What if we have a character that would still be a minor in human years, but would be an adult in their years? Would that still be considered using a minor in the story?
I was thinking more along the line of dog years. One human year=7 dog years, so a dog is legal age at three years old. I wanted to do something along those lines for my character.
Um, okay. Hey, Razor, I realize you might be upset that no one responded to one of your queries but it's not our fault we don't have answers.
But I do have an answer for Xtra. Sort of. Are you talking about a dog-human hybrid-like character? It really doesn't matter what you do with fanciful characters. Does the character look and behave more or less like an adult? Then you should be fine. Why even mention the exact age?
I quite agree with amalgam. The point of the rule about no under 18s is to avoid stories about sex wiht minors, but it becomes tricky when stories are written about sci-fi and fantasy creatures.
I guess there are two fundamental points that need to be taken into account when deciding whether a character is permitted. The person must a) be mature, and b) not have the body of a child. For example, an adult in a six year old's body would not be permitted, as the character's physical proportions would be wrong. Similarly, a child in an adult's body (a la Big) would also be unacceptable, since the person would not be mature enough to legally consent to sex.
When it comes to animal/human hybrids (which I think you are talking about), you also have to factor in the bestiality rule. The character would have to be basically human, i.e. walk on two legs, speak, have self awareness. If, on the other hand, you are making a character that is simply a dog, then you're going to have to rethink your story
I think the age issue is more one of being able to give consent as a mature adult. Obviously there is no magic about being 18, it is just assumed by the time a person reaches that age they are able to act and think as an adult. Everyone knows people who will always be children and other people who were adults by the time they were in their early teens.
If the alien culture considered a five year old a mature adult than that character is an adult. I am not sure why that would be an important fact to the story, and if it was used to create a character that looked like a human child engaging in sexual acts than I think it would be wrong. An alien would be alien, and look different and react differently than a human would.
I guess I would have to see a sample of what you were intending to do to make a final judgement.
It's based on Neopets, for one. One of the females mentioned in the original story, that it was mating season for neopets. And I mentioned facts about neopets mating season (made up by me).
Here's the paragraph: Every neopet, over 1 year old, could mate at this time. Females release a scent, and attract every male in the vicinity. The season only lasted a week, but it wasn't a pleasent week, unless you decided to mate. And if you're a female who doesn't want to mate, you may not want to leave the house.
I was planning to modify the story into a "choose your path" story on CHYOO