It took me a surprising amount of time to get around to this (my life is crazy), but I'm glad I did.
You're a wonderful person, and you deserve to be happy and have all the success in the world. I really mean that. I can relate, at least to a degree. It's been a while at this point. I hope things are better for you.
And I hope I get to see the last season eventually.
I'm writing this on the subway today so excuse any bad punctuation or grammar. I just wanted to say that learning about ambiguous loss helped me these past couple days. I got laid off in massive layoffs from BuzzFeed where I worked for the last 3 years and looking at the situation as one that lacks closure and one similar to a break up, helped me. There was no reason for my layoff other than possibly that people on my team could absorb my work for cheaper cost but again, I'm trying to find an answer or closure during a time where none was given. The stages of grief I feel are tough but understanding and recognizing them help and I wouldn't have been able to do that without this post that I continually go back to. So....I just wanted to say thank you for teaching me this term and helping me through this tough time.
sorry this is going to be so long 😭 literally could not figure anything I wanted to edit out so here it goes:
I can't even explain how heartbroken I was when I heard the news. I discovered Summer Camp Island rather early in the pandemic and it became 1000% my favorite thing to watch/my little happy place; a show I clung to with all of my being in times of hardship. The "dealing with hard emotions under a fuzzy blanket" is a spot on descriptor for that show. Between the art, the originality, the vibes of the episodes and characters, the queer undertones, the humor– I felt really touched and understood by the show.
I'm personally, a rather soft and sensitive queer illustrator who cares a lot about friendship and magic and the power of coziness. I drew fanart of the show and saved my episodes for the weekend, so at the end of overworking/exhausting myself all week, I could have something I really really liked to watch. I distinctly remember saving the last three-parter for a "rainy day" because I knew season 6 was still coming out soon and I wanted to have some unwatched SCI backstocked, in case I was having a hard night and really needed it. The week season 6 was supposed to come out, I was so excited all week and was completely shocked at the delay– trying to google/find any info I could. When the I heard the news that season 6 wouldn't debut on HBO Max I was horrified and by the time I got to the website, the whole show had been wiped. I can genuinely say I burst into tears upon seeing it.
I was heartbroken and furious!!! How irresponsible and cruel! To wipe out SO MUCH hard work that meant SO MUCH to SO MANY people!!! I talked about their reprehensible destruction of the cartoon animation industry with some of the other artists at my studio (one of whom has worked on some CN shows & said he's met you & that you were incredibly nice + sweet) and we all put a mental curse on Zaslav. Your crew and the work you all did on that show, personally, meant so so much to me.
It meant so much that this flavor of show/the creative juices I aligned with were succeeding, that the second ever female creator of a show on CN was making this show, a show so true to themselves, and making SIX SEASONS of it? I cannot tell you how inspiring it was to me. It was comparable to watching the success of Everything Everywhere All At Once and PEN15; these queer/femme/POC points of view I'm obviously familiar with, but truly elevated to be heard and seen? On a big screen? With funding? Maybe even characters who remind me of... myself & my friends? I can only imagine what you've gone through but please know: you're like my hero. You've become such a role model and trailblazer to so so many young artists of a similar flavor. Please keep making stuff forever. I'll keep looking at and watching it.
This is so emotional... I really love when you mentioned the cake part! I almost cried when I saw your story on instagram. And here, again. As a fan of the show, I'm sympathetic towards the production team. Seeing your work always makes my day and helps me walk through my hardest time. I hope the universe will hear your scream! I will scream too. AHHHHHHHHHHHH
Ambiguous loss is what I've felt - in a small way - when a favorite show like Steven Universe or Adventure Time just comes to it's planned conclusion. It's not gone, but it is over. UNAMBIGUOUS LOSS is the feeling I had when it looked like Summer Camp Island would not only be denied it's planned conclusion, but would literally be wiped off the cultural landscape! I'm so happy that is no longer true - I'll take ambiguous loss over the alternative every time...
It took me a surprising amount of time to get around to this (my life is crazy), but I'm glad I did.
You're a wonderful person, and you deserve to be happy and have all the success in the world. I really mean that. I can relate, at least to a degree. It's been a while at this point. I hope things are better for you.
And I hope I get to see the last season eventually.
I'm writing this on the subway today so excuse any bad punctuation or grammar. I just wanted to say that learning about ambiguous loss helped me these past couple days. I got laid off in massive layoffs from BuzzFeed where I worked for the last 3 years and looking at the situation as one that lacks closure and one similar to a break up, helped me. There was no reason for my layoff other than possibly that people on my team could absorb my work for cheaper cost but again, I'm trying to find an answer or closure during a time where none was given. The stages of grief I feel are tough but understanding and recognizing them help and I wouldn't have been able to do that without this post that I continually go back to. So....I just wanted to say thank you for teaching me this term and helping me through this tough time.
sorry this is going to be so long 😭 literally could not figure anything I wanted to edit out so here it goes:
I can't even explain how heartbroken I was when I heard the news. I discovered Summer Camp Island rather early in the pandemic and it became 1000% my favorite thing to watch/my little happy place; a show I clung to with all of my being in times of hardship. The "dealing with hard emotions under a fuzzy blanket" is a spot on descriptor for that show. Between the art, the originality, the vibes of the episodes and characters, the queer undertones, the humor– I felt really touched and understood by the show.
I'm personally, a rather soft and sensitive queer illustrator who cares a lot about friendship and magic and the power of coziness. I drew fanart of the show and saved my episodes for the weekend, so at the end of overworking/exhausting myself all week, I could have something I really really liked to watch. I distinctly remember saving the last three-parter for a "rainy day" because I knew season 6 was still coming out soon and I wanted to have some unwatched SCI backstocked, in case I was having a hard night and really needed it. The week season 6 was supposed to come out, I was so excited all week and was completely shocked at the delay– trying to google/find any info I could. When the I heard the news that season 6 wouldn't debut on HBO Max I was horrified and by the time I got to the website, the whole show had been wiped. I can genuinely say I burst into tears upon seeing it.
I was heartbroken and furious!!! How irresponsible and cruel! To wipe out SO MUCH hard work that meant SO MUCH to SO MANY people!!! I talked about their reprehensible destruction of the cartoon animation industry with some of the other artists at my studio (one of whom has worked on some CN shows & said he's met you & that you were incredibly nice + sweet) and we all put a mental curse on Zaslav. Your crew and the work you all did on that show, personally, meant so so much to me.
It meant so much that this flavor of show/the creative juices I aligned with were succeeding, that the second ever female creator of a show on CN was making this show, a show so true to themselves, and making SIX SEASONS of it? I cannot tell you how inspiring it was to me. It was comparable to watching the success of Everything Everywhere All At Once and PEN15; these queer/femme/POC points of view I'm obviously familiar with, but truly elevated to be heard and seen? On a big screen? With funding? Maybe even characters who remind me of... myself & my friends? I can only imagine what you've gone through but please know: you're like my hero. You've become such a role model and trailblazer to so so many young artists of a similar flavor. Please keep making stuff forever. I'll keep looking at and watching it.
This is so emotional... I really love when you mentioned the cake part! I almost cried when I saw your story on instagram. And here, again. As a fan of the show, I'm sympathetic towards the production team. Seeing your work always makes my day and helps me walk through my hardest time. I hope the universe will hear your scream! I will scream too. AHHHHHHHHHHHH
Ambiguous loss is what I've felt - in a small way - when a favorite show like Steven Universe or Adventure Time just comes to it's planned conclusion. It's not gone, but it is over. UNAMBIGUOUS LOSS is the feeling I had when it looked like Summer Camp Island would not only be denied it's planned conclusion, but would literally be wiped off the cultural landscape! I'm so happy that is no longer true - I'll take ambiguous loss over the alternative every time...