So i see a lot of Pyros supporters acting as if the people mad are being overdramatic, making a mountain out of a mole hill, only mad at not being able to ship characters, when that's not the case. The main issues are actually about many things but I specifically wanna talk about the questionable stuff Pyro has said, which is what makes people get up in arms the most.
I'm gonna talk about the contradictions of what Pyro has said int he discord and the issues with it, how his words will/have been taken by fans. First let's start with this, I guess
Im like, 90% sure this in reference to the intimidation threat of "I have my birds in all the forests" and...
"I meant my mods would keep an eye out and ban people" okay, that's fine, good even. "There won't be any witch hunts" great! So, you see that 2nd to last paragrpah? That one- yeah right there....so....that first part was fucking lie
A modern witch hunt is targeting a specific group of peopel due to not liking how they behave. This usually involves portraying as doing such as "cleaning the water hole of poison" and "protecting people" and you know...using their fear and want for approval/need to fit in against them to make them report people to you
Pyro has the power of thousands of people, and told them he "strongly encourages" people to report others who don't obey the rules, because these are rules not boundries. He just told them "feel free to go looking for these people and report them to me" that is a witch hunt. I really don't think he's doing it on purpose, but...I feel it's very clear that he isn't really thinking his words through. And that he doesn't understand the affect they will have on people. Like, people are not ONLY going to be reporting what they come across, theyre gonna look for it, and they're going to send stuff like "I'm reporting you" or "you're a horrible human being burn in hell" because fuckin, redbean29 made ship art. They'll probably be far more violent actually, given what I've seen
It is one thing to say your mods will be doing this and banning poeple, it'd another to tell your fans to seek out and report people
And it's not just that, it's also with the most recent(?) clarification On harrassment, which I have issues with.
Here he says to not harrass people, which is great! That is really good...this is not posted anywhere publicly. The only way we have this is through screenshots. And those screenshots will never reach as many people as his streams do.
And more importantly, he doesn't address what he said and how what he said gave his fans permission to harrass people. Which is the biggest issue I have looking at this.
now, okay, what exactly am I referring to with that? Well I'm referring to the timestamp 8 minutes on his 7/28 stream, the stream after his boundries one, where he says this in response to someone asking for clarification to not harrass people
"Don't harrass people for things...in the past" now, I add those dots because I hear a pause there, but you may not which is fine. That "in the past" adds conditions to not being harrassed. It's saying that if someone ships him from this point forward, you're okay to harrass them. He won't care.
Pyro does not address this, which is how its a contradiction, sure he says he doesn't condone harrassment but he does not say, "I said something he didn't fully think through, which has led to people thinking its fine if they harrass and threaten others" and then go on to say the post he...does not acknowledge it at all. He says two different things and doesnt connect them, thus leaving a disconnect and a contradiction. Making it feel...disingenuous, to me at least. How can people misinterprete that? Why arent you admitting you said something without thinking, that you made a mistake?
Usually I agree, it is not the creators fault for their fans harrassing people, they cannot control thousands of people...but in this case, Pyro gave them permission. Opening the gate of an aggressive dog and the dog biting someone is not only on the dog, you opened the gate. You can't just say "I'm sorry the dog bit you" you have to say "I'm sorry i accidentally opened the gate, I didn't realize the dog would bite" You have power over thousands of people, you have to take accountability and admit you fucked up. And not just in private.
Pyro has not taken accountability, he has not apologized for his part to play in the harrassment his fans did, he hasn't even explained why he said it.
And here's one more as well, which I found after writing all that
"I want reports of bad behavoir of people harrasing past shippers" past shippers specifically. And I think its pretty clear the other half of the sentence doesn't mean "report those harrasing past shippers or who continue to ship" if so why not just say shippers? Why the aggressive wording? Why not just leave out past?? He wants people to report those harrasing past shippers...and report people who continue to ship his characters.
He is, once again, giving not being harrasssed by his supporters conditions. Maybe he just means he doesnt condone harrassment, but also only wants those harrassing past shippers to be reported which...is still bad. Because if that was what he meant its still conveying that the ones who continue shipping don't deserve protection or justice. Which I highly doubt is what he wants to convey, but with his wording, it is what he's conveying.
And another thing, this also negates his "I don't want a witch hunt" thing. And even the "I strongly encouragement is not saying he "wants" people reported if they continue to ship his character. He went form "I strongly encourage" to "I want" it's not to significant, but it does signal a tone change to where it sounds more like an order then a suggestion.
Even if he said "don't do harrasment at all" later, he still said this. He said "don't harrass people for things...in the past" and "report those who harrass past shippers" and has not acknowledged those things and how they contributed to the barrassment of people. Which is shitty.
I don't think Pyro is a bad person, i dont think he is some master manipulator or anything, he isnt. But he has handled this very poorly in a way that gives his supporters incentive to harrass and threaten people for him, and is not thinking his words through or about how they will be perceived which has caused harm. He and Maddy do not need to take back their boundries like some are thinking people expect, the boundry was never the issue. The issue is how it's being enforced, the questionable stuff said, lack of accountability, clarifications only being said in private, and how they are expecting fans to create a safe space for them instead of making it themselves.
You know, browsing the Pyro tag I see a few defending him or making us look like maniacs and one one hand, I wanna like, say why people are so upset, but also like. I don't particularly want to fight with people, and while I've written a reblog to someone sayign were "blowing this out of proportion" and only focusing on "one line" when its so much more then that....I don't think they're worth the effort, even though they're super annoying
See, unlike some of these cc creators, I know how to block and curate my own space!!
though I will post what I said here just for general becaus ei knew this question was gonna come up sooner or later: "how is the harrassment pyros fault???"
The stream after the boundries one at 8 minutes he says "don't harrass people...for past things" not "don't harrass people" this was specifically after being asked to clarify harrassment was not okay and to not do it. He has condoned harrassment towards people woth that single line.
Also, he never cleared it up that he was talking about his mods in the previous threat, about sending his people after "repeat offenders" like some people claim. Like...it is JUST vague enough to where it COULD have been him messing up his words, but also vague enough to be a threat of sending fans after people. And 90% of people saw/heard the latter, people on his side and against. Given he says the above when asked to clarify to not harrass people, I frankly don't believe he was referring to his mods even if the mods claim he was.
this, is sexual harassment. "imagine having female furries to date and still complaining" shut the fuck up. OOP is being flirted with, in a sexual manner, against his well to the point he is lying about his career to not be harassed. This isn't funny or him being some kind of stuck-up ungrateful person. This dude has a totally normal career that should not be getting him sexually harassed, no shit he's caught off guard and uncomfortable. this was probably posted years ago, but OOP needs to tell these assholes to stop, that what they're saying is making him uncomfortable. if they don't stop, he needs to just leave.
