Let's play detectives...

Okay, I've always been a fan of the unknown. I do enjoy paranormal stories and stuff like that. But there is one thing I hate more than anything on MSP, and that is ghost rumors. ESPECIALLY when people belive them. 

The latest 'trend' buzzing around forums is this so called MSP 'grim reaper'. It was started a couple of days ago. Using this example, I'm going to show you how to deal with a paranormal rumor.

1st step is not to panic. This is written more like a story than a panicked telling of what happened, suggesting it's been pre-planned to have the maximum effect of scaring people. The last phrase 'watch out' heavily implies it was pre-planned as a spooky story. THE FIRST QUESTION YOU NEED TO ASK IS: "where is your proof?"

NEVER automatically believe what people tell you. Eyewitness accounts can be very unreliable, as you can never be sure if they're telling the truth or just lying to you.

Notice how the person intends to cause panic. Once again I asked her if she had proof. She replied:

And I just sat there thinking: "who in the entire world would buy THIS?" She doesn't have any proof because it isn't real. A few minutes later she was still talking about it being on her loading screen so I re-asked her for proof and to take a picture. She said:

However, she had just implied she DID have proof and wasn't going to put it up anyway. By then, others had been claiming to see this so called 'grim reaper'. I went to her room and saw NOTHING. 

Although, to my surprise they DID give me proof:

Now, your probably thinking: "Hang on a minute, there's a photo. Isn't that solid enough evidence for you Missy?" 

Well to be fully honest with you, no it isn't. The grim reaper in the first post the girl put was described as: "having a black cloak from the head to the shoulders, and instead of the face, a black hole.The nose and lips were outlined, but you couldn't see the colours. she was sure it was a woman, because a skinny foot was sticking out of the cloak." Also the writer of the forum later said the cloak looked like "nothing you could buy in MSP's shop. I checked".

Well, the person in the photo looks NOTHING like the description. She has bandages, not a black hole. And that dress is common. I even have one for goodness sake! What I think happened here is the person who wrote the forum made another account to feign a photo. As for the photo of this 'grim reaper' on the loading screen, it never got posted. If this trickster had managed to pull THAT off, i would have believed her.

That is why you must pay attention to rule number 2: photos are ALSO very unreliable. It might look like you've been presented with solid evidence, but there is a lot of flaws that can be found with photograps. You can easily see how this one has been faked. 

That is why I love rule number 3. Look to an authority figure for guidance:

Mod says it's not real? It's not real.

Also, final rule: NEVER START SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR ATTENTION/ ANY OTHER REASON BECAUSE IT IS PATHETIC AND ANNOYING AND I'M SICK OF IT

End of story, no more questions.

Bye ^~^