#you can boycott shit without being so performative abt it

[papirouge]

[faetthorn]

Probably my only contribution to the Pathologic fandom

Some important words below, if you're a patho fan take the time to read them

TW: pedophilia, SA, grooming, racism, colonialism

So I got into pathologic in july and almost instantly got hit with a post about the allegations from back in 2021 against Nikolay Dybowski, game creator and founder of Ice Pick Lodge. He’s groomed several girls ages 15-18 and inclusively has used his position as a member of HSE University in Moscow to do so. 3 years on and people have all forgotten this and are happily cheering for the bachelor route like nothing ever happened 

Yes I know you all wanna forget abt the uncomfortable situations, after all "what can we do" right? I wish I could just pull a switch in my brain and forget too, but I'm a victim of SA and child grooming, and I can't play this game without remembering what its creator did. The worst part is that the characters mean a lot to me. I got into pathologic while suffering from ptsd related nightmares and Daniil, Artemy and Clara brought me a lot of joy and comfort. Even now they and some elements of patho’s story mean the world to me. It hurts to be constantly reminded that everyone is against you, no matter how much you appreciate their work, no matter how much time and money you put into doing it.

I'd properly join the fandom and start calling for a boycott and for these allegations to be discussed and reminded of again but I just know it'll never happen. I'd be ignored or get a thousand replies "oh but the employees, they have nothing to do with it!!" "it's just a game!" "it'll get you nowhere!" “age of consent is x y or z in this country!” "stop being a vindictive little bitch!" "*insert rape threat here*" I expect to receive 0 support on this post and I'll block anyone I need to. Just wanted to let this out of my chest even if nothing will change: Petitions don't work, they never did and they never will. Passivity and politeness never got ME shit, at least.

DOXA, the rus student newspaper investigating these allegations was raided by police (1, 2) and recently considered an undesirable organization by the government. The courts and police would never do anything about this and they’re clearly more invested in persecuting student groups that have even the most basic feminist goals. A victim of Dybowski's has allegedly tried to denounce him to HSE University and the charges were dropped so as far as we know Dybowski wasn’t even fired. Not only is he the creator and chief writer of the games but he's also the head of the studio. Spreading awareness and boycotting is the only way justice can be made (at least in a way non-russians can participate). If you’re considering playing pathologic i cannot recommend it and i don’t want to be the reason someone gives more money to Dybowski. You don’t need more harmful shit when you have 2 games, a dlc and wonderful fandom content the game would never make canon. Hell, PIRATE all the games if you really need to. When the bachelor route comes out the IPL employees will have already been paid for it. Also, let’s not forget that WE DON’T KNOW where the profits we give will go. They might go to CP.  

I wonder why it's so easy for you all to rightfully call to boycott anything related to zionism without making excuses but then when it's a pedophile with countless cases of grooming and very probably rape you all stay quiet and do nothing just because it's your precious little interests. It's almost like it's all performative

In the same vein, there needs to be a discussion about how violently racist this game is because this art came from anger and sadness. I’m not indigenous but i’ve followed native activism for years and i wouldn’t have the beliefs i have today without the opinions of indigenous people. I know feeling betrayed by the art you use to cope with how horrible reality is is tough. Not only does this game have extremely racist stereotypes and portrays natives as a monolith, but it’s also unsurprisingly misogynistic in an extremely colonial way (need i remind you of Willow, the entire concept of the herb brides and the way they are dressed or the fixation with portraying steppe people as woman-sacrificing brutes). Not to mention the extreme cruelty of patho 2’s endings. Which is way more insulting when it’s directly tied via the in-game use of Buryat language and inspirations to the native peoples of Siberia who Russia colonized and whose culture is still actively repressed, at a time when the weight of colonization (environmental catastrophe, poverty, sexual violence and more) makes indigenous people commit suicide at a way higher rate than any other ethnicity in many countries, and this includes the native people of Siberia who this game “pays homage” to (1). This fandom in general needs to start being way more critical and checking their own racism too. And to any native patho fans i’m obviously not here to tell you how to feel abt patho’s racism

Well, there it is. I have no hope left to ask anyone to boycott the bachelor route or the other projects Dybowski's created but if this makes you think about the things you throw money at it’ll be something

Edit: I apparently need to clarify something since certain people have been pestering me about it. I'll keep standing behind the part where I say the profits (not the money used to pay the employees, the PROFITS) might go to CP. We're talking about a guy who has been sexually abusing underage girls since allegedly at least 2012 with full impunity. And let me repeat once again: we are not responsible for the IPL employees' well-being and payment. Dybowski is.

[accessible-tumbling]

ID: A screenshot of a series of tweets. The first is by ivy [brown bear emoji] [books emoji] @ goob007 reading: "y'all have the palestinian flag in your dn, free palestine in your bio, but then go and watch pjo on disney+ and do nothing post about it, with maybe one or two retweets about palestine after every 7 posts about pjo… interesting"

The second tweet is by [palestine flag emoji] noorii [palestine flag emoji] @ inejmydarling reading: "if you [pirate flag emoji] PJO but talk about it on your public accounts, and share edits and theories, then you might as well just give those Zionists your money. Boycotting means [caps] Boycotting Everywhere. [caps end] Do NOT platform it.

20,000 Palestinians have been murdered and you're fangirling? Shameful."

The third tweet is by zeinab [snowman emoji] @ zeinabsdawn reading: "a not so gentle reminder than disney aids the slaughter of palestinian children. children who watch and like disney."

Attached below the text is an screenshot of text reading: "Disney to donate $2 million to Israeli aid groups amid Gaza war, stirring fury online. Disney said it will donate $2 million to Israeli relief groups, amid the escalating war in Gaza which has killed over 2,200 Palestinians, sparkling backlash. Oct 15, 2023

Gaza: Backlash as Disney donates $2 mln to Israel aid groups - The New Arab"

The fourth tweet is by aylin [crescent moon emoji] @ weepingcaesar reading: "see what is the point of pirating a zionist author's show when you come back on twitter to tweet abt it and have those tweets get thousands of likes and triple the views? that is insane promotion and you boycotted [checks notes] exactly nothing."

The fifth tweet is by kunt to the feminine what? reading: "I swear performative activism grinds my gears…. pirate the show if u can't keep away from it and stop talking it on your public accounts. people are literally fucking dying and the idf is using the money Disney donated to do that. you can't pick and choose when to do shit"

The sixth tweet is by rion @ lvsickgoth reading: "it really is boycotting until it's a show that you like huh"

The seventh tweet is by cassiopeia (cath) [sun emoji] reading: "reminder that the creators of ofmd, good omens, and pjo support israel and that disney+ is one of the places to boycott. pirate this media if you must, but don't give them your money, don't talk about them, don't give them any kind of public attention. it's the least we can do."

The eighth tweet is by shannon [watermelon emoji] @ zatanasupre…[trailed off] reading: "y'all are so hypocrites but we won't forget. for weeks you pretended being on the palestine side but suddenly when your show is on air you don't even try to hide your fake ass. you could not name it or speak about it without giving credit to disney but ofc you don't"

End ID.