Eddie Davidson: Blog

Lajeez calls voting "The Great Mistake" because of how divisive the concept was.

He used to allow authors agency to choose to enable or disable voting at any time. My preference was turn it on around the 7th chapter.

My theory was that if you read that far into the story you should have enough to base a preliminary vote on. One chapter is never enough and trolls are likely not to keep coming back and checking to see if you turned on voting so they can be be an edgelord/get their kicks downvoting.

In a previous blog, I asked if it would be worth it to turn off voting just to take that thrill away from them. By default now, it's always on and you can't turn it off yourself. I thought Lajeez could disable it for all of my stories if I requested it (that's not the case).

Most thoughtful readers who vote are going to read story codes, descriptions, and consider whether or not to invest their time in reading my story. I am fully okay with getting a low score if I deserved it from a reader.

I do not see the problem with that at all. I try to fix missing story codes or errors. It's like software - you can't catch all the bugs on release.

What I am specifically addressing her are the twit brigade of toxic edgelords who create multiple accounts specifically to harass and downvote authors that write story content that they do not enjoy. These are typically manbaby children that drive off authors and readers.

They have weaponized their votes to be able to harass authors and discourage them. They are like flies at a picnic - impossible to get rid of because if you swat one, two more show up. They provide no value.

I'd imagine that their lives are so pathetic, the only form of control/authority they have is the ability to down vote a story. I just wanted to explore if it was worth giving up voting entirely to deny them that tiny little bit of control.

One observation was the reader doesn't even bother with stories under a 7.0. That's unfortunate.

Someone else wrote "The best stories on this site are in the margins" and cited their favorite story was around a 7.0.

Another person pointed out only a tiny fraction of users bother to vote. Typically people who would probably tend to vote on one end of high or low because they had a strong opinion to even bother.

My conclusion: Scores really don't matter. You are seldom going to get an accurate picture of most stories quality from the voting. It's a subjective popularity contest.

Obviously, a beloved story with hundreds of votes in the 9+ range is very likely popular WITH THE PEOPLE WHO LIKE THAT GENRE, but for the most part - there is a vast sea of 5-7 score stories that are there for any number of myriad reasons and there is no way to reliably know how good they are from those scores. You could take 100 stories with precisely the same scores and number of votes and they'll vary widely in quality because it's subjective.

The key to me is reading the description - not the score. If that hooks me, and I give it a chapter or two then I'll know if I want to read it.

The number of readers is also a good indicator but not entirely reliable. My first chapters always have higher readership because of how offline downloaders pull stories off the site. It does not mean the later chapters are worse.

Vulgus is a great example as well. He writes some GREAT shit. I've seen him post a completed 15+ chapter story in the "new stories" that gets few reads because people do not know about it.

It's an indicator, but not a fool-proof one. I'd trust the number of reads over votes though.

Mike McGifford is another fantastic example. His writing is 10X better than mine. Whether I deserve it or not, I have over 800 followers on here.

His writing is objectively better. His stories are incredibly well thought out. Yet, number of readers, total votes and scores may not tell that story.

Btw - if you are looking for a story like the ones I write (but better) try this completed epic.

https://storiesonline.net/s/30137:272451/chapter-10-philip-s-mom

Back to voting;

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you want to look at it, Lajeez informed me that the site no longer has the option to remove voting in any form or fashion.

My take away is to just let the trolls have a useless voting drop down button to play with.

They will never get to play with a real woman's clit, so they may as well get to mash that voting button to take out their edgelord rage against people who dare write a story with content/characters they do not enjoy.

I write to enjoy living vicariously through my character's eyes. I also write in the hope that maybe my stories will inspire someone to write similar ones and I'll get to enjoy them.

I generally score 6.5 - 7 on stories through voting, which is fair. I am not the best, and I am fine with that. I know there are a lot of 8,9, and 10s that got me that score because I have some regular hater/edgelord trolls that are going to flock to my stories as soon as they are posted and downvote them.

Any story that has a male who is submissive in any way, is definitely going to earn their ire. That usually only makes me want to make the character submit even harder btw.

I also like to get constructive feedback. I have often taken a suggestion from a reader and found a way to make use of it. I think that sort of collaborative participation gets my creative juices flowing.

Recently, I posted about the negative trolls on this site. I do not need to repeat that concern. You likely know what I am talking about. They contribute nothing and tend to spread negativity/chase off authors and other readers.

I turned off ALL commenting on my stories. I used to enjoy getting feedback in that format. It also meant other readers would respond to one another. I did that to take away one of the few tools that trolls have to be incel edgelords on this site.

Voting is by default always on, and cannot be turned off for individual stories. I read that Lajeez will allow you to turn them off for ALL stories. I am considering removing the final tool that the trolls have.

Their lives are pretty pathetic if that's the only tool they have to actually bother people. Taking it away would give me some satisfaction.

My question is - should I? What do I give up if I do?

30,000 downloads, 28 chapters published, Over 140,00 words with 1 chapter left to the exciting conclusion of an epic tale.

https://storiesonline.net/s/30445/daddy-i-was-naughty

The average score is 6.96. I wrote this over the course of a few months of my life. It's based on an idea that Mike McGifford told me once.

The main character's daughter works at Hooters, she is flighty, cute, and comes to her daddy for some money to solve her problems. He and his wife bought her a car, but she hasn't moved out. If you are a parent with grown kids or know some, You probably know the scenario.

Funny thing about Heather, is that she likes to be punished. She really enjoys it, and that's the twist. When she gets punished she straightens up and flies right. Lots of twists and turns in this story.

I know there is not enough time in the day to offer feedback to every author, and sometimes all you want to say is "Keep it up".

I wanted to observe though that as author I do really enjoy it when people take the time to write to me about my story, offer suggestions, maybe a grammatical fix that I missed, or in general feedback.

I have written and concluded the story, so it's just in editing at this stage. It's still nice to hear how you would have taken it differently, or questions about the path they are on.

I had considered extending this story well after what I considered to be the 'set up' phase. What I was really going for is a recurring theme in many of my stories.

A kinky situation/scenario where the participants dynamically develop a power exchange relationship and identify their needs/what they want to get out of it, and the limits and boundaries.


A good 80% of my recent stories in the past year probably touch upon that in different ways. (That statistic brought to you by "Numbers I just pulled out of my ass TM" by the way.

Once that foundation is set up, I tend to lose interest in the characters and let them ride off into the sunset to live their new and exciting changed life. Cum Dumpster: Mom has an OnlyFans was a great example of that.

https://storiesonline.net/s/25723/cum-dumpster

I loved the characters. There is literally no reason not to continue writing about their continued amoral, kinky adventures with her son managing her onlyfans site other than "I think I would just start telling you the same things about every day"

I stopped getting feedback about it as well. In fact, I rarely have people look at my back catalog. I was fortunate that DareDevil Mom placed in the clitorides, so that a few people who missed it may go back and experience what I thought was a really neat take on submission.

I just wanted to pontificate for a moment, that I believe in the absence of feedback, the author is left to conclude "people are reading this, but it is such schlocky drek that they aren't passionate enough to comment on it" or they are think "people are reading this, but it's just average and they think I should continue"

I think most of us do thrive on positive reinforcement when it's earned, and constructive feedback to help us grow.

Even some of my favorite prolific authors who I think have it all worked out like Vulgus, probably have days where they are like "Did nobody even read this?"

I would encourage you to give this story a read if you haven't. I'll conclude it tomorrow. There probably won't be a sequel but I think you will enjoy reading these characters like I did writing about them.

Every time I hear Clitorides Awards I think about a story set in one of those alternate realities where women can be nude in public.

"Mom, the Clitorides awards are coming up!"

"Do you really think I have a shot this year?"

(looks down at her big clit)

"Yeah, your clit is huge! If you practice tying string around it for a few hours you'll definitely win the pain endurance competition."

"I do not know. Last year they started using thumb tacks in the competition."

In any case, Thank you to those who voted for my stories this year.

In the Category of Incest Story, I placed for Daredevil Mom.

https://storiesonline.net/s/28906/daredevil-mom

The basic premise is that the mother is a true submissive spirit with an adventurous and very sexual side. She loves to perform dares - not the kind like jumping through hoops of fire. More like flash your tits and dance on the table.

I am proud of this story (And the sequel). I wrote her to be a strong person who likes to do for others and is very giving.

As an example, her son forgot his flip flops at the beach and she thought nothing of giving him her sandals and walking on the really hot pavement to prevent his feet from burning.

She's not a perfect person, but she's also not a shallow, brainless nymphomaniac (even though she knows how to present as one if the occasion calls for it).

I really enjoyed writing that story and honestly, I could have remained in her world for a lot longer and wrote more. I just felt like I told a complete story.

Ending a story is tough. It's like landing a plane.

Unless everyone dies, you usually feel you could take off again and keep going - there is always more to tell. I felt like I added an 'ending' to that story.

Yet, I also felt like I needed to fast forward a few months and check in with her in part two.

https://storiesonline.net/s/27891/dare-devil-mom-the-story

I appreciate getting acknowledged for my writing. I write a lot of stories that really do not fit neatly into a single category. I really don't even consider this an incest story since she never had sex with her offspring and they didn't have sex with each other.

However, I can see why it fell where it did.

I really did not expect the outpouring of supportive comments from readers and authors on this site.

THANK YOU!

I always assume most of my blog posts reach only a handful because I rarely get feedback. Usually, they are little updates on my writing and occasionally something funny (The continuing adventures of the guy who doesn't read story codes).

However, the troll problem is so universal and has become so toxic that people are generally just exhausted of it.

Some had ideas on how to fix it, some had advice not to feed them by acknowledging them, some commiserated but no one disagreed that they contribute nothing and if the disappeared that nothing of value would be lost.

What really bothers me is the 'vigilante troll'. - Self-appointed defenders of what topics/stories are permitted who insist upon harassing and downvoting authors to discourage them. Being quiet about them hasn't worked to stop them - it's only given them tacit permission to continue.

My message to them is: When you grow old enough to get some hair on your balls, you'll realize everyone has some weird fetish or interest. If people are into something you are not - as long as they aren't hurting anyone, leave them be.

if the story is not for you, just move on.

I've said anything I need to say about that topic.

On to another. AI ART - if you are following this topic (And there is generative AI out there writing stories, making music, etc. too) but AI art is really progressing.

Most of those tools don't permit NSFW output, because they would probably be overwhelmed and they are trying to monetize.

As many of you know, I often add illustration to my stories in the form of little captions. I follow the rules of what is and isn't allowed on the site and I try not to overdo it. I enjoy a quick caption because "a picture is worth a 1000 words".

However, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, so I try to limit it. HOA: Dolphin shores, I had plenty of illustrations available so I have been doing it more there.

With my new story, "Horny But Not Desperate" I do not plan to include many but I am proud of the picture on chapter one.

I wanted to point out that I did include one illustration I made with AI art. I am particularly proud. It wasn't as simple as just typing what I wanted, but it wasn't anywhere nearly as hard as practicing until I had the talent to actually make something like this the old fashioned way.

https://storiesonline.net/s/30858:274018/chapter-1-horny-but-not-desperate

At the top of the story. I thought I'd share it with you.

AI Art - will disrupt and potentially kill a lot of industries like stock photo companies. Just like the Word processor killed typewriters and liquid paper, there are advances that whether you love them or hate them - are here to stay.

I do not want to debate the intrinsic value of it in our society, just wanted to share a cool byproduct of the technology.