#cookie (baccano)

[best-train-conductor-competition]

THE TRAIN IS NOW BOARDING!

Let's see who has a ticket!

The Polar Express Conductor (The Polar Express)

The Owl Express Conductor (A Hat in Time)

Milky Way Cookie (Cookie Run)

Mr. Conductor (Dinosaur Train)

Link (Legend of Zelda, Spirit Tracks)

C.Q. Cumber (Splatoon)

One-One (Infinity Train)

Amelia Hughes (Infinity Train)

Mr. Macbeth (The Henry Stickmin Collection)

Kokoro (One Piece)

Tiramisu Cookie (Cookie Run)

Skimbleshanks (Cats)

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Trolley Troubles)

Excess Express Conductor (Paper Mario)

Claire Stanfield (Baccano!)

The Conductor (Cuphead)

Odin (The Bifrost Incident)

Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine)

Charon (Alchemy Stars)

Mr. Conductor (Thomas the Train)

The Engineer (Toonkind DND)

Kisaragi (Whisper Court)

Death (Hatoful Boyfriend)

Ingo (Pokemon)

Emmet (Pokemon)

The Mirage Express Conductor (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Jenkins (The Adventure Zone)

Tina Johnson (Welcome to Mountport)

The Narrator (My Trains, Lemon Demon)

The Conductor (Adventure Time)

Astrotrain (Transformers)

Alfonzo (Legend of Zelda, Spirit Tracks)

Polls will open.... soon.

[brbarou]

20 years of baccano huh

[agallimaufryofoddments]

Incidentally, I resent the fact that most web traffic comes from mobiles in this day and age.

Incidentally, I also resent Tumblr Live being A Thing. The degradation of the mass mind continues.

[closedcoffins]

my favorite part of the bear issue tm in baccano 1935 is that claire and cazze obviously have different names for him, right, and so claire is always like "no his name is cookie" and cazze is like "no its charlie" but they resolve this by agreeing to just call him charkie and then neither of them ever do call him charkie after that but they just agree to disagree about his name. the bear himself doesnt give a fuck btw

[cosmic-horror-clown]

Happy Holidays!

Take some time to sit by the fire to enjoy a cup of baccoffee and some Christmas baccookies while your friends are decorating the tree with baccornaments...

[jelloapocalypse]

Hey Jello, just finished watching the stream you did with Molly & Gio’s VA’s (it was great btw). I was curious, you mentioned a few times during the stream that you were working on a Epithet Erased book ? Idk if that was terminology for something or if you’re writing a literal book. I know you’ve talked before about alternate ways to do Epithet Erased is you couldn’t get a 2nd season, so I’d this one of those ? I’m super interested to hear what comes next regardless !

Yeah I’m planning to write a literal book.

I was reading through Baccano! light novels and I realized that LNs were a great medium for the story that I want to tell.

Support over on my Patreon has been a MASSIVE help for building funds back up, but to be honest we’re still nowhere close to getting a S2 animated. On top of that, this year’s pandemic is setting the entire entertainment industry back by several months or more, so I don’t know how free any potential investors like VRV will be with their money when we get back on our feet!

So! I’m going to write some Epithet books! It will be the same storyline that I want to tell in the animated version. I’m planning to write two books for the next story arc (which would’ve been a hypothetical animated S2) and then we’re going to have the fine folks at Sound Cadence studios help us turn them into audiobooks with full Voice Work.

This way I still get to tell this story and you guys still get voice acting. If we never get funded for future animated seasons then the story is still available! If we DO get funding for future animated seasons, then hey! We’ve got a manga/anime split now! That’s kind of fun!

My hands still have a bad RSI and I’m still recovering, but once I do I’m planning to write the next books. I’ve actually started already! The upcoming storyline is basically a bunch of things that happen because Giovanni wants to bake some cookies.

[fanzinewatch]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　 Click here to see all zines  　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

📅 Monday, August 10th

Contributor apps close - Casper High Yearbook (Danny Phantom)

Interest survey closes - Unnamed (Magnus Archives)

Contributor apps open - Style-O (Gorillaz)

Preorders close - Gracefield Sun (The Promised Neverland)

Preorders open - Broken (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Preorders open - Story Across Time (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

📅 Tuesday, August 11th

Mod apps close - Baccano! The Zine (Baccano)

Mod apps close - A Lost Ballroom of Gold (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Interest survey closes - Years Ahead (Banana Fish)

Preorders close - Whisper of the Hearth (Studio Ghibli)

Preorders close - Under the Same Sun (Miraculous Ladybug)

📅 Wednesday, August 12th

Contributor apps close - Unnamed (Kingdom Hearts)

Interest survey closes - BNHA-borne (My Hero Academia)

📅 Thursday, August 13th

Mod apps close - Hanako Hanafuda (Toilet Bound Hanako-kun)

Contributor apps close - From Egypt, With Love (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Preorders close - Together, We Remain (Zanki Zero)

📅 Friday, August 14th

Mod apps close - Women in the World (Original)

Contributor apps close - Voices from Mars (Carole & Tuesday)

Interest survey closes - The Sunlit Earth (Shadow of the Colossus)

Preorders close - Freedom! (Beastars)

Preorders close - Sugar Delights (Cookie Run)

Leftover sales close - Seasons of Love (My Hero Academia)

Preorders close - Forever Bound! (Toilet Bound Hanako-kun)

Preorders open - Elemental (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Preorders open - Thank You, Furuba (Fruits Basket)

Preorders open - Kintsugi (My Hero Academia)

Preorders open - Flowers of Fodlan (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

📅 Saturday, August 15th

Mod apps close - BNHA Slam Book (My Hero Academia)

Contributor apps close - Zodiac Carnival (Fruits Basket)

Contributor apps close - BNHA Slam Book (My Hero Academia)

Contributor apps close - Love and Life (Yuri on Ice)

Contributor apps open - How to Train Your Hero (HTTYD x BNHA)

Preorders close - ACE (Ace of Diamond)

Preorders close - Block by Block (Minecraft)

Preorders close - My Sun, My Moon (My Hero Academia)

Preorders close - Changing Seasons (Persona)

Preorders open - Hands Clasped Tight (Les Miserables)

Preorders open - Idols & Legends (Pokemon: Sword & Shield)

Released for free - TMM Zine (Tokyo Mew Mew)

📅 Sunday, August 16th

Mod apps close - Delicious! (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Mod apps close - Records of a Goddess (Magia Record)

Preorders close - Boku no Broadway (My Hero Academia)

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Baccano, Episodes 7-10

In which we start getting all the answers, the puzzle comes together, and I love literally every single idiot in this cast.

Equivalent Exchange

Well, holy shit, we’ve got answers. The halfway point of Baccano is an entire episode dedicated to backstory, providing the full context for what forces are driving all the parties in the present by leaping back to 1711. And from there on out, the twisting narrative starts yanking all its disparate threads together, charging ahead full-throttle as the pieces coalesce into a comprehensive whole. From here on out, there are far fewer questions and far more answers. And my god, what answers they are.

While it’s not the best episode of the show, mainly by virtue of having pretty much none of the present’s eminently lovable cast around, the context provided by episode 7 is still stunningly valuable. Just by virtue of getting a look at the first group of immortality seekers, we come to understand just how far back the roots of this conflict lie. There are more than a few familiar faces among the seafarers, faces we’ve seen and will continue to see in the present. Firo’s right-hand man, Maiza, was the first man to be gifted the knowledge of how to become immortal. Master Huey, whom the men in the black suits claimed to be fighting for, was also among this gang, and now his daughter Chaine is fighting in the present to keep him safe (and doing a damn good job of it; when you’ve made someone as imposing as Ladd Russo damn near shit his pants with the force of your combat skills, you know you’re not messing around). So was Szillard, the FMA Father-esque figure leading the immortality seekers in the present after going mad in the past in his attempt to take the secret for himself. And, of course, there’s Czeslaw, who became immortal as a boy and has spend the intervening centuries growing up without, well, actually growing up. Now we know why he’s such a smart cookie, I suppose: he’s been alive for centuries, leaning how to stay alive in a world where he can easily keep himself hidden. It’s honestly kind of chilling to watch him in the present, requesting the massacre of innocent civilians just to track down the one immortal on the train car who might risk killing him. It’s like watching Pride all over again, as if the FMA comparisons weren’t blatant enough already.

And in all honestly, Fullmetal Alchemist really does feel like a strong point of comparison here. Both shows take place at the turn of the 20th century, with slick characters and production designs that evoke the tail end of Victorian-era cool, featuring a wide cast of eclectic personalities, a conspiracy rabbit hole plot, and a central narrative thrust featuring the search for immortality and the lengths people will go to in order to achieve it (also, they both have utterly fucking amazing English dubs, so that’s a plus). They’re spiritual cousins, in a way, which means that pretty much everything I loved about Fullmetal Alchemist is present here as well, albeit with a more unconventional narrative structure and more gristly violence. It’s a fast-moving, hard-hitting, deeply fascinating action romp that’s sucked me into its mysteries so intensely that I’m having more fun piecing the puzzle together than I have with any show since I watched Higurashi all the way back when I started this fucking blog. I can’t get enough of diving headfirst into the bowels of this show and trying to figure out how it all fits together. And now that we’re actually starting to see how it all fits together, all the little details that connect the disparate character stories we’ve been following, all the alliances and betrayals and chance meetings that make up this ridiculously complex web of characters... yeah, it’s good. It’s really damn good. It’s the kind of pure narrative experience that’s only achievable by the best, most expertly woven narratives. The mere fact I can compare it to my #3 anime of all time is a testament to just how fucking good it is.

Deal with the Devil

As for the plot itself, as we’re lurching toward the final stretch, the driving force of the train massacre is taking up more and more time, everything slowly condensing inward towards this singularity that brings it all together. At this point, we’ve got a mostly complete sense of how everyone connects to each other, who’s trying to kill who, what everyone wants, and how all their connections have formed leading up to and falling out from the big event itself. We know how Dallas was snatched up by the immortality seekers to serve as a suicide bomber to get their stolen serum back, only to be scuppered by the eternal jokers Isaac and Miria (”Yes, well... would you believe Jack the Ripper?”), and it’s likely his disappearance is directly related to how pissed off his kidnappers were at his failure. We also have a very clear sense of how much of a prick Dallas was, unable to even keep up the facade of trying to be there for his sister before his anger took him over again. Eve’s better off without him, though that sure isn’t stopping her trying to find him regardless. The lady in combat gear is Rachel from the information broker, who serves as an observer to the goings-on to give the audience yet another perspective into the tangled web of story. Most importantly, though, we’ve found out what the Rail Tracer is: none other than Vino, the adopted brother of Luck Gandor. And it seems like that strong sense of justice runs in the Gandor family, because Vino’s evisceration of Ladd’s goon for his casual cruelty is chilling to behold. I fully believe this guy would act as a monstrous avenger, slaughtering all those he believed has strayed from the path of light.

Which brings be back to the backstory episode and the last major takeaway from it: the devil himself is involved. Sure, he asks people not to call him that, but fuck it, he’s the devil, and honestly, he’s one of the most chilling incarnations of Satan I’ve ever seen in fiction. With nothing but a deep-booming voice and a shadow on the wall, I felt myself cringing backward into my seat before his presence. This fucker is terrifying. He’s like Ladd on infernal steroids: every second he talks, you’re struck with the overwhelming realization that you are completely helpless before him. He’s all-powerful, all-seeing, but most chilling of all, he just doesn’t give a single shit about you. He could snuff you out in a second and never think twice, like a dust mite blown off a dress shirt and trampled underfoot. And knowing that this guy was the force that gave Maiza the secret to immortality, it’s no surprise it all fell apart so fast. Nothing the devil ever does comes without a price, after all. And while it’s still a mystery what he hopes to gain from unleashing this power into the world, you can feel his claws digging in all around you as the situation on the Flying Pussyfoot grows ever more disastrous. The Lord of the Underworld always collects his due, and as the body count rises, and the tangled web of mystery comes undone, I am terrified to see what price he hopes to exact. There’s not a single person among this cast who’s not in danger. If they’re not ready, they’re gonna find themselves burning for all eternity.

Happy Days

And I pray that doesn’t happen. Because this cast is, without exaggerating, one of the best ensemble casts I’ve ever come across in anime. Baccano’s character writing is so on point that every single player in this tangled web is instantly iconic; I can’t think of a single weak link among them. Everyone is lovable. Everyone is an utter blast to spend time with. Even a psychopath like Ladd is just so confident and joyous in his lunacy that you can’t help but cheer on his mad ravings (”I’LL TAP DANCE ON THEIR HEAD LIKE A GODDAMN FANDANGO!”). Everyone is written with so much clearly defined motivation and drive, with personalities that ring true in countless little details that bring them to life. When Jacuzzi shakes off his cowardice in favor of sheer determination, I buy that gumption more than I buy other characters’ entire arcs in other anime I’ve watched. And that moment where he plants a big one right on Nice’s lips is easily one of the most endearing examples of the “Be Safe” Big Damn Kiss kiss I’ve ever come across (not to mention the reveal of how long they’ve been together without locking lips; what utter dorks).

But, of course, all the good things I could say about the rest of the cast are utterly dwarfed by Isaac and Miria. Sweet. Buttery. CHRISTMAS. Every single second these two lunkheads are on screen is an utter delight. And I feel like I haven’t been doing justice to how giddy I become watching them in these analyses, so let me try and fix this now: I adore literally everything about these two. I adore their undying pep and ridiculous teamwork. I adore how in sync they are and how much they enjoy what they’re doing. I adore how earnestly they dive into every single action they take, how deeply they feel the emotions that rush through them. And I adore the way the world warps around them to make them feel like jesters performing a choreographed show with the world as their stage. Seriously, the way the show’s presentation adjusts in the presence of these goobers is a huge part of what makes their shtick work. It’s not just that they frolick and cheer and trade idiotic statements with the confidence of Mensa members (”Maybe she should stop being so rich!”), it’s that the soundtrack always adjusts with them, punctuating their ridiculousness with on-the-nose music drops that only drive home how childishly sincere they are about everything. It’s how they’re animated like actual cartoon characters instead of real people, snapping between poses like a pair of demented Bugs Bunny clones with enough elasticity to make Chuck Jones himself proud. It’s how overwrought their emotional reactions are, whether preaching positivity to the downtrodden or wallowing in the despair of forgetting to buy a present for someone who’s done them a good deed. And in those few moments where their passion is so extreme that they’re animated in full 24 fps, detailing their melodramatic reactions in all their over-animated glory? Good lord, you could probably here me cackling all the way down in China.

But what really makes these two magical, what really makes Isaac and Miria so overwhelmingly wonderful, is how much good they accomplish. They’re utter lunatics with no grounding in reality, they fail constantly, and they’ve committed enough crimes to make Al Capone proud, but they’re such fundamentally good people that they can’t help but spread kindness and hope in their chaotic wake. They can’t leave an innocent person suffering in silence when they can show up and give them a ridiculous pep talk to try and raise their spirits. Even if they make no sense and end up just robbing the damn place anyway, they want to spread happiness in their wake. They want to see less tears and more smiles, more people who can live their lives with their head held high. And they can’t help but spread that kindness to everyone they meet just as a matter of principle. Whether raising Jacuzzi’s spirits and giving him the confidence to make a difference, allowing Eve a chance to laugh and enjoy life after suffering in silence for so long, or even treating Ennis with the basic compassion of fellow humans, they make the world so much better just by being in it. And I’m not gonna lie, when Ennis tears up after experiencing that level of sincere validation, I almost welled up right alongside her. That’s how fucking deeply these two have ingrained themselves in my heart. That’ how much joy they’re able to bring about. And as long as that remains the case, I will root for their success as long as I’m physically able to.

Odds and Ends

-That person-sucking animation is still freaky as fuuuuuuuuck

-I’d ask why the native American costumes, but honestly, I doubt there’s an answer.

-”SWALLOWED WHOLE?!” They’re so sincere they’re sO FUCKING AMAZING

-”It’s almost as if we can still hear his sweet voice!” Okay, listen, the way the sad music cuts out every time Jacuzzi yells out here is amazing. How many more times can I say I love these two?

-Woah, dude, that was Jacuzzi who shot up those places in the opening episodes? God damn, he is a BEAST.

-”We’ll tan its hide!” “What if that doesn’t work?” “We’ll run away and hide!” They really have such a fantastic sense of wordplay, don’t they?

-Ooh, interesting. Why did they let her escape?

-”Please excuse me, I’m not very funny.” Eh, comedy is subjective.

-”May the grace of god be with you always!” Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.

-”You could’ve died!” “Well, we’re all gonna die someday.” God bless J. Michael Tatum.

-”Please forgive me, I didn’t realize you were a priest and a sister!” askjdashdkj welp

One more session to go. See you next time for the end of Baccano!

[dashboardcat]

Do every other one of those emoji asks bihhhh

fuck of

🐰- do you believe in soul mates? - I guess? it sure seems to work for some people

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?- im gonna have to go with Jacuzzi Splot from Baccano!- total crybaby but will throw hands to protect his friends

💋- kissing in the dark or kissing in the rain? - idk ask someone whos been kissed

🍼- what is your favorite memory? - this is so vague what does that mean

💖- have you ever been in love? - i feel like true love is meant to be more of a two-way thing, so no, pretty much just crushes/infatuations 

🍯- describe your favorite smell - generally speaking the smell of something baking, although something sweet vs something yeasty are 2 entirely different moods

🍪- cookie dough or cookies? - cookies, idk my teeth need the crunch

🍃- would you rather live in a sea with mermaids or a forest with fairies? - im done with living in the woods lemme put some starfish on my tiddies 

💫- what is your sun, moon, and rising sign? -get that homestuck shit out of here

ok im a Sagittarius (or Ophiuchus if you consider it part of the zodiac) and i dont know my birth time so i cant calculate the other shit

🍭- how tall are you? 6′ 2″

🎄- what is your favorite holiday? is it wrong to say my birthday? can i just have one day about me?

🎶- favorite song right now? - im trying to get hyped for a Hozier concert in a few months so probably take me to church ( in a week and from eden are also very good)

🍩- current mood? - i just woke up and my kidneys hurt for some reason so a little irritated but its probably nothing a lil woter cant fix

💍- your current relationship status? - b r u h

💅🏻- do you like being spoiled? - I guess? unless i know the person has better things they need to be spending their money on

🦄- how do you perceive yourself? - a hell of a lot better than i used to, thats for sure

🌈- things I find attractive in girls/guys - in typical disaster bi fashion, i have no fucking idea until i see a random stranger and then crush on them for a few days like oh, thats my type now

🍒- how do you act when you have a crush? - i was gonna say get nervous and avoid them but then i realized im like that with literally anyone sooooo  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

💬- what your last text message says? - received or sent? my last received text was my dad telling me dinner was ready,  my last sent text was trying to tell a friend about the aforementioned Hozier concert 

⛅- what is your morning routine? - on work days: wake up an hour and a half before i have to go to work,  spend 50 minutes of that just scrolling through tumblr/twitter, then eventually stumble into the bathroom then out the door

on my days off: this, apparently 

🥀- last time you cried? - I wanna say fairly recently? dont remember when or why

🔪- scariest/creepiest experience? - idk im baby so i dont put myself in those kinds of situations but recently i was exploring an abandoned bunker with a friend and one room was just full of flies so like you know there’s a dead body in there

🎀- any question you want - bruh you cant pick this one and not do the thing

[thispabulum-blog]

I Know That You're Timid

What's the Tea? Tuesday

Life is dumb right now and I'm having to focus more on responsible stuff instead of dating, so this is going to be another fairly short one. Also the guy across the street woke me up at 8:30 am using a chainsaw on his trees, so I'm not in the best mood.

How was last week?

Sunday was a good day. Cuddlebug went to work all day, and while he was gone I turned his bed into a small painting studio so I could funnel some of my stress into being creative. Lots of cartoon characters, weird memes, and I'm also working my way up to painting people which is very intimidating.

Once he was home for the evening we watched more Squid Game - including the most difficult episode with the marbles.

My emotions!

It's such a good show.

Monday morning I woke up from weird nightmares, and did more painting. We finished Squid Games. I swear we're not the most boring people ever, except sometimes we are and that's fine, too.

Later I was feeling productive so I took nice pictures of the stuff he's selling on eBay. Helpful Girlfriend. Anybody want to buy some old Atari games?

We spent the afternoon cuddling and trying to pick a movie to watch, and because I was put on the spot I suddenly forgot both the titles and plots of every good movie I've ever seen. I failed at summarizing movies so badly that he asked me to show him trailers instead. We somehow landed on Blue Velvet, because I'm always down for watching weird shit. So after a quick Burger King run we started watching it, and...man, I just don't know. What can you say about David Lynch?

*credits roll*

Cuddlebug: *points at screen* That was a movie.

Me: That sounds right.

Cuddlebug: And we watched it.

Me: Yup.

Cuddlebug: I give that a "Movie" out of 5.

Though I was having trouble staying awake throughout the movie - I'm starting to think big pasta dinners are fucking with my blood sugar - my couch sleepiness did not translate to bed sleepiness (as is so often the case), so I stayed up too late.

Tuesday morning I woke up to Cuddlebug on the phone making a doctor's appointment. Which...hot. Definitely playing into my Responsible Adult kink. But also fuck it was loud.

He teased me about being grumpy, which I feel is a natural reaction to being woken up by someone shouting 6 feet away from you. But it was almost noon, so we won't hold that against him.

Then he went out to run errands and came back with baked goods. Cookies, red velvet whoopie pies, cream puffs, flan. He specifically brought me a slice of Italian Creme cake because he's a smart man and he knows the way to my heart.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dr. Strangelove texted me to ask if I'd seen the new Doctor Strange movie. We've been texting infrequently and mostly superficially. I'm keeping the lines of communication open because we still have logistical things to coordinate for a while, and as Cuddlebug said a while back, it's always good to have less enemies.

While he was starting dinner, Cuddlebug and I started Baccano! (an anime that he pitched to me as "There are a bunch of people on a train. Some of them are immortal and some aren't"). We watched the first four episodes, and I'm gonna be honest, I still really don't understand what's happening. But it's entertaining, for sure, and I'm fine sticking with it. It's only 16 episodes, anyway, and he assured me it'll make more sense at some point. Do I believe him? Mostly.

Wednesday we did a good amount of couch cuddling and watching Rick and Morty while eating the rest of the baked goods. Then he made me a sandwich and took me home.

Since then I've really just been applying for jobs, watching old episodes of John Oliver, writing, and painting.

I've definitely got some fun things to look at tomorrow...

[haruusagii]

So, I decided to write about the weekend I saw BTS. I...think about it a lot honestly.

I wanted to take a moment to write about what was probably singlehandedly, the greatest weekend I have ever had. When BTS announced the Citi Field show, my friend and I decided to get tickets and make a weekend out of it. Once we managed to get tickets, which was stressful enough, we got a hotel room for the weekend as well. We stayed at one of the Hiltons, which wow. I LOVED that hotel and everything about it. It was SO nice.

So, we planned to take the train up to New York on Friday to avoid the horrendous parking fees that would come with driving. That was all well and good… Except my dumbass forgot the tickets at my apartment. An hour away from the train station. And there was construction happening on the highway, so it was even longer than that. We ended up getting to NYC a lot later than planned but it all ended up okay. We got there around 10 pm and made our way to the Line Store. Only to find a line outside and people saying they weren’t letting anyone else in. We shrugged and decided to head over to the hotel. We called an Uber since it was about a 20-25 minute drive from Times Square. As soon as we set foot in the room, both of us were enamored with the view. It was dark, but it was beautiful. I swear I would stay at that hotel again just to look out the window.

Saturday was everything I could have asked for and more. New York Comic Con (NYCC) was also happening that weekend. There was a One Piece themed café near the convention center and it just so happened that you didn’t need a badge to enter. We decided to go there for breakfast and it was so good!! I’m not normally one for breakfast but I loved it. Plus, seeing a life size cardboard cutout of Sanji was enough to make me happy. After that we decided to head over to the Line Store to see if we could get some BT21 merch. The line wrapped around the block and we stood in it for 3 hours. But we made a friend! And, even though they didn’t have everything I wanted, I was able to score some Cooky and Koya things and that’s good enough for me! My friend was able to get her Halloween RJ plush and gosh is it adorable.

We went straight to the venue after that and got our army bombs! Pretty much all the merch I wanted was sold out, so I settled for some photo cards. You can’t go wrong with them! We found our seats and let me tell you, I loved the view. Sure, it would have been cool to be closer, but I liked being able to see everything. Before the show started, they were playing BTS music videos and it was such a neat thing to hear the crowd freak out simply from that.

The show itself was everything I hoped for and more. From beginning to end I was so caught up in the moment that I didn’t even notice the time when I’d take my phone out to take a photo or video. I could go into detail about every song, every dance routine, every outfit change, but I won’t. Instead I’ll just say that no artist I have ever seen before has made me feel such a range of emotions in such a short amount of time. RM gave a speech at the end of the show that has been with me ever since. I started crying as he was talking and didn’t stop until well after they left the stage.

Loving myself is something I’ve struggled with since I was a child. I’ve never felt like I was anything special or someone anyone should be happy about knowing. I always felt like everyone was too good to be around me and that they put up with me out of pity. I’ve mostly gotten past that as I grew up, but I’m still struggling to love myself. And hearing RM’s speech, hearing Answer: Love Myself live has had an effect on me. I catch myself having negative thoughts and actually try to change them.

As if this weekend couldn’t get any better, Sunday we decided to grab tickets to Animefest at NYCC because my favorite voice actor of all time was there, Ian Sinclair. He was having a signing at 2, so after we checked out of the hotel, we decided to head over to the convention to wander around before the signing. We bought some posters, met some armies who went to the show, almost cried again and generally had a great time. We stumbled upon some art of Mt. Lady from BNHA and got all excited because she’s one of our friend’s favorites. Turns out the person selling them was Jamie Marchi, AKA the English VA for her! We talked to her for a good 20 minutes and got her autograph too! She’s a sweetheart and I’m so glad we got to meet her! Then, it was time to meet Ian. I told him that our friend group has this thing where we recommend anime to each other. The thing is though, that we all say we’ll watch it blah blah. But all someone has to do is mention that Ian Sinclair has a role in it and it becomes an instant watch. He got all embarrassed after that, which honestly, was adorable. We talked about Baccano, One Piece, Hetalia and BNHA. It was such a joy and honor to finally be able to meet him. I’ve loved his voice ever since Baccano.

Basically, I had an incredible weekend with my best friend. And I swear it wouldn’t have been half as good if I had done this with anyone else. She’s honestly the greatest person and I’m so so so thankful that we met. I would have been embarrassed by how much I cried during the show if I was with anyone else. Instead, we ended up hugging and crying together and had a nice little heart to heart after the show.

[best-train-conductor-competition]

Loser's Bracket Matchups!

Narrator (Lemon Demon: My Trains) VS Skimbleshanks (Cats)

Milky Way Cookie (Cookie Run) VS One-One (Infinity Train)

Mr. Macbeth (Henry Stickmin) VS Odin (The Bifrost Incident)

Charon (Alchemy Stars) VS Tiramisu Cookie (Cookie Run)

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Trolley Troubles) VS The Excess Express Conductor (Paper Mario)

Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine) VS Tina Johnson (Welcome to Mountport)

Mr Conductor (Thomas the Tank Engine) VS Stollen Cookie (Cookie Run)

Claire Stanfield (Baccano!) VS Kisaragi (Whisper Court)

Polls will be posted in a few hours. They will last for 24 hours.

[brbarou]

a friendship can be the world's best assassin, the grandson of new york's biggest mafia family, and their pet bear

[agallimaufryofoddments]

I think I said this on Discord, but it bears repeating: I’m so glad Narita dropped his plan to have Cookie/Charkie the bear go wild every night and hunt mobsters. The sheer relief, I mean, can you imagine...

...Putting aside how the 1935 arc already has enough going on, let’s face facts: involving a bear in the story is, in itself, just a teensy bit silly. Just a tiny bit ridiculous, and in this case I think embracing the inherent silliness by making Cookie a sweetheart was the right call. 

A bear in New York is already a problem, as is said bear being a mafia housepet on the loose in New York. Making Cookie have wild nighttime hunts would have come off as “trying too hard,” “excessive,” etc., I think partly because it implies just having a bear isn’t good enough (i.e. already ‘a lot’). “A bear on it’s own? Boring. Bear preying on the mob at night? now we’re talking!”

Nah, forget that! It’s a bear! It causes a ruckus just by existing, as Narita himself proves. Cookie running around NY w/o killing anyone still leads to multiple calls to the police; him falling asleep at the clinic is enough to draw a crowd of rubberneckers and the response of law enforcement. And isn’t that in the spirit of Baccano!--individuals causing a ruckus just by being themselves? 

--Wouldn’t Cookie wilding out at night also serve to undermine the circus incident in 1920? For context: Cookie was a danger when the circus first acquired him; he grew more and more ferocious by the day and eventually tried to attack his trainers. The circus would’ve likely put him down had it not been for Claire ‘taming’ him.

Now of course Cookie is a wild animal and not truly tamable, but this is fiction (and this is Baccano!) we’re talking about; we can afford to be a little unrealistic. Having Cookie ‘go feral’ at night would mean a better chance of people siding with the circus adults--and Narita wants us to like Cookie, yeah?

TL;DR: Cookie is dangerous by virtue of him being a bear (look how easily he swatted Ladd aside), you don’t ‘need’ to ‘make’ him a menace. Watching him romp around being friendly and excited is a lot more fun than watching him maul mobsters to death... The latter would surely lead to a serious bear hunt and involve a high risk of Cookie being shot dead. Looks like everyone dodged a bullet, eh?

[wintersouldier57]

This is Cookie, guardian of the Baccano.

[pomegranate-belle]

Tagged by @chessanator

Rules: Answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better.

Name: Jackie

Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Height: idk like... 5′1″?

Orientation: Ain’t no lie, baby, Bi, Bi, Bi!

Ethnicity: White, so very very white lmao

Favorite fruit: I mean, can’t you guess from my url?

Favorite season: Autumn!

Favorite book series: I... Oh god I really don’t know?? When is the last time I even read a book OTL

Favorite flower: I really like lilacs!

Favorite scent: Ok it’s probably either baking cookies or that Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path scent bc that is So Good

Favorite color: Blue! Since I was five, and I haven’t wavered lol

Coffee, tea or cocoa: Cocoa, though I always seem to burn my tongue on hot beverages...

Average sleep hours: Maybe 8 or 9 hours a night? Unless I can’t sleep for some reason.

Cat or dog person: I love them both but dogs are my favorite~

Favorite fictional characters: Omg there’s so many like... How can I even name them all? Let’s see, off the top of my head... Luna (ZE), Peggy Carter, Rose Tyler, Belle (OUAT, but usually any Belle is good), 707, Eowyn (LotR), Bruce Banner, Isaac and Miria (Baccano!), Matt Engarde, and Ned the Piemaker! Fire Emblem should get its own section bc I love so many characters so: Titania, Ike, Janaff, Ranulf, Tibarn, Shinon, Olivia, Henry, Inigo, Brady, Leo, Takumi, Rinkah, Scarlet, Forrest, Sonya, Conrad, Kliff, and Luthier~

Number of blankets you sleep with: Depends on the temperature and how afraid I am of monsters eatin my toes but at least one lol

Dream trip: I’d like to see Italy sometime

Blog created: Oh man... Like... Almost five years ago now? Wow... 

Number of followers: 317... But I don’t even know how many are bots at this point lmao

On that note... Since idk who’s done this already or who even wants to.. Tagging all you followers who aren’t bots and love talkin about yourselves like I do~