Why I hate bullies.

So the events of the past 24 hours have been fun. LOL ("I do not think that word means what you think it means." LOL)

Let me start by saying that one of the parties is now claiming they had nothing to do with this whole scenario. That they've tried repeatedly to get in touch with me and clear this up. Well, funny, I haven't received any emails from them at all. (Yet the bully was able to email me? Hmm.) If they want to email me, deets are on my contact page. Nothing secret about that.

So, here is an open message to that person. If you are really genuine in wanting to "clear the air" about this, then send me an email. Let's talk. Here is why I've made the statements I did about you:

You say you were only on our group for a day. No, you were a member longer than that, and then after being banned after being warned about your behavior, you tried to rejoin using multiple personalities (which you admitted you had). And quite a few people have contacted the admins of our group saying you had friended them under multiple personalities, and used those to add them to the copycat group, in some cases re-adding them with one of the alternate personas if they forgot to check the "prevent someone from this group from readding me" box. Our admins have also received complaints about you soliciting money via emails and PMs. And this happened in not one, but TWO groups I run.

I personally have received several messages from people who said they had to block you well before all this started for spammy behavior.

Not spammy? If you don't think that's spammy behavior, then you really do need to take a step back and go back to social media school.

But, again, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. My email's listed on my Contact page. Shoot me an email. Open a dialog. I have received ZERO emails from you asking to clear this up, despite what you said on your Facebook page. Explain to me how your behavior isn't spammy. I'm a reasonable person. You really want to clear this up? Then let's talk. If you aren't the person who sent the threatening emails to me, email me and let's clear this up. If you are innocent, I will be more than happy to make a public statement to that effect.

Why don't I tolerate bullies?

I started the BDSM Bibliophreaks group to be a community. Not a place to pimp books, but a place for readers and writers to come together to discuss the BDSM lifestyle and books related to it. It's always gratifying to me when someone tells me that being in our group, and being able to ask questions in a judgment-free atmosphere has helped them in real life.

THAT'S the lifeblood of our group.

Then people who get pissed off that they got bounced out of our group for violations of our policies (and after multiple complaints to the admins from our members about them) decide they want to "screw" with our group.

I go momma bear over that. I am very protective of our members. Had they simply created their copycat group and done their thing, whatever. But they spam-added members from our group.

I am no stranger to bullies. I spent several years as a lay counselor to people recovering from abusive relationships. But even more important, there's something I don't talk about a lot.

I was a victim of a crime when I was 18. The man was a couple of years older than me and a fellow student in one of my classes in college, and when I said no, he didn't stop. When I threatened to go to the cops, he threatened to kill my family's dogs. At the time I was young, naive, and completely believed him. He knew where I lived and could have easily done it.

That I didn't press charges haunts me to this day. I can only hope he didn't prey on others, and that guilt haunts me.

I'm no longer that terrified 18 year-old. So when someone sends me a threat, regardless of if they simply think they're "screwing" with me or people I feel protective of? I treat it seriously.

I don't let it go unchallenged.

Had the people behind this simply left our members alone, this would have died off. But then some mental midget had to send out threatening email messages (and apparently they're not up on the latest cyberstalking laws in our post-911 society).

I am very protective of the people who placed their trust in us in the BDSM Bibliophreaks group. Because some of those people don't HAVE any other place they feel safe discussing the lifestyle or asking questions.

Back down, to some anonymous coward on the internet? I don't think so. I'm sure the person who sent me the emails thought it would send me running for cover. But the exact opposite happened. So I will do what my home state is already notorious for: I will stand my ground.

Love and light, peeps. To everyone who's sent me messages of support, thank you, I <3 you all!