#digital video disc

[toastedstims]

A Porygon-Z stimboard for @everwizard !!

💿🧬💿|🧬💿🧬|💿🧬💿

[hasellia]

Jax didn't change. At all. He is still the same arsehole from the first time we saw him.

From what I remember; he was dismissive of Ragatha, manipulated an emotionally vulnerable Kinger, pushed Gangle to her potential death and didn't give two fucks that Kaufmo died of dismay. All in episode 1

What changed, is that the audience saw what happens we Jax doesn't get his way.

Jax doesn't just seem "disappointed" here. He seems seething, like a child, and we get a good wide close up of his face just to make it's clear he's absolutely not happy in any way.

Episode 2 seems to be setting up how different people react to being in a seemingly inescapable scenario, a la time loop nihilism.

You have Pomni and Ragatha who try to reach out to others, trying to build a supportive collective. There's Kinger and Gangle, who are stuck in survival mode and need that support assistance. Not everyone is in the mental position to help out as they want to be. With enough time and reassurance, Gangle may be able to break out of her insecurities. Kinger... I'm saying this as someone who relates to Kinger the most out of the cast: I think my king is stuck with his chronic anxiety and neurodivergencies. Someone give him a Lexam and Intuitive. So with Jax...

Jax is playing a video game. To him, this is just Undertale with multiplayer and he wants to see what happens on the genocide route. He's so under stimulated for meaning that he wants to fuck around and find out. If you want to find out what happens in a boring co-op game, what's funnier? Jumping into the enemy pit yourself, or getting your buddy to jump in instead. He may not even see the main cast as other players. What separates Gumigoo from Ragatha? The princess? The goop monsters? ... Kaufmo? Jax just might have lost his sense of humanity in everything but himself. Cogito ergo sum. I think Jax is meant to be a criticism of people who unironically think everyone is varying degrees of those NPC roleplay videos.

So yeah, I never saw Jax as Bugs Bunny. He was always a toxic League of Legends player stuck in VR coop game to me. We're just thankfully spared of his gamer words. Maybe when we see more of Zooble, we'll see someone stand up to him. No promises.

[rocketbirdie]

playstation network has been down for 17 hours now 🫠

[sadhornydemons]

The Mastermind episode and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice coming out on dvd is the only thing getting me through this month.

[acstation206]

<< = • 💿 NOW LOADING: ACSTATION INTRODUCTORY POST 909 💿 • = >>

…

Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there.

==

The name’s AC and I run this little convenience store of productions at the edge of the universe called ACSTATION. And yeah, as you can tell, at this point I’m pretty much your friendly-neighborhood enthusiast of basically anything 2000s - 2010s (or something in-between or related idk).

But aside from that, those productions in question have animations, general art / fanart, edits, memes, music, comics, OCs, etc. (at least in the near future hopefully) and they’re made primarily on the ibisPaint X, FlipaClip and GarageBand apps on iPhone.

==

Specifically for this site we also have:

= MASTERPOST(S) =

• “THE AMAZING DIGITAL ARCADE PARTY” 🕹️ - basically just an AU of The Amazing Digital Circus by the incredible Gooseworx except it’s arcade themed or whatever

==

= TAGS =

• "ac talks with you" 🎙️ - whenever I answer people's questions when they press the button by the top of this blog page that reads "i'm feeling curious :)" or just document the things that I like or the bits that happen throughout my daily life for fun or so... and maybe a peek behind the scenes of some art stuff I might be at right now... Again, for funsies. :)

• “ac art” 🎨- whenever I post art or animations featuring my own characters and some other random stuff… maybe some behind the scenes too if we’re lucky

• "ac music" 🎵 - same as ac art except it's... well, music and all that

• “ac analysis” 🤓 - when I geek out and ramble on in excruciating detail about a certain thing I hold dear to my heart or so, I guess this might be what the very first tag above is for in some cases but whatevs, just for organization sakes y’know?

==

= BOUNDARIES =

For now I only have a few of these and they're all obvious. "How original," yeah I get it. Though they're all are subject to change and might add some more depending on how I feel and what from I've seen and experienced on this site thus far.

ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW / OFFENSIVE ASKS + REQUESTS. Do that and you'll get an instant block, yadda yadda. Let's just keep it PG-13 in here, alright? -

By sending me a request doodle, you are fully aware and understand that I can't guarantee I'll have every correct detail unless it's been already specified as the request has been sent. I am a human being with responsibilities and can only do so much for so long. That being said, I would greatly appriciate it if you remain paitient and do not take it too personally if there's anything I missed or got wrong. -

You are more than welcome to use my art and music! Have it as a background on your Windows PC, have it as a thumbnail on a YouTube video, your profile picture, anything! Just credit me and we all good :)

Anyway, that’s all there is to it for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day! :)

==

* Let’s stay in touch! *

https://acstation206.carrd.co/

[transmandrake]

Neither here nor there but it is kinda wierd how people talk about pirating things as like. A moral good? Rather than like. A neutral event.

Do people realise piracy is like... a business? Like. Okay. Mad backstory but my dad 'worked' selling those r4 cards and folders of wii games for ludicrous money to people.

(not as ludicrous as the games themselves obviously but like...) he was profitting off people, especially anyone who didnt know what pirating was.

Now my dad was a cunt, so My Experiences Are Maybe Not Universal, but he literally bragged about this whole scheme as getting money off 'stupid cunts' who just thought these were cheap games. I don't know for sure but it sounded like his main market was... parents and grandparents. Just looking to get some games for their kids. Charging them money for 5 minutes of bittorrent bandwidth and a few CD's. For *years*.

On one hand, obviously no one gives a shit about lost profits by video game companies. On the other... It's like drug dealers. (Have a guess his current occupation) like yes people should have access to drugs but drug trade is not motivated by like. Community aid. Its a business and an industry that desires profit and growth just as much as any 'real' business.

Maybe you have a really cool chill drug dealer. But that doesnt change what theyre a part of and rely on. Maybe you pirate games for your friends, but that doesnt mean every pirate, or even the majority of them, are doing it out of like. Fucking game preservation.

Now obviously I do not think things that facilitate piracy are comparable to drug cartels in terms of ethics and harm.

But like... Don't ascribe benevolency to exploiting a niche. Honestly good advice for not getting fucked over by a lot of things. Just because something is mutualistic does not mean both parties are doing it for the benefit of the other.

[fozmeadows]

the older I get, the more the technological changes I've lived through as a millennial feel bizarre to me. we had computers in my primary school classroom; I first learned to type on a typewriter. I had a cellphone as a teenager, but still needed a physical train timetable. my parents listened to LP records when I was growing up; meanwhile, my childhood cassette tape collection became a CD collection, until I started downloading mp3s on kazaa over our 56k modem internet connection to play in winamp on my desktop computer, and now my laptop doesn't even have a disc tray. I used to save my word documents on floppy discs. I grew up using the rotary phone at my grandparents' house and our wall-connected landline; my mother's first cellphone was so big, we called it The Brick. I once took my desktop computer - monitor, tower and all - on the train to attend a LAN party at a friend's house where we had to connect to the internet with physical cables to play together, and where one friend's massive CRT monitor wouldn't fit on any available table. as kids, we used to make concertina caterpillars in class with the punctured and perforated paper strips that were left over whenever anything was printed on the room's dot matrix printer, which was outdated by the time I was in high school. VHS tapes became DVDs, and you could still rent both at the local video store when I was first married, but those shops all died out within the next six years. my facebook account predates the iphone camera - I used to carry around a separate digital camera and manually upload photos to the computer in order to post them; there are rolls of undeveloped film from my childhood still in envelopes from the chemist's in my childhood photo albums. I have a photo album from my wedding, but no physical albums of my child; by then, we were all posting online, and now that's a decade's worth of pictures I'd have to sort through manually in order to create one. there are video games I tell my son about but can't ever show him because the consoles they used to run on are all obsolete and the games were never remastered for the new ones that don't have the requisite backwards compatibility. I used to have a walkman for car trips as a kid; then I had a discman and a plastic hardshell case of CDs to carry around as a teenager; later, a friend gave my husband and I engraved matching ipods as a wedding present, and we used them both until they stopped working; now they're obsolete. today I texted my mother, who was born in 1950, a tiktok upload of an instructional video for girls from 1956 on how to look after their hair and nails and fold their clothes. my father was born four years after the invention of colour televison; he worked in radio and print journalism, and in the years before his health declined, even though he logically understood that newspapers existed online, he would clip out articles from the physical paper, put them in an envelope and mail them to me overseas if he wanted me to read them. and now I hold the world in a glass-faced rectangle, and I have access to everything and ownership of nothing, and everything I write online can potentially be wiped out at the drop of a hat by the ego of an idiot manchild billionaire. as a child, I wore a watch, but like most of my generation, I stopped when cellphones started telling us the time and they became redundant. now, my son wears a smartwatch so we can call him home from playing in the neighbourhood park, and there's a tanline on his wrist ike the one I haven't had since the age of fifteen. and I wonder: what will 2030 look like?

[failuretothrivehere]

Okay, screw off Microsoft

Disc-less -__-

No, I want my discs and physical copies of the things that give me dopamine. Because I don't trust you jerks to not take them away from just because ~you feel like it~

[hellenhighwater]

Okay, I'm in the research and resource-compilation stage of this Laika project. Dimensions on this are going to be specific enough that I will have to fully mock this up before I can start on the ceramic part of things (though I suppose I could work on Laika herself; we'll see). Rough dimensions on this are looking like probably 24 inches tall, 12-14 inches wide, and 6-8 inches deep.

The upper half of this piece would be relatively straightforwards, from a construction standpoint--layers of ceramic and glass to make a flickering star backdrop for Laika like the one I have in my living room clock of the world. I may do some kind of visible element of the rotating disc layer--maybe do a laser cut sheet of metal with engravings, or some kind of cloisonné with colored enamel illustrations? Doesn't really matter at this stage, that's decorative problems to be figured out later. Tech here: rotating motor, LED backlighting, and some laser cutting.

The bottom half of this is where things get thorny. Laika's capsule had a tiny, 6 inch window* that she presumably could see out of. I want to find a little silver porthole of approximately the correct size, and embed it in the front face, looking into the depths of the piece, where I'm thinking I will rig up a screen looping video footage of Laika herself (a bit limited, since there doesn't seem to be a lot of video of her; little of it in color and all of it the sort of resolution one would expect from 1957), ideally edited so it's sort of scaled like she's in the capsule. Then, screen brightness and venue light levels permitting, I think I want to try for a pepper's ghost effect, in the space between Laika and the porthole. If I can get the light levels to work, which will be tricky, I would have the pepper's ghost show a view of the earth from orbit--that wide, low, curved horizon, moving from light to day, almost like you're seeing a reflection of Laika's view, hovering transparently in front of her. This means I need to trawl the digital archives of various space programs for appropriate footage (thankfully they have TONS of free use video and photos, but there's an almost overwhelming amount to trawl through.)

I think I can get away with just using digital picture frames for my video displays, which may be easier than raspberry pi's. We'll see.

The very bottom would be the rolling reel for a tiny embedded music box, playable in the bottom corner. Details very rough still!

*at least according to my very preliminary research; books shall be arriving in the mail this week.

[miscpav]

DECtalk Flexidisc Demo 1984

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

The Jacksons - Blame It on the Boogie 1978

"Blame It on the Boogie" is a song released in 1978 by English singer-songwriter Mick Jackson. It has been covered by the Jacksons (formerly known as The Jackson 5), Clock and Luis Miguel. The song was co-authored by Mick Jackson (credited as Michael George Jackson-Clarke) as well as his brother David Jackson and Elmar Krohn. Although Mick Jackson recorded the song in 1977, "Blame It on the Boogie" was written in hopes of being sold to Stevie Wonder.

Despite the Mick Jackson original reaching a number 61 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1978, Epic Records that month released the Jacksons' version of "Blame It on the Boogie" as the advance single from the Destiny album. In the UK, both the Mick Jackson version and the Jacksons' were released within a few days of each other in September 1978. The UK music press, struck by the rival versions being by similarly named artists, declared a "Battle of the Boogie" which Mick Jackson recalls as "great publicity…There was an equal balance of interest from the media about both releases – A good example is that my version came out first on Top of the Pops… The Jackson's had the second week…Radio One played The Jackson's version and Capital Radio only played mine – It was fair." Mick Jackson himself in 2003 said of the Jacksons' version of "Blame It on the Boogie": "[the original] version had 100% of our heart and soul in it but the Jacksons' version had the magic extra 2% that made it incredible."

A promotional music video by the Jacksons was created for "Blame It on the Boogie" in 1978. The video, featuring the group's members dancing on a black background, relied heavily on electronic trail effects, created at Image West, Ltd. using then-cutting edge equipment: the Scanimate analog computer system and a Quantel DFS 3000 digital framestore. The video also appears on the bonus disc of the DVD box set Michael Jackson's Vision.

"Blame It on the Boogie" received a total of 78,7% yes votes! Previous Michael Jackson polls: #45 "Will You Be There", #114 "Why".

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Link 1, Link 2 :)

Digital Good Omens 2 Sountrack is coming out in 4 days! 🥳 CD version in October! :) ❤ Coming soon on vinyl…

Out to Stream/Download from 25th August. Out on CD 13th October. Coming soon on vinyl…

David Arnold’s ‘end of the world’ complex and multi-genre soundtrack.

From the Award-winning composer of Sherlock and Casino Royale comes a follow up to the hugely successful, Emmy nominated Good Omens soundtrack.

Good Omens series 2 premiered on Prime Video on 28th July. The series follows the odd couple, angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) in their quest to sabotage the end of the World. The six-episode sequel to the popular adaptation of the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, concerns the Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) arriving without his memories to Aziraphale’s bookshop. Aziraphale and Crowley attempt to find out what happened to Gabriel, whilst hiding him from Heaven and Hell, both eager to find him.

The Soundtrack

David Arnold’s soundtrack to Good Omens was first released in 2019 to favourable reviews, with BBC Music Magazine calling it “a rollicking trip to hell and back”. Blueprint Magazine described it as “a great listen” and Sci Fi Bulletin commented on “plenty of memorable themes” to conclude that “This is another work of art from Arnold”. At times nostalgic and eerie but always varied, beautiful and full of excitement, the Good Omens 2 soundtrack showcases Arnold’s every skill from his composer arsenal. Featured here are orchestral arrangements with sprinkling of Sugar Plum Fairy pizzicato and percussion, jaunty strings and mighty choral sweeps from Crouch End Festival Chorus. Added to the mix are rock guitar riffs, and psychedelic 70s sounds and all together they create a haunting otherworldly feel, complementing the fantasy and the quirky humour of the show. The spirited Waltz of the opening theme is also present in the second series and it wonderfully sets the scene for fantastical mayhem. In series 2, this robust, evocative, and funny music entity, becomes yet again another character in the story. Award-winning composer David Arnold is well known for his blockbuster scores, including Stargate, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Hot Fuzz, Paul, Independence Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Casino Royale as well as for his TV work such as Sherlock and Dracula. Also available: The original soundtrack to the first series of Good Omens >

Tracklist

– Disc 1 – Chapter 1: The Arrival 1. Before the Beginning 2. Good Omens 2 Opening Title 3. Into Soho 4. Something Terrible 5. To The Bookshop 6. Maggie and Nina 7. He’s Smoking 8. Tiny Miracle 9. Heavenly Alarm Bells Chapter 2: The Clue 10. Avaunt! 11. The Song is the Clue 12. It’s What God Wants 13. A Mighty Wind 14. Whales 15. Gabriel Returns 16. His New Children 17. Am I Awful Now? 18. Fallen Angel Chapter 3: I Know Where I’m Going 19. Police Arrive 20. Scotland 21. We’re Going to Hell 22. People Get a Choice 23. My Car is Not Yellow 24. Beelzebub in Hell 25. The Book 26. The Fly 27. Mr. Dalrymple 28. We Need to Cut 29. I’m Going to Save Her 30. Crowley Goes Large 31. Not Kind 32. Beelzebub Isn’t Happy – Disc 2 – Chapter 4: The Hitchhiker 33. Hell-O 34. Nazi Zombies 35. March of the Nazi Zombies 36. Crowley Pep Talk 37. The Magic Shop 38. Catch The Bullet 39. Zombies in the Dressing Room Chapter 5: The Ball 40. I’ll Let You Have It 41. We’re Storming a Book Shop 42. Monsieur Azirophale 43. The Candelabra 44. Here Comes Hell 45. Gabriel Gives Himself Up 46. Shax 47. The Circle Chapter 6: Every Day 48. Bin Through the Window 49. Gabriel Leaving Heaven 50. The Halo 51. Gabriel Revealed 52. Gabriel’s Love Story 53. Leaving The Bookshop 54. Gabriel and Beelzebub 55. Crowley and Muriel 56. I Forgive You 57. Don’t Bother 58. The Biggest Decision 59. The End?

[are-we-really-doing-this]

Thanks to @kneepadthighhighs whose setup I'm totally jacking here, and thanks especially for all the Punk specific compilation DVDs.

I've finally ripped my current wrestling DVD/VHS/digital collection for your viewing pleasure, catalogue below cut. Collection will most likely continue to update, but there's never a guarantee it'll be up forever.

Link to Full Library

Last Update: 03/11/2025, 8:15:00 PM

I’ve linked the match cards (where applicable) so you can see if the file is worth the download. Links will take you to a folder and you may select files to download.

(If you open a folder and it includes a .MDS file, don’t worry about that as long as you’re not burning a dual layered physical disc. You don’t need it to view the .ISO file on a computer. Just download the .ISO and open with your media player of choice, it works like a DVD in a player. If it's an .MP4 or .MPG it'll play like a video.)

Come harass me if anything was mislabeled by accident or if a download link is broken or denies you access. I hope this goes to good use.

BYW

Best of Backyard Wrestling (Vol. 1, 2, and 3)

EPIC Pro Wrestling

Best of EPIC (Vol. 1)

FIP

FIP Emergence

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

FIP Fallout 2004

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

FIP Unfinished Business 2005

Match Card

FIP Dangerous Intentions 2005

Match Card

FIP With Malice

Match Card

FIP Violence is the Answer

Match Card

FIP In Full Force 2005

Match Card

FIP Unstoppable 2005

Match Card

FIP Sold Out

Match Card

FIP Payback

Match Card

FIP Heatstroke 2005

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

FIP The Best of CM Punk (Vol. 1 and 2)

IWA MS

IWA Mid-South From Hardcore Hell and Back (Punk's IWA debut)

Match Card

IWA Mid-South Sweet Science 16 2001

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana (the camel toe pussy tights one)

ROH

ROH The Best of Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe Straight Shootin'

ROH The Best of the Second City Saints

ROH The Best of CM Punk (Vol. 1, 2, and 3)

ROH The Summer of Punk

Match Card

TNA

TNA The Best of Samoa Joe: Unstoppable

TNA Best of the X Division (Vol. 2)

Match Card

UPW

UPW Entertaintment Overload (Fresh Blood)

Match Card

UPW Road to Glory

UPW Future Shock

WWE

John Cena: Word Life

Match Card

John Cena: My Life

Match Card

CM Punk: Best in the World

Match Card

Zero-One (no subtitles)

Zero-One Shingeki

Match Card

Zero-One Fire Festival 2001

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

Match Card - Day 3

Zero-One Vast Energy 2002

Match Card

Zero-One Genesis 2002

Match Card - Day 1

Match Card - Day 2

Zero-One Truth Century Creation 2002

Match Card

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Between Teeth, Between Claws, Between Them - Chapter 2 - Leona Kingscholar x Reader x Ruggie Bucchie

This is a continuation of the first part, which can be found here. I'm thankful for all of the support that BTBCBT (what a terrible, wonderful acronym) has received - I'm glad people enjoyed it!

This one still carries the slightly suggestive energy of the last one, but it's a little bit less strong. I hope you enjoy!

(Link to AO3: Between Teeth, Between Claws, Between Them - Angel_Ashido - Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own])

༺═────────────═༻

Spelldrive was a weird game. It seemed simple enough, but you could never quite grasp all of the rules. Luckily, the photographer didn’t need to know the ins and outs - they just needed to capture the best action shots.

And with a model like Leona, every shot was one hell of an action shot. He was toned, and though his magic was doing most of the work, his muscles flexed with every spell he slung.

It was difficult to focus on anybody else. The prince stole the show with his perfect balance of strategic play and raw power.

You tried to take snaps of the others, but when you tore the lens away from Leona, you always seemed to find Ruggie. Ruggie, who was quick and underhanded, always aiming at the opponents who didn’t expect to come under fire. His acrobatics made for some pretty dynamic pictures.

During their break, Ruggie and Epel ran over to you.

“Getting my good side?” Ruggie asked, water dripping from the sides of his grin. He was clutching a water bottle like his life depended on it, his breath coming to him quick and uneven.

You flicked through the photographs on the digital camera, trying to hide the fact that most of them featured Leona. Finally finding the perfect shot of Ruggie, you presented it to him. “You tell me.”

Ruggie leaned forward, scrutinising himself. “Ooh, nice. Definitely my good side.”

“Woah, that looks really cool!” Epel chimed. Despite his petite frame, he didn’t seem tired in the slightest. “What about mine? I bet I look super manly!”

A picture of Epel… There had to be at least one, right?

You pulled the camera back and set about your search.

“Hm…” Not much luck. “Sorry, I haven’t got much of you, Epel. I’ll make sure to get the perfect picture in the next half,” you promised.

“Ah, that would be appreciated, but no pressure or anything,” Epel reassured you. “I told my ma and pa about the magazine thing, and they seem pretty excited about it. It would be awesome if I could make it in!”

Once Epel had wandered back to the field, Ruggie raised his eyebrows. “Poor little frosh… I’m flattered that a lowly hyena such as myself got to share the spotlight with the Prince of Spelldrive, though. Dashing good looks, bold plays, thirty-per-cent biceps by volume… I can’t blame you for neglecting everyone else.”

“Sounds like you need to keep your eye on the disc, Ruggie,” you pointed out.

“I’m good at multitasking. I’ve been stealing looks at you this whole time, too.”

“Really?”

“Do you doubt me?” Ruggie let out a small laugh. “I’ve always got one eye on you.”

With that, Ruggie left.

Before the game started back up, you flipped through the images once again, this time paying closer attention to them. True enough, Ruggie was in the background of several of them, staring right at you.

“You ruined the shot…” you mumbled to yourself.

“Who did?”

You yelped, eyes snapping up to see Leona, leaning over the railing in front of you.

Startled, you flew into a state of pure, confused instinct and yelled: “Hello!”

Mortifying.

If only the elusive Malleus was playing, so that he could strike you down with lightning.

Leona seemed equal parts amused and perplexed by that. “Hello, yourself. What were you muttering?”

“Oh, just that…” Your heart was pounding. It was as if you were being chased, yet you were sitting completely still. “In some of the pictures, Ruggie was looking directly at the camera, so… They aren’t very good.”

Leona humphed. “Amateur mistake.”

“It’s fine, though, because there are a lot of good pictures too. So… It’s no big deal, or anything.”

You were talking far quicker than usual. Why were you acting so… Idia-ish? Leona seemed to notice the change in your disposition, as he turned a more analytical gaze upon you.

“Do you need a break?” he asked, sounding… considerate, almost.

“No, I’m fine. Just a little startled by you suddenly appearing. That’s all.”

“Alright.” 

Leona walked off, as if that was the end of the interaction. You had just begun to calm your racing pulse when he strolled back into eyeshot.

“Here,” was all he said as he handed you a water bottle. It was ice-cold and covered in condensation, yet the way his hand bumped into yours sent warmth fluttering through your entire body.

“Thanks,” you managed to choke out.

Leona smirked. “No problem. I like to take care of what’s mine.”

You didn’t know what to say to that. How could you possibly know what to say to that? Back in the cafeteria, you had mustered up so much confidence, but now the sheer audacity of your actions was coming back to haunt you.

The cafeteria felt like a dream. This, beneath the soon-to-be-setting sun, felt far too real.

“Unless,” he continued, “You don’t want that.”

Leona dripped confidence in that moment, but you didn’t miss the way his tail curled, to the left, and then to the right.

“I do,” you reassured him. “I like you. And I like Ruggie. A… A lot. I just don’t know where the line is.”

Leona’s tail slackened, and all felt right in the world. “That can be discussed. Don’t let it distract you from taking a half-decent set of pictures, little mouse.”

“It won’t. I’ll consider it motivation, I suppose.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Now… That sorry lot has been lazing around for long enough.” Leona turned to the rest of his team. “Alright, places, people. Make sure to give it your all - practice your curtsies and look good for the camera, boys.”

With a general roar of enthusiasm, the match continued.

You managed to get at least one suitably ‘cool’ shot of Epel, as well as a few of the other members. When the game finally came to its end, the team wandered off to the locker rooms. Everyone except for Leona and Ruggie, who made a beeline for you like you were an oasis in a desert.

“Did you get what you came here for?” Leona asked, leaning on the railing once more.

Ruggie, on the other hand, vaulted the thing and sat right beside you. He threw an arm around your shoulder, which was, admittedly, unpleasant, as he his entire being was dewy with perspiration.

“I bet you fell head over heels for me and my moves, right?”

“The only thing that was head over heels was you, when you were hanging upside down,” you retorted.

“Pretty impressive, right?” Ruggie pressed, bringing his face close to yours.

You smiled at that. “Very impressive.”

“Don’t stroke his ego too much,” Leona said.

“Well, somebody has to, it’s not like you’re dishing out the compliments…” Ruggie mumbled, loud enough for both you and Leona to hear.

“Oh, I get it,” you said, reaching an epiphany. “You have a thing for praise.”

“H-Hey, you don’t hafta be so blunt about it…” Ruggie bristled, hiding his face in your shoulder.

“Gross, you’re all sweaty!”

“Good! Suffer!” Ruggie whined, the sound muffled against you.

Leona’s eyes danced with mirth. “This is a truly pathetic sight, Ruggie.”

“Leonaaaaaa…”

Another epiphany struck you. “Ruggie, do you also have a thing for humiliation?”

“You two are the worst.”

“I think it’s easier to put it as a thing for attention. Attention of any kind,” Leona added.

“So… If I were to call you a pitiful, adorable mess..?”

Ruggie said nothing. He let the wagging of his tail do the talking.

“Got it… I’ll keep that in mind,” you said. “But seriously, get off of me, you reek.”

The hyena backed off, face covered in pink. “You’ll pay for all of that,” he grumbled.

“Looking forward to it.”

“You seem to be back to your usual self,” Leona observed in his usual drawl. “Good. It suits you more than being uncertain.”

“Yeah, I feel a lot better now.” You reached out to put a hand on each boy, one on Leona’s hand, and the other on Ruggie’s head. “I would feel a lot better if you two would go and shower, though.”

“Hm… I guess if my kitten is asking…” Ruggie stretched before springing up from his seat. “Alright, I’ll go. C’mon, Leona, before you fall asleep on the field.”

“Don’t boss me around, Ruggie.” In spite of that, he took a step back, signalling that he was going to go. His green eyes fell to you, holding the last of the sun’s warmth. “See you tomorrow, herbivore?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you both tomorrow. I can pick out the best pictures and run them by you.”

Leona’s teeth flashed as he let out a single, low chuckle. “Looking forward to it.”

All three of you knew that Leona didn’t care in the slightest about the pictures.

༺═────────────═༻

I've just opened asks for this blog, so by all means, feel free to get involved. Request pairings, ask questions, scream into the void... It's all very welcome (I don't have any TWST friends, can you tell, is it obvious?)

Next chapter is available: here.

[feverdreamjohnny]

The Epitaph of Anything Goes

I decided that this morning I would talk about The Museum of Anything Goes and the subject of lost media.

For the uninitiated, The Museum of Anything Goes is an obscure "game" released in 1995 by Wayzata Technologies, a company that is so far under the radar that I was unable to find any useful information about it outside of TMoAG.

All I could uncover is that they published a few multimedia projects (which are essentially lost now) alongside some asset discs (clipart, SFX, etc.). That's it.

The brains behind Wayzata are even more difficult to locate these days: there are only two main names credited inside of TMoAG - Michael Markowski and Maxwell S. Robertson.

The game alleges that Michael and Maxwell are well known in the art world, but any additional information about the duo is scarce beyond the confines of the museum. Attempting to search for either name online turns up plenty of rabbit holes - but none of them have anything to do with the Michael and Maxwell responsible for TMoAG.

This is particularly fascinating because it essentially means that TMoAG is the only accessible record of their lives. Before we dig any deeper into that statement, let me step back and actually address what this game is.

The Museum of Anything Goes is, by definition, a virtual art museum. Functionally it's a prerendered point-and-click adventure game where you can explore a bunch of multimedia exhibits that give the surface-level impression of a children's edutainment game, but once you start exploring further it reveals a side that firmly plants the game's feet into a haze of substance abuse and surreal humor.

Many exhibits are essentially just toying around with the astonishing new powers of CD-ROM. Everything has to make noise. Everything has to spin and flitter around. There's an air of genuine excitement for the medium, and I can't help but find it extremely charming.

The game also functions as a scrapbook, filled to the brim with photos of random trips to the zoo and snow-mobile rides with friends. At one point we even get insight into something as specific as Michael's one-year job as a tutor at a Chicago middle school, where he talks about how it opened his eyes to how poorly funded and mismanaged the school system is.

It's simultaneously quaint and chilling to see so much personal history packed into a world doomed to obscurity. As I explore the deeper parts of the museum, I contemplate if the creators are still alive today. It's a bit morbid, but imagine that - you create a single obscure game with your friend and it's all the world can see. TMoAG is currently the only surviving piece that gives any insight into who these two men were.

While many exhibits are lighthearted or nonsensical, there are occasional moments where the game dips into the eerie.

One exhibit has the player kill a man by dropping him from the sky, and after burying him you open the coffin to a video of a rotting pig carcass being put into an incinerator.

Other exhibits just feature simple 3D renders shifting around a dark screen while haunting groans play in the background.

While I would never refer to the game as "scary," its darker moments combined with the occasional mature subject matter definitely begs the question: Who is this game for?

You have to remember that this game came out long before the concept of "alt-games" had become codified in the digital space. Sure, unconventional digital art had been around before the advent of 256 colors, but TMoAG was being sold on disk as a game! It came out 2 years after DOOM hit shelves!

The trend of using the PC for entertainment was certainly on the upswing around that time, but It's not like TMoAG had a massive audience to find a niche in. With its mature themes it certainly wasn't suited for the kids market either, so who was it for?

At the end of the day, it's a moot question. We already know the target audience for The Museum of Anything Goes: Nobody. It doesn't have an audience because by its nature, TMoAG wasn't being made FOR someone, it was being made BY someone. It's a raw, unfiltered form of personal expression.

I think games like these are pivotal, because they question why people assume a game has to exist for the sake of being a consumable product. TMoAG certainly has the shape of a product: it features an intro cutscene, it has a tutorial, it features intuitive UX, it even has a map! These are all features that are solely integrated to provide comfort to an end-user. But once you actually wander around the museum for a bit, you realize how bizarrely its packaging fits its contents.

I think TMoAG is criminally underrated. It's not because its core content contains some earth-shaking truth, it's because the game defied all odds and cheated death.

How many thousands of other personal projects were deemed a little "too exotic" to be archived? How much history was lost these past 40 years as the digital space evolved and ate its old skin?

God knows how many other TMoAGs we'll never learn about because they weren't lucky enough to be preserved.

The Museum of Anything Goes isn't just some nonsensical art piece, it's a grave marker for so much lost media. Its existence is a reminder that some people's lives were fossilized, then macerated into nothing because a construction company built a skyscraper over them. The only evidence we have of those other games existing is this little fossil that somehow slipped out from under the skyscraper unscathed.

Even though so much has been lost, TMoAG survives as an epitaph.

[godtiers-for-real-justice]

…golly am i really that old ∑:^[;🌕

Why iN thE World WErE you guyS hypiNg up a vidEo gamE that comES iN disc form, Nobody playS phySical gamES aNymorE.