The rules of E.l.m. Branches

Greetings, please take time to read these community rules:

What is the community of E.l.m. Branches for?

E.l.m. (acronym for Elven Lore-Master) Branches is a community for the friendly Elf and Fairy lovers. It's meant for:

• Ancient poetry or modern fantasy genres.
  
• Learning about their lore and figuring out what's authentic within the universes they're found in.
  
• Discussing fan theories.
  
• Creating your own fantasy world.
  
• Newbie roleplayers to find their footing, or the more seasoned ones to specialize further.
  
• Helping the communities or groups related to them grow, anywhere.
  
• Promoting fiction, arts, crafts and music related to them.
  
• Just for the fun, relaxing environment.
  

We also have a Discord server for this purpose.

How do I enter the Discord server?

The instructions for entering our Discord server are here.

Does an age limit exist for joining this community?

Considering the nature of some fantasy content the community is most likely rated PG-13 so the open area of the forums is preferably for teens and all ages upwards.

Does an area for mature content exist?

Yes, we also have forums rated R that are not visible to the public but only to the members of the Mature group. A member may apply for this group but they must be at least 18 years of age on their profile and a number of posts to show the right kind of (mature) mindset. As for what kind of content is meant for the group, read on.

What kind of content is allowed?

These forums are hosted by Forumotion, meaning that their Terms of Service also apply to our forums:

Forumotion Terms of Service wrote:By using the services offered by forumotion.com, the User agrees to use them in accordance with the purpose for which they were designed, and not to use the products and services to – in particular – encourage, promote or present in a favorable light:

• Hacking, spamming, and attacks against networks and/or servers, phishing, malware, intrusion into the network of forumotion.com and third parties,
  
• Content of a sexual, obscene, pornographic nature,
  
• Violent, defamatory, discriminatory content, incitement to racial hatred, crimes against humanity,
  
• The sharing, hosting, distribution or piracy of works and content protected by copyright and intellectual property, or any infringing practice,
  
• The sale, exchange or donation of products subject to special legislation, medicinal products subject to medical prescription or not, narcotic drugs and other illicit substances,
  
• Credit card fraud, or deceptive practices,
  
• Violations of the rights and interests of minors,
  
• Any behaviour contrary to the laws in force, affecting the rights of third parties, or prejudicial to them
  

Basically for us this means:

• All areas: While violent events can be brought up as a subject one way or the other there should not be a glorifying message attached to it.
  
• Public forums: The content should not contain nudity or violence described or depicted in a very detailed manner.
  
• Mature group: Content or depictions can have more details but fully pornographic content is still off limits.
  
• Images: Please visit this post.
  

Are there any other rules for posting?

• Read the pinned topics on each forum to fully know their uses.
  
• Try not to derail the original subject of the topic. If you think that a subject in your mind is interesting enough to deserve a topic of its own then you are welcome to create a new one.
  
• Do not purposely mislead others what comes to the lore. If you know that your content is headcanon or from an alternative universe instead of canon, please mention it.
  

Should the creators of art and fiction be credited?

If you know their names, aliases or websites then yes and if you don't then ask. It's only the considerate thing to do towards the artists and people looking for those artists. Do not act like an art thief, as in let us understand that the art or fiction of others is your own. If you are the original artist then feel free to claim all the glory.

What if I experience harassment or suspect that anything harmful is going on?

If a member cannot feel oneself comfortable then it's the matter for the admin and moderators to solve because our heartfelt wish is to make E.l.m. Branches comfortable and safe.

• Do not defame anyone publicly – remember: "innocent until proven guilty".
  
• Click the flag icon top right to report a post when needed.
  
• If it's a complex or sensitive issue, message the admin or moderators privately, explaining it as well as you can.