#mario secret santa 2018

[brookston]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Advocacy Day (Ukraine)

Almanack Day

Bantha Appreciation Day (Star Wars)

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

Digital Twin Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Gender Critical Coming Out Day

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

National Harry Day

National Heroes & Heroines Day (Anguilla)

Olive Day (French Republic)

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Skyr-Gobbler; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

Cream Liqueur Day

Currant Buns Day (UK)

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

3rd Tuesday in December

Christmas Cookie House Day [3rd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Børge (a.k.a. Republic of Libri; Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Asgard Day (Pagan)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nathan Oliveira (Artology)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix Jesse (3rd O Antiphon or Great Advent Antiphon; Christian) [O Root of Jesse; 3 of 7]

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian) [Ukraine]

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

The Aristocats (Animated Disney Film; 1980)

Babes in Toyland (TV Movie; 1986)

Bars of Steal or The Hard Cell (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 136; 1961)

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

Boris Badenov and His Friends? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 135; 1961)

Captain Blood (Film; 1935)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

From All of Us to All of You (Animated Disney TV Christmas Special; 1958)

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Laughing Boy:A Navajo Love Story, by Oliver La Farge (Novel; 1929)

The Little Drummer Boy (Xmas Song; 1958)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

The Man with the Golden Gun (UK Film; 1974) [James Bond #9]

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Monsters, Inc. (Animated Pixar Film; 2012)

More Kittens (Disney Cartoon; 1936)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

9 to 5 (Film; 1980)

People Are Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Porky in the North Woods (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Punch Trunk (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

Seems Like Old Times (Film; 1980)

Song of the Sea (Animated Film; 2014)

A Symposium on Popular Songs (Disney Cartoon; 1962)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies (US Film; 1997) [James Bond #18]

Topaz (Film; 1969)

Yes Man (Film; 2008)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2024; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 51 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 7 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 7 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 6 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 23 Zima; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 17 Bichat (13th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 28 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Advocacy Day (Ukraine)

Almanack Day

Bantha Appreciation Day (Star Wars)

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

Digital Twin Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Gender Critical Coming Out Day

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

National Harry Day

National Heroes & Heroines Day (Anguilla)

Olive Day (French Republic)

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Skyr-Gobbler; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

Cream Liqueur Day

Currant Buns Day (UK)

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

3rd Tuesday in December

Christmas Cookie House Day [3rd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Børge (a.k.a. Republic of Libri; Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Asgard Day (Pagan)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nathan Oliveira (Artology)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix Jesse (3rd O Antiphon or Great Advent Antiphon; Christian) [O Root of Jesse; 3 of 7]

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian) [Ukraine]

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

The Aristocats (Animated Disney Film; 1980)

Babes in Toyland (TV Movie; 1986)

Bars of Steal or The Hard Cell (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 136; 1961)

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

Boris Badenov and His Friends? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 135; 1961)

Captain Blood (Film; 1935)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

From All of Us to All of You (Animated Disney TV Christmas Special; 1958)

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Laughing Boy:A Navajo Love Story, by Oliver La Farge (Novel; 1929)

The Little Drummer Boy (Xmas Song; 1958)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

The Man with the Golden Gun (UK Film; 1974) [James Bond #9]

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Monsters, Inc. (Animated Pixar Film; 2012)

More Kittens (Disney Cartoon; 1936)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

9 to 5 (Film; 1980)

People Are Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Porky in the North Woods (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Punch Trunk (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

Seems Like Old Times (Film; 1980)

Song of the Sea (Animated Film; 2014)

A Symposium on Popular Songs (Disney Cartoon; 1962)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies (US Film; 1997) [James Bond #18]

Topaz (Film; 1969)

Yes Man (Film; 2008)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2024; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 51 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 7 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 7 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 6 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 23 Zima; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 17 Bichat (13th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 28 of 30)

[waluigi-express]

@mariosecretsanta2018 gift for Elenaknuff on DA!

Happy Holidays!!!

[foggyfenmonster]

merry christmas from luigi and yoshi! <3

my part in the @mariosecretsanta2018, a gift for @xenonb! i’m really happy with how this turned out, so i hope you like it too!! :D 

[pyxaperson]

My work for @mariosecretsanta2018 for @lotus-of-hyrule

Happy holidays Lotus! Your prompt say that you wanted “Mario and Peach hanging out” and “Any of the Princesses in renaissance style portraiture” so I kind of mixed the both of them into one. It’s based off Pierre-Auguste Cot’s piece, “Springtime”.

[bixiaoshi]

merry christmas to @yayayaimma from your svt secret santa (´・ω・｀)

i hope you have a really nice holiday, eating lots of food and get to spend it with your loved ones ^^

[justbeforethedarkness]

Moodboard Inspos

MISSY

Scar (Alien vs Predator, 2004)

Fugitive Predator (The Predator, 2018)

Mileena (Mortal Kombat)

Fish Man (The Shape of Water, 2016)

Myaxx (Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix, 2007)

Big Mama (Predator: Deadliest of the Species)

Maya (Killer Instinct)

Joan of Arc

LO’BANE

Wednesday Addams (The Addams Family)

Aidan Keller (The Ring, 2002)

Matilda Wormwood (Matilda, 1996)

Pulp Sci-fi Heroines (1940s - 80s)

Gazlene Membrane (Invader Zim, 2006)

Ramona (Santa Clarita Diet, 2019)

Saeki Toshio (Ju-On: The Grudge, 2002)

LUAR-KE

Morticia Addams (The Addams Family)

Sucy Manbavaran (Little Witch Academia)

Macrophages (Cells At Work)

Mrs. Baylock (The Omen, 1976)

HALKRATH

The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Marvel)

Jax (Mortal Kombat)

Mileena (Mortal Kombat)

Wolf (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, 2009)

Iron Man (Marvel)

Dachande (Aliens vs. Predator)

MAD GHOST

Barry the Chopper (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, 2009)

Harry Warden (My Bloody Valentine, 1981)

Cropsey

Puck/Harlequin

Vikings/Berserkers

Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)

Kyogai (Demon Slayer, 2019)

ZAZIN

Uncle Iroh (Avatar: the Last Airbender)

Leonidas (300)

Ancient Predator (Alien vs Predator, 2004)

Wolf (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, 2009)

KANDORE

Mean Girls (2004)

David Xanatos (Disney’s Gargoyles)

Greyback (Predator 2, 1990)

Azula (Avatar: the Last Airbender)

Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat)

Montresor (The Cask of Amontillado)

Eliza (Skullgirls)

Tallest Red (Invader Zim, 2006)

Jade (Mortal Kombat)

DUST

Stu Macher (Scream, 1996)

Two-Stripes (Aliens vs. Predator: Blood Time)

Crucified Predator (Predators, 2010)

Tracker Predator (Predators, 2010)

Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke, 1997)

Wendy Torrance (The Shining, 1980)

Agatsuma Zenitsu (Demon Slayer, 2019)

Angela Orosco (Silent Hill 2, 2000)

Hanamura Midori (Shoujo Tsubaki, 1992)

Wrong Hordak (She-Ra and The Princesses of power, 2019)

ECLIPSE

Billy Loomis (Scream, 1996)

Berserker Predator (Predators, 2010)

Celtic (Alien vs Predator, 2004)

Michael Myers (Halloween, 1978)

Jennifer Daly (Fear Street Cheerleaders: The First Evil)

Two-Face (Batman)

Whitewalkers (Game of Thrones, 2011)

Phineas Gage

Jimmy Yee (Demon, 2015)

Azazel (Fallen, 1998)

Catwoman/Selina Kyle (Batman Returns, 1992)

QUASAR

Falconer Predator (Predators, 2010)

Paninya (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, 2009)

Valentine/The Last Hope (Skullgirls)

Fugitive Predator (The Predator, 2018)

Tanya (Mortal Kombat X)

Lasershot (Kenner Figurines, 1994)

Black hole

Black Widow (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Takeda Takahashi (Mortal Kombat X)

Jacqui Briggs (Mortal Kombat 11)

SCORPION

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

Tichinde (Aliens vs. Predator: Prey)

LURKER

Dachande (Aliens vs. Predator)

Ancient Predator (Alien vs Predator, 2004)

MATA’QI

Mr. Holbrooke (Little Witch Academia)

Carrie White (Carrie, 1976)

Meta Salmhofer (Evillious Chronicles)

Chloe (Sele-P)

Onryo (Japanese mythology)

Oni (Japanese mythology)

Russ Thorn (The Slumber Party Massacre, 1982)

Loki (Norse mythology)

Deadman (Night Walker by Hayakawa-P)

[tabloidtoc]

National Examiner, April 19

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Tony Bennett's brave last days

Page 2: Stars with Mad Skills -- they became fast experts for plum roles -- Daniel Day-Lewis, Timothee Chalamet, Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling, Jamie Foxx

Page 3: Adrien Brody, Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Shia LaBeouf, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise

Page 4: Susan Sarandon's roles and costumes

Page 7: Be Prepared for the Worst -- know these lifesaving tips before a crisis happens

Page 8: Lonely Stefanie Powers never wants to date because she still has gotten over lover William Holden's sudden death, even though it'll be 40 years ago this November -- the former star of '80s TV classic Hart to Hart, who's now 78, considers Holden the one true love of her life, even though she's been married twice to others and had a long-term relationship after the Hollywood legend's tragic death and she can't imagine being with anyone else at this stage in her life when Bill's memory is so sacred in her mind and his death still haunts her to this day, and it will only get worse as the anniversary approaches -- Holden, then 63, died at home in Santa Monica on November 12, 1981, of massive bleeding after falling and striking his head on a piece of furniture while heavily intoxicated -- it rips her apart to this day thinking how he must have suffered all alone in his apartment, bleeding to death -- the pair had a decade-long, passionate affair that lasted until his demise, which led her to carry on their mutual passion for wildlife conservation and Stefanie founded the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and is still the director -- she's tried being in other relationships, but it's been more about companionship than anything else and she doesn't have the motivation to date when the best man has already come and gone

Page 9: Vax Hacks -- avoid scammers who prey on fears of COVID-19

Page 10: His first day on the job as an honorary cop, Jeremiah met the other guys in blue and was the proud guest of honor at a special swearing-in ceremony just for him, and he's only five years old

Page 11: Important minerals for your body -- why you need zinc and potassium and how to get them

Page 12: Rude Awakening -- stars who don't mind their manners -- Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christian Bale, Rachael Ray

Page 13: Sean Penn, Ashton Kutcher, Robert Pattinson, Russell Crowe, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis

Page 14: Dear Tony -- America's Top Psychic Healer Tony Leggett -- useful lessons learned from the pandemic

Page 15: Get well soon wishes go out to Chevy Chase, who just came out of the hospital after a five-week stay for heart issues -- in 2018, the star was diagnosed with alcohol cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle caused by excessive drinking; he had dealt with his drinking back in 2016, when he entered the Hazelden Clinic to receive treatment for alcoholism

Page 16: Even though the century mark looms just around the corner, Betty White still radiates joy -- calling herself the luckiest broad on two feet, the 99-year-old Hollywood legend shares her advice for living a long and peaceful life -- she says her life is divided absolutely in half: half animals and half show business and you can't ask for better than two things you love the most

Page 18: When a California man won $145,000 on Wheel of Fortune, it turned out to be good fortune for a lot of people as he donated his entire winnings to the charity Uplift Family Services and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, whose services support thousands of families

Page 19: These seniors are literally beating the coronavirus -- with 99 percent of them vaccinated, the 700 elderly residents of the Westminster-Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay senior living community in Virginia Beach held a party and they had a lot to celebrate

Page 20: Cover Story -- Tony Bennett is facing his brave last days as he battles Alzheimer's disease at the age of 94 -- the singer was diagnosed in 2016, but kept the terrible illness secret until recently and has not yet experienced common Alzheimer's symptoms like episodes of terror, rage or depression but the disease has progressed -- for now, wife Susan Crow and the oldest of Tony's four kids, 67-year-old Danny from his first marriage, are caring for him while he lives in the couple's New York City apartment

Page 22: Recycle your baubles, bangles and beads -- bored with your beaded necklaces? Blase abut those old bangles? If your costume jewelry collection no longer inspires, there are many brilliant ways to give it new life or earn you some cash

Page 24: The internet's newest fitness star is 102-year-old Julia Fulkerson, who had a ball participating in her great-grandson Brody's virtual gym class

Page 25: Young Darius Brown has a mission in life: to make shelter dogs look as spiffy as he can so they'll get adopted and to do that, he provides the canines with slews of adorable bowties that he sews himself -- five years ago, when Darius was eight, his sister Dazhai taught him to sew and the passion was good for him because he'd been diagnosed with speech and fine-motor skills that the craft improved over time -- he says he saw how happy the people at the shelter were to get the bowties and how much the dogs liked them, and he decided to make more and he came up with a goal to give bowties to an animal shelter in every state -- so far, he's sewn a whopping 600 of the canine accessories himself, and helped dozens of pooches find forever homes and he especially likes to focus his attention on older animals and pets with disabilities, since they're the toughest to find homes for and the shelter directors say Darius' efforts have made a huge difference in the life of hundreds of pups

Page 26: Summer Horoscope 2021

Page 28: It's not just for the birds -- tips for watching our fine feathered friends

Page 32: Reverse Gear -- walking backward is good for you -- here's something new to try the next time you go out for a walk: do it backward -- it may sound silly, but health experts say there are mental and physical benefits to the practice, but go slowly at first to avoid injuries

* If you're always putting the needs of others before your own, you could be at risk for compassion fatigue, a condition that can physically and mentally drain you of time and energy -- compassion fatigue is a state of emotional overwhelm that is constant and persistent, once in this state of emotional exhaustion, it becomes difficult to empathize with those they help and essentially, it's empathy burnout

Page 34: Grandads Before 50! No rocking chairs for these grandpas -- take a look at these celebs who had their grandchildren before their first gray hair -- Jim Carrey, James Brolin, Donny Osmond, Mick Jagger, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Sheen

Page 40: The Element of Earth -- earth is the second of the four elements: fire, earth, air and water

Page 42: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Drew Barrymore

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Dakota Johnson and her parents Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson (picture), Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in the film Spencer (picture), Tina Turner admits she instantly fell for husband Erwin Bach in 1986 when they first met at an airport in Germany, Bindi Irwin gave birth to daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, Michael Douglas is still going strong after 5 decades as an actor and loves what he does for a living, George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery, Jessica Walter died in her sleep

Page 45: Eddie Murphy is inducted into NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame (picture), Diana Ross performs at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in California (picture), Mario Lopez helps christen the tables at Mohegan Sun Casino in Las Vegas (picture), Ann-Margret and Julianne Hough attend the Family Film Awards where the redhead received a lifetime achievement award (picture), James Middleton who is the brother of Duchess Kate says he and fiancee Alizee Thevenet are done with city living, Justin Bieber's mom didn't like his newest tattoo saying Don't you have enough yet?, Zac Efron was spotted flying to Sydney with Aussie girlfriend Vanessa Valladares, Taraji P. Henson asked fans for prayers for her pet pooch that was suffering from post-surgery complications but he unfortunately died

Page 46: A lottery winner in Tennessee was feeling like a million bucks, until he realized he'd lost his precious ticket but he didn't give up: he retraced his steps until he found the ticket again

[asherwritesastory]

Hi there folks! So this is something that I’m choosing to not post on my AO3 page (for now) and instead just posting here.

This is a one shot I wrote for @grymmeoir for the @craigandthoseguys-week secret Santa event. I’m sorry it’s late but the person who originally had you needed to drop out due to some personal issues which lead to me taking over.

I hope you like it as it was literally written in maybe an hour at most (however I’m just guessing on that).

Anyway please enjoy and happy holidays! (story is below the cut)

It was that time of year again. The time of year where snow fell a little harder and everyone seemed to put all their differences aside to come together to celebrate the season.

Yes, it was Christmas time in South Park. And there were a number of ways the townsfolk celebrated this holiday. Some stayed in and some went out and partied. Some participated in snow sports or something outdoorsy activities. And some left town to venture elsewhere to visit family.

However, when it came to Craig and his friends they decided to stay inside where it was warm. Stay inside of Token’s mansion by the fire and drink hot chocolate, wear Christmas sweaters (Clyde insisted they match but Craig shot that idea down just as quickly as it had been presented), exchange gifts and do one of Tweek’s absolute favorite pastimes… bake Christmas cookies!

It was something the group had done for as long as they could remember celebrating the holiday together. But maybe it started happening more frequently after Betsy Donovan passed away and Roger busied himself with work, which left Clyde alone. Maybe it started happening more as they realized that the years they had to spend together during the holiday season were dwindling down as they got closer and closer to high school graduation (they only had two years left!)

But whatever the reason for it was, they had made it into their very own tradition, it was theirs and it was how they celebrated. It was always the Sunday before Christmas when the group got together and they made sure of it.

“Hey Token,” Tweek called out from the kitchen as he rifled around in the cabinets. “Where’s your mixing bowl?”

“Uh…” Token thought for a moment as he grabbed some mugs to behind making the hot chocolate. “I’m pretty sure my mom put it in the cabinet above the stove.”

Tweek looked up, then at the counter, then back up at the cabinet. Sure, he wasn’t the tallest one out there (unlike a certain black haired boyfriend of his) but he could manage to do this on his own without any assistance required.

The blonde hoisted himself up onto the counter top and reached up, being careful not to let anything fall and hit him on the head.

“Do you want he-“

“No no Token I’m fine,” he smiled victoriously as he managed to grab said mixing bowl that was in question. “I’ve got this.”

“Alright man,” he shrugged and watched how Tweek scurried back down. “I trust you. And I’m pretty sure Craig would kill me if anything happened to you so I’m staying put until you’re back on the floor.”

Tweek rolled his eyes as he stood unharmed in front of his front with the mixing bowl now in his hands, “yes mom.”

Token said nothing but the eye roll and friendly push on the shoulder caused Tweek to laugh.

“I’ll stay out of your way while you bake but the hot chocolate shouldn’t take too long to make.”

“Token you’re fine, your kitchen is huge so I really doubt we’ll get in each other’s way!”

They both went to work, busying themselves with the task at hand. They made simple conversation to pass the time before Token found himself finished with what he came into the kitchen to complete.

“I’ll leave your mug here so you can drink it as you work,” Token offered up a smile as he placed the snowman mug near the blonde.

“Thank you!”

Token waited a couple seconds before taking his leave with four mugs on a tray he held in his hands to head back to his other friends.

“Hot chocolate!” It was Clyde who bellowed our first as he darted towards his friend, Damn near giddy with holiday joy. “Thanks Token!” He took his mug enthusiastically and took a long sip.

“Breath Clyde, you need to breath!”

When the brunette lowered the mug he had a very prominent hot chocolate mustache lining his upper lip.

“I don’t know what it is about your hot chocolate,” Clyde licked away the liquid that resides on his face. “But you always make the best I’ve ever tasted! What’s your secret anyway?”

“I use milk instead of water?”

“Genius! Absolute genius!”

“A tr- true madman!” Jimmy chimed in as Token handed him his mug.

Craig merely rolled his eyes and thanked Token by mouthing the words as he accepted the warm mug. He held it in his hands for a while before taking a sip and humming content lot to himself.

“So,” Token sat down on the couch between Jimmy and Clyde. “What did you guys have in mind that we do?”

“I’m not opposed to playing Mario Kart or watching the Grinch,” Clyde spoke up.

“Which Grinch movie?” Craig asked inquisitively. “The 1966 version, the 2000 version or the 2018 version? And make sure you choose wisely since there’s only one right answer.”

“The 2000 version, duh!”

Craig groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “why?” He shot a glance in Clyde’s direction. “The superior Grinch movie is clearly the original.”

“You take that back Jim Carey is the best!” Clyde seemed offended, like actually offended, by Craig’s statement.

“No he isn’t.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t like him!”

“So what if I am? That movie is still literal garbage.”

Token chucked.

“Bu- but fellas,” Jimmy decided to join in on the conversation. “I personally like the 2018 ver- version be- best.”

“What?” Both the brunette and the black haired teen looked at their friend.

“Why?” Craig asked as Clyde continued to stare wide eyed and in shock.

Jimmy shrugged, “not dissing the original bu- but I like the new ta- take on it.”

“So you agree,” Craig smirked. “You like the original.”

Jimmy nodded.

“See, Jimmy agrees with me! Screw you Clyde!”

Clyde feigned hurt as he put a hand over his heart, “Jimmy! My best friend in the whole world! Why would you betray me like this?”

Craig flipped Clyde off as he took another sip of his hot chocolate while Jimmy merely laughed.

“Token what about-“

“I’m not getting involved in this.”

Okay, so maybe that was a silly thing to have a disagreement about but it was a conversation the group had every year. And every year the results were always the same. But it was a tradition for them, so why should they break a system that had no flaws and wasn’t even broken to begin with?

“I’m going to check on Tweek,” Craig stood from his seat in the recliner with a half empty mug in his hands. “See if he needs any help with the cookies or what not.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to just make out with your bo-“ a pillow made contact with Clyde’s face. “Why?”

Craig said nothing as he walked into the kitchen, where he found his boyfriend busy at work. The blonde was covered in cookie dough and flour and the kitchen counter could use a nice wipe down, but Craig smiled at the sight.

He made his way behind Tweek quietly and wrapped the blonde in a light hug (after he had put a tray of cookies into the stove), which caused Tweek to jump.

The blonde turned around and smiled up at his boyfriend as he lightly hit him on the chest with his fist, “you scared me!”

“I’m sorry.”

“What if I was holding cookies and I dropped them?”

“But you weren’t holding cookies so…”

Tweek pulled away, not like he needed to try as Craig wasn’t holding him tightly, and made his way over to the counter to begin cleaning up his mess.

“But what if I was?”

“But you weren’t.”

“You’re such a jerk.”

“Yeah well…” Craig walked over to him and wrapped his arms around Tweek’s waist and kissed his cheek before resting his head onto Tweek’s shoulder. “I’m your jerk.”

Tweek turned to the side slightly and poked Craig’s cheek, which caused the black haired teenager to look up, and smile when he was greeted with a gentle kiss to the lips.

“You taste like a sugar cookie,” Craig licked over his lips after Tweek pulled away. “Were you eating the cookie dough?”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t… what’re you going to do about it tough guy?”

Craig thought for a minute before kissing Tweek again, “that. I’m going to do that.”

Tweek smiled as he turned in Craig’s hold to wrap his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, “you nerd.”

“Yeah yeah…”

The two stood like that for a while, Tweek making them both sway back and forth as if they were dancing to music only the two of them could hear while they waited for the cookies to finish baking.

This is just how it was. Every year for the past however many years this is how the boys spent their holiday.

And okay so maybe it wasn’t much but it was their tradition and they wouldn’t change it for the world.

[mariosecretsanta2018]

Mario Secret Santa 2018!

Hello, everyone! We are dedicated to making a Mario-themed Secret Santa for this year’s holiday season! You can check out more info on our FAQ, or our sign-up sheet! Sign-ups start November 4th and end November 15th. 

SIGN UP HERE

Reblogs are greatly appreciated! Happy holidays, everyone!

[brookston]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Almanack Day

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Curd Glutton; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

Independence Days

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Hanukkah Day #1 (thru Dec. 26th)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix (Christian; Saint)

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian)

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2022; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 51 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 24 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Dōngyuè), Day 26 (Bing-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 25 Kislev 5783

Islamic: 25 Jumada I 1444

J Cal: 23 Zima; Oneday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2022

Moon: 17%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 17 Bichat (12th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 90)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 27 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Almanack Day

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Curd Glutton; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

Independence Days

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Hanukkah Day #1 (thru Dec. 26th)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix (Christian; Saint)

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian)

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2022; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 51 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 24 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Dōngyuè), Day 26 (Bing-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 25 Kislev 5783

Islamic: 25 Jumada I 1444

J Cal: 23 Zima; Oneday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2022

Moon: 17%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 17 Bichat (12th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 90)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 27 of 30)

[disneytva]

November 2018 Programming Highlights

Friday, Nov. 2 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Fancy Nancy “Ice Skater Extraordinaire/Nancy L’Artiste“ (11:00 – 11:30 A.M. EDT) “Ice Skater Extraordinaire” – When Nancy wants to become an extraordinary ice skater, she must first learn to practice.

“Nancy L’Artiste” – Nancy makes a mess while painting and lets JoJo take the blame. 

TV-Y

Saturday, Nov. 3 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel DuckTales “The Ballad of Duke Baloney!” (7:30 – 8:00 A.M. EDT) After his disappearance, Glomgold resurfaces as anything but his ever-scheming self, while Webby and Louie try to uncover the truth behind who is Duke Baloney. TV-Y7

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Big City Greens “Big Deal/Forbidden Feline“ (8:00 – 8:30 A.M. EDT) “Big Deal” – Cricket persuades the family to go to a Thanksgiving sale at a big-box store for a deal on a new television. *Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) guest stars as store manager Louis.

“Forbidden Feline” – Tilly becomes friends with Anoosh, the neighborhood cat. TV-Y7

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Junior Elena of Avalor “Finding Zuzo” (11:30 – 12:00 P.M. EDT) When Zuzo goes missing in the spirit world, Elena enlists the help of other spirit guides to find him. *Eden Espinosa (Disney Channel’s “Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure”) and Richard Kind (“Inside Out”) return as Orizaba and Cacahuate, respectively. TV-Y

Friday, Nov. 9 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Muppet Babies “Kermit’s Big Show/The Card Shark“ (10:00 – 10:30 A.M. EST) “Kermit’s Big Show” – The Muppet Babies plan to put on a show for Miss Nanny and decide to work together to incorporate their own creative ideas. “The Card Shark” – Piggy has to learn how to win at playing a board game without cheating. TV-Y

Saturday, Nov. 10 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel DuckTales “The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!” (7:30 – 8:00 A.M. EST) Donald reunites with his band, The Three Caballeros, while the family takes in the sites of a Brazilian town with a dark secret. *Bernardo de Paula (“Rio 2”) and Arturo del Puerto (“Fear the Walking Dead”) guest star as José de Carioca and Panchito Pistoles, respectively. TV-Y7

Monday, Nov. 12 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Junior The Lion Guard “Beshte and the Beast” (5:00 – 5:30 P.M. EST) A gorilla warrior named Shujaa comes to help The Lion Guard in the battle against Scar. *Christopher Jackson (Broadway’s “Hamilton”) guest stars as Shujaa. TV-Y

Friday, Nov. 16 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Mickey and the Roadster Racers “Mickey’s Big Surprise/Meet the Beagles!” (9:30 – 10:00 A.M. EST) “Mickey’s Big Surprise” – Goofy struggles to keep Minnie’s surprise for Mickey’s birthday a secret.

“Meet the Beagles!” – The Happy Helpers are asked to help a band get back together. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Fancy Nancy “Vive La Révolution!/Million Dollar Minnow” (11:00 – 11:30 A.M. EST) “Vive La Révolution!” – When a neighborhood climbing tree is declared off-limits, Nancy shows her friends how to take a stand.

“Million Dollar Minnow” – Nancy dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer but first must overcome her fear of going underwater. *Christine Baranski (“The Good Fight”) returns as Mrs. Devine. TV-Y

Saturday, Nov. 17 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel DuckTales “Storkules in Duckburg!” (7:30 – 8:00 A.M. EST) Louie recruits Storkules for his professional monster extermination business, while Storkules faces his greatest challenge: being Donald’s roommate. TV-Y7

Sunday, Nov. 18 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Disney Mickey Mouse “Surprise!” (8:50 – 9:00 A.M. EST) Mickey’s wish for a surprise-free birthday ends up becoming the biggest surprise of his life. TV-G

Friday, Nov. 23 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Junior Vampirina “Nanpire and Grandpop the Greats/There’s Snow Place Like Home” (7:00 – 7:30 P.M. EST) “Nanpire and Grandpop the Greats” – Nanpire and Grandpop come to visit Vee and her family in Pennsylvania and learn about some human holiday traditions. *Tony Award®-winners Patti LuPone (“Evita”) returns as Nanpire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (“Kiss Me, Kate”) guests stars as Grandpop.

“There’s Snow Place Like Home” – When Vee doesn’t get the snow day she was hoping for, Demi casts a spell to help cheer her up. TV-Y

Saturday, Nov. 24 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Junior Elena of Avalor “Snow Place Like Home” (11:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. EST) A snowstorm threatens to ruin Elena’s plans of spending a quiet and peaceful Navidad at home. *Mario Lopez (“Extra”) and Diane Guerrero (“Orange is the New Black”) return as jaquins Cruz and Dulce, respectively. TV-Y

Friday, Nov. 30 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Mickey and the Roadster Racers “Snow-Go with the Flow/Happy Helpers on Ice!” (9:30 – 10:00 A.M. EST) “Snow-Go with the Flow” – Minnie’s plans for a trip to the Swiss Alps are interrupted by the Kai family’s first experience with snow.

“Happy Helpers on Ice!” – Hilda asks the Happy Helpers for help putting on an ice show. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Muppet Babies “A Very Muppet Babies Christmas/Summer’s Super Fabulous Holiday Surprise” (10:00 – 10:30 A.M. EST) “A Very Muppet Babies Christmas” – It’s Christmas in the playroom and everyone loves their secret Santa gifts except for Kermit.

“Summer’s Super Fabulous Holiday Surprise” – When a snowstorm cancels Summer’s trip home, Piggy brings her traditions to the playroom. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Puppy Dog Pals “A Santa for Bob/Snowman Secret Service” (10:30 – 11:00 A.M. EST) “A Santa for Bob” – The pugs go on a mission to find Santa. *Wendi McLendon-Covey (ABC’s “The Goldbergs”) guest stars as Mrs. Claus and Emmy Award-winner Henry Winkler (“Barry“) returns as Santa.

“Snowman Secret Service” – When Bob asks Bingo and Rolly to protect a snowman he’s building, the pugs make it their mission to keep their new snowy friend as cool as possible. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Fancy Nancy “Au Revoir, Jean-Claude/Je Spy with My Little Eye” (11:00 – 11:30 A.M. EST) “Au Revoir, Jean-Claude” – After the family goldfish dies, Nancy must confront her feelings of loss.

“Je Spy with My Little Eye” – When Nancy spies on her parents, she mistakenly thinks they’re plotting to give away the family dog. TV-Y

[fiothelemon]

december 22, 2018 soyo oka 岡素世

The word “hidden” is used a lot in gaming. Hidden gems, hidden easter eggs, etc. But what about in video game soundtracks? One example is Soyo Oka, hiding under some classic 90’s Nintendo games is an underrated composer. But despite that you may recognize her work, as she is the composer for games such as Super Mario Kart, Pilotwings, and did the arrangement for Super Mario All Stars! On the second issue of FBoGCaTW, we’ll go over Soyo Oka!

history

Soyo Oka was born on April 9th, 1964 in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Soyo’s first experience with music was at a very early age, when she was 2 and toyed with her mom’s xylophone, and enjoyed playing the toy piano. It was at age 4 when she started playing classical piano, and during then, she had a neighbor who was a piano teacher. Soyo would occasionally go over there and play piano with the neighbor’s son. Due to her enthusiasm with the piano, the neighbor helped teach her.

While Soyo was still in elementary school, she had moved from Tokyo to Kansai because of his father’s job. When she moved there she saw classmates play the electone, and compose music, too. Soyo described that discovery as “By example” in an interview with SquareEnixMusic. This inspired her, and on one Christmas eve, she wrote a letter to Santa in search for an electone of her own. She kept it a secret to her parents, and thus she didn’t receive an electone on her bedside the following morning. But when she started getting a job, she finally worked for the instrument of her dreams. She played it non-stop for about a year and a half, and then got bored with it. It was when she was in middle school when she started creating and sharing, rather than playing.

When it was time to go to college, Soyo attended a music school and majored in composition. (It really shows, doesn't it?) Her first discovery of computer music was at college, too. It was a music making program developed by yamaha that she installed on her MSX. Along this, she also used her drum machine, and a bunch of empty cat food cans that produced some sound.

After graduation, she got a job at nintendo, where she worked there for 8 years from 1987 to 1995. She’s come a long way since then, producing music for plenty of games, and now usually makes music for commercials. To help show some of her work, here are some personal favorites of mine!

music showcase

Alright. First song. Y’all might know this. This is the Light Plane theme from pilotwings! It’s quite a popular track for Nintendo fans, as it’s appeared in games in the smash series.

“Light Plane”

This one may be Soyo’s most famous piece as a video game composer, and for a reason. Not just because it’s been featured in other games, but because the song itself is pretty damn catchy and pleasant (you’ll notice that with a lot of her work.) It’s the kind of song that you really get the feel of when you’re on a sandy beach, with a cold one in one hand and a game boy in the other. Or like in the game where it’s the opposite. Nevertheless, this song is a classic and is apart of one of my favorite SNES soundtracks. If you enjoyed this track, check out the smash bros remix of it.

“Vanilla Lake”

This one, along with Light Plane, is apart of some of my favorite SNES soundtracks. Super Mario Kart is home to many, upon many beautiful compositions such as this, and really proves the mini-MIDI-game console what it’s worth when it comes to music. Soyo Oka states that one of her inspirations in music making is Chopin. And some of the Super Mario Kart soundtrack bleeds that baroque/classical composition and some songs could fit as classical if you did some arranging (I mean that’s the point of arranging music, right?)

“In Game Theme - Ice Hockey”

This one is pretty fast paced, especially for NES music. And for a game like Ice Hockey, it needs that, really. A good soundtrack (including sound design) to any type of media, whether that’s movies, shows, or games, should tie in to what the original source is about, along with bringing something new to the table. This track is a good example of that, and it’s what help makes Soyo a good composer! Think about it. The last time you played a game like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, part of that ominous, creepy aesthetic is thanks to the sounds of the game. Replace those sounds with duck quacks. Pretty fucking funny, but the atmosphere of the game is ruined.

“VS Mode - Wario’s Woods”

This track does a great job of hyping you up, and this kind of music is what Soyo is also good at. Wario’s Woods was a late release for the NES, so you may not have heard of it. By the time the SNES was in the middle of of its heyday, developers already knew the ins and outs of the NES hardware, including Nintendo! This game’s ost is quite good both on a composition end of the stick and in terms of technological ability. The same could be said about our next track, except for the fact that it was released in the late 80’s.

“Monster Dance - Famicom Grand Prix II”

I’m especially impressed with this one, mostly because of that weird bass twang going on. It’s somewhat comparable to the SEGA Master System’s FM capabilities. Overall the original game looks and sounds great, and I give Soyo a round of applause for the score. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks of hers due to its high funk levels.

“Goodnight, See You Soon!”

Of course, we end all of these by showing off (what I think) the composer’s best work is. Like it's Mario Kart younger brother, SimCity’s soundtrack is beautiful and deserves all the love it can get. What I imagine going along well with this is a lullaby, or maybe something like a music box cover. Or maybe it’s been a long night at work, you just got home and you dress down to your pajamas. You may have some spreadsheets to fill, but who cares at this point? You cook some leftovers, sit down on the couch and watch TV until you fall asleep. It gives off this weirdly nostalgic feel that I just love so much! It’s so gentle, soft, easygoing, and everything in between.

sources (in order of appearance)

Please look through some of these yourself, these interviews/articles are all way more informative than this blog!

vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Soyo_Oka

squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/soyooka.shtml

nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Soyo_Oka

[livefromphilly]

Not So Late Game of the Year 2018

These are my top five games of 2018.

5. Mario Tennis Aces (Camelot Software Planning)  - I have very fond memories of playing the Gamecube version of this game with my roommates in college. The Switch version added a layer or two of complexity, but at the core it's just a really fun tennis game. What keeps it from being higher up on the list is a very bare bones arcade mode and a lack of polish/intuitiveness in the menus. I'm also not a fan of the DLC characters being locked behind an online tournament requirement. I mean, don't get me wrong it's a pretty easy barrier to be behind, but at that point it's almost pointless for there  to be any barrier at all.

4. Marvel's Spider-Man (Insomniac Games) - I think I read somewhere that there have been close to 40 games featuring Spider-Man as the main character. The only two I can remember playing were the Atari 2600 and Game Boy versions, so outside of things like Capcom's versus series, it's been a while. It almost goes without saying, but this game is way better than those two. In some respects, it's as good as any of the Spider-Man movies and it tells a really good story. There's also an amazing sense of freedom in swinging; Insomniac absolutely nailed that shit. Where the game falls short is in most of the instances where you don't control Peter Parker; while the Mary Jane stealth sections add something to the game story-wise, they're a real pain to play and there are far too many of them.

3. Celeste (Matt Makes Games) - 2018 was a really good year for games so the rest of this list doesn't have many big flaws. Celeste is a sublime platformer that doesn't necessarily redefine the genre or anything, but is just really well-done. It's a challenging game to be sure, but it doesn't get to the frustrating level of things like Super Meat Boy, a game I enjoyed but never actually finished. If you want to 100% the game, there is a significant effort you'll have to put forth but I have nothing to prove so I just played it straight up without looking for secrets or doing most of the "B-Side" levels. It also has a heartwarming story of overcoming adversity and one of the best soundtracks in a game ever.

2. God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio) - Sony's exclusives have been really on point this gen, and this is up there with the best of em. Although it's higher budget, what with full voice acting and 4K-ish visuals, it reminds me a lot of post-Ocarina/pre-Breath of the Wild Zelda games but with a much better combat system. There's a fair amount of back tracking to areas you've been before and accessing new places when you get new weapons or powers. There's also some raising/lowering of water levels that reminds me of that infamous water temple from the N64 game. Honestly, this game is almost a toss up with Dead Cells, but the linear nature of the story means once you play through it once there isn't a ton of incentive to try again right away whereas Dead Cells is pretty much infinitely replayable.

1. Dead Cells (Motion Twin) - This is a game that definitely stands on the shoulders of giants. It takes elements of Castelvania and Metroid and combines them with run-based roguelikes for something that feels very familiar but with a slight twist that makes it better. It's almost like you're a person that eats cheeseburgers all the time but then one day you get bacon on it and you're like "holy shit, it's everything I already loved but better" Dead Cells is like Rogue Legacy with bacon on it. Thees types of games always end up high on my list because you can keep coming back to them. I'm not sure how many hours I put into Dead Cells so far, but I'd guess it's over 100 at this point. 

Honorable Mentions:

Stuff that didn’t quite make the cut for whatever reason.

Katamari Damacy Reroll (Monkeycraft Co. Ltd./Namco) - This is just the original game on modern systems with a resolution boost so I didn't think it should count in a list of 2018 proper releases. Still, it's a classic and maybe in my all time top 10.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (Backbone Entertainment/Capcom) - More old games playable on modern TVs is always good for me. My only issues are that I got it for Switch and there's no good 6-button pad for the system yet and that it's the arcade versions of the games so certain ones suffer compared to the console versions (SFA3 especially).

Lumines Remaster (Resonair/Q Entertainment) - I'm noticing a trend here. This is another mid-2000s game that I'm happy to have a modern version of on the Switch. It also has some of the best menu music out there.

Destiny 2: Forsaken (Bungie) - Although just DLC for the game, this pretty much fixed everything I didn't like about D2.

Pocket Rumble (Cardboard Robot Games) - This is neat fighter that makes perfect sense on the Switch given the limited button options. I didn't sink quite enough time into it to place it on my top five, but I really enjoyed it. Also, the art is great and Waneella contributed. 

[tak4hir0]

CUSTOM GAME ENGINES: A Small Study A couple of weeks ago I played (and finished) A Plague Tale, a game by Asobo Studio. I was really captivated by the game, not only by the beautiful graphics but also by the story and the locations in the game. I decided to investigate a bit about the game tech and I was surprised to see it was developed with a custom engine by a relatively small studio. I know there are some companies using custom engines but it's very difficult to find a detailed market study with that kind of information curated and updated. So this article. Nowadays lots of companies choose engines like Unreal or Unity for their games (or that's what lot of people think) because developing a custom AAA-level engine requires lots of resources, so, I decided to list here some of the most popular custom engines with the team-sizes and notable titles released with those engines. Most of the engines listed here have been developed along the years with multiple iterations and multiple videogames, those engines have gone through several versions or even complete (or semi-complete) rewrites from scratch, with a consequent engine name change. Also, important to note, most of those engines use numerous middleware for specific functionalities (Platform, Physics, Network, Vegetation, UI, Rendering, Audio...). *NOTE: I tried to be as much accurate as possible with the information about the employees count (I checked the companies websites, Wikipedia or company LinkedIn) but take it with a grain of salt (some employees numbers could not be up to date). The BIG Companies *From left to right: Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Final Fantasy XV, Red Dead Redemption 2 Below list is for very big corporations, sometimes with complex corporate structures with several divisions (not only focused on videogames) and various studios/subsidiaries developing games. Some of them work with multiple engines, not only custom ones but also licensed ones. Company Employees Studios Engine(s) Notable Games Activision/Blizzard ~9200 ~9 custom engine(s) Call of Duty series, Overwatch, Starcraft II Electronic Arts ~9300 ~36 Frostbite 3 Star Wars Battlefront II, Anthem, Battlefield 1/V, FIFA 20, Need for Speed series Ubisoft ~16000 ~54 AnvilNext 2.0 Assassin's Creed series Disrupt engine Watch Dogs series UbiArt Framework Rayman Legends, Child of Light, Valiant Hearts Snowdrop Tom Clancy's The Division 2, The Settlers Dunia (CryEngine-based) FarCry series Silex (Anvil-based) Ghost Recon Wildlands LEAD engine Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series Dunia-based The Crew Capcom +2800 ~15 MT Framework Monster Hunter: World RE Engine Resident Evil 7, Devil May Cry 5, RE2:Remake, RE3:Remake Konami +10000 ~30 Fox Engine Pro Evolution Soccer series, Metal Gear Solid V Square Enix +4600 ~18 Luminous Studio Final Fantasy XV Nintendo +6100 ~8 custom engine(s) Zelda: BOTW, Mario Odyssey Riot Games ~2500 ~3 custom engine League of Legends Rockstar +2000 ~9 RAGE engine GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 CD Projekt +1100 ~4 REDEngine 3 The Witcher 3 Epic +1000 ~11 Unreal Engine 4 Fortnite Usually those companies invest in custom engines to have full control over the technology and also avoid the revenue cut imposed by the licensed engines. Despite that fact, there are some big companies that in the latest years have chosen Unreal Engine for their productions, the most notable cases are: Capcom is using Unreal for the new Street Fighter IV/V titles. Bandai Namco latest big hits are using Unreal: Jump Force, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Tales of Arise. Square Enix also moved to Unreal for several new titles: Dragon Quest XI, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VII Remake It's interesting to see that those big three are Japanesse companies, I wonder if that's maybe a market trend for Japan. Also to note, the chinesse holding Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games, I bet it has some influence in the Asian market. Middle-size Studios *From left to right: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4, A Plague Tale Here we have the medium-small companies that decided to create their custom technology for their titles. The number of employees could be a nice reference to consider because a custom game engine is usually developed in-house (I mean, not outsourced) but note that some of those companies could have a big number of people due to in-house artist/audio teams, while other companies out-source those parts of the development. It would be really nice to know how many engineers are working on the engine division for each company, I'm sure there would be some big surprises, probably by the low number of engineers working in the engine and tools! Also interesting to know more info about the tooling included with those engines, it's really difficult to have access to that kind of information. Engines tooling is usually a hidden-secret (beside some GDC presentations or some quick showcase videos). *From left to right: Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Death Stranding Company Employees Engine Notable Games Creative Assembly +650 Warscape Engine Total War series Bungie ~600 Tiger Engine Destiny series Infinity Ward +500 IW 7.0 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Eidos-Montréal ~500 Dawn Engine (Glacier2-based) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Paradox Interactive +400 Clausewitz Engine Imperator: Rome Bethesda ~400 Creation Engine Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 Valve Corp. ~360 Source 2 Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx Crystal Dynamics ~350 Foundation Engine Rise/Shadow of the Tomb Raider Avalanche Studios ~320 Apex engine Just Cause series, Renegade Ops, Mad Max, RAGE 2 Naughty Dog +300 Naughty Dog Game Engine Uncharted series, Last of Us Rebellion Developments ~300 Asura engine Alien vs. Predator series, Sniper Elite series Techland ~300 Chrome Engine 6 Dying Light Crytek ~290 CryEngine V The Climb, Hunt:Showdown From Software +280 Dark Souls engine Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro Remedy +250 Northlight Engine Quantum Break, Control Guerrilla Games +250 Decima Killzone Shadow Fall, Until Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn Platinum Games ~250 Platinum Engine NieR Automata, Bayonetta, Vanquish Santa Monica Studio +200 custom engine God Of War series id Software +200 idTech 6/7 Doom, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein series Sucker Punch +200 custom engine Infamous Second Son, Ghost of Tsushima? Insomniac Games ~180 Insomniac Engine Rachet&Clank series, Marvel's Spider-Man Quantic Dreams ~180 custom engine Detroit: Become Human IO Interactive ~170 Glacier2 Hitman series Asobo Studio +140 Zouna A Plague Tale Ready At Dawn ~120 custom engine The Order: 1886, Lone Echo Mercury Steam ~110 custom engine Spacelords, Castlevania:Lords of Shadow series Monolith Productions +100 LithTech F.E.A.R. series, Condemned series, Shadow of Mordor/War 11 Bit Studios ~100 Liquid Engine Frostpunk Frozenbyte ~100 Storm3D Trine series, Shadowgrounds Kylotonn ~100 KtEngine WRC series, TT Isle of Man series, V-Rally 4 TaleWorlds Entertainment ~100 custom engine Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Daedalic Entertainment ~90 Visionaire Studio The Whispered World, Deponia series Media Molecule ~80 Bubblebath Engine Dreams Deck13 ~70 Fledge Lords of the Fallen, The Surge, The Surge 2 Nihon Falcom ~60 Yamaneko Engine Ys VII, Ys VIII, Ys IX Croteam +40 Serious Engine The Talos Principle, Serious Sam series Some observations from this list: Rise of the Tomb Raider lists only 10 programmers working on Foundation engine in the credits, probably a good reference number to get an idea of the people working on the core engine. Kojima Productions use Decima engine, developed by Guerrilla Games, for Death Stranding, previously they used Fox Engine for Metal Gear Solid V. Media Molecule latest game/engine (Dreams) seems to have been developed by only ~15 coders, amazing! Companies targeting one single platform, usually have less restrictions and can push the limits of that platform. Unfortunately, that's a luxury that most companies can not afford. Asobo Studio, the company that originated this market study is not that small... but, like other companies, they seem to work in multiple titles in parallel. Very nice to see that some of the engines have entries in the Wikipedia with some details and titles released, it should be a must. Small-size Studios (Indie Studios) *From left to right: The Witness, No Man's Sky, X-Morph Defense Here we have some really small studios that also choose to develop a custom engine for their games. Note that most of those engines rely on other libraries/frameworks for certain parts of the game, the common choices we find are SDL (cross-platform graphics/input), OGRE (rendering engine), MonoGame (cross-platform game framework, also relyes on SDL, SharpDX, OpenTK, OpenAL-Soft...). One question many people could ask is, what parts of the engine are actually coded by the developers? Well, it depends, but usually coders take care of the screen-manager, entities-manager and content-manager as well as the wrappers/interfaces to the external libraries. Second question, what parts of the engine usually rely on external libraries/middleware? It also depends on the company resources but usually audio-system, physics, rendering, networking, ui-system, terrain-system, vegetation-system and some other pieces. *From left to right: Factorio, Thimbleweed Park, Owlboy On the following list (and the next one below) I added the publishing date (only +2012) and the link to Steam for all the games... there are not many games with custom engine from small studios out there and I think they deserve to be recognized and supported. Company Employees Engine Notable Games Shiro Games ~30 Heaps.io Northgard (2018), Evoland (2013), Evoland II (2015) Hello Games ~25 No Man's Sky Engine No Man's Sky (2016) Frictional Games ~25 HPL engine SOMA (2015), Amnesia series DrinkBox Studios ~25 custom engine Guacamelee (2013), Guacamelee! 2 (2018), Severed (2016) Supergiant Games ~20 MonoGame-based Hades (2019), Pyre (2017), Transistor (2014) Wube Software ~20 Allegro/SDL-based Factorio (2019) Chucklefish ~20 Halley Engine Wargroove (2019), Starbound (2016) Ronimo Games ~17 RoniTech Engine (SDL) Awesomenauts (2017) Runic Games ~17 OGRE-based Hob (2017), Tochlight II (2012) Lab Zero Games ~17 Z-Engine Indivisible (2019), Skullgirls (2013) Introversion Software ~14 SystemIV (SDL) Prison Architect (2015) Exor Studios ~14 OGRE-based Schmetterling The Riftbreaker (2020), X-Morph: Defense (2017) Tribute Games ~11 MonoGame-based Flinthook (2017), Mercenary Kings (2014) Thekla Inc. (Jonathan Blow) ~10 custom engine The Witness (2016) Terrible Toybox (Ron Gilbert) 9 custom engine (SDL) Thimbleweed Park (2017) Matt Makes Games (Matt Thorson) ~7 MonoGame-based Celeste (2018), TowerFall Ascension (2014) Coilworks ~7 custom engine Super Cloudbuilt (2017), Cloudbuilt (2014) Lo-fi Games (Chris Hunt) 6 OGRE-based Kenshi (2018) D-Pad Studio 6 MonoGame-based Owlboy (2016) BitKid, Inc. 6 MonoGame-based CHASM (2020) Double Damage Games 5 OGRE-based Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (2019), Rebel Galaxy (2015) Almost Human Games 4 custom engine Legend of Grimrock (2012), Legend of Grimrock 2 (2014) Wolfire Games 4 Phoenix Engine Overgrowth (2017) Some observations from this list: Nicolas Cannasse, co-founder of Shiro Games, is the the developer of Haxe programming language and Heaps engine, used by Motion Twin for Dead Cells (2017). Hello Games is a very small studio considering the size of No Man's Sky and that they use a custom engine. Really impressive! Runic Games was dissolved in November 2017, the founders created Double Damage, now they are working on Echtra Games on Torchlight III. Rodrigo Braz Monteiro, Chucklefish CTO, is the person in charge of Halley engine, actually the engine is open-source! In most of those studios the people in charge of creating the game engine it's only 1-3 persons! Lo-fi Games was a one-man team (Chris Hunt) for more than 6 years! Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... One-man custom engines *From left to right: Stardew Valley, ScourgeBringer, Eagle Island Finally, the list of the heroes. Games developed by 1-2 people with custom game engines, engines mostly coded by one person! Respect. Creating an engine and a game from scratch to the point of publishing it is an extraordinary accomplishment, not many people in the world is ready for that. Almost all of them are 2D games, usually with very small budgets and developed along multiple years. Congratulations to the developers! *From left to right: Axiom Verge, Ghost 1.0, Remnants of Naezith Some observations from this list: Some of those teams are formed by 1-2 people but probably grew at some point and/or outsourced some parts of the development (art, audio...). Usually the publisher also helps with some resources (localization, marketing...). Omar Cornut from Lizardcube is the main programmer for Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap engine and also the developer of Dear ImGui, a free and open-source immediate-mode gui library used by lots of AAA custom engines. Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube is also the main artist for Streets of Rage 4, the custom engine of Guard Crush Games is written by Cyrille Lagarigue. Marc Flury programmed Thumper game engine rejecting the OOP paradigm in favor of a procedural programming approach. Christian Whitehead is the creator of Star Engine used in Sonic Mania but Headcannon (Simon Thomley) and PagodaWest Games (Jared Kasl and Tom Fry) were also involved in the development of the game. Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... There are some other remarkable games using custom engines (usually XNA/MonoGame) that worth mentioning: Minecraft (2011), Braid (2009), Super Meat Boy (2010), Terraria (2011), Dustforce (2012), Sword and Sorcery EP (2012), FEZ (2013), Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013), Rogue Legacy (2013), Dyad (2012), SpaceChem (2013). Conclusions I'll start saying I'm biased, I'm really passionate about videogames-making technologies and I admire custom engines and game-making tools. I also contributed to custom engines ecosystem with my grain of salt: raylib and several game-making tools. I prefer a custom engine over a licensed one, I consider that the extra amount of effort put into the product usually translates into some specific great mechanic or some amazing in-game details. Said that, I must admit that creating a custom engine is a big endeavour and not many people are ready for that. I recognize Unity (and Unreal to less extend) have really democratized videogames development, lots of small-medium size companies can use Unity today to develop games quicly and put them on the market, sometimes with very low budgets... But, still, lots of big companies prefer to rely on their own custom technologies. From my gamedev-teacher perspective, I think students must learn how engines work internally with as much detail as possible. Relying only on engines like Unity/Unreal for education to allow students develop eye-candy project in short-time is not the way to go. At the end of the day, someone has to write the engine and the tools! NOTE: Feedback and improvements are welcome! :)