Why Everyone Should Play Undertale by Toby Fox

Where to start… Okay I’ll just be straight forward; Undertale is by far the best game I have ever played.

For those of you who don’t know, Undertale is an RPG set in a universe with monsters and humans. At one point in time, before the game takes place, both groups got along. However, a war broke out and humans were victorious. They then decided to trap the monsters under a mountain, Mt. Ebott, where they were to remain for all eternity.

The game begins with your character, having climbed and fallen down Mount Ebott, trapped underground with the monsters and trying to find a way back to the realm of humans. However, the game gives you the decision whether to befriend the monsters or become their main antagonist which is one of the reasons I absolutely love it. This also gives you the chance to play through the game and have a different experience every time so the party don’t stop!

When in doubt, act it out… unless you choose genocide route

The game totals to be around 8 hours when played all the way through, but one thing I cannot recommend enough is to take your time the first run through. Try to get as much out of it as you can as it will make the game much more meaningful at the end.

Another thing I love about Undertale is it’s amazing soundtrack (which is available on Spotify, FYI). The songs consist of similar melodies which Toby Fox used for both his benefit and the game’s. Repeated tunes really gives the player a sense of recognition and nostalgia while playing the game, and it also made song writing simpler for Toby (who not only created the game, but wrote all of the songs for it too).

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the amazing pixel art in the game as well

As I mentioned before, the player experiences new things each time they play through Undertale, but Undertale is also a unique game for each person. The relationships you either choose or choose not to make define your individual character and can result in many different different endings.

The characters that you interact with each have very distinct personalities and are very likable…. well most of them *Robotic Cough*.

All in all, Undertale is an emotional roller coaster that everyone should go on at some point in their lives. If this article was convincing enough, click here to try the free demo or dive straight in and buy Undertale for $10 (honestly, one of the best purchases of my life). Or, if you’re already an Undertale fan, there’s some great new official merchandise being added to the online store soon!

Why Universal Studios is Better than Disney World

Hello, readers! Hopefully the title of this post was as eye-catching as I thought. Trust me, if I had read a blog with this argument before going to Universal Studios, I would’ve been very shocked. However, I have several reasons as to why I believe that Disney isn’t the best theme park out there.

Recently we had winter break at my school and my family decided to take a trip down to Florida. During the summer, we had all agreed that this trip would include going back to Disney (for the first time since I was 7) and Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure for me and my family’s first time.

I’m still in shock with how real everything in Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure looked! All the employees in each part of the parks (Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Dr.Seuss Land, Jurassic Park, etc) were great at sticking to their respected roles and making everything feel so authentic.

Tastes like cream soda… but more magical and with marshmallows

My sister and I decided that we would dress in our house robes (my sister is a Hufflepuff while I’m a Ravenclaw) despite it being over 70 degrees while we were there. All the people that worked at the Potter World theme parks were really interactive with us because of our costumes, which made the heat well worth it. At one point a staff member at the King’s Cross end of the Hogwart’s Express’s track mentioned that “a lot of people tended to be wearing these types of robes” and it had to be a new “fashion statement”. However, once we got to the non-muggle side of the Hogwart’s Espress’s track, we were greeted by the conductor with a “Welcome to Hogwarts, Hufflepuff and fellow Ravenclaw students!”. I cannot express how much I felt like I was a Hogwarts’s student searching for sweets at Honeydukes, or getting money from Gringotts while I was at the park (especially after I got my wand from Ollivanders and could do interactive spells around the park).

Yes, it’s as great as it looks

Besides that, the lines weren’t that bad at all. I think the longest we ever waited for a ride was an hour. Even if the wait time was long, all the rides had themed waiting lines to keep you and your family entertained. For instance, the ride Escape from Gringotts looked exactly like the interior of Gringotts Bank from the movies. Same with the Hogwarts waiting line before The Forbidden Journey.

Another thing I enjoyed at Universal that I felt was lacking at Disney was the thrill rides. The Hulk, Escape from Gringotts, The Forbidden Journey, Jurassic Park River Adventure, and Dragon Challenge were just a few that stuck out to me. I didn’t get to ride the Rip Ride Rockit coaster due to weather, but it looked amazing as well.

What’re THOSE???

Universal definitely specializes in special effects as many of the rides included 4D aspects. For example, when a dragon would breath fire, the room would get warm quickly. Or when a dinosaur spit, a few water drops would fall. Finally, the souvenirs, especially in Potter world, were themed like the movies and I was ecstatic to be able to eat chocolate frogs or try the Ice Cream Harry got from Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour (chocolate raspberry with nuts). Universal was so great that even if I hadn’t been a fan of Harry Potter, I would’ve enjoyed it a lot (just like how I enjoyed the Marvel island despite not being a Marvel fan).

Our family also had the pleasure of staying in a Universal Hotel next to where Volcano Bay will be later this year. The gift shop had all the souvenirs you could find in the parks themselves, which was very convenient for someone who wanted something but wasn’t sure if they wanted to spend the money at that exact moment. Plus, the heated pool and hot tubs weren’t crowded at all, making it a very comfortable and relaxing stay.

I had to hold my ears every time it was about to roar

Now to Disney. It’s not that Disney was bad per se, just that it wasn’t as good as Universal in my opinion. The lines were a lot longer, and the rides a lot less thrilling. The best ride I went on was Everest, which had an hour and a half wait time and wasn’t nearly as scary as I remembered it being. I also went on Space Mountain and was disappointed how bright the interior was. I was expecting pitch black, but I was in the fourth row and was able to anticipate every turn because of the lighting (and I’m known for having poor night vision). Now, I will admit I enjoyed the food at Disney better, but everything was a lot more expensive including the tickets.

Don’t get me wrong, Disney is great but maybe I’m just outgrowing it. So, if you’re looking for a new adventure, or a more thrilling one, I would definitely recommend taking a trip to Universal Studios.

A Fangirl’s Beginning

Hello, readers! I would like to begin our adventure by explaining how I became affiliated with the world of fandoms. It all began in sixth grade when I discovered a little show on Disney Channel called Gravity Falls. Shortly after finding the show, I fell in love. I then proceeded to create an Instagram to become more associated with the show. My account began small, only a few dozen followers after a month of posting. However, I stuck to it. I posted almost daily, and it took me until 2014 (two years) to finally achieve my goal of a thousand followers with the help of a very great friend of mine. It meant the world to me to have that many people be interested in what I had to say about a cartoon on Disney. Little did I know that those first 1000 followers were just the beginning.

I remember the first time someone on my Instagram sent me a Direct Message explaining how they had been one of my first followers. They then continued to tell me how much they loved my account. I was stoked! As my account grew, I received more messages containing similar content.

My account slowly continued to grow until the episode “Not What He Seems” aired on March 9th, 2015. It was on that night that my Instagram was showcased on Instagram’s “Popular in Your Country” page. The followers began rolling in almost immediately. By the end of the night, I went from 3000 followers to over 13,000! However, popularity comes with consequences.

The account that had been the largest Gravity Falls account decided to tell her followers that I had purchased mine. I then received quite a bit of hate from her fans. I later posted to my followers that I was just as surprised as they were with my shocking follower increase. What happened next made me ecstatic. All my followers backed me up and believed me! I then proceeded to block the other large fan account because ain’t nobody got time for haters.

From then on, the followers continued rolling in to the point where gaining 500 a day was the norm. Eventually, I hosted a postcard contest to thank my followers for their continued support of my account. There were ten winners selected at random and they came from all over the world. It was so cool to be able to contact my followers and read their excited comments once they received the postcard.

After hosting the postcard contest, I got a Direct Message from the creator of the app Cartoon Amino and offered to pay me to advertise his new app. I agreed and ended up making $80 which is pretty sweet considering that creating an Instagram was free.

Now, here I am with over 110,000 followers. The show has been over since last February (almost a year) and my follower gain is slowing down. However, I told my followers I would try to post more this year and be more active, host more contests, etc.

The point of this article was not only to help you, the reader, get to know me. It was also to hopefully inspire you to get involved in any interests you have. I would like this blog to be a sort of continuation of my Instagram, but not be limited to just Gravity Falls (I’m too afraid to change my Instagram to a multi fandom account because I might lose followers who do not share my other fandom interests). So enjoy some rants, and fangirling, and show/ game/ movie/ book recommendations!

Also feel free to follow my Instagram: @Gravity_Falls_Secrets