After looking through Multehx's IS Guide, I found only a reference to moderator
action in the case of profanity. I also have found no suggestion of rules
relating to profane material for the Interactive Story.
Therefore, as Head Editor of APHIS, I feel that it is my duty to lay out
guidelines regarding profanity. This is done out of the non-wanting of this to
turn into neither a vulgar story nor a pornographic novel. I am sure that all
participants of this IS feel the same way.
When We Meet Again, Twilight Council and Stranded on Zolott are pieces
of literature. Therefore, as literature and writing is a reflection of society
at the time and individual thought, swearing and profanity are acceptable in
it. However, as far as I'm concerned, there are five lists of swear words, in
varying degrees of vulgarity. Some words are two pronged, with a word that can
be used profanely and another without consequence (e.g., bastard). The profane
use is what I'm talking about here.
"Ethically Acceptable" Swearing
Use as much as you want.
Damn
Hell
Heck
Bum
Suck (as in, You/He/She/It/I)
Any swear words that you create for your characters (e.g. "hegeratu"), as long as they remain un-literally
translated, so don't say "He cried 'gulto',
which is Pandoran for the word '****'." They may
be translated with an inoffensive synonym, i.e. "...Pandoran
for the vulgarity relating to solid ablutions."
Mild Level
Please don't use as much, but it's still acceptable.
Bloody
Bugger
Crap
Christ, God, Jesus etc.
Gay
Lesbian
Homo
Medium level
Use sparingly.
Bastard
Bitch
Arse(hole)
Dick(head)
Any sexual body parts (but no actions that they may undertake)
High level:
Shit
This word must only
be used in dialogue, and very rarely,
as an ultimate exclamation.
Forbidden:
F--k (and variations of).
Do not even used censored.
Forbidden also means the use of any explicit sexual references (e.g. "I
want to suck your...") or scenes. Do not use them
explicitly. If you want to use them, refer to them, i.e. "He then said
something along the lines of wanting to fornicate with her." "If you
were nearby, you would have heard a menagerie of grunting and sucking
noises."
Please stay away from masturbation, homosexuality, incest, bestiality and sexual
fetishes.
Failure of compliance with these guidelines will result in censorship
by yours truly, and repeated offences will result in firstly a single
warning, then suspension of posting rights (your post will be
deleted when I find it, and any following for an
indefinite time) and then finally, termination and re-patching of story.
Bypassing of steps may occur in extreme cases.
~Dyluck Thanatos "Lich"
Yoshi von Kippo, Head Editor
N.B. (addition of further
explanation) Some people still see the word
"bloody" as really offensive (even though, personally I'd put it as a
Mild), as it refers to the blood of Christ. However, I have tried to take into
consideration the general offensiveness of words according to culture, though I
come from one where ruggedness is a norm. I know it is considered offensive to say
the word "damn" in some places of the
I have not said, "Do not swear". In fact, I am encouraging the use of
swearing to make characters more real. It's literature; you can get away with
it. However, I don't want this to turn into the South Park Movie, so
that is why I created the list.
I do say the words I have put in the higher levels when I am angry or shocked,
so they're not foreign to my tongue. However, I feel that their uncensored
inclusion will bump the rating of this place up.
N.B. The board does censor a lot of
these words, so use of them constitutes self-censorship, such as the
substitution of asterisks, dashes, or symbols for letters while retaining enough
of the word to be recognisable.