This text is heavy. If you need a moment to step back, please do so. Do not force yourself to read it if it gets too much for you. Take your time and actually internalize what I am saying here if you're able to. My intention is not to cause you panic or harm, but to explain my original point of view further. I'm explaining this, because I don't think anyone else will.
Any and all important links will have a copy of relatability as a screenshot under "Keep Reading" at the bottom of this message for safe keeping if the links become invalid.
Why I warned you of your hiatus message sounding like you were keeping your comic hostage, was because whether or not you meant it, you used a Hostage Marketing Tactics.
You use your Heightened Emotions as you explain you're placing TPOH on hiatus against your wishes.
You place Urgency and Pressure to SMG4's crew by mentioning you've contacted them legally in a public setting, yet not gotten a response back from them in private. (So, they had to make a public response back, which they did, and you ignored it.)
Your choice of timing with this issue 2-3 year old issue, has given SMG4's and ZAMination's Limited Time To Prepare an answer for you in private because you used Mr. Puzzles re-invigorated soar in the search history to spread this message of plagiarism. (Did you ever get a confirmation that SMG4/their lawyer were even served your message through legal means in the first place? Did your lawyer send your message to the right person to begin with? When did you originally send this request of contact through your lawyer? You're leaving this notion too open for it not to be taken maliciously. It wasn't our beeswax until you brought it out in public.)
You explain of SMG4's fans vicious hate mails that you've gotten, as a Threat. (You didn't deserve the hate. Yet you keep your Tumblr Asks Anonymity open, meaning you haven't done the bare minimum to protect yourself from those haters, since anyone hating you off anon, you could've immediately blocked and be over with them.)
Not only are you "punishing" your fans, but also plunging SMG4's / ZAMination's / Mr. Puzzles fans into confusion and doubt as you adamantly declare that Mr. Puzzles is a plagiarized version of The Property of Hate's RGB. (Multiple Stakeholders.)
You fear that Mr. Puzzles is going to cancel you, even when you claim you don't try to cancel him. (Fear of Reputational Damage.)
You're also pressuring Outside Audiences to Influence Outcomes because you're asking from your community for help to get a hold of someone in SMG4's crew.
And why am I now addressing this publicly? Because instead of answering to my Tumblr Ask privatively and tell me I'm wrong, you blocked me (which was fair), and publicly announced that "one individual" (me) had contacted you in "extremely bad faith", thus creating a single new villain to yourself. And with that gaining more sympathy from those around you for your statement of plagiarism.
So fine, make me your villain. But I'll still be your ally, even if you don't want nor believe me. Because even when people support you and your creative work, it doesn't mean they will blindly agree with everything you say. There are those like me, who WILL call you out when you've stepped over a line that will cause harm not just to you, but to others as well. Which you have done with your firm plagiarism statement.
You left no room for "if's and or but's" with your statement. You spoke like it was the truth when in reality, things weren't as you thought. And instead of listening to my advice (which you have every right not to do), and thinking of this plagiarism issue as a "great minds think alike", you have effectively caused harm to SMG4's & ZAMination's brandings since this can be taken as a case of slander in the court of law.
"Sometimes it's hard to see what is true when you think you know what is true." - The Property of Hate, Freeze Frame: Page 636. (This page has lived rent free in my mind ever since this plagiarism drama started.)
I can understand your fear of getting cancelled due to being the smaller creator in this drama... But has anyone actually called this to action in public, or has it all been a large volume of private/anonymity messages?
Because this ISN'T a public call to action to cancel you either. This is a warning from a creator to another. SMG4 & ZAMinations are chill folk thankfully. If you apologize for your firm plagiarism statement, you will probably be forgiven by them, if they even choose to do anything further about your statement in the first place.
All that I've seen myself has been the communities, even those outside of our own, wish you nothing but strength and safety. And I've wished that too, no matter how I've spoken of this situation. I simply didn't agree with your plagiarism statement. You and your creations are loved. You have people behind you to support you. You can stop, and take a breather to relax. No one is actually chasing you off the internet or telling you to completely cancel TPoH, even if you fear that.
Also, the reason why I drew RBG and Mr. Puzzles to look like one another, wasn't to mock either of them. It was to showcase what a truly plagiarized versions of either of them should've looked like, for the claim to hold any actual water in a court setting, had Mod or SMG4 escalated the situation there after Mod's initial attempt of contact to SMG4 and his crew. Details in difference matter far greatly in these cases, because they are the factor that showcase the percentage of the actual similarities in the whole designs. Smallest of details matter, be it their story, their personalities, quirks or powers. Yet the communities were asked to ignore them and simply pay attention to things that were vaguely similar.
You can not own a CONCEPT. RGB's most basic concept is an Object Head that leans to their object's quirks + Old Suit-Style. That's it. His powers are his flare, but Mr. Puzzles doesn't share those. He has his own sets of powers. Had the community (and Mod), taken a moment to actually read RGB's Wiki and Mr. Puzzles Wiki, this plagiarism mess might've not even started.
Please, for those who took their time to read this all as well, DO NOT SEND HATE TO MOD, SMG4, ZAM OR ANYONE ELSE MENTIONED IN THIS POST.
As I mentioned, Mod has me blocked, so unless they unblock me or someone they trust shows them this post, they most likely won't see it. I am NOT asking you to share this to Modmad though, since they most likely are not mentally in a good headspace to properly read it. If this drama dies quietly, that's fine by me.
But I do not want fellow fans of either The Property of Hate's RGB or SMG4/ZAMination's Mr. Puzzles to feel like they need to stop supporting one another's creator or creation because someone made an error. That's part of being a human, a person, an individual. So if you wish to share this to your fellow community members, please feel free to do so.
Please be kind to one another, and stay hydrated.
The Property of Hate's hiatus note:
Hostage Marketing Tactics:
SMG4's Public statement, made by Cube (FM54321) over on Twitter:
Sometimes I feel bad for just kind of dumping all my ship art here and being incessant with reblogging posts and art about it and then I remember this is my blog and I can do what I want forever
And then I look at the side blog I made to move my shipping stuff over to that I still haven’t used because I feel as if I am giving in to my anxieties but at the same time it’d be kinda nice to organize everything
on the 7th of may 2011, SMG4 uploaded his first youtube video: "the cake is a lie!"
today are exactly 15 years since that day.
how many adventures that happened, how many characters that we got the chance to met.
all this thanks to a the dream of a boy.
SMG4 is the most important thing for me. it changed my life, myself, it gave me sm in my life, it made me smile even during my worst times. SMG4 is the friend that everyone needs, that friend that stays always by your side and never leaves you alone, even in difficult times.
i may be exaggerated but for me this show is the light of my life, the love that i feel for it goes beyond words. thanks to this show i learned many things and i've met such incredible people that im glad to call my friends. im just so glad, so happy for this show, so glad.
thanks to this show i also got the opportunity to know mr puzzles who became the most important and the best part of me. and gunshow that is not only a ship anymore for me but they have been lifechanging to a point that i've learned what true love means
after four months since it ended i still miss this show with my entire heart. saturdays feels not the same anymore without the comfort that just an episode of this show was able to bring to me. but i will always bring it in my heart, the stories, the characters, everything.
'cause something so beautiful it can come to an end, but it never leaves you
so thank you SMG4, thank you for being the most beautiful memory of my life.
Man, we have got to stop treating art like it has an expiration date. That show stopped airing? Doesn’t mean it can’t haunt your every waking thought. Everybody’s into this album, but you don’t have the energy for new music right now? It’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready. That movie’s fifty years old and indie as shit? Incredible, you have the chance to share it with folks who might never otherwise feel that particular punch of delight. Books don’t go bad. Shows inspire fandoms decades after they’ve wrapped up. We’re still looking at cave paintings and statue work from ancient times and letting the joy of creation bring tears to our eyes. That’s the point of art. It’s as close to immortality as we ever get. Why try to give that magic a shelf life?
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