Todd in the Shadows unfairly blocks innocent fan who meant well

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Thursday, December 29, 2022

On Thursday, the popular and well-respected music critic Todd in the Shadows decided to block 26-year-old Raymond Wang for posting about Justin Bieber, even though it was constructive criticism that was both factually accurate and well-intended. Shortly after 2:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (07:00 UTC), Ray searched Todd’s Twitter page for “Justin Bieber,” and over the next 20 minutes, Ray replied to several of Todd’s posts about Justin Bieber. With that, Raymond did this to educate Todd and try to convince him that Justin was actually a good person, in sharp contrast to who Todd thinks Justin is. In these informative replies, Ray mentioned Justin’s donations, such as his donation to the Red Cross following Hurricane Harvey in the summer of 2017. Ray also mentioned two February 2020 donations, one to promote mental health awareness and another to help with Covid-19 relief. Justin Bieber is a wonderful, kindhearted person; he often shares inspirational, uplifting, motivational messages in his songs, on his Twitter and Instagram, and in interviews.

Justin Bieber wasn’t always the good, wholesome person he is now. In 2013 and 2014, Justin had many scandals and run-ins with the law before his arrest on January 23, 2014. Starting in 2015, Justin had turned a new leaf and become a better person, regaining the respect of society and his audience. By late 2015, with the release of “Purpose,” which is by far his most liked album, it had become socially acceptable to like Justin Bieber again. Todd erroneously believes that Justin is still a bad influence; therefore, Todd continues to be a Justin Bieber hater. Todd has consistently put Justin’s songs on his year-end “worst songs” lists. Although no Justin Bieber song appeared on the 2022 list, which came out earlier this week, the same cannot be said about any of the previous three; “I Don't Care” took #5 in 2019, “Lonely” and “Yummy” took #10 and #1, respectively, in 2020, and last but not least, “Peaches” took #5 in 2021.

In another example of Justin’s growth as a person, on January 23, 2021, the seventh anniversary of his arrest, he took to Instagram to reflect on that event, saying it was not his finest hour.

Very unfortunately, Raymond’s attempt to convince Todd was futile. At 2:26:12 a.m., he was blocked from viewing Todd’s Twitter posts. The time 02:26:12 was a sad second.

It is currently unclear whether a new Justin Bieber album is in the works. Of his six albums so far, five of them scored below fifty on Album of the Year. The only exception is his 2015 album, “Purpose,” at 59%. Hopefully his seventh album will break that record. Raymond has been under a curse lately when it comes to his optimistic expectations of ratings and grades. Within the last four months, he had not one, not two, but three instances of being dead wrong in the undesirable direction. And contrary to popular belief, curses are not pseudoscience or superstition; they are real!

Sometime in September or October, he heard “Victoria’s Secret” by Jax on the radio, but he heard a softer version than the version he usually hears on the radio. In this version, you can hear the words more clearly than in the original. Named after the store called “Victoria’s Secret,” it’s a song about how everyone is different and you don’t have to follow society’s arbitrary beauty standards. Raymond thought this song would get a high rating, say, at least 70%, but he was dead wrong. It got only a 17%.

On October 19, 2022, Ray took a quiz in “Probability & Stats” at UMass Lowell, taught by professor Dan Klain. Raymond thought he did well and understood the material, but the next morning, he looked up his grade on Blackboard, and it was a disappointingly low 3/10 = 30%.

On November 18, 2022, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were released. Raymond went to Metacritic to see the reviews and ratings, but due to the site’s new policy to prevent “review bombing,” these features are locked for the first 36 hours after launch. On November 19, at 6:30 p.m., Ray saw, to his horror, that the games got only 2.8/10. He had been excited for these games since June, when he saw the trailer. The trailer looked very promising, with the open world and the beautiful graphics. From the trailer and MandJTV’s reactions, and from the fact that Pokémon Legends Arceus got 8.2/10, Ray expected Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to be on that level as well, maybe even becoming the next HGSS. Ray was very disappointed. This rating of 2.8 makes Sword and Shield’s 4.6/10 look great in comparison.

If Justin Bieber puts out a new album in 2023, Ray hopes it gets a 70% or higher. There’ll be no sunlight, and there’ll be no clear skies, if this turns out to be another polar-incorrect prediction, in which the album gets 5% or 10% instead. And you know what would be downright infuriating? Imagine that Justin’s 2023 single gets a 90% user ratings, and Todd STILL puts it on the “worst songs” list instead of the “best songs” list. There’d be no sunlight, if that were to happen, and there’d be no clear skies, if that were to happen. Just like the clouds, Ray’s eyes would do the same. As soon as Ray finds out, for the next several days or weeks, it will rain, rain, rain, eh eh eh.

Todd has been under a perpetual curse when it comes to predictions. His “bad predictions” have happened so often, and they have differed from reality in such amusing ways, that they have become a popular meme among his fans. Raymond, on the other hand, is usually not this unlucky, having been under this curse for 3-4 months.

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Sources edit

Liz Calvario. "Justin Bieber Donates $25,000 to Aid Hurricane Harvey Victims: 'I'm So Sorry This Is Happening'" — ET Online, September 2, 2017
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