midnight snap and the feelings of nostalgia
hello there!
been a little while since i posted here, huh? last night, at like, 3 in the morning, i started thinking about a sleep-aid series called Midnight Snap (some of y'all may have heard of it, if not, give it a try, it's on youtube and spotify), and the feelings of nostalgia i feel sometimes when i watch/listen to that show whenever i feel like putting that on.
anyways, i'm here now because i originally wrote an earlier draft of the post below to a friend of mine in the dead of night and he told me later that this would be great for a blog like tumblr or something, sooo... here it is :)
(note: this may or may not have been edited from my original draft)
when i was younger, and even in the present, i don't think i ever really had the particular vibe of someone like a friend – or even a relative of any kind – putting on a game i'd have some amount of interest in, and then i'd fall asleep while they played quietly. one time, years ago, i woke up to the sound of my brother Chris playing Star Wars: Empire at War on the computer sitting next to my bed, and looking back, there was quite a few times where i myself was somewhat able to provide that sort of comfort when my dad would take a nap while i played stuff like Transformers: War for Cybertron, of all things, but very quietly.
and then there was my older half-sister Katie who would quite often visit my family, often taking the role of babysitter until... well idk when exactly, but it was when my parents decided me and Chris could take care of ourselves and not get into fights lol. anyways! Katie would visit often back in the day, but i don't remember her playing games while i'd sit nearby and nap or sleep to it. i remember her and my half-brother Matt once visited and we all had a big sleepover situation and we watched the movie Happy Feet, but not specifically video games or something. i remember Katie visiting us one time later in my life and we watched Phineas and Ferb and just vibed, but again, no video games.
so yeah... when i was younger, and especially now in my adulthood, while i definitely can say that i had experiences that felt cozy for me, even when i was being the one participating in the activity, i never quite had that exact comfort, that exact feeling, of a friend or relative visiting and then starting up a game and playing it quietly as i lay nearby and drift off to sleep.
...that is, not until Penny Olivia Parker had the brilliant idea of doing a sleep-aid series called Midnight Snap. mainly starting with let's plays and then, from what i've heard from my brother, she's considering other ideas beyond that, like movie or tv show commentaries, or making tierlists or learning japanese through duolingo or something, anything that could fit the mission statement of the series: to create a soothing environment, akin to a late-night discord call or a sleepover, like mentioned above, where "you can safely drift off, calm a racing mind, or even just fill an otherwise quiet night with a friendly voice."
as Penny plays these games and provides a source of comfort, i often think about what it would've been like if i had this exact comfort years ago. just this exact vibe of a friend putting on a game during a sleepover and not being too loud while i fall asleep. games like Animal Crossing, or Freddi Fish, or even stuff like Red Dead Redemption, of all things.
and on the subject of Freddi Fish and Humongous games, i remember having a Blue's Clues game (that i cannot remember the name of right now) from Humongous Entertainment and on that disc, i think there was some demos for other Humongous games like Putt-Putt and Pajama Sam. so i have some nostalgia for that type of adventure game, and in playing Freddi Fish for Midnight Snap, Penny has unlocked faint memories of mine that feel like photos washed out by exposure to the sun.
and as she considers more ideas for Midnight Snap, i bet the vibes will only get more and more nostalgic for me in due time. times when i would fall asleep to movies with my little brother only to wake up to the DVD menus in the morning; times when my half-siblings would visit and we'd just vibe during stuff like sleepovers; times that i, quite honestly, miss and cherish dearly as i think about them now.
i dunno if she'll ever come across this blog, but if she's reading this... thank you, Penny, for unlocking memories i had kind of forgotten about, for reawakening the warmth of nostalgia in my heart, for making me yearn for the days of my childhood, and for bringing us a show that helps people like me feel comfortable and sane in a world gone nuts that seems to be getting crazier every day. all that from a simple little sleep-aid show haha! i think i will be rewatching midnight snap pretty soon.
tldr: midnight snap has been a great source of comfort lately, it gives me nostalgia for my own childhood, and i also wish i had the exact vibe of falling asleep to someone else playing videos game years ago.