Zoe’s Multi-Fandom Blog

Antis will claim that they are “protecting children” but then call people who harm fictional children pedophiles. But as a victim of CSA myself, I find it super offensive and harmful when these antis throw around the word pedo to anyone and anything that mildly makes their fragile little brain uncomfortable.

No. People who fantasize fictional children are NOT pedophiles because for someone to be that, they have to have harmed real children. A real child that I used to be when I was assaulted.

So by calling everyone who harms fictional children a pedophile, you’re dismissing my trauma and experience by reducing it to ***fictional kids being harmed*** and you’re actually helping real pedophiles who harm real children like me get away with it easier because now people have associated the word with “dark fiction” instead of real life harm, thanks to you.

So it’s antis who ARE harming real children because they want to protect fictional ones. Fuck off.

I was a CSA victim, and I say “let dark ship enjoyers write whatever they want”. They’re not harming real kids like you do.

Not to mention, a lot of victims like me use dark fiction to help us cope with our trauma. So not only are antis helping actual pedophiles get away with harming real children easier, they’re also calling CSA victims pedophiles because we write about fictional things that make them uncomfortable (even though we never force anybody to read our shit).

My abuser was my own cousin who is almost ten years older than me. And unfortunately; his parents defended him for most of that period of time. That is until my cousin’s parents walked in on him playing video games, they couldn’t find me, but when my uncle walked into my cousin’s room and asked; “Have you seen your cousin?” My cousin said; “No, last I knew [My Birth Name that has since been changed legally] was in here and said they were going downstairs.”

My aunt left my cousin‘s room and had my uncle go downstairs to the play room that I would sometimes go and play in. But I wasn’t there. My uncle came back upstairs and said; “Nobody’s downstairs.” My aunt and uncle came back into my cousin’s room and asked if he’d seen me. And my cousin answered with the same answer he gave my aunt.

My aunt was looking around his room and in his closet to see if I had been hiding. When she didn’t find me, she left the room and my uncle decided to walk closer to the end of my cousin’s bed, and saw me on my knees facing my cousin with his member inside my mouth, face starting to turn blue, tears rolling down my cheeks and my cousin (who was known for being able to play his video games one-handed) was using his other hand to force my face into his abdomen making his member go deeper into my throat choking off my airways even more. I heard my uncle slowly walk over and shut the door and say; “Finish up in here and then come out to the dinner table. And Buddy, I won’t tell anyone what I saw, not even your mother.” After my uncle said that, he left and then my cousin took his hand off my head and allowed me to breathe. My cousin said; “After today, I will no longer have any interest in you whatsoever because tomorrow you’ll be 14 and too old for me. So, I’m gonna have my way with you today, every time you have come over to visit since you were nine, I have only had you do oral on me. But since you’re 13, and will be 14 tomorrow. I’m gonna go all the way with you. You’re not ovulating are you?”

I shook my head no. And then he picked me up and tossed me onto his bed (which is a waterbed by the way), then he walked over to his door, locked it and walked back to his bed, he began he covered my mouth so I wouldn’t scream and began undressing me, he removed my spanky-pants (Spanks for short), ripped a hole in the crotch area of my tights and then he said; “Just so you know, this is gonna be fun for me, but it’s gonna hurt for you. He pressed his member against my folds and then pushed his way through, I tried to scream in pain as he did.

He broke my hymen (which means he took my virginity) and then proceeded to push himself all the way inside of me. I had tears flowing down my cheeks the whole time. He thrusted three times gently and slowly and then he started thrusting harder but slow, he told me that I’d be grateful years from now that he was the one who took my virginity and not some random guy. He thrusted at least twenty (a maximum of forty) more times before he said; “I’m gonna cum.” he looked at me and said; “Do you want me to cum?” Then he said; “If you want me to cum, nod yes!” I nodded. He said to three locations. “Here?” He pointed at my chest, “here” he pointed at the part of me he was penetrating. “Or here?” He pointed to my mouth. Then said; “Bitch, you better pick one or I will!” I pointed at my chest but he clearly didn’t see, he softly started grunting and as he did my legs which he had previously been holding down suddenly wrapped around him, and I let out a loud but still muffled moan, it was like I couldn’t control my own body and as he started to pull out he said; “Since you didn’t choose a spot for me to cum, I’m gonna do it on your face. My legs wrapped tighter around him and then he let out a hard grunt, followed by several softer but sequenced grunts and I felt something flow into my body through my vagina, as it did he stopped grunting and began breathing heavily.

Afterwards he told me to loosen my grip on him with my legs and I felt my entire body loosen and start quivering. He told me; “Because you wouldn’t let me pull out so I could do it on your face, I want you to hold it inside of you, don’t even try to expel it from your body. Hold it in.” He then took my legs and held them over my head and said; “Let all that cum absorb into the walls of your vagina and uterus. By the way, when will you be ovulating again?” Unable to speak I held up a number of fingers on my hand and said; “This many days!” He looked, smiled and said; “Well, sperm lasts inside a woman’s body for up to five days, and you’ll be ovulating again in three days. There’s a chance that you might get pregnant from this.” My eyes went wide and he said; “If you do get pregnant because of today, get an abortion!” I was 13 turning 14 the next day, I was too young to get an abortion, the youngest age someone could get an abortion in my state of residence was 16.

Afterwards, he said to me; “Get dressed. Unfortunately; you’re too young to get an abortion if you did get pregnant from what I did to you here today. You will have to become a mother at 14, and if you do happen to get pregnant, I’m not gonna help raise it, so you’d be a single mother who was sexually assaulted and impregnated by her own cousin, carrying the child of the cousin who assaulted her and many people will call you a whore among many other things.”

After I got dressed, he wiped my face and said; “Not a word of this to anyone or else!” Then he quietly opened his bedroom door and told me to; “go hide in my parents’ room. Count to sixty and then come out.” Which was coincidentally; the only room they never looked whenever they were looking for me. And I did.

A few days later, I was hanging out with a few girl-friends and we were at the mall. I stopped by the CVS pharmacy that was in the mall at the time to pick up my prescription and I also bought a pregnancy test. Afterwards, I came out of the pharmacy where the girls were waiting for me. They asked why I went in there and I told them I had to pick up a family member’s prescription since I was the only person in my family and household with a CVS pharmacy membership card (because those were a thing back then), and then I told the girls to go to the food court without me, because nature called and I said I would meet them at the food court once I was done going to the bathroom, nope! They all came with me to the girl’s bathroom and they stood by the sinks talking about which boys from class were cute and which boys were hot, and which boys they’d want to sleep with, while I went into the stall with the CVS bag and they were talking so loudly they clearly couldn’t hear the sound of me opening the pregnancy test. I read the instructions, peed on the stick and waited for the exact number of minutes it said to wait, relieving myself of flatulence a few times during that period of time. At the end of the period of time the instructions for the pregnancy test said to wait, I checked the instructions to see what was positive and what was negative (I’d never had to do a pregnancy test before) so after learning what was positive and what was negative; I looked at the results of the pregnancy test and there was two lines. The test results showed two lines which was positive, meaning I was pregnant. My cousin had gotten me pregnant. I lowered my head in sorrow and shame. I disposed of the test and the package it had been in, by putting them into the trashcan inside the stall and then I rolled out some toilet paper, ripped it from the dispenser and then I threw the toilet paper in the toilet, stood up, pulled up my underwear and my capri pants. I flushed the toilet and walked out of the stall. Tears in my eyes. I told them that I just found out that I was pregnant.

Nicole, who was known for being a snoop said; “That explains the EPT I noticed in the CVS bag when you came out of the store.” The girls all looked at Nicole. Then at me. “Who’s the father?” They all asked. I shook my head and said; “Most likely the abuser.” The girls all gasped, I had confided in them that I had been being sexually assaulted by someone since I was 9 years old, and they all asked me who it was, I was too afraid to name my cousin each time they asked. All I said was; “He always covered my head and I never saw his face nor hear his voice other than when he would grunt and moan while he did awful things to me.”

They believed me. They asked me what I was going to do, I told them that I was too young for an abortion, so I had to give up my dreams and carry the baby to term, give birth and raise it by myself. Olivia had an idea; “Why not just give it up for adoption?” I shook my head. “I need to hide the pregnancy from my family for as long as I possibly can.” The girls told me that there was a camp for aspiring mothers accepting girls as young as 6 years of age as campers and the camp is roughly 6 to 8 months long. I told them that I would look into it, and that is what I did. I filled out an application form to attend the camp, hiding the application form among a form for another camp that I told my parents i wanted to attend which was on the opposite side of the country in California, and it was an all-girls camp and the camp ran for roughly ten months. My parents filled out the application forms for both camps, (unknowingly) thinking they were just for one camp, and then the next day I had school; I told my parents I would mail it out, and I took the application forms, which hadn’t been put in an envelope yet, I placed the application form for the aspiring mothers into the envelope and at school, I discarded the application form for the camp in California. After school; I mailed out the application form. And then I went home. A couple of weeks later; I got a letter from the camp for aspiring mothers saying that I had been accepted as a new camper, I told my mother that I had been accepted at the camp in California, and that I had to leave on one of the flights to Los Angeles, California in the next 24 hours. We packed up as much of my belongings as possible, I hugged my mom and dad, told them that I loved them both, and then they brought me to the airport, at the front desk in the airport, I bought a ticket to the location where I had been told to go (which coincidentally was Los Angeles, California) and then I said goodbye to my parents, I headed for the security checkpoint and once I got past security; I made my way toward the gate where my flight was gonna be departing from. I arrived just as they were calling the flight for the passengers to start boarding. I showed them my ticket and they saw my name and gave me a tag for my suitcase, which I put on my suitcase, and then they weighed it, it was exactly one pound under the maximum weight limit for checked luggage. They scanned my ticket and then soon as they scanned the ticket I was allowed through the gate to board the plane. I left my suitcase where they said to leave it, so it could be put below in the storage area of the plane. And then I boarded the plane. I found my seat, and sat down. Back then, teens could board a flight on their own, but kids could not. A flight attendant walked up to me and said; “Where is a young teenage girl such as yourself heading?” I told her; “I’m going to an all-girls camp in California that is about ten months long. My parents got me free nationwide calling, unlimited texts and 10 GB of internet. So, I can stay in touch with them the entire time I am there.”

The flight attendant smiled and said; “Well, hope you enjoy your camp then. Have a safe flight.” I smiled and said; “Thank you, and you enjoy your flight as well.” After everyone had been boarded, a woman got on the plane and said; “Attention, is there a [My birth name that has since been changed legally) on this flight!?” I asked; “Yes, there is. Why!?” The woman said that there was no room underneath for my suitcase, so it would have to either be sent on another flight, or I would have to keep it beside me on the plane. I told the woman; “Bring it onboard, I’ll keep it with me.” The woman had one of the workers bring her my suitcase. And then she handed it to me. “Where exactly are you headed any way without a parent or legal guardian Miss!?” I looked at her and told her exactly where; “An all-girls camp in California that lasts for about ten months.” I also told her that my parents know I’m going, and that I’m a teenager not a kid. She apologized and then she said; “Enjoy your time at camp.” I put my suitcase beside me and then sat down. The flight attendant got on the intercom and got everyone’s attention, and then she explained how to properly buckle out belts before takeoff to keep everything the way it is during takeoffs and landings, and then she proceeded to give a speech about safety procedures and what to do. She finished and then she took her seat. The pilot came on the speaker and told us that we were taxi-ing out from the tarmac to the runway and we would waiting for the all-clear signal before we would take off. We were apparently ten minutes away from the runway when we boarded because it took ten minutes to taxi out to the runway. We sat there for about two minutes before we heard the thrust of the plane and we started picking up speed, after a few seconds my ears popped and the pilot said; “Ladies and gentleman, We are now in the air, please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened while we climb to cruising altitude.” It took what felt like twenty minutes before we were at cruising altitude. The light went off at exactly twenty minutes from the time he said that. And as soon as we were at cruising altitude, I unbuckled and opened my suitcase, I pulled out my laptop, a dvd, a pair of headphones, a bottle of water and a snack. Closed my suitcase and then I plugged in my laptop, put the dvd in the disk drive of the laptop, plugged in my headphones, opened the back of the seat in front of me, set my laptop down on the tray, played the movie, opened my bottle of water, and then opened my snack. And began enjoying my in-flight entertainment. After an hour and a half, the movie ended, I took out the dvd, put it back in its case and put it back in my suitcase, I unplugged my headphones from the computer, wrapped them up, and put them in my suitcase, then I unplugged my laptop, put the cord away and then I turned my laptop on Sleep Mode and put it away in my suitcase, pulled out my iPod and my earbuds, and then I closed my suitcase. I turned on my iPod, plugged my earbuds into the headphone jack on my iPod, and started listening to music. I kept the music on a decent level so as to not disturb anyone else on the plane. And I listened to my music the remainder of the flight to Los Angeles, California.

About an hour later; the plane was rocking and the pilot said; “Attention folks, we are experiencing some minor turbulence as we cross the Rocky Mountains. Please remain seated. The turbulence should clear up momentarily.” I continued listening to my music and after another thirty minutes, I heard; “Please fasten your seatbelts and make sure all trays are locked in place and all seats are locked in their upright positions. As we are beginning our descent into LAX.” I locked the wheels on my suitcase, made sure it was closed and that I was buckled. I continued to listen to my music and then about ten or so minutes later; I felt a jolt and knew that we had touched down at LAX. The plane started slowing down which meant that we were beginning to approach the tarmac where we would disembark from the plane. I hadn’t told my parents that someone from the camp would be there waiting for me when I arrived in Los Angeles, California, because they didn’t need to know that.

As I grabbed my suitcase as was about to disembark from the plane, a woman knocked me back into my seat as she was getting off. I let it go, but as soon as it was safe, I got off the plane as well, with my suitcase. I made my way to the arrival gate and as soon I passed through the arrival gate, I made a beeline for the nearest exit from the airport, as I did; I noticed a young woman was holding up a sign that said my name, I approached her and she said; “Are you [my birth name that was changed legally]!?” I said yes and she told me to come with her. “I’m Avery, I’m the camp director’s daughter. She said that having someone your age waiting for you would make you feel better than having someone who was an adult. This way, my mother’s car is through that exit directly ahead. Keep up as it gets very cramped and hectic here at LAX.” I stayed as close as I possibly could.

Outside; there was a beautiful view, and a gorgeous luxury car was parked in front of the door Avery and I came out of. We approached the car and she said, put your suitcase in the boot and then get in the car.” I put my suitcase in the trunk and then I climbed into the backseat of the car. As soon as I got in the backseat of the car, Avery said; “So, you mentioned that you had to have your mother fill out two applications one for the camp and another for an all-girls camp in California. Well, the funny thing about that is, both camps are actually one and the same. And the camp for aspiring mothers despite what the website says is ten to twelve months long, so you will be at camp when you go into labor and also when you give birth. Also, do you plan on keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption?” I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure what I should do yet.

We got to the camp and when I stepped out of the car, I thought I was at an Elite Summer Camp for Rich Girls. It turned out; the all-girls camp was actually for Rich Girls. The pregnancy camp was for any aspiring mother that were as young as 6 years of age, regardless of their status and wealth.

Avery became my friend while I was at the camp, and as it turns out, Avery attended the Elite Camp for Rich Girls, but because they were the same camp, Avery and I hung out a lot, whenever I started getting pregnancy cravings, she would help get me whatever I was craving.

While I was at the camp, Avery became more than a friend to me, she treated me like I was royalty, she even introduced me to her rich friends; Giselle and Rhonda. Who despite being rich, were literally nothing like the stuck-up snotty rich girls I had heard about and even seen portrayed on tv. They were very nice, kind and very friendly. They asked me what my last name was, I told them and they did a genealogical dig on my family history, and they discovered that I actually was distantly royal. They discovered that I had three brothers; Edward, Stephen and Alexander from Scotland, on my family tree and their family name was; Dunkeld, as in Alexander “The Fierce” Dunkeld, who was also more commonly known as Alexander The Unifier, as he was known for uniting all of Scotland’s clans and he became king of a unified Scotland. His brother Edward led an invasion force of Scottish soldiers into Western Scotland, which had been seized by the Celts and the Angles. Edward’s youngest brother Stephen made ruler over the newly liberated country, Stephen had a son named Walen, who had been born outside of wedlock, so he had his mother’s family name; Spencer.

Stephen’s son lived for only five years and then got sick and died. In honor of his son, he named the new domain he ruled after his son; Walen Spencer. He dubbed the domain; “Wales”, but none of the inhabitants of the domain nor any other rulers would recognize it as anything other than Western Scotland and later Prydain. However; a few decades later, a new ruler came along and read through the royal archives of the domain called Prydain, and he discovered that the one who had liberated it from the Angles and the Celts had named the domain after his own son, and he named his domain; “Wales”, the new king of Prydain decreed that Prydain would be officially named Wales and all the people of the domain who didn’t recognize it as Wales would be considered as traitors and publicly executed. He also decreed that the date he named Prydain as Wales, would be recognized as a kingdom-wide holiday and it would honor the domain’s first ever ruler; Stephen Dunkeld, who liberated the domain from the Celts and the Angles. And all who didn’t honor Stephen Dunkeld, would be declared a traitor and executed. A small group of Angles and a small number of Celts still remained in the land and they both reported back to the ruler of Éire, and England, that the domain called; Prydain was renamed to Wales, its new ruler was honoring the king who had liberated the land from the Celts and Angles. The king of Wales who had changed the name of Prydain to Wales officially after Stephen Dunkeld had unofficially declared the land was called; Wales and he was its rightful king, the king of Éire and England was none other than Stephen and Alexander’s brother; Edward, he saw Wales as a threat to his rule, and so he decided to attack Wales, his attack was not very powerful, and was pushed back. But several Welshmen were killed in the attack, the attack concluded with a decree from Edward I of England and Éire, that any Welsh men who meet the English in combat will be slaughtered, he said that he would recognize Wales as an independent kingdom if its new king and the welsh people stayed neutral and don’t heed the call to arms by the Scotsmen. The king of Wales decreed that any Welshman who heeds the call to arms of the Scotsmen will be killed for treason. And that the kingdom of Wales will not interfere nor intervene with England’s conquest of Scotland.

Afterwards; Edward I sent a letter to the lord of Éire and said; “Any Celts who answer the call to arms of the Scotsmen shall be considered traitors and are to be killed. And that Éire is not allowed to intervene or interfere with England’s conquest of Scotland.”

As soon as he received word from the king of Wales and the ruler of Éire, Edward I of England, brother of King Stephen of Wales, and Alexander the Unifier of Scotland began his conquest of Scotland. A group of Scotsmen rallied against them and fought back, eventually the English had a full-blown war against the Scotsmen and Edward I was nicknamed; “The Longshanks” by one of the Scotsmen who rallied against him and fought back, a Scotsman named; Uilliam Uallace (William Wallace). Edward I decided that Wallace was the rallying force of the Scotsmen and the primary threat to his conquest of Scotland. So, he made it his mission to find out everything he can about Wallace and then use any weakness he had against him, capture him and then kill him for treason.

So, as fortune had it; Uilliam Uallace was a descendant of Alexander Dunkeld, born to a woman who was from the Uallace clan. Alexander’s brother Stephen had two sons Walen (who died at a young age) and his other son; Uilliam, who married into the Uallace clan, and his wife bare him a son, and named him; Uilliam also. Uilliam Dunkeld lived among the Uallace clan until he was sent to fight in a skirmish against the English, which he lost his life. His son; Uilliam Uallace took up arms against the English and led the rebellion against Edward “The Longshanks”, and he became a prominent member for the conflict that later became known as the Scottish War of Independence.

Avery told me about the genealogical dig she did on my family’s name and what she discovered. I couldn’t believe it, The Dunkeld family of Scotland, Wales and England, the Spencer family of Western Scotland, Prydain and later; Wales, and the Uallace (Wallace) family of Scotland were all interconnected and blood related, and to that day that she told me about my family’s genealogy, the Spencer family of Wales was still blood related to me. Nowadays; the Spencer family is part of the Royal Family of England.

Anyway; while I was at the camp for aspiring mothers in California, I decided to give the baby up for adoption. After I gave birth to a baby girl, they took her and put her up for adoption, I would not be able to have any contact with the child at all, and the people who adopted her couldn’t know who her birth mother was, so in other words; it was a closed adoption.

Anyway; I came back home after ten months of being at the camp. Avery and I still keep in touch to this day although now she is married and both her and her wife live in the state where I live. As it turns out, her wife is; Giselle, one of her friends from camp. And last year; I received a knock at my door around 10:30 PM on the exact same date that I gave birth to the daughter I gave up for adoption while I was at the camp in California, and a young woman with red hair and brown eyes was at the door. “Hi, is this the home of [my birth name that has been legally changed]?” She asked. I answered. “I have since changed my name legally, but yes, that is me. Why do you ask?” She looked at me, smiled and said; “I’m Ophelia and I believe that you’re my birth mother. At least; that what this file says.” She hands me the file, I open and read the file in its entirety and discover that she had been born on the exact same date that I gave birth to my daughter who I gave up for adoption. Her birth mother gave birth to her at a camp for aspiring mothers in California, and that her mother came to that camp from the state where I live, and lived at the address, which I put on the application form. She came to the exact address, state and everything, and said that she thinks I’m her birth mother.

When I realized what happened; I decided to invite her inside, told her to go upstairs and find a place to sit. I stepped outside and made a phone call to Avery. “Hey what’s up?” I asked her if she had the contact info for the adoption agency that my daughter had been taken to for her to be put up for adoption. She said she did and asked me why. “A young woman who has to be at least 18 years of age, showed up at my door just a couple minutes ago and said she thinks I am her birth mother. I need to contact the adoption agency and ask them if they gave any information to a woman with her name, if they did than that would mean…” I took a deep breath and as I did Avery said to me; “She would in fact be your daughter!” Avery gave me the adoption agency‘s contact information and then I thanked her, and then hung up. After hanging up; I dialed the phone number for the adoption agency, and then when someone answered I asked the question; “Hi, my name is not important, I’m calling to find out if a young woman by the name of Ophelia came in there and ask for any information about who her birth mother is?” The woman on the other end of the phone gasped. “Yes, in fact I handed her a file all about her birth mother, she thanked me, and then as she left I overheard something about she was going to find her birth mother. May I ask why you are calling and asking about that?” I answered; “Because a young woman named; Ophelia just showed up at my house in the middle of the night and claims that I’m her birth mother!”

The woman on the other end apologized, then said; “We cannot withhold information about an individual’s adoption or their birth parents from them even if it was a closed adoption, once they are the legal age of 18, we must provide them with information about their birth parents if they ask.”

I sighed and then said; “So, Ophelia is my daughter then?” The woman on the other end answered; “Yes.”

Thank you to all who made this possible; Sunset now has a dedicated home! It is much faster and has a lot more RAM. Yay.

I have some exciting news!

1) Sunset will now run Monthly Themed Prompt Memes. July's is open now, and the theme is ELEMENTS!!! You can go check it out and prompt here.

2) I am running our second exchange! It's a 300 word minimum, low pressure vibe. We have 15 request slots with the new server. Make good, or evil, use of your extra 5 >:) Noms are open now. Check it out here!

3) The Expanding Sunset Interest Check is still open.

This blog was created for the purpose of boosting events that allow for femslash fanworks.

Thank you to all who made this possible; Sunset now has a dedicated home! It is much faster and has a lot more RAM. Yay.

I have some exciting news!

1) Sunset will now run Monthly Themed Prompt Memes. July's is open now, and the theme is ELEMENTS!!! You can go check it out and prompt here.

2) I am running our second exchange! It's a 300 word minimum, low pressure vibe. We have 15 request slots with the new server. Make good, or evil, use of your extra 5 >:) Noms are open now. Check it out here!

3) The Expanding Sunset Interest Check is still open.

Autistic Barbie 💜

A few months ago I made a post on dolls with disabilities that many of you seemed to like, there were two dolls with autism mentioned (Twyla and Hayden) but now Barbie has just released a new autistic Barbie in partnership with ASAN!

ASAN also made it a point to have the doll be a woman of colour as these two groups typically tend to go underdiagnosed.

Hear me OUT

Nobody on Earth is angrier than a man who spent his entire life believing the world belonged to him and then discovered other people wanted a seat at the table.

That is the beating heart of your movement.

The anger.

The endless, exhausting, screaming anger.

You are angry at women for having standards. Angry at Black people for speaking honestly about racism. Angry at immigrants for existing. Angry at queer people for being visible.

Angry at trans people for refusing to disappear. Angry at teachers, books, universities, journalists, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and pretty much anyone who doesn’t spend their entire day telling you how special you are.

For a group of men who never stop talking about strength, you sure seem emotionally held together by duct tape and conspiracy theories.

You call yourselves patriots while treating a politician like a messiah.

You call yourselves defenders of freedom while trying to decide which freedoms everyone else should lose. You call yourselves tough while having complete public meltdowns over pronouns, rainbow flags, diversity programs, women saying “no,” and the horrifying possibility that somebody somewhere might not agree with you.

That’s not strength.

That’s a tantrum with a voting record.

You walk around convinced you’re the last real men on Earth, yet so much of your identity revolves around feeling victimized. Every election is stolen. Every criticism is persecution. Every consequence is oppression. Every disagreement is an attack. Every fact you don’t like is fake.

At some point you have to ask yourselves a difficult question:

If literally everyone is lying to you except the politicians, influencers, grifters, and rage merchants making money from your outrage, who exactly is being played?

Because somebody is.

And it isn’t the people you spend all day blaming.

The truth is that many of you were raised to believe being a man meant being in charge. Being obeyed. Being centered. Being catered to. Being respected automatically. Nobody told you that respect is earned.

Nobody told you that women are not required to admire you. Nobody told you that equality wasn’t an attack on you.

Then the world changed.

Women found their voices.

Black people stopped whispering.

Queer people stopped hiding.

And instead of adapting, too many of you chose resentment.

Instead of learning, you chose rage.

Instead of listening, you chose conspiracy.

Instead of becoming better men, you decided to become louder ones.

The result is a movement powered almost entirely by grievance. A movement where grown men spend their days furious at strangers on the internet, terrified of books, obsessed with culture wars, and convinced that every problem in their lives was caused by somebody with less power than they have.

That shit would be funny if it wasn’t hurting real people.

You are not rebels.

You are not revolutionaries.

You are not victims.

You are angry men clinging to a version of the world where your comfort mattered more than everyone else’s humanity.

And every day that world gets a little smaller.

That’s what you’re really angry about.

Not freedom.

Not patriotism.

Not America.

The fact that the rest of the world no longer wants to revolve around you.

Sincerely,

The Classics

Browse works by Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and other famous authors here.

Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.

The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.

Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.

Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.

Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.

Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.

Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.

Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.

The Spectator Project: Montclair State University’s project features full-text, online versions of The Spectator and The Tatler.

Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.

Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.

Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.

Fiction.us: Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.

Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.

Textbooks

If you don’t absolutely need to pay for your textbooks, save yourself a few hundred dollars by reviewing these sites.

Textbook Revolution: Find biology, business, engineering, mathematics and world history textbooks here.

Wikibooks: From cookbooks to the computing department, find instructional and educational materials here.

KnowThis Free Online Textbooks: Get directed to stats textbooks and more.

Online Medical Textbooks: Find books about plastic surgery, anatomy and more here.

Online Science and Math Textbooks: Access biochemistry, chemistry, aeronautics, medical manuals and other textbooks here.

MIT Open Courseware Supplemental Resources: Find free videos, textbooks and more on the subjects of mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry and more.

Flat World Knowledge: This innovative site has created an open college textbooks platform that will launch in January 2009.

Free Business Textbooks: Find free books to go along with accounting, economics and other business classes.

Light and Matter: Here you can access open source physics textbooks.

eMedicine: This project from WebMD is continuously updated and has articles and references on surgery, pediatrics and more.