I am so grateful for this community, and this is also why I cannot blame Patreon, it would not have been possible to create such a community without working on this page for more than two years.
Zach
That sucks to hear, I liked a lot of the darker stories. If you don't mind suggestions, another erotica writer I'm subscribed to gets around this by making his own private subreddit to post his darker stories on, and then had a post on patreon where subscribers could comment their reddit usernames to be added to a whitelist. Maybe that's something you might be interested in trying?
Arnold Stone
I am very sorry for what happened. I think I can say on behalf of the majority that we love your stories, even if we sometimes criticize certain plot twists or certain characters. I don't think your darkest stories are meant to offend us or hurt certain groups of people. You became one of my favorite authors because I always received well-written stories from you, high-quality erotica, and no low-grade pornography. Thank you for the opportunity to read you. Of course, I will stay with you, because I am sure that you will give your maximum even under the new conditions.
Ry
So sorry this happened to you.
triphazard98
Damn that sucks, have you thought about starting your own domain. Or even a drop box where you post a link on a monthly basis for subscribers to go and download your excellent content. Alternatively go old school with a mailing list a directly email to your subscribers. Found you through literotica.com so hopefully you can keep uploaded there.
