#danika and lulu

[feral-anarchy]

Drama with TDP... Again

Quick Edit:  I am NOT choosing sides. I am still open to any and all information. I am simply giving you a side of a story I believe plays some part in all of this. Do with it what you will.  I am going to continue doing what I have been doing since the beginning until more information presents itself. If Aaron is bad- He will be dead to me and I will advicate for his immediate removal within the prefession as well as protection for these girls. Justice. If the girls are lying- I will continue to support Wonderstorm and keep doing what im doing now without much change. 

If you come to me aggresively, I will not aknowledge you, I will block and move on. Though I will still answer questions and take in any information with an open mind and a calm tone.  Secondary Edit:  I realised some of my times were off and a helpful anon was able to present me with a more accurate timeline. Ive copy and pasted their message to me so that you can have the accurate times.  Please be aware of this before reading the post below. I will not edit my original post as I wish to keep the original content intact to avoid possible confusion.  “The story with the aaravos blog can't have happened last year in april. That would make it april 2018 and the dragon prince wasn't even released before october 2018. All of this happened this year. Dani left in June. Lulu left like a couple of months later. August or september? But anyways it's not true that they left wonderstorm a year ago. It's been merely a few months and Lulu's departure is super recent.“ Final Edit: After searching on Twitter, I have come across this image. Aaron has spoken about this when it originally came out and had this to say of it. (This is a private message to someone who then went on to make it public.) 

~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Post Below ~~~~~~~~~~~ I really do not want to give any more effort into this but I feel that I must post. Im unsure of how many this will reach but I believe you need to know something before you continue to blindly choose sides. 

Listen, at the end of the day you will choose your ‘side’ though I wish there was no need for sides. 

This drama that is appearing all over twitter is OLD NEWS. Danika and Lulu DO NOT and HAVE NOT worked at Wonderstorm since this all went down a year ago. 

Here is my take on all of this: 

A year ago, I believe it was April? There was a very popular blog called Ask-Aaravos-Anything. This blog was liked and followed by a lot of the fanbase.  Well, out of the blue there were accusations of AAA child luring, having NSFW material littering their blog and not taking into consideration the younger fans. 

Now, anyone who actually interacted with this blog knew all of that to be absolute lies. AAA was always very traight forward, took everything into consideration, repeatedly reminded us to be mindful of how we tag things and never had actual nsfw materials on their blog. 

At the time Danika was managing the tumblr tdp blog. Danika DMed AAA and was vile and aggressive in her messages, enough so that AAA deactivated shortly after.  You can still find some of the screenshots of the actual DMs as well as some DMs of AAA conversing with others about what happened and how they had felt about it and why they were deactivating.  Soon after AAA’s deactivation, we got news that Danika had been scolded for her actions (As the entire fanbase who knew what was going on got up in arms about it) and she suddenly, convenietly had ‘another better job oppertunity’ And shortly after that we began to hear of general workplace harassment and gaslighting and sexual harassment from Danika.

As you know, that brought everyone up in arms once again and there was discourse. Then her friend, Lulu popped up as well with the same talk of harassment and having to deal with a negative work enviroment. Being in this industry for one is absolutely grueling, its not for everyone. It can be as bad as being in the film industry with actual actors.

Eventually things simmered down and life moved on. 

Both Danika and Lulu have had an ENTIRE YEAR to talk about this, to continue pushing the issue, to continue speaking of these issues- they were fine speaking of it last year. Yet they remained quiet for all this time. 

Now, when season 3 is about to drop, when Netflix likes to cancel shows, at this critical moment- they suddenly both pop up again?  Neither of them work there anymore, this shouldnt be an issue for them anymore. Especially when they had ALL THIS TIME to talk of it. Yet they didnt. 

And in regards to Danika stating they already had season 3 ready long, long ago- I have been in this industry briefly and I know people who are still in it, thats not how these things work. I doubt they were done months and months ago and were just sitting around doing nothing. Animation takes time- I wont get into it but its a lot. 

Now listen.. As hard as it might be to swallow, we DO NOT know all the facts, only what we have been told by Danika and Lulu. And with Aaron refusing to make any statements or even acknowleding theres anything going on its hard to gather any real information- and we wont. We will not get anymore information, we will not get any more facts. 

Unless authorities are involved or someone brings in a hidden camera into the studio, we will never know what the actual truth is. If it comes out that the girls are right then I’ll eat a spreader bar. 

But I am going to continue supporting TDP and those who are part of this creation. (I dont care about Aaron, I care about the animators, voice actors, sketch artists, ect) I am going to continue posting content, continue writing fanfic, continue interacting with TDP related blogs. 

Because I find it VERY suspicious this crap pops back up right now when its been so silent for an entire year. 

If you couldn’t tell already, I already am wary of these girls because of what they did to AAA and the community at the time. 

I refuse to be a mindless follower, I will not take sides until there are actual FACTS presented.  I know this all sounds harsh, but I am wary of trusting anything spoken without proof. I have proof- just look it up, the old screenshots are still floating around.  Im a assault survivor too- I am in full support if this all comes out to be true- and Ill eat that spreader bar. 

I just thought I would put in my two cents and let you all know what originally went on, and why i am suspicious of this all flaring up again after being silent for so long.  I will not be speaking of this again, nor will I be posting another big post such as this. However I will answer any questions you may have on this topic.  Im not bashing on the girls, I am simply wary of believeing anything they say after what they did to AAA. 

[paristexaz]

Danika and Lulu have said that Aaron Ehasz is emotionally abusive, gaslights, has been confronted in the past but denied it and told them it never happened, has yelled at people, is passive aggressive and goes out to hurt them with one example is the tweet he had forced Lulu to write against Danika or how it went.

I know you want to hear his side of the story but keep it mind he is likely not going to own up to it. He will probably claim his innocence and say that Danika and Lulu and the other people who have quit (but haven’t dared to come forward yet) are lying on him.

Just keep that in mind. I’m not saying you shouldnt believe him or not but he has had a pattern of gaslighting and there are multiple people saying this.

[moonshxdows]

so its obvious im not going to get any work done being as upset as i am so. this is, again, going to be long and rambly as shit only now its gonna be angrier :)

to start this off, i would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, fuck tdp, fuck wonderstorm, and especially fuck aaron ehasz. this shit was bad when i first heard about it back in august and its only gotten worse. the fact that the women who made this fandom as fun as it was for me- danika and lulu- were being treated so terribly makes me indescribably angry and upset. the two of them, and danika especially, were such a big part of my tdp experience, and i fully put my support behind them and the other women at wonderstorm.

so, in that thread, i will not be watching season three. i will not be talking about season three. and while i cannot tell anyone else how to live their lives, i ask that you dont either. its no longer a show that i can support, despite how much i used to love it.

i just. cant really express how angry i am because of all of this. tdp was propped up as a show for diversity, and knowing that they did all of this is fucking vile and makes me so incredibly sad. but we have to remember to keep danika and lulu in our minds when discussing this- dont give aaron or wonderstorm a reason to try and go after either of them for legal reasons. boycott the show, but dont escalate it into something that can be held as defamation in court.

this post doesnt have as much of a point as the last time, but i feel that putting my thoughts on this out is just as important. i will be keeping the blog and change it to a general fandom/animation blog once i have the time and energy, along with some raydia because i found a lot of comfort in that ship.

tl;dr: fuck tdp lives, support danika and lulu

screenshots+links more screenshots including some from august

[zirbeldieb]

And one thing more. How can Aaron Ehasz say, that Wonderstorm is a place with a diverse set up when they have only one woman left. This is a bitter joke that cannot be laught at. This gets sadder by hour.

How do they want to show us that they are a friendly and warm company with a situation like this and responses like this.

If they really wanted to get this problems away Aaron would have at least pulled back from his positions for a few months, maybe years. Apologizing to them in person and would at least hire a Human Resources Manager that would check that things like that never ever happen again. To any person. But that requires a backbone and he prefers to have a gummy worm as such.

But no, they preferred to look over these issues, ignore them, even gaslight them. The longer they wait the worse it gets. The hype for season 3 is dampened and if it continues like that it gets worse for wonderstorm. I don’t wish it to the other employees who were innocent in this and are now dragged into this mess, but this is nothing that you can ignore so easily.

[elfmoons]

This thread from Danika goes more in-depth as to what kind of behavior Aaron exhibited while she and Lulu worked for Wonderstorm, as well as threads from others who have interacted with him.

Aaron is a liar and a manipulator, and he deserves consequences for his actions. However, Danika has stated that she doesn’t want a boycott from tdp, as she feels that it won’t accomplish what she wants. I’m not quite sure where we go from here, but that’s the information that we have right now. We can only stand by Danika and Lulu as well as the other women who work for/have worked for Aaron.

#SupportOurWonderWomen

[cookiescr]

I'm so upset at the whole aaron and wonderstorm mistreating their women employees. I feel betrayed and idk if i can trust aaron anymore

[asp-iro]

i’m not that bothered about dropping tdp tbh but this has ruined atla for me as well ugh 

[queenjanai]

they keep teasing us about this season but where the fuck is it

[shesimplydoesnotknow]

Y’all The Dragon Prince may be my favorite TV show E V E R, HOWEVER that does not mean turn a blind eye to the reality of who the creator is. Unfortunately he’s a misogynistic, manipulative, gaslighting, asshole who likes to silence women, queer, and poc voices. Don’t get me wrong, this show has done some of the most wonderful things I’ve seen for both queer, poc, disabled, and female narrative but “choosing not to see it” is a commentary on your character and what you’re willing to overlook bc you’re choosing to be silent to protect fictional characters, rather than, speaking up to support real life people who have suffered at the hands of Aaron.

I will continue to watch this show bc I believe the people who aren’t Aaron have put so much work into this show and to overlook that because of one person, I can’t do. But I will continue to speak out against Aaron and support these women.

If you are a fan of the show The Dragon Prince PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION.

The women who worked on this piece of art should not be silenced over the abuse they experienced in the workplace. And they DO NOT WANT YOU TO BOYCOTT THE SHOW. They want change and that means people knowing what's wrong in wonderstorm.

[raayllum]

perhaps i’m beating a dead horse, but just bc i plan on this — regardless of anything that may happen with it in the future — being the last post i ever make on the subject and circumstances, but like

under a read more cause this got long

in regards to the wonderstorm situation, i had my answers months ago in december when devon (tdp’s head writer, promoted in september 2019) posted a thread that amounted to “just bc someone isn’t broadcasting every second of their progress on twitter doesn’t mean it’s not happening” and that things had gotten better at wonderstorm. it fit in line with my train of thought — that allegations can 100% be true even with something as messy and varied as emotional abuse, but that doesn’t negate the possibility for change that had been happening since early november 2019 at the very least if not earlier

what followed the now deleted thread was far more disturbing, to say the least, as danika replied along the lines of criticizing devon’s perspective and frustration of people’s continued animosity towards her company — a company that danika had left many months earlier — which could be seen as fair! that is not the disturbing part. the disturbing part was danika painting devon’s perspective as a sort of betrayal because “you were one of the women hurt by aaron too” 

this was new information, and devon quickly deleted the thread. i don’t have screenshots, so you’ll have to take my word for all of this. the interaction was interesting to say the least. 

danika has made it clear that that she thinks aaron ehasz is an emotionally abusive person (and that she still thinks this). i’m not here to dispute any that. but here’s why i say what she said to devon is disturbing in context, and why it’s enough for me to question some things, at least a little. or to trace the logic anyway

1) if danika really believes what she says on twitter, then she just outed devon as someone suffering under emotional abuse. i don’t think i have to say why outing other people as survivors of any sort on a public platform like twitter isn’t a very good thing

2) if the above is true — by all of danika’s own claims — then danika outed devon while devon was still in the environment danika had labelled “unsafe” 

3) danika seemed angry at devon’s tweets, given her critique, capped off by the revelation. which means that danika outed another emotional abuse victim because she was angry at her for not realizing she was also being emotionally abused. or for stating that the emotionally abusive environment at the workplace had ended — which, as danika started off in november saying she wanted change, should be a good thing, right? (or, because both of those are kinda shitty, also possibly mad at anything that painted aaron in a better light than irredeemable dick)

4) previously, it could be said that devon’s position as lead writer — and as a queer woman — meant she was the exception at the company. abusers don’t abuse everyone, after all; that’s part of how they get away with things. however, danika’s statement implicates that devon was one of the women being mistreated at the company

5) so therefore, isn’t devon’s point of view that things have gotten better, as she’s still at the company that danika (and lulu) left, just as valid given her background of apparent mistreatment? if she was also mistreated by aaron the way danika was and how danika says, wouldn’t devon — as the sole person of the three women involved who are still at the company — be able to accurately tell whether things had improved, and she stated that they have?

if you’ve been following this through, that means there are two verdicts to take away from this.

1) danika believes things at wonderstorm haven’t changed and is still emotionally abusive, and outed someone who was still living in that space, and potentially put another victim at serious risk if things are as bad as danika said. i don’t think i need to say that this choice doesn’t reflect a balanced headspace that actively cares about the people she thinks are still suffering at the company. it’s about shutting down any apparent avenues that don’t put her pain at the top. 

2) danika outed devon because she knew wonderstorm had already changed enough that it wouldn’t have terrible consequences, in which change has already been achieved and danika is now campaigning to get an apology—or, because i know for myself any apology would ring hollow / feel performative now, to punish aaron for his behaviour even after he’s changed, because she still feels personally wronged.

i have seven people in my life who i am incredibly close to who have been in emotionally abusive relationships. some from parents, intimate partners, friends, or in the workplace. i have seen them at various stages of recovery, distance, or endurance while things were ongoing. many of them are fans of TDP and as such, we discussed the situation and news as it developed. i have also known multiple people who fit how danika had described aaron’s behaviour in my interpersonal relationships that i have now left, as well as older people in my life who are closer to those ages respectively and at entry level in the workforce, or higher up. i’ve had people try and pin their suicidal state of mind and all their unrelated problems on me, which is about as textbook emotional manipulation / abuse as you can get. i’ve been in relationships where i felt repeatedly and consistently disrespected and undervalued for 5+ years... which then got better and have since improved, and other relationships where one major enough incident was enough for me to leave it behind in the dirt (being told everything you’ve done wrong in a given relationship with zero warning and zero logic is not a fun experience, let me tell you.)

either danika was telling the truth about everything, and put the safety of another abuse survivor still in the situation she’d left below her own quest for virtual vindication on twitter, or danika’s perspective is flawed, possibly biased, and she knows it.

none of this post is to downplay the severity of anything that happened, merely to point out a reframing of it, perhaps. not one that’s more sympathetic (discussions of punishment vs rehabilitation and when the latter is possible or the former is deserved is all very personal and complicated and i’ve wrestled through it myself in regards to people in my life) but less white-hot anger. shown perfectly when people also attacked giancarlo volpe bc he drew inappropriate fanart 10+ years ago and then later had to backtrack everything when he was then claimed as always being an ally. it’s not logical. it’s just anger.

simply because even when i was angry about the harm discussed in the allegations and that anyone possibly gone through it, i could still notice illogical loops. insistence that aaron didn’t listen... to danika. a focus on poor representation he put forth that was eventually understood and shut down by someone else (again, the listening) that i’ve seen go through on other shows (like voltron) in which you could tell just by watching the show the writer’s room was a fiery mess. listing off ideas for poor representation that then didn’t go through is a weird flex for a number of reasons, some of which i’ve pointed out here, but also because... i’m not expecting anyone to always have perfect representation in mind or to automatically be aware of how things are harmful, even when i’ve explained to people why they are?? but as long as they listen — which he did, just not to her, which seems to be the route of all the issues — it’s about change, not moral high ground. insistence that he threatened to make it hard for them to find jobs elsewhere, even if they were then immediately hired elsewhere, and then had trouble keeping those jobs (even pre covid).

but the whole thing is weird mostly bc from everyone i know who’s been in abusive relationships, many of whom i’ve discussed the situation with bc again, we’re all fans of the show, and any of my own experiences with toxic and unhealthy relationships... you think the actual abuse would be the thing danika focused upon, since that’s the most serious claim she’s making, not add (or dilute) by putting in examples of poor representation that aaron listened to other people about. 

again, this is not to advocate for forgiveness or anything like that. just an examination of danika’s mindset and the reason why it feels like it’s veered into being more vindictive — outing someone as an emotional abusee or survivor either way — in an attempt to get what she wants (presumably an apology), which probably wouldn’t give closure now anyway or be something she could even believe, given that she’s said he’s a master manipulator, which makes her anger at devon stranger. it’s verdict of his character would’ve been true even before aaron didn’t release an apology, but danika only started acting like it was when he didn’t (which as i’ve addressed here, could’ve been for a couple of reasons) which is... strange, and feeds back into the anger & punishment argument. 

all of this is to say: it’s an emotionally exhausting situation and i’m done being a part of it. i’m gonna enjoy cast and crew interactions without feeling guilty. i’m not gonna shit on any of the cast or crew or wait for them to “mess up” more in order to harass them. i’m gonna watch and reblog whatever interviews i want. i’m gonna purchase any tdp merch i want. it was never the fans’ responsiblity to fix things without resolution and wonderstorm has hr, now. that means baseline accountability at the very least. that’s enough for me.

if it’s not for you, chances are you’re abiding one of these three cognitive dissonances that don’t hold up in reality:

1) everyone else still at wonderstorm / the voice acting crew is just a-ok working for a serial abuser and are therefore kinda shitty by extension, 2) somehow, everyone at wonderstorm actively hates him every minute of every day, which would make for a very strange/terse working relationship that is by no means stable or productive on a business level for anyone involved, or 3) multiple people at wonderstorm are miserable and suffering under the current workplace environment and we have no reason to believe that it’s changing (which is about the only thing we know isn’t the case for the current staff), 4) you’ve never heard of canada’s “apology” law and why twitter apologies can actually be very sticky in regards to legality

people are people. they get better, in time. happier and healthier, for everyone involved. they exist past the point of doing terrible things. not everyone is going to be able to know or accept the full depth of how they’ve hurt you — trust me, i know. i want people to move past their pain without inflicting more on other people. we need to accept that people are gonna struggle with that, sometimes. that it’s important for people to reexamine the validity of what they want and what it could unintentionally cost to get there, like other people’s emotional/mental wellbeing (more than it already has). 

i want you and the fandom to as well.

[paristexaz]

Aaron Ehasz is a literal abuser you guys.

When Lulu Younes finally admitted that she was terrified of Aaron to his face and of the things he was capable of, instead of talking to her in front of everyone in the room. He took her into a room all alone and Idk what happened in there but Lulu was really shaken up and hurt from it. He wanted to scare and terrify her into silence.

[rowan-guerrins]

I was wondering why this was getting notes again and then I remembered the new season dropped so friendly reminder fuck A*ron Eh*sz! Also, consider not watching on Netflix lol

[thcdragonprince]

(tw: language, sexism, and abuse)

Both Danika and Lulu came out today about their working conditions while at Wonderstorm working on The Dragon Prince. Here are their statements on the matter. I’m so proud of them for talking about it.

Please read!! [1/3]

[zirbeldieb]

And we have Aaron Ehasz' "apology". Yikes this is rotten, really rotten.

Yikes. This is worse than i expected. Such a non-apology attacking the women afterwards and brushing their problems off as unfounded. Just yikes.

I have enough of these people. And about Aaron Ehasz I can only say just leave. You are as bad as Riot or Blizzard.

[fanaticartisan]

hey guys

I know the tdp news is really upsetting right now but we need to be really careful in how we go about this

we don’t want to do anything that will end up with Danika or Lulu getting in trouble - we need to reach out to them and ask what is the best thing to do in this situation to make our unhappiness with Wonderstorm’s actions clear. They have said time and again that they will listen to the fans when it comes to this story. We need to be responsible about how we go about it so the people who are on our side don’t get hurt.

[nirvanaida]

FUCK YOU, WONDERSTORM

PLEASE READ

If you haven’t seen it already, Danika and Lulu (both of whom used to run DPO, and Lulu was on the writers team) have opened up about the reasons they quit Wonderstorm, who makes The Dragon Prince. It’s absolutely appalling. The way the company, especially Aaron Ehasz, is treating their female staff and employees in general... it’s disgusting.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I love TDP, from the story to the art style to (most of) the team. However, I am not going to put a show over the mental health of the women who essentially built our community. I remember Danika’s DPO, and how engaged and supportive she was of the budding fandom. Lulu continued on for her, continuing where Danika left off. It’s time to give back to these amazing women, and all of the other nameless employees suffering in Wonderstorm, and to show them that our community will always be there for them.

I want to start a movement in our community. Season 3 is fast approaching, and it’s a crucial time for Wonderstorm. If they want to continue The Dragon Prince, they need the fanbase to call for the next season. In retaliation, I will not be posting anything about season 3. I will not encourage anyone to watch the show. I will not be creating or reblogging posts about TDP in general, except to bring light to the issues at hand.

Until there is some kind of action within Wonderstorm taken, especially surrounding Ehasz, I’m encouraging every TDP blog, twitter account, instagram account, etc, to follow suit and refrain from posting TDP under the hashtag #SupportOurWonderWomen , to support the women who have been brave enough to come forward.

We need to band together as a community. We all have something in common, and that’s the fact that we love this show. But we cannot love unconditionally. This is our greatest test as a fan base.

I know it seems over dramatic, but please spread the word! I can’t do this alone.

#SUPPORTOURWONDERWOMEN