#code: realize youtube channels

[c1g4r3tt3sm0k3]

BASIC ACC FREINDLY LIGHT PINK MINIMAL CARRD

Hiii guys, to the comments and everyone i apologize for the inconvenience of the title and everything, the carrd was free at one point but many people kept stealing the carrd and removing creds and giving copies of the carrd and saying they made it. I had sent out posts on here and my discord server letting everyone know if it didn't stop i would start charging for the carrd or just take it away all together and it got progressively worse so i decided to change it to a paid carrd and realized after a couple comments about it on this post that i forgot to change the post and take away the parts where i said free, if you would like the carrd for free there is a tut up on my youtube channel (linked in my pinned post or comms carrd i believe) for it but i won't be giving out copies or temps of it anymore besides the paid one thank you!!

HIIII everyone here's a new carrd! obtain it here look at it here!

REQS ARE OPEN FOR CARRDS!! only req i have is to be following me to ask for a carrd! and I DO CARRD COMMS!! so if you have a specific carrd you want made message abt my prices and what i take!! Donate tips to me so im able to continue making free carrds here! use my referral code also to help donate and get some money off on buying pro here / use the code manually HXYLIN !

[electricpurrs]

hey you 🫵 do you want to grow appreciation for japanese media that you wouldn't know otherwise and grow a more diverse taste to all the weird art that exists in the world?

i have a few recommendations for you!

i've been dying to recommend some youtube channels that i really love but never have the chance to bring up, but i think they have interesting things to say about japanese media!

Hazel makes video essays about anime and other media, i'm currently very entertained by her videos about obscure OVAs and old playstation 2 games. i really enjoy how she talks about things and hearing her perspective on various subjects

Amelie Doree (though i'm not sure if she goes by that or Noelle which is what she uses on her patreon) makes videos essays on (mainly eroge) japanese visual novels, from very famous and genre-defining ones, to extremely niche and often completely untranslated and undiscussed in the west ones! her videos are incredibly interesting and have given me a whole new appreciation for the visual novel genre of which i wasn't familiar with before

a good video of hers to start is "Why a Forgotten Visual Novel is the Best Trans Story I've Read' it talks about sexual topics but i think its clean enough to leave its good first impression regardless of how you feel about the medium

RickiHirsch (i believe she goes by Ricki) makes videos about a variety of subjects but often including also japanese games, anime and manga. one of my favorite and first video of hers i saw was "Queer Horror: Understanding Gender as Body Horror"

and lastly, i want to prove my point by recommending a modern anime i myself have watched completely on my own that i really enjoyed and think others would like!

have a totally legal link to My Senpai is An Otokonoko

this anime is from 2024 and i stumbled on it completely by accident. i was scared off a bit by the title (otokonoko being the common japanese term to describe a crossdressing man) but i was kinda pleasantly surprised by the softness and sincerity in which this show aproaches its topics.

its a romance/slice of life/drama show and its melodramatic and sugary sweet but a genuinely wholesome experience. the main character is extremely transfem coded (if you can even call it that? its in the text) and the show doesn't mock or demonize her for it and fully focuses on her perspective and feelings the whole time (and doesnt in any way deny a trans reading), and also its the first romance story probably ever where i've seen a character realize they're actually aromantic as a conclusion to their arc. its cute its sweet and if you watch the first episode and think thats for you then all 12 episodes will go by flying and you will cry. because i did

do it for her ^^^

[formulakracing]

celebratory drinks - f.a.

pairing: journalist!reader x aston martin!fernando alonso

word count: 938

warnings: a little bit of cursing, nando being a flirt, alcohol use (the champagne pop), references to alcohol consumption

song inspo for the fic: sky walker (feat. travis scott) by miguel, travis scott (i just think this one is so nando coded)

"there he is," your voice is clear, yet your hand trembles as you grasp the microphone, "i think now is my moment. there's no one else approaching him."

"well what are you waiting for?" camren, your trusty videographer and assistant whispers, "go, go, go get him!"

"okay, okay!" your jaw clenches, the words barely making it out of gritted teeth.

before you stands spanish driver fernando alonso, donned in his signature aston martin fire suit. it's gorgeous emerald hue is darker than usual, dampened by the champagne showers. his dark locks are dripping, sticking to the back of his neck underneath his cap.

yet, he's as gorgeous as ever, stubble ghosting along his jawline, his brows knit in concentration as he speaks with lance stroll, his fellow driver and teammate.

you take a step forward, swallowing the lump in your throat. it was now or never. the perfect window to interview him for only a few minutes before he would be whisked away to the designated media room for the post-race press debrief.

"mr. alonso!" you call, "is it all right if i speak with you for a few minutes? i won't take up too much of your time."

at the sight of you, the corners of his lips curl upward into a radiant grin, "of course! i'm in no rush, actually. you can stall me a little before i have to go debrief."

a giggle bubbles up in your throat as you tap your badge, "although i do have a media badge, i do want let you know that this is going to be a very relaxed, very informal interview. i run a youtube channel that covers all things formula one. we talk a lot about you, actually."

"oh?" he arches a brow, "is that right?"

heat billows into your cheeks as you realize what you just blurted out. in front of one of your idols, no less. yet, you don't sense discomfort from the driver. if anything, he seemed more intrigued, his eyes taking you in as you sucked in a breath.

"well, we're doing a bit about your history with formula one," your voice is tad shaky, but you regain your confidence as he nods enthusiastically, "and of course, we're currently covering your time with aston martin. so, i wanted you to tell me if there was anything unique about your experience with aston martin thus far."

the driver blinks, processing your question for a moment. he brings a hand to his chin, shrugging slightly, "i think i can say that this team has been able to welcome me in with open arms. i'm sure you know that there is a lot of talk in the world of formula one with my age and all that, but they have been nothing but accepting and supportive."

"what has been your favorite moment of the season thus far? anything exciting or funny you'd like to share with us? also, when are you going to bring back that infamous celebratory dance?"

at the mention of the dance, there's a glimmer in his eye, "oh, so you know about that?"

"of course i do," you affirm, "our channel is dedicated to the history of formula one. i'm supposed to know it all, from the historical wins to the celebration dances."

"i can recreate it for you if you would like," he offers, his shoulders relaxing, he points to the camera, earning a laugh from camren, "here, watch this."

he pinches his shoulder blades together, raising his arms so that his elbows and wrists were angled. he sways back and forth, maintaining eye contact with the camera lens.

you can't help but laugh, the sound ringing out, "you're pretty ridiculous, mr. alonso."

"please," fernando waves a hand, "no need for the formalities bullshit. call me fernando."

"all right, fernando," you beam, "well, i think that's all i have for you. i didn't want to keep you for too long. i know you're a busy man."

that's when the driver pauses, taking a second to really look at you. his gaze rakes over your body, his tongue swiping along your lower lip.

for the race, you opted for a comfortable yet sort of glam look. on your top half, you sported a plain black t-shirt, the material a breathable cotton. denim jeans stretched down your legs, a mom-jean like style so that the thick fabric didn't cling to your frame. to compliment the shirt, you wore a black belt, pairing it with black adidas sambas. your hair was pulled into an updo, so that it wouldn't be all over the place or unkempt from the breezy conditions.

"you can come interview me whenever you would like," his tone shifts, his voice a little lower than it was moments before, "actually, how come you didn't question me sooner? i would've loved to see your gorgeous face around the paddock."

"like i said," your heart skips a beat, "you're a busy man, fernando."

"not busy enough for a gorgeous woman like you," he flirts, and you were sure your knees buckled at the statement, "what are you doing later?"

your eyes drift over to camren, who luckily had paused the recording, "i'm not too sure, why?"

"because i would love to take you out and buy you a couple of shots. to celebrate, you know."

"you're the one who was on the podium. if anything, i should be the one buying you shots," you fold your arms across your chest.

"oh no," he shakes his head, "no need."

"and why is that?" your brows furrow.

"because beautiful women don't buy their own drinks."

[cowgirlcherrie]

☆ WISHFUL THINKING. loser! sbf! ellie williams headcanons

♪ 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠…wishful thinking by benee

a/n: here are just some quick head-canons of loser ellie, ellie is best friends with the readers sister, basically like bbf! ellie but girls girl coded dynamic.

warnings/content: 18+ MDNI. a nsfw section. breeding kink. switch!ellie. kissing. petname usage. ellie is so loser…LOL but it intertwines with canon ellie. cursing. dirty talking. finger sucking. edging. mostly toothrotting fluff for the first section

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

౨ৎ loser! Ellie owns an obscure amount of graphic tees with silly slogans on them:

“I ♡ HOT MOMS” or “I ♡ MILFS” or “BIG DICK IS BACK IN TOWN”

** I can’t find the post but one of my mutuals had an exact post of how she would dress…adam sandler core fr

When she gets complimented on them, she does not know how to take a compliment. When you found one of the slogans funny, your hands delicately intertwined with the fabric of her shirt as you tugged the fabric — with your phone hovering over the bolded text to take a picture – Ellie was sweating bullets beneath your touch.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie dismissed you the first time that the two of you met; she moved like a shadow whenever you were around; if you were talking in the kitchen, she would completely walk out of the room and just avoid the area. At first, you thought Ellie stopped coming around and being friends with your sister until you actively caught her turning on her heels and just heads in another direction.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie goes to your college and is a year above you but you didn’t know she was going to JSU (Jackson state university) because you thought she was planning on community, so it was a shocker to see her around campus because she actually would say hi to you or sit and chat if she wasn’t with Dina or Jesse.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie is obsessed with Jurassic Park and owns all of the DVD collections. She even has posters up on the wall that is stills from the movie and ones she was able to find with a deep dive online *cough* Reddit *cough* Facebook marketplace *cough* 

Frequently she tried to get your sister into it who gets sick of her asking–  but kept on nagging at Ellie to ask you instead, and with many dab pen hits and a quick pep talk in the bathroom, Ellie built up enough courage to ask you to watch it with her. 

The two of you bonded over having crushes on Ellie Sattler which was the first time that Ellie realized that you liked girls and she might have a shot with you.

“It’s even better to watch when you’re high because the dinosaurs are all like-…woahh”

౨ৎ loser! Ellie enjoys it’s always sunny in Philadelphia and parks and recreation, and would definitely enjoy emergency intercom or just podcast-y youtube channels 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie sucks at eye contact, whenever you start talking to her she rubs at the back of her neck, and looks at her feet, twirling the necklace that’s tucked closely to her skin and her shirt. She just doesn’t stop fidgeting. Her face gets all red but she plays it off that Joel kept on turning the heater on when there was no need for it.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie wears flat-brim vintage hats, especially some with corduroy fabric, and apart from her standard arm tattoo gets silly patchwork ones, like one of a drawing she did for Joel. Has a lot of rings and especially enjoys the spinny ones.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie who collects Savage Starlight comics, as always, is surprised when you tell her you found some copies in the bookstore that was actually going to get thrown away but you bargained with the owner to buy the barrel of the books because you knew she would like to have them. She gets all flustered when she realizes that you were thinking of her and it brings the craziest smile to her fast that you took enough time to remember such minuscule detail about her. 

“Do you– uh- do you want me to pay you back?”

౨ৎ loser! Ellie wakes up late all the time when she sleeps over at your house like I’m talking 11-12:30 pm and will walk around the house with messy hair, a large t-shirt and boxers, and dry drool patch on her mouth and down her cheek until she realizes she had been watched for the past few minutes by you who was scared shitless because you didn’t even she spent the night.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie in traditional Ellie fashion uses cursing as a coping mechanism when she gets nervous and doesn’t know what to say:

“I don’t fuckin’ know ask your sister”

“That’s fuckin cute… I guess”

“Oh – Fuck you!”

౨ৎ when your sister started this thing every two weeks where there is a girl’s night, she’d invite Ellie over for a sleepover and the sleepless night would be full of gossip, painting each other’s nails, drinking cheap wine that Ellie got from the gas station down the way —  primarily a self-care night, it takes a lot of convincing to get Ellie to join in but once she does, she regrets it slightly. However, she tolerates it because she can use it as an excuse just to see you and learn about what is up with your life or if you started seeing anyone.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie who bitches and cries when she has a facemask on, and is hissing and spewing curses under her breath every few minutes, with a fluffy headband on that is pushing her auburn hair back, begging you to take it off; meanwhile, you are applying a clear coat on her nails because she would complain about any other color but she keeps tensing up.

“Ow! What the fuck is in this…it hurts, take it off! Take it off!”

౨ৎ loser! Ellie when the summertime rolled around, meant she would be spending way more time with you and your sister – eventually, your sister goes to the locksmith and get Ellie her own key. Ellie will be indulging in pool days with you which is a recipe for disaster

She is tripping all over the place, and terribly applied sunscreen on her face which cast a slight ghostly white cast on her face, adding to how stunned she was to see you in a swimsuit, but she couldn’t look away and caught herself wandering her eyes to places she probably shouldn’t have. 

Underwater kiss! Underwater kiss! 

But she tries to play it off and acts like it never even happened the next day. But when Ellie closed her eyes all she could feel was your wet lips on hers, as the two of you were grabbing at each other and the way for a second time slowed down and all she could feel was the movement of the water and your hands on her skin.

When she applied sunscreen wrong and asks you to fix it for her, gets so embarrassed as you rub your hands over her face to moisturize the sunscreen into her face, but every time she opens her eyes she just sees the view of your boobs in the bikini you are wearing and just squeezes her eyes shut. Visibly pretends to bite her fist when you’re done

౨ৎ loser! Ellie 100% asking strangers on Reddit how to confess for you with crazy ass headlines, 

F(22) IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND'S SISTER F(21) ADVICE? If a girl’s arm lingers on you for too long does it mean she likes you? (F) Good pick-up lines that aren’t cringy for gays only…please How much does astrology and birth chart compatibility really matter? 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie splits her sandwiches with you and gives you a jacket when you are cold because even though she asks you a million times and you said no each time she asked. She still brings a jacket just for you — and how she would scold you for not bringing one. (all out of love though)

“You fucker! I knew you would be cold, see this is why I said to bring a jacket” 

Pretends to be angry but really she was waiting for this moment.

Eventually, you build a collection, having 3 of Ellie’s jackets in your room, which was Ellie’s subtle excuse to be able to talk to you. 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie doesn’t hesitate to pick you up from an on-campus party, and her heart shatters when you are crying because you had a shitty night and you don’t want her to tell your sister. Takes you to whatever fast food is open at that hour even if that means she’d have to drive 30 minutes extra just to make you smile.  

“Shh…sweetheart terrible nights happen it’s okay”

“Are you hungry?…cuz’ like I’m fuckin hungry” Ellie whispers amidst a thick awkward silence, mentally cringing and wanting to bang her head on the steering wheel as she grips the wheel until her knuckles turn white.

Suddenly becomes good with comforting people when it comes to you, but anyone else – the spinny wheel of death appears above her head as she struggles to formulate a good sentence. 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie who hates when you bring up anyone you start talking to or that you are going out with, will sit there with her fist tight and jaw clenched whispering to you:

“There are people who can treat you way better”

And by people she really means herself. 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie who set off the fire alarm once by accident because she was hotboxing in her room with Jesse and Dina and almost got a dean’s office summons and tried to blame it on the neighbors next door. 

౨ৎ loser! Ellie when Ellie tells your sister that she likes you, your sister makes the most disgusted face at her, but becomes Ellie’s wing-woman and kinda tells Ellie all of your likes and dislikes, which Ellie has a whole page in her journal with facts about you. 

“can I have your blessing to uh…date your um, fuck sorry your sister?”

“ellie please shut up I’m gonna throw up”

౨ৎ loser! Ellie has pictures of michael cera as her icons on every form of social media.

౨ৎ loser! Ellie gets flustered easily over indirect kisses, like sharing food or sharing drinks, and suddenly she becomes so hyperaware. 

nsfw 𖦹⋆彡🫧꩜♪⋆

౨ৎ When Ellie started having more than just friendly feelings for you…her whole demeanor changed, the tension was so thick it could cut with a sharp knife. Subtle touches suddenly had more meaning and her body felt like someone lit a match with gasoline dripping from her body and set her aflame. 

౨ৎ after an accidental confession that leads to the two of you dating, lewd thoughts from the shadow of her brain came after and she couldn’t control it — initially was too embarrassed to tell you and had nights where she would just walk to the bathroom and try her best to get off in the shower but it only got her so far before it wasn’t helping or doing enough and at this point she needed to actually touch you

౨ৎ That time she slept over and was sleeping on your couch, hoodie on her body with the hood up covering her face, blankets falling off of her body giving a full view of her sleep boxer shorts. When you walked by to go grab a drink of water around 3 am you could hear her moaning your name in your sleep.

౨ৎ is one of those people who seem bashful, sparky, and innocent throughout the day but in the sheets is the biggest freak ever, she becomes another level of unholy.

౨ৎ a breeding kink! Definitely owns one of the squirting dildos because she loves to watch the way liquids drip out of you when she’s done, will sit back pulling at your folds with her fingers with the shit-eating grin on her face that reads I did that 

“Look at you~” “all fucked out for me” Ellie speaks coly and in between breaths as her head reaches down to put kisses all over your face.

౨ৎ Ellie likes to see how much she can get away with, smacks your ass, pulls you back by your belt loop, sticks her hand way too far up your thigh, moans high pitched in your ear during public settings 

౨ৎ falls asleep with her hand on your boobs, god forbid she’s having a nightmare, she starts squeezing them in the midst of it. 

౨ৎ makes dick jokes talking about some:

“My pullout game is not weak thank you very much, if that was the case we would have had a lot of children already”

When listening to rap music that goes into heavy description about fucking humps the air sometimes to the lyrics...not elaborating she's hella immature LOL 

౨ৎ The minute the two of you go out and one of your friends says how she is a simp and how you have all the control in the situation, Ellie will make sure you know that she indefinitely has the upper hand. It’s like a switch flips in her head she gets so ruthless and so mean, she doesn’t want you to forget it either and fucks you until you can’t think

You will be moaning and clawing at her back as she pounds in a rhythmic motion in and out of you, her mouth would get so filthy, smirking as her fingers rub over your lips as she slips her thumb in for you to suck,

“but …do your friends know that you cry like this under me? that you look so pathetic under me?”

“Who’s in charge again cuz’ I fuckin’ know it’s not you”

“Are you cumming? Oh no you don’t…let me see you” “What if I just stopped right now?”

Likes to edge you, no doubt.

౨ৎ a switch likes to be topped or touched but also likes to be the top

౨ৎ whimpers whenever you touch her like a puppy, her eyes get glassy and her face gets red as she lets out low mewls of your name, and suddenly it’s like you’re an angel hovering over her and your touch is an addictive drug that she never wants to stop having.

౨ৎ  Overall just the best girlfriend ever, with a combination of silliness and fun in one, a big ol’ dork that is really just obsessed with you.

© cowgirlcherrie

taglist

@beforeimdeceased @starologist @destielcore @luvrgalore @ellsss @zahraaziza @emluvselandabs @abbyily @elliestrwbrry @mossc0vered @spacewlf @as2rid @spaceshipellie @lottiematthewsceo @emonopolyman @mikasbby @trulygnomed @machetegirl109 @munsonsfairy

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, June 8, 2025

My posts

Seasonal reblog: a post about Donna Summer and Disco Demolition Night.

I seem to have crashed a bit and taken a week I couldn't really spare to rest a little (while still going to physical therapy three times). This compilation of Maria getting in my way for five and half minutes shows a bit of the next SH2 commentary, but that's about as far as I've gotten. 

I am now developing quite a little Steam library of deep-discount games I have no time to play, as is traditional. This week I learned that the Epic platform is a thing, and also that it has Alan Wake 2 as an exclusive, or else I would own the latter by now. The rest of Alan Wake, I got for $5. When will I play all these games? Nobody knows, including my physical therapist who wants me to get up and stretch every fifteen minutes. 

Meanwhile, Ian's band has a new YouTube channel; he talks about a special song here. He doesn't know when I have time to play these games either; he's the one who got me to buy Silent Hill 4 off GOG.com. 

Reblogs of interest

Remembering Marsha P. Johnson, Stonewall, and her activism (I hadn't seen the Pay It No Mind arch before; it's beautiful).

Remembering muppeteer Richard Hunt ("he originated the characters of Scooter, Beaker, Statler, Sweetums, and Wayne, but also became the primary performer of Janice and is responsible for the flower child personality she is now known for"), a joyous performer lost to AIDS in 1992. 

Sir Ian McKellen on the trans community: "The connection between us all is we come under the queer umbrella – we are queer. [...] The problems that transgender people have with the law are not dissimilar from what used to be the case for us, so I think we should all be allies really."

Writings on what queer masculinity can be

Aro Books For Pride

Community support isn't rainbow capitalism

Disability aids from Active Hands (here's the website; I haven't tried their products, but the posters are very happy with them)

A tale of two Mondays: sweet and beautiful and weary of life at age 0.

(Not What I'm Called: Manul Edition)

"Builder.AI just declared bankruptcy after admitting that they were faking their AI tool with 700 humans"

CatGPT is just as reliable.

Xuanji Tu, the Chinese poem that can be read 8,000 ways

"sometimes you just want to look at the qing dynasty jadeite cabbage again"

Poll: Which setting is sexier, lighthouse or clock tower?

Tallulah Bankhead: blonde and ambisextrous

Beautifully colored dice, and also, it's a painting

Always reblog the sunwoof

Out-of-focus summer fun

Perfectly synchronized with mama (I realized that "let's eat shit with mama" isn't something you say out of context)

Two very different artistic kinds of bats

The majestic Steller's jay (not sarcasm)

I should not exclude the Swedish blue tit

Pride for one thousand years

Video

New gameplay trailer for Silent Hill f; it looks hard as fuck and twice as scary. I watched it again and said, ".....I bet I could do that," which is how we know that gaming has fully eaten my brain.

Happy Los Jibbities!

I don't know why this made me laugh so hard, but it IS very ewok-coded, yes

Puzzle the tree kangaroo loves cauliflower. Our lives are so rich

Now, this starts off as a discussion of sign language in a production of Hamilton, but ends up as a master class on translating "Not Like Us" to ASL

The sacred texts

"MY NAME, IS FRICKIN MOON MOON"

Personal tag of the week

Let's say House of Leaves, because I never get tired of house jokes.

[storgicbytes]

taking this out of tags RIGHT NOW

tags by @navy-leader

this. makes me go fucking insane. continuing

im still going fucking insane about my last tags

there's NO possible way of victim not seeing something that was streamed on alans channel and respectively streamed in the outernet. its canon that avm original was streamed there. even if it wasnt every episode of avam it is still there. victim lives there and knows what outernet has (and most likely knows about oranges and cg existence. not their powers but existence from at least an avm original episode)

and given that vic learned about chosen and that he was wanted. that victim KNEW about their existence and chased after them. that he had seen something that made him realize that chosen inherently had ties with alan??

one of my thoughts is that only specific stuff is accessible to outernet in canon. maybe not even the whole content of vids. (though the avm original was sixteen minutes and in "the king" it is seen that the video streamed is also sixteen minutes) which could explain how victim only knew a small bit of stuff and didnt just see the a bit of a whole thirty minute willingly and went "well thats all i gotta know about it".

its likely victim accessed chosen(and possibly dark) videos streamed and connected the dots by recognizing alan, similar methods of torturing chosen and the interface of alans pc.

(since its canon victims torture is on youtube and possibly chosens its kinda fucked if they accessed it as well. which perhaps made them even more vengeful)

thought. was showdown something that was streamed or something that was uploaded on youtube? at least the beginning of it?? and victim knew only bits of it???. it could be possible that victim knew about chosen&dark place of living and darks technology. from just bits of information and his company couldve investigated it? but ultimately didnt find chosen nor dark there. and therefore placed a damn bounty on chosen. and they mightve used leftover darks technology there for their own shit. victim knowing about darks tech and possibly small pieces of the showdown could also be explained that he didnt seem to mind the events taken before yellow coded the cursor into the outernet when going through chosens memory. but it does make me think whether victim knew that the cg went back to the pc and therefore didnt place wanted posters of them ??? did he know about darks death and therefore didnt place wanted posters of dark?? wouldnt he try any means to find how to get to alan? is it possible that only the cursor and tscs awakening parts of the showdown video were erased and vic, again, wanted to see more to it (i had a thought that he couldve known what is up with the showdown due to having surveillance technology but im doubting it because chosen and dark lived really secludedly from the city).

but in case the showdown was somewhat seen? by other sticks? and vic couldve known about darks and chosen terror shit from other sticks/a news outlet? oh my god i just realized something

so theres a comic about me wondering how did sticks treat chosens&dark terror in the internet and possibly outernet too. that dark blasted a whole fucking beam in the sky near the stickcity and it wasnt unable to be seen. could victim see that???? could he connect the dots that it was hollowheads power??

the rocket logo. dude. i JUST THOUGHT about it yesterday. and it made so much sense to me

my possible thought was. that victim did escape alanspc through the ip/pc sky. somewhat. in one way or another. and it was the reason why a rocket was picked as the corporations logo.

a rocket is something that is able to literally fly to the sky. to access the higher parts of the world. the ip/sky part of it that had a wormhole to alan in it. the person victim chased after.

and given that rocketcorp specializes on tech. another reason to it besides victims knowledge and ability to use it before and deciding to bring it into the outernet and devote a whole company to it. a rocket is literally something that is made of technology. and since they had to chose a logo that symbolizes tech

victim chose something that represented his goal.

fucking insane about it

i basically treat it as a base for my theories that victim established/reformed a corporation that used internet technologies he himself brought into the outernet (in one way or another). but his company is widely known as a regular tech company that produces all different kinds of it. including domestic stuff like tvs and surveillance cameras and also weapons. but due to technology and digital stuff literally forming the internet and outernet itself they also act as some force in the outernet that upkeeps and protects its citizens. since theyre the only ones with that kind of power

and all these projects that cover many areas of technology that are made by them are used to cover their shady underground shit like. the box and torture and victims true goal (which i believe he could be secret about even to his mercs and colleagues)

and that the point of victim bringing internet technology there. his whole plan of revenge.

it is done in order to protect his kind from something that he experienced. giving them a mean to defend themselves. ESPECIALLY after knowing cursors of users can be manifested in the outernet and damage sticks.

and he is the kind to be ruthless about it if it means creating safety. something he lacked.

(violence and oppression cant be solved with peaceful talks kind of mentality)

im fucking INSANE about this right NOW.

also. another thought

giving the possibility that victim "fell down" from the ip/sky. him providing the internet with basically "divine power" that regular kind of outernet sticks didnt have. him trying to protect outernet sticks from danger and death.

makes the interpretation of victim with angelic/halo symbolism in the fandom so much more sense. and so fucking amazing. oh my god i NEED to make something about this idea.

tom you opened a whole different dimension to my thinking and it fills in the holes ive thought about. im going to be so fucking insane and annoying about this.

pinning this. im

(go to tags here if you want to see my another idea of victim that is so fucking. mind changing to me)

[7grandmel]

Character Archives - [FILE-04]

Wood Man

"but i can't say i havent had fun screwing with the channel in siiva's absence.

not to mention, im always free to just... hop out and chill in other universes.

its always fun to see other worlds and other versions of characters, right? maybe purgatory ain't so bad."

With SiIvaGunner himself in a deep slumber [FILE-01] and Chad Warden gone [FILE-02], the finale of Season 1 seemed like a perfect place to let the story end and for our heroes to rest easy. Yet ever since The Reboot, the seeds of something bigger had been planted, a growing mystery, awaiting to sprout into something far greater. In The Voice's [FILE-03] final moments, he placed a curse on SiIvaGunner's computer, part-virus, part-figment, and all organic, taking the form of the nicest robot master in town - Wood Man.

Wood Man's directive was simple: wait for SiIvaGunner to leave his computer, then allow The Voice to be resurrected from the code to SiIvaGunner's reality. Yet since his inception, Wood Man has been laid-back, independent, and unruly. Before resurrecting The Voice, he chose to take over the SiIvaGunner YouTube and Twitter account just for the hell of it, interacting with fans on Twitter, and just posting whatever was on his mind across both platforms. Despite being created as merely a tool, being given access to the SiIvaGunner channel made him realize how much fun there's to be had in the world - and eventually, through interacting with the figments which The Voice sought to terrorize, Wood Man called it quits and went rogue.

Part Proto Man and part Deadpool, through his virus/figment properties Wood Man has been able to communicate directly with us in the audience on several occasions, a voice chiming in from time to time just to talk in the midst of whatever story the channel may be undergoing. Althewhile, those same properties have given him the ability to move between dimensions and parallel worlds at his own behest, letting him take part in or even lead channel events over the years. With his trademark lower-case speech, he remains chill and lightherted in any situation, aware of his abilities to escape from any danger he may encounter - a trait that, eventually, began taking a mental toll on him. Season after Season, Wood Man realized more and more that his love of short-burst fun and escapism was keeping him from resolving the connections he'd left behind in his original universe - procrastinating that which truly matters to him under a facade of unbothered adventuring.

In many ways, Wood Man acts as a voice for the SiIvaGunner team themselves, a battle of many creative artists wanting to at once have fun, whilst living up to the expectations set so long ago. Yet Wood Man's story is not a tragedy: Though his sudden awakening at the start of Season 2 was initially met with a lot of backlash and resentment from fans (see here), the fans eventually grew to love him - and Wood Man, in turn, loves the SiIvaGunner channel and everything it does, with his face proudly adorning the SiIvaGunner Art Team and SiIvaGunner Fusion Records logos. Toward the end of Season 6, Wood Man came to terms with his need to face his demons, and passed the mantle of inofficial SiIvaGunner figurehead onward. Though our guide-in-spirit for the channel for close to six years may have left, the lessons and values that Wood Man taught are here to stay: and the spirit of SiIvaGunner, both in the team and with us as the audience, burns brighter in kind.

nice >:]

[pruneunfair]

When it's hard to admit something you like is actually not great.

I understand the cry or better yet beg fans on some level when it comes to your favorite piece of media being endlessly criticized. Trust me, it doesn't feel good.

I'll speak from my own experience with my media that I loved and eventually had to admit it wasn't as amazing as I claimed I to be. I was a huge fan of yandere simulator, a game that is mostly known nowadays for both it's poor quality in coding and story telling and it's pedo developer, Yandere dev.

Before that controversy, I loved the game for its bright appeal, anime aesthetic and of course the easter eggs that came with the game to eliminate NPC'S in a funny way, I watched all the development videos on his YouTube channel, I visited his WordPress blog for any extra updates and probably the worst I've done: I've defended him against other channels calling out his bullshit after I was easily swayed by his hate and shame video. I was about 11 years old when I last defended him, not realizing that's exactly what Alex wanted his younger fans to do.

Yandere simulator itself is extremely gross. You've probably already heard of why but just in case someone seeing this hasn't, I'll explain. The game itself was about the protagonist, Ayano Aishi, on a obsession fueled quest to feel emotions by romancing a boy and the player has to eliminate 10 rivals over 10 weeks. What made it gross were the use of panty shots as currency that you used to have to crawl and look up at yourself if you wanted to use any of the tools in the games shop (Info-chan) the characters skirts are often flipping up when you run, one of the rivals is a sexy pedo teacher not meant to tell a story on SA but rather for self gratification, the UNDERAGE protagonist wears different underwear for special buffs and you get the idea that this game is a mess of code for something that is just a porn game being played by minors given how easy it was to download the game.

Other pieces of media I defended as amazing at all times are Helluva boss and Hazbin hotel. They aren't nearly as awful as yandere simulator and for the most part, I can still watch them without feeling intense disgust, but as much as they shows are guilty pleasures, they still have problems that needed to be called out.

Hazbin hotel has objectively more issues than its youtube cousin. Mostly just minor pet peeves that don't actually ruin the entire story such as too much of the same color scheme and many characters having the same skinny body type. Those are all flaws though that can easily be attributed to the shows tumblr esque artstyle that can be really appealing. However, it messes up with its portrayal, I see what Hazbin tries to do with Angel Dust, I am not a victim of SA so I will not be inserting my own opinions if the depiction of someone coping with the trauma with hypersexuality was done well but I have looked through reviews of Angel Dusts character who have gone through SA and it was overall a mixed bag, that it was okay but ultimately tarnished by the fact that the storyboard artist Vivzie put in charge for that episode was someone who has a rape fetish and even ships Angel with his abuser, Valentino.

Helluva boss is a little better in my opinion but it still has several of its own issues. Characters aren't allowed to actually be flawed and generally repent for being assholes because there's always some sad sad backstory that completely justifies them being assholes by inserting someone who's entirely worse. It kinda takes away from the fact that the characters are demons and would naturally act dickish to people considering how vulgar they are. I feel Helluva boss does actually try to make a good story since there are many episodes that aren't too bad, my favorite episodes are actually the shorts of the crew doing their job as assassin's which I really miss compared to the constant drama and the 3 year long "Will they? Won't they?" Between Stolas and Blitzø.

And not that's even mentioning the excessive swearing.

Now that I'm older, I can see how labeling anyone who criticized my favorite shows/games as mindless haters who just didn't get how amazing it is was childish. I know nowadays that critique and criticism are absolutely necessary when you have a flawed piece or media or a problematic creator. I don't blame Van Ji for adapting COBYB considering how tight money is but I still will criticize Solche for how vile COBYB is regardless of their talents. This doesn't mean sending them death threats or doxing their location but rather making my own complaints where anyone who wants to can join in.

There are times when you have to admit something you are attached to isn't that great and I know it can be especially hard if it's a special interest but instead of listing paragraph after paragraph on why the "haters" are just stupid for not seeing the hidden "message" of how Matthias is actually misunderstood. Take your time to listen to their perspective, why they hate it so much and have your own civilized discussion about why its good or bad, and agree to disagree, I despise remarried empress with a passion but I still like to listen to remarried empress fans explain their view on the story when the conversation is actually civil and not an hour long internet debate.

If you are a big fan of cry or better yet beg and are only looking for positive things about it, I implore you to look somewhere else because aside from my love for the Van Ji's beautiful artstyle, I have nothing positive to say about any of Solches work aside from mystical.

[cerealmonster15]

This is such a nonissue but I realized the other day the reason I keep going 🤨🤨🤨 at YouTube videos in their intros when they’re like “grab a snack, get a drink, get cozy-“ like that’s a nice thing to say and all. I think it just. Feels Formulaic. Like I hear it so often from so many different videos and people that it feels disingenuous to meeeee. Like idk im probs reading into it too much but it’s just at a point where it feels like they’re just saying buzzwords at me. Saying the popular phrases that everyone else is saying for Good YouTube Formula. I feel like I’m being sold something when literally all they’re saying is get a snack lol. Usually I already have a snack and then I feel kind of mad about it LOL. like it’s so not a big deal. Just makes me wonder if they are in fact doing it on purpose as part of YouTube Homogenous Activity like how thumbnails within certain genres and niches will kinda all start to follow a formula for engagement and all that. Maybe they’re trying to find the cheat code words to make themselves seem more personable so we will subscribe. I’m not saying it’s a nefarious devious plot when people tell me to get a snack or anything lol I’m just. Thinking.

And also! I get Mildly Annoyed when as part of their intro to the vid they’re like “remember to like and subscribe and hit the bell if you like videos like this and want to see more-“ like bro it’s the start of the video. I haven’t Seen It yet. I don’t know if I like it or if I want to see more. You have to earn that with the video part. If ur gonna plug ur channel do it at the end when you’ve won me over with the VIDEO I came to WATCH!!!

[captain-mj]

Pray tell us those streamer au thoughts?

I realized in retrospect that the word I was looking for was youtuber, not necessarily streamer... oops? I hope this is still fine! I explained what I think they'd cover and how they meet

Ghost: He's a cryptid/urban legend youtuber. He often goes to these places and take the most ominous videos known to man. Often includes him perching in places he shouldn't be while in full tac gear. He openly talks about being in the military but is super cagey about further details. Plays some horror games and he starts talking to Soap and Roach through Dead By Daylight

Soap: A gaming youtuber. Actually does stream. Mostly does super long games in one go because he knows if he sets it down he'll never pick it back up. Plays a ton of multiplayer with friends which is how he started talking to Ghost. Openly thirsts after him but in a fun way for the audience. Ghost can't tell if it's real or not.

Roach: Silent youtuber. Mostly posts his own bugs and stays in his lane. Speed runs Terraria whenever his views drop. Has a running bit about having an onlyfans.

Price: Teaches basic self defense. Is the chilliest of all of them. Since he's canonically a stoner now, he's stoned in half of them. Will occasionally join Ghost on his adventures cause they knew each other in the military. Is Simply Built Better.

Gaz: A commentary youtuber, but the kind that is mostly just explaining what's going on, not the kind to fill it with his own opinions. Occasionally features Alex for the ones over the CIA.

Graves: Is a commentary youtuber that does fill it with his own opinions. Has pulled a gun out on screen before Moist Critical style.

Alex: Critics and debunks conspiracy theories. Especially one's connected with certain pipelines. Ghost and him have worked together multiple times and there is ship content of both of them.

Laswell: Doesn't have a youtube channel.

Alejandro: Plays horror games and dating sims. Has a super long series over boyfriend dungeon. Openly talks about his husband constantly.

Rodolfo: Cozy video games. Is stupidly organized about everything. Will not mention he's married.

Valeria: True Crime. She talks about certain female criminals with a little too much love.

Núñez: Valeria's Ryan.

Farah: The obvious answer is over her cause but I never want to go with the obvious answer. She's a ghost hunter. Get fucked.

Oz: Posts coding videos and is very funny. Lowkey like code bullet (god I hope he never sees this)

Velikan: Long think pieces that leave viewers and fundamentally changed.

Mila: Parkour and sight seeing. Breaks into abandoned places. No one knows her, Graves and Oz are friends until they found out they're platonically all living together.

Reyes: Work out youtuber. Shamelessly posts thirst traps.

Chuy: Another cryptid/urban legend youtuber. He focuses more on Mexican culture than Ghost. Refuses to play video games on stream.

[vic-does-battlecats]

‘Y’know, Mistyfoot, some people die of nostalgia. So you better look out.’

Basic idea of this is, following Graypool’s death, the two siblings are mourning her. This would be after both their parents are dead, but before they learn Bluestar is their biological mother. Stonefur has some comfort in their being in Starclan, and teases his sister - she doesn’t appreciate it

Mistyfoot, later Mistystar, who never moves on after losing both the parents who raised and the brother she grew up with, and losing her entire life and sense of safety with them. Clinging to the code, to Starclan, as if devotion alone could make up for the perceived taintedness of her own birth. Seeing threats to this idea of devotion as a personal attack and danger to herself and her clan, even to the point of shattering the bond she once had with her former apprentice and friend, Mothwing, just because she stood as the realization of a worst nightmare to Mistystar - Another halfclan cat, this one turned away from Starclan. No, I don’t think Mistystar ever stopped chasing that perfect life she used to have before learning the truth.

​‘the vertigo of trying to get close to who I was before remembering’

My real actual YouTube channel i didn’t steal this it’s me LOL

[necronomeconomicism]

Victoria 2 is an accidentally perfect game. A focused piece of grand strategy that practically sprinted out of the hands of its creators. I will forever prefer it over Victoria 3.

Grand Strategy games tend to be about playing some kind of state and conquering or demonstrating superiority over everyone else. The topic hitting so close to home, it's usually approached with extreme, cartoonish abstraction. Hearts of Iron 4 is a great example of this, in which the mighty leading men of WW2 are literally drawn characters and there are almost no wartime atrocities. So, so many youtube thumbnails of hoi4 youtube channel guy #468 wearing Hitler's fancy hat.

Victoria 2's theme is economics and colonialism. It's set from 1836 to 1936. So one would think we get squeaky clean sanitized General Custer and Wholesome Teddy Roosevelt. Instead, Victoria 2 is cold and distant. It has no great men acting out the history. No real characters at all besides randomly generated military leaders. Victoria 2 barely has recognizable historical events.

No there are only 3 things in Victoria 2. Resources, Capital, and The State. And Resources includes people and you play as The State. Victoria 2 is a game where Slavery is bad because slaves don't pay taxes. Victoria 2 is a game where capitalists are useless unless you can control their investments. Victoria 2 is a game where Fascism is the best ideology because it provides the most power to the state.

All of this chiseled into code seemingly without realizing what it represents. That Victoria 2 hates itself and it hates the player. I say that in the best way possible. It is a dark reflection of the soul of Grand Strategy. Ripping open the priorities of imperialism and the narrative of the west. Once that is understood it becomes viscerally painful to play. In a fun kind of way. Like a grand strategy cruelty squad but on accident.

[xfolex]

Looking through Project Moon's old YouTube channel, there's some interesting stuff. Originally I was going to write about the Tumblbug as well, but there was a lot more stuff there than I realized, so I'll just talk about the YouTube for now.

The first video shows some very early concept ideas for the game. There's actually a lot of information in this first video, which I suppose makes sense as it's the first introduction to the game and the oldest as well. I've added some markings on my thoughts of some of the images and also brightened some of them as well.

Throughout the video we get to see pages from a manual that gives some basic information about the game. These are in Korean so I put them through Google Translate to read them. It's interesting how even from the very beginning the concept of the Sefirot and the Tree of Life was being used. Page 5 has the same list of Abnormalities that I was straining my eyes to figure out in my NDC post, but then there was the same list in color so all my effort trying to figure out each Abnormality kind of went to waste.

The list that explains the attack types corresponds to the way the attack types worked in the legacy version. With Black damage affecting the facility and Blue damage being Instant death (though attack types are very inaccurately assigned in-game). You can also see how it originally seemed like there were going to be only three types of work: feeding, cleaning, and suppressing. Though there's more information about that on the game's Tumblbug.

It's kind of hard to see, but page 15 shows Tangtang being part of the "Command and Surveillance Team" which is something mentioned in the game's code in early versions. According to the game's code, it seemed like the Control, Information, Safety, and Training teams were originally called the Command and Surveillance, Solution Development, Emergency Planning, and Material Management teams respectively.

This manual seems to be missing page 16 and 17, and it doesn't seem to be shown anywhere in any video.

The line of never forget/we remember the day the Abnormality first escaped that occasionally pops up here and there seems to be referencing Nothing There since it's a line from the first training video where Nothing There escapes.

The second training video was released on October 30, 2015. I don't have much thoughts on this video, but I thought the pixel art was very cute. I mention the date this video was posted because this is the last video with the square employee art style. The next video posted on February 15, 2016 has the Legacy art style, so between October and February the art style for the game changed. I'll talk more about this shift in art style when I look at the Tumblbug.

I also want to take this time to mention Jeremy, the original Lobotomy Corp mascot (not really) who appeared in only three videos but still managed to capture my heart. This post is dedicated in loving memory to Jeremy.

The Teaser Trailor video has a few key things I wanted to mention. First, the assign work UI seems to have the Book w/o Picture or Dialogue as the default icon for every Abnormality, and has a very different UI that I'm not quite sure how it works. Next, you can see some silhouettes of various Abnormalities, and most of them I recognize, but there's some I'm not 100% sure on. Throughout the video we see some Abnormalities that ultimately never made it into the game, but we can see My Sweet Orange Tree in the containment unit at the very end, which made me wonder how far along these unreleased abnormalities were in development. Even the ones in the very old videos, were they actually semi-functional Abnos or were they just placeholder images that never got developed?

The Proto-Demo video shows a manual and a line that leads to the target. The manual isn't in the demo version I have access to but can still be found in the game's files. I don't have much else thoughts on it other than how purposely bad the person playing the game is doing. Just absolutely picking the worst option consistently.

I also don't have much to say about the other game test videos except in the Day 14 video where we can see some very minor differences. First, the entire game seems a lot darker than normal, but that might just be due to the recording. Second, the Abnormality's Damage Type is listed instead of the Attack Type, which is honestly more useful information that I wish was kept for the Legacy version. Third, the hallways are all very dark as if Big Bird was breaching, and generic irrespective of the department. Fourth, the employee assign UI is very slightly different not that huge but just enough to be noticeable. Lastly, I found it funny how PM just left a broken icon for Snow White's Apple in the video.

The third training video with Queen of Hatred is pretty interesting because it seems to be following QoH's story where an employee talks to her over the course of a few days and her moods gets worse every day. But specifically the old version of QoH's story, since it seems like a lot of Abno stories were ever so slightly changed sometime after the 1.0.2.2 version. The new version of the story omits the fact that QoH was neutralized with anesthetic, which was probably because that mechanic was removed after the legacy version. Also, another interesting thing about the video is that the background containment unit seems to be different that usual, where some stuff is in different places and the number written on the wall is 76 instead of 27.

The Lobtomi♥High video was PM's April Fools for 2017, released alongside version 1.0.1.0 which introduced Little Red, Big and Might be Bad Wolf, Central Command Team, and most importantly You're Bald...! PM has historically celebrated April Fools a lot, whether intentionally or not. There's a lot of random abnormalities in this video, including some released, unreleased, and joke abnormalities. I find it interesting that Fragment of the Universe was the only abnormality that was unreleased and not shown before when the video was published that was then released later on. This video was the first time Fragment of the Universe was ever made public.

[ I can't show a screenshot of the video because I reached the max image limit for the post :( ]

There's two launch trailers for the game, one for when the game was first released in early access, and one for when the game was about to fully release. Between the two, I personally like the first one better because it has a better sense of progression rather than just showing bad things happening out of context, but maybe I'm just biased since I like first trumpet more.

Ok, I think that's enough for this post. There's a lot of stuff to unpack with these videos, so it was nice to look back through them again since I haven't really sat down to watch them all in years.

[jules-9-7-1]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask if there's a way to download audio only from YouTube videos.

An awesome otome reader YouTuber, Spacey Sims, got hit with multiple copyright strikes on a video game she completed some time ago. VOLTAGE, I think? But the copyright strikes were on all of the videos all in one night.

I'm bad at summarizing so here is a screenshot of her community tab notification.

My point is, besides hoping against all hope that YouTube doesn't take away her channel, I want to download the videos, or at least the audio, so I can still finish the videos.

At least within the 30 days before an internet connection is required again.

Can I convert the videos or audio to mp4, etc onto a USB stick or flash drive?

Should I try contacting the Wayback machine to try to preserve them?

Is there a way to voice to YouTube not to take down her channel?

She has been on YouTube for 8 plus years and started with playing Sims. Eventually reading otome games in her own voices. There are so many awesome games but the ones I want to save/download are:

Code Realize Guardian of Rebirth

Code Realize: Future Blessings

Code Realize: Winter

Virche Evermore

Cafe Enchante

Birushana Genpei

Olympia Soiree

Amnesia Memories and the fandiscs

Piofiore and the fandisk

Hakuoki (the Vita versions)

Radiant Tale (she was playing the fandisk but it is not complete)

She also provides so much commentary that it feels like you are discussing the video game with a friend.

If there's nothing else to do but hope and watch my favorites, I wanted to post this so anyone else who loves her videos have time to watch.

[six0more]

Introduction

uhh yeah I just realized I should probably do an introduction maybe? So..

Hi. My name is Six, but you can call me Zero and I'm a (probably neurodivergent) Canadian lass who's wayyy too ambitious for my own good. I'll (eventually) have a variety content YouTube channel by the same name, and I currently have an ao3 account with the same name.

I have several things I'm working on and several things I'm planning to do. I'll put some details down below.

Transformers Annihilation: A Transformers themed world building project/ fan continuity that may or may not get turned into a YouTube show. As of write now I'm writing the lore and drawing the characters, locations, and other things I need to. But I will be making 3D models of things as well. Right now I'm focusing on Character Design.

Detroit Aftermath: A fanmade sequel to Detroit Become Human. I'll be trying to make a free to play sequel where a series of assassinations targeting government officials threatens the already fragile peace between humans and androids. Main playable characters are Hank and Connor, and the main antagonist, Adam (a rogue military android who is slightly deranged.) Kara's story is left ambiguous, and Markus is.. well, he's occupied and I'm not sure people want to play Politics Simulator.

Currently struggling with coding (not by much but some things are REAL hard to figure out...) so if anyone wants to give me a hand in the project feel free to DM me :]

Phoenix Rising: ao3 Transformers Prime x Call of Duty fanfic. Written in first pov, currently going through it's 5th rewrite. First two iterations are on my ao3. Fair warning the Transformers don't make too much of an appearance and the MC is a fantasy race undiscovered by humankind. Wings and fire powers n all that.

Annd that's it. I suppose I should put a DNI list as well.

DNI:

Scammers (obviously)

Transphobes, Homophobes, Ablests and all those nasty people. Don't interact.

Anyone who ships Hankcon, or at least anyone who treats the ship like it's the only one that should be in existence. I don't like the ship but if you're chill and don't shove it into my face, you can stay.

Aand uh.. that's it probably. So. Hope y'all enjoy my future content and I'll try to be a bit consistent with my posts.

[girderednerve]

okay i said that i watch a lot of youtube & sadly this is true. i want to write about youtuber drama

okay the thing i am actually referring to is whatever weird thing is going on with gamers nexus & linus tech tips. the background summary is that linus (of tech tips) is a guy who managed to get pretty big on youtube talking about various computer-y topics, many of them gaming-focused, & parlayed this success into owning a company based in vancouver that employs more than 70 people to make videos & merchandise & so on; steve, of gamers nexus, is a guy who has done pretty well on youtube talking about various computer-y topics, mostly related to gaming, & now has like four employees in north carolina. linus tech tips does videos about a bunch of stuff; he has a boring podcast, & the channel does a bunch of product reviews & bad idea youtube bait videos (we got the biggest tv! kind of stuff), & so on. steve gamersnexus mostly does tech news & product reviews, but they really do well when some company messes up & then he can do outraged coverage about how consumers have been taken advantage of; he would really like to be thought of as a journalist who covers consumers' issues. last year he got mad at linus techtips because of how he handled a review product from a small company & also the warranty on one of the backpacks that linus sells; linus tech tips went into crisis mode last year, made some structural changes & adjusted some things, & apologized (clearly with the assistance of a crisis comms firm, lol). steve gamersnexus doubled down on being mad, then realized he sounded like a jerk & pulled that video, and then all was quiet.

until this year! there's a big stupid scandal going on about honey, a browser extension owned by paypal, that a lot of youtube influencers shilled for; honey is supposed to automatically find discount codes when you're online shopping, but it only looks at discount codes that merchants have shared with it (so not necessarily the best ones, or any at all) & also enters paypal as the affiliate referrer, which means that whatever youtuber affiliate link you might've clicked to buy whatever you're buying, that youtuber gets $0 & paypal gets the commission instead. linus techtips noticed that this was happening years ago & stopped shilling for honey, but didn't generously inform the whole community about it, so now steve gamersnexus is mad at him for that.

i don't care about these details in particular & i mostly find the whole 'creator'/'influencer' economy like, distasteful. everything is marketing now & i guess i read culturejammers stuff at a formative age but i don't like it. the thing i think is interesting is that these two people are in a public fight about what they're doing here on youtube; what are the community rules & expectations? what job are they doing? this is related to what i thought about the long hbomberguy youtube plagiarism callout video, too. is steve gamersnexus doing journalism? what does that entail? if you're a journalist, you're obliged to interact with your sources in a certain way, following a well-established set of ethical guidelines. linus techtips points this out & says that steve gamersnexus didn't operate that way, which appears to be true; steve gamersnexus has a long list of ethical principles on his website, but he's more or less written them from personal conviction (perhaps, less generously, what he thinks will play well), not derived them from j-school curricula. i'm not standing here saying, oh legacy journalism had this all figured out, i don't think that, but there was a generally agreed upon model for how to behave as a journalist. it's interesting to me because i think the 'big youtuber' or 'content creator' or 'influencer' or whatever is a fundamentally different job that leaves you with different audience expectations & personal pressures than working for like, a newspaper, and nobody has actually arrived at a consistent or articulable idea about what ethical behavior there looks like. youtubers copy each other, but then most of them are amateurs; does it matter? journalists shouldn't get into online slapfights, but journalists also usually don't have to shill t-shirts with zingy one-liners they said last week on them.

one major, obvious point here is that gamersnexus does better when there is some kind of thing to be mad about. this isn't unique at all, that's why there's a whole genre of youtube drama that is clearly designed to do well with audiences, because individual videos are monetized. but if you want to be a serious journalist, then you can't operate that way, right? you're not supposed to churn out SEO clickbait, because that's exactly the kind of shit that is easy to produce with an LLM, it contributes very little of value to anyone except advertisers. at the same time, you're running a business, more or less on your online persona, your face. journalists, actors, & so on all rely on professional reputation to have a career to some degree, but that's not the same thing; you don't need people to imagine that the wall street journal is their friend who speaks up for the little guy. so there are competing pressures & we can't decide what the right thing to do is, what exactly our responsibilities to one another are.

all this to say my favorite moment in linus techtips' latest crisis comms monologue is when he calls steve gamersnexus an influencer, because this isn't strictly an insult but is surely meant & received as one, despite being, i think, true. there's just a weird churning cultural problem around what media production should look like & who gets to be taken seriously & how, and i think it's a charged, usually unproductive conversation. relevant also that linus techtips has never claimed to be doing journalism, & has a different, vaguer model of integrity, which involves not lying in product reviews & being transparent about sponsored content. i think this is probably the way the wind blows, but it's easier to pick & choose when you're already doing well, & again this whole approach is pretty loose.