I love video games.

So here’s the thing:

I love video games.

I mean, I love them so goddamn much that sometimes when I think about how much I love them, I feel like I’m gonna cry. 

And right now, some people who feel like they can be arbiters of what games should be and who games should be for are doing some vile, despicable things in desperate, pathetic attempts to exert some power over this subcultural sphere that they’ve long felt was, by right, theirs and theirs alone. 

They want to establish rules that say that women are only really allowed here if they abide by a bunch of deeply patriarchal, deeply misogynistic standards of behavior, and if they keep their mouths shut about how many games, and many people who play games, hate women. 

But no matter how much hate those people spew, no matter how intolerable they try to make this atmosphere for those they deem unwelcome, I will never, ever stop loving games, and standing up for the idea that games are for everyone. Because my love for games is deep and abiding. It resides in a place those people can’t touch. It’s a love that knows that those people don’t represent what games can be or who games can be for, no matter how loudly they might claim to, no matter how much shit they might throw at those who they perceive as a threat. 

Because games have always been there for me. And games are part of what taught me to not give up. To not back down. Games are part of what taught me how to deal with those people who don’t want people like me participating in games.

My love for games is something that I want to share with everyone. If you don’t want to share games with everyone, then you can’t even begin to understand how much I love games.