#tma crit

[skittlespizza]

Thinking a bit about TMA recently. I dunno why. I kind of dislike jonmartin. I feel like my favorite parts of tma are the statements, they've always hit pretty decently to really hard, but jonmartin kind of... changed that? Suddenly the statements mattered less and less and less because of these two guys with little chemistry.

Jonmartin feels a bit hammed in. S5 had some of the best statements and a good atmosphere but if you don't care for jonmartin good fucking luck!

I love the world of tma (i am running a CoC campaign set in the TMA universe rn) and im so sad it stopped being explored after a while.

Also i hate how the fandom treats martin. Martin isnt a good person hes terrible and jon is sort of unbearable. I dislike the two seperately and put them together and suddenly... eugh.

Anyways. Those are my thoughts.

Average melanie king kinnie things /j

[goose-onthe-loose]

Are there any fics that are like. Rewrites of late season 4 to the end? TMA crit Tumblr has put Ideas in my head and now I wanna see Jonah be more present in the last season or Jon's completed villain arc.

[monarchetype]

Fear being good and useful is such a cool idea but it's also 100% at odds with the "Fear REQUIRES the suffering and pain of others in a pyramid scheme of awful torture" cosmology at the heart of TMA

Like yeah it's eldritch horror of course the horrors are gonna eldritch but when the horrors are born of humanity it just... doesn't really click with me as to why the Fears are so comically evil?

Idk maybe this is just me having played too much Persona

Hi so y'know The "The Universe said I love you because you are Love" thing? Actually no, actually think about the whole End Poem, think about it being how the Entities view their Avatars, think about the Entities speaking ever so briefly with those who died and are about to be made into one of their Avatars <3

Yeah I know TMA is angst central but I think this would in fact be a vry soft idea with how the Entities interact with their servants/avatars

🗣️

URGH yes actually. Thats so fascinating... what if fear is a defensive emotion... fear being made sentient and wanting to keep their lil guys safe... taht is such a concept we need more - rosette

UEEESS .... real - deceit

[keard-camez]

maybe im the dumb one, but isnt putting trans suffering into a binary just another form of gender essentialism?

maybe im just seeing this from my own perspective but terms like TMA and TME are just another gender binary, and outright ignores the intricacies of gender presentation that people choose, its just another AMAB and AFAB label, that boxes us into the gender assigned at birth.

maybe it just outright doesnt make sense how these terms are designed to exclude people who experience misogyny and transphobia uniquely because of how society views them can possibly conducive to conversations regarding breaking down gender binary structures in social circles.

im just putting this out into the world, because maybe my limited world view is whats confusing me here but this just feels like more gender essentialism that we’ll have to deconstruct in a few years.

[ciswomenofficial]

Of course there’s plenty of anti-intersex chauvinism in the trans community, but once again, many people in the intersex community are proving that they are incapable of talking about that without being extremely transmisogynistic scumbags.

[scarlettmarlens-blog]

You’ll never see more creative and hive mind fanart than of podcast blorbos. So widely different but so perfect each time

[artsybi]

[IDs in alt text]

gerry keay my BELOVED dead gay goth son. i love him so much.

[thecatfight2023]

The Bracket™ is here!

here are our competitors!

to space out the polls some, we have them divided in mini-brackets (each mini bracket will be posted a day as to not overwhelm everyone with all of the polls at once)

THIS WILL ALSO BE UPDATED TO HAVE THE LINKS TO THE POLLS!!

mini-bracket 1

Mewo (OMORI) V. Spider Cat (OMORI)

Domino (Amphibia) V. Ghost (The Owl House)

Thomas O’Malley (Aristocats) V. Marie (Aristocats)

Oliver (Oliver & Co.) V. Mochi (Big Hero 6)

Cat (Coraline) V. Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)

Tasque (Deltarune) V. Tubbs (Neko Atsume)

Daffodil (Spiritfarer) V. Black Cat (The Witch’s House)

Neite (Runescape) V. Black Cat (Divinity Original Sin 2)

Alpine (Marvel) V. Goose (Marvel)

Isis (Batman: The Animated Series) V. Alfred the Cat (DC)

Mikeko (Ace Attorney) V. Shoe (Ace Attorney)

Cats (Jet Set Radio Future) V. Shadow (Super Lesbian Animal RPG)

Fat Louie (The Princess Diaries) V. Orion (Men in Black)

Milo (Milo & Otis) V. Miss Kitty Fantastico (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Cat God (Identity V) V. Yuumi (League of Legends)

Opalescence (MLP:FIM) V. Ice Cream Kitty (TMNT 2012)

mini-bracket 2

Ichigo Momomiya [cat form] (Tokyo Mew Mew) V. Alto (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Kyo Sohma [cat form] (Fruits Basket) V. Kuro (Blue Exorcist)

Sakamoto (Nichijou) V. Kuroneko (Trigun)

Prince (Genshin Impact) V. Neko (Genshin Impact)

Pusheen (Pusheen) V. Simon’s Cat (Simon’s Cat Animations)

Nyan Cat V. Minecraft cats

Video (Strong Hearts are Mandatory) V. Ginger (Brimstone and Roses)

Midnight (Castle in the Air) V. Jenny Linsky (Jenny Linsky books)

Schrodinger’s cat V. Tuna Sandwich (Kid Cosmic)

Pura (Crash Bandicoot) V. George (Spyro)

Tom F14 (Atom: The Beginning) V. Murr (The Case Study of Vanitas)

Mausfänger (Pentiment) V. Myau (Phantasy Star)

Cam (Squishmallow) V. Autumn (Squishmallow)

Serafina (Barbie Princess and the Pauper) V. Wolfie (Barbie Princess and the Pauper)

Melog (She-Ra 2018) V. Curious Cat (RWBY)

Judd + Lil Judd (Splatoon) V. Webkinz cats (all of them)

mini-bracket 3

Tama V. FDC Willard

Stray Cat J V. Pangur

Grumpy Cat V. Miette

Jinx V. Jorts

Gandalf V. Raymond 

Smudge V. The Cat Foretold

Forever’s Brood V. Norman (SolidarityGaming)

Jellie (GoodTimesWithScar) V. BB (Jacksepticeye)

Garfield (Garfield) V. Meowth (Pokémon)

Puss In Boots (Shrek Cinematic Universe) V. Kitty Softpaws (Puss in Boots)

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess cats V. The Garreg Mach Monastery cats (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Purrsula (Dragon Quest Treasures) V. Shiro/Blanche (House 1977)

Slugcat (RainWorld) V. Pussyfoot (Looney Tunes)

Li'l' Mittens (WordGirl) V. Mittens (Wander Over Yonder)

Greebo (Discworld) V. Maurice (Discworld)

You (Discworld) V. The Cat (Infinity Train)

mini-bracket 4

Cat (Ghost Trick) V. Cat (Stray)

Salem (Sabrina the Teenage Witch 1996) V. Binx (Hocus Pocus)

Firestar (Warrior Cats) V. Scourge (Warrior Cats)

Mothwing (Warrior Cats) V. Leafpool (Warrior Cats)

Sprigatito (Pokémon) V. Litten (Pokémon)

Meowstic (Pokémon) V. Shinx (Pokémon)

Jiji (Kiki’s Delivery Service) V. Luna (Sailor Moon)

Artemis (Sailor Moon) V. Diana (Sailor Moon)

Morgana (Persona 5) V. Ravage (Transformers)

Fukumaru (A Man and His Cat) V. Nyanko-Sensei (Natsume Yuujinchou)

The Judge (OFF) V. Mr. Midnight (Fran Bow)

Khoshekh (WTNV) V. Catbus (My Neighbor Totoro)

Grudge (Star Trek: Discovery) V. Spot (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Lumi (Cats are Liquid) V. 808 (Hi-Fi Rush)

Ser Pounce-A-Lot (Dragon Age) V. Warmseeker (Elder Scrolls Online)

Frumpkin (Critical Role) V. The Admiral (TMA)

polls for mini-bracket 1 will be scheduled to post around 2 pm EST tomorrow! also reminder they will be open for 1 day each!

propaganda is encouraged!! go wild! we will do our best to reblog as much as we can and it will be tagged with "purr-opaganda" (for those who want to filter the tag). we also recommend making propaganda for your cat blorbos sooner rather than later so there's a chance for them to win!!

-mod orange

[cowpokezuko]

i have a Lot to say about the magnus protocol but I need you all to understand that I am enjoying it before I say anything else

[primedy]

perhaps the itch has always been the real me

[trans-michael-shelley]

I am. sad. the word "asexual" is never said directly. it is in the Q&As, but not everyone listens to them.

i am. disappointed? that the only mention of Jon's asexuality is halfway through the podcast, in the form of Melanie (? it's been awhile) gossiping about it. "Jon... *doesnt*" is the canonical confirmation of his asexuality and that's it. he's outed to the listener, essentially.

i like the way he is a fully rounded character who is Also asexual. I am glad that it's stated, and then there's nothing making fun of him for it, or anything. I'm still glad at the end of the day that he's ace. I just... idk? I wish it was expanded on more, I wish the word was said, and I wish it happened differently.

i have thoughts. in my head. tma crit thoughts. I love tma and I'm so glad Jon is ace but I have Thoughts about it and how's its presented

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i’ve said this so many FUCKING times but i literally cannot fucking believe izzy taunts ed with “piiining for his boyfriend” and people are really out here on tumblr dot com and also twitter i assume idk saying with their entire fucking chest “izzy’s not homophobic. that’s not a homophobic thing to say.” what fucking planet are you people from

[landscaping-your-mind]

I understand wanting your blorbo to have Done No Wrong and be perfectly innocent and good, so you never have to think about the implications of your favourite character having done horrible things, with the justification not erasing it.

You want your blorbo to be good. You don't want to think about the bad stuff they've done. I get that. But taking away the whole essence of the character, removing the elements of them that make them interesting, removing the point of them entirely, isn't good.

I should say "it's fine, everyone has their own interpretations," and sure, do what you want with your interpretations, but if you want my opinions, no, it's not fine, it's bloody irritating.

You take this fantastic character, where half of their point is "moral complexity, am I right?" and reduce them down to where they're no longer that character. You know, you can love something that isn't perfect. You should start loving something that isn't perfect. Or maybe make an OC, because I've muted so many people on AO3 it's unreal.

[teamfortresstwo]

Sometimes I will see a fic where Jon just starts killin avatars and I go insane because god damn it did you watch the series did you watch his struggle with morality did you see Martin literally tell him off for trying to be the all powerful judge of the universe did you I don’t think you fucking did

[theboombutton]

Did we listen to the same podcast

The only person who actually wanted Jon dead in season 4 was Melanie, and only for the first third or so of the season. And the primary person who didn't take his situation wrestling with the loss of his humanity seriously? was Martin.

Martin was disconnected from Jon for the entirety of season 4. That was kind of his whole deal? Rejecting human connection? Avoiding Jon at all costs? He knew Jon had attacked a lady, but that's it. It was physically impossible for him to take Jon's emotional turmoil about his possible monstrosity seriously, because he knew nothing about it.

When episode 154 rolled around and Jon was like "Let's blow this popsicle stand and also each other," Martin straight up didn't believe that Jon was having a bad enough time that he would genuinely want to leave the Institute behind. By distancing himself from Jon, Martin had cut himself off from all of Jon's season 4 misery, which was the context needed to make the 154 proposal believable. It was a lovely tragic moment where the Lonely Martin had cultivated to save Jon ultimately doomed him.

---

Also, Georgie was taking Jon's monsterliness seriously before he was - and that's why he accused her of wishing he was dead! How do you get the idea that Georgie wished Jon was dead, without the idea that she took his situation seriously?! The latter is the impetus for the former even being suggested!

I'm not even gonna touch on Basira, she is so unfairly maligned in the fandom I'd need to do a whole-ass essay about her

Jonathan Sims after experiencing the most brutal and dehumanising trauma:guess I had it coming

[thecatfight2023]

mini-bracket 4, match 16

Frumpkin (Critical Role): "Frumpkin was the familiar of Caleb Widogast. Although he is actually a fey creature capable of assuming many forms, Caleb usually summoned him in the form of a Bengal cat. As a companion, he was controlled by his summoner, Liam O'Brien, with assistance and communication from the Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer."

The Admiral (The Magnus Archives): "The Admiral is Georgie Barker's pet cat. He enjoys sleeping on the radiator, getting belly rubs, and showing people his bottom." (no official art or description!)