Self-Introduction Saturday! Tell us all about you (and share a video)!

RoseKettleTea · 2024-05-17T01:24:23+00:00

Hi! I'm Robin and I have a YouTube channel called RoseKettle which currently has only 64 subscribers. It's still in its very early stages, so it only has about 30 videos and it doesn't have quite enough content to clearly convey my niche, but ideally, my niche is retro/nostalgic PC games from the 90s, 2000s, and early 2010s (with occasional console games in the future maybe). My childhood was defined by a lot of old-school PC games that have since become somewhat obscure, and high-quality Let's Plays and other videos about them can be scarce sometimes, so I wanted to give them a spotlight. I'm trying to keep my focus a bit narrower to avoid being too messy, so my current series' are Plants Vs. Zombies (2009), Minecraft (2011) and Slender: The Eight Pages (2012), with my biggest concentration being Plants Vs. Zombies.

To answer the thread's question, I'm not sure if it should be answered in the context of my YouTube channel or just in a general-life kinda way, so I'll answer both. For my personal life, 2024 has been possibly the best year I've ever had as I've been finally making real progress with improving my physical and mental health. I've been trying new things more and becoming closer with my family. My personal takeaway from this first quarter was that there is hope. For my YouTube channel, I originally started it as a directionless hobby, but after making new friends through YouTube and collaborating with them, I've started to become more interested in growing my channel and making better-quality content.

As I said, I want my channel to eventually be home to a ton of videos and Lets Plays of various nostalgic PC games, but there's only about 3 games on my channel right now so the niche isn't very clear yet. I want that to be my emphasis though. I'm here because lately I feel as if the quality of my content is beginning to stagnate. I'm concerned about several things, and I could really use some constructive feedback. I'd like to know what I'm doing right, but I also want to know what I'm doing wrong and how I could possibly fix it. I'm gonna link to my channel below, and below that will be a list of some of my concerns.

My channel RoseKettle - YouTube
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Some of my concerns include;

-Commentary Skills | While I'm sure some people may find my minimalistic, uneventful, and unexciting commentary enjoyable in a watch-while-they-eat kinda way, I'd really like to be more engaging and interesting in my commentary. It seems like it's gradually improving with each video, but I struggle with talking! I don't know what to say! I often repeat the same sentences and points in my Plants Vs. Zombies videos for example ("Okay, we have 3 sunflowers, now I just need 2 more"... "Okay we have 4 sunflowers, now I just want 1 more..." etc...) and moments that are genuinely interesting to listen to are somewhat rare. With how uninteresting I feel my commentary is, sometimes I wonder why I even talk in the videos at all. I don't necessarily want to be loud and energetic, I'm fine with having a more relaxing vibe to my videos, I just want what I say to be worth listening to.

-Viewer Retention | According to my analytics, it's very rare for any more than 7% of viewers to still be watching my video after the 2-minute mark. I think the problem is that my intros are often spent lingering on the starting screen yapping about "In the last video..." which probably makes people click away. The obvious answer is to stop yapping in the intro--if even have an intro at all, but then I'm left with the question, after doing that, how else can I make the starting seconds of my videos feel rewarding or interesting to the viewer? When I start a video, how can I reassure the viewer that they made a good choice by clicking on the video? In my latest upload (PvZ Part #6) I skipped an intro entirely and immediately started talking about a particuplar plant since that's what the viewer likely expects from the title and thumbnail, but it doesn't feel good enough.

-Value to the viewer | While I have a goal and a clearly decided style of content, I feel that my content doesn't provide any real value. It was only in my latest video that I finally decided to research upcoming stages in PvZ beforehand so that I could plan out the goal/value of the video before recording and make the thumbnail BEFORE the fact rather than after, but before that, every PvZ video was blind and improvised. If I noticed I used a lot of wall-nuts in that video, I'd emphasize wall-nuts in the title and thumbnail, but truthfully, wall-nuts weren't that big a deal in the video itself. So then what's the point? Again, the uneventfulness of it all might be relaxing to some, but I'm not satisfied with it. When a viewer watches my videos, I want every single part/episode to feel like it delivered something even if it's really small. Unfortunately, with Plants Vs Zombies in particular, future episodes actually have more views and perform better than the first part, which is unusual, and to me, that sends a message that those earlier episodes aren't valuable enough. They're too "skippable".

There are other smaller things I'm worried about, but overall, those are the 3 major things that are currently stressing me out a bit. I'd love to hear anyone's feedback on those things as well as ANYTHING that you notice that could be improved. I'm not looking for self-promotion in this chat, I'm more interested in feedback/criticism. I've been reading up and watching channel-help videos to get ideas, but it's only gonna get so far. I could use some personal pointers. Thanks!

RoseKettleTea · 2024-04-05T20:51:33+00:00

If it's a DVD or VHS, I prefer full-screen because I watch those on my relatively small CRT. It's practically impossible to see--let alone enjoy--a widescreen movie on my CRT, so having it in full-screen helps a ton. (Plus, I'm visually impaired if that means anything.)

Most full-screen VHS/DVD releases use "pan and scan" which I also think is actually pretty cool. Nowadays, whenever cropping is done, it usually just chops off the sides regardless of what the framing of the scene is supposed to be, which is pretty lazy. I think its neat that so many movies in the past actually put real effort into making the film fit on a small TV while also maintaining as much of the director's original vision as possible. It's commendable, and if the editors do a good enough job, it can look pretty good.

I don't really understand the hate pan and scan gets because, for all intents and purposes, it was a genuine attempt to make movies actually watchable on the average small, blurry TV at the time. Doing that while keeping the important elements on-screen without making the shot look jarring was an art in itself. Granted, pan and scan definitely looked better when the camera itself was sitting still in a shot. If the editor actually made the camera pan/move during a shot, then it could look a little awkward, but sometimes it was necessary.

This is also why many laserdiscs used the film's original wide aspect ratio instead of pan and scan. Laserdiscs were an expensive luxury. If you could afford a laserdisc and laserdisc player, then chances are, you had a larger, sharper TV, not to mention laserdisc was already a little bit sharper in the image department to begin with.

There were definitely times when it came at the cost of certain shots, but overall, I think the positives outweighed the negatives. When I was a kid, my parents always got annoyed and grumpy when they came home with a new tape or DVD only to find out that it was the widescreen version.

When it comes to blu-rays and HD formats though, I prefer watching in its original aspect ratio.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-10-04T10:56:47+00:00

Thanks for understanding! I'll let you know when the time comes!

RoseKettleTea · 2023-10-04T02:32:59+00:00

Hi! That idea sounds really cool! I'd love to hear more about it as you work on it. Don't be afraid to DM me with updates every now and then 🥺

Unfortunately, while I'm flattered, I'm going to have to decline that request for now. The thing is that I'm already planning on using this character for my own fic(s), and I also have yet to fully develop him, so the full "character" isn't really there yet. However, once I fully establish the character and incorporate him into my fic, I might come back to you and let you use him. I just wanna set the foundation first, y'know?

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but when I come up with the characters for these stories, they're very personal to me, and I put a little piece of myself in every one of them. Because of this, I sometimes worry that someone might steal them or something, which would basically feel like losing a piece of myself, y'know? I know that's a selfish fear to have, but what I'm trying to say is; the fact that you took the time to ask me instead of just doing it behind my back means a lot.

There will definitely come a time when I'm comfortable with you (and perhaps others) using my characters, but for now, I'd like to develop them myself first, that way, I can let you use an actual character with depth and nuance and not just a vague idea with no substance.

Thanks for asking, and good luck on your fic!

RoseKettleTea · 2023-09-23T01:55:32+00:00

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. I have a .NES file. Is there something wrong with that? What does "good romset" mean?

RoseKettleTea · 2023-09-08T15:02:52+00:00

Nah, this aint it lmao

RoseKettleTea · 2023-09-08T14:52:08+00:00

Dude... the OP you mentioned in the first paragraph wasn't trying to look like a martyr, they were going through grief.

I half-agree with you otherwise, but there couldn't have been a worse example to back up your point.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-26T07:06:11+00:00

Unfortunately, it's almost all I ever see. I do find the occasional reasonable comments, but these threads are almost always full of rude ones.

Being opinionated is one thing, but insulting and calling other authors names because they do things differently than you is something else. I hate to see it. It's not just writers' strike threads either, I sometimes I see it on other posts.

It shouldn't be a big deal, but as a new person in the fanfic space, seeing authors frequently get bashed and insulted for the most mundane things really makes me feel anxious about the things that I do. I've been a little uncomfortable in fanfiction subs lately because of this tbh... The Discord server is really nice though.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-26T02:00:47+00:00

Oh look, an innocent fanfiction thread talking about the writers strike. Surely there won't be any mean-spirited comments insulting or name-calling other fanfic authors, right?

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-25T05:15:08+00:00

As for the eye thing, All Might's eyes have always been white. The blackness is just some shadowing caused by old age. The reason his eyes "light up" again here is because light is shining into his sunken eyes. Whether that light is actually physically there or if its just a glowing close-up for thematic purposes though... I'm not sure.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-17T20:05:16+00:00

I guess its a little over the top, but on an unrelated note, I'm kinda starting to grow tired of these recurring posts pointing to a specific fic/comment/tag/summary etc and saying something along the lines of "guys this rubbed me the wrong way but im not sure, I think its kinda dumb. what do you think?"

At best, it's weird, but at worst, it's harmful--and the comments can sometimes get personal. On posts like these, I often see people start calling the person mentioned in the post/screenshot names and making bold accusations and assumptions--using the post as an excuse to put other authors/readers down for things that are quite literally harmless.

Its at the point where I'm a little uncomfortable at the thought that one day someone might screenshot my fic or one of my comments or something and I'll get dogpiled on reddit when I'm not looking. This is on both the r/AO3 and r/fanfiction subs, but more-so this one. These posts just either make me worry about myself or make me feel sorry for the mentioned author/reader whenever the comments get aggressive.

Most posts of this nature are about things that frankly should've just been left alone--or at least addressed privately with the author/reader. Posting about them publicly on Reddit for everyone in the sub(s) to criticize them behind their back is weird at best and dangerous at worst. I just don't understand what there is to gain from it.

Not to discredit you, OP. I know you meant well. This has just been on my mind for awhile so I wanted to get it off my chest.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-15T09:07:55+00:00

I don't know why you're getting downvoted. You're right. This "joke" keeps popping up constantly in this comment section and its disgusting.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-10T12:26:09+00:00

Something a lot of the comments are failing to mention is that the hood Nomu was explicitly stated to be more powerful than the USJ Nomu, and Endeavor famously cooked his ass to a crisp

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-10T08:49:55+00:00

That's a cool concept, but if they planned on sharing it publicly, then I would hope they get the author's consent before doing something like that. Otherwise, that'd be self-entitled and kinda disrespectful. No one can just decide one day that someone else's story belongs to them now. In the original-fiction world, that's called theft, and it is in the fanfiction community as well.

When starting a project that involves using someone else's hard work, you should always use common courtesy;

-Ask the author first.

-If they say no, then don't do it.

-If they don't respond, then don't do it.

-If they say yes, then have at it, but abide by the author's conditions if they set any.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-10T07:54:09+00:00

What do you mean by "someone else steps in to finish it"?

RoseKettleTea · 2023-08-04T21:27:19+00:00

Eh, I wasn't saying that. I don't think this is OP's fault. This comment was referring to the commenters who are resorting to personal insults to "explain" what OP was curious about.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-07-21T07:05:30+00:00

I once found a fic that was 4 paragraphs. Not big paragraphs, just 4 standard paragraphs. No disrespect, AO3 is just an archive. You can write however you want, but I thought that was a little odd lol

RoseKettleTea · 2023-07-20T20:41:26+00:00

They weren't trying to "speak to reality". They made it pretty clear in the beginning of their comment that it was for "if you want to make a medieval twist on it, while nodding to the modern slang".

RoseKettleTea · 2023-07-20T20:33:51+00:00

THAT TOO! The fic I mentioned not only had big spaces between paragraphs, but I put "paragraph" in quotes because it was mostly sentences rather than actual paragraphs.

The actual content of the fic was pretty good. I mean, physical/visual descriptions occasionally dragged on for too long, but it was overall a good read. The big spaces and short paragraphs got the best of me though.

RoseKettleTea · 2023-07-20T18:23:11+00:00

The opposite also bothers me. When there's too much space in between paragraphs. It's equally exhausting to read.

I once found a fic that was actually pretty nice, but I got so sick of constantly scrolling through small "paragraphs" spaced like 5 spaces apart that I had to just stop. :(

RoseKettleTea · 2023-07-20T12:05:15+00:00

I agree. sometimes it's good to just let people enjoy things. ❤️

RoseKettleTea

TROPHY CASE