Creative

@Tapewyrm I used to, as well. I was in Amon Thranduil mostly, as Aranellome and Hellaia. God, that was a long time ago.

Edited to add, I'm RL friends with player of Orosul still, too, though he doesn't MU anymore. And I still have contact with Gilgurth-player as well, not sure if he MUs anymore.

Depending on the scene/story, one of my core goals is to focus on helping the character evolve (or possibly devolve) by providing them with (hopefully) difficult choices to make.

@Macha said in Happy making...:

But he appreciates the things I do, and shows me.

It is amazing how it can change a work place and the day to day grind when you have people who care.

Even if they screw up and make mistakes once in awhile, it's these actions which can drastically change a job.

Congrats!

This is a two-parter, inspired by my curiosity.

First part is, how did you come up with your username? What's the story behind it? I guess, what's your origin story?

Second question, I've noticed a lot of us repeat character names. Do you? How did you choose it? How do you choose character names, in general? What inspires you?

I think most people know my username used to be vulgarkitten (I've heard some people think that's supposed to be a secret - it's not). I got it from an ex boyfriend IRL when I was trying to come up with something funny. He told me I should just pick two things I liked and smash them together. Thus, swearing and cats.

I changed my username to Hella to reflect moving away from that place in my life and back to what felt better to me. Hella is a spin on my minecraft username and what all my SMP friends call me, and have called me for 10+ years. For me, it's just a happier, better fit.

As for MU character names, I think the one I'm most (in)famous for is Catriona. I used it for years and years on Road to Amber, and then again on The Reach after the previous player gave it up. I chose it because I think it's a pretty name, simple as that. Also, I love that it shortens to 'Cat'. I'm a big fan of names that have convenient short forms (see: Monique 'Mo'). I think, though, that Catriona was the only name I ever reused a bunch across multiple MUs. The others have just been names that I thought were pretty and inspired me to build characters around them.

That's my story. What's yours?

@faraday said in Stranger Danger?:

Where I've landed after all these years:

• I stick to friendly co-op games.
• I don't do PVP or TS.
• I enforce firm boundaries on IC relationships. (Though even that has proved exhausting enough that I am now leery of romantic RP with anyone I don't already know and trust OOCly.)
• I'm choosy about the games I play on - usually either my own or ones from people I trust.

I feel bad that you've had such horrible experiences, though, because I have made several life-long friends through MUSHing. Not just "oh they RP well so it's fun to play a game with them" but true friends. Yes, we must be cautious and sensible with any interactions on the internet, but I don't think we need to be so paranoid that we cut ourselves off from meaningful interaction.

All of the above, though one slight alteration. I enforce firm boundaries, period. IC, OOC, all the boundaries, everywhere. And if there's even the slightest hint of a red flag, I just say so and move on. It has led to a world of difference for me, and I can genuinely say the friends I've made, I feel honoured to have made.

@Derp said in I owe a lot of people some apologies.:

@Hella

You say this and then you end up with Dirty My Little Pony. Careful what you wish for.

No, please.

@faraday said in I owe a lot of people some apologies.:
That's not to say my games are happy unicorn utopias

... okay, but could you make a happy unicorn utopia game, pls? Asking for a friend.

@faraday said in I owe a lot of people some apologies.:

@Tapewyrm It largely depends on where you play. Good people still exist. I've been on games that were pretty chill. This is not to discount Ghost's experiences, which are wholly valid, but I think we run in different game circles and have had very different experiences.

I concur with Faraday. There are definitely still good people/games out there. For the past year-plus, I've been somewhere that has been amazing, with people who are some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of playing with/knowing. They're out there. And when you find them? It's worth the rest.

Just checked my heartbeat! 75bpm, still seemingly alive. Welcome

@Ghost said in Bring back the Hog Pit:

But...and this is an important but...if the Hog Pit ever reopens and the floodgates open, letting the people who haven't had regular targets for a while now back at their old hunting ground, you can pretty much guarantee 10 more years of that behavior being normalized.

Can we just avoid fanning flames? Let others do what they're doing, and we can just do what we're doing without constantly calling back to the rift and categorizing some people as bad/evil? It's the same behavior, but from our side. Now, you're punching at them. You can make good points without doing that. I've seen you do it.