Stuff I remember from my near 10 years as an Object Show fan

As the title indicates, I've been a fan of Object Shows for nearly 10 years. I don't remember the exact date of when I watched my first Object Show episode, but I do know for sure it was during May 2014. "Crybaby!" was the first object show episode I saw.

I never really actively participated in the community, but there are things I have observed over the years.

I got into Object Shows through a community on Scratch that was REALLY dedicated to it. I don't know what became of them, but I DO know that the creators of BOTO and CTW started out on the site. Crazy, huh?

I was drawn into Object Shows because of the enjoyment I get out of slapstick and misfortune. Also because it was like watching a flash animation but you're actually able to run it. (I had a old potato computer back in the day) To this day, that's still more or less a part the appeal I find in them.

One thing I remember clearly was the Great Hiatus of BFDIA 6. While a lot of hiatuses happens throughout this day, it was a much bigger deal here. You see, a lot of object shows were started when the creators were children. It was a project made for fun, and usually would update monthly. However, as creators got older, they had to manage other responsibilities. This was one of the main causes of hiatuses that would plague many of the more well known shows at the time... BFDIA included.

Other more well known shows on hiatus that come to mine were Object Twoniverse, Object Overload, and Brawl of the Objects. The only "big" show that had a remotely reliable schedule was II2, and even then the waiting times were pretty long. By the time the hiatus ended, only II2 and BOTO were still running... And currently, BOTO is the only one listed here that managed to even reach a conclusion.

The lack of news didn't exactly help either. It felt like a drought for many. A few people took advantage of this by making fake promos and videos. One highlight being a blurry picture claiming BFDIA 6 would come out on July 1st of 2014. Imagine how people felt when they realized they got tricked. Another being a video in MS Paint where Freesmart got tricked into falling into a spike pit... Which is funnier given one of BFDIA's newer episodes. BFDIA was notorious for it's cruelty, after all!

Many efforts were done to pass the time. Some people decided to throw ideas at the wall to see what stuck. These included changes to game formats, or even something completely different. None of these were successful, due to lack of interest, the aforementioned real life issues, and sometimes even controversy. It didn't help that during the time of 2015-17, Meta humor and Irony would become Cool to do because of the everlasting question of "what makes a good object show"... Not to mention other pieces of media at the time were also indulging in it. And that's not even getting into a certain form of humor that a lot of these creators would later come to regret making. Meta humor still persists, but here it was something else. If there's one thing that did come out of this era, it's that a lot of these people would go on to work on the Big 2, which resulted in them being regarded as role models in the community. This is also why you see these same 30+ people work for a lot of the shows created by one another.

I vaguely recall the visuals of Object Overload and Inanimate Insanity 2 being regarded as "revolutionary" due to them using things that weren't in other shows at the time. This included varied detailed backgrounds, movement style, assets having different angles,custom face assets and SHADING. The community was much smaller, with the creators being younger, so I can understand why this was regarded as such. Nowadays, a lot of these elements are pretty much The Norm for object shows. A lot of communities are about "Following the Leader" and the OSC was one of them.

Hiatuses are much more manageable now that everyone has accepted that they happen and there's other things that can keep fans busy anyway.

I remember certain commonly used trends changed with the release of BFB. One example being the species of the hosts. Most object show hosts were mechanical. It was such a recurring trend that II2 even jabbed at it one time. Besides the aforementioned "Follow the Leader" rule, it also served to be very convenient for certain plots. BFB brought a new type of host to the table with the Four, with their unconventional design and zany mannerisms. While mechanical hosts are still a thing, it's not uncommon to see a host that is very much based on Four... Sometimes, there's even a host that's neither of those things!

Some object shows would also decide to either use the hand-drawn limbs style of BFB, or branch out into other art styles.

I remember that there would be discourse on certain forms of tweening. As I'm not an animator, I didn't really understand why that was such an issue.. Besides the fact that "Tweening vs Frame-By-Frame" was a hot topic among animation circle at the time. It does remind me of a certain show however... Oh boy... I think it's best I don't go into detail with it. I'm not sure if newer fans are aware of that event... I will say that witnessing it in real time was Something.

When I heard of BFB, I thought it was a joke. The art-style wasn't something JnJ did at the time. Not to mention it felt like a soft reboot of sorts... With a big cast to boot. Naturally this spurred a lot of shows with large casts. I felt Object Overload, with roughly 32 characters(with some being introduced later because that ALSO was a trend), was a good enough example of how not to do such a thing. I have issues with the size of BFB's cast, but at least it had the excuse of being an all-stars season.

I have Thoughts on BFB.. I don't remember much of it, and this is neither here or there. I will say that the split did result in me taking a hiatus on Object Shows up until mid 2022.

Yep... Of all big events.. I didn't get to see the Newbie Boom that came with hfjONE's release. I was aware of it early in it's run, but was too busy to check on it. I did see the aftermath though. I assumed it was a show about humans that turned into objects and hated it... It was rare to see an object show character who wasn't named after their object, let alone with a human name. The only objects I saw with such a name were other user's OCs.

And now... BFDIA 6... Actually came out??????? Imagine telling someone in 2013 that it would release in 10 years. I wouldn't believe it either. Time flies when your busy with other things, I suppose! ^^

One topic often debated among fans, that continues to this day, is the question on WHAT makes a good object show. I've always found this discourse to be annoying. I've never been a fan of the idea that there can only be a set number of ways to do an object show correctly.

As the Object Show begins to branch out, and people bring attention to the treatment of certain topics and people, the OSC currently seems to be in a state of uncertainty on where to go next. It comes natural with changes as big as this...  With the tight-knit connections of various groups, there's that real risk of getting singled out if things get dire. There's a reason as to why people have been leaving the OSC, or at least the Twitter and Discord sides in particular. I don't think the OSC got worse "all of a sudden". These issues were always present, but the bigger size(and lack of other spaces) and varied needs, it's gotten harder to manage. Sometimes resulting in actions that do more harm than good, as the events last year have demonstrated. I hope one day the community can finally even out these conflicts and move forward. They have done it before... It's just going to be much harder this time around.

As a long time fan, I'm not quite sure what I can say about my thoughts on the OSC as whole. I will say that despite everything, I still care about object shows, and the concept of them. I don't blame people for not getting the appeal. It is very niche after all, even with it's bigger size. I get if people call it "cringe", but it isn't for everybody.