unforum

[DaLadybugMan]

Vlogs and Blogs: Bridging the Gap

[TheFallenenvoy]

That's a very good point. I've been thinking of potential ways to "bridge the gap" for a while, as I am rather fond of both mediums.

but I think the primary difference that makes vlogs more widely appreciated, is the accessibility. Not only are vlogs easier to dip in and out of with more regular scares, there's less convolution with crossovers and the like. I for one have never been put off by crossovers, but a lot of people are...which makes introducing a slendervlog viewer to the fear mythos, for example, a lot harder. I'm still not fully caught up on the relationships between everyone in that mythos xD

[SublimeInsomnia]

Oh, come on! The crossovers thing is just bullshit at this stage. Excepting my awful first blog, of my active and completed blogs, only one has any significant number of crossovers, two have very minor, barely noticeable ones, three are completely standalone and none of them actually require you to read any other blog to know what's going on, everything you need to know is explained on my side, though you'll naturally appreciate more of the subtle developments if you're familiar with both texts. Just because a handful of popular current blogs engage in crossover orgies doesn't suddenly make the myth of an impenetrable forest of crossovers suddenly true.

The best blogs out there are either standalones (Nowhere, No One, Nothing and Lake Reflections and Wheels Within Wheels), have light, unintrusive crossovers, often comprising a single post (Adrift), form a discrete miniverse with each other (the Mad World blogs, the Eleventh Hour Trilogy*) or are individual stories which build together into a greater narrative whole with a literary awareness and complexity that you would be hard pressed to find in the world of published literature (the Ache*, the Vivereverse and the Dreamerverse*).

Maybe once, a relatively long time ago as the Mythos goes, there was a bit of continuity lockout with people going crossover crazy. But that's not the case anymore as most of the bloggers who did those too many crossovers long ago have learned from their mistakes and most of the bloggers of the past year or so are people who've been deliberately trying to get rid of that continuity lockout. The fact is, it's just not there anymore and that idea needs to be thrown out.

*A lot of links for these ones, so I didn't try to shove them all in, will provide on request.

[DaLadybugMan]

Well, in all honesty, there are still a lot of crossovers going on that make certain blog circles close to unpenetrable. There are still a lot of mediocre blogs with multiple, poorly-explained crossovers. The crossovers are a valid excuse for not reading certain blogs.

But there are, in fact, also quite a few standalone blogs or small 'verses that don't require a lot of additional reading. It's a valid excuse for certain blogs. But blogs as a whole? There are plenty of other options.

[Uniquename]

This day had to come eventually. When the blog war rose from the thunderdome.

[KrisTrauma]

My series was a blog/vlog. They were both equally important

[Seraphim]

I think a blog/vlog combo that uses the blog format to post more "constant" updates along with a vlog that actually shows, you know, important stuff is a good combination. Sometimes vlogs tend to get long and blogs help fill that gap. However, blogs as just a normal medium aren't terrible interesting, especially when it comes to catching up...part of the excitement with Just Another Fool was this feeling of actually being a part of something.

Not a lot of blogs have that anymore...at least with vlogs, there's a level of excitement of actually WATCHING the footage.

But yeah.

[KrisTrauma]

Blogbending is a thing now

[Kashiratama]

I believe that blogs and vlogs should do more crossovers. If a vlog crosses over with a blog, people will want to read it.

And I rather like blogs.

...Please don't hurt me.

[ThePathfinder]

In this order: The gap can be bridged, but the audience needs to be willing to bother with it. Crossovers between blogs and vlogs? Could work out, assuming everyone on both ends is on the same page, and it's done under controlled circumstances, instead of just crossing over with whatever seems cool at the time.

I myself am guilty of multiple crossovers with my own blog, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, if it's done under controlled conditions. Hell, I did what I could to throw an idea out there for the rest of the Slenderverse to conduct their own crossovers, and provide a good explanation for how they could do it even if the continuities of their own blogs or vlogs wouldn't mesh well under normal circumstances. Of course, that was almost half a year ago, and I've since gone into retirement from the Slenderverse at large.

I dunno, I had a point here, but I lost it.

[dinorobo]

Here is my two cents:
I think when people hear the word crossover, their response is "OMG RAEG! NAO I HAVE 2 FOLLOW 2 BLOGS/VLOGS!!! GRRRR!!!1!!1". But that is not always the case. Many series have been very good at crossing over without relying to much on the other series for anything plot wise. A good example was the Tribe Twelve/EverymanHybrid crossover. The two series crossed over and had entries involving characters from other vlogs. But the plot of their respective series did not rely on the interaction of the other characters. You could remove the crossover and still have the same basic plot. It was more like an acknowledgement that the different vlogs and blogs and canon in other universes. Crossovers are good for bridging the blog/vlog gap. Someone might see the crossover, become curious about what is going on in the other story, and then start reading/watching. Crossovers do not have to cause rage if they are done right.

[ThePathfinder]

^

That's pretty much what I was trying to say. Good work, dinorobo. You articulated my thoughts better than I could.

[azureillusions]

The issue with blog/vlog crossovers is that not everyone writes their character as themselves. It could work – and it's easy enough for vlog characters to appear on a blog – but there's some logistical details that make it messy for the other side of the crossover.

[SublimeInsomnia]

Well, I've actually done a blog/vlog crossover before and while I got a ton of frontpage views on the day of and the day after said crossover, I only picked up two new readers (going by stats on people who read my whole blog immediately after, since they didn't subscribe).

[Verdett]

Didnt read most of this, but im just noting that Angel's Game/APCollection and Observe and Terminate just did a crossover, so yeah, theres a blog and vlog crossover.