Best posts made by Rinel

@Admiral
I think that's understandable. But I also think that when we're looking at policy on a broad scope (by which I mean a societal level, not a MU* level--whether or not there are MU* games that allow that sort of behavior is utterly irrelevant), and when the desired result is reducing the harm done to children, what we do and do not find palatable must by necessity take a backseat to logic, reason, and statistical evidence.

Generally speaking. There are still hard lines (as I've said elsewhere, I'd still walk away from Omelas).

@Ghost said in Cyberrun:

No matter how it's cut, it's not pretty. It's not something the community at large supports. While YES the immediate physical damages are less when you're an iPedophile, the truth remains that by arguing its right to exist you are providing a don't-ask-don't-tell zone where sexual abuse of minors could literally be taking place on your game. I think it's fucked up that more people aren't on board for trying to keep that out of the hobby.

Well, as I said, I don't support it in MU*s because of the high probability of minors accessing those games. But as to your other questions, especially:

@Ghost said in Cyberrun:

...providing an outlet for a predator who is on the National Sex Offender Registry for sexually abusing a minor?

The idea of ageplay disgusts me, but the idea of "providing an outlet" for a registered sex offender? Nah. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. If "providing an outlet" means he's less likely to harm children, I'd advocate for volunteers to go out and do it.

The problem is that, as far as I'm aware, it's still a very big "if." Our hyperpunitive mindset when it comes to pedophiles makes it difficult to find methods of harm prevention.

I mean we aren't a monolith, but pretty much all trans people just want to live their lives. Just introduce her as ms. whoever, treat her like Ms. whoever, discipline people who are transphobic. Let her know that you don't expect there to be any trouble but that you want to know if there is, because you take discrimination and bigotry seriously.

@Auspice said in Games? Do they exist? Where?:

Repeat after me: purple prose is bad.

An irresistible urge to engage in the contumacious denial of the brevity so highly esteemed in these literary latter days and to revel in sesquipedalian verbiage akin to what a perspicacious member of the literati might find while perusing catalogues of authors past frequently engenders a sense of frustration and, dare I say, ire in the modern reader.

@Runescryer said in Post-Covid 19 world:

We're in the middle of a effing pandemic, and yet the two biggest parties in America, Mardi Gras and Spring Break, went on as planned. No quarantine, no Shelter In Place, no 'hey, maybe this isn't such a good idea, packing bodies together like that'.

twitch

@Kanye-Qwest said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:

Do I play a good man? IDK, but it's fun for me, so I do it.

Word, but I think there's a really important difference here between you, a woman not particularly caring whether or not she portrays a man well, and some other person, a white person not particularly caring whether or not he portrays a black man well. At least as far as it relates to real life settings.

I'm not saying that every second of a POC's life is filled with ANGST and DRAMA and RACISM. I'm just saying that, you know. The way my black friends are talking right now is really different from the way my white ones are, even the white ones who are really good and respected allies.

EDIT: On Arx, of course, these things mean fuck-all, because you in particular did so much work to make it a safe place, for which you do not get nearly enough credit.

@derp said in Sensitivity in gaming:

This thread comes from a place of like -- gushing empathy, but there is an entire other side of the population that learn to professionally disconnect from emotional reactions and making decisions based on how people feel.

Right, but here's the thing--if you come home from the courthouse or the hospital or whereever and you can't reconnect? You're in serious shit, mental health wise. Yes, I've looked at autopsies and talked about dead people and examined detailed reports of sexual abuse of toddlers, and yes, I was able to leave that at the office and come home and sleep at night just fine.

But holy shit I did not adopt that as my primary way of living! You can't look at life like a courtroom or an operating theater. You just can't. It will wither your soul.

When you see a few people so you wander over and it's an event and they're cheerful and nice and welcoming and there's possibly a little pinch of magic stuff going on everything is just extremely chill and you have a very pleasant time.

Scenes like this are why I love Arx so much.

@RDC said in NOLA: The Game That Care Forgot:

@Jennkryst said in NOLA: The Game That Care Forgot:

@Melpomene Staff too lazy to check XP and prereqs, got it. Which is annoying, but it is what it is.

Like, doublepost, and I don't wanna be a dick, but tbh this post right here has me kinda infuriated, ngl.

On the bright side I'm in my second scene and quite enjoying it

@Sparks

Lengthy tired rant of my own incoming.

Everything you said is true and applies to pretty much any profession that involves fixing problems other people are having. Having a woman at our firm is important. Having a man at our firm is important. I am frequently told, though I do not believe their lies, that having a trans person at our firm is important. It's going to be important when we hire a black attorney who grew up in the city, because their life experiences are a useful skill.

This isn't bleeding-heart progressive political correctness. It's just business sense. We work in a majority-minority city where black people are vastly disproportionately targeted by cops and the criminal justice system in general. This is where Alton Sterling was murdered. Having a black lawyer matters. It's not about "who can get the job done best," because there's no such thing as being "the best" at a profession. Sure, I might be the best in the office at researching and analyzing complex legal issues, but I am the awkwardest of ducks. My colleague might need constant help with her citations when she's drafting up motions, but she is a holy terror in the courtroom. Another attorney is ex-military. He handles the firm's interactions with law enforcement and keeps all sorts of wheels greased.

It is way past my bedtime and I am doing a terrible job of explaining things, but your identity is a skillset. It influences how you approach things, like Pax said.

I AM JUST REPEATING WHAT PAX SAID BUT IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND I GET ANNOYED WHEN PEOPLE DON'T GET IT

tl;dr

@Sparks said in Accounting for gender imbalances:

the reason the company wants a more diverse workforce is not politics, it's because we get more shit done and make more money because our clients are happier with our work than our competitors.

@Ghost said in Cyberrun:

I think a good question to ask here is: "Why is it so important to play a legal minor on a sex-based RP game, and not an immature legal adult; perhaps even a teen 18-19?"

Bingo.

@mietze

Wow I get to use "as a trans person" in a convo and not cringe.

What you've done means more to your son than even you probably imagine. Having someone who supports us no matter what is indescribable. I know it hurts to cut people you love out of your life, but your son understands that you are doing it to protect him. And that's huge in a way I can't put into words.

You're a good parent.

***I talk very frankly about sexual abuse of children in this post. If that's going to upset you, please don't read the post.***

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

I'm a big believer of calling things what they are not using hyperbole or ridiculous comparisons to get points across. We do not have "concentration camps" on our borders. Using that phrase belittles and demeans both what is happening now and the actual concentration camps that existed during WWII(and other times).

What we have are centers that appear to be offering inhumane and barely livable conditions to people we've invited to be guests of our country. The conditions of these centers are unforgivable and the death rates are inexcusable.

So they're "centers that appear to be offering inhumane and barely livable conditions" to people almost entirely of an ethnic group who are being held there with limited legal recourse, but they aren't concentration camps? What are concentration camps, then? Are the British camps of the Boer War no longer concentration camps? What of the Japanese-American internment camps? Those had better conditions than what we're seeing now.

You say you like calling a spade a spade, without hyperbole, but then you refuse to call these camps what they are. Just because we haven't recreated the death camps at Treblinka or Birkenau doesn't mean we aren't treading down the path we trod with Native Americans and Japanese-Americans.

People say "never again" loses all meaning when it's brought up too much, but in fact overuse of the term merely weakens it. It's only rendered truly meaningless when all analogies to the horrors of the past are forbidden.

@Auspice said in TS - Danger zone:

millions of spiders that swarm all over you... WHAT DO YOU DO

...I put on my robe and wizard hat.

I'm a lawyer and I have no idea what I'm doing like 90% of the time and every time I ask experienced lawyers for advice on the topics I'm dealing with they say they've never dealt with them before and every time I end up researching and doing work it becomes clear that the state has no idea what it's doing and the fact that this nonsense is getting allowed means that the district courts have no idea what they're doing and given how incredibly esoteric the higher courts are being in accepting and rejecting arguments I am beginning to have doubts there too.

tl;dr I have imposter syndrome on a systemic level

The only "cancelling" I can think of recently is people being pissed off at Rowling, and that's not because of anything in her novels. It's because she's a shitty fucking TERF.

You're implying I'm not going to be first in line for a SKY PIRATE WIZARD MUSH.

ETA: Dibs.

@mietze said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:

I used to see people (especially female players) tell others that they were not the same gender as their PC almost fearfully, as if they expected to lose the RP with those they'd "deceived". I haven't really had that kind of conversation in a good 10 years now, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's on the way out.

Before I came out as trans, I had this conversation with people pretty frequently on Rinel, and every single time it was absolutely terrifying.

In retrospect, this may have been because I am trans, and the idea of being "that guy who has no idea what being a woman is like" was horrifying on a level so visceral it's hard to explain.

Steal the money and use it to start unionizing. They'll thank you later.

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:

@HelloProject
Mostly I'm trying to figure out how the detour into TERF-ism happened, but that is the cultural moment in which we live, so!

Someone used the "male socialization" dogwhistle and some inquiries were made as to whether it was innocent (it wasn't).

ETA:
@Tinuviel said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:

Have you lot never interacted with Pandora before?

From what I've seen in the past she's an asshole about the actions people take, not an asshole about who people are. So, no, this is a new and particularly ugly side of a person to see, but if there's another Tyche lurking around I guess I'm glad I know who it is.