tscritical

[tscritical]

sorry for the silence, i suck at multiblogging LMAO

[tscritical]

idk if this makes sense to anyone else but my emotional reaction to seeing that thomas has changed the titles of the sanders asides episodes to sanders sides was very similar to the emotional reaction i experience when tumblr makes changes to the site. if you get it you get it

#ts critical #ts criticism

[tscritical]

he literally- oh my god. oh my god.

What do.yih think about Thomas changing the titles of Sanders Asides to Sanders sides? Kinda scummy if u ask me

He did that????

#hold me back hold me BACK #ts critical #ts criticism

[tscritical]

I don't know how to explain it but any joy derived from the anime intro thing just feels hollow to me. It's been so long since anything meaningful about sanders sides has come out that it's more of a single moment of nostalgia than anything else. It gave way to the bitter afterthought of how it shouldn't be nostalgic at all pretty fast.

Anyway, I used to operate under the assumption that the silly vids were filmed in some way alongside major stuff. Like if Thomas is already dressed up for the parts, he might as well do more than one thing, right? I no longer think he plans that well.

YOURE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT

#asks #ts critical #ts criticism #is this crit? idk #i think its vaguely crit? #idk lemme know

[tscritical]

ive already like. run out of energy kajjdkf

i feel bad for being so inconsistent (and the irony of that inconsistency is not lost on me) i just. well. full disclosure im in the worst mental health episode ive ever experienced lmao (have i mentioned that on this blog i genuinely don’t remember)

hopefully shit gets better it’s just a matter of when. until then… i dont really know. just hangin in there rn

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he is still writing the season finale for sanders sides. i can’t include screenshots in an anon message on here i guess, but it’s on his twitter in a reply to someone from a couple hours ago (8/16). and didn’t he start writing the season finale back in 2019? like dude, what is going on?

(the fact that this is from almost a month ago and im only answering it now 💀💀💀💀)

i don’t remember if the eight hour binge writing session is from before or after august 16, but seeing that particular update made me go “…eight hours of writing and we still don’t even know if the writing is done”

i know the finale is in four parts so it’s gonna take time, especially depending on how long each part will be, but DUDE ITS BEEN FOUR YEARS HASNT IT. THATS ONE YEAR PER PART. SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE LMAO

#asks #ts critical #ts criticism

[tscritical]

Hi just another anon here. I find criticizing my favorite stuff fun and interesting so I have a thing to bring up.

The way Thomas interacts very actively and personally with his fan base, incorporates fanon into the content to the point where fanon almost defines the series, and makes content that is very “nurturing” in nature (which is also clearly aimed at a younger audience) creates a perfect storm for unhealthy parasocial connections. I will say that this is partially on him (and his team) maybe? Idk

But also that unhealthy parasocial behavior can take on many forms, like feeing that a person can do no wrong, seeing them as a replacement for real human connection, or even (possibly like you and me right now) obsessively looking for things to criticize about the person/overthinking the things they do. We probably wouldn’t be here criticizing Thomas Sanders in such a detailed fashion at all if we didn’t have at least somewhat of a parasocial connection to him. If we detached ourselves from him we would say “yeah, well he’s a celebrity. I don’t even know him, and he probably goes through stuff that isn’t my business. Lack of content happens, so eh. Celebrities advertise because they want to make money. Thomas Sanders isn’t different, and it is what it is.”

We don’t see Thomas and his crew as a for-profit organization because they fostered that image on purpose. All YouTubers do. A relatable guy who would be your friend, even though celebrities aren’t your friends, and they live a very different existence than regular people (valuing status, image, and money in a way regular people don’t)

I won’t go into detail, but I have a very complicated relationship to sanders sides because of this atmosphere of parasocial relationships that is rampant in the fandom. I found sanders sides when I was in a really difficult place mentally, and it was comforting but I also had a sort of… bad feeling about it? It made me physically anxious for a while and I didn’t know why. A lot has happened in my life since then that I’m still processing so my feelings about this are a bit of a mess.

Idk it’s 3am and I’m rambling. Sorry for the long ask, I had some Thoughts

yeah there’s definitely something to be said about the parasocial aspect of it all, even if i don’t quite have the spoons or brain cells to go into a detailed discussion about it

basically Shit’s Complicated lmao

and you’re so right about the fanon influence, it’s especially obvious in the five year anniversary video (for example: when the sides all declare their roles in the “family dynamic” (patton being the dad, logan being the mom, etc) and perpetuating the idea of family being these strictly defined roles. i have nothing good to say about that shit)

#asks #ts critical #ts criticism

[tscritical]

he just posted a video with a joke about dying from smallpox. i’m fucking done with this man. i’m fucking done.

i know which short you’re referring to but i have to be real i don’t know enough about smallpox to know why making that joke was such an egregious error, but if you don’t mind explaining id love to understand better!

history has never been my strong suit, but from what i understand smallpox has been vaccinated against for a very long time and there haven’t been smallpox cases for… a very long time (any measurement of time i guess at will sound idiotic im certain of it 🙃)

#asks #is this crit? idk

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do you have a backlog of asks you'll eventually answer? not pressuring you to do so ofc, just curious

if you mean do i have asks to answer… yeah. i honestly forgot i have asks lmao. ill get at least some answered gimme a sec

[tscritical]

my thoughts on the anime intro vid are basically “yes i enjoy seeing the sides just have fun but not at the expense of real content” if that makes sense

like it’s all about context? idk there may be a better word for what im talking about, but if we got sanders sides content more regularly then that vid would’ve landed better i think. it would’ve been like “here’s a nice lil silly vid in addition to actual plot and stuff” and it would’ve been nice!

but the way things are, it reads as “he’s able to make this but not the actual season finale?” because the time he spent making that could’ve been time spent on script writing for the finale, or filming it, or whatever stage he’s at with the finale (and im pretty sure he’s still writing the script but pls correct me if im wrong. i want so badly to be wrong)

and i get that he’s trying to like,, do what he can? like, he’s giving us what he’s able to do in a short amount of time, and i totally get that. i just kinda wish he would make like a public statement saying “im limiting the amount of “bonus” sanders sides content in order to focus on the finale” and im sure it’s not just me

idk what the point of this post is but i just have Thoughts. and i wanted to express them. and maybe im wrong and im just being overly petty or whatever but let’s be real here. how much demand is there for this kind of “content” right now

sorry if i sound like a bitch lmao it just kills me that these characters are trapped in character arc limbo or whatever like tensions are higher than they ever have been before and We Need Closure, Man

to summarize because i feel like everyone is gonna twist my words in some way: i love the lighthearted “content” but due to where we’re at in canon it’s not as satisfying as it could be, and i feel like if thomas focused more on the finale it would be a better use of his energy. yes he can do what he wants, it’s his channel after all, and im sure he has a reason he’s doing what he’s doing, i just feel like im going insane

#ts critical #ts criticism

[tscritical]

i don’t remember posting this but i love how on july 1 i said “ill brb” and disappeared for over a month 💀💀💀

i have other asks i just need a bit of time before responding ill brb

[tscritical]

i have other asks i just need a bit of time before responding ill brb

[tscritical]

My take on the current situation is that both people were in the wrong. The person shouldn't have sent such a hateful dm. But at the same time Thomas should know better then to post it without at the very least blurring the username. Like Thomas has a fan base and they are willing to defend him on practically everything, he should know this.

basically, yeah

#asks

[tscritical]

it's kind of a double edged sword situation here. both of them are in the wrong. while Thomas was right in feeling hurt by that comment, he should not have aired it out for everybody to see. he could've privately had a word with them, or spoken to one or some of his friends about it instead. and the person that sent the message acted in a really shitty way, and while she should be held accountable in some way, it should not have been like that.

yeahhhh pretty much

#asks

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this isnt crit but wanted to say it's cool seeing you back/g

aww thanks!

#asks

[tscritical]

Also Thomas didn't encourage anyone to harass anyone. I hate when people accuse celebs of sending their fans after people when its a mistake like this. Because some not nice people will actively ask their fans to dogpile targets and that was not what happened here.

i didnt. say that?

#asks

[tscritical]

A creator as big as Thomas should have common sense to at least censor the name 😭😭

yeah that also tripped me up lmao like that is the most basic internet etiquette i mean

#asks #is this crit? idk