Dreams

Sorry about not updating, despite me saying I would, but here's something.

So I feel like dreams and nightmares are a matter that have changed for me over time. Whatever they are, memories being pushed out, your mind playing tricks with you, I don't know. But one odd complaint I always here is about nightmares.

Really? At this point, I don't really have nightmares. Even the scariest parts of my dreams don't seem to phase me as much as I'd like anymore. But when I do have something that wakes me in the middle of the night/early morning, I actually wake up with a sigh of relief. I am happy I live in a world where these bad things don't happen, and therefore I guess you could say these are more blessings in disguise more than anything.

But what about good dreams? Those are the ones that people tend to think of when they want to sleep nicely during the night. There are the ones where you can fly, where you have superpowers, where you get to ask out that one cute girl you know and she says yes, maybe share a tender kiss (I mean, that's what I hear, anyways. It's not like I have those or anything. Uuuuhhhhh, just keep reading). But I always felt like these ones are also, in a sense, a little bit depressing. As soon as you wake up, there it is, that sense of reality, that sense that whatever happened in your dream isn't real. Maybe that's fine with some people, but I hate these kinds of dreams.

It's those dreams where good things are happening in a nonsensical wasteland, and while the things around you don't matter, what you're focusing on tends to be great. I'm not talking about "wet dreams" either, it's just sometimes nice to be able to hold someone close to you until your sleepiness wears out to tell you morning has arrived. I know people do all kinds of stuff to make their minds do these kinds of things, and while that sounds nice, it just feels like I'd be battling for control for my mind to be happy.

I don't know, this was just some random hogwash that I felt like talking about. I don't know if people really read these or nots, but it feels better to get some of these things out. Maybe other people share different opinions, and I would like to hear them, but for the time being, I do find my happier dreams as sad nothings that will never happen in my life, things I will never do, and girls I will never kiss. (Er, I mean, again, that's what I hear)

Update: June, the Month of Writing

Well, I haven't updated this poor  thing in what feels like forever. So I'm going to update it now. Yes, with the beginning of June, I have decided that I will do more writing, whether that's for my own story, or just on this blog for the sake of it. I have a couple things in mind to write about, so there's plenty of stuff to discuss.

I think the biggest thing right now is just forcing myself to get a proper outline of the first part of my story done (first book?). Figuring out how to put all these people together ain't easy, but I try my best. I suppose in general Summer is a time of relaxation for me, if only because I still need to find work. Since it's June and I still haven't found jack, I might as well do something with my abundance of time. It's a shame I haven't really done too much, but seeing friends and all that is pretty nice.

I think the next thing I'm going to write about is Digimon games. Seems like a silly thing to write about, but it'll help start the creative juices, or at least just get me back in the mood of writing. Generally, I find just writing about simple things like that will be helpful. I've been spending too much of my time and money on video games (the Steam Sale got plenty of dollars out of me, even if the stuff is pretty cheap, a decent amount of money still goes into it).

I've also been home alone for the week. It's been nice, but also a little weird I suppose. I don't really have anyone hanging over at my house, but I guess I'm treating this time more as alone time than anything. I feel like everyone needs a bit of that now and then, and it'll help get it out of my system before I start trying to do all this stuff again.

I have to admit, I am feeling better though. I feel like I started off this summer all down, but now I'm a little more positive, feeling fresh, and I'm sure I'm going to be able to do more. I just need to push myself. Look forward to more updates, my 0 followers.

One Punch Man

I know I haven't updated in nearly a week now, but I do have finals, which I will be done with on Thursday. Hopefully then I'll be able to update more (here's hoping I can fix my wireless internet as well during this time, it keeps disconnecting over and over).

"I became the hero I had always dreamed of being. But how can it be that, even though I should be satisfied, I feel so empty...?"

Let's hear it for a very unappreciated manga, One Punch Man! (I will be throwing some spoilerish stuff here and there, nothing that you won't find out within the first chapters, so no worries) Starting as a webcomic by a mangaka that calls himself One, OPM is a story focused around Seitama who, you guessed it, beats everything in a single punch. Now I know what you're telling yourself: He's a walking Gary Stu (male Mary Sue, whatever), how can this be enjoyable in the slightest? Simple: Seitama might defeat everything in one hit, but there's a problem; No one is paying attention to his exploits, and he can't find anyone that would make for a "fun" fight.

Seitama's description for himself. Unlike other Mary Sues, Seitama doesn't treat his power with anything special.
He's honestly a very down to earth person. This only makes his godlike power that much funnier.

 We find that our hero has gotten his powers when one day, he walked home and encountered a large crab man who wants to murder a kid for a childish prank. Seitama ends up saving him, and decides to throw away his normal life in order to become a Superhero. He trains for 3 years, and becomes powerful enough to fight beasts that even the strongest heroes of the world are incapable of facing. How did he get this way you ask?

Yep. A very basic workout routine (well, aside from maybe all those push ups and miles he has to run). Seitama did this workout for a few years, which resulted in him losing his hair. This gives us another bit of information: Seitama doesn't actually know the real reason on how or why he got his powers (and neither have the readers at this current moment)

The entire manga could be summed up in this image: Seitama one shotting some beast, being extremely apathetic and bored, while saving lives.

Along the way, Seitama meets a cyborg by the name of Genos. Genos is shocked to see how strong Seitama really is, asking if he can train under him as an apprentice, and even tells his backstory and how he wants revenge on his family's killer(which we don't see any scenes of, just the talking, making fun of every anime that does this, and how it would really look if someone was just sitting there blabbing their mouth off). While Genos has some issues with Seitama at first, he comes to accept him not only as a master who shows himself to have true hero qualities, but also a friend. He himself is one of the few people that realize that Saitama is the strongest hero out of any he meets, including the top people of a Hero group.

Genos himself is much more, well, attractive than Seitama. Kind of the usual hotblooded protagonist at first, but develops more as an apprentice, and, like Seitama, is one of the few heroes that is there to help others.

Speaking of which, the two of them join a Hero Organization so that Seitama and Genos can start proving to the world as heroes. They both do very well with the physical test (Seitama breaking records with his), but while Genos aces his test and gets S Rank, Seitama fails and insteads gets C Rank, having to prove himself as he goes up the ladder(which obviously isn't too hard, aside from the people that think he's kill stealing from other heroes).

"Been there, done that."

I shouldn't have to say this, but I will anyways; this manga is funny as hell. Just the way it makes fun of general shonen manga and how we're represented with a powerful but lazy hero. Quoted from an anon, "There's conflict when Saitama is not around. When he finally arrives to save the day all the tension and drama evaporate in an intentionally hilarious way." It's not a matter of IF Seitama can beat his opponents. It's whether or not he gets lost on the way.

Each of these parts is a different drawn scene. Someone simply put them together. This should give you a good idea on the art.

One Punch Man is a severely underrated manga. While the webcomic itself is crudely drawn (One himself isn't the best artist, but there are many scenes that are actually pretty good despite his art style), Yusuke Murata of Eyeshield 21 fame is redrawing the entire series, with plenty of spectacular art, some scenes being just breathtaking. Combined with the action and the humor, along with ridiculous and fun villains, One Punch Man is a manga that distances itself from any other by not only making fun of them and itself, but playing around the whole way through. My one complaint? I wish it updated faster.

Badassery never looked so apathetic.

Games I will never fully 100%

So this idea came to me when I was in the shower. I already have another idea (Pokemon vs. Digimon), but I feel like this is a better one to talk about at 4:30 in the morning.

Now when it comes to games, I find myself doing my best to 100% them as best as I can, although even I know my limits. There are certain games that demand forcing yourself on the most menial of tasks that there is no real reason to do a full completion of it (especially if it only rewards you an item that says good job).

(If you are looking for a guy that 100% games, look at Jirard of the Completionist on youtube, who does just that. Seriously, check him out, he's a rad dude that loves games. I don't enjoy every single one of his reviews, but he's still a pleasure to simply listen to.)

I have done these with certain games: Kingdom Hearts comes to mind, having gotten every weapon, item, doing random tasks (like the Rare Truffles that you must hit in the air 100 times in a row), killed every enemy, secret boss, trinity, treasure chest, etc. But it comes to my attention around that point: Why should I bother doing this? What am I getting out of it?

I want to lay out some ground rules here: If I say I've 100% a game, I might just be talking about doing every single thing on different playthroughs. This includes something like Paper Mario:TTYD (getting tattle logs, cooking recipes, etc.). These games are either menial in their tasks, or just downright extremely hard to do. So here we go.

1. Final Fantasy IX

This is one of the first games I thought of(and one of my favorite Playstation ones!), and damn, is it a doozy!

I don't even know where to begin. I have done every single boss in the game and done the full mognet chain, but there is a bigger problem afoot; the cards and Excalibur II.

This is a VERY hard item to get. To do it: Beat the game within 12 hours. Do not exceed the time. This sounds like a long time, but this is much less time than you think; FF9 is a very long, very huge game whose battle system is, if I'm honest, slower than I would like it to be, especially compared to other games in the series. To do this, one must ignore a ton of items, pray for luck in getting certain other ones, ignore practically all the sidequests and extra bits of dialogue, then once on the final disc, you must simply know to squat down at picture related to get your item. This is an essential item to speedrunners of the game (I feel bad for them already, knowing that they have to deal with all of this, sitting there for several hours as well), but one rarely seen by others. The only other way to get this is to wait a really long time for the clock to reset, thus tricking the system into believing you still have time left. Otherwise, there is no where else in the game you can get it.

The other is the card collection game. There are 100 types of cards. You can only hold 100 cards at a time. You will find yourself having stacks of the same monster, and certain cards can only be gotten by dueling against certain people (or for sidequests, doing several jumps in the row for the tedious jumprope game). I didn't even care for this part of the game to begin with (it's only important to do once) but it's still something just so mind boggingly annoying that I doubt I'll ever have the patience to figure it out.

2. Sonic Adventure II Battle

I already touched upon the fact that this game isn't as good as I thought it was several years back. But why is this one on the list? Easy: Getting every single Emblem, and full A-ranks.

Don't mind the Chao Garden stuff, but here's just an example of these lists.

Let's break it down: There are 6 different characters. Minus the unlockable zone for getting all the emblems, there are 31 stages, each having 5 missions (155 emblems in total). You must get an A-rank in EVERY SINGLE ONE to get an extra emblem for each character (6 more, 161). Then there are Chao emblems, as seen from above (9 more, 170). Then there is Racing, Boss Rush, and I believe one other mode, that add in 10. In total, there are 180 emblems to collect, and the only thing it does is unlock a 3D Green Hill Zone and more items for your Chao. That's it.  Given the time of A ranking everything alone, it's much too annoying to do this. I can't really stomach the game like I used to with motion sickness effecting me worse and worse, but it's still an ordeal that even younger me can't deal with.

It would be better to spend your time playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles
and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles and Knuckles...

3. Digimon World

Another Playstation game, but this time, it's for one mere problem: Getting all the medals.

 

 

Sorry for the awful Aspect Ratio

So here's the deal: I have gotten most of the medals. This includes: Beating all the Grades, Fishing 100 fish, recruiting every single Digimon, getting all the cards, getting perimeters to full, Ending for finishing the game, playing 300 days (in another file), and maxed my bits. What have I not done? All the Version Cups, all the Type Cups, Mastering all techniques (legitimately), getting every single Digimon at least once (the most I've done is a little over half the chart, it's way harder than you might imagine without forcing myself to use evolution items), and win Greymon's tournaments 100 times (something I've probably done throughout all my playthroughs, but never in one go).

Oh, and of course, Penguinmon/Metalmamemon and their stupid curling.

This area alone is burned into the minds of the many who attempted this feat.
(perhaps minus the Giromon partner)

4. Any Pokemon Game's Pokedex

This should be pretty simple: Getting all the Pokemon for a respectful version's Pokedex. Aside from X/Y that reward you with a Shiny Stone that boosts your chances on seeing rare Pokemon, there really is no incentive on getting this. You just get a Certificate. Really, that's it.

I guess it's better than nothing. But come on, can't you give like a Mew or something
for that stupid amount of effort?

That's all for now. I think I'll do more of this at a later time. But for now, I really ought to be going to bed.

Oh, and of course, these images were used from Google Image Search. If you see any that are yours, feel free to tell me to take them down, and I will.

Update

Shauntel told me to write this. So I did. Because she's awesome and stuff. I don't really have a means of plugging her since I don't know where all her blog stuff is, but there you go. IN YOUR FACE.

Super Excited for Super Smash Bros. 4

Yay, a post. I'm currently not too busy right now, so being able to enjoy some free time is very nice. And what better way to waste time than to write in this blog?

Super Smash Bros., a series that I've enjoyed since the first game and have ever since been one to make sure I buy these games day 1. I remember waiting in front of a Circuit City (this was before they shut down), sitting there with my gift card in hand, excited for Brawl. Or the time I bought a Gamecube with my own money and spent many a night with Melee. Or even the times of the N64 when Smash meant huddling around a smaller TV. Still, there's never been a better game to whip out with guests around.

I guess it would help if I told people that I myself use to be heavily into the meta game when Melee was out, looking at combo videos and horribly written guides anywhere for an extra tidbit of information. Yes, these were days I spent months trying to master characters, including lower tier Mewtwo and Pichu, both of which are still low (but with Pichu, at least it was/is still fun wrecking someone's face in with Pichu). Mewtwo was the bigger main though, and I would test my skills against a friend's Marth, depending on teleport mindgames and watching Taj's Mewtwo videos for guidance. Needless to say, I was never as good as him, nor will I ever, but I still enjoyed it immensely.

Competitive Melee. Definitely cool stuff to watch if you haven't done so before.

Flash forward to now, Super Smash Bros. 4. I couldn't help but smile at the Direct given to us, full of ruses from Sakurai, big reveals, very smooth gameplay, fanservice (by that I mean little details like Wireframe Little Mac, although I guess ZSS fits the more believed definition), a Kirby's Air Ride-like mode on the 3DS, For Fun/For Glory, and more.

In fact, speaking of For Fun and For Glory, let's talk about them. This is a spectacular idea. It separates two mediums, people that casually play the game that enjoy playing it for what it is, or people that play it more competitively that will have a wide variety of Final Destination-esque maps to random from. I'll be trying out both, but the very thought that this bonus of variety is here is something I can get behind. If I could complain about one thing, I would've liked the addition of having Battlefield type maps in there as well.

Something that does bother me is people asking "Where is Captain Falcon? Ness? Jiggypuff?" While I don't deny that there is possibility of dropping characters, these seem ridiculous, not to mention one specific thing: For Melee, many of the characters that could be unlocked were revealed every week, the game giving us only the unlockables at first. Even with Brawl, locked character updates only came out closer to the release of the game. So your answer? Just be patient. At least for Captain Falcon, we've been able to glimpse at an F-zero stage, not to mention Samurai Goroh is still an assist trophy. Not to mention, he's practically a staple in the series, almost more of a Smash character than F-zero. One more note on the unlockable characters: I really, REALLY hope that they aren't as easy to unlock as Brawl was (play Subspace, receive characters). Getting new characters felt rewarding in Melee, let's see that again.

Another thing that I've really been looking at is the limited gameplay we've seen. So far, the speed seems to be in between Brawl and Melee. This is good, because it seems to be eliminating the floatiness of Brawl, but also isn't too fast for the more casual audience (I would prefer myself for it to be at Melee's speed, though I won't deny that not everybody that plays Smash is hardcore). Plus, they are eliminating tripping. Well, random tripping anyways (Diddy Kong's bananas still trip his opponents, but otherwise you won't randomly start running, only to fall flat on your face).

Seperation of characters and making them unique is also a very welcome change. Having Samus and Shiek be their own unique characters rather than having to change back and forth, also giving them access to decent down b moves, makes them feel more whole, and allows for more options. Just the same, Metroid and his gf Samus and ZSS separating allow them to have a more unique feel. While I'm not a big of Charizard, as a Pokemon or a character, the fact that he's not tied down to the Pokemon Trainer gimick and is therefore more unique because of it is a welcome change.

The thing that made me glee the most is definitely Smash Run. I was skeptical at first, but it looks like a genuinely fun mode that is a spiritual successor of Kirby's Air Ride that will allow for unique matches, and the fact that it ends with either a random stage or a trial (such as seeing who can climb up a tower the fastest) is really cool. There is definitely more to do here than just fight around, but by no means does the combat suffer for it.

Another welcome addition was noticing some minor tweaks that they have made. For example, back when Megaman was announced, people complained how soulless he looked. Now, his attacks show him with some more expressions (he keeps the standard face for a few in true NES Megaman fashion), and has even shown off a smile in screenshots. There's also other gameplay changes such as moves having different properties, like Pikachu's Thunder spiking opponents, or Link's dair spiking. Even stuff like Kirby being able to charge and move with his hammer, Pit having a new moveset and a really awesome new Final Smash, and others really allow this game to stand out.

One thing that I really wish we could've heard more of is the custom movesets option. This is really awesome, and it shows that with different properties on the moves, that the typical standard movesets are switched around, meaning that you won't have to play the same thing over and over. While it may or may not be in the competitive scene (For Glory is standard mode), this seems like a good change.

Another bonus is trophies. It looks like they're still here, and it'll be nice seeing what all trophies will be in this one. I know it's not really a huge thing, but it's still a nice touch.

Oh yeah, I should talk about new characters. Villager and Megaman were great characters to bring onto the table, and while I don't think Snake's reveal will be topped in a LONG time, Megaman's reveal was still glorious. Wii Fit Trainer seemed "eh", but then moved to a more enjoyable character the more I saw her(now also a him). Rosalina and Luma? Yes please, a very unique mechanic and a very welcome change, despite complaints that her spot was more deserved to others (this will always happen with new Smashes, there is no way around complaints). Little Mac looks extremely hype, with super armor and invincibility frames with a crippling weakness to air, but still extremely powerful on the ground. Another gimmicky character compared to our usual shpeal, but you know what they say, THE MORE THE MERRIER.

Greninja gets his own little section because he's new. Honestly? I'm actually happy for him. I know most of us want Mewtwo (who knows? He could still show up as a secret character alongside Jigglypuff, who is always an unlockable), but he looked fun as well. Faster like the other characters, with Substitutes and all. His trailer made him look fun, but I would like to see more of him later. I feel like I'll judge characters more so as we learn about that (I might even want to make a write up of every character and how they feel/have changed)

But yes, the question remains what we'll see coming up. I'm already planning on buying, and after watching the direct, I only wanted the game even more. I'm debating on whether to even get a Wii U or not for that version, so it's a huge toss up on what will happen. Regardless, my 3DS is going to be seeing a ton of use when Summer rolls around and we get our first taste.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusader Anime Out!

I know I said that I wouldn't be posting anything in a little while, but I'm taking a small break from homework, so I might as well write something down.

Jojo's Part 3 is currently coming out as an anime. The series has had some OVAs before, but never have they really followed the series too well. There has always been things being left out, and a more serious tone from the usual over the top feel that Jojo's Bizarre Adventure gives us. But seeing as how the anime has followed Part 1 and 2 extremely well (so much so that only a few details weren't brought up), many have been excited to see their take on Part 3.

I can't say I was a Jojo's fan before the anime, but I will say this; the first two parts of the anime inspired me to go out and look up the manga, in where I read through Part 3 pretty easily, only having a small break in the middle. Part 4 is one that I'm still having problems with finding (with only a certain number of chapters translated that aren't Duwang), but I am still excited to read about Josuke when I get to it.

If you don't know what Duwang is, feel free to gaze at this beauty. Everytime, it gets me a feeling so complicated.

If you haven't seen Jojo's yet, why haven't you? Crunchyroll has even put it onto their website if you need to watch the whole series. Part 1 is rather lackluster, but Part 2 is where it starts picking up. Luckily for everyone, Part 3, the series where Jojo's really starts making a name for itself, is coming out now, and you would be a fool not to be a part of it. Also, I'm going to flat out say this: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is a series where each new part shown is revolved around a new character that everyone refers to as Jojo. From the Joestar family line, a whole family comes to fight a bunch of no gooders.

What are you waiting for? Go watch this great anime now. Part 1 and 2 before this if you haven't already. Regardless, you won't regret being part of this Bizarre Adventure.

Small Little Update

So I just wanted to post this saying that I've been super busy these past weeks, which is why I haven't been updating this as much as I'd like. I definitely want to continue doing this, but for the time being, I will simply have to keep the updates spaced apart from one another. Just another month and summer returns, and with that, looking for a job. Yay.

I'll try posting something soon.

I hate "love"

Despite what I'm saying in the title, do not take it wrong. Read the rest of the post to find out what I do mean.

Love. Love love love. I'm not a very big fan of this word, I actually kind of despise its use in the English language. I know I'm not the only one that dislikes it either; many don't like "love" because it has a certain ambiguity to it, a word that people can hear and completely miss the meaning that the author or speaker was aiming for.

I firmly believe in what C.S. Lewis said in his work, "The Four Loves." To summarize, he described the four loves this way (thank you TV Tropes for this)

• Storge (Affection/Family) - This is fondness through familiarity, especially among family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance.
• Philia (Friendship) - Friendship is a strong bond existing between people who share a common interest or activity. This includes what Lewis calls companionship; that is gregariousness of the kind which is found in a Good Guy Bar or Local Hangout; as well as friendship proper which is between Heterosexual Life-Partners, Platonic Life Partners and the like but often starts as companionship.
• Eros (Romance) - This is love in the sense of 'being in love'. (This is distinct from sexuality.) This kind of love longs for emotional connection with the other person. According to C.S. Lewis, sexuality is called "Venus." It can be part of "Eros," but on its own, it is not one of the loves, just desire (not to be confused with Lust which is this desire expressed in a sinful way).
• Agape (Unconditional Love) - This is the love that brings forth caring regardless of circumstance. The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. It is also a decision, not fueled by pure emotions (theoretically). However, emotions such as the other three loves can provide a "booster rocket" into agape. Note that true agape is never self-destructive; it is not the willingness to sacrifice oneself that, say, someone with a Guilt Complex would have. It builds the soul, and, like the other types, fosters emotional health and self-confidence. It's difficult to express the differences between a Martyr Without a Cause and someone who's accepted agape love into their heart, but they exist; one key distinction is that someone might love a vile monster even while actively opposing him/her, even to the point of a Mercy Kill, like a mother might love a son that passed the Moral Event Horizon a long, long time ago and needs to be put down. Agape love need not always be spiritual, but it is often based in spirituality. 

 Alrighty, that's a mouthful. Also, for a disclaimer, I'm not a huge fan of TV Tropes (especially with how it's been lately), but I still think they're a great source for information on various tropes and even books, movies, and televisions. Also a great time waster.

But this is why I'm not a fan of the word Love. It is so ambiguous, so open that many interpret it differently every time it's said. If I said I loved one of my friends, would I mean I actually love them in such a way that I wanted to romance them? Nah, that's not what I'd want at all minus maybe a few.

This also brings up another subject I always thought was strange: Kissing. Now, I'm no stranger to this, it's a practice within my family, and I had plenty experience with my ex, but I never saw kissing as "love", that is, romantic, but rather just an affectionate gesture. Just like how in various countries it is a method for greeting friends and family alike, with different customs for the various genders. I'm not saying french kiss all your family and friends, just a peck is fine enough.

But at the same time, here in the USA, I hear plenty of times that many families do not practice it. They fear messing with their children's sexuality, and it's somewhat taboo, with people thinking that the gesture automatically associates with romance. Just like "love," people can take it the wrong way. It's weird just how defensive and strange everyone is about it. Hell, in most (and by most I mean ones for younger audiences) movies, a kiss is only seen at the end or something between the movie's official couple.

All I'm saying, society really doesn't seem to understand "love" itself. It might just be the baby boomers messing up things yet again and not knowing how to deal with any of this, but I feel like we ought to start treating "love" differently. Perhaps new words are in order (English is a constantly changing English, ESPECIALLY in America, so why not?).  That way, I can love the word "love" again.

Comics

I don't really feel like giving any big review on anything, so here's something completely different instead.

So today I feel like talking about one of my favorite subjects: Comics.

Comics have always appealed to me, ever since I started reading I have always enjoyed looking through the pages, look at the art and action, or in newspapers, the jokes. In fact, I remember the first time I read Garfield, my mother had the first seven collections of it. While the jokes are stale to this day (Garfield likes lasagna, hates Monday, punts Odie, berates Jon, etc.), they are still a good starting point to demonstrate humor. In fact, as a younger child, I started learning more about humor and how it worked via reading these. There's some jokes that don't make immediate sense and you have to use your noggin. The comic humor is the same, playing around with puns or references and usually poking fun at them.

Pictured: How I spend most nights

I think the most important thing in these comics are the characters though. You have to at least like this person that you have on there. Garfield, while being a jerk, is still kind at times. Charlie Brown is a rather depressing person, yet he's likeable because of how we can relate to him at times. Comic characters like Spiderman have tragic stories yet likeable personalities, and yet at times, they can also be completely over the top and silly like Deadpool and we'll still like it. As long as these characters are written well, the populace will continue to enjoy them. And sometimes, they just feel rather human.

8-bit Theater is a good example of a comic done right. It is a sprite comic, yes (as in, using normal or modified video games sprites and using this instead of actual drawings), but it's so fantastically written that I can't help but reread it now and then. It's certainly very long, with large blocks of dialogue that I would normally critique a comic for, but it does a decent job at making fun of itself. The characters are very fun, the main four in general, Fighter, Black Mage, Thief, and Red Mage, all having these dysfunctional personalities that allow them to really stick out. Their strange adventure and the people they meet, enemies included, are all a pleasure to see whenever they appear. The jokes are also really smart a good chunk of the time, rather than just relying on crude humor. I would give this one a recommend if you feel like reading a lot. There's a bunch of references thrown around you might not fully get, but that makes discovering more about them that much more fun.

Another really decent one is Nedroid (even though the lack of updating has left me sad). To puns, to taking phrases and idioms literally, to messing around with his own characters, the author really shows a good sense of humor without having to make dirty humor. Plus, having a jerk and a straight man together (that is, a straight man being one that balances out the weird with a more normal attitude) is often a plus for me, and here it is done well. The comic itself doesn't take itself seriously like the previous one, but unlike the other that tries to be consistent with its plotholes and such, this is more played around with. Overall, this one I definitely recommend to any comic lover.

Yeah, yeah, I know. One Piece is a manga/ anime. Well, a manga is basically a comic anyways, just stylized a little bit differently. But I'm still going to throw it out there as one of my favorite manga series ever. Just the evolution of the art and characters really make this for me, and Oda himself balances out a ton of characters emotions and personalities. Another really enjoyable thing from it is the fact that a lot of characters will have bizarre traits, such as a unique laugh, a fun appearance (although I will conceed to too many of the women either being monsterous or nami clones), a weird trait (Zoro always getting lost, even on a straight line), what have you. It's a very long series that's been going for over a decade now, but I definitely feel like it's a must. Even with a style that's not like a typical anime.

There's several comics and manga I do enjoy, and I think that they themselves really helped me move into reading books and such as I grew older. I still enjoy looking at them (One Piece still has a long time to go before it's even done) and enjoying their stories and humor to this day. It's really a shame that comics aren't appreciated more as a literary form, as I feel like it's a style that can bring certain people into reading, even if their imagination isn't fully being taken advantage of. I feel like any way of making people read will help.

I feel like that's all I really have to say for now. I think I'll talk about bad comics (or good comics turned bad) sometime in the future here, but for now, I'll just keep it simple and clean, so look out for comics.

Oh, and another thing I'll throw out there is that I'm really excited for Stripped, a documentary which will be about the decline of newspaper comics and the future for comics themselves. Seeing as how Nedroid was in the trailor, I'm excited to see that, not to mention interviews with Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes) and Jim Davis (Garfield). Check it out below.

Space Dandy

Disclaimer: Wanted to write this after watching last night's episode. It is produced by Bones and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, famous for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.

"Space Dandy. He's a dandy guy... in space." A silly sounding concept at first, Space Dandy has so far shown us that it's a series mostly focused around comedy, but has its serious moments now and again. The story follows Dandy, a dandy (a man who plays importance on physical appearance) with a pompadour and a love for women (especially their breasts and butts) and a job as a fellow who has to bring in unidentified alien species in for cash. Along with him is QT, a robot who resembles a vacuum cleaner who is more of the straight man of the group(which doesn't stop him from being silly at times) and Meow, a Betelgeusian (alien cat) who finds new planets for Dandy but is otherwise extremely lazy.

 Depending on the episode, our heroes can either be completely competent, or just straight up be complete morons (to the point where even the narrator has to snap them back to shape). Whatever the case, from the first episode onwards, we have them adventuring to different types of planets and meeting strange aliens on their way. Sometimes this is completely played for laughs, other times it is emotional and heartwarming/heartbreaking. Basically, imagine Cowboy Bebop, except invert it so that instead of being mostly serious with some comical elements, it's mostly comedic with some serious moments.

From Left to Right: Meow, Dandy, and QT celebrating the fact they're
missing the point of the particular episode completely.

So what makes this anime really stand out? Well, plenty of things actually. One of the biggest things about it when it was announced was that it would first be shown on Toonami here in the states and then it would be shown to the Japanese audience. Not only that, but the dub is actually very good, with some great voices (although the intro's not as great as the Japanese one). It seems Toonami wanted to pander to the Cowboy Bebop crowd by wanting to make sure that this would be an anime like it.

Another thing that's great is the animation. Holy cow is it crisp and great to look at. While there are moments where the animation isn't too great, there are plenty of scenes that are beautifully animated and fun to watch, like the gif above. Heck, the first episode alone has a really fun scene to watch in the second half, and even the first half is knee-slapping hilarious. Just the emotion and action with it alone makes it great to watch.

I know I summed up the characters rather quickly, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I didn't love the main characters as it is. Dandy's this guy just goes with the flow, because "That's the dandy way, baby!" The fact that he doesn't bat an eye half the time with all these strange aliens makes him that much more enjoyable. Even better, he does have a kind side that he occasionally shows when he's not trying to be a complete show off. QT nerding out whenever he/she finds something that he/she likes(for the sake of not doing that every time, we'll just go by she) is hilarious along with her limited amount of expressions which are taken complete advantage of. Meow can be a complete dumbass at times but you can't really be mad at him.

Is that your final dandy?

On top of the main characters are the villains, Doctor Gel and Bea who try to capture Dandy at every turn (he has some secret that they want), yet despite all their efforts, the Dandy crew isn't even aware they exist. They're entertaining in their own rights, even with their constant failures.

What did you say about my hair?

Side characters are also enjoyable. Whether it's the ditsy Honey from the restaurant BooBies (a restaurant not unlike hooters with cute looking women which has one breast on top and one on the bottom, almost like a capsule), the serious Scarlet who works at the alien registry, or the plethora of characters that our heroes come across, there is never really a dull moment that makes you think, "Just get on with it!"

If nothing else, the alien designs look great. There's some that are just completely over the top, and others are simplistic yet unique. Robots and space creatures alike are rather entertaining. Even the ones I didn't exactly enjoy still feel like they belong in this weird universe.

Overall, I'd say that Space Dandy is an anime worth getting into. It's about halfway done, so there are plenty of episodes, and the ones that we have already do not fail to deliver. Bottom line, if you want an enjoyable little series that'll keep you entertained and intrigued, don't hesitate to pick this up. Or don't. That's the Dandy way.

Here's some gifs to boot, courtesy of /a/.

Thoughts of Mediocrity

So the laptop which I usually write these is currently down, so I thought I'd just write something on one of the school computers as I'm waiting for the charger to arrive. Should get my mind off of stuff.

So I keep having these thoughts about my writing, how I just can't seem to properly find the right words, and that whenever I look at my words, I can only but feel contempt that I'm not a better writer. I understand that there must be constant revision and editing in order to make a piece as good as it can get, but it also bothers me when I look at some of my work with disgust and an upset mind. It's not like I'm not able to write good, and I've done stuff that people have liked in the past, but it just feels like sometimes I won't be able to deal with these problems.

I guess that's what they call suffering as an artist. Never feeling like your efforts are quite good enough to display in any sort of book, whether they're short stories or not. Many ideas run through my mind, but I always wonder what should I write about, and how I should write it like, and whether or not the characters are roughly my age or younger, and how these characters would respond and talk, and... well, you get the idea. I suppose I spend too much time thinking and not spending enough time writing stuff down. The main piece I would like to write will be hard to work on, as I have many ideas and events planned for it in my head, but I don't know where or when to put them, and I don't want any character to really suffer being put on the shelf.

To me, characters move the piece forward, and if I don't care for them, it will be hard for me to continue looking at the piece with a positive mind.  I usually find something I like about with characters that I enjoy in books, like Van Helsing from Dracula's strange way of talking and religious and scientific ideals that he has towards vampires, or the Whale Caller from the book of the same name's sense of loyalty to Sarisha, a whale that he falls in love with, and his love for senses not related to sight.  In fact, in general, bizarre characters tend to be the better ones, because they stick out like a sore thumb and typically have their own strange problems.

My own characters have their own little quirks, but I sometimes wonder if there's not enough or too much. For example, one of my characters has a more rebellious sort of archetype to him, but he's also not really bad at all, just going through a strange sort of supernatural event involved with his less than caring family. Or the main character who is among a race that is looked down by nearly every other type of "Hiddy" in the story, and wants to show them that it's not the right view while also being rather clueless about the strange surroundings. Or the leader who always does his best to remain jolly and be there as a cool older brother figure, but soon discovers something that puts in to question what he should be doing with life. Or the other main character who suffers her own problems and fights to be her own person while being haunted by her past. Or one character who is a type of being that will live way longer than everyone else, and he has to come with terms with the fact that he'll be around well after they die, and more importantly, how much he values them. Or one girl whose running away from her responsibilites by taking a completely different name and doesn't want to be shackled down to one particular role in life.

I know that some of these sound pretty out there, and some have been dealt with before, but I don't want to exactly spoil who these characters are, or even how their role in the stories will change and mold, and how with the addition of more characters, there's a lot of stress to deal with along with the sort of adventuring and action. I can paint the images of these people in my head over and over, but giving it order or reason is difficult, and it always feels like there's a better series of events that work better than others.

Setting is also a little tricky for me. I like to paint a nice picture of where these characters, but sometimes I worry about an over amount of detail that would bore the audience, or too little to where I might as well having these people wanting on a blank sheet of paper. But I suppose that's the beauty of the english language. Once you get the power to bend it to your will and temper with it, you get a grand blade that will cut into your reader's minds and hearts with emotions and ideas and language that they will be able to take with them.

Perhaps I'm just overthinking it. I still need to properly write up a list of events that will happen within the first book in that. Sometimes I even wonder though if I should try and do a different book first before I tread into that territory, allowing me to get some experience before I decide to fully dive in into the world of writing series. But these blogs do help me, if only to vent out some stuff and to let me think and write to myself. I feel like there's at least a few other people looking at these, and I thank you for taking the time to look at them. I still want to post more here before I make this official and put this on my facebook or anything. I guess I do wish for comments and feedback to eventually happen, but I guess I can't be too greedy either.

And wow, I'm pretty sure this is the longest blog that I've wrote so far.

The Worst PB&J Ever

So I got the idea of telling this story from my Review Writing class, and how we had to discuss good and bad sandwiches without saying anything along the lines of "delicious" or "gross." So I'll give it a shot here.

I'm not a seafood person. Whether its salmon, shrimp cocktail, or lobster, any type of sea life tends to just taste terribly to me. The only exceptions to this rule were the fish nuggets I had when I was young, which I can hardly call actual fish, and some Thai dish my friend made yesterday which includes fish oil that made it a little saltier (which I have to add, was very good, despite the fact she didn't truly believe I thought so. That also reminds me I have to send her a link to this crappy blog).

I'm only saying this because of one time when my parents, my little sister who could barely utter a sensible word at the time, and myself were at an oceanside hotel over at California. I was about 11 or 12 at the time, just in time for the wonders of puberty. I specifically remember the spot as it was small, but had a great position next to the ocean and had a sweet Pizza joint with giant slices I have to guesstimate were 15 inches long at least. I remember that the slices had to be at least that length because last time I brought my laptop with me and it was even longer than my 14" laptop.

But that's not the point here. There's a very large pier within walking distance of this hotel, and at the end of it is a seafood restaurant. My mother and father told me to come with them, and at the very least, I just hoped that there was something edible for me, as I was starving at that point after being out on the beach all day.

When we got there, it was a rather cramped little spot with several busy people running around carrying orders. Having been sat at our table, the only thing I could find on the menu that I would enjoy is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now that's the sandwich that's my bread and butter and my go to meal when I have nothing else. Naturally, I thought I should order that, thinking what's the worse that could happen.

Well, the worse happened. The sandwich was very bizarre. The bread was a dark brown, much different to the white bread that I was accustomed to, but I was fine with that. Then it really stuck out to me; the jelly and the peanut butter in the sandwich itself. Each had to be an inch thick at least in the sandwich, nearly as wide as the slices themselves. I was obviously upset, but my mother told me to not complain and eat, so I did.

Well, when I say I did, I mean tried. The sandwich was not one you could properly eat without making a mess. One bite and a ton of ingredients spilled out onto the plate at the opposite end. And that first bite told me something was off. The texture of it was so bad, with too much peanut butter making a sticky mess that made it hard to chew, the jelly rather chunky, and the bread itself felt a little stale. Looking back, this must've been a dish that they never really had to serve. Imagine years of your life teaching yourself how to fry up a fish, and then for whatever reason someone tells you to make a sandwich. Well, that's a bad analogy, but I can only help but feel they hadn't made a sandwich with these strange, foreign ingredients before.

I tried taking another bite, and it was somehow worse. Since a ton of the jelly had spilled out like I had said before, that left way more peanut butter, almost as if I was having a peanut butter sandwich. It practically felt like I was being choked. I could feel the tears in my eyes, some out of disappointment, but mostly out of the fact I felt like I could barely breath.

I think my mother could tell I was suffering because she had to call the waiter and ask about it. They tried bringing another sandwich, but by then, I was just sick to my stomach. Not only had it been bad, it just didn't process well. I don't know if they somehow threw a fish in there or something(that is the ingredient they know best after all), but it was bad.

In the end, we left the restaurant and my parents got me one of those giant pizza slices, since I could actually process that. I still eat PB&Js to this day, but I definitely know not to go to that place for them. Don't go into a Seafood Restaurant asking for a Peanut Butter and Jelly. Although I guess that situation can apply for a lot more things to, like "Don't go into a bar asking for milk" or "Don't go into a gun fight with a knife."

Katanagatari

I think this is the first time I'm mentioning Anime here, but I just finished this up and wanted to give my thoughts.

The main characters, Togame on the left, Shichika on the right.
Note that Shichika is actually twice the size of Togame.

Katanagatari, a story about 24-year-old Shichika Yasuri (for the sake of being an English speaker, it'll be first name, last name for this review rather than Eastern ways), a tall man who is the 7th generation of a family who practices Kyotouryuu, or No Sword Style. He lives on an island with his sister Nanami, sheltered away from the world and therefore never truly interacting with anyone. 

Suddenly one day, a woman who is slightly younger than Shichika comes to the island, a woman by the name of Togame, who seeks 12 powerful swords that a great swordsmith has made, seeking the practioner of Kyotouryuu (a style that is actually meant to combat swords) to help her. Not wanting to have people collect them for her for greed or power, she decides that the only way for her to get a reliable right hand man is another solution entirely; love. When she orders Shichika to fall for her, he considers her offer of leaving the island and exploring the world unknown to him, agreeing and saying he fell for her despite the fact he doesn't actually know what that means. Thus starts the adventure of the two getting the 12 swords.

Shichika's actually pretty damn tall, being twice the height of Togame.
Also Togame shows her catchphrase/running gag of punching Shichika and yelling "Cheerio!"

 The characters are very charming. Shichika is a character that starts off as a blank slate, with no real emotions and not acting in a very humanly way, but as he moves on in the story and spends time with Togame, he comes to get more emotional and even develops a proper personality. Togame is a character that is rather proud and arrogant, but she also realizes her limitations and does become more and more delightful to have around as the series goes on. What's even better is that the two become closer and closer as the series goes on, which does mean that there's a hint of romance in this more action focused shonen. The two are just a delight to see together, and their relationship is playful and a little intimate.

Even the villains are enjoyable. While the beginning ones are nothing to bat an eye at, each one feels very human soon after, and you can't help but feel sorry for them. Even the ones that you begin to really hate have traits that make them not completely unlikeable. It's always a nice twist to sympathize with villains, and that's what Nisio Isin, the creator of Katagatari excels at. As a writer myself, I feel as though that this is a good example to follow, allowing the characters to flourish and grow during the story and through their actions rather than just throwing it all out on the table.

What's rather strange however is the swords themselves. There are 12 swords that the characters collect, but half of them aren't even truly swords. One sword is a suit of armor, another is literally one thousand swords. While it's strange, it does give an explanation for some of the later ones, and it makes wanting to see which swords you'll see next that much more exciting.

"Sir, how the hell did you make a robot while trying to make a sword?"
"That's not even as weird as the time I tried to make a sword and ended up making 1,000 of them."

Another thing that I should make note of is that each character has unique eyes. This is something that I myself have been doing with my series, but to see it in action is very enjoyable. Most of the eyes do feel meaningful, whether it's Shicika's normal black average eyes that reflect his rather beginning dull self or Togame's mischievous eyes, each has a level of importance to them.
The art is splendid, throwing away a typical anime style for a rather unique style. The characters themselves stand out and the backgrounds are nice and colorful. The designs are great even if they are a little crazy at times.

If I have one complaint, I would argue that there is a huge amount of talking. Seriously, half the characters feel like they could be quoting full pages from books at certain times. While I can give this a pass because it's fine later on, it did put me off a little bit in the beginning episode if only because the villain there never shuts up. It comes to the point that you're happy to see Shichika beat the crap out of him.

I won't spoil the ending, but know this; it has quite a few twists thrown in and definitely wraps up everything better than expected. I will keep this part ambiguous for the sake of not ruining anything.

Overall, while Katanagatari isn't the most well known anime, it's still a great watch. Each episode is roughly 50 minutes long (minus about 4-5 minutes of opening/credits), and with 12 episodes, that's about the average length for an anime to run on. Katanagatari is definitely an anime worth your time, and your heart.

Oh, and I feel like I should at least mention this; thanks Google image search for these images. The images come from various sites. The series itself is written by Nision Isin, illustrated by Take, and published by Kodansha.

Warcraft 3

I know I post a lot about video games on this blog, but it also just helps waking up in the morning to write something to get some of the creative juices going.

Anyhow, Warcraft 3. A game from 2002 (2003 was when its expansion would come out), which in a few months will be 12 years old. Here's a game that I still find myself playing with my friends on a near weekly basis, to the point that we like to set up regular rooms and play games in it. It's amazing how much replayability it has, and most of it comes from one core element: Custom Maps.

Now, Starcraft 2 is a game which the custom editor had so much potential, but Blizzard ended up just not getting it right. Who knows whether it's the strange hero and leveling systems implemented, the lack of items, the lack of variety for races and customizable skins or what, but there simply isn't enough to keep the attention of someone who loved Warcraft 3's maps. The graphics might look more refined, but Warcraft 3 maps prove to have much more heart, so much that people still replay the games today, even if Battle.net has become a bost infested wasteland where its hard to find certain games.

The variety of these maps is truly incredible. Sure, you have some basic stuff with Hero Arenas, TD, and more, but there's so much more to it than that. Even with those original ones, there's plenty of variety in each.

For example, Wintermaul is probably the most popular of all Tower Defense maps. The original had a select number of races and consisted of 9 people defending from hordes of enemies. That's not to say they didn't have problems; only three people had spawns, gray had a lackluster position of being the last person to defend, and the other spots wouldn't be fed enough gold to stop incoming leaks, aka monsters that flow through the lines. However, as later versions came out, each person got a spawn, allowing for each person to get involved.

Along with Wintermaul came Wintermaul Wars, a straight up 6v6 map where the name of the game is to summon units while building a maze and trying to stop the enemy team's spawns from going into your base. Having to do all these at the same time was exciting, not to mention the addition of several race builders, meaning each time you could pick something new, or pick a race you liked. There's also Wintermaul One, a map where each person is by themselves in their defense, and have to use more critical thinking to decide how to build their mazes seeing how typical building won't help you as much.

There's also stuff like Island/Ice Troll Tribes, a map where your team has a troll with different class options and you must survive together. Whether its a hunter finding food, someone back at base to build stuff, a healer, a gatherer or whatever, you compete against rival troll tribes to see who will survive. Or maybe Werewolf is your cup of tea, where everyone can build their own villages, with the exception being that one of the people is picked randomly to be the werewolf, and you must discover who it is and kill them off before they can become too strong. Add in Vampirism and Dark Deeds which are another spin which has someone be vampires going after people, and you have fun maps.

There's elaborate Risk maps, whether it's on Planet Earth or Azeroth. While it's not exactly the same as normal risk, the rules still apply; you have to keep one person on each base, and you branch out to other countries and try to take them over, building units to siege or defend your bases. Azeroth ones are interesting because you pick various factions with selected areas and must take over Azeroth with armies of human, undead, night elf, orc, blood elves, demons, and more.

I already mentioned Hero Arenas, but those are also a good bit of fun, controlling a hero and being with a team of warriors. There's Angel Arena, a map that contains various secrets as you try to eventually get new heroes in the forms of angels and devils, including God himself. Later maps eventually add several different methods of getting powerful heroes, allowing for replayability and discovering new parts, or possibly just rushing to get the best people to wipe the floor with your enemies. There's also more fun ones like Custom Hero Arena, where you select heroes and choose what abilities they have, meaning that you can try several different combinations in order to see what works and what doesn't.

Maybe you like making Heroes and going on an adventure? Welcome to several different RPG maps, whether they're ORPGs, which you can save in and it'll give you codes you can load next time, or just large scale RPG maps. One of my favorites in general is Video Game RPG, a map where you can play as several different video game characters, such as Link, Pikachu, Master Chief, Cloud, Megaman X, and Sonic, and have to fight against various video game villains by going to various worlds. While it has its faults, it's quite enjoyable. Curse of Time RPG is an ORPG where you can pick a hero and then decide whether to become a freelancer or to be a general and build a base.

How about Roleplay maps? On a huge set of land, you are given nearly every unit and building in the game, along with custom ones like Heroes that look like normal units. There are several themes that can be played with these. SotDRP is one, where you have a ton of customizable options, turning buildings, increasing size, changing color and tint, using items, etc. Just get a group of people, have a central theme to it, build up, and see where you're taken.

I've rambled on a lot, but that's only a slice of the pie. If you know the game DotA, it was popularized here (although Aeon of Strife on Starcraft originally started the genre). There's plenty to do here, and while Battle.net will never truly go back to its formal glory, there are still people that make new maps and people that play stuff. Either way, Warcraft 3 will continue to be a game that I'll be able to enjoy for several more years to come.

"One of"

This is just a thought that randomly came to me as I was trying to lie down and get some rest, and seeing as how I can't seem to find sleep, I feel like writing would help a little bit.

Now, this thought really came to mind when I was speaking with one of my friends, and she stated that I was "one of" the people she contacted first about this whole unrelated event thing. Now, there's nothing against her, I'm just saying the idea spawned from that.

But when you think of "one of" when associated with a subject, it almost as feels as if that thing has lost power. Compare the two sentences below:
A) Joe Smith is one of the most dangerous people in America.
B) Joe Smith is the most dangerous person in America.

Now that's just a silly example, but the second sentence holds more power. While Joe was already associated with being dangerous before, the second makes him scarier, makes him more threatening, more powerful. One of simply adds in a factor of numbers, meaning that he's just part of this group of dangerous group of people. It's not known if he really is the most dangerous person, but he happens to be.

It's just like best friends. Remember those times when you couldn't decide on who your best friend was/is? I still have that problem today. It's not that I try to rank my friends with how much I like them, but I am blessed to have many people in my life that I can bring up to that level, and I guess I can say that each holds some level of importance in my life. If I talk about a best friend of mine, I can call them "one of" the most important people in my life. It's less satisfying to hear, but it still puts them in a group of importance.

It's just like how people can say they have favorites. It's weird, but I don't think I've ever really been called someone's favorite person. Maybe that's just some sort of position that's only attainable to a spouse, or just a loved one in general. I certainly don't think I've heard anybody say that to me. Sure, "favorite son" (followed by "I'm your only son") or something, but definitely not favorite person. I've been thrown into that "one of" group by quite a number of people. I guess I don't mind, but it does leave me thinking. Who knows. I just wish some day I'd have someone that I can call my favorite person and vice versa.

Google Plus

Just writing this to say that Google is being really stupid right now. It's not secret that Google has been trying to expand its influence. Ever since it has taken Youtube, it has constantly shifted out of a comfortable format into one that pushes away independent channels and instead forces the popular ones in your face. Did you watch a video on video games? Say hello to Pewdiepie and Game Grumps on related videos.

Now, Google has decided to throw its poor little child Google+ into the mix. The poor contender against Facebook that will continue to fail because it's trying to hard to be Facebook for it to actually care about anything else. So why not throw it into Youtube? What's the worst that can happen? Well a lot, actually.

I for one, am one of many that seem to have problem commenting. I can't do in in my default browser; I try to make a comment, usually trying to give out artist and song names in the description or answering a question, or even trying to add to the conversation, but lo and behold, a window pops up, does its thing for a second, and then nothing happens. Thank you Google, you're breaking Youtube more and more. Do you just want it to die? I remember when you thought Google videos would be a good thing, only for Youtube to immediately skyrocket in popularity as everyone else laughed in your greedy face.

Now, the thing is, I'm writing this on a Google Blogger. I know they won't read this, I know people won't take a glance at it for a second. It'll probably be just me giving myself views by making sure everything looks alright. But seriously Google, you're trying to hard. Revert Youtube back. You might've messed it up, but it's okay to admit that we're wrong, it's what allows us to grow as people. I believe in a policy where we don't just point to others and say they're wrong, but think and realize that sometimes, it is our own faults. And you definitely keep messing up Google.