This is not a fun time to be a klaroliner.
What? It's not. With all the commotion with Lea's plagiarism, it is a horrible time to be a klaroliner. It's a sad time.
I'm not saying I condone, support, or accept plagiarism of any kind, not even hers. Nor am I saying the beautiful young women who called her out on it are in the wrong. They're not.
But since when do we look at the mistakes of one of our own, our own fandom flesh and blood who, for all we know, has many other stories and one shots that are completely and totally hers? Who contributes to the fandom generously and has for a long time? And even if she was an outsider, speaking about people who do not get to share their side of the story or apologize is wrong. And crude. And slightly unacceptable.
We are not wolves, we are not savages. We are generally a group of grown ass women who are attacking another grown ass woman. Since when is that cool? You can hate what she did without hating her. She is not the same as her mistake in the slightest. She is a person, and what do you think it would feel like for her to log onto tumblr and see the entire klaroline tag talking about her when she was none the wiser? How would you feel? Whether you knew you made a mistake or not, whether you were planning to own up on it or not, how would it feel to return to a community where you felt loved and at home and just see them all forget that they once called you friend because you made a mistake?
Hostility is not the answer. Offer something out to this woman, whether it be something along the lines of kind words like, "i'm sad to learn you plagiarized because I do love your original work!" or "I know you've been busy with your new job and living conditions and haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to the fandom, but please don't feel like you have to plagiarize just so you can post something. It's not right and a lot of us didn't appreciate it very much; we love seeing YOUR work because you are a talented writer!"
Or you could offer to help her out, beta, take down her plagiarized work (in case there's more) offer her advise, share a similar story, whatever. Give her at least enough support so she can stand; no one deserves to be brutally attacked, least of all when they’re down. Because while a lot of people are not being hostile, it still hurts to be spoken about behind your back by people you thought genuinely cared about you.
Everyone deserves a second chance, just not for the same crime, and as far as I know, this is her first time. Help her realize her mistake, do not force her out on the streets and shun her out. That is not what we are. I was always told the klaroline community was like a family, but right now we are not showing her tough love, we are showing her hostility. Be a decent person, please.
Oh, and to everyone sending that poor woman anon hate? Fuck you.
