I did have a smartphone, so I was able to look up several steps I could try. For example installing an experimental driver. In the end I had to install kubuntu and purge xfce, since they had a working driver in their library.
Since I had to type in all commands blindly the worst part was obviously wondering if I mistyped somewhere or if it just didn't work. When I lost track I used the beep command to check if I was stuck.
Sadly, this is normal online. Many people with some sort of exposure online will receive death threads. Some communities are more prone to it than others.
Pokémon, Sonic, Osu! and many Gacha Game communities, for example, have an unusual amount of crazy fans. When you attract their attention you will become a topic in their communities.