Knew a guy for a while, one of those types who loves to say “most of 4chan isn’t bad, it’s only /b/ and /pol/, here look at this funny meme they made” I rolled my eyes whenever he said something like this but figured he was just in denial.
Then one day I mentioned to him that I cut contact with someone for defending drawn CSAM, explaining that I did it because it’s used to groom minors and accustom them to being sexualized, and his response was “I don’t care, it’s the parents’ responsibility to protect the kids, there should be no legal or moral barrier to what people draw”
Anyone who browses or defends 4chan is a fascist, a pedophile, or most likely both. Every interaction I’ve had with them only gave me further proof.
Pepe being BAD was spread on 4chan but he was around before that, I miss when he was just a fun guy and it had no associations like it does today :'( I think the fact that so much of it is exported while being reviled helps show how many people support vile things but won’t express it unless they are in supportive company.
TRUE
And I thought Pepe became a meme specifically when 4ch snatched him from that webcomic? Although I know the rightwinger shit mostly came about in 2014 and after, gamergate and “meme magic” and shit
Looking it up apparently the ‘feels good man’ meme from the comic was posted on somethingawful first, that was going around my circles far outside of 4chan or somethingawful around that time. According to knowyourmeme it was posted on 4chan as ‘feels bad man’ with the sad pepe and that’s probably when it started being more associated with the right, as it became popular on 4chan and body building forums then.