#i am not fucking joking or pulling up a strawman when i say that fucking 4chan is arguably way more tolerant than this godforesaken shithole

[daxite]

it’s always been hilarious to me that for a website that likes to jerk itself off endlessly for apparently being one of the most “accepting” and “open” places on the internet, tumblr sure is fucking cutthroat with telling people how they should/shouldn’t present themselves, how or what they should/shouldn’t draw or create, and what media they should/shouldn’t consume

#it's been like this for over a decade #this is one of the most intolerant platforms i have ever fucking seen #people are genuinely fucking abhorrent to people here for consuming certain types of media or drawing a certain way #or how they choose to identify #i am not fucking joking or pulling up a strawman when i say that fucking 4chan is arguably way more tolerant than this godforesaken shithole #this isn't about anything in particular it's just a general observation i've had for years now #and after taking a break from here and coming back i'm now just realising how seriously fucking vile people are to each other here #it's fucking insane just how detached tumblr is from the real world #i see the most godawful takes on this website that would make any normal fucking person go 'what the fuck' because it's the most aggressive #and stupid shit that's usually pulled out entirely from their asses that everyone here will take at 100% face value and act like it's the #'right' thing to do or say #granted tumblr has definitely improved compared to how it was several years ago but i still see some utterly stupid and awful posts with #thousands of fucking notes on a nigh-daily basis #it's why i refuse to partake or share in any remotely 'political' posts here unless it's something i sincerely believe can help people or is #something that i feel is actually important for me to share #i have so many fucking terms blacklisted so i can avoid this shite as much as possible and somehow these weird-ass posts still find a way #onto my dash lmao #sure is authoritarian as fuck here despite the site constantly wanking off muh anarchy #dax rambles

[therichantsim]

Last night I got off the most disheartening phone call with a friend I've known since we were pre-teens and my ex-husband on three way. The friend is who introduced me to my ex-husband. We chatted it up for a good while.

⚠️⚠️Trigger warning⚠️⚠️

Anti-lgbtqia+ hate speech below the cut.

Then somehow the subject of gay and trans people came up. I thought I knew where my ex-husband stood because we used to talk about it when our kids were little. I thought he supported LGTBQIA+. The friend was getting sentimental, and my ex called him gay. Which was weird since my ex is very much in touch with his softer side and can be very expressive and passionate about his feelings. So, although I know it was a joke, I didn't think it was funny. The friend said [[his name redacted]] is not gay! I may be a lot of things but I ain't no [[explicit]]. I said, "even if you were gay, we would still have mad love for you." He again reiterates. "I ain't no muh fukkin' [[redacted]]" My ex says, "Bruh, chill out with all that. Gay people are cool." Then says, "I have gay family members and if my kids came out gay, I'd still love them anyway." Friend says "Nah nigga fuck that shit. I'd rather my son be dead then gay." My heart broke!! Then he proceeds to give a weak ass strawman argument as to they (whoever "they" is...) are trying to shove this agenda down our throats. I felt like I was teleported into a podcast full of hoteps and incels. I said, "I am pro LGBTQIA+ so I'm going to need you to shut the fuck up." Here is where it really took a turn for the worst. My ex-husband who I love dearly as a friend and co-parent partner says, "But I can't get with them trans muh fukkas. I gotta draw the line there." My heart was beating so fast at this point. I started pacing the floor. I mean I gave them the whole speech about using talking points of white supremist. Then old friend says, "Yo, Ant aren't you a Christian? How can you be for these people?" I gave him historical teaching points on how the same stuff they say about them they said about black people. I mean I went in. As a theologian and ordain minister I pulled out doctrine in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text. At one point they both said something about sounding like I went to college and like a black activist etc. COMPLETLY MISSING ALL THE FUCKING POINTS!!! I'm so disappointed in my ex-husband. However, the old friend I can go another decade without hearing from him again.

I talk to my ex at least twice a week. Sometimes with his current wife on the phone as well. We love them damn kids but we're also like I said, "good friends". We vacation together and everything, but now I don't know how to move forward knowing he's transphobic. Is this how white ally's feel when they have family members who are racist? He has called a few times and I ignored because I'm still upset. The kids say, "dad has been trying to reach you, why haven't you called him back?"

I'm sharing this because I don't know who else to have this kind of discussion with. I'm probably the most if not only progressive in my family. Everyone else is mostly indifferent because they have no skin in the fight and then there are the boomers so...🙄

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Alex ze Pirate Mini Review 2: Underappreciated and how Sam should deal with an abuser.

Last time I gave a general overview of how Sam is treated by his “friends”. Now I want to give a more specific example, that will also show how Dobson’s storytelling abilities are not really all that good, particularly when it comes to pacing or building up any sort of conflict.

You see, for the most part Alex ze Pirate is just a collection of stupid artwork (not even concept art, just random artwork Dobson makes of his characters dressed as something random) and one page strips with a stupid punchline, with Sam most of the time being the receiving punching bag.

There have however been a few individual, short stories over time. And when I say short stories, I mean short. As in 15 pages for a very cheap set up, a few jokes and a punchline. Those include stories such as All that Glitters (where everyone except Alex breaks into a fortress to steal something), The Wish Fish (the only halfway okay story of them all because it is just meant to be comedic) and Best Laid Plans. However, near the end of the initial run of AzP, Dobson did a three part story (partly) focused on Sam in that format, which started off with the chapter I want to talk in this post: “Underappreciated”.

As you can see, the chapter starts off following some basic rules of storytelling in comics. Two establishing panels for the location at which the story takes place initially and showing what Sam’s duties are. Nothing really bad yet. The only thing that sticks out being just the fact that a) Sam does not have his own bedroom and has to sleep in a useless outlook and b) he sleeps in his regular clothes. But hey, nothing to get upset about initially, perhaps he just prefers it like this at the moment. But with the next two pages…

The problems start to show. Page three establishing that Atea herself is just a cunt who can’t even have the basic decency of wishing her “friend” a good morning or giving him a thank you for bringing a morning beverage as she has other selfish priorities on her mind. Like wanting to lick the shower water of Alex’s skin.

Also, go fuck yourself Uncle Peggy. As in, get both your arms ripped off, shoved up your butthole with those hooks and then get hanged on those stomps like a chandelier. I wouldn’t even mind the fact here that Peggy left a mess, if the face he makes in the last panel was not obvious of the fact he left the bathroom like this on purpose and that he is rather happy of making Sam’s day extra miserable by the fecal matter he left behind. Combined with any previous strip of the comic showing that Peggy for no reason likes to get the boy in trouble and even wants to see him die, this just shows once more of how much of an asshole he is. If the last panel just showed him with a groogy hangover look, obviously unaware of how much discomfort he brings unintentionally to Sam, that would be one thing. But intentionally making Sam’s day miserable despite the obvious fact the boy is the first one to do anything around here, while making one of the worst drawn “HAHA, I am such a rascal faces” I have ever seen (and I have seen shitty anime en mass) makes me hate the character more than Dobson intented.

And then there is page 5…

And it is in my opinion the saddest page in the entire comic arc, even compared to the “heartbreaking” stuff Dobson wants to pull up in the last third of it. Because though it is meant as a joke, the general execution is too cruel, crossing into “dude, not funny” territory and showing just how little the crew cares for Sam. Talus, Sam’s “best friend” not even aware he is around, everyone stealing Sam’s food with that stupid “Yoink” sound (seriously, I wish the characters would get punched in the vaginas each time they make this sound in any of Dobson’s strips) and then leaving Sam behind with smug faces, ready to do whatever they want to do, while he, likely stinking of feces and not even having showered properly, has also to clean up after those pigs, who can’t even eat in a proper manner ( hey Atea, use a fork instead of holding the bowl) and silently. I mean, they are pretty much pigs when the noises they make are loud enough, they make the font of the writing change randomly into whatever Dobson has on his computer with every sound. Not to forget the mess they leave behind. And they call Sam the Slob?

Anyway, on to the next page…

And who the heck left their Hello Kitty toy in the bathtub? Also, I hate the way Alex’s face is drawn in the lower left corner. Something about the eyes in relation to the shit eating grin just looks off. Less “smug” and gleefully awaiting whatever she plans next and looking more like Dobson when someone tells him his opinion and reasoning for it is bad, but he can’t yell back at them because they are part of a minority and so he has make a “good face” to a bad situation, while internally he is already imagining how to strawman them in some fake news worthy facebook post.

And then we get to page 7. Which features the WORST addition to the “Alex ze Pirate” canon Dobson has ever thought up. An embodiment of what is wrong with Dobson when it comes to inserting internet culture related stuff into his own work. Ladies and gentlemen… the lolcat pirates

Yeah, those Hello Kitty rejects who ironically look still more like a proper cat than Spot in Danny and Spot, are essentially one of the worst jokes Dobson has ever created. Because they are a joke without a punchline. See, all there is to them is that they are sentient cats, that speak in a manner associated with lolcat posting. And that is the “joke”. Their speech pattern being based on a dumb internet meme that was popular at the time Dobson drew this page. It is like if you portray an Asian by making them talk with a shitty racist accent and that supposedly counts already as comedy. It is not funny, because there is nothing really done with it in context of the story. Like no one addresses the weird way they talk. Also, with the font Dobson uses, it is just an eyesore to any reader and the text gets aggravating the more the captain of the cats talks. It shows why lolcat pictures only had very short sentences accompanying the pics, cause reading more than 8 words written in this manner tingles a part of your brain that makes you want to shout “English motherfucker, do you speak it”?

Don’t get me even started on how the joke would get lost to anyone unaware of lolcats and how dated the joke already was back when the page was posted, which is one of many reasons why comic artists should just in general avoid memes in their work, if they hope for it to pass the test of time. Instead let me just point out the fact that though Alex said “All hands prepared for casting off” on the previous page (which is also a very unnatural way to give the order “Everyone get ready! Take off in 10 minutes”) not all hands are on board, seeing how Uncle Peggy is missing on this page (and spoilers) many pages of this afterwards. Weird. I thought he would be onboard the moment Alex mentioned they are going to hijack a ship full of pussy. Lastly, this is Alex being a “badass”? Taking over a ship full of little furballs you can defeat with a laserpointer, a squeaky toy and catnip? Sam, this is not just “almost” embarrassingly easy, this is literally on a level similar to stealing candy from a baby. That is mentally handicapped. And without supervision. In a candy story.

At least it turns out there is genuinely something worth stealing on this ship. Otherwise all Alex would have accomplished on that very day would have been animal abuse for the sake of entertainment. Though now it also gets me thinking: A place called Katsville, the revelation that the captain is supposedly the child of a high ranking military feline within the sea force of an entire species of sentient cats… how exactly does the world of Alex ze Pirate function? Look, I do not want to get into too much detail about this point here yet, because it is a bigger issue with the worldbuilding (or rather lack thereof) of this series in general, but what is the “consistency” when it comes to races and species in this world? See, One Piece for example is overall a very “cartoonish” and fantastic world (more cartoonish than what Dobson creates on average) when you think of the fact there are fish men, giant seacows and seamonsters, sentient furry creatures, islands in the sky, sentient weather phenomenons etc next to humans. And while Oda does not really spend time elaborating in very high detail how his world works, the sheer abundance of those elements and how they were established pretty early on in the story and are revisited constanly, with the cartoonish flavor and humor of One Piece on top of it, makes those oddities feel organic and a part of the world.

Not so much in AzP. Here over 90% of the time any character not related to the crew is some generically drawn human, in a very generically human setting with jokes just not cartoonish enough. So the world of AzP feels more “realistic” and less oddish, making then things like Talus, the lolcat pirates and once a giant sea dragon that looked like Elliot’s rejected cousin

Stand out like a sour thumb that looks like this

But I digress. Lets see what makes Sam, who just seems bored and wants to end his miserable life/drink his sorrows away, throw the cat captain against the wall.

Okay. Sam’s overall reaction makes it clear, the locket is important. So “kudos” for establishing this and in doing so also create within a moment a bit of intrigue for the reader. After all, why does this locket get such a reaction out of Sam, who we know so far as more happy go lucky or deadpan in parts, instead of looking genuinely distraught. Heck, the fact he even tells Alex to shut up when she commands him around should highlight how out of character finding this locket truly makes Sam.

Then there is Alex’s reaction to being told to shut up, which she takes with as much dignity as someone telling Dobson to just stop fawning about underaged lesbians in a toddler show.

Jesus Christ, she faces being told she looks like a guy with more grace than that. I mean, isn’t she used to being told to shut her trap? Cause if I were her parents, I would have told this entitled redheaded whinner a few times over the course of her childhood to shut up.

Scum sucking cabin boy… said by a butt ugly whore who would genuinely suck scum off if it means she can finally get laid instead of being mistaken for a man. By the way, with that angry face she makes in the first panel, I can totally see why others would mistake her for a dude. She just looks unpleasant and not in a funny way like that red panda girl from Aggretsuko. See, when she gets angry, it looks hilarious and cute because of the contrast to how the character looks ordinarily. This is just Alex looking even more unpleasant as usual.

Now, before I continue with the next pages, I like to point out the face Sam makes in the upper panel and Sam’s overall body language in the last one.

It is obvious that Sam is meant to be in a state of mind where he knows for what he is getting yelled at and where he genuinely reacts in a hurt manner. His body shaking, his head tilted down, not saying even a word. You would expect that the next page of this comic would be a follow up. Seeing Sam, who is pent up, lashing out in some way. Either for example by justifying why he said it, getting sad, angry, perhaps even violent in that situation. After all, so far the way this story has been structured, a lot of emphasize was put on the fact that Sam is treated not well and that finding this locket actually has an uncommon effect on him. Heck, even the title of this chapter hints on the idea, that we should get some sort of huge reaction out of Sam now on the next page, as this is supposed to be Sam’s story.

Instead it is just Alex grumbling and grinding her teeth, unable to comprehend that someone finally told her something every reader with more than 20 braincells said when reading this comic series. And this in my opinion is from a structural point, one of the biggest missteps in this story. Obviously, this is supposed to be a comic about Sam, based on title and him being the one character in it with the most emotional aspects so far. And it is also obvious that this is not just meant to be a silly gag comic but supposedly one with emotional weight. So, where is that weight so far, aside from the panels showing Sam being miserable because he gets the short end of the stick by his friends? Sorry to hijack this thing here now with my own ideas, but if I had writen this story, page 12 and 13 would have actually been an immense turning point for me in the dynamic so far. Why I would have let Alex shout at Sam for insubordination, I would have made it more than one panel of Alex calling him scum and also end likely with Sam, who obviously reaches a limit the longer she goes on about it, end punching her in the face, perhaps even knock out. Show truly just how far Sam is pushed emotionally at this moment, keeping it however ambiguous if he hit her because of her words hurting or because of something else, in doing so focusing also the attention to the reader back on the locket.

As an aftermath of this, Alex would (if not knocked out) hit Sam back, much to Atea’s and Talus horror, later implying additionally that Sam left because of being hit by whom he thinks is not just his captain but a “friend” (oh yes spoiler, Sam is gone in the next chapter)   or the next page would be of Alex waking up back in her hideout from having been knocked out. Atea and Talus informing her what happened, her deciding to deal with Sam later on after recovering (who accompanied everyone back on the island temporarily) only for the last page showing Sam deciding that he is leaving the island, ending the chapter on Sam in a small boat slowly drifting away from the island. You know, something to give the chapter the feeling that the “shut up” moment is an emotional turning point in this story and that there might be something bigger going on that resulted in Sam deciding to leave, without having him however go full Meg Griffin as in the Family Guy episode “Seashell Seahorse Party”, chewing Alex and the others out for the way they treat him. Cause honestly, as much as I like for Alex, Atea and Talus to be chewed out and face consequences for their actions, doing so would likely just be (like in that Family guy episode)  a pointless fillerbuster in the bigger picture of things, as no real consequences would come out of it.

Well that and just like the writers of Family Guy, Dobson is just equally loathsome and thinks he can write whatever sick joke he wants and can on his characters, basic decency or consistency in writing be damned.

But back to the comic, where things just “end” as shown here instead of any real emotions boiling up and a cliffhanger that may genuinely beg the question what is going to happen next to anyone involved in this thing.

 Cause really, by the time it is night and Sam says it is time to go, you are not surprised he wants to go, even if he did not have a genuine emotional outburst within this chapter. After all, who wants to stay with “friends” like this, with Talus and Atea not even trying to cheer him up and instead ignoring his obvious need for comfort in this uncomfortable way, as if they are a bunch of racists trying to look away as someone beats a black person in front of them into a pulp. The only question you may ask yourself by the time the last page is hit, is who that generic looking girl is, whose picture has been photoshopped into the locket.

 Something we may not find out by the time the next chapter and part of this review hits, but will get to eventually. Until then guys, in order to end on something happier, funnier and just genuinely more pleasant than what this story presented to us so far, have something silly and Super Sentai related here for the sake of childish entertainment.

#Andrew Dobson #alex ze pirate #webcomics #syac #tom preston #abusive female heroes #abusive heroes #atea #talus #comics #cartoons #this sucks #storytelling 101 #adobsonartwork

[hamsterwritin]

MERRXMAS (+short story)

It is now 12:04 am december 24, so it xmas. So merr xmas everybody. Go jul!

And if you don’t celebrate it I hope you’re still having a great time (and I’m sorry for being one of those people that throws xmas at you but...I love this holiday...).

Jump to the future-

It is now 1:30 am and I threw this christmas themed thing together with some characters from the treewip! I only used some of them (Selma, Gerda, Morgan, Lorinda and Floki) and it’s really rushed, but oh well here ya go!

It towered over her, at least twice her size. She kept her distance to it to make it feel smaller, and also to stay away from those sharp needles that was covering it all over. Though she was the only one being cautious. Everyone else was shoving their hands between the branches, hanging their mismatched ornaments without any worry of getting poked.

  “Come on bittercheeks, stop moping in the corner and help us!” Gerda was currently standing by the tree with different balls hanging from her fingers. One for each. “If you’re worried about not being able to reach I can carry you”.   “Oh fuck off you giant”, Selma said with a glare. Though Gerda only started laughing and showed her teeth in a wide smile. Her golden eyes were shining in the light of the candles that they had placed all over the inn.   “You could at least stand over here with everyone else”, she then said, nodding towards the others beside her. Morgan was currently standing on her tiptoes, trying to get her brown ornament to stay on a branch above her. Then there was Lorinda who had less trouble reaching, but she seemed to be a bit occupied with arguing with her brother, Floki, about where everything should go.   “What’s so wrong about this?” She pointed at a strawman in front of her.   “It’s way too close to the other one!”

Selma eyed them all. Watched as the siblings kept bickering as if they were ten and not closer to sixty. Watched as Morgan dropped her ornament and it hit the floor with a thud. Watched as Gerda quickly ran out of things to hang up and started stealing from the others’ piles.

    In her opinion was this, just watching the others, way better than walking over there and possibly tipping the whole thing over. Because she would climb it. Just to put something near the top. Just to show herself that she could.

  Stupid tree. And maybe she did feel a bit small when she stood close to it, and maybe that pissed her off a bit. Maybe she felt embarrassed at just the thought of having to stand on her tiptoes like Morgan had just done.

  “Kid you’re starting to worry me over there”, she heard Morgan’s deep voice say somewhere behind those branches. “Did something happen?”

    Selma sighed as she leant back on the wall behind her, arms crossing her chest.

  “No, I just don’t feel like decorating”.   “It doesn’t seem like you enjoy christmas that much”, she said, leaning to the side to be able to see Selma in the corner.   “I don’t dislike it”.   “Thank mother for that!” Gerda exclaimed. “That means there’s hope!”

    Selma only rolled her eyes at that. But then Gerda started moving away from the tree. Towards her. In her hand was something drowned in golden glitter, sparkling in the dancing flames of the candles. Then that object was showed in Selma’s face, almost touching her nose.   “A star for a star”. Gerda was smirking happily, waving the golden star back and forth.   “What are you talking about?” Selma was staring confusedly at her, trying to decipher that mischievous glint in her eyes. But Gerda only poked her forehead with the tip of the star.   “I am giving this star in my hand to the shining light in front of me”, she explained then. Selma stared at her.   “You’re burning my eyes right now but I don’t want to look away”, Gerda kept going. “So bright, like the su-”

  “Yeah yeah I get it already!” Selma eventually started swatting that star away from her face, but a smile had started to pull on her mouth. “I’m shining with joy, I get the joke”.   “Joke?” That mischievous smile hadn't left yet. “What joke?”

  “I hate you”, Selma muttered, dragging a hand over her face, but the words held no venom and a chuckle passed her lips.   “Aw thanks, but let’s finish this tree now yeah?” Suddenly Selma couldn’t feel the floor under her feet anymore, only the strong arms lifting her up around her stomach.   “You piece of shit tree put me down!” She started flailing but it did nothing to stop the laughing Gerda from carrying her over towards the now finished christmas tree. Well, almost finished. There was one thing missing. The same thing Gerda was currently holding in her hand.   “You should feel honored!”, Gerda said happily in her ear. “Only one person gets to put the star on the top”.

    Now facing the tree Gerda stopped, wiggling the star until Selma finally took it from her, but not without muttering some curses.   “Fine”, she sighed and reached up. It was still difficult to get it to stay, mostly because of the height, but she refused to give up. If she was doing this then she had to succeed. So with a hand pushing on Gerda’s shoulder and the other reaching as far as possible, the star stuck to the top of the tree.

  “Well done kids!” Morgan smiled widely as Gerda put Selma down again. “Excellent teamwork”.   “Yeah we are a good team, right sunshine?” Gerda looked down, but Selma was busy staring up at that star. It was so far away now when she was standing on the ground.

    It was towering over her. So tall and sparkling with colors and glitter all over. Intimidating yet beautiful.

  “Selma?” Another tower was standing beside her, trying to catch her attention. “You in there somewhere?” Gerda asked as she poked her head.   “Seems like the lights are on but no one's home”, Lorinda suddenly said, finally ending her debate with Floki. “A meal will help with that”. Then she was walking towards the kitchen.

  “There’s nothing wrong with being lost in thought Lori, that’s when creativity flourishes!” She only waved away Floki’s comment before she disappeared behind the door, leaving him to roll his eyes.

  “Well then”, Morgan clapped her hands together. “Now the presents, this tree still looks empty down there”.

As everyone started emptying the bags of gifts, Gerda turning and shaking the ones she saw, Morgan making messy piles and Floki moving them around with his lip between his teeth, Selma once again stepped back, watching.

    She didn’t dislike christmas, once she had even loved it. But lately it had just passed her by like any other day. With no one to celebrate with, it lost its point. So she let it pass. Never grew to hate it, not with happy memories still replaying in her head, but never having that warm feeling. Well, not until now.

I should probably sleep...

Also it doesn’t really make sense for them to celebrate christmas because it doesn’t exist in their world but ssssch.

#my writing #treewip #short #writing #I only read through this once so it's barely edited