Tags

I think there are large cultural differences at play here. I once had a conversation with a Japanese person where we actually discussed how (in her own words) Japanese women say "no" when they mean "yes" in porn. It was in fact the first thing that came up after they found out that I worked with hentai. The stereotypical actress in a Western porno is proactive/slutty, whereas they're passive/innocent in Japan. These are completely different approaches to porn, and one direct result is that you'll see the woman shouting "yes" in one region, and "no" in the other. On the flip side, the male actor can be either active or passive in the West, but has to take an assertive role in Japanese porn, with the latter sometimes leading to them initiating sex on their own. Of course, this is far from a steadfast rule and there are are ton of exceptions, but generally speaking, these are the standard tropes in each region.

Naturally, these two approaches can clash when you bring material from one culture over to the other—in particular the "they say no, but they actually want it" trope, given the current discourse in the West. However, I believe it would be unwise to lump these stories together with the ones that currently bear the forced tag.

Right now chapters fall under either vanilla, none of the two, or forced. If we implemented this as a new guideline, most of the second category and even some from vanilla would end up in forced. You could have a chapter where the character thoroughly enjoys the experience and is very enthusiastic about it, and another where they are vehemently opposed to what's happening. If you then have a third chapter, identical to the first with the one exception that there's no explicit consent given, I don't think it's tasteful to essentially equating the experience to that of the second chapter by giving them the same tag.

I fully acknowledge that this is an extremely sensitive subject. All forms of media is filled with settings and scenarios that in real life would not be acceptable (legally or morally), but I can only hope that in most cases, these are performances and nothing more. This might not have been exactly what you wanted, but I hope at least it shed some light on the thought process behind the tagging.

---

As for the original topic, we are adding new tags as time goes on, but we don't want to add too many. We're not trying to cover every imaginable feature or setting, but broader themes with our system. It's a different mindset than some other sites, but that's the short of it. As something becomes more prominent, there's a high likelihood that we'll add a tag for it. If it only appears in a few chapters, not so much.

I agree that these categories need to be added. I realize that there may be some overlap with other already existing categories. But in a lot of cases there is enough of a distinction to warrant this. There were several titles that FAKKU licensed that fell into these categories that I did not even realize where made available. It shows potential as well as current FAKKU customers that they cater to a more diverse group than just vanilla tastes.

I appreciate the background information on Japanese culture, but I think this is an over simplification of it, judging by how consent is handled in the stories on Fakku. I think Fakku has to make a decision on which cultural orientation it will follow, in regards to tagging. I would say that the majority of Fakku readers are Western and so it makes sense to tag according to those ideas.

I have read tens of hundreds of stories over the last year+ and I have to say I have seen maybe a handful of 'vanilla' tagged stories that should have the forced tag (imo), so I strongly disagree that a change in the consent definition will alter many stories at all. In fact, I would argue that those stories were incorrectly tagged vanilla.

The tagging on Fakku is fairly inconsistant at best. As a reader, it is clear that there are no guidelines or definitions of tags, to guide editors in their tagging. I have seen this on stories where the editor will talk with readers as to why a tag is in/appropriate, or for example on the latest Fakku book, Let Your Smile Bloom 3.

In that chapter, the female character is literally tied up and forced to have sex. On page 20, she is actively yelling 'no' and 'stop'. Yet there is no 'forced' tag. At that point, why bother with the tag? I have yet to see a chapter that is tagged 'forced' to be that explicit in a character's refusal of sex.

Active consent is a great thing and there are many stories on Fakku with that (maybe a tag?). There are also stories that have the character saying no, but thinking or otherwise indicating consent. I agree, those can be tough to tag and make everyone happy. In that scenario, I personally wouldn't tag it as forced, since we as the omnipent viewer can see that it is consensual, even though from the other character's point of view, it could be rape.

I think a difficult point is that in porn, there will be lines that are used by actual rapists, such as "I can't stop myself" or the "your body is honest" (which I personally hate). I think in some ways, this is unavoidable because a person in a consentual encounter can say something that a rapist would also say. Just in the last week, I have seen stories where both people give consent, and yet the MC will say he "can't hold back". That phrase alone can't qualify a story as 'forced' or not.

I am not here to judge people's fantasy or try to impose real world legality on contectual stories. However, accurate, consistant tagging is in everybody's interest. From those who want to read it, to those that want to avoid it, to those that are tagging other stories and need examples.

I read your entire reply, but I'll keep mine brief.

The suggestion was to tag any story where a character says "no" as forced. I rather continue with the current system where we judge the content of the story instead of the phrasing. The same logic means we won't tag a mind break chapter as vanilla if there's an "I love you" toward the end of the story.

That's the general guideline, but I'm sure there are examples where this isn't followed. One big factor is the large amount of tags one has to take into consideration for each release. I have some ideas on how to improve/revamp the tagging system, but they're just ideas at this point in time.

I appreciate the lengthy reply from YQII. There's been a quite a few tag threads recently and getting a response from a staff member is more reassuring.

Thanks for the response, always appreciate the insight into the Fakku processes. Is there a place/process where we can suggest a 'forced' tag be added, if we find a story that seems to be missing it (or any tag really)? I usually make a comment, but going back through stories and checking every comment doesn't seem like it would be efficient.

There are alot of tags, so I can understand them being missed. That is why I would love to see the Fakku community to be able to help with tagging.

I look forard to any improvements to tagging!