I didn’t actually think you were afraid. I’d feel pretty bad in that case!
Mostly I was affronted by the accusation that I don’t care about kids. I think not wanting parents with their own stricter set of rules than the PG-13 guidelines to change industry standards for everyone else is a separate issue from the well-being of readers in a general sense.
But I don’t want to argue about it anymore. I’ve procrastinated too much today already.
Superbly summarized! Yes!
So… Torture is obviously against guidelines but can characters still have a “sad” backstory like maybe emotional manipulation by/ narcissistic parents and stuff like this if they aren’t beubg to explicit about the trauma they went through, just vaguelly explaining about it? Since one of the most things characters from stories go through to get a development is bad experiences in life.
This is a question btw, not a statement. I forgot the question mark:")
I think as long as you can HINT at it, you will be fine… however, explaining such abuse in detail MIGHT be an issue… however, narcissism is often used as a “personality trait.” and can be easily portrayed without actually saying they have such a condition.
Got it! Mostly asking for many authors that have shown experineces with emotipnal abuse!
You should ask someone who works for Episode in an official capacity. The answers on here are going to vary depending on the personal values of the user. Within the guidelines, I’d think you can do what you describe, but there are a few people here advocating that this isn’t the platform for those stories, and I honestly think it’s just starting to confuse whatever Episode’s actual intention is. I would contact them directly when you have scenes ready to review.
I agree with Cee…
If you ask for an opinion… you’ll get an opinion.
If you want a clear yes or no… always ask the big cheese! lol
That’s true. I have seen many authors wanting to change stuff like that even though I think it would be best if they asked for a review because maybe it isn’t against the guidelines.
when everyone on ig is cancelling/ have thei stories on hold. wow
It’s true. If you really want a for-sure answer about what you can or cannot do in the context of your scene, it’s best to get a response from them instead.
People not reading the rules carefully (and some not reading them at all) is how misinformation gets passed along.
this right here.
Yes, you just can’t link that to feelings or statements that show that those actions as the right ones or healthy ones. And we also have to make sure that the characters who have sad bg stories and struggle with mental health for ex are on a path of self-discovery. Their final destination will be better, they won’t kill themselves or stay/become addicts and etc.
This might be a controversial opinion, but I think a lot of new rules are happening because Episode has let the community get away with too much for too long - particularly popular stories. I’ve seen countless works from every corner of the app that took any possible loophole they could find and run with it. And it contributes in a big way to why we would get gratuitous torture, stories lacking consent, stories with explicit kinks, etc.
So if they’re cracking down hard on everything (including the profanity rule, which I don’t agree with), I really believe it’s because of how out of hand people have gotten.
Yhea, I think it’s kind of sad people are cancelling their stories and leaving the community because of this 
To be fair… People learning to distinguish fact and opinion always helps stop the spread of misunderstandings on actual info as well.
If you say “what do you think about…”
Then you are asking for an opinion.
If you say “what are the rules about…”
Then you are asking for facts.
if someone responds with “I think” or “I believe” … you are reading an OPINION.
Be clear on what you are asking for and what you are arguing against…
If someone asks someones personal opinion or gives an opinion. You cant claim that their opinion on a topic was somehow spreading misinformation or an “advocating endeavor” for something or some particular topic. This post was to gather the OPINIONS about the new guidelines, wasn’t it? We are going to have to learn to communicate better and learn that opinions are not wrong or right… they are simply opinions.
I 100% agree!
Yep. And a lot of the rules are old rules they are going to actually enforce now. People acting surprised by some of these long-standing (if previously unenforced) rules just kind of indicates that they weren’t writing with an awareness of the guidelines in the first place.
That said, I don’t agree with the profanity rule either. 
I agree with you. Especially the profanity rule.
That rule is stressing me out.
I probably shouldn’t say this, but to be frank, most of these changes that episode makes are always because of the popular stories and the popular authors. However, there slip up made episode realize their guidelines need to be revised. So, that was a bonus. 
Yes, exactly. I’ve been keeping track of the guidelines and a lot of the ones people are upset about (not including the “no guns on covers” thing, some new rules about sexual content, etc.) have been there for months. And I don’t find most of them unreasonable. People are just used to the rope being slack and now that it’s tightening, they don’t like it.
yep n moving on to wattpad.