???

WHOS BULLYING BEN I WILL NOM THEM

remember the 10 Steps of escalation? ^^

I always guessed there was cases like this, no one gains recognition without attracting some less than savory people. And I really do agree that this war on whistleblowers needs to be ended. Hell, there are systems implemented for bullies and trolls to get away even more due to the protection from name dropping provides. Though for the case of harassing you in person at a con, I hope you at least got security on them because you can do that there. It really is rough to hear you can have social and trust issues for it, but it's understandable, never know when someone else will be some new troll. But hey, recovery starts in the mind, and it's good to see you can put it into words, I hope things gets better for you over time

If it counts for anything you're one of this mouses biggest inspirations.... so butts to the idiots.

A good read.

That is one good read
You may have heard this before but don't let people like that hurt you.
You do kick ass and i hope to get an piece from you in the future.
Also hope to get to be a friend of you in the future.
If you ever go to Eurofurence in germany lets meet up

Ben,

Thank you for writing this. I am sorry you went through these experiences with toxic individuals. By sharing your thoughts and feelings, by sharing your values, you help victims of bullying.

Keep up the good work. I appreciate your strength and leadership.

Best,
Echoen

Good perspective to have.

Sorry to hear the stuff you have to endure. I had to cut ties with a "friend" who turn to to be a manipulator that wanted attention,
and would bully people if they made him out in a bad light of any kind.

I can happily tell you that I see you as a good person!
Not only were you one artist who got to in to fur art and gave me a love for hyper art,
but you are one of friendliest people to talk to and work with!

I look forward to commissioning you again soon :3

Thank you for posting this. It makes me feel better knowing I'm not alone.

A very good and courageous reading. I myself had issues with bullying, both irl and on the internet. I know it’s not easy , but we can overcome this and be a better person than “them”

(havent ready yet but)
I really care, even if we dont talk often or at all, I consider ya some1 that can be a good friend. SO I worry/care fur ya
Its always sad to hear some1 you know is having a bad time. If ya ever feel like just talking or hanging out ya know how/where to find me.
Seriously, give me a poke when ever ya want, I'll do my best to answer yer call and be there if ya ever feel lonely or juts need to vent out, have some1 to talk to about what ever ya wanna talk
*OFFERS A BIG BOOB HUG!*

You have my respect Ben. *salutes*

Sheesh... for what it's worth, I'm sorry to hear you have to put up with stuff like this.

Nobody deserves to have to deal with shitty people like that. Especially not you Ben.

I hope this journal gives some people pause who might be abusing the good will of others.

Well, Benny, nothing heals a damaged soul quite like revenge!

It's really lame that someone would attack you for being paid to do art for someone they didn't like. Money is money. You are running a business.

A good read. In the past I was being bullied as well, kids going after the different one, the one that didn’t fit in. I am wholely convinced that those issues, at the core, still plague me today, 25 years later, though I’ve learned to deal with them for the most part. Over time I grew, until I was physically larger than the bullies and it eventually stopped.

Sadly bullying, trolling and all that stuff is a part of humanity, and until the species as a whole learns to improve, which is unlikely to say the least, these kinds of problems will remain.

I agree with people on one main point, though it is often very difficult to figure out and often the path of least resistance is saught when it comes to laying blame on the bully or the victim. The latter often being the least experienced, thus the most likely to get caught.

Here is to hoping that things start making themselves right. I always prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt as well, when giving second chances, but thirds and fourths, not so much. You’re right to protect yourself there.

I strongly agree with the whole document you wrote up.

The point I agree most on is the butterfly effect. I remember the first time I lucked out and managed to get chosen for one of your stream commission slots. It had been over a year since I had last won so I was excited and stoke only to have that excitement turn into disgust. People in the chat started to bully me and show disdain for seeing a picture topic other than what they wanted to see. I was being called all sorts of crap and nonsense that literally made no sense as the picture was of a character very much aged up and well endowed with huge breast. Thankfully it could not be aimed directly at me due to having a different name in the chat.

I am extremely grateful that you had noticed this and immediately offered to simply have me in a join.me session to have the work finished. But the impact and damage was done. In the end, the whole experience became a turn off despite the excellent art and service I was given from you the artist. Since then, I simply lurk in your stream chat not wanting to deal with such nonsense. There's been no attempt either to get any art in streams anymore since that day. I always just remember the toxicity of what felt like the whole active chat just going against me and the kinks I wanted drawn.

Such was and is still not your fault but it goes to show the lasting impacts a troll or bully or group of them can have on a person. Because really, I had been in many streams and gotten a few art pieces before that negative experience, but it only took that one negative experience of bullying that turned me off from wanting to try and get any more art in streams.

Man thats rough Ben. Sorry you had to go through all of that. But keep up your great work.

never heard of "triangle theory" before, but it does make sense after looking it up. Also I've never heard of someone trying to sell "frankensteined" art pieces before, I mean at least tracers are technically putting new lines on the paper, the level of plagiarism you described is just comically lazy lol.

best of luck with that whole situation, and remember the overwhelming majority here that are positive and supportive.

Anyone who threatens *my* Ben better eff right the eff off. I am so sick of bullies! As Ben knows, I've been through my fair share of hell myself: Bullying, harassment, death threats, lies, impersonations, rumors, stalking. When I was a child, severe bullying left me hospitalized for months. I now have PTSD and can barely leave my house. When will people understand that bullying someone, in ANY form is NOT okay?

Why do bullies exist? And why do the victims get punished?

The only explanation I got from a bully which ever made sense was that he personally got picked on less whenever he made a show of bullying someone else.

I don't think this explains all or even most bullies, though.

Appreciated for posting this topic, Ben. I have been in the same scenario of what I have been through.
These bully tries to set a certain person up and try to reject the truth from them and use it for power and scenery.

You are a very good person and the friendliest artist that will bring happiness toward everyone!
No need for a very logical liar for the fake toxic people that want to ruin someone life for their own greed.
Everyone deserves love and respect to live in harmony, no need to reject certain people they don't like.

I know to well what it’s like to get bullied by others sorry BB for going through all that.

Someday when I ask you for a commission I don’t want to ever be like that you deserve better and you inspired a lot of us I’m sorry do hope things get better.

Sorry to hear you've had so many toxic people cause so much grief and pain for ya (and those close to ya) :\

Given the scope and how vastly shared your content is, it's scary to imagine how much you might potentially see, nevermind try to put up with, you're a strong person to fight past it and keep doing the things you love <3

This post is valid and very relevant a read for a lotta folks I reckon. Keep it up man, you inspire me a ton and I'm sure you do many others~

Hopefully one day we can say goodbye to bullying.

had no idea it had gotten that bad.. i am surprised even though i shouldn't be :C some people are genuinely fueled by hate and toxicity and do everything they can to break others for their benefit.. i am sorry you've put up with so much, and i am glad you came forward because i am sure ALOT if not MOST popular artists receive this kind of bullying and harassment.. i even know a few personally who have..
keep on doing what you love and fighting the hate buddy, you certainly aren't alone in that fight.

Damn good read Ben

I’m sorry you have to go through all of that. Unfortunately, a lot of people just eat up gossip without a second thought just because it came from someone they know or whatever. You shouldn’t have to tell people to get to know the real you instead of listening to rumors spread by others. That ought to be common sense.

I've never been a good enough artist to garner that much attention. The worst I had was someone leaving harassing comments on my web page because a friend of mine had written a fan fic involving Ranma and my Weretigress character Alex. I'm glad that Cyber bulling wasn't a thing when I was a kid. I never got physically bullied because I reached 6' in grade school, but I got a lot of teasing because of what I now know to be Asperger's.

Good write-up.

Many of us has been victims of these trolls.

This sort of thing is probably a big fear to all aspiring internet artists. Thank you for speaking out about it.

*Nods* Well put.

aww gives Ben a hug

(>'_')>

I was always the quiet one in school. I had the good fortune to grow up in a neighborhood full of good friends and no one willing or interested in treating me badly, but school was different. The thing is... I have this huge, fluffy monster in my head that mostly kept me at a distance from nasty people. My imagination often whisked me away to fun, interesting, sexy and so on places, so I literally barely noticed people trying to be mean, and sort of drifted through grade school and middle school ni an oblivious daze. Teachers took this in my earliest years to mean I was retarded... too stupid or unfocused to be intelligent, but I was mostly bored, and so had turned inward to entertain myself. When they finally got around to testing me in 7th grade and found I had a 150 IQ, they put me in more engaging classes, and that was where I was drawn enough from my self inflicted ignorance to notice people trying to be nasty.

I got in exactly one fight, and I think I scared the guy enough for him to never try a second time... and that was only because I paid him too much attention. The rest of the time, I was that weird kid who walked across a parkway while reading a book without looking up for traffic, or who barely paid any attention to the people in front of him unless they were known friends, so if people were mocking me or trying to pick fights, they probably ended up staring after me as I walked past, totally oblivious.

Nowadays, the people who know me seem to think well of me, while people who don't often complain I'm too harsh or blunt with my comments or worda, though I rarely mean anything truly hostile by them. I still try to keep to myself as much as I can, and cherish those I let close enough to call friends.

I'm suprised you don't already have an army of white knights to cover you on things like this.

"white knight" is usually used pejoratively.

oh... well I'm using it in form of praise. I suppose to better express what I mean; I'm just surprised that after receiving such a hateful message he didn't just post it to chat and simply say "go." Before watching as their inbox explodes from people, absolutely furious that one of their favorite artists just got bullied. Who the heck bullies the guy who does like 30 commissions a day anyways?? I mean jeez if you have some heat against someone, don't shoot the artist, they're just trying to make a living.

You're a great guy, Ben! You deserve better.

Hugs

Wow, #3 is even worse than I thought >:/ Highly doubt they will ever mature even the slightest bit.
Sorry you've had to deal with so much crap over the years :( But good on you for putting this up.

Sorry you had a shitty time. Some people are just exhasperating dicks. Not sure what else to say.

This honestly hits home for me, both online and in real life.

I've been through a few friend groups in my life.
Most of the people in them I don't talk to anymore.
Some I grew apart from, either lifestyle differences like religion or culture, and others because of differing personalities that often clashed.

Most of the time for the friend groups, is that one or more of them are a bully or just a rude jerk to me and my friends I cared about.
The others in the group often either adopt those habits if they are close with them or even as well as already think to act like that normally.

It's ranged from my brother and his friend group, always putting me down and bullying me, infront of me and behind my back.
From teenager to adult life, they never changed even when I tried to fix the things they were bullying me about. There was always something new for them to say about me in the worst ways.

Then there are individuals that pretend to be nice to you and befriend you.
Use you to infiltrate your friend groups and spread their true toxicity to gain fake friendships, then abandon you when you aren't useful to them anymore.

Alot of my friendships have ended because of people like that.
I am one to always give people a chance, even if I hear rumors about them being bad.
Some have right, some have been wrong.
I prefer to find out for myself, instead of using someone else's words to hurt someone.
Honestly I prefer to know what to expect, to decide for myself, instead of making a friend to find out they have been lying to me to use me.

Thank you for sharing Ben.
To anyone reading this, I hope sharing my experiences could help you as well.
Everyone deserves a chance at happiness, no matter any rumors, they could be a nice person if you show them some love~

Good read. Bullies are just the worse. Stalkers especially. Some people are just sad and pathetic that they feel the need to bring down others to feel better about themselves.

People like that are just not worth anyone's time.