Safety
The True Love Initiative’s primary view on safety is about taking care of your own needs and being able to set your own boundaries. We will expect our players to be able to opt-out of situations they do not want to be in, and be clear about their boundaries and wishes with their co-players.
The game will rely on slow escalation of play and meta-techniques including saying “off-game” to express explicit needs and using tap-out to deescalate certain play. All of these will be workshopped before the game.
Physicality
The True Love Initiative will include play that relies on physicality. This includes dancing, touching and kissing. In some of the in-game exercises these activities can even be asked of the character to participate in. It is of course always possible to opt out of any game you do not want to partake in, and there will be a meta-technique for that as well, so it does not break character. You are never forced to do anything you do not want to do as a player.
However, we recommend that you do have a baseline of in generally feeling comfortable with a stranger touching your arms, kissing you on the cheek or holding your hand. Also, being able to kiss (or mimic kissing) your partner and sharing a bed with them, is expected to participate in the larp. If you are not comfortable with this amount of physical contact, this is probably not the larp for you.
We also recommend considering whether you would feel comfortable kissing (or mimicking kissing) or lying close to strangers, as games like Spin the Bottle or in-game Facilitated exercises are present in this larp. Again, you always have the possibility to opt-out of such experiences, but we believe being prepared to having this baseline for physical intimacy will help your game. If you believe this is something you will definitely not be comfortable with in most situations, this is probably not the larp for you.
Sexual tension and other physical intimacy
The themes around sex in this game will concern sexual tension and not simulated sex. Sex (understood as touching or simulated touching of genitalia) is not allowed in this game, neither in-game nor offgame, and therefore there is no meta-technique to simulate this.
The technique to show sexual tension will involve touching someone else's thigh, but will never escalate beyond that. How to do it will be shown and used in workshops at the game.
As standard, there will not be meta-techniques for other forms of physical contact. This includes kissing and slapping, which will happen using primarily slow escalation or off-game calibration if needed. It is however allowed to do theatre kissing (putting your thumb in between the lips), if you choose to do so.
Full nudity is not allowed at this larp outside of the sauna. But you as a player can always choose to not be in the sauna, if you want to avoid it.
Possible triggering content
There are some themes in this larp that we believe will be present during the game.
Present in almost all characters and stories
Most of these themes will be present in almost every character and are mostly necessary to be alright with to be comfortable to play this larp.
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dysfunctional relationships
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codependency
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desperation for connection
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“arranged marriages”
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relationships with power imbalances
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expectations of monogamy/polyamorous erasure
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sexual tension and sensuality
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jealousy and possessiveness
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asexual erasure
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monosexual erasure
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class differences and discrimination
Present in some, not all
There are also some themes that we expect to be present in some characters. You can choose to not have them be present in your character or near relations, and you can also choose to leave scenes you are not comfortable in, but we cannot promise that you will be able to completely avoid this content during play.
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unrequited love
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bullying
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infidelity
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fertility issues/miscarriage
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sexual pressure
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neglect
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oppression
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gaslighting
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controlling behavior
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shaming/condescension
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physical violence
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physical aggression
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neglect/emotional withdrawal
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sexual coercion
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threat of self-harm
No off-game discrimination
Off-game sexism, racism, body-shaming, non-consensual sexual behaviour or bullying is forbidden at this larp.
If a player needs it, there will be two in-game facilitators who will act as support crew for anyone who would need to talk about anything during the game.