Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[benji]

Just apropros of nothing; did i dream up that little guy who used to wear a paperboy cap and do movie reviews, and was "hounded" out of the forums
Or was that another internet forum sub-genre.

well maybe not a dream, his emote is still here! 
bobby?

https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/9tnjmh/feminist_antigamergate_journalist_bobby_roberts/

[benji]

Over on the right of that page was a link to a thread from this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistGaming/

Found lots of great topics:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistGaming/comments/1msi52h/tired_of_gaming_spaces_catering_to_right_wingers/

MrTactician
2d ago
Edited 1d ago
I'm reminded of this fact constantly, and it's exhausting. After playing the bf6 beta I went to check out the sub to see what people think.

Opinions aside they're more than happy using slurs like "re**rd" not only getting hundreds of up votes but the moderators don't seem to care.

On the off chance a woman is included/mentioned in conversation it seems to always be derogatory and in bad faith.

The effects of letting "edgy humour" go unchecked in the gaming space for so long has caused irreparable damage. I'm all for good faith dark humour that mocks the evil in the world, but no I don't think saying the N word every 5 minutes is funny because I'm not 13 anymore.

jeffdeleon
2d ago
All male-dominated spaces have the same issue with right wing politics, edgy humor, and misogyny. Whether it's sports, fitness personalities...

The gaming community stands out because it's the one I participate in, but the other ones are horrible as well.

Based on voting trends this shouldn't surprise anyone. I'm not saying this to defend the gaming community-- it is generally awful. But to broaden the problem for those who haven't given this much thought.

notinterested10002
2d ago
Fascism makes you (falsely) feel powerful by association, which is unfortunately attractive to the type of young man drawn to gaming subculture. Hasan does what he can but ultimately socialism is harder work and that’s not appealing to these guys.

ulfrekr
2d ago
This might be more a symptom of the issue but I do think the overwhelming emphasis on multiplayer games being really competitive is unhealthy for the gaming community. Like if games had more cooperative experiences rather than just competitive ones then gamers might at least be more inclined to be less right wing and maybe more community oriented. I’m thinking of stuff like Halo 3 where a big part of that game was just goofing off in forge mode or custom games with your friends.

manickitty
1d ago
Because capitalism will tolerate anything for money. We need to socially push right wingers out of every space until their cancerous mindset is eradicated from humanity.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistGaming/comments/1ita99k/why_did_gamergate_happen_why_did_people_get_mad/

factolum
6mo ago
Because reactionaries will take any excuse to exise people they hate from their communities?

juanpecan
6mo ago
Edited 6mo ago
Gonna watch that video today. GG will one day be studied as a key episode in the whole long slow downward spiral towards the current mainstreaming of Nazism. Bitterness towards women weaponized into anti feminism, while queerphobia got weaponized into open hating of LGBTQ people. And crucially, it had moral overtones. "Fascists see themselves as heroes and victims all at the same time, and their opposition as the real fascists" and 8chan bros def gave themselves those framings."It's just about fairness in journalism!" Whole thing amounted to a practice arena for Nazi rhetorical mind tricks.

BvsedAaron
6mo ago
I think the "criticism" that's part of why its become so insidious. Neo-Liberals have done significant damage to the education system since the Reagan years with very small concessions to fix it. This has led to large swathes of the generations having 0 media literacy or actual critical thinking skills making a lot of them just naturally susceptible to the sentiment without realizing that they are legitimizing dangerous and terrible ideologies as long as it's rhetorically sound enough. "Yeah its not the capitalism that's 'ruining' games and movies that my favorite internet personas never point too, its the liberals, minorities and women who were put there without merit."

YumiVii
6mo ago
It’s crazy how GG seemingly became the catalyst for current day mainstream right wing rhetoric and strategy, and it was all based on a lie.

Witty-Carrot-1820
6mo ago
Nazis and fascists obviously jumped in on this, but the true cause of gamergate is a bit more complex IMO.

My theory is that Gamergate happened because a large subset of the gaming population just grew out of videogames, but because they're too invested in the consumer culture and too broke to find new, more expensive hobbies they had to come up with a reason why they don't enjoy videogame as much as they used to in the past.

The whole Zoey Quinn thing was just an excuse, a manufactured event to rally behind and pull in headlines. Right-wing astroturfers, of course, jumped in to explain that "woke" is why they can't enjoy their games as much as they used to, but gamers were primed to eat that shit up as a reason because they needed a reason.

We see this exact same pattern reflected again and again.

1. Capitalism and consumerism create a problem.
   
2. The affected are too propagandized and too stupid to recognize the problem.
   
3. Right wing swoops in to blame x minority for the problem. Liberals can't even acknowledge the problem exist because they're beholden to capital.
   

This pattern continues ad infinitum until we're all dead.

santanapeso
6mo ago
Point 3 was a huge reason why GG blew up the way it did. Like, there was some validity to the claim that video game journalism was too embedded and beholden to publishers and advertisers. That it's probably not a good look when you're sitting next to a giant Mountain Dew poster Master Chief from Halo next to a pile of Doritos.

But the gaming press also did a pretty terrible job of even acknowledging these issues at all and waved criticism away from people who probably could have been served more left-leaning, anti-capitalist content. Denying there was a problem just made the loose claims appear more valid and susceptible to conspiracies.

Same shit is happening now with political journalism and the current admin. The mainstream press will never learn nor change because they are beholden to capital. They would need to literally all go non-profit before anything meaningful changes.

cheradenine66
6mo ago
I would say that GamerGate is still alive and well, its spirit carried on by countless YouTube grifters.

The problem is lack of class consciousness. As you pointed out, the problem of ethics in game journalism is actually real, and is ongoing, with reviewers still giving out inflated reviews for corporate AAA titles while penalizing the competition. However, at the time, the only people talking about it were the right wing grifters, and they were using a real problem to push their agenda. The left did not, and still does not present a viable alternative since more often than not, they were simping for the corpos to own the chuds (it still happens, hell, on this very sub, people were insisting that Veilguard was a success and anyone who says otherwise must be a chud, right up to the layoff).

There IS a problem in gaming, and that problem is capital. To the capitalists who now own the game studios, games and their makers are now fungible products whose primary purpose, as with any other fungible product, is to make money. The only metric that matters is the revenue stream a game generates, preferably consistently and for a long time because you can use that in projections and therefore can get financing (hence the focus on live service games).

MachineAgeInc
6mo ago
Because fascism thrives in contradiction.

Mad-Madeleine
6mo ago
Edited 6mo ago
Did OP forget that patriarchy and misogyny exists? Men just HATE women, like, they HATE HATE women, and they benefit from our subjugation, materially, economically, socially, politically and they know it, and will jump at any opportunity to viciously hound and attack any woman who's out of line. All Zoe did was date a shitbag who slandered her out of spite for breaking up with him and that's all that it takes to permanently ruin a woman's life and reputation, because men will immediately band together in hatred against women. This is what gamergate has always been about, it's an anti-women hate group

molotovcocktease_
6mo ago
It's incredibly strange that none of the top comments on this even mention misogyny... A LOT of men, from literally every side of the political spectrum, just hate and despise women. Misogyny is the unequivocal root cause of why GG became a thing.

Puffenata
6mo ago
Seriously. Maybe it’s more convenient to pin blame on some genuine unethical behavior or liberal failures to confront capital, but the fact of the matter is that the root was always a hatred of women—and no amount of socialist proselytizing is going to change anyone’s minds if you don’t actually dig at the underlying bigotry. I’d love to think that preventing stuff like GG is a simple as socialists talking about the evils of capital louder, but if your socialist model can’t actively engage with the realities of bigotry it’s going to be completely impotent against quite a few alt-right movements

thegreatherper
6mo ago
Edited 6mo ago
White gamer bros got mad at women saying correct things about video games. White gamer bros used ethics in journalism as an excuse to trick other white gamer normies to distract from their harassment campaigns.

Conservative political engine say how white gamer bros were gathering online and harnessed that white gamer bro fueled racism and turned that into the alt right which then led to the election of Trump.

Equivalent-Search-77
6mo ago
Having been there when it was happening, I'm just a little confused as to why Zoe Quinn is "obnoxious". I'm seeing commentary critical of Gamergate that still buys into some of its narrative about how its targets, like Quinn and Sarkeesian, were problematic.

Brosenheim
6mo ago
Nerds were mad about not getting laid, and neo-nazis capitalized on that to galvanize a movement.

Odd_Jelly_1390
6mo ago
It was the result of three forces:

1. The advocacy for the ultra wealthy that had been creeping their way across the systems to dismantle the new deal(dramatically accelerated by Reagan) had creeped its way into public consciousness around Obama's second term.
   
2. The ultra wealthy advocacy got genuinely shaken up by Occupy Wall Street. Up to that point they had not taken social media seriously as a medium for serious political advocacy. After this point they made serious investment into social media propaganda.
   
3. Progressives had failed to make the outreach they needed to and unintentionally insulated themselves from public consciousness. Making them inaccessible to the politically apathetic or ambivalent.
   

All of these factors together created the "kerosene". It was the public appearance that "crazy progressive cults were taking over our lives." The "match" was a sex scandal involving an already divisive figure in the progressive scene.

The politically literate collectively recognized that this was a neofascist movement right away and moved to act against it, but did so in a way that made it look like a conspiracy to silence dissent.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistGaming/comments/1m7ulfr/why_do_so_many_rw_gamers_play_leftist_games/

I saw an tiktok an awhile back of a guy who said the more left leaning thé media the more right the fandom is and that has always puzzled me. RW gamers claim the left “is ruining gaming" "cant create but only destroy" yet love gravitating toward games with leftist messaging. like I am pretty active in the splatoon community for years now. Yet I am still schocked at how right wing so many of the fans are despite the game having anti faccist themes poc and queer characters. I remember I posted on the sub a little while ago about how uncomfortable I was at the darkest skin characters being the most sexualized. While I got tons of support I also got tons of backlash how I was being too woke. Like who am I being to woke about à game that is already just that? I am tired of not having my left wing takes on a left wing game being shut done because the community largely holds a different political ideology.

KosekiBoto
27d ago
Profile Badge for the Achievement Top 1% Commenter Top 1% Commenter
because RWers usually aren't good at making art so the best they can do is gaslight themselves into ignoring leftist themes

TheEPGFiles
27d ago
Good storytelling exposes you to ideas that are more egalitarian and unifying, right wingers don't understand that or nuance and subtext so they literally don't understand basic building blocks of stories, which are often about personal change and character driven.

origin29
27d ago
As if they have the media comprehension to understand leftist themes lmao. That's a major part of being conservative

Hay_Fever_at_3_AM
27d ago
Right wingers can't create, so there really aren't any good right-wing games, but also they have terrible media literacy. There's actually studies validating that their media literacy is just absolutely awful. They likely don't even understand that they're playing games that directly contradict their beliefs (or their meta beliefs or whatever)

Psychological_Pie_32
27d ago
At this point I've become convinced that conservatives simply cannot comprehend the fundamental difference between facts and opinions.

manickitty
27d ago
They are masters at selective hearing. Their minds are so small they can easily filter out facts and truth and only let what’s acceptable to their propaganda mindset they can see the Nazi in almost anything and thus be ok with it. Because they’re nazi pedophiles

abermea
27d ago
Conservatives have deluded themselves into thinking they are Revolutionaries so they either project themselves into the heroes of every story, or attempt to portray the villains as the heroes

Trans_girl2002
26d ago
So, boring but short answer? Leftists tend to be great artists, thus make great art.

Long and convoluted answer? Right wingers are socially duped into believing that leftist ideologues are the ones at the forefront of fascist ideology. They deem us attacking their bigotry as the same attack launched by Hitler against the disenfranchised. That the existence of people who are a different gender than assigned at birth, non-white, disabled, into people other than the opposite gender, etc. are attacks against their rights to exist, and therefore are, in their minds, fascists. They believe they're under some governmental, systemic oppression when the reality is that they're not.

Do I think all right wingers think this? No, but many of them do, mostly the worst ones. There's a reason Andrew Tate and his kin reference The Matrix, despite that being made by two trans women. They don't understand that they're not Neo, but instead fall for the propaganda that says they are. Anything that touches on fascism is innately going to lure in those who believe they're facing fascism.

There's a reason Trump posted an edited photo of him as Superman. There's a reason Asmongold is still playing video games despite so many of them being centrist or left wing (both in which are more left wing than he'd ever be). They think we're Lex Luthor. They think we're YoRHa from Nier Automata. Therefore anything speaking on fascism will be seen by right wingers as for them. Because of their misconstrued understanding of what fascism really is.

Like dogs, they don't recognize themselves in the mirror.

Feather_Sigil
26d ago
You think they realize they're engaging with left-wing themes?

My Little Pony G4 had an episode that explained in simple terms why capitalism is garbage and why socialism is better, yet there are neo-Nazi bronies with a Nazi pony mascot.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistGaming/comments/1m28iwb/looking_for_people_to_create_a_communistsocialist/

The idea is relatively simple: a Minecraft server where all means of production are in the hands of all players. Private property is forbidden. Production is planned and organized together. Resources are made centrally and easily accessible to everyone. The goal is to create a fair, prosperous and communal Minecraft server where people can be creative and act as collectively as possible.

The idea is more or less there (except for a few details of course), but I'm still completely alone. I'm looking for people who are generally interested in building something like this. I can program and would create any plugins or mods necessary.

I am looking for people who would be interested in helping me with the planning and organization of the server, the community, the discord and so on. Social and technical skills would be nice, but just tell me what you can do.

If you are interested, post it in the comments section or send me a DM here on Reddit with your skills or what you could contribute to the project. Then I'll explain what my plan looks like so far. We could then discuss it all further.

Would be pretty cool if we could get some people together here who would be up for a project like this! o7

[imsotired]

The demographic transition literally predates capitalism, it started in 18th century Bourbon France prior to the Revolution.  The Soviet Union tried and failed to raise birth rates, communism does not help other than by increasing poverty.

[D3RANG3D]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/windows-11-24h2-update-kb5063878-may-cause-ssd-failures-and-or-corrupted-data.1275072/#post-144080628
Transistor

Perfect time to switch to Linux

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

Pardon, but I'd just like to interject for a short while. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully working GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by GNU.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

[benji]

The demographic transition literally predates capitalism, it started in 18th century Bourbon France prior to the Revolution.  The Soviet Union tried and failed to raise birth rates, communism does not help other than by increasing poverty.

There's posts in that thread that could be quotes out of The Population Bomb or Malthus himself, that's the level of understanding many of the posters have about population. Like two posters in the thread were the only ones who didn't take it to either extreme of life's too terrible to have kids nowdays or the planet's full and we need to cull the herd. 

[Boredfrom]

You think they realize they're engaging with left-wing themes?

My Little Pony G4 had an episode that explained in simple terms why capitalism is garbage and why socialism is better, yet there are neo-Nazi bronies with a Nazi pony mascot.

[Disco55]

Do these guys think "Big Corporation bad" is anything but the most basic message that everyone agrees on?

[benji]

You think they realize they're engaging with left-wing themes?

My Little Pony G4 had an episode that explained in simple terms why capitalism is garbage and why socialism is better, yet there are neo-Nazi bronies with a Nazi pony mascot.

I tried to find out what this is and it's ironic considering how much of that thread was about how nobody but left-wingers have media literacy. The episode that came up from searching is this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cutie_Map

And I didn't watch this video:


One of the replies says one of the show's writers says it's supposed to be North Korea.

But also maybe:

The unicorns show clear ties to the communist idea of the bourgeoisie, holding most means of production: governance, luxury industries, intellectual labour. Their magic grants them capabilities far beyond what earth ponies or pegasi can acess, from fine-tuned craftsmanship to bureaucratic administration and political leadership. This concentration of symbolic and material capital parallels the dominance of the profession-managerial class in real-world economies, where certain skillsets - often linked to educational of familial privilege - open doors to wealth and power. Education is almost solely for unicorns, giving them the most opportunities while also holding privilege in high positions. Unicorns - just as all races do - rely on earth ponies labour, however, routinely discriminate against them and show badly stereotyped views of them.

Pegasi can be read as the petit bourgeoisie—a specialized class that, while not holding as much direct political power as unicorns, maintains monopolistic control over key infrastructure such as weather management and segregated cloud-based urban cities. They enjoy relative privilege but remain subordinate to the unicorn bourgeoisie’s dominance of the state and high culture. Pegasi are similarly used as grunts and often come with militaristic elements to their character design, personality, or employment. Pegasi are usually protrayed as ‘dumb’ or ‘violent brutes’ by unicorns looking down on them but are not as prevented or kicked out of higher positions to the extent that earth ponies are. For an extreme example, three princesses of the show, Luna, Twilight, and Celestia, were unicorns before becoming alicorns, however the role of princess was not withheld from the former-pegasi, Cadence as would be the case with an earth pony.

Earth ponies, by contrast, form the proletariat. They perform the manual and agricultural labour upon which the entire society depends. While they generate the material surplus that sustains Equestria, they do not control the means of production, nor do they have access to the social and political capital required to ascend into the ruling class and are routinely mocked and degraded by other races.

Equestria presents itself as a harmonious society where all ponies are equal. This mirrors the bourgeois ideology of capitalist democracies, which masks material inequalities behind a façade of formal equality. In practice, an earth pony’s birth conditions determine the range of labor they may perform and the opportunities available to them. There is no possibility of class mobility into roles requiring flight or magic, even if the earth pony possesses the talent or ambition to succeed in those fields.

This arrangement mirrors the capitalist mode of production, where the ruling class concentrates wealth and power while the working class remains structurally dependent and politically marginalized. The segregation of occupations along biological lines naturalizes class division, making exploitation appear as an inevitable part of the natural order.

While Lauren Faust and the show’s writers likely never intended to produce a Marxist or even Socialist parable, Friendship is Magic reproduces the logic of capitalist inequality in its fantasy setting. Equestria’s earth ponies remain locked in a subordinate class position, denied access to the magical and aerial means of production, and largely excluded from political decision-making. This is masked by the ideology of harmony and friendship—a form of false consciousness—that prevents the proletariat from recognizing their collective exploitation.

The result is a pastel allegory for class struggle: a society where the ruling class so thoroughly controls both the material and cultural superstructure that even in a land built on “friendship,” structural inequality persists unchallenged.

[benji]

Do these guys think "Big Corporation bad" is anything but the most basic message that everyone agrees on?

Well, yeah, those of us who have done the work and read the theory by watching four hour YouTubes know that. But the dumbass masses don't and the chuds especially don't realize how they're in thrall to what the Big Corporations want like close ups of sweaty women's butts but in a heterosexual male gaze way.

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

That's why we need to abolish all of society, especially the division of labor, and reorder it under a single even Bigger Corporation that has no competition or opposition.

[benji]

Upon further searching it may actually be this episode which is entirely on YouTube on the official account for some reason:

The next day, a strange, self-propelled machine rolls into town, operated by two slick-talking unicorn brothers, Flim and Flam. They introduce themselves with a catchy musical number ("The Flim Flam Brothers") and promote their invention, the "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000," which can supposedly produce cider at rapid speeds without sacrificing taste. The brothers propose a partnership with the Apple family to combine their machinery with Sweet Apple Acres' apples but offer only a small cut of the profits. Applejack declines, as the deal would ultimately drive her family out of business.

From the start, the Apple family is severely outmatched by the speed of the machine. Twilight Sparkle asks Mayor Mare if the honorary members of the Apple family are allowed to assist; both Applejack and the Flim Flam brothers agree. With the help of the Mane Six, the Apple family's output increases dramatically, matching and eventually surpassing the brothers'. Alarmed, Flim and Flam remove the machine's quality control to further boost its speed, but this allows it to suck up entire trees and debris in the process.

When time runs out, Mayor Mare counts the barrels and declares Flim and Flam the winners by volume. However, the cider they produced is full of contaminants and virtually undrinkable. The ponies of Ponyville recoil in disgust and refuse to buy it. With their reputation ruined, the brothers abandon the town, leaving the Apple family as the true victors. The good cider made during the contest is shared with the rest of Ponyville, and Applejack reflects in a letter to Princess Celestia that honest hard work and pride in quality are what truly sustain success.

Clearly it's also an anti-AI message.

[DavidCroquet]

Why are Ree mods such stick up the ass control freaks?  Are you telling me the forum cannot discuss whether or not their are aggressive panhandlers and scammers in their areas without mods locking threads?

And they wonder why serious discussion is dead on the forum, anything slightly controversial, they lock and tell you to move on.

For the love of whomever, can we have a little more compassion for people less fortunate than ourselves?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/are-panhandlers-in-your-area-becoming-aggressive.1274049/page-2

I think this larper got the thread closed:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/are-panhandlers-in-your-area-becoming-aggressive.1274049/#post-144073245

No. I've had to panhandle myself. Now I'm nervous someone is going to get angry at me because they hate panhandlers for being "aggressive."

Experienced panhandler is now, today, only just for the first time feeling anxiety about an unreceptive audience because of...a thread on a videogame enthusiast forum. Ok buddy.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/criticisms-of-golden-age-simpsons-episodes.1273350/#post-144082053

Rewatched classic Simpsons a few years ago from start to finish of season 8 and I absolutely did not realize that Season 6 is surprisingly very weak?...
en had one of the few instances of straight up shitty politics that didn't age well at all (Homer Badman).

https://www.resetera.com/threads/criticisms-of-golden-age-simpsons-episodes.1273350/#post-144083574

the "chazwozzers" joke in the Australia episode is a bit culturally insensitive.

(the "funny" names for stuff here are often attempts (albeit often poor colonial attempts) at transliterating indigenous Australian names).

I think "Lisa the Vegetarian" was the first time I remember thinking about how weak Lisa-centric episodes are in general. They just don't do a great job with her character, never able to make her more than an overly preachy, pushy nerd. Even more incredible that it's in the same season as "Summer of 4'2"" which is not only the best Lisa episode but one of the best episodes of the show.

that episode works because she has the zealotry and self-righteousness of a recent convert and learns to be tolerant of other people's views and practices.

(though you can definitely argue that mass industrial slaughter of animals should be one of those topics that crosses the line where reasonable minds cannot actually disagree).

[Boredfrom]

Meanwhile, the Uma fandom:

The good cider made during the contest is shared with the rest of Ponyville, and Applejack reflects in a letter to Princess Celestia that honest hard work and pride in quality are what truly sustain success.

That’s is funny, because most of Era like progressives hate hard work and taking pride for that is for suckers… EXCEPT IF IS AI.

[Gamegirl Nostalgia]

Meanwhile, the Uma fandom:

The good cider made during the contest is shared with the rest of Ponyville, and Applejack reflects in a letter to Princess Celestia that honest hard work and pride in quality are what truly sustain success.

That’s is funny, because most of Era like progressives hate hard work and taking pride for that is for suckers… EXCEPT IF IS AI.

what do you mean goldship fails a 5% training that ruins a whole taurus cup run!

[benji]

(though you can definitely argue that mass industrial slaughter of animals should be one of those topics that crosses the line where reasonable minds cannot actually disagree).

Are these reasonable minds the ones posting in that other thread talking about how the world needs way less people because so many are so shitty?

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/russia-has-begun-a-full-scale-invasion-in-ukraine-read-staff-posts.556366/page-3134#post-144021930

This really caught a 2 week ban?! Kastus has been absolutely invaluable running the Ukraine thread :(

Yes, ableism is something we ban people for, and have for many years.

[BIONIC]

Jeff fighting the good fight to combat society damaging online disinformation

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/russia-has-begun-a-full-scale-invasion-in-ukraine-read-staff-posts.556366/page-3134#post-144021930

This really caught a 2 week ban?! Kastus has been absolutely invaluable running the Ukraine thread :(

Yes, ableism is something we ban people for, and have for many years.

Dementia Donald

My client would like to plead "black humor"

[BananaBlast]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/windows-11-24h2-update-kb5063878-may-cause-ssd-failures-and-or-corrupted-data.1275072/#post-144080628
Transistor

Perfect time to switch to Linux

If that wasn't staff....

User Banned (1 day): Trolling

[D3RANG3D]

Now a president with dementia is a problem...

[Potato]

Upon further searching it may actually be this episode which is entirely on YouTube on the official account for some reason:

The next day, a strange, self-propelled machine rolls into town, operated by two slick-talking unicorn brothers, Flim and Flam. They introduce themselves with a catchy musical number ("The Flim Flam Brothers") and promote their invention, the "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000," which can supposedly produce cider at rapid speeds without sacrificing taste. The brothers propose a partnership with the Apple family to combine their machinery with Sweet Apple Acres' apples but offer only a small cut of the profits. Applejack declines, as the deal would ultimately drive her family out of business.

From the start, the Apple family is severely outmatched by the speed of the machine. Twilight Sparkle asks Mayor Mare if the honorary members of the Apple family are allowed to assist; both Applejack and the Flim Flam brothers agree. With the help of the Mane Six, the Apple family's output increases dramatically, matching and eventually surpassing the brothers'. Alarmed, Flim and Flam remove the machine's quality control to further boost its speed, but this allows it to suck up entire trees and debris in the process.

When time runs out, Mayor Mare counts the barrels and declares Flim and Flam the winners by volume. However, the cider they produced is full of contaminants and virtually undrinkable. The ponies of Ponyville recoil in disgust and refuse to buy it. With their reputation ruined, the brothers abandon the town, leaving the Apple family as the true victors. The good cider made during the contest is shared with the rest of Ponyville, and Applejack reflects in a letter to Princess Celestia that honest hard work and pride in quality are what truly sustain success.

Clearly it's also an anti-AI message.

How is that anti-capitalism? 

Free market competition resulted in the best product winning rather than a faceless, nameless government bureaucrat deciding that only one type of cider (the cheapest) would be produced.

Free market competition also meant the Apple family business shed its inherent inefficiencies and was able to employ extra people to increase production while maintaining quality, likely resulting in either a higher profit or lower cost to the consumer, or both.

[Potato]

(though you can definitely argue that mass industrial slaughter of animals should be one of those topics that crosses the line where reasonable minds cannot actually disagree).

Are these reasonable minds the ones posting in that other thread talking about how the world needs way less people because so many are so shitty?

Invasive species in Australia are killing vulnerable native wildlife at an alarming rate. Our extinction rate is really high because of animals like cane toads, cats, foxes and wild pigs. If there was ever a reasonable excuse for "mass industrial slaughter of animals" it's definitely reasonable when it comes to invasive species in Australia.

[benji]

FACT CHECK: Humans are the real invasive species. The Zionists of the animal kingdom.

I am not being "edgy" just speaking truth to capitalist, colonialist and white supremacist power.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-birth-rate-is-hitting-record-lows-in-the-us-and-many-other-countries-do-you-view-this-as-a-positive-or-negative-trend.1273311/page-4#post-144033855

 User Banned (1 Month): Xenophobic Rhetoric

It's a good thing as long as the shortfall is not replaced by imports.

Population density is too high in England, the roads and trains are too busy and the infrastructure can't cope.
The population density in Ireland is less than a fifth of the Englands and it is much nicer in Ireland as a result.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/who-can-dems-actually-run-in-2028-who-has-a-chance-who-would-you-want-to-run.1265349/page-2#post-143658489

 User Banned (1 Month): Racist Generalization; Don't Conflate Black and Brown

i'm sure it's something people here don't want to hear but really any young to middle-aged straight white male with attitude and charisma. policy doesn't really matter for the public opinion.

personally i would love AOC, but let's talk realpolitik. a black woman will NEVER win. And remember you can be as progressive as you want and as pure as you want, but it doesn't really matter if you can't win.

people will blast me for this, but that's the reality.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/accented-cinema-movies-need-to-shut-up.1273392/page-2#post-144035142

how older Hollywood films used to be more comfortable with long stretches of silence, why the American industry has largely abandoned this practice

This was something my Screenwriting lecturer back at Film School warned about back in 2014 and made sure we were trained in writing scripts without overuse of dialogue because even back this was a known problem and as the quote in video points, these decisions are often executive ones and not ones on the screenwriter who are often getting less and less control on what they can write (and less incentivised to do so do to how often crunch is part of the job).

Edit:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/slayven-sponsored-idea-prompt-in-a-theoretical-ww2-the-axis-powers-the-powers-of-kaijus-what-would-the-allies-use-to-counter-them.1273107/page-2#post-144021273

Lesbians, we save the day and already have a superhero (so do other wlw women ❤️)

[Boredfrom]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/who-can-dems-actually-run-in-2028-who-has-a-chance-who-would-you-want-to-run.1265349/page-2#post-143658489

 User Banned (1 Month): Racist Generalization; Don't Conflate Black and Brown

i'm sure it's something people here don't want to hear but really any young to middle-aged straight white male with attitude and charisma. policy doesn't really matter for the public opinion.

personally i would love AOC, but let's talk realpolitik. a black woman will NEVER win. And remember you can be as progressive as you want and as pure as you want, but it doesn't really matter if you can't win.

people will blast me for this, but that's the reality.

 

I dunno who is dumber, this dude or the mod that banned him.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/harry-potter-weasley-children-casting-revealed-1236462315/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[Taco Bell Tower]

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/harry-potter-weasley-children-casting-revealed-1236462315/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

https://www.resetera.com/threads/j-k-rowling-and-her-legacy-of-hate-the-uk-gender-critical-movement.643740/

[yetanotheraccountholyf]

Upon further searching it may actually be this episode which is entirely on YouTube on the official account for some reason:

The next day, a strange, self-propelled machine rolls into town, operated by two slick-talking unicorn brothers, Flim and Flam. They introduce themselves with a catchy musical number ("The Flim Flam Brothers") and promote their invention, the "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000," which can supposedly produce cider at rapid speeds without sacrificing taste. The brothers propose a partnership with the Apple family to combine their machinery with Sweet Apple Acres' apples but offer only a small cut of the profits. Applejack declines, as the deal would ultimately drive her family out of business.

From the start, the Apple family is severely outmatched by the speed of the machine. Twilight Sparkle asks Mayor Mare if the honorary members of the Apple family are allowed to assist; both Applejack and the Flim Flam brothers agree. With the help of the Mane Six, the Apple family's output increases dramatically, matching and eventually surpassing the brothers'. Alarmed, Flim and Flam remove the machine's quality control to further boost its speed, but this allows it to suck up entire trees and debris in the process.

When time runs out, Mayor Mare counts the barrels and declares Flim and Flam the winners by volume. However, the cider they produced is full of contaminants and virtually undrinkable. The ponies of Ponyville recoil in disgust and refuse to buy it. With their reputation ruined, the brothers abandon the town, leaving the Apple family as the true victors. The good cider made during the contest is shared with the rest of Ponyville, and Applejack reflects in a letter to Princess Celestia that honest hard work and pride in quality are what truly sustain success.

Clearly it's also an anti-AI message.

what is this shit? is this cartoon aimed straight at the nerds, not the actual children? (alwayshasbeen.jpg)