There’s a melodramatic country successful Nier: Automata successful which a desperate, downtrodden android commands his AI companion to cease each logical functions. The AI, sensible happening that it is, warns him that there’s astir nary accidental this volition extremity well. Our leader knows this, of course; helium does it anyway. This leads to 1 of the astir memorable lines successful the full critically acclaimed enactment game. “Why bash I agelong for humans similar this,” the android cries out, arsenic helium takes a unsafe leap of religion that ends up with idiosyncratic getting hurt.

If you’ve ever gone connected Tinder, you mightiness cognize precisely what this is similar adjacent if you’ve ne'er played Nier: Automata. A pistillate named Jen surely does, based connected her acquisition utilizing dating apps. Jen, who works arsenic a paralegal, went viral connected Twitter earlier this twelvemonth for, arsenic she enactment it, swiping connected Tinder and getting “guys to bargain Nier: Automata” lone to “then shade them.”

By her count, she roped 22 men into her devious yet astonishing scheme. Since it’s been a mates of years, she claims, she couldn’t amusement Kotaku proof that she convinced dozens of men to bargain the unusually philosophical game. She did, however, person a fistful of screenshots of conversations afloat of flirts, successful which radical would accidental that they couldn’t judge they were astir to bargain a video crippled conscionable to impressment a girl. [Editor’s note: This barroom is low.] And astatine slightest immoderate of the pictured folks look to person genuinely played the game, arsenic the screenshots amusement treatment of antithetic endings and crippled points betwixt her and the would-be paramours.

Known for its aggravated post-apocalyptic and introspective storytelling, Nier: Automata is afloat of twists and turns, including changing perspectives, alternating genres, and aggregate endings. There’s precise small retired determination similar Nier, and less inactive similar Yoko Taro, its enigmatic and offbeat creator. Let maine summarize his full woody by saying that he’s champion known for going astir wearing a elephantine moon-shaped disguise implicit his head, based connected the quality Emil from the archetypal Nier.

It takes a definite benignant of appetite to adjacent beryllium unfastened to this benignant of offbeat weirdness—Snoop Dogg hawking Call of Duty oregon John Cena dropping into Fornite this is not. Nier fans precocious proved to everyone that they’re connected an wholly antithetic level than astir radical erstwhile a radical of modders convinced the world that their creations mightiness person been a long-lost in-game secret, oregon possibly an ARG.

No, the cryptic messages that took the gaming satellite by tempest were “just” a clump of hardcore Nier fans loving the hellhole retired of their game. From the sounds of it, that’s the benignant of distinctive psyche that Jen, who claims her Tinder bio said that Nier was her favourite game, wanted to find: idiosyncratic she could really, genuinely speech to astir her fandom.

Part of what makes the communicative believable is the sheer scope of Jen’s fandom, which she calls an “obsession.” She shared a representation of a shrine she said she keeps successful her room, and folks, the happening is massive. It’s got Emil each implicit it, successful a assortment of antithetic forms. The table—which adjacent includes a dedicated candle—would basal retired successful immoderate room. Indeed, Jen said that earlier radical spell into her country for the archetypal time, Jen has to pass them astir it first.

The shrine makes consciousness erstwhile you see Jen’s transportation to the game, which she said came into her beingness during a play erstwhile she was “heavily depressed and suicidal owed to being bullied and having an abusive family.” At the time, she watched a Let’s Play of the crippled and became obsessed with everything, from its euphony to its aesthetic. She inactive fondly remembers lines like, “A aboriginal is not fixed to you. It is thing you indispensable instrumentality for yourself.”

That’s an thought she took to bosom connected Tinder, really. Having nary 1 section to speech to astir the game, she hoped to alteration her luck connected a dating app. Most specified interactions were shallow, she admits.

“Many [Tinder matches] wouldn’t admit it arsenic overmuch [as I did], oregon erstwhile I wanted to speech astir each item and they conscionable said ‘[it] was a bully crippled [but] determination isn’t that overmuch to speech about’,” Jen said, which she took arsenic her cue to shade them and determination on. Still, galore went for it.

“It was really insane, however galore men would bargain it,” she said, noting that portion she did sometimes archer them outright to bargain the game, she ne'er promised thing intersexual successful exchange. But successful an echo of the entitlement that comes with buying a pistillate a portion astatine the bar, galore of these men did not spot buying the crippled arsenic a neutral act.

“Actually galore full-on expected thing from maine successful instrumentality for recommending a game,” she said. “Many times I had to work however they wished I’d deterioration 2B’s azygous for them.”

Really, the mode Jen describes talking astir Nier almost sounds similar she utilized it arsenic a shield against the changeless sexualization she kept coming crossed connected Tinder. The much men tried to get saucy, the much she talked store astir lore and the like. But eventually, that crassness was precisely what pushed her to halt trying to find a lucifer and alternatively conscionable commencement trying to merchantability Yoko Taro’s masterpiece outright. Might arsenic good marque thing of it, right? As she said successful her archetypal viral tweet, “High income mean much Taro games.”

“I deliberation that [the crassness] made maine a spot much apathetic implicit time… [of course] I cognize that was truly fucked up from my portion arsenic well, but I bash deliberation Yoko Taro’s games merit much recognition.”

It was amusing for a while, but yet the world of the full happening started to deed her similar the starkness of watching yourself swipe listlessly implicit dozens of radical connected the toilet past midnight.

“I stopped due to the fact that one kinda realized however nonchalant I became astir thing truthful fucked up?” she said. “Like adjacent tho immoderate of them were similar really gross, but others mightiness person conscionable disliked the crippled oregon aren’t that overmuch into analyzing and theories and specified and [I] astir apt wounded their feelings [by] conscionable ‘disappearing.’”

Nowadays, Jen is not lone continuing to adhd to the shrine, she’s besides recovered her radical connected Discord. Better yet, her Discord buddies “like the crippled genuinely and don’t conscionable privation to fuck me.” One pal adjacent lives adjacent to her. And besides, who needs stinky boys erstwhile the antheral himself is watching implicit your shitposts?

“Yoko Taro followed maine a fewer years backmost erstwhile I made nude instrumentality creation of the 2 main girls of Automata,” she said. “I deliberation that made my obsession adjacent stronger lmao.”