The Amazing Digital Circus and Why I Hate Fandoms
I got into The Amazing Digital Circus around the time episode 6 was released. My best friend got me into it. I originally thought it was just another YouTube kids slop show, but after seeing it I got invested. I really love this show and find myself rewatching it a lot. I even have a Gummigoo plush.
Like any other popular show/game/movie, you inevitably build up a fanbase, often to the creators dismay. Not all fandoms are created equal, but the good ones are often fewer and far between. Develop a parasocial relationship with the creator/characters and drop your weekly shower count from at least 4 to .25 on average, and you go from a fan to something much worse. A stan!
Kpop, Taylor Swift, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Disney Adults, the list goes on. It goes beyond a healthy enjoyment of a certain thing to a whole obsession. This obsession often burns out the creator especially if the fandom grows on an indie project. That's the unfortunate happenings with Gooseworx (the creator of the digital circus).
After the finale got leaked, Gooseworx posted this on her Bluesky:
I know people are upset with my response, which is fine, but I kind of just wanted to make a cartoon, & it's ended up being way more trouble than it's worth. I really just can't keep my heart in this thing anymore. It's gotten too much bigger than me, & I probably shouldn't be the figurehead of it.
This happened after the finale got leaked. Mind you, Gooseworx didn't care about it being leaked, even saying something along the lines of "who cares?" in a deleted tweet. What came next was a flurry of unwashed, no-deodorant-wearing teens mobbing on this response because someone leaked something they didn't have to watch. I can understand it if some douchebag was going around posting spoiler screenshots and clips, but if someone says "hey here's the full thing" with no spoilers what's the problem, and why are y'all dogging on Gooseworx more than the leaker?
There was another incident where fans doxxed the location of some IRL shots in episode 7. I can only assume it's dipshit teenagers doing this sort of thing, because no working adult has got the fucking time for this. For my faith in humanity, please just be dumb kids.
There's also the hate she's getting because of how Episode 9 ended. Look, I liked the ending of 9, yeah it's flawed, but I liked it1. If you take it so seriously that you start personally attacking the creator, get a fuckin hobby, go touch some grass, and log off for a while. It's not that serious.
There's obviously worse instances of Stans going fucking bonkers. I think of the Game Theory incident where a flood of people started harassing this random phone number for Five Nights at Freddy's lore. There was also that pair of 12 year olds who tried to stab their friend to death (they survived) in order to summon the Slender Man (yeah, welcome back to 2014).
Why can't we just be fucking sane for a change? I know this parasocial thing is kind of a growing problem, especially the more isolated we all become. But seriously, can we have SOME self-awareness here? Can we at least be controlled enough to NOT send death threats to someone because they didn't appease your headcanon?
Fandoms have great moments, it's cool seeing the artwork, the conversation and all that, but at a certain point it gets unhealthy. And it seems far too often that it gets into the unhealthy category more often than not.
If you're a fan of something, be a fan. There's nothing wrong with being an enjoyer or enthusiast. Just for the love of god don't make it a weird obsession. It just makes it worse for everyone.
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as of writing this...
I took the bus into work today. Thought it would be faster, and it was by like 10 minutes. Saw Amazing Digital Circus 9 yesterday, and as I've mentioned, I liked it. It wrapped up nicely. Makes me wish there was more though. I like the characters a lot and it would have been fun to see more of the adventures. I'm just ready to be done with work today and be on my way home. I'm tired and wanna just zone out for a bit.
One of the criticisms is that it should have had 2 more episodes focusing on some of the things that felt rushed in 9. I think that could have happened if Goose didn't start getting burned out by the community. I think we could have even had a season 2, or just more spinoffs. Maybe that's just me coping.↩