Epilogue

I want to thank all of you for your kind words, reviews, reblogs and just general wonderfulness. I have one other Chelsie story I plan on finishing over the next few weeks. After that I won't be on the Chelsie page anymore, or the Downton Abbey page for that matter.

A couple of weeks back I made a comment on Tumblr. It was my opinion about John Bates. The opinion was met with such sheer and unadulterated venom that I felt compelled to write a fic about how I thought Bates did it.

What I never expected was that 4-5 people would take such offense. They sent hate anons to people who dared to support the opinion. They accused me of being stupid, uneducated, hateful, rude. They said I was deliberately attempting to ruin their lives.

While I admit, I started the story in a fit of pique, what I discovered was it was quite the easy story to tell. Mr. Fellowes had put all of the breadcrumbs right there in each episode for anyone who dared to look. So I dared to look. And in doing so, I opened myself to ridicule by 4-5 small-minded people who just couldn't let it go.

When they realized I wouldn't stop writing the story, they started stalking me. It started on Tumblr then moved to Twitter. They shared all of the small nuggets they could find with one another with a rabid fascination that quite frankly scares me.

Suddenly, Tumblr and Twitter, which had always been places I went to escape a crappy day had become torture chambers. Places where I was no longer safe. It was like high school gone horribly wrong. The mean girls had decided I was scum because I dared to wear green on Wednesday.

It was laughable at first. I sat back and watched, having a right old chuckle about it. Then when I didn't respond they escalated their behavior. Suddenly guest reviews appeared on my stories blasting the Serial Killer story, or making veiled references to things I'd said on Twitter or Tumblr. They even showed up on non-Downton Abbey stories.

It takes a special form of cowardice to stand behind a guest review and throw stones. But they couldn't reveal who they were lest someone know their true actions. If they show their true colors, they couldn't stand behind their victim mantle.

And their efforts almost worked. Last night, I seriously contemplated ending the story. Then I received a DM from a very special lady. I won't say who she is because I don't want to open her to the ridicule I've experienced from these cowardly bitches who hide behind avatars and pretend they aren't bullies.

The DM praised my efforts, not only in story telling but also in standing firm in light of the cyber bullying to which I have been subjected. This person addressed the most recent review which criticized my writing and told me it wasn't true. It was then I realized I couldn't quit.

I almost let 4-5 random bullies ruin something for me. I almost let their terroristic actions make me quit writing. And if I did that, they would win. They would celebrate online about how they were able to make me back down. Then, after they popped their virtual champagne corks, they would look for another victim. The herd mentality would return and they would find some other person who dared challenge their world order and bully them.

Well guess what bitches! I WILL NOT BACK DOWN. I will finish the story and it's going to be bloody magnificent. So if your small minds are so insecure in your "ship" that you can't handle a different opinion then I suggest you quit reading the story. No one is making you read it, you choose to read it. Run off to the happy Banna stories and glory in those. As for me, I will be over here in serial killer land doing what Fellowes should have done all along.