Story Ratings Accepted on Romancefanfiction.net

G General Audience. This signifies that the story rated contains nothing most parents will consider offensive for even their youngest children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and scenes of drug use are absent; violence is minimal; snippets of dialogue may go beyond polite conversation but do not go beyond common everyday expressions.

PG Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. This signifies that the story rated may contain some material parents might not like to expose to their young children - material that will clearly need to be examined or inquired about before children are allowed to read. Explicit sex scenes and scenes of drug use are absent; nudity, if present, is only brief, horror and violence do not exceed moderate levels.

PG13 Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This signifies that the story may be inappropriate for pre-teens. Rough or persistent violence is absent; sexually-oriented nudity is generally absent; some scenes of drug use may be included; one use of the harsher sexually derived words may be used.

PG17 Parental Guidance, some material may be strong for those under 17. May be found mainstream publications. Sexual and violent situations may be present, however in a vague... not in a descriptive manner.

Please adhere to the above when posting stories on romancefanfiction.net

Please note our general Work in Progress section is open to members of all age. It is therefore important that you, as fanfiction writers, understand the nature of what and why ratings are important, as you are responsible for your own work. Posting inappropriate ratings can place you and your work in jeopardy. It is your responsibility to rate your works appropriately. This site will comply with standing policy in this matter.

Most states have laws that prohibit the distribution of sexually-explicit
material to underage people. In California, for instance, it is a crime to
distribute material "to a minor with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or
gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of that person or of a
minor..." Cal. Pen. Code §§ 288.2 b

Both “indecent” material and material “harmful to minors” can be regulated to
some extent by the government. Indecency is defined as language or material
that, "in context, depicts or describes in terms patently offensive as
measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual
or excretory activities or organs." Action For Children's Television v FCC,
11 F.3d 170, 172 (D.C. Cir. 1993)

"Harmful to minors" means any written, visual, or audio matter of any kind
that :
1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would
find, taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient
interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, and
2. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would
find depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with
respect to what is suitable for minors, ultimate sexual acts, normal or
perverted, actual or simulated; sadomasochistic sexual acts or abuse; or lewd
exhibitions of the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or post-pubertal female
breast, and
3. a reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks serious
literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. Ginsberg v
New York, 390 U.S. 629 (1968).

So far, federal statutes enacted to keep “indecent” or “harmful to minors”
material off the Internet have run afoul of the First Amendment.
In 1996 the Communications Decency Act (CDA) attempted to prohibit indecent
content that was accessible to minors. The Supreme Court struck that
provision of the statute down in 1997. In 1998, Congress parried with the
Child Online Protection Act (COPA) directed at commercial websites and
material deemed harmful to minors. COPA is still under enforcement
injunction pending appeal.

Because of the seriousness of this issue, the Administrators and Moderators of this site take ratings seriously. In the event a story is 'borderline' it will be removed from the board at the discretion of the administration. Therefore, as a writer it is your responsibilty to follow your ratings accordingly, as in the long run, it is you who have the ultimate liability.