Sounds made: Car horn honking. Lightsaber noises. Screeching metal. The entirety of the Barenaked Ladies song “It’s All Been Done.” Cate Blanchett gravely saying, “Pangolin.” No sound, but it makes the eardrums of anyone who has cursed within the last 23 hours bleed. Meowing.
Diet: National Geographic magazines you will never read. Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew: Code Red. Everything except Mountain Dew. Poisonous plants. Space ghosts. Regrets. Thylacines (note: we will need thylacines back for this to work). Thylacine ghosts.
Natural habitat: Everywhere. My house. Specifically my house. I will die on this hill.
Amazing listicle trivia facts: Pangolins can smell fear. Pangolins are legally allowed to become prime minister in every country, even if that is not an elected position within that country. All pangolins are automatically registered drivers. Pangolins know why the caged bird sings and whether or not a tree makes a sound if it falls in a forest. Pangolins may use express checkout lines with as many as 25 items. Pangolins can fly.
Column of choice: What Are You Playing.
Bonus question: What’s your favorite serene movie? Something that’s just a tranquil watching experience.
​Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): This quarantine stuff is really hard, especially since I was stuck at home before the US was doing this, so I’ll be in Animal Crossing New Horizon hardcore. I may put my friend code in the comments below if people are interested. Pokemon Go will have an event, and given that they’ve made it easier to play from home, I’ll probably do some of that before going on a walk (which is luckily still allowed, but I have to avoid my favorite trails because people are just not being careful out there).
I really can’t think of any serene movie scenes off the top of my head. My favorite stuff tends to be moody, dark, funny, or a combination of the three (see the “Spiderman doesn’t wear a cape” scene in Into the Spiderverse). The only thing I can think of is March of the Penguins. The movie is pretty brutal, but there’s one part where all the penguins are stopped and Morgan Freeman (swoon) is talking about how we don’t know how the penguins know where to go. But even without the commentary, it’s just a bunch of penguins sitting around looking confused, and one just starts going. And the others start to follow. And we all know it works out, so it’s still kind of heavy, but it’s certainly a quiet scene that can bring peace of mind when stressing out about feeling lost.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): So probably Star Wars Galaxies Legends for sure (y’all saw my nutty video right), and maybe some City of Heroes. I got The Sims 4 for my kids so I might play too. And I’m probably going to cave and get Animal Crossing for my Switch.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): Like much of the greater gaming world, I’ll be deep in to Animal Crossing New Horizons and Doom Eternal. On the more MMO side of things, there will be guild shenaniganry in Final Fantasy XIV and more attempts at Blaze Escalation in Dauntless.
I guess my first pick for serene movie is the original Winnie the Pooh animated film. The whole thing is just so cozy and cuddly. Except for that heffelumps and woozles bit.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): Some FFXIV, definitely… but other than that, I’m actually not sure. Anxiety has been kicking me hard this past week, and I’ve been a little low on Star Trek Online recently, so maybe I need to find something else to lose myself in for a while.
I made a whole Twitter thread about how I had never seen My Neighbor Totoro until this week, but I’m sitting here a couple days later and I can’t get it out of my mind. It’s just such a perfectly peaceful film, resolutely unconcerned with having things like antagonists or rising action or crisis or anything of the sort. Instead, it’s just a quiet meditation. It runs for an hour and a half, it could run for a week or a month. It’s just… living, calm, and quiet. Like a painting stretched into a film.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): Lord of the Rings Online seems to be the belle of the ball right now with all its content switched on and the spring festival running. I’ll be honest, it’s my least favorite festival that the game runs, but there are some pretty sweet cosmetics that I want to snag this year, so I’m going to gun for it. Apart from that, I want to clock in some Neverwinter and WoW Classic, and maybe some No Man’s Sky as well. I’m building a base!
Mia DeSanzo (@neschria): I am going to play some of my backlog of single player RPGs. I just got back into Black Desert last night, so probably some of that, as well as advancing a bit more in Revelation Online.
For the bonus, I am going to suggest a couple of things that don’t quite fit the question. On Netflix, there is a series called Moving Art, which is just calm music and lovely scenery. That’s good to put on for sleep or for putting on in the background. On Amazon Prime, you can find Rick Steves’ Europe. That isn’t too challenging. And it is pretty reliable for calming me down to sleep, too.
Pierre, patron: I’m on vacation for one week starting this weekend, of course confined at home so no running for me; running shoes, you’ll be missed. But it’s just a minor inconvenience, and it makes more time to play video games. So let’s see: I have The Last of Us to finish, I’m considering playing Resident Evil 2 Remake to be ready for Resident Evil 3, and of course The Elder Scrolls Online, an immense universe to explore. Oh I almost forgot: I finished Braid, I’m really proud of myself, those last puzzles were quite tricky.
Bonus question: The Horse Whisperer is probably one serene movie I really enjoy, The Holiday is also one movie I watch when I want to relax and focus on positive thinking. Stay safe MOP readers and let us know in the comments how you’ll occupy your time this weekend.
Every Saturday, join the Massively OP community and staff for What Are You Playing, our roundup of what MMORPGs and other games we’re hoping to play this weekend (with a bonus question or two for our amusement). Tell us what you’re up to! Go off-topic! And don’t forget to have fun!
