#rpcpositivitea

[rpcpositivitea]

narrowsgate has been repeatedly called out for transphobia and for platforming terfs. sappho recently kicked a bunch of trans members out of their server for opposing it. please don't platform them on positivetea and delete your positive posts. if you search tumblr, you'll find multiple posts about it.

narrowsgate, sappho, bastion, and scratch have all been blacklisted. further details below the cut.

trigger warnings are included for transphobia, bigotry, lesbophobia/homophobia, abuse, and suicidal ideation.

i took a few days to review this, and i appreciate your patience while i did so. given tumblr's unreliable search function, i made an effort to thoroughly look into the matter and also reached out to individuals i knew to have direct experience with the site. for transparency, i did not contact narrowsgate, its staff or members, or those who originally posted about the situation here on tumblr.

based on what i've found, i will be privatizing all posts related to narrowsgate except for this one. if anyone has clarifying information or direct proof for or against these allegations, my messages are open. however, i will only consider messages from people off anon in this matter. i understand this may be frustrating, but given the severity of these claims and the number of people corroborating them, i believe there is enough reason to blacklist narrowsgate on rpcpositivitea for the sake of community safety, at least for now. i am not deleting the posts but making them private, leaving room for reevaluation if credible information comes forward.

i want to reiterate: rpcpositivitea is a positivity blog. this space exists to uplift each other and share the joy in this hobby. i don't do gossip, harm, or call-outs, and i will never allow bigotry of any kind.

to be absolutely clear: there is nothing positive about transphobia.

at this moment in history, with escalating attacks on human rights in the united states and worldwide, silence is complicity. true allyship requires action, not passivity. we must be willing to stand up for one another. with this in mind, i can't sit back and wait for clarification to come to me. i have to act now for the safety of this community, which is why i am making this post public. agree or disagree, i will never be on the side of transphobia.

all of that said, i sincerely hope these allegations are a misunderstanding or stem from ignorance rather than intentional harm. if so, they can be addressed, bridges can be built, and people can learn. but if what has been alleged is true, then transphobia, in any form, has no place in our communities, individual or collective, or on this blog. in this situation, i am choosing safety over uncertainty, despite any hope i may have.

have a good day, rpc. let's all strive to do better, so posts like this don't have to keep being made.

—

edit, approximately eight hours later:

for now, the blacklist will remain in place, regardless of whether the site has been 'reclaimed.'

i've received a lot of submissions about this situation, and the volume and nature of these messages have left me feeling unsettled. the latest submission suggested that those accusing others of transphobia are actually manipulating things, committing lesbophobia and harassment, and using their identities to avoid accountability while trying to take over the site. the formal confirmation of that final point does complicate things as well.

i've also received reports that the two main people accusing others of transphobia have been guilty of these actions in the past, as well as other harm, abuse, and harassment. it's also been reported that they've previously used their identities to avoid responsibility, labeling others with transphobia to have their actions ignored while further harming the other party, though it's unclear whether that's the case in this situation or if sappho's actions actually fit that label. i'm only mentioning this for transparency, but let me be clear: everything shared with me has been contradictory, so please take it with a grain of salt. i just want to acknowledge why the blacklist has not only stood but extended, given the lack of clarity and severity of the allegations on both sides.

since this post went live, the new information has led me to blacklist not just sappho and narrowsgate, but also bastion and scratch. everything about this is unclear, and because of that, it doesn't feel right to remove them from the blacklist at this time. the reality is, this situation is messy and harmful, and while i hope everyone can heal and find peace, i now won't be removing them from the blacklist even if the site moves forward with bastion and scratch in charge instead of sappho. i've also privatized all posts about sappho, bastion, and scratch, as well as narrowsgate as i had already. it was incredibly sad to do this, considering many of them showed a longstanding friendship between the three, with them coming to me to raise one another up frequently. still, from what i've seen, both sides have their faults and there's been very little positivity to be found here.

the main point is that there's never an excuse for transphobia or any form of bigotry — but also, honestly, i'm not the rp police. i run a positivity blog, i don't have a personal stake in any of this and i'd much prefer to just stay out of it. so, that's where i'll leave it unless credible sources come forward off anon, as mentioned in the original post. keep in mind: off anon. the anon messages in my inbox currently will all be deleted shortly. this is because there's no credibility there. i'm sorry if this is upsetting, i really am.

my greatest hope in this situation is that everyone can move on, find peace, and heal. i hope this is the last time i have to edit this, as well.

lastly, i want to say good luck to everyone suffering through this and involved in any way. taking away the actions reported on both sides, underneath everything is a longstanding, seemingly deep friendship that was lost in a truly horrible way. that always comes with pain, which is then doubled considering how this has all transpired. i hope they all are taking some time for themselves and to mourn as it deserves.

additionally, given some of the things that have been submitted, i hope whoever is reading this knows that the world is better with them in it. i urge you to look up resources for dealing with suicidal thoughts if you are suffering through that. if others' actions are pushing you to feel an increase in those feelings, i am begging you to remove yourself from the situation entirely. block them, turn off your devices, go be around a loved one who can ground you and distract you or do whatever you need to do in order to survive. i love you, and i am so sorry you are dealing with these thoughts. please, don't listen to them. nothing is worth ending your life for and, as much as i love this hobby and focus on the joy here, that always includes rp. please seek help if you need it. i may not be a professional, so i will always recommend a hotline or chat service instead, but also my messages are open if you need someone to talk you through it. please do whatever it takes to keep yourself safe.

[rpcpositivitea]

not positivity

i do not want tattler or anyone else bashed. i said that in the tags i added to the post. i never want anyone bashed. i even said i did not feel i was the right place to platform the message and admitted that immediately.

i just also realize that some things are incredibly important, such as the posts that were submitted to me about the realities of the mental health crises being created by posts just like this one.

this hobby should not make you want to kill yourself. no hobby should make you want to kill yourself. no one should be purposefully setting out to make someone want that, in any capacity.

sometimes positivity is shouting out a great member in the community, or a site, or a code. sometimes it is acknowledging hurt and giving space and understanding, as well as a reminder that the person is not alone. sometimes it can even be existing as a void and taking in messages that will never be posted, as requested, so someone can have somewhere to say it. i have done all three, for a long time now.

i just cannot in good conscience see a submission saying that someone wants to or has wanted to kill themselves and ignore it. what kind of person would that make me, to see a cry for help and an admittance of darkness and refuse them?

i am sorry you feel i am not positive or doing positivity the way you would. i welcome others to take up the torch and bring more positivity blogs into our hobby. i know i may not be as active as the tea blogs, but i am here and i do not see this little niche i live in as some one person only part of the web. i would welcome others to platform goodness, to give a mic to kindness, to stand behind positivity. i think that would be beautiful.

and the truth is, now more than ever, we need it.

the truth is i wish more than anything that the reality was that these things were not being submitted, that people did not feel that way, that it was not so common. but it is, and that is heartbreaking. and i just cannot in good conscience ignore that message. i am sorry that upsets you, but it was how that set on my heart, and trust me i thought for a while about it.

i do my best and always have. i cannot do more than that. i am sorry if tattler is offended. they know who i am and where my messages are, i am happy to apologize for any upset and discuss whatever they may want. i hope they would know that.

otherwise, i am going to continue letting my heart lead the way and hope that the positivity continues to spread. i have always set out with the same mission, and i will continue that. maybe i will get it wrong sometimes, and i will apologize because the truth is i am also just a person behind this screen, but it is always with trying my best to get it right and put that mission at the center of each action.

i hope that it shows.

have a good day, rpc.

rpcpositivitea preaches positivity. no posting negativity. no bashing anyone. only happy things. except when it comes to tattler lmao. tattler doesn't count. bash away

.

[xoxo-rpc]

@rpcpositivitea’s blog:

[therpcadvice]

rules.

please be kind and respectful. anything hateful, racist, anti-lgbtqia+, or all around harmful will be deleted.

this is not a vent* blog. please check out therpctea for vents and rants! additonally, check out rpcpositivitea for some positive vibes.

you can post on or off anon.

do not name drop specific individuals or members of sites.

please keep questions and discussions about the rpc only.

rules are subject to change at any time.

[rpcpositivitea]

once again, everyone, apologies for going away from our regularly scheduled positivity but, we're going to be addressing this one.

i am not a staff member or person on oj. honestly, i had never heard of oj until the submission came in. but, if we're going to spread misinformation, i'm just going to make the information available. i am, for the record, taking this submission about the situation as permission to share what i was given, to clarify this situation since the submitter tried to spin this so wildly, including information they specifically did the opposite of.

here's what happened: someone anonymous sent in a post about oj in a positive way. i had never seen or heard of oj. i tagged and posted form the information in the post. honestly, didn't think of it again until the next day, when i got this anonymous message:

racism, on a site i'm sharing with the people wanting positivity in our rpc? absolutely not, that is a full blacklist from my blog if true. we don't do that here. that's bigotry and there is no space for bigots. period.

so, even if the submitter didn't expect me to do any research, i set out to. i opened up google and searched for "jcink orange juice". i found the site. i looked for the events that was current. i found a few different events open. i looked through them. one was obviously the one that was written in about, which was basically a masquerade ball hosted by some rich white family. i looked for proof of the claims in the submission.

what i found was that in the guest list was entire sports teams and their spouses being invited, a bunch of rich families, random character names, ect which were all pretty commonplace and didn't strike me as "white only" as well as everyone given a plus one and to just say who it was. i also found a note saying if you thought your character should go to let staff know and they would add them. after that in the replies themselves there were admittedly an inequality of white characters to characters of color but characters of color were saying they would be there. then i looked at the member list and it was a site that had an overall inequality of white characters to characters of color, so the replies seemed consistent with the overall membership.

this is unfortunately and unfairly common in the rpc, so it didn't shout "racist" to me in the way the submission was saying. i then looked through the site for proof of this "they can only be hired help" thing and couldn't find it anywhere. notably i did not join their discord so if it's in there that would be the reason for that, but given what i could see on the site i had no reason to think these claims were true. that doesn't mean they weren't, it just meant at the time that i needed more proof from the submitter since they knew where to find all of these things. i posted this because of that:

and this includes the original post where people were showing it love for transparency.

anyway, past that no one has reached out to me at all. no one has submitted anything else about it. no one sent any proof. without any proof, i have no way of knowing these claims are true in order to enact that ban. without proof of the racism you are claiming, i can't just "someone anonymously said you were racist and, when i was looking for it i couldn't find it, but they said it so i trust them" and ban an entire site. that would not be fair, at all. unfortunately, another common thing that sucks, is that burden of proof is on the victim not on the accused.

without proof, i cannot just ban sites willy nilly. i won't do that. this is a positive space, for anyone to submit in about. i do not know 99.999% of the sites and people submitted to me. i just throw a heart and toss it into the sunshine for others to enjoy and bask in.

i'm sorry you think i'm part of that site, but i'm not. i just could not find proof of your claims and i can't do anything without proof but if you could provide proof of those claims i would be banning them because that behavior is absolutely unacceptable in our community. all of which i said in my post. the issue is i cannot help without any proof, and you submitted none.

once again i welcome proof of the claims but i will not tolerate being smeared just because you didn't want to do so and i, also not knowing you, didn't take your accusations as fact. if you don't want to provide proof that's totally fine but don't attack a positive place because of it.

again, proof is still being accepted. if it's true, let me know. i don't even have to post the proof, if that's the case i would just add them to my list of blacklisted sites/people, delete posts about them, and keep it pushing, same as i have for the ones previously on the list that no one but their submitters know are banned. i also don't reveal my list because this isn't the space for that. these are just parts of, again, keeping the positive blog with just positives which is what i have tried to do for years now.

the truth is if a site is behaving this way it is not welcome here. there is nothing positive about bigotry and i will not share it. on the other side of that though is that with anonymous submissions also comes untrue submissions and i can't just trust you on any of this to ban the site and label them as racist. both of these truths can exist simultaneously and neither takes away from the other.

anyway i appreciate any and all understanding in this case and hope this clarifies things. hopefully this will be the last time something like this happens. my asks and messages are both open but i will be tabling all discussion surrounding this until proof comes forward because of what has already been outlined. this is a place for positives only and i am tired of anything else having to be on it.

rpc positivitea is a staff member on oj or one of their admin pets. the post about oj is fake and i contacted them to do their research. they claimed they did then asked to contact privately. i have zero faith that it isn't some oj ass kisser or staff trying to cover up the racism on that site.

~

[rpcpositivitea]

shout out to the person reading this. if you need to hear it, this is for you. i think a lot of people want to be complimented without being singled out, so take what fits and make it your own:

shout out to the person that just did a bunch of posts in a row, because muse hit hard and you were excited about what you owed

shout out to the person who hasn't gotten to write in a while, but still bounces around the rpc until you find your rp home

shout out to the person who just did a post they weren't excited about, not in a bad way so much as it was hard to find the muse but you did it anyway so you wouldn't have to keep your writing partner waiting

shout out to the person who just left a site they loved because of real life

shout out to the person who shouted someone else out without ever seeing their name pop up in return, or even being found out as being the one behind it

shout out to the person who just left a site at all tbh, because it's never fun even if you don't like the site

shout out to the person thinking about getting into or back into the rpc

shout out to the person thinking about getting out of it, i know how hard that feeling is and i'm sending you lots of love

shout out to the person that is waiting patiently for posts because they know their writing partner can't right now, for any reason

shout out to the admin that wishes they had more time to write while also managing to be super excited about how much staff work they have because of member excitement

shout out to the admin of the site that just opened, and the one that just closed

shout out to the person working on a site right now

shout out to the coder trying so hard to bring a design above their skill level to life

shout out to the coder trying so hard to bring any idea to life, because it's never super simple and that's okay

shout out to the coder who is trying to bring someone else's idea to life, because that is even harder sometimes

shout out to the person who said something nice to someone else today

shout out to the person who needs it, you know who you are

and shout out to you, for being here, because honestly? that's enough, and it's okay to let that be enough

and, hey, if you have something to add? let me know in the comments, or my ask box if that's a little too public right now. <3

[rpcpositivitea]

after about 150 hate messages in my inbox, i'm going to be taking a small break. i will let the queue run through with only the positive messages i have currently and will come back to queue other positive ones in a couple of weeks. during this time i plan to think on how to address this going forward. i will run a poll with the different options i come up with when the time comes. thanks for understanding.

[rpcpositivitea]

to the person spamming me about their negative interactions with burnie, i had your first message queued originally but after the second "you protect them to protect yourself" nonsense message, especially considering i have had the 'not positivity' tag for a while now, i'm deleting it. i'm sorry for what you went through and i'm sorry about your bad interactions with the tea blogs, but attacking others isn't the answer and i won't be party to it.

[rpcpositivitea]

i need to remember to check this blog more often than anything else in the rpc. it's so easy to get swept up in the tea blogs and all the toxic behavior they create. but there's also so many wonderful people in the rpc, and probably more than those who use the tea blogs to tear people down. thank you for creating a positive space.

<3

[rpcpositivitea]

Dear Blog Master Person, I've been away, but I'm glad to see you're still around. I always feel downright protected reading this blog--I know nothing is going to exhaust or upset me, and I know I'm going to feel energized by the camaraderie. Tumblr seems particularly hard to keep up with to me--so thank you for maintaining this and for being a conduit of RPC kindness. You don't have to post this. I meant it for you!

i know you said i don't have to post this, and i'm sorry if i read it incorrectly and you meant that you did not want me to, but this made me smile... and i want that to be in this void, too. so i can look back on it and smile at it again. thank you, friend <3

[rpcpositivitea]

thank you for this blog. thank you for spreading positivity even when it's not that positive. I know it's hard to be one of the few looking at the bright side but this blog brings so many people happiness. thank you for having a positive light in a dark hobby.

there is always positivity somewhere. it gets good at hiding, in the dark, but it is out there. and it is waiting for you.

thank you for being a part of it, for spreading it, and for being here.

<3

[rpcpositivitea]

tw: suicide

it takes so much energy to be mean, so I hope the rpc will eventually realize that and choose to be kind. you never know what someone is going through, and harsh words could be the final breaking point in someone's life. tattler has nearly caused (or possibly has caused, we have no idea) those that have been attacked to consider taking their own lives. do you really want to be known in your heart as a cyber bully? how can you even begin to justify what you're doing? a personal confrontation is the answer, not a dogpile.

be kind to each other, rpc. don't give in to tattler again.

<3

[rpcpositivitea]

March is Reading Month so how about shouting out our favorite writers across the community?

please participate in this! our community has so many amazing writers, what a wonderful idea <3

[rpcpositivitea]

i saw this on facebook and thought it should be shared here: “I hope next year treats you kindly, but above all else, I hope you treat you kindly.”

happy new year, rpc. i think we’ve all made it into the first now, and wanted to make sure with that came a gentle note that spreading positivity often needs reminder of including one’s self. love you <3

[rpcpositivitea]

there are so many different holidays we all celebrate and share this time of year, and i am in the christmas gang so i wanted to take a moment this christmas eve to wish everyone in the rpc a happy holiday season.

whether you celebrate hanukkah, kwanzaa, boxing day, las posadas, three kings day, yule, zarathosht diso, christmas, any of the other holidays this season, or even just the new year, i hope your holiday is wonderful and that you enjoy it to the fullest.

have a great day, rpc.

[rpcpositivitea]

Thank you for helping spread some positive lights in the rpc community. This is so much more important than people realize. Love it!

thank you for being part of the positivity <3