About mature content on Tapas

[MartinLevy]

Hi everyone!

I’m the author of the BL web novel The Little Night, and I recently posted a chapter on my Patreon that has a slightly higher rating than my usual content. It’s nothing super explicit, but still a bit more on the mature side.

At some point, the story on Tapas will reach that part too, and I’m a bit confused about what I can and cannot post there. I tried to read through the rules, but I’m honestly still not sure whether I can upload that chapter to Tapas as it is, or if I should post a toned-down version instead.

So I wanted to ask... What kind of “spice” is still okay to post with the mature rating, and what is already too much?

If anyone has experience with this or understands the rules better than I do, I’d really appreciate any advice!

Read The Little Night | Tapas Web Community

[kyupol]

To my understanding, no direct s3xually explicit content. No depiction of actual private parts.

S3xual themes, discussion ok but need to be flagged with "M" rating. And they need to be there only with the purpose of advancing the storyline.

For example...

(This scene doesn't go on for page after page like it's a f3mdom movie. Aftermath of bruises there. Not how he was actually beaten)

[MartinLevy]

If a chapter has more than just a quick peck, does that mean it shouldn't be on Tapas? Or am I overthinking it?

[kyupol]

As long as the scene doesn't involve full out nudity or graphic detailed descriptions of the positions they do in bed it should be fine

[bumblebeelz]

Novels and comics have different rules. For a novel, you can go way further than you can for a comic. I've pulled this answer from this post.

Question: I’m writing a novel that contains sexual scenes, is that okay?
Answer: Yes, that is okay! Novels have more leeway. Depiction of genitals or sex acts including penetration is permitted for novels, as long as its primary narrative purpose is something other than erotic satisfaction (Basically, your novel needs to have a plot other than sexual scenes). You will still have to mark your spicy episodes with the mature filter. Please refer to the “Mature Content” section for more information.

So, basically, as long as you aren't writing sex scenes every chapter, you're fine.

[MartinLevy]

I've also noticed that some novels are marked as mature from the start, while others are not, but still have a few chapters with a higher rating.

What do you think, if it's only one or two chapters out of the whole story, does it make sense to mark the entire novel as mature, or is it enough to mark just those chapters?

[kyupol]

I would start by flagging "M" just the individual chapters. If the whole novel needs to be flagged, admins would definitely let you know

[bumblebeelz]

Agree with Kyupol; individual chapters is the way to go.

For one thing, some people see a drop-off in readers on mature chapters. This isn't true of everyone, but might be something to keep in mind. Another thing, when you schedule or post a mature chapter, your series gets hidden for up to 24 hours (presumably for some kind of review?) I've had my novel go from the trending list to invisible because of it. So, flagging every chapter mature when it doesn't need to be will probably hurt your visibility.

Anyway, if you've got one or two chapters out of the whole story, it's not anything I'd worry about. I'm not sure how long your novel is set to be, but if you're looking for comparison, I've got 50-ish chapters in my own so far. Of those, I have two sexually explicit chapters, with a handful of others marked mature because of detailed descriptions of nudity.

[MartinLevy]

This really made me feel a lot calmer and gave me a clearer idea of what to do next with chapters like this. Kyupol and Bumblebeelz, thank you so much, I truly mean it.

I also wanted to ask about another side of mature content. Injuries and physical harm in novels. If an injury is mentioned in passing, for example something minor like a cut heand or a bit of blood, and it is not caused by cruelty or anything graphic, would that still need a mature label? Or is that still fine without it?

And honestly, this is my first novel, so I'm still figuring out where those lines are. I would really appreciate any thoughts or experiences you might have.

[kyupol]

It would only deserve an M tag for violence is if its like decapitation, dismemberment or something similar.

For example:

If its like a fight or something, doesn't need M tag.

For example:

What's not allowed if its so brutal like... guts and blood everywhere. As in like a realistic death scene you find in certain websites that post war casualties, police violent crime scenes, su!side, etc.

[MartinLevy]

Oh, for better or worse, I haven’t written anything that bloody yet, so it’s not that 'mature' so far

[GiveMeThatBread]

Hey there, I'm a Premium author who was originally in Community with a mature novel. Novels have a much higher leeway than comics. Personally, Tapas does not mark my chapters as mature unless se*ual content because of the App store guidelines. Even for my fight and mental health crisis scenes, they are not marked as M (but my readers know the sort content I write and are not surprised).

But things that you should definitely NOT write about is hate towards a group of people, being racist, trying to trigger violence from the audience, and things like that, which are in the community guidelines.

In the end though, using the M tags is up to your discretion and what you find to be mature. Unless every chapter is se*ual content (which I also think is not allowed because then where is the plot lol), it's not necessary especially if you said the F-bomb only one time 🤣

[barakothepirate]

Damn, so even discussion or implications of s3xual explict content has to be flagged with an M rating... good to know for the future.
However I've actually put decapitations and dismemberments in my comic already and haven't gave it an M rating... It's fairly cartoonish in nature, but am I in trouble?