#kid with a retainer (jimmy)

[muses-of-the-memory]

Happy 26th Anniversary, Ed, Edd n Eddy!

Tagged by: @hoshi-neko-hikari, @bluemajingirl, @the-world-hopper

[torra-and-the-toons]

I just had a thought that woke me in a cold sweat from a nap...

Since EEnE and KND technically exist in the same world, what if the adults from EEnE are always gone because they're busy terrorizing the KND?

This is not at all a serious headcanon, but it's funny to think about.

[somewhatidealname]

i love how your springtap is just a literal monster while scraptrap has the vibe of a kid's cartoon villian. if these two saw each other they'd be immensly confused as to how different they are in nature. literal apex predator vs jimmy neutrons grandfather 💀

scraptrap is from the timeline where william retains his braincells

[sschizoid]

Tulpar crew babysitting…

ive got you pookie ( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭‎°｡⋆♡‧₊˚

--

curly

is so honored that he was chosen to be entrusted with the care of something as delicate as a baby. always wanted to be a dad, but never quite found the right person to settle down with. but doing this is kind of reigniting that old baby fever he thought he'd forgotten about all those years ago. maybe someday

loves to play, especially with his hands. peek-a-boo, patty-cake, and finger puppets are his go-tos, as he thinks teaching creativity and engaging the imagination through just means of your person can make for a healthy mind

singing is also something he loves to utilize, but he doesn't go for the predictable options like your ABCs or wheels on the bus. no, right now, he's got himself an audience, one that can't tell him to keep it down or that his music taste sucks, and he's going to take advantage of that. he's singing the beach boys

jimmy

would ideally never be in this situation to begin with. cannot fathom why anyone would think to trust him of all people to care for a baby when he can hardly even care for himself

if he does somehow get swept into it, whether it be by the will of god or some other foreign wind of change, he will do the absolute bare minimum. throws the kid in a playpen with some toys and sits back while enjoying some television. probably puts on some trashy animated show that's definitely not made for infants, but all they care about is the moving pictures and fun colors, right? everything else is subjective

texts every 45 minutes asking for updates on when parent(s) will be home, because he kind of has somewhere he needs to be in an hour (lie). also he dug around in the fridge a bit and ate some leftovers but re-positioned the remaining amount in the tupperware in an attempt to make it look like he didn't. also, he's getting paid for this, right?

anya

she's never really interacted with kids before, let alone a baby. she's trying to find a polite way to decline, but takes too long in trying to come up with an excuse and eventually just agrees

read a whole bunch of parent blogs 20 minutes before coming over so she could know what to expect. the only information she retained was that babies like to be talked to. she's professional and talks to them like she would a coworker at the watercooler. baby seems into it, though?

feeling confident after making the baby laugh, but she doesn't want to risk losing the progress she's made by trying something wacky. baby likes talking— maybe likes books, too? she brought her homework just in case she wanted to do some studying, and decides to read the articles from her textbook aloud. it works like a charm, though the baby falls asleep soon after. maybe the subject matter was too boring?

swansea

hell. no. he spent over a decade of his life combined dealing with rugrats, what makes you think he'd want to go back to that? he did his time and then some, his sentence is served

the only circumstance where he'd agree to babysit is if it were to do his own kids a favor. they're around that age, getting their lives together and starting families, so he could swallow his pride every now and then and play the role of "grandpa," for a bit. even if the title seemed unearned

but being a grandfather kind of makes him reflect. makes him realize he probably wasn't there for his kids nearly as often as he should have been. he wasn't a good father to them, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he's thankful they made out alright in the end. he feels a pang in his heart when he looks into the face of the baby and realizes it has his nose

daisuke

OF COURSE he'll babysit, are you kidding? he's always wanted a little sibling to instill his personality and interests into, and this, while not the perfect opportunity, was probably the next best thing

brings over all of his favorite toys from when he was a kid. hot wheels, tech decks, legos, the works. tries to teach the baby how to do a kickflip with the tech deck, but they keep trying to eat it. that's cool too, he can maybe understand the appeal. it kind of looks like an eclair if you squint really, really hard and hold it really, really far away

babysitting is also the perfect excuse to watch cartoons without the fear of being judged by boring people, so he's got that shit running the whole time. nothing too babyish (he wants to enjoy himself too, after all), but still has loads of bright colors and the occasional catchy musical number that will most certainly follow him home that night

--

hope these are sufficient ! if anyone else has any requests; my asks are open !! ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊωˋ )ଓ⁾⁾

.......i'm admittedly a bit backed up at the moment but rest assured I'm POWERING THROUGH YEAAAHHHH 💪

[acknowledge-reigns]

Swipe Right | Roman Reigns x Black!fem OC (18+)

Description: After spending the weekend trying to push Roman out of her mind, Iris realizes that isn't going to be possible.

Chapter: 3/6

Face Claim: Ciara

Warnings: Mention of alcohol use, strong language, I think that's all?

Word count: 850

This is set in an AU in which the og bloodline reunited before wrestlemania 40 and Roman retained. As always my stories are about Roman, not Joe. While there is not smut in the first couple of chapters, there will be in others. This is very much an 18+ BDSM based romance with some comedy thrown in there. You have been warned.

Iris walked into her her cozy little home feeling a mix of emotions. She was relieved to be home, but also still feeling the aftermath of her encounter with Roman.

As she walked into the living room, she saw her sisters, Kiley and Jax, sitting on the couch sipping wine and watching some trash reality show. They looked up at her expectantly.

"How did it go?" Kiley asked eagerly.

Iris let out a sigh and flopped down onto the couch. "It was... interesting," she said, not wanting to go into too much detail.

Kiley and Jax exchanged a look, clearly sensing that there was more to the story.

"Come on, spill," Jax said, leaning forward. "What happened with Roman?"

Iris hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to tell her sisters the truth. But she knew they wouldn't let up until she did.

"Okay, fine," she said, taking a deep breath. "Roman was... different than I expected. He was charming and flirty at first, but then he suddenly stopped kissing me and acted like nothing had happened."

Kiley and Jax both looked surprised.

"Wait, he just stopped kissing you and walked away?" Kiley asked, her eyes wide.

Iris nodded, feeling a mix of frustration and embarrassment.

"Yeah, he said it was nice meeting me and then told me to enjoy the show. I have no idea what that even means."

Jax frowned. "That's weird. He seemed so into you before. Do you think he was just playing games? I swear, I will-."

"Deep breaths, Jax." Kiley can't help but chuckle. Jacqueline aka Jax was always the fiercest of the three sisters. Kiley aka Lele was the baby and most gentle. Iris is a weird mixture of fierce yet gentle, and she's also the eldest. Their dad had never been in their lives and their mom passed away when Lele was still a kid so it was just the three of them until Iris' daughters came along. Jax lives with Iris and is a professional dancer. Lele is in nursing school and lives on campus but returns most weekends.

Iris shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he was just looking for a quick hookup or something. But I don't know why he had to be so rude about it."

Iris decided to change the subject, not wanting to dwell on Roman any longer.

"Anyway, how were the girls tonight?" she asked, turning to her sisters.

Kiley smiled. "They were great. We had a movie night and they both fell asleep before the end of the movie."

Iris smiled, feeling a pang of guilt for leaving her daughters with her sisters. "Thanks for watching them. I really appreciate it."

Jax waved her off. "Don't worry about it. We love spending time with them."

Iris nodded, feeling grateful for her sisters. "I don't know what I would do without you guys."

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➴➵➶➴➵

Roman was sitting on his private bus on the way to another nearby city replaying the events of the night in his head. He couldn't get Iris out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

He was interrupted by the sound of Jey and Jimmy taking the seats across from him.

"Uce, You good?" Jey asked.

Roman looked up at his cousins, a distracted expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'm good," he said, trying to shake off his thoughts of Iris. "Just thinking."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "About what? You've been pretty quiet since the show ended."

Roman hesitated for a moment, not sure if he wanted to talk about what was on his mind. He had never been big on opening up. Being vulnerable was one of the very few things he wasn't flawless at.

"I met someone." he finally said.

Jey and Jimmy exchanged a knowing look.

"And?" Jey prompted, leaning forward.

Roman let out a sigh. "And... I don't know. It was just supposed to be a hookup I guess.. someone from tinder that I messaged while drunk, but I can't stop thinking about her. But we didn't even have sex, and it ended weird."

Jimmy grinned. "Ooh, you're in trouble, Uce."

Jey chuckled. "Yeah, sounds like you've got it bad."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Shut up, both of you." But deep down, he knew they were right. He couldn't deny that he was feeling something for Iris, even though he had tried to convince himself otherwise.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➴➵➶➴➴➵➶➴

Monday came about quickly. Iris had done everything in her power to erase Roman Reigns from her mind. She was sitting at her desk, sipping on a cup of coffee, when her boss, Mrs. Neely walked into her office.

"Iris, I need to talk to you about something," She said, a serious expression on her face.

Iris looked up at her boss, feeling a bit of anxiety. "Sure, what's up?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Mrs Neely sat down in the chair across from her. "I have some news for you," the older woman said, folding her hands together. "You're going to be working on the WWE-Netflix deal."

"WWE needs someone to represent them in negotiations," Mrs Neely continued. "And they specifically requested you."

Well Shit...

Previous chapter ●◉◎◈◎◉● Next chapter

[but-thats-its-own-story]

This episode man...

This is a damn good Superman series.

I all but stood up and cheered when the House of Zod and his Full-Blown Space Armada was 30 seconds away from straight-up invading Earth but were apparently so in denial about Jor-El's warning that the fricking origin story blew them straight to hell.

I love how they finally name dropped General Sam Lane, implied that he was about to or just had a kid on Zero Day, and had Waller confirm that Clark reminds him of Lois, but still won't actually reveal it until next weeks episode about Fathers.

They were already hinting he subverts the 'heartless general' archetype before, but the way his resolve just breaks when he sees the tears streaming down Clark's face...

The attention to detail with the subtle confirmation that Waller didn't miss Livewire realizing she retained her powers without the suit...

And then Deathstroke gets his trademark eyepatch when she fries his eye out of its socket...

The Kaiju Parasite is a bit excessive, and in a lesser series it would be the season finale villain, but overall it's a pretty cool design, and this isn't over yet.

More attention to detail with the fact that Clark immediately healed when the sun oh-so-symbolically rose, and the emphasis on the dropped bag as a cue to notice Jimmy would pick it up- these people know what they're doing.

I find it interesting that (presumably) Zod is already in superhuman aspect, leading me to believe that he, and by extension Clark, were in fact intentionally engineered as living weapons rather than gaining powers inadvertently from the sun (and to reassert the part of my theory that Clark looks just like him, likely due to being some form of clone.) But it probably is actually Zod rather than a Dark Clark if he was an adult on Zero Day.

So we're just gonna have the most awkward family dinner in the world, where Lois has to explain that The General is actually her dad, Ma and Pa Kent finally make *another* onscreen appearance, Jimmy and Lois collectively freak the hell out over the Dark Clark reveal, and then Zod is just gonna burst through the wall battered from having spent twenty years flying here the long way...

[practically-an-x-man]

Childhood asks for Jimmy because I'm really curious what it would've been like to grow up back then

2, 4, 8, 10

Ooooh thank you!!

OC Asks: Childhood Edition

2. Where did your muse grow up? What was their home like? Did they like where they grew up?

Jimmy grew up in New York City, right about when the city began to boom in industry and population. It was noisy, crowded, and more than a little unhygienic as the city hadn't quite sorted itself out yet.

His parents were lucky enough to own a floor in one of the apartment buildings, but usually leased out their extra rooms to immigrant families - a combination of generosity, as the welfare buildings got overcrowded and lots of people ended up on the street, and a means of getting a little extra cash for their working-class family. Jimmy's dad worked in iron manufacturing on the outskirts of the city, and his mother was a seamstress on commission. They had enough money to keep their home and put food on the table, and saved up so that Jimmy could have gone to college if he chose to, but it wasn't a luxury life by any means.

And even though he recognized all of the flaws in his childhood, Jimmy adores New York City and has never wanted to leave.

4. How was your muse's relationship with their childhood guardians? Has it changed over time, and if so, how? Do they keep in touch?

He and his parents had their ups and downs, but it was generally a good relationship. He never told them about his sexuality, but he was open about a lot of other things in his life (like his decision to work at the New York Zoo, at that time a low-paying position that didn't require much education, rather than going to college)

It would be pretty impossible for them to have kept in touch, given Jimmy himself is about a hundred and forty years old, but if he ran into them as ghosts he'd probably end up coming clean about the secrets he'd kept from them, just to get that off his chest. If they accepted it, that would be wonderful, but if they didn't, it's at least closure for him.

8. What did your muse do in their free time? How did they entertain themself as a kid?

His love of birds started early, even though there weren't many wild birds to be seen in central NYC. He spent a lot of time birdwatching in Central Park, and more time holed up in the library looking at books on ornithology. There weren't as many restrictions on kids just walking around on their own at that time, so when his parents were at work he tended just to wander until he found something interesting. And of course, he loved Coney Island - sometimes he'd buy a ticket and go with friends, other times he'd just sneak in and walk around for a while.

He was definitely the type of person to fall into his interests early and then stick with them. His love of birds led him to working in the New York Zoo, he first met his partner Robert by trading interactions at the zoo and at the library, and of course Coney Island plays into his death and much of his ghosthood. There's a reason for this - he needs to be linked strongly to his interests, because they have to be enough that he wants to keep living them.

My view on ghosts in the Ghostbusters universe is that they're effectively distilled versions of who the person was in their life, boiled down to the few traits, emotions, or roles that were the strongest. The librarian ghost, the ghostly miners, even a semihuman ghost like Slimer - their form as a ghost reflects their strongest traits or roles in their life. Jimmy retains so much of his humanity as a ghost partially because of how deeply he held onto his interests in his life.

10. What responsibilities did your muse have as a child? Chores? Babysitting? How good were they at fulfilling their responsibilities?

He had a lot of general chores around the house and around the neighborhood, and sometimes would sweep up around the neighborhood restaurants and other businesses for a little extra cash (child labor laws? what are those?). He was generally very good at keeping up with his responsibilities, but a few times he got so absorbed in whatever book he was reading that he ended up late to work.

[muses-of-the-memory]

@hoshi-neko-hikari continued from here Hikari smiled and nodded happily, wanting to know Rolf’s story of how babies are made.

Rolf takes another breath to tell them where babies come from. "You are children. Go away. Thank you!" Rolf said as he douses the fire and leaves.

"Darn it! We'll never know, Sarah." Jimmy spoke holding his fishbowl. "Somebody's gotta know, Jimmy." Sarah spoke.

Hikari was helping Double D with the chick egg project in the science lab. She decorated hers with a bow and a diaper.

@hoshi-neko-hikari

"Greetings, fellow Cluckers!" Edd shouted using a megaphone. "The Happy Cluckers Club is now called to order." He said examining an egg under an incubator thoroughly.

Jonny sweats as Edd looks it over. "Egg-ceptional progress, Jonny." Edd congratulated.

"Right on! We're gonna have us a family, buddy!" Jonny shouted to Plank, happily. "And what do we have here?" Edd asked about Hikari's egg. "Your egg looks adorable as you, Hikari. A perfect match." Edd smiled.

[internetcatholicism]

Also, Larry Nassar, Jerry Sandusky, Jimmy Savile. Not just Epstein and Maxwell. I haven't seen Sound of Freedom and don't plan to, but the media and random people who denounce the movie, o.u.r, and sex trafficking as a conspiracy are umm idk willfully ignorant and/or doing so simply because it's a "right-wing" piece of media or related to qanon (which I don't really know what this is and don't want to know more than "it's right-wing lol"). All 5 people listed above were wealthy, famous, and powerful with connections to someone who knows someone who knows someone, and a lot was at stake to keep them in their current position, which perpetuated the easy access to victims. Would the people who laughed at sound of freedom also laugh at 'Athlete A' about Nassar or tell any of the kids that Jimmy abused under the guise of his make-a-wish style TV show that they deserved the abuse because they thought they were lucky to be on the show? These people were never on 4chans /b/ in early 2000s when CSA was posted ALL hours of the day. It's sad that the prevailing opinion about this film is "it's bait for MAGA conspiracy theorists" when ... The people who repeat that rhetoric literally only have to look up those 5 people (3 of whom have mountains of evidence spanning decades from hundreds of victims EACH) and realize... Hey wow CSA is real and I'm a piece of garbage for laughing at it. Why is the powerful media trying to disparage something that is real and tragic? I get that the film might be more dramatic than reality (reproductions are often dramatized, reality tv is ultra-dramatic), but drama is how you make people emotionally connect with something! Ugh! Do they want CSA presented in sterile, 1950s medical diction that is so boring and arrogant you can't hope to retain anything? I hope this is ok to send. I'm so sad for you.

Let it out anon, let it out.

Just to respond to what you said near the end, I have some interesting news for you.

Before Sound of Freedom, there was a documentary made called "Triple Take" which is about THE SAME OPERATION as is in the movie. So if you're worried about it being dramatized, you can check the actual footage of it and see just how dramatic it really was. Here's the trailer for that documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESbg9TDZPzk

I agree that the reaction from the media and from the left has been a pretty horrific thing to take in. The fact that something came out and wasn't 100% left wing was enough for people to deny reality and disparage millions of child victims and heroes. It's disgusting. I wish I could fix it, but I can't, so I'm gonna do my best to get as many people in on the fight to end trafficking until all victims and stories are taken seriously. This is one of the most important problems the world is facing today and it needs to end.

[taiblogcomics]

It's the Final Countdown

Hey there, Pope Pizza Balla. Welp. We're finally here, folks. It's finally time. The last one we ever have to review. The band Europe foretold of this moment in their most popular song! Truly, it's a blessed day~

Here's our final cover:

And wow, for our final issue, this cover sucks. Here's some of our main characters (not the dead ones, evil ones, or Jason Todd, though) in a white void. Wow, isn't that exciting. The white void represents the audience's interest. And probably the retained readership by this point. So here's an odd one. I've mentioned a few times now when the cover of an issue then got made into the cover for the trade. Volume 4's trade cover, though, is apparently unique! Maybe it was an alt cover for a different issue, I dunno. But it's not any of the ones we've looked at! That's how boring this cover is: I'm reviewing a different cover that's not even one of the issues I've reviewed.

Our final recap… Well… Duela Dent got shot by one of the multiversal Monitors. Another Monitor teams up with Jason Todd, Donna Troy, and Kyle Rayner to search for Ray Palmer, a man prophecied to stop the Great Disaster, which turns out to be a sentient furry-making virus called Morticoccus, brought here inside Karate Kid from the 31st century. Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen gains superpowers, which turns out to be the souls of the New Gods stored inside him, as part of Darkseid's plan to harvest them after a serial killer has been picking them off. Jimmy, along with Forager, travels to Apokalips to rectify this, but ultimately it's Orion who saves the day.

Other characters get mixed up in all this. Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn get recruited by Granny Goodness masquerading as Athena for a new crop of Female Furies. Mary Marvel, fresh out of a coma, gets tempted by dark magics and jumps off the slippery slope into full-on evil. Pied Piper and Trickster participate in the murder of Bart Allen, get handcuffed together, and go on the run. Monarch assembles an army, Superboy-Prime decimates several realities in the search for his perfect Earth, and the comic pretends all these things were interconnected and relevant in order to justify itself for running for 51 issues. But here we are at the final one.

And yeah! Like I mentioned, we beat up Darkseid last issue! So the day is saved! This issue is just the wrap-up. We first join Jimmy Olsen moping around his apartment. He's had the most exciting adventue ever! …And he can never tell anyone about it or write about it for the newspaper. Coz, like, who would believe him? The multiverse is just too big a concept for your average layman. Give it a few years, Jimmy! In 15 years, the average layman can't wait for the media to shut up about multiverses and shared universe concepts! Further, his space alien bug girlfriend is giving him the "we need to talk" speech, just to really round out his day.

Hey, what about Ray Palmer? His wife went insane and turned supervill (and ended up evil-magic-grooming Mary Marvel for a bit), so he skipped out on reality for a few years. Now he's back! So… now what? What's he gonna do with his time? Get back into the superhero thing? He's not sure, but the Justice League is at least giving him the time and space to figure that out. And meanwhile, Donna Troy drops by his house. Turns out she's feeling the same kind of "Now what?" as him, and both of them can tell. But what to do about it…?

And meanwhile yet again… Pied Piper. Hey, guess what, he's not dead. Yeah, eight issues later, he suddenly materialises in an alley in Gotham City, overjoyed he's alive and vowing to do right by his life this time. So! Piper's not dead! On the one hand, that's a good thing. It's one fewer life that this stupid-ass comic took from us. On the other hand, it kind of renders his big emotional sacrifice pointless, doesn't it? (Though the trade collection removing the lyrics kind of also already does that.) Maybe this just evens out to zero.

Speaking of Gotham, though, who else would be here but Jason Todd, moping on a roof and staring at the Bat-Signal. Jason's not in costume--neither his Red Hood getup or the Red Robin outfit he got on the multiversal adventure. He's just in jeans and a black leather jacket. He muses that he doesn't want to play sidekick anymore, lest he go crazy like the Batman from that alternate Earth, or how the one from this current Earth will inevitably do so. Instead, he wants answers. And he's going to start with this guy he has tied up and gagged on the roof, unfolding a knife in the process. Oh, I'm so glad he won't go crazy or anything.

So what's Solomon the Monitor doing? Hey, looks like he won that chess game with Darkseid after all! Or at the very least, he's the one still standing afterwards. And isn't that what matters in the end? He's musing all this while staring at the Source Wall, the magical infinite barrier at the edge of the universe. Well, now that he's beaten Darkseid, he has his own plans. Good luck with that, dude! I hope no universal reboots interrupt those! And, as a tribute to Darkseid's ego, he leaves behind the chess piece of Darkseid from their game on the Source Wall--the smallest monument to the largest ego.

Oddly enough, we cut back to Donna and Ray now. Kyle Rayner has turned up as well, but for whatever reason, he's not in civvies like they are, so he looks weirdly out of place in Ray's suburban living room. But at least it's not Darkseid. So the group of them discuss their situation: godlike beings play with the universe, the Earth, like it's a chess game. What can they do about it? And here Donna utters one of the iconic lines of the series, one of those lines the writers must've thought was so smart but the reader knows is so dumb: "Who monitors the Monitors?"

Say, what happened to Mary Marvel. She was henching for Darkseid in that last issue, and then Darkseid lost, and what happened to Mary was never addressed. I guess she must've just skedaddled when her evil sugar daddy bit it, since now she's showing up to meet Black Adam in the desert. Yeah, remember how she originally got her powers from him? He doesn't want them back, and he's not interested in hanging out with her either. She blasts him with lightning in response, and he just ignores her tantrum and flies off, while Mary rages at the heavens for someone to give a damn about her.

Wow, we're doing resolution on Buddy Blank and his grandson? Like, aside from the stupid setup for Kamandi? He was enough of a character that we care about his resolution? I beg to differ, comic, but here we are. Anyway, he and Grandson No-Name are in their stupid bunker when Brother Eye contacts them again. It gives Buddy an all-new dose of OMAC powers, and he breaks the bunker open. But he's not one of the Infinite Crisis-style OMACs, he's the OMAC classic and can turn it off. I'm sure this will totally set up loads of new adventures anyone will give a damn about~

Well, back at Casa de Atom, Jimmy Olsen and Forager have also dropped by. The result of their "we need to talk" speech was basically that, with Forager being now one of the last surviving remnants of the Fourth World, she can't stay on Earth and eat Jimmy's leftover Chinese food anymore. She's instead joining up with our Multiverse Crew to "monitor the Monitors". Good, it'll be good for her to get out of Jimmy's house. Speaking of getting out of the house, Ray is hoping they'll all just leave already. But who should come waltzing into his suburban home next but Nix Uotan.

If you've already forgotten, and why wouldn't you, Nix Uotan is the monitor of Earth-51, the one that entirely blew up. And since his reality a splode, he understands the responsibility of maintaining and, well, monitoring your charge. He wants to help his brethren do the same, and moreover he wants a system in place to keep in check the egos of his brethren, so they don't have any future problems like Solomon and Bob. More or less, he wants some babysitters to watch his brethren argue over "We should do' something!" "Should we do something?"

They finally manage to convince Ray Palmer to come along rather than just sit around his house and mope. What else is he doing with himself? And so, Donna, Ray, Kyle, and Forager present themselves before the Hall of Monitors and basically tell them "shape up and listen to us, or face the consequences". That's gonna be their job now! The Monitors watch over the multiverse, and they watch over the Monitors! Like an oversight committee. Kyle better ask the Guardians if it's okay, I'm just saying. And Solomon, lurking in the background, declares that this new game has just begun.

And so the comic and the event itself--and our long, arduous review documenting it--closes out with our last couple cast members who are still alive: Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn. They took the longest to show up, so I guess letting them close out is fine. The two gals sit on their Gotham fire escape and stare up at the moon, noting how their world view has just been expanded so heavily, how will they will ever cope with knowing all they do now. Harley suggests "A positive attitude and lots of denial?" Hey, it got me through this review! Sounds like a great note to end on!

Yep! What else can you say. Here we are at the end of Countdown to Final Crisis, and... well, it was a thorough waste of time. Like, seriously.

This issue as a standalone first, I guess. Well, we already beat the bad guy last issue! What's even left? This is just a denouement. It's literally the end-credits "where are they now" photo montage of comics. Just wrap up the shit, set up some new plotlines! Don't take a minute to mourn the dead or anything! We got tie-ins to set up! It's fine as a closer, but as an issue itself, it's pretty boring~

For all that Countdown was touted as being the next big thing in the DC Universe, it affected exactly two things in the long run: diddly and squat. Final Crisis, the thing it was counting down to, references it not one whit. At most, like, it serves as mild foreshadowing that Mary Marvel gets possessed by the soul of Desaad and goes even more evil? Nix Uotan is a major player. Darkseid comes back to life, only to get killed off again. Otherwise, like, characters who were in this don't even turn up again.

Speaking of not turning up again, here's some things that never happened afterwards. The whole big thing with Kyle, Donna, Ray, and Forager monitoring the Monitors? Never mentioned again. Forager was never seen again, and the other three just turn up back on Earth and ignore it ever happened. Further OMAC advenures with Buddy Blank? Nah. No one cares. Pied Piper promising to play on the side of the angels now? Well, after Final Crisis, he joined the rest of the Rogues in assisting in the murder of Inertia/Kid Zoom, as revenge for Bart Allen's death. So I guess that's fair.

See, the thing with Countdown is, even if it had had any significant impact or played any role in the greater DC Uiverse after, DC was three years away from rebooting it all to hell with the New 52. Nobody could have known that at the time, of course, but with hindsight, it makes it seem all the more fucking futile, doesn't it~?

Now, there are a couple loose threads to tie up that I want to touch upon. Like, for example, you might ask "What happened to Superboy-Prime?" Well, the long and short of it is that, after the entirety of Earth-51's universe exploded, Superboy-Prime was propelled into the lost spaces between time, until the Time Trapper rescued him and dropped him off in the 31st century, where he became the antagonist for a Final Crisis tie-in called Legion of 3 Worlds. After that, he turned up in Blackest Night and got sort of a meta redemption/resolution.

Second, that thing with the New Gods being killed off. Did you notice that had no resolution~? Coz I sure did. That spoiler I mentioned last issue, that was Darkseid outright stating the name of the killer. Except you had no way of knowing that if you weren't following the tie-ins. That'll be covered in Death of the New Gods (appropriately enough), and trust me, we'll get back to that in the future. Like, I know a lot of tie-ins happened with Countdown. Monarch's whole recruitment process had its own tie-in. The Multiverse Pals exploring other universes in their search for Ray Palmer was also relegated to a tie-in. But, like, one of the inciting incidents of this entire maxi-series event was the New Gods getting ganked by a mysterious killer, and the identity and fate of that killer never gets resolved in Countdown itself.

But, speaking of the New God killer, I wanna put a thing into perspective for you. Let's do a little memorial wall, a little tribute to all the characters who got killed for this stupid event. Because good god, if there's anything this event is known for, it's the gleeful killing off of characters. Like, for sheer numbers, I think only Crisis on Infinite Earths matches it, due to every universe getting wiped out in that one. But for actual named, established characters? This one might take the cake. So then, on that note:

Duela Dent

Karate Kid

Una

Trickster (Jesse James)

Bart Allen (The Flash/Kid Flash/Impulse) (Not technically in this series, but they flash back to it, and it's such an inciting incident, I'm counting it)

The Jokester of Earth-3

Annataz Arataz of Earth-3

Bob the Monitor

Jean Loring (Eclipso)

Monarch/Captain Atom

Lightray

Sleez

The six members of Deep Six

That unnamed concubine of Darkseid's

Bernadeth

Mad Harriet

Granny Goodness

Desaad

Darkseid

The entire population of Earth-15

The entire universe of Earth-51

Untold more of the population at the hand of the Morticoccus virus

$80 of my wallet when I bought these trades

Like, geez. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so disgusted. Farewell, Countdown. May we never see the like of you again. (At least not until after the New 52, eh, Futures End?)

So, what's next, then, huh? Well, obviously, I'm not ending it here! I'll never stop, and I certainly wouldn't go out on frickin' Countdown. It doesn't deserve the dignity. Nah, but we do need something lighthearted for a while, and I got a backlog of MLP comics we haven't gotten to for over a year, so we'll probably tackle those into the summer. And, as hinted, I do want to get to Death of the New Gods at some point. I don't think I'll do any other tie-ins, I've expended enough braincells on Countdown as it is. But I did get a request for Death of the New Gods, and I so rarely get requests. Plus, we can tie up that plot point!

But more immediately, even more than the MLP backlog... Well, what was Countdown counting down to? Yes, yes, Final Crisis, but more immediately than that. A countdown doesn't end until you hit zero... This was supposed to be a weekly series for a year, but you might notice we only did 51 issues... Well, we can talk about that next week~

[leanstooneside]

Pat Boone

1. MILA KUNIS'S HAIR (CONTRACT REVOKED)

2. PAUL SCULFOR'S HAIR (STOLEN)

3. GAVIN ROSSDALE'S HAIR (PAWNED)

4. JASON ALDEAN'S HAIR (POKER GAME)

5. COLTON HAYNES'S HAIR (HIJACKED)

6. HOLLY MONTAG'S HAIR (MISPLACED)

7. STEPHEN MOYER'S HAIR (MISAPPROPRIATED)

8. KOBE BRYANT'S HAIR (SOLD)

9. JIMMY FALLON'S HAIR (HIJACKED)

10. RYAN DUNN'S HAIR (STRAY)

11. KID ROCK'S HAIR (RIPPED OFF)

12. LINDSEY VONN'S HAIR (STRAY)

13. MIRANDA KERR'S HAIR (PAWNED)

14. MINKA KELLY'S HAIR (RETAINED)

15. CELINE DION'S HAIR (GONE)

16. SALMA HAYEK'S HAIR (MISSING)

17. AMY WINEHOUSE'S HAIR (ABDUCTED)

18. SCARLETT JOHANSSON'S HAIR (LOANED OUT)

19. CHELSEA HANDLER'S HAIR (BURIED AT SEA)

20. CEE LO GREEN'S HAIR (CONFISCATED)

21. CIARA'S HAIR (MISLAID)

22. BRUCE WILLIS'S HAIR (MISSING)

23. DRAKE'S HAIR (TRADED)

[paulagnewart]

Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 8/12: Journey's End!

Sonic Universe issue 16 AU Publication Date: 6th August 2010 Price: $6.50

(Alternate title: 'A Farewell to Khans!'.)

Sixteen. Six. Teen. Siiiiiiixteeeeen. A number by all rights like any other, yet harbors more than a few connotations in life. Songs written and movies made have abounded over the decades in dedication to this number. It can mark exciting new beginnings, a (at least theoretically) responsible coming of age, a formal debut ready to tackle the more "mature" world of driving cars and leaving school in favour of the local workforce. Or maybe not. The author of these posts can't remember their sixteenth birthday beyond being pretty sure it happened, it rained, and there was a new Transformers action figure involved.

But when it came to Aussies following their favourite hedgehog's monthly tri-coloured triumphs, sixteen marked a bitter end.

In comparison to the turmoil of 2010's political sphere, Sonic and his freedom fighting buddies' year-long battle against the Iron Dominion's wrath was a cakewalk. Having swept to power in November 2007 despite the best efforts of conservative media and racist fake pamphlets, the time had come for Kevin Rudd to resign. Labor's three year tenure of poll-topping high highs and scandalous low lows painted a divisive picture, and with the prospect of losing power on the back of a fatal home insulation program and increased taxes for mining non-renewables, Julia Gillard stepped up unopposed to succeed him on 24th June. Rudd agreed on 6th August to stay onboard for support, and within two weeks of this issue's publication, a federal election saw Gillard narrowly retain her mantle as Australia's first female Prime Minister.

Music lovers thrummed away to manufactured relationship angst of Eminem and Rihanna's collaboration Love the Way You Lie, which was halfway through its six week domination of the billboard charts. Christopher Nolan's brain-bender Inception had enjoyed its own three weeks leading the local box office, until Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg briefly blasted their way to the top in The Other Guys.

The glory days of analogue morning toon-tainment for kids were by this point faded memories. Having half an hour sliced off its slot beginning New Year's Day 2010, Toasted TV limped itself along offering viewers that day repeats of Huntik: Secrets & Seekers and Dinosaur King. The product of networks pushing for breakfast news programs and set top boxes becoming more prevalent (i.e. affordable) meant the future of children's television was well on its way to being all digital. Channel Seven's subsidiary 7TWO served up repeats of Avenger Penguins, Digimon Data Squad, Handy Manny and Power Rangers Jungle Fury. Not to be outclassed, Channel Nine's newly-minted 9GO! kicked off the day with new Out of Jimmy's Head before its own repeat cavalcade of Class of 3000, Chowder, Legion of Super Heroes, Ben 10, The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

Another far cry from the days of yore were fan reviews. Forums, groups and pages come and go. The regulars over at Sonic Stadium all but ignored the issue and instead focused on whether Mighty and Ray would get their own SegaSonic Arcade adaptation, while gushing over the impending Tails Adventure arc. Sonic HQ's once juggernaut now dustbowl Knothole Village had little to say beyond base pleasantries, as did PorpoiseMuffins' Saturday Morning Sonic message board.

For those hoping to dig deep into the comic proper, Ian Flynn's forum truly put the "King" in "BumbleKing". By that point in its life a thriving superpower, after 5 days and over 15 pages of speculation, residents of Archie Sonic's biggest watering hole considered it "without a doubt my favorite of the arc. It's mostly expostition with more or less no action but what exposition!" The good times rolled with "Good wrap-up to this arc in an arc. I enjoyed it. I liked Espio's backstory; thought it was handled well." and "I've said it before I'll say it again Ian gets Sonic's personality so right my favorite line has to be "'Careful'? So many foreign words today!" why cant SEGA write him like that.". Forum goers were excited to share their future speculations, notably the prospect of one character being the first in a series which, like Dimitri being the latest in a line of Enerjaks, began life as a fan theory shared on message boards during the late-90's.

Yet while fandom faces and places can change as time marches on, attitudes remain engrained. Even if they've never seen the character or read a comic, some people can (and will) criticize them, ranging from "not being accurate to other source material" or that incredibly tired buzzword of dismissing the series as "weird". When pressed to consider the extensive laundry list of Archie Sonic material going under the hammer of fickle fans, it's tough topping the decades of derision aimed at Mobius' own cybernetic simian, Monkey Khan.

The amalgamation of late writer/artist Frank Strom's admiration for Chinese literature hero Sun Wukong, Japanese actors in rubber monster suits, and 1970's Hong Kong martial art films, Khan found himself shackled among the swelling ranks of Geoffrey St. John, Nate Morgan and Mina Mongoose in the upper echelons of Archie Sonic's most reviled characters. Case in point, fans quickly booted up their modems as early as November 1997 to voice their displeasure online. Some remained optimistic, citing Khan "looks simply like a vessel for spouting chiche's and poor dialogue, but there's opportunity to make him more interesting (and more vital) to the story." Others took offence to the character's ancient roots, wondering if the coincidence "probably is, since this issue didn't seem very well thought out. If it was a reference, that would be the only excuse for the piece of Mass-Produced Crud".

As the years rolled on and Khan made a handful more cameos, this fan mentality never truly shook off. "I have come to NOT STAND Monkey Khan AND Frank Stroms writing and drawing skills…MK has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND IF THE EDITOR HAD ANY SENSE HE'D FIRE STROM. The guy has done NOTHING to show that he can even write a Sonic story." readers openly whined. "it really ticks me off that Frank Strom's version of the Monkey King was so poor… in fact, I bet he hasn't heard of MK in his life, but rather, Dragon Ball. smirk. Frank Strom is probably the worst Archie-Sonic writer I've ever seen, with the possible exception of 75% of Mike Gallagher's works.". They compared Khan to the worst type of wish-fulfilment self-insert, and Strom himself often written into fanfics as a target of obsessive mockery. Even the efforts of Ian Flynn to flesh out his character during 2009-10 (complete with hatred lampshade on the first page of issue 203) came across mixed, further fueled at a time when Archie Comics openly baited fans into a staggeringly pointless shipping war.

Hm. Seeing how Khan, Geoffrey, Mina and Nate were frequently criticized for stealing the spotlights of Sonic, Antoine, Sally and Rotor respectively, maybe there's an alternate universe where someone capitalized of this and united them to strike out in their own team. It would certainly make for quite the fanfic. But enough digressing.

There's a bittersweet irony here. Locals who loathed Monkey Khan's exploits and hoped to see the back of him once and for all were about to get their wish. A World Under Constant Vigil marked the last appearance Khan would make in a starring role, one which in a fantastical coincidence was published exactly on Frank Strom's 46th birthday. Further blurring the lines between a true case of "Sixteen Khandles" and the Monkey's Paw myth, Sonic Universe issue 16 would ultimately be the final comic released at Australian retail.

After 17 years of constantly easily accessible comics, time was up. Issue 211 and Universe 14 were the last to be sold at retail for $5.50, a price increase from $4.95 which began with issue 198. The move to fancy new glossy paper, an arguably remarked improvement which brought the comic's quality closer in line with the free Bionicle, HeroScape, The Batman and Teen Titans centerpiece of 2005-6 meant coughing up another dollar. Was it this move to $6.50 a copy that made the bean counters at Gordon and Gotch drop the title? Were they too frustrated by enduring the excessive length of Iron Queen's tenure? Was it the moonlit kiss and chest stroking between Sally and Khan in issue 212 that broke the camel's back? Guess fans will never know, for when the writer of these posts questioned said distributors at the time, they responded curtly that both Sonic titles "have now ceased and are no longer in production". So much for that.

As anyone who's kept up with these will know, the story of Archie Sonic in Australia was far from being all over. It's hard to keep a good high speed hero down, and one day he shall come back. Yes, he shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to Sonic that he is not mistaken in his.

Yet it would be a long, pained fifteen months before Aussies saw the blue blur triumphantly return to newsagent shelves.

[excusethequality]

31 Days of Spooky Movies 2023: Week 1

Every October I make it my mission to watch at least 1 spooky movie every day (without rewatching anything watched in a previous October).

In case anyone is looking for some ideas on what to watch this month, here's what I've watched so far, in the order I watched them.

Dumplings (2004)

A Hong Kong horror movie about a former actress who will go to any lengths to keep her looks so as to retain her position of wealth and power.

There's a lot of interesting themes in this one. Using consumption as a metaphor for how systems of power use and abuse those under them is a common theme in Chinese literature and it's deployed quite artfully here.

2. Skinamarink (2022)

An experimental art movie about two kids who wake up in the middle of the night to find all the doors and windows of the house have disappeared and that they're all alone.

You are either going to love this one or hate it. But if you give it a try I recommend committing to it. You've gotta go lights off, by yourself, phone off for this one to work. It's definitely an experimental arty movie so...umm, strap in for a weird experience. But at its heart it's trying to recreate in you that experience of being a little child and afraid of the dark and not quite sure if you're awake or still dreaming.

3. The Thing from Another World (1951)

Before there was John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) there was The Thing from Another World. Both adaptations of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. Here a group of scientists and Air Force officials discover a crashed alien ship in the arctic ice. But things take a turn for the worse when they bring back the body of an extraterrestrial to study only to find it isn't actually dead.

This movie somehow manages to keep all the most boring bits from the novella while also throwing out all the parts of the story that are actually interesting. Gone is the shape shifting alien. Here we have a lurching plant based alien (aka a big dude in a weird costume) that looks more Frankenstein than Thing.

4. Dave of the Dead (2020)

A cheaply animated movie about a zombie who works in an outer space fast food restaurant who has to try and get the money back from Dracula after the count dines and dashes on him.

The animation on this movie is SO cheap. They honestly don't even try to animate facial expressions nor match dialogue to mouth flap. Not to mention there's only the semblance of a story here. But the worse thing about it is that it is aimed at kids and there's a weirdly strong anti-labor stance to the whole thing.

5. The She Beast (1966)

When her car plunges into a lake a woman becomes possessed by the spirit of the witch that had been drowned there in the 18th century and wants her revenge.

The movie is said to star Barbara Steele and while she is the best thing about the movie, she is barely in it. When they say "possessed" they mean replaced by someone else wearing a bizarre monster mask. So instead we are forced to follow her lame fiancee around. Also there's a really random attempted rape scene in the movie for some reason.

6. Bell, Book and Candle (1958)

A modern witch casts a lovespell on her neighbor in order to get back at his fiancee. But things get complicated when she starts to fall in love with him for real.

I'm sorry, but I have a huge bias against Jimmy Stewart. And here he is at age 50 starring against a 25 year old Kim Novak. That man is not a catch! I do not understand the hold he had over Hollywood. Anyways, as far as rom-coms go this a bit of a strange one. The cast is pretty fun (when you exclude Stewart) and it's got some interesting flair. But it's held back by the non-existent chemistry between the leads and the slight tinge of 50s misogyny.

P.S. Don't think I didn't notice their disdain for the oxford comma, the heathens.

7. Doll Shark (2022)

A kid's stuffed shark becomes possessed by the spirit of a killer shark and goes on a murder spree.

This is from one of those studios that specializes in making incredibly low budget junk films and it shows. It's umm...not good. If you insist on watching it be sure to have some drinks and/or some friends with you.

8. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Two Americans are backpacking through England (as was the style at the time) when they are attacked by a werewolf. Now cursed and far from home, time is quickly running out for them.

The classic John Landis horror comedy! I used to catch this one on TV all the time as a kid. It's a lot of fun and an interesting piece of Jewish-American horror. I will admit that while I like every scene in the movie, as a whole it feels slightly disjointed to me? In any case there's a lot of memorable scenes, practical effects, and great performances. Jenny Agutter is especially charming.

9. Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)

Dr Jekyll is trying to discover a secret to prolonging life and thinks the answer might be found in female hormones. But when his experience goes wrong he transforms into a woman. In order to keep their experiment going and perfect their elixir they need dead bodies, but what are you to do when supplies are running low?

I honestly do not know if this movie was trying to be this queer or if it was just a happy accident. I swear to god, Jekyll essentially invents HRT on accident, has a gender crisis, and then has to battle with wither they continue their life as they had or to embrace this new identity. It is fascinating. I don't think it was intentionally creating this theme, but by good golly, they make it really hard not to see it that way. Martine Beswick as Hyde is so, so good in this.

10. Puppet Shark (2023)

A puppet movie about two kids telling shark stories around a campfire.

Another of these super-low budget films. It has some charming moments early on. But quickly run out of ideas and it becomes a real slog to the finish.

11. Son of Dracula (1943)

A vampire who may or may not be Count Dracula is invited to Louisiana by an heiress. But he has his own fiendish plans for this new world.

Lon Chaney Jr. is, without a doubt, the worst Dracula I have ever seen. He is the we-have-Dracula-at-home Dracula. He feels like Dracula's loser brother-in-law or something. I don't even know. It has it's moments, but it's a bit all over the place.

12. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

While trying to save his soul from sin, nice guy Dr. Jekyll creates the alternate persona of Mr. Hyde. But things get tough for Jekyll when Hyde's transgressions start to get out of hand.

In terms of filmmaking this is pretty impressive. But in terms of story they made a really weird change from the book. Originally Jekyll was ashamed of his vices and created Hyde as an alter-ego to hide behind and protect his image. But here Jekyll wants to be sure he doesn't slip into temptation by unleashing an unchecked evil force onto the streets? I thought he was supposed to be smart.

13. The Bewitched Inn (1897)

A man goes to an inn for a good night's sleep only to find the place is haunted.

Back from the days where movies were only a couple minutes long. They figured out how to hide action in the cuts and by gosh...they went for it. It's fun to see such early movies to see just how far we've come. Truly we stand on the backs of giants.

14. The X-Ray Fiend (1897)

When a couple is exposed to x-rays we can see their skeletons.

Another short one from the early years. Not only harnessing the power of the cut, but also tapping into the strange new power of the discovery of x-rays two years earlier.

15. Titane (2021)

A dancer who has a fetish for cars must pretend to be the lost son of a firefighter in order to hide from authorities.

A French body horror and psychological drama. Taps into the genre of body horror to investigate ideas of gender, pregnancy, and identity. I honestly can't describe it in a way to properly due it justice. It's an experience. If your stomach can handle the body horror you should definitely check it out.

16. The Girl from the Other Side (2022)

In a world where cursed creatures stalk the outside world as people hide in the cities. One creature comes across a young girl and together they create a haven for themselves.

A beautiful piece of Japanese animation and one of my favorite movies I've seen this year. Dark fantasy meets found family. The animation is absolutely gorgeous. It's like a fairy tale come to life.

17. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

A group of strangers meet on a train. But when a fortuneteller begins to tell their futures to pass the time they start to realize that their futures are bleak.

To its credit it has some powerhouse actors in its roster. Peter Cushing, Donald Sutherland, friggin' Christopher Lee! But it is an anthology of stories and the stories are rather lackluster. They all just kinda...end. With much more thought being put into the setup than the ending.

18. Werewolf by Night (2022)

A group of monster hunters are assembled for a contest to see who will gain control of a powerful artifact.

I was not aware that this was a Marvel movie until it started. Wish I had known that before. I was in the mood for a modern take on old Universal horror, and it some ways it is, but in most ways it's just another sort of Marvel movie. I swear Gael García Bernal is in a Spanish language movie it will be fire. But if he's in an American movie it will probably be simple pop. fodder. Would've like more atmosphere and monsters than action set pieces.

19. I Blame Society (2020)

An out-of-work filmmaker decides to prove to those around her that she is capable of something bigger by finishing a project to make a movie about how she would commit the perfect murder.

I get why this movie won't be for everyone, but I loved it. It had me laughing out loud throughout. And some of the shots from this are burned into my brain forever. It's almost like a dark-comedy mockumentary of sorts. And its satire seeks out those in every level of the filmmaking process.

20. Bluebeard (1944)

A man tries to ditch his proclivity for murder by turning his artistic energies into puppets. But those around him continue to force his hand.

It's not terrible or anything. But the Bluebeard character just annoyed me to no end. I would have preferred if we were mostly following the leading lady, but we're stuck following him and he is not a particularly compelling fellow.

21. Escape Room (2017)

A group of rich friends take part in an exclusive escape room for a birthday celebration only to discover that the stakes are higher than they were expecting.

I was not aware until I had started this that there are actually multiple movies with this title and this is, in fact, not the one I had heard about. Umm...this seems like it would be a fun one to watch with drinks and friends and laugh at. But it is not a good movie by any stretch. You are left with so many questions as to why they did the things they did in this thing.

[brooklynislandgirl]

One of Beth's favourite past-times during winter is to play with the children, especially the ones who don't really have any one at home to look out for them. Snowball fights and constructed stoop forts are always on par when there is snow, and sometimes that means she has to help it along. She has never been a dedicated storm-wife but snow-spirits are easy to make bargains with. And maybe it's easier because kids don't really question weather patterns and forecasts so wonder provides a sort of shield against being noticed by the wrong sort. Afterwards, she'd likely buy rounds of cocoa and whatever the street vendors might be offering. What she hadn't expected though was to have to leave the little battle playing out behind her so that she could apologise to an innocent civilian. One who seems a little dismayed if the sigh and the expression he wears is anything to judge by. She isn't exactly sure what to make of the sound that leaves him, or the way he's quick to cover up. She can't help that she's offended him beyond the insult of near injuring him with the snow. Slowly though he manages a smile and maybe in its wake she feels a sense of relief. His voice is deep, it's tightly held in his mouth. The goatee and moustache reminds her of someone though she can't quite put her finger on it and the grey at his temples is distinguished. She is utterly convinced that if he'd retained a scowl and spoken harshly to her, she might have melted into a pool of shame. Instead, she hears him offering her forgiveness even if he doesn't quite mean it. She notes the shiver that comes along with it and Beth…can't help herself. It's brisk outside but the sun is shining. He's wearing multiple layers of warm clothes and maybe, coincidentally, the snow didn't leave much behind. With the explanation mapped out in her mind, she lets go of his arm and twists her fingers together. The smallest finger of her left hand folds down toward the centre of her palm, then gets held there by the thumb. The other three fingers fan outward. Her right hand becomes something very reminiscent of the "ok" gesture just angled a little different as she draws on the elements of fire and air to dry out his clothing. Beth knows very well to hide her magick behind random probability, quietly going about it in a way that would draw no attention to it. And could she have handled it in a much flashier way? Absolutely. Fire from her palm and that sort of thing. She's been taught better than that, though. And could she have left well enough alone? Yes, but it would still have been her fault that he was wet in the first place. "Mahalo," she grins with a touch of pride, and her voice holds in it the traces of warm Pacific breezes and the endless tides of the sea. "Growin' up, my brother was an athlete. Played baseball, football, name it. So I use t' help him practice. An' le' me tell you. Dat Jimmy Rattler kid I was aiming at? He's kind of a bully an' would have deserved it, if it had hit true." She glances over her shoulder at the boy in question. The one loading a rock into the heart of his snowball even as they speak. What a pity he slips on some ice and ends up breaking his weapon of choice apart before it can get thrown. She turns back toward the man. "Next time?" Another slow blink as she raises her head to meet his gaze. Soft full lips twitch with good humour which in turn sparkles in her eyes.. "Should I aim for your head or your knee? I could even write you a note to get out of work."

@brooklynislandgirl asked: The compacted snow hits like a brick, bypassing it's target and hitting the man dead in the chest. After a moment the little gremlin that threw it comes running up to him, hands over their mouth, likely stifling laughter. Up close though? It's a particularly small young woman, and the hands hide the horrified 'o' of her mouth. She puts a hand on his arm and blinks up at him, wide green eyes almost too bright, resembling wet grass. "I am so so sorry! I didn't mean t' t'row dat snowball so hard!" [Winter Themed Starters || Accepting]

It's a nice day today - the snow is falling, the air is cold and crisp, absolutely no one is running in circles screaming because the holidays are just around the corner and mankind freaks out about needing to buy gifts, just as there's absolutely no traffic-jam right in front of his Sanctum and the mentioned snow is totally not causing him to slide here and there as Stephen makes his way down along the road.

He's just wanting to get himself a cup of coffee, thank you. Not any coffee, though - he wants a freshly made White Chocolate Mocca Latte with a splash of extra Vanilla syrup. Could he conjure himself said drink and just enjoy it peacefully at home? Yes. Does it taste better from that local coffee-shop around the corner? Absolutely.

Taking a somewhat deep breath, filling his lungs with the stabbing sensation of cold air, the sorcerer pushes his hands into the pockets of his thick, warm jacket; He's out in civil, it will keep him a lot warmer than his wizard-attire would. Besides, he's not working currently, and he enjoys just being---

The snowball hits him death-center, right where his jacket isn't fully closed; Strange yelps at the sudden sensation of 'oh my god this is fucking cold, holy shit' that whips through him like he's struck by lightning, scarred fingers immediately coming up to try and get rid of the snow... it just falls deeper, in between his shirt and jacket, and he curses as he opens it quickly to try and brush the damn coldness away...

He's interrupted by someone approaching him; The person looks like a kid and Stephen sighs, rolls his eyes, fully prepared to have an age-appropriate conversation with it before said person comes closer, upon which he realizes that it's, in fact, not a kid... but a young woman instead.

She apologizes profusely, her green eyes almost piercing him as her hand touches his arm; Strange clears his throat, pulls the zipper back up before offering her a smile, seeing how genuinely shocked she seems to be about what has just happened.

"No, no, it's okay.", he says, shivering a moment later as the damn cold is now soaking into his sweater, "---Have to say, though, that snowball had some speed to it. I'm impressed." Did she throw said snowball? She must be stronger than she looks like, defnitely. ... "Just, uh, be a bit more careful next time, alright?"

[amporella]

BODY TYPE HEADCANONS:

Stan - Stocky! Is always a little heavy for his height (6′0); as a teen/young adult because of muscle, as an adult PC aged because of fat. Is especially broad around the chest and shoulders regardless of age. Develops muscle easily and hits the gym to cope... ends up very buff for a lot of his adult life. 

Kyle - The opposite; fairly short (5′6) and fairly light. Has trouble developing significant muscle mass due to diabetes complications, but is reasonably strong anyway. Body is triangle shaped; slender around the shoulders, retains the Fat Ass the girls liked about him. Is generally very grabbable and liftable. Has freckles ALL over.

Kenny - WIRY. Around average height (5′10) and always skinny - has very little fat on him. Has a little bit of muscle from working odd jobs, and it’s tightly packed; the way he looks while muscled is a lot different to the way Stan looks.  Tans very easily in the summer and has freckles too!

Cartman - Stays fat for pretty much his entire life; I cannot decide on a height for him for the life of me. Not very strong, but very hard to tip over; he’s built kind of like a brick wall in that way? Unathletic but good at sports with tackling because he can stop pretty much anyone.

Craig - VERY TALL (6′4). Nearly has to duck under doorframes. Body shape is pretty much the opposite of Kyle’s; broadest part of his body are his shoulders, with a thin waist. Is generally pretty light for his height. Has big hands and long legs; most of his height is made up with his legs, and he looks pretty disproportionate until he grows into it. Has a little muscle, but dodges athletics whenever he can.

Clyde - Remains the second fattest kid throughout his life, and is also athletic! Hefty; not super fast, but can LIFT. Is a little shorter than average height (5′8) and really just thinks he’s the hottest thing ever.

Tolkien - Tall (6′1) and is very athletic throughout his whole life; was able to kick ass in Post-Covid, and never loses that ability. Is very proportional muscle-wise; you can tell he’s got them, but he’s not super visibly buff. Has a specific workout regiment, and carries his weight very evenly throughout his whole body. 

Tweek - Shortish (5′7), very lean, and very tough; takes boxing classes throughout high school and is strong because of it. Could lift Craig. Has muscle from boxing, but it’s not super obvious; he’s still skinny and definitely looks it for most of his life.

Jimmy - I ALSO DON’T HAVE A HEIGHT FOR HIM. But regardless of his height, he has a very strong upper body and compensates very well for not being able to exercise his lower body. If you’ve ever been to a fair and seen one of those hang from x challenges for however long, he wins every time and gets banned from playing.

Wendy - Short (5′3) and petite. A little dainty looking from a distance, but gains extreme strength when angry; could and WOULD still throw down with Cartman. Doesn’t work out super often, but does it enough to keep up strength. Is a little picky and health food oriented, and always looks lean.

Bebe - Tall (5′9), very curvy, very athletic. Destroys Kenny in arm wrestling every single time. Is a gym rat, but not pretentious about it, and she hits the gym for her own personal gain, not because she feels the need to lose any weight.

Nichole - Average-ish height (5′5) and insanely clear skin. PD card Nymph Nichole destroys me and I always imagine her as a little fairy-esque; long fingers, long neck, very elegant looking. 

[muses-of-the-memory]

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