Light Up The Sky

Hey guys, long time no write. Most of my attention has gone towards my girlfriend, my thoughts, my videos and my video gaming. I find myself deep in thought about human morality, life and the past. I used to remember every mentally scarring, embarrassing moment which would just end up depressing me and give me the necessary reminder that anyone can be cold and cruel. But now I find myself also remembering some very spectacular moments with friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I wish certain things would be like they were in the past and select things remained as they were now, but you can’t pick and choose. Just have to make do and accept reality no matter how hard it is.

I have come into contact some very lovely individuals over the years. I have grown very close to a certain few. One of which is the most spectacular girl I have ever met who listens, shares, laughs and loves me. She’s the type of girl that you bond with so well that you feel firmly connected with her. I feel like we have lived through the same struggle, experienced similar events. I can honestly say I have never felt like this about anyone before. There is such great chemistry between myself and this lady. She makes me feel so special about myself when I consider myself average.

The other person is my loyal partner in crime who always made time for me and was willing to help me out. He’s brutally honest when he needs to be and he isn’t afraid to speak up. He has a way with words similar to myself and was very helpful when it came to life advice. He’s the best friend you could ask for, almost to the point where I consider him to be like a little brother.

I guess by growing close to some, you risk alienating others and you chance drifting apart from them. I feel so distant from some of my older friends; some of the people who I used to laugh and have a good time with aren’t here anymore.

Some of these previously mentioned comrades have changed into somebody I don’t recognize, someone different. It’s disheartening to see, but that’s how life goes sometimes. Life is kind of funny in a very morbid way. At times the people you think you can rely on end up letting you down and breaking promises and the people who you may not trust fully end up coming through for you, sacrificing or risking them self to help you reach your goal. Strangers who I barely know have gone out of their way to assist me in reaching success. It restores some of my faith in humanity knowing there are good in people’s hearts.

But of course, there’s always bad paired up with the good. I have experienced two faced people, people that place unrealistic amounts of value on material items and people who mask themselves so you can’t see their true colors. Experiencing all this has given me more life lessons to better myself, sometimes tough times and abysmal situations can teach you some of the most important morals you ever learn.

For the longest time I used to fear failure, now I see the error in my ways. I still think you should never give up, approach situations with a confident, positive mindset and try your best to prevent future regrets you may develop. But know that it is impossible to improve yourself without failing first. Eventually you slip up, how you deal with it afterwards defines what type of person you are. Learn from mistakes instead of punishing yourself with them. If you feel you can’t do something, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It takes a more courageous, stronger person to ask for assistance in comparison to someone who doesn’t. Almost everything in life is a mental battle, if you can keep a positive attitude and focus on your life goals. You CAN accomplish them. We all have the tools to do so. You just have to have enough faith and positivity in yourself before you even attempt to fulfill a dream or task at hand. Never quit on yourself, and never quit on those that matter to you.

True happiness is achievable.

True happiness doesn’t come from manufactured items, or extravagant places. Luxurious items and technology are nice to have but just like most things, they wear out. True happiness comes from finding people you can relate to and befriend, finding someone you love with all your heart, picking up new hobbies you enjoy, experimenting with new ideas, finding safe outlets for stress and emotions, surrounding yourself in a positive environment and fulfilling the general meaning of life.

I know many people try and find something they were “meant to do”, some sort of personal purpose they are supposed to accomplish. But I think everyone should just follow a similar life mission. Have fun, make friends, build memories and reach happiness. On that note I want to say thank you for reading the ramblings of a bizarre figure like myself and I will see you guys in 5 years when my next blog goes up. Take care, everyone.

Destroying Angel

Now I know what you readers may be thinking... What the hell? Silent promised shorter blogs that come more often than before!I suppose you can construe this as a mistruth or lie, so I guess I have to offer up an apology for my continued delays between blogs?

Meh, I have been a little busy, and no I’m not talking about the “playing with my manly parts and watching children’s cartoons that are intended for little girls” type of busy. No, no, I’m more referring to the “partially trying to act like an adult by doing job interviews but still being a slob who plays too many video games” type of busy. Just to avoid further questioning for those who actually care, I feel that my job interview went just as I intended it to go (edit: I got the job, hooray!) It’s a good feeling to do something new and have it go exactly as planned.
As for video games? I have been playing the newest addition of everyone’s favourite generic overrated franchise, Modern Warfare 3. I know, I know, those of you bothering to read my ramblings are probably booing your computer screens but that’s to be expected. Much like before, there are many frustrating moments. People who sit in one spot all game, people who refuse to play the objective, lag resulting in cheap deaths and so on.

Now, my good friend Spud made the point of snipers playing their role and sitting in one or two areas to pick people off. I’m going to be honest here, I hate sniping and I’m not a huge fan of snipers...except for maybe Vasily Zaytsev, but that’s it. Here’s how I view shooter games. You’re going in there trying to get some sort of rush of excitement and entertainment.

Therefore I run around like a madman, guns blazing like John Rambo, attempting to fuck up an entire enemy team in one go. I think that’s how everyone should play, hell, even snipers can rush effectively. Do a certain amount of running, pause briefly to scope someone and then continue sprinting.

I cannot even begin to fathom how people enjoy sitting in one area to kill a handful of people in hopes of boosting their statistics. “OH MY GOD, LOOK AT MY KILL DEATH RATIO DUDE, IT’S SO GOOD!MLG ALL DAY EVERY DAY! I’M GONNA QUIT MY DAY JOB JUST TO PLAY THIS GAME. LOOK AT THAT IT SAYS 'JOINT OPS' HURRRRR”. Ehm...Congrats, you can crouch low behind an object and hold down the right trigger as someone passes by. You’re a chicken shit even in a virtual setting! Here’s a medal for the wimpiest soldier ever. I'm surprised you can even muster up enough strength to pull the pin off of a hand grenade because you are so astoundingly weak and incompetent.

I also have to disown the developers for creating maps which offer tons of spots to set up shop. If you put up so many spots of this nature then it’s eventually going to tempt people into taking advantage of it. "BUT SILENT, THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN CAMP SPOTS!" Yes, I must concur, but even in older FPS games, I don’t think the spots were as blatantly obvious,badly abused and or criticized. I do have to say that Kill Confirmed was a nice touch. With how it’s set up it actually rewards people who rush and pick up dog tags with points towards their team, but like stated before, people don’t always play the objective.

The last annoyance I plan on bitching about is the spawn system.I realize they didn’t want another Black Ops style ghost snore fest, but placing spawn points right beside enemies who are already on the map is a horrid idea. No one wants to spawn after a death just to die again, that’s ridiculously frustrating.

Other than that, I’ve mostly just been listening to music, splicing videos to commentate over (when I get a new headset),planning a series where I actually talk about games I like and playing around in Minecraft. Here are a few things I made.

Jeez, Call of Duty? Minecraft? I think I’m becoming what I’ve hated for so long, a player of mainstream popular games! I think after this I’m going to have to get some Deathrow, Jet Set Radio or even Jade Empire to counterbalance that. Well, I should probably be wrapping this up anyways.

I’m going to end on this note, if you’re going to send in a farewell quote for the “graduation” section of a yearbook, you should probably spell check it first so people don’t laugh at you later. Where did that come from? Who gives a shit? This blog is poorly structured and illogical. You all should have come to expect stuff like this by now. See you guys next time!

This blog is dedicated to the memory of:

Dr. J

You endured it all and were pretty sicknasty, you will be missed.

Nicholas Cage

You redefined abomination, the movies you were in sucked. Good riddance to bad rubbish. We will be sure to throw jars compact with bees on your grave.

Blue Balls

Superb for a brief moment, but you busted right away. Silent wrote an immature sex joke about you, feel proud. You’ve earned it.

Criticism

Recently I was struck with a classic case of writer’s block...again. But then after some drama involving my buddy Rich occurred I found a new topic to discuss, criticism. Well, criticism on the internet to be specific. Now I’m uncertain of whether or not my readers are content creators but I believe there’s a good chance that there is at least one thing everyone focuses on.

Video creation, art, original character creation, fanfiction, super sicknasty Photoshop edits, blog writing, etc. Whatever the case may be you’re bound to receive criticism, now I’ve seen it time and time again. Once people receive criticism, they don’t exactly know how to take it. While I do still get a little pissy about people who don’t dig what I do, I believe I have grown thicker skin and knowledge on how to handle criticism over time. Here are a few tips and points I’d like to share not only with content creators but the fans of such producers and the even the critics themselves as well.

-If you’re a critic, play the part. Insulting someone and calling them every name in the book is NOT being a good critic. That’s what I like to call being a shithead. If you really need to joke about something, find the most outlandish thing about the work that REALLY doesn’t belong with everything else.

-Be constructive. If you see potential that hasn’t been tapped into, then help them out. Give them tips on how to vastly improve their work.

-Try to avoid nitpicking. Sometimes there are very minute details that don’t really deserve to be pointed out and changed. Believe it or not, there are some things that only one person gives a fuck about, true story.

-Picking on kids constantly is fucked up. They don’t have a good handle on quality control yet, they may just learn this with age.The regret and shame for creating something so abysmal will also come as they get older and realize what the hell they did when they were younger. But just like anyone else, they still need some guidance. Light smack on the wrist? Sure, why not. Decapitation by guillotine for creating something so horrendous that it offended the mighty internet gods? Naww...

-Once again, if you’re a critic, try and play fair. Admit when the creator has something good going in a particular area. If everything is sub par, try and think of some form of positive point to give them. Mostly just to show courtesy. If you’re over at a friend’s house and you aren’t a fan of the food you had, you aren’t going to say “EVERYTHING IS SHIT,MAKE IT AGAIN,BITCH”. You’re going to attempt to find some redeeming components.By no means am I saying that you have to force yourself to like something that you don’t, just find something you like more or hate the least and give them that. If you’re a creator and the critic has some good points then roll with it and take the criticism.

-ANYTHING published on the internet publicly is subject to criticism. If it’s there for everyone to see, expect people to find it. You also have to be sure to expect both sides. Sure you may draw in supporters who like what you have up but not everyone is going to be as kind. You will also have critics and haters who gravitate towards you.

-Differentiate haters and critics. Some people are only out to hurt and get a rise out of you. THESE are the people you want to avoid listening to. If they’re telling you to kill yourself because you’re ugly or whatever else then chances are that they are trolling. If you get the impression they are actually trying to help, then chances are they probably are through constructive criticism.

-If people are GENUINELY trying to help and you plug your ears, completely dismiss them and even block them, you better expect angry responses because of your childish attitude.

-Just because one person doesn’t like what you do then it’s not the end of the world. If you honestly can’t handle one person dissecting something you created, then I’m sorry, you probably shouldn’t be putting your work on the internet. People can be vicious, especially with the anonymity the internet provides and if you don’t have thick skin then just stick to sharing work with friends or actual fans in private.

-If someone says they are deleting everything after one critique, they MIGHT be doing it for attention...Just saying.

-Let’s say you are a die hard fan of someone and you idolize them. You see someone critique them. Here are a few things I need to throw out there. You don’t need to be the hero that will battle to the death to satisfy your mighty e-god. The original creator will not reward you with a smooch for your courageous deed, so stop trying to be a “brave” knight...jackass. Chances are they can fight their own battles.

-Many individuals like to generalize fanbases as rabid and unintelligent. You wish to disprove that? Do it by actually using reasoning and intelligence. Calm yourself and avoid raging. If you threaten the critic or sling insults, you WILL look like a prick.

-Here’s what you should attempt to do. If you feel the critic is nitpicking, let them know. If there is a dire flaw within the critique that you know can be disproven with evidence and sources, then go ahead and disprove it, champ.

-If the critic shoots back with insults, try not to sink to that level, and if they are being a douche and trying to defend their points with illogical reasoning then don’t bother responding. Chances are they’re moronic.

-Avoid the “you have no life” comment. Such a statement is so worn that it has lost its punch and in situations like this, it shouldn’t have any impact at all. Why? Well, to me it seems that if you do this that usually means you’re dedicated enough to search for these critics and protect your hero with stupid responses such as the one previously mentioned. If you find yourself doing this, well, you may also be a “no life” internet user. Sounds cruel but it may just be true.

I wish to end this blog by saying this to the creators. Your main objective should be to have fun and do what you enjoy doing. You can never please everyone, but try and improve where you can. If you actually see some of the same flaws that the critics do? Improve upon those flaws but still keep the fun. If it gets to the point where the hobby you have partaken in is no longer enjoyable, then take some time off or quit. Don’t quit because of haters or critics, quit for YOUR OWN reasons. If I come up with more advice in the future, I will be sure to make a “sequel” to this post. But I do hope this tl;dr post helped people and also made them see different perspectives, goodbye folks.