THE RULES
THE RULES
LAST UPDATED: Nov 13 2009 | From revisions began: Sept 27 2009
Rule revisions are/have been proposed to community by mods for community approval.
(Original Rules - pre 09/27/09 - found here)
(See also FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & the IN-DEPTH GUIDES to the PCD, The World of Adstringendum, and In-Game Death.)
COURTESY FIRST. Be nice to your fellow players. We're all here to have fun, not to stir things up and cause trouble for others. Don't allow issues amongst players leak over to the game. If there is an issue amongst players, or with anything else, please bring it to a mod's attention promptly. We'll do our best to get things sorted out for everyone involved.
Harassment of other players will not be tolerated. This includes unwanted, overly-personal/sexual attentions, pushing for tags/plot/pairings when one or more players has shown disinterest, and pursuing personal information and accounts on other sites of your fellow players if the information has not been offered (aka stalking). If you feel you are being harassed, please bring it to the moderators' attention as soon as possible. We will work with you to resolve it.
This, along with any other major issue will result in a 'black mark', and with three major offenses, the player will be banned from the community.
Minor issues, which aren't as severe but still notable, include: info-modding, rude comments to other players, and/or off-topic and attention-seeking behavior in chat. These will be handled by a moderator and a warning may be issued. If these warnings are ignored or the behavior is continued, it will then be a major offense.
OOC CHAT. We host an out of character CHAT. Information gained in the chat is not game canon, unless agreed up by all players involved. The same courtesies and codes of conduct apply in the chat as apply in the comm. and in regular gameplay: be considerate of others, be kind, and do not start trouble. Furthermore, try to keep on topic in chat, keep unnecessary personal issues/soap-boxing out of conversation, and leave the crude humor and sex talk to personal IMs or your character's journal.
If you ever have an issue with another player, either in-chat, via IM or in-game, etc, bring it to the mod's attention, and try to save your chat log/emails, if possible. We're here to help, but we cannot help fix what we don't know is happening and we cannot police the comm. 24/7. Please tell us if something is wrong.
Your Mod-Staff:
Anne - AIM: thetsukara
Siren - AIM: sentientfish
Mod E-mail; adstringendum@gmail.com
--- APPLICATIONS & CHARACTER-LIMITS
RESERVES. Reservations of characters (with intent to apply for them) will be held for one week, with the allowance of an additional week's extension if necessary. We do our best to keep you updated if your reserve is about to expire, but once your extension is up, if your application has not been submitted, your reserve will have to be dropped and the character will again be open to be applied for by anyone. You may only hold one reserve at a time.
APPLICATIONS. Fill out all portions of the application thoroughly. We're not asking for a novel, but your application is our introduction to your ability to play the character you apply for. Demonstrate it as best you can by explaining the many facets of your character's personality and highlighting how their background/history (throughout their life and up to the point you pull them from) has shaped their behaviors. We do not accept information copied-and-pasted from outside sources. Please write everything in your own words. A good RP and Journal sample are also a must, and do not be afraid to look at the current cast's journals for ideas on how the PCDs might work for your character.
Applying for a new character can only be done two weeks after your last application was reviewed (regardless of whether it was accepted or declined) and cannot be done for two weeks after you have had one of your character journals on the Activity Check.
Applications are allowed a maximum of one rewrite or mod-requested edit/addition before rejection. If rejected, the applicant must wait two weeks to reserve or re-apply for that character again.
CANON CHARACTERS. We try our best to review the canon sources prior to looking at your application, and sometimes may consult a trusted source for information regarding your character's canon personality and history. So we do try to know our stuff. Current players with concerns over the content of an application waiting in the queue are welcome to email their concerns to the mods, of course, to ensure the moderators understand the issues at hand.
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. Original Characters can only be applied for at least one Activity Period (one month or more) after you have successfully applied for and been accepted to play a canon character. Because the original character exists (usually) only in your head, tell us about them! We have no Wikipedia to consult and no television show or book to look at, so you have to help us understand your unique character's world and experiences. Again, a novel isn't necessary, but if your character has unique abilities or belongs to a special tribe or such, describe it, or you can be assured the mods reading your app will ask you specific questions about your character.
UNACCEPTABLE CHARACTERS. Characters must remain true to their canon. We don't allow for Alternate Universe storylines or made-up histories, as this can alter the character and their castmates. You are free to develop them in-game, but they must come in as if they have been pulled directly from canon.
Characters with no canon personality/background/interaction to support them will likely be denied acceptance (since, at that point, they become an original character in characterization, but have very direct and affecting ties to canonly developed castmates--this borders on mary-sue/gary-tsu). We do not allow for those kinds of canon-OCs (others, based upon an existing canon universe but without any ties to canon characters may be considered--such as WoW OCs or the like). OCs or canon characters with too much power and no ability to restrict said power will have to be denied. You also may not hold two characters whose canon histories are closely interconnected to the point that it would result in frequent “playercest” (playing opposite yourself) or if there are not enough characters already being played here from that single canon universe to reasonably prevent playercest possibilities (4-5 other characters minimum, generally).
Real people are unacceptable for application, as are canonical, worshiped deities of the major current religions. If there is enough of a divide and difference between your character and their religious counterpart, you may bring them up for consideration, but the mods recommend you email them on this before submitting your application.
LIMITS. You are allowed only six characters at one time, either from fandom canon, or as a combination of OC and canon. Use your limit wisely.
ACTIVITY. (See ACTIVITY & REAPPLYING section for more detail) Stay active. If you show repeated problems with activity, especially with no effort to remedy it, it is cause to deny acceptance to your new character's application. Generally, do not apply for a new character while on hiatus.
PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism of any part of an application is cause for that application to be rejected and the player to be barred from applying. There is no excuse for trying to pass off someone else's writing as your own, especially in a game that functions on creative writing. This includes Wikipedia. Copy-paste is a no-no.
SPELL CHECK. Spell and grammar check. Firefox comes will some lovely add-ons for just that purpose, and Internet Explorer has a few as well. GDocs is a free online word processor, and OpenOffice.org offers a downloadable and free word processor with all or nearly all the fixings of MSOffice. There is no excuse for not running a good old spell-check on your application!
REWRITES. If you are asked to rewrite any part of your application, you have a week to resubmit or to get in contact with the mods if you need an extension. After a week is over, the character is again open to application by anyone.
--- IN-CHARACTER VS OUT-OF-CHARACTER & POWER LEVELS
GOD MODE. God-moding of any sort will not be allowed and will come with at least a firm warning (repeated offensives may be reason for expulsion). “Godmoding” falls under many definitions.
Aside from the act of controlling another person's character/situation or dictating what another character (one that is not your own) does or says, godmoding can also refer to the enormous amount of power/abilities that a character possesses which vastly limits the way others can play with him or her. It can be mind-reading, amazing weapons/armor, or super, invincible, godlike abilities. Because it makes it difficult to play with these invincible “gods,” the mods may ask you to tone things down a bit. We're not asking everyone to be average joes-quite the contrary. The varying levels of skill (powerful to helpless) makes conflicts more interesting. But we are asking you to be reasonable and considerate. So if you want to play as a character with ungodly powers, be prepared to bring them down a few notches. Leave the Death Note at home, be restricted to a canon human form, etc.
INFO-MODDING. Knowledge that is gained OOC (out of character) is not to be used IC (in character) unless it is GAINED ICly. This is called info-modding. It also extends to characters who seem to know everything. Insider-knowledge (such as that no openly and publically stated over the ingame PCD network) of plots, character histories, and the like should be discussed with the other players involved to decide if your character can/would/should have ways to gain this information.
CHARACTERIZATION. Each person has their own take on a canon character, and original characters are, typically, the original creations of their players, but interpretation aside, do your best to remain in-character at all times (are they a bad-boy or a geek, a tree-hugger or a corporate mogul). It'll help the others understand how to act towards your character and give your character consistency across their interactions and from their particular canon. Chances are, you chose to play this character because (among other reasons) you found them interesting, so play them as their in-character interesting selves.
--- ACTIVITY & REAPPLYING
ACTIVITY CHECK. Stay active. Minimum requirement for activity (fulfill one of the following sets in calendar month):
(Note #1: Comment chains with no content but an icon (sometimes known as "comment spam") will only count as one comment for the purposes of AC.)
(Note #2: Dropped threads that were nearly long enough may be counted for the person who did not drop the thread on a discretionary basis.)
(Note #3: Posts that are put up solely to pass AC without any effort on the poster's side to respond to comments within the week will now not count towards AC.)
As roleplay is based on interaction, only posts that encourage interaction will count towards the AC. A completely private-to-self/locked-to-self post does not count for activity, nor does a public post where the writer does not reply to the comments at all. If a post receives no comments, however, through no fault of the original post, it will still count. (This is not to say Private Posts are banned, only that they will not count for the AC).
At the end of each month, players will be asked to submit proofs of their two pieces of activity to the Activity Check that the mods will circulate via the OOC Comm. Players who have not met the requirements for the month's activity or replied to the Activity Check post by the end of that time will be dropped if they are not on a hiatus for the month of the check. PMs will be sent out to those players, and they will have a week to contact the mods to be added back or face the need to re-apply back into Adstringendum if they wish to keep that character.
Keep your ( FRIENDS LIST) updated. It is the best way to keep track of events, characters, and general happenings. If you're behind, it's harder to get involved and stay active.
HIATUS. Give notification via the Hiatus post that you are going on hiatus, list the affected characters, and note for how long the hiatus is expected to last. Follow the form given there. Do not post to the OOC comm (only hiatuses posted to the Hiatus Post will count towards activity checks!). You may post to your character(s)' journal(s) that you are on hiatus, but you must post this out-of-order, so that the friendslist is not flooded. Hiatuses can be issued for one month with no activity. Two consecutive months will require at least one post to the journal(s) on hiatus or a completed log with the character on hiatus (comment threads in other journals do not count), otherwise the character will be placed on the Activity Check. Allowances for special circumstances can be made on a case-by-case basis, but requests for extended hiatuses must be made in writing to the mod email.
REAPPLICATION. If you want to apply for a character you previously lost due to poor activity, you must wait at least 2 weeks after they were lost to reapply for them. If they get lost due to activity again, you may not apply for that character. If you want to reapply for a character you have dropped, the same rules as new applications apply.
REAPPLYING AFTER DROPPING. If you dropped a character before for any reason, you may reapply to pick up that same character. Upon the third drop of that character, however, you may not reapply, except by petition. Players who wish to pick up someone they've dropped three times must write to us and tell us both why they want the character back and what they will do with the character. It will not exceed one page in length, but it needs to express why they should get the fourth chance.
--- CHARACTER INTERACTIONS
(See also IN-CHARACTER VS OUT-OF-CHARACTER & POWER LEVELS sections on God Mode and Info-modding)
PAIRINGS. If you choose to pair your characters, be reasonable. They will not likely instantly fall in love; relationships take time to form and blossom. It can be nice to have a pairing, but rushing into things only makes matters more complicated in the long run. Development is a plus. Also keep in mind that your character will not get along with everyone perfectly.
RATINGS. We have no rating for the game, but as a rule of thumb, anything that would be considered rated R and above by American film standards (see below), at least deserves to be put under an lj-cut. NC-17 situations (smut) must be f-locked, no questions asked. There'll be no flagging of this community.
G: Things that are G-rated, or General, are safe for everyone to see and read. There is no profanity or innuendo; there are no hints of relationships besides friendship or family; there is no violence.
PG: PG stands for Parental Guidance. This rating is awarded to situations where it the subject matter could be a little disturbing for young audiences, like Bambi's mother dying or Jasmine being trapped in the hourglass by Jafar. Substitution-words for profanity can be included, but outright profanity is out.
PG-13: This indicates that parents are cautioned not to expose children under the age of 13 to this. Mild profanity can be used and there is sometimes suggestive material. Violence is also likely. There is no nudity, there are no depictions of people being killed, but there can be conflict or ‘fluffy' material. A spar would fit in this category, as would a date. What might come after the date belongs in the next section.
R: stands for Restricted. This is where constant use of the F-word goes, where making out (that does not get too explicit) goes. Handwaved sex would fall under this, so would a violent fight. There's indication that explicit things are happening, but they are not described blow-by-blow, and are even glossed over.
NC-17: This is what graphic material falls under. It stands for ‘No Children under 17,' and clearly states the material is adult. Sex, murder, rock-and-roll, that goes under this label. The content can be disturbing or questionable, and is not to be read by minors. Everything is explicit.
LAST UPDATED: Nov 13 2009 | From revisions began: Sept 27 2009
Rule revisions are/have been proposed to community by mods for community approval.
(Original Rules - pre 09/27/09 - found here)
(See also FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & the IN-DEPTH GUIDES to the PCD, The World of Adstringendum, and In-Game Death.)
COURTESY FIRST. Be nice to your fellow players. We're all here to have fun, not to stir things up and cause trouble for others. Don't allow issues amongst players leak over to the game. If there is an issue amongst players, or with anything else, please bring it to a mod's attention promptly. We'll do our best to get things sorted out for everyone involved.
Harassment of other players will not be tolerated. This includes unwanted, overly-personal/sexual attentions, pushing for tags/plot/pairings when one or more players has shown disinterest, and pursuing personal information and accounts on other sites of your fellow players if the information has not been offered (aka stalking). If you feel you are being harassed, please bring it to the moderators' attention as soon as possible. We will work with you to resolve it.
This, along with any other major issue will result in a 'black mark', and with three major offenses, the player will be banned from the community.
Minor issues, which aren't as severe but still notable, include: info-modding, rude comments to other players, and/or off-topic and attention-seeking behavior in chat. These will be handled by a moderator and a warning may be issued. If these warnings are ignored or the behavior is continued, it will then be a major offense.
OOC CHAT. We host an out of character CHAT. Information gained in the chat is not game canon, unless agreed up by all players involved. The same courtesies and codes of conduct apply in the chat as apply in the comm. and in regular gameplay: be considerate of others, be kind, and do not start trouble. Furthermore, try to keep on topic in chat, keep unnecessary personal issues/soap-boxing out of conversation, and leave the crude humor and sex talk to personal IMs or your character's journal.
If you ever have an issue with another player, either in-chat, via IM or in-game, etc, bring it to the mod's attention, and try to save your chat log/emails, if possible. We're here to help, but we cannot help fix what we don't know is happening and we cannot police the comm. 24/7. Please tell us if something is wrong.
Your Mod-Staff:
Anne - AIM: thetsukara
Siren - AIM: sentientfish
Mod E-mail; adstringendum@gmail.com
--- APPLICATIONS & CHARACTER-LIMITS
RESERVES. Reservations of characters (with intent to apply for them) will be held for one week, with the allowance of an additional week's extension if necessary. We do our best to keep you updated if your reserve is about to expire, but once your extension is up, if your application has not been submitted, your reserve will have to be dropped and the character will again be open to be applied for by anyone. You may only hold one reserve at a time.
APPLICATIONS. Fill out all portions of the application thoroughly. We're not asking for a novel, but your application is our introduction to your ability to play the character you apply for. Demonstrate it as best you can by explaining the many facets of your character's personality and highlighting how their background/history (throughout their life and up to the point you pull them from) has shaped their behaviors. We do not accept information copied-and-pasted from outside sources. Please write everything in your own words. A good RP and Journal sample are also a must, and do not be afraid to look at the current cast's journals for ideas on how the PCDs might work for your character.
Applying for a new character can only be done two weeks after your last application was reviewed (regardless of whether it was accepted or declined) and cannot be done for two weeks after you have had one of your character journals on the Activity Check.
Applications are allowed a maximum of one rewrite or mod-requested edit/addition before rejection. If rejected, the applicant must wait two weeks to reserve or re-apply for that character again.
CANON CHARACTERS. We try our best to review the canon sources prior to looking at your application, and sometimes may consult a trusted source for information regarding your character's canon personality and history. So we do try to know our stuff. Current players with concerns over the content of an application waiting in the queue are welcome to email their concerns to the mods, of course, to ensure the moderators understand the issues at hand.
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. Original Characters can only be applied for at least one Activity Period (one month or more) after you have successfully applied for and been accepted to play a canon character. Because the original character exists (usually) only in your head, tell us about them! We have no Wikipedia to consult and no television show or book to look at, so you have to help us understand your unique character's world and experiences. Again, a novel isn't necessary, but if your character has unique abilities or belongs to a special tribe or such, describe it, or you can be assured the mods reading your app will ask you specific questions about your character.
UNACCEPTABLE CHARACTERS. Characters must remain true to their canon. We don't allow for Alternate Universe storylines or made-up histories, as this can alter the character and their castmates. You are free to develop them in-game, but they must come in as if they have been pulled directly from canon.
Characters with no canon personality/background/interaction to support them will likely be denied acceptance (since, at that point, they become an original character in characterization, but have very direct and affecting ties to canonly developed castmates--this borders on mary-sue/gary-tsu). We do not allow for those kinds of canon-OCs (others, based upon an existing canon universe but without any ties to canon characters may be considered--such as WoW OCs or the like). OCs or canon characters with too much power and no ability to restrict said power will have to be denied. You also may not hold two characters whose canon histories are closely interconnected to the point that it would result in frequent “playercest” (playing opposite yourself) or if there are not enough characters already being played here from that single canon universe to reasonably prevent playercest possibilities (4-5 other characters minimum, generally).
Real people are unacceptable for application, as are canonical, worshiped deities of the major current religions. If there is enough of a divide and difference between your character and their religious counterpart, you may bring them up for consideration, but the mods recommend you email them on this before submitting your application.
LIMITS. You are allowed only six characters at one time, either from fandom canon, or as a combination of OC and canon. Use your limit wisely.
ACTIVITY. (See ACTIVITY & REAPPLYING section for more detail) Stay active. If you show repeated problems with activity, especially with no effort to remedy it, it is cause to deny acceptance to your new character's application. Generally, do not apply for a new character while on hiatus.
PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism of any part of an application is cause for that application to be rejected and the player to be barred from applying. There is no excuse for trying to pass off someone else's writing as your own, especially in a game that functions on creative writing. This includes Wikipedia. Copy-paste is a no-no.
SPELL CHECK. Spell and grammar check. Firefox comes will some lovely add-ons for just that purpose, and Internet Explorer has a few as well. GDocs is a free online word processor, and OpenOffice.org offers a downloadable and free word processor with all or nearly all the fixings of MSOffice. There is no excuse for not running a good old spell-check on your application!
REWRITES. If you are asked to rewrite any part of your application, you have a week to resubmit or to get in contact with the mods if you need an extension. After a week is over, the character is again open to application by anyone.
--- IN-CHARACTER VS OUT-OF-CHARACTER & POWER LEVELS
GOD MODE. God-moding of any sort will not be allowed and will come with at least a firm warning (repeated offensives may be reason for expulsion). “Godmoding” falls under many definitions.
Aside from the act of controlling another person's character/situation or dictating what another character (one that is not your own) does or says, godmoding can also refer to the enormous amount of power/abilities that a character possesses which vastly limits the way others can play with him or her. It can be mind-reading, amazing weapons/armor, or super, invincible, godlike abilities. Because it makes it difficult to play with these invincible “gods,” the mods may ask you to tone things down a bit. We're not asking everyone to be average joes-quite the contrary. The varying levels of skill (powerful to helpless) makes conflicts more interesting. But we are asking you to be reasonable and considerate. So if you want to play as a character with ungodly powers, be prepared to bring them down a few notches. Leave the Death Note at home, be restricted to a canon human form, etc.
INFO-MODDING. Knowledge that is gained OOC (out of character) is not to be used IC (in character) unless it is GAINED ICly. This is called info-modding. It also extends to characters who seem to know everything. Insider-knowledge (such as that no openly and publically stated over the ingame PCD network) of plots, character histories, and the like should be discussed with the other players involved to decide if your character can/would/should have ways to gain this information.
CHARACTERIZATION. Each person has their own take on a canon character, and original characters are, typically, the original creations of their players, but interpretation aside, do your best to remain in-character at all times (are they a bad-boy or a geek, a tree-hugger or a corporate mogul). It'll help the others understand how to act towards your character and give your character consistency across their interactions and from their particular canon. Chances are, you chose to play this character because (among other reasons) you found them interesting, so play them as their in-character interesting selves.
--- ACTIVITY & REAPPLYING
ACTIVITY CHECK. Stay active. Minimum requirement for activity (fulfill one of the following sets in calendar month):
- 2 posts (one post every two weeks usually works well)
- 2 logs
- 1 post + 1 log
- 1 post or log + 1 comment thread of ~20 comments each
(Note #1: Comment chains with no content but an icon (sometimes known as "comment spam") will only count as one comment for the purposes of AC.)
(Note #2: Dropped threads that were nearly long enough may be counted for the person who did not drop the thread on a discretionary basis.)
(Note #3: Posts that are put up solely to pass AC without any effort on the poster's side to respond to comments within the week will now not count towards AC.)
As roleplay is based on interaction, only posts that encourage interaction will count towards the AC. A completely private-to-self/locked-to-self post does not count for activity, nor does a public post where the writer does not reply to the comments at all. If a post receives no comments, however, through no fault of the original post, it will still count. (This is not to say Private Posts are banned, only that they will not count for the AC).
At the end of each month, players will be asked to submit proofs of their two pieces of activity to the Activity Check that the mods will circulate via the OOC Comm. Players who have not met the requirements for the month's activity or replied to the Activity Check post by the end of that time will be dropped if they are not on a hiatus for the month of the check. PMs will be sent out to those players, and they will have a week to contact the mods to be added back or face the need to re-apply back into Adstringendum if they wish to keep that character.
Keep your ( FRIENDS LIST) updated. It is the best way to keep track of events, characters, and general happenings. If you're behind, it's harder to get involved and stay active.
HIATUS. Give notification via the Hiatus post that you are going on hiatus, list the affected characters, and note for how long the hiatus is expected to last. Follow the form given there. Do not post to the OOC comm (only hiatuses posted to the Hiatus Post will count towards activity checks!). You may post to your character(s)' journal(s) that you are on hiatus, but you must post this out-of-order, so that the friendslist is not flooded. Hiatuses can be issued for one month with no activity. Two consecutive months will require at least one post to the journal(s) on hiatus or a completed log with the character on hiatus (comment threads in other journals do not count), otherwise the character will be placed on the Activity Check. Allowances for special circumstances can be made on a case-by-case basis, but requests for extended hiatuses must be made in writing to the mod email.
REAPPLICATION. If you want to apply for a character you previously lost due to poor activity, you must wait at least 2 weeks after they were lost to reapply for them. If they get lost due to activity again, you may not apply for that character. If you want to reapply for a character you have dropped, the same rules as new applications apply.
REAPPLYING AFTER DROPPING. If you dropped a character before for any reason, you may reapply to pick up that same character. Upon the third drop of that character, however, you may not reapply, except by petition. Players who wish to pick up someone they've dropped three times must write to us and tell us both why they want the character back and what they will do with the character. It will not exceed one page in length, but it needs to express why they should get the fourth chance.
--- CHARACTER INTERACTIONS
(See also IN-CHARACTER VS OUT-OF-CHARACTER & POWER LEVELS sections on God Mode and Info-modding)
PAIRINGS. If you choose to pair your characters, be reasonable. They will not likely instantly fall in love; relationships take time to form and blossom. It can be nice to have a pairing, but rushing into things only makes matters more complicated in the long run. Development is a plus. Also keep in mind that your character will not get along with everyone perfectly.
RATINGS. We have no rating for the game, but as a rule of thumb, anything that would be considered rated R and above by American film standards (see below), at least deserves to be put under an lj-cut. NC-17 situations (smut) must be f-locked, no questions asked. There'll be no flagging of this community.
G: Things that are G-rated, or General, are safe for everyone to see and read. There is no profanity or innuendo; there are no hints of relationships besides friendship or family; there is no violence.
PG: PG stands for Parental Guidance. This rating is awarded to situations where it the subject matter could be a little disturbing for young audiences, like Bambi's mother dying or Jasmine being trapped in the hourglass by Jafar. Substitution-words for profanity can be included, but outright profanity is out.
PG-13: This indicates that parents are cautioned not to expose children under the age of 13 to this. Mild profanity can be used and there is sometimes suggestive material. Violence is also likely. There is no nudity, there are no depictions of people being killed, but there can be conflict or ‘fluffy' material. A spar would fit in this category, as would a date. What might come after the date belongs in the next section.
R: stands for Restricted. This is where constant use of the F-word goes, where making out (that does not get too explicit) goes. Handwaved sex would fall under this, so would a violent fight. There's indication that explicit things are happening, but they are not described blow-by-blow, and are even glossed over.
NC-17: This is what graphic material falls under. It stands for ‘No Children under 17,' and clearly states the material is adult. Sex, murder, rock-and-roll, that goes under this label. The content can be disturbing or questionable, and is not to be read by minors. Everything is explicit.