Best posts made by surreality

@Ghost ....I lose more keyboards to this forum, I swear.

I have two increasingly crappy keyboards in rotation now, just so one can dry out and I can use the other.

I am not even kidding, you bastards.

@JinShei Ninja detector.

@faraday said in Real life versus online behaviors:

@surreality said in Real life versus online behaviors:

@mr-johnson That, IMHO, is just a matter of adhering to the rules of a space. Which I'd call a good sign, not a bad one, really.
We should all be trying to do that.

I would disagree with that. Just because Facebook draws its line at "as long as it's not hate speech, you can be as cruel to each other as you want on this platform", does that make it okay to be cruel to strangers on the internet? IMHO no. Being a decent human being is a more-or-less consistent bar to clear no matter what rules a given online space may or may not have.

I don't disagree here at all -- but I also think that there are spaces where people will act differently in a manner that isn't negative based on the rules and expectations of that space.

If someone can be an ass sometimes, but has the self-awareness to not be an asshole in spaces where it isn't permitted, and respects that it isn't permitted in those spaces, that is a positive thing.

It doesn't mean they aren't still an ass sometimes as a person, but it does mean they're someone who is an ass sometimes who is able to show respect for the rules and tone of the place they're interacting, which is something I consider a good thing.

We've seen plenty examples of people who are an ass sometimes and don't care where they're doing it or whether this is considered acceptable or not, which I think is objectively worse.

I think of this as the 'don't rip a fart at in the middle of someone's wedding vows' rule in my head.

@Ghost ...you keep saying you won't play.

YOU NEVER SAID YOU WOULDN'T STAFF.

Looooooooooooooophole.

Thank you both. It's been... yeah, Friday can die in a fire.

(This message brought to you by 'you will have to sleep in a bra for the next three weeks', aka 'guess who won't be able to sleep for the next three weeks'.)

@ghost said in What is your turning point?:

Once, someone tried to talk me into making a very specific character, only for me to find out that character concept was an actual character on another game whose player she'd had a falling out with, but still wanted to continue that story.

Since this is in constructive, I can really only say: that's pretty awful and unsettling.

You know me well enough, I think, to fill in the horrified flood of metaphors and creative profanity that instantly inspired in my brain, though.

@Tinuviel My favorite RPers are the people who can run with something crazy along those lines -- sometimes characters that grew up together, knew each other a long time, or just spend a lot of time together off screen.

A gem is someone you can toss something like, "Ugh, don't get me started on last night," at, and over the course of the scene the details of something that never got role-played and was just off-screen is fleshed out via improv. Typically involves at least some degree of humor.

"Ugh, don't get me started about last night."
"I still say that waitress was into you!"
"Do people into you usually pour coffee down your shirt?!"
"...if they want to see if it'll get me out of it, maybe."
...and so on.

The people you can spit something like that out with without any pages or consultation in a comfortable back and forth? TREASURE THEM.

@Ghost

• Awkward Virgins Night
• We're All Going to a Vampire LARP Night
• I Swear This Never Happened Before Night
• Alien Abduction Probe Party (aka 'I SWEAR ME AND THE GUYS WERE JUST GOING FISHING OUT IN THE WOODS' Night)
• What Girls Actually Do When We Go To The Bathroom In Groups Night
• Arts and Crafts Night
• Subsequent Glitter Herpes Scrubbing Baths Party Night

@Auspice That's the image for 'that feeling you get when you stumble over a ravelry projects page you like, and see that person has umpteensquillion flawless, finished objects, and start to question what you're doing with your life, because theirs is clearly completely accounted for'.

@faraday What you're describing right there is what I see happen most often/what tends to make the most sense to me.

@Ghost "FUCK YOU, I'M A DRAGON!!!" Night

@SinCerely You may want to check other metals, particularly non-tarnishing metals. It can transfer to yarn and since they're handled a great deal, oil from the hands gets on them a lot to encourage it.

People absolutely do make them with silver/copper/brass/bronze, but having done yarn and jewelry shows with those people for a number of years, this is a problem frequently cited by the customers and the people making stuff. (I redid a pile of them I'd used silver rings for when I found this out, and that was a giant pain in the arse I'd wish on no one else.)

Not as much of an issue for the drop part, but the ring part that rubs against the yarn more compactly/with more friction can cause the above pretty easily.

@wizz ...you know, that really would explain so much about the 1980s when you really think about it.

Could even be semi-regional, like... solid as a rock on the east coast, then you hit the Rockies and it sorta... starts to putter out until you hit the west coast, where it's just gone.

"If there's one thing about Santa Carla I never could stomach, it's all the damn vampires."

@Ghost Brown Chicken Brown Cow Capture the Flag Sex Toy Night (teams dress as brown cows or chickens, which just means little brown wings or horns, and play naked capture the flag sex toy.)

• Whatever can of soup is handy in the fridge.
• ...do we have leftovers of anything worthwhile?
• Instant udon from Costco
• ...is there string cheese?
• ...how many tiny cups of yogurt do I feel like carrying right now?
• Fuck this, do we have ice cream?
• "I could roast those brus--WHY DO WE NOT HAVE ICE CREAM?!"
• Fresh mozzarella (in season for the farmer's market)
• . o O ( Is there mac and cheese made? )

Actual answers, both what I've done historically and what I think I would do now if I get back to things again.

#1. If for whatever reason, it's off the table, I make sure to mention it. This could be because I was with someone at the time who was not OK with it RL, it could be because I wasn't in a headspace in which I felt like exploring those themes at all; while the reasons varied, it's a typical enough expectation that it may occur that if there's some reason it absolutely will not no matter what, I have said so up front.

It never failed to stun me how many people would try anyway if told this, up to and including using dice to attempt to force the issue, regardless of the reason. It similarly never failed to stun me that they'd be stunned I would want nothing to do with them after that.

#2. I always would ask about this if I saw a scene veering in that direction -- basically, the point at which someone was pressed against the wall or clothes were hitting the floor and unless something drastic intervened, the direction was very obvious. I am almost impossible to offend with language choices, but know others are not the same. I don't care what style someone runs with (even if in some cases, the language choices are more hilarious than the hotness I'm sure whoever along the way intended) and will generally play along unless it crosses into territory like, say, referring to my character as a slut/whore/trash/etc. in metapose (in the same way that player behavior would annoy me in any other context), at which point I will say something, and I will say something the first time it happens. If it happens again, I'm out, and I'm done.

#3. I'm leaving this one mostly alone because if I don't, I am going to rant in a way that is completely inappropriate for this part of the forum because... reasons. Needless to say, though, if you tell me you're totally into a grand epic story better than anything ever, and when you discuss the events of that story it is literally (used correctly) nothing more than a laundry list of who has enjoyed your genitals and how and how many times and how much they enjoyed it, I am not going to consider your epic tale of tail to be on par with Lord of the Rings. Nor should I.

If someone doesn't want to play with me because I don't want to TS them, it's not something I consider a great loss.

#4. I like the prefs setup I've described various times to be a good first step. It gives people neutral ground for basics without awkwardness or confrontation. If people have questions, they have a place to start the conversation, if one is needed, and having a place to start is a huge help.

Unspoken #5. The sad truth is that you can't assume someone isn't a total asshole or sociopath just because things start out well or they seem nice, even if they seem totally fine and sensible for years. Be careful, and trust your gut. If something feels off, say something.

@Ghost

@saosmash Amazon gets them in stock every so often, if you wanna track one down. It was our triumph purchase for more or less organizing the kitchen and getting rid of my grandmother's ancient things that were still there. (I defeated the drawer we called 'Tetanusland' mostly unscathed, so it was a real triumph.)

More or less everything else in there is black, stainless, or a rainbow finish (don't judge me!), but that was worthy of an exception. Also there will some day be a Star Wars waffle iron, when the husband decides which of the dozens he wants. I LOVE geek kitchen stuff, so it's just so much

@tinuviel Not gonna lie, the horrible part of me just did a spit-take over this. Because that would be a thing. And the horrible part of me would laugh. It would laugh really fucking hard.

@Auspice No, no I don't. Actual naked people badly swinging prop swords around. Swear on my life.

It's like watching people who have never held a sword in their life wince away from what is in their hands while trying to lift it and clang-clang-clang while the cheesy slo-mo effects kick in to (totally not even) hide how profoundly bad these people are at sword.

It is the best awful movie, it really is. If I had a working DVD drive and half a clue how to hook all that in to run something on rabb.it, I would offer, because goddamn, it is fucking funny.

Yes, the moment we saw it, my husband and I began a three year quest to find a copy to buy. Yes, we did. Because we laughed that hard.

Double post for: you know you're a maker-of-things addict when you're content wearing the same thermal shirts from Target until they are literally falling apart after a decade, but you don't even blink about getting art tools or supplies for that one neat effect or that one new thing you wanted to learn how to do the moment there's available cash.