Fandom and Viewer Issues: "Fan" Is Short for "Fanatic"

[Curio]

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, nor am I trying to change what people post. All I'm saying is I miss the balanced view I used to get here.

 

I honestly think you'll start seeing more positivity in these threads the closer we get to the 5A premiere and the further away we get from remembering most of 4B. I know it can suck sometimes to read so much negativity—especially if you didn't think something was that bad—but 4B was quite possibly some of the worst writing I've seen on a television show in a long time. And I watch a lot of TV. So I've been very thankful for these boards and being able to come here to dissect the many, many, many things this terrible half season produced.

 

So just stick it out a little longer. I'm like 99.99% sure 5A could never reach the levels of suckitude 4B reached. And oddly enough, I think my extreme dislike of 4B will help me get through the summer hiatus better than last year. After watching the 3B finale, I had such high hopes for Season 4 and had a renewed faith in the show. But after this season? Well, 4.11 was the turning point for me in never trusting emotional payoff, so that coupled with all of 4B has officially made me side-eye and question anything the show gives us. Sure, I'll be plenty excited when Comic Con rolls around and we have a general idea of what Season 5 will look like, but for now, I'm glad to have a break from this show.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Curio

[YaddaYadda]

I think a lot of people come at the show from a shipper's perspective these days and it colors our perception of the show.  I've been guilty of it.  My levels of tolerance for some things on the show have hit an all time low and I just find it difficult to be positive about things.  The spoiler thread tends to generate speculations that are either out there or sometimes better than what the show does, so I know that doesn't help either.

 

If people wanna vent, they should be able to, but not everything is dramatic and if the show makes someone miserable, then they should just quit it.  I think it's just plain unhealthy to stick with things that make us miserable and a TV show shouldn't make someone miserable and/or angry.  So if that's where some people are, then maybe they should reassess.  

 

Once is disappointing.  It has some crazy potential at being an amazing show because it has great characters who are actually kind of complex, but the storytelling falls flat or there's a loss of interest and it sucks.  I think we should just all move on from 4x11 which I know was a turning point for a lot of people (myself included), I think we should just really let go of 4B which fell short of its promise and barely delivered.  

 

That being said, if I do get out of hand (and I know I've gotten out of hand at times), please feel free to call me on it or PM me.  I try to be as even handed as possible but sometimes it's hard...I really don't mind being called on my bad behavior.

[FurryFury]

If people wanna vent, they should be able to, but not everything is dramatic and if the show makes someone miserable, then they should just quit it.  I think it's just plain unhealthy to stick with things that make us miserable and a TV show shouldn't make someone miserable and/or angry.  So if that's where some people are, then maybe they should reassess.

 

I've only stuck through 4B thanks to the board but I still had to miss a few episodes. I think the chances are I'm out next season, because 1) it's possible to snark at stuff happening without actually watching the show, I'm doing it on Arrow boards all the time and 2) some elements of the show make me really miserable, yeah. I mean, I was actually enjoying the season finale until all the saint Regina crap, which has completely undone all the pleasure I was feeling.

[OnceUponAJen]

I get discouraged by the negative tone on the board sometimes, but I understand it. When you're invested in a show you want it to be great, and it's frustrating when you see glaring flaws that should have been addressed or fixed before it ever made it to your screen. There's also a lot of frustration in that people seem to be clamoring for more main character moments and interactions (and I don't mean kissing!), and then they bring in not one or two, but four villains and an author to top it all off.

Twitter seems to be an echo chamber of compliments for the show because people know that A&E and the actors and writers have a presence there. I have nothing but respect for the actors who have had to put up with some incredible BS from many quarters, mainly to do with ships or ship wars. Even William Shatner...I never expected that, but the man knows fandom and deals with it effectively.

The tone of the show has been very bleak and I think that weighs on the fans too...seeing their favorites unhappy and in dire straits with no end in sight. I am very excited about S5 like Dani-Elle said...to see the people Emma loves fight for her.

[Serena]

I will probably need to hide after posting this, but I feel much of the "Emma gets always SCREWED OVER and the writers are AWFUL for doing this to her" post-finale reaction is similar to last year's reaction from Regina fans "why are they doing this to POOR REGINA?!?"

I... don't get it? Clearly, both are set ups for the person being "screwed over" to have a bigger storyline focus and emotional arc the following season. There is no doubt Emma will get her happy ending eventually, obstacles are part of the deal. I'm thanking our lucky stars that the obstacles are general "must battle forces of evil" and not "boyfriend's wife whom she has murdered comes back from the dead, then is secretly her sister, then her sister is pregnant with boyfriend's rape baby". Those are the obstacles they give their FAVOURITE character, y'all.

Now, WILL they deliver on the Emma focus? Who knows. But I don't see anything wrong with the premise and I don't think it's the writers victimizing Emma in particular. Fake-ass SQ friendship aside, I can't complain too much about how they've been developing here. I can see them very clearly trying to give her an arc of emotional development every season (S1: open up to Henry - S2-S3: open up to Snowing, partly Hook - S4A: believe in herself and embrace her powers - S4B: admit romantic love for Hook). 

Edited May 14, 2015 by Serena

[YaddaYadda]

Now, WILL they deliver on the Emma focus? Who knows.

 

If they get a new shiny toy to play with a la Frozen, then no.  Emma won't get the focus she deserves.

 

I'm guessing they have two storylines next season.  The first one is Emma and the search for Merlin and the second one will be Regina and her brand of fuckery with Zelena and Robin.

[buildmeupbuttercup]

I'm a huge Emma fan, too. I mean, she is honest to goodness my favorite television character ever. And perhaps this belongs in the Emma thread, but instead of expecting the worst of this storyline, I am excited for it. Because it could very well be amazing. It could very well be what I've wanted for Emma since the start of this show. Not the darkness, not the evil, but the fact that she now has people in her life who are going to be fighting like hell to get her back. I mean, does anyone really think that Snow, Charming, and especially Hook are going to let this stand? If Henry and Regina help in the fight, that could be wonderful, too. After four full seasons of Emma saving everyone else, I am so very ready to see everyone else return the favor.

 

To me, Emma made this sacrifice with the full expectation that it will not be permanent. She told her parents to figure out a way to get the darkness out of her because they'd done it once before. She told Hook she loved him. She gave them hope. She placed her life in their hands. She put her trust in them. She said without saying, "You three can save me. I know you will save me." That's such a huge step in Emma's development, and I feel like that's been overlooked in the cloud of negativity.

 

And maybe when it airs come September, I will hate it and maybe I'll wish it had been done differently. But I won't know that until it airs.

Maybe I should reply in the Emma thread but I think I can stay on topic with what we are talking about here. I probably should have rephrased my original post better-I blame early morning posting haha. Oh hell yeah I'm all here for Emma finally having people fighting like hell for her and I do believe that is what we will see come 5A. I think my negativity about the finale ending came from it being at the end of a dark and depressing half season already so it slightly lacked that "hope" element for me. Not that I don't fully know that it will happen--we just have to wait until September to see it happen. I think the ending would've sat better with me if we saw them springing into action a la Save Henry at the end of season 2 instead of the dagger. But the dagger was, for me, a dark ending to an already dark arc. I guess I'm just hoping (and slightly nervous) that the DarkSwan will be a little more lighthearted in tone than 4B because I miss the show that made me happy every Sunday night and not depressed mood going into the work week. But again I stress that that was my personal read on it so I'm not casting blanket negativity on it.

 

I honestly think you'll start seeing more positivity in these threads the closer we get to the 5A premiere and the further away we get from remembering most of 4B. I know it can suck sometimes to read so much negativity—especially if you didn't think something was that bad—but 4B was quite possibly some of the worst writing I've seen on a television show in a long time. And I watch a lot of TV. So I've been very thankful for these boards and being able to come here to dissect the many, many, many things this terrible half season produced.

 

So just stick it out a little longer. I'm like 99.99% sure 5A could never reach the levels of suckitude 4B reached. And oddly enough, I think my extreme dislike of 4B will help me get through the summer hiatus better than last year. After watching the 3B finale, I had such high hopes for Season 4 and had a renewed faith in the show. But after this season? Well, 4.11 was the turning point for me in never trusting emotional payoff, so that coupled with all of 4B has officially made me side-eye and question anything the show gives us. Sure, I'll be plenty excited when Comic Con rolls around and we have a general idea of what Season 5 will look like, but for now, I'm glad to have a break from this show.

On the whole I try to be a pretty positive, glass half full kind of gal. I know sometimes here the negativity is goes even beyond glass half empty and more into "what glass I didn't even get a glass, the water was splashed directly in my face!" and I try not to pile onto that. I think people are bitter and angry about 4B right now but I too think it will pass and in a few months it will go back to the way it was around here in 4A. 4B rubbed some people the wrong way. I wish I had been able to enjoy it the way others had but I didn't really like some of the message that it was sending. Things that hadn't bothered me in the past (the abusiveness that was Rumbelle) really started to offend me. But again I think as we move further away from 4B the negativity will pass because I think a lot of people here are like me and would rather have hope in this show and not negativity. Maybe that is why people are so negative because they are hopeful and have their exceptions and then it doesn't play out as we would like. I also understand that this isn't "my" show. It isn't my story to tell so I even try to stay away from casting the net of "they did this wrong".

 

So while I am all here for the Save Emma storyline (because finally! My poor baby has been saving your asses for 4 seasons) I'm just hoping that it gets played in a more season 1 or 3 tone rather than a continuation of 4B doom and gloom.

[OnceUponAJen]

Was there speculation that Emma is pregnant, because JMO just officially confirmed (via tweet) that Emma is not. I had not heard that one.

[FurryFury]

Thank god she isn't.

[Curio]

Was there speculation that Emma is pregnant, because JMO just officially confirmed (via tweet) that Emma is not. I had not heard that one.

 

I just saw that. The tweet for those who are curious.

 

It never even crossed my mind that Emma could be pregnant. If anything, there were more hints about Regina being pregnant based on the crypt sex. Granted, anything is possible with these writers, but how were people speculating about Emma being pregnant when we haven't even seen Captain Swan go past first base yet?

[YaddaYadda]

It never even crossed my mind that Emma could be pregnant.

It crossed my mind for a whole hot second because of the Chernabog, but I realize the plot made zero sense to begin with and the writers probably just wanted to bring something else from Fantasia.

 

If anything, there were more hints about Regina being pregnant based on the crypt sex.

Really?  I must've missed them.  I was just plain terrified they'd make Regina pregnant just because...

[Serena]

I have never seen that spec anywhere? Certainly not in the CS fandom. And Jen's second post seemed to imply the spec was based on someone thinking she looked fat, not even a storyline spec?

This whole thing is weird to me. I think she saw a random troll's comment and mistakenly thought it was a fandom-wide theory.

[OnceUponAJen]

Oh....people thought Emma had a baby bump, apparently. Too funny.

[YaddaYadda]

And Jen's second post seemed to imply the spec was based on someone thinking she looked fat

 

Oh WTF!  Shame on her for having a day when she was bloated <rolling my eyes into eternity>

[Serena]

I think people's obsession with women's body weight is creepy. First it seemed some people took it as a personal affront that Ginny *gasp!* actually gained weight when pregnant and then decided to lose in a normal manner (it's average for women to take up to 2 years) instead of going on an Hollywood all liquid diet. Now, apparently they saw some kind of imaginary fat on Jennifer? And thought they were entitled to telling her about it? Unbelievable.

[Stuffy]

The second post didn't say anything about being fat it was about the same thing as the tweet.  People thinking she's pregnant because of an exhale.

[RadioGirl27]

This is from her instagram:

Such a double standard that we can't micro zoom in on men's stomachs while they breath, thus causing a momentary roundness, and accuse them of being preggers. #IamBreathingNotPregnant I gotta say it all keeps me laughing. I am looking forward to meeting everyone who's coming to the fan convention in Paris on June 20,21. The love and support for ONCE UPON A TIME is overwhelming in the most beautiful way. Be good to each other. And see you soon! Xx

[Rumsy4]

My posts tend to be skewed a certain way depending on the outlet. I don't want the crazies to jump on me calling me a "hater" on tumblr, so I stick to reblogging pretty CS gifs there. I tend to be more critical on this board because this is my outlet for voicing my dissatisfaction with the show. So, I end up being more negative here. However, when I get to point when I feel like I'm ranting, I try to take a step back. I do think the reason for the increased negativity on this board is because this season has been so bad. At this point, I am skeptical this show will get better, but I'm not at the point of quitting yet (mainly because of CS).

[orza]

A significant contributing factor to the overall negativity in this forum is that so many posts are just people going from one thread to the next, dragging it off topic, to bitch about the same things they just bitched about yesterday in another thread.

 

A lot of the complaining boils down to "I hate Regina, the writers are stupid, this isn't the show I want it to be." regardless of the actual thread topic. While that may be a valid opinion it doesn't need to be repeated over and over, day after day ad nauseam. Say it once and move on. Repetition is boring. And calling the writers and producers idiots and bozos and such is not critical discussion it's just mean-spirited bashing. So much of the so-called critical discussion on the internet is also just setting up straw man arguments for the purpose of pointless hyperbolic ranting.

 

If people would 1) state their opinion once and then move on and 2) stay on topic or take it to the appropriate thread, it would go a long way to improve the overall tone of this forum. Reducing the number of threads would also help to cut down on the repetitious off-topic posting. I know this was tried once already but it probably did not go far enough.

 

Every fandom thinks they are the well-behaved insightful people having serious discussions while the rest of the internet is just a bunch of ill-behaved idiots. Fact is that they are all the same. They are all out there on the fringe with their shrill presence and minority opinions that don't align with the majority of mainstream viewers that producers care about. There is also no difference between those people sending nasty tweets to showrunners, those who hurl their insults from the same distance of a discussion forum and the fangirls with their creepy photoshopped images and actor obsessions. It's all just people behaving badly in public.

 

There is liking a show and caring about the characters and then there is being so overwrought and over-invested that one loses all perspective and lets it impact one's emotional life. The first is fine because when people are unhappy they express their disappointment once in a rational manner and then move on. The second group personalizes everything to an excessive degree and can't seem to let it go.

 

Online fans vastly overestimate their numbers and importance. The average fandom represents only a fraction of a percent of total viewership for a show with millions of viewers. Regardless of what showrunners say in public about loving and listening to all the fans, when creative and business decisions are made behind closed doors, the opinions of the shrill minority don't matter because their numbers are just too small to have any real impact on ratings and revenue.

Edited May 14, 2015 by orza

[maryle]

I THINK IT IS SILLY TO DICTATE the opinion of others, each forum represent a certain view on the show , I saw that idbm is really rumbelle focus and it is fine , here I like it because it is probably the only place where I can read about CS and very insinghful way. There many place for regina lovers too. I never go there because I'm indifferent to her and when I read too much about her fans I 'm dislike her instead to like her more. SO I rezlly hope that thd forum still like it is Fun , witty and insinghful about all aspect of the show but people who like the show how it is should be welcome to say it too. ?

[pezgirl7]

There is also no difference between those people sending nasty tweets to showrunners, those who hurl their insults from the same distance of a discussion forum and the fangirls with their creepy photoshopped images and actor obsessions. It's all just people behaving badly in public.

 

Sorry, but I think there is a huge difference between those groups of people who you've just lumped all together. Especially with so-called fans who insult or bully the actors, writers, or even other fans. I don't want to get into a discussion about it, just wanted to give my opinion since there are no "thumbs-down" buttons on this board.

[scenicbyway]

Was there speculation that Emma is pregnant, because JMO just officially confirmed (via tweet) that Emma is not. I had not heard that one.

I think it's comical that JMo would even bother to address that speculation.  I suppose it's possible though because we saw Hook and Emma fully clothed on the bed (in a loft with her parents downstairs), it makes sense that Emma would be pregnant and showing just a few hours later.

Edited May 14, 2015 by scenicbyway

[legaleagle53]

This is from her instagram:

 

Such a double standard that we can't micro zoom in on men's stomachs while they breath, thus causing a momentary roundness, and accuse them of being preggers. #IamBreathingNotPregnant I gotta say it all keeps me laughing. I am looking forward to meeting everyone who's coming to the fan convention in Paris on June 20,21. The love and support for ONCE UPON A TIME is overwhelming in the most beautiful way. Be good to each other. And see you soon! Xx

 

 

 

I have to say, I love how she's kept her sense of humor about the whole thing and still treats the fans with respect and courtesy despite the (occasional) weirdness from certain quarters.   It's a lot more than I would do -- but then again, I'm not as professional as she is!

Edited May 14, 2015 by legaleagle53

[OnceUponAJen]

I think it's comical that JMo would even bother to address that speculation. I suppose it's possible though because we saw Hook and Emma fully clothed on the bed (in a loft with her parents downstairs), it makes sense that Emma would be pregnant and showing just a few hours later.

Yeah....this is NOT Twilight.

[KAOS Agent]

The dagger was, for me, a dark ending to an already dark arc. I guess I'm just hoping (and slightly nervous) that the DarkSwan will be a little more lighthearted in tone than 4B because I miss the show that made me happy every Sunday night and not depressed mood going into the work week.

 

This is where my negative perspective on Season 5 comes in because the final scene made it appear that the show was doubling down on the dark tone of 4B. No matter how the Dark!Emma storyline plays out, whether it's hopeful, angsty or very, very dark, the problem is that Emma is facing a very deep evil and it's currently inhabiting her body. That's not a recipe for a return to the lighthearted show that I enjoy. I can be interested in where they're taking this storyline and at the same time be very wary about it (even without knowing any details) because the dark tone of the show really ruined a lot of my enjoyment in 4B.

 

I suppose it's possible though because we saw Hook and Emma fully clothed on the bed (in a loft with her parents downstairs), it makes sense that Emma would be pregnant and showing just a few hours later.

 

So that's where Emma disappeared to! She was abducted by aliens and impregnated with Alien Vampire Bunnies. Actually, I'm fairly certain all the pregnancy speculation came about because the showrunners answered "Can't say" to a pregnancy question before the Zelena reveal happened. Various speculation has had Regina, Emma and Belle pregnant for whatever reasons. Whenever a BTS picture came out with their clothing slightly puffed around the stomach, it immediately flitted through those speculative factions as "proof" that the character was pregnant.

Edited May 15, 2015 by KAOS Agent

[retrograde]

A significant contributing factor to the overall negativity in this forum is that so many posts are just people going from one thread to the next, dragging it off topic, to bitch about the same things they just bitched about yesterday in another thread.

Yeah, I understand people's negativity and criticism, but it's the endless repetition that sometimes causes me to stay out of a thread for awhile and I suspect probably deters others -- especially those who don't share the mainstream opinions in this forum -- from contributing. Like there have been times, especially during the last hiatus, where I was actually reluctant to post new spoilers about Regina and/or Robin in the spoiler thread because I knew they would be met with pages of rants about how much someone hates the character and responses that were nothing but "I already hate this season" or "I don't care." And I don't even particularly like Regina and Robin!

 

Look, I'm not that interested in, say, Snow, but if there is a spoiler about her and it doesn't interest me, I just don't say anything; I don't respond to every. single. spoiler with "I hate Snow." Because, honestly, no one cares that I hate Snow. Nobody out there is waiting on bated breath to read my reaction to every new post, and I also wouldn't want to stifle the discussion others who do care about Snow might want to have. And if I, a long-term forum member with pretty thick skin (receiving online abuse is basically part of my job) who shares most of the popular opinions about characters and storylines in this place, feel discouraged from posting or discussing certain things, I can only guess that newcomers or those who hold differing opinions may find the environment pretty hostile (even though I don't think anyone here intends for that to be the case). And I think that's a shame because I'd really love to have some new voices in here and some healthy debates with those who have different views on characters and storylines.

 

I wouldn't dictate to anyone what they can and can't post, or what tone they should and shouldn't have, or even to hold back from saying something they want to say. You're free to post whatever you want and I will remove myself from a thread if it's bugging me. But, especially as we head into another hiatus, I would ask people to maybe think about whether they're really contributing to or advancing a conversation, or just saying the same things over and over and over again. I know it's hard to find new things to talk about when there are no new episodes to discuss, but it really is okay just to say nothing for awhile.

[Curio]

It would probably be good for everyone to speak up and take on a more personal role of quasi-mod if you notice a repetitive argument or overly hostile tone. I'll sometimes speak up and suggest moving the topic elsewhere if the discussion is getting off track. Yes, ignoring the drama and negativity can be good for your sanity, but not saying anything also doesn't help much. I think for the most part we do a good job of trying to keep things on topic by saying, "Okay, this discussion is better off in another thread..." but we could probably do a better job with things like, "Okay, we get it. Regina is a terribly written character. Moving on..."

 

I'd hate to get the mods too involved in this since we're the ones who set the tone on these boards.

[KingOfHearts]

 

Yeah, I understand people's negativity and criticism, but it's the endless repetition that sometimes causes me to stay out of a thread for awhile and I suspect probably deters others -- especially those who don't share the mainstream opinions in this forum -- from contributing

I agree. It gets repetitive and I feel like I'm reading the same thread I did months ago. We've all analyzed this show far more than most people, including its own creators. While it's fun to take apart the details and explore the nature of its issues, we've made conclusions to problems that really don't require any more discussion until something new happens on the air. (Especially with Regina. Her flaws have been discussed to death.) Until spoilers start popping up again, I really don't want to read posts saying what's already been said a hundred times. For this reason I've stayed out of most of the threads, like retrograde. 

 

I think there's a line to be drawn when there's name-calling to the writers/actors etc. Which, yes, I've seen on this board. Hating fictional characters is fine, but at some points I believe calling real people idiots, etc. can get a bit petty. Though it's not saying it to their faces, it's still putting it out on the internet for all to see. It's good to be able to objectively criticize or have negative feedback, but insults aren't necessary to have an intelligent conversation. That's just my two cents and I'm not pointing my finger at any particular person.

 

 

Sorry, but I think there is a huge difference between those groups of people who you've just lumped all together. Especially with so-called fans who insult or bully the actors, writers, or even other fans. I don't want to get into a discussion about it, just wanted to give my opinion since there are no "thumbs-down" buttons on this board.

 

This. The raging folks on twitter are intentionally trying to hurt the cast/crew in retribution for not writing what they want. Even though the language/wording here can be quite colorful, I never found anyone who actually wanted to harm the people who work on the show. There's a stark difference.

Edited May 15, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[Rumsy4]

I tend to agree about the repetitive nature of some of topics. Sometimes people make the same point someone else has made just a page before, which makes it look like they either didn't read it, or think they can state it better. That can get frustrating. So, I do think that overall we could cut back on repeating ourselves too much.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Rumsy4

[YaddaYadda]

So, I do think that overall we could cut back on repeating ourselves too much.

 

Do not judge my being slightly senile!

 

Ok, all kidding aside, I think we should actually have the same rule that TWoP had in the sense that we should read the whole thing before posting something.  I'm not necessarily talking about the after show thread, but the other ones.  I've been slapped on the wrist by TWoP Tennison for not reading what I was supposed to read before making a post that started off with "I haven't caught up with the whole thread yet"

 

I know, not my most brilliant moment.

[ParadoxLost]

I have to say, I love how she's kept her sense of humor about the whole thing and still treats the fans with respect and courtesy despite the (occasional) weirdness from certain quarters.   It's a lot more than I would do -- but then again, I'm not as professional as she is!

 

I'm sad for the missed opportunity of Colin in an unkempt shirt with caption.  'Nah.  Hook's pregnant.' instead of blurry guy.

Edited May 16, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[Rumsy4]

There's been a tumblr user who's been obsessed with "Emma is pregnant" theory since the beginning of 4B. I pretty much ignored them, as the rest of that person's theories seemed really out there as well. JMo must have come across their posts somehow. Or maybe someone tweeted to her. Even now that poster's stubborn about Emma being pregnant, and claiming that JMo doesn't know everything. It's sort of creepy... 

[Souris]

Honestly, I kind of think JMo might have a stealth tumblr account. She's clearly a fan of the Nerdy Girl Notes blog, since she's linked to that before, as well as posting various photos that came from tumblr. Or one of her team does and passes things along to her.

 

After a brief perusal of that tumblr user's posts awhile back, I backed slowly away and gave them no credence. Clearly way over-thought and fixated on certain ideas to the point of obsession and ignoring anything to the contrary. Honestly, I ignore pretty much all tumblr metas, because: 1) the show doesn't put nearly the level of thought into things as tumblr users do, so it's just a waste of time; and 2) if I like the meta, I'm always bitterly disappointed when the show doesn't go there.

[Cindy McLennan]

Okay, so the first reason I ended in this thread is that today, when I went to Ginny Goodwin's twitter page, I saw that there were no tweets (i.e. she deleted everything). I'm pretty sure I've since followed TWoP's old 15/15 rule, but can't see a mention of this. I couldn't decide which thread was right for this convo, but my best guess is that it's this thread. SO, Why did Ginny scrub her whole twitter?
 

So Joss Whedon has apparently been harassed off Twitter.

 

I just quoted the above, from this thread, to justify my asking the question I asked in my first comment, in this post.

 

All the writers on this show are also producers.  

 

I don't know if this site is reliable or not, but it seems to explain why they do that:

http://screenwriting.io/what-is-the-television-writerproducer-pecking-order/

 

That's a really dumbed down version of it, but given that, it is accurate. I wish I hadn't deleted my Facebook, because Adam gave me a full breakdown of the credits in an answer to my post.
 

From the Hook thread:

 

 

 

 

The last thing I would want to do is silence other people's voices. And I do agree that looking at a show critically is a good thing and it's great to not just blindly fangirl/fanboy something. But it's getting to the point for me that the single positivity thread is all that there is. We used to have both positive and negative outlooks on things. If there was something someone didn't like, there was something else that they did. If there was something someone didn't like, someone else did like it. The snark used to come from a place of love. But lately it feels like the snark is coming from a place of anger and dissatisfaction, which makes it feel mean-spirited rather than "we tease because we love." And lately it feels like there is no discussion about the positive things because all anyone wants to discuss is the negatives, meaning that the single positivity thread is the only place where the fans who do for the most part still actually enjoy the show can go without getting bogged down in the doom and gloom.

 

I just feel like there's offering constructive criticism and playing armchair TV writer to see what would have made the story work better for us, and then there's being overcritical. And lately I feel like the overcritical has been winning out.

 

I know everyone didn't love the Bravo-era mods, but I think the single best thing they ever did was get rid of BITTERNESS and POSITIVITY threads. Opinions should not be ghettoized.

 

Do not judge my being slightly senile!

 

Ok, all kidding aside, I think we should actually have the same rule that TWoP had in the sense that we should read the whole thing before posting something.  I'm not necessarily talking about the after show thread, but the other ones.  I've been slapped on the wrist by TWoP Tennison for not reading what I was supposed to read before making a post that started off with "I haven't caught up with the whole thread yet"

 

I know, not my most brilliant moment.

 

IIRC, the big(gest) problem at TWoP was plopping into a thread and announcing that you hadn't cared enough to read what anyone else had read, but you damned sure wanted people to care about what you were saying, anyhow. It was a manners thing. Sure, a few posters got dinged if/when they made it completely obvious they hadn't read the thread, but the real issue was that people were announcing they didn't care enough to read.

Edited May 17, 2015 by CindyMcLennan

[YaddaYadda]

IIRC, the big(best) problem at TWoP was plopping into a thread and announcing that you hadn't cared enough to read what anyone else had read, but you damned sure wanted people to care about what you were saying, anyhow.

 

So wow!  I always read the threads before I posted, That day I was just really excited about something, I made a post, I got dinged for it.  So, please...

[Cindy McLennan]

I don't understand.

[KAOS Agent]

Sometimes you just have a great idea that you want to get out there and don't want to lose it by reading ten pages of unrelated commentary. That's understandable. The unfortunate thing is that there are people who only want to share their grand ideas and don't care if it's been discussed ad nauseum prior to their personal opinion being posted. It makes a Must Read rule an easy way to stop those people even if it occasionally dings those who are just genuinely excited to share a thought.

 

The ignore feature on this board (which is a wonderful tool should anyone ask) makes the 15/15 rule not work very well because there's a reason I've ignored someone and their posts are blocked from my view to keep me from personal aggravation. I wouldn't want to censor their opinions from anyone else though. It takes a lot to get on my list and I ignore based on tone, not opinion anyway, but I like that I'm able to avoid the provocation/irritation of certain things.

[Cindy McLennan]

KAOS Agent, I agree with and understand everything you've said. I also understood that's why the TWoP admins didn't enable the "IGNORE" feature (even though I thought they should have done so).
 

Sometimes you just have a great idea that you want to get out there and don't want to lose it by reading ten pages of unrelated commentary. That's understandable. The unfortunate thing is that there are people who only want to share their grand ideas and don't care if it's been discussed ad nauseum prior to their personal opinion being posted. It makes a Must Read rule an easy way to stop those people even if it occasionally dings those who are just genuinely excited to share a thought.

 

The ignore feature on this board (which is a wonderful tool should anyone ask) makes the 15/15 rule not work very well because there's a reason I've ignored someone and their posts are blocked from my view to keep me from personal aggravation. I wouldn't want to censor their opinions from anyone else though. It takes a lot to get on my list and I ignore based on tone, not opinion anyway, but I like that I'm able to avoid the provocation/irritation of certain things.

 

YaddaYadda, I don't understand (what I perceive is) your attitude toward me with the "Wow," and "so please," and whatnot. I was *not* chastising you. I thought I was backing up your point, and yet this is the response I've received. I'm feeling really unwelcome right now, so I'm going to take a breather. Peace to you.

I had quoting/sequence problems in this post. Please excuse.

Edited May 17, 2015 by CindyMcLennan

[Serena]

It's been a while since Ginny deleted all the tweets on her Twitter, but even before that, she wasn't the one posting, a social media manager did it for her. I think it all started because of the famous Once Upon A Time In My Pants comment.

[sharky]

It's been a while since Ginny deleted all the tweets on her Twitter, but even before that, she wasn't the one posting, a social media manager did it for her. I think it all started because of the famous Once Upon A Time In My Pants comment.

The what? It can't be that famous if I never heard of it. Do tell!

 

And you all realize that right now, most of us would be banned from TWoP forums for the boards on boards discussion we're having about the TWoP forums. I wanted to take a screen shot of my violations before the thing shut down as a source of pride for what I accomplished over there. If you didn't have at least one ding, you weren't a real TwoPer.

[Serena]

What?! You don't know about OUAT In My Pants??? I think it was the First Great Wank of the fandom. I mean, except for the boring adoption ones, but I mean the first that involved the actors. So sometime during I think season one, Ginny was answering questions from fans on Twitter. Someone asked her (verbatim): "Will Emma and Regina make out?" she answered with "This is not Once Upon A Time In My Pants, check HBO?". Hell broke loose. She then tweeted "I support LGBT relationships, just not between my fictional daughter Emma and her grandma."

 

Should we write an OUAT Wank timeline?? It will probably make more sense than the show's timeline.

 

BTW, what's this about a poster on Tumblr that insists Emma's pregnant? Does anyone have a link?

Edited May 17, 2015 by Serena

[Faemonic]

I don't know if Ginny Goodwin was harassed off Twitter, but IIRC Meghan Ory was. And just because Hook is a polarizing character on the show, I gathered that Colin gets some disproportionate volume of hate tweets. I don't know about there being no such thing as bad publicity, and I know this is older than twitter (hello, Hideaki Anno and vandalized studio and fanmail death threats back when those would be handwritten and lick-stickered I forgot what you call those) but hate at the actors, or even personal boundary encroaching adulation is just...never...cool...why that is even a thing.

[FurryFury]

What?! You don't know about OUAT In My Pants??? I think it was the First Great Wank of the fandom. I mean, except for the boring adoption ones, but I mean the first that involved the actors. So sometime during I think season one, Ginny was answering questions from fans on Twitter. Someone asked her (verbatim): "Will Emma and Regina make out?" she answered with "This is not Once Upon A Time In My Pants, check HBO?". Hell broke loose. She then tweeted "I support LGBT relationships, just not between my fictional daughter Emma and her grandma."

Wow, I didn't know that. I think I love Ginny. That was some great snark.

 

 

I know this is older than twitter (hello, Hideaki Anno and vandalized studio and fanmail death threats back when those would be handwritten and lick-stickered I forgot what you call those) but hate at the actors, or even personal boundary encroaching adulation is just...never...cool...why that is even a thing.

Do you mean stamps, perchance? :)

[RadioGirl27]

What?! You don't know about OUAT In My Pants??? I think it was the First Great Wank of the fandom. I mean, except for the boring adoption ones, but I mean the first that involved the actors. So sometime during I think season one, Ginny was answering questions from fans on Twitter. Someone asked her (verbatim): "Will Emma and Regina make out?" she answered with "This is not Once Upon A Time In My Pants, check HBO?". Hell broke loose. She then tweeted "I support LGBT relationships, just not between my fictional daughter Emma and her grandma."

Wow, those answers are wonderful and they make me love Ginny even more now.

[HoodlumSheep]

I thought Ginny took a break from twitter due to the crazy hate she was getting due to the whole "Snow seems to be encouraging Regina to keep having an affair with Robin" crypt sex episode.

I remember her twitter being active up until about then.

Edited May 17, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[Rumsy4]

I think Ginny used to tweet occasionally even in 4A. This purge must have been recent.

BTW, what's this about a poster on Tumblr that insists Emma's pregnant? Does anyone have a link?

Are you ready? Here you go: http://winger-hawk.com/ Edited May 17, 2015 by Rumsy4

[Serena]

Oh, okay. Her theories are a bit out there, but from the way some people on Tumblr were talking about it, I assumed she was some hideous troll who spent her days bashing the actors and writers. She seems... normal, if a bit prone to overanalyzation? 

[sharky]

The problem is it got crazy enough that JMo felt the need to confirm Emma isn't pregnant and backed it up again. And apparently this Hawk person is now insisting that JMo doesn't know everything about her character. So...yea.

[Rumsy4]

I don't think she tweeted JMo herself. If JMo came across her tumblr somehow, it's not her fault.

[Serena]

Yeah, as far as I can see (and I haven't read more than one page of her Tumblr, admittedly) she's just posting her theories, however far-fetched. We know this fandom can get crazy, but I haven't seen any fat shaming of JMO on there and if someone wants to write on their blog that Emma and Grumpy are getting it on and Emma is going to have a baby dwarf in season 5, then whatever. It's definitely the CS shippers on my Tumblr talking about how she was so terrible that are the ones overreacting, in this case, IMO.

 

As for JMO not knowing anything about her character... I mean, I'm pretty sure she knows in this case, but I can see where it's coming from. If someone had asked Josh and Ginny, "hey, I have a theory that Snowing kidnapped an eggbaby and performed a spell on it once, is it true?" they would have denied it too.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Serena