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I don’t think they meant any harm by it and I don’t think they believe their fans are idiots.
Hmmm. I think that maybe @Bar Farer is on to something, though. It could, of course, just be the product of the editing of the interview — but there is something slightly, well, not derisive, exactly, but a bit dubious about their apparent “surprise” at the fan reactions. I don’t think they’re maliciously lying to fans, necessarily. But based on their reactions to criticisms, those two don’t seem to always hold the highest opinion of the OUAT fandom. Again, this could be just coming out as the result of the editing, but some of Kistowitz’s Twitter comments/interviews over the years had all the social grace of a cement mixer.
Maybe the fact they’re being a bit defensive is understandable, though. I mean OUAT is, by its very nature, a fanfic. It’s derivative by definition, and because all these characters are part of a kind of “cultural commons” I think many fans feel that they should have a say in what happens to them and how their stories are told. Shipping is just an extreme manifestation of this. And A&E can’t do anything about this. So when they’re saying “we just want to tell stories about these characters” — sure. Fine. But I think what they don’t seem to acknowledge is that these characters aren’t theirs, or Disney’s, or ABC’s — some are hundreds and thousands of years old, and will likely outlive all of these structures. So the very nature of the project produces the sort of fandom they now have. Feigning surprise — oh golly, we had no idea! ships? what ships? — is either disingenuous, or staggeringly un-self-reflexive.
I also suspect that some works/writers lend themselves to “shipping” more than others — try shipping anyone from GRR Martin. If you know what’s good for you, you just won’t. And no amount of whining on social media by the fans will change the fact that he will eventually get around to killing them all [characters, not fans]
Your other point, about having run out of stories to tell, is dead on.