#well not minecraft just cscoop

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

On DreamSMP, SMPLive, and Fandom Spaces (a nostalgic retrospective)

I ended up writing an essay so more under the cut! I briefly mention NSFW but in no detail. Not tagging but if someone asks I can tag that. There are also allusions to certain content creators who have done bad shit, but I mention none by name nor their actions. Again, ask to tag.

I’m not sure how many people in the DreamSMP fandom have been here since the SMPLive days. I know I joined the whole SMPLive thing a bit late, and went more into the Lunch Club (yeah bet you weren’t expecting that) fanbase instead, but I think it would be interesting to compare fandoms, mostly focusing on ao3 fanfiction in relation to fan content and community. 

So there’s a lot to compare. I’ll start with Content Creator’s (CCs) views on fan content, including fanfics. In SMPLive and Lunch Club fandom the CCs generally had quite wishy-washy thoughts about fanfiction. Most of them seemed to appreciate fanart, but some seemed more uncomfortable with fanfiction. This especially applied to NSFW/shipping fanfics, which was completely fair, because it’s weird to ship real people or write NSFW stuff about them. There was also some controversy about ‘gore’ and super violent fanfics like the infamous ‘smpronpa’ fic, but as far as I know only one CC actually took major issue with it, and the rest simply joked about it a few times, and didn’t seem to care. Most CCs seemed vary aware of the shipping, and weren’t supportive of it, but did joke about it and didn’t seem to care that much. Aside from some cases (such as cscoop and traves) they did not seem to give two shits. Most just saw fanfiction as a little excessive, mostly from either not really getting it, or being kind of weirded out that people cared so much about them. There isn’t much concrete evidence to suggest anyone cared about it aside from a select few individuals and the infamous ‘serious stream’ (if you know, you know). The fanbase was also very split between ‘stans’ (ugh) who wrote fics, made art, and were perhaps obsessive or hyperfixated, etc, and ‘casual fans’ who tended to be gamer bros, who were also weirded out by the ‘stans’ and bullied them a bit, which was just silly in my opinion. 

In comparison, DreamSMP creators seem much more aware of fandom spaces and modes of fan interaction. Dream, for example, explicitly condones shipping fanfics (’so long as they know it will never come true’) between him and other CCs who are okay with it. There seems to be much more focus on CCs individual boundaries, sometimes to an absurd extend (’well they never said this wasn’t okay so it must be okay’ [in relation to writing something NSFW for example]). Due to the narrative element of DreamSMP (something SMPLive and certainly Lunch Club did not have, aside from personas and running jokes) there is much more space for the ‘stan’ type of fan, with fanfiction becoming much more accepted and celebrated. If someone wrote a fan song for SMPLive, they would likely get called ‘cringe’, but the same is not true for DreamSMP. I mean, it’s minecraft roleplay, so there isn’t really any validity in calling someone else cringe for enjoying it in a different way than you. You’re both cringe, embrace it. Additionally, fans tends to blur the lines between fan space and creator space much more than any regular fandom, meaning that DreamSMP creators tend to be more knowledgeable about things like ao3, wattpad, and tumblr. 

Now, is this a bad thing? I think it’s great that people are no longer attacked for making art or writing about their favourite CCs. There is a debate about RPF vs Fanfiction About The DreamSMP Characters, but that is a different story. I am more interested in the way CC interaction with fan spaces has changed the way those fan spaces interact as a community. In SMPLive days, people just kind of wrote and drew what they wanted because CCs did not interact with them. It was only when those works were brought to their attention that it became uncomfortable. I’m of the belief that fan spaces should be separate from creator spaces for the most part, and a CC shouldn’t be able to dictate fan experiences. As Dream said, ‘as long as you know it isn’t true’ and you’re not making anything illegal or extremely weird (like nsfw or RPF shipping) then it’s probably fine. I have an issue with fanfictions being read on stream, even if the author consented to it, because of the harassment that gets sent to the writer, and how disheartening it can be. Again, why are CCs in fandom spaces like ao3 and wattpad at all? Maybe I’m just too old to get it. Oh well!

Onto my next point of comparison, this one more specific to ao3, but I’m sure it could be applied elsewhere. The problem of oversaturation. Due to the supreme lack of ‘stans’ in the SMPLive/Lunch Club days, there was not that much fanfiction on ao3 (and about 1/3 of it was NSFW). You could go into the tag and scroll through every new fic in about 20 minutes every day, which was honestly nice. There were maybe 10 ‘big’ writers, and everyone was reading things like Floor 6 and Skyrates (shoutout to those who remember). I personally wrote a zombie apocalypse fic (Lunch Club + Wilbur Soot) which got a fair few reads and people seemed genuinely supportive of each other. It was pretty easy to filter out tags and find niches, and I met some of my now closest friends through that and tumblr. This was maybe early 2020. There was an abundance of creativity, too. The aforementioned Floor 6 (unfortunately now deleted I believe, since some of the CCs did some pretty shit stuff) was incredibly creative and engaging, and some of the ideas people came up with were outstanding. It was perhaps some of my most creative months, and I still recycle old unused fic ideas from that time for my own original work. There was a true feeling of community. You would see the same people over and over again, and if a ‘famous’ writer commented on your work, it was the best feeling in the world. I truly miss those days, especially coming up with ideas with my friends and thinking about them all day at school. It felt like a simpler time, almost. Which is sappy, for a post about SMPLive, but it’s true. 

Ao3 now is... very different. There are hundreds of thousands of fics. Perhaps even more, I don’t know. But I think one of the reasons I slowly got pushed out of the fandom is because it became so difficult to find what I wanted. There are still great fics out there, of course, it just takes 5 more layers of filtering to find them. But as I started to spend 1 or 2 hours scrolling new fics each day, instead of 20 minutes, I felt a shift happening. In the early stages, I wrote my own fics for DreamSMP. I loved it (back in season 1) and I wrote 68,000 words for one particular fic. However, I found myself reading fics less and less. When I tried to search for a niche, there would either be nothing, or a lot of fics involving characters or CCs I didn’t really care about. There were hundreds of fics which were completely identical, many more new writers (who tended to stick to wattpad back in the day) who’s work I also wasn’t interested in (nothing against new writers, but unless the concept is amazing, I will not enjoy the work if it is technically very poor) and suddenly a lot more shipping fic. Mostly Dream and George. Which is something I’m certainly not interested in. 

There also seems to be a difference in what counts as a ‘famous fic’. As I said before, when fics got popular, the writers were still just normal folks, just with more comments. Sometimes people would write spin-off fics for them, but nothing much else. A couple people drew fanart for one of my fics, but again, it was nothing compared to what it is now. Certain popular fics now get full animations, songs, fanart, and CC recognition for their work. It is an immense difference. And I’m not saying this is bad- it is good to celebrate writers- but I would also like to stress that due to the sheer volume of content, most writers get hidden completely, especially writing for a niche. It is strange, and I guess it is just an issue with huge fandoms in general. 

I would like to see something that isn’t sbi or dreamnotfound go viral, though. 

Lastly, I feel there is less sense of community in the current DreamSMP fandom. If I was a nobody trying to find a group of friends, I feel like it would be much harder nowadays than it was for me in early 2020. I met some amazing people back then who are still my friends to this day, through a single tumblr post that would probably be buried if it were posted now. Hell, this post will probably get buried. I knew people through ao3, through tumblr, and through discord. The fandom, I think, is so big now, that even on twitter folks have trouble finding a group. The entry point is now ‘be friends with someone who already has a group before joining the fandom’ rather than ‘scroll the three new posts and see if you recognize anyone’. This isn’t really something that can be helped, and I know it is a big problem I’ve had with other large fandoms. However, I also know that fandom isn’t always like this, and smaller communities do have that sense of friendship and recognition. I think this is an interesting topic and would love to hear what others think on it.

But yeah, those are some thoughts. I’m feeling very nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ right now, and I still can’t listen to the scooby doo theme song without feeling like I’ve been punched in the gut, so here we are. The ramblings of an old nostalgic fool (feeling nostalgic for a gamer fandom from two years ago). I am but an observer. 

If you wanna start a conversation, go ahead! I would love for this post to not get completely hidden immediately. Hope everyone has a nice day, and thanks for reading haha

[sturgeontime]

What your favorite MCYTER says about you

As a preface i'm sorry if i forgot anyone but i thought this would be fun so just take it

Dream: Everyone knew you in school despite the fact that you never talked to anyone. You like cats more than people.

George: You're either the shortest of your friend group, the oldest, or both.

Sapnap: You always fall for straight guys. Low-key arsonist.

BadBoyHalo: All you want in life is a small dog and a juice box. You give great hugs.

Skeppy: You're loud. You probably give terrible hugs but you mean well so that makes it a little better.

Spifey: You're ace, but you know a pretty boy when you see one.

MegaPVP: You had a crush on the strong, silent, bad boy character in every show you watched. You like My Hero Academia.

Antfrost: You like catboys.

Wilbur Soot: You think playing guitar/ukulele makes you interesting. You get mad at people that share the same favorite color as you.

TommyInnit: Surprisingly you have a lot of friends. You give terrible advice and you know it.

Tubbo_: You're really smart but probably have a processing disorder. You always ask for your friends to carry you.

The_Eret: You hide the fact that you're LGBT+ until someone says something shitty so that you can call them out. You had/have a crush on Hugbox.

TechnoBlade: You give good advice, but the tired and monotone delivery just makes people not want to listen to you. Go to bed.

Jschlatt: You're a people pleaser. You steal pins from the hot topic pin box.

Quackity: You're the kind of person who says "Yeah i like to cook" and then makes microwave chicken nuggets. Your favorite color is blue.

TapL: You refuse to learn any new skills. Your friends think you're super cool, but you can never tell. You always bring snacks with you wherever you go.

Fundy: You like catboys, but you're more low-key about it. During school you spent lunch break hiding in classrooms.

WadZee: You have like 12 missing assignments in school but still refuse to do them. You're the team mom/dad.

Fruitberries: You think Dream is overrated, but you have to admit his minecraft skin is kinda cool.

MichaelMcChill: Regretfully, you read Warrior Cats, and your favorite was probably Mapleshade. You like proving people wrong about you.

Pokay: You're bi. You enjoy bothering your friends with anime references.

Cscoop: Everyone thinks you do drugs but you probably just have depression. You have never touched a skateboard.

Traves: You swore at your best friend one time and cried. You unironically like doge memes.

[red-life]

the water bottle story??

okay. okay.

im not the best source on this since i wasnt invested in mcyt at the time, as this was back in december of 2019, and i had to double check this from wikis and stuff while adding on some of the super old posts id seen floating around back before mcytblr grew in size

oh, also, disclaimer: this story will include callmecarson, i dont support him nor do i want my blog and myself to be associated with him, but this story is a part of Fandom History and i think its important since its plausible for it to happen again in the future

alright, twitchcon of 2019 happened in late september, when minecraft had already hit its stride in its resurgence in popularity. minecraft mondays was still happening, and as a sort of timeline benchmark to the new people reading this, technoblade was whitelisted and played for a bit on smplive on august 26th, after week 10.

smplive was popular for the time, with its more popular members averaging over 1k-2k viewers, if i remember correctly (look, dsmp is insanely popular right now, hitting over 150k viewers for a chill stream is crazy, yknow? nowadays minecraft attracts enough attention for small streamers to match these numbers, but now is actually 2 years later than then)

the members who attended were callmecarson, wilbur soot, jschlatt, traves, cscoop... aaaand a bunch of others but the important ones here are carson and cooper

approximately 3 months later this is submitted to one of the smplive confessions account on twitter

TO BE CLEAR: this isnt real, this is apparently a copypasta from an obscure kpop incident, but it was a joke.

but the backlash to it was not, as the ccs, with a smaller audience, were able to see it, and, well

since this is from 2019, aka pre covid times, people could still go to cons and meet ccs often enough, which is part of how this was even believable

anyways the point of referencing this was to make a point about stan culture and meetups, not that i think any of you would actually take a water bottle (though i heard ranboo say one of his was stolen? i sorta remember him mentioning it?) but that parasocial relationships are parasocial relationships, and while actually meeting ccs definitely will put that into perspective for some people, others, like in the kpop community (not everyone, just as an example of a large community who have been able to meet their 'bias' i think thats the word) could just get... worse. and that ccs are gonna be on edge about it because of that, so be polite, nice, and keep in mind that this could be a reason theyre more distant, or whatever.

(feel free to correct me if i got anything wrong, i wasnt there but ive heard the war stories)

[ihavenobread]

Hello! I see you posting about smp live alot and im wondering who i should start with! Have any tips?

(oh my god, i got this ask like a week ago and forgot about it, im really sorry anon)

anyway! so you wish to get into SMPlive? well thats great, but I have to warn you that there is a lot of streamers -too many to keep up with- so be weary of that. You won’t be able to watch all the content and keep up with what everyone is doing, so don’t even try because you will burn yourself out. 

I suggest trying to keep the streams you try to catch very low, because most of them have youtube channels where they post highlights of their streams! Those are usually much easier to handle since most of them are around 10 minutes in length. The downside of only watching their videos is that you miss a lot of the person you’re actually watching. You miss the experience of getting to interact with the streamers you enjoy live, but the already posted videos are a fantastic way to dip your toes into SMPlive.

I personally started with the streamer Jschlatt - my friend demanded that I watch his videos, and I did, not expecting to fall deep into the smplive fandom. But, I did, and here we are now. 

I think Schlatt is a really good streamer to start with, so I would suggest you start with him too! 

Here is a link to his live channel, where he posts edited down videos of his streams. I suggest you start from the very beginning because he doesn’t have very many videos on this channel and the videos are pretty short.

I’m not really great at describing what streamers are like. I would suggest just going and watching them for yourself to actually understand what these people’s personalities are like. But, just for you anon, I will take my best crack at it.

All of them have more offensive humor than say, the Hermits. So, if that’s not the way you role, I would suggest not watching them. 

Jschlatt, who is my personal favorite, puts on the persona of a savvy business man who sucks at what he does, but still some how manages to scam a lot of people? It’s really hilarious to watch and he’s just a good way to start to understand the wacky server that is smplive. Schlatt has a really soothing voice, deep and jazzy if I had to describe it? I could honestly write a whole post just about Schlatt and how funky of a streamer he is, but that will be saved for another day.

ConnorEatsPants (here’s a link) is another really great streamer. Connor has a lot more videos than just SMPlive, so start here at his first smplive video, and then work your way towards the more recent videos. He’s like Schlatt’s partner in crime, but still also got boofed (tricked?) by Schlatt in the early smplive days. But while he does a lot of stuff with Schlatt, he’s still really enjoyable to watch on his own. His humor is similar to Schlatt’s, but is more... baby? (I told you I was bad at this). I really enjoy watching his streams because in general, they’re a lot more calm. Connor is a variety streamer, so he doesn’t do minecraft as often, but he tells a lot of stories from his life like the DC story and the Carl story, which are funny as hell.

Sneegsnag (here) is also one of my favorites. His videos tend to be longer, but he’s a very big bro. He has a fucking adorable puppy named Boomer (yes, he did actually name his dog boomer) (boomer refers to the baby boomers) and is kind of a pvp god?? He is a true™ gamer and I support him. He’s a smaller streamer, but he’s really fun to watch.

IAmTy is a baby. He’s funny as hell though. He also spent an entire stream creating leather Timbs with mending. He is Schlatt n Co (Jschlatt’s “business”) employee? intern?? I’m not quite sure. Ty is like, Schlatts pseudo son? (If you can’t tell by now, I branched off from Schlatt) But anyway, he’s a wholesome streamer and I would suggest watching him if you’re looking for someone smaller to watch. Here’s a link to his channel

Damn this is getting really long so I’ll do a bonus round

CallMeCarson - creator of the server, does a lot of other content besides minecraft, ate a onion like an apple live on stream, cool guy but his streams are really big (about 7,000) so not great for actual interactions (live channel, main channel) 

Cscoop (live, main) - Cooper is a bastard horny fish man who posts fornite compilations on his main channel, is not so wholesome but is very real with his viewers, creator of the cscoop challenge, and also lives with Carson and Travis

Traves (aka Travis) is a lovable dumbass furry. He sounds like he’s twelve, when in fact, hes 20. Nobody is quite sure if he’s actually 100% aware of what’s going on around him at any time. Calls Cooper aka Cscoop “Coopy.” He’s a baby. I love him with all my heart. Lives with Carson and Cooper.

The Milk Man aka Ted Nivision - I haven’t watched much of his content but he’s a pretty chill guy who can also bring on storms of chaos. Is the milk man, has a milk tower. I’m not sure how or why he was dubbed the milk man, but he was. An adult. Doesn’t post minecraft on his channel, but does play a lot on stream.

This is about the extent which I can really give you informative information, so I hope this helps. Anyone can also dm me if they have anymore questions!!! I’m always 100% ready to drop everything and talk about SMPlive.

[analysing-schlatt-18015346mmu]

Introduction to JSchlatt

Welcome to my blog “Analysing Schlatt”. This is an academic blog that analyses the key influencer of my choice, JSchlatt, and how they use their social media pages to get support and followers behind them.

The reason JSchlatt has become the focus of this blog is due to the fact he has become a large-scale influencer who has continuously been growing through the last few months of 2020. His behaviour and reactions online link in with the theories chosen to accompany this essay. These theories include “The Presentation of Self” by Goffman and “Public Sphere” by Habermas. As well as this, that his background and way he has risen to fame have been included to further explain his influence over different types of audiences. He has become a popular name within the online world with different personas and different behaviours than conventional influencers, which is why he has become the subject of this essay.

Who Is JSchlatt?

JSchlatt is a 21-year-old YouTuber and creator who makes all sorts of different content, such as Minecraft videos, Wii videos and skits with his groups “Lunch Club” and “Dream SMP”. His start, however, was completely different to his current content. “He created his channel on July 6, 2013, and uploaded his first video on June 6, 2014, titled "good boy eats food". This video features his pet at the time, a bearded dragon, eating food.”  (Wikitubia, 2019)

After the creation of his channel and his further uploads, he began working on his content. He started out with his “A Tribute To “series, which would be a look back on his favourite pieces of media. Time after time, he would change up his content, with early Minecraft videos and video essays taking form. However, his main start up to fame was joining some “SMPLive” streams.

How did they become known?

JSchlatt is an obscure key influencer. Overall, he has 1.2M Twitter followers and 1.53M Youtube subscribers. He is known to have an audience of mainly mature followers, but quite a few younger audience members. He has collaborated with other channels, and bigger influencers, giving him that status of an influencer to many others. He gained fame through others and by playing certain video games, also participating in vlogs and outings with his friends. His exploits included a streamer named CallMeCarson, both having amassed a wide following, but with Carson currently being investigated by police and having controversy they have been distant. They were usually seen playing strange games together, but often with others included to make it like a party game channel. JSchlatt has a few different social media he uses constantly, such as his infamous twitter and YouTube channels. As well as this, he is featured on other people’s twitch, as he barely streams on his own channel. However, he is active on the platform.  

Many of the videos on his Twitch and YouTube are from “SMPLive”, a streamer-only Minecraft world that was set up by “CallMeCarson”, an ex-friend of Schlatt’s. He started developing different persona’s, with the one on this server being of a scammer who swindled people out of money for his cryptocurrency “Schlattcoin”. This provided entertainment to those who watched, seeing how he could swindle the others. He is most known for playing both Carson and new Minecraft streamers Dream, GeorgeNotFound, TommyInnit, SapNap and Tubbo. However, his twitter will be my focus of study with the preservation of self-study, and YouTube will be included within another study.

Who do they play with?

JSchlatt was known for mainly playing with “CallMeCarson”, and the small group of friends. His main group of friends were known as “Lunch Club”. Before this, they were known as “Goop Squad” and “GoopCast”, however “Due to trademark issues with the name “Goopcast,” it was later renamed to “Fart Club” temporarily and then officially renamed to “Lunch Club.”” (Wikitubia, 2020). The Lunch Club consisted of CallMeCarson, Slimecicle, Jschlatt, Traves, Ted Nivison, cscoop, and Hugbox. This group were known for streaming “You Laugh, You Lose” challenges and going out on adventures, making vlogs and skits.

However, recently he has been playing with “Dream” and “TommyInnit”, with Tommy being 6th top rated and 4th recently viewed on the top twitch streamers leader board. (TwitchTracker, 2020). He has become involved with many more Minecraft youtubers and streamers, expanding his horizons and going back to his roots. This is also due to ongoing controversy with CallMeCarson.

What is their current content like?

JSchlatt is currently being involved within the “DreamSMP”. The Dream SMP is made up of many members, totalling 39 including both guests and rumoured members (Pokiman3 and MrBeast). Just with these guests alone, we can assume that big names are Involved. KarlJacobs, Quackity, Vikkstar and LazarBeam are some of the well-known guests to this server, having frequented often and being invited into the videos and streams involved. This server has evolved through a story, with JSchlatt being part of one of the biggest events. Many animations have been created about this moment.

JSchlatt was involved in “Pogtopia”’s election, which was hosted by the SMP and voted upon by fans of the series. In this, he is shown to have a different personality and persona on compared to the one from SMPLive.

“The first decree Schlatt made as president of L'Manburg was to revoke the citizenship of both Wilbur and Tommy, followed by lower taxes (despite L'Manberg not having them) “(Dream Team Wiki. 2020)

In this, he became a tyrannical leader, much different compared to his personal YouTube’s content, which consists of him playing WII games. This evolved into many different wars and variations of Schlatt, with him developing personas. These personas would later become a staple to the way he behaves and interacts with many others within the public spheres of Twitter and Youtube, further expanding his reach within different audiences of different genres.JSchlatt was involved in “Pogtopia”’s election, which was hosted by the SMP and voted upon by fans of the series. In this, he is shown to have a different personality and persona on compared to the one from SMPLive. “The first decree Schlatt made as president of L'Manburg was to revoke the citizenship of both Wilbur and Tommy, followed by lower taxes (despite L'Manberg not having them)“  (Dream Team Wiki. 2020)

In this, he became a tyrannical leader, much different compared to his personal YouTube’s content, which consists of him playing WII games. This evolved into many different wars and variations of Schlatt, with him developing personas. These personas would later become a staple to the way he behaves and interacts with many others within the public spheres of Twitter and Youtube, further expanding his reach within different audiences of different genres.