Codes

[Nerys Dax]

I've noticed lots of topics with writers asking for certain codes to describe what they have their characters do in their fic.

Here's an idea: How about limiting the amount of codes instead of adding more of them?

I'm just tossing this bunny out there. I was under the impression this was an adult site, and though I understand that there might be contents offensive to some and they'd like to avoid fics with said contents, the huge list of codes we have already is mind-boggling. It's beginning to feel like the more codes, the merrier everyone is - like it's somehow adding value to a fic.

Abortion,Abortion - medical termination of a pregnancy

Abuse,Abuse - Abuse of any character, such as child abuse

Anal,Anal - Anal sex

Angst,Angst - Torment, anguish

Anthro,Anthro - Anthropomorphic/Furries/Furry/Plushy/Plushophiles

AU/AR,AU/AR - Alternate Universe / Alternate Reality

BDSM,BDSM - Bondage/Discipline/Sado-Masochism

Beast,Beast - Bestiality

Bi,Bi - Bisexuality

Bigotry,Bigotry - Bigotry

B-Mod,B-Mod - Body modification - piercing, tattooing, scarification, etc.

Bond,Bond - Bondage

BP,BP - Blood Play (Non-Vamp)

CBT,CBT - Cock/Ball Torture

ChallengeFic,ChallengeFic - Story written in response to a challenge

COMPLETE,COMPLETE - Story is now 100% completed

Contro, Contro - Controversial content even for adults.

CR,CR - corruption

Crossover,Crossover - Crossover story between different fandoms

CS,CS - "Crime Scene"

Death,Death - Character Death

D/A,D/A - Drugs/Alcohol

D/s,D/s - Dominance/submission

Dom,Dom - Male or Female Domination

DP,DP - Double Penetration

Exhib,Exhib - Exhibitionism

F/F,F/F - Female/Female sexual relationship (FemmeSlash)

F/M/M,F/M/M - Threesome (two men and one woman)

Fet,Fet - Fetish

Fingering,Fingering - manual manipulation of the clitoris, vagina, vulva or anus

Fist,Fist - Fisting

F/D,F/D - Futanari/Dickgirls

GB, GB - Gender Bender (a character whose sex is changed for the story)

H/C,H/C - Hurt/Comfort

HJ,HJ - Hand Job (manual stimulation of one partner's penis)

Herm,Herm - Hermaphrodite

Humil,Humil - Humiliation

Inc,Inc - Incest

Language,Language - Foul language (cussing)

loli,loli - Lolita, loli, lolicon

M/F,M/F - Heterosexual sexual relationship (Het)

M/F/F,M/F/F - Threesome (two women and one man)

M/M,M/M - Homosexual sexual relationship (Slash)

MBP, MBP - menstrual blood play

MC,MC - Mind Control

M/s,M/s - Master/slave relationship

MCD,MCD - Main Character Death

MiCD,MiCD - Minor Character Death

Minor1,Minor1 - Minor involved (Pedophilia)

Minor2,Minor2 - Minor involved (Under legal age for sex)

Moresome,Moresome - Many people (more than 3) engaged in one sexual act together

MPreg,MPreg - Male Pregnancy

NonCon,NonCon - Non-Consensual, forced sex or rape

Nec,Nec - Necrophilia (Non-Vamp)

Non-Fic,Non-fic - Non Fiction

NoSex,NoSex - No Sexual Content

OC,OC - Original Character

Oneshot,Oneshot - Oneshot story

Oral,Oral - Oral sex

Other,Other - Other (any warning not covered in this list)

Parody,Parody - Parody (Note ALL parodies must be approved by original author)

Peg,Peg - A woman giving a man anal sex using a strap-on dildo

Preg,Preg - Pregnancy

PWP,PWP - Porn without Plot/Point

Racist,Racist - Racism

RapeFic,RapeFic - where one of the characters is sexually assaulted

Rim,Rim - Rimming (To perform anilingus on)

Rom,Rom - Romance

S&M,S&M - Sadism/Masochism

Scat,Scat - Poop Play

SH,SH - Sexual Harassment

Shouta,Shouta - describes an attraction to young boys, or an individual with such an attraction - Anime Specific Code

SI,SI - Self-Insertion (Mary Sue, etc.)

Slave,Slave - Slavery

SoloF,SoloF - Female Masturbation

SoloM,SoloM - Male Masturbation

Spank,Spank - Spanking

Tent,Tent - Tentacles

TF,TF - Transformation (biological, physical, etc)

Tort,Tort - Torture

Toys,Toys - Sexual toys (vibrators, dildos, etc)

Trans,Trans - Transgender, Transsexual or Transvestite (cross-dresser)

UST,UST - Unresolved Sexual Tension

Violence,Violence - Story contains violence/blood/gore/etc.

Voy,Voy - Voyeurism

VS,VS - Vampire Sex

WAFF,WAFF - Warm and Fuzzy Feeling - Anime Specific Code

WD,WD - Wet Dream or ejaculation while asleep

WIP,WIP - Work In Progress

WS,WS - Water-sports, urine play

Xeno,Xeno - Xenophilia (Sex with Aliens)

Yaoi,Yaoi - Male/Male sexual relationship - Anime Specific Code

Yuri,Yuri - Female/Female sexual relationship - Anime Specific Code

Just look at all this and tell me seriously you don't think this is getting insane.

A few examples:

The other day I saw a fic and stared at the code Rom, and for the life of me, I had no idea what the hell it could possibly be and my mind kept searching in the direction of all kinds of delicious kinks. *snnnrks* Do we all need to be warned against Romance? I thought that was a genre, not so much an adult code. And eh, where are the other genres then: Mys (Mystery), SupNat (supernatural), Scifi (science fiction), Drama, etc. - er... please don't add these, pretty please. *begs on knees*

Same goes for MiCD (milks cows daily?) and MCD. Without the explaining list, some codes can be puzzling.

VS - So if I read a fic with vampires in it on this site, I should be warned they might have sex?

We have D/s, Dom, M/s, BDSM, Bond, Slave, S&M, spank. So while we're at it: why not Flog, Whip, F/m (to show fem dom), M/f (male dom), F/f or M/m (for dom of same sex partners), F/m/f (moresome dom) etc? Can't we assume that BDSM could be used as a single overall term? I know it's simplifying reality a bit, but I think it will be adequate in warning readers who don't want to see any of the above activities in their fics.

Contro - Really? How am I to read that code? It tells me nothing about the story contents. After all, one person's controversial is another person's bed-and-breakfast.

Minor1,Minor1 - Minor involved (Pedophilia); Minor2,Minor2 - Minor involved (Under legal age for sex) - Someone kill me now. Can I look forward to': Minor3 (minor involved but of legal age for sex), Minor4 (two minors together under legal age for sex), Minor5 (two minors together of legal age for sex), Minor6 (minor involved of legal age for sex but huge age difference between partners) etc.

RapeFic and N/C ??? Isn't N/C enough? Why use the term RapeFic, too? It implies N/C isn't rape, like it's less bad, like telling the victim: eh, stop whining, at least you were only fucked against your wishes. Oh yeah, that's rape.

"Inc" - so we're moving up the corporate ladder now? jk

Preg - I understand a warning for MPreg (since that hardly ever gets written well and is still not a reality in real life, yet) but why one for "normal" pregnancy? Are babies that offensive? I know abortion is a heated subject, but I didn't know pregnancy was. And if we go into protecting people's feelings, how about miscarriage? Another warning we need to add? Why don't we just tell the author of a fic to show us the ending before we start reading so we're not unpleasantly surprised and will never ever read anything new or anything that takes us out of our comfort zone.

Sorry about the rant, but at times, these codes get on my nerves and I had to get some of it off my chest. And yes, I also was wondering if I was alone in finding all these codes over the top and spoiling, too.

BTW: I've yet to see an author who writes Mary Sues actually use the code SI themselves. I think the reviewers are more inclined to yell it. But I'd love to have that warning on every site - like when a story gets posted and a bot detects one and makes an automatic red light flash next to the story: RUN, BEWARE, SUE ALERT!!!

Edited February 26, 2011 by Nerys Dax

[TheLadyMiya]

I have to say I completely agree with you.

Also, just because you start posting a story on AFF, that doesn't mean you have a full story yet. And it's impossible to say exactly what will happen when you haven't written it yet. Maybe I didn't plan to start a spanking-scene for example, but the plot happened to land there in the last chapter. How can I put up warnings for something I don't know yet whether it will exist in the story or not? I think it would be better with a few general warnings, like BDSM for everything that can be connected to somewhere down that line. And maybe just "Rough" for everything that can be considered rough sex.

And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't "CS,CS - "Crime Scene"" and "MBP, MBP - menstrual blood play" the same thing?

[JayDee]

Nerys Dax - I completely agree with the sentiment, you ain't alone, and found the way you expressed it pretty funny

Mods/Admins/Staff - It really has gotten very silly. Please at least consider removing all the duplication.

[DemonGoddess]

I'll work on editing the thing later. I'm a wee bit busy at the moment.

There are MANY MANY old codes in there, which are more properly addressed as genre tags, and added according to category now, whereas years ago, this wasn't the way the archive was set up. Some are pair type tags, which also need to go.

CS and MBP are definitely NOT the same thing. Menstrual blood play is not a crime scene thing..

Contro was added BECAUSE of many of the stories content in originals. By seeing via the tag the story content is something that will easily cause controversy, if that's not your thing, you stay away. Most often, this is used in stories which really, really squick readers, as an additional strong warning from the writer.

When I added RapeFic, I forgot to remove N/C. That's entirely my fault there. The reason to CHANGE it to RapeFic from N/C is that for some reason, people would see N/C and not realize that it meant a non consensual act. Then they'd turn around and FLAME the authors, for having it in the story without warning them, even though they did with the proper tag.

[Nerys Dax]

When I added RapeFic, I forgot to remove N/C. That's entirely my fault there. The reason to CHANGE it to RapeFic from N/C is that for some reason, people would see N/C and not realize that it meant a non consensual act. Then they'd turn around and FLAME the authors, for having it in the story without warning them, even though they did with the proper tag.

Hmmm... just a moment of serious response from me then with respects to this one: Why not just use Rape instead of RapeFic? For one, it's actually shorter, and two, RapeFic gives me the impression the rape is the story's only contents or at least the main theme when it can be one scene in a lengthy multi-chaptered story.

Oh dear... I just realised this could turn into two codes again. *hides*

[DemonGoddess]

Because, for whatever reason, if it doesn't say "fic" at the end, we have people who actually don't get it. I'd rather go with the shorter term myself, but there you are.

[ApolloImperium]

To contribute my two cents, I understand it seems like a lot, but used correctly it's honestly a great way for us to cover our asses.

My other point would be in regards to BDSM - Yes, cutting it down to just BDSM would be way over simplifying it. BDSM is a huge umbrella and by having the break downs it allows people to select what they would like. I might enjoy D/s which can or cannot involve the physical pain aspect of S&M, while not all D/s is a true M/s. It may seem like overkill, but they are separate fetishes that need the recognition.

[Nerys Dax]

Because, for whatever reason, if it doesn't say "fic" at the end, we have people who actually don't get it. I'd rather go with the shorter term myself, but there you are.

*snnnrks*

Oh gosh.

*muffled laughter behind hand*

[Nerys Dax]

To contribute my two cents, I understand it seems like a lot, but used correctly it's honestly a great way for us to cover our asses.

Le sigh. I should've known there was a legal reason for it.

Long live freedom of speech.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Nerys Dax

[ApolloImperium]

Le sigh. I should've known there was a legal reason for it.

Long live freedom of speech.

You should see the number of times we get emails from people going "OMG! I can't believe you have this! It's sick! And NASTY!" and the response is easy - It's coded, you still clicked. Not our problem... And then they threaten to get us shut down... And yet here we are almost 10 years later! The legal stuff sucks but it keeps me outta orange!

[DemonGoddess]

I've already deleted all the stuff that has categories, as the tags are certainly redundant. Combined SoloF/SoloM. And, I'm waiting for Apollo to tell me what else I can safely remove, yet still allowing us the CYA aspect before I upload the revised tags list.

[ApolloImperium]

*teases* Crap - you want me to do stuff? Hehe, I'll take a look after I have the curry simmering and we should be able to complete this tonight or tomorrow.... Nice short break from everything else...

[TheLadyMiya]

Okay... what is "Crime Scene" then? Is it literally a warning about crime scene?

[DemonGoddess]

Apparently. Like I said, many, many of these codes are very old. Needless to say, once I confirm anything that isn't category related and stuff like that with Apollo, I should be uploading the revised list tomorrowish. I've already deleted 15 or so, just based on what they were, and knowing they're no longer needed.

[JayDee]

Thanks for taking the time to look into it along with everything else you got to do!

The slimmed down list ought to be a lot more useful tool.

[DemonGoddess]

I hope so. If it weren't for the CYA aspect for legalities for a bunch of 'em, I'm sure I could've pared it down much more than I was able to. But....no can do.

[Nerys Dax]

Yes, I want to thank the both of you, too. I wasn't actually expecting anything to happen to the list when I posted this. I was merely venting, because at times, all this shit just gets on my nerves, and the legal idiocy you're describing or the crazy emails you have to suffer through, that just makes me even more irritated.

*hands you all a big chocolate cake*

And I know what you're talking about because my sister runs a site with (among others) adult contents/BDSM stories, too. However, since she's subjected to Dutch law and the stories are in Dutch, she doesn't have to dance through all the hoops you have. And her site is a lot smaller and gets less traffic, so the amount of complaints are lower. But still, some of the emails she gets about some of the stories that are posted are just plain rude, stupid and utterly hilarious at the same time. People can get so extreme over something so little, it's sad if you really think about it. Live and let live, I'd say. *shrugs*

Anyway, again, thanks for taking the time to look at it.

And to the morons sending you crazy emails:

XD

[ApolloImperium]

Well, it was on the list of things to do, this just jump started it LOL! Glad to have pleased someone!

[RogueMudblood]

May I make a request/suggestion?

There seem to be a great deal of authors who do not understand BDSM. As you (Apollo) had to define elements of it for me, I now am noticing that it is used on fics which are, in actuality, rape. Though some of them are marked N/C also, it appears that there may be a great deal of confusion as to what BDSM actually is (and since I don't like reading Rapefics, and all I'm seeing of BDSM lately is rape, not a consenting relationship, I hope this explains why I run for the hills when I see that tag in fandoms where I read for pleasure.)

Is there a way to address this on the new list?

I hate to say add definitions, because, well, it shouldn't be necessary. Maybe, just as Yaoi and Yuri are (were?) noted as anime-specific, there could be something of "Note: this is a consensual relationship. The ability to say "NO" is present." And I know that even that short-changes the BDSM community.

I'm equally aware that the addition of a definition doesn't stop people from using it in their tags - seeing "Yaoi" tagged on an HP fic always makes me cringe.

Just a thought, since it seems to be a recurring phenomenon where I'm currently sorting.