Though I would like to ring in the New Year on the channel with much more pleasant business, there is a matter left over from last year that must be addressed. There is now undeniable regret surrounding what used to be a tentpole of the channel and its early days in light of all that has been alleged concerning TribeTwelve’s creator, Adam Rosner (Noah Maxwell). I have created a Twitlonger here regarding the allegations, my feelings about them, and my personal experience during Adam’s departure, which lends credence to an observable pattern of behavior within the allegations:
I always maintain that art must be considered aside from artist, especially because there is seldom great work done entirely alone, and a destruction or rejection of the work can disenfranchise and harm the innocent who took part in its creation. This is obviously a difficult thing to do with some art that exists, as quite often, we encounter work that revolves entirely around the central creative figure or is a direct relation to them and their life experience. However hideous a side of the artist, it is also a fact (however uncomfortable in the light of who they were at their worst) that good and even important work may have been crafted by their hand and the more exceptional and admirable parts of their heart and mind, and while we cannot disregard the evil or wrongdoing, be it within the work or the person responsible for it, we cannot ignore what is good and what is of quality as result of their effort and what it may have granted those who received it or sat in audience.
TribeTwelve has always been, in my eyes and the eyes of many creators and viewers, a critically important unfiction project that has inspired countless creative people and informed the work of those who have come to the field after. It is also, itself, a project worthy of high praise on several points, though certainly not above criticism in others. TribeTwelve is a historical piece of our field and one of its main first branches, the Slenderverse–the third of the Big Three and one of the most impactful of the subgenre’s stories.
And yet, Adam Rosner is Noah Maxwell. He is TribeTwelve’s writer and creator, its mastermind, its majority editor and contributor. And it was the grand yield of his project, the fame and status it brought him, which enabled him to prey on underaged girls and those closest to him. It is painful to look at any image of TribeTwelve and see Noah Maxwell when his face is Adam Rosner’s. No makeup, no costume to even help differentiate character from actor. And the fruits of the labor, behind the scenes, resulted in what we now know.
And those were Adam’s decisions to make–not the audience’s or those who helped make TribeTwelve aside from Adam.
It is unfair, both to you as audience and the innocent contributors to TribeTwelve and its related media (the Archives, the Wiki, its fandom), to remove coverage of the project on the channel and eclipse it as if it never existed, especially those innocents who were harmed by Adam in the end as allegations came out. They have already lost plenty and been hurt by it; I cannot in good conscience obliterate TribeTwelve from the channel and hurt them more by erasing the good they did.
The existence of material containing Adam on the channel will also bear with it a disclaimer containing the Twitlonger, and I feel the videos must also stand, with their disclaimers, for this reason:
You must not ever forget what happened here, both as a creator and as a viewer who wishes you could get close to your favorite creators.
Don’t you dare proceed throughout life as a creative hopeful or eager fan without remembering TribeTwelve.
This has become, very unfortunately, a cautionary tale and a tragedy that we need to carry with us–to remind us, to keep us, and to help us be better and stay better. And as a final statement, I will borrow some words from one of the best people to escape Adam’s circle and who has done incredible work and showed enduring kindness for all affected by these allegations and the resulting fallout:
“Don’t be discouraged. Make your art. Make something better than he or I ever could. Don’t let him take this from you.”
Thank you, and after all of this and despite it, please have a very happy New Year.
