“College” means over 18, right??

[NoviceAspen]

Story rejected twice because of “under 18” content.
My story takes place in a hyper religious women’s college that is really a cult. I mention them being “after high school.” I describe one as “just turned 18.” Do I need to spell out exactly how old every single one is? I know that in some countries the word college has a different meaning, but I thought I made it clear enough for other English speakers.

The first time it was rejected it was because I mentioned one of them having gotten very little sex education when she was younger. It wasn’t explicit, I was just trying to show how sheltered her life had been. But I edited that part a little and tried again.

Then the second time it was rejected I tried to just take that whole section out but now it won’t even let me submit again? Am I going to be blacklisted over this or what?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Then the second time it was rejected I tried to just take that whole section out but now it won’t even let me submit again? Am I going to be blacklisted over this or what?

No, but it does mean you have to scrub through your text to make sure there are no descriptive scenes that could in any way be construed as under eighteen sex.

What do you mean, "it won't let me submit again?" That's the first time I've heard that - usually you can keep on resubmitting till the cows come home.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Double check the story for phrases that might be getting flagged by the system accidentally.

"16 year old scotch" and "His face was shaved as smooth as a baby's ass" were phrases that have gotten people accidentally rejected in the past.

Look out for issues like that

 

[SimonDoom]

Story rejected twice because of “under 18” content.
My story takes place in a hyper religious women’s college that is really a cult. I mention them being “after high school.” I describe one as “just turned 18.” Do I need to spell out exactly how old every single one is? I know that in some countries the word college has a different meaning, but I thought I made it clear enough for other English speakers.

The first time it was rejected it was because I mentioned one of them having gotten very little sex education when she was younger. It wasn’t explicit, I was just trying to show how sheltered her life had been. But I edited that part a little and tried again.

Then the second time it was rejected I tried to just take that whole section out but now it won’t even let me submit again? Am I going to be blacklisted over this or what?

This seems extreme. I make a point of making my youngest characters college-age, and I've never had problems. A brief, non-descriptive and non-erotic reference to a character's lack of sex education should not violate the rules. I'd suggest sending Laurel a polite but detailed comment explaining why your submission does not violate the rules. I have done that before and it worked.

 

[KeithD]

If you truly believe there's no underage sex, refiled (if you can--I've never heard of this being blocked) with a declaration there's nothing underage in it written to the notes box and requesting pointing to any offending material Laurel thinks is there). The few times I've been in this trouble, that's what I did, and the story was published as originally written.

 

[lovecraft68]

@KeithD has it right. If there's nothing, submit again with a note in the box saying there is no underage content.

I've never heard of not being able to submit again, so you could also PM Laurel here and explain the situation. Here's the link, just click start conversation.

https://forum.literotica.com/members/laurel.7/

Do you have any references that go backwards? Example, a character saying "Back when I was sixteen?" even if its not sexual, the number will trigger whatever flawed mess of a program they have.

 

[LoneMilf]

In response to the question in the title..
There are many places in the world where it's possible to start college/university before you turn 18 - even in the US, there seems to be a general requirement that you must have finished high school and be at least 17.
So, no. College doesn't equal over 18.

 

[Priscilla_June]

Wasn’t it generally said that high school seniors were considered 18 by the site?

 

[NotWise]

If should be adequate to put all your characters in college. I've done it. A non-sexual reference to a lack of sex education should also not be a problem. The problem is likely to be something else that you're overlooking, so it could help to get a beta reader to look at it with that question in mind.

If you're using "college" to age-up a character who otherwise looks and acts immature, then Laurel might catch it, but that doesn't seem to happen very often.

I think others have pointed out that any reference to anything being under eighteen might trigger a rejection. I usually leave out any direct reference to characters' ages and let the setting and the characters' behavior establish maturity.

 

[NoviceAspen]

Double check the story for phrases that might be getting flagged by the system accidentally.

"16 year old scotch" and "His face was shaved as smooth as a baby's ass" were phrases that have gotten people accidentally rejected in the past.

Look out for issues like that

@KeithD has it right. If there's nothing, submit again with a note in the box saying there is no underage content.

I've never heard of not being able to submit again, so you could also PM Laurel here and explain the situation. Here's the link, just click start conversation.

https://forum.literotica.com/members/laurel.7/

Do you have any references that go backwards? Example, a character saying "Back when I was sixteen?" even if its not sexual, the number will trigger whatever flawed mess of a program they have.

I deleted it and submitted it again and it went through. I tried to clean up anything that could confuse the bots and added another line about it being after her 18th birthday. We’ll have to see what happens. I think it was just a glitch not letting me submit before.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wasn’t it generally said that high school seniors were considered 18 by the site?

Yes.

But some people here try to say High School isn't allowed, then the term baby sitter isn't allowed, boy, girl, teen...but go search those words and get back to me after you scroll through countless stories.

Honestly, my advice when anyone asks anything about the "ahem" rules here, especially under age, is to just submit it and see what happens.

Stories with no rule breaking content get booted, stories with blatant rule breaking content get through.

So these discussions are more a waste of time than anything else, and a chance for the self righteous to pretend they're appalled by stories they know damn well they'd write if they could and it would get them clicks.

 

[Voboy]

I wouldn't say college "automatically" means over 18, but I would guess that there's probably something else in there that's triggering Laurel.

Lots of things I've written feature 18-year-olds, in HS or college. None of them have gotten kicked back. I'm guessing you're not making the 18-year-old thing explicit enough for Laurel, OP, or that there's something else buried in the text that you might have missed.

 

[Trionyx]

Stories with no rule breaking content get booted, stories with blatant rule breaking content get through.

I recently read one which had multiple subtle clues as to pre-eighteen sexual activity and it got by.

Although I don't like to put in disclaimers about the age and prefer to let the story do the 'talking,' I will put in a disclaimer if there is any possibility of confusion about underage characters.

 

[KeithD]

Wasn’t it generally said that high school seniors were considered 18 by the site?

It's been asserted by some, yes. Not validated by the site acquisitions editor, though.

I think indexing it to "college" is enough to take care of the over 18 issue. If it's rejected, I think it's because of some other reference.

 

[KeithD]

I recently read one which had multiple subtle clues as to pre-eighteen sexual activity and it got by.

Although I don't like to put in disclaimers about the age and prefer to let the story do the 'talking,' I will put in a disclaimer if there is any possibility of confusion about underage characters.

Anyone who wants to skate through with putting underage in the reader's mind while satisfying the checker can include such a disclaimer as much as anyone else can. Same with putting it in the notes box, but at least putting it in the notes box rather than in a note in front of the story itself isn't being defensive with the reader. If I find any sort of "maybe someone will be offended" disclaimer note on the front of a story, I'm not going to read the story.

 

[SimonDoom]

It's been asserted by some, yes. Not validated by the site acquisitions editor, though.

I think indexing it to "college" is enough to take care of the over 18 issue. If it's rejected, I think it's because of some other reference.

I agree with this.

Obviously, SOME college students are under 18, and SOME high school seniors are over 18. These aren't hard and fast rules. There's no easy trick to getting into a "safe harbor" from the under 18 rule. If you heed the spirit of the rule you should be OK, and if your story gets initially rejected you should have a good case to make to get it accepted. I think Keith is probably right that problems arise when authors offer too much reminiscence or other narrative about what happened when the characters were under 18.

If your story is about a college student and you don't describe them in a way that makes them look too young, you should be fine even if you don't expressly state that they are 18 or over.

If your story is about a high school senior, I'd recommend expressly stating that they are over 18 and having them act reasonably mature for a high school student. And avoid the "I remember spying on my sister in the shower when I was 15" kind of stuff.

 

[Comshaw]

As noted college doesn't automatically mean 18 years of age. I went to my grandson's high school graduation last night. There were 2 dozen kids who were graduating and will also be graduating community college today with an AA degree. That means for the last two years they have been attending college as well as high school.

If you bump your characters up to second-year college students that should help.

Comshaw

 

[Voboy]

If you bump your characters up to second-year college students that should help.

It isn't necessary. There are numerous ways to deal with this if the OP wants their characters to be college freshmen, or high school seniors. As I said above, I'm not sure that's the sole problem with this submission.

 

[NoviceAspen]

Anyone who wants to skate through with putting underage in the reader's mind while satisfying the checker can include such a disclaimer as much as anyone else can. Same with putting it in the notes box, but at least putting it in the notes box rather than in a note in front of the story itself isn't being defensive with the reader. If I find any sort of "maybe someone will be offended" disclaimer note on the front of a story, I'm not going to read the story.

Right, I have seen many stories where the “18 year old” acted like a total child. I avoid most incest stories as a rule, I have tried stories about “step dads” but a lot of them still wig me out, especially when the “18 year old” is wearing pigtails and calling him daddy and still refers to her vagina as her “special place.” Not for me at all.
My style is more institutional type scenarios - prisons, schools, breeding dungeons, slave markets. Of course it is not for everyone. But I never intended my characters to be perceived as underage. In this particular story they are young and a little naive/sheltered but definitely adults.

 

[Voboy]

Right, I have seen many stories where the “18 year old” acted like a total child. I avoid most incest stories as a rule, I have tried stories about “step dads” but a lot of them still wig me out, especially when the “18 year old” is wearing pigtails and calling him daddy and still refers to her vagina as her “special place.” Not for me at all.

I agree, that's nasty. And Laurel will often crack down on those if the catches them. The appearance of pedophilia matters to her, not simply the age.

I've written lots of school stories, and my usual technique is to make the 18-year-old more of an adult than the 30something-year-olds they usually hook up with. I think that's a more interesting dynamic.

 

[Demiurging]

I agree with this.

Obviously, SOME college students are under 18, and SOME high school seniors are over 18. These aren't hard and fast rules. There's no easy trick to getting into a "safe harbor" from the under 18 rule. If you heed the spirit of the rule you should be OK, and if your story gets initially rejected you should have a good case to make to get it accepted. I think Keith is probably right that problems arise when authors offer too much reminiscence or other narrative about what happened when the characters were under 18.

If your story is about a college student and you don't describe them in a way that makes them look too young, you should be fine even if you don't expressly state that they are 18 or over.

If your story is about a high school senior, I'd recommend expressly stating that they are over 18 and having them act reasonably mature for a high school student. And avoid the "I remember spying on my sister in the shower when I was 15" kind of stuff.

Per "safe harbor"

"I'd just been admitted to the retirement home."

 

[Boobytrap73]

I just had a story bounced back for the first time. It was a "first time" story where I intended all of the the activity (slowly) leading to loss of virginity to take place in college. I edited one reference to masturbation so it couldn't be misinterpreted and put in an "over 18 disclaimer." When I resubmitted it, I described these changes in the editor's notes. It got through immediately.

~BT73

 

[Voboy]

Per "safe harbor"

"I'd just been admitted to the retirement home."

But if you go too far, you'll run afoul of that other Lit rule:

"I'd just shown up in the morgue, when all of a sudden..."

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Wasn’t it generally said that high school seniors were considered 18 by the site?

Nope. One of my first stories starts off clearly stating it happened the FMC's Senior Year and I got a rejection saying you can be a 17 year old Senior in HS.
Which I was, so no excuses on my part.
I added a line about her celebrating her 18th with her friend and it went through fine.

 

[Boobytrap73]

Per "safe harbor"

"I'd just been admitted to the retirement home."

Unless of course, you were admitted to the building as a teenage volunteer.

~BT73