So this is a bit of a thread. Been holding it in for a while, trying to work through it. But back in...I want to say May? I was bullied by a popular Twitch streamer, and it still hurts.

So basically, this streamer, who I will not name because a) it doesn't matter and b) they probably don't give a flying fuck if they hurt me, and c) they won't get any repercussions due to their status on Twitch. And even if none of that was true, I still wouldn't name them.

It wasn't even about something important. I mentioned a fun thing about my country, and they somehow took offense to that and started mocking me (with support from a mod) for half an hour. I tried to put up a good face, pretend like it didn't hurt...but it did. A lot.

See, here's the thing: triggers can be a lot of things. I was bullied a lot in my younger years. I was an overweight nerd who refused to be violent, so I had a target painted on my back (it's why I loathe the term "neckbeard", it's fatshaming assholery, and there's better words).

So to the streamer, it was just "good fun". But to me it was a return to the schoolyard, being called fat, loser, ugly, gross, being stabbed with a compass, being wrestled to the ground and beaten until bruised all over the face...and that's my trigger. And they don't care.

So I unfollowed that day. Kept subscribing because my personal issues shouldn't hurt them. But then I unsubbed too, because they're an asshole. A politically correct one who hurts the "right" targets (mostly), but I suspect they just enjoy hurting people.

And that's why I put up this thread, I guess. As a warning. A friendly warning. Beware the ones who take a little too much joy in it. The ones who grin like a devil while calling someone names. Doesn't matter if the one they're hurting is an asshole too.

I'm not saying nobody should tell off assholes. Far from it. But going so far as to hold long, smug, snarky bully-rants disguised as "sass", far beyond what's needed to vent? For each and every one of them? That's a warning sign.

Because the kind of person who happily does that, laughing and cheering and grinning, will easily do it to someone who doesn't deserve it, over trifling nonsense matters. Like me.

I didn't tweet this to get anyone in trouble. It's why I'm withholding names and nouns. I tweeted this to get it off my chest because it's gnawed at me for months, and to point out that sometimes, your fellow warrior might have a bad guy inside that they sometimes let out.