Security, Safety & Consent, Workshops: Fall 2019 Update

“People are more important than larps.”
– Johanna Koljonen

The above may seem obvious but sometimes in live-action events, rules, characters, or story can take primary importance over players. At Nelly’s By Night, people are more important than the event, and the following are the steps we have and will take to ensure a safer one:

Security

The house ‘doorman’ at Nelly’s will provide in-character and out-of-character security. While there are other characters who provide security in the house and in the city, the doorman will be the only one who provides that function out-of-character as well. We are working with someone who is an experienced actor, longtime larper, and who has worked as club and event security around the city for 20+ years. As the role is in and out-of-character, addressing the doorman privately will not seem unusual for any character. However, if you would prefer a mediator, you can speak to or text one of the organizers. (We will provide an emergency text number before the event.) We have full trust in our doorman to handle any situation, if one should arise.

Safety and Consent

We will use safety mechanics and meta-techniques that owe much to larps that use the Opt-In/Opt-Out Design principles discussed extensively and developed by Johanna Koljonen. The consent negotiations we will use have been developed and used successfully in events like End of the Line, The Night In Question, and Convention of Thorns – all of those Vampire: The Masquerade events. The basic tenet of consent-based play is no one can do anything to your character without your consent. Discipline use, feeding, intimacy, and other interactions require negotiation.

The Online Workshop Review for Nelly’s Fall 2019 is available now.

As stated on the ticket page, a list of attendees will be sent to the venue and to participants for safety and security purposes. If any participant has a concern about another, they have the opportunity to flag the person to the organizers at that time. These concerns will remain entirely confidential. As also stated on the ticket page, we have the right to refuse admission.

Our venue is a special place filled with personal items and also a home. For your safety and that of the space, no running or ‘real’ physical confrontations (stagefighting, etc.) will be permitted. Please treat the venue as you would if you were a guest in someone’s home. (In-character, Nelly’s is an Elysium, so violence is frowned upon and generally means banishment.)

No physical or supernatural torture or sexual assault are permitted in this game. Non-consensual supernatural mind manipulation is not allowed unless requested by the recipient, i.e. “It would be interesting if your character tried to read my mind in this scene” or “I relent to your character manipulating my emotions in this scene.” We will limit intimacy scenes (feeding or romantic) to the second floor of the venue.

We want a harassment-free experience for all participants. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Players asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

We will have two out-of-character spaces: one  where you will be able to take a break, chat out-of-character, speak to an organizer, and have some food, water, or a drink; the other where you can take some quiet out-of-character time. The first floor kitchen is where food and organizers are available; the second floor kitchen is an out-of-character quiet space.

Workshops

We understand the demands of work, parenting, chronic illnesses, and travel can limit the time that many can commit to an event. At the same time, we believe strongly in the importance of workshops to the experience and to safety. To try to resolve this, we’ll be trying something new – we will hold workshops in two parts: online and onsite.

To make safety mechanics and consent negotiation techniques as available as possible, we scheduled two streaming sessions before the event. Both sessions are posted for review and provided in text as well. All participants are expected to review these workshop materials before the event.  Our Saturday workshops at the Toronto Media Arts Centre from 12-3PM will review this content, and concentrate on group, relationship, and character building exercises.

We hope this will provide multiple ways to understand key information and allow participants to feel more confident about safety basics before the evening of the event. We are available for questions before the event, and there will be an organizer available in the out-of-character space during the event.

Questions? Email us at info@fairescapestudios.com or join the Nelly’s By Night Facebook group.