I Am Completely Serious

I know I need to stop looking at the #affectedbyhate tag. And I'm going to! Soon!

But there have been at least eight distinct confirmed pseuecides. In five days. It's been the asshole World Series, I think the one who sprained her nose won?

Under the cut are sloppy summaries of each fake death I'm aware of, with excerpts. I put some of this on FFA earlier while this vital archival work was still in progress.

( cwinchster2000 )

( kingfrerin/Anthea/brvnner )

( d—e—s—t—i—e—l )

( randomawkwardawesome )

( queen-of-the-rising-demons )

( paintedcastiel/insecurecharlie )

( simormonroe + wearejustalike )

( whiskeyjensen )

( BONUS - rainbowcas )

The affectedbyhate tag is the most morbidly-fascinating thing. Most of the people posting in it are plainly not in any actual emotional distress - or, no more so than when they’re watching a moderately affecting episode of their TV show, anyway. It’s become a role-playing game with clearly-defined parameters. There are

* healing abilities (sending supportive asks)

* buffs (gained occasionally as a bonus from supportive asks or doing online anxiety-relieving tasks from those lists)

* “Safe Houses” (blogs open to requests for supportive asks - basically healing fountains?)

* missions/quests (going on Omegle to “collect information” or try to “save” imaginary people from self-harming or committing suicide)

* mobs (anon hate mail people send themselves or their friends/acquaintances, which you have to “defeat” by responding to as if it actually bothers you but you’re being brave)

* negative status effects (…the ostensible desire to self-harm. Uh.)

* loss of HP (…ostensible actual self-harm and suicide attempts.)

* bosses (hackers who “force” people to commit pseuicide)

A dreadful mass hysteria-themed ARG has generated spontaneously, as mice do in dirty corners.

…So, yeah, this is all pretty fucked-up! Insincere performative suffering of the sort on display in the tag sets a standard which people who are actually suffering cannot ordinarily meet, both because they do not know the genre rules - the genre rules now on in effect are quite strict - and because they do not have the energy to put on a little show.

(See also: people who are so emotionally affected by the constructed narratives of cancer fakers that they don’t care about actual cancer patients. The actual cancer patients are not telling the story right. There need to be, like, photos of your bald head while you wanly hug a pink stuffed bear with “Susan G. Komen” embroidered on there! Come on, step up your game!)

Also, depressed kids who do not realize that this shit is constructed might be influenced by the contrived air of despair and apparent normalization of self-harm and suicide attempts to actually hurt themselves.

While most of the people actively posting in the tag seem to be in on the game, not everyone who’s seeing these posts is also seeing their bizarre context - they’re just seeing their friends apparently melting down in despair.