VIDEO-GAMING / LP SERIES PART 4 - lpers
Today’s
topic will be Markiplier. Markiplier is
my favorite so he gets the honor of going first.
I wasn’t with
Mark from the beginning, but it’s not something that I regret. That’s just the reality. But I WAS there in mid-September – during the
Slenderman / Slender-related craze [I won’t go into the specifics of games now;
that’ll be after I tackle my favorite let’s players & the horror genre that
they’re all pretty much a part of.] From
there, Mark’s channel has grown from 20,000 to nearly 200,000. The growth of his channel has been nothing
short of explosive.
I really
like a lot about Mark, but I’ll keep it to these solid factors: his voice; his sincerity;
his generosity; & his passion.
a. THE
VOICE
This is
Mark’s money-maker. It’s the first thing
you notice about him whenever he opens with “HELLO! MY NAME IS MARKIPLIER & WELCOME TO
[insert game here]!” & when he ends with “& I’ll be seeing YOU in the
next video. BU-BYE!” It’s the first thing I fell in love with. Because he really has a classic
broadcasting-announcing-radio voice. It’s
smooth like velvet. It’s
professional. & he can do a lot with
this voice. He can tease you & be
sexy [much to the glee of the fangirls]; he can do epic monologues into
insanity [which happen often]; he can be goofy & spaz into intelligibility
[that happens often, too]; or he can be “normal” Mark just hangin’ out &
swearing @ things popping up in the night.
@ will. He can seamlessly
transfer from either one.
Some of
Mark’s best videos showcasing his voice, power of narration, & sense for
humor are:
It’s full
of comedy gems. & it guest-stars one
of Mark’s friends, Wade, as the fallen Slenderman. & Mark’s voice is just… ridiculous.
Personally
one of my favorite videos Mark has ever made & a favorite amongst my peer
circle, as well. The ENTIRE video is Mark
weaving a narrative about professional Bear-driving & surviving. How Mark chronicles the struggles of Barry
the Bear through his quest to survive through the winter is awe-inspiring. & laugh-inspiring. & the intensity & perseverance Mark
showcases throughout the game is unparalleled to anything I have ever seen
before. I’m serious here. You might thing I’m taking a serious tone on
for comedy effect but I am being genuine.
Watch the video. You will see what I mean. Because the game is STRESSFUL. The struggle to eat fish & berries while
trying to swerve around trees & maneuver into a small cave is
STRESSFUL. Trying to swat badgers
messing with your junk & bees stinging the crap out of you & stones
shoving themselves done your throat & leaves drowning you in your car… it
is STRESSFUL. The game is INTENSE. EXACTLY what mark would want in a
bear-simulator. The finesse involved in
balancing of eating-to-driving is something I am incapable of mastering.
The last 3
minutes, when Barry the Bear / Mark finds that death is inescapable & life
is futile, is where the video truly shines:
[As the bear is slowly dying]
“This is it. Nooooooo. After coming so far! @ least I’ll eat this one berry. Maybe just these small snacks… as… are a
reminder of the joy I had in my life. No. No. The darkness closes in on me. This is it.
Good-bye, friend. Aaaahaaaaaaaaaah AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. [The bear is encased in snow & screams,
reaching up to the sky]”
Mark has
really progressed as a Youtuber @ this point.
This is the most recent of the games & he is MASTERFUL in weaving in
a backstory for the best surgeon in the world… but one that actually CANNOT
operate on his patients. The story
becomes tragic… but it’s HILARIOUS for the rest of us to see how his surgeries
go wrong. Mark goes OVER THE TOP with
the dramatic commentary, sometimes focusing more on that than actually playing
the game.
But I didn’t
care when I watched this video. Other people can beat the game. I was entranced in what Mark would say next. Especially when the doctor in question
devolves into madness, unnerved by the blood quite literally on his hands:
“[When he loses
the heart on the operating table] Um people won’t notice; people won’t
notice. Um. Because this guy is now gunna have… a crazy
bass up in his chest cavity. … Oh god oh
god what have I done. People are gunna
realize that I’m a fraud. I’m not a
fraud. I’m not a fraud! I’M NOT A FRAUD. I’M NOT A FRAUD. I’M NOT
A FRAUD. I’M NOT A FRAUD.
“I’m going to
lose my medical license. Oh god.
[gibberish] Of course it’s right. I’m a
DOCTOR! Of course it’s BEST. I’m a DOCTOR.
I’M A DOCTOR. I’M A DOCTOR. I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. I’M A DAMN
DOCTOR.
“The big city
doctors… think they can tell me what to do.
With their big city knowledge.
THEY DON’T KNOW. THEY DON’T KNOW
WHAT’S GOOD FOR ME. … THEY THINK THEY
KNOW WHAT’S BEST. THEY DON’T KNOW THEY
DON’T KNOW THEY DON’T KNOW… I’M GUNNA KILL YOU [insanity extends for the rest
of the video]”
If you
watch, beware… the game is ultra-violent in a way. But it’s comical. But sometimes it does make me a bit
uncomfortable that you’re able to just HAMMERTIME a person’s ribcage & just
pluck out the ribs. Like REAL doctor
stuff, bro. Who needs ribs they’re not
important anyway pssshhh. DISCLAIMER: NOT ACTUAL SURGEON SIMULATOR.
b. THESINCERITY
Let’s return to a state of normalcy after all of that… professionalism. Mark is not one to “fake” reactions or videos. I read Mark to be very sincere in everything that he does. Because whenever he puts out a vlog… no matter how pissed I am for his past transgressions… I feel what he feels in that video. I feel pride for seeing his fandom build. I feel pride for the amount of money that he’s collected [more on that later]. I feel joy when he’s experiencing joy in his life.
Here’s a
vid for one of the major milestones in mark’s youtube career & even life. We, as a fanbase, shared in this
celebration. & he owes so MUCH of it
to us. Because we ARE the ones that
share his vids & share them to our friends & family & plug for him
when others don’t. Hell I am plugging
for him right now. & I plug for him extensively on tumblr. Check on my tag devoted to him here. Check out the tumblr tag devoted to him here.
The 100k
subscriber video even makes me teary-eyed because of how beautiful it is &
the emotion that mark showcases thruout.
Like he’s so blessed & grateful to us & I am to him &… like…
yeah. Just watch the vid. He conveys his own emotions in a way I’ll
never be able to convey to you successfully.
But a lot
of us are just interested in how Mark handles scares. Can he scream like “a little girl” [yeah it’s
a bit sexist tho] or is he boring & not engaging? Here’s a compilation video of random games
that Mark has played. Judge for
yourself. Could you play these
games? Do you want to watch more of
these gameplays from him? DO IT.
c. THE GENEROSITY
I briefly
touched upon in it part 3 but… let’s players have the unique opportunity to be
connected to so many social media outlets.
& Mark in particular feels that he is in a position to make a
difference. He uses his let’s plays for good. He doesn’t just do it for the lulz; he wants
to raise awareness & improve lives [& also showcase some really good
talent that is well deserved of views & praises because it isn’t a
necessarily ‘mainstream game’ but more on that later.] He wants to transcend just gaming & move
into activism. & his genuine commitment
to such activism really makes me happy [& makes me pissed cuz someone like
this is also making anti-trans* remarks tho.]
But this activism & a commitment to being a “good person” really
solidified mark as one of my favorite youtubers of all time. Like I just swoon & smile & get all
kinds of excited whenever stuff happens.
mark has
been able to raise a lot for cancer research in particular:
So much so
that he was featured on his local news station & here’s an excerpt from
that article:
Playing horror games isn't just a hobby for Mark. He's
hoping to use his webcam to change the world. Once a month, Mark streams his
gaming sessions live online, all in an effort to raise money for charity.
"I've done it for 24 hours straight. I was a little grumpy at the end of
it, but we beat our goal, raised $1,100."
That was last July when he only had 3,000 fans. This past Saturday, with the power of his 100,000 fan network, it only took him 9 hours to reach the $8,000 goal. The crowd-funded cash will go toward cancer research, a cause that's close to Mark's heart. "My dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 about the same time I was graduating from high school. It was a really tough time. He died July 4th, 2008. He was a really benevolent guy, everyone liked him."
Using a keyboard and his vocal chords, Mark's carrying on his father's legacy of generosity. He set a goal of raising $50,000 this year through his monthly streaming sessions that could change because the bigger his YouTube network grows, the greater his potential for good.
In total, Mark Fischbach has raised more than $20,000 using Go-Fund-Me. His next live streaming event will be at the beginning of March.
So if you’re
the type of person who is like SITTING ON YOUR BUTT WATCHING VIDEOS IS
POINTLESS, you can shut the crap up. I
have influenced others into participating into those fundraisers & multiple
others have directly funded Mark, too. It’s
a wonderful thing to see ourselves ACTUALLY making a difference. Because the internet has that power, y’know.
Mark isn’t
just in it for himself. & that’s
what makes him so likeable. He’s a
figure that we can really get behind. He’s
a man that we can trust. He’s the
youtuber that we don’t always deserve… but insert the rest of that Dark Knight
reference here.
d. THE
PASSION
Mark may
be going to school for whatever engineering-biomedical thing he wants to
pursue, but his real passion is playing games & entertaining us &
helping the world. He believes in what I’ve
said before: video-gaming can transcend all of these barriers & create a
universal community fostering tons of amazing things. & he believes in spotlighting games that
may not always get credit, but deserve it.
He is so
committed to playing quality games - & if the game turns out to be
less-than-so, he will critique it.
Reasonably. It’s gotten to the point
where I really trust his judgment on things.
& a lot of other people will seek for markiplier-approved
things. It’s getting to the point where
he has that much power. It’s amazing.
& I’m really passionate about markiplier. I will rant & rave about him until… I don’t
even know. So here’s a obligatory
picture of Mica in a markiplier shirt, bro.
mark started
off with a really small channel. &
it shows that with all of those things… you can really hit it big. You can really make a name for yourself &
make a difference. I’m really proud &
I wish all of this for the next person I’m going to cover. [CLICK THRU THE GIFS FOR SOURCES]
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