#inanimate insanity writers are no exception!

[br1ghtestlight]

hilarious that mephone4s was in the inanimate insanity finale only bcuz there's a super big fan of him on twitter who brian knew and he essentially Wrote him into the episode and voiced him for them as a lil surprise. this is why indie animation is so great. can you imagine if the bob's burgers writers were like hmmmm we gotta add ambrose to this episode. I know a guy on tumblr who really likes him. and then they just did

[oscconfessions]

I actually worked as a writer for an object show with ZERO knowledge about object shows except for the fandom and was planning to watch BFDI to understand them but I got depressed and forgot about it, 3 months later I watched inanimate insanity and that's how I joined the OSC.

.

[leafybfdia]

ii2 ep 16 act 1 spoilers

um so this act has utterly decimated me. i had work to do yesterday and i found myself completely unable to do any of it. i woke up this morning and my first thought was about this episode. i went out today and all i could think about was this episode. i came home and ate and had to take a nap because my head hurt from thinking about this episode. i slept for 3 hours and dreamt of ii. ive done nothing today except think about ii2 ep 16 act 1. i didnt even act like this when firey revived leafy and i literally go insane over any leafy crumbs. point is i think i need to talk about it to release me. this is just gonna be my speculation for some things. ok? ok

the contestants

ive seen people debating about whether cobs is lying about mephone making the contestants but i think hes genuinely telling the truth considering the fact that 1. they glitch at the end and 2. the foreshadowing and 3. brian and co have been laughing it up over at animationepic hq or wherever LOL. but one thing i do think is worth discussing is whether or not mephone was even like consciously aware of what he was doing. i thought it was heavily heavily implied that he didnt realize (considering that when cobs asks “why did you do it?” hes like huh whuh) but then brian tweeted this

but then again he could be fucking with us. like you never know. and also i mean the question WAS pretty vague.

PERSONALLY im team subconscious. i think the writers are trying to hurt us and subconscious would hurt more.

another thing to mention is that the settings of inanimate insanity are very likely made up considering that the s2 location has literally prime shimmer planet eggs or whatever as hills in the background, and the island in iii is called “inanimate island” iirc. the same alliteration cobs mentions. and of course it could just be some pre-existing island that he renamed himself for the show but at this point i feel like anything is possible

whos real and who isnt

so that leads to this. who the hell is made up then??

i genuinely wanted to argue that bow could be real considering the fact that she came into the show on her own against mephones own wishes and also cant be revived but if team subconscious is right then it would have been possible for mephone to just have made her up too so like… i dont know. I dont know… it’s scary….

oh and that leads to another thing i kept seeing

the “bow is a prime shimmer” theory or whatever that i keep seeing

… guys im going to be honest i think we’ve reached the point of delirium. on one hand i vaguely understand where these ppl are coming from since bow made a prime shimmer sound and the egg that 3gs gave to cobs was pink (and i saw someone say it had a bow symbol on it but i just couldnt see it????) but i otherwise… dont see it? she doesnt look like a prime shimmer guys. sorry. anyways

mephone x

good goddamn lord. so get a load of this guy.

one thing i havent really seen people talk about is how only the specific targets can see mephone x and no one else. of course this is like WTF! before it’s revealed that everyones “not real” but like. i mean it’s assumed that cobs is the one controlling this thing. idk if this thing has agency and is just following cobs orders or if its just a vessel for cobs to control or what but it really begs the question as to like. how can he make mephone x be invisible to everyone else? are the contestants “made up” in the sense that theyre just code, and hes entering the mainframe or whatever? like. im assuming thats what it is but like Oh My God? and what the fuck is going on with his targets?

everyone keeps saying that like ohhh hes targetting those who were in the middle of talking with others but i dont think thats necessarily the case. i think thats just for the drama. even though it’s been said that it’s up for interpretation if guava and soap were killed too i at the very least think guava is dead dead since his disappearance was mentioned before even pickle died. starfruit says that guava just “ditched” so he wasnt talking to anyone. i genuinely think anyones fucked. speaking of which:

is the death thing permanent

honestly? im scared to answer this. on one hand im like well no these characters have important arcs they need to fulfill but on the other hand i feel like we genuinely may be hit with the madoka magica treatment here where death is sudden, unexpected, permanent, and terrifying.

my biggest fear is the ending being like everyone coming to terms with the fact that theyre not real and just fading away like they got thanos snapped or something. but i think soap and mics interaction is foreshadowing. soap deletes a picture of them together and opens the recently deleted pictures album and goes “oops, missed a spot!”. i think toilet, oj, pickle, nickel, and potentially soap and guava are in some kind of digital trash can right now and can still be saved. chat i have to believe

box

so. rememebr box you guys.

… i dont think hes “the first victim” or whatever. although it is an interesting theory

people seem to be able to communicate with box? which makes sense since theyre all made up and if box is made up too then well theyre like all the same guys. but like… his whole not reacting thing is mentioned too so. i mean. huh?

i dont remember if bot ever interacted with box before he got injured too. and im too tired to rewatch the first parts of season 3. but them interacting with box would have implications since they were like the only confirmed contestant so far that mephone hasnt made himself

toilet

oh yeah hes fucked. he has been fucked for YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!! we just finally got confirmation that like yep no that man is DIED. although it confirms that toilet too isnt real which makes my whole “is bow real” thing kind of a stretch since he didnt like bow or toilet and yet they were still there

of course his carcass wasnt shown so it’s like ohh maybe he just got kidnapped or whatever.

and also adam was being controlled by cobs, and adam DID hire toilet… IS toilet real? if he isnt then did another mephone make toilet for cobs so he could send him out?? im in so much pain

honorable mentions and misc

- test tube and fan making bot is made slightly better because they didnt realize both bow and marshmallow were still. “alive”. bows not really alive though but you know what i mean. STILL DOESNT EXCUSE IT THOUGH

- do you think mephone made santa because of his childish whimsy and joy. like he wanted santa to be real so bad. Guys im sorry im not rewatching that episode i dont remember what even happens

- the season 3 contestants being at the hotel is… it’s not IMPOSSIBLE i guess since oj knows them. still frightening. they like literally spawned in it was the scariest shit ever. i remember when i was at the meetup i noticed that candles asset used in the theater etiquette video was season 2ified and i was like LOL thats a little unnecessary. like the face and limbs sure but the asset itself? Anyways yeah no that was completely necessary.

- according to brian the plot twist was planned since 2015 at the latest, so around the episode “theft and battery” when cobs is first shown. do with that what you will.

- ballpoint pens resemblance to cobs was not a funny coincidence.

- i genuinely got scared that mephone was confirmed to be a babys or something but as im rewatching it like 20 times yeah no i think cobs is just infantilizing him. Can i be honest mephone has always had old man voice to me

- do you think mephone made springy so he could feel like he had a normal childhood. sniffle

- bot, the one contestant he didnt make, was his favorite. Do with that what you will.

- no i dont think suitcases psychosis was her just “seeing reality as how it is”. i feel so bad for suitcase especially btw. im team suitcase i always have been they could never make me hate her.

- walkie talkie. FUCK

my predictions

- lightbulbs a goner im so sorry. lightbulb was literally trending on twitter earlier idk if it still is but shes FUCKED. she has the X on her face in the thumbnail and shes a fan favorite. someones gonna argue with her like ohh you cant make this positive lightbulb and then shes gonna be like Chat whats that sound… (she would say 100% say chat. to me)

- the rest of the season 3 contestants HAVE to be shown. theyre involved in this too man. clover fluttering away on her butterflies to whereever she went after she got eliminated and im like THIS INVOLVES YOU TOO. GET BACK HERE

- mephone will deny that he made everyone up but as he begins to doubt himself everyone will start glitching out

- i think bot will be called in here. cobs cant do shit to them mephone x wise

- no one wins here. even if they do get physical with cobs and suitcase idk beats him to death with hammers. idk if theyd show deatj and dying on screen but it’s like. ok but then what. youre still made up by mephone. take those million dollars if mephone even has the fucking money. what then. literally what then

- i wanted to say maybe mephones realization of his creation skills lets him create something or someone powerful enough to defeat cobs but like. you know. mephone x. then again though like you never know. thats the one thing here. if you know something no you dont

- 40 min fantube makeout scene thats unskippable because the entire time cheesy is in the background with a blank expression stating important plot related facts with no hint of emotion whatsoever

tldr

[thelucidityofdeath]

welcome. . .

“ YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME NOW, AND YOU’RE NOT SO BIG! ”

my name is lucid. i’m a fanfiction writer, general writer, poetry writer, and other various things. here, i will be posting fanfiction and other oc content. 

I. things i WILL NOT write:

cnc/rape/sa

fanfiction of real people

ddlg/age play

pet play

pedophilia/necrophilia/zoophilia

incest/self-cest

fanfiction or smut involving minors. no i will not be aging anybody up or down.

omegaverse

mpreg

piss/blood/scat kink

knife play

teacher x student aus

yandere aus

high school aus (aside from teacher x teacher)

cheating/infidelity

dubious consent/dubcon

anything that would be labeled as “dead dove” shit

stories that are more than one part (this stuff will go on ao3 or some other platform!)

II. things i WILL write:

fluff

smut/lemon/lime

angst 

self-harm/eating disorder comfort stories

bdsm (to some degree)

vanilla sex

threesomes/foursomes/orgies

headcanons and one-shots

overstimulation

bondage

cream pies/squirting

breeding kink

mommy/daddy kink

polyamorous relationships

lesbian/gay sex

ships between characters that are LEGAL and NON-PROBLEMATIC

oc x character

platonic fanfiction

satirical/joke fanfiction

III. fandoms/characters i WILL NOT write for (the ones with * beside them are ones i will write platonic only fanfic for!):

dsmp. this includes the characters.

killing stalking

irl serial killers (i cannot believe i have to say this)

stranger things

the twilight saga

yarichin bitch club

danganronpa

ouran high school host club

the mandela catalogue *

the children in south park *

the students in harry potter *

pokémon

amanda the adventurer

puss in boots/shrek *

the karate kid *

the outsiders *

mean girls *

doki doki literature club *

five nights are freddy’s *

IV. fandoms/characters i WILL write for:

the lorax (primarily the onceler)

genshin impact (likely nobody from fontaine!! i haven’t played it yet)

south park adults

ghost (the band. only the papas/sister imperator for now because i’m not too familiar with all the ghouls yet!)

edward scissorhands

cobra kai 

jojo’s bizarre adventure

breaking bad (not better call saul yet because i haven’t watched it but i will update this in the future when i do watch it!)

9-1-1

bojack horseman (except for bojack and mr. peanutbutter)

inanimate insanity

battle for dream island/bfb

the umbrella academy (except for allison and five as i don’t feel comfortable writing for them!)

cookie run kingdom

the markiplier cinematic universe

jujutsu kaisen

if i think of any other things, i will update this! sorry that it’s long!

[therealvinelle]

On your fic recs you have some Aro/Bella, so I was curious what you thought about the pairing?

Well, first of, I should say that I’m of the belief that just about anything can be pulled off if the writer is good enough, in both original fiction and fan fiction. With fanfic, this leads to a lot of strange pairings being on my hall of fame list, because when something is written well enough to pull off something I wouldn’t usually like, that means it’s written extremely well.

That being said, what all these fics that somehow, miraculously, pull off seemingly insane pairings have in common, is that there was potential. The author saw something in the ship, and they pulled it off so beautifully that I could see it too.

(Ironically, my exceptions to this rule, ships that can’t ever happen, are usually found in a fandom’s canon. James Potter/Lily Evans, it can’t be done. In Twilight we have Edward/Bella, Carlisle/Esme, Alice/Jasper- none of them can be done, because these relationships are doomed. I won’t get into a whole rant, suffice to say that pulling it off necessitates making the characters something they’re not.)

Some ships are pulled off more often than others, though, and Aro/Bella is one such.

I think this is in part because Aro is a fantastic character. He’s one of those lucky charm characters whose presence instantly makes even the worst fic just a little better. He doesn’t even have to be well-written, if he’s a macho man sex god or Frank Underwood in a wig I’ll be very entertained.

Aro is also a very interesting character. He’s leader of the Volturi, he killed his sister, he has a wonderful, trippy, gift, and his personality is a delight. There’s so much an author can do with him.

If a fic is Aro/Bella, it means that he’ll be a significant part of the fic, meaning I’ll enjoy it. If a fic is well-written Aro/Bella, it means that I’ll get a lot of well-written Aro, and that’s truly fantastic.

More, for an author to write Aro well, they have to put a lot of thought into Twilight. They have to look past Edward, Edward/Bella, and the Cullens, and look at their world from a different angle than the one provided. To get these two people together, they also have to deviate from the standard formula of “What if it was Jasper in Biology class with Bella?” or “What if Edward and Bella met in college?” They’re forced to get creative.

There’s also the fact that they have to on some level be interested in Bella. Bella, for all the bad rep she gets, is a very good character (I’m not even going to link any metas. My blog is 70% Bella appreciation already, just look up a random page and you’ll probably find something) who deserves more love. So, if the fic is written well, it means I get a well-written Aro and a well-written Bella. Jackpot!

Bottom line is that I like a lot of Aro/Bella fics because the ship has all the ingredients for good fic.

This all being said, I don’t think there’s anything supporting the ship in canon.

I think Aro’s gay, for one thing. More, this guy sees the souls of everyone around him. It’s as normal to him as being able to see someone’s face is to us. This has been his reality for 3500 years. Edward’s gift allows him to condescend and dehumanize those around him, and he falls for the woman whose thoughts he can’t read for all the wrong reasons. Aro’s the opposite, he accepts his gift with an ease I don’t think Edward could ever own, no matter how long he lived.

This, in turn, means that I don’t think Bella’s silence would be the relief to Aro that it is to Edward. To him, I imagine Bella is on some level creepy. A hollow woman, who walks and talks like anybody else, but touch her and in the place of a soul, Aro sees nothing at all. She’s a faceless woman, closer to Schrödinger’s infamous cat than a real person.

I think that alone would make him uneasy around her. Sex is certainly out of the question. His gift means he catches every thought and sensation his partner feels, that’s just what sex is like for him. Sex with Bella would be reminiscent of sex with an inanimate object. If he were into that, I would be worried.

Then there’s the fact that there’s not a trace of sexual tension between them, not at any point. Bella is fascinated by his skin texture, but it’s a morbid curiosity. Aro gives her an extravagant wedding present because he takes her wedding to mean she’s finally being turned, and it’s an appropriate gesture. And, I imagine, an attempt to recommence friendly Cullen-Volturi relations after the clusterfuck that was Eclipse (ref 1, ref 2). Aro and his treasury is invaluable, anything short of extravagance would be a snub.

[homeagainrose]

Alright so who knows about the Rubber Duck Method? My cousin told me about it but I've seen posts before. Loosely it's explain the computer programming to the rubber duck when all else fails.

I've found it to be a rather useful writing technique too. Except when The Cat has "opinions" (he gets up and walks out of the room, rude) Sylvester was a much better writing cat.

Which brings us to Brutus. Brutus is a big tough dragon that likes to collect all the little kitten figures I have. His tough is deceiving.

Look at the cute writing support dragon! He's a saint to listen to my writing rants. Yes, yes I know what they say about talking to inanimate objects but Brutus is important just like Coz's duck (hers is called Stephanie. Stephanie has solved many programing issues)

Brutus is the head of the Writing Committee. Sometimes when things get hard he is joined by the Wyrn Twins (aka the Skylanders I 'borrowed' from Lover) they're called Cinder and Ash. And yes we do need the inanimate objects to bounce ideas off of. Writers are weird man. And here are the twins

And no I'm not insane. I've always found talking things out to be a reliable method to understanding something. I used to read my textbooks outloud cause it stuck better. Same with essays. Easiest way to catch a mistake. Sylvester and Mitz were more inclined to stay in one place than Chester. (You've seen Chester. He doesn't grasp the no paws on the laptop rule)

Different methods work for different people. I share this because it might help someone else. Everyone needs their own Stephanie or Brutus.

[sperenity]

Inanimate Insanity Episode 14 Analysis

SPOILERS GALORE!

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Okay.

This episode was nuts. I mean, need I say that I was expecting it? I knew the egg was going to reveal itself since it was cracking, but I thought there was something in there, not some being that happened to be the egg itself.

The opening. Oh, the opening. I was seriously impressed. It hooked me to watch more of it. I really liked the black-and-white effects as well as the ominous tone put on it.

I was also surprised to see Fan have a role in the episode, and it was refreshing to hear some of the eliminated contestants’ voices again. For a moment, I thought the eliminated contestants were going to exit the hotel and watch the show or something.

Seeing MePhone4 acting outside of his role as the host was thrilling as well, especially that he nearly discontinued the show. 

Inanimate Insanity could have ended right there.

Oh, and MePad’s resignment was a shocker too.

I thought that Test Tube was going absolutely crazy here, which probably is true anyway. Her usefulness has reached a peak and she is riding the wave. I was also surprised to see how Fan suddenly appeared to take the egg back, and the contestants shared the same reaction as mine, too. Nice attention to detail! It was cute that the egg stopped “crying” once Fan interacted. I thought Fan was recognized as the father here.

When MePhone4 glitch-generated a Living Room set, I thought that somebody was going to be there, but I was also confused when he generated random things later, too. But as of writing this, I realized the sounds were not only the eggs’ way of calling their mothership, but also likely a defense mechanism against Cobs’ creations, and MePhone4 is one of them. Yet MePad was unaffected. Perhaps Cobs upgraded their hardware?

Suitcase’s depiction of her anxiety was also neat. The minimalist flashing as the crack grew. That was neat. I thought her snapping back at Test Tube was a symptom of it, considering her sudden defensive stance.

The fight with the spaceship was absolutely epic. MePhone4′s quick wit, his command to the contestants to save Fan (Though I think it’s to save himself from lawsuits once again), and Test Tube’s Tazer-powered Telescope Bazooka against the ship was absolutely wicked. Also, I just realized that the reason Cobs asked for a spaceship from MePhone4 is so Cobs could go after them.

The update of the dock from Kick The Bucket was absolutely glorious as well. I really liked the detail, it was almost serene.

Imagine my surprise when I saw Taco already ambush and incapacitate MePad in the background while Microphone was talking. And finding out later that Mic’s speech was in-sync with what Taco is doing.

When I saw the Egg’s transformation, I was anticipating the moment that whatever was inside was going to come out. I even thought the eyes were glowing from the darkness inside until I saw hovering. Then, I was confused. Utterly confused about what the ex-egg was. I thought Fan would possibly be imprinted as the father of what turned out to be an actual being as well. When Fan was bound by chains, I certainly thought the leader was going to send him to his death (even if he did anyway, MePhone4 would recover him.)

Then, Test Tube intervened.

The alien species (which are referred to as The Shimmers), then told their backstory of the “oppressor” (which was what I wasn’t expecting, honestly, but flashbacks from Theft and Battery ensued). At first, I didn’t know that the presentation on The leader Shimmer’s face was a depiction of the MePhones 1 through 3GS (I later realized that Steve Cobs may have discarded 3GS with the intent to destroy which was why it was so scared the previous episode).

Fan interacts with the Baby Shimmer, the group shares a laugh, a wholesome moment there...

Then, Test Tube explodes and Taco’s reflection is shown (I later find out she and Mic teleported to the ship). It was like an epic moment where the spy from an action movie shows off their tricks. Then, I thought the ship flew away with the group inside before I remembered Taco using Mepad for teleportation. 

When Microphone came with Fan... It was a sight to see MePhone4 acting all excited for the first time in quite a while. Also, I did NOT expect Microphone to retaliate against Taco by mentioning Taco’s history with Pickle, then ultimately quitting the alliance by shutting her out. What a way to go there, and what an arc. I wonder what’s gonna happen next with Taco. Will she ever be found out?

Then, the elimination. Honestly, at this point, I wasn’t expecting an elimination to happen considering how far off the show’s original format has gone. It was cool to see that it still retains its original flair. Imagine my surprise when I saw Microphone willfully choose herself to be eliminated. Does this even make II the same? Yes. But, actually, no? Honestly, I was somewhat relieved that there ended up being a double elimination. I think it suggests a deeper tension in the show’s coming climax.

Then, Lightbulb’s goodbye. Oh, that scene. That actually made me feel. Over many episodes, Lightbulb was the comic relief that everyone loved. She joked with her friends, especially with Paintbrush. Now, all her friends are eliminated. I wonder if that means her comic relief arc is over. If it isn’t, what else is there? For now, she’s gonna have to cope with her reality of being a finalist.

After the credits scene, in which I thought the music was pretty catchy (especially in contrast to the past episode’s more ominous tone), I was happy to see Toilet appear again. I had been so focused on what was happening that I actually forgot about him. Then, the crashed ship.

Then, MePhoneX.

I felt chills when I saw him. Adam was doing a great job making each design more advanced and intimidating than the previous, but this one is through the roof. I was not expecting another MePhone installment to happen. Should I even call this a running gag, or is this one actually so intimidating that it doesn’t constitute to humor at all? I thought I was going to leave a bit empty, but this one made me think the wait for the next episode is going to be worth it.

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CONCLUSION/THEORIES

The relevation of the egg was certainly a surprise, much less expecting. However, I am a little disappointed that there was nothing inside the egg. I liked the buildup from Fan acquiring up to its hatching, but considering the amount of priority that was put into it and not that the egg was used for comic relief, I really expected the relevation to be overly dramatic and possibly change the course of the show or expand the II universe (which it did in both scenarios, but still.). This doesn’t mean that I dislike the direction the show is taking now. It was just such a dramatic change that it makes me feel such a way that doesn’t make me excited but rather makes me sober? I’m not saying the writers made a mistake, I love Inanimate Insanity’s creativity and I’m looking forward for more. It’s just not exactly my cup of tea.

MePhoneX is a creation you do not want to mess around with. It is obvious by now that this one is created by Steve Cobs. The earlier MePhones, except for the last couple, were bent on destroying MePhone4, and it was heavily implied that Cobs sent them out to destroy MePhone4. This creation should be no different. However, MePhoneX is not only sent out to destroy MePhone4, he is sent to destroy the entire reality show and the contestants with it, along with going after The Shimmers. If MePhoneX doesn’t destroy 4, he might force him to create a spaceship and enslave the contestants, including the former ones from Hotel OJ, to aid in Cobs’ capture of The Shimmers. Also, everyone’s assumed that the MePhones get dumber with each installment, but I believe that this X installment is one above all. It is designed in such a way that exceeds every preceding generation. In other words, this one is not stupid.

Also, I have noticed that this show still has its BFDI inspirations. The shaking, the loopy mannerisms, and the unexpected humor is, to me, a callback to the witty and eccentric humor that is shown consistently throughout the Huang twins’ show.

Overall, this show is taking a turn. I am actually enthralled that it still hasn’t let up. Especially after my departure from the OSC and coming back. I now eagerly wait for the next episode even if it’s going to take months.

UPDATES: I also realized that MePhone4 is beginning to have a personal connection to the contestants. What if his cruel tactics shown in season 1 and 2 are a result of his trauma with Cobs? I don’t know if he ever will, but considering his backstory, I can’t help but imagine that MePhone4 is actually moving forward.

Also, there was almost no frustration evident in Taco’s reaction to her plan failing. It was full of emotional surprise. Did she ever see Microphone as a friend rather than an “ally”?

I can’t get it out of my head that MePhone4 still has 4S’ model after the finale of season 1. I really hope the writers don’t throw him away. It’s confusing to know that MePhone4 has 4S’ model and still have the kind of Gemories that 4 had in his original model. 

[cowardsanctuary]

i absolutely refuse to talk about this more than necessary but i just read. a discourse post that i find extremely Very Dumb. holy Shit.

so here is my only take. make with it what you want. steal my argument. yell. i don’t care. i’m not going to respond to anything unless it’s a question of clarification because i’m a dumbass who gets overworked by little things.

creating this w/love to @therealmephone4. i personally think opinions and kins should be respected, but there are lines to be crossed. i do not expect everyone that reads this to agree with me, but i hope that it enlightens some opinions that some of us hold to others who do not understand it/agree with it.

tl;dr bit of an analysis of object show ethics in relation to cobs, as well as a light touch on a cobs character analysis. i kind of go off at the end but eh

anywho with the logic of the show, it should be noted that any object can and often is treated as someone autonomous and capable of free thought. box is treated like his own person, despite being an entire box. however, there’s an apparent distinguishing between such—smaller devices, like Fan’s laptop and phone, are not treated like their own people. objects can accidentally be treated as non-sentient, but are often able to prove otherwise. (i.e. the trees in the 1st season of inanimate insanity.) everyone is quick to respond respectfully and accordingly.

to create such objects that are capable of fulfilling actions thoughtfully, capable of independent thought, and creating them with a resemblance of the sentient species of the world is basically creating life in inanimate insanity. cobs is not a parent in the biological sense, but he consciously and purposely created objects that fulfilled this purpose. not only that, but he already created handheld, non-living devices in the past.

creating mephones like 4 and 3gs and 4s were conscious choices. he’s continuing to make conscious choices. he knew he was creating what is essentially lifeforms, and he knowingly saw them through to completion and consciousness. he didn’t push them out of a fucking womb, but birth is birth. creation is creation. he had the choice to give them autonomy, gave it to them, and then when he decided it wasn’t convenient, he took it away from them despite them being capable of such. in inanimate insanity infinity, he regressed in allowing autonomy of the MePhones, but still created them to appear like such. the appearing MePhones were only limited to responding to commands, and remain creepily... idle and unresponsive otherwise. when they’ve outlived their relevance, not even their use, they are immediately replaced by a new one. that’s pretty. unsettling, as is.

think what you want about AI and AI rights, but basically this is a situation similar to (dread I say it) the game Detroit: Become Human. If an AI, even a “device” created for the servitude of their creators, is made to be close to and is capable of acting alike to their creators, even without traditional emotions, should they be given rights similar to humans and accommodating to the autonomy of the AI? honestly, i think the answer should be yes. if you make them like people, you treat them like people.

i think the actions that cobs is taking is inherently immoral. i’m not saying that cobs is obligated to make AI as close to people because he is capable of doing so, i’m saying that if he wanted to make advanced, sophisticated devices that are engineered to cater to the whims of people, he should design them that way. he’s giving Meeple products like MePad and MePhone5 and so on and so forth not just distinguishable personalities, but individual self-awareness and individual self-consciousness. what defines a person? what defines a person with autonomy? in the inanimate insanity world, the bar is low, and people are still expected to have common, human decency. the Meeple products were most likely created to emulate lifeforms. why? because cobs had the choice to make them not so.

because he made his AI’s so close to life, it is cobs’ responsibility as their lifegiver to give them a standard quality of life. it is an obligation for him to give them high qualities of life, by treating his creations as people, and by treating them as people capable of autonomy at the least. why? not only did he knowingly encode conscious, sophisticated thought into his creations, but he made it so that it is within the realm of possibility for them to act like people. The MePhones, therefore, should be considered as people. Along this line of reasoning, as their creator, mentor, and guardian, should be treating them as people.

Cobs has little respect for people in general. Cobs is not a nice person, or at least a pretty uncomfortable person to be around. He took his parents’ garage because it was relevant to the legacy of his company, presumably without their consent. That’s called stealing. Cobs was determined to take Fan’s egg, simply because it interested him. He’s also apparently self-absorbed, deigning to take them on a tour of his headquarters despite the contestants mentioning they needed to take care of something. He also, um, y’know, berated and yelled at MePhone4 doing things the latter enjoyed because the former was being inconvenienced (once because he was mad that MePhone4 didn’t do his chores, another time because MePhone4 walked in with a thing he wanted Cobs to see and Cobs was reviewing paperwork). When MePhone4 didn’t “work right,” his first instinct was not to work with MePhone4 personally in a way to hear out his creation’s concerns, but to replace him with someone new.

The Meeple products being Cobs’ children or not, he is still an immoral person. And with my later examples, it’s apparent that he is an abuser, even if you don’t consider the Meeple products to be his children. He pits his own creations against each other to get rid of what he views as his “mistakes.” When he isn’t happy with someone, he immediately looks for someone better while destroying the “failure,” either emotionally or physically. He has a golden standard for his inventions, and he doesn’t lose a wink of sleep over whether or not his creations are doing the same thing trying to meet those standards. He knows he appears as a monolith of great inventions and great ideas and he flaunts it, and attempts to use that to his advantage to get what he wants out of others. He’s self-absorbed and only looks for his own gain.

Isn’t this alarming? Isn’t this setting off some flags? It does for a good amount of people, which is why they feel the way they do. We think he’s an abuser because he abuses people. To me, and to most of us, that’s not something that can be easily forgiven—or forgiven at all. Cobs’ actions hurt others, and as far as we know, he doesn’t see it as an issue. He doesn’t try to change himself. He is an antagonistic force on the show, and can very much be the primary antagonist.

Now, this doesn’t mean liking Cobs is bad, for most cases. It’s completely okay to like a villainous character in terms of narrative, as they can provide an age-old sense of conflict in stories. Some villains can be absolutely heinous, and Cobs is no exception. He’s well-written... but none of that, absolutely nothing of his role in the show and how he acted is acceptable, nor should it be acceptable in real life. Fiction affects reality. God, does fiction affect reality. This doesn’t mean that liking Cobs will make you a bad person, though understandably it will make quite a few people wary of you. What I mean is that the appearance of a character like Cobs might resonate with people who’ve gone through abuse (not just child abuse, any kind tbfh). People like that are given venues to recognize what they’re going through and, with hope of the writers’ direction, realize that what they’re going through is not only bad but can be survived. Characters like Cobs gives folks a fictional outlet to deposit bottled hate towards. Even if a viewer hasn’t personally been abused or know someone that’s gone through abuse, they can still recognize his behavior as problematic and make use of that information as they please (make sure they don’t act like that, try to observe if people like that exist in their life or the lives of their friends, etc). He’s a villain, and people are allowed to despise villains and what they stand for.

So it’s understandable if people vocally hate Cobs with a passion. Yes, they are attacking the character. No, they are not attacking you, nor should you behave as such. Some of you relate to or kin Cobs in some fashion, and I can respect that hate like that makes you uncomfortable. But for the ones I’m aware of, it appears most of you are separating a good chunk (or all) of his actions from his identity. So if you're aware of Cobs’ harmful actions, why are you so quick to defend him? If someone is uncomfortable with your presence or preference of Cobs and they explain it’s because of his actions, why are you so eager to change their mind?

You can’t keep saying that it’s okay to hate a character while trying to convince someone otherwise.

You can’t keep saying your opinion should be respected while trying to change someone else’s opinion, when it’s obvious they won’t agree.

You can’t keep saying you don’t dismiss a character’s actions if the person you’re trying to convince would have to dismiss said character’s actions to like them.

You can’t keep saying you’re not trying to argue while trying to continue the argument.

Everyone believes they’re right, so they won’t listen if you say they’re wrong.

What you say is independent of what you do. What you do determines where your loyalties lie, whether you say you’re something or not. I don’t think it’s so bad that some folks get pissed at the existence of abusive people, because such people have been extremely detrimental to others, and especially to people I care about. If you’re so eager to prove Cobs isn’t abusive, to people who think he’s abusive no less, then I’d like you to ask yourself: why? How come you want your opinion to be respected when you think someone else’s opinion is wrong enough to prompt you to attempt to change it?

These are rhetorical questions, by the way. I don’t mind hearing other people’s takes, but I won’t listen to anyone who approaches me with the intent of conversion. You are permitted to read this, disagree, and go on your way. Live your life as you intend. Just remember that your actions are the greatest factor in determining how people act towards you. This may be your only warning.

[quartzofeldspathic]

I can talk about Inanimate Insanity.

It's an animated series on youtube about sentient objects participating in an in-universe game show with challenges and stuff for prize money a la Total Drama Island or Survivor.

It was created just over 11 years ago and the creator was inspired by another youtube series with a similar premise called Battle for Dream Island. (Both of these shows are still ongoing if anyone is interested in watching them.)

It has a main four-person creative force behind it these days, and all of them are very talented writers, voice actors, and/or editors in some way, shape, or form. There are plenty of other people who contribute to the show as well. The acting is phenomenonal, the music is immaculate (including lyrical songs and background music), the art (including backgrounds) is very nice, and the story elements are also really cool and often go beyond the game show setting, especially in Season 2. (I won't spoil it here for those who may want to watch it in the future, but suffice it to say, it gets intense.)

Now, the show had a rocky start. When it started out the people creating it were just young teens, think ~13-15 (they are all adults now, of course). As a result, the first season has your typical young teen humor throughout, and as to be expected with any immature and unseasoned writer(s), the plotlines in Season 1 were... not always handled all that well. There's also some very poorly-aged/offensive jokes here and there. Some of this carries over into the earlier parts of Season 2 as well, so be prepared for some toilet humor, fart jokes, a few offensive jokes, and the like if you want to watch the whole series.

These days, the show continues to get better and better in my opinion. Season 3 is currently airing, while Season 2 still has two episodes left but is on hiatus (TBA when that's coming back.) Some are very upset at the delay on Season 2, but I personally do not mind. There is more than enough Inanimate Insanity content to fuel me for a long time, and I can always create my own if I want.

The creators are very receptive to fanart, fan works, fan projects, headcanons, etc. So if you're the type who likes headcanons and shipping, you won't be unwelcome in this fandom as long as you keep it civil and sfw (there are a lot of minors in the fandom, as you can probably imagine.) Also it's really easy to create OCs because all you need to do is think of an object, or something object-adjacent, and there you go. Character lol

Two of the main four creators have ask blogs on Tumblr too. So that's fun. I can't remember their exact blog names off the top of my head, but they're not hard to find if you know their actual names so whatever.

But perhaps one of the most significant aspects of Inanimate Insanity that I love is that the characters feel very *real.* I often find myself forgetting that these are literally just objects. They behave, emote, and just overall experience the world as if they were any old human beings (with a few exceptions, but I'll leave that as a surprise :P). This becomes especially apparent in Season 2. Even though the game show aspect becomes entirely scripted past a certain point (again, think Total Drama Island), it feels like these characters are actually competing in real-time. It's absolutely wild.

Also there's a non-binary character, which is awesome. They're a really fun character too, and they're whole identity/character does not revolve around being NB either. :)

Hi yes anyone who told you infodumping about your special interest or current hyperfixiation is annoying was wrong. talking about something your passionate about and you love is beautiful and amazing. Please please reblog this and infodump about your special interest, I love learning new things, especially when the people teaching me are so passionate about it

[apprenticebard]

I'm not a particularly big fan of many of our other national landmarks, but I think the SOL is by far the most egregious example. I'm disinclined to say that depicting pagan deities is inherently wrong; the trouble comes from granting them importance. So when you depict a pagan deity, you need to be careful not to vault over the line from "retelling ancient stories" to "identifying with a false god and making it synonymous with your nation". The SOL was actually created to do the latter.

Hm. So the difficulty comes when we grant pagan deities symbolic importance, even if we don’t “worship” them. I don’t think I agree that that’s necessarily a sin, but it strikes me as the sort of thing that reasonable people can disagree about, and I grant that using pagan deities as national symbols is the sort of thing that could certainly lead to trouble.

I suppose I have to admit that if I didn’t have any sentimental attachment to the statue (and the poem), building a giant statue of a Roman goddess and making it a symbol of the country would seem like a bad idea.

God is the only one who creates things ex nihilo, so all sin is only a corrupted form of something God created to be good. Much sin or perhaps all of it can be defined as putting something before God. It is good to be endlessly forgiving of your spouse, but it’s bad to “stand with your spouse right or wrong”, because God is the right thing, and doing the right thing should come before your spouse, or before anything else; it’s the same way with patriotism.            

There is both figurative and literal idolatry. Many Christians believe that idolatry is what I’ve described, putting something else before God, but that’s only figurative idolatry. Literal idolatry is something we’ve forgotten, blocked out of our minds, even though it’s obvious - the creation and worship of an inanimate deity intended to represent what we put before God. We’re all figurative idolators, ie, sinners, but America does both in parallel; this is certainly and harshly condemned.            

Hm. We’ve established that neither of us has an “America, right or wrong” attitude, so we haven’t actually put our country before our moral system (which I would hope, in our case, is founded on our understanding of the will of God). I suppose my specific objections here are 1) I think you’re exaggerating the importance that people place on the SOL, and 2) I don’t see how people “worship” it, even as a lesser deity than God. As I said, I like the Statue of Liberty (….I will admit that I liked her more before I realized she was meant to be a Roman goddess, but I still love that poem). I probably like her more than the average American, but I’d say that the way I interact with God and the way I think of the Statue of Liberty are very clearly different. I don’t think of the statue as an entity that can do anything for me, I don’t ask it for help, I don’t tell it how great it is, I don’t often tell other people how great it is, and I’m not trying to please it or do what it wants. I don’t think of the statue as having a will. It doesn’t even represent something that has a will, except insofar as it represents America. I guess America has about 300 million wills.

The point is, I care more about my mom and my friends and my job and the novel I’m writing than I do about the SOL. I don’t see why caring about the SOL should be idolatry if those other things aren’t, even if the statue is meant to depict a deity.

I think that in the foundational documents of our country, you can find a truly good ideal of liberty, something that’s fundamentally true and consequently is Godly wisdom. But the SOL is a physical manifestation of our twisting that ideal and putting it before God; as long as it stands, we can know that we are fundamentally on the wrong path. One could see it as a message from God through sin that we have made a terrible mistake.            

I will admit that I don’t know enough about what went into the creation of the SOL in order to agree with or dispute the idea that it’s celebrating something different than the right referenced in the Declaration of Independence.

I only partly intended the abortion connection as evidence that the SOL is an idol; rather, my primary intent was to demonstrate that if you accept a Biblically-informed view of the nature and consequences of idols, the otherwise-inexplicable sudden-onset insanity of the sexual revolution, legal abortion, and abortion culture all suddenly make sense: that’s just what idols do; that’s a common historical symptom of idolatry, that’s why idols are bad, all kinds of sin are done in their name.            

I don’t think the sexual revolution or abortion came out of nowhere, and I think it would be very weird if the consequences of the idol didn’t occur until almost a hundred years after its design. Everyone involved in the SOL’s creation was already dead by 1970! Why should the consequences hit us that decade?

As I said, I don’t think all of the sin the US has committed is a result of the SOL; that’s obviously, trivially false.  I mostly think that it’s a dark beacon of our sin, that it’s such a stupidly blatant sin that of course we’d be cursed by God to commit worse sins than the ones whose cessation we were celebrating, and that in the unlikely event that we get wise to it and tear it down, our national lifespan would increase as a natural result.            

I don’t know that God curses people to commit sins. (I know the verses in exodus where God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart”, but that’s the only relevant example I can think of.)

I’m glad you acknowledge that plenty of awful things happened before the Statue of Liberty was erected.

And most of all, when I realized how the SOL is the exact sort of thing the Bible most harshly condemns, that induced the realization that a depressingly low number of people historically have been as spiritually observant as they’d said.  If we’ve really gotten so much less religious in the past century and a half, how on Earth did an ostensibly very Christian nation allow a new pagan idol to become one of its chief symbols?            

Oh yeah, I definitely agree with this assertion. We were never as Christian as the right-wing Christian patriots want to believe we were. If anything, I think the way that I was taught American history as a child comes closer to idolatry than anything I was taught about the Statue of Liberty. We were told we were a chosen people, a new Israel, the greatest country in the world, and that we’d taken the lands of the Native Americans and broken all our promises to them because God had “blessed us with expansion”. If that’s not the sin of pride, what is?

A lot of our Christian heritage was a skin-deep cultural thing, I think. That’s not to say that the Puritans in Massachusetts or the Quakers in Pennsylvania or the Catholics in Maryland weren’t sincere in their belief–certainly it takes sincere belief to risk your life for the sake of being allowed to worship freely. It’s just that in any culture where a certain religion is expected, people will go through the motions for the sake of their neighbors, not for God. Just as giving the Church earthly power leads to people claiming faith to gain power, giving the Church social power leads to people claiming faith to avoid ostracism. These aren’t mechanisms that lead people to genuine faith very effectively.

I agree with you on the cosmic insignificance of America; in fact, though I desperately want to save it, I don’t believe it’s going to happen, and I currently hope to move out sometime in my lifetime - I just worry I’ll put it off too long.

I don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody down here does, I don’t think. But that’s OK; I know the important things, and there’s plenty of work left to be done down here, for as long as God gives us to do it. I’m not looking for opportunities to leave–I think I can help more people by working here than I could if I worked anywhere else.

I hope things go well for you.

I also agree with you about the corruptibility of combined spiritual and political power - though that’s the primary reason I’m not a Catholic! (I’m not one of the types who thinks Catholics aren’t saved or that they’re the final boss, though.)  

I like to think we’ve learned a bit since the middle ages. The modern Church doesn’t hold anything close to the level of political power it once did, and I think that’s for the best.

In any case, I’m glad to hear you count us as part of the faithful. It’s a bit of a relief; I’ve spent too much time with protestants whose first association with idolatry is “you know, those Catholics make wood carvings of Mary sometimes.”

I’m glad that you’re intrigued by my position; it’s been very pleasant interacting with you, and I hope to do so more in the future, though I’ll be very busy for the next few days.  I’m also a writer; I wish you good luck in those endeavors.  :)  Praise God. +            

I’m glad you’ve found it pleasant! I love interacting with people who believe things I’ve never heard of, especially if they have reasons to back them up. I used to get a lot of that from the Catholic forums I’d visit (for a group with more official teachings than perhaps any of the Protestant sects, faithful Catholics hold a very wide range of opinions when it comes to specific questions that fall outside those official teachings), but I haven’t had the energy to read those threads lately. So this has been nice, and I want to thank you for sharing your perspective with me.

Best of luck to you, too. <3