I'm sad for Kaizo in general today. I've spent the entirety of my career advocating for Kaizo as art, not being shitty toward makers, & rising above with your skills instead of whining about jank. I have LIVED my example. This whole assumption about what Kaizo IS needs destroyed.

And as a community we need to start having a conversation about what we're going to do to turn this around a little bit. To get the toxic insults out of chats and reverse this perception of Kaizo being the domain of salty trolls. I've fuckin' had it. 5 Years I've been saying this

But maybe we haven't been loud enough. So I'm gonna say it for those in the back:
THIS IS OUR ART. THIS IS SOMETHING WE LOVE DOING AND A COMMUNITY WERE PROUD OF BECAUSE WE BUILT IT OURSELVES. WHENEVER YOU SHIT HARD ON KAIZO HACKS YOU MAKE A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR US ALL.

And of course, I'm not suggesting I've been entirely above this. I've discussed my own frustrations and behaviors openly and publicly this whole time. But god damn it friends, I've been here for 5 years saying this stuff about art.

I'm sorry for going on a tear today, but SMW and Kaizo is something very dear to me. Something I love. And when all this toxic stuff comes up or gets in the cracks I wind up feeling like I'm fighting for my home. My place - our place - that was a free open land for us all.

Insults push new people out. Discourage new talent. Perpetuating the notion that all Kaizo is just head-busting, gut-ripping, salt-fueled troll mania HURTS EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE COMMUNITY when audiences take that mentality elsewhere.

I've felt like a large part (not all) of my career as a maker has been simply fighting to justify my own existence on my own terms. Repeated discussions of how Item Abuse or shell tricks could be actually fun. It's been exhausting to stand against the wind of hOt GarBAgE forever.