#i think a big difference too is when a parody is fun as this would be and not blatantly disrespectful

[septembersghost]

I was listening to some of Weird Al Yankovic's music a bit ago; I would've loved to see Al do a parody of one of E's songs (maybe "Burning Love" or something like that) and just see E's reaction to it lol!

thinking about the laughing version of are you lonesome tonight and how ridiculously funny E was (some of the studio outtakes!), and what a good sense of humor he typically had, i have no doubt he would laugh at a Weird Al parody.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Speaking of twst events, what are your Top 3 Favourite game events so far? I'm genuinely curious. :'DD

Are there any events you didn't like?

[Referencing this post!]

Mmmm… I think most events are at least okayish? In general, I tend to prefer stories with high stakes or the ones that have some meaningful impact on character development, which are few and far between when it comes to TWST 😅 so their events aren’t typically my thing! You’ll notice that my favorite events in TWST actually do have story and/or character relevance.

That being said!! My favorite events would have to be:

Glorious Masquerade — This is, in my opinion, TWST’s strongest story and best overall event. It stands out against the others by having actual stakes and fully committing to it, as well as does wonders for the SSR trio’s involvement and interests in taking down the Big Bad. This is particularly true of Idia and Malleus. Said Big Bad, Rollo, is also very compelling in his own right.

Wish Upon a Star — Historically, this was the first time we saw the student’s rooms! The story itself introduced us to Star Rogue, which was pivotal to the Shrouds’ childhood (and later becomes relevant again in book 6). It was sweet to see Deuce try so hard to get Idia to come out of his shell, and even sweeter to see how far Idia is willing to push himself for his brother.

Fairy Gala: What If (NOT the first Fairy Gala; this is an important distinction!) — The edge this has over the original is that it is connected to Ortho’s growth as an individual post-book 6. He is able to discover his own take on what “evolution” is. Silver also gets a cool spotlight which demonstrates the pacifist teachings he was imparted with, serving as the bridge between fae and humans. Very pretty clothes and makeup too!!

I also liked:

Happy Beans Day I and II — This was a nice event that gave the whole cast their time to shine without feeling too bloated. It was also fun to see the different strategies and tactics each student employed; it helps show off their characters and problem solving abilities!

Ghost Marriage — I really liked that TWST parodied the fairy tale love stories and romantic events (that Disney and even mobile games in general are typically associated with). Hilarious how each of the guys tried and failed because they’re just silly high school students with no idea how to actually get a date 😂 I’m also biased for any outfit that involves formal wear.

White Rabbit Festival (Queendom of Roses hometown event) — The Alice in Wonderland aesthetic of Clock Town captured my heart 😌 It was also nice to see Deuce prove that he has turned over a new leaf to the townspeople.

The events I didn’t care for are:

Endless Halloween Night — I have very strong beef with the ending and the reasoning given for it 💀 It feels like everyone got gaslit into forgiveness… I also hated how no one held Malleus fully accountable after all the stress they were put through. Easily my most disliked event.

Tamashina Mina (Sunset Savanna hometown event) — Underwhelming ending in spite of the hype building for it. No meaningful payoff for the foreshadowing of Cheka’s guards.

Tsumsted Wonderland I and II — Nothing really happens (other than I guess the Tsums being cute)?? And it doesn’t really make an impact on anything.

Lost in the Book with Stitch — Same issue(s) as the Tsumsted events, except somehow even worse because everyone magically forgets everything they did with Stitch :/ so the experience means nothing in the long term…

Honorable mentions for my dislikes:

All Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles — I hate having to sit around and wait for ingredients and the fact that you can’t cook multiple dishes in one go. The lack of story also makes these events just not worth it for me.

Sam’s New Year Sale(s) and TWST Anniversary — Do these event count as a story event???? They’re just kinda celebratory short interactions, if anything.

[ms--lobotomy]

Since you tagged me in this poll I feel the need to answer with my thoughts for all of them. You know, for funsies.

40k Guilliman: pretty good option. He’s (somewhat) mentally stable and has talked it out with you beforehand. Though I am curious on where he acquired primarch-grade bondage equipment. Is that why it was planned months in advance? Was he spending all that time just trying out different kinds of ropes and chains that could hold him like some sort of kinky parody of Fenrir from norse mythology?? Also, he deserves sex that has him relax and not possibly shatter his partner’s pelvis, let that man rest. 8/10.

Corrupted Horus: We all enjoy a very evil and very charismatic man from time to time. And the chaos gods which are currently kinda wearing Horus’ body like a condom are one of the options presented in this poll. But before your mind gets carried away with the fantasy of hot mean DILF, we have to think: He’s still a DILF. And so his taste in music will be that of a Dad. So get ready for him to blast Imagine Dragons while sexily taking his shirt off. You plead for him to strip faster, not because you’re horny but because you hope that when he does so he’ll turn the rock & roll cover of Thunder off and fuck you properly. He won’t. 1/10.

Jaghatai: No words other than those of approval. No thoughts other than those of lust. 9/10.

Ferrus Manus pre-heresy: Not sure why you specified pre-heresy but maybe I don’t have enough imagination for a post-heresy lewding scenario, but I digress. So I feel that the sex wouldn’t be the main draw of the situation here, instead it’s more to do with trying to make a guy feel better about a body part that he wants to peel his metal-skin off of. Ferrus is a dude that has simultaneously given all of his children body dysmorphia (that they try to fix by replacing their body parts with tech) while also wanting to get rid of the most technological part of himself. And he won’t even tell people a direct answer about where he got the technological metal hands from anyway. This man is an enigma and the sex is just a backdrop for the true scenario; which is the Ferrus Manus character exploration that’s going on. So to judge purely by the sex itself it’s a solid 5/10.

Daemon Magnus: This dude will not only do all of what you specified. But he’ll also add Gale from bg3 astral plane type sex into the mix. The only limit is your imagination Babey!!! 11/10 (he may have used his psychic powers to mess with the rating).

Leman Russ: What’s not to love about a big scary man in a collar? What’s not to love about a living war machine getting restrained like they’re a simple animal?? Though him eventually breaking out of it would imply that my skills in Husband husbandry are poor, and that might make me kind of sad. 7/10 (would change it to 8/10 if you also put a muzzle on him)

Pre-Heresy Fulgrim: The number one rule of kink fantasy is that nothing will work out as perfectly as you want it to, something will always go differently than it did in your imagination because, fun fact, your partner is not a mind reader (and even if they were it’s not like they can control every action/reaction they do/have). If you fuck him he will be very very very disappointed in you and will act like a bitch about it. 3/10 (the sex stops midway through because you ruined his expectations too many times).

Rogal Dorn: The way im about to sexualise that middle aged man. Oh boy… well first of all I’ll- [REDACTED BY THE INQUISITION. SUMMONS A DAEMON OF SLAANESH IF THE TEXT IS READ OUT LOUD]. 9.5/10.

30k Corvus Corax: Now while he can’t be perceived, I can. In fact I am very perceivable. Unlike Corvus’ furtive emo outfits my fashion sense consists of wearing the most sparkly and shiny accessories all the time and in very large quantities. I dress as though I’m trying to sound like one of santa’s reindeer or a sentient human windchime. And my penchant to talk very loudly knows no bounds. So combining his extreme stealth with my extreme unstealth gives us the average of The Normal Amount Of Noticeability. Which would get us both arrested for indecent exposure. 0/10 because i don’t want to go to jail.

Sanguinius: also a pretty good option. Though I question how a man who had big issues with being deified by the mortal populace would feel about having his more “angelic” features worshipped. But I’m sure I can make it work. 7.5/10.

In conclusion: the vote goes to Magnus, but if he wasn’t there then Dorn would be attaining the title of “babygirl” real fucking fast.

Time to /finally/ answer some asks. This isn't a knock on you by any means, or anyone who's sent asks. I'm just not very good at it lol

Robby G: Listen. L i s t e n. This man is 1. the type to have a schedule for sex (nothing wrong with that if thats what people are into) and 2. the type to take it in the butt. He deserves it in the butt. Yes, he is a space war criminal. But wouldn't it be nice to put it in him?

Horse: I'm sorry, the image of an Imagine Dragons striptease is... enlightening as to the individual Horus is. He's the dad that hosts the barbecue parties. He's the dad that falls asleep watching TV. Hell, he probably wears Hawaiian shirts. (That last one's got me bricked up. Shit)

Jagh: This one got me. He fucking would be into leather, be it on him or his partner. May write a fic about it in the future. Dead serious

Ferrus: Ok, I'll admit it, this one was self-indulgent for me. Yes, Ferrus is an ass in canon. I also want him so bad, and that also entails helping him through some shit. (It's the "I can fix him" instinct.) Also, if his partner isn't ok with 17 inches, that's understandable. (Also also, I specified pre-Heresy because him coming back headless horseman style is kind of a pipe dream of mine)

Mags: Monsters are hot. Next guy

Russ: This one was a bit of a gift for my Russ fucker friend. You know who you are! And if you're a Russ fucker anyways, please be my friend

Fulgrim: This man has been through so many partners and he still doesn't understand kink very well, bless his heart. He's still gotta make sure everything goes the way he thought it would, otherwise what's even the point? Mm. Maybe he can be put with someone who makes him realize that it doesn't need to be that way.. ;v

Doorknob: Go ahead, sexualize the brick wall man. Put him in a maid dress. He'd like his partner to be a little rough, especially during... ahem. Encounters. Remember the Rogal Dorn position? Maybe not all the time, but fuck, this man needs to take it like his life depends on it.

Corax: Not for everyone, I get it. Especially if your clothes are like that. I applaud your fashion sense, you dress how I've always wanted to. But that fic's still rattling around in my mind. Thank you Raven Lady we all say in unison

Sang: You raise a very good point. I don't know how comfortable he'd be with focus on his more non-human qualities. But it can work. I have faith in you, battle brother.

[helido24]

Well... i finished both snootgame and volcano high, i needed to talk a bit about them

First of all: I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SOO MUCH, FANG I LOVE YOU I HOPE TO YOUR HAPINNESS

2:. . .jeez, it's so difficult talk about both games without making parallels or comparing them

SG is a very simpler visual novel with a... very questionable reason to exist to begin with, but even with that it surprises you with a very beutiful story of self development and young love in the modern times. The multiples endings all of them are EMOTIONAL DESTROYERS, even the obvious joke-shouting-super edgy ending 1, but just 'cause all the care and love you have for the characters, you feel it in a more deeply way and you suffer watching them like this, giving you strenght to do the best ending possible and. . .oof, that destroys you too, but in a different way

I love Fang an Anon soo much, i wish them nothing but hapinnes

And talking about the elephant in the room? Well... i don't think snoot game is anti-LGBT propaganda

"B-but it's about fang doing destransicion"

That's the take talking about SG in GVH wiki and i'm not with that

Yes, anon is openly an ashole about lgbt themes and always talked shit about it

And the game treat the whole fang(they/them) with humor. . .both of those things happens between the first hour and the bad ending

As the game progress and anon makes the RIGHT choises you can see him at least try to comprenhend the pronouns thing, and perhaps he makes mistakes about it,but he get that is something important to fang

And yes, there's an ending where fang simply leaves behind all that identity and becomes a generic femenine wife? That's not the true ending

The true ending actually respect that side of fang, with her still liking that style,style being like that, still being fang, the only thing she doesn't keep is the pronouns

To me at least, fang's story isn't just about being no-binary. But being a young person trying multipples sides of their persona and life to try and found itself, with the help of the ones who cares about them to grow as a person

Fang could be a She,a he or them, and i would be perfectly fine with any of those

But if at the end she found herself more happy in this new version. What's the problem? If precisely that's the goal with this theme right?

BUT.... snootgame have a very heavy sin to carry and is. . .it's a 4chan game, and is a parody made to make fun about an openly pro-LGBT+ game

Even with how good the story is, with how NG never attacks directly the community and the movement, it's very hard to believe there's no bit of bath fait in the people behind

We still have all this early shit-talking about this theme after all

But having all in mind. . .i just can't hate snootgame, with it short experience it turned those characters in a very big part of my life (at least for this month lol), and the story touched me in various levels 'cause personal reasons (let's just say i had a "trish" in my life)

And well. . .thank you cavemanon for this very beutiful experience, i'm hoping your next project can shine your talent even more without so much controversy around it

And talking about conteoversy....

*sigh*

Goodbye volcano high. . .with you i have less things to say but still they're important i think

First of all: its FUCKING UNFAIR what happened to this game. An openly pro-LGBT+ visual novel with "tumblr aesthetic" being the first fucking thing they show about the fucking ps5??

What the fuck

It was throwed to one of the most savage and closed-minded fandoms in all the internet: """hardcore gamers"""

And just when they're waiting to some assasins creed, GOW or any other super big HD IP with muscles in the muscles of the characters

I can't think about this choise as nothing but an homicide, forgive for the comparation but. . .this shit was taking your 8yo cousin of color to a place you KNOW is full of neo-nazis with guns and criminal precedents. You know what you're doing or you are extremely stupid

And then internet folks started all this controversy and harassement and hate to the game and the studio by a lot of sides and themes and. . .i feel so sorry for the studio and the people working in volcano high, as a snootgame fan i'm truly sorry for what you passed trought, im hope with all my heart this doesn't make you to give up this style of game, and i'll be waiting to see your next project with heart ^^

And now talking about the game. . .fuck

Fuck fuck fuck

I'm sorry,i know what i said but. . .volcano high is broken by so much sides

I really wanted to enjoy it, i really wanted to love this version of the characters and the story but. . .fuck, i can't

Almost all the characters are soo flat (personality i mean)

All and everyone of them talk about ona (1) thing that they like and never shut up about it, you can be talking about anything else and- OH here's comes trish to talk about her worm. . .again, or sage and their cooking, or fang and their band. . .i get it, they're character traits and you need to use them but... i don't know these people, i don't know at all these characters at all.

In the first hald of the game you need to at least try to tell me something about them, their relationships, their past and problems, give me a reason to give 2 and a half shit about them... and they try, but everytime they talk and seems to be about to give some context they start to just talk about that one and only thing they like, leaving me with nothing to work with

And that's the problem of volcano high in general to me. Is obvious there's a story, there's a background to these characters and there's real context to almost every conversation they have. . .but we don't know it, we can't see it, we don't KNOW these people and is frustrating. After the 2 hours i just shuted down my brain and every time this happend i just go "oh yeah,some cute experience we don't know about them)

The two musical montages (there's 2 right?) With photos of the group living their lives and interacting with each other. . .they're very cute and seems to be fun, but we don't live any of this. Fuck sake i WANTED TO BE SAD in the ending, i wanted to feel the characters and their lives sliping away at the end

See al these beutiful and impactful moments? Well. . .i'd love to see them, to live them with them

But we don't. They're just a bunch of PNGs passing by at the end as the music continues. And that upset me a lot...

And what upset's me the most. . .you know why i care so much about the characters? Why i need to know their lives and feel something in this story?

BECAUSE OF FUCKING SNOOT GAME

They made me to care about fang and the gang, abour nazer, about naomi, about stella and rosa, i cared about this characters soo much that. . .i feel attatched to the GVH ones too. Even if volcano high do close to nothing to make me care for them at this level

It's to sad and so unfair, volcano high obviously was made with a lot of heart and they OBVIOUSLY cares about the characters a lot more than almost anyone in both fandoms, just the "memories" from above show it. But with the game story and characters as they are right now. . .i don't want to compare them so much, but honestly without NG being so important i wouldn't finished volcano high

And about the story itself? Well... is very rushed to say at least

As i said earlier they spent too much time trying to made us meet the characters (but without letting us know them)

To sudenly introduce the meteorite plot and. . .it feels zero important. Yeah it drives the characters to the harsh decisions they're making and how they interact with each other, but for half the game the meteorite is just there in the background and just mentioned over here and there as a reminder. Just to sudenly be the most important thing in the world at the last hour and half of the game.

Before that all the plot is about fang,the band and the battle of the bands (wich i hardly care about at this point)

But. . .fang and the band? Here they made it a very good work

Yeah, fang talk almost exclusively about the band as is their (1) personality trait, but still they manage to make me feel and understand how important is this to them, and. . .wow, i really felt how fang was feeling reed and specially trish leaving them behind and not taking the band seriously (and still having fang at the edge with promises of being a team but without helping them AT ALL)

I mean, there's no problem with reed and trish don't seeing the band as something more than some fun friends time after school and wanting to make something else for their life. The problem is they seeing fang talking 24/7 aboud the band their future together and openly taking life decisions about it and never saying "hey pal, i think you should focus more in a solos career, we don't want to live with the music but we're still friends" or something like that. . .and they do

Trish says this to fang. . .in the battle night, just in the most important night in fang's life, just to say that she's leaving the band in this very important moment and taking choises she never discussed with fang (as fang did talk with trish about theirs)

And the story insist on pointing out fang as the bad person here, who makes all the bad choises and burn all the bridges with everyone. . .but they doesn't

Even at the end with everyone crying and yelling each other, is fang who talk to everyone and says they're a horrible person and you can blame everything on fang because. . .reasons? Idk because with all the choises and talking options we taked at this point, we clearly made fang a very patient and caring person, but still there's one and only way the story was made and was with fang being constantly a bitch with everyone, so it doesn't matter if you take the bad or good options to talk about 6 hours, the dialogues are all about the bad ones almost constantly. And that's fucked and unfair for my dude fang the pterodolphin, i love them so much

But. . .not everything is bad with volcano high

The background arts are beautiful and very colorful, a lot of cute dettails and i love them

The characters? Well. . .it's weird, i love them a lot and they're very unique, in the special images and animations they look soo good

But in the normal gameplay...

They look kinda derpy all the time, and the few animations they constantly use for everything get repetitive after a short while (take a shot everytime trish does the eyebrow rise grin animation, tell me how you died)

((Btw perrito tacita epic cameo))

The art style in general of the game is very cute and i love it, but for the in-game animations they needed some more time to make them. . .feel alive and les akward

And the music?

Hell yeah this is good shit, i love fang's voice and definitely i'm gonna check more of their music soon

In conclusion...

I can see where all of this came from, if that leaked script is real it just makes soo much sence about how the final product ended,i can see every original plot being planted as seeds in the final game but never having the chance to grow or even blossom, just a little sapling in the dirt, and that make me so sad. . .

Even with all of that,they managed to launch the game,and leaving out all the controversy i think the game got very descent sales and everything was kinda worth, i really hope they don't give up again with this type of story

But Ko_On and cavemanon are full of talented people and they deserve a chance to grow and shine by themselves

Both without being a perhaps-bad-faith parody, or without so massive backlash from the wrong people who's not are even interested in the quality but the politics in the games

I don't make this kinde or post so often,but i had to speak my mind about something so important to me

Thank you very much if you readed it 'til here and sorry for the mess,i was typing things as they apeared in my mind lmao

Check it out my art, i just recently made this piece of fang and i really loved the result ^^

[iamsweden]

WE GET POSSESSED? | Ghost Hunting with Friends! Pt. 1 Before the Hunt

Summary: 

While filming what should be a routine “ghost hunting” urban exploration video with her friends, Tressa uncovers old secrets that should have stayed hidden.

A/N:

Celebrate Halloween with me by reading this obscure Octopath Ghost Hunting Youtuber parody AU?

This is really just a fun little thing I wanted to do, so I’ll posting chapters as soon as I finish them! That means minimal editing, so I apologize for any errors! I just want to get as much done as possible before Halloween hits tomorrow :)

I’m also cross-posting this fic on AO3 but without the extra formatting. Click HERE to read! 

All chapters will be tagged with #ghosthuntingwfriends if you'd like to follow along!

Enjoy!

WE GET POSSESSED? | Ghost Hunting with Friends!

515,962 views | Oct 31, 2024

For this week’s treasure hunt, I take my friends on a Spooky Halloween Adventure to the HAUNTED Old Royal Academy in Atlasdam! 

Featuring: 

Ophilia (@AskSisterOphilia)

Cyrus (@historywithcyrus)

Therion & Alfyn (@GrabBagGames, @DontTalkToMe, @thatherbguy)

Primrose (@primroseazelhart)

Olberic

H’aanit & Linde

Follow me!

IG and X: @TressaColzione

Edited by Noa (@wyndyseagull)

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Before the hunt

3:30 - FIRST FLOOR

8:50 - SECOND FLOOR

19:51 - THIRD FLOOR

25:02 - HEADMASTER’S OFFICE

33:28 - TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

38:02 - History Lesson Break

46:57 - THE H4TCH

48:36 - B4SEM3N+

66:66:66 - F4LL1NG IN+0 +H3 A8Y5S

1:19:58 - CALLING THE EXORCIST

1:24:20 - NVM WE’RE GOOD

1:36:21 - REFLECTION

—

BEFORE THE HUNT

Since diving headfirst into her steller youtube career, Tressa has learned several valuable lessons: avoid drama, thoroughly vet and research any potential sponsorships, create backups of all her files and videos, etc. You know, the stuff anyone in the business will tell you to watch out for. And even though Tressa hasn’t been on the scene very long, at least compared to some of her peers, she really feels as though she’s gotten the hang of this youtube vlogger thing.

So when she rolls up to the looming, imposing facade of the abandoned Old Royal Academy in northern Atlasdam, Tressa doesn’t have a worry in the world. Tonight is gonna go off without a hitch. Once all of her friends get here, she’s sure they’ll be having too much fun exploring the old place to get scared.

Tressa can’t think of anyone else she’d want to guest star in her next big video than these guys. Even if they all make different kinds of content (or no content at all, in Olberic and H’aanit’s cases), everyone is guaranteed to come out of this venture with a special video of their own.

Cyrus and Olberic are here first, of course. They live in Atlasdam for one, and Cyrus specifically helped her nab permission to shoot on the premises tonight. His set up is frighteningly simple and devastatingly slapstick: a cheap video camera and likely even cheaper clip-on microphone. Olberic holds the camera steady with the fortitude of a statue. Cyrus barely pauses his agonizing ramble about the history of the college to wave at her in greeting.

“...thereby earning itself the new descriptor ‘old’ in 1847. However, the Old Royal Academy’s doors would remain open for several years yet, producing such austere minds as esteemed poet and playwright Simeon Ventus and Atlasdam native Yvon Baudelaire, who earned the title of second president of the (new) Royal Academy in 1864. Shortly after his inauguration, his alma mater would mysteriously catch fire, destroying a large part of the northern part of campus and compromising the structural integrity of the building as a whole. Regrettably, the fire claimed the lives of forty-eight students, teachers, and staff. The school closed, never to open again. As you can clearly see behind me, however, the Atlasdam Historical Society restored the building with the intent of transforming it into a protected historical landmark. While repairs were completed in 1962, a series of logistical mishaps stagnated the effort, leading to the project’s abandonment in 1970.”

With his very interesting and not at all boring monologue finished (for now), Cyrus claps his hands and spins on his heel towards Tressa, donning a mighty grin. “And here is our intrepid adventurer now, come to lead us on a journey through this stunning piece of history! How have you been, my dear?”

“Good!” she says, dragging her last duffle bag out of the back of her car. She brought more than enough gadgets and gizmos for everyone to use tonight. 

Tressa has REM pods. EVPs. A bunch of different radios. This weird little teddy bear that talks to ghosts and records spooky sounds. A deck of tarot cards–though they’re mostly for show instead of, like, actual use in studying the paranormal. If there are ghosts and ghouls and demons lurking in that old spooky place, Tressa will find them.

And if not, because, let’s be real, ghosts aren’t real, she’ll have a ton of stuff she can use to edit spooks and scares in post! Her editor Noa always knows how to turn a boring video into something wild and interesting.

While Cyrus paws through her gear, critically examining each piece of probable junk, Olberic hums. “And these… items are supposed to help you do what, exactly?” he asks.

Tressa counts on her fingers: “Pick up weird ghost noises, talk to ghosts, catch apparitions, detect temperature fluctuations–oh, and this thing senses movement!”

“Ghosts are said to manifest as fluctuating energy,” Cyrus explains, holding the Boo Buddy teddy bear out at length. He pokes at its button nose. Then Cyrus hands the bear to his husband, who gingerly accepts it. “Paranormal investigators use sensitive equipment to measure that energy. I read through the wikipedia article last night.”

“I see,” Olberic evenly says.

Yes, their first real skeptic of the night! Cyrus is going to take this investigation so seriously, but she’s really counting on Olberic to keep realistic expectations! It’ll create a nice narrative for the evening, especially when everyone else gets here.

And speaking of the rest of their friends–

Next pulls up a real rust bucket of a truck, the back of which is covered in faded bumper stickers. Most of the decals are meme-y stickers from their own store, but there’s more than a couple hippy environmental messages thrown into the mix. The second the truck clunks into park, Therion tears out of his seat, indignantly hissing, “We’re fucking over.”

“Huh?” Tressa asks right as Alfyn calls through the still open door, “He broke up with me because my swag is–”

Therion slams the door shut.

“I’m done,” he reiterates, daring anyone to challenge him.

Tressa rolls her eyes. They’ll be back together within the hour. 

Or so she thinks, until Alfyn joins the group, proudly standing before them while looking like an absolute idiot. Tressa doesn’t know what’s more egregious, the hat that says Paranormal Investigator or the shirt that says, This is my Ghost Hunting Buddy! with a big arrow pointed to the left. Presumably the shirt is half of a matching set. If Therion didn’t set fire to his shirt, it probably got thrown out the window to rot in a ditch somewhere.

(At least that’s what he’ll likely tell them–Tressa wouldn’t be surprised if he’s wearing it right now, kept hidden by his stupid hoodie.)

Tressa reminds herself that she loves Alfyn and Therion and values their friendship. She really does. She really, really does.

“I’m gonna text Prim and see where they’re at,” Tressa mutters, abandoning Cyrus and Olberic to deal with whatever that is.

She quickly rounds the corner, using her phone as a light. The academy rises high into the sky, blocking out the moon from this side and bathing the street in stolid darkness. Dead leaves sweep across the broken sidewalk and crunch underfoot. The gothic metal fence lining the property is painted a chipped black. The Halloween vibes are off the chart out here. If she hadn’t come out earlier to shoot some B-roll, this would be the perfect time.

the girlssssss 4 people Thursday 8:07 PM tressa Whats you guys’s ETA Alf and therion just got here Therions already throwing a fit prim we’re about 6 mins out. phili Oh no! What happened? tressa they broke up bc Alf looks stupid. prim I swear to sealctige. Sorry Phili. phili I’m sure he looks fine :) tressa He really doesn’t tho. prim well we’ll be there soon. hold fast soldier. tressa o7

Before Tressa heads back to the guys, she pauses for a moment. The air is cool but not uncomfortably so, yet a shiver still snakes its way up her spine. She zips up her vest and tugs the cuffs of her sweater over her fingers.

It’s pretty out here, sure, but it is genuinely pretty creepy, too. There are no street lights around the academy–save a large spotlight out front, illuminating the main front gate. The fence isn’t that high either. Even if it’s topped with ornate spikes, that wouldn’t be enough to stop any ne'er do wells from entering. Yet when Tressa was here earlier to film, she didn’t see any graffiti on the walls or trash strewn about the yard. The academy is in tiptop shape. Well, as in-shape as any old, abandoned building can be.

But it’s still weird that it’s so abandoned, right? Like, there’s not a lot of security around the building either. The front gate is padlocked shut, with the key held solely by some up and up from the (new) Royal Academy.

Tressa warily eyes the dark facade, half expecting to see something looking back at her from one of the windows.

But the place is as empty and lifeless as ever.

She’s psyching herself out for no reason. Ghosts aren’t real, and they’re not in any kind of danger. If they do happen to run into someone unsavory inside, they’ll surely turn tail and run at the sight of Olberic and H’aanit.

Tressa shakes her head. Prim, H’aanit, and Phili will be here soon. She needs to head back out front and–

Darkness swoops in as her phone’s flashlight turns off. Tressa flails in surprise, nearly throwing her phone–but self preservation keeps her fingers locked tight around it. She taps on the screen to turn it back on, but it’s like frozen or something, stuck on the background image of her, Ali, and Noa at the fair this summer. The time reads 8:88.

Wait. What? She looks closer, squinting at the dimmed brightness. Okay, yeah, she just misread it. It’s 8:14. 

That’s still… weird, though. It wasn’t that late before when she texted Primrose and Ophilia, right? Is her phone on the fritz? Damn Apple, making crappy, overpriced products. Tressa smacks the side of it, clicking the buttons over and over, trying to force it to restart.

Eventually, it unfreezes and the screen goes black. She keeps holding the buttons, waiting for that stupid little apple to pop up and show it’s restarting, but it never shows. Instead, her lock screen flashes back on. It shows a couple missed calls and new texts:

dumdum did you fall in a manhole or smthn — phili Hello? Where are you? Are you okay? — Missed Call from alf — alf Everything ok? where’d you go for real tress we’re gettin worried — dumdum shortstack where did you go if ur doing a prank video i’ll kill you i’ll seriously do it. — Missed Call from alf Missed Call from phili

Before Tressa can respond or even figure out what everyone’s talking about, a blurred, unflattering picture of Therion fills the screen. Her ringtone blares, cutting through the silence like a jagged knife. She answers. “Hey–”

“It’s about damn time!” he interrupts, sounding breathless. “Where the hell did you go? Did you get kidnapped?”

“I’m like twenty feet away from you, just around the corner of the building,” she snaps, marching back down the sidewalk towards the main gate. “I stepped away to text Prim.”

“Yeah, like ten minutes ago! They’ve been asking us where you are.”

Ten minutes? But that’s….

Tressa rounds the corner, stepping back into the buzzing fluorescent light. Cyrus and Olberic still stand by the gate next to her ghost hunting equipment, but now they’re joined by Primrose, trying to convince them that this isn’t something we need to call the cops over, calm down.

“Perhaps she took a wronge turn and lost her way,” H’aanit suggests, though her brow pinches in concern as she scans the street–and then finds Tressa.

“Okay, well, bye,” Tressa mutters before hanging up on Therion. To the rest of her friends, she says, “I had some phone trouble and I think I zoned out for a bit! I’m good though!”

Everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Primrose’s thumbs fly across her phone screen as she texts Alfyn and Therion–missing from the group–that Tressa is back.

Tressa becomes a broken record as she assures her friends she’s fine, that she just lost track of time, that nothing happened. No, she didn’t get lost. Yes, she’s really okay. No, she didn’t see Alfyn or Therion–

“I don’t see how you didn’t,” Primrose says, giving her a thorough scan for–what, any injuries Tressa may be hiding from them? “They both went looking for you. You’re sure you just walked around the corner? Kept to the sidewalk?”

Tressa nods. “Yeah, I stood beside the fence the whole time. I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t go anywhere, I swear.”

“What matters is that you’re safe,” Ophilia decides, descending upon the interrogation with all the grace of a saint. She wears a beatific smile that completely unravels the tension. “Let’s head inside. When Alfyn and Therion rejoin us, we can begin filming.”

[melmac78]

Here’s chapter 5 of the USS Lexington story.

Small chapter before the big stuff comes around… though after the next chapter I have some major rewrites so it’ll be a bit of time and more sporadic.

I don’t have photo of the party room, so enjoy more of the hangar deck and photos of the dentist room in the lower deck tour - as it relates to this chapter.

Fun facts - 1. the plain wall behind the nose of the plane above and far back of the third photo are the fire walls mentioned in part 4. They are normally not closed - this was prep for a rodeo banquet. 2. Elmo’s was a real restaurant in Corpus Christi. Sadly, it’s out of business and the building was recently torn down.

Previous chapters:

Four Three Two One

•••••••

The next morning was mostly cloudy, adding some coolness to the non-climate controlled decks.

The Tracys had a different form of cool however - they had their birthday celebration for Scott.

Between the five brothers they ate all of a large triple chocolate birthday cake and enjoyed food catered by Elmo’s.

It was fitting it was from Elmo’s - the revived 1950s style restaurant offered a variety of food items one would see in the ‘40s as well.

The brothers ate burgers, shakes, and even local items such as seafood stuffed mushrooms and potato skins.

A few of the Boy Scouts peeked inside hangar bay three where the Tracys held the party.

Virgil saw the boys and, after they all visited and talked about the Thunderbirds and Scott, felt bad when their leader gently collected them for chow in the wardroom.

Scott agreed and immediately contacted the mess deck to see if they could arrange for more cakes to be brought on board for after the evening's mess.

"That's really thoughtful of you, Virg," Gordon said when he heard his oldest brother finish the call.

He then tossed a thumb at his youngest. "Just keep Alan away - If he digs in like he did just now, he will have to have his stomach pumped."

Alan stuck out his tongue in retort, making the others chuckle. “I didn’t eat *that* much,” he retorted.

His “partner in crime” however continued.

"Well, even though they *are* technically museum displays now, there is a sick bay on board and a dental clinic too," Gordon teased loudly enough for and the others to hear him. “I'll be happy to swap out the mannequins and fill all of the cavities Alan will get.”

"I won't get sick! Grandma didn't make this cake," said the youngest.

Sally for her part just quirked an eyebrow, deciding that Alan being teased was enough reprimand for insulting her cooking.

Besides, Max did give her a few positive chirps last time her cookies were just dark brown and not black.

"It's not who made it that worries us, it's the amount you consumed,” said Scott, chuckling.

The middle brother, who was still savoring his slice of cake, looked up, pretending to be serious. “Right," John said. “Just don't get seasick. If you do, I'm not cleaning it up!"

Alan saw John’s eyes twinkle in mischief, but pouted, indignant. "I don't get seasick. Besides this boat is hardly rocking at all being secured to the dock permanently for tours."

"This 'boat' is an aircraft carrier - a ship. Plus, it doesn't rock even when out to sea in a storm," corrected Scott, who then ruffled his brother’s hair. “Now, why don't you go burn off some of those calories you just ate?"

Gordon smiled, thinking of the perfect place to make his younger speed loving brother smile. “Come on Alan, let's go try out the flight simulator," he suggested.

Alan took the opening for “revenge.”.

“Yeah, after you flew Thunderbird Two that time over the ocean, you could use the flight practice,” he teased.

Gordon raised his eyebrow and lightly punched Alan's arm.

"Ow!" Alan cried in mock pain and chased Gordon in the room.

Scott grabbed both of them by their shirt collars as they went by. "No running! This ship is a memorial - people died on these decks! Decorum needs to be addressed!" he scolded almost a parody of Jacob's drill sergeant routine.

The others laughed, much to the two youngest’s chagrin.

"Sorry, Scott," Gordon mumbled.

Yeah, sorry," Alan added.

Scott let go of their collars. “Good,” he said, then checked mischievously. “You better be or I'll tell the ship leader you had your shirts untucked.”

Gordon and Alan yelped - knowing if they were caught they'd be doing pushups later that evening, and they left at a much more leisurely pace to the simulator.

They also tucked in their already secured shirt tails in - just in case.

Scott shook his head with a slight smile and waved them away.

Grandma Tracy laughed and waved Scott back into the room. "Come on over Scott, we have a toast for the birthday boy," said Sally.

Seeing the bottle, he smiled."Really? You guys have already done so much!" Scott began.

"Not yet," Virgil said, handing him a glass. “There’s other events in Corpus we’re going to do too you know.”

Scott laughed. “True, but this one is already unforgettable,” he said as Sally poured the glasses.

Virgil then raised his glass. “Here's to the guy that stepped up when needed, the guy that keeps us all together and working to continue our father's dream,” he said to the eldest.

They all clinked their tin mess cups and took a sip. Seeing Scott's look at the taste, Grandma Tracy chuckled. "It's sparkling grape juice right now - if only out of caution for the younger set, but we'll take you out for a real drink later on this afternoon," she said.

John however wondered if he actually had a real drink.

The air felt warmer than normal - and it was climate controlled. He felt slightly unsteady, with a minute roar in his ears.

He was the first to sit down, hard and rubbed a hand over his face. Virgil looked at him and noticed John’s uneasy countenance.

"Hey bro, are you okay?" queried Virgil.

The younger man looked up at Virgil, who was to his relief in focus. "Yeah, fine why?" John asked, bewildered.

"You look beat," Virgil answered.

The middle brother was going to respond when his eldest took a closer look. “Yeah, your cheeks are red too," Scott added, not adding he too was concerned about John's confused look.

"Really? I feel fine," dismissed John. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Virgil narrowed his eyes at the slight sway the younger man gave, and confused look.

When John paled slightly in the process, Virgil broached the issue gently. “No… I don’t think so. I think you’re feeling dizzy, maybe even a bit faint.”

John shook his head adamantly. "No ... I feel fine," he said, starting to get up.

He paused in mid-action. "On sec...ond..." he faltered...

A gentle set of hands set him in the chair again. Another hand rested on his neck, guiding him into putting his head between his knees. "Deep breaths kiddo," said Sally, gently rubbing her grandson’s back.

The astronaut mumbled as he felt his head clear from the change in position. *OK, maybe I was caught off guard there,* he mused, starting to become more alert.

He then slowly sat up with Scott and Virgil's help. "Sorry Scott... heck of a way to celebrate your birthday," said the astronaut, not missing Virgil grab his left wrist to check his pulse.

Virgil was relieved to find John’s skin felt cooler than yesterday’s spell.

The eldest however gently scoffed. "Don't be John. Virgil said you had a rough night and we knew this was going to take a bit out of you, even if you hadn't experienced space sickness," said Scott, standing and offering out a hand.

"Listen, why don't you go back to the berths and rest a bit? I’ll ask Jacob to make sure the living quarters is a quiet zone.”

John pondered the offer, but shook his head. "But what about the guided tour through the new part about to open?"

"Tour can wait - I'd rather you rest," said Scott, who then grinned mischievously. "I mean, you don't want your eldest brother to celebrate his birthday carrying his fainted brother through the corridors in the soon-to-be longest tour route... right?"

Those words had the impact needed when the astronaut glared at him.

Scott knew John hated being carried.

The astronaut then chuckled in concession. “All right Scott," said John, taking his brother's hand. He admitted that maybe a rest would be good. After all, they would be competing in a scavenger hunt later that evening.

But with the Tracy brothers… even a scavenger hunt can become the start of a different - and dangerous - kind of adventure.

[corruptimles]

Anime North 2023 💀👍

More highlights and photos under read-more

I originally was going to have my Spamton plush with the ‘CRIMINAL’ sign but his head was too big and would make him fall

scene punk Rainbow Dash cosplayer passing by as I was strapping Reigen to my chest and saying I look amazing

people yelling ‘criminal!’ when seeing the Reigen plush

the two tabling that specifically said ‘Reigen in jail!’ (I bought a Mob pin from them)

the person who only took of photo of Reigen plushie, not me

migraine and forgot ibuprofen but Im so so strong and brave (my vision was going in and out all day)

seeing a golden guard Hunter cosplayer and we both pointed as a first reaction

another Hunter cosplayer who was a photographer so they asked for different poses

accidentally approached a table thinking the person was talking to me (they weren’t)

buying mp100 merch from a table and letting them know I was changing to Reigen later so they asked me to come back when I do

coming back and a lot of pointing and thumbs ups

being thankful I decided to bring two cosplays to switch between because wearing the coven scout cosplay meant 2-3 layers on my legs and I was melting

I walked HOW MUCH?

being in a different cosplay so it doesnt feel as weird circling the same tables over as I do

uu-chan!!!

I even thought to myself earlier that day “I wish I had an uu-chan”

people that specifically took selfies with me rather than just me (I find it endearing)

someone complimented my cosplay then asked to punch my Reigen plushie whoever you are, I felt that punch in my hand, I hope you had a good day

my eyesight is bad, and the sun made seeing my phone harder, so I kept accidentally taking videos instead of photos

didn’t want to keep the cosplayer waiting though so I opted to just screencap the videos later

two at a table called my attention for my Reigen cosplay, said I was the only Reigen they saw I said “well there’s TWO here” and pointing/posing with the plush they lamented that their Mob pins sold out just before I arrived it’s the Mob pin I bought earlier too so I let them know I actually bought it before in a different cosplay the recognition at the Reigen plushie and yelling “Reigen in jail!!” “yes, but he’s been freed!” just some silly cheering about it

anyway shout-out to @warddraws​​ because I think I’ll be using this Mob pin often

the guy that accidentally hit my shoulder:

this Miku

debating buying a poster I was staring at for a solid minute, coming back for it later and the artists being like “Reigen’s back :)”

seeing a sans and reigen magnet parody poster, panicking when ppl behind me started talking about it and heard “..he looks like-”, and sped-walked away

forgot to come back to that table.... I didnt get to actually look at their merch im sorry

I really don’t know why I felt so self-conscious there cuz I thought the poster was hilarious??

also lamenting a beautiful MP100 print I saw that was sold out, and pretty Hanzo merch because I have enough Hanzo

watched people playing DDR and being impressed and afraid of ppl that are good at it

someone who was cosplaying Mob but changed before we met (which is still :() but called my cosplay ‘crisp’

scribbled down requests from my friends when waiting (reigen kicked out of walmart) (reigen as a coven scout)

reigen gets burger king

is burger king

now scrolling through the Anime North tags and yelling at merch I didn’t see what I was there that I would’ve bought

alas

my legs are still dead but this was one of the most fun AN trips I’ve had actually

[obscureobsidiandraws]

IDEAS FOR A HYPOTHETICAL BOY MEETS WORLD REBOOT

So, recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’d have done a Boy Meets World reboot if given the opportunity and enough creative control and freedom.

First, let’s start with the things that would be still kept from the original without getting into too much spoilers:

- Cory and Shawn’s bromance. Duh, it’s the main reason why a big majority of people keep coming back to BMW. It wouldn’t be BMW without it.

- Topanga being a girl that Cory initially thinks it’s weird, but eventually starts to like her, and finally becomes his girlfriend.

- Shawn coming from a less economically stable and more dysfunctional family that lives in a trailer park, and whose parents like to “go away from time to time”, to put it mildly AND kindly. Because of this, he has tons of issues and thinks he won’t get anywhere in life.

- Chet, Shawn's father, being unhappily married to a woman named Virna, whom Shawn believes is his mother, but who actually isn’t, something that Shawn doesn’t find out until much later, with Shawn’s biological mother being a sex worker he has never met.

- Eric being Cory’s older brother, who initially seems like a vain, self-centered teenager, more concerned with being popular and chasing skirts than his grades or his little brother. Don’t worry, he’ll get better after character development.

- Mr. Feeny being both Cory’s teacher and his next door neighbor, initially seeming like an old-fashioned fun-hating teacher who thinks of the Matthews brothers as nothing more than just two of the many troubled students that will come and go. Ofc like with Eric character development would do its magic again, with each character’s arc mirroring the other.

- Also Feeny being able to find love after he realizes it’s never too late to find a significant other, when he initially believed he was too old to do so.

- And don’t worry, ofc Eric would do the Feeny call. Like with Cory and Shawn's bromance, It wouldn’t be Boy Meets World if it wasn’t there.

- Mr. Turner as the younger, seemingly cooler teacher who would take care of Shawn after Chet basically abandons him, and becomes a substitute parental figure for him.

- Shawn having a long lost older half-brother named Jack, who comes from a wealthier background and becomes Eric’s roommate and friend when they start to go to college.

- Angela as a girl whose lost purse is found by Shawn, who while looking for its owner tries to deduce their personality based on what’s inside of it, which causes him to start to fantasize about meeting this girl whose name he doesn’t know and falling in love with her. And then once he finally meets her in person, starting his first serious relationship with her.

- Angela’s father being a sergeant, and her mother having walked out on them when Angela was younger, which caused her a lot of issues too.

Now let’s go with the things that would make it different from the original, starting with the stylistic and aesthetic choices:

- Instead of taking place in the second half of the 90s like the original show, it would take place from the mid-2000s to early 2010s, which was the time when most people who were born when the original Boy Meets World aired for the first time went from middle school to college, just like Cory & friends during the series.

- It would be animated instead of live-action. Why? Because I want to. Joking aside, I think animation would allow the show to introduce some elements in a much more natural way.

- It won’t have a laugh track like the original did, unless it’s an episode or gag that pays homage or parodies sitcoms from a previous decade. This one is kind of a given, because laugh tracks have gone out of school in recent years, but I still felt it would be necessary to mention it jic.

- And here comes the element that won’t be the biggest departure from the original, but probably the most puzzling one. It would have musical numbers. As in characters dancing and singing. At the beginning it won’t be a lot, as a reflection of Cory’s and Shawn’s attitude towards the idea of singing, but as they start to become more and more comfortable, there would be more. Some would be diegetic, others won’t.

And now to the plot and characters-related differences with the original. Buckle up people, because it will be a lot.

- First a significant change in Cory’s family dynamic. Instead of the show starting with Cory living in the typical nuclear family, it would start with Cory living in the suburbs with his mother Amy, a widow who works a white collar job, and Eric. Then Amy would start to date an employee in the store where she usually buys groceries, who would be Alan, who’d be only slightly younger than Amy and a widower with two kids too: a son with the same age as Cory’s who’s also Cory’s classmate, and a younger daughter who would be Morgan (but I’m seriously thinking about renaming her Megan). Amy and Alan would eventually get married, with a lot of the comedy and the drama from the first seasons coming from Cory trying to adapt to the new situation.

(Amy’s previous husband and Eric and Cory’s biological father would be dead, just like Alan’s previous wife)

- One in regards to Cory’s physical appearance: He would still have curly hair, but he would be a redhead with his nose and cheeks full of freckles.

- Instead of the show starting when Cory and his friends are in their last year of elementary school, the show would start the last summer before Cory’s first year of junior high, and follow him up until college like the original show (yk, if it doesn’t get canned by then). Also Feeny won’t be able to magically be their teacher from preschool to college. Instead he would be their History Teacher in high school, and in later seasons, eventually the principal of the high school Cory and his friends attend. And he would retire after Cory’s classroom graduates.

- There would be a long character arc about Cory trying to find his passion and eventually finding his passion in the most unexpected places. Initially he would try to join the school basketball team In high school Cory would initially try to join the basketball team, partially because he likes the sport, partially because his father was a star player in high school. (Sidenote: there would also be a recurring gag of Eric being a god awful basketball player) He’s initially rejected because he’s too short, but after he grows up and finally hits puberty, becoming as tall as Shawn, he would still be considered a mediocre player at best, and eventually Cory would have to accept the fact he’s not that good. Meanwhile, he would also join the school newspaper and the audiovisuals club because of a growing interest in journalism, until he realizes he wants to become a professional journalist.

- Talking about the audiovisuals club, extracurricular activities would play a much bigger role. While Cory joins the audiovisuals club Shawn is forced to join the theater club. There would be a little conflict because both clubs have so few members that, because of budgetary restrictions, they’re threatened to be shut down. To save both, Cory and Shawn come up with the idea of combining them, that way making one club with enough members. Also thanks to being in those clubs  they start to befriend classmates they initially thought of as nerds and weirdos.

- Topanga would be raised by a single mother instead of a married couple, never knowing who her father is. Although she initially seems okay with it, then when she’s older she tries to find out which one of her mother’s three ex-boyfriends is her father. This is partially to pay homage to the fact that in the original BMW Topanga’s father was played by three different actors at different points of the show, and partially to make a bunch of break the fourth wall jokes about ripping off Mamma Mia’s premise. And don’t worry, Nebula won’t be retconned out of existence this time.

- Jack’s backstory would be changed a little. When his mother finally left Chet, instead of taking her son with her, Jack would actually be left behind in the trailer park with Chet and his newborn half-brother (Shawn’s birth would actually be the last straw that finally made Jack’s mother decide to leave for good). So Jack would spend a good part of his childhood in the trailer park taking care of Shawn, until he became old enough to successfully run away to live with his mother, being Shawn now the one left behind.

- And behold my Jeric shippers, because Jack and Eric would be both canonically bisexual AND end up together. Besides Jack Eric would also have another main male love interest, who’d be Mitchell Davis (yes, that Mitchell Davis), who would’ve known Eric since they were kids but who now goes to another school, the same as Jack’s. He would also live in the same trailer park as Shawn does.

- Lauren won’t be the girl Cory cheated on Topanga with, but instead the first girl he dates after Topanga leaves for the first time. Because despite liking Lauren, Cory concludes he’s dating her to forget Topanga, in other words, for the wrong reasons, so he breaks up with her. Besides, Lauren would go to the same school as Jack and Mitchell (everything’s connected).

- A seemingly very trivial detail: As a trademark favorite food Cory would love pizza so much that the place where he hangs out with his friends after school wouldn’t be Chubbie’s (although it would still exist in this universe, but it would more of a general place where John Adams High students hang out instead of just Cory’s group of friends), but instead a pizza place. Also this last one is a little bit anecdotal, but Cory wouldn’t mind pineapple pizza while Shawn would hate it by principle.

(this is getting quite lengthy, so I’d do a part II. There’s still a lot of ideas I have that I want to share with the BMW fandom)

Edit: Part II is already out. Go check it out

[lovepmd]

I go back and forth on whether or not Pokémon exist at all in the human world, whether they were real creatures or just fiction like in our world. It largely depends on the story I want to write and what would make the most interesting interactions.

For example: In one story, Hero comes from a different intellectual property. He and his friends get brought to the Pokémon world, but they don’t know what Pokémon are since Pokémon is never mentioned in the games Hero comes from (and I don’t think there’s even a parody of it in those games as far as I’m aware.)

In another, Hero was in a world where Pokémon existed as real creatures, and was capable of stopping the big scary legendary Pokémon that was causing problems. The Pokémon that summoned them saw this, and decided that Hero would be a perfect fit to help save the world because that same species of legendary Pokémon is causing problems in the PMD world, too. It’s the answer to the question “why him, specifically?” Still trying to answer “why a human, specifically? Why can’t you do it yourself?” I’ll get there with that one.

My favorite is one where Hero wakes up and goes “HOLY SHIT PMD REAL?!” And when asked how they know so much about Pokémon when Hero says they weren’t real, Hero has to find out how to explain that Pokémon are video game characters and TV show heroes and comic books and so on and so on.

aaand this other side of hero's origins is fun to play around with as well lol

i just love the range of "what are pokemon" and "omg pmd irl"

[purplekoop]

Alright screw it, full list of Kirby crossover Overwatch skin ideas:

Kirby Echo. Hard to explain how it looks with words but it works in my head.

King Dedede Reinhardt. In my heart this one is the Mythic skin of this bunch with variants for unmasked, the classic Masked Dedede mask, and the Forgo Dedede mask.

Meta Knight Genji. Not much explaining needed I think.

Bandana Waddle Dee Tracer. I didn't have any better ideas for either end of this pairing, but like. again it works in my head.

Whispy Woods Bastion. I swapped my ideas for Orisa and Bastion back and forth, but figured Ganymede dressed as the small Kirby bird of your choice would make more sense. Plus, Orisa already has a nature-themed skin.

Paint Roller Lucio. I think this is a fan favorite obscure miniboss, plus it'd be a fun different look for a Lucio skin.

Nightmare Sigma. With every idea for group skins I keep casting Sigma as the ultimate big bad, but like... c'mon it works too well here. The Hyperspheres are the ball form.

Rick Wrecking Ball. hamter.

Dark Matter Swordsman Soldier 76. mouthful, yikes. I actually had a list of notes I decided to check partway through making this post, and I forgot about this one. I think the idea was the visor? Could be cool I think.

Marx Junkrat. funny little guy who chucks exploding balls. Could do a fun detail with his prosthetics looking like pieces of Nova.

Heavy Lobster Orisa. Favorite obscure Kirby boss that never shows up in a series full of recurring bosses. Definitely a skin nobody besides me consciously wants.

Mr. Frosty/Chef Kawasaki Roadhog. Hard to pick between these two iconic midbosses, but I very much only see either design working as like, an edgy slasher villain parody of the original when on Roadhog.

Adeline Brigitte. Flail is the paintbrush. That's all the justification I need to say.

Ripple Queen Mei. Definitely a more obscure character to prioritize but the idea won't leave my brain, I think it'd look too cute to pass up. Also yes: Snowball is Ribbon.

Dark Meta Knight Reaper. ow the edge.

Daroach Cassidy. Hat. Though would also consider Ashe, if only just for the sake of Storro B.O.B.

Drawcia Moira. I mean Moira throws around blobs and sprays of bright colors around, it works. Plus I think this'd be a fun look for her that's not too out of place stylistically.

Necrodeus Doomfist. Felt bad not having a Mass Attack reference of any kind for some reason (even though I don't have an Epic Yarn character here and that's my favorite spinoff). This was the best pairing of "cool bad guy" matching that I had left, but I mean I think it'd look cool.

Magolor Zenyatta. Silly floating man with his orbs and mysterious past.

Landia Pharah. Another niche one but it looks sick in my head. Was also considering giving her Dyna Blade.

Taranza Lifeweaver. Okay explaining this one: sad pretty boy with trauma and a flower motif. Plus they both use grabby magic to yoink people. Works with how average Rein players feel about Life Grip.

Queen Sectonia Symmetra. I wanted to have Sectonia somewhere and by process of elimination this is the idea I like the best. Not explicitly meant for a SymWeaver thing but hey that works too. the inverse height dynamic between the pairings feels wrong though...

Susie D.va. This is another obvious one, little pink bitches with big mechs, little pew pews, trauma, and room for me to project onto.

Haltmann Torbjorn. Another one from my notes I completely forgot about. But like. Yeah no it still checks out.

Francisca Junker Queen. A guilty pleasure choice aside from the shared blue hair and axes.

Flamberge Illari. Listen the brain blast I had when I realized "burny powers and also her gun looks like a weird sword." Plus they both scream an above average amount.

Zan Partizanne Widowmaker. It'd be a crime if she wasn't one of the most canonically french Kirby characters.

Hyness/Void Termina Ramattra. I don't know the exact logistics of how this works but in the abstract concept in my head this looks awesome.

Gorimondo Winston. monke.

Yeah that's the list! Everybody besides Mercy, Hanzo, Zarya, Ana, Sombra, Ashe, Baptiste, Sojourn, and Kiriko got one. Also no Mauga... or Venture... or Space Ranger... look this list was from a while ago, plus none of these are even out yet so sue me. (actually had a few ideas for Mercy, but none of them felt really satisfying. Favorite idea for her was using Forgotten Land's final boss mostly because of the silhouette being... more similar than you'd think at first.) Also I got at least part of each of the dream friends besides Gooey, but like. Literally what Overwatch character reminds anyone in any way of Gooey. Be honest with me here.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The House Sound of Chicago - Vol. III - Acid Tracks 1988 House

Hopping off of that notoriously rickety K-tel train to nowhere for a bit and latching onto some classic house goodies instead, starting with this third installment from The House Sound of…, a series that was originally launched in 1986 by Chicago house label D.J. International Records in order to showcase the city's own house scene, and was also released in the UK through the much bigger London Records too. This series would end up proving far more impactful across the pond than it would in the States, but in '88, the year of the UK's Second Summer of Love, during which house music would spread like wildfire among the youth, the London label took over its reins and decided to start redirecting this series through their newly-repurposed FFRR imprint instead. FFRR's focus would be on dance music, and as it was headed by the one and only Pete Tong, it would go on to become one of the greatest and most important labels in the history of dance music as we know it.

So, in that regard, what we have here happens to be a pretty damn big deal, because this was the first comp that was ever issued on FFRR since its dance rebrand. But its title is actually inexplicably and very confusingly misleading, because while it claims to be loaded up with 'acid tracks,' only one of these tunes actually meets the criteria for being acid—Tyree's "Acid Over," which, as all acid tracks do, stars the unique squelches of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer—and I can't say that I'm very much a fan of it.

Instead, what dominates this comp is a bunch of great Chicago house of a different stripe: largely black and queer, vocally male-led stuff with some soul to it, that includes things like feelgood combinations of strings and richly stabbing piano chords deployed over four-on-the-floor drumbeats.

And while I find almost all of this record to be quite good, I think its very best moments happen to lie on its B-side, with Darryl Pandy and Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's absurdly energetic "Freeman" and Sterling Void's much calmer and steadier "It's All Right" serving as a stellar yin and yang, together representing opposite ends of a spectrum of both vibe and sound that could be contained within this revolutionary dance music genre that was still very much at such an early juncture itself.

So, Darryl Pandy, as he is wont to do, sports his lovably goofy vocal passion all over "Freeman," while Farley complements him with a beat that's very fiery, deliberately ostentatious, and, by that some token, clearly on a queer post-disco/hi-NRG type of tip too. Basically, if you love yourself some big, gay, and campy 80s dance tunes, this one's a can't-miss 🔥.

And then to counterbalance something as fun and ridiculous as that one is "It's All Right," which is one of those blissed-out bits of transcendent dance dreaminess that seems to be targeted directly at your very own soul. This is a song in which those deadly key-and-string combos really abound, and if you're ever out on the floor when it comes on, you're then required to do some extensive, eyes-closed, slow grooving to it 😌. Wonderful track.

So, ultimately, I feel kinda bad for all the acid jackers who bought this record and were expecting their purchase to be a whole lot more chemical than it was, but hopefully they still came away with an appreciation for this different slate of 80s Chicago house bangers anyway. Buncha must-listen tunes here for anyone who's interested in this local scene, where this music first originated.

And you can also pair this album with my own 1980s Chicago House playlist too, which as of right now has almost no overlap, besides Jamie Principle's "Baby Wants to Ride"—but my playlist (the YouTube one at least) has the version of that song in which Jamie at one point decides to….cynically parody "America the Beautiful" 😂…and this album doesn't.

1980s Chicago House: Spotify / YouTube / YouTube Music

Highlights:

Jamie Principle - "Baby Wants to Ride" Frankie Knuckles - "Only the Strong Survive" Paris - "Girl U Need a Change of Mind" Darryl Pandy & Farley "Jackmaster" Funk - "Freeman" Romance - "All Dis Music" Farley "Jackmaster" Funk - "My House" Sterling Void - "It's All Right"

[specialscum]

Past a certain point (I wanna say sometime in 2022 but that year was kind of a blur with the ones before and after it, so I can only really be sure that it was after '21 and before '24) I realized I wasn't playing competitive games because I consistently found it fun, but because I thought it *might* make my own or someone else's day a little better. I swore off doing that again (not for the first time, hehe) in the middle of a team deathmatch because I realized no one ever benefits from it long term. You get to not completely hate the entire world for one or two games, and then one of two things happens:

A: Turns out you're a normal person, and you go back to treating others in game like a normal person does (very respectable if you're not rude and/or unreasonable, not very useful)

B: You go back to thinking of people with their in-game roles in mind, but without necessarily liking them (generally a big part of how most people get an understanding of what they're playing and with who, can go really right if you allow yourself to learn, makes you go fucking insane)

The best thing to do for someone in that kind of game is to convince them to quit. Not by telling them that they're "trash" and should "uninstall", just by pointing out the obvious and saying it's just throwing diluted rabies at yourself with the occasional victory to keep you going.

I realize this post may or may not make zero sense, I'm kinda completely pissed and overjoyed and scared and salty and tired right now. If you want something to take away from it that does at least sound coherent, though: There's nothing to be gained. Proving your own skill? Come back at a different time of day, time of month, couple years of people with the same ambitions and fresh faces. You'll try the same thing again, but against your own past. You'll be either old news, old shit, or an old man trying to pass as a veteran to everyone watching.

Or maybe you really are just here for fun? This is the Internet, we don't get together to have fun here. We get together to get divided, and we get divided to have some morbid parody of "fun". Man, remember fun? Fun was so fun, I wish it wasn't brutally murdered in a gross little shed in the back of the middle of nowhere when I turned twelve.

There's no "reason" why people get together in little teams where things either go to hell within 10 minutes, or you make a little alternative interpretation in your brain where we DID fuck up, it just wasn't immediately obvious to the ones who got to feel good together because we were too busy preaching about how great teamwork is while the others went off to die and have the worst cry's ever induced by entertainment. No "reason" to do THAT every day. Just excuses about how "oh but it'll be fine once I just [whatever achievement you're aspiring for, not thinking about how badly you'll want another one after {unless you're not as stupid as me, of course}]". Well it won't be fine. You'd have to get to a point where there's nothing more to achieve for that to happen. Which would only even be possible if you were completely incapable of setting your own arbitrary (pseudo-reasonable) goals *ever*, out of the question.

So that's the post. Last paragraph's conclusion is a little shorter than I planned, but I'm slowly getting more tired and less capable of writing like this. I hope no one ever reads this, and I'm sorry for making it. I would also say I'm sorry for existing, but I'm not in the mood or state to do much more than just lie down and shoot literally *anything* other than this through my brain right now.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Nostalgic Sound Review Round-Up

Profiler - A Digital Nowhere

A couple of albums came out recently that both fit the bill for being in the vein of having a nostalgic sound, regardless of the style, and I wanted to talk about both albums briefly, because I don’t have a whole lot to say about either album, but I’d like to talk about them. Both of these albums are very similar, yet they’re also relatively different. The first album I wanted to talk about is the debut from British nu-metal band Profiler, entitled A Digital Nowhere, and this band came to my attention out of nowhere, just from seeing this album pop up on Apple Music. They’re signed to SharpTone, which was a big reason as to why I decided to check this out, and this album is a solid little nu-metal / nu-metalcore album that also incorporates some shoegaze and grunge. If you love bands like Korn, Deftones, Linkin Park, and all things late 90s and early 00s, you’ll dig this. You can pinpoint a lot of their influences, but it never becomes annoying, it’s just cool hearing a lot of different influences instead of one or two key ones, and leaving it at that. This album is a lot of fun, even if the album’s rapped sections aren’t great, but they’re fine for what they are.

The Requiem - A Cure To Poison The World

On the other side of the spectrum, you got The Requiem, a band that sounds like they should have been huge in the early 00s, and their debut album, A Cure To Poison The World. Think if My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, and The Used kept making melodramatic post-hardcore albums in 2024, and that’s how this would sound. It’s big, epic, catchy, melodramatic, and everything you’d expect from an album in that vein. For that, it’s a lot of fun, even if it sounds like stuff I’ve heard before, but hearing it now with a modern flair is really cool. I have to give this band credit for not trying to sound exactly like the past, either, so the album never comes off as parody or satire, but they play it straight. The album is executed well, so I can’t fault it for that. So-called “elder emos,” which is a phrase that makes me cringe when I hear it, although I get why people use it, should really enjoy this, because it sounds like music that they would have consumed 20 years ago, yet it still has a modern flair behind it that fans of newer music would enjoy, too. It’s not perfect, as they don’t have too much of an identity yet, but I’ll give it another album and they’ve got some potential there.

[thesinglesjukebox]

babyMINT - "Hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい"

We head into week two of Amnesty, and Crystal introduces us to Taiwanese reality TV...

[7.59]

Crystal Leww: Sixteen is now nearly nine years old and it finally feels like we've achieved peak competition show in Asian pop, with three of the big four labels in K-pop coming out with their own versions this last year and increasingly more depressing formats. It's unlikely that any group from NEXTGIRLZ will become the next TWICE (or even I.O.I... or even Kep1er...) but one of the joys of operating out of a smaller market in Taiwan is that it's possible to get wilder. It's possible that TPOP Entertainment and Wildfire Entertainment actually wanted a commercially viable group to debut but handing over control for babyMINT to producer AF resulted in something way funnier and something actually thrilling. "Hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" is stuffed full of like twenty different ideas -- like after the endless debates of "what is hyperpop," AF said "fuck it, let's put them all into one song." This is like video game music, cheerleading music, meme music, regular pop music, idol music, rage music, and rave music all in one. Every moment in this is absolute nonsense (my favorite is the babytalk rapper in the 2nd (?) verse (?) imploring you to eat your green vegetables), a maximalist embrace that maybe nothing that is "good" matters, and yet, more than once this year, I have found myself singing along to "baby, please don't 放开手!" babyMINT makes me feel young again. [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: I broke down in tears when I first heard this song. The only way to explain my reaction is that it's similar to when you reflect on a relationship you have with someone you love, and how beautiful it is that you've come to understand who they are over many years and in many circumstances. They've remained inspiring, their presence indelible, and you know that there's still more you'll come to appreciate. This song is like that but with the past decade-plus of idol music. [10]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: One of those weird cases where getting too specific about any particular aspect of this would ruin the fun of experiencing "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" live for the first time -- it's the best time I've had listening to a pop song in... maybe ever? [9]

Will Adams: The first 90 seconds was some the most exhilarating music I've heard this year -- MAKE. IT. FASTER. -- and then it switched into some alternate universe Ariana Grande x Iggy Azalea song. They went back to the hyper-tempo, but by then the momentum was fully killed. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: I'm not sure what to make of this as a whole track, and I'm not sure I'm meant to. So, by parts: The part of this that sounds like the OST to Yoshi's Cookie

Michelle Myers: Judging idol pop as music, in isolation from its visual elements, will always feel a little wrong to me. The live stage of this track is a [10] for me. From the bored flossing that starts this performance to the headbanging chaos at the end, the choreo is even more delightful than the music supporting it. Listening to this on my headphones, I can't help but hear the seams between the disparate sections of this song. Linlin's rap, which feels deft on stage, sounds rushed and sloppy here. I'm nitpicking, but only because this song absolutely slaps. [9]

Rachel Saywitz: I could care less about the memeability of "hellokitty" -- it's too sincere to be a parody, and while I do find the earnestness preferable, the initial excitement I had for this ridiculously conceived track went away when I realized this wasn't a full-on girl group concept, but a costume of sorts as babyMINT attempts various musical styles to win a competition show, wherein supposedly, their official concept is still not self-determined. But I also think that performativity makes it possible to fully sink into the track's asinine lyrics and abrupt shift changes: these are girls playing a role, and doing so with a sprightly wink. There's no joke to be in on, just a part to play. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: Hmm... come to think of it, being in the beginning stages of a relationship is sort of like being initiated into a new and unfamiliar subculture, whether that be otaku maid cafés, retro arcade games, idol groups themselves, or... boba tea, I guess. Why has no one ever thought to put it like that before? Bonus point for the "ohmygah!" shout actually being transcribed as "omega," which adds a theological tinge to what must be the sweetest-sounding memento mori ever committed to record. [9]

Brad Shoup: A few years ago I wrote a career overview of Dave Matthews Band, because I do not back down from a challenge. In putting it together, I gained an appreciation for just how haunted their music is by death. Not loss, necessarily -- though that's a symptom -- but the sense that a lifespan is short, so eat, drink, etc. For them, it's a bittersweet realization, not something to rage against like some of their arena-filling elders. babyMINT spend more time on the eating and drinking, and I do appreciate them vocallzing a thought ("I will die, you will die") I've had about 10 to 20 times a day for the past three years. But it's cheap heat. [5]

Alfred Soto: This deejay set/Stars on 45 approach to tempos and modes is fun for all ages, as I demonstrated last night by keeping it in the background while my nieces opened gifts. [7]

Ian Mathers: Hmm. I might need to up the amount of shitposting I consume. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: You know some shit's about to go down when the girl groups hit you with "Are you ready for this?" and then introduce a silly-sounding phrase over deceptively chirpy synths. Brace yourself for brain melting; you didn't need those thoughts anyway. [8]

Micha Cavaseno: A manic sugar-rush of getting pranked, viciously blending periods of pop in a way that puts the "hyper" back in "hyperpop." I lost count of genre-jumps at a certain point, spotting at least five different songs where my review and consideration would be skewed only to get confronted with another one, so my sense of trying to provide an average based on any of these things is utterly overwhelmed. I'll never figure out which of them locked me on target and killed me at this rate. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: The first refrain is sped up. For what purpose I can't really ascertain. For one, unless you have good breath control, you can't keep and you might even fall off the rhythm, especially once it speeds up during the chorus. The pre chorus is as direct as one could be, with "I will die, you will die, baby/What a life, what a life/Why don't we just right now/Step out to the balcony and put everything aside? Never mind," ending with a reminder to not worry but to instead eat curry and drink boba instead. But the song completely splits apart, mixing up what it's supposed to be done with curry and boba until it shatters completely and comes to a stop. Guess I'll drink this curry? [7]

Dorian Sinclair: This fall, many reviews of Super Mario Bros. Wonder made the same basic point: there are multiple mechanical ideas in that game that could sustain an entire platformer on their own, but in the context of Wonder are picked up and cast aside within a single level. That kind of creative "wastefulness" is in some ways the ultimate flex -- you don't need to explore the full potential of every good idea you have, because there's always another one right around the corner. "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" has something similar going on: there are at least three killer melodic hooks, and that's without considering other standout elements (that guitar skitter! the rhythmic use of the title phrase!), any one of which could be developed into a whole other song. There's something thrilling about the speed and profligacy with which babyMINT chew through motifs here; I just hope they're holding some back for future releases. [8]

Michael Hong: babyMINT were fascinating on arrival: it wasn't just the stylized fashion of their name, or that they were under HIM International Music -- the company that formed Mandopop's only great girl group, S.H.E -- their debut stage saw five members, including former Cherry Bullet member LinLin (cannot think about this fucking group without thinking about Bora being villain edited on Queendom Puzzle -- compliment] -- singing in a mixture of Mandarin, English, and Spanish in a manner that was both prim and tipsy over a Brazilian funk beat. Tuning in weekly yielded more rewarding thrills: "R!ng R!ng R!ng" is cursed doll drum 'n' bass and their Jersey club remix of "Nobody Loves U :(" dials up the jejune silliness of Karencici's original. By this point, I was already all-in on babyMINT, a group helmed by a producer A.F who was weird as hell -- he donned the alias of DJ Banana Hammock for their "R!ng R!ng R!ng" performance and committed to the bit each week -- but had admittedly forgotten to check out "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" until two in the morning. I conked out with no recollection of the track -- it's pure sensory overload, impossible to retain any feeling on your first listen other than "Cool Japan!" and that this AF guy should seek help -- the only evidence that I heard it was a series of texts that said, "oh my god... the new babyMINT song is so... i'm crying they are so good. i'm obsessed." I've written about how all of it is primed for memeability -- how the "now, speed up" sets my heart aflame, how the final screams of "drink curry, eat boba" are one of the few things in music that could ever elicit a laugh from me, how LinLin is perfectly charming on her silly little nonsensical rap -- but the best part is that all of this is directed towards this lust for life. "I will die, you will die baby, what a life, what a life, why don't we seize the moment?" ponders Lyu Hsi-yan, what should be nihilistic transforming into something celebratory. "I want to stay cute everyday!" she cheers earlier in the track. The two lines work hand-in-hand, as if each searching for some form of optimism. It's an idol version of AF's song for some competition show and hearing them side-by-side is just proof that this guy knows exactly how to make music for idols. This week, I've been giggling to myself over the line "每天多吃一點蔬菜... 這才是我的菜," the latter part of which is just such an absolutely, unbelievably dumb pun. I play it in the car, to elicit groans, to cheer myself up. I catch myself muttering things from this damn song every day. babyMINT continued to offer surprises after this one. There's this disgusting way one member from the group CRIMZON sings her line "be my bae honey, I can be your bunny" (compliment) on "DAAAAAMMMN" (and the way it builds to some club breakdown just to go nowhere is so funny), "GrAb Me If U CaN" is the last shred of hyperpop I'll ever need to hear, "Ocean Bomb" is a delightfully cute post-NewJeans two-step number until LinLin raps about "Spongebob on her back," and grand finale "2023: BBMeme Odyssey" is so delightfully weird and stupid and fun that it sent me into hysterics on first watch (please just click on the video and watch it, I don't know how to describe what happens here; also Crystal asked me if they cut the one girl's hair just so she could be the prince and it makes me laugh every time I watch this fucking performance). They're the Mandopop artist who define the year, a group who were exactly as game as they needed to be to their producer's weirdest antics, who knew exactly how weird to be to be memeable without playing themselves down. [10]

Iain Mew: When I think of the most successful several-songs-in-one hits ("Biology", "I Got a Boy"), I think of density of hooks and dizzying switches in style. I also think of how they have one melodic hook sweet enough to be first among equals, a unifying glow cast by those highs with "The way that we walk/The way that we talk..." and "I got a boy meotjin/I got a boy chakan". Babymint take things further in the stylistic clashes, with some aggressive bosh and forceful rapping, not to mention ending in pretty much the same full-on fashion as The Knife's "Full of Fire." They do have a hook of more than equivalent sweetness, the "I will never let you go" section like "Super Shy" minus the shyness. That can't take on the same role for the song though, because there just isn't room to, not with the title section drilled in so hard before it even gets that far. So they play a very different game, seeding that phrase throughout but making it fit in with every different section anew. It's audacious enough to make for a spectacular first listen, which makes sense in the context that it's made for performance, and that they are not stars at the top of their game but a new group trying to grab attention. It works better than I expected for further listens because there's a thematic trick to match the musical one. They say up front that they're going to teach us a secret, and so it follows us through however far we go, presented like a universal cheat code. Everything dies, but babyMINT have taken these words and scattered them in time and space and maybe they will lead us through. [7]

[Read and comment on The Singles Jukebox ]

[tiktaalic]

what do you like most about supernatural and what are your favorite seasons and episodes?

Really good. Question. I love that they jump the shark I really do. Over and over again. Parody of itself. I love that shark jumping necessitates that they hop tone switches. I love that they do things badly. My favorite thing about season one is that. The John dean sam dynamic feels like getting walloped in the teeth. And season one dean haunts the narrative forever you see forty year old dean and you see 26 year old dean beneath him completely unrecognizable and you want to die. 2 is just a fun motw show that’s interesting and has you engaged in the plot until again. Dean wallops you in the teeth. I would describe 4 as the first major shift because suddenly Real Consequences show up. The Big Plan shows up. Cas is there and it is genuinely so moving to watch him struggle through defecting from everything he’s ever known to become a softer more human thing. 4.01 genuinely really engaging episode even when you know what’s coming it’s fun to watch! It’s fun to go oh ho ho they’re trying to solve the Mystery of what’s powerful enough to Raise Dean From Hell! This Mystery Entity is pulling out all the stops! Doing things we’ve never seen before! What could it be! It’s cas :-). Six mostly sucks but then there man who would be king. Seven mostly sucks but there’s godstiel and born again identity. Eight is. Epic highs and lows for sure. There are some god awful episodes in there. Unwatchable episodes. Skip every time I remember they’re coming up episodes. But. There’s goodbye stranger. There’s the finale. There’s purgatory. Hunter heroci. Cas lobotomies. Naomi. Season 8 is the easiest one for me to romanticize because there’s a heaping pile of shining elements in it. Dean has a spray tan cas is getting brainwashed for caring too much sam is dying of consumption it’s all really quite good except for the episodes that are bad. After that it gets good again in s13. Except for the bad parts zksidnejc. Jack really shook up the show in a good way imo! Stakes ballooned out starting. Season 9 ish? And I think he grounds the show a bit so that interpersonal stakes are the ones that you’re invested in. 14 GREAT season stellar season the best season of supernatural in ages. Start to finish. Jack has a great little plot he wrestles with the entire time about his own development. And there’s the god reveal!!!! Wonderful season. Definitely a favorite. And I know people have mixed feelings on 15 but I think it’s a fun romp until it’s not.

Favorite seasons chronologically: 1 4 8 14

Favorite episodes: oh. Skin. What is and what should never be. All hell breaks loose. Lazarus rising. Monster at the end of this book. That episode in season 4 where cas kills himself by archangel with chuck. Free to be you and me. Head of a pin. Endverse. Man who would be king. Season 7 opener. The purgatory flashbacks are scattered between a few different eps so I just watch the compilation on YouTube. I like the eps with Linda and Kevin. Goodbye stranger. S8 finale. S9 is fucking. Dire. But 9.01 is fine. 9.06 for cas with a baby. Meta fiction. Fan. Fiction. Season 12 opener. Oh that casifer episode where they’re on a submarine that’s fun. That episode where dean yells at Mary in her head. Season 12 finale. The future. The first six episodes of s13 back to back to back to back. I like scorpion and the frog. I like stuck in the middle with you. I like mint condition. Asa fox. Lily sunder. Twigs and twine. Season 14 honestly all bangers once you get past the first 3 eps. INCLUDING! Lebanon. Ouroboros is included in this but I am mentioning it by name because today when I drove to work it was all. That I thought about. Coffin ocean done. Byzantine? I think is the one with Naomi. But again 14 all bangers. 15 I have to say the rupture and the trap. Legally. Belphagor eps those too. Atomic monsters. I liked. I think it was the gamblers? . FRENCH MISTAKE. Um. End of the list from the top of my head.

[strangestcase]

2, 5, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20. hm that's a lot. well do whoever you want (i think i know some of your ocs but not many..). or do a combination. or anything.... idk 🫡

I'm going to do it for Sunny and Gloomy because I've been hopelessly obsessed with them since I created them in 2022 (well. "created" "them". public domain character(s) and whatnot).

(For context, Sunny/Gloomy is a version of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde that came to me in a dream and that I've been slowly turning into an OC; the gist of the world they live in is a comedy horror parody of classic monster cinema.)

2- Say your OC made a playlist on Spotify. What bands would be on that playlist? Any specific genres?

Sunny's playlist is a horrific combination of 60s hits, disco, Weird Al, and musical songs. After Here comes the sun and Mr. Blue Sky you get hit with Feed me (git it).

Gloomy pretends to have a dignified, high-brow music taste, but his playlist would be a disjointed collection of songs compiled from villain playlists on spotify. If the Jekyll and Hyde musical was canon in his world (it isn't because, well, there's no Jekyll and Hyde book if Jekyll and Hyde is real and happening in the 2010s), he'd have like four different recordings of Alive in there.

5- What's their favorite type of weather? Do they like to do anything specific on days when the weather is how they like it?

Ironically enough, Sunny prefers fresh, cloudy days in which the sun is sliiightly obscured by big puffy clouds -perfect for going on long walks alone or with one of his three friends-. Meanwhile, Gloomy prefers dark skies and rain. Thunderstorms as well. He'll go outside, no umbrella, no raincoat, and get soaked to the bone. It's fine. Strong immune system and whatnot.

7- What kind of animals would they like as a pet? What names would they give their pets if they got any? If they already have pets, what are their names?

He 100% would like to have a pet but he's not entirely sure what kind of pet. Probably something fun like a ferret, which Sunny would like to call Marshmallow or Velvet. Of course, if Gloomy got any word in it, the poor animal would go by Dementia by the rest of its days.

12- If they were an actual character in an animated film or TV series, who would they be voiced by? Do they have a certain accent that the person would need to perfect?

Sunny is voiced by Rick Moranis, no question. Well, young Rick Moranis, as a more joyful, faux-nice version of his Seymour Krelborn. Gloomy is voiced by Kelsey Grammer doing a similar performance to his Sideshow Bob, but deeper and with more grit to it, OR Anthony Warlow for obvious reasons. Both would have to have a Standard Castilian Spanish accent, though not too blatant, since this is a guy that has lived in England for years.

16- If your OC was a film director, what kind of movies would they make?

Some Skinamarink, Perfect Blue, Mother! shit.

What? You thought Sunny would make something wholesome? Sunny?

17- If your OC was a musical artist, what genres would they do?

I mean- Sunny is literally showtunes themed. Meanwhile Gloomy would do power rock ballads.

19- Does your OC like to collect things? What kind of things do they collect?

The short answer is that he doesn't really collect anything of note. Either he's too focused on other stuff to collect things, or he just forgets... he hasn't collected anything proper since he was a teen, back in the early 2000s. I think he used to collect Pokémon cards and bottle caps but eventually lost interest. He does tend to acummulate test tubes, blades, and notebooks, but that's less of a true collection and more like... stuff he uses regularly and stashes.

The long answer is that he DOES collect stuff but... "collect" is a bit of a stretch. See, Gloomy sometimes brings little "trophies" with himself after maiming someone- fingernails, ears, teeth, clumps of hair, pieces of skin, pieces of clothes, personal effects. Sometimes. And then he shoves them into a drawer that would otherwise be empty, in Sunny's bedroom. This secret serial killer stash, for a lack of a better term, has become one of the many oddities hidden around the house. Usually Sunny kinda... forgets about it until he opens it in search of clean socks, or until someone opens it thinking he hides porn in there or something. His reactions to these occurences are "ah, right, that, I forgot it was there" and "OH SHIT OH FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT THAT FUCK SHIT FUCK" respectively.

I think he would like to collect marbles.

20- Was your OC inspired by anything? Another character? A person?

Well...

Specifically, Sunny/Gloomy is -as I've said before- based off a dream I had, in which I watched a Jekyll and Hyde musical play. Jekyll appeared to be Daniel Collins from the Old Vic dance adaptation, and Hyde looked like musical!Hyde.

While the general gist of the character is a personal spin on the original book Jekyll/Hyde, a LOT of how I characterize Sunny/Gloomy is based off of movie adaptations and fanonization. Oftentimes to take the piss on them.