Within a week of me first making this account and without ever talking to me, @zooierthanthou and its creators blocked me, censored me by putting me on their "bigotz blocklist", and then worked to exile me from the community by painting me as a disingenuous animal abuser.

Anyone who sympathized with me was also censored, and I was made an enemy of the community while given no opportunity to defend myself against accusations.

I'm sure it's a great podcast. I'd love to listen. But I can't support a show that uses those tactics.

Before Faust died, he tried to bait me into appearing on the show, but never even pretended he was going to give me fair representation. The only reason he ever invited me was to try and shame and humiliate me in an environment where he held all the power, and he admitted that.

My condolences to anyone who was impacted by his passing, but Faust was not a good person. He used cult-like tactics to secure loyalty from his followers and to intimidate others, and I feel safer in this community now that he's gone.

The worst part is that, despite his methods, I actually found myself ideologically aligned with Faust and many of his followers. It's a shame to be cut off from that whole segment of the zoo community because he did not trust my intentions at face value.

I understand why Faust made the assumptions about me that he did, especially when my account was still very young. I probably could have chosen my words better. But it's hard to know the right language to use when you're in unchartered territory.

I had never seen anyone publicly advocate ethical outlets for zoosadism. That's why I felt the need to make this account in the first place, because no-one else was talking about it. I didn't have the shoulders of any giants to stand on. I had to make it up as I went.

All things considered, I think I did a pretty good job at that. But there are still some things I would do differently.

In any case, I hope my presence here over the last 8 months or so has made it obvious that I am not the monster he villified me as.

I won't waste any more energy on resenting a dead man, but I would like to start undoing some of the damage he did. If you support @ZooierThanThou, and think that they've acted unjustly, then tell them that. This community can't afford to be so divided.