A revised Scratch rant with new language

We're getting real here! Trigger warning for Sexual Assault mentions.

Let's get real. Journey to Hope is not quite a child friendly story anymore.

I'm getting older, and so is the original fanbase. I've known a lot of you since I was 14.

The truth is, Journey to Hope has never been shy to talk about dark and uncomfortable topics. But sadly, on Scratch, my home for 7 years, I can't just slap a warning on something and write the stories I want.

That's why I'm moving to Itch in the first place-- so I can express my stories freely. The good, bad and ugly.

Journey to Hope's characters have not changed. It's always been this way, and will always be this way.

But in newer Itch games, you may notice talk about darker things, like Cursing, Tyranny, Cultism, and even Sexual Assault.

JTH was never really kid friendly. It's always been targeted towards teenagers. I've just been dancing around the guidelines like a fricking ballerina just to gain a fanbase. It's just so easy to get fans on Scratch... hard on Itch. Unless a YouTuber plays your game, you're getting nowhere.

Journey to Hope's a good story, but that doesn't remove the ugly. And I can't keep sanitizing it's villains.

Thunder was abusive towards Summer. (Mentally and Sexually)

Swoop harassed she-mongooses. (Sexually, Mentally and Physically)

And High-Cliff left pups out in the wilderness to die. (Because they didn't follow his rules)

A story, to me, isn't good without good villains. And I'm honestly kinda tired of the "Ooh I did a baddie, Mwahaha, I'm so scary." Nobody gives a crap if you stole a pup, but then were easily defeated by the power of friendship. I love My Little Pony FIM, but this is not the time.

Man, I'm too old for walking on eggshells like this. I want to tell REAL stories. This isn't a matter of being edgy, it's just getting older and wanting to explore dark topics. I watched a lot of Law and Order SVU as a kid. Stuff happens in real life we'd rather be hush-hush about... but I'm not afraid to tackle subjects like that despite what society thinks.

This reminds me of when Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls, created the show for family audiences, and then The Book of Bill for older fans. An unsanitized version of the originals.

So... think of the Scratch games for all audiences, and the Itch games for more mature audiences.

I said what I said.