Have you ever wanted to look into the brain of a man who can go from Sailor Moon to Kendrick Lamar in the span of two minutes? 

I haven’t, yet I’m stuck in his body. This week we’re looking at me: copy editor Noah. My accolades include being Time’s 2006 Person of the Year, beating the original Super Mario Bros. in under 10 minutes and recently living on my own for the first time in my life. 

I’m a simple guy whose interests are apparent to anybody who talks to me for a second. When I’m going from place to place, it’s easy to find me jamming at the top of my lungs. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually playing video games or watching anime. 

Music: It seems that each one of my predecessors has discussed their music taste with this column. Far be it from me to break tradition.

I was born in 2000, so the pop music of the 2000s and early 2010s was especially influential. I loved (and still love) artists ranging from Coldplay to Outkast to NSYNC, but my favorite genre from this era has to be pop-punk. 

I’m not going to say some sappy thing like Avril Lavigne “got” me, but I’m still bumping her. Paramore, Green Day, Blink-182, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, The Offspring and so many more artists stay with me to this day.

Beyond that, my parents both loved the hits of the 1980s. Michael Jackson, David Bowie, The Police, Toto, Queen, Tears for Fears and Fleetwood Mac. Apparently, I could spend this whole article just naming musical artists I like. 

Thanks to the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef earlier this year, I went down a hip-hop rabbit hole. Now I can’t get enough of it. I won’t list artists as I have so many times thus far, but I will note that I am capable of doing the fast part of Eminem’s “Rap God” in one breath. 

The soundtrack of 2019’s Persona 5 opened my eyes to what I would now call my favorite genre of music: acid jazz. The best song on the soundtrack by far is “Rivers in the Desert.” 

Other games/franchises with excellent music include The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Metroid, Cuphead, Fire Emblem, Undertale and Shovel Knight. 

Video Games: It’s not a secret that I like video games. I started “Quarter Muncher,” the game review column here at “The Spectator.” I recently told a coworker that if I stopped gaming, I’m not sure what would be left of my personality.One look through my writing portfolio will tell any reader that I tend to gravitate towards Nintendo games. There are a multitude of reasons for this. 

First off, it’s just what my family had. My mom grew up in the ‘80s as home video gaming hit the mainstream. Her dad was a huge fan of the NES and SNES. Apparently, she wasn’t allowed to see her friends until she finished mapping out the original The Legend of Zelda with him. 

In addition to her Nintendo predisposition, I just liked those games more than others. When we got a PlayStation 3, I played it often enough, but it was more common to see me on my DS or Wii. 

Here are a few specific video games that genuinely changed my life. 

I received Pokémon FireRed version for Christmas in 2004. I became obsessed with the creature-collecting franchise. Give me a type and I’ll be able to tell you its weaknesses and resistances. 

Did you know that there are over 1,000 Pokémon now? 1,025 to be precise. If given half-an-hour, I could probably name at least 900. I’ve bought all of them upon release for 20 years, and it probably won’t stop with the next entry despite my disappointment with Scarlet and Violet. 

My best friend in middle school insisted that I pick up Fire Emblem: Awakening when it came out. A YouTuber I liked (shoutout TheJWittz) naming it as his game of the year in 2013 was my push to purchase the game.

To sum up my feelings on the game, when I finished, I decided that my first ever tattoo would be Chrom’s Brand of the Exalt. Two months ago, I made good on that promise to 13-year-old Noah. Did you see that handsome fella with the shoulder tattoo in the picture? 

Who doesn’t know Skyrim? It’s on PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC, Nintendo Switch, Alexa … What was this about again?

It’s a common joke in the gaming community that Skyrim has been released too many times to count. Bethesda CEO Todd Howard said himself that he’d stop releasing the game if we stopped buying it. 

I can confidently say that I have put over 3,000 hours into Skyrim over the last 12 years. That is 125 days or over four months. Despite this, I have the audacity to ask “why don’t girls talk to me?” 

The three franchises I have just mentioned are my favorites. I also love game series including The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Xenoblade Chronicles, Sid Meier’s Civilization and Super Smash Bros. 

Anime: While I would love to gush about Code Geass and Evangelion, this article is long enough, so I’ll recommend shows to those who may not know where to start.

Quickfire recommendations: go. For battle scenes and underlying horror, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan. If you’re into shows with less emphasis on action, Princess Tutu (yes, that’s really what it’s called, and it’s peak) is for you. 

Sports anime worth checking out includes Kuroko’s Basketball and Free! Do you want a show that will make you wish your eyes and ears were purely decorative? Check out Sword Art: Online and Akame ga Kill!

I’ll end this with a little message. Be yourself. Love yourself. Love life. Yeah, I know that my interests aren’t mainstream or traditional. I got bullied in middle school for the things I like, but I stuck with them anyway. 

I have had an interesting journey of self-discovery that is not yet complete, and a lot of these pieces of media have accompanied me on that trip. Be unabashedly yourself and make the world conform itself to you, not the other way around.

Tolbert can be reached at [email protected]. Challenge him to a rap battle or Mario Kart. He’ll win either way.