Frustrated - Editing help

So, my story got bounced back due to 'underage' flag. How much more clear do I need to make it? It's a Wine Bar--you cannot work at a bar if you're under age. And the line in the story says outright:

' Not that it’s any of your business, but since we should just get this out in the open, I’m single. He’s single and over legal age. '

Is it because the jerk in the scene is calling this person a 'boy' as an insult that flags it as underage? (We shouldn't use 'boy' or 'girl' because that means they are underage? Really?)

I changed it to 'punk' rather than boy but it takes the insult out of the comment I think. and also added 'he's 21 for Godsake'.

I am blown away as the first part of the story I call him a young man ...nothing spit back. Of course he's over age--or he wouldn't be working at a flipp'n wine bar.

I really /really/ do not want someone reading my work thinking I'm writing about someone not of age. Ick.

The site editor doesn't look at submissions carefully and is quick to ask "is underage included?" She's questioning rather than asserting, but the way it's done here is unfortunate--both that time isn't taken to justify asking the question in the first place (which is a function of there being so many submissions and the Web site providing only one submissions editor) and then in responding with a "rejection" rather than a "please clarify" question. I've had this happen to me a few times. In nearly all cases when the circumstances are as you state, all you have to do is resend it with the comment in the notes box that there's no underage in the story. I'll admit that sometimes when I'm irritated that there shouldn't really have been any question in the first place, I've asked the editor to point out what she thinks doesn't follow the rules if she has thought there was a justification for rejection. Invariably the story is just passed on through.

But, yes, the sites choice of language is unfortunate.

I get that it's important not to have under-age stuff slip through if it's really under-age but...yeah...

Irritated because I specifically put the comment in there that he wasn't underage to be clear. LOL. I even phrased it so it wouldn't read 'underage'.

And it didn't look like there was a place to put comments but rather they wanted me to have an editor look at the work. I'll know for next time I can do that.

Thanks for the reply.

that may help, too: http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=175666

You can also put an author's note at the beginning:

Author’s Note: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and are eighteen years of age or older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Dream_Operator said:

You can also put an author's note at the beginning:

Author’s Note: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and are eighteen years of age or older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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You can, yes, but the editor has to be pretty gullible to believe it just because you put it there. A declaration by the author can just as easily be a lie to get the underage story through as the truth.

Dream_Operator said:

You can also put an author's note at the beginning:

Author’s Note: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and are eighteen years of age or older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Click to expand...

One of my stories was rejected for the same reason. I put the Author's note indicating all the characters are over 18 years or older and it did the job.

Sometimes some authors try to get around the underage flag by using the disclaimer at the top of the story, then in the story goes...

It was Mikes first day of high school. As a freshman he was worried about what would happen. The stories his brother told him about what the senior jocks do to the freshman boys was inbelieveable until it happened to him...

Others have the character show ID in the story, but then describe her as having pert young budding breasts just starting to poke out from her chest, and her wispy pubic hair was just starting to poke through her skin... (Yes I've seen both of these in stories on here and reported them).

So not only is it imprtatn to make sure the age isn't an issue you have to avoid describing your characters so they appear under 18.Usually a note in the comment box when you submit the story helps and you can ask for more detail when you resubmit if its rejected.

' Not that it’s any of your business, but since we should just get this out in the open, I’m single. He’s single and over legal age. '

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Legal age varies from country to country. In UK, the legal age is sixteen.

You should explicitly state in your story (in the beginning or later) that the characters involved are eighteen or above.

If Laurel missed it, send her a PM and explain yourself. Maybe it was a glitch or an error on her part.

Learin said:

Legal age varies from country to country. In UK, the legal age is sixteen.

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The age of majority also varies between states. In Hawaii it's 16, in other states it's 18 and someone once told me that in one state, I forget which one now, that anyone aged between 16 and 20 could have sex with anyone over 14.

In other words if a
20 can be intimate with 14 but 21 can't.
50 can be intimate with 16 but not 15.

As Literotica is based in the US and the majority of states as well as the federal Gov't recognize 18 to be the age of majority, that is the rule on here. It's illegal to distribute a porn film with anyone under the age of 18, even if filmed in a jusridiction that recognizes a lower age of majority.

Time to point out again that this isn't a legal issue. There's nothing illegal about writing underage sex in fiction, and you'll find it in mainstream books on bookstore shelves. It's a decision by this Web site that has the right to impose that restriction on a privately owned Web site.

The disclaimer may be accepted by the Web site as a fig leaf cover, but that's all it would be. There's nothing to prevent an author trying to slip underage into his/her story from slapping a false disclaimer on top of it. They are trying to be dishonest about what they are providing anyway. It's just cynical or pinheaded to claim a disclaimer covers anything.

And the way this site is run, not all underage stories are caught.

There were the 2 samples I noted above, and there was a third that explicitly stated that the two main characters who were cousins were born withonly a day between them. (One was born on Monday, the other on Wed.)

The story goes on to describe a family tradition where any family member who turns 18 is introduced to the pleasures of the flesh in a family gang bang. This story said since these two girls had birthdays so close the party would be held on the day between their birthdays.

In other words one was 18, but the other was still 17. It was reported and got pulled from the site.

Ldy_Sea said:

And the way this site is run, not all underage stories are caught.

There were the 2 samples I noted above, and there was a third that explicitly stated that the two main characters who were cousins were born withonly a day between them. (One was born on Monday, the other on Wed.)

The story goes on to describe a family tradition where any family member who turns 18 is introduced to the pleasures of the flesh in a family gang bang. This story said since these two girls had birthdays so close the party would be held on the day between their birthdays.

In other words one was 18, but the other was still 17. It was reported and got pulled from the site.

Click to expand...

One would think people were smart enough to let it happen on the younger one's birthday.

my submission just got bounced for the same reason

My submission just got bounced for the same reason, yet the story was titled "I'm an adult now" and the characters are recent high school grads. Perplexing at times.