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.

[missyjack]

see there's an interesting cultural difference here. In Australia language ratings are much more relaxed. On network TV here, you'll hear fuck and shit, and we once had a season of Gordon Ramsey saying cunt on a show that aired at 9pm. So i would never think of rating a fic higher on language.

[gigglingkat]

Also - I think I do like tagging better.

How does this apply to fanart - vids and drawings? I've been caught off guard by those as well.

PS. Dammit - people are talking on my LJ and I'm at work!

[sophie_448]

That must be nice! There is such an astonishing difference between what is not even blinked at when people say it in real life and what is allowed on TV in the US. It feels so contrived sometimes. Especially when you get a character like Dean who you KNOW uses stronger language than "freaking" and "bullcrap." The only reason I do my ratings that way is I think it gives people a better idea of what to expect from my story (although really only in the US). I rely much more heavily on my warnings and notes because, I agree, tagging is much more useful. "graphic m/m sex," "underage (17)," or "light bondage" are MUCH more helpful in letting someone know what they can expect.

Re: summaries - it could be SO MUCH WORSE than SPN fandom on that count. I'm involved in some other fandoms where people frequently don't even include a summary at all. Sometimes I even have to use my deductive skills to figure out the pairing. So unhelpful!

[gigglingkat]

The problem being that we are not publishing through the MPAA, not making a movie and not even in the US - the internet is a diverse and global audience.

Like I told missyjack - the moment I posted I realized that if I were REALLY in charge what I would impose on fandom is a tagging system rather than a "rating" - this fic contains blah blah blah - cause she's right - what we need are good summaries.

[sophie_448]

I agree. And if you've seen This Film is Not Yet Rated you know to be very, very scared of the MPAA anyway. Honestly I expect people to pay more attention to my warnings in terms of avoiding any potentially disturbing content.