I noticed increased frequency of posts in places like r/rpghorrorstories, that describe a situation where the player brings a tiny veiled or just a shameless copy of a popular fictional character - Sokka, Scanlan, John Snow, Walter White - except “more based” or “less of a cuck”. What follows is a story of the player doing some horrible manosphere shit.
I know that a lot of posts on places like these are fake, but in this case I kinda hope they are. Or that it’s all the same guys at different tables. Either is more comforting that an idea of an army of incels trying to rp their extremely toxic fanfiction on the table.
It’s funny to notice that “based” sees usage ironically as often as it does unironically, effectively rendering it meaningless without context. It’s the new “Smurf” or “Aladeen.”
More on-topic, hopefully you won’t personally find any of those players. I haven’t, and that’s very based.
Oh yikes, people think that chauvinist is based?
As far as I can tell, the original meaning of based came from the alt-right, meaning something is praiseworthy because of how unwoke it is. So yes, being chauvinistic would be considered “based” by the original users of the term.
But thankfully the term has more recently been claimed by less misogynistic/racist/homo-/transphobic groups, to mean praiseworthy because of something’s opposition to hate. Unfortunately, both usages now coexist and it can be hard to see which one someone means, without adequate context.
It came from a rapper. One of the Lil’s, possibly. He was reclaiming an AAVE variant of “debased”, to mean something positive about himself. It’s all recorded in the ancient texts.
One might note that rappers aren’t particularly noted for having sensible and kind cultural takes
“Based means being yourself. Not being scared of what people think about you. Not being afraid to do what you wanna do. Being positive. When I was younger, based was a negative term that meant like dopehead, or basehead. People used to make fun of me. They was like, ‘You’re based.’ They’d use it as a negative. And what I did was turn that negative into a positive. I started embracing it like, ‘Yeah, I’m based.’ I made it mine. I embedded it in my head. Based is positive.”
not to say I disagree, but this reclaiming is pretty based.
Sokka, Scanlan, John Snow, Walter White - except “more based” or “less of a cuck”.
The two that stick out most to me are Sokka and Walter White.
A major part of Sokka’s character arc is outgrowing his misogyny. I mean, Christ, the Kyoshi Warriors episode had him humble himself, ask to learn, and crossdress.
As for Walter White, his arc is becoming “more based” and “less of a cuck.” It’s also about him becoming a total monster.
There’s been a lot of discourse about “media literacy,” and it’s frustrating that the people who most lack it, often in destructive ways, end up just dismissing the criticism out of hand, as though it’s not dead-on.
I haven’t encountered this. But if anyone said “based” or “cuck” at me, I would have serious questions about if they’re a good fit for my group.
Based and healthy mentality pilled tbh.
Normpilled and sanemaxxing
Based is one that, as another user said, could go either way. Its original use is very alt-right, but today I personally probably see it used more in support of leftist ideals.
Cuck certainly is much more of a red flag. I have seen it used ironically by people whom I have reason to respect, but it’s far more likely to be the source of some serious questions.
I posted this under another comment but it was originally from a rapper Lil B the Based God
“Based means being yourself. Not being scared of what people think about you. Not being afraid to do what you wanna do. Being positive. When I was younger, based was a negative term that meant like dopehead, or basehead. People used to make fun of me. They was like, ‘You’re based.’ They’d use it as a negative. And what I did was turn that negative into a positive. I started embracing it like, ‘Yeah, I’m based.’ I made it mine. I embedded it in my head. Based is positive.”
That’s pretty wholesome. I can totally see how toxic people twisted the meaning into a toxic place though.
My progressive-as-anyone zoomer kids and their friends use “based” all the time, for, as I understand it, any bold statement that’s hard to dispute.
This is actually the first time I’m hearing “based” being associated with alt-righties.
Anybody at my table saying they are playing a “more based” version or “less of a cuck” would be laughed at.
“Ah, so you’ve invited me to cuck the shit out of your character. Got it.”
“Ah, you’ve been cursed by the amulet of cucking. It functions essentially like wild magic, anytime you do anything I can ask you to roll on the cucking table. You rolled a 60? Yeah, uh lemme check, your wife appears in front of you and she hits on the rest of the party making sure to see that you’re watching. Roll Charisma save.”
Based and dice-based cuckoldery pilled.
Every time I hear someone unironically call someone a “cuck” or “snowflake” I assume they’re a chud and/or a bigoted asshole. It almost always ends up being the case.
When it comes to “cuck”, I assume they are low-key into it. As for “snowflake”, it’s an admission a far as I can tell.
Considering just how weak and whiny people on the far right usually are, it’s not particularly surprising to me that I’ve seen “snowflake” increasingly used to describe the far right, rather than progressives.
Only Alchemists should be allowed to be more based.
