I used to work in a comic book store.
One afternoon I refused to sell a guy, maybe fourteen, a Terminator comic book with a "Mature Readers" label. His mother stormed in and demanded to know why I wouldn't sell it to him. I explained that it was not intended for young readers. She asked if there was any sex in it, so I explained that there was no sex but lots of graphic violence. She chewed me out a few minutes longer as she bought the comic for her son.
Some time later, a customer pulled one of the sex comics out of its bag and left it laying on a different rack in the store. A woman found the comic and brought it to my attention, at which point I quickly apologized for the mistake and brought the comic back to be re-bagged. Apparently in my wish to defuse the situation, I did not convey an adequate sense of remorse for the incident. We received a visit from the local police Chaplain... and considering what's happened to other stores, we considered ourselves luck that was all we got.
Regardless of our personal opinions, I've learned this: The ones who are against violence will usually keep it to themselves, and assume personal responsibility for dealing with it. The ones who are against sex... they can be real wackos.
I figure I can talk about this now since the discussion's in the open... a couple months back, my own story thread was pulled by my request. Having been reminded of the terms, it was the right thing to do, because I would never want to jeopardize the service they provide with that kind of hassle. The mods were cooperative and friendly through the whole procedure.
I think we all can agree that the matter gets silly. Heck, I think even the mods must roll their eyes sometimes at the stuff they need to worry about. But all it takes is one person to overreact, and suddenly we lose the community entirely. Even worse, the owners and staff can be dragged into court... which can be disastrous even if they win.
It's just not worth it. There's plenty of good material which can be released for the general populace, and some (like Jake's Growth) can be revised to stick to the rules. I strongly doubt y'all will lack for "inspiration" going forward.
-J
One afternoon I refused to sell a guy, maybe fourteen, a Terminator comic book with a "Mature Readers" label. His mother stormed in and demanded to know why I wouldn't sell it to him. I explained that it was not intended for young readers. She asked if there was any sex in it, so I explained that there was no sex but lots of graphic violence. She chewed me out a few minutes longer as she bought the comic for her son.
Some time later, a customer pulled one of the sex comics out of its bag and left it laying on a different rack in the store. A woman found the comic and brought it to my attention, at which point I quickly apologized for the mistake and brought the comic back to be re-bagged. Apparently in my wish to defuse the situation, I did not convey an adequate sense of remorse for the incident. We received a visit from the local police Chaplain... and considering what's happened to other stores, we considered ourselves luck that was all we got.
Regardless of our personal opinions, I've learned this: The ones who are against violence will usually keep it to themselves, and assume personal responsibility for dealing with it. The ones who are against sex... they can be real wackos.
I figure I can talk about this now since the discussion's in the open... a couple months back, my own story thread was pulled by my request. Having been reminded of the terms, it was the right thing to do, because I would never want to jeopardize the service they provide with that kind of hassle. The mods were cooperative and friendly through the whole procedure.
I think we all can agree that the matter gets silly. Heck, I think even the mods must roll their eyes sometimes at the stuff they need to worry about. But all it takes is one person to overreact, and suddenly we lose the community entirely. Even worse, the owners and staff can be dragged into court... which can be disastrous even if they win.
It's just not worth it. There's plenty of good material which can be released for the general populace, and some (like Jake's Growth) can be revised to stick to the rules. I strongly doubt y'all will lack for "inspiration" going forward.
-J
