#sqrlyjack

So we’re looking at another Youtuber and this one is special because it has almost no videos and only a few thousand subs but it has a very interesting story behind it that has to do with another topic I've apparently found myself wrapped up in. 

It all starts with a game called Space Funeral. 

Space Funeral is what I would call a Surrealist Dark Comedy about creativity with a bit of satire for the audience. 

Very little in the game makes real coherent sense if you apply it to any sort of real world logic which I would consider a grievous mistake. The strength of the game is that it’s couched in a very familiar system (being RPG maker) and thus you can kind of see the seams of what the game is supposed to be which clears up any mystification of how things operate. 

The humor of the game is that there’s no motivation for the player character to fix everything, all the strange stuff in the game is accepted by the majority of the characters and fixing it just means you've stripped the world of it’s identity. 

It’s a criticism of artists who feel there is a meta to art that they have to adhere to and while the game puts you on a path to reinforcing that meta you ultimately walk away appreciating all the faults in the game a lot more than you did when you started playing. 

The sequels to Space Funeral however were all fan creations. Space Funeral 2 is merely a tribute and Space Funeral 3 is considered a true sequel and Space Funeral 4. Well....

It’s Peculiar.

It’s done by Sqrly Jack and it’s very different to the other games. Namely it has much better artwork which curiously clashes with the theme of Space Funeral. On top of that the game introduces a lot memetic humor that isn't put through the filter of surrealism and it loses a lot of darkness as well and it mostly becomes satire although I don’t quite understand how it wants to approach the most dynamic element in the game, Bubsy. 

Bubsy was in Space Funeral 1. One of the Lions was randomly called Bubsy but this Bubsy appears to be the one from the titular franchise as opposed to Space Funeral 1.

So Bubsy is in this game and it also has furries and brony references and even references to it’s detractors although they are disappointingly made into strawmen (and again they aren't surreal or lacking in coherence when relating this to real life). 

There are also other odd aspects to the Bubsy character.

It’s um. It’s not the Bubsy Mysteriousmrtheenter or SomecallmeJohnny reviewed. Nor is it strictly the character from Arcane Kid’s Bubsy Museum experience. 

But it technically has the same past and it was supposed to be one of the main characters from Space Funeral 4, a washed up video game icon that has gone through the ringer and is in some relatively unknown game franchise as a last chance to revive her (his?) career. 

Well, that didn't go over too well. People reacted towards the game poorly. I think there is a universe where Space Funeral 4 was well received while still having the furry angle. The important bit probably required fully imitating and recycling the rest of the series while having yet another commentary on art critics that doesn't really come together until the end again. 

It would have been a lot harder to write despite it being a retread of the first Space Funeral. It also wouldn't involve Bubsy and I would get rid of the grinding. Nobody plays Space Funeral for the RPG mechanics. It’s not Persona for pete’s sake. You really only need the story and the gameplay is just an excuse. 

 But that’s all hypothetical now. Bubsy’s brief appearance is just a footnote in his return to the gaming scene which I've mentioned not that long ago along with my post where I tarred and feathered him for being the shameless, incompetent, stupid, redundant, annoying, badly designed, aberration that only exists now because he is the very remnant of the worst of the Mascot Platformer era. 

His new game isn't out yet but it looks very boring albeit more mechanically stable than Bubsy has probably ever been. 

This isn't the only Bubsy “Reboot” on the horizon. There’s also Sqrly Jack’s retooled version of Space Funeral 4 minus Space Funeral where it’s now. Um. 

What is it again? Actually I should say “what is it now?” and to answer that question I have no real idea (other than the fact that everyone in the game is renamed for copyright purposes). The basic concept of the character is transferred from the previous game and into this one which is now knee deep in development and it seems like none of the Space Funeral fans know (or care) at this point Space Funeral 4 effectively no longer exists. 

It says it’s a satire but I don’t think the execution is there. Surely they have some practice in parody?

That’s the perfect segway into looking at the channel’s main attraction if ever I heard one. 

So you may be asking at this point. “Why Sqrly Jack Oda? I know you’ve talked about Bubsy like twice but what’s the real skinny?” 

The real skinny is that there is a lot of people like Sqrly Jack in the art related social media communities. Very talented people with various odds and affinities that I don’t mind but it’s a real big thing of contention when they get discovered by the public at large and the funny thing is, Space Funeral was all about odd things finding acceptance when you realize that the alternative is just being everyone else. 

HOWEVER. Space Funeral wasn't part of a community and on that note it didn't take along any baggage or nonsense from anything it could have been associated with. 

That’s the key to it’s magic. It’s just itself. You can’t be yourself if you have all the earmarks of other things and other people and other people’s work. 

You really have to do your own thing. When you really find yourself and express that you get a lot of strange looks but you’ll find that people are more open to strange than you might originally think. 

All right. That’s all for now. Play me out Jack!

“IS DAT UR SPESHUL CHILI DAWG?!?!?!” “You want me to punch you again?” “YA! YA! YA! ME LIEK DE PUNCHAZ!!!”

@sqrlyjack said, that she based these two on TAS Joker and Harley. I think I kinda see it now.

Happy pride from your fellow artist Sqrlyjack/Rabbotred!