[the following is an excerpt from my unfinished article, No Bark, All Bite. It will tell the story of Shelby Grace and William Gold, thank you for reading!]

SECTION 1: Article Excerpt (written by me, however not published officially yet nor is it revised/finished.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Bark, All Bite.

                                          _Shelby_Grace’s_story_

By Nevaeh "EV" Reed 

 

  

 

 On February 24th, 2024, a popular twitch streamer by the name of Shelby Grace–better known as her on-screen nickname, Shubble—went live on twitch to go public about her experience with past domestic abuse from her ex-boyfriend, which only shared with pure intentions of raising awareness towards her mostly younger audience, ranging from early teens to young adults, about this disgusting behavior. 

 In her stream, Shubble explained that her abuser had constantly bit her arms. She said, “And eventually he did acknowledge how bad it looked that I was covered in bruises all the time, so he stopped biting.” According to Grace, “He would even joke that it looked like he abused me.”

 Despite not dropping a name, Shubble’s fans, and those who know her and watch her streams, all immediately guessed just by the word “bite.” The perpetrator was none other than Wilbur Soot—real name William Gold, which, out of having no respect for this person, I will be calling him by his real name—, another Twitch streamer who had been accused of biting before-hand by a female streamer by the name of Niki Nihachu—whom William had dated—when she “jokingly” said that William had bitten her while she was streaming with him. Niki never gave further information, and by her smile and laughter as she said it, it wasn’t questioned further. However, fans were aware that William and Shubble had been together in the past.Clues were adding up, and eventually,fans of both streamers knew it was true.

AN OVERVIEW OF WILLIAM GOLD

 William Patrick Spencer Gold was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England on September 14, 1996 to Phillip and Lucy Gold. His “exploitation” began in 2018, where he wrote and released music. His first album was The ‘Nice Guy’ Ballad. William started streaming in 2019 as his online persona, Wilbur Soot, and a year later, he joined a Minecraft roleplay server called the DreamSMP, becoming a loved online personality with an amazing sense of humor. The fandom and its fans loved his streams, and he played a large role in the DreamSMP, as the president of L’manburg. In 2021, he reconnected with his musical career, creating an indie rock band called LoveJoy with Ash Kabosu, Joe Goldsmith, and Mark Boardman. His career on all social platforms ended on February 27, 2024, when he posted one of the most weakest apologies ever seen next to Colleen Ballinger’s song addressing her grooming allegations, if you could even call it an apology. 

AN OVERVIEW OF SHELBY GRACE/SHUBBLE

 Shelby Grace was born in New Jersey on August 20, 1993 to parents unknown to the public. Her “exploitation” began in 2013, when she posted her first ever YouTube video. Since then, her channel has been focused on Minecraft and gaming. She now lives in Los Angeles,and I have no idea when, if ever, she went to live in England with William. Shubble is known for her high-pitched voice and positive attitude, as well as her lovely personality in which many people have bragged of getting to experience. Unfortunately, due to the drama with William, Shubble has decided to take a break from social media on February 27, 2024, saying “I could not have imagined what I would wake up to today. My ex pretending he thought I enjoyed being hurt… and all my friends immediately coming to my defense. The support has brought me to tears, I don’t even know what to say. I’ll be back, I'll just be taking a little time.”

 

WILBUR SOOT’S WEAK APOLOGY

Shubble had said that she was “living in filth” during her relationship with William. One of the most triggering parts of this is that he called himself “slobbish,” and used the excuse of “Getting therapy and trying to be better,” which is not the equivalent to taking accountability for something as serious as domestic abuse. His apology was self-centered, and a huge let down. William said, “In the past week, a series of allegations have been made over my conduct from an ex-girlfriend. I want to emphasize that, although I feel it fair to offer my perspective, this person's feelings are completely valid,I have taken my time sharing this statement as I wanted to process and respond respectfully and with the hope to gain a deeper understanding for the situation."  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you read all of that, thank you. I have not had the chance to fully express my feelings towards this matter. William (Wilbur) got off easy, in my opinion. 

SECTION 2: Think About It - (you can be male or female to imagine this. We don't judge)   

                                     part 1 out of 2, Section 2: Think About It

      Imagine that you are living with your partner. You both have the same career, and met through said career. You are living with him in a country that he had already lived in, however you aren't fully familiar with. He's a very well-known and well-liked person in the career that he is a part of, but despite that, no one truly knows him like you do. 

Your partner bites you. Yes, bites you. He bites your arms constantly. He leaves bruises, and your arms are battered up with marks. Sometimes, he even shows them off to his friends, saying that they were "accidental" and that he didn't mean to do it. He treats this behavior as a playful and joking habit. 

He also pokes the bruises you have, making fun of them and saying that it "looks like you've been abused." Which you have been. Unfortunately for you, though, you are blindsided by your love for him, because while he does hurt you, you care for him. You don't even know that what you are going through is deemed abuse. 

Finally, your partner realizes the extent of what your bruised arms look like, and instead of ending his biting habits, he apologizes, promising to try to stop hurting you, and begins biting your legs constantly instead.

After what seems like an endless cycle of pain, you talk and converse about the matter. He agrees to come up with a safe word for you to use when the biting hurts too badly. This probably brings some relief to you, right? 

Or at least it should. 

Every time you use the safe word, you entrust him with a boundary that he had agreed to follow. But now it's become to the point where you have to say it almost every time. But when you say it, he always bites harder. He never stops.

There isn't much you can do. You love him, and have little idea of how to handle the situation. 

And finally, you get away from him. You and your partner break up, and you move back to L.A in the U.S, leaving him in England without you. Life seems pretty normal.

But now after quite some time, your abuse is out to the public. Your friends are coming to your defense, and everyone is mad at your ex. He posted an "apology," and didn't even mention your name. He kept talking about himself in the apology, and barely addressed the situation for what it is, even saying that you gave "consent" and that his actions were strictly playful.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                    part 2 out of 2, Section 2: Think About It

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You would want justice too, wouldn't you? If someone hurt you, and then couldn't even take accountability, no matter how empathetic you are, you would crave justice. Right? 

Shubble, whom we still know as sweet and selfless, never even mentioned William (Wilbur)'s name. She, for some reason, hasn't attempted to press charges or take action what-so-ever. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECTION 3: Taking Well-Needed Action

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In no way is Shubble in the wrong for not wanting more drama to conjure up. That's understandable, and the last thing we members of the #ShubbleSupportSquad want to do is make her feel inferior in any way for letting us know. There may be drama, but she is extremely brave for doing what she did, and I'm so glad that she didn't keep quiet about it like many victims do. I'm sure the rest of the community is glad as well.

However, William (Wilbur) has gone without punishment. While, yes, his reputation must be ruined, and his source of money, his job, is now gone, and his family and friends hate him, I firmly believe that those natural consequences are nowhere near enough. U.K police, do something. This man needs to have legal action taken against him.

Shubble may not have asked to press charges, but it needs to happen. The proof is there. He admitted his crime and everything. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECTION 4: U.K Law Against Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence Statistics

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While no, I do not live in the U.K, I have done my research. 

     The estimated amount of domestic violence victims in the United Kingdom is over two million. While not as much as the United States' estimated amount of 20 victims abused per minute, over two million is still too high. 

What makes this worse is that perpetrators don't get the punishment that they deserve. While yes, depending on the way of abuse, charges can vary, domestic violence is still domestic violence. Only an estimated 39,000 abusers have been convicted to court, with only 47,000 being charged. About 890,000 abuse cases have been recorded. 

While these numbers may sound like a lot, out of about 2,000,000 estimated abusive situations, these are barely anything. The recorded cases are pretty good, making it only about 200,000 recorded situations short of being half of the estimated abusers. However, that does not change the fact that barely %5 of perpetrators get convicted. 

I understand that they cant always find every single perpetrator, when they do find one, something needs to happen. I'm not just talking about men. Men get abused in relationships, too, and that is often overlooked. As I said earlier: domestic abuse is still abuse. No matter the age, relationship or gender. Even if it isn't considered domestic, abuse is still abuse. 

Upon my research, I've found out that due to something called the "National Crime Recording Standards," some cases cannot be classified as abuse. 

So then, answer me this..

         Are you just going to let these people be abused, and use the excuse of these "standards"? These people are being HURT by people who are supposed to LOVE and SUPPORT them, whether that be family or a partner! And you're telling me that just because of some "standards" she can't get the much needed justice that she deserves?!

That's bullshit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECTION 5: How I Relate To This Situation

At only 11 months old, I was sent to live away from my parents, and instead with my grandmother. Before then, she had 3 kids. 2 boys, 1 girl. One of the boys was my father.

I grew up relatively happy, but to nobody's surprise, my grandmother was extremely arguable. She would gaslight and manipulate me, and sometimes I feel like she never even knew that she was doing it.

But when I was 9, everything pretty much changed. It was April 2nd, [redacted year], on good Friday of Easter weekend that year. I was watching TV in the room that I shared with my grandmother, and she was God knows where. The door to my room opened, and my pastor walked in. He proceeded to tell me that my father had died. He had died in his sleep at his rehabilitation center. I was a child who had lost her father, a victim of the Opioid Crisis. 

And my grandmother was never the same.

She used to gaslight me and manipulate me in ways that she hadn't before. She would do it, and you could tell that it wasn't accidental anymore. She threw away all of my tight, cropped clothes one summer when I looked in the mirror and commented on how good I looked in one of them. 

I went to a mental hospital last summer, towards the very end of the school year. When I came back, she had thrown away every piece of clothing I had, including clothes that I paid a lot for with my own money. All she left were T-Shirts that didn't even fit me anymore, a couple of tank tops, and worst of all; a tank top that said "self love." I felt mocked. 

She would hit me in the back of the head with towels, chase me down the hallways, and once she even threw a pill bottle at me. I was walking through the doorway, so luckily she missed. She'd threaten to smack me, scream in my face, and never would listen to me. She even put me in a Christian school so that I could "learn to behave."

But a couple days after my return from the mental hospital, I got the greatest news. I was going to start living with my grandfather, almost 2 hours away.

Now, i'm much happier. My grandfather is amazing, and my grandmother moved 6 hours away from me. 

But she never got her karma for how she treated me for more than a decade. 

That's why, as a former victim of abuse, hearing Shubble's story hurt me. And the fact that no action is to be taken is terrible and unjust.

SECTION 6: conclusion

     I am a member of the #ShubbleSupportSquad. I believe that action must be taken. Legal authorities, this isn't just some Twitter drama; this is actual abuse. 

Please, sign this petition for Brighton authorities in England to take action against this pathetic excuse for a man. Behavior like this cannot go unnoticed.

And to the authorities in Brighton (i'm %95 sure he lives in Brighton), do not make a mistake like this. If William (Wilbur) gets away with this, because he is a well-known individual, abusers will see that nothing has happened to him despite everything, and influence them into worse behavior. You wouldn't want that, would you? Don't let perpetrators even think that they can get away with it. 

Thank You,

All Yours, 

Nevaeh "EV" Reed and the #ShubbleSupportSquad

#JusticeForShubble  #ShubbleSupportSquad