ravsucks

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Miracle Musical appeared out of nowhere in 2012, dropped one of the most iconic albums of the '10s, and then vanished. Ever since, we've been waiting for a taste of more, anything else from the minds behind Hawaii: Part II. While they've dropped demos, instrumentals, and chiptune covers, the band has yet to follow up on their first and only project... 

Wait, what did you say? They already did?

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6 months ago I promised that I would make a deep dive on “In case I make it” to follow up my video on The Normal Album. Stuff happened. The album proved so massive, so monumental, that I couldn’t cover it all in one go, so the project was split in two. And when that first half came out, I promised yet again that I would finish it, this time by year’s end. Well… whoops! But regardless of how long it took, it’s out. The final stretch, where we cover some of Will Wood’s most famous tracks, and examine how all the disparate pieces come together. 

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Ever since the franchise returned (again) in 2023, the newly minted HICU (Homestuck Independent Creative Union) has been cooking up a storm, and I'm happy to see it. Great art, great updates, great bonus content, and some exciting buzz about new merch. We're so back. But most interesting of all is discussion of a concept I've been pining after for years - an encyclopedia of material related to Sburb.

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Any given shonen anime focused around fights will give rise to arguments about powerscaling. Which character or ability is the strongest? Who could beat who, and under which conditions? And JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is certainly no stranger to this. Especially Part 5 - Golden Wind. However, one stand that I feel is often overlooked belongs to a minor enemy towards the beginning of the part - Sale's Kraftwerk.

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Unlike most weebs of my generation, I didn’t watch anime as a kid. It wasn’t until high school, when I downloaded the original run of Dragon Ball Z on a whim, that my life changed forever. Something just clicked, and I realized exactly why the series was so iconic. I watched through all 291 episodes without complaint, even getting hype during the filler. But the best moment of that series was no doubt when Trunks appeared on the scene. Within four episodes, they had brought back my favorite villain, had a second Super Saiyan appear and no diff him, and set up the next big plot that would drive the series going forward. Peak fiction.  

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I've been working on the script for the video on 'In case I make it', and when it came to the Willard section, I felt unprepared. I had read the Wikipedia summary of the movie, but to write the best analysis I could, I felt it beneficial to go back and watch it myself. The trailers all sold it as a disturbing horror film, but it really didn't seem that scary. Any close ups of the rats just look goofy and adorable, and even the moment where Ben is supposed to be angry just looks like the rat was sleepy.

I thought to myself, "if you took out all the scenes with other humans, Willard would probably be a sweet film about a man and his rats." So, that's what I did. There was some minor editing to do, in the way of rearranging scenes for a bit more logical flow, and doing some minor rescoring towards the end. If there's any goofs on my part, my apologies. It was just a silly little project I made to pass the time.

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Technically my most recent upload from the main channel, I made this during a bit of a spiral. It's kind of a ramble and doesn't really lead anywhere, but it was at least kind of fun to work on. Same as the last two videos, it didn't feel up to snuff with the rest of my channel, so I decided to take it down and move it over to here - the archive!

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From out of nowhere, disco took center stage in the 1970s, forever changing the landscape of music. Then, as quickly as it appeared, its detractors hunted it to near extinction. As one of my favorite genres, disco is both a great listen and a fascinating history lesson. It broke the dominance of rock and roll, even if only for a moment, and you can see its influence all over the industry.

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RAAAGH THANK YOU ALL FOR 3K!!!

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Will Wood’s latest (non-live/remaster) album dives headfirst into a folk sound, approaching familiar issues of mental health and relationships with a gentler touch. Armed with a ukulele and piano, Willard is out to make us cry. And he succeeded. This video covers the first eight songs - the second half will (hopefully) be coming soon. Stay tuned!

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The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2, Issue 36 takes a break from its ongoing story arc to cover the events of 9/11. After such a unprecedented tragedy, Marvel wanted to honor the victims and first responders by showing the superheroes take a backseat. Which is all fine and dandy. But it's still a canon event that happened within Marvel Comics. Which begs the question... how did this even happen? In a world where superheroes risk life and limb to save thousands every day, how could they not stop two planes? It just doesn't add up.

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Halloween! My favorite time of year. I always loved scaring myself as a kid, trying to get into the spirit of the season and build up anticipation for the 31st. Did this affect my sleep? Absolutely. Do I now check dark rooms and under beds obsessively? Maybe. But it was worth it. On the Creepypasta Wiki,  I found thrills and chills that no multi-million dollar horror movie could ever give me. 

In this video, I bring you a few of my favorites - the Russian Sleep Experiment, Room Zero, Godzilla NES, and Sonic.exe -  and ask the question - what makes a good creepypasta? Is it the gore, the shock, the brutality? Or does the terror lie in the simpler, subtler things? Only one way to find out!

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Anyone can pick up a pen and paper and add to a story. Nothing is physically stopping you from writing your perfect sequel to that movie you love. But canon prevents it from being real, from mattering. A barrier between all that is official and unofficial. At least, that’s the way it is for most works of fiction. But as modern creators push the boundaries of storytelling, the rules of canonicity become hazy. Fandom begins to influence media as much as it influences them. In today’s video, we’ll explore this concept of ‘canon’, the history of fandom, and a few works of fiction that break the mold.

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One of my favorite albums of all time (pun intended) is ELO's 1981 classic, Time. It tells the story of a man lost in the future, trying to find a way back home. The opening song of said album, Twilight, was used by a group of college animators for a short film in 1983. This led directly to the development of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was a crazy story to stumble upon, and one I just knew I had to tell. From ELO to Daicon to Evangelion, this is the story of the song that built Gainax!

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After a successful debut album and EP, Jhariah was working towards their next great album. However, while experimenting with some singles, a new project started to come together. A mix of old songs and new, of remixes and singles, that started to form one cohesive picture. The end result was 'A Beginner's Guide to Faking Your Death', and it became one of his most famous releases. With some solid music and a cohesive plotline, I knew while listening that it would make the perfect subject for a new video. But I didn't know just how deep the rabbit hole would take me...

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Death is pretty common for superheroes. If one of them bites it, they’ll likely be back on store shelves before you know it. With no real consequences, it’s hard to get invested nowadays. But some stories don’t pull their punches - when someone goes down, they stay down, and it’s up to the rest of the cast to pick up the pieces.

I much prefer to see the impact a character’s death has on others, rather than bringing them back for shock and awe. Someone taking their place and struggling to live up to their example. People who remember their actions and are forever changed by them. The fading of a name into legend. A tangible absence can be much stronger in a story than a hollow presence.

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Throughout my life, I've watched a lot of cartoons, played a lot of video games, and read a lot of comics. And along the way, found myself smitten with some of the prominent characters within. I'm not shy about liking fictional characters, but there's some examples that are a bit harder to admit than others. So I've decided to admit them publicly on YouTube for the whole world to see!

I've chosen four characters out of an exceedingly long list to dissect - Professor Venomous from OK KO! Let's Be Heroes, Vriska Serket from Homestuck (from high school, to clarify), Prince Lotor from Voltron: Legendary Defender, and the infamous Makima from Chainsaw Man. In this video, I break down what makes them attractive, as well as what makes them toxic.