Jenn · @Lady_Echidna
26th Sep 2022 from TwitLonger
Righting the narrative
In the past I have remained silent, but I feel almost obligated to touch upon current events as a woman within the Halo community. I don’t want to use my platform to enable/promote negativity or drama therefore I will not entertain anymore conversation, nor will I speak of this on stream.
Let me begin by saying that my family, as well as anyone that knows me IRL can attest to my character; I try to see the best in everyone and give them the benefit of the doubt, many times to a fault. Despite this, I pride myself in being a good judge of character and being able to read people well.
As for online - I am confident to say I am a trustworthy and credible figure in the community. I hope that the fact I have both stayed out of any drama myself as well as avoided speaking publicly on anyone else’s drama shows I am not in this for interaction farming (if I wanted that, I would just post another meme...I’m hilarious). I have nothing to gain. This post is to *right* the narrative that has been twisted and manipulated (just like many community members) by one person.
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A few months ago at an event on the way back from breakfast with a few people... I was walking with him when he asked me out of the blue, “what do you think of me going for an egirl?”. He then went on to ask me what the women of the community think of him. Innocent inquiries, one can argue. At the time, I thought it was a bit of an odd question but I simply pocketed that feeling in my gut. I answered the question and tickled his ego a bit. After all, he was a respected caster and content creator for Halo.
Looking back, I realized it was a phish for details... seeing what I and the women of the Halo community heard about him. Why ask that, on different occasions to other women, if you weren’t anxious about something coming out?
And come out it did, to some degree. It’s not my story (nor 343s) to tell, and it was kept well under wraps - that of which he ultimately benefited from. This wasn’t a sudden thing, this was over and dealt with months and months ago. His ego drove him to tweet out that he wasn't CHOSEN as a caster, making it seem that big bad 343 suddenly screwed him over. In reality, 343/HCS cut ties with him and was very clear as to why - but the public didn’t know that, and that tweet ended up opening a window for people to find out what truly happened.
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I wasn’t trying to cancel him. I do not believe in cancel culture, but I do believe in consequences. Seeing as HCS had already cut ties with him, I chose not to notify a tournament I was co-streaming (where he was signed on to cast) of his very real, very valid ‘allegations’. I figured his extraditions from Grassroots and HCS were consequence enough. They weren't. The victim blaming, narrative-twisting TwitLonger that lacked any sort of personal responsibility and owning up to one’s actions (that was posted conveniently during championship Sunday) sparked such anger in me that I wish I could go back in time and deny him of that opportunity.
This isn’t a case of women vs men, nor is this a case of an “ex-lover’s quarrel”, nor is it another “victim” of an "SJW #metoo movement". This is the case of a man that can’t accept personal responsibility for his actions. One that can’t take no for an answer — despite how many times it is said — no matter how she says it. One that continues to try and take what he wants, one that will whine and cry, use excessive self-deprecation to manipulate someone until they sleep with him. The fact that he’s trying to make it about anything other than that, continuing to twist the narrative as well as the community into taking HIS side is absolutely scary. The closest he came to owning up was the vague tweet of taking a step back to re-evaluate things.
No one should be flown out and paid to work events to then be predatory and attempt to strong arm women into sleeping with him. I don’t care how good his content is, I don’t care how respected he was as a caster. Respected ≠ respectful. You should not be paid to then sexually harass women. You should not be endorsed to then manipulate women into sleeping with you.
No means no. If you have to convince someone to sleep with you, that is not consent. Even if you are involved or have been involved in the past, you are not automatically given consent. If you constantly ask “why don’t you want to sleep with me?”, that is sexual harassment.
Again, I hope you all see me as a credible figure in the community and trust I wouldn’t steer you wrong. I am not a malicious person. I love everyone until I’m given a valid reason not to, and even then I am extremely empathetic and willing to try and see things from all angles. I wish for everyone to succeed, I wish for everyone to be happy. He wasn’t falsely accused of anything. He isn’t a victim. I was a fan, a subscriber, an acquaintance. This isn’t a crusade against someone I disliked — it was quite the opposite — but now I see him for what he is: manipulative, and unwilling to be held accountable. I truly hope he takes a step back to re-evaluate things as he said.
No plugs here. Be kind to one another. Be respectful.