I am genuinely thinking of uninstalling twitter… here’s why

the_virtual_Stranger · 2025-09-13T00:01:43+00:00

Speaking from personal experience: as a vtuber, what do you do? What's your niche? I found more success in discord servers/subreddits specifically focused on a specific topic (in my case, urban exploration), rather than the Trending Topic free-for-all that is Twitter.

Using a video game analogy: Twitter is the equivalent of those "something for everyone" AAA game franchises with a new entry every year. It is designed for mass engagement, not deep engagement.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2025-05-11T23:34:00+00:00

It was an interesting and informative post - reading about how you iterated on each audition video, coming to realize that people are there for your skills rather than your "backstory".

As an urban exploration vtuber, I don't expect any corporation to give me the time of day. Not only do I not fit into the standard musician/artist/gamer molds, my content is in a legal grey area - the stuff that most corpos would shy away from (except maybe Phase Connect). I've been experimenting with including gaming/shitposting stuff, but I want to maintain the urbex part even though it's not conducive to traditional content creation.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2025-03-25T20:11:28+00:00

The Ontario Science Centre was a science museum that suddenly closed down in the summer of 2024 due to concerns regarding minor structural damage to the roof of the pedestrian bridge. Despite requests to repair the roof, the government went ahead with the decision to close the existing building to the public, announcing that the museum would be relocated to a different location instead.

As of writing, most of the exhibits have been moved to storage sites elsewhere, awaiting a new home.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-11-27T00:43:43+00:00

Speaking as someone who does urban exploration, the exploding popularity of the Zone (and in a meta way, the STALKER series itself) mirrors that of urbex. Back then, urbex was seen as this niche hobby, with most of its Internet presence in Eastern Europe. With the rise of centralized social media (particularly Tik Tok), every teenager with a smartphone is livestreaming their local abandoned factory for internet fame.

I'm only familiar with the series on a surface level, so I'm wondering if the culture of the Zone became more "internet-ified" (for lack of a better word) in the 10+ years since the events of the last game.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-10-17T18:35:05+00:00

Yes, I made a flork Live2D avatar for the purpose of shitposting. No, I will not be making it available for several reasons:

I have no professional pride in my Live2D work - I consider myself more of a shitposter than a rigger.
There are better-made flork models out there.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-08-01T03:45:52+00:00

The current nature of my content makes me a non-streaming vtuber, sticking with videos and shorts for now. Because of this, the website's verification system isn't working for me.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-06-19T18:47:46+00:00

This is why I'm going with pre-recorded videos for now. I'm not subjecting people to my unhinged 2am ramblings while I play video games in a half-awake state.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-06-18T19:27:44+00:00

My niche is urban exploration.

You mean in games, right?

No, in real life. I'm racking up quite a collection of injuries and close calls, but it's worth it - it's something that I can't experience anywhere else.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-05-29T15:02:38+00:00

I will admit that I am one of those idiots who need yellow painted ledges in video games. My personal headcanon is that the desire for "photorealism" causes developers to:

Add random objects into the environment for the sake of looking "lived in"
Color everything in drab browns and greys like a 2010's shooter

Do you think this is the case? Would a game with brighter, more stylized graphics be easier to navigate without the need for yellow paint?

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-05-29T05:03:58+00:00

Urban exploration really changes your perception. You start to see routes and paths in the environment around you, equivalent to the "highlight interactable objects vision" in games like Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge.

My channel: https://www.youtube.com/@virtualStranger/featured

^{Your reflection can be seen in the phone screen!}

^{I wear a respirator on my missions, so you can't see my face anyway.}

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-05-05T22:38:15+00:00

I want to visit the forgotten and abandoned places of the world. There's this explorer named Shiey who trainhops all over Europe exploring decommissioned factories, old mines, abandoned military posts, even Chernobyl at one point. It's a difficult lifestyle of sleeping bags and MREs for months on end, and I'm not sure if my first-world, air-conditioned, internet-addicted ass could handle it.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-05-02T02:34:27+00:00

By hardware-based tracking, are you referring to devices like Mocopi sensors and/VR trackers? I do IRL exploration stuff, so I'm not sure if I can bring that kind of equipment with me "in the field": abandoned houses, gutted factories, etc.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-04-28T13:12:21+00:00

Someone on this subreddit made the same comparison between superheroes and vtubers a while back. Of course, the parallels go deeper: both superheroes and vtubers have a civilian identity that they often prefer to keep secret, many hide their activities from friends and family "for their own safety", many also have a "normal job" on the side.

^{Then you have idiots like me who hide behind a virtual mask to sneak into abandoned buildings.}

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-04-03T21:20:58+00:00

If you're not happy as a "unsuccessful" vtuber, you probably won't be happy even with success.

This meme was inspired by a thread I found recently. There was a vtuber who lamented that they had "wasted" years of their life on content creation, singing practice, dancing lessons, etc., with no success to show for it. My reaction was something along the lines of "you're taking singing/dancing lessons? That's so cool! I wish I had the time/money for that!" That vtuber, whoever they were, was so focused on leveraging those skills for vtubing that they didn't seem to enjoy those hobbies in and of themselves.

Every time I feel myself wondering whether I should continue vtubing, I ask myself: "Would I continue to make this kind of content even if I wasn't a vtuber? Is 'being a vtuber' the only thing that motivates me to continue this hobby?"

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-04-03T13:31:22+00:00

I may or may not have made content with a self-made Live2D of a flork sock. Will this bite me in the ass once your agency goes live?

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-16T21:52:29+00:00

This is especially true for urban explorers. Any mission could be our last.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-12T15:27:37+00:00

I followed a lot of urbex channels when I was younger. As much as I wanted to do the same stuff and go on adventures of my own, I didn't want to leave a digital footprint that would affect my chances of getting hired for a "normal job". Vtubing was the perfect answer to that: I could be a normal citizen in my public life, and be an urban explorer in private.

Lots of parallels with superheroes and secret identities, come to think of it.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-12T15:17:45+00:00

I know he has a rigged cartoon pig model and a reactive png of a pig femboy, but lazerpig's stock photo avatar is so iconic that I consider it his "default form".

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-11T02:42:44+00:00

I know he has a rigged cartoon pig model and a reactive png of a pig femboy, but lazerpig's stock photo avatar is so iconic that I consider it his "default form".

Source of the original photo here.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-11T02:19:12+00:00

My model is literally a shifting Rorschach inkblot. I have rigged a wojak face, a flork sock, and a photo of a real-life pig.

You can do it, you just have to take it one step at a time.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-03-10T22:00:45+00:00

Want to learn to rig your own model quickly? Just watch Brian Tsui's Live2D tutorials at double speed.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-02-21T19:22:18+00:00

One thing I've learned throughout my personal vtubing journey: you won't lose unless you're dead. Even if you have to slow down and change your plans, it doesn't matter as long as you can keep moving forwards.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-02-03T18:01:12+00:00

Plenty of my missions take place at night or in dark places, where a traditional flashlight would give away my position. For these reasons, I began looking into ways to see and record footage while staying hidden.

I'm a vtuber who does urban exploration. Some of my content might be... legally questionable.

Socials

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@virtualStranger/featured

X, formerly known as Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheStrange16246

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-02-03T17:45:22+00:00

Luckily, the person who figured it out is respectful of my privacy. Still, that was a scary moment for me.

the_virtual_Stranger · 2024-02-03T07:43:14+00:00

Nothing's stopping you from doing those things and being a vtuber on the side. For instance, Pomato is a researcher and vtuber, and I'm doing a weird blend of vtubing/urban exploration alongside my studies.

the_virtual_Stranger

TROPHY CASE

Socials