#gitm harvest

Dont mind that i didnt finish writing the word “eyeliner”…

To get right to the point, I'm starting with my first of two main reasons for leaving: the Discord server is genuinely a hostile environment. There are two servers, really: Misutamojis (The Main Server) and Sanistickers (the Extra Emojis Server). I will not mention the OC server or any of its fandom's branch-offs unless on topic. There is an incredible number of issues that have piled up over the past 3-4 years that the server has been online. At first, they were small enough that it didn't matter. Qwille or one of the (once) very few mods would handle it because the server was small enough that it was easier to catch things, and people felt like they could properly trust Cursed. Unfortunately, thinking back on things, the signs that something was wrong were evident from the start, and I'm upset at myself that it took me nearly 2 years of stress and anxiety to realize it. One of the main problems is that there are people who are mods only because they're Qwille's friends. They do not address or enforce as a moderator. They just... have the role. These individuals have completely avoided any issues. They simply interact with other server members and mind their own business. All the different problems that have ever been raised with the mods have been those who, as mods, seem to have let that position go to their heads, to the point of bullying server members (and previous moderators).

One of the last things to consider is how the server operates. This is where I state that for many people, the server has a cult-like feel, but it does not mean it is a cult. I'll go into detail on what I mean by' cult-like feel. ' The best I can do to start this is by saying I recommend doing your research into it, but from what I've seen, there's a lot that overlaps here in cult behavior and the ways this server regulates and controls its members. (I'm not saying control is bad, but in this case, it very much is.). Once more, I'm not saying Misutamojis or anyone in GITM is a cult; what I'm saying is that many of their actions have now become anchored in cult-like behaviors. Quote, "The BITE Model© describes cults’ specific methods to recruit and maintain control over people. “BITE” stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control. The BITE Model should be used within The Influence Continuum© to help determine authoritarian control. Not every group or relationship uses every one of these. Some are universal, such as deception (Information control), indoctrinating people to distrust critics and former members, or installing phobias to make people afraid of questioning or leaving."

The following are tactics I and others have personally witnessed:

Behavior Control

Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative

Discourage individualism, encourage groupthink

Separation of Friends through Favoritism

Information Control

Deception: Deliberately withhold information, Distort information to make it more acceptable

Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including: Media. Critical information. Former members

Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines: Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when

Encourage spying on other members: Impose a buddy system to monitor and control members. Report deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership.

Thought Control

Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders)

Rejection of retinal analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism

Emotional Control

Instill fear, Such as fear of: Enemies(banned individuals), leaving or being shunned by the group, others' disapproval, and missing out

With these methods, people can be easily manipulated into thinking a specific way. In this case, by not accepting the fact that there are people who have been affected by people they admire, because they have never witnessed it. Tactics are being actively used to shut down conversations and utilize these methods to blatantly avoid any repercussions for their actions or those of other cursed members. Their tactics are rooted in manipulation, which has led them to believe that it's the correct way to approach this situation. There's a sort of pyramid of control that's a red flag as well; Qwille being at the top, followed by their closest friends/Cursed, friends who act as sort of mini mods/people who exhibit blatant favoritism, then the rest of the server. The connection between mods and server members to establish trust is lacking, with no available bridge.

There's this weird "if I show that I'm good(at art), then I'll be liked by the mods/qwille" energy in the server. They're not going to question or fight back against them if they think they'll receive the reward of being their friend and learning more about the characters.

The other reason for my leaving was the laughably low level of communication initiated by Qwille and Cursed. Yes, there used to be an NSFW server for GITM. Yes, Qwille approved of this server and actively interacted in it. Yes, (not all)members of the Main Server's mod team were also in the NSFW Server, and during the beginning, 2 of said mods were also mods in the NSFW Server. To put this into perspective, besides GITM, there was one mod per 10 people, and there were seven moderators, including the Owner and me. That is over 70 adults who were genuinely interested in this aspect of GITM. There was art created, writing produced, headcanons, and AUs with adult themes. This server was genuinely created because I discussed a potential 18+ Magma with my close adult friends, allowing us to draw our favorite characters together. It then turned into a private chat where Qwille was added, and we got to personally ask them questions that were only Headcanons and remain that way. From there, a close individual of mine, who was a friend of Qwille at the time, asked them in DMs if we could make a server for this, which was approved, and they had joined and interacted in. We had events, conducted ID checks, and interacted without issue; many of us thought everything was fine. Qwille themselves added to the drawings and writings, and even participated in the Banner Magma for the server. They drew in the server's specific Magma, and were part of the community. We were happy to have them there with their friends in a space that felt much more personal. Suddenly, we were replacing the old server with a new one. This was communicated and again, given the OK by Qwille. They were given the link to the new server.

They chose not to join, and we respected that. We didn't push for them or their friends to join; it was up to them if they wanted to join.

There were several reasons to restart the server, including a lack of organization, sudden growth, and the background situation of Mimir. Yes, Mimir was a moderator in the NSFW Server. This was before we knew what was going on. They were also a mod on the Main server, along with Palooza. They were quietly removed and blocked from all servers, and subsequently blocklisted from the new NSFW server, as well as blocked by the mod team. I will state this for everyone reading: Mimir was previously a friend of Qwille's as much as they were previously a friend of us and the mod team. As of today, no one associated with us is in contact with Mimir. I attempted to reach out to Fleur about the situation, but was gently shut down, which I respected. It was after the creation of the new server that things started to go downhill.

For starters, mods of the NSFW server began to notice that Qwille and/or members of Cursed had quietly started blocking us, so it was alarming when the owner of the NSFW server, who had the most communication with Qwille, found out on 6/27/2024 that they were blocked. This means that all communications regarding what to do about the NSFW Ban were directly cut off. They had to go through Icy/GalacticTwink to figure out what to do. The communication about this was made, and we made it clear that we would keep the NSFW server GITM Free—no new developments in the AUs, no new art, no new writing. Simple, and we respected that, followed it ourselves. This was before I was told by one of the old mods(my roommate at the time) of the 1st server that Icy expressed distrust of the mod team. There was no trust to begin with from one of the major mods who speaks for Qwille, and that spoke volumes about how the rest of Cursed may have felt about us. We were already alienated from the start, and it genuinely felt like we were set up to fail.

Only 1 of us was ever contacted by Qwille themselves. Much of the falling out that occurred could have been easily avoided if a small personal server for the mods of both servers had been established, allowing us all to communicate about issues that needed to be discussed. A central issue on why we had difficulties contacting the other mods was that they made it genuinely difficult to contact them. This is a conversation I had with one of my friends who was in contact with Qwille:

This kind of bully behavior, unfortunately, was not uncommon and rounds back to the central server being hostile, as many people have had problems with not just Icy in particular, but also Apollo, Ren, Gilly, Crow, and Star.

This is the conversation that followed Ashes' ban from the central server, during which some expressed discomfort within the server. This concern was brushed under the rug:

I would also like to discredit Ren regarding them lying about Ashes as they had DM'd Ashes about another subject and "cleared it up.":

The sad reality is that I've seen people within the server absolutely Dog Pile on others if they don't agree with Cursed or Qwille. The inability to think openly within the server has been shut down on multiple occasions. It is literally in the rules. A new point to note is that, yes, I understand Qwille is an official character designer, but not everyone will like every character, and I believe people need help recognizing this. It's perfectly fine to receive criticism on characters, and it's fine not to like characters based on their personality, looks, or just their being alone. What's not okay is allowing your Fandom to bully one another because they don't like your characters, especially if someone doesn't like Noon. The speed at which people will blow up a conversation if you speak negatively about Noon is ridiculous and has been a significant disappointment in the server's ability to remind its members to be decent to one another. Unfortunately, Noon used to be one of my favorites. What killed that was the actual Noon favoritism that goes on in the server. It makes it incredibly hard to get anything on other characters. If a poll is created for a drawing or drabble and Noon is on the list, the likelihood that people will rally to vote for Noon's option makes voting for other characters rather lackluster. (That and once you realize he's just a robotic version of their sona altered to fit the story is... Not great)

I'm not here to discourage new people from interacting with GITM, but I am here to voice that Qwille and some of their friends are not friendly individuals. If you wish to interact with the sub-fandom and these creators, it is recommended that you use Tumblr. Stay away from the Server, the art that is created there, and the information that will eventually make its way into the light one way or another. It's not worth the drama, the stress, and the real-life experiences. I still love these characters and the story, but I can no longer enjoy it due to the people associated with its creation. It's disappointing and disheartening.

First thing's first. We are a system. We are autistic, have ADHD, have trauma and anxiety. We're neurospicy, as are the majority of the people that have regrettably been thrown into this drama.

We are also ones who have been mostly lurking, sitting on the side lines, observing everything and keeping our mouth shut. We have been a part of various different servers surrounding GITM and its creator.

We'll put a pin in that for now, but what we want to address is how you and your little entitled group made us feel as a system and as an (ex) member of the discord server.

In the beginning when we started out in the server, it was relatively small, and we can't believe now that we actually looked up to Qwille and their little clique, and by definition that is the only way I can formulate it. As time passed on and shit started happening, we had announcements, and master posts, and the mods constantly commenting on how to be, what we are and allowed to do. And I'm not referring to "no sexual content, no being mean to each other" bla bla bla (which is ironic, and you can read more on in the post we've linked above). But as a fictive-heavy system, we felt increasingly uncomfortable with talking with PluralKit, and letting our alters talk in that server, cause any time we'd have a fictive from GITM fronting, it would be ill-received and looked down upon by the entitled group. It would be "misconstruing the characters" and what not, when we thought that Qwille clearly knew that fictives were not the fucking character. Now we know otherwise, that they are hypocritical, two-faced, ignorant and a coward.

Before shit really started to hit the fan, we left that server and every other small (usually emoji) server connected to that fan fiction for our own comfort and protection, and how much it would drain us, or make us paranoid that we were being watched, overseen and controlled. But despite that, we still to this day see the repercussions of the shit you and your group have done. Made fun of people, bullied people, fought over something you know nothing about and INSISTED that everyone else was in the wrong and your answer was the only correct one. And it didn't help that you have all of your yes-men to feed you into these insane and harmful delusions.

And now we come back to the people surrounding us. Our friends have been constantly feeling drained, and vent to us about the shit you pull, and the ignorance that goes with it. People are crying, getting depressed, hurting themselves and suffering because of your actions, and all we could do is give SOME sort of comfort. Other system friends of ours had to hide their alters that otherwise would've just liked to EXIST like EVERYONE ELSE, just because they were a fictive of your fucked up story, and you would rather have somebody supress their own existence so your stupid story wouldn't get spoiled, or whatever fucked up excuse you had. Oh and don't get us started on the sexual aspect of this shit. A very specific server that as of now doesn't exist, that YOU were a part of, ASKED to be a part of AND EXPLICITLY approved of. And you gradually pulled yourself away, took everything back and blocked those involved, demonized the group and didn't have the GAWL to communicate with the mods of that server who were open for communication, MORE than reasonably understanding with you, and you simply ignored them and brushed it off to the side, hoping the whole thing would just magically go away and you could continue gossiping with your little group about how pathetic and low-life everyone else is.

Well you've brushed it under the rug. A lot of shit under the rug. And now here it is in all its fucking glory, bearing its fangs at you in the most ironic fashion. You wanted to keep this shit on discord, and instead you've caused enough discord for it to blow up on Tumblr. An applause to you. You fucked up, and you deserve this.