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Being Honest Online

Gender is social construct. personality is who we are. hearts minds dreams ambitions all wrapped up in skin. sometimes the clothes don't match the Emperor/Empress but in the end we are who we are and should be accepted as such.

as you said about IRL, I'm male. But i'm not the most masculine in the universe. and I seem to portray my characters as such. it's given me a lot of trouble as far as finding a date goes because for some unlucky reason i've been settled with the assumption that everything nice I do for them is solely based on the possible reward of sexual congress.
 
Personally, I just don't care who's on the other side as long as they're nice to me when we speak. I don't care what you look like or what your gender is. We're MOST LIKELY not going to ever meet each other, even if we'd do, what would happen? We wouldn't expect to find our spouse on the internet, I assume. It just doesn't matter to me. In the same way, I don't really share anything distinct about myself.
 
lil angel said:
Personally, I just don't care who's on the other side as long as they're nice to me when we speak. I don't care what you look like or what your gender is. We're MOST LIKELY not going to ever meet each other, even if we'd do, what would happen? We wouldn't expect to find our spouse on the internet, I assume. It just doesn't matter to me. In the same way, I don't really share anything distinct about myself.
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That's the best way to deal with it, truthfully. I mean, nobody is truly looking out for you except for you and we can't stop predators from logging onto the internet.
 
Suppose it's a tough thing, since some people actually *want* more than strangers behind screens, and that always runs into problems.

I admit that to an extent, I'm one of them, and if a person I'm roleplaying with doesn't add me on skype or YIM and chat with me every now and then, I'll be a lot more inclined to just forget about responding to the rp if I'm feel overwhelmed with stuff.

And on the flipside, you have people that are quite adamant that the communication never leaves the roleplaying medium.

And *then* you have people who actually do expect to find their spouse on a website somewhere...
 
I think it can go on an individual basis. For instance, heartless and I were about 2 months into our rp Into the Night Land when we decided to go ahead and try to publish it as a book. I think I added her to my FB around then or after the New Year and we'd only known each other for a couple months at that point. As we finished up in April and began the arduous task of editing, we traded phone numbers and emails. I talked to her on the phone for the first time just last week and we've known each other 9 months.

I think it is okay to determine for yourself when you're comfortable, you know? And with how much contact. I've had rpers rush to want to trade phone numbers after 2 weeks of knowing each other. How about "no"? Skype is a little less personal.
 
First and foremost, I actually really like this particular topic. I didn't know it was a thing since I almost never come into the BMA except for certain staff obligation type things.

Onto the topic of honesty...

For me personally this is sort of hard to answer.

I tend to be as honest as I can about things, including certain personal information. There are probably several people here who know more about me than they wanted to know. Me and all my issues. I personally have nothing against someone who wants to remain anonymous, for me honesty is just the easier route. I don't care who knows what about me, I really don't. If I'm asked a personal question, generally I'll answer it.

I almost never give out my number, thus far only 3 people from this site actually have it but I detest texting so..theres that. I'm a little more open to adding people to my Skype/Fet but I don't add people to my facebook. Its not like I care if people know about what all I do, I just think its silly to just hand over personal information. 2 of the people who have my number I talked with for like 2-ish? years before I gave it to them. The third one was about 3 years.

When I first joined BMR, I did lie a little and I felt really guilty for it. The lie was about who I am and how I act. Obviously the people I talk to a lot know how gruff and blunt I can be but when I joined I acted like the shy, innocent and helpless person. I regret it so much. At the same time I don't though because when I did that several members who I'm now really good friends with saw through it and gave me some criticism. Because of that I was able to change and become someone I'm a bit happier with and I started acting online how I act offline. This was my experience with lying online, which was wrong of me to do. I can acknowledge that there are actual good reasons to lie about certain things, especially when it comes to you and your life.

But this is where it gets irritating for me. I prefer to be honest, completely but, I can not. Not online. There are these unwritten rules [as well as written rules] of the internet about how you're supposed to behave. What you should and should not do and should you do something you're not supposed to, you'll get in trouble.

For instance, there are people I have to grin and bear it with because I can't say what I actually want to say to them because it goes against those rules and people look down on you for breaking them. I can't be as honest online as I am offline and thats difficult for me, very difficult because I am an honest and outspoken person. Going off on a person online is the equivalent of starting a fight with a guy at school offline.

I stated before that I have nothing against someone who wants to remain anonymous. That is their decision and does not affect me. They likely have their reasons for wanting to do so and I don't want to pry and so I respect that privacy, as should everyone.

I have been lied to and tricked before online and it hurt a lot. It cut me really deep and even after all these years it still causes a lot of pain in my chest. If you don't want to tell me something, thats fine. Thats your right, I won't push. But don't lie to me about it, don't string me along. I think its incredibly cruel to do that to someone.

With picture stealing, I don't really worry because I don't have a face that someone would want to claim. And its a bit weird for me because I feel like you shouldn't take personal pictures and try and claim them as your own but I think its ok to use famous peoples and I feel thats kind of wrong of me but its kind of where I stand with it. If that makes any sense.

I honestly think its fucking stupid to skip a person simply because of their gender. So long as the person can write well and play the role right, I don't care WHAT you are offline. I personally think people should stop paying attention to certain things, they have no idea how much they are missing out simply because that person is a guy offline or [and this is a bit off topic but here it is] who made that game and judging it off of that. It feels really close minded to me and it makes me a little sad because people do miss out on some really great things because they are looking at and judging things that don't really matter.

These are my views from what I've experienced but there are so, so many variables that come into play, its never just a simple back and white scenario, so many people fall into the gray aspect of things.

[Will probably fix this later, I apologize if its unclear or confusing. I have a hard time trying to explaining this properly. If you're unclear about something or have a question lemme know and I'll try and untangle my web. So please bear with my lunatic ramblings for a bit please~]
 
When I was younger role playing on Yahoo at the age of 13 I created an online identity that was older. Think I told people I was 17 , to get them to accept me and take me serious. I'm almost 30 now, and much more comfortable with the amount of winters I've existed on this plane.

I've always been a reserved introvert with peculiar tastes. Exploring my own existence and place in the universe is more appealing to me then subjugating women , sports, and proving I am more macho than you. It's no wonder I find it difficult to connect with men in the realm of "IRL".

Although I believe a magician should never reveal their tricks, I am honestly more or less an open book compared to my past internet behavior. I mean who hasn't created a female character online to garner more favor and attention?

For me Role Playing is a method of acting/writing that comes from qualities that exist within. Some more exaggerated than others. There are real pieces of me mixed in the fantasy.
 
As a teen I definitely lied, especially about my age, or even for fun lol.

I got close with one of the guys I lied to. I ended up confessing and he claimed that he knew for a while. We were just friends, we traded pics, we met in real life. I didn't like him physically, not that he was BAD, just I wasn't into him. It was just friendship, right? He was "old" anyway (like, 25? lol and I was 15) though we spoke for hours daily or almost. I didn't wonder why he broke up with his gf of years and why all his relationships turned to crap. I was self centered. I kept telling him I wanted to meet prince charming, and all, and he kept being very negative about that topic though he was always encouraging about everything else. I met someone. He disappeared. I barely noticed. I ended up realizing it and tried reaching out to him in all the possible ways, never getting a reply. Long story short I was sick with worry and called his sister (!) who forced him to answer and he said I was the one who cut him off. Not from my point of view... But yeah I suppose I basically dumped him. We tried getting the friendship back on track but it never happened. I still miss him (as a friend!).

I guess what I meant to say: I lied (about age) and he lied (about expectations/feelings). Look at the result.

I was also really dumb about how treated boys who sent me their (normal!) pic and that I found unattractive. I feel bad about those I said could pick me up somewhere and never showed up. :/
 
As a teenager...all the time did I lie online. It's sort of what you did. Especially when you were always warned about the horrible people you would encounter online and wanted to prey on kids. Ah...the 90's where TV would try to scare you all the time with ads.

As I got older though I felt less and less compulsion or even a desire to lie. I'm a naturally honest person, so even as a kid it felt gross to lie even online. A lot of my best friends have been made here on the interwebs and I wouldn't have made such good friends by lying about who I was. Granted my circumstances are different. I was fortunate enough to meet equally honest people who weren't insane/killers/rapists.

So...that's really it. I mean, I've nothing to really hide and never have. I am who I am and see no need to lie to myself or strangers on the internet. If someone found me interesting enough to try to capture I guess that's kinda flattering to me as no one locally seems to have that urge. :p
 
I've had a hard time being honest on the internet. Even now, I still do small lies -- my name, for instance is what I lie about most. There's probably only two people up here who know my real name and I prefer to keep it that way because I don't feel safe otherwise.

However, when I was younger I lied a lot. Most of my lies were about my age because a lot of people weren't comfortable role-playing with someone so young (I started innocent role-plays at nine and got into more adult role-plays around eleven or twelve). For as long as I can remember I have lied about my age being sixteen. I don't know why that was the magic number for me but people seemed okay to role-play with me at that age. I didn't stop that lie until I actually because sixteen, then I started to say I was eighteen.

As a younger person, I tended to lie a bit more about myself out of the simple fact that I lived shut up in my home most of the time and didn't really have anything "interesting" about myself. I stopped for a time when I was about fourteen when I met a few people online that lived relatively close to me (4 hours away) and I felt comfortable with them. One ended well, we never met in real life, but we just kinda fell out of friendship. The other made me get worse with lying because she completely flipped her lid and told me she was in love with me, went absolutely nuts over it and it freaked me out. She called my phone constantly and annoyed my parents and it was just dreadful.

Now that I'm an adult, I only lie about my name, which is mostly because I prefer Bear anyways, and that's it.
 
Lying online...I would be amazed if anyone was completely honest about everything online. The internet is a place where people can be faceless, nameless and that kind of anonymity gives a lot of people the idea that they can say or do anything with no consequences. Unfortunately they are mistaken. If you knowingly lie to someone you have met online you may well end up hurting that person. However there is a flip side to that. If you share information about yourself then open yourself up to the bad actors out there who just love to wreck other peoples lives.

I will be honest. I have lied in the past. People would ask my real name and I would make up some BS name. Mostly because I had read horror stories of some poor bastard who shared too much information with the wrong person.

Nowadays, I don't lie. If someone wants to know my RL name for example, I either ask them why they need to know or just tell them no. I would have to have a very high level of trust and comfort with an individual to give out that kind of information. Some things I will be completely honest about. My age, or other innocuous information cannot really hurt. But I am always careful about what I share. I have been online since the late 90s and during all that time only two people earned enough trust to know everything about me.
 
Given the amount of trolls and sad fuck power mad Admins and Mods on these sites, I don't know why anyone would be honest about themselves. Not to mention it is a role playing site and although I am sure some people meet up in real life I bet that would also be quite rare.

Internet forums are becoming more aggressive and most forums now are troll havens. So again, protect yourself and be careful.
 
I've lied or withheld the truth about myself plenty of times online, mostly to protect my identity. Since I do have a life that I prefer to keep separate from my Internet life, I generally don't like talking about my private life on forums like these. I just don't feel safe knowing that it could possibly come back to me.
Maybe some people aren't as cautious, but I'm trying to go into a professional industry, so I really do prefer to separate my life on the Internet from my life in the real world.
 
I think internet anomymity is the best thing since sliced bread. I say things online i would NEVER say face-to-face. we're always demanding an honest conversation, well when you're anonymous online, you only speak honestly. yes I lie online about where I live, what my name is etc... and it's refreshing. I live in an area that is very liberal, so liberal that if you hold any conservative opinions you're considered as bad as Hitler. which is bad news for someone like me with both liberal and conservative viewpoints.

I'm pro clean energy, anti war, pro equality, pro legalization but I'm also anti mass immigration, pro wall, pro cops and I utterly despise groups like ANTIFA and their SJW-ilk and I smile whenever I see a clip of Antifa thugs getting body-slammed by riot cops. Also I don't think there is any moral high ground on the issue of abortion, either you support denying a woman the right to choose or you support snuffing out the most innocent of human life.

If I voiced these opinions in the open where I live, I'd likely be kicked out onto the streets and beaten by a mob. thank god for internet anonymity.
 
Rudolph Quin said:
You guys bring up a lot of good points but I think it's a bit narrow-minded to say "don't trust anyone". As I said, my best friend ever and the greatest writing partner I've ever had, I met online, and I've visited her several times. You can make a lot of powerful, long-lasting relationships through the computer, with people you would have never met or come into contact with otherwise. There ARE genuine people out there and this can be a great medium for finding them. You just have to be smart, listen to your gut and pay attention to red flags. If you've known a person for 6 months and they STILL can't get a working camera to take a picture and yet seem technologically able to handle everything else, it doesn't add up. It doesn't mean they are 100% totally a liar and a faker, but you add it to a list of "Things that don't seem normal/right" and you make a decision based on that.
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I have actually dealt with this. Blanket statement, I would not have cared if they were male or female. I was in love with them. The bad part for me is the lies. They had decided to have a RL relationship with me and we talked on the phone all the time. They did nice things for me and I for them, but they never wanted to meet. They never took advantage of me and I never did them. We truly cared for each other. In the end I had to walk away. While I was prepared to forgive just about every lie, they were not prepared to admit them. The real question is, how long and how far should the secrecy go? At what point is that person worth more to you than your pride or lies?
 
Basically, when it comes to things such as gender, age (as long as we're all above 18), personal romantic status, sexuality, etc, I feel like if a roleplayer needs to know all of that then they are wanting to cyber, not roleplay. I am gender ambiguous online. I go by two names, one male and one female, and people may choose whichever they like. I will not state my gender because I do not find it important and I typically find that people who care about real life gender are not interested in objective writing. Anonymity is a wonderful tool and should be utilized when needed. However, I do not lie online. At least, not intentionally. I'm sure everyone lies regularly on some existential basis. I also do not give out my age (except that I am 21 or older), because it is unimportant, so long as I am legally an adult, which I am. I see no problem with keeping details of your real life secret, as long as it is not done with intention to harm anyone. I do, however, dislike people who lie or spin false tales when a simple "fuck off" could suffice.

{Although if I get to know someone quite well then, after a substantial amount of time roleplaying and OOC chat, I may give information such as my gender and age, if asked, but only to satisfy curiosity. NOT because it is important.}
 
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I've been hurt by guys pretending to be girls, guys pretending to be single.. and more. But in truth, we all wear masks.

No I don't care what or who you are in your RL. Just make the RP believable and I'll be happy. That said, i do find men n particular, can be easy to spot. I just don't worry about it any more.

I mean, the whole futa thing... I can’t imagine what it feels like to have a penis, to know what it feels like to 'cum' as a man. I'll never try and pretend that for that very reason. But Futa makes me instantly suspicious if the that's a gal. I imagine that that's probably often a guy. I never let it bother me and I'll totally fuck a futa in an RP as I like to RP vs a cock.

I also learned, from a friend of mine I had thought was female, but was male. I ended up meeting them in RL and we talked and I learned that, that just because he was a man, and was straight, he liked to imagine what is was like to be a woman. I never got it till we really talked about it and it does make sense in a way. He’s putting himself in the mind-set of a female sub. That’s fiar enough really. Why not?

In the end, if you not getting into RL stuff, and not intending to meet for real or develop a 'real' relationship. i don't give a shit anymore. If I'm in the mood for some girl on girl Rp, and i suspect the girl is a guy... i let it go and just enjoy the RP> I'm more bothered about how your text is structured, than you RL body.

If your pretending to be a guy or a girl to mess with peoples RL feelings, that’s another thing. That’s an intent to cause harm as you know it can’t end well.
 
Eh, roleplay is great because it lets you play whatever you like, but messing with people is of course pretty rude. Honestly though, it’s not a concern of mine if someone is whatever sex they claim to be, it’s not worth the hassle of trying to “confront” them, and I care more about the quality of roleplay.
 
Rudolph Quin said:
So, how do you feel about the question of honesty and the necessity of anonymity on the internet? Do you consider it shameful when people hide who they really are? How far is too far, in your opinion, when it comes to someone hiding their identity? Are you ever scared about being victimized?...
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Honesty isn't a question; it's a statement about who/what someone is. Anonymity - on the internet or in our daily lives - isn't a necessity, but it might help a person feel more at ease, help a criminal commit their crime, or drive nosy people off the deep end 😂. Anonymity - wanting people to know what your doing but not that it's you doing it - isn't privacy. And there is no privacy, the keeping things to yourself so no one can see it, on the internet -if someone wants to find out they will, eventually, discover your secret(s).

Shame is a concept used by many religions to control their adherents and to try to control those who aren't. What it boils down to is, if you're ashamed of who you are or what you do, change yourself. Don't be concerned about what others think of you vis a vis "shame". And for those who find shame in others - well, get a life and do something positive to help the hungry, homeless, and people suffering from disease or the ravages of war and natural disaster.

Fear of being victimized is as silly as fear of anything else - it is useless, even dangerous. Insurance companies, politicians, and advertising/marketing businesses make their money by preying on fears. However, taking common sense precautions to protect oneself is, usually, a prudent way to approach any situation. If "they" want it bad enough they'll get it one way or another.

Role playing is a big lie. We pretend to be someone or some thing we're not. Then we make up stories to give credence to our lies. Anyone with moral objections to lying might consider looking elsewhere for their entertainment. Telling a lie is not, except in very narrow instances, illegal, immoral, or sinful.

OK, I'm done spouting. Hope ya'll have as much fun reading as I did writing.
 
Rudolph Quin said:
So, how do you feel about the question of honesty and the necessity of anonymity on the internet? Do you consider it shameful when people hide who they really are? How far is too far, in your opinion, when it comes to someone hiding their identity? Are you ever scared about being victimized?

I've had a lot of experience with telling stories about my life and being dishonest with people online. Nothing illegal or super crazy ever happened but... people DID get hurt by my lies and fantasies.

I am in no way proud of my behavior in the past but it gives me a lot to think about, particularly how there is this expectation of complete disclosure to complete strangers through the screen and how crippling that can be. I mean, along with the assumption that I am exactly who and what I say I am, people will also automatically assume I am a good person, if I am polite, courteous and the things I say and do appear to be "nice". But the truth is, you have no clue, do you? I mean, really. Sure, there might be some of you out there who are creepy and sleuthy, but for the general public who uses online as escape and entertainment, it's too much work and effort to put into a casual relationship to look up and fact check every thing I post.

I just find that it's a kind of interesting standard to hold people to. Especially when there are bad people out there who look to prey on and victimize others. You're still expected to be completely forthcoming about who and what you are. But lying about yourself doesn't automatically mean you're one of "them", those predators, does it? I mean, let's assume pictures are never shown, numbers are never traded, money is never touched or exchanged; the only thing is the person you've been talking to has been telling stories about who they are. If you never find out and still maintain a friendship with them(let's say you both play games together and you like gaming with them), was what they did to you wrong? Even if you did find out, would it be enough to completely reject them and stop gaming with them forever, even though nothing they ever did affected you negatively and really didn't affect what you enjoyed about them most, namely, playing games?

Where do you draw the line? Stealing pictures seems to be a big deal breaker for some but I admit to having done it before. And even knowing that others could do it to me, I share my photos online without a second thought(mostly because I seriously believe you could find better models for your persona out there and would feel flattered if chosen to be your "mask"). Does it make you pause for a second before sharing if you know that there are those out there who may right click on your images and take them for their own?

What do you consider a bad reason for lying? Is there a good reason? Back when I first joined Blue Moon, I lied about my gender because there is a serious prejudice on adult role-playing sites towards certain genders wanting to play the opposite side. If I made a thread in the females request section right now, with this male-themed name and male themed everything and said "I'm a guy but I'd like to play a female character" how many PMs do you think I'd get from horny guys looking to role-play a smutty story with me? How about vice-versa? Experience has shown me that there's not a lot of people willing to take[/u] a chance on someone not of their fantasized gender being behind the screen. It like, seriously deflates their boner. The already excruciatingly long waiting process of role-playing becomes even longer as people pass over your request thread and the "flaky partner syndrome" increases about 50%.

Have you ever lied about anything online? Have you ever felt bad about it or did you feel entitled for some reason? Is it important to you that people always tell you the truth about everything online? When, if ever, is it not important to you? Have you ever had an experience where someone lied to you and you found out? How did you react and why? What made it okay? What made it totally not cool? Have you ever been conned out of money by someone on the computer? Has this changed your view of the truth and how readily you part with personal information? What do you do when a friend asks for personal information? What criteria does someone have to fill out to be okay and trustworthy? Is a phone call, photo, Facebook profile or Skype call enough?

Come on, Blue Moon, let's talk about it. Be... honest. ;)
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In general I try to be as honest as possible. What I don't want ppl to know I just don't tell it. That's one of the main reasons why I don't like Facebook too much. I understand and value privacy and I think Internet is old friends new troubles meaning that Internet may pose a different new scenario that requires the manners and the prudence our ancestors used to dominate wayyy before there were things such as television
 
Rudolph Quin said:
You guys bring up a lot of good points but I think it's a bit narrow-minded to say "don't trust anyone". As I said, my best friend ever and the greatest writing partner I've ever had, I met online, and I've visited her several times. You can make a lot of powerful, long-lasting relationships through the computer, with people you would have never met or come into contact with otherwise. There ARE genuine people out there and this can be a great medium for finding them. You just have to be smart, listen to your gut and pay attention to red flags. If you've known a person for 6 months and they STILL can't get a working camera to take a picture and yet seem technologically able to handle everything else, it doesn't add up. It doesn't mean they are 100% totally a liar and a faker, but you add it to a list of "Things that don't seem normal/right" and you make a decision based on that.
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I feel like it also comes down to "What are you looking for?". Personally, I have discord and this site. On discord I have my channels where I RP this and that and have plenty of "connections" with other RP'ers. Do I consider them as friends? Hmm, maybe not? Acquaintances maybe. But if they happened to disappear one day out of the blue or tell me something insane, it probably won't shake me to my core one bit because in my head, they've always just been "PantyDropper69" that I met on the Rule34 RP server and liked the same kinks I did and had the same writing style as me. Would it suck to replace them? Probably. Finding good people aren't hard, it's finding those that you seriously click with on an imaginative and creative level that's difficult. Don't get me wrong, it does suck to a certain extent if they do end up going away forever or just deciding to never sign into Discord again or who knows, maybe they completely rinse themselves of their old "online" persona and start up a new, fresh account without any attachments. More power to them. Personally, though, my days of finding permanent friends and such "online" are over. I'll keep them as "online" buds. Would I be willing to hand out my phone number or chat with them via webcam? That's REALLY dependent on how long I've known this person and how well we click but they'll always be more or less a stranger in my head.

There definitely was a time back in MySpace where I'd meet people online and really try to get to know em personally and it sucked for the majority of the time but I can't lie and say I didn't end up going out to see them. Hell, one of them I dated on and off like three separate times and finally saw them in person just 2 years ago for the first time ever... after knowing them for like 10+ years. That was insane. Met another friend as well that I still keep in contact with. Is it possible to meet people that'll forever stick around in your life beyond the realm of the internet? Yes... but only if that's what you're looking for. I'm not on here trying to see who's going to my next reason to visit so and so state or country. I'm here to enjoy someone else's creative juices and mind, see our characters develop, and enjoy some rather therapeutic writing exercises. Younger me would still maybe try to see who else is out there worth connecting with on a personal level outside of the internet but right now, after all these years, I'm very content with keeping my real life friends close and my internet companions on the computer or my discord app. Sorry if that sounds shallow or disheartening but I feel like, for my own mental and psychological state, it's necessary these days.

As for people treating you differently depending on what sex you are, that's definitely true and lord knows I've seen my fair share of requests with the first line being "IRL FEMALE ONLY" or something along those lines. Feel like those are just some really insecure people that need that 'comfort' of knowing they're not talking to someone wielding a dick on the other side of the monitor. In reality though, who the fuck cares? Personally the other person could be a sentient rat from another dimension for all I care, so long as they know how to get my imagination buzzing with thoughts and provocations then I'm game. But to each their own. I'm not going to bother reaching out to those types because that just screams narrow mindedness. Not saying anyone that's into that is a loser but we probably wouldn't click, just a heads up ;). In any case, this is an interesting topic and made me have to think long and hard about what I wanted to say. All the answers so far have been stupid interesting and can't wait to see what other kinds of topics you come up with in the future :D
 
Take everything you read and see with a grain of salt. Enjoy a person for what they present themselves as, and move along. The less you know, the smoother your ride.
 
Yeah, it's generally best to take what people say with a grain of salt, people will rarely tell you everything about them online until you really know them, even then it can take so very long. People will be more guarded because it's easier to be so.
 
People are also more likely to be anything they want, because no one here is going to tell you "No"
 
I value my privacy. My social media and forum accounts are very segregated into the ones for people who know me IRL and the ones where I'm anonymous. I even feel weird posting my dog on my nsfw artist Twitter. I don't post the same ones as on my real FB just in case someone bothers to reverse image search. Paranoid? No. I think it would be devastating to have someone from my family or workplace find my art or ERP outlets. It's worth a moment of care.

I also don't lie online. I don't lie to be liked IRL (plenty to my own misfortune), and I have the same approach online. I might act more cheerful than I really am, but I'm morbidly depressed and don't want to scare off activity partners that might be a small glimmer of light in the darkness. I don't think I've ever made up lies about myself to seem cool or deserving of sympathy or whatever. Though, I did have an interesting few years and some great stories. I rarely even tell them to anyone I don't know IRL.

So, no. No need to lie here. I'm not looking for people to be my fans (outside of for my art), nor do I feel validated by sympathy or the envy of online strangers. I'm here to RP. I'll talk about that. We might end up chatting about our day. If it goes further than that, it's usually that someone asks about me living in China (which I'm a bit tired of talking about to be honest), and we talk about RL stuff from there. Being back into online RP for almost 2 years now, I haven't made any new besties. Very friendly for months, sure. About the only way in which I care what others think of me is to not be remembered as a jerk and my artist reputation. Whether or not it's true that I deflowered a Mtv VJ, or if anyone believes me, doesn't fall into those categories.
 
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