#i'm staying away from s2 content for now so have this instead

[ultfreakme]

Nah Zutara is def happening. Two of the writers (Omashu and Into the Dark) are Zutara shippers and liking Zutara content all the time esp about Kiawentiio and Dallas. The Netflix accounts are pushing Zutara like crazy. Albert Kim is an enemies to lovers enthusiast and said that the original endgame ships are up in the air.

I am trying so very hard to be objective about this and so I am going to tell you what I'm seeing in the nicest way possible but I'm really sorry if I can't:

I've checked the official Netflix account, I follow it on twitter, nothing afaik. The closest I found was picture sets but they did it for Dallas and Gordon, Dallas and Ian, Elizabeth Yu and Kiawentiio too, and obviously Gordon and Kiawentiio, all the duos. There's a video clip of Kiawentiio throwing out a question card about if Katara likes Zuko and their first immediate reaction is laughing (and not in a way that's confirming it- like Dallas was about to clap and Ian gave a thumbs-up, not encouraging and they conclude it with saying a lukewarm 'no kinda well' likely because it's spoilers for season 3).

Kiawentiio right after an interviewer mentioned Zutara, she said and I quote ; "What Avatar are you watching?"

Albert Kim on Kataang:

It's being delayed to S2 because the age difference looks way too obvious in live action. It's still happening, just later when the actors look closer in age. They heavily hint towards future Kataang by comparing Aang and Katara to Tui and La on-screen (Yue saying the ocean will forever search for its counterpart while panning between Aang and Katara whos is reaching out for him, and Sokka and Yue where Sokka's begging Yue to stay- it's very on-the nose).

The OG show also had creatives who like Zutara, they inserted bait for it in the chibi shorts but nothing came of it in any canon and everything is steadfastly for Kataang. Heck, currently the cast are pushing Zukka all the time, doesn't mean it's going to be canon(Dallas Liu and Ian Ousley saying "hey ship our characters!" word-for-word does not equal Zuko and Sokka are going to date for real in the show).

It's disappointing that fanon ships aren't canon, but that's just what you sign up for when shipping fanon. You are not going to to get what you want, neither am I.

Kataang is the heart of the show, nothing will take that away and I think it's best to just, make peace with that instead of looking too hard into behind-the-scenes and cast stuff hoping THIS is when it's going to happen(I play along with the Zukka bait because it's funny, not because I think it's going to be real).

Also, writers liking Zutara content? Fine, do you, have a blast! It DOES get weird when they're sincerely promoting Dallas and Kiawentiio as an item though because they met when she was like 15 and he was 19/20, and now she's 17 while he's 22 now. She's a child, he's an adult pretty much their entire work relationship. That's really freaking weird. EDIT: Dallas and Ian, who are the actual adults in the cast have been actively redirecting all ship-related conversations towards themselves and their characters because they CAN handle whatever flame wars erupt from that, meanwhile Gordon and Kiawentiio are children so they shouldn't even be in the discussion as actors when it comes to the fictional ships.

[tame-a-messenger]

so i have a question, in what ways do you think the social team sucks? (I agree btw, it always feel like they try to connect with fandom but just can't, like instead of posting the things that would excited their audience, the fandom spaces they post what excites them if that makes sense? and what's exciting for them it's not what we are really interested in)

(also don't know if you know watcher but their social media team is the best out of the youtubers world in my opinion. they actually hired a person that was a big fan of their content, that was part of these spaces already. and she always nails what we want to see. she also really aknowledge tumblr and knows how popular they are here. I feel like a lot of the others socials teams tend to forget about here when it can be such a huge asset)

I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to people, while also playing devils advocate. I feel it makes for a more sound opinion on things. Having grace for others is ALWAYS a good thing.

I fully agree with what you said! you put it so perfectly!

"like they try to connect with fandom but just can't"

It feels like this too me too, especially as of recent. They ALWAYS push the jokes they (the people on set/work at Smosh) find funny. Which isn't a bad thing! there should be space for people to find what they find funny and push for it.

It just becomes an issue when they try to sell merch for things the community doesn't even know about/care about as deeply. (lmk if I'm wrong, but when the "you're my favorite pizza place" joke became a 'thing' the video hadn't even come out yet? I remember having no clue what anyone was talking about, I think the videos come out out of order? and all the sudden we had merch?)

I do like a lot of Smosh merch though! but there's just so much wasted potential of other things that would sell better.

A lot of Smosh fans are I believe Gen Z(?) but I feel like they try to make content for millennials/Gen A so we get a lot of floundering between demographics. I'm also very aware most of the cast/crew at Smosh is more in the millennial demo, which could be a large reason why we get more of that geared content.

Maybe at the end of the day they can't connect on purpose, maybe because they don't want to get into any drama/legal trouble they stay away from interacting with the community too much?

Getting away from those thoughts- they also have a HORRIBLE track record with letting us know about delays, just look at what they did with Sword AF S2. They totally dropped the ball. I'm still very upset about it. I really can't find a reason why they couldn't let us know sooner than DAY OF.

You'd think with them being so proud with their 'scheduling' (which I also HATE.) they would have dealt with these things better.

I've talked before about how I don't really like how much they do on 'shoot weeks'. It drains them loads and seems really hard to stay upbeat, and it WILL wear them down. (I'm wondering if that's why we haven't gotten Damien in too many videos as of recent. He doesn't want to do the shitty ass schedule)

At the end of it all, Anthony and Ian have all the say in what happens at Smosh so I'll just trust they will continue to do what they think is best <3 (even if I hate it) (their livelihood not mine y'know?)

"they actually hired a person that was a big fan of their content, that was part of these spaces already."

THIS^ (I do believe they have a lot of Smosh fans working there rn though) NOBODY DOES A JOB LIKE THIS BETTER THAN A PERSON OBSESSED... NOBODY!

I don't watch a lot of Watcher content but every now and again I'll check in and watch some of their stuff, they're a great lot!

I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HIRED A FAN!! THATS SO AWESOME!! They really know what they're doing! Whos gonna push content better than someone who full-heartedly enjoys it like a fan! (That's were I see the Smosh team falter a lot. It feels like they treat it like they're apart of the team to much? like they obviously ARE but I feel like if you want the job done the best you have to look at it with a fans eyes to know what would be the best content to push y'know?)

[wavebiders]

Operation: "Ignore the Shitty Live Action Winx Show and Just Rewatch the Cartoon for the First Time in Almost a Decade" part 54:

Stella and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

The show that brought you gay fairies now presents: gay mermaids

You know, I'm sure most versions of Valtor have a dramatic or creepy voice to match his extra appearance but here he just sounds like Some Guy and that's the only Valtor I will accept bc it is once again comedy gold

Also he's such a motormouth during his grand speeches? I can't tell if that's just a character trait, or if Dutch doesn't have short enough ways of saying things and having him talk that fast is the only way to get all the info in

Many feelings about Aisha being so unsure of her place in the group last season yet here they all are stressing over not being able to contact her. Heart full

Did I somehow manage to send my complaints about s2 not having enough Girlfriends™️ content back in time to the creators? Bc this season is really going hard with them again

Also the paralelism of Stella taking Bloom to Magix in 1×02 and taking her to Solaria in 3x02👌

"Bloom, You're welcome here. Stella talks about you all the time, make yourself at home" "I'll try my best. Even though my home is about a hundred rooms smaller" Heart. Full.

If I can't get my "I was kidnapped by a teacher I trusted, and then brainwashed into hurting my friends" angst, then I will gladly take the "I'm the sole survivor of a genocide" angst from Bloom instead

Stella did not just gently wipe away her tear I imagined that

HELLO?!?

This punk is lowkey kinda valid for thinking Stella is a spoiled brat here, but she also seemed pretty spoiled herself. Where's Musa when you need her to playfully put Stella in her place😩

"I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but this could be the start of a beautiful and lasting friendship" when did Bloom get so fucking funny fdghsd

LMAO Stella just magically flipped over the bed to get Bloom to get up, but she just curled up on the floor this episode is a work of art😭

Not Bloom looking into the camera like she's on the Office

After Stella brought out a pile of clothes, insisting Bloom tell her how she looks in them, this gremlin just gave her a thumbs up and fell asleep on top of them😂😭

I am SO glad the "Bloom can't fucking stay awake" gag stuck around even after she stopped having magical dead sister dreams. Those made it worse but she's literally just Like That

Welp! It's looking like another school year filled with some villain obsessing over Bloom who's just sitting here Poor girl cant catch a break

I can't believe I was giving this dude props for being more chill royalty than Sky's parents! fuck this guy someone tell Mike and Vanessa it's time to adopt another alien

"It's ok Stella just isn't acting like herself right now" no I'd say her reaction is pretty appropriate if not understated actually? How is everyone so chill about this? Even Flora smh

Bloom is the only valid person in this ballroom rn everyone else is on my shit list

Oh jesus christ there's more. I guess they decided Stella had it too easy last season huh

"Something tells me we're not getting invited back here" I think you may be on to something there

[pynkhues]

i know you are skeptical of anon spoilers. but i'm not krebs who can just slide into people's dms and give away info. beth & dean will not get divorced. i've been saying since s2 that the writers think their marriage struggles and dean's redemption are interesting. a lot of people scoffed. and what did we get from cast & producers post s3? multiple different interviews confirming that they were redeeming dean. one may argue how effective they've been. but that is their intention.

Hmm, look, it’s not so much that I’m sceptical of anon spoilers, and more that I think they often contribute to circumstances that cause a bit of a frenzy and ultimately stress people out? Particularly with a twisty show like Good Girls where we get so little information before episodes air, out of context spoilers can create an environment that - - well - - upsets people. Often needlessly too.  

We saw that with a lot of the season 3 spoilers which, sure, were mostly proven more or less correct, but were given entirely out of order and out of context. That lack of context meant that things got really confused – a major supporting character getting killed in a van in a really bloody way for instance – and bubbled up to create a very reactionary response from a community that was already feeling anxious around the premiere because of 2.13. People left, people started basing their entire viewing experience around it, including starting to hate characters for things we didn’t even know if they were going to do, etc etc .

That might sound silly, but at the end of the day, fandom is – and should be – a place where people come to have fun and unwind, not get stoked by plot points removed from their cause and effect, by subjective sources.

On top of that, the reality is that the onerous of those reactions and stress never falls back on the anon, because how can it? Instead it falls back on people who are active within the fandom who then find themselves having to answer for spoilers when they a) have no context, b) those spoilers may or may not be accurate (there have been plenty of fake GG spoilers floating around afterall), and c) – and please don’t take this the wrong way – but don’t know the source’s connection to the show or their subjectivity with it. 

For instance, I could tell you spoilers for a tiny Australian Netflix series that my sister’s working on right now, but those spoilers would be coloured by my sister’s interpretation and perception of it, because I’m hearing that information through her and am removed from the actual show myself.

But anyway, haha, thanks for sending this one through, I can’t say it surprises me. They certainly do seem to have been committed to exploring the stalemate of Beth and Dean’s marriage at this point, and I’m actually not adverse to a Dean redemption arc – I’d just like that removed from a romantic arc with Beth – and given how much the writing of the show has been telling us Beth isn’t in love with Dean since season 1 - - I don’t know! I feel like their relationship is extremely compartmentalised and shallowly ‘content’, so it’s one thing for them to stay married, and another thing for them to have a romantic plotline? 

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!