Mass Appeal

...If I have to, I go all out- with no mic. Yeah, that's right, cuz I survived mad fights
And for my peeps I truly care, cuz without some of them I wouldn't be here
And they all know how I feel, cuz suckas be like playin' themselves to have mass appeal
- Gang Starr (RIP Guru)


Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So, what shall we talk about this week?
*grin*
Hmmm...I wonder what hugely important social/economic/racial/gender issue thingy I can poke fun at in my unique (and perhaps tragically misguided) fashion this time? What gremlin-like misbehavior shall I perpetrate?
Gotta tell ya, I'm rubbing my tentacles (and several other appendages) together in anticipation just thinking about it....

Since I'm legally obligated to keep the intro and opening paragraph completely inoffensive, however, you're gonna hafta click to find out.

*You guys know I'll totally press this, right?*

Did you click?

Ok, good. My job is done.

Sorry, folks- no content today.

Studies have shown that I don't need actual 'content' to be a successful blogger. I can just use sex to peddle my wares...

*Check him out. He's heroic*

But, hey, knowing me I'd probably screw that up an' make a big ol' mess of things, huh?

Sigh.

Ok, well...maybe I can just spout a bunch of hot-topic nonsense and draw attention to myself...

*Fair and balanced? That'll never work*

Nah. With my luck I'd hop into the comment section and come off looking like an ass.

We certainly wouldn't want that, would we?

-_-

No, we wouldn't.

Controversy! That always works, right?

*Grey Knights player. Ran a 'Naked Draigo' proxy model*

I could always crack jokes about some group or another that claims to be oppressed. 

*Poor people ruin our hobby...cuz they can't afford stuffs*

Ouch- maybe not. I'm likely to offend somebody, and that ain't cool.

Dammit! What to do?

I could write about something I feel passionately about...I could wax poetically about something I adore...I could rail against the all of the injustices in the world...

*Megan is pregnant and the baby isn't mine...WHY DOES THE UNIVERSE HATE ME?!?*

If all else fails, I guess I could just post a bunch of pics, throw in a few jokes, and call it a day.

Oh, wait...I can't be trusted with jokes. Or pics.

:P

And, really, who would actually bother to comment on a post that was just a handful of pics and a few bad jokes?

I'm gonna hafta try a lil' harder than that, methinks.

Blah.

Crap. If I wasn't such a knucklehead, maybe I could get away with those kinds of shenanigans.

Hmph.

I could always start an argument...but I might've managed to do that already in the course of these ramblings.

I'm good like that. I have a gift.

Nyah.

Meh. Whatevs.

Maybe I should fall back to, I dunno...talkin' some hobby.

So, if you've come for sex, hot-topic nonsense, controversy, discrimination, some sort of actual 'good writing,' or an argument, you can just skip to the comments now- hopefully they'll feature all of that and more!

;)

Anyway...what to talk about?

Jeez, I dunno. Wadda you want?

As a matter of fact, what do I want? What do WE want?

...that's a pretty big question, I suppose.
 

 *Adding the 'multimedia explosion' tag to posts is clinically proven to make bloggers popular*

We all want our hobby to be 'better,' right? But that means something different for everybody, and wow- where to start? I suppose you could start with broad strokes. Like, 'oh, we'll just get rid of this thing over here, because we think it reflects poorly on us...'

...wait a second. That sounds...not good. That line of thinking never ends well...

Or maybe we could insist that our games accurately reflect realities. Surely that wouldn't take any of the fun out of them, would it?

...except maybe it would, wouldn't it?

See? This gets complicated quick.

Our hobby. We love it so much we get all amped up and carry on about it, don't we? But it's a strange place, filled with both high-minded concepts and ideas, and blatantly provocative imagery. That imagery is so ingrained into 'what we do' that I don't even need to post a pic this time, do I?

But, y'know...I will anyway.

:D

*This one hits all the notes, doesn't it?*

So is what the normals see in their heads when they think of 'our thing'? 

Did the Lord of the Rings movies help change that a lil' bit?

*This is much less dumb. Frodo is undressing me with his eyes, though*

HBO's Game of Thrones has been well received, critically and ratings-wise, and certainly demonstrates that genuinely well conceived Fantasy offerings can be smart, geared towards adults and still become popular.

*It's actually...really good. I read the books and wanted to hate it, but I can't, dammit*

The thing is, we're like, actual fans of this stuff, and we know it can be better than how it's generally portrayed or presented to the world at large. Since we love it, we get defensive about it when we think it's being dumbed down, or sold short, or attacked. We feel like our intelligence is being insulted, sometimes.

And yet, ours is a world with Red Sonja, and 40k's Lelith, and sexy elf-girls (and guys), and Tentacle Bento. Maybe you'll think less of me, or even get mad at me for saying this, but...I like all of these things.

I'm gonna refrain from posting a Red Sonja pic here, though.

...Must.

...Refrain.

*Ah, who am I kidding? See? This is why I get in trouble...cuz I'm an ass*

Gosh darnit I know Red Sonja's armor isn't...armor, and I know how silly (and maybe awful, and maybe sexist) the whole thing is. 

Still, I read the comic books when I was a kid (that's the story I'm going with...don't you judge me...), and I'm sorry, but I  can't bring myself to hate on Red Sonja. Nor do I feel like telling Lelith to 'put some clothes on.' Likewise the elf girls (and guys). Nuthin' wrong with a scantily clad elf guy, I say- and yeah, the world could use more of them, fer sure.

You guys can probably guess how I feel about Tentacle Bento.

;)

Without even bringing the subject of violence and death into the discussion, is it kind of strange that our hobby is sort of like cable television? So many channels, so many different particular interests and subjects, and each has it's own dedicated lil' space, seemingly! You flick through, pausing to take in this one or that one for a moment. They're all kinda neat, in their own way...

..and then BAM!

The Naughty Channel shows up.

0_o

Wow- that caught you out there, didn't it?

While some might get upset about the hobby equivalent of the Naughty Channel, there's a plethora of other...very important sounding social/political/gender/racial/class-based issues we wish were handled a bit more delicately by our hobby, as well.

We know the genres we love are capable of being better and smarter than they're generally perceived, and yet...

Well, Tentacle Bento.

*Many of us will rush to defend this when it's attacked*

Since cable television has like a thousand channels, there's bound to be some you just never stop at once you know where they are, for whatever reason. I kinda think our hobby is like that.

Is it a big ol' mess, that sells itself short by using things like sex, or controversy, to try and sell us things? Do the games we play perpetuate discrimination somehow? Have the genres we love 'matured' enough to enjoy more widespread popularity? Would that, in turn, help or hinder 'our thing,' ultimately?

I...don't know.

Tell ya what, though, I get a kick outta the whole thing.

Waddayagonado?

Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

SinSynn

P.S.

I just wanna thank all the folks who show up to read and comment- you guys are da awesome. Fortunately for all of us (but especially me), people much smarter than myself (which, for the record, is pretty much everybody) are around to foil some of my more harebrained schemes.

I don't deserve youse guys- but I am forever grateful.

*big, sloppy Xenos hugz*