I was curious if this site updates codes based on legal standards.
What I mean is if a state(s) deem sex with a drunk/drugged person to be rape would that change the codes definition here?
California penal code
261
Sec A
Sub 3 defines rape as sex with a person too intoxicated to walk by themselves or slurred speaking while using drugs or alcohol. Violence not required.
1. SOL is in Canada. The California criminal code is entirely irrelevant.
2. No. The consent codes are more detailed. "Rape" is reserved for violent rape. There are separate codes for Blackmail, Coercion, Drugged. All of which would be considered rape under the laws of most US states and probably under Canadian law. There are also codes for things that aren't covered by the law, because they aren't possible in the real world; magical compulsion, mind control...
However, there is zero reason for legal definitions to drive the code definitions on SOL, especially if we want more granularity in the codes than are provided by criminal offenses.
An appropriate code for "Rape in some jurisdictions" would be along the lines of "Don't try this at home!".
If Lazeez really wanted to implement this fully he would have to pick up the reader's location and check that against a database of legal definitions. No.
If Lazeez really wanted to implement this fully he would have to pick up the reader's location and check that against a database of legal definitions. No.
Not just no, Hell No!.
The tags don't work like that. They are selected manually by the author. The best Lazeez could do would be a fixed definition based on the law of the jurisdiction where the SOL servers are located.
There are a lot of tags that get misused by authors. High Fantasy is one. It's meant to and defined in such a was as to match the Dead Tree fiction High Fantasy genre, which is for stories like The Lord of the Rings.
Way to many authors have used it as a generic "sexual fantasy" indicator. No, Bad Author, stop doing that!
I know how tags work - it's not rocket science - but that particular one would have to be dynamic.
True Story is another tag which often seems misallocated.
I know how tags work
That wasn't directed at you specifically.
it's not rocket science
Given how many authors and readers get it wrong, it might as well be. :)
I know how tags work - it's not rocket science
It wouldn't be if people read the definitions. But everyone has their own preconceived definitions.
I've had readers scold me for not including the "rape" code when there's legally rape in the story. I simply tell them that, according to SOL's definition of "rape," my story doesn't have rape. I list story codes like "non-consent," and/or "coercion," and/or "mind control," and/or "blackmail," etc. I even point out that consensual sex between an adult and a minor is legally rape.
But people use their own definitions, so it's a losing argument.
It's even more gray coding the amount of sex. What I call "some sex" others might call "much sex" and vice versa. Unlike story code definitions, the ones for amount of sex aren't as definitive.
It's even more gray coding the amount of sex. What I call "some sex" others might call "much sex" and vice versa. Unlike story code definitions, the ones for amount of sex aren't as definitive.
Very true. The amount of sex is one of the check points for me to decide if I start reading a story or not. I prefer the no sex/minimal sex stories but as I have discovered over the years the some sex stories often also qualify. Even the much sex stories are sometimes mis represented with that tag. That is often with longer stories that start of with much sex and gradually have less and less sex. I started checking out later chapters in a long much sex story to see if that is still true. If it is I skip it.
The largest gray area seems to be between minimal and some sex and between some and much sex.
Personally I interpret it like this:
Stroke story: all about sex, almost continually
Much Sex: Every chapter has at least one (graphic) sex scene
Some sex: Incidental graphic sex scenes but not every chapter and not necessarily graphic.
Minimal Sex: No graphic sex scenes at all and only incidental occurrences.
No Sex: No sex scenes
Much Sex: Every chapter has at least one (graphic) sex scene
Some sex: Incidental graphic sex scenes but not every chapter and not necessarily graphic.
Suppose a 20+ chapter story, every third or fourth chapter doesn't have a sex scene. Is that some sex or much sex?
Does the length of the chapters matter? A 27 kiloword chapter with one graphic but short (4 or 5 paragraphs) sex scene, some or much sex?
How do you judge sex content in a story that's not broken into chapters?
Me I do it by rough percentages. I do this more by feel than actual quantified percentages:
Stroke: 80% or more sex.
Much Sex: 40%-79% sex
Some sex: 10%-39% sex
Minimal sex: under 10% sex (can be graphic).
No sex: sex (if any at all) is incidental and off stage.
For me, if the sex isn't graphic, it's not a sex scene.
Me I do it by rough percentages. I do this more by feel than actual quantified percentages:
I agree that a rough percentage would be a more accurate calculation but that would force every author to keep track of the percentage while writing or work through it after completion. Not going to happen. And doesn't work for the vast history of stories on SOL.
I don't consider 39% still in the some sex category. More like under 25%.
For me, if the sex isn't graphic, it's not a sex scene.
I can agree with that but unfortunately it's the same as with the category: where do you draw the line between what is considered graphic and what not. It's all about personal perception and opinion so trying to quantify it is an impossible exercise.
I agree that a rough percentage would be a more accurate calculation but that would force every author to keep track of the percentage while writing or work through it after completion.
It's not a matter of being more accurate. It's more flexible. Your original one sex scene per chapter driven conception doesn't work at all for long chapters or stories without chapters.
I don't consider 39% still in the some sex category. More like under 25%.
Yeah, where you draw the lines is heavily driven by personal preferences.
where do you draw the line between what is considered graphic and what not
I'll agree that where you draw the line is heavily driven by personal opinion and perception.
Here's how I draw that line:
If you are painting a picture of the sex with words, describing the action well enough for me to visualize the sex scene from your description, that's graphic.
If I have to make that image up entirely from my own imagination, that's not graphic.
If you are painting a picture of the sex with words, describing the action well enough for me to visualize the sex scene from your description, that's graphic.
If I have to make that image up entirely from my own imagination, that's not graphic.
That's a very good description and close to how I personally qualify what is graphic or not. But if a sex scene is not essential for the story I tend to consider it as graphic a little faster. From the stories I read I consider +95% of the sex scenes as non-essential and I usually skip them.
But if a sex scene is not essential for the story I tend to consider it as graphic a little faster.
For me, it's a continuum, not binary. "Essential" to the story is irrelevant, but the more I have to fill in gaps from my imagination, the less graphic it is.
I don't skip over sex scenes and I consider the complaint that some have expressed in this forum about sex scenes being repetitive to be mostly nonsense.
I completely reject the notion the sex scenes are any more prone to being repetitive than any other common scene type, such as gunfights in westerns or fight scenes more generally in action/adventure type stories.
Much Sex: Every chapter has at least one (graphic) sex scene
Some sex: Incidental graphic sex scenes but not every chapter and not necessarily graphic.
In my WIP novel, not every chapter has a sex scene, so with your definition it is not "much sex." I will label it as "some sex," but not because of that definition. In your definition, there's way too much sex to be called "some sex." And unless I write something like "And they made love a second time," all my sex scenes are graphic (just like all my fighting scenes are graphic—that's the way I write).
The reason I will label it as "some sex" is because it's not written just for the sex. However, sex is integral to the character development and emotional impact on her. It's what drives the story so it's integral to the plot.
I could label it as "much sex" because there's a lot of graphic sex, but as a reader seeing that, I wouldn't expect much of a story. And I hope what the reader gets out of my story isn't the sex scenes, but the emotional turmoil sex causes in the heroine's life. I want the reader to experience that during the sex scenes and what leads up to the sex scenes and what happens afterward.
One cannot please everyone.
cannot please everyone
Not even at Rick Nelson's Garden Party ...
I chose the some sex tag for 'A True History' because it's a Coming of Age story, much more than anything else. It's not a stroke story, nor is it primarily about sex, which would be much sex. It's about someone growing up that HAS sex, sometimes intense and graphically described sex, but that's NOT the focus of the story.
That's why you've got to please yourself first with what you're writing (that's PLEASE, not pleasure!) and let everyone deal with what you as the AUTHOR think.
I could label it as "much sex" because there's a lot of graphic sex, but as a reader seeing that, I wouldn't expect much of a story. And I hope what the reader gets out of my story isn't the sex scenes, but the emotional turmoil sex causes in the heroine's life. I want the reader to experience that during the sex scenes and what leads up to the sex scenes and what happens afterward.
I think you made a good point here that I didn't consider before but that might very well be a much better way to qualify and/or quantify the level of sex in a story: the intention.
Thinking about how I interpret the current choices I would consider Stroke and Much Sex stories as intended for the sex while the other choices can have sex to support the story but not as the main purpose.
I would consider Stroke and Much Sex stories as intended for the sex while the other choices can have sex to support the story but not as the main purpose
That's a good way to put it.
High
"intoxicated by or as if by a drug or alcohol"
So High Fantasy is one where the character is intoxicated.
So High Fantasy is one where the character is intoxicated.
The grinning dick once again shows himself to be an ass.
You are the only entity in the entire universe who thinks you are funny.
The grinning dick once again shows himself to be an ass.
Whilst we can all agree with your sentiment. I do feel your suggested comparison is unnecessarily cruel to members of the Genus Equus.
I do feel your suggested comparison is unnecessarily cruel to members of the Genus Equus.
I apologize to all members of Genus Equus.
What I mean is if a state(s) deem sex with a drunk/drugged person to be rape would that change the codes definition here?
Why would US State Law apply to story codes when;
A. SoL is Canadian based.
B. This is FICTION, even stories coded "True" are likely to contain "Artistic Interpretation".
C. California is the definitive example of what NOT to do.
B. This is FICTION, even stories coded "True" are likely to contain "Artistic Interpretation".
Very few of the SOL stories coded as "True" would even qualify as "loosely based on a true story"
C. California is the definitive example of what NOT to do.
Just remember, Thomas Edison is purported to say that he didn't have 10,000 failures before he made his first light bulb, he simply found 10,000 things that didn't work.
Remember, the whole United States was supposed to be an experiment in different ways of doing things. Just because one state decided to hog absolutely ALL of the things that don't work ...
Just because one state decided to hog absolutely ALL of the things that don't work ...
Not quite. I'm reasonably sure that they shared a few of those with New York. :)
they shared a few of those with New York. :)
That's true. It's not very often you hear the Governor of a state simply tell at least third or more of the population to simply leave, because they don't share her values.
