#like cishet white nerd men want him to be like them so they make these bizarro choices that feel like a totally different person | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

enamouredless · 2 years

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rant abt the writing of this show i just need to get out

the writers making eleven want to be referred simply as just a number she was given in a lab by her abuser, which is dehumanizing as hell by the way, rather than the name her own mother, the one person that genuinely loved and cared for her lets me know all I needed to know about how they view her as a character and a person, her entire arc this season wasn't her growing into her own and learning that she is actually way more than just her powers, her arc was actually about el struggling with her lack of powers and feeling useless and like a monster without them, going on this journey to get them back, succeeding and ending it by having mike tell her he sees her as a superhero not the monster she saw herself as all during a life or death love monologue.

Her and mike are not breaking up because the duffer brothers have this weird fixation with her and Mike's relationship and they've been trying to keep it afloat no matter what would make more sense for both of their characters bc they think women wouldn't have a successful storyline without ending up in a relationship with a man proven time and time again by having Nancy flipflop between Steve and Jonathan throughout the entire series.

I love theories and analyses but the one thing that ppl forget about is who this story is being written by and how that has and impact on their characters, these are cishet white men that think the pinnacle of oppression is being nerds. The duffers never planned on having any other queer characters on the show until it was propositioned by the actors as a better idea and they decided to go with it for whatever reason, they never planned on addressing wills sexuality at all since they never planned on having more than one season for the show, but when it kept going they just decided to leave wills coming out storyline for the last seasons so that the straight veiwers wouldn't feel uncomfortable with the fact that they had gay ppl on their screens and they never planned one giving will a love interest either by having him end up stuck in a one-sided love with mike that wouldn't end up going anywhere.

All of Lucas's struggles with racism are taken as very surface level and are never and will never be properly addressed either in order to not make their white audience uncomfortable. They added max, the only other female character on the party, and immediately had her have a petty rivalry with El over mike just to have this never be properly addressed or resolved in S3 and having them become immediate besties out of nowhere, the exact same way they made Nancy be rude to robin because she originally thought her and Steve were in a relationship together only for them to become friends later on.

#im feeling really negative rn and i just wanted to get this out #im not saying that im 100% right about their intentions but its just food for thought #I've already mourned the loss of the show i thought i was watching and loved and decided to lower my expectations 0 or even lower

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echioceras · 3 years

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i think we need to talk more about how reading tolkien is seen as a requirement for "nerd" social groups (particularly those controlled by cishet white men) despite there being almost no important and complex non-man characters throughout lotr and the hobbit, despite him inventing orcs as a racial stereotype for asians, despite everyone automatically being assumed to be pale-skinned, despite the books only truly being enjoyable for privileged dudes who are willing to overlook their harmfulness.

and i say this as someone who read and vaguely enjoyed the hobbit, and part of lotr, as a kid! despite me being an afab nonbinary lesbian of color, i didn't think it was that bad (although, again, i was seven). but the reason i read it wasn't because i wanted to. it wasn't because i thought it was that interesting. it wasn't because i liked the writing style or plot. it was because i felt like i had to in order to talk about other fantasy books, and about math and science, and about other things that interested me.

we don't often think about implicitly required popular "nerd literature" as a way to gatekeep STEM and academic communities, but to a certain extent, it absolutely is. there are a certain set of books that feel like required reading for conversations with academically accomplished peers. and the thing is—a lot of these are science fiction. a lot of these are old science fiction, where the main characters are almost all neurotypical able-bodied young cishet white guys. and these book "requirements" haven't changed in ages. people still expect a certain group of people to have read hitchiker's guide at some point in their life.

and while it's completely fine to have a certain set of books that define a community, there gets to be a point where it becomes overly exclusive, and actually prohibits people from seeking opportunities for themselves because they think that if they haven't read/watched/listen to A, B, and C, they aren't worthy of important conversations. which is really fucking depressing. as an intelligent afab person of color, i was lucky to grow up in a house that had these books, and with a father who works at a prestigious university, and with a functional computer. but there are some people who weren’t and aren’t so lucky. and by setting these implicit guidelines and cultural boundaries for academia, we exclude those who can't afford to engage in these things, simply don't like them, or aren't represented well in them/are harmed by them.

my overall point is this: can you like these types of books? absolutely, as long as you're critical of them and actively examine how they might hurt your less privileged peers/friends (or yourself). but should we make talking about these books and never branching out an imperative part of being in an academic community? absolutely not. i completely understand loving a specific book, or being hyperfixated on it/it being your special interest. but it is ridiculous to me when i watch people in STEM classes get ridiculed for never having read bradbury. maybe they've read something better!

just please stay open-minded, and for the love of god find new and diverse books to talk about. there are modern science fiction/fantasy books with protagonists who aren't cookie-cutter white guys! and there are ones written for children! try branching out and seeing how you like them (also feel free to reblog/comment any)!

overall, this will make academic spaces just that much more inclusive. and to truly make meaningful advances in science, that really is absolutely necessary.

#cricket chirps #academia #lotr #hobbit #tolkien #hitchiker's guide to the galaxy #STEM #women in stem #activism

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general-mahamatra · 3 years

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This is very specific but do you have any headcanons about double dates between Jeanbilee and Silvercyclops? That or how do you headcanon Charles and Erik’s sexualities? I think of Erik as pan and Charles as gay.

Hehe... Oh I can do this.

For Charles and Erik’s sexualities, I definitely agree. Charles is gay and Erik is either bi or pan (that one I’m not too solid on).

With the double date, catch me putting this in a modern setting. It’s under the line since there’s a lot

Individuals

Scott

Scott was definitely against the idea of a double date

Why? Because it’s kind of awkward to go out on a double date where the other couple... one of them is your ex

Yeah he’s still good friends with Jean! He’s just not sure how to handle going out to an event with her in a sort of romantic setting. Especially because there’s that slight problem that you KNOW he’s kinda anxious. Like what if people who knew him when he was dating Jean finds him all close and romantic with Peter?

Of course that’s not gonna happen. Man’s just anxious

But Peter managed to convince him and assure him that it would be alright

“It’s just a movie, Scotty. No one’s gonna care,” Peter had said. “Literally it’s dark and the seats are set up in pairs, you don’t need to worry.”

Scott protested immediately with, “but what if--”

“I’ll pay for the popcorn and treats. And the drinks. I’ll pay for it all for you.”

Scott caved pretty quickly

Except he didn’t know that before the movie the group was going out to dinner because for some reason his mind completely omitted that information. By the time they got together, he remembered, but oh man. He was not prepared

Yeah he was dressed up because Peter was really insistent on him wearing something decent, but the fact they were going out to dinner skipped his mind entirely

He was antsy during the dinner at first. Really shifty-eyed and such and was overall just visibly nervous

But he cooled down fast

He had a lot of fun at the dinner, even if he was a bit awkward with Jean at first

But he loosened up. He found himself enjoying the event much more as time went on and he even managed to calm down enough to comfortably interact with Jean just like he used to

It was actually kinda refreshing

He had whole conversations with the ginger. While Jubilee and Peter were going off about their crazy ideas and plans and things that have happened to them over the past weeks, Scott and Jean were just talking about... life. Catching up on what they’ve missed since they split apart and inevitably pulled away from each other (Scott moreso than Jean)

It brought a sense of closure to Scott that he didn’t realize he needed

He found himself warming back up to interacting with Jean and was... happy with it

Peter

Oh Peter was excited for the double date

Ever since Jubilee ran up to him and proposed it to him he was completely on board. Hell, he even helped plan it out with Jean and Jubilee at times

It was actually Jean’s idea for Peter to convince Scott that things would be alright. She knew he was worried about it, even if it was all irrational. She also knew that he was their best bet on helping Scott out and getting him comfortable with the idea

So Peter did just that

He actually did a lot more than just blatantly tell Scott that he was going to pay for everything at the movies

Peter did a lot of minimal prodding. Stuff to get Scott to talk in a way that wasn’t too intrusive or anything (it’s honestly a special ability of Peter’s). It helped him understand what he was gonna have to do to help his boyfriend out

Because Scott had never been on a double date before

And Peter actually found that kinda funny

But when it came to the date itself, he was completely down for it. He wanted to do it since the moment Jubilee told him about it and he decided he was going to put about as much planning effort into it as her. After all, it’s not different from other... events they’ve planned in the past. They have a perfect system

The movie was his idea

He deemed it “necessary after eating at some dumb fancy place. Because who in their right mind is gonna go out to eat and then just head home at like, 7pm?”

(Peter was also the reason they didn’t end up going to a restaurant where you had to dress up SUPER fancy)

(Granted he wasn’t entirely successful. Jean shot him down and made him settle with having to dress up a little. She wasn’t going to drive them all to dinner if it was gonna be some fast food shit)

Honestly, him and Jubilee are on the exact same wavelength for the date

Jean

Jean was definitely the TRUE brains behind the double date

She was the one who mentioned the idea to Jubilee who then took the idea and ran with it, making it a true plan

She did it because, well, she’s always wanted to have a double date. It was only possible now that she was with Jubilee and her other friends were together

Besides, she like anyone else was aware of just how close Jubilee and Peter were. It was honestly a perfect plan

Scratch something off her bucket list while also getting the two away from their peers so everyone could actually catch a break from their high energy

Actual perfection right there

That and she could tell Scott was awkward around her, even if they’ve been broken up for almost an entire year by this point

There were a lot of times Jean tried to reconnect with him and get him to loosen up but nothing really worked until she came up with the double date

It would give her the opportunity to get her friend back while also allowing him to be in a sort of comfortable environment (she’s noticed the way he tends to cling to Peter whenever she comes around. She isn’t sure if she should be hurt by it or not but she knows he doesn’t mean ill will)

She has to admit though, Peter’s idea of a movie after was a great idea. It’s not something she would’ve put forward or even thought about

Then again... she wasn’t expecting the duo to take over the planning and make it a lot more “light” than an actual “true” date

Jean was looking to reserve them stuff out at a true fancy restaurant. Maybe get them to all dress up and put them in a romantic setting but she was quickly put in her place by Jubilee and Peter’s insistence that it’s a double date, they don’t need to be in a super romantic area

And honestly, they had a point

But she refused to let them make the event completely casual. If she was going to be involved in any planning, they were gonna go somewhere where they have to dress up at least a little

She won that argument easily

Jubilee

OH MAN

Okay yeah Jubilee was definitely the front runner with the planning and setting everything up

Even with the double date originally being Jean’s idea, Jubilee took it upon herself to plan it all out mostly because she wanted to treat her girlfriend

(You act as thought Jubilee doesn’t know her own partner’s bucket list. Jean literally has it written out in a notebook under her pillow, Jubilee has gone through it multiple times)

She wanted it to be perfect

Which is why she went to Peter

Jean was the one who planted the idea of going on the double date with Scott and Peter but let’s be real, Jubilee would’ve chosen the boys anyways. They were the best bet

Either way, she was ecstatic

She literally has so much experience with planning from the pranks and events she’s set up with Peter, she knew exactly what she was doing when she got with him to plan everything out

Jubilee was actually the one who chose where they were going to dinner

It was a nice Hawaiian themed place. A seafood restaurant with a tropical theme and generally considered a 4 or 5 star restaurant. It was a perfect place, especially with its looser “dress code” (it was basically a sort of business casual, for lack of better terms. If she tried to describe it she would just point to Scott wearing a nice button up with no tie and Jean wearing a cute blouse and flowy pants to match)

(The really funny part is her and Jean low-key made it out to Peter like super fancy restaurants require you to wear formal clothes just so he would cave and “go somewhere less strict”)

(He never found out)

But if she was going to be honest, her favorite part of the double date was the movie afterwards

It was the newest Men in Black and she was losing her mind throughout it

Did she tune out the boys while they were nerding out quietly to her right? Yes, yes she did. She was much more focused on the humor and action and experiencing it with her girlfriend

Overall

Not gonna lie, Scott definitely clung to Peter at first

Like that much is obvious, but it really wasn’t that... obvious? It was if you looked closely at how he hovered closer to the older boy or how his head always seemed to be turned slightly towards him during conversations as if looking to him for stuff to say

Peter noticed it for sure, just as Jean did

Both of them let it happen. Because even when Scott loosened up as the night went on, he still wanted to stick close to his comfort and they didn’t want to pull him away from that

Man just doesn’t handle break ups well

Honestly though, the dinner was wonderful for the entire group. There was so much laughter and chatting and catching up, especially since they aren’t consistently hanging out together anymore

Jubilee convinced Scott to try some really spicy squid dish that he couldn’t remember the name of for the life of him and Peter just... kept ordering more chocolate milk

(They quickly learned that he forgot refills aren’t free)

(That didn’t stop him)

Outfits

Scott: Nice blue button up and black slacks. Honestly really basic typical “oh that guy looks cishet” kinda look, especially with the very plain uniform look to him

Peter: Black button up with white specks across it that look like stars and some slacks as well except his belt was a bit more... decorative than Scott’s. (It’s colorful)

Jean: A cute, loose blouse with a nice white and red floral/watercolor sort of pattern that sits nicely on her frame with some flowy pants and flats. Her hair was done into a braid

Jubilee: A nice long sleeve sweater-like yellow top and a short white skirt with a pair of flats as well. She had her hair down and man was it nice and curly

Honestly everyone was dressed so nicely, it was almost a miracle

During the movie, the couples sat together. That’s a given. But the way they interacted was definitely different from each other

Jean and Jubilee were vibing in their seats. They had chocolate and slushies and popcorn and were overall having a great time just enjoying the movie. There wasn’t too much commentary other than them laughing together or making fun of something they saw on screen

(Jean one time did yell at someone for having their phone on in the movie...she’s that person)

Jubilee was constantly touchy with Jean whenever something crazy happened or there was something intense. Hell, she ended up wrapping around Jean and crying when her favorite character died

Jean took it and honestly... it made her soft

She didn’t know it was possible to fall even further in love

Peter and Scott, though, were different. They too had all the treats and candy and such like the other couple but they were much closer than the girls. They were BASICALLY cuddling (Scott will never admit it). Like come on, you know it’s true

Scott was curled up against his boyfriend. Like head resting against Peter as the older had his arm around him. You know the drill

Again, Scott will never admit to it

But the entire time they were geeking out. Both of them grew up with sci-fi, especially MiB. And BOTH were excited for the newest movie and were having a great time pointing out the aliens and all that stuff and just overall having fun

After the date, the drive was both full of energy and calm. It was 10 by the time they were leaving the theatre and honestly... it’s an experience none of them would give up for the world

...they planned another one for the future

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mariaiscrafting · 3 years

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Thoughts on Wilbur Soot? I want a full-blown essay at least 10k words/j. All jokes aside, this is an amazing blog, I come to it every day to see if you've posted something new :]. Keep going forward OP, you're truly amazing.

That is so sweet 😢 (/gen)

I was really gonna write, “I dunno, I just think he’s a nice dude,” but then you asked for 10k words, so now Imma actually rant. Wilbur’s probably one of the first people who got me back into Minecraft, around 2019, and he was the first person I felt comfortable enough watching the Dream SMP vods from, back in November.

First of all, the guy’s fricking gorgeous, like, ???? I never see any simping for him on my dash, and I’m just like ??? I’m not very good at simping over people’s appearances myself, so all I will say is that he’s fricking beautiful, jfc.

Second of all, I’m a music nerd, okay, and I really fucking like his singing. Back then, I listened to his music covers so much that I learned the lyrics from songs I’d never even heard of before I started watching Wilbur, by heart. Lol it helps quite a bit that a good chunk of my musical taste is made up of Life is Strange-esque, shitty indie songs that fit right into the covers he made back when he first started streaming. I’ve listened to YCGMA so many times that I have that same familiarity I have with songs I’ve listened to for literal years, knowing exactly what song comes next and when each measure ends and when the breaths are taken, etc., etc. He doesn’t have much finnesse when it comes to the technical qualities of his singing abilities, but he’s a damn good musician. His lyrical composition, chord progressions, little guitar riffs, emotion - ahhh, I just love Wilbur Soot’s music so much. I’m certain I’ll be listening to YCGMA in the middle of the night, when I need a good cry, for years to come lol.

Third of all, I really, really appreciate his openness about his mental health just, so much. He talks about his anxiety and getting depressed so candidly, he so easily lets his audience know about what kinda mental state he was in during uni and as a teenager and while he wrote YCGMA, and it makes me feel so normal. As dumb and cliched as it is to need a public figure to validate my own lived experiences, I do, and for someone like Wilbur Soot to succeed and be so talented, encouraging, empathetic, and socially active, despite losing motivation and energy at times, gives me a little bit of hope for myself.

Fourth of all, I mean, the guy’s fucking hilarious, are we forgetting this? People always talk about his talents music-wise and writing-wise, or how nice he seems to be, but they always gloss over his genuine comedic ability, and I ??? It takes so much to keep my attention these days, and Wilbur Soot’s videos are still some of the only ones that can manage that feat. He has undeniable chemistry with practically any CC he meets, his editing style is just *chef’s kiss*, and his laugh somehow makes even the most mundane of jokes seem fucking hilarious, it’s just such a delight to watch or listen to him do bits, man.

I left the best for last, lol. The main reason I fricking love Wilbur Soot is his political consciousness and the fact that his political beliefs align pretty well with my own. I’ve dealt with cishet, mostly white guys, both on and off the Internet, for so many damn years, and it’s exhausting. I am so tired of deconstructing myself and suppressing myself for the sake of social interaction, community-building, preventing ostracization, and being able to consume content without feeling enraged or hopeless. It is an exhausting endeavor to want to like and love all the gamers I’ve watched since middle school, and having to just push down and numb the parts of me that want to flinch at offhanded jokes and comments and exclusion from online spaces. Wilbur Soot is a whole other breed of CC. Lol uhhh, I guess he’s what most of the people in the social media circles I used to frequent would call, “a feminist cuck” and “self-hating white guy.” Which all really just means that he goes just beyond human decency. Don’t get me wrong, I do not by any means let white, cishet guys dictate my self-worth anymore, or even let them educate me; that’s what all the wonderful female and POC and queer CCs that I’ve discovered over the years are for. But there’s still something deeply satisfying about listening to this person who fits all the demographic checkboxes of the kinda person who used to make me feel so Other and Wrong, instead rant about how teenage girls can’t express their interests without being denigrated for them out of deeply-entrenched misogyny, or about how society needs to stop villanizing poor people and realize that government aid and social services do a great service for community betterment and are not just used by people supposedly leeching off the taxpayer’s dime. That’s not even to mention the fucking beautiful satire of the E-Girl Trilogy. I always wanted to rant about this, but I don’t know how exactly to put it into the proper words... Basically, as someone who has spent years and years retconning, observing, and caught in the midst of incels, conservatives, and just extremely depressed cishet men of all races, I am deeply familiar with all the resentment, anxiety, misogyny, homophobia, gender essentialism, and self-hatred that goes into creating the average 20-something man’s view on women, society, romance, friendships, and sex. The E-Girl Trilogy is fucking brilliant because it so accurately captures this cocktail of emotions and ideologies, creating a fucking perfect caricature of the average man who looks and is just like Wilbur Soot. The persona is so well-crafted that most listeners who aren’t familiar with Wilbur as a person, or his political views, actually believe these songs are genuine and empathize with the narrators, can you imagine? And the fact that, in the process, Wilbur himself realizes that all of it is a fucking joke, that the narrator’s views on his love interest are weird and creepy and not at all normal or correct, is what makes it genuine satire. He embodies something so perfectly, only to mock it in the process of showing off how much he can embody it... I love satire, but I fucking suck at writing or accurately embodying it, so I’ve always been so fucking jealous of and beyond impressed by the E-Girl Trilogy’s use of satire.

Lol this isn’t 10k words, but it was much longer than I fucking thought it’d be. Basically, I really like Wilbur Soot, and writing all of this made me realize just how much I missed watching his VODs and streams...

#mcyt #asks #wilbur soot #wilbur #Anonymous #phantom

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travisphelpsofficial · 4 years

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Wait what about Steve putting racist and homophobic stuff in the game? I still haven’t had a chance to watch chapter 5 yet :( what happened?

This'll spoil the plot 1000% but it was easier for me to watch after hearing about it first, because I knew what was coming.

TW: racism, homophobia, self-harm, child abuse

Travis' whole story being about how he's violent & homophobic because he's in the closet is a homophobic stereotype from the jump. Most people who make homophobic jokes are just that, homophobes. To imply otherwise makes it harder for gay men to both come out, and critique those who make homophobic comments about us.

Personally, I also feel like the joke Sally made in the bologna incident is very, very out of place ("do you kiss your dad with that tongue?") given that Travis' dad is a) obviously abusive b) known to be homophobic and c) what most cults are known for doing to children. But that's not a common complaint people have.

Travis is never allowed to be happy, as a Brown gay man, he is abused throughout his time in the game. Which is, not okay, at all.

He dies trying to kill his father. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and wanted his dad to be killed off, but Travis didn't have to die for it to happen.

That 1/3 of the cannon gay characters dead, and one of the few Black/Brown characters dead as well.

Todd's only character traits are that he is a nerd and gay. He does not have any kind of real story to him. He's just the token gay in the main 4.

The trauma p*rn only continues when Steve decides that, Todd, again one of the few pieces of representation in the game, needs to become a demon. (Which,, one could argue has a religiously homophobic tone to it... "oh he's gay let's make him a demon!!")

That's 2/3 gay characters and he doesn't technically die, but he's tortured and only exists to be gay, smart, and become a demon.

Neil, one of the few Black characters, and the last canon gay man is killed. Violently by the cult. His dead, naked, bleeding body is shown during one of the last scenes, for quite a while.

This demonstrates the bury your gays trope and that Black and Brown people truly only exist for Steve Garbage to torture. Extremely distasteful and ignorant.

Neil's only character traits also just so happen to be: Being gay, being kind, and being Todd's boyfriend. Not a well rounded character at all.

The fact that Neil was written to be so calm in the face of death, was also very disturbing. Sal didn't really want to die, Larry only killed himself because he had to, and Todd but up enough of a fight that he didn't get eaten up by a demon, but Neil, one of the 2 Black characters just accepts that he needs to die. All the white characters put up some kind of fight, but Neil, like the kind Black man that he is, just accepts death. Weird!

He kills off Robert, too (in chapter 4) and he's like the only other Black character we see more that once.

This isn't racist or homophobic, but the fact that he makes it so Ash has to try to kill herself in order to bring Sal back, is fucking awful. It comes out of nowhere and is very triggering.

Apparently he said that their high school mascot was a "Native American". I've never seen that, but I've heard people talk about it and obviously that pretty fucking racist.

THEN he decides that he'll add this weird as Native American lore into the fucking story?? And the legend he writes for it so misguided, racist, and ignorant, it sounds like something you'd write in second grade in a southern elementary school. I feel like we probably wrote shit like that at some point, and I still knew was wrong.

There's this fucking girl in a cave and she's got tribal tattoos and is like "my ancestors made these cave paintings" !! What!!

Natives don't have a universal culture. Not all of them did cave paintings. Not all of them believed in certain kinds of deities. Not all of them had tattoos. It's a gross generalization of a hundreds of cultures. It's racist.

He also tried to make it sound like the legend, that his dumbass wrote, was just some crazy Native jibberish. He has the legend written out, and then is like, yeah that's probably fake but they believed it any way.

All of this culminates into giving the cult part of that "oh ancient Native American demons better watch out!!" Trope. Which is, again, racist as fuck.

The end of the game leaves a lot to be desired and just fucking sucks honestly.

The game just ended up being torture p*rn made by a cishet white man, who obviously has a lot of bigoted tendencies lying beneath the surface.

* let me clarify that torture p*rn rarely conveys NSFW attributes and has a purpose of putting certain minority groups into painful/torturous situations and usually gives way to a white savior complex.

In this instance, Ash & Sal, two cishet white individuals "save" the town from a cult run & created by Brown people at the expense of the lives & souls of all of the Black, Brown and/or gay civilians (that we know of), which is a small price to pay, for them.

The fact there was never even the slightest "this game contains sensitive content, proceed with caution and care" at any point also rubs me the wrong way. Like, okay you don't want to spoil the game or lose revenue because very few people would buy a game with such fucked up views in it, but a small warning was more than necessary. Especially so considering this game ended up attracting a fan base filled with individuals that would be directly harmed by the shit.

I could go on, and on, and on about my personal grievances about how the game was written, how little research was obviously done etc., etc. but those are the main problems with it.

#anonymous #discourse??#sally face spoilers #sally face #tw: violence #tw: death #tw: racism #tw: homophobia #tw: self harm #tw: child abuse #if you see this & wanna add more feel free to do so!#larry johnson #travis phelps #sal fisher #sally fisher #ashley campbell #todd morrison

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