History Blog / MarkDoesStuff

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: When Mark lists the many questions they still have regarding ''Literature/{{Baccano}}''.
-->How does Ladd’s arm get shredded? Why does Jacuzzi exit the train in near-tears? How does Ennis end up with Firo and Maiza? Why is Chane separated from everyone? ''Why am I not friends with Isaac and Miria?''

* ''Film/TheRoom'' [[VideoGame/TheRoomTheGame Game]]

* PerverseSexualLust: For plenty of characters, Mickey Smith in particular.
** They have called Hagrid their leather-daddy boyfriend, and told Iroh that [[VideoGame/WiiFit "[their] body is ready."]]
** They now want to marry Gunn.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman''

The 'Mark Does Stuff' Blogs are actually three separate sister blogs, run by Creator/MarkOshiro. A couple of years ago they embarked upon reading ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' to see whether it was as good--or bad--as everyone said. [[Blog/MarkReadsTwilight They managed to get through all four books]] and decided they ''really'' hated them. Afterward, they decided to do the same for the other famous young adult fantasy novel series of our generation: ''Literature/HarryPotter''. [[Blog/MarkReadsHarryPotter They reviewed every chapter of every book]], and readers slowly watched them descend into pure fan-boy love for the series. This page, however, is not for either of those two blogs, but their offspring.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: When Mark lists the many questions they still have regarding ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''.

* {{Moe}}: Invoked when discussing [[LightNovel/{{Baccano}} Jacuzzi Splot]].

** Every post on ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' includes an official [[FunPersonified Isaac and Miria]] appreciation thread.

*** The same for [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korrasami]]]].

The 'Mark Does Stuff' Blogs are actually three separate sister blogs, run by a man named Creator/MarkOshiro. A couple of years ago they embarked upon reading ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' to see whether it was as good--or bad--as everyone said. [[Blog/MarkReadsTwilight They managed to get through all four books]] and decided they ''really'' hated them. Afterward, they decided to do the same for the other famous young adult fantasy novel series of our generation: ''Literature/HarryPotter''. [[Blog/MarkReadsHarryPotter They reviewed every chapter of every book]], and readers slowly watched them descend into pure fan-boy love for the series. This page, however, is not for either of those two blogs, but their offspring.

* UpToEleven: Given that they've reviewed some pretty popular stuff, the site server has been put under a good deal of strain. But it was finally brought to its knees by the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fans, who showed up in such droves after the pilot review was posted that the site was crashed in ''less than a minute''. Mark then had to find a new server so this wouldn't happen every time.

** "S/he are a giant goober!" in response to any particularly dorky moments.

** ''Literature/TheHobbit'' offers one chapter as Bilbo's journal, and another as a RealPersonFic of what Tolkien's original telling of the story to their kids might have been like.

* IWasQuiteALooker: They managed to not see anything of ''Star Trek'' before reviewing the franchise, and their mental image of William Shatner was entirely his old, paunchy phase. They spend a lot of the first episode marveling at how good Shatner looked in their prime.

** [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]] loves Hot Pockets. In the video for "This Side of Paradise" they admit they've deliberately trying to piss off the fans with this one.
*** During the second half of season three, almost every single episode featured them {{Squee}}ing over how close they were to regularly getting to watch Patrick Stewart.

** "S/they are a giant goober!" in response to any particularly dorky moments.

!!Things Which Mark Is Currently Reviewing
* ''Mark Watches: Series/{{Alias}}'' [[labelnote:''Progress'']]Currently on Season 3[[/labelnote]]
* ''Mark Watches: WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' [[labelnote:''Progress'']]Caught up, will watch new episodes as they come out[[/labelnote]]
* ''Mark Reads: Literature/YoungWizards''[[labelnote:''Progress'']]Currently on ''Games Wizards Play''[[/labelnote]]
* ''Mark Reads: Literature/{{Discworld}}''[[labelnote:''Progress'']]Currently on Book 31: ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment''[[/labelnote]]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: In order to mix things up with their [[Literature/TheHungerGames 'Mockingjay']] reviews, they once did one from the point of view of Buttercup the cat.
** Similarly, during Harry Potter they occasionally did reviews from Hedwig's point of view. In fact, this trope was a lot more common in the earlier Twilight/Harry Potter reviews.
** ''Literature/TheHobbit'' offers one chapter as Bilbo's journal, and another as a RealPersonFic of what Tolkien's original telling of the story to their kids might have been like.

The 'Mark Does Stuff' Blogs are actually three separate sister blogs, run by a man named Creator/MarkOshiro. A couple of years ago they embarked upon reading ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' to see whether it was as good--or bad--as everyone said. [[Blog/MarkReadsTwilight they managed to get through all four books]] and decided they ''really'' hated them. Afterward, they decided to do the same for the other famous young adult fantasy novel series of our generation: ''Literature/HarryPotter''. [[Blog/MarkReadsHarryPotter they reviewed every chapter of every book]], and readers slowly watched them descend into pure fan-boy love for the series. This page, however, is not for either of those two blogs, but their offspring.

** They adore music and always get excited when someone sings in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. [[GenreSavvy they even manage to catch on that ''Mr. Greg'' is a Broadway episode within the first two minutes.]]

In 2021, Mark announced that he'd decided to end the blog, as his own writing career had taken off and made a great demand of his time, and the websites had actually been operating at a loss for some time, with him only still going this long because he loved doing it so much, and he wanted to end on a high note before it started feeling like a chore. He plans to continue doing occasional liveblogs of new shows when time permits, and is keeping his reviews on request for Patreon supporters.

** Manny Jacinto in ''Series/TheGoodPlace''. Funnily enough, some fans were predicting they'd be all over Chidi instead.

* BigNameFan: Mark gets regular invitations to conventions on the various series they review/have reviewed. Sometimes to read/view a minor piece of the canon (unprepared, of course) on stage.

In the 'Mark Does Stuff' blogs, Mark... well, does stuff. And by 'stuff', we mean they [[http://markwatches.net/reviews/ reviews TV shows, movies]], [[http://markreads.net/reviews/ books]] and [[http://www.markplays.net/reviews/ games]]. Oh, and [[MemeticMutation they ARE NOT PREPARED]]. Intrigued? Then it's time to read the 'Mark Does Stuff' TV Tropes page.

** And at the same time they was going through ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', with "You are not frakkin' prepared."

** Mark has a handful of words they seems particularly fond of: "presumptuous", "____ bigot" (even where it doesn't make sense), "privileged", "___ist" (sexist, ableist, etc.), "oppressed"/"oppression"
** Expect to hear a lot of "Fuck all of you!" and "I hate you all!" during their videos. It happens enough that they feel the need to clarify they doesn't literally mean it.
** "S/they've a giant goober!" in response to any particularly dorky moments.

* BiasSteamroller: They openly admits that they hates conservative politicians and corrupt cops so much that any story that attacks them can probably count on their support, no matter how many paper-thin {{Anvilicious}} strawmen of either it has to use.
* BigNameFan: Mark gets regular invitations to conventions on the various series they reviews/has reviewed. Sometimes to read/view a minor piece of the canon (unprepared, of course) on stage.

** Their video of watching [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer "The Gift"]] for the first time has them making a bunch of comments through the first half, and then during the climactic battle they've reduced to just saying "Fuck" over and over.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: They often mentions their in their reviews, and sometimes spends more time talking about it than they does what they've reviewing.

* DramaQueen: They overreact to every twist and turn in the stories they've experiencing.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: They started out with ''Twilight'', a book series they hated, and was reviewing purely out of obligation. Upon moving on to ''Harry Potter'', they were still in a bad mood for the first few chapters. And then ever since they hit "The Keeper of the Keys," they've been a bubbly fanboy who's constantly gushing about how much they love what they've reading or watching.
* EasterEgg: For a while, each review had a single letter highlighted in red. It didn't take the fans long to figure out they spelled "Eat the rude," a hint that they was going to watch ''Series/{{Hannibal}}''.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: They've ''not'' shy at all about appreciating any attractive actors in the shows they watches. It gets especially high with Aldis Hodge in ''Leverage''.
** And Avery Brooks in ''Deep Space Nine'' once her gets their beard.

* FanDisillusionment: They've described a few times how they was a huge fan of Creator/HPLovecraft as a kid, and felt personally betrayed when they discovered in high school what a horrific racist the man was.

** Yhey also love heists and bottle episodes and will get super excited about heists in a bottle.

* FingerWag: Yheir typical reaction in the videos to something racist or sexist.

* SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike: In-universe. When Mark gets into something they really enjoy, like Series/DoctorWho, they will explain ''how much they loves it''. Of course, this won't stop them from pointing out things they dislike, so avoids making it pure praise.

** By contrast, the one for [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Daybreak]] saw them completely disappear from almost the whole middle hour, as they was so wrapped up in the episode and forgot they were supposed to be typing.

** They adores music and always gets excited when someone sings in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. [[GenreSavvy they even manages to catch on that ''Mr. Greg'' is a Broadway episode within the first two minutes.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Mark's no stranger to talking about their horribly depressing early life, but the ''Battlestar Galactica'' episode "Maelstrom" marked the first time a subject struck so close to home that they couldn't bring himself to even discuss it beyond noting the similarity.
** There are also a few times where they've admitted to weeping so much that they had trouble continuing, like [[spoiler:Lyra being separated from Pan]] in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' and [[spoiler:Laura Roslin's death]] in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. The latter was particularly awkward as they was at a party at a friend's house, and had to try very hard to make as little of a scene as possible.

** A far more entertaining one is in Street Magic their reaction when they figures out what the "special fertilizer" is.

* IWasQuiteALooker: They managed to not see anything of ''Star Trek'' before reviewing the franchise, and their mental image of William Shatner was entirely his old, paunchy phase. Yhey spend a lot of the first episode marveling at how good Shatner looked in their prime.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: When Mark lists the many questions they still has regarding ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''.

* LoveItOrHateIt: They naturally ran smack into it once they got to ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', with several people noting this was the first time their fanbase had ever been so sharply divided over a show or book they was reviewing. For their part, Mark was quite excited by this, as the show being able to provoke such a visceral reaction from both sides means it must contain some pretty interesting stuff to talk about, and they looked forward to finding out which side they would fall on. they ended up on the "love" side himself, though they does still have the occasional major issue with the show (hello, "Threshold"!). They also noticeably soured on the show in Season 7, when it suddenly hit them that the show was almost over and hardly any of the characters had developed past the way they were at the start.

* MoodWhiplash: Following the Next/Last links has the powerful climax to ''The Hunger Games'' followed up by the joy of Harry Potter's first entrance into the Wizarding World.

** After fans gave them two Tribble toys, they keep them next to them during videos, where they can easily be set off if they shouts loud enough. Since that usually happens during particularly scary or shocking bits, hearing a Tribble purr defuses the tension quite a bit.

*** This quickly got far more disturbing when they opened up requests for them to film himself watching episodes of their shows. [[spoiler:One of the first to come in was for Seeing Red, which caused a lot of discomfort with someone asking a sexual assault victim to record their reactions to that particular episode.]] To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:they wrtr also asked to do it for A Hole in the World, despite their family's experience with cancer.]] It was thankfully averted with ''Literature/TheOceanAtTheEndOfTheLane'', as the person who requested the chapter in which [[spoiler:the protagonist's father nearly drowns them]] changed the request to another chapter, [[spoiler:most likely in light of Mark's own history with abuse]].

* OutOfOrder: They typically goes for a show's production order when this happens, though for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' they opted for the airing order to experience the show just as the first fans did, plus given the era there's little continuity to worry about anyway.

** When playing VideoGame/{{Portal}} the first time, they got stuck at test chamber 15 and gave up for a long, long time, only returning when they decided to officially play the sequel. they wrtr then blown away by the sudden realization of a ''plot''.
** In the ''Supernatural'' episode "Slumber Party," they say that if Charlie's death hadn't been undone, it may well have caused the first case of this on a main project.
%% * RealWomenDontWearDresses: Mark hates this trope. They love to deconstruct it.

** Tolkien being a pony bigot, because they didn't have ponies talk throughout ''Literature/TheHobbit''.

*** During the second half of season three, almost every single episode featured them {{Squee}}ing over how close they was to regularly getting to watch Patrick Stewart.
** Demanding Morn from ''Deep Space Nine'' get their own episode.

** Similarly, during Harry Potter they occasionally did reviews from Hedwig's point of view. In fact, this trope was a lot more common in the ealier Twilight/Harry Potter reviews.

* UnfortunateImplications: InUniverse, they're well known for calling them out when they appear in the works they've reviewing.

* ValuesDissonance / FairForItsDay: They note both tropes in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', which can make it hard to judge the series in a social justice context. For example, they're upset the role of Khan, a Sikh, was given to a Mexican actor, but they notes that it was progressive for a man of color to be onscreen at all. [[invoked]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: A big fan of the trope, or as they calls it, "constant bickering."

In the 'Mark Does Stuff' blogs, Mark... well, does stuff. And by 'stuff', we mean he [[http://markwatches.net/reviews/ reviews TV shows, movies]], [[http://markreads.net/reviews/ books]] and [[http://www.markplays.net/reviews/ games]]. Oh, and [[MemeticMutation HE IS NOT PREPARED]]. Intrigued? Then it's time to read the 'Mark Does Stuff' TV Tropes page.

The 'Mark Does Stuff' Blogs are actually three separate sister blogs, run by a man named Creator/MarkOshiro. A couple of years ago he embarked upon reading ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' to see whether it was as good--or bad--as everyone said. [[Blog/MarkReadsTwilight He managed to get through all four books]] and decided he ''really'' hated them. Afterward, he decided to do the same for the other famous young adult fantasy novel series of our generation: ''Literature/HarryPotter''. [[Blog/MarkReadsHarryPotter He reviewed every chapter of every book]], and readers slowly watched him descend into pure fan-boy love for the series. This page, however, is not for either of those two blogs, but their offspring.

After finishing ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Mark decided to launch two new sites, one dedicated to his reading and reviewing of books and the other for visual media. Later, he decided to branch into games, so that he could review all manner of interactive media. They are fittingly called "Mark Reads", "Mark Watches" and "Mark Plays" respectively. He reads/watches/plays the series with little to no information on them beforehand (the comments section has a ''very'' strict spoiler policy; commenters are required to encrypt via [=ROT13=] even the simplest "Mark's going to LOVE the next episode"), and reviews each episode/chapter, giving his opinions and insights on them. They're ongoing projects, and ones that don't look due to end anytime soon, as he had whole lists of series he's already promised to look at.

The appeal of the blog comes from the feeling of getting to relive the series- Mark goes through many of the same impressions and feelings ''you'' did when experiencing a book or show for the first time. Add in his playful writing, explosive reactions to plot twist and extensive debates in the comments, and you've got an online media club.

He's also moved into writing his own novels; the first, ''Literature/AngerIsAGift'', was published in 2018, and a second has already been contracted.

* AuthorCatchPhrase: 'Shit Gets Real' and 'You Are Not Prepared', following in the legacy of his last two blogs.

** Oh, and gifs, even if they're not quite a 'phrase'. Mark has often joked that he's already seen half of [[Series/DoctorWho Nu-Who]] "through sheer virtue of gifs".
** The banner for his reading of ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' was slightly altered to say "You en't prepared." Then it got much fancier when he partnered with the Pullman fansite Bridge to the Stars for the third book.
** And at the same time he was going through ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', with "You are not frakkin' prepared."

** He's taken up "Sweet Summer Child," a reference to ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', when addressing a character that has no idea what the future holds.
** He didn't take long to pick up "Bless my beard" and "Gandalf's beard" after starting ''The Lord of the Rings''.
** Mark has a handful of words he seems particularly fond of: "presumptuous", "____ bigot" (even where it doesn't make sense), "privileged", "___ist" (sexist, ableist, etc.), "oppressed"/"oppression"
** Expect to hear a lot of "Fuck all of you!" and "I hate you all!" during his videos. It happens enough that he feels the need to clarify he doesn't literally mean it.
** "S/He's a giant goober!" in response to any particularly dorky moments.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A mild example when he was watching Battlestar Galactica. Mark said he wanted to see more Boomer. Then, of course, he discovers that she's [[spoiler: a Cylon sleeper agent, and a) could therefore lose control of her actions and try to kill all her friends at any time, and b) is one of thousands of Model 8s.]]. Someone in the comments helpfully pointed this out: "Wish granted! More Boomers! (Of a sort.)"
** Also happened in ST:TNG. His predictions for season 3 had him asking for a cliffhanger. Cue the season finale which had him going on about how unfair it was. The first commenter on the review gleefully points this out.
** While a huge TimeTravel fan, even ''he'' got exhausted with Star Trek's frequent use of the trope.
* BerserkButton: His hatred of spoilers is the most obvious one, but Mark also has a big problem with words like "crazy" and "insane," seeing them as ableist. Using them in the comments will get you a stern warning.

** If there's one trope that Mark absolutely despises, it's the BuryYourGays trope, as seen in his reviews of "Seeing Red" from Buffy, "Thirteen" from The 100, and "Dark Dynasty" from Supernatural.
* BiasSteamroller: He openly admits that he hates conservative politicians and corrupt cops so much that any story that attacks them can probably count on his support, no matter how many paper-thin {{Anvilicious}} strawmen of either it has to use.
* BigNameFan: Mark gets regular invitations to conventions on the various series he reviews/has reviewed. Sometimes to read/view a minor piece of the canon (unprepared, of course) on stage.
* BigNo: Used in his review of [[Recap/SupernaturalS08E15MansBestFriendWithBenefits "Man's Best Friend With Benefits"]], which also [[DudeNotFunny sums up]] the review pretty well.

* ClusterFBomb: Let's just say that Mark isn't afraid to use swears in his review.
** His video of watching [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer "The Gift"]] for the first time has him making a bunch of comments through the first half, and then during the climactic battle he's reduced to just saying "Fuck" over and over.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: He forgets a certain plot point from ''Guards! Guards!'' which causes him to completely misread TheReveal of the book's BigBad.
* CompanionCube: Gertrude and Nathaniel the Tribbles, who start purring whenever he yells too loudly.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He often mentions his in his reviews, and sometimes spends more time talking about it than he does what he's reviewing.
* DespairEventHorizon: He had to reduce Mark Plays to an occasional side project after the demands on his time caused the worst attack of depression he'd suffered in years.
* DramaQueen: He overreacts to every twist and turn in the stories he's experiencing.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: He started out with ''Twilight'', a book series he hated, and was reviewing purely out of obligation. Upon moving on to ''Harry Potter'', he was still in a bad mood for the first few chapters. And then ever since he hit "The Keeper of the Keys," he's been a bubbly fanboy who's constantly gushing about how much he loves what he's reading or watching.
* EasterEgg: For a while, each review had a single letter highlighted in red. It didn't take the fans long to figure out they spelled "Eat the rude," a hint that he was going to watch ''Series/{{Hannibal}}''.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: He's ''not'' shy at all about appreciating any attractive actors in the shows he watches. It gets especially high with Aldis Hodge in ''Leverage''.
** And Avery Brooks in ''Deep Space Nine'' once he gets his beard.

** Manny Jacinto in ''Series/TheGoodPlace''. Funnily enough, some fans were predicting he'd be all over Chidi instead.
* FanBoy: Mark's a dedicated fan to a number of shows, from ''Series/TheXFiles'' to ''Series/TheWire'', and he's turned into a really big ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanboy. And with every new series he takes on, there's a new thing for him to potentially love.
* FanDisillusionment: He's described a few times how he was a huge fan of Creator/HPLovecraft as a kid, and felt personally betrayed when he discovered in high school what a horrific racist the man was.
** After greatly enjoying Adam Baldwin's work on ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', he was dismayed to learn about his conservative politics. Upon encountering Baldwin again in ''Leverage'', Mark accused him of likely taking some undue pleasure in getting to spit out the Islamic name Achmed like a curse.
** He's soured tremendously on JK Rowling since enjoying his initial read of ''Harry Potter'' so much, disappointed in how much of her post-series world building has played into racial stereotypes, and refusing to provide any concrete gay representation like she thinks giving WordOfGay on Dumbledore should be enough.
* SugarWiki/FavoriteTrope: If a piece of media includes TimeTravel, an AlternateUniverse or ThePowerOfFriendship, he will almost certainly adore it.
** He also loves heists and bottle episodes and will get super excited about heists in a bottle.
** Mark has stated more than once that EnemyMine is one of his favorites, if not his very favorite Trope.

* FingerWag: His typical reaction in the videos to something racist or sexist.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: His boyfriend Baize occasionally pops up in the background of his videos occasionally playing up to us.
** Baize is also reading Mark's book, and during a review for ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' came out and started hassling him about a part he had just gotten to.
* GenreSavvy: Mark eventually developed into this. If something nice happens in his stories, he immediately assumes something horrible with immediately follow it.

* GracefulLoser: At the 2013 Hugos. He says of winner Tansy Rayner Roberts "Whose work I ADORE."
* SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike: In-universe. When Mark gets into something he really enjoys, like Series/DoctorWho, he will explain ''how much he loves it''. Of course, this won't stop him from pointing out things he dislikes, so avoids making it pure praise.
** The [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Sozin's Comet]] liveblog had him keysmashing and making incoherent gushing comments ''the entire time.'' Every couple of minutes or so.
** By contrast, the one for [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Daybreak]] saw him completely disappear from almost the whole middle hour, as he was so wrapped up in the episode and forgot he was supposed to be typing.
** When he reached the part of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' where the Ents show up, he declared them the coolest thing ''ever.'' The entire review for that chapter was in capslock.
** His comment on shirtless fencing Sulu: "This is the greatest thing I've ever seen!"
** He adores music and always gets excited when someone sings in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. [[GenreSavvy He even manages to catch on that ''Mr. Greg'' is a Broadway episode within the first two minutes.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Mark's no stranger to talking about his horribly depressing early life, but the ''Battlestar Galactica'' episode "Maelstrom" marked the first time a subject struck so close to home that he couldn't bring himself to even discuss it beyond noting the similarity.
** There are also a few times where he's admitted to weeping so much that he had trouble continuing, like [[spoiler:Lyra being separated from Pan]] in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' and [[spoiler:Laura Roslin's death]] in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. The latter was particularly awkward as he was at a party at a friend's house, and had to try very hard to make as little of a scene as possible.
** At the end of the episode of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' where [[spoiler:Riza's throat is slashed]] all he can do is stare at the screen in total silence.
** Mentioned but not shown (thankfully) in the review of "[[Literature/TortallUniverse Lost]]", where he mentioned that he had to put the book down and go outside because Adria's father hitting her triggered him.
** A far more entertaining one is in Street Magic his reaction when he figures out what the "special fertilizer" is.
** The Series 1 finale of ''{{Broadchurch}}'' actually delayed his coverage of ''{{IZombie}}'' for a day, as he needed that long to recover.
* HumanNotepad: Mark's picked up quite a few tattoos, most noticeably straight edge X's on his hands.
* IWasQuiteALooker: He managed to not see anything of ''Star Trek'' before reviewing the franchise, and his mental image of William Shatner was entirely his old, paunchy phase. He spends a lot of the first episode marveling at how good Shatner looked in his prime.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: When Mark lists the many questions he still has regarding ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''.

* LoveItOrHateIt: He naturally ran smack into it once he got to ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', with several people noting this was the first time his fanbase had ever been so sharply divided over a show or book he was reviewing. For his part, Mark was quite excited by this, as the show being able to provoke such a visceral reaction from both sides means it must contain some pretty interesting stuff to talk about, and he looked forward to finding out which side he would fall on. He ended up on the "love" side himself, though he does still have the occasional major issue with the show (hello, "Threshold"!). He also noticeably soured on the show in Season 7, when it suddenly hit him that the show was almost over and hardly any of the characters had developed past the way they were at the start.

** On the double features, he went straight from ''Series/TheMiddleman'' to ''Series/BandOfBrothers''. At least there was a day off in between.
** He happened to schedule ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' together. Two more diametrically opposed shows you'd be hard pressed to find.
** After fans gave him two Tribble toys, he keeps them next to him during videos, where they can easily be set off if he shouts loud enough. Since that usually happens during particularly scary or shocking bits, hearing a Tribble purr defuses the tension quite a bit.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Mark recently asked for support on a charity bike ride, and if he received it he said he would allow his readers to select a work for him to review. The readers chose [[spoiler:Fanfic/MyImmortal]].
** For another charity bike ride, he's doing videos of him reading bad books/fanfiction. The first he did? [[spoiler: Literature/AtlasShrugged]]
** He had so much fun with that last one that he opened up a section to send him money to make a video of him reading anything you want. The commenters immediately went to work on figuring out the cruelest thing they could make him read, like [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire the Red Wedding]].
*** This quickly got far more disturbing when he opened up requests for him to film himself watching episodes of his shows. [[spoiler:One of the first to come in was for Seeing Red, which caused a lot of discomfort with someone asking a sexual assault victim to record his reactions to that particular episode.]] To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:he was also asked to do it for A Hole in the World, despite his family's experience with cancer.]] It was thankfully averted with ''Literature/TheOceanAtTheEndOfTheLane'', as the person who requested the chapter in which [[spoiler:the protagonist's father nearly drowns him]] changed the request to another chapter, [[spoiler:most likely in light of Mark's own history with abuse]].
*** And it happened again with someone buying a video for episode 9 of ''BandOfBrothers'', the one with the concentration camp. She apologized when the review went up, saying she'd assumed his moderators would have given him some warning about the subject matter.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: He ran into this in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', where he was completely thrown by the idea of elves being evil, uttering a shocked "Elves are BAD?" in one video. Quite a few readers explained that Pratchett was contrasting the wise and pleasant elves of modern fantasy with the sadistic elves of European, and especially British, folklore.
* OutOfOrder: He typically goes for a show's production order when this happens, though for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' he opted for the airing order to experience the show just as the first fans did, plus given the era there's little continuity to worry about anyway.

** He has called Hagrid his leather-daddy boyfriend, and told Iroh that [[VideoGame/WiiFit "[his] body is ready."]]
** He now wants to marry Gunn.
* PrisonRape: He really hates when this comes up, considering it homophobic.

** When playing VideoGame/{{Portal}} the first time, he got stuck at test chamber 15 and gave up for a long, long time, only returning when he decided to officially play the sequel. He was then blown away by the sudden realization of a ''plot''.
** In the ''Supernatural'' episode "Slumber Party," he says that if Charlie's death hadn't been undone, it may well have caused the first case of this on a main project.
%% * RealWomenDontWearDresses: Mark hates this trope. He loves to deconstruct it.
* RedShirt: He was fully aware of the trope before watching ''Star Trek'', and loves pointing them out in every single video.
** Mainly because he'd actually read Creator/JohnScalzi's ''Literature/{{Redshirts}}'' BEFORE starting on the series.

* RightThroughTheWall: He has some...noisy neighbors in the video for the ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' episode "It's a Terrible Life."

** Tolkien being a pony bigot, because he didn't have ponies talk throughout ''Literature/TheHobbit''.

** He has quite a talent in the videos for pointing something out literally one line before the book itself does.

** [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]] loves Hot Pockets. In the video for "This Side of Paradise" he admits he's deliberately trying to piss off the fans with this one.
*** During the second half of season three, almost every single episode featured him {{Squee}}ing over how close he was to regularly getting to watch Patrick Stewart.
** Demanding Morn from ''Deep Space Nine'' get his own episode.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: In order to mix things up with his [[Literature/TheHungerGames 'Mockingjay']] reviews, he once did one from the point of view of Buttercup the cat.
** Similarly, during Harry Potter he occasionally did reviews from Hedwig's point of view. In fact, this trope was a lot more common in the ealier Twilight/Harry Potter reviews.
** ''Literature/TheHobbit'' offers one chapter as Bilbo's journal, and another as a RealPersonFic of what Tolkien's original telling of the story to his kids might have been like.
* UnfortunateImplications: InUniverse, he's well known for calling them out when they appear in the works he's reviewing.
* UpToEleven: Given that he's reviewed some pretty popular stuff, the site server has been put under a good deal of strain. But it was finally brought to its knees by the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fans, who showed up in such droves after the pilot review was posted that the site was crashed in ''less than a minute''. Mark then had to find a new server so this wouldn't happen every time.
* ValuesDissonance / FairForItsDay: He notes both tropes in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', which can make it hard to judge the series in a social justice context. For example, he's upset the role of Khan, a Sikh, was given to a Mexican actor, but he notes that it was progressive for a man of color to be onscreen at all. [[invoked]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: A big fan of the trope, or as he calls it, "constant bickering."
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He has a terrible fear of clowns and spiders. Much "Nope"ing ensues whenever either appears.

* YuriFan: If nothing else, he definitely squees over [[spoiler: [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Tara/Willow]]]].
** He also makes several comments about [[Anime/PrincessTutu Ahiru and Rue]].
** He has been trying not to get his hopes up too high about [[spoiler: Lark/Rosethorn]]. Readers are eagerly awaiting the reveal that [[spoiler:it isn't just wishful thinking]].
*** He's so happy to the point of crying when [[spoiler:Daja's attraction to Rizu is shown]].

* {{Adorkable}}: Mark himself.

** "S/He's a giant goober!" in response to any particularly {{Adorkable}} moments.

* FreakyFashionMildMind: Mark is a heavily tattooed and pierced guy with a completely {{Adorkable}} {{Fanboy}} personality.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: He loves animals, something that has been brought up many, many times.

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Mark hates this trope. [[BerserkButton Really, really hates it.]] He loves to deconstruct it.

* StraightGay: Mark himself.
** Discussed by Mark himself: apparently when among straight guys he comes off as flamboyant, while in gay circles he's assumed to be straight. He's baffled by the difference.

* ''Mark Reads: Literature/{{Discworld}}''[[labelnote:''Progress'']]Currently on Book 31: ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment''[[/labelnote]]

* OurElvesAreDifferent: He ran into this in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'', where he was completely thrown by the idea of elves being evil, uttering a shocked "Elves are BAD?" in one video. Quite a few readers explained that Pratchett was contrasting the wise and pleasant elves of modern fantasy with the sadistic elves of European, and especially British, folklore.

* ''Literature/ProvostsDog''

The 'Mark Does Stuff' Blogs are actually three separate sister blogs, run by a man named Mark Oshiro. A couple of years ago he embarked upon reading ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' to see whether it was as good--or bad--as everyone said. [[Blog/MarkReadsTwilight He managed to get through all four books]] and decided he ''really'' hated them. Afterward, he decided to do the same for the other famous young adult fantasy novel series of our generation: ''Literature/HarryPotter''. [[Blog/MarkReadsHarryPotter He reviewed every chapter of every book]], and readers slowly watched him descend into pure fan-boy love for the series. This page, however, is not for either of those two blogs, but their offspring.

* ''Mark Reads: Literature/{{Discworld}}''[[labelnote:''Progress'']]Currently on Book 31: ''Discworld/Monstrous Regiment''[[/labelnote]]