The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the forests are all on fire. Welcome to summer in 2023! Not only is it the season of sun, sand, and swimming, but it’s also the season of BattleTech! We’ve got a DropShip load of art, stories, videos, and news from across the Battletech universe, but we’re going to kick things off with a world first for the franchise.
Queer And Allied Writers Bring Us BattleTech Pride 2023 Anthology
Courtesy of Detocroix
June is the month of Pride, and to celebrate BattleTech being for everyone, several LGBTQ+ BattleTech writers got together to produce an anthology of short stories revealing that queerness does indeed exist in the 31st and 32nd centuries. Robin “Valk” Briseno, Albert “Blundering Albatross” Ross, Allen “Highmont” Nickloy, Detocroix, and Russel Zimmerman all contributed their works, with a forward provided by authors Bryan Young and Michael A. Stackpole. That incredible Bullshark cover art was provided by the talented Samantha Richardson, and there’s even more interior art courtesy of VersusJordan.
I won’t get into any spoilers, but I will say that all five of the short stories you’ll find within are entertaining in their own unique ways--just like Pride should be. Not all of them are about MechWarriors. Some don’t even portray MechWarriors in a particularly flattering light. Even still, I ate this anthology in an afternoon and enjoyed every page.
Up until Fox Tales and The Nellus Academy Incident, I’d never read about an even tangentially queer story set in the BattleTech universe. That’s not to say that BattleTech didn’t still speak to me, but the predominantly hetero-centric motivations for its characters certainly didn’t. Something like this though, makes me think that BattleTech is for everyone.
Best of all, the BattleTech Pride Anthology is 100 percent free. Head on over to Itch.io to download the anthology in your preferred file format.
Pride Anthology Causes Major Shakeup In BattleTech Reddit (And Opinion)
Courtesy of Snake of Limited Wisdom on Reddit
Now that we’ve gotten the Pride Anthology out of the way, let’s talk about the unfortunate fallout that the Pride Anthology caused on the BattleTech subreddit. This is both a longer story and a bit personal, so consider this in lieu of the usual opinion piece.
It’s no secret that I’m a frequent visitor of the BattleTech subreddit. I’m honored to have had Redditors repost the Bad ‘Mechs series there, and I’ve always loved looking at the various miniatures and personal projects shared by BattleTech fans. And while the rest of my Reddit feed always broke out into rainbow colors every June, the BattleTech sub remained chromatically muted.
For years, I thought nothing of it. I just assumed that there wasn’t a whole lot of overlap between the queer community and BattleTech. It’s only in the past year thanks to sites like Discord and Twitter that I’ve discovered there’s actually quite a vibrant and active queer community that loves its big stompy robots as much as I do. But even that wasn’t enough to get me to suspect something was up with the BattleTech subreddit.
Courtesy of Metalzarak on Reddit
It wasn’t until the Pride Anthology came along that I found out what was actually going on. It turns out the BattleTech subreddit moderators had been trashing any posts having to do with Pride or LBGTQ+ themes. Any rainbow-colored minis, any Trans flags flown on a Timber Wolf‘s arm, or any discussion at all about homosexuality in the BattleTech universe was effectively banned on the BattleTech subreddit.
We’d never would have found out if it wasn’t for the big splash made by the Pride Anthology. Only after several Anthology posts got removed did folks notice that it wasn’t just the Anthology that was having trouble sticking to the BattleTech subreddit. Eventually, the moderators came clean and provided a curiously tone-deaf explanation as to why the BattleTech Pride Anthology wasn’t worthy of the BattleTech subreddit.
According to Mr_Severan, one of the now-former BattleTech subreddit moderators, any queer content (including the Pride Anthology) broke Rule 1, which forbade any discussion of “real world politics.” Apparently, the existence of LGBTQ+ people was considered too political, and the moderators were instructed to remove any posts that even smelled slightly gay. I’m not even going to get into the bizarre 1988 excuse, as though queers didn’t exist before or after that year.
The post is now deleted, but I’ve read it, and it’s all garbage; that’s probably why it was deleted. And to his credit, Mr_Severan has since admitted such and apologized. But it served to further galvanize the queer BattleTech community, who brought the controversy to the attention of Catalyst Game Labs. Anthology author Rusty Zimmerman, alongside CGL community and marketing director Rem Alternis, went to the heroic effort of setting up an entirely new subreddit called r/OfficialBattleTech over the course of a single night in order to both distance the brand from the toxic moderation policies of r/BattleTech and to provide a CGL-approved presence on Reddit.
Courtesy of enbykaiju on Reddit
And for a while, r/OfficialBattleTech was the queerest subreddit I’d ever seen. Every post was a rainbow-colored ‘Mech or a King Crab in trans colors that said “This machine stomps fascists.” It was beautiful. I’d never felt more like a part of a community than during that single weekend when r/OfficialBattleTech was operational.
The subreddit didn’t last very long, and that’s because the owner of r/BattleTech, ddevil63, returned from a 15-year exile to boot the entire moderator team that had been screening queer content.
“I originally created r/battletech 15 years ago because I wanted a place to talk about Battletech on Reddit,” wrote ddevil63. “I have not been active as a moderator or contributor but I regularly read posts and comments. Yesterday was when I became aware of the removal of the Pride Anthology post and the rightfully deserved backlash. I have no moderation or community management experience but I’m trying my best to right any wrongs.”
In an AMA over on r/OfficialBattleTech, Catalyst reps including BattleTech line developer Ray Arrastia revealed they were in contact with ddevil63 to discuss the future of the two subreddits. It was eventually decided that the two subreddits would merge, with r/BattleTech becoming the official subreddit of BattleTech on the site. Additionally, a new set of community guidelines were established, among them being the number one rule from r/OfficialBattleTech: “BattleTech is for everyone.”
The thing that stuck with me through the whole ordeal is how it made me realize silencing all discussion of anything LGBTQ+ related really made me think that there wasn’t a single queer BattleTech fan out there in the whole universe. For years, I thought it was just me. It drove home how effective silencing discussion of LGBTQ+ concepts can be at isolating people; at making them feel sad and alone even when it’s about something that should be fun and inclusive.
I’m glad this story had a happy ending. Color has returned to the r/BattleTech subreddit, and while it doesn’t have quite the same number of pride flags being flown by Atlases, Centurions, and Elementals, I still see them often enough to be reminded that BattleTech really is for everyone.
However, there are lots of places that aren’t having a happy ending this Pride. Laws are being signed throughout the US that prohibit the display or discussion of LGBTQ+ concepts, which will have an equally isolating and harmful effect on queer people--especially children. It’ll also be a lot more destructive than just a bunch of mods removing Pride posts on a subreddit. That’s why it’s important for us to talk about these things here, now, so that nobody is made to feel alone.
And to anyone who wants to argue that the existence of LGBTQ+ people is “too political” for a BattleTech news blast, I can comfortably say you’re wrong. It’s never too political to stand up for what’s right.
Happy Pride everyone.
Courtesy of SneakyZaku on Reddit
Mod Brings Back Ejection Seats To MechWarrior 5
Something incredible has happened! MagnumGB has made an ejection sequence and reactor explosion mod for @MW5Mercs. Here's a short demonstration coupled with the MW2 Betty mod I made #mechwarrior #battletech #imejectingejectingejecting pic.twitter.com/XnaCJR8DgQ
— Art of Battletech & Mechwarrior (@ArtofBattletech) May 31, 2023
Ever since the very beginning of MechWarrior, a downed ‘Mech didn’t necessarily mean a dead pilot. More often than not, pilots would eject from their doomed machines to fight another day. Get knocked down in MechWarrior 2 or MechCommander, and you’d be treated to an ejection seat rocketing away. Usually.
MechWarrior 5, however, assumed that you turned your ejection system off for some reason. Your ‘Mech being downed meant you died and the mission would have to be restarted.
This mod doesn’t stop you from having to restart the mission, but MagnumGB has given MechWarrior its ejection seat back. As you can see in the video above, getting your ‘Mech shot out from under will result in a rocket literally being fired under your ass. Rhiana will then call for recovery teams which will hopefully find you before an errant autocannon round punctures your parachute.
You can find this mod over on MechWarrior 5‘s Steam Community Workshop page as well as Nexus Mods (eventually).
The Chimera Leaps From MechWarrior 4 To 5 Thanks To Mod
The Chimera, my latest classic mech mod is now out for Mechwarrior 5. This marks the 11th classic mech mod that I’ve made, so if you want to support me doing more, I’ve launched a Patreon to help motivate me to continue the modding work https://patreon.com/CelestialMechWorks
by u/BoukObelisk in Mechwarrior5
I can’t say the Chimera was my favorite medium ‘Mech to come out of MechWarrior 4, but it was fast, came with a big MRM-20 that was a lot of fun, and was a reasonable choice to give to your lancemates early in the game. And now you can do the same thing in MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries thanks to this mod from Pawel Czarnecki and SankaraSamsara.
As with last month’s Argus mod, Pawel Czarnecki made the model while SankaraSamsara did everything else. And as with the Argus mod (as well as SankaraSamsara’s other mods, including the Hellbringer, Summoner, Mad Dog, Timber Wolf, Hellcat, Stone Rhino, and more), your best bet to find this ‘Mech without touring the entire Inner sphere is to download and make use of the ‘Mech Delivery mod, something I sincerely hope gets incorporated into the base game eventually.
Download the Chimera Mod on either Nexus Mods or MechWarrior 5’s Steam Workshop page.
A Sunset For A Wolf
A Sunset for a Wolf – by Wild-Cat 144
Before the r/OfficialBattleTech subreddit was taken offline, there was a flood of posts as CGL tried to get the word out to the community. Now that it’s gone, some of these posts will sadly be lost. Luckily, I’ve snagged a few choice pieces before they went back to being merged.
This one from Wild-Cat 144 is great because it shows a Clan Wolf MechWarrior wearing a bikini and perhaps the worst Mad Cat variant of them all, the Timber Wolf Alt. Config B. If I recall correctly, some MechWarriors got into their ‘Mechs wearing nothing but a cooling vest. Food for thought.
Lincoln Osis Says Screw Your Holotable!
Lincoln Osis from Sharlin648
Poor Lincoln Osis. It would be many years since his Clan Smoke Jaguar days before he’d see another victory, but we can always remember his goatee, cape, and dreamy mohawk hairdo. Too bad about the table.
This post came courtesy of Sharlink648’s artist friend. Thanks to you both!
A Lance At War
Lance by William Liu
We also have this incredible piece from artist William Liu. This is clearly a lance making a fighting retreat as that Leopard DropShip comes in to whisk them all away from whatever it is they’re blasting. Also, that Locust can jump, which is notable as I can recall not a single Locust variant that has jump jets.
Catapult Says Trans Rights
https://twitter.com/ArtofBattletech/status/1666140608748978188
The Art Of BattleTech (aka SankaraSamsara) also gave us a mod for MechWarrior 4‘s Catapult model, but I’m less excited for that as MechWarrior 5 already has the Catapult. This one is painted in Trans colors though, so it gets a nod. Pride and all.
What If The Steiner Scout Squad Came In A Sticker Pack?
Finished the #SD AS7-D Atlas from #battletech! Smol scouts deserve to exist, so that's exactly what I did. #art #chibi #mecha #mechwarrior pic.twitter.com/5znFlefS6i
— EEE_V (Am a hobby page at the moment) (@Erikaceous_VT) June 7, 2023
It would probably look a lot like this. Koodos to @Erikaceous_VT on Twitter for this incredible image that seems like it’d make a great avatar for various messaging apps. Maybe even turn it into a gif for a Steiner Scout Squad emoji pack. A guy can dream.
A Slightly More Anime Phoenix Hawk
Serah and Phoenix Hawk – by geergutz
There’s a little bit of irony here as the Phoenix Hawk design originally came from anime, but I had to make sure geergutz’s latest commission made it into the news blast somehow. Don’t think the machine guns were mounted in the torsos, though I do love the way ammunition is being fed in from the gantry.
Gamma Regiment Takes No Guff
Artwork commission by @AdventuringZone of the character Wilhelmina Korsht of Wolf's Dragoons Gamma Regiment by Tan Ho Sim. Huge thanks to @AdventuringZone for sharing it with the #Battletech & #Mechwarrior community! pic.twitter.com/3WKb8jxzOn
— Art of Battletech & Mechwarrior (@ArtofBattletech) June 12, 2023
Can we have more art? Of course we can. This one comes by way of Art of BattleTech but it was commissioned by @AdventuringZone. It features Wilhelmina Korsht of Wolf’s Dragoons Gamma Regiment as drawn by Tan Ho Sim. A stunning level of detail is to be found here, from the lens flare to the painstaking recreation of the new Marauder II sculpt.
A Lego Marauder That Won’t Break Your Coffee Table
I heard you guy appreciated lego mechs. I present to you my latest build. The Marauder II MAD-5A. Hope you all like it.
by u/MoonBoots2077 in OutreachHPG
We all love a good Lego ‘Mech, and MoonBoots2077 has delivered unto us a Marauder MAD-5A that won’t break the metaphorical bank. Hansen’s Bricks are great, but some of those models are absolutely enormous and will shatter your coffee table if not your wallet. This one seems like it’ll fit neatly on a hanging shelf and won’t require a kidney to buy online.
Someone Turned Bad ‘Mech Articles Into An Audiotale
Apologies to Shrapnel of Battletopia, who has apparently been narrating BattleTech short stories for a while now, but I only just recently found out about his work after it was pointed out to me that he’d taken two Bad ‘Mechs articles and turned them into brief audioplays. That means they have sound effects, music, and production values that go way beyond your average audiobook.
My first time hearing the Hellbringer piece was absolutely surreal. I never really write the little vignettes at the beginning with any thought towards anything other than text, and actually hearing it work out with a bit of editing and voice acting was very cool. I think the Whitworth piece is even better just because there’s a lot more action involved, but they’re both quite excellent. Here’s hoping the Scorpion is next!
Oh, also, the Mauler is still bad.
Robber Baron LAM Gives Me Strong Crimson Skies Vibes
I believe i'm finally finished with the homebrew Robber Baron LAM i've been working on for some time now.
Quite happy with how it turned out in the end.#Battletech #3dart pic.twitter.com/X2XusxEAQr— Juodas Varnas (@st0rmeris) June 15, 2023
At first, this was one of those “thanks I hate it” posts, but then I kind of thought about it for a second and decided that I actually love it. If you were to turn an Assassin into a LAM, this is exactly what it’d look like. Plus it sort of seems like it’d be right at home in the Crimson Skies universe, another beloved FASA game that unfortunately never became quite as popular as BattleTech.
I don’t think I want to add transforming robots to Crimson Skies, but I do love the idea of a LAM somehow being able to stay aloft through a three-bladed propeller. Definitely would stick to the Crimson Skies conceit of having slower-moving planes because this was all prior to World War 2’s race for bigger and better engines.
Von Solaris 7 Mod For MechWarrior 5 Is In Development
You want more mods? We got more mods! VonSeiten, famously of the vonBiomes mod for MechWarrior 5, has embarked on an even more ambitious project: the “vonMissions” Modpack, which will include Solaris 7.
Ever since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, it’s been a tradition for MechWarriors to briefly cease whatever the hell they’re doing midway through the game in order to become the Solaris Champion. That tradition tragically didn’t continue in MechWarrior 5, but because MechWarrior 5 makes it so easy to mod, the tradition is kept alive thanks to vonSeiten.
Things are still in early development, but we got a sneak peek at Solaris 7 thanks to vonSeiten’s preview video above. Solaris will have leagues broken down by weight class, meaning you won’t be able to take a Centurion into the light ‘Mech league. Combat is sort of a grand melee similar to how it worked in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. You can see vonSeiten struggles with taking on multiple opponents in the bring and colorful arena (love the holographic advertisements). Getting blown up means you’re out of the tournament.
If you’d like to support vonSeiten’s work, consider subscribing to his Patreon where you’ll get early access to mods in development. Expect the vonMissions Modpack to arrive on Nexus Mods and Steam alongside the rest of vonSeiten’s mods.
Wolves Arrives In MechWarrior 5
You can now use the Wave 1 mechs in MechWarrior 5 thanks to TheMonkeyMann!https://t.co/XYOarMAyv3 pic.twitter.com/5zCwCd4Ra8
— Wolves (@Wolves_Game) June 2, 2023
Another MechWarrior 5 mod we need to talk about comes courtesy of TheMoneyMann and the Wolves development team. You might recall Wolves as the MechAssault fan game that you can download and play right now for free because the people making Wolves are awesome. And now you can play the same Mechssault ‘Mechs in MechWarrior 5.
The MechAssault Wolves ‘Mechs mod works best in conjunction with the popular Yet Anther Mech Lab mod, but you can get it to work without YAML so long as you remove the invalid slots in the ‘Mechlab. The mod provides you with the Cougar, Arctic Wolf, Thor, and Atlas, with TheMonkeyMann promising to release another wave of Wolves ‘Mechs every month.
Head on over to Nexus Mods or the MechWarrior 5 Steam Workshop page to download the mod.
Catlases Are Multiplying
So I modified a model to print my own CAtlas. BEHOLD!
by u/Menarra in battletech
I’m not sure why the Catlas has captured my fascination so much, but I’m running with this meme until it reaches some sort of logical conclusion. This model, custom-printed by Menarra on Reddit, isn’t quite that conclusion, but it’s another lumbering step on the Catlas’s journey. Perhaps we’ll see a new Catlas every month.
Sharapnel #13, Hansen’s Roughriders T-Shirt, And Misprinted Rifleman Headline Catalyst’s June Offerings
Push Your Luck!
Issue #13 of BattleTech: Shrapnel, the Official BattleTech Magazine is now available at the Catalyst Online Store! Check out the stories from new and veteran authors alike!https://t.co/VLMRg1nQph#battletech #fiction #NewRelease
— CatalystGameLab (@catalystgamelab) June 17, 2023
A bit of a slower month for Catalyst, likely owing to work on the Mercenaries Kickstarter. We’ve got Shrapnel issue 13 to enjoy, featuring stories from authors like Bryan Young, Russel Zimmerman, David G. Martin, and many more. The other new product is a Hansen’s Roughriders t-shirt that will show your allegiance to one of the Inner Sphere’s largest but slightly lesser-known mercenary regiments.
Catalyst had one other announcement earlier this month. After being revealed at AdeptiCon, fans found out that some of the new premium Rifleman minis had been misprinted with incorrect proportions. Catalyst is asking anyone with a misprinted Rifelman to contact them at store@catalystgamelabs to arrange for a refund or replacement.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, but hope you enjoy your complimentary limited-edition Rifle-boy,” the company wrote, perhaps suggesting the direction of those incorrect proportions.
MechWarrior Online Kicks Off Beach Party Event That Lasts All Summer Long
Courtesy of PGI
Or at least almost all summer long. From now until August 22, players can enjoy MechWarrior Online: Legends‘ Big Beach Party 2023. This is a loot bag event, so if you’ve played in any other similar events, you’ll already know just how much free stuff you can get just for playing the game. On top of getting up to 400 loot bags which can contain anything from c-bills to cockpit decorations, players can earn up to four Hero ‘Mechs of their choice from each of the ‘Mech categories: light, medium, heavy, and assault. These Hero picks unlock after 250, 300, 350, and 400 loot bag redeems, with players able to get bonus redemptions by purchasing either a Platinum, Legendary, or Stone Rhino ‘Mech pack.
June also brings a brand-new patch to MechWarrior Online. First, we have two new Legendary ‘Mechs: the Quickdraw “Desperada” and the Timber Wolf “Howl.” Both have unique quirks and paint jobs, the 30-percent c-bill boost, and an associated mini battle pass that’ll unlock GSP, MC, premium time, and more. Desperada is also wearing Trans colors--an excellent nod to Pride month--as well as the phrase “uwu” on the left leg. There are also gay and Trans Pride decals available for purchase with c-bills.
In the balance department, the Cicada and Cyclops are this month’s big winners with adjustments made to the CDA-3M, 2A, 2B, and the Hero X5, as well the CP-11-A, DC, Z, and Slepnir. These are all buffs, so odds are your preferred Cicada or Cyclops is just going to be a whole lot better after June’s patch. The Fafnir also received some extra left and right-torso armor, too.
The patch is available now on all platforms. You can check out the patch notes here.
Big MechWarrior Announcements Coming Next Month
Just finished a nice dinner and a few beers with MW designer Chris Lowry. Great conversation. Who out there is starving for some MW news? You won’t have to wait too much longer, lots of news coming over the next couple/few months.
— Russ Bullock (@russ_bullock) June 24, 2023
Some short but also very important MechWarrior news. PGI President Russ Bullock has confirmed that there’s “lots of news coming over the next couple/few months,” and then later told No Guts No Galaxy on Twitter to expect an “announcement in July and a bigger one in September-ish.”
There are some game festivals in the UK coming in July as well as San Diego Comic-Con, so we might see an announcement at one of those. September brings PAX West and Tokyo Game Show. PAX is right around the corner from PGI’s hometown in Vancouver, so I could see a bigger announcement coming then (MechWarrior 6 perhaps?), and maybe some news on MechWarrior 5‘s Japanese localization at TGS.
Happy Pryde!
subreddit instructions unclear, painted Pryde ‘Mechs
by u/ValkyrieRaptor in battletech
Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t see this joke earlier. I’m not a huge Jade Falcon fan, but I do love me some second-line Clan ‘Mechs. They’re almost as bad as Inner Sphere ‘Mechs.
And that’s all for June! Remember, the month after Pride is wrath, so be sure to keep your heads down and avoid the rampaging queens.
And as always, MechWarriors: Stay Syrupy.
Thanks for the coverage, Sean. I’m glad that r/OBT did for you exactly what it was supposed to do — make marginalized people feel at home, feel seen, and feel welcome in the community.
just a whee bit of a busy month, yeah?
That’s one amazing round up, Sean! Great job! <3
Thank you for everything you do, Sean! I have loved reading these every month and it becomes a bit surreal when you see your name in the article!
I don’t go to Reddit, only wondered into a few for really random needs at the time. (How to identify the parts number on something I’ve never seen before or the like) this is one of the few places I get Battletech related news. In the past thee have been comments making me feel unwelcome to the larger community here, not from you or any staff or contributors that I know of, but from a group of people who would comment. I’m glad this shake up happened. Many people need to see something like this happen to have it driven home. Thankfully in this case it was a gaming community, which is not as high stakes as other areas and also has many extremely hostile gatekeepers.
In other news, I love the catlas, just a couple of bolt on ears and you’ve annoyed the company techs and made the enemy uncomfortable. Now, to truely annoy people with it, I shall now begin the (unfortunately most likely weeks long or more as I still stink at drawing human faces) process of drawing a Canopian cat-girl MechWarrior either astride one or in one.
As a change of pace, I think there is more evidence for Belter catgirls. Or catboys, for that matter.
They don’t really do BattleMechs, though, for obvious reasons.
Probably worth noting that the Pride Anthology does have an article on Sarna. I was surprised that you didn’t link that somewhere in the article:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pride_Anthology_2023
Dang. A bit more drama than usual. Crikey o_O
Oh wow, I didn’t know that I was part of some monolithic *checks notes* global…dominance…organization? Tl;dr? Stop whining.
Weirdo responses aside, yeah that whole banning the anthology thing was completely unnecessarily messy. Turns out, being a twerp makes people mad. The more you know!
Sincerely,
The Kneecapper Elemental
It wasn’t really JUST the Anthology getting shut out. It was the consecutive bad responses as to “why”. First, it wasn’t an official publication. (Despite endorsement by two authors. And the sudden slap down for fan works did send a grumble through a few people…)
When it was shared by Catalyst, it was then eliminated for the politics reason, with a specifically cited reason which raised a lot of eyebrows and a lot of posters abruptly pointed out “you can’t say it’s real world politics, these are all in-universe”.
As pretty much everyone was getting in on it, because Redditors really hate both being told “no” and scenting moderators making decisions based on transparently personal beef… it got shut down for “being brigaded”. (Most of the people involved, however had been posting there for a time before that and came back because they’d had enough with the moderation style.)
A combination of all these things set people who really weren’t involved in the Pride scene into grabbing a chair and going to town, as well as others who went “excuse me, what?”. I know I was asking if this meant “fan productions were (still) banned entirely” since I’d already gotten a light -and-unofficial warning when I joined for self-promoting. (Linked to a After-Action write-up so I could get feedback, was told “please remove this, no self-promotion allowed”.)
What you had wasn’t so much “rabid Pride folks”. You had a lot of people noticing the transparent problems with the moderation reasons meant a double-standard was solidly in play, and they were NOT happy about it.
But if you’re worried about the whole “woke mob” thing, remember what the esteemed Mike Stackpole said: “BattleTech was always been woke.”
I’m not worried about the woke mob. You’re just mindless NPCs who will change your opinion as soon as the latest upgrade gets downloaded. You don’t even really exist.
Just pointing it out. I know exactly where all of this sources from, what the mindset is, what the end goals are. Once you see it you cannot, ever un-see it.
Once you start down this road there’s no where else to go but full-term stupidity. You were given rhetoric by the modern sophists, but you don’t have the grammar or the logic to build your own – there is no course correction possible. You cannot reason yourself out of an opinion that wasn’t your own, and had nothing to do with reason in the first place.
Question: Why is language such as “worried” or “kneecapper” or “being a twerp makes people mad” suddenly appearing in your posts and not mine…? I thought I was the “hate” er!
Why are you so triggered about this? A few colors of rainbow, women, people of color, this all has to completely rip your hair out and go whining about everything? Grow a spine dude.
“Woke/pride is an all-consuming constantly-shifting never-stopping aggressor.”
Damn, stop threatening me with a good time!
“It is always looking for new skinsuits to wear as it represents attitudes which cannot simply appreciate the good, the true, the beautiful.”
I don’t know about the “skinsuit” nonsense, but standing still and “appreciating” one’s own perceived virtue *is* a path to toxicity. People have to keep growing and learning and trying to do better.
I’ll stick with my 3025-focused rulesets, but in real life? Give me evolution and improvement every damn time.
I truly hope you get the help you need!
Dude, just say that you hate queer people.
We would have understood your entire post and you would have used less words. Seriously, you are abusing the English language here.
I’m just rubbing my eyes reading this. The level of just…whiny, ‘oh you’re calling me names/threatening me’ snowflake (isn’t that the term you use?) energy in your reply was wild.
If you’d read the anthology, you would know – hi! My name is used in the anthology as an elemental who attacked a Raven’s legs. I play the dezgra spheroid game of LRMs and SRMs.
The concern trolling from you here is so eye-rollingly performative…
Ok, you’re now comparing support of human rights to 1984. Have you even read 1984?
Thanks for the shout-out, Sean! Minor note – I did the “Pryde” second-line ‘Mechs as well. Kinda wanted to knock out a subtle pride ‘Mech for this month to accompany my story, but those eight minis had been sitting on my workbench for far too long.
You’re now comparing support for human rights to 1984. Am I allowed to say you violated Godwin’s Law yet?
Oops, doublepost.
News Flash: Craig can have his opinion, just like all of you. He has brought out some very good points that none of you refute; you just resort to name-calling. From the side that supposedly is the most tolerant among us, you are not acting very tolerant. Should Reddit have suppressed lgbt content? No. Is some of the lgbt movement agenda items political? Absolutely. Instead of branding him a hater, just refute his points logic and some facts. And if he does have points you can’t argue, then read your anthology and paint your rainbow miniatures and ignore what he said. I am not a fan of pride month but am very much live and let live. Just don’t cram your value set down on me. BattleTech can be shared by all but all need to respect one another. I have been into BattleTech since the late 80s. If BattleTech starts moving the way of Paizo and Wizards of the Coast with catering and pandering to one side at the expense of the other, I am out. If those like me do the the same, BattleTech is not going to be any good for anyone. Just look at what happened with bud light.
Bye.
One should at the very least tolerate any inborn difference because it only makes sense to judge a person for that person’s decisions.
One should at the very least tolerate anything that doesn’t affect anyone else except with their consent because each person is entitled to autonomy.
One must judge bigots harshly because they violate these rules.
I am really sorry you weren’t taught better as a child, but the great news is that you can learn better and do better whenever you want.
So, if we all have to respect each other, so you have to respect my animosity towards queer, LGBTFBIUNWTOALLOTHERALPHABET and so on people, right? Every opinion has to be protected. If I do not want queer in my BT local community, it has to be decided by majority. Thankfully, my local community is without any mentai disorders and there is why we have no queer people.
So, do not like community as it is now? Go make your own TechBattle LGBT+ and live there.
You people have such a childish interpretation of tolerance.
I do not have to tolerate your “animosity” as much as CGL doesn’t have do. Being aggressively hateful doesn’t make you valid.
If you don’t want “mental disorders” in your Battletech, go ahead and become a contracted author and write up a story that gets published.
I’ll wait.
Being queer is not a mental illness. And just out of curiosity, can you give me a non-religious reason why it’s bad?
NOTE: This was a post by Reb and has been edited by Nic to leave only a few words so you get an idea of what they were saying. These types of comments are not accepted in any part of Sarna’s community and will get you removed.
—
Gender dysphoria **** ******* **. *** **** ** **** deviant ********* ******.
*** ***** *** * non-religious ****** *** **’* “***.” ** *******. ** ****, ********* ** ****** **** **** * perversity—** ******** **********, ** *** ******. ** *****, **’* * genetic ***-**-***. ****/**** ****** *** ******/****** ****** ** *** ******* *********. ****, **** ***’* *********.
****’* *** *** *** *** **** ** *** *********** ** ***** ** ********. *** *******. *. ****’** *******. *. ****’** recruiting.
** ***** ***, **** ****** ***’* *********. *******: ** ********* *** ** ** “**********,” **** ** **********, ** ** *** ******.
—
Hey Reb.
What is “woke”?
Alright, breaking this up. Calling queerness a “perversity” falls well beyond the “no attacks” rule. That’s a 5 minute penalty.
There’s no evidence of “hunting” or “recruiting” people of any age to be trans, gay, or anything else. Queerness is currently understood to be largely genetic. It’s also well documented in nature too. There are many hypotheses as to why, more science needs to be done, yaddi-yadda. It’s the long weekend. Go have a hot dog.
I knew this was going to be a spicy one, but everyone keep it civil or I’m turning this DropShip around.
… I made an effort, I really did. I was absolutely not happy with this stuff, but I was only going to post in because I was literally there as the subreddit melted down.
Ah well, back to gluing some ‘Mechs together. (Though I don’t get a long weekend :( Job doesn’t do it.)
Sean,
I don’t know if your going to see this, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents and say thank you.
If anyone in charge feels that this is a bit too hot of a take, feel free to blank it out or delete it. I won’t mind.
The concept of queerness is something that makes me uncomfortable. It seems unnatural to me, and I doubt I’ll ever understand it. But it’s not what I focus on. I focus on the fact that they have lives too, and that their experience is unique from mine in all facets. So if they just happen to enjoy big stompy robots, that’s fine by me. I’m always happy to meet another fan, regardless of where they are from or who they are.
Thanks for documenting the efforts of people to try and create an environment where labels and biases can be left at the door so we can focus on what we agree on: Big mechs are cool. I may not be comfortable with the concept of queerness, but I do not tolerate actions like the old moderators used. If someone’s a good respectful person, I want to give them the chance to prove it. So thank you to DDevil and everyone else who are working to fix this faux pas.
Joseph,
Good on ya. It’s not easy on the internet, and it’s not COMMON on the internet, for someone to say “I don’t get this,” or “I don’t like this,” or “this isn’t for me,” but then to follow it up with “but if you like it, that’s fine, it doesn’t hurt me.”
Thanks for that second half. It’s an important second half.
Does playing BattleTech help you have children? Is it an aberrant indulgence? If so, why is that bad? How does it propagate?
Does posting comments online help you have children? Is it an aberrant indulgence? If so, why is that bad? How does it propagate?
So, make sure when you post this to 4chan or one of your Q boards, make sure to link us.
I would be very sad if you didn’t. And you don’t want to make the little Lib cry, would you?
Grow up.
Wow. It is almost like he references his queerness several times in the article.
Be happy for once, you knob.
Hey Reb.
Define “woke”.
I am glad that finally we are seeing some actual progress in certain corners of the internet, pushing against the intolerance and hatred brought by a bunch of small minded gatekeepers. They may be small in number and with a narrow mind, but sure are persistent and fanatical, so I know this is not an easy task.
Hopefully these backwards ideas will fade out with time, but for now you just gotta keep fighting.
So stay strong!
Hey Reb.
Have you defined “woke” yet?
Imagine not knowing the words in your own writing and misfiring something about push-ups instead of replying coherently.
Hi everyone! Nic from Sarna here.
A few notes:
1. The internet is a vast and great place, and if a Sarna monthly news summary where just 2 of 21 sections covering relevant-for-this-month and newsworthy pride-related stories isn’t your cup of tea, feel free to skip it and/or our news summaries. I, for one, am very happy Sean shared his personal side to this story as well.
BattleTech is for everyone, and last month the focus was on our pride community!
2. Feedback or complaints about what news topics are covered in our round-up, or Sarna writers, can be shared with me privately (see Contact link below), but won’t be retained in the comments section going forward.
3. Off-topic discussions and off-topic debates aren’t appropriate for the comments section, and will be removed.
4. The vile that “Reb” is spewing is an example of what will get you ejected from all parts of the Sarna community.
If you have any questions or concerns about the above, please use the Contact link below.
The reactionary grognards aren’t going to win this. Queer, trans, and enby folk are welcome in the fandom and free to express their identities how they want. If that bothers you, stay home.
I like geergutz’s art alot, though I do find his resizing sometimes challenging take on BattleTech.
He believes the smallest of Mechs shouldn’t be have pilots in the head. Perhaps assaults, but scaling is very different!
Too much RW politics, not enough Liao shaming. “This is a Wendy’s.”
If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an “Ally” or you are against it, it don’t matter when a target is in the reticle. And when the Lyran Atlas is throwing AC20 Shells at you it don’t really matter what anyone’s view is. We are all Mechwarriors here and Battlemechs are what unite us and makes us ALL Equals.
Whatever consenting adults do to other consenting adults is not my business nor do I want to hear about it. I want to hear Kill Counts or that time you had your cockpit taken off by an AC20 toting Urbie. we are here for Battletech. I don’t care what my Lance mates identify as as long as they got my six and are laying fire on the enemy.
Existence is not political. End of story.
I am tired of the “This is a Wendy’s” crap. We all bring our thoughts and feelings into the games we play and universes we enjoy. If you don’t want to hear about queerness in your games, fine. Don’t.
But you don’t have to spread that crap everywhere online.
The Anthology has gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community, and keeps getting more.
Because queerness exists everywhere. It is either hidden or it is not.
And even in BattleTech, I really prefer that it is not.
“I don’t care how you identify, I just don’t want to hear about it”
sounds like you care a lot actually
“Whatever consenting adults do to other consenting adults is not my business nor do I want to hear about it.”
Who’s telling you about it? Is the BattleTech subReddit suddenly filled with raunchy gay porn? Did the Pride anthology have any more sex in it than other BattleTech fiction? Is two guys holding hands someone more sexually charged to you than a guy and a girl? Is a ‘Mech painted in pink and blue somehow sexual or, in fact, more political than one painted red, white, and blue?
Queer existence is not political.
Silencing or denying that existence is.
Battletech is NOT for everyone. It has always been, and will always be, for anyone that loves its particular brand of fantasy space politics and big stompy robots. If that’s not what you want, they you should really be asking yourself why you’re even here. Like how when I want anime style mecha piloted by teenagers, I don’t demand Battletech add mobile suits to the lore. I go watch Gundam instead, because that gives me what I want.
If you can’t enjoy something that doesn’t “represent” you, that’s not a problem with the product, that’s a problem with YOU. I guarantee there have been plenty of LGBT people enjoying Battletech since its inception, despite not having any blatantly gay characters. So why has it become so necessary for it to have this now? That’s rhetorical. The answer is, it hasn’t. Because being gay has no effect on your ability to pilot a mech or commit war crimes.
There’s a reason its fun to throw slurs at Capellans, but not gay people. Its because one is a fantasy, and the other isn’t. And if you put too much real life in fantasy, then it stops being fun. The entire point of fantasy is to experience things outside of your own reality. Like, I don’t know, being a mercenary piloting a 75 ton war machine on an alien world. If your fantasies only ever involve people just like you doing things you like to do, then you’re missing the point.
That’s why this kind of thing pisses people off. Its not because we “hate gay people”. No one really cares about having gay characters in Battletech. You could even build up some really good political intrigue around that if you wanted to. Its when a character’s gayness is the only reason they exist that it becomes a problem. Mostly because that usually means they are shallow and boring characters. But also because, whether you admit it or not, there IS a real life political agenda behind that most of the time. And that has no place in escapist entertainment like Battletech.
And calling anyone that doesn’t agree with you bigots, -phobes, and fascists isn’t going to win you any friends. You don’t like being called slurs, and neither do we.
That “This machine stomps fascists” image is a perfect example of how stupid this gets. One: Not everyone that disagrees with you is a fascist. Two: You do realize that the Timber Wolf is a Clan mech, right? The Clans, literal closed minded, genetic supremacist, ultra dogmatic, space fascists. I seriously doubt they would ever be accepting of any LGBT person. They would more likely shove you into the dark caste for your flawed genetics than paint a mech to celebrate you. You’re forced message makes no sense if you actually know anything about the lore. Which makes me think the person that made it doesn’t care about the lore, and instead just wants to co-opt something popular with their ideology. Kind of like the Clans when they invaded the Inner Sphere. And we all know how well that went.
Just an FYI for everyone, THIS post is fine. They’ve got a point, and while I disagree with a lot of it, they don’t make their point by calling gay people groomers or calling for elimination of an entire group of people from the fandom.
A few responses from me since I like this post.
No one really cares about having gay characters in Battletech. You could even build up some really good political intrigue around that if you wanted to.
-Yeah, that’d be really cool actually. So far we’ve only got a few gay mercs. Why can’t a few of BattleTech’s big players LGBTQ+?
Its when a character’s gayness is the only reason they exist that it becomes a problem. Mostly because that usually means they are shallow and boring characters.
-I kinda blame mainstream media for this one. For the longest time, it’s either been Queer Eye (shallow end) or Queer As Folk (deep end with little mainstream appeal) with not a lot in between. Thankfully, that’s changing! Check out Our Flag Means Death, Dead End: Paranormal Park, and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and of course, Harley Quinn. Great LGBTQ+ characters that have a lot more going on than their queerness.
You do realize that the Timber Wolf is a Clan mech, right? The Clans, literal closed minded, genetic supremacist, ultra dogmatic, space fascists. I seriously doubt they would ever be accepting of any LGBT person. They would more likely shove you into the dark caste for your flawed genetics than paint a mech to celebrate you.
-Hoo boy, you lost me bucko. Clans care about might makes right, not which genitals go where. They’re more like space pansexuals than anything else. And let’s be careful about saying LGBTQ+ people have “flawed genetics.” That’s the sort of problematic argument that’s often made by “bigots, -phobes, and fascists.”
I certainly agree with Sean & Doomspud’s respective posts, the need for having characters in a setting that the audience can relate to on a personal level, though without certain characters or traits feeling forced. In all honesty making a character ‘B’ just because everyone else is (or appears to be) ‘A’ can come across as poor writing.
In terms of an in-universe view on LGBTQ+ rights etc? Well in all honesty I would say the views overall would mirror our own, a range from pure acceptance to outright hostility. Given the the centuries of war between the Great Houses, racism is still prevalent within the Inner Sphere, an certainly between the IS & Clans. And given the toll centuries of war can have on a society, it isn’t hard to imagen that the subject of LGBTQ+ could well be politicised on a number of planets. A hypothetical example could be an emergency draconian law was introduced that forced all fertile adults to procreate to boost a population that had been ravaged by war/mass illness/starvation. It is not impossible that such a law was never changed or repealed and became accepted in the local society, thus being gay or queer was looked upon as being ‘unpatriotic’ as a result. When you look at the feudal nature of the nobility and the need to continue the family line through heirs, well it can get tricky. That is not to say overall intolerance would be the case, but given the focus of Battletech is warfare, unless there is strife that can lead to direct hostilities between powers, the goings on of a society are rarely going to be the focus. If you’re a good solider, infantryman, mech piolet etc, that’s what in-universe society will probably focus on (and what we the audience will be directed to) rather than one’s sexuality. Again may be scandalous for nobles depending on the situation. A more brutal way of looking at it, ‘everyone is meat for the grinder and metal is more important than meat.’ However that doesn’t mean you can’t have openly LBGTQ+ characters, should it just stay in the background or should they be loud and proud? Well what fits organically with the story you’re telling? A ‘mech painted in the colours of the Trans flag will certainly stand out on the battlefield (and thus as a target) but if its survives intact? That’s a badge of honour and a story to tell. Would the symbolism we use for and that is associated with LGBTQ+ survive into the 31st Century? Well the setting is fictional, so just about every answer as some validity.
As for the Clans… Well it would really depend on your caste I feel. Remember these lot don’t give their ailing elderly lower caste medicine as they view it as a waste of resources despite have the capacity to do so. They expect old warriors without a bloodname to die in a blaze of glory or suicidal infantry attacks. In short Clan society is deliberately callous due to its oppressively utilitarian and pragmatic nature. However, Sean is right in that ‘Clans care about might makes right, not which genitals go where.’ In a Warrior Sibko, sexual experimentation is common, just expect a fight if you hit on the wrong person, they can be a violent bunch. Where it probably breaks down however is Trans rights. I don’t see the Clans offering transitional medical procedures or surgery to ANYONE unless it somehow benefits the Clan and Clansman are brought up to believe that the Clan comes first, before the individual. Given the nature of Trueborns, it’s possible there maybe no Trueborn trans individuals, but that is certainly not for me to say.
WARNING: Uneducated Opinion
TLDR: Both sides are right and wrong and everyone needs to chill.
Step away from the internet for a weekend of hiking, come back and something is on fire. Oh boy.
I want to commit to this community; I really do so I feel the need to comment where I usually do not and this is such a hot button topic that I may as well go all in. First I am no lawyer and generally stay out of current events, that just causes stress.
LGBTQ+ topics are not anything I identify with; I’m a straight male and the whole thing confuses me. However, what a lot of people do not have on both sides of the argument is the ability to respect the opinion of the other side and more importantly leave it alone, when people started coming out with all these different ways of identifying and choosing how they wanted to live, the correct response should always have been, “Ok” and a shrug and get on with our days. But as is unfortunately natural for humans, not everyone likes change of any sort and especially large societal changes.
However, with most questions that have been colored with being a moral question instead of merely a philosophical one both sides are right and wrong. On the LGBTQ+ side they have been told no and tried to be shoved back into the closet, socially and legally. (The social side of that shove is shown by the fact this conversation is even happening, legally is more arguable but I will use an older example to avoid some of the current tensions. The official stance taken by the US military near the beginning of this getting out of hand was you can be anything you want, just don’t tell anyone. Which is quite the shove but comparatively understandable because the military has an unfortunate history for those within the ranks weeding out “undesirables” in messy terms.) Now they are upset by this, Naturally, and are pushing back. The attempts to do so are now drawing people that did go ok and shrug into the crossfire by pushing LGBTQ+ beliefs into the public through a variety of legal victory’s and laws that punished those that pushed back against these changes in the workplace. For example, lawsuits against people for not wanting to make a wedding cake for a LGBTQ+ wedding, this pushed against people’s public opinion by using lawsuits to force people to do what they did not want, which regardless of any moral arguments, looks real bad. This in turn gives extra ammo to argue against these changes from the conservative side, (note I am leaving the political Left and Right out of this for now, its a whole can of worms) which see this whole thing as “understandably” an attack against their own way of life. Which it is, such is the nature of societal change.
Now that both sides have a moral point they can grandstand on we get into the public pissing matches. And oh boy do we now have the greatest arena for such conflict in the history of humanity, the internet and social media. Never before has it been so easy to find whole crowds of people that agree or disagree with you, (the media and or scientists telling lies to the masses is not new to this conflict, early example being blaming anyone that was not straight for STDs), the terms echo chamber and so on is being thrown around a lot nowadays so most people are aware of that one but i like to point out another once again older point. Penny Arcade once put out a comic satirically pointing out the “Greater Internet Jerkwad Theory” which was this: The grandstand of internet communication plus the relative anonymous nature of said communication leads to people acting out in ways that they previously would not have in person. That one seems quite familiar and is an issue on both sides.
Two quicker points to wrap this up. Arguing morals on religious ground is fine but has no place in American politics, to lay down laws according to a single religion or set of religions is to suppress the beliefs and freedoms to express such beliefs of any other religions. And last is a conversation that got me thinking from earlier in the comments. The argument that LGBTQ+ believers are an un-thinking mob, all activism is a mob, it starts with a core set of people that at least believe they were wronged in some way and as the movement goes it picks up others, Some are others that were not brave enough to start the movement, others are those that believe supporting the movement will help them (ex, companies usually) and the last ones are just those that are there to watch the world burn under the change or get revenge for imagined slights. This last group is where the un-thinking mob feel comes from in my opinion.
“However, what a lot of people do not have on both sides of the argument is the ability to respect the opinion of the other side…”
That’s because there is nothing respectable about one “side” of the “argument,” just like there is nothing respectable about the bigoted side of an argument about race, or the Anti-Semitic side of an argument about Jews. There is no argument to be had, here. No one has to debate with you their right to exist as their authentic self. There’s no respectable argument against allowing gay marriage, against letting trans people use the right bathroom, etc, etc.
One side of this argument is saying “Yes, hello, I would like to exist in peace, I would like equality under the law, I would like to stop having strangers tell me I’m going to burn in hell and that they would love to send me there, and also it might be neat if I felt included in my hobbies.” The other side of the argument is saying “No,” or worse.
You DON’T always have to respect both sides of every single issue. Some times, one side is just literally, morally, factually, and historically wrong.
That’s true but as the argument is on going the “incorrect” side does not see it that way. And from the conservative side the tact you just took proves to them that they are right because you just told them that they are wrong, no more argument. Which is the opposite of the surface level LGBTQ+ message of accept everyone. Which undermines the message you are trying to send which I believe is that all the variety under LGBTQ+ should be seen as just as acceptable as the old norms, as I said societal change is seen from the older side as an attack on their way of life, and the increasingly extreme stances both sides are taking is the true issue I was trying to tackle.
I was trying to point out the original arguments before the openly extreme stances became the public seen norms, to take a step back from the abyss so to speak.
Except, again, there is no “extreme stance” from the LGBTQ+ side of things. You know what the gay agenda is? Civil rights. You know what the trans agenda is? An average life expectancy.
You want to know an extreme stance? There are laws in place, today, right now, in modern America, that say it’s legal to kill someone if you’re on a date and you find out they’re trans. You want to know an extreme stance? The Supreme Court just said it’s okay to deny queer people business. You want to know an extreme stance? There are places in America today where you can deny queer people //healthcare// for their queerness. You want another extreme stance? The law forcing trans people into the wrong bathroom (which leads to more sexual assault and physical assault against trans people, rather than protecting anyone, ever).
Those are extreme stances.
Can you understand how exhausting your “both sides” stuff is? Your false equivalencies? Go look at a Stages of Genocide list and pretend your trans, and tell me what step on the Genocide table we’re on right now.
The way to take a step back from the abyss is to stop telling people that the abyss is reasonable and just wants to debate you and we need to respect the abyss’s desire that we hurl ourselves in there and maybe we should compromise with the abyss instead of having such a deeply troubling extreme anti-abyss stance.
“Apparently, the existence of LGBTQ+ people was considered too political.”
I’ve seen this argument so many times and it frustrates me because it fails to recognize that there’s a world of difference between simply existing and broadcasting work that brandishes the iconography of a contemporary social movement.
Early disclaimer: I fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, it’s relevant to me, and I hate the fact I feel I need to preface with that because I don’t think I’m anything special and what I “am” absolutely doesn’t make my opinion any more or less credible than anybody else’s. But I feel I still need to say it because I know there are those who would and probably will still straw-man and scapegoat my opinion and others like it just because they disagree with it. That’s the level of discourse nowadays. I’m just a normal person. That’s all I ever wanted to be considered as. I’d rather people judge my arguments by their own merits rather than a bunch of individual traits I have no control of but hey, here we are. If this is what I have to do so people are less likely to dismiss me out of hand as a “bigot”, so be it. I hate this is the way it is nowadays.
I’m a huge fan of many things and I have NEVER felt that I’ve been unable to enjoy something because there isn’t somebody in the material who’s just like me. Who or what I am has never precluded me from enjoying anything before in my life and that’s because I don’t make identity a focal point of my interactions with the product or other fans. I’d argue those who do make their identity central to their engagement are narcissists in the worst cases but, more likely, well meaning people who unfortunately are more concerned with activism than actually supporting the thing they purport to like and I think that’s the crux of the drama here and in so many other hobbies.
There’s a time and a place for modern politics, social advocacy and other such things. I and many, MANY others believe escapist entertainment is not one of those places. We would prefer to just enjoy our hobbies without current events being ham-fisted into the mix and we’ve seen it often enough where entire communities have been irreparably fractured because people couldn’t leave activism at the door. Even if the motivation is well meaning, somebody, somewhere from some direction is going to use it as a wedge. And I don’t mean just Pride either. All across the political and even apolitical spectrum I’ve seen enough bad actors who’ve tried using various subcultures as an avenue to chase clout or even just use as a soapbox for whatever their pet cause is.
Just to clarify, that isn’t to say that contemporary issues can’t be explored in fiction! It absolutely can but it’s a matter of execution and being a story first and foremost. One look at the cover of the Pride Anthology and it’s not hard to tell it’s a creation rooted in current social advocacy about 1000 year removed from setting it takes place in and that’s a political act and let’s be honest here, that’s the motivation for a lot of similar rainbow-colored creations around this time of year. If you’re a moderator determined to keep a forum as apolitical as possible, I can completely understand why one would be gun shy with content like this. For what it’s worth, the subreddit seemed really good at keeping virtually ANYTHING skirting with politics off the page. Sure, there weren’t a lot of rainbows but there also weren’t any MAGA hats, or anything really near as I can tell. I personally really appreciated that since that sort of material comes at us from all sides, all the time, just in the day to day. I like having an oasis to escape to and just have fun.