Media I actually like

(I'm still adding titles, trying to remember some faves I've forgotten or adding new ones as I enjoy new things)

VIDEO GAMES

• Carrion
• *Cave Story
• Chants of Sennaar
• Doom (2016)
• Dredge
• .Flow
• Ib
• Iconoclasts
• Kero Blaster
• Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls
• Limbus Company
• Mega Man (classic series)
• *MOTHER (series)
• Path to Nowhere
• Rain World
• Risk of Rain (2013)
• Road 96
• The Sims (2, 4)
• Subnautica
• The Witch's House
• Tomodachi Life
• Yume Nikki

Enjoyed with family & friends

• Mario Kart (Wii & 8)
• *Spectrobes (series)
• *Streets of Rogue
• Spirit Hunter (series)
• *Vagante
• Wii ___ (series)
• Your Turn to Die

Enjoyed only through let's-plays

• Anatomy
• GOHOME
• It's Just A Prank
• Mouthwashing
• No I'm Not a Human
• Swallow the Sea

FILMS (LIVE ACTION)

• *The Blues Brothers
• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
• *The Magnificent Seven (1960, 2016)
• Seven Samurai
• *The Thing
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Enjoyed with family & friends

• The Hunger Games (+)
• Jurassic Park (films 1, 2 & 3)
• Kill Bill Volume 1

FILMS (ANIMATION)

• Over the Hedge

Enjoyed with family & friends

• *April and the Extraordinary World
• *The Incredibles
• A Bug's Life
• Monsters Inc
• My Neighbour Totoro
• Ponyo
• Shrek (+)
• Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (+)
• Megamind

TV SERIES (LIVE ACTION)

• *Red Dwarf
• Black Books
• I'm Alan Partridge

Watched with family & friends

• Victorious

TV SERIES (WESTERN ANIMATION)

• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
• Ben 10 (classic)
• Mega Man (Ruby Spears)

Enjoyed with brothers & friends

• Adventure Time
• The Amazing World of Gumball
• Total Drama
• Steven Universe

TV SERIES (ANIME)

• Gurren Lagann
• Joshiraku
• SAMURAI 7

Watched with brothers & friends

• Astra Lost in Space
• Attack on Titan
• Nichijou - My Ordinary Life
• School Live!

WEB SERIES

• BFDI
• Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
• Claycat Cinema
• Gemini Home Entertainment
• Inanimate Insanity
• Monument Mythos
• Object Overload
• Plainsville
• The Simpsons couch gag (Lee Hardcastle)
• Skitzo
• White Stag Education

Enjoyed with brothers & friends

• The Mandela Catalogue

WEB SHORTS/FILMS/ETC.

• The Boys Are Back in Town (to kill you)
• I Heard It Too (Eden)
• The Kid and the Camera
• Kiss Me (Kill Me)
• No Through Road
• The Oldest View
• Portrait of God
• The Ningen (1991 Deep Sea Video)
• THingu's The Thing
• This Is My House (jordan go to sleep)

Enjoyed with brothers & friends

• x

Rewatched Cobra Kai with my brother

Rewatched Cobra Kai with my brother and now I'm inspired to write my villains again. Seriously.

Stuff about Needle (and Leafy) -- I'm (re)watching BFDI again :D

After probably (at least) 4 years, where I haven't seen an episode of BFDI (and its other series), I'm finally watching it again, as well as catching up to the new episodes. So far, I'm loving it :D 

But that's not exactly what I'm here to gush about :O

Here, I'm actually talking about my favourite character Needle and the interesting f(r)iendship that she shares with Leafy (at least in BFDI-->(A))

For  some context, all the way back when I was only like 12 (and even up until now, although to a lesser extent), I do this thing with characters where it's kind of like shipping, but in reverse -- I like to picture rivalries between characters and imagine them fighting in funny/entertaining scenarios. Whether or not they're frienemies or actually enemies doesn't matter. Everything here is lighthearted and really meant for humour.

Anyways, baaack in 2014 when I picked up BFDI, my favourite  character was Needle. I don't remember any particular reason why she was my favourite, likely it was just vibes. One other thing I liked about her was related to the whole "Don't call me Needy!" gag, and how Leafy (funnily, one of Needle's (initial) friends) was one of the characters who called Needle 'Needy' the most (at least, from what I could remember). Other than the more prominent rivalry between Firey & Coiny (Season 1), I obsessed over the odd friendship/rivalry between Needle & Leafy. I think I even cared more about them being frienemies & fighting over dumb stuff than the popular ships they had (at least at the time, such as Fireafy & Coineedle), haha. (Never was really that big on shipping (at least back then) in the first place)

Maybe someday I'll post my old doodles of them (and I’ll redraw them if I do), but here's a clue as to what some of them looked like:
(Bear in mind, I was 12-13 when I came up with these ideas. Also I depicted them mostly as humans.)

• I've drawn the aftermath of Leafy calling Needle 'Needy' more times than I needed to
• Sometimes Leafy doesn't even call her 'Needy' and just provokes her some other way
• Yeah, Leafy does a majority of the provoking (and while mostly on accidentl, a good fraction of the time it's deliberate xD)
• There was one comic I doodled where Leafy got too excited about sharing a high-five with Needle, and accidentally landed a hit to her face (the direction this goes is predictable)
• I drew them playing video games together, a game based off of that scene in BFDI(A) with the knives and acid spit balls
  - They're just having fun, like friends do
  -Although, Leafy does taunt Needle a bit
  -(and playfully pushes her off of the couch at the end)
• I think at one point, I tried giving Needle an 'Evil Leafy' counterpart named 'Needy', where Leafy would go like, "Needle is my friend, Needy is my enemy ^^" or something like that  
• Them having a phone call frlm Yoyleland to Goiky(?), where Leafy goes, "I'm just calling to say that our friendship is OVER!" and blah, blah, blah, and Leafy comes over to Goiky and goes "Lol JK, say, are we still friends?" and blah, blah, 'Don't call me Needy' gag, "Okay, never mind, our friendship is over!" and some dumb crap like that
• Etc. etc. etc. You get it.

Fun stuff.

You could tell I was having a treat when I (skipped ahead and) watched BFDI(A) 19 xD

I've tried to see if anyone else online felt the same about these two, but I found little to nothing ;-;

I mean, I did find out people that shipped Needle & Leafy and I'm surprised to find out that they’re actually a rarepair. I like seeing any interactions between those two at this point, and I don’t mind  to think about them under a romantic light (it’s cute, anyways). But there's something missing... I wish I could find fanart keeping the frienemies aspect, or even taking a more 'rivals-to-lovers' angle or something. Oh well lol (nothing too serious anyway xd)

Anyways, in summary: I just like how one moment they’re best friends and another moment they’re arguing over something dumb and then suddenly they’re cool again 

Don't mind these, just saving these links for future reference

• https://battlefordreamisland.fandom.com/wiki/Leafy_and_Needle
• https://shipping.fandom.com/wiki/Needleafy

Learning new things again

It's been pretty much 9 years since I last learned geography, geology and chemistry at school, and now suddenly they're kind of interesting

(this is for worldbuilding reasons, of course)

Kind of random

For many years, I've avoided first-person shooters because I sucked at them. But it turns out I just hadn't played them enough. Played Quake II and playing Doom (2016) and I really enjoyed them.

Gushing about Road 96

Main Story/Game in general

Encounterable Characters

ALEX

• This kid belongs more to the MOTHER series, I'm not even kidding
• (Well, either that or The Goonies in place of Data. Think somewhere it said that the film was one of the inspirations for the series too...)
• (Also fun fact, I learned that one of the
• Oh, and look at that, EarthBound is set in the 90s, too xD
• He's super smart and nerdy so he, Lloyd & Jeff would make an unbeatable trio
• Also, there's no telling what he'd do if he were a teen in the 2020s -- he'd be thriving off of all the tech we have now
• Speaking of which, I really liked that conversation with him contemplating the future of technology
• Like having small computers that you can ask to give you directions or ask food from
• Or like having 100 people playing the same video game at the same time
• To be honest, I love this trope, where characters in an earlier point in time discuss what life could be like in their future world (i.e. our present)
• Oh, the bad ending with Alex... I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED! HE WAS THE ONE ,THAT GOT SHOT, WHATT]?!?!? Also unrelated, but in that scene where I had to use the nail gun to help find a generator, I was like, "Haha, what if I could shoot him," remembered that ending, and then went "Wait... NO..."
• It's kinda funny, I thought he was just an annoying 10-11 year old at first, but he eventually grew on me. 
• And then it turned out that he was 14 years old? That's crazy! He barely hit puberty, nobody would've guessed he was older than 11 haha.
• 
  

FANNY

• Alright, so I'm gonna admit, it's real awkward to like a cop character, especially in the 2020s haha
• The game seems very aware of this too, and has implemented some dialogue options that reflect all that when talking about or to cops, including Fanny
• But enough of that xD
• So, the game lets us know that Fanny's on Tyrak's side, at least professionally/career-wise
• Like, she's helped guard him during Petria's wall opening at the mountain
• And she was shown to work with cops at the pits during election day. It's not known how often she does this.
• And if our protagonist reveals that they're on Florres's side, all she says is that our preference has been noted. Dunno if she means this in a suspicious manner, but it's not hard to interpret that she's not too fond of that opinion. I might be wrong...
• What is clear though is that she has a more conservative stance on life & politics 
• Despite that, her relationship to Alex is pretty tragic to hear. I just couldn't not sympathise with her in that respect
• To be honest, I do like the complexity of her character
• First, there are her prominent relationships with other main characters in the game
• I mean, there's Alex who learnt that he's the bio-son of members of the Brigades, and cops and the Brigades are natural enemies. 
• And because of this, he ran away and sought members of the Brigades for info on his bio-parents
• And then, there's John, a member of the Brigades who looks after Alex
• His connection with Fanny started with when they were chatting and flirting with each other over the radio without knowing eachother's identities. 
• The different ways the endings play out with this sub-story, man, it's intense!  
• I have no idea how conflicted she is with her career -- I think the level of her conflictedness depends on which angle you want to take the ending, and the amount of impact you let the Brigades have in the story.
• I mean we have seen her at the pits, and while out on the road, she's denied their existence 
• She said at one point that she couldn't imagine even sending kids there because she's got a son
• Actually, in one of the endings, she has discussed her conflicted thoughts with her career.
• She's stated her awareness of what Tyrak's done to teens and how she "[hadn't] wanted to do [her] job for a long time"
• But she doesn't seem to like many of her co-workers
• She doesn't like how arrogant they get, or the power trips they have
• She's not as harsh to the protagonist as the others, and lets us go on multiple occasions, even knowing that what we're doing
• Also, I don't know much about Petria's situations on racism & sexism, but knowing this was based off of the west, and set in the 90s, it's really likely Fanny's a major underdog in her workforce
• And this makes her really push herself, take her career seriously, try not to make a mess of things, or even quit her job.
• To be fair, quitting a job is not an easy thing to do. She's never mentioned a partner/spouse, so there's that factor, too. She’s gotta support a family all on her own 

JAROD

• It's kinda funny how, since my first encounter with Jarod was the one at the old Brigades place -- the one with the tower -- I didn't see him as the danger that he was in the remainder of the game
• Sure, I thought he was weird and scary, but I didn't learn he was a serial killer until a little bit later, so I was quite shocked xD
• That was also the time he sincerely vented out to the player character about his grief over his daughter
• Don't think he mentioned anything about wanting to kill Sonya either
• And I actually forgot that detail, since I  actually started this game before I encountered him the first time. I saw the intro, left it for a couple weeks, and then continued playing.
• Yes, a few of his jumpscares did get me
• Interesting how some of his chapters can change up the genre of the game in an instant
• Also, it's interesting how he's seen when he's either a background character or any other kind of non-main character
• I feel like you don't get that kind of effect much in fiction, since normally you follow one point of view, or one version of a story
• How freaky would it be if we got to see him like actually interact with Robert, though? I haven't seen it, but if there is such a scene, I'd be so tense
• Maybe it exists in one of the books
• I mean, I read that apparently in one of Jarod's encounters -- one set in his taxi -- Robert is the one kidnapped instead of the random brigade. You can also see this in one of the endings, too. 
• Didn't know this guy would be the "tumblr sexyman" of the game, haha. But he does tick off nearly every box for the classic archetype/trope.
• Guess the "young" part can be cancelled out because I think it's more common nowadays for tumblr sexymen characters to be older, haha
• Also, I actually really love Flower Duet, so I liked how it’s his leitmotif. 
• Hearing it now, I can’t help but feel a sort of sinister undertone now, haha. Don’t worry, it hasn’t “ruined” the piece for me at all.
• Interesting how he’s both so focused on his grief over Lola and on killing Sonya & Robert that he got so out of touch with the politics of Petria 
• Figured this out when taking either one of the voting route or revolution route, where I asked a question for advice, he answers and I respond, then he goes “oh that guys still our president?” 
• Guess when you’re busy contemplating the murders of multiple people, you can’t really think about the law & who runs it, haha
• Maybe it’s just Sonya’s plot armour, but I was quite surprised when Jarod almost immediately changed his heart about to kill Sonya after she vented her regrets to one of her coworkers
• Like a normal person would be highly conflicted after learning that the person you thought was highly responsible for the death of a loved one turned out not to be responsible at all (and instead tried to help), That you were wrong about a huge part of something you felt so personally about for basically a whole decade 
• That would’ve made me seriously shocked for a while. But he was just like “Oh. Sonya’s innocent.” 
• Jarod seemed more pissed off at Sonya because he always mentioned her first before the brigades. But that’s probably also because it’s just easier to single her out compared to the brigades, which is a whole organisation... 
• But at the same time, he’d also know that most people he’d come across would not know the name of the brigades leader, or at least the one who recruited Lola, So while he already knew Robert beforehand, he figured he wouldn’t want to waste time with the specifics of his goal. 
• Guess Sonya’s a famous enough public figure that you’d know which Sonya if you just said her name

JOHN

• One of his encouters is pretty absurd, the one where he's upset about his "Mama Bear" being a cop
• Like imagine you're a teenager, all alone in the middle of nowhere
• And then you see a big & beardy older man drunk out of his mind -- who could easily tear you in half -- running aimlessly, and crying out "Mama Bear" and "Goddamn cop"
• And while the logical thing to just run away, you approach him and ask if he's okay and "Who's Mama Bear" x'D
• We're just incredibly lucky it's John and we can trust the guy
• John's cool, but I'm not gonna lie, Omen Vitalities sound like they taste awful
• I have no idea what ginseng tastes like, but the cucumber bit sounds like it tastes bad. I normally love vegetables, but cucumbers are just not for me
• I like how this guy actually cares about kids and their wellbeing
• Guess that's where his main inner conflict comes  in with the whole situation with Alex and his bio parents 
• And also his fallout with Robert was because of this. Said that Robert uses kids, radicalises them, and allows them to put their lives at risk for the revolution, which John doesn't like

SONYA

• I love this propaganda woman so much LMAO
• ...
• ...
• ...
• I can fix her
• Although I would definitely hate her in real life, haha
• Only like her 'cause she's funny
• I mean, there are multiple characters that I like that I would definitely not in real life
• One good example is Arnold Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Arrogant, neurotic, rude, cowardly, and subscribed to a magazine titled 'Facscist Dictator Monthly' x'D
• Ha, maybe Sonya and Arnold would get along with each other on that last part
• Now I just wish there was a 'Lister' to be her other half
• Anyways
• I actually started this game long before I encountered her the first time. So, as I said earlier, I saw the intro, left it for a couple weeks, and then continued playing...
• Because of that, when I encountered Sonya for the first time, I immediately thought she was a musician 
• That's because I had just been playing a lot of Streets of Rogue and I love the bouncer & musician's dynamic (The musician tells the bouncer what to do while being escorted to Mayor City, all while the bouncer suffers silently as their bodyguard, haha)
• God knows what she'd be like in the age of social media
• She's be a monster, no kidding
• As much as I love Sonya as a character, she's clearly one of the antagonists, both in the main narrative and the way she treats the player and most others around her
• So you'd usually expect her to either (a) realise her wrongs and try to better herself, or (b) face some kind of consequence
• In the hotel encounter, I think that if you let Adam fall to his death (even if he survives by falling into trash), he gets genuinely pissed, and the picture of him and Sonya eating out together doesn't show up in the credits. So, I guess there's that for mistreating Adam, even though that's less on her end
• I've discussed this more in Stan & Mitch's section, but it's interesting how you can't let Sonya die in this game, either
• 
  

STAN & MITCH

• If you know me enough, clearly these guys were going to be my favourites.
• They're not very smart, not very competent, and they're not very boy-next-door material
• I love incompetent wannabe petty bad guys that belong more in 80s-00s Saturday hero cartoons xD
• And also, I should definitely say that these two -- at least in terms of attittude, exchange of dialoge, and relationship to the law -- remind me so much of a certain shady three-man team, just without a boss
• And yes, I have imagined crossover scenarios. Maybe I'll make a post for my ideas on that, not that anyone would care, haha
• I was trying to get the scenario where Stan & Mitch don't find out who Sonya's would-be killer was, and when and where he was going to attack, once. 
• In doing so, I just felt AWFUL because the whole process was so slow, letting my actions just sink in
• It hurt a little more because I LOVE sibling characters
• It's kinda like dramatic irony, the way you know something that the characters in the story don't, and Stan & Mitch are some of my faves, so it was kinda painful to see their reactions to not finding the information they needed
• It's not like the time where I decided to let Zoe die, because that was a one-time, one-action decision, so it all happened in a flash.
• It made me scared when Stan & Mitch didn't show up at the wall near the end of the game to try to see Sonya. If they knew about the killer, this was before they would attempt to take him (Jarod) down (despite the fact that he already decided to stop killing Sonya anyway)
• So thankfully, and also kind of not so thankfully, Sonya doesn't die either way!
• Honestly, I think it would be kinda funny if, despite mentioning that they prefer to be apolitical, they've been secretly hoping for Tyrak to not be the president anymore, mostly because of his extreme use of cops
• I mean, I remember when we were discussing cops patroling Petria during my playthrough aiming for a legal victory...
• I answered that there would be less cops with Florres as the president, and Stand & Mitch were something like, "We were discussing that, actually!"
• So if that were the case, that would be kind of funny, especially considering how much they care for Sonya and how she's very much on Tyrak's side.
• And they're like "Sure, if Tyrak weren't around there'd be less cops, but what about Sonya?! She'd kill us if she found out we wanted that!" haha

ZOE 

• Of all the characters here, I think Zoe's the most vital to the main plot. She's just down last because I decided to do this in alphabetical order xD
• I haven't yet played Mile 0 yet, so I don't think I'll be able to talk about her WHOLE character at the moment, so here's what I've got so far
• 
  
• Not gonna lie, I really thought she was going to be a "love interest" for the main character, but then I realised that wouldn't make sense since we play multiple characters who she'll never see again x'D
• 
  

Other Characters

ADAM

• Justice for Adam

MAX

ROBERT

From: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-rfiPDsvnQo?feature=share

Reminds me of the time one of my younger brothers showed me his assignment for English class. I think he had to watch Avatar for class and was tasked to create a journal entry written as if he were one of the Na'vi. He showed me an entire document of keysmash with the words "jakesully" and "bottlecap tribe" scattered here and there -- it cracked me up!!!