Posts made by Ganymede

@Autumn

Yes.

@Miss-Demeanor

He's a giant, y'all.

@Rook said in The Thread of Positivity and Sparkles!:

Clearly not real. Massuesse does not have oil bottle on belt.

You're presuming the kitten is a professional. Some people just like giving massages.

For money.

Here you go.

I too am with Olsson. If only because I'm thinking of making a Hungry Courtier named "Kanye."

@nyctophiliac said in Coming Soon: Arx, After the Reckoning:

@Ganymede : We played together before on two different MUs ever so briefly (one scene each!) and honestly I would adore it if our paths crossed again one day. If you joined Arx I would be happy. You were fun in those two scenes, and I really think you'd like it at Arx.

Thanks for the shout-out, Nyct. I'll give it substantial consideration. PM me some time?

@Paris said in RL Anger:

While she was abusing the policy, the law is clear that he can't ask her that, because of repeated violations of the ADA by private and public property owners. You can't decide whether it's a service dog.

I do not believe this is an accurate statement of the law. Federal regulations and DOJ publications have convinced courts generally that the ADA prohibits public accommodations from requiring proof that an animal is a service animal, but I have found nothing in the ADA or related federal regulations (e.g., 28 CFR s. 36.104 and 36.302(c)) that says that a public accommodation cannot inquire as to whether an animal companion is a service animal.

You are correct to point out that "stress dogs" can qualify as service animals, provided they have some specialized training. (E.g., Rose v. Springfield-Greene County Health Dep't, 668 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (W.D. Mo. 2009)).

Frankly, the only time I'd see a dog as being an issue in a public accommodation is a restaurant, hospital, or any other establishment that may be dinged for health code violations.

@Paris said in RL Anger:

The way landlords assume that a disabled couple isn't worth renting to because all they must make is social security and thus can't be expected to pay rent on time.

I never really understood this. My landlord clients like people who get guaranteed payments every month; they are the ones that generally pay on time, all the time.

@Derp said in A Constructive Thread About People We Might Not Like:

What we are doubling down on is this: We are not going to remove a player before they have presented themselves as a problem on that game. This goes against the spirit of things that the Game Owner wants to see become canon there. So no amount of outcry is going to get us to magically remove the player before she has done so.

I can see Anna behind that. It's admirable, but it also dashes apart the idea of holding a person responsible for their destructive behavior in these games. And, as I said before, I cannot and will not recommend the game to anyone, and will advise against joining it if asked.

You mentioned in another thread about how unhealthy it is for us to apparently obsess over VASpider. I don't think any of us wants to think about her, especially those she has injured. But she keeps coming back because of the sentiment that is being espoused in the game's policy. So, the way I figure it, the only way to kill the conversation is for her to either stay the fuck away from the hobby or for the hobby to push her out.

I appreciate the candor.

@Meg

No, that's exactly what I'd say. It's your game; it's your rules; and it's your call.

@Arkandel said in MU and Alternate Channels:

I'd say the onus would be on you to prove this, else it'd be little more than libel.

This isn't an issue of proof. You have to presume that it is true because the issue is: should staff take action if a player is telling truths to affect another player's RP.

Said another way, if I learned that Rex/Sovereign was playing on Fallen World and informed another player of this so that he/she would not RP with him, should staff take action?

@Paris said in A Constructive Thread About People We Might Not Like:

I don't think anyone expects FH to change their minds, the only voice we've heard from there so far has doubled down.

Arx doubled down on Custodius, and changed course. Knowing FH's owner, I'm pretty sure she's listening. She has her reasons for doing what she's doing, but those may change. All I can hope for is that VASpider doesn't damage the game, whether she remains there or not.

@Meg said in MU and Alternate Channels:

More seriously, it is much tougher to figure out who is spreading rumors and if they are lies.

Even more seriously, what if the person isn't spreading rumors and lies? What if it is the truth?

For example, what if I knew and could verify that Rook had run a dogfighting ring, so I told Arkandel this knowing that he would not RP with Rook any longer? I have spread no rumors, but I have affected Rook's game-playing, especially if his and Arkandel's PC are close.

@Meg said in MU and Alternate Channels:

So if Player A is making up a lie that is keeping Player B and Player C from playing with Player D, even if it's about their real life, why would you /not/ look into Player A lying and spreading rumors about Player D?

A better question is: how would you discover Player A's lies in this situation?

Because this is demonstrably how VASpider destroys games.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

You mean the term Oriental? When did I say this wasn't an offensive term?

You didn't. But you did say that people need to "fucking chill out and know in context when a term is being used to describe them is being used as an insult or not." And I said, in response, that other people don't get to tell me when something is or is not an insult. That means, to me, that I have the luxury (privilege?) of deeming whether the use of "oriental" in any context is insulting or not.

If you mean Asian ... that's not an antiquarian term (as in not out of date), nor has a history of being used in a derogatory manner and refers to region not ethnicity.

I meant neither. I meant, very specifically, that "whether I should or should be offended by an antiquated term leveled against me" is up to me. This is not always by choice -- sometimes, it occurs via visceral, unconscious feeling -- but it does happen, and I have to admit that it happens to me (rarely).

If you, as an Asian, want to be offended by it. Okay. Tell me what you want to be called, if anything. I won't call you Asian, but you're not going to convince me that it is a derogatory term period.

I'm actually not offended by it, but I know some people that are, genuinely. They are for very specific reasons, which are unique to them (or their small section of the population). The one thing I will say about the word, including "oriental," is something you've alluded to but haven't expressly stated: that whether something is or is not derogatory is both situational and experiential. Your Asian friends may not care if you use it, but some of my friends do, and, again, it is due to their experiences.

That's often my objection to the overuse of the term "microaggression," the white-washing of academia, and the problem with immature kids getting into academia. You and I can sit around and talk about the words "nigger" and "kyke" and "homo," and how these terms can hurt people, in a way that is neither offensive or derogatory to either one of us. That's what academia is about, and why people consciously or unconsciously give a pass when such terms are raised in the context of an academic discussion.

But students these days are, in a way, so fucking self-absorbed at times that they do not understand that they are walking into a literal battleground of ideas where they are going to be subjected to successively-more vicious traumas as they go along. This is, in a way, how education works: learning about the progressively smaller lies in chemistry is no less traumatic, objectively, than being at a lecture where Prof. Said is repeatedly using the word "oriental" when he's talking about his "orientalism" theories.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

And I don't mean on just a "gosh, people get so sensitive and angry about this" ... I mean on a level of professors, teachers and students whose lives are being ruined, jobs lost, careers destroyed, because Sally the Pink-Haired SJW decided that the way you talked about the history of that Oriental rug was just so fucking triggering that they "felt the violence of that microaggression and gosh they just couldn't leave their room for days because they were crying". THESE PEOPLE NEED TO SERIOUSLY FUCK OFF.

See, you won't get dissent from me on this. Academia is supposed to be a place where you can openly discuss offensive terms in context, and where hot-bed issues, like microaggressions, need to be dissected and analyzed. Similarly, I get frustrated when academic institutions do not support and protect dissenting opinions, even ones that are patently offensive.

So, yes. Overly-aggressive SJWs need to shut the fuck up and deal with the fact that world is a dark, dark place, and the only way you can learn protection from the dark arts is to be somewhat instructed in them. I'm with you on that.

I'm not with you on whether I should or should not be offended by an antiquated term leveled against me in a manner that is clearly disparaging. How I deal with being offended is another matter: in this case, I looked to the judge, who threatened the party with contempt of court if he used that term again.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

What offends me is people creating new and interesting ways of being offended.

I'm on this boat, mostly. I had no idea that someone could be offended because I used the word "tranny." That, apparently, is an offensive word to transsexuals, so I've tried to train myself not to say that when I'm trying to have a reasonable conversation.

"Oriental" as an offensive slur isn't exactly a new thing, though. You sort of point that out in your own post. Yet people still use the term in derogation of others, just like people use the word nigger, a term we all know is just a tiny bit "microaggressive."

The whole "Microaggressions exist within a context of power binary" ... actually fuck off. That kind of stupid shit is what is making academia a toxic, poisonous pool of immature stupidity.

I didn't invent the term "microaggression." In fact, I blatantly asked the entire board what that meant at some point recently. Since then, I've taken the time to actually look into it. While I don't necessarily agree that calling something a "microaggression" makes it so (see my previous comment about your usage), I also understand what the theorists coining and using the term are trying to get at.

I get that this is a point of irritation for you, but you may want to look into why people are concerned about such things before you dismiss them out of hand for an apparent lack of empathy.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

The war wounds are real with microaggression stupidity.

I get it. But I always figured that part of being an academic is using terms correctly, regardless how other people incorrectly use them.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

FFS.... I can't remember the last time someone used the word 'oriental' to describe a person. I think most anyone under an age knows not to use the word. Its used for objects, period. And anyone who does use it incorrectly are easily corrected.

Last week it happened to me because I am Oriental -- I mean, Chinese.

Lemme guess .. you call white people white ALL THE TIME. Well fuck you for being so insensitive with your microaggression.

Microaggressions exist within a context of a power binary, in which the dominant side is the aggressor.

People need to fucking chill out and KNOW IN CONTEXT when a term being used to describe them is being used as an insult or not.

Others don't have the moral or actual authority to explain to me what I should and should not be insulted by.

@Rook said in MU and Alternate Channels:

You are responsible for your behavior and actions at all times.

I follow a similar maxim, said another way:

Don't write something or message someone electronically with something you would not want someone to see as an exhibit in court.