A Bit Of Talk About The Current TADC Events (a little more serious than my usual blogs, so bear with me)
TW: I will be discussing racism and the problems I've been having with Goose, the VAS, and the fandom.
Alright, my amazing digital lovelies, I will be seeing the movie on the afternoon of June 5th. I will likely be discussing spoilers afterwards, but I promise to add cuts and warnings in the title for any content I'll be discussing.
Though please note that I'm seeing it with my close friends. Trust and believe, if they were not going, I would've cancelled my ticket weeks ago.
We were very excited to see the movie and the end of a show we loved. The racist behavior of some of the fandom, the vas, and the mishandling of racism, as a whole, by Goose and Glitch was extremely disappointing.
The last couple of weeks have been incredibly low for me. To the point that I've become borderline apathetic, seeing creator after creator of whom I once respected (whether that be Goose or channels that covered TADC and other media I enjoyed), outright dismiss or choose to remain ignorant of these issues has been baffling at the least.
I hopped on rather late to TADC, but I found real love for it, and the fandom works. I think I can seem a bit hard-hitting at times, especially with my critiques, but, in reality, I consider myself more shy. I think I'm more open because of how strongly I fixated on TADC.
I've never been to a con, but at one point, I was truly considering attending a TADC event. But, as I mentioned before, the situation with the fandom, Goose, and the VAs has all but demolished that interest.
I know people can change. And yes, Michael and Ashley both apologized, but I still do not want to be in a fandom so dismissive of black issues.
Michael himself admitted that what they did was racist, and people still diminished it, saying that people were too sensitive, that no apology was needed, or speaking over POC to voice their opinions on a situation that had zero effect on them.
You can tell me I'm accepted into a place, but actions speak louder than words.
And Goose's tweet responding to the racism was the final nail in the coffin.
I don't think I can emphasize enough how genuinely upsetting this response was.
On the surface level, someone could easily claim that Goose denounced racism, so there should be no problems.
But in reality, her response, coming as late as it did, especially considering the irrelevant tweets she made before this, and the actual content of the "address," was not at all the right way to go.
I think there was a time and place to take the situation a little more seriously. That moment was now.
Saying someone should shoot themselves with a gun is not a serious response, nor one that conveys, to me, that you're treating the situation with respect.
Her old tweets have also rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't care how many years ago it was. 2016, 2019, and 2021 are not that long ago. Goose, Michael, and Ashley were all adults when they made their "jokes".
The problem also lies with the fact that she hasn't exactly proven she's changed. She still makes edgy tweets, she can't even be bothered to apologize properly for them or the "nega" situation.
Like FunkyFrogbait's initial apology, she doesn't say sorry once.
You can say their jokes, but it's not funny. I don't care about the "it was a different time" excuse.
I never, and have never, said transphobic shit as a joke. It's so damn crazy that a terribly large portion of the fandom can't understand that!
They see all criticism as a Gooseworx dogpile and refuse to even consider the potential hurt she's caused!
Don't even get me started on the misogynistic tweets she made! If she can say on a public tweet, do you think she says anything different in her private room?
How am I supposed to trust that? It legit feels like fandom's supposed to be a safe space for everyone, but POC!
I can't even truly trust Michael and Ashley's apologies anymore because they are close friends with Goose. I don't know any of these people, and I can only judge them based on what I see.
Once again, actions speak louder than words!
I recently watched "How The Amazing Digital Circus Broke Its Own Creator." They discuss the controversies with TADC and, unfortunately, fall under the same pattern of disregarding POC issues.
However, it is because of them that I realized Michael used to voice Robotnikclause, as alleged by them. The full movie is copied on YouTube, the original having been deleted, and for GOOD REASON! This shit is horrible!
Extremely large content warning for this entire video, including slurs, pedophilia, and other sexual content.
I doubt you will get through the entire video. I couldn't even watch it in its entirety. At one point, a police character throws out the hard r at 51:15.
Once again, I don't care if "it was a different time" or if it was "Newgrounds humor!" None of it's funny, and none of it's worthy to be dismissed if the person is just going to throw it under the rug.
Ultimately, after every bit of information I've discovered about these people, I simply do not trust them. And I honestly don't think there's much they could do to change it.
They could apologize, and that would be fine, but I can't even watch their streams anymore or watch Q&As of them at cons. Like it actually hurts because I can't disconnect them from the shit they said and did.
This is not a campaign to harass ANYBODY. I'm only doing this to spread awareness as well as express my frustrations.
And people sending gore to the VAS is the most illogical attempt at revenge I've ever seen. What does that accomplish besides agitating the side of the fandom that's already disturbed that their favorite creators were called out?
You're not informing anybody, not helping them change or understand, you're just trying to hurt them by sending them images that nobody deserves to see!
This has been very exhausting, and there are many problems that I have not mentioned here. Despite that, I still have love for the fandom, the characters, and what could've been.
I still want to write about TADC and understand different viewpoints people have on the show, both criticisms and praise.
If Indie is to be any different than mainstream, people have to tolerate critique of their favorite content and learn how to separate themselves from parasocial relations.
I think understanding that I had no real knowledge of any of the VAs or Goose helped deal with this situation better. It didn't hit as hard because I knew, logically, anything could be revealed about them that could change my perception of them. It still hurts to learn this stuff, and even more that I can't find enjoyment in the VAs playthroughs as I once did.
To end on a positive note, I'd like to thank anyone who read this far and the people who understand or have made an effort to understand the grief directed at Goose, the VAS, and the fandom.
I will likely still make content for TADC as the hyperfixation is still strong. And even if the show has disappointed me so far, once again, a lot of great fan work continues to be made, and it always sucks me in.
So thank you for that, TADC fandom.
