TIKTOK is a place known for the variety of content it offers its viewers. From a site previously known for just cutesy dances to learn to pass the time during the pandemic, it’s since evolved into a way for practically anybody and everybody to express themselves no matter how they may choose.

Many have taken to TikTok to show off their creativity to the world, posting short films and cinematic videos, and bringing their directorial debuts since they can’t do the same through television or cinema. And others have started using TikTok as a means to bring laughter into the lives of others. One such form of content is skits played out on different topics that the masses can relate to.

Such is the content that TikTokers Irish Vistan and Stephen Legaspi have started making in the past few years. Known best for their videos portraying the stereotypical toxic girlfriend and boyfriend, Vistan and Legaspi first started making skits together when they found out that they’d be acting together in the student-directed film Unspoken. 

Since they’ve started making videos, the two have become known for their terrifyingly realistic portrayals of the toxic traits many have seen in their exes – or even in their present relationships. 

Why do they do it? As per the words of Legaspi, their content aims to raise awareness – to reflect reality and to help people see the truth that this kind of behavior, while fun to watch, is not okay.

How it all started

22-year-old Irish Vistan, currently in her 4th year at the University of Santo Tomas, first started posting on TikTok in 2021. In the two years that she’s been on the site, her content has changed; from posting empowering videos telling viewers how to move on from heartbreak, she’s since transitioned to making vlogs, and then the relatable girlfriend POVs that many have come to recognize her for.

Often referred to as MareMo on Twitter, she shows her fans – her Marecakes – content aimed at helping them deal with their pain in life by reminding them that they’re not alone.

“I’m like their mare who’s trying to heal them from their heartbreaks,” she explained.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old San Beda graduate Stephen Legaspi is currently a full-time content creator and is best known for his Toxic BF stints on TikTok. He first started on the site in 2020 with “pa-cute” videos and scripted pranks wherein he would act like he was pulling a joke on his siblings or his parents.

Later on, though, he grew tired of this kind of content; he wanted to expand his audience because, at the time, his fanbase consisted primarily of children. 

It was in the following year when he started making Pick Me Boy POVs, wherein he would portray your typical sad boy who tries to prove to the girls he dates that he’s “not like the other guys.” 

Later on, he added the Toxic Boyfriend character to his roster.

He has also made videos that satirize drivers who scam their customers as well as corrupt enforcers in the Philippines. For him, his videos help to show that life is by no means a fantasy.

Vistan and Legaspi have continued to make videos on the topic of relationships, exaggerating behavior known to be red flags in a boyfriend or girlfriend. 

But while many may find these videos funny, what these content creators don’t tell you in their videos is the deeper meaning behind all of these. 

Raising awareness

Legaspi said his videos intend to shine a light on what could be broken or dysfunctional in a relationship. 

“Yung iba, parang pag nahihit sila ng reality, tinetake nila as negative, na parang ‘wala namang nangyayaring ganyan,’” he said.

But others find his material enlightening. 

“Through observing my content, people’s comments, ang daming natutuwa na parang ‘thank you kasi gan’to kami ngayon ng boyfriend ko’ ‘gan’to kami ngayon ng partner ko, and sana makita niya ‘to na ganito kasama nangyayari sa’min,” he said.  

He has even received comments thanking him because, through his videos, many have come to realize just how toxic and unhealthy the relationships they’re in really are, helping them to break up with their partners and find the love that they truly deserve.

In the eyes of Legaspi, you don’t need to be a martyr who just goes along with all the pain that your partner gives you; some problems simply cannot be fixed, and it’s okay to want to let that go if you reach the point that you can n longer handle it.

Vistan, on the other hand, makes content to help boost the confidence of other women, to assure them that they don’t need to stay in toxic relationships because there’s always someone out there better suited for them – that it may hurt now, but they’ll be able to move on eventually.

“It’s a way of informing the youth alin yung dapat na qualities na hanapin mo sa isang relationship, kung mafa-flag ba siya as toxic, as red flag, or green flag ba yung nararanasan mong experience,” she said, explaining that her and Legaspi’s videos served as a warning of what not to do when you enter a relationship.

Many of her videos come from the stories her friends share with her whenever they ask her for advice, as well as from some of her personal experiences. 

Not all of the POVs she makes have happened to her directly, others were just born from creativity and the accounts of others, she said. 

How they started collaborating 

Legaspi and Vistan eventually ended up seeing one another’s videos as they were scrolling through their respective For You pages on TikTok. 

While they did follow one another and commented on one another’s posts every once in a while, it was only when they were cast to act in the film Unspoken that they found the opportunity to start filming TikToks with one another.

Soon enough, their videos started blowing up, with people going wild over how they seemed to be the walking embodiment of red flags in a relationship. Their videos quickly acquired millions of views, with people begging for more content of the two of them acting alongside one another.

Despite the aim of their content being to uplift others, and despite earning mainly positive support from those that come across their videos, Vistan and Legaspi both admit that they’ve had their fair share of haters, too.

Risky business

In her time posting POV videos on TikTok, Vistan recounted that there have been a lot of  times wherein she received comments saying “Panget yung ugali [mo],” or “Hiwalayan mo na yan.”

Legaspi received similar comments; many seem to disregard the disclaimers he posts saying that his videos are just skits and that he’s just acting. 

Many have said that through his POVs, he’s just showing his true self; “Ikaw yan eh, ikaw naman yung masama, ikaw talaga yan, ikaw talaga yung masamang boyfriend,” they’d comment.

The hate he’s gotten has become so heavy that there are even certain areas in the city that he’s scared to show his face in.

“May mga threats na ‘Taga-san ba yan? Para pag nakita kita sa personal, bubugbugin kita,’” he said. 

He also received many insults along the lines of “P*tangina mo, g*go ka talaga, t*ngina mo papatayin kita, pupuntahan kita,” as well as practically every swear word known to man. 

And it doesn’t just stop at strangers – Vistan said that she’s even been called out by her friends for some of her content. 

This happened because the two had posted a video of them making their usual content, but this time sporting fake bruises. The bruises, however, weren’t put on for the skit specifically – they were put on beforehand for their filming of Unspoken. 

The backlash Vistan received worried her so much that she eventually started asking Legaspi if they should take the video down. Legaspi reassured her that there was no need to do so.

“Bakit mo itu-turn down yung video kapag reflection naman ng reality yung pinapakita mo?” he asked her at the time.

“Social awareness naman yung pinapakita mo; it’s not that you’re abusive. Hindi ka abusive. Pinoportray mo lang yung mga abusive na tao,” he said. 

Still, Vistan took the callout as a learning opportunity for the future, realizing the weight of her responsibility as a content creator and putting more thought and reflection into the videos that she makes. 

Even the relationships of Legaspi and Vistan have been nitpicked on many occasions. 

Though the two are both in relationships with other people in real life, many have continued to ship them in the comments, saying that they look good together. 

Legaspi commented on this, saying he finds these remarks disrespectful. 

“Toxic na nga ako sa content ko, ito-toxic ko pa sa totoong buhay,” he joked.

Despite all of these issues that come with making their kind of content, the two continue to push on with their acting. 

And given the fact that they’ve managed to star in Unspoken, a film featured in the Manila Film Festival, it’s easy to see that their talents aren’t just meant for TikTok.

The road to success so far

The film Unspoken, directed by students from different branches of Arellano University, was streamed in the SM Manila Cinema last June. Aside from Vistan and Legaspi, it also features the talents of veteran actors Lotlot Bustamante and Allan Paule De Guzman. 

Vistan and Legaspi both received emails from the students from Arellano, asking them to star in the film. They were chosen because the students had seen them act in their TikToks and felt that their talents were fit for the big screen. 

The film won the People’s Choice Award during the awarding ceremony for the Manila Film Festival, with Bustamante also being lauded as the Best Supporting Actress that same night. 

And though Vistan and Legaspi have had experience acting in theatre and school films respectively, being a part of a movie playing in cinemas is on a whole other level.

Though Legaspi says that he wasn’t entirely too happy with how the film came out, he’s still glad for the opportunities it provided him. His role in the film served as a learning experience as well as a way to bond with the rest of the cast. 

Vistan shares the same sentiments, explaining that while it wasn’t a perfect production, it was a great learning experience. 

Since they served as the ates and kuyas of the students from Arellano, they weren’t just actors on set, but guides for the production of the film, too. 

This film is sure to open up more doors for the pair in the future; though Vistan and Legaspi have both reassured their audiences that they’re going to be posting more of the same content as well as coming up with new, fresh takes with better production quality and unique stories and characters, they also hope to further broaden their horizons in the acting community. 

One thing that’ll stay consistent though? The goal to portray reality, no matter how harsh it may be.