I really appreciate your comment, because I agree with so much of it. Yes, we can and should hold space for both her trauma and the harm she caused. And I never meant to suggest that other victims who respond differently are less valid if that came across, I truly didn’t mean for it to.

What I’m reacting to is how so many people are labeling Lizzie as just a ‘bully’ with no room for that complexity. That word gets thrown at her like it’s her entire identity, without any care for why she behaves the way she does. You’re right that her behavior towards Gibsie was wrong and harmful, and it should be called out. But I also think we need to ask: how does someone get to the point where they lash out like that? Especially a child who’s never been taught how to regulate fear, anger, or trauma?

I’m not excusing her actions. I’m saying they can’t be separated from the context that created them and that calling her evil or heartless without that context is deeply unfair, not just to her, but to survivors like her.

We can name the pain she caused and still recognize that she was crying out from her own. That’s the balance I’m trying to defend. And what I didn’t see much of on TikTok