REALLY LONG word-vomit explanation of why this month was horrible.

EXPLANATION OF WHY I HAVEN'T BEEN POSTING VIDEOS - - - AND ALSO ONE PUNCH MAN

I hate posting stuff like this because the LAST thing I want to do is sound like I'm whining to the entire internet for sympathy or attention - So, I'm not asking for your sympathy or attention... but I do want to explain a few things about this month for those of you that are interested or whatever.

February was a rollercoaster of mostly really bad things or really bad timing.

Early this month I got sick with a nasty cold.

Then I got better and finished my "Kiss the Girl" video.

Then I got sick again.

Then my sister came to visit.

Then my sister and I both got sick.

Then I got better just in time for MAGfest (a music & gaming convention on the east coast).

~~Going into MAGfest I was anxious and uneasy because I physically could not sing at all since the first time I got sick, so I was 2 weeks behind schedule on videos. As any YouTuber will tell you - 2 weeks without a video can have a very big negative affect on how well your channel is doing. I'm always overthinking, over-concerned and overcritical about how my channel is doing so being 2 weeks behind freaks me out more than 16-year-old boys freak out about their ex-girlfriend's latest subtweets.

On the plane back home from MAGfest I got sick. Again.

At this point I was getting really angry, but I thought to myself, "Hey, at least my One Punch Man videos are still getting 30,000 views per day and keeping my channel going strong, right???"

That's exactly when disaster took a big ol' fashioned dump on me. The kind of dump you hold in for a long time and then it just shoots out.

Lantis, the publishing company for the band that made the One Punch Man opening used a robot (...we think) to take down many covers of the song, including mine. (I'm making a video talking about this as well) My cover of the song was properly licensed for sales (on ITunes, etc) which means that Lantis company - the company that used a robot to remove my video - was actually making LOTS OF MONEY from my video (or at least, when people saw the video then downloaded the song). They could have been making even MORE money from me by putting ads on the video. While technically my cover license only covers downloads and not the video, all of this (how I was helping them profit) and the fact that I changed a lot about my cover (arrangement, lyrics) means that my video is arguably protected by a US law called Fair Use. Unfortunately because of how messed up copyright laws and/or youtube are right now, any company can pretend that my video is breaking the law and take it down and I have to wait 10 days to defend myself... even if I did nothing wrong. The YouTube community is in an uproar about stuff like this lately, which is GREAT. Check out GradeAunderA or search for "Where's the Fair Use" if you're curious.

I have submitted my counter-notification to defend my videos. My videos should be restored and my channel strike removed in 8 more days unless this company decides to take drastic & expensive legal action against myself, TsukoG, PelleK and whoever else was affected, in several separate lawsuits on the opposite side of the world that they aren't guaranteed to win.

Today is February 28th... and it is the first day I have been healthy enough to sing while at home since January.

I am 4 weeks behind schedule. That's 8 videos that I could've made. I am really really really really fucking hard on myself when it comes to stuff like this, so even though it was all out of my control, I can't help but lose sleep wondering if those 8 videos would mean the difference between achieving my 2016 career goals or not. I have such big plans and high standards for myself that this month has been a downward spiral of crippling self-doubt, disappointment and anger, which is weird and shitty because I'm not an angry person, and despite being painfully self-critical to a fault I'm usually (foolishly) optimistically self-driven. I spent most of this month laying in bed feeling like a sack of poop with a hundred ideas of songs I would sing if my throat would let me.

Not being able to sing and feeling stagnant because of my health/copyright issues removes my optimistic lens from my self-image, so - "I'm going to work hard today to achieve things and be the best I can be" quickly turns into "I can't work today, I'm not achieving anything and I'm not who I want to be".

Fuck that, dude.

Right now I'm going to get a video out, deal with this copyright shit, catch up on shipping merch & give my patreon supporters some overdue attention.

AS SOON AS THAT'S DONE - I'm going to push myself harder and further than I ever have and make some really fucking cool music for you really fucking cool people.

Sorry for the word vomit. Feels good to explain all that cause I feel like I've let you guys down, even though there's not much I could've done to make this month less shitty... other than maybe spending more time looking at pictures of boobs, puppies & dank fricking memes on the internet.

Anyway, just felt the need to explain that shit. If you actually read all that you should probably pick up the guitar or something cause damn u dedicated, fam.

HAKUNA MATATA,

JY