The End of YouTube?

It’s been a while. I’ve been busy with work and my computer battery died so I had to get a new laptop. Transferred over all the important files but still clinging to hope that the rest can be salvaged either professionally or whatever. Just finished and uploaded this year’s holiday video, but if YouTube is really going to fine every video on a channel marked “not for kids” that contains lots of pretty colors and shapes, anime and gaming channels are going down hard. I don’t want to be among them, so I may just delete my videos on New Year’s Eve. My brother hasn’t used his channel in years, back when you didn’t use your email to sign in. I don’t remember what email he used, but my attempts to retrieve it have failed. I hope they don’t hold his inactive account against him, since he was an MLP channel.

I haven’t watched the newest batch of TTG episodes, but the six-episode dump prior was mostly hot garbage. That being said, TV Knight 5 took a shot at getting political, so kudos. At least we can all agree who public enemy no. 1 is. I also approve of Cyborg hitting Robin instead of Robin hitting Beast Boy; that was great. Raven still has her forehead gem, so I guess that movie wasn't canon or hasn't happened in continuity yet. I forgot to mention this last time, but even though I hate TTG Beast Boy, ‘03 Titans Beast Boy is precious and must be protected at all cost. I saw Linkara’s Secret Origins month video on Cyborg/Starfire/Raven, and I’m disgusted that Starfire and Raven’s creator was kind of a pervert when it came to choosing their body types and rationale for doing so. At least that explains why Raven’s so into dance in TTG. I knew that Cyborg was put on the Justice League to replace Martian Manhunter, but I didn’t know that Hal Jordan was back on the team instead of John Stewart.

I read the Dream Drop Distance light novel, and though I don’t like the way it’s arranged (instead of switching back and forth like the game, the story is divided up into Sora and Riku respectively, whereas BBS was organized by world instead of character unlike that game’s structure – weird). I love the narration when Lea and the others wake up – he remembers that he was responsible for Zexion’s death, and when Ienzo says “What happened?” when he gets up, he says he doesn’t know and Ienzo glares at him. Aeleus says “What the devil?” when he gets up, which I didn’t think was in character for him but whatever. Haven’t finished it yet (no time, and I’ve got more to read), but really looking forward to it. Finally got Clear Card 6 in the mail yesterday. Clear Card 7 is set to come out at the end of April.

“Trust Love” is probably my least favorite RWBY theme song so far, so as my least favorite game (aside from the mobile game series). As far as the KH/RWBY comparisons/designations go, Re:Coded can have it. I enjoyed Rooster Teeth’s holiday merch video parodying Die Hard (with Santa instead of Bruce Willis). “RWBY is a show, you fools!” Neo (and her theme song) were added to BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle; all she does is giggle and have ellipses as her dialogue. Very surprised to see the main character of Arcana Hearts as well. Only played the first game, so if there are more characters besides her, I don’t recognize them.

Endings

Caitlin Glass and Aaron Dismuke have made their appearance in the new Fruits Basket as Machi and Kakeru. Not what I was expecting, but it's great to have them. Brina Palencia also voices Rin. I can't wait to see who else will be showing up in season 2. With a 63 episode run in total, we're in for a good time.

The two episodes of Camp Camp this season revolving around Gwen made me relate to her even more. She's seen as a party-pooper because if she doesn't get the work done, no one else will (and there would be no party). I don't have the same problem with my dad that she does, but I do appreciate him saying he couldn't have started his music career now in this economy. The finale hurt the most because she had aspirations of being an author but that didn't end up happening, just like me. Now I only write fan fiction to please myself.

Discord being Grogar the whole time is even more disappointing than Xigbar being Luxu. I did like Granny Smith's Star Trek dream with GrandPear as Kirk, Mud Briar as Spock, and Discord was there too (Q). We know Kirk likes green women. But with it ending, I have to think that there might be a future episode of TTG where Raven flips out because her pony show ends too. Speaking of which, like Moliminous, I too am annoyed that all Teen Titans properties focus too much on Raven's relationship with her dad, like that's all she is. She's tried so hard not to define herself by her dad or her demon side, but lazy writing always goes back to that (especially Injustice, OMG). I did write something similar - a dream where her gem is damaged or pulled from her, but that was for an additional segment of "Anger Management for the Vertically Challenged," and it didn't involve her father, just her red-cloaked persona. Needless to say, I liked that better. The movie felt like it took forever, and Raven no longer having her gem makes me think they were just tired of remembering to draw it in the first place.

The episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0 that I watched were taken down, which shouldn't come as a surprise. I'm grateful that I got to see it at all and made an amv with it.

My favorite Chapstick flavors currently are the green tea mint I keep in my purse and the sugar cookie I keep at home.

Another Top 10 Random Encounters

10. A Mei is in Danger (Overwatch) - It's a Christmas video based off of "Away in a Manger," which is clever wordplay. All she can do is encase herself in ice or run away from people trying to kill her.

9. Stranger Things Have Happened (Sally Face) - I don't know what Sally Face is, but I do know what Stranger Things is. Cultists summon The Beard, and he makes the protagonists play D&D.

8. You and Me (Team Fortress 2) - I haven't heard the whole song, but I really enjoyed the video even though it abruptly ends with the two characters getting hit by a train. I think it's the best one out of the three TF2 songs. The Heavy and the Medic work off of each other well and their banter is hilarious.

7. Lost in the Woods (Slender) - Slender's not a bad guy. He just can't find his way out of the woods because someone (Miss Bird) keeps taking his pages down. In a fit of paranoia, he attacks Peter, who's holding the camera. Then he gets tackled by The Beard.

6. Number One (Fortnite) - It's very catchy. It also doesn't mean what you think it does. Number One in this song means the first to get killed (AJ's character is not very good at this game).

5. If I Was An Inkling (Super Smash Brothers Ultimate) - Speaking of catchy, this is so good it could've been used in advertising. Nintendo officially sponsored it, so it might as well be. It's every bit as memorable as the actual commercial for the first Smash Brothers game, if not more so. The banter on the couch was funny too.

4. Kindergarten 2 - If I have one criticism, it's that it needs more Nugget (especially since he has you poison the bully in the game). Once again, all the roles are played by AJ to wacky effect. There's something so satisfying about him tossing the backpack on top of the closet without looking. I wonder how many takes he had to do to get that.

3. FNAF: Ground Zero/Web of Lies (FNAF 6 and Help Wanted VR) - Not at number one this time, but definitely deserving of a spot on this list. They're still entertaining, especially MatPat returning as crazy William Afton (even if the roles of Michael and Elizabeth don't adhere to his theories). CG5 and Adrisaurus feature as the protagonists this time.

2. Legendary Heroes (Deltarune) - This musical is a lot of fun. Everyone sounds awesome and looks so cute. I like Undertale better as a game, but this song is better than the Undertale songs put out by Random Encounters. Maybe it's the unexpected cursing? Shit Squad forever!

1. Sonic the Hedgehog the Musical/Sonic Boom the Musical - Both of these are great, so I put them together at the top. Sonic Boom is funny and really seems like the precursor to the Musical, which contains several songs. "Smarter Than You" is my favorite. And of course there had to be a reference to Ugandan Knuckles.

There are two Honorable Mentions this time - My Date With Captain Falcon for comedy, and Arkham Rock Opera for being impressive.

Drifting Away

Kyo knocking Tohru into the water and Tohru starting to walk away felt like a betrayal. He does  injure her, but the manga didn't go that far. Only one episode left, probably going to wrap things up with Kazuma. Can't wait til next season to see more characters show up and how they're handled.

Robert Axelrod is dead and I am so sad.

I deleted my photobucket account because they're charging for bandwidth now. I'd done what they'd asked and deleted enough photos to be under the limit, but those greedy bastards still wanted more.

Maple Oreos are tasty. Strawberry Yoo-Hoo tastes more like strawberry juice than strawberry milk, and I love it.

Spinel was supposedly modeled after Monkey D. Luffy, since he's Rebecca Sugar's favorite anime characters, but she's more like something out of Cuphead. The way she squeaks when she walks reminds me of GIR, and I especially loved the part in "No Matter What" where she grabbed up all the tickets and ran. Given her name, I wonder if she was ever called Spinny like the Spinel from Cardcaptor Sakura. But being abandoned by Pink Diamond like that, though, yeesh. It's like Joker pushing Harley out the window and her saying "I guess I didn't get the joke." I can relate to just wanting to be someone's friend and they just leave without a word. At first it didn't affect me that much, but then I thought about everything my friend did and there's really not much difference except for a "sorry for being a shitty friend" letter. It made me think of Isa too, Roxas and Xion being the "Other Friends." But Lea's not like that at all, or at least he didn't mean to seem that way. The three Diamonds harmonizing sounded marvelous, as befitting their actresses. They still remind me of my aunts. I'm thinking about doing a parody of "Disobedient" by changing the words slightly. I DON'T want to be disobedient, but I will if I'm pushed, and I think I'm getting there with my job. I can't quit because I still have medical bills out the wazoo, and I don't think I have any other prospects.

Ever Felt Like...

As expected, there was a new Girls Night episode(s) of TTG with Bumblebee (and Ashley!), but Rose doesn't think she's cool enough, and Blackfire is trying to take over the world. The boys are being idiots, as usual. They were utterly worthless and made everything worse. It's like they were living a separate narrative that would've only made sense if this was done with original characters. And I think that instead of shark, the word the girls were looking for [to call Blackfire] was bitch, but they couldn't say that. "The Viewers Decide" was a missed opportunity for someone to mention Jason Todd, since he died because of the audience (though Beast Boy still thinks he's Red X). I don't remember Kid Flash being an official member of Titans East, his one episode in the original series involving the H.I.V.E. Bumblebee decides to go solo like Batman and hang out with Commissioner Gordon - she will apparently not return. Shame.

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus definitely had some callbacks to the original series, even though Jhonen himself claims not to have put nostalgia into it. Nostalgia and continuity aren't the same, however. Gir being Gir was great, but it was a little strange that not even he remembered what phase 2 was since, according to A Room with a Moose, it's his favorite phase (different plan, but still). I liked the part at the end where they clearly used all of Rikki's takes for that one line as they have in the past, only more. Dib brings up the taco place, but Zim says it's Gir's favorite place, not his, alluding to his hatred of fast food restaurants since he'd been forced to work in one. I liked Gaz's new outfit, as a little time has passed (though not as much as in real life). I'm glad they got all the voice actors back, and I was really surprised to hear Justin Roiland voice a food robot in the Membrane household.

Watching Brad's videos about religious kids' singalongs, I was reminded of a book-on-tape called Coco's Candy Shop I had as a kid. I had a lot of these books-on-tape (mostly Disney) where you played the tape and followed along with the book. I don't remember it being that bad, so I looked it up on YouTube. Looking at it again, it's a pretty nothing story and for the most part harmless, but I'd be interested in what Brad would have to say about it. Certainly not as much to make fun of as the other two he's looked at, but still.

I'm not going to post all of the "What If Mikage Chose Lea?" story, but there was one significant thing that happened in it, so I'll summarize that part. Mikage's arc started when she woke up as a Nobody and barely remembered her own name, only a pen and notebook in her hands (which shockingly didn't have her name or anything written in it already). As Diz pointed out, she ended up trading it for cleaning supplies (it's symbolic). When Mikage and Zexion escape Castle Oblivion thanks to Axel letting them live, they seek refuge in the Twilight Town mansion. After spending the night there, they're joined by Namine, Diz, and the pods containing Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Zexion and Diz have their [slightly different] conversation I posted a while ago wherein they figure out Xehanort lied to them and they shouldn't be enemies. In addition, Diz gives Mikage the job of scouting out the town, using her mind-reading powers and notebook to gather intel that would make the virtual Twilight Town more authentic (not that he told her what it was for initially). Thus, Mikage fulfills her true purpose using her abilities, completing her arc. With this being a what-if, I had to think of alternate ways for Mikage and Zexion to die. They both accompany Diz to The World That Never Was with his machine. Mikage ends up running interference with Saix and gets herself killed in a swarm of Dusks (Axel blames himself since he watched and could do nothing, causing him to yell "I'm not in the MOOD!" when he fights more of the Dusks). Zexion is killed by Xemnas in front of Diz, to which Diz responds by turning up the machine full blast despite knowing it would explode.

So-so the Drama

I saw a fan video for Critical Role, again having to do with the pirate arc. The original song was very catchy and the ending was funny, though I can't remember how much Jester was resenting Avantica by the time Caleb cast the wall of fire and things went down (see the other magnificent fan song "Where She Sleeps"). Jester would get into a sea shanty, though, even if it was one praising Avantica and Uk'otoa. I posted my own Yu-Gi-Oh!/Critical Role video recently. I love how it all came together.

I haven't seen Groundhog Day, but Sunset's Backstage Pass was definitely that with Sunset as Bill Murray and Pinkie as the female lead. I liked the Dazzlings arguing about their toaster and Sunset claiming she's not a witch to people once she's relived the same day for three weeks. But she has mind powers, so she kind of is a witch? And she couldn't stop Fluttershy from spitting out her juice all over AJ, but she should've been able to dodge Rainbow Dash a lot sooner than she did.

The new Fruits Basket anime dedicated two episodes to Uo-chan's backstory, but the three delinquents who were bothering her had new material at the end of each episode. So this series can be ridiculous, but I also think it was done as supplementary material (though none I've seen before). After all, no one goes to photo development shops anymore now that we use our phones as cameras. According to the second-half trailer, it looks like we'll be ending up in the same place as before, so maybe this series' first season will have more than 26 episodes? It's a lot to cover even if we still end up skipping around. I didn't expect Ritsu's episode to come right after Kisa's, especially since he shows up after Kyo's adoptive father does. Ritsu's episode was very different from the manga and original anime (which was probably closer minus Mitsuru). I'm still rooting for them, though. Hiro's is next.

I ship Nate and Zoey from Beast Morphers. They're not allowed to date, so I guess that'll be an end of series thing. Looking forward to Austin St. John showing up in the second season, and he says there will be more Ranger projects in the future. There's also supposed to be an RPM crossover with Dr. K and Scott's/Shelby's dad.

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card 6 has had its release date pushed back several times. Now its release date is at the end of September, and Clear Card 7 is set to come out at the end of March.

Bittersweet

The most recent episode of Camp Camp was great. I'm really proud of Campbell being an erstwhile caregiver for the campers (also cool since Travis is still a new dad). I'm glad Gwen found a friend (one who's voiced by Alfredo, I might add). Quartermaster was as witty as ever, though I'm worried that the squirrels from season one are still a problem. Next time the Wood Scouts take over, so that's terrible. Max and Nikki look so pissed in the thumbnail.

I finally finished drawing my comic about Ienzo and Raven. It's satisfying but sad at the same time now that it's over. I had a dream about them last night too. Anyway, I also worked on a what-if independent of both her and Mikage about what might happen if Zexion had been able to sense Ansem/Diz at Castle Oblivion (Diz not exactly deflecting that insanity accusation). It includes an excerpt or two from the Chain of Memories light novel since that's what I was working from. (R.I.P. Russi Taylor, btw)

"There was someone else besides Maleficent, Riku, and King Mickey I could sense, but the scent is hard to describe," Zexion confided to Lexaeus after Vexen had left the room.
"How was it compared to the others?" Lexaeus asked, trying to help him figure it out.
"It was definitely dark, almost as dark as Maleficent and Riku...but also familiar like King Mickey..." Zexion thought hard, trying to remember. "I'm still not sure what to make of it."
"Do you think it's a threat?"
"I can't know that for sure. Similar to King Mickey, whoever it is seems to be guiding Riku through the castle."
Lexaeus closed his eyes in thought. "We have no quarrel with the king," he said at last. "And Riku is just being used as a pawn. Unless they get in our way, I don't think it'll be a problem."
"That's up to Vexen and Marluxia to decide."
Lexaeus turned to leave the room. "Don't stay up too late," he said in a brotherly tone.
"I won't," Zexion said, smiling. He didn't like it when Vexen treated him like a kid, but Lexaeus was a different story. Vexen had turned cruel, but Lexaeus made him feel warm inside. This scent...it brings up these nostalgic feelings as well, he thought. Who could it be, and what business could they have here? The simplest solution would be to go to its location himself, but he couldn't rule out the possibility of a threat. He didn't want to start a fight he couldn't finish. Once he figured out who it was, only then would he even consider approaching them.
He decided to relax and get lost in thought while he focused on the scent.  Vexen’s number is higher than ours. Our numbers aren’t directly related to our strength or position, but still, he’s simply been our senior ever since we met. And that is from our relationship when we were our real selves—when there were the names Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo. Perhaps that relationship is broken, or even unreasonable. Because as long as that person is the first Organization member, we are bound by the world...
Suddenly, he had it. "No, it can't be..." he said aloud. He considered waking up Lexaeus but decided against it, and bothering Vexen in the lab was right out. Thus, his only course of action was to investigate alone. If I'm right, what do I say to him? He abandoned us, after all.
He teleported to where the scent was coming from. He saw a strangely dressed man with a red scarf wrapped around his head. Only one eye was visible - one golden eye. "It's you, isn't it?" Zexion said as he approached. "Master Ansem..."
"How dare you address me as master after what you have done?" the man asked angrily.
"Huh?"
"Don't play innocent, Nobody. The lot of you, throwing your hearts away to become this perversion of humanity..."
"How did you know? You weren't even there!"
"I have always known. I forbade Xehanort from doing those experiments, and you all took his side against me, banishing me to the dark realm!"
"The dark realm? But I thought..." Zexion looked confused. Something is very wrong. Our stories aren't matching up...and Xehanort's the common denominator. "Wait, then you didn't abandon us?"
Ansem also looked confused. "What? No, why would I?"
"They said you went mad and left Radiant Garden behind. I thought you didn't love me, that you never did." Ansem looked stunned, so he went on, "As soon as I sensed it was you, I wanted to meet you to see the kind of person you'd become. It's no wonder it took me so long. Your time in the dark realm must have changed you."
Ansem unwrapped the scarf. "It has. I donned these clothes to protect myself from the darkness. That was before I discovered the black coats you all wear. I was only able to escape by giving in to my rage." He looked at Zexion sadly, believing that his memories were real even if his emotions weren't. "It seems that Xehanort has played us all for fools."
"It does. How could I not have seen it? Am I really that stupid?"
Ansem reached out to Zexion. "You were so young and traumatized. It's the rest of us adults who have no excuse." He began to tear up. "I never stopped loving you. Xehanort could see that and took advantage of our bond."
"Of course. If you were still around, I would never..." Zexion seemed on the verge of tears as well, whether or not he thought he could actually cry. "I'm sorry things turned out this way, Master. I don't know what else to do."
"It's all right. Now that we've identified our mistakes, we can begin to solve them...together." He looked at Zexion fondly. "You've grown taller since I last saw you."
"I'm still shorter than everyone else," Zexion mumbled self-consciously.
Ansem chuckled. "That's down to genetics, I'm afraid." He pulled Zexion into a hug. "Oh, my boy, my boy..."
The strange scent of darkness from Ansem's clothes filled Zexion's nose, but Ansem's original scent was also easier to detect. It was warm and comforting like Lexaeus. "After we're done here, I want to continue working with you in secret," he said once Ansem let him go.
Ansem smiled. "I would like that very much."
"I'll tell the others about you. Xehanort lied to them too, after all."
"It's getting late. You'd better go and get some sleep first," Ansem advised.
"I will." Zexion bowed before taking his leave. "Goodnight, Master."
"Goodnight."
Zexion curled himself up in bed but couldn't fall asleep. He was still thinking about his encounter with Ansem and processing all of the implications of Xehanort's deception. I have to start by telling Lexaeus and Vexen, but Vexen will just dismiss it like he did with Maleficent earlier. Lexaeus will believe me, but he might let his anger get the better of him. He's the only one allowed to leave here, though, so... He imagined that Lexaeus would tell Xaldin and Xigbar while hopefully avoiding hostilities with Xemnas. From there, Zexion had not thought of much of a plan, but he had something to look forward to, which made him happy. It'll be just the five of us again working with Master Ansem for a better future.