Shoot the Rookie is Five!

Hello dear readers and welcome to another post here on Shoot the Rookie. I know it has been forever since I last posted, but I wanted to write something today to celebrate the fifth anniversary of this little blog, so come join me for some reminiscing, some hopes for the future and possibly even some cake!

Five years is a long time. Five years ago I had a different job, lived in a different house and felt quite differently about many things. In the blogging world, the last five years has been a rollercoaster for me too. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but I am so glad I never gave up because I am still enjoying it immensely despite the ups and downs and changes that have taken place.

Other blogs have come and gone in that time, and with them friends have come and gone too. One of my main motivations for starting a blog was to meet people and this remains one of my favourite things about blogging. I’m not the greatest at making friends, but I’ve interacted with so many cool people through doing this and even formed a couple of close friendships that honestly mean the world to me.

Enough gushing for now though, lets move on and take a look back at some of the stuff that’s happened since I started blogging!

My highlights from the last five years

Since I started writing the blog, a lot of amazing games and anime have come into my life and I’ve had some pretty incredible experiences. Games-wise, the last 5 years have been a whirlwind of different things. It is weird to think that when I started the blog I hadn’t played Persona 5 or Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I’d never played a Resident Evil game by myself and hadn’t played Civilization in over ten years. I think I’ve grown a lot as a gamer and a writer in this time and have been really happy to be able to write about my adventure on the blog.

Of course one of my biggest highlights has been expanding the blog to include anime. That may be the single best thing I’ve done here. I am in a very privileged position of having been able to watch a number of anime films (such as recent releases Belle and Inu-Oh) ahead of their official release dates at special screenings and the annual Scotland Loves Anime festival, and it is so exciting to get to write about this stuff for you guys. Five years ago I hadn’t even seen most of my favourite anime series, but my Crunchyroll subscription has done me well and I feel like I’ve learned so much and found so many great series that I can share with you through my writing.

I’ve said this before, but in terms of blogging, the stuff I’ve probably enjoyed the most has been being part of community events and collaborations. Remember that time I co-hosted a video game fashion show, or when we asked everyone to vote for their favourite JRPG? All that stuff was so much fun, and I do miss it, even though I’ve made a conscious effort over the last couple of years to concentrate on my own things.

I’m pretty proud of a lot of stuff I’ve done here, but my two proudest moments were probably winning 2019’s Blogger Blitz competition and the article I wrote for The Games That Define Us, where I discussed how Guitar Hero has impacted my life. These things really stretched my creativity in different directions and I hope some of you enjoyed these pieces too.

My hopes for the future

My main hope going forward is that I am able to start posting more regularly again. There is a ton of stuff I’ve never written about that I think people would be interested in, and I’m playing new games and watching new anime all the time so it isn’t like I’m short of inspiration. It is just that my tired brain doesn’t always want to commit to writing.

In a wider sense, my other hopes for the future include Xenoblade Chronicles 3 being as awesome as everyone thinks, Yona of the Dawn getting a second series and, dare a say it, the Yuri on Ice film actually happening. If Persona 6 could add some lgbtq+ options that would be cool too. Oh, and Promare 2. That has to happen.

Hoping for world peace would probably be going too far, but in general I hope the world can become a better place and that we can all learn to respect and be kind to each other no matter what dubious video game opinions we hold.

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So there we have it! Five whole years of me talking nonsense about video games and anime. I remain super grateful to all of you that take the time to read my words and truly hope that over the years I’ve been able to entertain you and bring a smile to your face once or twice. I honestly couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do this without you all so thank you for your support and I hope to be here talking nonsense for many years to come.

Thanks for reading,

Pix1001 x