What's going on? I saw all these posts on your blog about b**t issues? What happened?
Hoo boy. So this is a whole lot of drama that I’m only on the sidelines of, mostly because my friends trade/collect, but I only do when I actively am looking for something. That being said, there’s been some major issues over the past year, and I’m going to try to cover it as best as I can, so buckle up! The tl;dr version is that some fans, particularly from certain fandoms, have been leaking like crazy and managed to drive off a new master. Here’s the longer version:
One of the cornerstones of the b**t community is the masters who make them in the first place. Up to last year, there were generally three people active, let’s call them S, N, and B. It’s important to note that probably 60-70% of the videos most of us have seen over many years come from S. The other fundamental thing about the masters is: the number one rule of b**t communities is that we protect the masters. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how easy it is to get caught; even if you get out of the theatre unnoticed, a leaked video with a date makes it pretty easy to narrow down what seats the filmer was in. This is serious stuff, folks. This is why we wait until after NFTs pass, so that they can recoup their costs and so that it’s easier to obscure the source. Also because respect for the people who literally risk jail time for everyone else’s entertainment. This post has more info.
So flashback to last summer, where a series of leaks nearly made S leave. This post, along with some others, tried to warn folks after Groundhog Day leaked. Did anyone listen? Well, when Anastasia came out, no one leaked it, but they did start TWEETING THE SCREENCAPS AT THE ACTORS, which S found out about and was furious, so, you know.
Things seemed to quiet down a bit for a while. But it soon became apparent that part of the reason was the disappearance of two of the masters. S and B both stepped away for personal reasons, leaving only N.
And then. F**king Mean Girls and their stans. The first video leaked prior to its NFT, which was NOT COOL and caused a huge uproar. And then recently, a second one was released, this one by a new master who got a gorgeous shot! So guess what happened almost immediately?
If you guessed “some a**holes leaked it TO YOUTUBE”, then
To my knowledge, this new master was also planning on recording at least one other video in the coming months that a fair number of fans have been waiting for. But now because their MG one leaked, they’re understandably not going to continue on.
Oh, and just to top it off, I posted venting about this once already, and I got this lovely reply:
So apparently the people who have been sharing and leaking think it’s just HILARIOUS that they’re ruining things for the rest of us, but, hey, they got their precious low-quality Youtube video and their fifteen minutes of bragging rights, and isn’t that what really matters? /s
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