Y'know, it does strike me that reopening this thread for a single message is maybe a tad bit narcissistic and disruptive, but I just feel I need to get this out, and in the process maybe wash over some of the very stupid, unrelated bad taste that got it closed. Idk.
Maybe it's just been a shitty week, what with exams grinding, not getting enough sleep, my computer dying, my cat going missing, to the point I'm apathetic. Maybe my gut feeling always knew to an extent. The way they spoke to each-other really tipped it off. None of the claims really struck home as much as that, and I really should have trusted it and stayed far the **** away from them. I've had similar feelings about other people in the past, and well, those have turned out no better.
But the point is, this does not come as a shock. Oh I was distraught about it all right, for a while. Then I just couldn't stop myself from laughing. Laughing at the abdurdity of it all, at how thoroughly we'd been ****** in the ass without even knowing it, at how much time and effort and stress and anxiety we'd poured into these individuals that were not even real.
It's still morbidly hilarious. I know that comes off as insensitive, but it's moreso this person being so far below any anger, any contempt I can muster they only invite a sense of mild disgust. Like watching a leech crawling in the dirt.
For the sake of everyone else however who doesn't have the pleasure of viewing these events with this level of apathy, you have my deepest sympathies. I can't begin to imagine what this ordeal has made you go through. I can't put into words how much I wish I could be there to support each and every one of you through this absolutely ****** experience. No person deserves to have their trust, their heart, betrayed like this.
To all the people who say we really should have seen this coming, I'll reiterate what has been said: it's easy to judge on the outside, and especially so in hindsight. But many were not offered that opportunity. Like it or not, you talk for years on end with someone, anyone, that even slighy shares your interests and views, you'll grow attached to them. And it's really hard to break someone's good will when you're as good at manipulation as "Sera" was.
To the entire community, we've been burnt. That should be enough to get you to reconsider some of your values on privacy. But it should not also force you to close yourself off forever. Speaking as a fairly paranoid dude myself, I've still made friends online, real people I've seen and talked with and love. The message here is balance, as with most things.
We've been put through the fire, but steel only toughens itself when it is tempered. It's my belief, and my hope, that we will rise from the ashes stronger than before.