#I'm already gonna get seen and dogpiled I'm sure

[priestessamy]

Been thinking about this for a long time and I've stressed about how to express it, but I think it's time to just get it out of my head before I go crazy.

Here's the thing.

I work in a store that sells a lot of pop culture stuff. And that means, naturally, that we sell a lot of Harry Potter stuff. We sell the books. We sell journals and bookmarks and figurines and wands and fucking...everything.

Sometimes I'll joke that when a family buys HP stuff, even if it's for their baby or whatever, they are officially dead to me. They become The Enemy in my mind. That kind of nonsense. And really that's only half-true. I don't hate them, I'm not mad, none of that.

But what I've finally sorted out is this.

If you buy anything related to the wizard series anymore, even something used so that woman doesn't get your money, you officially get slotted into a particular tab in my head.

You become less trustworthy.

It does not matter if you gender me correctly, if you're wearing rainbow stuff, if you yourself are trans. You are no longer someone I feel comfortable counting on. Because if I can't even depend on you to realize that it's so much worse than a few transphobic tweets, then you've got more work to put in.

Only when you finally process that your nostalgia is not worth the very literal harm she's done, the nazi friends she's made, the antisemitism in her stories, the funding that goes to hate groups, all of it, will I finally believe that you get it. It's not only about the money going to her. The entire thing is built on a foundation that is rotten to the core, and you have to let it go. Or I'm always going to feel a little uncomfortable around you.

Anyways that's all. Just something I can't stop thinking about. Because every day I have to sell some smiling, pleasant person a Hogwarts mug or whatever the fuck, and I'm sick and tired of it.

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Gonna throw my hat into the ring here, as someone who very recently had a streamer they loved and supported go down for serious allegations and crimes. Feel free to skip around my long ass response, I'll break it down into parts:

---Public Reception

Part of the reason I despise these situations is because people online don't ever know enough to make 100% accurate assessments, but will act like they do anyway (I don't care if its authoritarian, I want a bill where people on Twitter can't post about drama until after at least 5 minutes of being forced to critically think). Having said that, here's my opinions on how everything should go forward:

-Shelby shared her story in order to spread awareness on domestic abuse and the signs, so that others can read those signs and keep themselves safe (or leave an actively abusive situation they've been convincing themselves isn't that bad). That is the priority here, that is what people should be focusing on. If you make this situation about stirring drama with the other CCs, you're a dumbass and you need to stop posting. Give support to Shelby, uplift the voices of women like her sharing their stories, spread awareness on what domestic abuse can look like so everyone can learn, and wait for more information. Its that simple.

-CCs don't owe statements for conflicts they weren't involved in. Philza, Tommy, Quackity, Charlie, and other CCs close to Wilbur who aren't part of this don't owe you an explanation. They're people, they're most likely having to come to terms with the fact that a dear friend, someone who could've been like family, isn't who they thought he was. Have a fucking heart and cut it with the parasocial entitlement. I'm hoping Quackity will remove Wilbur from the Qsmp, but just like with Forever, he probably won't make a big announcement of it, and that's perfectly ok. I understand wanting to make sure you're not supporting a CC who would defend someone guilty of committing domestic abuse, but its still not your right to get anything from these people. If they share, they share. If not, then they don't. If you can't handle that, then leave.

-Having said the above, its worth noting that CCs aren't just a fun group of friends, they're coworkers. Much of what they say publicly and when they say it can be shaped or restricted by situations that can affect their careers or get them in legal trouble. You don't know these people personally or what goes on behind the scenes, its a network and you can't measure their responses the same way you would your own opinion piece. The CCs will always need to be careful about how they respond to an issue, and they will most likely respond in "safe" ways considering what's on the line. Not accusing anyone of anything, nor demonizing them for it, just something to keep in mind. They're human, but they're also working a job.

-If you have Lovejoy or Wilbur-related merch, DON'T THROW IT AWAY OR DESTROY IT. I've seen lots of people pointing out merch can be donated to thrift shops or shelters, and its more eco-friendly than burning or trashing. Remember, anything can be repurposed; a book, a hoodie, there's always someone who can find a use for it. Likewise if you want to keep your old merch, that's fine to. You can wear it if it brings you comfort, or if its something you just like the look of. As long as you're not supporting the source, you already have the merch so don't let people pressure you into thinking you're bad for keeping it if you're not ready to let go/throw away those $70.

---My Opinion Regarding His Response

Everyone and their cousin has been dogpiling on Wilbur's response (rightfully), but I think people online don't understand how public responses work when there's legal team and PR interference. The tweet for me had a weird lack of personal touch and emotion from the guy I've observed to be very personal in his writings, whether its his music or a community post about a life update (blah blah parasociality I know, but I'm letting you know the observations I've made of his behavior simply as someone who notices these things). He also never explicitly stated Shelby's name, rather saying "that person" (you even had the textbook 'black text on a blank white background' screenshotted response). Finally, there was a consistent standing on Wilbur 'not being aware of how the other person really felt' regarding his actions. What I'm trying to say is... y'all really gotta start putting two and two together. Its a textbook PR response. As in, I'd be surprised if Wilbur had over 50% involvement in making it because the wording is exactly how it reads when a response has been initiated by someone's lawyers rather than themselves. The reason he doesn't take more accountability and openly admit to having abused Shelby (other than the obvious public backlash) is probably cause his lawyers are banking on the feigning ignorance angle, that Wilbur didn't intentionally abuse Shelby and was ignorant to how his actions affected her. Its the best way to get him out of hot water on the legal side, because again, this isn't messy drama; its a genuine accusation of a crime. I don't think the response is tone deaf and unaware, I think its a deliberate and measured legal move not even fully created by Wilbur himself. This isn't to say I think he's innocent, but I do know that Shelby and others have brought up some serious accusations, and Wilbur is lawyering up as a result.

---Nuance

Prefacing this part by saying that things are not looking good for Wilbur in regards to what other CCs have brought up about him, and I fully believe and support Shelby, hence why I support that the community should start distancing from him and his work. But I would like to take this opportunity to look into the greater aspects at play. We are within a system that brings up men to do what they want without teaching them to be considerate and aware of the consequences. Men are taught their harmful behavior is perfectly fine, often at women's expense, which makes these situation a very different story depending on who's telling it. Its because of this that we need to critically analyze the system and how it causes men to turn out as they do, instead of giving an immediate opinion without any nuance.

There's a possibility that Wilbur is being genuine in not realizing how bad his actions were. There's a possibility he truly is a manipulative liar who knew exactly what he was doing. He could be a piece of shit. He could be genuinely trying to improve and do better. We don't know. I'd say its pretty cut and dry that he hurt Shelby, and for that I'm glad she's getting justice for herself and spreading awareness. But if we're to entertain the idea of redemption, we need to look at situations like these with nuance so that we can understand the "why". I'm not trying to justify Wilbur's actions or even give him the benefit of the doubt, I have no idea what's going on in that guy's head. I'm just putting this out there because its something I want everyone to think about, especially when it comes to topics regarding narcissism and mental health issues. Don't support him or Lovejoy, just keep something like this in mind for the future.

---The Community/Now Displaced Fans

To everyone who's immediately telling Wilbur's fans (the ones that don't support his actions and are actively mourning no longer being able to enjoy his stuff) to just listen to other music or move on, and who are celebrating each negative new thing that comes out about Wilbur's current status, sincerely, shut the fuck up. You are completely lacking in empathy or emotional intelligence, and what you're doing is the last thing the community needs. Wilbur and his work could have and for many did get fans through some of their hardest moments, and losing that wonderful sense of community you get from streamers and their work (especially with the roleplay stuff) is awful. It fucked me up losing that after almost a year, for some of his fans its been even longer.

If you're a (former) fan of his, its ok to feel like shit. We're human, we get attached and we grieve losing something like this because that's how capable we are of loving. Take your time, as long as you know where to stand (supporting Shelby and raising awareness on domestic abuse), you're doing good. You can keep enjoying his characters and work and making content about it, separating the art from the artist (though don't stream his music from platforms that would give him the money, find a way to pirate it).

This sucks. I feel it as a casual fan who was once hugely into his content, I can imagine what its like for those who were huge supporters all the way up until now. You didn't do anything wrong supporting someone you thought was a good person, its just a thing that happens and its so fucking shitty. You ain't alone though, I know some of you have that knee-jerk reaction to avoid anything to do with him but reaching out to others in the community and actually processing it all is way better, you won't be bottling it all up. Don't be afraid to continue engaging with this part of your life until you're ready to move on from it in your own time, and be kind to yourself. From someone who went through exactly what you are now, trust me, you'll get through it.

[ltwilliamhavers]

HEY UH SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO DO THIS AAAH BUT UM contact, psyche, chessboard, hobby, and interiors for the oc ask meme??? I'm sot sure if it's like. rating all of them on a scale for some or if I give u a single one to answer for?? if I have to choose someone then jamila? gosh I wanna know about all of them ALSO IM SORRY IF THIS IS TOO MANY QUESTIONS AAH I couldn't choose haha,,,,, I hope you're having a good day!!!!!

aaa no problem! i’ll do all of my characters lol,,

lets do a read more so i can explain my characters and THEN do all the questions!

well first off: all of these characters are superheroes! they basically protect their city (new york. somewhere in there i havent really decided yet) from monsters and this demon named kaal (who i have not drawn yet so…. technically she doesn’t exist. and none of the characters really know she exist either. so thats fun.)

in their superhero form they have different names to protect their identity (even they don’t each other’s real identities!), they each have a different elemental power and a different weapon, AND they each have different jewelry that gives them their powers and superhero outfits.

naomi dao: she’s a vietnamese highschool student! (she’s in the same grade as the other three! specifically they’re all in their junior year) she has the power of hydrokinesis, which is the power of being able to control water. her weapon is a staff, her jewelry is earrings, her superhero name is aqua and her eyes turn green when in her superhero form. she’s basically the leader of the group.

selena hayes: she’s mixed (black and white if you wanna get specific) and she has the power of pyrokinesis which is the ability to control fire! her weapon is a whip, her jewelry is a ring, her superhero name is flare, and the tips of her hair and her eyes turn a golden orange in her superhero from!

jamila bajwa: she’s middle eastern and muslim, and she has the power of aerokinesis (the ability to control air) and holographic projection (the ability to create holograms). i gave her another superpower because i thought just air manipulation was kinda lame. her weapon is a bow an arrow, her superhero name is air, and her jewelry is a necklace!

holly suake: she’s native american and of the cherokee tribe, and her power is chlorokinesis (the ability to control plants). her weapon is a sword, her jewelry is a bracelet, her superhero name is earth, and her eyes turn green in her superhero form.

anyway that was a lot. time to move on from talking about my overpowered mary-sue ocs and GET INTO SOME QUESTIONS HEYO!

contact

naomi: naomi is kinda closed off ESPECIALLY as aqua. she kinda acts as like a leader and doesn’t really want to get attached to any of the others. so… nah. she’s not really affectionate.

selena: i’d say she’s the most affectionate out of everyone, but she’s not crazy affectionate. like when they win a super huge battle, or she’s just feeling really happy, she will hug tackle people (usually to aquas dismay.) she’ll put her arm around people and she’s definitely pretty optimistic!

jamila: she is a muslim character and i DO need to look more into this- from what ive researched i’ve seen that muslim women are usually not affectionate towards men, but idk about women? since everyone on the team is a girl. i’d say jamila is average affectionate! she’d cheer people on and give people high fives and stuff like that, but i don’t really see her as a hug type of person.

holly: i’d say she’s the same with selena! if she sees selena hug tackle someone on the team she will most likely do the same or join the dogpile. she’d probably do the pick-up hug where she also spins them in the air while going like ‘YEAH WE DID IT!!’

psyche

naomi: naomi tries to remain stoic and brave as aqua- but as naomi she’s as emotional as everyone else! (i don’t mean like she’s crying every five seconds. i mean that the amount of emotions everyone else shows she’d show the same amount.) naomi is also strategically just like holly- but it’s not unlikely that you would find her just jumping into battle with no second thought. at the beginning of the story, i’d say she’s pretty good mentally but later- thanks to kaal- she’s like crazy messed up. i’ll probably go into that later but uh. not right now. just know that kaal is straight up evil.

selena: selena is crazy smart! even though she knows it’s probably best to think through things strategically, she always goes with her gut instinct because she trusts herself. selena is also pretty emotional both as selena and flare- she will openly share what she is feeling.

jamila: jamila isn’t really ‘we have to plan this out to the t’ but shes also not the type to just run straight into danger. she is a little more strategic than not, but when need be she will do what she thinks is the right decision in that moment. jamila is average with her emotions too.

holly: holly is super strategical! she’s basically the character that would start talking about the plan, look up like ten seconds later and all the others would already be gone. she’d probably just facepalm and go join the others to make sure they don’t do anything really stupid and die.

chessboard

as stated in the last question- holly and naomi are the most strategical of the group!

hobby

naomi: well the whole ‘what do they love? what captivates them?’ is like WAY too deep for me so. i’m just gonna list their hobbies. naomi plays softball and she’s really good at it!

selena: selena is part of like stem and robotic clubs, so she enjoys making robots and competing in robotic competitions.

jamila: along with naomi, she is an athletic type! except that she doesn’t play softball, she plays soccer and is baller at it.

holly: holly is musical! she mostly focuses on violin, but she knows the general basics of most other instruments like piano, guitar, etc.

interiors

naomi: naomi lives in a rather big house with her two moms so she’s doin pretty good. naomi seems like the type to hang up pictures of her family so she probably has tons of pictures of her chillin with her moms (no siblings- she’s an only child.)

selena: selena totally hangs up all the school awards she gets. you just walk in and you see medals from robotics competitions, papers of showing academic excellence and probably some perfect attendance awards up there. selena also has an older brother in college so she probably has a funny pic of them hanging up somewhere.

jamila: jamila enjoys lookin good and feelin nice, so she probably has tons of face cleansers, lotions, makeups and bathbombs (of the sort) ALL up in her bathroom. she keeps everything pretty neat and tidy- but it’s not like EVERYTHING HAS TO BE IN ITS PLACE ALWAYS. she just gets anxious when things around her are cluttered, so her house is pretty neat. (she is also an only child.)

holly: holly lives with her single mother and her twin younger brothers (her dad had died when she was young) so her house is usually very busy due to the 13 year old brothers and all the childrens hobbies- and they do only have one mom. the house is filled with soccer gear (the brother’s) and musical things with holly. sometimes the house is a mess due to the younger brothers, but it’s never absolutely terrible. holly has posters up in her room of bands and celebrities that she likes.

OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO LONG.

whoops lol. i just needed to talk about my ocs i guess