AMA Ask Me[ri] Anything!

[.: Meri :.]

What is the most memorable gaming memory you have?

Oh, I've got one—this is a bit of a long story, but I consider it to be my magnum opus of video game pranks. When my mom wasn't home one day, I decided I'd play a little joke on her in her then-current Minecraft world. I got a couple little prank ideas—changing the names of chests, furnaces, etc. in an anvil, and filling a chest with the virtually-invisible light-gray stained glass panes, and put my own little spin on them.
I filled all her chests with light gray glass panes renamed "Lost Soul". All her crafting tables, furnaces, everything were renamed things like "it's so dark", "I can't get out", "where is everyone? where am I?", "helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme", etc. By the time I was done, her house was thoroughly haunted. And, just my luck, when she went back to play in her world that evening, there'd been a minor update—just some bug fixes, but it was enough.

When she came back to her newly haunted house, the update took the blame. She ran around, checking everything, collecting the "Lost Souls" from her chests and wondering what on earth she was going to do with them, or what she was supposed to do with them. I'd had my fun by this point, so I decided to give away the true identity of these souls by innocently asking, "Will it let you place one?"

She placed one on the floor, but didn't recognize it as a glass pane. She stood there, staring at "it". "It" stood there and stared back. Hesitantly, she went to hit it—and it shattered and disappeared into nothing. Never has breaking glass in Minecraft felt so deeply ominous. We all went silent.
Trying not to think too hard about what she'd just done, she got something from another chest and, without realizing, picked up a replacement for the pane she'd just broken. She went to open her door and go outside, and immediately placed the extra "soul" when she did.

And so the soul she'd "shattered" was waiting for her outside her front door. She checked her inventory; the amount of souls she had was the same. She stared at it. It stared back. She closed her door.

(It was at this point that she got her phone out and started trying to find details on the "Minecraft Lost Souls update", and so I finally came clean and told her everything. It's still one of our favorite Minecraft memories to this day.)

 

[Shellzilla_515]

Oh, I've got one—this is a bit of a long story, but I consider it to be my magnum opus of video game pranks. When my mom wasn't home one day, I decided I'd play a little joke on her in her then-current Minecraft world. I got a couple little prank ideas—changing the names of chests, furnaces, etc. in an anvil, and filling a chest with the virtually-invisible light-gray stained glass panes, and put my own little spin on them.
I filled all her chests with light gray glass panes renamed "Lost Soul". All her crafting tables, furnaces, everything were renamed things like "it's so dark", "I can't get out", "where is everyone? where am I?", "helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme", etc. By the time I was done, her house was thoroughly haunted. And, just my luck, when she went back to play in her world that evening, there'd been a minor update—just some bug fixes, but it was enough.

When she came back to her newly haunted house, the update took the blame. She ran around, checking everything, collecting the "Lost Souls" from her chests and wondering what on earth she was going to do with them, or what she was supposed to do with them. I'd had my fun by this point, so I decided to give away the true identity of these souls by innocently asking, "Will it let you place one?"

She placed one on the floor, but didn't recognize it as a glass pane. She stood there, staring at "it". "It" stood there and stared back. Hesitantly, she went to hit it—and it shattered and disappeared into nothing. Never has breaking glass in Minecraft felt so deeply ominous. We all went silent.
Trying not to think too hard about what she'd just done, she got something from another chest and, without realizing, picked up a replacement for the pane she'd just broken. She went to open her door and go outside, and immediately placed the extra "soul" when she did.

And so the soul she'd "shattered" was waiting for her outside her front door. She checked her inventory; the amount of souls she had was the same. She stared at it. It stared back. She closed her door.

(It was at this point that she got her phone out and started trying to find details on the "Minecraft Lost Souls update", and so I finally came clean and told her everything. It's still one of our favorite Minecraft memories to this day.)

This was a hilarious read! The amount of luck you had when the update at the time rolled out just when your mother started playing the game, along without realization of picking up the same glass plane she just broke. If it didn't happen, she might've instantly known it was an elaborate prank. Do you still remember your mother's reaction after you told her the truth?

 

[.: Meri :.]

This was a hilarious read! The amount of luck you had when the update at the time rolled out just when your mother started playing the game, along without realization of picking up the same glass plane she just broke. If it didn't happen, she might've instantly known it was an elaborate prank. Do you still remember your mother's reaction after you told her the truth?

It really took on a life of its own! I don't think she completely believed me at first, but she thought it was hilarious after I explained everything!

 

[-Blue-]

So these are food related cause I'm kinda hungry right now. What is your favorite meal? And what is your favorite type of desert?

 

[.: Meri :.]

So these are food related cause I'm kinda hungry right now. What is your favorite meal? And what is your favorite type of desert?

There's a lot of pasta dishes I love, but I will actually hurt myself on well-made mashed potatoes, so I'm gonna say it's that. As far as desserts go, I think I'd have to go with any baked apple dessert (apple strudel, apple crisp, etc.)!

 

[-Blue-]

Hey homemade mashed potatoes are the best. Can't argue with that. The image of you 'hurting yourself' makes me think of slap-stick cartoons where someone accidentally eats the fork to lol.

 

[Neb]

I had a few questions!

1. What are your favorite multiplayer games?

2. Do you have a favorite book or genre?

3. What are your top 5 favorite Pokémon? (If you can choose)

 

[.: Meri :.]

I had a few questions!

1. What are your favorite multiplayer games?

I mainly play singleplayer games, but one multiplayer I do like is Fall Guys! It's cute and colorful, and I like dressing up my bean. ^^ I suppose there's ACNH and Minecraft too—I usually play those on my own, but I'll play them with my family sometimes too.

2. Do you have a favorite book or genre?

I'm a big fan of the Durarara!! light novels (Baccano! too, but I need to read more of that series), and I was practically raised on The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, ahaha. As for genres, I tend to gravitate towards fantasy and/or shonen manga—if we're counting those, then I've gotta mention Fullmetal Alchemist and Kekkaishi.

3. What are your top 5 favorite Pokémon? (If you can choose)

This is a tough one because I really love a lot of Pokémon, but if I had to narrow it down, then right now I'd say...

1. Shinx—Although, I love this whole evo line. ;v; Shinx was my partner Pokémon in Explorers of Sky, and I think that really sealed it as one of my absolute favorites.
2. Hoppip—Dandelion kitty!! I really love its design and I think it's super cute.
3. Houndoom—It wouldn't be a lie if I said I thought hellhounds were a cool mythological creature, but I also want to pat Houndoom's head and tell him he's a good boy. 12/10.
4. Pumpkaboo—Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love cute/spooky things, so Pumpkaboo definitely had to make this list.
5. Pancham—The little delinquent panda is just so dang adorable, I simply cannot.

 

[Neb]

1. What’s your favorite anime and anime genre?

2. Do you make up voices for characters while reading?

3. What’s a standout goofy memory you have?

4. How long have you made art? Do you have a favorite medium?

5. What’s an obscure game you like?

 

[.: Meri :.]

1. What’s your favorite anime and anime genre?

I'd say battle shonen is my favorite genre—I love all the cheesy power of friendship speeches, and I like the long-running story set-ups that a lot of them have. ;v; Picking a favorite is hard, even though I haven't seen it in ages, I've gotta say Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It's definitely one of the most incredibly-written series I've seen. One Piece and Fairy Tail are also rather dear to my heart, and although neither's perfect, I still adore them.

2. Do you make up voices for characters while reading?

I do! ^^ If they have a voice actor I'm familiar with, I'll read their lines in that voice, and if not I'll just make up a voice for them in my head that I think suits them.

3. What’s a standout goofy memory you have?

As a teenager, I tried cosplaying one time at an anime convention (Shiemi Moriyama from Blue Exorcist), and realized I'd lost my necktie about halfway through the day. I tried retracing my steps, checking the lost and found, but no luck. The next day, in my regular clothes, I passed by two security guards talking about how someone's sash had gotten stuck in the escalator and broken it temporarily. I can't say for certain it was my necktie... because I also made no further attempt to reclaim it. I also decided that cosplaying wasn't really my thing.

4. How long have you made art? Do you have a favorite medium?

I've been drawing on-and-off since I was about seven or so—I definitely haven't been drawing consistently for all that time though, ahahah. ^^; For myself, I like digital art (it's so, so forgiving), but as far as appreciation goes, I love watercolor works. I think they're super beautiful, and I'd like to practice them more myself.

5. What’s an obscure game you like?

Honestly, I'm not sure I've played very many obscure games... the best I can come up with is Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani. I think the otome genre is still considered pretty niche, and compared to some other English otome releases, I don't think it was super popular. Aside from otome, I don't think the Rune Factory series is super popular, but I've really enjoyed what I've played of Rune Factory 4 Special.

 

[Neb]

1. Do you like to cook? If so, what do you like to make the most?

2. Do you have any funny childhood memories?

3. Do you have a fear or phobia?

4. What would you say is your top five favorite anime and manga?

 

[.: Meri :.]

1. Do you like to cook? If so, what do you like to make the most?

Cooking's pretty time-consuming and can be kinda finicky, so I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of it, but I can make a few things! c: I can do a few pasta dishes and a couple sauces (I like to add a lot of vegetables!), and I usually handle the cooking whenever we have tacos here. I do like to try different spice combinations for our vegetarian ground beef (a couple favorites being garlic powder + fresh lime juice, and honey/chili powder/lemon juice + tiny bit of cayenne), since that keeps things interesting. Cupcake decorating is fun too!

2. Do you have any funny childhood memories?

Let me see... when I was little I got some "how to be a good dog owner" type books from the library that I was studying with my childhood dog. One of them was talking about respecting/working with dog behavior and understanding how it differed from human behavior. The book naturally did not say anything about this, but I, being around 6 or so, took this to mean "I should smell my dog's butt, since dogs always want to smell other thing's butts". I do not recommend this. I saw my life flash before my eyes.

3. Do you have a fear or phobia?

I... do not do well with spiders and buzzing insects, eheh. ;v; Most embarrassingly, I've actually screamed and ducked from approaching hummingbirds twice because I mistook them for a large wasp or hornet. I'm not cut out to be a Disney princess, apparently.

4. What would you say is your top five favorite anime and manga?

Ooh, good one! I love a lot of series so it's hard for me to pick, but at least right now, these would be mine.

Manga:

1. Fullmetal Alchemist - It's been ages since I read it, but it's absolutely incredibly written and has one of the best stories I've ever seen. Easy 5/5 stars.
2. Pandora Hearts - Glad I read this one when I did, because it's definitely one of the darker/more bittersweet works I've read, and I'm not sure how well I would've handled it in recent years. ;u; Beautiful story though and while the first volumes look a little shaky iirc, the later artwork is incredibly beautiful too. I have a couple nitpicks about it but it was overall amazingly done.
3. Kekkaishi - A super-underrated series imo. It's got a great story and the artwork is gorgeous. I had the cover art for volume 18 as my wallpaper for ages because I loved the colors and composition so much.
   Spoiler

   
4. One Piece - It's super long but honestly super worth it. The story is downright epic and well thought-out, and I cannot wait to see where the series goes.
5. Fairy Tail - Very fun fantasy shonen series that I'll always have a soft-spot for. The fanservice (especially in later volumes) honestly gets kind of ridiculous, but it's still a really good story with a loveable cast and some good romance sub-plots too.

Anime (not including any adaptations of the former, since I don't wanna be repetitive):

1. Kamigami no Asobi - A big comfort anime of mine, and what got me into otome in the first place! (And I'm still waiting for a localization of the game it's based off of lol rip) It's got a great cast of characters and hits a perfect balance of taking itself seriously enough, while still being able to poke fun at itself for its more silly aspects.
2. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Really really good steampunk anime, but definitely skip the notorious filler arc in the middle of the series. The first couple episodes make it seem pretty kiddish, but trust me when I say it's not—it really hits its stride around episode 4.
3. Durarara!! - Very fun, also very weird, also very hard to describe well? But I love this series and its characters a ton.
4. Gurren Lagann - I'm not usually one for mecha series, but Gurren Lagann is my exception. It made me bawl (a lot) in the best way.
5. Shaman King (2021) - It's definitely got its flaws, but I love this weird series so, so much. It's great fun, but it can definitely be deep when it needs to be. This adaptation also fixes some uncomfortably problematic character design elements of the manga, which I'm quite thankful for.

 

[Neb]

Hi, I got some more questions! Hopefully they’re pretty good!

1. What was your dream job growing up? Did it change?

2. Would you rather drive a car, ride a bike, or ride a horse?

3. What is your proudest accomplishment?

4. What kind of animal do you relate to the most?

5. What’s the longest you’ve been awake?

 

[.: Meri :.]

Hi, I got some more questions! Hopefully they’re pretty good!

1. What was your dream job growing up? Did it change?

Hiya! ^^ When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian for a long time because I've always loved animals, but at some point I realized I was way too squeamish and sensitive for that line of work. My exact dream job changed a few times after that, but from that point forward it was pretty much always something in the creative field.

2. Would you rather drive a car, ride a bike, or ride a horse?

I'll go with bike! I'm too anxious to drive a car and horses are complicated ahaha.

3. What is your proudest accomplishment?

Earning my second-degree brown belt in kung fu. I'm definitely pretty out-of-practice at this point though.

4. What kind of animal do you relate to the most?

For a while I wasn't sure if I had more of a cat or dog personality, but I've actually been compared to a rabbit a few times! I can kinda see that one—for starters, I'm also a nervous vegetarian ahahaha.

5. What’s the longest you’ve been awake?

Probably around 24 hours at the very most. I'm not cut-out for all-nighters.

 

[-Mars-]

Hi! Sorry if this has already been asked before but what fandom/media are the character(s) in your avatar and signature from?

 

[.: Meri :.]

Hi! Sorry if this has already been asked before but what fandom/media are the character(s) in your avatar and signature from?

If it has, I'm still happy to answer ahaha—they're Cardia and Lupin from the otome visual novel series Code: Realize! ^^ Cardia is one of my favorite otome MCs; she's got a really fleshed-out personality and character, and I relate to her in a lot of ways. Lupin is one of my favorites of her love interests, he's v cool but also a really sweet dork lol

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

What is your favorite Animal Crossing game and what was your first one??? Thank you for always being so kind!!!!

 

[.: Meri :.]

What is your favorite Animal Crossing game and what was your first one??? Thank you for always being so kind!!!!

Aww thank you! ;v; My first AC game was New Leaf, but I'd say New Horizons is my favorite—I love the changes to the villager moving mechanics, and the expanded options for decoration. Being able to place furniture outside is amazing. I do like New Leaf's soundtrack the best though!

 

[Croconaw]

What is one food you don’t necessarily dislike, but you have to be in the mood for it?

Pandemic aside, is traveling something you enjoy doing?

I read above that you practiced in kung fu. Did something or someone in particular inspire you to start practicing?

 

[Shellzilla_515]

1. Since you play quite a few Dragon Quest games, do you happen to have a favourite out of all of them?
2. Do you have a favourite meme related to the series? This one is my personal favourite, and I'm sure you've been through this pain before like I did lol.