troubling situation

[fpb]

I generally take no interest whatever in the people who tried (when I knew nothing whatever about them) to make me a fandom wolf's-head. However, there have recently been some violent ructions whose echoes reached me through friends. This has made me curious; and, following up a series of fairly vile LJ entries, I have made a discovery that troubles me greatly.

Molly Moon suffers from a frightful, probably incurable and certainly hideously painful condition.

Let us get things straight. This is the person who (edited)was the first to rush in with the GAY BAR witch-hunt. She has spent months lying about me and misrepresenting me. She has done her best to turn all her friends against me, and a number of the people who are on my never-speak-to-again list have got there because of her incitement. I have not read, and will not read, her fic "featuring" me; but the fact that Chthonia, who knew nothing about the whole matter, was stunned by its contents, tells all that needs saying. This is a person whom I have banned from this LJ as soon as I knew how, and whose "anonymous" posts I have been deleting for months. This is a person whose behaviour towards me (and, I gather, towards one or two other people) I can only describe as despicable.

At the same time, she is in the kind of condition with which, had I known, I would have not wasted a second in offering sympathy and any help I could.

This does not make her behaviour any less putrid. Let us not forget that (edited)she threw herself into the GAY BAR witchhunt with enthusiasm, without making any attempt to understand what it was about and what I was about, at a time when I knew nothing whatsoever about her; she was inspired purely and simply by the need to hate, to find a target for some inner fury that has nothing to do with me, to persecute and misrepresent and tear down. (Incidentally, madam, I have only a BA and am self-taught in all essential areas from Latin to drawing. This for the record.) It may even have something to do with her condition; although I have known many disabled people (having had a little to do with disabled organizations and pro-life groups) and many, perhaps most, of them, however terrible their condition or their pain, were sweet, open-minded, kindly and untroubled souls. I suppose that pain may make you better, or may make you worse.

And here I am. I would be a fool if I forgot what this person has actually done, what she is still both capable and willing to do; at the same time, I really have a violent personal reaction against doing or saying anything against her, because I feel very strongly that birds with broken wings should not get extra kicks. This is my situation.

Let me however say that the other people who involved themselves up to their necks in the witch-hunt, especially the odious person who signs herself with the significant name Narcissa Malfoy, have no such excuse. I feel no compunction whatever about labelling this egotistical, lying, emotional-blackmailing drama queen for the scum she is. And I will be glad to go on doing so.

EDITSomeone whom I have no compunction at all about deleting sent a post full of inaccuracies and persecution-minded nonsense. There was however one statement there that I have also received from another source, namely that Molly Moon did not actually start the GAY BAR witch-hunt, she was only the first to publish. OK. But the rest of the charges stand, and I know for a fact that she has chosen to take the above remarks as insulting. Evidently her hatred for me is too precious a thing to forego lightly - another reason, perhaps, to feel sorry for her.

Comments

objection!

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

especially the odious person who signs herself with the significant name Narcissa Malfoy, have no such excuse. I feel no compunction whatever about labelling this egotistical, lying, emotional-blackmailing drama queen for the scum she is. And I will be glad to go on doing so.

*cough*
And that's coming from the person who was taking my head off for in a very roundabout way (and without hostile intent) refering to him as an 'ignoramus' recently?
Looking at the above, that objection to name-calling seems to be at best double-standards, and at worst hypocrisy.

I don't care if (all of) you flamewar over that dead old bone (or the new one) until hell freezes, but I will *not* acquiesce to such a vicious attack on someone I respect. And yes, that will apply the other way round too. I would suggest another edit.

I'm probably going to regret saying anything about this but I never know when to keep my mouth shut.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

She has done her best to turn all her friends against me

Speaking as one of her friends, that's not true. She's detailed some of her experiences with you, and certainly portrayed you in a negative light seeing as that's her opinion of you, but she's hardly going to each of us and saying "This is the worst person ever! Never speak to him or be on friendly terms with him at all, or you're as bad as he is!" or somesuch. For some evidence of this, witness that she's still on the same terms with me as before, even though I'm striking up a tentative friendship with you. If her vendetta was as all-encompassing as you attest, this would not be the case.

it was inspired purely and simply by the need to hate, to find a target for some inner fury that has nothing to do with me, to persecute and misrepresent and tear down

This also is entirely untrue. I have not read your Gay Bar fic, but I know a number of people who have and were deeply, deeply shocked by what they saw as excessively homophobic overtones. That is what inspired all the negativity; they weren't running around looking for something to throw a fit about, fandom_wank style, however it may seem to you. If they misjudged your intentions that's a great shame, but they were as deeply shocked by what they found in that fic as others have been by Molly's fic about you. They had no deep need to hate; indeed, they saw your fic as being evidence of the same sort of behavior you're now attributing to them.

I'm not trying to throw the blame in your lap here, please understand. I just want to state that I suspect there's been a lot of misunderstanding on both sides. Not that that does anything to fix matters in the slightest...

As for Narcissa Malfoy, you may perhaps be intersted to know that she too suffers from a deeply difficult and nearly impossible to cure disease. And Molly's sense of being insulted by this entry has nothing to do with you or her dislike of you, but of your attitude towards the disabled, and the phrase "bird with two broken wings"; she believes, as do so many others with various sorts of handicaps, that her disability has permitted her to become a stronger person. You're portraying her as being helpless, and nobody--disabled or otherwise--is going to take that without feeling insulted. God knows I'd be insulted by that slap in the face, however well-intentioned the reasons behind it. It has nothing to do with your history, believe it or not.

[(Anonymous)]

Why would I want to be anonymous? Probably because I've seen what you do to anyone who tries to engage you in intelligent conversation.
I appreciate what you said about Debbie - I've been in the same situation, far too many times and I can assure you, I found it very creepy. Using her name in a fic? It's not stalking as such, but it is definitely unacceptable behaviour, regardless of how positively you think you have portrayed her. Men with the sort of obsession you appear to have are more than creepy - it's both hateful and scary.
I was shocked when I first read Molly Moon's fic - but I don't know you, and I found the fic well-written and very humourous. So, it was out of line to use your real name, I'll agree with that. But attacking her in the manner you have in your LJ is unforgivable. I also have great respect for Narcissa Malfoy, and doubt you can prove from the HP books that the original character is a villain of any sort. It would have been pleasant to find that the complaints about you that I've heard were misplaced. Unfortunately I see that they are not.
(And you've got a wonderful, flowing name! Such a pity the personality is so abrasive.)
Actually, if you stop insulting people so much, we might like you - a little. Is it too late for redemption?

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm going to give you a priceless piece of advice here. It's never done me wrong, and I hope that is also serves you well.

The way to end this nastiness is simple: Silence.

For a while, there will still be heated words, but if you say nothing more, they cannot pick up anything else. Talk of other things, your pets, your house, do not reply to them and do not attack them. Do not look at their livejournals, or look them up. Do not read what they say.

If you do not attack, and do not feed, there will be no more arguments, or "witch hunts".

If you truly want this sort of cattiness to stop, then you must be the bigger person, and stop first.