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Nimona - Media Recommendations #48

Monday 31/7/23

Its been a long time since I've done one of these, but I promise you guys I like doing them. Thankfully I recently saw a movie that resonates very well with the core tumblr aesthetic, and now have an excuse to write on it.

Nimona (Movie)

The Pitch:

Nimona is an animated scifi/fantasy movie by Annapurna pictures based on a graphic novel of the same name. It is based in a very unique world that is at the same time cyber punk and feudal medieval; a civilization that has grown technologically and culturally around the values of chivalry to defend the people from unseen monsters beyond the city walls. A thousand years ago, a knight named Gloreth vanquished a horrifying demonic evil and instilled the virtues of protecting the good and pure into those who inherited the kingdom after her, and the Institute of Elite Knights, made up on descendents of the initial troop, control and protect the city today.

We follow the story of Ballister, the first commoner to be allowed to train to as a knight, and although he is scorned by many, his success would pave the way for more commoner born knights in the future. Due to conspirators that wish Ballister and what he represents to fail, he is embroiled in controversy and murder, making him enemy of the state. Ballister retreats into his lair and begins plotting how he could uncover the truth of his undoing, and put the spotlight on those actually responsible. There he is discovered by Nimona.

Nimona is a shapeshifting being, commonly appearing as a girl in her later teens, but she is comfortable in any form. As a shark, a rhinoceros, a wolf, a whale, and anything else her imagination can comprehend. Nimona knows how it feels to be hated as the world, labelled as a monster by society as a whole, and has embraced a villainous side, causing damage, mischief and fear wherever she goes. She wishes to work with Ballister as his sidekick and henchman, becoming the sword to deliver his strike of revenge.

Despite how Ballister has been treated, he wishes to get back at society still operating under a code of ethics and good, only endangering those who deserve it. No murder. But given how helpful and driven Nimona is, he agrees to work together to clear his name. What begins as a story of the mum friend trying to keep a gremlin on a leash, quickly changes into the tale of a bastard and their enabler. Their friendship blooms beautifully, and they become an unstoppable force. But will Ballister's history catch up with him? What is Nimona's deal, actually? I will not elaborate on the plot any further for fear of spoilers. Please watch for yourself.

As an Adaptation

Ok before I get into my ideas on the deeper meanings in Nimona, I wanna talk about the movie as an adaptation. The movie is based on a graphic novel that is a compilation of a webcomic by N.D. Stevenson, @gingerhaze on our very own Tumblr! And talking to a friend who has reread the novel recently, they agree that the story reads very differently as a long form story than what the movie presents.

While the movie keeps the characters, basic overview of setting, and the ultimate ending... it is a different type of story. As a webcomic, Nimona is a slow-burn slice of life at its conception. A lot of small cute moments that better work to build up the friendship between Ballister and Nimona. On a character level, it also leans more into scifi, as Ballister is introduced not only as a "villain", but also a mad scientist. When the plot is retroactively made deeper by backstories and greater focus on grander plothooks, this scientist vibe helps to build Ballister as an investigative genius to uncover how and why he was framed. Whole key plot points such as a secret government plot to hoard illicit substances are dropped altogether from the adaptation.

Enjoyers of the movie only will not have this same yearning for more of the original story, since the movie is such a good story in its own right, but for the those who enjoyed the webcomic, it is a long detective investigation plot that was turned into a heist movie. I don't want to complain, because its lucky we got the movie at all, but i feel it would've worked better as a 5-10 part episodic series. Nimona the movie takes the most core plot beats and character moments and turns them into an exhilarating story on a grand scale. It's a good story, just not the same.

My Thoughts: The Impact

Ok so, high fantasy sci-fi aside, Nimona is a story celebrating queer identity and those oppressed. At the heart of Ballister's turmoil is a gay romance with Ambrosius, the person who theoretically has the most to lose from his success. But Ambrosius is never turned completely against him, he more just wants to apprehend Ballister so he can understand what is happening. Ballister is also a outsider to the institute. An institute that for one reason or another wishes for him and the common folk he comes from to be kept down.

Then there's Nimona, a shapeshifter who expresses at several points in the story that transforming frees her, and that staying as a human girl pains her, almost like a suppression of her very life force. When asked, "What are you?", her most common answer is, "I'm Nimona". She is a being that shakes off all labels, and refuses to be categorised under any one idea. She's not just a girl, she's a shark, a rhinoceras, a dragon, and everything in between. I don't want to put my own labels on an intentionally labelless character, but this feels like an allegory for non-binary identity, or gender-fluid identity, or any identity where others struggle to understand you without static labels.

I want to acknowledge thar Nate Stevenson, the author, has come out as transmasc and bigender. So the importance of queer freedom is definitely a take away we should have here.

I feel Nimona is going to resonate well with queer audiences, because it tells a tale of struggle and oppression, and ultimately finding friendship and freedom. But even if you do not identify with any such identity, it is a beautiful, fun and quirky story of making the change you want to see in society, and finding your place in everything.

You NEED to watch, recommend and spread the love of Nimona, so we see more stories like it in the mainstream eye. Please reblog and pass this on, so others watch the movie. And give the webcomic some love while you're at it.

#Youtube #blog #blogpost #media recommendations #nimona #nd stevenson #nimona netflix

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Stormbringer

Remake of a 1981 illustration by John C. McLoughlin

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The State of the Blog rn

Monday 15/5/23

I'm not sure how many people follow this blog for my recommendations, but i thought i'd make a note now about the possibilities for Tears of The Kingdom.

Given my recommendations usually come after i have read/watched/played the majority of a piece of media, i do not expect to have anything nearing a complete picture of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for at least a month or so. And given that, as a Zelda fan, this game will be filling most of my free time, i will likely not have anything else to recommend for a while.

I do want to do some writing for this blog, so i'll attempt to get in some shorter pieces about zoology and palaeontology at least once a week. But no promises. This game will be consuming me for a long while.

Cheers.

#not a blogpost #media recommendations #tears of the kingdom

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Thursday 11/5/23 - Media Recommendations #47

Girlboss Genre Subversions

Content:

Romantic Killer

Nier Automata

It's been a little while since I've recommended any media, but I have still been consuming. In a lot of my recent recommendations, i've been doing well to group a lot of media under the same theme. But today, I have a less cohesive collection that I can't really justify as a theme. I guess these medias both feature cool girls and some shake up of their genres? Anyway, here's what I've been engaging in recently.

Romantic Killer

Wataru Momose / DOMERICA

The Romance genre of anime/manga is bogged down with boatloads of stereotypes and clichés. The objective of the story is often to throw as many suitors at the protagonist as they can, and put them in situations that will force the development of feelings faster than natural. But what happens when the protagonist knows they are in such a story, and don't want to give the higher powers the satisfaction of a successful infatuation?

The Pitch

Romantic Killer is a Romantic Comedy series, with 4 Manga Volumes, and one season of Anime. We are introduced to Anzu Hoshino, a highschooler who mostly refuses to interact with society at large. Her three favourite things are Chocolate, Videogames, and her pet cat Momohiki. One day, as she loads up what she thinks is a fantasy game, she is greeted by a Cheesy Dating Game, and out of the game emerges a small annoying creature, a Wizard "Love Cupid" calling themselves Riri. Riri explains that Japan's declining birth rates have forced Cupids to brute force youth into relationships.

Riri says that Anzu has been selected for the subject of a Romantic Thriller, and will be exposed to a series of situations typical of a Romance game, hopefully falling in love by the end. To better motivate her to actually participate, Riri removes Anzu's access to Chocolate, Videogames, and her cat Momohiki. What follows is a series of cliché happenstances where Anzu is exposed to prime romance material, but she staunchly refuses to participate in this nonsense .

Anzu is a strong personality, and would never take this hijiacking of her fate laying down. She declares herself the Romantic Killer, and even with her three favourite things on the line and a collection of very charming boys, she will be doing her hardest to not fall in love!

My Thoughts

I liked a lot about this anime, so I think I might actually start with the negatives. Despite the premise of the series being a subversion of the Romance genre, the series still leans hard into the tropes its making fun of. And that doesn't really make it a subversion does it? I feel in a lot of "romantic situations" that are very telegraphed as such, Anzu will acknowledge it is a bad cliché and then mellow out her usually brash personality to just let it happen. Still refusing to fall in love mind you, but I would have rathered more outright "No I'm not doing this" and walking out at some of the clichés she finds herself in. Minor gripe, but oh well.

The strength of this series is the characters. Anzu of course is the star of the show. Anzu is a relatable introvert, but not in a quiet, reserved way, but in a "do not invite me to things, fuck off and leave me alone way". She is funny, and brash, and makes for a welcome change to a romance protagonist. But this attitude changes subtley over the course of the first arc. Still loud and snarky, but more of a friendly person, fiercely loyal to her friends.

The supporting cast are surprisingly deep and complex characters for this genre, but that might be part of the point. We focus on a small group of friends; Anzu being a nerd doesn't have a huge friend group; but every character gets their own focus and exploration into their personal struggles. Each cookie-cutter love-interest character is initially very one-dimensional, but it is soon revealed that each has their own complexities and traumas that shape and are shaped by their romantic personas. I don't want to spoil anything, but some very real and traumatic topics are brought up and covered in a very sensitive manner. Those with triggers for abuse beware.

I have only experienced this series as one 12 episode season on Netflix, but there are several volumes of manga to look into as well. Romantic Killer is a fun, feel good rom-com that has a slight video-gamey feel to it, but also isn't afraid to touch on more human, personal topics. If this recommendation has appealed to you at all, then you 100% should experience it for yourself.

Nier: Automata

Yoko Taro / Square Enix

What does it really mean to be human? Is it our relationships with others? Creativity and the ability to appreciate the creativity of others? Or is the inherent violence that will likely bring our kind to an end? To truly appreciate the uniqueness of humanity, perhaps we need to see it through the lens of beings who are not human. And if they aspire to be human... why?

The Pitch

Nier: Automata is an Action Role Playing Game (ARPG) made by Platinum Studios. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic Earth, several thousand years into the future. Humanity has been wiped from the surface of the planet, and their last refuge is on the moon. Alien Robots, called Machines, have taken over the planet, and Androids created by humans still cling on in secure parts of the world. A new squadron of combat Androids called YoRHa have recently been deployed onto the planet, and it is their mission to destroy the Machine threat once and for all.

The player takes control of YoRHa No.2 Type B (or 2B for short), a combat android who fights with two bladed weapons assisted by a Pod, an attack drone that follows her. She is accompanied by 9S, a scanner android who utilises hacking skills to help 2B overcome her enemies. Combat is not as complex and combo-driven as other Platinum action games, but what it lacks in complexity, it makes up for in customisation. Plug-In Chips can be collected from fallen enemies or purchased from NPCs, and can be used to increase 2B's skills in certain abilites ranging from Movement Speed, and Attack Power, to the the ability to Heal over time, or by killing enemies. But since there is only a certain amount of space for chips, the player will have pick and choose their abilities, and re-customise them for new situations.

The gameplay loop is that of an open-world with quests. Very early into the game, you can explore most of the available world, and as your character grows in power and completes more of the main story's objectives, you will be meet more characters with quests to complete. The ability to customise your weapon load-out, availability of plug-in chips, and even alternate Pod Turrets depend on the player's willingness to go out and explore the world.

The world is broken and ruined, but in a kind of beautiful way. The landscapes are vast and set-pieces are enormous, and the soundtrack only makes the journey all the more epic.

One of the most intriguing or intimidating aspects of the game, depending on your outlook, is the multiple endings and story arcs. The first time you see the credits is only partway through the greater narrative. There are 26 endings, each named for one letter of the alphabet. Most of these endings are making a mistake in certain plot moments, but endings A, B, C, and D are part of the main story. Endings B, C, and D come after you beat the A story, so if you use this recommendation as an excuse to play the game, I would implore you to play until you've reached at least these four endings.

My Thoughts

I am not usually an enjoyer of fast pace combo driven action games by Platinum studios. Games such as Bayonetta and Devil May Cry just seem more stress than fun, and that makes it surprising that I enjoyed Nier: Automata. This game is a bit slower paced in that combat, and given that enemies often attack in troves, the importance of long combos is forgoed for the need to clear a crowd. Enjoyers of Platinums usual style might feel let down by this, but I feel this made the game more approachable.

I played the game on the Normal Difficulty and although there were points that I struggled, there was never a place that I was totally walled by difficulty. For those who are a glutton for punishment, higher difficulties put restrictions on play such as 1 hit=death, so I'm sure there's enough fun for anyone.

However, the gameplay is not the highlight of the game, it is the world, the story. Nier: Automata is part of the larger Drakengard saga, a world with a deep history of magic and science. Nier: Replicant is the only other game in the core Nier series. However, I never felt that I needed the context of previous games to understand the world. As an open world game, parts of the lore are optional to find, so the the story is as deep as you want it to be.

The world is beautiful and vast. And the soundtrack is not what you'd expect from a game of robots in the far future. There are lots of acoustic instruments and rhythmic chanting that help build atmosphere for all types of environments; ruined cities, forests, deserts, and cute little settlements. You could listen to the songs of this game as ambient study/relaxation music for hours.

Playing Nier: Automata endeared me to the characters and world, and as someone who only got to the game on the recent Switch version, I feel like I definitely should've enjoyed the game sooner. I know I'm late to the party, but I'm super keen for a sequel.

If you like the type of post-apocalyptic settings where nature is at the forefront again, or enjoy the feeling of mowing down enemies and becoming powerful. If you are the type to enjoy the perfect blending of high fantasy and sci-fi. If you enjoy cute girl in French Maid outfit. You should play Nier: Automata.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #anime recommendations #videogame recommendations #romantic killer #nier automata #Youtube

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There is no dinosaur named Troodon

Sunday 23/4/23

Alaskan Troodontid - Julio Lacerda @paleoart

A brief sorry for not writing for a while. Had a lot on my mind and also just struggled to get that jump-start on my creativity again. But after having a bit of nerd-out at a friend recently, I have a dinosaur related thing to talk about today.

For anyone knee-deep into dinosaur stuff, they'd know about the popular stereotyping around small meat eating dinosaurs. The likes of "Raptors" are often portrayed as problem solvers; coordinated, and clever. And although most modern birds have more developed brains than extinct non-bird dinosaurs, the exception of Troodon is often brought up.

Troodon - @/the_meep_lord on Twitter

Troodon is a name that dino-nerds will bring up as a notable example of smart dinosaurs. It was one of the dinosaurs most closely related to birds, it had large eyes for its head, and in fact the largest brain to body size ratio of any non-avian dinosaur. But what many dino-nerds might struggle with, is that most palaeontologists believe that the genus Troodon is not valid.

Now when I first heard this information, my reaction was likely the same to yours reader. What do mean the genus isn't valid? Ask anyone what Troodon looks like, we have a very clear picture. How can we have full skeletons of a dinosaur that didn't exist? How come we have a significant clade of dinosaurs named after it (Troodontidae)? It is a dinosaur that even had unfortunate older stereotypes in its design (pictured below: the olive green smooth skinned Troodon that inspired the ugly Dinosauroid speculative biology thing).

llustration of Troodon - De Agostini Library (unable to find artist)

The issue, as I'll try to explain, was an unfortunate game of guesswork and generalisation across the Palaeontological community.

Discovery and Naming

In 1855, a single fossil teeth was found in Montana, USA. This was a particularly jagged tooth, and seemed to belong to some form of carnivorous or at least omnivorous reptile. It was named Troodon formosus meaning "wounding tooth, well formed". This tooth was originally classified as belonging to a lizard, so the genus Troodon was born.

Troodon holotype drawing, 1860

In 1901, it was decided that Troodon's tooth belonged to a dinosaur, within the group Megalosauridae. But as I've discussed previously, Megalosaurus was a wastebasket taxon, and other experts wanted to place Troodon somewhere more definitive. In 1924, Troodon was classified as a relative of dome-headed dinosaurs such as Pachycephalosaurus and Stegoceras. And since Troodon pre-dated many dinosaurs in this group, the family was at the time referred to as Troodontidae.

"Sandy", Pachycephalosaurus specimen at Royal Ontario Museum

Troodon as a Pachycephalosaur lasted until 1945, when Troodon was finally reclassified as carnivorous dinosaur, and the dome-headed dinosaurs were renamed under the title Pachycephalosauridae.

Other Troodontids

For a long time, the issue with Troodon was that because it's teeth were one of a kind, they did not know how the rest of it's body looked. The first dinosaur to be classified under Troodontidae that wasn't named just for teeth was a dinosaur called Stenonychosaurus (meaning 'narrow claw lizard").

Stenonychosaurus, Nix Illustration @alphynix

The original specimen of Stenonychosaurus did not have teeth, but it's close relative Saurornithoides did. And once both specimens had more complete specimens collected, they were classified under the group Saurornithoididae in the 1980s. But soon, scientists found similarities between the teeth of Saurornithoididae dinosaurs, and that of Troodon. The Principle of Priority states that earlier names for taxon are more valid taxonomically, so Saurornithoididae was considered synonymous with Troodontidae, and all specimens previously referred to as Stenonychosaurus were now called Troodon.

"Troodon" Specimen, Perot Museum, Texas

Most of the facts we now think of as Troodon were originally attributed to Stenonychosaurus, and many other North American Troodontids were considered as possible synonyms of Troodon, but this received some push back.

The idea that most of North America's Troodontids all belonging to one taxa was questioned. So, as had happened to other wastebasket taxon prior, Troodon was reanalysed.

In the late 2000s, a Troodontid called Pectinodon was separated from the Troodon genus and considered its own taxon. In the mid-late 2010s, some material originally classified under Stenonychosaurus, and then Troodon, was given its own genus, Latenivenatrix.

Latenivenatrix sculpture, @bookrat

Was "Troodon" really Troodon?

So the question of "What is a Troodontid?" had a very clear answer now. They were small to medium Theropod dinosaurs with narrow skulls, front facing eyes, larger braincases, and often restored with sickleclaws and feathers, similar to the Dromeosaurs. But the question came back to the Genus Troodon itself. We had sufficient material of many other Troodontids to tell what most of their body looked like, but the "holotype" of Troodon was still just one tooth.

In case you need a refresher on the terminology, a holotype is the first fossil a new species is named for. For another fossil to be named the same species, it needs to be identified as similar enough to the holotype. Holotypes are often fragmentary, it is common practice to fill in the full skeleton with details from similar relatives, but you still need enough details to identify who your relatives are.

The holotype of Troodon was so fragmentary, (again one bone), that it has been referred to as undiagnostic. Terminology lesson again, that means you CANNOT tell what it belongs to.

The fragmentary Holotype of the more recent Troodontid "Talos sampsoni", was almost complete in comparison to Troodon's. Credit: Scott Hartman

The Troodon tooth was *similar* enough to Stenonychosaurus that they were proposed to be close relatives, but there were differences enough for there to be initial scepticism at their synonymy. The original explanation proposed that the Troodon tooth came from an individual who was older, or in a different part of the mouth to teeth found from Stenonychosaurus, but this was never scientifically scrutinised, just proposed. The whole absorbing of Stenonychosaurus into Troodon was based on heresy that had never been scientifically tested.

So in 2017, almost universally, it was decided that Stenonychosaurus be separated from Troodon as its own valid dinosaur. Almost all material that had at that point been assigned to Troodon were reassigned to Stenonychosaurus or Latenivenatrix. And now the genus Troodon had a problem. If all known fossil material came down to a single, very undiagnostic tooth, then what WAS this dinosaur actually like?

Stenonychosaurus - Anuperator (deviantart)

The current take is that there was no dinosaur known as Troodon in the technical sense. The tooth may not even belong to a Troodontid. But since Troodontidae has become an established group with established diagnostic traits, we still get to keep the name, for the group at least.

Troodontids Now

Troodontidae is still a very popular mainstream group of dinosaurs, but the names Stenonychosaurus, Saurornithoides, and Latenivenatrix are not as well known as Troodon. Many recent paleoart projects, particularly animations have depicted Troodon-like dinosaurs. But for scientific accuracy, they often decide to use the catch-all term "Troodontid", so audiences know what dinosaur we're talking about without being unscientific.

The YouTube Animation series "Dinosauria" features an episode on Arctic North American Dinosaurs. The main character is referred to as an Alaskan Troodon. This dinosaur has been originally proposed as a larger subspecies of Troodon described from larger teeth found in Alaska. As of writing, this Troodontid still does not an official description or scientific name.

In the 4th episode of the Apple TV+ series, Prehistoric Planet, we again see a dinosaur probably based on the Alaskan Troodon, this time just referred to as a "Troodontid".

In both pieces of media, the Troodontids engage in intelligent problem solving, but nothing on the level of what Jurassic Park would engage in. In Dinosauria, the Troodontid uses vocal mimicry. In Prehistoric Planet, it uses burning sticks to spread a wildfire. Both behaviours that different modern birds engage in, but may have been a stretch for what non-avian dinosaurs were capable of.

Thanks for Reading

If you are still a bit confused as to what this all meant, that's OK, it took me a while to get me head around it too. I encourage readers to do their own research and come to their own conclusion as to what this all means.

If you did feel my explanations helped you learn something new today, please reblog and spread the word. Of course add on your own commentary to the reblogs if you have insight that would better clarify the topic.

Thankyou for reading, and I'll hopefully have something else to post on here soon.

#blog #blogpost #palaeontology #dinosaurs #troodon #troodon formosus #stenonychosaurus #Latenivenatrix #Troodontidae #nomen dubium #theropod #Youtube #long post

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Thank you @cuddlef1sh and everyone who got me to 3000 reblogs!

#3000 reblogs #tumblr milestone #thank you

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Getting lost in fictional worlds

Wednesday 1/3/23

Media Recommendations #46

Content:

Dungeon Meshi

Disco Elysium

Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon

Ryoko Kui

Dungeon Meshi is a fantasy action/comedy manga that has been running since 2014. At the time of writing, the manga has not reached its conclusion, but I feel its getting close. Its funny, heartwarming, has an interesting world and an endearing art style.

Pitch

The story is set in a classic high fantasy world, where underground structures called Dungeons litter the landscape. Dungeons are a complex set of biomes in their own right with advanced magic systems, including the unique quirk that adventurers who die in a dungeon can be revived fairly reliably. It is fairly standard D&D in its initial presentation, but the world has a uniquely real spin on the standard fantasy format.

We follow the party of Laios Touden, a human fighter, who's sister, Falin, a human cleric, was killed by a dragon and eaten deep in the dungeon. Due to the laws of the dungeon, if they find her remains soon enough, they will be able to revive her, but before her end, Falin teleported the party to the surface. A few members of their party quit on the spot. They do not have the funds or resources to do that trip again, and without a healer, their party would be in even more danger. Laios, not wanting to waste any time, decides the best course of action is to head back in immediately, and use the resources of the dungeon for food on the way. He is accompanied by Marcille, an elf mage, and Chilchuck, a half-foot trap-finder.

Soon into their journey, they run into Senshi, a dwarf who has lived in this dungeon as long as adventurers have known about it. Senshi is very knowledgeable about how to prepare and cook monsters of the dungeon, and intrigued by Laios and his journey, accompanies the party. Laios grew up obsessed with monsters and knows the ins and outs of their biology, ecology, how to kill them, and what parts are inedible. Combined with Senshi's knowledge on how to cook them, the party (Marcille and Chilchuk begrudgingly) are well equipped to delve deep into the dungeon surviving on nothing but the wildlife of the dungeon.

My Thoughts

Delicious in Dungeon is such an easily likeable story. The artstyle is cute and unique, but at the same time, portrays such intense action and interesting monster designs. The story starts out as a quirky little romp, but very soon it becomes apparent that every detail about the world is meticulously crafted to make it feel real and lived in. Monster Biology is based in real anatomical rules, but Magic is still part of the world too. For example, spirits are a real type of magical creature, and some monsters are adapted to filter feed on them.

The party all have very one-note personalities at the beginning. Senshi is obsessed with healthy habits, Laios is a bit of a dunderhead, Marcille is squeamish, and Chilchuck is selfish. But as the story progresses, you get to know each better and their personalities and ideals evolve as they encounter new challenges.

As I touched on above, the art style is gorgeous. The food looks delicious, the monsters are fun to look at in action, and the character design of each of the main and supporting cast of characters is varied and fun. Without spoiling anything, the story goes in a direction deeper and is more engaging than I thought possible from as simple a pitch as "adventurers eat the monsters in a dungeon", and although at the time of writing the manga is not finished, I am very happy with where the story has gone and am very keen to see where the ending takes us.

If my description has piqued your interest at all, I highly recommend seeking out Delicious in Dungeon. It's a fantastic read. And I just found out while writing this that an anime is being produced by Studio Trigger. So keep an eye out for that too.

Disco Elysium

ZA/UM

Disco Elysium is a role playing game released for PC and all main consoles, I personally played the Final Cut version on Nintendo Switch. Now when someone says Role Playing Game, the first thought is usually a random-encounter, turn-based combat system with parties, health and magic meters. But Disco Elysium is more like the classic table top RPG type, a point and click narrative adventure with dice rolls and branching narratives depending on the player's actions. It was a very engaging experience that I will probably go back and play again for a whole new experience.

The Pitch

Disco Elysium is based in a fictional post-war European-type city called Revachol. You play the role of a very broken man who wakes up after a few days of binge drinking, having forgotten literally everything about who you are and why you are here. A bit of briefing with the hotel staff and discussion with a police officer named Kim Kitsuragi, you find that you are a police officer too, and your precinct sent you to help Lieutenant Kitsuragi solve a murder case.

You interact with the world through walking up to objects, people, and landmarks, and making observations, growing your knowledge base of the world and who you once were. The player character's progression is through assigning points to various skills to build the type of cop you want to be in this story. Split into 4 main categories of skills; Intellect, Psyche, Physique, and Motorics; you start the game by assigning base points to a few different areas that will make it easier to be better at certain skills.

A character with good base Intellect will be better at general knowledge, conceptualisation, and talking smart, while a character with good base Motorics will have good hand-eye coordination, composure, and reaction time. You have the option to start from a few base pre-builds, or customise your stats to your preference. But you can't be good at everything. Are you the type of cop that talks down people in your way or the type to punch them in the jaw? That's up to you. Anytime you attempt a challenging task, be that persuasion, violence, or anything in between, you can attempt a dice roll. And depending on what skills you have points in, you will have better odds in different challenges.

Getting more skill points requires experience, which can be gained by pursuing the main objective, and by solving side-story mysteries. And the world is full of mysteries! There are cults, supernatural hauntings, post-war trauma, Eurobeat ravers, and much more to interact with. You are a broken man in a broken world, and there's nothing stopping you from being the worst kind of human being to get your way. Unless you don't want to upset Kim Kitsuragi.

And Kim is the one light in this dark, sad world.

My Thoughts

Disco Elysium is an experience like no other. The absolute depth of the world is just immense, you could get lost in centuries of in-game lore for hours. Even though the entire game takes place in part of one city, you have the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the entire world, decades of conflict, and the political matrix of powers that has led to such a desolate world.

Just as deep as the world are the characters, particularly the player character, Harry Dubois. You can play the entire game multiple times and not find everything wrong with this poor little meow meow. I neglected to mention this above, but each Skill talks, offering input from their area of specialty. Most dialogue in the game is from the inner thoughts of our cop, and what he can make of the situation. Putting more points into different skills will mean you hear the perspective of that skill more often. In my playthrough, I heard a lot from Encyclopedia, Drama, and Perception, but in a future playthrough, maybe Savor Flaire, Inland Empire, and Electrochemistry might have more to say.

Although the game is full of choice, there is ultimately one ending. I initially thought this as a bad thing, but it makes sense on further thought. This city was boiling towards an explosive conclusion no matter what two policemen do. What we can change however, is if we can save anyone on the way there, and what sort of person you make yourself into by the end. What kind of cop do you want to be?

Thanks for Reading

This recommendation has been a long time coming, as I've had these two series in in the back of my mind for ages. If you have engaged with either, please spread this post and tell me what you've enjoyed from them.

If you enjoy my style of writing, I have made 45 other posts just like this recommending all sorts of media. Check the pinned post on my blog.

#media recommendations #videogame recommendations #manga recommendation #blogpost #blog #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #disco elysium #harry dubois #kim kitsuragi #Youtube

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The Dunk Shrunk Event, 2023

In the wake of the recently released publication by Engelman, the famous Dunkleosteus got its size cut from the previously humongous 7 metres long beast of an Arthrodire have now downsized into 3 - 5 metres long Hydrogen bomb shaped fat fish. Here are my rendition of the new dunk, honestly, I am fond of the new form of this animal.

Figure 1. Size estimate and skull diagram of Dunkleosteus terrelli based on the specimen CMNH 5768, the most popular of its species

Figure 2. Size comparison of the older version of dunk (above) compared to the new and chonkier version of dunk (below).

On other platforms, such as twitter and instagram, I have been called a prophet, for the gift of premonition have been bestowed upon me in the year of 2021 because I created this round fellow, aptly named "Dunkball", it was a local sensation when it first conceived.

Figure 3. The Dunkball, look at this boi, bask in his glorious spherical presence, for he is a perfect specimen.

Also just for fun, I created these joke dunk forms for you fellow enthusiasts to enjoy:

#paleontology #reblog #dunkleosteus #shrunkie dunk

[doorbloggr]

The Pikmin Series

Thursday 23/2/23

Media Recommendations #45

I've been in a really compulsive mood lately. I'm pretty sure I have some form of mild ADHD, but lack the initiative to actual go and confirm this. To me, this means joy in the completion of small tasks, and a low attention span. And although I've been waiting almost a decade for the next game, I feel the series that best scratches this itch is Pikmin.

Pikmin is one of my favourite series of all time, and lately, news of Pikmin 4 has me more hyped than news of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. So in today's article, I wanna discuss what I love about Pikmin, and also just compare the different games in the series.

The Pitch

The Pikmin Games are classified as Real Time Strategy Games, but comparing them to other RTS's like Age of Empires is folly. Instead of large scale conflict on a huge scale, the Pikmin Games have you follow one guy with an army behind him, and while you can have several groups doing tasks at a time, you must physically approach each soldier to interact with them.

You control a space Captain of a tiny alien species who has landed on PNF-404, a planet of lush greens, and strange monsters. Each game has different reasons for your protagonist to be there, but essentially you are tasked with collecting things and bringing them back to your ship in order to leave the planet and go home. But you cannot do this alone. Amongst the various scary creatures that dwarf the player character, there are the Pikmin, small plant/animal hybrids that follow your every command. It is up to you to direct the Pikmin into defeating enemies and carrying your quarry home, while avoiding all the obstacles that get in your way.

The Gameplay Loop

Your Pikmin army is a fragile, but determined species that can easily die but also easily multiply. Defeated enemies or resources called Pellets can be carried by the Pikmin to their mothership, a structure called the onion, and when it absorbs nutrients, it spits out new Pikmin. Having more Pikmin is crucial because bigger items require more Pikmin to carry.

As an example, Pellets have numbers on their top that indicate how many Pikmin require to carry them. A "1" Pellet can be carried by 1 Pikmin, but a 5 Pellet requires 5 Pikmin. Small enemies might require 3 Pikmin, most larger intimidating enemies require at least 10, and if you defeat a boss, that could require at least 20. But the more Pikmin you have, the more they can carry, and this will produce more Pikmin. It is a positive feedback loop. But there is a cap. All Pikmin games allow no more than 100 Pikmin in the field at a time, but spare Pikmin can rest in the Onion, and be summoned to strengthen your ranks if others die.

In Pikmin, there is only so much you can do in a day, and this is typically between 13 and 18 minutes depending on the game and difficulty. At the start of each day, you will have to summon Pikmin from their onion to start work, and at the end of the day, you must bring them back to home base. Any Pikmin idle in the field when the day ends are left to die. Due to the ferocity of nocturnal life, the protagonist and the Pikmin's Onion leave the Earth's surface during night and take refuge in low orbit. So you must make sure you finish any tasks well before the final countdown, or risk losing tens of Pikmin who are not accounted for.

Each game has a different limit to the number of days you have to finish the game, but I will get into these differences later in this post. Depending on the state of your Pikmin army, some days may be more productive in terms of working on your main objective, while others might be spend just building up your army after a major loss. It is a balancing act.

The World

As a lover of Scifi, particularly Speculative Biology, the Pikmin series really tickles my fancy. The game's setting, PNF-404, is in fact planet Earth in the far off future. The continents have changed positions, and the climate is overall more lush and moist. But we only ever see the world at a micro-scale. This provides a unique take on speculative evolution.

When we think of how animals will evolve into the future, most popular culture focuses on megafauna, but when your player character is 2 centimetres tall, the most common type of threat will be creepycrawlies. There's quite a deep taxonomic web of genetic families with high biodiversity and adaptation radiation. The Bulborb or "Grubdog" family has about 10 unique subspecies in Pikmin 2 alone.

Starting in Pikmin 2, the Captains document each species of enemy in the Piklopedia, giving each a binomial scientific name and a general description. I've spent many hours just reading through these entries and observing the critters.

Beyond what has become of the world, we can also explore what used to be of the world. Leftovers from human civilisation, such as bricks, garden beds, and ceramic tiles form obstacles to exploration. Recognisable earthly fruit such as cherries, strawberries, and watermelons litter the forest floor. Knick knacks and junk such as AAA batteries, bottle caps, and NES cartridges can be dug up and collected. This is a world that was once lived in by humans, and like fossils, their impact is left to be found by future explorers.

Comparison of Games in the Series

At the time of writing, there are 3 main Pikmin games, with a fourth coming out later this year (thank goodness, it's been sooo long). Despite the same world and gameplay loop; grow pikmin, defeat enemies to grow more pikmin, collect thing to get to new areas and get new pikmin; each game tasks the player with a vastly different objective and restrictions on game time. Therefore, there can arise disagreements in which game provides the best experience.

In Pikmin 1, Olimar's ship accidentally crashes down to Earth and smashes to pieces. He cannot breath Earth's atmosphere, and his suit will only keep him alive for 30 days. He must spend these 30 days collecting as many parts of his ship as he can, so he has the capacity to leave Earth's orbit and warp back home. There are 30 ship parts to collect, but careful planning means you can easily get multiple pieces a day, and only 25 pieces are required. This game can feel very stressful with this looming time limit, but it is very unachievable to complete the game a few days early.

Pikmin 2 has Olimar and coworker Louie returning to PNF-404 on a treasure hunting mission. Their freight company is almost bankrupt, but junk from Earth can be sold on their home planet, Hocotate, for a fortune. There is no limit on how many days you need to spend on the distant planet, and you reach the first ending when you pay off the 10'000 poko debt. In addition, this is the only game in the series to feature Caves, underground sublevels of exploration. No time passes between entering and exiting a dungeon, but you can not go back to recruit more pikmin until you leave. Most of the game's treasure is found in dungeons.

In Pikmin 3, you take control of three spacemen from the planet Koppai, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie. Their planet is running out of food, and in their journey to find food on other planets, the three land on Earth. The three are tasked with collecting fruit, taking the seeds to grow back on Koppai, and the juice from the fruit are converted into rations for the three to continue their stay. There are 66 fruit to collect, and a few different endings depending on how many are collected.

In my opinion, Pikmin 3 achieves the best balance of time limit to challenge. Unlike Pikmin 1, there is not a hard deadline. 1 jar of juice means one day's rations. Different fruit will fill different amounts of juice; 20 grapes are needed to fill a jar, a cherry might only fill half a jar, while a watermelon can fill 3 jars on its own. Since there is a limited amount of fruit in the game, you can run out of new ones to find, but this gives the player upward of 50 days to beat the game. So unlike Pikmin 2, the time limit is not infinite, but actively pursuing the objective gives you more time.

Caves are an interesting way to pump extra challenge and content into a limited overworld, but since each floor is randomly generated, they are less deliberately complex and interesting than they could be. Pikmin 2 does offer the most main story content, and although I would like Dungeons in the next Pikmin game, I would like them better designed.

Conclusion

I am carefully optimistic for the next Pikmin game. These games scratch a mental itch no other series I've played can, and although I'm not a fan of games blatantly ripping unique concepts, it really sucks there's no "Pikmin-likes", because I would really love more of this type of game.

If you read this far, thankyou so much, this was really long. If you know any games that come close to replicating Pikmin's gameplay loop, please let me know in the notes. Also tell me what you want from Pikmin 4, I'm pretty damn excited for it.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #pikmin #pikmin 2 #pikmin 3 #videogame recommendations

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Media Recommendations #44 - A New Start

Friday 20/01/23

Contents

Lycoris Recoil

Pokemon Scarlet

Thanks to school holidays it has been a really slow start to my year. Haven't committed to any hobbies that seriously, creating art has been sparse considering the free time I have, and I haven't dug into a whole lot of media. But it's OK to take it at whatever pace. Just do you.

In terms of this blog, this is a project i have no intention of giving up this year, and i apologise anyone who's followed me and is disappointed with the lack of articles. As I sit down to write this article now, I am committing to not worry so much about how good my writing is, and just write. Today I am recommending an anime and a videogame. And for my sake and yours, I will try and probably fail to make these recommendations short.

Lycoris Recoil

A-1 Pictures / Spider Lily

Flipping through my recommendations on this blog and you'll definitely see I have recurring tastes when it comes to anime. I love a good slice of life, and I'm a fan of flashy action, and some notable faves of mine, namely Spy x Family and Sakamoto Days, blend the two together. Lycoris Recoil is another gem in the same vein.

The series is set in a fictional version of Japan where all crime is closely monitored, prevented and covered up by secret organisations of able bodied youth. One such organisation is the Lycoris, spies and assassins that patrol city streets disguised as highschoolers. We follow Takina Inoue, who, due to a lapse of judgement in the field, has been transferred out of HQ to work alongside Chisato Nishikigi, a somewhat unorthodox agent who's CQC and firearm skills are unparalleled.

The two girls work in a Café named Lyco Reco as a cover, and when a job comes up, their handler, who is also the Café's manager, sends them into the field. Takina starts her new position with the same cold and calculating attitude that was drilled into her by HQ, but Chisato takes a more positive and hopeful outlook on life.

Chisato impresses on Takina the importance of caring for everyone in the city, and that goes beyond silencing criminals with a gun. It means helping people across the street, delivering sweets, doing errands, and just making life easier in general. Chisato even extends this kindness to opponents in her operations, making sure nobody dies. Everyone has a life, family, friends, and the right to a happy life, and this begins to change how Takina sees her role as a Lycoris.

I won't go on any further for fear of spoilers, but Lycoris Recoil is a really good gun and martial arts action anime, but also a sweet slice of life about seeing the beauty in caring for others. If my recommendation has your attention, give it a watch.

Pokemon Scarlet / Violet

The Pokemon Company/Game Freak

I know I'm very late on the bandwagon here, but I had been putting off getting the newest Pokémon game for a while, and only finished my playthrough a week or so ago. Why that is will colour how I'm approaching this review, so before I proceed:

I am a jaded pokemon fan who has been playing for a long time and has found the series to have lost some of its spark. My distaste of the newer generations is made of mostly petty reasons, and I wholly understand at 27, I am not the target audience anymore.

So what did I think? I think Generation 9 of Pokémon is definitely a turn in the right direction. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what this series is about, here's a brief sell:

You play the role of a Pokémon Trainer, one who collects and battles creatures called Pokémon. It is a turn based RPG, where the party is made of 6 Pokemon you catch or trade and can customise on the fly. The aim of the game is to either catch and catalogue every Pokémon available in the game or make a team strong enough to become a Champion, a true master of battle.

At its core, the game does nothing different, in fact, one of the points I praised about Pokémon Legends Arceus (working on the Pokédex), has regressed. But as Reggie Fils-Aime once said: "The game... is fun."

What is different at is core is freedom. Pokemon Sword/Shield gave us a taste of the concept and failed, but Pokémon SV (after a brief opening section) gives the player the entire region to explore right at the beginning. And instead of the one main progression of the old games (gym battles), there are instead 3 campaigns to complete, in any order if you are daring enough. 1 is the Pokémon League (the gym challenge), 2 is Team Star, a group of troublemakers who need lessons taught, and 3 is the Titan Pokémon and Herba Mystica, a quest to battle bosses and grow your Ride Pokemon.

This Ride Pokemon is the other main draw to the game, a Lizard Motorbike Legendary (Koraidon for Scarlet, Miraidon for Violet) who you don't actually get to use in battle until much later, but serves the role of fast transportation. While each of the three questlines can be done whenever, I'd argue the Herba Mystica line is most important because finding these Herbs gives new abilities to your Lizard bike. Swimming, Gliding, Higher Jumps, and climbing on Walls are locked behind these Herbs. I think having to unlock the abilities over time is good, but it means the other campaigns are less important by association.

The unspoken fourth quest, the Pokédex, is a lot bigger than in past games, but also a lot easier to finish. Like Legends Arceus, all encounterable Pokemon are just walking around, waiting to be walked into. Previously rare Pokémon can be found in large packs on the overworld, and Pokémon who are difficult to evolve can be found in their evolved forms, right alongside their prevolutions. I am undecided whether making the Pokédex more achievable is a good thing or not, but it sure makes it a different experience.

The game is never overly difficult, but challenging enough. You have the option of doing gyms and other challenges in any order, and while you may fight a couple a bit early by accident, level progression never felt too slow and i never needed to stop and grind, a good sign for an RPG. The true ending can not be experienced without the main three campaigns being completed. And for once, the story is good. It is emotional and satisfying to finish.

So is this the worst Pokemon Generation? Hell no. Is it the best? I don't think so at all. I personally think Pokemon SV were better than Sun/Moon, and Sword/Shield, but it feels disappointing that Legends Arceus was such a highlight for the series for them to just attempt to go back. They did keep a lot of the better parts of Legends Arceus, but it's still not there. I enjoyed my time with Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, and if you like Pokémon games, it is an easy recommend.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #anime recommendations #videogame recommendations #lycoris recoil #chisato nishikigi #takina inoue #slice of life #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon gen 9 #paldea

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Media Recommendations #43: Nerd Culture

Monday 2/1/2023

Content:

Bocchi the Rock!

Trash Taste Podcast

Sarah Z

VERY LONG POST INCOMING

New year, mostly the same old me! I came to end of 2022 having regretted I didn't engage more in my nerdy interests. Last year, for various reasons, I did not passively enjoy my free time as often as I did.

I say passive entertainment to contrast with what I'm doing now as i write; active entertainment; doing something creative and constructive. Which is not a bad thing, but it is a lot less mentally draining to just sit down and watch anime.

So I wanna start this year by declaring I want to enjoy my free time more, and indulge more in my nerdy interests. Nerd Culture to me is not fitting in, it means being an introvert who is also over proportionally passionate about things you're interested in. And being nerdy also means being on tumblr. So join me while I recommend some nerd culture media.

Bocchi the Rock!

Aki Hamaji/ Cloverworks

The Pitch

Bocchi the Rock! is an slice of life/comedy/music anime based on a four panel manga by Aki Hamaji of the same name. We follow the life of Hitori Gotou, a 15 year old highschooler who can be easily categorised by two traits: rock music enjoyer, and introvert. She has begun highschool with a dream to join a band, so that she can express herself without having to speak to strangers. She wants her musical talents to speak for her, hoping to overcome her lack of social skills and become a beacon of confidence and rock.

Her introvertedness is more of a roadblock than she anticipates, and although she spent much of middle school with the same dream, her inability to be the one to initiate conversation meant that she could never tell others about her talent. And her highschool life continues much the same. This changes when she meets is taken by a musician from another highschool, a drummer named Nijika who needs Hitori to fill the role of lead guitar in her band. The two are joined by Ryo Kamada, the bassist, and later by Ikuyo Kita, the second guitar and vocalist.

Hitori initially takes the role poorly, as playing in a group with an audience is a very different task than recording covers in a closet and uploading them to YouTube. She gains the nickname/pseudonym Bocchi, meaning loner, but she slowly starts to grow out of her shell and become more confident with her music. Bocchi originally felt like a burden on the group, and was clearly their weakest part. But the passion and joy she feels by finally being a part of something pushes her to become the glue that holds the group together. Although Hitori still struggles to look strangers in the eye, her rocker energy is strong, and she becomes the true heart of the band.

My Thoughts

Before starting, and also while watching the series, I made comparisons to other series with similar themes. Particularly K-On! and Komi Can't Communicate. Bocchi the Rock is about growing as a musician, and about overcoming social anxiety, but I feel like this series manages to capture both journeys in a more passionate and relatable way.

Yui Hirasawa (K-On!), Hitori Gotou, Shouko Komi (KKC)

First thing, Bocchi the Rock is really funny. Hitori is portrayed as the most gremlin form of introvert, hiding in wet and damp locations, absolutely screaming when suggested to engage strangers, and burn-out is visually represented in very extreme and fun ways. There is an engaging main visual style, but whenever a character (especially Bocchi) is engaging in a strong emotion, the artists will go absolutely hog wild with visual flair, sometimes even employing blocky CGI to represent a character's inner turmoils. I love Komi, but speaking as an introvert, the introvert experience is not blushing and covering your face with your hands, it is shutting down in public, locking up in the fetal position and running out social battery in the 2nd stage of a 6 part day plan.

Second, compared to K-On!, the musical journey feels a lot more real. Some of their early performances are flops, and instead of going home to study, like Yui in K-On does, characters are confronted on what they're doing wrong, and a drastic shift in behaviour and approach is often needed for growth. The nightclub that is their base of operations just feels real. I had musician friends in highschool and uni, and I know the early strives in growth (in fame and skill), is often in smaller venues, with an audience who already knows their musical niches. The school festival is the first big boss, not an early stepping stone.

There's a lot more to talk about with this show, but I need to talk about more stuff today, so I'll wrap it up now. Bocchi the Rock is a series that encapsulates the introvert experience in a way that many series before it have come short. The characters and general aesthetic of the series is vibrant and fun, and the music is very good. Less pop idol, more grunge. It is very tumblr core, so if you're reading this on tumblr, I definitely recommend it.

Trash Taste Podcast

CDAwgVA, TheAnimeMan, Gigguk

I've recommended podcasts on this blog before, and I'm back to recommend my newest obsession, Trash Taste. The Trash Taste Podcast is hosted by 3 fairly notable nerd Youtubers who specialise in Japanese culture. The stars are all streamers, and online content creators, but also between them, call on voice acting, songwriting, and TV presentation as experience. I also find it personally interesting that the three come from various different cultures but still come together under the common interest that is nerd-dom:

CDawgVA or Connor Colquhoun, is Welsh born but also lived in England growing up.

The Anime Man, or Joey Bizinger is Japanese/Australian and grew up in Australia and Japan at different stages.

Gigguk, or Garnt Maneetapho, comes from a Thai family, but grew up in England for a lot of his early life, as well as Thailand.

Connor top left, Garnt top right, Joey lower middle

All three hosts now live in Japan, and this becomes the main topic for a lot of their podcasts. As foreigners with various levels of literacy in the Japanese language, the trio have a lot of experience with prejudice from Japanese people. They offer an interesting insight of the struggles of living in Japan, their thoughts of politics and cultures as outsiders, but also their thoughts on other tourists and the tourist experience, as the three have been living in Japan since before and through the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Beyond Japanese culture, the three are just fun to listen to on their takes on nerdy stuff in general. Of course anime is one of their main topics of discussion, but also movies, shows, books, music, and events all around the world. Two Brits and an Australian is of course the perfect blend for a friend group rife with banter and shit-talk. From the first episode I listened to, I understood these are the type of friends where almost no topic is safe from taking the piss.

Although the other podcasts I listen to are just as unstructured and loose with manners, I feel none others have yet reached the same level of genuine lax and banter as Trash Taste. And that's the main thing I want readers to take away from this recommendation. It is not necessarily the discussion of Japanese culture or the comparison of favourite anime series that has kept me listening to this podcast. It is the genuine people and their friendships that keep me listening (the other two things are definitely good too though).

Sarah Z

(@dingdongyouarewrong)

A couple recommendations ago I discussed a recent love of long-form videos. And although podcasts are definitely now a regular part of my week, there is definitely a different mood and appreciation of it, when it comes to Video Essays. Ok but first, I gotta thank Leighton Night with Brian Wecht (a podcast I have previously recommended), because it is through them that I learnt of Sarah Z.

Now to best establish this recommendation, I must start with my Tumblr background. I had to look it up to check, but on my main, I've been on Tumblr for 8 years. That means I am no veteran when it comes to older trends and interests, and missed most of the SuperWhoLock noise, if it even was still around when I joined. I missed the shipping wars, I missed Homestuck, I missed Oncler posting. A lot of that side of tumblr is foreign to me, and even after I starting participating in Tumblr like a good little blogger, I just sort of dodged a lot of the more wild fandoms.

While I think this an overall good thing for my mental health, it means that I missed some of the more crazy moments of this hellsite, and who doesn't love entertainment? Sarah Z, who's blog is @dingdongyouarewrong, was deep into Tumblr when a lot of the most wild moments happened. And luckily for me, she has a Video Essay YouTube Channel where she tells stories about the craziest moments in fandom and online culture, what this meant on Tumblr and in the wider world of pop culture and society as a whole.

I've been enjoying Sarah's work as a way to educate myself on topics such as Destiel-Gate, The JohnLock Conspiracy, and currently, as I'm writing this, I am listening to her take on JK Rowling and whether Harry Potter is ruined. What makes Sarah's work enjoyable is her friendly and approachable manner of speech. While video essays do need to be well narrated and informative, and hers are, they are presented with the same air you'd expect from a friend sitting down with you on a Saturday night to tell you the gossip for the week.

Any time internet jargon is brought up, she makes sure she stops to explain any terminology. And while, like all good essayists, she distances her opinion from the facts, you can tell that all her takes are coming from the place of a fan who lived through these fandom moments. She is a vet who brings her own experience to the lecture, and the discussion is richer for it.

Sarah Z is a rich wellspring of drama and interest topics, and I look forward to bingeing more of her back-catalogue into the future. If you lived through the most dramatic parts of internet drama, or if need a recap on the most disastrous parts, I recommend you watch her videos.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #bocchi the rock! #trash taste #trash taste podcast #sarah z #anime recommendations #podcast #podcast recommendation #video essay #Youtube #flashing tw

[doorbloggr]

The "Stiff Pose" Valley

Monday 26/12/22

So although I didn't do a lot of art this year, I wanna take a chance to congratulate myself on improving my artistic abilities this year. 2022 marks the third year I've been playing D&D. As discussed in an earlier post on this blog, the beginning of my D&D hobby coincided with/resulted in a increased frequency of drawing.

And when I started posting my own art online, I also started regularly following other artists online, and over the years, I've noticed them grow. I've noticed a pattern, particularly in character artists, where different aspects of their art will improve at different rates. This is most noticeable in artist's ability to pose characters. I don't wanna attack other artists by drawing attention to art they may not be as fond of anymore, so I'll use my own art as an example.

Beginner artists may not be great at faces or anatomy, but the first thing they attempt to improve on is posing. The anatomy may not have been fantastic, but the characters are not as stiff. But then there comes a phase when the artist improves on the fundamentals of art, improving on facial features and actual body proportions. But at this stage, the poses become... more bland? There comes a stiffness to their characters. The focus on making the characters looked like better proportioned means the artist mellows on posing. I can't pose these arms and legs until I know how to draw arms and legs.

In a similar trend to the uncanny valley, I will declare The "Stiff Pose" Valley. Artists will reach a point in the artistic journey where the art may be technically and visually more impressive than their old art, but less... fun? I found this easy to study in my artwork of one of first D&D characters, Nevaeh.

You can see in the above collage, in arts 1, 2, and 3, I was doing quite boring poses, almost default/t-posing. But when you get to arts 4 and 5, the character may not actually be more visually impressive, but the poses are more dynamic and "fun". At the point of artworks 7 and 8, my art "quality" had improved, the lineart was cleaner, the faces were more pleasant. But more recently, I feel like I've been a bit better with posing.

Artwork 9 was based on and inspired by this chapter art from the One Punch Man manga, but I do wanna say it was more fun than many of my chapter arts previously.

Artwork 10 was less of a direct copying of a pose, and more of an inspiration. At this point, I'd established that Nevaeh was a villain aiming for lichdom, so drew inspiration from the D&D lich Acererak. And I feel like although I haven't reached the fun-ness of the poses in the above 4 and 5 artworks, I feel like I could get there again soon.

The revelation of this process was brought to my attention in my own art recently when I posted my 2022 end of year D&D artwork, where I feel, not only does my art look higher quality than the 2021 art, but the poses were also significantly more fun. And then I looked back and discovered the poses were also more fun in the 2020 art.

In Conclusion

So the point of this post is twofold. I have noticed that other artists I've followed who have gained artistic highs have gone through this journey. And this is also a sign to myself that I've started to crawl out of the Stiff-Pose Valley. I'm on an upward trend, and I can only keep improving.

If you're going through your own artistic struggle and blocks, just keep practising! You might reach your own Stiff-Pose Valley or other specific walls where you think you're not improving, but keep at it. You'll claw your way out of those holes and come out of it a better artist.

#blog #blogpost #art #art process #artists on tumblr #d&d #d&d art

[doorbloggr]

Artists and Violins

Media Recommendations #42

Sunday 18/12/22

Content:

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken (anime)

World's Smallest Violin (song)

It's almost Christmas, which means the school year is winding down and I have more free time to enjoy media. Expect at least one more Media Recommendation this year before Christmas.

Anime and animation in general are often misunderstood areas of media. What goes into the planning, storyboarding, and backgrounds? How is sound approached, and how do you pair it to the imagery? Hands Off Eizouken is a fairly meta series about how anime is made, but also about business and artistic minds. My enjoyment of anime these past few years and of being an artist meant I HAD to recommend this series.

I also want to recommend a song by AJR called World's Smallest Violin. I've been in an introspective mood lately, especially on my mental state and self-esteem. And this song tells a great message about the millennial struggle of sweating over the small stuff, which boomers will call us snowflakes over.

So with that intro, onto the recommendations.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Science SARU/ Sumito Õwara

Pitch

Asakusa Midori is a highschool freshman and a big anime buff. Asakusa believes anime is all about setting and concepts. She has a wild imagination and gets lost in her own worlds, which she details in her sketchbooks. She is grounded by her friend Sayaka Kanamori, a realist sort who has a mind for money making. Kanamori and Asakusa meet a student model named Tsubame Mizusaki, who is big into anime technique, especially character animations and anatomy.

Midori wants to join the Anime club, but her eccentricty over detail has socially isolated her. Tsubame and Midori bond over their love for animation, and share their ideas with each other. With Tsubame's skill in character design and anatomy, and Midori's skill in concept and settings, they discover they have the skills to make their own animations, and with Kanamori's connections and business know-how, they would be able to start their own club, "Eizouken", or the "film studies club".

We follow the journey of the girls as they go through the processes of designing a world, and then a story. From storyboard to key frames, to full animations. But Anime is not just animation, the importance of outsourcing other processes through other school clubs, such as backgrounds, sound design, music, voice actors, and funding. And although Kanamori does not have any skills or interest relevant to animation, without her negotiations with these other resources, and a level head to push the others towards the deadline, the club would definitely have fallen apart.

My Thoughts

As an artist and general fan of weaboo culture, I gotta say I appreciate series that give a behind the scenes to the processes of it all. But while My Dress-Up Darling was a focus on fans of anime, Hands-Off Eizouken offers a focus on the types of struggles creators must endure.

I might do some more comparisons of series here, but I feel a good contrast is K-On! K-On is about the struggle of an artist (here a musician, Yui) on their journey to be good in their medium, and how her mesh with the others in the group obstruct the band from success and notoriety. Hands-Off Eizouken presents a group that are already very good at what they do, the struggle is putting those skills together, and a much greater focus on reaching the audience.

The school band in K-On never really have to struggle to reach their audience, and the only places where balance matters is Yui's attention span having to battle guitar practice and school studies. In Hands-Off, since Kanamori is such a realist of a character, the grim reality of anime is put in scorching spot-light. Anime is time-sensitive, so animation tricks have to be deployed such as long wide shots, looping movements, flipping and rotating frames, and smears, in order for the projects to be finished in time. It is Kanamori that suggests taking on other artists and sound engineers to take the workload off the main animators, and she makes sure that corners are cut where possible so that they have something to show when the deadline hits.

Anime is not about individual frames, it is about the whole at the end. Sometimes scenes have to be cut, animations have to reworked for the resources available. And most importantly, if nobody knows about the project, all the work may as well have been for naught. Advertisement is important.

Hands-Off Eizouken is a very important series that I think any artist should watch. Not just animators, but anyone who wants to pursue art seriously. The characters are endearing, the animation is amazing, the soundtrack is fun, and the series comes together as a whole. Because every moving piece is important. Please watch it.

World's Smallest Violin

AJR

AJR is an indie pop trio, three brothers with an overall upbeat tone and penchant for mixing genres to great effect. The first song I heard of theirs was "I'm Ready", a groovy motivational beat that sampled a line from Spongebob Squarepant ("I'm Ready" obviously) as it's central motif.

Admittedly I hadn't kept up with AJR beyond this song for a long time, but I recently heard a newer song of theirs called "World's Smallest Violin", and after my own emotional turmoil I've been through this year, I thought it a good a time as any to recommend this song to others.

First, musically, it is a really fun sounding song. It sort of has a Country undertone, but at the same time has the pace of Big Band, that come seamlessly together with acoustic clapping and the aforementioned Violin.

But lyrically is it is a less happy song, but it's not a sad song. More like a cry of desperation and a call to arms for confidence. Another call to Spongebob here, the World's Smallest Violin is a mocking call of pity. Oh boo hoo, let me play a song on the world's smallest violin. It is a mocking phrase meant to belittle insignificant problems. And the verses of this song are about explaining how "bigger" people in your own life have dealt with issues bigger than any you've had to deal with.

Although human society has progressed in a way that means that life is easier for newer generations, boomers will often try to sell this as a bad thing. But without trying to sound too snooty here, according to Maslow's Hierachy of Needs, the human experience is about securing basal needs so that more specific and intricate personal problems can be addressed. So yeah zoomers and millenials have more personal problems to deal with, but they're not insignificant.

The bridge of World's Smallest Violin explains that although:

"Next to them, my shit dont feel so grand/ But I can't help myself from feeling bad/ I kinda feel like two things can be sad".

Just because it's a different or "smaller" problem, doesn't mean it's not a problem.

The final part of the chorus goes:

"The world's smallest violin/ Really needs an audience/ So if I do not find somebody soon/ I'll blow up into smithereens/ And spew my tiny symphony/ Just let me play my violin for you."

Even if it is a problem that only the World's Smallest Violin is needed to play for, we need an audience. Someone to comfort us, someone to at least LISTEN. Because much of the struggle today's youth have with mental illness is because parents and carers do not recognise them as problems. The issues are repressed, the stresses increase tenfold and everything becomes worse.

Sure people before us have fought in wars, and conquered technologies, created the foundations for modern infrastructure, but that doesn't mean there aren't problems anymore. We've worked on the big things, so now we need to work on the small things. And it starts with listening to the world's smallest violin.

It's a good song that tells a good message. Give it a listen.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #music recommendations #anime recommendations #worlds smallest violin #ajr #spongebon squarepants #keep your hands off eizouken! #tsubame mizusaki #asakusa midori #sayaka kanamori #anime #Spotify #long post

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Heron Necks are Kinky

Monday 12/12/22

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns are a group of birds under the Family Ardeidae (meaning "Heron"). They are all wading birds with long s-curved necks (shaped like the letter S) and spear shaped beaks they use to strike out at prey while watching the water's surface. The "S-curve" is a classic trait in therapods, originating way back in the bird family tree, to even the earliest families of dinosaurs and beyond. Ornithodira is the name given by palaeontologists to include all dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and it means "bird-neck". The S-curve neck allows greater control of movement and flexibility. But mastery of the S-curve had never been taken quite extremes before the Heron.

Spinosaurus, thought to live like modern herons, has a prominent s-curved neck - Scott Hartman

Herons have a very special adaptation to their neck vertebrae that allow them to launch their head forward at faster speeds than other birds, and that is the kink. The 6th/7th vertebrate forms a pivot where vertebrate bends at a 90 degree angle to the previous vertebrate.

Source: Mike Taylor/MorphoSource

As demonstrated in this skeletal diagram, the windpipe does not bend at the same harsh angle as the cervical vertebrae. In many other long necked birds, the trachea tends to be longer than the neck and just coil in the chest cavity, but in herons trachea is in fact shorter than the neck, and just bends around it (Taylor, 2021).

But back to the neck-kink. The bend in the Heron neck allows special muscle attachment to allow the neck to act like a spring. As the bird yanks its neck forwards, elastic potential energy is released and the beak is thrust forward at high speed.

Scientists have likened this mechanical set up as analogous to various "spear throwers" of older cultures. The Atlatl of Central America, or the Woomera of Australia, are tools that give the thrower a greater fulcrum of power to launch spears at greater speeds and power.

Such a technique arising within human technology makes sense, but for it to arise naturally, just seems bizarre to me. I'm not claiming there are divine means that led to this structure at all, but I don't see enough people talking about how fucked up it is that Herons and their relatives have a 90 degree kink in the neck vertebrate.

One more fun fact to end the post with. Some species of heron have developed fishing techniques where they will plop down a small morsel of food onto the surface of the water and if a fish comes up to grab it, the heron will strike and grab its' gullible victim.

So yeah I don't know how to end this post. Herons are cool right?

#blog #blogpost #birds #heron #egret #bittern #ornithology #bones #science #biology #zoology

[doorbloggr]

Long Form YouTube Videos: Documentaries and Video Essays

Thursday 8/12/22

Media Recommendations #41

Content:

The History of Wii Sports Resort Golf World Records (Summoning Salt)

Disney Channel's Theme - A History Mystory (Defunctland)

The Line Goes Up (Folding Ideas)

Treasure Planet - Disney's Biggest Mistake (Breadsword)

YouTube and new TV

YouTube is one of, if not the most popular ways to engage in video media in the modern age. I am in my mid-20s now, and I do not watch broadcast television at all. Subscription services like Netflix and Disney+ have meant that users can now curate their watching experiences, watching what they want, when they want, instead of having to watch for a certain time of day for a show to air.

Netflix is a giant in today's media consumption

Unlike these other subscription services, YouTube is a user driven site and thrives off the very low bar of entry for creators. All you need is a camera, and/or microphone, and a computer. This means that videos can be and are about anything. Videos of people playing videogames, rating their personal preferences of foods, tourist commentary, chemical demonstrations, original animation and music, or just educating other on your favourite things.

Some of my favourite Youtube Media. Clockwise from the top left: NileRed, SoloTravelBlog, LunaiMooney, TerminalMontage

Getting paid for your creations on YouTube is a tricky topic I do not want to get into deep today, but to get to today's topic, there is a sweetspot of length. A very short video does not pay well, and a very long video does not either. And it is tragic that longer videos do not get the recognition, reward, and engagement they deserve, because I have recently become very aware of how good the long form video catalogue is on YouTube these days.

Long Form Video Content

Now it can be quite easy to make a long video, but what I'm talking about today is beyond just stream archives and let's play compilations. I'm talking about feature length discussions of topics that the creators are passionate about and have put their passion into. In the early phase of planning this article, I came across two terms to describe my taste: Video Essays, and Documentaries. And there is a difference.

Now, Documentaries exist as a broad appealing form of media outside of YouTube. But the difference between a David Attenborough narrated exploration of nature and an explanation of the history of speedrunning a Wii game is resources and interest. The BBC would not greenlight funding for a History of Speedrunning, because it is a niche topic that will not have the broad appeal necessary to return on the cost to make that documentary at a BBC level budget. But just because it does not have mass appeal, does not mean it doesn't have appeal. The reason why I'm writing this article is because these are topics that will engage a niche audience, and these videos would not exist without the passion of the creators.

GenoSamuel's documentary of ChrisChan is a very unique case of something that can only exist on the internet.

The point of a documentary is to document. It is a presentation of collected facts, with little room for interpretation other than the presentation itself. BBC's Blue Planet is not a narrative any more than the the History of Wii Sports Resort Golf Speedrunning is. They are a curated presentation of knowledge on the topic that is enjoyable because it is easier to enjoy in one complete package rather than the interested party having to seek out and consume the scattered information themselves.

A Video Essay on the other hand is exactly what the name suggests, it is an essay in video form. It is the creator making an analysis or argument on a topic, often by dividing their video into sections, presenting information supporting their point of view. Video Essays are often more emotion driven, targeting the viewer's empathy to support the creator's opinion, either by making them happy, sad, or angry with the information presented. Video Essays do not exist as a popular form of media outside of YouTube, since their scholarly/professional equivalent are written essays. The idea of the Video Essay is not unique to YouTube but it is the best platform for independent long-form media. On the internet, there's an audience for everything, and a someone willing to present their opinion on it.

Contrapoints is a trans video essayist that discusses societal values, politics, ethics, and trans rights.

It might be my personal taste evolving, but even if YouTube doesn't financially support the models of Documentaries and Video Essays, the rise of crowd funding e.g. Patreon, has meant that the model becomes more feasible, and as a result, the general quality and variety of good long form videos has increased on the platform. So I'm take a bit of more of your time to recommend some of my favourite creator's of such media, and my favourite videos they've made.

Documentary Recommendations

The History of Wii Sports Resort Golf World Records

Summoning Salt

Summoning Salt is a historian of videogame speedrunning. To the outside observer, speedrunning may not seem like a topic that needs or lends itself well to documentation, but in reality it works very well. Since Speedrunning works around reporting your records via footage, there is lots of footage to demonstrate the topic. And if you fear getting lost in the jargon of techniques, Summoning Salt is very good at explaining the runs in laymen's terms. His sound design, narration, and how the video is formatted makes it easy to follow a topic, and the Documentaries go at fast enough pace that you never feel bored down by unnecessary detail.

The video that introduced me to Summoning Salt and the true depths of speedrunning was their video on Wii Sports Resort Golf. It was a tale of competitive spirit, flukes of ingenuity, and tenacity. What was one person's whim became a series of trials for many. How far can you stretch the technical ability and exploits of a Wii Motion Control Game? Very far it turns out. At 36 minutes, it is a shorter doco, a great introduction to Summoning Salt and his genre. It is a gripping tale that I implore you to experience for yourself.

Disney Channel's Theme - A History Mystery

Defunctland

Defunctland is a historian on theme parks, children's media projects, movies, and shows. Their origin was in extinct theme parks, but the breadth of topics discussed has expanded. While theme parks documentaries are not an uncommon subject area on YouTube, nobody does their research quite as thoroughly or directly as Defunctland. Much of the information presented in their works are things the creator had found out themselves via interviews with involved parties, or trudging through deep internet archives, all to put together complete packages.

The first video I watched of theirs is the latest (at time for writing) and is a story of how Defunctland found out who wrote the theme song for the Disney Channel. Given it is only a four note melody, it seems like it would not be difficult to find, but there are several layers of intricacies about channel tones, Disney's marketing teams, and composers that make this a very long journey. It is an emotional tale that does great tribute to those artists involved. Do watch!

Video Essay Recommendations

The Line Goes Up

Folding Ideas

Folding Ideas is a documentarian who discusses ideas that often affect society at large. Some topics are meta discussions of how to make media online and analysis of certain media products, others are societal level analysis of phenomena such as Flat Earthers. Folding Ideas has a sort of university lecture style presentation unique to Video Essays, where a large part of the video actually features the speaker in frame, while images and videos are used secondarily to better demonstrate his points. Folding Ideas videos are very long, but easy to follow; any concept brought up during explanations is quickly explained in layman's terms, so the entire essay can be followed.

The video that introduced me to Folding Ideas was their 2 hour explanation of NFTs, which also explored market capitalism, cryptocurrency and Web3. It is a Video that can be enjoyed in the background of other tasks, but I advised that for a first watch, you may want to set aside a couple hours near bedtime to sit down and absorb the explanation. Like many other Folding Ideas videos, it is overall neutral on the topic itself, but he is not afraid to make clear his stance on what he thinks of cryptocurrency and NFTs. If the NFT craze passed you by and you had no idea what any of it meant, this is THE source to educate yourself on what it all means, and why it is so bad.

Treasure Planet - Disney's Biggest Mistake

Breadsword

Breadsword is not your typical video essayist, I would describe them more as a story teller. Breadsword's target content is nostalgia bait for people who enjoy feel good media, be that older anime, disney and dream works movies from the 90s and early 00s, or even videogames. The videos of Breadsword are a love letter and analysis of childhood memories, stories from their internal development, deeper meanings, and why we should (or do) enjoy these pieces.

The first video I watched of Breadsword was their exploration of Treasure Planet, one of the last 2D Disney feature-length films. The video is both an exploration of all the technical and narrative techniques that made this movie great and how Disney tried to sabotage its success. Breadsword makes the argument that since movies like Treasure Planet are so technically demanding, and 3D animation was on the rise, Disney wanted the film to fail, so they had the excuse to change medium. It is an emotional story and a heartbreaking one, and Breadsword tells it very well.

Thanks for Reading

The irony of my article about Long YouTube Videos being very long was not lost on me, and I understand that this length will be intimidating to readers. I will not expect a lot, if any, to read the while post, but if you did, and you're reading this, thank you so much.

Like many YouTube creators, my input on this blog is for the benefit of my creativity first, and if it turns out others enjoy it, then that's fantastic. If you want to see what my other recommendations are, I have a list of them in pinned post on this blog.

#Youtube #blog #blogpost #media recommendations #video essay #documentary recommendations #documentary #youtubers #folding ideas #defunctland #breadsword #summoning salt #genosamuel #contrapoints #long post

[doorbloggr]

An Introspective Study of my 2022 Spotify Wrapped

Thursday 1/12/22

I know Spotify Wrapped is kinda cringe and people hate brands trying to sum up a year, but I embrace cringe and I want to talk about my music taste for the year. 2022 is a unique study of my tastes because I didn't actually use Spotify much for a large part of the year.

As discussed in Media Recommendations #37, I spent a few months bingeing all of Season 2 of Critical Role, and recently, I've been listening to another D&D podcast called Dungeons of Drakkenheim. Now I hate being alone with my thoughts, so while I usually will have my headphones in with music to fill that void, D&D filled that role for a large part. And so, Spotify did not get as much use.

The interesting impact of this on the trends in Spotify Wrapped compared to 2021, is that times of obsession are overrepresented in the data. In past years, if there was a song I played on repeat for a week, it would maybe make it to somewhere in the top 10 maybe, but the top songs would still be my evergreen faves. This year, when I had a song on repeat for a week, that would've been one of the only times I was on Spotify, and it would therefore be guaranteed top 5.

With that preamble out of the way, let's discuss my Spotify Wrapped 2022.

So first bit of data to analyse is my taste in genres. The top 5 they gave me is Rock, Dance Pop, Otacore, Indie Pop, and Anime. In the past, Dance Pop was my top genre, since a lot of my fave songs are 90s or 00s Pop like Savage Garden, Gorillaz, or Outkast. But I went through a phase of angsty rock music early in the year, where I constructed a play list of Linkin Park, Imagine Dragons, and Nirvana.

In my younger years, I thought these and other teen angst bands were cringe, but earlier this year, when I recommended Sail by Awolnation, I went through a phase where I accepted sometime a bad mood needs angsty music.

Otacore and Anime are more a result of later in the year, when I started to listen to a lot of Anime OPs, and music by Vtubers. For those confused by the term Otacore (like i was), it basically means weeb music. Videogames, Japanese, Anime.

Next, my top song was Komm Susser Tod, from the soundtrack of The End of Evangelion. Now to be perfectly blunt, I didn't walk away from Eva a superfan. It was confusing at times, and often hard to follow. But at the time, I was going through huge problems with family relationships and self esteem. I was in a state where suicide was a real option, and unfortunately, the lyrics of Komm Susser Tod really impacted me.

Example lyrics:

So with sadness in my heart, I feel the best thing I could do, is end it all, and leave forever. What's done is done, it feels so bad, what once was happy, now is sad. I'll never love again, my world is ending.

You can see how easy it is for someone in a real bad place to get into a worse place with messaging like "it all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down."

Now I am in a much better place, but I still appreciate Komm Susse Tod as a very powerful piece that sounds amazing and has very impactful lyrics. So even after I had gotten mentally better, I often replayed this song. 26 plays is not a lot, but again, I wasn't on Spotify a lot this year.

As for the rest of my top 5, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Imagine Dragons' "Believer" started out as a frequent play because of a meme song from Siivagunner if you'd believe me. But as that Angst play list became a more frequent part of my listen time, I started enjoying the song unironically. Out of Touch is up there as a happy accident. It's just a song I'm often in the mood for. And while it is tangentially a bad mood song, it's more often a comfort song.

Magic Circuit I've gotten more into this year. They're an Indie Dance Electronic band that sometimes features Vtuber personalities such as Nyanners and Ironmouse on vocals on their tracks. Slip is the first song of theirs I ever listened to, and it's still my big fave of theirs to this day.

Money Game pt 2, like Believer, I started listening to as a meme, since there was this clip featuring the best verse of the song circulating at the time. But then I legit became a fan of Ren and his music. He's often does stuff commentating on how much the world sucks and how we live in a society. Big recommend his stuff if you're unfamiliar.

Despite my suicidal angsty phase earlier in the year, my top artist was Ninja Sex Party again. And that's good news for my mental health overall, since NSP is all about absurd positivity. Despite there being no NSP songs, even in my top 10, I wanna attribute NSP being my top artist to the fact that I listen to so many different songs of their all the time.

Because while I may have only had 6 NSP songs in my top 100 play list they made me, other bands I have to be in the mood to listen to. But I'm always in the mood for NSP, and if I have my library on Shuffle, I never skip an NSP song.

As for the rest of my top 5 artists, these ones were also consistently in my good books. Magic Circuit I have sung the praises of above. And while I said that I had 6 NSP songs in my top 100, there were also 6 Magic Circuit Songs. Nyanners is my favourite vtuber, and also a really good singer. She does vocals for most of my favourite Magic Circuit songs, but she also releases songs outside of their collab. And while some of them are shitpost songs like Hey Boy Hey Boy (subtitle: I wanna fart in your mouth), others are legit bops such as Foolish Heart, which was my Top Song last year. She also recently released a cover of Snake Eater (from Metal Gear Solid) that I'm a big fan of.

Maroon 5 got really into my good books this year. I've always thought Maroon 5 was alright, but this year I took the chance to really explore their catalogue, and found there were many songs of theirs I enjoyed that I didnt even know was them like Harder to Breath or their new one Memories.

Imagine Dragons, as I mentioned above, was originally a meme follow, but I became a fan of quite of few of their songs, not just Believer, but Radioactive, the tie in song for Arcane: Enemies, and I like their new one, Bones.

My "Listening Personality" was The Deep Diver, which just confirmed my suspicion that this year's Spotify listens was very often obsession based. When I investigated Maroon 5, I went back and listened to all their stuff. When I followed a couple of Magic Circuit songs, and then their new album came out, I listened to all of it, multiple times.

Not a lot of regular vibing with music this year. It was either I was in the mood for some serious jamming, or I wasn't listening to music at all.

And that was my Spotify Wrapped for 2022.

I had an angst period which ended up being over represented in my top 5 artists and songs, but I also deep dived on some more happy and chill music in Magic Circuit and NSP.

I'll try to listen to more music next year and expand my scope, to try and discover more music, and try to stay in a happier mood. Best wishes for next year!

Here's a link to my top 100 if anyone wants to interrogate the rest of my music taste:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1F0sijgNaJdgit?si=7EEwTg0LS3-cVUBqqui5oQ&utm_source=native-share-menu

#Youtube #blog #blogpost #media recommendations #music reccomendations #spotify wrapped #komm susser tod #magic circuit #nyanners #ninja sex party #imagine dragons #maroon 5 #out of touch