My story meta consists of several parts including the summary, the genre, the rating, notes, the teaser and the tags. The summary, teaser and tags should be pretty self-explanatory. The notes likewise, as they consist of things like spoiler warnings, specification of anime or manga continuity, and particular theme notes not covered by the genre like Wingfic or D/s.

The genres should be fairly self-evident also, but to make sure everything is clear, here are the explanations of the genre and rating systems I use.

Genre

The major genre divisions I use are Drama, Romance, Porn, Humor, Crack, Action, Horror, Character Sketch, Kink, and Angst. Some of my genre labels simply relate to the proportions in which these things will be found. Examples:

Drama With Romance indicates that the gen aspects are the primary focus of the story, and the romantic parts secondary.

Drama With Occasional Porn says that, yes, there is sex in there, but it only crops up occasionally and serves the purposes of the dramatic storyline.

Romantic Drama With Angst means that plot is slightly ascendant over mushiness, and the characters have a rocky road on their way to happy cuddling, but they do get their snugglesome ending.

Humorous Porn is something I really doubt you’re ever going to see from me. Of course, the last time I said that I wound up writing a huge arc of the style in question …

Then there are the flavor labels, which add detail to the genre designation.

With Insights. Thus, Angst With Insights involves putting the characters through hell in order to reveal something about them; Porn With Insights involves putting the characters in bed for much the same purpose.

With Characterization. Drama With Characterization would go on a story that explores the characters’ day to day lives in order to develop a certain view of them. Porn With Characterization… yeah, you get the idea.

Purple. Gesturing toward epic conventions. Purple Romance or Purple Drama applies to a story with melodramatic elements or high-flown language.

Other flavor labels, such as Psychological, Dark, or Getting There, may be invented and applied as seems necessary.

Last, we have the special purpose labels.

Porn Without Plot and Porn With Plot. These are flip sides of one coin. In both cases, the porn is primary. In the first, though, it is connected only lightly with the overarching plot, while in the second it is connected strongly.

Rating

These are based on the intensity (hence the I) of the story in question.

I-1: light and undemanding; no passionate engagement required of the reader; likely to be fluffy.

I-2: not entirely innocent; heavier than air, lighter than water; may refer to the joy and anguish of life but will not describe either in any detail.

I-3: moderately intense; characters may be experiencing emotional dilemmas, may have to deal with mental or physical injury, may be dealing with emotional or physical intimacy; likely to involve tension and resolution.

I-4: fairly demanding; characters are likely to be deeply embroiled in emotions and experiences that could be overwhelming; descriptions of experiences, whether positive or negative, will be explicit.

I-5: heavy; involves very intense emotions and/or experiences, either the heights or the depths; note that sex alone is very unlikely to get this rating.

Putting the parts together should give you a decent idea of where the story is going and whether you want to go along. If a story has a genre of Romance with Porn, and a rating of I-4, and two particular characters are mentioned in the blurb or the tags, then you can take it that those two characters are dealing with the contretemps of becoming romantically attached and intimate, and will wind up having pretty explicit sex as they explore these issues. If the genre were just Romance, with that rating, you should assume the characters are having an intense emotional time of it. Angst with that rating would indicate the characters are getting emotionally or physically beaten down, and the process will be described in some detail.

I make no judgments on the maturity required to read and enjoy any of my stories. If, however, you are a minor and under the roof of an institution that would disapprove of you reading I-4, or even I-3, rated stories, please understand that you take the responsibility of rule-breaking on your own shoulders. Which is to say, don’t complain to me if you get caught.