for the fans
If you are/were a fan of Avid or Marm, whether you created fan content about them or not, I would appreciate if you read this.
I am not here to talk directly about what they did, frankly, I could read every statement and still not know everything as I was never in that fanbase. (Though I will say that I have read all the statements)
I am here to talk to the fans of them. People who unintentionally put them on a pedestal, people who created things about them, people who like the characters they played, and the people that heard over and over 'don't idolize creators' but did it anyway on accident and are now devastated.
I did it too, not with Avid and Marm, sure, but with other creators who also turned out to be awful, most nobly, for me it was Wilbur Soot.
I know what Avid and Marm did is not easily comparable to what Wilbur did, not by scale and platform size at least, but the situation the fanbase is (and most likely will be in) the same.
Its gonna suck, especially for people who put so much effort and love into creating things about them, but you can still work on it if you feel comfortable.
The mcyt fanbase (and yt fanbases in general) toe the line between rpf and character fiction a lot. We do our best to separate creator and character all the time, this is no different.
The best strategy I have found over the years is to Oc-ify them. Those characters were given up by the creators as soon as they left. You can keep your VSMP-avid. He's yours now. Be free.
If they come back to release a statement, to apologize, take what they say into account, sure, but also take into account what their friends and victims said. Don't let what you saw in a video or on a stream make you think you know them. Don't be like Wilbur stans.
And one last thing. NEVER harass them. I'm serious. I don't care what they did. If you send hate, harass them, threaten them, anything. They will use it to convince one more person they are the victim. They will show the mountain of threats and harassment and go "See? This is what they really wanted" and some people will believe them.
Thank you for listening, and remember, if it isn't giving them money or defending their abuse, its free reign. Go create, go make art and write fanfiction. Take a break and come back stronger.
