i feel like i should be sending flowers somewhere?

Off the top of my head, I've never seen this large a proportion of people in any of my social media accounts in deeply enraged mourning in multiple fandoms simultaneously, and this is happening in literally all my social media accounts.

I don't just mean three separate fandoms at the same time engaging in grief-and-rage-posting; that would be unusual enough, but no. The Magicians, Game of Thrones, and Avengers are like a Venn nightmare of overlap and in the surprisingly substantial center are a large number of people who are maybe (definitely) having the worst thirty days of their fandom lives and possibly (definitely) becoming increasingly terrified of turning on the TV like, ever again. Like, I'm only majorly affected by one of those but just watching the other two happen is enough; I'm starting not to trust shows not even airing anymore. Like, sure, it's been decades since TNG aired, but what if someone went in and killed Picard in the first TNG ep to add shock value or some shit?

(...could someone check on that, please?)

Sometimes, I wonder if writers think 'audience' is synonymous with 'enemy'.

Comments

[that_mireille]

I'm only affected by one of them and I'm spectacularly not okay. I can't even *imagine* what it'd be like to be at the center of that Venn diagram.

[seperis]

I have admit that Avengers was considerably blunted by shock from The Magicians, so it's mostly at a low simmer (The Magicians is still flat out rage). If I'd been into GoT...I literally have no idea.

[venetia_sassy]

I'm starting to feel glad that Australian Netflix doesn't have the Magicians after all. I have been spared pain. I haven't seen Endgame yet (was supposed be Tuesday! But … migraine. Maybe Friday.) At this point, I'm grateful for what I've picked up from spoilers so I won't choke on rage. As for GoT, I won't see it until DVDs are out. I'll probably be thoroughly spoiled by then, try as I may - maybe that's why I'm not as invested anymore. *sigh* I've seen quite a few posts on Tumblr about how the current 'shocking' your audience trend is bad for storytelling and I agree. How about working hard to make us feeling joy and fulfillment instead?

[dar_vidder]

I got caught by both The Magicians and Game of Thrones. It has been a rough spring. And what's extra hilarious is that I swung from the lowest of lows after the horrible finale of the The Magicians to an all-time high as my favorite pairing finally went canon on Game of Thrones only for it to crash and burn two episodes later.

[kore]

If you mean Brienne/Jamie I'm so ticked at what they did to her character. I was expecting them to fuck over Dany and Cersei, but Brienne was a straw too many.

[dar_vidder]

Yep. It really fucking hurt to watch.

[kore]

And they had her IN HER NIGHTIE. One of the few times she is literally UNARMOURED on the show, and she got fucked over. I was furious. I am just fucking waiting for the "she finds out she's pregnant" conclusion.

[dar_vidder]

Me, too. I'm guessing she'll find out she's pregnant and return to Tarth with her soon-to-be-heir in the finale.

I don't mind the plot point of Brienne becoming a mother in itself since in the books it's established that when Brienne was young she wanted to marry and have a family and lead a rather conventional life, and that it was only when she was mocked and rejected over and over that she decided she'd have to do something else with her life. So I don't have a problem with motherhood being part of her storyline per se, and I actually really didn't want her to spend the rest of her life guarding other people so a return to Tarth to take up the position of Evenstar was something I can get onboard with, but I hatehatehate the route the writers took to make this happen.

At least pretty much every character is getting a raw deal so it doesn't feel like Brienne in particular was singled out. At this point I think it's only safe to be a Sansa or Arya fan since I'm not really seeing how anyone else is going to have anything approaching a happy ending at all.

[kore]

I hatehatehate the route the writers took to make this happen.

Yeah, I was just saying elsewhere it felt like Endgame to me -- Endgame felt like there were two good movies missing in front of it, and this wrap-up of GoT feels like there are decisions I could be all right with but they're just being so rushed and sloppy and very predictable about it. These storylines are not new! They are not even all that OMG SHOCKING. They're just predictable and hurtful.

At least pretty much every character is getting a raw deal so it doesn't feel like Brienne in particular was singled out. At this point I think it's only safe to be a Sansa or Arya fan since I'm not really seeing how anyone else is going to have anything approaching a happy ending at all.

Yeah, I dunno what's going to happen re the Iron Throne but I think Sansa, Ayra and Jon are going to be rewarded at the end. I dunno about Tyrion (now people are thinking he might kill Danys. I am torn on whether Jon or Tyrion killing Danys would suck more).

[dar_vidder]

I'm guessing Jon is going to be the one to kill Dany, but I also think it's going to take a toll so he won't claim the IT at the end because he won't feel he deserves it. Ever since Tormund made that comment about a piece of the north being in Jon, I've thought that ultimately he'll head north when all is said and done. I don't know what exactly he'll do up there, but I don't think it's going to involve ruling.

[toujours_nigel]

I'm in the center of that Venn diagram, and oh boy.
OTOH, I watched Schitt's Creek and am rewatching Black Sails and that helps on the queer front.

[kore]

//just hands you large cold beverage of your choice

[toujours_nigel]

*clutches*

[seperis]

*sends you all the virtual hugs ever* Seriously, all this happened in a month.

[toujours_nigel]

it's definitely been A Month. I don't even really like GoT, but on top of being wrecked about Quentin and weirded out by the last sequence of Endgame, it's just too much.

Warning: mild endgame spoiler reference

[seperis]

I don't watch GoT, but watching Tumblr the last couple of weeks, I didn't even need to know the characters names or what actually happened to experience some serious deja vu just from the tone of the posts.

I enjoyed Endgame, don't get me wrong, but I'm not really going to ever be okay with what happened with Natasha.

[hypertwink]

I think being out of the fandom since Season 3 and just getting back into it last year blunted what would probably been Red Wedding levels of rage. And I think Magicians took a lot out of me with Avengers sweeping up what was left.

[copracat]

Hugs or appropriate hug-equivalents for everyone.

[kore]

I don't just mean three separate fandoms at the same time engaging in grief-and-rage-posting; that would be unusual enough, but no. The Magicians, Game of Thrones, and Avengers are like a Venn nightmare of overlap and in the surprisingly substantial center are a large number of people who are maybe (definitely) having the worst thirty days of their fandom lives and possibly (definitely) becoming increasingly terrified of turning on the TV like, ever again

FUCKING SERIOUSLY //have been rereading Comfortable Courtesan and Jane Eyre and Bronte biographies because they're not going to surprise PUNCH ME IN THE FACE AND BREAK MY NOSE wtfffff

-- Butyeah, Magicians pissed me off and then Avengers broke my heart, and then GoT pumped up the rage again, altho I'm a casual fan of that one.

[out_there]

I've lost the MCU fandom love so I haven't seen the last few movies, including Endgame thankfully. Australian Netflix doesn't have the Magicians, so I'm spared there.

And while I am watching GOT, I was surprised by the turn but not shocked/hurt by it. If I look back at canon, I can totally see where there were little hints (and outright telegraphing the few episodes before), so I'm not feeling personally betrayed by writers.

But I pity any fans caught up in all three fandoms right now. That would be heartbreaking.

[ratcreature]

I'm only grumpy about the MCU, but then comics so frequently produce upsetting and contradictory canon that it's all a bit blunted by that for me.

I think there is a mix of causes with writers. Some I think is genuine cluelessness still, about how their stories are received, some actually is audience as enemy in particular when writers get upset that they attracted the "wrong" kind of fan (like the SPN writers give that impression) and want to lash out at those readings, and some just try to be "edgy" or grim-dark or whatever to get their show talked about in a wider circle, whether because it is upsetting or not. And this kind of works especially for middling popularity stuff, because I'm not into the Magicians for example, and it's not big like GoT, so there were long stretches where I've only seen a bit of chatter here or there, but then there was a sharp increase in attention. It's not going to make me watch the series, but some are of the any publicity is good publicity school of thought.

[kore]

Yeah, the Magicians showrunners appear to be all "this is great! people are talking about the show! we're on the sofa sipping booze!" while the MCU and GoT men (emphasis on the men) seem to be a bit more into spin control. (Disastrously so.) Altho apparently the GoT guys are going to follow suit and "be far away from the internet with our wives" (LOL) and lots of tequila, for their finale. That does not bode well. -- I do wonder if this whole "we give you what we know you NEED, not what you think you want"/"subversion!!111" thing might backfire, if they realize HOW pissed a big chunk of their audiences are, especially the women. Then again they seem to think my money is infected with pink girl cooties, so IDK.

[seperis]

Yeah, the Magicians showrunners appear to be all "this is great! people are talking about the show! we're on the sofa sipping booze!" while the MCU and GoT men (emphasis on the men) seem to be a bit more into spin control. (Disastrously so.)

The Magician's writers started that way--that is how this went from 'trash fire' to 'dumpster fire' to 'all the fire is on fire'--but I'm getting the impression now that they're pouting how no one understands them and how groundbreaking and shocking and edgy and totally cool they are.

However, there's also this.

Despite my ongoing rage, I get a surprising amount of consolation from how fucking frustrated they are right now. You know that semi-homicidal feeling you get where you're arguing with some douche who is wrong on the internet and won't admit it? They're feeling that, but times a couple of orders of magnitude. It's not one douche; for them, the whole fucking internet is wrong on the internet and won't shut up about it, often in essay form, and never seem to sleep.

It's easy to brush off people spouting off flames because you can fake rise above it, but Jesus, how the hell do you deal with people who are like "this is my third seventy-two part twitter thread on exactly what was wrong with this, please read these twenty other threads, tumblr posts, and meta when you're done, citations at the end." And wont. Fucking. Stop.

It makes me smile when I think about it.

[toujours_nigel]

It's easy to brush off people spouting off flames because you can fake rise above it, but Jesus, how the hell do you deal with people who are like "this is my third seventy-two part twitter thread on exactly what was wrong with this, please read these twenty other threads, tumblr posts, and meta when you're done, citations at the end."

It's the very absolute best.

[kore]

Despite my ongoing rage, I get a surprising amount of consolation from how fucking frustrated they are right now. You know that semi-homicidal feeling you get where you're arguing with some douche who is wrong on the internet and won't admit it? They're feeling that, but times a couple of orders of magnitude. It's not one douche; for them, the whole fucking internet is wrong on the internet and won't shut up about it, often in essay form, and never seem to sleep.

....that is kind of evilly delicious and I love it. "The whole fucking internet is wrong on the internet"! Glorious.

[akacat]

I’m only affected by Endgame and... I don’t feel bad about it? I was expecting there’d be something sad, and it was still sad in the moment but it didn’t affect me much after the movie ended. (Though I could be in denial, idk.) There are a few things they could have done SO much better, but I know better than to expect what I deserve from MCU. I mostly content myself with the eye candy, and look forward to the excellent fic.

[katkun]

I feel like the world is so hard right now that I just want to watch and read things that have some hope and positivity. To be honest, loved Endgame, but I am being very cautious with what I consume right now. I have had to take a break from the news, I am enjoying Rivers of London and feel pretty safe with the author at least for now. And then rereading and rewatching things that don’t depress me. Anyone who gets that people are sick and tired and makes something optimistic should have a smash hit.

[seperis]

I agree with all of this. *sends you hugs*

[katkun]

Thank you. I really do appreciate it. Hugs back and wishing for better days ahead.

[anoyo]

THIS IS ME. THIS IS ALL SORTS OF ME. Magicians: I cried and can no longer read fic, apparently. Game of Thrones: may or may not have given me a small panic attack on Monday. Endgame: LET'S NOT EVEN TOUCH THIS I AM SO ENRAGED.

Like, I'm marathoning NCIS because it's, really, honestly, FUCKING BLAND and I'm pretty sure I'm safe from quite the same level of investment.

[lovetincture]

As an MCU and GOT fan... yeah, this is a bad month for fandom. *clings to Sherlock fandom, which can't be fucked up anymore if they stop making them*

[timespirt]

Didn't they start that with GOT? They killed off Stark in the first year at the end. It's a way for TPTB to get shock value and to tell their actors that there is no job security anymore. People were pissed when they killed off Carson in SGA so much so that they brought the character back as a clone for a few episodes. You don't expect them to kill off core/popular characters. Now, they do. Makes you not want to become invested in any show.

[treefrogie84]

I think a large portion of writers have decided that audience=enemy. And part of me looks at the politics that is happening and what's happening on my screen (and I'm only in this venn diagram as part of the MCU, although i'm in the vicinity of GoT and Magicians) and wondering just how much those two things are related.
pain=art, after all. and if you're part of a group that "deserves" being shit on, what else can you expect.

[poemsingreenink]

It was actually really strange to be watching GOT and going "Huh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but The Magicians kind of did me a favor. I'm still so numb from that betrayal that this one actually doesn't sting that much." It is a weird place to be.

I feel like writers think they're pulling off this amazingly, well rehearsed magic trick ("My lovely assistant! She has been sawed in half! Except..wait...No! She's fine!") when what they actually did was wait behind a corner, jump out, yell "Boo!" and cause me to spill hot coffee all over myself.

[kickair8p]

"I feel like writers think they're pulling off this amazingly, well rehearsed magic trick ('My lovely assistant! She has been sawed in half! Except..wait...No! She's fine!') when what they actually did was wait behind a corner, jump out, yell 'Boo!' and cause me to spill hot coffee all over myself."

Yep, very well put.

~

[seperis]

That description nailed it.

[nic]

I wonder if this will be the turning point. Where fans finally say "enough is enough!" and ratings on shock-value shows finally drop to the point where writers and showrunners take note.

I know that personally, I'm done investing emotionally in open canons. (For now, at least.) It's just not fun any more and it's SUPPOSED to be fun, right?

[wanted_a_pony]

I've never been so thankful that I avoid canon media sources in most of my fandoms! Mainly because I'm far more text- than visually-oriented, so watching TV/movies/video is sometimes stressful & often boring to me; but also because "let me brutalize the audience to prove how edgy/dark/gritty/post-whatever I am" tactics make me want to rip out TPTB's throats with my bare teeth. Which can't take much abuse any more, plus it's bad for my blood pressure & disturbs my fic-enjoying afterglow.

Thank gods for AO3: more good fic & art & new fandoms than I can enjoy in the rest of my natural life, with tags to let me sidle into uncomfortable settings/pairings/AUs at a pace I can handle. I'm not meant to spend my time hiding behind the barn, peering fearfully through my mane—gotta kick up my hooves & prance & have fun in my happy places! ;-)

[pir8fancier]

Super crappy, lazy writing that is misogynistic in the extreme seems to be the norm. I am half debating NOT watching the last episode of GoT because I was so disgusted by the last episode. This isn't about ship. It's just about BAD writing.

[emrinalexander]

Yeh, who knew Avengers could be this dangerous? I made the tragic mistake of going to see Endgame, and then I started reading the Loki and Tony Syark rants on Twitter and Tumblr.