#i did this as quick as i could so they’re a little funky and silly and eh

[trunklewunjle]

(VOLUME WARNING) I’m easily persuaded, I will post this here, i love them so much they’re my life

Killer belongs to rahafwabas

Nightmear belongs to Jokublog

[luimagines]

Lord of Grand Entrances

Masterlist

Our first prize winner @scriptsandlanguages for the 500 follower raffle asked for Reader coming in on the Lord of the Mountain and the chain’s reactions.

I hope you all enjoy!

Content under the cut!

“Where are we?” Were the first words said upon arrival.

The new portal had been more disorienting than the last. It was as if the world was turning over and up and was down and left was right and it was a miracle some of them could even make it onto their feet. 

“Head count.” Warrior stumbles to a standing position. He keeps his hand on his head and forces his eyes to open. His voice leaves no room for argument. Everyone is still too disoriented to even think about going anywhere. The group patiently waits in their spots for Warrior to count them all in varying degrees of groans and whines.

“Seven.. Eight… Nine…” He squints. Yes, there are nine Links. That should be everyone. Why does it feel wrong?

Four groans out your name and tries to reach for you. When his hands come up short, he jolts upright. The violent motion does nothing for his head ache. Four has to fight himself and gravity itself to get onto his feet but he manages to not vomit or fall on his face. He calls you again.

Hyrule and Legend also start paying attention if you answer or not.

You don’t reply.

“Has anyone seen them?” Four asks.

Warrior wants to slam his face into the nearest tree. So that’s who was missing.

“How could we know where they are?” Legend stands as well, also still unsteady on his feet. “They were just with us. Why would the portal drop them in a different place entirely?”

“Who knows?” Twilight shakes himself silly to relieve the funky feeling that’s draped over him. “The point is that it did. Now we have to figure out where they went.”

“Do you think you can call them?” Sky pokes Wind.

The poor boy seems to be in a worse state than usual but even then he manages to find it within himself to respond. “With what?”

“That blue stone thingy.”

“My pirate stone?” Wind grunts. “I mean, I can try but so far I’ve only managed to connect it to Wild’s plate.”

“It’s a slate.” The Champion complains.

“Close enough.”

“Try anyway?” Sky persists. “I’d rather get a quick answer if possible than immediately start to trek through this world in an attempt to find them.”

Wind grunts again and sits up. He takes the stone out where he’s stashed it and holds it up to his face. “If you’re alive, let us know. We’re all dying.”

“We are not dying.” Sky shouts in an attempt to amend. “We’re just a little worse for wear.”

As expected, their voices echo out of Wild’s Sheikah Slate but he’s not inclined to answer in your stead.

Intrigued if you would respond in kind, Wild unhook the slate from his belt. He has a connection. Well that’s some good news.

“We’re in my Hyrule.” He calls out. 

“Oh goodie…” Legend raises his hand. “Land of Post Apocalyptic Desertion.”

“That’s mine and you know it.” Hyrule huffs.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“You don’t because it happens anyway.”

Wild puts the slate away. You’re not going to answer on his end. He sits up and finally tries to get on his feet again. “Any luck?”

“No reply.” Wind shrugs, also getting to his feet.

Warrior curses under his breath. No one else hears him with the exception of Time but experience tells him that they're wearing similar facial expressions. They’re a man down. They need to find you.

Four whines and holds his head in his hands. “Which way do we go?”

“In the direction where we find them faster.” Wind deadpans.

“Which is where?”

“I don’t know this isn’t my home.”

“Champion?”

“How am I supposed to know? We don’t know where they are.” Wild deadpans in kind. “How are we supposed to know what direction to go in? We didn’t exactly set up a randevu point of the off chance we would have been separated.”

Time sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “In hindsight that would have been the smart thing to do.”

“But we’re always together.” Twilight interjects. “We can’t be faulted for not being able to see the future.”

“Still.”

“Time-”

“The Old Man is right.” Warrior grabs his bag and starts helping the last of them to their feet. “We have to be prepared for every scenario. This time we weren’t. We can only hope and pray that our friend isn’t in any trouble and that they stay safe until we can meet up with them again.”

“Love your optimism, Captain.” Legend rolls his eyes.

“It's realism.”

“Well it brings out your eyes.”

“Thank you. I got them from my mother.”

Wild lets out a breath and shakes his head. Now that he no longer feels like he’s going to keel over and drop face first into the dirt, he can finally look around where they are and take the lead.

They’re more north than he would like but if they head east they can reach Rito Village before sun down. It would have to do.

“Hey boys!” You call out.

There’s a collective sigh of relief amongst the group. No extra traveling to try and find you, no wandering to places they don’t want to go just in case, no paranoia seeping in on the off chance no one finds out.

Wild is the first to turn to you. “Oh thank goodness you’re here. Where did you go so-”

He stops dead in his tracks. You’re on top of a very familiar creature.

“HOW?!” He yells. The group pauses and looks over to where Wild faces. The tall glowing creature walks closure without fear. It acknowledges Wild with a head tilt but keeps going forward at your gentle kick.

You grin innocently. “So.. I made a new friend.”

“We’re not even near Satori Mountain.” Wild despairs. “How did you get there so quickly and back?”

“I have my secrets, Champion.” You wink.

Wind instantly gets up and runs over. “Coooool… What’s his name?”

“He’s called the Lord of the Mountain.” Wild supplies before you can reply.

You speak anyway with a cheeky grin. “But I’ve been calling him Antonio.”

“...No… Don’t call him that.” Wild says with a tiny voice. “How come he seems to like you more than me? I live here.”

You laugh.

Hyrule seems to have been frozen in place as the creature turns to look at the boy directly. “This thing…. Is powerful…”

“I figured out that much.” Wild pouts. “He makes the whole mountain light up.”

“The whole thing?” Twilight raises an eyebrow, feeling better already.

Wild swats at the older boy playfully. “You know what I mean.”

Time is put off by the creature even if he’s brave enough to come near it. He reaches out hesitantly as he would to a normal horse and is pleased to find that it responds similarly. He gives it a few good pats on his head. “A very noble steed indeed.”

The comment makes you preen. You can only imagine what the creature would say if it could understand and speak in return.

Warrior can’t stop staring at it though, even though he personally refuses to come anywhere near it. He watches over the group like a hawk, with his arms crossed and a hand pressed against his teeth. He can’t help but feel incredibly nervous about its presence. He can see that Wild isn’t too bothered by it and you seem as right as rain about being on its back but he’s had enough experience with magic to know that this isn’t a typical companion. It’s a miracle that it even allowed you on its back.

Legend also knows that it’s strong but unlike Hyrule and Warrior who are frozen by it, he marches up and stands right next to Time. Petting it… is another thing entirely. So he keeps his hands to himself but he’s not afraid to stare it down. “So where did you find this guy in such a short time?

“Short?” You tilt your head. “We’ve been here for a whole day now.”

The group stills.

“Huh?”

“I went to get help.” You explain. “I found this guy instead.”

Four coughs. “So we could have totally died-”

“I don’t know about that.” You interject, cutting the thought off before it blooms. “I’m calling this some divine intervention. I think you all woke up while I was on my way back.”

Wild throws his hands in the air, giving up. He’s not going to think about it anymore.

Wind tugs on your pant leg. “Can I ride with you?”

You hold out your hand for the boy to take. In a split second, you lift him up as he jumps and place him behind you. The Lord of the Mountain shifts a bit and you both with it, but once a new position has been found, he allows you both to sit on his back further still.

Wind giggles happily.

Sky looks at the beast with childlike wonder and eventually finds himself in between Time and Legend as he also inspects it. He doesn’t have the confidence like Time to touch the mane but he reaches out for it anyway unlike Legend. A small gasp leaves his lips as he breaks into a smile. “He’s soft.”

Four and Twilight share a look. They stay at a distance, not wanting to crowd the proud beast. They both know that this is more than a wild animal and deserves its due respect. But neither can deny their fascination, (even if Twilight has seen him before).

Hyrule has yet to unstick himself from his spot, having been glued there the second he felt its presence. Twilight notices and knows the feeling. With a sigh the older boy goes over and picks him up, throwing him unceremoniously over his shoulder.

It’s enough to knock Hyrule out of the funk he’s found himself in but the damage is done. “Hey! Let me down!”

“Nope.” Twilight replies easily. He grabs Epona’s reins for good measure. The poor girl is made uneasy by the presence of the creature so he doesn’t trust her to be on her own. “Where to now, Champion?”

Wild sighs. “Rito Village. This way.”

You grin and gently guide the Lord of the Mountain to where Wild leads the group. The other boys follow suit like ducklings in a row.

“He’ll be gone by morning!” Wild calls out to you anyway.

“That’s fine.” You smile wider. “I’ve got a lot of good pictures.”

Wild continues to pout in jealousy. Twilight pats him on his shoulder having handed the reins to Time and Hyrule to Legend. Neither make any more comments.

It’s a fairly quiet walk to the village, which everyone is thankful for. It’s easier on their headaches that way.

[monodipita]

PLATINUM (Yandere!Jotaro x Reader)

Hello! I just wanted to mention that this is a part of a series on AO3. All of the works are old and were written back when I had a funky writing style, so I don't believe they're worthy of being put on my Tumblr right now. Check out the series though if you enjoyed this one! <3

Word count: 1,740

Warnings: Yandere content warning, blood, gore, mean yandere Jotaro

Of course you couldn't expect a response from Jotaro over something as big as this... but this man never really said anything at all or did anything at all for that matter. The relationship felt one-sided as is - and on top of that, Jotaro didn't seem to be interested at all in having a relationship. You felt unwanted. And now, it was finally time to put your foot down. This guy was still not saying anything.

"Look at you!" You exclaimed at him with a swell of upset and fury, "you aren't even saying anything! It's like you didn't want to be in a relationship with me to begin with!"

Nothing. Not even a change of facial expression - he just stared at you with his usual expression, half of it covered by his ridiculous hat. One, two. . . no. You merely scoffed and flipped his hat off of his head, glaring at his newly-exposed face before turning on your heel and walking away from him. "No more, Jotaro! No more, we are through!"

But that wasn't the end of Jotaro it seemed. He began to tail you, there wasn't even a pause to go pick up his hat. He just started following you without any motive. It was so creepy. You knew it was him without even having to turn around because you could hear the jingling of his chains colliding with one another, it meant that he was matching your brisk pace, trying to reach out to you, but you wouldn't hear it nor would you fall for it.

You needed to run.

Soon after the thought, your body began to pick up the pace to match what you currently felt at the moment. You ran as quickly as you could muster in your school uniform to the nearest bathroom, your heart beating like drums in your ear, fear quickly rising in the beating organ as you hit the door of the bathroom, pushing yourself inside and kicking your way to the bathroom stall. No one was there but you—and that wasn't good at all. Maybe he would leave you alone then? You didn't even know if he followed you to begin with when you started running, but your safe assumption was that he did. At least you were offered this brief moment of respite in this bathroom stall. The silence was both unnerving and calming at the same time. You felt as if you couldn't sit still.

"[Y/N]. I know you're in there." Jotaro's voice sounded eerily calm from this distance. "I'll go in there if I have to. Don't make me do it."

Now you felt the need to panic. You were worried about what he was going to do to you once you stepped out of this very stall. Beat you? Or worse, even kill you? While you weren't afraid of him going far or even doing something like that, for some reason you just felt. . . scared. You didn't want to and felt like you couldn't face him without something bad happening. You stayed still in your spot and didn't make a single word from the stall that you sat in. You hoped that he just... wouldn't come in here, even if he was threatening you with it.

"[Y/N]."

...

"[Y/N]."

No, no matter how irate his voice became, you never wanted to leave this spot. You squeezed your eyes shut and curled up on the toilet seat over the fear that he would be coming into this very bathroom, over to this very stall. You held your breath and waited for him to leave.

"It's because of him, isn't it [Y/N]? That guy that you've been talking to recently behind my back- it's him, isn't it? He's the reason why you're considering leaving me?" You chose not to answer. The more it just seemed like you weren't there, the easier it became to relax.

Complete silence.

Your body was rigid with anxiety, and you were stricken with fear. But, you needed to get up, and you needed to get out of here. Maybe he was either waiting, or he actually left to continue on with his business—you assumed both because he definitely seemed more than pissed off right now, but at the same time, he was never the one to pursue you if you got into an argument. However, that didn't really express how he was feeling right now. He was... angry at your words. Angry that you wanted to stop the relationship and move on. It was a much weirder, almost darker side of him that you didn't want to see.

After some waiting, you wordlessly stepped from your position in the bathroom stall and completely moved out of it, into the open of the bathroom. You could see yourself in a mirror when you looked to your left. A small puddle of water wasn't too far away from the very first stall closest to the bathroom. You barely had time to even breathe before you could hear the rustling of the doorknob of the bathroom, you darted helplessly into one of them instead of utilizing your surroundings and simply retreating back into the one you were just in. You muffled your whimpers with your hand going over your mouth (though it truly didn't do any good) as you heard Jotaro walking into the bathroom, or who you assumed to be. . . until you noticed that there were two pairs of footsteps. The horror on your face when you realized that they were speaking with each other.

"L-look, man, I don't want any trouble! Please, could you let me down—" that voice... it was so recognizable. Was that. . . [bestfriend name]? What was Jotaro doing!?

The scuffed sounds of feet squeaking against the floor were a sure sign that your friend was being dragged across the ground. Jotaro said nothing to your friend, presumably carrying the same wordless demeanor he had from before he left when he was now dealing with your friend. You could only bow your head in fear and hope that he wouldn't do anything to him.

"Hey—what are you—AAAAH!"

The disturbing and traumatizing noise of bone and flesh colliding with the sink of the bathroom was perhaps the worst sound you'd ever heard in your life. In the thick silence that followed for just a split moment, you tried not to make a single peep as the tears slid down your cheeks. He couldn't find out that you were here, or maybe, just maybe you would be next.

"What did you do to [Y/N]? Why does [Y/N] want to leave me? You poisoned [Y/N]." Jotaro's gruff voice asked to the sack of flesh and bone underneath him. Your wide eyes could see the two of them in the puddle left undisturbed on the ground. . . almost like he knew you were looking, but you could already see the damage done to the poor guy he was dealing with. [bestfriend name]'s teeth were gone, knocked out. Blood smeared his lips and cheeks. It was a horrid sight.

"W-what are you talking about?? I didn't do anything to [Y/N]! I only said to be yourself and let him know how you f—"

Another sickening smash filled your ears. "Not a good enough answer," Jotaro answered loudly over the sounds of [bestfriend name]'s screaming. "I DON'T KNOW!" He cried out to Jotaro, "PLEASE! PLEASE ST- AAAAH!"

You let out a sob as a final smash against the sink was heard—the sink underneath the boy falling to the ground underneath, emitting a piercing, loud noise around the entire bathroom. The boy fell to the ground as well, but Jotaro was quick to pull him up to act as both a shield from the water and letting the guy know that he wasn't fully done with him yet. "You're going to help me find [Y/N], or I'm going to kill you."

"I-I don't know where [Y/N] i—" he was silenced, but you don't know how he became so. Your worry became so paramount that you dashed out of the bathroom, ready to piss yourself running right now, but you were determined to at least get your friend some help.

"Stop!" You cried to Jotaro, "he doesn't need to be involved in this! I made this decision on my own!"

Jotaro glanced over at [bestfriend's name]. "Do you hear that? My babe said you get to walk away free. Consider yourself lucky." He dropped the guy from the tall height he held him at.

[bestfriend name] stumbled forward, his eyes staring at you, bug-eyed and nearly bloodshot. He made it two steps before you. Two, single, steps before you, before Jotaro took the boy's skull into his massive hand and smashed the boy's skull against the wall next to the two of you. Your eyes were glued open as they watched his body slide down the wall, to the floor, where blood pooled underneath his body. You flinched and screamed at the noise of your friend being so brutally murdered to only see the grisly sight of the aftermath, bloodied and disfigured by the hefty slam into the wall, and more importantly, lifeless.

By then, your fight-or-flight response kicked in. You turned on your heel almost immediately and sprinted to the door, but Jotaro was right on your ass. He pinned you to the door and laughed at you as you helplessly screamed and pounded against the door, saying, "you're so silly [Y/N], no wonder I found you to be so attractive. But, I think this is getting a little annoying now, don't you think?" He reached around and grabbed you by your frozen shoulder, turning you around to face him. His hand was quick to clamp onto your lips, ultimately forcing you to silence and even calm down.

You were left to stare into those deep blue eyes of his in horror, though the tears overpowered your sight and eventually left Jotaro to be nothing more but a blur.

"Why are you crying, [Y/N]? I think you should be happy. Look," he pulled his hand away from your lips to pull you into his body, crushing you even and holding you tightly as he made you turn and face your best friend. "He's dead now, so there's no one in the way of our relationship anymore. We are free to be together for as long as I can say 'you're mine'.“

[thesunshineriptide]

Hello!!!

just wanted to pop in and say I love your writing it’s so good!!!

I’ve been seeing you works since the our world au first crossed my dash and I gotta say your works just keep getting better and better, which is crazy considering our world was already phenomenal. Your ideas and aus are just so creative, I find myself drawn in and excited to see what you do with each new au. Like the one where some of the students were like, put into a sitcom style tv show by a students UM, that’s so interesting!! You’re so good at making suspense and intrigue and fluff and everything it’s incredible. Arms Tonite is a work I keep coming back to, who doesn’t love a good sickfic and the way you wrote each character getting to the point of passing out was just so in character I could 100% see them all doing what they did.

(as a side note I appreciate that with like prompts that aren’t romance focused or like lend themselves to that kinda dynamic you write in a way that could be, at least maybe to me I might be misreading lol, taken platonically. Personally I’m a big fan of platonic Twst content, the cast is just silly little pal shaped to me, and there’s not quiet as much stuff like that so I really appreciate anyone who writes a Drabble like that : D ((ik this blog isn’t the only to write things that can be platonic or romantic but it’s the one I’ve read most recently so it’s sticking out to me rn haha, if any other writers see this and also write works that could go either way I appreciate you to the sun and stars 🌟 ))

aaa ok back on topic whoops! speaking of characters you write the Twst cast so well, I really enjoy reading your works and seeing your takes on them. I always find it interesting to see how the little details of each character are handled from author to author, what gets emphasized, what is less focused on. I also love your works that have the cast interact with each other like the hotel room sharing split thing. The visual of Ace, Floyd, Kalim, and Jack just having a blast running around the hotel at 3 am is fantastic.

Oh oh and quick shoutout to your oc Howl, love that funky little mischief maker. I adore the way you gave them a custom blazer, that was so creative and it looks so nice!! They’re dynamics with everyone are also super cool to learn. I love just everything about when they just, wandered away from the Octavinelle, I don’t think after sorting party is the right word but I can’t think of another oops, and just all the interactions with them and Octotrio. The ending with them running from Floyd was so fun, and the last line of just “They could not outrun Floyd” is so funny it makes me lose it.

Whats also making me lose it is this recent whumptober series 😭 it’s so wonderfully written as always but also I am in so much pain. Each new work in the series just leaves me wanting more, the potentially happy conclusion juuuust out of reach. It’s been so fun each day seeing how you will rip my heart to shreds next lol. I need a sequel for each and every work asdfg

anyways, apologies for the giant slab of text!! Again your work is just so fantastic and I look forward to seeing everything you think up next, keep up the fantastic work and have a great day!!!!! :D

(and also thank you for not having my eternal enemy, word limit on for anons on, or else I would have to do the worst thing imaginable ever, be concise 😨)

Okay first off, sorry for not responding to this but I was enjoying seeing it in my inbox every time I looked over requests because it just made me smile and it makes me so motivated to see someone enjoying the stuff I post

Second of all THANK YOU SO MUCH

I'm always a little nervous when I post au stuff because it can be pretty hit or miss but I'm so glad that you like it!!!

Also, yes!!! I try to write stuff that can be seen as platonic or romantic because personally I think it's just more fun that way. They're just silly little guys doing silly little things! I also enjoy platonic headcanons too because sometimes I wanna know how the dorm leaders would react to me handing them a rock without it being flirty, yknow? And I also feel like relationships aren't 100% romantic all of the time? But who knows maybe I'm wrong! Point is yes yes platonic headcanons/fics are great and I adore writing them

And thank you!!! I try to write them somewhat true to the source material but exaggerating certain things is pretty fun. I think it's incredibly funny to have Riddle just be completely clueless about basic information but an absolute WEALTH of knowledge about academic shit, or to have Idia be nervous around big groups of people but a total confident nerd bro the minute he's alone with someone/comfortable. And I love to think about how characters react to one another and their dynamics we don't get to see a lot of in game. (Bonus headcanon: Trey, Jade, and Jamil all gossip with eachother in their spare time)

Also this reminds me that i still need to write the second part of arms tonite oops

AAAA yes howl. My beloved self insert. Absolute menace to society. Thank you for all the soft comments about them because dfjkshkfshdfkshf /pos they're a little shithead and also me and I have so much more content of them sloooowly coming

also OOPS i skipped two days in a row and accidentally forgot I was doing whumptober I will be getting back on that today skfdjlhfkgjsdfh but thank you for the kind words regarding that too because I do get a bit nervous when posting that dfkjghkdslhfkjd /gen /pos

This has really been making me want to keep writing (even if i took a couple days off) so thank you for this its really really sweet and im all like. UwU I would die for you anon <3

[modmamono]

Why Space Channel 5 is one of SEGA’s best dumbest games ever, no questions asked. (Report 1 & 1/2.)

Space Channel 5 on the Dreamcast is one of my favorite things ever, let alone favorite video games. Though I more often watch it on YouTube then actually play it.

For those not in the know, Space Channel 5 is a game series developed by United Game Artists and published by parent company SEGA. And that’s the most Wikipedia quoting I’m gonna do in this gush piece.

There aren’t many games quite like this rhythmic, Simon says game. At least in style because this game has that in spades, the gameplay anyone can do. And I am not at all qualified to explain its style because I wouldn’t how to describe it as besides maybe very 70s?

Point is there’s something charming about this game, and I think SEGA agrees with me on that. The lead character, Ulala (seen above), appear in these games to name a few years after new Space Channel 5 games stopped being made after 2002:

2004: Sega Superstars

2006: Sonic Riders

2008: Sega Superstars Tennis and Samba de Amigo

2010: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 

2012: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Project X Zone

2015: Project X Zone 2

And not to mention the invading aliens have been skins of the titular Puyo Puyo in that series for a while I can’t determine. Possibly since at most 2007 up until current day with Puyo Puyo Champions in 2018/2019.

ALSO not to mention the VR game that came out recently! (How could I forget that? That’s the main reason I’m doing this.)

So it is clear SEGA loves this game and it’s sequel a lot. I don’t think their most beloved cult classic NiGHTS: Into Dreams gets that much love from the company though it certainly does get a lot itself, most games wish their parents still loved them that much long after they had a game. Anyway...

Now the part where I actually talk about the game.

I wanna say, first and foremost. This is not a review of the game. This is just gushing about why this game makes me happy.

And everything I’m gushing about is just what you get from the from one playthrough of the game. Save for one exception, I will not be talking about supplementary material, nor Space Channel 5′s lore.

And yes, this colorful dancing/rhythm/simon says game has lore. Basically any non-repeated character model has their own biograph. So I will not go into that.

You’re not missing too much, there are interesting tidbits, sometimes they fill you in on background details of the story.

Speaking of the story. I’ll start in a second. But if this is new to you, you can watch it here first (The first playthrough is only half the video):

Prologue:

We start off with a bunch of alien sitting on a space couch watching space TV. These aliens are known as the Morolians and they’ll be the main antagonists for the evening.

This cutscene has no dialogue, so this is all open to interpretation for a first time viewer. Though I do enjoy this split second foreshadowing:

And that’s when the title screen appears. Blasting you with the series’ main theme Mexican Flyer. Look it up if you must. You’ll be hearing it a lot, it’s the game and Ulala’s leitmotif.

Report 1: This is terrorism attack on an airport... I’m gonna ignore that.

This is the only piece of supplemental material I’ll talk about, as it’s present in the game itself, but not elaborated on, and it is important to two of the character.

The game starts in a flashback. In the year AD 2489 a spaceship exploded. Everybody on board died safe for a little girl.

She was rescued by a man working for Space Channel 5. A news organization that with a specific focus on dancing. That last bit is nothing special though, as everything in this galaxy revolves around dancing.

After the little girl is saved by this kindly Channel 5 Gent (Age 25) she knew what she wanted to be after she grew up. She wanted to be a sexy dancing reporter for Space Channel 5 just like him (presumably). And to meet him so she can thank him in person.

10 years later......

It is AD 2499! And the Morolians attack a space airport and their ray beams hypnotize people to dance silly.

THE HORROR!

And that’s when Space Channel 5 sends in Ulala to report on the progress.

But what they’re actually doing is for Ulala to solve the problem instead of the Space authorities.

One character I do wanna mention now is that Ulala’s producer, Fuse, is an unseen character yet is important later. He’s the one briefing Ulala in the screenshot above. And oversees Ulala’s every move.

Also Ulala never got to meet her rescuer. He either left shortly after Ulala got rescued, or shortly before Ulala joined. Given what we learn later, likely the former.

Anyway onto the show:

BAM!

BAM!!

BAM!!!

I will always love that. Ulala got down on the ground in the panicking space air port to coolly report on the panic.

As quick aside, I wanna mention that Ulala doesn’t run in this game, she slowly struts and all of her struts are simply majestic. And those amazing struts lead her to the first gameplay section of this game.

Some Morolians hold a few hypnotized people hostage. This is is a dance battle. Meaning you got repeat exactly what the aliens do in the exact rhythm they did it in order to save the hostages. And I love this gameplay. It’s simple yet fun (provided you got minimal lag, you should look into that if you wanna play this game).

The controls are:

Up: Up

Down: Down

Left: Left

Right: Right/Light

Button 1: Chu (Aliens)

Button 2: Chu (Humans)

And this is how normal people settle things in this world apparently:

Party 1 (usually the Aliens) make up a tough but fair pattern for Ulala to copy in the hopes of psyching her out.

Party 2 (Ulala & Co.) gets as many chances ad she got. And the better she does more people tune into her news report. If she wins she gets what she wants. Saving the hostage and getting Party 1 out of her hair.

Every single one lives by this code of honor and I honestly have no clue if there’s an in-universe reason. But I love it regardless. I love it when people say: Up Down Chu Chu Chu. And the Ulala repeating it.

Though frankly, I don’t like it when the Morolians issue the commands. I like it when others do the exact same commands in this same game, so it’s a little bit of a bummer the Morolians do it.

Anyways. You save the hostages and they join in on Ulala’s unstoppable strut as will always happen if you rescue people. And they strut to the second gameplay type: The Shoot-out.

The controls are the same as the above but now you gotta watch out for humans in the mix.

In general these are trickier. And I might go into that later. But they do work on the same rules.

Don’t worry I won’t go over every dance or shoot-out unless there’s something special about it.

Also I’m pretty sure you kill people if you push the wrong Chu. Don’t do that, it’s bad for the ratings!

Skipping over three battles.Something new happens, rival space news station: Space(?) Channel 42 has a reporter of their own out on the field. And that reporter is planning to steal Channel 5′s viewership. And this is HER!

You do a dance battle and she dies.

Though seriously, I like this game does this. It’s not only aliens you fight, but other factions of the Space News Media. And it’s always a nice shake up when someone besides her shows up.

You see, for the most part any reoccurring enemy has recognizable mannerisms you gotta batlle, and her is no different. It’s hard to describe for me. You kinda gotta play or watch the game for yourself to see what I mean, but I think it’s best exemplified in Report 2. And the following games.

Though one thing’s for sure, each non-normal Morolians or rival reported does bring their own genre switch with them. Heck sometimes even normal battles have unique genres. I’m am not musically inclined so I wouldn’t know hers or most others. 

Any way, before she dies she give an emotional speech and gracefully suggests to take her Channel 42 guitarist with her and Ulala accepts that’s the least she could do for a lousy reporter like her.

And then it’s boss time!

Yeah, actual bosses with actual boss characters. And not like the recently deceased as shown above. She’s practically for all intents and purposes another Morolian dance battle.

And it’s down to funky jazz music, not unlike what you’d see in Sonic Adventure! Even Ulala comments on it, confirming it’s dietetic  Where does it come from? Not sure, there might be an explanation somewhere. But do keep that in mind. That the music we hear is also the music the characters hear as well.

Anyways:

Not Pictured: Super Stretchy Arms.

I think it’s a bit of a misnomer. Invader is correct, that’s what it’s here for. But is it really a robot? It moves like an organics and is a bit rubbery. This basically goes for all Morolian robots.

I can suspend my disbelief. You shouldn’t nitpick too much about Space Channel 5, it doesn’t want you to think too hard about it’s world even if there’s a lot to it. I’d be concerned if Space Channel 5 did wanna put its story and world building first and foremost.

But “Hypnotized Robot Invader”?

What?

Spoiler.

Robots and hypnotism... I’m pretty sure a sign that we made perfect human-like Artificial Intelligence if they can fall susceptible to Hypnosis. Even then I doubt it.

Sorry, that’s always bothered me, I get what they mean by it. It’s just the word choice... Did they mean Hypnotizing Robot Invader? This boss is great.

It starts off with a normal dance battle, but you get to watch a new Morolian enemy’s moves. It’s also quicker on the draw along with a few softballs to throw your timing off. Pretty good stuff.

And that applies to the next phase as well, where the the shooting starts.

I don’t have much to say.

Unlike the robot’s final phase where it’s the first phase again, but with guns and the robot goes to berserking speeds with the input commands.

And after you beat it, it joins you in a strut.

As does everyone you saved, No matter the gender, nor age, nobody is embarrassed imitating Ulala no matter what she does. We’ll be half as lucky to get a cool future as cool as 2499.

And with that the first report is over.

Report 2: (Age 35)

At the Morolian HQ (Presumably), their boss doesn’t like failure.

But like a good boss he doesn’t dwell on failure and moves on to the next plan. One of his lackeys has this plan: Another boss battle dance robot who operates on:

The everyone at the table is impressed. So I guess Ulala is screwed, game over.

This level is more of the same as the last one more or less, it’s possibly the most boring level in the series in that regard. It’s not bad, this is just the game bulding enough a status quo before they change things up in Report 3.

But that doesn’t make this level any less interesting to talk about, so I won’t go over it much.

The short story until something new happens is: Space Ship (think of it as a fancy yacht but in space) is being attack by Morolians, Ulala is send to report on it, and being the professional she is saves hostages as well.

She saves the captain, crew members, stewardesses, waitresses, the Space Diva (OH NO! NOT THE SPACE DIVA!), passages and the like.

UNTIL!

He voice says “I’m gonna steal you show, Space Channel 5”. And you see this ship flying by:

Another rival reporter, this one a pirate broadcasting station.

Side note: That’s sounds like the most important kind of pirate ever. Alternative news/non-mainstream with no money/rating motive blinding everything with journalistic integrity? Yes, by all means. If they’re pirates then so are Secular Talk & The Humanist Report.

Back to the silly dance game. The Pirates either jam or hack Channel 5′s signal and the Ulala is stuck with them for a while.

And then we meet that where we meet the gent above.

“[His] name is:“

“JAGUAAAAARRRR!!!” “JAGUAAAAARRRR!!!“

(Age 35)

LET’S DANCE!

Dude, I love Jaguar (Age 35) he’s gotta be my second favorite character in the series on account he’s just cool and incapable of embarrassment.

Remember the deceased of the last report? The Channel 42 reporter in the blue dress? He’s her counterpart for this chapter.

But whereas the deceased’s gimmick sounded air headed for a lack of a better term. Maybe, girly? Point is, battling her didn’t feel too dissimilar to battling Morolians despite her rhytmic mannerisms.

Jaguar (Age 35)’s gimmick is that he just adds. He starts with a simple Up. And then he adds a Chu, and another Chu. Eventually it becomes a really long chain of commands, it has to be some of the longest in the series. And you have to do them all from start to finish because he does them all sequentially. Can you repeat?:

Up. Chu. ChuChu. Right. Left. Down. DownDown. Down. Chu. Chu. Chu.

He is easing you into it, but it is by no means an easy fight. Because after the chain is at its longest, he just spamming ChuChuChu in quick succession. And then a simple Chu.

After defeat Jaguar & Co, escape by jet-pack, saying they will meet later.

This battle is a highlight for me. Coco Tapioco and the big bosses to come are better if you ask me (with exceptions). But Jaguar (Age 35) is some of the best the normal gameplay goes.

And you could argue what normal means in the context of Space Channel 5. But effectively, like Channel 42′s deceased, functionally he might as well be another Morolian if he wasn’t there to be set up for later. Because you do get person that just joins your Strut Club like everywhere else.

You gain his Jazz Man and you get a great sax solo as a reward beating him. Like how you got Channel 42′s guitarist for beating them. I like the think the Jazz Man can work for Jaguar (Age 35) again while the Channel 42 Guitarist is blacklisted.

And before we move on from Jaguar (Age 35) check out his Chu pose:

BOSS TIME!

Jaguar (Age 35): The alien mothership is retreating. Don’t you have to follow them, Channel 5? Fuse: Blast you, Jaguar [Age 35].

With the pirates giving chase, Ulala is left with the cowardly alien robot to elegant music.

Ignoring the robot’s title, while silly, its cowardice is its greatest asset. For it has kidnapped some space schoolkids, making their space teacher worry. Their space teacher can actually be seen at the start of the report.

Space fashion, am I right?

I’ve exceeded Tumblr’s invisible limit of what to put in a blog post. I’ll have to rewrite this boss what I have to say for this boss. So full, can’t spell check! We’ll be back!

[diminuel]

I wasn’t all that fond of 15x10 while I watched it yesterday. I loved the premise and Garth, but I think it was just a bit too over the top for me. The placement of this episode within the greater context of it being the final episode and following the rather gloomy previous episode just made it feel a bit off. That aside, I just didn’t enjoy watching it all that much even though I could appreciate what we were given.

But I’m giving it another rewatch and another chance! I’d love to hear your thoughts too, whether you agree or disagree with my reactions. :D

It takes hardly any time for us to notice something completely amiss and they don’t even hide it: a classical piece of music accompanying a bloody fight between two monsters. Everyone is going to notice that this isn’t quite right, which then guides over into the next thought: the editing makes or breaks a scene. I think that’s the overall theme I took away from this episode. Metatron said that God posted the first draft and we’ve seen both Becky and Metatron edit God’s writing. The first conclusion we could draw is that God is not “editing” Sam and Dean’s story. But actually that doesn’t make a lot of sense because he couldn’t see Sam and Dean before either and they were fine. It’s maybe that he over-edits it. He throws problems in their ways that are... well, kind of what Becky wanted; the everday issues. Them dealing with laundry all day. This is the stuff we write, ad absurdum. And with monsters.

So the theory I’m going with right now is that Chuck is editing, just differently than before.

One preliminary thought regarding Garth: Were there no consequences to the Grace he had swallowed during AU Michael’s weird monster plan? What happened to that monster plan in general? Michael seems to be very bad at stragegizing.......

Dean’ shopping: The shop is called Berens’ quick trip. Berens is always sending us on a trip, though I think this one was Dabb’s fever dream. *lol* Lots of music for what is basically just showing Dean shopping. We see the guy giving Dean a ticket through the window but Dean’s oblivious, too focused on shopping. (Two six packs of beer. This might either show Dean indulging or Dean stocking up for Cas, not that Cas wants beer usually.) 

Dean knows the store attendant by name, so I guess this is a place he goes to often, though I doubt it’s in Lebanon because of the high rises in the background? 

What did Dean buy? Some beer, a magazine, some chips, something sweet he’s eating... How did that amount to over 40$? Why did he go buy that? Why not go to a proper store and buy proper food? Just beer and snacks? As someone who has to do her own shopping now this seems inefficient. (And my shopping center is in 5 minutes walking distance. *lol*) Also, I think I’ve seen people mention that the magazine is a cooking or baking magazine?

Also, here’s the first instance we have of Dean’s teeth hurting. Just stop eating the chocolate you silly man.

I have no compassion for Dean whining about getting a ticket. He’s not allowed to park there. Rules apply for you too, Mr. Winchester. I don’t like people who think they can do what they want. *thinks back to young snobby looking BMW driver who parked in the middle of a square in front of a bank and who got a ticket* *Schadenfreude* (That’s the kind of person I am. I like people who think rules don’t apply for them to be punished by the law.)

Sam’s scene in the kitchen: I assume it was Dean who had started cooking and then just walked away to get some more shopping done. This is merely based on my assumption that Sam doesn’t cook. We know that Sam sometimes does kinda stupid things like blowing on paper to make the fire go out... Touching things straight out of the oven and putting his hands on a hot pot are pretty thoughtless. And he’s clumsy apparently.

Also why the heck would he pull the pot from the stove? It wasn’t even boiling over. Just lower the temperature. Have you never been in a kitchen before, dude? And you’re not even cleaning up after yourself?

Dean and Sam discussing their issues: So Sam never trips? Both noticed right away that this was weird. Sam looks so offended. Like “I’m Sam Fucking Winchester, I don’t trip!”?

Also, did Sam say “dinner”? Is it already evening and they’ve just been hit with “normal person-itis” now? I see Sam’s watch but I can’t decipher it right. It it 5:35? What time of the year is it in canon? I was still light outside when Dean was shopping.

In the car on the way to Garth: A look, it’s dark now, which suppors the “they just randomly got hit with normal people problems. The music for this scene is also unusual. 

I’m annoyed that Cas is in heaven. Why. Why is he up there? Why does SPN always stash Cas out of the way with random stuff? It would have been nice if there had been a phone call or something with Cas checking in or just a mention that Dean was driving back from dropping Cas off at the angel gate or whatever. It takes so little, makes such an impact for me. This? Sorry. It’s just not enough for me.

Why is the car giving up the ghost? Especially in such a weird way? Isn’t Dean constantly working on the Impala? This is not normal people problems either.

At Garth’s: So Sam and Dean walked like 16km? Couldn’t they have taken public transport OR a taxi like normal people...? Or call road assistance or Garth at least? I don’t know what it’s like in the US but that seems a bit extra, even for Sam and Dean.

Garth and Bess have an old style phone in their house, which is a random remark but it’s a nice deco object.

Garth’s Twins: I don’t quite understand why Garth calls the twins Sam and Castiel. What kind of connection does Garth have to Cas? Why not Sam and Dean? If only one of the brothers, why Sam? He has more of a connection to Dean after all? I don’t get it. Dabb just liking it when people prefer Sam and Dean has to roll his eyes at it? :/

Again with the weird, out of place music when they have a look at Bess’ cousin.

Dean and Garth: The dramatic music when Dean steps into the dentist’s room. *lol* And then his disquieted “you’re very strong” when Garth forced him. I think since Garth treats werewolves who might also have an aversion to the dentist, he’d be used having to use a bit of force *lol* Besides. I really love getting insight into how monsters deal with “normal people problems” because they have them too. It’s a shame that we don’t see more of that side to monsters. We only see those monsters who mess up after all, rarely those who try to blend in. 

I might not know much about dentistry but I only had cotton stuffed into my bleeding mouth like that when I got my wisdom teeth out in an operation. Sure, I bleed a bit when I have appointment but not like that??? Just what did Garth do? Replace Dean’s teeth with werewolf teeth? *lol*

Sam and Bess: Dramatic music continues when Bess hands Sam the “cure” drink. It kind of frames the scenes as dangerous and at least it put me slightly on “confused edge” because the music made me think I couldn’t trust Garth and Bess. Sam’s struggles are kinda... over the top. I mean, we’ve seen Dean eat ghost pepper jerky and suffer, but Sam is suffering kinda ridiculously, like he’s been hit by a curse or something (i.e. still like he’s in the middle of a battle against some monster). Ew. Sam wiping his tongue on the arm he’s been sneezing and snotting into. Uff.

The tap dancing: Nice but I don’t really see the point in it >w< I guess normal people have normal funky dreams. And I guess Dean dreams of joyful things like dancing and having FOR ONCE gentle interactions with a lamp instead of always smashing them.

Talking about God and being heroes in a story: I like Garths’ approach to this topic and that he’s much more aware of story structures than the Winchesters seem to be. Why does Dean need a colonoscopy? (Angsty thought: does he have cancer...? Can werewolves smell it? Is that how it’s gonna end? Normal people problem killing Dean? Nope.)

Scene with the cousin: Poor Sam, he looks so upset when his “gentle request and puppy eyes” approach didn’t work. Though I like that it’s Bess who gets the guy to talk (like it’s Garth who gets the job done later on). I really like that monsters have normal people problems too. And it seems like the Winchesters are still very surprised about that.

Sam and Dean “job”: I think they’re being idiots here. Not only do they lack any evidence that the monsters who watch those fights are harming people, so they just kill them because they’re monsters? Also, it seems very unwise for two people alone to take on how many monsters?? No damn research done at all. And on top of that it seems really unwise to go on a case when they don’t know what else “normal people problems” entails while hunting. At least Sam might have been alarmed due to his sudden clumsiness... Just, stupid move on the Winchesters’ part. 

Side note: Sam doesn’t seem to be comfortable saying anything at all. He still seems to be shocked by the werewolf’s diss.

Dean continues to be kinda dumb and I don’t exactly get why. They don’t know what they’re walking into, so they definitely need to be prepared and I can think of several examples where he was prepared for anything. And now that he can’t be sure of his “luck” he’s not gonna think twice about it? And him munching his grilled cheese, talking with his mouth full and “playing” with the gun wasn���t super endearing to me. Sorry, I know many found it cute *lol* And who vomits that loudly...? I mean... ew.

I liked that Dean tried to bluff his way out of the situation and maybe it would have worked in another situation... 

Dean and Sam in cages: It makes no sense that not being able to pick locks is part of normal people problems because I’m sure they learnt how to pick locks over the years. So this, and their inability to fight later on (another thing they’ve learnt) just makes it clear that Chuck didn’t just remove them from “hero” status, but took away more than just their special skills.

Dean’s entire heartfelt speech doesn’t work either, neither on Sam or Dean, nor on the audience both because of how it’s filmed (no particular clear shot of Dean’s face and Sam constantly looking uncomfortable) and the variation of Dean’s theme.

What’s with Dean’s throat? I don’t understand what he said.

Garth saves the day: Dean’s awed “you are so strong” is cute! Why has he never been in awe of Cas’ strenght? Cas lifted a 1t anvil once and Dean didn’t even look at him amorously for it. 

Man, there are a couple things I don’t understand here! Wish I had subtitles because I’ll probably only get what “we’re gotta get out of here blblblbl monstersquad” or “the monster squad bbbüb the good guys” means.

I think they might still be able to fight but whatever “hero” bonus they had was deleted and now it IS almost impossible to just knock out a monster. They did have more trouble in earlier seasons before they could just easily stick an angelblade into every monster and not even break much of a sweat. But the whole fight sequence is just a little bit too ridiculous for me...

Back at Garth’s home: The whole “this Cas keeps looking at me weird” scene is my highlight. I wonder if now that Dean and Cas are no longer locked into their defined roles (though I’m not sure if Chuck has written them with a specific dynamic, since he never seems to make use of Cas) Dean will notice more about Cas too ;D Though of course Dean does notice the way Cas looks at him (”the last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid” as a classic example). But still, maybe something to think about. Since a story does come with particular characters dynamics between heros and their supporting characters.

Dean saying that he could be an awesome dancer if he wanted to be is nice. The only thing he lacks is a partner to dance with. Though... He doesn’t lack a partner since he has Cas back now. He just needs to make the first move ;3

Baby clearly doesn’t want to go to Alaska. *lol*

Okay, that was a long post again, not structured at all, not edited, and it still took me multiple days to rewatch and type this up! Haha

[dojan-dog]

lydias girlfriend Emma have dinner with the family, only for the gang to find out... she can see ghost too (this would be so cool as like a few paragraphs, but i dont care haha)

(good god that was the longest case of writer's block I've ever had... Well anyway, I like the prompt, I like the name, let's get funky and writing. I have zero knowledge of Emma's personality so I'll be writing her as I envision the scene going down)

Dinner was served.

Delia and Barbara had really taken it upon themselves to cook the very best meal they could, no doubt to impress Emma, and maybe dupe her into thinking that dinner was like this every night. Before Emmas eyes were trays of mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken, pot beef, shrimp, and a steaming boat of gravy. A salad bowl fought for elbow room on the already crowded table, presenting it's feta cheese and cucumber delights. Out of sight, in the kitchen, was a dish of apple pie. It's aroma drifting into the dining room and teasing the diners did nothing to help ease their growing appetites.

Lydia, an eyebrow raised at a shrimp dish, thought back to yesterday morning, when breakfast was a half baked piece of toast she had made in a rush to get to school. No doubt she had inherited an easily satisfied palate. She glanced at Emma.

Her girlfriend sat next to her, turned towards Delia. The two were chatting about some recent fashion designer scandal that Lydia knew little about. She wasn't involved with that sort of stuff, but Emma was. She smiled, watching Emma excitedly discuss the fashion scandal, her hands wringing the hem of pastel blue skirt, a quirk that she often exhibited when talking about anything of interest. Lord knew Lydia saw it very often on their first date.

"Lydia."

Barbara was next to Lydia, bent down and whispering in her ear. Lydia, playing off any surprised reaction (she had a persona to keep up,) turned and whispered back. "Barbara?"

Barbara waved a hand towards the kitchen. Through the doorway, Lydia could see Adam drizzling the apple pie with a generous amount of glazing. His glasses were slipping off his face, and he made no move to push them back up, so concentrated was he.

"Listen, the apple pie seems a bit lacking," Barbara murmured, forgetful of the fact that breathers couldn't see or hear ghosts. Lydia whispered back, because breathers could definitely hear her:

"If you call that lacking, then you must have the biggest sweet tooth in the world."

Barbara gave a small giggle, then said, "Adam and I will bake another pie. I have a recipe from my mother; it's called the 'Someones Coming Raspberry Cake.' It'll be done in twenty minutes, tops. Is that alright? I just want your girlfriend to have choices.."

Lydia gave Barbara a thumbs up, and looked back towards Emma, who had twisted in her seat to ask Lydia her opinion on the fashion designer scandal.

Barbara, smiling at the two girls, glided back into the kitchen.

Finally, Delia set down one last basket of cornbread, and they all could dig in. Emma, ever the extrovert, complimented each dish. The beans were steamed to perfection, the chicken flavored wonderfully, the gravy was rich... Emma kept up the conversation.

Delia looked ecstatic. Emma was so different from Lydia, who refused to talk in anything but sarcastic comments. The flattering remarks about her cooking were quite a nice change as well. There was one last factor- her hostess skills, a topic she needed validation from.

"So, Emma," Delia said nonchalantly, passing her some shrimp. "You seem to really like this dinner. Tell me, is this a dinner party or what?" She gave a quick laugh to cover up any awkwardness. To be fair, any sense for awkward was now directed towards Emma, not Delia. Emma's moment of Truth was upon the party.

Emma loaded some shrimp onto her plate, scrunching up her nose as she thought. "Well," she set the tray down and looked up, a pleasant but curious look on her face. "It's a very wonderful party, and the cooking is really very good."

Delia's smile stretched from ear to ear. The girls tone sounded genuine.

Lydia first looked to her father, who had his eyes on Delia, a smile hidden under his neatly groomed beard. Lydia then turned her attention to Emma, and felt herself blushing a bit when Emma looked at Lydia, her girlfriend's curious eyes boring into her own.

"I was just wondering..." Emma started, her eyes moving from Lydia's, and looking past her. Why was she looking behind her? What could be back there-

"Why won't the other couple eat with us?"

Lydia's eyes widened.

Charles' shoulders tensed.

Delia's little gasp of breath sounded as loud as a gunshot in the silence.

In the kitchen, where Emma's eyeline had been directed, Adam and Barbara looked up. The couple looked just as shocked as the Deetzes. They seemed frozen, Adam still holding a raspberry he had been about to place on the cake, almost comically.

The silence stretched even further.

And further.

It felt like they had all forgotten how to speak.

Delia was the first to attempt communication, waving her hands and sputtering. This obviously didn't answer Emma's question, and she stopped at the gentle touch of the hand Charles placed on her back.

Lydia was looking at her girlfriend, eyes still as wide as the dinner plates sitting before them. She finally managed to choke out some words. "You- you can see them?"

Emma nodded. "Well, yes. Can't you?"

Lydia nearly started to collapse, but Emma quickly grabbed her hand and let out a laugh. "Oh, silly- of course I know you can see them. I saw you whispering to the blonde lady earlier, and I saw the man folding the dinner napkins and rearranging forks and knives. I know they're ghosts-" (Delia and Charles both let out a sputter. In the kitchen, Adam gasped,) "-and I know because my basement has a little ghost cat. He disappears when he sits in sunlight sometimes, and he once brought back some weird striped worm when I let him outside into the yard."

The impromptu reveal was met with even more silence. Emma's grin began to fade, Lydia noticed, and Lydia did not want her girlfriend feeling uncomfortable. A discreet glance at Delia and Charles proved they thought so as well.

She fought the overwhelming urge to spit out her millions of questions and to focus on just one. She squeezed Emma's hand.

"Emma."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to meet them?

[borhapimagines]

fic #1: joe and the bass:) -P

pairing: joe x original character 

word count: 1,572

summary: joe and one of bo rhap’s sound mixers hit it off when he plays the bass for her :)

 Ann arrived on set Monday morning expecting a typical work day. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Working as a sound mixer for Bohemian Rhapsody was pretty much as good as it gets, considering the iconic music that came with it. Although days were long and required focus, it was all worth it. It was exciting work, after all. 

    As she pulled her red Jeep Wrangler into the lot, she noticed Joe, one of the actors on set, was parked in spot adjacent to hers. He was sitting in his car, looking as though he was waiting for someone. Ann had always thought Joe was cute, but didn’t have strong enough feelings to act on. Besides, they were both quite busy throughout the day and only found time to exchange “hellos”. 

    Ann made a few maneuvers to make sure her car was parked between the lines and eventually took her key out of ignition. She could be a bit of a precisionist, notably while parking, and always made sure her wheels were perfectly parallel to the lines bordering her spot. 

    Ann took off her seatbelt and glanced to her left. She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, and glanced at Joe before giving him a quick wave and smile before hopping out of the car. Quick “hellos”, as usual. 

    As soon as Joe saw her, he smiled back enthusiastically and swiftly got out of his car. He walked up to Ann cooly, trying to seem nonchalant, although he had been waiting for her to arrive so he could strike up a conversation on the way in. 

    “Hey Ann, how are you?”, Joe said, trying to seem relaxed. He feared he sounded too cordial, however. 

     Ann was taken aback. Not because she didn’t want to talk to Joe, but because she didn’t really expect it. Wasn’t he doing something in his car? 

    “I’m good, how about you?” Ann replied. She was also trying to seemed breezy and calm, and succeeded without really trying. It was that very type of demeanor that Joe liked about her. He was typically a fun, silly person to be around, although he couldn’t deny his occasional neurotic tendencies. He tried his best to cover it up, but Ann just thought it was part of what made him so charming. 

    “Good! Good. Just a little nervous for today, you know?”. 

    Ann laughed. “I can’t say that I do? Are you getting a funky new haircut?” 

    Joe rolled his eyes playfully in response. “No, but don’t manifest it. This perm will be the death of me.”

    “I don’t know, it really isn’t that bad. Maybe curls suit you”, Ann said, trying to comfort him without seeming overly earnest. “Anyway, what are you nervous about?”

    “Oh, well, I guess it’s silly, but we’re filming the Another One Bites the Dust studio scene today, and since I go back and forth from dialogue to the beginning riff on the bass, I assume they’re going to want me to do it without any backing track. It’s not that I don’t know how to do it, it’s just a little scary playing completely by myself, you know? Oh god, I’ve talked your ear off, sorry”, Joe responds, just a little sheepishly. 

     Ann smiled sympathetically. “No, no, don’t apologize. I don’t mind. I bet that can be a little nerve-racking. If it makes you feel better though, I’ll be right behind the camera, recording it all onto the sound mixer”, Ann responds with a laugh. 

    Joe smiles. “You know, it kind of does.” 

~     Joe had been neurotically practicing the same riff over and over again, afraid that he would mess up once the cameras started rolling. It was time. The assistant director called action, and before Joe knew it, he was reciting his lines without even thinking about it. Finally, it was time.   

   “Let’s see how good of a boxer you really are!”, Ben (as Roger Taylor, obviously) said. 

    That was Joe’s que. He twiddled his fingers, and finally, when the time came, he played. Needless to say, he was nervous, but had to conceal it. He was an actor. Staying in character was very clearly the most crucial part of his job. John Deacon probably wasn’t nervous in that moment; Joe had to act like he wasn’t either. 

    Determined as he was, Joe was able to play the riff perfectly in one take. It certainly helped that Ann was behind the camera cheering him on with kind eyes and a smile. 

    After a few more takes, shooting was complete for the day. As the cast and crew slowly started to shuffle off set, Ann approached Joe. 

    “Hey sorry to do this to you, but the mixer didn’t pick up the riff very well. Could you do it again for me real quick? I didn’t want to ask earlier because I didn’t want to put you on the spot in front of everyone like that”, Ann explained sympathetically. 

    “Oh yeah, no problem”, Joe responded casually.

    Almost everyone had headed out of the room, and both Ann and Joe were conscious of the fact that they were waiting until it was just the two of them. The two tried to convince themselves that it was just so the sound quality could be enhanced, but Ann knew better than anyone that sound mixing didn’t work like that. 

    Gwil, Ben, and Rami were the last to leave. They pretended to be preoccupied, but were just eavesdropping. They knew that Joe had a little bit of a crush on Ann. As they finally decided to leave them alone, Gwil subtly winked at Joe, to which he received an eye roll. 

    Ann swiftly set up the sound mixer and gave Joe the go ahead. He played the riff once more, visibly more relaxed than before. Ann smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

    “That was perfect, thanks!”

    “Was it really? It keeps just sounding off in my head”, Joe replied sheepishly. 

    “Of course. I wish I could pick up on an instrument like that”, Ann reassured. 

  Just then, Joe decided to make a move. A friendly one, but still, a move. 

    “Do you want me to teach you? It’s actually pretty simple once you get the hang of it”, Joe said warmly. 

    Ann gave a closed-mouth smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to waste your time. You barely ever get a break.” 

    “No, no I don’t mind at all! Besides, it’ll be fun. There’s no pressure or anything”, Joe replied convincingly. 

    Ann gave in, but made Joe promise that if he needed to go he wouldn’t be too polite and head out. 

    Since most of the instruments had been moved off set once shooting finished, Joe and Ann had one bass to work with. Joe began to teach her the notes, and demonstrated how she should move her fingers along the strings. To guide her, Joe decided to put her hands on top of Ann’s. He admitted to himself that he realized it was rather flirtatious of him, but figured it was fair because his heart was practically beating out of his chest. 

    Ann was no different. She hadn’t expected this. Not that it was even a huge deal, but it changed her perspective a bit. She had never considered Joe in this way. She figured it was hopeless. 

    But Ann knew flirting when she saw it. And that’s what he was doing. 

    “Yeah, there you go. It’s not that hard, right? If I can do it, then a brick could do it too”, Joe joked. 

    “Hey, don’t sell yourself short. It’s cool that you’re able to do that. Makes you interesting.”

     Joe blushed. “Well, now you can too. So I guess we’re both interesting.” 

~

    Ann and Joe walked to their cars together. They were both trying to slow down their pace in an attempt to make their time together last longer. What both of them eventually realized was that if they wanted, they could spend time together elsewhere. It just never seemed like an option to them. 

    As Joe unlocked his car and headed toward the driver’s seat, Ann decided to be bold. After all, it was clear they both liked each other. 

    Nervously, Ann spoke. “Hey, uh- I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime, like not at work?”

    Joe didn’t respond right away, which prompted an anxious Ann to get insecure. Defeatedly, she said, “You know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, I think I just read into today too much, sorry.” 

    Shocked, Joe shuffled over to her. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. He did like Ann. But Joe was just as nervous as she was. He didn’t want to respond too enthusiastically, or not excited enough. So his neurotic mind got the best of him. But Joe wasn’t going to let that stop him. 

    “Hey, no no no, I don’t think you misread it at all. I felt the same way, I’m just bad at socially interaction”, Joe joked, trying to lighten the mood. 

    “You don’t just have to say that. It’s okay, I get it.” 

    Joe realized there wasn’t much he could say to sway her. So instead, Joe gently kissed her on the cheek. 

    “I promise I’m not just saying it. I’m going to call you tonight and we’re making plans”, Joe announced, walking back to his car. 

    Ann had never blushed so much before. 

~

 Joe did in fact, call. 

[ladytimedramon]

A teacher’s take on High School Story: Schools don’t work that way

A whole week no students, so I have time to do a few more things. Since my last two posts were about staffing, let’s look at what’s causing the main bit of drama: funding.

Part One: Staffing

Part Two: School’s Internal Structure

In High School Story, Principal Isa takes the funding from Band and Cheer and gives it to the basketball team. 

In reality, a school sets its funding at the previous year. Creating the budget is a long, arduous process between district and school, based on previous years’ funding and predictions for the beginning of the year. First allotments are towards building management, building maintenance, staff salaries, and any other major necessary expenditures. Allotments towards organizations are secondary. They’re also pre-planned like any other allotments based on how much funding they received the previous year and how much is left over.

Naturally sports get the lions’ share of the funding. Sports bring an amount of prestige to schools, especially at the high school level. They’re exciting and they draw big audiences. There is a reason for shows like Friday Night Lights. Football, of course, is at the top of the hierarchy. In Texas, we even have high school sports shows to discuss statewide sports events. Sports bring donations. Sports bring notice. When’s the last time someone saw a news story on how amazing the local band performance was, or how wonderful the cheerleaders did at halftime? If a high school band is lucky enough to land a position at a major parade, you might hear about it, but otherwise nothing.

This is where sponsors come in. A good sponsor is a master of fundraising. The Funky Winkerbean comic strip uses it as a running gag, but their band is off selling something in theme with every holiday (turkeys, chocolate, magazine subscriptions). At my previous school, you knew something major was ahead when the band, orchestra, and choir began stalking the teachers with their catalogs of gift wrap, candles, etc. Our old choir teacher (who retired) was the guru of the fund raiser and any novice sponsor at our school sought his advice.

I was yearbook sponsor at my school for five years. Most of our budget came from yearbook sales, but if we wanted to try to offset the cost of the books, we had to fund raise. Let’s look at how my funding went, just as an example. 

At the end of the previous year, there might be $100 left. I know my cost per book, and set the price of the book accordingly so that we meet production costs. Extra funds are nice for glue, paper, etc, and possibly an extra digital camera. The quality camera might cost $250. (I’m just estimating right now, and I know cell phones have great cameras, but bear with me.) At the beginning of the year we don’t have the funds. As yearbook, we don’t get an allotment at all. So to get the camera we have to fund raise. I had to decide how to do this. Not the students. They could make suggestions but in the end mine was the final decision. We went with Dad’s Club’s Pizza Fridays (Dad’s Club bought the pizzas, we sold them by the slice, paid them back for the pizza and kept the rest). The students handled the sales while me and a parent volunteer SUPERVISED. In the end we had enough funds for a camera and a couple of SD cards.

So, as to the problems in High School Story.

1. The budget is set. It was set by the school board and principal the previous year. 

Isa can’t just take the funding from cheer and band and give it to basketball. I seriously doubt any district or school board would allow a principal to just take funding from one and give it to the other. If basketball needs more funds, they can fund raise like everyone else (I get at least half a dozen football players at my door every year selling some sort of fund raiser). Local news would eat this up and run their own investigations.

2. Band and Cheer don’t have the funds for their events.

This is where the sponsor comes in. Get out the catalogs and go door to door. Spend a few bucks on the made for fundraising dollar candy bars (or go the big box store, buy a jumbo box of bars, and sell them). If you want to have an event, even just a bake sale, supervise it! One of the best fundraisers I saw was election day. Our school was a polling place. Math club wanted to raise funds for a tournament. They sold coffee and pastries outside of the auditorium so people stopping to vote would buy a quick snack. Math club parents volunteered time to supervise so the kids always had an adult present. They made enough to pay to go to the tournament and buy shirts for the whole team.

3. Luis’ accident and the funds being used to pay for them.

Where were the adults who should have been supervising the carnival? Anything physical should have had an adult present, even if it was a volunteer parent. IOW, the dunk tank, the horse ride, and the sled ride. And just one silly little point - did Luis have that doubloon valued? He could have given it to one of the groups to sell to use, even though it might be only worth $20.

I honestly don’t know if that’s legal or permissible for Isa to make the funds from the fundraiser be used to pay for Luis’ medical bills. Teams don’t pay every time a player is injured. I’m sure the school didn’t pay when Mia was injured.

Schools just don’t work that way.