#But about how Netflix cancels shows in general

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

I understand being frustrated over a show being canceled by Netflix, but I'd like to go into the tag of a show and see fanart instead of post after post about the show being canceled

[indelen]

Honestly I feel really bad for teenagers today, I really do. When I was a kid you got up in the morning and faced every kind of shit a kid in middle school or high school had to face but then you got to go home, turn on the TV and every Friday or whatever there was Your ShowTM. And Your Show went for 5-15 seasons and each one had 26 episodes minimum and some were bad and some were funny and some were the greatest thing your 15 yo mind has ever seen and you got your dopamine for the week and you got something to doodle in class on the back of your notebooks and it got you going for another week. Whatever shit came your way - bad teachers, bullying, whatever stupid panic adults were dreaming up, poverty or just plain being broke, heartache, calculus, dread of the future, your parents divorce, war, oh God am I gay?, prom, dating, standardized testing, the economy collapsing, friend drama, college applications, having to read Death of a Salesman, your government trying to kill you in a million different ways, anything and everything - it went away for like an hour. For an hour you got Your ShowTM and you got to think of something constant that also made you feel good. For years you had something comforting in the most uncomforting and most awkward and terrifying phase of your life. And I feel like all the shit stayed, the kids of today have as much as we did but the assault of it on them is more because there are more places yelling at them. You can watch a genocide on your phone before breakfast. You can see the planet dying before your eyes. A bully can send you harassment a dozen different ways and it's harder to unplug because you need the same tech for school now. But there is less comforting constant things left. A lot has been said about teens and young adults watching Bluey and I don't disagree but I also kinda get it. Bluey has 3 seasons each with like 50 episodes and a mini movie and mini episodes and there's going to be a 4th season. What show oriented for teens and young adults get that now? Back in my day Lockwood &Co. could have gotten minimum 5 seasons and Ruby Stokes would have gotten a Pantene deal so good out of it she could retire at 30 and write cookbooks!

The reason why Netflix is loosing so much money is because they keep canceling shows. Im so serious. This happens every couple of months and it makes me less and less inclined to start new shows. People dont want to start watching things they already know are not going to complete their runtime. Finish your shows before making new ones! Thats how you get your fucking money!

[racefortheironthrone]

Hi- er, this is my first-ever writer's strike, how does one not cross a picket line in this context? I know how not to do it with things like Amazon and IRL strikes, but how does it apply to media/streaming?

Hi, this is a great question, because it allows me to write about the difference between honoring a picket line and a boycott. (This is reminding me of the labor history podcast project that's lain fallow in my drafts folder for some time now...) In its simplest formulation, the difference between a picket line and a boycott is that a picket line targets an employer at the point of production (which involves us as workers), whereas a boycott targets an employer at the point of consumption (which involves us as consumers).

So in the case of the WGA strike, this means that at any company that is being struck by the WGA - I've seen Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Brothers Discovery, NBC, Paramount, and Sony mentioned, but there may be more (check the WGA website and social media for a comprehensive list) - you do not cross a picket line, whether physical or virtual. This means you do not take a meeting with them, even if its a pre-existing project, you do not take phone calls or texts or emails or Slacks from their executives, you do not pitch them on a spec script you've written, and most of all you do not answer any job application.

Because if this strike is like any strike since the dawn of time, you will see the employers put out ads for short-term contracts that will be very lucrative, generally above union scale - because what they're paying for in addition to your labor is you breaking the picket line and damaging the strike - to anyone willing to scab against their fellow workers. GIven that one of the main issues of the WGA are the proliferation of short-term "mini rooms" whereby employers are hiring teams of writers to work overtime for a very short period, to the point where they can only really do the basics (a series outline, some "broken stories," and some scripts) and then have the showrunner redo everything on their lonesome, while not paying writers long-term pay and benefits, I would imagine we're going to see a lot of scab contracts being offered for these mini rooms.

But for most of us, unless we're actively working as writers in Hollywood, most of that isn't going to be particularly relevant to our day-to-day working lives. If you're not a professional or aspiring Hollywood writer, the important thing to remember honoring the picket line doesn't mean the same thing as a boycott. WGA West hasn't called on anyone to stop going to the movies or watching tv/streaming or to cancel their streaming subscriptions or anything like that. If and when that happens, WGA will go to some lengths to publicize that ask - and you should absolutely honor it if you can - so there will be little in the way of ambiguity as to what's going on.

That being said, one of the things that has happened in the past in other strikes is that well-intentioned people get it into their heads to essentially declare wildcat (i.e, unofficial and unsanctioned) boycotts. This kind of stuff comes from a good place, someone wanting to do more to support the cause and wanting to avoid morally contaminating themselves by associating with a struck company, but it can have negative effects on the workers and their unions. Wildcat boycotts can harm workers by reducing back-end pay and benefits they get from shows if that stuff is tied to the show's performance, and wildcat boycotts can hurt unions by damaging negotiations with employers that may or may not be going on.

The important thing to remember with all of this is that the strike is about them, not us. Part of being a good ally is remembering to let the workers' voices be heard first and prioritizing being a good listener and following their lead, rather than prioritizing our feelings.

[moonikabear]

Let's #SaveDeadBoyDetectives!

Hi everyone!  

As you’ve probably already seen on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, or even the articles that are already written about how furious the fandom is right now, we are currently trying to fight for Dead Boy Detectives. 

There is A LOT that we can do to make some noise and so much is already being done that it’s all getting very overwhelming to keep track of. So I've made this masterpost listing all (or at least most of) the things people in the fandom are trying to do right now that you can absolutely help with too! Thank you to everyone who’s fighting for the show! <3

DO NOT cancel your Netflix subscription in a fit of rage because of this. Netflix does not care about that. Here’s all the things you can do instead to make some noise to reach the people who worked on the show and hopefully the people at Netflix as well:

Rewatch the show with sound on! You can just connect your headphones and leave it running in the background while doing other stuff.

Interact with the fandom online and share the Hashtags as much as possible! Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, wherever, spread the message as much as you can. The currently used hashtags are ‘save dead boy detectives’, ‘savedeadboydetectives’, ‘renew dead boy detectives’ and ‘revive dead boy detectives’. Try to boost the hashtags that are already used by the fandom but also feel free to create new ones on top of that or just generally tag the show etc.

We have sent out a tweet to Beth Schwartz asking her if there is any possibility of finding a new home or an alternative way of saving the show - if you’re on twitter, share the tweet by retweeting, quote tweeting, adding hashtags and tagging Beth in it! Here’s a link to the tweet: https://x.com/papysanzo/status/1829996492247220319

If you’re not on twitter, you can share the tumblr post about it and tag it using the hashtags mentioned above! Here’s a link to the tumblr post: https://www.tumblr.com/thepopsicle/760364779568300032/the-tweet-is-out-people-were-confused-about-the?source=share

There’s a petition for saving the show - sign it and ideally also share it wherever you can! Here’s the link to the petition: https://chng.it/M8dvDk9BcL

You can fill out the title request form and request Dead Boy Detectives Season 2 three times to let them know we still want it! Here’s the link to the request form: https://t.co/wkLf2DS06j

You can send (anonymous) asks to Netflix’s Tumblr account as long as they’re still open! Tell them how much you love the show and that the fandom wants more of it. Please remember to be polite in the message, rudeness won’t get us anywhere. Here’s the link to Netflix’s Tumblr account: https://www.tumblr.com/netflix

If you want to do more, you can send emails or physical letters to Netflix itself! Please remember to be polite here as well.  

Here’s an email address you can write to: info@account.netflix.com 

And here is the address you can send physical letters to: Netflix, Inc. 121 Albright Way Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA 

If you have a subscription, you can also sign into the app and follow these steps: 1. In the lower right, tap “my Netflix” 2. In the upper right, tap the Menu. 3. Tap “Help”. 4. Tap the Call or Chat Button.

We would love to coordinate big watch parties, fandom events and hopefully a big online meetup with as many people as possible! Please feel free to join any DBDA event you see shared online and of course also share the events you know about with others! 

And last but certainly not least, keep creating, interacting and sharing the love within the fandom! Even if all this effort leads to nothing in the end, we want to make sure the fandom stays active for as long as possible and that everyone involved can have fun and a good time with it despite the awful news we got. So keep the happy and positive fandom posts going as well as the fight for the show! <3  

Please don’t feel bad if you’re not doing every single thing on this list, but know that every little bit helps. 

Also, a quick reality check: The chances that Netflix will actually reconsider the cancellation are probably very slim. However, we’re still fighting for any little bit we can get, whether it’s the show being sold to another network, an audio format for season two, some sort of podcast with the cast, getting to read the script, anything. It’s not impossible to get something out of this, even if it isn’t a regular complete second season of the show. We'll keep fighting, even if it's scary, and the odds are bad, and we might die horrifically.

So, on that note - Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post, remember to drink some water, take care of yourself, and have a lovely rest of your day! 

[ordinaryschmuck]

I love that The Ghost and Molly McGee's forced cancellation isn't just frustrating to fans of the show but to people in the animation industry as well. They're just as sick as we are about how much studios disrespect animation. They keep looking for the next Spongebob, Simspons, or goodness forbid Family Guy, but instead having faith in the creators and their content, they just...wait. They wait to make a profit and do the bare minimum to market their shows and make them available.

Let's look at Gravity Falls for example. I remember that when Gravity Falls was still airing, you would be able to find out a new episode was coming out based on coming across a commercial by random chance or by the people working the show promoting it online. Add that with the fact that it was on a different channel that required you paying MORE for your cable to get it. It WAS available through Disney Channel, a channel more available at a cheaper price, but the entire of Season Two got moved to the more expensive Disney XD, where Disney shows go to die, because...REASONS. With no warning or announcement. I think I found out about Gravity Falls moving to Disney XD because the trailer played during a commercial break. And that's just the START the show's problems. Mixed in with poor marketing, the show would have a crazy inconsistent schedule, where we'd have four episodes a week, a few months of NOTHING, a few more episodes a week, nothing for a few months, a random episode playing between that nothingness with next to no promotion, and all of that happening to the rest of the show until it finally died a slow death with its series finale where four episodes got stretched out for six months. That...is NOT okay. And it doesn't stop with Gravity Falls.

Steven Universe, OK KO, Ducktales 2017, Amphibia, The Owl House, and now Ghost and Molly McGee are all shows that had similar and sometimes WORSE treatments as Gravity Falls did, where the networks gave next to NO marketing, the creators had to promote their own shows themselves, and the airing schedules were so inconsistent with wildly long hiatuses that only the most dedicated fans were willing to keep watching. General audiences (mainly kids) weren't willing to keep up with shows that had ongoing stories if the episodes stories kept being too spaced apart and never had reruns as frequent as other shows like Teen Titans Go or Big City Greens (Or whatever's constantly on network TV nowadays. I don't know. I mostly watch shit on streaming).

The people of the animation industry is catching onto all of these tricks, and they're getting sick of it. They're getting sick of inconsistent schedules. They're getting sick of trying to bend over backwards in every possible way to make the show they wanted. By either making serialized content as episodic as possible so the network could air it more or by condensing their stories as much as they can, already expecting that forced cancellation to happen sooner than later. And in some cases, they don't even get the luxury of being told their show is ending. Did you know that Inside Job and Paranormal Park both had seasons that were already in development before Netflix pulled the plug shortly after releasing new episodes of their shows? Did you know that The Ghost and Molly McGee was already working on a Season Three before Disney shut that down so they had to force out a series finale that would still be good despite the cancellation? Because it's true. It's ALWAYS true. Creators want to make MORE, but the studios won't let them because they didn't profit off of it. Except they WOULD HAVE if they treated it better.

I want kids to grow up with characters that stick around through their childhood, just like I did with mine. I want kids to have their own Ed, Edd n Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, Phineas and Ferb, or Kim Possible. I want kids to watch shows that last more than two-three seasons, stick around for years, and leave an impact as if they have all the time in the world because to them, it feels like they do. I want kids to have a show that ends on a high note because the creators wanted it and not because the networks demanded it. But the unfortunate thing is that it doesn't seem possible nowadays. Because if a mostly episodic show like The Ghost and Molly McGee fails, despite being charming and inoffensive and something most kids will love, the what hope IS left.

[notmuchtofind]

public eye | d.s

pt2 here x

word count: 1.6k

tw: mentions of infertility and low appetite

synopsis: the lead up to the breakup between you 2

it's everywhere.

'Drew Starkey And y/f/n y/l/n SPLIT' ,

'What Happened Between Drew Starkey And y/f/n y/l/n?', 

'Drew and y/n Messy Breakup?!"

you can't escape what you're trying to forget...

You and Drew were together for 3 and a half years, you guys went public with your relationship pretty quickly, constantly making tiktoks and posting instagram stories of each other. It sent fans Wild! which caused you to gain a huge following on the internet, from fans of obx to just random people in general that simply enjoyed seeing your guys' relationship unfold.

you were the IT couple. Red carpets, premiers, award shows. you name it. you did It all with Drew. 

your life changed drastically when you met drew. and because you were doing it together it was all okay. more than okay, it was bliss.

It's been 2 months since you guys broke up, and even though neither of you had addressed it online yet, people started to speculate, people started to talk and people came to an assumption (which was correct) that you and Drew were no longer together. 

| a week before the break up |

*buzz* your phone vibrates...

its drew

Drew: Hey, plans have changed, I'm sorry I can't come see you tonight...reschedule? 

you sigh...

this is the 3rd time in 2 weeks he's cancelled your plans for something that's "just come up". You've never been the type to not trust Drew, he's always been truthful and you guys have been so transparent with each other ever since you got together, but something just feels off this time. you know that you guys have been struggling for the past couple of months with distance and lifestyle changes and it worries you that it's all getting a little too much for you both

Was it the brief mention of you wanting to try for a baby in the next 1-2 years? Maybe it scares him? but you struggle with your fertility and starting to look into starting a family now would prepare you for the next couple of years...

OR

Was it the long distance? He's busy shooting a new movie for Netflix which requires him to go back and forth between LA and Hawaii, its difficult because neither of you like LA enough to want to spend time here constantly, but you've compromised for drew, and with him not even being here half the time, it feels like a waste of time. and this text message just tops it off for you, you haven't seen him in a week, and your mainly here for him, it feels like a stab in the back.

you open your phone and tap on the message icon...

your thumbs hover over the keyboard for a while whilst you think of the right way to phrase how you feel

maybe it would be best to just have a talk in person? you wonder...

y/n: reschedule for when? 

Sent!

a few minutes go bye, which feels like hours

*buzz*

Drew: I'll see you tomorrow afternoon after shooting? Brunch?Downtown LA?

you sigh, you just feel like Drews being stale...no pet names? no I miss you, I love you? you know its small but you can't help but overthink

but you're determined to not let your worry show through the message sent back

y/n: yeh, let me know what time, i'll see you tomorrow. night drew...I love you Read 22:34 pm

no reply

your alarm rings  9:30am 

you groan and fumble to switch it off

picking up your phone you squint your eyes to read the message from Drew which was delivered at 7am, you guessed he had to get up early for filming.

drew: i'll be done around 1pm if you wanna meet me at the cafe?

y/n: yeh, see you there

you respond

'The cafe' , the cafe you and drew always visit when in LA for premiers and awards shows most of the years you've been together. you knew exactly where he was talking about.

12:30pm rolls around and you grab your car keys after slipping your shoes on, ready for your 'date?"( if you can call it that?) with drew. The nerves kick in as you have a sinking feeling that he's got something to say... you switch on your car and drive over to downtown LA.

---------------------------------------

You grab your bag from the passenger seat and step out of the car after parking it down a side road near the place you're meeting. As your walking towards the cafe you see drew stud outside the main entrance on the phone...he looks to be laughing

as soon as he clocks you walking towards him he stutters, his face slightly drops and fumbles to end the call "yeh yeh, okay speak soon" drew mumbles.

drew pulls you into a hug as you step closer, its a tight hug, he kisses you on the head before pushing you back slightly, his hands on your shoulders

"how've you been?'' Drew says. "umm, yeh not bad" you smile slightly, nodding as you lie through your teeth. you've been nothing but a mess for the past couple of weeks.

"who was you chatting too just there" you nod, looking down at the phone in his hand

"oh, urm just, my costar in this movie, the directors wanting to change a part of the script so we was just like...discussing that" he chuckles nervously 

"oh I see" you shrug 

taking a seat inside, you watch and Drew goes up to the counter, ordering you both a coffee, he offers to order you food but you refuse. your appetite has been non existent for the past weeks, food was the last thing on your mind.

Drew sits opposite you after placing the coffees on the table. you play with your hair whilst staring at Drews hands gripping his coffee tight...

"so y/n...listen, I'm sorry I couldn't come see you yesterday, I, I uhhh..." drew stutters "I went for a drink with a few of the people from the set and uh... and I was up early this morning, i'd have had to of travel 45 minutes in an uber to come see you last night yanno...like, shit I dont know... it wasn't practical' he squirms, fumbling over his thoughts

it may have been minor, but you feel your blood boiling, you don't feel any apologetic energy coming from drew, it feels more like guilt, not that he's let you down, more the guilt that he enjoyed himself more than he would've with you last night...you're fuming

'stay calm y/n' you think too yourself

"But you knew we made plans for the evening Drew? you couldn't not drink for one night just to make sure you could see me?"

he leans over the table slightly "look y/n/n im trying to create a bond with these people I-"

you cut him off. 

"Seriously, what the fuck drew?!" you scoff "listen to yourself, it's been shit between us for months now and you think doing shit like this is going to fix anything?" you gesturing with your hands, trying to say slightly under your breath so the whole cafe cant tell your arguing

its silent for a moment whilst you both think of what to say next

"you know I'm struggling ?" you say through cracks in your voice, looking at drew, tearing up 

you don't want him to see you cry, you hate crying in front of drew, never mind in public

he just looks at you, guilty and wide eyed, he tilts back on his chair and sighs whilst pinching the bridge of his nose.

"fuck y/n, I dont know" he looks away...

" I'm feeling a lot of pressure right now, I'm working and I'm away and the last thing I want right now is a child y/n! do you understand?"

you're taken back... you've spent the last 3 years moving away from your hometown, supporting Drew, making a life for yourself wherever he goes but he can never meet you in the middle?! he won't even consider thinking through the thought of one day starting a family with you? you're just asking for a discussion about what the future might hold but he gets defensive every time it's brought up...

"Is that it?" you ask " is that what's turned you so cold?"

he leans over trying to grab your hand "fuck...baby, no I-" 

you flinch as you cut him off

"drew if it's not what you want and it's what I eventually want, are we even right for each other? what are we doing? you don't care for me like you usto, you're not the same, your a dick" you say trying not to shout

"I don't know what I want right now?" Drew states, not looking you in the eyes.

How's he being so calm? Why is he doing this? This is not like drew.

"fuck you" You stand up out of the chair and walk right out of the cafe doors, tears start streaming down your face and you try to hide you face with the palm of your hand...

*snap* followed by a flicker

*snap* *snap*

fuck.

you look around...

"is that paparazzi?" you mumble to yourself 

you walk faster to your car quickly opening the door and throwing your bag on the backseat, you fumble to turn the engine on and see slight flickers through the rearview mirror...this is the last thing you need right now.

part 2!!!!!

[eightratsinatrenchcoat]

Since the bigwigs @netflix can’t seem to figure out how to run a profitable business on what should be a platform that’s raking in money, here’s some tips:

- Offer cheaper subscriptions. You are alienating potential customers, myself included, by making subscription prices so high that people can’t afford them long term and will buy a subscription to watch the shows they want and then cancel it after a month or two

- Encourage password sharing. People don’t know what’s on your platform if they can’t afford an account and they aren’t going to fork out £11 / $15 for the cheapest subscription if there’s nothing on there they want to watch. If you encourage and facilitate password sharing then people can discover content they enjoy and might be persuaded to buy their own accounts.

- Stop cancelling shows before they get a chance to take off. All shows should be given minimum two seasons with minimum 10 episodes per season or else how can people get into a show and grow an audience.

- Give a one year grace period for fanbases to grow before cancelling a show. Fandoms don’t grow in a week.

- If a show is in the top 10 for 14 consecutive days it should be automatically qualified for renewal.

- People don’t want 20 different dating shows about the same 5 generic looking people. I promise you they’re only watching them because they’re bored and it’s the only content you have on the platform.

- For goodness sake listen to your fans. You only have to spend a couple minutes scrolling through the tags for your shows on here to see how much love there is and how much fan content is being created.

Netflix is not the only streaming platform guilty of this, Prime and Max have a lot to answer for too, but Netflix is by far the worst repeat offender

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

I don’t think that it’s about whether or not Vi understood that Jinx was going to kill herself, but more so about Vi’s betrayal. Again.

If we pay attention to all the self-flagellation she spews when Caitlyn finds her, it’s about Vi choosing wrong every time. Vi only let herself free Jinx because she thought Jinx would help with everything that was going on. If anything, that’s one of Vi’s faults. She does talk about Caitlyn not trusting Jinx but Vi only does because Jinx “changed”. Their sister bond will always be there, but now there are caveats — their lives starts to turn conditional after everything they’ve gone through.

Would it be too controversial if I said that I don’t think it would matter enough if Vi knew Jinx was going to kill herself or not? She directly asks what she’s going to do and Jinx says something cryptic. At that point, I think Vi was over the theatrics, over trying to save Jinx. You can be angry at her for that, that’s completely fine, but at the end of the day, Vi has felt betrayed by Jinx so much in recent times despite trying so hard that she starts to make it her own fault. It was her who chooses to be betrayed, her who chooses wrong every time. She’s done with all of it now. Powder doesn’t exist anymore and Jinx (at that point) isn’t the person Vi wants her to be but that Vi can sees she can be.

What I’m thinking is that Vi’s anger with Jinx for never doing what she wants/expects of her despite showing that she’s changed (both of them have drastically different ideas of change for themselves and others) may have outweighed the care Vi had for Jinx that was growing tired. The whole plan at the commune convinced Vi and then she was slapped in the face with all of that (or more so punched in the gut with all of it).

It all kind of reminds me of a scene in one of Netflix’s many cancelled shows (Everything Now) that one of the characters (the guy speaking) imagines.

Jinx and Vi are both is sympathetically self destructive but in destroying themselves, they destroy the people who care about them as well. This isn’t a blame game or a “she should have known,” it’s more of a question of autonomy, how much one can fight another’s and also how much one can take in general.

Also, side note, saving Jinx was Ekko’s moment. Episode seven built up to the whole thing and it still took him way too many times for it to work.

[cipheramnesia]

This is the process my brain goes through every time I see anything about Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender.

My first reaction is always: Why? The original, although not without flaws, doesn't leave a lot of room to improve. A good remake or adaptation usually involves an updated context or change in perspective that adds to the original work and gives it new meaning. It's a risky undertaking because it usually involves wanting to take on something established as iconic and make it your own. But Netflix is a corporation and seems very risk averse for the most part. Its only investment is in the name recognition of AtLA. It's hard to visualize Netflix deliberately taking a big risk on an expensive show.

My second reaction is: How? The original series is about 1400 minutes over 61 episodes, and it still had to rush the ending. We're looking at 8 episodes of roughly 45-60 minutes per episode for season 1, which would require Netflix to let it run more than 3 seasons, if the series has similar pacing. Historically however Netflix shows have glacial pacing, and rarely make three seasons. Not really sure how they plan to tell the story if the series is anything like the average Netflix series, meaning it either needs to undercut the story or let the series breathe for at least five seasons. But nothing Netflix has done makes me want to watch anything they make as an ongoing series? Why bother, they cancel everything I enjoy. So I wonder how. What's the hook to say "this will be able to provide something new and interesting compared to the original, and will be allowed to tell the complete story."

Which leads me to think, but you can't judge if something is good without seeing it. Except none of this is about whether it's good, I just find myself wondering what are the odds it's worth the effort? They're low, and it has nothing to do with whether or not it's even any good on its own merits.

Following this, I ask myself, what would a good version of this be. Imagine you are making a live action series with eight hour long episodes per season based on a children's cartoon with 20 thirty minute episodes per season. You are trying to encompass a story which was presented over three seasons as a cartoon, and you do not know if you will have more than those eight episodes. It's made for Netflix which, in terms of a company which will protect the hard earned fruits of your artistic labor, is the fox guarding the henhouse. What do you do?

If you are looking to make something good, that respects your audience investment and your own work, you make radical changes to the story. You change the pacing, the character arcs, the plot arcs. You make sure you deliver a complete story in those episodes with as much respect for the original work and as many new ideas as you can.

Except, at that point, what is even the point of a remake. The only way to work with it is either to trust Netflix allowing you to finish the story (which you'd need to be incredibly naive to do), or tell a story so different it may as well be wholly original. And that's where I always end up. Like, it'll probably be fine, but what's the point of it all? Another vanishing digital property to get canceled because of some undefinable failure to return on investment.

I think about it a lot because the two ends of the spectrum seem to be "dunk on every new piece of information" or "wait and see" but the only conclusion I can ever reach is "why even care?" That's been the lesson to take home from digital streaming in general when it comes to series, but Netflix in particular, and honestly for movie series too. If it can't be self contained, the companies who produce and release these kinds of series just cannot be trusted with it, and there are too many good original stories being put out to care anymore about big budget promises that one day they will definitely for sure deliver a finished story, this time for real.

I care enough to think about why I don't feel anything at all about Netflix Avatar. It'll be fine, whatever else. Just fine.

[breakaway71]

On the Death of a Fandom

I saw a post recently that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. In it, someone mentioned Julie and the Phatoms being a dead or dying fandom. Someone replied rather heatedly denying this phrasing.

Okay. Listen, this fandom has owned my entire heart for four years. I've written hundreds of thousands of words and I see no signs of slowing down anytime soon. And I'm sorry, I really am, but no matter how much I love it, it is a dying fandom. It's impossible to deny. There has been no new content to provide fuel for years. Look at the amount of engagement on fics from three or four years ago, then from two years ago, then now. There has been a massive decline even from a single year ago. I'm admittedly on the fringes, primarily writing crossovers, gen fic, or one of the less popular ships, but you can't deny the facts. Because for all that gen fic is not generally popular, Family Matters - a fic that was written very early on, and definitely not the best or most cohesive work - is still the most kudos'd JATP fic on AO3. Meanwhile, the stories I've written in 2023/2024 - most of which I'd argue are far better - are lucky to still be hitting double digits.

I have literally experienced the entire range of this fandom, most popular to least and every angle in between, and I have witnessed the steep decline, the slow death, the masses of people who moved on to other things and never came back, especially after the cancellation announcement.

And it sucks, obviously it sucks, but that shouldn't stop the people who love it from still loving it. It shouldn't stop people, new to the fandom or old friends, from engaging with it. Because, yeah, the fandom is dying, but it's also still here. There are a lot of us still not willing to let it go. Call it life support.

JATP is not the first dying fandom I've been a part of. It won't be the last. The way we engage with media has changed so radically from what it was ten, twenty, thirty years ago that fandom deaths happen so much more swiftly and brutally now. There isn't a lot of staying power anymore, especially for shows that were streamed from a place like Netflix, shows that never even got multiple seasons. Frankly, it's a miracle there are still any of us here at all, and that does speak to how much this show meant (and still means) to so many people.

But dying or not, that doesn't mean you shouldn't find the joy where you can. it doesn't mean you should feel strange if you got into this fandom late and want to create for it now. My last fic gave me a ton of joy to write, and received all of 13 kudos. And I treasured every damn one of them all the more for knowing how few people are left to have enjoyed it.

Don't be offended that people understand when a fandom is dying. Just do what you can to keep it going as long as possible, for as long as it continues to mean something to you and give you any amount of happiness it can.

[quicksilverlightning]

So I binged Centaurworld and have spent the last week processing and need to get it out of my system because I havent seen anyone else with this take -

I find it weird that the crimes of the General and Elk are laid at the feet of the Elktaur. After the split, the Elktaur no longer existed; the Elk and General may have each encompassed a half of who he was, but became separate entities by splitting.

The Elk and General were of the Elktaur, but weren't themselves the Elktaur. It's entirely possible I'm digging too deep into what was meant to be a Y7 kids show, but it really bugged me because intention, potential, and action aren't the same things. The Elktaur may have always had the potential to become what the Elk and General did, but he didn't commit any of the actions. Because he no longer existed. We can argue about intentions all day long without getting anywhere; partly because the show never really got into that aspect, but mostly because, in the end, what matters is action. You can intend to cause hurt without ever actually doing so - intention and potential do not make one evil/ a criminal/ etc.

Like, if I clone myself and that clone goes on to become an interdimensional war criminal, am I supposed to be punished as well? Of course not - the copy was me, until it wasn't.

This is a classic Mind-Body Problem and fits the scenario around the Elktaur - can his two component parts really be considered to be a single entity? But if they actually were a single entity, none of this would be happening at all. If we brought a whole version of the Elktaur to stand before his components, would he also be considered part of that conglomerate?

Is one not the sum of their experiences? How then, can two beings with very different experiences be said to be the same? Isn't that why, post-unification, the Elktaur has two voices?

Just to be clear, I'm totally on board with the actual events of the ending - I think killing the guy was a mercy, but that's a different discussion - but I find the reasoning to be questionable. I blame Netflix and thier pattern of canceling shows too early for the writing team not being able to delve further into some really interesting philosophical conundrums surrounding the plot. I did enjoy the show overall, but the Elktaur and his pieces were by far the most interesting thing going on. I totally understand that the juxtaposition of wacky and serious was 100% the point, but that plot thread was simply too good - it made everything else feel like a distraction 😂

[m0onberry222]

hey so not to be super negative or anything but oh my GODDDDDD i hate tv/movie adaptations of books so bad. why does it actually seem like they genuinely have a competition on which can be the most disloyal/disingenuous to the source material? how much character assassination they can get away with? how many tiny little details they can change for absolutely no reason? maybe i’m just being insufferably and disgustingly loyal to my books, but i just honest to god cannot understand why these platforms pick up these stories if they want to write something completely different. THAT’S WHAT FANFIC IS FOR. (to clarify: this is NOT a diss on fanfic in the slightest, i adore fanfiction and it has truly been a formative part of my life and one that i treasure dearly. all i’m saying is that maybe some of these people working on these adaptations would find a more suitable home there, seeing as their ideas are often more akin to an au fic than the actual source material.)

and what pisses me off so bad is that these platforms purchase the rights to these stories, make some half-assed wattpad fic of them, and then cancel them almost immediately because they don’t perform well — shocker. (cough cough NETFLIX). but since they did that, (and please correct me if i’m wrong, because i genuinely want to know), it becomes virtually impossible for any other platform to pick it up! so not only did they half-ass it and completely change them, but they essentially ruined the chances of it ever being done correctly. so often, i see so many things — whether they be major plot points or tiny details — changed when there was genuinely zero reason to. like sincerely, i just want to know WHY?!

!!SPOILER ALERT FOR THE FOLLOWING BOOK/TV SERIES!!: shadow and bone, six of crows, a good girl’s guide to murder, (will most likely continue to add on because i’m a little neurotic).

here are a few examples off the top of my head:

SAB/SOC:

࣪𖤐.ᐟ changed the ravkan king’s name from aleksander to pyotr. what purpose does that serve actually at all?

࣪𖤐.ᐟ inserted soc plotline into shadow and bone — completely reversing, flip flopping, and making up new plot material just to add it in

࣪𖤐.ᐟ GAVE THE DARKLING A NORMAL, PUBLIC NAME?! AND REVEALED HIS FIRST NAME ALMOST IMMEDIATELY?!

࣪𖤐.ᐟ completely fucked over one most of my favorite nikolai scenes — where he confronts the king about his abuse towards genya

࣪𖤐.ᐟ this one i guess i can somewhat understand (albeit begrudgingly), but removing literally almost the entirety of my favorite book in the series, siege and storm

AGGGTM:

࣪𖤐.ᐟ made nat da silva andie’s best friend?! which is quite literally the most inane and stupid thing they could have done with her, literally erased her entire character — why not just make a fucking new one atp?

࣪𖤐.ᐟ where is stanley forbes. i guess they could just add him in in season 2, but it removes so much of the intensity behind the twists of ggbb. takes all the wind out of its sails, iykwim.

࣪𖤐.ᐟ pip calling victor by his first name only, removing that close dynamic which felt super weird

࣪𖤐.ᐟ where the hell did “chicken” come from?! i must have missed something in the show, but actually what reason was there to change her nickname from “pickle” to “chicken”? i’m actually so confused by that.

࣪𖤐.ᐟ WHY. IS THERE A RANDOM RAVE CAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST. WHO BUILT THAT. WHO BUILT A FULLY FUNCTIONING PARTY/RAVE CENTER IN A RANDOM CAVE/CATACOMB IN THE FOREST. why was that added?? i’m SO confused about that genuinely. why was that necessary? the calamity parties in general were just so weird in the show because why was it so secretive and insane? in the book, they literally just walk into this dude’s house where the party and no one gives one singular fuck because it’s literally just a high school party. an intense one for sure, but it’s just a party. remember jamie walking into one in ggbb and no one gaf because it was not this super intense, secretive thing that it was made to be in the show.

࣪𖤐.ᐟ pip and ravi’s meeting :’(

࣪𖤐.ᐟ everyone just like…spoon feeding pip the answers along the way. why did they all fold under like zero pressure? it felt so anticlimactic and like she wasn’t actually figuring anything out for herself. it was honestly so disappointing because it felt like pip wasn’t even given the chance to be the character she was written as.

࣪𖤐.ᐟ ant for some reason just being some random dude lauren is obsessed with? i think that will take a significant amount of the bite and betrayal out of his later actions, which is kind of disappointing, and again — WHY change something like that?! seems more like an inconvenience to have to come up with a whole new plot line for him, as well as introductions.

࣪𖤐.ᐟ the woman that elliot ward kept hidden in his attic for five years KNOWING who she was, WANTING to escape. elliot may be a shit person, but the only reason he kept that girl for all those years is because he believed she was andie and SHE DID TOO. she was severely mentally ill and had taken who knows what kind of drugs. it goes against everything we know about his character to have him hold some random woman hostage in his attic for essentially no reason for half a decade. it makes no sense. so again, WHY CHANGE IT?!

࣪𖤐.ᐟ in general, the over dramatization of literally everything (except for the most important parts) for tv audiences :/ i’m honestly getting super tired so i’m struggling to think of how to explain this better BUT i will return come the morning sun and do my best.

anyways, if you made it this far — thank you for reading my ramblings, i wrote this so that my mother could enjoy watching the AGGGTM adaptation with me without me bugging out every 10 seconds about the inconsistencies LMFAO. hope you enjoyed.

[lunarsolar1]

PLEASE READ AND HELP A small FANDOM OUT 🥺

(If you can and if you want to) please CHECK OUT DEAD BOY DETECTIVES ON NETFLIX!!!!!!!! I promise that it’s good (and even if you don’t like it, please watch at least in the background) we need more views for season 2 and we’re running out of time. So please, if you know how that feels please help this fandom out and check out the tv show!!!!!! Please watch it or recommend it to other people you know 🥺❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sorry about this but I’m desperate enough to call out other ships and fandoms for their help cause I really care about this tv show and I REALLY want a season 2 and I’m sure some of yall will understand how that feels so please HEAR ME OUT and read this!!!!!!!! This is so so so important and I KNOW you know how it feels to have something so important to you, like these tv shows I’m tagging and ships. Yall know how it feels about thinking what you would do without them and I know yall know how it feels to be scared they might cancel it or not have them get canon etc. we all been there so please please help this fandom out, if there’s anything we can do for yall WE will help yall out. We need more LGBTQ+ representation in tv shows, this is what we have been fighting for YEARS, so please help us out!!!! Especially for older generations, I know yall know how it feels to be queerbaited/not have enough representation in movies and tv shows. I was THERE, I got to experience that when I was younger and it was awful. Now we are FINALLY having something we thought wasn’t possible years ago, we’re finally having more lgbtq+ representation!!! we cannot let them take that from us. This is what we WISHED and HOPED before, for the first time in YEARS I finally found a tv show that I NEEDED when I was younger, that healed me, so please help us out and make them give dead boy detectives a season 2!!!!!! This show has so much potential and it deserves to have a proper ending (if season 2 going to be the last season) so please please please I’m begging yall!!!!!!!

[quijotine]

Thoughts on NATLA so far (up to ep 5)

I'm really loving it!!! There are some parts where the pacing gets a bit slow but it makes up by hitting you out of left field with the feels.

Episode 4 is my favorite so far.

I absolutely LOVED this rendition of Sukka. What bisexual disasters, the pair of them.

ON THE FIRE NATION:

I absolutely LOVE the background story on the fire nation family, particularly the bond between zuko and iroh. It is presented completely different than in the OG, since the 'show don’t tell' of the original happens in Book 2 and here they use flashbacks, but it works. Still ended with me in waterworks. Also, I understand the logic behind showing all of the cards from the very get-go being that Netflix can cancel the show before it is renewed for another season, so it needed to make the best impression possible, show all the stakes but not reveal them in ther completion. I think they did that very well so far.

ZUKO IS SO AWKWARD I LOVE HIM

his expressions and reactions are just peak comedy. He is the embodiment of "😫😟" and I love that for him.

Dallas' performance is definitely one of my highlights.

ON KATARA AND SOKKA:

The thing that is the most foreign to me so far is the decision to improve Sokka's emotional stakes at the expense of Katara's. I like it but this has to be the element where the adaptation departs the most from the og. Like, in the cartoon it is Katara who bears the brunt of the responsibility taking care of the water tribe and her brother, which is why Sokka's sexism as a character flaw worked there. I can see now why they chose to drop that. With the script flipped like this, with Sokka being the main caretaker and provider between him and Katara, making him stay sexist would've been a bit too much. It is very different, but I like how they flipped the script between them.

What I did not like about this flip is that the change seems to affect Katara's character for the worse. She is not as outspoken or short-tempered as she was in the cartoon. It's almost the complete opposite. But I can definitely see the shyness and insecurity being the deliberate starting point of her arc. Now in ep 5, you can see her becoming more confident both in personality and bending. I think this was a conscious decision, but I still wish she had been written to be more headstrong from the very beginning.

That being said, I really appreciate how different the dynamic between Sokka and Katara is. I love how Katara is trying to get her independence while Sokka is still caught on the fact he has to be her protector, almost parent figure, which is a cool change of pace. One of the things that kinda bothered me as a young girl watching Avatar was that Katara was always stuck being the mom and sort of getting teased for it despite the fact no one else could or wanted to step up to that responsibility. It's cool to see Sokka bearing that responsibility as the eldest in the adaptation.

ON THE BLATANTLY MISSING KATAANG

You know, I don't hate this change. Aang and Katara's interactions are still pretty wholesome, and once they start catching feelings for each other, it will be super cute because you see where the love is truly coming from. It's not just Aang's childhood crush/Katara's "destiny", as it was presented it the cartoon. Besides it would have looked a little weird, considering that the age gap between Gordon and Kiawentiio is way more obvious on screen than it is right now when you see the interviews with the cast, because that kid Gordon is growing up SO fast.

OVERALL:

I am enjoying it very much! The adaptation is excellent. Despite some changes being quite big, they managed to capture most of the show's essence. I do believe it could have benefitted from a bit more balance between the comedy and the seriousness, particularly when it comes to Aang because he is mostly just weighted down by his responsibility in the adaptation, I don't see him joke as much, but in general and all limitations considered, I think they did an excellent job! It won't be for everyone, for sure, but I can say it has managed to bring back that feeling of watching the show for the first time again on some parts :)

[the-sweet-hibiscus]

On the Topic of Christina Strain & SaB

So while browsing the hellscape that is Twitter today, the first thing you see in the Shadow & Bone Fandom, is this exchange between Christina Strain (a producer/writer on the show) and a fan.

And I didn't think this would be necessary to say, but this is EXTREMELY unprofessional on the part of Christina.

But I do want to take the time to look and explain WHY from the perspective of someone who is a professional creative by job description. Christina, openly, speaks about her time as a writer on Shadow and Bone. Which is well within her right, as a creative, many times the appeal of following is for behind the scenes takes, more insight into writing decisions, and generally furthering the interest in a show / property after it has concluded. Especially if the conclusion was incomplete and/or canceled before the full story was told.

So here we have a situation.

The Question:

So the question Merel (the fan) asked was about the obvious sidelining of Alina Starkov, our main character. It's not an opinion that Alina was sidelined, it's been observed numerous times, most recently in this collider article talking about / reviewing the blatant reduction of character for Alina.

Merel's question, originally was about S3. Specifically, where was Alina, was there ever a plan for her? Originally, Christina just said, there was nothing written for Alina, and she had a vague idea of a separate storyline.

To which, Merel responded with the wide-spread rumor that Six of Crows, had been rejected by Netflix three times. For reasons not relevant — that rumor isn't true. But she also expressed frustration, as since the announcement of the show's cancelation, Christina specifically has given an overwhelming amount of attention and care to Six of Crows, while not seeming to have any real passion for the Shadow and Bone property or it's characters. Christina's response starts out professional. She clarifies, Six of Crows was not rejected (aka the rumor wasn't true) and that she didn't have control over that decision, which is true.

Where Christina stops being professional, is the other half of her response.

The Response

Here is where so many people take offense, and find issue. Christina, openly shames the Darklina ship. Which isn't inherently bad, no one is forced to like a ship, however. It had NOTHING to do with the question at hand. Just because a fan likes a certain dynamic, of a ship that at one point was canon, and likes to explore that, doesn't mean that they don't know what they're talking about when they're just asking about the future of a character. Merel didn't ask "Oh, how are you going to make this darklina?" She didn't even mention the ship. The only reason Christina even knew about Merel's shipping preference is because she either went on Merel's page or looked at the "Relevant People" column on Twitter for Desktop.

And now we venture into a much worse territory.

Bullying

Let's take a look at the power dynamic in this exchange.

Christina has 9.58K Followers on Twitter. Merel has 114.

Christina is a producer/writer on the show. Merel is a fan.

Christina has a self-appointed responsibility to promote the petition to bring her show back. Merel is a part of the larger community who supported the show. Christina is 42 years old. Merel is 19.

Instead of, ignoring the second response. Or even just clarifying the rumor and moving on, Christina decides that it'd be best to expose this account to harassment from her much larger base. Who responded in kind.

What was the reason? Truly?

Fans are supposed to only engage with a show if it matches how you specifically view it? They can't have questions, or criticisms, or thoughts? Because what was so mean about Merel's statement? What was insulting that Christina had to bring in shit that had nothing to do with the conversation? The rumor accusation? Is that worth getting attacked over? Is that worth attacking over?

The Correct Response

Move on.

No one would have an issue if the conversation ended a tweet earlier. Christina has over 9K followers, anyone could reasonably assume she was simply inundated with responses and couldn't/wouldn't respond further. Her first statement, was fine. To book fans, it may be frustrating, especially if they believed the rumor, but it was still a calm-ish response.

Merel could've been frustrated and that would've been the end of it. Instead, Christina decided her best course of action was to attack a fan, just because she enjoyed the same ship dynamic as people who were rude to her before. Decided to belittle that fan's interest in her show, bc she didn't like the way that fan interacted with them.

It's childish. It's gross. It's lashing out at someone b/c they want to know why the main character wasn't paid attention to in their show.

Anyway, it's clear Christina has a definitive disdain for the darklina fans of Shadow and Bone. It's clear she doesn't respect the people who support her show — unless they just unconditionally praise it. So that's it then. A disappointing end to Shadow and Bone, and an even more disappointing showing of character from the producers/writers.

[frodopotter7]

Greetings, I literally couldn’t make it out of bed for some days now. Some bacteria’s wanted to turn me into a ghost. Luckily I have medicine and I am doing much better now. I am just healing and checking tumblr again and suddenly Netflix is all over their mind and tries to cancel this amazing show. What is it with Netflix against one girl, two boys and ghosts? It was literally the same thing with Lockwood and co. An amazing show with a lot of love in it. This is getting turned down, but those partly AI generated shows are getting their views. Netflix says, it is because of too little views. Which is hardly to believe. I mean this fandom feels quite huge and I imagine many people who watch Sandman watched DBD. So why are the numbers so different? I honestly feel like the problem was that Netflix themselves were only promoting for people who watched it anyway and only did their promotion on a bare minimum. Like I felt with Wednesday for example they made so much more attention and hype around, because they knew that this could be financially exploited. The shows at the top of the view list are mostly the shows that allow making a lot of merchandise with them. But why didn‘t so many people watch it? I mean, you had attractive actors, an exiting story, a love triangle, aesthetic and great characters for anyone to identify with. My first thought was because it has explicit LGBTQ+ in it, but so does Sandman and Heartstopper. That‘s all not making sense. I guess I just can’t understand what the majority wants. I would love an analysis by someone checks views on series and films and what tells us about the general audience. Who is the general audience that they are not watching dbd? Okay, this is getting too metaphorical now.

I hate Netflix for not recognising good work. As if they couldn’t help out. As if they weren’t the people with the money.

Poor George for having his first role with payment and hope and then losing it. George deserves to be seen in more.

But I feel like even if the fans try everything it will hardly change. Once a decision is made it won’t be correct, since those high paid managers do not make mistakes. Numbers speak for themselves right? I saw that with Lockwood and Co. But what we can hope for is the rights going to another company. Netflix isn’t Disney. So they won’t keep the rights for uselessly long. I think Netflix would actually say yes to giving the rights away, if they get a good deal. Anyways those are my thoughts. But I am touched by how much this fandom does everything to defend themselves, which is important. Don’t cancel Netflix, as mentioned Netflix is rich enough to not care. Keep this fandom in your heart and alive.