#batim thomas

I'm back with another redraw because I miss them alt version without text

Tom design for machine of Madness

For those who don't know, Mike D, co-creator of Bendy, has stated that Thomas Connor is a white man. He's done this before with Norman Polk, too. Because of this, drama has arose which led him to make his account private, and shortly after, deleted.

This thread on Twitter gives details of what happened, screenshots provided for those who can't view it below-

I must state as a disclaimer that no matter what he's like, past or present, we should not seriously be wishing death on him. The person who said they wished death on him has since retracted their statement, as said and shown in the thread above.

The two characters, Thomas and Norman, were nearly universally agreed upon to be black men, and have been implied and coded to be black through their voices, their interactions with other characters (especially in the books) and likely many more things I've missed, only to then be revealed to be canonically white.

Mike D has also stated (correct me if wrong) that he believes minorities are forced, unless the character's identity helps the story. Think of Buddy from Dreams Come To Life being Jewish, and how his religion effected his story.

This is erasure. The fact they decanonised the books that show these important interactions, the fact they led us on, being told your identity or race must serve a purpose in fiction, is all erasure. If you are part of a minority and see a character like you have that part of them stripped away or forgotten, it sends the message that people like you must be censored and eradicated, especially knowing how many minorities were treated historically. Being told minorities are forced unless given a greater purpose in storytelling reinforces the idea that being part of any minority is abnormal and thus, wrong.

TheMeatly has recently addressed that the cutouts used in all games post-BATIM had (accidentally) stolen fanart and plans to use a new texture in future games. This is proof that he has improved as Bendy merchandise has used fanarts without permission years ago.

In contrast, I have yet to see Mike D improving on any of his past actions. I really do hope he does, but right now, things do not seem hopeful. He must understand the messages he's spreading, intentional or not, and improve.

EDIT - There are actually some signs regarding his improvement in other areas. When the KindlyBeast team was laid off, he did make an apology post for them, and his "We make stupid games for stupid kids" quote doesn't seem to apply seeing the M ratings newer games are getting. Courtesy to the other Bendy wiki staff to giving me these points.

this is how negotiations work right

Then I realized something.

Tom, even if “Bendy” unnerved him, was FINE having the funky guy wandering about, & in his OWN OFFICE of all places.

It was JOEY who wasn’t having any of that shit.

Which…

Yikes.

My guy really just said

Joey: “Hey Tom, how’s that project coming alo- OH MY GOD!!”

Inky: Wandering over to Joey “… Daddy?”

Joey: “… DO I LOOK LIKE-”

I know Inky definitely wasn’t ACTUALLY a smol, but… come on, I needed an excuse to use the fricken gay baby jail image of Flame Princess here.