#Restrict Server Access

[swati3191]

“How to Restrict Server Access for Teams Using RHosting’s Custom Controls”

When managing a shared server environment, not every team member needs full access. Whether it’s for security, compliance, or operational clarity, restricting access based on roles is essential. That’s why RHosting offers powerful custom control features — so you can manage exactly who can access what, and how.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to use RHosting’s built-in controls to restrict server access for teams — without complex IT configurations or third-party tools.

🔐 Why Access Restrictions Matter

Unrestricted access increases the risk of:

Accidental file deletions or edits

Unauthorized use of sensitive applications

Data breaches or compliance violations

Confusion and clutter for end users

With RHosting’s granular access settings, you can provide the right level of access to every user — and nothing more.

🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Restrict Access Using RHosting’s Custom Controls

Step 1: Log in to the RHosting Admin Portal

Access the RHosting Admin Dashboard using your credentials. From here, you’ll manage users, permissions, and server settings.

Step 2: Create or Select a User Group

If you're managing a team:

Navigate to User Groups

Create a new group (e.g., “Finance Team”, “Dev Interns”, “HR”)

Or, select an existing group to edit

Grouping users by role or department simplifies future management.

Step 3: Assign Server Access Controls

Within the group settings:

Choose which servers the group can access

Select folders or drives available to the group (e.g., restrict “Finance” from accessing “Dev”)

Set time-based access if needed (e.g., office hours only)

Step 4: Set Application-Level Restrictions (Optional)

RHosting also lets you control which applications are visible and usable by each user or group.

Allow only necessary apps like Tally, Excel, or custom software

Block access to tools unrelated to the user’s role

Prevent command-line or admin-level tools from being launched

Step 5: Enable Session Monitoring & Logs

Activate activity logging for transparency and compliance:

See login times, session durations, and accessed resources

Export logs for audits or internal reviews

Identify unusual behavior or access patterns

🔄 Real-World Example: Restricting Access for Interns

Let’s say your dev team hires interns for a 3-month period. Using RHosting:

Create an “Interns” group

Give them access to a specific development server only

Block access to client databases or financial systems

Restrict usage of PowerShell or admin tools

Auto-disable access after 90 days

This keeps your systems secure while enabling interns to contribute productively.

✅ Benefits of Using RHosting’s Custom Controls

Enhanced security for sensitive data and critical systems

Simplified user management for IT teams

Tailored access that matches your organizational structure

Peace of mind knowing every user has just the access they need

🚀 Take Full Control of Your Remote Environment

RHosting’s custom access controls are designed to give you precision, flexibility, and confidence in how your team interacts with remote servers.

Whether you’re onboarding new employees, managing contractors, or supporting multiple departments — you’re in control.

[techdirectarchive]

Deny execute access: Restrict Access to USB Drives on Windows

In this article, we shall discuss “Deny execute access: Restrict Access to USB Drives on Windows”. A USB flash drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. I will be performing this demonstration using the Local Group Policy. In subsequent tutorials, I will cover the implementation using the Group Policy Management Console which can affect numerous…

[massivechildtidalwave]

Its a terrifying scene. The camera angle revealing parts of a science lab straight out of hell. Kitchen knifes and scalpels lay dripping on a table.

On the dissection table- because thats all it could be- lays a small child. Small but noticable gills on the neck, the occasional fleck of scales and webbed fingers mark them as merfolk.

Viewers watch on in horror as the table is bloodied. A steady incision made in the left leg. The Justice League had been contacted but there was no indication they would make it in time to help.

A large Bang! went off in the background of the video, clearly catching the duo off guard. The man turned to his (wife?) with a weird moniter in his hands going off the charts and with an excited yelp they both took off running up the steps that were just barely in frame behind them.

A few long moments later, two teens sneak into the lab. The boy rushed over to unchain their parents 'test subject' while the girl kept watch.

Freshly released limbs had bloody wounds rubbed into the pinned down areas and quiet whispers of empathy were only just picked up by the audio. One of the viewers pointed out that the boy himself had scars in similar places.

The boy picked up the kid and the trio quickly slipped away out of camera view. Soft thuds mark their escape from the house, seemingly unaware of the Livestream their parents were apparently trying to make.

--------------------------

The story makes international news and leaves everyone on high alert. Government agencies scramble to prove they had no connection to the couple, the GIW undergos mass arrest when their names Maddie and Jack Fenton come up on their payroll. A channel is made to document any sightings of the kids.

The first one is posted after a day. It's security footage from a fast food restaruant. Four teens- the two from before plus a goth and someone named ''Tucker''- along with the comparitively tiny Mer sit in a booth. ''Tucker'' and "Sam'' argue about possible dietary restriction before seemingly ordering one of everything. There is soup, and a burger, the largest cup filled with water they could find in the back, chicken tenders and salad.

When the server goes to deliver everything, the four watch them like hawks, understandable given the previous day.

(Did any of them even know Half the world knew what went down? )

(Did any of them know how Aquaman was taking the news of one of his subjects being injured like that? )

( Did any of them realize that their choice to protect the kid was one of the main reasons war hadn't been declared yet on the human race?)

Jasmine is heard softly encouraging the tiny Mer to eat something, anything and eventually the soup is downed and apparently liked enough that she gets up to order more.

Right before they leave, while under the relative safety of a roof, they swap the bandages wrapped around most of the kids leg and arms and slowly tell them about future plans despite the fact that they probably can't understand the language.

(Jasmine points at a laptop screen filled with a view of the ocean. "We" she circles the group with her pinky "are going there to get you home." The atlantian can't speak english but the way their eyes light up and they relax further into Sams side shows they understand the basic message)

(The sight- of the child definitely scared but trusting them enough to get so close- helps calm the atlantians with access to the internet. Somewhere Aquaman finds himself able to breathe slightly easier.)

[aftertheleaving]

Not A Threat

Pairing: Damian Wayne x Reader

Genre: Light humor, fluff, slow-burn setup(kinda), soft enemies to lovers(again kinda), workplace antics

Warnings: swearing, caffeine abuse, reader is unbothered and slightly feral, Damian is suffering (but not really), no plot just vibes

Notes: for @ur-mums-house, who is my sleepy muse and deserves a fic where Damian gets emotionally steamrolled by a tech intern. Anyway I totallyyyy didn't find this while scrolling through all my drafts that I never posted (this is like from forevrrrrr ago when i told myself i'd start posting but never did). 🙃

1, 2, 3

You’re halfway through your fourth energy drink and at least eight hours into the worst debugging sprint of your life when you crack into a corrupted server cluster and find a file labeled:

"batcave_logs_alpha / GraySon_Phase02 / CodedAssets_v3"

Your first thought is:

Oh my god, they named a prototype ‘Grayson’? What is this, an anime?

Your second:

Cool. More dumb WayneTech documentation. Maybe I can finally go home.

So you click it.

And twenty seconds later, after bypassing a laughably weak encryption key (seriously, who still uses birthday codes?), you’re staring at a directory full of what are clearly mission logs. From vigilantes. Who operate out of a cave. With bats.

You lean back, sip your drink, and sigh.

“Well. That explains so much about this company.”

You don’t tell anyone—not because you’re scared, but because you’re underpaid, overworked, and Jenkins is still crashing. You simply do not have time for Batman’s extracurriculars.

Which is why, when you return from lunch the next day and find Damian Wayne himself waiting at your desk like a final boss, you groan out loud.

“You accessed a restricted directory,” he says flatly.

You drop into your seat. “Congrats. Want a cookie?”

He stares. “That information is classified.”

“So is the state of your backend infrastructure,” you reply, pulling up your terminal. “Your firewalls are like, held together with duct tape and prayer. You’re lucky I didn’t accidentally trigger a missile.”

He’s silent for a beat. You look at him, smirk creeping across your face.

“Oh wait,” you say, “I’m supposed to act shocked, right?”

You cup your hand around your mouth and whisper dramatically, “You know who.”

Damian visibly restrains the urge to walk into traffic.

“I’m not gonna tell anyone,” you assure him, typing lazily. “I’m too busy fixing Jenkins and wondering if I can make rice in a coffee pot. I have bigger problems.”

“…What is Jenkins?” he mutters.

“A CI tool,” you say. “It breaks. Constantly. Like you, apparently.”

He mutters something in Arabic that you think is an insult, but you’re too caffeinated to care.

“Besides,” you say, grinning, “You’re kinda short for a terrifying vigilante.”

“I am five-foot-five.”

“Sure”

A few days later…

You see him again, lurking in R&D like a disgruntled gargoyle.

You walk right up to him. “I have an idea.”

He immediately sighs. “No.”

You grin and hand him a rolled-up blueprint. “It’s a modular shock baton with thermal sensing and EMP shielding. Built it on my break. While eating a sandwich.”

He unrolls it and—you see the exact second he realizes it’s actually… good. Really good.

“This is—” he starts, then stops. Glares at you. “You should not be this capable.”

“Aw,” you say, patting his shoulder, “is that your way of saying thank you?”

“I said no such thing.”

“You did in spirit.”

“…Why are you like this?”

You smile, eyes glinting. “You’re fun to mess with.”

I think I’m actually dying. I was working on a Tim fic, minding my business, and then I got a comment from ur-mums-house and genuinely tweaked. Like. Fully spiraled. So then I went rummaging through the massive (for some reason??) collection of fics I’ve written and never posted, searching for anything Damian-related for ur-mums-house—and now here we are. Okay. Gonna go back to working on my Tim fic now. Bye bye 👋 .

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[toh-cookbook-zine]

The Owl House Cookbook Zine FAQ

What is this?

We are putting together a free, digital cookbook fanzine with recipes, fanfic, meta/trivia, and fanart inspired by the food of the Boiling Isles. To honor Luz, Camila, and Manny, we would also like to include Dominican and Puerto Rican cuisine — potentially with a Demon Realm twist. 

We're taking inspiration from cookbook fanzines in other fandoms as well as the fantastic @vee-fanzine (check it out!).

Are there content restrictions?

Contributions must be food-themed and related to The Owl House. The main zine will only accept G or T rated fanworks. We are still deciding on whether to include alcoholic beverages in the main zine, as a separate download, or not at all for this volume.

What roles are there?/How can I contribute?

We'd like 2-5ish mods in total, chefs who can take the lead in developing recipes, recipe testers, people who research food-related trivia from the show, writers to put relevant trivia/meta in blurbs/recipe notes, fanfic writers, beta readers, fan artists, and anyone else who'd like to brainstorm/discuss recipes, bread puns, and other fanzine contributions.

Do I need to apply to contribute?

Mod applications are open through June 22nd since @findmeinthefallair and @zyrafowe-sny would like a couple more people to help run the event.

Starting June 14th, we will have a non-binding interest form we'd like all potential participants to fill out. We do not have a formal application/screening process for contributors. Because this is a digital zine, we don't have to worry about page length and can accept all contributions that meet the guidelines and are submitted by the due date.

When is it being released?

We are aiming for the third anniversary of Thanks to Them (October 15, 2025) and are hoping to release a second volume on the anniversary of Watching and Dreaming (April 8, 2026).

Will there be a print edition?

At this time, we want to keep this zine relatively simple and accessible by only providing a digital download. We're hoping the digital edition can be printable for personal use and are not completely ruling out an organized print run in the future, but the logistics around a print edition are complicated and hard copies/shipping can be pricey.

What about..?

Please feel free to send an ask if you have any other questions. We'll be updating this FAQ as needed.

Links to:

Participant signup form

Our Discord server

[itsmeglycine]

My most "rendered" looking NSFW illustration so far? 🤔 (Patreon)

[*My region restricts depiction of nudity in art across profit-based platforms, so please join the Discord server for full access. I try to put out 2 SFW and 2 NSFW rendered pieces each month.]

[mcyt-winter-of-mf]

MCYT M/F & Other Exchange: an Introduction!

Current stage: POSTING!

Hello, everyone! Winter of M/F & Other Exchange is a 15+, multi-mcyt exchange focusing on... well, M/F & Other ships!

You ever want to write about those sweet bi4bi romances? You love poly ships? You love an immortal fish goddess and her normal-he-promises husband? You believe with all your heart SOS Katherine/fWhip have perfect t4t charm? You have a ship that's so dear to your heart and no event to fill up your cold winter months (or warm summer months, for my southern hemisphere peeps)?

Well, welcome to MCYT M/F & Other Exchange! Anything you'd file under M/F or as Other over on ao3, you can nominate! You love cletho? Orionsound and Soupforeloise? Philza and Lady Death? Come on in!

Event Timeline:

Interest Check: December 18 - December 25

Tag nominations open: December 25

Tag nominations close: January 8

Sign Ups Open: January 1st

Sign ups close: January 15

Assignments out: January 20th

First Check-In: February 14th-17th

Second Check-In: February 28th-March 3rd

Posting week: March 6th - March 13th

Final pinch hit deadline: March 20th

Gift Requirement Minimums:

Art (1 drawing, finished to the artist's completion standards) 

Writing (1k words, must standalone as a work) 

Playlist (1.5 hrs, accessible without an account) 

Moodboard (2 boards with 18 elements total, credited)

Web Weaving (1 board with 10 elements, credited)

Podfic (1 podfic of 1k word length, edited to the podficcer´s completion standards)

You can create more if you wish, these are only the minimums. You must reach the minimum for your assigned gift.

Rules:

You must be 15 or over to participate.

You must join the Discord server for communication purposes.

You must provide your Tumblr username, at least three different ships (same or different fandoms), a list of likes and a reasonable Do Not Want list (DNW) in order to participate.

If you do not have a DNW, you must write DNW: No Restrictions in the sign up box for every fandom you participate in.

You must offer at least three different ships to create for in order to participate.

Your gift must center at least one of your recipient's requested relationships. 

Your gift must respect your recipient’s use of / or & in their requested relationship. Ship work must be delivered for a / relationship, and platonic work must be delivered for a & relationship. 

Your gift must respect your recipient's DNW.

Your gift must meet the gift requirement minimum for its respective medium detailed above.

Your gift must be posted to Tumblr, and you must tag your recipient's blog and the event blog when posting.

Your gift must not feature AI-created content.

FAQ:

Which ships are eligible?

Any ship that would fall under the M/F category, such as Life Series Joel/Lizzie, are eligible for nominations. Any ship that would fall under the Other category, such as Dream SMP's Foolish/Eret or Life Series Lizzie/Cleo are also eligible.

Polyamory ships are allowed. Platonic ships are allowed. QPRs are allowed. Crossover ships and genderbends are allowed.

F/F ships such as Life series Lizzie/Pearl or M/M ships such as Empires SMP Scott/fWhip are not eligible for this exchange unless in genderbend form.

How many ships can I sign up for?

The minimum request is three relationships in any given fandom. You may request up to 10 different fandoms with 20 relationships each (so, 200 requests). Likewise, the maximum offers you can make are 10 fandoms with 20 relationships each (so, 200 offers).

How do I sign up or nominate a tag?

Tag nominations and sign ups will happen on Ao3. Guides for both tag nominations and sign ups are incoming!

How do I nominate a genderbend?

To nominate a genderbend of a ship you want, you must specify the iteration of the ship you want with a marker. For example, if I wanted to nominate genderbend Scott/Jimmy from Empires Season 1, I'd use:

f!Smajor1995/Solidarity (Empires S1)

Smajor1995/nb!Solidarity (Empires S1)

And other such variations.

Do I need an Ao3 account to participate?

Matching will be done through Ao3, so you must have an account to sign up! Posting will be done on Tumblr.

Do I need to create for every ship/fandom in my recipient's list?

No, you only need to create for one relationship of one fandom from your recipient's list.

Do I need to include every one of my recipient's likes?

No. Your recipient is likely to offer a list of possibilities varying from the simple to the specific (for example: "Fluff" and "Regency aus" and "Themes of alienation and the forbidden and characters navigating that"). Think of likes lists as an array of coloring pencils, and pick out what would best suit your piece!

Is platonic content allowed?

Yes, platonic content is allowed. Relationships must follow the same eligibility guidelines listed above, but marked with & instead of /.

Is RPF allowed?

Yes, RPF is allowed, and will be requested/offered for under the "Video Blogging RPF" tag. The MCYT creators must be over 18 and famous in their own right. Mods reserve the right to reject tags they feel to be in bad taste.

Is NSFW allowed?

NSFW is allowed. NSFW must be opted into. If your recipient does not opt into E-rated works, you cannot deliever an E-rated fic. If you are a minor, you cannot write nor receive an E-rated fic.

Delivering unrequested NSFW or requesting NSFW as a minor will result in a ban from future iterations of this event.

Is dark content allowed?

Yes. Dark content is allowed as long as it does not violate your recipient's DNW.

Are major archive warnings allowed?

Yes. Every major archive warning except Underage Sex is allowed. However, major archive warnings must be opted into by your recipient, and must be tagged appropriately at the moment of posting.

Delivering unrequested major archive warnings will result in a ban from future iterations of this event.

Are adult/minor relationships allowed?

For ease of moderation, adult/minor ships will not be allowed. A list of characters considered to be minors (under 18, these characters can only be shipped romantically with other minors) and extremely underage (15 and under, these characters can only be part of & ships) will be provided on Discord.

Ageing up underage characters to turn an adult/minor ship into adult/adult will not be allowed.

What is a DNW?

A Do Not Want list (DNW) is a list of items provided by a user of the things they do not want to see in their gifts. This list must be followed by their gifter, and failure to follow it may result in a ban from the event.

DNWs can be as specific as you want. However, DNWs must be phrased politely (YES: "No alcohol". NO: "No alcohol of any kind ugh that's disgusting"), must be precise (NO: "No dark content", YES: "No onscreen graphic violence") and must be practical/feasible (do not box in your gifter to a specific idea, so YES: "No space aus or aus that require characters to be aged down, such as Hunger Games", NO: "No au that doesn't feature the characters as harried holiday workers in a bakery on the year 2017").

DNW Exceptions (Ex: "No royalty aus (unless for Empires characters)") are allowed, and your DNW does not need to be the same across all fandom requests (for example: under Empires SMP you can list "DNW: Onscreen torture" but leave it out of your Lifesteal SMP requests).

Your DNW must be written in full in the Ao3 sign up box. Any elements of a DNW added to a separate source (Dear Gifter letters, personal websites) will not be enforced.

Can I write/draw/create more than the minimum?

Yes, you can create as much as you want for your recipient, provided it is all finished and posted in full by March 13th.

I have someone I do not want to match with. What do I do?

If you, for any reason, do not want to match with a specific user(s), you may send a Do Not Match request to the mods. The mods will then, on our end, make sure you are not match either to make or receive a gift from said user.

Do Not Match requests can be made for any reason, and you don't need to tell us what it is!

[XYZ] happened and I need more time. What do I do?

If you need more time to finish your gift, you may contact a mod, and we can work out an extension of up to four days. Extensions will go no longer than March 17th, in case a pinch hitter needs to step in.

[XYZ] happened and I need to drop out. What do I do?

If you need to drop out, you must contact a mod as soon as possible, and your gift will go to pinch hits. Failure to communicate with a mod about an undelivered gift will result in a ban from future iterations of this event.

Dear mod, why does your url ONLY say M/F and not Other?

Well, mcytwinterofmfandotherexchange was a Bit too clunky for tumblr :pensive: Believe me. I tried.

I have more questions?

Please send an ask in!

[minxipinxi]

🎮 Love & Deepspace – One Year Later: A Deep Dive into Achievements, Controversies, and Future Hopes 🎮

Since its launch, Love & Deepspace (LADS) has evolved significantly, introducing new features, quality-of-life improvements, and (of course) sparking debates about monetization. Here's a comprehensive, detailed look at what the game has accomplished, where it shines, and where it could do better.

🌟 Major Improvements & New Features

1. Lunar Shop Overhaul 🌙

Before:

Ranking up 5★ memories only gave 50 Lunar Crystals, which felt unrewarding.

Players had no meaningful way to spend excess crystals.

Now:

Lunar Crystals can be exchanged for exclusive outfits and accessories.

The first outfit (inspired by a meme!) was a fun addition.

Problem:

Outfits cost 100 crystals per color variant: forcing players to grind (or spend) for multiple copies of 5★ memories.

The system has a finite limit: once you max out standard banner memories, crystals stop accumulating unless you pull on limited banners.

Verdict: A step in the right direction, but too restrictive. Let players unlock color variants freely!

2. Memory Growth Bonus (A Lifesaver for Leveling) 📈

Before:

Leveling memories past 60 required insane resources, making progression tedious.

Now:

A growth bonus significantly reduces the grind for multi-banner memories.

Problem:

Myth memories (solo banners) don’t benefit from this system.

High-level players still face bottlenecks when upgrading beyond 60.

Verdict: A great addition, but should be expanded to all memory types.

3. Glint Photo Booth & AR Snapshot (A Fan Favorite!) 📸

Why It’s Great:

Allows creative photo-taking with LIs and MC.

Sparked huge community engagement (players share edits, memes, and stories).

Controversy:

Some speculate this feature was only added because revenue allowed it (no official confirmation).

Raises questions about whether F2P-friendly content depends on profit margins.

Verdict: One of the best social features: hope they keep expanding it!

4. 4★ Memories with Dynamic Dates (A Mixed Bag) 💘

What Changed:

Promise Cards (paid 4★ memories) now include visual novel-style dates.

More immersive than before, but not as deep as 5★ memories.

Problems:

Paywalled: only available via the Promise system.

Some players prefer audio-only dates (like in Secret Times) for multitasking.

Verdict: Nice for spenders, but should be more accessible.

5. Hairstyles & Accessories (Cute but Costly) 💇‍♂️🐱

The Good:

New cat ears, tails, and hairstyles added customization depth where early banners bundled accessories with outfits (e.g., Yes, Cat Caretaker Event).

The Bad:

Later banners split hairstyles from outfits, forcing extra pulls (e.g., Tomorrow's Catch-22 Event) locked hairstyles behind additional gacha layers.

Verdict: A fun addition, but predatory monetization hurts player trust.

6. Abyssal Chaos (Rewarding but Flawed) ⚔️

What It Offers:

A roguelike mode with deduction puzzles, lore, and rewards.

Completing it grants ~10.7 pulls over 6-8 weeks.

Problems:

Rewards are one-time only (no refreshes).

Grindy and time-consuming—many players skip it after the first run.

Verdict: Could be much better if rewards reset bi-weekly.

7. "With Him" Room Customization (Needs More Life) 🏠

Improvements:

Expanded room size and more furniture options.

Missing Elements:

No visible LI presence (unlike Destiny Café, where they interact).

No rewards for decorating—reduces incentive to engage.

Verdict: Needs real-time LI interactions (e.g., reading, sleeping).

8. Free 20 Pulls (Thank You, CN Players!) 🎁

How It Happened:

Global received 20 free pulls only because CN servers topped revenue charts.

Proves global players rely on CN spending for rewards.

Verdict: Appreciated, but highlights global-server inequality.

9. Reruns: Good Idea, Bad Execution 🔄

The Good:

Reruns arrived earlier than expected (some gachas wait 2-3 years).

The Bad:

Myth banners only last 7 days: forcing rushed decisions.

Packs are pricier, removing budget-friendly options.

Verdict: Reruns are necessary, but FOMO tactics are unfair.

💸 The Big Issue: Aggressive Monetization

While LADS has improved gameplay, many updates push spending:

Lunar Shop = Requires dupes for outfits.

Split hairstyles = More pulls needed.

Abyssal Chaos = Rewards are too scarce.

Rerun tactics = Limited-time pressure.

How to Fix It? ✔ Bundle hairstyles with outfits. ✔ Refresh Abyssal Chaos rewards bi-weekly. ✔ Give global players more free pulls (not just CN-dependent).

🎭 Final Thoughts: Love It, But Stay Critical

LADS has grown impressively in storytelling, animation, and features. However, monetization is getting greedier, making it harder for F2P/low-spenders/dolphins to keep up.

What’s Next?

Will the developers listen to feedback and adjust?

Can they balance profit with player satisfaction?

And remember: stay vocal about fair treatment! ✊

[elfwreck]

Lots of people are mentioning this, and saying things like "Don't Like Don't Read" and "stop harassing authors."

And while those are good points...

This is probably a bot invasion, rather than any team of hostile commenters.

The key issue: People were getting comments with porn gifs embedded in them, not just the standard "this reads like chatGPT work" or "join WəɓṆøvℯḼ now!" posts.

My guess about the plans: Probably looking into turning off image embeds for guest accounts. That'll require adjustments to the code, so guest commenting will probably remain turned off while they figure out how to do that and get it activated.

It's possible that, in the long run, guest comments won't be allowed at all, because eventually the spam content will overwhelm the servers. It's not doing that yet, but AO3 is not shrinking and neither is bot activity.

...If you don't have an account, apply for an invitation. If you have an account and don't want to use it for commenting, apply for an invite with a secondary email account.

Because unless there's a nice widespread change in either law or legal rulings, the spambots will continue to grow unrestricted, and the result is going to be "sites that want an active community will need to become login only."

(About half of all emails in the world are spam. About 40% of all internet activity is bots. And so far, the regulator reaction to that has been, "well, lock down access so the bots can't get in" rather than "whoever is draining all those server resources is committing crimes.")

AO3 will figure something out. That something is likely to involve restrictions on guest activity, because that's the only way to block the bots.

[apas-95]

Quick question, do you have to be anti porn to be a good communist, due to it being the capitalist manifesation of the commodification of women? while opposing the industrial production of it, that is studio porn, is a very obvious red line and shouldnt exist at all, is it wise to make a point of just hating All of it? I ask because some comrades in a server are discussing it and i wanted your thoughts

My thoughts regarding this are threefold:

First: it is important to understand the class character of any given institution, the failure to do so leads to errors. A common 'left' error is in attributing the negative aspects of an institution under capitalism to the institution itself, without understanding its capitalist character. An example would be the characterisation of the police as fundamentally an agent of repressing the people (when under socialism they are an agent of the people for repression of the bourgeois), or of the academy as fundamentally an arbiter of class access to certain roles in society (when under socialism it is straightforwardly an educator and enabler of technically-skilled labour). To some degree the abuses of the pornography industry are, doubtlessly, down to the social context it exists in, and in the exploitation of (lumpen)proletarians engaged in sex work.

Second: a vulgar 'proletarian feminism' which avoids this class analysis inevitably also commits the same ignorance of class in the opposite direction, and commits rightist errors. Commonly, in the advocating of an alliance with the bourgeois state and bourgeois police to 'protect women' - by criminalising one or the other aspect of sex work under capitalism. The status of sex workers as proletarians, and, when criminalised as such, lumpenproletarians, is essentially ignored. It must be understood that first and foremost the issue of sex work is a labour issue, and like any labour issue it can only be solved by the self-organisation and self-emancipation of the workers themselves.

Third: the categorisation of pornography as specifically an issue of the commodification and exploitation of women (as above) breaks down in the contexts of both male pornography and amateur pornography. Male pornography clearly does not involve the commodification of women (though it does involve the exploitation of sex workers!); and amateur pornography, produced, as it were 'as an expression of one's own nature', and removed from any valorisation of capital, clearly involves no commodification at all.

Generally it has been the case that socialist states have banned pornography and sex work once established. Sex workers who found themselves now unemployed under socialism were not, as in capitalism, made even more desperate and destitute - rather, they were happily able to take up other fields of guaranteed work. However, socialist states were generally established in impoverished, semifeudal nations, where the conditions of sex work were uniformly that of sexual slavery and prostitution. In the most culturally advanced socialist state, the German Democratic Republic, restrictions on pornography were much more lax. Certainly, the conditions of a modern, developed nation would have a major impact on the treatment of pornography under socialism.

[screentones-webcomicresources]

There are many web hosting companies to choose from if you're taking the plunge into making your own website with a comic content management system (CMS) like ComicControl or Grawlix, a Wordpress comic theme like Toocheke or ComicPress, or a HTML template to cut/paste code like Rarebit. While these solutions are generally free, finding a home for them is... generally not. It can be hard to choose what's best for your webcomic AND your budget!

We took a look at a few of the top hosting services used by webcomics creators using webcomic CMSes, and we put out a poll to ask your feedback about your hosts!

This post may be updated as time goes on as new services enter the hosting arena, or other important updates come to light.

Questions:

💻 I can get a free account with Wix/Squarespace/Carrd, could I just use those for my comic? - Web hosts like this may have gallery functions that could be adapted to display a series of pages, but they are very basic and not intended for webcomics.

📚 Wait, I host on Webtoon, Tapas, Comic Fury, or some other comic website, why are they not here? - Those are comic platforms! We'll get into those in a future post!

🕵️‍♀️Why does it say "shared hosting"? Who am I sharing with? - "Shared hosting" refers to sharing the server space with other customers. They will not have access to your files or anything, so it is perfectly fine to use for most comic CMSes. You may experience slowing if there is too much activity on a server, so if you're planning to host large files or more than 10 comics, you may want to upgrade to a more robust plan in the future.

Web Host List

Neocities

Basic plan pricing: Free or $5/month. Free plan has more restrictions (1 GB space, no custom domain, and slower bandwidth, among other things)

Notes: Neocities does not have database support for paid or free accounts, and most comic CMS solutions require this (ComicCtrl, Grawlix, Wordpress). You will need to work with HTML/CSS files directly to make a website and post each page.

Hostinger

Basic plan pricing: $11.99/month or $7.99/month with four year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 4 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain for the 1st year. Free SSL Certifications. Weekly backups.

KnownHost

Basic plan pricing: $8.95/month or $7.99/month with four year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 4 year plans available).

Notes: Free DDOS protection. Free SSL Certifications.

InMotion Hosting

Basic plan pricing: $12.99/month or $9.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, and 3 year plans available).

Notes:  Free SSL Certifications, free domain names for 1 and 3 year plans. 24/7 live customer service and 90-day money-back guarantee. Inmotion also advertises eco-friendly policies: We are the first-ever Green Data Center in Los Angeles. We cut cooling costs by nearly 70 percent and reduce our carbon output by more than 2,000 tons per year.

Reviews:

👍“I can't remember it ever going down.”

👍“InMotion has a pretty extensive library full of various guides on setting up and managing websites, servers, domains, etc. Customer service is also fairly quick on responding to inquiries.” 👎“I wish it was a bit faster with loading pages.”

Ionos Hosting

Basic plan pricing: $8/month or $6/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 2 and 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain for the first year, free SSL Certification, Daily backup and recovery is included. Site Scan and Repair is free for the first 30 days and then is $6/month.

Reviews:

👍“Very fast and simple” 👎“Customer service is mediocre and I can't upload large files”

Bluehost

Basic plan pricing: $15.99/month or $4.95/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain and SSL certificates (for first year only). 24/7 Customer Service. Built to handle higher traffic websites. Although they specialize in Wordpress websites and provide updates automatically, that's almost a bad thing for webcomic plugins because they will often break your site. Their cloud hosting services are currently in early access with not much additional information available.

Reviews:

👎"The fees keep going up. Like I could drop $100 to cover a whole year, but now I'm paying nearly $100 for just three months. It's really upsetting."

👎"I have previously used Bluehost’s Wordpress hosting service and have had negative experiences with the service, so please consider with a grain of salt. I can confirm at least that their 24/7 customer service was great, although needed FAR too often."

Dreamhost

Basic plan pricing: $7.99/month or $5.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free SSL Certificates, 24/7 support with all plans, 97-day moneyback guarantee. Not recommended for ComicCtrl CMS

Reviews:

👍“They've automatically patched 2 security holes I created/allowed by mistake.” 👍“Prices are very reasonable” 👎 “back end kind of annoying to use” 👎 “wordpress has some issues” 👎 “it's not as customizable as some might want“

GoDaddy

Basic plan pricing: $11.99/month or $9.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free 24/7 Customer service with all plans, Free SSL Certificates for 1 year, free domain and site migration.

Reviews:

👍Reasonable intro prices for their Economy hosting, which has 25GB of storage 👍Migrated email hosting service from cPanel to Microsoft Office, which has greater support but may not be useful for most webcomic creators. 👎 Many site issues and then being upsold during customer service attempts. 👎 Server quality found lacking in reviews 👎 Marketing scandals in the past with a reputation for making ads in poor taste. Have been attempting to clean up that image in recent years. 👎 “GoDaddy is the McDonald's of web hosting. Maybe the Wal-Mart of hosting would be better. If your website was an object you would need a shelf to put it on. You go to Wal-Mart and buy a shelf. It's not great. It's not fancy. It can only hold that one thing. And if we're being honest - if the shelf broke and your website died it wouldn't be the end of the world.The issue comes when you don't realize GoDaddy is the Wal-Mart of hosting. You go and try to do things you could do with a quality shelf. Like, move it. Or add more things to it.” MyWorkAccountThisIs on Reddit*

Things to consider for any host:

💸 Introductory/promotional pricing - Many hosting companies offer free or inexpensive deals to get you in the door, and then raise the cost for these features after the first year or when you renew. The prices in this post are the base prices that you can expect to pay after the promotional prices end, but may get outdated, so you are encouraged to do your own research as well.

💻 Wordpress hosting - Many of the companies below will have a separate offering for Wordpress-optimized hosting that will keep you updated with the latest Wordpress releases. This is usually not necessary for webcomic creators, and can be the source of many site-breaking headaches when comic plugins have not caught up to the latest Wordpress releases.

Any basic hosting plan on this list will be fine with Wordpress, but expect to stop or revert Wordpress versions if you go with this as your CMS.

🤝 You don't have to go it alone - While free hosts may be more limited, paid hosting on a web server will generally allow you to create different subdomains, or attach additional purchased domains to any folders you make. If you have other comic-making friends you know and trust, you can share your server space and split the cost!

Want to share your experience?

Feel free to contribute your hosting pros, cons, and quirks on our survey! We will be updating our list periodically with your feedback!

[musashi]

⚖️ MY TUMBLR-EXCLUSIVE ACE ATTORNEY FAN DISCORD IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! ⚖️

Hi all! Welcome to AAblr: Germany. A bunch of AA fans here on tumblr were unhappy with how a previous server of ours was handled, so we all fled to Franziska's (my) party mansion in Germany and now we're straight fucking chilling. And you should come join us!

Here's some cool stuff you can find in AAblr 2:

Channels for every single game, ship, and character you can think of! Hang out in the blorbozone, mute the character channels you hate, meet like-minded people who are insane about all the same things as you.

Weekly calls! We have multiple voice channels and chat daily! Don't want to be on mic? Hey, no worries, we have a TTS bot so you can still be included!

Member-run events! Do you wanna stream your favourite show? Are you making your way through AA and want to voice act it sillystyle with people who love it? Feel free!

Big voice channels as well as small, member-restricted alternatives for people who don't like crowds!

Constantly active chats! We have members in nearly every timezone, so there's always someone to hang with.

Writing/Drawing sprints! Body double with fellow creatives and make some art!

Kin-friendly! We actually started as a kin server, and still have a whole section for kinfolks.

Plural-accessible! We got pluralkit & tupperbox for you and anyone else chilling in your mind palace.

Free of exclusionary bullshit! All are welcome and everyone is kind. Exclusionists and discourse-brainers get flogged.

Open to new fans and oldies! Spoiler-conscious, so don't even sweat!

All ages! I said all are welcome, I meant it!

Tons more fun! Literally too much to list! And so much more to come!

⚖️ JOIN TODAY! I LOVE YOU! ⚖️

[lefluoritesys]

A breakdown of apps you can use to communicate with your alters as separate people and write down information about them online and offline with their pros, cons, and a personal rating because I really needed it when I was new to being a system:

Note: by "PC" I mean any computer/macbook/etc. By "all devices" I mean PC, mobile, tablet, iPad, etc.

I apologize for mistakes in advance.

1. Antar: An app created to chat with your "inner self," found in both Play Store and AppStore. One of the more popular ones among systems. It is an app where you get to create personas that would be chatting with each other in chats called "sessions." Those sessions can either be given a name or just left named after the date they were created on. Each persona is given a color that would become the color of their messages in sessions. Offline app.

Pros: Fiarly easy to use, no in-depth information needed to access it fully. Biometric lock; 4 languages (English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish) for the system, however any language can be used via text; no limit to the amount of personas added (as far as I'm aware). Messages sent by the wrong persona can be changed; the "quote" feature allows you to start a thread under a message; provides descriptions of each persona. You can also give your personas an avatar rather than just a color. Has a "replay" and "visualization" feature, though I'd say it's strictly just for funzies.

Cons: Not available on PC; has no backup, phone-related resets or deletion of the app results in all information lost. Session order constantly changes depending on which senssion you entered, which in my opinion (+OCD) is a nuisance; you can't delete the "me" character which I've been wanting to do for a while. Can't add hexcodes.

Personal rating: 6/10. If you need an app that you can lock from unwanted visitors, if you don't mind and even prefer something simple, and if you don't care that the conversations might disappear, this app is a good choice.

2. Discord's PluralKit: A more avdanced discord bot with tons of settings and commands that was created specifically for systems. Allows you to add almost any information about your system memebers, even such things as birthdays. The way it works is, it "proxies" your messages with a certain command somewhere in the "normal" message, sends a message identical to yours from a bot created with the name you chose, and deletes your original message. Basically replaces a message from your account with a message from a bot you created earlier. Proxies are small commands that give the both a green light to do that, and they can be whatever you want them to be. Online bot.

Pros: Feels like different people are talking; allows you to track your switches; available on all devices; one system can be linked to multiple accounts, although you can't create multiple systems under one account; allows you to group alters together; allows you to restrict access to certain information from all users; allows you to add as many alters as you want; has a number of ways you can access the information you put in which would all be sorted and organized for you; autoproxy allows you to not proxy every message you sent; since you can't delete messages of other people on servers that are not yours, and the bot messages are not, in fact, yours, PluralKit allows you to react to the message with an emoji that deletes the proxied message; while you can't use it in DMs, you can set up commands in DMs with the bot; every memeber has a unique code, and so does the system itself, and it records when the member was created; can be exported to SimplyPlural.

Cons: Commands are difficult and complex, and so is the dashboard; can only be used on servers; sometimes offline as all bots are, though rarely; you can't use it anywhere outside discord (a con for those who don't use discord); I had instances where I saw people use it for roleplay which is also allowed; proxies are a pain; you'd need a guide to tell you why certain things are needed in it; you cannot reply to messages with gifs when using a proxy; when being exported to SimplyPlural it exports everything, so if you had 10 members on SimplyPlural and 15 on PluralKit, it's best to add those 5 manually than delete 10 new exported alters (I did it with 100+ alters by accident and it was a pain).

Personal rating: 9/10. Complex, difficult to figure out, but once you get ahold of it and how it works, you'd be amazed. Also a pain that you can't use it in DMs, but it's to be expected from a bot. And you can always create a server with just you.

3. Discord's Tupperbox: A discord bot created mainly for roleplay, but actively used by systems who cannot get along with PluralKit. A simpler bot, easy to use and figure out, most things can be done via dashboard, doesn't have the opportunity to add a lot of inofrmation. Online bot.

Pros: Simple; allows grouping alters; allows different tags for different members and groups, sometimes individually; way simpler commands, and most things can be added via dashboard; looks and works almost the same as PluralKit when in a conversation; available on all devices.

Cons: Can't add avatars via dashboard, only using the commands; can't add two alters with the same name (which you can do with PluralKit); people reported it glitching out and deleting members; mainly used for roleplay; gives a weird list of members via commands that is unusable in my experience; doesn't work out of discord.

Personal rating: 7/10. Perfect for people who just want to talk and not write down information about them with the bot, but the threat of members being deleted, especially as a larger system, is concerning. We mainly use it for OSDD-1a subsystems. It was also not created for systems, as far as I'm aware. I see more cons than pros.

4. Simply Plural: Another more well-known tool used and created for systems. Simply Plural is an app that allows you to create profiles of your members and add any information you'd like about them via custom fields. It has a chat feature, allows you to track your front and switch history, add friends, and many more. Supports endogenic systems (which is being mentioned not for discorse purposes but as a fact. Whether you find it good or not is up to you) and allows singlets to create profiles as well, although I don't know a lot about that part. Both offline and online app.

Pros (and a bit about the app): Backup included; tracks your switches and front, allows you to change exact time for them, too (24-hour clock down to minutes included); the polls feature works like polls on same Tumblr and everywhere else but specifically for your system memebrs; analytics provide information about who fronts the most, during what time of day they usually front; you and your friends can see each other's profiles, which is why singlets can also create profiles, which allows you to acces info about each other's systems; "trusted people" feature allows you to pick whether you want everybody to see your alters or not, or if you want outsiders to see your profile at all; provides resources and guides to plurality (which I personally haven't checked, but still putting it in the pros, if somebody thinks I shouldn't, let me know); has an app reminders feature; you can add as much information as you want; front history shows up in a person's profile; alters can add notes; alter groups are available; available on all devices, however, only as a website on PC; colors of your alters can be used in the chat to highlight names; hexcodes are available; "custom front" is a status you set with fronting which can be hilarious sometimes; connects to PluralKit in a number of ways.

Cons: The chat feature is a bit difficult to use, and first time I did, I freaked out because I couldn't get out of it (the trick is to go to "channels" and press "navigation", there you'll see the dashboard); friends can't communicate with each other; copy-pasting is hard on both mobile and PC; something about the interface and navigation irks me and our visually impaired self; notes have same visibility as the profile itself, which is inconvenient if you want your profile to be seen but not your notes; avatars can't be added via website.

Personal rating: 6/10. I don't like how it looks and works (probably due to being visually impaired and other issues), but if you manage to get the information in it, it's pretty accessible and thoughtful of what systems might need. Could be used as a tool to start working with your system rather than do it long-term.

5. Twinote: An app that is your "personal Twitter." Pretty sure it was created for the purpose of having fun rather communicating with alters. Offline app.

Pros: Backup provided; allows "private accounts" that other "users" can't see; can create as many users as you want, as many posts as you want; can upload up to 4 images; works almost like Twitter; has a chat feature; comments, retweets, likes are present; "lists" feature allows you to group users and see only their messages which could be used for "things only protectors sent" and such; storage shows all pictures used in the app, so you won't lose anything; tagging and following people is still an option, and following private accounts give that user an opportunity to be the only one seeing their tweets.

Cons: Can't upload videos; can't do much with anything other than posts and profiles, so trends and other stuff there is off-limits (as far as I know); you have to constantly switch between profiles for the chat feature; share button only shares the contents of the message; very easy to accidentally press the wrong button and delete a tweet by dragging it left (which I almost did a few times).

Personal rating: 7,5/10. I know it's probably annoying that I didn't just type either 7 or 8, but the reaosn why is cause I have mixed feelings about it from a practical point of view. We use it strictly to communicate what we did during the day as a small journal and just joke with each other, and it's incredibly funny in itself, but it doesn't allow you to write down a lot of information about your alters and has a character limit in profiles. So it's strictly for communication.

6. Notion: An app created as a dashboard for literally everything you could ever dream of. You can personalize it however you want and use it for whatever you want. Those who saw the post we made a while ago probably know the reason I'm mentioning it is due to a template that I linked here. Online app.

Pros: Can be used for literally everything without limits; available on all devices; big and has enough storage for a lot of information, text, projects, etc; can be designed however you want; a lot of useful templates for all life instances (even taxes); can be shared with people who also use Notion in a variety of ways (either only comment, only see, etc); can add your own custom covers and icons via both gallery and links; looks neat and doesn't mess with visual impairment for us; can add a page in a page in a page which can be used for diaries; links to different pages on other pages are also available; endless possibilities, I could rant all day.

Cons: Glitches on the phone a lot; certain things are allowed on computer and not on mobile and vice versa; all templates available only on PC; you need to have an account in order to use it; glitches if it's offline; sometimes deletes a bunch of text because of glitches, usually the triggers for it are writing a lot in it directly or erasing previous text a bunch of times; can't invite someone in your space, it would take too much storage; some storage needs to be bought, although, I don't know the limit (but there's a lot. Like, a lot)

Personal rating: 9/10. With all its antics, I love this app dearly, it's incredibly useful, and you learn to deal with the cons. It's the best one I've used for communication and information storage so far.

7. Texting Stories app: As ridiculous as it sounds, it could be used as a tool to communicate with your alters, especially in secret. We are fighting for our safety here, so I ask you to take this suggestion seriously. Could be used when you don't want to let anyone know you're a system and have noisy family members/relatives/etc who like to snoop through you personal devices, by using it, you can say you've just been doing a story. Offline app.

Pros: I believe you can add as many people as you want; can add avatars; different stories can be different days of the week; easy to use; easy to brush off as "just making stories."

Cons: Can't change colors, you need to pay for most things.

Personal rating: 5/10. Can be used for emergencies and communication only, although we haven't used it much.

8. Notes: Just the same plain old notes app on your phone that everybody has installed as default. Offline app.

Pros: Easy to use; can be easily lost within your other notes for privacy; used for literally everything you desire, even drawing; automatic backup.

Cons: Doesn't give you the ability to really present as separate people; doesn't have as many options as Notion.

Personal rating: 5/10. used it at some point just for communication, was cool, somple, easy, but nothing too big.

I hope this helped to put these apps in perspective. I do apologize for it being a bit all over the place, but I did attempt to make it coherent enough (I am currently in a psychotic state, it's difficult for me to communicate). And remember, there are always options to use a written journal rather than a digital one. If anything, it's better to keep both in case one gets lost. Who knows, maybe our parents asking us what we would do if the internet disappeared is actually a warning. /j /nm

-host

[kirbyoctournament]

Hello again everyone,

Over the past 24 hours, there has been a series of misunderstandings regarding the recent poll tampering that we have reported. 

In this post, we hope to clear up some misunderstandings about the server and moderation team as a whole, as well as detail our evidence regarding the poll for those questioning its veracity.

As always, we have a zero tolerance policy for harassment.

>>> MISUNDERSTANDINGS

We would like to begin by stating that with the new year came a new team for the tourney--co-hosts and moderators alike. This tournament has been run and managed very differently from last year’s, and we consider ourselves to be affiliated solely in name and concept alone.

As such, all grievances related to the previous tournament are not related to our current moderation team. If you previously had a bad time in the tourney, we are very sorry to hear that. However, the previous 2023 moderation team is no longer affiliated with running or moderating the tourney.

We would also like to note that last year's host was a minor, and merely wished to help foster a community. They did not expect the event to grow to the size that it did, and do not deserve any amount of hate or contempt for this.

Regarding the Discord server in particular, upon change of ownership, the server eventually underwent an overhaul to better suit the community's new needs. 

One of the changes implemented was removal of an access restricted "Vent Channel" which was created by the previous host when the server still had less than 50 members. The new mods were aware of the risks a vent channel posed in a public server and immediately restricted it to request-to-access. However, as the server grew to foster over 150 members, the channel exhibited constant security breaches and rule breaks, and it had to be removed.

While we care for the mental health of our server members, a large public space is not the place to air private issues. Moderators and server members alike frequently offer support and encourage members to seek aid and consult friends in DMs or personal servers in a safe and private manner.

We also understand that despite the tourney's primary focus being centered around uplifting OCs, the concept remains the same--a "popularity contest” where OCs are matched against one another--which can cause the event to be stressful and mentally draining. We've always encouraged participants to see the competition as lighthearted, to realize that losses do not reflect poorly on their creativity, and to be responsible for their own mental health, as seen in our rules. Any participant can drop out at any time for any reason, a sentiment we reiterate with every new round.

Regarding allegations of bullying and harassing a server member: neither mods nor server members have ever wished the member in question any form of harm, and have frequently offered reassurances and help. No mod has ever sent hateful anons to any of our participants. We request any further allegations regarding this matter to be supplied with evidence, rather than with rumors.

All that being said, we will now share our evidence regarding the tampered poll, including a public catalogue of our minute by minute tracking as well as our calculations of the data.

>>> POLL TAMPERING EVIDENCE

Documentation was not originally released because the moderation team needed several days to analyze, process, format, and present the evidence. While delays are of course not ideal, sharing data with any room for misinterpretation would have been hurtful and harmful to the competitors. To declare a poll tampered with is an enormous action, and not one that we would have done without 100% concrete proof. We received multiple reports from concerned community members regarding abnormal poll behavior, and our moderation team have spent several days working tirelessly around the clock to collect the evidence needed before making any decisions. 

All data was peer reviewed by a team of 7 individuals, and none was falsified.

Firstly, here is a 41 hour graph of the ROUND FIVE: Fylass vs Valfrey poll, from the time we received the first reports of tampering concerns to when we archived the poll shortly after announcing it had been tampered with.

The pattern recorded is mechanical and undeniable.

Any time contestant Valfrey approached or crossed the 50% mark, contestant Fylass would receive a spike of votes within a narrow 10 minute window, surrounded by plateaus on either side. These votes were not accompanied by a boost in public propaganda or reblogs. We recorded this pattern 4 times within a 41 hour period, exclusively when Valfrey approached or crossed the 50% mark.

We reiterate that this pattern had been reported by multiple third party sources prior to our logging, from individuals who saw the spikes happening in real time on the public tumblr post.

Some spikes, especially early on, were smaller, such as the above. Others, such as the final spike below, were significant, recording 18 one-sided votes between 7:51am and 8:00am CDT. As previously, this influx of votes occurred within a ten minute window, and was bookended by a plateau.

What is expected to be seen is a steady fluctuation of votes for both characters. Small spikes are normal. Even a big spike on its own is normal, as someone may have shared their poll in a private space to friends or a separate server, or a piece of propaganda may have rallied potential voters. This was not the activity that was recorded.

Again: we recorded repeated, pattern behaviour of enormous voting spikes within precise ten minute windows, only when Valfrey approached or crossed the 50% marker. The results of these spikes always settled with a slight lead for Fylass, which Valfrey slowly closed; until the spike occurred again like clockwork.

For those who wish to see the numbers and draw their own conclusions, we have provided access to the raw data collected.

UPDATE November 2024: The public-poll-log channel has been archived from our discord server, and is no longer available to the public or server members. If you require access for any reason, reach out to us privately. Here is our minute by minute screenshot log of this information, publicly available in a channel on our discord server, complete with timestamps. PLEASE BE AWARE that clicking this link will take you to our discord server, where you may choose to join. While the discord server has privacy protection and requires emoji reacts to enter in full, this log is completely public to view and can be accessed by anyone. For the next few days, our Welcome/Join channel will be private, for folks who wish to come and go anonymously, and data will be expunged before reinstatement.

Here is our comprehensive spreadsheet logging information in 10 minute increments, which may be fact checked with the screenshot log, with minute by minute highlights during spikes.

Here are the graphs shown above, within the same spreadsheet.

This was a public poll with many eyes on it, meaning these voting spikes were publicly visible, and could have been logged or recorded by anyone at any time. Tournament mods were certainly not the only people aware of this, especially given the size of the final recorded spike; we were just the ones who catalogued it.

We are saddened and upset to hear that some people took what they saw and attacked our competitors. As we have previously stated many times, we do not believe either competitor was aware of or responsible for the rigging of this poll. To tamper with a poll in this way is terribly cruel to the competitors, even those who it seems to "benefit", as it is an enormous betrayal of their trust. We do not believe anyone competing in this tournament would be happy with a doctored victory. 

We are all here because we love Kirby OCs. Tournament contestants in particular are here to spotlight and celebrate their own OCs in the polls, and rally genuine fans. To take that away is an extreme act of unkindness to our competitors, and we are sorry that it came to pass in such a way. We had previously stated our intentions of rerunning this poll through a more secure platform, in the hopes of creating a more fair and enjoyable environment for our competitors. However, due to a competitor withdrawing, we will no longer be rerunning this poll. We would like to once again request not to use this as an opportunity to harass or attack our competitors. Again, we do not think they are responsible for the tampering of this poll. We genuinely believe that the impacted competitors are hurt by this act of tampering above all others.

Bullying and harassment is, as it has always been, something we have zero tolerance for. If anyone has any evidence of bullying or harassment, we ask you to approach us immediately so that we may address it. Thank you to those kind community members who have already stepped up during this time to share material with us while these incidents unfolded, we are very grateful.

We hope that this has helped clear up any lingering uncertainties or confusion.

For now, we would like to keep all other private issues private, and do not intend to release any further evidence regarding any other allegations towards our moderation team or the tournament as a whole. We believe this is in the best interests of everyone involved, and would like to see these claims cease. However, we will not tolerate the continued public slander of our team; we can and will publicise what we need in order to defend them and clear any remaining doubt.

Thank you for your time, The Kirby OC Tournament Moderation Team

[hmshermitcraft]

Sometimes Skizz remembers back to before he had fallen, an Angel of human ambition (a truly stupid idea to make an angel out of a concept they didn’t fully understand). He remembers his trips to the Underworld, he felt as if the heat was too much, like it burned him even if he only looked at the place.

The heavens had been Skizz’s home his entire life, a place of ivory and quartz, a place cold to the touch that sent most hybrids into hypothermia. But it was all Skizz knew. The heavens had been Skizz’s everything, even if their words had left him feeling so empty.

Shocker, Skizz eventually fell from the heavens (surprise surprise, human ambition doesn’t react nicely with angel ideals). He spent the longest time roaming the overworld, getting used to the temperature of the earth (Skizz hated to admit just how much he hated the snowy biomes).

Eventually he made his way to a private server, angels weren’t exactly restricted from accessing any server they wanted, and Skizz decided that he may as well watch these players do their thing for a while. He wasn’t meant to get attached. He was an Angel, he wasn’t meant to get attached (maybe they made him too “human”).

Skizz starts paying special attention to the demon on the server, Impulse, he learns. Impulse is so nice, different than anything he’d been taught to believe about demons. Hope sparks in Skizz’s chest, maybe there’s someone out there like him, cast out from his home for being too different.

Skizz starts having one sided conversations with these players (hermits as they call themselves), talking to them about anything and everything. He knows they can’t hear or see him, but it brings some hope to his heart.

He holds his wings over the netherborn’s heads when it’s raining, he can still block the rain even if they can’t see. He still hugs them when they’re crying, even if they can’t feel. Skizz has finally found what his purpose was, these players, these hermits.

—— —— ——

Impulse has been feeling an angelic presence following them for the past few seasons. At first he was worried, maybe a stray Angel was coming to take him out, but eventually he started to grow used to the presence. The angle becoming a weird constant in his life.

The others had spoken of the angel, Tango mentioning how it had been protecting them from the rain, or how other hermits would find themselves in bed despite falling asleep elsewhere. The angel provided to be a great addition to the server, even if not fully known.

The moon crash in season eight was a hard time, Tango and Impulse had spent weeks searching for Zedaph. Zedaph had denied that the moon would crash up until the very end, and they had been worried that maybe Zed never made it out.

Then Zed had shown up at their door, but he wasn’t alone. Zed was held tightly in the arms of a new figure, one with black hair, blue eyes, and ivory wings. Their angel. They didn’t get a moment to ask questions before the angel collapsed, obviously tired from the rescue mission.

Impulse cared for the angel, not letting anyone but Tango and Zed near him. He had time to finally look at the angel who had been looking over them for seasons (their guardian angel? Something about his attire told Impulse that maybe he wasn’t an angel anymore), he had scars covering most of his body, a suit with the sleeves ripped off, and the most beautiful blue eyes (he’d only seen them for a moment but Impulse knew they could rival the beauty of the prettiest gems)

—— —— ——

When Skizz saw the moon crash he only had one thought, protecting the hermits. He watched as everyone left, but Zedaph was left behind. Skizz liked Zedaph. Tango and Impulse liked (loved?) Zedaph, and Skizz would rather fall from heaven again than leave Zed to die.

Skizz swooped him into his arms, mustering an amount of power he hadn’t used since he’d fallen to teleport both him and Zed to safety. Skizz couldn’t waste any time recharging his energy, pulling together what little he had left to find his way to the only hermit that it wouldn’t hurt to find.

Impulse was a demon, and Angels were designed to function like a demon’s other half, so Skizz tuned into the magic in the nature around him, finding the familiar pull of a demon and following it.

Once he got to the door, he only managed to knock on the door and catch a glance of Tango and Impulse before he felt his vision go black.

—— —— ——

Impulse watched with anticipation as the angel opened his eyes, quickly pulling him closely into a hug. “Thank you” Impulse would whisper, the angel’s wings wrapping around him gently.

It's strange to think back to that time. Any time that Skizz wasn't an ever present part of their lives. Perhaps made stranger by the fact Skizz was with them for so much longer than his physical presence.

And Skizz finds it strange that he ever thought they wouldn't accept him. No, ZIT nursed him to health (even Zedaph, despite Tango and Impulse trying to keep him in bed!) Then they vouched for him to the other hermits... After a lot of debate if they should just sneak him in and pretend he was there all along.

Now, even the hermits think of Skizz when thinking about the other three! How wasn't it like this all along?