Princess Diaries ੈ♡₊˚•.

Throughout my time on the independent web, I've seen a lot of people have pages dedicated to things they've read, songs they've listened to, or games they've played. I've always wanted to do something similar on my site at some capacity, but my perfection kept getting to me. How do I categorize the media that I consume? Do I create a seperate layout for each page? What if I read something like an online article that I have thoughts about that I wish to share, where does it go because it's technically not a book? Would I have to create a seperate page and layout for articles I read too now? I spend a lot of time watching video essays. How do I share those?

I'm not sure why I didn't realize I could create blog posts inspired by a media diary post from a blog that I follow to serve as periodical media logs earlier!

The form of media that I'm into very much depends on the time of year and what other things I have going on in my life at the time; for example I've been in college this first quarter of 2024 and have been completely burnt out of reading for pleasure at the time of writing this. It becomes a lot less mentally taxing not have to worry about consistently having sparse, unupdated pages or redundant layouts on my site. I feel like I can focus on just getting down my thoughts about the things I consume, which is what I wanted in the first place. On a personal level, one of the ways that I reflect back on my life is through the media that I was consuming at a particular time, so having it all chronilogically grouped feels natural to me. I tend to get through media very slowly compared to others, so I believe that posting media roundups every 3ish months is the most managable for me and makes the most sense for the way that I operate.

This first round up is obviously a bit late because I figured out it's formatting and structure a little more than two-thirds into the first quarter of 2024, and is subject to edits as I randomly think about things and go: "oh yeah! I did read this short comic/play this game/watch this movie/etc. back in January/Feburary/March 2024, wanted to share some thoughts about it but didn't have a place to at the time.

General spoiler warning for everything that I choose to write about! I don't want to have to censor my feelings writing my media round ups.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Books

Books that read this quarter either physically or through audiobooks.

Not a lot of reading these months because all of the focus I have for reading goes towards reading my school textbooks ://) haha

↬ I'm Glad My Mom Died written by Jennette McCurdy (Reread): Originally read this book summer of 2022, decided to come back to it after watching the Quiet on Set documentary. My heart hurt for McCurdy just as much if not more this time around. This book is a very candid account on the abuse McCurdy suffered at the hands of her narcissistic mother and how it became a part of her acting career. I never watched iCarly growing up yet enjoyed this memoir, so I certainly don't feel like knowledge of her acting history or her as a person are necessary to enjoy this book. I appreciated her sense of humor and wit while recounting her objectively traumatic life. I pray that McCurdy makes more from this book than Nickelodeon could’ve ever offered with their hush money, and she is able to pursue a fruitful writing career.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Games

Games that I experienced this quarter either by playing them myself or watching let's players.

↬ Monster Parlor developed by MetaphysicalMonsters: I loved the unique designs. Beauty is pain.

↬ Welcome to the Karoshi Club developed by Kamishibai Interactive: This story follows Kenji Haishima, a former game developer trying to find a new job in our dystopian society. Reminds me heavily of Junji Ito vibes. Finding a job that won't exploit you these days is hard.

↬ Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective developed by Capcom: The story follows Sissel, an amnesiac ghost with supernatural powers, and his journey to rediscover his identity. I was super young the first time that this game was released, so this was my first time playing it. The early 2010s vibes it gave me were incredibly nostalgic. The puzzles were fun and I was not expecting the ending at ALL.

↬ Fia's Night Out developed by ArcadeKitten: Fia sneaks out to get what she wants and everything is normal. This game is ncredibly short but it's very sweet. I'm interested in seeing how it connects with the rest of the overarching ArcadeKitten lore...

↬ Buckshot Roulette developed by Mike Clubmika: I was obsessed with this game for like a week. I watched multiple different Let's Players play this game just because I was so intrigued by how different people would approach playing this game. There's not much of a story behind it, I just enjoy the strategy and whimsy behind this game.

↬ Open House Simulator developed by Corpsepile: In this economy? A good price for a house...just kidding! If you play, make sure to have the volume up.

↬ Thirsty Suitors developed by Outerloop Games: I watched Materwelonz play through this game, and I'm glad that I did. The story follows a young woman named Jala as she navigates a recent relationship break up and is haunted by her several exes. I was a big fan of the casual lgbt Indian representation in this game, and will probably be one of my favorites for this reason.

↬ Poppy Playtime Chapters 1-3 developed by Mob Entertainment: I literally only consumed this because DanandPhilGames played this. Surprisingly, I'm actually a big fan of the overarching story. I'm not a fangirl for it by any means, but I'll probably keep tuning in.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Movies

Movies that I watched these past few months.

↬ Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman: I started a Kat Blaque video reviewing this movie not thinking that I was going to watch it, heard her refer to it as "Lesbian Fight Club" and immediately clicked out of her video to go watch the film for myself (Sorry Blaque...I came back to watch your review after watching Bottoms though!) and enjoyed it throughly.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Podcasts

Podcasts that I listened to this quarter, whether it be me tuning in weekly or just listening to a singular episode because the topic interested me.

↬ A Bit Fruity with Matt Berstein: I was previously aquanited with Matt Berstein through their Instagram social activism posts, so when a podcast episode of thiers popped up on my reccommended I decided to give them a listen. Matt gives a very calm energy in all of their epidodes, and I'm a fan of all the guests that are brought on.

↬ Two Hot Takes: My guilty pleasure podcast. I am too lazy to spend time on Reddit myself so I love that there is someone out there to do the curating and reading them out loud for me.

↬ Very Really Good Podcast: I am a proud citizen of Kurtistown, so of course I will listen to my mayor yap. I put this on in the background when I don't want to be sitting in complete silence, but also don't want a podcast I need to deeply be paying attention to. I have no idea how this man sustains a podcast all by himself.

↬ The BCC Podcast: I was a fan of Sarah Schauer and Brittany Broski's Violating Community Guidelines back when it was a thing, so imagine how thrilled I was to discover it's spiritual successor. To be honest, I think I prefer the BCC Club's vibes more because of the two hosts being lesbians. I don't really have the time to do deep dives on random internet topics like I used to, so I'm happy to have a podcast that does it for me.

↬ Sad Boyz: My favorite podcast ever. I first discovered it back in 2019 as a senior in high school because I enjoyed Jarvis Johnson's videos, and wanted to hear more from him. This podcast was the first time I heard someone speak about their immigration struggles and how their life always felt like it was in limbo, and it was the first time that I felt seen. Emotional pervert for life

↬ Do We Know Them: I started watching this podcast after ditching H3 because I wanted a podcast that I could listen to about internet drama without them being zionists. I love Jessi and Lily, and the energy and care they bring to the subject matter they cover.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Television

Television shows that I watched this quarter.

↬ Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Seasons 1): I actually never read the original books that this series was based on, but I wanted to watch this because a lot of my childhood friends did and I wanted to feel included. Because I don't have the original books to compare them to, I don't feel some of the levels of dissappointment that OG fans might.

↬ Yellowjackets (Seasons 1-2): I decided to watch this because lesbians. An incredible mix of mystery, suspense, horror and comedy rolled into one shoe. There are times that the characters frustrate me, but I have to remember that I'm not a teenage girl anymore so their actions won't always make sense to me. I love the fact that they jump back and forth between the teenage versions and adult versions of the characters.

↬ Fleabag directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridger: A filterless woman navigates life and love in London. I was convinced to watch this show because of a Youtube Short where fleabag confesses to wanting to fuck a priest...I meana, how could I _not _after that? A very unique show and one of the best ones that breaks the fourth wall.

↬ Hazbin Hotel directed by Vivienne Medrano: To be honest, I only watched this because my family has an Amazon Prime account and I wanted to be able to understand some memes about it on the internet, it's not something that I would've been inclined to watch otherwise. It was okay. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. The art style isn't the most appealing to me, and it feels like the dialouge was written by a teenage edgelord. I don't think the show needs to necessarily become "family friendly" persay, but it would come off a lot more developed if it leaned into the darker aspects a bit more to give the story more depth. The setting is Hell after all! On the positive side, I did enjoy the music. I will probably tune in to watch season 2 if/when it releases because I am curious to see how things further develop. Also, I relate to Charlie a little too much for my liking.

↬ Avatar the Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra (2014) created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (Rewatch): I chose to rewatch this because I felt the intense urge see my girlfriend (Korra) again. The first time I watched this show I was 17, and it hits so much harder as an adult.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Youtube Videos

Youtube videos that left an impact on me in some way, shape, or form that I'd reccommend to others. I put on a lot of Youtube in the background while I am doing other things so it'd be impossible for me to list every video I watched, but these are the ones I have things to say about.

↬ The Sims 2 Castaway: The Weirdest Sims Spinoff Game created by Izzzyzzz: I didn't grow up watching the Sims, so I'm always intrigued by any type of Sims retrospective.

↬ That Time Tumblr Invented Its Own Genders created by Strange Aeons: I was pretty young when MOGAI was more "in vogue", so it was interesting to hear about it from somebody that was actually old enough to understand what was happening in that era.

↬ The Sudden Disappearance of PBS kids Sprout created by Lulaloopsey: As someone who has been trying to figure out where "Sprout" dissappeared I was thrilled to find this video. Again, thankful that someone else did the research for me and compiled it into an easy to digest YouTube video.

↬ The Tragic Tale of Just Pearly Things created by J Aubrey: If Pearl has zero haters I'm dead.

↬ The Scandal That Rocked the Fishing Boat World created by Grayson's Projects: There is nothing that could've prepared me for what this video was actually about. I love hearing about mundane drama that I have no stakes in.

↬ What the New Twitch Meta is Actually Revealing created by Kuncan Daster: Honestly I'm not active on Twitch so I'm not familiar with the Twitch "culture", but I had fun watching someone analyze it.

↬ Kurtis & Dean: Always a Looming Apology created by Kuncan Daster: My mayor was involved, so I wanted to hear about what was going on.

↬ A Very Deep Dive into Shifting created by Strange Aeons: Absolute banger from Strange Aoens. The topic of shifting has always fascinated me because I've always just thought of it as intricate lucid dreaming, but this video dives much deeper.

↬ I lost my cat and found him 6 YEARS LATER...but now it's too late. (a story of letting go) created by Outer Edge Outpost (Isaac Marion): A story about love and loss. I'm not crying, you are.

↬ I Quit Social Media and Created a Website created by Lauren Julie: I think that it’s important to share perspectives from people who didn’t necessarily find joys in website building through Neocities. I like how...offline this video feels.

↬ The Subversive Power of the Lesbian Cheerleader created by Rowan Ellis: I love femme lesbians! I love when we subvert hetero norms!

↬ WEIRD Christian Knockoffs of American Girl Dolls created by SAVY WRITES BOOKS: I didn't grow up with American Girl dolls, so I watched this video as an outsider looking into this world. Incredibly fascinated by the number of people who thought they could do American girl dolls "better" but instead ended up doing it worse.

↬ "I never thought I'd fall for a scam, but..." created by SAVY WRITES BOOKS: This entire story was a trip from begginning to end.

↬ The Rise Of Frutiger Aero created by Izzyzzz: Recognized this style, never knew it had a name. It makes me sad to think about how optimisic we were about the future of technology before, lol.

↬ YouTubers Need to STOP Promoting BetterHelp created by The Kavernacle: The more I learn about BetterHelp the more I am disgusted by them.

↬ Is this author's husband trashing her novel on Goodreads? Maybe, but there's a bigger problem here. created by With Cindy: I love goodreads drama.

↬ Rich Girl Allowance Simulator: The Shopaholic Games created by Li Speaks: These games were my childhood!

↬ The Most Cursed Section of GirlsGoGames created by Li Speaks: To be honest I don't really remember this section of GGG, but I'm glad a retrospective was made on it.

↬ Consuming Content is NOT a hobby... ? created by Naomi Cannibal: A good reminder that content sonsumption is not a hobby!! We are more than the things we consume!!

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ Misc. Media

Miscellaneous things I consumed this quarter that I want to log and share that don't fit in any other category.

↬ Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (2024) directed by Mary Robertson: Words cannot describe how much of a gutpunch this entire docuseries was. I actually never watched any of the shows mentioned, funnily enough because my mom found them inapropriate for me to watch, but Nick was still a big part of my childhood through their cartoons. To a certain extent I've always been aware that the acting industry was throughly corrupt and vile especially for children, but some of the things this docuseries brought to life were things that I could not have ever concocted in my wildest dreams.