jthrash 2025-01-01 14:44:43

After the pandemic lockdown in the early 2020's, I don't really trust myself with "mainstream" social media (you know, the ones with algorithms that insist on slipping rage-bait conspiracy nonsense into our feeds, no matter how much we try to train the algorithm to show us wholesome cat videos and inspiring indie animations only) and left Facebook, Instagram and what was then Twitter, and of course I no longer read intentionally-terrifying news--I mean, opinion websites like New York Times--if a real-world event really is that big of a deal, I'll hear about it from co-workers, anyway. I'm pretty much just using sites that are useful to me as a hobbyist animator, like Newgrounds here and YouTube (I try my best to ignore the obvious rage-bait YT insists on feeding me), BlenderArtists to get more technical, 3D-focused advice on my 3D art efforts, and, uh, texting memes to my parents and my sister, I guess that counts as "social media".

I guess I could lay off the video game and technology news sites for a little while, they are understandably concerned about potential tariffs in the US that will drive up the prices of computers and video games in particular, but that shouldn't concern me because I'm not planning on buying any new hardware for another couple of years, plus so far no upcoming full-priced video games are really appealing to me and I would be perfectly content just revisiting the Kingdom Hearts series on my Steam Deck throughout 2025. That, and Push Square and Nintendo Life have too many rage-bait articles these days focused on pointless "culture wars" on X, constantly reminding me why I left the site formerly known as Twitter in the first place and how Elon Musk somehow made it even more unpleasant since then.

jthrash 2025-01-01 16:03:55

Thank you, hope you have a good--wait, what was that last bit about "drinking a martini with your eye?"

jthrash 2025-01-01 17:21:39

Your art style is amazing, hope you have a great year, too!

jthrash 2025-01-01 21:57:23

Like I said, Sonic 3 was undeniably a kid's movie, one I watched essentially to remind me of when I was only 8 years old and I first rented Sonic Adventure 2: Battle from Blockbuster back in the day, so it is nowhere near the level of uncensored R-rated action like, say, Die Hard, but compared to the Disney and Dreamworks movies advertised before the movie, the Paramount Sonic movies are definitely the polar opposite of Frozen or Moana, at the very least. The theater knew exactly what it was doing advertising an inspirational movie about an autistic boy (who kind of looks like a young Chris-Chan, no less) and his neurotypical father learning to get along before a Sonic the Hedgehog movie, by the way. I briefly liked Minecraft until I downloaded Blender and eventually learned more advanced 3D modeling, it's amazing that a game that is basically older than the kids who play it is so insanely popular, still.

As for your "testosterone" suggestion, I already experienced that in my college years (minus the drinking beer myself, simply because I never developed a taste for alcohol and someone had to be the sober "designated driver" in my group) in college, kind of too old and responsible for that stuff, now.

jthrash 2025-01-01 23:45:43

As someone who used to frequent Sonic fandom websites like Sonic Stadium and Sonic Retro, I no longer think that is a good idea--Internet fandoms are generally run by psychos. I wish magazines like Nintendo Power would come back, they were much more exciting and positive than the websites that replaced them, and of course the pressure to generate clicks through "rage-bait" or "click-bait" didn't exist with magazines.

On the other hand, video games are basically mainstream enough now that, like with current events, I'll hear about it from friends, family and co-workers anyway if it's a big enough deal. We don't really get any big gaming news anyway outside of Nintendo Directs and Sony State of Plays these days.

jthrash 2025-01-02 00:14:40

3D Platformers and JRPGs. Maybe the occasional action melee game, if it's even half as good as Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. I VASTLY prefer stylized, colorful cartoon or anime visuals over realistic looking-and-feeling games, but I'm flexible and play outside of my comfort zone every once in a while. Not a huge fan of puzzle games outside of the legendary "Game Boy Tetris," though, those stress me out and I can't play them when I'm too tired from work or life in general.