I don’t think it’s necessary.

[Implied BL12] About RC numbers, by Kі nо Shirayuki on 2022-10-02 22:55:33 UTC Reply

I think we should add a note on the wiki page advising writers not to claim the number 731 (BL12 in that link), especially if the agents are Japanese and/or deal with Japanese media.

I'm sure plenty of numbers have had negative connotations throughout history . . . by doctorlit on 2022-10-03 00:02:07 UTC Reply

. . . but I don't see much benefit in banning specific numbers, especially for something as background-detail as an RC number.

—doctorlit

Yes, but this one has war crime connotations by Kі nо Shirayuki on 2022-10-03 00:16:44 UTC Reply

and is so hugely infamous for said connotations that it's hard to compare it to other "bad" numbers. Since there are apparently no other numbers with equally bad connotations (that I know of), I only propose barring this one number.

I apologize if this discussion is in uncomfortable territory.

The wiki page lists other, similar units. by Neshomeh on 2022-10-03 16:53:14 UTC Reply

I bet the Germans had numbers for buildings where they did terrible things to people, too. It doesn't seem that unique to me.

Anyway, a number is just an arrangement of integers, and this one has other, non-evil associations, too. It's an area code in Tennessee, for instance.

The way I see it, anyone who has a bad association with a particular number isn't likely to use it. Anyone who doesn't know of a bad association for a particular number won't intentionally use it to cause harm. And encouraging a particular arrangement of integers to become an object of fear for people to whom it wasn't before seems distasteful to me.

~Neshomeh wants fewer things to worry about, not more.
I don’t think it’s necessary. by Linstar on 2022-10-03 11:19:43 UTC Edited Reply

If someone wants to claim it, we can bring it up then, but I don’t think we need to proactively prevent this.

—Ls