* {{Anvilicious}}: On gun rights, specifically. During a lethal shootout on a college campus. It is here that one must remember that Neal Stephenson wrote this book in 1984, in a pre-Columbine America.
** A moment during S.S. Krupp's lecture ''seems'' to drop an anti-abortion anvil on the reader. However, given that [[spoiler: Krupp turns out to be a villain]], it's quite possible that Stephenson was simply lampooning extremists on both ends of the political spectrum.
* FairForItsDay: For 1984, this book's feminism and LGBT acceptance are ''absolutely commendable,'' even if Casmir doesn't understand what a bisexual is.
* HarsherInHindsight: The wacky, badass, "war" in the climax, in which college students shoot and kill each other with literal, modern guns. Poor Neal Stephenson may just as well have had Casmir Radon comically crashing an airplane into the World Trade Center.
* NightmareFuel: The "Terrorists" treatment of women, and how long they get away with it for.
** The final "prank" in Ephriam and Fennick's "war" goes from funny to this when [[spoiler: the Go Big Red fan clunks over into the puddle of water Fennick is currently lying in.]]
* ValuesDissonance: A bit of this is inevitable for a book written in 1984, but the {{Anvilicious}} gun politics ''during a climatic shootout in a college campus'' is a very possible reason Neal Stephenson considers this book an OldShame.
** For context, this book was written at a time when mass shootings in the U.S. generally happened on the streets between gangs, and most other gun violence making the news was coming from career criminals or premediated murders. The Frontier attitude of "everyone should just carry their own gun," while still a debated topic, would obviously have been far less eyebrow-raising in this pre-Columbine world.
** To say nothing of college students mowing down other college students on campus, in an age where such a scenario probably seemed too ridiculous to even consider taking seriously.
** On a less morbid note, Casmir Radon treating Sarah's relationship with Hyacinth as proof that he can never have her, because she's a "lesbian," might count as both ValuesDissonance, and FairForItsDay. To a modern reader he just seems like an idiot for not realizing that bisexuals exist. For 1984 though, the fact that it doesn't even occur to him to be bothered by homosexuality, and how he instantly accepts his close friend as a lesbian, is amazing.
** The way this book--packed with political satire, and countless serious discussions about women's rights and rape--addresses (or rather, shies away from addressing) abortion. A quick exchange during one of S.S. Krupp's lectures seems to portray pro-choicers as radically liberal punks, and abortion as an obvious no-no; and then never brings up the topic again...even during the many lengthy discussions about women's rights and rape. When this book was written, Roe v. Wayde was just barely over a decade old, and abortion was likely still a social taboo even for many modern thinking people.
* ValuesResonance: The awkward handling of the abortion debate and bisexuality aside, this book's portrayal of women and LGBT people ''rocks.'' All of the female leads are tough as nails and incredibly smart, and none of the gay characters ever play into any stereotypes (bar ''arguably'' being a bit "butch" when they arm themselves).
** The "Airhead" subculture is rightfully criticized, while making it clear that these types of women are ''not'' the norm. Random women and girls throughout the book casually break the gender stereotypes that were rampant in high school and college based movies at the time.
** Again, recall that even into the 21st Century, the NotLikeOtherGirls trope was treating girls like the Airheads as the default of "normal" girls, to make moderately competent heroines seem "unique." And media about "nerds" still frequently portrayed nerd culture as entirely male. This book by contrast has Consuela the "priestess" heading the D&D campaigns, and random female characters in the background unremarkably doing things that many other forms of media at the time would treat as something surprising.
** No one in the entire book ever acts shocked or put off by the female characters wielding guns, forgoing makeup, running D&D campaigns, hacking, or being lesbians, ''except'' the obviously bigoted "Airheads" and "Terrorists."