Hello all,

There has been discussion among the Yellow People for the past day or two about what to do with touchier aspects of your world building and writing. There are threads in the Theology room that cover some pretty edgy topics and y'all have handled the discussions very maturely *claps*. However, it has been brought up that there are some topics which may be a bit too much to be laid out in public for anyone to stumble upon without warning. You might be thinking this a bit exaggerated, but remember that we have some fairly young members perusing the forums as well as some who just don't want to have to think about some situations for reasons of their own comfort. Because of this, we present to you the "Touchy Subjects" room!

This room has restricted access, meaning you can only read it by pm-ing an ML who can give you the permissions (in this case, ME). Those wishing to get help working out how to write about or develop things like torture methods, demonic activity, non-human modesty, or any other subject that you think could make others feel uncomfortable can pm me (or another ML, I just happen to be the one spear-heading this effort) and ask for access. Then they can post about the issue and receive helpful ideas without worrying about offending people unintentionally. However, they should remember that the same standards of purity, godliness, and discretion maintained throughout the forums still apply to the "Touchy Subjects" room. This is a place to discuss how to write about the hard and sometimes ugly realities of our worlds in a God-honoring manner, not a free-for-all for unwholesome comments.

But it's not enough for people to post their questions. We also need members with strong stomachs, disciplined imaginations, and strong spiritual integrity to help guide the posters through these difficult questions. This will probably be a minority of our members. But if after praying and searching your heart, you feel you could and are willing to help in this area, then talk to your parents about it and with their approval pm me and I'll get you access.

PLEASE NOTE:Due to the serious, and at some points adult, nature of these conversations. We encourage you and even expect you to talk to your parents before requesting access to this room. These are some very heavy things we'll be discussing and even if you think you can handle it, your parents might not want you exposed to these issues and we would not want to be responsible for going against the will of your parents, whom God has entrusted with your care. Also because of this, we will require contact from parents stating their approval before we grant access to any member under the age of thirteen. I personally would not want my twelve-year-old sister reading some of the questions I'll be asking and I'm sure most parents (mine included) would feel the same way. I was very close to moving this age to as late as fourteen or fifteen, but it was agreed upon by the other Yellow People that thirteen was a good dividing line. Your parents can either email myself ([email protected]) or Jay ([email protected]) or pm one of us through your account. I personally would prefer email since that limits the likelihood of forgery (which I'm not expecting to be an issue with our members anyways) but I'm flexible. Whatever works best for them.

Anyways, that's the new room. Hope to see some of y'all there soon. Keep honoring Him in all that you do.

In Christ,
Jordan

I won't be posting. (I'm about the age of your sister.) Plus, I hate debates personally.

Wanted to clarify a few things.
There are already threads in the Theology room that deal with touchy subjects. These will be left up with the understanding that anything posted there needs to be kept on a level appropriate for younger members and sensitive members. This also applies to posting new threads in the Theology room, keep things appropriate quality for everyone. If you have a question or issue that you think could cause discomfort for some who might stumble on it, then it needs to go into the "Tricky Subjects" room. Thanks!

Elly, you're one of the reasons we had in mind And hopefully there won't be any debating

Right. I'll still be reading some of the theology threads, though.

(Nice job, guys, it helps with the younger members not being exposed to all 'those' type of topics. )

I agree, love this new change guys.

See, example. The threads in theology are not specific in nature. The torture thread discusses the morality and philosophy of it in general. Should we include it in our books? We do not discuss it in actuality. That would be highly inappropriate. There are some people who need to actually develop detailed scenarios in those areas and cannot, because of the graphic or sensitive nature of such questions. That is what tricky subjects are for.

I also will not be participating in the tricky subject forum, Elly, because I just don't get into that kind of thing. So I'll continue to post my controversial theology threads and we'll continue to discuss them in theology and if someone wants to take it to a deeper level that's when it goes to the Tricky Subjects.

(Did I help explain or just make things muddy?)

Nope, good explanation, Katie

Also, there should be no debates breaking out in the Tricky Subjects room. We intend to keep the same level of maturity and discussion in there as we do on the rest of the forum. We will just be dealing with either more mature subjects, or as Katie said, subjects that could be graphically disturbing due to the need to give specifics.

Little side-note. When you pm me, mention that you've cleared it with your parents even if you're older than thirteen so that I can know that I'm not giving you access to something they'd disapprove of

Sounds interesting.

What's wrong with a maturely handled debate? Debate might be the wrong word... multi-sided discussion? I like reasoning through and discussing disagreements instead of brushing them over... but oh well, I'm biased, I'm a fourth year debater (CCofSE) and founder of a debate forum.

That's what we do on HW, Eli. Elly wasn't talking about that kind of debate. I'm fond of mental challenge as well. Stimulating discussions are very much welcomed.

I have a proposal. In that room could we have two sub-forums? One about demonic characters and such and the other with threads along the line of the 'Implied Nakedness' thread in the theology forum? I have some questions I would like to ask about Merashath, but I don't want to be exposed to the other kinds of stuff that will be in there, being at the stage of life that I'm at.

The topics will be clearly set out in the thread titles, so you can just avoid those threads. Does that make sense?

Yeah, I guess so...I would rather it simply not being there in the first place, so I don't have to worry about it, like the topics in there now. Because, to ask a couple of questions about one of my characters demonic nature and status, I have to agree to see totally (also touchy) different kinds of subjects. Sorry if I'm being difficult...

Why don't you PM your questions to some of the MLs, Mods, HRM, or unringed that you trust to give you good, sound advice, Elanhil. Since you don't want to participate in the other discussions, I think it would be wise for you to just PM your questions to those selected people. I know they would be happy to give their opinion, and then you don’t have to worry about the other things.

Thanks Airianna... I was afraid my newfound HW friends were the "Let's ignore all disagreements" type. That would have been tragic. A discussion over our disagreements where at the same time we have a competition to try and be more polite than the other person involved is always fun.

Hehe... Zanya Flame probably knows more than she would like about how much I like to have theological discourses... we stayed up pretty late having a non-debate.

Oh yeah, somebody needs to actually start a conversation in the board in question.

Maybe I'll have to do it...

Yea I was like, it's empty!! Maybe touchy subjects will be rare.

I think you win your Theological debates simply by talking so fast and well that the other person is too far behind and braindead to answer profoundly.

I like this idea! Although the Implied Nakedness and Swearing threads didn't bug me, I know I wouldn't be comfortable with any of my younger siblings reading those. And touchy issues aren't really anything I use in my books extensively (a book can be a good fantasy without questionable content, not that I'm avoiding issues, I'd just rather not read and write about certain ones) . In the meantime, I don't think I'll join the subforum, unless I find something I need to work out in my writing.

Quick question (I may have missed this posted earlier), are the issue-laden threads in Theology going to be moved to the new subforum, or will you just start from scratch?

The threads in theology will stay in theology. As I said before, those threads discuss just the general principle, whereas the touchy subjects discuss specifics that most of us really don't want to get into.

The problem with doing what you suggested earlier, Jaynin, is that I feel like I'm forcing a conversation on somebody, whereas a topic the person can choose whether or not to get involved. And also, being a touchy subject, how do I know that the person I'm PMing won't be bothered by it? It's just a bit more...awkward.

Elanhil: What if you PM them a request for help and ask if they would be comfortable with it, leaving them room to say no. Then, if they agree, you can ask your questions, or send them the piece of writing you need help on.

That was my original stance on creating this room, that issues like this should be discussed privately with someone you know and trust. You have a friend who's opinion you really value and you ask them if they'd help you with a tricky subject, and usually I think they will. If the forum isn't an option for you, I think that's a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Oh, and I didn't originally make that suggestion, that was Airianna.

Our identity has been mistaken once again, Katie

Whatever you are comfortable with, Elanhil. You could also start a thread that requests those who would like to participate in said discussion to speak up, and then PM those who reply.

I'm sorry, y'all!

Ok...I'm not up to the point in the story yet, so we shall see...

So, I have a question. Since I'm thirteen do I still have to get my parents to send you guys an email? Or can I just PM somebody (sorry don't know the technical term for the "somebody" ) after I get my parents' consent? Just curious, 'cause I'm always one to get involved in "touchy subjects".

I guess I need to edit that to say "thirteen and under" so that I don't confuse any more people
I'm the "someone" you need to ask and yes, I'll need an email ([email protected]) or pm written by your parents saying that they're ok with you having access to the Tricky Subjects room before I give you access.

Okay, thanks.

Since I'm a Marcher Lord, should I have access to the new room? Because I don't at the moment. Either way is fine, I just thought I'd ask. (yes, I'm older than 13)

It's specific user permissions. I'm also a Marcher Lord and don't have permission. I have permission to give myself permission but it has to be set up specifically. It's not default.

*chuckles* Do you know how funny it was for me finding the room before finding this thread? I was starting to doubt my sanity...

"Where did that spring from? I was certain that room wasn't there last time I checked! And I can't get in!"



But great idea, folks. Thanks so much for this. Although my younger sister doesn't travel far abroad in HW lands, I feel better knowing that she won't stumble on any graphic or disturbing topics. If I have a need to enter into something there, I'll let you and my parents know.

Now that's funny.

I owned my forum before I became an administrator on it, so the other admin told me I could become one when I figured out how to make myself one manually from phpMyAdmin on the server control panel.

* laughs out loud * That is funny.

Even I had to give myself permission to access it.

You guys didn't hear the funny part of the situation Katie had a funny thing she likened this to You should share it, Katie.

Salvation? Nobody else can choose to save you?

Although I'd take that one step further...

Now that is one board I'd pay to see... The HW Marcher Lords are some of the most humorous and nicest people I've met.

I agree.

Agree to letting me bribe you, or agree to the compliment to the MLs?

The compliment.

*chuckles* No, that is not what Katie likened it to.

I said that it's like asking yourself to drive your car.

"I don't have permission."
"Well, who do you have to ask?"
"Um... me?"

But it really pretty simple, there's a list of people and if you're not on that list you can't see that room. So everyone has to be added to the list, regardless of rank. It's all very interesting.

Haha! I understand that feeling.
I don't think Seer is online right now, so I went ahead and added you. I copied all the permissions to the scifi forum last night so I did my wandering then and understand it pretty well.

lol! *loves the MLs!*

Hmm.
I'm not even sure what to say about that one.
Because it obviously didn't occur to me to just go give myself permission.
Wow.
*laughs*