Whim Ch. | space boi · @arbiterofwhim
2nd Oct 2021 from TwitLonger
apology
I don't expect anybody to forgive me, but I decided this apology needed to happen regardless once the fires had died down. I won't bother with the details as they are far too personal to belong on Twitter, but due to a variety of circumstances I was not quite myself this weekend. What I said on Friday night and Saturday morning does not reflect who I am, and I apologize to all of my friends and acquaintances for not living up to the expectations they had of me. Plenty of what I said, particularly the name-calling, was unnecessary, uncalled for, and poorly worded. And unfortunately any chance of properly conveying my point was undermined by that.
I have no issue with selfies or content creators who stream with facecams. I'm not (as many people have claimed) some "sexist/misogynist/insecure incel" who is "threatened by IRL pictures of women". I simply believe that there is a time and place for it (once again, regardless of gender), and that Vtubing is not it.
On a related note, I would encourage people to delete the selfies they posted during this drama (though it's likely too late to make a difference). Not because I dislike them, but rather out of a genuine desire for your wellbeing. In a handful of 4chan threads that were shared with me, it seems that many if not all of the selfies may have been downloaded. I believe Twitter scrapes away date/location EXIF data from your pictures, but if you have posted the same image on other personal account (which some people apparently did), then they can be reverse-image searched extremely easily, leading to a potential IRL doxx. I doubt anybody will do more than laugh or jack off to them, but it's worth mentioning. To be clear, I had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of any threads nor any doxxing or harassment that may have occurred.
I will stand by my opinion on Vtubers posting selfies and streaming with facecams. I think it is not in the spirit of Vtubing and undermines what makes the concept special. By posting pictures of yourself, you willingly strip away a degree of intrigue and interest from your Vtuber persona. I am entitled to an opinion on this, just as you are free to disagree. I don't encourage the cancelling or de-platforming of Vtubers who don't conform to my opinions, nor do I make it my mission to doxx or harass them for opinions I disagree with.
There is no ruling authority on what exactly defines the term "Vtuber", and even if there was it certainly wouldn't be me. In the absence of an "official" definition, I turn to precedent. The overwhelming majority of Vtubers from 2016 until now:
1. Have a model (png/2d/3d)
2. Have some degree of character beyond "I'm a person who streams"
3. Upload or stream some kind of video content
4. Do not post selfies or stream with facecam on their Vtuber account
As far as I am aware, there are large, successful Vtubers who may disagree with me publicly but still fit these fundamental concepts.
I would like to express my gratitude for the overwhelming support I have received. Particularly my friends who supported me despite disagreeing with how I worded things. The vast amount of supportive messages I've received and the genuinely constructive conversations I've had with people who disagreed with me, but were willing to discuss, have exceeded any expectation I could have had, in part because tweeted that with the expectation that I'd have less than a dozen replies.
Lastly, the fact that something this insignificant has exploded in scope and vitriol beyond actual past instances of Vtuber drama that involved sexual harassment, manipulation, and even IRL pedophilia, is both shocking and frankly disappointing. I'm not sure why certain people believed that death threats, attempts to gain access to my account, password reset spam, and even DMs accusing me of being a pedophile(?) were the appropriate reaction to what was essentially a mean, but general complaint. If you're reading this and aren't quite ready to put down the pitchfork, then I encourage you to search around a bit and apply it constructively, as there is at least one case of targeted harassment of a Vtuber that currently has a fraction of the attention of my original tweet.
As far as I'm concerned this drama is over and done with. I will not be deleting the tweets I made, as I feel that mistakes should be preserved so that they can be learned from. With the apology that I waited a week to make now off of my mind, I can start enjoying my break.