All Comments on 'Well-Intentioned'

Very different from most Loving Wives stories. Very well-written. Engaging. A lot of truths and lessons. Thank you for your effort.

Ed

Great writing and a very clever storyline. 5 *****

Excellent read, 5 stars.

I agree with your opinion about the Loving Wives category. I love to be surprised by a story, particularly when I can look back and see the groundwork that led to the surprise. It is the one category here that actually scares me. I often find the stories depressing, but occasionally find them uplifting when the characters are treated like real people with human emotions, faults, and strengths.

5 stars - just the kind of story I have come to expect from you - thank you.

Luckily, I have never experienced a divorce myself, other than my parents. My wife and I are coasting up to the 56 anniversary, but more and more of our time is being consumed by doctors and hospitals. We have always been best friends and happily share every bit of time together. Neither one of us would ever consider getting married again - once was enough to last a lifetime.

Thankyou for this entertaining story, I've come to recognize your talent and as soon as I see your name in new submissions I know I'm about to be transported into a special place. 5 STARS!

Good story. I enjoyed reading it till the ned. Thanks.

Once again "the Hack" has shown his mastery of this site with another well written, conscientious totally original work. Outside all these people claiming to be Lance's friends while they participate in his emasculation is a bit much to take, all the rest of this story was pretty tight.

I am even willing to wait the weeks long pauses between your offerings to get this fine a product each time.

Keep up the exemplary work Mr. Hack.

@Demosthenes - How could you miss why she calls herself Nora now? Did you not read all of it? That shouldn't be a 'complaint' because it's 100% your fault that you missed it.

Very well done story that only felt just a tad long winded at times. I like that it was different, and I like the effort you put in making dialogue very realistic; that really makes a story for me. 5/5

A little overwrought. The author’s penchant for having to go on an ethereal tangent so often so is mere mortal public school graduates can be in suitable awe of his intellect, is a bit off putting. That being said, it was a good story. 4*

Almost bailed because the setup was so unnecessarily long and dry. But stick with it. It’s a good story

It was a really good story and very well written. Nice twists and turns and quite a few surprises. The ending was surprising in the fact that I could see living with someone that made the mistakes she did and still build a great relationship. I agree it works with out the marriage aspect, it would fail with it.

When I was growing up we had a family friend and his girlfriend that my step father knew from his past. They were together and happy for over 20 years, I guess they figured that since it worked for so long that getting married now really couldn't effect their relationship. So they got married and then ended up divorced less than a year later. It took them years to get back together again without getting married and are still together now. I asked what happened and they both said the marriage license effected them both in unexpected and unwanted ways. They were no longer the same people as before as both felt differently and possessive while married. I guess the commitment to each other was great but being legally bound just made them both feel trapped. It didn't work for them and they lost a couple of good years recovering from the damage it did. Now they believe if it's not broke don't fix it. marriage is not for everyone. It is for me though and after over 40 years together so far I know I would just paddle in circle without her.

The story, An Evening at Crystal Lake, recommended by NTH, is average at best. NTH seems to have elected himself the category police, and THE authority on what stories are worthy of your time. He spent over 1,000 words telling you why you should read it. It was well written but not particularly erotic. Nor was it really a story, it was more of a vignette. There are hundreds of better selections in the LW section describing consensual wife sharing, by some very good authors.

Really good story. 5*****

I think you might be my favorite writer on here. 😊

Great story! Was that a High Plains Drifter reference?

Damn. Just damn.

Aside from the nearly spotless writing, you've got a keen insight into neighborhood dynamics, the dark underbelly of too many "perfect" and faithful marriages, and a lot more.

I never commit to "this is the best x I've seen..." right after finishing something, but I'm tempted. This one is going to be sinking in for a while.

Today if husband asks for it, then it is 50 50 custody.

Many thanks for the benefit of reading your story. Throughout life we often are faced with situations that clash with our "way we were raised" or our Morals. Sometimes the decision we made was correct at that time of our life and experiences but in later stages, we MIGHT make different decisions. Good or bad is sometimes subjective.

But I admired the way you tip-toed through the different points of view of the players involved. Well written, me ol'mate! I enjoyed it tremendously.

The ending though, re not getting married again, only works in a place like the USA. Most other Western Countries recognise Relationships as legal constructs. (De Facto/Common Law) after normally 3 years co-habiting. So, they would be considered in a long-term Relationship that is $99.5% the same as Marriage from a legal perspective. Only issues of legal heredity Titles and a couple of other issues, are excluded. So, obviously it doesn't matter what they call each other: FWB, Friends, Partners, Husband/Wife. They are all the same thing. Cheers.

Of course a marriage Should be a friendship, but most friendships could not sustain a marriage. You are friends because you want/choose to be friends. But there are no expectations in a friendship, no presumptions, No Commitments. Yeah, that's the word. Not Love, not Trust, not Respect, but Commitment. You love whom you feel love for, you trust who has earned your trust, you respect the people who compel that admiration from you. But your commitment, that is entirely on You. It is fulfilling a promise you have made, a debt you have taken on, an effort you vow to maintain for a certain purpose to a certain end. That's what a marriage is. No, not a piece of paper, but not just a "friendship" either. Your characters are living a wonderful exciting loving trusting respectful friendship. Its the best they can do, I guess. But they haven't, and apparently can't, make the commitment that trumps all other relationships and friendships. They can't be Man and Wife. So sad. If he really did respect and trust her, and if she really did respect and trust herself, they would make that final commitment. Someday they just might get there. But not this day. Let's hope they do.

people have been committed to each other without marriage for centuries . this story had me going till just before the end and almost had me crying that they were together after all .

Five stars, for sure. My only complaint with NTH is that I have to keep a dictionary handy when I read his stories. I thought I was an educated person but apparently my vocabulary sucks.

@FabGMx wrote; “there almost no villains in this one.”

/

You’re exactly backwards. Everyone in this story is a villain, except 2: the man who shot his wife and her lover, and the man who was busy working for his family while the entire neighborhood covered for his slut wife!

/

ZK

The MC repeatedly violated Rule One: never be alone with the opposite sex if either one of you are in a relationship.

/

Frankly, I find everyone in the neighborhood to be vile, abhorrent, and evil, except for the man who was condemned for “working too much”. I especially find the church members, and worse, church leaders, repugnant. The idea that a so called “Christian” would cover up adultery is blasphemous and heretical! In a better church, the slut would have been excommunicated, and the neighbors would have been rebuked.

/

ZK

I didn't like that he ended up with the cheater....but damn, your writing is so good. 5* thanx!

Loklie

"themself." - "themselves"

~~~

"I never said he was 'some Crossfit guy.': - Heh, he probably wishes that if she wants a Crossfit guy, why not him?

~~~

"We've chosen, as a group, to not say anything to her because we want their family to be happy." - That can explain not telling Lance, but why can't they talk to her?

~~~

"Then it's not just her betrayal. It's ours, too." - That's why Doug should do it! He's new, he wasn't part of the roup secret.

~~~

"By Friday" - Nothing was said about whether or not he went to Crossfit on Friday.

~~~

"I can and will do anything for my husband" - Except be faithful.

~~~

If she's truly stopped, I see no need to tell him.

~~~

If I was Doug, I'd move away.

~~~

Tony became Troy.

~~~

Doug should talk to Lance about how he's neglecting is family, ot maybe Bob and Mary.

~~~

I don't think she has to tell Lance, just knock it the fuck off.

~~~

"No one came to talk to me about this or anything else." - Probably because ultimately they know they were wrong to keep the secret.

~~~

Lance is an ass. If he's that broken up about losing his family, nobody's forcing him to go the divorce route.

~~~

The beginning threw me off. Even before he met up with Lance years later, I wouldn't say that Doug ruined his life. He certainly never wronged him,

~~~

@payenbrant,there WAS a massive shift in her character, it just happened off-screen.

All this justification for being a nasty whore is kinda sick.

How old are you?

Zen is not the study here.

Good advice in storybook form.

Ethics to live by and the guts to do it.

Thanks.

Your writing is good too... not preachy, not fancy, although your lead in paragraph (the one before you started telling the story) had me thinking you're a literature prof. Perhaps you are!

How could he end up with such a terrible human being?

I wasn't a fan of "An Evening At Crystal Lake." I don't like Hotwife stories, they're just glorified willing cuckolds.

"... infidelity, regrets, and moving on"

-

In this tale, "moving on" = RAAC. Ending totally not believable.

I don't know what the hell is everybody gushing about.

This is one of your worst stories.

The topic is very important actually but it's totally uinrealistic.

And when everybody is going to drop this trope about wife getting everything - that doesn't happen anymore unless a husband is unfit father.

It's usually now shared custody, no paying for the mortgage in the place you don't live etc, very limited alimony.

Wife would be forced to get a real job.

I know and I live in one of the most liberal states in the country.

Also - the conspiracy for Ella to keep fucking Crossfit Tony would have never happen.

I could go on and on but for the author of "In Health" this is a very weak take on the very important subject.

Excellent read! Thank you

Very strong.

You sir, belie your moniker. 5 Golden ones

I have enjoyed all of your stories, but this is the best yet. It will definitely be a favorite of mine. And definitely

Seems to long kind of gets muddled for awhile

An excellent "Journey of Life" story, thank you!

Excellent characterizations!

-

Be well!

Another 5 from me. Your story is compelling, logical, well structured. Very good indeed. A lot of the insights into the different characters behavior rings true but also enlightened me too.

Once again, NTH delivers a story that isn’t quite like any other on this site. It’s well written, well plotted, and thought-provoking…with engaging characters. Quite a gift from this talented writer.

Ok this was a great story, Doug basically moves to Peyton Place. Enjoyed the emotion written into the story. Just a crazy twist with Lance apologizing to Doug, then Ella / Nora shows up.

NoTallentHack glad your name doesn’t reflect in your writing, this was an awesome original story. Will be reading again. Thanks for sharing…….

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well-written, but a bit off. Or strange. The treatment of the MC as a new neighbor by the older couples was unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of. It just rang false. I understand that you needed to create a neighborhood that behaved as it did. I just never really bought it. Perhaps if you had set this tale in an earlier era before A/C where windows were open, people lived on their porches, and everyone knew everyone else's business.

Then there's the whole neighborhood knowing she was cheating for a year. Sorry, just couldn't buy it. Maybe my personal experiences over the many decades are different, but the neighborhood was unlike any I've ever seen or heard of. Ella regularly cheating on Lance while a dozen couples knew and socialized with him? Very hard to imagine. In the real world, she'd be soiling her panties with worry.

An interesting enough tale, well-told. Better than most. But not nearly one of your best. Your best are extraordinary.

I think I really missed the point on this one. Some very shallow people. Like one commenter said 'Peyton Place" but probably not many are old enough to even know about Payton Place the book, the the movie. Read the book and the only thing that stuck in my mind was was a riddle/definition and that was: 'What's the definition of a gentleman?' answer: 'It's a man who leans on his elbows!' not sure everyone will get that but it did stick in my mind from long ago. I only gave this 3 stars as I kept waiting for something to really happen, not a continual soul searching our MC wnt thru after catching a married woman screwing some guy not her husband. Then it just drug on from there. At least our MC found he didn't need a piece of paper to be happy. All it takes is mutual respect and consideration and a little bit of love. could have been a lot shorter.

Thank you for this tale: I really enjoyed it. It is different, but that makes it all the more interesting to me. I also liked the fact that Nora and Doug became friends at the end, not married: it made sense to me.

5 stars from me.

Easily five stars+. Thanks for the effort”.

This 'cat writes about the Human Condition--all of it, but he's also like an alchemist because he can draw a gold wire from the tired dross of ideas long mishandled by other writers.

-

He does this with characters who are able to carry a story. If the best you see a character is when they discover the wife cheating with (fill in the blank) and he goes all stereotypical LW, then your story is pretty well doomed from the get-go. His characters don't live in a black-and-white Pollyanna world. His heroes are not the stuff of Lenin's New Soviet Man but are real-life beings with feet of clay who are inherently flawed, messed up, and struggling. Human. His heroes fight, scrap, and overcome... mostly. That's the secret sauce of fiction that most miss.

-

There's nary a Navy SEAL, a shapeshifter, or a Secret Squirrel amongst them. Instead, they fight with the tools the rest of us have. He shows (versus telling) us that fine writing requires good characters and a believable plot. Instead of giving us these perfect, larger-than-life, flawless supermen (most of whom run away, get drunk, cry, puke, and stop communicating when they're upset) pitted against villains devoid of even a shred of human decency, we get realistic people who are a mixture of good and bad. We see characters who are flawed and who are not congruent, and many of them struggle to find answers. Yeah, he's a professional writer amongst the kids with an Etch-a-Sketch. A guy is playing 3D chess while HALO is jumping blindfolded. This story was perfect. Like his last one. And his next one.

-TJY

I consider three stars to be average; and that's how I rate most stories. Four stars is granted when I come across something clever, or that tickles my fancy, or that leaves me questioning something I previously thought of as black or white. Five stars are for when I'm just floored and left reconsidering ... well, everything.

.

No, I'm not going to tell.

Well you've got to admit you're at least a some talent hack

This was 4 stars until I followed your 'recomendation' about a new writer's story Crystal Lake. That turned out to be a load of shit so I've had to cone back and rate your story 1 star for wasting my time. Please stick to writing and stop trying to recommend your 'friends/gamily members' crappy stories...

It was probably a good story based on the scoring.

Made it through 3 pages, and it seemed like it was gonna be 5 more pages of trying to decide whether to tell some poor schmuck his wife is cheating. It wasn't interesting enough to continue.

I've enjoyed the thousand page Michener historical novels. If NTH recreated them they'd prolly run to 100,000 pages LOL.

Great story - loved it!

Another NTH story...

...another 5 stars for a great tale of seemingly real people just a tad bit off of normal.

Off enough to need a well-written story to make readers believe it could happen, while real enough to see the humanity and angst they go through dealing with the situation they're in.

...it was just SO good...

Very nicely done.

This was easily a 5*.

Well written with a very nice ending.

Solid story. The background characters in the tragedy were the real gem in this one.

One of my favorite stories I’ve ever read. Inspiring. Thank you.

This is one of the best stories I’ve read on this site. Easy 5 star `experience and this would be higher if there was a bigger number. I will reread it for the experience and to see if I will get other feelings about it. Thanks for sharing your talent with me.

4 stars from Xluckylee for a good read

Another 5***** gem by the ill-named NoTalentHack. There's a ton of talent and heart and feeling in this story.

P.S. Is the community of Loving Wives' authors eerily like the King's Forest neighborhood? Just asking for a friend....

Reading this was like watching one of the most dazzling air shows of your life only to see the jet crash while landing.

Love it. A relationship that needs to be vigilant and not just rely on a prior commitment. They have to actively choose each other everyday. Also the part with the neighborhood couples splitting up and then constantly complaining about their partners rings so true. Almost every job I had as a young man, I had to listen to how much guys actively hated their wives. Not just gripes about annoying habits, but them despising the women they married. I have to say that they made the whole institution of marriage very appealing, lol. I think that's one of the reasons I liked this story, it ends up with two people in love, but hesitant about becoming trapped with each other. Then repeating bad actions that caused their previous relationships to fail. They try something new that they both can embrace.

I have recently discovered your work from when you won the Most Influential Writer Reader's Choice award. I have read 2 of your other offerings and was hooked. I now follow you and this story, Well-intentioned, popped up in my feed. I didn't check the category, I just started reading. Wow! What a wonderfully emotive story! I couldn't stop reading. I just had to see where this story was headed. When you wrote in the blurb at the end,

One of my favorite things about Loving Wives is that you don't know what you're going to get when you start reading a story.

That was an understatement, and I enjoyed the well-intentioned ride. I'm now going to look for more Loving Wives stories on this site. 5 well-deserved stars.

5 stars for me! I’ve enjoyed many of your stories and this one kept me guessing of the direction you were heading. One of my all-time favorites.

Always been one of my favorite authors this story is why.

Firstly ; your story was another intense ride , an emotional roller coaster that slams you at will through hair pin curves , towering highs and free falling lows as you struggle to stay on track . And when you finally reach the end you kiss the ground in gratitude as you rush to the back of the line for another go ! Secondly ; the recommended story was a hit with me as well , a great read with an underlying tension that culminated in a satisfied post coital bliss as well . 5 stars for both

Great story, as always. I had no idea where this one was going and it turned out to be a wonderful, thought provoking ride.

So, my kid is trans (if this offense you or whatever, just move on to the next comment). When he came out to us, we had a long talk and during it he asked me and my wife "What makes you a couple? What is it about each other that you're drawn to?" And of course looks, personality, compatibility, etc. play into it. But when it got down to the heart of it, it's our friendship. It's that ability to rely on this person in any scenario, any event and know that they have your back. Without that, the rest can very easily fall apart.

I was very happy to see that friendship won out in your story. We all make plenty of mistakes along the way. Most of us deserve a happy ending. I'm glad they got their sunset.

Thanks for sharing. - gb

Nice story, nicely written.

Always happy when i see you've published a new story. I know I'm going to be well entertained

This was great .. Not the typical story here, and very believable with a surprising ending.... Not that the guy together, but how.

I really liked it.... Thanks for sharing your imagination with us!

A very complex but thought provoking tale. NTH excels in dissecting human emotions both at individual, family, and societal levels.

Amazing.

LOPl No doubt about it.

The ones who disrespect you in the worst way, lie to you plan against you over long periods because they desire to are the best people in the end and love you most.

Especially after rationalizations and abstractions epiphanate the way.

I love how the direction changes, you think its going to be a certain type of story, but then it turns. It set an expectation, and met it in an unexpected way. Love your stories.

Add fluffer to your name and it would work better. Make it WorthlessSissyFluffer as it perfectly describes you

A manual on how to pick a life partner that will have sex with other when bored or when opportunity arises or when life pressures impose.

Mixed feelings about this one. At some point it read like a cheater's manifesto. Trying to justify the unjustifiable. Pretending everything is grey, instead of black and white, is a very convenient way to hide your own immorality. But then the script flips with the exposure and the supposedly "complex" scum gets revealed as pure black. But then it flips back to complex people are complex trope in the end.... Disappointing.

There is nothing complex about cheating. It's a pure reflection of greed. Wanting to have more than what conventional moral rules allow you to. And then ending up together as a redemption twist, does a disservice to the story. Once a cuck always a cuck I guess...

It's baffling how an author with some insight into human condition, went for the slut turned pure nun ending. And used the excuse of social pressure to justify it. It's true, humans get influenced from their surroundings. But that alone cannot make one a cheater. Monogamy, a concept that actually predates Christianity, is part of our collective unconscious at this point. We are talking about millenia of social conditioning. A simple shitty housewife gang, isn't enough to transform a monogamous person into a cheater. What it can do, is help bring to the surface a nasty blend of personality traits that were always lurking there. Usually from a shitty roll during childhood. Shitty enough to overcome millenia of conditioning. And those traits won't just magically vanish. Get the right "plot flags" and he will be coming home to find his soulmate/friend/definitely not spouse riding some strange dick....Deja vu.

That said, this author can write. I mean REALLY write. The intro/hook about pattern recognition and how it all came full circle in the outro, was pure deliciousness. Just as sweet as the irony of this author's nickname. No matter the gripes one can have with the resolution, it's a fully deserved five stars story. Reminds you why this section boasts of hosting some of the best writers on the site.

It started with meaning and morals, but you started criticizing certain ideologies stating they were old fashioned when they were all very modern. That's a huge misconception made these days, how things like marriage and the vows are old fashioned and polygamous and sharing debauchery are modern and new age, but that isn't true at all. The truth is that hedonism multiple partners and sharing are all destructive and breed nothing but contempt and hate, and these ideas existed first in places like Sodom & Gomorrah and the reality that marriage and vows came after and were and are the modern answers to the chaotic debauchery of the past.

Black and white is the real deal. Anyone going for grey is just an immoral person looking to justify their immorality. Simple as that!

Maybe well written, An Evening at Crystal Lake remains a plain cuckold tale.

Conventional wisdom is called wisdom for a reason. It's knowledge distilled through the experience of multiple generations. Time itself validates it.

Conventional wisdom says a cheater is always a cheater. We live in the age of deconstruction, so we love to ignore what countless generations before used as a guiding compass. Just like the dude in this story. Who conveniently forgot all about a woman not only willing to cheat on her husband, but also to get pregnant from her affair partner. Maybe because it was him whose child she would be carrying, he feels comfortable. He's special, the one for her. Nobody is special....

Liked it and as usual the writing was excellent. Complex at times and back and forth with relationships -just like life really 🙂. Plus it’s wound up the anons who do the name calling without giving their own name😂😂

Read your thoughts on what makes a better story and I agree. It doesn’t account for how stories are rated. Even though ratings reflect the customer’s opinion, I still prefer the crafting of the work to the “desired “ outcome of the work.

Hey leofric35 (or any of the "use your name" bunch) post a shot of your ID showing leofric35 as your name. Most of you don't even fill in the Lit questions. (Props for you at least doing that) Won't hold my breath.

NTH you think too much. There is absolutely nothing special about that story. Run of the mill hotwife/willing cuck tale, with a slightly different scenario. Could have been any of thousands of "My wife picked up a stranger in a bar" stories.

Personally am sick to death of the "but the writing is so good" trope. It makes not the slightest difference how good the dialogue, sound recording, or cinematography are, snuff and pea dough films are bad, mm'kay? Same applies here. The technique of the writing is only relevant if the story idea is worth consideration. Eor

I really liked this story, like usual. Characters are amazing.

I hated the Crystal Lake one. No discussion about their feelings or limits beforehand, just an immature selfish slut, and a pushover. Oh surprise! Kind of like Linda to Jim in February, except this guy's even more of a wimp.

Brilliant story, as usual. But unlike the usual, I could not relate to your protagonist. In fact, I found him to be the OCD of sanctimony, as if the righteousness of the world passed through him. Damn, he’s exhausting. Driving off the road to find things to be manically anxious ober, and aggrieved about.

Officious, sanctimonious ass — Doug. Drive so far off the road to be able to hit something. What an ass.

One of the best plots in LW

Thanks

Now that's what I call an entertaining story. Good one. 5* (signed ML)

There’s something to be said about it not working out well when reporting a friend’s misdeeds. I did, though like MC, I wasn’t wonderful. The guy cheated once while dating the girl and I let it go. He cheated once while engaged which I did disapprove of to him. And then he did it again while married. I told the wife and they did divorce, but the label of asshole did exist. Why didn’t I speak up sooner? Why did I at all? Well, I felt pretty awful for not doing the right thing (twice and feeling co-opted into silence) and then cracked because I felt the strong pull of my neglected conscience after the third instance. So, honesty is like a fucking boobs, it can be great, but only if both parties are well equipped for the task and it’s handled the right way (lube, fellas!).

I found the suggested story by vhs_kitten to read like a decent writer hammered something out as quick as they could and posted it. It seems the main reason you consider it the best story you've read this year is because of its use of the category's ambiguity? Ok, I guess...to each their own. I would've preferred it to actually be of a higher quality if I'm going to be recommending to other readers. The story's shift into sexuality was done about as poorly as I've seen, and the quality of the sex scene wasn't what I would even consider average. The rest of the story definitely proved they know how to write, but it was not anything special and makes me wonder if vhs_kitty is a friend of yours. Also, I realize it was a short story, but I would suggest writing more words if the lack of is going to make it average at best.

Very well told.

Well written. Well developed perspectives from unexpected directions. Will be following you.

Great story!

5

I honestly believe, that NTH stories are up there with Richard Geralt, Andyhm, Rehnquist and Laptop writer in terms of engagement and characters. Please let there be more

So much potential, but in the end tooooo long, toooo confused, toooooo disappointing.

NoTalentHack. you are a good writer, mate, but this was not you at your best.

Despite enjoying some of your previous stories, I failed to enjoy this one for multiple reasons related to the plot and it's resolve.

My main point of contention is that I decided to follow your recommendation and read that cucky story and now I must question your integrity because that could only have been a troll of your readers.

4 Stars from GW on this one , Yeah that was a great move living with a Cheater . Sadly I got to play Lance in real life . I hope that her and her friends rot in Hell .

Lance wasn't perfect and it caused stress so you can't really blame her for getting pounded by various other men.

This is so surreal, it could happening anywhere. You made my thoughts drift back to cookouts and parties with suspicion. Good work.

Sorry skipped most

Too much of a young man blaming everything on everything until

Another great story NTH. It was pretty long, but stayed interesting enough that I didn’t notice the length. I think you have achieved a level consistent with that of LW’s original gangsters like HDK, qhml, LTW, Ohio, Todd172, and others unnamed. Much appreciated.

Intriguing story, sadly seems as much fiction as fact. Thank you NTH.

somewhere east of Omaha