Always defend that which is yours.

[ReidVParticipant]

Alright, real talk.
Exdeus_ was my experiment.
Here’s what I learned:

*However upset, angry or lonely you get during this experience you can choose to channel it into something better. I was in a dark place last week and Exdeus_ was my conduit to get out of it. My entire attitude towards Tension changed, and I was able to answer a Tension FB post in a selfless and positive manner. That earned me my first invite and hopefully not my last.

*LET ME BE VERY CLEAR: I intended Exdeus_ to be a neutral, anonymous entity that posted Tension-related art. This blew up in my face, as attempts to get members to look at what I made were treated with suspicion and deception. I NEVER intended to throw anyone off their path or disrupt what Tension had made, and yet my attempts to make this clear fell on deaf ears. I take responsibility and apologize for what happened. However, In the future I ask that we LISTEN before throwing judgement, and not use other players as pawns to do our dirty work. (*slow clap, Sentry.)

*As ReidV I have had some of the friendliest, most supportive conversations with some of you. To see Exdeus_ treated with such a negative, alienating response by those same people was enlightening and says much about the environment the forums can become if I, us, we are not careful. I dont care what faction or supposed identity someone has. Everyone gets the same respect and i’ll make it a point to conduct myself in this manner in the future.

*I have learned more about myself in the past week then I have in months and I’m nothing but grateful. I intend to continue my work and post it on the forums and I hope it’ll be a helpful and positive force. No more games, no more lies. My path_ is my own and I look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday.

Exdeus_
ReidV
Or just Max.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by  Sean (@TheGilded).

[AmieParticipant]

Just out of curiosity why didn’t you want to openly take credit for the work from the beginning?

[ReidVParticipant]

@amieexists I wanted it to be a reflection of Tension and its themes of anonymity. We don’t know about them, so why not have someone they didnt know about?

@mike I will! Once these links work…

[AmieParticipant]

Understand! Hopefully you understand the reception you received from @mike‘s explanation.

[MikeParticipant]

Props to you for coming clean.

I think a lot of it was bad timing. We just went through something where someone was trying to pose as an “official” account and lead people astray. So going through that and then seeing your account, with no information, just images, well….you can understand where our mentality was.

If you want to show your artwork, show it here! That’s what 111 does and it’s awesome. Share your work, but do it with pride with your name behind it. That will make everyone (especially the OOA) happy instead of wondering if this is just another fake account trying to game jack ya know?

So with that being said….post that shit!! Show everyone that didn’t see you on instagram your work

[111_errorParticipant]

Hah! I think that’s fantastic, you pulled off a completely successful performance piece, and I fully support your weird adventure into an abstract art alias.
I also really like how you’ve revealed it and are forcing us to look at ourselves in how we reacted to it. I’m sorry it didn’t fully go according to plan.

Your anonymity comment strikes a chord with me.

– Also, |||_error began because my first attempts at creating accounts failed, the ‘error’ in my name was literally making fun of my situation and I didn’t think this account would be the one that finally worked. I wanted to contribute ‘something’, and the error made me think glitchy gifs might be fun, and since it’s a 111 error, that’s why the 1:11am started.. It was never planned out, I was just interested and supporting whatever it is they’re doing, and it spiraled out of control as I got more invested in it. Some people thought I was legitimately crazy / some probably still do. As a result, I now know a ton of wonderful people, so I regret nothing.

[ReidVParticipant]

@111error ACTUALLY YOUR SHITTY GIFS INSPIRED ME I GUESS
(Oh wait wrong thread… seriously though thank you )

[111_errorParticipant]

You know, since we’re on the same team, we should have a chat, coordinate some things. We could split some things up and do a lot more damage that way.

Let’s have a chat in PM’s.

[ReidVParticipant]

[Susie JParticipant]

That’s a pretty big Twinkie.

[DaelaParticipant]

Thank you for identifying yourself, ReidV! It’s such a relief to know the ExDeus account wasn’t coming from a place of trickery. We can all appreciate your art now without worrying about whether or not we’re being taken in.

It seems like the suspicious reactions of forum members upset you, and I can understand why, especially if you don’t know the full context. I don’t think it’s ever been stated outright on the forums, so here goes…

1) Someone created a cryptic Twitter account. They used it to suggest that certain participants were Brothers of Seraph, important OOA players, etc. They lured our interest and then began PM-ing some of us. They even urged me to declare myself for the Brothers of Seraph. I did not, obviously, and neither did any of their other victims, but they could easily have ruined this experience for us. After that incident, we were bound to be suspicious of any cryptic social media accounts that weren’t officially Tension-affiliated.

2) Mr Ohio posted several times on these forums. I’m sure he PM’d with some of us as well, though I was not one of them. One day he disappeared: when I asked about it, Overseer replied, “She no longer goes by that name.” Another instance of someone posing as someone they were not, to get information.

That’s why we were suspicious of ExDeus. I can see how, if you weren’t privy to this information, the response to ExDeus seemed overblown and hostile, but hopefully with this context in mind, you’ll see why ExDeus raised so many red flags.

I hope you won’t stop the art!

[Sean (@TheGilded)Moderator]

Mike’s response more or less summed up what I wanted to say. With your intentions now clear, I overreacted and for that I apologize. I was coming from a defensive place, having just fended off a major liar trying to lead us astray, a lesser one lying about being a part of the OOA, and all kinds of other suspicion. I really thought that you were just another fake account going to try to sabotage us, so I reacted defensively.

In truth, I meant what I said in my earlier post. Your creations were actually really cool. If you continue posting them I’d certainly like to see them

[ReidVParticipant]

Here we go:

*these are pretty clipped, I’ll post full ones in a future thread.

[ReidVParticipant]

@daela I was aware of the Seraph incidents but had no idea I’d get a similar reception! Lesson learned haha.

@thegilded Thank you. I apologize too, I was angry at being misunderstood and overreacted as well. You were the first person to be nice to me on the forums when I started and I haven’t forgotten that

[RustyParticipant]

@atticus360 Thanks for sharing here and thank you for the clarifications. I have been a little bit behind and I missed your stuff on Instagram. Glad to see it now.

[MelissaModerator]

That takes guts to come clean @atticus360.

I’m like the trippy artwork, the seashell one definitely speaks to me.

[Author]

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