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What up, fam, I've been around a long time. Like, I've been around and semi-active since OCR orange days. I've met a lot of people. Almost everyone that has been mentioned in this thread, even. (Except the ever elusive @Sixto who's totally going to MAGFest this year, for real, he swears). From all of my experiences, from everyone I've met, I can tell you this: Everyone (most people...in this community are) inspirational (in some way). For the "never meet your heroes" thing. I've met enough of my heroes to know that you can both be inspired by someone's energy and inspiration, and also not be impressed by them as a person or their online presence. Everyone has demons and beasts and dark sides, and some people have trouble with what they should make public. This is very important: If someone (of good conscience) did something that inspired you (to also do something in good conscience) embrace that. Of everyone I have met from the community who has truly done something I have looked up to, no one has struck me as a "bad person." I've seen things from people in this community that I wouldn't parrot on my darkest days, but the things from people the same people on their best days I would preach forever. If you take nothing else from this community, in my experience, remember this: This is special. It's very easy to overlook this because many of us feel either too small or too embedded to understand the gravity. What OverClocked ReMix, VGMix, and the community at large has done at this point is absolutely exceptional. @djpretzel has (quite frankly accidentally) created an amazing community that has literally created the shape of the indie game music community. People who had a dream were able to create real careers because of the people they made in this community. That is not changed and you should not ever forget that. These people are human. The internet has given you access to all manner of people to which you were not privy to previously. There are all kinds of talented people in this world. Some people have cultural differences. Some people had a rough upbringing. Some people have or develop, mental illnesses. Some people develop drug addictions or dependencies because of hard times. It sucks. It really sucks. There are people, I considered friends, that I can't even speak to now. There are people who have inspired me to do great things, that have done or said terrible things afterward. What I can tell you is this: At some point, they all created, and shared something with you for the same reason that you were are here now. They were passionate enough about the same thing you are to put themselves out there and share their work with you. If you can take something positive from that, and run with it: DO IT. Don't let what someone has become discourage you from becoming something better than they are. You have the means, and the support to do better, even if you don't know or utilize it yet. I have learned a lot from the community, and it's people. I've turned it into something positive, and so can you. I can't put this any more bluntly than this: This community has shaped my life. Period. Full stop. I am building a family with an amazing woman I would not have met without OverClocked ReMIx. I have made a career off of the experience I've had in this community that I was able to translate into the professional world. I've had career numerous opportunities based on my experiences in this community. I have made life long friendships with many of the people who have been mentioned here. I consider most of the people I've met to be friends, even if I don't agree with everything they have said or done. Everything I have learned from everyone I have learned to turn into a positive. I am a better person because of my time here. In the end, here is what I can say about this community: I've been in it for 17 some odd years. Truly, I have loved, and I have lost. I have believed on people who have let me down, and I still do. I believe in the best of everyone, even the worst offenders. I know we have built something here that is special. I know that @djpretzel and everyone else who is involved here has changed the world. I know that this community can change the world, even in the darkest (and I mean darkest) of times. Don't believe me? I've done one hour compos with @danny B and seen him in his "SysteManiac" days before he composed Super Meat Boy. I've heard his bad songs, but I'd also like to think I'm part of the community of guys who gave up before he did that helped propel him to be something amazing in the world. I knew virt when he rebelled against the oppressive OverClocked ReMix regime and create his own community. A community that thrived and blessed the hearts of a hundreds, if not thousands, of people who created and shared works that they created and loved. People who still reminiscence over that connection today from long before Shovel Knight and Shantae and Ok KO! I was present at @Nekofrog's wedding with other members I've met in the community. I can't condone some of the things he's done/said on the internet, and I don't think I have to, but I maintain that I care deeply about his family despite that, and the people I've met as a result of that interaction are invaluable. Again, I don't have to agree with everything a particular person has said/done to find a positive in the experience. I do know that some of the burdens he's willing taken on in life are some that no person should ever have to do, and while I don't respect everything he's said or done online, I absolutely respect what he has done in his personal life. I also know that he has done and said absolutely inexplicable things on the internet. I have seen so many people rise up out of this community that it's not even possible for me to name every single one. Certainly, not everyone has been a successful composer (albeit many have), many have become successful in their own right, and I can guarantee that most can speak positively of their experience here. At the end of the day what I'm saying is this: From every interaction here, I have found a positive result. I am a better person for every second that I have spent on this site. It's easy to give djp all of the credit, and certainly he deserves a lot, but literally, every single person I have interacted with here has shaped my life in some way. Some people inspired me, some people taught me hard lessons, but these interactions have shaped me, my future, and the future of my family, and for that I am truly grateful.

I actually like this better than the source. Military Facility Dungeon is one of those universally-popular tracks from the original OST, along with Ixa'Taka, but it's also one of the more quagmire-ish dungeons, so you hear this on loop for.. um, a while. This digests so smoothly, and it's really emotive and.. well, beautiful. The viola front and center is courageous and pays off. It owns the stage and dances with the lead synth. I just love the expressiveness, and its tinge of melancholy. And that's why I recommend The Milk-Fudge Donut.