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Jon Negroni

@jonnegroni.bsky.social

350 followers 660 following 590 posts

I don’t hate to say ‘I told you so’ 🇵🇷 Author, critic, occasional illustrator 🌉 SF Bay Area Books/podcasts/journal: jonnegroni.com Short Stories: ceteramagazine.com Cofounder: inbetweendrafts.com

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Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

Horror month at @ceteramagazine.bsky.social continues with a bonus short story just for our members!

"The Ghost Census" follows a nonbinary necromancer named Kye who is tasked with counting the votes for if humanity gets to continue another century. And the ones placing the votes are the dead...

The Ghost Census

Every hundred years, the dead cast their votes. And the living wait to see if they still deserve tomorrow.

www.ceteramagazine.com

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 8h

Exactly

Nash @radiodeadair.com · 14h

I think the best possible explanation is that while TRON never gained wider acceptance with the public, *filmmakers* study TRON the same way they do Citizen Kane and Hitchcock films.

The substance of TRON matters less than how it was made, so it's less popular with audiences than creators.

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty confused by how TRON became a big-budget movie franchise. Was it a bit hit when it came out? No. Did it become a big hit on video/TV? Also no. Do people have fond nostalgic memories of it? Eh kinda but not really. Was it secretly great and critically acclaimed? No again

Reposted by Jon Negroni

Da7e Gonzales @da7e.com · 14h

Interesting thread that I think gets Tron as a franchise. Star Trek was also embraced by geek professionals but maybe has more to offer in terms of a franchise. Like The Grid is cool but it’s a video-game perspective on cyberspace.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

the short answer is that despite its box office failures, TRON is a recognizable brand, or at least recognizable enough for producers to think it has money-making potential. That begs the obvious question of "why" it's a brand at all, and I think the answer to that is interesting! Thread!

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty confused by how TRON became a big-budget movie franchise. Was it a bit hit when it came out? No. Did it become a big hit on video/TV? Also no. Do people have fond nostalgic memories of it? Eh kinda but not really. Was it secretly great and critically acclaimed? No again

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

So yeah TRON has never been beloved by general audiences. But it’s beloved by the people who make the things audiences love. And that’s enough to keep it alive (for now)

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

The aesthetic still influences ad design and EDM visuals. The movie found a big second life in fandom and aesthetics culture. It’s a sandbox for tech and style experiments. All of this ladders up just enough to justify Disney seeking new life for the franchise that can make money "this time"

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

And to be fair, the 2010 sequel wasn’t really a flop. TRON: Legacy made $400 million worldwide on a $170 million budget. Not a hit in Disney terms, but not a disaster either. The soundtrack (Daft Punk) became a generational classic (though it's far from my favorite tbh)

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

When the internet exploded in the late ’90s, people rediscovered TRON. When virtual worlds and gaming took off in the 2000s, TRON: Legacy made sense as a glossy reboot. Now with AI and digital identity debates, it’s again oddly timely, hence big-budget sequel (that should've come out in July btw)

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

Even though TRON hasn't made money, it still weirdly fits Disney’s long-game IP strategy. Disney owns plenty of nostalgic properties that weren’t originally hits ( Black Cauldron, Rocketeer, Treasure Planet). But TRON is unusual in that it ages into relevance every time technology culture evolves.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

For a certain kind of creative technologist, TRON is their Star Wars. The design language (which everyone can immediately recognize) became visual shorthand for “cyberspace.” That plays a big part into why it's a "brand" that has potential to make money through movies, games, merchandising, etc.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

Disney keeps coming back to it because it's a tech mythology brand. It didn’t have mass appeal, but it became mythic inside the tech and VFX communities. It was one of the first films to use extensive CGI and to treat “the digital world” as a literal space of gods and programs.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

TRON’s place in pop culture IS strange. The original 1982 film wasn’t a hit by any standard metrics. it made about $33 million on a $17 million budget (so, modest), and critics were split. But what it did do was quietly inspire an entire generation of computer scientists, animators, and designers

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 14h

the short answer is that despite its box office failures, TRON is a recognizable brand, or at least recognizable enough for producers to think it has money-making potential. That begs the obvious question of "why" it's a brand at all, and I think the answer to that is interesting! Thread!

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty confused by how TRON became a big-budget movie franchise. Was it a bit hit when it came out? No. Did it become a big hit on video/TV? Also no. Do people have fond nostalgic memories of it? Eh kinda but not really. Was it secretly great and critically acclaimed? No again

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 1d

“If you don’t stop calling me a fascist I’m going to arrest you.”

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 1d

It's horror month at Cetera Magazine, so this week I'm publishing a short story I've been dreading to share for deeply personal reasons. But I'm so glad it's finally out!

Here's "Housekeeping for the Dead" (with an audio version where partway through I start crying!)
@ceteramagazine.bsky.social

Housekeeping for the Dead

Seven rooms. Seven deaths. I have to clean up all of them.

www.ceteramagazine.com

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 2d

one of the weirdest things about being latino-american in 2025 is knowing that a massive chunk of fellow latinos openly and voraciously voted for this bullshit

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 2d

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 2d

love how my inbox will get an email from a winery I've never heard of and is like "GET THIS TO JON ASAP, PRIORITY 1" but then also get a long detailed heartfelt message addressing me by name and say "UM. SPAM MUCH?!"

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

baseball has the best team names

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

we love josh johnson don’t we folks

Josh Johnson @joshjohnsoncomedy.bsky.social · 3d

Tonight Friends

Josh Johnson Back at Daily Show Anchor Desk Tues–Thurs This Week - LateNighter

Two and a half months after making his Daily Show hosting debut, Josh Johnson is set to return to the anchor desk Tuesday through Thursday of this week—picking up where Jon Stewart leaves off tonight...

latenighter.com

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

tbh they kinda nailed it on the first try with “the fast and the furious”

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

the short story is paywalled for our subscribers, but if you really want to check it out for free, DM me

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 3d

Horror month at @ceteramagazine.bsky.social continues with a bonus short story just for our members!

"The Ghost Census" follows a nonbinary necromancer named Kye who is tasked with counting the votes for if humanity gets to continue another century. And the ones placing the votes are the dead...

The Ghost Census

Every hundred years, the dead cast their votes. And the living wait to see if they still deserve tomorrow.

www.ceteramagazine.com

Reposted by Jon Negroni

Cetera Magazine @ceteramagazine.bsky.social · 4d

artwork for Thursday's story and it's an emotional one

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 4d

Housekeeping for the Dead
#inktober #procreate #art

A purple-tinted drawing of two hands dipping into a round bucket of water. A faint woman’s face appears reflected beneath the ripples, soft and ghostlike.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 4d

Housekeeping for the Dead
#inktober #procreate #art

A purple-tinted drawing of two hands dipping into a round bucket of water. A faint woman’s face appears reflected beneath the ripples, soft and ghostlike.

Reposted by Jon Negroni

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 7d

Today a judge said what has been clear from the beginning: the evidence shows the Trump Admin is vindictively punishing Mr. Abrego Garcia for having the audacity to pursue his due process rights.

Those rights MUST be upheld. This is not about one man — it’s about ALL our rights.

Judge Says DOJ May Be Vindictively Punishing Abrego Garcia for Challenging Removal to El Salvador

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

Reposted by Jon Negroni

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 7d

The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session.

Want to know why?

Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.

Call GOP and tell them to swear in @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social.

Jon Negroni @jonnegroni.bsky.social · 7d

love how airplane seats are designed to make sure that if you try to fall asleep in them, you will never be able to move your neck properly again