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If I had a nickel for every time Mr. Herkabe dressed in gym clothes, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice in nine episodes.

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Happy 62nd, Lionel Herkabe

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You always have to put your best foot forward with the organizers at the Academic Octathlon, even when one appears in the midst of plotting against asthmatics on an opposing team.

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Playing spot the GPA plaque

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Poetry boy’s getting high

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I feel like this song suits Francis (especially directly post-move-to-Alaska).

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Are you still into Ballmastrz cuz I need some more fan content after the show ended

Totally. My interest in the show has been kinda dormant (my life is one all-consuming obsession after another), but I still love it dearly, and would be excited to draw/write more if the mood strikes. I miss the show. Rubicon was excellent at the time simply because I got to see the Leptons again, and it's still great in its own right, but the regular two seasons before the plot twist (Ballmastrz Proper...) are where it's at IMO.

I can't say when it would be, but who knows - I may make some more content down the line!

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Would you accept commissions?

Not at the moment - sorry. I very much appreciate you asking, though. 🙂

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Leah of Jen's roommate fame.

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Where were you when Goat was severely humbled at the end of episode 13?

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Jen and Goat being gross (look at how much fun Jen is having!) during the latter’s pregnancy.

I’ve always liked to think that they had a friends-with-benefits stint in the time between Goat and Kasey (pregnancy arc love interest… look it UP!) (navigate to a few Downtown posts ago) establishing some distance between themselves and their child being born. Goat and Jen are my favorite Downtown pair.  For Jen, it was the chance combination of Alex reconnecting with Serena around the same time (this time with a bit more maturity and insight) and her newfound outfit-swap-forged appreciation for Goat from last Halloween (and a splash of loneliness). Goat is, well, himself, so they looked at each other one day, despite the new and unusual circumstances of his life, like: “Ok, so��are we doing this?”  Nonetheless, despite their mutual (somewhat begrudging on Jen’s part) attraction, their tryst was short-lived… though this didn’t disqualify Jen from being so fortunate to accompany a decidedly pain-stricken Goat in his hour of need, whisked away in a taxi from Chaka’s graduation party in June 2000. You keeping up with me?  (It was a false alarm.)

Btw, Goat’s outfit here is not only inspired by the fact that it tends to be warm for a male cartoon character weathering the latter stages of pregnancy in Manhattan in late spring, but also by an apparent cameo from a film called NerdIand. I haven’t been able to see the movie (I don’t think it’s a speaking role?), but a still can be found here. APA-format bibliography of my other sources to follow.

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Manhattan’s it-girls! Life is all about having a friend who will scurry around the city with you in hot pursuit of your personal Polaroids, who will faithfully hide with you in the woods from the main characters of New Jersey urban legends, who will accompany you in mooning an unfriendly train passenger during a battle-of-the-sexes Coney Island race, and whose name has the same cadence as yours.

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Mpreg-adjacent... Chaka and Mecca discuss our protagonist's pregnancy. Results may vary.

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You're laughing. Two humanoid pigs wearing spacesuits for an undetermined reason put out his cigarette and broke his beer with their hooves, and you're laughing.

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Don’t you hate when you turn your back for a minute at your dead-end copy job (sorry, dead-end desktop publishing job), and all of a sudden, one half of your sister’s cool teen quartet along with your horndog conspiracist friend are holding paper products (er, helping with a big job) and flapping their lips about the latter’s fairly new unplanned pregnancy?

It was just a coincidence that Goat swung by to visit Alex at Repro Man’s shortly after Fruity and Matt came in, and even though they had heard through Chaka (who, naturally, knew because of Alex) that the older man was in a “delicate” condition, it was their first time bumping into him in person since.

Hearing Fruity’s compliments, Matt turned around from the poster in his hands. “Oh, hey, Goat,” he greeted him.

“Hey, Matt, what’s up?”  

“Probably nothing compared to what’s up with you, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Goat coughed.

“Yeah, you know, my cousin just had a baby a couple months ago,” Matt offered up. “I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy for her, but she said it was totally worth it. You know, yin and yang and all that.”

“Hey, I don’t think this situation calls for the poetry.” Fruity made a disapproving smacking sound with his lips.  “Man, can’t you just leave this beautiful thing be?” Goat smirked.

“Chill out, alright?” said Matt, gingerly transferring a large stack of paper from Fruity’s hands to his own and placing it by the copier. “I was just going to ask how he’s taking it.”

“Well,” Goat said emphatically. “Do you want the miracle-of-life Demi Moore Vanity Fair edition, or the cold unabridged truth?” His words conjured an image of himself, au naturel and assuming the pose of the actress, which subsequently splintered and fell away like a broken pane of glass.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less than the second one from you.” Matt smiled.

“Oh, it’s fuckin’ brutal,” he asserted. “Imagine the most head-splitting zombifying hangover, with none of the fun from the night before.”

Fruity raised his eyebrows. “None?”

“Oooh, rough…” Matt mumbled sympathetically.

“My back hurts all time. Everything’s sweaty. Plus, on top of that, I can’t really see my junk. It makes for a challenge when women’s volleyball is on and I wanna –”

“Alright, alright…” Matt’s laugh cut the description of his plight short. “I think we get the picture.”

“Hey, we’re all guys here!” grinned Fruity, giving an open-palmed shrug.

“I will say, it’s not a total loss,” Goat went on. “I seem to have unlocked a brand-new level of savoring life’s pleasures.”

“Oh, because you had trouble with that before, right?” teased Matt.

“Eh, I don’t know, but this baby must love Ring-Dings and Bud Light.”

“Hey, and at least the ladies eat up this stuff,” Fruity said. “You know, feeling the baby kick and comparing its size to a dill pickle and crap. They must be all over you.”

“Uh, yeah, yeah, right on.” Goat looked past him, letting out a sigh. “Is there a bathroom in this place? I gotta take a leak.”

“Yeah, right over by the back wall,” said Matt.

“I won’t keep you,” Fruity added, motioning in the general direction of the door.

So anyway, when it comes to Fruity’s comment re: the “fairer sex” and pregnancy, I would be remiss not to mention the kindred spirit Goat hit it off with, the child’s second parent (seen in my Downtown posts of yesteryear. However, I did change her name for some reason. Friendship ended with “Jackie”, “Kasey” is my best friend now). *clears my throat and shuffles flashcards* There came a point of awareness that despite their similarities, they were at really different life stages (Goat had been doing his own thing for years, but Kasey, a trans woman who was Goat’s age, had been living as herself for a fraction of that and was relishing her freedom) and while Goat initially hadn’t changed his lifestyle a bit to accommodate the pregnancy, she didn’t want to live like him forever and begrudged his seeming lack of trying. Words were exchanged, and the pair went their separate ways. Not to worry – they would soon rekindle, and both put forth effort to be healthier (in Goat’s case, he was mostly propelled by the knowledge of his physical condition; in Kasey’s, she was inspired to show a sort of solidarity with him, plus she would soon be a parent as well, despite not physically being pregnant).  But given their respective issues, neither swayed the other in a positive direction, and they soon reached the disappointing yet amicable conclusion that they were perhaps too alike to remain close. And in the midst of that, they just knew neither of them were cut out to raise children (what were we thinking?) – so wish granted for a lucky adoptive parent(s). But I digress… I wonder if some of this diverted him from regaling Fruity and Matt with salacious tales when given the opportunity.

Also, by the way? Even though Fruity was being facetious in my picture and Goat wouldn’t name his offspring after himself, he and the aforementioned second parent did discover at an ultrasound (the first and only; Goat completely forgot about an appointment scheduled earlier in the pregnancy 😑) that the fetus was male. Goat after he and Kasey exchanged an overwhelmed glance and muttered fragmented agreeable noises upon being asked if they were interested in finding out the baby’s sex today: “Rock on! Built-in apprentice and wingman, here I come…” *medical technician politely chuckling intensifies*

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Downtown shirt pre-ordering unexpectedly started today.

(Link to all designs below for anyone who wants it!)