Praise to the Man!

[K Graham]

I doubt it was a joke. I say this only because I and others have kinda complained about the rule for years and he's never once said it was a joke until now.

[K Graham]

I’m thinking that Kev is more perturbed that UR 12 represents unseriousness in the midst of not attending to actual rule violations, or something like that. He should correct any bad assumptions on my part, of course. But I’d have a hard time imagining that anyone saw UR 12 as anything other than how you characterized it.

That's about right. Shades is a strange guy in his own way, so it wasn't really hard for me to believe he was serious.

[Jersey Girl]

Wait... Shades is now admitting that the whole Perfume thing was a joke?

That is the greatest practical joke ever perpetrated on me. I thought he was serious.

Bravo, sir. Bravo.

I've come to believe that he is part serious and part troll. That's my take anyway. I suppose I'm welcome to it.

[Dr. Shades]

It occurs to me now that every time I gave Shades a little crap about Perfume, he was likely laughing his ass off at me for taking him seriously on this score.

Most definitely. The purpose of this board is entertainment, and you always provided me with plenty of it on this score.

Shades has always been a bit of an enigma to me. He's a hard guy to read. I think this admission is the greatest thing I've ever read from him.

Hell, I don't even like Perfume.

[honorentheos]

Hell, I don't even like Perfume.

That dial doesn't turn high enough, is it? We need an amp that STARTS at 11.

That said, may I interest you in some...BabyMetal?

[Dr. Shades]

I would have to agree. The otherwise dense, . . .

"Dense?" You insult me. I simply disagree in silence much of the time.

. . . smilie and acronym-hating, non-linear post-moving board management was all a long game in setting up a light-hearted joke about veneration of an official board J-Pop band with an official rule and everything? Did not see that coming.

My final admission in my post above this one is also a joke. I simply couldn't resist dropping that bomb to earn the "Greatest Long-Game Troll Ever" trophy. But now that your shock is over, honesty must carry the day: Yes, I really do love Perfume as much as I say I do, but I fully realize that I'm the only one who does so. Sure, I'm a Perfume evangelical who wishes to share the joy thereof far and wide, but the whole "Official Japanese Electro-Pop Group of DiscussMormonism.com" is meant to be funny precisely because such a concept is so ludicrously over-the-top. Posting their birthdays and inviting everyone to share how the members have positively impacted their lives is also meant to be humorous by how wildly out-of-step it is with how serious most of the issues discussed in the Spirit Paradise forum are.

Truth is, I didn't ever think anyone would be moderated for it but it wasn't like it was signaled to be a joke, either.

I doubt it was a joke. I say this only because I and others have kinda complained about the rule for years and he's never once said it was a joke until now.

Jokes are far less funny if you explain them beforehand.

I don't buy it. One doesn't amend the constitution as a gag.

You should buy it because I dropped an incredibly strong hint about it in the very first sentence I wrote when introducing them:

Until December 2016, this message board existed for one purpose and one purpose only: To spread awareness of, and appreciation for, WINK, the official Japanese pop group of MormonDiscussions.com.

I go on to explain how circumstances made it necessary to upgrade our official J-Pop group to Perfume, but come on! No sentence could be more over-the-top-ly ludicrous than ". . . this message board existed for one purpose and one purpose only: To spread awareness of, and appreciation for, WINK, the official Japanese pop group of MormonDiscussions.com." That was my clue / hint that the seriousness with which I typed anything else about Perfume was not to be taken entirely seriously.

TL;DR: Although I love Perfume just as much as I say I do, pretending to be so serious about them (with an official rule, no less?) is a long-game troll on my part.

[canpakes]

TL;DR: Although I love Perfume just as much as I say I do, pretending to be so serious about them (with an official rule, no less?) is a long-game troll on my part.

I always likened it to one of those ‘If you’ve read this far …’ lines that you sometimes see in long articles.
; )

[honorentheos]

TL;DR: Although I love Perfume just as much as I say I do, pretending to be so serious about them (with an official rule, no less?) is a long-game troll on my part.

Hey, I'm not here to doubt your sincerity. If you say that's the case, then that's the case. You got me.