Merasmus'ed!

Wait For It

First off, why do you feel the need to bitch at me when all I did was post what thought was hopeful article? I didn’t even say don’t use bootlegs!! I said be PATIENT man, give it time. Hamilton hasn’t been on Broadway for 10+ years with no hope of a recording- there’s still a really high chance that one is coming our way.

So don’t get high and mighty and complain that “Broadway is elitist” or whatever other bull you were pulling by rebloging those other posts at the top of your blog. Consider this instead: if you don’t think it’s fair, don’t fucking watch theatre?? And continue to complain about it???

I understand that it’s hard to get the opportunity to see Broadway live, trust me I know that a ton of people won’t ever see it in person- but you have to give the creators the chance to provide an easily accessible format before you BOOTLEG THE DAMN THING.

If you don’t provide the respect the actors and creators of Broadway deserve (such as, you know, the human decency to respect their wishes and wait for them to record their damn musical) then you’re no better than a thief. How can you call yourself a fan if you don’t practice patience?

Spare me.

Aren’t y’all the ones crying about how theater needs the eyes and the ears of the youth? Aren’t you guys always bemoaning how theater is becoming more and more disconnected from the general public? Man I wonder why that is. Is it the fact that ticket prices are through the roof in major cultural centers? Is it because the theater community treats movie versions and proshots of shows in the best light as “flawed adaptions that can’t capture the Magic“, and at worst “abominations that are only being made to kill revivals and establish themselves as the definitive version of the show“? Is it that apparently some people in theater here think that “shows are too expensive and limited for the masses“ is adequately answered by “don’t fucking watch theatre?? And continue to complain about it???“? Ooh, what if it’s all of the above? I think we’ve cracked the case, Watson.

So here’s something from twitter because apparently all of you guys’ arguments are the same. consider it a sample for the 2k word monstrosity i’m working on now:

“Here’s the deal, Lmm’s human, he makes mistakes, and some of them have been mistakes that’ve built up and helped lead to the crack in the fanbase.

Let’s be clear, most of this price/sold out thing isn’t true. People mob the tickets and then resell them back to ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is a major scalper here, but we never see them get heat, just fans who want a bootleg or individual scalpers.

Then he comes out against the workshop demos, which okay, sure. I get why he doesn’t want it, but to have a show that talks about history and info lost and then be against an early archive of the show itself? It comes across as a bit tone deaf.

Also the lotto deal. At a time when tickets are at a premium and around the holidays, someone makes the choice “for fairness” to leave the seats empty. Not give them to some needy kids or anything. There’s probably a legal reason why that had to happen, but we never heard it, so it adds to the backlash.

Now we have this, and it didn’t even have to end this badly. “hey guys, I’m not okay with the bootleg and the gifs, but that’s out of my hands now. So would you please tag them something other than the main fandom tag? You do you, I do me, let’s not fight” But no now we have what happens every time Lmm comes out against bootlegs, you get the fandom attacking itself and old-school theaterfen going on about the “magic” of being there.

Guess what, even if the tour comes to every major city in the US, it’s not going to guarantee that people would get to see it. In Sf the cost for the pre-order hovers around 300$, this is a year before the show even opens. Also this doesn’t cover other countries/schools in countries that don’t tend to get school versions of things.

So you want to know how to actually combat bootlegging? Encourage creators to use the internet as a platform for pay-per-view and streaming shows. Take the cost of a ticket, slice it in half. Okay you’re at 40-50$. You pay and you get to watch a show, and the creator gets money they wouldn’t get otherwise. Add 20$ more onto that price and they can download that specific show. Yeah someone could upload it later, but guess what, anyone could also just pay the fee and watch live theater on their own and get their own copy at that point. It floods the market so hard with legit sources that bootleggers don’t have an incentive to keep at it. And real talk? This wouldn’t just open up the market to people who can’t see the show in other countries, but for people with special needs and people with anxiety disorders. Plus, you’ll still get a proshot later on too. Because a proshot is filmed like a movie. They all fill different niches.“

Because you’re right, Lin has done a ton to make parts of the show available, but it’s him working with the platform of the internet that’s kept a bootleg under wraps this long, not actively trying to fight what the internet just does. In fact, let’s have a fun experiment, go back and see when people started giving the Hamilton fanbase and LMM crackback, check when the first bootleg gifs started popping up. Oh man, LOOK AT THAT, right after every time fandom was shitty about people who couldn’t afford to go, or after the mistakes listed above. In fact the backlash is at the worst now because people like you are being assholes about it.

So congratulations, this is an “open the cages in the zoo” kinda stupid. People are so pissed that instead of the notoriously complicated and secretive bootleg trade, people are openly giving away copies for just a please and thank you. They’re mirroring copies just as fast as they’re being taken down, and why? Because theaterfen like you decided to just stick your collective metaphorical dicks into a beehive and do a little jig.

Oh right, one more quote from what I’m working on:

You know, maybe I should get out of stage management, just to avoid “fans” like you.

You have no respect and that’s a fact. I could go on to list all the flaws in your so called logic, but it’s not really worth my time. My first response was me just grasping at the idea that you might at least admit that bootlegs are literally illegal and kinda shitty things to be involved in, but I guess not.

I respect actors enough to be against someone obviously filming them and throwing off their performance. I respect them enough that if they work with the fanbase, I give them a lot of leeway when it comes to bootlegs and avoid making fanwork based off of that footage. I respect them enough to not openly distribute bootlegs, and if someone gives me one, only keep it between my friends.

Bootlegs only exist when better options haven’t been made available. I explained one of those better options, but I guess it’d kill you to admit that something so openly proletarian has intrinsic value. Bootlegs are a symptom of a larger problem. You treat the problem, the symptom goes away.

So I will have a lot of fun bemoaning theater, because unlike you, I’m not a part of a dying breed. People like you? Who can’t stand the thought of a bootleg existing on the internet, who’d make hollow little threats over someone “slandering the name“ of Broadway? Someone who’d fuss about leaving their profession because fans criticize something they like? Those people are leaving, those people are dying out, and if they do get replaced? they’re going to get replaced by people who want openness and options, by people who are done with that kind of elitist attitude. People like me. The groundlings are taking the place back and getting their muddy boots on the seats, baby, it’s time to adapt.

WEH YOU’RE MEAN AND RUDE AND AND I’M DEFINITELY NOT ARGUING BACK WITH YOU, NOT BECAUSE I HAVE A WAY TO COMBAT WHAT YOU SAID (bc i dont) BUT BC YOU’RE MEAN AND RUDE AND I’M TAKING MY TOYS AND GOING HOME

Like that’s how all these arguments go.

“If you want to see the show, you should save up and go!!!”

“It’s too expensive, I won’t be able to afford to go to NYC and everything.”

“Then wait until it tours!!”

“It’s still too expensive for me to afford, so what do I do then?”

“WELL UH UM…BUY THE ALBUM, LISTEN TO THAT.”

“So I should miss out on seeing a show I love just because I can’t afford anything or I’m poor?”

“WELL UHHH”

It began with a tightness in his extremities. He’d been concerned at first he’d missed a dose of his heart medication. He thought over the morning’s events, and no- he had taken the medication. He walked to the kitchen to grab some water- thinking himself dehydrated.

But as he reached for the glass, his fingers were stiff and uncooperative…and a grey color. He rubbed them together and the texture alarmed him, as did the lack of feeling. His heart thumping in his chest, he blustered out of the kitchen and ran to consult some cards.

He recapped a ketchup bottle he used to make the rune with and set it aside, hopping out of his slacks and shirt as to get the brunt of his maluable skin visible. As soon as a patch of skin was visible it was soon inhabited by a variety of spirals and rings, shimmering and quivering almost with excitement.

“…will say though… is flattering… that would… think fondly enough of me… to put… in will.”

He didn’t want his last emotion before he was stone to be anger. He didn’t want it to be a lot of things. Another large sigh, and he coughed some. He felt like such a fool.

˙ǝןqɐʇɹoɟɯoɔun ןǝǝɟ ǝuoǝɯos ǝpɐɯ ʇı ɟı puɐʇsɹǝpun oʇ pɹɐɥ ǝq ʇou pןnoʍ ʇı ˙ʇɟɐɹɔǝɔɐds sʇı ʇɟǝן ʇsnɾ ʇɐɥʇ uǝıןɐ uɐ ǝʞıן ؛ʞooʇ ʎןןɐɯɹou ǝɥ ɯɹoɟ ǝɥʇ ǝʞıן ɥɔnɯ ʞooן ʇ’upıp ǝɥ ʇuıod sıɥʇ ʇɐ ˙sʇıƃıp sıɥ ɟo ƃuıɥɔʇıʍʇ ǝʌıʇıʇǝdǝɹ ǝɥʇ uɐɥʇ ɹǝɥʇo ןןıʇs ʎןʇsoɯ sɐʍ ǝɥ puɐ sɹnoןoɔ ǝןqısıʌuou pǝʍoןƃ puɐ pǝɥsɐןɟ uıʞs suʍɐɹd ˙ǝuıɥɔɐɯ ɐ ɹo ʎoʇ ɐ ɟo ןןǝɥs ǝɥʇ ƃuıuǝdo ǝʞıן ‘uǝǝs ǝq oʇ ʇuɐǝɯ ʇou sɐʍ ʇɐɥʇ ǝןƃuɐ uɐ ɯoɹɟ ʇɐ pǝʞooן ƃuıǝq sɐʍ ƃuıɥʇǝɯos ʇɐɥʇ ǝsuǝs ǝʇɐuuı ǝɯos sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥʇ ʇnq pǝƃuɐɥɔ pɐɥ ʇɐɥʍ ɹɐǝןɔ ǝʇınb ʇ’usɐʍ ʇı ˙pǝƃuɐɥɔ ƃuıɥʇǝɯos

Maybe he’d gotten cynical in his old age. Something to think about until he got shattered or eroded. Would he be able to think in pieces? That was a real question. The crackle of the whole thing washed over him. Being that close to the object of that much supernatural force was going to leave some sort of effect. But eventually only the orange green purple taste of lingering magic in the air was left and Prawn seemed to have an answer.

It began with a tightness in his extremities. He’d been concerned at first he’d missed a dose of his heart medication. He thought over the morning’s events, and no- he had taken the medication. He walked to the kitchen to grab some water- thinking himself dehydrated.

But as he reached for the glass, his fingers were stiff and uncooperative…and a grey color. He rubbed them together and the texture alarmed him, as did the lack of feeling. His heart thumping in his chest, he blustered out of the kitchen and ran to consult some cards.

He recapped a ketchup bottle he used to make the rune with and set it aside, hopping out of his slacks and shirt as to get the brunt of his maluable skin visible. As soon as a patch of skin was visible it was soon inhabited by a variety of spirals and rings, shimmering and quivering almost with excitement.

“…will say though… is flattering… that would… think fondly enough of me… to put… in will.”

He didn’t want his last emotion before he was stone to be anger. He didn’t want it to be a lot of things. Another large sigh, and he coughed some. He felt like such a fool.

I saw this at Red Robin’s and I knew what had to be done