casperghosty - Tumblr blog

[casperghosty]

I'm so confused at what just happened?? I was at a park close to my home, big park lots of families with kids and I keyed down in the grass cause my head hurt after work.

I stared hearing some guys talk and I heard someone say "that's a girl? I thought it's a guy" and say something about ...trans, I kinda looked up and around I don't think they were looking at me...but no one else was there they could be talking about...(now I have baggy shirt a jacket and short hair if you don't see my face I look like an emo boy)

and I heard them keep talking nit paying attesting then say some shit like "throw something at it" (there are no gendered pronouns so it's not actually "it")

they thre a water bottle but it didn't even land close to me and they were scared to get it (they looked/ sounded like 15...or less) and once I saw a kid walking down with their parents or whatever abd the guys said "don't bump into that guy OR WHATEVER THAT IS"

I am trying so hard not to laugh, I left the hill and went around and they went down the hill when I walked by and one actually said "hurry up it's here" then I ened up next to them at the stop light (had my hood on cause why not seem more mysterious) and ome guy actually ran to the other side of his friend?? then I kept walking and I heard they're behind me and I went down to my parking lot and I heard one say "no don't follow it"

did I just scare some kids ??

[casperghosty]

I don't get takes like this....:

people like this who aren't even subscribers and just watch one show out of all the things they have are clearly just casual viewers, which is FINE but why be so outraged if you clearly cared less than others who love everything they post ??

[casperghosty]

I don't get takes like this....:

people like this who aren't even subscribers and just watch one show out of all the things they have are clearly just casual viewers, which is FINE but why be so outraged if you clearly cared less than others who love everything they post ??

[casperghosty]

I keep seeing posts adding up potential costs for Ghost Files episodes and how it could cost that much per episode and I haven’t seen a single one of you factor how long it takes to comb through HOURS of raw footage and raw audio. Multiple people, including Ryan himself sit there for days combing through hours of footage, cross checking the whereabouts of the crew and the groundskeepers to find anything potentially significant. Have you ever combed through footage where nothing is happening? It is fucking excruciating.

That takes time. It requires manpower. And guess what? Both of those things cost money. And they do it in such a way that they are doing everything in their absolute power to NOT misrepresent anything they find, which is something I can’t even say for shows on major networks like The Discovery Channel.

And then they have to cut all of this footage together in a way is meaningful and entertaining so that you can have your precious little guys, and your precious little bits, and your precious little ghoulies to make your little shitposts. That show eats money for reason. Be so fucking realistic for once, I am on my hands and knees BEGGING.

It is so obvious most of you do not value these people as highly skilled individuals taking the time to craft something culturally significant and genuinely entertaining.

And if they are spending more money on travel costs, hotel stays, meals, even entertainment while they’re away? I wish I hated to tell you this but that’s their prerogative. I personally would not want to come back to a cheap hotel room at 5 in the goddamn morning after filming for 8 hours in a pest infested building and then fly home in coach. I highly commend them for making sure their staff are as comfortable as possible while filming this because again, that’s something I cannot say that for a lot of major networks who are looking to squeeze as much profit out of their shows as possible.

Be ashamed of yourselves, honestly.

[casperghosty]

Despite, well, everything - I am still really excited about the new content. I want to see what it looks like when they don't have to change it for sponsors or youtube. I hope it gets a lot more unhinged. I hope it will be a lot more creatively fulfilling for them. I hope they have success with WatcherTV. I really hope things will turn out okay.

[casperghosty]

[casperghosty]

I rewatched the Goodbye Youtube video just now and there is one thing that Steven says that I did not catch the first time but find very interesting:

"More than 50% of our business is run by advertising."

I did not know that it was this much. That's a huge percentage. That probably also means that a big amount of their content is tailored towards sponsored. Like, I get that people are upset and sad about them moving away from youtube, I really do, but of course they don't want to be this dependent on sponsors!

God, I would love to learn more about the business side of things. Not just the decision to start their own streaming service but about the business stuff in general. I really want to know more about this.

[casperghosty]

I'm not someone who generally soapboxes on Tumblr. I don't particularly enjoy internet discourse or picking fights with other fans. But after following all the discourse of the last two days, I felt compelled to say something that I hope will make at least some small amount of difference.

I think the move to WatcherTV is a good thing for Watcher Entertainment. I actually kind of saw it coming - the changes to YouTube ad revenue in the last couple of years have made it much less profitable for creators, not to mention unstable (from YouTube's ability to change the rules on them without warning, as well as the constant threat of demonetization for saying the wrong thing in a video). That's no way to run a sustainable business, and the best of Watcher's shows have always felt more like television than YouTube. They've also talked openly at various points within the last four years about their desire to create a network that can be a home for launching other creators, and to make the shows they want to make, they need a more stable income than they're able to get with the YouTube/Patreon model.

All of this was very clear to me from their most recent video, and I was completely taken aback by the level of anger, hurt and vitriol it caused among other fans. It made me realise that I'm significantly more willing, able or both to see things from Watcher's point of view than a large number of other people, and it's been profoundly depressing.

I think Watcher has definitely misstepped in how this announcement was handled. They wildly misjudged the mood of their audience - but I can see why they did it. For them, this is a change they were wildly excited about. It'll bring them complete creative freedom and increased financial stability. It's clear from the video that this is what they've always wanted, and when they found they couldn't do it on YouTube, they looked for another way. They knew they would lose some of their audience share. Probably, most of it. To me, it's incredibly telling about just how precarious and unrewarding YouTube monetization actually is that they feel releasing videos to a fraction of their audience is a better bet than continuing to depend on YouTube to stay afloat.

One thing that's become clear to me among all the rage and hatred is that many people seem to think Watcher have broken a promise to them. A promise to continue releasing all their videos to YouTube, nominally free to watch, that requires them to stagnate creatively, be unable to build a sustainable future for themselves and their employees, and remain beholden to sponsor slots featuring sketchy products (not to mention YouTube's in-video advertising). But Watcher never actually made any such promise. Nobody is owed free "content", and Watcher have said that they can't afford to keep making everything free if they're going to make the shows they really want to make. And to the people who think they should compromise to make sure it stays free - well, there's no right or wrong here, of course, but ultimately you're going to have to accept that what you want for Watcher and what Watcher want for themselves are actually different things.

It hurts, to part ways with something you love. I don't want to devalue that at all. There's grief to be processed for a lot of people, and as long as they're doing that in their own time and space and not trying to make Watcher responsible for their emotions, I have no problem with it.

What I do have a problem with, however, is the people who are lashing out at Watcher directly for making a decision they don't agree with, and demanding Watcher answer for their own pain and anger. Who are attacking other fans and weaponizing social justice language to try and position themselves as moral authorities in the discussion, and implying in the process that the right of team of independent creatives to be paid fairly for their work is less important than their own right to view it for free. Who are placing all the blame for the decision on Steven while absolving Shane (and frequently Ryan, though particularly Shane) from their own part in this decision, thereby implying that Shane and Ryan have no agency in the company they co-founded with a mutual friend of several years (which is rather insulting to the two of them, in my opinion). That's not only conspiracy thinking, it's racist.

I don't know Steven personally, but from being deep in the fandom for four years now, I know that he's an incredibly kind and sincere person who really lives his own ideals. It's him that's taken Watcher as far as it has, putting his own creative aspirations largely aside to run the business side of things, which Shane and Ryan, God love 'em, were really not capable of. By his own admission, he's a little awkward and doesn't always say exactly the right thing the first time around, but he always listens and learns. In short, he's human, and the way he's being spoken about right now by many people, both on social media and this website, is nothing short of disgusting.

If this post makes you mad, I invite you to sit with it and ask yourself why. If you think Watcher should answer for the way you're feeling; if you feel Steven is somehow more culpable than Shane or Ryan in this decision, and are looking for reasons to justify that feeling. If you can't see the difference between a small, independent company like Watcher wanting to make themselves financially stable and creatively free, and any multinational media company. Why you feel Watcher don't deserve to be paid fairly to make the shows they want to make, irrespective of whether you personally are willing or able to pay for them.

One criticism I've had of Watcher for a long time now is that I think they have actually let themselves remain too beholden to their fans and their opinions. I believe they care about and value their fanbase a great deal, and as a result, they've provided too much personal access to fans, and made apologies when they didn't actually do anything wrong, simply because people were angry and upset. Those mistakes are now coming home to roost. They were complicit in allowing their fans to believe that they would do and make whatever the fans wanted, and it's been a harsh awakening for a lot of people to find that's not true after all.

I think it will be good for Watcher to have increased financial stability and creative freedom. I think it will be good for them to build a little more distance between themselves and their often volatile fanbase, and give us a little less of themselves, so they can put that time and energy into art and creation. I hope that once the initial backlash has passed, many of us will move forward on that journey with them.

For those who can't afford or are otherwise unable to subscribe to WatcherTV, I want to shout out @prettyghoul's initiative to pair fans who'd like a free WatcherTV subscription with other fans who'd like to gift one to them. For those who are lucky enough to have some spare disposable income, I urge you to join me on the gifting side.

If you read all of this, thank you; I can assume we're both here because we love Watcher. My hope for this fandom is that we can start to extend ourselves and everyone at Watcher even a fraction of the grace that they have always extended to us.

[casperghosty]

watchertv discourse once again proving that no one online knows the difference between “well-off content creator” and “actually rich multibillionaire”

people out here like 'eat the rich' and they're gonna eat doctors and lawyers and three guys who make videos on the internet instead of fkn jeff bezos who has more money than god.

[casperghosty]

something about the current situation that feels so gross to me is the sudden vitriolic hatred towards steven lim??? yes, as the ceo he probably helped make the decision to start watcher tv. but before this whole dilemma, wasn't steven "super underappreciated" and hyped up constantly by the fandom??? weren't there hundreds of posts begging for more steven content??? wasn't there a lot of excitement about steven possibly getting his own show??? it just seems strange that people claimed to love him so much but are spewing some awful insults towards him now???

(note: this isn't talking about anyone criticizing steven or the company. this is talking about people blaming EXCLUSIVELY steven or excessively hate posting about him. critique and analysis are healthy ways to stimulate discussion and utilize critical thinking)

[casperghosty]

[casperghosty]

by the way, I know I barely post her but just so you know. I a 100% support watcher's decision! No watcher hate her, just love 🫶

[casperghosty]

[casperghosty]

im laughing so hard because no matter what song you listen to 

spiderman dances to the beat

no matter what song ive been testing it and lauing my ass off for an hour

[casperghosty]

[casperghosty]

absolutely no significance, my parents couldn't decide so they let my grandma name me

For the purposes of this poll please just stick to birth names! I'd like to do another poll for names people chose themselves later in life.

[casperghosty]

I believe in you.