Blackmail is a weak characters card.

[Diconica]

Blackmail is a weak characters card.
I'll clarify. If you rated characters from 1 to 10 on intelligence and skills so on.
People who generally resort to it wouldn't make a 4 or are unusually desperate.
The person they target needs to be below them in multiple ways.

It's not a strong play. I say that because it rarely achieves what the person wants or is agreed to.
Under developed nations are the most likely places blackmail works that's still at a rate less than 1% of the time.
Think about that either the person ignores the blackmailer or the blackmailer ends up in some level of shit. That isn't good odds.
It sure as hell isn't the path a strong character type needs to resort to.

There are rules for blackmail to work. First, the payment can't be as bad or worse than the risk of you exposing them.
They need to believe there is a limited time an out / day light. You can't push them so far they are willing to just kill themselves.
It has to be something they feel they can manage (the victim that is).

Blackmail with all they can add to it can carry vastly more weight than most the crimes you might find someone else committing.
Blackmail someone forcing them to have sex, That's a rape charge per each occurrence. Extortion can be added. Racketeering if you do so repeatedly, criminal enterprise....

So lets look at what types of characters are most likely going to use blackmail.
People that don't have the means to get what they want by another means without using violence as a tool.
Think of it this way. There are a number of levels in which you can get someone to do something you want done. They range from talking to them to brute force. Blackmail falls in the middle of those two. It's a form of coercion. One of the least effective ones at that.

So why use blackmail in a story?
Some people see it as a fantasy type thing in that it is in a manor of force being applied to get someone to do something they might not want.
Some writers use it as a tool to move a story in a direction they want. In general I have found writers who rely on it usually have about as bad of writing skill as the character who would use it in real life. Most the time their stories are filled with inconsistencies that if you paid the least bit of attention to it you should easily spot.
Lets put it this way there are a fair number of games on this site that blackmail is employed in to greater and lesser degrees the stories rely on it. I haven't found a single one even out of the more popular ones that the holes were not obvious if not gapingly massive. It has to be the worst used tool to move a plot in a direction of any tool I know of.
My advise either learn to write a hell of a lot better and pay attention to the inconsistencies it creates or just avoid the hell out of using it.

Blackmail used right is little more than a nudge to push someone in the direction you want. It's like putting your foot in the door jam just to keep them from closing it right that second.
You may have seen it done or even done it. You know that lightly bantered jab where you threaten a friend with something minor but just serious enough they decide to go along with whatever scheme or plan you cooked up. Such as two girls chatting one wants talk the other girl into joining her skinny dipping in the pond in the park... or the neighbors pool at night.

Going beyond that requires a lot of work to be done right in a story.
The higher a persons intelligence, self esteem, morality and wealth is the less likely it will work.
Intelligent and educated people recognize more options than agreeing and can think more on their feet faster.
The higher their confidence level the less likely they agree to anything because they assume they can weather it.
Morality plays a point in people willing to own up to consequences and other factors. Some people would rather turn themselves into police and face the consequences of being under the thumb of a blackmailer.
Wealthy people aren't usually stupid and often get information from multiple source on what to do if someone tries to blackmail you. Just like they tend to get info on KNR and other topics. It's a risk they have to face more of thus they have to learn about it more. If you are missing the point being Rich makes you an obvious target to many people. So they have to learn how to deal with the potential even if they don't like it.

There are more ways for a person to fuck over a blackmailer than stars in the night sky. (more like galaxy) Granted most of those will be some sort of variation or combination on other ways.

Who does blackmail usually work on. As we pointed out only a small percent of people.
They can't be capable as individuals seeing beyond the scope of what the blackmailer laid out or they will end up going against it.
They have to lack self confidence that they can weather the issue. There is a narrow band in which it works to much pressure they will snap and not enough in the right way and they will go against it.
They have to see the cost or payment as being acceptable and that there is some sort of way getting out of it that it won't go on for eternity.
They can't feel that by following the blackmail they won't loose what they want to protect. Think about it if they are going to loose what they want to protect anyway why do a damn thing for the blackmailer. That would be just stupid.
They can't have other people that keep tabs on them and will protect them. The less positive intelligent friends and family they have the more likely they won't receive good advice in how to deal with it.

you can look at it as a scale sort of on the order of
Rich, intelligent, educated, confident, moral, lots of intelligent friends and family being the least likely it will work on
Dropped out of school, living on streets, scared alone, lacks confidence making it day to day as the most likely.
Even that depends on what you ask of them. Ask the street kid or threaten him with to much and you will more likely end up with them killing themselves that doing what you want.

 

[cesid]

The higher the wealth, the higher the chance to blackmail someone.

 

[woody554]

yeah pretty much.

reasons to write blackmail:

1) as a kink. realism is secondary, the point is forcing your will over someone's own will is hot. within the kink, not in general.

2) drama. in fiction the blackmailer invariably gets caught. for porn it's the opposite. both ways create tension to push the story forward. both ways work, which is another reason realism is secondary.

3) to paint the blackmailer character as a colossal asshole. so he can then be murdered or even tortured by the 'good guy' without audience feeling bad. you don't really ever make the blackmailer look good, so in that regard it's totally fine he looks like a moron. we never really get that payback part in games here because people hate bad endings, but it certainly doesn't make the blackmailer look good even when he gets away with it. every game with blackmail gets comments about people hating the character because "he's a little rapist shit" etc.

 

[AmazonessKing]

I agree with most of the OP. However, I think blackmail can be very good if used well, and that applies to similar fetishes like hypnosis. I think one of the biggest problems is the pacing.

 

[Joshua Tree]

A "weak" blackmail card, can be used to further corruption and gain a stronger card though. Blackmail is unrealistic when the consequence of what is revealed is less than what you would endure commit to it. To make blackmail work in a story you need to picture actual consequences for the victim if their secret get out Vs what is realistic for them to endure to keep it a secret. It all come down to good story telling...

 

[Diconica]

The higher the wealth, the higher the chance to blackmail someone.

People with wealth do get more people making attempts but the chances of success are actually lower.
That said break it down into a more narrow demographic such as did the person inherit their money and how much of an idiot that person is and you can actually find some that account for most the ones successfully blackmailed.
That said if they have strong connections in their family that drops back down. Because their parents might be looking out for them. So even an idiot of a trust fund baby could still be quite hard to blackmail.

 

[Diconica]

A "weak" blackmail card, can be used to further corruption and gain a stronger card though. Blackmail is unrealistic when the consequence of what is revealed is less than what you would endure commit to it. To make blackmail work in a story you need to picture actual consequences for the victim if their secret get out Vs what is realistic for them to endure to keep it a secret. It all come down to good story telling...

If I understand you correctly your point is the more wealth a person has the greater the chance of them getting away with it or having opportunities.
You are correct if that is what you mean. However, the odds of the wealthy committing blackmail for something like sex is lower than if the person is poor.
They have a lot more to loose, are usually more educated and know how few times it actually works and given the risk vs reward potential just isn't worth it to them. Now if you looked at corporate blackmail that's another story. Getting other companies to agree to something or not buy some land or sell something. That happens a lot more and usually it isn't about some guy or person sleeping around it is usually on some illegal activity they discovered. But that in itself has huge issues. If the company can get away with a fine or settlement and keep covering it up then they won't go along with it. If the company on the other hand fears a huge scandal and trial from it they may go along with it if they figure that going along with it is a fraction of the losses. Usually they come to some sort of legal agreement to prevent each other from disclosing the particulars of why that agreement took place. NDA

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

Personal opinion (feel free to disagree): blackmail works best in h-games when it's subtle and leans more towards coercion than brute threats. Like if a fallen knight blackmails a noble lady to have sex with him, in exchange for keeping quiet about her sordid past in another part of the kingdom. Stuff like that!

 

[Diconica]

Personal opinion (feel free to disagree): blackmail works best in h-games when it's subtle and leans more towards coercion than brute threats. Like if a fallen knight blackmails a noble lady to have sex with him, in exchange for keeping quiet about her sordid past in another part of the kingdom. Stuff like that!

That can work quite well. Because she is already presented as having a past that could lend to her accepting the terms. But there are still things that would likely kill it and other things that could actually make it work even better.

Imagine she has an open relationship with her husband so long as her affairs don't become public knowledge and ruin his name.
Maybe, her spouse knows of her past so there is no real threat to her marriage. She could be actually playing the knight letting him think he is getting away with it.

However, think about England and Henry the Eight who had one of his wives beheaded so he could marry another woman to bear a child. He was able to do this by claiming she had an affair. So if the Noble lady is going to be at risk of loosing her head if the affair with the fallen night is discovered it would be unlikely for her to go along with it. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place she would be more likely to hire someone to kill the fallen knight or do it herself such as poisoning his drink.

The point is there are more factors to be considered when it comes to blackmail. Which is why its a fairly hard card to pull of correctly in a story.

 

[cesid]

That can work quite well. Because she is already presented as having a past that could lend to her accepting the terms. But there are still things that would likely kill it and other things that could actually make it work even better.

Imagine she has an open relationship with her husband so long as her affairs don't become public knowledge and ruin his name.

It was extremely rare in those times. Anyway any blackmailer with a minimum of IQ would check this.

 

[Diconica]

It was extremely rare in those times. Anyway any blackmailer with a minimum of IQ would check this.

You are right. With the power and influence the Catholic church held then it was at least in Europe.
Adultery back then wasn't just a civil issue it had criminal penalties as well.
The chance for the blackmailer to find out about any sort of open relationship would be next to zero though.
Think about it. The people wouldn't be having the relationship out in public. So it would have to be someone on the grounds of the estate that knew of it. Those wouldn't be to many people if any beside the two people having the relationship. It isn't like the guy is going to out himself for his part in it he two would be facing criminal charges as well and more.

There also wasn't that many nobles who married a whore or such either.

 

[moskyx]

If I understand you correctly your point is the more wealth a person has the greater the chance of them getting away with it or having opportunities.
You are correct if that is what you mean. However, the odds of the wealthy committing blackmail for something like sex is lower than if the person is poor.
They have a lot more to loose, are usually more educated and know how few times it actually works and given the risk vs reward potential just isn't worth it to them. Now if you looked at corporate blackmail that's another story. Getting other companies to agree to something or not buy some land or sell something. That happens a lot more and usually it isn't about some guy or person sleeping around it is usually on some illegal activity they discovered. But that in itself has huge issues. If the company can get away with a fine or settlement and keep covering it up then they won't go along with it. If the company on the other hand fears a huge scandal and trial from it they may go along with it if they figure that going along with it is a fraction of the losses. Usually they come to some sort of legal agreement to prevent each other from disclosing the particulars of why that agreement took place. NDA

I don't think he said anything about wealth but OK, it seems you just wanted to make a point about this. In your lasts paragraphs of your OP you basically says the same he said here.

These days we see a lot of blackmailing, actually. Think about all those hackers who threat people with releasing sexual content and send it to the victim's closest ones, their bosses, whatever. It works, maybe in a tiny percentage, but it's hell for those affected. So (economic) wealth has nothing to do with this, at either side of it: as any other predator, blackmailers could aim either for small or big preys, as they just see easy or hard preys.

The most important thing for a blackmail to be succesful is what info do you have on me (if there's no info, it's just a coertion, not a blackmail) and how I'd feel (or what consequences I might face) if that info went public. Public shame, legal troubles, unemployment, family disownment... those kind of things people might have actual fear of. And, of course, what are you asking me to do in exchange, how powerful I perceive you are and how well you trick me into believing that accepting your "offer" would mean the end of it. Which of course it won't.

So, as he said, storytelling. We need to know how the victim's mind works, what they loves, what they did that could make them shudder if someone threat them with it. Also, how strong their beliefs are, what kind of support (from authorities, from family) they can get if they need to reach for help, and what would be the cost of letting those people know what's happening compared with the cost of what you're asking me to do. The victim has to evaluate all of this and the player must follow that judgement and find it credible enough.

 

[Diconica]

I don't think he said anything about wealth but OK, it seems you just wanted to make a point about this. In your lasts paragraphs of your OP you basically says the same he said here.

These days we see a lot of blackmailing, actually. Think about all those hackers who threat people with releasing sexual content and send it to the victim's closest ones, their bosses, whatever. It works, maybe in a tiny percentage, but it's hell for those affected. So (economic) wealth has nothing to do with this, at either side of it: as any other predator, blackmailers could aim either for small or big preys, as they just see easy or hard preys.

The most important thing for a blackmail to be succesful is what info do you have on me (if there's no info, it's just a coertion, not a blackmail) and how I'd feel (or what consequences I might face) if that info went public. Public shame, legal troubles, unemployment, family disownment... those kind of things people might have actual fear of. And, of course, what are you asking me to do in exchange, how powerful I perceive you are and how well you trick me into believing that accepting your "offer" would mean the end of it. Which of course it won't.

So, as he said, storytelling. We need to know how the victim's mind works, what they loves, what they did that could make them shudder if someone threat them with it. Also, how strong their beliefs are, what kind of support (from authorities, from family) they can get if they need to reach for help, and what would be the cost of letting those people know what's happening compared with the cost of what you're asking me to do. The victim has to evaluate all of this and the player must follow that judgement and find it credible enough.

Actually some how I managed to post the reply to the wrong comment. Thanks for point that out.
It was supposed to go to this one. https://f95zone.to/threads/blackmail-is-a-weak-characters-card.66935/post-4595047

 

[frozenscythe]

OP ain't wrong. :|

 

[Cynicaladm]

do we count systemic coercion and abuse of power/privilege as forms of blackmail?
Tenured professors who have their assistants run their errands and teach their classes and grade their papers for them, as the latter grind their teeth waiting for the time they will reach tenure themselves...
or people in offices who can grant you a permit/promotion or deny you it, with far reaching consequences either way and other similar situations where even a morally upstanding and otherwise savvy individual must either bend the knee to the system or know that they will fail...
how about workplace intimidation, mobbing, rules enforcing bullies who coerce smart and capable employees to conform to dress codes or time their performances or hold the power to write someone up over their head.. do those situations count as blackmail? women all over the world kind of have to deal with forms of blackmail of this variety on a daily basis.
how about criminal organisations that apply pressure for protection money "or else"...moneylenders who people resort to when banks don't extend you credit and you're desperate to pay your employee's salaries and the electricity bill so you can stay in business?
or more simply, playground bullies after your lunch money..
how about psychics, religious authority figures, judges in corrupt environments..
how about emotional blackmail, within a couple? "come to my parent's party or you'll sleep on the couch forever" "let me fuck around or I will leave you/you and the kids" "you will stay with me and take the beatings because you love me, you know I love you and that nobody else could ever love you" "you will stay in our relationship or you'll never see the kids again"...

my point being, what really constitutes a blackmail ultimately, is power imbalance and the desperation/need for the blackmailed person to not lose something they deem essential enough to make a sacrifice for. Even the smartest, savviest and well educated person, when caught at a time of desperation can fall prey to making decisions that in other circumstances they would never consider, decisions that occasionally spiral out of control and can lead to blackmail of one description or the other.

I know that many of the above examples, you actually touch on.. what I would argue however is that your next logic step is to make some very broad assumptions and statements as to on who these things would work and their qualities, statements I don't really agree with, and others that I agree with completely.

the news is full of educated, competent, enterpreneurial people who either rebel to the racketeering, or to an attempted blackmail, or who try to fight a system that is set up against them and either fail and get killed, succeed and have the criminals arrested, are exposed and the whole thing ends in damage spread all over the place, or worse, kill themselves out of desperation only to have their families be held in the same situation by the blackmailers... every time, especially with criminal enterprises such as the mafia or similar situations, it is mentioned how the people who end up in the news because they rebel to the blackmailer are but the tip of the iceberg of a system where "blackmailers/criminals" thrive.
very often, when the cops catch a break and manage to arrest the culprits, it turns out that these criminals are not geniuses. more often than not they haven't finished their basic education. they may be street-smart at best, just violent enough, or maybe just clever enough to use the social environment they thrive in to their advantage (entire regions where the common culture is that paying protection money is the easiest way to not have problems are not solely populated by dumdums)... yet they manage to gain the upper hand on people who are savvy and educated enough to, for instance, finish school, provide for their children, set up/run businesses.

maybe only for a limited duration of time (which can be days, months or years, depending on the situation), but there are many cases in which blackmail works just fine.

now, admittedly, in porn and many of the games we play here, the device is used in hamfisted ways and as a flimsy lead up to a sex scene.. it doesn't take into account the consequences, or the resistances that the character being blackmailed could and probably would/should, in the real world, apply, because the object of the game is the money shot, and not very often a compelling and "reasonable" character arc. I agree with you that this is more often than not portrayed in a less than convincing way to the critical eye (but then. half the time these games are played in a state of mind that isn't overly critical, I think)

that said, I would argue that the fact that blackmail is a cheap and unwise strategy to get something because it is destined to fail, even when we assume this to be true (and I am not entirely sold on this)...that still doesn't make it any less of a useful tool to move a plot in a direction (ideally forward).
the failure, the fallout and the resolution of the blackmail can (and I'd argue should) also be part of the plot. if correctly portrayed and not overly forced as a plot point, I see no harm in using it.

Finally, blackmail is actually a fairly common sexual fantasy. on bdsm websites it's full of women (and men) who secretly long to find themselves captives or forced to submit to the whiles of someone who is in a position of power over them. quite often blackmail is explicitly mentioned, even by men who are aspiring cucks. we could argue that many of the profiles who state this are just pipe dreams and fantasies that people roleplay with online, where it is safe, but I have personally known enough women who have expressed their ultimate fantasy to be being stuffed in a van, kidnapped for a weekend of debauchery by masked men.. they may acknowledge that it's not practical, and that the risks involved would be too great unless it was a form of roleplay with people they trusted, so it never happens or would happen, but the desire is still there.

Those fantasies and urges are what keeps the subject of blackmail and its use as a plot device alive and well.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

The higher a persons intelligence, self esteem, morality and wealth is the less likely it will work.

Their self-esteem or morality could work against them when it comes to publishing "juicy" material. An exhibitionism fiend wouldn't mind, it might even turn them on. And someone who is so broken that they already think everyone hates them might not find it worthwhile either.

 

[Diconica]

do we count systemic coercion and abuse of power/privilege as forms of blackmail?
Tenured professors who have their assistants run their errands and teach their classes and grade their papers for them, as the latter grind their teeth waiting for the time they will reach tenure themselves...
or people in offices who can grant you a permit/promotion or deny you it, with far reaching consequences either way and other similar situations where even a morally upstanding and otherwise savvy individual must either bend the knee to the system or know that they will fail...
how about workplace intimidation, mobbing, rules enforcing bullies who coerce smart and capable employees to conform to dress codes or time their performances or hold the power to write someone up over their head.. do those situations count as blackmail? women all over the world kind of have to deal with forms of blackmail of this variety on a daily basis.
how about criminal organisations that apply pressure for protection money "or else"...moneylenders who people resort to when banks don't extend you credit and you're desperate to pay your employee's salaries and the electricity bill so you can stay in business?
or more simply, playground bullies after your lunch money..
how about psychics, religious authority figures, judges in corrupt environments..
how about emotional blackmail, within a couple? "come to my parent's party or you'll sleep on the couch forever" "let me fuck around or I will leave you/you and the kids" "you will stay with me and take the beatings because you love me, you know I love you and that nobody else could ever love you" "you will stay in our relationship or you'll never see the kids again"...

my point being, what really constitutes a blackmail ultimately, is power imbalance and the desperation/need for the blackmailed person to not lose something they deem essential enough to make a sacrifice for. Even the smartest, savviest and well educated person, when caught at a time of desperation can fall prey to making decisions that in other circumstances they would never consider, decisions that occasionally spiral out of control and can lead to blackmail of one description or the other.

I know that many of the above examples, you actually touch on.. what I would argue however is that your next logic step is to make some very broad assumptions and statements as to on who these things would work and their qualities, statements I don't really agree with, and others that I agree with completely.

the news is full of educated, competent, enterpreneurial people who either rebel to the racketeering, or to an attempted blackmail, or who try to fight a system that is set up against them and either fail and get killed, succeed and have the criminals arrested, are exposed and the whole thing ends in damage spread all over the place, or worse, kill themselves out of desperation only to have their families be held in the same situation by the blackmailers... every time, especially with criminal enterprises such as the mafia or similar situations, it is mentioned how the people who end up in the news because they rebel to the blackmailer are but the tip of the iceberg of a system where "blackmailers/criminals" thrive.
very often, when the cops catch a break and manage to arrest the culprits, it turns out that these criminals are not geniuses. more often than not they haven't finished their basic education. they may be street-smart at best, just violent enough, or maybe just clever enough to use the social environment they thrive in to their advantage (entire regions where the common culture is that paying protection money is the easiest way to not have problems are not solely populated by dumdums)... yet they manage to gain the upper hand on people who are savvy and educated enough to, for instance, finish school, provide for their children, set up/run businesses.

maybe only for a limited duration of time (which can be days, months or years, depending on the situation), but there are many cases in which blackmail works just fine.

now, admittedly, in porn and many of the games we play here, the device is used in hamfisted ways and as a flimsy lead up to a sex scene.. it doesn't take into account the consequences, or the resistances that the character being blackmailed could and probably would/should, in the real world, apply, because the object of the game is the money shot, and not very often a compelling and "reasonable" character arc. I agree with you that this is more often than not portrayed in a less than convincing way to the critical eye (but then. half the time these games are played in a state of mind that isn't overly critical, I think)

that said, I would argue that the fact that blackmail is a cheap and unwise strategy to get something because it is destined to fail, even when we assume this to be true (and I am not entirely sold on this)...that still doesn't make it any less of a useful tool to move a plot in a direction (ideally forward).
the failure, the fallout and the resolution of the blackmail can (and I'd argue should) also be part of the plot. if correctly portrayed and not overly forced as a plot point, I see no harm in using it.

Finally, blackmail is actually a fairly common sexual fantasy. on bdsm websites it's full of women (and men) who secretly long to find themselves captives or forced to submit to the whiles of someone who is in a position of power over them. quite often blackmail is explicitly mentioned, even by men who are aspiring cucks. we could argue that many of the profiles who state this are just pipe dreams and fantasies that people roleplay with online, where it is safe, but I have personally known enough women who have expressed their ultimate fantasy to be being stuffed in a van, kidnapped for a weekend of debauchery by masked men.. they may acknowledge that it's not practical, and that the risks involved would be too great unless it was a form of roleplay with people they trusted, so it never happens or would happen, but the desire is still there.

Those fantasies and urges are what keeps the subject of blackmail and its use as a plot device alive and well.

I'm a bit torn on the idea of systematic blackmail. While yes I think there is a good number of people that use position of authority to coerce others into doing stuff they might not feel they freely can object to. I also know for a fact that a hell of a lot of that is an issue with the person not having the character to ask questions or say no ... and so on. It usually comes from issues such as lack of self confidence low self esteem. They don't feel they have any power in the situation thus are forced to comply when in truth they have a lot of control on the situation and the issue is more in their head.

It doesn't need to even be a real power imbalance just one that is perceived. If the person being blackmailed believes there is one that's the primary issue. If that individual though is capable of recognizing the alternatives then there isn't.

I can say that from my own person experience. Early on when I first started working yea I thought I pretty much had to take the shit given me that dealing with it was just part of being an adult and keeping a job. I learned from experience and friends not to take shit. The more skills I attained and self confidence I had the power balance changed. To the point I realized my employers needed me more than I needed them. It would take them several months to get someone new to fill in my job at my left costing them a crap load of money in the mean time. I could walk out the door and have a new job before I got back home.
These days I work for myself.

It's thus that perception that is important. That is going to rely on the characters abilities mostly the one being blackmailed. If they have any self worth and intelligence blackmail usually won't work.

That's why I say it is a weak card played by weak characters and only works against those weaker than them. It usually takes very little to overcome blackmail.

 

[sensepirational]

In my experience as it relates to storytelling, blackmail works best as a device to use against the main character or hero. It's a good way to establish a conflict with a villain, central or otherwise, and it also can be a good narrative device to force the main character or hero to "Cross the Threshold" and get the story rolling.

I'm not usually a fan of main characters using blackmail. I suppose it can work in moderation, for specific interactions where it can make sense. But games centered around using blackmail as the MC's tool of choice don't really appeal to me much. I think there are much more interesting ways to fulfill submission fantasies. Blackmail tends to make the victim sympathetic, sans situations where the story is crafted so that maybe they deserve it, which is also why it can work well as a device to use against your hero.

 

[Diconica]

In my experience as it relates to storytelling, blackmail works best as a device to use against the main character or hero. It's a good way to establish a conflict with a villain, central or otherwise, and it also can be a good narrative device to force the main character or hero to "Cross the Threshold" and get the story rolling.

I'm not usually a fan of main characters using blackmail. I suppose it can work in moderation, for specific interactions where it can make sense. But games centered around using blackmail as the MC's tool of choice don't really appeal to me much. I think there are much more interesting ways to fulfill submission fantasies. Blackmail tends to make the victim sympathetic, sans situations where the story is crafted so that maybe they deserve it, which is also why it can work well as a device to use against your hero.

In most cases blackmail creates more plotholes and contradictions than anything else when used in writing.

The reason is simple. If you create a character that has a stronger personality than the villain or method used against them then they have to act contradictory to the character type they are presented as in order for it to work. Not just that then you have to support that decision on their part through out the story which then creates even more contradictions.

If you want to create a conflict between two people be more direct. One gets the other one fired. Physical altercation, argument at work, gets the other one demoted, costs them accounts, costs them a promotion or raise... Just about anything is better than trying to use blackmail in writing. Professional writers who do it for a living even screw it the hell up. Agatha Christie's "One, two buckle my shoe" is a good example. Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" and many more. All have huge glaring plotholes caused by blackmail being thrown in. So a novice expecting to pull of a story built around blackmail is laughable.

I love good blackmail stories. However, that's an issue because either they are really good and the person pulled it all together and looked for all those issues or they are really bad and have huge issues. There isn't an in between when you put blackmail in the story. It either works or it doesn't.

 

[Cynicaladm]

I'm a bit torn on the idea of systematic blackmail. While yes I think there is a good number of people that use position of authority to coerce others into doing stuff they might not feel they freely can object to. I also know for a fact that a hell of a lot of that is an issue with the person not having the character to ask questions or say no ... and so on. It usually comes from issues such as lack of self confidence low self esteem. They don't feel they have any power in the situation thus are forced to comply when in truth they have a lot of control on the situation and the issue is more in their head.

It doesn't need to even be a real power imbalance just one that is perceived. If the person being blackmailed believes there is one that's the primary issue. If that individual though is capable of recognizing the alternatives then there isn't.

I can say that from my own person experience. Early on when I first started working yea I thought I pretty much had to take the shit given me that dealing with it was just part of being an adult and keeping a job. I learned from experience and friends not to take shit. The more skills I attained and self confidence I had the power balance changed. To the point I realized my employers needed me more than I needed them. It would take them several months to get someone new to fill in my job at my left costing them a crap load of money in the mean time. I could walk out the door and have a new job before I got back home.
These days I work for myself.

It's thus that perception that is important. That is going to rely on the characters abilities mostly the one being blackmailed. If they have any self worth and intelligence blackmail usually won't work.

That's why I say it is a weak card played by weak characters and only works against those weaker than them. It usually takes very little to overcome blackmail.

I mostly agree, though there are many situations I can think of that defy those parameters, but I don't want to write another wall of text that would ultimately repeat things we both have already said.
What I will insist on though is that even a badly concocted and executed blackmail is still a valid narrative device, provided the fallout and consequences are also examined, and the blackmailer is confronted with the fallacies of their plan.