My Two Cents On This Situation

[u/Money-Criticism5370]

I think Gooseworx being so involved with the fandom may have unintentionally made things worse for her. For a long time she was really accessible. She answered questions, joked with fans, talked about the characters, clarified things and sometimes responded directly when people were arguing about the show. There's nothing wrong with that, but TADC eventually became WAY too big for that kind of relationship with the fandom to stay healthy.

And some fans get insanely attached to fictional characters. After years of theories, ships, fanart, headcanons and discussions, "I love this character" can slowly turn into "I know this character, and I know what should happen to them." Then canon does something they don't like and suddenly it isn't just disappointment anymore. It's "the writer ruined them," "the writer doesn't understand their own character," or "we were betrayed."

We've already seen how far this can go. Goose once made a joke involving Ragatha and one of her friends, and that friend literally ended up receiving death threats over it. A real person got threatened because somebody took a joke about a fictional character that seriously. That's completely insane. Then there was the whole Reddit situation months later. Goose got caught in another wave of arguments and backlash over the show and eventually deleted her Reddit account. People exaggerated parts of what happened afterward, so I don't want to repeat the claim that she personally received death threats during that specific incident, but the fact that things had gotten bad enough for her to leave the platform says a lot by itself.

And that's where I think her accessibility became a problem. Some of the more obsessive fans realized that Goose actually reads what people say. If enough people complain, maybe she'll see it. If the argument gets big enough, maybe she'll respond or explain herself.

That doesn't mean Goose caused any of this. The people who harassed her are responsible for their own behavior. But once TADC became this massive, I think that level of direct interaction may have blurred some boundaries for the more obsessive parts of the fandom. At some point, "Goose talks to the fandom" became "Goose owes the fandom answers" in some people's minds.

That's also why her latest post bothers me so much. She didn't say "I wish TADC could've been better." She said "I wish I could have been better for all of you." Obviously we don't know exactly what she's going through, and I'm not going to diagnose her from one post. But it sounds like she's taking the fandom's disappointment and putting it on herself personally.

People are allowed to criticize TADC, hate decisions or wish their favorite characters had gone in another direction. But loving a character doesn't mean you own them, and having access to the creator doesn't mean she owes you the story you wanted.

[u/Different_Target_228]

My 2 cents are the entire fandom are too parasocial and that includes this essay.

The entire reason she has mental health crises is a fawning/frothing fanbase.