Out of all the things that's sort of stuck to me through all of this, I found it how it's CascadeBeta saying he doesn't want to leave SA otherwise "Kiwifarms will win." I didn't know why, but it's been floating in the back of my thoughts, irking me since there's something really off about that quote. Not in a disturbing sort of way, but more that I felt confused as to why I still remember such an innocuous quote. I didn't realize it until now.
Something Awful usually used to do a lot of forum raids where they would do similarly to Kiwifarms. Going onto horrible websites, taking screenshots of the horrible posts and users, and freaking them out. The thing is, CascadeBeta's "I can't stop being stupid, otherwise that means Kiwifarms won" quote is the exact mindset the people on these urine drinking, furry pregnancy, ice chewing forums would say while being raided. I'd even bet money that there's a quote in one of the many screencaps from nearly two decades ago immortalizing one of the people in these forums summarizing their scenario as "we can't give in, otherwise Something Awful will win!"
The reason why that quote was poignant is because it's irony. Poetic, dramatic irony. Something Awful became the forum people take screenshots of while their posters panic and fall into a frenzy. The thing is, a few forums they raided genuinely did try the "let's see how they like it" approach of trying to take screenshots of Something Awful and mock them, and it didn't work. Now Kiwifarms is just doing it naturally, while Something Awful users are both complaining and panicking as they eat each other alive. In essence, Something Awful quite literally turned into the same spectacle they used to enjoy. If this sounds sentimental, it isn't. It's simply interesting to me, stepping back and getting a sense of perspective on this.
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