__Signals__

Here I am, stepping forward… Balancing my fear, my family and my shame. I don't want to disappoint a community I called home, but the behaviors within the Grotto are NOT ok. The wrath of self-professed “benevolent god” @thr33som3s was, in fact, abuse. 3 has a proven track record of manipulating women, using threats and aggression to silence community members, and scam people. I was scared to come forward and with reason. During one of @thr33som3s events in Miami, a community member and longtime personal friend of @thr33som3s launched an aggressive drug fueled tirade, claiming women were the problem with the project. He boasted that 3 fancied himself a womanizer. I learned the young girls, flown into the event to party were there at the pleasure of 3. I was told @thr33som3s had been warned to stop DMing the women of the project due to his repeated pattern of preying on many of the women within the project. My words were twisted. My discomfort waved off. @thr33som3s refused to speak to me. I was called names. I was objectified based on my appearance. To @thr33som3s women are objects to be collected, the way we collected his NFTs. I left the project many times, only to be pulled back in by 3. Emotional abuse is a stealthy thing. It moves slowly, consuming you like a frog in boiling water. I am ashamed that I allowed myself to be treated so poorly. There is only one way to make sure this man is not allowed to continue this abuse: to speak up. @thr33som3s promised us all a safe space to be ourselves, but instead provided an atmosphere of manipulation, drugs, coercion of young girls and anger toward anyone questioning the status quo. There were penalties for mistakes. Penalties for not enough spent. Penalties for prioritizing our lives outside his walled-off community. Like the grotto members that were reamed out for buying NFTs outside the project. Or the community member put down for taking his girlfriend on a vacation and not prioritizing his money the way 3 demanded. I’m embarrassed that I fell for this con and kept so many secrets for a liar. I now realize that the man I cared for so deeply simply did not exist. He was a construct of shadows and deception. 3s displayed classic gaslighting and manipulation tactics: love bombing me to my face while saying horrible things about my appearance, gameplay and integrity to the community. I should have seen this sooner as he would do the same thing with me. Telling the grotto community they were his best friends while calling them morons and idiots behind their backs. @thr33som3s project is a prison, financially entrapping its players by delaying the delivery of expensive assets. Community members are in a constant state of waiting for NFTs (that they’ve already spent money or burned assets for). Only members in “good standing,” are able to collect. There are consistent loyalty tests, insert buys (never enough, spend more), participation events and forms dropped as the next hook to keep people locked in. There is no easy exit strategy - listing an asset is taken as a personal slight against him and the project. Leaving the project was a storm of bullying, name calling and accusations. I feel for the community, who are scared to lose their investments and anger a vindictive man. But I can’t do it any longer. Especially knowing there are even more women involved that are only quiet because of fear. There is no personal gain in this for me. I take no joy. There is only loss. Loss of friends and community. Loss of money. Loss of time spent that I could have put toward my family and my art. And loss of self having allowed this abuse into my life. I simply hope to prevent others from falling into the same trap that I and his other victims did. I know what the other women are saying is true. Because he did all the same things with me. I was yet another notch feeding @thr33som3s insatiable appetite for constant affirmation and love. But now I’m going to love myself more, speak up and walk away. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains. SB out.