What would it take for you to tag a chapter as mature content?

[Missapogee]

I've noticed that the reasons for the Mature content tag can range from borderline nudity/suggestive themes or straight up gore/ a bit of blood to just crude language

I don't personally create content where this has been a problem, but out of pure curiosity I was wondering, where does the line lie for you? How suggestive do the themes need to be/ how much blood is too much/ how much language?

[BlunderingAlbatross]

Personally I've added a mature feature for a variety of reasons in my novel, the most common seeming to be when I go into detail about injuries or violence and things like that. I've also used it once for a sex scene that's more than just implied.

[shfra13]

I'm pretty lenient with Mature tag, I don't really tag my story as Mature. Mainly because... I feel like I associate Mature tag with sexual content most of the time, so....... (yes it is incorrect lol)

Personally, I don't put chapters with cuss words as Mature. Well, so far I haven't written a chapter full of only cuss words, but I think that I still wouldn't tag one as Mature? Maybe, finding a way to 'tone down' the profanity instead.

For violence, I prefer putting warnings. I've never come to the point of writing detailed gore, though, so I'm not really sure about how violent it takes for me to put Mature tag. There's actually one chapter in my story that involves a bit of stabbing and blood, and although I debated myself, I decided to not tag it as Mature (yet) as I feel like it's not... violent enough. I still put a warning at the start of the chapter.

[Seaby]

I'm generally quick to mark a chapter as mature just to be safe, especially since it's not like that warning ever really stops anyone (usually for language). Mature encompasses a great deal of things, so in the instance that there is something especially disturbing, it's best to add a written warning at the top of the chapter specifying what to look out for.

[sushy00]

I would only mark it mature for swearing and nudity.

[CommanderMarty]

It would take either very excessive gore, sexual content (partial or censored nudity or extremely heavy language (more than two fucks)

[snailienz]

I'd only tag mature content for blood/gore/sexual themes

Which my comic wouldn't have any of, since it'd very cartoony and childish.

[alexlcuri07]

As a novelists I go by how much time I spend describing sensitive themes (in my case that would be mentions of suicidal thoughts and violence/ gore.) If it's more than a few paragraphs I tag it to be safe, but tbh I only put the tags on after I updated some of the chapters, so for months no one really cared that it wasn't tagged.

[NickRowler]

I would only apply Mature for things that would get a film an R rating. I don’t think crude language should be marked as Mature unless it is very sexually suggestive.

Nudity, sexual encounters, and gore should be marked as Mature

[VibrantFox]

Excessive swearing, sexual themes and nudity or other more sensitive themes like self-harm/suicide; so I guess stuff that'd fall under something a little more than pg-13 and above.

I've also tried to pay attention to and be wary of stuff that might be potentially upsetting to folks and make the necessary notes on what may or may not need to be censored. Some folks aren't disturbed by things at all but others can find even seemingly small stuff upsetting so I don't think it'd hurt to try and be considerate. It's probably why I appreciate folks who mention some of the basic themes that might show up in their series description and more specific warnings at the top of an episode. Even if it's nothing major for me other people can decide whether they want to interact with the content or not.

[CodeMonkeyArts]

It varies. Usually if a chapter has some non graphic violence and cursing, I don't put on mature. Meanwhile, graphic gore and sexual scenes get a mature.

However, even if there is no gore or sexual content, I will make a chapter as mature if it talks about sensitive topics, such as drug use, racism, and unpleasant scenarios involving minors.

[joannekwan]

For comics: I will mark an episode mature if there's any nudity where genitalia or female nipples are distinguishable. And if there's any censored sex. Per the content guidelines.

Gore is trickier. I don't draw much of it, but I would mark it mature if it's highly detailed and leans more toward the realistic side of things.

I will also mark an episode mature if it contains slurs, you know, ones that target specific minority groups.

For novels: I will only mark for explicit sex scenes. I'm not as worried about gore since it's up to the reader to imagine how visceral it is. I will mark it for instances of phobic content too if it contains slur usage, just as I do with comics, but that hasn't come up yet.

For other content, I would just put up a content warning at the top of the episode. Or if it's featured prevalently in the series, I would have a disclaimer before the first episode.

[Dreams-of-Gaia]

This has always concerned me. In my case, I don't tend to draw nudity nor gore nor even violence, but the themes in my comics could be quite... dark? (Don't actually know how to describe it). Like, if there is violence, I would use all types of symbols to represent it but don't actually show violence itself.
But is there a rule for mature content regarding "themes"? Like a specific "theme" could be mature already? Or in that case should we just tag the series as +18?

[Van]

reeeeally graphic violence bordering on torture and full on sexual acts

while I don't have any on screen sex planned for my novel there is alot of torture and violence towards innocent beans

[joannekwan]

No hard rules. Tapas only cares about nudity/sex and extreme violence as that can get them booted from the app store.

It's just courtesy to include a content warning about any dark themes (eg. suicide, abuse, drug usage, etc.) someplace in your series. Like in the series description, at the top of a relevant episode, an overall disclaimer put before your first page, and so forth.

[kmlangleyauthor]

As a novelist, I mark all the sex scenes, even though none of them are explicit. I think they’re still suggestive enough to count and I would rather people had a heads up and not care vs stumble upon it on accident when they didn’t want to read it.

Honestly, my brain doesn’t register swearing unless it’s used awkwardly in a sentence, so I’m always a little thrown off when an episode is marked mature for language (having a content warning for something like that makes a lot more sense to me)

[Dreams-of-Gaia]

Oh ok, that's good to know!
Thanks a lot!

[domisotto]

I err on the side of caution with intimate scenes and violence. I never considered swearing to be mature.

[surenlicious]

Given I write about domestic abuse and decline of mental health, when I describe abusive happenings in full detail that's when I mark it mature. I am unaffected by language and find that a little silly to use the Mature button for.

[Dysis]

If there is any form of active violence that causes a release of blood or violence that makes me think will be disturbing, I label it as mature. A fist fight between angry folks, for instance, is violence but isn't disturbing to me so I won't label it as mature.