It has come to my attention that the ratings and terms I use are not necessarily ones other people use.

... I suppose I could clarify. *grins*

First, ratings. These are pretty simple.
G. Anyone could read this.
PG. There might be some kissing, there could be some cursing, but pretty much anyone could read this, too.
PG-13. I read it when I was thirteen. . . . Which doesn't mean all parents would let their 13-year-olds read this. It could be het, it could be citrus, it could have violence or extra cursing. Generally, it's not too bad--though there could be some of the above, as long as it's not too detailed.
R. Could be violence, could be sex. If I've said it's a hard R, then it's probably something other people would rate NC-17. Sometimes, it really should be rated NC-17, but the sex is there for a reason--in which case, I'm more lenient. In general, I tend to be more lenient than not.
NC-17. Whoa, momma, there's some graphic sex in here. That's the only thing that gets an NC-17 rating.

In fact, my general opinion on ratings is this: I assume if you're old enough to read something over PG-13, you're old enough to be reading adult stories--and I don't mean stories with sex in them, I mean stories that are thought provoking, sometimes difficult, emotional, and, yes, occasionally have sex.

Now, there seems to be a trend that says anything citrus--same sex relationships--should be rated higher. I once saw someone rate a drawing of two men French-kissing as NC-17. I'd rate that PG-13, because if it were a man and a woman that's all it would get from me. I absolutely refuse to up the rating just because it's not a traditional couple. All upping the rating does is promote bias. (Is my psychology degree showing yet? *grins*)

Now, for terms!

Citrus/citrusy. This means that the story has a same-sex relationship--be that male or female. It may or may not be the focus of the story, but it's pretty darn obvious.
Vaguely citrusy. In other words, the relationship isn't the focus of the story, and in fact, I'm not sure if there *is* a relationship (could just be a close friendship)--or if it's obvious, it's a very small part. One or two lines, sort of a thing. I put this up--and variations of this--because citrusy stories have become very prevalent, and I do know some people who reeeeeeally don't like them. Sometimes, when you're bombarded with something you don't like, you get sensitive about it--and I would rather people be warned than get upset. Yeah, I know I don't follow that theory with the ratings rules. See my assumptions on ratings. One final note about the citrus terms: I will not rate things that have characters saying they're gay or lesbian as citrus. Why? Well, citrus implies a relationship. If Genma leaps around in the background shouting, "I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm the biggest, flamingest gay person you've ever seen!" that's not a relationship--it's a statement. It's a take on a character. If I started giving warnings for all the takes on characters there are, I'd have no end of warnings. (I can see it now. "This character hates ramen!" "This character sleeps on his stomach!") (And, I can't stand it. My degree shows itself again. If you would warn about one thing, and not about it's counterpart, that is biased. To give you an idea if a warning is appropriate, you can replace it with something we try hard not to be biased against--say, skin color--and if it sounds offensive, that's a problem. So, I would not warn if someone put a black person in a fic. To use the counterpart example, I will not warn if someone puts a gay person in a fic, because I will not warn if someone puts a het person in a fic. If someone puts a relationship in a fic--gay or het--that, I'll warn about, but I'll warn about both, not just gay relationships.)
Het. Story has a hetrosexual relationship in it.
Slash. It means citrus. This is what happens when my comic-fic roots show, and I forget what I'm typing! ;)
S This is a terribly, terribly sad story that possibly even made me cry. There are very few stories that get this rating. If you want a real tear-jerker, read it!
Twitchy. This would be a story that made me twitch. Twitch is not a good thing: it means it probably hit one of my hot buttons (teacher/student sex, adult/child sex, rape that turns out to be okay, and other fantasies). I don't use this term often here, because if a story makes me twitch that's a bad thing. I do occasionally use it to warn people who might have specific twitches. If, for instance, it's a story about bondage--well, that really bothers some people. This means I've given you fair warning--this story might make your eyebrow do that little disturbing twitchy thing.

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