Jeremy Soule (Skyrim/Guild Wars 2 Composer) Accused of Rape

[Euron]

To those who don't know, this guy composed the music for the Elder Scrolls games and Guild Wars 2.

Ugh. So disappointing. Another one in the trash.

EDIT: Posted to the Guild Wars 2 subreddit. Hopefully the player response is at least half decent.

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I don't see it there, probably got removed. I checked the Skyrim subreddit and the responses are awful. Games discussion is so toxic that I never bother with it outside this site and this is a prime example of it. These people need to grow up and see the world outside their pieces of plastic.

Yeah his work with TES was beautiful and that's now ruined but as mentioned earlier this thread, think of the work lost from his victims due to their trauma. He robbed the world of the amazing work of many others because of his actions. He killed creative fires. It sounds like he had many more victims than the woman mentioned in the OP.

 

[badnewsbeers]

Well, he's now a complete sack of shit. I backed his shitty kickstarter and was refunded thank god, but after years of his bullshit there and now this, he can go fuck himself.

 

[Jessie]

Investigated first and if found guilty then yes for sure.

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If your employee was accused of raping another employee, would you wait for a guilty verdict in a court of law before firing them?

 

[NeonBorealis]

Just read the whole thing. I usually don't say this, but fuck that guy. I sincerely hope he gets obliterated and can't come back in a professional setting, or any setting.

it sadly keeps confirming my belief that many people in positions of power got there by stepping over other people.

 

[Glass Arrows]

I don't see it there, probably got removed. I checked the Skyrim subreddit and the responses are awful. Games discussion is so toxic that I never bother with it outside this site and this is a prime example of it. Grow up and see the world outside your piece of plastic.

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Can't say I'm too surprised, I post on reddit semi-frequently and I try to avoid discussing anything pertaining to social issues there because you get bombarbed with status quo warriors or borderline gamergate types. I honestly can't be assed.

 

[Raspyberry]

If your employee was accused of raping another employee, would you wait for a guilty verdict in a court of law before firing them?

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Of course not

 

[L Thammy]

Quoted from someone elses experiences: (name kept private)



More will come. I'm sure

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This sounds like to me like it's important enough to deserves a threadmark. Do you have any way of confirming (with their permission and to a mod, not necessarily to us) that they person might have worked with Jeremy Soule at some point?

 

[Racerprose]

This sounds like to me like it's important enough to deserves a threadmark. Do you have any way of confirming (with their permission and to a mod, not necessarily to us) that they person might have worked with Jeremy Soule at some point?

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She has since made a public post, so I might as well share it:

https://www.facebook.com/Aeralie

I wish I could say I was joking, but I have personally fallen prey to Jeremy Soule as well back in 2014. I'm grateful he didn't go THIS far with me, but it needs to be public so others can be made aware too. Thank you for your courage Nathalie.

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[Spyware]

Soule hasn't made music for GW2 since 2012 btw. Everything after release has been made by other people, and their music is just soooo much better. Especially Diemer's stuff is fantastic. Bethesda should look his way now since he left ANet. (thankfully he still makes music for GW2 tho!)

 

[Just_a_Mouse]

Ughhh fuck this guy. I was close to supporting him recently, so glad now that I didn't. Rot in a jail cell scumbag.

 

[Resilient]

When you defend rapists, and bemoan the cultural loss of their work when they get called out, think about the bigger loss that could have been the contributions of their victims. I have things to contribute too. I have art to put out there too. I matter too. Other victims do too.

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this bit was really tough to read.
good on her for sharing her story. there are a lot of people who have her back.

 

[Ascenion]

Fuck Jeremy Soule. I used to enjoy your music you piece of shit. Fuck everything you've done. I'm glad Bethesda replaced your fucking rapist ass with Inon Zur.

Also can someone tell me what games she worked on with those ARGs? Because fuck those employers too.

 

[Racerprose]

Soule hasn't made music for GW2 since 2012 btw. Everything after release has been made by other people, and their music is just soooo much better. Especially Diemer's stuff is fantastic. Bethesda should look his way now since he left ANet. (thankfully he still makes music for GW2 tho!)

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Soule is basically retired (or exiled?) from the business. He works for Roland Cloud.

 

[Majora's Mask]

Another fucker with too much power who thinks he can do anything and get away with it.

Uninstalling Skyrim's OST from my spotify app. That shit is forever tainted.

 

[TissueBox]

Booked for later reading..!

Soule's music is some of the medium's finest... oh, how the curtain pulls.

 

[L Thammy]

I also have to agree with everyone who says this isn't just about Jeremy Soule. The people who allow serial predators to continue unabated also bear responsibility for the situation.

 

[badnewsbeers]

She has since made a public post, so I might as well share it:

https://www.facebook.com/Aeralie

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Wow, I loved her work on Ori.

What is the matter with the world. Why do we let shit sacks like this rise up? Why did none of his buddies ever sit him down and put an end to it? Is this just the product of being surrounded by yes men? I don't know anyone like this in real life. Is it fame? How do so many pieces of shit wind up in positions of power? I don't understand any of it.

 

[Glass Arrows]

What is the matter with the world. Why do we let shit sacks like this rise up? Why did none of his buddies ever sit him down and put an end to it? Is this just the product of being surrounded by yes men? I don't know anyone like this in real life. Is it fame? How do so many pieces of shit wind up in positions of power? I don't understand any of it.

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There are a lot of reasons, but one of them is he might only have shown this side of himself to those women and acted much less creepy around other people he didn't want to have sex with. So any friends he had might not have known he was doing this shit.

But in general the system is rigged against victims. A lot of people are just selfish unfortunately, they only really care about their entertainment and anything that might be a "victim" of that is inconsequential. It's "easy" to ignore it when it doesn't happen to you or anyone you care about. If you're a "genius" then different rules apply to you and anyone else is totally disposable. It's really fucked up.

 

[Resilient]

Wow, I loved her work on Ori.

What is the matter with the world. Why do we let shit sacks like this rise up? Why did none of his buddies ever sit him down and put an end to it? Is this just the product of being surrounded by yes men? I don't know anyone like this in real life. Is it fame? How do so many pieces of shit wind up in positions of power? I don't understand any of it.

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for a long time people have been too scared to call this type of behaviour out. tide is changing now though.
all it takes is 1 person to start. that 1 person could be you one day. it's why we need to keep encouraging and believing in victims.

 

[L Thammy]

Wow, I loved her work on Ori.

What is the matter with the world. Why do we let shit sacks like this rise up? Why did none of his buddies ever sit him down and put an end to it? Is this just the product of being surrounded by yes men? I don't know anyone like this in real life. Is it fame? How do so many pieces of shit wind up in positions of power? I don't understand any of it.

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It's not pleasant to hear, but one part is that manipulative people are manipulative; they know how to play people in order to get what they want.

There's also a big cultural component. People who think that what he does is acceptable allow him to continue.

 

[RpgN]

Reading her blog fully and I'm already exhausted. It sounds like a movie. It's so unreal to have men exist like this and treat others like trash for no reason. Poor woman. I hope she will at least feel better after sharing her story.

 

[Gentlemen]

Wow, I loved her work on Ori.

What is the matter with the world. Why do we let shit sacks like this rise up? Why did none of his buddies ever sit him down and put an end to it? Is this just the product of being surrounded by yes men? I don't know anyone like this in real life. Is it fame? How do so many pieces of shit wind up in positions of power? I don't understand any of it.

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There's actually science behind the idea that mediocre men are allowed to fail upwards because there just aren't any barriers, and that any aggressive, narcissistic tendencies are constantly viewed as positives for their career path.

 

[IzzyRX]

Fuck him for being a piece of shit, I'm livid reading this.

 

[chaobreaker]

It makes me feel sick to my stomach knowing some of my cherised gaming memories had the music of a serial sexual abuser inspired by all his sexual abuse playing in the background. I can't take that back. The only right thing to do is look up Jeremy Soule's entire discography and make sure I mod or mute all of his shit and tell everyone else to do the same. Fuck you Soule you monster.

 

[Dan L]

This is so upsetting, what a fucking horrible human. god I feel ill after reading that. fuck him.
I am so sorry for what she went through and every other person he has abused and hurt. :(

 

[ShadowFox08]

EDIT: Reading story now

 

[sora87]

It makes me feel sick to my stomach knowing some of my cherised gaming memories had the music of a serial sexual abuser inspired by all his sexual abuse playing in the background. I can't take that back. The only right thing to do is look up Jeremy Soule's entire discography and make sure I mod or mute all of his shit and tell everyone else to do the same. Fuck you Soule you monster.

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It's devastating isn't it, the music is a big part of why i loved the elder scrolls games.
But obviously this is much more important than the music of a game. What a piece of shit.

 

[Owlet]

Can we get this in court before we judge this guy instead of guilty before innocent?

I don't know this guy and I want justice served, but I want to hear the whole story vs one accusation

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There are multiple accusations at this point.

 

[TolerLive]

This is one of the first situations where someone I REALLY admired turned out to be this terrible despicable person. I mean REALLY admired. Im a musician and a composer and his work was literally the work that drove me to make compositions. I listen to his soundtracks constantly. I dont think i can listen to his work anymore without thinking about all of this now.. thats hitting my hard in the stomach. Very disappointed in this and i feel very bad for her. Jeez... :(

 

[Glass Arrows]

Can we get this in court before we judge this guy instead of guilty before innocent?

I don't know this guy and I want justice served, but I want to hear the whole story vs one accusation

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The court of public opinion vs the court of law are two different things with different standards of evidence.

Plus these kinds of sexual assault situations are a different context, usually people don't come out with these allegations unless they have a good reason to do so because of the potential backlash, career opportunities lost, etc. It takes a LOT to go through with it.

 

[ShadowFox08]

There are multiple accusations at this point.

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ok I'm reading the story now from the link provided in OP. Multiple accusations by different people or the same? Just curious.

 

[Deleted member 7883]

ok I'm reading the story now from the link provided in OP. Multiple accusations by different people or the same? Just curious.

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There's another report from someone else in the threadmarks

 

[Owlet]

ok I'm reading the story now from the link provided in OP. Multiple accusations by different people or the same? Just curious.

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Different people. Two at the moment I believe.

 

[ShadowFox08]

Different people. Two at the moment I believe.

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I see

 

[Weltall Zero]

This was absolutely, soul-crushingly harrowing to read through; I can't imagine actually living through it and not being able to tell anyone, not even your own mother. Hopefully she has taken a colossal weight off herself now that she's finally made it public, which should hopefully lead to proper healing with time and the support of family and friends.

It's downright amazing she was able to continue not just functioning but creating a successful ARG of her own after all of this. I would have been left an empty husk for the rest of my life after going through even a fraction of this.

 

[Racerprose]

To be clear, only 1 person is saying he raped them. The others have just basically said they think he was a creep towards them in some way. They are not providing details.

 

[L Thammy]

For the "can we get this in court" issue, that's an easy way to talk about a very difficult task. Court procedures are long, costly, and stressful. They can force the victim to relive the experience because courts are built to catch the bad guy, and the victim is simply a tool to do so, not someone whose needs are of a significant concern. And the cultural sentiments that allowed this to continue in the workplace may also be present by individuals in the justice system.

Additionally, as in this case, sexual abuse tends to happen along the lines of normal social behaviour, and so like normal social behaviour, so it doesn't produce a ton of evidence that anything unusual has happened. The accused is assumed innocent and so if there isn't enough evidence to prove their guilt - and to the standard of evidence demanded - then the accused wins. It's not as easy as if it happened, you win.

 

[tusharngf]

The work he composed for video games is based on this. He "needs women to inspire him"… there was so much of this, very uncomfortable inappropriate stuff (inappropriate even for friends), and it kept getting darker and darker.
He made advances on me and I explained that I didn't want this and wanted a friendship. He was very threatening, and didn't listen. He made it clear that it's "him or bust".
He raped me.
Throughout this time Jeremy acted like a victim, and blamed women he was in relationships with (or forced relationships on) for what he was doing.

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This is heartbreaking :(

 

[badnewsbeers]

Is this getting traction anywhere?

 

[Deleted member 21709]

To be clear, only 1 person is saying he raped them. The others have just basically said they think he was a creep towards them in some way. They are not providing details.

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oh ok nm then

 

[Keldroc]

For the "can we get this in court" issue, that's an easy way to talk about a very difficult task. Court procedures are long, costly, and stressful. They can force the victim to relive the experience because courts are built to catch the bad guy, and the victim is simply a tool to do so, not someone whose needs are of a significant concern. And the cultural sentiments that allowed this to continue in the workplace may also be present by individuals in the justice system.

Additionally, as in this case, sexual abuse tends to happen along the lines of normal social behaviour, and so like normal social behaviour, so it doesn't produce a ton of evidence that anything unusual has happened. The accused is assumed innocent and so if there isn't enough evidence to prove their guilt - and to the standard of evidence demanded - then the accused wins. It's not as easy as if it happened, you win.

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Anyone who thinks truth is determined by the court is someone who doesn't know much about how courts work.

 

[thewienke]

The Skyrim theme song is perhaps one of the most famous pieces of video game music.

And now it's shit.

Fuck this guy.

 

[whatsarobot]

Guy sounds like a real piece of shit. Is there any clarity around the word rape? From reading the article it sounds like a horrible project, which included a really scummy guy who crossed all sorts of boundaries and was sexually abusive/coercive.

 

[mbpm]

Saddened by the horrific nature of this person. Depressed at how many other people are horrible right along with him.

This whole system is a sewer.

 

[L Thammy]

Guy sounds like a real piece of shit. Is there any clarity around the word rape? From reading the article it sounds like a horrible project, which included a really scummy guy who crossed all sorts of boundaries and was sexually abusive/coercive.

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Looking at the beginning of the paragraph immediately after, it doesn't sound like she's overselling it.

I didn't get myself checked out after it happened. I didn't even know what to do.

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I assume that it's just not something she wants to go into more detail on.

 

[Calvarok]

well fuck. sad to hear

 

[tusharngf]

Well, he's now a complete sack of shit. I backed his shitty kickstarter and was refunded thank god, but after years of his bullshit there and now this, he can go fuck himself.

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I heard that kickstarter was a huge scam. He never produced any music album since past 6yrs?

 

[Waddles the Piggu]

I wonder what the 2 ARGs she worked on are. Those emails are maddening to read through.

 

[Sensei]

It's really fucking sad when someone you admire ends up being a piece of shit.

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Yeah, this one hurts a LOT

just scum

 

[Racerprose]

FYI,

Soule is aware of the accusations against him.