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Ultimately capitalism as a metric of value is the only metric that matters in terms of winning and losing in this specific context, and in that context they're currently ascendant. This is not a holistic view of the entire space by dollars and cents standards as well, but a snapshot of a moment.

I do have to assume that they made these products to "strike back" at the popular queer, Bipoc, and progressive narrative that these things are bad actually. Even in the form of attempted reclamation and repatriation of these ideas as core to ttrpg as hobby.

*beginning of the 80's, not 70s..*facedesk*

6️⃣Ultimately? that's the fight we're in the middle of. The cultural forces that be are pushing back against diversity, equity and inclusion just like in the late 70s. Until it's beaten down to a state of easily digested and resellable garbage. and from my vantage in the ttrpg space? they're winning.🔚

5️⃣and since this is effectively and self selectedly "my beat" This is where I see it hitting the hardest. but make no mistake. People calling it the "extinction burst" might be right, but conservativism got stronger after the death of disco, reagan strode like a colossus over the popular culture.

4️⃣This cultural push is bigger than the TTRPG space, obviously, but makes itself known in exactly which projects are getting funded. which people are being brought back into prominence, and which people are being pushed out of the space by floundering budgets, and ignorant gatekeepers.

3️⃣The boulder of acceptance and progress has been pushed back down the hill by the same bastards, in every generation. This time with little speckles of rainbow in the cis-hearts and spirits of those doing the pushing because "Fuck you, We got ours" forgetting that HIV/AIDS nearly destroyed them.

2️⃣Shit like Deathbringer and this new DnD thing are markers of the cultural shift toward "making the assholes feel good about themselves again" in the same way that "disco sux!" as trend did. A violent and insidious pushback against all the gains that we'd make in the ttrpg space, and culture period.

This is capitalism devouring our hobby one game at a time, mostly.

Imagine working with Mike fuckin mearls in 2026. What the rich actors internet doesn't fucking work? Imagine working this hard to just make deathbringer. Ya'll.

someone I'm genuinely ride or die for should never want to stab me in the first place. a person I'm ride or die for should never ask me to light myself on fire to keep them warm. We work *together* to figure out solutions. we communicate and compromise. anything else is one sided and bullshit.

Shit, real talk if I had the cash? there are a couple of dope ideas for actual plays I'd offer you. but I ain't gonna be locking down folks without paying for their time.

I'd*

If disagree, but i also understand that unless it comes from the people you want it to come from? It will maybe not have the intended effect. For me? Ive often felt the same way. I know that darkness very well. Im sorry youre also dealing with it and hope you find some light soon.

This Screenshot.

7️⃣Fuck does this feel like having to watch over my shoulder constantly, and that is *deeply* frustrating. but we learn. we grow. we adapt. hopefully, if this occurs again, I can put a stop to it in it's tracks and disengage peacefully. We'll see how it goes I guess. 🔚

6️⃣I try to be communicative about what I want, what I need, what would make me happy, my goals, all of that. I dunno how to talk more about those things without falling into narcissism. So it's a process. It's boundaries. It's noticing patterns and taking active steps to deescalate them.

5️⃣This is complicated by the fact that I have weirdly fucked up self esteem, and I can't lie and say I *don't* enjoy the attention. I clearly *do* but I'm also finding it's bad for my mental health overall to have someone be all about me rrriiiight up until they point that they aren't.

4️⃣I'm not blaming anyone for their mental illness (nor am I saying that the only people who want to get with me are themselves mentally ill.) but it *is* a reoccuring pattern that I'd like to break, and that takes decision making and filtering people out in non-ableist ways (if I can)

3️⃣To some, the take away would be "well then, after a certain amount of time, I should just regularly flip out. that'll keep folks interested" but obviously that's a shitty take. For me, I think I need to become more wary of the folks I date, and how "into me" they seem right off the bat.