Posts made by buttercup

@Macha You're welcome. I need to log on and get some time with Gunther. So thank you.

@Macha Thank you. We won't take more for donations then five dollars. My wife and I are paying for most of it if I am being honest and we do ok. It's our privilege and something we are happy to do. It allows our sons to grow. Thank you so much I promise to make sure someone gets some essentials on your behalf.

@Ganymede thank you. Just choosing to spend the time giving and helping. We see it as an opportunity to grow as individuals. We had some amazing conversations with our children and community. We do five deliveries a week now for neighbors out of this for individuals that are homebound and we are sanitizing and dropping off basic goods. We had planned on a three game basketball road trip but decided to spend that money on this. We live in a poor ethnically black rural area where only one cell tower provides any coverage on one carrier. And I have really good and caring sons. I know it seems cheesy probably but just proud.

So sort of relevant. This is what has come of my family time during this pandemic. My teenage sons included their younger brother and they ended up with a charity. We spent a lot of time doing really amazing things so far.

www.essentialnotpolitical.com

I feel somewhat distanced from people. I think I am at the other end of a number of people. My family has livestock. couple of cows, chickens and goats. We have a 1 acre garden at my property down the road and we have a good amount of land.

We all went to work from home (my wife coaches and teaches at a local high school), my three sons are home, and I went work from home because I need foot surgery I can't get to June it looks like.

We aren't sweating things. Had guns. Had bullets. Have lifestraws and a stock pond if I ever needed it for a couple of years worth of water. Tucked away food stores a long time back for peace of mind.

It's been great. I get to spend time with my family. We started a civ6 game we play every night together for 10-15 turns. We started playing pandemic. My youngest (8) doesn't get it quite yet. We don't need to go anywhere but I gotta say I wish this could be life more often then not. I like this.

That said I of course would wish this to never happen and would give it all up in a moment for one life ... etc. etc.

We are newly married, new family, we have been using this time to bond and grow.

General Nerdom:
Wizard and the Bruiser: More nerdy a good recent one is there Futurama series they just started

True Crime/Supernatural/Alien
Monster: Great Series the Atlanta Monster/Child Murderers is my favorite.
Serial: Great series
The Last Podcast on the Left: Serial Killers, Supernatural, Aliens, True Crime, etc. Comedy. But also some dark things too and moments where you are thankful for some brevity. I suggest the Rasputin Series, if you are more iron of stomach the Albert Fish/Panzram series, the Mormonism series is great too. Lighter but Great Biggie and Tupac Series
Small Town Murder
Myths and Legends
Lore
Unexplained
Weird Tales and the Unexplainable

History:
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Revisionist History
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: No better history podcast so thorough and epic. May be too dry for some.

Daily News/Politics/Etc.:
Up First (NPR)
The Daily (NPR)
The NPR Politics Podcast
Impeachment: Updates from the Washington Post
Economist Radio
Global News Podcast
Today Explained
The Weeds
Pod Save America
Abe Lincoln's Tophat

NBA:
The NBA Daily Ding
No Dunks
Dunc'd On Basketball NBA Podcast
Back to Back: An NBA Podcast
Locked on NBA
Various Phoenix Suns Podcasts

@Auspice

It's a rough part of the year for sure. Soon my cars will just be saturated in it.

We got married on 1/1 and I could not be prouder and our combined family could not be more ecstatic. We got married on our farm in East Texas. Our children and a hundred or so of our friends and family joined us. For those of you that know my heart basketball is important and ball is life.

I took my sons to NBA Summer League for the tournament this year in Vegas and there she was. I started talking and it just grew from there. Turned out we live minutes from each other in Texas. Turns out we both lived overseas in the same place overlapping for four years (South Korea) with one of us in the military and the other a college professor. Our paths crossed, we even have pictures with each other in it in the periphery.

And as things progressed love was born. Had we met then we would have likely never gotten here. It's funny how things turn out.

Life is good. Love is great. If I die tomorrow I could not have asked for a better run.

Happy.

Out of curiosity in circumstances similar to these would it be legal for the adminstrators to share an IP of someone like that to a mu* owner that wants to pro-actively check and ban? Or investigate?

Would it even be a good thing? Ethical?

@mietze

Amazing post.

Okay saw that photo how is he allowed here? I take back my not giving a shit post. Glad you joined the thread if not just to expedite your excommunication from hobby participation here. Just wow. Your stance is a little clearer.

@Roz

It is okay. While I don't appreciate and am not a fan of his/her statements. I have thicker skin then to get discouraged, upset, and/or react to the individual. I've been responsible for my share of trolling and have made many social mistakes in my day and will continue to do so. I will make mistakes as a parent and I will do my best to grow and learn. There is nothing some person is going to say that is greater or even a drop in the bucket to the experiences I have had -- not even a little bit of a shit given.

Lots of potential here for great conversation. I'm already considering some adjustments in how I parent and govern this situation. A couple of parents here (and non-parents) described their situations and had valuable insight. It's also nice to see the perspective and broad ranges of similar circumstances that truly highlight the problem as it exists around us.

I wish Carex their best life and happiness through trolling or whatever way they can acquire it.

@RightMeow

The moment you have a child it quickly becomes utterly terrifying. The first fever. The first flu. Bullying. The first choking. The first almost drop and desperate catch. And of course worse and other myriads of things like the tendency to dart into traffic on a dime.

Being responsible for a child's wellbeing is intimidating and there is not a manual because all situations are so unique. Every parent and every child is different. It happens to everyone but no two experiences are the same.

So worth it though. (For me I get that journey isn't for everyone)

@Cobaltasaurus

Not that you were really asking but thank you for framing that.

Acceptable Behavior: Learning and experiencing sexuality among age appropriate peers. Masturbation.

Uncceptable Behavior: Exploring sexuality with an anonymous individual online.

My son's particular disability leaves him susceptible to being emotionally manipulated. Less so now that his brain is catching up to his natural struggles in social settings. He has a private journal online I dont have access to for example and I allow him to password protect it so he has the confidence in safe spaces existing for him. I don't know the password to his cell phone nor would I impede in his ability to experience life as an individual. Because of some of his struggles I want him to experience a little more then most as he has a diverse and a strong support network to live his best life. I am happy to nurture and approve of whatever lifestyle he takes and regardless of how he identifies.

Sorry if it seemed otherwise. In this one area I am protective because I feel there are legitimate and healthy checks appropriate for my son. Every child is of course different and has different needs.

-B

So...

When I started getting online I was an underage child twenty-seven years ago. I had my first computer and I came across a mud. I played there and from there I found Furry Muck. To me, a child -- I had just stumbled across this magical world. I had just read Bazil Broketail (a novel about a sentient dragon) and I wanted to be the dragon. It was so amazing to me. I made a character and logged in and started role-playing.

As I started role-playing in short order it was obvious I was underage, struggling socially, and naive. I was groomed by a player who introduced me to his wife. It began there and then I was introduced to more 'furries' and taken to a few of the more popular conventions. I won't talk about the first convention or the subsequent ones but it isn't a good story and it got worse from there.

I only want to say this -- look out for your children when they partake in this hobby. My eldest child (15 and autistic) came across something (we talk and he told me) and I took the appropriate legal steps to address it.

Like in all things in life there is a dark side to everything. But I just want to put it out there in case anybody needs to know. Check in on your children and monitor their role-playing experiences. Turn logging on and check their logs. This isn't snooping -- I communicate that anything they do should be able to be read by me and set that as an expectation early on. My son was old enough that I was able to talk to him about sexual expression online and what was not acceptable in our home. This hobby is anonymous one largely and there are people on the other end of it that are predators who use role-playing and target vulnerable people (not just children). There are people who groom and take their time and by most appearances it is okay until the moment it isn't. They can lull and trap impressionable people and destroy their lives in meaningful and lasting ways.

Leaving this here:

Behavioral signs:

Changes in hygiene, such as refusing to bathe or bathing excessively
Develops phobias
Exhibits signs of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder
Expresses suicidal thoughts, especially in adolescents
Has trouble in school, such as absences or drops in grades
Inappropriate sexual knowledge or behaviors
Nightmares or bed-wetting
Overly protective and concerned for siblings, or assumes a caretaker role
Returns to regressive behaviors, such as thumb sucking
Runs away from home or school
Self-harms
Shrinks away or seems threatened by physical contact

Where can I get help?

If you want to talk to someone anonymously, call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 800.4.A.CHILD (422-4453), any time 24/7.

Learn more about being an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

To speak with someone who is trained to help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673).

Spoilers

***=***

I love Bledsoe so I'm all about the Bucks. MVP nod should go that way too.

It's another Golden State year though.

My Suns apathy continues. I watch at least half the games and each year I question myself. But I still go on.

Added Ahriman to my Arx and active list to go along with good ol' Gunther.

When I was 12 in the early 90s one of my friends (older) was a wizard on Furry Muck. I started role-playing online as my start into nerdom and participated in the space aspect of that mu* in the 90s.

I was also exposed to all sorts of things a twelve year old should not experience.

Alas.

I realized I was not a furry when I found other role-playing outlets some years later. Star Wars 2: A New Threat. I staffed there as the Head Judge and started role-playing outside of the Internet. Then sort of nerded out into comics and other things from there.

I eventually got into tabletop gaming, movies, and comics as my primary nerdom outlets. And took a ten year or so hiatus from mushing.

Added Gunther to Arx.