The Blinds - Short Story - Update 1-23-25

[SDS]

Hey Enf_Kink.

I'd like to thank you for writing such a great story. It's been such fun reading it and I've always looked foward to reading the next chapters. This is actually one of my favourite stories on here, so this news is quite sad to see. I do hope that you're not letting one bad apple influence your decision.

I used to think said user just genuinely wasn't into certain subjects and simply didn't have much finesse in expressing their distaste, but I've come to the conclusion that they are a troglodyte trying to create chaos, and they've certainly succeeded. That's now 3 writers we've potentially lost recently due to, or at least partially due to a troll, 2 of which are my favourite writers, and I sincerely hope the mods take stricter actions. As readers, we're all entitled to our opinions, but being intentionally spiteful is completely unnecessary.

Anyway, thanks again for this story, and I hope to see you posting again, be it this story, or another.

Hey all.

New announcement you may or may not have noticed from the boss makes it clear replies should be positive OR leave stories you don't like for whatever reason alone without comment.

I'll be personally keeping an eye on the situation and issuing warning, deleting posts or ultimately banning uses etc if they cross the line.

Ultimately the board should be about enjoying the various stories and a positive space for all. We all like differnt things and thats a good thing. I'm going to ask that the debate stops for now as it can quickly spiral negatively for all involved. Often the internet is a terrible medium for conversations as so much context or subtly can be lost. If anyone does have any concerns please use the report function or PM me directly.

Hopefully this will give some reassurance to authors.

Lets all have a great festive period and keep writing / reading the wonderful stories on here.

With love
SDS xx

[Somebody]

Hang on, I must have completely misunderstood that announcement. So we can't ever be negative at all? Even if someone clearly asks for feedback, and is frequently asking 'does anyone still like this?' what if a positive comment, or even apology, is taken in a negative way? Completely theoretical question, of course.

[DrWhoFanJ]

Hang on, I must have completely misunderstood that announcement. So we can't ever be negative at all? Even if someone clearly asks for feedback, and is frequently asking 'does anyone still like this?' what if a positive comment, or even apology, is taken in a negative way? Completely theoretical question, of course.

No, it means that complaining about a story using as its main thrust an ENP element you don’t enjoy reading is not a valid criticism. That’s the equivalent of complaining that a burger has beef in it when it was listed in the description before you ordered it!

(The pertinent example here being the user that complained about a blackmail-story using blackmail.)

[SDS]

Hang on, I must have completely misunderstood that announcement. So we can't ever be negative at all? Even if someone clearly asks for feedback, and is frequently asking 'does anyone still like this?' what if a positive comment, or even apology, is taken in a negative way? Completely theoretical question, of course.

Someone 'asking' for feedback and it being given constructively would be fine and a different story altogether. It's like anything in life if someone cooked for me and I didn't like it i would be polite and not comment... if they asked for feedback I would be honest but very diplomatic in my response.

Example 'love the story but have you thought about slowing down and really going into detail of her humiliation, exposure and describing the scene at the key moment of the story would make it pop. Think that would really let finish it perfectly.' I would love to hear as an author and would help me improve.

[Somebody]

Okay that makes sense, just checking we weren't overcorrecting.
I suppose the next time someone is like "ugh I should just stop writing" I might hold my tongue instead of spouting off "Well it's not for me, for reason, reason, and reason, but you should write what you like and not change for us" because that sure didn't work out last time.
Well not tongue, pen. Er, keyboard.

[EddieDavidson]

New announcement you may or may not have noticed from the boss makes it clear replies should be positive OR leave stories you don't like for whatever reason alone without comment.
I'll be personally keeping an eye on the situation and issuing warning, deleting posts or ultimately banning uses etc if they cross the line.
SDS xx

This is great news. Thank you for doing that. I thought positivity/constructive would be the only kind of feedback allowed anyway. Negative only discourages people. It's not a Gordon Ramsay reality TV show. Constructive is just phrasing it differently in a way that helps a new reader.

Hooked6 once took the time out of his life to not only read my story, but tell me specific ways to add tension to the story. This was way back years ago, but it is a gift - one that I try to share instead of keep to myself.

I can't remember the exact details, but there was something that happened in the story he was commenting on that I had just glossed over and failed to lean into. It just happened, and I moved on. Hooked's advice was to delight the reader with the humiliating situation instead of just writing that it happened and implying. I've always considered exploring the feelings of the character a gift. It helped make me a more authentic writer.

He's someone who has better things to do than mentor a newb author like me, and yet - just that single interaction still remains with me today as a reminder that I should do the same if I ever get the chance, and I should also write everything in my story as if it's the ONLY event I am writing about/not be just be vague/imply.

I had hundreds of situations in the story similar to the one he was talking about, but it's quality over quantity. That to me is asking me to change some aspect of how I write in a way that potentially makes it better, and it comes across in the way he shared his feedback that he gifted me his time and experience, just as you are gifting yours to ensure that we have a place free of negative nancies who are here to tear down only. Thank you.

I may dip my toes back in so as not to squander your and Hooked6's gift.

[jojo12026]

I may dip my toes back in so as not to squander your and Hooked6's gift.

That would be great news Eddie!!

[Darky]

Hey all.

New announcement you may or may not have noticed from the boss makes it clear replies should be positive OR leave stories you don't like for whatever reason alone without comment.

I'll be personally keeping an eye on the situation and issuing warning, deleting posts or ultimately banning uses etc if they cross the line.

Ultimately the board should be about enjoying the various stories and a positive space for all. We all like differnt things and thats a good thing. I'm going to ask that the debate stops for now as it can quickly spiral negatively for all involved. Often the internet is a terrible medium for conversations as so much context or subtly can be lost. If anyone does have any concerns please use the report function or PM me directly.

Hopefully this will give some reassurance to authors.

Lets all have a great festive period and keep writing / reading the wonderful stories on here.

With love
SDS xx

I’m with you SDS with checking more often, give out warnings and delete posts if needed. To quote a certain person I’m not going to name but let’s make this board great again

[Bucket]

I may dip my toes back in so as not to squander your and Hooked6's gift.

This is fantastic to see.

Although I've not yet had the opportunity to read your content, I know that you are highly regarded here and it's always terrible to see talented writers such as yourself feel unwelcome. It'd be amazing to see you stay, and I encorouge any and all writers who may have felt discouraged recently to remain - particularly in light of the recent announcements by the moderators.

[Enf_Kink]

Hey all.

New announcement you may or may not have noticed from the boss makes it clear replies should be positive OR leave stories you don't like for whatever reason alone without comment.

I'll be personally keeping an eye on the situation and issuing warning, deleting posts or ultimately banning uses etc if they cross the line.

Ultimately the board should be about enjoying the various stories and a positive space for all. We all like differnt things and thats a good thing. I'm going to ask that the debate stops for now as it can quickly spiral negatively for all involved. Often the internet is a terrible medium for conversations as so much context or subtly can be lost. If anyone does have any concerns please use the report function or PM me directly.

Hopefully this will give some reassurance to authors.

Lets all have a great festive period and keep writing / reading the wonderful stories on here.

With love
SDS xx

SDS - This seems like a good policy, I just want to be super clear, I was never negatively impacted by a comment. I don’t usually read comments on other stories, so it sounds like there are other examples that caused this. I just thought it was important for me to say there isn’t a comment on this thread that has offended me personally. I think this was just confused because I commented twice in a row. But thank you for being an excellent moderator on top of a wonderful writer!