Rejection: Fiction

The story takes the form of an online explainer to an event referred to as “Botgate,” created by Internet user MH-Sleuth and the Botkins, his community of investigators. Editing access has been heavily restricted to preserve the document’s integrity since Botgate is a scandal of interlocking hoaxes on the Internet. The goal of the explainer is to present a true and verified summary of Botgate. It begins with “The Post,” written by Bee, who has multiple Internet user accounts on social media. 

Bee starts The Post by sharing that they don’t know how to describe themself because they do not feel ownership over their name or appearance. They are Thai American and work in tech. Their father died by suicide early on in their life. Their mother, a stylish woman obsessed with appearances, became disappointed when neither Bee nor Bee’s brother Kant inherited her good looks. Most of their upbringing focused on learning affected behaviors that would improve their appearances. Bee doesn’t think much of their Thai identity; the siblings never learned to speak Thai and were often bullied for being Asian. Bee’s mother showed favoritism to Kant, who became a model son and class valedictorian, though he remained a victim of bullying all the way up to graduation.