Chronically Online in a Cool Way (I Swear)

I’m embarrassed to admit that I grew up entirely on the Internet. My dad got me my first laptop when I was just 4 years old. Of course, he did it in good favor. I had always played games on his laptop so he just decided to get me my own. But instead of using his own laptop for work like he thought he would, he just spent all his time playing Club Penguin and Pixie Hollow with me. Times like that created the best memories I have to this day.

So when I moved to America in 2014, I was (unfortunately) chronically online at the ripe age of 6. I spent every single day on YouTube. Wasting hours of my day with my eyes glued to the screen. But honestly, I look back on those moments fondly. I had fun and that’s really all that mattered. I wasn’t doing anything harmful and I think I grew up to be an alright person. Hopefully others think I’m a little more than “alright,” though.

In my early days of YouTube, I got really into indie games (like most people). The first one I remember was Five Nights at Freddy’s but I refuse to talk about that one… So instead, I’ll discuss the ones that positively impacted me and still affect me to this day – like Undertale.

Words actually cannot describe just how much Undertale (and Deltarune!) impacted me as a person. I have 2 huge Undertale posters above my bed at home and a Deltarune print on my wall at MSA. I also have more merch on this year’s Christmas list so if anyone wants to get me a little something, you know what to get… 

Undertale was a game released in 2015 where you play as a little kid that falls into the “Underground” and you can either make friends with “Monsters” or kill them. I remember watching Jacksepticeye’s playthrough of it and then scouring YouTube to watch as many more playthroughs as little 7-year-old me could. I never actually played it, but I did play Deltarune which is kind of an alternate reality to Undertale.

Sally Face was another game that shook my whole world as a kid. This one was released in 2016, and I remember being obsessed with Gloom’s playthrough of it. It’s about a boy with a prosthetic face that solves mysteries and goes ghost hunting with his friends. I was so confused about the story and it took me so long to figure it out, because I was literally 8-years-old when the first chapters released. When I was a kid, I was really picky about the art styles of the games and shows that I watched, and I remember being somewhat grossed out by the style of Sally Face, but now I love it with my whole entire heart. I also have a giant poster of it in my room back at home (and it’s kind of creepy).

Stardew Valley actually changed me as a person. I would not be the girl I am today if Stardew Valley did not come out in 2016. Back then, I hated living in Mississippi and I wanted to move to big cities so badly, and then this little farming simulator came out and my entire world changed. It’s actually unhealthy. I’ll sit outside and think “this is just like Stardew Valley.” No girl, this is literally your backyard. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve made it my goal to move to the countryside when I’m old just because of Stardew Valley. Y’all wouldn’t get it…

I’m a little worried about how much I’ve bared my soul in these blogs. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop anytime soon. I just love to overshare. I’d love to hear about anyone else’s favorite memories about their early days on the Internet or if they were obsessed with indie games too. Expect my next blog to be about Deltarune.