Can you have illegal activity in a story?

[Eros_343]

As long as it doesn't involve pedophilia of course. By illegal activity, I meant drugs and underage drinking. I wanted to have a stoner character, and an 18 year old character using a false identity to buy alcohol.

I didn't find anything in the rules banning it, but I don't really see any stories using it either.

 

[Hypoxia]

As long as it doesn't involve pedophilia of course. By illegal activity, I meant drugs and underage drinking. I wanted to have a stoner character, and an 18 year old character using a false identity to buy alcohol.

I didn't find anything in the rules banning it, but I don't really see any stories using it either.

AFAIK the bans here are on DEPICTIONS (not imprecise descriptions) of underage sex, bestiality, snuff killings, and certain forms of self-damage (my trephination story was rejected). No bans on depicting or describing other illegal activities AFAIK. We certainly have murders happening here. In a couple stories, I have DESCRIBED (not depicted) minors drinking, toking, snorting and injecting. As long as they aren't having sex too, it seems to be OK here at LIT.

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, you can have illegal activity as long as it's not activity banned by the site's submissions guidelines.

 

[Bramblethorn]

As long as it doesn't involve pedophilia of course. By illegal activity, I meant drugs and underage drinking. I wanted to have a stoner character, and an 18 year old character using a false identity to buy alcohol.

I didn't find anything in the rules banning it, but I don't really see any stories using it either.

Yeah, there are detective-type stories with murders, others where people smoke a joint to lower their inhibitions, etc etc. What you're talking about isn't likely to be a problem as long as it's clear that the under-age drinker is 18 (or alternately that they're not involved in sex).

 

[lovecraft68]

Sure as long as they are 18. I've done under age drinking(but 18) pot, cocaine, shooting up Heroin, murder.... it will all fly

 

[MrRandyWatson]

AFAIK the bans here are on DEPICTIONS (not imprecise descriptions) of underage sex, bestiality, snuff killings, and certain forms of self-damage (my trephination story was rejected). No bans on depicting or describing other illegal activities AFAIK. We certainly have murders happening here. In a couple stories, I have DESCRIBED (not depicted) minors drinking, toking, snorting and injecting. As long as they aren't having sex too, it seems to be OK here at LIT.

So...if two people in a story are conducting an age-restricted activity, is it then assumed by that depiction that the participants are of age? Like...let's just say that I describe the woman as very young-looking, giving the appearance that she COULD be underage, but the protagonist meets her while they're playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino. Is it then assumed that she's at least 21 and therefore in the safe zone unless it's otherwise stated?

 

[sr71plt]

So...if two people in a story are conducting an age-restricted activity, is it then assumed by that depiction that the participants are of age? Like...let's just say that I describe the woman as very young-looking, giving the appearance that she COULD be underage, but the protagonist meets her while they're playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino. Is it then assumed that she's at least 21 and therefore in the safe zone unless it's otherwise stated?

That would be fine technically, yes (although perhaps you do want it to be seen as underage, which would only be technically fine in principle). Because the site editor just scans submissions, she might reject the story initially, but if you return with a note to the effect of how you depicted her to be of age, it probably would be posted as you wrote it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So...if two people in a story are conducting an age-restricted activity, is it then assumed by that depiction that the participants are of age? Like...let's just say that I describe the woman as very young-looking, giving the appearance that she COULD be underage, but the protagonist meets her while they're playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino. Is it then assumed that she's at least 21 and therefore in the safe zone unless it's otherwise stated?

If you want to be sure about it, you could include a passage where casino ID asks her for proof of age and she shows them. Some writers do try to sneak under-age stuff through (state that the character's 18, then describe her in a way that strongly implies she's much younger) and that is likely to be deleted if detected.

 

[Hypoxia]

So...if two people in a story are conducting an age-restricted activity, is it then assumed by that depiction that the participants are of age? Like...let's just say that I describe the woman as very young-looking, giving the appearance that she COULD be underage, but the protagonist meets her while they're playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino. Is it then assumed that she's at least 21 and therefore in the safe zone unless it's otherwise stated?

Bramblethorn made a good point -- validate the character's adult status within the story. But also include an author's note stating that all sexual activity is only among conscious, living humans 18+ years of age. And (my own preference) make sure the character *IS* 18+ in your own mind as you write. If you NEED underage characters involved in sexual activity, submit the story elsewhere.

 

[TamLin01]

I don't think I've got enough stories sans murder to fill a phone booth. So yes, you're fine.

 

[Laurel]

As an 18+ site, Lit stories can contain the same content as R-rated mainstream movies - including crimes such as murder, blackmail, theft, drug use, and the like. We don't accept "snuff" - the eroticism of murder or serious mutilation. We don't accept under-18s in sexual situations. We don't accept bestiality - sexual activity of any kind between humans and real life animals.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me anytime.

 

[Hypoxia]

... We don't accept "snuff" - the eroticism of murder or serious mutilation.

The line is somewhat ambiguous there. When you rejected my fetish story LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD the second time, you said (in effect) that the tale with a woman thinking about trepanning / trephination eroticised self-mutilation. But no such mutilation, nor any violence, occurred in the story. I do not understand how this violates the snuff standard.

LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD (link to PDF in Dropbox cloud)

 

[Laurel]

The line is somewhat ambiguous there. When you rejected my fetish story LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD the second time, you said (in effect) that the tale with a woman thinking about trepanning / trephination eroticised self-mutilation. But no such mutilation, nor any violence, occurred in the story. I do not understand how this violates the snuff standard.

LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD (link to PDF in Dropbox cloud)

We allow minor body modification stuff - things that are nor potentially life-threatening such as piercings, tattooing, etc.

We don't allow things where the body is changed in a potentially life-threatening manner. We have consistently rejected stories in which the characters have parts of their body amputated for sexual gratification purposes, or where amputation is described erotically.

Your story was the first involving trepanning, so there was much discussion about it. The conclusion was that it was more similar to amputation than it is to tattooing/piercing.

We 150% support your right as an author to write fictional stories involving erotic self-mutilation or any other topic. This is not a value or moral judgment. We just don't feel that such content is right for the site.

If you have any more specific questions, please feel to PM me.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Your story was the first involving trepanning, so there was much discussion about it.

Rejection or no, I'd take some pride in managing to come up with a site first like that

 

[Laurel]

Rejection or no, I'd take some pride in managing to come up with a site first like that

Right? Nowdays it's a special day when I hit a story with a "first".

 

[Hypoxia]

We don't allow things where the body is changed in a potentially life-threatening manner. We have consistently rejected stories in which the characters have parts of their body amputated for sexual gratification purposes, or where amputation is described erotically.

And I heartily agree with "no mayhem". However, no self-modification (or forced modification) occurred in the story. It starts and ends with the narrator looking at the electric drill in her hand, wondering if she would proceed. No holes were drilled while writing this (disturbing) story.

I'm disappointed because the rejection seems based on POTENTIAL mayhem, not on depicted or described violence, self-mayhem, etc. A parallel: A story wherein a character THINKS about sex with a minor. No activity is described beyond maybe "he undressed her with his eyes, imagining her rosy etc.". Does that story violate the 18+ rule? Or if a shepherd dreams of his favorite lamb, is bestiality rampant?

 

[Laurel]

A parallel: A story wherein a character THINKS about sex with a minor. No activity is described beyond maybe "he undressed her with his eyes, imagining her rosy etc.". Does that story violate the 18+ rule?

Yes, and we have rejected stories in which the protagonist watches a minor undressing, or looks at a minor and fantasizes or has sexual thoughts about the minor's dress or body.

Or if a shepherd dreams of his favorite lamb, is bestiality rampant?

Again, yes - and historically we have rejected such stories.

 

[LaRascasse]

I'm not entirely clear what falls under the snuff rejection rule though. If a character stabs someone once and kills them, it's allowed but if they take time and make them suffer with multiple stab wounds, then it might get the boot. Beats me...

 

[Laurel]

I'm not entirely clear what falls under the snuff rejection rule though. If a character stabs someone once and kills them, it's allowed but if they take time and make them suffer with multiple stab wounds, then it might get the boot. Beats me...

The line is:

We don't accept "snuff" - the eroticism of murder or serious mutilation. We don't accept under-18s in sexual situations.

 

[TamLin01]

Honestly, the rules are pretty self-explanatory. And anyway, it's not like you'll get in trouble if your story is rejected. There's no demerits system. The FBI isn't going to come knock on your door. You'll just have to find somewhere else to feature it is all.

 

[Hypoxia]

Honestly, the rules are pretty self-explanatory. And anyway, it's not like you'll get in trouble if your story is rejected. There's no demerits system. The FBI isn't going to come knock on your door. You'll just have to find somewhere else to feature it is all.

I knew that, yes. I'm only twisting my head around the tale being rejected (more than once) as violent when it contained no violence. As with the under-18 and animal rules, I understand (and agree with) no depiction, even imaginary -- no graphic description. I just don't see contemplation as being at that level. Does "I stared at the spinning drill" go beyond "I looked at that child lustfully"? And when nothing more explicit is written, are those lines beyond the pale?

 

[Laurel]

I knew that, yes. I'm only twisting my head around the tale being rejected (more than once) as violent when it contained no violence. As with the under-18 and animal rules, I understand (and agree with) no depiction, even imaginary -- no graphic description. I just don't see contemplation as being at that level. Does "I stared at the spinning drill" go beyond "I looked at that child lustfully"? And when nothing more explicit is written, are those lines beyond the pale?

No, you're absolutely right. But we wouldn't allow the lustfully staring at the child line either.

As far as being beyond the pale - again, we're not making a moral/ethical judgment. Like TamLin said, the FBI isn't going to knock on your door, nor should they. Our readership reads at Lit because they feel comfortable with the editorial boundaries we set. There are many sites out there with broader rules than ours, some with narrower ones. And that's important, I think. It's a healthier ecosystem when readers can choose their comfort levels from among a variety of sites. We have authors who submit to us and other sites, and readers who read here and elsewhere.

So if the trepanning story isn't working within our guidelines - and this goes for any story that gets rejected for content reasons - rather than try to mangle it to fit here, it's probably better to keep the story intact and true to your vision and submit it to one of the other fine sites who accept it. You'll probably find a more appreciative audience for that story at a site which caters to edgier content as well.

 

[robertreams]

Silly question. How could one write a murder mystery?

 

[LOAnnie2]

Silly question. How could one write a murder mystery?

Pretty easily. Murder and snuff aren't close to the same thing. Don't try to eroticise the murder and everything should be fine (assuming you don't go off the rails in another way).

 

[TamLin01]

Look, I've got a story on this site where most of the named characters are not only killed but eaten after. (...it's a wendigo story, so this is not quite as shocking in context.) And have you ever read SeanRenaud's stuff? Seriously, it's very, very difficult to get a story rejected on the grounds of content. You'd almost have to go out of your way.