My Five Top Fives
🎮 Top Five Solo Campaign Video Games
I love a good solo campaign. It’s me, the controller, and several hours of emotional chaos that I swear I’ll only play “for twenty minutes.” These are the ones that stuck with me, from puzzle itch to rage quits to pure masterpiece.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This one scratched an itch in my brain that only a Zelda puzzle can. I spent way too many late nights solving shrines that made me feel like both a genius and an idiot in the same breath. Worth it.
4. Uncharted (Series)
Growing up, I was obsessed with Tomb Raider (thanks, Mom). As I got older, I wanted basically a male Tomb Raider — and Uncharted delivered. Every installment? Fire. Treasure, puzzles, banter, explosions — what more do you need?
3. Star Wars: Fallen Order
Okay, confession time: I don’t really like the Star Wars movies. (I know, I know, revoke my nerd card.) But this game? Amazing. It’s like if Dark Souls and Uncharted had a baby — difficult, cinematic, and surprisingly addictive.
2. Elden Ring
This game gave me rage quits, controller death stares, and more big emotions than therapy. But I loved it. Except Malenia. She’s an ass. Happy to report, though, I’ve bested her… twice. Now, I may have died hundreds of times but persistence is key here.
1. Resident Evil 4: Remake
The original had its quirks, sure, but this remake? Absolute perfection. The pacing, the atmosphere, the gameplay. Chef’s kiss. Easily the most fun I’ve ever had in a solo campaign.
👻 Top Five Horror Movies
Horror is one of my favorite genres, partly because it makes me feel alive, partly because I like yelling at my TV while clutching a blanket. These are the five that crawled under my skin and never really left.
5. Midsommar
Creepy cultish undertones? Check. Sudden disappearances? Check. A grief-soaked story wrapped in sunshine and flower crowns? Double check. Midsommar is unsettling in broad daylight, which feels deeply unfair. This film stuck with me long after the credits rolled.
4. Hereditary
Toni Collette deserves every award that exists for this performance. The movie is shocking, brutal, and terrifying in the way grief can rot you from the inside out. Hereditary isn’t just horror—it’s a tragedy that wears a demon mask.
3. Sinister
Creepy kids are enough to ruin your week. Add grainy old film reels, demonic possession, and a score that sounds like nightmares trying to sing, and you’ve got Sinister. Easily one of the few films that made me keep lights on at night.
2. The Descent
This movie is why I will NEVER go spelunking. I’m already claustrophobic, and The Descent said, “What if we add monsters and crank your panic to eleven?” If “Hell Naw” was a movie, this would be it.
1. It Follows
An absolute masterpiece. Tense, suffocating, and oddly fun. The premise is simple but brilliant: an unstoppable force that just… keeps coming. It’s one of the few horror films I can rewatch and still feel that same creeping dread.
😭 Top Five Movies That Make Me Ugly Cry
Crying at movies isn’t optional for me, it’s inevitable. Some films crack me open with a single line, others just bulldoze me with grief. Either way, these are the five that reliably turn me into a soggy mess (plus one honorable mention that made me weep over a volleyball).
5. The Pursuit of Happyness
Layered with sadness, brushed with just enough hope, this film gets me every time. The moment that breaks me: when Chris finally gets the offer and can’t hold back his emotion. I’m right there with him, ugly crying in solidarity.
4. Big Hero 6
This movie starts with trauma and then just keeps going. The line that slays me every time: “I cannot deactivate until you say: You are satisfied with your care.” Enough said. Pass the tissues.
3. My Girl
This one hits me square in the nostalgia. The ‘90s plus pure childhood friendship, unbeatable. And then… Thomas J’s funeral. “Where are his glasses? He can’t see without his glasses.” I can’t fucking see either, not over my heartbreak or my tears. Honestly? Fuck you, bees.
2. A Star Is Born (2018)
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper ripped my heart out and sang over the remains. The moment I completely lose it: “I’ll Never Love Again.” By the time she hits that first line, I’m inconsolable.
1. Selena
The first movie that fully destroyed me. The joy, the music, the charisma, and then the sudden loss. The moment that wrecks me: when the doctor walks toward the family to deliver the news of her passing. Watching their heartbreak shatter across the room leaves me a blubbering mess every time. Especially her husband. The sound that escapes me either classified as caterwauling or grief howling.
Honorable Mention: Cast Away
Yes, I sobbed over Wilson the volleyball. Yes, I’d do it again. Don’t judge me.
🎶 Top Five Musical Artists and Bands
Music has been my therapy, my hype squad, and sometimes my entire reason to keep going. These five are not just artists to me. They are chapters of my life.
5. Nirvana
This was my high school era. Picture me every morning before class, sitting outside Starbucks with a cigarette, convinced I was the brooding main character. Nirvana was the soundtrack to my teenage angst.
4. Michael Jackson
Growing up was not always easy, but his music got me through it. Michael’s songs brought rhythm and light into some of the darkest parts of my childhood.
3. Lana Del Rey
A more recent addition to my rotation, but one that stuck hard. Her music is raw, vulnerable, and hauntingly honest. Fishtail in particular just hits right.
2. Lady Gaga
The artist who made me stop apologizing for who I am. Gaga’s music cracked open something in me. A freedom I had never fully claimed before. Beyond the music, I love her as a human being.
1. Tina Turner
The Diva. The Attitude. The Survivor. Tina Turner carried me through some of the hardest times of my life. I have cried to her, laughed to her, and healed with her. She went through hell and came back fiercer than ever. To me, she reigns supreme, forever.
📚 Top Five Books
Books have shaped me in ways movies and music never could. They get into your bloodstream, stay in your dreams, and sometimes refuse to leave even after the last page is turned. These are the five that made the biggest mark.
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
This is the book that started my love affair with horror. Equal parts fun and terrifying, these stories gave me the perfect childhood thrill, and the occasional nightmare.
4. The Shining by Stephen King
This one actually scared me to the point I could not sleep for a few nights. Way more terrifying than the movie, and it cemented Stephen King as a master of dread in my mind.
3. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Terrifying and fast-paced, it reads like a horror docuseries you cannot look away from. Perfect if you love slow-burn spiritual horror with a modern twist.
2. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Yes, the movie is amazing, but the book is even better. It was my favorite for a long time, full of bite, wit, and that mix of glamour and cruelty that is impossible to put down.
1. The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
This one stayed with me. It made me think deeply long after I closed the book. The story digs under your skin and refuses to leave. It is as haunting as it is thought-provoking.
