Dear Cartoon Network,
What. The. Fuck.
You know what? You’re a Network. I get that it must be hard managing all of your shows. I get that it must be difficult to schedule and deal with this, while appeasing all the fans of each show. So I can look past the scheduling difficulties. I can look past the reboots I don’t like, because you know what? They have fans. As much as I don’t understand it, they have a following, and you’re a business.
But you can’t keep leaking videos.
I’m talking as a Steven Universe fan, I don’t know if any of your other shows have had this problem. But this show has a HUGE fanbase. You have to know that; the Crystal Gems won in a landslide on a poll for favorite CN Superheroes, for one. And you know, leaking a 5-second clip or two is fine. Or even, spoil a bit, but not something huge like the return of several major characters. Heck, if someone hacked into your accounts and leaked the clips themselves, I could understand that, because then it wouldn’t be your fault. But you are releasing long, EXTREMELY SPOILERY clips as promos for the show. The first time this happened, I believe, was the clip from “Barn Mates”, which ruined for many viewers the surprise of Lapis returning. But you know, it was short, not too spoilery. Then came the clip of Malachite fighting Alexandrite- two HUGE SPOIELRS. First that Malachite was returning to fight, and that the Gems would fuse into Alexandrite to defeat her, something that we all wanted to be a surprise. Then apparently a longer clip from Barn Mates, and now something involving the return of RUBY AND SAPPHIRE, SOMETHING WE’VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO A LOT. IT’S NOT A PROMO IF IT’S RUINING THE SURPRISE.
Let me tell you a story. In the most recent arc of SU, the Steven’s Birthday Week, the advertisements very well hyped my sisters and I up without ruining anything. They showed what we needed to see- Peridot threatening the gems, yellow shapes resembling diamonds, Steven feeling bad- to hype us up and worry us. We were extremely surprised to see First Fusion!Garnet, Ruby and Sapphire’s song, Yellow and Blue Pearl, the works. We did not expect to see Yellow Diamond, we went nuts. Peridot siding with the gems was a surprise, we loved it. When Pearl and Amethyst fused into Opal in “Log Date 7 15 2″, my sisters and I literally screamed, we were so happy. The point is, we were not expecting these things, and so we were overjoyed when they happened.
The newest trailer for “In Too Deep” was good, too. We already knew Malachite was coming back thanks to the leak, but everything else was done well. But now, apparently, the leaks are back. This is something that makes me so mad. I wanted to be surprised to see Ruby and Sapphire again. I wanted to be excited for Malachite. I wanted to be surprised by Lapis’s return. But now I can’t. You could say it’s my fault for seeing these on the tag, I can choose what I see. And that would be true, if these weren’t released as trailers for the show itself. Also, with a fanbase this huge, it is nearly impossible to keep spoilers hidden. You can’t go on the tag without seeing someone post a picture from a leak, discuss the leak, make theories based off something we weren’t supposed to see.
Another thing that bugs me is how often this happens. For a little show called Gravity Falls, I can’t remember a leaked image that wasn’t the creator trolling the fanbase (ex: McGucket is the author). Granted, there were probably different circumstances – Disney is a larger network, maybe there were leaks but I just happened not to notice – but the fact that this show is leaked almost periodically is pissing me off. It happens so often, I saw a post where someone made a joke about Cartoon Network constantly dropping leaks via a meme (I can’t find it, when I will I’ll link it.) It’s almost as if you’re not even trying. After the first three times, I figured you’d have a protocol in place to keep spoilers from airing as promos, or at least ask the creators if these clips are spoilery or not. Heck, maybe you do, in which case, I’m mad at friggin everyone right now.
Maybe I’m not someone to talk. Maybe I’m overreacting, which is likely considering me. Maybe this isn’t your fault at all, and someone is just releasing these clips as a leak and I’m misunderstanding the situation. Maybe this is just a rant. Maybe this is just to make a friggin point. I am so. FUCKING. SICK. OF HAVING TO AVOID ALL OF THE FANDOM JUST TO NOT GET A HUGE SURPRISE RUINED FOR ME. Again, I understand it must be hard to run several different shows like this. But this is one of your most popular shows, you could at least care when things are being ruined for us left and right.
tl;dr These leaks are awful and far too common, fuck you.
Sincerely,
A fan who needed to get this out of her system.
