Some of you may have noticed we posted a response to this blog earlier that was then deleted. At the time of posting that, emotions were running very high, and it was a poor attempt at an apology that ended up victimizing ourselves rather than actually apologizing. We're trying to make a better and more genuine apology now that we have had a chance to clear our heads. We have also had people from outside of the mod team read this before we posted it.
Sincerely, we apologize for any harm that we have caused Indigenous people with this roleplay. The anti-Indigenous themes and stereotypes littered throughout warrior cats and the wcrp community are something that we should have been more conscious of when creating something, especially within the setting that we did. While we tried to remove or change anything glaring prior to starting, it's obvious that we didn't do enough research. We were overly excited and uneducated, and rushed into opening this rp without considering the consequences. It was our responsibility to research any implications within our lore, and we didn't.
We also responded very inappropriately to many of the criticisms we received. Much like the original apology we posted earlier, we responded emotionally instead of logically. Given that this rp was a creative labor, criticism often felt like an attack on ourselves rather than advice. Looking back, I am ashamed of the way I reacted and responded. Deciding not to change the name of the Gang, among other things, was immature and irresponsible. While we wanted communication, the way we communicated was off-putting and cold, and we can't blame anyone for not talking to us off-anon because of that. The voices of POC matter more than our own feelings, and we unfortunately didn't reflect that with our previous statements.
This roleplay is not closing so that we may escape criticism, or to avoid blame. It was rushed into and poorly thought out, and the setting is clearly not something our mod team should be handling at this point in time. We want to use this as an experience to learn and to grow as people. Admitting to being wrong is the first step to growing. If we ever mod another roleplay, we will avoid settings with such dark and violent pasts, especially ones that we aren't qualified to handle. In the future, we will learn from our mistakes and accept criticism gracefully, instead of wrongfully interpreting it like a personal attack.
We understand that this apology will not fix anything. We know that no one - especially not BIPOC - owes us forgiveness or politeness. We were too quick to insist that people were judging us without knowing what was going on behind closed doors, while we were doing the same. We truly feel horrible for any pain we have caused, and any stereotypes we have perpetuated. It feels appropriate to lay this rp to rest and leave the blog up as a lesson for ourselves, and for anyone else that may learn from our mistakes.
Thank you,
The Chasing Thunder mod team
