The Banning of Sensible Haircut

## Belligerents

* **Sensible Haircut**†
* **Ulysses**
* Sqwid
* Legownz
* Makin' Bacon
* M3Lucas
* Digi
* Crimson Blitz
* iSyphun†

* **Yuurg**†
* **Dr. Dos**
* **Relk\_Cehi**
* Frapple

**The Banning of Sensible Haircut** occurred on September 8th of 2015, where a raunchy joke about Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner got one of the most integral members of the TF2Tags community at the time banned for good because some pissy little rando got offended and cried to Dr. Dos.

## Background

Sensible Haircut was a beloved and influential veteran of the TF2Tags community throughout 2014 and 2015 who had a tendency to make politically-charged and edgy jokes that technically went against site rules, but were never reported and often found humorous regardless. Specifically, the site rules specify that you cannot make any jokes that are perceived as transphobic, or else you would be met with a ban. Jokes of such caliber had been done before, but largely nobody reported them.

Roughly two and a half weeks prior to Sensible Haircut's banning, fellow Generation 1 Tagger A Fucking Idiot was also banned from the site in a manner similar to how Sensible would be. His style breaks rules, someone reports him, he gets banned, people go into a wild frenzy and demonize the reporter while others become grumpy mothers sipping wine to drown out the drama. However, the fallout of this ban in particular was much more... explosive.

## Beware the Yuurg

On September 8th, 2015, Sensible Haircut posted a now infamous tag of the Flying Guillotine Scout secondary weapon titled "The Bruce Jenner Experience". For those unaware, this was a joke at the expense of Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender woman who was previously Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Jenner. Jenner came out five months prior in April, and Sensible wanted to satirize it by insinuating that he chopped his penis off with a cleaver. The reception to this joke has been lost to history due to the tag in question being deleted following the ban, but from what *is* known most taggers did not believe it to be transphobic or offensive.

However, it didn't matter what the majority thought. What matters is the opinion of one person and the man that they subsequently reported to. You see, September 8th just so happened to be the day where a minor tagger from 2014 returned to the site. This tagger was named Yuurg. Yuurg saw Sensible's tag and took offense, and in the comments informed Sensible of his perceived transgressions. This led to a long and drawn-out argument between Sensible and Yuurg, where Sensible apparently referred to Jenner as "Bruce Jenner", used male pronouns, and explicitly called Jenner a man. Given the arguments around the praise from the media and rewards she seemingly received undeservingly at the time, Sensible's position was not uncommon among people of his particular leaning, but Yuurg got so enraged by Sensible's rudeness that they reported the tag to Dr. Dos, who subsequently banned him.

Sensible's ban was announced by Ulysses, who snarkily advised everyone to start referring to people exclusively with "they" and complained that some people couldn't take a damn joke. The initial response from the community was negative, but not yet too angry. Sqwid and PsychKlown criticized the ban, with the former shortly after making a tag comparing TF2Tags to Tumblr and the latter also criticizing the constant cycle of drama on the site and there being only one semi-present admin often being at the center of it all. Makin' Bacon's reception was negative but was confident the ban would be lifted, a sentiment most taggers initially shared. When A Fucking Idiot was banned roughly two and a half weeks prior, he was almost immediately unbanned after AFI reached out and made his case, and they largely expected the same thing to happen here.

Relk would comment in this announcement tag, celebrating Sensible's ban. He says he couldn't stand him before and what he did was "no laughing matter". He would continue to express this sentiment in future tags during this event, which would grow increasingly important as time went on with a particular user.

## Walking Away

Roughly two and a half hours after Sensible's ban was announced, Ulysses made another set giving an update on the situation. He reported that Sensible was gone for good, that the ban was permanent and Dr. Dos would not rescind it. Sensible and Dos had reportedly exchanged some words following the ban, which didn't go too well. Dos apparently blocked Sensible completely, and during the talk Sensible said the following words to Ulysses:

> "I have no sympathy for new age hippie self loving blowhards. The world lies in wickedness, and I... ...am persecuted for calling out the madness."
>
>

> "I don't think I'm coming back. Ain't no use, reasoning with a delusional man is counter productive. [Jesse: "Like trying to reason with me."] Except you aren't a piece of politically correct garbage."
>
>

After relaying this information, Ulysses stated he was considering leaving himself on account of the place "goin' to hell real fuckin' quick", and called out Relk stating that nobody cares about what he had to say. At some point in the next forty minutes, Ulysses would decide that he would leave, and made a set saying so. Apparently, he said some very vitriolic words to Relk regarding his pro-ban position regarding Sensible. Though the two could loosely be considered friends up until that point, the ensuing argument ended that entirely. (Note: There are reports that Ulysses was also banned alongside Sensible and that this was because Relk reported him for harassment. This cannot be proven with so many tags from this event being deleted.)

Forty minutes after Ulysses reported Sensible's ban being permanent, Legownz commented on the deteriorating state of the community and left too. Sqwid and Blast shared Legownz's sentiments. Yuurg's final comment on TF2Tags was left on this set, stating "its kind of satisfying to cause such chaos and drama among assholes tbh". PyschKlown would insult Yuurg in response. It is assumed that taggers would go on a hatewagon against Yuurg for what they committed, essentially lynching the user off the site, but this cannot be confirmed. Yuurg would eventually be driven away forever, deleting his 72 tags and leaving only 1. There is the possibility that people were more mad at Dos overall, and thus did not desire to give the nobody the time of day. Alas, what actually happened is lost to history.

Four minutes after Legownz left with Ulysses, Sqwid made a tag and said he would join them. Not long after, Fancytag begged Dr. Dos to "STOP FUCKING UP SHIT!" and said that he too might leave the site. Half an hour later, M3Lucas would also leave, stating that his grades were low and that the site was going downhill. In the comments, Digi stated he would leave too. Frapple would go on to mock the people leaving, stating (as he typically did) that TF2Tags is a site for hat renames, not petty drama, but he also said that if drama must occur, his forum tab idea should be implemented. Three hours after Lucas stated he was leaving, the up-and-coming tagger ISyphun also decided to leave, though this was in part because he wasn't having fun tagging in general anymore. At some point, Crimson Blitz also apparently left, though the tag or set where he stated so has since been deleted.

Five hours later, Fancy reported to the site that Dos's Steam profile had gone completely private, and that nobody was able to contact him for the time being. This was presumably done because Dos stood firm in his position of not unbanning Sensible and didn't want to be flooded with messages and emails telling him to unban him. Le Tryhard Hunter and Blast would go on to share their feelings on the event, pointing our Dos's hypocrisy and apparently being brought to tears over the loss of so many friends from TF2Tags. Legownz would return to the site, however, after being gone for 14 hours. Right after this, Digi made his leaving official. At some point, Crimson would also return to the site.

The mass walkout of TF2Tags following Sensible's ban was the largest group Leave and Never Come Back in site history. In total, TF2Tags lost nine taggers that day, though in reality it was only six due to Legownz and Crimson coming back so quickly and Ulysses being tethered to the site on account of his drama with Relk, which was happening around the same time as everyone leaving. The six that *did* leave, however, would also eventually come back, bar one: ISyphun, who (though he would return every now and then to make a tag every few months) was the only one that truly, for all intents and purposes, Left And Never Came Back.

## A Bloody Rivalry

While many others were leaving, Ulysses was trying to leave himself, but found himself unable to as drama kept him around. As previously stated, Ulysses apparently made some vitriolic comments towards Relk in his goodbye set which caused their friendship to end. The animosity came from Relk's support of Sensible's ban, as he too found "The Bruce Jenner Experience" to be a transphobic tag. He already did not like Sensible in the slightest, and was glad to see him gone. With the insults thrown towards him by Ulysses, he stated that he regretted every giving the #2 tagger any hope or encouragement.

It is unknown if the two men's arguing and insults continued between Ulysses's farewell and Blast pointing out the fight, as no tags from either user regarding the fight remain. Blast, the resident TF2Tags mediator, would eventually address the situation before Legownz's return and Digi's departure, reminding them both that they are friends and things happen in friendships. They should let it go and move on. Relk, however, refused to do this, commenting that Ulysses's farewell speech ticked him off and that he didn't deserve Relk's friendship, which TGRobert (who had really just been sitting back and watching the drama) called childish.

Seemingly after Blast addressed the situation, Ulysses was apparently banned for 24 hours after Relk seemingly reported him, and left the site in an angry state. In response, the taggers that remained started a new hatewagon against Relk, with many making tags siding with Ulysses and calling Relk an asshole. All of these tags were deleted at some point following the drama, however there are a few taggers that can reasonably be assumed to have gotten on the hatewagon. Fancytag admitted to insulting Relk and later apologized for it. PsychKlown was extremely critical of Dos and Relk throughout the drama so it is likely he did as well. Timberwoof believed Relk to be an asshole after seeing everything unfold before leaving. TGRobert likely also sided with Ulysses as well due to their friendship and his previous criticisms of Relk from Blast addressing the situation. Blast and Crimson were outspokenly trying to settle the drama, as they tended to do with drama in general

Eventually, on September 10th, 2015, at 1:53 a.m., Ulysses would return to the site, the Relk hatewagon largely passing and Ulysses not starting it back up again. Following this, some would make tags mocking the entire drama, and Legownz would ask if the site would ever get any mods. After this question, the drama had largely ended.

## Legacy

The fallout from Sensible's ban and the subsequent drama between the top two taggers on the site sent shockwaves throughout the TF2Tags community. The most obvious longstanding outcome of this event was Sensible Haircut being forcibly exiled from TF2Tags and the community that largely loved and appreciated him. Seen as a pillar of the community, his loss made people harbor longstanding grief. He had effectively been martyred by the community as a fallen hero for freedom of speech.

At the same time, this was the last straw for many people regarding Dr. Dos and him being the sole administrator of TF2Tags. Him not going back on the ban, stacked upon his actions during the Mobile-Friendly Update and his steady abandonment of the site, demonstrated that he was extremely prone to expressing bad judgement and needed moderators to step in and handle the drama of TF2Tags for him. Of course, he never did wind up implementing moderators (or moderator, because he chose only one) until it was *far* too late, so he was criticized more and more with time, ultimately culminating in him revealing his thoughts on the community during the Attack of the Clones and eventually announcing that he was ending the site in January of 2018.

Ulysses and Relk's bitter feud would continue on for at least another year before they left each other on neutral terms. Their bitter rivalry would become a longstanding part of site lore and can be considered the most infamous rivalry in TF2Tags history.

Sensible's ban is also considered to be the dividing line between Generation 1 and Generation 2 taggers. Anyone who had established themselves as a major part of the community prior to Sensible's ban is considered Generation 1, and anyone who became major after is considered Generation 2, even if they had already been on site site for a couple months leading up to the ban.

As for Yuurg, he would stick around for a little while after the whole ordeal, but was effectively blacklisted by most of the community who no longer wanted anything to do with him. He left the site at some point in November, eventually deleting all of his tags.

## Gallery

Note that many tags from this crisis have been deleted. This especially applies to the Relk vs. Ulysses stuff and the community's reaction to Yuurg. Any information regarding these parts of this shitstorm have been inferred from the information displayed in these tags.

Ulysses reports Sensible Haircut's ban.Sqwid mocks the ban by comparing TF2Tags to Tumblr.Ulysses reveals Sensible's ban is permanent and not getting lifted.Blast shows up confused and asks for an update on the situation.Legownz is sick of the deteriorating state of the community and leaves.Sqwid announces he too will leave the site in solidarity with Sensible, Ulysses, and Legownz.Fancytag begs Dr. Dos to stop fucking shit up and expresses that he might leave too.Fred Fuchs makes a joke about everyone leaving, which he updated as more and more people left.Flam arrives on the site only to discover the storm.M3Lucas decides to leave as well. Digi also states his intent to leave in the comments.Fred tries desperately to save TF2Tags.Biolizard tells everyone not to worry as he would still be around. Clearly, people did not appreciate the sentiment.Frapple tells people they are taking things too seriously and that TF2Tags is a site for renaming items......but then brings up his forum tab idea of drama must take place on the site.ISyphun, a minor tagger who had been growing on the site for some time, also leaves TF2Tags.AFI comes to the site for the first time since the drama started and is confused as to why everyone is leaving.A joke about the state of TF2Tags, parodying one of the Top Tags of the site.Fancytag points out Dr. Dos has set his steam profile to private.TheOnlyGuyEver laments at the loss of so many prominent figures.Le Tryhard Hunter points out Dr. Dos's hypocrisy.Le Tryhard Hunter reports a missbomber. This is unrelated to the drama at hand, instead pointing to a minor  missbomber named Latviangibus who had missbombed several people prior to Sensible's ban.A tagger comes back to see the site in flames.Same tagger makes a joke at the drama (and Vaccinator)'s expense. Anorexic Sumo Wrestler wants answers. Relk gives his biased answers.Blast expresses his sadness regarding the situation.Blast expressing even more sadness regarding the Ulysses and Relk fight.PsychKlown uses a JonTron reference to describe the situation.Le Tryhard Hunter expresses his own sadness at the situation, as well as a call for the community to do things better from now on.Legownz, in typical Leave And Never Come Back fashion, returns after 14 hours.Digi announces he too is leaving.Danjin correctly points out that you can log out of, but never truly leave, TF2Tags.Blast states that Crimson's view on the Relk vs. Ulysses drama is right, that it's becoming a bandwagon and should be dropped, and encourages everyone to look to a brighter future.Fancy apologizes to Relk for bandwagoning against him.MexicanDeadpool wants to know what is going on regarding Ulysses and Relk. Relk is just relieved that there is a tag on the situation not explicitly against him.Flam says he's leaving, but it's just a joke.Timberwoof comes back to the site only to see the drama......and then decides to leave immediately after seeing it.Ulysses's first tag after the drama with Relk.Legownz demands an explanation for the Ulysses vs. Relk drama.Crimson tries to return to normalcy with puns.Le Tryhard Hunter mocks everyone who said they were leaving but didn't.Qror mocks the drama.Yahiamice doesn't care for the drama. Instead, he looks forward to jokes on 9/11.Legownz asks if mods are actually going to become a thing after all the drama. This question, like always, never got answered.
## Trivia

* Reminder that all of this happened because one guy who had only just discovered the site got assmad over a joke.
* In one of the more bizarre events in TF2Tags history, a replica of the infamous Bruce Jenner tag was posted on the site on January 27th, 2016, mere minutes prior to the first instance of the Colorless Times, by an account named #Freedomisntfree. This tag caused Ulysses to go ballistic, and immediately started trying to figure out who would have done something like this, immediately ruling out Sensible himself.
	+ The new account's Steam ID was "fuckyoudos", perhaps hinting that it was Sensible himself, despite Ulysses's protests.
	+ The account only ever made the one tag. It is unknown if the tag was meant to start some kind of shitstorm or merely act as some kind of memorial.
	+ Here is the tag in question:

* The Banning of Sensible Haircut is very similar in nature to the future ban of Floro Sapiens, who Dr. Dos banned personally over a joke against feminism.