Is this against episode content guidelines?

Question, in my story I have a character who is involved in self-harm and I wanted to show this character having cuts & blood running down on their wrist. But is showing the blood & cuts on the characters wrist against the rules on episode? So if I published that scene will they take it down? Or will it be okay for me to publish?
And no I am not promoting self-harm.

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I’m not sure. Actually I’ve seen a lot of other contents that are indecent and no one did anything. I don’t think it will be a problem but better PM @Sydney_H or ask her on this topic. :wink:

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It’s a her.

I believe it depends on the way you go about it. @J.Miley posted something on my thread discussing guidelines here which might be beneficial for you to read. Also, you can contact Episode directly (not Sydney as she is a forum moderator and won’t be much help with this specifically), as J.Miley has said she has done (in that post I linked) if you’re unsure and they will be able to tell you if it’s ok. Even though it’s not your intention to promote self harm, the team might think it indirectly does and so they will tell you what needs to be added or taken out to prevent it from violating the guidelines.

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None of the forum team have an answer to this unfortunately. You simply need to review the content guidelines and decide if you feel it goes against them or not. Once you submit it you will find out the results. If they are not in your favor then you learn from your mistakes and try again :slight_smile:

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You cannot show nor describe (location/sensation) of actual self harm. I had a narrative where another character commented on the fresh marks across the arms, and I had to remove that narrative. It’s a very sensitive topic and the line in talking/describing it is very narrow as Episode does not want younger readers to inadvertently get the wrong impression.

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I read a thing about submitting overlays a while ago. It said nothing graphic, including a (dead) hanged body, bullet wounds, and cuts.

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oh ok, so if you can’t show or describe it how did you display it in your story ??

I had Elizabeth (Speak) always wear long sleeves and bracelets and had other characters comment on her habits. At one point, I have the roommate comment “what is wrong with your arms.”
Speak was about recovery, so there was a bit of discussion about it with Liz’s’s psychologist and the reasoning behind it, and how it is an unhealthy coping mechanism.
I painted broad strokes as in Liz commenting the evidence of her internal struggle, and bandage overlays later on. It’s a very very fine line. One suggestion was for Liz to comment that her psychiatrist said that she should talk to someone, but she just wasn’t ready.

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ohh okaay i see thank you !!

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