#tss crit

[endy-manny]

Thomas hasn't made an actual Sanders Side video in so long that even the critical community died out and honestly that's kinda crazy to think about

[sandersside-eye]

Lol

[ts-critsfander]

Thomas posted another photo of him dressed as a character mid filming I just have to ask fanders:

Are you really ok with him only posting photos and no actual info? Like you see so many similar images with no updates about the release date or how far he is into filming and you're ok with that? You're ok with him essentially jingling keys in your face and saying "Maybe one day!"?

He's been doing this for years. Sanders Sides is almost 10 years old and no canon episodes have been released in almost 5 years. At some point you need to realize this shit is just ridiculous and Thomas thinks nothing of you so stop being quiet and complain.

[phantominzie]

Ranting about TSS

I would like to start by saying, yes, I am fully aware I don't post fandom rants very often (ESPECIALLY SASI). However, I've been feeling rather upset over the fandom and Thomas.

I would also like to mention that in no way is this attacking Thomas or any of his writers, hell, not even the fandom itself. I just need to let all of this out.

You're always totally free to skip over this, I know ts crit isn't everyone's cup of tea <3

To start, I am so just...tired? It's been so frustrating waiting for a finale for four fucking years and getting the bait and switch every time Thomas makes a post about 'upcoming Sanders Sides content!'

I understand taking time to work on something so important to cannon, but four years? I can also give him a little leeway for having some staff issues, but it's almost painful to only keep getting the series we love get downgraded so harshly over the years.

Almost all of the sides have been made so two dimensional. At first they felt so fleshed out, so real, and fandom focused their character on one sole trait (not unforgivable but a bit frustrating). Then, I guess Thomas just picked up on fandom and decided 'yeah! I'll just make them two dimensional too!' That's not what we want. And frankly that's never what we wanted. Occasionally, he'll give us breadcrumbs of character development, or show us a sliver of light to what they once were, but it's never the same.

And frankly, I feel bad for having my hopes so high for the finale. Sure it's been taking four years, but that doesn't mean it will be perfect, hell, it might suck. Of course, I will watch it, but I won't be happy about it. About the lies, about the bait and switch, about the constant merch plugs over actual content, about the four incorrect quotes over working on the finale, about the prioritizing of under five minutes long videos that no one will watch anyways.

I love that Thomas is working on things that make him happy, and I don't think I'll ever stop being happy about that, but he needs to take into heart that without content, merch won't sell anyways.

He made a tweet recently that said that we would be getting the finale in an uncertain number of weeks, but based on the past four years I don't even think it will come out at all. If it does, I swear that if we get a merch plug in the finale I'm going to lose my shit.

I want him to see that fandom can't carry itself, and that if he doesn't have that finale have the actually well done makeup we've been begging for, or have our three dimensional characters back, then he won't have a fandom at all.

I'm almost angry that this is my special interest at this point, I'm so let down by the direction the series is probably headed.

I hope that no one takes this the wrong way, and if people leave death threats in my inbox (which has happened to people posting ts crit; no i'm not joking) then trust that you won't be answered. No one is to tag Thomas on this post, and if Thomas even finds this post then heed the words I've said. This isn't a threat to you, and frankly it never was. What is it is the frustrations of a tired and exasperated fan.

I'm sorry if this has rubbed anyone the wrong way, I apologize if it has. I hope this doesn't make people think I'm becoming some TSS hater, I'm really not. But I'm frustrated, and that's normal

Thank you for reading this all the way through if your here, I love you <3

[glacierruler]

Sanders Sides Crit/Fandom Crit

Cool, okay, you've seen the title of this, you know what to expect. This is also tagged with all the crit tags but none of the main. So you've every chance to avoid it. Do not respond to this with hate. Respectful disagreement is fine. These are just my observations. I am not providing links to any claims, these have all been talked about to death.

I'm going to preface this with, I am no longer in the fandom. I am not telling Fanders to leave, I honestly don't care.

So, why does the Sanders Sides fandom feel like it's dead? Honestly, because of how people in the fandom go about treating a lot of newer creators. When I was just starting up, there were a few people who I interacted with that I viewed as: Big. And sort of got a few moots from them.

But because I wasn't seen as one of the Big Ones, almost no one outside my circle would reblog/interact with my posts. Which meant they weren't being seen.

Now of course interaction isn't, y'know, necessary, I'm not saying everyone has to interact with everyone. But when almost no one wants to interact with your posts, but you've got people who get hundreds of notes you have to wonder: why am I so different??? is there something wrong with me???

Another problem with the fandom is the hypocrisy in it. So many people are willing to criticize other fanders for their takes, whether in good or bad faith, but when it came to Thomas and how he's:

Underpaid and overworked creators

Screwed over creators he's worked with

Lied to the fans

Used AI

Strung along patrons about the finale for Years at this point

All of that was brushed under the rug. Which is annoying. So many fanders were like: Okay but he needs to take his time and and and.

Now I'm personally doing A Lot of projects that take time, and energy. And I understand he's had some problems with production etc. But smaller creators I follow are more willing to say: Hey X Happened and we aren't anywhere close to done.

Thomas has been promising the season finale for years now. Years. And every time he posts something on insta so many fanders will go to his defense being like: SEE he IS working on it!!!

And like, sure, maybe he is. But honestly the way he uses SaSi to cashgrab the fans (so many ads that used the characters to convince people to continue supporting him, so many ads that did not need the characters. He has not released an official episode in So Long, but those ads? Let's do more of them!!!) I don't trust that the finale won't be one long ad at this point.

Anyways, the point of this is that so many fanders brushed it under the rug. Ignored this. Pretended Thomas is their perfect innocent creator, and went after anyone who provided any sort of criticism of him.

Which led to people leaving the fandom because they couldn't talk about their valid complaints with the work, with what was happening in the fandom, with the complete lack of transparency of how the finale is going without being told to die, without being told: Oh but you should trust Thomas :D, without having to fight at every corner to be heard.

Because, I know, trust me I know that every creator has their problems. I also know you can't get rid of the problems without demanding change.

There is another fandom I'm currently in, where one of the creators did something not great. But I've yet to receive hate for talking about it. It's sort of being brushed under the rug, but there are people willing to talk to me about it and their frustrations. And so I've stayed because of that.

Idk, I just don't think you can expect a fandom to stay alive if you only ever brush the problems under the rug and tell everyone who talks about it to shut up and trust the creator.

[deepcoraldragon]

Oh my fucking god. rant incoming

Okay so June is shaping up to be great! Twenty one pilots just announced new music (!!!!!), and with deltarune right around the corner and silksong not far behind (🤞🏻) I thought I'd check in on another few fandoms that suffer from Long Awaited Syndrome.

I pretty much left the sanders sides fandom a few months after WTIT came out, because I was losing interest (and 'cause I got sucked into the dsmp fandom, lol). But that doesn't mean I'm not still curious to see what new episodes came out since!

None

Working through intrusive thoughts was posted in July 2021. In two months, that will be four whole years ago. I had time to get a master's degree since the last official sanders sides episode!

And at first I thought I just wasn't finding it, because there are a lot of videos in the playlist after WTIT. But no, they're all bonus/side content

Now to be fair, a few asides could be counted as mini episodes, a bit like the early, simpler videos. But the others are just, like... song covers. Crossovers. An ad. But anyway, since the last tss episode, we've had 22 videos:

3 bloopers reels

1 special

8 sanders aside

4 incorrect quotes

whatever the fuck the anime intro is

5 "doing an activity with the sides"

And no episode.

While I'm glad that Thomas hasn't completely abandoned the series, that main content : bonus content ratio is wild. And don’t get me wrong, fillers are fun too! I like bloopers and incorrect quotes. But bonus content is supposed to be built around actual content 😭

Is this because the next episode was supposed to be the season finale, and Thomas is blocked on it? Is he just burned out of making serious videos? Are his expectations for the production too high? Is it because some of the team left?

I’m not in the fandom anymore, so I’m not disappointed or mad or anything, mostly just baffled. When I left in 2021, I was already half expecting Thomas the discontinue the series, but not that sort of halfway point

Ultimately, Thomas doesn't owe us any type of content (bar the patreons), and forcing himself to make something he doesn't like probably wouldn't end up great anyway. But I think at this point there's serious questions to be posed about the future of the series.

And the crossover videos seem especially damning to me. Since our last episode, we've had tss in the style of West Anderson, as characters from inside out, inspired by the nightmare before Christmas, as an anime, and covering a song from over the garden wall. To me, it seems like Thomas doesn't want to make the sanders sides, he wants to make something different, but for one reason or another he clings to the characters.

Anyway, I hope we get some answers, one way or another. Especially for the patreons, since it was advertised as helping him make more sasi content. I still follow many people in the fandom, so I'll almost certainly see it when/if the finale releases, I'm still curious to see what I'll look like!

And if we get silksong before the sasi finale you'll hear from me, lmao

[takealookatmycrabclaw]

Roman: I love disney yay!

Virgil: shut up bitch you're dumb

Roman: oh my god that's so mean

Thomas: *mistreats his employees*

[softestvirgil]

Every so often I log in to find out what crazy stuff has been going on around here and oh boy. Thomas is once again in another controversy over how he treats artists he works with. Can’t say I’m shocked but will the guy ever learn?

TLDR: He underpaid Brei Grace for her work on Roleslaying With Roman and then laid her off, only for her not to want to return due to how she was treated.