There are two sets of rules: those that can get you banned, and those that we describe as "common courtesy".
The latter will not provoke a warning or ban unless broken excessively (which, in fact, is a breach of rule 1d) or broken again after the staff repeatedly asked you to stop (violation of rule 1c).
RULES THAT CAN GET YOU BANNED
1a. Politeness. All members are expected to treat each other with civility. Please be polite, and respect other members' beliefs. Don't expect other members to convert to your belief systems just because you subscribe firmly to them.
It is acceptable to question those beliefs and particularly the logic of how they are developed, noplace in the forum should it be considered good form to treat somebody else's belief system as invalid or incorrect.
1b. Language and Appropriateness of Topics. The administration does not require this board to be 100% PG-13, but it does require discretion and consideration. Racial slurs and slurs against gender and orientation, etc., are completely unacceptable. Religion-based cursing is frowned-upon but potentially tolerated in context. Ordinary cussing (things you might say upon hitting your thumb with a hammer accidentally) is completely tolerated, and the administration requests that all members be adult enough to accept that other people cuss.
The administration does not like censorship; we will not edit posts as long as they do not explicitly offend a specific group with clear intent to offend. Erasing language qualifies as offensive.
R and NC-17 topics REQUIRE A DISCLAIMER IN THE TITLE. In cases such as these, the administration WILL edit retroactively as needed.
If part of your post may be NSFW or triggering through common triggers, it REQUIRES A DISCLAIMER IN THE TITLE. Check with the staff if you need to know if a given topic is likely to be triggering.
1c. Staff. Members of the administrative staff have the final word; we are open to discussion but not to argument. If a staff member is using red font, they are making it clear that they are talking as a mod/admin, they have the final word, and everything else has to be handled via PM with them or an admin, not in the current topic. If you have been given a warning and do not understand the reason, PM the member of staff who issued you the warning.
1d. Drama. This forum is here for support and learning. Content or placement of petty personal issues that serve to detract from these goals is prohibited. Save the drama for your journals please. That being said, there IS a subforum (Personal Journals) for issues of exclusively personal and mundane nature; feel free to use them to your content.
1e. Follow the Rules. You must abide by the rules and we will assume (however mistakenly) you have read them. Ignorance is no excuse. A lot of this stuff is a total no-brainer and exists in virtually every forum rulebook.
COMMON COURTESY
2a. Readability. Please watch your spelling and grammar. We have members who do not speak English as a first language, so please be mindful of your punctuation and spelling. This isn't about linguistic superiority; it's about understanding and clarity. Discussions are all the more enjoyable when they are easy to read.
The ONLY exception to the Readability clause is any Personal Journal thread in that subforum. In your own personal journal(s), you may use language however you are comfortable using it, provided it is still recognizable as English.
Anywhere else in the forum, including in other people's personal threads, you are REQUIRED to write legibly. If this is a significant problem for you, please notify the staff, and we'll discuss how to go from there.
2b. Stay on topic. Do not hijack topics or partake in extended off-topic discussion. Open a new thread or ask a moderator to split the existing topic in two.
2c. Introduction. After your account is activated, please have the courtesy to introduce yourself in the appropriate subforum.
We don't mind if after that you prefer to lurk and read more posts than you write, but an introduction gives our members a chance to welcome you properly to the forum and to get acquainted with you. If you have 0 posts after a month of activation, your account will be deleted.
2d. Personal thread sovereignty. Threads in the Personal Journals subforum belong exclusively to the members who started them. If they state a set of personal triggers in the OP, or if they dictate things they distinctly don't want to discuss, and then you post in violation of the rules they set for the thread, the thread owner has the right to request mod action against the violating post. This can include but is not limited to post modification, deletion, and warning to banning of the violating poster depending on the severity and/or repetition of such blatant disregard for personal respect and attention to the rules.
2e. Drama prevention. Assume that everyone here is your friend. In case of ambiguity, expect the other person to have meant their statements in an inoffensive way. Written media do not convey emotions very well. Also, don't forget that you can always ask back if you're unsure about the other member's intentions. This goes especially for questions about your beliefs and identity - they are posted out of curiosity, not malevolence. If the admin themselves appears to be snarking you, please consider that the admin may actually be 100% sincere, and that you're reading condescension into their statements. Believe it or not, the admin desperately hates interpersonal conflict, and initiating it deliberately is just about the last thing they'd ever intentionally do.
2f. Duplicate topics. Browse the section and/or use the search tool before opening a topic - because it may already exist. We like to avoid redundancy, when possible. Please spare the moderators the work of merging topics.
2g. Forum signatures are not to be taller than 180 pixels. Forum avatars and signatures are not to contain Not Safe For Work content or depictions of blood, gore, or violence. It is the staff's prerogative to change a member's avatar and/or signature to be compliant with these standards.
