A problem with the Tales Of Arcadia community
First and foremost, Iād like to ask anyone taking the time to read this to please read the post all the way through before commenting on the matter. There is a lot of dirty laundry to unpack here, and some points will be building off previous ones.
Iāll get right to the point. Most everybody in the Tales of Arcadia fandom will have heard of the blog imthegingerninjaĀ / ginger-le-gay. She is one of the most well-known ToA-centric blogs, after all. (If youāre wanting to avoid her on Twitter as well, her account is Margaret Bell, or @The_Book_Bell.)
This is your PSA, TOA fandom: Ginger is a toxic, manipulative person.
This is not a claim I like to make lightly, but itās long overdue that this issue is properly brought up within the fandom.Ā
Iāve seen so many people wonder why the Tales of Arcadia fandom is so small. Well, I and many others very strongly believe that Ginger is one of the main reasons for that, if not the main one. To make matters easier, Iāve tried to break this down into some main points. So letās take a look at how Ginger falls under this category.
Disclaimer: Please DO NOT look at this post as an excuse to harass Ginger or any other blog mentioned here. This sort of behavior is NOT acceptable. The point of this post is to educate those who may not know the extent of her harrowing behavior, nothing more.
1. Dishonesty and Death Threats
[EDIT: Shortly after this post went up, she started blatantly lying about me to try to cover for herself. You can see those lies being easily disproven here]
Ginger has been kicked from at least three Tales of Arcadia servers, all for similar reasons of violence. While I cannot provide screenshots as I am no longer part of the servers they were in, there are multiple witnesses that can verify the disgusting behavior she engaged in. The one I saw specifically was her saying that certain members of the fandom should be gathered up and hunted for sport, among other gross things. (Elaboration of why can be found in point 3, though it still doesnāt excuse this kind of talk)
Here is some points made by another blog that also sums up similar issues with Ginger, though:
While there were multiple instances of her inciting violence towards others, this is unfortunately one topic I cannot provide specific screenshots for at this time. But I will add them in as I can find them. That being said, I want to move to the dishonesty, something I do have a screenshot for.
While you could argue that people sometimes notice the similar things, this is far too close together to be considered anĀ āoriginal findā. The reblog button is there for a reason, but she instead decides to steal the OPās premise and present it as her own original thought.
There have been a couple other blogs that have confirmed that their theories and analysis posts were often stolen and presented as Gingerās own as well, to the point where they stopped bothering even making such posts, as the above blog points out. (Out of respect for their privacy, I will not be naming these blogs. Say what you will about that possibly weakening my point, but if sheās willing to so blatantly steal from that person shown above, it shouldnāt surprise you that sheās so willing to do it to others.)
Theory-making and analysis posts arenāt as solidlyĀ āoriginal contentā as a piece of art or fanfiction, sure, but itās still common fandom courtesy to give credit where itās due. Ginger has intentionally avoided extending that courtesy far too many times.
Most of this is going to be about past Merlin vs. Morgana drama, though there are also words to be said for the incredibly shaky relationships she forms withĀ āfriendsā.
But first letās talk about those wizards.
This is a topic Iāve tried to approach with Ginger before, but she borderline refused to acknowledge any of the points I was trying to make, and when she did, I donāt know if I just wasnāt being clear or what, but it honestly looked as though she was purposefully trying to misunderstand what I was saying in her bizarre responses. (To be fair, I was sending messages out of anger because she vagueposted about a blog I admired, calling them aĀ ādisgusting creepā because of them simply saying theyād hoped Jim and Merlin would be able to actually bond at some point... Not really a justifiable reaction to such a harmless thought, in my opinion. But my point is, I recognize that the circumstances may have clouded my ability to vocalize my thoughts clearly.)
That aside, we should first acknowledge this post Ginger made to save face after having gotten some backlash about hate-train related things (Side note: I couldnāt find the original post, so this is a screenshot I got from someone else. I did not add the writing. The text underneath it should still be slightly readable, I hope.):
Taken at face value, this is a very reasonable post. I think everybody would and should be able to agree on it. Hate-meme him for fun, sure, but donāt actually harass or insult others over a fictional character. Simple, right?
Apparently not, because Gingerās done loads of that to others. Probably why theĀ āLOLā was added in, I bet.
This post confused me. First of all, exploring dark topics (āangstā, as you put it) has never been a rare occurrence, every fandom has that content, most in heavy abundance. Iāve noticed no staggering difference in volume of this fandom compared to others Iāve been in. People enjoy angst not because they think the character ādeserves to be in painā, they enjoy a fictional blow to their own emotions. Thereās lots of different reasons people like angst, but itās barely ever been out of a genuine hate for whatever characterās the focus, from all the things Iāve seen. Your own friends have indulged in Jim angst and body horror posts before, does that mean you think theyāre awful people? I feel like I shouldnāt have to explain something like this.
Also, way to basically admit you think all Merlin stans get off on child torture. So much for āIf you like Merlin as a character, youāre validā, am I right? God, what a mess of a post. (Itās been very recently deleted, which makes me wonder if she got more backlash on it, but just... wow.)
Letās look at another one.
Again. Vagueposting about someone specific, Iād wager, since most of the people Iāve seen comment on this topic either think both characters are morally gray, or hate both.Ā
But of course, when it comes to Morgana, suddenly excusing bad behavior can be justified. Ginger can call someone a disgusting creep because they want a familial bond between Jim and Merlin, thatās just wrong, but pushing the Mom-gana narrative with the genocidal abuser and Toby is completely fine, folks.
(Note: I would like to point out that I really donāt care about what theories and hopes people have for Morgana. You should be allowed to love that character in any way you want, same as I would say for Merlin. My issue with these examples is the completely brazen hypocrisy in which these two characters are treated. Youāre obviously allowed to love Morgana without consequence, but the same should be said for any character of the show, and yet itās not.)
The most obvious instance of this double-standard is well observable here, I believe:Ā
... I think this mostly speaks for itself. Sorry, but this is very blatantly trying to excuse Morganaās actions, here.
Oh hey, remember that post about Ginger saying that liking Merlin must mean you want to see Jim in horrible pain?Ā
Say anything similar about her with Morgana, and suddenly she takes issue with this line of reasoning!Ā
Iām sorry, but if you canāt take this sort of thing, then you shouldnāt be dishing it out. One of your own friends is still getting hate over the simple fact of liking Merlin, and all this mentality is exactly why.
Letās look at one more.
Fun fact! Morgana horrifically abused somebody for centuries, tried to kill multiple kids, took horrible advantage of Claire (probably traumatized her), and canonically wanted to genocide humanity, not to mention all the OTHER murders she's committed, both directly and indirectly.
But somehow pointing any of this out ādoesnāt countā. This is why the fandom keeps saying more and more things like this:Ā
I could be going through her constant hating on Merlin and people who like Merlin for days straight, but I hope you all get the idea by now.
Again, I would like to just reiterate: You can like whatever character you want for whatever reason you want. The problem with this case is the hypocrisy and mistreatment of others, not your taste in characters.
Now interestingly enough, sheās lately been singing a different tune about the guy, switching from theĀ āI hate Merlin I hope he dies!!!ā mentality toĀ āOh he should get a redemption arc too :)ā sort of thing.
Iām highly convinced that the only reasons for thisĀ āchange of heartā is because of the constant backlash she was getting for the obnoxious amount of hate posts being thrown around all the time, but also because Aaron Waltke keeps tabs on the fandom more lately, and has spoken himself about Merlin not being a villain.
I could go on about this point forever, but I think Iāll just leave the Merlin topic with this post going through the hypocrisy of the Merlin Hate Train. In fact, hereās two just for fun.
Now onto more real-world focused areas of hypocrisy. One such instance can be found inĀ Gingerās Janus Disorder server.Ā
Just take a look at this post.
While the offender in this case isnāt Ginger specifically, it still takes place in her server, and she made no moves to enforce herĀ āNo discourseā rule. All over... what? A random kudos on a fanfiction thatās not even about anything controversial since all characters involved are adults? I immensely donāt understand the point of why this ever had to be an issue, or why nobody spoke up about how ridiculous this is.
Iād also like to point out a certain user called firecat17. For some quick context, waaay back in the Kung Fu Panda fandom (around 2018), this user had been harassing people and saying incredibly vile things, a person of which Ginger had a bit of a feud, but firecatās anon threats had gotten to the point where Ginger ended up having to block their IP.Ā
Obviously, the user firecat was the one in the wrong, here. (Also, the irony in this comment is through the roof...)
Interesting point there, Ginger. Sure would be nice if you practiced what you preached.
Why am I bringing this random old drama up, you may ask? Well, it just strikes me as strange that someone who was so vile to Ginger is suddenly on her okay-list again, sending her asks and getting casual responses as if nothing ever happened.
To be fair, there is the possibility that they worked out their differences in private. But given the severity of the kinds of words being exchanged, I would still find that rather suspicious.
When someone whoās said things so vile can be so easily forgiven, yet something as harmless as leaving a kudos on some random fanfiction is considered grounds for harassment, itās obvious thereās no stability or room for trust among this group of people. Unsurprising when thereās been several instances of thisĀ āfriend groupā turning on each other.
If you think youāre somehow different, that yourĀ āfriendshipā with Ginger or the others is more valued than that, then Iām sorry to burst your bubble but itās likely not true. Sheād throw you under the bus at the hint of you doing something she deems problematic, as itās happened to multiple blogs before you.
3. Demonization of and insensitivity towards s*xual abuse victims
(This topic is one thatās hard for me to talk about, being a victim of CSA myself, so Iāve gathered some different sources to do most of the main talking for me. I tried to form more commentary on this myself, but I get too emotionally charged in my responses, and I donāt want that to cloud any readerās perception of what Iām trying to communicate here, so Iāll try to keep most of my comments brief on this one.)
One thing recently brought to my attention about Ginger and her squad that especially bothers me is their rashness in labeling people p*dophiles and p*do apologists. If these claims were true, then I wouldnāt have a problem with it.
But these people are accusing others of these horrible things and threatening them on the sole basis of fictional content.
Now before you fly off the handle at me, let me be very clear: I absolutely understand that there are gross people out there who use theĀ āItās all just fictionā argument to hide their actual, pr*datory behaviors. (Weāve all probably seen at least one or two neckbeard memes of that caliber)
But like it or not, exploring traumatic themes through a fictional lens is something that has been studied and proven to be a genuine coping mechanism for some. Itās not something that works for me, but I knew a few people from past therapy groups that it worked surprisingly well for. Bringing a trauma into a controlled environment and processing it through fictional means can and does help some victims deal with what they went through.Ā
Itās important to understand that not everyone processes their experience in the same neat, little boxes you have laid out as the onlyĀ āacceptableā ways of coping. Trauma fiction and expressive arts therapy are commonly used by victims, and it does help some people, whether you like it or not.
Iām already dragging this on too much, so here are some sources for better-worded information on the topic (Warning: Most of these deal with highly sensitive themes such as gun violence and s*xual abuse.)
Source 1Ā -Ā Source 2Ā -Ā Source 3Ā -Ā Source 4Ā -Ā Source 5Ā (pages 61 onward, specifically) -Ā Source 6Ā -Ā Source 7Ā -Ā Source 8Ā -Ā Source 9Ā -Ā Source 10Ā (and believe me, if those all donāt satisfy you, I can easily supply more.)
And this quote from source 9 I think sums it up best:
āFiction works differently. My imagination gives me a framework to process the grief and terror and the consequences, even when I myself have not found any resolution. It allows me to enter my own traumatic experiences sideways and linger inside them, if I know I can give them to characters who might be lucky enough to find the antidote: love, connection, community, family. In other words, I can enterāāāand exitāāāthe trauma loop through stories that are not exactly the same as mine.
This goes for the reader also. Recent studies periodically assure us that storiesāāāliterary fiction, hardcover books, even the simple act of readingāāāpromote empathy. We rarely have identical experiences, so fiction is how we practice linking our similar or parallel realities so we can feel them. This seems particularly useful in our current society, where we are all so separated, and are working so hard to block the violence that keeps happening to us from our minds.
Fiction connects us, and it can also contribute to our healing. When we see ourselves in worlds we donāt live in, like The Handmaidās Tale or The Color Purple, sometimes, that very different violence helps us finally process our own. Because as much as our memoirs and testimonies are brave and validating, fiction does not just mirror our truths so they are safe to experience; it also helps us endure the aftermath. Because long after the immediate experience is over, survival struggles onward, in every moment of our daily lives.ā
While most professionals have in the past advised that victims keep their trauma-related works more private, to only show it to your trusted friends or family, the fast-growing use of the internet has led more people to sharing it in an online platform, which is not unexpected behavior.
I unfortunately donāt have the screenshot of the original post, but there was a post made some time back literally telling a fandom member to go and hang themselves over this garbage. A survivor of s*xual abuse, no less. And to top that off, one of Gingerās squadĀ @emmy-puff commented in support of that violent post, as well as blatantly misgendering the target of it. While, again, I was unable to get screenshots, there are multiple witnesses to this instance, one Anonymous even having called them out on it back when it happened. (I suspect that Emmy deleted that answer due to how bad it made them look.) If anybody reading this has screenshots of the initial post or the ask that came of it, please feel free to share.
I donāt care who you are or who youāre talking about, if you use misgendering someone as a way to hurt them, then you are an insult to the trans community. That is an awful thing to do, and you lose so much credibility if thatās the only thing you can fall back on when getting in a fight with someone. While this post isnāt about Emmy specifically, this is exactly the kind of hateful rhetoric thatās being encouraged in the environment Gingerās made.
Another thing I would like to point out on this matter is an instance that happened in the ToA fandom a couple years back. I, again, donāt have screenshots available (I believe the original post ended up deleted) but the post in question caused enough of a fuss that Iām sure a few people must remember it...Ā
A while back, there was an artist that posted uncensored, untagged r*pe art of Aaarrrgghh, Gunmar, and Jim in the main Trollhunters tag. As you can imagine, this infuriated many people. Many of which are among the list of those whoāve been labeledĀ āp*do apologistsā. Almost the very minute that post showed up in the tag with no trigger warnings of any kind, the fandom immediately got on OPās tail about it, because they all shared that basic understanding ofĀ āThis is a traumatizing subject for many people and they should have the ability to avoid itā. If the people youāve labelled as pr*dator supporters were really as awful as you say they are, they wouldāve jumped to that personās defense, too. But they were completely against OPās horrible lack of consideration of survivors, right alongside the rest of the fandom.
Am I saying you have to like trauma fiction? Absolutely not. Are there people that make trauma fiction that are actual pr*dators? Iām sure there are. But those people would be that way whether trauma fiction was out there or not.Ā Gross people have existed and will always exist regardless of what media is out there.
I deeply understand the controversy, uncertainty, and stress that surrounds this topic, I promise you, I do. But the fact of the matter is, some people actually do use trauma fiction and expressive arts therapy as a way of coping, as has been observed in people even from ages as young as 5. To say otherwise is blatantly untrue. This isnāt a matter of opinion or morals, this is plain, studied facts that you cannot change about human psychology.
Nobody should ever have to go through something as horrible as s*xual abuse of any kind, and I know how deeply upsetting it can be to see certain images or stories with those themes in play. Those users with a sense of decency and understanding for fellow victims will tag their posts with the appropriate warnings. After that, itās up to you to filter out what you donāt want to see. You curate your own internet experience, and itās just plain irrational to try and harass everyone into conforming to your rules. While itās an 18+ blogās job to make sure to tag and label their content appropriately, it is your job to block the things you donāt want to see, whether youāre an adult or a minor. It is YOUR job to blacklist content that you know will upset you, because it is always going to exist on the internet, and any internet user needs to know and understand that. Multiple times Iād seen people going off about posts that were already appropriately trigger-tagged. If you donāt have those upsetting tags blacklisted by now, then the fault is mostly on you in that kind of case, not the OP.
Before I end this topic off, just one more example of blatant disrespect towards victims:
Iām sorry, but the absolute nerve of comparing some random fictional character youāre petty over to an actual pr*dator whoās terribly hurt real children is just awful. Imagine how insulted one of Onionās victims would be if they saw that. Lord.
Ginger claims to care about victims, but sheās made it abundantly clear that she only cares about those that behave the way she think a victim should.
Iām going to just show a couple posts here and let them mostly speak for themselves.Ā
Just... my God. You looked at the definition of psychopath and decided that was enough to give you qualification to speak like this about it? Do you realize the extensive work and study of human psychology goes into the diagnosis and understandings of psychopathy? Not to mention, you just admit to thinking people deserve hate because of a mental disorder they legitimately have no control over? Iām sorry, but that is just cruel. Demonization of the mentally ill is not cute or funny. Next.
While Iām still annoyed with Emmyās transphobic treatment of another user mentioned earlier, they make a very solid point in this instance. (The first post they referenced has since been deleted, but hereās the second one speaking out against the ableism.) I feel I donāt need to add much to this, as these points have already been argued very well by users better qualified to speak on the subject than I.
This part is more observations of two kinds of abuse tactics Ginger appears to demonstrate, using the above as points of reference.Ā
Then, less formally, thereās this good point about online cult mentality.
Before you say anything, obviously I donāt think Ginger thinks of herself as some sort of deity.Ā While it could be argued that she considers herself a point of authority within the TOA fandom maybe, I havenāt seen enough of this to say for sure how far that goes. So that point can be ignored, because it mostly doesnāt apply in this case. (TheĀ āDictating parts of your online lifeā might also not apply, but I canāt say for sure as I havenāt gotten any confirmation of that sort of thing in Gingerās group.)
But there are grains of truth in the other four points, especially that last one. Plain and simple, sheās made people afraid to speak their minds about even harmless things such as character analysis.
Ginger is someone who canāt seem to comprehend different viewpoints and life experiences. Sheās extremely unsympathetic towards people she doesnāt understand, as can be observed in above examples. Assuming malicious intent from everybody you canāt understand is a dangerous and hurtful mindset to have, for both you and those who you unnecessarily scorn.
There are a few outcomes Iāve speculated should she ever come to see this post.
1. She will ignore this post completely, pretending as if it doesnāt exist
2. She will dismiss me as being some sort of horrible person, a p*do apologist or something of the sort (despite being a victim of that myself, clearly she doesnāt care about whoās actually been hurt by real p*dos or not if they donāt conform to her narrow worldview), and claim nothing Iāve said bears any meaning, despite the extensive evidence Iāve provided.
3. She will get people to try and attack me.Ā
4. She will actually address these points in a tactful, mature, and serious manner instead of her usual act of trying to dismiss everything at the slightest hint of non-conformity. (The least likely outcome, but one can dream.)
I could add to this post all day, but itās long enough as it is and my focus was on getting the main points out of the way. I understand that I lack some of the receipts necessary to back myself up in a few parts, but I know that many other fans have bared witness to those things, so I know there will be at least some people whoāll know what I speak of is true, and thatās good enough for me.
That being said, if anybody has screenshots of the instances I wasnāt able to provide for, it would be greatly appreciated if you could add them into the conversation.
!!!-If you have screenshots, but are too uncomfortable to get involved in this, then you can private-message them to me and I would be grateful and more than happy to add them in while keeping you completely anonymous.-!!!
(I've removed the section with all the tags, as I recognize it was probably going overboard. My goal was just to spread information, not to try and involve those tagged, but I understand how that may have gotten lost in translation and made people uncomfortable. Also, it apparently was showing up multiple times in peopleās notifications when I only tagged people twice, so Iām not sure why that glitch happened, but I apologize for that annoyance as well.)
Now, to end us off, my responses to questions or angry comments Iām probably going to get:
You donāt even have all the evidence! How are we to know youāre not just lying about some of this?
Admittedly, I donāt have as much screenshot proof as I would like, thatās true. But for most of the instances I couldnāt provide for, there were other witnesses to her bad behavior. I donāt really have the need to lie when thereās already a lot of knowledge out there of the bad stuff she has done. Nor do I really have the emotional investment in this fandom anymore to lie for the pointless reason of causing drama.
Why post this on a throwaway account if you think people are on your side?
I just donāt really want my main blog associated with TOA anymore, to be frank.
You tagged a bunch of people, so you must be trying to get them to attack Ginger!
No. I tagged a bunch of people because I think this information should be heard on a wider scale, considering the position Ginger has in the fandom. I donāt want her or anybody else to be attacked, but her negative impact on this fandom deserves to be acknowledged.
Again, I donāt think Ginger or any of the others deserve harassment or cyberbullying or anything of that manner, thatās kind of what this whole post is against. And it just hurts the situation more than it helps it. What bothers me is how sheās never apologized for or even once acknowledgedĀ the gross way sheās treated people. While she might be more low-key about it now, she still treats people who donāt deserve it like garbage. There are still several people upset about the damage sheās caused to this fandom, rightfully so. I wouldnāt be so loud about making this post if I didnāt think it was something worth drawing attention to.Ā
