I wasn't in RinkChat last night when this occurred. I cannot say for sure how I personally would have taken all of this that you've described. Knowing my frame of mind last night and how tired I was, I probably would have either gone to the other room or just left completely before it was revealed to be a hoax. The "frat boy" type of behavior and lifestyle offends me too, which is why I say I probably would have left. If I had been clued in that it was a masquerade, as Jimmy (Wes? I did not know that!) was, I probably would have stuck around, watched the spectacle, and then been as shocked and dismayed as you were by some of the reactions.

I want to lend my support to you and Dave in this. I think I feel for you because I've been there; I've had things that I've said and done misunderstood and suffered broken relationships over it. Some of them have been repaired, and some haven't. That still hurts. I've also said and done things that were just plain wrong, and suffered the same consequences. It's hard to say for sure what has happened here; I wasn't there as I said before, and it's not my place to pass judgement at any rate.

You should probably also consider the possibility that, in the most extreme cases of negative reaction, you may have said something specifically during the episode that hurt someone; that touched a raw nerve. Despite the fact that RinkWorks has become a close-knit community in on-line terms, a lot of the regulars here don't know each other deeply, below the surface. We don't know everything about a person; the events in their past that have formed and shaped them into who they are today. If the thing went on for so long, you and Dave may not remember every little silly, stupid thing you said, just as you don't remember who kicked who, for example. Something that seems like a completely innocent jest to you or me could be incredibly offensive to someone with a different background. I think Brunnen_G made a similar point in her post.

Personally, I think it's wrong to laugh or joke about sin. God takes it seriously, and I feel that if He does, I ought to too. If I had been in RinkChat last night for the whole thing, I probably wouldn't have been so upset as to storm out and declare I'm never coming back. I probably would have, like Morris, lost a small degree of respect for you, but your willingness to write this post, your admission that you could have been wrong, and your desire to make amends makes me respect you all the more.

I am a hypocrite, and I know it. I DO joke about things I shouldn't. I DO laugh at things I oughtn't. The flesh, the old man, the dark side--whatever you want to call it--is still very much with me. I struggle with it. We all do.

The masquerades that have been done before have never been about such a touchy subject; at least I don't think so. The fact that you and Dave made the "frat boy" characters so realistic was probably also part of the problem. The violence of Blood Drops and Darius is humorous because it is so unrealistic. The "Dudes 2 B Feared" archive is so funny because it is an obvious mockery of ahckers and the way they communicate. There are probably many similar attempts that have taken place in RC that the majority of chatters don't know about, because they weren't successful, and therefore weren't archived. This episode will hopefully become one of those forgotten episodes as well.

I really, really hope that c0bra didn't mean it when he said he wouldn't be coming back.

Grishny