Why didn’t you like tma post s4? Just asking cause I’m curious:))
ummmmm. fair warning im the least articulate person ever but um. Well. Christ this sounds mean im sorry it wasnt REALLY tma itself i had issues with as much as it was the then-rapidly growing fandom.
Not to be like. Back BEFORE you people RUINED IT 😒 or anything but the TMA fandom space was sooo wildly different before s4 ended and I DO KNOW it was post season four finale when this influx occurred. I think for a couple different reasons, one of them being that s4 ended RIGHT before 2020 and thats when people started having a lot of time on their hands to listen to long form podcasts (and also where fandom in general started getting worse but thats . Not super relevant), but also dare I say. Because jmart became canon? And because of that people Suddenly started to care ?
THAT FEELS SO MEAN and I truly dont mean any ill will but it really did seem that like. As soon as there were two dudes kissing people started getting interested in it. Which like whatever I get the draw of doomed yaoi . Sure. I was pro-jmart day one but its how I think this kind of. Effected the audiodrama space afterwards that frustrates me so much. You see it in Red Valley and in Malevolent and like Any new podcast that comes out theres this weird obsession with trying to fit these characters into a jmartin mold and ship them together when its honestly detrimental to do so.
Same with how every single new podcast is trying to follow the formula of TMA, and when its not people are still trying to fit them into this mold and call them something theyre not. No matter what you do youre still going to be compared to this bigger thing, its a looming shadow you cant escape.
I think its similar to the issue of like. Oversaturation of stuff like analog horror and mascot horror, like while its not hurting anyone ultimately it just becomes tired and frustrating. I understand trying to follow the formula that TMA had, I mean its impressive how big TMA got for what it was originally, and im happy they've found success, but it is just. I dont know. Maybe im just bitter about TMAGP still lol.
and thats not even mentioning this weird phenomena of the "fandom-wide character designs" like that was NOT a thing that happened before TMA. There were similarities and traits people adopted from eachother but it was more like. Sharing your crayons rather than doing a paint by number if youll excuse my awkward metaphor. As an artist that was one of the biggest draws of audio dramas to me, because there were no visuals, I could imagine whatever I wanted. There was basically infinite creative freedom that was so so so cool to me and lent itself to an incredible sort of modern day mythology. you could tell who it was because of themes and motifs and certain character traits and context clues, but no two designs looked exactly the same. there was so much room to play and think about these characters and put your own personal spin on them. i loved seeing how different people interpreted the same characters.
and so now to see posts like "im waiting to draw them until we've got fanon designs lol" is so??? baffling to me like where is your joy and whimsy and excitement at the freedom of expression through faceless characters. whats wrong with you. AND DOUBLY SO. to see people, MY FRIENDS, get harrassed and bullied and questioned when they dont draw these characters the way (skinny, white, male, conventionally attractive etc etc etc) that everyone else does, is infuriating and so disheartening. dont wait for other people to decide anything for you figure it out yourself !! TMA is especially steeped in this and while i dont mind the way the fandom has kind of . established these characters its just so so tired. its boring im sorry.
AND AGAIN ESPECIALLY. when it comes to the Avatars. Micheal Shelly would not look like that i am so sorry. theres nothing wrong with having fun and playing in the space but it is A Horror Podcast and thats a white twink with an arcade carpet print button down. i could go the nearest coffee shop and find like four of those. im sorry. i want to see how scary you can make these characters. i want to see how gross you could get with it. i used to see them everywhere people had such cool concepts for these. Things these manifestations of fear and they're like. nonexistent. genuinely.
and again. all of this occured when it started blowing up. theres nothing really wrong with that, again, im very happy for them and that they've found this success but its just the way it happened and the fact that it was so immediate was just like. i dont know. it left a bad taste in my mouth and i know it did for a lot of other people. and because it kind of all blew up right as the finale season came out and people were binging the whole thing in like a week and then clamoring for more more more even though it was on a direct path to end where it did has led to TMAGP and all this weird. cash grab merch nonsense. i get trying to make money in this day and age i really do and clearly theres a market and audience for it but it all just rings so hollow.
and then trying to discuss tma and its. um. many many flaws within the writing itself (the. racism and vague transphobia iirc) and how it effected the audio drama space as a whole and especially the rampant and blatant aphobia involved in the fandom is like talking to a brick wall. everyone is so defensive and up their own ass about it and its just. I DONT KNOW its exhausting. it really is. more of my friends and people i know have gotten harassed and had negative experiences within the tma sphere than any other fandom i have personally encountered.
this post really kind of sums it up and i think this sort of death spiral happened to TMA so quickly and rampantly that it was just. horrible. and it was happening WHILE the podcast was still running.
i dont know maybe im just an asshole but its this and its widespread effect on the space as a whole that has really put me off of the audiodrama sphere altogether. which is really unfortunate but true. again. maybe im just an asshole who hates fun and wants everyone to die but . whatever
and not to say you're bad or a poser for enjoying tma or enjoying it post s4 or enjoying tmagp but its really a fanspace that has felt so hostile and unwelcoming and detrimental to myself and a lot of other people that i dont want to engage with it anymore. tma is very dear to my heart but as a whole it has left too much of a bad taste in my mouth.
i think it speaks to much bigger problem within fanspaces and fandom and media and how we engage with them nowadays and how its shifted especially post-2020 but i dont have the time or energy to elaborate here. go find someone smarter than me to explain it
