I’ve told this story on Lemmy a couple of times since being banned from Blahaj Zone, and I’ll tell it again.

I once posted a meme to a Blahaj community I moderated in which someone named Obvious_Troll@hexbear.net was attacking a trans person. It was a political meme, and I’ll try to avoid saying what the political viewpoint was so that this thread doesn’t get derailed. But as part of the meme, Obvious_Troll was being transphobic, and the reader was expected to agree that transphobia is bad and Obvious_Troll is… an obvious troll. The username wasn’t actually important to the meme, I was just including a picture of a Lemmy comment and had to include a name, so I made one up.

Ada then messaged me to say that the post would be removed unless I redacted Obvious_Troll’s name. Ada said that Obvious_Troll is a real, trans lemmy user, and I’m not to attack them. There is nobody on hexbear named Obvious_Troll, I made that username up.

Read bottom to top:

So Ada defended a fictional transphobic troll, deciding they were trans for some reason. The troll’s username was not the point of the meme, the point was what they were saying. So I made up a nonsense username to support the point of the meme. I don’t think anyone would choose the username Obvious_Troll unless they wanted to be seen as a troll. As near as I can tell, Ada defended Obvious_Troll because they were from Hexbear, and Ada seems to think every Hexbear user is trans. Even a made-up one who wants to be seen as a troll and who harasses trans people. Why did Ada hyperfocus on the instance name, and not notice that the username was ridiculous? I don’t know. I don’t understand it.

Blahaj is intended to be a safe space for trans people. And Ada’s intention with asking for redaction of this fake made up name was, somehow, to protect a trans person. And that’s good. But it’s really weird that Ada thought the way to protect trans people, is by defending fictional transphobic trolls.

EDIT: So, the discussion got derailed not by politics as I expected, but by Ada claiming Obvious_Troll is a real person again. Here’s the original post in which Obvious_Troll is being transphobic and the reader is supposed to agree that transphobia is bad:

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    I once posted a meme to a Blahaj community I moderated in which someone named Obvious_Troll@hexbear.net

    Hexbear was defederated from Blahaj Zone long before you were active here, so your recollection is flawed.

    If you’re talking about the person I think, then that account is from aussie.zone, where they still have an active account, which would be unlikely if it was simply a troll account.

    If it is the person I think, then they were accused of being a troll because they used pronouns that many people found challenging.

    I’m not going to gatekeep pronouns. If someone trolls, I’ll respect their pronouns even as I ban then

    If you’ve got an issue with that, blahaj.zone was never the right space for you. If that’s “fedidrama” for you, then blahaj.zone was never the right space for you.

      • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 months ago

        As near as I can tell, Ada defended Obvious_Troll because they were from Hexbear, and Ada seems to think every Hexbear user is trans

        There are no hexbear based accounts on blahaj.zone and have not been for a long time.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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          2 months ago

          Yes, it was a meme. It was fiction. There wasn’t really a user called Obvious_Troll@hexbear.net, they never existed. They don’t have an account on aussie.zone because they’re imaginary. There was never a debate about their pronouns because I made them up. They only existed in the meme you asked me to censor their name from.

          • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            2 months ago

            So you “ironically” posted a transphobic meme, in response to nothing in particular, and the drama is that it was moderated?

            I’ll stand by my original comment. If you take issue with that, then blahaj.zone was never the space for you. I would do it again

            • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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              2 months ago

              The meme was about how transphobia is bad. You asked me to censor Obvious_Troll’s name because I was framing Obvious_Troll’s transphobic opinion as bad. You decided the fictional transphobic troll is actually a real trans person I was attacking, so you asked me to censor their name. Come on, I explained all of this in the post body which you keep quoting, and there’s you in the screenshot clearly stating that I’m “encouraging dumping on that person”, who is the fictional transphobic troll. I can understand you not remembering something that happened a couple months ago, but I explained it all in the post, and you can see it. Can you… do you lack the ability to tell the difference between facts and fiction? Is that what’s going on? I’m just bewildered by this conversation. It’s like you’re only reading one in every 10 words and just jumping between random conclusions.

                • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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                  2 months ago

                  That’s after I said the name was fake. Ada started out thinking Obvious_Troll was a real person, and only realised they were fake when I said so. Then she changed her request to censoring the instance instead of the person. You need to read the screenshot bottom to top, because Lemmy puts more recent private messages at the top. I know it’s annoying.

            • Blaze (he/him)@feddit.org
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              2 months ago

              I reread your message again, and it makes sense that even if the username is made up, it’s better to not mention a specific instance in this kind of posts.

              You made a reasonable request.

    • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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      2 months ago

      What? Aussie zone? Pronouns? What? Am I witnessing a stroke?

      I made the troll up. They don’t exist! There is no account with that username. What are you talking about?

      • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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        2 months ago

        They’re not. I made them up for a meme. I created a meme where someone said a bad opinion, and I gave them the fake username Obvious_Troll because I wanted the reader to think they were obviously a troll. If Obvious_Troll is real, can you give me a link to their profile? Any of their posts?

        • Blaze (he/him)@feddit.org
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          2 months ago

          I’m talking about the aussie.zone user with the specific pronouns. I just read a thread from a while ago about their pronouns, you are actually in that thread too.

          I can’t find the meme you mention in the OP as it has been removed, but it might be that Ada thought you were speaking about that person and asked you to remove that mention.

          We’ll probably never know as you’ve been banned and your posts removed.

          • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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            2 months ago

            I still have a copy of the meme. I didn’t want to post it here because I didn’t want this thread to be an argument over politics, but I see we’re already derailed with Ada claiming the meme actually happened. This is the meme:

            See? The username is Obvious_Troll. This has nothing to do with any aussie.zone user. The troll’s pronouns are not a topic of discussion in the meme. As you can see in the screenshot of my conversation with Ada a month ago (actually probably two months now, that’s an old screenshot), we were talking about a Spider-Man glasses meme. This is that meme. The person in the meme doesn’t exist.

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    Ok, now I recognise the scenario you are talking about, I’ll respond with specifics.

    These are the messages I sent you, when you reached out to me asking to set up a community on blahaj.zone

    Despite these messages, after you created the community, the second post you made to the it was a meme targeting hexbear.

    tl;dr, The conditions were clear. You agreed to them. You then ignored them. The only drama here is of your making

    You were acting in bad faith when you reached out, and you’re acting in bad faith now

    • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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      2 months ago

      This post isn’t about the instance the fictional troll is from. I made a post with a transphobic troll in it, and picked a username, instance, and post name that fit with the message. I picked a silly name for an obvious troll, a silly post title for a post about abstaining over Palestine, and a silly instance for the troll to be from. I didn’t really think any deeper about the association than “Troll needs an instance, I’ll pick the one known for having trolls”. And when you asked me to redact the instance, I did, and the post remained up until you deleted the community. I always followed the rules and did as you told me on Blahaj. This post isn’t about the instance redaction, that has always been a non-issue. This post is about you seeing a meme about a fictional transphobic troll and assuming they’re a real, trans, person. Which has now happened twice! Why do you keep assuming every transphobic troll you hear about is trans? It’s weird.

      • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 months ago

        So to clarify, at the time you made your post here, the drama was that I briefly thought a faked screenshot was real?

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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          I said the user didn’t exist five times in this post. I just counted all the times I said “fictional”, “fake”, or “made-up”. And then you left a comment saying Obvious_Troll is an aussie zone user, the transphobic troll uses neopronouns, and I’m transphobic for calling them a troll. Multiple people told you that Obvious_Troll doesn’t exist, and your response was that I must be mistaken about Obvious_Troll not existing, because you defederated from Hexbear. What??? Why do you keep insisting this person is real, and why do you keep insisting they’re trans? What quality of this fictional troll telling trans people to kill themselves repeatedly convinces you that they’re a trans person?

          EDIT: Sneaky, sneaky. Editing your comment after I replied, so it would look like I didn’t answer your question. If you want me to answer a new question, ask it in a new comment. Don’t go back and change history to make yourself look better.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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          2 months ago

          Sorry, that’s my fault. I was in such disbelief at your first comment claiming Obvious_Troll was real, I just had to share it with a friend. She hadn’t heard of the Fediverse before, and when I explained it to her, I used you as an example of a fediverse user to explain the concept of users being from instances, and how administrating an instance works. Well halfway through my explanation, she heard “trans instance” and signed up for your instance. Then I linked this thread, and she realised you’re a power tripping admin who doesn’t read posts before replying to them. She asked me where she should make an account, and since she likes Star Trek, I told her to make one on startrek.website. If she had commented with the first account she made after hearing about the fediverse, the account would have been an hour or so older.

          Most people would be glad that your bizarre posts are so confusing they’re bringing more people to the Fediverse as their friends tell them about the weird drama you start. But I guess it’s an issue of ego for you, so you have a good reason to be mad that new users are joining Lemmy because of your antics.

  • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    To be fair, blahaj zone is a bit of a mess. Let’s not forget people trying to navigate the insane user insisting that their pronouns were goddess and going mental over claiming that people who didn’t capitalize properly were misgendering them.

    At some point, you have to set limits as to what you will tolerate. I understand that an all inclusive instance would be reluctant to do so. However, you’ll end up with MAGAts doing shit like this for fun, just to see an entire instance bend over backwards to try to accommodate, and you will get genuinely insane people doing the same thinking that they are doing nothing out of the ordinary.

    Interestingly enough, while I am not part of the lgbtq+tia community, I am a staunch ally and even I feel as though bz is a place I want to steer far away from.

    Moderating that instance must be fucking exhausting.

    • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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      1 month ago

      Quit making fake nonsense up. That story didn’t happen. And recognising that a fictional character is fictional is not a question of tolerance, it’s a question of basic functional ability required to live in the world.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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          1 month ago

          It’s not someone insisting that their pronouns are goddess. It’s someone insisting that Their pronouns are capitalised. If transphobes are going to attack random people for existing, they should at least put in the bare minimum effort to be factually correct. Otherwise they deserve to be laughed at and called stupid liars.

          • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
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            1 month ago

            So I’m a transphobe for relaying an incident that actually happened now?

            Or am I a transphobe for suggesting that guardrails are a good idea? I’m not suggesting gatekeeping pronouns or gender, but I would put forth that claiming one’s gender as “goddess” and that their pronouns must be capitalized and if you don’t you’re misgendering them has about as much validity as some maga asshole saying that they identify as an attack helicopter.

            Of course inclusiveness is important, but it is also important to have a firm foot on reality and recognize ridiculousness for what it is, and possibly more importantly, call it out.

            Unfortunately, in the trans community, it has veered towards an “all things are valid” approach, however while that is great sentiment to have, it breaks down the moment someone abuses it in bad faith, whether it be a maga asshole, or someone claiming that they are a goddess (and should be recognized as such) and that their preferred pronouns MUST be capitalized or it’s you misgendering them.

              • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
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                1 month ago

                I didn’t lie. The person gendered themselves as “goddess” and went nuts over people not capitalizing their pronouns.

                Others have replied to your comments with links and receipts.

                So, turns out, you’re the one who is lying.

                You say that I’m committing acts of violence out of hatred for people different from me. Nothing that I have said could be credibly construed as such.

                You use the term “transphobe” in whatever way suits you as a bludgeon in order to try to “win” online discussions. That is scummy behavior. It’s also pathetic. I pity you, that you have to debase yourself this much in an effort to make yourself seem credible. All the while showing your true colors; That you are weak, selfish, and willing to use another person’s pain if it benefits you in some way.

                Please, spend some time reflecting and stop putting so much value on “winning” an online discussion. There are no prizes here. When you make an argument in bad faith it shows everyone watching/reading that your position is flawed and that what you have to say as a whole can be largely ignored. This is undesirable because you may have many great things to say, but once your credibility is destroyed, it is very difficult to gain it back.

                • MindTraveller@lemmy.caOP
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                  1 month ago

                  You said “the insane user insisting that their pronouns were goddess”. That’s not true. Their pronouns are They/Them, not goddess. You called a trans person insane because you didn’t like Their pronouns, which you spread lies about. Nobody would have a problem with you if you just told the truth and followed the community’s rules with regards to civility. That means gendering trans people correctly. You may have a huge enough ego that you think you get to be the arbiter and gatekeeper of which trans people deserve to be shown basic respect, but your ego is wrong. You need to stop thinking of yourself as more important than everyone around you and stop committing acts of violence against people for being different.

                • Blaze (he/him)@feddit.org
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                  1 month ago

                  Hello,

                  If you look at this whole thread you shouldn’t be surprised.

                  Thank you for your comments, see you around

    • Blaze (he/him)@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      To be fair, blahaj zone is a bit of a mess. Let’s not forget people trying to navigate the insane user insisting that their pronouns were goddess and going mental over claiming that people who didn’t capitalize properly were misgendering them.

      That was something indeed

    • Grail (capitalised)@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      One of the users on My discord server says someone is lying about Me. I assure you, My pronouns are not goddess. I do not appreciate being lied about, I do not appreciate being misgendered, I do not appreciate being called insane, and I do not appreciate you spreading rumours about Me across the fediverse. I have reported your comment for harassment and I expect you to leave Me alone from now on.