Some thoughts...
"I was trying to reach any humanity left in them, I saw some of them saying they were almost sad about Ashley passing, some people seem weirdly para socially attached to the people they harass and even want them to get better. I wanted them to make the connection that what they're doing actively makes these people's lives so much worse and more painful than they already are. They're not just whispering to themselves in some private echo chamber. They are actively worsening the world for’ everyone in it."
Now.
Do we talk a lot of shit here? Yes.
Can our inside jokes be pretty fucking ruthless? Also yes.
I'm a fairly passive user despite my account being 7 years old (mostly tend to lurk). But in all my time here, I have not once come across a thread about someone whose (significant) online presence didn’t merit the notoriety in some way, shape, or form.
Ashley spent almost her entire life manipulating people to get whatever the fuck she wanted. Hell, the manifestation of her ED itself descended from pure unadulterated spite after her mom (rightfully) tried to discipline Ashley for sharing nude selfies to creeps online. Like a damn child who holds their breath when they get into trouble. I won’t pretend as if her mom was completely innocent throughout it all, but…part of me understands. Even the gifts and letters Ashley so famously sent to others were most likely only given with cached self-interest. Bartering tools for getting more out of them in the future.
And I hate this idea that being able to recognize that makes us “bad”. I hate the idea that people shouldn’t be shown a mirror and held accountable for their actions.
I know Ashley was incredibly mentally ill, but so are very, very many people, and yet they still manage to be kind and contribute good things to the world. Genuine people don’t need to write DNI IF YOU ARE GOING TO BULLY ME OR SPREAD HATE. I AM BATTLING MENTAL ILLNESSES at the bottom of every post. Her entire online presence was (arguably) one giant body check/intentional trigger for everyone who was/is a part of ‘that’ community.
Calling people (who choose to put their lives/thoughts/opinions out there on very public platforms,
mind you) out on their shit is not why the world is such a dark and shitty place. Coddling people, forever enabling them and “loving” them until their literal demise, on the other hand..
But I digress.
TL;DR-
Ashley Isaacs was not a good person. But it says a lot that, in spite of knowing this, we here can still sympathize with the utter humanity of it all and wish her a peaceful rest.
Ok. I'm done.
Oh also: it’s so fucking rich that that user defines our engagement here as “actively worsening the world/making people’s lives worse” while chilling on a literal ED support forum. She claims she’s only harming herself “or trying to”, but fuck anyone in her life who actually cares about her, I guess. Very Ashley-coded.