I was the uploader of the DigiStars Chicago clips, and I'd like to speak on the situation that followed
Hello, Flavor Foley community. I am Locura. After not having thought about it too heavily for significantly longer than I should have, I've finally come to the conclusion that I could do with forking up my thoughts on the video clips I posted onto YouTube following Digital Stars Chicago.
P.S.A. beforehand, I do not use Reddit. This account has been majority dormant for years and it will likely continue to be that way. I haven't yet decided to what extent I'll comb through the comments on this post if to any extent at all. I hope the body of my post will at least serve enough of its purpose- getting the thoughts off my chest. It just so happens that this Reddit appears to be my primary resource in that regard.
As for the overarching situation:
- I had been encouraged to upload my personal footage through a fan Discord server and, figuring it would not leave the small circle it had been shared in though foolishly leaving the video Public over Unlisted, proceeded to post. In hindsight, while something I thought was a fun project, making custom thumbnails and masquerading the video in a more "eye-catching" visual was a huge misstep.
- It was brought to my attention within the succeeding days that the video had crossed over into a different Discord server, where it likely first began to garner the viewership that it did. Between days 1 and 3 of its uploading, the viewership had multiplied from some dozen to several thousand. I personally would not have approved of the video leaving its intended server, but this move was evidently made without any prior warning.
- I am fully aware of the comment left by ricedeity on my video. The next day, the videos were copyright claimed by an outside party and I actively chose not to dispute the claims, taking the claims as a sign to leave the videos behind me.
- As a particular fan of CONNECT:COMMUNE and its corresponding Miku design, it was a gut punch to realize the videos had spread far enough to reach rice. In retrospect, I certainly had time to stifle the bleeding or at the very least enough time to think more critically on the pretense of uploading the videos.
While obviously an apology in plain text means nothing to the Flavor Foley members and I'm going into this anticipating it to mean nothing to any of you either, I am genuinely sorry. At the end of the day, I am a massive Flavor Foley fan. Whatever thought processes I had during the video's time online have absolutely been usurped by feelings of regret and a recognition that now it is my responsibility to make it up to the members of Flavor Foley however possible. This is not the conclusion I wanted from this, but it hit me rapidly that I was stupid to imagine any other conclusion would occur. It's sickening to feel like such a massive stain on the whole incredible experience that was DigiStars and especially the entirety of MIKU EXPO, but I hope that my message here means even the slightest microcosm of something to anyone reading this- especially if a member of Flavor Foley.