• Soyweiser@awful.systemsEnglish
      12·
      11 months ago

      I’ve played this game nonstop since grade school. I’m currently a 32-year-old man living in a liberal coastal city, and when, out of sheer reflex, I gently tap a friend on the arm and say “blue punch bug, no punch back,” the response I often get back is moral outrage.

      … [cut out the part where people explain to him why they think this is fucked up] …

      And sure, one response might be to dismiss that as a symptom of over-the-top coastal liberalism and just chalk it up to social justice culture, or whatever.

      But the thing is, those three-or-four-out-of-ten people are smart. More than that, they’re good.

      Ah yes, this feels like ‘my kids went no contact with me suddenly and they refuse to tell me why!’ (for people not in the know, they kids have told their parents why over and over again, and they refuse to accept the reasons, there are entire forums filled with people like this).

      From his own description:

      Duncan Sabien is a writer, teacher, and maker of things. He loves parkour, LEGOs, and MTG, and is easily manipulated by people quoting Ender’s Game.

      Ender’s Game… ow god. (I could go into a rant why that is a pretty dangerous book for badly socialized nerds but I will not, there prob are articles out there which explain the way this book manipulates the reader into thinking sociopathy is fine and vastly overreacting is fine and shouldn’t be blamed on the sociopath). (It does fit, him being a fan of Enders game and not getting why non-consensually involving people around you in a punching game as an adult is fucked up).

      And another edit: Ow my god. “What’s it like to have sex with Duncan?”

      • David Gerard@awful.systemsOPMEnglish
        8·
        11 months ago

        And another edit: Ow my god. “What’s it like to have sex with Duncan?”

        now that’s what i call a memetic hazard

      • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
        6·
        11 months ago

        Ender’s Game… ow god. (I could go into a rant why that is a pretty dangerous book for badly socialized nerds but I will not, there prob are articles out there which explain the way this book manipulates the reader into thinking sociopathy is fine and vastly overreacting is fine and shouldn’t be blamed on the sociopath).

        There is:

        https://web.archive.org/web/20180820084522/http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm

        • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
          5·
          11 months ago

          Thanks for the link.

          I read a ton of SF but Card always passed me by. I tried to read a followup/sequel/fixup called Ender’s Shadow years ago and couldn’t get through it.

          BTW another big series I could never get through was “Thomas Covenanter” or something, although it was fantasy.

          • -dsr-@awful.systemsEnglish
            5·
            11 months ago

            The main character commits rape because this isn’t a real universe anyway. You made the right choice.

            • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
              3·
              11 months ago

              I think I remember reading about that. Ick.

              I also remember reading on the back of the book that the protag would 3 times be offered to stay in the Land and be cured, or something, and 3 times reject the offer. Way to spoil!

              This is a pretty good takedown of the series (and other shitty plot devices in SF/F): https://news.ansible.uk/plotdev.html

        • Soyweiser@awful.systemsEnglish
          3·
          11 months ago

          Thanks! I have read that article ages ago, and iirc it explains the problematic nature of the book quite well. And it also links to the ‘wow, Ender really looks a lot like Hitler’ article. Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman., both good reads if people want to know just how much of a red flag Enders Game is.

          (And for people who don’t know, if you hold control and use the scrollwheel the text gets bigger, some of these font sizes are for people with better eyes or a smaller screen than mine)