Pretty Pastel Please

[Nerdyandiknowit]

Lurker here just putting in my two cents. I was a big fan of the channel… while I would never wear a pastel wardrobe I enjoyed seeing her curate hers. I also enjoyed some of her crafting content and other thing she did to branch out when fast fashion became unfashionable. I do think Archie and Sam are were two things that set her apart. Archie was the original reason I stayed on the channel, he was so cute. The occasional Sam showing up in a crafting video or some other type of fun video was fun because he is so personable. However I do think her channel could have continued to thrive even if those two never were on the channel again. But it hasn’t

I think the nose job was the turning point. People forget that surgery is a big deal, even minor surgery. People can have reactions to anesthesia or things that happen during surgery and not connect the two things. Surgery is very stressful on your body and thus can affect your mind. I think that, coupled with the surgery failing, is what sent Alex down the spiral. The survey itself triggered something, depression or OCD or some other mental issue, and then the surgery did not change how people saw her. She thought everyone would be raving about how much more beautiful she was… that she would suddenly have more followers and more attention… and that didn’t happen. Those two things led to a spiral. The pandemic further complicated things, making it difficult for those around her to help her, and by the time they could help she was plummeting and beyond help. Kind of like falling into deep water and thinking all your friends are trying to kill you because you are convinced the surface is the opposite way everyone is trying to get you to go. She keeps swimming deeper and after a certain point nobody could reach her to show her the bubbles going the opposite way she is swimming. Sorry for the terrible metaphor but I can’t think of another way to explain it.

I really feel for Alex. I think she definitely had some social issues before all this started but it was manageable. Now, I think the only way she will get better is some serious professional help. It is unlikely to happen as long as people are around her enable and encouraging her on her self destructive path. We can hope her new “friends” will help her once the novelty wears off, but I am not holding my breath.


Final note… I was a little shocked to hear her call her fans she is hanging out with NPCs. I could understand using that term when you are talking about people who you have never met and only exist in internet comments, but it is a bit jarring (and condescending) to use it for your IRL “friends”. This is a nitpick but it just rubbed me the wrong way.

[captain-marzipan]

I think the nose job was the turning point. People forget that surgery is a big deal, even minor surgery. People can have reactions to anesthesia or things that happen during surgery and not connect the two things. Surgery is very stressful on your body and thus can affect your mind. I think that, coupled with the surgery failing, is what sent Alex down the spiral. The survey itself triggered something, depression or OCD or some other mental issue, and then the surgery did not change how people saw her. She thought everyone would be raving about how much more beautiful she was… that she would suddenly have more followers and more attention… and that didn’t happen. Those two things led to a spiral. The pandemic further complicated things, making it difficult for those around her to help her, and by the time they could help she was plummeting and beyond help.

This is something I've commented before on this forum so I 100% agree with you! Although her videos are out of order you can see from the nose job videos that they all start to decline. The occasional different one here and there from her old content she was late in uploading...but the stuff she'd upload almost immediately was where people would see the change. It was the "hair saga" that to me, made it seem like she was trying to "fix" something and the big start of OCD behavior. She would never be content with how it looked and wash it three times in one night or change it completely the next day. After the nose jobs videos you can also see the lack of editing that starts appearing. No intro, no decent lighting etc.

I hate that her content irritates me these days because there is just no thought or care in it (I don't know if that makes me sound entitled because I get that youtubers don't owe me 'perfect' videos. I just prefer my sources of entertainment to be well thought out ig). I think the recent videos she's posted on her main channel about/in Tasmania and "thriftmas" should have been kept on her side quest channel since they were more vlog type. I didn't mind her side quest for the candid, unedited/unfiltered videos. I actually enjoyed having a video to look forward to daily and felt (at times) she was more genuine.

As a viewer I would just have preferred the main channel be kept for the more well thought out videos.

She said in SQ she gave Lucy the footage of the wardrobe clear out and power to edit and upload and control her main channel so she didn't have to look. But I wonder if she's gone back on that now. It certainly doesn't seem like she's reliquinshed control.

I feel for her, I really do. I want her to get help and realize that not everyone against these changes are haters. I saw a comment on her ig rant saying essentially like "wow I've been your fan for ages and I care for you but because I expressed concern I'm suddenly a hater?" (paraphrasing a lot but it drives the point home). Alex, I think without realizing, has not gone "F U to the haters" and been empowering like she thinks. But more so "F U to anyone who doesn't kiss my ass and enable me".

I also don't enjoy the 'fans' in her comments constantly commenting "Watch her SQ videos if all of this is shocking you!! You'll see how unhappy she was!" ...they don't stop to think that perhaps a lot of us HAVE watched those videos and thats why these sudden changes are so concerning.

[captain-marzipan]

I wonder if this is why Tiasha seems to have disappeared from the channel in the last year

Tiasha (and a lot of her other friends) appeared on her side quest channel on Day 11 when they spent a good day or two overhauling that patch of garden so she had a nice view in her office. In that video everyone seems supportive and getting along nicely.

A lot of her friends live a plane ride away (even when she was in Sydney) so because of Australia's strict covid guidelines and lockdowns it makes sense they'd be absent.

It's funny because recently Alex has hinted that she might like to try streaming. Lockdown would have been the perfect time for that, her friends could have played games or D&D or something (I imagine due to her nose and the healing she wouldn't have wanted to do it though)

(also oopsie for double posting)

[katertots]

My realization that the Michelle relationship was a bit off (and also the moment I realized Michelle is a Queen) was the hair cutting video when Alex, Grace and Michelle were outside cutting Alex's hair, and Michelle (I suspect very deliberately) took a huge hunk out with some shearing shears (from memory). It must have been tense with Michelle moving in with them.

Yes I remember this! Didn't it happen right after Alex kept making comments about how Sam had previously dated both her and Grace? That whole video was uncomfortable if I remember right because the vibes were so off between Alex and Michelle. I think Alex did genuinely want to like her at first, but I also think she started getting jealous as Michelle and Sam got more serious.

I just had a thought, is it possible Alex got offended at Sam and Michelle not turning their relationship into a three person friend group like she did with her and Dan? She integrated Sam so deeply into her relationship with Dan (they even lived together for at least a year) that I can see her getting upset when Sam didn't do that. Of course my suspicion for that is that 1) Sam was in love with Alex so any way to be with her was fine and 2) Alex is not content with attention from only Dan. So now that Sam has moved on and found someone else, he's okay with having a more private relationship with Michelle and not involving Alex so much, but Alex isn't okay with it because Dan apparently isn't enough for her. The crappy thing Alex seems to do with Sam is that she doesn't actually want to be with him, but she doesn't want him to be with anyone else either. Maybe he's finally realized that being best friends with Alex was sabotaging his happiness in more ways than one and got out.

Also, when did she call her new friends NPCs? I must have missed that, but that's a pretty insulting thing to say especially to people that you care about. I would be so mad if my supposed good friend insinuated I was a stock background character in HER life. But apparently her rent-a-friends didn't seem to mind...?

[Shalleycat]

NPC is some word she uses for the people in her discord. She talked about it in the day 28 video I think... Nerdy pigeon coop

[Alices Rabbithole]

NPC is some word she uses for the people in her discord. She talked about it in the day 28 video I think... Nerdy pigeon coop

More like Napping in Pigeon Crap

[Nerdyandiknowit]

NPC is some word she uses for the people in her discord. She talked about it in the day 28 video I think... Nerdy pigeon coop

Oh that makes sense. I thought she was calling them non-player characters which felt ick to me.

[HereSalem]

Michelle's post aimed at Alex is another piece of evidence toward my theory that the main fallout was between Alex and Sam (and Michelle) and everything spiraled from there. The vibes between Alex and Sam were way off long before Tasmania and I think Sam was really pulling back from his friendship with Alex before she went on her permaholiday. I agree with the earlier poster who was wondering if maybe Alex's friends started being more firm with her or had a kind of "intervention" about her behavior and she took it badly. I genuinely hope her friends are doing okay, especially Lucy who was always so supportive and Caitlyn who didn't sugarcoat anything. I wonder if this is why Tiasha seems to have disappeared from the channel in the last year, maybe she also distanced herself from Alex. It's really hard to stay super close with someone who won't get out of bed and just lies around in bird poop all day. You can do nice supportive things (like Tiasha going on trips with her, Lucy helping with her skincare, and Caitlyn helping declutter), but at the end of the day you can't willpower someone else out of depression no matter how much you love them.

My theory is that Sam finally got over Alex, and Alex couldn't handle not having him as an adoring puppy on the backburner any more. Cue personal crisis, running away, meltdown, and now "hoe era".

I mean I'm sure it's not that simple but I feel like this is a huge factor.

[Strawhats]

Michelle's post aimed at Alex is another piece of evidence toward my theory that the main fallout was between Alex and Sam (and Michelle) and everything spiraled from there. The vibes between Alex and Sam were way off long before Tasmania and I think Sam was really pulling back from his friendship with Alex before she went on her permaholiday. I agree with the earlier poster who was wondering if maybe Alex's friends started being more firm with her or had a kind of "intervention" about her behavior and she took it badly. I genuinely hope her friends are doing okay, especially Lucy who was always so supportive and Caitlyn who didn't sugarcoat anything. I wonder if this is why Tiasha seems to have disappeared from the channel in the last year, maybe she also distanced herself from Alex. It's really hard to stay super close with someone who won't get out of bed and just lies around in bird poop all day. You can do nice supportive things (like Tiasha going on trips with her, Lucy helping with her skincare, and Caitlyn helping declutter), but at the end of the day you can't willpower someone else out of depression no matter how much you love them.

My theory is that Sam finally got over Alex, and Alex couldn't handle not having him as an adoring puppy on the backburner any more. Cue personal crisis, running away, meltdown, and now "hoe era".

I mean I'm sure it's not that simple but I feel like this is a huge factor.

Agreed. Alex behaves like a textbook narcissist. I can imagine her losing control over Sam caused her to make michelle look bad on purpose in videos as well as spiral.

Happy for sam though. Wouldn’t want to be friends with someone that took an ADHD test on my behalf while pretending to be me then tell the world I probably have ADHD or use an AI to make a raunchy fanfic about me and her husband.

I worry for those tasmasnia friends though. Parasocial relationships are really bad and it’s likely theyre still awestruck right now since theyre het fans.

I wonder what shes gonna do once they wise up and drop her and her old friends wont take her back.

[Strawhats]

Also, to add, I feel like if she was truly happy and content she wouldnt be trying so hard to prove it to strangers online or fight with them.

[Alices Rabbithole]

You're right. Highly entertaining for us though. I'll make the popcorn, you make the hot chocolate

[Undine]

I would be so pissed as a long time friend who always supported and helped her reading in her new story that the people in tasmania healed her.
i would ask myself why i invested my time and effort for years in this friendship.

[katertots]

I would be so pissed as a long time friend who always supported and helped her reading in her new story that the people in tasmania healed her.
i would ask myself why i invested my time and effort for years in this friendship.

If I was one of her mainland friends, I would be 500% done. Alex...it's not your old friends' fault you had mental health struggles and it's not their responsibility to "heal" you. It doesn't make them bad people because they didn't fix all your problems.

The new friends are probably perfectly nice people, but the friend group is definitely still in the honeymoon phase. On top of that, it's not a naturally occurring friendship - these people were fans first which means Alex is on a pedestal and gets preferential treatment. She might FEEL happier with them than her old friends, but it's not because it's healthier, it's because it encourages her to behave like a narcissist with no consequences. Surrounding yourself with yes men is a classic way to end up in an echo chamber and double down on your worst behaviors. The next few months are going to be interesting to say the least.

[PennyfromHeaven]

She's posting a couple times about Claye, I guess they're spending Christmas together. Do you think she's moved on to him?

[RandomReindeer]

She’s back in Sydney now. In her latest Instagram story she’s filming Clay interact with one of the birds. You can tell it’s her Sydney bedroom with the couch and lamps and the window outside. So she and Clay are in Sydney.

[Tiara and Char 22]

Good eye! I wonder how she got a pigeon back to Sydney. But also, after being apart so long, I would want some 1 on 1 time with my husband for the holidays. I would imagine Dan does too. Seems odd she brought people back with her imo.

[Shera]

Maybe she replaced Sam with Claye

[Alices Rabbithole]

I reckon that she brought Claye back as a buffer. There would have been people at home wanting some hard answers, and they would be less likely to do so in the presence of a virtual stranger.

[bloopybloo]

Maybe she replaced Sam with Claye

Maybe she did. She compared them in one video where she said she wanted to run her idea past Claye because he thought the same way Sam did...something along those lines.

[soozy56]

Oh my gosh, I have every amount of empathy for whatever is going on with Alex, but the utter selfishness of this latest vlog with Caitlyn (who is a remarkable person, the patience of a saint) I think might be my breaking point. The idea of travelling interstate to visit a friend and then being subjected to this rant in the car is my ultimate nightmare. It was Alex's decision to prolong the trip to Tasmania and therefore what may or may not happen to any of her animals (who she seems more concerned about than her own husband, parents or long term friends), and her complete lack of awareness at how lucky her life actually is compared to many people is truly angering.
Sitting in a car, on holiday, with a friend who has travelled to visit you, recounting news from your husband that your chicken, which you are not actually allowed to keep, will have to be rehomed with your friend's father (as if most people would have that sort of instant back up plan at the ready), and then COMPLAINING about what MIGHT happen (if I were Grace, hearing that about my father, I would be so utterly hurt and offended), and ignoring your friend's reasonable reaction to the situation, wild. I can't even fathom that level of self centredness. I love when Caitlyn said "There's nobody in the wrong here." Exactly.