My Lovlies/ Values/ Fixations!!

I've loved EDM music since I was a tween. Largely a vocaloid and/or indie internet music enjoyer nowadays

Vocaloid shrine!!

Anyone who knows me will be able to tell you I'm a youtube enthusist. I used to be a fandom editor in the Markiplier community (on insta before tiktok was even a thing). Nowadays I mostly just consume self-help/ improvement content, letsplays, and ESCPECIALLY video essays. Here's some reccomendations

BobbyBrocolli - Science/ engineering focused documentary-style videos
Andrew Cunningham - Music Theory & Undertale
AmbiguousAmphibian - Philisophical Letsplayer of sorts
Mentour Pilot - Very informative but entertaining documentary-style videos for Plane crashes, incidents, or general aviation knowhow.
Kappa Kaiju - Commentary on tech & internet happenings
Strange Aeons - Internet historian of sorts
Simone Giertz - Engineer of strange, eclectic things
Binging with Babish - good 11pm food content
Caroline Winkler - Self help & feel good content
Pasta Coma - she makes me feel better about my life (love her! very chaotic tho)
Kurzgesagt - Obv recommendation
Jenna Marbles - Nostagic & feel good
Game Grumps - letplayers, also gremlins
Sci Show - Informative :D
Answer in Progress - Tester of shower thoughts kinda
Jenny Nicholson - Entertaining critiques of themed experiences
Unus Annus - RIP
Canto to Mando - Super helpful Mandarin comprehension help
Brian David Gilbert - Old polygon content is great, nowadays does music or one-off helpful videos
PBS Two Cents - Great financial content
SoupEmporium - Video essays of varying topics
Studyquill - My high school inspo
Neytirix - Animation & art channel
Overly Sarcastic Productions (OSP) - Great mythological, literature, and history content.
Swell Entertainment - Internet commentary
Watcher - Vaguely historical or true crime content
Snapcube - obvi. Love her deltarune playthrough & dubs
More Perfect Union - Informative financial and society videos
Hbomberguy - classic, THE video essayist imo
Spaceman Scott - Horror enjoyer & essayist

Speaking of editing, I still partake in the occasional fandom edit (never public tho, only for my strange eyes and maybe a friend). Or add to my video diary. I highly recommend VSDC, it's been my editing software of choice since 2016. I did dabble in Adobe & DaVinci. But, for my needs (so nothing professional), VSDC has worked wonderfully.

Editing Shrine!!

Also, speaking of avoiding platforms, a fixation I've been indulging a lot these past months is diversification of my online foundations. This involves de-Googling and de-Microsofting things.

I've switched over to the Linux Distro Zorin 4 months ago (wonderful beginner distro! It's very occasionally weird with bluetooth but it's good. Easy to set up too, just Microsoft refused to let me partition space for it. Had to get a 3rd party software just to move files smh. I'll be sticking with Zorin for the forseeable future).

Did the Google exports for all 17 of my Google accounts (this was before they got mean about linking phone numbers while making new accounts). Largely, I used these for the 15 GB of space on drive and spam emails. It's good I have all the files from these drives now, but Google has made it unessecarily difficult to remove bulk files (escpecially those outside of a folder) from drive. Who would've guessed. So far, I've cleared 9 out of 17 Drives.

I've also switched over to Proton. I invested in one of the premium version to get multiple email accounts and Proton calendar. An EXCELLENT alternative to Gmail & Google Calendar if you needed a recommendation in order to switch.

Tried looking into OS alternatives for my Samsung A32. Unfornately, there are no android alernatives that works SPECIFICALLY with the A32. Dismayed, but I will keep this in mind for when I need to purchase my next phone (hopefully sometime after graduating in 2027 pleeeeease).

Currently also in the process of switching to a password manager. I kinda kept my passwords strewn about and it's not easy to transfer them via .txt for example. I've already got 444 logins though, which feels like a lot. But I know I've got at least 100+ more to add. A work in progress to be sure.

Along these lines, I've been trying to move to open source programs. Here's what I've got:

I previously used Google Docs, then switched to Word, and now I'm using LibreOffice Writer for most of my document needs. It's a good program! It was kinda hard transferring my resume from Word in particular, but that document has a shit load of formatting.

I'm also in the process of transferring my budget spreadsheet & period tracker from Google Sheets to LibreOffice Calc (I know, I was like 14 when I decided it was a good idea to keep that kind of info with Google, I know). Some of the formattings didn't transfer correctly, but that's easy to fix.

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) - Honestly a decent photoshop alernative. I'm not a professional by any means, so take my judgement with a grain of salt though. I'm still getting used to the program. I primarily used Pixlr before, so I haven't as urgently motivated to switch to GIMP (as there's not really a giant megacorp to fear behind Pixlr). But I'd definetly like to use it more often.

VLC!!!! So customizable frfr. Highly reccommend.

I still use Audacity, the goat. No need to transfer :)

Open source/ Anti-software monopoly Shrine!!

I'm largely anti-AI. Each to their own, but I think they're a ticking time bomb in terms of laws, privacy, & finance. I'm of the opinion that, cultivated and sequestered only on your own PC environment, it's kinda fine. No environmental impacts if it's just ur PC overheating. But the marketing and culture around AI SUCKS MASSIVE ASS. It's just a laziness enabler in the BEST of instances, and that's not enough to keep the S&P 500 up forever. In the worse instances, it's creating CP, encouraging self-expiration to its most vulnerable, and poisoning communitites (either environmentally or culturally). Even in just mild cases, it looks mid and writes like a politician (a bad thing). It's also stolen a bunch of data and continues to steal data. Overall dislike & avoid from me. An aggressive side eye if usuage or praise of AI is brought up in casual conversation. But, I won't tell you off. Time will tell you off eventually. I've got better things to fight for besides one person's AI usage.

I've been using the Finch app since december and it's cute, highly recommend. It gives me the same high online shopping does just without actual money. I get to put my little birb, bug, in all kinds of cool outfits. (fun fact: Bug is actually the blue bird on the right side of the home page).

Finch Shrine!!

A weird thing about me is I try staying away from fiction or fantasy stories. Nothing about the genre itself, I just tend to get too hyperfocused on a story and my body/ mind has genuinely stopped myself from starting new fiction novels/ series. The only thing that usually gets me over this fiction-consumption hurdle is if the art style is beautiful. I can still remember to eat if I'm looking at cool art. But, if I'm in bed thinking about blorbo scenarios, I tend to languish hard. That, or it's content I was exposed to while I was a tween that's continued to exist/ produce for whatever reason.

I've been studying Mandarin for 8 years. 3 years as my high school language. 5 years self-study. I'm half Chinese, so I've got a leg up in that I've got family to speak Mandarin to. I just don't ever feel comfortable doing that tho. But I'm trying to get over those insecurities about speaking shitty Mandarin with family. Been clawing my way to fluency since age 12. It's going kinda mid, but better than before. I think I've got a pretty good grasp of tones and pronunciation. My next moves are improving listening and reading comprehension. I've been reading a kids book on the DuChinese app about a stray kitten. I can't stop reading?? Like I know it's a kids book but I am genuinely enticed by the plot. She starts off as a starving kitten. She makes a friend! She gets beaten so bad she loses her tail. She gets adopted! Her pet mom is an overworked & poor student. Like there are these highs and lows I'm not expecting to read in a kids book. Learned how to say you're going to beat someone's ass from this book. Also how to call someone broke. Many interesting lessons learned.

I am a blue enjoyer. Mostly light blues, cyan, or any shade of blue that entrances me.

BLUE Shrine!!