What if 2020 is just the universe's extra time in the ball pit?

[rogueslayer452]

++ Sarah Z, one of my favorite video essayists, recently uploaded a video recounting and discussing the disaster that was Dashcon, the first and last Tumblr-based convention that happened back in 2014. Most will probably only know it from the infamous ball pit meme that circulated about, but there's a lot more that goes into it than just that. I already know most of what was mentioned, but seeing it all laid out in full detail of the event (before, during, and the aftermath), it's really more depressing than it is funny. This obviously wasn't the first or the last poorly planned convention to exist, but speaking as someone who was aware of this while it was going down it's just an interesting look at what went wrong and why this did, ultimately, change the way fandom on Tumblr operated. Because Sarah does briefly go into that, which I have to agree that the atmosphere did fundamentally change, whether it was from the convention itself or the way people reacted to the convention, it definitely made the harmless fun aspects of certain fandoms a little less fun. But that's a discussion for a whole other time.

Overall, while there have been people who covered this topic before I really liked Sarah's take on it, not only with a lot of research but also since others have unfortunately ended up, inadvertently or no, making fun of the young people who attended the convention, which is uncalled for. We can acknowledge the horrible dumpster fire that Dashcon was without turning to mock the teenagers who went. Which I find happens a lot whenever something deemed "cringey" happens and people want to feel better about themselves by mocking young people, usually teenage girls. So I'm happy that Sarah didn't do that and addressed the issue.

++ I don't particularly care for award shows, since we all know it's just a popularity contest anyway and the things that rightfully deserve to be recognized often are snubbed. With that being said, that doesn't mean that I'm not happy whenever something I like is nominated. With the Emmys recently announcing their nominations, I'm glad that The Mandalorian has been nominated multiple times (however the lack of recognition for Pedro Pascal is just blasphemous, imho), and I'm happy that Euphoria got some love as well, most notably Zendaya for best lead actress, because she absolutely deserves it.

Comments

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

OMG I need to watch that. I always remember the infamous ball pit meme first lmao but there was so much crap that was coming out about it at the time. It'll be wild to see it all laid out because there's gotta be a lot that either wasn't out in the open fully or that I straight up missed (or forgot over the years).

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I think because there was a lot of conflicting information around that time about what really happened, we didn't get the full story, not to mention the full extent of everything that occurred before and after. Anything else probably got lost with everything talking about it or questioning the legitimacy of the claims. So I guess years after the event it makes sense to revisit it and see what actually was true and where things are now, to give perspective of what truly happened.

And really, it's just chaos and unfortunate and disappointing. Sure, people made fun of it, but I think many don't realize how truly disastrous it is until they see it laid out like this.