Got a reply-what they said, what I said.

[jessioriginal.livejournal.com]

To the mods, please disregard my previous post.  I forgot to remove the personal info.


Their reply:

Did you even read the rating system within the guideline?  If not, please do so.

M rated:  Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language.

MA rated:  Content is only suitable for mature adults. May contain explicit language and adult themes.

So in answer to your question, a tastefully written love scene that implies but not explicitly describe the sexual act will be fine with an M rating.  There are plenty of good examples on the site.  There is no denying that there are people who enjoy MA rated stories and are loyal readers/writers.  But they are not our targeted users.  Thus MA rated stories are not allowed.  

One of the goal of this site to help people to become better writers.  A properly written story will present a very enjoyable read and truly "unleash the imagination".

Zack

My reply:

Of course I've read the guidelines.  And I still say your descriptions are vague.  Who exactly decides what is appropriate for a certain age?  To say my fic is only appropriate for adults is offensive, especially since it was actually co-written with me by a sixteen-year-old, and the reviewers include those both younger and older.  The M rating has NEVER been for stories that just imply the more adult stuff.  It's always been for stories that are a bit racy, but not extreme.  That's why it's the M rating, and that is why it is hidden.  If it were just for "implied" stuff, then it wouldn't need to be hidden.  My story was perfectly tame and certainly not MA.  There is no other place out there for it.  It would never be suited to an extreme site like AdultFanfiction.Net, and I would never post it there, especially as most of my readers are too young for that site or are uncomfortable with it. 

Your reply is kind of offensive, as you imply my story is not tasetful or properly-written.  Did you even read it?  It didn't get all those reviews for not being tasteful and properly-written. 

And you say that your goal is to help people become better writers and unleash their imagination.  But that makes no sense.  Why should that then not include more mature stories, like the kind that are too tame for sites like AdultFanfiction, which largely features extremely dark and disturbing stories that involve subject matter many are uncomfortable with.  This story was me stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new and more mature.  Seems what you are doing is actually against your goal of making people better writers and helping them unleash your imagination.  The more you tighten your guidelines, the more you restrict our imaginations and abilities.  As it was, we could not write scripts-the perfect beginning for those not yet ready for descriptive storytelling,-songfics, or interactive stories.  And now you are trying to do this?  Are you aware this recent purge has a LOT of people planning to just ditch the site and move over to Archive of Our Own?  And we're talking members like me who have been around for ages.  You are doing wrong by us, and that alone should tell you that you need to reconsider.

Even museums have sections for art that features things like nudity, you know.

I want to become a better writer and unleash my imagination, as well as help others do the same.  But your site is currently hampering that by the removal of this story.  And I'm sure the many other people emailing you would agree.

Comments

[evalentine99.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Harry Potter in terms of violence I would argue under the ff.net rating should be an M or even MA. It has torture, cruelty, betrayal. Look at the idea of the three unforgiveable curses. Buckbeak was going to be-head the creature. Some of the imagery is nightmarish to say the least. The soul eaters fore example.

As an adult with a good understanding of the TV and film rating system I read the rating for M and thought that it covered everything except for some of the way out kinks hard core stuff like B&D,blood play, scrat, and stuff and aimed at what I would expect to find in a romance novel.

I see two issues here.
I'll defined catagory - with no spercific examples of what they mean by M. It says 16 plus.
16 is the age of consent. I read it very carefully before posting and its clear from the comments I've read their understanding is different. Due the large number of cultures who write fanfiction they need to be far more clear.

Indicrimiatory deletions being inconsisently applied. There is a story on ffnet which is stolen and considered the most offensive ff story of all time and even after repeated requests is still showing. (I checked hoping it was gone. Its not sigh) This goes to a great deal of plargised stories that are reported they are never removed. So they need to clean up their act big time.

If they want to purge their site then they need to do so and then keep doing so.

Don't leave it 10 years let anyone post what they like then start deleting.

[jessioriginal.livejournal.com]

You should really email them and tell them that.