Let's just "rip off the bandage." My upcoming Catholic review of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will be about Vivian, and I will not be holding back on the Church's teachings on gender, sexuality and birth pronouns. People who are easily-offended or prefer everything to be politically-correct will probably be uncomfortable watching the video.
However! Since I do not like the idea of shouting, name calling and excessive anger, I have a much more positive tone toward the transgender elements in Thousand-Year Door than I think most people expect from a Catholic. Don't expect me to encourage disobeying the Church, but rather, to encourage you to listen to Jesus' words against the Pharisees, particularly in light of The Chosen: Season 4: Episode 3 coming out today, and Jesus reminding His listeners to think about the heart of the law--goodness, kindness, mercy, etc.--rather than getting too caught up on technicalities and condemnation.
Since I promised I'd give more content warnings if there is stuff that might make you folks uncomfortable in future videos, I was wondering how you felt about female swimwear, and should that be included in a warning. For context: One of my upcoming videos will have a young woman in a one-piece swimsuit, for artistic creativity. It features lace around the chest area, and does not show any cleavage, but I know some people would *still* find that to be tempting, so I guess I just want to know what you all think, or are you able to separate showing a bit of skin from actual sinful immodesty? (And yes, I have researched the difference).
If you're wondering why I deleted the previous post, it's because I misquoted the Bible verses, haha!
Anyway, I'm going through a family emergency at present. Very few of you know the details, and I hope to keep it that way. If you are one of the few I mistaken discussed this with, please do not share this any further with anyone, unless it's in a private phone call with me. Please pray for me during this time, especially if you know a Novena for suffering families. A reminder to my non-Catholic friends that we don't worship or pray to the saints (though I confess the Catholic Church does a terrible job of wording this truth), but rather, we ask them to pray *to* God *for* us in exactly the same way I literally just asked you to pray for me. Do they lose out on the ability to pray just because they are with the Lord? Exodus 3:6 and Luke 16:19-31 come to mind as just two examples of communication with the saints not being condemned by God, especially since God Himself is speaking in both of those passages.
If you're not Catholic, even just urgent prayers would be great.
If you're not religious, but you still want to help me during a time of need, I do plan on keeping the channel at its current schedule and feel, as I need to be able to have lighthearted moments to make sure I can stay strong if my family needs my help, so if you could just comment more on my videos, even if it's negative feedback, that'll help me be a better person, which is ultimately what I want to be to my family.
One person has been *very* adamant that I only focus on Catholicism and video games on my channel and to skip out on Myers-Briggs entirely. Do you agree?
It has come to my attention that there may be need for some content warnings in my videos. While I have addressed if I'm reviewing an M-rated game or there will be suggestive themes and/or language in the past, my source has wished me to be a bit more thorough, so here's an update going forward:
I would ask that you all please check my descriptions for the timestamps, if applicable, and in the case of stuff like lists, the timestamps themselves will also have content warnings.
For regular videos, I will post a warning before the video starts if there is anything I can think of that might make people uncomfortable; if applicable, timestamps may also be provided within the videos.
One thing I will *not* do, though, is apologize or give warnings for being politically-incorrect. The Catholic Church has very strong views on certain ways of living, and while we're not allowed to condemn the individuals, we are very much allowed and encouraged to speak against the lifestyle, so a general rule of thumb is that those who are overly-sensitive about my jokes or the way I speak about minorities should probably just un-subscribe and go find a similar YouTube Channel.
Please, please, please keep me posted if you all have any other suggestions to make my channel as approachable as possible! While I can't promise to follow every single idea you all have, especially if it's against the Faith or the Church doesn't give a definitive statement, I will read all of them, and try my best to accommodate.
For the extremely small portion of you that watch my gaming reviews, you might be wondering if this is a slow year for me in terms of major releases. Quite the contrary, actually! As of this writing, some games I'm hoping to review are Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Trilogy, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, Princess Peach Showtime, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Sonic X Shadow Generations... and that's not counting the stuff that hasn't been announced!
The reason why it's taken so long to get out the two January Switch reviews is because they happened to both be collections. Another Code: Recollection presented itself as one giant game, so that was my cheat to avoid talking too much about Journey Into Lost Memories, but Apollo Justice Trilogy contains three full Ace Attorney games, which equals sixteen cases altogether, plus the Orchestra Hall, and since they *are* treated as separate games in this collection, that means I have to capture footage of Chapter 1 of each game, as well as optimizing a "script" in my head of how to cover three massive games as efficiently as possible. And I'm *still* only at Chapter 2 of Spirit of Justice, haha!
In other words, if you're used to the more rapid-fire review releases of the past, they'll likely return once I review a singular game, but at the same time, I don't get review codes, and I also like to beat games before I review them. I want to take my time enjoying myself, instead of plowing through a game for the sake of a few views. I want you folks to feel like I truly played as much of a normal playthrough as possible, and that I can truly be trusted to help you make an informed purchasing or renting decision.
I still want to be the World's Longest-Running YouTuber, so please don't ever expect me to pull a MatPat until I drop dead, or something else almost as extreme.
...Please let me know in the comments section or in one of the votes if these types of explanation posts/videos are necessary, as I'm not good at reading others' emotions, so consider this my way of coping with my low empathy, haha!
Thank you all so much for your support on my Best Memories and Best Games of 2024 videos! As I've over-stated, both of those videos took about a year to make, so I was really hoping you all would like them! If you haven't checked them out by now, I hope you'll do it for Esabelle's sake more than for mine, as she worked really hard on several aspects of those videos, especially some voice acting and a live action skit, and I'm sure she would also appreciate it if her work on my channel helps promote hers!
I'm sure most of you also know that I got Kevan Brighting (the voice of the Narrator in Stanley Parable) to work on a part of my Best Games of 2022 video, and that seemed to be received well, too! I appreciate how many of you laughed and were amazed that a celebrity would check out such an (at the time) small YouTube Channel that I never thought would surpass 50 subscribers when I first started!
However, I don't want you all to think that I have any special persuasion techniques; quite the opposite, in fact. I tried to reach out to the voice actresses who played Kate Marsh in Life Is Strange, and that went nowhere, and I'm also not getting a response from Arlo. I might be able to pull a few strings if I reach out to him on Cameo as opposed to email, but I'm not counting on it.
Therefore, because of all of this frustration with collaboration, and also just being a simple guy who doesn't have the money or the fame or the charisma to get people flocking to me outside of a Mission Trip atmosphere, I've decided, going forward, that, if I do colabs in the future, especially in my End of Year videos, they will be with smaller channels or streamers. To be even more precise, those channels have to have a habit of responding to every comment, don't push people to like and subscribe, and preferably also don't take annoying sponsorships. So, instead of getting your hopes up for some grand celebrity, please be excited for folks who need the extra push, and who care more about your enjoyment of their work than views or the algorithm.
If you want to see a comprehensive list of everyone who has ever appeared on my channel, please see my Cameos with Other YouTubers playlist! Hopefully, that'll give you an idea of the type of channels I hope to promote through my content!
Today marks the eleven-year anniversary of making videos on YouTube! : D Like every YouTuber out there, I cringe looking back at my older videos, but I guess that's also a good way of encouraging those who are newer to YouTube: That you just gotta persevere! I didn't know a single thing about editing when I first started this channel, and while I'm still not spectacular, I think I'm at the point where my videos aren't terrible, haha!
I don't have any particular anniversary plans, as I've been working very hard on the Best Games and Best Memories videos, but as far as the Best Games one, I just have a few minor editing tweaks remaining, and then, Internet speed willing, it should be posted today or tomorrow as a celebration present! I sincerely hope you all enjoy it, because, as I mentioned both in the video and in my previous post, it took Esabelle, myself and my other collaborators about a year to make it, so if the video fails, it wasn't because of a lack of effort!
It looks like I'm going to have to postpone my Best Switch Games of 2023 video into early January, due to really wanting to emphasize quality control and not resorting to crunching or rushing my collaborators.
To be even more precise, I hired @Esabelle to help me out quite a bit in the video; so much so that we've been working together for about a year to make sure this video is much better than last year's... and also to make it the kind of thing only I would make. I don't want to spoil everything she's doing in the video, as I want you all to be surprised, but the last major thing she needs to do before we're ready to ship it is transitions between each games, which I wanted to personalize to separate it from other Game of the Year lists on YouTube. I want to make sure she doesn't feel rushed or overworked, so trying to force her to meet an arbitrary YouTube deadline would be against my conscience.
Because of all of her hard work and dedication, I hope you all will give her channel a watch, and see a bit of a snippet of what her editing skills are capable of. : ) It's precisely because of such a pedigree that I hired her for this and my Best Memories projects, and if I sort out my financial situation, I may hire her to help on many more videos in 2024 and beyond! Here's her channel link: youtube.com/@Esabelle/videos
....There are other guests I've employed for this video as well, but I'll leave those as a surprise for now. However, Esabelle and I are already in the works planning out next year's video, and if all goes as planned, you'll have quite the epic surprise!
The final contestants for my Best Games of 2023 video are here, presented in the order I reviewed them (or about to review, in the case of Hogwarts Legacy!) If one of your favorite games of the year isn't on this list, it's because I either didn't play it, it wasn't on the Switch, or I didn't play enough of it to give an accurate opinion. (RIP Pikmin 4 fans; I'm terrible at those types of games, haha!) I would greatly appreciate it if you left a comment predicting which games I'll have and in what order, as well as leaving your personal Game(s) of the Year!
As for Metroid Prime Remastered and Advance Wars, which I know are some of the popular picks, I did at least try them, but they ended up being too hard. I will still absolutely respect and be excited for them being on others' lists, though, as I can admit that they are great games; they're just not for me and my skill set.
-Fire Emblem Engage
-Theatrhythm Final Bar Line
-Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
-Life Is Strange 2
-The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
-Fitness Circuit
-Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
-Master Detective Archives: Rain Code
-Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals
-Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
-Samba de Amigo: Party Central
-F-Zero 99
-Detective Pikachu Returns
-Sonic Superstars
-Super Mario Bros. Wonder
-Persona 5 Tactica
-Super Mario RPG
-Hogwarts Legacy
An honorable mention will go to Sainthood, as the developer himself reached out to me in hopes that it would make the list! However, seeing as it isn't out yet, and I don't have a Steam account, it would be ineligible regardless.
Hey guys. You can call me Paul, and this channel will primarily focus on Catholicism, video games and some psychology stuff, including Myers-Briggs, though I consider myself a variety content creator first and foremost, so anything is possible if I can handle the tech! I aim to be the world's longest-running YouTuber, so I hope you'll keep giving me feedback to help me achieve that goal! I don't ask for likes or subscriptions; just comments are fine by me!
If you would like to support me financially during a bit of a trying time, here's the link to my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/epic_paul