#dateline

I do standup sometimes. Musical standup, even. Who do I think I am?

Oooh, no I haven't heard of him, he sounds right up my alley!

If you know the name of that one particular work you described, let me know. I'm extremely interested in child sexual exploitation - and yes, as I typed out that sentence, I did notice how suspicious that sounds 💀

So maybe I should explain... Is everyone cool with me doing this by blathering on and on about some long stupid story? Great:

It was 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night, over 20 years ago, on January 23, 2004, & Dateline NBC was airing a special entitled "Children for Sale."

The program was an undercover investigation into child prostitution¹ in Cambodia. It was astronomically fucked up on a level I couldn't have imagined. I was just a wee youngster myself, but I was just mature enough to fully grasp what was happening, and it really affected me.

Although I didn't realize at the time, I can now see that this was a huge turning point for me in regards to disturbing media. Because I wasn't just upset at the abusers, pimps, and corrupt officials: I was furious at NBC for filming and airing this special in the first place.

You need to understand that this program really felt like a How-To guide for child abusers². The show highlighted just how easy it was to fly into Phnom Penh, find a driver, say you were looking for the youngest girls, and get taken to the village of Svay Pak, which specialized in this. At the time, it seemed so goddamn irresponsible to put this info out there.

So this news story stuck with me, and for years I would periodically research random stuff about Cambodia: it's history, news, and the current state of this child sex trafficking. And, as time passed, I began to realize something important:

I was wrong.

I was wrong because this mass-exposure by Dateline WORKED. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s the child sex trafficking in Svay Pak was omnipresent and completely out in the open. But all the ensuing news coverage focused the world's attention. It put pressure directly on the Cambodian government, it forced other nations to place their own pressure on Cambodia, it actively caused the mobilization of non-profit organizations and the formation of new ones.

Yes, the Dateline special probably did attract the attention of potential child sex tourists. But for every one of them, the news special mobilized tens of thousands of good people who would fight back against the abusers - people who had no way to know this exploitation was even happening until they saw Dateline.

And this is precisely what I mean when I talk about this being a turning point for me. Over time, this helped me form my viewpoint which is so central to this blog: that it is GOOD to make horrible things public.

The actual bad people out there? They do NOT want fucked up stuff to be made public. They want to keep it secret, hidden away. I want it out in the open, because THAT IS THE ONLY WAY IT GETS ADDRESSED.

Now that I've written such a long, impassioned explanation, I think there's finally enough context to release something very controversial but very important from the Archives™️:

"Cambodian Sex Trip Diary" by Hyacinthus

I believe this to be the only known surviving firsthand account of a child sex tourist visiting Cambodia in the early 2000s. I feel like it gives immense insight into what happened back then, and also into the mind of abusers. One day I'd like to write a proper analysis or even an annotated version detailing all the internal details that I think provide evidence of it's authenticity, proving it is not wholly fiction, but was written by someone who really engaged in child sex tourism.

The residents of Gravity Falls when you ask them why they have an entire holiday celebrating the mysterious disappearance of one guy:

Preston: He was just a mean, old hateful bitch.

Pacifica: *laughs*

Priscilla: Hey, there's no other way to put it.

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Manly Dan: He wasn't friendly. He really wasn't. There are a lot of people in town who woulda shot him for five dollars.

Lazy Susan: I mean, when you live in a small town, you've got to be friendly and nice to folks.

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Retired Tech Billionaire Old Man McGucket: He would chew your ass at the drop of a hat. He'd rip you a brand new, three-bedroom, two-bath, double-wide asshole. No problem.

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