Guide: Fading to Black (FTB)

Mechanical
RP

This guide covers how to Fade to Black and the rules surrounding it.

What is a Fade to Black?
Prohibited Topics
Fade to Black Rules in Marosia
Ways to Fade to Black in Marosia
Tips and Recommendations

What is a Fade to Black?

Fade to black (FTB) is a device often used in many roleplaying communities to skip over anything those involved in a scene do not, for whatever reason, wish to engage with or experience. FTBs are most commonly used for scenes with sexual content but can be used for any explicit content including but not limited to gore, body horror, torture, medical procedures, and violence.

Prohibited Topics

While Fading to Black can be used for a variety of topics within Marosia, there are a few that are prohibited from being roleplayed in the first place.

Paedophilia, grooming, rape, bestiality, necrophilia and real-life slurs are not to be in any way, shape or form. They cannot be alluded to, joked about or roleplayed with, either as a perpetrator or victim as defined in more detail in rule 18 of the Marosia Rules.

Fade to Black Rules in Marosia

In Marosia Fading to Black is a right granted to every player that can be used at any time during a scene. Attempting to ignore an FTB is a punishable offence in the game rules.

You cannot engage in, joke about or allude to any of the prohibited topics: paedophilia, grooming, rape, bestiality, necrophilia and real-life slurs.
You cannot engage in adult roleplay with a character under the age of 18. All characters have clear mechanical indications of age - if it does not say Young Adult, Adult, Senior, Old or Ancient, then the character is under 18. You cannot groom characters under the age of 18 either and this includes prepping them for a relationship for when they turn 18.

Grooming is defined as befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, and sometimes the family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse and manipulation.
Any and all inappropriate actions of a sexual or grooming nature towards a character under the age of 18 will lead to an immediate and permanent ban.

You must not engage in Adult or Explicit roleplay within a space where there are hibernating characters. They cannot consent therefore their consent cannot be withdrawn either. If this occurs, please use the Rule Break report option.
Consent in erotic scenes must be clear, and if consent is withdrawn at any point then the scene must end.
Harassing players because they won’t engage in Adult or Explicit content with you and instead Fade to Black a scene is against the rules and should be reported using the Rule Break report option.

Ways to Fade to Black in Marosia

Option 1: FTB in OOC Style Post
Scenario: The beginnings of a sexual encounter is occurring between 2 x 18+ characters in a private location.

She bites her lip, reaching to begin unbuttoning her shirt before him, bit by bit revealing a black, lacy bra beneath. FTB.

This post indicates that the scene ends at the undressing and would resume after all sexual content. The other player acknowledges by resuming at what is commonly deemed the ‘pillow talk’ stage.
The downside of this type of post is that the other player doesn’t have a clear indication of what might have occurred. It’s not a problem and as per the rules, the Fade to Black must still be acknowledged and respected.

A good way for the other player to pick up from this post would be:

Following the scene fading to black, he moves onto his back, breathing heavily as if from exertion and grins over at his partner.

Option 2: FTB via 'Scene Fades to Black'
Scenario: Two characters are engaging in part a medical scene that the doctor character’s player doesn’t wish to roleplay in full for various reasons.

They reach for a damp cloth, giving the naked patient in the bathtub a gentle, assuring smile. "I'll be as quick as I can in getting you cleaned off, alright? My apologies if this is a bit intrusive." They subtly chew the inside of their cheek, moving to begin cleaning the woman's body. They start with the hands, arms, face, slowly moving lower and lower-- and in time, the scene blends into itself, fading to black.

As everything comes into focus, they turn to Jane Doe, breathing a soft sigh. They set the cloth aside, red eyes looking her over with muted concern.

"Jane? Do you need a moment? Or shall I help you out from the tub?"

This type of scene gives more information for the second player to work with and clearly lays out what would have occurred without delving into it deeply. Many people consider this method to be less immersion-breaking and more effective to use while role-playing.

Tips and Recommendations

To give the other player(s) adequate time to adjust and comprehend your intentions with a scene if you are leading into a potentially adult or explicit scene, consider gradually leaning into it. You can do this through emotes that would indicate where the scene is going. Some people lighten these emotes with humour while being fairly obvious, especially if the scene has darker themes. By doing this, you not only give the other player a chance to Fade to Black before it goes too far for them but you can also test the waters to see if they wish to roleplay the entire scene.
Remember you can FTB at any point during a scene, similar to real-life consent, it can be revoked at any point and must be respected.
You do not always have to FTB just because you did it once. You can pick and choose when and what you FTB at all times.
When Fading to Black violence that leads to your death, please make sure you are clear in what content you are looking to exclude to get the most from your scene while being comfortable with the content.
Keep in mind, regardless of how you state a FTB, you cannot request any particular outcome, merely that the part you wish to skip over is skipped. This in practice means that using the message (FTB the torture please) is acceptable, while (FTB the torture please can we do something else instead) is not okay.
Remember that out of character (ooc) communication is not allowed in-game and that if you do not wish to use other forms of out of character communication (Discord, private messages, etc) there is absolutely no obligation for you to do so.
Lastly, remember that if someone is making you uncomfortable ooc because your character will not engage in adult, explicit or graphic content, or if a FTB is not respected, cease playing the scene and send in a Rule Break report. Copy and paste the IG timestamp of your post and advise that the FTB was not followed.