#Explore The World Sweepstakes

[omresult]

2024 Explore The World With Lost Irish Sweepstakes - Win A Trip To Any Irish Pub In The World

Interested and eligible participants can enter to 2024 Explore the World with Lost Irish Sweepstakes which provide you complete satisfaction and you will also enjoy it a lot. Sweepstakes open for all United States residents. All participants need to submit entry before March 18th, 2024 and can get a chance to Win a trip to any Irish pub in the world. (where the prize value is equal to or greater…

[gramoturtle]

Don't know if this has been posted here (tried searching for it), but there's a Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Sweepstakes you can enter for a blanket and journal!

Prizes Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Blanket This blanket doubles as a map of Mira and can help get you ready for your next adventure. You can stay warm while taking on foes and exploring the open-world RPG of the Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition game. Size: 58"x72" Materials: Polyester, Poly Polar Fleece Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Journal Document your adventures in this library quality, hardcover journal, complete with a ribbon bookmark and elastic closure. The Smyth-sewn binding helps keep the journal flat while you write, and there's a pocket in the back for mementos. (80 sheets of lined paper)

You can enter up to five times! Good luck to anyone who enters!

[tvlandofficiall]

Chapter 4 predictions?

honestly i have NO idea. ch4 is in what i like to call the thursday of the story – the part where all of the major players have been introduced but where we're still not quite at the height of the action yet. ch1&2 have set up our status quo, ch3 will likely kick the conflict regarding said status quo into full gear, and that leaves ch4 to be in a sort of odd place of rising tension before ch5 comes and that tension finally begins to snap. this is why i think ch3 will have a break in the established formula and be 100% tv world focused, while ch4 may briefly return to the light world intro > dark world gameplay > light world outro formula before it is done away with entirely in favor of the dark world taking center stage.

i don't think ch4 will be a full light world chapter (w/ some castle town on the side given the sweepstakes) at all, regardless, because 1. the light world does not have much in the way of gameplay and is extremely limited in your options for exploring/talking to people and 2. you cannot save your game in the light world, which would mean you would have to be stuck at your computer or game system until you got a moment to wander freely and head to castle town. i guess this could kind of be a metaphor for the archetypical player's neglect to consider any misery they cause kris or the other characters when prioritizing their undertale nostalgia (ie. sealing the fountains fast to see what the undertale characters are up to;) but it seems like it'd just be a poor way to execute that when there are other, far clearer ways to communicate that idea like the way the game uses the aformentioned fountain sealing idea. the dark world being the focus doesn't just make sense from the standpoint of it being a focus for the dehumanized characters or a focus for the characters who are going to get merch&therefore be the faces of the game, it's also mechanically the way to go. forcing someone to have one save point they have to trek back to over and over for a good four to five hours of gameplay isn't even something the undertale no mercy route does – you've got your save points there.

[palilalia]

PAL-079 Bill Orcutt LP

"How to Rescue Things"

Charlie Parker's first album with a string section landed in 1950, ten years after his debut recordings. Although the overtly lush arrangements of Charlie Parker with Strings were Parker's idea, the record must've been something of a relief to producer Norman Granz, especially when the sides went on to become Bird's best- seller, by a long shot. The record (and its follow-up) sparked something of a jazz-strings virus, infecting Nina Simone, Paul Desmond, Clifford Brown, and (later) Miles and Trane. And while the latter entries in that list were clearly bending their arrangements into space-age forms (and the arrangers -- Gil Evans, Eric Dolphy -- were becoming much hipper), these ubiquitous strings albums established a jazz cliché of sorts. They were a shot for the charts at worst, an attempted reinvigoration of tired easy- listening ear candy at best.

How to Rescue Things, landing 15 years into Bill Orcutt's “rediscovery” years, marks a somewhat tardy entry into the string- sweetening sweepstakes. In a post-chart, post-irony world, no one is going to mistake this as a bid for mainstream ears — nor are too many pop-gobblers going to paste this into their “Chillax” playlist. With loops of dulcet, birdsong choruses, syrupy strings, and plucked harps clipped from an RCA easy-listening disc, the zombie strings conjure not red leather couches, cotton slankets, and yuzu martinis, but rather a clockwork mortuary, an undead Who-ville and a cigarette butt drowned in bottom-shelf scotch. In contrast to Orcutt's previous reanimation of yesterday's hit parade,

How to Rescue Things instead takes as its foundation the oily underbelly of the American songbook, the relentless gears that churn melody into newly consumable and marketable forms — simultaneously ersatz, soothing, and funereal.

It's easy to use saccharine, easy-listening settings to deconstruct the romanticism of the past. Yet How to Rescue Things is not an ironic record. True to its title, the transparently corny strings serve not as a meditation on cultural vacuity, but as an attempt to rehabilitate the clichés of the past, “rescuing” them as improvisational grist for new melodic content. They serve as a harmonic substrate for some of Orcutt's most complex playing, and free him to explore the solo-as-such without the need to imply an underlying tune (unlike Orcutt's previous acoustic explorations of nostalgic song).

Orcutt's razor-sharp Fender slices through the satiny settings in angular and unexpected ways, particularly in the final tracks “Requiem in Dust” and “The Wild Psalms,” where his double picking swerves into almost Sharrock-ian territory. But ultimately, true to the Parker records that started this whole trope in the first place, Orcutt sticks to a complex yet tonal path throughout, imbuing tracks like “Not Reconciled” (with its crooned “Oh my god” and a cheeky “amen” tacked to the end) with wide-eyed romantic optimism that goes down strange in a deathbed ballad. But ultimately, it's not strange at all. Rather, this palliative track celebrates a necessary, death-defying joy in the face of darkness — whether genuine or performative is unimportant. And what's more genuinely American than whistling past the graveyard? Just ask Judy Garland. — TOM CARTER

Sanctuary 3:42

Not Reconciled 5:33

How to Rescue Things 4:56

Old Hamlet 3:24

Pylon Pylon! 3:21

Requiem in Dust 3:44

The Wild Psalms 5:15

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #72 - THOUGHTS

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

We're back with another thrilling installment of "Tay Sits Down to Write the Review Hours Before the Next Issue Releases!"

Lemme start by saying, the cover art for this one, by Natalie Haines, absolutely rules. Jet and the Phantom Rider circling each other while lightning strikes a Surge-shaped storm cloud in the background is so cool out of context, and even cooler in.

This issue, to me, the beginning of what I'm calling the Phantom Riders arc, following up the Extreme Competition arc from the last three issues, and looking to be the climactic story of the Clean Sweepstakes saga.

As is often the case with the first issue of any arc, this one is a bit of a slower one, not quite as thrilling as any issue of the arc before. It goes by quick, but there's still a ton of neat stuff in here to dig into, most of it is just... quieter in nature.

The story opens up with Surge and Kit marching right into Clutch's office and declaring that they will no longer be participating in his operation, desiring to leave behind their lives of villainy and pursue the much more fulfilling roles of heroes. It, uh... doesn't go well for them.

What's interesting here is that Clutch never actually makes any form of direct threat about what he'll do if they leave. He doesn't fly off the handle and smash anything to make an example for them. He doesn't even raise his voice.

And that's one of the things I love about Clutch as a villain. His entire strength is manipulation. He knows exactly which strings to pull, exactly which tone to employ to keep his operatives in mind. As I've said before, he doesn't have an army the size of the Eggman Empire, strength to contend with the Deadly Six, or an intellect on the level of Dr. Starline. But he has one thing none of them do - an unrivaled understanding of his resources, and exactly how to make use of them. There's just something so fascinating to me about a Sonic the Hedgehog villain who's entire strength comes from pulling strings and getting into peoples' heads.

I love this guy! I hope he doesn't... y'know... die at the end of this saga, because frankly, I'd love to see him return again in the future.

We also get Sonic on the run, trying to stay under the radar of the Babylon Rogues, until...

Real world years after their introduction, Sonic finally meets Nite and Don! I'm a huge fan of this scene - partly because I really like Nite and Don, and I'm always happy to see more of them, and partly because I love this kinda thing! Main characters from the games meeting side characters from the comics that they've never run into despite them having been around for a while! These path-crossings between characters who are well-established but don't usually interact is something I love in any story, but especially in Sonic, because it gives me an opportunity to see these characters I've known and loved for such a long time explored in ways I've never seen before! This goes a long way toward making the world feel more lived in, and is the kind of thing I'd been hoping we'd see more of as the comic got to have more and more continuity under its belt.

Also, I know it's a little thing that has already been shared a lot, but I love how visibly angry Sonic is in this panel. I've been gushing over any little hint of Sonic's 90's edge being brought forth in this saga, so any more of it is always gonna get me right where it counts.

Here, Nite clues Sonic in to the fact that, in addition to Amy and Tails, the Chaotix are also looking into Clean Sweep, which means we will more than likely be seeing them at some point in this arc.

(Side note: Nite's mug has a modified version of the Crush 40 logo on it, and the poster behind him has an edit of their eponymous album. This is awesome and Crush 40 is awesome.)

This is cool because I love the Chaotix, Vector specifically being one of my favorite characters, but it does worry me that they might be showing up... a little too much? Maybe it's just me, but if feels like they show up a lot over the course of IDW Sonic, especially lately between the Misadventures arc, A Very Chaotix Halloween, and the Spring Broken special. I've gotten into it a bit in other posts, but aside from Sonic Tails, Amy, and Eggman, I prefer most Sonic characters to be "sometimes food."

The cast is so big that you can constantly keep revolving side characters in and out, occasionally throwing in new ones, and go a good while between repetitions, which, in my opinion, only helps to make the appearances of these characters to feel more impactful and, again, make the world feel more lived in. Sonic has so many friends that he doesn't always see many of them that often. It makes sense to me, but maybe it's only me.

Anyway, it'll seem neat to see how they play into everything that's going on here. What's interesting to me is, back in Misadventures, when Clutch hires the Babylon Rogues to steal Echidna artifacts from Angel Island, he says that he did so to keep certain parties occupied while he conducted his business with the Restoration - setting things up for the Clean Sweepstakes. I'd assumed the parties he spoke of were the Chaotix specifically, whom Knuckles recruited to help retrieve his stolen relics.

However, if this was his intention, it seems the Chaotix have gotten involved anyway. Was this a simple oversight on his part? Were his efforts in vain? Or is something more going on? Was the party he sought to distract actually Knuckles? Does his grand plan involve some kind of play for the Master Emerald? If so, that'd be a very bold move for him. For now, though, the best we can do is speculate until we get a better look at the scope of Clutch's scheme - I will say though (and this is a bit of a spoiler within a spoiler), Evan Stanley has posted some WIP pencils for upcoming issues that appear to be part of this same arc, and one drawing among them does seem to show an Emerald present, so it's pretty safe to assume at least one Emerald, be it Chaos or Master, is definitely in the mix here.

Meanwhile, poor Surge is going through it. She lays out exactly what I have found tragically beautiful about her entire character arc, especially over the course of this saga: She envies the freedom of Sonic, but can never have it. No matter what, someone is always seeking to use her for their own ends, and if they can't, the make sure that she can never have the freedom she seeks by damaging her life beyond any hope of repair. It's a surprisingly deep and sad thing to see played out in the Sonic universe, and at the point she's at, I'm not sure there's any good way out for her.

That being said, Kit seems to have his own course of action in mind, and I'm excited to see exactly what it is, because while Kit was designed to be the reason to Surge's rush, he's always seemed to be the one capable of going even further off the deep end when pushed. He always seems to have some pretty extreme levels of violence in mind when he gets quiet and focused. He's kind of creepy like that, and who knows what he's got in store. Whether it works out in his favor or not, I don't imagine it looks good for Clutch, who, like so many others before him, has likely underestimated the little fox.

The last scene of this issue has Amy, Tails, and Belle trying to make their way to Jewel's office to expose Clutch, only to be intercepted by Clean Sweep Inc.'s mascots, who reveal themselves to be none other than Rough and Tumble. We knew these two were working under Clutch, but they haven't shown up in a bit, and it left me wondering exactly where they fit into Clutch's machinations here. Turns out they were right in the spotlight the entire time. Makes sense, given the way they're usually played for comic relief.

They pretty immediately call for backup - which is funny to me. It's characteristically underhanded of them, sure, but it also shows that they've been gaining some level of understanding of just how outmatched they are when dealing with Sonic and co. I did notice that Tumble says they have more infiltrators on their hands, implying they've already dealt with a few before these three arrived. I'd say it's pretty reasonable to assume they're referring to the Chaotix, so it's likely Amy, Tails, and Belle will be running into them soon.

Story-wise, this issue has a lot of neat stuff to dig into, just not quite as much forward momentum as recent ones. And that's good! You have to have setup to have payoff! Plus, these quieter scenes provide a great opportunity for character exploration, an opportunity this issue takes full advantage of. Just about every character gets plenty to do here, plenty to show us who they are when they're not in the heat of action.

In terms of art, this issue is everything the previous arc would lead you to expect. Aaron Hammerstrom continues to bring us some absolutely gorgeous pencils, with some really solid inks from Matt Froese, an artist I've been following since long before their work on IDW Sonic, and have been delighted to see show up in the comic's credits.

As I mentioned previously, we seem to have some upcoming pencils from Stanley herself, and while I love Stanley's art and am always excited to see more of it, it does make me a little sad that we won't be seeing as much from Hammerstrom or Min Ho Kim. They truly have become my absolute favorite artists working on this series - even over legends like Yardley and Hesse. Guess I couldn't see their pencils exclusively forever, though. Whatever the case, Stanley's upcoming stuff looks good, and I'm excited to see more of it, as well as what happens next, which I'll be seeing in... *checks watch* ... About an hour.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time!

[dattosdan]

You know I was thinking about it and... how are kris Susie going to get an entire tv from Toriels house to the school? If we follow the same pattern as the previous chapters, all the darkners objects should be taken from toriels house to castle town, but ignoring the fact that they would have to somehow convince toriel to give them a BUNCH of random objects from her house not JUST the tv, but the other objects could probably be stuffed in kris's pockets, (considering they were able to stuff an entire computer in there lol.) But like, look at this:

Thats a pretty big tv! How are they gonna move that thing, so I came up with two theories/predictions.

The first one which is actually a pretty simple solution, is that Tenna, (assuming the chapter boss is Tenna), isn't actually the tv, notice the name, "Tenna" like ANTENNA, Tenna might actually only be the antenna on TOP of the tv, thus making transportation much more possible.

The second one...

Ok, hear me out, what if these lines from the spamton sweepstakes special were actually FORESHADOWING, what if toby... just straight up KILLS or damages Tenna? This might just be the edgy grim side of my brain thinking, but it would be one HELLUVA way to ramp up the stakes, and show Kris and Susie, that this is serious, I mean, they're HEROES, they're supposed to be saving the world and all, yet they aren't taking this very seriously at all, Susie even likes exploring the dark worlds with kris and states that what the knight is doing, might not be such a bad thing after all, and at least during a non-weird route, kris seems to enjoy them as well, considering they opened up a dark fountain just to go on another adventure with Susie, this could be a wakeup call to them, that the dark worlds ARNT all fun and games, and that they are real dangerous places, full of people, who can, and will die (via the roaring) if they don't save them by stopping the knight.

Anyway, the first theory is more likely, idk if toby would really be willing to do that, but then again, the man DID make the genocide route and weird route, so he can do that sort of stuff if he wants.

Kris could also just have a comically large tv in their pocket I guess, but anyway, let me know what you think.

[sexylinoleum]

Kris Dreemurr Social Life Analysis

Important Information

Toriel implies that (as of the start of chapter 1) Kris has no friends.

Kris has largely been reclusive since Asriel left to collage.

Kris being outgoing is perceived as abnormal by several people.

Toriel also implies that Kris' recent friendships typically don't last very long.

First

Among Kris' classmates are Temmie and Jockington, who both clearly know Kris, but have no indicated history with them whatsoever.

Asriel's Generation

At one point in time Kris seemingly attempted to ingratiate themselves into the other monsters from Asriel's generation, presumably of their own initiative.

Snowy

Gives off a certain arrogance towards Kris at the start of chapter 1, insults Kris behind their back in chapter 2, no indication of prior friendship.

Monster Kid

Implied that Kris and MK work together often in school or did in the recent past, MK's friend group seemingly consists of themself, Jockington and Snowy. Doesn't seem to know Kris very well on a personal level, can't tell they like Susie.

Catti

Implied to have a relatively expansive history with Kris, they seem familiar with her entire family, enough so to be welcome to visit her home at any time. Catti's interactions with Kris are distant (predictably) but positive. One activity the two are known to have partaken in together is study of the "occult", further deepening the idea that Kris wants to learn magic.

Berdly

At the start of chapter 1, speaks to Kris with a degree of familiarity, hostility and arrogance, Berdly saying "Didn't I say being late was a bad idea?" implies that they talked at least semi recently. It is strongly implied, if not outright confirmed, that Kris and Berdly used to be friend to at least some degree, what with them playing video games together in the past.

If you escort Kris to Rudy before talking to Berdly in the library then when you do talk to Berdly Kris will (unprompted, mind you) attempt to convince Berdly to go stand next to the hospital window, presumably so Rudy can throw something at him.

Also worth noting Berdly and Noelle's friendship started after Dess disappeared, this is likely when Berdly and Kris became friends.

Berdly seems (scared of/intimidated by) Kris, he clearly has some degree of imposter syndrome and calls Kris the "class number three" implying that he thinks Kris is smart.

Susie

Prior to chapter 1, Susie outright despised Kris. Implied in the sweepstakes that they were the only person she was ever physically violent towards. Currently unknown why this is the case. Kris doesn't ever seem terribly concerned by Susie's violence, they usually seem either resigned to it or amused by it.

Kris seems to warm up to Susie quickly, they show no issue with her violent tendencies in the dark world and even put themselves in harms way to protect her during the King fight.

Kris and Susie both clearly know something the rest of us don't. Don't really have any theories honestly, the nature of their friendship is so vague, so im just gonna say trivia that I can't really explain.

Susie has an obsession with kris' head, mainly due to the shampoo they use, but beyond that she seems to fixate on people's heads in general.

Susie's hatred towards Kris and several comments after they become friend indicate a particular familiarity with Kris' family.

(BTW how did Susie even drink the apple shampoo while Kris was slashing tires, we had our eyes in the bathroom the whole time???)

Noelle

Noelle was Kris' childhood best friend, their relationship is however, thoroughly decayed. As young children Asriel, Dess, Noelle and Kris would go around exploring and just generally having fun. Kris continued to hang out with Noelle after Dess disappeared although even in this time Noelle could tell it felt like their relationship was slipping, with noelle outright saying "there were times I wasn't even sure we were friends."

Noelle is surprised when Kris actually talks to her and interacts with her in chapter 1, it seems like Kris was the one who actively pulled away from their friendship while Noelle was more passive and didn't really do anything to attempt to keep Kris around. In chapter 1's hospital scene Noelle walks right past Kris without saying anything beyond "Oh, hi Kris." (don't get me wrong im not saying noelle should be expected to put in the work to keep, revive or maintain her friendship with kris, the mere fact that she seemingly chose not to is what interest me).

Despite not being active friends with Kris she still looks out for them, preparing educational resources to help them with their homework and such.

In chapter 2 Noelle is seemling willing and eager to reaccept Kris as a friend. The events of cyber city reiterate the fact that Kris and Noelle used to be each other's best friends and know each other better then anyone else. A lot of Noelle's dialogue indicates she feels nostalgic towards her past friendship with Kris.

A large aspect of Kris and Noelle's early friendship revolved around Kris pranking and taunting Noelle, for example hiding under her bed when they learn about Noelle's fear of "humans under the bed" or telling her Ice-E is real and eats kids. Kris continues this behaviour into their reconnection in chapter 2, doing things like taking two-thirds of the club sandwich, asking Noelle for a refund on Queens present or whacking Noelle with the bounce blade (if you try to equip it to her).

Asgore

The Dreemur's divorce was not a pretty one evidently and Kris seems to not interact with Asgore very much at all.

Toriel

By far and away the person with the biggest role in Kris' life pre chapter 1, Kris acts in a resigned and dependant way towards their mothers doting affection. Toriel simultaneously manages to know a lot and very little about her adopted child, recounting many memories, but completely failing at addressing or even explaining any of Kris' abnormal or concerning behaviour.

Asriel

Kris' favourite person (it's not even close). Kris' relationship with Asriel can only be described as dependant, ever since Asriel left for collage Kris has seemingly lost their composure. Asriel would carry Kris to school, take them out with his friends (most notably Dess), play games with them, ect. Following the Dreemurrs divorce Asriel would take Kris to get a hot chocolate at QC's every sunday after church, which is something the Dreemurr family used to do together.

Kris actively fights the player to ensure Asriel's privacy is respected in the Cyber World by closing their eyes when we make them look in his room. It is common knowledge throughout Hometown that Kris stays up late every night just so they can talk to Asriel online. In Kris' Cyber World room it is revealed that they have been searching for the date of the next Collage vacation, demonstrating how much they miss their brother, and how eager they are for him to return.

There is little distinction drawn between Kris' stuff and Asriel's stuff, they sleep in the same room and likely wear/wore similar clothes.

The hole left in Hometown by Asriel's absence is felt by a large number of residents, seemingly Asriel was just generally a popular and well liked person.

Theories

One theory I can draw from this information, although it borders on speculation, would be my interpretation of a timeline of Kris' social life based on the information we have in game.

It seems reasonable to assume that the Dreemurr family adopted Kris when they were very young, probably around 2-4, Asriel would probably be 2-4 years older then Kris, placing him around 4-8 at the time of Kris' adoption.

Kris and Noelle likely became friends due to the preexisting friendly relations between the Holiday and Dreemurr families, alongside a likely preexisting friendship between Asriel and Dess.

Based on how close Noelle describes her and Kris being it seems reasonable to assume they more or less grew up together.

Dess likely disappeared around the time Noelle was 8-12 based on her appearance in the spelling bee, and the difficulty of the words.

This seems to be around the same time the Holiday and Dreemurr families started drifting apart, and it seems to be around the same time Asgore and Toriel divorced. All events which are probably related in some way.

With Dess gone Asriel likely stopped hanging out with Noelle as much leading to an introverted Kris and timid Noelle mutually letting their friendship decay, likely of the course of 2-4 years.

Around this time, following the spelling bee, Berdly befriends Noelle. Berdly, Noelle and Kris probably hang out as a group on at least one occasion.

The beginning of puberty brings a host of new insecurities to Kris, largely centered around their humanity in a town/family of monsters, but there are a lot of potential "Kris identity issues" readings you could do. Most of these insecurities would likely begin taking form around age 13-15.

Towards the end of Kris' friendship with noelle, likely around the time they are 15 They develop a new friendship with Catti and spend a not insignificant amount of time at her house studying the occult (and probably other stuff).

Friendship with Catti likely lasts no longer then a year.

Around age 15-16 Asriel (who would, by my estimates be 17-20) goes off to collage to study leaving Kris without any concrete friendships and without the person they relied upon most for emotional support.

Not long afterwards Susie arrives in Hometown, or at least joins Kris' school, she immediately singles Kris out as her antagonist.

Kris seemingly has no friendships of any variety up until the start of chapter 1 with the singular exception of Monster Kid who they share a pre-established or only just blossoming, surface level relationship with.

Susie talks as if she has known Kris for at least a little while, which makes me think she has been present in Kris' life for closer to a year, but it could be as little as a month.

One Thursday morning, Alphys tells a 15-17 year old Kris to go with Susie while she gets chalk, to make sure she stays out of trouble.

Speculation

Snowy is probably a little bit of a not nice person. Perhaps bigoted towards humans, perhaps just a bully, perhaps not taking his mother's passing very well.

Kris and Monster Kids' (friendship/partnership) could be a recent development given Toriel's surprise that Kris has someone to work on their group project with.

Kris and Catti likely stopped interacting regularly when Asriel left for collage and Kris became reclusive.

Kind of implied that maybe Kris doesn't like Berdly very much.

Susie's hostility towards Kris is likely born from intense jealousy.

Asriel probably stopped hanging out with the Holidays after Dess disappeared, meaning Noelle and Kris hung out on their own.

Possible Noelle internalized what she perceived as Kris moving away from their relationship and came to the conclusion that Kris doesn't like her.

Not implausible that you could read Kris as a slightly selfish & rude person based on how they treat Noelle, previously to and during chapter 2.

Within the analytical framework of Kris' self determination, I find it worth noting that while we force Kris to walk to Asgore's shop, they walk into the center of the shop on their own, perhaps indicating that they don't dislike their father as Toriel seemingly does, and feel comfortable interacting with him.

Asriel likely filled the void in kris left by Asgore and Toriels divorce, possibly one of the main reasons Kris seems so dependant on their brother for their emotional stability.

Might be worth noting that Asriel was also the only person Chara would confide in, but im not here to have any sort of Kris=Chara dialogue.

Headcannons

Kris doesn't like Berdly

Kris and Susie knew each other before Susie came to Hometown's school, perhaps they were even at the same orphanage at some point or something like that.

Kris and Noelle will probably end up as best friends again one day.

[ahoneesan]

well now that ive caught up heres my idw sonic thoughts. please know all of these are informed by binging the entire mainline series (incl mini series/annuals/oneshots/etc) in about 30 hours

its good! big overall takeaway its good. i feel like theyve hit a good stride with a fun assortment of heroes who all feel distinct and villains who fill a lot of different roles and they bounce off each other in interesting ways. a solid ass hero/adventure comic.

the art is largely good, with a few notable dips up and down here and there. the big standout for me is adam bryce thomas, whose climactic action scenes are impeccable but whos talky scenes rely really heavily on what i think is a 3d-render-to-lineart pipeline that (while not as bad as you might imagine that could be) results in every character feeling way too stiff and perfectly geometric. this happens in like every issue he does, and even when its dressed up with cartoony expressions and fx its so, so distracting. there are a few other artists (especially early in the series) who seem to be stuck to the official sega model sheets but those issues get cleaned up. this doesn't. such a bummer.

the new characters are good! on the hero side: tangle and whisper are a fun duo, jewel is nice enough but feels largely like an excuse to untether amy from the resistance, belle is a very comic-booky way to keep the underused "mr. tinker" persona alive in the reader's minds and a new avenue to explore the robot plotlines, which i always like. finally, recent addition lanolin is a nice shake up to the largely friendly resistance cast, im intersted to see where she goes after the sweepstakes arc.

for villains: clutch is quite fun (it was nice to see him take the spotlight in the last few issues), as is mimic (his short in the 2024 annual provided some needed backstory), and even the deadly six (while not new, and definitively not happening. they arent. theyre simply never gonna happen) serve the book well as a team of bad guys who are just Out There. rough and tumble are a great recurring duo of dumbasses, and of course, the top of the list is dr. starline, an absolute treat. his place as a genuine fan of the old guard but becoming disillusioned and obsessed with becoming Better than them as a sort of dark reflection of flynn himself is so, so fun. and i couldn't possibly say enough about his final creations, surge and kit, as you can probably tell. i simply love everything about their fucked up dynamic, and the recent annual is only promising that things will get worse. couldnt ask for more.

to me it feels like the next thing the book needs is a true successor to the metal virus arc. the book definitely needed time to breathe after launching directly into that from its somewhat lackluster opening arc, and the time since has been well spent introducing a larger cast of characters and giving them all a little plate to keep spinning. i dont know that book is ready for it Right Now, given that we've just completed another major arc, but i think we need a little more of that sort of truly World Ending catastrophe for sonic to super his way through.

but i wonder if thats being hamstrung by the attachment to Real Canon that came with idw picking up the license. i do genuinely prefer there being one real actual timeline instead of, for instance, whatever in the world transformers has goin on, but it does feel like the creative team cant quite stretch their legs in the way they might be able to if the were writing fanfiction disconnected but always in service to the main timeline like back in the archie days. which is where flynn and his fannish style of bringing back established characters/concepts as a dramatic plot turn works so well (thinking particularly of the reincorporation of the speed/flight/power cores from heroes here)! i do think that just making all of this, to be reductive, actually matter by tying it to One True Sonic Canon is better for me, but when sega themselves can seemingly never get their act together, it may end up becoming a storm the albatross around the comic team's necks.

to wit: where the hell is shadow? isnt this his year? it feels notable to me that the Canon Comics are left out of the shadow festivities. i could be generous and say its because flynn is collaborating on shadow generations, so go get your fix there. but for the comic to have nothing? not even a like one shot movie tie in like they did with movie 2? it makes ya wonder. even outside of The Year of Shadow, he's not used very much in the series. even silver gets more screentime than him! im not even the biggest shadow fan, but he near total absence from the core drama of the series feels... purposeful at best (held off to make him more mysterious and meanging ful when he does show up) and a missed opportunity at worst (sega said Dont Touch Him were playing with him right now). maybe with shadow sentiment surging among the kids we'll see him come back in a big way.

again, overall: very good! keeps the core fun of sonic stories alive and introduces just enough shounen melodrama to make the highs even higher. im hopeful for the future of the series, i just hope it being permanently stuck in sega subservience mode doesnt hamper them from the thing i always found interesting about the sonic comic project: telling fun, exciting stories that play with the building blocks sega leaves them in novel ways.

[deltarune-darkheart]

Analysing lines from the Deltarune: Chapter 1 en lang file every two days until the next chapters: #33 (line 148)

* It's a book of hymns.

<! --

"obj_readable_room1_slash_Other_10_gml_157_0": "* It's a book of hymns./%",

-- >

We know Toriel is very religious, and Asriel was not only part of the choir but even tried to confess for silly "sins".

Considering Kris made a dark world in this room, it seems likely that this book will become either a location or character in Chapter 3.

Many believe the church will be an explored area later on, partly due to something Toby Fox posted in 2022 featuring Noelle's face on an unfamiliar background. If so, the book of hymns' darkner could perhaps mention characters or events from its dark world.

Again, we cannot know until the next chapters.

No analysis of the Sweepstakes Finale here, as it is not canon; hopefully this will not kill anyone in an hour.

[weebstranglerkiwi]

DELTARUNE: The Roaring Knights Theory

(This theory is a sort of continuation to my Chess Theory v2.0, while I greatly recommend checking it out, you'll be fine without it!)

1. The Knights

As stated in my Chess Theory, I believe there are 2 Knights, same as there are 2 Knight pieces in Chess. One of the Knights is the Roaring Knight, the presumed main villain of the Delta Rune Prophecy. They are a force that opens up fountains and supposedly aims to bring the Roaring into motion. I believe the Roaring Knight is Noelle's mother, Mayor Holiday. The other Knight I believe hasn't been promoted yet, the New Knight, Kris Dreemurr, is on their way to become a Knight.

2. The Three Plots

Before I begin explaining about the Knights, I believe I need to set out the 3 over-arching plots of DELTARUNE.

-The Prophecy, the main plot of the game. Three Heroes set on Dark World adventures, with their goal to stop the Roaring.

-Kris' Possession and W.D Gaster, both interconnected by the Survey Program/Goner Maker. This plot will explore Gaster's and the mysterious interloper's (who puts us into Kris' body) motives and origins. It will no doubt be integrated into DELTARUNE's Prophecy plot.

-December Holiday (possibly Snowgrave), the plot of the lost girl's disappearance. Noelle isn't a part of the Prophecy, yet, she seems to be one of the most important character's in the game, the entire Spamton Sweepstakes event related mostly to lore about her and by extension, her missing sister.

If you have noticed, the Prophecy and Kris' Possession both are interconnected together, but for some reason, Noelle's story about her missing sister ISN'T. She simply isn't a part of the Prophecy, the main game, and yet, she is set up to be very important!

3. Mayor Holiday, The Roaring Knight

This is why I believe Mayor Holiday will be the Roaring Knight. Her motives would be the perfect line sewing the third plot with the others, the line that makes December's disappearance not only just a mysterious, secret side story.

For a good reason, nobody expects the Roaring Knight to simply be a force of destruction, whose goal is to bring upon the Roaring, this simply isn't Toby's writing style.

Her Motives:

We can already figure out that Noelle's mother isn't a good parent, she's strict and cold, and her own daughter fears her to some extent. If you want to learn more about Mayor Holiday, I will link an awesome analysis video made by Dorked at the end! It seems that Mayor Holiday took very poorly to her daughter's disappearance. While Rudy remains an excellent father to Noelle despite all the hardships, Mayor Holiday seems to have taken a great mental toll. This is all speculation however, Mayor Holiday might have always been a strict, cold parent.

As you may know, Asgore was police chief until he was fired from the force by Mayor Holiday and replaced with Undyne as the chief. We know that the Mayor controls the police (who are supposedly useless, as she keeps crime away single-handedly), so she must've had a reason for firing Asgore.

(Warning, everything below is all speculation and is in no way supported by any facts ingame): This is why I believe she took a great mental toll to Dess' disappearance. I believe that during the time that Dess went missing, Asgore led the case to find her, but with absolutely zero clues and evidence, he dropped the case. The Mayor, who was in a state of furious denial, fired him from the force and put Undyne in, while Rudy understood why Asgore did that and forgave him. (Toriel may or may not have divorced him due to this, but there's a good chance things simply didn't work out for them).

Years later (events of the game), Mayor Holiday, still distraught, learned by somebody about Dess' whereabouts, which I believe is in a Dark World in the Bunker, where she went exploring with Kris and the others and never returned. Along with this, she learned to open Dark Fountains, her willpower and hope to save her long lost daughter made her open up Dark Fountains, while being manipulated by somebody to do certain things, like appoint King as the ruler of the Card Kingdom.

(a guilt-stricken Asgore could also fit for this Theory, but I believe Mayor Holiday makes more sense as she is a new character. Dess also has a chance to be the Roaring Knight, but I believe Mayor Holiday makes more sense.)

4. Mayor's Manipulation, W.D Gaster

But who is manipulating Mayor Holiday? Well, I believe it is none other than our beloved theory fodder, Gaster.

Judging from the mysterious tweets, he seems to have striken a deal with us, WE get a fun story, while HE gets something in return. His goal throughout the game is to make the story entertaining, and how is he doing this? By giving us a main villain.

I believe the Prophecy (foretold by space and time) was fabricated by Gaster and told to Ralsei, he made this so we, the Player, have a plot to follow. I believe his goal is to be freed from the Depths were he is trapped, and for that to happen, he needs to set out the Roaring, and by banishing the "Angel's Heaven" with the SOUL, we free him. This speculation was greatly inspired by SpookyDood's theory about the ending of DELTARUNE, I will link it at the end, please go give it a watch!

Just like with us, Gaster promised Mayor Holiday something that isn't false, that December is trapped somewhere in a Dark World. Mayor begins opening up Dark Fountains to find her, while fullfilling Gaster's end of the deal (being the "main villain", appointing King as ruler, and ultimately bringing the Roaring).

5. Kris Dreemurr, the New Knight

Finally, we move to the New Knight. If you have knowledge about Chess (or have read my previous theory), you know that Pawns can become promoted to higher ranking pawns. I believe that this will happen to Kris.

Snowgrave/Weird Route or not, Kris seems to loathe us, they do not want us controlling their body and actively fight against our control.

I believe that Kris' ultimate goal is to no longer be a Pawn to us, and instead become a Knight. And how will they do that? By getting stronger.

You may have noticed that everytime a Dark Fountain is sealed, Kris and the others become more powerful. They advance a level, become stronger and gain more HP. Kris is a smart cookie, they probably planned creating a TV-themed Dark World since Chapter 1's ending. Eating pie so Toriel has to make a new one, slashing tires so Susie can stay over, plugging the TV, (Also, people believe that Kris slashed the tires to get Undyne to come over and prove to her that Dark Worlds are real, but I don't believe it since talking to Undyne about D. Worlds is entirely optional.) Kris wants to have a fun adventure with Susie, Kris wants to reconnect with their mother. But above all, they want to get stronger, gain more LV. With a level high enough, they will be powerful enough to take back their control in the Dark World. (Also, I forgot to mention. This gives Kris an actual motive to open the Dark Fountain during a Snowgrave/Weird Route, in fact, this motivates them even more to break free from our control.) I believe this will happen at the very end of Chapter 5, after the Roaring Knight is defeated, Kris/the Player seal the Dark Fountain. Then, Kris becomes powerful enough to get rid of us, prompting Gaster to take us back to the Vessel and appointing Kris as the new main villain of OUR story, the New Knight. (In concept art of the Prophecy cutscene, Susie and Ralsei are named accordingly to their portrayals in the Prophecy, while the Human is simply labeled "The Human" not Kris, perhaps we are the Human in the Prophecy? I will link this concept art below.) I also believe the Roaring Knight isn't beyond redemption. Although she is a bad person overtaken by grief, I believe she will help during the Roaring that she inadvertently started and even reunite with her missing daughter.

6. End

Wowie, another Theory, I'm on a roll! I hope you liked this theory as much as you liked the other one, and I hope it gave you something to think about. Also, I may not have mentioned it in the previous theory, but I want to thank HalfBreadChaos and Dorked for inspiring and giving me the courage to create and share my own theories for my favourite game, DELTARUNE! Thanks a lot you guys, you're the reason I keep dishing out these theories!

Link to Mayor Holiday's Analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG7TlVVve-w&t

Link to SpookyDood's Theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2uymsjE_e0

Link to the Prophecy Concept Art: https://www.reddit.com/r/Deltarune/comments/aqitc4/this_concept_art_from_the_japan_interview_confirm/

Link to Dorked's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Dorked

Link to HalfBreadChaos' Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HalfBreadChaos

[imaginary-zero]

Future dark worlds

So I think most people have noticed by now that the two major Dark Worlds we've been to so far in Deltarune had double-doors as their entrances from the Light World. This is also clearly significant based on the door to the computer lab being changed when chapter 2 dropped. So I decided I wanted to analyze the different double-doors I found throughout Hometown and talk about why I do or don't think they might be future Dark Worlds. (this is gonna be LOOOOONG and also I'm definitely not the first or best one to do this but I think it'll be fun lol. Also I'm going to explain things as if the reader is caught up on all the major confirmed lore, the Spamton Sweepstakes stuff, the cancelled alarm clock app, and whatnot)

So I'm analyzing these options based on a few things: -Lore significance (if a location is significant to the overall lore of the world, both known and mysterious. So basically if it has something to do with Gaster, parallels to Undertale, potential exploration of character backstories, etc.) -Narrative weight (The impact a dark world in this location would have on the story, emotional or physical impacts on characters, previous foreshadowing, and if it would be sastisfying, important, or fascinating to the player) -Known contents (Do we know what's behind those doors? If the answer is no, then the possibility of it being a future Dark World is higher. It was very deliberate that we weren't allowed to enter the computer lab in Chapter 1) -Vibes (do I feel like this is something Toby Fox would do? Do I feel like the story is going in this direction? my own opinion and nothing more) -Isekai victims (would anyone potentially get sucked into the Dark World upon its creation? If so, who?)

So let's go over the possibilities I've found.

The second-floor door in Asgore's flower shop. -Lore significance: Asgore was heavily important to UT. Comparisons between UT!Asgore and DR!Asgore have already been made via his intro. He seems to have made some mistake that got him removed from the police force, so that could be a plot point that this story explores. Narrative weight: Yes, it would harken back to Undertale's ending. This would emotionally impact Kris, as Asgore is their father. Also, depending on how Chapter 3 pans out, Toriel might get involved as well. Known contents: Nada. The door is locked and Asgore says nothing about it. Vibes: Very much feels like something that would happen. Isekai victims: Asgore himself. Probably not any customers since the door is locked and the Knight or whoever would probably shut the door behind them, as it did with the other two.

The Church. -Lore significance: Worships an Angel, quite possibly the same Angel from the Legend ("three heroes appeared to banish the Angel's Heaven"). -Narrative weight: The Dreemurr family went to Church often in the past so this may affect Kris in some way. Also a lot of Alvin's words smell like foreshadowing -Known contents: Nope. The door is blocked by NPCs in both chapters so far. This feels very deliberate; it's not just locked, access is being actively denied to you by other characters. -Vibes: Strong yes vibes -Isekai victims: Father Alvin. Monster kid? (wears a cross). Any other church goers

The graveyard by the Church. This is technically a gate and not a door, the view of it is to the side, so in order for this to work the Dark World entrance animation would have to be different, or the Dark World would have to be created with our protagonists already there. Still, I've seen a lot of talk about this one being a possibility, so I wanted to give it the time of day. -Lore significance: It's near the lore-important Church. Possibly-important dead characters who were also dead in Undertale are buried there. The idea of this does make me wonder though, is it even possible to open a dark world outside? What are the ramifications of that? -Narrative weight: It would harken back to UT's True Lab and the amalgamates. Also Noelle's Ice-E pizza box story might be foreshadowing? -Known contents: Yes. You can enter the graveyard as early as Chapter 1. However, there are some as-yet unseen things there. Namely, the things underground. -Vibes: Idk, how much do you want to lean into Oberon Smog territory? (/lh, no shade to Jaru, i like that theory even if i don't necessarily believe it whole-heartedly). I keep going back and forth on this one, but you caught me on a "maybe" day. -Isekai victims: Father Alvin, Shyren, Snowy, maybe the Wet-Nosed Bandits?

The Bunker, AKA the bane of every Gaster-denier's existence. -Lore significance: It would take five goddamn paragraphs to explain lmao -Narrative weight: see previous statement -Known contents: One of the biggest mysteries -Vibes: Mixed bag. On the one hand, it would be very Toby Fox if we never got to see the inside of the bunker. On the other hand, I don't seriously think he's THAT much of a tease. -Isekai victims: Not sure. Whoever's down there, I suppose. The thought has crossed my mind before that there might already be a fountain down there, but I'd have to seriously think on that some more.

The Hospital -Lore significance: Unsure -Narrative weight: Rudy's failing health and the impact that would have on Noelle if he got worse or died (and we know he died in UT's universe). And if our choices to matter in regards to Berdly's fate or health, that could also be impactful. Noelle villain/redemption arc? -Known contents: Yes, we can enter in both available chapters. There aren't any hidden rooms or locked doors inside as far as we know either. -Vibes: Maybe. It would expand on Noelle and her family if that's going to continue being important (which is likely because Dess). How much can be done with a hospital theme though? (says the person with infinitely less creativity than Toby) -Isekai victims: Rudy, Mouthface (idk what their actual name is), whoever is in the east wing on that particular day (might tie in with events from the previous chapter or Weird Route?)

The school's entrance/main hall -Lore significance: meh -Narrative weight: We've already had a dark world in the school, though further in. Is this necessary? -Known contents: Yes; it's literally one of the first places you see in the game -Vibes: Seems unneeded and redundant, but I wanted to consider it, however briefly, for the sake of thoroughness. -Isekai victims: All students, Alphys, Toriel (second round?)

the gates of hell Ice-E's P"E"zza -Lore significance: God I hope not but that one video by HalfBreadChaos at least got me thinking (here's a link if you don't know what I'm talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftQNVAY6KeU ) -Narrative weight: Noelle's Ice-E trauma courtesy of Kris. Would also have minor connections to UT? -Known contents: Yes, it can be entered in Chapter 2. -Vibes: please no -Isekai victims: Pizzapants, all other employees, customers

The Holiday family's house. Much like the graveyard, this is a gate at an angle, so it doesn't quite fit the bill, but I still wanted to consider it. The front door to the house could also be a double-door for all we know but that's pure speculation. -Lore significance: Noelle's mother having icy vibes seems important in a deeper way. Noelle's potential status as an angel (or the Angel) also gives her lasting importance beyond chapter 2. -Narrative weight: It's important for a lot of characters. It's Noelle's home, Susie's heavily implied love interest's home, Kris' childhood friend's home. Kris has also been there in the past. It would have an impact on the player as well because a lot of players want to know more about the Holidays and Mayor Holiday's importancce and power has been heavily hinted at multiple times. -Known contents: We haven't been past the gate and know next to nothing about the house itself (I think the only thing we know is that there's a piano in there somwhere and that's not much) -Vibes: Seems plausible Isekai victims: Noelle and Mayor Holiday. Maybe Rudy if he's able to go home (unlikely).

The locked doors in the main hall of Ralsei's castle. -Lore significance: A Dark World inside a Dark World? Sounds like Roaring time to me. And consider: "But what if it could... get darker than dark?" Alternatively, this could just be Ralsei's way of entering Dark Worlds disconnected from his own (like Cyber World), and if that's the case then this would be less possible probably. -Narrative weight: We would be coming full-circle, with our adventure starting in the castle and a late-game dark world (because I think it would be late-game) being in the place where we began. It could also pose a threat to the Castle Town we've helped to create and populate (in a Mercy run). -Known contents: Nothing. It's locked for now (side-note, I'm kinda surprised Ralsei doesn't mention it or ask Ralsei why it's locked when you interact with the door. Just seems like something she would do. Or that Ralsei doesn't try to explain, like he does with the barred off staircase upstairs past the gang's rooms.) -Vibes: I can totally imagine this being the fountain that completely topples the balance of light and dark into Roaring territory. It would probably by chapter 7. However, I'm hesitant to say that I'm 100% confident in this, more like 75%. -Isekai victims: Anyone in the castle, really. And they'd probably all turn into stone pretty quickly. Which... happens to be a part of the Roaring prophecy.

Alright, so that's all of the candidates gone over. I think the two most likely candidates are Asgore's flower shop and the Church. Now it's time to discuss the most likely candidates, what order I think they'll come in, and how many more Dark Worlds we're going to visit. That last point might seem odd - there are five more chapters, so four more dark worlds not including chapter 3, right? Not necessarily. I forget who it was, but I remember a Deltarune YouTuber floating around the idea that chapter 4 might be an "intermission" of sorts. Basically a chapter where we don't get a new Dark World. Instead, we just explore and hang out in Hometown with Susie and visit Castle Town. I really like this idea, but it's pure speculation as of now (Speaking of, this is the pure speculation part of this theorycrafting session, so keep that in mind). I can also imagine chapter 7 going one of two ways. Either a particularly bad dark fountain gets opened for the climactic dark world, or there are multiple dark fountains opened and we need to deal with several smaller dark worlds in the final chapter. In the former case, the dark fountain would either have to get out of control very quickly, or it would have to be created in such a way or location that the darkness would immediately overflow. In the latter case, there being multiple dark worlds open at once would cause the balance to shift. Maybe we'd have a time limit in which we have to close them all, or maybe we're too late no matter what we do.

So, with all that out of the way, I'm going to present a few formats that I think the future chapters could take. Due to the unknown variables, I will be doing so in a convenient, hastily cobbled-together two-way table that I made in Google docs.

Which one of these do I believe the most? ...eh, take your pick, honestly.

They all have their plusses and minuses, their points and their flaws. I don't want to get attached to any of these ideas either, since any number of rogue elements could prove me wrong once we get the next three chapters.

Since I kinda need something to close out this post which is more impactful and thought-provoking than that indecisiveness, I guess I should address something I mentioned in the beginning. I posited that maybe the bunker already has a dark world inside of it. Evidence to this point includes: -it plays the Entry Number 17 music slowed down (dark, darker, yet darker) (dark world cell phone audio) -many aspects of its design and vibe are prime dark world potential -Kris seems to know something about the bunker, so if you believe Kris-Knight or that Kris has been to Dark Worlds in the past, this could have merit (I'm not sure how much I believe those theories, but still, food for thought) -It would just be really cool

However, there is a massive flaw with this idea: Ralsei. He claims that the balance of light and dark is shifted by the creation of another dark fountain, and then in chapter 2, he says that he "felt a dark presence" and came to Cyber World to help Kris and Susie. Therefore, he would almost certainly know if there was an active dark fountain in the bunker, and he would have mentioned it by now (it's not the kind of thing you can neglect to mention due to there not being a good opportunity). And I doubt he would be unable to feel the dark presence due to it being too far away or something.

The only way for the bunker to already have a dark world in it and for it to make sense for Ralsei to not bring it up is if he does know and is actively keeping it a secret. Either because he is working with the person making these dark fountains (or at least the bunker fountain), or because that one is actually good to have around... somehow?

I'm a lot more hesitant to accept "Ralsei evil" than some people are, so this doesn't really compel me. So, much like every UT/DR theory I've ever come up with by myself, it looks solid at first but falls apart if you point in its direction too assertively. Still, it made me think. Never hurts to consider this kind of thing.

And with those four hours gone, hopefully I'll be able to think about something else again. Sorry if it's bad Tumblr etiquette for my first post ever to be something so heinously long, I'm new to this lmao. To all 3 people who made it this far in this monster of a post, congratulations for surviving my ramblings.

May the hymn of the Angel sing thee to thy rest.

[thejembe]

MrBeast and Feastables: A New Era in Gen Z Marketing

In the world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), the traditional rules of marketing are being rewritten, thanks to influencers like MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). His chocolate brand, Feastables, has shown the power of digital engagement and influencer-driven marketing in ways never seen before. From launching with a record-breaking 1 million bars sold in just 72 hours to reaching $200 million in revenue in just one year, Feastables is setting the stage for the future of brand-building.

This blog explores how MrBeast’s unique approach — using interactive, digital-first strategies — is transforming the CPG industry. By integrating QR codes for exclusive content and sweepstakes, Feastables creates an immersive experience that keeps consumers engaged long after their purchase.

Curious to learn how Feastables is changing the marketing game for Gen Z? Check out the full article to discover how blending digital and physical elements can build brand loyalty and revolutionize your marketing strategy. Read the full blog here!

[getcurrentreview-blog1]

UpViral Review & Case Study The Best Viral Referral Software

If you're looking for a powerful way to grow your audience, increase leads, and boost sales, UpViral might be the game-changer you need. This viral referral marketing software helps businesses leverage word-of-mouth marketing by rewarding users for sharing content with their networks. In this in-depth review and case study, we’ll explore how UpViral works, its features, and a real-world example of how it can create explosive growth for your business.

What is UpViral?

UpViral is a viral referral marketing platform designed to help businesses, marketers, and entrepreneurs grow their email lists, social media followers, and customer base through gamified referral campaigns. It simplifies the process of running viral giveaways, sweepstakes, and milestone-based referral programs that encourage participants to share your campaign with their friends.

Key Features of UpViral

Viral Referral System – Users earn points and rewards for referring others.

Customizable Campaigns – Create giveaway contests, milestone-based rewards, and sweepstakes.

Automated Email Sequences – Send reminders and updates to participants automatically.

Fraud Detection & Security – Prevent fake entries and abuse with smart fraud detection.

Seamless Integrations – Connects with email marketing tools, CRM platforms, and more.

Advanced Analytics – Track campaign performance and optimize for better results.

How UpViral Works

Set Up a Campaign – Create a giveaway, contest, or referral program in just a few clicks.

Offer Incentives – Choose rewards for participants who refer their friends (discounts, free products, exclusive content, etc.).

Share & Promote – Drive traffic through email, social media, and paid ads.

Participants Earn Points – Users gain points when they invite friends who sign up.

Automate Rewards – Deliver prizes automatically when users reach certain milestones.

UpViral Case Study: How One Business Gained 50,000+ Leads in 30 Days

The Challenge

A digital entrepreneur wanted to grow his email list and drive sales for an upcoming product launch. Traditional paid ads were too expensive, so he needed a cost-effective strategy.

The Strategy

Using UpViral, he set up a viral giveaway campaign:

Prize: A premium software subscription worth $500.

Entry Method: Users signed up with their email and referred friends for more chances to win.

Milestone Rewards: Extra digital bonuses were unlocked after referring 5, 10, and 20 people.

Promotion: The campaign was shared via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email marketing.

The Results

✅ Over 50,000 leads collected in 30 days ✅ Cost per lead dropped by 80% compared to traditional ads ✅ Generated $15,000+ in product sales after launch

This proves that UpViral can drive massive engagement and exponential growth at a fraction of the cost of paid traffic.

Who Should Use UpViral?

UpViral is ideal for:

Affiliate marketers looking to grow their audience and sales.

E-commerce stores that want to boost referrals and brand awareness.

Course creators & coaches building their email list and student base.

Startups & SaaS businesses aiming for viral product launches.

Influencers & bloggers who need more subscribers and engagement.

Pros & Cons of UpViral

✅ Pros:

✔ Easy to set up and customize campaigns ✔ Boosts engagement through viral sharing ✔ Affordable compared to traditional paid ads ✔ Reduces lead acquisition costs ✔ Provides in-depth analytics for optimization

❌ Cons:

❌ Requires promotion to kickstart virality ❌ Some learning curve for beginners ❌ Overuse of rewards may attract low-quality leads

UpViral Pricing

UpViral offers affordable pricing plans for different business needs:

Starter Plan: $79/month (Up to 10,000 leads)

Business Plan: $119/month (Up to 25,000 leads)

Premium Plan: Custom pricing for larger businesses

💡 Pro Tip: UpViral often offers discounts or free trials, so keep an eye out for special promotions.

Final Verdict: Is UpViral Worth It?

Absolutely! UpViral is one of the best referral marketing tools for businesses that want to grow their audience rapidly while keeping costs low. Whether you're launching a product, building an email list, or driving engagement, UpViral provides a scalable and cost-effective way to achieve viral growth.

⭐ Our Rating: 9.5/10

🔹 Best for: Marketers, eCommerce, startups, and content creators 🔹 Not ideal for: Businesses without an audience to promote to initially

If you’re serious about harnessing the power of referrals, UpViral is a must-try tool! 🚀

👉 Try UpViral Today & Start Growing Your Audience! 

Limited Time Offer - Save 30% on All UpViral Plans Today!

[youtube89]

🌟 Exciting Announcement! 🌟

We are thrilled to share that The American Sweepstakes is hosting a breathtaking opportunity to win an unforgettable Caribbean getaway! 🏝️💙 Imagine basking in the sun, feeling the gentle ocean breeze, and exploring the vibrant culture of one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

Join now

The Caribbean is renowned for its stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters, and diverse ecosystems. Whether you're a fan of lounging under swaying palm trees, diving into vibrant coral reefs, or immersing yourself in local traditions and cuisines, this getaway promises to be an adventure of a lifetime.

📅 **How to Enter**: Participation is simple and open to everyone! To enter, all you need to do is visit our website, fill out the entry form, and follow a few easy steps. Ensure you stay updated by following us on our social media channels for special tips, insights, and potential bonus entries!

🌊 **What’s Included**: The winner will receive a comprehensive package that includes round-trip airfare, accommodation at a luxurious beachfront resort, and a selection of activities designed to immerse you in the local culture and natural beauty of your chosen island. From thrilling water sports to serene spa experiences, you can tailor your trip to suit your desires!

Visit here for more details

🥳 **Spread the Word**: Encourage your friends and family to join the fun! Tag them in the comments, share this post, and let them know they too could be indulging in the splendor of the Caribbean soon. The more, the merrier!

Don't miss this incredible chance to escape to paradise! With spring break around the corner and summer on the horizon, what better way to start planning your dream vacation?

🌺 **Deadline**: Be sure to submit your entry by [insert deadline date here]! The lucky winner will be announced shortly after, so keep your fingers crossed and your hopes high!

Thank you for being part of our community, and good luck to everyone participating in The American Sweepstakes! We can't wait to see who will be enjoying the sun-soaked shores of the Caribbean!

🌞 Wishing you all a fabulous day ahead! 🌴

#TheAmericanSweepstakes #WinACaribbeanGetaway #Travel #Adventure #DreamVacation #GoodLuck

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #76 - THOUGHTS

Well, it's that time once again, friends and Romans. Let's take a look at the current latest issue of IDW Sonic with less than an hour to go before the next release.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Issue 76 kicks off the "Scattered Pieces" arc, which - if we're using the trade paperback releases for our naming schemes - is split into two parts, this first part being called "Cause and Effect."

We are once again blessed with Pencils by Aaron Hammerstrom, and it looks like this might be the last time for a while, so I'm really gonna soak it all in while it lasts. Between him and Min Ho Kim, these last several issues have been the most authentically "Sonic" feeling out of IDW's entire run - at least, in my opinion.

Matt Froese and Valentina Pinto also pair really well with Hammerstrom's work. I hope the three of them get to come together more often in the future.

Plot-wise, this one is pretty chill, with Ian Flynn stepping back into the writers' seat to give us another setup issue for upcoming storylines. Normally, it's easy to moan and complain about the expository issues, but honestly, this has been one of my favorite of the bunch. We get some nice character drama and really solid directions for each of the main groups we'll be following throughout the next leg of the story.

Sonic and the Chaotix

The obvious first character we touch base with is Sonic, who has sought out the Chaotix Detective Agency to ask for their help in doing three things:

Seeking out Clutch the Opossum after he was taken captive by Dr. Eggman

Finding out who is running Clean Sweep Inc. in Clutch's absence

Locating the Chaos Emerald that was stolen from Tails' lab in Central City

When Sonic first approaches them, something happens that I was really hoping we'd get to see.

The Chaotix... don't trust him.

I was really hoping that Sonic's antics as the Phantom Rider would have at least some consequences, lead to some form of tension, and here it is! These guys have known Sonic for years, consider him a friend - they went to his birthday party. And yet, his decision to cause trouble on purpose, to not even try reaching out to them - the investigators he knows best - before joining forces with Eggman to try and get to the bottom of the Clean Sweepstakes, it's understandably a hard pill to swallow.

They get past it pretty quick, though - not that I expected a rift between Sonic and the Chaotix to last a terribly long time. I do, however, hope it is an indicator of reactions to come, and that, as Sonic continues to move through the world in the wake of the Sweepstakes, he finds the world a bit less willing to place their full faith in him than they have in the past.

Tails, Amy, and Blaze

Next we check in on Tails, Amy, Blaze, and Silver, where it's revealed that, despite their headquarters being demolished, the Restoration might not be entirely defunct! They had several smaller outposts conducting different types of specific work across the world that might still be running!

Blaze, feeling a sense of duty to her friends in this dimension, decides to join up with Tails and Amy to go check in on these vestigial locations to see how they're doing, and what they need to get back to work at full capacity.

I like the idea of this, as it gives us an excuse to explore some new locations and maybe do a solid bit of worldbuilding within them. One of the key "Sonic" elements I've always felt that IDW kind of lacks is Environmental Exploration - stories all about exploring a new place and discovering what's unique about it. Sonic game stories do this all the time, and hopefully IDW is moving to start making that more of a presence within its stories.

We get to check in with Silver very briefly before he departs from the group to go check in with others who might need his help...

Silver and the Diamond Cutters

The conversation between Silver and the Diamond Cutters is one I've been waiting a long time for - like, nearly two years long. There's a ton of interpersonal drama at play here, and you know I eat that shit up for breakfast.

Immediately, we get Jewel stepping down as the Administrator of the Restoration, talking through her mistakes, and the mentality that lead her to think Clutch could be trusted. It's clear she's being very hard on herself, even if, as the other characters point out, she doesn't really deserve it, and very few people would debate that.

What some people might debate about, more however, is Lanolin.

Luckily, I have a feeling that what Lanolin does here will likely be satisfying to everyone... She takes an honest look at her mistakes, assesses how she made them, and... apologizes.

Now, I am of the mind that Lanolin also has very little a apologize for here. Her mistakes were honest, and anyone operating with the information she had would have made them. Still, it's nice to see someone so driven take a step back, realize that they've hurt the people around them, and try to make amends for it.

My favorite part of this is Silver's involvement. After all, he's the only non-comic original character here. IDW spends so much time on its original characters - because they're certainly the ones that they have the most creative control over - that it's always a treat to see them dig into the games' characters, especially the supporting cast, put them in unique situations, and establish unique relationships between them and the comics' material that stands out from how the material relates to our main protagonist, Sonic.

Silver getting to have his own, distinct dynamic with the Diamond Cutters is really cool.

Unfortunately, it's not necessarily to last, as it seems like, as of this issue, the new Diamond Cutters are officially disbanded.

Personally, I find this - as well as Jewel's resignation - a little disappointing. I know it's been years now, but it still feels like we haven't had Jewel's Restoration or the new DC for all that long. It feels to me like the comic keeps doing things to establish new directions or shift the status quo, just to undo them and restore it later down the line. I hope that, eventually, we get some more long-form, lasting changes to this world and these characters.

We're not left with no direction for these characters, however, as we get little side quests for everyone to go on!

Belle sets off to go and see the world on her own. I think this give us a nice status for her as sort of a Sometimes Character we bump into from time-to-time as her travels cross paths with the main cast. Some folks have also mentioned the idea of her running into the Scrapniks, which is such a cool idea, and I really, really hope it happens.

We get Jewel and Lanolin working together to begin rebuilding Emeraldville, where Restoration HQ used to stand, which provides even more opportunities for location exploring and worldbuilding, so you know I'm down for that.

Lastly, Silver decides to join up with Tangle and Whisper to help hunt down Mimic and put a stop to him once and for all.

Despite Tangle's objections, it's so, so clear that Whisper is absolutely intent on straight-up murdering Mimic next time she sees him, and that already sets up some really nice tension between her and Tangle, but what's really interesting is the question of how Silver is gonna play into that mix. He's also got a significant grudge to settle with Mimic (again, how cool to have him bear a unique resentment toward one of the comic's antagonists), but he's also been down this path before - hellbent on using lethal force to strike down an enemy he believes to be the root of his problems.

The problem in that case was that he was wrong, and that his zealous devotion to this quest blinded him to the obvious truth of his mistake - and while it's not clear how much of the incident he remembers, it's clear he's come a long way since then. So what will he do when the time comes? Will he side with Tangle, upholding the ideals he's spent all this time building? Or will he support Whisper, understanding the pain and anger that drive her?

All this to say, I'm very excited to see what the next stretch of this comic looks like. Every character has really strong direction for where they're going to go and what they're going to do next and I'm eager to see how these adventures play out and how they might connect with one another!

Solid issue, does a great job setting things up for us. Where will it all go? I dunno, but I'm about to find out, since Issue 77 dropped 5 minutes ago - as did the first issue of the DC/Sonic Crossover, which I have every intent on reviewing here as well.

Until then, as always, thanks for reading!