Jon’s October Creator Showcase!

Hello people and non-people, and welcome to this corner of the internet! For anyone that’s new here, I’m Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken aka Magi (he/they) and I’m a lich, blogger, curator and streamer from Germany who writes mainly about Indie Games and other stuff here on Indiecator. Lovely to meet you! It’s been a while since I announced that I’d host #theJCS in November, which means that I collected posts and other forms of Content from October and uh, it’s December now so I hope that’s not confusing but with me being sick and with the university stuff keeping me busy, I didn’t manage to finish the post until now. Anyway, today, I’ll be showcasing a bunch of creators that you can check out yourself if you want to! For anyone interested, we had 33 entries in the form of content from October 2021 for November’s JCS! This post as a whole is 2663 words long and it took me way too long to read, write and format all of this! Their creations have been a blast to read – and you can easily find their Twitter profiles in the following list and the links to their blogs or channels in their respective sections. The following list links to everyone’s Twitter account as well as to their platforms – and the order of the list is also how they show up in this post, so if you want to read a specific entry, that should hopefully help navigate it a little bit?

If I missed anyone that did submit something, feel free to DM me on Twitter (@MagiWasTaken) or on Discord (MagiWasTaken#4357)! I tried to keep track of every single submission but naturally, mistakes happen and if I did miss anyone, then it’s not because of ill will but rather because I’m a goofball. The same thing goes for pronouns! I tried looking up people’s pronouns on their Twitter bios as well as their About sections but at times, I just went with “they/them” or people’s names if I couldn’t find the information. Correct me if I’ve made any mistakes!

Either way, here are the entries for this month and the posts!

• Tessa from Narratess
• Crimson from A Nerdy Fujo Cries
• Roger from Contains Moderate Peril
• Frosti from Frostilyte.ca
• Jon from Jon Spencer Reviews
• Dewbond from Shallow Dives In Anime
• Dave from MindsetByDave
• NPG from NonPlayerGirl
• Naithin from Time To Loot
• Ellie from The Almighty Backlog
• The Crow from Crow’s World of Anime
• Static from Overage Gaming
• Fed from FederalGhosts
• Karandi from 100 Word Anime
• Krikket from NerdGirlThoughts
• Blockade85 from Words Under My Name
• Meghan from MeghanPlaysGames
• George from The Gamer With Glasses
• Krista from LeeksPlays
• Jack from Animated Observations
• Minty from Black and Yellow Otaku Gamers
• Bonne from Sailor Otome!
• Nabe-Chan from Geek Nabe
• Matt from Matt in the Hat
• InfiniteZenith from InfiniteMirai
• Fred from Aunatural
• Scott from Mechanical Anime Review
• Scorpz from Scorpzgca
• YumDeku from My Anime Go
• Shoujo from Shoujo Ramblings
• Alyssa from AlsManga
• Blerdy from BlerdyOtome
• Oona Tempest from Sweet ‘n Spicy Reviews
• Me from Indiecator

Michael Myers: On Realistic Fear

In “Michael Myers: On Realistic Fear“, Raven van Dijk talks about realistic fears and lessons that can be learned from “the Big Three” of Horror Films: Halloween, Friday the 13th Pt. 2, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Based on what seems like a lot of research, Raven talks about why certain antagonists are more effective than others and what impression they give on the audience – two important questions that every answer should ask themselves!

How I Disasterously Described a Sports Anime (Let’s Talk)

Crimson talks about the way they described a sports anime to someone that isn’t really into sports anime who they know offline, and it’s quite interesting and entertaining, especially considering how Crimson is keeping their BL stuff separate from their IRL interests. Definitely a good read! [Late entry]

Retroactive Continuity

Roger talks about a stylistic device named Retroactive Continuity or Retcon, for short, and what benefits and risks are involved in its usage. I learned a lot from this post and because of it, I noticed that the “it was all a dream” or “the other movies didn’t happen” narratives are actually far more common and that they’re quite effective at doing certain things. More on that in Roger’s post!

Fighters and Finding Joy in Learning

In this post, Frostilyte talks about how a change in the perspective on learning can help a lot with enjoying fighting games in the long term. Inspired by a video, Frosti realises that he himself had undergone an evolution of his mindset when he approached different titles and hence, he explains why that change in perspective is important to make fighting games more approachable for newbies and to make people stick around longer. But more on that in his post!

Found in Translation – A Discussion on Accessibility in Media

In “Found in Translation”, Jon talks about ye ol’ “Sub vs Dub” debate but approaches it from a fresh angle by comparing anime to two more recent things that he watched that are not anime but were still quite popular: Amazon Prime’s “Cinderella” and Netflix’ “Squid Game”. Furthermore, Jon creates arguments that are based on studies as well as his own personal experiences with subtitles and even explains why the Anime industry should care more about this issue. More on that in his post!

School Days’ Makoto Itou: Also a Victim

In this discussion, Dewbond takes a different stance on (arguably) the most hated protagonist in all of anime: Makoto Itou from “School Days”. Now while I personally don’t agree with his post, Dewbond tries to look at the show from a different perspective and defends Makoto Itou as he’s also a victim in this show, without talking about the end, of course. 

Raising Children With Autism – Mindset by Dave Podcast

In this podcast episode, Dave talks about Parenting, specifically about raising children with autism. His guest on the show is Dan King who is not only a father of two children with autism but who is also a content creator. As Dave already mentions in the beginning, parenting is different for each and every person because neurotypical children aren’t the same – and neither are neurodiverse children. Dave is a mental health advocate who tries to spread awareness on topics such as these over here on his Twitch channel as well, so give that a go if you’re interested in learning more!

The State of Otome Games in 2021 Part 1: The History of Otome

In Part 1 of The State of Otome Games in 2021, NPG talks about the history and evolution of the medium, its fanbase and content produced about otome games. Otome Games or “otoge” for short are games aimed towards women but even as a cis-male, I found this article to be incredibly interesting, and I’d recommend it yourself!

New World, Vanilla Experience

In “New World, Vanille Experience”, Naithin talks about New World and why it’s not surprising that a lot of people like it and that a lot of other people also dislike it. For Naithin, the sum of the great components aren’t necessarily more than the sum but he has another conclusion he made about the game, so I’d recommend reading up on that as well.

Final Fantasy IX

In her post on Final Fantasy IX, Ellie aka EuphoriaGremlin talks about her experience in said game. I haven’t actually played the game but reading her review made me want to get back into Final Fantasy again. 

Takt Op.Destiny Episode 1 Review – Best In Show

This post contains spoilers. In Crow’s review of Takt Op.Destiny’s first episode, he talks about said show’s first episode (duh) and does so in a delightful way, showing us the deeper mystery’s of the Donut hole and going into detail about the best moment in said episode and why its setup and delivery are well-done.

Himno – The Silent Melody – Demo Review

In his review, Static talks about the challenging and enjoyable aspects of a roguelike called Himno – The Silent Melody. Static actually only recently got into blogging but his review is already well-written and describes pretty well why Himno is so unique and interesting. Definitely recommend reading this one!

Humankind

In this VOD from FederalGhosts’ channel, Fed plays Humankind (which is a game that I just love) and it’s just a pleasure to watch him interact with his community while going through. Fed is a streamer and a big inspiration of mine and his stream and community are just a pleasure to watch. On YouTube, he also uploads content on his dog, Tux, who’s just precious.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – Series Review

In their review of Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy, Karandi offers some insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the show. Personally, I love the manga and really enjoyed the show but I agree with some of the flaws that Karandi points out in her review. Give it a read!

Quick Look – BARRICADEZ

In this review, Krikket takes a look at BARRICADEZ, a game where you protect possibly the last human baby from a horde of bloodthirsty demons. The game looks interesting and Krikket manages to showcase quite well why the game seems so enjoyable to her. 

Gunbreaker, The Fun-Maker

In “Gunbreaker, The Fun Maker”, Blockade talks about his experience with the Gunbreaker class as well as issues he has run into. He talks about the combos and the levelling process which I found pretty interesting, considering that I so far have only played the Black Mage and the Astrologist classes. I might consider picking up a Warrior class after reading this post. Definitely a good read!

Drawings by MeghanPlaysGames

Meghan is actually a blogger that reviews all sorts of games on her blog but to break things up a little bit, she submitted artwork instead. All the images with the caption “drawn by Meghan” are made by her, including this one above this section here. I really liked her drawings and her cute style but I must say that this one of Drifloon is my favourite, considering how adorable it is! Drifloon is one of my favourite pokémons and the bag that looks like Chandelure is just way too adorable as well! I love Chandelure, too, btw. Definitely check out her blog, too, while you’re here though! Meghan’s great!

Shin Megami Tensei V Hype Train

In this post, George is preparing for Shin Megami Tensei V by looking back at the series and talking a bit about the games that he’s played, including his favourite game in the series as well as some other titles that made an impression on him. By now, the game is released already, so I’m sure that George will talk about that plenty on his blog!

The Animal Crossing Diaries: Preparing for New Adventures

Krista is pretty hyped about the new Animal Crossing Update, so she’s preparing for new adventures and listing a lot of the things she still has to do, on top of giving us a little tour of her island. Pretty neat!

The Observation Deck: My Hero Academia Season Five

Jack shares some thoughts on My Hero Academia’s fifth Season and goes into detail about the different parties and movements that are introduced here as well as questions like “what is peace?”. As someone who is up-to-date with the Manga and who enjoyed the Fifth season quite a lot, it was interesting to read up on the thoughts of someone who’s only watched the Anime, especially since the Anime is taking a darker turn during this season. This post includes spoilers for the fifth season, obviously, but I’d recommend giving it a read after you watched it!

Music Monday | DPR IAN – Moodswings in This Order

Hey, it’s fitting! Today’s Monday, too! Minty talks about DPR IAN and his debut solo album “Moodswings In This Order” (MITO). I’m not as big into Korean Music as before but DPR Ian’s debut solo album actually sounds really cool, with “No Blueberries” and “Nerves” being my favourites from the album. Hence, I really appreciate Minty’s album recommendation and it was interesting to read up on the artist’s life and work.

Review: Tears of Themis – Symphony of the Night

Bonne reviews ToT: SotN, a mobile Otome-Adventure game developed by miHoYo that came out in 2020. Bonne was really excited about this Halloween event (because Halloween’s the best Holiday, duh) but feels a bit underwhelmed with the execution. Read more on that in their review!

Restaurant to Another World S2 is yet another delicious treat

In this post, Nabe talks about the absolute treat that Restaurant to Another World’s second season is, metaphorically and literally. She likes food, I like food, she likes the show, and well, I like the show, too. Personally, I couldn’t agree more with what Nabe says in her post, so I’d recommend reading more on that yourself if you’re looking for a tasty show.

Review: Food Wars! The Fourth Plate (Spoiler-Free)

In this review, Matt is able to convey what Food War’s fourth season is about without actually spoiling the show, which is much appreciated. There are slight spoilers for the third season, obviously, but you probably wouldn’t read the fourth season’s review without having watched anything before, right?

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S: Whole Series Review and Reflections

In their review, Infinite Zenith presents us with their thoughts on Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S while they talk about what makes the show so good. This post contains heavy spoilers, however, so be warned!

This one is for Irina

Fred Heiser talks here about Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut and shares some thoughts on the show. Slight spoilers ahead!

Mars Red: Some Real History

This post may contain some minor spoilers for the show. Scott talks about the show Mars Red, and why its history and the time that it plays in are so interesting. Pretty good read!

Rui and Akaza Join the Versus Mode Roster in Demon Slayer

Scorpz announces that Rui and Akaza have been confirmed to be on the roster for Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hinokami Chronicles. Furthermore, they talk about the game and the features that you need to know for the release.

10 Best Anime Like Squid Game

In their list, YumDeku talks about ten anime shows (and a few more) in the Battle Royale genre that are similar to Squid Game. I don’t agree with most entries apart from the No.1 entry but that’s mostly because the Squid Game is essentially based on the No.1 entry. Still, if you want some recommendations on Battle Royale anime, check out this post!

Shoujo’s Shojo “Tells & Tropes” Master List <3

In their Master List, Shoujo attempts to create a levelling system that allows you to grade and classify the shoujo-ness of something using a point system. I find the idea incredibly intriguing and while it may not work as an indication of quality, it certainly is fun to apply and it can give you some insights into tropes that may be present in a certain piece of art.

Manga Mini-Reviews: Spooky Halloween Edition

Because October initiates the spooky season, Alyssa reviewed a bunch of Halloween-y Manga and I’m glad she did because there are some gems in there that I really gotta get into. Creepy Cat and Necromance, in particular, are works that I wanna read… right away. I’ll do that after this post is done!

Mystery Games to Get You in the Mood for the Spooky Season!

Blerdy recommends a bunch of Mystery Games to get you in the mood for the spooky season. Now, I hate Horror Games but I am very much for Mystery games and I can get behind some of these titles, especially as Blerdy’s recommendations are pretty interesting!

Spooky Scary Ikemen | Top 10 Yandere Love Interests

Oona Tempest wrote a Halloween Special where they rank their top 10 Yandere Love Interests. I actually knew about Iwamine Shuu from Hatoful Boyfriend already but was completely unaware of all these other pretty yet dangerous guys. I may have to play some of these games.

Indietail – Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan

At last, uh, my submission! In October, I reviewed Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan, which is a truly adorable 2.5D-Puzzle-Platformer with Creature Collector elements. The game is incredibly cute and very LBGTQIA+. It also talks a lot about Mental Health issues like Anxiety, Depression, and other things – and it teaches the player how to approach those problems but more on that in my review!

Either way, that was it for this post. I’m sorry for the huge delay but it just ended up being a lot more work than I originally anticipated. Reading every post and finding the right words to describe them without giving away too much was a bit of a challenge for me. My time management wasn’t the best this month but I’d think that I’d like to host another month at another time – though with a better plan as to how I want to approach everything. Like, I won’t underestimate the workload of this month at all in the future! It was a lot of fun to learn about different members of the content creator community, though, and I found a few new people to read, for sure. I hope you did as well! Make sure to check out Crimson as well who’s hosting December’s JCS!

Cheers!

This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well.