Being alive right now is really wild, especially if you age yourself and recall how untamed the internet used to be not long ago. Remember Wendy’s trash-talking everyone? Was it more vitriolic in the past? Maybe. Was it nicer? Actually, probably about the same. People are cautious, but they aren’t nice. And for good reason, evidently, as Square Enix just announced on April 19, 2026 that they have successfully gagged and extorted someone. The crime? Harassment through commentary videos. Careful, YouTubers!
I have had this desire bubbling in me to spill my guts about how sick I am of the push for mandatory positivity in defense of corporations. I had a recent incident of my own where I had to find out over days of canned, useless replies that Steam Support actually only supports corporations. I was banned from a community because I guess the developers of the game in question didn’t like that I was telling people to be cautious and look up gameplay footage before buying. When I asked Steam to take a look, I was told in so many words that they don’t care. While this isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme, it is pretty frustrating when town squares are censored by the people who have interest in preventing any and all dissenting opinion.
But Steam is a corporation. Why would I expect that they wouldn’t side with their business buddies over a simple number in an ever-growing sea of expendable consumers? No, what’s really upsetting in all this is that the one chance we have to make things better is by banding together and yet so many people are so invested in emotional attachments to nameless conglomerates that they will actually harass people who dare to speak out.
Jumping back to Square Enix for a second, their tweet on the matter is filled with loyal supporters who have taken up the cause to cheer for a “victory” and decry those who question the circumstances.
“The trend of saying it's okay to bash Square Enix is weird to begin with.”
“I think it's a truly wonderful response. Lately, I've been seeing such terribly harsh words directed at people and their works far too often…”
“I really hated those people who do anti-fan stuff for 14, 15, or 16 just to gain views.”
According to Square Enix, they “have reached a settlement with this individual, which includes an apology, payment of a settlement amount, and an agreement to refrain from similar actions in the future.” Interestingly, they generally mention things such as “threats” and “advance notices of harmful actions” in the same breath as “defamation,” while also stating “we will continue to respond firmly—including through legal action—to malicious harassment related to all of our products and services,” all while not mentioning why the targeted this unknown person with litigation. Personally, I find that to be a little convenient, but is it not distressing that so many people are assuming that this person must have done something really very vile and potentially dangerous?
Typically in underdog stories, the audience is meant to root not for the Goliaths, but instead the Davids. “Standing up for the little guy” was a stance that, I thought, was commonly seen as noble. For example, I don’t know anyone who roots for Sauron over Frodo and Sam. I am sure that someone might for fun or because they think it’s edgy, but those cases are likely nothing more than fringe, let’s be real.
And yet, when a company like Nintendo decides to sue a grocery store over a naming coincidence, fans frothing at the mouth jump in to exclaim how it’s good, how other companies do it too, how they’re actually worse, stop thinking mean bad thoughts about my favorite brand!!! By the way, I don’t care that this isn’t a generous depiction, for a few reasons. Let’s go on a tangent.
This is all my opinion and I am not arguing with anyone. If you want to start a fight with me over it, good luck? I’m not here to fight, this whole section is called “Rambles,” not “Good-Faith Debates” and so I don’t care to hold myself to a higher standard when mocking people. Further, as I alluded to earlier, I remember a more vitriolic time of the internet and, since this is my space, I want to keep that spirit alive a bit. If you feel that this is personally about you, then maybe take some of this to heart and try to be a better person instead of getting upset that I’m mean to a strawman. Back to the… vid..e..o……….ramble.
Do you know what brand loyalty gets you? Really upset after a decade or two when they take you out back and shoot you over a soggy dollar bill. It begs saying, for some reason, but companies do not care about you. Companies do not see customers as people and as the markets grow larger and the populations denser, each individual loses more and more power.
I remember growing up and hearing old people talk about how they’d write a letter of complaint and maybe hear back and even get something as a token of appreciation, if nothing changed. There were tales of how small businesses would revert something specifically for one long-time customer not because it was profitable to do so but because it built good-will. People used to have that sort of collective bargaining power and, believe it or not, we still do (just ask Microslop), despite it being a lot more difficult to enact. And as much as I want to keep the blame on corporations, there is some to be dished out to ourselves as well.
Society is pretty messed up and I don’t think that’s all too controversial to say. Perception is, for better or worse, the most important thing in a lot of people’s lives and somehow we’re chasing positive perceptions in the worst ways possible. People are afraid to be cringe, weird, like dumb stuff, but instead of shedding these cringe, weird, dumb things we are seeing more defenses or excuses being made for them. The Mario Galaxy movie isn’t actually trash garbage, it’s just a movie for kids who, you know, appreciate a 2 hour series of references from 35 years ago. Final Fantasy 14 Jollibee collab isn’t stupid and distracting, besides, other companies have done collabs so it’s probably good.
In case you couldn’t tell, I was being a bit sarcastic there. Both of those things are, actually, cringe, weird, dumb. And you know what? That’s okay! It is actually okay to like cringe, weird, dumb things. And even more, it’s okay to acknowledge that they are weird, cringe, dumb. Real talk, shame can be a good thing, not because it makes someone feel bad about themselves, but because it teaches humility and in a world where everyone wants to be proud about everything all the time, a little humility is important.
To that end, we need to bring back some shade. Being “positive” all the time isn’t actually a good thing and has resulted in too many people sitting on high-horses, snidely taunting people on behalf of soulless corporations. I often see these types call out any criticism as “toxic,” demanding that opinions be “constructive” and then not being able to articulate what that means. The thing is, though, destruction is a part of construction and it is just as important for tempering sentiment as it SHOULD be for companies to take and understand how they are perceived.
The best advice I can give is to keep being vocally against bad practices, in spite of the armies of delusional drones standing at the ready. Consumer rights are not eternal and as the market expands, so must we to maintain our say. Companies win when enough people are silenced or give up. It doesn’t matter that some doofus on Twitter thinks it’s so mean to say a corporation shouldn’t be allowed to kill someone, don’t stop fighting. Spread the word where you can, enjoy things when you can, and never stop bullying corporations.
In summation, Yoshi P is a pervert loser. Soken is way overhyped. Nomura peaked 30 years ago and hasn’t so much as limply flopped upwards since. Is my opinion slanderous and brand-damaging enough to incur a fine, takedown, and forced apology? C’mon, SE, do your worst.
