IMPORTANT: Possible Ratings Change? · 12:06am Jul 22nd, 2016
Before we go into serious stuff, check out the part in a little bit! Right now, we're back on the Madmare in the Attic arc, so I want this thing to get as many views as possible!
But don't worry, what I've said before still stands: IGYALL will not become a Mature series. Everyone reading this blog post will still be able to access the story even if the change goes through, because the change will come from the opposite end of the spectrum.
See, the key word here is "everyone."
For a while, I thought that, since it mentioned "real world problems" like child labor and unsavory workplace dealings, IYGALL could never be anything other than a Teen series. That was always the reason I gave for ranking it like that. Swearing rarely came up (I can only remember two precise incidences of this), there was no gore, and there was no sex. I just thought the plot, by its very nature, meant that it could never be an Everyone story.
But then I got to thinking this month: what if I've got the rating system all wrong? People I know have said that, while the Mosely incidents at work are shady in and of themselves, they're not necessarily "explicit" on a sexual level. And those same people have mentioned that some of the things I always thought would disqualify the story happen in Disney movies and other things for children. These days, children's entertainment has begun to realize that kids shouldn't exactly be kept from the "worst" parts of life. And, while I don't intend to do anything of the sort with IGYALL, I wonder if my mindset towards it is outdated.
I wouldn't have to do any maintenance other than censoring a few parts. (For instance, I have half a mind to change Scene yelling "Mosely Orange, you bucking bastard" to "Mosely Orange, you felonious fiend," because I can imagine Scene talking like a Large Ham and it's a Danny Phantom reference. Two of my favorite things!) But part of me still isn't sure if I should jump quite that far.
What do you think?
Holding your language and behavior down to as close to 'Y' as possible makes a story more believable, and makes the suspension of disbelief easier.
I'm all for adding swear words into the story. After all, that's why it's rated T in the first place...right?
However, I feel that I must point out that I really dislike it when author's use the term "bucking" as an expletive. Bucking is simply describing an action done by farm ponies when they harvest apples. It is not meant to replace "fucking". I dunno, I guess I have a hard time taking a character seriously when they say: "You bucking meanie pants!" as opposed to ---> "You fucking asshole!" Makes it lose impact.