Is obviously something that this world needs. Obviously. So, I was over perusing some Fine Imported Drama when someone... *goes to check* @raginghearts mentioned that a friend was factivekin for one of the Rooster Teeth staff. And I thought about this for a moment, like, why would- who- Ohhhhh. Yeah. It's Michael, isn't it. (Michael Jones, whose solo show is called Rage Quit, and who is often put forward as a headcanon voice of Karkat Vantas.) I jumped in and tried to share my important insight, all "OOOH OOOH IS IT MICHAEL IT'S MICHAEL ISN'T IT" but RH ninja'd me to the punch and it doesn't look as impressive to guess a thing after someone's already told. But THEN, @pixels was like, well why would someone say they were Michael, RT keeps him on like a permanent rage aneurism schedule, and I was all "OOOOOH MY INSIGHTS I WILL SHOW YOU THEM" and then spent like an hour and a half sperging on why someone might decide they were in actual fact Michael Jones from Rage Quit, no, like, literally. And then my mom insisted I come upstairs and eat dinner and interact with her socially and I was all "GODDAMN IT" and went upstairs and had dinner and when I came back down I realized that I had just written this huge rant about Michael Jones from Rage Quit and what the fuck does that have to do with anything in that thread, it doesn't, is what the fuck is. Then I asked if there was a thread for RoosterTeeth meta. And there wasn't. So I get to post it. And also, other people should come in and hyper-analyze AH Let'sPlays and the like with me, since it is super-important and the world deserves it. You're welcome, world. Anyway here's half a wall of text: Spoiler: Why Kin Would Be Michael, And Also, Why They Shouldn't. My guess would be that that's exactly why. RT basically pays Michael to throw tantrums onscreen. Not only that, people seek his videos out and praise him for it, instead of saying mean, hurtful things like "That is inappropriate public behavior, please stop," and getting all mad and refusing to let him play with them or their toys anymore. I could totally see someone watching Michael get praise for behavior that they've been shamed for, and saying, "I want that. No, actually, I AM that. That is me." And missing the part where Michael is only getting love and attention for throwing pissbaby manchild shitfits in a specific context- that is, of a recorded voiceover performance that watchers can choose to stop listening to at any time. We don't have to put up with Michael after he stops being fun. And here's the thing- it is a performance. He gets paid to do what he does because he's funny and he knows how to work an audience. But he also works in an office. I can fucking guarantee you he knows how to turn that shit off when he has to, at least to the extent necessary to keep his ass from getting fired. Some kid just watching the Rage Quit videos thinking to themselves, "Hey, Michael never faces consequences for his behavior, he throws tantrums and everyone loves him anyway, including me," fails to realize the amount of artifice that goes into the production, or recognize everything that goes into creating a fantasy world in which Michael's behavior is funny rather than insufferable, in large part because it's directed at a video game rather than at real people. And fails to realize that none of that applies when you, in the real world, throw a tantrum aimed at/adjacent to actual human beings who can't turn you off when you stop being fun. Cause the thing is, Michael surely has faced consequences for his behavior IRL. It's just that, in the fantasy world of Rage Quit, we don't have to see those consequences. (EDITOR'S NOTE: here is where my mother requests that i leave the basement. 45 minutes later, I observe what I have wrought, and ask myself what I am doing with my life. To which I now respond: I am writing RoosterTeeth fan meta, it is incredibly important for me to do so. Again- you're welcome, universe.) Anyway. In the fantasy world of Rage Quit, there are no consequences, only tantrum. But it's fun tantrum! It's a tantrum we never have to see escalate to the point of "Get the fuck out of my house." We get to vicariously experience all the positives of someone throwing a massive shit-fit without actually having to be in the presence of someone having a massive shit-fit, or facing the consequences of having just thrown a massive shit-fit. But here's the thing: That's an illusion. It's a piece of art created for the amusement of an audience. There is actual, honest-to-fuck work that goes into making Michael funny instead of scary, and the one who had to do most of that work is Michael. And I don't know a whole lot about him, outside what can be gleaned from watching someone else yell at video games for hours, but I bet it's something he still has to work on. Thing is though, he took something of himself that could be destructive, and focused it into producing something funny and creative that can make people happy instead of hurting them, and that is work. That is good. I guess what I'm saying is that there's a lot of work that goes into becoming a person that can live with themself, and that other people can live with, and sometimes it means learning how to turn yourself off when you stop being funny, and often it means learning how to be funny in the first place. And that there's definitely more to it than seeing Michael getting love even though he's yelling, deciding you want that, and declaring yourself Michael. And that is a wrap I think. Anyway, that took way more brain hours than I thought it was gonna, so yeah. Come sperg with me, guys, I need to justify the brain-overheat to myself. Also, it's fun. ^x^
still loving the first scavenger hunt let's play where michael and gavin were pretending to lick each other's assholes and geoff was all "just do it, you'll make tumblr so happy" this is what we've done. oh god why
I'm glad you tagged me in this because when I saw your post about wanting to do meta of this I was like "SIGN ME UP I WANT TO READ THAT" not because I'm necessarily a big fan to RT--in fact, the only thing I've really seen of RT is the first handful of seasons of RvB, and maybe one or two RQ videos, hell I had to go look up who Michael even was when I first saw my sort-of friend's list of kins--but because I'm genuinely interested in figuring out why people do things. And that all makes a lot of sense! So, it's not so much that the people who might "identify" as Michael are identifying as the actual person, but as the rage-throwing persona he puts up in the videos. That actually makes a lot more sense, but doesn't make it any less skeezy because it's basically reducing an actual real-life person to a single facet that probably isn't even how he is irl at all most of the time. 8I
Yeah, Michael definitely queer-baits the shippers. It's, like. There's a layer of recursive self-reference there that is... fucking trippy, is what it is. I am not super-comfortable with the ethical side of shipping/ficcing Real People, but I once found an Achievement Hunter/Ouran Host Club crossover featuring Gavin/Michael wanna see?
Sounds rough. :\ Not being able to differentiate between "A part of me is like a part of him" from "THAT'S ME." It's like. No, you're you. Maybe you're still working out the edges of what that is, but you're not someone who isn't you. You aren't married to Lindsay Jones and you're not getting a check from Rooster Teeth. And like you said, it's kind of objectifying Michael, isn't it. Taking the concept of a real person and using them as you see fit. ... which is also what I have against real-person-fic and yet I've offered to hunt down a slash real-person-fic crossover with a reverse harem anime. Um. Oops. I'm pretty sure Michael'd just think it was funny, though Gavin seems a little less comfortable with the whole queerbaiting running-joke they've got going... also it was abandoned after two chapters and pretty much just looked like one of those things where someone goes "I'M GONNA DO THE THING" and someone else goes "DON'T DO THE THING" and then the first one goes "TOO LATE I DID IT" and then forgets the whole thing after the second chapter because they saw something shiny. ... uuuuh. My ambien is kicking in. IIiii better stop typing at some point, yes.
everyone at RT is hells of gaybaiting now because they know it brings in fans. like i don't even mind i kind of like that they're comfortable being a lil homo especially in a very like. male-dominated industry where 'faggot' is still acceptable parlance. some of the michael/lindsey shit is hilarious imo. like just stop being s ocute i can't hanlde.
Gotta admit, i snorked when Lindsay invited Gavin for a 3-way. (can't remember where, now.... think it was Top Chef, maybe?)
I'm 100% sure that at this point Ryan and Gavin are playing up the shippiness because it makes the fans flail around. In the same way as Michael puts on the ragey persona, Ryan is actually a sweet potato, not a creepy murder-guy. It's all a performance because it's what the fans enjoy. ...I am now wondering if there are factivekins for muderguy!Ryan and I'm not sure if I want to find out.
Excuse me, I am currently in a hole, so therefore I am Edgar. Stop invalidating my identityyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Speaking of... well, something entirely different, actually, so that isn't actually a useful segue at the moment, but LAST NIGHT, I was speaking of an Achievement Hunter/Ouran Host Club crossover with Gavin/Michael in top billing, so just to follow through I went and found it again. It's not that it's high-quality fic per say, so much as the fact that here is a thing that you can point at just to say it exists, and roll in the very WTFness of it all.
I have so much trouble thinking of Michael Jones as the Rage Quit guy because I know him a lot better as the voice of the monkey from RWBY. I can certainly understanding people being fickin of Sun Wukong. But that's very different from fickin of Michael Jones from Rage Quit, or factkin of Michael Jones the actual person.
Veering off from the initial topic quite a bit, I just saw the list of voice actresses cast for the Japanese dub of RWBY (or at least the four main girls) and it's kind of hilarious. Here is a slightly spoilery video someone put together of footage of the girls dubbed with bits from the voice actresses' other roles.
That magazine spread is pretty cool. Hahaha Mio as Weiss is perfect. (Who does that make the other girls, then? Ruby as Yui obviously, Yang as Ritsu, Blake as Azusa and Penny as Mugi. Yes, perfect. ... I like crossovers, okay?)
Re: these achievement hunter videos: GODDAMN IT GAVIN HOW YOU HEAR "MAMMAL" AND THINK "CHICKEN" man i was terrified i wasn't gonna get to see the quaaga at all. I was so exited when I heard that, and then Gavin was all "Do do do how bout I waste half of this syringe on the only peaceful mob in Minecraft that ISN'T a mammal!" also HOW DO YOU MISPRONOUNCE TRICERATOPS WHAT THE HELL THIS IS BASIC SHIT OK, on the pronunciation front I will give them Pachycephalosaurus, and Mososaurus I had to hunt for a bit, but- Galimimus? Anklyosaurus? Come on! ... won't pretend I can spell them, though. It kind of shocks me to find out that anyone wasn't enough of a dinosaur nerd as a kid to not know at least half of these. Also also, their animal husbandry skills gave me repeated fits of the screaming mimis. How is "dig hole, then hatch egg" such a hard concept, what the hell! And if you don't know whether the chick is gonna come out a herbivore or a carnivore, DIG TWO HOLES. AAAAAAUGH AAAUGH AAUGH IT DRIVES ME NUTS k i'm gonna go watch it again ^x^
ok I must be fair. On rewatch, they managed NOT to mispronounce Triceratops. They did not manage Anklyosaurus. They picked Triceratops because it was easier to pronounce.
To be fair I'm pretty sure Gavin puts on the stupidity half the time because it's funnier, but ... jesus goddamn christ please separate the T-rex from the others what are you doing. Seeing the T-rex eat the mammoth was both heartbreaking and also satisfying in an "I fucking told you so you ridiculous idiots" way.
So, I think this is the thread to try and pull the discussion about RT to, yes? Tagging those I recall being involved: @pixels @Les @(Not) Literally A Bird @Exohedron I started back with the Blood Gulch Chronicles, I don't know what season. I think I got all caught up sometime in Season 4 or 5? A friend showed me the first season on DVD and I forgot about it for a year or so and then went looking and was rendered very happy indeed. Then they started on the Strangerhood and I didn't get that RvB wasn't entirely over so I think I stopped for a while? Came back in time for rush though to Season 8. Again, missed the message that this wasn't the Final End, even though I saw a S9 trailer and forgot again, then came back in for 9 and 10. Thought I was keeping track but that more time had passed than actually had (I'm reaaally bad at time passage) so missed S11 until I saw a trailer for S12, got excited, and then got REALLY confused at the start of S12, wondering when there people had been introduced since I didn't know any of them. Enjoyed finding a whole Bonus Season, basically. I found out about AH through tumblr, someone had a gifset of Gavin during one of the GTA Races swimming instead of racing because he was so far behind and didn't know how to respawn, so I watched that, recognized Geoff as Grif, and got hooked. I know that the RT connection led to me re-rediscovering RvB, (I think for 9 and 10?) and that going back and rewatching 6-8 led me to discovering 12 and 11 and such. I dunno which season is my favourite. I've like 9+, but there are hiccups here and there that I'm less a fan of. The tone changes pretty frequently, which is kinda nice but kinda odd, and I'm looking forward to the stuff they've talked about for S14 with it being a bunch of guest directors doing one-off episodes and things. I do kinda wish we'd get more Red Team Plot, though. They usually get the zanier, less serious roles, which suits them well, but I think it'd be an interesting reversal if they were more involved in something than Blue Team for once. That said, topping the last few episodes of S8 would be hard, and they were pretty instrumental there.
