#network involvement

[ytcomments-archive]

[xx-k1tsun3-k1d-xx]

thinking about the great uk squid hijacking at Splatoon 1’s release and that they never caught the guy. they would have had to hold onto them for at least a while and then sell them *slowly* and secretly, cuz if they were the only ones in the country you’d be basically handing yourself into the cops. so you’d have to be super careful or you might just have like. every preorder’s worth of green squid amiibo. forever. anyway happy server shutdown day to the owner of hundreds of tiny green squids from 2015 in particular-

[pokeberry5]

the ending scene of @zahri-melitor's dick&tim amnesia fic stabbed me in the gut

(this is still rough but i dont know when i'll have the spoons to do more with it)

[angelsdean]

I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.

So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?

Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.

Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.

Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.

So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)

And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."

So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)

And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."

But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.

Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)

So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.

Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.

Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.

Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.

[ishouldbedoingalright]

people act like tommy leaving the date is the worst crime to ever exist and forget that buck is a whole ass adult who can take care of himself

[stayatsam]

going to a professional development networking event tomorrow 🤮

[y-rhywbeth2]

OK, so good news(?); either the temple is so dilapidated that it isn't worth taxing (considering its in a part of the city that's so old the modern city is built on top of it: fair) or else Durge will be going to jail for tax evasion... Oh dear, it looks like it's time for the apocalypse! What a shame that will interfere with the court date!

Also they seem to expect the bank to still be standing once they're done razing the city and they are a fucking terrible employer:

Player: "Fine. I'll open an account." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Splendid! New coin and customers always welcome. We need only settle the matter of Waukeen's Wage." Player: "I've recently come into a large estate. Could I sign it against that as a guarantee instead?" Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Naturally. We serve the Gate's oldest families - not all have cash in hand. What kind of establishment would we be if we saw value in coin alone? Could you provide the address of your property?" Player: "It's in the Undercity." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Oh, by the Coinmaiden! How, er, quaint. And the name of the manor?" Player: "Erm, the Bhaal Temple." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Is that B-H-A-A-L or B-A-L-L?" Player: "Bhaal. As in, the Lord of Murder." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Silly me - of course! Let me check our records..." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "I'm afraid your estate is not registered on the Sword Coast customs censuses - have you been paying your mansion taxes? Or perhaps it isn't valued highly enough to be above the threshold." Player: "It is an illustrious household. We employ paid help!" Narrator: *You wonder how many years ago it was you last gave Sceleritas so much as a table scrap of your dinner, let alone any paycoin.*

Hey, he's a fiend! He has no biological needs to pay for, and I dread to think what he'd spend money on.

And more of Durge being a hilariously entitled brat:

Player: "The indignity! I'm heir to one of the oldest families in this city!" Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Then why not bring the gold for the account? Father not given out your allowance yet?"

Good question!

BHAAL. WHERE THE FUCK IS MY POCKET MONEY.

That said, I don't think Bhaal has ever had estate in the city whose existence he predates and I don't think that they have any claim on the Anchev's stuff (assuming they weren't nouveau-riche). Then again, the temple is technically Bhaal's house, has been there forever, and as a god he does outrank the nobility, so... they're kind of right?

"I am a god and an honorary Patriar, you peasants."

Player: "Fool! I will soon hold the treasures of the world over, as all tremble in stricken awe." Head Clerk Meadhoney: "Do come back when you do!"

[labrat8899]

Billy: sets the VenTech tower as his and Pete’s “place of sanctum” because he doesn’t want the senior citizens of his house to get hurt

Literally later in the same episode: those same senior citizens beat the living shit out of Billy’s arch nemesis

[littlespoonevan]

one thing i will say, if tim has been waiting since season 2 to do that random sex call and purposefully chose to write it in the second fox wasn't involved anymore then i'm very curious to know what else we might get this season that fox has previously blocked

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (canon) ADHD character?

Proof: Said to be stated in canon on the wiki; does not cite which episode.

[arotechno]

i absolutely love what konya sukiyaki dayo says about communal living, child-rearing, and the many forms both can take. it's great when aro media takes a step into navigating the way de-centering monogamous romance and leaning on community can benefit all members of the group, not just aromantics. and, really, living right next door to your best friend so you can see each other all the time but have your own place, isn't that kind of the dream?

[bluehandprint]

No but i want to go back to how bad PR the expression 'it's open to interpretation' was. Because as an art historian i've been traumatized by this sentence for the last 3 years. Of course how the viewer experiences art is important, because that's what makes art alive, how it resonate with people. But there are also FACTS. The author/artist intention first but also the means used to translate it. So no it's not just open to interpretation it's in what writers and other people involved said it was. And i hate how they used art as an excuse

[mariocki]

Patrick Troughton - billed as Pat - helps the stricken French nobility (and flashes the audience) as Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, a staunch ally of the title character in The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (ITP, 1955 - 1956)

[crepesuzettey]

Thoughts on Bit City episode 1

Let me just start off by saying that I think objectively it was a good episode. Many people have pointed this out already, but the 1D reunion was definitely a standout, Tommy was so funny in that. I also thought the end segment was funny, and a good note to end on.

I'm sure the series will grow on me, but for this specific episode, I kind of didn't feel like I was the target audience lol. I mean, I know some pop culture stuff, but... yeah I just don't really get very invested in a lot of stuff about musical artists. I barely know anything about Sabrina Carpenter, I haven't even listened to her music since she was on Girl Meets World. I don't even know much about 1D, but maybe that's for the best because I'm sure they got some stuff wrong lol

Overall, I also don't think the late-night show aesthetic really appeals to me personally. I think I always felt like late night shows were so distant from the type of content I watch (except for like, MAD on Cartoon Network? Which I don't think Smosh is aiming for lmao) and that has not changed at all lol. I also personally was never really a fan of the reunion videos -- they're definitely funny, but I never got excited for them because I don't watch reality TV. I think the appeal of a video or series doesn't just depend on whether it's funny or not, but also the overall brand and vibe.

But again, these are all MY PERSONAL OPINIONS. I do think I'm probably in the minority here, and I'll still watch the show going forward. Even if it doesn't really seem like my type of vibe. It's not like I hate it lol I'm just not crazy about it.

[lover-of-mine]

https://x.com/coffeejoejoe/status/1826051012765069564

I guess Taylor just didn’t exist in season 4 💀

I can't believe they keep making me DEFEND THE VALIDITY OF FUCKING BUCKTAYLOR. PUT SOME RESPECT INTO TAYLOR KELLY'S NAME. Miss girl got more development than Tommy could ever dream of before they got together. In season 4. THEY GOT TOGETHER IN SEASON 4. Fucking hell WATCH THE WHOLE FUCKING SHOW BEFORE MAKING POSTS LIKE THISSSSSSSSSSSSS

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

My issue is - how would the powers that be at abc even catch on to this? I don't want to count on this even getting on their radar :/

I'm not in the film/TV industry so I'm not a good person to ask but I will say that at least one of the stars of this TV show saw what she said and unfollowed her over it. It's highly likely he told at the very least his other cast members, and also highly likely that other crew and cast members saw that post. The head honchos at ABC might not see it, but the people in charge of hiring and casting for 9-1-1 itself are highly likely to, and that actress has no contract for season seven yet since they haven't even written season seven due to the WGA strike (BTW, SAG-AFTRA is 99% likely to strike at this point and DGA will most likely follow, so we're in it for the long haul, folks). That means there is no legal obligation to hire her again for the next season. And casting directors, producers, and others on a smaller level follow the policy of the overall company. So while I doubt the studio heads of ABC will hear about this, ABC has shown a precedent of zero-tolerance policy for such behavior, and that means that everyone who is on an ABC show is going to follow that precedent, including the people in charge of casting, hiring, and re-hiring for 911.