Out of all the places that I could have chosen to set Grunge-- New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago-- I chose to set it in a fictional city in the middle of North Carolina. The simple answer for this is that Grunge is based off of my webcomic, Copper Junction, and that also takes place in the same city. But then you could also ask why Copper Junction takes place in North Carolina. 

Why would I have a story about queer people that takes place in an area that’s not thought of as queer-friendly? 

Sometimes, there are news stories that emerge from the South that focus on how X state is attempting to roll back rights for a certain group of people-- usually women, people of color, or LGBT people. When I read those stories, sometimes I see comments such as, “If these people don’t like it, they can just leave!” 

Those statements are ignorant, and make a lot of assumptions. One, they assume that you can afford to move out of the state, but obviously, not everyone can. And not everyone-- gasp-- wants to, either. For another, when someone says that you can just leave if you don’t like it, they are saying that they are okay with you being oppressed. They are perfectly fine with your rights being eliminated, and you should put up with that. 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting your state to not roll back your rights. 

There’s nothing with pushing for change and progress. 

There’s nothing wrong with advocating for yourself and trying to make your home better for not only yourself, but others around you. 

This is something to be praised, not mocked. This is something to be celebrated, not sneered at. At the very least, your right and desire to feel safe in your own community should be respected. After all, you deserve to feel safe and have the same rights as everyone else, no matter where you live. Yet time and time again, I’ve seen people criticized for trying to make things better within their own communities.  

Queer people, women, and people of color exist throughout the South. They always have, and they always will, for one reason or another. Copper Junction and Grunge are meant to reflect this reality. I wanted to illustrate a community of people that bonded together in the fact of adversity. They are each other’s advocates and allies. They aren’t going anywhere, and in fact, they are going to thrive and fight for their rights. Perhaps this is something too idealistic, and not close to reality. But I hope that when you witness their interactions while playing the game, it gives you a sense of hope.