#it's probably something like a merch or a contest

[paperlovesadness]

Very much in no way am I realistically hoping for anything TLSP-related to come out of this because.......

1) Well just doesn't seem like that would be causally announced on a random Tuesday.

2) Miles is still mid-album promotion and tour in a way. Would distract from that WAY too much

3) It also makes no sense timing-wise with how busy the boys were recently.

And yet....... Did I immediately try & go search for any sort of connection between this Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere show and the Puppets? Yes. Yes I did. Because I'm a hopeless hoper I guess (yes the oxymoron was intentional)

(I found nothing)

[hedgehog-moss]

I went to see the transhumance last week and it was an experience! I've lived here for five years and I'd never been to this event despite it being advertised in the library & town hall every year because I thought, it's just cows crossing a town on their way to their summer pastures, it's not that interesting—but I didn't realise that people turned it into a whole party, as people tend to do. When I arrived in town I found that a nearby field had been (temporarily) turned into a car park to accommodate the many, many visitors who came to see the spectacle—and I was like, maybe I've been missing out on something.

The town was festooned with tassels and garlands (some of the cows were also festooned, with big pompons on their horns) (festoon is a really great English word.) When I arrived there was a thriving little market with several cheese stands, because of course people would take this opportunity to sell their cheeses. They also sold bread, fruit, and cow milk-based desserts including ice-cream, so you were covered if you wanted lunch. (Unless you're lactose intolerant. I'm sorry.)

There were also folk dancers, and a contest going on where you had to guess the weight of an absolutely massive bull (see above). (My guess was way off, he weighed 1 200 kg!) There was a stand with a guy selling beautiful, framed photos of his cows. In one photo a cow was whispering something in her friend's ear. Nearby some prize cows were waiting to be paraded around and one of them was wearing a halter with a little heart <3

(I was invited for apéritif at a neighbour's house a few months ago, he's a retired farmer and he had old Kodak photos of his cows from the 1980s and 90s all over his house. He remembered their names and personalities.)

There was also a stand selling a dizzying variety of cow bells, and I've been resisting the temptation to buy a cow bell for five years now because, well, it's such a cliché tourist thing to buy, but I will probably end up buying one someday. It's hard to resist their allure. I'm not sure which of my animals will have to deal with the humiliation of wearing a bell for a few hours and being photographed cosplaying as a cow against his will.

(Definitely Pirlouit.)

I was buying an ice-cream and asking the vendor if the cows were fashionably late when finally, the herds started arriving. One herd would cross the town, with onlookers clapping and cheering (including from their balconies), then people went back to buying cheese and watching the dancers or the brass band, and commenting on the prize cows strutting on the plaza, then another herd would arrive half an hour later and children would run ahead to warn everyone "They're coming!" (kids love being sentinels) and people would eagerly gather again to clap and cheer as they walked past, and it went on like this all day. You'd think you might get tired of eating ice-cream and clapping for cows but no, people were still enthusiastic when the last herd came.

Imagine being a local cow, and every year when your owners take you to your summer pastures in the mountain you cross a town where people are eating cow milk ice-cream and clapping for you gratefully as you walk past, and buying cow merch (like bells) and admiring an exhibit of framed photos of you and your friends, and watching cow supermodels walking the catwalk on the plaza, and just as you think you've reached maximum levels of appreciation you reach the entrance of town and there's a lifesized statue in your honour in the middle of the roundabout. These cows must have such solid self-esteem.

[fruitypie-daydreams]

Halloween/Autumn Themed Selfship Ask Game!

I wanted to try to include asks for multiple types of F/Os specifically as well as romantic, since I feel like non-romantic ones don't tend to get as much love sometimes :3 I know a lot of them work for more than one F/O type but I tried my best, so feel free to just use whichever for whoever lmao

If you reblog this I'll try to send you one! Feel free to send me some too if you want, but no pressure! 💖

Multiple/All F/O Types:

👍 - Do they like Halloween, or do you have to force them to participate?

🎃 - Do you enjoy carving pumpkins together?

🕷 - Do they enjoy being scared? What scares them most?

🍫 - What is their favorite candy/treat?

🤠 - What is/was their very favorite thing to dress up as?

🏠 - Do you enjoy decorating for Halloween together? Do you decorate inside and outside, or just one? Neither?

📚 - Do either of you enjoy listening to/telling scary stories? Who does the listening and who does the telling?

👻 - Do either of you believe in ghosts/the paranormal?

😈 - Whats their favorite scary movie? What's yours?

🪱 - Do they celebrate Halloween in their canon? Is it called something else?

🖼 - Have you ever drawn/commissioned Halloween themed art of them before (selfship or just in general)?

🎭 - This is probably uncommon but, do you have any Halloween themed merch of them? Official or fanmade, either count!

Romantic F/Os:

🎈 - Do you enjoy watching scary movies together? Do you end up cuddling by the end?

🤡 - If you HAD to do matching couples costumes, what would you pick? Would you both enjoy it?

📌 - Would you two be the type to make a date night out of one of those murder mystery case solving games?

🏚 - What would you two think of a haunted house as a date?

🏢 - Would you two ever spend a night in a haunted hotel?

🍽 - Would either of you go all out and make a Halloween inspired meal for the other? Or do you just keep it simple?

Familial F/Os:

🍬 - Did you ever trick or treat together when you were younger?

🗝 - Do you have any family Halloween traditions you like to do together?

🎢 - Would you or have you ever taken a family trip to a haunted amusement park?

🥧 - Do you enjoy baking pumpkin pies or apple pies together? Maybe something else?

🏵 - Do you enjoy going to the pumpkin patch together?

🌽 - Have you ever gotten lost in a corn maze?

Child F/Os:

🍭 - Do they enjoy trick or treating?

👨‍🚀 - What will they be dressing up as this year?

1⃣ - Is this their first Halloween?

🖍 - Are they the type to enjoy Halloween crafts?

🍥 - Do they enjoy trading candy, or do they usually enjoy keeping what they already have?

🥤 - If they're older, do they enjoy Halloween parties? Do you let them go?

🔪 - Are they old enough to watch scary movies? If they enjoy them, which one is their favorite?

Platonic F/Os:

🎉 - Do you enjoy going to Halloween parties together?

🧻 - Would either of you be the type to TP a house?

🍎 - Do either of you enjoy going apple picking together?

🥸 - If you two had a costume contest, who would win?

🍿 - Do you enjoy having scary movie marathons together?

🍂 - Do you like making piles of leaves just to jump in them?

Pet F/Os:

🌾 - Do they enjoy autumn walks?

🍁 - Is autumn their favorite season to be outside, or do they prefer a different one?

🐈‍⬛ - Would you dress them up in a silly costume? How would they react?

🥮 - If they're a species that can safely eat pumpkin, do they enjoy it?

🍩 - Do you give them a special treat on Halloween?

🥩 - Do they have any Halloween/autumn themed toys?

Dividers by firefly-graphics

[ratsoh-writes]

Dealer's choice:

Skele gets the chance to organise a new national festival for all of Ebott. What do they theme it around, what activities do they include, and when in the year do they hold it?

Sans: he would hold a science fair! Something for new inventors to show off their creations. None of that kiddie science fair crap. He’s talking about the big wigs! He’d most likely hold it in the fall or winter as really hot temperatures don’t work well with tech

Papyrus: he would do a holiday based on storytelling!! Like every one comes with a sort of play, or a live reading. If it’s mystery themed even better! Papyrus loves to hear adventures. This would go great around gyftmas in his opinion

Star: he wants an agility/gymnastics holiday! It would be so fun to see people flipping around and doing tricks! And plus, he gets to show off too! This would definitely be a summer holiday

Honey: three words: Giant. Comic. Con. Does he even need to go into detail? He just wants more merch of his favorite things! Oh and probably do this one in the spring, when it’s not too hot or cold so the cosplayers can be comfortable

Red: he really doesn’t care, but a chocolate festival should be fun. One that doesn’t need a date like valentines. Blegh! He’d have it the day before valentines to give his middle finger to that holiday lol

Edge: a cat contest. Where his precious doomfanger wins every year cause she’s the Queen. But also he wants to pet every one else’s cats. Ahem, it would make sense to hold it in fall~

Mal: a fashion contest obviously. Mal wants to see the next upcoming trends early so he can get ahead on making jewelry designs that sell faster. He doesn’t care when it’s held.

Cash: oh oh! Giant slime fight! Or water balloons work too. Anything that’s really messy and just fun to be in! He’s down! And it definitely has to be summer.

Oak: uhhhh what about a cool holiday where farmers make a big market and show off their animals- oak wait no, that’s the echo festival

Willow: willow would love a craft fair. Something low stakes where people just show off their stuff for fun, no contests needed. It sounds super cozy to him. Spring would be perfect for this!

[susagnon]

Why Red Riot is the best fan friend one may have

I was slightly surprised: The night before the Final War began, Iida, Bakugou and Kirishima were hanging out in Todoroki’s room at Troy.

Iida has been one of Todoroki's closest friends since Hosu. Bakugou has gotten closer to Todoroki through attending the remedial course and then working with him under Endeavor together. And getting involved in their family's mess by extension.

Kirishima has admired Todoroki’s skills openly, and the latter’s readiness to go rescue Bakugou in Kamino, has most definitely only elevated Todoroki’s character in Kirishima’s eyes. On his part, Todoroki probably views Kirishima as very dependable. He most likely appreciates the latter's unreserved kindness and openness a lot as well.

D'you still remember how Early-roki brushed of Kirishima's hand during the sports fest? One season later, and he has learned the value of a calming shoulder pat.

These two trust each other, and I certainly enjoyed their teamwork in Movie 2.

Having mentioned Kamino and Movie 2, we don’t have much other significant interactions between Kirishima and Todoroki however.

Still, Kirishima's there...

But why was I even surprised? Because ofc Kirishima would be there:

These snippets are from the TUM manga's. Kirishima doesn't need the full picture. His friend seems regretful and sad. So without making a big deal out of what used to be before, Kirishima's is going to try to do something about that now.

Kirishima was also among those who showed up in Shouto's hospital room after the PLW, when the Todoroki's got swarmed by the press.

He is one of 1-A's emotional cores, always first in line to support his friends, no matter their exact degree of closeness.

Todoroki will have to face his own brother in their all-out war. Of course, Kirishima would come running to offer emotional support to his friend.

Instead of, idk be with his own family, before all of them go into what is essentially war. On the other hand, it’s anime. Where families play no role, if they are irrelevant to the main plot.

Picture this: After they all become pro heroes, Kirishima would show up to as many events of his former classmates, as he could possibly fit into his schedule. His own fansites are full of Red Riot sightings at Chargebolt's handshake events, Shouto's soba eating contests, 1-A band reunions etc. Kirishima would probably be only second to Deku, in regards of how ham he goes on his friends' merch.

What I mean to say is: TodoKiri is one of the underrated relaxed background friendships, and everyone needs a Red Riot in their lives.

[spider-jaysart]

What's ur favorite headcanons about Supersons?

@theredheaded-stuff @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65

Yesss! Supersons headcanons!!

Damian likes to sometimes use Jon as his latter to see things that are out of reach in his view. This annoys Jon sometimes but he'll do it for him anyways

Jon has Robin sneakers that he likes to wear. (He actually has a lot of other kinds of Robin merch too)

After being long time best friends, Damian tried to bake some cookies for Jon one time since he wanted to surprise him when he came over later but it didn't go exactly as planned, since the cookies came out looking weird with the way they grew in the oven when he was actually trying to get them in the shape of stars, the icing on them was also a bit messy when he was trying to design them and they were crunchy too, not soft like he had wanted. So he asked Alfred if he could just make something for them instead, feeling like he did a terrible job at making the cookies, planning to just give the tray of cookies to Tim or something to get rid of them. Though later, when Jon finally came over that day, the young half Kryptonian found the tray of messed up cookies on the kitchen table when getting a drink from the fridge. He excitedly tried one of them and thought they were delicious. Damian then soon came in to get a drink for himself too and saw him eating it, he didn't understand why he had liked them when they were obviously terrible, so he asked him what he had thought of them. Jon happily replied to his question with the answer being "They're delicious!" Damian was surprised by this and said "But they're crunchy....and they look terrible.", But Jon said that they actually looked like little cute dinosaurs and that he liked eating crunchy cookies, so they were delicious! This made Damian feel better and he revealed to Jon that he was the one who had made them. Jon told him they were awesome and that he should probably make more, this made Damian feel even more better about the cookies. They later ate the cookies together while watching a movie

One time at the beach, Damian, with his art skills, turned Jon into a mermaid while he was sleeping, using the sand around them to do it, he also took a picture once he was done. Later, once Jon had finally woken up from his nap, he was very confused about who was the one who had given him a mermaid tail during his nap.

Jon had once found a box of baby ducks in the rain at a nearby park in Metropolis. He immediately flew back home after finding them, bringing the tiny birds along with him so that they'll be safe, since their Mother was nowhere to be found. After a day or two, he soon told Damian about it, which made the boy wonder want to come over to see them. Once he came over, they both hung around the ducks together for most of the day, playing around with them and taking care of them, Damian even stayed over for the night to help him watch them. They both then made a plan to look for the Mother duckling so that the baby ducklings can be with her again, so after a couple of days of looking for the Mother in Metropolis, they finally found her. They then knew what had to be done, they both said their goodbyes to the baby ducklings that they had quickly gotten used to and released the babies to their Mother, letting them happily reunite with her again. Though, they still get to sometimes see the little family walking around at the park when patrolling in Metropolis.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles once challenged them to a roller skating/skate boarding contest

Every year Damian and Jon always check and compare their heights to see who has become the tallest

When Jon needs it, Damian will help him out with his homework and studies

Jon once wore a cowboy hat that lights up with neon lights and happily showed it to Damian, though Damian had thought that it was silly and made fun of it, making Jon annoyed. Though, when they later went to go hang out at Metropolis, some random kid made fun of Jon's hat too, which made Damian immediately become defensive for his half Kryptonian best friend and made the kid apologize. Jon was confused by this at first but he was glad that his best friend had stood up for him

Thanks for the ask, red! :D

(I had a lot of fun with this one!!)

[justatalkingface]

The Failure of Corruption in Heroes

So, here's the thing with MHA: when it first started, it made a lot of promises to the readership; there's Izuku becoming a hero, of course, but I'm talking more about the unstated promises, about the themes that were presented to us, which are as much the reason I got as into the story as I did as the characters were. A lot of these themes, over time, have fallen to the wayside, and today I'm talking about one I mention again and again: corruption in heroics.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that early on this was one of the biggest themes we were shown, and one that presented as early as the first chapter, no less.

From Mt. Lady kill stealing for glory, to Stain getting a cult following for killing the "corrupt" (more on my contempt for Stain later), heroic corruption was referred all over early on, and even now, in the grim post war era it still clings to life.

Here's the problem: where are the corrupt heroes?

I can count, on one hand, all of them: there's three who are on screen for more than five minutes, Endeavour, Hawks, and Lady Nagant. There's aso that mole for the MLF that get picks up before the raid who is there for about a minute.

And... that's it.

I mean, that's three and a half examples; that seems pretty good, right? The thing is that this problem isn't supposed to be an aberration, it's supposed to be systemic. Stain murders people, and one speech seems to give him a cult following, to the point where he has merch. This is something that almost every major villain talks about; this is supposed to be a lot more prevalent than Endeavour and the Hero Commissions barely expanded on black ops squad.

Where's the heroes taking bribes, or working with small time villains? Where the abuse of power? Where are all the other abusive spouses? Where is all the typical things you'd expect of a corrupt law enforcing institution?

On top of that, there was a focus early on about what heroes meant, but after awhile that petered out as well.

One of the big things of MHA, you see, is that hero is a multifaceted word in setting; it refers to people who save people, yeah. It's also a job, though, one with massive influence, merchandising, public accolades and presumably income.

Izuku, early one, seemed like he'd be the one to... redeem heroics, take them back to their more vigilante roots of just helping people rather than having it as some big popularity contest... which it honestly is? We don't really know what metrics go into ranking heroes, which honestly is probably a damaging concept in itself, but it seems to be heavily involved with the public perception of said heroes, if not completely coming from it.

We had a nice contrast to Izuku, to show this grey area, with Bakugou, who wanted to be rich and famous, Ochako, who wanted money for her family, and just the way UA itself operates at times, with things like the Sports Festival being as much about branding as anything else, and the heroes in the first chapter just standing around instead of trying to save the child dying in front of them.

And the thing is, all of that is a good setup for Izuku, as an audience proxy, to start getting past his blind hero worship and start questioning the system he wants to be a part of; not just how it fails the regular people, but also how it preys on heroes themselves, but it just never happens. That grey area starts fading away over time.

I think it was supposed to be sparked by Stain, at some point into something more, and in story, that's apparently what happened. In reality...

Yeah... about Stain. He has a point, in theory. He's a crazy serial killer, but he's not completely wrong. In practice though? He's supposed to hunt the corrupt. We... we don't see that. Almost all the heroes he's attack have been, at best, names, and then there's Tensei, who I'll get to in a second. If these are corrupt heroes, shouldn't we... hear about that? That they were threatening people, maybe, or taking bribes, or... something, to spark these attacks? And that's not even getting into Tensei, who, from everything we've seen in the spin off, was honestly the ideal kind of hero, kind, helpful, inspirational.

So, it's weird that Stain is attacking him, right?

Actually, not really. Stain has this idealized view of heroes, where if they aren't All Might, society's vision of the ideal hero and someone he almost literally worships, they aren't worth living, and that's why he falls flat as this big symbol of societies darkness or whatever; attacking heroes for failing to be heroic, for doing bad shit, is one thing, something that makes his takes more valid. What he's actually doing is attacking everyone that doesn't meet his personal vision of perfection, which pretty much invalidates whatever is left of his point once you got past all the murdering.

And then, as if to lampshade how much he doesn't work, Hori gets rid of him right after, and after maybe ten chapters he almost never comes up again.

So why is it like this? This is something I brought up when I talked about the League, if approached from the other direction: Hori is afraid of his heroes being wrong, and while he makes the villains always seem wrong to discredit them, he also makes his heroes always seem right so they seem infallible. At this point, I'm not sure if he chickened out part way through his writing, or editors or the industry stopped him, or he just never meant to go in depth into all of this, but so much of the story revolves around the idea that heroes are imperfect.

But we don't see that.

Can you imagine how much harder all the Stain stuff would have hit, for example, if every time he attacked someone he leaked an exposé on who he attacked and why? If every 'victim' he attacked turned out to be a criminal in their own right? And, I feel like I'm doing Tensei dirty by saying this, but imagine the development for Iida if he finds out his brother, his beloved brother he looked up to, was bad? Did bad things? Maybe even, dare i say deserved to be attacked? How his internal debate over taking up the name Ingenium would have looked?

Or when Momo is apprenticed to a hero who spends all her time on fashion shows and commercials, if she said, 'No, I became a hero to save people, not to sell out', and took a stand against a woman who seemed to be almost using her to make a quick buck .

Or... anything, really.

Because for this big, systemic issue, all we really have is Endeavour, who Hori started engaging in Initial D worthy U-Turns to try and salvage the perception of his character almost immediately after he was introduced. Less than a year of in story after it started, no non-villain ever says an unkind word about him any more because he's apparently changed that much. We also have Hawks and the Commission pulling his strings, but since they were killed off off screen that's just... better now, apparently, and we should never talk about them ever again even if the organization itself is still there, and Lady Nagant who, as a character introduced Post War, by default barely even exists.

Oh, and you know, Post War itself. Let me sum up how Post War talked about heroic corruption in the press conference shortly after it begins:

Hawks: Ah, yes, cold-bloodedly executing Twice really tore me up. Deep inside.

*pats chest*

Right here.

Reporter: ...Your heart is on the other side of your body. That's so far to the side... there's nothing important even there.

Hawks: And?

Reporter: Endeavour! Endeavour! What do you say to critics who cite... *checks notes* ...Your entire existence?

Endeavour: Watch me.

Reporter: What? What does that have to do with-

Endeavour, louder: Watch me!

Reporter: But what abou-

Endeavour, screaming now as he burns down the podium: WATCH ME!!!!

Hawks, under orders, joined a bunch of villains for months, apparently killed someone to get entry, blended enough that only a perpetually paranoid shell of a human being saw through his act, and killed a man on national television.

Endeavour was so desperate for success that he married a woman to breed her like she was cattle, and discarded every child she bore like a particularly jaded gatcha player until he got the proxy he desired for his ambitions.

I know I hammed up the responses a lot, but their answers to these problems answered nothing, solved nothing, and barely acknowledged anything, yet it was presented to us as, well, important, like it helped show how sorry they are, and how much they really mean that they'll do better this time, honest.

And this is the pinnacle of the supposed corruption in the later parts of the story, since stuff was theoretically happening off screen, while Lady Nagant showed up and repented in a matter of minutes.

The thing is, for this big, corrupt system, one that is failing so badly that it's collapsing, we never really see the corruption. It's only there, conveniently, so it can provide backstories to motivate the villains, and then vanishes. Meanwhile, all the heroes are, to a man, woman, and apprentice, blindingly Good, willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause (or for Hori's fan favorite), or at worst willing to quit when they don't think they can do it anymore, and that doesn't seem particularly corrupt, now does it?

You can tell us until you're blue in the face about how the heroic industry is flawed, Hori, but until you actually show us these flaws, it'll only fall flat.

[patchesjam]

My MCC Video Rant, sorry its a bit long :)

So first off, the video itself is a bit crap. The first 2 mins are just introduction waffle, they then talk about a UI change for 2 mins. They’ve changed it from the typical mcc style to fit the mcci UI a bit more, to ‘improve viewer experience’. I personally don't like the change, for me it's a bit... busy. They then spend 3 of the remaining 5 mins mins advertising merch and mcci. Only about 1 min of the 8 min long video is about actual updates to mcc.

The actual updates, like the ones that actually matter and change the game are in the comments for some reason??

This is all information that are actual updates, none of it hinted at all in the video but just commented below. 

Skybattle’s update is truly confusing. Let me explain, currently there a a few raw pvp games (battlebox, sb, sg) and they all prioritise something different, BB is teamwork in rapid environments, SB is kills and SG is survival. With the nerfing of SB kills it turns it into a hunting and killing game to a hiding game. It also creates ridiculous scenarious where, for example with past scores adjusted, someone with 10 kills can come 3rd (dream mcc24) and someone who dies 1st each round, with zero kills, gets 64 coins (ranboo mcc17) and someone who gets 5 kills comes 2nd behind someone with 2 kills (Krtzzy and 5up, mcc 20).

It also, crucially, completely nerfs the ability for surpise comebacks and popoffs - for example, Joel Smallishbeans, not exactly known for pvp but he had a very impressive run getting 5 kills in mcc19 and gets just 260 coins with this update. Instead of potentially getting lucky, or a good opportunity you now have to just try and survive to the end. 

Battlebox’s update is a little bit of a nothingburger, they are just adding blocks to all maps which, although probably a bit more fun and makes things interesting. They are also releasing new maps throughout the season - but no major overhaul. Not that it particularly needed one either. 

One thing to note is that they mention that the blocks will be ‘brown, not team coloured, so you won’t mistake them for concrete’. However, several contestants are colourblind.  

In the game, it’d be extremely easy to mistake brown construction blocks, for both red and orange concrete. It probably wont end up effecting much at all - but when you can use the black colour, which is nearly universal it doesnt make any sense at all. I really hope it has a different texture or something because otherwise its just silly. 

Grid Runners changes is fine, probably pretty good change tbf. It does surprise me they havent announced new rooms, if there are no new rooms I’ll be dissapointed as I feel like theyre getting stale, but hopefully theyre leaving that as a surprise. 

However, I’m more pissed off at what they didnt announce. No mention of anything to do with Buildmart, which regardless of opinion, is one of the few games without big updates from S2. It’s also hated by 1/3 of the players and watchers so if they are focusing on improving player’s experiences surely this should be a focus? No mention of new GR rooms. No mention of SG scoring, which still wasn’t great from last season. No new games. No mention of new AR maps. No mention of Meltdown maps. No update to SOT. No mention of new maps for RSR. No PKT scoring update (desperately needed).

It’s just all a bit dissapointing, very few updates actaully talked about and released for the start of S3, where surely they should at least be hinted at. And instead, a nice 5 min long ad for their other products. 

[madlyn5ever]

Okay Part four of my casting thoughts for East High musicals (I thought I posted part 3 yesterday but I didn’t so that’s up now)

Today’s musical: Cindy and The Discoball !!

(It was my first live musical that I know of -I had a more interesting life as a child without their consciousness yet than now so, maybe I’ve been to one before I don’t know- I think I went to the frozen musical at Disneyland once a couple years ago but I only remember sitting down so I don’t think that counts)

(Anyway Cindy ATD was super fun and definitely a worth while experience if it ever runs again. I saw it at the Garry Marshall in Burbank and it’s small but so nice. It has cool memorabilia in glass cases inside and my Cindy sweatshirt is a favorite merch item of mine in the mix of concert stuff I own)

Anyway!

Kris: Ashlyn. Absolutely no contest Ashlyn would be playing Kris with a K. The non-binary energy here is something that just screams Ashlyn “gender is a construct let’s do this” Caswell. Absolutely my best casting decision for Ashlyn ever I think.

Cindy Fontaine: as much as this role is literally played by Saylor, I’m obligated to say Gina. (Maddox can’t act! But she’s doing her best!) Or Emmy, honestly I need to give Emmy some roles and I think this could be a good one for her. Being the youngest in the group she definitely could play a younger step-sister. I just- I think Gina would be cast here and do it well, but also Emmy’s good too so, I don’t know one of those two.

Eleanor: it’s tricky but I’d have to say, as much as she can’t really act, Dani. She could play a self centered spoiled older step-sister well. She would absolutely kill it as this frigid cool kid.

Buddy: this is a Ricky role and I’m absolutely right about it. The adhd sporty guy who’s actually kind of sweet and himbo-y fits Ricky so well. There’s no other East high drama kid who could pull off the timing of this man as Buddy. It’s almost too perfect.

Pablo: I’m gonna say seb because Pablo and Buddy are one whole nuckle head sandwhich and sebs innocent obliviousness with Ricky’s chaos demon would equal beautiful disaster in the most perfect way.

Soul Sister: Kourtney. Enough said. The powerful vocals, the fact that Kourtney would want to play a powerful woman who’s also magical, this is like Sharpay for her.

Tommy: as much as I’d love to make this little guy (he’s really just a little guy, who loves his school newspaper.)

As much as I’d love to make him Ricky to fit the Gina/ Ricky leads power duo, he can’t be Ricky, Ricky is too much of a Buddy.

So I’d probably say Jet. He’s perfect for this character because he is the kind of guy who could play a foil to Ashlyn’s character in a way. Like maybe not a foil but two people who are both friends with the main character and I don’t know I just think Ashlyn and Jet would make a great buddy cop duo and I feel like that in a way fits these two characters.

Also Jet singing about the news? Heck yes.

[twistedgardens]

Mysterious fliers appear all over the NRC campus. They read in beautiful, lurid calligraphy: 'Who is the fairest of them all? To whom shall the greatest prize be won? A kiss upon the lips to only the Fairest One's match. Who shall win?' A competition is set between Vil, Malleus, Leona, Cater, and...Idia (of all people) to see who's "the Fairest of Them All" and get a kiss from their secret "match," whoever that may be. Yuu enjoys watching the chaos from a safe distance.

Scarabia and Octavinelle are oddly left out. Despite Kasim's attempts to throw either himself or Jamil's name into the lot, Jamil diverts all attention away from their dorm. Ever the opportunist to make money, Azul starts a betting pool. No matter who wins in the end, he'll see a pretty profit regardless.

The staff are scratching their heads. Prof. Crewel is chomping at the bit to discover who's playing such a naughty prank (although he's curious to see who takes the blue ribbon). Prof. Trein is tired of these frivolities and just wishes for the students to get back to their studies. Prof. Vargas is supposed to be discouraging anything that involves the ridiculous contest but secretly has money on Leona winning (the strongest survive after all). Azul isn't the only one making profit. Sam is making bank selling merch including cheesy t-shirts with the faces and names of the "contestants" and read: "Team Vil," "Team Malleus," etc. Headmaster Crowley is beside himself...as he hides away from the press who've caught wind of the glorified beauty contest.

Rook is the center of Vil's campaign. He's designing all of the posters, banners, buttons, pins, and balloons, all bearing Vil's name and face. There will be glitter involved. Epel is dragged into Rook's shenanigans. Vil ups the ante with his makeup. He arrives everywhere on time and fashionable. His uniform is as sharp as his cut crease. Oh, but that smile is plastered on nearly 24/7. He keeps his bitchy attitude tapered down to appear more appealing to the widest demographic to secure his position of Fairest of Them All. You could do just about anything to him and he'd smile and accept it, even if behind that placid look he's probably thinking about homicide. Anything to win that title.

Malleus literally has no idea what's going on. This was the first time he's invited to something, and he doesn't have a clue. Sebek takes it upon himself to build a campaign to secure the title for the glory of his future king. Silver tags along only to make sure Sebek doesn't over do it. Lilia is utterly delighted and helps make campaign merch, though he's mostly in it for the chaos.

Leona couldn't give less of a shit about the "dumb beauty contest." Fairest of Them All was something for those prissy little rich kids from Pomefiore to fight about. He, Ruggie, and Jack have a good laugh at the other dorms participating in ridiculous displays of "campaigning" for their champions. Leona puts zero effort into making himself look good, appearance wise and in personality. Granted if over-blotting didn't fix his attitude, nothing would. Leona couldn't stand the fact that his name was on the same list as Malleus, but he wasn't going to make himself look a fool like the overgrown lizard. All that changed when polls started to appear with mysterious figures. Malleus was in the lead with Leona behind even Idia! Well, that's not going to fly, is it?

Heartslaybul shows their full support of Cater. Riddle sets strict rules so that while the dorm, and Cater, can participate in the shenanigans, it cannot disrupt studies. Trey helps with the campaign by baking pastries and sweets and essentially bribing students to pick Cater. Ace wants to pretend all of this is a stupid game, but secretly wants to be the one picked from his dorm instead of Cater. He tends to make a stink about it and his jealousy is quite visible. Deuce, as usual, doesn't really know what's going but is happy to support Cater in any way he can. Cater's use of Magicam explodes. He's taking tasteful selfies any chance he gets, always tagging them as #trulythefairest and #votecater♦️

Idia, on the other hand, is mortified. He spends all his time he normally would have spent gaming trying to find out who's behind this terrible practical joke. Ortho helps rather than hinder the campaign to make his big brother the Fairest of Them All. He somehow managed to snatch good candid pictures of Idia and edits them before posting them to Magicam. #VoteIdia. All of this is done to the chagrin and horror of Idia.

[marisshifting]

OH MY GOD.

so there's this event in my city every year named Comicon

I don't know how to explain it but there are like anime fans, kpop fans, and all this kinda stuff

I was planning on going for the kpop stuff because yeah they do random dance which I absolutely love, they sell albums and merch, there are karaoke contests and yeah it's so funny honestly

but.

I JUST FOUND OUT SOMETHING

this may be a sign from the universe or I just may be delulu (probably).

STANISLAV JANEVSKI (the actor who played Viktor Krum) IS GONNA BE THERE AND I'M PROBABLY GONNA MEET HIM.

LIKE I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED Y'ALL CAN'T IMAGINE HOW HAPPY I AM (he literally had 5 mins of screen time and 20 seconds of lines BUT WHO CARES HONESTLY)

I CAN'T STOP JUMPING AROUND THE HOUSE I'M LITERALLY SHAKING

[kalux-sims]

Sims Tag

Thanks for tagging me @powluna!

1. What’s your favourite sims death?

Old age. That's pretty much the only death in my game unless there's a rare accident. Plus, I love a tiki drink.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Maxis match.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight?

No. In fact, I use mods that get rid of some of the weight related wants and fears. (And in TS3 a lot of my sims are fat.)

4. Do you use move objects?

So much.

5. Favorite mod?

Probably the one that lets kittens and puppies have coat patterns.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got?

What was the first TS expansion? Looks like it was Livin' Large? So that, I guess? Or maybe House Party? My sister got The Sims for xmas 2000, and Livin' Large was already out. Hmm. No idea. Too long ago!

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?

Live mode. (Not live mode.)

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

She's long gone, but probably my first TS2 sim. Her name was Annette something, I think. I also really liked Arthur Broadback, the partner I made for Cassandra. He's gone too now.

9. Have you made a simself?

Yep. She's one of my models, modeling AF fat morph clothes, but only ones I'd wear. I used to have a sim whose name was Ramona who was kinda me. Her name was an anagram of my deadname (first and last).

10. What sim traits do you give yourself?

Sims 2, so no traits. I think Ramona was a Romance sim. Sloppy, outgoing, lazy, kinda playful, kinda nice.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color?

In TS2 they're all kinda bleh. Black, I guess?

12. Favorite EA hair?

I mostly use CC hair.

13. Favorite life stage?

Hmmm.....Young Adult maybe? It's when I figure out their personalities.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay. No contest. I have to make myself decorate.

15. Are you a CC creator?

Off and on, though steadily on for 2-ish years lately.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad?

Kinda? I'm bad at keeping in touch and perpetually too stressed to be a good friend. 😕 But there are definitely people in the community who I like and who like me, and that's something I wish I had more energy for.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4)

2, it's not even close.

18. Do you have any sims merch?

Nah. I own too much stuff and I don't think there's sims merch that would fit my style.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Nope.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I have no tolerance for photoskinned CC anymore. I used to have tons of it.

21. What’s your Origin ID?

Haha. Origin. No. I think I technically have an ID for it, but I have no idea what it might be. I don't use it.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@deedee-sims, and I think she knows it. 😉

23. How long have you had a simblr?

Just over two years, but I missed the anniversary in March.

24. How do you edit your pictures?

Minimally? I use GIMP and pretty much just crop them.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next?

As far as TS4 stuff that will get converted? I'm kinda anticipating the goth kit they sorta teased. More stuff for children and younger would be nice too.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far?

All TS2 EP's add something that feels vital, but....hmm....Nightlife? The attraction system really made the relationships feel more complex. Which one added secondary aspirations? That one is a strong contender too.

I tag @deedee-sims (because I already tagged her), @letomills, @eulaliasims, and @gaypleasantview ...and anyone else who feels like it!

[ded-ihn-uh-hul]

Fanfiction Contest?

ded ihn uh hul day (as we just decided. For now. Because it's the anniversary of R.I.P., the theme music of which was the first time ded ihn uh hul was credited for something.) is not until August 3rd, but I know how executive dysfunction is, so I give you 7 months to procrastinate.

It's not certain yet, but I was thinking the winner would be gifted a Twitch subscription. If you are already subscribed or don't have Twitch, maybe a bandcamp download or merch discount code or very small cash prize? Oh or maybe even a little commission from our artist? We'll see. I'm not sure how they'll be scored, probably just voting for our favourites I dunno, but we'll scale that wall when we crash into it.

If there are enough submissions, we'll consider having multiple winners, but unless our fanbase grows suddenly, I expect like, one participant who will win by default.

The real prize is content, though. Because yes this is so that we can do a stream where we read fanfiction about ourselves. Chase that clout. You are still welcome to send things you don't want streamed, or you can be anonymous. (By like, sharing a document instead of a ao3 link and/or saying you want to be anonymous or something. Only Leo has to know.)

I'll tag things about this #fic ihn uh hul 2024 , unless that's stupid and I change it. If you reckon this whole goofy ordeal ought to be snipped at the stem, I am listening sometimes.

[sundaeserenade]

I’ve been trying to figure out how to word this that doesn’t sound potentially insane for a stranger to say someone but regardless! I’ve been so much happier since following you I feel. I turn 25 in 2 months and for some reason I’ve just felt so like weird and upset bc I’ve been thinking things like “am I too old for this?” And feeling genuine shame especially bc like pokemon is really precious to me which is weird bc it’s been with me my whole life. you’ve just brought a sense of like happiness and comfort that I can just exist with the things that make me happy and it doesn’t diminish anything I’m doing in my life as an adult! Im really glad I found you on ao3 last year. Your works have been something I hold dear to me!!!! Im really sorry for rambling and if this was really fucking weird I didn’t mean for it to be.

I don't think this is a weird thing to say at all! I think this is something everyone thinks at some point but honestly? You're not LMAO

And you essentially answered this question yourself. You've been with pokemon since you were a child, of course it's important to you. Playing the game or any game or ANY MEDIA during your formative years sticks with you. It teaches you about yourself about things you like and don't like. It starts that process of critical thinking and media consumption even if you didn't realize it at the time.

There's nothing wrong with that. Like pokemon is marketed toward adults, too. There's championships for pokemon. For adults. There's rap showcases about pokemon. There's meetups and contests and zines and everything. You're not alone in still loving pokémon and you shouldn't feel ashamed for continuing to enjoy something you loved as a kid.

I get that I'm older than you, but when I was a kid, fandom WOULDN'T EXIST without those 30, 40, and 50 year olds who created content and organized events and held the fandoms together. They would archive and back up fic. They'd exchange emails and chronicle things like??? And it was because of those adults that we have sites like AO3 now.

If those people hadn't helped the fandom grow, I never would've started writing. It's because of old adults that I got inspired and tried. all these people, no matter their age, enjoy this show or game or whatever and that's what fandom is. That's what it's about.

Can you imagine if fandom was like…all kids??? There would be nothing here. There would be nothing. Like maybe something every once in a while but like?? Who would make and sell merch? Who would do commissions??? Who would organize zines like?? Adults are integral. So don't feel ashamed. Be happy. Like life is too fucking short. If you're not hurting anyone, then go off I say. People can enjoy whatever they want. Like fantasy football or marvel and DC. WHATEVER!!

be an adult and enjoy fandom and be glad, because now you have money to buy all that merch 😎

I'm glad i could help you feel better about this, but please don't be ashamed. thank you for reading my stuff and holding it dear. that's very sweet, and I appreciate that very much 💕thank you for telling me.

like im not ashamed to say that i'm probably gonna be here till i'm 50 but then i may like dip into something else idk. if i live that long LMFAO i have no concept of time???

[xplrvibes]

katelyn's new tiktok....is definitely not something i was expecting. it's honestly funny...and not in a 'yes, you should totally sneak in, this is so funny' way. it's sad she can't get their names out of her mouth or stop wearing their merch. i mean, at least she's getting the clout and views she wants.

Combining asks since they are about the same topic. Go watch Katelyn Dunkin's latest tiktok for context.

Yea, I definitely wasn't expecting to open tiktok on a Saturday morning and see that, gotta tell you. I kind of forgot she existed for a while, up until the best friend tiktok. And now she's back and...weirder than ever lol.

Here's my thing with ol' kdunks: I can almost sympathize to a point with her, because she did appear to have been blindsided (no pun intended) by this sudden breakup and has since lost a life long friend in the fallout. This relationship she was in was never officially made public and yet the fans of the guy she was seeing despised her from the jump and cast her in the role of the villain, and she had no chance of ever turning those tides. None. No matter how hard she tried, every foot she put forward was the wrong foot and made things infinitely worse.

So she gets dumped by him, rather suddenly from the looks of it, and he's out living this great life and she's left in the dust and is still getting hated on by the internet even though she wasn't even dating the guy anymore. She does dumb shit out of being petty, he claps back in his own petty way and his fans who were just waiting for him to give the 👍, go nuclear on her.

She's bitter. Bitter people who feel they were ganged up on and unfairly villainized do crazy shit sometimes.

Do I like her? Not really. Always found her a tad annoying, honestly, so this is not coming from a place of loving her and wanting to defend her cause I don't care lol. But I can see how this happened and why it continues to unfold the way it's unfolding.

At the same time - she isn't winning any contests by continuing to do this weird petty shit. It's just giving these fans more of a reason to hate on her, and is making her look more unhinged. It's funny in that way that odd drama is funny, but it does absolutely nothing to ease her reputation as the crazy ex because, well now she's talking about breaking into their Halloween part(iful). She can claim that it was a joke all she wants, but it wasn't. She's bitter. She wasn't invited but lots of people she knows is....and they're probably going, too. She's hurt by that. It's a hurt that is compounding with frustration because she feels alone and isolated because nobody is definitively taking her side*. So yea. This is all the result of bitter frustration. Screaming in silence, if you will.

I said this about another situation recently, but everyone has the right to tell their life story if they so choose....to a point. If she wants to be out there saying, "hey, I feel abandoned by my friend," or, "Hey, Sam dumped me out of the blue and left me to hang with his fans and it was really hard to deal with," then that's her story and she's valid to say her peace, I suppose. But there's a line with this type of stuff, and she's crossing the line into a weird territory where it's no longer something she's well within her rights to be doing/saying.

*to clarify: I'm not saying her side is the right side to take, cause I have no clue what she did or what sparked this breakup between her and Sam or her and Malia. For all we know, she could've done something to deserve the absolute ice cold freezing out that we've seen here. This is merely me saying that from her perspective, she probably feels alone and abandoned and ganged up on and embarrassed and is coming to terms with the fact that she was doomed to fail in this whole mess from the start. And she's not handling that with grace and class. 🤷‍♀️

Edited to add: the thought of her trying to get into that party and summarily getting the Uncle Phil/Jazz treatment does me chuckle, not gonna lie.

[neganium]

While I can sort of understand where they're coming from with the whole "don't start early" thing, I don't really think that it's unfair, and I think that there's a misunderstanding as to why some people do that (or at least try to do that) in the first place. Like, for myself, specifically, I have a hard time completing the tasks at all; I did very poorly in this year's Summer Night Carnival, tho there's a lot less pressure in that event than there is in this one. Plus, Goatlings is hardly the only place running Halloween events in the first place, so some of us are juggling multiple tasks at once. One could say to just opt out for a year; but if I did that, I wouldn't be able to acquire the limited edition loot, bc I don't have money to spend on the Diamond Dust shop (and even if I did, my mother would kill me for wasting money on what accounts to crappy little gacha prizes). I hate missing out on things due to the illusion of choice, you know.

It's not like we can really start early, anyways, bc they change events up from year to year (probably specifically to curtail this "unfair advantage" in the first place); it's a little bit impossible, unless, particularly for the usual photo contest, you just so happen to have a picture taken by yourself, within the acceptable time period, that fits with one of the changing themes of the year.

idk it's just a lil bit rough is all I'm saying. I get that it's meant to be for fun but some of us are motivated by different things entirely. But to each their own; it's not like we technically can do that in the first place, and there's not a lot of time to do it in, either, so the point would be kind of moot.

I wonder if I can open comms again in time to buy some of the physical merch they're apparently selling this year, tho. I'm kind of hoping they'll add retroactive merch for the mascots/teams from years past, too; I'd love a Sweet Demon or Lovepire sticker, or something.