A Rant About the TCC.

Quick trigger warning:
This blog contains sensitive topics that discuss school shootings, reader discretion is advised. Take care of yourself.

I don't know if this will hit well with the rest of you, as I'm really not sure how many are even familiar with the topic considering how small this site is in general.
As a vulnerable, mentally struggling young teenager on the internet (specifically on Tumblr) I was introduced to a lot of areas online that I regret ever finding now that I am nearing my twenties.
I have been into true crime for a long time, I have a fascination with the topic that has recently been winding down the more my mind matures. One of the niches on Tumblr that existed (and still to this day persists as a community) was the TCC, or, the True Crime Community. Now, a distinction I have to make as to avoid confusion is that this specific acronym is completely different and very detached from the general idea of true crime, as it houses a plethora of issues within itself that most enjoyers of true crime refuse to align themselves with. The TCC is a distinct, separate part of the community that contains some of the most insane hybristophiliacs I have seen! It has always been the worst on tumblr, but I know that they have seeped out onto other platforms. I have no doubt they will make their way here, as well.
I have no sympathy for those who choose to romanticize and glorify killers, specifically school shooters. Serial Killers as well, of course, but the TCC has a specific obsession with school shooters that has always struck me (and everyone else) as horrific.
The phenomenon of school shootings has always fascinated me- I have a curious mind and an interest in social conditioning, criminal justice, and criminal psychology. I have researched an almost concerning amount on all of the most infamous school shootings, and at one point during an especially torrid time in my life, almost ended up in the trenches of TCC tumblr. It is something I regret fully, and a time of my life where I needed the most help. Help I didn't end up receiving, leaving me every-more susceptible to manipulation. I witnessed first hand kids just like me being manipulated and groomed into thinking the behaviors shown by TCC members was okay and justifiable, I have seen children being sent so far down these rabbit holes that they end up committing the same atrocities as those they idolize; seeing all of that hurts me in ways I cannot describe. Mental illness is no joke, and it is something that needs to be taken seriously. I hold an immense amount of empathy for these kids, but my empathy can only be stretched so far. These children need help, and the adults in those communities that continue the cycle of being the voices of a toxic echo chamber need to be called out and taken offline where they can no longer hurt kids. It is a violent cycle of abuse, manipulation, and disgusting behavior that hurts people everyday.
There are those who openly condone the actions of people like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Adam Lanza, Nicolas Cruz, and more murderers who killed dozens upon dozens of innocent children. They house no empathy for the victims who were shot dead in a place where they were supposed to feel safe. We need to end communities like this because of the harm they blatantly perpetuate.
It is the least we can do to protect the victims of crimes like these, their families, and the plethora of manipulated and mentally ill children who think this is all okay.

Thank you for reading, and as always, if you have any thoughts let me know. If there are any former members of the TCC reading this, if you are comfortable doing so, please tell me your story. I will share mine as well. If you have gotten out of there, I heavily commend you and the work you have done on yourself.

- Malcolm