Introduction

I want to say right off the bat that this isn't personal for me. I'm not really in the Torchwood fandom anymore, I'm not much of a target, I don't post at torchwood_house (TWH) anymore, and I'm not even reading Torchwood fanfiction. My perspective through all of this has been one of emotional detachment and practical "oh, not this again". But my friends online have been targeted, and are now being played in a way intended to divide (no matter what the truth is), and I'm worried that somebody else will be as naive as we were and get hurt.

That's why I'm posting this. Not to slander somebody's virtual name, not because I've been hurt and feel the need to tell everyone, but because trolling sucks and it's easier to prevent if people talk openly about it. I've given people the benefit of the doubt before, I've erred on the side of secrecy, and though I don't regret that choice then, it's not the right one now. I know some people - inside and out of TWH - might think I'm writing this out of some sense of paranoia, or to gain attention, but neither of those are true: rather, I think gossip, filtered posts, and behind-the-scenes emails are only going to contribute to a loss of trust and real paranoia.

For the record, I don't have the approval or even the knowledge of most of the members of TWH before posting this. They are part of the story, but the story isn't really about them: it's about a troll and not a rec comm. My only claim in telling it is that I helped gather most of the information herein, so my perspective is perhaps a little broader and more complete than most. In the end, I'm writing this myself because I feel it's necessary, and I can't ask anybody else to do it for me.

This is an account of the facts as I know them. I'll try to present them without excessive commentary, but I will sum up why I draw the conclusions I do from all this, because to me, the worst part of all of this is that it can't be solved either way, except by the suspected party. Every piece of evidence on its own is unremarkable; together, the truth is pretty obvious. To see that whole picture, though, I'll have to go back to March. Oh, and my apologies up-front for gendered pronoun confusion!

( Part One: Athaari and TWH )

( Part Two: Godofstrife and TWH )

( Part Three: Going Forward )

About comments: they are currently screened. HOWEVER, I will be un-screening them as I see fit, so if you don't wish to make a comment public, send me a PM. I am happy to elaborate on any of this, but this post is not intended to be the beginning of a debate, simply a PSA.

So for those of you who don't know, rm's been participating in a writing contenst, therealljidol. She was kicking everyone's butt until last week, when a wank meme unrelated to the contest had a post that encouraged members to go over and vote for everyone but rm, because "rm eats babies", etc, resulting in a skewed vote that very nearly saw her eliminated.

Internet bullying sucks. It makes we want to curl up and cry. Rm? Wrote the next week's submission about how she loves to eat babies.

Flist, go click a ticky-box for her here. And go read some of her previous submissions because they are amazing.

ETA: I think my favourites are My Favourite Story and Unprepared.