The Nightgaunt

As a bit of levity, upon seeing the work in progress drawing of Agent Alex, Fran - @crazygnomenclature had this to say,

“🎵 Secret Aaaaagent Ma'am🎵”

Thank you, sometimes we need a bit of fun when discussing things that are extraordinarily not fun.

Sure, I’m technically allowed to work for the federal government… unless I was one of the trans people purged from the military… which was later ruled unconstitutional, so I suppose I could get that job… for now… but the damage to our transgender military personnel was already done; that ruling was far too late.

Beware the person who downplays what’s happening, and let’s go further, challenge them.  Yes, trans people are legally allowed to work government jobs, but when doing so requires them to be stripped of their life saving healthcare, are they really?

The messaging is clear: if you want to be part of the future that republicans are building, you must either strip yourself of your identity, or die.

Broken record as I am on this topic, it bears repeating:

Neutrality assists the oppressor.  If you’re part of a discussion where someone spouts this garbage and you don’t push back, you’ve given tacit approval to what they said.  If you remain friends with that person, you’re making the statement that bigotry is not a dealbreaker for you.

What kind of person do you want to be?  If transphobia, homophobia, racism, bigotry, etc. aren’t dealbreakers for you, are you that person?

1. Have proof they're a teenager first. More than just a picture, have a video call with them.

2. If you want to meet up with them, have your parents or a trusted adult come with you. Even if they are a proven teenager, its still good to have supervision in case any issues happen.

3. If you are talking to an adult, and they start being sexual in any way, you run the fuck away. It doesn't matter if they're 40 or 20. An adult inherently has a power dynamic that teenagers do not. And its up to the adult to act responsible about it. There's exceptions of course, if you're 16 and dating an 18 year old, that's not a problem, we're not talking about that.

4. Being in a server with adults or ran by adults is not inherently bad. Talking to adults is not inherently a problem, and will likely happen in any number of Discord servers. It is only an issue when they are acting sexual and show predatory behavior.

5. Look out for grooming behavior. It can be difficult, because at first it seems like innocuous behavior, like complimenting or giving gifts. Especially if you feel lonely and have low self esteem. And groomers actively target people like that.

If they start trying to isolate you, talk sexual with you, state they depend on you for emotional needs, blame you for their own actions, try to be secretive about the relationship- Then you need to talk to people you trust, block the perpetrator, and call the police on them.