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*Burning in unison, offering a bright and shiny place for talking, smiling, keeping each other company, gaming, merrymaking and of course, hugging*
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*Burning in unison, offering a bright and shiny place for talking, smiling, keeping each other company, gaming, merrymaking and of course, hugging*
**
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*Burning in unison, offering a bright and shiny place for talking, smiling, keeping each other company, gaming, merrymaking and of course, hugging*
***
*Burning in unison, offering a bright and shiny place for talking, smiling, keeping each other company, gaming, merrymaking and of course, hugging*
****
*Burning in unison, offering a bright and shiny place for talking, smiling, keeping each other company, gaming, merrymaking and of course, hugging*
******
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*Hot and cold beverages at your leisure*
*And a toast to Rysky*
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*frrrttto Rysky glp*
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* grabs everyone in a big fluffy warm bear hug *
Happy Friday, Everyone!
John Napier 698 - I think I've got another favorite group. Why have I not heard them before? Fred is a happy bear when he gets introduced to new awesome music.
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Iiiiiit's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday~
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*will accept some of both of those tonight, thank you.*
One of the newer players had been using an excessive amount of 'screen time' and another of the players mentioned they were leaving the campaign over frustrations around it.
I tried to mediate and get the party back together.
We had some in-depth and rather brutal emails back and forth, with the revelation from the GM that it was becoming more of a chore and less of a joy for him to run, and he felt that he had to keep increasing the level of difficulty to match our party effectiveness, which meant it was starting to go recursive (defeat bigger enemies, get bigger loot, able to beat bigger enemies, etc).
After the initial batch of emails, the most recent addition to the campaign dropped a letter on the campaign and the GM, basically blasting everyone BUT me and telling me that I shouldn't be trying to shoulder the burden of getting the game 'back on track', that the GM should be handling it and it was... well... at any rate, the GM said 'enough is enough' and cancelled the campaign.
Not hiatus.
Not indefinite suspension, just.. we're done at about the mid-point (around L10 or so).
He's said we can write up epilogues if we want, but it still leaves me a bit... numb and hollow but I can't fault the GM for their decision nor the player that was withdrawing or two of the others who felt like they had to 'rush' to the end of the campaign.
It just feels rotten and it's the worst time of year for it to happen, but better the bandage be torn off now and the rot cleaned away, than festering for another two or three months, I think?
Anyways, if you read this, thank you very much for your patience.
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Wow! Sorry to hear things ended so badly.
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Thanks. I needed that.
Eeesh. I think you're right, though-- better to cancel the whole thing than deal with grumping about it 'til next year.
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Thank you, John.
I'm... going to be soaking in some more virtual non-physical hugs today.
No direct physical contact, please.
I pretty much identify as cis-straight. Sometimes I bounce around ideas of fluidity and alternate gender ideals. I'm reasonably open to the idea of other folks having their own identities, and I'm not one to judge someone on their preferences in terms of desired partners.
Today, out of the blue, a local football coach I know and (up until this incident) had respect/courtesy for as a loyal customer completely and blatantly invaded my personal space, grabbing me in an exceptionally inappropriate fashion.
They were trying to use the 'cover' of 'telling me something important they didn't want to shout through the store' but I immediately jumped and put my arms up to spread the distance between myself and the customer.
Trying to defuse the situation I said something asinine, something about 'that might be okay in the locker room, but we weren't in the locker room'.
Individual's response was to give a hard hurt look and then say 'Settle down.'
I'm *still* trying to parse this in some sort of context. It's never appropriate to do something like that in public with a virtual stranger.
I just... does anyone have any ideas how to handle this?
I don't want to hose the customer or start an issue if the customer didn't realize it was a personal space concern, but at the same time this person is a football coach that works at the high school level and I'm worried if he did that to me, as a complete stranger, what sort of treatment his charges might be getting?
Any advice or insight privately or in spoilers would be welcome. Thank you in advance.
Did you know this person IRL in any way? Or did they simply grab a total stranger?
Here's a virtual warm look and cheerful smile.
They've been a regular customer for about twenty years. We'd talk maybe once every couple of weeks for a few seconds.
*accepts both with thanks*
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I'd say you've been grabbed by the overly-physical football coach who hits his players on the butt, grabs them by the shoulders and pulls/pushes them forward and back, puts his arm around their shoulders. He thinks he's showing support and friendship. He's trying to show that he's your 'buddy'.
Chalk it up to a power move, with nothing sexual implied. My bet is, if he had any sense you were not cishet, he would have nothing to do with touching you.
Not going into the "hypermasculinity to avoid worrying about his own sexual orientation". I don't think it's that deep. It's an older, locally famous person bestowing his approval on you. He can't imagine someone not wanting that.
...humbly and gratefully accepts with thanks...
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So my life got flipped, turned upside down. I have to move because I have no way to pay rent. The good news is that I managed to get enough donations and support from community resources to complete my lease so I will not have an eviction on my record.
I have to move into a spare bedroom so most of my stuff will be leaving. I won't be able to store it anywhere. I'm not sure what I'm going to keep, but much of my identity may have to be packed up because I won't have the room to store all parts of me.
I was invited to Thanksgiving as Cindy. It would be the first time I would be with people for a holiday. I know that it's a safe place. I also know that there will be several trans people and non-binary people there. I have met almost everyone who will be there. Some have already met both parts of me and have been 100% supportive and accepting.
I don't know what I'm going to do though because it's the day before I have to move out and my stress levels are getting higher and higher.
Also, even though it's obvious, I did not harm myself even though I had seriously considered it. I am not out of danger yet, but I'm feeling more hopeful. I am not actively trying to harm myself at this time.
I am sorry if I scared anyone. I never wanted to do that to you. I have been lurking because you are all my friends and I needed to see what was going on in your lives.
Stay strong my friends.
* grabs Cindy in an extra-special soft and fluffy bear hug *
Here's a hug. A big one!
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A fox-hug to Cindy, and a hearty "hrm :/" to Wei Ji. I legitimately don't know what to make of that situation.
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So glad to hear from you, Cindy! That's rough news, though—my thoughts are with you. :-(
Unrelatedly, for everyone: Please check your phone and see if it has an option to set an emergency contact (ICE) on your lock screen. If so, set one! That way if something happens (or even if you just drop your phone while running for the bus or whatever), EMTs or a helpful bystander can alert your loved ones. (Spoiler: All involved are now safe and sound, but I was sure glad to get that call.)
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I am noticing I am looking in the mirror more after starting transitioning and am starting to like what I see. And the shower felt good.
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*channels good feelings toward Wei ji and Cindy*
Will take what hugs and good feelings I can get, today I turn 50 and my morale is low enough to qualify as clinical depression... not gonna tell my shrink though, he's not prescribing me any drugs at the current time, and I like it that way, not that the drugs prevent much depression or shield me efficiently from it.
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* grabs everyone in a big fluffy bear hug *
Sending out my love to all you wonderful people.
* grabs Klorox in an extra-special bear hug *
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Cindy,
Welcome back, we were worried about you!
Klorox,
They wanted me to get screened at one point and it was a huge scam to get a whole bunch of experimental drugs out there that have since been proven to be exceptionally bad for one's health.
Glad to have dodged that bullet!
Have a great safe morning.
May wisdom and patience guide folks to greater harmony with the All.
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Welp, today I find out "am I getting a raise??" and "how big of a raise???"
For the record, the answers to those questions should be "obviously" and "extra fat."
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* grabs almost everyone in a big soft fluffy bear hug *
* recognizes Wei Ji's need for personal space and instead offers a friendly nod and thumbs up *
Wishing all of you wonderful people a great day and wishing VixieMoondew an extra helping of good luck.