We’ve all got different types of stories to tell, and we want to make sure we are reaching the audiences we want to reach. Join the gang this week as we discuss how creators can properly convey the content of their comics with clarity and respect!

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Episode Release Date: February 7, 2024

Episode Credits:

Kristen Lee (@feathernotes) - she/they, ghostjunksickness.com lunarblight.com

Christina Major (@delphina2k) - she/her, sombulus.com

Miranda Reoch (@mirandacakesart) - she/her, mirandacakes.art intotheswellcomic.com

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The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.

Transcript

00:00.32

Krispy

Hello and welcome to screen tones where we talk anything and everything webcomics. Today we're gonna be talking about content warnings and ratings. I'm Krispy. My pronouns are she/they and I make the webcomics Ghost Junk Sickness and Lunar Blight

00:24.43

Miranda

Hello and hi I'm Miranda. I make the webcomic Into the Swell and my pronouns are she/her.

00:30.21

Delphina

And I'm Delphina. I use she/her pronouns and I make the webcomic Sombulus.

00:37.97

Krispy

So we've got all different types of stories to tell and we want to make sure that we are reaching the audiences we want to reach. Movies and games have official rating systems that could be adapted for comics and content warnings are another way to flag when someone might have phobic content or any potentially triggering stressors. But how do we apply these tools helpfully and respectfully? It could be pretty challenging but I mean that's why we're going to talk about it today. So of course like we always do I'm going to be starting with a question and this one I'm going to be throwing at you Miranda. So what rating do you give your comic when people ask and how do you broadcast it to your potential audience right?

01:22.50

Miranda

So my comic I consider as young adult and I don't have any clear content warnings on my site because of the way my comic starts off. It kind of is the darkest it's gonna get and so it kind of sets an expectation that there is some character violence and some darker moments. I feel like because I set that expectation from the get go nothing will really come as a surprise to readers later on.

02:09.00

Krispy

Like I mean that's a really good thing though because like ah, we've kind of touched on that a bit in the aesthetics episode where you talk about things that draw in audiences and whatnot and having that expectation like you said like Into the Swell . Starts with like that scene where someone's going to go ah hung and it's just like Okay yeah, the consequences of you know the actions kind of come right up there? Um, and I think that's really important, like that's a good point to set expectations.

02:29.46

Miranda

So yeah, it's pretty rough.

02:44.93

Delphina

I think sometimes people want to do — I hope this isn't a spoiler at this point — like the Madoka thing like oh I'm going to start off like really cutesy and sweet and then do a hard left turn into that dark stuff. That takes practice I think. And it also takes a certain medium. I don't think webcomics is that medium actually. I think because you have to read them over the course of several years if it's a long form story like you do want little hints and even if you watch Madoka that's they do give you quite a few tonal hints.

03:04.40

Krispy

Yes.

03:21.75

Delphina

Before like the cutesy stuff kind of goes by the wayside. So I think that's a really good skill to cultivate for your own comic.

03:27.43

Krispy

Ah.

03:38.60

Delphina

Integrating elements thinking of scenes and thinking of ways to show what you want to show? I think that's just kind of the hallmark of a good writer. As opposed to somebody who maybe doesn't look like they know what they're doing.

03:41.68

Krispy

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, there's the kind of this like I guess this era right now that we're going through where a lot of writers think that it's really good writing when you make something that readers can't predict and they're kind of obsessed with going in that direction. I'm finding it a lot in like the video games industry, the movies I mean Tv shows. It's just a thing right now and that's not necessarily a good thing to be quite honest. I think that when you're kind of clear with the indication of what we're kind of going for. That's my honest opinion a little bit better I mean like we've said in the aesthetics episode like that can lend into it so you do have all these like yeah indicators like you were saying Delphi with like Madoka and how they kind of be like there's a potential for something to turn. And I think I appreciate that? Um, as far as like warnings and content is concerned. It is in that similar vein where you do have something kind of indicating that this is who ah the story or this is the audience that was intended for.

04:59.99

Miranda

Yeah, definitely along those lines I think it might get confusing to some people that there’s a difference between a twist and just shocking your audience because it's just so out there and so out of the blue. That can’t be a twist.

05:12.54

Krispy

Yeah.

05:19.93

Miranda

But it's not necessarily a good one. Yeah.

05:20.87

Krispy

Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent agree there and I think that's when you're gonna kind of go into some murky waters because you know when you have something that is that alluring that has that kind of turn like honestly Madoka such a great example of that because. When people try to get you to watch that anime. It's like oh things turn at episode 3 and like it's a good kind of allure to that thing or as opposed to it's like you know you have someone. It's like oh yeah character dies and it's. Crazy twist or something I don't know there was just a certain way that it's done. Um, that doesn't feel like I'm trying to specifically shock the audience but you're trying to convey like this is what it's about you mean and then after that shock happens in Madoka, it's like oh. Ah, we're continuing with this kind of atmosphere. We're continuing with this narrative that you've laid down so that becomes the expectation so when we talk about like warnings and whatnot like when it's something completely at a left field. Um, you know it gets tricky when you kind of have some kind of expectation and I know that we did cover that I keep saying this in the aesthetics episode where you have like an art style or something that won't match with like the content that you have and could be very jarring and actually kind of hard to describe who the potential audience that's for and with that I did want to ask Delphie your opinion on the rating you gave Sombulus and how did you broadcast that to your potential audience?

07:03.60

Delphina

So Sombulus I always wanted to keep a little bit light. I wanted to keep it mostly, there are some darker feelings there, and some heavier like emotions. I did find it really helpful when I was starting to go to conventions to kind of work that into my pitch because for a pg comic or a young adult comic that looks like it might be ok for kids. You'll get a lot of parents walking up to you and asking you hey is this ok for kids. And even sometimes when it's not really clear from the cover of your story that they need to research a little more. They're at a convention There's a million things drying their attention. They're going to try to go to this panel in 15 minutes and they don't have time to really do the research so you have to have a snappy way of describing what your rating is for kids specifically. And there's a couple ways to do that in a convention setting. You can have other things on your table that sort of help you along with broadcasting your aesthetic, exactly like Miranda was talking about. You have the first scene of your comic that does that but the experience of your booth can also do that. We're not really talking about necessarily conventions here. But when parents ask me I say you know it's it's magic sword fighting I used to say you know it's Harry Potter level because that was a story and a mood that people could kind of understand like ok I'm okay with my kid reading Harry Potter there's scary stuff in there magic and sword fighting and monsters. So if if that's all it is then it's fine. I want to find a different analogy maybe Percy Jackson now I'm not sure because it just leaves a bad taste in my thread to say a Harry Potter now but it did work for the purposes of letting parents know what kinds of ratings to expect. I had another friend. Um, who used to use P for Pixar , so just like oh it's got a lot of fun stuff. But it's also going to hit you in the feels sometimes so I kind of liked that one. That's a fun little rating. Um, but yeah I don't tend to do very heavy stuff if I start going down that direction. Um, because you know I was a child of 90s anime

09:47.29

Delphina

Stuff could get really dark and really weird. Um, so sometimes if I'm not watching my own tone I'll start to veer into those sections like ok what if there's this betrayal and mind control things happen. And yeah, well scale it back Edge Lord. So, that's something that do yeah after dark I have many facets..

10:11.36

Miranda

Delphie after dark.

10:19.78

Krispy

Oh god.

10:24.49

Delphina

I go with Sombulus I think it works out for the most part I do like to keep it, mostly family friendly, but with the nuance that you're a savvy reader and you want to pick up on it and it really does bring me a lot of joy when someone's like I read this with my kid. All the time my kid is so excited about this and it was just like yeah it's so beautiful. Yeah, so I do try to keep it , something that doesn't go into hard gritty.

10:44.30

Miranda

Oh that's warm fuzzies right there.

10:49.43

Krispy

Yeah.

11:00.70

Delphina

Mafia Noir Whatever Um, but , nothing wrong with going in that direction either I think , it's like we're saying it's all about how you broadcast it and.

11:11.39

Krispy

And I think like hearing both of your answers to that really kind of hits home with the fact that you really need to understand who you're writing for and your audience for that and I think that's a great example with the fact that you're saying to use comparative works. To kind of give a feel especially at like convention settings. or like you know one one like places that you can actually actively talk about your comic your work a little bit more to a more captive audience or curious is to use some of that as a crutch when you're describing your comic you say like oh. You know blah blah Blah here's the tiny elevator pitch for it and then you know when there's more questions about it like oh ok like you know blah Blah Blah You can go into that comparative Stuff. You can be like oh well if you really enjoyed Um, Anime X you might like this. And stuff like that. So I like that as also an indicator of tone and the content inside of it. I think that's a really good way to kind of understand what you're going for because one of the kinds of magical things about indie comics indie work in general is that you know you can do so many things. And you can go into so many different doorways with how you write and of course that leaves you ample space and room to kind of explore a lot of things so just kind of understanding like where's the boundaries where can I stop, where should I continue to go to and who is this ultimately for?

12:45.82

Krispy

With that I did want to ask what actually is a content warning and how do you keep them helpful Miranda?.

12:57.40

Miranda

So for me, a content warning informs a reader or consumer of potentially uncomfortable topics which vary for everyone but some common ones are excessive gore, excessive violence, anything that can cause trauma or ptsd type stuff, and anything like that. There's obviously a whole bunch of triggers and everyone has their own trigger. It’s impossible to list them all. But those are some main ones. And it's either a general rating of your comic or story or movie or it's by page or by episode. A lot of content creators on webtoons or their webcomic will just have at the top of their page or the episode ‘this episode contains XYZ’ and you're aware of it for the rest of that episode. I personally find them helpful if the topic that is happening is completely different from the current tone of the story. Or if I'm reading something super lighthearted, very rated g, very childish and suddenly there's an intense gory violent scene. I mean it's not going to bother me but I'm going to be very confused and you may get more and worse reactions from readers that aren't me. Um, and you'll probably shock a lot of them and they will likely be in an unpleasant way. Um, obviously there's times that can work. But I think it's more of an exception than a rule.

14:48.13

Miranda

And even in movies and games and shows that do this. The one I can think of because we said P for Pixar, fo sausage party. Um, it's a cartoon. It's about talking food. You think it could be rated g.

15:07.00

Miranda

But it is definitely not and it has its pre-established rating that lets you know Okay, this isn't a kids movie and then shortly into the movie you find out exactly why it is not a kids movie. Um, so even if you plan on doing that.

15:14.37

Krispy

Mm.

15:25.62

Miranda

Setting a rating from the start. You don't have to spoil anything. You just say hey this is not a kid's story then that's enough of a content warning to like let them know. Okay, this isn't going to be kid friendly. I may not know why but it'll be less of a shock when it happens.

15:29.87

Krispy

No.

15:41.45

Delphina

So I'm going to start calling comics that S for sausage party.

15:46.86

Miranda

Like Claire might have issues with that. But it's okay, we might have to content warn that we're using sausage party in context for her. So she's not like triggered or anything like that.

15:58.88

Krispy

For Claire gosh it is true though I do like the precedent of like kind of taking what movies do and be like oh like these are the ratings that you do.

16:04.40

Miranda

Love you Claire

16:17.63

Krispy

Ah, you know general. Ah Pg 13 and and and so on and so forth. It's something that I personally take when I write our stuff. I think of you know what? I would have been reading as a kid like Full Metal Alchemists and watching Trigun or reading Trigun, either different experiences. But I Digress. Ah I think of that experience and I think okay, how old was, how old was the demographic that they shot for and what is the the kind of story the content that I'm going for and I aim it towards that and then that would be my general kind of like indicator like oh yeah, like Ghost Junk Sickness is for like teens up and you know don't read this if your baby kind of thing. And then for Lunar Blight it's going to be a higher rating.

17:08.41

Miranda

And we're also excited for it I'll say it. But I will say like the movie industry has done the effort of coming up with this rating system that is pretty understood universally you might as well use it.

17:20.44

Krispy

And yeah, yeah, yeah, and I agree I think that is one of the things that I personally think that writers should avoid.

17:27.27

Miranda

And or at least use it as a base Guideline.

17:37.66

Krispy

Ah, is when you overlabel and you start to spoil points it kind of is personally for me a turnoff when I'm going through stuff and it says there's going to be a death next page and I'm like what? oh what Why here? Why should you tell me now. Oh okay. And it takes you right out of the story. Um, so understanding that general notion of like does my comic support this random death and how it is done or is this like completely out of left field and I'm actually writing like Caillou and.

18:14.54

Krispy

Ah, horrible things happen or something I couldn't think of anything but something just horrible out of left field happens and you're just like I wonder but it's always about understanding your audience I think.

18:27.75

Miranda

And I'm just emphatically nodding in agreement at the too many things are listed here.

18:35.44

Krispy

Ah, yes, yes.

18:35.61

Delphina

And well actually for me like if I see like more than 10 content warnings or something on like a thing I'll just assess that you don't actually know what's going on and what the actual impactful things in your comic are.

18:49.58

Krispy

Yes.

18:52.84

Delphina

I will think you're lying because I've seen so many people who are like content warning for blood and ok I Guess there is sort of like a trickle of anime blood there. Um, that is a It's like if you are doing a scavenger hunt I think it's. Think of this as the Scavenger Hunt Matt Method right? So you're going through the comic and you have to find 3 examples of blood No matter how small they are.. It's just like that. Um, that's the letter of the law not the spirit of the law.

19:17.95

Krispy

You hear. Yes, yes.

19:25.50

Delphina

Um, and ah one of my things is at the end of the content matters we could describe any Wiley Coyote Roadrunner cartoon as extreme animal cruelty but we don't and the reason is that we have a collective understanding. About how that violence is treated and that it won't be interpreted the same way as actual animal cruelty and specifically in Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner. There's some actual rules that they follow about these cartoons to ensure that we don't read.

19:45.96

Krispy

Who.

19:58.78

Delphina

The constant exploding and wall smacking is violent. Um.

20:00.94

Miranda

I oh yeah, isn't it like 1 of them that coyote only ever hurts himself like no one else ever hurts him. It's all self-imposed.

20:07.59

Delphina

Yeah, he only ever hurts himself. He could back off at any time if he backed off at any time it would be okay, , and he would be fine but because he keeps persisting. That's why the violence happens and it's so interesting because comedy, especially slapstick really does have a lot of , very boring and Rigid sounding rules that we consciously or subconsciously follow to make sure that we're getting a funny tone and not a horrific tone. So yeah, watch out for that. Don't over label your things and yeah, it's not helpful to someone who wants to engage with your work.

20:45.38

Krispy

Yes.

21:02.69

Delphina

Um, to have to go through this bombardment if it because if they're they won't think anything of it if they're not if they don't have many triggers but if they do they might think this is way worse than you intended and.

21:14.61

Krispy

Yeah, definitely and you know as I think more about this like there's a lot of different kind of words that are very much thrown around in the community some hopefully uplifting and educational whereas others. Start to get a little bit water down and misunderstood too. Obviously the word triggers is something that has been unfortunately mishandled in a lot of places and a content warning isn't necessarily that either and it's not for that all the time. As well. So like you 2 have said it's very circumstantial but I did want to ask Stealfi since we're kind of going around this and we've answered a bit What content warnings are like what's the difference between a content warning. Ah, or censorship or stuff like that when you start getting those 2 like meddled.

22:12.60

Delphina

And yeah, they do get muddled I think , especially in the day and age of social media apps specifically on your phone like Tiktok or Tapas or Webtoons or whatever.

22:26.50

Krispy

Who.

22:29.26

Delphina

Because they have rules that will ban or restrict your content Automatically, Um, if you have words like die instead of unalive or show body hair or or weird things like that. they'll market as adult content and.

22:43.62

Krispy

Oh Wow oh.

22:46.73

Delphina

And yeah, we've got stories from friends about their comics.

22:51.14

Miranda

Um, I Just thought the unallive thing was just like internet talk because people were funny. I didn't know it was required somewhere really.

22:54.51

Krispy

I Hate I have a yeah.

22:56.77

Delphina

Ah, no, it came from Tiktok. It came from tiktok because if you speak the word die in your recording your video you will get restricted. You will get banned because you're talking about death.

23:13.27

Miranda

All right? so.

23:14.92

Delphina

Um, so people came up with this funny way around it. They'll say I'm alive so somebody should un alive themselves or whatever and it's still the same thing. It's actually a little more creepy to me. But , but you have to remember that those rules.

23:19.89

Miranda

So okay, that makes sense.

23:21.30

Krispy

Gosh Oh yeah.

23:33.42

Delphina

Do not exist to protect people. They exist to protect the company they are there so that some parent doesn't see their little Stacey looking at a post that they don't like for whatever reason and sue the company. and it may have side effects.

23:34.43

Krispy

Yes.

23:46.87

Krispy

And.

23:51.71

Delphina

Keeping minors from seeing adult content but it is overkill and it can also affect queer content and that's on purpose this is a financial decision on their part to restrict your language and your imagery because that is cheaper for their company than facing lawsuits or getting in trouble with the Apple store.

23:58.62

Krispy

Yeah.

24:10.98

Delphina

Or getting pulled from the Apple store. That's a threat for them, especially for apps that is it and as indie creators we do not have to borrow these terminologies, these restrictions on our own platforms and it.

24:11.30

Krispy

Yep.

24:20.32

Krispy

Yes.

24:28.16

Delphina

It's also one of those things where because we're marketing for ourselves and we're because we're a little more direct about reaching out to our own audiences Sometimes when we use too many euphemisms or or put little asterisks in place of vowels so that the word doesn't get caught. Um, the people who actually use tools to block these words that relate to the subjects that they don't want to see are forced to see them because you messed up their restriction their blacklist. Um, you messed up their filters and so really be careful with that I.

24:51.68

Krispy

Yes.

25:06.23

Delphina

If You're finding yourself restricting things or using euphemisms or different words or spelling things with an o instead of or a zero instead of an O. Whatever Um, you know that's all derived from censorship not content warnings and. If you're posting on a platform that does have that kind of censorship. You know, follow the rules if you really want to stay on that platform. Um, but don't do it to yourself thinking. This is actually helping actual readers because we're not Stupid. We know that.

25:38.31

Krispy

Yeah.

25:43.25

Delphina

Dies spelled with a one instead of an eye means the same thing and it'll have the same effect on me. Regardless, just don't do it to yourself and think about what effect that will actually have and.

25:44.82

Krispy

Yeah.

25:57.77

Krispy

Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent and I think that that's just the reason why we decided to tackle such an episode like this is because I see a lot of things kind of seeping into like the indie community that shouldn't. Actually be there I mean the whole point of this is that we have a lot of freedom to tell the stories as raw and emotional as we can. Of course you know, understanding the audience and who you're writing for so that it actually reaches those people. Um, but you know also at the same side like you know. Being as freeing as and and as true as you possibly can be because these stories are unique that way and I think that a lot of the intensities with certain things and emotions and whatnot that sometimes do get ah warned and and. Honestly, unfortunately censored in the ways that Delphi was described. It's definitely a kind of a scary future for some of it so being aware of the power that you have because you do have the power especially when you have like control of where you're posting your stuff to , you are. The master of the universe and I would definitely take control of that situation. There. Um, as far as that is concerned I did want to ask now. What's your advice to someone who's having like a really hard time wrapping their brain around how to rate or warrant about the content of their comic.

27:29.94

Krispy

Miranda and.

27:45.63

Miranda

So consider if what you're trying to rate or warn about is completely different from your usual vibe and tone , find examples of media that have tropes or scenes or things that are similar to yours. And see how they approach their warnings like maybe if you have other webcomics in the same genre you can kind of see how they handle their content warnings movies Tv shows. Whatever and i. As has been said, take the time to figure out who your audience is or who you're intending them to be , if you're intending your audience to be children. You need to be a lot more careful with what you're including in your comic. And what you're warning about whereas if you're intending your audience to be adults. You don't have to be as intense about your warnings and the content you're actually providing.

28:43.14

Krispy

I yeah, definitely agreed there. It's again just hammering back to like knowing who you're writing for and I wouldn't have you writing something like Kayu and then all of a sudden. It's like berserk style gore.

28:51.28

Miranda

Yes.

28:59.23

Miranda

Now Probably don't do that unless that's your goal then have at it and you'll you'll be great. Probably.

29:00.73

Krispy

Something crazy. But yeah, if yeah, if that's the hook The tonal shift from Kayou to Berserk was the hook then I guess go for it. You'll be known and then you know people will understand the vibe.

29:20.86

Delphina

It's so well, it's interesting too because a lot of times it comes up with children or youth friendly comics and swear words like should you be dropping f bombs in ah, children's comic and that's that's a little.

29:27.33

Krispy

Oh yeah.

29:37.68

Delphina

More where you might want to censor yourself a bit I think ah the the rule around showing stuff for kids is can the kid easily repeat. Whatever you're showing them like a kid easily repeat like throwing somebody in the ocean and drowning them.

29:40.36

Krispy

Who.

29:49.59

Krispy

Yes.

29:56.50

Miranda

Now we hope.

29:58.17

Delphina

Probably not , a kid have bomb multiple times all the time and they won't necessarily know the context in which that'll get them in trouble. So that's the reason why you might want to scale that back I do see quite a few comics that are.

30:07.54

Miranda

Ah.

30:08.77

Krispy

Yes.

30:17.65

Delphina

They would be perfectly fine for a kid's audience but they insist on trying to put curse words in there where I don't necessarily think they're necessary. Um.

30:28.76

Krispy

I hope.

30:34.65

Delphina

I Don't think they're particularly necessary and I don't know that they add anything to the narrative. I Think there's a lot of creative ways you can get around swearing that won't raise somebody's.

30:42.73

Krispy

Yep.

30:48.99

Delphina

Radar hackles and says you know what I was going to buy this but it just has this 1 word that bothers me and ah stay true to your vision if it really really matters but a lot of times it doesn't.

30:53.51

Krispy

Yeah.

31:01.59

Krispy

Yeah.

31:03.51

Delphina

Um, just gonna say that a lot of times your work is not actually better for having the f bombs. So , but it would be if Ka you went berserk. Yeah.

31:08.43

Miranda

Much true.

31:14.41

Miranda

And I think it would be warranted in that and if anyone does decide to take that route. Let me know because I I want to see how it turns out. Okay.

31:27.64

Krispy

Ah, next screen tones collaboration. Ah, ah, but that's such a good point delphi and like you know, thinking about that I did have some conversations with a few folks I'm just like what's the.

31:29.59

Delphina

Oh my God I.

31:42.59

Krispy

Overall content. Oh like what happens in your story. Oh well, this that and the other thing and I'm just like okay well you know that's comparable to like a Disney film. That's comparable to like it gets as quote unquote dark as something in the field zone of a pixar film and I'm just like why not broaden your audience instead of alienating them. Having this one random stuff that doesn't add to anything unless of course the rest of it supports it and it's like oh yeah, guy you does drop the f bomb. But that's because Caillou murders someone 2 pages later.

32:18.28

Miranda

Yeah, keep with your tone changed hey.

32:30.64

Miranda

Know my gosh your fault you brought Caillou into this.

32:33.88

Krispy

I'm sorry I it oh it was so dangerous, but like Miranda saying keep with your tone. Um.

32:39.18

Delphina

It was too dangerous.

32:41.42

Miranda

Now.

32:50.36

Krispy

And that in itself is an excellent tool to tell people what it's about like even the art alone to like if your hook isn't to be like some dramatic turnaround kind of thing the unfortunate side effect of the Madoka where people were like I want cute but also dark. Um. I think that that's good like you know, have that kind of general vibe about it and so that it doesn't become a laundry list because it can be a huge turnoff and very intimidating when you go to read a comic and you see the content warning. Um. Is. There's a lot. Ah the description is shorter than the amount of content warnings happening in the comic and that can be a huge turnoff because like Delphi was saying if it's not a highlight in the comic. And it's just kind of listing off these things. It becomes a scavenger hunt in the wrong way like it's not fun to be like oh my god there's blood and gore but the blood comes from like a bloody nose and the gore was from a tooth falling out I guess and it wasn't yeah.

33:58.93

Delphina

So Al gore. Oh.

34:04.81

Krispy

Oh gosh. Um, from that though. So like keeping in mind like you know, Um, when I think of like my stuff because I like action and violence I guess and my stuff does have a lot of violence in it. Um, it is one of those things that we put in like you know, ghost drunk sickness and. Winter blight will have violence in it and blah blah Blah Blah Blah Um, and it's just a general thing that happens all the time. So of course it's going to be like in one of those things that happens but I wouldn't put like ghost strong sickness has ah bombs. And there's bombs in it I don't know something something that's puppies. No, it doesn't. I don't know space. I mean it does have that I'm trying to think of like something it hardly has but it's there. Um, but regardless I don't know my story but it's there.

34:45.79

Miranda

Space Travel Wow cannibalism.

35:00.19

Krispy

You know what? That's a great example I wouldn't put like ghost junk sickness has cannibalism as one of the content warnings because that's like a plot point and it's not like a forever thing. Well that is. But anyway yeah.

35:11.54

Miranda

Or is it.

35:12.87

Delphina

Oh.

35:17.65

Krispy

I'm being called out. Oh God I'm just going to switch right to you Delphie you got to answer this question. Ah good.

35:22.18

Delphina

Canceled. Yeah, okay, well, , if your readers are adults. Um, they already know what they can and can't engage with. My advice is to respect the reader. And know that they'll know what they want to take the chance to read. Um, speaking for myself. My tolerance for sensitive topics is going to change based on the specific art styles used based on the amount of time the plot spends on that topic. Based on how the characters react to the topic and sometimes things that are completely out of the creator's control like my mood or whatever else is going on in my life and there's no way to expect a creator to know or cater to that and again just speaking for myself webcomics. Are actually some of the easiest things to read despite what my tolerance levels are they're way easier than movies or Tv in my opinion and there's a couple reasons for that I can reduce the browser size so that the imagery isn't as big emboldened in my face if it's something that's that's very

36:22.85

Krispy

So.

36:38.52

Delphina

Graphic I can skip pages or I can scroll real fast. I can control it. Basically the pace which I would never be able to do in a movie or Tv , and if the subject overstays my tolerance levels I can come back later once the plot has moved on. So. Instead of spending a week with that page I could read it all in one chunk I could also get a friend to read it and tell me what happened because webcomics are free to access so literally anybody willing to give it a read can do so and just fill me in on the relevant plot points and.

37:00.84

Krispy

Yes.

37:18.46

Delphina

Cater their language to whatever I need. So if I want to say is there animal cruelty in this they can say this is what happens and I can move on with that. Um.

37:28.52

Miranda

I was just thinking of animal cruelty and the dogs like dogs dying that gets me every time and I like I don't feel it should be content warned because it's very specific thing.

37:30.69

Krispy

Mm.

37:37.12

Delphina

Yeah, yeah.

37:46.40

Miranda

But if you have something specific like that. There are often resources like there's a website dedicated to telling you if guys are in a show or a movie. So if you have something very specific and you fear that that might.

37:51.20

Delphina

Does the dog die.

38:03.91

Miranda

Come into play. Whatever you're reading or watching there's probably somewhere out there that you can like if, like Delphie said, have a friend read it for you or there's probably somewhere on the internet that you can find if what you're fearing will happen, happens right.

38:13.48

Krispy

Um.

38:19.20

Delphina

I mean I don't know if it is necessarily for webcomics because we're so so yeah, but does the dog die.com is very good when there is literally no way I want to take a chance engaging with that topic. Um.

38:19.33

Krispy

Um.

38:21.50

Miranda

Yeah, yeah, maybe not for webcomics yet. But it's so useful.

38:24.45

Krispy

Yeah.

38:33.16

Krispy

And.

38:36.58

Delphina

But for me also most of the time the things that bother me aren't even listed and aren't even possible to list because it's a tone. It's a mood. It's a style again just how the comic treats that topic. Um.

38:49.69

Krispy

Yeah.

38:53.70

Delphina

Ah, an assault can be treated so many ways and you don't necessarily know how the author is going to go about it unless they signal to you in the tone of their other stuff. So like if it's a kind of dark comic If it's.

38:59.50

Krispy

Yeah.

39:09.84

Delphina

Post-apocalyptic something or another and I've seen other things I've seen kind of violence and then somebody says ok, there's there's assault in this chapter I can kind of get a picture of ok I know about the level I could see a couple ways. This could go.

39:25.32

Krispy

Yes.

39:27.82

Delphina

And that's how I know if it's going to be okay or maybe not okay for me. Um, but it's just you have to respect the reader you have to respect that the reader is an adult and they're making their own choices and if at any time they need to stop reading their comic Guess what. Nobody ever died from stopping reading a webcomic . There are so many other webcomics out there that you can read and if you find that you're yourself that you are a reader who maybe is expecting your. Creators are the creators of the comics you like to to try to cater to you that isn't a creator's Job. Actually, that's your Job. You know yourself, There's no way they can possibly know every single reader that they engage with or that they reach out to and when you need to step away for your.

40:08.51

Krispy

Yes, yep.

40:24.90

Delphina

Own health. That's what you do as an adult that is that is what you do and kids don't always know this yet. They don't always have the tools for this yet, but this is part of being an adult is curating that experience for yourself and walking away when you need that space. So.

40:26.14

Krispy

And.

40:40.53

Krispy

Yeah, and I think that thinking about that I'm looking back at like what you said about respecting the reader and I think that when you give that like power to them for them to decide. That's.

40:41.65

Miranda

And.

40:59.60

Krispy

Way much more respectful than kind of that laundry list that actually gives more anxiety I remember Spock is Spock spocking. I remember speaking to some ah fellow creators and. There was a lot of anxiety when you see such a long list of things that could be potentially hazardous in these stories and a lot of people actually avoid that they say when the list is too long and it looks like there's everything in there from the dictionary I can't engage with that and you know you find out when you look at the comic. You're like oh. Not even prominence. Not even a huge part of it or anything like that and you've lost all these potential readers because you were like over careful or you were overcompensating for that and you know there are ways to feel disrespectful. Um, kind of adding too much and assing which is one of the biggest things is assing that. People don't have agency to have and create yeah curate their own space. There's actually a lot of tools for people to do that that they do go for and they do understand to curate their own spaces and navigate things that may be difficult for them because like. They've lived with it. It's their lives their experiences and they know a stranger on the internet can help but to be presumptuous and curate their spaces like how you think ah should be curated. It's overstepping too I'm going to hit pause.

42:30.80

Miranda

So now I'm here.

42:30.59

Krispy

So you know with fat said kind of touching base on this I Do think that that has definitely been a chicken salad Caesar wrap with that I've been your host Krispy.

42:45.66

Krispy

And you can find my work at ghostjunksickness.com and lunarblight.com

42:56.84

Delphina

I and I have been Dellfina You can find my comic Sombulus at sombulus.Com content warning toasters.

43:07.45

Krispy

Toasters flying toasters right.

43:09.17

Delphina

Yes.

43:28.90

Miranda

I and I'm Miranda you can find my comic on intotheswellcomic.com

43:51.84

Miranda

I Could go for some toast..