Fanfic Ratings

[gigglingkat]

So a few years ago there was a kerfluffle about rating your fic.

On one hand - if you don't rate your fic the reader can be in for some nasty surprises.  But it is such a subjective thing.

Most of fandom was (and in Supernatural Fandom at least, still is) using the self imposed MPAA ripoff.  (G, PG, PG13, R, NC17).  Most of the larger internet sites

Comments

[missyjack]

I only use ratings when comms require them. They are pretty nonsensical in fandom anyway, where you can have PG-13 incest! I would imagine very few readers pick a story based on rating altho I suppose if you are looking for explicit porn you'll avoid the lower ratings. Then again I also hate having to class stories as Gen or by pairing, but given this is how many people like to pic their fic it seems unavoidable
.
Personally i would just like to see all stories have a good summary, which should be enough to indicate whether I am about to read about Jared and Jensen making cupcakes, or evil!Sam fucking and torturing Castiel.

[gigglingkat]

Yes but what if evil!Sam is fucking and torturing Castiel WITH a cupcake? :0

I do know what you mean. Cause almost immediately I realzed what I actaully want is a universal tagging system. This fic contains: rainbows and unicorns, things to make you delete your browser history,

Fandom is better served by delicious than the MPAA.

[missyjack]

...and above all warnings for bad writing!

[sophie_448]

That's interesting, because while I've certainly seen PG-13 incest fics, I would never rate my own as less than R specifically for incest content, no matter how fluffy. I try to be as consistent as I can to what the MPAA would actually rate my content if it were a movie, and they're fairly puritanical. For instance, more than one or two instances of "fuck" will bump me up from PG-13 to R regardless of other content.

[astrothsknot]

I'd just start using the BBFC ratings, U = suitable for everyone, PG = suitable for everyone,but the themes/images are more mature and could disturb some kids, 12 = suitable for 12 and over, 15 = suitable for 15 and over, and 18 = suitable for adults. They're pretty clear and the BBFC has better things to do than sue websites. They've got porn and video games to classify.

[tsukinofaerii]

I've been running my own tagging system for a while now, with an MPAA rider for places where it's required. Content is so hard to judge in fiction. Horrific violence on the screen has a much bigger impact than in text, and I don't agree with rating them the same way. To me, the over-arching theme and complexity matters much more than one bit of profanity or a mention of boobies.

SNUG (Story Narrative Uutterly Gentle): This story may contain very slight, possibly easily missed dark/disturbing themes, violence, sexuality or "profane" language as defined by the author's regional standards. The purpose of the story is not intended to be violent, dark, sexual or profane. This story is not complex morally or narratively.

SNIP (Story Narrative Includes Profanity): This story may contain dark/disturbing themes, violence, sexuality or extreme "profane" language as defined by the author's regional standards. The purpose of the story is not intended to be violent, dark, sexual or profane. This story may be complex morally or narratively

[sinnerforhire]

I don't like the MPAA rating system because of the explicit language issue. E.g., I have a gen SPN fic that sounds like a Tarantino movie in the first scene, but after that is a fairly standard h/c fic. Going by MPAA standards, I'd have to rate it at least R and probably NC-17 for the language alone, but there's no violence or sex, which is to me what those ratings imply. Personally, I kind of like the American TV ratings, which include the letter codes for language, violence, sexual imagery, and suggestive dialogue. There are stories I would rate PG for content but slap a language warning label on