Code of Conduct ?

[zephyer]

Does Literotica have a code or standard of conduct ? Basically what can and cannot be put in a story ?
At one time I submitted a story on having sex at 17 and it was rejected on the grounds of all persons had to be 18 or above.
Now I want to submit a story where a rapist is brought to some very harsh justice. Is that allowed?

 

[StillStunned]

There are content guidelines in the FAQ section.

 

[SimonDoom]

Now I want to submit a story where a rapist is brought to some very harsh justice. Is that allowed?

Literotica's rules about nonconsensual sex are a bit subtle. Yes, it's OK to have a rapist in your story brought to justice. But:

1. You can't present the rape itself in an erotic way. Literotica doesn't want to support stories that eroticize "real" nonconsensual encounters, i.e., where the reader gets off to the brutal and nonconsensual element of it.
2. If rape is simply a background part of the story and not presented in a detailed, erotic way, then you shouldn't have a problem.
3. It IS OK to present a nonconsensual sexual encounter IF the victim enjoys the encounter.

 

[StillStunned]

Literotica's rules about nonconsensual sex are a bit subtle. Yes, it's OK to have a rapist in your story brought to justice. But:

1. You can't present the rape itself in an erotic way. Literotica doesn't want to support stories that eroticize "real" nonconsensual encounters, i.e., where the reader gets off to the brutal and nonconsensual element of it.
2. If rape is simply a background part of the story and not presented in a detailed, erotic way, then you shouldn't have a problem.
3. It IS OK to present a nonconsensual sexual encounter IF the victim enjoys the encounter.

To add to this: harsh justice is also allowed, as long as it is not eroticised. So no snuff - yes, the rapist may be killed, but the death may not be part of the killer's (or the reader's) erotic experience.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

To follow up on what Simon said, your safest course of action would likely be "show the wound, not the knife".
Start in the aftermath of the rape and move forward from there. If you start with a character beaten and bloody, we don't need the details.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The context of the scene carries more weight than the content.

As others have mentioned, content that on the surface might appear to violate the rules can be acceptable if presented in the correct context. In addition to the examples provided by Simon, you can have a character mention that they lost their virginity while underage and in high school, but you can't describe the defloration itself.

To this point, it is sometimes valuable to not break a story with any questionable content into separate parts for submission. Doing so could hide the context for the content from the admin of the site and result in a rejection that wouldn't have occurred if she had been offered the opportunity to grasp the overall context more fully.

 

[Actingup]

And here’s me thinking this would be a thread about how authors should behave. FWIW, on that issue, I’d like:

1.Thou shalt not make rude jokes about Australians
2. Thou shalt not submit fraudulent votes. Except for 1 (one) five-star vote on your just-published story that you’re very proud of.

 

[onehitwanda]

Thou shalt not make rude jokes about Australians

Hey, Shiela! Bruce is in the wombat juice again!

 

[PennyThompson]

And here’s me thinking this would be a thread about how authors should behave. FWIW, on that issue, I’d like:

1.Thou shalt not make rude jokes about Australians
2. Thou shalt not submit fraudulent votes. Except for 1 (one) five-star vote on your just-published story that you’re very proud of.

1(a). Thou shalt not insinuate that extremely real Australian place names are silly, unserious, or made up.

 

[old_prof]

And here’s me thinking this would be a thread about how authors should behave. FWIW, on that issue, I’d like:

1.Thou shalt not make rude jokes about Australians
2. Thou shalt not submit fraudulent votes. Except for 1 (one) five-star vote on your just-published story that you’re very proud of.

Are there any other kinds of jokes about Australians?

 

[StillStunned]

1.Thou shalt not make rude jokes about Australians

Nothing rude I say about Australians is a joke.

 

[Actingup]

Hey, Shiela! Bruce is in the wombat juice again!

That’s Sheila to you.

 

[Actingup]

1(a). Thou shalt not insinuate that extremely real Australian place names are silly, unserious, or made up.

After I take you for a crocodile burger in Humpty Doo, we’ll head up the track for an ice cream in Fannie Bay.

 

[EmilyMiller]

After I take you for a crocodile burger in Humpty Doo, we’ll head up the track for an ice cream in Fannie Bay.

Get a billabong you two!

 

[PennyThompson]

Get a billabong you two!

Ohh no I'm not falling for that one again!

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I'll distract them so we can get this thread back on track.

 

[Actingup]

I'll distract them so we can get this thread back on track.

Fair enough. We can probably move some of this to the Literotica Corporate Vision and Values thread.

 

[Actingup]

Does Literotica have a code or standard of conduct ? Basically what can and cannot be put in a story ?
At one time I submitted a story on having sex at 17 and it was rejected on the grounds of all persons had to be 18 or above.
Now I want to submit a story where a rapist is brought to some very harsh justice. Is that allowed?

To add to the good advice that you've received (and with apologies for sending the thread off-track earlier), you should also consider the expectations of the audience for your chosen category, and also allow for variations of response for strong scenes. A frequently cited example is that many Loving Wives readers have a vigorously expressed sense of justice in regard to infidelity, and harsh justice is often expected. But they won't all be cheering the same way. So, if somebody raped your loving wife, there might be a small number who would consider that to be her fault (...), but many/most would be wanting to see the rapist separated into component atoms before being brought to trial. I wouldn't suggest LW for your scenario, but make sure you choose your category carefully and look at other example stories and the comments that they received.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

To add to the good advice that you've received (and with apologies for sending the thread off-track earlier), you should also consider the expectations of the audience for your chosen category, and also allow for variations of response for strong scenes. A frequently cited example is that many Loving Wives readers have a vigorously expressed sense of justice in regard to infidelity, and harsh justice is often expected. But they won't all be cheering the same way. So, if somebody raped your loving wife, there might be a small number who would consider that to be her fault (...), but many/most would be wanting to see the rapist separated into component atoms before being brought to trial. I wouldn't suggest LW for your scenario, but make sure you choose your category carefully and look at other example stories and the comments that they received.

Is that really an LW story? Seems like the category would depend on who is doing the avenging, among other things.
I'm also reluctant to encourage anyone to put anything in LW unless that's really the only place it will fit.

 

[Actingup]

Is that really an LW story? Seems like the category would depend on who is doing the avenging, among other things.
I'm also reluctant to encourage anyone to put anything in LW unless that's really the only place it will fit.

No, I don't think it is - I'm using that as an example of an opinionated readership that adds an extra layer of consideration as to what is acceptable. There are Lit rules, and then there are category expectations.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

No, I don't think it is - I'm using that as an example of an opinionated readership that adds an extra layer of consideration as to what is acceptable. There are Lit rules, and then there are category expectations.

Gotcha, I misunderstood where you were going with that.

 

[StillStunned]

To add to the good advice that you've received (and with apologies for sending the thread off-track earlier), you should also consider the expectations of the audience for your chosen category, and also allow for variations of response for strong scenes.

There seems to be quite a bit of leeway in SF&F. Probably because those genres traditionally revolve around conflict, nobody objects to a bit of torture or bloodshed. This allows you to experiment with some scenes that might cause problems in other categories.

 

[cw5523729]

3. It IS OK to present a nonconsensual sexual encounter IF the victim enjoys the encounter.

You know, I've always had a problem with the phrasing in that line. "Sexual assault is a-ok just so long as she enjoys it."

To my ear, that comes across as way worse than just allowing NC and not passing judgement on it.

 

[SimonDoom]

You know, I've always had a problem with the phrasing in that line. "Sexual assault is a-ok just so long as she enjoys it."

To my ear, that comes across as way worse than just allowing NC and not passing judgement on it.

It's weird, but I think it makes sense.

If you are concerned about erotica potentially being a bad influence on people out there in the real world, OR if you just don't want your site to attract a certain reading element, then it makes sense to eliminate stories that feature pedophilia, snuff, torture porn, and eroticized violent rape. This site features fantasy nonconsent -- stories that involve mind control through magic, or blackmail, enslavement. mostly contrived and unrealistic scenarios. These are all things that, if done in the real world, would be criminal. But it seems highly unlikely that anyone reading stories like these would be influenced to do anything bad in response to them. The stories are harmless even if the content, transposed to the real world, wouldn't be. So I think it's good rule. The site isn't going to get rid of nonconsent stories altogether because they are hugely popular and there's a huge readership to serve. It carves out the worst of them.

 

[cw5523729]

It's weird, but I think it makes sense.

If you are concerned about erotica potentially being a bad influence on people out there in the real world, OR if you just don't want your site to attract a certain reading element, then it makes sense to eliminate stories that feature pedophilia, snuff, torture porn, and eroticized violent rape. This site features fantasy nonconsent -- stories that involve mind control through magic, or blackmail, enslavement. mostly contrived and unrealistic scenarios. These are all things that, if done in the real world, would be criminal. But it seems highly unlikely that anyone reading stories like these would be influenced to do anything bad in response to them. The stories are harmless even if the content, transposed to the real world, wouldn't be. So I think it's good rule. The site isn't going to get rid of nonconsent stories altogether because they are hugely popular and there's a huge readership to serve. It carves out the worst of them.

I get the idea behind it and I'm not saying that I think the rule encourages rape, of course. Just that I feel it could be worded differently. I'm not entirely certain HOW I feel it should be worded. I just comes across to me as "there can't be any rape, unless the character dressed slutty in which case she was asking for it." Specifically saying "unless they get enjoyment from it" just comes across as icky.