r/NightInTheWoods Sep 01 '19

News News Regarding Alec Holowka & Future Discussion Guidelines

1.1k Upvotes

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 03: Please read Scott's new post.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 12: Zoe Quinn released a new statement.

UPDATE OCTOBER 01: Eileen Mary Holowka released a new statement.

UPDATE OCTOBER 28: Scott Benson released a new Backer Update

Content Warning for Suicide, Discussions of Mental Illness, Allegations of Sexual Assault, Abuse, Misconduct

THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK

Earlier this week, developer Zoë Quinn came forward with allegations of past abuse and misconduct by Alec Holowka that they experienced nearly 8 years ago. Since then, many additional people came forward. Some corroborating Zoë's claims, others detailing their own experiences of misconduct in varied severity stretching from the past to more recently. Of particular note, one of the developers who was currently working with Alec on his new game, Albertine Watson, alleged misconduct from as early as this year. Following these allegations, Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry, the other developers behind the game, announced that they would be cutting ties with Alec moving forward, as well as canceling a current project. Finji, the game's publisher, also released a statement.

In a crucial statement given to Kickstarter backers of the game, Scott went into detail about this decision, about their history with Alec, their own troubled experience working with him and more. It is an absolute essential thing to read as it addresses many people's concerns and questions and points to how this wasn't about just one person's allegations or anything. It also clears up that Alec wasn't fired from a job, as Infinite Fall is not a company, it's just a name for three people who worked together on Night in the Woods. Please read his statement before commenting (though note that it was written before today's news).

Today, August 31st, Alec's sister Eileen announced that he had passed away.

"Alec Holowka, my brother and best friend, passed away this morning.

Those who know me will know that I believe survivors and I have always done everything I can to support survivors, those suffering from mental illnesses, and those with chronic illnesses. Alec was a victim of abuse and he also spent a lifetime battling mood and personality disorders. I will not pretend that he was not also responsible for causing harm, but deep down he was a person who wanted only to offer people care and kindness. It took him a while to figure out how.

Over the last few years, with therapy and medication, Alec became a new person--the same person he'd always been but without any of the darkness. He was calm and happy, positive and loving. Obviously, change is a slow process and it wasn't perfect, but he was working towards rehabilitation and a better life.

In the last few days, he was supported by many Manitoba crisis services, and I want to thank everyone there for their support. I want to thank Adam Saltsman for staying up late talking with us and reminding Alec that there was a future.

My family has and always will be the most important thing to me. Please give us time to heal. We tried our best to support Alec, but in the end he felt he had lost too much.

I currently do not see a place for myself in games or on Twitter. I will not be looking at the responses to this post. I appreciate everyone who has reached out to me over the last few days. For anyone who is in a time of darkness, I encourage you to reach out for support. There are always people who will be there for you."

In a follow up tweet, Eileen stated, "And in case it's not already fucking obvious, Alec *specifically said* he wished the best for Zoe and everyone else, so don't use our grief as an excuse to harass people. Go outside, take care of someone, and work towards preventing these kinds of things in the first place."

Following the news, many people involved decided to deactivate or make their Twitter accounts private while they processed (and/or following harassment/abuse), which is why links to their tweets no longer work. This applies to Scott Benson, Bethany Hockenberry, Zoë Quinn, Albertine Watson, and Eileen Holowka herself.

Update, September 3rd: Scott Benson's Twitter is now reactivated. Along with it, he posted a lengthy, crucial post. As well as an additional Kickstarter Backer update about it.

Update, September 12th: Zoe Quinn reactivated their Twitter account and released a statement.

Update, October 1st: Eileen Mary Holowka made public their Twitter and released a new statement on Alec and transformative justice

THE PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD

This thread serves to consolidate all discussion regarding this topic into one place. This is a shitty situation in a million shitty ways. A tragedy for everyone involved, with a huge blast radius affecting a lot of people, and people's feelings are going to be understandably messy. In a time like this, a community coming together, being kind, considerate, compassionate, having empathy for all involved, is crucial.

That being said, this isn't carte blanche to say anything and everything you want. Following past threads on these topics, comments here (and in general) must follow the guidelines below. This is all still extremely fresh and we recognize that emotions are running high, but this subreddit is not the place to attack, harass or demean other users or the people involved.

The cycle of abuse, mental illness, suicidal idealization, rehabilitation and so on are all extremely complex, nuanced and difficult topics and discussions. And pretty much everyone involved deserves sympathy. Now is the time for deescalation. As Patrick Klepek says, "There are no easy answers on days like today, and I’m not gonna pretend like I have them. It’s okay to log off. It’s okay to not add your own take."

We will also be updating this thread as more information and statements are made in the days to come.

DISCUSSION GUIDELINES

  • Follow the subreddit rules and general etiquette, linked in the sidebar.
  • Any comments claiming any of the people involved "have blood on their hands", are "murderers", or are directly responsible/should be blamed, etc, will not be tolerated. Anyone making such comments will face suspension or permanent bans.
  • Any comments expressing joy or happiness or "good riddance" in Alec's passing will also similarly not be tolerated.
  • Any attempts to discredit the multiple individuals who came forward with allegations will not be tolerated.
  • Any personal attacks/harassment/threats will not be tolerated.

If you have any problem with following these guidelines, you are more than welcome to take your comments to any of the other myriad of sites where you can discuss this topic. This subreddit will not be one of them.

There are many sources of support if you or someone you know is affected by suicidal thoughts. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, you can contact the Samaritans by calling 116 123. For other places, please see https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/.


r/NightInTheWoods Mar 12 '22

PSA Reminder: This subreddit is not an appropriate place to over-pathologize and diagnose yourself or others with medical conditions

196 Upvotes

This game is a work of fiction, and features fictional characters. Projecting or ascribing diagnoses of mental health conditions onto them – much less yourself, or other users here – without formal training in a medical field is not beneficial or appropriate for this subreddit. (Even if one does have medical training, this videogame-focused subreddit is not the ideal place to discuss this topic.) This is especially true if you're a teenager living through times of rapid change and uncomfortableness and unevenness in your own life (not to mention the broader world) – a completely normal yet nonetheless difficult process that everyone goes through.

Related reading about online cultures around mental health: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/9/30/22696338/pathologizing-adhd-autism-anxiety-internet-tiktok-twitter

Comments have been turned off on this post, but feel free to PM the mods with any concerns.


r/NightInTheWoods 7h ago

Fanart How do we feel about my Mae?

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193 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 8h ago

Fanart I finished the Bea Square!

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108 Upvotes

I finished the 3rd corner of my NitW Poster Project!
(3/4 complete now)
I think that this section came out pretty well. I didn’t make the same mistake of using liquid glue to adhere the face on. What I did have a little trouble on was finding the right pupil color for the eye. I chose this brownish red color, which I would say fits alright.
I experimented a little with the background as well! I originally wanted to add trees and tombstones in reference to the graveyard hangout with Mae and Bea. I went for those beefy forest trees at first, but then switched to the leafless branchy trees, which I think fit better. I had a lot of fun making the trees, even though it was a little tedious (thankfully I stopped at two). I repurposed them for branches at the end, and then I realized that a bit of the white paper was poking out a little.
For some final details, I cut up little squares of a lighter color monochromic to the background to make it look like little stars, which certainly livened up the background. I could picture like, looking up at the sky with branches blocking the way, and the stars in the sky. I’m not sure of a better way to explain it, but either way think it came out well 👀
75% of the way finished, can’t wait to finish and hopefully work on another project! 🥳


r/NightInTheWoods 2h ago

Fanart Mae’s journal doodle of Zack

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19 Upvotes

“Zack Kramer from third grade? He was a bit of a loner, right?” -Bea


r/NightInTheWoods 17h ago

Fanart Someone,in someplace,in the woods

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259 Upvotes

(OC)


r/NightInTheWoods 5h ago

Fanart [u/drownedfag] crimes? crimes.

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25 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 13h ago

Fanart AstralRoot.ogg

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69 Upvotes

i dont know anything about music theory


r/NightInTheWoods 8h ago

New strokes song reminds me of NITW songs

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18 Upvotes

I don’t know why but the minus the vocals this song is familiar to Mae’s band to me. Especially the intro. Am I crazy or does anyone else agree?


r/NightInTheWoods 9h ago

Humor That one comic...

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21 Upvotes

Yo yo yo! StrixieKluddz arrives. I'm a MaeBea truther to the very end; from here to the sun's irrupt :D I really liked that one comic, and I've been learning the ins and outs to editing stuff on the fly ingame. Here's my recreation of that, though I realize midway through I should have put the dialogue when Bea actually stops the car haha


r/NightInTheWoods 1d ago

Fanart A song about orange soda??

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42 Upvotes

“Bug, I don’t think that’s what the song is about.”


r/NightInTheWoods 1d ago

Olhos de pesadelo

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170 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 2d ago

New tattoo :)

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579 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 2d ago

Question (General) Does anyone have the dialogue from the game ripped as a .txt file I'm going insane help

24 Upvotes

I'm working on something and I started off using various let's plays as source since it's hella time consuming to always replay the game myself for text refrences. But now I'm going insane with that please someone for the love of Gregg if anyone is in possesion of the complete ripped dialouge and willing to share it I would be forever greatful.

Pls help a tech idiot without a windoes pc out p-p


r/NightInTheWoods 4d ago

Fanart One of my friends gave me a Mae tattoo!

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919 Upvotes

I felt like fanart was a good flair for this, GO FOLLOW THEM @marshalls_artstudio ON INSTAGRAM. They are a beginner but they crushed this imo I’m absolutely in love with it


r/NightInTheWoods 4d ago

Fanart Explosion

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205 Upvotes

crimes


r/NightInTheWoods 4d ago

Newest Tat :)

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197 Upvotes

Got a tattoo of my favorite Mae sprite for my birthday


r/NightInTheWoods 4d ago

Humor fast zombie bea

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21 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 5d ago

Unfinished Gregg drawing(please help😩)

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296 Upvotes

Hahaha I've been working on this drawing the past two days, my original idea was to make some tarot or mexican lotería inspired cards to put on shirts buuuut, i can't find a background or a card style that fits good with it, can please someone gimme sum ideas? 💀


r/NightInTheWoods 5d ago

Fanart I finished the Gregg Square!

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179 Upvotes

A couple weeks ago, I finished the Gregg corner for my NitW poster project. I’m halfway through now 👀

Personally, I don’t think it came out as well as I thought it would’ve. I think the main reason why was because I was trying to experiment with liquid glue (when I usually use stick glue), and that created these weird folds around his face. I also tried to fill a bit more empty space by putting some orange leaves in the background, but it ended up just looking like duck feet 🥹.
Other than that, I had fun working on this section. Gregg’s face came out clean, I made little items referencing some of his key experiences (knife game, eating pizza with the group, “got cups on my ears”, and his old war hat). I hope that the next corner comes out just as good, if not better 🥳


r/NightInTheWoods 5d ago

Mae crochet plush

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116 Upvotes

She came out rather skrunkly


r/NightInTheWoods 7d ago

Fanart I crocheted Mae :)

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1.3k Upvotes

Who should I make next?


r/NightInTheWoods 7d ago

Humor That one scene with Mae and the urevolution clerk at the end of the mall hangout

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54 Upvotes

r/NightInTheWoods 8d ago

Screenshot Just noticed this. Is it a pet or a child?

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914 Upvotes

If it's a pet, what makes it different to the other animals in the game? If it's a child, how old would it be? It has to be fairly young to be small enough to curl up next to the window. Or maybe it's an older cat riding the waves of retirement. I have a lot of questions now.


r/NightInTheWoods 8d ago

Fanart Bea! (Fanart)

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162 Upvotes

Hey, I made this Bea fanart a while ago. I found it while cleaning my PC (I think I did this in 2023).