Help interpreting the "under 18" moderation guidelines

metropolinational

Wannabe Writer
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HI, first time LE writer here.
I was excited to submit chapters 1 through 8 of my "loving wives" story for moderation a few days ago. I got a prompt response today, but much to my shock, my story was rejected due to violation of the "under 18" section of the guidelines. My story is about a 30 year old married couple and centers around the enormous distress to their relationship caused by a botched cuckolding. The story is meant to be raw but ultimately redemptive. Critical to the reconciliation, however, is the fact that this married couple have been best friends since kindergarten, boyfriend and girlfriend since middle school, and lovers since high school. Since this was never meant to be a story about their youth, it never occurred to me that under 18 sex would be an issue. The story right now is grounded in the length and depth of their love, and so there are tiny, off hand references to their past lives littered through the story. And now that I have looked at the breadth of the rules, I am worried that my story might never pass moderation. But I would like to at least try.

So, I have two questions:

First, is there an editor here who would be specifically interested in helping me figure out which lines in my story are guideline violations? I see there is a volunteer editor program, but it seems centered around grammar and typos. What I need is someone who understands the rules well and can help me get through moderation without shredding the whole story.

Second/Alternatively, would it be acceptable to post the issues I imagine are problematic in here to get feedback on whether they are a problem or not? For example, during a flashback in my story, there is a one sentence reference to a rumor that the main character had slept with someone. This was back in seventh grade. The rumor was totally false, but it still affected her back then and planted the seed of suspicions people in her community have about her. Will that one sentence, which happens in Chapter 10, be a problem? I have a dozen questions like that.

Many thanks and apologies for the long post!
 
You don't need an editor to fix this. You just need to take out any and all references that imply sexual activity by any character under the age of 18.

Wording like "lovers since high school" implies a sexual relationship and most kids in the US aren't 18 much before they graduate from high school.
 
Thank you Britva and Ronde. Sadly, these two responses are in opposition to each other.

Britva links to Laurel (lead site mod?) saying this: We do allow references to past activity in stories so long as it is not explicit. For example, an adult character referencing his or her history - "I lost my virginity when I was 15" - is fine. Explicit and/or salacious details are not.

Ronde's post says this: Wording like "lovers since high school" implies a sexual relationship and most kids in the US aren't 18 much before they graduate from high school.

Am I wrong to think these two standards are different?
 
What ronde is telling you is that the site takes a very hard edge stance on the issue. Being cautious during writing will help you avoid multiple rejections. Cut it out now and save yourself a lot of trouble.
 
HI, first time LE writer here.
I was excited to submit chapters 1 through 8 of my "loving wives" story for moderation a few days ago. I got a prompt response today, but much to my shock, my story was rejected due to violation of the "under 18" section of the guidelines. My story is about a 30 year old married couple and centers around the enormous distress to their relationship caused by a botched cuckolding. The story is meant to be raw but ultimately redemptive. Critical to the reconciliation, however, is the fact that this married couple have been best friends since kindergarten, boyfriend and girlfriend since middle school, and lovers since high school. Since this was never meant to be a story about their youth, it never occurred to me that under 18 sex would be an issue. The story right now is grounded in the length and depth of their love, and so there are tiny, off hand references to their past lives littered through the story. And now that I have looked at the breadth of the rules, I am worried that my story might never pass moderation. But I would like to at least try.

So, I have two questions:

First, is there an editor here who would be specifically interested in helping me figure out which lines in my story are guideline violations? I see there is a volunteer editor program, but it seems centered around grammar and typos. What I need is someone who understands the rules well and can help me get through moderation without shredding the whole story.

Second/Alternatively, would it be acceptable to post the issues I imagine are problematic in here to get feedback on whether they are a problem or not? For example, during a flashback in my story, there is a one sentence reference to a rumor that the main character had slept with someone. This was back in seventh grade. The rumor was totally false, but it still affected her back then and planted the seed of suspicions people in her community have about her. Will that one sentence, which happens in Chapter 10, be a problem? I have a dozen questions like that.

Many thanks and apologies for the long post!
No, it isn't allowed to post questionable parts of a story on the forum.
 
While i haven't posted anything here, unless one of them has a petite form, not having anything that might be read wrong would probably help. Also mentioning their ages (or jobs that would suggest they are adults, like if he's a construction worker giving him a 6-pack of abs, etc) several times would probably help, and maybe descriptions of the characters front-loaded before the story may help too.

Some ERPs i've had there's people with strict ages they will play too. So keeping it descriptive and sugestive while not walking on potential problems or repeating the same lines can be a creative endeavor to navigate.
 
HI, first time LE writer here.
I was excited to submit chapters 1 through 8 of my "loving wives" story for moderation a few days ago. I got a prompt response today, but much to my shock, my story was rejected due to violation of the "under 18" section of the guidelines. My story is about a 30 year old married couple and centers around the enormous distress to their relationship caused by a botched cuckolding. The story is meant to be raw but ultimately redemptive. Critical to the reconciliation, however, is the fact that this married couple have been best friends since kindergarten, boyfriend and girlfriend since middle school, and lovers since high school. Since this was never meant to be a story about their youth, it never occurred to me that under 18 sex would be an issue.
It is the issue. You can mention under eighteen sex but you can't describe it, and you can't repeatedly mention it. A sentence or two is okay, but only in passing. If you've got so many childhood references, it's no surprise the story has bounced.
The story right now is grounded in the length and depth of their love, and so there are tiny, off hand references to their past lives littered through the story. And now that I have looked at the breadth of the rules, I am worried that my story might never pass moderation. But I would like to at least try.
You'll have to cut right back on the multitude of references.
What I need is someone who understands the rules well and can help me get through moderation without shredding the whole story.
It's not a question of "getting past moderation", you need to write about the adult sexuality without relying on the teenage references.
Second/Alternatively, would it be acceptable to post the issues I imagine are problematic in here to get feedback on whether they are a problem or not? For example, during a flashback in my story, there is a one sentence reference to a rumor that the main character had slept with someone. This was back in seventh grade.
No. Do that, and your thread is likely to get shut down.
The rumor was totally false, but it still affected her back then and planted the seed of suspicions people in her community have about her. Will that one sentence, which happens in Chapter 10, be a problem? I have a dozen questions like that.
If you've got dozens of such questions, I'd say you're pushing the line far too much. You might have to cut the heart of your story.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it. All the feedback here is very much at odds with what Laurel said in the thread Britva linked, but I can see that post is from 2012! If anyone has a more recent entry from the site owner about this topic, I would love that. In the meantime, I'm going to work on redoing the story to match the feedback in this thread, while preserving the idea that these two people have known each other since childhood.
Thanks again!
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it. All the feedback here is very much at odds with what Laurel said in the thread Britva linked, but I can see that post is from 2012! If anyone has a more recent entry from the site owner about this topic, I would love that. In the meantime, I'm going to work on redoing the story to match the feedback in this thread, while preserving the idea that these two people have known each other since childhood.
Thanks again!
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/simple-answer-to-queries-about-lits-under-18-rule.1545753/
 
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