This is a collection of Episodes 8-11 of RNF Weekly Chat, which you can find on the Home Page. I write these every week over the course of a day or two so please excuse any sloppiness in word choice or typos. With that said, please enjoy these ramblings of mine and I hope you enjoy.
Episode 8: October 6th, 2024-October 12th, 2024
Welcome to the first episode of October! Ahhh, finally, we're knee-deep into the best month! And this week in particular is a big one. So, apologies in advance...this will be another short episode. RNF Day is coming up, and I'd rather focus on that. I still have a lot to work on. So let's just jump into things.
Weekly Schedule: Times are in Eastern Time
Tuesday, October 8th -RNF Pokémon Quests #83 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #84 (2 PM-Pokémon Quests) -Super Mario Bros. Part 1 (4 PM-RNF Games) * Update 10/08 at 7:48 PM EST: The Mario video will be late because I simply suck. Sorry I did a slightly worse job at balancing all this than I thought I would. Thankfully I think Mario will be the only one affected.
Wednesday, October 9th -Happy Birthday to Me! -RNF Day! (Further details later)
Friday, October 11th or Saturday, October 12 -Danganronpa: Survivor's Guilt Prologue (Live and Unedited)
This is a huge week. The true start to everything I've been working on lately. Tuesday will be a bit of a prologue, with two Pokémon Quest episodes that will lead up to my Indigo Disk playthrough (which all 10 episodes I'll be posting on RNF Day will cover, but we'll get to that later). And then finally we have the first episode of RNF Games. About damn time right? Hey, I had to get it out before the RNF Day videos I'm posting on the Games channel. Got to get the main show out before I post the side stuff.
And once again I remind you all that on October 11th both the Prologue and First Chapter of Danganrona: Survivor's Guilt is going to release. I'll try and play the game ASAP and get my video up on either Friday or Saturday. It all depends on what time the game actually comes out you know. So while I'm certain it will be out by Saturday I have no idea what actual time it will release.
And then we get to RNF Day. Whew boy. So...what's gonna happen on this huge day? Well....
-RNF Pokémon Quests #85 (7 AM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #86 (8 AM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Plays Super Mario Wonder #11 (9 AM-Live and Unedited)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #87 (10 AM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #88 (11 AM-Pokémon Quests)
-Ultimate Mario Party #1 (12 PM-Games)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #89 (1 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #90 (2 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-Shovel Knight: All Feats Quest #3 (3 PM-Live and Unedited)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #91 (4 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #92 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-I Tried Speedrunning Shiny Pokémon Hunting (6 PM-Games) Edit: 10/9 at 6:45 AM EST: I'm sorry guys, this video has to be delayed. I rushed the hell out of it, and it's just no good right now. I'd rather get a good video out there then meet this arbitrary goal I set for myself. Again, I'm still learning how to do this balancing act I want to do, so while it sucks I'll take the L and learn from it. To make up for it though RNF Games #1 will take the 12 PM slot (since I needed to delay that anyway) and Ultimate Mario Party will have the 6 PM slot.
-RNF Pokémon Quests #93 (7 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #94 (8 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-Ranking Every Danganronpa Character I Could Beat in a Fight (9 PM-Treasure Trove)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #95 (10 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Clip Collection #1 (11 PM-Clips)
From 7 AM to 11 PM, there will be one new video every hour. Spanning across almost every channel and bringing us a total of 17 new videos. There will be new series, some returns to older series, and a whole lot of fun.
Edit 10/9 at 12:45 PM: I'm sorry guys. It looks like a lot more is getting affected by delays than I thought. I really thought I had gave myself enough time to do some last minute touches and editing, but I'm beginning to see the error of my ways. This is totally on me. So this schedule is now very different from planned. That being said though most of these videos are finished and scheduled. And those will still release. So you're still getting a lot of videos! Though on the flip side it's mostly videos that don't require any extra editing. I really wanted to use this day to get some videos with a higher level of labor put into them, but I guess I overestimated my abilities to do that. I feel awful, but hey we still have some fun stuff to look forward to. And it was a learning experience. If I try this again I'll know how to handle it better next time. I'm still happy with what's coming out today (especially getting RNF Games started feels so fucking good!) and hopefully the rest can happen in the next day or two. Fuck it, it's RNF Week now baby. Lol. If it wasn't for work and the want to not spend my entire birthday stressing out, I maybe could've done a little more. Still have some delays but get 1 more video finished at the very least. But I still have a shift ahead of me and I also want to take some time for myself. So I'm sorry. I'll do better next time. This whole content creation thing is a journey and I need to learn as I go. So from this experience I learned not to make exuberant promises before I get more things finalized and just how far I can actually push my editing abilities. And maybe if I really rushed things I could get some of this stuff out on time, but at that point it comes at the cost of the video's quality which no. Anyway, I'm sorry. Thankfully I'm making these mistakes before I make it big (if I ever do) so I can do better when I have a more substantial audience. That said though, even with a small audience I should do better.
Firstly, we have 11 (1 more than I initially promised) episodes of RNF Pokémon Quests. This will cover the entirety of my Indigo Disk playthrough. While we're on the topic on PQ I recently decided to stick with the old titling format and thumbnail style, despite my wanting to change them a couple weeks ago. This is just for now though as we go through the backlog of episodes I have. I will probably change it once we catch up. I'll explain my reasoning in the future. For now, let's focus on the rest of RNF Day.
RNF Plays Super Mario Wonder will return for what I'm dubbing as Season 2. Which will cover post-game content. My quest to get 100 percent in the game, and do all the bonus levels you unlock as a result. This season will probably be around half as long as Season 1. I'm thinking 5 to 6 episodes. And then we'll fully be done with this series. So consider this the beginning of the end.
Shovel Knight: All Feats Quest will also be finally returning for its third episode. After the craziness my life has been these last few months, this project unfortunately fell onto the back burner. But it's back now and hopefully will start being a weekly thing. My plan with the Live and Unedited channel after RNF Day is to have 3 videos a week. With Monday being Super Mario Wonder, Wednesday Shovel Knight, and Friday for Fangans. This may take a couple weeks to fully implement as I build up a backlog, but I'm hoping it will happen not too long after RNF Day. Of course, that channel will also host any VOD reuploads for when I get back into streaming as well. So there are big plans for Live and Unedited in the future. But I want to try and have these 3 LaU originals going simultaneously. And once Wonder ends, I'll either upload Shovel Knight or Fangans twice a week or try a new series out. We'll see what I'm feeling. I have thought about what I want to do after Wonder, but I have nothing definitive planned yet.
On the Games side of things we have the first episode of Ultimate Mario Party, my Mario Party lets play series, and a challenge run video. I still don't know what to call the series that will host these challenge runs, but hey. I'll be speedrunning a fan game called Pokémon Shiny Island. A game all about collecting a complete shiny Pokémon dex. I know I originally said that Kirby 64 without powerups would be the first challenge run video, but I had some technical difficulties and needed to switch gears if I had any hope of finishing on time. I promise though that Kirby video will be the next challenge run episode.
Treasure Trove and Clips will also finally get their first proper videos. On the TT side, we have a tier list video where I rank each Danganronpa character by how likely I'd be to beat them in a fight. That's right, power scaling to a whole new level. I figured it's about time we do something related to the main series Danganronpa games too huh? So I'm going to tell you all in detail how I'd beat up Himiko Yumeno. Enjoy the vid.
The clips video, meanwhile, will just be a collection of my favorite moments from the videos we've posted so far. Some funny, some more sentimental. Just a checkpoint for where we are in this crazy journey you could say. It will even include some moments from the videos listed above.
And that...is my plan for RNF Day. A big day indeed that I still need to get some work done for. But I'm happy to report it is mostly almost ready. So there's no doubt in my mind that everything should get out on time. I'm hoping you all look forward to it. I know I am.
Song of the Week:
Birthday by The Beatles
Usually in this segment, I do a deep dive into whatever song I'm talking about while sharing some stories about how it connects to me personally. In this case, though, I put this as the Song of the Week purely out personal ties. There's really not much to analyze honestly, at least not that I'm qualified to do. Lyrically it's just a more upbeat and hard alternative to the classic birthday song. And honestly, yes I infinitely prefer this song to the classic. This always gets me in the mood to celebrate my birthday, and I promise it will get you in the mood too or you're money back guaranteed.
...
I'm gonna owe a lot of people born on September 11th some money.
The main reason I put this as the song of the week is because my birthday is on the 9th, and I always think of this song whenever the day comes. My mom is actually a huge Beatles fan. Well, actually I'd say in general she's just a huge music buff. Way more than I ever am. She loves sharing her music taste with her kids. Hell, the last time I visited her she was showing me a bunch of 70s songs. When I was younger she would play this song in the morning on my birthday. Honestly, as a kid it was widely embarrassing. I guess that's just how kids are. I can't really explain why I felt that way. But as an adult, I get a little bit of nostalgia for those moments. When my mom being a little self-indulgent on my birthday was the biggest of my issues. I haven't actually seen my family on my birthdays in the last couple of years. Due to all of our different schedules, we usually do something days after the fact to celebrate. Which makes my actual birthday feel a little lonely, so it's nice having this song to easily bring back these memories. A nice reminder that even when I can't be with them they're still there for me.
And that's the end of this chat. Hey, look I finally got one out on time. Are ya'll proud? Sorry to cut it short again, I just want to focus on the big day ahead and get the last few preparations wrapped up. Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you all later. Buh-bye!
Episode 9: October 16th, 2024-October 21st, 2024
Hello compadres, and welcome to episode 9 of RNF Weekly Chat. I hope you all are caught up on this show. It's imperative to the plot you read the previous 8 episodes. Imperative I say!
Jokes aside this will be a bigger episode so strap in and let's get into it.
Weekly Schedule: Times are in EST.
Monday, October 14th -Danganronpa: Survivor's Guilt Chapter 1 Daily Life (2 PM-Live and Unedited)
Wednesday, October 16th -Danganronpa: Survivor's Guilt Chapter 1 Deadly Life (2 PM-Live and Unedited)
This week will be nothing too big. I have some stuff I need to take care of this week, and that also includes making up for the things that got delayed during RNF Day (which I will address in a moment). With that said, I got to continue Survivor's Guilt. This week will bring us to the end of what is available so far in this game. So this will be Survivor's Guilt week I guess. I may post episode 2 of RNF Games this week, I want to. But I make no promises. I really hope soon I can start getting near-daily episodes of games out. But while we're still in this weird getting into the flow of things time I hope to get the occasional episode out to hold everyone over. I can't promise when the more frequent uploads will begin, but hey at least we're getting episodes out. Speaking of future plans...
Next week on Live and Unedited I hope to get things onto a more regular schedule. Monday for Mario Wonder, Wednesday for Shovel Knight, and Friday for the Fangans. Then we'll just switch those shows out for new one once one of these projects end. For the Fangans and Shovel Knight that will not be for as long long while, but Mario Wonder has like...maybe 4 or 5 episodes left if I'm being generous. So before the year ends I will have to find something to fill that Monday slot. I have a few ideas for what I'd like to do next. And fuck it, as a treat I'll let you know some of what I'm thinking. I'll probably do all of these sooner or later, but for now the big contenders for what's next are...
-RNF Hyrule Quests, where I'll play through every single Zelda title. Most of which I never finished before.
-Yoshi's Island: All Feats Quest, where I'll play my favorite game of all time with a twist. Trying to get every achievement for it via RetroAchievements.org.
-RNF Sonic Quests, where I'll play through the main Sonic series.
-RNF Persona Quest, where I'll play Persona 1-5. Games I've never played before.
Those are what I'm thinking about. Like I said, I want to do all of these eventually, but for now, we can only choose one. There's a good chance I may also do a few miniseries like Castlevania Legends in the meantime. Again, I could see myself doing any of these, maybe not the Yoshi's Island one since we're still doing Shovel Knight: All Feats Quest, but eh. That's not the biggest deal. If anyone is reading let me know which one of these ideas you'd like to see first. It'll help with my decision. For now, we'll have to wait until we're close to Wonder's end before my decision.
So there's the plan. To recap: 2 Survivor's Guilt videos, maybe an RNF Games episode. Next week we'll start a schedule for Live and Unedited. In other news, my Grammarly app says trans rights.
So...What Happened With RNF Day?:
Well...I guess I should address this. If not for you all, then for me so I can assess the things that caused me to fail and hopefully improve on them. Firstly, I'll be a little nice to myself. Not everything went to shit. We got a lot of videos out. Every Pokémon Quests #75-85, Mario Wonder #11, Shovel Knight #3, and even RNF Games #1. That's still a lot more content than most people would put out in a day. And I'm very happy with those videos. But for all this time most of the RNF Brand videos I've put our were more low-effort, unedited things. This isn't to say I put no effort into them or anything, or even hate making them. But these videos aren't the only kind of things I want to make. I want to do more labor-intensive stuff that shows more of my passion for my projects. These types of videos can be great when I want to make something quick, and scratch that itch I have, and again I have a blast making them, but I would be unhappy if that was all I was making. And I wanted the big launch day of the RNF Brand to show I can do more.
Which is why I'm probably more disappointed in myself than anyone else is. Those types of videos are the ones I failed to get out. And I can't blame anyone but myself. I'm sure most people would be happy to get 14 videos from a creator they liked in a day, but I still feel like I could've done more. Which is probably unhealthy, I realize that. So I'm trying not to beat myself up too hard, but I can't help but be disappointed. RNF Games was the only video that required extra time outside of just the recording process. And I'm very happy with how it turned out, and can't wait to continue that show, but I had 4 other videos like that I wanted to make. So while the day was fun, I feel it kind of failed as a proper starting point for RNF.
So why did this happen? To put it simply I overestimated my skills. I thought I could get a lot more done last minute than I realistically could. I put off too much work, and again that's my fault. I need to remember I want to do a lot more than your average content creator with the amount I'm putting out there, while still trying to maintain good quality. On top of that I have a regular 9-5 job. I guess to put it more bluntly, I just put a lot on my plate and didn't give myself a realistic amount of time to get certain things done in a way that actually made the videos good. I hope to get the videos that I missed out on posting released soon. In the next week or so. But I still feel like as a launch for RNF this day was a bit of a failure. So...I want to redeem myself. I want to try again, using what I learned, and have a more proper launch. I won't announce any details just yet, I want to get some more stuff finalized first. But I want to have it happen in early 2025. Near the start of the year to not only ring us into the next year but the next era for RNF. For real this time. RNF Day 2 is happening.
RNF Day 2: This Time For Real-2025!
Before it happens though I not only need to plan what's gonna be a part of it, but also do some behind-the-scenes stuff. It's probably about time I change the profile pics on most of my accounts from those old, dusty Emily pictures to the cleaner PNGs I've been using since the relaunch. Hell, poor Pokémon Quests still doesn't even have a profile pic. Whoops. I should probably get back on TikTok soon too huh? See this is exactly what I mean, I come up with plans then realize there are still 100 things I want to do. Balancing it all will be hard, but I want to figure this out. And do it in a way where I won't burn myself out. So I guess I still need some time. I'm sorry once again that RNF Day wasn't exactly what I promised. But let's hope this is the rare sequel that's better.
Song of the Week:
Maps By Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Give TikTok or YouTube shorts all the shit you want, it is great for discovering music. I know this is a pretty popular song and band, but somehow I have never heard of either. Which is a shame, because this kind of indie rock is right up my alley. But recently this song has become a bit of a trend on the aforementioned short-form video apps. So thank you, algorithm gods. I need to go through Yeah Yeah Yeahs discography more, but right now I've been so obsessed with this song.
And honestly at first, I didn't vibe much with it outside of the chorus that I kept seeing in those shorts. I loved the instrumental, and the singer, Karen O's, vocals. However, lyrically this song didn't really do much for me. It felt rather limited, and usually, that's something I can ignore if the music is good enough. Hell, just look at the Song of the Week segment about Bailando. But it was a bit too noticeable for me here. I could've easily written it off, and just said the song wasn't really for me. But I got the song's level, took a deeper look, and realized there's a good reason for that.
This song is about a relationship falling apart, the narrator is on the verge of a breakdown pretty much. She's losing someone she loves, gradually and slowly, and yet still trying to fight back against it. The simple lyrics, mixed with Karen's amazing vocals, really does add to the feeling of an emotional breakdown. The way she constantly repeats herself, the way her voice slightly cracks. It does an amazing job of reflecting this feeling. It really does feel like someone losing a person they gave so much time to, and begging them to stay.
Allegedly, this song is about Karen's boyfriend at the time. I don't really like to get into the real life of the people behind the songs in this segment. I feel like at that point I'm just digging up personal drama. Generally, a good song, even if it is about something specific, can still be kept rather general and vague while still being relatable. But hey, I have some interesting stuff to add relating to it. So the aforementioned ex is apparently Angus Andrew, frontman of the band Liars. I won't speculate or look into what their relationship was like. Even without some dramatic backstory, the theme of losing a relationship still hurts. So I don't really feel like looking for further detail. In fact the only reason I mention Angus is because apparently the title, Maps, is an acronym for My Angus Please Stay. This is just speculation though. More realistically the maps the song mentions is probably symbolic of the narrator's loved one traveling away from them.
The last thing I got to praise is Karen's physical performance in the music video I linked. Those tears are apparently real. I guess Angus was supposed to show up to the video shoot, and it was shot right before she was supposed to leave and they were going to be separated again. It really does add to the sadness of her already excellent delivery.
I hope you're doing better Miss O. Thank you for the great song, and I'm so excited to explore the rest of your discography. I have to say it's really rare I find out about a new band, that's been around for over 20 years, and also has remained exactly the same in its formation. The same 3 people, making art together for all this time as a group. It's really cool to see. Anyway, I'm very excited to listen to more Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs after this.
From the Archive:
It's time to get back to experimenting with new segments. From the Archive will feature old projects of mine. I've been actively making stuff online since 2013 as the prelude on the Home Page proudly boasts about. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, I'm a little ashamed of my old body of work. There's some stuff I'm sure looking back on I could possibly be proud of, but I know for a fact there's also a lot, a metric ton even, of embarrassing stuff. So this segment will be all about making fun of little kid me. Yay! Self-deprecation...woohoo! Let's take a look at our first old video ok.
Shovel Knight Part 1-Fear Thy Shovel-Game Time With Evan
Originally Released: March 28th, 2015 Original Description: "Today Evan's video game skills decide to take a break as he fails at
Shovel Knight on the 3DS. No I'm not joking this is 22 minutes of him failing......ON THE FIRST LEVEL OF THE GAME. God, I suck."
In honor of me making much better Shovel Knight content now let's take a look at my first attempt to play the game on video. Game Time With Evan was a show where I played a brief snippet of a game with cringe commentary to go over it. So honestly...not much different from what I do now. But at least I can say I feel much better about the kind of videos I make nowadays. Most of the show was shot using a phone or a camcorder pointed at the game, as you can see here. But don't worry I eventually upgraded for like 3 or 4 episodes before I dropped the series. God do I have to explain why I'm embarrassed by this. The bad video quality, the fact you can't even hear the game. My commentary is so bad. There's some bits that I think I later repurposed for the All Feats Quest, which is fun to look back on, but then there's a bit at one point where I say something like "isn't it soooo weird how you eat turkey off the floor guys. Video game logic amirite!" (This is a paraphrase, but it's bad). Gosh I use to think the quality of the recording wouldn't matter as long as I was entertaining. Too bad I wasn't entertaining. I honestly do still think you don't have to have the greatest equipment to be a YouTuber. I mean there's one active right now that records gameplay like how I did at this point. Evan30.
Not only does he have a great name, but he is incredibly entertaining to watch. He's funny and has some humorous insight on whatever game he's playing. And his gameplay footage is all recorded with a camera pointed at the game. Granted he frames it a lot better than I did, but it just goes to show with a good personality and some creativity you can work with your limitations to make a good video. It may not get a lot of views, but hey Evan30 still has a really sizeable audience that shouldn't be taken for granted. Some say he reminds them of old YouTube. What I'm trying to say is there's a niche for everything. Even the most limited of productions. You can excel in other aspects. Unfortunately, I excelled at none.
And it's not like I can be too harsh on myself. I was 15 when this video was released. And I don't really want to be super self-deprecating. After all, this is a part of my history. And it's thanks to these videos I could hone my craft and even be as good as I am today. As a creator, I'm always gonna have some self-doubt about my abilities, but it's nice to go back and see just how much I actually improved. And I hope to improve even further as we continue the RNF Brand. I want to show where we started and prove anyone can improve in whatever craft they're pursuing with enough practice and the right attitude. Yeah, you'll be embarrassed. But don't let that stop you from pursuing your dreams. And hey, if no one else believes in your work then I do. Creating stuff is cool, and I see so many people afraid of putting themselves out there or are stuck in undesirable positions where they can't create. I want to see more creativity! I like seeing people being passionate. In fact that's one of the things I like about this old video. You can tell how excited I am about Shovel Knight. Which is fun to look back on after my little monologue in All Feats Quest #3 about how important of a game Shovel Knight is too me. Seeing me still in my early stages of Shovel Love is really fun. It's also wild to see the game before any of the updates.
Anyway, the point of this segment is to show we all have a starting point. So if you want to create. Do it. Find what works and doesn't, improve it, consistently work on it, and pursue your dream. I've been pursuing mine for 11 years. Some may say I'm a failure, but it's hard for me to view it that way when I've had so much fun over the last 11 years making this stuff. And now more than ever am I so proud of what I put out. And I'm so excited for what's next. We'll continue this segment to show other old embarrasing/maybe good (low chance) older stuff. And while I will riff them I want you all to keep in mind why I'm doing this. To inspire others to take that step, and to preserve a bit of my own history as well.
The last thing I'd like to comment on is to lighten the mood a bit. But jeez my speech impediment is bad here. I thought by the time I was 15 I had mostly gotten over it, but just listen to how I say four. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Lol. Let's hope TikTok doesn't find out about this one.
And that's it for the chat. Nice to get a longer one out even if it was late. Thank you all for reading. I love you all, and Buh-Bye!
Episode 10: October 23rd, 2024-October 26th, 2024
Welcome my pals to the big One O episode of RNF Weekly Chat. The double digits. 10 weeks of this show. Very exciting! I just realized that in text that sounds very sarcastic, but no I'm very happy about this. It's nice to be so consistent about something even if there were the occasional late episodes. To celebrate today will be a little bigger than the last few episodes. We got 4 segments today. The usual schedule and song of the week, and the continuation of the 2 segments we experimented with the last couple of weeks. What are they? IDK, read and find out. It's no fun if I just told you. So let's jump into it.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Times are EST
Monday, October 21st -RNF Pokémon Quests #96 (??-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Plays Mario Wonder #12 (??-Live and Unedited) -RNF Pokémon Quests #97 (??-Pokémon Quests)
Tuesday, October 22nd -RNF Pokémon Quests #98 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #99 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #100 (10 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Wednesday, October 23rd -RNF Pokémon Quests #101 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -Shovel Knight: All Feats Quest #4 (3 PM-Live and Unedited) -RNF Pokémon Quests #102 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Thursday, October 24th -RNF Pokémon Quests #103 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #104 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #105 (10 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Friday, October 25th -RNF Pokémon Quests #106 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Plays Fanganronpas #20 (Another: Chapter 1 Daily Life) (3 PM-Live and Unedited) -RNF Pokémon Quests #107 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Saturday, October 26th -RNF Pokémon Quests #108 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #109 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #110 (10 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Whew, that's a lot. Granted it's mostly unedited videos and furthermore, it's all older videos from before I really finalized the RNF Brand. Backlog stuff essentially. The only newer stuff is the Danganronpa and Shovel Knight video. I'm really trying to offload these videos so I can focus on just the newer stuff, and that mostly comes in the form of these old Pokémon Quests episodes. As I stated before, I really want to get all these old episodes out before Z-A comes out. As a result, I'm locking in and trying to get at least 2 out a day. Sometimes 3. So this week will give us Episodes 96-110. With this setup, we should be caught up by early 2025. Assuming I don't record a shit ton of episodes, which I'm trying to hold back on. We may get caught up before Z-A even, since we don't have a release date confirmed. Once we get Quest caught up I'm going to try and make sure nothing like this ever happens again, and PQ will be updated as I record them. They will be posted within the week! This will probably also correspond with the start of Generation 2 of PQ, a brand new era means we need a new way of getting the show out. I'm very much looking forward to it and am excited about the future of the series. And I hope you all are ready to join me on these future quests.
The other older videos I need to offload is the next few Mario Wonder episodes. Episodes 11-14 of Mario Wonder I actually recorded at my parent's house while I was staying with them. So about as old as the PQ episodes I'm currently uploading. Truth be told, looking back at some of these PQ episodes and Wonder episodes, they are not as good as the more recently recorded things. But I also feel their a nice part of my history and evolution and deserve to be posted. And hey it's not like they're garbage. I still enjoy watching them, I've just improved a lot this year. It's nice to see. But I should've gotten these videos out sooner. Especially since it's not like they require much extra work. Either way, what I'm trying to say is I feel like I owe it to these videos to upload them.
One problem though, Episode 14 apparently got corrupted at some point. And I'm not sure how to fix it. And if I can't fix it, I'm not sure how to proceed when I get around to recording episode 15. Maybe 15 will become 14, and we'll just briefly talk about what I did in the original episode 14. Thankfully I didn't do any levels we hadn't done yet. We were just going back to get collectibles in past levels. So maybe I can just deal with it, but damn I'd really like to just fix the video. I guess we have a couple weeks before 14 would be posted so we'll see what I can do by then. Just a heads up though that by episode 14 things might be a bit weird. Totally on me for keeping the video in the back for so long. Luckily once we get these videos up it shouldn't be a problem anymore.
Technically, I guess some of the RNF Games videos coming up are about this old as well, but those are going through editing, so I don't feel as bad about holding onto them as long since I can always punch those up in post. But that's the plan for this week: 18 videos. I hope y'all are looking forward to it.
Also if you're curious why I don't have specific times in for Monday's videos it's because that's the best day I have to get all the uploads scheduled this week, but I also have work so I'm unsure when I'll be able to get home and get that days videos up. So it's a crap-shoot.
Song of the Week:
Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan kinda came out of nowhere for me. Probably a sign I'm getting old and out of touch (I say at the ripe old age of 25), but it took me a long time to finally listen to any of her songs. Let alone her biggest hit, arguably one of the biggest hits of 2024. I'm being so serious that I didn't hear of Chappell Roan for the first time until watching a Pokémon Let's Play where someone mentioned her, and then all of a sudden I started seeing her everywhere. TBH, I'm generally pretty bad at keeping up with popular music. But considering how big this song is right now I still have no excuse for being so late to it. But last week I actually did finally listen to it while at work. Did it live up to the hype?
WHY DID I AVOID LISTENING TO THIS FOR SO LONG!? EVAN, YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL! YOU'RE A FOOL DAMN IT! A DAMNED DUNCE! A CERTIFIED SILLY BILLY! FUCK ME!
Anyway, yeah I liked it a lot.
Good Luck, Babe is about Compulsory Heterosexuality. To be more exact, it's specifically about a girl who denies her attraction to the narrator and other women as a whole for whatever reason. The idea behind Compulsory Heterosexuality is that it's sort of engrained in people as they grow up because we live in a heteronormative society. One which dehumanizes queer identities. To put it in layman's terms, girls are taught by society to only have romantic feelings/attraction for boys and vice versa. This obviously leads to a lot of negative paths, including homophobia. It also completely ignores people outside the allosexual sphere. But also it can cause some people to have a negative reaction to themselves when they begin to feel attraction that doesn't fit into what society has deemed normal. The default. It's also worth noting that the theory of Compulsory Hetoersexuality comes from an article specifically about how it affects lesbians. The 1980 article by Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". Which goes into so much more detail about the idea and also about how patriarchy just causes a suppression of female sexuality as a whole. It was written with a lesbian POV in mind, but later definitions of the term have expanded to include its effects on gay men as well.
It's a lot to go into detail about in a song analysis, but it is important to note that the term was originally coined by a lesbian to describe a lesbian experience. Which is fitting for this song. I highly recommend reading the article if you want more than just my quick tertiary discussion of the topic. But I feel like it was important to share at least this much because of the theory's influence on the song. As stated Compulsory Heterosexuality completely devalues female sexuality as a whole, but especially that of lesbians. Engraining into young girls' minds that their possible attraction to the same sex is weird and not something to talk or think about. Which is incredibly tragic. The song tells the story of such a girl. Who, despite hooking up with the narrator, denies any attraction to women. Which of course hurts the narrator who was falling in love with her. Like any breakup, tragic love song it comes off as a little spiteful and angsty towards the person who broke the singer's heart. The song is heavily coated in sarcasm against her. Sort of poking at her attempts to repress herself and how she'll fail and come crawling back to the narrator, because the feelings she have will never stop. But even then I can't help but also feel bad for the target of the song. It's kind of heartbreaking on both sides. One side losing someone they cared about and the other feeling the need to hide a part of themselves from the world because that's what society wants.
The song progresses from the two happily getting together, albeit with some shaky emotions. As the narrator is upset by the fact that the other girl is denying her feelings which makes our protagonist feel silly for becoming so attached. But she seems to be desperate for that kind of connection with someone so deals with it for now. Maybe hoping for things to become better. Eventually, though the singer realizes she can't keep this up, and needs to move on. Even saying that if the other girl changes her mind, it's too late. The damage has been done. It's very sad to hear and analyze and honestly may be one of the sadder concepts I've heard for a breakup song.
The instrumental for this song are heavily inspired from pop songs from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s much like a lot of the other songs on Roan's discography. It has lots of synths and is structured very similarly to classic pop which I can get behind. Literally a fusion of some of my favorite eras in pop music with what makes modern pop so great. It surprisingly takes some inspiration from classical music as a whole too. Wikipedia says this style is called Baroque Pop and damn I vibe with it so hard. It makes for a surprisingly moody song when it wants to be but during the more upbeat parts, like the chorus, it hooks you so hard. I think it really fits with the lyrics. Like I said there's a layer of sarcasm here, but I also like to think the narrator is being somewhat sincere in her words. Especially when looking back at her relationship with the other girl. The instrumental really does work both ways. Adding to the sad feeling, but yet giving Roan that extra snarky edge when the lyrics call for it. Which is mostly during the chorus where she's essentially wishing the other girl good luck in hiding her feelings. Though, it's also very effective during the bridge before the last chorus repeat where Roan is at her most passive-aggressive towards the target.
It's just all around a fantastic song with layers of emotion and fantastic imagery. The word choice really helps you see and feel every little description and feeling. I've been obsessed with this song for the last week, which is why nothing else could take the spot as this week's Song of the Week.
Just some last minute thoughts I couldn't fit in anywhere else. A) I love this lyric video. And B) Sabrina Carpenter actually has an amazing cover of this song she did on BBC Radio. If you want a different take on the song, by another incredibly talented female singer then you can find that here.
It really shows off her talent, with how effortlessly she can change keys and styles. Maybe one of my favorite covers I've heard recently. Check it out if you like the song.
Pokémon of the Week:
Misdreavus: The Screech Pokémon Misdreavus is a Gen 2 Ghost Type Pokémon first introduced in Gold and Silver. It is number 200 in the Dex.
Halloween is around the corner so it's probably time I do something a little spooky related on one of these segments. So I chose that this week's mon should be my favorite Ghost Type, Misdreavus. Also the first pure Ghost Type. Gastly's line wasn't fully loyal to the spooky spirit like Misdreavus was. In fact until Gen 3 introduced the Shuppet and Duskull lines Misdreavus here had the honor of being the only Pure Ghost type. The spookiest of the spooks. But me personally, I like to think it it only likes to scare as some good-natured fun. It's not like Gengar which has been implied to actually kill people. Misdreavus is the perfect Halloween mon for that reason. Though, like a ghost, it is very elusive. At least in it's earliest appearances.
In Gold, Silver, and Crystal (once again, the games that gave us this mon) Misdreavus was unfortunately one of the victims of Johto's terrible distribution of its new creatures. Only being found in Mt. Silver Cave. A location you can only get to after collecting all 16 badges in the post-game. I also was only available in the post-game of LeafGreen in Gen 3. So I can imagine this was a very forgotten mon in its early years. Luckily, Gen 4 rectified this by giving Misdreavus an evolution, Mismagius, and by making it easier to obtain. Being in Pearl version as well as earlier in the GS remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver. For me though the Pokémon remained elusive. My first game was Diamond. So the Pearl exclusive Misdreavus was not an option for me to catch. As a kid who didn't know about version exclusives, this confused me. As I saw other trainers using it, but could never find it. Even the Dex was of no help to me. Telling me its location is unknown.
However, I did have one game that I could easily get Misdreavus in. Colosseum. Where Misdreavus is actually the only catchable Ghost Type you can get. Because of this, even with its mediocre stats, Misdrevus is kind of a monster in that game. The computer has no idea how to deal with Ghosts. A type with 2 natural immunities. Add to that Misdreavus's ability, Levitate, it gets 3 types it's immune to. The computers will very frequently target it with Normal, Fighting, and Ground moves. While that was my first exposure to Misdravus, I didn't actually begin falling in love with it until Sun and Moon. A main series game where you could find it pretty easily in both versions. Neato. Not only was it fun to use it in a regular game, but I also found a plush toy of it around that time that I adored. I use to put it up as sort of a decoration around Halloween. It just had a really nice texture and made Misdreavus look so cute. That's when I really began falling for it. And now, 8 years later (Jesus Christ Gen 7 was 8 years ago) Misdreavus is now my favorite Ghost Type. I love Mismagius a lot too, but Misfreavus has a better design IMO. At least it appeals to me more. Though Mismagius's witch look is super cool nonetheless. I will often times actually go back and forth between using these two on teams. Both are still pretty solid mons. In fact in an upcoming Pokémon Quests arc you'll see me put Misdreavus to use on a team. It may not be fully evolved, but it can still be a lot of fun to use. It puts in some work with or without the evolution.
If I had to have a complaint...Misdreavus's moveset isn't the greatest but it's not a deal breaker. It's useable and it does get some really good moves. But other than that it's a really fun mon to play with. Even with games with smarter computers, just having 3 immunities and using them cleverly can trip them up. And of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up how much of an absolute unit its ancient relative, Flutter Mane, is. So yeah, this little banshee has been getting a lot of love recently. It's even gonna be a part of the upcoming Mass Outbreak event. It's neat to see it come a long way from its Gen 2 days. Here's hoping for many more years of cool Misdreavus stuff.
From the Archive:
Shovel Knight Part 2-Game Time With Evan Originally Posted: May 25th, 2015
Original Description: "Today Evan continues to go through Shovel Knight while exploring the town and meeting the Troupple King(Its a trout and an apple combined. You have to see it).
Sorry its been so long. I've been working on a project that may or may not involve My Little Pony. Also I've been working on TV viewer. The first episode will be out soon. It'll be on the episode Good Neighbors from Spongebob. I'll also be working on Anime Experience Revived soon. The first episode will be discussing the FullMetal Alchemist episode Night of The Chimeras Cry. So look forward to those things. Also Summer of Bad games 2015 will start up after the Third and Final part of Shovel Knight.
That is all. Thank You."
I don't really have much to add to this video that I didn't say about the first part. Though, I can tell this is the point where I started becoming less interested in continuing Game Time With Evan. Seeing as how it took 2 months to get this out, and it's a significantly shorter romp. I think I started to realize how bad my older content was. I remember I really wanted to make these Shovel Knight videos good, as a way to sorta reboot myself. And hey, they are better than a lot of my previous work. I'll give them that. We have not gotten into the worst of it yet. This was also one of the first videos I edited now that I'm thinking about it. Shout out to Windows Movie Maker. Another sign I was starting to lose interest in the current state of my channel is that half the promises I made in the description never happened. I guess I always had a thing for overfilling my plate. I like to think I'm better at fulfilling my promises at least. Hey, I mean I got over 83 Percent of RNF Day released like promised. It's a sign of improvement.
It is interesting to look back on what I was cooking at that time though. Summer of Bad Games was a yearly event where I played bad games during the Summer months of June, July, and August. Most kids wanted to spend their summer playing their favorite games like Call of Duty or GTA 5. I spent mine playing Sword of Sodan for the Genesis. And oh boy...Anime Experience. My anime review show. Cause if the anime community wants one thing it's to hear a 15-year-old's opinion about Japanese cartoons. Yeah, that revival didn't happen. But when we get to the original episodes better prepare yourself for that shit show. The My Little Pony project did happen. It was a collaboration between me and my friend. They are still up, but I'm not sure I want to give them attention. So perhaps you could find them, but I'd rather not post them here without my friend's explicit permission. I'm not sure that's something he'd want to be brought to the limelight. And lastly TV Viewer (great name for a show by the way). I guess I started watching Mr. Enter around this time and wanted to review TV show episodes. Which would eventually evolve into what is arguably my most popular pre-RNF project, Animated Critic. Goodness gracious I am especially not ready to share those. The negative Mr. Enter influence is so obvious in those. I guess it is interesting to see the point A to point B transition though from TV Viewer to the AC blog. Kind of forgot that this was where the idea came from. Some old show I wanted to do on my old channel, which inspired a new project that would eventually bring the end of said channel.
Anyway, like I said not much to say about the video itself. It's just nice to continue seeing myself excited about Shovel Knight. And hey, if you want to see me excited about Shovel Knight in a video that's much better check out literally any All Feats Quest episode. Literally any.
And once again, that brings us to the end of the chat. Phew, it's nice to get these bigger episodes out. Hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll see you soon hopefully. Lots of videos are in sight. Hope to see you around for some of them. Until then, Buh-Bye!
Episode 11: October 30th, 2024-November 3rd, 2024:
YOOOO, welcome to another episode of RNF Weekly Chat!!!! We gotta hurry! I have barely anytime to write this week's episode! I would've loved to keep this going as long as possible, since it is the last episode of the best month, but sadly October must come to a swift end. Curse my busy schedule! Blame my actual job. With Halloween, a local event in my town, and a busy as usual Saturday coming up back to back to back they're working my ass off. So chop chop fuckers. Let's GOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Weekly Chat Lightning Round! BEGIN!
Weekly Schedule: All Times are EST
Sunday, October 27th: -RNF Pokémon Quests #111 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #112 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Monday, October 28th:
-RNF Pokémon Quests #113 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Plays Super Mario Wonder #13 (3 PM-Live and Unedited
-RNF Pokémon Quests #114 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Tuesday, October 29th:
-RNF Pokémon Quests #115 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #116 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Wednesday, October 30th: -RNF Pokémon Quests #117 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests) -Shovel Knight: All Feats Quest #5 (3 PM-Live and Unedited) -RNF Pokémon Quests #118 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Thursday, October 31st: -RNF Pokémon Quests #119 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #120 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Friday, November 1st: -RNF Pokémon Quests #121 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Plays Fanganronpas #21 (3 PM-Live and Unedited) -RNF Pokémon Quests #122 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests)
Saturday, November 2nd: -RNF Pokémon Quests #123 (12 PM-Pokémon Quests)
-RNF Pokémon Quests #124 (5 PM-Pokémon Quests) -RNF Pokémon Quests #125 (10 Pm-Pokémon Quests)
This week's schedule is pretty much the same as last week. So I don't think I need to go into detail. We're continuing our PQ upload backlog which will give us 15 more episodes. And of course the usual 3 Live and Unedited uploads. As a side note I also began a brand new channel where I upload daily less than 15 minute videos. Currently I'm working on a challenge where I play Mario Odyssey, but I can only get 1 moon a day. You can find it on the very fittingly named RNF Daily channel. Or check to see if it's already posted here on the Latest Posts tab. (Links take too long to add, find it yourself punk) I won't add those videos to the daily schedule though as they do get uploaded every day, and that'd add a lot of unnecessary fluff to the schedule, and also the actual time of upload varies. I may also post the first official video to the clips channel this week, if I have time. I have been slowly but surely working on it. Maybe more slowly than surely but either way if I get enough free time I'd like to grind it out hopefully this week. But no promises.
Song of the Week:
Monster Mash By Bobby "Boris" Pickett
It's Halloween. Spooky Monster song. Hence why it's the Song of the Week. Enough said. ... What? You want more? You actually want an analysis of a novelty song from 1962? Ugh, fine!
Well the Monster Mash is so iconic I'm sure you don't need an explanation on what it's about. A mad scientist creates a monster who starts getting funky and creates a new dance fad within the world of spooky guys. Dracula, Wolfman, Igor...they're all here. I also don't need to tell you how this might be one of the most iconic songs of all time. It's been 62 years and it's still considered a Halloween staple. Many songs have tried to reach that height, and honestly not many do. Hell, the only one I can really think of is Micheal Jackson's Thriller. There's some songs that were big hits in their days, but only those 2 songs seem to really stand the test of time. So let's see if we can figure out why.
Well I think part of it is Pickett's voice. It's perfect for this. Full of personality and drawing inspiration from the the classic monster flicks. He even does a pretty good Dracula voice inspired by Bela Lugosi's performance. The backing vocals are done by a group called The Blossoms, and they are incredibly talented. The producers also go hard on the sound effects. Using some really clever techniques to create the eerie sounds. Such as simply blowing into a cup of water with a straw to make the cauldron sound. And it all comes together to create a beautifully fun Halloween themed dance song. I think it showcases the best parts of Halloween, at least to me. And that's just the pure, spooky fun of it. It makes for a nice atmosphere.
I think it being a dance song really helps it stay in the public conscious. Those things are usually made to be timeless. Fun fact, this song makes about $1 Million annually. You'd think Pickett would be making the big bucks, but apparently for awhile he had no rights to the song. He had to make a new version in 1989 to even get some sort of licensing fee. Which is very sad to heat about, but I'm glad that was settled. Corporations are cool aren't they? Apparently one of the reasons Pickett wanted the rights back wasn't just because of the money, but to keep the song relevant for year. As he and his producer felt Universal was digging the song's grave (ha ha), and well....I think it's safe to say they succeeded.
With tons of covers, remixes, and of course the classic version still making so much money I think it's safe to say Monster Mash isn't going anywhere soon. And I'm here for it. I think the reason it's stuck around for so long is simply because of it's personality and liveliness. Once you hear it (and you definitely will around this time) you won't forget it. It's a perfect song that anyone who isn't a Halloween Grinch can enjoy. Kids, adults, teens. It's just hard not to be absorbed by it.
So to put is simply, the reason Monster Mash is so timeless is because it has...spirit... (eh? eh?)
Ok jokes aside, I did have to rush this episode. So my apologies if it seems lacking. With how this show is set up it's bound to happen at points. I apologize for that and if they're more typos than usual. I promise next week will be more fulfilling. And I'm always in the kitchen cooking up some fun ideas. Metaphorically of course. I'm always at my computer. Though I do live in an open apartment so my computer room is in the same room as my kitchen. Soooo maybe I'm not speaking metaphorically. I'll let you be the judge. With that said, thank you all for reading. I hope to see you all soon. Buh-Bye and have a wonderful Halloween!
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