#tryinghardtospeak

I know that guy

This is the funniest shit ever to me I work with that guy and he's getting the (albeit small scope/niche) Tumblr sexyman treatment

And like fair enough he is So Fucking Funny when he plays Caine

But holy shit guys

Lmao no one knows I make videos with that guy, I'm not one of the youtubers so I'm only ever playing characters or what are essentially ensemble roles. I was gonna say a whole spiel about how well the team treats us and how they're supporting local actors and working with them is just straight up fun, but actually they bullied me too much today so they suck 😤. (They're all really great and in terms of non-union acting work it's actually top tier how they treat and pay us. Additionally I bully them back and probably say meaner things lmao)

The vibe making the videos changes a lot depending on whose channel it's going on, and how much of a plan they're going into it with. It's a lot of improv, though whoever is filming will have a general outline, and if something specific needs to happen they'll pause the recording and give some direction. The amount those pauses happen also depends on the actors involved and the characters being played.

Folks who have worked with them longer have a better instinct for when to engage and when to quiet down, and what sorta jokes to make and whatnot. Additionally how well you know your character, their role in whatever crazy narrative we're doing, and their original media helps a lot (by virtue of having an active Tumblr account I know a decent amount about a lot of the media lmao. A lot of the actors are older as well, so having a nerd like me can be helpful to fill them in on plot and character details when it's relevant. This is also great in terms of providing work for women over 35 - maybe 45? - which is the demographic that gets the least amount of roles in the acting industry)

For example, I've played a particular character a lot for them now, so I can fall into that role pretty easily for their videos. We're now filming some stuff with characters I haven't played before, so I end up being quieter or a bit more hesitant about my improv 🤷. I won't say this affects everyone the same way, but it's certainly a factor in the overall vibe. That being said, the banter and relationship we individually have with each youtuber also tends to filter into the videos. So personally they often end up bullying my characters no matter who I'm playing lmao (we're all pals it's in good fun)

Uhhh what else

We have to pause or cut at least once a filming day if anyone makes an innuendo that couldn't fly over a kids head in an animated kids movie, or swears (we usually all break character laughing when that happens anyhow).

On that note, I know a lot of people (me also) don't like this type of content for the way it benefits off of children with unsupervised internet access. I've also seen people commenting on how nice it is to see homemade, human-made slop. The thing is this content will exist either way, and more and more it's being made by AI. These guys actually pause recordings and tell people to stop making certain jokes and innuendos when they go too far/get too specific. Like, knowing that slop will exist either way, its honestly comforting to know at least some of it has actual people who are aware of their audience. Are the videos still weird af and are there innuendos that slip in there? Yes. But I recently made a post about how it's surprisingly really similar to a lot of stories people tell about playing with their Barbies as kids. Like yeah, these are the kind of stories I told and things I said with my littlest pet shops in my bedroom. Did I understand it all as a kid? Not at all, that's why the stories get so weird. But that's what you get when you see a story with adult themes told through a child's perspective, yknow? Doesn't make it all better or mean the content should exist to begin with but idk. I'm still thinking through it all and it's a fascinating thought.

Anyone in university writing analysis papers on media, I beg of you to write a paper analyzing the way gender roles and dynamics are portrayed in these videos, how that relates/compares to the stories kids told with their dolls/toys, and what that reveals about a child's processing of the society they are in (this analysis through a feminist lens is just Waiting to be written and if I were still in school I would)

FINAL THING ABOUT THE IDEAS: If you scroll through Andreas' channel you'll find a lot of plots or situations repeat with whoever the most popular characters are at the time. There is a level of formula to it when it comes to working with the algorithm and what plots fascinate kids. Then the videos themselves vary based on the details of the plot, the personalities of the characters, and the way it gets improv'd.

SIDENOTE ABOUT IDEAS: unfortunately, as has been pointed out in some video essays, there's a very real overlap between the stories kids tell with dolls, and adult fetish content (easiest comparisons being potty humour and pregnancy/baby stuff). Just know that from the production side of things, they're really Not Trying to make fetish content. In fact, compared to you and me, these guys are kinda normies lmao. I'm pretty sure I clock a lot more of the possible fetish and kink implications of some of the plots than they do.

Tragic to not know if this is my dear friend who won't give me their tumblr but found mine, or just some rando enjoying puppy play

Lmao correct this is not a bit

Idk if you watched yesterday's live but I was actually playing Pomni w h e e z e so apologies if she felt different from previous videos 🤙

Yall have no idea how exhausting a 2 hour livestream is in character, Caine is actually mad impressive for the way he keeps his energy up 😭

Like fair enough it's social media everyone's everywhere

But as someone who is fairly new to Actually Being On Tumblr the years I spent Not On Here were also filled with the knowledge of like

Tumblr Stereotypes yknow

Like snowflake radical leftist trans kinky people

Said with no judgement that's literally me

Idk I've always understood it as that is the mainstream view of what's on Tumblr so why would folks who hate that want to enter this space 🤔

This is said with no judgement or anything tbh it's genuinely just something I find interesting and was surprised by

But I suppose if you're curating your feed anyhow, it's the same experience I have just with drastically different stuff on the feed

And I'm losing my mind over my own typing habits because every once in a while someone will pop into my head and I'll type it out in ALL CAPS or suddenly ADD CAPS FOR EMPHASIS

such characters include:

DEKU BUTLER

THE GIRL FROM THE BOMB MINIGAME IN OOT (not a hear me out I just love her)

SHEIK (see above)

metal sonic NEO METAL