I'll be upfront with the fact that I have never, and I mean never, interacted with Sera at all. I've seen her present in the occasional thread, but it was never a thread I was involved in, just one I was looking at out of curiosity. Needless to say, I have literally zero ties to her.
That said, I am utterly appalled at what happened here. Even if I don't know the full context, what was presented at the beginning of the thread is enough for me to know the level of depravity this falls under.
My sympathy goes out to everyone who was affected by her manipulation. I know it's easy to say in hindsight that her lies were too ridiculous for anyone to have believed, but take into account that at least most of these people felt close enough to her to trust her. At the very least, they had taken her deception as harmless hyperboles. I can't even begin to imagine the kind of torment you guys who had fallen victim to this felt. The harsh reality, though, is that there are people like that. They will make you feel a false sense of security, when in reality, they've been playing you like a fiddle. Please, everyone, be careful who you trust.
But, despite the damage that was done, we're only down; not out.
I've seen a handful of terrible incidents regarding members, regular and staff, of this community. I don't blame anyone who leaves as a result, as this can be incredibly disheartening and gives the impression of a toxic cesspool of people who don't seem to realize this is all over a bunch of fictional McGuffins fighting it out with whatever weird abilities they were blessed/cursed with. Yes, there are people who take things way too far. Yes, people need to realize they're talking to actual humans with actual feelings. And yes, this is something we
all need to keep in mind and it's something no one is exempt from.
However, I feel like this is very much possible to do. We should take these moments not as some lethal blow that'll hold us back for who-knows-how-long, but as a setback that we can use to grow as a community in some way or another; because I'll be honest:
I still utterly love this site.
It's fun to debate my favorite verses with people who share the debating interest. It's satisfying when I make a calc and it results in something great. It's especially great when I'm able to find people who share my interests to just talk with off-site. Hell, I wouldn't have met one of my best friends if not for being on this site. It means a lot to me. What we should do is keep going, remembering that at the end of the day, this is all just harmless fiction that - while it's understandable to get passionate over - is not worth causing so much trouble. We need to keep this in mind as we go forward, while not letting these past setbacks break our spirits.
Let's keep our heads up, fellas.