Synchtube Tropers (Riff on Videos and Movies)

I'll keep my input short and sweet.

I've been part of the group for over 4 years now and it was a pleasure to be around for the chat no matter what, even on the slower nights. I'm very happy to have been part of both the good and bad despite my inconsistent showing up. I still have a good number of the gifs I made over the years and there were some glorious moments I got as profile pics.

Anyway, nothing but my appreciation for all of you. Stay safe, be well, and until we ride again...

But, like you said earlier, this isn't the time for that. It would only derail everything. I could suggest we show, say, the Toei Dracula right now (which we have seen and which I think went over big the last time we saw it five years ago) or the Toei Frankenstein (which we have never seen) if we ever decide to resume the chat, but that is not the issue at hand.

I'm perfectly willing to register an account on Cy Tube, but really, I think we should have more people running the chat. Let different people do it different nights, let them choose the movies they want. This would be actively contributing to the community. It would, maybe, bring us more variety in what we see - and that would contribute to more social discussion, more riffs, more everything.

But the question is, who would want to step up?

Edited by Aldo930 on Oct 15th 2020 at 9:55:26 AM

I know we were already talking privately just last night, and don't worry. I know you've always kept a busy schedule, but you've always given our chat a pulse whenever you could come around, and you and I will definitely be keeping in touch one way or another.

Everyone is already totally free to have whatever say or influence they want over what we watch. Talk up discoveries, share videos, post trailers, SIMPLY BE INVOLVED AND BE HEARD, and room can be made to showcase most anything and everything we can. The only reason I'm the one picking out so much stuff most the time is, as I've already stressed repeatedly, simply because NOBODY even tries to do any of that sort of thing or get more involved or flag my attention (especially in this thread), yourself included. It doesn't take a revolving door of "nightly hosts" to be actively contributing toward any of the ends that you're suddenly seeking.

Seriously, all this coming from somebody whose once-a-week routine consists of saying "Hello," followed by 40 minutes of silence, "Pussy dick asshole mother fucker," another 90 minutes of total silence, then an arbitrary rating and swift "I'm out." Now, all of a sudden, you want to insist that you be given the car keys and the steering wheel?

Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 15th 2020 at 6:35:59 AM

Sean, if you want suggestions, I can give you suggestions. I've got suggestions I made over six years ago we still have never watched.

I get it's a problem nobody's contributing. God knows I've been meaning to post things in the thread but I keep forgetting, and that's all on me.

But I genuinely have no idea what the heck can be done to revitalize the group.

First off, I want to apologize for the tardy reply. Secondly, I want to try to both emphasize my own feelings about the coven and to add to Sean's primary points.

I largely agree with Sean: the coven is a social experience first and a cinematic experience second. I, too, have been noticing a lack of engagement in the chat aside from when things get really going. Now, I'm not going to cast shade on anyone in particular as I feel like this is a vibe that everyone kind of has been feeling.

Be real, we're all a bit burnt out on all this. I know I certainly have been and I have been feeling the burnout for years before this. If we want to do the same thing but less frequently, I feel like it would address many of our problems right off the bat since perhaps movie nights ought to be special occasions rather than some tired, obligatory ritual that we keep perpetuating.

I'm going to straight-up admit that I do not have any strong feelings about canning the whole thing. If we were to let it die quietly, I would have few qualms. However, I also am not against keeping the ball rolling, so to speak. I do in any case think that a period of rest may be called for. I think all of us should do some introspection on whether or not we really want to be part of the social experience of the coven.

Ask yourselves: is it habit or is it passion? Be honest. I'm not going to judge anyone one way or another. The responses here have confirmed my suspicions that everyone (or at least a good chunk of us) is feeling a bit of burnout, so we really need to think about this.

I also want to emphasize that no one should feel obligated to come. I would much rather attendance amount to someone ready to be engaged with the group above all else. I certainly will feel no ill will towards anyone for wanting to take a breather.

I also want to motion to a sort of vote: do we want to can the whole thing or just decrease the frequency? As I said above, a sabbatical may do us all good.

Additionally, I agree with Sean that we should be engaged with the thread for suggestions (I know I have not been as engaged so.... mea culpa). I don't want to see anyone playing the card of "why haven't we done X" when no one is making their desires known. If you feel like you are being ignored, then keep posting it until we take notice. Shit happens and we forget, nothing personal.

I will conclude my essay by saying that I have very much enjoyed my time with the coven and if this is the note we end it on, so be it. It was a good run. I appreciate all of our regulars and everyone who has made our coven culture what it is. Thank you all.

EDIT: I was writing this while unaware that Prom had posted. He basically emphasizes the same point I'm trying to make, but I'll say it still bears repeating.

I keep having to stress this matter over and over, and NOBODY so far has been willing to give a constructive answer about it: Individual Participation.

This is NOT supposed to be a discussion about how many times we try to get together, what we watch, how we put a video playlist together, who runs the chat, or any of this crap. I'm asking everyone (over and over, again and again), "When you do 'take part' in our CyTube activities, what can YOU, personally, contribute to the collective as a whole (be it amongst only three people or thirty people)?"

Nobody can seem to give a clear and straightforward answer, and the only "suggestions" that anyone seemingly wants to give ("advertise," "invite more people," "agree to meet only on the nights that work for that particular person and only show what they want to watch," etc., etc.) are what they think somebody else would do for themselves so they don't have to step up and contribute anything in kind. Nobody else seems to show much passion or interest in anything other than simply showing up in a chatroom when they can and just expecting that everything else caters to their personal whims. This is why I'm so tired of this shit. This "discussion" is only going to continue in circles and go nowhere, so long as nobody wants to demonstrate any real interest in making a more personally involved investment toward working as a group toward achieving shared, common goals. If nobody else is willing to get the point of that, then I'm afraid this really is the bitter end.

Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 15th 2020 at 6:52:50 AM

Quality over quantity is the key lesson we need to take from all this.

Not for nothing, Sean, but I do want to know - what are the kind of things we could do to get more involved?

I know we could make suggestions and be more active in commenting, but if you gave us some idea of the kind of thing you want us to do, we could do it. I don't think a lot of us want to end it, even those of us who are burned out, and if you let us know what you want us to do, maybe it would help.

(Have you been reading what I've already told you, man?)

For you, actually being talkative and engaging with fellow chatters (or the videos) would be a hell of a good start, for one. Did you not take the oh so subtle hint already? One night a week, all you ever seemingly have to say is "pussy dick asshole motherfucker" and then basically appear AFK for 90+ minutes. And here you are thinking that much "effort" qualifies you to play "host." You've been so quiet and inactive that, despite my best attempts to greet you regularly and ask about your life, in all this time you've been, for lack of a better word, "present," the only lasting impression I've ever been left with is that of a complete empty shell of a human being asleep at a running computer. Do I need to be any clearer about how valuable simply demonstrating the most basic social skills can be for "getting more involved"?

And say, didn't I already mention, like, four times by now that everybody is free to speak up and share titles or trailers they've discovered, if they think they're something deserving of our attention, and we would try to make time to watch them? (Sorry you already missed that boat after it sailed last week.)

Other than that... Again, for those of you who've already been crying about "advertising" and "inviting more people," if you truly feel passionate enough about what we're all about and the atmosphere we try to create, then just do it yourself and spread the gospel to the world.

And so forth. It's about exactly how you build and maintain any other friendships and social ties. You stay engaged with another person or group and contribute something of yourself to that entity for the enriching fulfillment of everyone.

Chrissakes, why does anything I say still need repeating? Just keep rereading everything I've already had to repeat over a dozen times already, Aldo. I'm not making any of this particularly vague.

Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 15th 2020 at 7:35:20 AM

If it's simply a matter of being more active and social in the group and suggesting more things - to which, I must admit, your criticisms of me are right - then that's a change that most of us will easily make.

If the problem is simply that we're not active or social enough, then I think we can all try to do that.

That’s not ALL I’ve been saying. You’re still missing the larger picture. “Simply being more social” is merely the bare minimum and most obvious means of engagement, but personally contributing to social groups should expectedly go A LOT further than that.

Better reread everything I’m saying again now. You still got a lot more to soak in and dwell on. This isn’t a race to attempt to quickly summarize all Prom and I have been saying in a single short sentence.

Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 15th 2020 at 9:16:32 AM

I'm sorry for arriving so late to the party, I know my involvement in recommending movies/videos and my general chat participation has declined, which has been largely due to work/school/life getting in the way of both participating and even finding things to recommend; for however long I've been here I've enjoyed it immensely (aside from the times I fucked things up), and I'm certainly sad to see it ending in this way.

I'm not sure what I could do personally to increase my involvement as its largely externally constrained, but I wonder if the text-based format of the chatroom itself is somewhat responsible for the overall decline in interest; maybe if the actual chat were done like though a voice chat or discord or something like that the social interaction would feel more real then alienated lines of text and gifs. Also, maybe the movies themselves can be shown less frequently and specifically scheduled according to interest and convenience (though this would require more work, since it's my idea I'd be willing to do what organizing I could), and those who are actually interested in participating will be expected to specifically suggest films and vote and participate to remain in the group.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that we would have to become a more rigidly organized "club," where membership is tied to participation more seriously. I don't know though, this might be too much work or too stalinist for where we're at, and this may just be the end. If so, it's been fun, and it's sad to see it must end with a whimper.

Edited by iflewaway on Oct 15th 2020 at 8:47:42 AM

To this extent, I think you and I are both aware that those of us who are active and are generally able to give the chat a "pulse" when able to attend have pretty much formed our own "niche," and, between any two or three of us, we're pretty much already keeping in contact with one another over phone and email, and those ties aren't going to be severed anytime soon. At the very least, that already stands to be this coven's ongoing legacy, and if we're ever able to find time to watch shit over the internet together, we'd probably be working that out within said small "niche."

I've been sitting out this discussion because I wanted other people to get their thoughts in here.

I'll bring up something Prom asked - do we go out of passion or obligation now? For me, it started as passion. But over the years, it eventually turned into habit. There were still some very fun times and movies and chats I found especially engaging, but I wasn't participating in the chat as much as I used to.

I'll still be happy to hunt for movies if needed; I've been doing that for years, and I can continue if necessary. But I don't use TVT itself every day; sending a PM to me might not be the best way to ask me if you want me to find another movie. If you want to PM me, I can give my Discord name? Then I can find out right away and obtain what's needed.

But I'm also burning out, I admit. It would suck to see such a fun group that I'd been part of for years die out like this, though if it changes into a new form and survives in some new way, that would be ideal, I think.

Taking a break from it has honestly been nice. And the fact that I feel that way probably says something, tbh. Despite the fact that I was actually looking forward to seeing specific movies we might run on Halloween month.

So is this it, then?

To answer both Prom and Bon’s queries, it started out completely of passion for me. I stumbled upon this thread during my college years, when I was taking a degree in radio, television and film. I had just been discovering the likes of the former Channel Awesome community, and my college hosted a free seminar in movie riffing, curated and taught by ‘’Mystery Science Theater 3000’’ creator and actor Joel Hogdson. To say I was in heaven when I found a way to continue doing something I loved on a regular basis would be a massive understatement. I would be remiss to admit that I feel like it “has” become bit of routine for me, even opting out of movies when one doesn’t appeal to me or I had a particularly rough day and my heart wasn’t in it. But I still felt, when I did stay for the full length, like it was the greatest experience one could ask for, and that you guys had become like a second family to me. While I do feel like there’s a hole missing due to this sabbatical, whatever needs to happen, will happen and I’m willing to accept it.

Yes. Apparently he, and a assortment of veteran ex-writers from RiffTrax and MST3K go to different colleges across America, giving lessons divided on the writing of the jokes for the riff and riffing itself. Unfortunately we only had time for a short, and entries were on a lottery basis, but it was fun but now is neither the time nor place to be talking about it.

While it looks as if the movie group is permanently gone, let's talk about some of our memories of the group. I'll start us off.

I remember the first time we watched Cool Cat Saves the Kids.

I found out about it from the trailer being added as an aftershow video. Once I saw it, and realized that it wasn't a parody of some kind, I just had to see the movie. So I bought it off Amazon and ripped it myself (back when my computer had a DVD drive 😛). There was no way I was going to miss something like this.

And when we did watch it, we hit our record - 25 viewers! Not all of them stayed, and the final vote was split between many 4s and many Xs. But it was a great experience with a very lively chat and people riffing the movie - many of whom had never been in the group before. It felt like a special event, and really, it was. The most viewers we'd ever had for one of the most "amazing" things we'd ever seen. It was great.

What are some of your memories?

Bonsai recruited me over four years ago. I remember my first movie was some Lifetime show about a kid addicted to online porn. I remember we were watching Cybersix episodes in the pre-show around that time. I know a lot of people only show up for the movie, but I have always appreciated the pre-shows. Unfortunately, as time went by, I just didn't have enough spare time at night, so I haven't been active in quite some time now, and it didn't feel right posting in the thread if I couldn't show up regularly. Still, I had fun with this Coven, and I'll always cherish those times.

I'm sorry I wasn't more of a recurring member. My internet problems, my personal problems, and all that made me less anxious to be in the group. When I joined every once in a while, a new problem arose and I couldn't join you guys, and when I did join, I always fell left-out because I didn't know what to say.

I have a terrible memory, so I don't fully remember what was the first movie I saw in the chat when I joined, when Tv Tropes itself was younger. I do remember that one time we saw the Sonic OVA and Foodfight, or when we joked continuously about this Forever Malone character.

It's a shame the chat is not as strong as it used to, and I feel sorry for not being witty enough to be here.

I remember that Lifetime movie! I remember the chat that day was particularly hilarious. That was a great time.

I remember my first movie with you guys was Taoism Drunkard, all the way back in mid-2013. It felt like so long of a time ago, it felt almost like a past life. You guys gave me an even bigger appreciation for trash/cult films and stuff throughout the years, and I feel lucky to have met you guys, even though we've had our differences.

The reason I haven't been attentive for the past few months is due to the revalation that I had not one, but two precancerous moles. I've had both of them removed and they came back clear, though. I didn't tell you guys much about it because I wasn't sure how to explain it to you guys. I've been taking action with any other mole I've seen (I had two more biopsies earlier this week), and I'm remaining cautiously optimistic.

god bread, that's awful. I'm glad you could have them removed, and hopefully the tests come back negative.

God damn, Bread, that's horrible. I'm glad you're doing a lot better now!