More specific NSFW tags for your comics

[noxfox]

Hi folks!

The fact that the NSFW tagging system doesn't have any variations to it, such as targeting sexual content or violence, has been brought up countless times as an issue for readers to figure out what to expect before viewing such episodes. Meanwhile, as creators, and with just a bit of work, we can ease this!
I'm not the only one around to have started experimenting, but as I've come with some good results on my latest series, I thought I'd share what I came up with =)

At the beginning of Consuming Darkness, I set a Disclaimers episode to tell of the various aspects of the comic that may not be of everybody's taste ("if you don't like it you're free not to read," basically), and to introduce the warning system I made:

And this is how it looks in practice:

I wanted to put the warnings on the thumbnails too so readers know what to expect in advance (I guess the pervy ones will appreciate to also find sexy episodes more easily xD), and I put those "spacers" on top of the page so the possible mature content isn't exposed directly.

Another practical aspect I find about using different positions for the different warnings on the thumbnails, is that I can pile up the warning flags, in case I have to warn of nudity, sex and violence at the same time (which, considering bdsm, is likely to happen at some point :D). I must admit that I was a bit afraid of how readers would react, but I had the good surprise to get very pleased reactions^^

Oh, and while I'm at it, this is how I organized my files and create my thumbnails in a clap of fingers:

I hope this can be useful to some of you! ^ u ^

[69Michi]

This is quite useful actually! Totally bookmark and keep this in mind thank you so much for sharing! > v <

[noxfox]

You're most welcome! I just checked your series also, it's looking nice and it's easy to see you put love and energy in it^^ But it's true it could probably use a warning for the blood, oh dear! ; w ;

[69Michi]

I just noticed it after updating it because this amount of blood is quite mild for me ;; 7 ;; just coughing up... and the main character is gonna coughing up a bunch of blood throughout the series... (Maybe I should put up the tag for blood in the description lMFAO) But thank you for the reminder!!

[noxfox]

Maybe I should put up the tag for blood in the description lMFAO

That's actually a very good thing to do, yeah! Or rather, at the beginning of the first episode, because readers rarely ever read descriptions (and a lot of them don't read wall posts either), so if there is anything important you want to make sure they know about, "put it in an episode" is a good rule of thumb ^ __ ^;

[69Michi]

Thank you! Will keep that in mind for my future chapters
_{Warning: A lot of tomato and ketchup bottles have been sacrificed for this episode, audience discretion is advised. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿}

[noxfox]

tbh this warning and your comment on this episode really made me laugh, and also think of the silly re-caption of one of my pages that @Sketchmazoid did

[69Michi]

OMG baby ketchup bottle and mustard this is golden im dying HAHAHAHA A+

[UrMom]

That's actually a pretty good warning system, even though Tapastic doesn't allow pornographic material (or extremely violent material, but they seem way more lax on that than porn), it can still be used for others sites that do allow it. You've got a lot of patience, I hate doing stuff on the computer, so I would probably rage quit before getting anywhere with it. So my alternative is a, probably more graphic than it should be, disclaimer page at the beginning of the comic.
I think I've already established to readers that the whole theme of the comic is going to be kinda messed up anyway, so I'd be surprised if someone got to the first disturbing scene, and gets offended because they somehow didn't expect there to be that kind of material to pop up.

[noxfox]

I think good disclaimers/warnings can work well on series geared toward a somewhat more adult public, or if the content isn't going to be too extreme, yup. One of the reasons I chose to be quite extensive is that I knew very well that we'd get a bunch of teen subscribers (the youngest I spotted are 13) and I want to be extra careful with those. It's a bit of an extra hassle, but it's the Internet, everything can happen, and just because you put a 18+ notice doesn't mean those who aren't this age won't read. Quite in opposite, it's almost like a teen magnet xD

So I asked myself not just what I should do about this audience, but what I wish other creators would do if my young teens were reading their comics (I don't have kids but I can still imagine). As a kid and teen I've been exposed to material I regretted having exposed to later on, and that's also something I took in consideration. "Better safe than sorry" felt like a good road to do, given the topics of this series and the general intention in its artistic direction (to make good romance/erotic material without having to go down unhealthy drama).