Why Do I Write?

This is a question that has been perplexing me all day now.  Why do I write?  I was trying to come up with a topic to write about which led to me questioning why I should write at all which led to this particular existential crisis that I find myself in right now.  I write because I think I am good at it but how is one good at writing exactly?  Writing is something that everyone who has the privilege of going to public school has to do at some point so how can one be good at it?  I guess it is like being good at painting or sculpting.  In kindergarten we all got finger paints and Play-Doh and for most of us it never went beyond that but some people clung to that.  They kept painting getting better and better.  Or they kept sculpting that Play-Doh until it was perfect.  I wonder if they made their parents buy them the newest art supplies to keep up with their addiction.  I remember when I was a teenager, I had a plastic box under my bed that just had books and books of loose leaf notebook paper.  It truly was like an addiction and I suppose it still is today I mean here I am getting a fix right now it's just a little bit more of an elegant solution to said problem.  Why did I think I needed so much paper?  I guess in case I needed to write something RIGHT THEN AND THERE.

It's the power.  That's the answer and I know it deep down.  That's why I like creative writing more than anything else and that's also why I can't finish any of the goddamn projects that I start.  When I write a story, I am God.  I create life and I destroy it.  I don't have to worry about work or politics or my family or being twenty-seven and still living with your FUCKING PARENTS! I just have to sit down in front of my computer, put on some music, and play God.  It's the same reason I play video games.  I can feel in control when in reality I can not actually control a fucking thing.  I'm scared.  And this is what I do when I'm scared.

Okay so that answers why I write, so what should I write? That's what started all this.  I still do not know. What I do know is that I made a promise to myself that starting today I would write something every day and it looks like at least today I kept that promise.  So that's something.

No Shave Bayonetta!

Sorry for the late upload but yesterday was Thanksgiving so we decided to take the day off.  If you like this comic please share it and I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!

D-Dog, The Greatest Sidekick In All Of Gaming?

I would like to thank my brother Dave for coming up with the idea for this comic when we were playing MGS 5 together a couple of weeks ago.  Speaking of a couple of weeks ago, you may have noticed that we here at the CCC took two weeks off.  The reason for this is because the artist on these lovely comics, Rachel has had a rough two weeks and could not find time to draw anything.  If you are a fan of these comics show her some love at her page AngoraART.  Also you might want to check out my let's play channel EpicGhostPunch. Thank you for your continued support and we should be back to our regular schedule now.

Sexism In Video Games And Comics

I was raised by a lower-class family in New Jersey.  I had anxiety disorders that made going to school terrifying and actually physically painful.  I later discovered that I had epilepsy which would explain several of my other problems like having little to no long term memory.  I was severely depressed.  I had plenty of friends and family supporting me but despite their best efforts, they could often times make me feel worse when attempting to make me feel better.  Throughout all of this my only escape was through video games and comic books.

Video games allowed me to enter a fully realized different world where I could take control of somebody else for a number of hours and fix all of their problems by solving a series of simple puzzles, or fight the bad guys.  Helping the protagonists in the games I was playing seemed to help me.  I felt accomplished after I would complete a game or after I would defeat a difficult boss fight.

Comic books were great too.  They offered an entirely different escape than video games did but they still helped.  Comics made me feel like I could do anything.  Whether I was reading about superheroes leaping buildings in a single bound or more independent comics about people going through the same things I was, suddenly I didn't feel so alone. But then something happened, I grew up.  I looked behind the curtain and saw that there was no magic wizard back there.  It's just a sad, lonely, old man.

Something that games and comics taught me was that, everyone is created equal.  Man, woman, black, white, gay, straight, it does not matter.  If I learned anything from Mass Effect and X-men it's that we are all the same.  We are all broken, flawed, beautiful and the same.  Which is why the amount of sexism recently coming out of the video game and comic book community is so disconcerting.

It's at least once a month where I see an article like this over on Polygon, or something like this showing up just about everywhere.  The scariest part about these articles is that they are not really news.  The first deals with women in E-sports being harassed but it focuses on one woman in particular.  I'm not saying that is a bad thing but if someone at Polygon wanted to just write about women being harassed in gaming that would not be a story because everyone already knows about that!  I used to enjoy playing Halo and COD online and communicating with my teammates but now the first thing I do is mute my teammates because of all of the hate speech out there.  The second article I posted also only focuses on one person but this time it focuses on the harasser.  A man named Scott Allie who works at Dark Horse Comics is finally being called out for his years of drunken, disgusting behavior but once again it seems once the truth comes out about Scott, nobody seems surprised.  Everybody seems to know but is just keeping it secret for the good of the company.

There are more male gamers than females and there are more male comic readers than females but it is not because men are better at games or because men are smarter than women because that is simply not true.  The reason is because of things like this, and this and finally this.  I highly recommend that you read all of the articles I linked in this article because they are written by people much smarter and more talented than I; but the point is, this is nothing new.  As I said before, video games and comics taught me that we are all equal and now the people who create and use these products the most no longer hold that belief dear.  We all turn to these outlets for one reason or another but usually because we have no other choice.  Video games and comic books are main stream now but they will always have a tiny stigma attached to them and that is what links us together as fans.  We are all outcasts in one way or another which is what attracted us to the medium in the first place.  Some of my best friends I met because of our mutual fandoms and thinking back on my childhood I can not imagine ever turning away a potential friend because they looked different.  We as a society need to change. 

Halloween With Kojima!

Sorry for being a day late with this one but hey now it's closer to Halloween! Anyway, I can not wait for December to hear what Mr. Kojima has to say but until then HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!

SOMA Intimates!

So did you guys know there's an underwear store called Soma Intimates? Cus I sure didn't... Anyway Soma looks great can't wait to play it once I have a PC that can handle it.  As usual amazing work by Rachel of AngoraART.  And if you like the humor in these here little webcomics then you should check out my YouTube channel EpicGhostPunch.  As always thanks for reading.

Fall of The Tomb Raider

Hey folks sorry for taking a week off but we needed a vacation and I forgot to tell you guys so what are ya gonna do?  Anyway, let's talk about the comic shall we! Tomb Raider was free to Xbox live Gold members and man is that a great game... but what is the deal with the hyper violent death scenes!?  If you missed us while we were away, why not show us some love and check out Rachel's art page AngoraART.  And if you like video games check out my let's play channel EpicGhostPunch. Thanks for reading.