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nickmaghighlights · 1 year

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Nick Mag Highlights - #118 February 2006

Welcome back to Nick Mag Highlights! Would you believe it: Two of the greatest Nickelodeon shows crossing over in one half-hour special? For the second time? It’s a kid’s dream come true! Again! So let’s read all about it.

So yeah, sorry for the wait on this one. A couple of IRL setbacks plus taking on a volley of different big personal projects at once resulted in quite a hit towards my motivation. But hey, we’re here now, and I’m happy to get back into it.

Little sneak preview while I’m here: One of the things I’ve been working on is a new NMH Side Issue post! One that’s covering a mag that’s ostensibly part of Nickelodeon history thanks to its connection to a very prolific creative figure at the studio. Very wordy book though, so naturally both reading it and my analysis of it is gonna take longer than normal. And then I gotta do the research and fact-checking and yadda yadda, it’ll be ready when it's ready. In the meantime I’ve always got Nickelodeon Magazine to come back to.

Read along if you’d like, I think it’s the cool thing to do!

Neopets was still Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon)’s latest big purchase at the time of this mag’s release, with them having bought it eight months earlier back in June of 2005, so it’s not surprising seeing the new blockbuster Neopets thing getting a big ‘ole two page spread right at the beginning of the magazine.

While Neopets is famous for originally being financially supported by scientology, it was Viacom's stint with the brand that actually got me to give the site a try for a short time (thanks to a Burger King promotion of all things, if memory serves me correctly). If they don't delete old, inactive accounts then I hope my T-Rex Neopet has been doing well for itself. They can’t die, right?

I love this ad. I’m not sure what kind of vibe they were going for here but it almost feels kind of dystopian with the polluted-looking air and all the TV screens weirdly protruding out every which way. Adding to that feeling for me was that I initially thought all that shrubbery down below was a huge audience of adoring viewers. Feels like something out of The Running Man. Super cool.

Always important to check out what Nickelodeon itself was doing around the time. I remember being really excited for Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, and seeing how it went on to gross more than 5 million viewers, I guess I wasn’t alone. Really bothers me to find out it’s just called Go Hollywood and not Go To Hollywood like I thought it was all these years, but I guess I’ll live.

And speaking of millions of viewers, this section also mentions the then-upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants special “Dunces & Dragons” (oddly not actually referred to here with an actual title), which grossed more than 8 million viewers.

Oh, and it’s Black History Month. Y’know just kind of a footnote slotted in the middle there. You'd think that'd get an article or interview, I don’t know. I’m sure Kyra appreciates the shoutout at least.

Woah. Imagine living in a pre-High School Musical world. Nowadays High School Musical is the made-for-TV-movie that baby made-for-TV-movies want to grow up to be. Now we’ve got two sequels, a TV spinoff (a TV spinoff that won five Kids’ Choice Awards apparently, funnily enough), and a mountain of films that tried to cash in on that success. Mostly from Disney Channel themselves. Camp Rock, anyone?

Funny to see the not-Jumanji family classic Zathura listed as Josh Hutcherson’s big recognizable role when he’d end up co-starring in the critically lauded cultural touchstone The Hunger Games just a few years later. And now he’s starring in that Five Nights at Freddy’s movie coming out this year. What a career.

There’s gotta be some irony to me sitting here and enjoying what I probably called the “boring parts” of the magazine back when I was a kid. C’mon though, this is pretty neat! I’ll run through all the topics real quick if you’d like to learn more.

Notes From Underground - The Great Stalacpipe Organ

Still standing to this day, the instrument has been refurbished a couple times since it was featured in this magazine. In 2012 a band by the name of Pepe Deluxé composed and played the first ever song exclusively for the Stalacpipe Organ, called “In The Cave” and featured it in their album Queen of the Wave. Give it a listen, it’s a creepy kind of beautiful. Must’ve been hard to record, too!

Playing With Their Food - The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

The orchestra is still active and has even done a couple of performances this year! I doubt they still make soup from their instruments though. But to be honest even without having to worry about viral diseases I’m not too interested in soup made exclusively of vegetables that have been blown into for several hours.

Talk About Slow Jamz! - Organ²/ASLSP

Miraculously the performance is still on track. They didn’t play a note this year but the next one is scheduled for February 5th. The second slowest performance of the piece lasted 16 hours and took place last year.

World’s Hottest Tunes - Fire Organs

I can’t really find much about this one online, but I guess it speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Take a look at a performance and try not to think about how hot it must be in that auditorium whenever he plays that thing.

Alright, it’s time for a confession. You ready to hear the horrible truth? …Okay, here goes:

I don’t know very much about music.

I guess it was probably a bad choice for me to write about a magazine themed around music. I got pretty far without having to disclose my lack of knowledge though, right? And in my defense, Nickelodeon lured me in with that Jimmy Timmy Power Hour cover.

And I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like music. I love a bit of jazz now and then*. But still, none of the names here really ring a bell, so I don't know if any of these answers are ironic or out-of-character or so in-character it’s adorable or whatever. At least I can appreciate they spared no expense, they never usually have this many interviews. There’s even a third page with even more of them if you want to check it out.

*My top jazz favorites are Kim Scott (Spotify) and Pieces Of A Dream (Spotify). If you were curious.

It’s really cool to see something encouraging kids to make their own mix CDs. I do kinda wish there was more than one cover though. Not everybody wants to chill.

Aw man, come to think of it, is Gen-Z the last generation to do personal mixtapes and CDs? Or is that still a thing? Regardless I kind of wish I had gotten into doing that when I was younger, it seems like a fun thing to do between friends. Plus my knowledge of music would probably be way stronger than it is now. What do kids do nowadays, send each other Spotify playlists? I guess that's a bit more convenient.

I think I've talked about these Pop-Tart ads before. They were in these magazines all the time so they must’ve come up already. I think I even gave them some credit. But as attention grabbing as they were I really still don't understand the intention. What's so appetizing about seeing these little guys just get absolutely destroyed all the time? Are kids supposed to think about how they’re snuffing the life out of their morning Pop-Tarts?

A very awesome and adorable cover we have here, courtesy of Vera Brosgol (author and illustrator of the award-winning Anya’s Ghost, plus Head of Story on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio). You can check out her website to see more of her work here.

Nice little comic by Greg Cook. And wouldn’t you know that guy’s Wikipedia article has Nickelodeon Magazine mentioned in its first sentence? That’s cool. Also I feel like the man himself might’ve written his own Wikipedia article. The lack of citations and the way it’s written like the “About Me” page for a blog gives me that kind of vibe. If so, thanks for remembering us, Greg!

Now here’s some of that Jimmy-Timmy content I was promised! I was starting to get worried.

I find it interesting how well Jimmy and Timmy bounce off of each other, but I guess now that I think about it their shows weren’t that different really, at least in terms of subject matter, were they? In broad strokes they’re both kids with big egos whose imaginations tend to get them into trouble. And seeing those big egos clash is naturally gonna lend itself to some good comedy.

In regards to the art, I love the warm colors utilized here, it’s very cozy. The art throws me off just a smidge though. Absolutely no disrespect to Scott Roberts of course, writer and penciler behind this comic (and also creator of Patty Cake, a recurring comic for Nickelodeon Magazine that we… haven’t actually encountered yet on this blog unfortunately), he’s got some great work under his belt, and Timmy and his fairies look as to be expected here. But I do think it was a weird choice making Jimmy look like a Rugrat though. That’s not just me, right? The second page in particular has him pulling off some serious Rugrats-faces. Maybe Roberts was just doing what he knows, because he actually did tons of work on a Rugrats newspaper comic strip just a couple years before this.

Aside from that, Jimmy’s lab is a bit weird. It’s not the usual cave, instead being a regular room with windows and a checkerboard floor? And the exterior shows it to be a wooden cabin? Maybe it’s supposed to be the shack that’s built above the lab Jimmy uses as a secret entrance. Doesn’t really matter, I certainly didn’t notice as a kid, but it does make me wonder if the artist wasn’t provided that much reference material.

I love that snail comic so much like you wouldn’t believe.

Throughout the years I always managed to miss out on LEGO’s constant edgier reinventions of itself, y’know like Bionicle or that one about the ninjas. I guess it helps that I was never really into the toy itself. Unlike those previous examples though, Exo-Force here isn’t ringing any bells for me, but I do find it noteworthy how they were trying to go for a more anime/gundam vibe with this one, what with the Japanese affixed to the bottom of the logo and the faux-anime designs of all the main characters. Surprised to see this one didn’t even warrant its own cartoon, instead having its epic storyline played out through a series of commercials. And while I may like an overarching commercial narrative as much as the next guy (anyone remember those Goldfish Cracker commercials that did the same thing?), I bet you any fans of this line were sore it never got the whole TV show package like Bionicle did.

Oh right, Valentine’s Day is in February, isn’t that right? How many more years do you think that holiday has, you reckon? Nobody likes it. It’s just a reason to buy more greeting cards and do nice things for people that you probably should just be doing anyway and not need a holiday to tell you to do. Eh, still though I guess if you were in a small class at school this would be a pretty useful sheet of cards.

Skyland, huh? Can’t say it rings a bell, but it certainly looks cool. How did this slip by me? I even had this issue as a kid and watched Nicktoons, so I must have just completely tuned it out. I wonder why?

youtube

Oh, that’s interesting, it seems like it's all done with motion captured 3D animation. That’s fine, I guess, but that illustration in the magazine had me thinking it’d look a bit more like The Last Airbender. I’m impressed that they spared no expense on the story at least. This intro here can barely keep down its exposition to forty seconds!

So, does anyone remember this one? Apparently it was a French production that was licensed to different channels across the world, airing on Teletoon in Canada and CITV in the UK. I’d love to know if it was any good!

Pretty good smorgasbord of facts in this month’s calendar. And I guess a blanket theme is good as any other theme. Ooh, National Pancake Day! What a great month.

The Jimmy-Timmy quiz is fun, but I wish we could’ve gotten an interview with someone a part of the production of the episode or something. Obviously they’re not going to just interview some random part of the staff (although I’d find that interesting personally), but a voice actor would’ve been cool. I like how Jimmy’s answer considers Sheen a responsibility. Maybe all of Jimmy’s town-threatening inventions were just to distract Sheen from causing any real damage. We all know what kind of terror he’s capable of.

Wow, Bill Clinton! BC himself! Pretty impressive guest for an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, I must say. ‘Course they got him talking about eating vegetables and exercising instead of something cool, though. It is good to know that being on the receiving end of the most widely-reported-on gobbling in the United States wasn’t enough to get you disqualified from having a spot in Nick Mag.

Another neato guest in theory, Tommy Tallarico is a pretty big name in the video game music space. He’s known for having a hand in loads of different soundtracks over the years and also allegedly being a pathological liar and taking credits for lots of other peoples’ work, which isn’t as nice as the former thing I listed. If you’re interested you can check out more info on the topic in this video here by hbomberguy, which basically runs through a lot of the lies Tallarico has told throughout the years, made as a response to him using legal pressure to get a sound effect he claims to have made removed from the online game Roblox. Oof.

But yeah, to give him some credit, this interview is better than ‘ole Clint’s was. At least Tallarico’s talking about the thing he gets paid for instead of vegetables and dieting. And that “What’s on Mario’s iPod” section is pretty good, but considering Tallirco’s track record it makes me question the legitimacy of his answers… I always thought Crash Bandicoot was more of a Dead Or Alive fan.

Oh god, not QZ again. I did not miss seeing this freak, I’ll tell you that. Why was anyone encouraging this guy with any more questions? He was getting kids names and addresses and we all sat idly by! I like how he sidesteps half the questions too, only giving a direct answer when it concerns protecting a kid from bullies. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all…

…Nah. Screw him.

If you remember these guys, you qualify for an Apple Jack’s discount!

I’m willing to admit as a kid I was more than willing to buy into whatever brands wound up on my TV as long as they had a funky mascot and even funkier commercials (and having a website that sported a suite of Flash games and cartoons certainly helped), but the hijinx of this Rastafarian cinnamon stick and goblin-looking apple particularly stick out to me as some rather memorable marketing. I’d say chalk it up to the distinct claymation style the commercials sported (which I’m pretty sure got replaced with 3D animation at some point, which kinda stinks). I found it funny how the character known as “Bad Apple” here eventually got redeemed and just became a friendly competitor that races Cinnamon to the bowl as opposed to the villain he’s presented as here. Did the marketing team really not see from the get-go that people might have a problem with a commercial depicting cinnamon and sugar as the good guy and apples as, well, “bad”?

Still, as much as I loved the commercials, I never actually had a single bowl of Apple Jacks as a kid. Shocking, I know, but my friends told me they sucked and I remember reading one particularly nasty long-winded online review that basically said the cereal is garbage, so I stayed away. I eventually did have a bowl or two of the stuff many years later, and… they’re alright. I will agree with this comic on one thing, Apple Jacks definitely do not “taste like apples”. In fact, they don’t really taste like anything.

And that’ll do it for this edition of Nick Mag HIghlights! Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you had a fun time going through this issue with me. It had tons of fun stuff (that article on the strange and interesting instruments and that Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour comic were my personal highlights) and hopefully some of you can get more entertainment out of all those musical interviews than I did. We even got a Billy C cameo! It doesn’t get more engaging than an old president, does it?

As well, I’d like to reiterate my apology for the time it took to bring this to you all, and I’m hopeful I can pick the pace back up and rebuild my motivation now that I’ve gotten this finished. I’m looking forward to finalizing my aforementioned new Nick Mag Side Issues post, I think that’ll be pretty interesting and add a little spice of variety to the page. Guess we’ll see!

Keep on reading, and maybe listen to your favorite song while you’re at it. I’ll catch you next time!

#nmh post #2000s #2006 #nickelodeon #magazine #jimmy neutron #the fairly oddparents

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valentinesparda · 3 months

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Happy birthday! How about buttercream frosting, gift, and thank you for whoever you'd like! :D

@one-winged-dreams thank you so much!!!! :3 while it's still my birthday, i will answer for uhhhh mr travis nmh

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING: does your f/o get you desserts other than cake? what about you for them?

killian is a sweets fiend and will eat pretty much anything with sugar or frosting on or in it, and travis knows this, so for their birthday he will buy them a multitude of little snacks and pack them in a basket - strawberry pocky, fruit chews, a small fruit parfait, little strawberry candies, and a tub of blue and pink cotton candy of course. he would get a cake but he figures that cake goes bad way too fast to justify having it in their shitty little fridge

killian however is traditionally simple and will bake him a birthday cake and surprise him with it, even when they think they do not have the proper ingredients. sometimes it will be cupcakes :3

GIFT: what does your f/o get for you? what do you get your f/o for their birthday?

killian is very simple and will always accept plushies as gifts, but will also love love love love shirts that are either very silly and kind of terrible or merch for their favourite things (bonus if it can be shared between the two of them). honestly they just like the idea of people remembering their birthday and even if it's just a kiss in the morning they're fine with it

travis will never complain about having a new gunpla set to build but he also likes old box sets of tokus and wrestling matches, but extra bonus points if killian warns him not to buy anything for a few months leading up to his birthday because they watch him scroll through eBay a lot and keep track of what he wants to buy (and will get said thing through less than legal means sometimes)

THANK YOU: what do you and your f/o do after the celebrations?

[ THAT'S NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY! ]

#asks #adri tag #otp: never let go #si: killian #a travkil to end the night because ive been thinking about him lately (haunts my twitter feed)

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ohc-and-the-music-tapes-archive · 1 year

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Review of Neutral Milk Hotel’s and Olivia Tremor Control’s show in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9 May 1997.

transcript:

At The Side Door: More Than The Names Are Weird

NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL/OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL Side Door, Monday, May 5 By Matt Fernandes Special to the Post-Dispatch

An intense bunch of aging punk fans drifted into the Side Door looking for something more than the tiresome three-chords-and-out performances delivered by many a touring band. In their quest for meaning, they turned to Neutral Milk Hotel, a band that has made national waves over the last year.

Despite the critical acclaim for Neutral Milk Hotel's debut album, “On Avery Island,” only about half of the floor space was occupied throughout the show. As band leader Jeff Mangum took the stage alone, the small gathering huddled close to the stage. They did not get too close, though, as Mangum announced that he was ill with a 100 degree temperature. Also, his drummer “couldn't be here.”

Not a promising start, but perhaps the strength of the band's songs alone would offset the fatigue factor.

Not the case.

Mangum labored through an eight-song, acoustic set with few highlights. Mangum dominated the songs with his bold guitar work and vehement voice. Often. Mangum appeared ready to eat the microphone as his voice rang through the speakers. The effect was often awkward. Lowering the volume would have been appropriate for the band’s folksy, slower tunes.

Not surprisingly, the instrumentals were the strong points. Julian Koster played the “singing saw" during some tunes, giving a surreal element to the music. The instrument consisted of a violin bow and a rusty saw, which Koster would bend to play. The bizarre sound was similar to the loony, high-pitched sound effects used in early horror films and original “Star Trek” episodes. An accordion and clarinet also were thrown into the mix on certain instrumentals. One memorable tune took on a traditional Irish sound, although the instruments used were anything bat traditional or Irish.

On album standouts like “Song Against Sex" and “Naomi”, the band lacked coordination. The jubilant horns, which made “Song Against Sex” so great on the record, were not only sloppy, but inaudible live. Some of the beauty of “Naomi” was lost due to miscommunication. A death-defying final note was held for a mini millennium by Mangum, thus salvaging the tune.

The set featured several new numbers that sounded promising, despite the somewhat crippled delivery.

Olivia Tremor Control's performance was upbeat by comparison. This band knew its material and played it in style. OTC blended the oddest of instruments to achieve a chaotic, yet pleasing sound, (Well, most of the time.)

It was a true country jamboree. Some of the oddball instruments include a banjo bowed with a violin bow, a sawed-off trumpet, a Moog synthesizer combined with a Casio keyboard and a strange wood box with electrical wires.

OTC's songs were tighter than those of NMH, their soul and label mates on Elephant 6. Funky bass lines gave the crowd a reason to dance. Impressive four-part melodies were featured on many songs. When the band jammed, their sound was earthy, with strictly positive lyrics, reflecting the bright and sunny atmosphere of their hometown of Athens, Ga. Each song held surprises, though: exploring homemade electronics during extended jams is clearly this band's passion.

#Neutral Milk Hotel #Olivia Tremor Control #articles #1997 #Jeff Mangum #Julian Koster

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sanpatron · 2 years

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Compliment Extravaganza

@perledelalune asked: -throws my URL in :3-

OPINION ON.

Character in general: REAPER REAPER! I love love love Margaret. Her look, her boss fight, her whole attitude. Top notch shit right there. She’s one of my all-time favorites for sure. Also her signature weapon is so fucking dope. Like I just really dug her whole vibe. Plus we all know her song rules.

How they play them: Outstanding. Like the great thing about taking on any of the assassin’s from NMH is that you have the opportunity to flesh them out even further than was given in the game. I know that’s sort of a standard when it comes to picking up any Muse, but certain character definitely need it more. And like I’ve really come to adore what you’ve done with Margaret. The little budding friendship between her and Django has made me really happy, and it’s honestly nice for him to have someone who like gets it, y’know? Makes him feel comfortable and like he has someone to talk to. But aside from that I just really enjoy what you’ve done, and I want to see what more you can do because I know damn well you’re capable of a helluva lot.

The Mun: Was surprised to find out that we already sorta knew each other! Unfortunately my poor brain can’t remember a whole lot, but it was still a nice thing to realize. You’re an incredibly nice and wonderful person to talk to, and I just genuinely hope the two of us can sorta get to know each other better now. I wanna come up with so many plots with these two and see where things go! Crossing my fingers we get more NMH blogs some day.

DO I.

RP with them: Hell yeah I do.

Want to RP with them: Always!

WHAT IS MY.

Overall opinion on them:

#perledelalune #Meme Time Fun Time { Ask Memes } ⚜

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ranchersrevenge · 3 years

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Dude, just go to the hospital already

Aka, the first installment of nmh

Word Count: 1,371

TWs for: blood, descriptions of wounds.

I had fun writing this this is my blog and I post what I want :D

There are several things to expect when renting out a house with two other people you barely know.

This certainly was not one of them.

Tango could deal with one of his housemates consistently leaving cheap, bogus, 'ghost hunting' equipment around the house. He certainly wasn't going to touch it again after he tried to move one of the devices and it made a noise so loud they almost got the cops called on them. He could also handle his other housemate, who- well. Wasn't even home most of the time.

He couldn't, and wouldn't, handle what looked like a corpse on his- their back doorstep.

Well, not alone.

"ETHO, HEY ETHO. GET OVER HERE." He yelled out. He was panicked, more than panicked but that was considerably reasonable considering the circumstance. Tango tried to think to himself that he'd know what to do, but as one does, his brain completely blanked.

He didn't have to wait for too long as fast, but light footsteps sounded behind him. Etho was here.

Tango turned to face his housemate? Friend? Who knows. Just living with someone for a while doesn't necessarily make you close. Anyway, they had more pressing matters.

There was a corpse on their back doorstep.

"Okay. Okay. Ok- what are we even supposed to do. What are we even-" Tango stuttered. "Do we call the cops?"

"Relax. He's alive. He's just bleeding, it doesn't look too bad though." Etho replied, way too calmly for someone in this situation.

"H- how can someone bleeding out on our doorstep be not too bad, Etho????" He responded back. He did take the opportunity to look at the 'body' again however.

It, no wait, he-. The body was lying face down, blood leaking from various wounds on his body, several down his arms, it looked like he had a nosebleed as well. The most concerning thing, despite all of that, was the biggest wound Tango could see, around the diameter of a quarter, right in the middle of his upper back. It looked like the man on the ground had torn something out of it. He was covered in blood, scrapes from what looked like several falls, and….moss? A lot of moss, it wrapped around his torso and almost covered his head, nearly looking like a cape.

But most of all, Etho was right. He was breathing, albeit very faintly, but breathing. It was hard to see it, but his body was ever so slightly contracting and expanding every second. A sign of life.

That made Tango pause to think for a second, he was still extremely panicked but he let himself calm down the tiniest bit. Finally, he spoke up again, “We should still call the police, Etho. He’s bleeding out, get him to a hospital, or, or something.”

Etho, instead of responding right away, paused to fiddle with one of the straps of the face mask he always wore (for some reason). “Shouldn’t we get him inside first? Lay him on a flat surface? Y’know?”

“Alright, that’s actually vaguely sensible. Let's- let’s do that.”

“You take his arms, I'll take his legs?”

“Just don’t get his blood on the carpet, the landlord is gonna kill us.”

They did as previously discussed, Tango grunted a little, surprised by the man’s weight relative to his size, muscle mass? Maybe? Etho seemed to be having no problems though, another thing on his list of questions about this guy.

“Hey Tango, don’t you think it’s weird he hasn’t woken up yet?”

“He’s bleeding out, Etho.”

“Fair point!”

They had that conversation as they carried the man in moss, walking a short distance between their back door and their living room, the house wasn’t that big. It’s what you get on three uni student’s rent money in this economy.

“Y’think this spot is good?” Etho piped up, standing around the one sofa they shared, granted, there were always armchairs, but everyone in the house (aside from the guy they just toted in) agreed that those were probably made to kill people. The mentioned spot was thankfully, on the wooden floor, which was better for all of them, Tango thought.

“Yeah.” He replied, “Put him down for now.”

Tango breathed a sigh of relief as they did so, he knew his body wasn’t in any way built for transporting another human being. He stretched his arms out to alleviate the built up strain. He sucked another breath in and asked Etho to go get a first aid kit. After his housemate left. He was just about to dial an emergency number, but something caused him to stop in his tracks.

The previously thought to be corpse spoke.

Ever faintly, like it took all of his energy to do so. “Nope.”

Tango started, he definitely didn’t expect the man in moss to regain consciousness, let alone be able to utter even a single word. Still, he responded, “Nope.. what?”

“Nope. No... no hospitals. Do not.”

“Are you sure?” Tango asked, he didn’t know why he was even humouring the stranger.

“Yeah.” The other man answered with an air of strange clarity. “Not that bad, the wounds..”

“What are you on about? You’re bleeding, you looked like you just got jumped, man.”

“Hehehh.” He..laughed? An uncanny thing to do for someone in that state, maybe he was getting delirious from the blood loss.

Tango was about to continue dialing the almost forgotten number, but he was startled yet again, this time by Etho coming back from wherever he went in the house. Now that he thought about it, he had been gone for an unusually long time to get a basic amount of household medical supplies. Well, he was back, though he had bags of wound cleanser and variants of bandages Tango couldn’t name. More than he thought all of them had in the house, that’s for sure.

Etho looked at the both of them, Tango with his phone sitting uselessly in hand and the stranger, now sitting upright somehow. “Oh hey.” The stranger said. “I feel like I know you.”

Well yep, he’s definitely delirious. Etho just laughed, “I get that a lot.” he replied, most definitely having not gotten it a lot. He just laughed a little bit however, following it up with “You’re a bit out of it, aren’t you?”

“Oh no, absolutely not, I’m the most in it I’ve ever been.” Came the stranger’s response. Tango took that moment to notice the stains of blood on the floor, that would be a problem. Somehow, it looked like most of the blood, both on him and on the floor, had dried.

Etho didn’t respond to that, maybe he was stumped. Instead, he just said, “First off, you’re in our house, at least tell us your name. Second off, our shower is down the left hallway, use it.”

“You’re letting him use our shower? No questions asked?”

“He smells.” Etho rebutted.

The man in moss seemed to take a bit to compute that, though he responded, “Bdubs, and I do not smell normally. It’s the dust. Normally I smell good. Like, like- a flower.”

“Alright...Beedubs, go take a shower, it’ll clear your brainfog or whatever. Towels are just in the bathroom, you remember where those are right.” He tossed the bag of medical supplies at Bdubs while saying so, the man in moss caught it with surprising ease.

“I do, I do! A guy can’t even bleed out around here, people’ll think you’re delirious now.” Bdubs shot back, somehow very naturally. “I’m goin.” He said. Following through to his words, he stood up, grip on the bag, staggering a bit as he left the room.

Tango spoke up, “You do know the lease only says three people right? Because I know you’re gonna have him stay with us, and you’re not taking no for an answer. What are we gonna do about that?”

Lie.”

“Fine, fine we can work this out, we’ll have to talk to Skizz, definitely have to do that. I do have one more question though.”

“What’s it?”

“Who’s going to clean up those bloodstains?”

Etho just shrugged, he turned to look more directly at Tango.

“Oh, don’t even look at me.”

#last life smp #trafficblr creator games #last life au #ethoslab #bdoubleo100 #tangotek #zeph.doc

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ebonyslasher · 3 years

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Character Love

My headcanons on which black girl video game characters each of the slashers would like the most.

Tbh they would like multiple ones, but I wanted to focus on ones that I thought would stick out to them the most

Twintelle (ARMS)

Asa Emory

When you first choose her while playing ARMS, he is drawn to how classy she looks.

He quietly watches the whole time you play as her; he would usually get up and go somewhere else when you play games

Lowkey mesmerized by her movements (them hips) and really likes the concept of her hair being powerful like that. Thinks it’s pretty symbolic to how he thinks black women's’ hair is .

On his own time, he goes to look her up on Google. He sees all the.......”nice” fanart of her. Oh he’s a fan fan now

He has a folder dedicated to her on his computer, but he would never let you know that....

Hannibal Lector

He’s hooked on her as soon as he hears the smooth ‘bonjour’ from her when you choose her character.

He raises his eyebrows and asks, “Who is this character?”

Oh she’s french? And she’s a movie star? And she likes tea? He loves her already

He feels like she would truly appreciate his dishes (well.....) and his bougie self.

He sits and watches the gameplay and really likes how it seems like she glides even when she is on the ground.

Shinobu (No More Heroes)

Michael Myers

Her appearance really stood out to him when he was watching you play NMH. He became a sucker for that hair color and skin tone combo she got going on.

He thought she was really cute, kinda looks like you in the face.......no wonder he thought that

He respects her after she got her arm cut off and kept trying to fight

Likes that she's good with a blade and can chop up so many people in little time. He thinks it would be sexy if you cosplayed as her and you started slicing bitches

Leo Kasper (if he's 'activated')

Thinks she's cute and badass. Plain and simple

Would love a woman like her in real life, they would be the best serial killing duo wherever they walked

He's pretty sadistic, so he enjoys the whole game. The killing scenes are super cool to him. Don't be surprised if he tries to recreate them

He will want to play her levels in NMH 2. He doesn't know what the moe shit she's talking about but she sure knows how to kill in style

He gets turned on by her a lot (he thinks travis was stupid for turning her down)

Olivia (Pokemon)

Billy Loomis

Plays video games on and off. He's more into the old school pokemon games

You get him to take turns with you to play pokemon sun and moon

Y'all get to her introduction and she comes out walking like bam bam bam. And he is shook shook shook!

Oh he's definitely taking over playing now. He enjoys every second of battling against her

Will watch pokemon sun and moon anime but ONLY her scenes. He don't care for anything else.

Carrie White

"Oh she's soooo pretty!💕"

I hc that Carrie's fav color is pink, so she really likes her outfit

She wishes she could be as confident as her! But also thinks it's really sweet that Olivia is humble like 🥺🥺

Will watch pokemon sun and moon in its entirety with you, even if it's just for olivia

Nessa(Pokemon)

Stu Matcher

An avid video gamer. He keeps up with the latest news on series that he's interested in

Once he saw her in one of the reveals, he had to get the game right now

Stu is one of the guys that thinks Nintendo is on a roll with making more beautiful black female characters

He makes her his computer background 🤣

You can see him zooming in on her face every chance he gets while in battle

Also watches a shit ton of other guys fawn all over her on youtube.

Tiffany Valentine

Instantly in love with her color scheme. Other than red, a lot of goth/emo styles use blue as an accent color as well.

Appreciates her hair, eyes, and style...she just appreciates her in general

Not surprised to learn that nessa is a model too like look at her😍

You two fangirl over her together

Marina (Splatoon)

Vincent Sinclair

Already likes Splatoon cause it's colorful and he likes the art style. He even enjoys the soundtrack, shit slaps

You show him the mini music video intro to the new host, marina and pearl. He's vibin with it

He sees Marina and is like who??is???she???

She's freaking adorable, that's who she is.

Don't get me wrong, he likes pearl too. But Marina's design hits different. Vincent fixates on her the whole time.

He really wants to draw her now

Jason Voorhees

Cute!!!!!

He's into any type of cute aesthetic type character so you already knew he would like her

He asks you to buy a Marina doll if they make one

He cuddles the shit out of her when it arrives, it makes a cute picture

His favorite part of her is her fingers. It's so cool to him that her tips are real. It blends in perfectly with her skin tone

Menat (Street Fighter)

Billy Lenz

Hubba hubba 😝😝😝

Starts asking you who she is when she comes on screen

If she was real he woulda asked her for a menat-a-trois, y'know what I'm saying

Drooling from the mouth over her walk and outfit

Her power special dance makes him buss in his pants

Wants to play but only to see her flexibility and that walk

Daniel Lamb

Watches you play games from time to time and may join you if it's multiplayer

Y'all playing street fighter. He's going through the character selection and lands on Menat.

He double takes on her and chooses her cause she's pretty. He also thinks her voice is really cute

Sometimes won't fight just to see her walk lol but he genuinely likes her fighting style

Tries to keep his mind innocent but he can't help the thirsty thoughts that flow through his mind when he sees those outfits

If you cosplay as her, it will knock you off his feet

Sheva Alomar (Resident Evil)

Chromeskull

I feel like chromeskull would enjoy some zombie ish video games where he could kill people without hiding it (although he wouldn't make as much money)

So he totally plays resident evil, even when you aren't there

It's weird that he's playing the hero in the game...but he doesn't mind that when he sees Sheva cause sheeeshhh

It's so sexy to him when a woman can kill with whatever weapon she has. Esp if it's powerful.

He respects her pure badassery. She's on a mission and she sticks to it.

Although he likes her design, he wishes that they gave her curlier and more accurate hair. She is from Africa after all....

Bo Sinclair

This boy loves a girl who can handle a gun. On some redneck southern shit.

He has a crush on her as soon as he sees her with some powerful ass guns that she handles well like damn

An African queen that can fight can make his heart right 💯

He's also pretty sympathetic to her backstory. Which is a bit weird considering what him and his brothers did to the town that they live in

Imani (Paladins)

Norman Bates

So she can control fire and ice? That's pretty cool

He doesn't really understand the stories behind the different video games. They all kinda blend together for him

But he's never seen stuff like this before. He gets a lil hit under the collar looking at Imani cause she's an absolute beauty

He feels a bit guilty cause he thinks he's cheating on you by liking the character. But you reassure him that it isn't and you like her like that too😆

Brahms Heelshire

Captivated by those hips of hers like dayummmm

And those outfits too like wow

"She's sexy y/n......"

He hated that you can't really see her during the gameplay but he can get off to her hands to. He can get off to any part if he works hard enough

If he knows how to use a laptop 💻 he will look her up and browse all the fanart of her

... he will end up finding rule 34 of her. That's the first place he tries to go to

Probably will jack off to her pictures

#michael myers #billy loomis #stu macher #brahms heelshire #jason voorhees #chromeskull #asa emory #tiffany valentine #carrie white #daniel lamb #leo kasper #norman bates #bo sinclair #vincent sinclair #hannibal lecter #billy lenz

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psychosistr · 4 years

Text

Meet Me Halfway- Chapter 6

Summary: Liquidator wakes up with questions, answers, panic, and more questions.

Notes: Woohoo! First Liquidator POV chapter xD

-First Chapter-

The first thing Liquidator noticed when his consciousness returned to him was how much lighter he felt. Before, everything about his body had been heavy and immovable. Now, though, he felt light and free- the feelings he’d become accustomed to since his mutation into the living mass of liquid.

The second thing he noticed was the slightly heavier feeling of something contaminating his liquid in one area. Forming his eyes answered the question as to what that something was. He spotted some sludge on the far end of whatever vessel his body was currently being contained in. Hating the feeling of the crystal-clear body he took such pride in being contaminated by impurities, he focused and pulled the rest of his water out of and away from the sludge, leaving it pooled on its own on the far end of his container.

And the third thing he noticed was the feeling of something more solid resting idly in his water. Moving so that his recently formed eyes could look at the side of his container, he spotted a gloved hand at the end of a white-clothed sleeve dipping over the side of the vessel so that the arm lay on the rim and the covered fingertips skimmed his water.

Liquidator’s first thoughts on the situation were that he’d been given to some laboratory for testing after his defeat at the hands of “the terror that flaps in the night”. Well, he wasn’t some guinea pig for a bunch of no-necked shut-in’s to drool over as some sort of new scientific marvel for them to stick in a centrifuge!

With a bubbly growl to his voice, Liquidator gathered all of his water together and formed it into his familiar shape with a bit more bulk around the upper body to appear more intimidating and rose up out of his container. “Today’s special- a two-for-one beat down courtesy of the one and only LIQUIDATOR! Act now, supplies are limited!” To his surprise (and mild disappointment) his dramatic entrance and one-liner fell flat as the only other person in the small room was a lone man on the floor by his container. Further surprising and frustrating was the fact that his entrance garnered no reaction whatsoever from the seated scientist. With a frustrated scowl, he picked the scientist up by the front of his lab coat and glared into his goggle-covered eyes. “The surgeon general says ‘ignoring supervillains is detrimental to your health’, so you’d better-!”

His threat was interrupted by a groggy, tired sound finally leaving the previously silent masked man’s throat. “Ngh…” He lifted his head slightly, apparently just now realizing who was in front of him. “Buddy..?”

“!!” The familiar voice shocked Liquidator right out of his previous aggression, making him stare at the small scientist whose covered features were becoming increasingly familiar to him the longer he looked. “Reggie?” He reached up with one hand and removed the mask and goggles, revealing the duck’s familiar face to him. “Reggie, what’s going on?”

“Nmh..sta…a..tue..” Was the only coherent thing to leave the duck’s beak before his head flopped back down and his eyes shut.

“Reggie? Reggie!” Liquidator tried to gently shake the other man awake, but he didn’t stir in the slightest. With a slightly aggravated huff, he set the duck back down on the tiled floor.

Finally taking in his surroundings, Liquidator saw that he wasn’t actually in some laboratory- instead, he was in a small, sparsely decorated bathroom. What he had previously assumed to be some sort of container was actually just an old off-white bathtub. It was that odd combination of too nice to be a cheap motel bathroom but not nice enough to be some sort of corporate-owned building that lead him to the conclusion that he was in a cheap apartment complex- likely Bushroot’s home.

What stood out the most in the cramped room, however, were the buckets of what looked like improperly-mixed wet cement that had been set out around the other side of the tub and on top of the toilet. He noticed a glob of the same substance sitting in the tub that he’d just emerged from and figured that was probably what he felt mixed in with his body earlier.

While looking at the buckets, however, he noticed one of them that was closest to the tub’s opposite corner. Unlike the other buckets with their thick layers of sludge and sediment, this one contained a significantly clearer liquid. Out of curiosity, Liquidator placed the tip of his finger in the bucket and concentrated on reading its contents.

It was an interesting mixture: Hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine-

WAIT!

Those compounds together made-

“Reggie!” Liquidator turned back to the shorter man with an urgent tone to his voice and tried to shake him awake again, this time more roughly than he had before. “How long have you been inhaling this stuff?!”

Despite his shouting and shaking, the duck remained unconscious. Quietly cursing under his breath, Liquidator picked Bushroot up and carried him out of the bathroom and into the adjoining bedroom. After setting Bushroot down on the bed, Liquidator got the only window in the room open with the hopes that it would draw in enough fresh air for his still flesh-and-blood friend.

“Sorry, but you’ll thank me for this later..” He said to the unconscious duck before he began to remove his clothes. The opened lab coat, shoes, and socks came off easy enough, but the buttons on the pants and shirt proved more of a challenge to the watery canine and his fluid fingers- the pieces of plastic slipping through and occasionally into his digits. “To heck with it- I’ll steal you some nicer clothes later..” Letting out another frustrated growl, Liquidator firmly grasped the sides of the shirt and tore it open, destroying many of the buttons in the process.

After repeating the process with the button on Bushroot’s pants, he gathered up the ruined clothing and the other articles he’d already taken off (he left the duck his modesty by keeping his underpants on- those would probably be the least contaminated) and hurried back into the bathroom.

Clearing the bathtub of the residual concrete, Liquidator summoned a strong flow of water from the bathtub’s faucet and left the clothes to soak in the clean water for the time being. While the clothes were being dealt with, he grabbed the troublesome bucket from earlier and carried it into the kitchen.

“Let’s hope you keep your cupboards stocked, Reggie..” Liquidator mumbled to himself while rummaging through the various cabinets and cupboards. After a moment, he found exactly what he was looking for. “Aha! Just what the doctor ordered! Well, what he WOULD order if he were awake.” He said while pulling out a box of baking soda.

The clever canine diligently dissolved the baking soda into the bucket of chemicals, going slowly as to not trigger any unfavorable reactions. Once the threatening concoction was properly neutralized, he let out a relieved sigh and walked back into the bedroom to check on the resting scientist.

Placing a hand on the duck’s forehead, Liquidator frowned at the unusually high amount of heat that he could feel seeping into his watery palm. “Oh Reggie, what have you done..?”

_______________________________________________________________

Bushroot didn’t wake up for several hours.

Liquidator did what he could to ensure the duck’s full recovery: Carefully washed the other man’s face repeatedly, taking great care to make sure the beak was fully cleansed of any lingering residue. Placed a cold hand on his forehead for twenty minutes once every hour to help keep his temperature down. And, with the aid of the adjoining bathroom’s faucet and some cleaned out buckets, used hot water combined with his own mastery of liquids to humidify the air and make sure the water molecules wouldn’t be blown away by the fresh air coming in through the window.

In between the time he spent taking care of the other man, Liquidator tried to keep himself busy with little things such as finishing the cleanup of Bushroot’s contaminated clothes and looking around the apartment. Unfortunately, cleaning up proved more entertaining than the option of looking around as the duck really didn’t have much available in the way of entertainment other than the television set in the living room. He managed to freeze one of his fingers long enough to turn the television on, but it was the time of day where nothing good was playing, anyway.

Returning to the bathroom to see if there was anything else he could do, Liquidator noticed something he’d missed before- a notebook and a set of tools sitting on the back of the toilet. Out of curiosity and boredom, Liquidator froze one of his fingers again and used it to flick through the pages of the notebook.

It seemed to be a scientific journal used for making observation notes on various types of plants. As he got closer to the more recent pages, though, the notes changed from plant-based biological observations to chemical formulas and theories. There was a crude drawing of Liquidator himself featured on one of the pages with the basic formula for cement written off to the side. After that were pages upon pages of notes and formulas, many of which was scribbled over and/or re-written with arrows drawn from one side of the page to the other to suggest a possible link between solutions. Judging by the amount of writing, Bushroot must have spent several hours trying to figure out a way to separate Liquidator from his stone prison.

As Liquidator glanced at the numerous buckets of concrete sludge that still filled the small bathroom, he realized that it must have taken several more hours actually getting him out the cement…

Closing the book once again, Liquidator’s eyes drifted over to the tools that had been lying next to it- a hammer and a chisel.

“Glad I wasn’t awake to feel THAT..” He commented while picking up the chisel and looking at the normally flat-edged implement that had been significantly dulled by going above and beyond to fulfill its purpose.

With a shake of his head, Liquidator set the tool back down and wandered back into the bedroom to check on Bushroot for what felt like the fiftieth time. In the process of doing so, he noticed something he’d missed before while undressing the duck and treating him- his gloves were still on. Honestly, they’d been very low on his priority-driven radar that he hadn’t even noticed they were there.

“Might as well get rid of those, too..” He flowed over to the bed and began carefully peeling the first rubber-covering off of the dozing doctor’s digits. Getting them off, however, revealed something else he’d failed to notice before: Blood. “!!” Liquidator’s eyes widened in momentary panic as he tossed the glove aside and moved Bushroot’s hand to get a better view of it. “Did you get that stuff in your gloves?!!”

After rinsing the other man’s hand off, the supervillain was relieved to see that the wounds weren’t from chemical burns. No, they were simply blisters, most likely from the hours he spent breaking the stone apart with the hammer and chisel, that had burst and bled into the glove. Removing its twin revealed similar blisters on Bushroot’s other hand that made Liquidator frown.

‘Why would you go this far?’ Liquidator wondered not for the first time that day, silently taking both of Bushroot’s hands in his own and submerging the blisters in his cool water to ease their pain.

People were inherently greedy and selfish- that was the law of the world that he, as Bud Flood, had long come to accept in life. No one did anything without expecting something in return.

Parents raised their children and gave them what they needed to survive. The “good” ones went even further and have their children things they didn’t need but merely wanted to make them happy. They encouraged and/or pushed their children to do well in school and find good jobs as adults so they would be financially stable. This was all just training and compensation, though, so that the parents could cash in on their children’s success and finances and have someone to either take care of them or pay to have someone else take care of them when they were too feeble to do so themselves anymore.

At work, people would be polite and genial to their coworkers and superiors, offering to do tasks that went above their assigned responsibilities for the sake of appearing helpful. They were all just trying to make themselves look better, though- they all secretly wanted to get on the good side of the higher-ups so they could get benefits like being considered first for promotions or raises. As soon as someone got in their way- someone better at pretending to be nice or who seemed more intelligent or talented- you’d see their true colors come out as they worked to sabotage the competition without getting caught. Who cares if it ruins someone’s life? All that matters is climbing the corporate ladder to the top.

Even romance, the ultimate, life-defining source of happiness according to so many people, came with a price. Falling in love was supposed to be a grand thing, a way to find someone else to spend your life with- someone to share your happiness with and lean on in times of hardship- that so called “missing piece” of yourself. In the end, though, all anyone really gets is extra emotional baggage from dealing with your own problems as well as someone else’s in exchange for the rights to say “Look, I’m in a relationship with that person- I’m normal!” and feel included for once. Eventually the high of happiness and romance fades and, when you realize you’ve condemned yourself to being with someone whom you have almost nothing in common with, you either kill your soul with the constant fights caused by bitterness and despair for the sake of “making it work” or you play heartbreak-russian-roulette to see who’ll pull the trigger first and end the pain for all parties involved.

Everybody always wanted something from him, that’s what Bud Flood had come to expect. It was why he’d worked so hard maintaining his double-life: To the public, he was a good, honest man who cared about the safety of his customers and put their needs first, making him seem kind and approachable. Behind closed doors, he was a ruthless, tyrannical businessman who would doom whomever he needed to just to get ahead in life.

After all, anyone else would do the same if they could, right? They would act kind and friendly to make him lower his guard, then wait for the chance to take something from him- his money, his success, his heart- you name it. In the end, it would happen one way or another..

………

So why was he wasting so much time with this meek, anxiety-prone, attention-starved, blabber-mouth of a scientist who wasn’t even THAT attractive?

If he had to pick a reason, it was probably because the duck was so transparent and straight-forward that he was easy for Liquidator to understand and predict. Bushroot was lonely, eager for attention and companionship, and honest to a fault (the guy probably couldn’t lie to save his own life). In a situation that came down to “take advantage or be taken advantage of”, Bushroot was much more likely to be the one taken advantage of since he would bend over backwards for the supervillain’s approval. He was simple and plain and far from complex.

At least, that’s how it had started out…

While the scientist was still very obviously desperate for attention and approval, Liquidator had to admit to himself that there were things about him that were less predictable than he originally thought. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought the bird would go as far as he did to free him from his concrete prison- to expose himself to dangerous chemicals and spend who knows how long breaking his solidified body apart just to set him free. Sure, they’d built some form of casual friendship since they’d met in the greenhouse, but they’d only known each other for a couple weeks! Liquidator doubted anyone else in his former life, people he’d known for years, would have gone so far to help him..

Would Bushroot want anything in return for his help? A slice of the profit from Liquidator’s next scheme? Reimbursement for his time and services? He could ask for just about anything-

“L…Liqui…?” A tired voice asked him from the bed.

Looking down at the small scientist’s face, Liquidator saw a pair of barely open blue eyes looking in his direction. Bushroot still looked exhausted and a bit out of it, barely keeping his focus on the water-dog’s general direction for more than a second before he had to jerk his drifting eyes back in place. He’d likely need some more rest before he could be trusted on his own again.

“The one and only- sometimes imitated, but never bested!” Liquidator joked with a grin, moving one hand up to touch Bushroot’s head and check his temperature. “So, how is Saint Canard’s number one criminal-aiding scientist feeling?”

“Dizzy…tired..” He mumbled before giving Liquidator a tired smile. “And..happy…you’re here..”

“……” Liquidator was tempted to ask his questions now, but he bit his tongue and used the hand still on Bushroot’s forehead to gently touch the side of his face. “Thanks to you..” His earlier grin softened slightly as he spoke. “Now, get some more rest- doctor’s orders.”

“Not a doctor..” The still sleepy duck replied before his eyes drifted closed of their own accord and he fell back asleep.

Liquidator’s smile fell slightly once the duck’s eyes were shut once more, leaving him alone with his thoughts again. Part of him still wanted to know what Bushroot expected to get for helping him. Part of him had a feeling he already knew the answer. And a third, smaller part of him told him what he WANTED the answer to be…

He took the hand he was still holding and brought it to his lips, giving it a light kiss. “Sleep easy, Reggie- you’ve earned it..”

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: For reference, the compound that Bushroot was working with was a type of hydrochloric acid: Not only is it dangerous to get it on your skin, it's also dangerous to inhale for lengthy periods of time, hence Liquidator's panic when he realized what it was.

To treat it properly, you should ALWAYS go to a hospital. Since Liquidator's a wanted felon, however, he did everything else you're supposed to do to help people who've inhaled the fumes for too long: Remove them from the area, get them plenty of fresh air, remove any clothing that may have been exposed to the fumes as well so they don't continue to inhale them, and, ideally, repeatedly wash their face and body off to make sure there's no lingering residue for them to inhale later before having them breathe in humidified air to flush everything out of their lungs.

Now, having said this, I am NOT a doctor or a chemist, so please just contact 911 if you're ever exposed to these chemicals!

#darkwing duck #dwd #bushroot #liquidator #liquiroot #meet me halfway

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fantasyinvader · 4 years

Text

One of the things that made the original No More Heroes so great was the bosses, and how they all worked towards the end of the game. Let’s start from the beginning.

10) Death Metal. Death Metal represents what Travis thinks he will get if he continues the path. That he can go from his apartment to living in a huge mansion, Travis thinks this is paradise. But Death Metal tries to steer Travis away from this life, suggesting it’s not all glitz and glamor.

9) Dr. Peace. Dr. Peace starts the battle by talking about having diner with his estranged daughter. It doesn’t go well, and she hates him. This foreshadows Jeane and her relationship with her father.

8) Shinobu. The first female assassin Travis faces, establishing he has trouble killing women. Like Travis, her goal is to avenge her father but unlike Travis she doesn’t know who did it.

7) Destroyman. Another geek who uses his interests to fuel his own style of assassination much like Travis. Destroyman uses special effects to copy his favorite superhero, Travis uses special attacks based on his favorite anime. They both also call them out. While Destroyman is clearly unhinged from the beginning, Travis isn’t exactly above it all himself.

6) Holly Summers. A woman with emotional hurt. Travis tries to spare her as well, but his attitude about sparing her is dismissed as being disrespectful. This primes Travis into being able to kill female opponents.

5) Dr. Letz Shake. Killed by Henry out of nowhere. This foreshadows Dark Star meeting a similar fate to Travis’s other sibling, in addition to Henry saving Travis in the true ending.

4) Harvey. During the fight, Travis reveals his parents are dead and the way he does so is rather concerning. He says it so cheerfully, without hesitation. It really points to there being something wrong with him and his ability to process their demise.

3) Speed Buster. Travis loses a father figure due to the interference of his cat, Jeane. This sees Travis going down a long road in order to get revenge upon a woman. Travis is now shown able to kill women.

2) Bad Girl. Another girl with clear daddy issues. Easily the most unhinged. While Travis tries to say that being an assassin is different than being a psychopath like her, considering the amount of bodies he’s dropped and his general demeanor, they may be more alike than he wishes to admit.

1) Dark Star. Brings back the whole father angle, revealing that everything Travis has been doing has been to avenge his parents deaths at the hands of his half sister Jeane. Dark Star then dies like Travis’s real daddy to her. This wasn’t a story about Travis getting rich and laid like he thought it would be. All of the memories Travis has repressed come to the surface.

0) Henry. Travis has another surprise sibling, poking fun at how over the top this plot is.

This all encapsulates why NMH works so well. This isn’t just a bunch of random fights, it all ties to the journey of it’s protagonist.

#No More Heroes

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uman143 · 4 years

Text

No More Heroes 3 Direct Notes

Just some things I jotted down while going through the new footage. - Obviously the voiceover was done by Robin and Paula Tiso just for this direct which is cool - It looks like Travis is in a spaceship at the start, it has a triangular door so it might be the pyramid ship from the trailers. The corridor he's in reminds me of the long one you walk through to get to the first boss in NMH. Would not surprise me if this was NMH3's first level. - Sylvia is in disguise as Damon's secretary just like in the Return trailer. - There's a really brief shot of the "press A to turn the beam katana on" bit that starts levels. - We see Travis fighting some alien robot dude using, surprisingly, the Blood Berry Mk. II from the first game. - Damage numbers on enemies are one of the several things brought over from Travis Strikes Again. - In This clip we see: - Health Meter - Battery Meter - Ectasty Gauge (tiger) - Special Move Chips (under health) - Henshin/robot suit activation (L+R) - Wrestling grab activated by thumbsticks - The slot machine from killing an enemy So Travis can do everything he can do from past games PLUS the special moves and the robot suit too. He has a ton of abilties now and I hope the game balances them all.

-This level looks like a factory of some sort. - Then we see a cutscene of FU and the "Superheroes" in presumably Damon's boardroom with several board members who are wearing gas masks and look unconscious. - There's some pink thing under FU in the clip where he reflects the missiles but you can't tell what it is. - Then we have a clip of FU fighting Travis in front of the motel. Given that the motel sign says "No More Heroes III Motel", this may be at the very start of the game, like the first few seconds after the start menu. - We get a shot of Shinobu doing a jumping attack, I think she has her outfit from TSA. - The graphical style is actually more reminiscent of TSA than the past two games were. It's not the style we saw in the first two trailers (Well the one shot at the end of the second one) which looked more like an evolution of the first two games' graphics. - We get a really brief shot of what looks like some kind of ship combat stage with a different HUD. The enemy ship has a health bar that says "PHASE 1". It looks like Travis is firing a big beam from his robot suit at the ship. I wonder how many of these fights will be in the game? - Then we see Travis using a good old Death Blow on some enemies. This is done using the control sticks and not the motion controls, which I hope are still in the game beyond recharging the katana. - Then we see Travis and a very angry FU butting heads...Certain people in the fandom are going to be very creatively inspired by this shot, let's just say that. - "The Galaxy vs. The Hood". What the heck did this say in the Japanese version? - We see Travis using a special move against the boss we saw in the "leaked" footage awhile back. Looking at some of the icons I think there are returning specials from TSA. But it seems like he actually doesn't use a special, he just closes the menu and goes back to slashing. - We see FU beating up...Badman! Missed this the first several times I watched. - Then FU gets very mad. I think this is also in front of the motel. All this stuff and the Shinobu shot are probably from the intro. Basically, I think nearly everything from this trailer is from early in the game, which makes sense. - Sylvia delivers her catchphrase and Travis says "Bring it on, I'll give you a little kiss!" a line that is probably in some sort of context in the game, and will also probably creatively inspire people. - At the beginning of the port announcement we hear the phone from NMH1 ringing, which is cool. - Not much to say about the Henshin but there are a few enemies just standing around behind Travis. - I assume those dancing festival guys are just for fun and not from NMH3. - There's a pic of Sylvia on the trucks that pull up at the end. - No open world to be seen in any of this. Suda has said this game will have an open world, but he also said that about 2 and look what happened. The open world was scrapped and we got to explore it in first-person during the game's credits.

#no more heroes #no more heroes 3

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her-pale-shadow · 3 years

Note

It's almost time, the guests will be arriving soon. I know you've been looking forward to tonight for a while. I don't think I've met anyone coming over tonight? No, I didn't think so. So, um, if I may ask, if I haven't met anyone tonight, shouldn't I have something to wear? As in, any clothes at all? No, I can't have any clothes, or no I may not ask? Neither? Well, okay, if you say so mistress.

In here? If the party is going to be in the main room, what's in here? Oh? Is that our padded stool? And a camera? Is that projecting into the main room? What's going in he-oh! Am I being blindfolded for a reason? Besides the obvious, I mean? And my hands tied as well? Your secret? Well I hope it doesn't stay secret for too long.

This stool is really soft and supports my knees so well, I'm so glad you found it. I'd be able to kneel here all night if I had to. I do? I'll be here all night? But if I'm here all night with my hands tied behind me, how will I touch myself mistress? How will I last all night without even being able to touch myself? You have a surprise for me? Okay then, I trust you mistress.

Is that a car in the driveway? Sounds like guests are arriving, you should probably greet the-ah!...you're right, I deserved that. I'm sorry, mistress. I know better than to give instructions. I take instructions and do as I am told, that is my role.

Time for the party? Okay mistress, I hope you enjoy yourself seeing all your friends! I'll be fine in here, it's nice and warm and I've got your surprise to look forward to. I'll wait for you here, like a pet should. I love you mistress.

Hello? Is someone there? Mistress, is that you? Is this the surprise you said was comi-oh, oh you're not mistress but oh wow, you're already dripping wet. I guess this is the surprise. Do you want me to...oh, I don't know what to call you? How may I call you?...has mistress asked you not to speak to me?... okay, how about, one slap for "Sir", two for "Miss" or three for "Mx"? Ah! Ah! Ah!... okay, well, Mx, would you like me to service you? I ca-mmph! Mmmmmmph...hah, thank you for putting your pussy in my mouth, Mx, it was wonderf-oh! Oof, I'm going to struggle to get back up off the floor with my hands tied like this. Oh, you're spreading my legs, I hope the camera can see-ah! Aaah, ahhh...thank you, please use me Mx, use my cock however you would like, aaah, thank you for using me as your toy, for using me for what I'm here for, just a fucktoy for you to use to get yourself off, thank you for showing me my place Mx, aahh, oh fuck, oh my god, yes...thank you, Mx, thank you for using me and covering me in your cum, thank you for giving me exactly what I deserve.

Oh, Mx, before you go back to the party, would you like me to clean your cunt for you?

Hello? Another visitor? How should I address you? Please slap me once for "Sir", twice for "Miss", or the-ah! Ah!...thank you Miss, now how may I serve you toni-mmm! Mmph...ah, Miss, you're already so hard, have you been watching me on the came-ah! Mmmmph!... thank you, Miss, may I please have anot-ah! Mmph! Hmph! Hmmmph! Nnph-ah, please Miss, thank you for letting me suck your cock, but please let me catch my brea-ah! Nmh! Hnnm! Hmmmmph...hmgm-ahhhh...thank you, Miss, for letting me swallow so much of your cum for you. Thank you for using me tonight, I hope I was able to satisfy you. Would you like me to clean your cock for you? Ah! No? Okay, thank you Miss! I hope you enjoy the rest of the party!

Hello? Another visitor? I've had so many tonight, I'm starting to worry I'm going to run out of-oh, oh, Mistress! I've had so much fun tonight but I'm so very glad to see you! Have your guests enjoyed using me and watching me get fucked again and again? They have? I'm so glad, I'm so happy to have served you and your guests so well Mistress. They're leaving? It's that time already? I barely noticed...oh? One more task before they go? Of course, anything for you Mistress!

Hello, everyone! As you will know, I am your host's pet, and I hope you enjoyed your evening! I don't think I've ever met any of you, but I believe I've serviced each of you tonight, and from the looks of the video feed you've seen a lot of me tonight! Before you left, I just wanted to thank you all for coming round, for being here, and for fucking me and watching me be fucked all night. I want to thank each of you for using me as your fucktoy and treating me like the little whore I am, and I hope you were all satisfied by what a dirty, pathetic little slut I was for all of you. Have a safe journey home, and I hope that I can service you all again very soon!

This is great omg. You did a whole smut fic in my inbox, thank you <3

#The idea of a video feed of free use to the main party is. So good wow #asks #long post

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jamiefairfaxisntcool · 5 years

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/mu/core album review | Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

/mu/core album review #1

this week on /mu/core album review, we look at:

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Ah yes, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The album that’s mostly known as either, “that one weird album from the 90s,” or, “/mu/ basic bitch meme music.” If you’re anywhere past a casual music fan, you have most-likely heard some songs off this project, if not the whole thing, doubly so if you’re into 90s culture, Indie, or any sort of Art-Rock or Folk movements. As I type this, the most popular YouTube rip of the album has about 4.3 million views, a playlist separating each track stands at 500,000 views, and the title track has a remarkable 40,733,956 plays on Spotify. Holy shit, to put that into perspective: AV Club writes that, “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was originally slated to sell about 7,000 copies,” that’s roughly 5,819 times the predicted sales numbers of the album on just that song. This also means that this song has been listened to for approximately 131,163,338 minutes, a total of around 131,163,299 more minutes than the actual album length. Humanity has spent a collective 249 years listening to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Oh, and that’s just the title track.

If I couldn’t spell it out so clearly there, this album is fucking outrageously popular.

Even if you haven’t heard any material off the LP, this album is memed pretty heavily in the music corners of the internet. I don’t think I can find a single music meme page or forum that hasn’t jumped upon the ITAOTS or NMH bandwagon.

At this current point in time, ITAOTS has became a permanent resident in the zeitgeist of internet music culture. NMH, and by extension, it’s creator, Jeff Mangum have been elevated to a cult of personality status. The band and this project are accompanied by a never-ending choir: 15-25 year old sad white boys who cry while sing-screeching about semen and Anne Frank and poorly play open chords on their detuned Ibanez acoustics.

It’s oddly beautiful.

The album is so deceptively simple, so creatively cryptic and has all the elements of a slog faux-folk fest filled with whining that would bore me to so many tears that they could rival the sad boy indie kids who lose their e-girls to their more socially active explore-page bait counterparts. To a person not familiar with it, ITAOTS could look like an over hyped, masturbatory depression tape. It looks boring. It looks like it should be boring.

If it should be boring, then why have I only listened to it and absolutely nothing else for the last two days?

This isn’t a joke, I revisited the album of course to refresh myself before sitting down and writing this review. I kept listening, over the course of a school day, in-between production and songwriting sets, while playing games, and as I write this, I just finished my eighth spin of the record. Before those last two days, I had only listened to the album probably twice.

I remember listening to it back in seventh grade and not particularly disliking it. I was really into Yes and a lot of other Prog and Psych bands, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the almost yuppie voice that Jeff had used on the record compared to vocal beasts like Freddie Mercury, Bowie, and Jon Anderson. Later on, I listened in freshman year, and I appreciated it much more, and had a few songs come up in my shuffle play, but thought nothing much of it.

Now, war had changed.

part 1: i’m the fucking carrot king

As I plopped down in my computer chair, my window crackled and banged like a distant firecracker with the smack of heavy rains on a Summer afternoon. I placed my headphones firmly atop my ears, closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. I heard the opening chords of The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1 and tried not just to hear the instrumentation, but also pay attention to the lyrical content of Mr. Mangum.

When you were young, you were the king of carrot flowers And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

Okay, so what the fuck is actually happening here?

Upon my listens, I inferred that Jeff is speaking to another party here, most likely a female love interest, in what seemingly starts in a nostalgic tone. This sounds almost like a picturesque, coming-of-age, Americana film. Maybe one starring Molly Ringwald and River Phoenix, with a surprise cameo from someone famous back then like Jack Nicholson. Maybe John Candy, with a John Hughes script. Everything would have those faded out, classic colors, a hearkened back era. Quickly, by halfway through the first act, the tone shifts. A darker mood, a stark, grim reminder that life wasn’t always sunny and shinning in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

The Mang informs us of a horrific family life, specifically about what seems to be his dad’s, stepmom’s, and stepsister’s interpersonal relationships. The lines are obvious and straightforward, the life of our protagonist was rife with unhealthy familial and sexual relationships, and a sense of love and sweetness was not found there. Keep that in mind when thinking about later songs such as Oh Comely.

After the somber intro of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, we reach my personal least favorite track on the album: The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3.

Look, I know the meme. “I LOOOOOOOOOVE JESUUUS CHUHRIEEEIISSSSTT,” and all that shit. I’m not even worked up about that line in particular, I just dislike Pt. 3. It’s the weakest of the upbeat songs on the album, with the weird yodel-screech voice that Gumman performs with really takes me out of the experience, which sucks because the buildup and atmosphere of Pt. 2 felt pretty amazing. Luckily, Pt. 3 is fairly short, so we don’t have to worry about it too much.

part 2: earth angel’s thesis

The title track for this album is one of the best songs on this album, no fucking contest. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Oh Comely, The Fool, and Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2 are top contenders when discussing this album. If you like the faster, fuzzier, upbeat songs you could probably substitute The Fool for Holland, 1945.

The title track has a familiar sounding chord progression and we can hear Gum from Jet Set Radio’s saccharine but yelp-y voice belt out from atop the mountains his undying love and admiration for... Anne Frank?

What a beautiful face I have found in this place That is circling all round the sun What a beautiful dream That could flash on the screen In a blink of an eye and be gone from me

In the first verse, Geoff mentions meeting or viewing a beautiful person on this fleeting rock circling round the Sun. He also matches this with the idea that it’s truly futile for him to chase after this beauty, as it is only a dream that could escape him when he awakes. El Jefé has actually mentioned that some of his surrealist lyrics are derived from dreams. Perhaps these lines could imply a more literal dream fading? I don’t exactly know, all I know is what I interpreted.

The instrumentation of this piece is nothing straying from NMH’s usual repertoire: Mandrake on Guitar and Vocals, Scott Spillane on the Horns, Robert Schneider on Bass and Production, Julian Koster playing... something. What is he playing? Wait, give me a second.

He’s playing the Singing Saw? I thought it was like, a Theremin. What the fuck is a Singing Saw?

Oh.

Okay sure, you can play that, however the fuck you do that.

And finally we have Jeremy Barnes on Drums.

The personnel handle the music with a light, bouncy feeling, and the tone and timbre remind me of a faded, old, seaside town on the east coast. Another thing to mention is that the chord progression is G-Em-C-D; I-vi-IV-V. A funny thing I noticed is that this song shares a chord progression with tons of songs from the 50’s and early 60’s, which adds to the waning Americana feeling, but it more specifically shares that progression with Earth Angel by The Penguins. In the 80’s film, Back To The Future, Marvin Berry covers the song with his band for the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance where Marty’s dad and mom have to dance to ensure that the future stays intact. There’s no further real connection, but I thought that was kinda cool to mention.

After looking through the lyrics for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, I will admit, as a brainlet Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1 eluded me. Patrolling through Genius and some other reviews, I guess the consensus about this track was that it was about Anne Frank again? Manta Jeff’s cryptic lyricism continues to fool me. Besides the lyrics, this track mostly remains a piece of really good filler.

part 3: stop the military occupation of my brainwaves

The Fool is amazing, anyone who says it’s filler is wrong. I know I might anger some people by literally implying that Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1 was filler, but seriously The Fool just makes me a feel a way. My brain creates a scene reminiscent of a depressing diesel-punk Les Misérables. Even though Scotch Spillage’s fantastic piece for horns is beautifully imperfect, it lacks lyrical content and is short and length. So, let’s instead talk about Holland, 1945.

This awesome, uptempo, almost punk-like piece of fuzzy brass is groovy son. It’s probably the song you could show someone not familiar with this project and they’d be like, “Oh, is this Cake? Why is the lead singer singing so high now?”

Holland, 1945 is a song that you can just listen for the instrumentation. Holland, 1945 is a song that promotes peace and love. There’s so many great things I can say about Holland, 1945. How it’s theme is so perfectly fitting for today’s political climate, how it manages to blend these psychedelic and bluesy timbres with a fast and loud sound and how well it continued the semi-conceptual narrative of Joff’s admiration and love for... Anne Frank.

Okay, fuck it, I have to say it. It’s bothered me ever since I discovered it.

Why Anne Frank? Like, I know why Anne Frank, but I mean like, why, y’know? I’ll say I admire Anne Frank, she was trying her best to live a normal life in a terrifying time to be alive, but I never wanted to fuck her. xxJeffxx’s mentions of Anne kind of make me raise an eyebrow. Especially because the album’s not just about her either. When he gets sexual, it’s difficult to determine whether he is mentioning a third party or Anne, which would be pretty weird, as she was 15 when she died and Heff was 28 when he wrote this. Maybe this is just some patrician music shit that I’m too plebeian to understand, like heated toilet seats or drinking for fun rather than to drown the pain. Maybe I haven’t sat down and watched enough flowery-squarespace-sponsored-lofi-hip-hop-muzak-using-pretentious video essayists to understand it, but what do I know.

part 4: the proletariat cries

To wrap on the second half of the album, this is the half that I cried in.

Communist Daughter is a good song, but with how short it is, it left me wanting more. This track is one of the few that actually features a soft-spoken Jeffen, and its open and dark but dreamy atmosphere left my jaw agape. The mountaintops weren’t the only thing stained.

Oh Comely, Oh Comely. Oh Comely is a song that deserves its own review. The lyrical chops of The Mangum Magnum are on full display as he belts somber, brutal verse after verse, with plenty of juxtaposition between sickening, sexual and vile situations alongside a description of a sweet, innocent young girl, just trying to survive with a guitar by her side. This beautiful, lovely girl gets taken advantage by someone, some people, perhaps even Yeff himself, only seen as an easy lay, a whore, like the ones her father visits often. He disgustingly describes semen in the garden, and her making miracles with her mouth, but I didn’t get a tone similar to so many songs about “sexual-empowerment.” The song is about self-deprecating depression leading to her being used, perhaps even abused. A situation all too real, too close to many of us. As I type this, I don’t know what to think. A woman should of course have individual sexual freedom, but this song doesn’t describe that. It describes trauma, emotional, psychological trauma. Meaningless sex, a rotten smell, staining the flower of a woman, all of this language that could be simply described as gross. This isn’t a happy song about fucking bitches. This song is about how a girl wanted to play music, pluck vines and was taken advantage of, reduced to her roots, and deflowered. Fuck. I wish I could save her. In some sort of time machine.

Two-Headed Boy could refer to a number of things. I have a head canon. This girl, Comely, is being used by the Two-Headed Boy for sexual favors. The Two-Headed Boy then “repays” her in friendship and music, playing their silly little songs. On the surface, Comely assumes the Two-Headed Boy trusts her and cares for her, but really all he wants is sex. Comely, living in a broken home and without a proper male figure in their life, is conned by the Two-Headed Boy, and just wants to live a normal life. Comely is trapped. She’s living in a place that is surrounded by the texture of scum and she knows it, she just can’t call upon the strength to leave. She’s trapped in a home, a ghetto, wanting to live a normal life, but she’s been placed here by the Two-Headed Boy, who knew her mother and father were broken, and she would be too. The Two-Headed Boy broke in, claimed to be her friend, and supports her, before defiling her. Comely was pretty, bright, and intelligent. She was just in a bad situation.

Comely was Anne Frank.

Not to say that they were literally one in the same, but I mean J. Mangum (private eye) is comparing two children, ripped from their lives by this awful world, and intertwining them, blurring the lines.

Who’s the Two-Headed Boy? As I said, it could be a number of people. Nazis, Peter van Pels, hell, even Jeff Manga himself could be the Two-Headed Boy. It doesn’t matter as long as we realize the relationship between oppressed and oppressor.

There is a glimmer of hope for Comely though. Read the closing words from Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2:

Two headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leave

Comely and the Two-Headed Boy split away from each other. Comely leaves the Two-Headed Boy, and the narrator says not to hate her when she leaves. On a deeper level, this could be an introspective Jeff Mangum relating on his past. I don’t really know.

outro

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

9/10

What did you think? Was I way off the mark, or do you agree? What should I have covered? What did you like, what did you dislike, I’m all ears. Leave a follow and a like if you liked it and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

#neutral milk hotel #music #music review #james fairfax #mu #/mu/core #folk #fuzzfolk #rock #anne frank

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nickmaghighlights · 1 year

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NMH Side Issues - Cartoon Network Magazine

Time for a change of pace, don’t you agree? Let’s take a short break from the world of Nickelodeon to tackle the magazine offered by their long-time competitor, Cartoon Network!

First off, I’d like to apologize for the slight delay in posting. I’m sure you know how life is. Besides, don’t think of it as me missing a week, think of it as two Nick Mag Highlights posts in one week! Be sure to check back this weekend to see if I follow through on that. Anyway, back to the topic at hand…

Now, don’t worry, I’m not changing channels on you. This bonus segment was one I had thought up as a fun way to break up the pace a bit. Nickelodeon Magazine will always be my one true calling of course, but I think it’s only fair to check out the other publications you could’ve been spending your hard-earned allowance on.

But just what is Cartoon Network Magazine? Who made it? And how? All are deceptively simple questions, and I’m not the most certain on how to answer them myself! But here’s my best guess.

Think they had a favorite show?

From my research, Cartoon Network Magazine was published by Panini Comics, a former branch of Marvel Comics that’s now perfectly happy to work with anyone carrying the right license. Panini publishes content throughout Europe, and this ‘zine here is no exception. Indeed, eagle-eyed viewers might have already realized… This magazine is from the UK! Suppose that explains why my bright blue American eyes have never laid upon an issue of this in-person.

Cartoon Network Magazine seems to have had a pretty long lifespan, with the latest release I can find evidence for being dated to 2016! And that’s just from Panini, mind you. There’s been a few other publications bearing the Cartoon Network Magazine name, from all different countries and walks of life, but if you ask me they’re all fakers compared to what Panini’s got for us here. Why? … Well, it’s the only Cartoon Network magazine I can find on archive.org that’s not just a compilation of comics. Substance counts!

But what is all this work and no play we’ve got going on here? We’ve got a magazine to read! You can read along here.

A fairly promising start, if I do say so myself. I mean, did Nickelodeon Magazine ever have a pullout poster? Probably, but I bet it wasn’t an Ed, Edd, n Eddy poster!

Quite a lot to unpack here in the News section. Doesn’t help that it looks like Eddy rudely barged in and the magazine’s trying to squeeze in around him.

Now, I presume the idea for this page was to probably parody your average celebrity news magazine with some vapid, inconsequential gossip about the CN cast, but coming off of Nick Magazine, it’s weird to see a News section where the only tangible information is related to some long-defunct giveaways.

Speaking of which, you will quickly notice the high volume of (rather easy) trivia questions as we read on, all of which were opportunities to win some of the goodies stacked next to each question. See if you can play along, no cheating!

Also, sorry for the hold ups but I’m giving this part some special attention. This comic has simply got it all wrong. Why is Double D the one who stupidly ignored the big shark warning sign? Why is Ed written so observant and astute to the point that he’s the one delivering us the punchline? Why is he calling Double D “Edd”? Why is Eddy oinking? And why is that shark so scary!?

Coming up on our first comic, and it’s something much more on-brand than that previous shark adventure. In fact if you had told me that this comic was just an adaptation of a real episode of the show, I’d believe you! Everything from the comedy to the art is ridiculously on point and that should come as no surprise, since a quick search online reveals that much of the crew behind this comic all worked on Ed Eddy n Eddy themselves. That’s one way to keep your comic on-model.

Anyway, the plot follows the Eds playing superheroes while the usual hijinks and bickering ensue, sporting that typical Ed charm. If that sounds up your alley, give it a look! That goes for all three of the comics featured in this book (well, for the most part anyway). I haven’t got much to say about them myself, they’re just good.

Very fun section here, featuring some words of wisdom from the best Powerpuff Girls character: Mojo Jojo. Probably the best anyway, I’m not an expert. That show wasn’t really a favorite of mine. I like his signature also, the handprint is a good touch.

Jesus Christ, this game must be terrifying! What on Earth do tentacles and mustached baby heads have to do with Mario Tennis? I’m afraid to find out.

I find it interesting that even UK ads seem to make fun of haughty english-types. I guess in hindsight that’s actually a pretty obvious way to be counterculture for a UK audience.

I hate stuff like this. “Oh yeah draw a circle and a semi circle and then draw dexter”. What the hell! What’s the semi circle even for? You barely used it! Don’t really get the weird clenched fist pose either, I don’t remember Dexter being the fist pumping type.

First time I've heard of this movie. But just how could I have missed it? Seems like they were giving DVDs away by the truckload! Maybe I’ve never heard of it because that goblin is a little creepy bastard. Who knows.

These ads man. I think I might love ‘em. They’re avant garde in the best way. Nothing here tops the “mustached baby head referee” from the Mario Tennis ad, but it’s sure trying.

I’m curious though if the game would even recognize the phrase “Go left strange brown beasties”. That microphone wasn’t exactly Siri-quality.

I love a good review! And these are… well… I mean, they’re reviews of Warner Bros products and items they were giving away. These good reviews weren’t even “bought”, they were just guaranteed.

Even still, c’mon Dexter, only a “Sooper” rating for The Iron Giant!? Really putting your self-appointed title of “boy genius” into question.

Shucks fellas, we’re late. Eighteen years late! Now we’ll never have a chance at those prizes, or the complementary Cartoon Network mailing service, for that matter! Oh well, I’m not too bummed. I can’t help but feel the chances were slim anyway, what with the barrier-to-entry being questions like “What’s the name of Batman’s butler” or “What color is Mario’s hat”.

We've made our way to comic #2 now, and it’s of the Powerpuff Girls! Again, like the previous one everything seems to be on-point, from the artstyle to the writing. This one’s doubly impressive since it seems like the staff behind this one didn’t work on the original show. So hey, kudos!

But yeah it’s your usual Powerpuff fare, stopping a robot or two from Mojo Jojo. Give it a read if you’re starved for Powerpuff Girls content I suppose, I mean the show’s only been rebooted like three or four times already.

Ah, here’s that poster! Not bad, eh? I’m sure this would look good on a wall, or any other number of flat surfaces, for that matter. Shame about the horrible staples of death waiting to rip a gash in your poster when you try to tear it out, though. Oh god, I knew this would happen… I’m already starting to get some horrible magazine-poster-related flashbacks.

Can’t believe Eddy was busting his chops all this time coming up with scams when he could’ve just charged people to use his magic floating swing set. Look at how much fun he’s having, he’d make a killing!

Nothing like a little smattering of brain teasers to get the brain back in gear after 31 consecutive pages of comics, giveaways, and other mind-altering guff. Now, these are all perfectly fine, if not a little simple, but I'd like to talk about the top right one in particular…

Am I missing something here? Both B and D look the same as the original! I thought maybe the scan quality might be obscuring a hidden detail, but I’ve messed with the colors and saturation, checking every possible angle, and I still can’t find what’s wrong!

The answer key says the right one is B, so if anyone knows what’s wrong with the illustration in D, please feel free to share. Maybe then I'll finally be able to get some sleep.

This honestly was the kind of stuff I expected out of a Cartoon Network magazine, more supplementary material and bonus content based on the currently airing shows and less piss-easy giveaways. Well, I’ll take what I can get. Kids Next Door is one of the Cartoon Network shows I look back on pretty fondly, so this was a fun trip down memory lane.

(Okay, quick little side note here, cause something just occurred to me as I was writing this segment, and how often am I going to get to talk about KND on a Nickelodeon Magazine blog?)

Has anyone else noticed that all the main characters are designed to have their eyes obscured? I know in the show itself they’d often have their eyes open or pop out from behind their eyewear, but by default they all have their pupils hidden. I don’t have a point to make here, but that’s a weird little design detail, yeah?

Last comic of the book, and surprise surprise, it’s Dexter’s Lab! Not as sure how to feel about this one after reading the other two. For one, I just wasn’t the biggest Dexter’s Lab fan as a kid, and two, the art in this is weirdly off-model. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong about that, of course (I loved a lot of the show-based Nick Mag comics that played with bending the established artstyle around*), it’s just that after the previous two comics were a near perfect screen-to-paper transition of their original shows, this one feels like it’s breaking a precedent a bit.

*Scan from @90s-2000sgirl on Tumblr (deactivated)

Like, you see what I mean right? Not bad, it just throws me off a little.

But hey, you want to talk about off-model art…

No no, I’m not actually going to nitpick childrens’ fanart, that’s crossing a line. Especially since these are pretty good! It must have been amazing for these kids to see their drawings end up in this section. I hope they all enjoyed their awarded copies of Kangaroo Jack 2, if that insert up in the top left is to be believed.

Wow, Mac, you’ve got an interesting list of favorites. And a biased one at that, nice work putting your own show on there!

Also, cutting out the TV guide seems like a bit of an unnecessary hassle to me. Not to mention you’re less likely to lose a whole magazine than you are a single piece of messily cut paper, if you really are planning on using it.

¡Mucha Lucha! was a bit of an odd, short-lived pleasure of mine back in the day. I think it stemmed from my liking of how each character had their own personal special move they would use in-battle. Kids today have it easy, it seems like nowadays every character can have as many special moves as they want!

Also, show of hands, who here has heard of Atomic Betty? I seriously have never heard of it until this very moment. A Google search reveals that, apparently, it aired on Cartoon Network for less than a year? Shocking if true, but I guess that would explain my total non-memory of it.

Games? Inside the TV? Not a console in sight? If you had told me back in 2005 I’d have found it preposterous, but I think Apple TV or whatever made them commonplace now. Thanks, I guess.

These things have to be lost media, right? How do you even go about archiving something like this? It doesn’t sound like you could’ve downloaded them, since they would change every week.

I bet some poor fella is out there right now, trying to remember that odd little Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends game he played on his parents’ TV as a kid, one fleeting Summer afternoon. Sadly even if he does remember he’s probably not going to be able to track down a copy, since… there are presumably no copies!

And there you have it, folks! The first ever edition of NMH Side Issues! This was a fun little experiment, and I think I’d be up for doing it again sometime. But as always, I think more Nick Magazine is in order. I mean, it’s in the name after all!

Still, it was fun to see an example of what else you could find hanging on the magazine rack. Well, at least in the UK, anyway. Picture it: Mom’s picked out the perfect beans on toast and has nearly made it to the check-out line. You’ve got five seconds to choose what you’re reading on the car ride home! What's it gonna be kid?

I bet you could guess my choice!

(Yeah, right!)

Hate to end the blog on a sour, serious note, but the Internet Archive recently lost a court case against some large publishers regarding the scanning and lending of e-books. They’re looking to appeal, but it’s a gloomy situation. The Internet Archive has always been a real force for good on the internet, and it makes things like Nick Mag Highlights possible in the first place, not to mention countless other archival projects spanning from out-of-print books to now-inaccessible web pages. Showing your support online for the site, or even sending a small donation would do a lot in helping to keep a great service available to all.

Thanks as always for your time, and remember: keep reading!

#nmh side issue #2000s #2005 #cartoon network #magazine

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hometownrockstar · 4 years

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Ooh I'd love 2 hear abt ur music....👁️👁️

hehe thank u for enabling me ily 😊💕 i dont know if my music counts as a special interest but boy do i love talking about it! i probably only like talking abt it bc nobody else does lol, just once i’d like to hear somebody that isnt me talk abt the early years and unreleased om and nmh tracks -w-... hmm im not sure what else to say here, since i already posted my favorite musicians earlier... i’ll just post my tullycraft album rankings then since thats what this all started with lol

1. City of Subarus [fav track: 8 Great Ways]2. Disenchanted Hearts Unite [fav track: Molly's Got A Crush On Us] (it was VERY HARD to choose a fav tbh)3. The Railway Prince Hotel [fav track: Vacaville] 4. Beat Surf Fun [fav track: Wild Bikini] (also very hard to choose for this one)5. Lost in Light Rotation [fav track: No Tic, All Tac]6. Old Traditions, New Standards [fav track: Josie]7. Every Scene Needs a Center [fav track: Georgette Plays a Goth]

i like all of them pretty much equally so i ranked them based on which had the most songs i liked to sing along to :3 i was pretty surprised to find railway and beat surf so low, since i thought they would be at the top... same for every scene that was my 3rd tullycraft album!

#💌

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raeofalbion · 5 years

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tagged by @marcceh - I’m sorry this is so long, I’m incapable of talking about writing in a small amount of words.

Author Name: deathofaraven on fanfiction-specific sites; I’ve been considering changing it but it’s been my username since 2009, so there’s no point. I think it’s some version of I.Ravencrow on other writing sites.

Fandoms You Write For: Fable and BBC Sherlock currently; Tom Becker’s Darkside occasionally; DMC, Batman, Death Note, Kuroshitsuji, Harry Potter, shit I’ve written for a lot of fandoms and can’t remember them all because I deleted the fics from my profiles, and most of LJ Smith’s work previously.

Where You Post: mainly on Ao3 now, but I occasionally post on FFN and on Tablo

Most Popular One-Shot: Hiraeth, which is apparently my third most read and second most kudosed fic on Ao3?? Idk how that worked out, but I’m so glad readers have enjoyed it.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: A Marriage of Inconvenience, to absolutely no one’s surprise--it’s the first in a series, it’s a really old fic (originally written in 2012), it’s the fic I moved to Ao3 for (specifically because I’d rewritten it in 2015/2016), the reason I got a tumblr account. It was kinda...the start of a lot of things, so it’s sorta fitting it’s the most popular I’ve written. I’d like to...eventually fix more things about it (or do a version that I feel is more complete), but I’m proud of it. It’s my baby. I’m glad it’s still going strong.

Favorite Story You Wrote: Nope, no, not picking sides. They’re all good children; I’m proud of everything I currently have up and I enjoy rereading 99% of them.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Oh, hmm...I’m generally nervous 95% of the time when it comes to posting, but I think I was most nervous about No More Heroes and Ghosts. NMH is almost entirely headcanon-based but set in canon, which is something I usually avoid doing; usually I save hc-heavy fics for AUs, but the hcs suited the prompt so well that I couldn’t really help it. As for Ghosts, it was the first time I’d really made an effort to break into a new fandom in...years and there was a lot of really sucky stuff happening at home at the time so it just felt like a huge gamble for me--I went from writing characters I know so well to characters I didn’t really...know (still don’t feel like I entirely know, though I’m enjoying getting to know them) and, on top of that, was dealing with some...I guess some fear there’d be backlash for abruptly jumping into the fandom despite how much shit this fandom gets sometimes. Luckily both NMH and Ghosts seem to have been received pretty well--there’s things that I’d change about both, but I’m really proud of them and they no longer make me nervous.

How Do You Choose Your Titles: I scream into the abyss until it sees fit to grant me inspiration for a suitably pretentious title. Or I go with something that sums up the theme or directly relates to the prompt. Song lyrics as a last resort. MoI’s name came from an in-game quest title, though, so...like...anything that fits?

Do You Outline: Sorta? If it’s a one shot I like to go in totally blind except for whatever vague idea I want to write. If it’s long, I like to have a very vague outline. Usually a summary or a slightly more detailed idea plus where I’d like the characters to be emotionally or what I’d like to happen at certain plot points. The plot points are usually the focus so I like to at least have a map of where they start and where they end and whatever happens to the characters in between those points just happens. I mostly ignore the outline.

How many of your [BBC Sherlock] stories are…

Complete: 6; 4 on Ao3 right now, 1 on tumblr that’s too short to transfer, 1 that’s not going to be posted.

In-Progress: Y’all wanna see something stupid? It’s me. 28. (And that’s ignoring the contents of my prompt list that haven’t technically been started.)

Coming Soon: Possibly another half dozen? Can’t be certain. I always seem to finish Sherlock stories very randomly and very abruptly, so it’s a mystery to everyone involved. I blame my Sherlock muse; he takes great pride in being an absolute bellend during writing. And during not-writing.

Do You Accept Prompts: I shouldn’t, but I abso-fucking-lutely do. Send ‘em. No guarantee I’ll get to them any time soon, but send ‘em anyway if you’d like me to do them. (I’d prefer prompts/requests be sent off anon so I can talk with the prompter if any issues come up or if I need extra inspo, but I’ll still make an effort even if anon is on...you’re just leaving a lot more of the story in my hands and up to my random interpretation.)

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Hmm...they’re all exciting in their own way? A lot of the AUs I’m excited to write because I’m curious what people will think. I’m also really excited for Three to just be over because I’m kinda tired of working out the logistics of it and tired of rewriting it. (And I’ve also never posted a fic like this before. So.)

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions As Well*:

@jamlocked @grayrosegarden @weweremadeforeachothersherlock @sincerelyjimlock @johnlockedinwarstan No obligations for any of you, if you don't wanna do it! ^^

* I know it says 5 and specifies Sherlock as the fandom, but if anyone who follows me wants to do this and just...changes the fandom to your main fandom, I’m totally up for that and you should 100% tag me so I can go snoop at what you’re writing. ^^

#thanks for the tag!#very long post #I used to write for so many fandoms; what happened to me?#and I still can't decide if I should stay on FFN or not...it's been so dead for so long #28 fics is too many to have in progress but someone ask me how many Fable fics I have in progress so I have an excuse to compare the numbers #I really need to do a fic masterpost one day #and see how many words I've written in total...maybe once my prompt list starts to go down #marcceh

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