Guide to Ratings

Applying ratings to fic can be tricky. To help, we’ve put together this guide for authors trying to figure out where their story lies.

Please keep in mind that we will not accept Mature or Explicit rated fic from any author under the age of 18, and we do check to ensure that fic content is suitable for the rating level it has been given by the author.

If your fic contains no cursing, no sexual content, and no graphic violence, death, or injury, but DOES include references to confronting topics that are inappropriate for minors, please consider a mature rating to avoid issues down the line. Basically, if a TV version of your fic could not air on Nickelodeon, it's probably not suitable for a General or Teen rating.

If you’re unsure whether your fic should be rated mature or explicit, we recommend checking out this classic Tumblr post that uses a short bit of prose about sealing an envelope as a safe-for-work example.

This is not a definitive template, so YMMV, but if you’re submitting a fic to the Pinefest, this is the standard we’ll refer to.

Lastly, no matter the rating you give your fic, please make sure to provide accurate tags and warnings when submitting your draft for art claims. When you post your fic on Ao3, you may of course choose not to include warnings in the main summary or tags if you feel that it would spoil the story, however it is considered good etiquette to include a warning for potentially triggering content in the end notes, and advise any concerned readers to check there first.

GENERAL

 * While there can be death, injury, and violence, it should be minimal, and not graphic.
 * Kissing should be the extent of sexual content in a G rated fic–think of this rating level as a Disney movie.

TEEN

 * Violence, death, and injury can occur up to about the same level as you would expect to see on the show. A good touchstone here would be "blood, but not guts."
 * You can describe your character's make-out sessions in some detail, and refer to sex and sexual behaviour in oblique terms, but not describe it in any amount of detail. If things get too steamy it might be time to bump the rating up to Mature.
 * “Fade to black” scene endings to imply off-screen sexual encounters are typical in Teen rated fic.
 * A moderate level of cursing can be expected.

MATURE

 * Violence, death, and injury can be described in detail, and can be much more confronting than what you’d include in a teen fic, but it should not be gory.
 * If there are multiple scenes containing huge amounts of violence, it might be worth moving the rating up to explicit.
 * Sex scenes are fine to include in mature rated fics, but typically aren't super graphic, and tend to focus on sensual description rather than detailed, up-close explanations of specific body parts.
 * Any level of cursing can be expected.

EXPLICIT

 * When it comes to explicit fic… basically anything goes.
 * Violence, death, and injury can be as graphic and gory as you’d like.
 * Sex scenes can be graphic in detail.
 * Characters can curse as much as the most anti-social sailor you can imagine.
 * That said, it’s important to make sure you include a warning tag if your fic includes anything especially confronting or potentially triggering to readers.