Hey Chaotic,<br/><br/>First off, thanks for clarifying the role of Kell's abuse in her backstory. That's kinda the impression I got about her, but it's good to have things spelled out like that.<br/><br/>Now that said, I do feel I have to argue one particular point:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">I dont want to offend either, but i would suggest you need to reaffirm the separation between fantasy and reality if such a minor thing bothers you.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>While it is of course important to maintain that separation, I think it's a little unfair to tell just tell someone who is uncomfortable that this is a "minor" thing. What constitutes major or minor is decided by each person.<br/><br/>I can say that for me, what pushes me into discomfort territory (not necessarily extreme, X-card levels of discomfort, mind you) is in fact the stark seriousness with which you treat Kell's trauma.<br/><br/>You use lines like,<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Its traumatic and brutal and left her battered, soiled and probably bloody </blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>And<em>that</em>is really what pushes it into uncomfortable territory for me. Because it's very evocative, and very real. My own tendency to empathize with characters starts to feed back on me and it takes me to a deeply unpleasant place. Now I don't think I'd ever ask you to revise a post because I was uncomfortable, but I could potentially see a scenario where things are getting a little beyond my comfort zone and asking, "Hey, this is getting to be a little more than I can handle. Can we dial this back, or fade to black, or work it through in another thread, etc."<br/><br/>It's like if I were to run a Bluebeard's Bride. That game is designed to explore themes of violence, especially sexual violence, against women, in very shocking, very graphic detail. So, naturally it's going to explore some heavy feelings. That can be a good thing. But not if someone gets pushed past their limit. If someone feels the need to pull the rip cord, I have a responsibility to respect their feelings, put the game on pause, and take steps to make the game safe again, even if I'm really digging the direction the game is going.<br/><br/>You also state<br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">And if that bothers you thats a *good* thing! It should. But the proper way to express that is in-game by murdering the fuck out of the next group of pirates we come across to avenge Kell's shattered innocence :P </blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I get that the smiley kinda makes this slightly tongue-in-cheek. But I do strongly disagree with working out personal emotional struggles in-character. I absolutely get that you intended for Kell's backstory to evoke feelings of shock and horror. But people have different levels of tolerance for shock and horror, and I think it's reasonable for those people to express their discomfort if things are starting to get too intense.<br/><br/>All that is to say, I love Kell's background, your writing is very powerful and I find that super exciting... but with great power comes great responsibility. Responsibility to honour the RPG safeword known as the X-card.