I noticed increased frequency of posts in places like r/rpghorrorstories, that describe a situation where the player brings a tiny veiled or just a shameless copy of a popular fictional character - Sokka, Scanlan, John Snow, Walter White - except “more based” or “less of a cuck”. What follows is a story of the player doing some horrible manosphere shit.
I know that a lot of posts on places like these are fake, but in this case I kinda hope they are. Or that it’s all the same guys at different tables. Either is more comforting that an idea of an army of incels trying to rp their extremely toxic fanfiction on the table.
The two that stick out most to me are Sokka and Walter White.
A major part of Sokka’s character arc is outgrowing his misogyny. I mean, Christ, the Kyoshi Warriors episode had him humble himself, ask to learn, and crossdress.
As for Walter White, his arc is becoming “more based” and “less of a cuck.” It’s also about him becoming a total monster.
There’s been a lot of discourse about “media literacy,” and it’s frustrating that the people who most lack it, often in destructive ways, end up just dismissing the criticism out of hand, as though it’s not dead-on.