Posts made by Pandora

Relationships are so rarely important to movies that aren't billed as romances, yet so often gay relationships seem to have this expectation of relevance, like gays are a distraction that had better have a good excuse for existing.

@Ghost said in MU* Gripes and Peeves:

@Arkandel said in MU* Gripes and Peeves:

Should it be? I don't mean that as a rhetorical question.

I think the point is moot.

(I havent seen the latest Fantastic Beasts movie so correct me if this is inaccurate)

The author chose for the details of the sexuality of these characters not to be the focus of the story. The camera, it could be said, isn't focusing on that in either the books or the movies. It doesn't matter if a character is gay, straight, or anything. If their story isn't focused on their romance and relationships, then their personal sexuality may not even matter to the story at all. It's like those people that are quasi-demanding Poe and Finn in Star Wars be a couple because they love the idea. If romance isn't their story arc, then daydream whatever you want is happening off-camera, but not at the expense of the story the author has chosen to tell.

This is J.K. Rowling's fault for Twitter-inserting canon into her stories that she's not actually putting into the books and movies. She's dangling source material, then not including it in her works.

Could there be good story in expounding on Dumbledore's romances? Sure. Is it the story the author is telling? No.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald's past relationship is a huge plot point in the latest Fantastic Beasts movie, you'd have to see it or at least read the synopsis to really wade into this one, this is past the point of Twitter posts now, it's canon af.

I have a new pillow. It is a grey snek. The tail goes through the mouth and it basically donuts around the neck - while vibrating a soothing neck massage. It's perfect for people like me that sleep sitting up & sometimes find their head drooping to one side, as it keeps the head upright and shoulders relaxed.

For the record, NONE of my close friends that play MUSHes (not MUDs or RPIs) are on MSB. Some might have usernames, but haven't posted in months if not years. MSB is a small community of people who play the games made and run by the people in this community. There are mushes that aren't on TMC or mudstats, that don't have forums (but still have Discord servers, alas). Imagine if everyone on Arx was active on MSB? Then imagine if everyone on every MUSH was active on MSB? MSB is a loud droplet in a much bigger pool than many of you may think.

The answer is pretty easily and immediately 'No' for me. So much of my IC time is spent trying to be relevant that I am actually pleasantly surprised whenever I have an interaction that is just fun. I enjoy the moments that I enjoy, but they are fewer and further between than the payoff I get from any other hobby I have, whether it's writing, editing, reading, or redecorating my guinea pig enclosure.

When you add on top of that the fact that people begrudge you the fun you have or accomplishments you achieve, through passive aggressive IC or OOC communication, turning moments of happiness into the chore of carefully spot-checked and proof-read responses to bullshit accusations...

The less time you devote to this hobby, the more the bad stacks up versus the good. I don't have the free time/friend group I once had to MU for enough hours per day to break even, let alone come down on the side of 'yes'.

I love the hobby, don't get me wrong. But it's a bit like cigarette smoking I think, with the disclaimer that I've never been a smoker & am speaking from second-hand experience. I'm so used to doing this that I get antsy if I don't do it for a while, and I recognize that while the short bursts of pleasure are pleasant indeed, it's not great for my health.

@Ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Pandora

To be fair, it may be reasonably argued that lawyers are, in fact, poxes on society.

They pay my bills, good enough for me.

Peeve: When people externalize their own peeves, disgruntlements, and irks by determining that the other person is indisputably a pox on society.

Pro-tip: If the other person isn't breaking or even straddling the line of a rule or law in your peeve - you're being crotchety and that's not the other person's problem.

And if they are, that's a complaint, not a peeve.

@Ghost said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:

Why would they get weird/sexual about it if it's just text?

As an erotic fiction writer, some of my most heartfelt comments from readers have been about their masturbating to my stories. My first comment along those lines, I'll never forget it, was from a reader that said she had to change her panties before church. I laughed so hard I nearly died. It was a compliment, and it was harmless, and my point is that text can be sexy and inspire sexual feelings. If you've never visited asstr or Literotica or any erotic fiction/fanfiction repository, you're probably better off, but also probably in the minority.

And if someone CAN get weird/sexual about it, then does that mean that these scenes could involve OOC titillation? And if the prior two statements are true, then...
...could establishing an Oocly titilating line of roleplay with a staffer result in preferential treatment than others don't have access to?

What is the difference between writing good text sex and getting a staffer's love and attention, or writing good combat text and getting a staffer's love and attention, or writing good adventuring text and getting a staffer's love and attention?

This obsession with TS like it is some unholy grail of moral depravity is crazy levels of shaming.

I'll TS anyone my character finds interesting enough to fuck, I don't care what they're doing on their side of the screen & I have never really understood the desire for trust or OOC communication in roleplay but I do understand it's a prevalent thing in this community, so I don't dispute it. I do think it'd all be that much more fun if we didn't open ourselves up to the weirdness by inviting false familiarity with unknowns only to be let down when they're fucking creepers, especially when they're so often fucking creepers. Live, learn, and keep it entirely IC?

I don't even know who to @ right now, this thread is so motherfucking broken.

I recognize that there will always be the faction of players that believe staff attention/leadership attention should be spread evenly through the playerbase.

What the people who hold this belief need to understand is that this is their opinion. You can play on games where staff shares this opinion. You cannot force everyone to share this opinion, because this opinion is fundamentally flawed in the eyes of people who disagree.

People should play with those who are interesting and engaging and contributing to their sense of enjoyment in a game. If you are taking actions, involving other players, building stories, and making the game more fun for many people - staffers are more likely to pay you attention because you are doing what most staffers want their players to do, and we generally reward people for doing good things.

Generally speaking, on many games, the people doing this are a relatively smallish number, which can contribute to the mostly-accurate perception that a particular staff-run NPC is handing out all the goodies to one small group.

But what it all eventually boils down to is that NPCs are going to play where their player's interests and enjoyment lies. Being someone that gripes about staff not paying them attention doesn't make you fun, interesting, or enjoyable. So you're probably going to live your best life on a game where being fun isn't as important to staff as making sure everyone is getting their turn, deserved or not, in the spotlight.

Serious question though: Why would anyone ever want staff/NPC attention from anyone they had to bully/harass/shame into RPing with them? I'd feel super gross if I thought someone was begrudgingly RPing with me. This is what messengers are for, when you need something from someone but they haven't expressed any interest in RPing with you in person. KISS and move on.

NPCs and vNPCs fill the world that we play in. That means NPCs are people in the world. People that have sex, or pointless conversations, or attend wine tastings, because that's what people do. When you get into the territory of what NPCs should be doing, you're getting into the territory of staffers having wrongfun. Of dictating what staffers can spend their time doing.

Yes, they could do these things on their PCs, but again - NPCs are people who do things as well. As long as the NPC is furthering plot appropriately, why does it matter to anyone what they're doing in their free time?

In some instances of these complaints, it really just looks like jealousy. Like if the NPC doesn't find you interesting enough to go off-topic with, they shouldn't find anyone else interesting enough to go play with outside of their main mission, either. That's nonsense. Real people are playing these NPCs, and they have the right to whatever fun they can get on whatever characters they enjoy playing - and it's really just none of anyone else's business.

I've been brushing up on my conversational Mandarin and there's no better way to do that than binging dramas on Line TV, naturally. This hilarious line from History 3: Trapped nearly caused a spit-take, just considering the recent wave of apologies lately, from government officials and just in general.

That moment when there's a spider on your wall and you're like 'I'm such a good person for letting that little guy live, I'm going to ignore him and we'll both live our best lives.'

And then the next time you look up, it's decided to park on the ceiling right over your head so you have to kill it because it's clearly aggro.

@Ganymede U R Fail. Grumpy cat makes me happy.

People who use the words 'No one wants to see...' when discussing anyone else's sexuality. I don't want to have a long, drawn out conversation about how annoying this is, but it's really fucking annoying. If you don't want to see it, gouge your god damn eyes out. Or you know, look away. But don't speak for everyone with your BS.

@surreality YES.

But the ubiquitous 'kebab' here is what we'd typically refer to as a gyro, made with spit-roasted lamb.

I don't tend to anthropomorphize food, but I did make some scathing comments about Europeans eating people's pets, and what would poor Mary say?

"Co-worker is leaving, drinks tonight?"
"Can't, I have work at 9AM."
"Come, on, just a couple drinks, it's his last night out!"
"...Fine."

Turns into:
7:30PM: Fuck wearing jackets, let's just do a few shots, we won't feel the cold.
8PM: A 37-person zerg descends on a pub. Halfway through security, one co-worker gets turned away as he's wearing shorts. We all pile back out onto the street.
8:17PM: Oooh, McDonalds.
8:45PM: Zerg has inflated past the point of a headcount. Descends on a pub. Shots, shots, shots.
Somewhere after 11PM: Someone orders a Sex on the Beach. It's fucking terrible. Bartender should be ashamed. We nominate new names for the drink. Winner: Foreplay on Damp Pavement. Notable mention: Interrupted Head on the Boardwalk.
Around 1AM: The beautiful Polish translator has fallen so many times it's a bit concerning. Sweet younger guy in the office is throwing up on the dancefloor.
After 1AM: Me, having an 'earnest conversation' with the bouncer about maybe letting my friends back inside, they'll be better, honest. He tells me off about health and safety & says the only reason he hadn't kicked us all out sooner is because the manager didn't want to offend such a huge party. We were ridiculously proud of this for some reason. Shots!
Around 1:30AM: Listening to denied-entry translator tearfully recount her ejection: "I was lying on the floor and he was shouting at me in Polish. I was doing this." proceeds to wave arms beautifully above her head "I was trying to look classy but I know I didn't..." (She's so cute you guys, her sad face made me wanna fight the bouncer.)
A bit after 1:30AM: We leave, the bouncer seemingly enjoys trading insults with those of the party who use their choicest disses, found at the bottom of Jager Bombs a few minutes ago, on our way out.
1:45AM: The zerg has gained and lost mass, I lost count. We descend on a nightclub. SHOTS.
3AM: Club closes, we get booted out.
3:05: The one kebab shop still open welcomes the zerg. Kebab does not mean what I, the lone American, think it means. It was gross. I slathered it in ketchup. It was gross but tolerable. The ketchup also wasn't great. I ate it all.
A bit after 3:30AM: Alexa, set alarm for 8AM.
All the hours since 8AM: Pain.

Seriously, the office was full of zombies today. It's Ramadan, so our co-workers who were fasting and thus did not come out with us? Seriously unimpressed. I brought in Krispy Kremes for everyone though, so we mostly muddled through on carbs, sugar, and that twilight between 'still kinda drunk' and 'hungover'.

Verdict: Would do again. Great time. Best co-workers ever. My boss dances like a dork, would not trade him in.

Edited to fix club closure time, which makes me feel even sleepier.

My husband and I spent so many hours in that little room omg. Such a fun idea, and so well put together! We eventually got stumped, but it was great anyway.

@Tinuviel said in Gray Harbor Discussion:

@krmbm said in Gray Harbor Discussion:

The last two "modern" games I played on prior to GH had at least one amputee on the grid. They seem to be a popular concept right now.

Having one or two of something doesn't make it popular.

They're popular in the broad sense, as in you'll find one or two on a lot of different games, and a lot more than one or two in certain role play communities/porn erotic fiction sites.

My internet has been unreliable to the point of non-use all weekend. In typical First World Fashion, I am seriously upset about this and it feels like the end of the world; I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow and feel like my weekend was a waste, because I didn't get to do much of what I wanted to do at all.