March 2025

Your blog has become my favourite since i discovered it so i might start asking too many questions.

Is there a character that you despise almost as much as Martin? Whether because you dislike how the fandom depicts them, or because of their personality, or for no reason at all.

There’s never too many questions. I love answering them ♡

I actually don’t have such a strong opinion on any of the other characters, at least not regarding their canon versions. Truth be told, I never cared much about those people. The statements are my favourite part, although if I had to choose a fave then it would be Jon, simply because of his voice. I love it when he reads the statements.

In regards of the characters, there are a lot of moments that make me feel an all-consuming rage. But they were all done for a reason and in character, so I have nothing to complain about. In order to do that properly, I would have to do an in-depth analysis, and my opinions aren’t strong enough to do that yet.

I do have a problem with a few fanon depictions tho.

One: It’s the fans that made me really dislike Martin. It’s actually kind of interesting in its own way, since the dogshit awful fanon version was so bad that it motivated me to analyze his character, and form my own opinion. In many ways, TMA fandom sucks absolute booty. I can only consume TMA-related content from a few hand-picked blogs or else I will die painfully.

(Also there is a large part of transmasc Martin headcanons that are sooo icky….. A lot of people who do that see him as weak and feminine and so so sweet and that’s just plain weird?? Seeing him as a little fat cutie and also slapping the trans headcanon on him. Feels like you just wanna baby trans men)

Two: I read once that depicting Daisy as a butch is enforcing a quite harmful stereotype of butches being inherently violent. Especially since we’re told that she chose the nickname ‘Daisy’ to appear softer, sweeter.

Three: Fans of Michael Shelley (NOT The Distortion) that swear he’s their favourite character are… odd. I mean, like who you like, it’s alright! But Michael wasn’t even there. His only purpose in the story was to be thrown away - “poor, disposable Michael”. The only things we know about him were told to us by The Distortion - that he had a friend who got consumed by the Spiral, that he wanted to avenge them, and so that’s why he joined the Institute. I get liking him, but placing him as your favourite character?

Most of his fans that I’ve seen only use him as a vessel for shipping. They can slap basically anything on him and it will stick, because he’s nothing more than an empty shell. You can’t even analyze him, because there’s nothing to analyze.

Four: A lot of the widely accepted fanon designs are plain unrealistic. And I don’t mean unrealistic as fantasy, I mean that their appearance doesn’t fit with the setting of the story at all. Those are all adults in their early thirties if I’m correct, working in a semi-professional, academic environment. They wouldn’t wear frilly skirts, or maximalist outfits with a hundred accessories, or several pride pins.

I get that it’s fun to dress up your fave like a doll, but please. Slapping fifty headcanons on a boring office worker makes you lose the essence of the character in the process, and they just become an oc in the end. Not to mention that too many headcanons erase the character’s personality entirely. A character’s personality and certain habits are reflected in the way they would dress.

Another thing regarding the designs is that people get soooo pressed when someone’s design of the character doesn’t match the widely accepted fanon. I know, I just spent over a paragraph criticizing designs as well, but in reality it’s not that serious. I don’t care nearly as much as you may think I do. But when someone makes Jon white, or, worse, Martin skinny - people are gonna go “uhhmmm…. that’s not MY blorbo….. what did you do to him……” and it’s so weird! This is a podcast character! We only got a few vague lines about their physical description! You can draw them however you like and it might as well have been canon! You never know!

I love talking. @neurodiev1rgin never stop sending me asks. They actually help me get my thoughts and opinions in order

Coming from the doorway anon here I haven't checked Tumblr in a while absolutely in love with this blog/p

Also as a Michael Shelley lover I think the only reason he's up there is because he is an empty shell

We don't get that much of him and they either like him because since he is in an empty shell we don't get to see almost none of his flaws other than being naive and people like projecting it gives them stuff to work with not in an "stuff to analyse Michael Shelley" kind of way but just to make stuff up and whatever they slap onto him cannot be mischacterisation because there is not much of him to be mischaracterised

Also I never realised why I desliked Martin in a way until I found this blog

"SO THAT'S WHY I FEEL LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM"

Also Michael being naive and disposable.....the fandom is full of traumatized people

I wish Jon was aromantic too oh my god

I couldn't realise WHY I hated Martin so much because whenever I opened tumblr everyone made him seem like such a sweetheart

Writing this at school with not much sleep and dehydrated ignore any spelling mistakes

Please never ever stop posting

Also I think the fandom is starting to make me slightly annoyed at Michael Shelley because he's so babied too? Maybe

also confused on where muslim basira came from I am relistening and wondering if I zoned out on an episode (I probably did)

I MISS SO MANY STUFF OH MY GODD

About Michael - yeah, that is basically what makes him fun! While technically you are free to do as you please in regards of the designs, with him you can also do whatever you want with his personality. He’s a bit like a free space in the story, and you can squeeze whoever you’d like in there.

I’m glad i helped give words to your feelings regarding Martin. That’s why diversity in fandom is needed, not everyone will enjoy a piece of media in the same way. You need different perspectives in order to put together your own. Not to mention that it always feels nice to find someone who shares your opinion.

The babying is a big problem in this fandom. Notice how its always male characters getting this treatment? They’re always helpless cute babies. And the women aren’t even hated, they’re just never talked about.

And muslim Basira? I think it’s just the fandom hearing a vaguely eastern name and deciding to run with a stereotype. A hijab is a garment tied to religious faith, and there is nothing said about Basira’s beliefs or relationship with religion in the show.