I Am a Whatvian

Disclaimer: I have done my best to avoid any and all possible spoilers in this article. I'm not one of “those people.”

As some of you know, I recently became interested in the British science fiction series Doctor Who. At this point I've seen all of it since the 2005 revival, and I've also checked out various spin-off material and several episodes from the classic series. I know you're wondering: What made me turn away from the sane side of the internet? Well, truth is, I'm still more sane than about 95% of the internet.

Let's start with the age-old question: What is Doctor Who? It's a science fiction television series that initially aired back in November of 1963. It lasted until 1989, when it was officially canceled. There was a movie in 1996 that was meant to revive the series, but it failed. Eventually it was successfully revived in 2005, and has been going steadily ever since. Now, it's important to note, the series was not rebooted in 2005; it was revived. It's the same continuing story.

Now, how can a series go on for that long without rebooting? The main character must be old by now! Well, technically, the main character is even older than you might think, considering he's currently over 900 years old. Enter "the Doctor," a Time Lord from a planet far, far away. He's a traveler. He looks like a human, but apparently his race looked like that first. Doctor Who is the story of his adventures through time and space with whatever people he decides to bring with him along the way.

Time Lords might look like humans, but they are completely different. They have two hearts, and brilliant brains. Enough to baffle even the greatest Earth geniuses. They also don't age—or, at least, their lifespans are massive. In addition, when a Time Lord is about to die, he or she can regenerate into a brand new body. This is how the series has been able to switch actors but keep the same main character over the years. It might sound like a cheat, but it's actually pretty awesome and pulled off very well.

At the beginning of the revival series, many years have passed since the 1996 movie and the classic series. We are greeted by the Doctor in his Ninth incarnation (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston). He just recently returned from a war—the Last Great Time War, fought between the Time Lords and a great enemy—of which he is the only survivor. The Time Lords were fairly frequent throughout the classic series, but now they're all gone. Forever.

So, this is an interesting turn of events. It makes the whole story of Doctor Who a little darker, and a lot more sad; but at the same time it makes the story awesome.

Now, the only place to start watching the Doctor Who revival series (which I recommend doing over starting at the beginning of the classic series) is at the beginning of the 2005 season. At that time they had a very low budget, the CGI was pretty awful, the acting wasn't too great, but you need to get through it first, no matter how cheesy it might seem at the beginning. Believe me, it's worth it. This is the kind of series that you cannot watch out of order.

Why do I love this show, you ask? Well, for numerous reasons.

1. The Story

Doctor Who has one of the best stories of anything I've ever watched, read, or played. It's the story of a lone Time Lord traveling the universe and all of time with his companions, for no other reason than to explore. Of course, there are over-arcing stories, usually with key story points in the season finales. These are brilliant, but so are the individual episodes.

The writers of Doctor Who are some of the best writers I've encountered in my years of watching television. Logic as we know it doesn't exist in the Whoniverse, because the time-travel theories are all out of whack and so many things just don't make sense, but that's the way things work in that universe. It's not the same as our universe, and it's not even supposed to be, and that's just something you have come to grips with. Earth might exist and play an important role in that universe, but it's not our Earth. After all, the world wasn't actually invaded in 2006.

However, the fact that the Whoniverse works so very different from our universe is part of why the story is so good. The writers get to do things that people would never think of. Writing for Doctor Who allows one to let their imagination run wild, and create things so far outside the box, but things that at the same time are so very brilliant. Basically, by the time you get a few seasons into the series you'll know exactly what I mean.

2. The Characters

Doctor Who has a brilliant cast of characters. The current showrunner and head writer Steven Moffat is amazing at creating characters you will never forget, and all the characters introduced before he took over were often brilliant as well.

The Doctor is one of my absolute favorite fictional characters. If someone were to ask me my favorite action hero, I would say the Doctor in a heartbeat. While he does have a habit of saving the world time and time again (not to mention the entire universe now and then), he's not always a hero. He has great power, with all of his technology and brilliant brainpower. Being the last of the Time Lords, he is quite possibly the most important person in the universe; but with great power comes great responsibility.

A number of times, far too much power has been placed in his hands, and he doesn't always make the right choices with that power. He's flawed; he's just as human as anybody. (Though technically, he's not actually a human at all.) He faces all of the emotions, struggles, and internal battles that anyone would face in the situations he's placed. Speaking of which . . .

3. The Emotions

What goes along with the story and characters in Doctor Who is the emotions. When I said that the writers were brilliant, I neglected to mention just how much they can get under your skin. This television series is more emotional than any other I have ever watched.

Something Doctor Who is known for on occasion is devastating emotion. The kind that makes you want to find a corner and sob for a while. But the story is sooooooooo freeeaaaking gooooooood! This amount of emotion adds to the brilliance. While so many episodes have happy endings, sometimes they're not so happy. Sometimes they're bittersweet, or sad, or even downright devastating, but it makes for amazing story.

For all of the amazing episodes with Happy Happy endings, just one Sad one in every few is just as memorable as all the rest, if not more so. I apologize for using this word so much, but it's brilliant.

4. The Music

I didn't notice the music of Doctor Who really until the third season. That was when I noticed it and thought, “This is actually really, really good.” As time progressed I fell in love with the show's soundtrack, and I've purchased nearly all that have been released. I listen to the music almost every single day, and as a matter of fact, I'm listening to it as I'm typing this article.

My brother's favorite composer is Howard Shore, who is the creator of the beautiful Lord of the Rings and Hobbit scores. I agree that Shore is one of the greatest composers in the entire world, but my personal favorite is Murray Gold. He has a unique style, and it's brilliant. I've never fallen so much in love with a soundtrack that I immediately went and purchased it. That is, not until Doctor Who.

5. It's Very Clean

Doctor Who has always been partially directed at children, and that is how it can be one of the best science fiction series of all time, and also be one of the cleanest science fiction series of all time. I must emphasize, however, that being partially directed at children does not at all mean it's a “children's show.” In fact, it can be enjoyed even more by an adult than by a child. (I mean no offense to any younger kids who might read this—I mean you'll probably enjoy it even more when you're older!)

There is, however, the occasional content to which people I know may object. The creators of Doctor Who are very much for the acceptance of homosexuality, and so that comes up every now and again. It's not explicit, and if all else fails, you can just ignore it. There is one (occasionally) recurring bisexual character who would be found offensive regardless of the fact that he's bisexual. Just ignore him (even though he can be rather hilarious at times).

6. It's a Legacy

Doctor Who is coming up on fifty years this November. Fifty years! It's been around for a loooong time. It is the longest-running science fiction series in history, and it's one of the most well-known science fiction series, both for the classic and revival series.

I haven't watched a lot of the classic series, but I've really liked what I've seen. Of course it has cheesy effects and stuff—all science fiction did in the age that it was made! However, I would watch classic Who over classic Star Trek any day. For old 60s-80s science fiction, it was brilliant. Not to mention, it's the same main character that I love so much from nowadays. Unfortunately a lot of episodes of the classic series are missing from the BBC archives, so it's impossible to watch them all in order, but I've really enjoyed watching what I've seen.

Doctor Who has withstood the test of age. When there were talks of reviving the series that led up to it actually being revived in 2005, everybody was on board. Even the network was on board, which shows that British television networks are about a thousand times better than American networks, who care considerably more about money than the content they produce. What started as one simple sci-fi show in 1963 has turned into one of the greatest series in the history of the universe.

Also, because the series has been around for so long, it has built quite a lot of lore. Planets, universes, various things stretching across billions (er, trillions) of years of time, and it's constantly being expanded even more. In addition to the television series there are books, graphic novels, audio plays, and just about every kind of media out there.

So, there you have it. That is a summary of why I love Doctor Who so much. I still reject the term “Whovian,” which is used to describe fans of the series, but I will definitely say that I am a fan, and you should be too.

(Special thanks to Adam Bolander, Eli Johnson, Ashley Procko, and Taylor Bomar for your proofreading and constructive criticism!)

How I Got My Name in a Novel

Every time I mention that a New York Times bestselling author named a character after me in a book, somebody's jaw drops. Some people might not even believe it, but it's true. How did it come about?

Back in August, I attended a life-changing event called The Ragged Edge. I was one of only a hundred attendees, and it was probably the best weekend of my entire life. The event was hosted by five well-known authors in the Christian community, though none of them would specifically label themselves as Christian authors. Three of the authors—Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee, and Steven James—were authors I had read and interacted with before. Another author, Robert Liparulo, I had heard a lot of great things about and I'd previously chatted with him a few times on Facebook. That left the last featured author, Eric Wilson. Eric was the only author to be speaking that, prior to learning about the event, I had never heard of.

Each author gave their own personal story, and none of them were pretty. To summarize, they let out the secret that unless you are extremely lucky, the path to becoming a published author who can live off novel writing is unbelievably hard. I won't elaborate, because it was something that you had to be there for.

Since the amount of attendees was very small and there were multiple breaks and intermissions throughout the two-day "conference," that left a lot of time to interact with the authors and other attendees. Several members of my Facebook writing group were also attendees, so during these times I was also able to hang out with my best friends. I was the first to ask a question during the first Q&A session, and I was the youngest person there (though not by much), so everyone knew me before the end. This was also partly due to the fact that Ted Dekker kept picking on me during his speaking time about that question I asked.

It was during one of those periods when people were just hanging around talking with the authors and each other that I happened to run into Eric. I had taken a picture with him earlier and jokingly commented that he was the only author I hadn't heard of when I first became interested in the event. His response was something to the effect of, "Are you making a point?" It was almost as if he expected me to have not heard of him, and it made me feel bad, even though I'd made the comment in good humor. Anyway, at this particular break period Eric was wearing a funny t-shirt. It read, "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel." I read it and asked him, "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" He responded, "Do you want it to be?"

Long story short, that is why there is a character named Reuben King in the upcoming novel, Two Seconds Late by Eric Wilson. He said had would name a character after me, but I didn't know whether or not he was joking. I told him he didn't really need to, but then he said it was too good a name to let go. That's ironic, considering I don't really care for the name "Reuben" myself.

One thing that Eric did not tell me, however, is whether or not Reuben King will be a good or evil character. Regardless, I do hope he's at least somewhat intelligent.

You Love Me

To tell the truthful true, I've neglected from posting anything... obviously Christian on my blog. I've stated and implied before that I'm a Christian, but I've always stayed away from reviewing things like devotional diaries and intentionally never got around to typing up interesting points of theology. The reason for that is actually that I just... well... I don't want to turn people away. I want people to read my blog, and I don't want them to get some opinion that I'm a "religious person" or something. I hate religion, but what I actually believe doesn't affect impressions other people may get from what I write.

But tonight, I don't care.

Tonight I had a conversation with my mother, and because of it and a string of events afterward, I had one of the most unique and emotional nights of my entire life. It inspired me to compile this blog post, which is a list of quotes I typed myself over the course of the past short while. Looking back, for some reason this past week has somehow been one of the longest weeks of my life.

These are the ones explaining the depression I'm going through.

Hey guys, I need prayer. Recently my depression has pummeled me with full force, and it's just not fun. (Ya think?) I don't know what it is that causes it, but I'm always abnormally tired, unable and unwilling to focus on anything, extremely depressed, and overall just feeling terrible. I'm on a medication that helps for a very short time, and then seems to make it worse when it wears off. I feel like I really can't do anything at all, be it school or writing or whatever the heck else. Still don't know the cause, but I need a lot of prayer.

-- my Facebook writing group, 2/14/12

My ability to focus or work efficiently is hindered, but lusts and rage are not. A couple nights ago I finally flipped out at God. I know I've probably flipped out like this at him before, but it's not in my memory. Most people who get angry at God annoy me because I've always seen (obvious, at least to me) reason in what God did to them. But the reason I've always been mad at God -- though I'd never blown up this way -- is because of something I've NEVER been able to understand.

-- my Facebook writing group, 2/14/12

Suffering from an unusual depression. That's why I've been angry and snapping at people recently.

-- a writing forum, 2/14/12

Guys, I really do need lots of prayer. I've been meaning to ask you guys to pray for me for quite a while now, but I've never gathered the courage. You might be having a depression of your own and thinking, "He doesn't truly know what depression is like," (I've done so myself to other people before, shamefully) but that doesn't change anything. Something is hindering my ability to do the simplest things, and it's greatly hurting my relationship with God.
- - -
I don't know you guys a lot, not enough that I would truly call you friends, but you're fellow followers of Christ, and at least some of you have been through (or perhaps are going through now) something similar to what I'm going through. I don't even know what's wrong with me, but whatever the heck it is, God can provide a solution. I just don't know... when... or how...

-- an internet forum

But then, despite all the frustration this disorder or whatever has caused me, I had a deep and meaningful conversation with my mother tonight, and this is a little bit of the aftermath.

I love my parents. I love them so much. :')

-- Facebook status, 2/18/12

My mother and I are so vastly different. If not for the special connection between us, which is the fact that we've lived together for fifteen and a half years, we'd have nothing in common except a love for words and a love for Christ. If we went to the same church but weren't related, I doubt we'd ever even hold a whole conversation, because we're so different. But because we're connected as such, I love her as a mother and she loves me as a son, because that's what we are. And if it weren't for our vast differences, our all-too-rare meaningful conversations wouldn't be nearly as meaningful as they are.

I love my family. I would never let my blood family onto [this group], because I can truly be myself here and be a person I'm not in the real world, even around my closest real-world friends. But I love my brothers as true brothers and I love my parents as true parents, because even though we have our differences, we're a family. I true family. We have arguments, we have differing interests, my brothers sometimes seem to think that I haven't matured nearly as much as I have, but... we love each other. We've experienced life together. Both of my brothers have struggled with depression and lack of friends. Both of my brothers have struggled with motivation. Both my brothers have been physically weak for their age, no matter how hard they work. Both of my brothers have been ME, or at least a part of me. We're all extremely different, but we've all gone through similar ordeals. That; along with having lived together for fifteen and a half years, and having similar reading, gaming, and music interests; is what truly binds as together as brothers. 

If not for my family... my mother's impossibly frustrating discipline, my oldest brother's lectures, my middle brother's encouragement (and abuse), and my father's... I guess my father's approval... then I have no idea where on earth or hell I would be right now. Sometimes I hate who I am, but sometimes I just need to remember who I could have been if my family were someone else's family. 

I know God exists. The fact that I exist as who I am is proof enough to me that God exists. The fact that I have a genetically-connected family that truly loves me -- even my extended family on both sides is absolutely amazing -- is proof enough to me that God exists. The fact that my little idea for [a Facebook group] could inspire some of the initial members to start a writing group that turned into what [this group] is... is proof enough to me that God exists. 

I love my family. My physical family, you guys, and the Father who is the head of it all.

-- my Facebook writing group, 2/18/12

This entire blog post feels to me as if it has no meaning. Partway through I felt like just quitting, since it doesn't seem to have a point, and there's nobody would would want to read it, but there's at least One out there's going to read it and enjoy it, and that's reason enough to me to post it.

I guess the point might be that no matter how dark a shadow is, a simple minuscule of light can scare it away. I might be suffering from some sort of disorder that makes life impossibly hard. I might be struggling through an impossibly dark night. But I was handed a candle tonight, and the darkness just shrank away.

God is awesome. You know that? You can be going through the absolute worst in life, but He's always standing by with his stock of candles, ready to light your way. No matter what happens or what we've done, He's there, and He loves us anyway.

Commentary: Seven Lies about Homeschoolers

On January 16, 2012, YouTube user Blimey Cow released a video that received a lot of circulation around Facebook and people I know. And by a lot, I mean a lot. You can check it out below.



I thought it was hilarious. As many of you know, I was homeschooled through eighth grade and now attend a private high school, uncoincidentally founded by my mother. The video is full of great (and quite true) points, but I thought I would give a few points of my own. Here is my take on Blimey Cow's "Seven Lies about Homeschoolers."

7. Homeschoolers are really sheltered.

I actually was really sheltered when I was younger: I hadn't even heard of 9/11 until a few years ago. When I found out, I reacted, "What!? Why didn't anybody tell me about it?" It turns out that, apparently, I was told, but that was a decade ago. I just wasn't ever told again, until I found out myself just a few years ago. But for his point about Lady Gaga... I hadn't heard of her until just a year or two ago, and I regret doing so.

The coolest latest movies? I know more about upcoming movies than probably eighty percent of the entire United States of America! I do research and find things years before they come out. I knew about The Hobbit movies half a decade ago, even though they started filming only a year ago, whereas many people still don't yet know it exists. I have loads of information about upcoming movies and film adaptations that most people don't know have even thought up yet. If someone were to think that because I was homeschooled and later private schooled I didn't know about the coolest latest movies, they've lost my respect and will never get it back.

Hmm... I was pulverized by the real world. Actually no, not a real world. It's called the internet. I was an innocent, partially sheltered child when I first stumbled onto a certain internet forum. It wasn't like others I had been to: this one was crawling with trolls. That changed me. Over the course of three years, that really did change me.

I say I was sheltered, but actually, I know many other people who have been far more sheltered than me. That mock example shown in the video? Unfortunately, I've known people like that. Their parents shouldn't even call themselves parents. But if you think all homeschoolers are like that, do more research.

6. All homeschoolers go to church 7 days a week.

Oh, shoot, I only go once a week. Is that a bad thing? Does that mean I lied about being homeschooled? Thankfully, I don't know anybody like the weirdo in the example given, but I know they're out there. Actually, I have heard of that guy's church denomination. It's called a psychiatric hospital.

That's another thing: people seem to think of all homeschoolers as Bible thumpers. I just have to say that is utterly ridiculous. Many are, but many more are not,

5. Homeschoolers don't actually do school.

My school is easier now in private school—a place where former public school students comment that the work is hard—than it was my eighth grade year of homeschooling. It's true that my private school is much more organized, and the teachers do everything in their power to make it easier for you, while still forcing you to learn things, but homeschooling was pretty dang hard. The upside to that? I got an actual education, unlike most public school attendees I know.

Trust me, homeschoolers do school, and we do a lot of it. And it's a lot more fun than public school, according to almost every public-schooler-turned-homeschooler I've ever met. I know far too many public schoolers who do almost no school. Why? Because they don't really care. For a homeschooler or a private schooler, people confront you when you have bad grades and force you to do better. Sometimes at my school, if somebody's grades are too low in a subject, they need to stay at school afterward and work with a teacher until they have learned or studied enough.

4. It's impossible for homeschoolers to have friends.

I actually didn't have that many friends during my homeschooling years, and it depressed me. But my problem wasn't that I couldn't have friends, it was that I couldn't stand other kids my age. For some reason, people in my grade have always, throughout my entire life, been annoying and stupid. No offense to any public-schooled ninth and tenth graders reading this; I was making a generalization that (hopefully, though maybe not, depending on who you are) does not apply to you.

I used to live in a log cabin, actually. Well, a house that years and years and years ago was built up around a log cabin. It was the closest you could get to the wilderness around here, since it was on the property of a summer camp that had miles of trails through the woods and fields. But no, it wasn't an hour away from Walmart. More like ten minutes.

3. Homeschoolers are really shy.

This is true for me, but not for pretty much any other homeschooler I have ever met. What scares me is that the example given actually brings back memories. Whoops, did I say that?

As you can probably figure out, I have changed much since then. ;)

2. Homeschoolers have no lives.

This one actually made me laugh my head off. I had to stumble around blindly until I found it again and could put it back on my torso. It wasn't that hard, because I was still laughing, so I just followed the sound of the laughter.

I used to get up before everyone else and go outside for an hour or so. To get to school ever day, there's no bus: you get out of bed and walk down the stairs. You get your work done in the early morning and have the entire rest of the day to do whatever you want. If you're bored and want to take a quick break from school, go outside and climb a tree or something. You can have other homeschoolers come over to your house and do your work together; that way you're getting your needed education and hanging out with your best friend at the same time!

Many times I have come across people who think homeschoolers have no lives. I used to get angry at them, but in the future I think I'll just laugh at them. The concept is hilarious, after all. :)

1. Homeschoolers do school in their pajamas.

"But this isn't so much a lie as it is... a reality. It is the very, very, very best thing about being homeschooled."

I completely agree with that statement, but why then list it as one of seven lies about homeschoolers? That's an inconsistency there, Blimey Cow. But regardless, it's true, and it's awesome.

In Conclusion...

Homeschoolers probably aren't what you think. In fact, I know more smart people who were homeschooled than smart people who were public schooled.

You may have noticed from this article I have a grudge against public schoolers. Do you wonder why this is? No reason. Just the fact that most I've met have very perverted minds and don't care if what they say is offensive to anybody. They're often terribly educated, and far too many times I've found myself gaping at their pathetic attempts to spell or at the utter stupidity in their logic.

I'm not trying to say that all public schoolers are like that, or even that most are. It might be true, but I know there are many people out there who would be offended if I said so. I certainly don't believe any such thing. As a matter of fact, some of my best friends are public schooled. One such friend likes making fun of other people in his grade because, as people who hang around him can easily deduce, he has the IQ of somebody many years older than he is. I'm thinking that might be due to the fact that he was homeschooled for several years.

Anyway, thanks for reading my article. I put a good three hours into it, and I hope you got something from it.

Reuben's Ramblings: Silent Protagonists

You know what I find very interesting about some video games? Silent protagonists. An NPC (non-player character) asks the protagonist, "Will you help us?" The main character remains completely silent but gives some implication of consent. The NPC then says, "Thank you! Our fate is in your hands!"

What?

You just handed the fate of the entire world (or possibly multiple worlds) into the hands of somebody who never learned how to talk and has probably had no training whatsoever in any sort of fighting? Okay, in the Legend of Zelda series, the protagonist often starts as a strong young man. One who grew up on a farm or training to be a knight or some other way that would leave him being quite strong and capable at the beginning of a game. But what about games such as Chrono Trigger, where the main character has no previous training before the story begins?

This is something I've pondered about for a long time. It hasn’t troubled me—frankly, I find it quite hilarious—but you just have to wonder why so many story-oriented games have almost or completely silent protagonists. I get that they want it to seem like the player fits into the character's role (heck, you can often name your own characters), but I really prefer games where the main character actually has a personality. It’s left for the player’s imagination, but frankly, my imagination really sucks. Games with silent protagonists often seem to me to portray their main characters as… kind of dumb.

In truth, I wouldn’t have it any other way. In the games I’ve mentioned and more, it just wouldn’t be the same with talking protagonists. But then again, look at games such as Tales of Symphonia or several of the Final Fantasy games. Those games could have had silent protagonists and still have been pretty cool, but because their protagonists were given voices and personalities, they were absolutely amazing. Of course, that was also due to the games having amazing plots.

I don’t know where this is going. I can’t imagine Link with a personality, and sometimes giving normally silent characters a personality is not such a good idea. Look at what happened to Metroid.

Reuben's Ramblings: Cutting

There are some things I just find hard to understand. One of those things is cutting. Teens inflict physical pain on themselves in order to forget about emotional pain in their lives. I have been depressed before—some would strongly disagree, but I can hide my feelings well—but I have never had the slightest impulse to inflict that much pain on myself. Sometimes I've wanted to inflict pain on others, sometimes I just feel like breaking things, but I’ve never wanted to do anything quite as… painful to one's self as cutting is.

It could just be that I have an abnormal fear of physical pain—this fact is probably due to how physically weak I am—or it could be for some other reason. But whether or not I've had the impulse to cut myself has nothing to do with this. It's what has given the impulse to others that does.

Until a couple years ago I didn't know much about cutting. I knew it existed, but I didn't really think about it much. Then I read the Patrick Bowers Files by Steven James. Tessa, the daughter of the main character, was a cutter. Thankfully she changed over the course of the series, but it still scared me. It was the first time cutting was really explained to me, and I was exasperated that so many people would actually do it.

I now know several people who used to cut, and even some that still do. These people always try to hide it when you talk to them, and that in itself is depressing. I once told a friend, "Cutting won't help anything." She retorted, angrily, "I don't cut to help myself. I cut to punish myself for living." Seriously, what has this world come to that thousands or millions of people would inflict terrifying pain on themselves just because they hated themselves? Every person hates themselves at one point in their life or another, but sometimes I'm shocked by the degree people will take it to.

What is the point of this rant? There is none, really. Sometimes I just need to get things out of my system. If you're a teen and you cut or are tempted to do so, just stop! Isn't there some other way to bleed out your depression or anger? Start a depression journal or blog. Do something else. Just find some other way to release your anger. Cutting just saddens me.

Omitted Stories

My brother: Number one on your list is Star Wars, right?
Me: Well... it didn't cross my mind what I was writing the article.
My brother: What!?
[A minute of reading later...]
My brother: Oh, okay. A worthy replacement.

---------

A week and a half ago I wrote an article called the Top Ten Stories of All Time. I highly recommend you read it.

Unfortunately, there were some key stories omitted from the list. Either due to my forgetfulness, or because they just barely didn't make it on. Here are three of the omissions, in no particular order.

0. Star Wars
I don't know whether to go with the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, both combined, or everything combined with the Expanded Universe. I believe that Star Wars is, by a long shot, the largest franchise ever made. The films have a pretty great story, but they barely begin to compare to the vastness of the Expanded Universe, which consists of hundreds of novels. I have read many, but in reality I've only read a drop in the bucket. How this failed to get onto the list, I do not know.

0. BIONICLE
Some people call it a bunch of little kid's toys, but I call it one of the most-overlooked fantasy series of all time. Heck, I don't care about the toys. The story is just awesome. As a young kid, (I'm guessing when I was about 9-12) I absolutely loved the books. The BIONICLE Chronicles, BIONICLE Adventures, and BIONICLE Legends series used to be my favorite books of all time. It's true, they're written for young people, but they're still pretty dang awesome. I've been a fan of BIONICLE since the beginning in 2001, when I was five years old, and still forever I'll stand up against people who claim it's "just a bunch of kid's toys." My favorite books in any of the series are Voyage of Fear, Time Trap and Legacy of Evil.

0. The Patrick Bowers Files
The Patrick Bowers Files by Steven James are my all-time favorite crime novels. James himself is my favorite author. It was omitted from the list due to other amazing stories placing higher than it, but it really is a masterpiece. You can't help but love the main characters, and the story grips you and draws you in like few stories can. If you're into crime novels, definitely check these out. But please, please, read the books in order. My favorites in the series are the first one, The Pawn, along with the third one, The Knight.

Reuben's Ramblings: Christmas Day/Eve

"Merry Christmas!"

Remarkable, isn't it? The amount of people posting on Facebook the day before Christmas to wish everyone a Happy Holidays? I get up in the morning to check my social networks and email and see, "Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas Eve!" "Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!" "Happy Holidays to all!" "Merry Christmas!" This leads me to ask a question.

Why is everyone saying "Merry Christmas" when tomorrow is Christmas Day?

Today is Christmas Eve; I'll give them that much. And for many who live in other countries, it really is Christmas today. Somebody gave me the argument that people want to spend time with their families on Christmas Day rather than spending time on Facebook, but I'm thinking they'll get on Facebook anyway. It doesn't take much to sign into Facebook, post a message and get off.

And what's also interesting is that tonight, I felt like wishing everybody a Merry Christmas as well. How quickly my viewpoint changed. This was just a random ramble anyway. One of far too many that will be coming in the days, weeks, months and possibly even years to come.

Featured Shtuff: The Force of Fiction

Howdy, world! I'm starting a new "Featured Shtuff" article series. This is where I give shout-outs and feature blogs and the like of friends of mine or other amazing people who deserve much more traffic than they have been receiving.

The Force of Fiction is a review blog run by my good friend Adam Bolander. He is the author of the self-published novel Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm. At present he is looking for a literary agent and publisher for the novel and series, as almost nobody knows of its existence at this point. I have read it myself, and it is definitely worth the read.

This is where Adam posts his reviews of select media he enjoys, such as books, movies, video games and the like. This is similar to my blog, but his is more strictly devoted to reviews. In addition, I find him to be much better at writing reviews than I am, and overall he's a great writer in general.

If you enjoy good fiction, definitely check out his website. He is a very talented man and a great friend.

Click here to check out The Force of Fiction

November 2011: The Month of Pure Epicocity

This month has got to be one of the most spectacular months of all time. Perhaps that's an exaggeration, but there have been some absolutely amazing releases this month. Here are just a few highlights.

Mistborn: The Alloy of Law - November 8, 2011

I haven't been a fan of Brandon Sanderson for long, but my brother has been. I read and reviewed Elantris, and my brother tells me that Sanderson's Mistborn series is even better. This is a sequel to the main trilogy, taking place about three hundred years later. From what I've read, it sounds amazing, as everything that Sanderson has written does. I highly recommend this man's books!

Awesomeness Level: 9/10
More information about The Alloy of Law here.

Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 3 - November 8, 2011

I'm not much of a Call of Duty fan, nor much of a first-person shooter fan for that matter, but I knew I wouldn't be able to write an article about how amazing this month has been without even mentioning it. I haven't played the game myself, but I hear from many, many sources that it's absolutely amazing. It's not necessarily something I was looking forward to, but it's pretty sweet nonetheless.

Awesomeness Level: 7/10
(low rating for the fact that it's just not my kind of game; doesn't mean it's not awesome)
More information about Modern Warfare 3 here.

Inheritance - November 8, 2011

Though I have only read the first novel in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, I enjoyed it very much. It was full of cliché, but you must remember that Paolini first started Eragon when he was fifteen years old, after he already graduated from high school. That's what makes it an awesome series for me. He started writing it as a super-smart kid, and is still writing as a super-smart adult. I think it's a little cheesy that the finally book in the series is the same name as the series itself, but from what I've heard it's a great book. Yet another reason to get around to reading the rest of the books in the series!

Awesomeness Level: 8/10
More information about Inheritance here.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - November 11, 2011

I've been a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls games for years. The last two games in the series, Morrowind and Oblivion, were both groundbreaking games that blew gamers' minds to Kingdom Come. A day or two after Skyrim came out, I went to my friend's house and I got to play the Xbox 360 version. I just have to say, if this game does not win Game of the Year, as it's two predecessors did, then the gaming industry is full of idiots. This game is amazing. I very highly recommend it.

Awesomeness Level: 10/10
More information about Skyrim here.

Super Mario 3D Land - November 13, 2011

At first I wasn't at all interested in this game. After all, it's "just another Mario game," right? That's what I thought, but the more I heard about it and the more trailers I saw the more interested I became. (Isn't that the point of trailers?) I began to discover that this wasn't "just another Mario game," but rather one more masterpiece from one of the best game development companies of all time. I still haven't gotten my hands on the game, but I've heard from many reliable sources that it exceeds expectations. Needless to say, I'm excited to play it!

Awesomeness Level: 7/10
More information about Super Mario 3D Land here.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - November 20, 2011

After five years of work by over one hundred developers, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has finally hit stores! Already, in the couple days it's been out, many people have said that it may be the greatest Zelda game of all time. This would be a near-impossible feat after how absolutely amazing the franchise has been in the past. At present The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of my all-time favorite video games, but from what I hear, Skyward Sword may surpass it by a large distance. Though I still have not played the game, as I currently have no income (and therefore almost no money), it was easily the release I looked forward to most this month. Though I have to say, the next highlight came pretty close.

Awesomeness Level: 10/10
More information about Skyward Sword here.

As the World Bleeds - November 21, 2011

As many of you know, Theocracy is my all-time favorite band. I've been waiting for this album for the past year, and it's been in development for about the past two. All of the band members have full-time jobs, so they could not work on the record any time but late at night. Yes, it took forever to record, but yes, it was well worth it. It's high-quality and full of amazingly epic songs. Matt Smith, the founder, vocalist and writer, is one of my biggest inspirations, and he has pulled through to bring one of the best music albums ever to date. It's basically what I've been listening to for the past two days, since it came out.

Awesomeness Level: 10/10
More information about As the World Bleeds here.

There have been and will be many more amazing releases this month. These are just the few I decided to highlight. I seriously believe this has been one of the best months for releases in my entire life. You can expect me to critique one or several of the items on this list within the next while. I know not which yet, but the future will tell.

Now, have a happy November and a great holiday season!

Defining Talent - Music

Noun: 1. Natural aptitude or skill.

That is the definition I got when I searched "what does talent mean" on Google. It's an accurate definition, and everyone has at least one talent. For me it's annoying the crap out of people by rambling on about things they don't care about. But really, no matter what talents people have, they all have at least one.

Talent is often associated with music and bands. If a band's song completely blows your mind away, that band has talent. Often it's the skill of the band members, often it's just how well the song is put together, and often it's the ingenuity of the lyrics.

False or True

Really funny thing happened this morning. My mom wanted me to drink some coffee (as I'd only done so once or twice before in my life), as she thought it might help me be able to focus more. Guess what? It didn't. It made me lousy all today. Made my limbs feel like not moving. Made me feel like the most bored person on earth.

I drank a bottle of Gatorade, and that surprisingly helped me revive a bit from the coffee, but the damage was already done. Now, with the day drawing towards its end, I'm just now finally getting over the coffee feeling completely. Now I know that coffee doesn't help me focus more. In fact, it does the opposite. It's pretty strange, though, because caffeine in soda only makes me relax and feel good, if it does anything. Coffee, however, can ruin how I'm feeling for an entire day.

Take note, self: Stay away from coffee!

The Art of Reviewing

Josh Olds, a friend of mine and a well-experienced book reviewer, recently moved his entire website to a new URL, LifeIsStory.com. His long experience as a critic and writer led to his writing of an article in two parts called, "The Art of Reviewing". I was intrigued from just the introductory paragraph.

Sticks and stone may break my bones but words can never hurt me. The man knows better. The phrase was created by those who, unable to avoid the power of words sought to minimize their effect by ignoring them. Words are quick and powerful, even to the dividing of bone and marrow. Now that’s more like it. Good words are incisive and cutting, having a lasting effect and imprinted on the soul. Words are powerful because Life is Story.

The article is well thought out and well written, and it includes a couple bits of story as they can be implemented. Josh Olds is truly a master storysmith, and his advice has been extremely useful to myself and many others. If you review books or want to, I strongly recommend that you read this article. It contains great knowledge that will be very helpful in the long journey to become a true writer.

The Art of Reviewing pt. 1

The Art of Reviewing pt. 2

Reuben Horst

Am I bad luck?

That's a question that popped into my mind earlier today as I was playing volleyball at the activity center gym at Menno Haven. Am I bad luck? Today is Memorial Day, but the Mennonite summer camp calls it Rally Day. We got to hang out with people we haven't seen in five years, eat a great meal prepared by a great cook, play group games and such, and so on.

That's how I came to be playing volleyball with some friends, and that's how the question was raised. I would consider myself to be the worst volleyball player on earth, but that doesn't mean the rest of my team shouldn't do as good, right?

Pretty much the only time I can hit the ball is when I serve, and even then I usually serve it too far, and it goes out. Whenever the ball was served right to me, I either ignored it and continued standing like a dummy, or went for it and either missed or pathetically hit it nowhere, scoring for the other team.

My team lost, so someone on the other team offered to switch with me. And then my new team lost, and the team I was on won. No matter what team I'm on, I seem to lose, and this doesn't only happen with volleyball. I can sense my teammates inwardly groaning and rolling their eyes towards me, wondering, "is he good at any sports?"

The simple answer is yes, I am a pretty decent soccer player. I also dominate at carpet ball, but that does not count, as it's not really a sport. This is completely beside the point, though. I suck at most sports, but no matter how good or bad anyone does, my team always seems to lose, no matter what sport we're playing. There's the rare occasion that we utterly destroy our opponents, but as I said, it is rare.

When the game was over and we were messing around for a minute or two before leaving, I picked up a ball and served it over the net, just to prove that I can in fact play volleyball... and it landed in the small space between the boundary and the wall of the gym. Out.

It's strange how one bad player can bring so much bad luck to an entire team.

~Reuben/Arkatox~