IMPORTANT POST: FiMFiction Harassment and the Story So Far · 7:23pm Jul 19th, 2017
TRIGGER WARNING: Cyberstalking and other cases of Internet creepiness will be discussed in this post.
As much as I would love for this to be a congratulatory post about reaching 200 followers (which I'm still immensely grateful for), there's a more important issue at hand that I feel you ought to be aware of. I don't mean for this to be any sort of sob story, and it's embarrassing for me to talk about even now, but I want to make sure you're all safe. If any of you has received any sort of communication from me that seems "off" in any way, whether through comments or messages, this explanation's for you.
Over a year ago, I met another FiMFiction user who lives close to me. He claimed to have met me at a convention, I didn't remember seeing him, but figured there are so many people at these things that I'd just forgot. We exchanged phone numbers and texted each other for a few months, and I even offered to edit for one of his stories. Everything seemed to be going well for us...until he asked me if I wanted to go out with him.
Now, as nice as he seemed to be then, I was still getting over a bad breakup when he asked and I was in no hurry to get back in the relationship pool. Sure enough, that was when a lot of the weird stuff started to happen. It'd started when I'd put my FiMFiction username on my Facebook, and he'd been able to hack into my Messenger through that. Once I started getting interested in guys again, he'd send them messages that I wasn't able to see. All I knew was that they were reacting strangely, as if I'd said something horribly wrong. I had no clue what was going on, and I was always afraid that people I knew would get mad at me for seemingly no reason. By the time I found out I was hacked, I had no clue of what was real and what wasn't. It shattered my trust in a lot of people for a good amount of time. I even felt like I lost my best friend over it.
The last case had been early this year, and once my family and I figured out what was going on, we were able to arrange for a restraining order. However, a week ago, a bombshell happened that made us realize that this was far from over. Another strange message had shown up on Messenger, and the person who'd received it briefly mentioned IP addresses. We did a bit of research and, even though I have no clue how such a thing had been possible, he had obtained my IP address. No one's sure if he did it through hacking or through standing outside my house (keep in mind, he lives less than an hour away from me), but either way, with my IP address, he was effectively able to impersonate me without anyone knowing. If it wouldn't have been for that person bringing up IP addresses, none of us would've known. The night I found this out was one of the most terrifying I've had in a long time.
So, here's the latest update: the police have called, and he will be punished for breaking the restraining order. All the family computers have changed IP addresses to ensure nothing like this happens again. I just got an amazing new job, so I'm getting by. But the consequences of hacking and cyberstalking--things mainly seen in the media as "cool" spy movie stuff--still haunt me.
When I set out writing If You Give a Little Love, I'd only heard about cases like Coco's in books. I'd never been in any of the twisted abuse situations she's put through in the story. But there's a huge difference between writing this stuff and living it, and as a person who's never liked real-life drama, it scared me to my core. Maybe I'll find a way to incorporate it into my writing someday. But for now, I'm giving it my best and easing back into trust now that he's gone. Because, after all, it's what my characters would do.
And fictional or not, I'll never let Moselying acts go on if I have anything to say about it!
I'm sorry this happened to you. Hopefully everything will work out in the end!
Holy shit, that's terrible. I'm sorry something like that happened to you, and here's hoping that things improve for you from here.
*hug* thats so wrong in so many ways.
Yikes, that's harrowing. I'm glad you're okay and that things are turning up from here.
Holy Hell... That's just... God, I have no words. (Hugs)
You go, girl. Show that guy who's boss.
Everyone says they are sorry this happened to you. But I don't have enough detail on the mater to make up my mind. You rejected him, he became obsessed. Then you threw in a restraining order. I don't know, did you talk to him? Because things seemed to have escalated after the restraining order to me. A restraining order is a big deal, It's a potential career killer to anyone. He is an asshole for slandering you because you rejected him. But this could have all have been avoided if you went with a few friends for extra personal protection to his place, tell him straight that you just aren't interested in him that way.
Of course you should have done that before the restraining order.
Now, it's all gone to hell.
Best thing to do is to just have him arrested. Hell I would have beaten the shit out of him free of charge. That or stalk him and get recorded evidence of him actually slandering you, or talking about like a sane private eye would, so you have something to give to the cops.
But unfortunately as far as I know you are outside of my operating area, and I think that I forgot to renew my license.... Oops.
Anyway, take care of yourself. And move, maybe.
I'm a dick all right! Sue me for trying to be impartial and actually give something more solid than a hug or a "that's terrible, or a an "I'm so sorry that happened to you" type of speech.
I take care of my friends. All right? I don't just send you a pity message and leave you to your doomed fate.
Which is funny because that is exactly what I'm forced to do thanks to the fact that you actually are so far away.
Curse thy poverty and time constraints!