Subject: Semi-OT, just a quick note for all re. the Discord blacklist.
Author:
Posted on: 2021-02-19 18:15:32 UTC
Not everyone in the PPC community frequents the Discord. If you choose to use warnings on your missions or your posts, please make sure they're clear for everyone, not just habitual Discord users. Thanks. {= )
~Neshomeh
I apologize if I'm flooding the Board with posts, but every so often the mission-writing enthusiasm returns. The other mission I'd posted was written a really long time ago, but this one last week, and I feel like it's a step in the right direction from what I've complained about in my older writing. I'll try to keep my mission-writing pace a bit more even from now on instead of posting three missions in a row once a year, especially because I don't want to start too many Board threads at a time.
Right, here goes. The continuity is the second Fatal Frame game, but as far as I can tell, the mission doesn't need a lot of canon knowledge. The appropriate warnings have been given at the beginning, but let's go over them again: NS4Cal and NSF4M jokes, a very brief bit of body horror, and some of the canonical horrors of Fatal Frame, although they're really downplayed in the mission for the comedy's sake (for those who don't know, it's a survival horror game). Many thanks to Cicada and GeniusGamer for betaing this.
Enjoy! ^_^
P.S. I've noticed that the font changes mid-mission because... (insert long story about editing this mission that's completely irrelevant). Formatting issues like that are one of the reasons I'm not that comfortable using Dreamwidth anymore.
Hey, I'm sorry I've taken so long to respond to you current set of missions. I got a new hand-me-down computer from a friend, but I had much confusion in getting it to connect properly to my old monitors. I'm hoping to catch up on all the missions this weekend!
Anyway, I quite enjoyed this mission! Not only were Melissa and May very funny, but I was especially amused by your "narration voice." You used it to great effect to comment on the absurdity of the reality warping that both agents felt equally. My favorite was the narration's admission that the rocks were justified in whimpering, despite the facts that they shouldn't have been. Oh, and the apples making people slip in midair!
I also like how you portrayed Danielle as being blissfully unaware of the weirdness around her, and ultimately not particularly hostile to the Word World at all. It works really well for this story, especially in light of bringing her to FicPsych at the end. You're becoming quite the "pacifist playthrough" person with these Suefics! (Which I like.)
—doctorlit, with a big bottle of catch-up
I really appreciate that you take the time to read my stuff to begin with, so really, no need to apologize. :) And I'm especially happy to hear that you enjoyed this one, because aside from Whispered Tales it might be my new favorite of my own PPC writings. It was a lot of fun trying my hand at a more surreal style of comedy, and it's a relief to know that it works as I intended. Especially the whimpering rocks! And as for Danielle: I've read so much genuinely awful stuff, both published books and fics (some of which I'd intended to mission before I swore off the squick) that I tend to be more lenient with the harmless kind of bad, and this fic was genuinely entertaining, even if it was for the wrong reasons. Besides, I feel more comfortable with non-violent conclusions these days. I'll see where the writing future takes me, but I feel like this mission and the Sumie-Finn one are a step in the right direction.
Thanks for reading! ^_^
I loved how you set up the scary mini to be doing bad things in the RC, only for it to turn out to be batting at fabric like a cat. But then, the message comes through that everyone nearby thought the RC was haunted! Excellent double-fake-out!
—doctorlit
It's always nice to slide back into the adventures of Melissa and May, and see what sort of absurdity you've found. You really do have a talent for locating the strangest stuff. Hope I can continue betaing and reading with you. :)
It was thanks to your insights that this mission became something I was genuinely eager to post. I really enjoy working with you on my writing, and you're always a great help. :) And I'm really glad that you enjoy Melissa and May's outings, because it's great fun writing their adventures in the land of Nonsense Mirage Finds. I don't know where I've acquired my ability to find the weirdest of the worst, but as long as fun things like this mission or the Raze sporking come out of it, I'm very glad to share the bad with you and the others. Thank you for reading, as always, and thanks again for the great beta work!
looks at nearly finished mission of my own
sweeps it under the rug (that randomly appeared) while whistling
rug begins to whistle
Ugh, never mind.
Anyways, I laughed out loud at several points in the fic. I absolutely loved it.
Making people laugh is always my main goal while writing missions. It's good to know that I've succeeded this time! And really, I can sympathise, I have a mission shouting at me to finish writing it too. I'm sure you'll get it done when the right time for writing comes. ^_^
Thanks for reading!
Not everyone in the PPC community frequents the Discord. If you choose to use warnings on your missions or your posts, please make sure they're clear for everyone, not just habitual Discord users. Thanks. {= )
~Neshomeh
I sort of assumed it would be...
Apparently not; in fact the Wiki slightly implies there /isn't / a blacklist, by saying "The rules are simple: abide by the Constitution and don't be nasty." I assume it's written down /somewhere/, and that everyone's not just holding a 10+ item numbered list in their heads; can we get it put into the community information repository?
For the record, I have a vague idea what 4Moons stays away from, but not a clue about Cal(liope? Or do we have another Cal?).
hS
The "landing zone" for the Discord - the place where you go when you first join the server - has the complete list of blacklisted topics in a numbered order that is clearly visible. I guess nobody really thought to update the Wiki with those blacklisted topics. I feel I should also mention that the topics themselves are not forbidden from discussion; rather, Discord users are obliged to put them in spoiler tags and tag them with a content warning, usually something along the lines of BL1.
For reference, the list is as follows:-
Suicide
References to people or animals being food and/or preyed upon, as well as food being presented in the shape of people or animals, or being self-aware
Body horror
Eyes being hurt
Stuffed animals being destroyed
Incest
Forced dunking
Apocalyptic thinking and plausible catastrophes
Needles
Destructive fires, immolation, burn injuries
Grooming of the abusive variety
Child abuse, kidnapping, or abandonment
Some specific topics have NSF[boarder] tags as well, generally related to the blacklists. For example, NSF4M - not safe for FourMoonsWatching - refers to blacklist 2, and could also be (and generally is) tagged as BL2. Their meanings are roughly equivalent, and in many cases predate the adoption of the numbered blacklist or the subject matter being added to it.
I hope this was helpful and useful.
Whoever maintains the blacklist (I'm guessing Delta and/or Maslab?), would you kindly do so on the wiki, too?
I'd still suggest a best policy of clearly stating the kind of content you're warning for, for the sake of readers who are new, infrequent, or using a device that makes it inconvenient to go looking for information elsewhere. To quote Willow Rosenberg of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. But, if it's listed on the wiki, it can at least be linked to.
~Neshomeh
The bare bones, anyway. Everyone, feel free to add anything I overlooked. This was a "make it before work while scarfing down breakfast" job.
—doctorlit, watching the clock tick down