LOUIS

"[profuse sighing]"

Ignoring Lestat. On purpose.

LESTAT

"[insert smarmy lestat commentary]"

Why is nobody paying attention to HIM right this second.

ASTARION

"How kind of you to dress him up for me."

Sitting with Christian by the Ruins after watching him help Masque out with sets.

MASQUE

"Does... getting the right skin count as 'being dressed' to you?"

Curled up somewhere in the Ruins. Had Christian help him get his set.

PERSONAL

lmaooo i am never touching the discord server again.

I'm sorry none of you were apparently there for the era of TEF where people were being groomed by adult RPers who were presenting feral smut as a totally okay thing to roleplay with teens. Sorry that you didn't have to deal with being treated like you were fucking hysterical for even IMPLYING that ANYONE in TEF would ever have harmful intentions. If you weren't there for it then yeah, obviously you aren't going to be bothered by feral characters with sheaths. There are no memories there for you. But back when I was most active, it was NOT the norm to draw those on characters unless you were a very realistic/natural type artist. They were almost exclusively drawn in sexual contexts or borderline sexual contexts, and most commonly by people who found feral fictional characters attractive (this is said without judgment - it is fiction, I do not care). And before you say it - no, I'm not saying that's still the case. I'm not even saying that it was INHERENTLY a problem back then! I don't care what people draw/write. I'm a very VERY big advocate for "don't like, don't look/read" (and giving people the OPTION to not look/read - with spoilers, tagging, etc). I'm trying to convey that the insular, "don't rock the boat" nature of this community specifically made it so much fucking easier for people to get hurt because nobody was allowed to question anything.

It's funny, in the Discord argument I said that TEF had changed - that it was no longer cult-ishly dangerous to voice a dissenting opinion, the way it used to be when I was active (remember how pissed everyone would get if you didn't like a popular member, or if you spoke out against Michael being weird about money?). But I was wrong! If you don't want to see sheaths drawn on sentient feral characters you are now accusing people of zoophilia, no matter how many times you try to explain that that's not the case!

What I was trying to express was that some people are uncomfortable with THIS COMMUNITY SPECIFICALLY doing feral art with detailed anatomy because THE COMMUNITY IN A WIDER SENSE was dangerous in the past and hurt people in the past. I didn't say people who draw this are predators. I repeatedly said they're not. I didn't say, "I don't like them so everyone should spoiler them". I didn't say "I think people who draw sheaths are predators".

I was spoken to in that server like I was fucking crazy for trying to explain my viewpoint, for saying "actually, sheaths are uncomfortable for some people and here's why, no judgment", and nobody stood up for me. The fact that it was just okay for someone to say "how is it not a trigger warning request if this non-sexual anatomical part reminds you of the trauma of being groomed?" (I didn't say I was personally groomed btw!) and "I don't see why your convoluted rationalisations have to make sense to anyone else" to me is fucking batshit. Everyone respects trigger warnings until someone has an opinion that makes them icky uncomfy because MAYBE they're saying I like ANIMALS when that isn't what I fucking said and I was CLEAR that I wasn't saying that.

Everyone says they respect trigger warnings and they just don't like that they're being told what to do by the mods or whatever, but realistically, how would anyone have reacted if I said "can we spoiler sheaths, they're triggering for me", especially as a non-established member no-one knows anymore? In what world would the response not have just been "lmfao if you don't like it, leave, it's not that big of a deal" if people can't handle the mere IDEA that maybe some things should be spoilered?

And I can't stress this enough: THIS WASN'T EVEN ABOUT ME. I'm not the one who implemented the warnings! I'm someone who appreciated them, yes, but it's not like it was my fault they happened.

It makes me very sad that I was spoken to that way by people I would ordinarily respect. I am genuinely sorry for any hurt feelings I caused, I know I wasn't nice about it during my posts but I don't think I was cruel or made personal attacks either. I don't know how I got misinterpreted so badly. I was accused of letting my past colour my feelings on the present (despite acknowledging, again, MULTIPLE TIMES that I do not think anyone who draws feral characters with sheaths is a predator, I just don't want to see it! And I also acknowledged MULTIPLE TIMES that sheaths don't bother me that much unless they're super detailed, that I was fine with them not being spoilered!) and yet people were allowed to speak to me like I was crazy because they have bad experiences with community members being accused of zoophilia in the past. Lmfao. Alright!

Anyway, fuck this community. I don't know why the hell I thought I could come back here.

Final notes:
- I do not care what people draw/write. I write darkfic all the time. I'm not fucking accusing anyone of being predatory because of what they create.
- My issue was not "I need a personal trigger warning", my issue was "People are getting really heated about having to spoiler something, why is that?"
- I didn't say people with xyz interest are predators ohhh my godddd I didn't say that. I said xyz interest is uncomfortable for some people and tried to explain why. FUCK.
- I'm aware this post is written very emotionally. I don't think anyone relevant is going to see it so it doesn't matter lmfao.
- Bye. I guess I'll be in the forest or whatever but I don't feel welcome in the Discord server and the community site is dead so. Eh.