Mistakes Were Made: Tactics

[pirate_anon]

Mistakes Were Made: Tactics

Panopticon can come off as charming, intelligent, and
concerned for the social welfare of others--at times they may
even truly be those things. But their malice and spite is
staggering, and their actions always expose it, as do the very
tactics that provide their cover.

Probably the most noticeable thing is Panopticon's
singular vagueness. They make statements with no sources and
disguised names that are nigh-impossible to fact-check. To
provide an aura of legitimacy, they offer to provide sources, but
only rarely give them, and what they do provide tends to be
contextless, vague, or irrelevant. I suspect that this is purposeful,
because the few times they give specifcs, it leads to their
ruination. So instead they specialize in giving answers that appear
just convincing enough on a superfcial level for the reader to fll
in the gaps with their own ideas. This also gives Panopticon
plausible deniability when caught--they can claim there's been a
misunderstanding.

This is more than just lack of obvious citations, or even
dissociation or brainfog. AUK admitted their lack of obvious
evidence right off, along with their memory issues. However,
despite that, their claims were specifc and concrete. They could
give specifc times, tactics, or actions that they or Panopticon
took, and these statements could be corroborated and checked,
for example: "the day i was admitted to a treatment facility,
december 15th 2016, i was planning to swallow an entire bottle of
asprin [sic] because i couldn’t live with the guilt of 'hurting' cass
anymore" (2017, January 23). That's a what, a when, a how, and a
why. Panopticon, in contrast, uses statements that give nothing
but an emotional impression. For instance, they spun the Toast of
Rassilon into "it's fucked up that you [doctorwhokin] have a
monthly special occasion dedicated to harassing an avoidant
autistic person over something that they already apologized for"
(2017, August 22). That gives a very distinct impression, doesn't
it? But it doesn't give anything but a where and a massively
distorted sketch of a what, nothing resembling a when, how, or
why. Did it happen for fve seconds or fve years? How long ago?
What exactly did they DO? Why and how did they go about it?
It sounds like something random jerks on the Internet do, and it
FEELS true, but when examined, the statement doesn't truly say
anything except how the reader should feel.

This focus on saying things in a way to inspire emotions,
rather than share information, also serves another purpose: it
allows Panopticon to get people to do their dirty work without
outright asking. They never outright ASKED me to ban HIY, or to
write up Secretgal, but I still got the message that they WANTED
me to.

When I write that, it sounds dubious, doesn't it? Like,
how could I know what they really wanted me to do? But when I
look at how many people mocked Secretgal's fanfction and
mention Panopticon in it, it becomes clear that yes, that WAS the
goal, and a lot of people got the message even if Panopticon never
said it outright. It's a normal social thing to imply what you want
instead of stating it outright--"that bread looks delicious!" instead
of "pass the bread." But in this case, Panopticon wants the bread
not only passed to them, but to be able to claim that no, they
never ask for the bread; it's all the other person's idea! The
plausible deniability is key, the ability to wash their hands of any
wrongdoing they get caught in. Remember how eager
Panopticon was to slough responsibility for infltrating Secretgal
on their then-partner-- "it was her idea" (2017, February 24). And
the Trump Wank of Rassilon, they blame on AUK: "I never would
have even thought of that plan if he hadn’t suggested it" (2017,
February 2). When Narvin goes public about the doctorwhokin
spying ring, it's with the statement, "the spy was my idea, and my
idea alone. Not Cass' [sic]" (2017, September 26b). But is this
accurate? Are these the actions AUK, Narvin, or the ex-partner
would've chosen, had Panopticon not been involved? It seems
clear to me that Panopticon were the impetus for those actions,
and clearly supported and took active roles in perpetrating them.
They just want a get-out-of-jail-free card if caught and called on
it.

As long as Panopticon can hide in the fog of vagueness
and avoid ever calling attention to what they're doing, their
methods of indirect speech works well. It worked on me for over
two years! And I don't think it's any coincidence that the
Gallifreyan Tradition Society uses an affected, pompous, and
circumlocutory style of speech that's hard to read; it allows the
fog to continue. However, in the case of someone like AUK, who
refuses to be silent or vague or insinuatory back, the strategy
breaks down completely. The sunlight slices through the clouds,
illuminating what's been hidden.

But getting caught is not the end of Panopticon's world.
Indeed, that just leads to a switch in tactics. When the spotlight is
turned on their bad behavior, Panopticon immediately looks for
a fall guy--preferably someone like Narvin or the ex-partner, who
acted on insinuations but not clear orders. This unfortunate
wretch becomes the scapegoat, and in the worst cases,
Panopticon accuses them of all the tactics they themselves have
done. They accuse Shilo of baking manipulation into GT, HIY of
being a Rassilon-worshiping cult leader, me of being an
infltrating spy. I wouldn't be at all surprised if everything they
claim Secretgal did were in fact things they themselves have
done.

Why do this? Well, on the most basic level, it adds to the
chaos and confusion. If both parties are accusing each other of
the exact same crimes, who's to know who's right? This allows
Panopticon to avoid punishment for their actions, but not only
that, if they successfully pull it off, they get to pretend that they
are the true victims of the whole situation. Seeing as their favorite
scapegoats are their own victims, imagine the horror and agony
of being successfully painted as your abuser's abuser, and then
harassed, bullied, and abused for years on end because of it! And
to top it all off, imagine if this continued abuse is claimed to be
actually FIGHTING abuse within the community! It's utterly
demoralizing and reality-crushing.

These tactics can be very effective, but Panopticon has a
major failing: they gloat. It's not enough for them to win behind
the scenes; they need other people to appreciate their cleverness
and courage. Had Cass not laughed about Rassilon ban-evading to
harass AUK, I never would've known about it. Had Astrid not
bragged about kicking out HIY, I would've been left with nothing
but a sense of vague unease, not large enough to act on. Had Cass
not gloated about setting Draven on me, I would never have even
considered they'd do something so stupid, spiteful, and
dangerous. Their need to brag and show off is their ruination; it is
nigh-impossible to come off looking humble and kind while
enjoying hurting your enemy.

When I frst parted ways with Panopticon, I thought that
they were young and would hopefully grow out of this. But
they're an adult, not a child, and their behavior has been nothing
but consistent. They've been running cultish groups, bullying
people, and propping themselves up as a noble leader for as long
as I have online records for them. While they may make motions
about caring about egalitarianism and liberation, running their
own strictly hierarchical religious group seems to be their desired
career, and I doubt they will change unless their old tactics fail to
work. Even after the fall of GT, they seem to be going right back
to old habits, waiting only a few months until folks' backs are
turned so that they can found a new church.

Clearly, they haven't changed. If Panopticon WERE to
change, truly change, they would have to do the following:

* Apologize to everyone they have wronged. Not "we've both
made mistakes," not "we both need a safe space away from
each other," not "you made me do this." A real apology: "This
is what I did, this is why it was wrong, I am sorry, and I will
not do it again."

* Follow through and not do those things again, nor delete
their admissions or apologies.

* Abdicate all power within all groups. Not retire to an
ostensibly less powerful position, not puppet from behind the
scenes; they must become an average member of the crowd
and stay there for a long time. They need to accept boring
mediocrity and let go of leadership.

* Stop block-evading. When someone says no contact, they
mean it. If they have changed, then they will respect that.

I have no faith that Panopticon will achieve any of these
things. But I would love to be wrong.