COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

Herix may review a story when there is reason to believe generative AI wrote its actual content.

If a writer is found to have knowingly submitted AI-generated fiction:

1. 01First offense. A warning.
2. 02Second offense. A one-week suspension.
3. 03Third offense. Permanent removal from the Herix writing program.

Permanent removal can also end participation in a Herix Studios Partner Program agreement.

Severe or repeated violations may be handled more strictly at the discretion of Herix staff.

Herix gives writers considerable freedom in what they choose to write.

Stories may contain mature themes, violence, gore, sexual content, disturbing subjects, controversial ideas, and other material intended for mature audiences, as long as they are labeled accurately.

Mature content

Graphic violence, gore, and sexual content are permitted when they follow every other guideline, but a story containing them must carry the Mature content rating. See Content Ratings for what each rating covers.

Prohibited content

Fictional depictions of disturbing, controversial, or offensive subjects may be permitted when they are presented as part of a story and labeled appropriately. Content with offensive language or themes should carry a warning where a reader would reasonably want one.

Herix staff may remove content that breaks these guidelines or presents a significant risk to the community.

Every story on Herix carries one content rating: General, Teen, or Mature. The writer chooses it when setting up the story, and it tells readers what to expect before the first chapter.

How ratings work for readers

• Choose which ratings appear for you under Settings → Reading → Reading & Content Preferences. Mature stories are hidden from Browse and Search for signed-in readers until you turn them on there.
• Opening a Mature story shows a warning first.
• You need to be signed in to read the chapters of a Mature story.

General

Suitable for a broad audience, including younger readers. General-rated stories may include:

• Mild or infrequent conflict
• Non-graphic violence
• Mild fantasy or action themes
• Mild romantic themes
• Occasional mild language
• Non-disturbing depictions of danger, injury, or death

They should not contain substantial graphic violence, sexual content, heavy profanity, or other material mainly intended for a mature audience. If your story has material that may be unsuitable for younger readers, rate it Teen or Mature instead.

Teen

Written mainly for teenage and older readers, with more intense themes or situations than General. Teen-rated stories may contain:

• Moderate or recurring violence
• Some blood or non-graphic injuries
• Stronger language used occasionally
• Romantic relationships and kissing
• References to sexual relationships without explicit sexual content
• Alcohol or drug references
• Horror or suspense
• Death, grief, bullying, or other serious themes

They should not contain prolonged graphic violence, explicit sexual content, or other content intended mainly for adults. Readers and parents or guardians should check a story's warnings when available.

Mature

For adult readers. Mature-rated stories may contain:

• Strong or frequent profanity
• Graphic or disturbing violence
• Detailed descriptions of injuries or death
• Sexual themes and adult sexual situations
• Drug or alcohol use
• Crime or abuse
• Horror, gore, or disturbing imagery
• Psychologically or emotionally intense themes

For writers

You are responsible for rating your story accurately and keeping the rating accurate as the story develops. If later chapters get darker, change the rating from the story's settings in your dashboard. Staff may unpublish a story whose rating clearly doesn't match its content until the rating is corrected.

Genres, tags, titles, synopses, and covers are how readers decide what to open, so they need to describe the story honestly.

• Choose genres and tags that fit what the story actually contains.
• Don't add unrelated tags to reach more readers.
• Don't use a title, synopsis, or cover that misrepresents the story or its rating.

Staff may ask you to fix misleading tags or descriptions, and may unpublish a story until they are fixed.

Fan fiction is welcome on Herix. When publishing it, writers must:

• Tag the story with the Fanfiction genre.
• Name the original franchise, game, book, series, or other work in the story's description.
• Make it clear that the story is based on an existing fictional property.

Fan fiction may not be presented as an original Herix work.

You may publish stories that have appeared on other platforms, as long as you are the author or hold the rights. Previously published works are not eligible to become:

• Featured stories
• Herix Studios Originals
• Herix Studios Partner Program projects

This lets Herix highlight stories being developed specifically within the Herix community.

AI-assisted translation of your own work is permitted.

If a story was translated with AI, say so in the story's description, along with the language it was originally written in.

You remain responsible for everything you publish and should make sure the translation accurately represents your work.

These rules cover every image you upload: avatars, story and volume covers, character and extras images, and images inside chapters.

• Upload only images you made or have the rights to use.
• AI-generated artwork is not permitted for covers or for images used in stories. If it is found, Herix may remove it.
• Images are accepted as PNG or JPEG. GIFs are not accepted.

Every image is checked before it appears

Each upload is screened automatically before anyone else can see it. Sexually explicit images, graphic violence, and self-harm imagery are blocked or held until a staff member reviews them, and sexualized images of minors are refused and deleted outright. Covers and story images are also checked for signs of AI generation, and held for review if they look generated. This applies whatever the story's rating: a Mature rating covers what you write, not explicit images.

A held or blocked image stays hidden until staff approve it, so a mistaken block can still be overturned. If staff reject it, the image is deleted and removed from wherever it was used.

Comments are for discussing chapters and giving constructive feedback.

• Mark anything that gives away a later plot point as a spoiler, so it stays hidden until a reader chooses to reveal it.
• You can edit a comment once after posting it, and delete your own comments at any time.
• Vote comments up or down on whether they add to the discussion, not on whether you like the commenter.

Controls for writers

Under Settings → Privacy → Privacy, writers can turn comments or replies off on their stories, or require approval so new comments stay hidden until they let them through. On their own stories, writers can also hide, delete, or report any comment.

Writers and staff can hide or remove a comment, but nobody else can edit what you wrote.

What gets removed

Herix staff may remove comments that are hateful, harassing, abusive, spam, or otherwise inappropriate. Comments with nothing to say beyond insulting the work ("this sucks") may be removed depending on the context.

Readers can leave one written review per story, or one per volume when a story is split into volumes.

• No spoilers. Reviews are read by people deciding whether to start a story.
• Reviews can't be edited once posted, so read yours over before you submit it.
• Review the story, not the writer. The respect rules above apply in full.

The story's writer and Herix staff can remove a review that contains spoilers or breaks these guidelines. If you want your own review taken down, contact us.

Herix uses a five-star rating system, in half-star steps. A story without volumes is rated as a whole; a story with volumes is rated volume by volume, and its overall score is built from those.

Readers are free to rate honestly, including with low ratings, and a written explanation is welcome but not required. You can change your rating at any time, or select it again to remove it.

Ratings should be given in good faith. Using them to harass or target a writer, or manipulating them through multiple accounts or other deception, may result in suspension.

Writers can post short updates to their profile, either general or tagged to one of their stories. Readers can upvote an update and reply to it.

Updates and replies follow the same rules as comments. Keep updates about your writing and your stories, and don't use them to pile on or call out other users. Writers can delete their own updates, and staff may remove updates or replies that break these guidelines.

Writers are welcome to promote their own work and social media:

• On your own stories and in your own writer updates
• On your own profile
• Through links to your external platforms
• By sharing your Herix stories on other websites

Advertising your work in another author's story, comments, or updates without permission is not permitted, and neither is posting the same message repeatedly.

1. 01First violation. A warning.
2. 02Continued violations. A one-week commenting restriction.

Posting limits

Every account has limits on how many comments, replies, reports, and writer updates it can post in a given time. Ordinary use won't come near them. If you reach one, Herix tells you and you can post again after a short wait.

You must be at least 13 years old to use Herix. You give your date of birth when you sign up, and it is never shown to other users.

• New accounts are confirmed with a code sent to your email address.
• Each person may keep one Herix account.
• Pen names and anonymous identities are welcome. You never have to use your real name publicly.
• Usernames may use letters, numbers, underscores, and periods, and can be changed once every 30 days.

Impersonating another user, writer, public figure, or organization is prohibited and may result in suspension or removal. So is creating another account to get around a suspension.

Keeping your account secure

You are responsible for activity on your account, so don't share your password. We recommend turning on two-factor authentication under Settings → Privacy → Security, where you can also review recent sign-ins and sign out sessions you don't recognize.

Unless you sign a separate Herix Studios partnership agreement, you keep full ownership of your stories. Herix does not claim ownership of ordinary stories published on the platform.

You are responsible for having the rights to everything you upload, including:

• Written content
• Artwork and images
• Fonts or other creative assets where applicable

Do not upload someone else's work and claim it as your own.

From your dashboard you can draft, schedule, publish, and unpublish chapters, and edit a story's details, rating, and tags at any time.

If staff unpublish one of your stories, it returns to your drafts with nothing deleted. Fix what was raised and you can publish it again, or contact us if you think it was a mistake.

Stories in an active Partner Program agreement can't be removed independently while the agreement runs.

Some violations can lead to immediate suspension or removal, skipping the usual warning:

Herix staff decide the appropriate action based on the circumstances.

If you believe someone has uploaded your work without permission, use the contact form with the inquiry type set to Copyright / DMCA, or email [email protected]. Include a link to the copy and information showing that the work is yours, such as where you first published it.

Herix may take the reported work down while the claim is reviewed. If the claim holds, Herix may remove the work and act against the account responsible.

False or malicious copyright claims may themselves result in moderation action.

If you come across content or behavior that breaks these guidelines, report it to Herix staff.

• A comment or reply: select Report under it.
• A user: block them from their profile, then choose to report them when Herix asks.
• A story, chapter, review, image, or writer update: use the contact form with a link to it.
• Copyright: see Plagiarism & Copyright above.

Give as much relevant detail as you can. Reports can cover AI-generated content, prohibited content, a rating that doesn't match the story, harassment, impersonation, or any other violation.

Please report in good faith. Don't use reporting to target writers because you dislike their work or opinions.

If you receive a moderation action, you can appeal it through the contact form with the inquiry type set to Account & Technical Support.

Say which action you are appealing and on which story, comment, or account, explain why it should be reconsidered, and include anything the original review may have missed.

Herix staff review appeals case by case. An appeal doesn't guarantee that a decision will change.