On the Removal & Banning of the Previous Community Manager

[Cthulhu]

I mean most people turn funnily incoherent when drunk.

yop-senpai noticed me

blush

I... it's not like I try to understand your drunk attempts at poasting or anything, b... baka!

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Thank you for being so transparent. It helps avoid misunderstanding. I am shocked and appalled to find that JT held such opinions. As Chip pointed out, it seems now he was pretending to be one thing when really he was something else all along. I'm particularly upset because I brought him into this community. I know his actions are not my responsibility, but I still want to apologise.

 

[Carlie]

I mean most people turn funnily incoherent when drunk.

yop-senpai noticed me

blush

I... it's not like I try to understand your drunk attempts at poasting or anything, b... baka!

My shipping senses are tingling.


The irony here is that he's behaving like the people he hates so much. The premeditation that he had to go through to do this is beyond disturbing.

 

[Octo]

I honestly don't think this was an 'all along' type deal. He let his cunty side out. He shouldn't have fucking done it, I'm not gonna make any excuses for that and I agree 100% with the ban.

 

[Lex]

Thank you for being so transparent. It helps avoid misunderstanding. I am shocked and appalled to find that JT held such opinions. As Chip pointed out, it seems now he was pretending to be one thing when really he was something else all along. I'm particularly upset because I brought him into this community. I know his actions are not my responsibility, but I still want to apologise.

I almost can't believe I'm about to type this but I would feel icky if I didn't - I'm not convinced he actually held these opinions, I think he was feeling incredibly frustrated and doing what he did allowed him to express hate in the most passive aggressive way possible, a "fuck you" hiding in plain sight. I mean, some small part of him must have thought and felt these things for at least a moment or he'd never have written them, but I think at its core he just vented the most hateful things he could to get his rage out.

I'm not even convinced he was stupid enough to believe nobody would figure it out. He likely expected it to be seen, though perhaps not so quickly. Potentially he would have changed it when recent events settled in his mind and he was in a better emotional state, we'll never know and it doesn't matter.

His actions are indefensible and I'm not defending him (obviously) or trying to soften what he did, I just thought it was important to point that out because I believe that to be the case. Given what he said about me I probably shouldn't bother taking the time

EDIT: Lmao ninja'd by Octo making the same point

 

[Ite]

Not much to say except I feel betrayed and I wasn't even mentioned in the cypher. To all of you who were affected, please know that we love you and appreciate the ever-living fuck out of the work that you do. You're all amazing people and did nothing to deserve or provoke that abuse.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Thanks for being candid. The initial situation was definitely not as well-handled as we'd've wanted it to be for a variety of reasons that many folks have particular feelings towards or against to one degree or another. (I only saw said thread after I think the third edit was made to it because of when I was online). I don't think that anyone would argue your point here. The tl;dr is that the initial situation wasn't dealt with smoothly by staff as a cohesive whole.

There were a variety of opinions about it being a sort of rage-post that was then retracted and deleted. I think that the difference between that incident and this one is that there's reasonable claims of "crime of passion" vs. "premeditated crime" type viewpoints when discussing it between staff, whereas the second case is very much cut-and-dry within the "premeditated" category (which makes for an easy permaban).

I'll be more candid. I have no problem with what Lex did originally. I say this as someone who feels that someone making a "momentary lapse in judgment" on the level of "you know what, I should rouse the posse on TLS and have ourselves a lynch party" has no excuse. There is no defense for this. I feel the appropriate response was taken initially - show the community what's happening, and then PULL THE TRIGGER and have done. The lack of followup is what bothers me. Your use of the word "cohesive" (and the next paragraph) seems to say there was probably some disagreement on the way to handle it in staff, and I guess all I can say here is this: put yourself in the shoes of the people he targeted with this (whether forum members like Tetsujin or Tennyo who just told the guy to chill and got an insulting, angry retort in response, or the Cheater Who Must Be Doxxed, or the person cheated on, who likely wouldn't want their private business out in public - which is a very real issue for people here). Why would the immediate response not be to say, "you know what, no, gtfo"?

I feel how you're feelin', bro.

I think honestly, real ass shit? A lot of us were just reeling from the whole thing and who it was coming from. You can't even believe how left field this all was. Part of the reason that we were slow to respond or follow through was partially because we had a hard time parsing it. Even now this shit is fucking cray.

Not a cop out for any lapse on our part, but I do want to add some visceral real life context to it.

 

[Flintlock]

Flintlock. I am similarly impressed

Other people say they could tell is was wingding-style text (I never even took note of it, I guess I thought it was a border or something?), but Flint deciphered it with nothing else to go on.

Well I wasn't gonna make that public but OK, we're doing full transparency and stuff.

Flint?! Oh now it makes sense!

(just kidding Flint <3 )

<3

Regarding Flint's work (damn son!!), that is some impressive stuff. I already told Lex but we've got our own Turing here!!

Alan Turing is an idol of mine so I'm flattered by the comparison but this was honestly the most basic cipher imaginable: each symbol corresponds to one letter, number, or punctuation mark, with no variation whatsoever. It makes me wonder if Jason was expecting to get caught. If he really wanted to hide it he could have done so much better with minimal effort, though at that point he could have just have followed Joe's advice and gotten the same result. Since I've now cut off all contact with him, I guess I'll never know.


As for my personal stance towards his earlier actions: yeah, I regret welcoming him back. I supported Lex's decision to call him out originally but I'm very forgiving with people if I believe them to be fundamentally good, which I did with Jason pretty much until I deciphered the fifth word in his signature. I'd say my feelings now are very similar to Shademp's.

I'm also very sorry to everyone he targeted, and grateful that the staff trusted me when I first told them about this and took action very quickly and decisively.

Spoiler: Coda

If anybody here feels the need to use this sort of language toward anybody here on the forum I'd like to suggest the following: Instead of typing it out, write it on a little piece of paper. Fold that paper up, bend over, and push it right up your butthole.

hehe, you said butthole

mature a little

oh

 

[RedFFWolf]

This breaks my heart. For someone to have been so invested in and passionate about this site and its community, it's a sharp fall from grace.

I hate the fact that JT is my friend while he had unleashed this upon so many I also call my friend. But I'm not about to abandon him as a friend, no different than if any one of you had done this to others, even if I myself was the primary target of the abuse - just like away from the "online world".
And, I know, it's easy to say this now, and I certainly don't mean to understate the severity of what he said - (I can only apologise to those he targeted, if this comes across that way). But that's just me, and I'm not placing any value in my own opinion, right now.

One thing I do want to say, and I'm not here to argue for it nor attempt to create a debate from it (rather, as a means to stir thought passively and, well, as others are doing, express my own view where it can be deemed warranted), I do not think that this was JT in his "true form". So many do nasty things, so many say nasty things, and even if this is up there among the worst encountered, I refuse to accept this as the "true JT". Rather, these are the uglier aspects without filter, choice words to maximise and be as brutal as he could be with it all. And for all that's worth, I can't prove that without having anyone enter my mind to see why I'd say that. But for as long as I believe no monster is without a foundation of insecurities (to put it lightly), I will not believe this is pure JT, that the way this monster-JT had been this past week or so was normal/expected/inherent.

I appreciate a lot of this will likely be unpopular, but there is little point debating it with me, as I do not intend to argue for it. And I don't say this from an argumentative/defensive attitude, either. I mean it from a deflated/crestfallen one.
I wish for JT to return to full strength in his own time and place, "the him that is not this", and for everyone he targeted to know that no one here supports any of what he said, myself no less a part of that (even if this reply suggests anything of the contrary). I should think the latter part of that sentiment (that we all support who was targeted) be all too self-evident.

 

[Mage]

I don't believe for a second that anyone who was targeted in the cipher actually took offence at what he wrote - it was too easy, the sort of thing you could come up with after browsing a few of our posts. I'm egalitarian and not afraid to stand my ground. Lex being gay is another easy attack point, as is calling people nazi (not just anyone, but a Catalan FFS, which to my mind is probably one of the more repugnant uses of the term).

That is however, beside the point and my previous comments on the matter still stand. Red I have no issue at all with your wanting to remain friends with him and that's your choice, but to me that is a dealbreaker so it's probably just as well I wasn't a friend of his. I was civil though, despite the attitude doled out the day before.

Now I really should go to bed, I've still got a few things to sort out for next week and this isn't going to be a cloud over our regular shenanigans.

 

[RedFFWolf]

I don't believe for a second that anyone who was targeted in the cipher actually took offence at what he wrote - it was too easy, the sort of thing you could come up with after browsing a few of our posts. I'm egalitarian and not afraid to stand my ground. Lex being gay is another easy attack point, as is calling people nazi (not just anyone, but a Catalan FFS, which to my mind is probably one of the more repugnant uses of the term).

Aye. That's where I figured he came from, too.

That is however, beside the point and my previous comments on the matter still stand. Red I have no issue at all with your wanting to remain friends with him and that's your choice, but to me that is a dealbreaker so it's probably just as well I wasn't a friend of his. I was civil though, despite the attitude doled out the day before.

Naturally. I mean, you're completely right about that.
I wouldn't dream of denying anyone here their feelings about this, just as I don't for a second not support the ban.

And me talking about being friends with him isn't something for me to test ground with how others still feel about him or anything. And I don't imply anyone would be thinking that, either. It's just something I find in need of expressing, because the whole thing is just...a downer of a situation, to put it lightly. For me, it's a friend VS friends here, and you can only wonder how to approach the one who's at fault.

But I'm not the subject of any of this, so all I'm keen to be interested in right now is for this to move on soon and not dampen the pleasant mood and atmosphere that is inherent to TLS, and with that for a new community manager to take their place soon without any drama lingering over it.

Now I really should go to bed, I've still got a few things to sort out for next week and this isn't going to be a cloud over our regular shenanigans.

No chance will it be
(Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, by the way. Rest well!)

 

[Joker]

What I REALLY want to know is if I can quote what he said about me because it gave me a chuckle reading it.

pls don't respond with an emote I'm feeling fragile

 

[lithiumkatana17]

I've come home from the end of a long day to see this news. I skimmed the surface of it at work while I was on break because I saw some things mentioned in the Skype chat.

But really, I have no words other than to say I'm deeply saddened by all of this. I've been thinking about it since this afternoon.

I'll echo what Red has said in one of his posts, as it was something I'd been thinking about for the past few hours. I don't think this was a case of JT's 'true face' coming out. I think his behavior was the culmination of several factors, many of them personal, and he just snapped in the worst way. It doesn't excuse the behavior he's exhibited, but I having met him, I highly doubt that JT is a two-faced person. If anyone disagrees that's fine, but I'm not interested in arguing or debating it. What's done is done.

I appreciate the willingness and transparency of the staff to put all of this out here and explain what happened and how it went down. I love this community; it sucks when things like this happen in a place that I consider to be a second home.

 

[Shademp]

I do not think that this was JT in his "true form".

I agree. The fact that he changed behavior so quickly and dramatically is, to me, indicative of the onset of mental illness and/or a great hormonal imbalance. I won't go into the little I know of his mental- and medical history, but whatever happened I am convinced it is something that will require psychological- and medical aid.

I wish I had written this speculation in my original post rather than referring to him as having to "reform" from long-standing personality defects, as it is only in the past few weeks he stood out as a particularly loose cannon.

I fear how JT's condition (whatever it is) may affect his family if it is gone untreated. From that point of view I support that you, Red, remain his friend. You can be a voice of reason on whatever road of recovery he has ahead. Bless your big heart, Red.


Regardless of the analysis and display of compassion presented above, the staff's decision still has my support. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts now that I've calmed down after yesterday's revelations.

 

[Cthulhu]

pls don't respond with an emote I'm feeling fragile

 

[X-SOLDIER]

What I REALLY want to know is if I can quote what he said about me because it gave me a chuckle reading it.

pls don't respond with an emote I'm feeling fragile

I'm going to be wholly transparent on this, but I absolutely will not tolerate any of this quoted or discussed at all outside of this singular thread.

TO REITERATE: I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY QUOTING OR DISCUSSING THE SIGNATURE OR SAID TEXT OUTSIDE OF THIS THREAD. PERIOD.

Thanks for your understanding.

X

 

[Geostigma]

Still haven't read the whole thread.

I'm just deeply saddened I didn't make the cut on the signature

 

[Pixel]

It's the greatest achievement in my entire meaningless life

 

[Clement Rage]

What the hell?

This is bizarre. It reads me to me like some kind of breakdown than a personality hidden all along, it was a real surprise to come back to this. He has been talking about how much pressure he was under lately (which is not me justifying any of it.)

 

[Mage]

Still haven't read the whole thread.

I'm just deeply saddened I didn't make the cut on the signature

Look bitch if you want to be verbally abused you only have to ask.

 

[Octo]

Still haven't read the whole thread.

I'm just deeply saddened I didn't make the cut on the signature

Still haven't read the whole thread.

I'm just deeply saddened I didn't make the cut on the signature

Look bitch if you want to be verbally abused you only have to ask.

Yesh

Gabe is a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and his butt smells and.....he likes to kiss his own butt.

 

[Mage]

Did we do the group hug yet?

 

[Pixel]

Fuck off hippy

 

[Tetsujin]

I foresee a closure of this thread by X in <5 posts.

 

[Carlie]

Gabriel and Edward are stupid names.


Probably true Tets, let us appreciate that we ended a thread about something shitty with something funny. I think we have a special talent at this.