#Unfortunately I do not remember at all which episodes the cassettes had

[tmntkiseki]

Reasons why later iterations worked to make the turtle designs more distinct from one another.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt 1987 #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt april #video #I watched the first episode of the 1987 show on YT for the hell of it and #The entire thing feels like one big fever dream SDKFJSKG #I DO actually remember watching a few episodes of 1987 when I was a kid #I was a wee elementary student back when they were still in the middle of transitioning from video cassettes to DVDs #And there was this small video rental store we'd go to whenever we wanted to pick out movies or TV shows to watch on our VCR #I'm pretty sure I ended up picking out a couple of cassettes of TMNT 1987 one time #Alongside The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog #Unfortunately I do not remember at all which episodes the cassettes had #I only remember really liking the theme song and Mikey's little dance in the opening XD

[rebelsandrogues]

On Mourning and Radical Music

I was doing my usual morning routine of drinking iced coffee, smoking a cigarette, and checking Twitter on Wednesday when I received a real gut-punch: Shuhada' Sadaqat (better known by her stage name of Sinéad O’Connor) was dead at 56. A beautiful soul, long-time outspoken artist and activist, and an Irish treasure. It hit harder than I’d even realized it would.

Now, to be fair, I do not have an easy time dealing with death, of anything. I sometimes get choked up seeing a cat or dog on the side of the road that has, unfortunately, been hit by a vehicle. 

A good number of my personal heroes have, sadly, passed in the last 20+ years of adulthood. The first I was really affected by was Johnny Cash in 2003, but I immediately wondered why this one felt so personal. For the majority of that day I sat alone, revisiting her catalog and thinking about the reasons why. Then it dawned on me: she was one of the first musicians that truly made an impact on me from the very moment of exposure. 

I must’ve been 8 or 9, in the early 90s, long before the very small town of my upbringing got MTV or Much Music. Our local TV station aired popular new wave, alt-rock, etc videos from the 80s and very early 90s. I’d stay up on Fridays, at my maternal grandparents’ house, being exposed to the likes of Devo, the Lightning Seeds, the Pet Shop Boys, and Sinéad. 

I don’t exactly remember which video it was that I saw first, perhaps “Mandinka” or, most likely, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, but I distinctly remember being enthralled by something that was completely out of the ordinary and emotive, an experience I wouldn’t begin to even understand until I was much older. I was experiencing a *very* radical artist for the first time. 

Now, I’m very fortunate that, for the majority of my nearly 40 years on this spinning rock, I’ve constantly been surrounded by good music. My parents are two sides of the same coin. My dad was a 70s rocker. He loves Skynyrd, Zeppelin, Bob Seger (who he’s always reminded me of), the Who, etc. Hell, he followed ZZ Top around for a while in his late teens. My mom, she was more into singer-songwriters like Neil Young, Dan Fogelberg, and, her absolute teenage favorite, John Denver (whom she invited to her high school graduation, but that’s a story for another time). 

Needless to say, I had very early exposure to fantastic bands and musicians. 

Now, an older cousin and her then-boyfriend enter the conversation. They loved R.E.M. (who had filmed a video in my hometown, and had album art created by a local folk artist), 10,000 Maniacs, L7, and loads of 80s “College Rock”. Her boyfriend first played me the Ramones, Minor Threat, and Black Flag around age 10. None of which I really unpacked the impact of until I was in my late mid-late teens. Thinking back on it, this early exposure set me on a course of fierce independence and learning all I could about both the musicians I loved, but also the underpinnings of what made their art special.

I remember the infamous SNL episode where O’Connor ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II. I was nearly 10 at the time, but didn’t understand what it meant until a couple of decades later. Yet, that influence percolated, subconsciously, for so long. 

Shortly after, I was exposed to the Cranberries, led by Dolores O’Riordan (another Irish treasure). I bought the cassette singles of “Linger” and “Dreams”. Then, “No Need to Argue” followed. I was immediately taken aback by it. “Zombie” is, of course, the best known song, but “Dreaming My Dreams”, “I Can’t Be With You”, “Ridiculous Thoughts”.  Honestly, every track resonated with 11 year old me. I spent much of 4th grade drawing what I saw in my head as scenes from the song “Zombie”. These days I would probably have faced VERY bad consequences for that, but this was 1994. When I got my first guitar at age 12, that was the first song I learned. 

In 5th grade a friend loaned me a cassette copy of the Crow soundtrack. Amidst making mix tapes of alt-rock songs off the radio, this was a turning point. Stone Temple Pilots’ “Big Empty” all but knocked me over the first time I heard it. And, as one does, I rewound and played it over and over and over. 

I distinctly remember sitting outside, waiting for my grandmother to pick me up from school, with my Walkman and headphones on. I listened to that tape and my mixes (which included Gin Blossoms, R.E.M., Hootie and the Blowfish, along with many others), thinking “I’m so much cooler than all of you”. 

This music was an escape. It was something that gave me life. It was something that made me feel different from everyone else stuck listening to the pop music of the era. It was special, it was my secret.

Middle school brought more discovery of punk rock (Green Day’s “Dookie”, Rancid’s “…And Out Come the Wolves”, and other typical mid-90s shit) along with ska. I was “technically” only allowed to listen to Christian music (goth bless my grandma, who didn’t give a shit one way or another, I was the favorite grandchild). This, in turn,  led me to discovering Five Iron Frenzy. 

They were a loosely “Christian” band that wrote songs about the removal of indigenous peoples because of manifest destiny, songs critiquing capitalism, songs about accepting people for who they were (there’s a song on a late 90s EP about the singer finding out Freddie Mercury was gay and working through it). I credit them, in retrospect, for a lot of my political and religious evolution (the band was full of communists, anarchists, and atheists). 

At this point in time, the underground music scenes were pretty mixed. Very vocal bands that held varying beliefs, all played together, supported each other, exposed small-town kids, like myself, to many points of view. I read liner notes like novels, taking in every word, researching (as best I could, this was before we had the internet at home) and trying to find the bands mentioned in the “thank you” section. I was seeking out more of this feeling that had captivated me at such an early age.

I’d spend the next, nearly, 20 years playing in bands, always chasing the same feeling that felt as special as those early days of my musical journey.

I am a consummate student of music, it was (and still is) my first, and biggest love. As time has rolled on, I’ve discovered so many artists that have made me feel like I’m engaged in a secret many do not know. 

In reality, that’s not at all the case. Many of these bands and musicians are widely revered, but none-the-less radical in context. From the blues of Sonhouse, to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to Little Richard, to Link Wray, to the New York Dolls and the proto-punk of the 70s, to more modern bands like Pissed Jeans or Uniform or Soul Glo, it’s still my main love and fully has my heart. 

All of this to say, I’m so happy that Ms. O’Connor, in some way, played a part in this. That, at almost 40 years of age, these artists still keep me on my toes. They continue to bring me joy and comfort. I’m eternally grateful that the ones named (and the thousands I didn’t name) existed/continue to exist, in some way. I hope they continue to inspire and change the lives of other kids like me that find out about them and feel like they hold the secret to life. 

Rest in power to her and the other real heroes we’ve lost. Their impact will continue to be felt because of the art they created, and those who continue to be inspired by it.

#sinead o'connor #punk rock #inspiration #activism #music #essay

[greensparty]

Remembering The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 1983-2022

Bummer news yesterday that Boston ska punkers The Mighty Mighty Bosstones announced their break up. 

The band began in 1983 and have been a staple in the Boston music scene for decades now. Earlier this week news came out that singer Dickie Barrett apparently produced a song that was played at the anti-vaxxer rally last weekend in D.C. Whether it was MMB’s Dickie Barrett or someone with that name is unclear and whether that is the reason for the break up is also unclear. What is crystal clear is that the band has had quite a good run! 

MMB circa 1997

They came out of the 1980s Boston hardcore scene with a sound that combined punk, hardcore, reggae, and ska, but was radio-friendly and catchy enough to get on alt rock radio in the 90s. I first became aware of them with their Converse All-Star TV ad they appeared in circa 1991. In high school I got to know some of their stuff and a good friend who was a big fan made me a cassette mix tape.  I saw them at Lollapalooza 1995 (the same Summer they appeared in the movie Clueless), where they opened the show. Crazy to see these guys in suits dancing on stage in 90 degree weather. In 1996, I saw them do an epic show at NYC’s Roseland. In 1997, I saw them headline the WBCN River Rave, where they were joined on stage by Mission of Burma and Moby to perform “That’s When I Reach for my Revolver”. On a side note, both MMB and Mission of Burma opened for Foo Fighters at Fenway Park in 2015!  It was around 1996-97, when ska music broke through thanks to bands like No Doubt, Goldfinger and Sublime. MMB were in the right place at the right time. In 2013, I saw them do a free show in Boston Common at the Outside the Box Festival.

MMB mascot

In 2017, I wrote a piece about their anti-racist song “Let’s Face It”, which was having a resurgence in response to the white supremacist events in VA. I heard through the grapevine that the band read my piece and really enjoyed it.  It was unfortunate that this song from 1997 was even more relevant than ever 20 years later, but many felt that MMB were speaking for them with this song’s message and lyrics: “Be racist, be sexist, be bigots, be sure: We won’t stand for your hate.” MMB have always been a band with a message in their music of: we’re having a party and everyone’s invited, but if you’re not respectful then you’re not invited! Amen!

Hometown Throwdown show on 12/28/2018

Through this blog I have had the chance to cover MMB: reviewing their 2018 album While We’re At It, a concert review of one of their 2018 Hometown Throwdown shows, and last year’s excellent final album When God Was Great. That last album truly feels like a final statement from the band and it was their best album since the 90s. 

animated band in 2021

The band had many pop culture moments in addition to Clueless, they also appeared in Elmopalooza, on the Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass, and in the Boston episode of The Simpsons.

MMB on The Simpsons in 2016

Thank you for the music and the memories MMB!

#mighty mighty bosstones #music nerd #music news #clueless #ska #elmopalooza #kiss #the simpsons #boston music

[gaiapaia]

Kermit and Friends: Lizzie with Flesh-n-Bone and Onision

Fun fact about Gaia Paia: I grew up a fan of hip-hop music as far back as I can remember. It started innocently enough at 5 or 6-years-old when MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice were at the top of the charts. Fast forward a few years later, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony would release Crossroads and I was hooked from that point forward. My mom let me get the single on cassette since there were no curse words and the song was about Heaven... I played that thing non-stop.

So when Elisa told me Flesh-N-Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony would be a guest this week, I was pretty excited!

Flesh did not disappoint. He was open and candor about his feelings regarding the current political environment in America. More importantly, Flesh shared about his past troubles with the law and how he lost 10 years of his life to prison due to a false conviction. Despite that and his very rough childhood, Flesh remains a big positive ball of energy just looking to improve the World in the way he personally believes it should be improved. He was very inspiring, honestly.

Flesh has a beautiful recent single/music video out called Dedication, which you can check out for yourself by clicking this sentence. It’s very Crossroads like, so any fan of that song should love this one.

Flesh was absolutely tremendous and it’s awesome to see him become one of Kermit’s new friends. I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing him back on the show very soon. Maybe we can get him to perform a live rendition of Dedication! 

Lizzie Harding also joined Kermit and Friends this week. She was featured on Andy Dick’s first KAF appearance back in January (you can read about that here) but it was Elisa’s intention with this episode to allow Lizzie to get into more detail about Lizzie’s unbelievable story.

Lizzie’s story includes her being falsely arrested multiple times, being held in solitary confinement for 5 days despite never once seeing a day in court, having her kids kidnapped from her, her husband allegedly being a pedophile while her kids remain with him, her rental house being burned down this past week after appearing on Infowars, and having all her money stolen by her husband.

If this sounds like an absolutely crazy story.... it is. Most of the chat didn’t believe Lizzie’s tales but I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because A) she was so sincere and passionate, and B) her husband is an extremely successful, high profile lawyer in the state of New York. If anyone can get away with truly heinous crimes, it’s people in his powerful position.

However, after dealing with Lizzie first hand... I’m starting to believe she creates delusions about her situation. Don’t get me wrong, Lizzie genuinely believes what she’s saying, but that doesn’t necessarily make it true (if it is all true, I would feel horrible about saying this stuff... this is why #BelieveAllWomen is a thing).

A good while after Lizzie’s interview, Elisa would play an Eric masturbation video as she’s been doing every week. Lizzie flipped her lid and started texting Elisa in a very harsh manner, saying we promised Lizzie that there would be no sexuality on the show. That is 100% a false statement by Lizzie.

I talked to Lizzie after the show and told her had we knew something like that video would offend her, we would have put it off for a week. Lizzie told me to read our past messages to prove she warned us, so I did and there was nothing about that or anything close to it... yet, she still believes we had this conversation that we never had even though she cannot provide a screenshot of the things she claims we discussed.

Regardless of all that, I wish Lizzie well and hope she gets in a better place soon, both mentally and physically. She’s in a lot of pain right now and that’s always sad to see. Plus, Lizzie was an amazing guest before jumping off the rails, sharing her compelling story with unbridled passion. I doubt we see her on KAF again but she’s someone we will NEVER forget.

Onision made his return to Kermit and Friends this week as well if you can’t already tell from the title. He mainly ruffled Flesh and Lizzie’s feathers by questioning their stories and political opinions. Not to say Onision was disrespectful by any means... he was not, but they did not like his line of questioning, especially Lizzie. However, Onision was terrific because Elisa’s not the type to challenge and question someone on their beliefs or the stories they tell. I think there’s great potential in Onision bringing that kind riveting content to Kermit and Friends regularly if he chooses to become a mainstay like I hope he does.

Everything about this episode was a rollercoaster blast except for one part.

Elisa admitted that she checked herself into the hospital a few days ago. Apparently she had some serious chest contusions and was having trouble breathing. After not finding anything wrong internally, the doctors chalked it up as an anxiety attack after forcing Elisa to stay there for over 8 hours.

To give you a timeline of events... last week, Elisa finally had enough of Andy Dick after he moved in for a few hours and treated her like dog crap. Or did she? It wasn’t 24 hours after last week’s show when Elisa was tweeting “Hi” to Andy, trying to get his attention. It was about 24 hours after that when Elisa was on a date with Andy on his Instagram stories. Then about 48 hours later, Elisa is getting checked into the hospital thanks to the anxiety she claims Andy has brought into her life.

So what happened on that date and the days following? Unfortunately, we didn’t get any answers. Maybe we will next week. But I’m truly fed up with seeing Andy bring so much heartache to Elisa’s life.

Elisa wrote this very beautiful song and made a sweet video tribute to Andy and played it during the show. Why? Why does he deserve that? Maybe it’ll help give Elisa a sense of closure and she’ll be able to move on from him. Maybe not. If so though, then I’m all for it, but part of me doubts that’s the case.

Unfortunately, Elisa is not a fan of my take on Andy right now, which is that she needs to stop trying to help someone who doesn’t want to help himself and who doesn’t treat her kindly. Elisa needs to focus on HER mental health and HER personal hardships rather than burdening herself with Andy’s, which just piles on and on relentlessly until boom... you’re being checked into a hospital. It will only get worse if she keeps putting effort into this guy.

Andy’s lover Lucas called into the show to try to pawn off Andy to Elisa, doing his best to guilt trip Elisa into taking Andy back. To Elisa’s credit, she told Lucas no and it seemed like she meant it. However, last week it seemed like she meant it when Elisa said she was done with Andy, so who knows if she’s serious this time.

It’s very tough for me to watch Elisa destroy herself all because of this poisonous clown Andy Dick. I guess you could say I should take my own advice and stop trying to help someone if they’re not willing to help themselves. The difference is, I’ve loved and supported Elisa for 6 years. I’ve been there for her at times when I know for a fact no one else was there for her. Not because I want anything from Elisa, but just because I genuinely love this woman and I want to see a beautiful/wonderful soul like her be happy.

Elisa has known Andy for not even 6 months. She loves a version of him in her head that does NOT exist. She cannot turn Andy into the person she wants him to be, and the harder she tries, the more heartbreak and devastation it’s going to bring to her life. So I pray Elisa can find the strength to move on from him and any other person in her life that’s dragging her down.

Moving on... Johnny B did a great karaoke performance of What A Wonderful Word by Louis Armstrong, Laurie was back to do the KAF Wrap-Up Show even though she had no clue who Flesh-N-Bone is and didn’t want to look him up, Kermit made a new friend named Alex G, Sharmin Smith went on a passionate rant about COVID, and Hud Isaacson fell asleep during the show with his new girlfriend by his side.

Let me just reiterate that this was a classic episode. I really mean it. Flesh was awesome, Lizzie was mind-blowing, Onision was perfect, and the chat was the most active it’s been since the Spreecast days. I don’t like kissing the ass of chat because sometimes they think they’re more important than they actually are... but they deserve to have their asses kissed after yesterday’s show! Chat was absolutely on fire and that’s really all the validation you need to know that this Kermit and Friends episode was a very special one.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear games are some of the only video games I really feel like I can talk about in my review style, because these games are about 85% story and 15% gameplay, and even that might be a generous estimate. But what about a Metal Gear game that is infamously criticized for a lack of a story? Or, well, I should say an incomplete story. Metal Gear Solid V is a game composed of the somewhat short epilogue Ground Zeroes and the sprawling main game The Phantom Pain, and together they combine to make quite a divisive package, with many citing the absolutely stellar gameplay as a selling point while condemning the supposedly sloppy and incomplete story as a major downgrade. Some have seen this game as a step down from the lofty heights of Kojima’s previous four games, while others are just as likely to embrace it. I suppose that is the nature of Kojima’s work; it always sparks discussion and debate.

I’m certainly not going to debate on the gameplay here; it’s a very fantastic open world sandbox that gives you a lot to do, from capturing animals to spiriting away guards with the Fulton system to finding the oodles of cassette tapes so that you can blast “Take On Me” while you ride a horse guns blazing into a fortress full of armed Russian soldiers. You can play stealthy or straightforward, pacifist or violent, and you can do it all while Joy Division and Spandau Ballet blare over the speakers of your helicopter. This is easily some of the best gameplay the series has ever had, and there are plenty of little missions and side objectives to do while you scour the maps for things to do. But I’m not here to sell you this game based on its gameplay; any game reviewer worth their salt has done that already. No, I’m  going to make a case for the story and characters, and hopefully convince someone that they’re not nearly as bad as some have claimed.

The centerpiece of this game is Venom Snake. Venom might actually be my favorite Snake of them all; this sounds blasphemous, but his character arc is just so beautifully tragic to me, and how he compares to Big Boss, it just really makes me love him. Venom is a man who was never given much of a choice; it was decided he should be Big Boss’ “Phantom” while he was in a coma. And when he wakes up, while he looks the part and can act the part, he just doesn’t have the wit or talkativeness that Big Boss does, leading to Venom being a bit more quiet than most of the other protagonists in the series. But his silence masks that, unlike Big Boss, to the very end Venom was a truly noble man, never mind he believed himself a demon. Unlike Big Boss, who may or may not have outright brainwashed people into joining his cause and who didn’t break a sweat at training children for war, it never even crosses my mind that Venom used torture and brainwashing, and he never fights to have child soldiers after Kaz tells him no – he drops it without much of an argument. Venom is a good man, one who does some dark things in the name of keeping the world safe, but he never truly sinks into anti-villainy the way the man he’s doubling for does, at least not in this game. Any man who would spare Huey rather than execute him immediately has a bottomless well of compassion in their soul and higher moral fiber than most of us.

Of course, the real reason I love Venom is the two most meaningful arcs: his coming to terms with Paz, and his relationship with Quiet. The former is a hauntingly tragic look at Venom’s psyche, something that shows that even though he doesn’t remember who he was, the memory of his failure to save Paz still follows him like a shadow, and the moment when Paz leaves the phantom tape telling him to let go and live – a sentiment Big Boss himself would eventually echo at the end of his life – is poignant and beautiful. As for his relationship with Quiet… everything about it just really gets to me. It’s such a beautiful friendship they form, from enemies to partners with a mutual respect, one that works even better as both are characters who speak very little or not at all. It gets to the point where, yes, the two seem like they do love each other, with culminates in the most adorable scene in the entire franchise as they splash each other in the rain… but it’s a love that can never be, as despite her respect and admiration of Venom, Quiet has a desire for vengeance that she lets consume her… and it leads to her a demise, though it is a demise of her own choosing that she brings about in a final effort to save Venom. That moment that ends their story together, which has Venom running through the desert only to find the tape with Quiet’s first, last, and only words to the man she loved, is just utterly heartbreaking and the perfect depressing capstone to their partnership.

Venom is not a character that gets happy endings. In fact, after it’s revealed he was turned into the body double of Big Boss, it’s shown that ultimately he would go on to die in Big Boss’ place during the Outer Heaven uprising depicted in the original Metal Gear. The ultimate tragedy and heartbreak that Venom goes through in this story and the others is ultimately what draws me to him and adore him; unlike Solid Snake, he never gets to earn his happy ending, dying for the cause of his commander, loyal to the bitter end, having lost almost everyone he loved and cared for along the way. Unlike Big Boss, he never gets to ultimately realize the fruitlessness of his actions and truly come to terms with the fact that all he lost just wasn’t worth it in the end. He’s just so fascinatingly sad, and it’s a sort of sadness that really draws me in. I wouldn’t say he’s a better protagonist than Solid Snake is, and he lacks some of the finesse and charm that Big Boss does, but there’s just a lot to Venom that makes him an incredibly compelling character in his own right, and all with only the bare minimum of a vocal performance.

Speaking of minimal vocal performances, there is Quiet. Quiet is such an odd character, even for this series; she is blatantly designed to be an over-the-top fanservice character in a series that has tons of gratuitous fanservice in the first place, to the point where it’s kind of weird and uncomfortable. Of course, thankfully, as Kojima is incapable of just leaving a character as one-note and superfluous, he gives Quiet the standard bonkers backstory nearly every character in the franchise gets, and as mentioned before gives her wonderful chemistry with Venom. It’s to the point where I seriously can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t feel a bit misty-eyed at her death scene, or the beautiful song her actress Stefanie Joosten sings over the credits of the episode Quiet dies in. She’s a bit much even for this series, but I think her relationship with Venom and her impact on him as well as how she fits thematically into the story more than makes up for any shortcomings she may have.

One of the MVPs of the game is undoubtedly Kaz, who got ridiculous amounts of characterization and some of the most iconic lines (“They played us like a damn FIDDLE!!!!”). He went from being something of a background character to almost the moral core of the game, the shoulder angel to Venom in contrast to Ocelot’s shoulder devil. Of course, much as everyone else, Kaz is consumed by revenge, which leads to him taking the final reveal of who Venom is and Big Boss’ betrayal of him rather badly, and any fan of the franchise knows how his desire to take down Big Boss goes. Still, his presence goes a long way towards making up for Ocelot’s shocking lack of presence; frankly, Ocelot in this game is a bit of a minor character, which on one hand is understandable as he’s only here to keep up appearances while the real Big Boss kickstarts Outer Heaven, but it’s kind of sad to see the guy who is perhaps the franchise’s greatest character take a backseat for vast chunks of the game, only chiming in now and again to give Venom some info or record a tape.

And then we come to the villains. Skull Face is a rather intriguing villain, who lives up to the hammy nature of past villains in the franchise; just see where he howls as Sahelanthropus is taken control of by Eli’s sheer hatred and, ahem, lust for revenge. Skull Face is just a wonderfully thematic villain, and while he is tragically cut down a bit earlier in the game than he should have been, his impact is still felt, as in a manner of speaking he is the reason for the events that plagued Solid Snake’s life due to his crippling of Zero with parasites. We also have some more minor villains, such as Eli (AKA Liquid Snake), Psycho Mantis as a kid, and the Man on Fire (which is actually the reanimated corpse of Colonel Volgin from Snake Eater. Sort of. It’s complicated). The more minor villains seem a bit excessive, especially seeing as the former two don’t actually get to have their arc in this game pay off in a meaningful way due to the Kingdom of the Flies portion unfortunately being cut, but they still lead to some entertaining and exciting moments, particularly young Mantis. Eli is really the only minor villain who feels like a missed opportunity, since all he really does is act like a haughty little brat and adds very little to the overall story, which is a shame considering who he grows up to become.

Of course, no discussion of evil in Metal Gear Solid V would be complete without mention of Huey, the father of Otacon. Huey is the complete and total antithesis to his son. Where his son took responsibility for things that were not even his fault up to and including his own rape, Huey deflects all blame and throws it onto others to make himself seem an innocent victim; where Otacon had the courage to face up to the horrors of the world, Huey chose to be a sniveling coward who hid behind anyone who offered him some semblance of safety; and where Otacon and Solid Snake were true companions and friends to the end who managed to raise a wonderful child together, Huey was an utter bastard who backstabbed his friends repeatedly and killed his own wife via inaction because she dared to stand up to him and not allow her child to be a battery for a Metal Gear. Huey is one of the most detestable, loathsome, and pathetic characters ever conceived in all of fiction… and I love him for it. He is just so void of any sort of redeeming quality that he becomes the poster child for “love to hate.” There is a beauty to a character like this, and it helps that he does get his comeuppance and he’s never shilled by other characters; in fact, not one of his so-called “friends” likes or even trusts him, and all of them think he’s a pathetic, delusional liar. He’s a nasty, spiteful, egomaniacal hypocrite, and I wouldn’t want him any other way.

Now I saved the story for last, mostly because the story is infamously a bit short and incomplete. Still, I feel a lot of the hate for the story is a bit unjustified; while it is true and incredibly frustrating that nothing involving Eli gets any payoff outside of descriptions of what would have happened, all of the story with Skull Face, Quiet, the parasites, Huey, and the side quest involving Paz are all rather engaging in that crazy Metal Gear way, and the prologue Ground Zeroes definitely helps to round things out. If we’re only counting the Solid games, I’d say this is at least as good story-wise as 2 in its own way; where that one is a much more cerebral story involving metatextual elements and deconstructs a lot of concepts, this game’s story is more of a showcase of the toxicity of revenge. Almost every character in the story – Venom, Kaz, Skull Face, Quiet, Eli, the Man on Fire, and Huey – has some desire for vengeance against those who have wronged them, some need to bring some semblance of closure… but it never comes. As is demonstrated in the scene where Skull Face dies, Kaz and Venom both realize that even if they killed Skull Face then and there, it wouldn’t bring back their dead comrades, it wouldn’t return the time they lost, it wouldn’t bring back their missing limbs. Ultimately, revenge is a bitter, futile waste that will only end up consuming and destroying, as it did to Skull Face, as it did to Huey, as it did to Quiet, and as it would do eventually to Kaz and Big Boss. In the end, all that has been done is that a cycle of violence has been perpetuated, and no one is better off for it.

While it’s obviously not the first story to use these concepts, I do like how it ties into the series. It all feels like it fits. Add in the fact that this game finally resolves some long-standing plot holes, such as how Big Boss survived Outer Heaven to end up in Zanzibar Land and how Kaz went from singing the praises of Big Boss to saying he was a monster who deserved death in Metal Gear 2, and while it is a technically incomplete story, it is most certainly a solid one that gives you just enough to think about that I can’t really see calling it “bad” as a logical statement. Could it have been better? Oh, absolutely. But is it still good on its own merits with a lot of standout moments due to the themes and the wonderful cast of characters? Absolutely.

I think the game’s true strength lies in its moments. This game contains some of the most powerful emotional beats in the entire series, hands down. The conclusion of Paz’s side quest, Quiet’s exit, Venom having to deal with a breakout of the parasite among his own soldiers… even if the overall narrative isn’t as cohesive as the four previous games, it still manages to pack so much emotion and power into some of its scenarios that you will feel something. The tapes too manage to be powerful and emotional, from Paz’s final “phantom” tape to Strangelove’s final moments recorded to Zero’s lament that he couldn’t ever apologize to Big Boss, there’s just so much to love here in terms of writing and emotion that I really don’t care about the main story being cut short a bit. It does suck, but I’m too busy sobbing over Quiet and Paz’s fates to really care about the fact I didn’t get to smack Eli upside the head one last time.

The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes are not perfect games, far from it. But they are good games, end even if a small part of the overarching story doesn’t get a satisfying conclusion, Most of the rest does, and there are so many powerful moments in here that it reminds you this series with its roid-raging nanomachine senators and gay vampires who can run on water and giant volcaloid AI robots can actually be poignant, heartfelt, and heartbreaking. It’s a fantastic game, and if you love the series you’ve likely already played it, but I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t, though play through Snake Eater and Peace Walker first. It’s definitely worth your time, and far more rewarding than some have made it out to be.

#Michael in the Mainstream #Review #Game review #Metal Gear #Metal Gear Solid #Metal Gear Solid V #The Phantom Pain #Ground Zeroes #Hideo Kojima #Fuck Huey #Venom Snake #Big Boss #Quiet #Kaz

[aetherschreiber]

The Cycle of Fandom

I am an early Millennial.  As a 1982 baby, I literally came of age in the year 2000.  A lot of hay has been made about how my generation does things differently from our parents.  And by now, plenty of it has been made about why, as well.  I won’t rehash the talking points, but it comes down to how much things changed in our formative years.  Our parents went from vinyl to 8-tracks.  We went from cassette tapes to CDs to MP3 players to streaming over our phones.  That’s a lot to have to adapt to and as a result adapting is just what we do.

But when it comes to fandom, the human condition really hasn’t changed that much.  People like things and when they like things they obsess, collect, analyze, and sadly they eventually eventually gate-keep.

Now, let me preface all of this by saying that I don’t really have any citations for any of this.  But, as someone who was thoroughly raised in fandom, I also have a tendency to get hooked on things a lot of my generation would scoff at for being old.  I love the original Lost in Space and Man from UNCLE, the very first Mobile Suit Gundam is my favorite, I’m fascinated by the puppetry in Thunderbirds, and I’m a complete sucker for just about anything with Cary Grant.  I will binge-watch classic Doctor Who as much as I will the new stuff and love every moment of each for what it is.

For most Millennials, this isn’t the case, for whatever reason.  It’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing.  It just is.  Most folks in my generation have heavy nostalgia for the 80s at the oldest and just don’t really concern themselves with very much from before that.  It’s not that they don’t have an appreciation, but they don’t have the resulting fangirl crush I have on David McCallum that I will commiserate with my mother about (Illya Kuryakin is an adorable badass and I will die on that hill).

I like to think that this has given me a bit of a unique view on fandom, in general.  I participate in some older fandoms, where things move a bit more slowly and where the average age is usually at least one generation removed from me and therefore a bit wiser in a lot of ways.  They’ve just sort of... already covered this ground, so to speak.

The difference is the pace at which they did it.  But the cycle is the same.

It’s never anything that starts maliciously.  No fan I know of has ever set out to point-blank keep someone else from liking the thing.  Rather it starts with a sense of seniority.  “You like this thing, now, too?  Great!  I was there for the beginning and let me tell you, back then...”  It’s always like a fandom big sibling who wants to show their younger counterpart the ropes; get them proper caught-up and versed in the lore so that they can better participate.

I love fandom when it’s at this stage and it’s the type of fan I strive to be at all times.  I don’t like setting conditions for fandom.  I think it’s partly because I am such a late-comer to so many.  The idea of being a fan of something that was made 30 years or more before you were born is a hell of a thing, but I’ve never let that stop me.  And for the most part, these fandoms that are much older than I am have reached the point where they are welcoming and just sort of stuck in the big sibling stage.  Sure, you have the occasional troll, the guy that scoffs that I can’t understand because I wasn’t there at the very beginning.  But they’re usually slapped to the ground pretty quickly by everyone else.

There is the occasional exception, of course.  But one of the things those such fandoms have in common is that there is still new content being made for it.  Doctor Who is a prime example, as is Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings (yes, I do count the upcoming Amazon series and other non-book content as new content, deal with it).  There’s something about new content being made for a fandom that causes an odd anxiety that thing that the fandom loves is going to be somehow ruined.

I’m going to use Doctor Who as an example for a lot of this.  The show turned 56 years old this last November.  56 years!  And the fact that it had a couple of decade-long breaks in there, which were themselves only separated by a single two-hour movie, only serve to highlight the changes it went through.

My second-oldest memory is of Doctor Who.  I remember the regeneration from Tom Baker to Peter Davison.  Now, Whovian historians, before you freak out because that change-over happened in 1981, before I was even born, remember that back then the US got episodes around two and three years later than the BBC, in syndication on public television channels.  So for me, that change happened when I was two.  I remember there being some Big Thing (tm) that my dad was anticipating.  I remember the burgundy and red outfit that Tom Baker was wearing while laying stricken on the ground, surrounded by his companions.  And I remember him suddenly turning into a blond and sitting up, wide-eyed and mystified.  I didn’t understand any of it at the time, of course.  And so I also remember turning to my dad, who was watching with excitement, while the credits were rolling and asking why the man turned into another man.  Oddly, that’s where the memory ends.  I don’t remember the response.  In fact, it’s only having since seen that episode as an adult that I have been able to identify it for what it was.

After that, I don’t have much in the way of Doctor Who related memories until the Paul McGann movie in 1996.  I was 14 and not well-steeped in Whovian lore at the time and I thought it was great.  My dad was more luke-warm to it because it just wasn’t the same as what he grew up with.  It was a sentiment shared by many, unfortunately, which meant that Paul McGann’s wonderful take on the Doctor was relegated purely to audio adventures until the 50th anniversary in 2013.  Sadly, in the early days of the internet, those of us who liked it weren’t quite able to find each other yet.  In the days of Usenet and mailing lists, it was still only the most hardcore fans of a thing who got together to geek out.  Meaning that most of the conversation was “oh, that’s all wrong.”  Lurking in those conversations, I saw pretty much every tremulous young person who dared to say that they liked it get slapped to the ground and told they weren’t a fan of “the real thing.”

Gate-keeping.  It’s nothing new.  And in 1996 Doctor Who fandom ran smack into its pad-locked closed barrier.  Around that same time other old but still active fandoms were starting to manifest the same thing on the internet.  It was when Trekkies suddenly separated into Trekkies (who had seen the original as it aired) and Trekkers (who came long later), for reasons I have never understood.

No, that’s not true.  I understand it.  Us humans tend to get possessive about our stories.  We have a sort of emotional ownership to them, even if not a legal one.  And when you feel an ownership of something, there is an instinct to protect it, keep it pure.  And to do that, it’s natural to try to set oneself up as an authority on the subject.

It took another decade for Doctor Who to come off the shelf again, in 2005.  I was 24 by then, the age that marketers tend to target.  A friend got his hands on a digi-copy of Christopher Eccleston’s first episode, “Rose,” that had been leaked to the internet in its entirety about a week before it actually aired.  We watched it before our D&D group met and I was instantly hooked.  And the friend that was responsible for the new addiction was only too happy to have new fandom friends.

The pendulum had swung.  Gate-keeping was out and welcoming people to the fandom was the MO.  Of course, there were and still are to this day old school Whovians who deny that anything past Sylvester McCoy exists, calling the 1996 movie and the current series a different show entirely.  There will always be those people.  But for the most part, Whovians welcomed new fans with open arms throughout all of Eccleston’s and David Tennant’s runs.

Now, that one cycle, from welcoming to gate-keeping, and back to welcoming, took 42 years.  Most things don’t last anywhere close to that long.  A show might be on for five years or a movie and its sequels be around for ten and after that, for the most part, it’s done.  And in the pre-internet age of fandom, the pendulum swung slowly enough never to hit a repeat in the cycle.

The internet has sped up everything about fandom.  The airing of just about any show in any country might as well be a world-wide premiere these days because it all just travels that quickly.  It has to if it wants to maintain any sort of surprise in its story lines, otherwise internet chatter will spoil it.  These days, things move so fast that even the few hours between an episode of Doctor Who airing in the UK and in the US is enough that one can be subjected to spoilers.  And the swing of the fandom pendulum has sped up accordingly.

For Doctor Who, it started swinging back again when David Tennant left the show and Matt Smith took over.  Tennant’s Doctor had a lot of fans who desperately didn’t want “their Doctor” to leave, many of whom took to the internet, swearing off the show.  They said it would never be as good because David Tennant was just the best Doctor ever.  By then, there were a number of us Millennial Whovians who had dug into the lore and were comfortable with the concept of regeneration as a part of it.  After all, it had already happened nine times.  And there was a bit of a tendency to call those people who swore off Matt Smith’s episodes as being fans not of Doctor Who but of David Tennant.  Meanwhile, of course, old school Whovians were patting us all on the head going “aren’t you cute.  Now you understand why Tom Baker leaving was such a thing.”

And so, the pendulum started to swing back.  You started having people call other people “not really fans of Doctor Who.”  That only got worse when Peter Capaldi took over and there was a significant portion of the fandom upset that the Doctor was now an older guy instead of the 30-something Doctors we had grown accustomed to.

Gate-keeping reared its ugly head for most of Capaldi’s run and, sadly, I think that kept a lot of people from the fandom and from really appreciating the 12th Doctor.  That cycle has started to swing back with Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, but the gate-keeping is in a stage where it is desperate to hold on to what Doctor Who was when they became fans and therefore is very toxic right now.  It’s not pretty.  But those asshats are starting to be slapped to the ground on social media thanks to a new influx of fans who are now once again more comfortable with the idea of regeneration and its possibilities.

Similar swings are happening with many other fandoms.  The Star Wars fandom is a really ugly place right now, quite frankly.  Star Trek seems to be on the welcoming end.  There are always the exceptions to every generalization, of course.  There will always be “that guy” in fandom.

This swing has always existed.  Millennials are just the first generation for whom it has swung multiple times in the life of the show.  The internet is probably the biggest contributing factor to that.  What that means is that we’re the first generation to really have the chance to see the pattern for what it is.  A few of us have even been able to extrapolate back and understand that, no, this is how it always has been, just slower.

The hopeful part of that is this; by virtue of being the first to recognize the pattern, we are the first ones with the opportunity to learn from that history.  And now we’re starting to see fandoms that actively abhor gate-keeping and just want more people to come in and play.  But those tend to be very young fandoms.

The one that comes to mind for me is Critical Role.  This is a fandom that was wholly born on the internet, as the series is streamed live on Twitch.  It’s really unlike anything that has ever had a fandom this size before.  It’s only been around for four years or so.  But the cast is on its second D&D campaign which means it’s already had the opportunity to have the elitism gate that could be closed.  But something different seems to have happened.  The very moment that people started saying “I’m a real fan because I watched the Vox Machina campaign, not just the Mighty Nein,” they were told to shut the hell up and let people like things.  A foot was stuck into the gate and wrenched it back open before it could close.  And you know what?  The fandom has absolutely exploded in the last two years.  And I have yet to run into a single instance of someone gate-keeping for it that didn’t get an overwhelming and harsh rebuttal from the folks who welcome people to the fandom.

Sadly, the Critical Role fandom is distinct from the Dungeons & Dragons fandom on this point.  But therein lies the difference.  D&D is over 45 years old, ten times and more the age of Critical Role.  And the “satanic panic” over it in the 80s made a lot of D&D players very protective of the hobby, only amplifying that.  The age of your average Critter is only mid-to-late 20s or so.  At 37, I’m a little bit of an outlier, I have found.  The Critter fandom is big on TikTok which I... don’t grock, frankly, because I’m turning into an old fart.  But I’ve never, ever, been made to feel unwelcome because of that difference.  It’s been a refreshing experience, frankly.

In contrast, I really feel like I’m only now starting to be considered a “true Whovian” by the old school Whovians.  It took me 15 years and required me getting hooked on the classic stuff (which I was all too happy to do).  People who have never seen any of the classic stuff and don’t care to are often still looked down upon.  That needs to change.

The Critical Role fandom is still young and all of this may prove to be overly-optimistic in the end.  But I think it has the opportunity to be the first big fandom not to go through the gate-keeping cycle.  I sincerely hope we can hold on to that.  The cast and crew are a big part of that, with how they always hammer on the idea of inclusivity and engage so directly with the fandom.  “Don’t forget to love each other” is Matt Mercer’s sign-off at the end of every episode and serves as a constant reminder.  And if more casts and crews of more fandoms do that sort of engaging in the future, it will help break the cycle of fandom gate-keeping all the more thoroughly.  This is a fact that production companies are starting to awaken to as Millennials, comfortable with social media, age into positions of authority.

So, welcome people in, gate-keep, almost cause the whole thing to collapse, repeat.  That’s the cycle that fandom has engaged in for three generations and more.  But I think we’re on the cusp of breaking that cycle, for the most part.  The idea that you can be a fan of something without knowing absolutely everything about it has been gaining very visible traction in the last five years or so and it is wonderful to see.

Now, please, people.  Don’t prove me wrong.

#fandom #Doctor Who #Critical Role #social observations #gatekeeping #toxic fandom

[rayveos]

Why ‘Guilty Crown’ Remains To Be My Favorite Anime

HELL YES THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO GUILTY CROWN. 

And before you tell me how many flaws this anime have and how unsatisfying the ending was, I want to remind you that this is an appreciation post for this underrated anime. No hate comment could change my mind since I’ve watched it back on 2016. 

Shall we go back to the main point now? 

PLOT. Alright. Like any other animes, Guilty Crown had its flaws too. However, I’m sure you can’t deny that a character who started as a coward (in the beginning of the anime itself) obtaning a ‘Power of Kings’ is something. And it’s not your usual power that you can match on other abilities of our favorite hollywood heroes and comics champions. His power is basically drawing people’s hearts out and materializing them into voids which can be useful weapons and necessities. And these voids reflect its owners’ fears, personality, and character. 

***VOIDS. It’s like, “what will your heart look like if it was an object?” Personally, I’m in love with Inori’s beautiful Singer’s Sword while the explanation behind Shu’s always breaks me. They didn’t specifically elaborate why Inori’s is a sword but let’s remind ourselves that Inori was originally created as a vessel to contain Mana’s mind. So, I guess the Singer’s Sword is also an animation of Mana’s heart too. 

What I find interesting about the Singer’s Sword is that it contains strong abilities such as being a protective barrier for its carrier and as the sharpest longsword. I can’t help but always fangirl on the first episode wherein the sword is too powerful that it could create a huge flash of light up to the skies. There’s also one in the fourth episode wherein it can destroy anything it will touch onto, regardless of the direction of its attack. 

ANIMATION. I’m not that of an expert, technically speaking. You may hate or bash this anime you want but dude, it’s one of the prettiest animations you could ever see. I don’t know if it’s just me but the waves coming from anyone who possesses the power of the Void Genome and Inori when she’s singing are like the black transparent tapes on cassettes. The colors are wonderfully chosen too as they’re not flashy or painful to watch. 

If I’m going to choose my favorite episodes that contain the best animations of it, I would choose the first, second, fourth, nineteenth, and the last episode. The place where there is like a flower garden, the one where Shu and Inori spends their alone time after taking leadership of the school, is also gorgeous. The glow on that scene emphasizes how genuine their love is and how beautifully flawed Shu’s character behind his fierce leadership (of course, Hare). 

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Sure, there are characters that go back and forth from being good to bad and vice versa. It may be uncomfortable to some but as for me, I think it’s pretty realistic in some aspects. Yes, this is supposed-to-be an anime. Nevertheless, it doesn’t invalidate the creators’ desire to put more reality in it. Sometimes, I think the other viewers are reacting the way they did on Akame ga Kill. 

In wars, just like how the setting of the Guilty Crown is post-apocalyptic and on the verge of having another one, casualties are quite understandable. Student Council President Kohouin also had her change of heart when she fell in love with Gai and when she ended up envying the studentry’s support to Shu after he proposed an action plan. It’s natural that an elite daughter of the family who has been the center of attention for a long time to turn to the bad side when the spotlight was taken from her. Ayase’s moving on moment is also a strike. She didn’t succumb to her guilt and sadness for losing Gai. Instead, she asked help from Shu to prove to herself that she is indeed useful. 

The best character development award goes to Shu, obviously. When he was a kid, he’s this jolly person who encourages others to be courageous and brave. After the tragedy the Lost Christmas inflicted, there’s no doubt that it will traumatize him and became this isolated person we get introduced on the first episode. Living in the shadows like that for years, there’s a tendency that they get well-attached to the first person who gave them attention and faith, hence his growing affection to Inori. 

The naivety on Shu’s side during Gai’s planning of operation is on point too. That would be the first reaction of ignorant people who believes that everything should be solved with peace and diplomacy. Again, on their time, it was chaotic and there are abusive officials that plan on bringing the next apocalypse. The way he stood up for the Funeral Parlor members after Gai died fell on the right place too. He was influenced by Gai and I’m sure that after everything what happened and after remembering his past, he won’t let others get harassed or hurt too. 

Hare’s death remains to be the biggest turning point for me. Given her strong belief to Shu’s kindness, she’s like a symbolism of Shu’s good side, the part that kept Shu’s inner struggles in check. When she died and Shu declared to become king, I clapped until the episode ends. The subsequent display of his flaws as a human is wonderful. His wrath, the cold treatment, the way he controlled the school and its students. I’m not saying they are nice things. BUT they kept his development moving. It’s not about embracing the bad side but accepting it as a part of you. It’s an ugliness that even Inori recognized as beautiful because in the end, the world has both its beauty and flaws, like a human being.

MUSIC. I will fight anyone who tells me that this anime’s soundtrack is not good. All of the songs they used in the anime are in my playlists! My personal favorite is Bios and Departure Blessings though. I remember I have a friend who has a similar voice to Inori’s voice actress. We became friends because we’re both in love with Guilty Crown. She would sing Departure Blessings a lot when we walk together. 

ENDING. As much as I’d like for Shu to die with Inori, the ending didn’t disappoint me or anything. Actually, when I read its summary and explanation, it made sense. It was an unexpected sacrifice from Inori as she have always preferred to be together with Shu. Even so, we have to admit that they are the most unfortunate pair. Inori is human-made vessel for someone else. Someone who is supposed to be emotionless and everlastingly obedient. Meanwhile, Shu is the Adam that Mana appointed even he was still on their mother’s womb. He was already destined to yield the power of the king. I think the reason why Gai is furious when Shu took the power on the first episode is not because he wants it to be his. He’s only making sure that Shu won’t suffer the fate he is destined to have due to Mana’s mind deterioration back then— which is to be the next Adam and bring forth the next generation and its evolution. 

That is why them being the couple in the center of all chaos, taking back all the virus’ traces and giving back the voids he used, made perfectly sense. The song ‘Release my soul’ is also a tribute to their love story. Since Inori is not really supposed to exist via natural means, I understand how she chose to allow Shu to continue living instead of dying with her. Shu is still young, after all. He has a future waiting for him, one that Inori can’t possibly have naturally because in the first place, she is not human. You do remember that part when she went berserk, right? 

As for the blindness, it came from Inori who was on that time was consumed by Mana. Mana being affected by Inori’s interference on the final battle, the physical body they share was greatly infected by the virus that it caused blindness. When Shu decided to take everything on his hands to end it once and for all, he also took Inori’s blindness as a part of sacrificing themselves. It’s Inori’s last minute sacrifice that mattered. The red threads which are symbolism of destiny/fate are also the same object that tangled Shu’s and Inori’s fates forever. By taking this, Shu also took Inori’s soul before it can also be destroyed along with her physical body. The blindness is simply a reminder that Inori was there. It was Inori’s blindness. It’s a bittersweet ending. The body no longer exists but her soul remains with the one she loves. Together, in the inner mind and consciousness, they are on each other’s arms. 

Credits to the owners of these photos. I do not own anything except for this long appreciation post. 

#guiltycrown #oumashu #guilty crown #inori #anime #appreciation post #dedication #underrated #fangirling #gai #ayase #funeral parlor #analyzing #voids #power of kings #animation #arts

[allisonswrittenwords]

Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day!

Better late than never, being that it is Valentine’s Day weekend and all.

When I was trying to think of what I wanted to write about for Valentine’s Day, needing the obligatory holiday post and all, I thought about things I liked as a kid that represented love.  Before Valentine’s Day parties at school, I was a kid who was home most days, watching cartoons and playing with my brother. One thing we enjoyed together as little kids was listening to Teddy Ruxpin tell us stories.  Before we could read the books, we would look at the pictures while Teddy told the story.  I had seven book-and-tape sets – there were so many more – 39 in the storybook series, as well as cassettes in the Answer Box and Picture Show) – and one of those sets was about love.  Specifically, the love between a main character and a one-off character.

Grubby’s Romance is the seventh adventure book-and-tape set in The World of Teddy Ruxpin series.  The story was also adapted into an episode the animated The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, which pulled its episodes directly from the cassette tape stories.  That episode aired as the seventh episode of season one.

“A Most Unusual Experience”

I’ll take “Reviews of Allison’s Written Words for $500, Alex.”

I can make jokes, it’s my site!

Anyway, this story tells of the time that Teddy Ruxpin, Grubby, and Newton Gimmick had a most unusual experience, involving Gimmick’s newly invented “Portable Reducing Machine.”  This more portable device operates much like Gimmick’s larger shrinking machine (using The First Crystal, Imagination, which helps shrink and grow the characters), but as the name says, is portable and can be taken along for a journey.

The trio is off to find clues about the other six crystals (Honesty, Trust, Bravery, Friendship, Freedom, and The Black Box) from The Hard to Find City to make it work properly, so they fire up the Airship and prepare to head off in search of those clues.

However, someone else is quite interested in their adventure: Tweeg.  And he’s annoyed with Gimmick’s success as an inventor (man, Tweeg must be a terrible inventor!).  And the arrival of Gimmick’s two new friends has caused some consternation with Tweeg, who finds them to be an interference.

He sends L.B. The Bounder to “get rid of” Teddy, Grubby, and Newton.

L.B., curious about the device sitting there out in the open, presses the red button on the Portable Reducing Machine, shrinking the trio – and the Airship – down to a very tiny size!  Tweeg is thrilled about this, believing the trio to have disappeared.

Of course, the type of day to fly the Airship is perfect when it is normal size, but when it is super tiny and you’re contending with gale force winds, you’re going to run into some problems.  Like a “leaf in the wind,” the group is blown into a forest, far away from Newton Gimmick’s home.

The group encounters The Snail, and after asking for his help in locating Newton’s house, decide to go with him to the Annual Spring Dance (he’s late, as usual).  The Snail suggests asking the butterflies for help in locating home (the bees are too difficult to ask), and the group arrives at the dance.

Everyone in the forest was there, and that’s when Grubby spots her…

“I Get A Glimpse Of You Out of the Corner Of My Eye…”

Grubby sings a song about his encounter with the love at first sight, spotted from across the room, a Caterpillar named Karen. Despite his reservations about dancing with her, he does.  For the next few days, he spends so much time about Karen, as Newton and Teddy figure out a way to get back home.  Theirs is a love equated to the twinkle of an eye.

But as fast as they fall in love, Karen begins to behave strangely, building a shell around herself as Grubby watches with sadness.  Karen can’t stop herself, and explains that she knows it is what she is supposed to do, and Grubby, beside himself with this, waits for days by the shell.  Newton and Teddy discuss this, and Teddy realizes that Karen built a cocoon around herself, as she is a caterpillar and is about to become a butterfly.

By the time Teddy and Newton get to Grubby to tell him this fact, Karen has already emerged from her cocoon.  And much to Grubby’s delight, she is something equally amazing to him.

A Beautiful Butterfly

Karen has become a beautiful butterfly during her time in her cocoon shell, and tells her new friends that she remembers The Snail saying that butterflies could lead the Airship home.  With Karen and the other butterflies leading the way, the Airship travels back to Newton’s home, landing is successfully.

After landing and positioning itself the same way it was before it was shrunk to a very small size, Grubby asks Karen to push the green button on the Portable Reducing Machine, which restores the Airship and its occupants to normal size.

And thankfully, it works.  Because most of Gimmick’s inventions don’t. Thank goodness he got this one right!

Goodbyes

Grubby knew it was only an accident that allowed him to be in Karen’s world, and with a tear in his eye, he says goodbye to his love, as she and the other butterflies fly away to fill the summer sky with beauty.

Of course, Tweeg is super unhappy with this turn of events.  Which just means that Teddy, Grubby, and Newton are safe…for now.

You can listen to Honey, I Shrunk Teddy Ruxpin – er, Grubby’s Romance – as it was intended on Lost Bedtime Story Classics.  This channel has a great and extensive (read: almost complete) collection of Teddy Ruxpin stories, among other treats.

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The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin

As I said, the story appears as an early episode of the television series, but has some extra scenes in the form of a secondary storyline to pad out the run time.  The audio adventures run 16 minutes each, but the television series was 21 minutes without commercials.

The series was mostly serialized, but had connecting plots and story arcs within the same week, including the original stories as well as new stories developed for the television series, greatly expanding on the adventures the trio takes.  The series aired for 65 episodes over two seasons between 1986 and 1987, ending when Worlds of Wonder faced financial difficulties (they later went into bankruptcy in 1988).  Unfortunately, the show ended in a cliffhanger on October 23, 1987 due to this.

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The episode had its own videocassette release, which involved the use of the terrifying man-sized suit from the live action Teddy Ruxpin videos.

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It’s nice to know the mouth moved on the suit, but man was this frightening!

Takeaways

I loved Teddy Ruxpin, and I don’t really have a personal preference as far as the stories went.  I remember really liking Grubby’s Romance because of the Portable Shrinking Machine, since these plots in cartoons always seemed to fascinate me as a little kid. As an adult, it seems like no cartoon was complete without a main character facing down shrinking.  It is kind of like how science fiction series always have a body switching episode.

Just remember friends, I couldn’t have cared less about the romantic plot line, I liked the shrinking plot line!

But this was a nice story, especially the song Grubby sings about falling in love!  Grubby is an upbeat character, but he always had an Eeyore-sound to his voice, so you kind of rooted for him to fall in love.  Even if it was accidental.

And Now, You!

Do you have a favorite story from the Teddy Ruxpin series, be it the cassettes or the cartoon?  I’d love to know your favorite stories/plots, as well as your memories of Teddy Ruxpin.

In 2016, I wrote about the live action Teddy Ruxpin taking two kids on a trip to help them fall asleep, but I haven’t really done much with Teddy since then.  I feel like I should – there’s so much to explore with the series, with YouTube having plenty to see and hear, probably more than many of us Teddy Ruxpin owners ever heard as kids.

I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day, and may you feel the kind of love that Grubby felt, but hopefully not accidentally.

And hopefully, it isn’t “flighty.”

Have a great rest of the weekend!

    (Accidental) Love is in the air for Grubby, when he, Teddy Ruxpin, and Newton Gimmick are accidentally shrunken and wind up in a village of bugs. Grubby falls in love with one of them. Is this a love that is meant to be? Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

#ValentinesDay #Grubby #Love #Teddy Ruxpin #The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin #The World of Teddy Ruxpin #Worlds of Wonder

[douxreviews]

The Handmaid's Tale - ‘Household’ Review

What a lovely day for a trip to Washington. Be sure to pick up your handmaid at baggage claim before you leave National Station.

Visually, this episode was stunning, the always amazing photography even more striking when applied to the perversion that is now D.C. Seeing the Washington Monument transformed into a giant cross made me sick to my stomach. The desecrated Lincoln Memorial was even worse.

The unspoken word throughout this episode was "slavery." Lincoln freed the slaves, but slavery is back, in the form of all of those thousands of handmaids at the reflecting pool praying for the return and enslavement of yet another girl baby. It was an appropriate place for June to confront Serena with her betrayal, and that was a powerful scene. A despairing June walking up to that dead monument and leaning up against it also made me cry.

Serena doesn't have a plan, after all; she simply changed her mind when she saw baby Nichole at the airport. It was clear that Serena was seeing baby Nichole in Gilead like the Winslow children having a tea party in their luxurious nursery surrounded by adoring Marthas, while June sees baby Nichole enslaved and maimed like the permanently silenced handmaid, Ofgeorge. Sick cultures tend to get sicker, and DC is hard core. June was shocked and nauseated when she saw the rings closing Ofgeorge's mouth. The next morning during the photo op at the "wings" statue, Aunt Lydia pulled down the covering and saw the rings too, and I could swear she was shocked.

They're doing something interesting with Aunt Lydia this season, aren't they? When she first noticed the red mouth coverings that the D.C. handmaids were wearing, she said admiringly, "The devotion!" as if the handmaids had chosen to wear them as a tribute to their role and to God. She didn't realize that this new fashion accessory was designed to hide those rings until the photo op. When Aunt Lydia brought the mouth covering to June for the prayer at the Memorial, June asked her tearfully, "Do you want us all to be silenced?" and Lydia said, "No. No, I don't." Lydia seems to believe in Gilead most of the time, but I think the harsh reality is starting to wear on her. I think she's grown to care about June as a person. And maybe she'll do something horrible to June in the next episode. It's hard to tell.

(While I'm talking fashion accessories, how about the veil covering the top half of Serena's face while June was wearing a piece that covered the bottom of her face? Serena and June are two different sides of the same coin. They are both slaves in Gilead, just at different levels.)

At home with the Winslows

The title of this episode is "Household." The household in Gilead is a sick construct, an imitation of actual family life. Fred Waterford's household doesn't really include June any more, except when he "borrows" her from Joseph Lawrence. And the Winslow household features six stolen children, which was jarring.

High Commander Winslow (Christopher Meloni) is clearly hot for some commander-on-commander action. Poking his rear end in Fred's face could have simply been a pool-playing accident, but the shoulder caress made his intentions clear. Part of me finds the idea of Fred as a powerful man's sex toy karmic. How much does Fred want power? Enough to become a "gender traitor?" Hard to tell what Fred was thinking. He carefully placed the cues back on the pool table, but his face was in shadow.

And so much for Nick

The Canadians have asked a neutral party, the Swiss, to intervene in the Nichole custody battle because Gilead is a black box to the rest of the world, what happens in it is unknown, the Gilead government is a mystery. Unfortunately, the Swiss and the Canadians are afraid of Gilead's power. That's not good.

I thought Nick was going to be the answer to, well, something. But no. When Nick "stood in" for Fred in the camera shot, he joked quietly with June, "Nice girl like you in a place like this" and surreptitiously touched her hand, that felt like the old Nick, the one that contacted Luke. When he dropped by the Winslow house to say an illicit goodbye to June, she begged him to save their daughter, to see the Swiss mediators. But Nick appears to be a master of compartmentalization. June has made assumptions about Nick that were wrong – he was, and he is, a soldier of Gilead. The way he strode through the train compartment of soldiers like a Nazi commandant was a shock.

As we've been told more than once, men won't be coming to the rescue. The women will have to rescue themselves.

Bits:

— Of course, this episode was filmed in Washington, D.C.

— The "handmaid claim" was a red circle of carpet surrounded by escalators going in three directions. Again, stunning photography. And did you notice that the parallel escalators were gender specific?

— Olivia Winslow (Elizabeth Reaser) loved Serena's book, and told Serena that it "saved" her from a life in corporate law. Is a High Commander's wife open to the Resistance? Probably not.

— When June was interviewed by the Swiss mediators, they gave her a glass half-full of water. No irony there.

— Luke gave June's cassette tape message of love and confession about Nick and Nichole to the Canadian government. That felt like a betrayal. It gave me a turn.

— There were caged birds in the Winslow house, because there is never too much symbolism.

— Serena isn't wearing her wedding ring and she's not sharing a room with Fred.

— This week's interesting music cue: "Every Day" by Buddy Holly as June was leaving the Swiss.

— I'm going to mention the current administration's march toward more misogyny and isolationism, and move on.

Quotes:

June: "I pray for Serena. May she find her way back. May she see past her broken heart and remember that Nichole is better off where she is. May she convince Fred to let things lie. Or may they both get hit by a fucking truck. I'm honestly down for either."

Aunt Lydia: "They don't stand for disorder. Not in the Capital."

Fred: "And we're off! Like a herd of dusty turtles." How jovial. This is all normal, guys.

Winslow: "We have to be judicious about the images we release to the world." You know, I'm starting to think some real publicity about what's going on in Gilead might make a genuine difference.

Serena: "I should have put a ring in your mouth the day that we met." June: "I should have let you burn when I had the chance."

Four out of four… mouth rings would probably be too pat. Artificial tea parties, perhaps?

---

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#The Handmaid's Tale #June Osborne #Serena Joy Waterford #Fred Waterford #Aunt Lydia #The Handmaid's Tale Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

[lillaxtrigger]

Young Hope: Chapter 21

The salty starch of a curly french fry is dipped into a small cup of delicious ketchup; the spicy delight soon chomped in half by Kingsley’s teeth. “Mmmh...” After swallowing the piece, he goes on to compliment the flavorsome fries with: “This restaurant always makes some of the best fries. The salt and spices in each piece just burst flavor. You really outta try them Damian.” From the opposing side of the table does a tan brown hand pinch one of the longer curly fries before him; lifting it near the head of a hooded teenage boy with curly black hair drooping out from underneath. Before him, the boy watches as the long strand of potato simply droop down until it rips under its own weight; a depressing sigh escaping from his mouth as he turns away. “Hey, what’s the matter? Afraid you might burn your tongue? They’re not that hot.” Kingsley question. “I’m just not that hungry is all.” Damian moans.

Right after saying such, a small toddler smacks into his chair;  Damian disappearing upon the sudden bump. The toddler looks back, staring curiously towards the seat he’d just ran into; Kingsley watching as the little kid slowly starts to approach. Right when he was near, both hear the cry of a woman; demanding the toddler to: “Get over here, Jimmy! Quit bothering them!” On those orders does the little kid retreat from the table; the boy genius looking back towards the seemingly empty seat. “You wanna talk about what’s been eating you up? You been acting more withdrawn then usual this past week or two.” Before Kingsley does the boy reappear back in his seat as a disheartened groan leaves his lungs; answering him with: “I don’t know. I...I just haven’t been the same since that whole Circe episode. Going through that whole kidnapping and life threatening drama’s just been a little hard for me.” “I ain’t really seeing anything wrong with ya.”

Beside the two, Cayenne sat woofing down the burgers and fries before her like a savage animal; bits of fries and meat spilling back onto the table as she scarfs her food down. “Ya still lookin like the same overly dramatic try hard emo pansy you’ve always been.” she mentions, her mouth stuffed with overly greasy burger pieces. “I don’t think that’s the case. I haven’t heard him speak a single poetic line the whole time he’s been around.” Kingsley denies. “I still ain’t getting what’s eating your ass. Ya got outta that circus of horrors and lesbian magic without losing a single speck of your powers. So what the big deal?” “Cayenne! He’s probably still scared about being kidnapped and nearly getting killed. I’d know I’d be.” “You did, and so did most of my cousins too. Most of the kids that went through that shit storm turned out just fine in the end.” Hearing the spice queen recall such causes Damian to let out a disheartening moan; the boy hanging his head over the batch of spicy fries. “Uh, Cayenne. Maybe it’d be best if you sit this one out.” the boy genius suggests. “Whatev.” Rising from her seat, she takes whatever food was left in front of her before taking her leave; bidding her adieu with: “Still thinking he should just get over it.”

Watching the Spice queen depart, a defeated groan leaves Damian’s lips; hesitantly agreeing with her crass judgment with: “Saying it hurts, but…she right. A lot of the kids that witch had snatched up bounced back from it all without so much as a hiccup. Like the mighty grizzly, the chilling winter of her icy grip had lulled them into a long slumber. But the comforting spring of your warming rescue had awoken them once more; springing back from the brink with more vigor than before. Alas, the cruel winter shows little mercy for me. Like the graceful gazelle, unfit slumbering through the harsh bitter ice; growing ever more frightened and frail than ever.” “Quit thinking like that. You’re not as weak as you make yourself out to be. Everyone just goes through trauma differently, that’s all. That doesn’t make yours any less valid.” The boy genius’s encouraging statement unfortunately fails to perk Damian’s spirits, remaining ever drowning in his woes.

Kingsley slapping the table baits the ghost boy’s attention; Damian hearing him offer: “Tell ya what, how about you and I go out on day through Townsville together. It’s been a while since we done something with just the two of us. We can go wherever your ghostly heart desires. Whadya say?” “I-I don’t know Kingsley. The only thing I’m really wanting to do now is just go home and cry my eyes out.” “Did I mention that the underground cafe downtown is having a poetry evening?” “...Alright, you win.” Rising from his seat, Kingsley rejoices from the agreement by concluding: “Fantastic! Just need to pay the bill and we can hit the road.” Picking up the bill, the boy genius’s chipper demeanor is swiftly cut upon viewing the cost; finding several meals that he knows neither of them had ordered. Over a hundred bucks worth of burgers, fries, sides; Jesus! Only one person was with them that could stuff themselves that much. “Ugh, Cayenne.”

Through the streets of Townsville, the duo walk together among the countless urbanites going about their day; the boy genius asking Damien: “So, you still listen to stuff like Hip Hop and Rap?” “Nn, yeah. I’ve also been branching out more towards the tranquil melancholy that Lofi has to offer.” “Glad to hear your music tastes are still intact. I’ve been seeking out stuff through techno and synth wave myself. Guess our first stop on this cheer up trip’ll be something that both of us will be into.” “Where exactly are you taking us?”

Stepping through a shop door, the specter’s question is answered then and there; beholding a vast cavalcade of music in a slew of forms. Cassettes, records, CD’s, all hailing a multitude of countless genres for all to enjoy. “A music shop? Why is our first stop here of all places.” Damian wonders as both he and his host enter. “I figured since both of us are exploring new genres, I figure we’d stop here to look through some of the new and retro stuff they’ve got stocked.” “Can’t we just do that online?” “Well, yeah. But I find there’s this oddly comforting novelty of having physical media as opposed to just pure data. Just nice to have something displayed on the shelf I guess.” Grabbing hold of the specter’s shoulder, Kingsley guides his guest towards the collection of music as he urges him to: “Come on. I bet we’ll find a ton of amazing stuff sitting in these racks.”

Along the racks of tracks, the duo search the surprisingly vast collection of synthwave music; one of which was a CD labeled “Mitch Murder”. “Think that this might be good, Kingsley?” “Mitch Murder? Oh yeah. My dad used to listen to him a lot while he’d be making gadgets and bots. I remember when I was little, I’d here the soothing synth echoing through is lab and just lull me to sleep. Really relaxing stuff there. Thinking about taking it home?” “Me? Hmm, maybe. It be rather a curious to listen to what music others might enjoy and find out what got them hooked to it.” “Really?” “Venturing out in such unexplored territory can offer a window into the souls of others. Even if it’s completely subjective, you can tell a lot about a person from the sounds that best resonate with them.” “Sounds like you know more about this stuff then I do.” “The souls of others are a very curious endeavor to explore, Kingsley. Every single life in existence is a completely unique being.”

Their search through the shop send them leaning towards the newest lofi hits; Damien trailing his finger across the cases until coming to a particular album. Pulling out the track makes the ghost boy lets out a small sigh, followed by mentioning: “The first Lofi artist I’ve discovered, a hidden diamond sparkling out in the rough that would spark a love for the secluding melody that such a genre offers.” Popping the CD out form its case, Damian flips it into the drive of a nearby music player; grabbing hold of both the headphones attached. “Care to drift along in the sea of melancholy with me, my friend?” the specter asks; offering the extra set of headphones to Kingsley. “Uh...Sure.” Grabbing hold of the pair of headphone, the boy genius dons them right over his ears; first notes and beats he listens to sound...depressing, like really depressing. Slow beats, low droning reverb, soothing piano and guitar; really sounds like something you’d listen to when wondering of the pointlessness of life and contemplating the futility of our own existence, wondering if anything that we strive to achieve will simply just waste away in the march of time until it corrodes into something far less than memory… Depressing stuff, honestly. Not really the kind of music anyone going through those thoughts should be listening to. Best to switch to a much more joyously relaxing experience.

While Kingsley moves over and flips through the countless other lofi tracks, Damian takes in the idyllic desolation playing in his ears. The depressing strums the guitar mixing with the low key strikes of the piano truly a create a comforting misery that eases the pain; as if the musician sympathizes with the woes of trauma and depression.

Such a symphony of gloom is swiftly silenced; the specter opening his eyes as he snaps back to reality. His gaze shifts over towards the player; a new CD being inserted into the slot. Looking to who changed the track, he found Kingsley holding onto the music he was listening to with a caring smile; a new piece swiftly playing for them. This time, a more upbeat,  relaxing melody fills Damian ears. A piano, playing higher, more uplifting strikes sings alongside a similarly slow beat much like the previous melody. A complete contrast of the last lofi track, this one envelopes more of a chilling beat, a far more comforting rhythm. Like a friend saying: “Let’s just kick back, relax, and listen to some sweet, sweet sound.” A relaxing breath leaves the specter as a faint smile cracks between his cheeks.

After that change of tune, their journey through the genres continues unabated; both Kingsley and Damian scanning through the seeming endless walls and racks of music track. It’s in this moment that an all too familiar tune reaches the boy genius’s ears; gazing up towards the intercom to find it playing: “You used to call me on my...” Is that… “You used to, you used to” Is that really… “Yeah...You used to call me on my cellphone.” Oh my god, it’s playing Hotline Bling. It’s one of Damian’s favorites. Does he even knows its on? “Late night when you needed my love.”

Turning back to the ghost boy, he found not a single inch of his body dancing to the rhythm of the bass. “Call me on my cellphone.” Guess Damian hasn’t caught on yet. Probably too preoccupied with his woes to even notice. Perhaps a little push in the right direction might break him out of his shell. “Late night when you needed my love.”

Vaulting right over the racks between him and the specter, Kingsley slowly encroaches over to Damian’s side. “And I know when that hotline bling.” The boy genius’s head next to Damian’s, Kingsley starts to serenade along side the songs hot bassline; following the rhythm as the intercom continues with: “That can only mean one thing. I know when that Hotline Bling. That can only mean one thing.” Though not strong at first, Kingsley starts to see the specter’s body moving with the music; Damian foot stomping to the rhythm. “Ever since I left the city, you...Got a reputation for yourself now.” The further he hears Kingsley repeat the songs lyrics, the more Damian starts to break from his shy and apathetic standstill, beating his hands in tune to the bass. “Everybody knows and I feel left out. Girl, you got me down, you got me stressed out.” In the midst of harmonizing with the song, Kingsley begins to hear a low hum from the side; turning to the ghost boy to find him humming to the words. “Cause Ever since I left the city, you...” In tandem with his humming, the ghost boy starts to bop his head to the beat; slapping the racks with more vigorously. “Started wearing less and goin’ out more.” Damian’s whole body begins to move with the rhythm; Kingsley backing away from the dancing boy with a smile. “Glasses of champagne out on the dance floor.” The specter backs away from the rack of music tracks; his hood lowering to uplift his curly black hair. “Hangin’ with some girls I’ve never seen before.”

Finally, Damian turns away from the rack, dancing in full as he joins the boy genius on his chorus; singing out: “You used to call me on my cellphone.” Kingsley soon joins the phantom in his rhythmic bop; dancing side by side with Damian to the beat. “Late night when you need my love.” Both boy spin with one another, soon catching the attention of everybody in the music shop. “Call me on my cellphone.” Both boy then halt their twirl close to the carpet, slowly rising as they stay back to back to each other. “Late night when you need my love.” Once having fully risen, Damian jumps in the air and starts leisurely floating across the CD racks. “I know when that Hotline Bling.” All of the shops patrons watches the ghost boy glide through the store; the cashier even can’t help but gaze upon Damian as he moves to the rhythm of the music. “That can only mean one thing.” One of the shoppers joins in the phantoms serenade; her hips swaying with the beat. “I know when the Hotline bling.” Alongside her, the other shop patrons are gradually pulled into the rhythm; shaking their hips and bopping their heads to the music. “That can only mean one thing.” From the back of the store does a man with a shirt labeled “Manager” burst from the door; joining his patrons in their rapping chorus. “Ever since I left the city, you, you, you.” Gliding through the store; Damian twirls through the air as the other shop goers dancer. “You and be we just don’t get along.” Kingsley looks towards the ghost boy; happy to see a bright smile across his face as he sings with all his heart. “You make me feel like I did you wrong.” Damian lands back upon the carpeted floor with a dazzling flip; spreading his arms out in both directions. “Going places where you don’t belong.” The specter soon leaps back in the air; the people beneath him throwing CD cases in the air all at once. “Ever since I left the city, you-”

From the phantom’s carelessly joyous flight, Damian smacks himself into a whole wall full of tracks; the wall careening down upon another set of tracks beside it. That wall soon knocks over another wall of CD’s, spiraling an entire domino effect of collapsing sets of music tracks. The other patrons scatter away from the chaos, fleeing out the exit in panicking packs. Kingsley rolls away from the falling walls of music track, soon finding an entire rack threatening to topple upon him. Before the collection of songs could slam down upon the boy genius, somebody push him away from the descending rack; Kingsley finding himself thrust out from danger by his phantom friend. The boy genius can do little but witness the CD display tumble down upon his savor in a thunderous bang; soon seeing him buried under more dropping walls and racks.

The collapsing mayhem soon settles into a calming close; leaving the shops vast collection of music in ruin. Though the destroyed merchandise be the furthest worry from the boy geniuses mind; screaming out for his fallen friend. “Damian!” Kingsley lunges towards his buried friend without so much as a hint of hesitance; lifting up one of the falling rack as he assures him that: “Don’t worry buddy, I’ll getcha outta there soon! Just hang on!” Just as he ready to lift away the next piece of debris, the boy genius soon sees the translucent head of his friend; the ghost boy insisting that: “I’m okay. I’m okay.” Like an intangible spirit free from the physical plain of this world, Damian phases right through the toppled collection of tracks; turning corporeal once more as he lands back in front of the boy genius. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.” A hearty sigh slips out from between Kingsley lips, the boy genius admitting: “Thank goodness. I really though you were done for a second there. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” “Trust me Kingsley, I’ve made out out of worse.” “I meant like...Are you feeling any better?” “Um...Kind of, but not a lot. Thanks for trying Kingsley.” “Hey, don’t quit just yet. This is just the first stop on the encouragement express; the next surprise in store might just fix your spirits yet.”

“You think so, huh?” a third voice questions. In that moment, a wayward fist breaches out from the rubble of the racks behind the boy genius; the emerging arm soon erupting out to show it belonging to the music shops managers. “You figure out how you’ll do the same with my store?” the manager growls. Presenting the resulting destruction to the two, he points towards the wrecked racks of broken CD’s and cracked case; reinforcing how: “The walls of records ruined, the racks of CD’s reduced to rubble, the tracks that I’ve stocked in shards. My entire music shop’s been completely destroyed! You got a way to fix all that!?” With a worrying groan, Kingsley pulls his wallet out from the depths of his pocket; slipping out from one of its folds his credit card.

Strolling through the concrete streets, the boy genius can’t help but notice Damian’s troubled glare; a gloomy moan leaving his lungs as the phantom stares out into space. “Hey, don’t look so down. I guarantee that the next stop were gonna visit will turn that frown upside down.” Kingsley promises. “You think so?” “I know so. It’s been someplace I’ve been wanting to take ya for quite awhile now. I guarantee your ghostly spirits will soar when you see it.” “Mind I ask where exactly are you planning to take us?”

Guided to his next stop, the ghost boy’s question is answered right then and there; Damian caught off guard by Kingsley surprise. Witnessing the astonishment in his eyes, a smile stretches across the boy genius’s face. “So, what do ya think? Your mood lightening up?” he asks. “I- I can’t believe it.” Standing before them be a brightly colored shop; the phantom beholding the assortment of exotic, almost otherworldly flowers displayed beyond the windows. “I’m guessing that’s a yes. Come on, I want to show ya the inside.” Taking the ghost boy’s hand, Kingsley gently leads Damian through the bright blue doorway; the wind chimes attached to the door ringing through their ears as they enter.

From within the shop, the duo beheld the quaint collection of blooming bunches surrounding them; a rainbow of flora encircling the pair. “All this is simply beautiful. The colors and fragrances all just blending harmoniously together in a symphony of natural beauty. How did you know?” the specter questions. “You kidding? With the whole array of flowers I see all over your house, it’s just a matter of putting two and two together. But all this, it simply pales in comparison to what they got set up in the back. Amazed me the first time I saw it all. It’s what got me thinking it bring you here.”

Stepping out the stores backdoor, both beholding a majestically expansive site spread before them; flora from every corner of the world and beyond gathered within a single enclosed garden, free from the influence of the outside world. The numerously vast collection of foliage leaves the phantom utterly speechless; left at awe of the overwhelming beauty of nature his eyes lay upon. Noticing the amazement in Damian's eyes, Kingsley lets out a little chuckle alongside mentioning: “Yep, that’s pretty much the same face I made when I first saw all this. Ain’t it neat?” “Neat? Neat simply isn’t enough to describe a site such as this. A wondrous union of flora from every corner of the world. The enchanting allure of such an earthly gathering simply draws forth the soul of nature within.” Having poetically described his feelings of wonderment and awe; Damian glides further into the wide collection of flowers before him.

The first set of flora to bait the ghost boys site be the seemingly dangerous cacti; planted upon patches of dry earth surrounded by brick. Drifting closer towards the green desert plants; Damian can’t help but let out an admiring sigh. “The mighty cactus, flourishing among the scorching desert sands. And yet, despite their unwelcoming appearance, they hide beauty among their prickly spines.” Glazing across the barbed patches, the specter soon finds a disturbance to the green; a bright pink flower, blooming right on the surface of a single cactus. “A single beauty; radiating among the harsh shells of the countless cacti.” Gliding his fingers across the flowers petals, Damian feels the gentle, almost silky texture of its petals. “Such a truly remarkable site bares with it a striking statement. How even the seemingly deadliest among us can show truly tender beauty.”

Breaking his site from the cacti underneath him; Damian is soon drawn towards another gorgeous site. “Ah! A deceptive contrast.” The ghost boy floats right over the prickly spines of the cacti and soon faces a glorious set of bell shaped flowers; a glass cage standing between him and the pure white flora. “The duplicitous brugmansia. The Angels trumpet. Truly a name none more deserving to represent the diabolical side of nature.” Phasing his arm through the glass, the specter delicately lifts one of the bells; continuing his description by adding: “Though their bell like bulbs may show themselves to be delectable and tempting, their petals hide an insidiously toxic poison. Even a single bite of this bell may very well send one on a terrifyingly painful trip towards the gates of heaven.” Taking his arm out from beyond the glass cage; Damian concludes is poetic statement with: “An example none more fitting for deceptive beauty. For what we may find as graceful and innocent may well be far more deadly and toxic than we perceive.”

Away from the lethal bells, the specter continues to drift through the glorious garden. Swiftly are his eyes taken towards a small bush sporting white flora all throughout its branches. “Quite the rare site. Never in my life would I imagine laying eyes upon the delicate hawthrons.” Nearing the bush of white, Damian gently brushes his palm along the white flora; adding how: “A flower seemingly so bland and uninteresting; blending in alongside the other beauties of nature. Alas, these tiny, fragile flowers hold within their stems an extremely potent healing property; the perfect ingredient to create powerful herbal medicine.” Pulling his hand away from the delicate flora, the phantom finishes his poetic dialect with: “A bold statement on how the small and blandest in our lives can have the biggest impacts.”

Out from the side; the ghost boy hears the call of his friend; Damian turning towards the source of his voice: “Hey Damian, come check this out.” Quickly, he glides towards the boy genius; gazing up to the majestic site right behind him. Witnessing the look of amazing upon his ghostly friend, Kingsley questions him with: “Ever seen something like this before.” “Only in myth.” Standing tall above them was the grand centerpiece of the entire exotic garden; a glamorous emerald tree enveloping a regal fountain. “An emerald evergreen. I’d never thought I would lay eyes upon such a wondrous site.”

The dazzled specter begins to ascend towards the top; the emeralds shine glimmering across his body as he rises. Near the trees crest, Damian plucks a piece of emerald hanging from one of the crystal branches; holding the piece of naturally grown jewelry towards the sun. Through the glass dome, the sun shine beams through the emerald; shining green upon the phantoms face. Dancing whimsically with the piece of rock in hand, Damian recites how: “This beautiful tree of shining jade truly brings the entire garden together; standing alongside the majestic flora to create a stunning symphony to represent the earth as a whole. A magical union of natures wonder.”

Finishing his dance, the ghost boy casually tosses the emerald leaf in his hand aside; soon descending back down towards Kingsley. The piece of rock ends up lodging itself into the sprinkler set at the top; the rock blocking the fountains water flow.

Landing right beside the boy genius, Damian lets loose a blissful sigh; Kingsley questioning if: “Guessing your spirits are soaring high now, aren’t they?” “As high as the stars themselves, Kingsley. My soul has soared beyond the atmosphere and has drifted through the planets themselves.” “Great to hear. You uh...You still hung up about you know who?” “As a matter of fact, I-” Right before the specter could give his say, both hear a violent shaking of metal and rock behind them. Turning back towards the tree, the duo witness the emerald evergreen swiftly start to furiously tremble; the loose bits of jade shaking off the crystal branches.

Right in front of them does a jet of water breach out from the hard emerald; Damian turning intangible before the gushing stream could hit him. The water jet phases right through the ghost boys body, soon striking the boy genius right behind him. “Kingsley!” Damian screams; watching as his host careens across the garden. Soon, the boy genius is smacked against the shops back wall; dropping down upon the grass with a thud. Witnessing Kingsley rise from the wayward flight, a relieved moan escapes from the phantoms lips. That same relief is swiftly withdrawn when he turns back towards the evergreen; geysers of fountain water breaking out from every side of the emerald tree; the sharp shards of which scatter all across the garden. As he gazes upon the disaster acting out before him, panicking cries reach Damian’s ear; glancing to his side to find the people fleeing from the ensuing chaos. One of these passerby’s lags behind the absconding crowd as he trip right onto the tiled walkway; looking above to witness a shower of sharp emerald pieces raining down towards him. The man braces for his inescapable demise; curling up as he awaits for the shards to impale his backside. But he feels not a single sting to his back, soon curling out from his brace to notice an emerald green glow shining right behind him; gazing back to discover the specter shielding him from the lethal shower with a translucence green plasma shield. “Get out of here!” he hears his savor demand. Not hesitating for a single second, the man scampers away from the ghost boy; Damian’s shield dissipating from the palm if his hand once the emerald rain ceases.

Back upon his feet, Kingsley beholds the escalating pandemonium ensuing before him; whole chunks of the evergreen now spraying out from around the fountain. Oh god. This is getting bad, really, really fast. They got have a water pressure control around her somewhere that can shut all this down. Hoping to find such, Kingsley swiftly scans through the garden for something that fails to blend in with the scenery; an element that clashes with the background as a whole. Out from the other side, his eyes soon lay upon a gray box nestled among a bed of gorgeous lilies. Jackpot!

The control box in his site, the boy genius sprints through the tiled walkway; passing through the retreating garden patrons. Kingsley glances up to witnesses his ghostly pal surveying through the sky; Damian’s attention soon baited by the boy genius when he calls. “Damian!” Gazing down to Kingsley below, the phantom listens as the boy genius orders that: “I’m going for the water control box! Get everyone outta here!” Hearing these demands, Damian descends down to the tiled pathway towards a couple of fleeing people. Hugging both by their wastes, the phantom sweeps the two out of the enclosed garden; phasing both him and the couple right through the glass dome.

Witnessing his phantom friend working on rescuing duty, Kingsley continues his race towards the control box up ahead. Out from the evergreen does another chunk of emerald come blasting out from the tree’s surface; the large jade rock careening towards the sprinting boy genius. Rolling along the tile, he slides right under the careening jewel as it passes right over him; the rocks rugged shards just inches away from his back. Once the emerald flies by, Kingsley leaps right back on his feet and continues towards the control box.

From there, the boy genius hurries towards the patch of lilies; green shadows sliding across the pathway baiting his attention up. Above, Kingsley witnesses several large shards descending right towards his path; refusing to halt for their landing. Continuing through, he sidesteps out from emeralds piercing crash down; witnessing the sizable shards digging straight through the tile. Finding another ready to crash before him, he jumps out from the jade jewelry’s landing; pieces of tile scattering upon impact. One more jagged jade digs right into tile pathway in front of him; Kingsley moving right by the broken piece of emerald.

Within the shop itself, two scruffy looking fellows calmly browse through the selection of flora along the shelves. One of them puts his nose up to a set of blue flowers and takes in the present aroma they emit. “I’m telling ya man. These hydrangeas will really make the place pop. Be a nice site among all those moldy hallways.” one of the suggests. “Hmm. Not to sure if blue really is the color we should go for.” the other doubts as they withdraw their nose from the flower. “Well, what kind are you thinkin about?” “I don’t know, man. Something like looks more natural. Maybe something green?” “Man, don’t fuckin joke about that. You remember the last disaster that happened when green came into our lives?” Before the other gent could answer, a crowd of fleeing patrons passes right behind them; the two turning their sites to the absconding shopper. “The hell’s got them so worked up?” one of them wonder. Glancing out through the window, the other answers with: “I think I might know what.” Both gazing out into the enclosed garden, the two scruffs stare out as they watch the specter and gifted scientist zoom through the scenery; their sites specifically locked towards the racing Kingsley. “Oh ho… ain’t that a familiar motherfucker.”

The boy genius lethal race through the garden seems to begin reaching its finish; Kingsley making out the piping hooked to the water control box among the lilies. Threatening to halt his progress however be another jet of water erupting from the tree. Though none of the shards tempt to fly in Kingsley’s direction, the speeding stream of water shoots right for him. Right on the mark, the geyser of fountain water strikes him aside; the technician sent flying through the garden. Kingsley’s forceful flight starts to take a turn for the worse, soon finding himself rocketing right towards the desert dwelling cacti. Kingsley closes his eyes, knowing there’s little he can do to to stop his careen towards the sandy pin traps but brace for the spiny impact.

Just before he could feel the sting of their sharp needles, he’s is snatched out of harms way. Failing to feel any of the cacti’s deadly pins pierce his skin; Kingsley opens his eyes and gazes up to find himself held in the air by his ghostly friend. “You okay?” Damian wonders. “I’m fine. Just fly me to the control box.”

At his friends request, the phantom teen glides across the garden to deliver his friend towards the lilies. Right when nearing the control box, Damian hears his passenger then order him to: “Now, drop me down!” “What!? But where nowhere near close to the ground! You’ll get hurt!” “There’s no time to land, Damian! Other peoples lives are at stake!” Although reluctant, the ghost boy heeds to his friends request and releases his grip on Kingsley’s arms; the super genius plummeting down towards the lily patch. While Kingsley’s descent proves trouble free, his landing shows to be anything but; breaking his ankle upon the solid concrete. The rough landing makes him tumble back; the gifted technician grabbing hold of his foot as he cries out; “Ah! My ankle!” “Kingsley!” his phantom friend concerns as he starts to descend. “Don’t worry about me! Just keep getting people out of here!” With that order, the ghostly teen flies away; leaving Kingsley to limp towards the control box.

Zooming back into the fray, Damian witness a huge chunk of the evergreen burst from the tree; the emeralds trajectory sent straight towards a fleeing elderly couple. With all his might, the specter jets straight towards the couple; coming neck and neck with the careening piece of crystal. Outracing the chunk of jade by only several inches, he reaches his arms out towards the two; grabbing hold of both senior citizens. The hunk of shining rock however slams down upon all three; the tiled pathway around the crashed emerald fracturing on all sides. Thankfully, all of them remain completely unharmed; Damian intangibly leading them out of the chunk of jewelry.

Finally making it to the control box, Kingsley leans over and begins digging through his pockets; soon pulling out his beloved screwdriver. With but a single stroke, he jams the tip of his tool right between the box and its cover; soon starting to wedge the lid off. It takes only several motions before he finally pries off the lid, revealing the valves and button controls held within; immediately beginning to turn the valve clockwise. The fountain set around the broken evergreen begins to finally calm; the water spurting out from the shattered walls of emerald soon dying down as a shimmering rainbow is left in its wake.

Finished leading the elderly couple out of the garden, Damian zooms back towards his technically gifted host. Kingsley himself sits relieved; a peaceful sigh escapes him as he knows the destruction is at an end. Seeing his phantom friend approaching, he rises from the patches of dirt to complement the ghost boy with: “Thanks Damian. You’re a big help. Your bravery and swift thinking here saved everyone's lives.” “Are you kidding. You’re the real hero here. I just simply kept people out of harms away. You...Your the one that actually stopped this whole mess.” Tempting to rise from the dirt, the boy genius stands on his feet; his ankles soaring horribly upon standing. Watching Kingsley fumble back down, Damian approaches worried; asking him if: “Oh my god! Are you alright!?” “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just my ankle. I’ll walk it off.” Rising to his knees, another question pops into Kingsley head; making him wonder aloud: “Still, kinda curious to know what screwed the fountain up so bad. Piping just doesn’t burst outta nowhere like that.”

Wondering such himself, Damien glides over towards the fractured fountain; taking a curious glance at its crown. Looking within the warped pipe at the top, the phantom teen spots something green clogging the inside. Phasing said object out with an intangible hand revealed to be a solid emerald leaf, a very familiar emerald leaf actually. Upon wondering why it seemed to recognize the jade crystal foliage; the answer suddenly hits him. “Oh...Oh my...” “What’s the matter, Damian!? Find something up there!?” he hears his host shout from below. Reluctant to show him; the phantom teen slowly descends to the base of the fountain where Kingsley stands. Without a word, Damian shyly presents the jade leaf to the boy genius; Kingsley surprised how: “That little thing caused the fountain to burst? That’s nuts. How did it even get up there?” “It’s because of me...” the specter shamefully admits. “What?” “I was the one who carelessly tossed this beautiful crystal leaf into the fountain’s crown. It’s because of me that the pipes burst and caused so much trouble.” “So it’s you’re fault, is it?” a third voice blames.

Gazing towards the source of the raspy intrusion, the duo are joined by an approaching old lady pointing her finger at the phantom as she continues with: “You’re the reason the piping went haywire!?” “Huh?” Damian wonders. “Look at the mess you made out of my precious garden!” Gazing upon the destruction that the owner presented, the two see before them the countless chunks of emerald having destroyed the tiled walkway, but the various flora as well. The rhododendrons ripped to shreds, the carnations crushed, the anemones annihilated, the peonies pulverized; almost every single flower in the garden pierced by jade shards. “All the work that I’ve put into this glorious garden, now reduced to nothing but a bejeweled catastrophe! But the worse of it all is the centerpiece.” Pointing towards the crystal tree; all three of them behold the result of the fountains clog; the emerald evergreen fractured by the burst piping. “My beautiful evergreen, shattered and destroyed beyond recognition and repair. Never to be beheld in its former glory again.” Contemplating the destruction of this once gorgeous garden that he had caused, despair ridden feelings begins to well within Damian. “Look, we’re sorry, okay. We didn’t mean to cause any of this.” Kingsley attempts to defend. “You think saying that’s gonna fix my garden? You know how much I’ll have to spend to restore all this; to track down another emerald evergreen!? How do you think your gonna compensate for the destruction you’ve caused!?”

With a guilty conscience weighing him down; the ghostly teen digs through his pockets to pull out his wallet. “I can-” Getting his wallet out, Kingsley lowers his phantom friends while he insists that: “Relax, I got it.” “But Kingsley, I can’t let you pay for what I did.” “You really think that you or your parents can afford to pay for all this? I got this covered.” A weak moan leaving his lips, the ghost boy puts his wallet away.

Limping through the twilight streets, Kingsley can’t help but hear his ghostly pal beside him berate himself on how: “It’s all my fault. All the wonder and beauty held within that glorious garden, all the CD’s and records that the music shop had gathered; all squandered and ruined because of my carelessness. The very pleasantries that deliver me joy and happiness, all come to ruin by my thoughtless actions. Truly, the universe wishes for me to weep; to wallow in the sorrows of my own doing.” “Step beating yourself up so much. You managed to save a whole bunch of people today; twice myself included. Swooping in and flying people out of the face of danger. You should be proud.” “Danger that I’ve caused. None of them would even have to be saved if it weren’t for me.” “It ain’t even remotely your fault. It’s how those places were constructed that was the problem. What made that flower shop keeper think that growing an emerald tree around a fountain wouldn’t lead to a disaster.”

Even with these statements, Kingsley finds his words showing little in lifting his friends mood; Damian simply staring down onto the concrete streets. “But uh, hey! Don’t be too down. We still got one more stop left on this encouragement express, and I guarantee that this final stop will really make the day. Trust me.” Upon those words does the boy genius lead Damian down a small flight of stone steps; soon opening the door at the bottom to reveal a small bar. The specter’s eyes are set alight on beholding the small stage behind the crowd; hearing the woman on stage sound off a haiku. “The wind is blowing. With it carries the glow of spring. The lily orchid blooms.” The end of her poetic haiku is met with a slew of snapping fingers; Damian's mouth open in astonishment. “The underground theater bar. I was so busy wallowing that I’d forgotten.” “I knew this would brighten you’re mood, even if it is kinda smokey. Think your up to get on there and perform.” Kingsley asks, waving away the puffs of cigarette smoke. “Are you kidding? I can’t wait.”

Brimming with excitement, the ghost rushes to the nearest empty table; soon pulling out a notebook and pencil as Kingsley sits next to him. Teething upon the neck of his pencil, a pondering groan escape from Damian’s lungs. “Nnn, I just can’t decide. What do you think I should write about?” he asks his host. “Whatever you want to write about, Damian. Poetry is a beautiful free form art with only the limits of your imagination.” “Kingsley, that not an answer. I need inspiration, dammit.”

The chime of the mic cuts in between their conversation, both looking out towards the stage to witness a woodland dressed gentleman tapping upon the tip. Drawing the entire bars attention, the gent clears his throat and begins his poetic anecdote with: “Few have never had the pleasure to experience an enchanting encounter with the heart of Asian nature such as I; beholding the unfiltered majesty of the Thailand jungles. The sunlight shinning through the bamboo thickets revealed the beauty reflecting within our precious earth. The elephants marching through the tall foliage as they guide their young showed to me the parental bonds we humans take for granted. Witnessing firsthand the symbolic relationship between the flock of oxpecker birds and pack of hippopotami proved to be a heartwarming example of the harmonious relationship between different creatures. All stunning examples of what we as a species should be striving for.” The woodland gents description of his trip through the Asian jungle lends him a mild snapping applause from the audience.

Fresh off hearing this performance does the distinct sound of rumbling hit Kingsley’s ears; the boy genius glancing down to see his stomach in an uproar. “Esh, guess those fries ain’t sitting too well. I’ll be in the bathroom if you need me.” he mentions as he rises from his seat. “Don’t take too long in there, Kingsley. Once I’m done, it’ll be my turn on the stage.” Damian insists without looking up from his notebook. With the boy genius strolling into the bathroom, he fails to witness the next poet come on stage; a woman in gothic attire standing within the spotlight.

Grabbing hold of the mic with her nail polished hands, the goth girl begins to recount the her tale by starting with. “The waxing moon shines down upon the decrepit remains of a Norwegian castle; the midnight lunar glow illuminating the rustic and dust ridden ruins of its halls revealing a haunting beauty one of which can only behold to believe. Traversing through the keeps darkest corridors, I had witnessed a magical site before me; fractured vision of the abodes glory days flash through the hallways. Passing through these sparks of nostalgia, the very air itself felt out of time; the furnishings and decors feeling new down to the very touch. But alas, these visions fade all too soon; the battered and decayed remains of the castle returning to shambles once more. Never have a seen anything more decadent such as that Norwegian keep, as if whatever haunts its halls is attempting to recollect memories lost to the unforgiving ages. Perhaps the day shall arrive when those that linger within the castle release themselves from the grip of their troubled memories and finally rest once and for all.” Having finished retelling her trips throughout the haunted castle, the gothic woman sets the mic back onto its pedestal; the audience lending her story a much stronger set of snaps. This haunting experience also sparks inspiration within the ghost boys own thoughts, Damian rapidly scribbling down words within his notebook.

Fresh from leaving one of the bathroom stalls, Kingsley draws in as much of the ocean breeze air fresheners captivating scent as he can; a refreshed breath leaving his lips. Ahh! That smells so much better. Certainly beats the puffs of smoke wafting outside. Don’t really know how anybody can live in that nicotine fueled air.

His shadow trailing behind the streetlights out the window, the technician strolls to the sink as he takes in more of the bathrooms pleasant incense. As he turns the sinks nobs, he wonders where exactly the refreshing smell originates; pressing the soap dispenser to find the scent coming from it alone. Whoa, that is some strong smelling soap; the scent itself leaking out from the dispenser just to grace everyone with its majestic scent. Almost as if the air of the very tropics themselves boarded a plane to town just to forcefully jam themselves straight into the noses of others. Wonder who sells this stuff?

Beside him does another stall open, a shadow trailing along the tiled floor as it approaches the boy genius’s backside.. All the while Kingsley himself remains distracted by his personal hygiene. Lathering his hands with the strong smelling soap, he finally rinses his palms; washing away every last bit of the suds. Taking in the smell of his palms, a relaxed sigh escapes from Kingsley lungs; the ocean breeze soon replaced with the scent of chloroform as a rag is forced over his mouth. Struggling against his assailants grasp, the boy genius looks within the mirror to find somebody holding him tightly, unable to make out any distinct details as his vision slowly fades. Kingsley soon falls into a deep slumber, the red swirling goggles once strapped to his neck slipping off onto the bathroom tile.

Upon the bars stage, the Damian’s chance in the spotlight finally arrives; the specter shyly putting his mouth to the mic as he announces: “Thank...Thank you all for giving me the chance to tell all of you my own tale. Truth be told, I’ve had this chronicle on the back of my mind for quite a long time now, and am happy to finally share with all of you one of my stories.” Sharing such earns the phantom teenager a small set of snaps from the audience before him; Damain looking down onto the paper of his notebook.

“Through a man made portal of swirling green, my entire body was cast into the emerald afterlife. Beyond the gates of the dead, I float through a seemingly endless void of tormented spirits and haunting beings; wailing in never ending agony over the mortality they’ve lost. Among the countless lost souls, creatures beyond words drift alongside them; praying upon their despair and sorrows like emotional predators. Floating along the swirling madness, a countless cavalcade of doors rest to my sides; each one unique to the next. Living behind their wood lie the countless memories of the departed, some being little more than single lit rooms, other massive expanses as far as the eye can see; though they all attempt to keep what little shards of memory their mortal lives once held. Soon, my journey led me faced with exotic islands beyond the reaches of the living; struggling against weathers of blistering heat and freezing winds. Venturing through the beautiful paradises of lost roman cities, to the unkempt hellscapes of torturous ruined prisons; I’ve ventured out through the most alien and imaginative worlds that human imagination has yet to comprehend. But at long last, my search for home came at an end; led to the very portal I was thrust into. Without a single moment of hesitance, I bolted through the swirling gate, soon met with my loving parents arms once more.”

Upon finishing his daring story through the dimension of the dead, Damian steps away from the mic and gives the audience a graceful bow. The silence is then shattered by a wave of snapping fingers, everyone in the bar applauding the ghostly teen’s haunting tale. Hearing himself receive such an ovation brings a bright smile to his face, the phantom casting away his dark hood to reveal his long sleeved dark yellow garbs underneath. That smile however starts to dissolve upon staring back towards his table; realizing his friends failed return from the bathroom.

Entering the men’s washroom, Damian sees not a single soul beyond the door; not even a sign of his host. “Kingsley? You in here?” he calls out. Alas, he fails to bait even a remote response, hearing only the acoustics of the tile repeating his call. His sites soon turns to the stalls, checking underneath to find not a single pair of feet. Opening all three of them yield nothing either, each one completely vacant. Quite peculiar to be honest. He definitely said he was going to the restrooms, certain that he was. It’s not like him to just depart without so much as warning, especially during a day out such as this.

Upon pondering this does Damian feel something crack below his feet, glancing down and lifting his foot to find a familiar set of goggles, one of the lenses shattered by the specters foot. Picking them off the floor, he knew right away who they belonged to. This-these are Kingsley’s favorite pair! He’s almost always has them around his neck. Something must have happened. He wouldn’t just leave them on the floor so carelessly like this. Betting he was kidnapped, this is a job for the cops.

With this in mind, Damian feverishly pulls out his phone; his finger resting on the police dial. Right when he was ready to make the call, a worrying thought perks up and causes him to hesitate. Hang on! If he was kidnapped, it’s almost a safe bet they plan to hold him hostage; having him at gunpoint and could cap him at any sign of the heat. Might wanna call in somebody that can make things go smoothly. Thinking this, the phantom teen scrolls up to the “C” list; his finger hovering over Cayenne’s number. Eh, maybe not. She might wind up making things worse.

Putting his phone back, the ghostly teen lets out disheartened groan. It’s no use. It doesn’t matter who can help out, they’ll just draw attention and put Kingsley in danger. Guess its more of a solo rescue mission then. Still, there is one thing that can track him down. Something that Dad talked about a couple years back. Might be kinda rusty at it, hadn’t really had much need to practice. Oh well, guess now’s a good a time as any.

Taking in a deep breath, Damian lets out calming sigh; shutting his eyes as he holds the pair of broken goggles before him. An emerald green aura begins to emit from the ghost boys palms, soon enveloping Kingsley’s swirling goggles in their glow. From the aura do the pair of goggles start to ascend from his hands; the phantom focusing upon the eye wear until nothing else remains in his mind. With enough concentration, the aura surrounding the goggles transforms into a violet hue; soon trailing away from the pair of eye wear and drifting towards the left. Opening his eyes, Damian witnesses the aura trial phasing through the bathroom window. Walking to the small window, the specter lightly taps the glass; the window falling over onto the concrete street. From there, Damian phases out from the bathroom and in to the alley; swiftly following the aura of his friend out into the streets.

Trapped within the dim confines of a ruined room, two thugs finish tying the gifted technician from neck to toe tightly to a wooden chair; remaining oddly calm to the daring situation at hand. “Sooo...why did you guys kidnap me again?” he nonchalantly asks his captors. “For real, you saying don’t remember a thing about us?” the one to his front wonders. “Mmm...Nah.” “Not even the time we kidnapped ya a few months back?” the goon wonder, hurt by the boy genius’s lack of memory. “Eh, ain’t ringing any bells.” “Seriously, how often does ya sorry ass get ganked that you don’t recognize us?” the other behind him wonders as he walks to Kingsley’s front. “Happens more times then you’d think, honestly. Ya mind being a bit more specific?” “The Raw Shuck gang?” Mentioning their identities leaves their captive ever clueless; Kingsley simply starring at them with a confused gaze. “Those three brats you had with ya tore up our sweet hideout the last time we took ya.” “Nnn...sounds familiar, but...You sure that was you guys?” Upon this absence of memory, the two crooks are left speechless; one of their eyes beginning to well up with tears. Wiping the tear off his face, the goon pulls his partner aside to talk in private.

Facing away from their captive, the one goon goes on to mention: “Told ya our reputation’s been plummeting the past couple months. Gotten so bad that this mofo we ganked a while back can’t even remember us.” “Maybe it wouldn’t have took a nose dive down to the earths core and out the other side if we had more than one hideout. The damage that assholes kids caused took out half our gang.” “Hey, it ain’t my fault that some new brats in town are muscling in on our turfs and beaten the shit outta us.” “Who’s even stompin us out anyway? Didn’t even hear a single name.” “I don’t fuckin know. Bunch of young ass mofo’s going around callin themselves the “Yellow Jacket”. Some shit like that.” “You fuckin playin with me here? What kind of twink ass freaks just strutten through the streets like tough shit name themselves after a bunch of damn wasps?” “Well, who names their gang after a psychological test?” Kingsley interjects. From behind their back, the two goon look back towards the boy genius; glancing to each other to realize their captive listening their private conversation. Fulling turning back to their tied up hostage, the two gaze upon Kingsley with intimidating glares; one of them putting their face to the boy genius’s and threatening with: “Ain’t nobody gonna bust you outta here this time.” Both make their exit out; the other goon leaving Kingsley with a departing promise. “You gonna pay for make fools outta the Raw Shuck.”

With these parting words to the two thugs leave the boy genius tied up; Kingsley himself left apathetic to their warning. “Oh no. I, Kingsley Spicer, have been captured once again by a menacing gang of thugs and entrapped under their ropes. If only I had come prepared for this inevitable situation. Oh wait...” he claims with droning sarcasm. Loosening his wrist from the tight hold of his restraints, the boy reveals a watch from under the ropes. Pressing a button to its side causes the watches face to open; a small mechanical appendage soon firing a small laser. “I did.” the boy genius sarcastically recounts as the laser cuts through the rope holding him down. Once the last of his binds has been severed, Kingsley rises from the wooden chair, brushing off the loose strands of rope. “And people wonder why I wear a watch with smartphones around.”

Outside, Damian stares onward as a nervous gulp passes through his through; beholding the run down hospital blending into the night. “Get it together, Damian. It’s an abandoned hospital...filled to the brim with murderous thugs ready to unload their guns towards an intruder at a moments notice. No big deal, nothing to fear.” Glancing down to the pair of broken goggles in his hands, the phantom teen witnesses the voilet aura trail winding through the front door. “If I play my cards just right, I can swoop in and get Kingsley right out. All with no one else the wiser.” This strategy cemented in his head, Damian makes himself invisible to the naked eye and glides right through the front door.

Set deep within the dark corridors of the hospital, two goons stroll past an open desk sitting right in the middle of a big intersection. “So they asked you how you want your pork cooked?”. “Yeah, it was really weird. You told me that pork has to be cooked in a specific way right?” “It has to be cooked thoroughly so that all the bacteria in it get burned off. Kinda shocking that they even asked in the first place.” “Yeah, probably won’t be long before they catch the heat of the FDA. That steakhouse is a lawsuit waiting to happen, just wait.” Once the two turn the corner, their thought to be captive peeks out over the counter; glancing in both directions before sneaking away in the opposite direction.

Prowling through the molding hospital halls, stealthy technician gazes up towards the ceiling; the exit signs hanging over head beaten in. Beyond it however laid another sign, pointing where the fire escape is located. Seems like the perfect getaway at first, doesn’t it? Just slip through the emergency exit and book it as fast as ya can. But with the tempting bait lies an insidious trap. Judging by the dim lights, this place is still holding the power together. The alarm to the fire escape probably hasn’t been cut. Try and walk out through there and the blaring alarm will get the whole hospitals attention. Still, there’s gotta be another way out. Somewhere nobody will even notice anybody making their getaway. Upon wondering such does Kingsley witness a shadow creeping out from the corner; soon frantically looking around for a place to hide.

Out from beyond the corner, disgruntled goon walk through the empty hallway with a mop and bucket in hand. “Man, why the fuck do I always get stuck with janitor duty. Ain’t like anybody else is going through this moldy ass shit hole. Only got me on this one man clean up crew with just fucking mop and bucket; don’t know what makes em think that anybody can clean this whole crap dump with just these thing.” Caught up in his aggravated rantings, the janitorial grunt fails to discover Kingsley hiding within one of the open patient rooms; the door broken from its hinges. Once the angry cleaner was clear from the halls, the sneaking genius slinks away from the janitor; sadly unaware of his invisible ghostly pal searching for him on the other side of the hall.

Passing the pissed grunt overhead, Damian continues to trail through the dim hospital halls; following the violet aura emanating from his friends broken goggles. His trailing search soon takes him to a split in the middle; Kingsley’s energy venturing off in both directions of an intersecting hallway. The phantom ponders why his trail would fracture so distinctly like this; only two explanations at the top of his head. Either these thugs couldn’t decide where to stow him, or...he must have broke free! If the latter is true, then Kingsley would be attempting to sneak out towards the exit. Best track him down post haste, lest these brutish thugs catch him in the midst of his escape. Judging from where the entrance is located, Kingsley would likely be going...right. Having thought this, Damian takes a right on the 4 way hallway; resuming his rescue as he continue to follow his friend’s aura.

His invisible pursuits soon lead him to an alarming predicament. Standing before him be a whole cavalcade of thugs, crooks and grunts, mingling to one another of their criminal escapades within what looked to be a small lobby. Oh...oh boy...Okay, this gonna be tight. Just gotta not make a single sound and this’ll go as silky smooth as melting butter on top of toasted bread.

Carefully does Damian start to fly over the pack of thugs without so much as a peep; as getting close to the ceiling as he possibly can without touching it. Only a few feet of space stand between their countless heads and his body; the specter quieting his breath so not to draw any attention. As the phantom teen carefully floats over the murmuring crowd, he regrets not making enough time to practice his other ghostly abilities with his father; maintaining intangibility alongside invisibility being a skill that would have come in handy in situations such as this. Perhaps once this is all over, the father could explain how to do so without contracting overwhelming migraines.

A trouble that bares its fangs when Damian’s clothes are caught on the ceiling, the unexpected jerk making the mineral fiber tile over him tremble. Glancing back, the phantom had found the bottom back of his shirt caught along a loose wire. Hearing the murmuring cease underneath, Damian gazes down to find the crooks below him staring up towards him. “Anyone else see that?” “Yeah, part of the ceiling moved.” “I saw it too!” “Probably just rats! This place is crawling with them.” “I don’t know, I ain’t hearing any scuttling.” With the crowd under him growing curious, Damian slowly attempts to pick out his shirt from the wiring; his endeavors causing the tile over him to shake. “There! It’s moving! I knew it!” “Da faq’s goin on up there!” “Someone got a stick or somethin?” “We could just stack on each other and reach up there.” “Hell, no. I ain’t havin someones dirty ass dick on the back of my neck.” “Found a broken IV pole. Will that work?” The crowd beneath him gathering ever closer, Damian hurries to unhook his shirt from the loose wire; someone from the band of crook drawing forth with a long metal pole. Right as the goon with the broken IV pole was under him, the phantom manages to free himself from the wires grasp. The crook below begins to thrust the pole upward; Damian slipping right past its metal neck just in the nick of time. Floating away from the mineral fiber tile, the lackey instead pokes at the loose bit of ceiling; lifting the tile to reveal simply the loose cables underneath. “Huh, maybe it was just some rats.” “Well, what else do you expect from an abandoned hospital?” “Don’t know. Fuckin ghost.” “Josique, shut yo damn mouth.” Finally putting the curious crowd behind him, Damian lets loose a quiet sigh; glancing back to find not a single one of them the wiser.

The phantom then attempts takes off from the gang of goons, hoping to gain as much distance from them as possible; his getaway immediately interrupted when slamming into a wayward henchman. Both the invisible ghost and goon fall right on their asses on impact; the entire crowd behind them drawn by the unexpected fall. “You okay there, man?” one of them worries. “Ah! Anybody see what the hell happened?” the crook on the cracked marble wonders. “Think you might have tripped?” “No, felt like I ran into somebody.” The crowd of criminals behind him approaching the two, Damian wastes not one more moment to escape while he’s still remains relatively undetected; zipping right past the baddie before those behind him could realize his presence.

Peeking out from the other side of a thick metal door; Kingsley finds himself having reached the roof of the hospital; the full moon illuminating the entire top of the building to reveal not a soul wandering outside. With nobody in site, the wonderous genius steps out into the night; the cool fall winds brushing past as he shuts the door behind him. Although a little shivering, the freezing night air is welcoming none the less; taking in a breath free from the foul stench of aging mold and dried blood. It never really crosses the mind the kind of horrible odors that can originate from a hospital with cleanup being a constant need. With barely anybody around to keep up maintenance, all the fowl smelling bacteria comes out to play. Kinda surprising then that no one down there has contracted any diseases yet.

Putting these thoughts behind him though, Kingsley opts to take a glance out from the side; staring down below to spot an armed thug patrolling the face of the hospital. Pretty obvious that they’d have the front of their hideout covered, but what about the sides? Looking down to the left shows a couple of crooks creeping along their HQ’s first half. Okay, maybe the right might prove more lax. But alas, walking across the rooftop revealed the hospitals right side to be just as secure as its left. Right, they probably have the back covered as well. And just as predicted, the back shows to be just as covered as the rest of the outside. They’re not really being lazy with security, are they? There isn’t a single blind spot to climb down to and sneak off. With every corner of this place covered, there’s really only one option left to take. Digging through his pockets, the boy genius pulls out his smart phone; unlocking his screen and brings up his contacts. Hard to believe they didn’t think of taking this away.

Scrolling through his friends number, he ponders who exactly to call in this time of need; knowing all too well that calling in someone like Cayenne would risk causing one heck of a commotion and could end extremely poorly. No...a situation such as this calls for someone with a far more careful hand. Somebody who can easily slip into the shadows and go by undetected; as if turning invisible to the naked eye. But who exactly can fulfill such an insanely careful and incredibly crafty roll... Eh, Damian could fit the bill.

Finally making his decisions, Kingsley taps on his ghostly pals number; putting his phone to his ear to hear the dial tone sound off. Come on, please pick up…

On the floors below, Damian himself floats through the dim halls of the hospital in pursuing his friends aura. The phantoms search soon leads him to a run down patients room, opening the door to find before him a peculiar site. Behind the destroyed equipment at the end of the room be a lone wooden chair with a set of rope surrounding its bottom. Picking the rope off the old marble floor shows the binds having been cut in half at the back; sporting scorch marks around the severed end. Touching these marks felt hot to the touch; the smell of burnt cloth still fresh.

They definitely tried to keep him held up in here; but knowing Kingsley, he swiftly figured out a way to escape. The goons outside don’t really seemed particularly alarmed; they must not realize that he’s free yet. Gahh! Should’ve took the left instead of the right back at the split. Guess there’s not much else that can be done but backtrack and hope that Kingsley can stay outta site long enough.

Right as he ready to trudge back through the halls, the phantom’s phone blares out Drakes “In my feelings”; Damian scrambling through his pockets to pull out the source of the echoing ringing. From the side, the phantom feverishly puts his call on hold and shuts down his phone entirely; regrets of not doing so sooner flaring in his mind. Though there’s little time for self deprecation, as the specter soon hears the sound of approaching footsteps. “Who the hell’s playing Drake in here?”

Three thugs soon storm through the doorway; gazing within the seemingly empty patient room as one of them assures that: “Swear I heard it come from in here.” “Think some dumbass might’ve left their phone in lyin around?” the other wonders. “Maybe. Let’s look around. See if someone’s hiding in here.” the last suggests. All three of them start to look deeper within the ruins of the patients room, unaware of the source of the noise standing right beside them. Damian remains completely quiet as the crooks search through the broken hospital furnishings; inching closer towards the rooms open exit.

One of the lackeys soon comes across the chair surrounded by freshly cut rope. “Hey, guys. We kidnapped anybody recently?” he wonders. “Yeah, somebody finally knocked that Spicer brat and brung him back. Have him stowed up somewhere. Why?” one of them questions. “Uh, think they might have got out.” “What!?” From the other side of the room, the goon rushes to her comrades side and beholds the very same site as he. Picking the rope up, she ran through its string to come upon its severed end. “Dammit! How the hell, he get out so fuckin fast!?” “We gotta go tell the others. Who know’s how long he’s been sneakin around here?”

With the crooks alarm does Damian finally leave through the doorway; soon meeting with the blunt force of a wayward baseball bat. The impact causes the phantom to fall to the marble floor; soon becoming visible to the world once again. All within the patient room stares down onto him; surprised of his sudden appearance. “The fuck! Where the hell’d he come from!” “Swear, this town is full of freaks!” “Didn’t even see him at all. Who punched his lights out?” “That be me, mofo’s.” someone speaks up. Coming out from the hall, a forth crook wearing an odd pair of goggles comes in wielding a baseball bat. “Josique!?” “Ya’ll callin me fuckin stupid for blowin my cash on inferred goggles! Bet all ya’ll asshole kickin yoselves for constantly given me shit! “God dammit, Josique. You wastin yo greens on stupid shit stead of crack or hoes? The fucks wrong with ya?” Well, that look like a waste a greens, mofo’s!?” he gloats, points to the groaning ghost boy. Writhing on the floor; Damian’s consciousness begins to elude him; the last words he hears before blacking out be: “Just shut up and get the cuffs.”

Anxiously awaiting atop the roof, Kingsley stands by as he attempts to call for his phantom friends; the droning ring sounding out in his ear sweat drips down his forehead. A disheartened sigh leaves his lungs when the tone goes straight to voicemail; spurring the chance to leave a message and jumping back to his contacts. Guess there really isn’t much options left to take now, is there? Things might get kinda messy with Cayenne charging straight in, but what else can be done at this point. Just hope she doesn’t go overboard this time.

The boy genius scrolling back up towards the C’s in his contacts, his finger hovers over Cayenne’s number. Just when he was ready to make the call, his phone picks up an incoming call; the oncoming number soon turning to Damian’s name. Seeing his ghostly pal calling, Kingsley waits not one more moment to take the call; putting the phone up to his ear and pleading: “Damian! Thank goodness I finally caught you. Listen, I’m trapped up here at the top of an abandoned hospital. I need you come get me before the goons down below find out I’m-” “Hello, dear friend.” a deep voice greets. Kingsley nerves wind right back up when hearing the unfamiliar tone on the other end. “Mind staying on the line as you come back down, buddy? I have a guest down here that I think you be interested to reunite with.”

Held within the dim confines of a central office, Damian struggles to free himself from a set of neon green handcuff. Turning intangible fails to release his hands from their grip; a painful shock delivered to his whole body that forces him back to the physical plane. As he recovers from the sudden shock, a voice to his side warns that: “Slipping outta those cuffs ain’t gonna be that easy for ya, pal.” The specter gazes over towards a slim man donning a pale business suit; his face sporting black markings around his eyes. “I know. These are standard phantom containment cuffs. Only official phantom patrol officials are allowed access to these. How did someone like you get your hands on a pair?” Damian demands. “Kinda hate to admit it, but nabbing a pair of those puppies wasn’t easy. Had to go through a ton of black market channels just to try and find the damn things. Course since last time, we knew that it had to be a necessary investment. A little precaution just in case. And judging from the way your struggling in those cuff; I’d say it was all worth it.” Turning away from his ghostly captive, the man puts his feet up over his desks and lays back on his chair.

Right after he gloats does his office door creaks open, the boy genius himself being led in by a crook with a gun pointed to his back. “Ah, speaking of which, glad to see you back. Allow me to formally welcome you into the depth of the Raw Shucks den.” Damian steps out from the shadows, fervently asking: “Kingsley! Are you okay!? Did they hurt you!? I- Hang on second.” The phantom then turns his sites back towards the man behind the desk, wondering: “The Raw Shucks? Really? What kind of crime boss would name their gang after some psychological test?” “I was asking the exact same thing.” Kingsley adds. Slamming his fist against the desk, the boss rises from his seat; insisting that: “It’s meant to be a bad ass name! It’s supposed to tell others that we’ll psychologically ruin them. Get inside their mind. The trauma we cause’ll fuck them up. Ya get it? Come on.” Everyone in the office stands in the office in silence; perplexed of the boss’s naming reasons. Glancing to the goon holding Kingsley at gunpoint; Damian watches as she simply just shrugs. The lack of a response makes the boss pinch his nose as an irritated groan escapes his lungs. “Where the hell was I?” Snapping his finger; he reminds himself that he cut off at: “Right. Right. Threats.”

Sitting back down, the boss picks up where he left off; promising Kingsley that: “We’re gonna make you pay for crashing our party last time, Spice boy. Those brat you sicked on us ain’t here to help you out this time. Not to mention having your ghostly pal here on his leash. The bust up since then set us back big time. Rival gangs have been coming in and muscling in on our turfs, drug trafficking ring’s been shafted, heists and robberies have been dwindling to a crawl; it’s all been just a really shitty month to be honest. But ya know something?” The boss then vaults right over his desk; finishing his statement as he lands with: “All that’s gonna change real soon once we cash in on the pretty pennies both your ransoms will make. The investments we made in our hour of need will pay themselves back tenfold. With all those greens fueling are return, we’ll take back Townsville’s underbelly and conquer what lies beyond!”

His painted gaze aimed towards the boy genius, boss commands him with: “Now, hands up, phone down.” Feeling the cold steel of the iron barrel on his back, Kingsley calmly complies with the bosses orders; dropping his phone and raising both hands over his head. After picking up the mobile device, the boss glances right above his hostage’s head to find the boys hands balled tightly; immediately ordering his guest to: “Fist...Open.” With those words does Kingsley look towards his ghostly friend; Damian staring back as his eyes squint. Following the bosses words does the boy genius open his palms; releasing a small black ball that drops towards the ground. Both the boss and phantom watch as the featureless ball rolls along the marble crack; Damian’s eyes widening as he realizes his friends plan. The little ball finally explodes; Kingsley giving his phantom friend a determined smile as the entire office is swiftly enveloped in a shroud of white. Coughing up the smoke bombs discharge, the crime boss flails about to try and clear out the clouds; several gunshots sounding off in the chaos. The smoke eventually dissipates, the boss and his armed lackey finding their guest having vanished. Glancing back to his desk’s side, they saw that the phantom has disappeared as well. A small growl coming from between his teeth soon morphs into a full blown scream; the boss crushing the boy genius’s phone with his bare hands. He swiftly turns towards his goon; demanding that she: “Don’t just stand there, go after them!” Once the crook sprints out into the hall, her boss vaults back on the other side of his desk; grabbing hold of the intercom and announcing to the entire hideout. “Attention, my lovable pack of marauders. We got a couple escapees scuttling in our halls! Get yourselves armed and scramble towards the west wing, on the double!”

His announcment echoing across the entire hospital, Kingsley and Damian sprint as fast as their legs can carry them. “You really can’t phase us outta here?” the boy genius question. “Unfortunately, no. As long as these accursed cuffs cover my hands, nearly all of my powers are locked under its steel. Curse the bounding achievements of paranormal technology!’” “Damian, relax. I can get them off. We just have to find someplace to hide so I can pick the lock.”

Winding and weaving themselves through the molding halls, the duo attempt to break down every door they can in hopes of finding a place to hide; most of the doors they encounter either locked or stuck shut. Those few with no doors fail to be effective hiding places; rooms they come across either being cluttered messes or small closets.

Their escapades are eventually come to a dead end, Damian stopping in his tracks when turning the corner. Kingsley unintentionally tackles him down, both boys falling upon the dirty marble floor. “Ah, why’d you stop?” the boy genius wonders; soon looking along his side to find the answer. Rising from the floor, the duo are faced with a squad of armed goons and crook; all their firearms aimed right at the two. “Oh, wow. They gathered faster then I anticipated. That’s...quite impressive actually.” the technician admits. “Yeah, bitch. The Raw Shucks don’t slouch around. Now, you two piss ant’s scramble back your rooms before we cap yo asses.” one of them warns.

To the specters side, Kingsley whispers that: “I only packed the one smoke bomb. I don’t got anything else up my sleeves.” Gazing out to the group of armed thugs set before him, the phantom puts on his bravest face and counter that: “You might not...but I do. Stay behind me and plug your ears.” With that answer, Damian start to approach the front of the crowd; Kingsley frantically whispering: “What are you doing!?” “Something that my dad said that I should only do in emergencies.”

The phantom teen stepping to the front of the pack of lethal crooks; one of them warns the boy to: “Come on, kid, don’t be a hero. Just back away and play nice.” Breaking his determined glare, Damian takes in a mighty breath of air; the crowd before him perplexed why the boy was holding his breath. Their answer is soon given in the form of a bellowing screech; Damian letting loose powerful emerald waves from his mouth. Kingsley backs away towards the wall, covering his ears upon the horrifying screech. The intense wail starts pushing the thugs before the phantom back; the emerald waves causing them to careen into the walls. While some try to block out the unholy shrieking, others attempt to fire upon the bellowing phantom; their bullets failing to travel far as the emerald waves push them back. The constant blast of booming screams starts to make the entire hospital tremble; the walls before him beginning to give way. Soon, Damian’s tormenting wails breaking through the facilities structure, entire chunks of the hospital being blown away by his green screech.

Eventually, the boy genius hears the ear piercing screams die down; Kingsley opens his eyes to find an astonishing site. Before his ghostly friend, the entire side of the hospital had been completely destroyed; a funneling hole left remaining in the aftermath. He finally breaks his stare out into the open night sky when he witnesses Damian fall to his knees; the specter coughing up blood onto the broken marble floor. “Damian!” the boy genius shouts; rushing to his phantom friends side. Kneeling to Damian, Kingsley worries if: “Are you okay!?” Ignoring the boy genius’s question, the ghostly teen puts his entrapped hands before Kingsley. “Get these cuffs off. They’ll be here any minute.” he wheezes out. Upon this request, Kingsley frantically digs through his pockets, soon pulling out his trusted screwdriver and jamming its tip straight into the cuffs lock. As he shifts his tool through Damian’s binds, both begins to hear the echo of constant footstep approaching; the ghost boy urging his friend to: “Hurry...” Kingsley looks back to see shadows he begin to creep out from the corner, making him haste his lock picking. Finally, the specter’s cuffs come undone, the technological metal binds falling to the floor.

Damian witnesses a pack of crooks turn the corner, witnessing their barrels aimed right towards the two. Before a single one of them could open fire; the phantom bounces on the boy genius. Kingsley hears the sound of gunfire echo through the hall; looking beyond his phantom friend to find the goons behind them unleashing their salvo atop the two. Though dozens of bullets pass right through them, not one does any harm to them. The teenage genius looks down to find Damian hugging him as tight as he possibly can, the phantom turning them both intangible against the led shower. With whatever strength he bares left; the specter jumps away from the small cavalcade of armed of criminals and rockets out from the very hole that he’s created. The thugs behind them attempt to shoot the escaping duo right out of the sky, none of them coming close to land a single bullet on either of them.

In his flight, Kingsley looks back towards the hospital disappearing in the distance; admitting that: “I can’t believe we actually made it outta there in one piece. Damian, your-” Just before the boy could speak any further, his friends strength finally fades; both boy soon begin to plummet down towards the buildings below. Both soon land right on top of an apartment building; the duo rolling across the rooftop before stopping right near the edge.

Slowly rising from their rough landing, Kingsley looks on towards the direction of their escape; claiming that: “I don’t think they’re gonna pursue us this close to the city.” Turning back to his savor, he begins to conclude that: “I think we should be safe to-” Silencing his statement, Kingsley witnesses his phantom friend kneeling on his knees; the sound of sniveling sounding out across the rooftop. “What...What the matter? Are you still hurt?” the boy genius wonders, nearing Damian’s side. “I’m...so...worthless...” Taken aback by his self loathing statement, Kingsley looks to his phantom friends face to find tears trickling down his cheeks. “What?” “I screwed practically everything over. I couldn’t keep you from getting kidnapped, I broke your favorite pair of goggles, and when I tried rescuing you, I just wound up getting caught myself.” he reviews, presenting Kingsley shattered lens to him. Taking the eye wear from his ghostly pals palms, the boy genius hears him continue with: “All day, things how been taking a turn for the worse and its all cause of me. I’m nothing but trouble. Cayenne was right. I’m nothing but a melodramatic coward.” Kingsley throws his broken set of goggles aside; patting his self loathing friend on the shoulder as he denies that: “Damian, that ain’t true in the slightest. Far from it. I probably would have wound up becoming a led filled organ pinata if you hadn’t came in and got me out of that nest of crooks.” “But...you still had to come and save my spectral hide after I got locked in ghost proof cuffs.” “And you still went and blew a ton of them away. Even with those things on; you not only took them out, but blew up a whole half of a hospital, all just by screaming. We would have been caught dead if you couldn’t do that.”

Wiping away the snot from his nose; Damian adds with his retort with: “No one’s gonna believe any of this coming out of our mouths though. People like Cayenne’ll still see me as nothing more then a spineless poet.” A melancholy sigh escaping from his lungs, the teenage specter, continues with: “Much like natures mighty lifeline, the graceful honeybee. Keeping their world beautiful and full of life. But alas, those that benefit from them the most see them as nothing but a nuisance, much like I.” “Stop thinking like that. You shouldn’t care what the vast majority of people think of you anyway. Doing that’s just gonna make you get all kinds of unnecessary stress. You know who’s opinion you should really be concerned with?” “Who’s?” Pointing his finger right to his ghostly pals nose; Kingsley simply answers: “Yours.” Kingsley sees that this statement fails to waver Damian’s self doubt; swiftly thinking what he should add to cheer up his phantom friend. “But…even if you still aren’t too sure about yourself. Just know that...you’ll always be a hero in my eyes.” This final guarantee makes a smile crack between the spectral teens cheeks; a laugh soon escaping through his teeth. “Thanks Kingsley.”

Rising from the course roof, Damian stands tall by Kingsley’s side; both boys starring out up to the full moon as it shines its lunar glow down upon the town. “The full moon. Shining its brightest when facing the earth and its struggles. Much like how all of us can shine when we face our existence.” “Glad your feeling better, buddy.”

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Might’ve given credit about Damian earlier, but just in case:

Damian belongs to: @princesscallyie

#lillaxtrigger #Young Hope

[agatha1905]

Lewis and the Ink Machine Au! ; - ;

It's possible that I'm crazy enough to have had this idea of ​​UA, okay, we're going to start.

Let me introduce you how this stupid and new alternate universe of "Mystery Skulls" and "Bendy and the ink machine" that I have invented works. Everything is very different, but the story is almost the same.. Hmmp..

(LEWIS) Lewrence S. Pepper / "Lewly Pie" : Sammy Lawrence / Bendy.

Lewis occupied the job of musical composer of the series of "Robert Drew Studios. Inc", he was very happy in his work that until the owner of the studio (and the grandfather of his girlfriend) began to concentrate on an old ink machine that began to wreak havoc in his area of ​​trade, because they had to go every day to his office to download a lever that caused a lot of noise, so he always ended up being off balance and not doing well the songs he needed for the next chapters of the program. So soon after, he began to suspect that Drew's plans were not going to bring something good, which is why he and other studio employees went to complain, only to be ignored. Lewis, after being corrupted by the ink of the study, ended up becoming "Lewdy Lewis", his friendly version of caricature, very based on how was the main character of the series, Bendy. When it transforms into its demonic part, the control ends up being taken by ???, another entity that is evil, presumably the demonic spirit with which Robert made a deal to bring the ink machine and his caricatures to life. Also, causing a horrible outcome for the other employees of the study. The second malignant entity inside him convinced him that his friend Arthur abandoned them there in the studio, not knowing why he had left, Lewis ended up getting a new objective: To take revenge on Arthur for abandoning them all here, although, finally, the boy discovers that the blond's motives for leaving the workshop were very horrifying and obscure, not least that he became an ink monster, but in part he could say that in what he tries to suffer they are even.

(ARTHUR) Arthury S. Kingsmen: Henry Stein.

Arthur was one of several animators in "Robert Drew Studios. Inc". After being enlisted to go to war, and "fortunately" being returned some three years later without an arm, he ends up two years later receiving a letter from his former employer Robert Drew and returns to his old job studio only to find an ink machine and a lot of cartoon nightmares lurking that were once their beloved friends and co-workers. He have a horrible trauma for the war..

(VIVI) Vivianne Drew Yukino / "Vivi Angel" : Allison Penddle / Allison Angel.

Vivi was part of the cast of "Bendy's Show" as the replacement for the voice of Alice Angel, also the girlfriend of one of the composers and granddaughter of the owner of the studio. After being corrupted by the ink machine, she ended up becoming "Vivi Angel", a version of her in a caricature a bit like the cartoon angel..

(MYSTERY) Robert Mysterious Drew / "Mystery" : Joey Drew.

He is a ancient powerful kitsune, as well as the founder of his old company "Robert Drew Studios". He is also known as Arthur's former employer, who collaborated with him by making caricatures in the workshop with Vivi and Lewis, along with other workers. He is known as someone wise and believing, before he was a little ignorant and too stubborn, because he ignored the complaints of his employees. He almost always talked about something of "appeasing the gods" with the ink machine, as well as the offerings on pedestals in the Hall of Power, some in the studio hinting that Robert could be very obsessed and crazy. When he discovered what had happened with the ink machine, as soon as Arthur returned from the war, he ended up living with him in the form of a puppy for about three years before sending Arthur a note inviting him to return to his workshop that he had "something to show him". Thing that was very far from the truth, because he hopes that with Arthur's help he could find a way to fix all the damage he had done, both for Arthur himself and for the other workers in the studio, that includes his granddaughter and to Lewis. In his letter, it is implicit that the company went out of business 5 years ago, and therefore they had stopped collaborating.

(SHIROMORI) Sakura Shiana Campbell / "Shiro Angel" : Sussie Campbell / Alice Angel.

She was the voice actress of Alice Angel of "Robert Drew Studios", that until it was changed by the granddaughter of the owner of the studio, Vivianne Drew. She used to believe that Alice Angel was like a part of her, that could mean that she had dreams of making her fame great while acting like Alice Angel. Sakura worked in the studio for two months before her unexpected replacement, which she considered to be the end of the world. She used to have a little romance story with Robert in her youth, that's until he finished with her just to leave her, because he had ended up falling in love with another woman, which turned out to be the grandmother of Vivi. When he transformed into his corrupted version as "Shiro Angel," he ended up being gentle and sweet to become a very cruel and sadistic creature. She has great resentment with the owner of the abandoned studio, Robert Drew, who is currently in his puppy form as Arthur's pet, named Mystery, due to his intelligence and strange first encounter with Arthur (story that will be for another time). Therefore, in most of the following episodes, Shiro Angel tries to assassinate Mystery by paying minimal attention to Arthur.

(CHLOE) Charlotte Wenney F. / "Charis Chloe" : Wally Franks / Wally!Boris.

She seemed to suspect the workshop with Lewis, that includes Robert's plans and the ink machine. She also seemed to have been worried about some of the situations within the company, including the abundance of ink leaks from the machine. His voice from his second diary cassette gives directions on how to get some beginner composers to Lewis' office. In one part of her tape, she complains that she lost Lewis' keys in one of the trash cans, and she has a bad feeling about what the boy would do if he ever finds out that he had lost his keys. She is known as one of the mechanics assistants in the studio, sometimes helping with the operation of the ink machine, even though she feels a bad feeling about it. He almost always found himself distracting himself from his work or not understanding what Lance was saying, because he almost always escaped to talk to Arthur alone about anything. When it became her corrupt form due to the studio ink, she forgot almost all of her memories of who she was in the past, making an exception with the Kingsman family, of course, that includes her dear friend Arthur.. To which she believes missing.

(LANCE) Lancelot Connor Kingsman / "Lanris Lance" : Thomas Connor / Tom!Boris.

Lancelot Kingsman here is the owner of a Kingsmen Mechanics of a slightly more retro style, in addition, he is in "Robert Drew Studios" one of the workers in charge of making sure that the endless pipe of the ink machine is kept in its best way, is frustrated by the instability of the system as time passes, almost always said he was tired of fighting the operation of the machine for quite some time, and finally declares that he refuses to do anything else about it. Thing, which is demonstrated in one of its recording cinemas. His corrupted form still retains most of his memories, that includes his nephew Arthur, only having forgotten his name in some part, changing it to "Lanris Lance".

(MR. AND MRS. PEPPERS) Julio Pepper / "Junnyloon Pie" | Selena Pepper / "Sellaine Pie" : The two searchers.

Lewis' parents, or rather, Mr. and Mrs. Peppers, were in charge of the animation workshop cafeteria. They made any kind of meals and desserts, but their favorites were those that consisted of sweet and spicy flavors. When the leak in the ink pipe occurred, they ended up separating from their other three daughters and from Lewis, also becoming monsters of ink. They do not keep most of their memories of who they were before, just remembering their taste for sweet and spicy food, and their three children. Not remembering much of their names either. You can see them wandering around in the studio looking for and calling for their three children...

(THE SISTERS PEPPERS) Canelle Pepper / "Cannyelle Striker-Pep" | Bellenia Pepper / "Belle Fishper" | Paprika Pepper / "Primka Pieper" | 'The little Pepper's gang' : The butcher's gang.

Its corrupted versions are based on the trio of characters in the program who played antagonists. Before transforming they used to be very fan of the series, for which, his brother Lewis who worked with his parents in the studio ended up taking them one day at work, unfortunately everything ended badly for these three girls. They forgot most of their lives at that time, the only thing they know about their past are some memories they have with their family and nothing else, they also forgot a lot of their names, changing them over time, being currently known as "The little Pepper's gang".

(DUET) Duethan Polk / "The proyeccionist" : Norman Polk / The proyeccionist.

He was the band director to collaborate with Robert Drew on "Robert Drew Studios." It seems that Duet did not know what Lewis and Robert were doing in the studio, because, while Lewis was investigating Robert's experiments, Robert got into things he should not lighten up. He had a very mysterious and changing personality, the only time he could be seen smiling was while holding a projector, receiving from Arthur, Vivi and Lewis the funny nickname of "the projectionist". When he became an ink monster, little could be seen of his previous clothes with his dark and humanoid form, in addition to the terrifying projection camera attached to his head .. He ended up completely forgetting who he was before being that frightening ink monster. Of course, thanks to Arthur, he recovered much of his memories in the studio and very good memories of when he was still a good human being.

(???) ??? / "EVIL Lewly" : Beast Bendy!

??? is the evil identity that is currently inside Lewis, transforming him into an ink monster, into a demon, and at the same time, into a caricatured version of himself with certain similarities to the main character of "Robert Drew Studios", Bendy, the demon dancer He convinced Lewis that Arthur abandoned them all in the studio on purpose, giving him a terrible thirst for vengeance and evil powers despite his caricature appearance. When Lewis is really angry, ??? Take control and transform into a chilling ink beast ready to kill everything that moves. This entity can only be heard by Lewis, although he ends up repressing it enough that he would cease to exist within him, realizing the true truth: Arthur never wanted them to die in this place, he left, not because he wanted, but because he had been sent to fight in the war.. The creature is a demon invoked by Robert, who in an attempt to give life to his creations, made a deal with it, with Lewis spying and watching everything that happened from the other side of your door. After that, there was a pipe leak that filled the whole damn ink studio that turned everyone into sad shadows of what they were before. Lewis unfortunately was close enough to the ritual for the demonic spirit to end up sneaking inside him and transforming him even faster into an ink monster. The boy could not do anything about it, unfortunately. ??? He has a cruel personality, dismissed and sadistic, and he is very envious.

The drawings are still in the process of being created, this blog will be edited, when all of them are ready!

¡Thanks for reading!

¡BYE!

#lewis and the ink machine au #lewis msa #arthur msa #arthur and lewis #lewis pepper #lewis #arthur #arthur kingsmen #mystery skulls animated #vivi msa #msa ??? #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the ink machine mystery skulls #bendy the demon #batim bendy #batim au #batim msa #msa au #vivi angel #lewvi #vivi yukino #mystery ben #lewly #lewlew

[amplesalty]

Halloween 2021 - Day 23 - V/H/S 2 (2013)

I’d make a joke saying VHS 2 would make it S-VHS or something but apparently they did nearly call it that...

Random tangential storytime that I don’t really think I’ll be able to fit in anywhere else, a video store opened in my town recently. Well, not exactly, the video store part is just a front. See, in this instance VHS stands for Very Hidden Speakeasy. I was just really confused at first, I always tempted to go in and ask what the hell their deal was but that felt like it would kinda be a dick move. “Oh, I’m not here to buy anything, I just wanted to ask how you guys actually make any money.” I guess you’d get the occasional person who’d maybe rent a VHS machine and a movie or two but that’s not going to sustain you.

Anyway, we’re getting toward the end of the month and I’ve realised there are certain obligations I have not yet fulfilled, one of them being looking at an anthology film. I’m sure there’s plenty to choose from out there, even if I’ve already hit on the biggest ones like Creepshow or Twilight Zone, why not head back to the world of V/H/S? After all, I have been looking at a lot of sequels this month. Plus they did just do their reboot/sequel type thing with V/H/S 94 so it’s timely.

Looks like my original viewing of V/H/S was back in *checks notes* 2017, albeit after I’d kinda given up for that month.  I remember it being..okay? That one segment where those guys find an exorcism and try to escape the house, only for the house to start changing around them, walls closing over doors and stuff like that, that one was cool. Other such gems you missed my thoughts on were Leprechaun, Pumpkinhead and Ernest Scared Stupid. Maybe I should do a Halloween Hangover for that last one, between that and the Christmas movie, I kinda like Ernest.

As mentioned, V/H/S is an anthology film and, as the name might suggest, old video tapes are the medium through which these stories are told. It’s a pretty neat and simple way to do it, you don’t have to go into some grand story or have a convoluted way to tie all the stories together, you just need a reason why someone would be watching these tapes and then you can jump right in. Like, I think in the first one a bunch of people broke into someone’s house and they found this tape collection. Here it’s a private investigator looking for a missing college student who finds all these cassettes in his house.

The first of which, ‘Phase I Clinical Trials’ involves a guy who has received some sort of bionic eye implant following an accident. The footage we’re seeing is explained away as being a recording chip in the implant that the team behind it are using to help test the unit. Sort of a trade off for this guy getting to use it, he gets to see again and they get to help work out any of the kinks in their design by watching him take a shit. It’s also a little bit a red herring, I wondered if these guys might play into the actual threat of the episode but they don’t. That’s maybe more of a Black Mirror thing to do. What does happen is the guy starts seeing all sorts of weird shit which is hand waved away by his doctor as ‘glitches’ with the implant, but a lady who had a similar implant for her hearing thinks otherwise and suspects the enhanced power of these implants let them see and hear beyond mere human comprehension and into the supernatural realm. Which is unfortunate for him for he starts seeing dead bodies or her fat, naked Uncle.

The design of this is pretty cool, like usually with these found footage things everything is from a camera but here’s it’s meant to be from the guys POV so that’s an interesting change to have it more of this first person view. But the story surrounding it is pretty bare bones and the guy himself is a bit goofy even when he seems to be in immediate danger. Like, he sees this dead person in his room so he runs into the bathroom and locks himself in. Then, when there’s a threatening pounding on the bathroom door, he’s all “Hello? Erm...not today, thank you! You can leave now!” as if he’s bargaining with them.

The second tape, ‘A Ride in the Park’ sees a guy riding through the woods on his bike and we get to see through a pair of Go Pros on his helmet and handlebars. He has to stop suddenly when a lady races out in front of him screaming about her boyfriend. He turns around to see a bunch of zombies shuffiling toward him, then when he looks back, the lady is vomiting up blood before she pounces on him and bites his neck. He’s able to fight her off but shortly after succumbs to his injuries and dies.

So we’re left with this eerie 10 seconds or so of little more than ambient noise, the woodland floor and the guys bloody hand in frame. That is until another pair of cyclists ride by and find his body. They’re naturally very shocked by this, but even moreso when the guy appears to come back to life before attacking them. It’s kinda interesting seeing this guy almost learn how to become a zombie, like he tries to eat his own arm and this other guys wallet before he starts tearing into the other guys stomach. Then that guy’s girlfriend turns around and tucks in too. Gee, thanks honey!

I really liked this one actually, it’s super simple but, like Warm Bodies last year, I dig the twist on the whole zombie premise and telling it from the zombie’s point of view. Plus, it just feels a little more natural for this to have been footage from an everyday guy riding his bike. I mean, usually these things already have some notion of the supernatural behind them that people were trying to record, like in The Blair Witch. Speaking of which, this segment was directed by the same team as that movie so there’s some redemption for you, lads.

Now, segment 3 ‘Safe Haven’ is where things really kick up a notch. Clearly the more subdued nature of the first two stories was to lull you into a false sense of security, it even bleeds into this one at the very start because a lot of it is in Indonesian so you don’t really know what’s going on. I don’t know if there’s meant to be subtitles or if it’s just their technique to build suspense. Kinda of a risky one as it was starting to trigger my instinct to stop caring and just look at my phone instead. I wonder if this is like The Thing, apparently in that the Norwegian team at the base gives the whole movie away when they’re trying to warn the Americans. Maybe if you speak Indonesian this makes a lot more sense.

And hey, that Blair Witch thing keeps coming up huh? Isn’t that near enough the same symbol? This documentary team visits this school type place where everyone is dressed in white robes, they have these grass idols hung on the wall and even give one out in necklace form to the lady in the group. Yeah, nothing suspicious going on here at all...

There is this eerie vibe going on where everything feels kinda off but not in any major way. That is until this head teacher type guy starts going into some monologue over the intercom, rips his shirt off and reveals he’s been taking a box cutter to his stomach. Would’ve been fun to know what this guy was talking about the whole time as he was giving off some real Renfield energy.

From here, pretty much all hell breaks loose. There’s zombies, blood orgies, mass suicides, unholy incarnations...you name it.

Isn’t that an amazing still?

The last tape is ‘Slumber Party Alien Abduction’ which is...yeah, pretty much what it says on the tin. A bunch of kids are goofing around, playing pranks on their sister before what sounds like a bunch of train crashes take place but we find out is actually aliens invading, or something. You get the whole stereotypical ‘grey man’ invasion, although there’s one part where they’re crawling on their hands and knees for some reason.

It’s another bare bones segment, just a lot of loud noises and commotion. It feels pretty realistic though in so much as this is probably what a bunch of kids that age would put together on tape if they were just spending the day shooting the shit. Like when they interrupt their sister having sex by having some sort of impromptu dance party with strobe lights and inflatable Santas. It’s like something Phil Margera would do to his Dad in Jackass.

The biggest sin this segment commits is killing the dog at the end. BOO!

What I will say for this movie is that it completely bucks the trend for these anthology films and it has its best segments in the middle. Normally it’s like these things focus on the first and last segments and just rush everything else. If we could piece some of these together we’d have the perfect movie.

#Halloween 2021 #V/H/S #V/H/S 2

[grimelords]

​My October playlist is finished, please enjoy it. From 14 minute 70s acoustic guitar instrumentals, Armand Van Helden bangers and Christian music I’ve had a lot of feelings about this playlist has it all in four hours.

Love Love Love - The Mountain Goats: Posting on the web about Mountain Goats songs you've had a moment with is about as universal as it gets, so here's mine for this month. I woke up one morning with the line about Sonny Liston in my head one day after not listening to this song in years. John Darnielle is perhaps the only person on earth I'd trust to write a song about Kurt Cobain's suicide and he does a very simple and beautiful job of it here. Ben's My Friend - Sun Kil Moon: I discovered Sun Kil Moon way after I probably should have via that guy who was doing parody songs of him last year. This song is fantastic because it takes so long to make its point, and like so much good art is just some middle aged guy recounting his every thought and movement for four minutes. You Were Meant For Me - Jewel: I was trying to remember how Dreams by Fleetwood Mac went and all I could think of was this song, and settled on singing it to myself instead. Sober - Lorde: Sorry to be a normie but listening to Lorde break down this song on an episode of Song Exploder was incredibly good and it definitely made me appreciate the way the brass sounds a lot more. Melodrama really does get better and better as a cohesive whole the more I listen to it. Night Moves - Bob Seger: We as a society need to bring back Power Voice I think. I've been obsessed with this song for months now and as far as I can tell Bob Seger has precisely zero other good songs, which is unfortunate because this one is so good. This also is another song about getting the Lamenting Night Hornies because you heard a thunderstorm that reminded you of the times in your youth that you Fucked and it's, in my opinion, very beautiful. Cairo - San Fermin: This is on the list not only because it's a good song but also unfortunately because of Podasts. San Fermin guested on an episode of Improv4humans and got absolutely roasted about this song so I highly recommend the ep. UFO - Sneaky Sound System: It's unfortunate that Sneaky Sound System's highest played song according to Spotify is the Nicolas Jaar remix of Big (an all time top ten piece of music) because it's really overshadowed the rest of their incredibly good singles. Do you remember 2006? What a time to be alive. UFO (Van She Tech Remix) - Sneaky Sound System: This is my absolute pick of the month and I have been raving to everyone who'll listen but nobody cares, I cannot get enough of it. Do you remember when Justice came from France to bless us all with the secret of bass and we betrayed them by inventing Skrillex not three years later? Van She remember. Charlie Chazz & Rappin Ralph - Duck Sauce: I believe there is a real argument to be made that any song that doesn't refer to the listeners collectively as Party People is absolutely worthless. Duck Sauce's album is a completely underrated classic in my opinion, it's a go-to mood elevator from beginning to end and for some reason has a subplot thoughout about aliens transmitting coded messages to influence human evolution, which is a big thumbs up from me. I Took Your Picture - Cults: Guess what Cults are still really really good. I haven't given this album enough time yet but this bassline has invaded my dreams so that's a good sign. Pavement - City Calm Down: The way this layers and builds into and through the chorus is so satisfying. I love this sort of thick synth production and the contrast between the different registers of his voice is so satisfying as the chorus comes back again. Pogo - Digitalism: Australian electronic music had a real moment around 2007 between Digitalism, Van She, The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts, Cut Copy and all them and I'm realising retrospectively that it was very, very good. Semicircle Song - The Go! Team: The world's best band are back and their new album isn't out until fucking January! This song features big horns and a bridge that's just a montage of children telling you their star sign so that's how you know it's good. The Garden's All Nighters - The Number Twelve Looks Like You: It's a real shame that #12 broke up after this album because it feels like they were really on the edge of something. Over 4 albums they morphed from a straight ahead grind band into some sort of math-prog thing approaching it from a whole different direction to everyone else. I love the idea of writing such an expansive, complex song seemingly just about living in New Jersey. The way it transitions into the groovy latin part is so nice and the solo is just beautiful; and unlike other bands in the same sort of sector they never make a joke of genre switches either, they just keep moving forward with a smile. Paris/Orly - Deux: I forget how I first came across this album but it’s easily the wankiest thing I absolutely love. An 80s French synthpop duo that only ever released a cassette and some singles that got reissued by a label called Minimal Wave a few years ago. It is absolutely the best. New wave mixed with Kraftwerk and synthpop except incredibly french and cool as well. I constantly have their song Game And Performance in my head but this one was my obsession this month. Walking Into Sunshine (Larry Levan 12" Mix) - Central Line: There’s something very authentic about disco songs that are lyrically all about working all week all day every day, and desperately needing a break to perhaps, dance your worries away in a new york discotheque. Cradle In The Crater - The Number Twelve Looks Like You: This is maybe my favourite #12 song because it appears to be about some kind of super child who came from space and perhaps wrought havoc on the citizens of earth, but told in a very real and emotional way like it’s a story about someone they really knew. It reminds me of Mother 3 and the good times I had as a teen playing that game with my best friend, so that’s an added bonus. Under The Ice (Extended Version) - Topo & Roby: Italo disco forever. This song is a duet between a woman and a robot where they relay the story of him coming from a distant planet in a spaceship and crashing on the north pole then getting trapped under the titular ice where he waits to I think murder me. Now that I think of it it’s world similar to Cradle In The Crater. It sounds so good, far better than a novelty song like this has any right to. There’s also a video with someone’s 80s mum dancing with an incredibly shit robot on youtube if you’re interested. Outta The Woodwork - Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett: I really love the covers they chose for this album because they both really make it their own. Outta The Woodwork really sounds like a Kurt song now and I love the strong piano giving the song the harder edge the lyrics deserve and Kurt just lazily soloing to hell any chance he gets Peepin' Tom - Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett: I think I almost like this version more than the original, making it just an acoustic thing but still keeping all the dynamics of the original is so nice. I love specifically the deep bass voice of ‘peepin’ to the high ‘tom’. It satisfies something weird in my brain. Mercury (12" Version) - Bloc Party: I can’t believe i’ve lived this long without ever knowing that there was a 12” version of Mercury out there. The song I always felt was way too short to contain the amount of energy it has has a 7 minute version that well and truly lays it out into a slow intense burn instead. Electric Feel (Justice Remix) - MGMT: Just to get my 2007 opinions straight Electric Feel is not a good song. Kids is a good song but Electric Feel isn’t. That said: this remix comes damn close to making it good. Justice figured out the secret sound and we’re all the better for it. Comin' Apart - Gary Wright: There’s no greater joy than tracking down a sample and finding out that the original song is also a banger. This pairs extremely well with My My My as a sort of extended intro. My My My - Armand Van Helden: I posted that playlist a couple weeks ago of songs mid-2000s bangers with extremely horny videos and this is a highlight from that. I'm always amazed with how much mileage great producers can get out of a relatively straightforward sample because this hums along for almost 7 minutes and only gets better. Laser Life - The Blood Brothers: The Blood Brothers are one of the few bands that scratch the brain itch I have for totally bonkers Mars Volta markov chain lyrics phrases like 'Oh dream machine I'm a pound of flesh inside a drum machine dream'. They're also the only band I think that can get away with having this sort of cabaret swing feel in a song with a lot of screaming and not have it be absolutely unbearable. Camouflage, Camouflage - The Blood Brothers: Where a lot of The Blood Brothers early songs were just chaotic bursts, they have a few songs that spread out into a long multi movement ideas culminating in very good final lines like 'I couldn't see the love and affection it was camouflaged as a jungle of erections, and I couldn't see the skeletal lightning it was camouflaged as a young machete' 16 Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford: The mistake people make in covering this song is trying to match the extremely grim lyrics to the music, but this version succeeds exactly because it's on some upbeat Frank Sinatra shit with the clarinet refrain sounding like a children's song while still being very much about dying face down in the dirt from arsenic poisoning. Take This Hammer - Leadbelly: On the other hand you have a song like Take This Hammer from a guy who really worked on a chain gang complete with involuntary WAH sounds to time your hammer strikes to, and it's still so much more upbeat and positive musically than it has any right to be looking at the lyrics. San Francisco - Foxygen: There's something about the chorus of this song, and they way the phrases of the two voices line up where if it gets stuck in your head it just goes around and around and around forever and it is absolutely maddening so I thought I'd share that with you all. El Manana (Metronomy Remix) - Gorillaz: This remix reminds me of Studio to a degree with the way it just moves forward with no regard for regular structure. It's gutsy to remix a song and somehow restructure it so the chorus doesn't even sound like it's the chorus anymore but just another small part in a slowly winding up machine. Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies: The way he's screaming that GOD IS SEVEN in this song I feel like if Black Francis hadn't made it in music he'd be running a very successful incomprehensible conspiracy website. This is a song I can get very lyrically involved in when I'm in certain moods, nodding my head like the creature in the sky DID get sucked in a hole and now there's a hole in the sky, and we're all in trouble because of it. Cannonball - The Breeders: I like this song because it feels like everyone in the band is working on their own unique structure. The clean guitar especially just comes and goes at will through the whole song, the lyrics start whenever, the rhythm guitar just keeps strumming along. It all comes together for the chorus and then they just go their own separate ways until it's chorus time again. S.A.D. - Kirin J Callinan: The production on this song just amazes me, especially as it moves into the later choruses the sheer weight of the chords is just crazy. The barest suggestion of guitars chugging in the background but blending into the huge synths chords. Combined with the vocals it's the most threatening pop song I've ever heard. Wrapped up in plastic thrown down the stairs feeling fantastic. Water Coast Blues - Honeyboy Edwards: I feel like Honeyboy Edwards has gotten a raw deal from history. When he died most of his obitaries made a big point of how he was one of the last living people to know Robert Johnson personally. Which is an important detail but it overshadows Edwards contributions in his own right as a guitarist and songwriter who had a 70 year career. The album this recording's from is a really good compilation that gives an overview of his whole career, mixed with interviews with Edwards and Alan Lomax that are just amazing. Anyway just listen to the playing on this song because it is incredible. The bass figure he switches into when he says 'when I had money'? Phenomenal. Another Leather Lung - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: The Sound Of Animals Fighting was a supergroup of a bunch of guys from RX Bandits/Chiodos/Circa Survive and bands like that coming together in animal masks to make the most pretentious band possible at the time. There's a lyrics on one of their other songs where he sings 'the artist! the true manifestation of struggle!' which is quite good. But outside of that they did make some very good music and the second half of this song where it takesoff is really something. Bone Machine - The Pixies: It's amazing Black Francis hasn't been linked to a string of murders in the mid 80s honestly. This whole song feels like evidence. Also the way he says 'I was talking to peachy peach about kissy kiss.. [incredibly long, awkward silence] ... he bought me a soda. he bought me a soda and he tried to molest me in the parking lot hep hep hep hep' is perhaps the most amazing verse ever. Stomping Tonight On The Pennsylvania/Alabama Border - John Fahey: This is John Fahey's best song and I've listened to it probably 4 times a week for the last 4 years. It is quite honestly an eternal mood. Ares - Bloc Party: War! War! War! War! I love the guitar in this, because it's just textural noisemaking more than anything else and mixed with the vocal manipulations in the chorus it's just absolute chaos. It's such a shame that everyone in Bloc Party either left the band or had their brain removed after this album because between this, Mercury and Talons it was truly an incredible moment. Special Rider Blues - John Fahey: I can't believe I only found out this month about John Fahey covering Skip James, and even that it took me this long for me to listen to the full version of his America album. Mark 1:15 - John Fahey: I also learned that on account of cds only holding 80 minutes of music, this 14 minute reissue version of Mark 1:15 is 2 minutes shorter than the original vinyl version and I'm completely riled up about it and demanding a second, definitive reissue to restore them. Regardless, this song is an absolute masterpiece and when it switches into the portion of When The Springtime Comes again about three quarters of the way through it's just amazing. Swim - Nicolas Jaar: Here's another quite long and involved piece of music from the other side of the spectrum. It has a very similar feeling to Mark 1:15 really, so if you liked that persevere through this. It's taken me such a long time to get around to listening to Nymphs for some reason but I'm glad I finally gave it a shot because this song especially is a real masterwork. Crimes - The Blood Brothers: A third Blood Brothers song for you, If you didn't like the other two there's a chance you'll like this one because it's much more sedate. This song is also a good first Blood Brothers song because the way the second vocalist sounds when he finally turns up is really funny if you're not expecting it. This is another on the long list of songs I seem to just always have in my head and sing to myself when I'm walking around. NRG - Duck Sauce: Are you ready for the most powerful 12 minutes of your life? It's the entirety of the NRG single by Duck Sauce. I like to think of it as a purposeful multi-movement work rather than a song and two remixes because that's what it feels like. Starting out we have the original, incredible instant power of NRG. NRG (Skrillex, Kill The Noise, Milo & Otis Remix) - Duck Sauce: and next we have the absolute peak of the work, the fever pitch. See if you can guess which part Skrillex was responsible for. I love the addition of miscellaneous woos and yeahs among the already busy main riff, I absolutely love the bass which sounds like some kind of steel drum pulled down four octaves. I love the distortion on the vocals in the second half as it slowly gives you time to catch your breath. NRG (Hudson Mohawk Remix) - Duck Sauce: The we move into the comedown, the HudMo contribution where the drums somehow sound like they're coming from next door like the party has passed you by and moved on to enliven your neighbours. I love the snare building and then splitting into triplets like it's going to drop before the peace of the synth gives way to the rolling thunder drums hafway in. On The Other Hand Baby - Etta Baker: I don't know what to say about Etta Baker. She's incredible and it's an absolute shame that she didn't really get recorded until she was about 70. This album was recorded when she was about 92 and her playing is still amazing. Crucible - Sleigh Bells: You have to give Sleigh Bells credit for still going strong four albums in if nothing else. Somewhere along the line they adopted this sort of corny rock chick thing that wasn't really there in their first album and I think it works against them but I really can't get enough of the instrumental of this song. The distorted brass and string amongst everything else especially. I feel like there's a much better song buried in here somewhere but I'll take what I can get. Pirate Blues - As Cities Burn: As Cites Burn are another good example of a metalcore band absolutely mellowing out into a indie rock band over the course of three albums, and the result Hell Or High Water has turned out to be one if my favourites of all time. This song especially is an obsession, and I love a band having the sense to no longer make metalcore, but learning enough from it to take a song to a a huge crescendo when they need to like this one does. Timothy - As Cities Burn: Between As Cities Burn, mewithoutYou and a couple of other christian bands I was very nearly converted in highschool and it still informs a lot of my uh theistic thought in a strangely unembarrassing way. This song, from their second album where they were sort of caught between their metalcore origins and the full fleshed indie rock of Hell Or High Water is one of their best. Yelling at god about your dead friend is a massive thing to write a song about but it's done so well and it builds and builds before dissolving into a sparse, thoughtful solo for a good six minutes into a beautiful ending.

listen here

#playlists

[thebrowneyedlolita]

MILLI

A long time ago, during what I would call a moment of self doubt, I remember writing to one of my friends this particular message: “ Wish I didn’t feel this much all the time”. I guess the signs were all there already… Now, his reply is the best part. He simply, without any further context given, just said: “I thought about it, but I always end up with the conclusion that I’d rather feel too much than too little”. And there you go. Here I am at the brink of my mid twenties, coming to terms with the reality of it all, and it is slightly terrifying but definitely liberating. I feel too much, I internalise every single little movement and word spoken and to feel for me is to live, experience in strong waves that exaggerate and amplify ‘til my whole body and mind are left exhausted.

My sadness, no matter how little, comes and leaves a mess of shattered glass everywhere, which I diligently and continuously pick up again and reassemble in the best way I can, ‘til the next wave of hurricanes hit the port. And the regularity of it has made me the best of my class at it. I have developed different techniques and methods to regroup and return to a formation, fit enough to fight the next battle. This shouldn’t inspire feelings of pity in the reader, as there is nothing quite as vulgar and easily manipulated as pity. I don’t want pity, in fact it’s not at all as bad as it seems. Happiness for example, can translate into a very strong and powerful emotion to me too and trigger a beautiful wave of intensity that washes over me and leaves me feeling complete.   

For as long as I’ve known how to talk and fully understand emotions, my cognitive ability to process the world around me has always fascinated and scared me at the same time. Every stimuli from the external world has the ability to single handedly knock me off my feet and affect me in such a way that I can’t quite put into words. I’ve decided to scrap up a list of things that I am, the good and the bad, in an effort to come to terms with all of it and hopefully use this as a therapeutic ground for acceptance and growth. 

When I was a kid, my grandparents had a cassette of Riverdance (Irish dancing),the whole thing fascinated me so much I spent two weeks learning the dance over and over again until my legs hurt. I devour books and songs, to the point where people don’t get how excited a bass line makes me feel that it changes my whole mood. Not to mention the immeasurable amount of times I’ve attended a concert and felt my heart would explode, or the times I’ve fallen into a complete trance whilst listening to musicians play jazz at my favourite spot. 

I hate confrontation to the point where I physically feel pain after an argument and my stomach closes up, I frequently laugh and smile whilst walking on the streets which I recognise might scare the people surrounding me but I can’t help it. 

I associate every track to a moment, a word, a feeling, an image, a time and space. I daydream on a regular basis which causes me to miss my tube stop very often. I am obsessive about my hygiene and will floss and oil pull and wash myself way more often than necessary but strangely am not compulsive about anything else. If I think a song sounds like another one I will spend the whole day trying to find what the other one’s name is. I look at colours and images very often and associate them in my head.

I am extremely responsible and I never wanna rely on anyone so am often the person that takes you home at night, tucks you in and leaves water by your bed. I don’t like change to be honest, I love the routine but only if it has excitement in it, if not I try and construct a new set of habits that incorporate that. I dance when I brush my teeth, when I take a shower, when I cook and when I’m supposed to work out. I am not great at sleeping, I am very wired at all times so to ask my head to shut up is a mission.

I love people that are passionate about something, and I will surely fall in love with you if you spend time trying to explain to me how much your passion means to you and let me into your crazy little world. I don’t care if your passion is collecting pencils, just walk me through it with lit up eyes and excitement and I’ll love it.

I love to make other people feel better even if I am not feeling great, I have a bit of a nurse complex but hey it is what it is. I don’t like criticism unless it’s feedback. I have developed a fear of heights which particularly affects my ability to climb up ladders.

I find comfort in music and being alone. I work well in social environments but thrive alone. Sometimes I am very hard on myself and it sucks cause no matter how well I do, it’s still not good enough to my ideal standards. I’ve been put on a pedestal my whole life and I’ve just recently found pleasure in stepping down from it and doing the unexpected. In fact being a bad girl turns me on. I love studying and academics is something I do miss a lot. I love past times and nostalgia for places and people I’ve never met. I’m extremely anxious about missing out and not knowing enough so I try to listen and learn as much as I can about history and science and music and movies and cultures and all the rest this world has to offer.

I can be a bit of a moon in scorpio but I guess it balances out with my sun in Leo. I make a lot of playlists and wish the days of mixtapes were still around. I idealise everything and everyone and it always bites me in the ass when reality hits. I find it hard to receive affection these days because of a rotten apple I’ve had in my past relationships but I’m working on it. I love the mountains and I could spend my whole winter season there. I can be very spiritual as well as very cynical and it’s a weird balance if you ask me. 

I don’t suffer from PMS nor have a painful period which is usually very short lived and I thank the gods every time for this. My mother says I was born to be a mumma and to be fair I can’t wait to have lots of kids and have them wear Led Zeppelin t-shirts and buy them as many instruments as they want. I write a lot and it helps me process stuff. I eat pretty healthy but would down an IPA and pasta every day of my life if I had the chance. When I was a kid my dad used to cook pasta with tuna when my mum was away flying and that was pretty much the only dish he knew how to cook.  Still to this day, I make the best pasta with tuna and vinegar and it’s my favourite dish ever.

I am a very sunny person that lives off of light and warm energy but unfortunately find myself contemplating the darker side of things more often than I wish. 

I am extremely sensitive to people’s emotions and can usually get a good sense of how the other person is really feeling, therefore I go out of my way to make them feel comfortable and give them whatever they need which in return drains the energy out of me. 

I love Woody Allen’s movies and walks at night in lit up cities. I love breakfast, it’s my favourite meal of the day. I have a necklace my grandad gave to me before he passed away and I always carry it with me so when I walk it sounds like him walking in the house. I am not scared of death and would be okay if I had to leave tomorrow cause I believe in fate. 

My favourite movie is When Harry Met Sally and it’s a comfort blanket for me, I used to be able to recite what Billy Crystal said to Meg Ryan at the end. For a long time I wanted to be an actress and got into the actor’s studio in NY but decided I wanted to pursue music instead as I couldn’t see myself living without it. I also wanted to be a ballerina for many years and pursued ballet, frequently visited Julliard with my mum until I grew up and decided it wasn’t for me. 

I don’t get along with technology and partly, I admit, it’s due to my rejection of all things that I find lack human touch. I am extremely fascinated by complex individuals, people that have different layers to themselves and think too much. 

I am scared of clowns and anything relating to the circus.  I have found out after an unfortunate incident that I talk a lot and calmly in situations of danger as an adrenaline release, like this one time where a robber came into my house whilst I was home and as a 15 year old girl at the time, I had long meaningful conversations with him although in a situation of panic and terror. 

He caressed my face before leaving and said “You’re a clever girl”, that episode is still stuck in my mind. He was actually nice to be honest. I also didn’t cry for a while after that.

I don’t like to look at violence not even in movies. I am constantly split between a more tomboy aesthetic that comes naturally and a less comfortable feminine look. I can definitely tell the difference between filtered and unfiltered water and admit I might have a slight addiction to coffee. I don’t like to relinquish control, that’s why drugs have never really had a hold on me. 

My dream is to get to see Michael McDonald perform live. I also wish I could just take a plane and go to New York tomorrow, see Allen perform and eat the best bagel from Zabar’s but I also have rent to pay. I never go shopping for clothes, and if I have to I will smash it out in a couple of hours. Lord knows how people find that interesting. 

I sing because my granddad made me fall in love with it and was my biggest supporter. I love high end fashion but have mixed feelings towards it as I realise the negative impact it has on the environment. Sometimes I wish I could just be reckless and impulsive instead of a responsible routined human but can’t do much about that. 

If I tell you I love you, it means I love you. I once had an outer body experience at a Tinariwen concert and I keep trying to see them live as much as I can to get that feeling again. My favourite instrument is the bass and unfortunately I have a tendency to start many things and never finish them.

I am a bit of a hypochondriac and am always freezing, always. Leo in Titanic was my first ever crush and as a funny coincidence, I too, draw with charcoal. In the summer of 2017 I couldn’t get out of bed, a really special person helped me get out of bed, gave me a job, a purpose and helped me get over it. I weighed 48 kilos, I made a promise to myself one day I would always make sure to never let myself get to that place anymore and I’ve been pretty good at that. I am thankful for people in my life that saw me at that time and helped me through it, I will never forget.

Other than that instant, I am generally very happy and my favourite flower is the sunflower. My favourite colour is dark green and if I could have a superpower I’d probably wanna fly. I have a very bad habit of chewing loudly and I’m tryna work through that. I also have a long time dream of doing stand up comedy but am not great at delivering punch lines. 

I do believe that Christopher McCandless really hit the jackpot when he wrote “happiness is only real when shared” in his diary and I also think that people should put down their phones and talk more. I’m trying to make an effort to improve on that. I think that sums it up, although I do think I’ve left out a lot of stuff for sure. Ah yeah one last thing, no cilantro and Waffles over Pancakes any day. 

EL xx

[dealgemeneverwarring]

The twelfth episode of De Algemene Verwarring was broadcast on Monday November 18 on a cold evening in Kortrijk and you can listen to it by clicking on the Mixcloud link above. Pictured below is the Australian band These Immortal Souls with the legend Rowland S. Howard. So yeah I did an all Aussie band special last Monday but unfortunately the broadcast wasn’t recorded by the radio Quindo software, so I was not able to upload it on Mixcloud for your listening enjoyment. That’s why I decided to make a mixtape with all the music that I played in this episode #12 so you can at least discover the bands without my boring explications in-between sets. Instead of that, you can find some extra information below, in the playlist.  I hope that you all are interested to read this, and that you like the music too, of course. Enjoy!

Playlist:

Cosmic Psychos: Back At School (CD “Blokes You Can Trust” on Amphetamine Reptile Records, 1991)

There is no better way to start an Aussie special with a cracking punk rock song from these blokes you can trust. Still going strong, because the opening track of their most recent album that was released in 2018 has as a title “100 Cans Of Beer”. Santé!

Vintage Crop: Coming Up (LP V/A “New Center Of The Universe Vol. 3″ on Anti Fade, 2018)

Most punk song from this compilation that features some usual suspects such as Exek, The Shifters, Parsnip, Terry and The Stroppies, but also rather unknown names such as Gonzo, Permits, Billdozer (good name!) and Sleepyhead. Volumes 1 & 2 were only released on cassette and CD, so this is the first vinyl compilation. Vintage Crop are from Geelong.

Straight Arrows: Make Up Your Mind (7″ on Agitated Records, 2014)

Sydney based garage punk band. I actually played another song in the show from their split 7″ with French garage rockers The Creteens, but didn’t find a good quality mp3 from that song, so I downloaded this cracking track from their band camp page. They did a European tour earlier this year but unfortunately didn’t play in Belgium.

Cereal Killer: Your Punk Scene Can Suck It (LP “Beginning And End of Cereal Killer!” on Drunken Sailor Records, 2019)

Cereal Killer is an Australian hardcore punk band from Geelong, Victoria, and this is their first full length on vinyl. The band was brought to my attention by DJ Alexanderrr who brought one of their singles to a De Radio Is Gek Geworden episode and I’ve been looking for that 7″ since then.

The UV Race: Hot Dogs (7″ “Queens Of Punk” on Eighteen Records, 2014)

If you don’t dance to this song, you can not be my friend. Sorry.

The Stroppies: The Truth (7″ “It’s A Hit” on Hobbies Galore, 2017)

This is from the debut 7″ from this young Melbourne based indie/pop band who have recently released their debut full length called “Whoosh!” on Tough Love Records. We already played a song from that record a few weeks ago. “The Truth” is the very first song I ever heard from this band and it’s still one of my favorites.

The Scientists: I’m Looking For you (LP “The Scientists”, reissue on Numero Group, 2015, originally released in 1981 on EMI Custom Records)

Very first incarnation here of the band as a trio with Kim Salmon, Ian Sharples and James Baker. The band is mostly remembered as the swamp rock band it became after this debut album with core members Boris Sujdovic and Tony Thewlis, but I also very much like the jingly jangly punk sound of this self-titled debut album.

Lubricated Goat: Bad Times (LP V/A “Dope Guns & Fucking In The Streets Vol. 4 - 7″ on Amphetamine Reptile Records, 1990)

One of the more notorious bands on the AmRep roster with main man Stu “Spasm” Gray. Charles Tolnay from King Snake Roost was another member of this band. Apparently the band disbanded after Stu Spasm was stabbed in 1991, but later reformed with other members including some people from Cop Shoot Cop. 

Negative Gears: U.M. (12″ “Negative Gears” on Static Shock Records, 2019)

Very nice debut 12″ by this young Sydney based post punk band. A short record too, which makes me curious to hear more.

Repairs: Decay (7″ “Repairs” on Hozac Records, 2015)

Synth punk yeah! Based in Melbourne and not a very active band as they have just 4 releases in eight years, two cassettes and two seven inches. Last release was in 2017, so it’s about time for a new single, boys!

Carla Dal Forno: The Same Reply (LP “You Know What It’s Like” on Blackest Ever Black, 2016)

Carla Dal Forno was born in Melbourne but is currently based in London. This track is from her debut full length, but she also has a new album called “Look Up Sharp” on her very own label Kallista Records, and he’s playing this Friday 22/11 in Brussels at the Botanique. 

These Immortal Souls: Hey! Little Child (LP “Get Lost (Don’t Lie)” on Mute Records, 1987)

Apparently this band was formed in London after Rowland S. Howard, his brother Harry and Epic Soundtracks (from Swell Maps fame) were not invited for the recordings of the Crime & The City Solution album “Shine”. They recorded two full lengths, this is the first one and the second one was released in 1992. That last one is very hard to find, so hit me up. This track is an Alex Chilton cover, by the way.

The Triffids: Wide Open Road (LP “Born Sandy Devotional” on Megadisc, 1986)

My favorite song from The Triffids, but it’s not from my favorite album, which is “Calenture”. Probably because I saw them around that period (1988) at the Pukkelpop festival, where they must have made quite an impression on this young fellow that was discovering strange bands at that time... Their sound is polished and clean and not comparable at all to all those other wild Aussie bands I played in this episode, but yeah, I still do love them.

Naked On The Vague: Happy Endings (12″ “Twelve Dark Noons” on Sacred Bones Records, 2011)

Two-piece girl-boy act out of Sydney, Australia. Matthew P. Hopkins plays eerie bass and Lucy Cliché plays keyboards, and both do vocals. “Happy Endings” is a great track that contains elements of post punk and no-wave. They played Noisefest II which was a bit weird, but I still remember that show as a very good one, for a small but happy crowd.

HTRK: Into The Drama (LP “Venus In Leo” on Ghostly International, 2019)

Another duo: Jonnine Standish & Nigel Yang, with the opening track of their recently released new album. Their second record was produced by Rowland S. Howard who became a bit of a mentor of the band. 

Fabulous Diamonds: Wheel Of Fortune (LP “Plain Songs” on Alter, 2019)

After seven years of silence, Fabulous Diamonds are back with a new album on the British Alter label. Contrary to previous releases, there is not one rhythmic track on this record. It’s eerie, mysterious, strange and to be honest I had to listen a few times to completely get the feel of it. Definitely a new direction for the duo of Nisa Venerosa and Jarrod Zlatic. This Jarrod guy used to have band called Oh! Belgium!

Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv: Malaria Europa (The European Sickness) (LP “Leichenschrei” on Side Effects Records, 1982)

Legendary industrial band formed in Sydney. Original member and New Zealander Graeme Revell changed the band later into a synth pop band and made a career as a critically acclaimed soundtrack composer. Leichenschrei is one of the early loud and gnarly albums, excellent for ending this episode of De Algemene Verwarring. Hope you all are confused now.

#radioshow #de algemene verwarring #australia #aussies #punk #post punk #industrial

[afterspark-podcast]

G1 Episode 15: Transcript

Episode Show Notes

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

O: What the fuck is the cereal for!?!  I don't know, do you know!?!

[Intro Music]

O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the generation 1 Transformers cartoon.  I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs!

O: Today we're gonna be talking about episode number 15, “A Plague of Insecticons.”  Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Yes.

O: We open in this episode on a tropical island in a mangrove forest where several people are poling their boats through the forest.

S: It's called the, “Demon Swamp.”

O: That seems racist somehow?

S: Well, it might have been the Insecticons that named it that, actually.

O: [sighs] Eh, I guess.  And loo, a giant fucking beetle rises from the water!

S: Saying welcome to, “Demon Swamp,” ergo--

O: Okay, point taken.

S: What--why--why they might have named it that.

O: Yeah.  Meet the Insecticons!  Cybertronians that are here, now, for some reason.  Uh, Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback, who are a stag beetle, a boll weevil and a grasshopper respectively.

S: Bombshell is also sometimes listed as a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, interestingly enough.

O: Yeah, we'll probably keep calling him a boll weevil but we--I definitely see how it could be a rhinoceros beetle.  The people flee, leaving behind several bags of food.

S:  That for some reason just really looked like fur to me, it was--

O: They did.

S: Yeah.

O: But the Insecticons can eat this how...and why???

S: Apparently they had to adapt somehow, I don't know.  And Kickback belly flops onto the one boat the remaining people are fleeing on, and...yeah.

O: The fleeing humans stupidly mentioned a farm and the Insecticons overhear this and decide to go pay a visit.

S: They don't even finish everything they were eating.

O: They don't.

S: I guess it'll be there when they get back, but ehh.  At the Ark the Autobots get a distress call from Bali about giant robot insects.

O: Skyfire says not to worry, the Skyfire extermination service is it's way.

S: Skyfire why are you so violent now!?!

O: He just really, really hates bugs, okay?

S: Well, I guess they wouldn make an awful mess smashing against his windshield at the speed of however fast he goes.

O: Yeah, yeah.

S: There would have been a lot more bugs then than there are now.  Skyfire then just like, transforms?  In the middle of the main room of Autobot headquarters the--the Teletraan 1 room.

O: And everybody just loads up, and by everybody we mean:  Spike, Bumblebee, Windcharger and Brawn.  But yeah, you're like--can he just fly out of the Ark, easily down the hallways in his jet mode? [dissolves into laughter]

S: Scale in this cartoon makes no goddamn sense.

O: It has some problems.

S: It really does.

O: We see Laserbeak returning to the Decepticon base, radioing ahead to Megatron to inform him of the robotic insects.

S: Megatron, Soundwave, and Thundercracker decide to head to Bali, Bah-li to track down the Insecticons.  (Or maybe just to have a nice vacation.)

O: Ah, again, I've seen what Megatron has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I don't think I’d judge him if he’s like, that’s it I'm going to Bali! [laughs]

S: So I guess they get to Bali and then Soundwave sends out Ravage to track them.

O: And Ravage just sort of hops away following the scent, it's so CUTE!?!  Help!?!

S: He just kind of bounces.

O: It’s so cute!!! [giggles]  They do find a Decepticon escape pod that was apparently launched from the Nemesis before it crash-landed on Earth.

S: So yes, this does answer at least one question I had which was--were there still Decepticons on the darn ship? And so the answer is definitely yes, but this doesn't answer how many Decepticons were on that ship.

O: The world may never know.

S: Um-hm.  This leads Thundercracker to realize that the giant robot bugs they're tracking are actually Decepticons that gained insect alts instead of vehicle alts.

O: We cut to the Insecticons who have found the before mentioned farm and they just dive into a field of grain and start chowing down!

S: Oh my god they're vegans!

O: [laughs]

S: We never see them eating meat or anything.

O: You don’t so--

S: Just like metal, and grain, and other organic, uh--crops.  Crops.  They eat crops, okay?

O: So in addition to our Skyfire group, another group of Autobots show up Bali.  This group being composed of: Optimus, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Trailbreaker.  They run into a religious celebration prompting them to try to take a shortcut and Sideswipe decides to take the lead, going off-roading.

S: You're a fucking Lamborghini Sideswipe you do not have enough ground clearance for this! At all!

O:  [laughs]

S: At all, at all, at all.

O: And Sunstreaker gives his bro shit, uh, because Sideswipe ultimately leads the group into a dead end.

S: Complete with a size changing hole.

O: Wheeljack also makes fun of Sideswipe’s poor pathfinding skills.

S: And back to what white Americans thought not Americans sounded like circa the 1980’s.  It's pretty racist.

O: It’s pretty racist. And yet more people are fleeing the giant vegetarian robot insects.

S: Some poor guy bails out of a combine shouting that he knew they should have sprayed the grass for bugs.

O: Not entirely sure how that would have helped you, good buddy but I mean… [laughs]

S: Hey, maybe--maybe insecticide would have warded off giant metal insects, who knows?  The Autobots show up and exit Skyfire while Skyfire’s like...half transformed?  There's a really weird pause here in the animation.

O: And he has legs while everyone just bailed out of him like, it is so bizarre looking.  I love it.

S: Yeah, but I mean you could legitimately transform his--

O: Um-hmm.

S: His toy like that, so...

O: Whirl too, I think?  You could--he could have legs, it was so funny.

S: Yeah...so a fight ensues as we were introduced to the Insecticons’ special skills. This is why you buy the toys, kids!  Why you buy the toys!

O: [laughs] Including being able to clone themselves, for some reason?

S: You gotta have some sort of cannon fodder I guess, when there's only three of ya.

O: I...well, I mean, the Insecticons actually will act as cannon fodder for the remainder of the series for [the] Decepticons like, their clones will, so I--valid point, they're basically the Veh--the Vehicons of the series.

S: Pretty much, I mean it was an easy way to explain how the Decepticons would have like, large numbers rather than just having a weird variety of alternately colored Seekers.

O: Yeah, this--I almost feel like they should have introduced these guys sooner so that they could that instead of these Seekers that we’ll never see again.

S: Yeah, eh, I don't know what the writers were thinking or the artists, it was probably a weird combination of no one was doing their job.

O: No one was thinking.  [laughs]

S: Okay, so um, so Brawn thinks these clones are optical illusions until he and Skyfire are thrown into a lake by said clones.

O: Then the Autobots flee into some weirdly large corn hoping that reinforcements are coming soon.

S: It’s really, really, really, large corn--it’s kind of amazing.

O: Yeah.  Now about those reinforcements!  Sideswipe’s brilliant plan after leading everyone to that dead-end was to tunnel their way to their destination.

S: He's really not a smart dude.

O: And yet, that doesn't explain why everyone else here went along with it. [laughs]

S: The Insecticons shoot spikes into the corn but Windcharger uses a repulsor field to keep everyone safe. Um, another nod to Windcharger’s weird magnet powers.

O: Yeah, surprise! The Decepticon tracking party has arrived and Skyfire can't transform.

S: You had one job Skyfire.  Unfortunately that job is to be taxi, never mind that you're a scientist not a warrior and you mentioned that your very first episode.

O: And now you're stuck here with Brawn and Windcharger.  Brawn and Windcharger.  Against Megatron.  Ya guys are screwed.

S: Well, also Bumblebee and Spike, if I’m remembering properly, but--

O: Okay, Spike-- without being able to steal a gun from somebody is effectively useless in this fight and Bumblebee--Bumblebee is a, supposed to be spy, obviously.

S: Yeah.  Despite being--

O: He's a terrible spy, but he's supposed to be a spy!

S: Despite being bright yellow, supposedly a spy.

O: [laughs] Right!

S:  No one’s good at their jobs.

O: Except the cassettes!

S: Yeah, and Ratchet.

O: And Ratchet!

S: I mean, Wheeljack’s also good at building things but they tend to explode--

O: I want to--I mean the cassettes and Soundwave, okay?

S: Okay.

O: He’s the most competent guy in the Decepticon army.

S: Yes, okay--also you should probably sit down Skyfire, you're significantly taller than that weird corn.

O: And then Brawn apparently has something against Rumble as he calls him a sawed-off nerd and he's glad he's not with the other Decepticons?

S: So what do you think Rumble’s nerd qualities are, exactly? Like, what kind of nerd do you think he is?

O: Video games? Weird foreign films?

S: Music, maybe?  Legos.

O: I like that!  Anyway, this is just making me like Brawn less and Rumble more.

S: Well, you already didn't much like Brawn, so it’s not--

O: No, but it’s a, it’s raising Rumble in my estimation.

S: So the Insecticons don't seem to know who Megatron is.  The conversation basically went as so:  Megatron--We're all the same!  Insecticons--Great!  Now help us kill these guys.

O: [laughs] Megatron sees absolutely no downside to this, as the Decepticons prepare to fire.

S: And back to our other group of idiots.

O: I swear in the previous scene they looked like they were underground but apparently Sideswipe’s barely made a dent into digging through this mountain, hill, whatever.

S: I'm guessing that was just some sort of wall, considering what I'm going to say next…

O: [laughs]

S: Optimus finishes this tunnel with his chest by ramming through the rest of the rock in truck mode, so obviously--

O: It wasn’t--

S:  --it's not a very thick--

O: Rock wall or something.  The other Autobots follow.  Sideswipe mysteriously turning into a clone of his brother for a few seconds.

S: And they finally arrived to help Skyfire’s group.  The twins yelling, ramping up a hill, and then transforming into--in midair to tackle the Insecticons and Megatron from above.  It was obviously the proudest moment of their lives.

O: You know it was.  Megatron comes up swinging though, getting Sideswipe an incredibly inappropriate hold and then chucking him across the field and straight into Skyfire’s arms.

S: Skyfire’s his knight in shining armor.

O: He’s everybody’s knight in shining armor.

S: He is!  And then Ironhide pretends to be Ratchet again.  Ratchet I'm assuming is--

O: Not here, I'm pretty sure he's back at base.

S: He’s--he’s sir-not-appearing-in-this-film.

O: Yes!  Well, sir-not-appearing-in-this-episode, anyway.

S: Yeah. The Autobots attack and the Decepticons take to the air and escape.  This seems like an obvious tactical solution for the Decepticons.

O: I mean, look, if they could fly in the Autobots can’t, why wouldn't they just be like--alright this isn't worth our time today? Wheeljack proceeds to fix Skyfire who takes off to keep an eye on the Decepticons, while  the rest of the Autobots follow on the ground.

S: He does.  Soundwave notices the idiot following them immediately and Megatron sends the Insecticons to take care of Skyfire.

O: Skyfire wishes for a laser powered flyswatter and the Insecticons call him a booby.

S: [sighs] Harsh words from a group of robot insects.

O: [laughs]

S: Wheeljack shoots the insecticons off Skyfire’s wings.  Actually, I don't remember was Wheeljack flying here?

O: Wheeljack has flying!  So Wheeljack takes off.

S: He's not wearing a jet pack that we can see but apparently he can fly, yeah.  So yeah, Wheeljack shoots the Insecticons off Skyfire’s wings and then Kickback kicks him to the ground.

O: Optimus then catches him with this soft metal trailer, which is definitely softer than the ground in every conceivable way.

S: Somehow.  And at a nearby oil refinery the Decepticons land amid cries of, “The monsters are back, run!”

O: Has ch--has Megatron hit this place before?  Is this from an earlier episode?  Should we recognize this place Specs!?!

S: Maybe this is where the Insecticons have been going to get--I don't know their fuel when they're not chowing down on cereal?

O: [laughing] They’re--they were just eating wheat though!

S: I don’t know?  So Soundwave does his normal job--when we get to Energon situations like this and he's the Tupperware mate again as he creates some more empty cubes.

O: And we're just dumping oil into these cubes and it’s magically Energon, ‘kay.

S: Sounds about right according to everything else they do.  Bombshell drops down and uses his, “Override wave,”--I am making quotation marks with my fingers--um, on Sunsteaker and Sideswipe.

O: Sunstreaker says, “Hey, somebody else is driving me!”  I feel like I can make a dirty joke here with..well, almost no effort really.

S: Yeah...zero effort and introducing another fancy reason to buy these even though the toys don't actually do that.

O: [Chuckling] Yes.

S: You just gotta have a representation of that character that you really love that does that thing and then you can pretend that your other toys are being mind controlled.  And uh, so Trailbreaker uses his force fields to block the override away--array.  Again, more fancy abilities.

O: Why aren't we just shooting bombshell?  Wheeljack has missiles, he used missiles earlier they seemed pretty effective.

S: Cuz you know we gotta remind the kids about the toys’ cool abilities!

O: You realize who you're talking to, right?  This is the person who has five [six, at the time of posting] Megatrons, remember.  Clearly I am not inclined to branch out.

S: I guess they're appealing to people more like me, who have a weird-ass selection.

O: [laughs] I am connoisseur, thank you!

S: You specialize, mine is a bit wider though I do have two Drifts and like, two Ratchets. Brawn requests some assistance at getting close to Bombshell, so Optimus is just like, fucking picks him up and lobs him through the air.

O: Brawn then lands on Bombshell.

S: This is, you know, the second Decepticon that Brawn has ridden.  I mean, first was Soundwave and it pretty much cemented your dislike of him.

O: Yeah, pretty much.  If you hurt Soundwave I’m not going to like you very much.  Brawn falls off, or is kicked off.  It's kind of unclear.

S: Who’s then caught by Skyfire, who is basically (as I said) everyone's knight in shining armor but Skyfire catches him right before he hits the ground.

O: Again, how was this an improvement?  That doesn't mean the force of his fall just disappears, you know.

S: That's true, that's very true!  You--if you’re a human your inside bits end up splattered against the rest of you.

O: I mean maybe, maybe robots don't have that same problem but--but definitely any time they catch the humans.

S: Yeah..so back at the oil refinery we see the Decepticons filling yet more cubes, only now Rumble’s in tow.

O: So...basically, what this means is he was probably in Soundwave’s chest compartment all along, meaning that Brawn is just wrong about everything today.

S: Yeah, the Insecticons show up and Megatron tells them to crack open an oil tanker and drink their fill.

O: Okay, so they're not vegetarian but then why were they eating all that grain earlier!?!

S: They had a craving, they wanted their cereal.

O: They're giant bugs, not pregnant women with a craving!  The Autobots show up and Megatron tells Soundwave to, “Activate the Ravage cassette!”

S: What a way to, um...dehumanize is maybe not the right word?  De-personify?  De-personify one of your most competent soldiers.

O: But we do get more cute Ravage bounding, which makes me happy.

S: He just bounce, bounce, bounce--

O: [laughs]

S: --all the way over to the Autobots. And now it's Sunstreaker that's pretending to be his brother for a shot.

O: In a tussle with Thundercracker--Optimus, Wheeljack, and Brawn end up coming up underneath the pier Thundercracker’s standing on and throwing him up and into the oily water he'd already set ablaze.

S: Thundercracker’s just not making good decisions.

O: No. [laughs]

S: And Ironhide manifests fire extinguishers out of his hands in an attempt to control the blazing oil around them and then Shrapnel uses lightning to attack the Autobots telling them to, “taste to the lightning-lightning,” maybe?  Isn’t he the one that [repeats words]...?

O: Oh, he might, I can't remember.  [He is.]  I do love that Wheeljack’s response is, “It tastes terrible!,” after he gets hit though.

S: It's a good response.  I like it.  Good on ya, Wheeljack.

O: I like Wheeljack.

S: I love--I like him too.  He’s a--he’s a good fella.  But rubber tires save the day, as Bumblebee transforms and Sharpnel’s attacks have no effect.  Oh my god, that just makes me think of the thing from the Mars Attacks! comics and Spike’s rubber boots.

O: Oh my god, that part was amazing.  I love it cause like--

S: Yeah.

O: --the solder gives him shit, but he’s like, “Ha!,” at the very end, it’s great.  Uh, this prompts Wheeljack to ride Sunstreaker into battle and shoot Shrapnel with his missiles.

S: And then Optimus rides into battle on top of Ironhide and Trailbreaker.

O: Like a foot on each one.  It's kind of great.  Seeing as the lightning has failed, Megatron shoots the oil tanker, jumps into the water and then pushes it towards the oil refinery in an effort to blow up the Autobots.

S: Optimus just kind of bear hugs the ship and sort of makes it sink…

O: Megatron takes aim at Spike and then Optimus pops out of the water holding the oil tanker above his head.

S: This is really absurd looking because Optimus is like, 1/24 the size of this oil tanker or something?  He is very small compared to the oil tanker.

O: Right!  But then Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, chucks an ENTIRE oil tanker at Megatron!!!

S: And the Insecticons proceed to say--fuck this shit--and take off with some Energon.

O: Megatron pops back up yells to stop them and then Reflector is here for some reason?

S: He had to get his paycheck somehow.

O: [laughs] Well, like where did Rumble go?  Like, Rumble I don’t think is there anymore, so I’m like, was Rumble supposed to be Reflector the entire time?  Was Reflector supposed to be Rumble?  Did Rumble say, fuck this shit, and hop back inside Soundwave?

S: Could be that, maybe he went to go do nerd stuff?

O: I'm gonna go with that.  Anyway, the Decepticons follow the Insecticons into the air and the Autobots laugh cause this day is saved once again, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!  Wait, no, that's wrong. [laughs] Anway, that’s the end of our episode, join us next time for the season 1 finale, Heavy Metal War!  Where the Constructicons are introduced and Megatron is a cheater McCheater pants.

S: And we don't actually address any of the ecological issues that happened in this episode with the oil.

O: Or any of the other terrible things that Megatron and the Decepticons have done that further affected the ecology around them.  Eh, that’s not the word I’m looking for...environment.  I’m going to go with environment.  Alright, Specs, what are our fanfics for today?

S: We have two fanfiction recommendations for today.  Our theme for both of them is Insecticons um, but so let's go forward with this--I will introduce the first one and then Owls can introduce the second one because it was her recommendation.

O: Yay!

S: Alright, so the first one is titled, “Icehopper,” by Ayngelcat, and that's angel with a “y”.  (It'll be spelled for you.)  So it's in the G1 continuity, it's rated G, uh, it's rated--its Gen, there aren't any pairings. It’s just a cute little short thing.  So characters are: Shrapnel, Bombshell and Kickback.  And so, the authors summary is, “Another fic I wrote a while back which I've hauled from an obscure place.  The time of year seems appropriate.  I confess to it being a favorite besides which, insecticons needs love.”  So this is actually set during…

O: The winter, or…?

S: Yes, it’s set during the winter.

O: Ah.

S: Originally written for the TF_speedwriting, with the prompt, “Snow White,” and summary, summary is, “Kickback has fun in the snow which does not provide quite so much fun to fellow insecticons, and there's a warning for extreme Insecta-fluff.”

O: [chuckles]

S: With a smiley face.  So ya, recommendat-- the theme or here--whatever is, “Insecticons,” lots of Insecticon cuteness.

O: And my recommendation for today is, “Unusual Subjects to Take Up in Therapy,” by Sparklight.  Continuity for this is Shattered Glass, which is one of my favourite continuities ever and um, I just happened to remember that uh, Shattered Glass Bombshell was in this and recommended it for it.  The rating is G, the--it is Gen, there are no pairings though I will admit I feel like I get some Cliffjumer, uh, Bombshell vibes in this but um, but it's not listed that way.  Characters are: Regular universe Cliffjumper, Shattered Glass Bombshell, Shattered Glass Starscream, Shattered Glass Sideswipe and Shattered Glass Megatron.

Summary, “After Megatron expresses concern over how Cliffjumper is handling his new situation and Cliffjumper insists he's doing FINE, he still ends up talking to Bombshell about alternates, the differences between his native reality and this one (and the people in it) and, just a little, about how he's dealing with it.  At first reluctantly, and later less so.”  The theme for this was Bombshell, basically (and the Insecticons).

So, some background on the Shattered Glass universe and the plot in the main Shattered Glass stuff is that the normal Cliffjumper actually ends up there and ends up a allying himself with the Shattered Glass Decepticons, who are the good guys in this universe.  I quite like this fic, I want to say it's like five or six chapters long but it is complete um, and I just enjoy getting to read anything with Shattered Glass in it but I thought characterizations in this were good and we don't actually get to see a ton of Shattered Glass Bombshell material, so it was interesting.

S: Sounds good, and we’ve got fanart today!

O: We do!  So, our fanartist for today is Red or Russet Red, I'm not entirely sure which one they go by.  We will have additional links to their stuff on our Tumblr but the stuff that we will list on at least AO3 is that Russet Red has a Tumblr, Twitter, and an Instagram.  They tend to do a lot of ID-IDW stuff, though I think there's probably more stuff on there too?  There is a variety of characters, uh, the IDW continuity as far as I can tell.  Some really cute stuff, ranging from sprite art, to sketches, and finished pieces.  They have mine--my undying gratitude for making adorable Coswave fluff, yes!

Uh, our three art recommendations for the day are, a sleepy ambulance--which is Ratchet related.  A Coswave sprite they did which is super cute, and then some Minimus fanart, where he is holding a bunch flowers, that I just thought was cute.

S: Sounds adorable.

O: I really recommend them, their art style’s pretty damn fucking cute!

S: Okay, and so that just about wraps it up for us today.  Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort at Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at Afterspark Pod (all one word) and various other locations as Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, iTunes, Google Podcasts Stitcher and YouTube, just to name a few.  Till next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I'm Owls!

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music]

#afterspark podcast #transcript #g1 episode 15