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Themes

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Disclaimer

 

We, as LARP organizers, do not condone or support colonialism, sexism, queerphobia, cultural appropriation and exploitation. We are also not looking to glorify the exploitative practices of past and current imperialist systems and individuals. All bodies, experiences and identities are welcome. 


This LARP is not a celebration of the “good old days”. This is a fictional space filled with frankly pretty terrible people doing, thinking and saying terrible things in a terrible system that they benefit from. We are trying to make it possible to experience and explore these difficult themes in a temporary fiction - deliberately and never uncritically.  
 

We are aware that there is enough oppressive shit out there that people might not want to roll around in it in their free time. We understand if this is not for you at this time.


We take consent from all sides seriously and consider it essential for good play (safety/consent mechanics).

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If you are interested in a critical view on colonial and orientalist perspectives and their ongoing reproduction in Western culture, we recommend you check out some additional academic writing (see our design document). A special thanks to our cultural consultants for their thoughts and recommendations on these topics and the LARP.

Themes of the LARP

Unnatural Allures is an erotic horror LARP about members of the British High Society during the Gaslight Era succumbing to their base desires. While unwrapping an ancient stolen corpse in a “Mummy Reveal Party“, the attending guests will shed all pretences and descend into collective delusions fueled by their own lust for exotism and transgression. 

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You will like this LARP if you want to:

 

  • enjoy a Nordic-style erotic horror LARP set in the Gaslight Era

  • explore complex characters, each with intense predetermined core relationships

  • lose control as you shed the corset of good society

  • engage in horror play and portray characters affected by psychological group effects like collective delusions 

  • confront the inherent monstrosity of Victorian society and its prejudices

 

Unnatural Allures’ content and mechanics are heavily inspired by the LARPS of the PAN TRILOGY designed by Linda Udby and Bjarke Pedersen for Participation Design Agency.

It also draws inspiration from the German LARP 1919 by Strange-Land e.V. - TraumArtA team. Further inspirations found in literature, film and TV are The Beetle by Richard Marsh (1897), Dracula (1897) and The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903) by Bram Stoker, She by H. Rider Haggard (1887), “Lot No. 249” by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892), the The Mummy movies (both 1932 and 1999) and the Netflix series Penny Dreadful (2014-).

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Opt In / Outs - Scope of the game

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Unnatural Allures contains sensitive topics and is only suitable for adult (21+) players. We will engage consent and calibration mechanics  to allow safe exploration of these topics. Even if your character loses control, you as a player will always be in control of your own body and can always leave a scene or opt out from topics you are not comfortable with. However, you might still see others engage in these activites and themes. 

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What you may encounter in this LARP

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  • Historical inaccuracies (enjoying the British High Society of the “Gaslight” era - it’s a horror LARP, not a historical reenactment LARP)

  • Erotic play (simulated with theatre style sex; a good minimum comfort level would be if you are okay to touch and hug a stranger)

  • Nudity (you can opt out for yourself, but you might see others)

  • Simulated violence 

  • Drug abuse and addiction (via drug props)

  • Infection and psychological horror (the spreading effect of collective delusions and psychosis)

  • Necrophiliac attraction (the imagined allure of the Mummy)

  • Sexism and queerphobia (see below)

  • Nationalism, colonialism and orientalism (portrayed in a negative way)


This event features erotic themes and many characters have erotic, romantic or sensual connections to each other that might come into play. Of course, you will always stay in control of your own actions and how physical you want to play - yet it might be that other players will act out or discuss erotic themes in your vicinity. Sexual interactions will always be simulated - no real sex is had during the event. We will have calibration mechanics in place to allow you to play to the intensity level of comfort you want to play.
 

While gender roles for the characters will be more open than they actually were in the Victorian era (e.g. the professions open to female characters), we want to include and explore the power dynamic and hierarchy enforced by traditional gender roles. The inherent tensions and conflicts may be played on and include notions of misogyny or queerphobia, or limiting understanding on how a man/woman is supposed to act, think and feel like. These tensions may be more prevalent for some characters and are included to enhance play - norms to be challenged, broken or find solace /power in aligning with them - but this is always subject to player opt-in/out and definitely not at the centre of the LARP.

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What we do NOT accept in this LARP

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  • Real (as in unsimulated) sex

  • Conflicts solved by actual competitive physical confrontations

  • Racism 

  • Body shaming/ body negativity

  • Ageism

  • Aggressive or offensive sexist, queer- and transphobic remarks

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