Actually, Mare, you were the first one to enlighten me about the fact that there is a stigma on NC-17 stories. lol. Honestly, before that, I never knew! You even gave me this suggestion about the rating: "I would say if your story is less about the sex and more about the plot, maybe it would be a good idea to change it. You can try to see if it makes a difference?"
I don't know if you've read Any Other Way or What the Heart Wants, but I'm curious to know if you think the same way now. I obviously don't want to be berated for attaching an incorrect rating to my story. That's why I'm asking and putting the question out to the general public.
By the way, you made that post here back in August: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?topic=512.15.
Before you gave your fic that rating were you aware of exactly what an NC-17 rating is? I'm not trying to be condescending, I'm curious. In the film world, both ratings R and NC-17 mean that it's not appropriate for persons under 17, but in different ways.
Rated R: "An R-rated motion picture may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements..."
Now, given that I have read both of the fics you've noted here, does that not seem like a more appropriate rating? By giving your fic an NC-17 rating you are saying that it is for adult eyes only because it is pornographic or obscene in nature, and should be off-limits to children. I don't very well believe that your writing is so obscene that it is NC-17, unless you just haven't gotten to the beastiality/S&M/heroine overdose scene yet.
