[Article] The Verbalase Case and the 50k

Article

No, it's not a fanfiction. I want to try to use this platform to shed some light on the matter. For those who are unaware, Verbalase is a YouTuber with a decent following who specializes in beatboxing. He creates animated videos (commissioned, not animated by him) where he conducts beatbox battles with characters from existing works.

The same YouTuber seems to have commissioned a video (apparently personal, not intended for public release) of himself, Verbalase, experiencing an animated adventure where he is summoned to hell by Charlie herself, who is in love with him and eager to take him to bed.

There has been quite a variety of reactions: "HAHAHA CRINGE", "HAHAHA, Verbalase is a loser", and so on. You can imagine.

Let's analyze the issue from the beginning. A guy commissions a video with himself and his waifu. Do you realize that even without commissioning videos, these are fantasies we all entertain? Once, with an ex of mine, we dressed up respectively as her husbando and she as my forever waifu (Senjougahara from the Monogatari series). It's more or less the same thing. We all have fantasies like this. 

No matter what your sex and gender are. We all do it.

So... what's the difference with what Verbalase did? Just the fact that he spent money. But even here, what's the harm exactly? Perhaps the amount he spent? They're his own funds, so what's the issue? And we're talking about clean money going into the hands of a single person. Maybe it'll feed his family for the next 2 years. Just to give an example.

The controversies arising seem completely sterile and senseless to me. But beyond all this, I would like to raise awareness about one issue. Is the video cringe? Certainly (don't watch it, I advise against it, but as I'll say shortly, it would be wrong regardless), evidently Verbalase has expressed a strong and unfiltered fantasy, therefore a very personal thought of this guy. And just for that, it seems gratuitously mean to mock him.

Beyond this, I invite you to observe that this Verbalase is a good-looking guy. You can easily find photos online that depict him. He's a normal guy, and he's also good-looking. You can also come across photos of him shirtless. He also has a nice physique. He seems like someone who works out, in short.

Wouldn't someone like him have no trouble finding someone to be with? And yet, apparently, he opted for a video with his waifu. Doesn't that make you think that perhaps there's something underlying? An issue on which we might need to be a bit more sensitive? Simply put, shyness, social anxiety, or perhaps disappointments in past relationships.

In short, summarizing everything. Guys, be more sensitive. I myself write many fanfictions for pure personal enjoyment, sometimes to empathize with a character so as to love another through the first. And I imagine that you do the same, those of you who are reading my fanfiction, right? I'm talking about Y/N, the character present in all fanfictions where there's a reader.

Whether male or female, Y/N is me, and he's you who's reading.

Let's reflect on it.