Does the grandfathering effect continue with new chapters, or is it limited to completed tales and old chapters only? Just wanted to be clear about how to proceed on "Do As You're Told" here.
Does the grandfathering effect continue with new chapters, or is it limited to completed tales and old chapters only? Just wanted to be clear about how to proceed on "Do As You're Told" here.
The reason being that I have a character who has past traumatic experiences that he must avenge at the hands of the nuns who made him endure them. While not technically required for the backstory per se, it helps demonstrate the severity of his past abuse and while he loathes his abusers so much.
It's probably best to start a sequel to the story.
Normally, but you can't include a description of the abuse in a sequel, since it's no longer grandfathered in, which was Col. Jack Harrison's question. However, a better approach is to treat it as a 'confession' (i.e. devoid of any sexual connotations!). Simply have the character admit to a third party, either a concerned lover, a Priest (spit, spit) or a therapist that he "has problems with the church because of what was done to me". When prompted, keep the character's perspective in perspective, namely, he doesn't want to dwell or admit to the abuse, and doesn't see it as sexually appealing in the least!
If you take that approach, you should be safe, but once your done, since you're unsure, I suggest you run it by Lazeez to know for certain before committing to it. That way, you CAN create a sequel, which will garner both stories additional views, rather than updating an older stories few will remember offhand.
It's probably best to start a sequel to the story.
A sequel is a new story and subject to the under-14 rule
My understanding is the ban is on graphic descriptions, so a short bland statement would likely be allowed. But the best test is to run the text past Lazeez via the Webmaster link.
There is a hell of a difference between an explicit description of being tortured and a statement like the character telling someone - "The bitches had a torture chamber right out of the Inquisition, and they tortured us if we did anything they didn't like. I have permanent scars from then."
typo edit
A sequel could advance the story and stay within the rules by using a temporal shift forward until the characters are fourteen or older.
That's a fascinating notion. Granted, the chapters that show the backstory are somewhat included already, though that's from before I knew about the rule change. This still doesn't answer the main question: are new chapters of this older tale affected by the grandfathering provision or not?
This still doesn't answer the main question: are new chapters of this older tale affected by the grandfathering provision or not?
No, new chapters for an existing, grandfathered story aren't. Though as I said above, it's probably better for you to take a proactive approach. Keep in mind, Lazeez has been considering dropping all the older under 14 stories anyway, because he suspects they scare off more readers than they bring in, and are thus a drag on the entire site. So, basically, it's not worth investing that much time on a story which may ultimately be deleted from the site anyway.
There are recognized literary avenue for portraying such scenes, I'd suggest sticking with the accumulated knowledge of the past, rather than the abuses of the past.
Keep in mind, Lazeez has been considering dropping all the older under 14 stories anyway,
Oh. I hadn't heard that. Probably not a great idea to consider a sequel to a story that might end up going away, though by then all of the characters are 15 or older.
This is section seven of the authors agreement. If you started publishing on SoL before September 2011 you can continue the story as it was being written. If this is not clear enough you need to talk to Lazeez.
"Age restrictions: Your work (stories, poems or blog entries) may not contain characters younger than 14 having sex or being in sexual situations (masturbation and nudism are not allowed). In other words, all characters that engage in any sexual activity must be 14 or older. (Stories posted before September 2011 are not subject to this rule, including new chapters to stories that were in-progress when this rule came into effect.)"
(Stories posted before September 2011 are not subject to this rule, including new chapters to stories that were in-progress when this rule came into effect.)
If there was no under-14 sex in the story, I'm not sure you can add it now and say it's a continuation.
You better ask Lazeez.
Oh, well, I've re-submitted the chapter, as I've decided that the age is not in itself essential to the main concept, which was that the nuns abused the boys physically and sexually. They're still underage boys being mistreated, a violation of the fiduciary responsibility of these nuns, which is the key issue. They violated the trust of the church and state alike and their duties as guardians.
Them being fourteen doesn't change this at all.
Once again, it isn't the fact that boys were abused that's forbidden, it's the graphical descriptions of the abuse to stimulate people to wank off to it that is. Since that very notion violates the spirit of what you're writing about, why would you want to include it?
Instead, keep your character a taciturn, stoic boiling pot of water, about to explode but unwilling to allowing the rising steam to escape. It's a better character description than a detailed blow-by-blow of what was done to him anyway.
To clarify a few points:
1. I'm now leaning toward making all of my characters involved in such situations at least fourteen, anyway, so as to simplify this whole matter.
2. The description itself is meant to show not just that the man was abused, but that the nuns were especially hypocritical about sex, that they were every as bit into the very things that they condemned as the boys that they punished. Going into some detail was intended to reflect this hypocrisy, and it will also make the retribution that he plans to exact on them more understandable.
3. This particular story is, I believe, now all of the right ages in terms of sexual situations, and has added special incentive to me in the future to be careful to make it clear that all such characters are above the minimum age.
Is a person 14 years old on their 14th birthday, or does it have to be at the time they were born that day before they are 14?. Very few are born at 12:01 am. I suspect on average they were born about noon with half before noon and half after and a few outliers exactly at noon. So having sex on their birthday may not make them at least 14 years old, unless they wait until almost midnight.
Is a person 14 years old on their 14th birthday, or does it have to be at the time they were born that day before they are 14?. Very few are born at 12:01 am. I suspect on average they were born about noon with half before noon and half after and a few outliers exactly at noon. So having sex on their birthday may not make them at least 14 years old, unless they wait until almost midnight.
All the jurisdictions of which I'm aware, take the first second past midnight as being of age (that is, if you were born at 23:59:59, you get to be 'of age' at 00:00:01 that day).
For some reason, I'm more familiar with the law about Social Security benefits in the U.S. than I am about the precise time someone turns 14. If your birth date is, say, Juvember 19th, 2001, according to Social Security you turn 65 on Juvember 18th, 2066 - the day BEFORE the anniversary of your birthday.
For some reason, I'm more familiar with the law about Social Security benefits in the U.S. than I am about the precise time someone turns 14. If your birth date is, say, Juvember 19th, 2001, according to Social Security you turn 65 on Juvember 18th, 2066 - the day BEFORE the anniversary of your birthday
I was thinking more of driving licenses, marriage licenses, joining the military, drinking age, etc.