#but it has more shaping than the monster keychain

[mysteriousdoll]

I’ve been working on redesigns for a while now, and here’s the first batch! Rather than doing them in a specific order, I had people on insta drop characters into an ask box and went down the line! This wound up being a really, really fun practice! Going with a chibi-ish style helped a lot in trying to just get the base idea down and worry about tiny details later on. Explanations/notes under the cut!

Edit: Changed Kork’s uniform to a deep navy blue as opposed to the original green after being informed of the ill origins of that green. Also changed Kyoko’s hair slightly

Reblogs are appreciated!! They help a lot!!

Notes on photos in text form...

Korekiyo - Cut hair shorter, emblem replaces armband, shirt no longer hanging out; tucked in.

Chihiro - Hair pin from Junko, Ibuki dyed her tipes, new ribbon from Taka

Mikan - Kokichi cut her hair (for her, dw), leggings for coverage, longer sleeves, non-slip shoes. (for reference, i asked my mom just to make sure... and mikan's outfit does not at all suit a nurse, so i gave her more coverage while still keeping the fit there in a certain fashion)

Ibuki - Pigtails!!, they actually wear (part of) the school uniform, dyed their romper, white and black hair like hers would not go well as the black would quickly bleed into such small streaks of white. So i had their bangs and two sections in the front white with pink and blue streaks, while the rest of her hair is black with pink and blue streaks. Her horns are completely fake and are just attached to a headband.

Mondo - Emblem on the right jacket breast, overall just simplified certain things and gave him longer hair.

Kyoko - Butchered CUT her hair, pants for their own comfort, bracelet is smaller in actuality, it was a gift from Taka shortly after she was taken in by the Ishimarus (it's a whole thing), they got sneakers because their boots wound up not working as something to wear for long periods of time.

Hajime - Scar from surgery is there, just not shown due to simplified style (and not at all because i forgot), pride flag button, Usami keychain from Chiaki.

Chiaki - She's chubbier now :), gave her HP's uniform top and ribbon, hair color brightened to be a bit more pink, shorts under her skirt, tries to eat things she shouldn't.

Hina - Heterochromia (she's afraid of straight people), barrette is now heart shaped, swim club leader, she's got a bra because... her back would hurt hello?, i'm sorry- her shoes were tacky imo so I changed them

Sonia - Glittery bow, emblem on left arm--student council, 'dress' based on beta design, boots act as Kaz defense

Nekomaru - Uniform sleeves always rip, baggier pants because... reasons.

Makoto - His hair almost makes sense!, bro is falling constantly, ONE jacket, no doubling up... bland, but not too bland

Taka - Public Morals Committee chairperson, student council president, debate club leader, taller collar, more gold accents, NO arm band--it's replaced with the eye shown next to him, got matching boots from Junko after their original boots were ruined by bullies

Celeste - Her and Taka do one another's eyebrows, hair is curly--drills still fake, beta fit is superior, bunny from Hifumi (they're actually close, an attempt to give her more humanization was made), monster high esc shoes (she wears her canon shoes to most events, but the monster high esc shoes mix tennis shoes and heels for ease of movement and comfort)

Gundham - Oldest Ishimaru sibling, leader of the animal raising committee, partially blind, less layers

Mahiru - Still has her camera, it was just excluded here to focus on her design, romper with flowy shorts, matching bracelets with Hiyoko

Regarding the Hopes Peak emblem; I thought it may be interesting to change up the way uniforms are implemented into it... In that, there are basic uniform options, but students are relatively allowed to wear what they wish provided it followed guidelines (example being Miu's uh.. garters?? I think that's what they are? they wouldn't be allowed), and had the Hopes Peak insignia somewhere on the outfit. Following that, while the insignia can be somewhat customized in that students could change the white to be a different color, but students who lead clubs, committees, student council, etc., have the black part replaced.

(Note: assuming Nidai doesn't directly manage any teams at HP, he does not have an insignia implying such; subject to change.)

An interesting little fun fact here... well, to me... some of these actually called back to the beta designs! Mainly, with Sonia and Celeste! Admittedly a few characters got little to no changes, mostly because I just found that their designs already fit pretty well. Others, such as Taka, Makoto, or Mahiru, took the basic idea of their outfits and spruced them up. I'm not entirely sure when I originally implemented the Amy Rose rings on Taka's sleeves, but I felt it added a bit more of a dynamic pallet to his design. Or like, Makoto, a mix of simplification and sprucing up... I've never enjoyed the excessive layers he's got (lookin at you, gundham), wearing his school jacket over his hoodie always seemed... strange to me. So I figured with the change to HP dress code (considering these students don't even wear the uniform in school modes or anything), it allowed for him to just wear the hoodie with a HP insignia embroidered onto it. He's also got bandages given his canonically clumsy nature. Mahiru is someone else whose design I like but I wanted to change up somewhat, so I changed her dress to a romper with a flared bottom and a flannel pattern.

If you've got any questions regarding changes, feel free to ask!

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello! Do you have any recommendations for rpgs about wizards, particularly solo rpgs?

THEME: Solo Wizards

Hello, I think I've found some interesting games that deal with magic in some shape or form, from witches, to necromancers, to evil wizards!

Everyday Enchanter, by Beth and Angel Make Games.

We all face all sorts of struggles in our lives, but what if we could lean on a little bit of hidden magic to help us through it?

Everyday Enchanter is here to help! Enchant your glasses with VIBRANCY to allow you to feel wide awake when you put them on, give your favorite shirt RESILIENCE to make physical and mental pain feel more manageable, and when things really get bad, snuggle up to your favorite GROUNDED-enchanted stuffed animal to regain a feeling of safety and control.

To make the enchantments stronger, simply focus on them in times of need! Reminding yourself that you've got help, even if it's just your favorite pen in your pocket, can help make the tough times a bit more bearable or give you that extra boost of confidence to try something new! And if you really want to strengthen the enchantments, journal about your experiences. When you write about how you really wanted to buy that candy bar at the grocery store checkout but clutched your STAND FIRM-enchanted keychain and resisted temptation, you'll embed that power deeper into your mind. One day you won't even need the enchantments anymore...but until then, they're here for you!

If you bought the TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Florida (or the similarly-titled bundle for Texas), then you already own this game!

The Magus, by momatoes.

The Magus is a solo journaling tabletop RPG that takes you on a sweeping journey for power, ambition, and arcane mastery, at great personal and interpersonal cost.

As a journaling game, you will roll dice, track stats, create spells, and write  imaginary experiences from the perspective of your character: a wizard, newly embarking on their quest for power, their head filled with grand visions of mastery.

This RPG is crunchy. You will use several polyhedral dice to manage four traits: Focus, Power, Control, and Scars, which shape how the protagonist overcomes  challenges and meets their denouement after seven, fateful events. 

This game is also beautiful. It has a number of stunning images used as backdrop against the text of the game, illuminating each part of your character sheet before diving into the meat of the game. The game itself pits your character between two choices: increasing the bonds between them and their loved ones, or sacrificing those opportunities to gain in power. You’ll roll a number of dice equal to your power in order to learn more spells, which are created using a combination of prompts and your own imagination.

Miscast, by Paradox Press Games.

You are undergoing training to become the successor of a Master Conjurer, but the only problem is that the Master Conjurer has a major Dragon's Dust addiction and spends most of their days higher than the mountains of Mar' Hollok. This leaves you solely responsible for your own training while also having to conjure up the creatures that eager customers come to your Master’s shop seeking. Long story short, you miscast spells a lot and end up conjuring a wide assortment of weird and fantastical monsters.

This game can be played solo, or it can be played in a group. You are using a deck of cards and a d6 to conjure different kinds of creatures; unfortunately, you’re only an apprentice, so the creatures don’t always come out right. You’ll use the cards from the different suits to determine the physical aspects of the monster, while you’ll use the d6 to determine how big the monster is, the monster’s nature, and what further Abnormalities it might be suffering. A game for funny random creatures, great for getting your creative juices going!

Sigils in the Dark, by Kurt Potts.

You have a need, a deep burning needthat drives you. Is it love, regret, desire?

The darkness whispers, “I can help you…”Minutes turn to hours as you try to focuson the voice. Symbols, shapes, swirl in thedarkness at the edge of your perception.If only you could grasp them, your needs would be met and more.

Sigils in the Dark is a journaling game and GM supplement. The goal of the game is to create an evil mage’s��spellbook. You’ll take up the role of this wizard with a desperate need, in search of arcane power to get what they want. They will try to understand dark sigils just outside their perception by randomly generating spells and adding liner notes to their grimoire. In the end, you’ll have an in-game artifact that you can pass on to players and hopefully know a little more about what your evil mage has sacrificed to get where they are.

Using random roll tables, you’ll slowly create an artifact and a number of spells invented by a dark wizard. Each spell will also have a cost, and the wizard may choose to write notes that betray their own personality as they edit the spell the way an expert baker edits a recipe book.

 This is great for slow character creation, as you try to figure out the motives and goals of a wizard character, and can also put together pieces of their life before they meet anyone else.

The Final Undertaking, by kay w.

Tonight you will prepare the body. You will hang the heavy black curtain, and you will put out the call in the town paper.  Tomorrow night, when the sun sets, the chosen mourner will arrive, with their matter to discuss. You will sit with the body on one side, coaxing the soul back to the body, and the mourner will sit on the other.  The final undertaking will begin.

THE FINAL UNDERTAKING is a one player journaling game about grief, resolution, necromancy, and a town. It uses a d4, a tarot deck, and pen and paper to tell a story about an undertaker, who works in a town to prepare bodies for burial, briefly brings the spirit back to the body, and then facilitates a conversation between a single mourner and the deceased about their unresolved business.

In this game, you will use the tarot cards to form a spread that tells the bones of a story -- the deceased, the object they are being buried with, the mourner here to visit them, and the unresolved business between them. From your spread, you will be able to construct small narratives and write them down as journal entries. 

This is a lovingly written and designed game about putting the dead to rest. You will write journal entries from the point of view of an Undertaker, someone who is responsible for facilitating one last conversation between the spirit of the deceased and their mourner. You will play through 3 phases, which involve determining how well you knew the deceased, the situation at death, and what needs to be resolved before they can pass on to their final rest.The book comes with an oracle of Solemnities, which give you prompts to help you interpret each spread. You can play through the three phases as many times as you like, journaling for each one.

Grimoire, by Anna Landin.

Sparks of magic dance on your palms, flow like rivers through the world around you, and you can weave them into something powerful. You are a witch - and just as a tailor draws their patterns out, and cooks will write their well-kept secret recipes down, so you, too, will bind your spells in ink and paper and make for yourself a grimoire - a spellbook in which to keep your knowledge.

Grimoire is a roleplaying game for one person, played with a deck of regular playing cards with the jokers taken out, a six-sided die, and something to write your spells down with. The latter can be a blank notebook or a sketchbook, or one of the templates provided with these rules. Over the course of the game, you will make a spellbook of your own, a collection of spells you craft out of magic power and components available to you.

If you desire a character that’s a bit less evil wizard and a bit more homebrew witch, Grimoire is another great way to put together a spell book using randomly generated prompts and whatever components your witch has available. 

[tj-crochets]

Pattern is on Ravlelry! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-cthulhu-2 The pattern is for sale for $2, but I’m thinking for every follower giveaway I do from here on out I’ll have you all vote on which of my paid patterns you want and share a coupon code for a specific pattern so you can get it for free (if that’s an option on Ravelry. If not, I’ll just share the pattern for free)

I swear I posted mini Cthulhu last year, but I went to pull the pictures off tumblr to use in the typed up pattern and I couldn’t find them, so here’s mini Cthulhu! The pattern will be up soon

[meraki24601]

This is my first post. I hope you like it! Caretaker can’t help a small smile as their hand grips the small trinket tighter. Whumpee always loved it. A keychain about the size of their thumb in the shape of a blue cartoon monster. It was their “good luck charm” they kept hooked on the strap of their bag. The keyring it typically hung from had been stepped on and twisted. Whumpee had taken it off in their apartment so it wouldn’t get lost until they could buy a new ring. If only Whumpee had it with them that night. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe Whumper would have been caught before they could drag Whumpee away.

Every day Caretaker searches for them. They’ve even called in a few favors from some of the more unsavory characters they and Whumpee had run into over the course of the job. No sign of Whumpee or Whumper. If they’re still in town, they’re well hidden.

The sound of their phone ringing makes Caretaker jump. The phone nearly vibrates off the counter as Caretaker lunges to answer the jarring music. They answer the call as they unwrap their hand from around Whumpee’s charm, cramped fingers tingling from the strain. “This is Caretaker.”

Murmuring voices fill the call's background as a professional voice responds, “Hello, this is Medic from *Nearby Hospital*. Do you know someone named Whumpee?”

“Whumpee? Are they there? Are they okay? Where did you find them? Let me speak to them.”

“Whumpee is currently in critical condition and cannot answer the phone. You were listed as their emergency contact. We need to discuss a few other details if you can come…”

“I’ll be there in less than 20 minutes.”

True to their word, Caretaker made the 20-minute drive to the hospital in only 13. They run into the hospital, nearly slamming into the doors before they could open, and lean over the front desk to search the receptionist’s computer for information. “Whumpee. Tell me where I can find Whumpee.” They growl at the slightly startled receptionist.

“Caretaker?” A voice calls behind them. “I’m Medic. The police have filled me in on Whumpee and your situation. Please, follow me.”

As they walk, Medic fills Caretaker in on Whumpee’s condition. Whumpee appeared at the corner of the Hospital nearly four hours earlier. They were found bloody and unconscious by one of the nurses coming in for their shift. Broken bones, deep cuts, and bruises all over their body. Whumpee was severely dehydrated and malnourished. They had responded well to surgery and were currently in a room under close observation. 

It takes everything Caretaker has to not gasp as they enter Whumpee’s room. A police officer looks from his seat next to the small bed. Whumpee looks so small under all the machinery surrounding them. They fill what should be a quiet room with an uneasy, pulsing beat. 

Whumpee’s head slowly tilts to face them as Caretaker steps over to the bed. Their eyes are barely open, threatening to drift closed in sleep any second. 

Leaning over them to reach their less damaged hand, Caretaker slips the keychain between Whumpee’s bandaged fingers. “Never leave this again.”

The corner of Whumpee’s mouth curls up into a painful smile. Their eyes flutter closed as Whumpee gives in to sleep.

[thequeenofthenightgentlyweeps]

What's In The Bag? Bucci Gang Version

~ We've explored the animé they loved watching. Now, it's time to explore the contents of their bags 👀👀👀 ( I swear, it sounds more interesting than that 😅😅😅🙈🙈🙈 )

***

Giorno Giovanna ( Student Edition )

*Giorno's bag looks like ( as seen on Episode 3 ):

*What's inside?

~ A biology textbook, one or two ballpens ( he lost the other one because he used it on Narancia ), a wallet with DIO's photo in it, a tram card, his IPhone, headphones, a cheap convenience store cologne, a small bottle of hairgel, a sketchpad ( during his free time, he likes sketching the little critters he sees, frogs for example ), a pencil, an eraser, a sharpener, chocolate flavored wafers ( he never goes out without these ), chocolate drink in a tetra pack, a Bulbasaur keychain plush, some Pokémon trading cards, a swiss knife ( only for emergency purposes ), some old shopping vouchers, a box of bird seeds, and a single lottery ticket.

Giorno Giovanna ( Don Edition )

*Don Giorno's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ The latest state - of - the - art IPhone that is currently out in the market, a pair of fountain pens in their gold casing, a wallet with the Bucci gang's photo in it, his Passione Don badge, a Passport and a Visa, some plane and ship tickets, tickets to Disney Florida, various credit cards, several pads of blank bank notes, a Macbook, a bottle of Widian Gold II Sahara Parfum, a small bottle of Suavecito Oil - Based pomade, some chocolate flavored candies, a bottle of throat spray, an old Bulbasaur keychain plush, and a laminated Venusaur card.

Bruno Bucciarati

*Bucciarati's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ A simple Blackberry phone, a leather wallet, his Passione Capo badge, some credit cards, a pad of blank bank notes, his ID for the exclusive gambling club in Naples ( he doesn't really gamble but, a Capo must always be prepared ), a bottle of Ambra Acqua Di Parma perfume, his driver's license, a handkerchief, some tissues, a bottle of hand sanitizer, a black ballpen, some Libeccio and Olive Garden discount vouchers ( he doesn't need these but, he graciously takes them from the servers, anyway ), and a bottle of throat spray.

Guido Mista

*Mista's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ An old and crumpled issue of Playboy magazine ( Mista always has an issue of a particular magazine, he just prefers Playboy ), his Passione badge, a coin purse, a bottle of Old Spice cologne, his Motorolla phone, a stained table mantel, a table napkin, a huge lunchbox, a pack of sandwiches for the Pistols, one roll of pepperoni also for the Pistols, maybe a condom or two, fruit flavored candies, some bullets for his custom Smith and Wesson model 30 revolver, an extra bonnet, and a dirty handkerchief.

Leone Abbacchio

*Abbacchio's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ An mp3 player with all of Claudio Monteverdi's recordings, his headset, his Passione badge, his wallet, his very sturdy Nokia phone, a haircomb, a bottle of Dior's Sauvage Eau De Parfum, a bottle of pomade, some tissues, wet wipes, a dark purple MAC lipstick, a black MAC liquid eyeliner, a black MAC pencil eyeliner, a pack of mints, and a bottle of hand sanitizer ( NOTE: Don't ransack this man's bag, or else you'll get a lump in the head from him. It doesn't have much, aside from his MAC cosmetics, anyway 👀👀👀 )

Narancia Ghirga

*Narancia's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ Snacks, snacks, and snacks. It's a bag filled with snacks and junkfoods of all kinds and shapes ( the ones he can fit in here anyway ). Aside from that, he has lots of arcade tickets and tokens, his Passione badge ( almost lost due to the clutter ), his cracked Smasung cellphone, his YuGiOh Duel Monster Cards, a Disneyland pamphlet, his knife, a coin purse ( almost empty because he kept buying snacks and arcade tokens ), some mixtapes, a notebook, a math textbook ( which he rarely opens ), a pencil, and his headset ( he almost never uses this ).

Pannacotta Fugo

*Fugo's bag would look like:

*What's inside?

~ His IPhone, an issue of Detective Conan ( which he reads to kill time ), his Passione badge, some textbooks ( because Narancia couldn't be counted on to bring all his textbooks ), a handkerchief, some tissues, a bottle of hand sanitizer, a bottle of Ralph Lauren cologne, a ballpen, and a notebook.

Trish Una

*Trish's bag would look like:

Well, it's more like a pouch than a bag, isn't it?

*What's inside?

~ Givenchy Blush No. 2 ( oh, come on, y'all know this is coming 😅😅😅 ), a pink Givenchy Le Rouge Deep Velvet lipstick, Givenchy Eye palette with 9 colors No. 3, a bottle of Jimmy Choo cologne, wet wipes, some tissues, an IPhone, and a wallet ( she can't fit more items here, so she chose the most basic necessitites )

***

[ladyyatexel]

@justapalspal tagged me in one or two of these and it's been since the time of LiveJournal since I've done something like this so SURE, let's do the thing

Rules: answer 10 questions and tag 10 people you want to know better Gonna be real with you, tagging people always makes me feel like I'm making demands so we are probably not gonna do this

Relationship status: Living in my own little world. I would say audition to join it, but I'm asexual and demi-romantic and will just frustrate you. 👍

Favorite color: acid green, but really just everything in green to blue spectrum

Three favorite foods: Biryani, anything extremely spicy or sour, any combination of apple/cinnamon

Song stuck in my head: "We Don't Talk About Bruno." It's been there for Days.

The last thing I listened to: Part of an audiobook about the historicity of religious figures.

Last thing I googled: "can't upload photos to tumblr" haha

Time: Before noon. Don't know why this should be interesting. Look at how I'm wasting my time.

Dream trip: I've wanted to see Egypt since I was nine.

Anything I really want: My back/leg to sort themselves out.

A SECOND ONE:

Last Movie: Based on the next question, does this one mean in a theater?? Because it was probably fucking... Frozen 2?

Last Movie at Home: Encanto

Last Series: I watched some episodes of YuGiOh ZeXal with friends on Discord. I don't really like this one haha But as far as last thing I completed, it was the latest season of Doctor Who

Last Song: Keiino - MONUMENT I've been having kind of an extra symbolic time with my music lately for Some Reasons. This has been mixed heavily with Duncan Laurence's "Arcade" and Saara Aalto's "Monsters".

Favorite Color: All those mermaid colors. Though truly a bitch just craves the combo of black and violently neon rainbow.

Sweet, Savory, or Spicy: SPICY. Spicy Chocolate Icecream is one of my favorite things on Earth.

Craving: Pierogi. Made the mistake of stopping by the Polish place after running an errand for my mom and now my soul wants only potato cheese pillows in onion and butter.

Currently Reading: I listen to most of my books these days, so I can paint while consuming them. Nearly everything is nonfiction. I like books about women escaping oppressive religious cults and ancient history. I am reading the Sailor V manga, though.

Currently Working On: Too Much. - "Strange Shapes" - the Malik/Ryou saga I previewed a few times - Random headshots for my toyhouse account - last two commissions (gotta send thumbnails for one and an invoice for another) - designs for buttons, keychains, misc plastic bullshit - more household chores than I can currently physically handle 🙃thisisfine - wrestling my sacrifices to my donation benefactors into consumable forms - many of these things I would show you but I can't upload images hahaaaaaaaa - fixing that I can't upload images

THERE WE ARE. Riveting.

[remmushound]

Beyond the Bay Chapter 12 - Hidden City

Summary: The turtles go off in search of a new rift in the Hidden City

Tags: @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @digitl-art-monstr @ilo-artistry

Leo hated every part of this. The sun was up, so they should be down, and out of sight. He had known his counterparts long enough to know how loose they often played with the rules his family followed so diligently, but to take to the streets under the danger of daylight for something that could easily wait for the blanket of night was absurd! In his two decades of life, Leo could count the amount of daylight explorations he had taken on two hands; the risk was hardly ever worth it. Despite the prickling insecurities inside him, Leo pushed himself onward to follow Raphael’s lead. This city was so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time. So easy to get lost in. Leo found himself picking out familiar buildings to assure that this place was still New York, even in this toony world so colorful that he could almost believe a pallet of paint had been spilled over it. This was New York and New York would always be home, even if home was a whole dimension away.

Raphael’s guidance brought the group of anxious turtles to an alleyway. They dropped down from above; Leo felt a shutter go through his body, a cold chill seizing his senses and stealing away his breath as he passed through something that seemed almost… green. The sudden shock made him stutter, his balance unsteady enough to knock over a trash can upon landing. With a clutter and a clang the silver bin fell and rolled, several more loud crashes sounding off each time it hit something. The eyes of Donnie and Raph turned to the shock-stricken Leo, who could only stare with his wide, cerulean eyes. The people walking past in the streets to either side, just feet away from what they’d see as monsters, didn’t stopped. Leo let himself breathe and the three brothers, muscles still tensed and ready to hide at the slightest sign of trouble, moved back into a tight formation around their younger counterparts.

“What are we doing here?” Leo couldn’t contain it anymore and he had to ask. His voice was a low whisper. “We could be seen!”

“Relax.” Leonardo laughed, and his voice wasn’t at all soft. He was met with three sets of shhhhh from the Splintersons, but laughed each of them off, “This alleyway has a mystic shimmer. We can see them.” He cleared his throat, “BUT THEY CAN’T SEE OR HEAR US!”

True to his word, the people in the street kept on their way as if the turtles didn't even exist. So that was what Leo felt! What had made him stumble!  The cautious tension in Donnie was immediately replaced by heart-fluttering curiosity. He couldn’t resist a high-pitched whistle, striding away from the group before Leo could say a word to stop him; he went as close as he dared to the end of the alleyway, waving and laughing and calling out to the streets with, to his utter joy, no response.

“This is so cool this is so cool this is so cool!” Donnie’s voice got higher with each repeat, flapping his wrists, “W-what is it, some type of four-lensed blind spot? O-or something using metamaterials or—?”

“Noooo, it’s mystic.” Leonardo said, and with a snap of his fingers Michelangelo perked up. He removed a small item that had been hidden in the rainbow pouch around his neck, the artifact attached to him by a slim golden collar; it was almost like a keychain he hung around his neck. “And so is this.”

Leo eyed the little trinket curiously; in shape, it was similar to Donatello’s gift, except with greens and golds instead of orange and reds. He could have mistaken it for an oddly colored compass with kanji if he hadn’t seen that familiar, lop-sided M in the middle. The compass itself was pointing directly at the wall, glowing the most vibrant neon and pulsing slightly. Leo could feel the energy radiating.

With a hand as steady as a seasoned artist, Michelangelo traced the trinket across the wall using the M as a guiding map. Before the astonished eyes of the Splinterson brothers, the compass left what looked almost like a trail of paint in its wake, except it didn't drip, and when Michelangelo had completed his work it began to glow. It was green at first, then shifted into a soft baby blue, and then into white as the faux paint finally started to drip and melt into a doorway. Leo felt an immediate draw toward it, like the force that would try to lasso them into Leonardo’s rift except not as strong. Raph gave a simple hiss in response, pulling back and shaking his head while Donnie did the exact opposite, reaching for the rift as if it were the most precious treasure. 

“I thought only your Leo could make rifts…” Leo said.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Leonardo asked, dancing over to stand proud at Leo’s side, “Portals are the only way into the Hidden City!”

“Hidden City?” Raph breathed through his teeth, eyes still fixed on the rift.

“Yeah!” Raphael said unhelpfully, “You three should stay close to us; the mystic types can be pretty jarring for first timers.”

Raph started to say, “I think I can handle them” before he felt a gentle tug at his hand. Raph looked to see Michelangelo holding his hand, resting his full weight against Raphael’s arm without the older mutant so much as flinching. Michelangelo’s eyes were wide, the colors flowing in them like a warm sunset as he beamed up at his friend.

“Don’t be scared, Raphie! You can hold my hand if you want to!”

“Uh…” Looking down at this tiny, vibrant young shinobi that barely came up to his stomach in height, Raph couldn’t say anything except, “Y-yeah, sure. Thanks kid…”

Michelangelo have a happy giggle and wiggled his joy. He snatched Donnie with his other hand before the tallest box turtle could get very far.

“You can hold my hand too, Donna!”

“Donna?” Raph breathed through his nose, then laughed, “Hell yeah. Down with the patriarchy.”

Donnie, upon being grabbed by Michelangelo, had much the same reaction as Raph. He didn't know what to do, and then he fell to soft adoration as he realized he would do anything for this kid.

“Thanks Mike.”

“Can I hold your hand too?” Leo asked brightly

Michelangelo’s expression flattened. “Only got two hands, Leon.”

Donatello cleared his throat and stepped forward to motion the first group through the rift. “Please keep your hands and feet inside the mystic rift until the ride has ended, keep all personals close as we will not be liable for any limbs or items that may turn up missing. Keep your shells on, your heads low, and watch out for portal jackers as we take this small voyage to Run-Of-The-Mill pizza.”

With that, Michelangelo and the two other box turtles that had to crouch to be able to hold his hand went through the rift without fear. Leo, his mouth still hanging open, turned to look at Raphael, who could only shrug before going through the rift himself. 

“Lady’s first~” Leonardo gave what could have resembled a polite bow if not for the mocking tone, motioning Leo through first.

Leo sucked in a breath, shaking the nervous jitters like water off a duck's back before he stepped through. The pull was very much so like the rift he and his family had taken to wind up in this world to begin with, except less painful. When he opened his eyes again he was standing in… a restaurant?

The smell of cumin and Chili filled the air. The feeling of the polished floor under Leo’s feet was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Like ice, except not cold; soft, but hard at the same time if that was possible. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the building and more details were quick to come to him; wooden booths with dark brown cushions and tables clean enough to shine under the candlelight that filled the restaurant; the candles, it seemed, were held up by nothing at all! They were shaped almost like they were living; Leo thought it nothing more than a cool design before he realized they actually were living! Living candles with curves and form almost like human women, their hair the flaming candle wicks and the bottom of their shafts flowing out like a ball gown! Closer still and Leo could even begin to make out tiny, detailed faces!

“You want your normal seats I presume?” 

Leo blinked and shook his head as the familiar voice brought him back down to earth. Though he hadn’t seen Hueso in just over two years, the skeleton man had hardly changed at all. The calaca’s white pupils danced across the group with a curious hum.

“And shall I double your usual then?” Hueso queried.

“Bone man!” Leonardo explained, scooping Hueso up in a hug before the older yokai could make his escape. “Good to see ya!”

“Wish I could say the same.” Hueso grumbled, then added bitterly, “Problem child…”

“And that’s why you love me!” Leonardo blew a kiss, “Now Hueso, you remember the other us’s, right?”

“Unfortunately, it’s a pleasure to remake your acquaintance.”

Hueso was met with three half-hearted mutters of greeting; none of the Splintersons were even looking at him! Why would they when there were so many different creatures to see? In most every booth and table and barstool were mutants out of a fantasy book; beings even Donnie couldn’t single out as anything familiar! Some of them had characteristics that could have been compared to more natural animals— tentacles and fangs and frills. Creatures as big as an elephant or small as a shrew, with varying table sizes to accommodate all in between.

“Hey, listen bone man.” Leonardo tried to whisk Hueso away for a private conversation, but Hueso ducked to avoid the fate. His eyes and Leonardo’s were locked until Leonardo backed down, “We need a favor.”

“Don’t you always?” Hueso asked, “Seems every time you come to pay a visit it is for your own gain.”

“What? Noooo! Me? Noo!” Leonardo scoffed, waving a dismissive hand and laughing before quickly giving up the ruse, “It’s important this time. We need to find a yokai who sells decent rifts at an affordable price, and we need it like yesterday if we want to get these boys home.”

Hueso hummed, bringing his fingers to his mouth as he considered. “Define affordable.”

“Somewhere in the price range of… eight hundred US dollars or nine thousand Japanese yen.” Donatello said.

Hueso hissed through his teeth. “You won’t get any that cheap. Cheapest I know of would be Monroe, but quality rifters at his place run upward to three million pesos.”

Donatello took out his phone and ran some quick calculations. “Okay guess we’re not eating this month.”

“Wish I could be of more help pepino.” Hueso said, turning to leave while he was still talking, “I’ll go get you directions to Monroe.”

~~~

“This looks like the place…” Donatello said, and he indicated a small sliver of alleyway squeezed between two tall buildings.

“Doesn’t look like much.” Raph huffed; Michelangelo still had a tight hold on his and Donnie’s hands for support.

“But it is discrete though.” Donnie pointed out; his mind was still wandering, trying its best to soak up the tangled stimuli from the buildings and the mutants that looked almost like something out of a cartoon! Like a child had drawn these characters and these structures and planted them together in a bright, yet disorienting, array of flashing colors. “I’d hate to be an epileptic in this place…”

“Are we… gonna be able to fit through there?” Leo asked, his question directed toward Leonardo.

Leonardo flashed Leo a warning glare before saying, “Raph, are you and the guys gonna be able to fit?”

Raphael gave a low whine. His beak crinkled in concentration as his first idea was to simply walk forward, which proved him too wide. Then he huffed and turned sideways, but was still too bulky. It seemed Raphael ran out of ideas, so Donatello cleared his throat.

“If I could direct everyone’s attention slightly upwaaaard~”

Following his motion, they found what could have resembled a bell hanging above the alleyway. It looked as if it were made of slime with little chunks of something floating inside. Raph cringed at the sight of it, but Raphael gave a far too curious ooo and reached to touch it. Leonardo quickly stepped between Raphael and the slime-bell.

“No no no no, no no. No.” Leonardo said, forcing Raphael back, “Bad Raph.”

“I wasn’t gonna eat it.” Raphael pouted.

Leonardo narrowed his eyes. Raphael stuck out his bottom lip and tapped his fingers. 

“Okay I was gonna eat it. You can ring it.”

“Eh… not sure if I want to…” Despite his words, Leonardo reached up and took the slimy rope of the bell, a texture not unlike a worm, and yanked on it. Instead of ringing, it gave off a sound like a foghorn blowing that made every turtle cover their ears, though Leonardo removed his hands from his head just as quickly when he realized it was still covered in slime. “Ew ew ew ew—“

There was a pop and they were swallowed by a slimy, green bubble. What followed was mixed reactions of terror and disgust as they moved into a tighter group, shell to shell with the bigger ones surrounding the smaller. The bubble lifted then off their feet and through the wall like they had no matter at all, carried past the narrow door and lowered to the ground on the other side before the slime bubble popped and left them confused and disgruntled.

“What is this place?” Donnie was the first to separate from the group to look around. The space around them was not unlike an auction house, filled with all sorts of items on display. They filled shelf after shelf after shelf, placed around with no true order. Looking up would reveal several more floors, all just as filled with artifacts and creatures for purchase, with a convenient opening through the middle of each floor.

“Looks like some sort of witchy auction place…” Raph commented. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Raph separated and started to investigate the place for himself, “How does a grimy grifter get a place like this?”

“Wait a minute…” Leonardo frowned as he looked around, “Wait— I know this place.”

Raph picked up a gem-encrusted chalice, turning it around curiously. “Huh. Fancy.”

“Raph, don’t touch anything.” Leo groaned.

“What?” Raph scoffed, “Guess you don’t want me to do this either, huh?”

He began to juggle the chalice with surprising style.

“Raph, stop that!” Leo tried to intervene, but that only seemed to egg Raph on. He danced out of Leo’s reach, laughing as he pretended to drop the decor before catching it at the last second, “I’m serious!”

Raph only laughed. At least, he was laughing until he actually did drop it— right on the head of a small, purple yokai who had been observing the scene, as still as one of his statues. Raph swore, trying to recover the drop but it was too late. It sank into the yokai’s head as if he were made of pure gelatin, and they could still see the gold through the flesh and skin. The purple yokai blinked, and Raph screamed.

The purple yokai’s skin shifted into flowing rings of yellow and orange that forced the chalice up and out of his head, into his hand. He didn't look like much— something akin to a slug if anything— with a soft beak and a snaggle tooth like Raphael’s only smaller. He breathed onto the chalice and wiped it off with his sleeve before placing it back on the shelf.

“Please don’t touch.”

“YOU!” Leonardo pointed accusingly, “You’re that slug guy who sold me wallet-stealing hair! You’re Monroe?!”

“That’s a talking slug—” Raph withdrew back into the crowd of his brothers, eyes wide. 

Donnie gasped, pulling his goggles down over his eyes and advancing as quickly as Raph had retreated. The slug drew into himself, his entire body constricting like a squeezed stress ball. Leo visibly cringed, while Raphael and his brothers didn't seem all that bothered beyond a few yawns or comforting pats for Raph.

“This is incredible— there’s compounds in him that fail to be isolated or traced!” Donnie picked up one of the slugs arms to investigate every inch of him. “He doesn’t even seem to be carbon based at all; there’s elements I can’t even identify— what…?” Donnie pulled up his goggles as the astonishment gave way to a confused frown, “Is— is he a mutant?”

“No.” Donatello scoffed.

That was met with three very confused box turtles casting side glances. 

“Are… are any of them mutants?” Leo asked.

Leonardo laughed, “What? You though every yokai in the Hidden City was mutated by Draxum and his army of mutant mosquitoes? Ha! W-what dumb idiots would think that?” Leonardo was visibly sweating.

“Not these dumb idiots, that’s for sure.” Donatello tried to brush past, scratching his neck.

“W-wait, so none’a them guys we passed were mutants?” Raph asked, pointing back at the door.

“Well, some of them might have been, but the majority? No; they’re yokai and cryptids.”

“Yokai…” Donnie breathed, and that astonished look returned to his face as he continued to circle Monroe, “They exist in your world? Oh my kama this just keeps getting better—“

“Don.” Raph whistled as if Donnie was a dog, “Buy first, geek later.”

Monroe’s eyes lit up at that and he pulled himself away from Donnie to give a polite bow to the rest of the group. “If sales you wants, sales I’s gots! I gots artifacts from all around the world, from the tombs of Giza to the ancient Amazons. If you needs it, I gots it!”

“Great!” Raphael clapped. “Cause we need a high quality rifter.”

Monroe sank into himself. “Not that’s I don’t gots…”

A visible vein twitched in Leo. “What?”

“I solds out…” He frowned, tapping his nubby hands together.

“WHEN?”

“Like ten minutes ago, don’t yell at me.” The slug quivered, his eyes like saucers.

Leonardo sucked in a slow, deep breath, “Who bought them, Monroe?”

“Oh, an andoroido with a nice voice ands such manners. He’s having buying all my rifters. He’s very rich.”

“All of them?” Raphael whimpered, “Y-you don’t even got a… a small busted one in the back?”

Monroe shook his head. “Not one! He was be very insistent he gets alls of them. But I do has a very special hover pod with your name witten all over it if you—“

“Not interested.” Leonardo quickly dismissed, pulling on his face in his frustration, “Great. We— we’ll find somewhere else to look.”

“But I is to be assuring you that no other shop has rifters worth your while…” Monroe said.

“That's what every illegal rifter peddler would say!”

“Not this illegal rifter peddler, I swearing it to you!”

“And I swear I’ll bust your teeth in if you’re lying…” Leonardo seized Monroe by the collar and lifted him up.

“Leo.” Raphael was quick to correct. His eyes met Leonardo’s for just a moment. That was all it took for Leonardo to relent and release the Yokai. Raphael made a quick point to help Monroe fix his shirt. “Sorry ‘bout that. If you happen to find a rifter you missed, could you give us a call?”

Without having to be asked, Donatello had already written up his phone number and placed it in Monroe’s hand.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any more contacts, do you Don?”

Donatello took a long, slow breath. “I’ll see what I can find.”

[shiny-procrastinates]

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 2

part 1 here

I had no idea it’d turn into a run-on text when I posted the last one, am now regretting several life choices.

Hello everyone and welcome to the second post of this series where we watch Magia Record together! (Hopefully)

Last time our cute protagonist was kidnapped by a witch and taken to a mysterious city called Kamihama, only to be saved by a singing chibi Kyuubei, getting kicked out by a blue haired op magical girl, and remembering that her long forgotten wish was to cure her missing sister’s illness. You know, happens everyday.

So then, where is Iroha’s younger sister Ui? What is going on in Kamihama? What’s up with those full-body tights? Guess we’ll have to watch to find out! (There is no answer to the last one.)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record Episode 2

So we kick this episode off with what seems to be a flashback of Iroha visiting her younger sister in the hospital.

The smile that was not protected.

They do some sister bonding and we are now back to the scene of Iroha making her wish, just a little trippier this time.

Iroha’s covered by some white sheets and…

Of course, it was all a dream. Yes, we’d like to know that, too, Iroha. I like how the camera moves back to show the empty part of her room, emphasizing how her sister’s completely gone.

And cut to the op. Talking about nice shots, this one’s my favorite in the opening:

Later, Iroha is telling Kyuubei about her wish. Today, she just bought her lunch instead of making it. Did you oversleep?

Regardless, Kyuubei does not know her sister. He asks if Ui really existed. According to him, it would take something like a magical girl’s wish to erase someone’s existence completely like that, so he suggests it’s more likely that someone implanted false memories in her. Iroha, however, believes those memories are real, and plans to visit the hospital she saw in her dreams in search for clues.

So Iroha is now going to Kamihama. She tried to get in contact with Kuroe but couldn’t reach her. Considering how determined Kuroe was to go to Kamihama though, she might be there already.

Iroha asks Kyuubei about the chibi Kyuubei from earlier, but Kyuubei doesn’t know anything about it. Rather, he says something like that shouldn’t exist.

This bus has ads. And Iroha really does like kids a lot, doesn’t she.

Alas, it seems you can’t even ride a bus in peace in this town. Before she can arrive at the hospital, Iroha gets caught up in yet another witch’s barrier.

Hello, Witch Delivery Service. How can I curse you today?

Once again, she’s not alone in the Labyrinth. There’s another girl getting her butt kicked having a hard time with Kamihama’s witches.

The new girl knows she can’t win, so she’s all in on running away, but Iroha can’t just leave the passengers to become witch food. They’re weak though, so as soon as they stop they’re attacked and end up stuck in a web.

:fuyuu～:

When all seems lost, in comes our knight in shining armor, with her weird shaped sword. If it was jagged, you’d think someone took a bite out of that.

This confident, strong-willed magical girl is called Momoko, and she came to help out the girl from earlier. I can’t screenshot this, but it’s cool how the camera slightly shakes as if affected by the wind when it shows her from the front.

Then there’s Rena.

The two join hands and do something like enchanting, I suppose. Borrowing Rena’s water powers, Momoko dives straight into the enemy and clears everything, not like a tidal wave, but literally with one. Iroha is very impressed… and then she gets run over by a ball of fur along with Kaede. gg

Iroha was abducted, this was actually sci-fi all along.

Of course not, though Madoka does happen in the near future.

Iroha wakes up to find herself in an unfamiliar place. Momoko explains to her that they are at the Coordinator’s, some sort of hospital + consultation center for magical girls… Iroha, please don’t repeat “magical girls” as if it doesn’t ring a bell, you are one.

You’re too nice for this world, shame only suffering awaits you.

Rena criticizes her, but Momoko reassures Iroha that’s just Rena’s way of showing concern. Seems about right.

Momoko offers to escort her back to the station, and Iroha asks if there really are that many witches in Kamihama. I’d say yes, considering how we’ve already seen three in only two episodes. They were way more rare in the og.

According to Momoko, it’s just like the blue haired magical girl had told her yesterday: not only there are a lot of them, they are also stronger than normal. However, Momoko says it was not always like that.

Iroha still needs to go to Satomi Medical Center to investigate her sister’s disappearance, so she explains her situation to Momoko’s trio.

:momokoncerned:

Rena’s not keen on believing Iroha’s story, but Momoko can’t leave someone in need, so she decides for her team to help Iroha. Even Iroha’s perplexed.

Rena complains that they already have their own investigation going on, but the other two argue that they haven’t found anything anyway and Rena was the one who least believed the rumor they’re investigating. Iroha just has no idea what’s going on.

It seems Momoko’s trio is chasing down a witch called the chain Witch, but Iroha has never heard about it.

Feeling bad about the trio arguing, Iroha says it’s fine and that she doesn’t want to bother them with searching for her sister too when they already saved her earlier, but Kaede pushes the point of “we’re all magical girls after all”, even when Rena’s clearly unwilling. They then finally properly introduce themselves.

The fiery blonde is Momoko Togame, the red haired druid is Kaede Akino and the blue haired tsundere is Rena Minami. They’re a magical girl team acting in the Shinsei Ward in Kamihama.

The group heads to Satomi Medical Center but, as expected, I guess, they wouldn’t let Iroha in. After all, not only her sister is not hospitalized there right now, as there are no records of her ever being there.

So the obvious choice here is going for some burgers.

Momoko says about Momoko.

She snatches the lunch from Iroha and goes upstairs… then she’s Rena. Guess we can assume Rena’s power is shapeshifting. Iroha is understandably very confused. (poor girl’s been like that ever since she came to Kamihama).

I do want to be spoken, too.

Iroha apologizes for having them accompany her for nothing, and says she’ll find a way to get to Ui’s hospital room. Momoko’s trio seems to have some plan, but Rena refuses to do it. Kaede confirms that Rena can shapeshift.

Momoko and Kaede want Rena to shapeshift into a nurse and infiltrate the hospital, but Rena doesn’t want to take the risk. Kaede and Rena then start fighting. Kaede’s upset that Rena refuses to use her powers for others, while Rena doesn’t want to put herself at risk for a stranger. Rena gets worked up, and ends up saying something bad enough to erase the background stickers.

Yeah, getting caught up in a friend fight is quite awkward isn’t it.

Rena runs her mouth and accidentally says Kaede’s wish is stupid. But magical girl’s wishes are their biggest desires when they make them, so it’s extremely rude to diss one. Kaede starts crying. Rena really screwed up there.

If only the background could talk for you, Rena.

Kaede is so upset she breaks up her friendship with Rena and walks off. Momoko tries to cheer Rena up with a mood-deaf joke, but it backfires and Rena also runs off. It’s nice how the girl’s thoughts they can’t put in words are expressed by the background stickers here. Rena would’ve seemed like a jerk if not.

Iroha and Momoko make their way back to the station. Momoko apologizes for the previous scene and Iroha apologizes for making them fight, but Momoko reassures her that that happens all the time.

Yeah, seems tiresome. From my experience, poking your nose in your friends’ fights more often than not only makes them both turn against you.

Iroha asks Momoko if the Chain Monster she joked about earlier was the same as the Chain Witch, and Momoko tells her about the rumor of the Staircase of Severance. According to the rumor, if you end your friendship with someone and write your names on a certain staircase at the school Momoko and co. attend, the first person to try to make up will be abducted by the chain monster. It would be fine if it was just a rumor, but the people who had their names written in the staircase did in fact disappear, and-

Hands- *cof* I mean, what do you have to do with this?

No, Kaede, don’t do it, it’s not worth it!

After a brief flash of a call to(?) or from(?) Momoko, Iroha meets up with her and Kaede at the station. According to them, Rena has been missing ever since their fight, and I’ve just now noticed the detail on the background showing the train lines. Nice.

The girls search for Rena until late, and finally find her at the arcade. Rena tries to pass herself for someone else, but the keychain doesn’t lie. Rena runs away, turning into a lot of other people, and the girls chase after her. As they do, chains follow their path.

Kaede catches Rena and asks why she’s running away. She says their friendship isn’t over, since Rena didn’t throw away their mascot, so she’ll apologize again if she has to and she won’t let go until Rena forgives her.

So Kaede apologizes to Rena and says they’ll go back to being friends. Rena then starts seeing chains.

The familiar-like things start mocking her. They say Rena wrote their name on the Staircase of Severance, so they won’t let them go back to being friends. Rena’s also the only one who can see them. The chain monsters start saying what should be the reasons why Rena would break up their friendship, which Rena desperately denies. The monsters then take Kaede away.

And that’s it for this episode. The rumor of the Staircase of Severance was true, Kaede was kidnapped and we still have no clue what that flash to the blue haired magical girl when Momoko was talking about the rumor even means. Leaving this episode with more questions than answers, and barely making any progress on Iroha’s investigation, we now get the ending for this season: Alethea, by ClariS.

It’s a beautiful ending, but it’s kind of funny having this when Yachiyo’s name hasn’t even appeared in the anime yet. I actually thought for the longest time that this song was called Alicia since the katakana sounds like that (or I may have misread it), so you can imagine my surprise when I learnt over a year later I was wrong lol

There’s also the little but nice detail that Yachiyo’s holding the umbrella she has when she meets Iroha on the opening.

With that, we are done with episode 2! Will our girls be able to save Fuyuu from the Chain Witch? Will Rena be able to be honest for once? Guess we’ll have to find out next time! Looking forward to having you guys for episode 3, same hour, same Tumblr blog.

(P.S: I went with Staircase of Severance for the name of this rumor since that’s what is being used in these subs, but I think it’s Friendship Ending Staircase somewhere else. Same thing tho)

[elevenharringtons]

Babysitting El pt. 1

Pairing: None (but leading into a bit of Steve x Reader) 

Summary: Hopper, exasperated by having to deal with monsters invading Hawkins and having a teenage girl, has asked you to come babysit while he investigates for the night. Max shows up (unannounced, to you at least) and proposes a mall day to cheer everyone up. However, things don’t go as planned, and you find yourself an accomplice to Mike and El’s breakup. 

Warnings: Profanity

Word Count: 3.3k

This is a two-parter! This part is based on El and Max’s shopping trip. It’s not exact, considering El was the one to seek Max out, but nonetheless, you’ll read some familiar scenarios. Just some good ol’ girl time and bonding over stupid boys. Part Two should be out sooner rather than later, considering all the time that has suddenly found itself on my doorstep. Stay safe out there, y’all. 

***UPDATE: There will be a taglist for the second part, so if you’d like to be on it, let me know! 

“I’ll be there.”

“If that Wheeler kid shows up here one more time-“

“Calm down! She’s a young woman now, she’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing” you say, twirling the yellowed telephone cable between your fingers. This is the third time this week that your uncle has called you upset that El was dating the second youngest Wheeler. Hopper hadn’t necessarily been on good terms with Mike, considering he found ways around Hopper’s rules, especially rules that were crafted for Eleven’s safety. Grumbling ensues on the other line.

“What time are you going to be here?”

“8 o’clock,” you reply almost confidently.

“Sharp?”

“8 o’clock...ish?” Hopper was good at seeing through your facades. Your mother was a pro at being fashionably late to things, a habit that you’re not too happy that you picked up. “You know it takes at least 15 minutes to get back to Hawkins, and then at least another 20 to remember which turn into the woods I have to take to find your cabin-“

“Save it. Just...promise me you’ll take care of this?” Hopper pleaded. You could hear someone rapping on the door in the background and assumed it was Mike trying to get back in to see El.

“I’ll do what I can. Bye, Uncle Hop.” You hear indistinct chatter on the line before it cuts to a dial tone and chuckle to yourself, continuing to pack a small overnight bag full of clothes and other essentials needed to ‘babysit’ Eleven. Hopper had to deal with a special assignment that you had specifically chosen not to ask him about, knowing it must be a continuation of the strange events that kept happening in Hawkins the past two years. Your mission was to stay with El until Hopper returned, however, now that El was a teenager, that was no easy task. Boys, best friends, and fighting intergalactic monsters had El in more directions than you remember when you were her age. Then again, you didn’t have to deal with the intergalactic monster part.

The morning drive wasn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be. Surprisingly, you remembered exactly where to turn into the woods to find Hopper’s cabin. The ground was wet from a rain storm the night before as you tried your best to maneuver your mom’s old Buick through the slippery terrain. El was standing outside on Hopper’s porch, her eyes lighting up for a quick second before diminishing again. She turned and headed back inside the cabin before you had the chance to get out of the car. Hopper met you at the door.

“What’s her deal?” You ask, closing the car door and moving to the trunk to grab your backpack.

“I, uh, may have had a hand in that,” Hopper replied.

“What’d you do”

“Joyce told me to have a talk with her and Mike, but instead, I told Mike that his grandmother was sick and that he should go be with her instead of with El,” Hopper couldn’t meet your stare. You laughed out loud.

“Seriously, Uncle Hop?”

“She doesn’t know!”

“And what made you think that was a good idea? What advice did Joyce give you that made you do that? Couldn’t have been that bad, it’s Joyce!” You’re leaning against the car door, arms crossed over your chest. You weren’t letting your uncle off that easy before he left you with a moody teenager.

“She just said to set some ground rules, to talk to them,”

“The three inch rule?” You quip.

“Well, El doesn’t always adhere to the three inch rule, that’s why I had to do something about it,” Hopper replied.

“So telling Mike Wheeler that his grandmother was sick even though she isn’t is how you’re handling this?”

“Why do you think you’re here?”

“Oh, so I’m the diffusion? She needs to be a teenager, Uncle Hop! Explore! Kiss a guy! Kiss a girl if she wants to! Fall in love! Get her heart broken! You were a teenager once, weren’t you?” You say. Out of the corner of your eye, El reappeared on the porch.

“Y/N?”

“Hi, El!” You smile and wave as El does the same. Hopper runs his hand over his face before leading you to the cabin. He grumbles under his breath as you walk.

“Look, just make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. No one can find her out here, it’s dangerous.”

“I’ve got it under control, Hopper. She won’t leave my sight,” You assure him as you walk up the stairs to wrap El in a hug. Hopper watched as the both of you headed inside the cabin before starting his truck up and driving away.

“So, Hopper has you on some…guidelines, huh?” You say once the door is closed, taking in the cabin. It wasn’t as messy as you would have guessed it to be, definitely not like the lake house that you had practically grown up in. You put your bag down on Hopper’s armchair before leaning against the couch, watching El as she paced around.

“Guidelines?” She asked.

“Oh, um, rules. Like how he won’t let you out past a certain hour?”

“Or how he doesn’t let Mike over,” El nervously played with her hands. She was still pacing, clearly worried that Mike had abandoned her.

“Hey,” you say softly. “He doesn’t hate Mike, you know? He just…isn’t ready for you to grow up yet.” El was trying to take in what you were saying, but a knock was at the door causing the both of you to jump. El looks to you for permission to open the door, which you grant. She gets up and crosses to the door, standing on tip toes to peer into the peephole.

“It’s Max,” El says, almost disappointed.

“You can let her in,” you say. The door swings open to reveal the fiery red head, who doesn’t stay outside long.

“Lucas dropped all of our plans today for some family thing he forgot last minute,” she says. “So I told him that we were on a break.”

“A break?” El asks.

“Yeah. Like not a break up but you want to break up? Kind of?” Max says. You stare wide eyed at the two of them.

“I’m sorry, you told Lucas you wanted to take a break because he had to do something with his family?” You ask.

“Look, he pulls this last minute shit all the time. He’s probably at home playing with his stupid walkie talkie or at Mike’s. It’s better to take a minute to show him that I’m mad by taking a break than to dump his ass altogether,” she plops herself into Hopper’s armchair and right on top of your stuff without missing a beat. El sits stiffly beside you on the couch.

“Mike’s grandmother is sick, so he’s probably not at Mike’s,” you say, trying to go along with Hopper’s false narrative as truthfully as you could. Max rolls her eyes.

“Sounds like some last minute bullshit to me.”

“Last minute,” El says thoughtfully. “Mike didn’t call this morning.”

“Then dump his ass,” Max says matter-of-factly. “He keeps you on the line way too much for you to keep putting up with that.”

“I don’t think it’s Mike’s fault,” you say under your breath. Max doesn’t hear you.

“Dump his ass?” El questions.

“He’s obviously hiding something from you. Don’t put up with it,” Max shrugs.

“Nobody’s dumping anyone. Look, you can’t just break someone’s heart because they can’t do something with you,” you say. You may not have a lot of experience in the dating department,  but you also could recognize human mistakes from lies. Plus, you had your uncle’s fake storyline standing over your shoulder, so it was best that El not make any hasty decisions.

“I’m just saying, El, you could do a lot better,” Max says. “In the meantime, though, we should give you a makeover and show him what he’s missing. Let’s go to the mall!”

“Whoa, El’s not allowed out. You know that,” you say, standing now between El and Max’s line of vision.

“Hopper’s not here is he? Plus, you’re here. Nothing bad can happen if you’re with us,” Max retorts. She had a point. Having an adult around two teenagers in a mall cramped their style, automatically making them less of a target to the bad guys. Right?

“Technically, I’m not supposed to have you here,” you reply. Max rolled her eyes.

“Y/N, can we please go to the mall?” El asks. Her shimmering brown eyes are enough to make you cave. She knew just how to push your buttons.

“Fine,” you say, “but you guys can’t leave my sight.”

“Deal,” Max and El say together as they race outside to your car.

“I said don’t leave my sight!” You yell, running after them. How bad could this be?

**********

Two hours later and you’ve become the stereotypical pack-mule “boyfriend” to your two teenaged counterparts. Max had insisted El buy a new wardrobe to make Mike jealous, so her muddied shoes and ragged plaid shirt were stuffed in a tiny bag from The Gap while Max made El try on several brightly colored combos. Then, El wanted Glamour Shots, so you watched as her and Max put on oversized pearls and lavish feathered hats, posing ridiculously for the camera. You’d bought each of them a keychain sized version of their favorite picture, adding another bag to your hand. Max had careened into JC Penney without your knowledge, taking El with her through the winding racks of aerobics wear and puffy jacket vests. You managed to find them, though, because Max was trying on bright red sunglasses in the mirrors right next to the entrance.

“What did I tell you about running off?” You say. Before Max could protest, El had walked out in a black romper with neon shapes plastered all over it. She was stumbling around on two inch heels, her stark white socks making it obvious that she’d never worn anything else besides sneakers. However, the smile on her face distracted you from the fact that she could fall and break her ankle at any moment. She stopped to pose in the mirror before turning to you.

“What do you think, Y/N?”

“I think it’s a winner. You look beautiful, El,” you say, her grin growing wider. Chastising them for running off could be saved until later. Or until something actually~ happened.

“That’ll show those stupid boys not to mess with you!” Max exclaimed.

“Maybe not in those heels, though,” you say, choosing to ignore Max’s comment. Not that you were doubling back on your whole “give Mike another chance” mantra, just that you didn’t want to ruin El’s confidence. You motion for Max to help you get the heels off of El before slipping her new Nikes back on her feet.

“Can I wear this out instead?” El asks.

“And ditch those cute yellow suspenders?” You quip.

“Come on, Y/N!” Max joined in. “What’s another bag? Another swipe of the old Visa?”

“This is the last time I bring you out shopping,” you sigh, watching as the two girls squealed, jumping up and down like they were front row at a concert. Max agrees to gather El’s other outfit from the dressing room while you take El to the register to pay. Then, you’re off again into the bustle of the Starcourt Mall. As you’re walking out, though, you spy Mike and Lucas, along with Will Byers, stepping out of a jewelry store in a heated discussion. Max and El giggled beside you, blissfully unaware that you had just caught both of their “men” doing the exact opposite of what they should be. You silently curse Mike for being this stupid. You careen then girls onto the down escalator.

“Where are we going?” Max asks.

“I saw a food court downstairs. Figured we’d go refuel for a little bit,” you say, not entirely sure the girls would fall for it.

“Oooo, can we get ice cream?” Max replied.

Mission accomplished.

That was until you had taken your eye off them for two seconds after looking at the time on the big yellow clock in the center of the food court. Max had taken El by the hand and bounded down the escalator, into the sailor themed eatery, Scoops Ahoy. You pushed through a group of teenagers balancing ice cream cones, finding the two girls receiving ice cream from a brunette boy in a ridiculous bright blue uniform. You couldn’t shake the familiarity of his face, like something you had seen in dreams. It wasn’t until you were inside of the shop, shivering from the slight temperature change, and smelling the sweetness of the treats before the name had come to you.

“Thanks, Steve!” Max said as she and El grabbed a strawberry and vanilla cone from the boy’s hands, blissfully unaware of your presence as they enjoyed their treats.

Steve Harrington. A name you hadn’t heard since you were in grade school. You remember him being the troublemaker, the one who had stolen your new pack of crayons when you weren’t looking and the one who was every teacher’s nightmare. But you also remembered him being the sweetheart. The boy who stood up for you when Tommy H was making fun of your bangs in second grade. The boy who tried to kiss you on the cheek by the swings when no one was looking. The last time you saw Steve Harrington was when your parents’ moving van was careening carefully down Main Street as you all were moving cities once you completed fifth grade. Steve was riding his bike, stopping in front of Melvald’s General Store before locking it to a rack and walking inside. Since then, Steve had become a memory, someone who would appear every once in a while as a nameless face in a dream.

You stood speechless at the counter, his back turned to you as he cleaned the ice cream scoops before meeting his next customer. There was no way he was going to remember you, your mind was racing. Years of never even thinking of him and here you were a nervous wreck. And for what? Shaking thoughts from your head, you reached into your bag to pull out three dollars for the girls’ dessert. The sound of change clanging on the counter caused him to turn. Shit.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. They come here all the time.”

You looked up to meet his brown eyes, hands still nervously reaching for the change that had fallen out of your hands. You watched as something in his mind clicked.

“Y/N?”

“That’s me,” you reply, shoving the money back into your bag, trying to avoid an awkward conversation that probably neither of you wanted. “Sorry that they ran in here like that.”

“Jesus, how long has it been? What brings you to town?” Guess he wanted an awkward conversation.

“Oh, my uncle, he, uh, wanted me to come watch El for him while he figures out…you know, normal Hawkins police stuff.” God, why are you like this??

“How long are you here?” Steve asked, catching you completely off guard.

“I mean, I only packed an overnight bag,” you say.

“Oh, cool,” Steve replies. The spark that was in his eyes when you’d first connected had vanished.

“But, uh, Hopper never said when he was coming back, so, maybe the weekend?” You tell him, watching the corner of his mouth curl into a smile.

“Would you maybe want to catch up sometime? Like, tonight after I get off?” Steve asks. You could feel your cheeks getting hot. It was your turn to smile now. Instinct struck, though, as you turned away from him and noticed El and Max were gone from the place that they were sitting not too long ago.

“Uh, yeah, sure. I have to…go. Because the girls are…yeah. I’ll come here tonight,” you ramble as you rush out the front towards the escalator.

“See you…later,” Steve called after you. You waved a hand as you bounded up the escalator past several angry mall-goers. You couldn’t even process that you were having a “date” with someone that you hadn’t seen since elementary school, someone that you subconsciously always thought about. If you couldn’t find El, though, it would be your ass. You could already hear Hopper yelling at you at length over the phone when you spot Max’s slender frame standing out front with a melting ice cream cone in her hand. She was watching something, hopefully something to do with El, but you couldn’t figure out why Max wasn’t standing right next to El. Then it hit you.

El found Mike.

You pushed through the front door as quietly as one could push through a heavy glass door. Max’s expression went from supportive to nervous wreck once she had laid eyes on you. The “why did you run out of my sight you dumb idiots” conversation could wait a few minutes. You heard Mike trying to come up with a good excuse as to why he was out at the mall with his friends when El’s quiet voice cut through the palpable tension.

“I dump your ass.”

Max chuckled, mouth agape in surprise. You tried to keep your composure, especially considering you had told the girls not to just dump the boys over “nothing”, but you were proud of El for sticking up for herself. Mike, Lucas, and Will were stoic as El turned dramatically, hair bouncing, arm linking with Max. You heard the boys mumble to themselves as you ushered the girls away from the mall and into your car. In the rearview mirror, you watched as Max gave El a high five, offering to switch ice cream cones with her.

“Don’t think I haven’t forgot that you all ran away from me,” you half-smile. Their faces fell. “I’m not mad.” You scramble to say, just to bring that little bit of happiness back to them.

“Look, we got ice cream and then caught two lying ass boys. It’s not our fault that we fell behind flirting with the sailor boy,” Max said under her breath, taking a bite of El’s ice cream. Your cheeks grew hotter than they were in Scoops Ahoy.

“I wasn’t flirting…”

“Oh, please, I had to sit through weeks of watching El flirt with Mike. I think I know what flirting is,” Max said.

“How did you even-“

“We were sitting in a booth practically behind you. Then El saw Mike and I had to chase after her. You’re welcome, by the way. I should get some of the money that Hopper is giving you for watching her.”

“First of all, I’m not getting paid. Second, thanks, I guess?” You shake your head. “Plus, my love life is not something we should be discussing right now. Didn’t you both just dump your boyfriends?”

“Boys are stupid,” El said matter-of-factly. She wasn’t wrong. Max gave El another high five as they switched ice cream cones again.

“So are you going on a date with Harrington or not?” Max asked.

“Yes, but-“

“Great! I’ll spend the night, and El and I will help you get ready,” she said. El nodded in response, too enticed by her ice cream to give verbal recognition.

“I thought you were against boys?” By now, you had turned down the pathway to Hopper’s cabin. You put the car in park, turning to look at the two girls in the back seat.

“Those boys. Helping you nab Harrington is a different story.” Max said, grabbing her JC Penney bag and bounding out of the car. You helped El carry all of her belongings into the cabin before plopping it into Hopper’s armchair.

“Makeover?” El asked once everyone was inside and settled.

“Oh, yeah,” Max replied. They each took your hands and led you to the bathroom.

What were you about to get into?

[aspiestvmusings]

TMS S3: GROUP A

THE MASKED SINGER SEASON 3  GROUP A/ GROUP 1: (contestants 1 - 6)

EP 3x01: CLUES & MORE: RECAP for remaining 5: 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

KANGAROO

CLUES: 

Location: Outdoors: “Australia” 

Location: Next to a /in a yard of a “peach coloured” building with arch/vault-style architecture 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign: OUTBACK (with the U being in the shape of horseshoe)

Sign: Yellow “road sign” with an arrow pointing down (”spiraling down”) 

MIB as papparazzi/press following her - taking pics, media attention (for “the wrong reasons”) 

Gramophone on a tree branch 

Boxing bag -  the kangaroo boxing/hitting the boxing bag 

Jump rope - the kangaroo jumping over a jump rope (made of a vine...held by MIB)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

”Like most of you watching, I’m a survivor.” 

“I recently lost a person, who held my familys heart together. Then, by my own admission, I found myself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.” 

“But I’m here to do what kangaroos do best - bounce back.”

“I have to fight for my family. And show them that bullies never win.”

“I am beyond terrified - I’ve never done anything like this before. But I’m not about to lose the chance to realize the dream I’ve always had.” 

“To all the survivors out there -- This one’s for you.” 

 ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn 

Look/Costume: The kangaroo has a pouch (indicates female), but also has a red/silver boxing outfit & gloves (indicates male). Outfit colours: red & silver. Important: there is a crown on the back of her robe. 

Stage: hexagon-shaped mirrors (5 of  them) surrounding her/behind her [if my other guess is correct, then that stage design is a “clue”] 

Height: Tall-ish...almost the same height as host Nick. A bit shorter, around 175cm, probably.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking:  “One of my greatest fears is being vulnerable. And this year I’ve had no other option than to be vulnerable. But...with this kangaroo costume I feel like I can get my superpowers back.” +  [breathes in/sighs heavily before the song starts]

GUESSES: 

I HAVE NO NAMES OF MY OWN. -- I thought she was this certain female artist, because the voice kinda seemed familair (sounded like hers to me), but none of the clues and other things seemed to fit. And after checking the clues it seems to confirm it cannot be her, cause nothing matches. Also... to me she doesn’t sound like any of the singers I thoughts she could be based on the clues, so... I havent actually figured her out...

I think people online are correct, and it’s a certain “reality star” (gramophone = reference to her dad being a sound engineer on a well-known past TV show) Though I am considering a few more options - mostly other reality stars/youtubers/family members of celebs... particularily one name. If my guess here is correct, then just like Llama, she would have a connection to a previous TMS contestant...but since I am not that familiar with her singing voice, I cannot be sure. But she has lost family members in the past few years, she has been in a media scandal, and you can even explain the australia thing kinda... so...until I hear more of her, I’ve got one name mainly in mind. But I wont name it until I’ve heard her sing at least once more.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

Survivor = the title of a “Destiny’s Child” hit song

Lost a family member recently = either her family member (parent, grandparent?) died or they parted ways (were cut ouf of each others lives)

Gramophone = possibly a reference to a Grammy nomination/win. Or just music/sound/audio

Outback = possible connection to Australia

“spiraling down” road sign + papparazzi following her = she’s been in a media scandal “recently”

Crown = King/Queen 

LLAMA

CLUES: 

Location: Radio station/Mixing studio - mixing console (close up) 

Location: Pottery making “class” 

VISUAL CLUES:

Mixing console - close up of a studio/radio station mixing console 

23.3 The Wool (name of the radio station/show) 

Red lightbulb in the studio 

Photo of a bull (the animal)

Playing cards: Ace of Spaces & Jack of Spades). Two black suit cards showing (Jack Black)

Sounds of Seattle - title of a vinyl album 

Romancing a llama: pottery 

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mix it up!”

“Good morning, Nerd herd! You’re listening to The Wool. Where we’re all cool. No Bull.” 

“I’m here for one reason only - to have a laugh. And what’s funnier than a Llama? (laughs at his own joke)”

“You may call me a joker. But I’d like to get serious for a minute. The song I’m singing tonight is my favourite track for celebrating love with that... special someone. There’s nothing like being swept up by it’s deep, profound lyrics. It’s a tune that really gets me in the mood for romance. I can’t wait to sing it for you tonight.”

“Llama out!” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin 

Look/Costume: Dressed as a tourist - “hawaiian” style shirt,, photo camera around his neck. Llamas tongue out of his mounth, on the side. 

Height: he is around 180cm - about the same height as host Nick (their shoulders are on about the same height)

Mic hand: Left 

Talking: “umm.. This whole costume just spoke to me... My vibe... I wear digs like this in real life.” (answering the question about his costume & it’s looks) 

GUESSES:

Drew Carey (TV host/comedian/actor...)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

23.3 Wool = His show (The Drew Carey Show) had, during it’s 9-season long run, a total of 233 episodes. 

Photo canera prop = His hobby is photography. Actually, it’s more than just a hobby - he has been accredited press photographer during many (sports) events.  

Radio = He was a radio operator during the time he served in the Marine Corps. Also..he’s hosted a radio show (radio DJ) during his later career 

Red light in the room = photography reference. In the DarkRoom red light is used when developing photo film/photographs.

Buddha figurine (Dalai Lama/Llama joke) = He is a buddhist. 

Joker = he is a joker aka comedian 

Seattle = He is the co-owner of a Seattle Football Club. 

Playing cards = He took part in the celebrity poker game in 2003, where he did better than Jack Black did (played against Jack Black)

Nerd herd = He did take part in Zack levis (Chuck) “Nerd herd” lightsaber race one time at a Comic-Con convention. 

Nerd herd = his show (DCS) & character were/was about nerds/was a nerd

Llama’s side tongue = early in his stand-up comedy days he had a joke with a side-tie (it looked visually very similar to what the llama’s tongue looks like - he just added some wires & tape to do “the trick” of swinging the tie to the side)

BONUS: He knows last years winner, “The Fox Mask” - they did “Whose Line is it Anyway” together, so... connection... 

SPOILER ALERT: Llama is the mask who will be voted off next - in ep 2 (on Wed, Feb 5th). But while his voice might not be as trained as some other contestants, I loved his stage energy, and the comedy/fun he brought! One more song coming from him! And no, I am not sharing some secret info - they “accidentally” revealed the first two contestants, who get unmasked, so it’s been revealed by the network...for those, who notice small details...

MISS MONSTER 

CLUES:

Location: Lady’s restroom/bathroom. The moster getting ready (coming hair, applying hairspray...) 

Location: school hallway - lockers 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign:  (image) ladies restroom 

Itmes on the counter in bathroom/dressing room: Furspray (hairsray) can,  pink bottle of some beauty product, three crystals (stones), a piece of sequin fabric 

Key/Keychain: a single (old style) key with a keychain that says “FUN” #FUN #KEY = FUNKY = “QUEEN OF FUNK” 

Purple furry diary/good luck charm/cosmetics bag/pencil box (with a face + kitty ears & unicorn horn) + a glittery pen 

Lockers: Lockers numbered 10 (the ones she opens) & 11 (the one next to it)...with no other lockers having numbers on them 

Miss Monster Locker: filled with images of S1 Monster, scrapbook flowers..etc...

Piece of paper on the locker door: Monster Hits.

Photograph of a cityscape (skyline with many skyscrapers) on the locker door [if I could only see the image better to know which city it is on it, that’d be one more clue]

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

“When you become famous, people  want you to look or act in a certain way. They forget that you started off as just a shy little monster.” 

“It didn’t take long for me to be misunderstood. So I’m here to set the record straight. Just like my favourite creature in Season 1 did. The Monster. He made me feel. He re-wrote his story. It was fire!" 

“And now this performer in pink wants to follow in his furry footsteps, But darlings... I’m nervous. Will you still love me without knowing my name?”

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice: “Something to Talk about” by Bonnie Raitt

Look/Costume: pink & purple/violet furry costume with a bowtie

Height: she is short-ish (shorter than host Nick). She looks very short (barely 5 feet - more Dolly P. height 152cm than Chaka K height 162cm)

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: NO ON-STAGE TALKING!

GUESSES: 

Chaka Khan 

Dolly Parton (since the total number of Grammy noms that the 18 contestants have in combined in 69 & Robot as the first revealed one has had 24-25 of them, that leaves only 44-45 for everyone else, that rules out this person, because she alone has had 46 nominations...compared to C. Khan’s 22 noms)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES. 

Number 10 = She has 10 Grammy Awards/wins. (interestinly: both D. Parton & C. Khan have 10 Grammy wins!)

Monster Hits = she has had (many) hit songs during her career 

He made me feel = She has a song by the title “I Feel You” (1984 hit)  

It was fire = She has a song by the title “Through the Fire” (1985)

Will you love me - that is (word for word) the title of of her her hit songs, “Will You Love Me?” (2007)

It was fire = She wrote the hit song “Fule to the Flame” (1967 hit) for Skeeter Davis. 

Will you still love me? = She has/wrote a song titled “I will always love you” 

Furspray/Hairsray = he was/is known for her big hair/haircut (managing that probably takes lots of hairspray)

FUN = FUN(K) #FUN KEY [FUN:KI] - she’s kinda the “queen of funk” (one of her albums is titled “FUNk This” (btw: Pun intended by her!) 

TURTLE 

CLUES

Location: school’s track & field event (Balzano Track Field) - contestants getting ready to run. The slow turtle surrounded by fast bunnies, all preparing for the event. [Slow & steady (turtle) wins the race]

Location: Schools track & field event - BANG! The race begings. The three other contestants (MIB as bunnies - wearing pink bunny ears - starting the race with a head start, all jumping on their blue bouncy balls)

VISUAL CLUES:

Turtle vs bunnies 

BANG! in comic style - to mark the start of the race 

The others (three bunnies) bouncing on blue balls whe n the race begins 

Surf board - the turtle poliching/cleaning his poink & blue surf board 

Pins on the track...popping the blue jumpy balls 

Grilling burgers on an (outside) grill...on the track field. 

Turtle crossing the finish line first (bunnies just going in circles, being stopped by pins on the way, or other reasons), as he has time to do other things & take it slowly, and then still get there first...with a burger in hand & winning the golden medal.

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"At the starting-line of my career I was surrounded by other hungry new-comers. It felt like everyone around me was fighting tooth-and-nail for the dream. And I watched as many of those stars burned too brightly, too quickly, and then fizzled down”

“I’m a turtle, because I’m always taking it step-by-step.”

“Slow and steady wins the race. But now I feel like I’m ready to break out of my shell. After years of preparation I would love to make a big splash. So I don’t want anyone to cross that finish line before me.” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal 

Look/Costume: Punk/Rock-style, dressed in leather (pants, jacket), has a spike (hair)

Height: Short-ish (shorter than host Nick) - seems around 175cm. Small in size.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: “It’s hot. It’s really hot. And it’s heavy!” (when answering how doesn it feel to be in that costume and perform in it)

GUESSES

Jesse McCartney 

Joey McIntyre  PS. I tried connecting the voice to any boy-bands (of 1990s & 2000s), but I coukdnt. Even after some “research” - listening to each possible candidate...and IMO it’s none of them. The voices dont match, the heights doesn’t match---But it did sound like someone, who for me was a one-hit-wonder. Yeah, I only know that one song (and one more) from him... but voice seemed familiar.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

Surf board = that he is a surfer;  that he is from Cali/Australia/somewhere which is known as being popular among surfers; that he has won Teen Choice Award(s) (this award in in the shape of a surfboard)

being surrounded by other new-comers at the start of his career = either he got his start through a (singing) competition and was one of many contestants fighting for the win AND/OR he got his start in a “boy-band” and was one of the youngsters looking for fame...

Surf board = Teen Choice Awards - winning several TCAs for his first/biggest hit song/album in 2005, and more. And he’s played a surfer character on a TV show

BSB references/connection  - he was the opening act in 2005 for BSB during the European part of the tour. 

Dream = he started in a boy-band with the name “Dream Street”

on stage presence/body language (movements) = very similar to J.M. 

WHITE TIGER 

CLUES: 

Location: Football field. Tiger striking a power/winners pose. 

Location: School hallway, lockers. Tiger walking in, shoving everyone out of his way. 

Locatrion: School library (sitting behind a table, with his legs on the table) 

Location: School hallway, lockers. MIB trying to get him to audition for TMS. MIB (fans) taking selfies with him. 

VISUAL CLUES: 

Golden plate/sign with text: Ultimate champion for clam shucking: 51 clams” (next to a golden clam shell) 

Sign/ad on the wall: “Masked Singer tryouts 5/3.” + images of three past masks included: Eagle, Lion & Raven. Plus the text: “Hurry. Not for long" also written on it. 

Sign on the all with images of past US presidents, including Abe Lincolns & the text/quote “Four Score and Seven Years Ago...” 

The TMS golden mask throphee shown next to the lockers (as Tiger says “let’s party!”)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICEOVER: 

“Ready to meet your next champion? My entire life I’ve sought out perfection, so choosing a mask with unlimited power like the White Tiger was a no-brainer.”

“I’ve had a giant career full of accomplishments. But when I imagine being on stage (and) singing, I’m a big old scared cat.*

“It’s been a while since I did something that scared me, so I’m here to concour yet anither challenge.”  

“What’s my motivation? My fans! I don’t wanna let them down." 

“So now I’m ready to get in that ring and smash the competition.” 

“Let’s party!” 

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice 

Look/Costume: Dressed in “Egyptian style"

Height: very tall & big (much taller than host Nick) - over 190cm, looks about 2m tall

Mic hand: R & L (alternates)

Talking: “It’s the most powerful I’ve ever felt. Like I can concour anything. I never wanna take it off” (when answering what did it feel like when he first put on the costume/mask)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

He played during the 51st  (51 clams) & 53rd  (5/3) Super Bowl games. 

The three past TMS masks shown are all animals that are parts of  names of existing football teams: Ravens, Eagles, Lions. Meaning he is an athlete & specifically plays american football (NFL) 

The Lincoln quote translates to “87 years ago...”, so number 87 is the clue here. This could be a reference to player No. 87. 

He has had a very succesful career in his own field (sports). Singing is not his main job.

IF the voice-overs were done later, not during initial filming, then it’s possible that “smash” relates to the person smashing a lego-statue of a TV host during 2019/2020 New Years. Which in itself was supposed to be about his famous “Gronk Spike” during football games. 

A tiger (albeit “regular”, not white) was one of the characters & costumes + name of the sports team in the Katy Perry video “Swish Swich”, where this athlete also appeared. 

The Golden (Golden Mask) trophe - most likely a reference to his many wins (the trophees he/his team has won)

GUESSES: 

Rob Gronkowski (Gronk, athlete, 198cm) = 99% certain it’s him 

Because of the height alone (seems to be around/almost 2m = 6 feet 5) there are not that many possibilities at all. Even if we don’t listen to that voice or consider the clues. Based on height alone it can basiclaly be only one of these names: Dave Bautista (198cm); The Rock (196cm); Hulk Hogan (201cm); Tyler Perry (196cm); Brad Garrett (204cm); Joe Manganiello (196cm); Jeff Goldblum (194cm); Jason Mamoa (193cm); Tom Brady (193cm)..or the likes...

Even other possible names, like the ones listed by the panel, are not valid guesses, because of their height: John Cena for example is actually only 185cm tall. Also... several of these tall men are bigger/more muscular, so that makes it even easier to determine the name based on only the physical appeance...without even listening to the clues. 

ROBOT 

First mask to be voted out in ep 1

Havent listed his clues, cause there’s no use for them anymore, as he was voted off. 

With his 86 tattoos he makes up for about half of all the 160 tattoos the 18 contestants have combined. With his 24-25 Grammy nominations he makes up about 1/3 of all the 69 noms the 18 contestants have combined. And quite many of the 88 gold records the 18 contestants have combined,  belong to him (I don’t know the exact number, but most/all of his 10+ albums have gone gold, I think) - exact number depends on how they count it for this list.

<<<<< THIS IS WHAT GOES ON IN MY HEAD AFTER EVERY TMS SHOW/EPISODE. THIS IS HOW I CATEGORIZE THE INFO I HAVE INTO FOLDERS IN MY MIND. THIS IS HOW SPECIFIC I AM, AND HOW INTO DETAILS I GO. THIS IS HOW MUCH I PAY ATTENTION (while, most likely, missing a ton of more hints that I’ll only notice during re-watch) I JUST DECIDED TO WRITE IT DOWN...FOR ONCE. 

BUT... unless I decide to cut some sleep time to do this again, I am probabky not gonna do this after every episode. Possibly for the first episode of every Group (so beside ep 1, also ep 4 & ep 7)

[notmuchtoconceal]

bro, like -- this mornin i elevated myself and started thinkin bout slammin pussy again (as one does in these days of our american youth -- i am a soap opera. thank you. my manifold dramas will be impossible to follow or even comprehend. you will watch my reruns every night. i will own your mother's mind. own her body and soul. you have no choice.) and like -- i was reflecting upon the topic of aligning the objects of my desire with the values of my higher self, and instead of, um -- beautiful voluptuous women with flaxen of seaweed hair running barefoot along the shores, the slick of their dolphinskins smooth and golden in cherry latex pulled tight between the taper of her curves; exfoliated by knife edges to the throat which quivers and the voice which beckons, the sun so luminous along the sands, galloping toward the nebulae reflected in cervical reds, calling you back to dance at the center of the world --

instead of that, i um --- thought about crawlin on top of my cute lil guy bro roommate boy friend --

(oh, um. that sounds way more like it is that i thought it would!)

-- thought of like... slidin down his soft lil corduroy nerd pants and his even softer lil bro whities, and just, um -- plungin my rock hard alpha horse cock goldmember into his stiff and quivering lil card slot?

it sounds so dorky the way i fuck my boyfriend.

guess he is kind of a dork.

guess i become even more dorky everytime i stain my dick with his hot and tight lil needy dork ass.

oh my god. my inner moon goddess is such a fuckin diva. bitch. enkidu fucked the same girl every night for nine nights and ten days and she gifted unto him the blessing of the english language. it happened right hear. right on the american continent.

english. english, motherfucker. named for america. i got my emerald tablets from a gumball machine. they are on my keychain. all you need is love and knowin you know nothin. that and a gun to kill people with who don't practice freedom the same way you do.

bro, i'm sorry. my inner solar warrior is such an asshole. like, a real alpha douche. i think it's why my inner woman has him pegged all night. uh-uh. my woman half is the top. it's all so fucking obvious. she needed to craft me that sap-spewing leaky goldenrod so i can fuck my boyfriend that she graciously allows me to have. thank you. thank you. i'm so glad you approve of me having friends, sister-mom. just sit over there on the other side of the room and laugh about how funny you think our pee-pees are, knowin damn well if we had our way, we'd mutilate yours like pepperoni slices and sprinkle you on a pizza, all lobbed up and chunky in those horrible uneven wedges you hate cause the intestine skin gets stuck between your teeth?

um, you are the filling. i am the pie?

do you know how bored you would be if my first reaction wasn't violence? this isn't about protecting you and keeping you safe because you're unpleasable and like to fuck monsters with big dripping teeth and big dripping cocks and claws that make ya wanna stand up and strip to the bones -- it's also about keepin you amused cause if you sit around and look at pretty flowers all day, writing poetry in your head you're too docile and lily-strewn and floating to ever put to paper, you'll loose the will to live in your effervescent return to the shape which underlies nature?

girl, you need to stop dancing in the woods and learn how to kill a buck. release him from the bondage of fear via the mercy of my will. i do not want dominion over him. i will not tame him. you need to understand not every cute little animal is yours. sometimes you hurt people less by avoiding fleeting and temporal connections.

woman, i am exhausted. you are more than too much, you are many and manifold as the spores on the wind. i just wanna saw your head open and scalpel the soft sheath around your brain, so i can make sweet tender, knife-edged love caresses to the delicate fatty canyon walls of the heath-strewn cross-sections that you are -- severing you from all higher-order executive function so you become a submissive and docile lil sex doll who i can ignore while i fuck my boyfriend.

hell yeah, bro! we have escaped the rumination spiral! i have quieted the hurricane winds in my head. i can now, at long last -- tell you about fuckin my boyfriend!

no, i am not inviting a hilarious anti-climax by announcing this. no force of nature will keep me from tellin bout how i'm gonna slide my cock my cock my stupid rock hard ape cock fuckin dumbass monkey boy dick drool trampoline lil bro skewered spit-roasted like smores too gooey and sweet gonna spit him out and leave him outside to get hard overnight, throw him in the birdfeeder next day to see him pecked at by slender avian bodies; beautiful quilled hollow-boned flutes of alien consciousness, carried far by the beasts of the air.

bro, i'm sorry -- i just walked up to you, exposed my pecs and my tasty lil nipple and started assaultin you with my, like -- manic drug induced millennial vaudeville routine?

bro, i'm sorry all authentic art is terrorism. i am in fact leading you from the true way which is total submission to the light of nature. all your individuality is a disease. it needs to be attacked and suppressed as any contaminant. it has to thrive in spite of limitations. you will outmutate and outcompute any vaccination. the more you are pressed in, the more you break apart. you will never die. you are the light beyond nature which you see in fits and seizures, the auroras of a stroke blind and flashing what phophits eye?

bro, i'm sorry all terrorism is fundamentalism. i'm sorry i serve only the ozymandean husk of myself by talking to you, because um -- i have no capacity to feel real absorption in other people? i am the only one in the world? all before you is me, for you are all you see and these vessels -- these bleary, dead-eyed fools, are merely sleepwalkers unaware they too are you?

wow.

you're getting kinda scared huh? kinda scared enough to like it when i flex my muscles?

huh? yeah?

you like that? you like lookin at my big muscles? you like bein my good lil cored out zombie?

huh? feel good?

yeah.

yeah, it's better if you take on the weight of my deficits, bro -- y'know. you pay off all my karmic debts by surrendering your soul to me? you want me to live inside you forever, huh? you wanna think the way i do, be the way i am? you'd give up everything you are to become me for you know i am all you ever wish to be?

i am all which you see. i am the void of what is unseen and so now in me you see only your limitations? you know now you are wise to discard yourself. you are only one among many. who do you need to be? you do not need to be. do you think i am? what am i but already you? you saw me and saw yourself -- simply some more truly manifested form of yourself. there is no you. nor has there ever been. there is only me, and i am all which could ever be.

you sustain only the ache of separation when you think this way, brother. you too must ache for the chill of the razor to your throat and to your brain -- ought too i cut the tendons of your wrists so you may never lift a finger? my beautiful puppet of gristle, pulled always on strings not as crystalline as spheres. you would make a handsome deli platter, of this there is no doubt. you have taken this young man's mind in your hand -- do not spice it with your oily fragrance of your fumblings. you respect what is yours, for i have given you much and you will treat my gifts with the respect you ought offer me.

um. wow.

see. i take you on adventures.

you'd never get that from anyone else. you're so lucky to know me by my scourge and my plagues. when you reek of me, you are more than what you see? rapturous in the heat broil of my breath and pit stink, drunk on the gleam of my sweat and the moisture in the air. molecules erupting as tea bubbles up at the backs of your eyes?

you're so sweet. i really like talking to you.

um, i swear i'm a nice guy deep down, i just have a lot of issues?

um. that's not a question? i'm sorry?

i don't wanna sound insincere, i'm just sort of a bitch?

oh fuck. i hope this doesn't read like projection. sometimes i'm real bad about that. i don't always like questioning my own reality, but sometimes it's like -- bro, you know, it's just a thing that happens because two people can think in, like diametrically opposed ways, and one, neither or both of em could also be broken? like, we need to respect one another's differences, for we all exist as part of the whole and are bound together on the shared life raft of our mass?

um. i hope you like my muscles. if i was making eye contact right now, i'd know to stip for you, but i'm not?

sometimes i'm too ashamed to be looked at?

sometimes i -- sometimes i gotta remember that i was telling you about how i was fucking my boyfriend?

yeah, yeah bro! okay. re-engaged. back on target. gonna wiggle my hips for you while i talk so you're like, um -- either entertained by my dance or mesmerized by the rhythm of my body, depending on how aware and how coerced you feel?

fuckin spellbound, brah.

all eyes on me. such a virile and handsome fuck stud. make a bitch moan with the dynamite damming the walls of her multiples. make you feel special. when i lean into you, all eyes on you. knowin ur the only thing in the world for me. fuck you slow at first. show you i love you. rock fuckin hard thinkin bout how ur my cute lil dork.

shhhhh.

gonna feel my cock throb and pulse inside you, boy. onto you i've lain stake. my claim and my land. gonna manifest some destiny up your tight lil brohole when i shall shatter the rest of those false schemas which hold you trapped to an eternal non-moment. jolted to waking. the images hang vivid and suspended in your head.

motherfucker.

you gotta be fuckin towered now. been doin this shit six hours. roll the fuck back over, babe. you are insatiable. i need another fuckin coffee. it's coffee all day, wine all week. that's what i get from living with a tea-party sipping (degenerate) delegate like you.

yes, i do like the silver. it is lovely.

[trickster-whim]

We went out for a bit the other day, and I got stuff! Nothing I was going out to get (wood-carving set, pastels, nicer acrylic paints, fabric for doll clothes, etc), but some cool stuff.

I saw that the Spirit Halloween Monster High crossbody bag was sold out online, and has been for a while, but they had it in stock in the store, and I really like MH, so...

It's $25, which is uhh probably more expensive than any of my other purses? But it's adorable, and I'm not sure it'll get to the point where it goes on sale. (I've passed on enough random things that I wanted later that now I'm more likely to just get things if they're not bank-breaking and sort it out later.)

Anyway, at Michaels, my sister got a few cool Halloween things, and we found these gear- and dragon-shaped molds (which were molded in unphotographable red, naturally). I don't have an immediate use for them, but for only $1, I think they'll be nice to have around.

Then at target I got: frog!

She's a cute little witch, and I love her. I already have a dozen plush keychains on my purse, so she'll be in good company.

[rainbowdragonlair]

I have way too many DBD characters. Killers, Survivors, Names, Perks, Home maps, and Transportation Items.

The Reaper/ Guardian of Rail Park/ Guardian of Crystal Waters Wildlife Preserve Perks: Birds of a Feather (Allows the player to more easily find where survivors are if wildlife is alerted. “The crows still speak to me.”), Trickster (Allows the player to hide while against a tree without a red light giving away where they are looking. “What? You thought I was just a set piece?”), White Stag (Allows the player to disguise themselves as one of the survivors in the match. Long cooldown time, terror radius remains intact. “I am neither doe nor stag. But some think I am.”). Outfit names: A Nice Night (Standard) (“What are you doing on these tracks?”); Here comes the Train (“Move you total mortal self-destructive fool!”); Failed Hunt (“Hunter? You are no the hunter, I am.”). Power: Fairy Lights (Turn into a small light and flicker about the map, flitting from tree to tree. Allows the player to quickly travel from one spot to another. Be careful, doing this costs a lot of energy.) Home map: The Haunted Birchwoods. Item to be sent there: Book of Fairytales (“A thick book containing the original telling of all the classic fairytales. Red stains can be seen on the back and front covers.”)

The Fallen/ Douglas Northesta Perks: One of You (Allows the player to set the progress farther back on sabotaged generators. “I was one of you once… I know how these things work.”), Thorough Search (Instead of kicking chests to scare a survivor out, the player will open the lid and look inside. “He found me though…cowering in a chest…Just like you are now.”), Fight or Flight (Grants the player the ability to quickly vault through windows and over fallen pallets instead of destroying them, only active during a chase. “You cannot outrun one of your own.”). Outfit names: Summer Picnic (Standard) (“It’s not very warm here.”); Memory Lane (“He gave me these. I like them.”); Little Trapper (“Now I look just like him!”). Power: Relaxing Bath Mixture (Years of being stressed and bored has lead The Fallen to develop this strange mixture of glittering sea foam; contains two-parts various bath salts, two-parts glittering bath soak, and five-parts body wash. Once thrown, the glass mason jar containing the mixture will burst, showering any survivors around it and causing the following effects: Impaired vision, reduced movement speed, reduced repair time.) Home Map: Howling Winds High. Item to be sent there: Old School Photo Album (“An old school photo album where almost every face on every page has been blacked out with sharpie marker. “Howling Winds High 45-46” can still be seen in bold and colorful letters on the front.”)

The Judge Perks: Ring around the Rosie (Enables one’s aura reading abilities; any kind of cue to a survivors location will now be accompanied by a directional key telling you which way the survivor ran. Ring around the rosie~, a pocket full of posies~, ashes, ashes, we all fall down~.”), A candle to light you to bed (Allows dull hex totems to be disguised as active hex totems. ““Oranges and lemons,” Say the bells of St. Clement's. “You owe me five farthings,” Say the bells of St. Martin's. “When will you pay me?” Say the bells at Old Bailey. “When I grow rich,” Say the bells at Shoreditch. “When will that be?” Say the bells of Stepney. “I do not know,” Says the great bell at Bow. Here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head! Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead!”), Catch a Tiger by the toe! (You become obsessed with one survivor; letting the survivor leave the trial grants bonus bloodpoints. Sacrificing or killing them will result in the regular amount of bloodpoints to be given. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.”). Power: Frenzied guillotine (She spins around, her weapon thrown out in front of her. Upon spinning around three times, she will spin three times in the opposite direction before slamming the head of her weapon down on the ground to steady herself. Applies the dying state to any survivor hit during the attack, but will cause a stun effect on the player.) Home Map: Smoke Mirror Kingdom. Item to be sent there: Night themed Keychain (“A Keychain made of a crescent moon charm and small glass bottle filled with black glitter and some rainbow star shaped glitter. The cork and screw connecting the bottle to the rest of the keychain both appear to have been crazy glued together.”)

The Collection (Lillie, Dan, Lindsey, Ayden, Dakota, Dexter) Perks: Forgotten Memory (Disrupts Aura reading abilities. “This place is…Familiar…”), Friend or Foe (You gain an obsession for one survivor, for each aggressive action taken towards the obsession you gain a token. For each token vaulting and destruction speed is increased at the cost of one token. A maximum of five tokens is allowed. “I’m not letting you get away this time!”) , Self-Control (Applies a bleed-out timer to the hit survivor. Will not slow down a survivor, but a blood trail left by the hit survivor will last longer and become more noticeable. “We only hurt when needed. We’re not monsters, after all.”). Power: Paranormal Panic (Due to your understanding of the human psyche, you are able to unnerve people just by being in the same area as them. Periodically, a “chase” will begin with the obsession. “It’s not them, it’s us…”). Home Map: Albtraum Home for the Criminally troubled. Item to be sent there: Therapy Doll (“A small hand-made doll that looks strangely familiar. Its creator and owner are both unknown, but at this point, they are probably as active as the abandoned doll.”)

Kimberly Perks: Prima Donna (Allows the player to wake up other players by raking their nails across the other’s face. “I may be prissy, but my nails can cut deeper than any weapon.”), Freakout (Allows the player to break free of the killer’s grasp/to kick the killer while on the hook, effectively stunning the killer. “Okay, so I may have lost my temper, but like, that’s not that bad. Harm was intended and I retaliated. So what if he ended up in the hospital? Not like he wasn’t warned!”), Not a Princess (Makes it easier to find uncommon or greater item in a chest. “Bitch, I’m the QUEEN!”).

Bryan Perks: Once a Convict (Allows the player to temporarily injure the killer once per match. “Even jail has rules. You know that right?”), Blackout (If the Killer is carrying a survivor and gets hit with a pallet by the player using this perk, the stun duration lasts moderately longer than normal. “Oh God…What…What happened? What did I do?!”), Cell Farm (Expands the area of view for the player. “I remember these letters. They had pigeons and pigs and cows on them…I always wanted a farm.”).

Chad Perks: Keg Stand (Allows the player to vault through windows and over pallets at running speed while walking or sneaking. “I’ve done more acrobatic shit while stoned and drunk out of my mind!”), Do or Die (Being thrown into a trial with familiar faces fills you with a sense of determination, increasing the speed at which altruistic actions are performed. “My coach would say it’s do or die time before each game. So I’m going to say the same thing. Except, he meant it in a sarcastic sense, and I’m being serious.”), 2nd Amendment (Allows the player to throw a rock to stun the killer twice per match. “I may not have a real gun, but rocks work just as well mother fuckers!”).

Arder Perks: Hija de la luna/Daughter of the Moon (Makes the player completely silent when not running at the cost of movement speed. “If I stay still, they won’t see me.”), Gato del Purgatorio/Cat of Purgatory (Allows the player to retaliate against the killer. Only if the player is carrying an item and the killer is carrying a survivor will this be able to activate. Once the killer is hit, the player will drop their item and gain increased movement speed to make a quick getaway. “You aren’t my owner.”), Rogar/Pray (Allows the player to sacrifice themselves while on the hook, so long as two generators are active and at least one survivor other than themselves remains unhooked. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, since I’ll die while awake, my life is forever yours to take.”)

Dr. William Albtraum III Perks: Mystery Rail (Disrupts the killer’s aura reading abilities, and will very rarely trigger a false notification for the killer. “You’ll never find me, unless I want you to find me!”), Dark Science (Decreases the healing, sabotaging, and repairing speed of all other survivor in visual range while increasing your own speed. “The most important person here is me, the rest of you should be thankful I’m even pretending to help you.”), Living Automatons (Upon a failed skill check, another survivor’s location will also be made visible to the killer as well as your own. “If I go down, you’re all coming with me!”).

[nitroidwrites]

body switch

Relaunching my ancient drabble au on Aomine and Kise getting switched into each other’s bodies. I hope to make this into a complete fic soon!

Also had some amazing art drawn by the incredible amanduurr here. ❤

body switch I

Getting through the school day is hard.

Aomine cannot get over how slender Kise’s body is, the clean shape of his well cared for nails, the gentle curve of his waist before it meets his hips - all things the tanned teen is definitely not used to.

He shifts his feet under Kise’s desk, studying the flow of Kaijo’s school slacks around Kise’s long legs. The blond is so lanky; Aomine was surprised to discover that his shirt was a couple sizes larger than Kise’s.

In Kise’s notebook, the name Ryouta is scrawled in elegant cursive - in English letters, which surprises Aomine - on the first page. The second page is decorated with cute and slightly grotesque looking monsters that Kise had probably sketched out and then outlined later with a thin black marker. Aomine recognizes one of the monsters as a keychain on the blond’s bag.

Kise has a slim, barely there pencil case that unsurprisingly hosts two gel pens, a blunt 2B pencil, an eraser, a marker, and surprisingly, a slim, sleek and dangerous looking box cutter. Aomine ponders over why the blond would own something of the sort but decides that he is better off not knowing.

When the bell rings for lunch, Aomine moves Kise’s body out of class and into the sunshine. He’s even more surprised to note that Kise has really pale skin; so pale he can even see the greenish-bluish veins connecting at his wrist to his thumb, sprawling out all over his hand. The tips of his fingers are soft. The skin at Kise’s elbow is so white; Aomine decides this is a welcome change from his usual tan.

He locates a good spot behind Block C of Kaijo’s chemistry lab, and sits down on the grass, holding the small bento Kise’s mother had lovingly packed for the boy in her son’s body. She has no idea that he isn’t really her son.

Aomine cranks open the bento cover carefully to discover it is a thin onion soup with chopped carrots, potatoes, seaweed and a few spoons of rice. While Aomine usually sleeps through lunch, he knows that this is somehow much-needed nutrition for the blond, who almost never has time to eat or hang out due to rushed modeling gigs.

He drinks and eats every last bit for Kise.

And when the bell rings again to signify the continuity of lessons, Aomine curls Kise’s body into a ball and allows the blond some good old sleep.

body switch II

Kise trips, slips, and slides in Aomine’s basketball shoes. Although they fit well, he isn’t used to the larger teen’s body size at all and is having major trouble trying to wrap his mind around fitting into a couple sizes bigger than he usually wears. He trips over shoelaces he’d stupidly forgotten to tighten, and lands on his face. Well, Aomine’s face. It still hurts, for a bit.

He feels his cheeks burning hot as he tries to appear normal.

Nothing about this is normal, not even with his added bonus of modeling skills, and Kise is very certain that he can pull off almost anything and look good for the camera.

Except that there is no camera, but a multitude of eyeballs watching him participate in a practice match with awkward stunts only toddlers display. After landing a three-pointer, Kise slides down awkwardly in the middle of the court and covers his eyes and cheeks with both hands.

“Aomine?”

The rest of Touou’s teammates collectively gather around his trembling frame.

“Oi, Aomine!”

“Whoa…”

“You alright?”

Kise manages a nod and excuses himself politely. He doesn’t want to offend anyone by screaming that he needs some form of spiritual shift, preferably back into his own body, but by the looks on their faces, he must have done something wrong.

“You taking lessons on mannerisms from Momoi?” A bespectacled teen asks with a worried smile.

Kise recognizes him as the Touou team captain.

“I mean, you did come to practice today… that’s a first.”

He jerks back with the sudden realization that he is behaving in a way that is highly unlike Aomine and has absolutely no idea what the tanned teen does in his free time, but concludes that now is the perfect time for a getaway.

He stretches his arms as chill as he possibly can, and mumbles something about being tired as he fakes a yawn. He hauls Aomine’s ass out of the gym and bolts for the only place he is used to hiding from people - the school library. He ducks behind the farthest shelves from the entrance and slides down into a seated crouch as he breathes in the strong masculine scent of Aomine’s sweat, basketball jersey, and a spiced wood sort of smell, possibly from his aftershave.

Kise lets out a whimper.

He checks his phone when he receives a text - it’s Aomine, telling him to cheer up and that he’s given his body a good amount of sleep, mostly by skipping several classes. Actually, he skipped about five out of six classes. Also, there had been a test and his body had not been present.

Staring at tanned fingers, bathed in testosterone-soaked sweat, smelling like everything Aomine, Kise buries his face in his hands and inhales. He can’t help it.

He is so in love.

body switch III

Aomine is fairly certain Kise’s body is incredibly fragile.

He demonstrates a halfhearted dunk in Kaijo’s indoor gym and pushes Kise’s long fringe up over his damp forehead. Somehow, Aomine isn’t used to this light, nimble body. His mind is hyper-aware of the fact that using Kise’s body with his usual lackadaisical manner of which he normally treats his own body would somehow break the blond teen, much like a porcelain plate being thrown onto a hard surface. Aomine nurses the thought of Kise smashing into a million and one pieces in his mind, and shakes his head to clear his brain, which is on the verge of panicking at the sudden flood of images that consist of Kise’s naked body disintegrating into an abysmal void.

So far, the tanned ace has spent the entire night discovering the other teenage boy’s body, from his face to his torso, his armpits - such light colored, barely there hair! - to his well-manicured nails, slender legs, the strange curves of his hips, and most intriguingly, Kise’s cock.

Aomine smirks at the memory of a mole, a tiny, but still noticeable dot on the inside of Kise’s left thigh, barely a finger’s length away from his crotch.

The blond is so beautiful, Aomine feels a sense of protectiveness blanket the rest of his functioning nerves with vigor. The feeling intensifies whenever anyone lays a hand on Kise - be it anywhere on his person; shoulders, arms, hands - and Aomine’s tolerance level does a flip, a twist, and a leap into annoyance.

He barely notices when the ball rolls to his feet.

Kise’s captain, whom Aomine has come to like, gently drops a clean towel around his neck and guides him carefully to the bench beside the court.

“Is it your leg again?” Kasamatsu asks quietly, cautiously not making eye contact, but every fiber of his being shows Aomine he is very perceptive of Kise’s injury.

Feeling a wave of mixed emotions overcome him, Aomine sits Kise down as gently as he can manage without straining the blond’s knee and ankle - he winces as he feels a twinge accompanying the movement - and tries not to think about the pain Kise has been allowing himself to constantly endure since the last match against Seirin.

“I’m good.” He manages to make Kise say.

“Are you sure? You did skip practice yesterday. Did you have another gig on?”

Aomine, feeling his stomach churn slightly for having to lie to Kise’s kind captain, nods tersely and attempts an apologetic smile.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Don’t strain yourself.”

“I won’t.”

Kise’s voice comes out thin. Aomine clears his throat.

Kasamatsu gives him a skeptical look, but jogs away to find some water for both of them.

Folding in on himself, Aomine wraps his arms around Kise’s legs, bringing his chin to rest on his knees. It is a pose he has often seen the blond do during Teiko days.

He is surprised that he can still remember.

Inwardly, he wonders how long he can pull this off, pretending to be Kise, and avoiding questions, concerned looks - and most of all, keeping away from random girl groups, women smiling at him in the streets, calls from talent hunters, and other humans in general. Aomine can feel exhaustion seeping through his bones, and wonders how Kise goes through life day by day in this manner.

A chilled Pocari touches his cheek, and a warm hand rests on his shoulder.

Kasamatsu and Kise’s other senpai, Moriyama, peer down at him.

“What do you need?” Kasamatsu places a hand against Aomine’s - nee Kise’s - forehead. “Tell me.”

“Let’s take a break. We could go to an onsen. Hit on girls. Get numbers.” Moriyama felt Kise’s neck for fever signs before looking at Kaijo’s worried captain. “Temp’s okay. Think he just needs some air.”

The other teammates crowd around whom they assumed was Kise, concern marking their features as they watch him quietly.

“Did anyone hear what I said, give the guy some space.” Moriyama is saying.

Kasamatsu places a cool damp towel on his forehead, almost lovingly. He offers Aomine a worried smile.

“Lie down for a bit, Kise.”

Beyond speechless, Aomine stares up at them and feels a genuine warmth spread through his chest and throughout Kise’s body. He decides that Kaijo’s team seems to consist of sunshine, glowing stars, and angels.

He thinks he knows why Kise wanted to win so much, back then. It was all for these guys.

[littlewalken]

Jan 7

Okay, getting back to the normals, just ordered a bunch of doll heads. They're 1/6, unpainted, and no neck where as most of my bodies have split necks.

Ask Angry Tobey, necks aren't that much of an issue.

But having an Angry Tobey now implies I'll have a not so angry Tobey, doesn't it?

I'll also have a confused Tom Holland who can't predict anything.

All I'll have to do is paint them.

That's Wanted Action Figure's 10th Doctor should y'all be curious. It's the one I painted to be 10, decided I liked the sculpt on the official 10 I got, and made this one Crowley.

And the answer for most of y'all is no, I don't do commissions. But for some of y'all who were decent human beings to me when I was in hell, altho there was hot dog factory there so perhaps it wasn't, we can talk.

Blame the person who couldn't give me more than a couple of anime drawings and a vague idea, waited until after thing were sewn to tell me thy didn't like them, and so on and so forth for why I pretty much don't do commissions any more. It was at the time I had the cluster fuck of a Windows hard drive crash and having to pay to get an OS as well, car repairs, and final payments on a doll I had ordered months ahead of time being do.

The Phantom of the Paradise with a plunger who was discounted because his box wasn't perfect but I was opening him anyway so there.

I think the only other time I did any sort of commission was some rerooting in exchange for Monster High dolls but that was clear instructions, one hair color, and another doll person who literally needed some extra hands.

In general I like painting the little plastic people. It works to set up a sort of assembly line so by the time I've finished the last the first id dry. It's a good time to binge something and bliss out.

Another big reason I don't really want to paint for others, unless they're real doll people, is the problem of skin matching. For a ball joint, yes, the head and the body should match as close as possible. For my little plastic people who are mostly caucasian they get the shade of caucasian that I feel closely matches their human skin tone.

Then Thomas explains some times you find a body that is the perfect shape for someone and altho it is the wrong skin tone again as a doll person you let it slide. He is not a person of color or Alexander Siddig/Dr Bashir so this body which is about the same color as the one we use for dragon chasing Jimmy Page will suffice.

The Daft Punk heads are 3D printed keychains.

It's more about how the Pullip Teyang is taller and thinner than the average doll bodies we have around here thus is feels more like Thomas. Guy's body is a bit thicker than the others because it has consumed more garlic bread. It also does not look at attractive as many of the others, and has a broken ankle, and being that the robots usually have clothing on repairs can be hidden under them.

Color mismatching can also be hidden under clothes but yeah, it's too convenient for someone who wants their money back so they get the job done for free to complain that the head doesn't match the body.

Not that getting a head and body from the same company (Kumik) will match either. On a full set boxed doll there's probably a better chance but as you can see, Fletch's hands don't even match his arms.

If you order an Obitsu or a full set Pullip or Blythe they'll match. Volks 1/6 were consistent. But beware some of the tans and limited runs can't cross. I have a Volks tan and a limited Obistu run.

I mean, y'all ever try to match Barbie hybrids?

But yeah, a less angry Tobey, a somewhat sultry Andrew, a confused Tom, the other Tom, and a half Eddie half Venom have been ordered. No real idea when they'll get here, being on the other side of the planet, but all the Tobeys in the US were just as pissed off as the one I already have.

And I'm going to try and get the head box with some others who need to be painted out at the same time so I can discover my paint dried out in storage and I have to go to the store.

[mst3kproject]

804: The Deadly Mantis

Dear Janet from Devil Fish: I'm sorry I called you the world's worst paleontologist.  That was mean and entirely undeserved – you are a much better paleontologist than Dr. Jackson from The Deadly Mantis.  You at least realize that sharks are a type of jawed fish, while Dr. Jackson seems to think they're a type of plant.  I would send you chocolates or something along with this apology, but you got strangled by a man with a concrete face.  Too bad the same thing cannot be said of Dr. Jackson.  Yours sincerely, the MST3K Project.

The Deadly Mantis begins with Newton's third law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  For example, if a volcano erupts in the South Atlantic, that'll cause vibrations in the Earth's crust, which in turn trigger iceberg calving at the north pole, thus allowing a giant mantis to thaw out after millions of years in the ice!  Clearly.  QED.

I guess I could describe what happens in the movie. I could tell you about the buildings and vehicles destroyed, and the scientists and military who try to solve this mantis problem, but I don't think there'd be any point.  The Deadly Mantis is another paint-by-numbers movie, kind of like The Mole People, where it feels like the producers made a list and checked stuff off.  Monster?  Check.  Hero?  Check.  Scientist? Check.  Girl?  Check.  The whole thing comes across as perfunctory and we never really care about what's going on.  The Deadly Mantis is almost entirely filler.

Despite that, I do kind of like this movie.  It's very bad, but it's not rage-inducing like some others I could name.  It's mildly racist in that everybody in it is white as WonderBread (except the Inuit in the footage borrowed from SOS Eisberg), but there's nothing explicitly offensive.  It takes the time to show us what's going on instead of just telling us, even though what's going on is dull.  And there are a number of little oddities that give The Deadly Mantis a surprising amount of personality.

For example, there's our first non-map sequence – seven minutes or so spent educating us about the network of RADAR that covered North America during the Cold War.  You see, the quickest way between the US and the USSR is over the north pole, so the airspace above Canada had to be carefully watched to make sure nobody was attacking anybody else.  The arrangement caused Canada considerable anxiety, but since nobody ever listened to my suggestion that we relocate to the Moon, we were stuck with it.  We just had to sit there and hope you guys would have the sense not to bomb each other, when we could have been eating Moon Poutine and watching moose try to deal with one sixth gravity.

This RADAR sequence doesn't feel like it's part of the movie.  It feels like an educational short film that might have turned up on MST3K in its own right.  Narratively, the purpose of this sequence is to tell us what our first batch of mantis fodder is doing staring at RADAR screens way up in the arctic, but I don't know why they couldn't have established that with some dialogue or a sequence in which the mantis is mistaken for an incoming Soviet bomber before vanishing off the screen or something.  The only answer I can come up with is that the military gave them some money for the movie, on condition that they include a bit about how awesome these RADAR fences are.  That would make the sequence the Rocket Attack USA of product placement.

Then there's the rest of Act I, which tries to create a sense of mystery.  Other monster movies have done this.  The Beginning of the End has the town of Ludlow destroyed, with nary a clue by what.  Monster on the Campus tells us that something terrible has happened to Dr. Blake, but although we can guess what it is we must wait to find out exactly.  Godzilla, King of the Monsters begins with the sinking of a ship, and then the same fate befalling the second vessel sent to investigate.  You know what these movies have in common?  They're not called The Giant Locust Invasion, Ape-Man on the Campus, or Godzilla, Giant Fire-Breathing Dinosaur.  In The Deadly Mantis we already know what the monster is, because it's the damn title!

Movies where we already know what the monster is can still create suspense.  In the opening of Jaws we know the shark is creeping up on the swimmer, and it is the anticipation of the attack that makes the suspense.  In Alien we have no idea what the creature is capable of.  Hell, in The Amazing Colossal Man the suspense comes from wondering what Glenn's despair will drive him to do and whether the scientists will be in time to save him.  The Deadly Mantis, with its POV shots and footprints in the snow, behaves as if we're supposed to be wondering what on Earth is causing this chaos, even though we already saw the words The Deadly Mantis over an image of said insect frozen in ice!  As a result, the first half of the movie, before the mantis actually appears to attack the arctic base, feels like we're dawdling around waiting for the characters to catch up with us.

Another oddity is the character of Marge, who acts like she's supposed to be a hardboiled reporter despite the fact that she works for a monthly museum magazine.  Everybody probably gets a copy when they pay admission, and I bet most of them find it in their bag a few days later and just throw it away.  As a result, Marge comes across as slightly deluded, as if she once aspired to write for a major newspaper but this was the only media job she could get, so now she's trying to make it as much like her dream career as she can.

There's the weird bit about how there are no women at the arctic RADAR bases.  This is supposed to be funny but ends up making us worry that the stammering, socially inept corporal will do something like stuff and mount Marge's skin and charge the other guys a buck each to view her.  I think she agrees to dance with him in the hope that he'll be satisfied with that and spend the night jerking off in his room instead of lurking outside her window. I don’t remember if the movie gives him a name.  I think of him as Corporal Gein.

And of course there's Dr. Nedrick Jackson, the movie's supposedly brilliant scientist who cannot tell his own ass from a hole in the ground, or an ant from a beetle.  Let's take a look at some of his statements.

('Nedrick' is apparently a real name.  The closest thing I can find to a famous bearer of it is Nedrick Young, the real name of screenwriter Nathan E. Douglas.  He wrote The Defiant Ones and Jailhouse Rock.  I'm gonna assume he changed his name because people reacted to it the same way Mike and the bots react to Dr. Jackson: “Nedrick?!”)

While examining the Mantis claw, he says it appears to be made of 'gristle or cartilage' rather than bone.  First of all, 'gristle' and 'cartilage' are the same thing.  Second, an insect's exoskeleton is not made of cartilage, it's made of chitin, which is a totally different protein.  This is hardly specialized knowledge – I remember learning it in high school biology.

Then he announces that the claw can't be from an animal, 'because every known species of animal has a bony skeleton'.  Never mind that he just identified the claw as cartilage, which is only found in animals.  Never mind that animals with skeletons have cartilaginous parts, like the cartilage in your knee that allows the joint to move freely without bone scraping over bone, or the cartilage that gives your nose and ears their shape.  And never mind that he goes on to list things without skeletons as including 'worms, snails, insects, gillfish'... all of which are clearly animals. The fact that he feels a need to mention that birds and reptiles have bony skeletons suggests that he's using the word 'animal' to mean 'mammal', which is a thing laypeople sometimes do, but a scientist would not.

'The ant inside this amber is at least ninety million years old', he says, showing us a stag beetle encased in acrylic, like those keychains you can buy at the Museum of Natural History. I used to have a computer mouse like that, with a little scorpion in it. It lit up. I wonder what I did with it.

The female praying mantis, he tells us, 'invariably destroys her mate after he has fulfilled his function in life'.  This does happen, but we don't know how often.  It seems to be something the female does when she is under undue stress, and having humans or cameras hovering there watching tends to stress her.  Like Schroedinger's Cat, the male mantis is both eaten and un-eaten until somebody looks... and then he generally gets eaten.

'A geological world [in which] the smallest insects were the size of man!'  No they weren't!  In the Carboniferous there were indeed giant insects, but that two-foot dragonfly was about as big as they got. Anyway, the oldest-known fossil mantis is only about a hundred and forty-five million years old, while the giant dragonfly, Meganeura, is over twice that old.  Meganeura was able to grow that big because there was far more oxygen in the Carboniferous atmosphere.  Mantises, which evolved in the Jurassic, have never been much bigger than they are now.

'The deerfly goes six hundred [miles] per hour'.  The deerfly is indeed among the fastest insects, able to reach a top speed of ninety miles per hour.  Also, fuck you, Dr. Jackson, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Maybe that's why I like this movie – it makes such absurd assertions with such a straight face.  Maybe it's because the actual mantis puppet is really pretty cool.  Or maybe I'm just fondly remembering the MST3K episode, which includes space country radio and such timeless gems as tell the Eskimos I deeply respect their culture but they're also very delicious and of course the immortal but I've got a mantis in my pantis!