SnappyDragon

Hello dear friends! I have a Cool New Thing to tell you about . . .

[fanfare, drumroll, et c]

🎉 I’m launching another Youtube channel, and I’m not doing it alone! 🎉 If you want the good stuff right away, go check out ‪@TheGingerChronicills‬ and the video we dropped today about chronic illness rep in the Empyrean series. Check it out here : https://youtu.be/8nTel6FN6cg?si=r4TLg...

Doing SnappyDragon for nearly 5 years now has taught me that I love this work, and I want to do it for more things than fashion history. Disability justice is something else I’ve discovered I love because of you in the audience, and it warms my little lizard heart how much it matters to you. My good friend and fellow spoonie Gaya and I are launching The Ginger Chronic-ills together to talk about all sorts of aspects of our lives through the lens of chronic illness. Expect chats about books, exercise, lifestyle habits, and some more “advocacy”-like research videos around different conditions and educating the public. If you like listening to me on SnappyDragon, you’re going to love the new stuff! We’ve just dropped a video today talking about how much we love the chronic illness representation in the Empyrean series (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm), from the writing style to the characterization and expanding narratives about disability and inclusion.

We would love for the Ginger Chronic-ills to grow like SnappyDragon has, where we can have a solid community to hang out with and also get ad revenue and sponsorships and pay our bills and all that. If you want to support me in this new project, come check out the new channel! You can find the Ginger Chronic-ills here on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. Also, you’ll be helping us hit some super important growth benchmarks! We need 1k subscribers + 4k watch hours to get Youtube ad revenue, and 10k subscribers before we can start pitching for sponsorships. We’d love for you to subscribe, and share with your friends too.

As for SnappyDragon— it will definitely take some doing to juggle two channels at once! But my love of costuming and history is not going anywhere, and SnappyDragon remains my main focus right now. I’m not saying that will never change, but this isn’t me telling you that SnappyDragon is going away, I’m just adding something else. Also, new co-creator Gaya is a costumefully-inclined person, so look out for some crafting, fashion, and history content over on the Ginger Chronic-ills too.

You really are the best audience a content creator could have, and it’s because of you that SnappyDragon is what it is. I’m so excited for you and Gaya to meet eachother! See you in the comments over on the Ginger Chronic-ills— I know having you there will make it just as great of a place to be as SnappyDragon is.

Much love,

Vi 🐉💚

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 219

SnappyDragon

Hello my dear friends! This year my birthday falls on a Friday, which means it shall be a Video Release Day. As a birthday present to myself, I hereby declare that video will be 100% Pure Goofy Nonsense. You have Opus Elenae’s Discord server to thank/blame for this, and especially Christina who came up with The Great Pun Itself.

Friends, we are doing a RUMP ROAST.

18th century false rumps, bustles, bumrolls, and any other butt-shaped or padded skirt support you can think of : I will be mocking and then ranking them in a tier list for your amusement and my own. But (butt?) here’s where you come in! There are so many examples of weird skirt-floofing garments out there, and I want to hear about the wildest ones you’ve ever seen. So, please send me your favorite historical false rumps! (Per the below submission guidelines.)

Acceptable rumps must :

- Be on-theme. This means they must be either stuffed (bumrolls, bustle pads, et c) or butt-shaped (wire bustles). Cage crinolines are delightful but not butt-shaped, and I am determined to keep to the pun.
- Be a real thing that existed. Extant garments, antiques, patent documents, and reliable primary source descriptions are all acceptable. Satirical cartoons (such as anything from Punch Magazine) are not, even though they’re hilarious.
- Be sent in with the necessary source information. Please include as much of the following as you can : Name/official description, date or era, region it’s from, where it currently is (museum, private collection, et c), any relevant copyright info (who owns the image?).

Rumps for roasting may be sent to my Instagram DMs @MissSnappyDragon, or my channel e-mail (SnappyDragonStitches at G Mail dot com). I will do my best to talk about as many as I can, but as I really don’t know how may submissions to expect, I may have to choose based on comedic value. So, uhh, make me laugh. It’s for my birthday.

Much love,

-Vi 🐉💚

2 years ago | [YT] | 737

SnappyDragon

“When Youtube and Real Life™ Collide”

Hello dear viewers! I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while now, and was prompted today to (finally) share some of my thoughts.

So, being a content creator is a bit of a weird job. We get on the internet and share our lives with thousands upon thousands of people! People we don’t know, but they get to know us. This is not inherently a bad thing; I love getting to know fellow costumers through my videos. I read and answer as many of my comments as I possibly can, and there’s a reason one of my Patreon rewards is hosting a video chat. I have just about the best audience a Youtuber could hope for.

But, it can cause some awkwardness when the real world and the online world crash into eachother. It’s healthy to have boundaries between your job and the rest of your life, no matter what your job is, and that’s as true for content creators as for anyone else! Plus, those of us with public internet presences often need to be careful about our privacy for safety reasons. Being a woman (or any sort of marginalized person) on the internet unfortunately comes with challenges, and the last thing we need is for the neo-n@z1s who regularly raid my comments sections to find out any real-life information.

Content creators are often encouraged never to pull the metaphorical curtain back, or to pretend the curtain doesn’t exist. We’re told it’s not profitable to set or talk about boundaries, and the best we can do is quietly block particularly creepy comments. I don’t think that’s a healthy attitude, and I don’t think it helps anyone. Especially not if my goal is to have good connections with my viewers!

I promise I do want to meet you, but please remember that as much as you may know me, I probably don’t know you. So to use a delightfully accurate archaic phrase I’ve recently come across, that means “you have the advantage of me”. It’s much easier to look forward to meeting viewers if I can be confident they know there’s a person behind the channel, and that person has a whole offline life to manage and keep separate.

So, if you do happen upon me out in the real world . . .

-*Please don’t fanby!* (fangirl/boy but make it gender neutral). It’s hard to be put on the spot that way, and it gets in the way of actually connecting person-to-person.
-Also, please *absolutely never post or talk publicly about meeting me without getting my permission!* This robs me of my privacy and my boundaries. At worst, it can actually endanger me (neo-n@z1s are vicious and can use your posts to stalk me).
-Likewise, *please don’t post any real-life information that I haven’t already posted,* like if you recognize someplace I’ve filmed. It’s fun to know we both like that event or that hiking trail, but please let me decide if I want to share that info. Neither of us want creeps using your post or comment to be creepy.
-When I’m *at personal/offline-life social events,* it’s really startling to be approached by someone as a fan instead of as a person. It’s like running into your manager— suddenly you have to put on your professional face, and that’s hard! The best conversations I’ve had with viewers at offline-life events have been once we were already talking as regular people, they mention liking my videos, and we go on talking like regular people.
-If I am attending a costume event *as SnappyDragon, I will announce it on my SnappyDragon pages.* If I’ve announced that, it means I’m going as a content creator, I am there to meet viewers, and I absolutely want you to come say hi! I still prefer people not fanby, but otherwise, this is when I would most like to be approached.
-Some costume events (like many Ren Faire trips), *I don’t announce on my SnappyDragon pages.* At these, I’m not going as a content creator, I’m just a person at an event with my friends. It’s still okay to say hi, but I might be surprised, I might not know you’re talking to me at first (crowds are confusing!), and I might not be able to talk for long.
-If I am with friends, please be respectful of them and their privacy. *Don’t take any pictures or video of them* unless they volunteer, and don’t ignore them if we’ve all stopped so I can say hi to you.

I am so unbelievably grateful to have an audience that I can actually have this conversation with! I think a lot of content creators can’t trust their audience to be thoughtful enough to respond well when they set boundaries— but I know my viewers, and I trust that you understand. I look forward to seeing you around, in a way that means I can look forward to seeing you around!

Much love,
-Vi 🐉💚

2 years ago | [YT] | 1,058

SnappyDragon

Remember I said in my last video "I have no association with the authors of these #RookAndRose books I am talking about"? Yeah, well, that lasted all of FOUR HOURS, after which I got an e-mail from the authors M. A. Carrick : "Hi, we hope it's okay to e-mail you, a fan sent us your video, we already know and like you, want to interview us about fashion?"
Dear friends, I SHRIEKED. And then I texted @unseelieprincessfae who recommended the books to me, and she also shrieked.
Let me tell you, talking to Marie and Alyc is an absolute delight, and I am so excited that I'll get to share our conversation with you on the channel! We chatted about fashion history as inspiration, bringing together multiple historical and cultural influences to build a fantasy aesthetic, and the role of fashion and costuming in storytelling. Certain comments may have been made about how I maaaaaay be the Tess of my friend circle, and how I maaaaaay just have to make myself a Tess cosplay at some point . . .

Also, they have been kind enough to run a GIVEAWAY with me! Stay tuned for details, and if you simply cannot bear to leave getting book-related shinies up to chance, GO CHECK OUT THEIR KICKSTARTER : loom.ly/6QmB-Fo

Art by @alychelms of the famous duel from #TheMaskOfMirrors

#fantasybooks #fantasyseries #bookstagram #fantasyreview #readqueerallyear #diversifyyourshelves #bookishaesthetic #booksta #readthisbook #rookandrosetrilogy #macarrick #whatimreadingnow

2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 475

SnappyDragon

Clearly I was not wrong about y'all liking tier lists-- so how about we do another? This time, I'm ranking hairstyling in historical shows and films, and I'll once again do my best to make these rankings without becoming the Purist Historical Accuracy Police. Drop your suggestions in the comments, whether you think they're good, bad, or you're just curious what a former hairstylist has to say about how a style was done.
Much love,
-Vi 🐉💚

3 years ago | [YT] | 601

SnappyDragon

I hear y'all like tier lists . . . so you get to help me choose corset scenes to rank! Drop your suggestions in the comments?

Specifically, sometime in February we shall be ranking corset scenes in period dramas! I've had a really fun time coming up with tier structures that are not The Historical Accuracy Police, because film productions do have other priorities. I think it'll be much more interesting to talk about how the costuming interacts with the story and social expectations of the audience, then to pick at little details of accuracy-- that's too easy!

Any scene where a character is shown putting on a corset, or wearing one without the layers that go over top of it, is fair game. Think Titanic, Meet Me In St. Louis, that one infamous Bridgerton scene, et c. We're using "corset" as a general term for "boned supportive garment that covers a large portion of the torso, worn between 1500 and 1970". So yes, I do intend to venture into the mid-20th century and talk about Midge Maisel's show corset.

As far as what sort of media : It must be either fiction or a docu-drama, it must be video, it must either be in English or have English subtitles available, and it must be made on the sort of scale that involves production companies (since I'm uncomfy discussing, say, any fellow independent Youtubers' work).

I can't promise to get to everyone's recommendations, but I always love a chance to talk about shows that I might not know about, or that you all have specific questions about. Thank you all once again for being the Best Audience Ever, and I can't wait to watch (and talk about) your favorites!

Much love,
-V 🐉💚

3 years ago | [YT] | 336

SnappyDragon

Hello dear viewers! A few of you have sent me messages about some ethical concerns with a recent video’s sponsor. Firstly, I want to say how much I appreciate having an audience like you! It’s easy to talk about accountability in the abstract, but it’s another thing to hold even the creators you like to a high standard. When I say I have the best audience a creator could ask for, this is why.

So, I owe you all an apology for not doing more due diligence before accepting this sponsorship. As of today, I have removed the sponsored segment from my video and all of the sponsor’s information from the description, and I will not be working with them again.

Now is the bit where I go against content creator industry norms and get transparent about what this means : A lot of creators are getting the very short end of the stick in this situation. This sponsor (at least, with me) uses all the official channels for sponsoring creators, including legal contracts for the sponsored segments we do. Cutting ties with them means I have to break that contract, so I am not getting paid for this video. Contracts = legal matters, so I had to do a lot of bustle-covering to make this happen, and because of that I can't discuss the situation in comments or messages.

Since I only do one or two videos a month, not getting paid for this one is a pretty big hit, but it’s worth it to do the right thing. If you want to help offset that, you can watch that video (or any of my others) with your ad-blocker off, and share them with your friends!

Thank you again for walking the walk when it comes to accountability. I love you all 🐉💚

3 years ago | [YT] | 937

SnappyDragon

Hey, just wanted to let you all know I'm aware of the situation with one of my recent sponsors. Because sponsorships involve contracts, I have to talk with several people and make sure my bustle is covered before I can say or do anything about it, but I am looking into my options. Major props to y'all for showing you understand accountability applies to people you like!

3 years ago | [YT] | 780

SnappyDragon

Hello my dears! Time has flown by recently-- moving house will do that. There are still a couple boxes to unpack, but the new space is working out so well!
I'm starting on what will be both my last video of 2022, and also the beginning of the biggest project I've ever done : "The Clothes On Their Backs" is the series I'm producing as part of the JWI Digital Storytellers' Lab fellowship, and I cannot tell you how excited I am. This project will let me dig deeper into so many of the themes I keep coming back to in my other videos : What lessons can we modern people learn from history? Why does historical costuming make history feel so real? How does clothing connect us to our predecessors?

So, I have a question for you : What draws you to historical costume? What makes you love dressing up, or want to dress up? Why do you sew, or study, or re-enact? Why is fashion history important to you?
(yes, that's like four questions . . . or four ways of looking at one question?)

Tell me in the comments! I know the story of how I wound up in our weird little corner of the internet, and I want to know yours too 💚

3 years ago | [YT] | 506

SnappyDragon

By now y'all probably know that I use this community tab for two things : research help, and kvelling when my friends do cool things.
This video goes so far beyond "my friend did a cool thing" I have no words. Pieces like this go straight to the heart of what makes costuming and history powerful, of what makes our weird little hobby of dressing up in old clothes something that makes a difference. Katie's experience wearing historical mourning dress sheds light on the lessons we can learn about ourselves and our society when it comes to grief, and how creative practices can help us process it.
Go watch, and show Katie some love in the comments 💚

3 years ago | [YT] | 209