The following post may be unsuitable for young children.

I have a few people that get to read new ideas that I have—whether in The Age of Merrik series or in other series. Recently, I wrote an ending for Rise of the New Masters. One such reader revealed his own personality through his comments.

I had contemplated that Eleya had been married long before the main onset of The Anointing. One of Malik’s generals either killed him or captured him and he was presumed dead. Upon discussing Eleya’s future marriage to Merrik—long after the death or presumed death of her previous husband, the reader called Eleya a whore.

Unacceptable. Furthermore, there is a double standard. During my draft ending of Rise of the New Masters, a character metaphorically returns from the dead (he was not the husband) and a female sword master engages herself to him. That’s not all to the ending, but I don’t want to give too much away. Merrik is present in the finale. Eleya is away on a mission. Reader assumes Merrik is this return-from-the-dead character (for what reason I don’t know—clearly he was not) and says that the female will “service” Merrik in Eleya’s absence. Read into that word all you want. Yes, it means what you think it does. OK so—Merrik can be a whore—but he’s not since he’s male, but not Eleya. Nonsense. Eleya is no whore for being or assuming that she is a widow. As for the “service” comment, that is a clear insight to a perverted mind. I wrote nothing like that and that is what reader thought of it.

I suppose some readers of any novel have a fantasy to rp (role play) a character and rp some love interest as their rp character’s love interest. Maybe it’s something like that. Do a number of people have this same sickening double standard as this reader? Call a widow a whore and whore out a male? If I had written the ending like he’d interpreted it, Merrik still isn’t a whore. If I had changed things around and Eleya had been in a similar situation as Merrik, I am assuming she would be a whore. I’m sure I’ll fight back in my edits of the novel—I’m going to smash double standard to pieces and satire them.