Google Docs ব্যবহার করে প্রকাশ করা হয়েছে
The power of words: when fandom kills
প্রতি 5 মিনিটে অটোমেটিক আপডেট হয়ে যায়

Summary

Disclaimer

I will introduce myself as Liv.
I have never been a known entity in the HH/HB fandom, and as of now, I wish to consider myself on neutral ground.

I do not own a fandom-centric social media account, although most of my HH/HB interactions occurred through different HH/HB themed Discord servers. For the sake of this document, I will disclose that I have been dabbling in the fandom more or less since the livestreams and pilot days, becoming slightly more involved during the years of the pandemic.

It should be worth mentioning that I have nothing but respect and admiration for all those who have been, are and will be involved in the development of Hazbin Hotel, and offer my congratulations for the successful launch of the series.

This document has been written in regards to a serious incident that I and a small group of other people have been made aware of via Discord, that occurred roughly in conjunction with the launch of A24’s Hazbin Hotel, during the month of December 2023.

This disclaimer is to remind that given the serious nature of this document, the identity of those involved will be kept private in order to avoid any form of repercussion.
Nevertheless, I trust anyone who reads this will be able to understand that serious topics like the ones discussed in this document are NOT to be taken lightly and shall be handled with due respect.

CONTENT WARNING: this document covers topics such as ship discourse and fandom toxicity, online bullying and harassment and themes of self-harm, suicide and death.

If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts or crises, please seek professional assistance. Contact a hotline if you need support yourself or need help supporting a loved one. If you're concerned about another person, please encourage them to contact a hotline as well.

Global Suicide Hotline Resources

If your country is not listed, please contact your local emergency services.

What this document stands for

This document is meant to be considered as a genuine and unfiltered report concerning the dangers and damage that online bullying, no matter what it originates from, can cause.

It has been compiled after a long consideration, and is founded upon the concept of raising awareness about the increased levels of toxicity and mob mentality concealed within fandom spaces, and how actively engaging with and fueling certain parts of said spaces can turn out to be detrimental for those involved.

The idea behind this document is also to serve as a voice of reason for all those who have encountered or have been involved with said toxicity, whether directly or indirectly, and provide useful insight for reflection upon a topic that, unfortunately, has been and keeps being extremely common in fandom spaces, leading to a form of discourse that can result in real harm being done, with at least one known casualty.

Lastly, this document is meant to act as an open invitation for anyone, regardless of their presence within the Hazbin Hotel fandom, their identity or their personal beliefs, to take some time to reflect, come forward with their own experience if they have witnessed or been subject to toxicity, harassment and/or bullying, spread the knowledge of this incident, and to take a moment to remember the loss of a young fan who excitedly looked forward to a wonderfully creative project they never got to see.

What this document does NOT stand for

I am fully aware that I have no control nor responsibility over how people will choose to behave in response to this document. I know the internet can be full of ill-intentioned individuals, but I trust that those with a gentle heart will outweigh their number, and will choose to make good use of this information.

As a general note, however:

Context

As mentioned in the disclaimer, the identity of those appearing in the following screenshots will be kept private to preserve their online safety: please understand that there is no need for any more drama or harassment. In order to ease the flow of this report, it has been decided to utilize fictitious names.

Please note that I personally had very little interaction with the victim before they passed. However, I can say that I have followed the incident very closely, and will try to offer as much context as possible.

Shay (so we will name the young fan who passed away) was a young supporter somewhere in their mid-20s who was among the ‘old guard’ of fans who came to know about and support Hazbin Hotel through the original livestreams, the Hunicasts and the pilot. It has been confirmed that they identified as queer and fell under the neurodivergent spectrum.

They had an extensive collection of both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss merchandising, and held Vivziepop in very high regard. They weren’t a writer or an artist, and they used their social media to mostly reblog and like posts and media from other members of the fandom.

The individuals interacting in the following screenshots met through a Discord server with a general HH/HB fandom target, which at the beginning (like the largest part of the original Hazbin Hotel fandom) started out with heavy themes of the RadioDust ship (this will be important going forward), but starting from somewhere in the first half of 2023 it began being populated by new members swerving the attention towards the HuskerDust ship.

The server, originally, seemed to be a relatively convivial space until the arrival of the ‘new guard’ at around the beginning of November of 2023, from which some level of tension allegedly began rising through messages (and tweets) that presented aggressive undertones (quoting: "fuck yes, we’re winning", "stay delusional, bitches", "suck my cock, we thrive", "boohoo, cry in a corner") all the way to things such as passive-aggressive memes aimed at those belonging to the RadioDust 'side'.

This triggered a rather unpleasant "us versus them" type of mindset, which is where the infighting and bullying in the server seemed to begin. It is worth mentioning that said mindset and rivalry between the two 'sides' of the shipping scene seems to go far back to when the Instagrams were still live, had recurring bouts of war and drama also involving fandom members with a high following, and can be witnessed to this day on social media such as Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Going back to Shay, they allegedly already suffered from this kind of behavior in the past, especially during one of the ‘witch hunts’ that occurred during the spring of 2023, but the biggest crack came about caused when, upon mentioning their uneasiness with the ship due to the large age gap and how coercive the HuskerDust situation felt, a group of new members flocked against them to defend the ship’s legitimacy. The situation was swiftly dealt with by the server’s administrators, but the messages were lost in the process.

Here is where the reported conversation with Shay begins, on December 9th, 2023.

As mentioned above, this last message highlights the instances where members with a high follow count, some of which followed by Vivziepop herself, took an active part in ship wars and ship shaming in the past. Their identities, as well, will NOT be disclosed.

Regardless of that, Shay did not back away from taking Vivziepop’s side, reiterating their trust for her and defending her from their interlocutor as shown below.

The provided screenshots are cut here because of irrelevant, generic conversation. It picks up after a few hours.

Shay allegedly bought the Ultimate package for the early access (~80$ without shipping) and expressed full support towards the new cast members, but the way things were going down in the shipping part of the fandom did not sit well with them.

Reminder: this conversation took place between the release of the teaser and the release of the full trailer, which would take place only a few days later.

Shay allegedly expressed some level of nostalgia for ‘simpler times’ more than once in the aforementioned server, but they reiterate it in the screenshot above.

Despite the mention of RadioDust, however, they went on with a rather neutral take, saying, quote “I would never want [RadioDust] as a thing, I don’t wish for any ship to trample anyone else’s”, as it would not be fair towards others’ preferences (this will be important going forward).

The first conversation ends here, but gets picked up again two days later, on December 11th, 2023.

These screenshots indicate some form of aggressive commentary, if not straight harassment happening behind the scenes, featuring a clearly spiraling Shay going through some kind of mental breakdown.

The provided screenshots are cut here because of irrelevant, generic conversation following the offer to watch a movie as an attempt to lighten the mood. It picks up after a few hours.

Allegedly, this is when the main “HuskerDust” situation started being teased on Twitter and Instagram by the show’s voice actors and animators, which sparked further of the aforementioned commentary even by some of the larger names within the shipping community.

At this point, Shay began spiraling again, expressing feelings of self-blame, abandonment and hopelessness.

The last recorded messages express a deep rooted nostalgia for ‘laughs, art, fanfiction and friendship’, easily connected to the lighthearted mood the Hunicasts, and ultimately what fan artists and fanfiction writers brought into the old Hazbin Hotel fandom. The fact that they also mentioned “missing Ashley” and “feeling used” and “wanting to go back” adds further weight to the statement. The last message reads: “It’s all gone, it’s never coming back. I feel sick.”

At this point, any contact with Shay ends. This is where things turn concerning, because from this moment on, nobody hears about them until December 13th, 2023, the day of Hazbin Hotel trailer release.

At the time, as expected, all social media exploded with excitement about it, including the shipping side of the fandom, which spurred yet another uproar of passive aggressive commentary coming from the HuskerDust 'side' of the fandom, particularly after this tweet from the official Hazbin Hotel Twitter account — which would prove to be only the beginning, given the almost regular, explicit endorsement of the pairing in the following days, but I digress.

It was around that time that the person providing the screenshots (whom we will call Eden), concerned about Shay’s well-being, attempted to reach out to them and found all their social media were deactivated.

An excerpt from their report (on January 26th, 2024):

This is when things took a very dark turn, because that is when Eden reached out to another member they knew Shay seemed to have been on pretty good terms with, as they had other means of chatting outside of Discord.

This person (who we will refer to as Mari), was quick to try and get in touch with Shay.

An important note about Mari: since the incident, they chose to no longer be involved, partake in, or support in any way any product associated with the fandom of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. They asked to be allowed time to mourn and recover from the experience. As such, screenshots of the exchanges with Mari will not be provided, save from the ones about Shay’s death (with Mari’s permission).

Mari was able to get in touch with Shay’s sister on December 14th, 2023, and held contact with her through phone calls and WhatsApp conversations. It was Shay’s sister who confirmed that on the night of December 13th, 2023, Shay was rushed to the hospital after a serious suicide attempt.

At this point, there is proof of several attempts to reach out to Vivziepop through all available official channels to plead for some form of mediation through the heightened wave of ongoing shipping bullying and harassment.

The matter has been confirmed to have been kept concealed to not stir any more controversies within a fandom that has already been stormed by plenty, which is why those involved with the knowledge of Shay’s incident kept it quiet as much as possible, and expressed the same feeling in the aforementioned e-mails. To this day, no response came from any of the e-mailed contacts.

With the nearing of the holiday season, Mari and Shay’s sister kept in touch sporadically and mostly only if there were updates concerning Shay’s condition, until the news of their death.

Full context: on the night of December 13th, 2023, they were rushed to the hospital while vomiting blood after drinking some kind of acid used as a household cleaning supply. Upon arrival at the hospital, they were immediately placed in urgent care. Subsequently, they were transferred to the ICU, where they spent the rest of their time in an induced coma (going through at least one emergency surgery due to gastrointestinal ruptures) until they passed away the night between the 26th and 27th of December, 2023.

Here’s an excerpt of the chats. Shay’s sister did not give permission for her WhatsApp chats to be shown, so the screenshot is obscured.

Personal observations

There is no denying that, with the arrival of newer generations, fandom rules are subject to a cycle of inevitable changes.

Fandom discourses and trends have moved from side to side of the spectrum through regular intervals since before the advent of the internet, so none of this is new: in fact, through all the developments and changes, fandom history has proven to be fairly consistent with the level of toxicity and hatred that ship discourse can trigger, in some fandoms more than others. Ship discourse, especially from die-hard fans, seems to have always been considered as some form of ‘battle’ over who might be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but many tend to forget that the origin of fandom has always been deep rooted upon fanon content over canon. It is fiction, after all, and as such it has the magical property to be anything and nothing at the same time: because, all in all, it’s not real, it's intangible.

This is why fiction can become such an important tool for those who may be struggling in their lives: it can be a method to explore themselves, experiment with ideas, come up with comforting scenarios in times of need, or maybe challenge themselves to face heavy topics that would otherwise be dangerous in real life: within fiction, no matter the source, the possibilities are beyond infinite.

However, the word canon, especially in the past few years, has been used by ship warriors as some form of ultimate weapon to empower their own view and act as a gatekeeper against those who might simply have a different preference for whatever reason, which sparked endless controversies especially within fandoms where the creators chose to cater to one side over the other.

It’s undoubtedly the creator’s job to decide where to go with their own story. Regardless, especially among the more seasoned parts of the fandom, shipping discourse can quickly become tiring, toxic, and extremely dangerous especially for those who only wished to have harmless fun with their favorite characters. Just like Shay.

As this section is reserved for personal observations, allow me to say: I’m writing this document as someone who considered themselves a HuskerDust shipper for the longest time. I was part of the community and can confirm seeing plenty of this behavior in the HuskerDust 'side' of the fandom, way more than in any other 'side', acting in such an appalling, entitled and sometimes even ruthless manner that it really made me feel uneasy, especially when it came from personalities with a larger following on social media.

Where it stands now, especially after watching the first season of the show, I can safely attest that I no longer consider myself a HuskerDust shipper, and it leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth that something that could have been an unadulterated, organic development had to come to this.

And not just because I feel in some way responsible for having the blood of a person on my hands, but because after seeing Angel Dust and Husk interact in the series, on top of the relationships between Charlie and Vaggie, Valentino and Vox, even Sir Pentious and Cherry, I could not help but feel like we are beginning to forget that not everything has to be romantic, especially in a time where healthy male friendships and camaraderie are so often forgotten about. And that’s what I loved about their dynamic: when I thought they could work great as a couple, they worked even better as older mentor / younger mentee, especially thanks to the large age gap Shay was so violently criticized for mentioning.

The confirmation of the HuskerDust ship being “endgame” did not spur me to keep shipping them, but in fact it made me dread it, after being so heavily advertised. At this point, I no longer wish to see it, especially now that I know someone was harassed to death because of it.

Conclusions

Especially with how things in fandoms turned out with examples such as the same Helluva Boss, Star versus the Forces of Evil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Legend of Korra, Voltron and so on, I personally fear to see what will become of Hazbin Hotel, but if fandom history can teach something, is that anytime a show chooses to highlight a particular ship based on fan preference, things extremely rarely turn out well. At this point, it should not come as a surprise that the general consensus among the more seasoned parts of fandom spaces seems to fall under the opinion that shipping should be left up to fans, unless the pairing in question has some form of storytelling value.

Anybody who knows what fandom toxicity truly is capable of can recognize how many communities, in this case the HH/HB fandom, have proven to just not be mature enough to handle this kind of discourse in a civil manner, and this obsessive 'canon vs non-canon' rhetoric seems to have taken over the fact that shipping is first and foremost a personal preference that is meant to be for fun, and should never become the reason behind any shape or form of harassment, bullying, gatekeeping and/or policing. 

On the night between December 26th and 27th, a person lost their life as a result of this form of enabled harassment.

Despite being extraneous to the events, all of us who were made aware of Shay’s struggle can’t help but feel responsible as part of a community that silently allowed this to happen. Let us all please reflect upon our actions before carrying them out, because most of the time we just don’t know who’s on the other end of our screen: and the loss of Shay can sadly be one of the outcomes.

Thank you for your attention, and thank you for reading this document.
Rest in peace, Shay.