Welcome to the Darkness

On topic discussions for anything not related to specific Case Files or THREAD submissions. Absolutely NO Wyrdcraft.
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Zethus
Site Admin
Posts: 28
Joined: October 17th, 1992, 2:08 am

Welcome to the Darkness

Post by Zethus »

Be cautious when discussing any suspected THREADS. These elusive phenomena are known to spiral deeper into the unknown, often leading to confusion, misinformation, or unintended consequences. The community advises against following any suspected THREADS too closely, as their true nature remains unclear and potentially hazardous.

Do not invoke true names for the safety of yourself or other MOTHS.

How you got here should only ever be referred to as The Institute and never by its full name.

Avoid the use of mirrors while logged in. Reflections have been known to distort the truth.

If you find yourself browsing the forum and feel as though you are being watched, close the tab immediately. It is not your imagination.

Similarly, if you begin hearing unsettling sounds while browsing, log off immediately.

If you encounter any unexpected changes in the forum layout, refrain from refreshing the page. Simply close your browser and try again later.

Under no circumstances should you respond to messages from users who claim to know you personally. They are not who they say they are.

Topics that seem to move or shift locations are best left unread. Mark them as 'ignored' and continue on your way.

Similarly, sometimes there are strange posts on the forum with garbled text, unidentifiable languages, or symbols. We have learned we cannot delete these, they will be locked and are best ignored. If you see it before it's locked, or by accident, cover your mirrors in your home for the next week.

If you see a post timestamped in the future, do not reply to it. Leave it be, or you may alter something that was not meant to change.

Do not share or request maps of any forbidden places. These locations have a way of finding those who seek them.

Avoid discussing dreams or nightmares in detail.

Do not refer to the forum by its real name between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m.

Refrain from discussing places that exist only in dreams. These locations should not be charted or mapped.

CODE NAMES CODE NAMES CODE NAMES.

It is advised you browse the forums for a bit to familiarize yourself with our slang and terms before engaging. It may be confusing at first, but you will pick it up after a while, I promise.
Zethus
Site Admin
Posts: 28
Joined: October 17th, 1992, 2:08 am

The Coffee Incident : PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Post by Zethus »

Let me start by saying this: I love coffee. It’s part of my routine, both morning and evening. More than that, I’ve come to appreciate sharing coffee with the people here—those I’ve connected with. It’s a simple pleasure, but a consistent one.

However, last week we had a bit of an issue at the coffee station. A spill, if you will. Nothing major, but significant enough that we had to stop everything, clean it up, and re-calibrate the machine. Now here’s the problem: after the cleanup, we noticed that every time someone mentions the spill—or even tries to talk about what caused it—the whole station breaks down again. All functions freeze, and we’re left with a mess to fix.

Given that, I’m taking a different approach. From this point forward, I need everyone to refrain from discussing the Coffee Incident directly. Don’t speculate, don’t reference it by anything other than that, and if someone new mentions it, or asks about it, say nothing more than that it was due to the Coffee Incident. This is the third attempt at explaining so hopefully this one doesn't cause everything to break again.

Focus on what’s in front of you—the coffee you have now. And if you want to keep the station operational, leave the "incident" behind.

Thank you for your cooperation and
Enjoy your coffee

Zethus
Zethus
Site Admin
Posts: 28
Joined: October 17th, 1992, 2:08 am

Re: Welcome to the Darkness

Post by Zethus »

When we first started this place, it was open.

Anyone could post anything. We saw Threads that didn't quite make sense. Threads about rabbits, obscure cookbooks, ██████, strange shapes in static, you name it. It was weird, and really hard to navigate. Then topics began disappearing. Whole discussions blinked out mid-sentence. At first, we blamed ourselves—server errors, maybe, or a prank.

But when it kept happening, our small moderator team of three decided to test it. We trimmed down voluntarily—thank you to Mun and LikeTheTree—so I could be sure nobody was tampering with the board. Even then, topics vanished. No logs, no deletions. Just gone. We learned the hard way that some things cannot be spoken here, almost as if the forum itself will not allow them.

So, for a long time, our “investigations” stayed light. We documented, we observed, and we avoided pushing too far. We lost users, too. Some came asking for help and never came back. I told myself it was for safety’s sake—better to stay ignorant than disappear ourselves.

But after much consideration, group deliberation, and in light of recent events, that’s changing.

Red Thread is moving toward a more proactive approach.

From now on, if you know something, share it. If you can keep someone safe, do it.

We’ve added a [ REDACT ] feature (no spaces). Use it. Protect sensitive details, but share what you can. The rest of us will find ways to fill in the blanks without triggering deletions. We’re adapting.

That said, the old precautions still stand: mirrors, timestamps, messages from “friends”, you know the drill. Follow them. If you notice new phenomena tied to posting or layout shifts, document them safely and let me know in the anomaly section. If you see a post that needs to be vaulted, rather than post in that topic, post in the anomaly section.

Understand that this next stage will get messy. Strange advice will circulate. People will contradict each other. That’s fine. Common sense is your only real weapon here.

Trust will matter more than ever. I will vouch for certain users based on history. Don’t take it personally—this is an old-school space. You earn it through time and what you post. And I may need help moderating in the future.

The goal hasn’t changed: we keep each other safe, we keep the truth from rotting.

Everything else… we’ll figure out as we go.
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