SPOILERS Crazed fan drives Kazushige Nojima to no longer discuss FFVII on twitter

[Lex]

This thread has been split from the LTD thread, because it's really not related.

Also while I understand that the member in question was banned from here for this very reason, try to chill a bit on the language and personal attacks which are not appropriate. I understand fans are upset and have every right to be so, but please keep it civil.

 

[Roundhouse]

Oh jeez...

I don't even know what to say about all this. I just hope Jairus reaches out for help from a professional, which would have been advisable even before all this went down. It's a good sign that he at least seemed to admit that he might be wrong this time. I don't know exactly what he was sending Nojima, but I hope Nojima is also okay and not too stressed out by all this. Keeping his thoughts to official interviews and stuff sounds much less troublesome for him, for sure. Just a shame that he seems to have been forced into this.

Also, the 'crazed' bit in the title seems unnecessary...he comes across like he might be genuinely unwell, and that kind of term isn't great.

 

[Strangelove]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1482910660585398276

Welp, thanks Jairus.

I will continue to upload photos of guinea pigs

well at least he's still going to do the important things

honestly using twitter/social media with any kind of celebrity seems like an absolute nightmare unless you have a finsta or something (and then it's just a matter of waiting for it to get exposed)

 

[Lex]

Also, the 'crazed' bit in the title seems unnecessary...he comes across like he might be genuinely unwell, and that kind of term isn't great.

As someone who is genuinely unwell I can kind of see what you're saying, but at the same time I really struggle to come up with a better descriptor. For better or worse it is the most accurate description of the behaviour on display here. I get that your comment comes from a place of empathy but as one of the people who has suffered through trying to reason with that individual and giving him chance after chance, I don't know what else to say.

Let's maybe think more about the people who are affected by this behaviour rather than the perpetrator, just this once.

 

[LNK]

Nojima has had shipping questions thrown at him since FFVII's release back in 97, but in the 12+ years of being on twitter, no one has ever made him respond like this.

I'd say death threats are worse than what Jairus has done.

 

[Roundhouse]

Sorry to hear that you went through a lot dealing with him -- I barely had any contact with him, which I'm thankful for at this point...

I'm sympathetic for both Jairus and Nojima, but I'd forgotten the other people Jairus had driven up the wall, so thanks for reminding me. Sad situation all around, honestly.

 

[Odysseus]

I can tell you, as someone who had over 90 pages of PMs with him, that he's not really capable of learning from these sorts of experiences. He'll apologize, say he was wrong, use language that makes you sympathize with him, but he'll be right back at it before too long. That's how he is, and anyone who has dealt with him for a while knows it. The best you can hope for is someone slapping his twitter privileges away from him. At the very least, I hope Nojima blocked him.

 

[Sprites]

He's locked his twitter account now.

 

[Ite]

He's locked his twitter account now.

Nojima, or Jairus?

If Jairus becomes a comic book guy NPC in 7R2 I’m’a throw a fit lol

 

[Sprites]

Jairus.

I kinda think he had to, his own twitter was getting bombarded and has been since this whole thing kicked off. I don't wanna sound cruel because I do feel he needs help but maybe just maybe he'll start understanding what that sort of harrasment does to people.

 

[LNK]

If Jairus becomes a comic book guy NPC in 7R2 I’m’a throw a fit lol

That'd be pretty funny. He could be the leader of Jessie's fanclub at Golden Saucer. Lol smh

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Randos have way too much power.

 

[Lestat]

After this I wouldn't be surprised if part 2 contains a scene where Biggs and wedge are shown alive and standing in front of Jessie's grave, which is on fire, surrounded by a moat.....which has sharks...... And the water is electrified........and then the ground opens up and weapon appears only to jump up and down 99 times before tunneling back into the ground.

 

[Eerie]

Jairus needs to be banned from Twitter. That's really it, Twitter sets him off because he gets answers from people and he starts rambling from there, only getting worse and worse (I do worry for that kid too). He needs professional help, and the longer he waits, the harder this is going to be.

Yeah, we've seen this song and dance before.

When we had that post with the podcast and him in it, I did say it was a really bad idea. I still think it was a freaking AWFUL idea. It gave him an importance he does not have, and that is not good for his ego tht just inflated more. "Oh he's trying to get better!" right, I knew he wouldn't get better. I've gone head to head a few times enough with him - and blocked him in the end - enough to know how he works.

Also I wouldn't say that death threats are worse. They're another kind, the kind of harrassment Jairus has done to mere artists is a hard toll on them too. Because he never stops. And he goes off about every little thing that displeases him. Ody it was funny because when I learned that story about his wife dying I immediately knew that he saw her in Jessie, and self inserted in Cloud. It was very evident, as he started to crush hard on Jessie... from a freaking trailer.

Concerning Nojima, I have about zero doubt that this decision was taken accordingly with SE's PR department (he already barely talked about FFVIIR before anyway). I am glad that he'll be able to still enjoy Twitter, personally. I also have zero doubt that the story is going to go as he had planned anyway.

 

[ph14basicbitch]

Obviously hindsight is 20/20 and all, but yeah... I am weirded out by the decision to give Jairus a platform in the first place. He was already a known harasser and general shit stirrer. Why invite him on a podcast?

And I've not heard of the bit about his girlfriend before, but projection is so common in shipping that I can't say it surprises me.

 

[Phantasia]

Just thinking how THE writer of FF7, a literal classic among videos games, one of the pieces of pop culture with most influence of all time, is gonna sit down in front of his desk today/tomorrow to work on the next installments, and the current mental image of this community is gonna pass through his mind makes me cringe.

 

[KindOfBlue]

Thanks for splitting the thread @Lex I tried to keep the issue LTD related when I first brought it up so I’m sorry that it went in…well, this direction

I'd say death threats are worse than what Jairus has done.

I agree that death threats, SA threats, bigotry etc. are worse than making the kind of requests he made, but HOW he went about it totally tanked whatever goodwill he thought he was conveying…it’s almost like it gives him a pass to say “well, at least I didn’t do those other things like a lot of Cleriths/Clotis have” and he’d be right, but obviously still not innocent

 

[Makoeyes987]

Who sent death threats to Nojima?

 

[Odysseus]

I'm not saying it never happened, but I feel like "death threats" is a thing some fans accuse others of doing just to make them look bad without really substantiating the claim.

 

[KindOfBlue]

I meant it more in a hypothetical sense, although it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it’s happened. I dunno, I feel like it’s inevitable with a fanbase this large but maybe it’s something they avoid publicizing if it has happened? Even with this recent incident, Nojima’s wording gives Jairus enough room to play innocent (which, surprise surprise, he has).

 

[Mobius Stripper]

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[frosty]

Concerning Nojima, I have about zero doubt that this decision was taken accordingly with SE's PR department (he already barely talked about FFVIIR before anyway).

I'm sure of this as well. He's not permitted to disclose anything regarding FF7R in the first place outside of official interviews, but at least he had the freedom to engage with fans in the form of likes and replies.

The soc med handlers for SE and FF7R have been following him at least since remake was launched and forsho it's not to look at his guitars and guinea pigs. I hope shippers know that just because they don't @ creators directly, it doesn't mean that they don't receive social listening reports ABOUT them.

Jairus was probably the catalyst for the first (mild) warning shot. If the more likes of him come crawling out of the wood works, their next steps are usually to tell creators, voice actors and motion actors to disengage with the community entirely, which really sucks, because I see Brianna White and Tifa's motion actress being really active with the fans.

I'm guessing that it's too rich to hope that Jairus may eventually develop self awareness of how...culturally inappropriate his actions are as well. Japanese fans thank creators for scenes of their favorite ship, respecting that it is the creator's choice to "give" it to them, or not.

This whole "my personal expression, I can post what I want" "You need to respect minorities and equal representation (of NPCs)" "Toxicity of this (opposing) ship" are Western concepts that may not exist in another culture.

 

[KindOfBlue]

"You need to respect minorities and equal representation (of NPCs)"

Truly the civil rights movement of our day

 

[LNK]

https://soranews24.com/2021/03/01/m...square-enix-because-he-couldnt-win-at-a-game/

This is a more recent incident.

I'm not the one who originally said there were death threats, I was just saying death threats are worse than what Jairus did. I will keep looking though

 

[MelodicEnigma]

Ah, well what I mentioned was a long time ago for the OG regarding fan's negative reaction to Aerith's death, not anything recent. But this kind of stuff is, unfortunately, something that happens for a lot of companies. Between death threats or direct criminal acts, demands or harrassment for change, or just lashing out about a product, this kind of behavior is well known. To each other as fans, to creators/companies, or just in the ether of the internet to create stigma.

It sucks.