So I find myself yet again in the strange position of writing a letter to my BDSM/kink community leaders, who have invited my input on a case of misconduct and abuse, the second such we have dealt with this year and the second time I have been consulted for such in this sphere.
As an aside, I still find it strange, the amount of consultation, arbitrage, counseling, and other pastoral work I've been called on or asked to do. It is a small amount, make no mistake, but every time a part of me is going "Uh...I spent much of yesterday sitting around in my underwear playing games and reading, you *surely* want someone more responsible for this." I suppose it gets less odd with time.
Anyway...while I won't go into the particulars here, I do also find myself in a rather strange position of asking not for mercy, but for cruelty: a more stringent punishment for the perpetrator than what I seem to perceive people asking for. Maybe I'm just being contrary; the last case I asked the judges for mercy, partially since it seemed so many people were picking up torches and pitchforks. Now that there is a call to be gentle, I ask for temporary banishment; then again, the man on charges this time is an event leader, and I am fairly certain (as per World Domination/God-Empress conversations) that responsibility and privilege tends to harden my heart.
At any rate, whatever we do so far what *has* been done has been much better handled than I feared it would be, and the victims' needs are more important than any opinion I'm going to have. I will argue that the (figurative) State has a vested interest, though.
The department at University where I work is being evaluated by an external firm, and I have to present my workplace to said evaluators.
I am scared as hell. Depending on my performance, my departments budget might be adjusted.
PANICKING
You will do well. You will be fine. Even if they do decide on an adjustment, you will be okay.
This does not ride on your shoulders alone. You will give it an honest effort, and that is much of what anyone could possibly ask of you.I know that those are just words on a screen, from a person that is far away, but I hope that you may find some use for them in calming the Panic.