And I thought today's mini-EB was going to be a drag, evidenced by many Otakuboard people's fixation with that trading card game called Legend of the Five Rings (L5R).

Good thing my good old pals there---mostly the admins and mods, in this case---were in the same bored situation as I was, what with most of the guys heavily engaged in L5R. We did swing over an old Makati mall and buy some manga at little Feata Bookstore. That was before going to Glorietta to (eherm) let them play L5R, while higher-ups Beia, Anna and Virna went with me on a "date" of our own at a coffee place, talking about RPGs, lovelives and controversial gay sex scenes in Anna's manga. I bought the 2nd volume of Initial D, car freak that I am.

Dinner at Teriyaki Boy took us around half an hour to wait for seating, but that gave me an inside look into the maintaining of the peace in OB...and things weren't as easy or as glamorous as they looked. Was rather honored as I am just a lowly member (albeit around for almost a year now) but I was allowed admittance into such talk.

Was a rather pleasant EB, in my opinion. Too bad I didn't get to meet many of the new faces.
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The less palatable side of OB reared its ugly head quite a long time ago, though, at the time when I wasn't very active in it due to school work. A friend of mine there began a gossip thread.

The very thought of a gossip thread existing in OB takes a lot of risks, especially in a forum as closely watched and guarded against any uncivil behavior as OB. Proper handling and discretion among the participants should be exercised as to not offend anyone and keep the gossip all on the fun side.

The original OB gossip thread is closed now, and I've heard the admins' stories about this particular OB member seeking the attention of others to "console" him against this admin who supposedly used her influence against him. I don't claim to know everything or believe all I've heard as I prefer to remain in the middle of it right now, but I'd really rather that the gossip thread be kept out of OB indefinitely.

The thought of a thread like that existing in a forum like OB is freaky and potentially dangerous.