Gatogateau

I scrolled for years (as I've yammered about for ages), even through some really horrific old forum stuff (not sure if we could block then). Very recently I've been experimenting with the block function and for the most part, it really helps. I can just read along a thread and happily (or not) read posts by unblocked people, quite oblivious to "wars" trying to be waged by others. Then half of my pages turn blank with little notices of "you've chosen to ignore content by..." and I can guess what is happening merely by that alone. When I have peeked I saw I was correct. That's enough motivation not to peek. I agree with @Beth Macbain, though, I wish block was block. I've read other threads a while back where people knowledgeable in the ways of forum software have explained why that's difficult to do. I nearly hit my screen the other day when one of my forum friends did a complete quote of a blocked person and so, yup, I read it. I should have scrolled. Cats have impulse control issues. Sad as it is to say, I also have to agree about walking away if something is just pinging one's mental health to bits, and weirdly or not so weirdly, forums can do that. Forums can be a social outlet, and sometimes the only social outlet for people. They can provide a great deal of social support and entertainment for folks, and if it does, it hurts like hell to have that taken away by those who see forums in terms of wars to be won, gangs to belong to, etc. Those people suck the living hell out of forums. I've walked away from SL Forum for years at a time. I had to, because of energy vampires and their endless need for attention, muckraking, faux vengeance, and just plain evil craziness. Some people thrive on divisiveness, in creating a hostile atmosphere, and sometimes it seems LL allows it, and while I have been upfront about my mental issues (depression, anxiety, PTSD) because I'm not ashamed of it and don't think people should hide those things out of shame, and while I will sort of gladly state that I'm crazy or nuts, I'm not THAT crazy or nuts. That need to malignantly pot-stir is some kind of warped way of being that I'm glad I cannot empathize with. Anyway, the point being, yeah, sometimes folks have to walk away, for however long, for whatever reason. SR did an adorable Official Flounce™ from the photo thread, because that place was getting on "her" last nerve and hasn't been back since and life is better. For various reasons, the cat is getting most of the say these days. This is a type of gentle removal from the forum, because while it is (usually) not intentional, Gato posts a bit differently than SR. Wow, it's been a while since I've typed a novella.

:::waves paw in air::: That "apprentice adults" thing (great term, btw)? Does not discriminate on age. Let's just say that some of us :::points to that two-legged avatar SR::: are a little older than 22 and still in the category of apprentice adult. Fairly happily so. It's not so much an issue for felines, which might be why this avatar is typing and not that.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised because half of the recent discussion appeared blank to me, which is usually a good indicator that kerfuffling is ensuing. For the record, I thought Kira's was pretty much on topic or at least topic adjacent at first and then it got a bit sideways into question answering for the pleasure of someone else's gestalt. I have to read the Community Rules again, as I don't recall the part about pleasuring others' gestalts as being a requirement for answering, but, ya know, cat and all. Humor in SL is fantastic, of any ilk, including religious. There are good jokes and bad jokes. Bad jokes are bad. It is wise to know your audience, which is true of most things. You will always offend at least one person, because there is always at least one person looking to be hurt, which is true of all things.

That there religious humor in SL (forum) was hilarious, or at least worth a really good (but dainty) snort laugh. You're Dutch??? Wow. I had no idea. I mean not that that is a bad thing! For some reason I know and have a lot of Dutch friends in SL. Also, and this comes out as a left-handed compliment and isn't meant to be one, quite the opposite really, your English is awesome. But what really surprised me is... wait, wut? You have blonde girl jokes in Holland? in HOLLAND? Where everyone and their Pekinese is blonde? That is also hilarious, and puzzling. More wait, wut? Did I miss something? (Highly likely, I was probably involved in chasing that laser spot Orwar gave me in another thread.) THAT was supposed to be Fairre? I have looked and looked and my faith must be really weak, cuz I still don't see it. :::throws you a PS manual, toast version, and scampers out with fluffy tail held high::: (double checks to see which avatar I'm posting as, because that last line would be really weird if it was SR's)

It really isn't. They did change several design features of the hand, ever so subtly, as I and others have shown and commented about. The lettering is also changed, of course.

what?

But but but... having to save the image first and THEN manually uploading to Flickr? ZOMG! That is toooooooooooooooooooooo haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard. Must. Have. Instant. Gratification. Of. All. Things!

I did. The page/items are brilliant. To me this kind of epitomizes a type of English humor/humour. Crochet combined with satire and very dry wit.

@Amina Sopwith See, I knew I agreed with you on principle. 😄

Sadly, in addition to being very funny, it is also highly accurate in certain instances. Ooops. ETA: (On topic) This would be my reaction to seeing someone dressed as my particular deity in SL. An avatar of the god I don't believe in would be highly triggering for emotional meltdown.

This isn't a "make us laugh" kind of thing but I didn't know where else to post it. This looked like a fun way to spend some lockdown days. I've heard various reviews that the Hogwart's one is particularly good. I haven't tried any yet, so I don't know. https://www.purewow.com/entertainment/virtual-escape-rooms

Oooooh! I'll play! It IS still Monday, isn't it? Isn't it? :::worries::: Coffee, yes. Drink, no. IV drip. What was I doing? Damnit I hate when I do that. :::cleans glasses::: Nope that doesn't help the focus either. Effing hell :::stomps off to kitchen to forget what I'm doing there, too::: Je suis calme! Hm. :::looks at fork longingly::: I don't see anything about tasers. Nope. Wearing clothes these days is a moot point and just promotes senseless wasting of resources by requiring laundry. :::hands out eyebleach::: I am a magnificent sunflower. Or potato. Whatever you like. FIFY Rawr!

Being on the other side of the Pond, I have no idea what you are on about, but it sounds like in principle I'm all for it.

Ummmm, no? Pretty much think you coughed up that hairball. Kitties, however, have been known to pull off sadistic sarcasm with misanthropic existential nihilism with great aplomb and a lot of purring. ETA: I'd still do feet kneading on your lap though, claws probably mostly in.

@Orwar It is sooooooooooo hard to be a nihilistic misanthrope and still appear cuddly in the Forum. Only a few can do it successfully. :::purrs:::

That's kind of an interesting thought. My knee jerk answer is "Yes." Because there are just so many people who don't get it, think it could never happen to them, G/god will protect them... etc. But those are the same people who still don't listen to it now, so then maybe the answer is "No, but should be yes"? Now I'm getting confused. Then there are people like me, who, even though the state/area is opening up to more public things, will keep socially distancing for a long time, both because of COVID and eww, people.

being repetitive but somehow on point

Meh, even when it is over it just rises, like a phoenix in some other unsuspecting thread. (Although in all truthfulness 99% of us (probably a made up number) KNEW that this thread was going to be non-stop skirmishes over anything and everything, just due to the title of the OP.)

Awwwww, what a sweetie! I'm partial to flame points. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, in yet another one of my incarnations, I used to raise and show Persians and Himalayans, and we had a lot of what is called "red factor." My first CFA Grand Champion was a flame point boy, and he was not only gorgeous, but the sweetest, dumbest, sweetest, most wonderful fur baby. I so miss him. He purred at everything, and when really happy he'd purr so loudly in this really odd kind of fly-wheel-needing-oil way that if he was really happy he actually kind of passed out a few times. (Disconcerting, but ultimately endearing.)

And... yay, holiday? I get an email summary of The Washington Post's current headlines. Sure, you can argue that WaPo has liberal leanings, so much so that I frequently get scorn laughs for using them as a resource by the Trumpers, which is silly, but whatevs. Today these were the headings in the email. I scanned them. Got really depressed. Clicked on none of them and continued to post in the "peeve" thread that my ongoing peeve is people.

Yeah, and there are plenty of people that dumb. Agreed, the warning should have stated "and you have to click", which it kind of did but should have been more clear.

Oh how quickly the various kerfuffles come and go. I recognize the reference but can't place the silliness from whence it came. (And that's ok, I really don't need the source.) It's like watching Trump and his daily wtf-ery, it all moves so fast you start forgetting the really horrendous things because of the endless drivel that keeps pouring forth. And I still need coffee.

Pet peeve: non sequitors

Pet peeve: Still hanging at "people". I'd kind of like a new peeve, but history shows there's a lot of The Force in this one. Pet peeve: Thinking in terms of "war" and "gangs" and epic battles and "winning" and "losing" in the effing forums and posts and Internet in general. Talk about a weird world view. I always view the idea of 'winning the Internet" to be a joke (and refer to it as such), whereas it does appear that there are many people who do think it is a possible, achievable goal and set out to do so. Wut?

I mostly agree with this, but since it is "mostly" I don't agree with it in its entirety. When the forum is in its usual, natural state of weirdness, then exactly. Alt hunts always have been and always will be a waste of time and serve no purpose other than to generate unrest. The hunters, often pointing to their forensic typing sleuthing skills, are most often so wrong. And yes, there are those who think "all alts are evil!" and that's just silly. How I read @Sylvia Tamalyn's comment was more in reference to the sock puppet/troll use (and maybe I read her wrong). THAT seems to have been exploding lately, with entire threads appearing to be conversations between alts! With new accounts popping in to cause issues (maybe they ARE truly noobs, who knows?) or old accounts that haven't been active in years and suddenly appear (also possibly quite legit, but?). It is a lot of "context" of things. I don't think it is necessary to "out" one's alt either. I choose to for a variety of reasons. That's just me, right now.