Polyfrazzlemented
Feb. 6th, 2021 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lb_leeA few people have already asked me about the recent fundraiser and the refunds. The short version is: polyfrazzlemented , AKA catlover555 , santorumsoakedpikachu, and space-pikachu, conned me, and now I'm out $632. And that's the least of it.
I've known polyfrazzlemented casually online for a few years. They had access to my memory work filter on my blog, and while I can't say I knew them well, I felt safe considering them a casual friend, and I've cited their essays on hypnosis, animism, and structural dissociation theory. Needless to say, they conduct themselves very differently outside of text.
Polyfrazzlemented disappeared from tumblr, Dreamwidth, and Discord on December 9th, 2020. They left a locked post on catlover555 reading, "If you don't hear from us in the next 24 hours, assume we've been killed. If you have any identifying information on us, please look into our deaths." (screencap available upon request; other people with access to catlover555 can also vouch)
A group of folks who see the post, including me, confer: what do we do? What CAN we do?
I have polyfrazzlemented's legal name and location; we mailed them an AllFam postcard a while back (censored screencap available upon request). I spend the next month and a half on death watch, checking the news and obituaries in their area for bad news.
Last Thursday, on January 28th, 2021, polyfrazzlemented resurface. I receive this email:
![a censored email from polyfrazzlemented sent on Thursday, January 28, 2021, 6:03 PM, reading: Hi there. This is Robin of Polyfrazzlemented. My partner and I are alive, and we've made it to this state [MA]. We were wondering if you knew of any resources or anyone you could point us to. It's getting bitter cold here, and we aren't sure about some things. Give us a text at 413[REDACTED] if you're so inclined. Robin](https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/file/149430.png "polyfraz email")
I respond, and arrange to call them, which I do the following day, around 3:30.
We talk for about 45 minutes, and it's a surreal conversation.
Polyfrazzlemented tell me they can no longer tell what is real and what isn't. They claim that they and their partner had to flee home because abusers were programming them hypnotically, stealing their food, poisoning them and their cats, and assaulting them. They seem to have forgotten that the pandemic is happening, and apparently they and their partner have spent the past month in this hotel, hypnotizing each other and doing memory work together 24/7. (Don't do this, holy shit.)
I ask what they need most and fastest. They say housing and human contact. They very badly want to meet in person, indoors, and are clearly hoping I'll take them into my home. (I can and will not.) I ask how long they can stay in the hotel, work up a plan involving local social services.
But something about this whole situation feels... off. Their partner is with them; apparently they've also been mind-controlled and abused and are in similar crisis, and yet polyfrazzlemented hasn't voiced any concern about them, or spoken to them at all. I haven't heard a peep from this partner; I only have polyfrazzlemented's word that this person even exists, and if they're saying they can't distinguish what's real...
"Can I speak to your partner? Just to be sure they're alive?"
Pause. "Sure." They sound a little surprised that I would worry.
They pass the phone over. Very different voice. Dead flat. "Hello?"
We switch to Sneak. "Hello, stranger! I don't know you and you don't know me; I'm just checking to make sure you're alive."
"I am alive."
Sneak asks what seems a safe, simple question for a stranger in crisis: "Are your kitties with you?"
"My blood sugar's low. I'm passing you back."
Polyfrazzlemented take the phone back and mention nothing of the cats, but finding crash space for two humans is hard enough, never mind two humans and an unknown number of cats. So again, when we get a chance, we ask, "are your cats with you?"
Silence. And then polyfrazzlemented tell me that they gave their cats to a friend in November. They can't say when, who they gave the cats to, or where this happened, and apparently neither can their partner because they were both compelled to amnesia the cats and hallucinate them for a month, thus why the cats were still on the blog in December. They insist all of this is absolute truth, and then burst into theatrical sobs how I must believe them, they would never abandon their cats to die.
There's no kind way to say this: the tears sound fake. I need to check on those cats.
Futhermore, polyfrazzlemented tell me that I too have been programmed by my abusers, with the implication that my abuse involved far more attackers and exploitation than I know. They're very intuitive about these things, they assure me, and maybe I'm here to help them.
"Let's keep the focus on you for now," I say.
(As a side-note, this is when I know that our relationship is over. I have been public about my abuse history. Unless my brain is pulling one humdinger of a magic act, there is no way I was programmed or used by an organized group of attackers. I just had a shitty family. Nobody gets to undermine me by pretending they know my crazy better than me. But at the time, I did still think that the "fuck you, you don't get to say that to me," could wait until after I was sure they wouldn't freeze to death in the street over the weekend.)
I finish the call. I put up the fundraiser. I go hunting mental hospital recommendations, confer with friends. And the more time I have to think, the worse I feel. Something's wrong.
I need to check on those cats.
I ransack my records and find polyfrazzlemented's mailing address. I dig through their tumblr and Dreamwidth to get photos, names, and health conditions for all five of their cats. Then I call the local animal control.
There's not much they can do, of course, but they say they can knock on the door and leave a notice saying, "Are you caring for the cats here? Please call..." I say thank you and try to make my peace with that.
Animal control call me back later that day.
There was no friend in November, or December, or ever. The cats were abandoned. One is still missing. Animal control found the other four: three alive, one dead.
They abandoned the cats.
They abandoned the cats.
And now one is dead.
And polyfrazzlemented are still texting me, emailing me: do I want to meet up? How am I? I've been so kind, so generous, oh thank you so much! Please call! Please meet!
I stare at a wall for a while. Then I block them on all platforms, refund everyone's money, and send polyfrazzlemented this email:
![A censored email sent to polyfrazzlemented on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 12:01 PM. It reads: I know you lied about the cats. I still had your mailing address from before. I called [REDACTED] Animal Control asking them to look in on your house. They found four of the cats. Freddie seems to be the one still missing. Of the four found, one of them is dead, probably Lily. Don't take my word for it. Call them yourself. (315) [REDACTED]. Apparently I'm the only contact they have, so now they're calling me. Did you think I'd swallow your explanation? Your oh-so-convenient, oh-so-uncheckable, "We gave the cats to someone at some point in November, and then we were compelled to amnesia all of it and hallucinate them for a month, thus why you saw them on the blog afterward." I had to ransack my records to track down your address, find the number to [REDACTED] Animal Control, trawl your tumblr and Dreamwidth to find pics, names, descriptions, and health conditions for all your cats, and do all the legwork for you, including inform them Dorian has asthma. You're welcome. All because you... what? Worried I might think badly of you? If so, it backfired. And you use the screen-name of catlover555! You pulled out all those crocodile tears about how you would NEVER abandon your cats and leave them to die, when that's EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID. There never was a conspiracy. You don't believe it and you never did, that [REDACTED]. There's no [REDACTED]. Even then, I suspected, because you seemed so unconcerned about COVID. [REDACTED]. This is all just a story. And for what? What are you getting out of this? Why? It doesn't matter, does it? You used me. You used my abuse history to try to tell me I'd been programmed. You used my trust to scam hundreds of dollars. You tried to get into my head, into my HOUSE. Even worse, you used my friends. I'm going to be paying everyone back out of my own pocket now, making it harder to help my other homeless friends! I hope it was worth it to you. Don't solicit any of my friends for money or sympathy again. Stay away from them, and me. I'm removing your articles from healthymultiplicity.com, so don't ask me about them. Take your con money and go. Just go.](https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/file/149505.png "polyfraz FU email")
Too many of my friends know polyfrazzlemented for me to stay silent. They used me. They used my friends. They left their cats to die, and indeed, one of them did.
I'm angry. Maybe you are too. Maybe you want to do something.
Some folks have offered to reimburse me, but I'm fine. Angry, sad, but financially okay. I don't need money right now.
But Amorpha do.
Amorpha really are who and what they say they are; I know, because I was there, in person, lugging boxes and running interference with Astraea. Amorpha are brave and generous. Even homeless, even with recurring dental infections that require surgery, they donated to polyfrazzlemented, who they thought even worse off. That is community and friends I can be proud of, not polyfrazzlemented's cruelty and lies.
I don't want people to tear polyfrazzlemented down; they've already done that themselves. No, I want to build Amorpha up. I'm not nearly as mad about losing the money as I am about losing the ability to send it to my homeless friends. So, if you want to help me or give me money, cut out the middleman and send it to Amorpha instead. (Paypal button at the link.)
Because true revenge isn't living well. It's helping your friends live well.
polyfrazzlemented , AKA catlover555 , santorumsoakedpikachu, and space-pikachu, conned me, and now I'm out $632. And that's the least of it.I've known polyfrazzlemented casually online for a few years. They had access to my memory work filter on my blog, and while I can't say I knew them well, I felt safe considering them a casual friend, and I've cited their essays on hypnosis, animism, and structural dissociation theory. Needless to say, they conduct themselves very differently outside of text.
Polyfrazzlemented disappeared from tumblr, Dreamwidth, and Discord on December 9th, 2020. They left a locked post on catlover555 reading, "If you don't hear from us in the next 24 hours, assume we've been killed. If you have any identifying information on us, please look into our deaths." (screencap available upon request; other people with access to catlover555 can also vouch)
A group of folks who see the post, including me, confer: what do we do? What CAN we do?
I have polyfrazzlemented's legal name and location; we mailed them an AllFam postcard a while back (censored screencap available upon request). I spend the next month and a half on death watch, checking the news and obituaries in their area for bad news.
Last Thursday, on January 28th, 2021, polyfrazzlemented resurface. I receive this email:
I respond, and arrange to call them, which I do the following day, around 3:30.
We talk for about 45 minutes, and it's a surreal conversation.
Polyfrazzlemented tell me they can no longer tell what is real and what isn't. They claim that they and their partner had to flee home because abusers were programming them hypnotically, stealing their food, poisoning them and their cats, and assaulting them. They seem to have forgotten that the pandemic is happening, and apparently they and their partner have spent the past month in this hotel, hypnotizing each other and doing memory work together 24/7. (Don't do this, holy shit.)
I ask what they need most and fastest. They say housing and human contact. They very badly want to meet in person, indoors, and are clearly hoping I'll take them into my home. (I can and will not.) I ask how long they can stay in the hotel, work up a plan involving local social services.
But something about this whole situation feels... off. Their partner is with them; apparently they've also been mind-controlled and abused and are in similar crisis, and yet polyfrazzlemented hasn't voiced any concern about them, or spoken to them at all. I haven't heard a peep from this partner; I only have polyfrazzlemented's word that this person even exists, and if they're saying they can't distinguish what's real...
"Can I speak to your partner? Just to be sure they're alive?"
Pause. "Sure." They sound a little surprised that I would worry.
They pass the phone over. Very different voice. Dead flat. "Hello?"
We switch to Sneak. "Hello, stranger! I don't know you and you don't know me; I'm just checking to make sure you're alive."
"I am alive."
Sneak asks what seems a safe, simple question for a stranger in crisis: "Are your kitties with you?"
"My blood sugar's low. I'm passing you back."
Polyfrazzlemented take the phone back and mention nothing of the cats, but finding crash space for two humans is hard enough, never mind two humans and an unknown number of cats. So again, when we get a chance, we ask, "are your cats with you?"
Silence. And then polyfrazzlemented tell me that they gave their cats to a friend in November. They can't say when, who they gave the cats to, or where this happened, and apparently neither can their partner because they were both compelled to amnesia the cats and hallucinate them for a month, thus why the cats were still on the blog in December. They insist all of this is absolute truth, and then burst into theatrical sobs how I must believe them, they would never abandon their cats to die.
There's no kind way to say this: the tears sound fake. I need to check on those cats.
Futhermore, polyfrazzlemented tell me that I too have been programmed by my abusers, with the implication that my abuse involved far more attackers and exploitation than I know. They're very intuitive about these things, they assure me, and maybe I'm here to help them.
"Let's keep the focus on you for now," I say.
(As a side-note, this is when I know that our relationship is over. I have been public about my abuse history. Unless my brain is pulling one humdinger of a magic act, there is no way I was programmed or used by an organized group of attackers. I just had a shitty family. Nobody gets to undermine me by pretending they know my crazy better than me. But at the time, I did still think that the "fuck you, you don't get to say that to me," could wait until after I was sure they wouldn't freeze to death in the street over the weekend.)
I finish the call. I put up the fundraiser. I go hunting mental hospital recommendations, confer with friends. And the more time I have to think, the worse I feel. Something's wrong.
I need to check on those cats.
I ransack my records and find polyfrazzlemented's mailing address. I dig through their tumblr and Dreamwidth to get photos, names, and health conditions for all five of their cats. Then I call the local animal control.
There's not much they can do, of course, but they say they can knock on the door and leave a notice saying, "Are you caring for the cats here? Please call..." I say thank you and try to make my peace with that.
Animal control call me back later that day.
There was no friend in November, or December, or ever. The cats were abandoned. One is still missing. Animal control found the other four: three alive, one dead.
They abandoned the cats.
They abandoned the cats.
And now one is dead.
And polyfrazzlemented are still texting me, emailing me: do I want to meet up? How am I? I've been so kind, so generous, oh thank you so much! Please call! Please meet!
I stare at a wall for a while. Then I block them on all platforms, refund everyone's money, and send polyfrazzlemented this email:
Too many of my friends know polyfrazzlemented for me to stay silent. They used me. They used my friends. They left their cats to die, and indeed, one of them did.
I'm angry. Maybe you are too. Maybe you want to do something.
Some folks have offered to reimburse me, but I'm fine. Angry, sad, but financially okay. I don't need money right now.
But Amorpha do.
Amorpha really are who and what they say they are; I know, because I was there, in person, lugging boxes and running interference with Astraea. Amorpha are brave and generous. Even homeless, even with recurring dental infections that require surgery, they donated to polyfrazzlemented, who they thought even worse off. That is community and friends I can be proud of, not polyfrazzlemented's cruelty and lies.
I don't want people to tear polyfrazzlemented down; they've already done that themselves. No, I want to build Amorpha up. I'm not nearly as mad about losing the money as I am about losing the ability to send it to my homeless friends. So, if you want to help me or give me money, cut out the middleman and send it to Amorpha instead. (Paypal button at the link.)
Because true revenge isn't living well. It's helping your friends live well.
