No, I'm not taking any breaks or delaying any categories, don't worry. This is about the content rating of this contest and also about my contests moving forward, so please, if you have a minute, read this update.

I've made the decision, in an abundance of caution, to mark these awards as mature. Following the previous category discussing intense themes for the majority of the category, I no longer feel comfortable keeping this contest marked as for everyone.

This doesn't change the next two categories or any rules I've said previously. Of course, this contest is open to anyone 13 or older since that is Wattpad's minimum age.

All of this is to say please be very cautious of what I discuss in my reviews. I place trigger warnings for any discussions of serious topics like SA, but oversights can and will happen. There's no way for me to know what does and does not trigger individuals, so I place general TWs for the most serious and common triggers, but it is extremely difficult to put everything.

I realize there is always something I can do better with contests. Every individual is different, and through meeting these individuals, I've learned more, and what I've learned is when you have no triggers and are an adult, you don't see the same things those with triggers and/or are younger than you do, and I would like to make changes to properly accommodate that.

One change I will make is stating what the book's content rating is prior to my review so you know what books are for everyone versus what books are mature. This change will apply to every contest I make moving forward. 

Another change is I will also give a brief opening line stating the general content of the story.

An example would be:

Starfield by Ravendipity

RATED: MATURE

CONTENT INCLUDES: Mentions of SA (not shown, not even in flashbacks), graphic violence, graphic sexual content, torture, ab/se, inappropriate humor, major character death.

Review:

Blah blah blah yap yap yap whatever Raven says during reviews (99% accuracy of my reviews tbh).

That's the gist of what I will do moving forward. A clean version would look like this:

The Trip of Love by Ravendipity

RATED: PG-13

CONTENT INCLUDES: Generally a cleanfic with minor instances of swear words and sexual humor.

I hope those examples are helpful. I've always been a more visual person. Maybe that's why I'm an over-explainer; I never think anything I say makes sense unless I provide examples, lol.

Keep in mind that since Wattpad is a 13+ app, anything non-mature is defaulted to PG-13, even if the story is suitable for a G audience.

Another change I am considering is adding clearer dividers for reviews. QoL changes are just as important, in my opinion, and my reviews are long. Scrolling through them to find my thoughts on your friend's work is... hard, to say the least. If it's hard for me and I wrote the dang things, I can only imagine how it is on you.

So, I am considering two options. One is to include all covers in my reviews to more easily bounce around, though this would mean clearer dividers between the placements and the reviews, as typically only placements have their covers shown to make them pop more.

The other is to have two chapters per category: one for the placements, one for the rest of the reviews (which would be released together).

Both of these options have their pros and cons. I'm leaning more toward having two chapters, that way I can have the best of both worlds. If I have two chapters, I can include the covers in the second chapter with no worries about the image limit or taking away from the placements, and it gives the chapter easier navigation due to reduced read times.

Also, I typically do not include a "mature" category in my forms, but that's another thing I'd like to revisit. One last change is that in future contests, I will add a "POTENTIAL CONTENT WARNINGS" section so I can add those CWs to the review. Of course, I will mention any other CWs I see fit, but no one knows the story better than the writer.

This may seem like overkill, but I know many people who read my reviews just because they want to. My reviews are not just for the writer receiving them; they are public reflections of my standards when it comes to the craft and also an avenue for writers to find entertainment and maybe even education. I take this seriously, and there is always room for improvement.

So, in short, no, the rating change was not Wattpad's doing; that was mine. There's no cause for alarm, though, as this is just me being abundantly cautious.

If there are any issues this creates due to content filter settings, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. If you are in one or both of the next categories, please let me know if you can see this update or not. I'll be reaching out to all the participants of the next two categories over the next few days to ensure this change won't cause any issues.

If you have any questions or concerns for me regarding this change, please let me know! I'm sorry if anything is hard to understand; it's 4:25 a.m. as I write this, but I didn't want to go to bed without keeping everyone updated on why I made the rating change. So questions are welcomed!

I'll see you very soon for the Best Fanfic introductions. Happy holidays, everyone!

~ Raven