TomSka (Thomas Ridgewell)

sunday
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Anyone else watch him? I don't watch every video on his main channel but I've absolutely been loving his weekly vlog series.

Anyway I wanted to make this topic because I felt really bad for him when he started talking about how he always has other youtubers in his videos but they don't often invite him to be in theirs (15:46 in the most recent vlog). The reluctance for other YTers to have him in their vids was pretty clearly exemplified by Louise's reaction to a collab with him at 9:58 (although Louise's content and audience is so, so different to Tom's...)

So yeah, I guess it might come down to the fact that Tom's content/audience is so different from say, Dan and Phil's, or Louise's, and I guess larger YTers have more discretion as to who they collab with, but it seems strange to me that even smaller YTers like Jack and Dean, or Hazel, still fail to include him in a collab on their channels. He seems like a really nice guy.
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angrymob
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I wonder why the British youtubers/Louise seemed so awkward around him. He seems really nice, but I vaguely recall Dan mentioning in a liveshow something about him being 'controversial(?) to a lot of people, but is actually a really nice person'. And Dan did seem more warm towards him than Louise, who mostly ignored him.

Anyone have more context to this?
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Ticia
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I really really really like his content (even if I didn't know he was behind the asdf movies until last month...fail) and he seems nice enough to hang out with and be featured in other chanels. Occasionally. TomSka's Internet persona and audience is quite different to any Gleamer or "semi-Gleamer", even Dan's to a certain extent, so I don't think the typical collab would have the best of results. I just can't mentally picture him doing the Whisper Challenge or even the 7 Second Challenge, but that's just me He also doesn't bite his tongue when shit hits the Youtube fan, unless the other big Youtubers.

I did some research to see if there had been some drama around him that may explain why he seems to be inside-but-outside of the British Yter Family and I found some stuff in https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Tomska

Ok, this website is extremely acid and I found myself rolling my eyes to its nonsense BUT it may have some points:
Eddsworld is an animated series created in 2004 by an animator named Edd Gould. Tom relentlessly bothered Edd and butted his way into the show in an attempt to get a taste of the fame he so desired.
Edd felt pity for Tom and let him be on the show where he remained a permanent cast member. Tom was originally written closer to his IRL self: an angry and self-centered alcoholic with bad ideas. When Edd died, Tom used this chance to shine and wrote himself into his own videos. Tom's character quickly changed into a cool, suave, smooth talking, catchphrase spewing badass who saves the day every chance he gets. At the same time Edd, once the main character, now has a couple lines per episodes that are poorly delivered.
Since Edd died, Tom has gained access to his Twitter-favicon.png eddsworld, Youtube-favicon.png eddsworld and Fb-favicon.png eddsworld. Tom exploints Edd's social media accounts every chance he gets. At the end of Eddsworld episodes, Tom uses credits to promote the Eddsworld Legacy project, but we all know he only wants publicity and subs.
Jennifer Bingham is Tomska’s squeeze. He met her when she was underage and mentions this fact in this video. The fact his girlfriend was underage won't stop fangirls from kissing his ass
They broke up in 2013, but still...underage? :?
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Ticia wrote:I really really really like his content (even if I didn't know he was behind the asdf movies until last month...fail) and he seems nice enough to hang out with and be featured in other chanels. Occasionally. TomSka's Internet persona and audience is quite different to any Gleamer or "semi-Gleamer", even Dan's to a certain extent, so I don't think the typical collab would have the best of results. I just can't mentally picture him doing the Whisper Challenge or even the 7 Second Challenge, but that's just me He also doesn't bite his tongue when shit hits the Youtube fan, unless the other big Youtubers.

I did some research to see if there had been some drama around him that may explain why he seems to be inside-but-outside of the British Yter Family and I found some stuff in https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Tomska

Ok, this website is extremely acid and I found myself rolling my eyes to its nonsense BUT it may have some points:
Eddsworld is an animated series created in 2004 by an animator named Edd Gould. Tom relentlessly bothered Edd and butted his way into the show in an attempt to get a taste of the fame he so desired.
Edd felt pity for Tom and let him be on the show where he remained a permanent cast member. Tom was originally written closer to his IRL self: an angry and self-centered alcoholic with bad ideas. When Edd died, Tom used this chance to shine and wrote himself into his own videos. Tom's character quickly changed into a cool, suave, smooth talking, catchphrase spewing badass who saves the day every chance he gets. At the same time Edd, once the main character, now has a couple lines per episodes that are poorly delivered.
Since Edd died, Tom has gained access to his Twitter-favicon.png eddsworld, Youtube-favicon.png eddsworld and Fb-favicon.png eddsworld. Tom exploints Edd's social media accounts every chance he gets. At the end of Eddsworld episodes, Tom uses credits to promote the Eddsworld Legacy project, but we all know he only wants publicity and subs.
Jennifer Bingham is Tomska’s squeeze. He met her when she was underage and mentions this fact in this video. The fact his girlfriend was underage won't stop fangirls from kissing his ass
They broke up in 2013, but still...underage? :?
I can't speak to the Eddsworld stuff as I haven't watched those videos (although I have seen Tom talk about him post-death and he seemed legitimately upset and it appears as though they were real friends... would have to look at the series to see if the above was true).

I just looked up her age and following the timeline he's given (they dated for 21 months prior to the video in June 2013) she would have been 18 when they began dating... phew.

I can't think of anything else 'controversial' about him besides his oversharing issues - very very open about his self-esteem problems, especially with his body, and his depression. Maybe youtubers don't want to be associated with that? (kind of sad if so).
Although, apparently he also went through a period of talking about sex a lot, so maybe that makes him too 'R-rated' for other youtubers...

I agree though, can't see him doing something like the the seven second challenge. But he did do a collab with Charlieissocoollike where they wrote a song together and that seemed nice enough
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I was shocked by Louise's rudeness towards him in his most recently vlog tbh, and I really like Louise usually.

I think Tom is great, he's a lovely guy. I don't think he's right that he is hated, I think people just tire of how he changes his opinions a lot depending on what the response from people is about them, what's popular to discuss and I think people struggle to see his sincerity about issues sometimes. I do think some of that is more about his methods of delivery, he doesn't quite get the hang of comedic self deprecation like Dan does and it just comes out really negative sounding and whiny. I've also seen videos of him here he's complained about not having a diehard fanbase and not being as popular as those who do and he seemed to be implying he wasn't as popular because his fanbase are just viewers and not kids who fancy and want to marry him. He's just s bit problematic, ironically he's more problematic when he tries hard not to be and I think he just doesn't get a lot of respect.

Which is a shame because despite all of that ^ I do really like him, as I said. I think Dan is frustrated that Tom isn't respected more because Dan and Tom do seem to get on well, they're always seen chatting at YouTube events and they work well together. But I think Tom is like how Dan might be if he was a bit less informed and a bit more vocal? So Dan can probably see that.
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Kathrynxjane
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I have been loving his weekly vlog series too. It seems more normal then a lot of weekly vlogs from youtubers. Hes struggles with his depression on a weekly basis and isn't scared to show it.

My heart felt for him when he was talking about none of the British youtubers liking him. He felt really upset about it. Don't be upset Tom. you hung out with Jack, Felix, Mark and Mat. Fuck the rest of them :lol:
human wrote:I was shocked by Louise's rudeness towards him in his most recently vlog tbh, and I really like Louise usually.

I think Tom is great, he's a lovely guy. I don't think he's right that he is hated, I think people just tire of how he changes his opinions a lot depending on what the response from people is about them, what's popular to discuss and I think people struggle to see his sincerity about issues sometimes. I do think some of that is more about his methods of delivery, he doesn't quite get the hang of comedic self deprecation like Dan does and it just comes out really negative sounding and whiny. I've also seen videos of him here he's complained about not having a diehard fanbase and not being as popular as those who do and he seemed to be implying he wasn't as popular because his fanbase are just viewers and not kids who fancy and want to marry him. He's just s bit problematic, ironically he's more problematic when he tries hard not to be and I think he just doesn't get a lot of respect.

Which is a shame because despite all of that ^ I do really like him, as I said. I think Dan is frustrated that Tom isn't respected more because Dan and Tom do seem to get on well, they're always seen chatting at YouTube events and they work well together. But I think Tom is like how Dan might be if he was a bit less informed and a bit more vocal? So Dan can probably see that.

Completely agree with everything you said. Said everything I was thinking.
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timtam
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You guys read my mind!

Now I don't know a lot about Tom but I also found the way Louise spoke to him so rude and dismissive. Dan and Phil seemed a bit ambivalent towards him but to be honest they are like that with basically everyone.

I watched that entire blog and it was great to see how realistic his life is. And how open he is about his struggles with depression. It was sad to hear him talking about how the British youtube community doesn't like him.
human wrote: I think Tom is great, he's a lovely guy. I don't think he's right that he is hated, I think people just tire of how he changes his opinions a lot depending on what the response from people is about them, what's popular to discuss and I think people struggle to see his sincerity about issues sometimes. I do think some of that is more about his methods of delivery, he doesn't quite get the hang of comedic self deprecation like Dan does and it just comes out really negative sounding and whiny.
As I said I haven't watched a heap of Tom, but I think my issue is that his self deprecation is quite harsh and sometimes feels not jokey. When Dan says he's trash or stays at home like an internet homo all the time I know he probably doesn't actually do that. With Tom sometimes he says self deprecating things that are supposed to be a joke but I wonder if he actually does believe that about himself and therefore it's not funny. or maybe that's just me putting my psychologist hat on But i'd need to watch some more of him.
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I see that this is where my useless extensive knowledge of YouTube drama has finally come in handy. :lol: Tom is less than loved among the Gleam Team (despite his claims, I think most of the UK Youtubers besides the Gleamers do like and respect him) because he has been very vocal about criticizing them in the past, particularly Zoella. As Zoe's best friend, Louise's coolness towards Tom is understandable. I have a feeling that , particularly Dan, might secretly agree with Tom on some of his points, even though they would never admit to it publicly. Personally, I like Tom all the more for how blunt he is, but it's not hard to imagine that his personality might rub some people the wrong way.
This links to an article criticizing Zoella for lying about using a ghostwriter.

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This tweet linked to a different article criticizing people for falsely putting Zoella on a pedestal as a ''role model'' for teenage girls.http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... 09136.html
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Ticia wrote:
Jennifer Bingham is Tomska’s squeeze. He met her when she was underage and mentions this fact in this video. The fact his girlfriend was underage won't stop fangirls from kissing his ass
They broke up in 2013, but still...underage? :?
Tom and Jenny did meet when she was 14, but Tom himself was only 16 at the time and wasn't YouTube famous yet. It's not like it was some kind of predatory fan/YouTuber relationship. He talks about in ''The Story of Tomka and JennyBee.''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti ... d3fSH8OamQ This video refuses to embed for some reason so click on the link if you want to watch it.
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bedhead91 wrote:
Ticia wrote:
Jennifer Bingham is Tomska’s squeeze. He met her when she was underage and mentions this fact in this video. The fact his girlfriend was underage won't stop fangirls from kissing his ass
They broke up in 2013, but still...underage? :?
Tom and Jenny did meet when she was 14, but Tom himself was only 16 at the time and wasn't YouTube famous yet. It's not like it was some kind of predatory fan/YouTuber relationship. He talks about in ''The Story of Tomka and JennyBee.''

This video refuses to embed for some reason so click on the link if you want to watch it.
Fixed :)

(had to get rid of 'time_continue=178&' and then it worked)
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Others have said most of my thoughts, but what I like about Tom is despite any past "problematic" behavior of his, he always owns up to it and admits he was wrong. I also very much appreciate his candor when talking about his drinking and eating issues and his depression. Like, I appreciate it so much.

It made me sad how dismissive Louise was, but it did look like he had a lot of fun with the gaming YouTubers. I would love to see him interact with Gavin of RoosterTeeth more. He also seemed to be on good terms with laci green. listen, tom, i'm not saying you have to move countries to find more accepting coworkers, but we'd love to have you here.
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Louise was cold to Tom because what he said about Zoe, also I think because Alfie and Joe were there, if she was nice to Tom, it might upset Alfie and Joe.

Idk about other beitish youtubers, but to me I think he is a good guy and a positive influence to young boys. However if some people think he's annoying, purely because he is always very honest and vocal about his opinions, i also think it's understandable. Sometimes what he says or does, to me, are not very well considered and may lead to further misunderstanding and drama, like for instance, the question about sexual harassment he asked at the summit, one because that was not a good time nor place to talk about such issue, two because the question he asked don't have a simple answer like yes or no. But I do appreciate his honesty, as that seems to be a quality that's lacking in the youtube community right now, and his general concerns for the public.
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was Louise really cold with Tom or is it just their thing as friends?? I know very little about Tom and I don't follow Louise regularly so maybe she really does not like him but you know you can have those kind of games with your friends like ignoring them or being mean (like when she says no for the selfie) and it is actually just playful. I know Louise does it with Jack Howard for ex. Wasn't it about Tom that she said that the bants are relentless in this group and she can't follow sometimes?

If he is right and the British crew really doesn't like him, I think it is because he is indeed quite critical about them (Zoe's book, Alfie's merch drama...). And you know good for him but he can't expect them to play bff afterwards.

I actually just found this and it made me laugh:
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it was on an amazingphil video!
If you’re attracted to somebody, you’ll want them to sniff you eventually - Dan
*Phil is turned on by Dan's brilliance* *they kiss* *they have sex in the microwave* - Oqua (actually Phil)
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000dia000
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I think Tom is quick to jump to anything remotely controversial, particularly in the YouTube community. I'm a big fan of Tom but his behavior is not that different from Emma Blackery.

:cactus:
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#UnpopularOpinion time again(!)

I get a strong Emma Blackery-esque vibe from him sometimes, with how he lurches crazy quick between flinging shade one minute, then cosying up to people the next... Plus he's another "I don't like drama BUT..." person.

edit: (just realised 000dia000 said almost the exact same things. You and me kid, you and me! :lol: )
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sunday
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IckleMissMayhem wrote:#UnpopularOpinion time again(!)

I get a strong Emma Blackery-esque vibe from him sometimes, with how he lurches crazy quick between flinging shade one minute, then cosying up to people the next... Plus he's another "I don't like drama BUT..." person.

edit: (just realised 000dia000 said almost the exact same things. You and me kid, you and me! :lol: )
I have to agree, with that said, I see him as more genuine than Emma Blackery... Idk I may be wrong obviously as I don't know him but it seems to me like he genuinely cares about some of the more ~controversial~ issues (e.g. ghostwriting, sexual abuse) which is why he jumps in, whereas Emma just starts drama because... she likes to start shit, likes to be a know-it-all, and is generally a negative person :lol:
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I think he's more honest with himself than Emma Blackery is. When he talked about asking the sexual assault question, he seemed aware that it was a bit inappropriate to ask, and then a bit ashamed of how he felt the need to do it anyway. He is kind of righteous.But I don't think he has the same victim-complex as Emma, where she turns around and blames other people.

Also I love Human's analysis. He does remind me of a more outspoken Dan, perhaps in a negative way. It is somewhat of a nice quality that Dan knows when to keep his mouth shut.
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I completely agree with human's assessment that Tom is like a more vocal version of Dan. Both use self-deprecating humor as a shield; Tom jokes about his weight, mental health issues, and alcohol dependency, while Dan jokes about his perceived social awkwardness and sexually ambiguous appearance/sexual ambiguity in general. Both seem to have this mentality that they like to make fun of themselves first to stop others from getting satisfaction out of making fun of them. Dan, however, is much more skilled at ''the art of exposing himself,'' to quote Tom himself in his ''No Fandom'' video.



2:11 ''Now the final reason why I think I don't have a fandom on YouTube is because of how outwardly flawed I am. And I don't just mean fat and hairy, because I think YouTube makes it possible for anyone of any appearance to generate an intense personal connection with their audience. No, I think there is an ''art to exposing yourself,'' if you will, which I do not do. A lot of YouTubers almost exclusively put their best foot forward in their content, to the point where they almost become these infallible, God-like figures, and even their weaknesses are so carefully exposed that it adds to their perfection, which is impressive. It's like when you go to a job interview and you list your flaws like ''I'm just too much of a perfectionist.'' I, however, have a gift which is really driving home my flaws.''

Dan likes to share his flaws with his audience that are endearing or make him #relatable, like his tendency to procrastinate or his dislike of making small talk with strangers. He always stops just short of talking about flaws that would show off the uglier side of his personality; besides talking about his ''existential crises'', he also has never really discussed any deeper mental health issues he might have struggled with in the past. I definitely don't blame him one bit for this and think it's a much smarter move than sharing every last detail with your audience, I just think it's interesting how two YouTubers could have such strangely similar, yet different approaches to how much they want to share online.

Personally, I don't think he comes across as ''whiny'' in this video. He is breathtakingly honest about the fact that the reason he doesn't have a fandom is due to choices that he made himself about his online persona.
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I saw this comment and thought it is relevant to the discussion here (at least a few days ago):
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It was already said that Louise might have been rude because of his problems with Zoella, but it looks like he had some issues with Louise directly.
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I found a D+P mention from Tom through Felucca's playlist:
https://youtu.be/-21U-9jLLnc?t=10m25s
@ 10:35

Seems a bit like he's getting upset over nothing to me. There were no ill intentions, and it wasn't like he was cropped out of a photo. D+P will be fans of D+P.
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spaceguitar wrote:I found a D+P mention from Tom through Felucca's playlist:
https://youtu.be/-21U-9jLLnc?list=PLKI0 ... VIEDQ09FLg
@ 10:35

Seems a bit like he's getting upset over nothing to me. There were no ill intentions, and it wasn't like he was cropped out of a photo. D+P will be fans of D+P.
Yeah and also I think he hasn't realised (or is choosing to ignore) that the Phandom will crop literally any other youtubers out of videos D&P are in, not just him.

I remember seeing at some point in this Danisnotonfire liveshow in 2013 (sorry can't remember timestamp) he was so impressed with the speed of the fandom in terms of gif-ing the liveshow and responding to their twitter requests, and just generally seemed a bit envious of Dan and Phil's fans' loyalty. Obviously he's changed his tune a bit with the NO FANDOM vid (and of course there are downsides to having super intense fandoms) but I wonder if every now and then he wishes he had fans like D&P's who would gif him and write cute comments

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This is all really interesting context that I wasn't aware of. It's funny that he has a video discussing him not having a fandom, because I've always watched and enjoyed his main content, but know very little him outside of that content.

I feel that he phrased that line about British youtuber's no liking him a bit strangely, as he seems aware of why they might not like him or try to avoid him. Maybe he was just realizing how far reaching a reputation he has within the British youtuber community, especially when contrasted with American youtuber who probably don't know as much about him.
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Did anyone watch his most recent Last Week, posted a few days ago? He mentions how people jumped on the previous Last Week because it featured Dan and Phil and (bitterly? ruefully?) talks about how he has (like any other youtubers who do a video with D&P) been edited out as if he's a "blemish."

I feel for him, but also, what does he expect? at this point every youtuber has to know that this is what will happen. so much so that some of them exploit having dan and phil in their vlogs by putting them in the thumbnail/title.

I couldn't help but think of IDB and how the other Last Week caused him to get his own thread. some of us like you, tom!

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I did watch it but as much as I'm trying to understand I can't ,sorry, he is not a blemish and I hope that he is aware of that . This thing of cutting the parts of your fave has been around forever and it's not done with malice, especially because from what I understand the majority of the phandom likes him.
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He created the vlog series to keep himself organised and to have direction with his work, he did previous videos before on depression, mental health, etc. He mentioned in his recent "Last Week" that he ran out of anti-depressants and spent the last weekend in bed, so it isn't a huge surprise
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