The Duke of Onions @dukeofonions - Tumblr Blog

Official “Welcome to my Blog” Post

As stated above, this is the post where I welcome you to my blog and explain how it all works. Formerly, this was meant to be an “Unpopular Opinions” blog, and while it technically still is I wanted to broaden my horizons a bit. While unpopular opinions will most likely still be a thing I wanted to also provide some other content as well, things others can enjoy that aren’t always negative because, lately, I think there’s been too much of that going around. However! It is important to have a venting space (in my own humble opinion) which is why I will still be accepting any unpopular opinions sent via asks. The only difference is that I won’t really reply to them unless they cover a topic I want to address, which I will then save for an actual full length post instead of a short and not very well thought out response.

With that being said, to help keep things more organized I have come up with a little tagging system for my future posts (this system does not apply to old posts) these tags are as follows:

#dukeofannouncements (Important announcements)

#dukeofasks (The tag for all asks)

#dukeoftheories (Theory and analysis posts)

#dukeofcritical (Critical posts critiquing things in a mature manner)

#dukeofrants (Critical posts critiquing things in an immature manner, these posts will most likely be deleted later unless I’m too lazy to go back and do so)

#dukeofreblogs (Used for reblogging my own posts that others may have added onto or reblogs of other critical posts that I agree with or want to discuss)

#dukeoframbles (Just little musings from my mind, usually more lighthearted while still relating to blog content or just my daily life)

#dukeofwritings (for any creative writing I might happen to post onto here)

And if there is ever anything you specifically need tagged on a post feel free to let me know and I'll include it. And if I ever do a series of posts I'll create a specific tag just for that.

And that is the gist of it! I hope you enjoy your time on my blog and I hope I can actually start producing some quality content.

#dukeofonions #dukeofannouncements

lesbianprincey

let’s go into detail about what’s going on with thomas sanders and brei grace, because i refuse to let him and the community sweep this under the rug:

thomas severely underpaid brei grace for her work on roleslaying with roman

thomas then laid brei off after creating a work environment that was bad enough to make her not want to return

thomas made a post “announcing” that rswr would be on “an indefinite hiatus”. but it was only available on his patreon (im not a patron so i can’t link the post or show a screenshot, but if i find a screenshot i will edit it into this post)

just days later, thomas makes a tweet about his merch sale, and most (if not ALL) his current merch was designed by brei, who will not see a penny in royalties, and this is apparently a regular thing with thomas

finally, an entire week after the patreon “announcement” and brei being laid off, thomas says this on the youtube community page (among other things, but this is what im focusing on):

and brei has to clarify that she was laid off

i want to point out the phrase “brei is currently not part of our team” and how thomas fails to acknowledge that HE is responsible for that. HE laid her off. and like a cowardly snake, he’s hiding behind vague corporate speak because he doesn’t want to admit the truth

unfortunately for him, the truth is out there

i know i sound really serious and dramatic and yall are probably not even taking me seriously and you have your pitchforks at the ready, but guess what? i couldn’t care less. i mean this IS serious, which is why im taking it seriously. but at the end of the day im just informing the community of what i know. what you do with that information is up to you

im not “cancelling” thomas, or trying to start a witch hunt, im just so sick of everyone pretending thomas is a perfect harmless little angel who can do no wrong. cos guess what? he HAS done wrong. he’s done wrong by brei. but everyone is so busy sucking up to him that they don’t seem to care that brei is suffering because of him

and this isn’t the first time he’s done wrong by an artist, either (let’s never forget the mad libs incident)

to summarize: thomas doesn’t make it a habit of properly compensating the artists he hires, he makes their experiences a living hell, and then he lies through his teeth about it

like i said, do with this information what you will, but i don’t know how thomas sleeps at night

(oh, and if you plan on harassing me over this post, im literally just gonna block you lmao don’t waste your energy)

hope everyone has a nice weekend (except for thomas tbh)

#i rise from the grave for this #thomas wtf

beauty-and-passion

sooooo, latest video

Well... it seems like there is a video XD

Jokes aside, thanks anon for letting me know Mr. Sanders posted a video that was Sanders Sides related. Kudos for that <3

Then... I have some thoughts about this video. Thoughts I will divide into pros and cons, to make everything easier to explain.

If you don’t like long posts or reading criticism of any kind, please save yourself (and myself) some time and ignore this post. I won’t get offended, I promise.

__________________________________

PROS

A real Aside

It looks like Thomas finally learned the difference between Asides and main episodes. It took him three years, but he finally realized that the Asides should be simple, no plot-related stuff. Good to see he finally got it.

(Still don’t understand why ATHD is a main episode, tho. It’s not plot-related and it’s very clearly more low-effort than FWSA and DWIT. Maybe Thomas didn’t want to leave it all by itself?)

-------------------

Some hopes for the characters

Completely forgot it’s been that long since the last main SS video and have been out of touch with Thomas in general, only to see your recent reblog and be reminded of it all. God, I can’t believe that is the most info we have on where the series finale is at! Good to see you pop back up on my dash, are you doing alright? Have you any thoughts, or has it slipped away from you as it did with me?

Lol, yeah, it's definitely been a while! Honestly, I don't care much about it anymore. I found a new interest that's taken over my life and fills me with joy, so I'm doing pretty good! I've also just kinda given up on the series. But hey, one reblog won't hurt, and I do find it crazy (but at the same time not surprising) that nothing has changed in all this time. I'll be actually surprised if the finale does come out this year, but even if it does, I just can't be bothered to care anymore. They briefly caught my interest back with the last Asides video, and that interest has shriveled up and died.

beauty-and-passion

I think I perfectly know what you’re talking about, so let me tell you some trivia.

When someone acts very defensive about something, in Italy we say that they have “la coda di paglia” (which can be translated as “they have a straw tail”). This saying comes from an old tale of a fox, whose tail was cut off by a trap. The animal was so ashamed, that its friends decided to give it a straw tail, so beautiful that anyone could never have suspected it was fake.

But one day a rooster let this secret slip away and once the peasants knew about the straw tail of the fox, they lit fires near the chicken coops, so that the fox could no longer steal their chickens anymore: straw catches fire very easily and so the fox was forced to stay away.

From this story comes the expression “having a straw tail”, which means fearing any kind of criticism for a behavior they are well aware of. If you have a straw tail, if you have bad behavior or did something wrong, you know it. And so, you act defensive to hide it.

Thomas is doing exactly that. He’s getting very defensive over simple questions, he’s making childish excuses in a desperate attempt to show how good he is, but all he’s doing is showing us he knows he’s in the wrong.

So here are the tweets you (probably) wanted me to talk about and yes, I will talk about them both (special thanks to @transfemlogan who posted them on Tumblr first).

Those are both very recent tweets, but let’s start with the first one dated October 2022:

Okay, let’s recap everything Thomas did wrong here.

1) That person was not pressuring nor threatening him. They asked a simple, genuine question and they did it very politely and very calmly. This wasn’t an angry fan. And yet, Thomas went in full passive-aggressive mode, as if that person was insulting him. This is the best example of what “having a straw tail” means.

2) “Keeping people posted” means giving real updates, not a vague “working on the script” written months ago. It means telling people how much has been written, if he’s close to the end or not, how long he thinks it will take to reach the end, what his plans are, even if he’s just working on the actual script or not because he’s doing other stuff. Those are updates.

3) “Updating to the extent that I feel comfortable doing” is just a more convoluted way to say “I do not have any real update, so I am giving you crumbs, because this is all I have”. But he’s hiding it behind the excuse of “I’m taking care of myself”, which could’ve worked years ago, but after three years it’s not so convincing anymore.

4) Pressuring someone to deliver content is not healthy nor productive, but if someone is clearly doing nothing, some pressure makes the work done. As a writer, I learned long ago that, if I want things to get done, I have to do them. I won’t enjoy the whole process and there will be times I don’t really want to do it, but it’s the only way to do stuff. You can’t wait forever for the inspiration to come because, flash news, it won’t magically fall from the sky.

And sure, taking care of yourself is important too, but using your well being as an excuse to always postpone is just laziness.

5) Since Mr. Sanders is thirty-three years old and not five, I think he is old enough to accept someone asking him what is going on with the season finale and not overreact like he did. I could understand if he was a teen, but when you’re 33 you’re old enough to deal with something as simple as a question.

Oh and since I’m here talking about this post and since Mr. Sanders didn’t do it, I would like to formally apologize to the person who wrote that question. You did nothing wrong, dear. Your question was valid and polite and I am sure that another, more mature person would’ve given you the proper reply you deserved.

And if any of you is curious, would you like to know what the real answer to that question was? “The season finale is not here at all, because I am barely working on the script. And I am barely working on the script, because I don’t know how to handle it. And I don’t know how to handle it, because I am not a writer - but I want to write it anyway”. Here’s your answer, you’re welcome.

Believe me, I hope to be proven wrong, but this is what I got from Thomas’ over-the-top reaction. And if any of you think I am too hard on him, then sorry again, but it pisses me off to see a grown-ass man whining like a child because someone just asked him something he doesn’t want to talk about.

And here is the second tweet, dated December 2022:

Not only this is another textbook example of what “having a guilty conscience” means, but Mr. Sanders’ reply is - if possible - even more childish: I work very very hard! See how hard I work? I am right and you are wrong! And If you keep saying these bad things, I will tell mom.

In addition to that, he wasn’t even clever enough to turn the topic away from him. That person said that his supporters got nothing in turn and are more excited than him? He could’ve said that this was offensive towards his supporters, because if they are trusting him it’s not because he’s forcing them to do it, but because they like what he’s doing and want him to create these things he’s passionate about. But nope, he was too butthurt and he clearly knew that person was right, so he overreacted like a child.

This also proves that, sadly, he doesn’t believe his supporters are following him out of trust or because they like everything he’s doing. He’s probably very aware that the reason most people are following him is Sanders Sides - and that puts him in a difficult situation.

Why? Because he’s not able to handle the series. And he’s aware of it: he knows he’s taking too long with the script, he knows there are no real updates, he knows he has nothing to give. And yet, this series is his main income: there are people, merch, contracts. He can’t just drop or cancel it.

And so he keeps everything as vague as possible. If everything is vague, people will still trust him, they will think he’s working on the series and patiently wait for the next episode.

This can work with kids. But when kids grow up or teens grow tired, they start to rightfully ask questions. And if you don’t have answers, you end up replying like this - thus involuntarily showing how aware you are of your situation.

And now, let’s take Sanders Sides out for a moment, because this isn’t about the series, but about him.

This behavior is very, very disrespectful. Adults should be an example for younger people, they should be someone the next generation will look at and take inspiration from, to grow into even better adults. We can’t pretend kids are better than us, if we are not the first to show them how to be better.

Thomas isn’t just an adult, but a public figure, so he’s not just an example for his friends or relatives: he’s an example for a lot of people. He should show them what a proper, mature, adult reply is. What he did instead was attacking with a lot of passive-aggressiveness an innocent fan who just asked a question and a more sarcastic one, who just poked him.

Do you know what he could’ve done instead? Not reply at all. Or just grow a pair and reply like an adult. He could’ve thanked the first fan and said that, unfortunately, there are no real updates on Sanders Sides for now, because he’s working on other stuff - and added that he hopes they will like this stuff too. While to the second person, he could’ve said that people are following him for more than just Sanders Sides and that he’s sorry that person thinks he did nothing, because he worked on different things. Was it so hard to do?

This is not a good way to handle criticism. And I hope he will grow up a little: all he did now was showing us how long his straw tail is and how easily it catches fire.

Do you ever feel alone in your opinion? Like everyone else is like on board with a theory/headcanon/upcoming change and you’re sitting in your corner thinking “Nope, I don’t vibe w/that” but no one else seems to share the same sentiment as you?

(Doesn’t have to be for just SaSi; could be for any fandom you like)

Yeah, every once in awhile. Both with fandom and other things in life.

#dukeofasks #these days i just vibe alone in my corner #as y'all can probably tell from my inactivity #that and i just happen to have a new thing I'm fixating on so that's taken a lot of my attention #but yeah when it comes to this sort of thing you're bound to find at least one person who agrees with you #most just tend to stay quiet about it if it's not what the majority thinks #when it comes to theories and headcanons i don't mind hearing other people's takes #even if i don't agree or vibe with it #there's just so many ways people can interpret things #different ideas #i find it both fascinating and daunting at the same time

logically-asexual

do kids in real life talk out loud when they’re playing alone? like saying things out loud and making voices when they play with dolls and stuff?

as a kid i didn’t do that (i would just move the dolls but play the whole thing out in my head) and thought it was just a movie thing, like when people talk out loud to themselves when the audience has to know their thoughts.

but then i grew up and i haven’t interacted with kids much throughout my life so. idk.

dukeofonions

Oh I always did that when I was little. I never wanted anyone to know what was happening in my head. 😅

logically-asexual

me neither lol further proof i’ve always been way too anxious xd

dukeofonions

Lol I just thought I'd get in trouble because I would make my toys have boyfriends and girlfriends and that wasn't allowed. 😅

#forbidden love #that and some of the plots got really dark for my child imagination #for some reason a big favorite of mine was #and epic battles against the forces of good and evil #all featuring my littles pet shops

logically-asexual

do kids in real life talk out loud when they’re playing alone? like saying things out loud and making voices when they play with dolls and stuff?

but then i grew up and i haven’t interacted with kids much throughout my life so. idk.

dukeofonions

Oh I always did that when I was little. I never wanted anyone to know what was happening in my head. 😅

#one time my aunt saw me playing and asked if there was something wrong with me #I'd also never want to play with my siblings because they'd talk and it was just too noisy #i liked to play in silence

unpopular opinion: the dnd roleplaying with roman is clearly a way to get views and Thomas literally used roman to get ppl to watch the series bc he knew that if he used an OC then the viewers would be considerably less...also to those out there who consider 'role-playing with roman' as sanders sides content, I wish you some rest and to find a content creator who actually listens to his fans✌

I kinda disagree on the first part, given that this series has been in the works for awhile I think it was just something fun they wanted to do.

I do sort of agree on using Roman when, to me, it feels odd that they kept referring to it as a "Roman series" even going as far as to have Roman himself react to the news in the update video he did with all the Sides. Only for the series to come out and throw up the disclaimer that the Roman in rswr isn't the same as the one from Sanders Sides, which if that's the case then why not just make up a new character? Why give the audience the impression that it was going to be a series about the Roman we're all familiar with when that wasn't the case?

Well at the end of the day it's not a huge deal for me because I do like the series regardless. I just find it odd that they went that route. Although if I had to guess it could be (like you said anon) they didn't think a lot of people would watch it unless they used Roman to draw Sanders Sides fans in. I mean we've already seen in the past that videos they make without the Sides aren't as popular (take Cartoon Therapy for example) people enjoy them sure but it's obvious that Sanders Sides is their most popular work so having a character from that series "star" in his own spin-off (even if it isn't actually a spin-off of that character since it's in a different universe I guess) would make sense if they were wanting to have people watch it.

#dukeofasks #and i mean hey it worked #people watched it #and like it #i was mostly drawn in due to roman and the d&d aspect #but yeah now that i have watched it i do kinda wish they could have just let it be its own thing #because seeing people constantly trying to bring sanders sides into it is kinda just #ehhhhhh #i mean I'm just hoping they don't feel pressured to force the other sides into the series just to make fans happy #like just let it be it's own thing #i mean they already kinda ruined that already by having a roman character in it #but hey maybe in the future they'll make more original stuff separate from the sides #even though that is difficult given that the majority of his fans are here for sanders sides #which is in a weird place right now #but I've rambled enough for now I'm done

Me waking up: Ah today is going to be a great!

First thing I hear after stepping out of my room courtesy of my stepbrother: So the Bible says same sex marriage is a sin-

Me walking back into my room: Time to hide in bed until the sun goes away.

#tw religion #ah nothing like casual homophobia to start your day #via my self proclaimed not homophobic step brother #who once said that all gays should go to hell #in front of me #after i have been out for awhile #and then my sister trying to say he didn't mean it and i just needed to understand where he was coming from #ah good times

ankle-beez

full offense but I refuse to believe there's gonna be people who look at the across the spider-verse trailer and then are gonna be like "yea I'd rather keep giving money to the mcu instead of this.". Do you have eyes

mrsmarymorstan

Yeah, I have eyes, and they're photosensitive! And that trailer should have come with a god damn warning!!!! It's clearly going to be EXACTLY the same as last time, where disabled people are completely ignored for saying "hey, the effects used on this film might kill us"!

Criticise the MCU all you want! Heaven knows the No Way Home Trailer was just as bad, but don't think they're completely innocent either!

You're still sucking Marvel Dick regardless.

One thing that irks me about the Roman DnD is some people saw Youngblood in the trailer and made it about prinanxity (Roman x Virgil) and it :/ idk I don’t like the ship so o don’t like that fans are shipping it base of that one character looks like another character

Yeah I've seen my fair share of that and I am not a fan.

Like I was pretty sure it wasn't Virgil when I first saw the trailer, but part of me was kinda worried about the possibility of it being him, happy to see that wasn't the case as I really like Youngblood and it helps to separate the series from Sanders Sides.

Which, having Virgil around would definitely ruin. Although I wouldn't be opposed to the other Sides having little cameos (like as NPCs for example) that have no big impact on the plot and they just come and go so the focus stays on Roman and Youngblood.

#dukeofasks #but yeah thanks a lot virgil #now no other character is allowed to have a purple color scheme #this is kind of a joke #like the one thing that would ruin this series for me is if they brought Virgil in as a main character #he already has so much in sanders sides let roman have his own series #even if it's technically a different version of roman #and not the one we all know and love and feel sorry for #come to think of it is thomas just slowly creating his own multiverse #the sandersverse i guess?

I actually prefer the DnD with Roman then I do with the sanders sides?! Maybe it’s because I think the DnD is neat and also because it about my favorite character! I wonder if it will get popular as DnD podcast (like the adventure zone)

Can't say for sure yet since it's only been one episode but it's definitely caught my interest (especially when I've been on a fantasy rpg kick recently) and I dunno the episode just had a really charming vibe to it?

And while it looks like they're setting up a story you can tell the three of them are still having fun with the little goofs here and there. And i know it's starting out pretty lighthearted now I'm wondering if it's gonna get a little more serious down the road.

I mean if you look at Roman here it definitely seems like a set up where the innocent, naive wannabe hero ends up learning about the hardships of reality alongside a character who's a little more experienced with the world, which is one of my favorite tropes.

I dunno, I'm excited to see where it goes. Haven't gotten around to actually playing D&D myself yet but I figure this could be a nice introduction for me.

#dukeofasks #ignore the fact i have a D&D starter kit just lying around #i dont have anyone to play with though #sad noise

I'll be honest, I was kinda disappointed with Roleslaying with Roman. The production and animation was top notch, don't get me wrong. But the fact that it has three people talking almost at once, as well as music going on in the background is overstimulating, and making it hard to listen to. Only thing I like about it so far is Aunt Patty.

I agree with the music, sometimes it felt way too loud and I couldn't hear what they were saying. But all in all I honestly enjoyed it.

I'm not sure how much of it is improv, but maybe in future episodes they'll be a little more structured as far as the diqlogue goes and everyone will get a chance to speak clearly.

It is just the first episode though so hopefully they'll fix things like this down the road. If it gets bad enough though then hopefully people will bring it to their attention.

#dukeofasks #i honestly didn't think there was too much talking going on #it was mostly the music that bugged me #though it sounded really nice #just a bit too loud

I see Thomas has done a reaction to Dan made things…

Suddenly I’m concerned he’s seen either some of my stuff or my friends’ stuff and I’m mildly curious to watch it

However if he didn’t get permission to post this stuff (and if he’s reacted to my creations) I’m going to be mildly annoyed.

People shouldn’t say one thing and proceed to do the opposite

[I also just woke up to find this out so I might be letting tiredness govern my annoyance]

I mean from what I know the stuff was found by someone on Thomas's team, not sure if any permission was asked for, but so far I haven't seen anyone upset if their content appeared in the video. Not saying permission shouldn't have been asked and if it was I hoped people's decisions were respected.

Personally, I wouldn't mind too much if something I made got featured like that (I've already thrown it up onto the internet after all) but I understand everyone's situation is different and some people may only be used to posting for a smaller audience and not have their work suddenly shown to thousands of people.

Which could have both positive or negative effects, but like I said so far nothing bad seems to have come out of it and I'm hoping nothing does.

#dukeofasks #i mean if anything has come up then i just haven't noticed

Ok so the video we’re Gavin and Thomas react to fandom stuff is only 14 minutes long so idk if it’s long livestream but the pickle thing is Gavin acting like a fancy cretic.

The video was cute, kind of awkward, but I thought they would react more to edit and stuff on tumblr since I think that’s were most of the fan base is.

I wonder if now Thomas react to fandom stuff it means that the sides is either ending or going to get a massive change?

Yeah the stream was a few hours long but they were doing a lot of stuff in between reacting to videos. Not sure how much ended up on the cutting room floor but 14 minutes is shorter than I was expecting but eh, it's a good length.

And yeah I mean, Thomas has obviously reacted to fandom stuff before. He has art Sundays and has watched animatics, this is just the first time he's put it all in a video.

I know the series has one more season before it ends and as far as I know they've got most of it planned out, so I'm not too worried about fandom content making a huge impact plot wise, other than small things added here and there that are common fandom things.

But I don't think they'd alter the plot much due to a random animatic they watch, whatever the plot may be.

#dukeofasks

I don’t really like Remus’ skirt outfit, personally. Can I explain why exactly I don’t like it? Nope, can’t pinpoint it. It just doesn’t feel quite right to me, is all.

I mean that's fair. Personally, I love it. Maybe wish the skirt was a bigger part of the outfit (I noticed just about everything but the skirt when I first saw it) but honestly I like it.

#dukeofasks #doesn't top the janus skirt pics at all #but i still love it #maybe the energy that the pics have has a lot to do with it #because it very much screams chaotic remus #which i love #but yeah I'm a fan of this one #still find it hilarious that logan virgil and patton didn't get actual photo shoots #but hey what can ya do?#except maybe a short video with the sides showing off their skirts to each other #which would probably mean character thomas needs a skirt look #eh it probably won't happen but one can dream

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