lumiereswig

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y’all think belle ever comes home from the village to adam doing shit like this

he still has Beast Posture™️ and has to consciously walk up stairs on two legs instead of all fours

(art by me)

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MONKEY MAN (2024) dir. Dev Patel

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I'm still seeing a lot of angry takes in the tags about how excessive Watcher's current costs are and how all fans really want, apparently, is "just shane and ryan sitting in a basement" back again. While I do think Watcher is probably spending over budget and that's a real issue, a lot of the takes I'm seeing show a fundamental misunderstanding of how video production works and where costs actually lie. So a few quick things that I just keep seeing that are bothering me:

It was never just Shane and Ryan in a basement. BFU did a great job selling that conceit and making sure you never saw anyone beyond them and maybe TJ, but they absolutely had other crew members with them on ghost hunts and they didn't do all the work on BFU themselves. This Q&A from Season 2 lists 36 people on staff for Buzzfeed Unsolved. It's fair to make arguments that Watcher may or may not need 25 people, but those arguments should not be coming from a place of "before it was just Shane and Ryan and nobody else."

If you don't know how many people are needed to make a professional video from a TV/film standpoint, you will not have a reasonable grasp of why Watcher wants to keep 25 people on staff. Sure, some YouTubers get by with a ring light and a contracted editor. The Watcher team have stated repeatedly that they do not want to work as just YouTubers and see themselves more as a production studio—so why do people keep referencing the YouTube model to understand their business? This is like asking the local shake shop why it doesn't function like the kids' lemonade stand down the block. The item category is similar but they're not trying for the same products or process.

The "gold dusted food" is not the big budget sink you think it is. On most TV shows I've worked on it's normal to partner with businesses that are shown onscreen and work out a deal where the price of the product (in this case the gold food) is reduced or eliminated in exchange for the free publicity. Watcher very likely made a deal with every restaurant it worked with to make the Korea trip affordable for the company. The real budget spends are on things you're probably not seeing but that still matter: camera and lighting equipment is expensive, insurance for that equipment is expensive, business overhead and paying your staff are expensive. So again—it's fine to critique Watcher for the streaming plan and the perceived budgetary issues, but go into this knowing the costs might not be coming from the things you see onscreen.

My source is that I work in TV and film and actually have a clue on how the industry functions. Again, 36 people worked on Unsolved (and those were the people mention in Season 2—who knows how big the team blew up past that in later seasons). Entertainment work is real work, and demands decent equipment, competent staff, and the same types of business and budget problems you'd find in any other business (overhead, staffing, etc.). Feel free to critique Watcher's business model, but first try to understand where that model is coming from and what goals it's attempting to serve.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #rant! sorry! couldn't see another take from someone who clearly thinks video work is just fun and games because “it's entertainment right” #funny how people expect normal business costs and problems for any other career but if it's involved with production they think everything #just magically happens and is made entirely by the onscreen talent. nutso #anyway i think watcher is probably trying its best; maybe got too overexcited; but cares about quality of life for its employees and #wants no one working to the bone. which is admirable! the streaming service was a bad idea but they're not the literal devil like some thin #they're 3 self described idiots doing this for the first time. they backpedaled. i don't see this as the death of the company & i'm gonna #keep supporting them :)

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Shane: In real life - I don't - you know, I want - I want to hype him up and make sure he's feeling good, you know, but when we're in a haunted location, I want him to be as freaked out as possible. I want those eyes bulging. Ryan: They are, they - yeah. Shane: He's a bulger. Ryan: They were. They were bulgin'. My balls were bulging. Shane: [laughs] Eyeballs. Ryan: Correct.

Ryan & Shane Talk The Future of Ghost Files & Watcher Streaming Platform Apr 25, 2024

#this is a watcher blog now apparently

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look at our weird little man go!

#dan stevens #batb 2017 #beauty and the beast

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Now that the dust has settled, can we all agree that the backlash was incredibly disproportionate to what Watcher did?

#sorry i'm not off my bullshit yet #i always thought the fandom was whack but the underbelly that showed this weekend...YEESH #they made a bad business decision. that's really it. yes it seemed sad they were going to take away videos we love/are comforted by #but thats like IT. people acted like they murdered somebody or said something truly heinous and like #the worst it really was was just. bad business skills + tone deaf messaging #and a little short-sighted thinking based on the entertainment bubble. VERY normal industry things #nothing there was malicious. the more i think about it the more it's obvious the reaction was the fandom's own grief and rage #and projection on what the relationship between fan and creators 'means.' like i have an essay in here about how different definitions of #being a 'fan' really reared their heads this weekend. i thought being a 'fan' was enjoying what an artist makes #+ supporting it while knowing they're not making it FOR ME. like i am a bystander who enjoys it + that's the relationship. #whereas most fans seem to think that being a fan means they're OWED something; that the artist makes the work for THEIR BENEFIT #which is insane! and out of pocket! but the number of takes that reduce down to 'dance monkey dance' while looking at all the projects #shane ryan and steven have made? insane. the number of people saying 'all we wanted was you!!' YOU'RE NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER HERE. #like. my god. the number of ppl who think watcher make stuff /just for them/ and it's all pure fanservice nothing else #insane. insane insane insane. i feel nothing but bad for those guys and i hope they recover #but honestly i think the fandom nuked itself and i have no sympathy if they stop being so inviting/warm when this is how their 'fans' act #after ONE fuckup. they've fucked up ONCE and this was it. and again nothing truly evil happened it was just #a business mistake! like holyyyy shit oh my goddd!! and people being like 'ok well i'll be watching CLOSELY for more bad behavior' #or 'they showed their true colors here' HELLO? #i would hate to know any person like that in real life because if 1 mistake counts as true colors i would be walking on eggshells at all #fucking times my god. they're a small business in a weird industry. they fucked up. jfc. #sorry now i'm rampaging in someone else's post (sorry op) this ate my brain this weekend. i'm so mad for them. and sad. and just gobsmacked

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welp on a separate note, if the watcher debacle (i refuse to call it a scandal lol) taught me anything is that some of y'all fans are wayy deep into the parasocial (and not to be a hypocrite, i was too the last few days - something to learn from for me ig). like people had valid points ofc and it did genuinely feel hurtful when the people who encouraged us to fight capitalism decided to turn on us, but the amount of people that immediately went from 'omg my favourite ghoul boys' to 'they only want money and fame' is insane to me.

now after the apology video, it's baffling to me how many people still believe that. we can't know how much of the video was influenced by real regret and sympathy for their fans and how much was just a business decision to survive, but people assuming on the spot that they just don't give a shit anymore is wild. maybe they don't, how am i to tell, but stating that as a fact is kind of unprecedented. obvs if people don't want to keep watching them because of this that's entirely up to you but calling others naive or boot-licking for giving watcher a second chance is pretty hypocritical.

either way i personally feel like they handled it pretty well, and yeah this mistake could've easily been avoided in the first place but hey, they aren't just carefree fun-loving guys who you see on your laptop once in a while, they're people that sometimes lose track of things and make uninformed decisions, but take accountability for it and work to fix the mistake and learn from it - at least that's what we can hope for

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Oh my god the relief. I haven't even watched it yet but thank GOD

oh my god can watcher please post any updates at all. Even just “we’re working on a response, thanks for the feedback.” I don’t want Watcher to go down but watching this lack of response is horrifying! Guys! Post anything!

#gonna save it for when i can afford to cry/scream/weep #i've been much too invested in this i'm sure to some but. the boys have gotten me through a LOT esp in the last year. #literally don't even care if it's parasocial. they made videos that got me through very very hard times the least i can do is like/subscrib #well. like/subscribe/attempt to not lose my shit over this last weekend (wasn't successful there!)

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@wearewatcher SAY SOMETHING

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#I have touched grass and it did absolutely nothing. still insane over this. it’s Monday morning and still nothing? hello? who is in charge?

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See, it wasn’t so bad right? Yeah.

#literally me right now

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when the watcher thing first happened i was like oh surely they’ll fix it and we’ll be fine but we’re three days without a statement and honestly??? honestly??? i don’t know if i’ll ever be able to watch them again. it just feels so bitter now. bc what are u gonna do? say you’ll put some stuff or youtube and some on watcher tv??? just sucks man. and i don’t want them to fail and i don’t want their friendships to fall apart but everything just sucks. im just sad now.

#this is where i'm at too #i'm sad but i still want them to succeed! but my GOD can they post an update? any response at all?? #like ok they've lost all the fans who immediately went insane and want to burn them at the stake. but there are also fans like me who are #disappointed but ultimately view this as a bad decision; they aren't bad ppl this is just a screw up they can correct #but the more it goes on in silence the worse it gets and people are spinning theories and making each other angrier #like i want them to thrive SO SO BADLY. i can't afford the streaming service. but if they came back (like tonight!) and talked about it mor #like a super sincere video shot on their phones. no production value. even just twenty seconds being like #'we hear you and we're in meetings rn working out a response. more on monday.' like that's all they need!! they could maybe solve this. #at least for some fans. but i worry it's already too late and theyve all burned so many bridges #which makes me genuinely so sad because i would have followed shane/ryan content anywhere (before the weird tone of that video) #and now it feels like there will never be any ever again. on any platform. at all. #i had no idea i relied on them SO much for emotional wellbeing #but i'm genuinely devastated i might never get to see a new silly little video of them having fun ever again #and just to beat a dead horse one more time but i still think (to my CORE) this was just a dumb decision guided by their insecurity/egos. #i STILL don't think they're terrible people. they're just super bad at business and money. but the longer they let this sit #the so so so much worse it gets for them. boys. pls. save yourselves. im begging

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I'm with yall that what watcher is doing is stupid and a bad business decision, but saying "eat the rich" when it comes to them? like??? "eat the rich" means billionaires who exploit the lower class to become billionaires. It does not mean a few people making youtube videos and earning enough money to live in L.A

#FOR REALLLLL #people are lumping them in with taylor swift. please be so for real

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Crazy how all watcher social media has been silent since the announcement dropped. I would be doing damage control at this point but that’s just me 💀💀

#literally hello is anyone there #there was time to salvage this today! they had to post something TODAY! #i want them to succeed so bad but this is HORRIFIC. somebody say something my god #(did they fire the whole pr team? why has there been 0 social anything???) #Lindsey Mendez voice: we’re trying to save you my god

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@wearewatcher hello. please. help.

oh my god can watcher please post any updates at all. Even just “we’re working on a response, thanks for the feedback.” I don’t want Watcher to go down but watching this lack of response is horrifying! Guys! Post anything!

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Also why are people like wishing for their downfall or expecting their downfall? "this is the beginning of a video essay about how watcher died" and stuff like that. Shouldn't you hope they fix their mistake and are able to get back on their feet?

[lumiereswig]

oh my god can watcher please post any updates at all. Even just “we’re working on a response, thanks for the feedback.” I don’t want Watcher to go down but watching this lack of response is horrifying! Guys! Post anything!

#watcher