Due to an ongoing harassment campaign, we feel the need to make a brief statement. False accusations are circling about the organizers and contributors of this zine. These accusations are provably false, and if anyone is worried, we are capable of providing evidence of that fact.
The zine organizers would like to clarify again that nothing related to the trouble between Dan and Zo happened in the zine server, or was witnessed by any of the contributors. Everything that occurred between them took place either in direct messages or in their own private server. Furthermore, this ordeal started taking place long before either of them entered the zine’s Discord server. Dan lied about their age to join the server and was removed when this lie was revealed by Zo. The vast majority of the contributors never spoke to them directly. No-one witnessed anything between Dan and Zo and any suggestions that the contributors were directly involved in their private issues are defamation.
We would like to make it clear that we DO NOT want people to harass Dan over this situation. This is not a call-out post, nor is it an effort of retaliation or any possible interpretation of an attempt at malice. Our goal is to clear up any misinformation shared about the situation that occurred between the zine members and Dan and Zo. We are not sharing screenshots outright for this reason. They can be provided upon request, but we prefer not to stir the pot any more than it already has been.
We the undersigned of the Pure Potentiality Zine would also like to put forth a statement regarding the allegations brought up by Dan.
In regards to the alleged misconduct that occurred on the Discord server, here is the overview:
Dan applied to be a member of the Pure Potentiality Zine - in the process, lying about their age to avoid the cutoff (all members of the zine, per the rules stated, were to be 13+).
(It should be noted that the lead organizer of this zine, Vamp, has never organized an online project before and was unsure of an age limit to set. They only set an age limit in response to a tumblr ask, which can be viewed here. They did not foresee actually having to accept someone that young into the zine, but this wound up happening due to the severe lack of writers who applied (ratio was 7 writers/59 artists/2 for both) and they understand this was a bad move in hindsight).
Dan proceeded to behave inappropriately by making explicit jokes, which few to no users engaged with. They use this as evidence to suggest we were grooming them by allowing them to be in the server or that we are pedophiles. Please note that grooming is defined as “when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.” and that this did not occur within the zine Discord server. We did not build a relationship of trust or any emotional connection with Dan beyond a professional sense for the sake of working on the zine together. Dan was not invited to the zine for the sake of being able to manipulate, exploit, or abuse them, and this did not occur within the zine in any capacity.
Separately off-server, even before the zine’s server was created, Dan and Zo; both minors, held conversations that were explicit in nature to various degrees. Dan has stated repeatedly that this took place outside of the zine.
Once the truth came to light (users' ages; conversations separately), both users were removed promptly from the zine. (Dan holds Vamp accountable for the differentiating ways they announced their removal (i.e. announcing Dan lied about their age vs. citing Zo’s removal for “complicated reasons”, which was done because Vamp was not sure what to make of the situation at the time and did not feel comfortable outright labeling someone as a predator).
Since their removal, Dan has produced a forty minute video essay, a nearly 100-page transcript of said video essay, made numerous posts, and sent numerous dms and anonymous asks (some with the intention of baiting a response) regarding how they believed they were wronged by the zine members, including accusations of grooming and pedophilia.
Also since their removal, no users in the zine server have held conversations with either party, save for one instance of Zo reaching out to Vamp on their personal tumblr account, which was brief and not continued thereafter. They reached out because they were experiencing severe psychological distress as a result of the situation and the harassment they were enduring as a result. (Vamp interacted with the harassment campaign being led against Zo on their personal tumblr account only for the sake of stating, in their personal opinion separate from that of the zine members’, that Zo was experiencing a disproportionate amount of hate and maliciousness relative to the situation that had occurred. Vamp was not defending Zo’s actions, nor do they agree with or “side with” Zo in any way). The users of the zine Discord were fully separate from the situation between Dan and Zo that occurred off-server. None of the server members are currently in contact with Zo and have not been since this incident.
Instances wherein inflammatory statements were being sent via anonymous ask were answered on an individual basis - while, for example, the organizer in charge of social media received an ask regarding Zo's behavior, they responded for the sender to "back off" - not because they were defending Zo, but because the situation had been dealt with. Zo's behavior was also unacceptable, hence their removal from the zine.
While we were not privy to the private conversations held between two minors off-server, we are still in agreement that what we have heard regarding Zo's behavior was inappropriate and unacceptable. Their behavior was the reason for their removal from the zine.
We do not condone these terms, nor do we condone the behavior of either user or the accusations given. This has been a distressing and disappointing experience for those who gathered to create together under the pretense of a mature environment handling mature subject matter. Our evidence can be provided in the form of detailed Discord screenshots from the server, but at the time of this posting, we are not attaching screenshots due to the safety and confidentiality of our zine contributors whose privacy has already been violated by the aforementioned inflammatory statements.
Edit: in hindsight, it has occurred to some of the zine members that this post being made on April 1st may send out the wrong message. This just so happened to be the date this announcement was posted, and nothing more.
