Like their identical cousins the Men’s Rights Activists, GamerGaters have a bizarre fondness for terrible graphics and “memes” and collages of blurry screenshots designed – if that’s the word for it – to spread their sometimes incomprehensible propaganda.
The graphic above, found on Twitter, is my favorite GamerGate graphic so far, I think, and not only because it looks like a famous old Windows screensaver gone wrong. No, this little graphic wins my heart because it so baldly, if inadvertently, reveals the sheer ridiculous hypocrisy of GamerGaters claims of victimhood, and the intellectual bankruptcy of their #NotYourShield campaign.
In the graphic, as you can see, GamerGate’s mascot Vivian James, the perpetually petulant girl gamer who wants to do nothing but game, tries to fend off an array of accusations and epithets swirling around her. “Cis White Male,” “Misogynist,” “Rapist,” “KKK,” “MRA.”
But Vivian James can’t be any of those things, apparently, because she’s a GIRL. NOT YOUR SHIELD!
While it’s certainly true that Vivian James is not a cis white male, or a rapist or a member of the KKK, it’s also true that she is COMPLETELY IMAGINARY.
Unlike all those GamerGaters who are indeed cis white males, misogynists, rapists, nazis and MRAs.
If you’re trying to change the perception that your movement is made up of a bunch of entitled (and, FWIW, mostly white) manchildren who feel threatened by real women with opinions different from their own, you might want to think twice about using a manic pixel dream girl whose slogan is “shut up and play” as your, yep, shield.
Oh, I know, there are real women involved in GamerGate. But aside from Vivian James and the non-gaming “based mom” Christina Hoff Sommers, and perhaps our friend Cameralady, it’s doubtful even most GamerGaters could name more than one or two, if that.
EDIT: As several people on Twitter have reminded me, I forgot to mention one of the most creepy things about Vivian J. — the color scheme of her sweater is apparently a reference to a really creepy, rapey meme called “piccolo dick.” Which you can read about here, if for whatever reason you want to.
Also: the phrase “manic pixel dream girl,” a reference to the manic pixie dream girl trope, popped into my head partway through writing this. But after posting this I decided to google it to see if anyone else had used the phrase — it seems like a pretty obvious one. And indeed people have. Here’s a cartoon called Manic Pixel Dream Girl, an account of growing up as a female video gamer.
WeeBoy! how are you?
Wow, that is super flattering! I could, but since it’s just me doing them, it would be dishonest; I don’t need money to do them and money wouldn’t get them done any faster (except that I’d feel guiltier about not working on them).
katz. Kick -> pants.
Just a reminder.
katz: Now that you mention it, monetary pressure doesn’t always help art along. I can understand the guilt thing, at least! Guilt. ’tis the poison of creative productivity.
Either way, these comic strips are clever and good for a laugh! It’s nice to see Vivian James gain a personality. She reminds me of an old friend of mine and I hate to see her in the clutches of GamerGate. By reclaiming her, you are fighting the good fight. <3
katz, I will certainly be happy to kick you in the pants for this, and if you want me to do any bare-bones layouts I am happy to help. After all, I loved creating Sigourney Ride.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
http://pierre.thecomicseries.com/images/comics/76/e360c0e2e09c60d2debf5fc1c485bc5c1962668476.jpg
Cool. Are you any good at blocking fights?
I have more fun drawing bodies in motion, so I think I could block out a fight for you.
If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know! Sadly I can’t draw worth a damn, but I can… type words? Or something?
kirbywarp, I have a feeling that you’ve been the basis of many of the ideas for scripts. You write very good dialogue. Between the three of us, we have a scriptwriter, a penciler/character developer, and an inker/colorist/character developer/webspace controller. We could almost start a comic book company with this! 😉
And me, and me! I also am a writer of wordy things.
You and me, WeeBoy. Together, we shall write wordy things until wordy things can be written no more!
*writer-five*
Well, if anyone has contributions for them fighting the gamergaters, now’s the time to contribute them.
*gamergater crashes into window*
GG: Vivian?! You’ve been kidnapped!
*2nd GG appears, riding a Pidgey in a fedora*
2nd GG: They’re going to use her as a shield! Because obviously a woman can’t be a gamer!
Vivian *to 2nd GG*: Wait, aren’t you that guy who posted nude pictures of me?
2nd GG: …free speech?
1st GG: I told you that they wouldn’t take us seriously if you did that. Now, SJWs, we’re trying to start a dialogue…
*a third GG appears*
GG 3: With CANNONS!
GG 1: No, not with cannons, except the cannons in our minds, leading us onwards… (Goes into stupid “inspirational” rant.)
(Oh, and I have an idea for another gamer girl for Vivian and SR to hang out with. Cassie Gane (casual gamer,) who plays Sims and RPs on MMOs, but never really got into FPS games. She still plays them with her friends occasionally, but doesn’t really set out to beat them.
Or, since devices got involved, Ipha Styx (iPhone 6,) a minor mobile app developer known for making deceptively simple but incredibly challenging games.)
(Okay, that’s all my ideas.)
This totally wouldn’t flow at all, but someone linked a superbly urple and terrible piece of fanfic called The Battle of Gamergate in another thread. What would be great if there was a couple of scenes of beutifully illustrated armies of pokemon fliers and air ships and generals riding chocobos wielding buster swords, and then…
Gamergaters: *making battle noises* pew pew pew! dakka-dakka-dakkka! Neeeaaaaoooorrrrr, fwwoooosh!
SJW 1: Umm… what are they doing?
SJW 2: I have no idea. Lets… Let’s just leave them be.
The ggators re-rescuers should have a shield shaped device they need Vivian to jump onto so they can whisk her away.
Heheh, the technomancer actually conjures technology. Now I imagine endless examples of the character being befuddled by normal every day technology.
“SJW Tech-line, your one stop-shop for intersectional service and patriarchy debugging”
“Hi, I’m the SJW Technomancer, I’ve got a problem with my new laptop?”
[…]
“Sir, did you try plugging your SJW laptop in?”
“You lost me at plugging? My laptop has no holes, I’ve checked”
“No, that’s… plugging into the wall socket?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Power requirements, sir. Laptops run off the electrical grid”
“Woah, what?? They need that? That seems really cumbersome”
“Sir, you’re a technomancer. How do you not know how to charge your laptop?”
“I normally always just conjure up my workstation from the aether. I’m afraid I’m not that good with tech-stuff”
“But we’re on a high tech phone, right now. How are we having this conversation?”
“Oh, I’m routing the call through my banana. Anyway, you want to watch a documentary on oppression later? My staff-crystals are HD”
————
[ GG interceptors – a squadron of old ww2 fighter planes / a Covenant dropship from Halo / magic flying couches steered by xbox controllers / helicopter ]
[Vivians phone rings]
GG #1: “Vivian! We’re here to rescue you from the SJW!
Vivian [Playing]: “Mhm — watch out, the midget has a rocket launcher”
GG #2: “We tracked your Borderlands session IP, and hacked your steam account to get your number! don’t worry, we’ll get you back home safely!”
SJW Technomancer: “My bad”
Vivian [Playing]: “Woooh, a shotgun that shoots more shotguns?”
GG #3: “We have a lock, prepare to die!”
GG #2: “No, don’t shot, you’ll explode Vivian too”
GG #1: “They’re using her as a human shield? Those clever SJW bastards! Vivian! You’re not their shield!”
GG #3: “Fucking SJW, hiding behind women, probably not even real gamers!”
GG #1: “Hey, I’m female.”
GG #3: “Yeah, but you can beat me at Halo, so you’re okay.”
GG #2: “Focus, people”
GG #3: “Right. Focusing armor piercing doritos! Take that, oppressive SJW goons!”
[Deadly dorito shrapnel fill the airspace”
GG #2: “I said, don’t shoot, you’re hitting Vivian”
[SJW helicopter makes odd noises, smoking]
GG #2: “Ah, shitshitshit. Okay, we can spin this positively, we tried to rescue Vivian, but the SJW hostage takers decided to martyr her for the cause?”
GG #1: “Yeah, that’s what happened. Uh-huh.”
GG #3: “It’s no good, they’ll find out, it’ll be all over the net?!”
GG #2: “No, it’s cool – journalists have ethics. They won’t want to destroy our lives and reputations with some alleged quadruple homicide charge.”
GG 1-3: “Thank Bungie for good reporting ethics”
@fibinachi wouldn’t the doritos instantly crumble at high speeds? Is it supposed to be a choking hazard?
Great contributions, everyone! I knew technomancer was going to be the favorite character.
That’s what stops you?
I mean, I prefaced the entire thing with someone routing a service call through a banana. High speed impact chip based weaponry seems
stalepale in comparison.Doritos crumbled up in chili are actually very delicious.
Bwahahahahaha … this thread is hilarious. 🙂
In terms of doritos, the chips could be stuck together with melted cheese, sort of like armour piercing nachos.
*Inside the GamerGate airship*
GG Captain: Men, the time has come. Only a short time ago we realized that Vivian James, our beloved daughter and symbol, had been taken from us. The enemy is cunning, but we are strong, and we will take her back! I won’t lie to you, men —
GG Woman: Umm, there are women here too. #NotYourShield.
GG Captain: That’s good enthusiasm, private, save it for the battle. Now, I won’t like to you, men, the battle we are about to face may be the single most important battle of the entire movement. Back when we were simply a small uprising fighting against the corruption of Zoe Quinn, who could have guessed —
GG 1: Uh, sir?
GG Captain: *sigh* What?
GG 1: It was never about Zoe Quinn, sir, it was always about ethics in Games Journalism.
GG Captain: Look, who’s giving the speech here?
GG 1: Just sayin…
GG Captain: Alright. Ok. Fine. *crosses out the enormous paragraph about Zoe Quinn* Let’s see let’s see.. Ah. Ok. Since then, we have fought on every frontier of the internet. From the halls of Twitter to the valleys of Reddit, we have pushed our message acr—
GG 2: Sir?
GG Captain: WHAT!
GG 2: Sorry sir, but shouldn’t we ease up a bit on the twitter stuff? Everyone associates gamergate and twitter with harassment.
GG Captain: We do not condone harassment or death threats.
GG 2: I know that, sir, and *you* know that, but to someone else it might seem like we’re… I dunno… glorifying it a bit.
GG Captain: FINE! Ok, I’ll just add a bit “halls of Twitter to the valleys of Reddit, we have pushed our message and fought against the REAL harassment perpetrated by SJWs against themselves.” Happy?
GG 2: Yes sir!
GG Captain: Alright. Where was I… Ummm… Ah! We gamers are alive!
GGers: *cheer*
GG Captain: We will not back down! The flames will always be burning! This movement WILL! NOT! —
GG 3: Sir?
GG Captain: WHAT?
GG 3: Some of us feel like “movement” is not that great of a word. We’re really a “Consumer Revolt.” Cause, you know… we’re consumers, and we’re revolting.
GG Captain: *grumbling and making changes* This “Consumer Revolt” WILL! NOT! —
GG 4: Sir?
GG Captain: You know what? Forget it. I had this whole big speech planned out, but you lot can’t even come together to agree on one little thing. Fuck it. I’m reading the speech from Atlas Shrugged. Satisfied?
GGers: *cheer*
GG Captain: Ok then. *ahem* “For twelve years, you have been asking: Who is John Galt? This is John Galt speaking. I am a man…”
*Inside the Justice Copter*
SJW 1: What are they doing? They’re just… sitting there. Why aren’t they attacking?
SJW Captain: No idea. Technomancer, can you listen in on what’s going on?
SJW Technomancer: Sure thing! *summons a giant holographic ear*
*GG Captain: “… While you were dragging to your sacrificial altars the men of justice, of independence, of reason, of wealth, of self-esteem-I beat you to it, I reached them first. I told them the nature of the game you were playing…”
SJW Technomancer: Huh, it’s not working. Why can’t I hear anything?
SJW Captain: … SHIT, IT’S A TRAP! Close it off, close it off!
SJW Technomancer: I CAN’T! It’s jammed! Is… is that blood?!?
SJW Captain: Our helmets have a device that filter out John Galt’s speech from Atlas Shrugged! They’re reading the whole damn thing!
GG Captain: “We have granted you everything you demanded of us, we who had always been the givers, but have only now understood it. We have no demands to present to you, no terms to bargain about, no compromise to reach…”
SJW Technomancer: HOW IS IT BLEEDING?
SJW Captain: Pilot, get us out of here NOW! By the looks of it, we only have another 3 hours and 47 minutes to escape. HURRY!