Year to Year: A Journal Through Time #19 – Writing my Future (28/5/19)

Recent headlines

World: The UK’s European elections 2019 (Don’t blame me, I voted Green…)

Gaming: The next Call of Duty is just called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Woah, let’s not go breaking any wheels, guys)

I’m Playing: World of Warcraft (life is cyclical etc etc), Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr (cats are people too, you know), Mario Kart 8 (Crash Team Racing hype!)

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I’m sorry! I’m a day late on writing this one, and I’m also writing it a little late into said day. But I have an excuse – well, not an excuse, but a fact which might make this dreadful sin more forgivable. I’ve been writing! Not like, as in, writing blog posts or journal entries (obviously), but actual, fictional writing. Well, sort of. I’m not drafting the novel which will be my immediate breakout success and catapult me to an awards dinner with Stephen King. For now, I’m writing short stories and flash fiction. I am drinking from the water cooler at r/WritingPrompts. It tastes oddly metallic.

Writing is a muscle which needs to be stretched. Write every day, if you can, or so the writers tell me. And I’ve been hearing that advice since I graduated from university with my Creative Writing degree, and every time I’ve heard it I’ve sat and frowned a bit and done the mental equivalent of pulling my fingers backwards in punishment, or twisting my ears until they really hurt. I’ve been beating myself up! Because I grew up telling myself that my only talent was writing, and I’d given up the moment I realised that achieving my dreams wouldn’t be possible on base talent alone. I’d have to work for it! How unsightly! I’d just done three years of writing to deadlines and adjusting based on critical feedback. The world wanted me to do more of that?

Yes, Kristian. That’s how writing works.

So basing your self-worth around your only talent in the world isn’t something to be recommended, it turns out. This is because when you inevitably lose faith in your ability to do the one thing you’ve convinced yourself you can do, you no longer have value. Oops! And it doesn’t matter that you’ve graduated with upper second class honours, which is frankly fantastic. It doesn’t matter because the version of yourself which can sit at that awards dinner with Stephen King and all the rest is the version that got a First, made the Dean’s List, had already got a publishing deal lined up and had also cured cancer along the way, probably. And if I’m not that version of myself by the time I’ve graduated, when am I ever going to be?

Good lord. What a mess.

I linked to an article in an earlier Year to Year journal post which mentioned that when we think in a particular way for an extended period of time, it becomes easier for that method of thinking to be normal. They likened it to cutting a path through a forest, and returning through that way over and over. “I’m as good at writing as my peers” is, at first, a humbling thought. A healthy one. An important one. But when I retread that thought over and over it becomes tinged with fear. “I’m still not as good at writing as my peers.” “I’ll never be as good at writing as my peers.” “I’ll never be good at writing.” And as the thought morphs and I think it more often, it isn’t just something I think. It’s someone I’ve become. “I’ve lost faith in my ability to write. I’m a failure.”

Welcome to Kristian at 23. He has one thing he’s good at, and he doesn’t think he wants to do it anymore, because he’s not good enough at it.

So how do I get out of that thought pattern? Because it is, I think, a little worse than writer’s block. Well, the answer isn’t the easiest one, because the way I’ve arrived at my current state of being is through intense levels of discontent. Unhappiness which reaches deep enough for me to do some soul searching. What’s going in there? Every time I try to reach for some golden answer that helps it all make sense, I find nothing but this miasmic grey mire which is impossible to give shape to. But on the way there, I find indicators. Sources of unhappiness. Nothing I can cure all at once, but it’s time to start giving it a go. What’s this big, pulsing orb of negativity right here? Why, it says, “I’ve lost faith in my ability to write. I’m a failure.”

Getting back into writing wasn’t going to solve a lot of my discontentment. It hasn’t. In fact, it might cause more if I fall off the writing wagon, because that makes the discontented thought that much stronger. “I’ve lost my ability to write. I’m a failure.” How bad does that sound? God! So giving the Writing Prompts subreddit a go was terrifying. Not least because my original motivation to become a writer hinged on me having an outstanding gift that made me unique, in a sense, and that subreddit is full of writers who are better than me, all of which get quite a lot of attention for their work. Now, I’m quite accustomed to putting a lot of effort into creating content without much of an audience – look at my Youtube channel – but I’m okay with that, because the act of creating the content is a hobby. Writing is my calling, though. If I fail to grab people with it, that’s a bit different.

So there it is, I can’t. I can’t because, because, because. And that’s why I don’t. And I can’t because I don’t. So how do you break that cycle? You just do.

So I did.

I wrote a 700 word short story based on a writing prompt and I posted it in the thread along with the countless other stories. And I got one upvote, and nothing else.

And my world didn’t end.

So I did it again.

Writing is a muscle which needs to be stretched. It’s not a secret weapon to use when you feel like cashing in on your destiny. It’s not the solution to your myriad of other problems. It’s a talent, but without practice, it isn’t a discipline. So I’m practising. And if someone mocks my writing or tells me it’s awful, my world still might end, because that’s not an area I have thick skin for. But withdrawing from my calling because my world might end is redundancy of the highest order, as the possibility of my world ending is less destructive than refusing to start living in it.

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Further reading:

E.K Johnston: Your Brain is a Forest (This again – haven’t re-read it but this is where the forest analogy came from)

The Weekly Deathmatch #57 – Overwatch – On Writing (This post, but articulated differently)

Writing Prompt 001 – Deliverance (Oh god I’m posting them here too)

Writing Prompt 002 – Lonely Road (Oh man oh jeez pardon my rust)

Year to Year: A Journal Through Time #18 – A Requiem for Ice and Fire (20/5/19)

Recent headlines:

World: Milkshake Thrown at Nigel Farage (Ah, a headline which makes me instantly smile. How rare.)

Gaming: Sony and Microsoft are working together on new ‘game and content-streaming services’ (Damnit, streaming is the future after all)

I’m Playing: World of Warcraft (Frost Mage is SO FUN), Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr (had no idea that came out today), Minecraft, Diablo III (a Witch Doctor for season 17).

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This entry contains no overt spoilers for Game of Thrones, but does allude to the nature of the story’s ending.

Six years ago, I was in the books aisle in Tesco eyeing up A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones. I no longer remember the first time I heard about the series, but I remember taking the book to the till and being told – quite enthusiastically – that I was in for a treat. I asked if the TV series was good in comparison to the books (then having finished its third season), and despite expecting the usual “ah well, you know, the books are better” sort of discourse, was surprised when the show was also strongly recommended. I took the book home and by the end of the prologue I had become the latest in a massive following to fall in love with the series.

This morning, the first thing I did was boot up my PC and watch the finale to Game of Thrones, the show which has long outpaced the books and has, in my opinion, done a damn good job of continuing the story. Not the best, but good enough for me to be continually obsessed with and impressed by. And this morning, it… ended. This epic story of nations and families and, well, thrones, somehow it all came to a point and it ended. And it was beautiful. And I’ve spent the rest of the day coming to terms with it.

I’m not going to wax lyrical about how this series meant a lot to me, personally, as if my catharsis is somehow more potent than others for some reason or another. It’s not. I’m probably just more vocal. But god damn. It ended. For the last six years I have imagined numerous endings to the story, but I’ve never been able to point to any of them and say, “this is obviously going to happen”. It’s not like Harry Potter with the inevitable showdown between good (Harry) and evil (Voldemort). Down to the penultimate episode, I flat out didn’t know what would happen. I had ideas, but this show constantly surprises – surprised – me with character-driven actions, with irrational decisions or botched prophecies, and that was great.

My favourite part of the whole experience has been sharing it with friends. What’s going to happen next? Is this that great battle in the snow which was foretold? Is she going down a dark path? Does R+L=J? For a handful of weeks almost every year there’s been a day where I’ll take to my DMs and talk to one particular friend about our theories and jokes we’ve seen online. You know who you are. It has been the grandest time. I can’t think of Game of Thrones without thinking about those conversations. I hope we’ve found another series to rave about by the time this publishes!

I think Game of Thrones’ biggest accomplishment, from a storytelling point of view, has been its characters. I can think of no other piece of fiction which has crafted so many unique and colourful characters all with their own motivations, beliefs, habits and flaws. They all come with motifs, recurring quotes and statements which they live by. To have a world filled with so many of these rich characters that are all at odds with each other – which all grow and change throughout the series – and to have those characters interact and exist in the same rooms at certain times causing particular actions – is an achievement which astonishes me. And sure, things got a little dicey in the last two seasons, that’s the whole point of all this controversy, but if we’re talking about my perspective on this – which we are- none of it was unforgivable. By that point, so many seasons (and, originally, books) of top tier characterisation had already stoked a passion for this story fierce enough to easily overcome snags in the final moments of the story.

The ending was magnificent. I teared up multiple times. The closure of many of these characters’ arcs was bittersweet, many of them being irreversibly damaged from the trauma of the last decade or so. But it was hopeful. In a world as bleak as A Song of Ice and Fire, it gives me immense pleasure that the overall message was one of overcoming the cause of these tragedies. And yes, a lot of the story was tragic. Most of those happy endings are rather tragic when you look at them a little closer. But it’s a flavour of tragedy which leaves room for healing. It’s a winter which gives way to spring.

And that, future Kristian, is where you were a year ago today. Awestruck and reverent about events which never really happened. How very you.

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Further reading:

‘You can’t change your favorite pop culture — but you can change how you engage with it’ by Susana Polo (Incredibly relevant right now)

The Weekly Deathmatch #56 – Overwatch – Super Marvel Maker Classic

Year to Year: A Journal Through Time #17 – The Perils of Online Discourse (14/5/19)

Recent headlines

World: Jeremy Kyle: MP Calls for ITV Show to be Axed (A little tabloidy, but it’s interesting to me as I’ve had concerns in the past as to the effectiveness of counselling relationship problems by shouting at them on live TV in front of a jeering crowd.)

Gaming: Minecraft’s Anniversary Map is a Huge Interactive Colliseum (I played this game when it was in Indev! Pre-Alpha! I feel old.)

I’m Playing: World of Warcraft (Levelling a Nightborne Frost Mage while podcasting), Minecraft (I’ve discovered Bedrock Edition), LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Completed it mate)

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Yesterday saw the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones air. It was, by my estimation, a partially flawed but mostly astounding episode, with a twist which had been telegraphed throughout the entire show. It featured beautiful shots, remarkable acting, and peerless set design. According to the internet, it was apparently the biggest piece of trash to ever be excreted from an outbound sewage pipe.

I won’t dive into my critical thoughts as to why this episode was good and why people are idiots. I want to use this journal entry to explore the nature of people on the internet, and their extreme views. It seems to me that Game of Thrones has been praised to the highest heavens for most of its lifespan. The only negative opinions about it were presented in a mostly lucid manner, from what I’ve seen. But with the third and fourth episodes of season eight, the pacing and the direction of the plot turned in a manner which left a lot of people confused. A lot of criticisms were fair, but what’s also been emerging from this is people coming out in droves to declare the show as dead, or as a waste of time, or that the showrunners are intellectually challenged.

I’m going to be honest. I spent most of my evening yesterday attempting to pull myself away from social media, because this made the seethe.

Criticisms are fine. Episode five – the aforementioned penultimate episode – was a relief for me, having had many issues with episode four. All the same, though, I could see that episode five had a few holes. But never would I take to the internet to attack the creators of the show about it. People are now creating memes about these alleged morons who run a show that they’ve been following religiously from almost a decade now. Time and again, people fail to the connect to the idea that making a joke at someone else’s expense online is cruel, and reflects more about them as a person than making any sort of statement about the show they’re attempting to criticise. I blanch every time I see it. Not only that, but failing to having any opinion between “this is the best thing ever” and “this show is complete trash” is indicative of far larger issues than stem from outside of fiction. Seeing systemic, societal issues such as toxicity make its way into the community of a television show I like is incredibly disheartening, as fiction is often a way for people to escape the exact world where these issues present themselves harsher ways.

I don’t know if I’m making much sense. In a broader sense, it just feels like the world we’re living in is being overrun by the outraged, the ignorant, and the hateful, with Brexit (outright xenophobia), Trump (outright racism) and climate change (outright ignorance and misinformation) being major events in our time. It might seem strange to link these back to people not liking a TV show, but it’s the way it’s discussed and argued about which reminds me of the discourse surrounding these issues. People’s use of extremes, mockery, denial and plain stupidity is found as much in discussion of Game of Thrones now as it is in politics.

I believe that the internet is actually a force for a lot of good in our lives. Most wars come about from people having different beliefs, those beliefs are born from different cultures, and different cultures are created from a group of people living together in a particular environment. The internet transcends physical space and gives everyone a voice in which to share their perspective, letting us understand each other better and to celebrate our differences, not scorn them. I believe it’s been a major proponent in opening people’s eyes to the cruelty of prejudice, the importance of Pride, the reality of mental health. However, the biggest advantage of the internet is also its biggest detriment. If everyone has a voice, then that includes the ignorant, the prejudiced, those with a loud and angry voice and no desire to listen to opposing viewpoints. Lately, it feels like those people are winning.

I hope some of this made sense, especially to Future Kristian who is reading this one year later, far removed from the time he spent getting upset about anonymous comments on the internet.

I plan on removing myself from online discussion surrounding the finale when it airs.

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Further reading

An interesting Twitter thread on the difference between watching something weekly vs binge watching it (Game of Thrones spoilers within)

A beautiful exploration of a major Game of Thrones character’s journey up to S8E5 (Major Spoilers)

The Weekly Deathmatch #55 – Overwatch – Hardware Anxiety

Multiversal Masterpieces – The Best Sounds Around, Part 3

Hello and welcome to the final (for now) part of my grand tour of the best soundtracks in games, cinema and… television? I’m always confused as to what to call TV shows now that we don’t often watch them on TV. In this case, there’s a few entries from series which never even aired on TV, but are purely creations of the web, instead. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

Runner up: Harbinger

We’re opening with a big one.

If DOOM 2016 turned out to be a terrible game, it would still be famous for its soundtrack. Mick Gordon worked pure dark magic to create a soundtrack as furious and unstoppable as the DOOM Slayer himself. When you’re actually playing DOOM and you’re in the middle of an arena of waves and waves of demons and this comes on, everything sort of clicks into place, and you feel like an indomitable killing machine as the game’s universe sings to you in deep guitar.

I’m yet to play DOOM Eternal, and from what I hear of the officially released soundtrack, I’ll want to hear it in the game as it was originally mixed.

Runner up: Departure to Destruction

If I may slip into a sacrilegious opinion for a second… I may prefer this to even DOOM’s incredible soundtrack, with a caveat. I think BFG 9000 fits better in DOOM than Reflections of Violence does in Dusk. But when listened to outside of the context of their games, Andrew Hulshult’s soundtrack just about tops it for me, mainly due to the velocity of the thing, the build-up. I… don’t know if progressive is the right wait to talk about it, as every time I look up actual music genre definitions my brain turns to mush, but JUST LISTEN TO THE WAY IT GOES.

Sorry, I hit 2:42 as I was typing that and caps lock sort of activated itself.

No Man’s Sky has a beautiful atmospheric soundtrack. Some of the tracks on this album are titled and arguable more direct in their approach to being, well, music, but I chose this track because of its long, atmospheric charm. I’ve spent many hours exploring the Euclid Galaxy, and this soundtrack really helped to secure the feeling that the game’s story also tried to achieve, the sense of you being a lone traveller among an unfamiliar galaxy of weird creatures and aliens. It’s not quite isolating, but it’s certainly alien.

Runner up: Spoiler’s Noble End

And on the subject of space, we ever so subtly pivot back into the world of film. How fitting. Almost like it was done… on purpose.

All right, so there were two good things that came out of Episode I: Pod racing, and the Duel of the Fates, the latter backed by this epic. The chorus is used to great effect here, I believe to emulate the Sith threat of Darth Maul. It’s just timeless. You can imagine any number of fateful duels to this.

Runner up: Spoiler vs. Spoili-wan

I love this duel track even more than Duel of the Fates. There’s just something so awful about that chorus, in the best way possible. It’s really signalling to the audience how far our hero has fallen, and how heartbreaking of a fight this is for Obi-Wan, whilst all the time reminding us of the perilous surroundings where this all takes place.

Listen, I’m not saying that the prequels didn’t do a lot wrong, but I can’t imagine not being moved by that final duel.

I… what do you even expect me to say about this one? It’s timeliness, it’s iconic, it’s the frickin’ Imperial March, I doubt there are many people on this planet who don’t recognise it.

Seeing as I’ve decided to order the Star Wars soundtracks in chronological order as opposed to the date of their creation, I suppose the Mandalorian’s theme fits in here. I know a lot of people were sceptical upon learning that the Mandolorian wouldn’t feature a soundtrack by John Williams, but Ludwig Goransson knocked it out of the park. He didn’t even try to emulate the pre-established sounds of the Star Wars universe, and that was absolutely the right call given the show’s subject matter. It’s technically not done airing here in the UK, but I doubt I’ll love a piece more than the Mandolorian’s own theme.

Runner up: Rey’s Theme

I bloody love the theme for the Resistance. That scene in The Force Awakens where they approach flying across the lake is absolutely cheer-worthy, and it’s backed by this theme of pure determination. It’s also, like a lot of the sequel trilogy and TFA in particular, reminiscent of the original trilogy, which likely wins points for a lot of people.

I like a lot of Harry Potter themes, but I don’t love them. Except for this one. It’s heartbreaking! Which is a good thing, in this instance. It really gives the sense that something awful has happened, something that leaves so many characters lost for words. I vaguely remember being in the theatre watching this scene, hearing more than a few sniffles.

Stranger Things is another one which mostly uses contemporary music for the driving force of its soundtrack, but this original score for a spoiler which I won’t discuss was moving and fantastically appropriate to the world of Stranger Things. After all the action and all the horror, this felt like the show taking a moment to stop and assess the repercussions of the events of season two.

Part of me feels like I have to defend my enjoyment of the Crown, as if my watching it suddenly makes me a royalist or that I believe it’s entirely historically accurate. It’s not, and there’s far too many behind-closed-doors scenes for it to not be a lot of conjecture, but that doesn’t detract from how interesting and dramatic it is. And this soundtrack in particular succeeds remarkably in establishing Elizabeth as a determined, yet restricted character – in the show, at the very least.

It’s been long enough since I watched this show that I don’t entirely remember which episodes were season 1 and which were season 2, so I don’t have a lot of context to base this around. Nonetheless, it delivers a similarly royal theme to the previous entry, with a nice escalation to epic tones.

Season 3 not only changed the cast, but the composer too. And yet, Philip’s theme here is fantastic! It fits in with the previous themes of the show whilst being different, of its own nature, which is probably what they were going for when you look at the character of Philip himself.

I haven’t fallen in love with a huge amount of Sherlock themes, but this one stands out to me, as it explores Sherlock’s grief after he loses the one person who managed to get past his insecurities and challenge everything he thought he knew about himself.

Daredevil had some cracking good fight scenes, and the soundtrack behind this one is just… chef’s kiss. Again, it’s been years since I watched season one of Daredevil, so my lack of contextual knowledge betrays me, but it’s just… good, innit?

Red vs Blue is a machinima-based web series which I encourage everyone to go and watch if they can find the time. It’s a remarkable example of just what can be achieved with nothing but a videogame, a screenrecorder, some voice actors and a lot of dumb jokes. Watching it evolve over the years has been an absolute pleasure, and I chose this soundtrack for the Masterpieces playlist because it’s just a chill backing track which ran throughout season 12 that I always appreciated. It’s also a perfect example of the production value that the series achieved as it got older.

Runner up: Contact Redux (feat. Meredith Hagan)

And god damn, if that humble little machinima series doesn’t go places. It is hilarious, but then it breaks your damn heart! How rude! Burnie Burns owes me therapy. Along with… you know… a couple other people. I’ve got a list.

Runner up: Beginning of the End

Buoyed by the success of Red vs Blue and various other projects, Rooster Teeth went on to make a western anime series that you’re far more likely to have heard of – RWBY.

I love this soundtrack because both Qrow and Winter have distinct themes, and you hear them clash to fantastic effect here, sometimes shining on their own and sometimes intermingling. It is – as is the theme with this playlist – masterfully executed.

Okay… so the previous entry also got bonus points for being 50% based around Qrow’s theme. I LOVE QROW’S THEME. SO MUCH. And this is it. It describes his character so brilliantly, and the cadence of “I am no-one’s blessing / I’ll just bring you harm” belies the self-loathing that defines him.

You… won’t find my anime soundtracks on this list. And that’s because there’s hardly any anime soundtracks on Spotify. I would love to include them and this list would be at least another blog entry long if they made it to Spotify, including the likes of Bleach, Naruto, Angel Beats, One Punch Man and more.

As it stands, though, My Hero Academia is available, and doesn’t this theme just scream the word “valour”? It embodies the spirit of the anime itself in that it’s super motivational and upbeat, but not without being earned. If you haven’t watched My Hero Academia yet, do. I’m long overdue a catch up myself.

Okay, so it’s You Say Run but it’s turned up to 11. I don’t think I need to say anything more.

Changing tracks a bit – Orphan Black is a drama which does not shy away from exploring the darkest areas of the human mind, and this soundtrack is as beautiful as it is sad for that very reason. It’s also a show which explores the nature of self, and nature vs nurture. I still need to watch the final season.

I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game, but Sephiroth’s theme is transcendent. Who hasn’t heard it, honestly? And this right here is the Advent Children version, which is, in my opinion, even more badass. I’m excited to hear FFVII Remake’s version of this theme, if they ever get to this point.

I just love how demonic it is. I obviously don’t know much about Sephiroth as a character, but I feel like this tells me everything I need to know. He brings dread. Oh, and I love the emergence of what I’m guessing is Cloud’s theme towards the end, cutting through the gloom with a theme of hope.

The other soundtrack in this list from a game I’ve never played! A friend of mine is a big DMC fan and was very enthusiastic about the music in DMC 5, and a review video I watched used this as its backing track, so I figured I’d track it down myself.

I’m now playing through DMC 1.

The Theory of Everything was such a heartwarming movie about the life of Stephen Hawking. Given the nature of his illness, he was always seemingly near death’s door, and therefore the virtues of life as a concept was highlighted in this film to tremendous effect, amplified beautifully by this soundtrack.

Hollow Knight, or more specifically Hollow Knight’s soundtrack, really helped me come to terms with the idea that sometimes it’s okay to embrace melancholy. Not depression, not dark thoughts, but melancholy… which I suppose I would classify as reflecting on sadness, without entirely losing yourself to it. I don’t know, it’s difficult to quantify.

Either way, Hollow Knight is an absolutely gorgeous game in every sense of the word. It looks beautiful, it sounds beautiful, and it plays beautiful.

STRAFE is a first person roguelike with an eighties-inspired soundtrack which slaps. The entire game is a love letter to all things retro, from the Playstation One aesthetic to DOS-like menu screens. It’s also a fantastic listen without the context of having played the game!

The alternate history of The Man in the High Castle makes for a fascinating and unique setting, by way of an America split into two halves, one ruled by the Nazis, and the other, the Japanese. It’s such an interesting narrative, and this particular soundtrack backs an important scene for Frank, who is driven by hatred and ready to lay down his life for vengeance. The way it builds up alongside the scene is tremendous, which wouldn’t work half as well without this piece behind it.

This closed out the second season, and continued to drive home feelings of desolation, hopelessness and revelation found within the show. Again, it’s been a long time since I watched it, but it’s a cracking good theme.

I love love looooooove violins being used to signify madness, and without giving too much away, this theme does it to such a fantastic effect that it makes me giddy. I listened to this so much over the period of a few days that it rang around inside my head and stopped me from being able to sleep, and the only other theme to have that affect on me was Light of the Seven by Ramin Djawadi. If that isn’t high praise, I don’t know what is.

I didn’t know what to expect from The Umbrella Academy when I started it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I eagerly await season two.

Runner up: The Dragon

I finished God of War for the first time a few weeks ago, having no idea what to expect from the game going into it. That initial fight with The Stranger had me sat up straight and paying full fucking attention, and, as coincidence would have it, this is his theme. (Note, once more, violins to signify mental instability.) God of War is just… epic. In every sense of the word. If you haven’t played it, don’t look up a playthrough or a plot synopsis or anything of the sort. You don’t need to play the originals, I didn’t. This is a standout game all by itself.

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That’s it. That’s all I’ve got for you so far.

I’m a little concerned that I may be overusing the term “masterpiece”, given that these three blog posts surpassed 7000 words and contain a solid 93 songs. But to put it into perspective, these are the “chosen few” from a much larger playlist consisting of 914 songs, and counting. And I don’t just dump albums in there, I go through and pick out my favourites. So, to summarise, yes; masterpieces.

I mentioned during the My Hero Academia tracks that I lament the lack of anime soundtracks on Spotify – the same goes for many Nintendo games, and Playstation 2 and earlier era games. The issue is that while I could find most of these on Youtube, they would by their very nature be unofficial, and prone to being removed from the website by publishers, so any playlist I made would fall into a state of disrepair within the year. That being said, I’m not ruling out a similar style of blog post where I link them here and discuss them, as you’ll then at least have the title of the song should the video be removed entirely.

If you’re interested in my soundtrack playlists, here’s Multiversal Masterpieces through which you just read, and Multiversal Melodies which contains… the other 90% of amazing soundtracks.

If you made it this far: thank you.

Year to Year: A Journal Through Time #16 – Continuity and Comics (7/5/19)

Recent headlines

World: England Local Elections 2019 (Tories lost massively, but ‘both parties suffered significant losses’? Mate, the Tories lost 1.3k councillors and Labour lost 84.)

Gaming: The Sonic the Hedgehog movie’s first trailer has freaked out the internet (Gotta fix fast)

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Yesterday was bank holiday Monday, and I’ve arbitrarily decided that means I was allowed a Monday off of writing Year to Year. I’d spent most of my afternoon editing a Hardcore Minecraft video together, and if I’m honest my brain was still turning over the latest episode of Game of Thrones. I’ve come to believe that these journal entries will continue to be low effort for as long as I’m preoccupied with the show, so writing this on a Tuesday is perhaps the smarter option for now. All the same, this is being published on its regular day 364 days from now. I figure one day won’t tarnish the integrity of this project…

Speaking of being less strict about self-imposed rules, I’ve had to learn how to enjoy comics. When I first attempted to get into comics a few years ago, I was daunted with the number of issues Spider-Man had, as well as the amount of variants – Amazing, Astonishing, Superior, Ultimate, etc etc. Volumes (not to be confused with trade paperback volumes) split the series apart in strange ways, sometimes resetting the issue number and sometimes not, while alternate comic runs and universes flummoxed me. For instance, I believe Superior Spider-Man is the third volume of the original Amazing Spider-Man run, whilst Ultimate Spider-Man is its own continuity. I actually did start reading the Amazing Spider-Man comics from #1 to around #120, and I’m really glad I did because the history lesson was super interesting, but with over 700 comics in the series there seemed to be no end in sight, and I eventually gave up.

I’ve since learned that the way to appreciate comics is to just dive in. Storylines get reset and rehashed all the time, nobody ever stays dead, and if was to sit down and read through all 700+ issues of Amazing Spider-Man it would feel like I’d read multiple takes on one character’s story already. Last night I bought Marvel Unlimited (definitely not on a whim, I make excellent financial decisions, honest) and started reading through the 2018 run of Thor. This is presumably the same Thor that’s been going since 1962, but I don’t feel lost at all; some storyline carries over from previous runs of Thor, but it’s all explained fairly succinctly and naturally within the plot of the 2018 run. What’s more, this doesn’t detract from my interest in older runs of Thor at all. While I would consider watching a movie or a show from midway through the story to be an awful idea, the joy of comics sometimes is hearing about crazy events and then going to read them and see how they came about. I suppose it’s because story arcs in comics tend to be fairly self-contained in comparison? Like, the ramifications of the previous story arc have a presence in this one, but it’s more contextual than it is vital. If I was to compare it to anything it’d be to the story of a World of Warcraft expansion.

My interest in comics bloomed later in my life than it would in most people’s. The closest I came to reading comics as a child was the occasional Simpsons comic that I’d successful beg my parents for in Tesco. The only superheroes I knew as a young teenager were Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, having heard about Superman through pop culture and having watched the movies on the latter two (Raimi and Nolan). What actually led me down the comic path – alongside the oncoming Marvel Cinematic Universe, I suppose – was anime and manga. I had a friend at school who went to an anime club and came back with stories about an anime called Bleach. Watching it I was almost completely put off by the heightened exaggeration of every moment; I remember finding it absurd that a scene of a character bumping into another character in a corridor could contain so much extreme emotional exposition. But I stuck with it, and grew enamoured with the fight scenes and the story surrounding shinigami (soul reapers) and the abilities of their transforming swords.

Obviously shounen anime and manga are inherently different to comics and comic book movies, but you can’t deny the many similarities between them. Both featured characters of supernatural strength with unique abilities and strongly defined characteristics. Both contained themes of saving people, or of saving the world from existential threats. It wasn’t long before I turned my eye to comics. Heaving read some manga by this point, though, I expected comics to follow a similar structure, having a continuous story from issue 1 to issue 700. This is mostly the reason why I found it so hard to just dive into a modern run of a comic; I was convinced that I’d be missing out on vital information.

Anyway, there’s the history of my late introduction to comics which nobody asked for. The moral of the story is: If you don’t read comics, do.

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Further reading:

The Weekly Deathmatch #54 – Overwatch – Managing Multiple Second Lives