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

[serenitytouched.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed you received a reply.

It's still up in the air to me about a "tastefully" written love scene. I feel like mine are tasteful, but others might find it explicit. It depends what you're comparing it to, I guess. Compared to some of the things I've read on AFF, I don't think it's as strong as that, but I just don't know because of how much sexual content I've included - and it's not just smut for smut sake. Sex to me is just as meaningful as the plot of the relationship between two people.

All I can do is just shrug if I find my fic pulled off. I know there was always the possibility of that happening. Yeah, it sucks having something tossed out after taking a year or so of writing in progress with a built up readership. Sure, it would be nice if they allowed you to "edit" it to fit their standards, but there's just so many fics. Unless they have the staff for it, no one's going to take the time to review it. They don't owe it to us to do that. It would simply be a nice gesture and nothing more.

I've always liked the ease of using FF and it has a large history and great archive of fics. AO3 is very promising in becoming something just as big, it just needs some tweaking.

[jessioriginal.livejournal.com]

My story doesn't even have the actual act, and I think it's more than tasteful.

There's so many fics because of how they handled things and how poor their guidelines are. They very much do owe us.

[serenitytouched.livejournal.com]

That in itself makes it even more such a blurry line of what the heck is considered M then, if you didn't even have that.

I didn't catch too much what your fic was that was removed. Was it just labeled as a T and they considered it an M? Or, was it already an M?

[jessioriginal.livejournal.com]

I had it rated T, but they apparently think it shouldn't even be M. I offered to change the rating, but they claim it's MA. I don't think so.

[serenitytouched.livejournal.com]

This makes no sense. lol T_T What the heck is MA about it if you didn't write the actual act of sex?

[jessioriginal.livejournal.com]

Not sure.O_o