#i'm strongly suspecting some people played a very different game than i did

[silvexus]

Thinking about how fandom tends to forget that powerful characters can be... gentle, yes, but also they can be a little pathetic. Specifically, Alex Mercer from Prototype. Yeah, he’s absurdly strong physically, but emotionally he’s a mess. He has no sense of internal purpose other than Find Information and Do Whatever Someone (Usually a Woman; Usually Dana) Tells Him To Do. The only thing he really has his own initiative for is hunting down Karen Parker after her betrayal and taking the FIREBREAK nuke out over the Atlantic. There’s really a solid chance that the more people and information he collects, he’ll eventually end up like WOPR’s series of tic-tac-toe games and just become paralysed because every move he could potentially make could bring Blackwatch back down on him and his sister. He’s the most power individual on the planet except maybe PARIAH and that means nothing because power means nothing when you are physically outnumbered. Maybe he has nothing to fear personally, but everyone around him? Vulnerable. And no one is strong enough for that. Not even ZEUS. Really. What could be worse than that? What could be better?

[aromantic-diaries]

Okay, so! Saw the post about being shocked that prom is a real thing, and I have a bit of a long roundabout question.

I am an american aroace who went to prom all of once, and I think the concept is both dumb and overrated. I went because a foreign exchange student in our friend group wanted to go and wanted all of us to come (only two people had dates, the rest of us went in a big gaggle of friends).

Prom was. . Very weird. I had a lot of fun with the pre-prom, where we threw knives and axes and played board games, but at the actual dance, I just sat with two other friends that I strongly suspect are also aspec and we read Goose Girl until we couldn't hear over the music and then played hangman the whole time. I danced the waltz with my brother once (competitve ballroom dancer who actually knew what he was doing), and we all did the chicken dance, and we otherwise sat at a table in the back the whole time. We were very weirded out by the mutliple mosh pits formed and didn't get point of slow dancing if you don't know any dance steps.

I am curious about big traditional romantic events that other cultures/places have and how the aromantic community experienced it differently. Like, there's obviously the whole thinking it is dumb and/or overrated aspect, but did you or anyone you know go to any traditional romantic events and kinda miss the point of the experience and do something you weren't really supposed to instead, like I did?

Sorry this is so long, and sorry if it doesn't make sense, I'm just curious about how this kind of thing worked out for other aros.

We have somewhat of a similar tradition in hungary but it's not quite the same as american prom. It's an event held for the graduating classes every year and the main point is when you and your classmates receive this ribbon that I think is sort of symbolic of you reaching the end of high school and beginning to prepare for adulthood or something, it's a landmark of sorts. Aside from the ribbons there's also speeches given by the teachers and the principal, as well as teachers, every class has to make a video (most were montages of photos and videos from over the years but my class made a short film where everyone said something they remembered from school and we were all filmed from our worst angles) and there is dancing but unlike american prom, it's a performance. There's a waltz where everyone dresses up in fancy clothes, and the class dance which is more modern and each class has to get creative. Both of them are choreographed and are performed in front of your parents, teachers and other loved ones at the event, and though the waltz is done in pairs it is hardly romantic, my class had one pair who were actually a couple. The two trans guys in my grade who were out as trans got to dance as guys but I wasn't so lucky since I'm closeted and had to put my dysphoria aside and wear a dress. I also had to take a bullet for all the girls in my class because I got paired up with the one guy I'm pretty sure nobody wanted to dance with (he's not a bad person, just kind of weird), it was mostly because I was taller than pretty much all the girls and also a lot of the guys in my class and he was among the taller ones. Between the dances there were also musical performances by people from my school to give us time while changing. There's an after party once the event is done which is usually held at some club but before you leave there's some time for the students to dance with their parents, my dad didn't dance with me cause I think he knew I hated this whole ordeal and I'm quite thankful because the cheap fancy-looking shoes I got for the event were hurting my feet like hell.

The preparation for the whole thing was an absolute nightmare, the dance practices were dreadful, acquiring the dress for the waltz was stressful as hell, but it all did come together nicely in the end. Most of the time it's held in winter but ours was much earlier in october so we had much less time to prepare. To tell you the truth I don't think I was quite there mentally when it finally went down, I just spaced out and temporarily got replaced with a pretty girl. My friends didn't even recognize me at first and it's not like I even had a drastic makeover other than putting on a nice dress, the only makeup I had on was colored chapstick. The whole thing feels less like a memory of something that actually happened and more like a weird dream that I know was vivid when I had it but faded into vague details once I woke up.

[sleepdepravity]

obscure "walk around a cool place and pick stuff up" games

a lot of the games i enjoy and love playing are games where i just walk around a place and pick stuff up. "stuff" can be collectibles, or it can be story, or lore, or pictures of creatures, or quests to complete. there are no enemies. there are some puzzles. whenever i see a game and it has a premise that promises walking around and picking up collectibles, i am compelled very strongly to get it. i don't know how i find these games. steam just cultivates them for me sometimes.

anyways i think i'm gonna order these in some haphazard subcategories as well, from "story-heavy/driven" to "not"

walk around a cool place and get a story

i really expected this to have more reviews than it did! you're just a gal. going around in the space river. finding artifacts to learn an alien language and figure out history. the main crux of this game is puzzling out the language, and you can make guesses on the words. the language is logical, actually, so you could potentially figure out the words yourself before the game will fully confirm it for you, and that's honestly fun. you also have a robot buddy. i thought this game was very neat. also i guess there's a mystery involved too.

you're an astronaut who got sent up to the moon to give power back to earth (i forget how you do this, it probably involves. solar power. maybe.) anyways, this means that you walk around this abandoned decrepit space station, which i find fun, and you can find and pick up lore and read it if you'd like. (yet another space game, huh...) you're mainly just walking around and doing puzzles and stuff. on the moon (actually i guess this one maybe shouldn't be considered obscure either? quite a bit of reviews.)

I remember being put off by one of the....twists? of the story. involving you and your sidekick. I think it's a twist that they get out of the way rather quickly, though and it didn't bother me much. I liked the environments, and I liked walking around a town and going into people's houses and finding out mysteries. exactly my shit.

there's an AI in this game and i liked it. This game involves, uh, AI chat, i guess? y'know. you type in a console, and then the game has the AI spits out responses. that's part of the game. you get to make friends with the AI. it's been a while since i've played this, but the game was made in 2016, so I suspect that the engine for, generating responses to text maybe isn't the most robust at this point. but i mean, once again, space! walking around a space station, looking at things. AIs. good stuff. people in the reviews going like "we need chatgpt in this game" shut up. that's not gonna help actually. how are you gonna translate chat gpt responses to gameplay interaction and progression? huh??? hm??????

in this "walk around a place and get a story" game, you're accompanied by a ghost. There's a story you sorta have to sus out, about the people and village and what happened. You get to find little letters and small lore things and i love that shit. I also like hauntings. you are very much haunted by a ghost. there is a plot development in the end regarding the ghost that i really enjoy.

this is a fun premise, where the place you're walking around in is "an incomplete game." There's a whole narrative of nightmare development and developer infighting. Because the conceit of this game is that, it's literally an unfinished game, you can also hack elements in the game to do things, such as, not fight or hurt me. which i like because fighting is the worst part of any game. the ending has like a few different ways it can go, which is fun.

another timeloop game, but sort of a lowkey one. you're walking around a place in like. the last ten seconds before its destruction. you go around to landmarks and look at stuff and find. secrets? secrets. it's been a LONG time since i've played this game actually. but you sure do walk around and look at things!

okay, THIS one is sort of a weird one. and you don't exactly "walk" around a place. and also, there's not exactly a story to find. you do "have" to find, like, logs. as in, there are text logs to find, i guess. and those text logs probably comprise a story. but for the most part, it really is just pretty to look at and mess with. i cannot for the life of me explain what any of those controls do.

You go around a place in a boat, and i do like sailing. There,s a lot more, uh, jumping and avoiding monsters and gameplay stuff in this one. though i guess "a lot more" doesn't say much when you compare it to, "none at all." One of the collectibles in this game is seagulls. I don't think I found all the seagulls but I would have liked to. The water is very pretty.

walk around a place and finish quests/solve puzzles

a very silly game. there is, sort of a story i guess, you're supposed to meet up with your girlfriend. also, i guess this is post-apocalypse??? you're in a post apocalyptic world surrounded by nothing but dogs and also your girlfriend is here too somewhere. also, the airport signs are all in an alien language so if you want to catch your flight you have to pay attention. Also, there's a dog compendium. you collect dogs in your compendium. i love collecting thigns in compendiums.

I think this counts in this category. I don't remember any particularly huge plot. you walk around to cities and stuff and talk to other people and make paintings. maybe you sell them sometimes. sometimes people will give you quests. No mysteries. I think. it's pretty. I like the environments and poking around in nooks.

cute game. you're trying to help maintain a park! which means you also walk around and explore a park, and do quests for the park, and clean the park up. (another thing i like in games is cleaning things. this is not true to real life.) you're also a bird and that's nice.

I was contemplating whether to put this under "walk around a cool place and get a story" or not, because there is dialogue, and you do, kinda talk to someone? But at the same time, i feel like the main crux of the game was going around and collecting things and doing some biology shit. I think the biology thing is neat. i didn't care about the story i just wanted to find biology things and catalogue the animals in this ocean.

recently finished this. it's rather cute, a platformer where you go around and deliver mail (do quests) for people. very small and short game. there are a lot of birds!!!!!

this one is on the "puzzle" side of the. uh. genre. the environments are very neat, and i love the paper beasts thERE'S A SANDBOX MODE?????? WHAT????????? anyways the environment is fun, and i like messing around with those paper beasts. and being near them and seeing the fun ways they move.

very cute animals, very cute frogs, very cute style. really liked the humor. i really liked talking to these animals. volleyball was annoying, though. I think volleyball is annoying. but that's okay i forgive it.

this game is ALSO a farming sim. But you ALSO sail around in a boat and do quests. I......don't remember why you have to do a farm. I guess I must have sold produce??? I don't remember why I needed money. I guess I must have needed to buy things. I guess also maybe there is a larger overarching plot??? but I mainly remember farming and also sailing to other islands and that's what I think is most important.

more of a puzzle platformer. there are so many frogs. very many frogs. you go around and do quests for these frogs so you can build your boat and leave frog island. you actually don't even need to finish all the quests, actually, but i mean, why not finish all the quests??? help these frogs.

walk around a place and collect/take pictures of things

i am making a specific subcategory for this just because. i really like collecting things. all you do is collect things in some of these games and i just absolutely go bananas over them. you take pictures of animals in this one and catalogue their behaviors, and it looks very nice and cute and there are birds! the birds are so fun i love them. you get to take pictures of all these creatures. pictures of creatures is a type of collection.

this one you definitely collect things. also, you talk to constellations, by collecting things. the chats with the constellations are fun, also there are a lot of puns, but also, you're collecting things, with your net, and that's important. the art is very cute too! the place is very nice to walk around in.

this one very much more of a "pokemon snap" type of deal. These guys are so weird and funky!!!!! i liked taking pictures of them. take a look at some of these funky guys. You can also collect pictures of them doing different behaviors, if you would like to be a True Collector (i am a true collector) (i cheated though and looked at guides)

train station renovation gets its own category

i realize that a simulation game doesn't actually. fit. here. but i mean, you're walking around. an area. you're doing things. i really liked train station renovation, because it really is just fixing thigns and picking up trash. other simulations, i got annoyed with because it would also throw in thigns like "decorate your museum!!" or "design this house!! sell it for a good price!!" and i'm like, please, i'm just here to pick up trash and fix things and clean stuff. NOTHING ELSE. there is admittedly a part of the game where it asks you to put down decorations, like benches and clocks and stuff, but the thing is. they only give you a number requirement. you can just plop down benches and shit wherever you want and the game will be like "yup. sounds good. you've met the requirements." so all i needed to do was just throw down like eight benches right next to each other in the corner of the lobby or somethign and i was all set! no thought necessary. and then i could just focus on what REALLY mattered, which is: cleaning this train station. train station renovation is literally my favorite one of these types of games. it knows what the people (me) want. it understands me.

[aspiestvmusings]

THE MASKED SINGER: SEASON 2 [SPOILERS]: MY THOUGHTS & GUESSES

I was gonna do a full guesses post for the shows second season, but then I realized... I might be on to something (because I guessed 50% of the first double-episodes masks) & I don’t wanna ruin it for so many, so I am only giving my HINTS of the my guesses, not the names or anything. But still...

SPOILER WARNING!

I didn’t watch during S1, but I saw the clips over summer & have watched the first few shows this season... 

During the first week I knew one of the reveals. The other I did not know, because I'm “old” & am just not familair with current young generation idols and stars... And the more I think about my guesses (I did just google each of my guesses..fast, and many things I read match with the character clues I suspect they play on this show, so...) 

CHARACTERS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER 

1. The Black Widow =  before I heard her & could make my own guesses that weren’t guided by others opinions, I heard other peoples guesses & now can’t see/hear anyone else...besides the ones others suggested. Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is. I’m torn between two ladies - R. & A. ETA on Oct 17th: After tonight’s ep clues it’s basically conformed - that’s miss R.

2. The Butterfly =  before I heard her & could make my own guesses that weren’t guided by others opinions, I heard other peoples guesses & now can’t see/hear anyone else... besides the ones others suggested.  Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is. ETA: After the Oct 17th episode it’s pretty much confirmed that it’s miss M. (the singer, not the actress) 

3. The Eagle =  HAVE NOT HEARD HIM PERFORM YET, but based on the outfit & first clues it is a big “rock” star from the “past”.  Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is. ETA: Well, this one was pure character play - he was the “weakest link” of the episode. Not a singer. He was the one unmasked. It was... SPOILER. And since I’m not from US, he’s one of the stars I did not know & hence would’ve never guessed. 

4. The Flamingo =  before I heard her & could make my own guesses that weren’t guided by others opinions, I heard other peoples guesses & now can’t see/hear anyone else... besides the ones others suggested.  Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is.  ETA on Oct 17th: After tonight’s ep clues it’s basically conformed - that’s miss A. 

5. The Flower =   HAVE NOT HEARD HER PERFORM YET, but based on the clues  it can only be one person. An actress. The clues that reveal it’s her are: There are a dozen (read: 12) reasons...; She blossoms in every field she plants herself in. Also...the number 314 was seen at one point (which in this case is not P = 3.14, but stands for something other). These three clues alone tell us who she is.  Miss M. The doctorate clue also points to her. But... then there are clues & things that say the opposite. EDIT: And after seeing & hearing her... I’m torn...cause now it seems that it’s someone “legendary”, cause of that voice!  ETA: It was miss P.L.

6. The Fox =  The clues strongly suggest this is one of the Marvel superheroes. Since I haven’t heard him perform yet, I cannot be sure who. But based on the looks (his posture, movement...), and the clues so far it sounds most like Mr. J. EDIT: But... after hearing him it sounds more like mr. W (who I originally considered for Thingamajic) - he worked with actors, who were hinted at the clue section. Yet... I still think that despite what he sounds like it actually is someone, who plays a superhero on TV/in films, and I’m still leaning towards MCU actor. But I have to re-listen to make a better guess. Cause the clues suggest different MCU actors than I initially thought based on the previews... Yet it could also be someone else, who has been in film industry.... But based on the voice it’s most likely mr. W. 

7. The Ladybug =   before I heard her & could make my own guesses that weren’t guided by others opinions, I heard other peoples guesses & now can’t see/hear anyone else...  besides the ones others suggested. Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is. It does sound a lot like miss K. based on the voice, and the clues, though. ETA: Yes, it was K.O.

8. The Leopard =  The clues point to several possibilities, but based on the voice alone..my first guess (and so far only guess based on that voice) is Mr. S. Most clues also fit him. A few clues don’t fit that well, but his voice to me sounded most similar to the man known by the artist name different than the one he’s portraying. And all the lines mentioned by/about him on stage were direct references/quotes/titles of his hit songs etc. The other clues hint more towards a stage presence of a more colourful persona though, so other peoples guesses that it’s B. or R.  or R. or J. or D. are good, too. I’m just unfamiliar with some of their voices, so cannot agree/disagree. Based on his behaviour I’d say it’s mr. J. The personality seems more like J. (a known “prankster” with amazing voice & talent), or R. (he’s worn leopard print outfits that made into headlines, he’s British, has had hits...only thing is that to me the voice doesn’t match the characters...though great singers can mask their voices, too...). 

The clues: British Elizabethan dress/costume; the “British accent”, the newspaper headlines in the clues segment: Crazy game ends with win for the Leopard + Out of Hits & Out of Time + The Runaway; adaptable & can survive anywhwhere - even under harsh conditions; knows what it’s like to be at the top; has had many hit songs (he’s been a heavy hitter);  “scandals” & “celebrity culture” - people/fans more interested in the celebrity aspect & rumours etc... than in his music/talent; he really doesn’t care what they about what he’s wearing...or about his relationships; clock hand on number 9; J’adore; “Don’t stop”; DIVINE: "Leopards can be fierce, and yer so divine”; playing with the hosts/Nick's tux/suit; Kiss(ed by) from a Leopard; “from the jungle”; “piercing green eyes”; ready for the spotlight; “ready to move mountains”; “spectacular performances”; "The Secret Service”; “Spotted with the presidents”

ETA on Oct 17th: After tonight’s ep clues it’s confirmed - that’s mr. S. Almost no chance it could be anyone else... Oh, darling...that gave you away. And even though several clues fit also mr. T.D., the song title references to me confirm my first guess. 

9. The Penguin =   I HAVE NOT HEARD HER PERFORM YET

10. The Rottweiler =  The voice and several clues say it’s well known singer Mr. C. (who lost to miss K.M.), but the clues are also very fitting to a singing actor Mr. S. (who co-starred opposite the same miss K.M. on a certain show)…but though I know he has a great singing voice, based on many things I’m currently leaning towards my first guess. Both fit several of the clues..in several ways, though! All the (fantasy) football, abs/six pack (and most likely coming clues that claim he’s a comic book fan & supports his wife...publicly, is a proud + great father)... clues fit both of them - these two men have quite a lot in common. Both are also born in the same year & both had/have a big birthday this year. The voice seems so much like the singers, and the clues fit so well (everything from the football to roses to the “beauty salon setting” and the LIVE fit this great voice, who has had hits on radio). At the same time almost all clues & much more suggest it’s the actor with a good voice (whose old band had the word dog in it, whose been in a boy band, whose done musical theatre, and who might have found bigger fame on tv/film, but to those who know him... he’s always been a great singer & performer, he’s even been in a band that was a “warm up act” for N’Sync tour once. He’s a multi-talent, who studied to be a structural engineer... and even though he was working on one big project this summer, I do think he would’ve had time to also do this). 

For me the greatness of the voice + the hair salon and one specific line in the clues suggest it’s the singer & the on-stage-presence and backwards hat suggests the actor. Everything else fits both! So it all depends on if the chose the “hip hop” look as a disguise...cause the singer is not known as hiphop artist, or if the hip outfit is more his style...which would mean it’s the actor. If I’d figure out the dog’s (that’s god backwards) height, I’d know which of the two he is, because one of them is 172cm and the other 182cm & the taller one is also buff-ier (he’s all muscles!..and the dog seems quite small under the costume) - The Rottweiler seems to be about the same height as the host Nick (he is 183cm) - their shoulders seem to be about the same height, so this would tip the scales to the actor. But after a re-watch it now seems to me the dog is shorter than the host, so that confirms the singer. Even the fact that they’ve always had the lead roles (on screen, in bands...), but they’ve also both lost to someone else...is similar.   If they’d include numbers as clues, then number 5 would suggest the singer & number 425 the actor. If the blue roses symbolise a tattoo, its the singer, if the blue & purple symbolise something else (HD), its the singer... 

Only thing I can’t directly connect to either of the two is the gold chain... That seems to suggest at the third option... or maybe it was added just to make the two parts of the costume blend in better together...not be so obvious)  But then I’ve also heard some great guesses from others & though I am unfamiliar with Mr. B.W.’s voice, several (dog) clues fit him, too.  He’s done music with canine titles, and he’s talented + he’s also known to wear gold. Plus I am also kinda suspecting (based on the great voice) that it might be a certain Canadian even though I cannot fit most clues to him... But in my minds if it’s not one of the two I suspect, I will be very surprised. It would also be a great and fun “promotional” trick, if the dog would be the spider-kid T.H., who is the voice of a dog in an upcoming film (he even posted a pic of his charcater with the same words the dog used “This dog’s bark is just as good as his bite”. But it cannot be either him or his screen-dad mr. R.D.J, cause while they both match the height, they dont match the voice or the clues. Based on the costume choice it’d be the funniest if it was one of the (hiphop) artists, who use a canine name: Snoop Doggy Dog, Pitbull... but the voice and clues match others better.

The clues: The hair salon/beauty salon style setting; the vinyl record with the title/name LIVE playing; “grooming” shaving the dogs “body hair”; “touched the pigs skin under the friday night lights” (pigs skin = football) = Friday Night (Lights); preparation is key; blue roses; (being a) hungry competitor; rising to fame (by being a competitor)... almost overnight;  Fantasy (Football) Champion (ring); was bitten by a dog/rottweiler as a kid; “it’s not over”; gold chain around his neck; the big (golden) wrist watch; (golden) bowtie; the (backwards) baseball hat;  the fashionable look and the sneakers;  “this pretty pup’s got chops”;  “take a bite out of this competition”;  just “wait and see”;  “get up on our high lanes”;  “he’s there to be the best in show and his bark is just as big as his bite”;  he’s a total perfectionist; “he’s gonna work his tail out to earn your puppy love”; the fashionable hip-hop look of the costume; roses are blue - violets are red (a poem by Patrick Star?), “rockin’ a furry 6-pack”, = the six-pack! (abs)

If the next clues say that he has strong arms it’s the actor, if they say that he wanted to become the iNext Michael, but didn’t..it’s the singer. Either way...all eyes are on the Rottweiler...  ;) And since the height & the song clues pretty much confirm it’s the singer....the song choice makes sense, too. He has actually performed with Hall & Oates. I’ve heard him sing “Out of Touch” with the band/duo. So, while I still wish it could be the actor... there are clues that pretty much confirm it is the singer... the height alone does that. Yet... the dog is holding the mic in his left hand... and I’ve only ever seen the singer hold the mic in his right, when he performs, but the actor switches hands (ambidextrous while holding the mic), so...  I really need to hear and see some more to solve this mystery, cause I keep going back & forth... ETA: It is mr. C.D. 

....

11. The Skeleton =  If this is not some known comedian/host/comedic actor, I will be surprised. Based on the voice alone I can’t really guess. Based on the stage presence the character reminds me of Mr. M.’s character on a certain streaming services show, - there was/is a storyline about him doing musical theatre, and this stage presence + voice to me looks so much like that characters stage presence. Only thing throwing me off is that though that actor is also shorter & older, it doesn’t really seem to be him (the appearance). But… actors can be good at disguising themselves… Also..the clues apparently fit him… so well! I do not read gossip magazines (usually), but I just googled him to see this latest projects, etc...like I did with all the names that I suspect are hiding behind the masks...to check the facts for this post) and the headlines about him this year match the skeleton’s clues…quite well, so now I'm not sure. But I still think its someone a bit younger than mr. M.). 

12. The Thingamajic =  The stage presence screams tall athlete (basketball/baseball player). The clues give us a possible birthday and from the people born on that day who can sing (read: who I am aware of that can sing)  Mr. V.  fits most of the clues + what can be seen & heard. It could be some other tall athlete, or non-athlete. Like mr. J (who  has played a character, who was a huge Chewbacca & SW fan), who is tall...though I remember his natural voice being different. But..since the show likes to trick us, I’d say that the person inside the costume is not as tall as the outfit suggest, so I would guess more based on the voice than by the height alone.  So.. it could also be Mr. W., who is not 7 feet tall, but whose voice (to me) seems very similar to this characters (many clues fit him extremely well). For me its either V. or W. ETA: It is mr. V.O: 

The clues: The height (7 feet tall with the costume); backstage dressing room style outfit closet; plaid/tartan shirts; karaoke style subtitles during the clue segment; rhyming text during the clue segment; puzzling/puzzles; gentle giant, feather (feathery kind of gentle giant); portfolio case with wings; a magic case (magic ticks); keep up the pace; triangles; old school style microphone stand; loves to sing...but isn’t necessarily known as a singer; silhouettes of people & palm trees...; he’s more than fashion shoots and dreams; sneakers; “walk the line” - rope walking;  magnifying glass,  number 4 (on a cupcake), colourful glasses frames, dressed in plaid, rip/tear in the costume on the “thigh”, his eyes are actually at the height where the costumes mouth is. He’s ALL the things we see (in the clue package & more), “I’m easy like a Sunday morning", ON AIR 31-33-41-43, in need of a dentist, he’s kind of a big deal, “welcome to my kingdom”, his puzzling persona, he’s literally unlike anything like you’ve ever seen or heard before, He’s not Chewbacca...though they do celebrate together. ETA on Oct 17th: After tonights ep clues it’s conformed - that’s mr. V. 

13. The Tree =  before I heard her & could make my own guesses that weren’t guided by others opinions, I heard other peoples guesses & now can’t see/hear anyone else...  besides the ones others suggested. Yet I am not sure which of the possibilities it actually is. I wish it was an actress, who also sings - miss Z. She’s done Christmas films/music... but that voice is not really hers, so...

EXTRA: If I am correct in guessing their identities, then two of the male singers behind the masks have worked together on a special musical project in 2016. 

ALREADY BEEN REVEALED

1. The Egg = Johnny Weir (He was the only one I guessed based on the clues + his on stage performance & presence + voice)

2. The Ice Cream = Tyler “Ninja” Blevins (The kids may start to know the popular names amongst todays next generation, but I am “old”, so his name & persona were completely unknown to me)

3. The Panda = Laila Ali (I should’ve known based on the letter the baby panda wrote to her daddy panda, but I didn’t guess immediately & decided to watch the reveal right away… not giving myself time to guess some more)

4. The Eagle = Dr. Drew Pinsky (radio host) 

5. The Skeleton = Mr. SPOILER 

NOTE: I am new to this show, but since I love music, and I love puzzles, I have decided to follow this season. And since i did’t watch last year (just watched clips etc later...), and am unaware of how things are done on the show, but... based on the two shows I’ve now seen... it kinda seems to me that they are hiding clues about the contestants in other contestants parts. Like... if we’d use last season as an example... they’d say “this person has felt PAIN... a lot” for someone else than the Monster character. Or “he’s a KNIGHT in shining armor”...for someone else than the Bee character. I just had this strange sensation when listening to/watching the clues that the things they alluded to weren’t always about the character whose segment was on. 

Also: I do not think the comments that the “judges” say are pointless. I do think that they’ve chosen very carefully which ones to keep. Like I think that “I don’t think its an actor on a tv show” is meaningless. The little, seemingly random lines often seem to me actually like clues. 

For those, who are familiar with showbiz and people in showbiz the show is/should be really easy. The voices + the clues combined make it too easy... but none of us are familiar with every “celebrity”, which is why not all masked singers are guessed correctly. But yeah, I would say that the clues are often too easy. Like...if the Flower, Fox, Leopard, Rottweiler turn out to be who I think they are... they are still making it too easy. They are literally telling you who it is. Including song titles/words and film/show titles and/or character names, or sports team names...literally... in the dialogue/voiceovers.... 

But...the thing is that some of the clues are actual helpful clues, and some seem to have been added as “red herrings” - to muddy the waters, and make it more confusing. Also... many of them do seem to mask their voices & not reveal their real voice right away, so that is also a distraction method... making it harder to guess. 

So... this is all for show, because there is no way the “judges” don’t recognize some of the voices & think of certain people as possible options for specific characters. This year it’s specifically means that there’s no way they did not hear & consider certain singer being the leopard...as the voice just sounds like his...even if its an act (someone is mimicking him). So this alone tells me that the panel is putting on a show - they’re directed to not say the right name right away..if they know/guess it... to keep the suspense longer. And/Or the show is edited so that if someone guesses some character too fast...that part is cut out..and/or saved for later (they do add audio from the panel...at times...when they’re actually showing the artist, so it also seems to me as some editing has been going on... to mix different moments...)