Hello, my name is Aaron Hastings, I'm 13 years old (soon to be 14, because a digit really does make all the difference), and I'm a resident of the United Kingdom. My friends like to call me Aaronicus, although this is partially because I like them calling me Aaronicus, because I'm slightly pompous in some respects, and more than a little bit mad. If you know me via the internet, then you probably know me as either Deoxys0125 (pretty much everything I ever use), Jeanvaljean89 (Kongregate, so this one probably isn't likely), or Lesmiserableone (my Youtube channel).
I enjoy various things, many of which a lot of people would consider 'geeky', 'abnormal', or 'not socially acceptable', the latter being the biggest fallacy of them all. I mean really, what is 'social acceptance', other than something that one, or a small group of people enjoy doing, that due to mob psychology slowly takes hold of the general population and becomes a craze, or a fad? I do what I like to do, because I like to do it, not because other people like me doing it - I don't live my life for 'social acceptance'; I live it because it's there and if I didn't I'd be wasting so many great opportunities.
I like video games - so does almost everybody my age, only most of them are unwilling to admit the extent to which they do enjoy them, because they're afraid of how others will perceive them; when really, the people they are afraid of getting on the wrong side of, more than likely enjoy video games just as much as them, but are reluctant to tell people because of how they'll perceive them. At the end of the day, it's a vicious circle, and nobody ends up having any fun, because they strive to be what they aren't; when really if they were what they are, what they are would be come 'acceptable', and nobody would have to be afraid of it.
Another thing that annoys me regarding video games: is fanboyism. I don't even know if that is a real word, but for the sake of this blog post, I'm going to use it. Fanboyism, for those who don't know, is the supporting of a particular game system, game or developer to the point of idiocy, or 'devout loyalty' - as they prefer it to be known. Someone who, for example, will only play games for the Playstation/PS2/PS3/PSP because all of Sony's consoles, to them, are a god-send, and therefore nothing that anybody else makes is acceptable. It's automatically rubbish because it's on a Nintendo console, or it was made by Microsoft. I wouldn't mind if the hatred was justified, but the majority of the games these people 'hate', they've either never played, watched someone else playing and decided it's awful, seen a trailer for and decided it's rubbish, or played for about 5 minutes, but the fact that it isn't on a Sony console is clouding their judgement, and they refuse to believe that whatever they're playing is bad, because they want it to be bad, not actually paying any attention to what they're actually playing, simply sitting saying: "this is sh*t, this is sh*t, dear GOD! I give up, it's so bad!" Let me make this completely clear before I move any further through this post: I'm a gamer! I enjoy playing video games. I care not one jot which box the disk spins in; nor which cartridge is in which other box, I just like playing games! I do not understand how someone can have such hatred for an arbitrary electronic fun-box that's sole purposes in life are to be played, and to make their creators money; however because the weren't put out by a certain company, some people just don't want to know.
I also like reading... a lot. But why read? Reading's for nerds. Well if that's what you think, then you clearly are or were a ridiculously deprived child who enjoys living under things that are cold and make up the majority of our planet (that's a rock, because you're probably not intelligent enough to work it out in the first place, in fact, why are you even reading this blog? Yes, you are reading, so you know). But anyway, for the cultured ones amongst you, which I presume (read: hope) is the vast majority, you'll know what wonders reading can bring, the far off worlds you can escape too, or the things that you can learn from books of the non-fictional variety. Basically, find any paragraph, or blog, or speech from anybody who enjoys reading, and they'll all give you pretty much the same spiel about all the things I just mentioned and more, because basically, reading to anybody who does it is an incredible thing, and it provides a universal experience, that can be interpreted in any way you want.
I also like movies, and TV, but then, who doesn't nowadays? It's become a part of society, something that just is, and that always has been. It's just accepted, not considered anything marvellous and new apart from those films and shows that really do push the boundaries and create the unorthodox, the inexplicable and the innovative. Once upon a time, cinema was something that was new, and extremely awesome, because of the sheer scale of the innovations required for such an enterprise, but now it's simply something to do with your mates on a weekend, or something to switch on for five-ten minutes when you're bored. It's commonly accepted that TV is just there. Movies aren't deemed awesome unless they're well-done, however at one time they were praised merely for their existence. With the birth of movie and television critics came generations of people who were much harder to please, to the point where almost anybody could tell in their opinion which movies were good and which weren't worth even touching. I enjoy being a critic, although whilst it spoils my enjoyment of some films that I may have otherwise enjoyed, I can share my views with the world, so as to no waste their time in the way mine was. On the one hand, I miss my days of innocence, when only a really bad movie stuck out as suckish, and I could pretty much watch anything without noticing its obvious flaws; however on the other hand, being able to notice where things are slightly lacking, and how they could be improved helps me to produce a better review. Maybe this doesn't apply to everybody, but for me, a movie that has the good and the bad is easier to write about, because I can mention everything that works well and everything that doesn't. With a movie that just completely fails at everything it sets out to do, people will usually either get the message after a paragraph or two, or just look at the score and think of something else to watch. With a movie that is genuinely brilliant, and I don't have a single negative word about, writing about how incredible it is is often made difficult by trying to ensure that your work isn't riddled with that which people will bemoan as SPOILERS!!!
However you may be wondering what about television and movie watching would make me a geek, or 'socially unacceptable'? Well the answer is quite simply the type of things that I watch, and the fact that I actually bother to review it. I watch sci-fi, fantasy, anime, action, the type of things that 'most people' usually don't, as well as the things they do. Smallville, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, Glee, Lord of the Rings, The Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries, How I Met Your Mother, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other stuff of a general geeky nature. I also enjoy watching subbed Japanese anime, because dubbed anime is just absolutely useless... apart from Yugioh and Pokemon.
I love to read other things as well, besides regular books. Comics, manga, sci-fi magazines, games magazines, the Lego club magazine, etc. Comics are amazing, and I love how people look at me with like, a Spiderman lunchbox or something and say: "My 5 year old brother has one of those! LOL!", to which I reply "Cool, he's like a mini-me, is he much of a fan?". People can say what they will about me, but I'm not ashamed of what and who I am, because if I was, then what would be the point in being who I am? But you can't change who you are, so therefore you are who you are, so you might as well accept it, and get on with it, regardless of what people will think.
I also love performing arts. Singing, dancing, acting, music - maybe not 'geeky' as such, but not something that's commonly accepted for a boy of my age. I perform, I use to play clarinet and recorder, I'm learning the guitar. I would like to be in this sort of industry when I'm older. Singing, dancing, acting, performing in theatres, acting in movies/TV shows. Whatever really, but it's what I like to do, so why go against it?
To conclude, I do like pretty much everything else of a geeky nature, and I'll just give you a quick over-view of what to expect on this blog. There will be book/game/movie/television/comic reviews, books/games/comics/maybe movies/collectibles I bought, walkthroughs and how-to's, what's been going on in my life, what shows I'm going to be in/have been in, and so much more. So for now, peace out and enjoy whatever it is you like to do, and being who you are.
No comments:
Post a Comment