Front-page Shop Items

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that, by my choice, I took down my hentai cels from the RS shop. While many said that the issue of having hentai cels on the front page was the topic I am tired of receiving negative comments about myself and my cels. Even though there have been hentai cels on the front page way before I listed any, it seems that people decided to lash out at me for whatever reason and not the others. I merely wanted to sell my cels like everyone else. I did not want to be labeled as a "perv" and worse. I know that the this issue still remains but I am tired of being the butt of it. What really breaks my heart is that I have been a member of RS for 6+ years and with all the wonderful pieces of art that I own this is what people talk about. That hurts. I wish to thank everyone that encouraged and stuck up for me. Many people wrote and I wish they would have posted but I understand why they didn't want to get involved. In any case. Thank you.

-Matt

It's a shame if you've received any personal attacks because of the cels, Matt. :( I think that's really uncalled for considering alot of people collect hentai cels.

The main issue I could see with displaying hentai cels in the shop is the depiction of penetrative sex. Even with the bars across the top and bottom half of a certain cel, it was still obvious what was going on and I think, personally, that would cross the line into 18+ territory.

But I do think Rubberslug could perhaps give the option for members to list 18+ cels in a way that the people who don't want to see them don't have to. How about a specific "18+" thumbnail that could appear in place of the actual cel's thumbnail on the front page and shop listing? Then once clicked, it would take you to the sale listing for the actual cel. And you also cover any legality by designating that image to users eighteen and over.

I think it's productive that this issue was brought up and hopefully we could get around it somehow. ^_^

I noticed hentai cels were put up for sale before yours and I'm sorry to hear that people are giving you grief over them, especially since you asked a mod before putting them up(some people wouldn't even ask about this beforehand). I read both sides of this subject and I'm currently inbetween. I mean, I understand that some people wouldn't want to see these cels, but like someone mentioned in a previous post, some people don't want to see yaoi/yuri images as well
or ones that have extremely violent scenes(blood, gore etc.). That being said I think this issue needs to be addressed(as well as a look at the -others- category as some of those cels/sketches can go in new series). I like nene's idea for adding a default thumbnail for adult production art. I hope Jason can read this thread when he has the time. I also want to note that I never thought RS as a place for young people to browse. I remember 1 time when I was babysitting my brother I did a RS search and some uncensored adult thumbs came up. It was then that I decided to be more decisive over when I visit and browse this site...

Wow, that sickens me that people would start sending you hate email because you were trying to sell your cels. I am shocked because for a bunch of mature adults, some people have decided to turn this into a witch hunt.

Anyways, throwing in my 2 cents again, some of the suggestions mentioned are great ideas; however, I feel there are some biases in some of the solutions. Sure the girl getting felt up by the tentacle will be censored, but what about the two guys feeling each other up? the cop with a bullet in his head? Some may find these equally disturbing and not want to be seen. As well, what is considered "nude"? I know someone earlier mentioned that there is a difference between a Sailormoon nude and a hentai nude. How so? They are both naked characters. I have some "AIC tease" nudes on my own site, but I still label them at Not Work Friendly because some may see them as inappropriate and some may not.

Overall, I think there needs to be more thought put into finding a solution. Just my opinion.

We agree that hate mail is unnecessary -- but, beatrush, we think you slightly miss the point. If we were purely discussing this based on what people want to see, you would be entirely correct. But the fact remains that adult materials require viewers to be of legal age. So it's more about what people are allowed to see. Not only that, web sites in general are required to at least attempt to verify the ages of viewers of adult material. Therefore, the placement of these sorts of images on the main RS page is in incredibly poor taste (and potentially could cause the site serious legal issues). If you want to bring up why violence isn't censored as much as sex is, then perhaps you should take that up with those who provide the ratings for films, etc. We certainly don't care if folks like hentai, yaoi, or yuri -- we don't even care if you want to sell it, but splashing it across the Rubberslug main page isn't necessary. You don't see adult materials on eBay's main page under "featured auctions", do you? And there's probably very good reason for that ^_~.