This isn’t fun any more (FNT scene cannibalizing’s each other)

This goes beyond being silent and moving forward. There is rot here and it will fester until it is addressed. Call me a hater, but this scene needs to do some soul searching, I make these posts because I hope this scene can do better.

There was gatekeeping, there were whisper networks, there were cancelings, exploitations of the audience, hubris, and griftings. Meritocracy bled out to the cult of personality in this same old song and dance. In its wake we have this smug attitude that everything is everyone else’s fault and so long as we ignore it, this will all go away.

The hubris to not even acknowledge any of this and pretend like everything is jolly and fine is next level lack of self awareness, for all the talk of Hollywood being in a self destructive bubble, the FNT sphere suffers a similar disposition, and there appears to be this general unease of “Don’t talk any shit about ANYONE about ANYTHING!” Like one giant house of cards.

Makes all that cutesy sh*t with NDA’s even more suspect in hindsight.

Some assumptions here, but in the absence of any transparency, we have no option but to assume. Apologies if any of you take this as drama farming, but this is literally the heart of what many of these guys stood for as entertainment critics and exactly the discussion that attracted us all to this sphere to begin with. As one old masked face in these parts used to say, “Without respect, we reject.”

Here’s my take: EVS is LOVING this. He’s these guys 2 years ago. Just getting to shit on everyone with reckless abandon and making good money doing it. EVS is on cloud 9 right now, and watching as everyone else squirm when all this is left on the table is going to feed his thirst for vengeance for months, maybe even years. Anyone expecting EVS to be the “bigger man”, is going to be sorely disappointed (unless they send him pies).

The FNT guys need to own this. They need to come to terms they canceled EVS, stole what he built, and extracted all the good faith of the fan base and sundered it for personal gain, and they have done nothing to acknowledge this, let alone atone for it. This petty squabbling is wrong, but it doesn’t hold a candle to canceling a man and using backroom bullshit to subvert him and con an audience of tens of thousands with snake oil.

The piper needs to be fucking paid.

For this to end, for there to be a change in tone, and for EVS to look like the bad guy, there has to be some level of accountability for the above transgressions and grifts. I know that’s probably asking for too much, I know the nature of the beast, and I know that what fans are left don’t want a picture of the truth, they want to be sold the illusion, and as youtubers with big ego’s everyone is more than happy to sell them that.

Rippaverse scored the monetary victory, it won that battle, but not sure how the war is going to go.

I feel crazy typing this, I know no one is going to change, I know everyone is going to hold onto their spite, they can’t apologize to Ethan because he is LOVING THIS, he doesn’t want this shit to end. And everyone on FNT just want’s it to evaporate into nothing. Pocket the views and $$$ and just coast out till this culture war stuff doesn’t attract views any more.

I’ll end by saying I realize it’s easy for random neckbeards like us to talk shit. We don’t have the fans who believe in us, we don’t have employees and fellow content creators who depend on us. It’s easy to wax poetic about culture this, and entertainment that when it’s not our livelihoods.

But I’m putting it all out there anyway. Of all outcomes, these guys growing the fuck up and owning their own mistakes seems like the least likely outcome, but who knows. Maybe in this bizarre twilight zone simulation of clown world, in some infinitely implausible reality, these guys bury the hatchet, do right by the fans, find a competent writer, find a couple artists, put out a solid comic book, and work with EVS and Razorfist to make something the fandom menace can be proud of. I’m having trouble keeping a straight face just typing that out.

Not sure if I’m advocating for positive change here, trying to exact my own jabs by exposing this stuff, or just lamenting how all this unfolded. Does it matter?

We’re just the viewers, maybe people read this and it inspires them to extend an olive branch, and then EVS will just spit in their face. Or maybe it inspires someone to come clean and it destroys their Youtube Career and rifts a hole in what’s left of this community.

I dunno, just havin’ a blather.

This I do know: It’s disgusting the toxic environment that’s festered in this community and how everyone is now at each others throats, and we shouldn’t be using the internet to exact petty revenge using family members as a means to exert pain on our enemies. I also know what this scene did to EVS for $$$ and petty revenge was just as fucking bad, and hiding it in the closet DOESN’T make it better. Yes EVS is petty, shitty, and an absolute piece of shit for what his sphere is doing, and he absolutely is involved in this bullshit. And FNT gave him the moral mandate with their destructive greed, gaslighting, shady dealings and general lack of respect for fans and the medium of comics.

I do enjoy posting here. And yes, I do feel as though I have something to say, that’s why I’m saying it. As for who is the rot, that’s subjective and depends on your point of view, I gave my arguments as for why I see it as I do.

I don’t accept your accusation that I’m a hypocrite. But I get it, I’m shitting in many of you guys’ cheerios. Believe it or not i do not make these threads specifically to piss many of you off. I just enjoy this scene and I wonder how it got here and offer up thoughts on it. You’re welcome to take them or leave them. Or if you want to go on a big long neckbeard, autistic tirade as I have done, you’re welcome to, but I also realize that this is all kinda cringe and silly. It is what it is. Funny what we occupy our time with now that gaming and Hollywood has imploded.

Wade, in my post I am criticizing both EVS and the FNT crew. I’m not treating one side like perfect darlings that can do no wrong. That’s why my post is confusing you, I am including EVS as part of this sphere and leveraging my critique of everyone as a whole.

The problem here isn’t EVS, it’s not FNT, its the tribalism of the entire scene that leads to nepotism, hubris, and choosing sides and expecting one side to be in the right and allowed to do more petty shit.

But only one side talks about the elephant in the room, and that’s EVS, and that’s what gives him the moral mandate in many people’s eyes. Is it petty, and self serving for him to do this? 100% I’m not saying EVS is a great guy, every once in a while he does something that shows how petty and vile he is. But again, he’s upfront, and IMO up front pettiness is better than the subversion that masquerades as virtue. You could almost say it’s a microcosm of “Patriarchy vs. Wokeness” in our own backyard.

Does that mean EVS doesn’t exploit people like Cecil? Does it mean he doesn’t let his own mask slip and show hypocrisy. Of course not, everyone is petty and self serving and sees the world through their own lens to enrich themselves to some degree. But with the FNT crew this is endemic and tainting the very core of their content with the specter of shilling for Rippaverse hovering over every video, that sharp-poison hypocrisy that cuts into their being as the shepherds of fans, meritocracy, and quality entertainment.

It’s funny to me that you think all NDA’s are discussed openly. The entire point of YouTube is to build trust with the audience, why would they openly talk about how they’re beholden to NDAs to support one another? In fact it wouldn’t surprise me to see that for the key NDA’s there are clauses they explicitly state they aren’t allowed to talk about the existence of said NDA. Authenticity is the lifeblood of this sphere.

This is a business, it’s not all fun and games like many would like to think. Again, I’m a assuming, just calling it like I see it. It only makes sense these guys would put safegaurds in place to prevent future pettiness from allowing this drama to sunder the entirety of YouTube with all the strong personalities thinking they were done wrong in this or that way as egos clash and audiences are fought over.

We got to see in realtime how these mechanisms of secrecy and our social machines of friendship and business partners have tremendous influence over each of us, and as a whole start to make us behave in ways that make us totally crazy. You follow Gary or Az or anyone on their journey here, even Eric July, and every step of the way the intentions can be argued to be noble. I want to help my friends, I want to give the fans an alternative, I don’t want to jeopardize my familly’s livlihood. But you follow that timeline to the end and you’re now supporting a horrible venture that is sundering the scene and bringing out the worst in each other.

Why don’t you ask Gary why he wears a rippaverse shirt every weekend despite not enjoying the comic. Undermining the authenticity of these entire sphere is this betrayal of the fans, “Ultimately, you were just a paycheck”. Az is the worst offender IMO, and Gary behind. Jeremy shills rippaverse but I think he’s just a bit more easily manipulated by his friends. That’s what makes this situation so complex and it sheds a deeper light on this entire scene and the human condition and the people these guys rally against. It’s the same disfunction.

It may sound silly. But you understand this EVS vs. FNT situation, and you understand our humanity as a whole. The dysfunctions of law, and tribalism, and our hubris, and our nepotism, and our petty tribalism causing each and every one of us to engage one another with massive disfunction and disingenuousness. Each of us trying to do right for ourselves and our tribes, but in the grand scheme of things failing everyone. This situation is a distillation of the failings of the human condition. And it highlights why it’s so rare, and amazing when people like George Lucas, or Walt Disney are able to hold it together, herd cates, catch lightning in a bottle, and keep us petulant dumb fucks on track to succeed in our mission of making some decent drawings with passable writing.

So you take this knowledge of this scene, and you apply it to entertainment at large. Those very subversives that took over Hollywood and made garbage entertainment. They think they’re doing good, they think they’re standing by their friends… and they are! The human condition is fascinating and when you start to analyze your own biases and your own motives, you start to see both hypocrisy and virtue at the same time as people serve themselves, but also those who put their faith in them. This is a very complex situation, all are.

I said it a while back, but it really rings true in light of everything. All the NDA’s, all the contracts, all the nepotism among key players to use something trusted by fans to fuel their financial venture.

Rippa is the Kathleen Kennedy of indie comics. In the great irony of The Fandom Menace, FNT fell to the dark side and unwittingly failed the fans in the exact same way Cray Cray KK and Lucasfilm did with Star Wars.

Search your feelings, you know it be true.

Again, yes, I enjoy posting. Do I post endlessly online to hear my own voice, incessently? Not really, only about shit i feel I have a solid take on that others might be interested in reading, or that I believe people need to hear. Shout out to Comicsgate who enjoys these posts! It’s actually those who dislike it that I hope read it most.

Not because I want them to be aggravated, but because I think we can do better.

Still calling bullshit on the hypocrisy. When did I ever say people shouldn’t go on big long rants if they’re passionate about something? I’m here for the arguments and blathers, I’m all about it. So if any of you fancy the sound of your own voice, feel free to post here. This entire sphere is founded on people liking the sound of their own voice, starting youtube videos and talking shit about stuff. I won’t level any more accusations of hypocracy, the meat of what I wanted to say I posted above.

I feel i’ve said what needed to be said, but I’ll post more if any posts in here warrants a response.

I do feel a little awkward posting here, I’ve been accused of being “gay ops”, in cahoots with EVS, all sorts of wild crap. Just a neckbeard fan of the channels. Am I posting because I want this sphere to be better? Do I want these guys to pull their heads out of their arses and succeed more? Do I want to be a voice for the fans? Do i want to defend meritocracy while trying to give ideas for how to put together succesful ventures? Am I just getting my rocks off as a troll engaging in fun online blathers because I like the sound of my own voice? I’d say all those things. Isn’t this what forums are for?

Genuinly wished my posts weren’t so painful for so many of you guys, I genuinely like to think i’m trying to fight the good fight here, but like I explained above, I get it. I at least hope I help make these forums more entertaining, even if it’s a bit aggravating.

Like Gary says, if you guys don’t like the posts, I thank you for reading so long. And may the neckbeard of geekdom never lose a follicle.

Dude, I’m a fucking neckbeard blathering about the geeks and gamers controversy on one of the dorkiest forums around. I’m arm in arm with other neckbeards shilling their home mad tabletop games, and sometimes we shitpost about Brie Larson’s toenails. I enjoy it here, I like to neckbeard out and blather about stupid nerd shit.

Why you think I’m up my own ass and look down on everyone is beyond me. Yeah I enjoy writing about neckbeard stuff, I think i’m kind of ok at it. We’re all partial to do stuff we’re good at. EVS does it. Other people aren’t as good at it and they do it too, that’s life.

Anyway, nothin’ new. I’ve worked in these creative industries for a good bit of time, to repeat myself, enough to side with EVS on a lot of this from a cultural and deep seeded personal belief in meritocracy as someone who has worked his ass off to make nerdy shit. I try not to take it personal though, because I know we’re all just monkeys trying to help our friends and make money, it’s what I’d have done 10 years ago before busting my ass and seeing all this decline in this world and coming to realize how things work a bit better. The general culture of the world is one of snide tribalism, subversion… by those who don’t really understand how the sausage is made. They can be rich children of communists, or they can just be the average YouTube audience.

Just another day on planet Earth.

And to be clear, I’m not arguing with you, In the spirit of the thread, in the spirit of self awareness and accountability. Yes, I’m a neckbeard fuck who thinks he’s good at posting thoughts together about the nature of things, and it’s silly to think I take any pride in this whatsoever, but that’s is dead on. I am a grown ass man, whining about other grown men making comic books, which I don’t even read. You are 100% spot on and I will admit, it’s kind of fucking weird.