Community Guidelines

Creating a safe, creative space for interactive fiction

Last updated: May 11, 2026

Our Philosophy

Boughly is a platform for creative expression through interactive fiction. We believe in empowering storytellers to explore complex themes, difficult topics, and challenging narratives — while maintaining a safe environment for all users.

Great fiction often explores darkness, conflict, and morally complex situations. We distinguish between depicting difficult topics within a narrative context and promoting or glorifying harmful behavior.

Content Rating System

Accurate content rating is essential. When publishing, you must select the appropriate rating:

General

Suitable for all ages. No graphic violence, no strong language, no sexual content (including kissing fade-outs is fine), no on-page substance use. Think middle-grade fiction.

Teen (13+)

Mild violence (peril, action sequences without lingering gore), infrequent strong language, romantic and sexual tension without explicit description, references to drug or alcohol use, dark themes (loss, mental health) handled with care. Think contemporary young-adult fiction in the adventure, fantasy, or romance genres.

Mature (18+)

Strong language without limit, graphic violence, on-page drug use, dark adult themes (abuse, trauma, self-harm — with content warnings), sexual situations handled non-graphically (“fade to black,” aftermath, references). See the detailed Mature Tier definition below for what is and isn't allowed.

Deliberately misrating content to bypass filters or reach a younger audience is a Terms of Service violation.

Mature Tier — Detailed Definition

The Mature tier is intentionally broad. Boughly publishes literary fiction in genres including epic fantasy, dark literary fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, and psychological thriller — works that may include strong language, graphic violence, deeply uncomfortable themes, and adult sexual situations handled with craft. Where Boughly draws the line is on-page graphic sexual content. This page describes how creators and the review team approach that line.

✅ Allowed at the Mature tier

Strong language — any frequency, any intensity.
Graphic violence within a narrative context — battle scenes, on-page deaths, injuries described in detail, where the violence serves the story rather than being gratuitously exploitative.
Drug and alcohol use — on-page use, addiction storylines, withdrawal, overdose. Recovery storylines are particularly welcome.
Sexual situations handled non-graphically — characters going to bed together, kissing in detail, removing clothing, the morning after, references to what happened. The camera fades before intercourse begins.
Spicy romance — sexual tension, slow burn, charged dialogue, longing, attraction. Heat without explicit detail is fine.
Dark themes with content warnings — challenging subject matter that may be addressed within a narrative context, including sexual assault, suicide, self-harm, abuse, eating disorders, and severe trauma. Such content should be handled with care and should not glorify, instruct, or otherwise promote real-world harm. Use the content-warning checkboxes during publishing.
Morally complex protagonists and anti-heroes — characters who do bad things for understandable reasons, or good things for ugly ones.
Crime, violence, and the consequences of both — heists, murders, war, oppression. Fiction that grapples with these is often the most worthwhile fiction we host.

❌ Not allowed at the Mature tier

On-page graphic sexual content — explicit description of intercourse, body parts, sexual fluids, climax, blow-by-blow physical sex. The line between “they fell into bed together” (allowed) and a paragraph describing the act (not allowed) is the line we enforce.
Erotica as a primary genre — stories whose central purpose is sexual gratification rather than narrative. If the plot exists to serve the sex scenes, this is not the right platform.
Any sexual content involving minors — under any rating, in any context, real or fictional. Such content may constitute a federal crime in many jurisdictions and is grounds for immediate removal and account termination, and may be reported to NCMEC and law-enforcement authorities where required.
Real-person sexual content — depicting a real, identifiable person in sexual situations is not permitted, regardless of any claimed consent. Non-sexual real-person fiction may be permitted in limited cases involving clearly public figures and a clearly fictional framing; private individuals should generally not be depicted without their consent. Boughly reserves the right to remove real-person content at its discretion, including in response to publicity-rights, privacy, harassment, or defamation concerns.
Bestiality, incest as a romantic/sexual subject, or non-consensual sex framed approvingly — these may be referenced as part of a survivor's story but cannot be the romantic or sexual focus of a narrative.

Worked examples

If you're unsure where your story falls, these examples should help:

Allowed

“She kissed him hard, pulled him toward the bed. The lamp flicked off. Hours later, dawn light through the curtains found them tangled in the sheets.”

Allowed

A war scene with detailed injuries, characters bleeding out, the smell and noise of combat. Graphic violence is permitted within a narrative context where it serves the story.

Not allowed

A scene that doesn't fade — paragraphs of explicit physical description of intercourse, anatomical detail, or similar content. Even within a literary novel, this type of content is outside the scope of what Boughly publishes.

First-publish stories may be reviewed against this page; reviews are typically completed before publication but may vary depending on volume and other factors. If your story is rejected for crossing the Mature line, the rejection note will generally reference the specific guideline that applies, and you can edit and resubmit.

Platform availability

Mature (18+) stories are published on the Boughly web platform only — they are not distributed in the Boughly mobile apps, in line with app store content policies. Readers on iOS or Android who follow a link to a Mature story are directed to read it on boughly.com. General and Teen stories are available everywhere.

Always Prohibited (any tier)

Regardless of rating, the following is never permitted on Boughly:

Sexual content involving minors — see Mature definition above. Permanent ban; reported to NCMEC where appropriate.
Real-world instructions for creating weapons, drugs, or explosives — fiction may reference these; instructions for actual production are out.
Doxxing — sharing private personal information about real people without authorization.
Targeted harassment — content that, in Boughly's reasonable judgment, is created to harass, threaten, or incite real-world harm against a specific real person.
Hate speech — content that, in Boughly's reasonable judgment, attacks or dehumanizes individuals or groups based on protected characteristics including race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or serious medical condition.
Malware or phishing — code, links, or instructions designed to compromise readers.
Direct incitement to imminent real-world violence — fiction may depict violence; calls for real-world action are out.
Impersonation — claiming to be another real person, organization, or brand.
Coordinated inauthentic behavior — sock-puppet accounts, vote manipulation, fake reviews.

AI Content Policy

Boughly currently allows AI-assisted stories, subject to the requirements below and to Boughly's AI policies, which may be updated from time to time. Our current requirements:

Disclose it — choose the level (None / AI-edited / AI-generated) during publishing. The matching tag is added to your story automatically.
Review it — you are responsible for all content in your story, including AI-generated portions. Review for accuracy, quality, and guideline compliance.
Don't flood — mass-publishing low-quality AI content is treated as spam.

Readers can filter the Explore page by AI disclosure level. Undisclosed AI content discovered through reports may result in the story being unpublished or relisted with the correct tag.

Paid Stories

Once paid stories are live, the same content rules apply — no separate “explicit, but paid” tier exists. Additional creator obligations for paid stories:

Creators agree to keep paid stories available to readers who have unlocked them, to the extent reasonably practicable and subject to the Terms of Service. Where a creator unpublishes a paid story, existing buyers generally retain ongoing access via their library, subject to legal, compliance, and operational obligations described in the Terms.
You must complete Stripe Connect onboarding (KYC, bank linking, tax forms) before submitting a paid story.
You are responsible for income tax on creator earnings; Stripe issues the relevant tax forms.
The standard 7-day refund policy applies to all paid stories, including Mature.

Reporting & Appeals

If you find content that violates these guidelines, use the Report button on any story page. Reports are typically reviewed within a few business days; Boughly aims to act on urgent reports more quickly where possible.

If your content is flagged or removed, you will receive a notification explaining the violation. You can appeal moderation decisions by contacting support@boughly.com.

Repeat Violations

Boughly generally takes a progressive approach to enforcement, which may include any combination of the following depending on the severity, context, and pattern of violations:

Content flagged; author notified and given an opportunity to correct.
Content removed and a formal warning issued.
Temporary account suspension.
Permanent account termination.

Boughly may, in its discretion, skip steps and proceed directly to removal, suspension, or termination based on the nature of the violation. Severe violations (including CSAM, doxxing, and coordinated abuse) may result in immediate termination without progressive steps. Buyers of paid stories from a terminated creator generally retain ongoing access via their library, subject to the Terms.