#  Getting Started  > Intros and Who's Who >  Titles are not my strong suit

## upscalerat

Hello hello hello! I'm Rat, and I'm new to this forum! I've been telling my partner for ages how much I've missed this style of the internet, so I figured that it was high time for me to come and fix that.

While I'm new around here, I've been roleplaying on and off for, oh... Oh man, for like 12, 13 years? It's been a lot more 'off' lately (actually about two years since I've last done any!) and I would like to fix that! While I tend to be terrible at starting conversations, I'm always open to them and looking to make friends just as much as I'm looking to roleplay.

I typically prefer fantasy roleplays above all else, but I'm open to expanding my horizons. Forgive my writing if it's a bit straightforward, but I'm out of practice, even for my own stuff. So... hit me up, or don't. I look forward to chatting and roleplaying with y'all!

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## Azazeal849

Welcome to the forum!  ::): 

Please have a quick read of our site rules - and once that’s out the way, here are some more interesting links to help you find your way around:

Downtown where you can get to know our members through random conversations and silly posting games

Entertainment section for discussing your favourite hobbies and interests

Here to browse or post group RP requests

Here to browse or post 1x1 RP requests

Don’t be shy about PM-ing one of the moderators (green or blue names) if you have a question or need some help finding writing partners.

And finally, if you like it here, please consider giving RPA your vote on the roleplay site rankings (you can vote every day!)

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## upscalerat

Thank you so much! I very much look forward to becoming a part of the community. :)

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## Enigma

Welcome upscalerat! We hope you enjoy yourself here!

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## upscalerat

Thank you so much! :) I've been enjoying it so far, even if I've mostly lurked for these couple days, haha.

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## Kach

Welcome! I must inquire, how did you select that handle good being?

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## InfraredHero

Hello and welcome to RPA, Rat!

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## upscalerat

Thank you so much, Hero!




> Welcome! I must inquire, how did you select that handle good being?


And thank you too!
I've always gone by Rat online. One year, my older brother got me an xbox and either it came with a free month of online, or he also got me a subscription for online play, which required a username; it did this by auto generating a random username, and giving you a free change. The name that it generated for me was 'upscalerat2635' (or some combination of numbers) and I thought it was perfect! Used the free change to remove the numbers and it's been my handle ever since. :)

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## Kach

Hmm, very cool! Thanks for sharing! I like learning about names.

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## Celestial

Welcome! Hope you have an entertaining time on the site. I'm looking forward to reading some of your RPs.

Also, I do like the story about how you got your name, sometimes randomly generated names do be the vibe.

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## Sabes

Hi Upscalerat! 

I'm so glad to join this site and see that quite a few people like us are coming back to the old fashioned rp sites. I've been rping since 2012 and I've even gotten my partner to engage in rps as well. It's certainly a rewarding way to connect with people. 

I am also interested in starting a new fantasy rp, so if you're interested, feel free to message me!

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## upscalerat

Hello!

Oh, very agreed- not to mention that it's nice to flex the creative muscle more often than the occasional NaNoWriMo. I'm terrible at keeping at my hobbies without making a sort of obligation, haha. And props on getting your partner to try it! I haven't tried with mine, but he's more of a math and hockey guy.

And absolutely, will do- and sorry for the delay!

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## Sabes

Definitely, I've really been needing to practice my writing lately, considering I haven't written in a couple years. It's sad to see that my writing skills have declined since I've first started using social media like snapchat and Instagram (it bugged the crap out of me that people who don't write don't know the difference between "your" and "you're." I thought they were all pranking me for a while till I realized it was just bad grammar xD) 
Hey, nothing wrong with just math and hockey! 

No worries about the delay, I'm glad you responded  :.-.:

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## upscalerat

Oh my god same- when I first got a phone my family used to make _fun_ of me for correct grammar/spelling/punctuation! Took me a few years to give up and allow shortened words/acronyms into my text, but I like to think that my emoji usage really packs a punch now since I use it so rarely.

And very true!

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## Sabes

Isn't that sad! My first phone was a flip phone, one of those with only 9 or so keys, and even though my friends had to wait an extra 10 minutes at times to get my response, I would always respond grammatically. Surprisingly, that caused a lot of confusion, not only due to the timing but also since text-talk is a completely different language and has different words, despite the similarities between text-language and formal language. Mind-blowing.

I gave into the use of emojis pretty early on though. There are some circumstances that I'll never use emojis, like in a formal writing or even with certain people, but I tend to use them the most with my partner simply because of spamming.

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## upscalerat

Hahaha yeah! I also had a 9-key (10 if you count 0 but I don't think I could use 0 for letters/punctuation), and I'm sure that some of my friends must have thought that I was upset or something when I ended a text with *gasp* a period. I've generally modified how I message someone on, say, discord to be a bit less anal about it, within reason, and luckily all my friends are nerds so we're all pretty much on the same wavelength there. My mom does still text me like, straight up gibberish though. She blames it on touchscreens and thought I was weird for having a Blackberry up until last year.

Oh, that is incredibly valid. I find myself mostly using the eyes one or a sobbing one to really express a point, and I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities that I'm missing for that. And, naturally, the rat emoji, just about anywhere I can. (How dare there not me a rat emoji on this site to use right now.)

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## Sabes

Dude, yeah, I kept a "dumbphone" until my first year of high school despite everyone starting to get iphones and shiz by like 6th grade.

This site has more emojis than I have ever seen, but no sign of rats. I'll have to put a word in to the admins... :KA Bird: 
 :*bestest*:  :no good: 

...cuz rats deserve so much more attention. I've always wanted to keep rats

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## upscalerat

Same! Though I am guilty of having had an iTouch in middle school, so maybe that gets me less merit, haha. But you'd think that the people with smartphones would have been the ones with better spelling at the time, wouldn't you?

True- and I do appreciate what they've got here! But a lack of rats is tear-inducing.

I totally recommend rats as pets! I had a few with my roommate in college and they were great. Very quiet, they keep themselves clean, and _very_ smart and nice to train. Not to mention that they were a convenient disposal system of my veggie scraps, since I didn't know how to make stock.

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## Sabes

Isn't that ironic! Ah, life is so humbling...

I've contacted the staff about it. They officially don't have a rat smiley, but they need to make one in order to keep people like you and me happy here.

It is great to hear that an experienced person recommends keeping rats. I've never talked extensively with anyone who has rats, but I used to do a lot of research and would watch a bunch of how-to videos on them. I got chickens instead since my mom hates rats. They're good for food disposal too! They also pay their own rent  :KA Bird:

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## upscalerat

If you actually reached out to the staff about it, then that's _hilarious_.

That's entirely valid. And if you have any questions I'd be happy to share more about my experience with them! I'm certainly not comprehensive or an expert, but I can still pass along what I know. Though I have to admit I'm kind of jealous of you having chickens- my partner and I are very excited to be able to buy a house so we can raise chickens and have other housepets, because my apartment complex is awful and doesn't allow pets to rented units.

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## Sabes

I actually did, through the RPA Discord.

Ugh, apartments be like that. I'd be very willing to exchange my vast knowledge and expertise on chickens for some fun rat facts! Hit me up in PMs if you're ready for buying chickens or want to know where to start.

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## upscalerat

I reiterate: that's _hilarious_.

Thank you! When we're ready for chickens, I will definitely message you! And likewise, feel free to hit me up for any rat information. Here's a freebie- rats are one of few non-human animals that can eat chocolate! Still has to be in moderation, but chocolate chips are a wonderful high value treat for them!

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## Sabes

Fascinating! In return, I behold: Chickens are omnivores and can even attack and eat animals from bugs and slugs to mice and other rodents. My hen pounced on a baby mouse in the grass last year and she even flew up to a robin's nest to eat the eggs and the live hatchlings. Gnarly. 
Whenever I tell people that, they almost always respond with "that's so metal."

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## upscalerat

Wild! I've heard that chickens will eat chicken eggs; can you confirm that? Also, I'll be honest, I didn't realize that non-factory chickens even could fly- that's incredible! I mean, also kind of scary, but what's to be expected of a modern dinosaur?

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## Sabes

Chickens do commit cannibalistic behavior like eating eggs and even eating other chickens. My oldest hen has picked up the habit because her eggshells are thin due to a respiratory issue and her egg broke in the nesting box. Since chickens are curious peckers, she tasted it and began to break other hens eggs just for some calcium and protein. I notice that if i am slacking on feeding her calcium, she starts eating eggs again. Though I doubt that's actually what happens. Though chickens are very intelligent feeders and know what resources they need for their bodies at any given time, the only reason I've heard for a hen to eat eggs out of the nesting box is from a purely cannibalistic habit. This habit can be broken, but they never truly forget so they're prone to do it again. 

All chickens can "fly," just some breeds can fly further than others. Bantams (miniature chickens) have been known to be better flyiers in general because they carry less weight).
I caught one of my hens flying on camera straight across my 15ft-ish yard from one coop to the other, landing PERFECTLY on a bar simply because she didn't want to walk on snow.

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## upscalerat

Huh, that's so cool, to be honest- especially that she does it when she needs nutrients and not just because, well, eggs are tasty.

And fair enough! Also, that sounds like an _incredible_​ video. I, too, would opt to fly if I could just for the sake of avoiding snow!

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## Sabes

Chickens are beyond fascinating. I always repeat this to each person I get the privilege of talking about chickens to: chickens are the most underrated species on the planet. Coincidentally, Rats are second to chickens. 

I wish there was a way to share the video xD But there's plenty of fascinating chicken videos on the interwebs if you know how to look for them. I have a few saved for just the right occasions...

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## upscalerat

They truly are both wonderful, and I honestly can't wait until I can have some running around in my life! And I'll definitely have to look for those chicken videos!

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## Sabes

They are indeed quite the pleasure. 
If you ever need some chicken videos, you know who to come to  :;):

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## upscalerat

Thanks! : ) While I don't know any amazing rat videos off hand, the rats subreddit has some wonderful options if you are ever so inclined to check them out.

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## Sabes

Dang, if only I used reddit. I guess I could google some reddit rats xD

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## upscalerat

You can still browse the sub, even without an account! And it'll probably be just about the same experience, at least as far as watching rat videos are concerned.

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## Sabes

Oh how excellent.

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