Recently (ish) I was sort of metaphorically adopted by #Naughtyville. Actually, I followed Penelope Jones  home one day on Twitter and she was all “Can I keep her, huh, huh, can I keep her?” And strangely (though, now it’s not strange at all, but at the time it seemed strange) all these really nice but naughty minded people adopted me as their resident vanilla cupcake. This is great because I generally have a fairly dirty mind myself. Alright, a very dirty mind. I just *write* less naughty than most of them on the scale of naughty to puritanical. Though, as my inbox would indicate, I am still a wee bit too spicy for some. Eh. I care not. And then there’s a few, though distinctly less, who were disappointed because I often hang out with the BDSM crowd on Twitter and there was that one time I wrote some erotica (not BDSM but there *might* have been a wee bit of kinky going on, ehem…) and then they read Bird Day Battalion and they’re like….oh, that’s just…romance with sex…

SO, too spicy for some, not spicy enough for others. Must be doing something right. Ha!

You may be wondering (as usual) what on earth am I rambling about?

Penny adopting random stray cupcakes got me to thinking. You ever notice how those groups who have to battle the most fiercely against stereotypes and unfair marginalization are often THE most welcoming people on the face of the planet?

I have.

It makes me sad to think of all the many different and truly fascinating groups of people I have met online over the years not just in the course of writing but being a regular visitor to websites about books, TV shows, sports, what have you, the ones that are a part of the most powerful, mainstream or elite groups can often (yes, I’m generalizing based on anecdotal experience) be the LEAST welcoming to new people and people who don’t share their Group Think. If you offer up the dissenting opinion or encourage others to critically examine their own kneejerk opinions you are dismissed, scoffed at, sometimes even drummed out.

Sadly, it has been one of the most consistent things I have observed and experienced in the cyberworld. The groups with the most numbers, or the most clout tend not to tolerate those that think differently than they do and the groups *most* used to experiencing that very sensation of censure, condemnation, or prejudice are often the best place to find refuge when you feel like an octagonal peg in a square world.

Ah, there are exceptions to the rule, I know.

Just like I am the exception to the #Naughtyville rule.