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affluenzatvss · 3 years

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hi, everyone !! as uncomfortable as this is, we would like to take a moment to address a situation because we’ve unfortunately already seen signs of it being misunderstood. we’re going to lay out what happened from A to Z, and then hopefully that puts it to end.

sunday night, the n word was used twice on the timeline within a really short period of time. it was said by a black muse, and once the mun realized it made people uncomfortable, they apologized on the timeline and promised not to do it again. they also confirmed they were african and caribbean, because a member asked them point blank on the timeline.

we did approach them just to touch base with them, thank them for how they handled the situation and they reaffirmed their offer to not use it on the timeline again. as a black person myself, i’m neither pro nor anti using the n word on a timeline (by the appropriate people, of course). i believe it isn’t my job to police black muns playing black muses. as an admin it’s hard to ignore when people say they are uncomfortable by something, but as a person it’s harder for me to swallow the idea of asking black muns to change their aave for the sake of sparing non black feelings. it goes without saying that this is my own opinion, and not the one all black people necessarily will / can / or should have.

the tweets were deleted, the mun tweeted they were african and caribbean, and the mun on their own decision decided to offer not to use the word anymore. it should’ve been over. however, the situation didn’t end here.

before the previous mun (mun a) confirmed they were black, we already had a dm from a different member (mun b) saying that they didn’t think mun a was black. this was sent before anything was confirmed ooc:

“i know the muse is afro latino, but the mun sent a few of their tiktoks to a friend here, and im pretty sure the mun isn’t black. there’s no explicit face to be seen but from what i see in their icon, i don’t believe they’re black, i can send you guys the screenshots, and the tiktok if you guys would like to see them.“

being offered a mun’s social media without their knowledge or consent was extremely uncomfortable for us. we didn’t accept the offer for screenshots, since mun b admitted that there wasn’t an explicit face to be seen on the account anyway. tiktok icons aren’t always the account owner’s own picture, and people aren’t always black passing. by the time we read the message, mun a had confirmed three times that they were black ooc and offered not to use the word again on the timeline. so we dmed back mun b and told them that mun a had since confirmed they were black and that the word wouldn’t be brought up again.

sidenote, we also reached out to mun a, to ask if they intentionally gave anybody their tiktok account to anyone in our group. they said no. but when you share links to other people’s tiktok videos, it links your own personal tiktok sender id. this is likely how that information was obtained by muns in the group, either that or the tiktok account is just not theirs. either way, there are not enough words to describe how invasive this was. we deeply apologize to this mun for having to ask them this uncomfortable question. this entire situation was so uncomfortable for them and so undeserved on so many levels and no amount of apology we can give to them will ever be enough.

side note update: the tiktok acc was linked to a video sent of the mun’s dog. so that explains how the account actually got around! so the mystery surrounding access to the tiktok account is no longer a factor, this is confirmed their account.

a little while later some screenshots started circling, of some of our members contacting other members to let them know they’ll be joining a rp because of our response.

“/ apparently someone used the n word slur, and upon messaging the admins that the mun who said it wasn’t black they said that they were but said no usage of it will continue? so [redacted] wanted to know if you wanted to go w her, [redacted], and i to another rp? fink she said she’s gonna bring [redacted], but i’m not leaving u here if u want to stay. [redacted] can’t rot here”

this was really upsetting of us to hear about. it felt like the story of what happened was being misrepresented. and so i decided to write this post, because i think if this narrative is the one going around then it’s devastating to our rp and possibly our reputations in the community. please don’t think for a second that we dismissed any valid claims of a nonblack person using the n word on our timeline. if for a second any concrete proof was given to us or mentioned, it would be another story. that is not the environment any one of us would tolerate, much less condone.

my personal thoughts are pretty simple. being offered someone’s personal information made me extremely uncomfortable, and the idea of asking someone to in anyway prove their blackness was extremely shocking and upsetting to me. if someone asked me to prove mine, i would feel horribly invalidated and hurt by the situation. i also would be mortified if someone handed over my personal information for strangers to have and know. and i am heartbroken by the fact that this mun felt like they had to prove anything about themselves because that is so uncalled for and so unfair.

we hope this clears up any and all information. we’re not here to hold grudges or to put people on blast, we just want to make sure the record is set straight. if you have any questions or concerns, our twitter dms are open.

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beauetcon · 6 years

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In Defense of Applications,

Okay so I've been advertising an RP recently, and I've been getting a lot of feedback along the lines of "cool, but I don't like apps," so I started looking into this. I asked friends for their opinions, of course theirs matched mine since friends tend to have more in common with each other. Anyway, as I observed, I also found a lot of people saying "I can't be assed or bothered to fill out an app."

Some friends have said this unwillingness to fill out applications comes from laziness or lack of dedication to an RP. I disagree. Why would anyone be dedicated to an RP they haven't joined yet? You don't need to show any degree of dedication before joining an RP, and if you do, good for you; you've found something special. Anyway, I also don't think it reflects laziness but rather preference. Also, I think people don't know why admins ask for applications. I can't speak for all admins, but I thought I would share why every RP I've ever created has asked for applications.

I feel that it goes without saying, but for the sake of clarity I will say it anyway, but this is my opinion. It doesn't dictate how others should feel.

It will always be your prerogative and right to join whatever RP tickles your fancy. I like applications; you don't have to, but I wanted to remind people that applications do have a purpose and they aren't there to just take up your time.

Anyway, here goes:

They help with plagiarism:

While preventing plagiarism 100% is not possible, at least not with the resources we have in the RPC, when an RP asks for a writing sample, it's really easy to pop it into a search engine and get some information about where the writing may have come from. This is not limited to a writing sample, but also for RPs that ask for bios. Characters are not going to be completely original, I won't get into the semantics of that, but wording for bios at the very least should be. Being able to tell if whoever sent in the application is the original writer of the para-sample and bio will help us determine that.

We're not asking for your best we're asking for you average:

This might be an unpopular statement, but I don't care about your best. I don’t even deserve your best, save that for something you’re passionate about. It's unrealistic to expect the best from writers/players 24/7, especially for something that's supposed to be entertainment, but applications give us an idea of where you stand as a writer and what to expect.

When reading applications and deciding whether I will accept them or not, I never judge it based on how well it is written, especially since my own writing style and preferences will inevitably differ from those applying. But, if you're a person who prefers to write short replies and I know as an admin that my players are wordy as fuck, I might take the time to let you know that, the same goes for the reverse.

DIVERISY:

We all love a rich spoiled and flirty character, some more than others, but I don't want to be part of an RP where every character has those traits. I also don't want an RP full of broody writers or starving artists. There is nothing wrong with tropes or archetypes, there is a reason we see them so often, but if you take the time to write a bio, you let the admins know why your rich brooding artist is different from players A's rich spoiled flirty character. Naming three random adjectives is nowhere near enough to capture to unique wonder that is the character you have taken time to create.

Plots:

The more we know about you and your character the better we can fine-tune plot drops to make the RP a welcoming and fun environment for you. We didn't create our rp to keep our characters in a corner playing among each other, we did it because we wanted you involved in the creation process. By knowing more about you and your character, we can then have an easier time coming up with ways to include everyone.

#rpc #rpt #ramblings

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044-eu · 4 years

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Stay away from GTA V FIVEM's WHITELIST servers !!!

Dear friends, today I will tell you about my experience so that you can evaluate and decide independently and impartially. It is important that this article is read from start to finish so that it is easier to get a complete idea as complete as possible of what we are talking about and how this experience of mine can help you. It all started when I decided to follow someone on his Twitch channel, a place where he streams almost exclusively on games. I had already heard of this game and played there in the past a few hours but unfortunately the pre-packaged story bored me. I don't really like playing singles and so I took the opportunity to involve a longtime friend of mine. The idea was to find a server that with appropriate modifications would allow us an experience as realistic and intense as possible. So, after I figured out how to play on an unofficial GTA V server usin, I realized that there were a lot of unofficial servers available. The reason why there are so many servers is probably due to a set of factors. To create an unofficial server gta 5 with fivem you need to generate a token that will allow you to host up to 32 players and to increase this number up to 128 you need to make a "donation" to the creators of IVM. A server can always earn money through "donations". Each owner of these servers manages it completely autonomously, sometimes using collaborators. Both sides can often give players reason to complain so in the long run those who have the chance get tired and create it on their own.

I decided to opt for a server where this person was playing that I followed on twitch because it was a server where you could play role and we others could count on a similar experience to say the least ten years. I was convinced that it would not be that difficult but reading a fairly long regulation that included a request, a written examination and an oral examination, we immediately became discouraged and went to a server that did not include the whitelist, even in the latter it was played role. The server was not much at the performance level and in fact, just created the character, I found myself with the basic model and without the possibility to customize it. We met a few players and everything was pretty good, except maybe the fact that the server was pretty bare of players. One of these people we met on the street, advised me to contact the administrators on discord (which were not there) to give me what I needed to change my features. Some time later, I was intercepted by a server administrator who ordered me in a tone of annoyed voice to change my character by going to the various shops. We told him that we had punctured (and it was true) and that therefore we could not go around with the car. We contacted, following the directions of the game, the mechanic who for payment with the virtual currency of the game would fix the wheel. After several tens of minutes waiting for them impaled, we decided to take the car to reach the store in order to follow the administrator's instructions even with the wheel punctured. We almost immediately receive a message with a warning, three alerts are banned. After a short time, the same administrator of before stops us and tells us that "you can not go around with the punctured rubber" because, if we had lost the grip with the car, they would accuse him of running a server in which there was not really a role. The managers of these servers, they are terrified of people who sometimes come in just to shoot "funny" videos with the purpose of discrediting the latter. Usually these players have other servers and therefore perpetrate this kind of "unfair competition" but that's not always the case. In summary, in this server without whitelist, we could not find the administrators and when they found us, instead of remedying the situation caused by their mismanagement of the server and the various bugs, they reproached us. Imagine a little boy berating men in their forties. It was quite recreational. After struggling to comply and with the terror that at every corner an admin would pop up to scold us or ban us, we decided to look for a job. The options of the various public works available were very few. Initially we chose to be truckers, after getting our driver's license, we found with difficulty the site where to take the trucks and then we wondered who could call us in a server so bare of missions and people. After some time of pure boredom, we returned to the center of employment which is a circle where you choose a certain job on your own. In this case we decided to try a slightly more independent job: the woodcutter. We quickly realized that it was a repetitive job that we couldn't complete and so we decided to opt for a server with a little more people. I fell out then on a server that offers services in whitelist, also for this is planned the submission of an application, after some time the background of the character shows up, you do an oral interview and if you are deemed worthy, you will finally be granted the incredible honor of entering to play on the server. After reading the regulation, I decided to do the interview without the help of any help because in fact on discord, there was no way to check if I had the regulation under hand to peek but I wanted to do things right. I've never liked the groups where you have to take an exam but many are convinced that it is the best way to have high quality players and to ensure fun for everyone. After waiting patiently on the dedicated channel, we hear the voice of one of the examiners who, slightly in advance, gives us a speech very similar to what you do when you enter the Marines. A couple of people, discouraged by that speech, came out of the channel to "better prepare" for the question that would be based on a 41-page manual. It was my turn, initially there were two examiners but at some point one went away because he had to have lunch. They asked me why I had chosen that server and I explained that I was following this streamer. They uttered a strange verse in chorus, but surely it will have been a rustle on discord. They asked me a lot of questions but in the end the examiner decided to postpone me to three days later because I was insecure about the number of people who can be involved in a given action. I didn't remember if it was 8 or 15, it was 8. They didn't even know what a GAME MASTER was, which I had to explain to them. Because I was "insecure" they decided to postpone me to three days later. If I had decided to try again and failed again, the time would have been extended to 5 days and then I could no longer participate. Personally, I have decided not to try again, I was not convinced, but this decision comes from a set of reflections. The first reason is definitely the fact that at almost forty I can't be judged by kids to have the honor of playing gta, it's a stupid reason I know but anyway it's my time. The second reason is that the same streamer I was following, following my application, admitted that she did not do any interviews to get on the server. As I have also been confirmed by other players at certain times, the server administrators, as it is their right to do, invite who they want them. This is perfectly understandable and legitimate, the server is theirs and of course they let in whoever wants it. So why do I potentially have to lose 10 days in the hope of having the immense privilege of entering? If players are so well selected, why are there twitch recordings where you clearly see impossible actions, characters doing metagaming, and other unlikely actions? It's not hard to check, take a look at the various streaming platforms. At this point my dear friends, you probably might think that I wrote this article just because I was discarded. And in fact, I have to say that I had the impulse to write it right with the intention of venting. Knowing myself so I decided not to name names (although I have evidence of what I say of course) and also I decided to wait more than a day before starting this article to make me boil a little feeling. I therefore think that I wrote an article that perhaps at the beginning was born as a form of revenge but that in the end will give you that point of reflection such that you better consider your choices to give value to yourself and your time. In fact, I thought that on a server managed in such a "careful" way. It doesn't take anything for someone to put me in a position to make a mistake. If I had to be careful and focused all the time without having time to relax, surely the quality of my fun would suffer a lot. If I were to be a very careful person, who wants to play at all costs on that server, after a long time that I play with it and after building so much, I could be banned for something minor or because someone could put me in a position to make any mistake. So from my friends' point of view, I think this article has come very close to the goal of saving you time and nervousness. My final opinion, therefore, I had had a little previous experience, is to never lose sight of the fact that we are always dealing with a game and that for this reason, never and under any circumstances, you can lose sight of the line that separates the game from reality. Rather than miss a day studying myself 41 pages to be rejected due to a wrong number, I would certainly have invested better my time in looking for the server suitable for my needs without restrictions and focusing especially on the most important side of the game that is the game. Or to read a good book for example. In fact, with tests and examinations, if one were to follow the directions of these people literally, it could potentially waste 10 days of his life between sheets and regulations. This is not entertainment for me, it's an exaggeration. Ultimately, I also recommend that you consider the fact that (also due to the maximum number of players), you'll hardly find people interesting enough to spend their hours without getting bored. This is my personal opinion of course, feel free to leave yours in the comments. Read the full article

#intrattenimento #giochi #gta #giochionline

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juleswriites · 7 years

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PSA

To begin, this took a lot of thought and contemplation – approximately three months’ worth where myself and my writing partner, Tabitha ( @jikookrph ), had to decide if dredging all of this old stuff up and facing the backlash was truly worth warning others so that they did not have to endure the same things we did, or the things that we have observed occurring since.

To begin, my name is Jules, and I’m in my late twenties. I struggle a lot with feeling “too old” to roleplay online given the relatively young average age of the Tumblr roleplayer, but I’ve found entirely too many great friends in my writing partners to give it up. I’ve always been creative, I love to write, and I struggle with face-to-face interpersonal relationships, so Tumblr is kind of my safe haven.

I joined solemnlyswearrp, a next-generation appless, plotless, roleplay group in late March or early April of 2016 after finding it in a Tumblr search of “HP rp”. I didn’t know anyone on Tumblr, and had only done one other Tumblr roleplay a few years ago that was a continuation of a roleplay community established on Oasiz, a chat service utilized primarily by roleplayers that has more or less gone defunct in the age of Tumblr, Twitter, and forum roleplays.

In the beginning, everything and everyone in Solemnly Swear was great. The admins seemed really cool, there were about twenty or so amazing writers, and we were continually growing and inviting in new roleplayers and characters. As the months, progressed, however, I gradually started to notice things that began to bother me, which I will be detailing. Some of these things I should have noticed to begin with, and others I only noticed as I got to know other writers in the community. Please read updates below the cut.

The roleplay, quite literally, revolves around the admins’ characters. Of the four quidditch teams, the two admins, J and M, captained three of them with their characters, which meant that one admin had a captain for half of the available spots. Despite activity from most of the people playing quidditch players, the House Cup came down between the two teams that were both captained by admin M’s characters. In one game, one of M’s teams scored 200 points over the average of other winning teams to put that team on top. I understand this to a point. Admin M played James Potter, son of Harry Potter and all-around golden boy, but it would have been nice to mix things up. Most of the major plot points also went to the admins, characters involved with theirs, or with people they were close friends with. Of the plots that I know about, one of the significant others of admin M’s character was beaten to the point of memory loss, and then beaten again and murdered. Admin M’s character also suffered from temporary paralysis after…something. I don’t even remember what. Admin J also had a character suffer from memory loss, and that same character also had a significant other (played by the same mun playing admin M’s previously mentioned and now dead significant other) get pregnant. To date, as far as my knowledge goes, there have been no other plots of this proportion that have been approved.

Some players and characters are outright discriminated against. My writing partner, Tabitha, had the misfortune of being one of these people, but I’ve seen it happen to a few others in the community. From the beginning, even when the group was relatively small, Tabi’s starters were largely ignored. As it grew, this continued to be the case, and I can tell you it wasn’t from Tabitha’s lack of trying, and even replying to starters herself. Simply put, she continually had people drop threads on her, and it wasn’t because of quality of content. Tabitha had followed the group from a previous roleplay and was familiar with both admins, and apparently, had somehow upset at least admin J. That’s the only reason we can come up with that, literally, every single one of admin J’s characters disliked every single one of Tabitha’s. To the point that one of admin J’s characters accused Tabitha’s character of emotionally abusing his girlfriend and forcing her into a relationship because the girlfriend character was a friend of one of admin J’s. (We have since learned from another previous player that admin J felt as if the girlfriend’s mun was forced into the plot - despite she and Tabi having been plotting it out for months - and, without her permission, accused Tabi’s character of it IC.) The only thing I have been able to point out as being different about Tabitha’s characters is that she utilizes K-pop fcs, and was the only one to do so. I wasn’t aware of the stigma sometimes associated with this until I befriended Tabi in this group, but no matter how diverse or friendly any of her characters were, they were all summarily ignored if not outright disliked. (Note: Solemnly Swear is also guilty of only using “token poc” faceclaims such as Harry Shum, Jr., Arden Cho, Candice Patton. Their “diverse fcs” really aren’t all that diverse.) Another player was outright ignored because her character was a drug addict. She was trying to give the group some real diversity, but she was attacked in anons until she finally had the character in recovery faster than she preferred.

Their gossip blog is toxic and outright abusive. I cannot even begin to exaggerate this enough. The gossip blog accused Tabitha’s character of forcing himself on his girlfriend, and joked around about the character’s girlfriend having Stockholm Syndrome as a result and needing to be rescued. It upset Tabitha, it was spoken about, it was not removed. It is not okay to accuse someone of abuse. Links x x My character, which happened to be the brother of Tabitha’s character, was also accused of being “creepy” and “too aggressive” for jokingly saying he liked his crush more than food (he’s a bottomless pit). I think this was spurred on by some personal things (more in #4), but in general, the gossip blog only existed to constantly insult characters, and to sometimes do it solely because they didn’t like the player. Link x One of my other characters was also called “selfish” and “indecisive” because she was polyromantic and in an open relationship with two boys, because neither boy at the time was seeing anyone else. She did not force the boys into the relationship, and if the same sort of thing was said about another lifestyle, this would not be okay. It was poly-shaming to a disgusting degree. I was also more or less bullied by my character being bullied by the gossip witches excessively, to which I was not supposed to respond to in-character (I was actually reprimanded for my character defending herself) or “take personally because it’s just the gossip witch’s opinion”. But when the gossip blog continually talks about what a terrible person your character is (and no one else’s to the same degree), it’s really not okay. It got to the point that I nearly considered killing my character off just to spite them and not have to deal with it anymore. Links x x x x x The gossip blog, run by admin M (though she has since given up her role on the blog since Tabi’s and mine departure) and another player that no longer participates in the RP, was known for being negative and nasty, and in my opinion, was used as an excuse to attack characters either they or their friends didn’t like. My character was outright bullied through the anons and the gossip blog (though myself and several other former players now believe the nasty anons were most likely sent by admin J simply because of the level of detail and reading-into paid to certain plots she openly didn’t like - like the ship mentioned below in #4). While players can opt not to follow the blog, they cannot opt out of having the gossip blog talk about them, which is complete and utter bullshit. Essentially, you are required to sit back and be silent about being bullied “in character” and have no recourse but to talk to the people running the blog, but are continually fed the “this is just a character and their opinion”. I mean, it’s pretty bad when people don’t want to follow their own group’s gossip blog, right? Link x

They pride themselves on not being clique-y, but they really are?? Bubbling is a huge problem in-game, and the admins and their writing partners contribute to a majority of it. I’ve seen the admins called out multiple times for bubbling together, and the excuse is usually “we know each other IRL so it’s just easier”. Mind you, they don’t have any issues calling others out on bubbling. See #6. There are players who do not interact with any characters not played by certain people, players who will only ship with certain other players, etc. Yet somehow some starters and characters get utterly ignored. Links x x x x x x

The game is absolutely not about ships, except it really is, to an insane degree. One of the first admin posts I was ever around for was one that said that the game was not about ships, and that not everyone needed to be in a relationship. Keep this in mind as you read the rest… Things really started going downhill for myself personally when my first ever male character, had absolutely amazing chemistry with another. The other character was relatively new, played by someone new to our group, but had come up with a pre-established best friend relationship with admin J’s main character. This other player made it clear from the get-go that she shipped based off chemistry, and neither of us expected our two characters to hit it off as spectacularly as they did, but, there you go. Our characters were people that surprised even their writers sometimes, which is fantastic. All of a sudden (in my opinion), admin J’s character had feelings for the other one, and confessed them after the character had told admin J’s that he had a date with mine. Now, to give you some backstory, admin J’s character has quite a romantic history. She began the year hooking up with her best friend (James Potter) and falling for him, but a relationship never happened. She then began dating one of her other best friend’s exes (though they’d been broken up for a year or two, I think?). After that relationship ended, she hooked up with Albus Potter (James’ brother, and another close, childhood friend of her character’s) who was, at the time, dating admin J’s character’s closest friend and teammate, W. Whew, right? Now, my character, who had kind of always admired W from afar, had seen all of this go down, and now, he was dealing with the same girl suddenly confessing her feelings to the boy he liked and had also known for years (it was his brother’s roommate). Admin J responded to one of my starters (in other words, my character did not seek hers out), and Hermes (my character) responded to her presence by asking admin J’s character if she liked the other one before or after he’d told her that he had a date with Hermes. At which point, Hermes pointed out the character’s seeming pattern of falling for her friends only after someone else paid them attention, and worse. There was no name-calling, he didn’t get in her face, he just heatedly pointed out that she had a shitty pattern of deciding when she liked someone. Admin J decided that I was attacking her OOC. I shit you not. Admin J actually approached me and told me that she felt like I was trying to control her character, and that her character hadn’t done anything wrong so mine had “no reason to be upset with her”. I responded by telling her it felt like she was attempting to control my character and his feelings, and that it seemed as if people weren’t allowed to dislike admin J’s character or point out her very publicly played out flaws.

If the admins like you, the rules they set do not apply to you. If they do not like you, they will create rules just for you. The person that played characters that were significant others of both admin J and admin M (the same characters mentioned above) is not even remotely held to the rules. The person disappears for long periods of time, was given more hiatuses than anyone else, was allowed to repeatedly drop and pick up characters, etc. Myself, Tabitha, and a few others that have since left the roleplay have noticed it, and it’s just not fun when the rules don’t apply to a select few. None of the admin characters were ever put on the activity check despite some of the characters going weeks without being played. Some of the characters of people they were very friendly with also never got put on activity checks, either. On the flip side, if they don’t like you, they’ll create new rules just for you. Tabitha had a character with an eating disorder. Keeping in mind that Tabi followed the group over from a previous roleplay, she had been playing this character with an eating disorder the entire time the roleplay existed. Essentially, he worked out too much and ate too little, extremely restricting his intake. It was often mentioned in threads. Then, when it started gaining attention and the character started to see that it was an issue and made strides to getting better, Tabi was approached and told that she should have gotten admin approval because now there were too many characters with eating disorders (all having joined after Tabitha). After the drama with admin J above, less than two weeks later, Tabitha was approached for bubbling, and also spoken to because two of her characters, who were best friends, were extremely close with the same character – another one of mine. Now, as mentioned above, Tabi did everything she could possibly do to get plots with others, but she was ignored and so she and I wrote a ton together, though I still had interactions with a wide array of characters played by multiple mun’s. After Tabi’s other partner abruptly dropped their plot, we decided to begin a plot that would eventually evolve into a polyamorous romance between two of Tabi’s characters, and one of mine. Her two characters were not going to be romantically involved with each other, but would “share” mine. When Tabi was approached about her two characters being possibly romantically involved, she explained that that would not be the case. So we begin the poly plot, and as soon as it is explicitly laid out in writing (despite the fact that there were several other posts obviously leading up to it), admin J sends Tabitha a message saying that we are not allowed to do a polyamorous plot, that it was too much bubbling even Tabi’s two characters were not romantically involved. (Note: for clarification sake, they would not even be sharing a bed with my character at the same time.) Admin J explicitly stated that having my character involved with two characters played by the same person was not allowed. The other thing that also highly upset me was that admin J only approached Tabitha about this (who has admitted multiple times she has problems with confrontations with authority figures) despite it obviously also affecting my character. If you’re going to be an admin, you have to learn to put personal feelings aside to do your job. That’s what you signed up for. As no one else had ever had to run their ship through admin approval, we were both upset, especially because Tabi tried so damn hard to interact with others. We went to admin M who was on vacation, and found out that admin J had approached Tabitha without even speaking to admin M about the situation. To be frank, it felt like Tabitha was being singled out because admin J didn’t like me – something that had been stated bluntly after the debacle with admin J being upset because she didn’t get the ship she wanted. Admin M wanted to speak to us, but was understandably busy on vacation, and in the meantime, Tabi and I really stopped to think about what we were still doing in the community. Between being singled out by admin J, the bullying over the gossip blog, being ignored, we came to the decision that Solemnly Swear just wasn’t for us. We left in October of 2016. Admin M and I did eventually talk, but she was upset because we’d already decided to leave before she was able to clear things up. She maintained that it was a miscommunication on admin J’s part, that the only issue was that admin J thought that both of Tabi’s characters were going to be involved together, but as stated above, that is not what she said. She said, specifically, that even if they weren’t romantically involved, the connection was too close. There was no miscommunication except apparently between the admins. Admin J decided to make a rule for us and then wanted to backtrack on it when I involved admin M. We started a next-generation roleplay of our own, invited a handful (and I mean less than five) people from Solemnly Swear who we were personally close to, packed our shit, and left. We found out recently that one of admin J’s characters is currently in a polyamorous/open relationship with two of admin M’s.

White-washing was deemed okay because Hollywood does it. Screen shots below speak for this matter enough: Links x x x

TL;DR: I believe Solemnly Swear to just be incredibly toxic, and I want to warn people before they put themselves through the stress that Tabitha and I endured there. I’ve never quit a Tumblr roleplay before because of toxicity, just because of inactivity, and leaving some of my writing partners and plots behind was incredibly hard. (I missed some of the people so much I actually tried to go back, but was denied because I didn’t want to interact with Admin J or her characters at all. Luckily, I’ve had a few of the writers I regretted not interacting with or missed reach out to me since this was originally posted.) And while I’m a firm believer in “you can leave, no one is forcing you to be there”, I feel like Solemnly Swear is incredibly deceptive in that it can start out seeming fantastic and just gradually turn into a shit-show because you don’t know beforehand that you won’t get major plots, that the story revolves solely around the admins’ characters, and that there is a heavy show of favoritism. So my message to the rpc is simply…be wary.

Note: I have included what screenshots I can, but Tabitha got so stressed out with the entire situation that she deleted her blogs associated with Solemnly Swear, and I repurposed mine and deleted messaging conversations so I no longer had to look at them.

Also, no, neither Tabi nor myself sent any of the anons captured. I always pretty straightforward and blunt about my feelings to both admins.

UPDATE #1: You can read their rebuttal here. I want to include all sides, but I’ve already addressed most of the issues they raised. Firstly, they never had any issue with Tabitha, so calling her problematic or hinting she was such, pisses me off. Secondly, I was reprimanded as I stated earlier, for my character defending herself from the abusive gossip witches/gossip blog in-character, and by the admin for attempting to “control her character” because mine didn’t like her. The only other complaint that was brought to my attention was one by a writer that I still write with, who got a little too in her feelings that day, and openly admits to such.

Several other former members of the group have come to me to support the PSA and me for writing it because they didn’t want to leave on a bitter note, but we’ve had some long conversations about the issues that continue to pervade this RP and made them reluctant to invite their friends to write with them. It’s sad that instead of taking multiple complaints to heart they continue to blame their players who only wanted a positive place to write together. UPDATE #2: Admin J and Admin M have stepped down, but remain in the game. I am not familiar with the new admins but wish them the best of luck in turning this RP around. As stated, it started out as a fun and supportive place to be and I met several wonderful people there, so hopefully they can make things fair, balanced, and fun once again.

#psa #solemnlyswearrp #harry potter rp #hp rp #next gen rp

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discoursecatharsis · 6 years

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Yo, I got a story for you about some shit that happened, not sure if it’s discourse related but anyway, someone sent me a note on dev1ant4rt today when I happened to log in regarding a callout journal someone else, a p0rn artist, made and it had a lot of usernames including mine on it. And they told their followers to block us in hopes to fight censorship of their p0rn art. Let me state that dev1ant4rt site does allow mature content but it doesn’t allow straight up p0rn or any sexual content that involves gen1ta/1a being stimulated/has been stimulated (and believe me, there are lots of it on that site which the admins haven’t deleted yet) and this person is pissed that someone reported their shit and called me and 200 other people out when I was never aware of them and their blind ass followers and I’m not active on that site, much less reporting rule breaking things on an art site. The thing is, I did join a group that does encourage silent reporting, but that was back in 2011 and I haven’t reported anyone since maybe 2013, and I mostly reported art theft before the site changed that, letting more thieves get away with stealing art. Also noting I am not as active on that site as before but that doesn’t matter to these people. 😅

So this person made the call out journal for something they can’t even prove any of us did, believing one person had rounded up a group of people to mass report theirs and their friend’s art. The person had been called out by three people about the journal being against the rules because it WAS a callout journal so OP had removed our usernames. (Not sure if my report, 1st report on them will go through due to OP editing out our names later on. I should have got screen caps but I was laughing too hard.) However, the damage had been done, most of us are still blocked for no reason or for simply joining a report group. Maybe people did report their art because they didn’t like it. However, I’m pretty sure these people broke the rules and are pissed they don’t have the freedom to post their p0rn. Nudity is fine as long as it isn’t purposefully there to arouse people. The journal in question was whiny in my opinion: https://renderpretender.deviantart.com/journal/Fighting-Censorship-Step-1-Scorched-Earth-717350302

(submitted by @crystallinekai)

omg that sounds crazy. I guess even DA has it’s drama too. And you joined that group in 2011?! That was so long ago, and I’m sure you’re not the only one who joined that long ago and/or the only one who isn’t as active currently. And their stirring up drama over something that old? Weird hahaha

I’m not familiar with DA at all, I never had an account on there. But I will say, from an outsider’s perspective, they’ve seem pretty good about censoring n*fw content. I’ve never seen a single thing, because when I click on something that might be suggestive, it says I have to log in (and I never bothered making an account so yeah haha) to view it

#submission

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nicemango-feed · 7 years

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The Beast of Blasphemy Takes Another

Mashal Khan…

A young bright-eyed Mass Comm. student at Abdul Wali Khan University, who called himself a Humanist…was shot and beaten…his body was still being beaten after it had stopped moving.

I made the mistake of clicking on one of the blurry videos circulating. It's something I can't ever unsee.

Mashal is one of the latest victims of Pakistani religious extremism. My heart breaks…every time. And every time it’s harder to pick up the pieces and move on.

There have been so many victims, taken by the same monster…the same darkness that resides in too many Pakistani hearts.

It’s time to ask ourselves, how many amongst us think ‘blasphemy’ is a crime…

It’s time to *really* ask what the state’s contributions are to creating an atmosphere ripe with hatred, intolerance and extremism...

Full story here

In a land where diversity is not accepted, where we have to denounce Ahmedi’s before we can even get a passport…

From the blog. Yes this is what we have to sign to get a #Pakistani passport. In this century. http://pic.twitter.com/P5JgENmpF9

— Eiynah -- (@NiceMangos) June 18, 2015

In a land where ‘blasphemy’ is officially a crime, punishable by death or imprisonment…don't you see...?

The seeds for this are sown already.

Where politicians simply questioning the blasphemy law are murdered again and again…

(articles linked above)

Their murderers celebrated by thousands of people.

Full story here

Funerals like Mashal’s empty, Imams refuse to lead the funeral prayer…

Full story here

And in stark contrast murderer's funerals are heavily attended, mourned, showered with rose petals

full story here

This is what Pakistan has become. This is what it’s viewed as on the global stage.

Youtube stars snuffed out, Singers murdered..journalists attacked…children slaughtered…all at the hands of these religious extremists who’s thirst for religiosity is never quenched. They threatened the now late singer turned preacher/evangelist Junaid Jamshed too.

Full story here

*He*...a right wing Islamic preacher fled the country amidst accusations of blasphemy.

No one is immune, no one is safe…there is no legitimate reason for this law to exist. It can be used against anyone, any time. Even it's supporters…like Junaid Jamshed were not safe from having it thrown back in their face.

A warning to all those who support blasphemy punishments now…this can and will come for you too.

All this happens in an environment where the Prime minister himself supports blasphemy punishments. And then we act shocked…"how did this happen?" We say… come on… you know how this happened.

There are now rumours that these accusations of blasphemy were purposely floated about Mashal Khan to silence his criticism of university admin. I don’t know how true this is, but sadly it wouldn’t surprise me.

Do read this thread on how the false accusations against #MashalKhan were just a means of silencing his rightful criticism of Uni admin https://t.co/gVIo50iAbR

— Dr. Naveed Alvi (@Nav_Derm) April 17, 2017

***

What chance does someone like Mashal have when these charges are brought against him, when it’s so easy to whip up a furious mob intoxicated on religion in Pak-istan, ’the land of the pure'.

It doesn’t even matter if those charges are true or false. That is completely irrelevant, but sadly it’s been a huge part of this story. Well intentioned people…desperately trying to prove Mashal was a non-blasphemer, a pious ‘good Muslim’, in who’s dorm room they found prayer mats, and other religious items.

Things I found in #Mashal Khan's room today: 1. Prayer Mat (Jai Namaz) 2. Quran-e-Pak 3. Picture of 4 Quls 4. A picture of Surah-e-Rehman

— Mansoor Ali Khan (@_Mansoor_Ali) April 15, 2017

Buying into this ‘good Muslim/bad Muslim’ dichotomy is where the problem begins in the first place. Why can’t we be a people that leave matters of religion in the private sphere, why can we not tolerate even slight differences in opinion? Why do words and questions fill so many with murderous fucking rage? Why can’t we teach our children to celebrate our differences?

And…whats wrong with blasphemy? If you believe in an all powerful god, then he should not need you to stomp out the life of anyone who so much as breathes a word questioning that god’s prescriptions. Can he not withstand even minor scrutiny, this all powerful god?

We have to ask questions to progress, we have to stop glorifying religion. Dial it waaaay down…Pakistan exists perpetually on a tipping point. It tips every day…and innocent lives are lost. That’s on us - it’s time to speak out, throw your hat in the ring, make your mark…do your part for a liberal and tolerant Pakistan. Speak up for minorities, speak out against injustice.

I’m sure that poor, dear Mashal was a good Muslim…all the evidence points to it. But I wish we lived in a world where this just. didn’t. matter. to Pakistanis. People who are not following Islam the way you want them to are also good people, so are people who don’t follow it at all, and so are people of each and every minority faith that exists in Pakistan. In fact the worst people you will find in Pakistan are those who think there is only one rigid way to follow religion, and that is their way, coincidentally. Those are the one’s who try to police the thoughts and words of others.

Everyone has a right to exist in safety…it’s sad that this even has to be said, no one should be murdered or punished over words and differences in opinion.

Pakistan is the country that produced Malala, but it is also the country with the harshest rejections for her.

If Pakistan wants to exist in an increasingly globalized world in the 21st century, where different opinions and sources of information are at our fingertips, its going to have to pull itself out of this sinkhole of extremism, otherwise it will continue to fail.

That’s an effect on all it’s people collectively.

It’s time to rid ourselves of the mindset that thinks a backwards blasphemy law should exist, it’s hurting us all.

I have seen another argument floating around Pakistani Twitter that disturbs me. It’s the “Blasphemy laws are being misused/manipulated against innocents” - No. That’s garbage…there’s no legitimate way to use a blasphemy law. Blasphemy is as simple as ‘a difference in opinion’. If you use this argument you are indirectly condoning some instances of punishment for people with differing opinions on religion.

Some day you could be that person, depending on the group judging you.

We are all Mashal Khan, because that could be any one of us..no matter how religious you think you are, it’s not enough to satisfy insatiable blasphemy laws.

We are all Salman Taseer

We are all Asia Bibi (not killed, but imprisoned)

We are all Shahbaz Bhatti

We are all Sabeen Mahmood

Do not forget these names.

***

Important to remember: yes, while those who have killed people like Mashal Khan and Salman Taseer are Muslim, often the victims too are Muslim. It is voices like theirs we must fight for. Those who generalize and demonize Muslims are not doing that, In fact they are part of the problem.

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From a western, ex-muslim Pakistani-Canadian perspective like mine…it’s getting harder and harder to have this conversation on an international level, because there’s always some who will jump on our voices and use them to cast our own loved ones in a bad light. I feel like i’m forever walking a tightrope. Call out illiberalism on all sides, abandon tribalism so we can have these conversations honestly.

***

A huge thanks to my patrons who make this work possible.

If you enjoy my work and would like to support, you can do so here

from Nice Mangos http://ift.tt/2oKt94k via IFTTT

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