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Okay... since I really have very little to lose in clearing the air, I want to get a few things off my chest.

Gaia has become an increasingly hostile place. I cling to it because there are a few amazing people here that I enjoy interacting with, it's a good place to find roleplay, chit-chat about games, books, art, and it's a fun place to goof off. I've always liked the b/c because it gave me a new role playing outlet for some of my 'fandoms' and it was a way to relieve stress. More and more, however, it's becoming more of a nightmare than anything.

• Every day, I am attacked in some way for my beliefs. A snide remark here, an angry pm there... it's something that can and does build up.
• About every few months, my personal e-mail is attacked. Currently I get 1-3 offensive e-mails from sites and newsletters that were signed up with using my e-mail. This only happens around periods of time when someone takes special offense to me.
• My gallery is bombed, flamed, and promoted as a 'hate site' because I refuse to draw anything that violates my beliefs or makes me uncomfortable.
• Three years ago, I could open commissions and fill ten slots. This was actual money that I was earning to help pay bills, make up for short paychecks, and get things paid off. Now I can't give art away without someone taking offense.
• Every shop that I'm involved with either by owning it, doing the artwork, or even guest coloring in gets attacked. Two of my customers spent well over a few hundred dollars commissioning artwork from me for b/c shops. Because it was -my- artwork that carried -my- rules, -they- were flamed, trolled, and eventually forced to shut down due to harassment or general lack of interest.
• Friends of mine are treated badly simply because it's assumed that because they're my friends, or associate with me, that they share my beliefs. This is something that was said out in the open. Anyone that steps up to defend me in any way is trolled.

The bottom line is, no matter what I do or how I do it people are bound and determined to make my online life and reputation a living hell. My shops never get off the ground, my friends are treated badly for knowing me, and even in shops where I just come in to do guest art there's some back room drama happening because I'm there. I am openly discriminated against because of my beliefs and opinions and while I am able, willing, and often ask for no perk in most cases- I am refused from giving any kind of aid to large shops like SoA or Soq, I'm denied promotions, and I'm treated like a third-class citizen when I pop into the main thread to socialize.

If the tables were turned, and I went out of my way to harass people who ran shops or did artwork containing content that I didn't agree with, it would be a hate crime. But because it's a Christian, it's completely okay.

I tried withdrawing to another shop completely, I tried keeping my activity to guilds, I tried even opening a private rp shop just so I had something I can enjoy with reasonable people but even that was enough to have people throwing tantrums that I was even around. An angry pm and a mod pm later... I'm done with it. I don't go into poke'boys (a shop based on an orientation) and scold them. If I don't like it, I let it be and say nothing. No one would know I was there, I wouldn't even downgrade their shop in the popularity because, hey, it's their thing. People on the other side aren't decent enough to act like human beings or treat someone else the way they scream and whine to be treated. There is absolutely no tolerance being shown.

So... I'm staying out of the main threads. If anyone needs to get ahold of me, you likely have my aim. There's also pm's and I'll have plot threads open so you can poke me for whatever. I have closed all but one of my shops (which I share with Vistada, so I'll let that one remain) and I have terminated my employment with soq so I'm no longer a back room issue.The only reason I stomach all this is so I can spend time with a few good, reasonable people.

And oh, for the record, not one person I associate in a friendly fashion agrees with me on my opinions. What makes them good, decent people isn't that they agree with me, it's that they can treat me the way they want to be treated.