#by watching interesting video essays

[idk-im-just-here-now]

Was about to watch a video essay on The Magnus Archives before remembering I've never listened to it before and hey maybe this time I shouldn't spoil it for myself and I should go listen to the Magnus Archives

[ingoodjesst]

have you put the pieces together yet, detective

[courtrecord]

honestly i hate how that “maybe the curtains are just blue” post has become shorthand for anti-intellectualism and shit bc as someone who has an utter passion for media analysis now, I WAS THAT PERSON IN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS.

english class never taught me how to analyze stories, it taught me how to remember what things the teacher said were “symbolism” and how to take quizzes where we had to match a quote to the character who said it. i didn’t give a shit about any of it, bc literally why should i. it was bullshit.

there’s this idea online that people are forgetting or rejecting what they learned in english class when they’re bad at media analysis, and maybe that’s a little bit true, but i think the much bigger problem is they never learned it in the first place. cinemasins & “maybe the curtains are just blue” aren’t convincing people to abandon an intellectualism they already had, they’re filling a void.

when all you learn in high school is to write on the test “blue = depression”, why is it surprising that so many people don’t give a shit about the curtains.

[tothechaos]

i am not immune to the siren call of cool ass looking monsters

BONUS: detail shots

[sparklingsora]

cedric! my friend Cedric! and there are a few sofias as well! half of these + a whole bunch of other Doodles that im not posting here were drawn before i even started watching the show, and i dont know what that say about me, but i know what it says about him! i Diagnose you with Fun To Draw!

[faun-buns]

instead of mindlessly scrolling social media before bed a new hobby of mine recently has been reading entire wikipedia articles about random things. literally life changing . for the past month every night I've been reading about archaic hominin and human evolution and I've gotten a little bit obsessed. I'll eat potato salad at 1pm and at 2am you'll catch me reading the wikipedia page for tubers. the wikipedia app has an article randomizer so u can sort of gamify it. the thirst for knowledge is so real to me sometimes and I think that more people should do this

[becca-e-barnes]

Don't tell anyone but I love the thought of pornstar Bucky's girl asking to do livestreams with him. The thought of him taking the chat's lead?? Or reading the filthy things they're saying?? 🤤

"They're making fun of you, sweetheart." Bucky teases between chaste kisses placed to the soft inside of your spread thighs.

'Is she wet already?' The most recent message in the chat makes you squirm in your seat. Not that you're getting very far. Bucky is quite well known for his skills with a rope but he's left you just enough wiggle room that you can still grind your cunt desperately against the chair beneath you. It's not much relief but it's something.

"Of course she's wet already. Aren't you, baby? It doesn't take our girl long to get herself all worked up when she knows she's being watched." Bucky smirks up at you, his fingers trailing over the slick lace of your panties, gathering just enough of your arousal on his fingertips to show the camera.

'Our girl' doesn't sit right with you but you know it's all for show. You're his girl. Only his. Those people watching on the stream, whoever they are, mean nothing to you. You know he'll remind you of that later too. Reminding you that you're 'his girl', holding your chin so he can look into your eyes while he slides every inch of his length home over and over.

You whimper at the flood of messages into the chat as your viewers respond to the crystal clear evidence of your arousal on your partner's fingers.

'Fuck, she's making a mess.' 'Always such a good girl.' 'What I'd give to be able to taste her.'

The comments run up the screen so quickly you don't have time to read them all.

'She's so desperate, what a good little slut.' 'You've hardly even touched her and I'm already hard.'

"You're right, I haven't really touched her much, have I?" Bucky asks while reaching over for the wand vibrator he'd picked out for this stream. He clicks it on and the toy buzzes to life.

He seems satisfied with the lowest setting for now. Not that you are. That setting is almost always just for warm-up and that's not what you need in that moment.

"Please." You whine, tugging against the restraints, only feeling satisfied when your partner presses the soft, silicone tip to your clit, over your panties.

Everything feels heightened despite the low setting. You've been so turned on for so long that anything at all is welcome.

'Such a pretty little thing.' 'She sounds so hot when she whines like that.'

You hadn't even noticed yourself whining, much less the way you tried to grind yourself pathetically on the toy, trying to feel more than the featherlight touch Bucky was offering you.

You felt Bucky flicking the toy up a speed, startled by the groan that left your own throat. It sounded desperate. It was filthy and unrestrained and totally shameless.

"You like that?" Bucky's voice was all that could tear you out of your own head. He rolled the head of the toy in vertical motions, laughing quietly to himself when the sensation made you gasp.

'She's so loud tonight.'

The commenter wasn't wrong. You knew you were louder than usual, a testament to just how much you found yourself enjoying this.

"Sit still, sweetheart." You hadn't really registered what was happening until after it was done, although you'd agreed it beforehand anyway. Bucky carefully tugged the side of your underwear away from your skin, cutting the lace and then mirrored his actions on the other side. With the pretty blue lace in tatters, your sex was fully on display.

Bucky pulled the fabric free from underneath you, balling it up in his hand before pressing it to your lips.

"Good girl. Take it." You hadn't expected this. Automatically, brattiness takes over, your defiant natures tells you not to do as you're told. You hold out for a second, up until the toy clicks up one more speed and when you gasp in surprise, the panties are pushed past your lips, resting heavily on your tongue and you get to enjoy the taste of your own arousal.

[mossy-aro]

rowan ellis did a video essay on ace discourse and its history! thought i’d share it here in case anyone wanted to check it out :)

[succulent-pott]

In my head "Bucky" is a nickname, that little dude is Bartholomew Beaver to me

[planet4546b]

genuinely love it when robot media just goes ‘yeah of course they’re a person with emotions that’s deserving of empathy. they’re feeling an emotion right now. can we talk about something more interesting now?’

[michameinmicha]

If you've never watched a BobbyBroccoli Video please do yourself a favour and check him out - his videos are fascinating, well-told and look amazing

(I genuinely have a bit of an art crush on him because his stuff is so good 🙈)

Here's one of his videos about something happening in science (you don't need to know anything about physics, he explains things very well)

He's one of those youtubers i often forget are an absolute favourite of mine until he releases another video and i remember 'oh right him! i love his stuff!!!'

[boybff]

wait hiiiii hi hello bestie i didn’t know u like video essays!! i’ve been trying to find more to watch recently, do u have any other recs? about any topic 👀

HIIIIII bestie Robin, are you ready?? After harvesting my Youtube subscription and liked video lists here is what I have compiled. I'm gonna put my current top 5 video recommendations and then the rest of the list, under the cut, is organized by creator.

Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires

The art of religious interpretation (midnight mass vs god’s not dead)

Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.

Hogwarts Legacy, JK Rowling, and Trans Advocacy

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1 - Water 

CHANNELS

biz barclay - hilarious, brilliant, my best friend who drinks wine and weaves me long insightful stories while sitting on the dresser or in the bathtub. The vast amount of knowledge, historical 

understanding snapewives: religion, fandom, sociology, & erotica

Goncharov (1973) video essay

The art of religious interpretation (midnight mass vs god’s not dead)

Xiran Jay Zhao - Author of one of my FAVE YA novels, “Iron Widow” (which is a MUST read). I always want more avatar content that focuses on cultural inspirations from trusted sources. Xiran taught me so much about the avatar universe I already loved as well as valuable critiques. They also do retellings of historical events such as- Bisexual Han Dynasty Emperors and Forgotten Warrior Queen - Fu Hao.

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1 - Water 

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2 - Earth 

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 - Fire 

Fundie Fridays - Jen, a leftist queer feminist, and her husband James examine different aspects of Christian fundamentalism, American conservative politics and pop culture. She has remade a lot of her older videos so make sure to watch the updated versions! She was also featured in the Amazon docuseries “Shiny Happy People” which I would HIGHLY recommend. 

Vacation Bible School of Rock (3 part video series History of Contemporary Christian Music)

Ken Ham’s Creation Museum & Ark Encounter

Ask a Mortician - Caitlin Doughty!!! The adult Wednesday Addams we should have got. So compassionate, informed, and moving!! I love her work and she has taught me so much about what it means to have a relationship with death and grief. Her work deals with heavy topics and you can tell she does this work from a deeply respectful, informed place. 

The Lake That Never Gives Up Her Dead

Let’s Visit the Churches Made of Human Skulls

Why are Black and White Funeral Homes STILL Separate? With Dr. Kami Fletcher

Iconic Corpse Series

Princess Weekes -  Nuanced video essays on pop culture, race, feminism, and other social issues. Takes time to break down complex concepts, their origins and material consequences. The essay on confederate vampires and the connection later made to sci-fi media like Firefly were so paradigm shifting to me!

Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires

The Magical Negroes of Stephen King

Ro Ramdin - Poetic, biting, and introspective essays on pop culture. 

Do Celebrities Hate Their Fans? (Doja Cat, Frank Ocean)

Hogwarts Legacy, JK Rowling, and Trans Advocacy

DefunctLand- History of extinct theme parks and themed entertainment experiences. 

Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.

Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery

Mina Le - Fashion, movies and pop culture

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO UGLY: The Curse of Modernism

FAIRYTALE COSTUMES: it’s giving renfaire but why?

Quinton Reviews - Extensive videos covering niche topics, most popular for Nickelodeon deep dive retrospectives.

How Documentaries Lie to You

The ICarly/Victorious Saga Playlist

TheEpicNate315 - yea i fucking love endless hours of useless skyrim lore because the conspiracies are so deep and I have to do 0 of the research to get all of the information years of scouts worked to piece together! 

The Skyrim Mysteries Iceberg (Part 1 of 4)

The Fallout Mysteries Iceberg (Part 1 of 2, incomplete series)

Mike’s Mic - Silly, goofy, and thorough breakdowns of nostalgic TV shows

Any of his unhinged recaps - LOST, Pretty Little Liars, Glee

Tiffanyferg - Media criticism and commentary

Internet Analysis Series 

Zoë Ligon - sex educator, artist, and writer, who also owns SpectrumBoutique.com, a health and education oriented sex toy store. Such a special place in my heart for her!! Her bondage mini-documentary with Midori was so touching. 

Sex Stuff | Japanese Rope Bondage with Midori

Channels Newer to Me

Broey Deschanel - a mixture of film analyses, retrospectives, politics and just absolutely overthinking anything to do with pop culture

Elvis (2022) and the Utter Mediocrity of Biopics 

Meeptop - rambling about movies and stuff

Who is Dahmer Even Made For?

LadyJenevia - discussing entertainment media content including films, television series, etc. Expect to find reviews of recent cinematic releases, video essays on older releases, and interviews with talent from the film/television industry

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Art of Hiding in Plain Sight (Netflix Review/Video Essay)

As a disclaimer, I am not endorsing any creator fully and if you see someone you think I should not promote please reach out to me so I can edit this list. As a general rule of thumb the more I had to write about someone, the more informed the recommendation.

[lemonidae]

Legoshi is Gay: A Queer Reading of Beastars

[thenamessparkplug]

Dude you're about to singlehandedly convince me to watch a playthrough of Slay The Princess. how /j

MWAHAHAHA MY EVIL PLAN IS WORKING

SOON ALL OF MY MUTUALS WILL SEE SO MANY SLAY THE PRINCESS POSTS THEYLL ALL BE CONVINCED TO WATCH IT

AND NO ONE WILL BE THE WISER!!!

[tarhaorvokki]

It's quite fitting, but why Youtube?

[mudvi]

when you get recommended beatles video essays on youtube (first strike) but theyre also made by people who obviously dont know much nor care about the beatles. i cant stress enough how much i do not want to watch an hour long video about john lennon where all of the information comes from a) 50 year old redditors who think hes a macho straight sardonic mccartney-hating political activist or b) 35 year olds (on reddit or otherwise) who always get a kick out of completely misrepresenting his character and behaviour to make him seem like the worst person ever