my favourite youtubers

I have been watching youtube videos for about 7 years. Times have definitely changed since the only person I watched was charlieissocoollike, and certainly not always for the better. However, there are a few creators that keep me coming back to the website time and time again. (I appreciate the irony of doing this in blog post form... although I've always wanted to, I'm not confident enough to make videos myself.) So today I'm going to talk about some of my favourites - hopefully I might mention someone you've not heard of and could enjoy too!

agent XPQ / tales of mere existence

Agent XPQ or Lev uses his channel to talk about moments in his life, and animates them by drawing on tracing paper in a basic, cartoonish style. Both the topics and the animation are simplistic, as banal as visiting the supermarket. However, Lev's thought process leads us through crazy tangents and turns these simple things into musings about life and the state of the world today (spoiler alert: it's kind of a mess). The tone of his videos is often hopeless, depressing and even nihilistic, but they're also infinitely relatable, witty and hilarious. His artistic style is very accessible and enjoyable, and it's great to see how inventive he gets to portray certain things with only a pencil and paper.

angelina / albinwonderland

Ang is just the loveliest. Her videos with the most popularity are the ones about her pink hair, but her channel is so much more than a beauty blog (although her hair/makeup/cosplay tutorials are also completely wonderful and mesmerising and I love her look and style so much). I first discovered her through a video on 'Fake Geek Girls' and discovered her to be an incredibly intelligent woman who could talk about feminist issues in a way that was relatable and funny. She unashamedly calls herself a geek and enjoys so called 'nerdy' things, while simultaneously calling out the problems within the culture. As if that weren't enough, she's also an incredibly talented artist, an active part of the LGBT community, speaks about her mental health issues candidly, and just seems like she would be an amazing friend.  Also she is absolutely beautiful and the aesthetic of her videos is so adorable. Watch her right now.

PJ liguori / kickthepj

PJ is one of the most creative people online at the moment. Not only does he create short films with captivating plots, unique characters and otherworldly creatures; he also takes run-of-the-mill videos and puts his own spin on them, creating content that is simultaneous satirical imaginative fun (eg. 'my first girlfriend' or '10 things I look for in a girl'). On his channel you can also find original music and themed Q&As that are genuinely enjoyable. PJ also has a second channel called PJthekick where he often details his creative/thought/organisational process, has an informal chat, or just uploads some weird shit. In general, all of his videos are innovative, colourful and unique, and he really inspires me to create more.

dodie clark / doddlevloggle

No, this is not a typo or a mistake. Dodie is most successful on her main channel doddleoddle where she mostly posts original songs and covers - which are all completely amazing! She creates wonderful harmonies and has a lovely soft, calming voice. But her second channel is really special to me. You will also find music on doddlevloggle, but often pieces that are not as polished or perfected. This vibe is continued in all her videos on this channel - it's the unfiltered Dodie. Her discussions on mental health, although occasionally upsetting, are refreshingly honest and true. So are her videos talking about youtube 'culture', the creator/viewer divide and making money on youtube. I also love Dodie's informal, unscripted chats and her monthly vlog series that she occasionally uploads. It may sound dumb, but this channel makes me feel so much closer to her as a human. Doddleoddle makes me envious of her talent, but doddlevloggle softens that completely and just makes me want to have a cup of tea and a chat with her.

just between us

You may recognise Gaby and Allison from old Buzzfeed videos. They have since progressed and now run their own show on youtube; advice videos on Mondays, comedy sketches on Thursdays. They are best friends IRL anyway, so their natural chemistry is reason enough to watch them. They constantly play on the shipping culture that's so prevalent on tumblr, using lots of clickbait thumbnails and 'will-they-won't-they' moments. It's all the more believable due to the canon they've invented for their channel - or is it actually real? Was Gaby really in love with Allison at one point? The 'characters' they play in their videos simply seem to be exaggerated versions of themselves, so sometimes it's hard to tell which stories are true or false. No matter what, their content is consistently current and hilarious. Although I love their youtube channel, I can definitely see them going on to bigger and better things.

This post could go on forever, so I'll just list some more honourable mentions:

•  Olan Rogers - possibly the most likeable man in the world. The best laugh, behind only Seth Rogen.
• Savannah Brown - poetry, music, feminism and all sorts of lovely stuff
• Nathan Zed - social commentary that is both laugh-out-loud funny and honest
• Darksquidge - the dude behind asdfmovie getting real about his mental + physical health and life in general
• Lex - her brand of sardonic, dry humour is a constant in her videos and my absolute favourite

Until next time,

Kirsty ♡