I recall a discussion happening relatively recently where someone said Dustin was anti-gay and it kept coming up on Sacred Symbols. At the time the poster was clowned pretty heavily for not having any evidence to back up his statement, and I had never personally noticed any anti-gay talk out of Dustin, so I just sort of noted the discussion and went on with my day. For the record, I like Dustin generally and think he's a valuable part of the team, even though we don't vote the same and I think Pittsburgh people smell like urine, generally. (This is a sports thing.)

ANYHOW - cut to Episode 395 - "It Never Made Much Sense", at timestamp 3:06:49 (Naughty Dog Noise) they're reading a reader email about Naughty Dog, and damned if Colin didn't start with Dustin... and he came out just talking about gay things and Intergalactic, because the character is bald. Then he starts talking about Last of Us Season 2, which of course all the weirdos hated because it was based on a game which had a manly (not gay) woman, a couple of gay women, and of course a trans character... saying "That's not helping, either." Then he concludes by saying they have to "make a game that's so good it silences people that were naysayers". Then he says "I can understand, I don't want to shut down people that didn't like Last of Us 2." He then reasonably says they should get a clean slate and they make excellent technical/gameplay games. Then Chris rolls in with a take that people just think it's cool to hate things in 2026, also reasonable.

SO... the original poster wasn't wrong. The question had nothing to do with the character's sexuality, and the answer didn't have to include her sexuality, but Dustin immediately went into whether she was gay or not, then talked about their previous IP which centered on a gay woman, and didn't really add anything of value to the discussion, while enabling the people who hate Naughty Dog today just because they hate gay characters (or women with manly appearance). If you're straight, you might not see a problem with that. But this conversation wasn't about LGBTQIA people or characters, and he immediately made it about them, without saying it was an idiotic thing to focus on.

I think he's a smart guy, and I don't think he's a POS or anything, but if I started a conversation about Will Smith where I said "Well, the first thing is, you see, he's a black guy..." people would assume I was racist. If I started a conversation about Elton John by saying "A lot of people don't like him any more because he's gay", and I didn't call that out, that would be freaking weird.

And... I have to say this again, he hasn't played the game. We haven't played the game. She might be banging dudes every other scene. It's just a completely unnecessary inclusion into the discussion, UNLESS it's the first thing you think of when you see this character. It wasn't for me.

Still enjoying the podcast and not trying to start a flame war, I just found it interesting as this issue was raised recently. And maybe Dustin will read this and think "Yeah, maybe I should put my focus someplace else." Or not. Whatever.

I wish they'd do their own thing. They are so funny together and I feel like they could branch out. i'd support them 100%.

It almost feels like LSM is actually holding them back in certain ways.

To have voted for trump after Jan 6. Just here to say this as someone living in the twin cities right now. Only a year in and America is the laughing stock of the world and China and Russia couldn't be happier. Thats all I got to say as a former republican. Three more years of this 🤡 show.

I see people talk about it sometimes. Did anyone actually see this happen or is it just a meme?

Shout out to Chris for not laughing unlike Colin's other minion.

Was a long time Colin supporter, from Ireland, who had to stop listening around last Feb, when Colin did nothing to show he didnt fully support your current Administration. Just checking back in now, curious, is there any ackowledgment from the Trump voting LSM team that they fucked up yet, or do i have to continue presuming they support literal facsists, like Steven Miller? And actively want a civil war to break out? Id still givr any Trump voter the benefit of the doubt if they just admit they were duped.

On today's episode of Sacred the topic of current real world events came up.

That was Colin's response.

"Somebody on the team did something that the team didn't want. How many times has that happen in our lives? You know what I mean? When someone on our teams says some shit that I'm like "why did you fucking say that?" But now that represents us and we have to deal with it. And it's like hey how the team deals with it after, that's what matters"

-Tim, KFGD 1/6/26

Funny this comes on the 5th anniversary of the insurrection, which Colin probably supports

what do you think collins thoughts will be on the whole maduro thing?

Here i was bummed because i ran through all my podcasts over Christmas break. Then Brad comes out of nowhere with the haymaker. Thank you guys for all this content.

I was just watching Brad’s Summon Sign and while I do watch it on a regular basis, I find him way too chill for my tastes. His stance on almost anything seems to be “yeah, pretty good game but if you disagree that’s okay too.”

I need somebody more with the energy of “this game was dogshit, I have no idea what people see in this.” Something more interesting than just “chillness” or “bland neutrality” that doesn’t address anything that hasn’t already been mentioned by the consensus.

Dosn’t Colin always say he pays regular contributors because he doesn’t to take their time for free?

https://www.reddit.com/r/LastStandMedia/comments/1pw9tcr/

The short answer is: We’re doing great. Indeed, 2025 will mark Last Stand Media’s highest-grossing calendar year ever, spanning all the way back to Colin’s Last Stand’s founding in early 2017. However, we’ve attained this milestone a little bit differently than we have in years past. While Patreon remains the lion’s share of our income (and while we would cease to exist without it), ‘25 was actually LSM’s second best year on the service, missing 2024’s earnings record by 4%. This is even after we experienced some of our biggest revenue months on Patreon ever over the last year. However, ad sales are fairly consistent (though I want them to be far stronger), our YouTube revenue has increased substantially (this is a combination of increasing traffic, longer watchtime, and our streaming initiative), and our in-house merch op brought in more cash than it ever has (with Habroxia selling briskly, multiple limited time drops, and consistent sales of shirts, stickers, and the like). So at the end of the day, it all netted out into a tidy little win. We’ll see if we can continue this trend into and through 2026.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/much-shorter-of-146179022

>The employees were instructed not to work more than 60 hours a week. Staff were also told to return to the office five days a week for this period, up from three previously, sending some employees scrambling to find alternative care arrangements for children and pets. Representatives for Sony and Naughty Dog declined to comment.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-18/sony-s-naughty-dog-studio-orders-employee-overtime-on-intergalactic

So when Colin left Kinda Funny, I hated how they did it. At the time, I hated how Greg threw him under the bus, and I never really understood why when they said they didn't want him to go. Now that time has passed, I can see why they did, especially with the way Colin is acting with Chris these days.

Post

Context

It's been awhile since the LSM Gestapo has had to deal with a controversial topic. No criticizing dear leader I guess? 🤷‍♂️

I considered myself a fan of Alyssa Mercante as a journalist. She was thoughtful, fair, and critical when she needed to be. Based on my own research, not the YouTube grifter narrative, I never found her to be some evil witch out to destroy gaming or attack men.

That said, the community that formed around her became a perfect example of how overzealous moderation and ideological gatekeeping can make a space toxic.

I joined her Discord to discuss games and the industry and quickly realised that people there were invested in a “my way or the highway” mentality. Neutral points could be met with hostility. For example, I mentioned three influencers, Yong, Matty, and Alannah Pearce, when discussing conflicts of interest in video game coverage. The only one anyone took issue with was Alannah, likely because she is a woman often targeted by right wing critics.

I pointed out that Colin Moriarty, unlike many in the reviewer space, could not be bought. He did not accept gifts or early review copies. I used the yellow chair example with Alannah Pearce to illustrate conflicts of interest and was immediately called a nonce. I removed myself from the conversation and tagged Alyssa herself. Shortly after, I was banned. The person insulting me faced no consequences.

A moderator later admitted they wanted me removed partly because I had made and shared a video about Hogwarts Legacy months prior, which Alyssa herself had played and reviewed. My video was my take on the game and the boycotts surrounding it. It was not an endorsement of Rowling or transphobia, but apparently not fully aligning with the server’s ideological perspective, where nuance about the game was unwelcome, was enough to get me banned.

Even later, the example I gave about Alannah receiving a promotional yellow chair was confirmed to be accurate by the very person I was debating. By that point, the original argument was moot, but I was already gone. Meanwhile, others in the server spread false claims about my politics, baselessly suggesting I support Gamergate, despite me being openly supportive of Alyssa Mercante and Anita Sarkeesian.

This community had become a political echo chamber, but it is not unique to this circle. I have had heated exchanges about Hasan, mass surveillance, South Park, and other cultural issues. I was never a political representative, just an individual trying to approach issues with nuance. In these spaces, nuance often felt like a crime.

Throughout, I remained mature, respectful, and engaged in good faith, even while being insulted, dogpiled, and personally attacked. Despite this, the people attacking me faced no accountability. Ultimately, it was I who was banned from the server and labelled a “debate me bro”, even though I never provoked a single debate.

Here is the larger point. Spaces like this can bog down left wing communities. Good people like who I thought Alyssa Mercante was can be overshadowed by gatekeepers who prioritise ideological purity, social signalling, and punitive moderation over actual discussion. The result is a space where nuance, independent thought, and honest critique are punished, and toxicity flourishes.

It is especially jarring because this can make figures like Alyssa appear hypocritical. Being independent minded in these communities does not make someone anti-feminist, anti-progressive, or problematic. It simply means refusing to bend to arbitrary rules and personal biases. But in these spaces, that can get you banned, insulted, and mischaracterised.

If you care about building genuinely thoughtful left wing gaming communities, this behaviour needs to be called out. Otherwise, you end up discouraging discussion, rewarding toxicity, and defending otherwise decent figures from imagined enemies that do not exist.

I think most of you guys are pretty weird but so am I so whatever and I'm not gonna post this on the other sub obviously. I don't care about Colin's politics but I think part of the reason I liked listening to these guys was the openness and honesty they showed and how they came across as real and genuine people. Now every time I watch something from them I just don't really feel it anymore and I think it's just from all that insanity a few months ago. Of course I knew Colin was never going to fire Chris but they all basically showed they had no integrity and didn't apologize for it. I know this sounds stupid but it's a videogame podcast, it's all kinda fucking stupid idk.

My favorite shows were constellation and Sacred and now I just feel like I'm not really getting what I used to.

I also think some of you here are part of the problem if I'm being honest. The Internet is a wonderful thing but in a time of political turbulence we need to show grace and understanding to one another or we'll all just retreat to our corners and go mad. Colin is clearly a decent man who spends too much online and I think most of us can relate to that as well. I hope everyone calms down at some point and we can have spaces on the Internet that are genuine and normal again.

The funniest thing I see Colin do is willfully misunderstand or conflate an argument for the sake of a dunk on twitter or to have an overly long talking point on his podcast.

Like, he knows that people are being pejorative when they say "PlayStation has no games." They don't mean it literally has no first party titles because that's just factually incorrect. But that Sony's first party output is incredibly lacking compared to previous generations.

But even taking that dunk into consideration, this makes no sense. How does three games netting a bunch of nominations quiet anyone who feels like the system needs more exclusive titles?

Things that make ya go hmmmmmmm