An open letter to : PLEASE READ
I recently received an alert from the Administrators of this site that my story, The Care and Feeding of Zombies, had been deleted from the site for violating the its rules and story guidelines. At first I was a bit upset but then I skimmed through the guidelines and realized that they were correct in their action because I happened to use the word "Bitches" within the body of the summary. All I needed to do was replace that one word then upload the story again but I put that on the back burner as I was working on updating a couple of my fics. The updates weren't going as well as I would've liked so a couple of days later I started looking for new chapters to some stories I was following. Imagine my shock when I found Author's Notes explaining that as of 6/4/2012 the administrators of were going to start taking down all stories that contained lemons and graphic violence.
Once I got over my shock, I understood that all but maybe two of my stories were going to be on the chopping block so I went back and fully re-read all the rules and guidelines again. What I learned was that the people in charge of this site basically created a major Grey Area for authors. You see, the rules and limited submission guidelines haven't been updated since 2008 (and make no prohibitions against either lemons or violence) but do have a nice warning in red just before the definition of Story Ratings about the site not allowing explicit content within the stories published on .
Now here is the issue: What constitutes explicit content? We don't live inside of a 1950's sitcom where mom and dad share a room but separate bed and sleep in body covering pajamas. We live in the real world of the 21st Century. Every year, Hollywood pushes the boundaries between R and NC-17 ratings and what is acceptable within the lower rating; just as the Television Industry pushes the limits if their FCC Regulations for content. This brings us back to that red warning and the soon to be deleted stories because I don't think the administrators have thought their decision through logically.
How many authors are going to get pissed off and stop posting to this site? How many thousands of good stories are going to be lost? Or, better yet, how many fandoms are going to be completely wiped out? Think about that for a second – Supernatural fanfics… gone; True Blood and Sookie Stackhouse/SVM fics… bye-bye; Lost Girl… poof; Rachel Morgan/The Hollows Series… gone without a trace and those are just the tip of the iceberg. Then there are the fics based on Harry Potter, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle and The Hunger Games that are going to take major hits. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that they – and most fandoms – will be decimated to the point of it pointless to read whatever survives the purge (but I hope I'm wrong).
To me, it would be easier for those in charge to update the rules and guidelines then get rid of the red warning entirely or offer a separate site where such stories might be published instead of the idiotic task they've decided to undertake. Therefore, I have decided to not update any of my stories until such time as I can find a new home for them. If you know of such a place let me know and I get right on the transfer. In the meantime, I might take up the challenge of re-writing and re-imagining Sun and Moon for this site using only implied lemons and non-graphic violence.
Thank you,
J. (Kolchaksghost)