For those of you who aren’t aware of who Maximilian Dood is, he’s a Twitch streamer that I found out about through my partner. He plays all games but fighting games are his bread and butter. Well, they’re also the meat and potatoes. It’s how he approaches gaming that is so refreshing and lovely though, and man, I needed that.
To give you an idea of what I’ve been working through, I got up and smelled rain. Which is great, right? But gloomy weather can affect me like you wouldn’t believe and I have to think it’s because I live in the desert. I’m so used to sunshine day in and day out that is almost oppressive in nature, so when it’s dark out, I just get ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ so badly! I ambled about my house, put on some clean pajamas for comfort and got myself a cup of coffee. I was having a heck of a time shaking the ‘SAD’ as it were, so I went looking for some videos.
That’s when I found some older videos of Max playing Soul Calibur 2 Online. See, Soul Calibur 2 is my favorite of the series, with the 3rd coming in 2nd. Man, that was confusing, right? So, I bundled up in my blanket, sat at my desk and palmed my chin to put on Max’s videos. Here’s where we started.
Watching Max start to warm up, getting bombarded by Kilik and yelping at the player who was voicelessly fighting him from gosh-knows-where, finally pulled a chuckle from me. I remember when I first started streaming, back when I only ever tried it on PS4 and I couldn’t really see who was in there or if folks were watching. I just talked and talked and explained myself, defended my missteps and babbled. I remember people telling me they enjoyed that, but I never understood why. Well, until Max got his rear handed to him once more by Kilik.
I started to feel myself chuckle alongside Max, right into him groaning over being matched with Taki. A displeased Max tried his hardest only to get wrecked by the ‘crazy looking lady’ aka Taki to grumble at his losses. Then.. he got to rematch against Kilik. Same player as well. Max had such determination that I shed the blanket and got myself some iced tea. Okay, Max. Let’s do this. It’s the motherflippin’ remix, right? A round won for Max! We’re getting somewhere and suddenly I’m sitting up straight and flat-out cheering. HE WON AGAINST KILIK! WE DID- er, HE DID IT!
Okay, so some losses are happening but it’s alright, Max! We’re going to pull through now! Maybe Ivy is going to be a trouble here, but this SwordOfDios player seems to know what he’s about, even if Max refuses to call him by his proper name. The salt, my friends, is real — but I’m here for it. I get it, you know? Alright, now I’m not sitting here hunched over in the dark and I’m busting the door open to the gloomy rain outside. We got this. Let’s handle it, right? Let’s face our SAD. Max, you still with me?
Max switched to Spawn and just got himself murdered by Sophitia.
He switches to Kilik and he’s grumbling already before painfully groaning that he felt he has forgotten Soul Calibur II completely. It’s alright, Max. I’m here and I’m cheering every round win and swiveling in my chair now whenever a KO happens. I’m positive you’re going to get that groove back. The determination has me steadily pounding back iced tea and I can’t tell now if the caffeine is getting me out of my SAD or if it’s just desperately wanting to see Max get a win.
It’s Mitsurugi versus Mitsurugi. One win, one loss and then Max takes the final round win and you would’ve thought someone lit firecrackers under my desk! WE GOT THIS, MAX. Come through!
After going back to Nightmare and a rad fight against an online player, he wins and then realized perhaps it WAS the proximity! Are we onto something here? Perhaps, but it didn’t help the second fight and a loss has Max somewhat grumbling again but in a way that shows he’s ready to make it happen. He’ll get warmed up eventually! Meanwhile, I’m over here lighting candles and making myself a sandwich. If you told me about an hour ago I was a pouty muffin of bummers, I’d never believe you. Is it Max? Is it Soul Calibur II? Nope. It’s both things.
It’s as Yoshimitsu takes Max down, I realize that I’m completely back to normal. As a streamer myself, but definitely not to the degree Max is at, I always kind of wonder if something is wrong with me that I rather play than watch someone play. I find a lot of streamers feel that way, truly, but there’s something about the raw love of gaming and fighting games that Max has that can draw me right in. He’s not playing to the camera, he’s not focused on anything but the game and I dig on that. It’s watching these videos that reminded me of sitting next to my awesome younger brother and talking back and forth while locked in focus on our games. It got me feeling good again.
He opens in Part 4 with a fight against Taki that in which she perfects him and leaves him in absolute awe. Been there. At this point, I’m now feeling almost ultimately cured of my gloomy day bad mood. SAD has not bested me on this day! Max, you’re my hero. Do more of these videos, please. They’re the absolute tonic to a person who couldn’t get out of her blankets and stop hunching over a cup of coffee. You helped me immensely and I suggest everyone gives these a try when you’re just having a hard time shaking off a few sads. Worth a try, right?
