#moomin principal

[flowerbloom-arts]

Hemulgust day 4

Number 13 was so much trouble for her.

[yeol205]

doodles of clone high characters as moomins becuz i love them

[hemulenish-hijinks]

The Orphanage Principal

Founder, builder, and runner of the Moomin Foundling Home in Moominpappa's Memoirs, she was more concerned with the cleanliness of her foundlings than giving them affection. Since the night she founded him, she felt a lack of care for her 13th and most disobedient orphan, our Moominpappa. She had an apparent interest in astrology and little patience for Number 13. Nobody really knows her fate after that fateful night of him running away.

The Hemulen Aunt

Also known as the Hemulen's aunt, she was presumably the aunt of the orphanage principal. She was saved from the Groke and was mistaken for her niece by the young Moominpappa and became a very bossy caretaker of the Oshun Oxtra until she got kidnapped by Niblings, and then later became their leader by teaching them writing and math. She isn't a mean woman, in fact she was very grateful toward the Oshun Oxtra in her letter for Muddler's wedding.

[conoviacat99]

Dibujos mezclados

los diseños de joxter son para una historia que estoy haciendo, mientras que los de snufmin solo los hice por que tenía ganas y me surgió la idea de conbinarlos con mi juego favorito.

Me gustó mucho como me quedo snufkin en la imagen principal, moomin también luce adorable, estoy satisfecha con mi dibujo n.n

[someone-you-do-not-know]

I will ask about Christmas in the hole and Christmas and green forests

Thank you, Stars. You understand my need to be insane about things.

This is the strange story of the worst Christmas calendar ever aired on Danish TV – maybe on any TV ever. And everything around it. Gonna put it under a read more, because uh. The lore is extensive.

Jul og grønne skove or Jul i hullet (Christmas and green forests, nickname: Christmas in the hole) – a ramble:

Okay, we're going back in time, to the year of 1980. Back then, Christmas calendars wasn't as much of a serious thing, as it was just something for kids to watch for half an hour, maybe with their parents. Now, in 1979, Jul i Gammelby aired, which is hailed as one of the best of its time. My parents have talked about how that one is just really cozy and full of Christmas, which is what one would want from a Christmas calendar, of course.

So, 1980. The original plans for the yearly Christmas calendar had gone down the drain, and DR (Denmarks public radio and tv service, the only TV station at the time) had bought the rights to a moomin puppet show from Sweden instead. This show was called Mumindalen (Moomin Valley), which was also a Christmas calendar (SVT 1973). But each episode was only some 14-ish minutes long, and the time slot was for 24-ish minutes, so they had to fill in the time with something.

What does one do? You go to the hosts for the youth department, and ask them to come up with something. There was no time or money to do anything as extravagant as the show airing last year. They had 24 days to write a script, they filmed each episode on the day it aired. There was two men, a remote controlled camera, and a time slot to fill every day for 24 days. The situation was desperate.

The men were Poul Nesgaard and Elith "Nulle" Nykjær Jørgensen. The concept they had come up with? It's a peculiar one. To prove the existence of Santa Claus, they go out on a quest, but fall into a hole in a forest on the 1st of December. While down there, they would answer fan mail and letters (mind you, they were big hotshots to the Danish youth). They would stay in that hole all Christmas, and the only Santa Claus in the show was at the very end. Passing by in the background.

To say the Danish TV audience were disappointed is a big understatement. Most people turned off their TV before the Moomin show had even been shown. Angry letters were sent to newspapers and to DR, everyone hated it. On the 12th of December, the top brass at DR demanded it to stop.

Poul and Nulle kept going. To keep up the appearance that they were stuck in a hole, they didn't do any interviews, having the editor Mogens Vemmer defend the decision instead. Poor guy promised next year would have more Christmas, and demanded Poul and Nulle make it more Christmas. They promised they would do it, but didn't go through with it.

The fan mail went to them, though, and some were positive. On the 21st of December, the show reached a new high or low, depending on how you look at it. A cave man covers the camera a few minutes into the episode, and the rest of it is a "Technical difficulties, please stand by" screen, interrupted with the Moomin show. People thought it was unplanned and sloppy, a storm of phone calls went to DR to complain. On the 24th of December, it was over, and the criticism finally got to Poul. At least it was over. Except it wasn't.

There was a meeting in January, to hold people responsible, but a single letter from a principal singing its praise made the top brass doubt themselves. Maybe they hadn't understood the show? Maybe there was some merit to it? Poul has decided to remember it as a success. The next year, the Christmas calendar was full of Christmas, and with a small reference to the horrible, yet iconic calendar of 1980, where the two men finally got out of the hole.

I've watched some of it. All of the first episode, and some snippets of later episodes. It's... It's odd. It's definitely not the most Christmas-y show. But I say, it would've done numbers on Youtube in the 2010s. They were 30 years too early. The zany humour and home video vibe would've been perfect. Poul and Nulle were visionaries, they just didn't have the right medium. This is my opinion at least.

Now, it's time for the much stranger story of the archives of the worst Christmas calendar ever.

Because no. It doesn't end. Danish journalist Anders Lund Madsen has made a 24 episode radio program called Hullet i Jorden (The hole in the ground) to investigate what happened and what came next, and I must admit, I haven't listened to it yet.

Thing is, there's a whole conspiracy theory about this Christmas calendar.

Since Christmas calendars of the past occasionally get to grace the screen again, it's not customary to delete the archives, which is why we can watch many of the old shows again and again. Some of the very oldest were overwritten though, to make space for the News broadcasts, which is why we only have scraps left of some of the shows from the 60s. But this happened to Jul og grønne skove, and pretty early after the show had aired too. DR's archives for the show? GONE.

A viewer had recorded all episodes, and DR found out, so they asked him to send them in a taxi so they could get them back. The VHS tapes? GONE. He's tried to contact DR several times, but no one has been able to answer what happened.

Remember how I mentioned Poul and Nulle got out of the blasted hole in the Christmas calendar of 1981? Well. That clip, guess what? IT'S GONE. Someone cut it out for the rerun in 1987. A woman working for DR's archives stubbornly looked for that clip, and that's how she found the clip.

Only half the episodes are available on DR's archival site, Bonanza, and the rest are lost media. The conspiracy theory is that someone working at DR has purposefully worked to erase this blight on Christmas calendars from existence. Is that the truth? I don't know, but I do know that it has been erased in part three times.

I hoped you enjoyed this walk down the insane history of the worst Christmas calendar ever.

Sources: https://juleweb.dk/julekalendere/jul-og-groenne-skove/ https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/webfeature/poul-og-nulle https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/historie/konspirationsteori-nogen-vil-skaffe-skandaleramt-dr-julekalender-af-vejen

[writers-in-moominvalley]

(Via the Moomin website)

“The hemulens all share certain character traits: they like order, believe in duty, and strongly feel that rules and regulations should be followed – to the letter.”

That is actually a false encompassing trait. Principal Hemul, who runs a Foundling Home and is the biggest stick in the mud who doesn't have patience for a child with ADHD and is obsessed with cleanliness, is a special case and should not have been taken as an example for the whole species.

“They are prone to obsess over collecting things (whether that be plants, stamps or insects)”

False again. Collections Hemul, who has collected everything in the universe, and his cousin Bugs Hemul, who collects bugs, are special cases and should not have been-

“and tend to be a bit bossy.”

False once more. November Hemul and Officer Hemul, whose whole job is to be bossy, are-

“Most of them lack a sense of humour, but they can also be surprisingly convivial and high-spirited!”

That is Winter Hemul, who-

‘The Hemulen always wore a dress that he had inherited from his aunt. I believe all Hemulens wear dresses. It seems strange, but there you are.’ (Finn Family Moomintroll, 1948)

THAT STEREOTYPE GETS SHATTERED BY MANY LATER HEMULS WHO WEAR PANTS AND-

[shibumi-tanuki]

Snörblomma

Species: Snork-Muddler

Pronouns: They/she

More info about them under the cut!

They were left at a Foundling’s home as an infant and lived in one before running away and making a house for themselves near the beach. They were overall unhappy in the Foundling’s home due to how hard they found it to relate to other children, being a recurring target for teasing that, while not really severe most of the time, left them very insecure of others. 

During the first five years of their life, their tail was entirely bald and resembled that of a rat, which was attributed to their muddler genes. Their ears were also bigger, folded over themselves. The home’s principal noted that, after a number of years, their tail slowly began to grow fur. As such, she assumed that their ears remaining folded was them just being a ‘late bloomer’ (Snork and moomin calves’ ears usually stand by the time they turn a year and a half old) and decided to take it upon herself to ‘lend a paw’. Despite the ill advise of doctors, the principal used various methods such as taping in an attempt to make their ears stand. Snörblomma found the procedures very uncomfortable and even painful at times due to the sensitivity they have in their ears, though what affected them the most was the disappointment in the principal’s face whenever their ears failed to stand as she expected them to. However, slowly but surely, one of their ears was coerced into standing like a pure snork’s would, though the other never did the same despite showing some initial progress.

They grew up to be a very reserved creature who only talked when addressed and played on their own, wandering off while daydreaming about traveling around the world. The principal’s concern over them being a late bloomer or sick child gave them anxiety regarding their health, always fearing getting sick or feeling pain lest it prove the principal’s concerns right. They struggles with expressing what they’re feeling, seeing whenever they did speak the smallest thing made them spiral into thinking they had humiliated themselves in the worst way possible. Whenever they feel a very strong emotion, their fur shifts in color, though this proves very taxing and both the intensity of what they’re feeling and the shift leaves them exhausted afterwards. This usually happens when they have outbursts or meltdowns.

After a nasty argument with the principal over not wanting to wear a dress, Snörblomma ran into the forest and never looked back. They found refuge in an old fillyjonk who found it no problem to give them the spare room their grandkids never used because their refusal to visit. The first night, they took a pair of scissors and cut down their mane and hair that the principal had always insisted on braiding and brushing no matter how much Snörblomma complained it hurt. They found good company with the old fillyjonk and kept them company for a couple of years, during which they read every book she had, before setting off on their own to make their own home. The fillyjonk gifted them an old summer hat she had used in her youth (that I forgot to draw them with) as a parting gift and they’ve kept it with them ever since.

They currently reside by the shore, fishing for a living and discovering an interest for collecting seashells and pinecones from the nearby forest. They host other people who come by the beach and listen in on whatever story they might have to tell. 

[pauline-lewis]

Just take it easy, we're going home

J'attends quelque chose mais je ne sais pas quoi, ni pour quand. On s'habitue à tout paraît-il. Je pense à cette cicatrice dans mon œil que j'ai arrêté de voir. Je fais confiance à mes oreilles et espère qu'elles vont arrêter d'entendre les bruits fantômes de mon chat et le poids léger de ses coussinets qui faisaient grincer le parquet. Mes yeux, qui ont déjà effacé la cicatrice par le passé, arrêteront peut-être de le voir dans chaque plaid roulé en boule.

Le mois de janvier a toujours été pour moi le plus glauque de l'année. J'ai abandonné l'idée de me projeter alors je repense aux petites joies des temps passés, même si elles semblent minuscules : chanter Rocket Man au karaoké, boire un chocolat chaud sur une terrasse froide, sortir du cinéma et voir Notre-Dame, acheter un livre que je n'aurai pas le temps de lire.

Allongée dans mon lit la nuit, aux moments où la présence de mon chat me manque le plus, car je sais qu'il venait toujours me voir pendant mes angoisses, je voyage dans mes souvenirs et je marche dans le sable, je rebois un cocktail sans alcool sur une plage en Normandie, je dessine des Moomin avec mes neveux, le vent me claque au visage et j'écoute le bruit de la mer siffler dans mes oreilles. En janvier dernier, je ne dormais plus. Cette année, je dors plus que de raison. Je crois que mon corps entier veut hiberner.

Je vois des films et des séries, et j'ai beaucoup de gratitude quand un plan, une scène, un élément scénaristique minuscule arrive à remuer mon cerveau qui est, la plupart du temps, au calme plat.

Mon cerveau a pourtant ressorti de ses tréfonds la chanson de Morning Star Going Home que j'écoutais beaucoup dans mes jeunes années. Cette chanson dit que tout irait mieux si l'on rentrait à la maison. It's so hard to keep on fighting, when it could be so easy to go home J'aimais bien cette pop sautillante en 2007. À l'époque où j'écoutais ce groupe je sentais, comme aujourd'hui, que je tournais une page et j'avais un peu peur. Je réfléchis(sais) aux contours de ce qu'on appelle "la maison". There's no place like home.

J'avais emprunté My place in the dust à la médiathèque de Brest et écouté mille fois la chanson Hereafter, qui semble pleine de larmes et qui ne pouvait bien évidemment que me plaire. Elle a été, à l'époque, de toutes mes playlist et de toutes mes séances d'écriture. Et c'est un peu une chanson de janvier d'ailleurs : So many shades of grey — and you and me

Au hasard d'un roman de la rentrée littéraire j'ai eu envie de réécouter un de mes disques préférés, Blood on the Tracks de Bob Dylan. Je crois que le texte de la première chanson de l’album (Tangled up in blue) est l'un de ceux qui me touchent le plus au monde, je l'ai dit mille fois mais ce sont des mots qui, enchaînés les uns aux autres, sont d'un incroyable réconfort et qui semblent m'ouvrir les portes d'un autre monde. À chaque fois que je l'écoute, je suis fascinée par le rythme des phrases, par la force absolue de tout ce qu'elle raconte, par cette poésie qui irradie. J'ai beau avoir entendu mille fois cette chanson, elle me bouleverse toujours

Pouring of every page like it was written in my soul, from me to you

Je regarde par la fenêtre en entendant les couplets se fondre les uns dans les autres.

J'essaie de trier les bons des mauvais souvenirs, mais les mauvais reviennent et forcent la porte.

Alors je chante, je rechante et je rerechante

When it all came crashing down, I became withdrawn

The only thing I knew how to do was to keep on keepin on like a bird that flew

Ministry of Fear, Fritz Lang, 1944

J'ai regardé une série de films qui n'a rien éveillé en moi qu'une forme d'indifférence molle (les 6/10 sur SensCritique, franchement quoi de pire) et puis il y a eu Ministry of Fear de Fritz Lang qui est venu s'aligner un peu à mon humeur générale. C'est un film sur la paranoïa, l'angoisse du nazisme, la confiance et la culpabilité. Un vrai bon petit bingo de début d'année, donc.

J'ai vraiment aimé la manière dont le personnage principal est une sorte de anti-héros, qui essaie de se racheter d'une culpabilité passée en se lançant dans une enquête qui le dépasse totalement. Chaque personnage qui croise sa route est ambigu et complexe, et comme le spectateur ne peut pas faire confiance au héros indécis un du film, il joue un rôle actif pour débusquer le vrai du faux.

Il y a surtout une scène de spiritisme qui est 100% la raison pour laquelle je regarde des films : pour ces teintes de gris, ces visages fantomatiques, ce suspense intenable, surtout pour ce mystère qui se niche dans les images. Cette scène appuie sur le sentiment de culpabilité du personnage principal, elle joue sur la dualité entre ce que nous savons et ce que nous ne faisons que deviner. Et plus tard, elle sera complètement retournée. Vraiment sublime.

Un papillon, un scarabée, une rose (Aimee Bender). Éditions de l'Olivier, traduit par Céline Leroy

En décembre j'ai commencé à m'atteler à la lecture de la rentrée littéraire. J'ai choisi d'entamer ce cheminement par Un papillon, un scarabée, une rose d'Aimee Bender, parce que le titre m'intriguait. Le roman raconte l'histoire de Francie, une jeune fille de huit ans qui voit sa vie changer du jour au lendemain quand sa mère doit être internée. Elle part vivre avec son oncle, sa tante, et leur bébé. Nous la suivons tandis qu'elle grandit et que la peur de perdre pied comme sa mère la hante chaque jour.

L'écriture d'Aimee Bender est toujours sur le fil. Elle pourrait basculer d'un côté, le récit de la santé mentale de la mère, ou de l'autre, une histoire de reconstruction, mais elle trouve un terrain entre les deux. Où le symbole n'est jamais là où on l'attend. Où la profondeur est toujours de mise. J'ai été sans cesse déroutée par ce récit qui ne m'emmenait jamais où je le pensais. Et en laissant assez de non-dits dans l'état psychologique de la narratrice, assez de place pour l'interprétation, j'ai trouvé qu'Aimee Bender trouvait une voie passionnante pour parler du passage à l'âge adulte et du rapport d'une jeune fille à sa santé mentale.

C'est un livre que j'ai vraiment ressenti, au plus profondément de mon être, surtout aux moments où je ne le comprenais plus et où j'essayais de faire corps avec la narratrice sans succès, ces pages où elle m’échappait. Aimee Bender raconte les cabanes, mentales et physiques, que l'on se construit pour survivre. Le rapport d'une fille à sa mère malade. Les mensonges que l'on se raconte. Les espoirs. Et elle témoigne aussi d’une guérison partielle, sans imposer de leçon de vie, en acceptant la singularité absolue de son personnage. C'est le récit d'une obsession, d'une idée fixe, l'ode à tous ces détails auxquels on s'accroche. Aimee Bender explore les multiples manières dont l'impalpable, la métaphore, la fiction même infusent dans nos existences.

Ce récit m'a habitée pendant toute la semaine où je l'ai lu. Il se trouve que j'étais moi-même sur le fil, que j'allais basculer. Que ce récit prophétique me préparait aux détails auxquels j'allais moi-même me raccrocher. Un superbe roman.

Parks and Recreation

Ce mois de janvier est donc encore plus glauque que les autres mais nous revoyons Parks and Recreation et je trouve, dans ces 22 minutes de la vie de tout ce petit monde, une petite dose de réconfort qui ne me semble pas un luxe en ces temps franchement merdiques. Les fictions sont devenues un peu étranges (l'autre jour je regardais un épisode de Sex and the City et je me suis surprise à m'étonner de les voir s'étreindre, comme s'il s'agissait du rite d'une ancienne civilisation)(il faut souligner que ce n'est pas la seule chose qui m'étonne dans SATC) mais certaines font tout de même du bien.

J'avais oublié que Parks and Recreation faisait émerger autant de sentiments positifs. Elle me donne envie de sortir de mon "funk" comme je l'appelle, de ma "marée noire" comme l'a définie quelqu'un d'autre, pour retrouver ces microscopiques joies du quotidien et ces petites interactions avec des êtres aimés.

Si en ce mois de janvier vous avez une louse toute particulière, je ne peux que vous conseiller un visionnage ou revisionnage, les petits problèmes de Pawnee et les grands idéaux de Leslie Knope (et les multiples histoires d'amour, moi j'aime ça personnellement, mais vous vous faites ce que vous voulez) sont un baume au cœur particulièrement bienvenus.

Et tandis que je finis ce texte, Bob Dylan a avancé jusqu'à You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, je me sens comme Jack Black dans High Fidelity qui tendait Blonde on Blonde à un client qui ne possédait pas encore ce classique en lui disant "It's gonna be okay".

Bob me chante sa remontrance ultime : "You're going to make me give myself a good talking to"

Yup Bob, it's gonna be okay.

[keyofjetwolf]

THE GIFTENING 2019: Jet Wolf’s Nomination Run-down

Last year, people said they would have liked to know which of the nominations I’d seen, or knew about, or liked, or didn’t like, etc. etc. I HEAR YOU. Under the cut, you’ll find all the nominees in every relevant category (anime, non-anime animated, live action, movies, games), and a couple of brief notes on my familiarity (or lack thereof) and general feelings on the thing.

YOU NEED NOT CONSIDER ANY OF THIS BEFORE MAKING YOUR VOTES

I’m putting the info out there for those who’ve wanted to know, but that information is relevant precisely as much as you want it to be. I can and will liveblog something I hate, I can play a game I’ve played twenty times before. THE GIFTENING is for you, and while I won’t lie (I won’t pretend to like something I don’t, I won’t feign surprise at a twist on my 21st playthrough), I’ll happily provide whatever entertainment in whatever way I can.

Also please note that if I don’t like something, that feeling comes with no value judgement. My disliking a thing reflects only on myself. So if you see I’m not a fan of something, or don’t think I’ll like it based on what I’ve seen or heard, please keep in mind there’s nothing personal toward in you at all in that. AND HELL I COULD BE WRONG FEEL FREE TO TRY AND SHOW ME

Anyway, enough with the blah blah. Join me under the cut if you care to know!

Anything marked only with ** means I haven’t seen/played it nor have any particular thoughts or opinions to share.

Anime

.hack//Sign  **

A Place Further Than The Universe - Haven’t seen it, but from Dashboard Osmosis, was more interested in it than I have been a non-Sailor Moon anime in a long time.

Aggretsuko  **

Aikatsu!  **

Alien Nine  **

Angel Sanctuary  **

Aria the Animation  ** 

Assassination Classroom  ** 

Azumanga Daioh  **

Bodacious Space Pirates - Saw through the first couple of episodes (liveblog here!) Not sure where it’s going, but liked it pretty well!

Bubblegum Crisis - An old personal favourite

Clannad  ** 

Death Note - I think it’s about killing people with a slam book I DUNNO

Death Parade  ** 

Diebuster  ** 

Erased (Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi)  **

Excel Saga  **

Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia  **

Fate/Grand Order: First Order  **

Fire Force  **

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club - I’ve watched the first series. It’s okay, WOULD BE BETTER IF NOT SO MANY DUDES

Fresh Precure - I’ve not seen any Precure series, but if pressed, would say it appears overwhelmingly fluffy and saccharine

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - a GIFTENING favourite! Barely into it, but enjoying so far. (previous liveblog here)

Fushigi Yuugi - I watched the series (quit partway through the OAVs) when I finished Sailor Moon back in the day and desperately wanted to find it again. I failed.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun  ** 

Given  ** 

Glitter Force  ** 

Grave of the Fireflies - NEVER SEEN IT HAVE BEEN INFORMED IT WILL DEVASTATE ME

Haibane Renmei - I know only what I’ve read via Holligay’s liveblogs! (find them here)

Hamtaro - uhm isn’t this about a hamster

Higurashi When They Cry  ** 

Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous)  ** 

Hugtto! Precure - See note on previous Precure

Hyouka  ** 

Kaguya-sama: Love is War  **

Kaleido Star  **

Kemono Friends  **

Kimetsu no Yaiba  **

Little Witch Academia  **

Log Horizon  **

Love Hina  **

Luck & Logic  **

Madoka: Rebellion - I saw the Madoka series (fairly ambivalent to it), and heard the movie was terrible, but no clue why, specifically.

Magic Knight Rayearth - Watched this back in the day and haven’t watched a single second since. I REMEMBER LIKING THE BLUE ONE

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha - Someone sponsored this liveblog for a while! (liveblog here) It was doing some really interesting things with kids burdened with all this world-saving shit, I thought.

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (TV not OAV) - I know this is a Tenchi Muyo! spin-off (watched some Tenchi back in the day), but I’ve never seen it. Magical Girl Raising Project - Seen the whole series, and really quite enjoyed it.

March Comes in Like a Lion (3-gatsu no Lion)  **

Megalobox  **

Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary)  **

Mob Psycho 100 - Never seen it, but know a bit about it through Dashboard Osmosis.

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - WOW WE’RE GOING BACK INTO THE OLDEN TIMES. I’ve seen bits and pieces of *A* Gundam, but no idea which.

Moribito  **

My Bride is a Mermaid (Seto No Hanayome)  ** 

My Roommate is a Cat - Never heard of it, love the title, want it to be a series mashed with the one above.

NANA

Natsume's Book of Friends - I’ve heard the title enough to have it ring a bell, but know nothing otherwise.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - I FUCKING HATE EVANGELION I SEE YOU HOLLIGAY

O Maidens in Your Savage Season - This is another banger title, never heard of it.

Ojamajo Doremi  **

Pretear

Princess Principal

Princess Tutu - WE’RE OLD FRIENDS TUTU AND I. I’m currently liveblogging Princess Tutu on the regular thanks to Calantian! (liveblog here) I just got to the halfway point of episode 12, and have Tutu on the schedule for January as well. LOVING THIS SHOW.

Project A-Ko - Among my earliest of anime experiences. A classic. A weird, weird little classic.

Re:Creators  ** 

Read or Die (OAV)  ** 

Revolutionary Girl Utena - I’ve no doubt my time of fully diving into this anime is approaching, but thus far, I’ve only nibbled at the edges. I know there’s shit here, there are too many people into it. MOSTLY THOUGH I’M STILL CONFUSED ABOUT WHY THERE WAS A KANGAROO (previous liveblogs here)

Rose of Versailles - It’s a historical anime and I think there are lesbians?

Samurai Pizza Cats - I could have this wrong, but I think this is a dubbed anime that’s hilariously unconcerned about anything involving the actual translation and plot? And it’s about cats that deliver pizza? I think there’s a crow that’s the bad guy or something?

School-Live - I know the general premise and watched the first episode ahead of Doc’s Eight Days liveblog of it. What I know has intrigued me.

Serial Experiments Lain - I watched this waaaay back when. Bought it on DVD! Still have them! I cannot for the life of me remember how I felt about it.

Slayers - Another I watched a bit back when! Found it to be generally okay, but it was like twenty something years ago because I am an old.

Snow White with the Red Hair  **

Suite Precure - See previous Precure notes

Sweetness and Lightning - I got this as a Wildcard a couple GIFTENINGs ago, and found it to be CHARMING AS FUCK. I’m still mildly concerned it’s going to go creepy and weird on me Because Anime, but otherwise, I had a great time. (previous liveblog)

The Promised Neverland ** 

Thunderbolt Fantasy **

Trigun - I think I saw this on commercials for Toonami? Vash the Demolished or something? I THINK IT’S ABOUT A DUDE WITH A GUN

Umineko When They Cry ** 

Violet Evergarden ** 

Yona of the Dawn - I did a tiny bit of this for a commission, but remember next to nothing about it. (previous liveblog)

Zombie Land Saga - I ASSUME IT INVOLVES ZOMBIES IN SOME FASHION

Non-Anime Animated

Adventure Time - Seen a lot of it pass my dash, I know there’s a yellow dog that can be things, and the vampire and the pink one are gay.

Anastasia - Just livestreamed the movie with Holligay for Eight Days! I’ve no particular feelings toward it otherwise.

Archer - I KNOW IT’S ADULT

Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse - This has been nominated every single GIFTENING, I think, and while I’m no closer to knowing what this is actually about, the persistence is inspiring.

Bob's Burgers - Great show! Seen many episodes! I think it’ll be hard to liveblog in a meaningful way.

Bojack Horseman - I’ve seen through season three. EXCELLENT SHOW

Captain N - What the fuck I think I used to watch this on Saturday mornings

Carmen Sandiego (2019)  **

Castlevania (2017) - I’ve seen a couple gifsets, that’s it.

Chuggingtons - WHY DO YOU PEOPLE HATE ME

Courage the Cowardly Dog - I know the premise, never watched the show.

Cyber Six  **

Daria - It was a Beavis & Butthead spin-off and that immediately killed all interest for me.

Donkey Kong Country (TV series)  **

Ducktales (2017) - I know a lot of people love them, but I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the Disney ducks, generally speaking.

Epithet Erased  **

Ever After High  **

Gargoyles - Saw the first multi-part episode in a livestream a year or so back. It was pretty standard 90s cartoon stuff to me just from that, but I know it’s well-loved.

Generator Rex  **

Gravity Falls - Currently liveblogging for the Patreon! LOVE IT. I’m not sure we’re outside the exclusivity window for it, but if it makes it into the second heat, I’ll figure out how to go from there.

Green Eggs and Ham (series) - Wait, what the hell, this is a series? HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS INTO A SERIES

Green Lantern: The Animated Series  **

Harley Quinn - Loved the clips I saw of the first episode! Did not love the antisemitic clips I saw of the second episode!

Hazbin Hotel  **

Hilda   **

Home Movies - The few clips I’ve seen were hilarious.

Infinity Train  **

JEM - MY LOVE. It’s desperately 80s and objectively poorly done in places and I adore it with my entire being.

Jonny Quest  **

Kidd Video - I feel like I SHOULD know this, but I can’t place it.

Kim Possible - I’ve heard of it!

Klaus  **

Mao Mao Heroes of Pure Heart  **

Moominvalley (2019) - I know Moomins are those little white hippo things. I am pure confusion beyond that.

My Life as a Teenage Robot  **

Over the Garden Wall - I did a couple episodes for my Patreon a few years ago, and have since finished watching the whole series. I’m up for a rewatch!

Rugrats - I know of it, but have only watched the Hanukkah special.

RWBY - Heard of it! I had the impression it was pretty queerbaity? (don’t quote me on that)

Samurai Jack - I know the premise, but never watched the series

She-Ra (80s) - YES I KNOW YOU

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) - Love it, love it. I still haven’t seen the most recent “season” (it’s a half season don’t jerk me around Netflix)

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - I am a long-time comic book nerd and quite familiar with the Spider-Mans. Saw the film shortly after last year’s GIFTENING and enjoyed it.

Star vs the Forces of Evil - Had a liveblog of this for THE GIFTENING a few years back and it was okay, but I wasn’t super impressed. (previous liveblog)

Super Friends - I FUCKING HATE THE SUPER FRIENDS I SEE YOU HUBBY

Tangled: Before Ever After - Saw the movie, never seen the series!

The Animals of Farthing Wood  **

The Dragon Prince - I’ve heard Tumblr chatter in a general sense, but no details.

The Hollow  **

The Loud House  **

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show  **

Thundercats - I fucking loved Thundercats as a kid, hahhaha, there is no way it holds up.

Totally Spies - I’ve had several Patreon livestreams with the show, so have a pretty good general sense of the show at this point. I’m not sure it’d make a good liveblog, though.

Venture Brothers - I think it features a blond buff dude in a black t-shirt?

Wakfu (French dub) - Oh hey, this was a free to play game at PAX one year! That’s it, that’s all I know.

Winx Club  **

X-Men: The Animated Series (90s) - DID SOMEONE SAY X-MEN??? I love this show. Hubby and I still to this day quote this show. This show is not good.

X-Men Evolution - Evo, on the other hand, is EXCELLENT. One of the single best incarnations of the X-Men, in my opinion. Seen all eps multiple times, love it, can talk for a hideously long time about details you never in your life cared about, will probably not make it through an episode, please consider if that is a point for or against it before you vote. (previous liveblog)

Live Action

Agent Carter - Saw the Captain America movie, that’s it!

American Gods - Read the book

Atypical - I know the premise very loosely, and it sounds good, but I’d be a little concerned about accidentally stomping in all the wrong places with my giant clumsy neurotypical feet.

Babylon 5 - I know it’s a sci-fi classic, and I’ve been assured there are characters I would love, but haven’t seen it.

Batman (Adam West series) - A SERIOUS LIVEBLOG WILL RESULT I’M SURE

Black Mirror ("White Bear") - This episode still fucks with me to this day. It’s exceptional, and also very very complicated. This would be a heavy liveblog, be warned. (previous Black Mirror liveblogs)

Brooklyn 99 - I’ve only watched a bit of this and enjoyed it, but like most sitcoms, it’s incredibly difficult to liveblog. (previous liveblog)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - One of my live’s greatest televisual loves. Joss Whedon and time have mostly driven that out of me, but letting my ego out to play for a second, I have to say, I give some pretty good Buffy. (previous liveblogs)

Cagney & Lacey - A formative favourite for tiny baby Jet Wolf! It’s a cop procedural, with all the downsides that implies, but also it’s lady cop BFFs AND I LOVE IT AND THEM

Carmilla - A current staple of the blog, thanks to @cello-moon! I’ve just started Season 3, and if you’re a regular around here, you know how all this goes. (previous liveblogs)

Charmed (1998) - I know of it, very very loosely, but never watched it.

Charmed (2018) - Also loosely known, but even less so!

Cloak and Dagger - I’m burned out (and just burned) from Disney’s Marvel garbage, but I know Cloak & Dagger from the comics, am that only makes me more surprised this show exists.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I never picked this back up after THE GIFTENING, but had a great time with what we watched! (previous liveblog)

Critical Role (The Night Before Critmas one-shot) - I haven’t seen this one shot, but I DO love me some Critical Role.

Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - We watched the whole series, and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. PODLINGS ARE VALID AND HUP IS THE MOST VALID OF ALL

Dear Friends **

Derry Girls - Watched the whole thing a couple times now, absolutely adore it. One of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. Once again though, comedies can be SO hard to liveblog.

Dinnerladies **

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - I’ve heard of the book series?

Doctor Who - I’ve tried SO HARD to like Doctor Who, and yet.

Doctor Who (City of Death serial) - See above, no thoughts on this serial specifically.

Elementary - I’ve seen the first three seasons, I think it is? They began to lose me with some season choices, but I love Sherlock and Joan SO MUCH.

Farscape - I watched the series when it was first on The Sci-Fi Channel, but they kept jerking the schedule around and it fell off my radar. Quite liked it though, as I recall.

Galavant - I SUPER BELIEVE IN YOU TAD COOPER (previous liveblogs)

Good Omens (miniseries) - Read the book and survived the miniseries consuming Tumblr, but didn’t watch it myself.

Hannibal - I remember when this was EVERYWHERE, but mostly I remember that it was very gay and had that guy from Rogue One in it.

Hellier  **

His Dark Materials - Haven’t watched it, haven’t read the books, I know nothing!

Kamen Rider (1971, ep 1)  **

Kamen Rider Fourze  **

Kamen Rider W  **

Kanpai Senshi After V  **

Killing Eve - I’ve seen some photo and gif sets, but haven’t watched it. I think they’re trying to murder each other? But also fuck? IT’S VERY CONFUSING

Legends of Tomorrow - I know it’s a DC show, and I think it has something to do with time travelers?

Leverage - I just watched and streamed my first two episodes last night on Patreon! Quite enjoyed it, more than I expected to.

LOST - Until proven otherwise, I’ll assume this was a troll nomination. GOOD GOD I HATE LOST

Lost Girl  **

Love Island (season 3)  **

Maho Sentai Magiranger  **

Midnight Dinner: Tokyo Stories  **

Murder She Wrote - Actual lol, I have no idea why this was nominated, but I love it and also you. ANGELA LANSBURY ON TV WE ALL WIN

Murdoch Mysteries  **

Once Upon a Time - The premise is fairytales all smooshed together I think?

One Day at a Time (2017) - I’ve watched all but the most recent season, I think. Good show, very enjoyable, but mostly “watch and forget” for me.

Orphan Black - Currently liveblogging, thanks to @skylineofspace​! I’m currently on episode 4, and absolutely loving it. (previous liveblogs)

Parks and Recreation - I’ve seen all but the last season, I think. Great show, but once again, I’d expect a difficult time liveblogging it.

Pushing Daisies - Never seen it. I think it’s about someone whose touch kills?

Re:Mind  **

Russian Doll - Never seen a single second, but I’ve heard nothing but good things through the grapevine.

Sapphire & Steel - HUBBY’S TROLLING ME AGAIN. This is an oooold old old English sci-fi/horror show that I used to watch when I was a tiny tiny Jet Wolf and it scared the shit out of me. I’M STILL MILDLY TRAUMATIZED BY IT TO THIS DAY

Schitt's Creek  **

Sense8  **

Shanara  **

Smash  **

Star Trek: The Next Generation - I love me some Star Trek. I’ve seen all of TNG, but haven’t sat down to fully rewatch the series ever, so most I only saw when they first aired.

Stargate SG1 - I think this is based on a movie I also haven’t seen.

Tantei no Tantei  **

Terrace House  **

The Good Place - OKAY SO THE GOOD PLACE. I watched the first two seasons and LOVED THEM. Mostly. I DO NOT love the Eleanor/Chidi thing. I do not love it to the extent that it completely sucked out my desire to continue with the show. I haven’t seen anything of it past the S2 finale. (previous liveblog)

The Haunting of Hill House - Watched and enjoyed the whole miniseries. I confess to being uncertain about liveblogging this though, as I feel Doc is doing it so much better than I could hope to do.

The Magicians & The Crown  **

The Mandalorian - I KNOW BABY YODA BECAUSE I AM A PERSON WHO EXISTS IN OUR MODERN WORLD (that is all I know)

The Middleman  **

The Tick (2016) - I know and enjoyed the cartoon!

The Untamed  **

Twilight Zone - Who doesn’t know the Twilight Zone, it’s a fucking classic for a reason.

Twin Peaks - Believe it or not, I have never seen a single second of Twin Peaks. I know it’s weird, I know Laura Palmer is dead, I know functionally nothing else.

Ultraman X  **

Westworld - Haven’t seen it, though I believe it’s loosely based on the movie of the same name which I HAVE seen.

What We Do in the Shadows (series) - I’ve seen neither the series nor the movie, but know it’s Taika Waititi and is reportedly hilarious.

Worst Cooks in America - WAIT AM I IN A TV SHOW

Xena: Warrior Princess - My OTHER great love. Adore Xena, adore everything about it (well, mostly), have devoted a not insignificant amount of my heart and brainspace to Xena, if you have me talk about Xena I may never shut up. (previous liveblogs)

Movies

Arrival  **

Atomic Blonde ** 

Barbie's The Princess and The Pauper ** 

Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Saw it a million years ago, remember functionally nothing.

Best in Show - Also seen a very long time ago, just the once.

Bohemian Rhapsody - I love Queen and Freddie Mercury, and I had exactly zero interest in watching this film.

Brave - A Disney/Pixar movie I actually liked!

Cabaret - I haven’t seen the film, though I did see the stage musical, and it fucked me up pretty hardcore for a while there. (Do not let that dissuade you from voting for it! I’ve been wanting to watch the movie. Trump had just been elected when I saw it performed AND WELL THERE WERE THINGS)

Captain Marvel - Haven’t seen it, but it’s one of the few later stage Disney/Marvel offerings I’ve had any interest in.

Captain Underpants  **

Carrie (1976) - ANOTHER SUPER OLDIE I’M SO DELIGHTED. I’ve seen it as well as read the book (both a very long time ago)

Castaway on the Moon  **

Cats (1998) - hahahah I SEE YOU YOU ASSHOLES

Chocolat  **

Clue (1985) - One of my personal favourite movies, though I did stream it not too long ago for my Patreon.

Coco  **

Crank  **

Crimson Peak  **

Dale and Tucker vs Evil - I’ve never seen this, but have wanted to.

Detective Pikachu - Saw this in the theater, and I’m still not sure if I actually enjoyed it or not.

Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks - THIS IS A MY LITTLE PONY THING ISN’T IT

EVA  **

Fate/Grand Order: First Order  **

Flash Gordon - Delicious, cheesy fun.

Frozen 2 - I won’t be able to stream this if it’s not been released when it’s GIFTENING time, so just keep that in mind. Also please note that I have not seen Frozen 1. I only just, a few months ago, heard “Let it Go” for the first time. TRUE STORY.

Godzilla: King of Monsters  **

Happy New Year (Bollywood) - I legit love Bollywood films, this sounds delightful.

Here Alone  **

Home  **

Hoodwinked!  **

Hot Fuzz - LOVE HOT FUZZ

How to Train Your Dragon  **

Howl's Moving Castle - I haven’t seen it, but I’ve had a few other Miyazaki films voted in for GIFTENING and Patreon, and I haven’t really enjoyed any of them. I’M WILLING TO TRY AGAIN. Just keep in mind, they may not be for me.

Hustlers  **

In Her Shoes  **

Inside Out  **

Interstellar  **

It's Such a Beautiful Day  **

Jennifer's Body  **

Jojo Rabbit - I wasn’t able to see this when it was at our local indy theater, and I regret missing it. I’d love to see it, but I’m not sure with my goyische commentary would be the best delivery method.

Jupiter Ascending - Love this beautiful dumb film, omg. I’ve streamed this for previous GIFTENINGs though, if that’s a thing to care about.

Klaus  **

Knives Out - Very keen to see this, but it may not be out on dvd/streaming before THE GIFTENING, so bear that in mind.

Last of the Blonde Bombshells  **

Legally Blonde - I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER SEEN THIS. I feel like I have, from all the gifs and shit, but nope!

Love Never Dies - Oh my god is this the Phantom sequel, why do you all hate me.

Mad Max: Fury Road - LOVE IT. I’ve done it for THE GIFTENING before, though, just a note.

Madoka: Rebellion - (copied from Rebellion in Anime)  I saw the Madoka series (fairly ambivalent to it), and heard the movie was terrible, but no clue why, specifically.

Man from UNCLE  **

Masters of the Universe (He-Man, 1987) - This movie is so fucking bad hahaha

Midsommar  **

Monster High: Fright On  **

Muppet Christmas Carol - Just watched this during Holligay’s Eight Days! I’m not sure it’s really in my wheelhouse, being relatively lukewarm on both A Christmas Carol and the Muppets, but I’d do my best!

Murder on the Orient Express  **

Newsies (1992)  **

One Cut of the Dead  **

Pacific Rim - I saw it in the theater and actually didn’t care for it over much. I’d be willing to give it another shot though, it might be better second time around.

Pan's Labyrinth - I’ve streamed this film a couple times now, I think, but it’s a good one, so I’m up for another go if you guys want!

Parasite (2019)  **

Perfect Blue  **

Pleasantville  **

Promare  **

Redline  **

Resident Evil  **

Return to Oz - I saw this as a kid and haven’t again since. TAKE THAT INFORMATION AS YOU WILL.

Rock-a-Doodle  **

Searching (2018)  **

Secret of Nimh - LITTLE JET WOLF LOVED THIS MOVIE. Adult Jet Wolf hasn’t sampled it.

Spaceballs - I’ve watched the shit out of Spaceballs. I love a parody, I’m shameless.

Speed Racer (2008) - I’ve only seen this once,but actually enjoyed it more than I expected to.

Spice World - I legitimately love this movie. I’m not sure it’s GOOD but it’s a thousand times better than it has any right to be.

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - Good movie, lots of fun, I streamed it not too long ago on Patreon.

Star Wars - IT’S STAR WARS

Star Wars Holiday Special - I’ve never watched this, and I’m not sure how excited I am to change that fact.

Street Fighter (1994) - I HAVE ONLY HEARD THE LEGENDS

Summer Wars  **

Super Mario Brothers - Oh .. this can’t be good ...

Tale of Tales  **

Tangled - I’ve seen it, but didn’t have strong opinions one way or the other.

The Adventures of Tintin  **

The Great Muppet Caper - I’m sure I’ve seen this, but fuck if I can remember anything.

The Last Jedi (hatewatch) - WELP

The Living Wake  **

The Lost Boys - It’s not a good movie, and I love it.

The Mummy (1999) - Streamed recently on Patreon!

The Rezort  **

The Road to El Dorado - I’ve seen it, I want a Sailor Moon AU of it.

The Room - I know it’s considered one of the worst films ever made, but I’ve never had the personal privilege of experience.

Tokyo Godfathers  **

Us (2019) - Saw it in the theater, totally down for seeing it again with perspective on the whole movie.

Venom  **

Wall-E - Probably my favourite Pixar film!

Wayne's World - Saw it back when! Does it hold up? WHO KNOWS

What We Do in the Shadows (movie) - As mentioned above, I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing Taika Waititi joint.

When Marnie Was There  **

Wolf Children Ame and Yuki  **

X-Men 2 - GOD I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I’m not sure how well it would hold up, but when it came out? One of the few films I’ve paid to see multiple times in the theater.

Your Name  **

Games

Ace Attorney (blog) -  I’ve tried multiple times with the Ace Attorney games, and I must be honest and say I just don’t like them.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - I’ve watched a playthrough! The story’s not good. THE IDEA OF PLAYING IT STRESSES ME OUT SO HARD HAHAHAH YOU FUCKS

Among the Sleep (stream)  **

Arkham Knight (main story run) (stream) - Very intrigued to play this. I’ve tinkered a bit, but get distracted by all the side stuff. The motivation to just streamline the story very much appeals.

Baba is You (stream) - I’ve heard great things about the game, but in a “It was great!” way, I still know fuck all about it.

Black Closet (blog)  **

Borderlands (stream) - Love Borderlands, it’s fun as hell. I’d probably angle for Borderlands 2 over the first, but would have a good time however it went.

Catherine Classic  **

Cho Aniki  **

Control (stream) - I’ve seen a little bit on Steam, just enough to know I’m interested.

Cthulhu Save Christmas - Never heard of it, but great title.

Cuphead (stream)  **

Danganronpa  **

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (blog)   **

Dead by Daylight (stream)  **

Death Stranding  **

Death Trips  **

Detention (stream)  **

Disco Elysium (blog) - I’ve heard great things, would be totally okay with a reason to play it.

Doki Doki Lit Club (stream) - I was so intrigued with this from THE GIFTENING a couple years ago that I wanted to work it into the main schedule, but it just didn’t happen. 100% on-board the chance to keep going!

Dragon Age: Origins (stream) - I KEEP STALLING WHENEVER I TRY TO REPLAY THIS GAME SO I CAN MOVE TO DA2 THIS IS MY PERSONAL HELL

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (stream)  **

Dream Daddy - I know the premise, and the idea of blogging this is beautiful.

Final Fantasy X (blog) - Have I played X? (asks Hubby) YES I HAVE. It’s one of the few that I finished. Final Fantasy games usually entail so much grinding that I’m not sure it’d be a great liveblog, but I’d do my best!

Firewatch - I’ve been wanting reasons to play this SO MUCH.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (stream) - I’m preeetty sure everyone just wants to hear how many terrible accents we can do. And that’s legit! I’ve since figured out how to play mobile games on my PC so the video quality would be better than last time, but that is the only improvement I could promise. (previous stream)

Gris  **

Half Dead 2 (stream)  **

Hand of Fate 2 (blog) - I think this is a card game?

Hatoful Boyfriend/Pigeon Fucking (blog) - IS IT EVEN REALLY THE GIFTENING WITHOUT PIGEON FUCKING (previous liveblogs)

Hollow Knight  **

House Flipper (blog) - I’ve tentatively had my eye on this on Steam for a while, so seeing this nominated tickled me.

Just Dance (stream) - Jesus wept, you all DO hate me. IF I HAVE TO DO THIS I WON’T DO IT ALONE

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (First Chapter) (blog)  **

Legend of Zelda (stream) - I AM SO BAD AT THIS GAME WHY

Life is Strange (blog) - See below!

Life is Strange (stream) - I streamed all episodes of Life is Strange a couple years back. While I’m not sure I’d have much to offer on a replay, I’ll happily do it if you guys vote it in. MEANWHILE, here’s a playlist with all the Life is Strange streams.

Life is Strange 2 - My understanding is it’s a separate game from the first with new characters and new story.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (stream) - And I believe this is a prequel to the first Life is Strange featuring Max and Chloe.

Little Inferno (stream)  **

Long Live the Queen (blog) - YOU KNOW PINK PRINCESS (previous liveblogs)

Long Live the Queen (stream) (with walkthrough to not repeat) - I laughed so hard at the nomination specifically giving my ass a walkthrough.

Mass Effect 1 - I’ve played it multiple times! The Mass Effect series is one of my personal favourites.

Monster Prom (w/Hubby, Doc, & Jill) (stream) - AGAIN WITH VOICES I SEE YOU. It can be difficult to get everyone’s schedules all in alignment, so this may be subject to shuffling and delays, just to keep in mind.

Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (stream)  **

Overwatch (stream) - I assume this is more group play? But we can talk details if it makes it into further heats.

Oxenfree (stream) - I’ve fully streamed Oxenfree on the Patreon. It’s well outside the exclusivity window at this point, and I’m happy to make those public if you guys were interested and would rather put your votes elsewhere. That said, I really enjoyed the game, and think a second playthrough could add a lot to the overall experience, so feel free.

Pathologic 2 (blog)  **

Persona 3 Portable (blog)  **

Pillars of Eternity (blog) - I’ve never finished Pillars of Eternity, but I do have a game with some significant progress I could continue. Alternately, I could roll a whole new character, and would play it however you guys chose. We have options if we go this route!

Pokemon Go (stream/videos) - Amazing. Here the link to last year’s Pokemon Go, if you’d like some idea of what the fuck this is about!

Portal (stream) - The Portal series is great, I think it does some really interesting and innovative ideas with gameplay. I’ve played and finished the first two, though remembering the solutions to any of those puzzles is, of course, another thing entirely.

Recettear: An Item Shop Tale (stream) - THIS WAS THE FIRST THING I EVER BOUGHT ON STEAM. I haven’t played it in forever, and I’m not sure how entertaining it would be, but I’m down for finding out!

Resident Evil 2 remake (blog) - IT’S ZOMBIES. That’s about all I know about Resident Evil.

Reventure  **

Sara is Missing  **

Shovel Knight (stream)  **

Slime Rancher (blog) - I have and have played Slime Rancher! I’m a little unsure about blogging it, but would try!

Slime Rancher (stream) - I WASN’T EXPECTING SUCH A RUSH FROM THE SLIME RANCHER FANDOM THIS YEAR

Stanley Parable - I think Hubby’s played this? I seem to recall it has a narrator who comments on what you do, but I don’t know much else.

Stardew Valley (blog) - I’ve never gotten as far in Stardew Valley as I’ve felt I would. Lots to do for me, yet!

Stardew Valley (stream) - Same as above, just in stream form!

Subnautica (stream) - I’ve done several Subnautica streams for Patreon, and if this gets through, I’d release them so everyone (who wants to) can catch up. If I recall, my last play left off with me exploring a big ass ship that crashed.

Superluminal  **

Tales from the Borderlands - It’s Borderlands, but Telltale, though!

Tales of Symphonia  **

Team SASV (Pokemon X/Y) - TEAM SASSY AND SOMEWHAT VAIN. If this gets in, I’ll need all the intervening time to try and find my fucking DS. (previous liveblogs, via the backup)

The 7th Guest (blog)  **

The Beginner's Guide (stream)  **

The Long Dark   **

The Outer Worlds - I haven’t played this yet but would be extremely delighted for an excuse to pick it up and start.

The Walking Dead game - I watched Hubby play the first two installments, haven’t seen beyond that. Felt the second was weak, LOVED the first. I’ve been hanging on Holligay’s playthrough, so I’m relatively familiar with the story again, save the last episode, which she’s not played yet. I’ve been wanting to before she did, to compare what I think she’ll do to what she actually does, so an excuse to get going on that would be welcome.

The Witcher 3 (stream) - I know @jewishsuperfam loves The Witcher, AND THAT IS ALL I KNOW.

Undertale (blog) - AREN’T I LIKE TWO MINUTES FROM FINISHING THIS. The fight where I left off was frustrating THE PISS out of me, but if this gets in, I’ll get Hubby to read up on what I need to do, and maybe get around that fight before the liveblog, so I don’t spend the whole time getting nowhere and then punching my monitor.

Untitled Goose Game (stream) - I just last month finished this on the Patreon! I need to double check that it would be out of the exclusivity window, but if so, I’d be happy to release it for you guys. I had a great time, but I don’t think there’s much to be regained from playing it again.

VA-11 Hall-A (blog)  **

VooDoo Vance: Remastered  **

Wattam  **

We Happy Few (stream) - I know the basic storyline premise, but little else.

What Remains of Edith Finch (blog) - I watched Holligay’s stream of this and loved the story.

Wild Arms 3  **

Wild ARMs XF (blog)  **

Yakuza 0 (stream)  **

Zero Escape 999 (blog)  **

AND THAT’S THAT. Sailor Moon Day and Miscellaneous don’t require much input from me ahead of time, I don’t feel, but if you have a question on anything there -- or something that’s unclear here, just shoot me an Ask. AND IF YOU FOUND THIS USEFUL PLEASE LET ME KNOW. It took me ... just SO much longer than I was expecting it to. Which I don’t mind, but if it’s not actually helpful to anyone, that’s time better spent elsewhere next year.

[fleurvc]

Hola personitas !!!  les escribe moomin. Finalmente & después de pensarlo mucho (especialmente porque soy malísima con estas cosas) me anime a darle un par de conexiones a mis niños :) es un pueblo pequeño y seguro nuestros pjs deben conocerse de algo, así que bajo el read more les dejo lo básico acerca de ellos & si creen que encajan con sus pjs & pueden tener algún tipo de relación les agradecería que rellenen el <3 para hablarles por im o en su defecto si tienen alguna idea me pueden hablar uds :3 ( @wc-actividades​ )

Primero esta Céline (no se llama Fleur como algunos creen jaja) tiene 29 años, es originaria de Francia. Es escritora e ilustradora (principalmente de cuentos infantiles). Llegó al pueblo hace 5 años y desde hace 4 es dueña de la librería. A simple vista parece una soñadora e idealista pero tiene bien puestos los pies sobre la tierra. Le cuesta comprometerse en cualquier tipo de relación emocional (su principal miedo es ser abandonada), se centra más en las cosas laborales, pero eso no quiere decir que no este dispuesta a ayudar o escuchar a sus seres queridos.  Le encantan los niños, aunque hasta ahora no esta en sus planes tener propios (siente inseguridad en si será una buena madre o no, no quiere ser como la suya)  POR ACÁ DEJO LA BIO

Ideas para conexiones: Pueden ser el vecino molesta o ella serlo /Conocerse de un club de lectura / Un amor platónico / Son admiradores de su padre (bc es un escritor reconocido en Francia) / Se conocieron paseando a sus mascotas / Fue de gran ayuda al llegar al pueblo /  Tienen mucho en común y desde entonces son mejores amigxs, etc.... acepto de todo :) 

Por otro lado esta Mikkel, tiene 35  años & es originario de Alemania. Lleva quince años en el pueblo.Intentó estudiar Psicología pero por un motivo u otro comenzó a trabajar en el Bar de Joe desde los 20 años. Es un hombre que no demuestra su lado sentimental con facilidad, pues quedó muy dolido luego de que le alejaran de su primer amor e hijo. Pasó por mucho en su infancia y adolescencia, su padre le obligo a involucrase en el negocio de las drogas y no es algo que cuente a todo mundo. Le gusta cuidarse mucho, lleva una vida sumamente relajada, aunque no puede evitar ser intolerante cuando algo le molesta o lo saca de su zona de confort. POR ACÁ DEJO LA BIO 

Ideas para conexiones: Pueden ser el compañero gruñón / Amigos apasionados por las motos (tiene una que es vital para trasladarse por todo el pueblo) / Un amor platónico o maybe  el ex que no puede dar el 100%  / El mejor amigo en el cual se apoya mucho y sabe la mayor parte de su historia / Cliente al que le ayuda porque siempre termina ebrix, etc.... igual acepto de todo :3 

[skippyv20]

Thank you😊❤️❤️❤️❤️

Duchess of Cornwall announces Moomin characters to be principal sponsor of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

While in Christchurch, New Zealand’s Tūranga Library, the Duchess of Cornwall announced the Moomin characters as a principal sponsor of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2020. Her Royal Highness made the announcement among young school children who had participated in a writing workshop alongside New Zealand Poet Laureate, David Eggleton.

Duchess Camilla said in her announcement, “As the proud Vice-Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, I am particularly delighted to launch The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay for 2020 in this lovely city of Christchurch.”

The Duchess also presented some of the children with certificates from the 2019 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition.

Next year’s theme is ‘Climate Action in the Commonwealth,’ and it aims to encourage young writers from around the world to “explore the many facets of this critical issue, which will dramatically shape the future of the Commonwealth’s 1.6 billion citizens under the age of 30,” according to Riot Communications in a press release.

The Moomin characters were created by Finnish artist and writer Tove Jansson in the 1940s. Jansson wrote and illustrated nine Moomin books in total among other picture books and a comic strip.

The Moomin characters welcome the 2020 theme as they support causes “with the values of friendship, tolerance, open-mindedness, respect for nature and the power of storytelling.”

The creative director of Moomin Characters and niece of Tove Jansson, Sophia Jansson, has said, “The power of reading and writing and the importance of working together to protect our planet are both very important to us, and they come together in such a beautiful way in The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2020. Each year, the themes of the Competition are around community and collaboration. We’re very proud that in the first year of our sponsorship this is applied to the environment. The passion and intelligence of young people will be crucial in tackling the climate crisis, so we are very excited to see what entrants have to say in response to the topics that have been set for 2020.”

RoyalCentral

[flowerbloom-arts]

How in the world have the writers not made a Psycho parody with Skinner? The whole concept is on a silver platter.

[phenyxsnest]

Bonding and Shenanigans

It's been a long time since any of them has seen the Joxter, until one spring when Snufkin returns with his father in tow and a story of just what's been keeping him from coming home.

Soon after, a new park keeper starts making life difficult for the hemulen park keeper that watches over the woodies. And he’s someone Joxter recognizes far too well from his travels.

Time for some family bonding through the War on Park Keepers.

Fluffvember Day 29: "I know that face." | "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

One could learn a lot about people when you were trapped living in a small area with them for long periods of time.

Like, say, a small boat with three other people.

Yet somehow, the Joxter managed to keep surprising Moomin.

The war with Park Keepers wasn't that much of a surprise – Moomin had seen the way Joxter watched the Orphanage Principal for the short time she was on the Oshun Oxtra, and it made it clear Joxter didn't like her, and it was easy to guess it was the assumption of authority, the way she assumed she was in charge and began ordering them about, that he disliked. That she felt she knew better than all of them what was best for them without knowing them, and that she had some sort of right to tell them what to do and be obeyed.

So to find that it extended to nearly all authority – that they usually had a problem with Joxter and his lifestyle before he had a problem with them, but he had no problem returning the favor – well, mild surprise, maybe.

Finding out Joxter had fallen, and hard, for the Mymblemamma?

That was a surprise. Moomin hadn't thought Joxter one to tie himself down, especially not to someone with that many children and responsibilities.

(Even if he thought, privately, that Mymblemamma might do a bit more parenting rather than let her children run feral as they did, but he wasn't a parent so what did he know? And even then Moomins, so far as he knew, only had three blood children at most, though it was hard to tell how many someone might end up accidentally adopting along the way.)

Still, she was joyful and loving so maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise. How quickly he'd fallen maybe, but then Joxter did have lots of hidden depths and, from what Moomin had found, lots of love to give but a great deal of hesitance in handing it out.

There was a story there, but there were quite a few stories that Joxter would go quiet about, turn away and refuse to continue, and they'd learned to wait. He would tell them when (if) he were ready.

Moomin wished he was surprised when he heard that Joxter had disappeared. Joxter was a vagabond, for all he'd seemed happy sleeping in Mymble's fruit trees, he'd been going on a trip and, well, who knew what might happen.

He just hoped it was Joxter's wandering feet that had him missing. It seemed the most likely – Joxter seemed the sort to always land on those same feet.

Continue on AO3

[hemulenish-hijinks]

Welcome to the first round of the Best Hemulen Bracket!

I am your host, @flowerbloom-arts, and over the next few weeks we are going to pick our favorite hemulens from each pair, carefully selected according to commonality.

There are many, many hemulens in the Moomin franchise as a whole, but who is the best?

After careful considering, I sadly must only pick 32 of them to compete against eachother. You may not know some of them, but I will be providing information on each one for each poll!

Polls:

Side 1:

Mr. Hemulen (bug collector) vs Mr. Hemulen (plant collector)

Aunt Hemulen vs Nana's Fiance/Mr. Hemulen's Nephew

Party Dresser vs Riviera Boutique Keep

Charity Volunteer vs La Goona

The Pisciculturist vs the Philatelist

The Botanist vs the Zoologist

The Inspector vs Henry

Officer 1 (Moomin Begins a New Life) vs Officer 2 (Moomin Builds a House)

Side 2

The House Seller vs Sadling

Wimsy vs the Big Hemulen

The Park Keeper vs the Park Wardress

The Small Hemulen vs the Jailer

The Orphanage Principal vs the Hemulen Aunt

The November Hemulen vs the Hemulen Who Loved Silence

Dragon Adopter vs Intruder

Hatton the Prospector vs the Muffle

-

Here are some reasons why I chose these hemulens in particular, you may skip this part:

1. I didn't pick any 2019 Hemulens because they tended to be rather muddled adaptations of other pre-existing hemulens. You may consider those versions when it comes to voting if you'd like, but be warned, nearly none of them are accurate to the source material.

2. The Hemulens had to have atleast 2 panels of dialog (the Charity Volunteer) or a relevant role to the story's plot (the Dragon Adopter and Intruder). So, apologies to the cowboy Hemulens from Moomin Goes Wild West and the like.

3. These are honestly the 32 I could remember off the top of my head, there were a handful few others but these were the ones I was personally interested in enough to remember.

4. Sadly some resources are unavailable to me like the Fuzzy Felt adaptation, so if there were any hemulens exclusive to that show that you were confused as to why they weren't included, I'm very sorry.

5. Some characters are either in a grey area or difficult to tell if they're meant to be hemulens, so I picked those who are unmistakably hemulens or atleast generally accepted as such.

[sharada-n]

(7: A kiss to shut them up) Ah yes, the poly ship sails once more

Anybody with a working pair of eyes could plainly see that Moomin was absolutely, completely, head over heels in love with Snufkin.

It wasn’t exactly surprising. Moomin was the kind of person who craved adventure, who always went looking for some interesting situation to absorb himself into or a new story to be a part of. Who utterly lived for excitement, no matter where that may lead him.

But Moomin was also the kind of person who often found those things in others instead of himself, and when it came to interesting or new, Snufkin stood out in Moominvalley like a Woodie in a row of Hattifatteners.

Most of the other creatures in the valley were of a more complacent nature. While many fascinating and sometimes rather bizarre things happened there, most of them regarded these happenings with a kind of detached unease, largely concerned whether this latest strange occurrence was likely to intervene with their habitual afternoon tea.

Snufkin was of the wandering variety though. Somebody who knew a whole lot but said very little, full of surprises and unexpected musings, who distanced himself from others but was always kind and polite in the most unmundane ways possible. It wasn’t hard to imagine why so many adored him, and it wasn’t hard to imagine why Moomin was smitten with him.

And he wasn’t exactly subtle about it either. It was only for so long that a boy could stare longingly out the window wondering when his best friend would reappear to figuratively and literally chase away the cold of winter before people became suspect.

So it came to be that everybody knew. Everybody but Moomin himself, who was all kinds of amazing but could be daft as a pile of bricks when it concerned Snufkin. And Snufkin himself, who had the average communication skills of a potato and was not at all adapt at handling emotional matters. So there wasn’t much hope of the situation resolving by itself.

People often asked Snorkmaiden if this irritated her. Moomin was her boyfriend after all, had been ever since they started playing house and make-believe on the grassy downs of the valley and really, wasn’t it rather irksome to see her love pining so desperately for another?

And if pressed she could tell them that yes, it bothered her. It bothered her endlessly, in fact. Just not for the reason most people assumed it did.

Principally, she just wanted Moomin to be happy. Snufkin made Moomin very happy. She herself made Moomin very happy as well. And he made her the happiest Snork in the world, because if anything he was devoted to her like no other was, kind and soft and thoughtful. He was just similarly devoted to Snufkin, of course, and seeing him tying himself into knots over the whole situation was what really bothered her at the end of the day.

The heart of the matter was simple. Moomin was in love with Snufkin. Snufkin was clearly in love with Moomin. Moomin was in love with Snorkmaiden as well, and she herself obviously fancied him a lot. But what people often forgot was that Snorkmaiden was friends with Snufkin too, had known him at least as long as Moomin had even and spent many sunny summer afternoons together in quiet contentment. And he wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes either.

Moomin and her were already girlfriend and boyfriend of course. But the way she saw it there was no reason why Snufkin couldn’t be their boyfriend also. The solution shouldn’t be any more complicated than that.

“Do you like Moomin?”

Snufkin stalled for a moment, almost losing his grip on the fishing rod and having it tumble into the river. He recovered quickly though, fake-coughing politely into one fist instead but refraining from answering immediately. Snorkmaiden either didn’t notice or didn’t care, she was busy making flower crowns out of the wild geraniums that grew on the riverbank.

“Of course I do.” He answered after a few moments, cautiously. Snufkin wasn’t exactly opposed to company when that company was content with sitting in silence next to him enjoying the peaceful afternoon and not bothering him directly. But conversations that started with questions, particularly questions like these, had the disconcerting tendency of veering into terrain he rather steered clear of.

Moomin had taken Sniff and Little My on some kind of adventure today, Snorkmaiden decided to stay behind and that in itself should have been enough to tip him off that something was not right really.

But she didn’t say anything more and Snufkin had just started thinking he might have been let off the hook (unlike the fish he was currently reeling in) when she spoke again.

“Do you like like him though?”

The reel handle spun rapidly as he lost his grip once more, the minnow was probably under some sort of divine protection because it used the sudden slackness of the line to try and extract itself from the hook post-haste, and Snufkin didn’t even have the presence of mind to notice.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He lied.

Snorkmaiden huffed, the kind of little annoyed huff some people do when they can tell you are telling them a fib but are too courteous to call you out on it directly. She finished her crown and put it on her head, trying to admire her own reflection in the river but the fish was causing too many ripples with its great escape attempt for her to see herself clearly.

There were another few tugs and then it succeeded in freeing itself and swam merely down the stream, saved from becoming Snufkin’s dinner for at least another day. Snorkmaiden looked at him and if he didn’t know any better he’d say she was smirking.

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” She said.

“I really need to be getting back.” He answered instead, dropping the fishing pole right then and there and leaving his bait too. Moominvalley wasn’t exactly a hotbed for criminal activity so he was sure it would still be there when he came back for it.

And if not he could always get a new one.

For the next few days Snufkin avoided being alone with Snorkmaiden as much as possible. This wasn’t exactly a hard thing to do, usually Moomin would be spending time with either of them (if not both of them) at any given moment after all.

But he noticed her watching him more shrewdly than was usual, as if analyzing his every movement and it made him slightly nervous. Normally Snufkin wasn’t the kind of person to be much bothered by other people’s opinions of him, but just once Moomin had embraced him in a moment of sudden exhilaration, throwing his paws around Snufkin’s shoulder shortly and impulsively and he had been able to feel Snorkmaiden’s eyes burning into his back.

Only on one occasion did she manage to corner him in the kitchen of the Moominhouse, staring at him intently for a moment, before standing at the counter next to him and watching him make coffee. Moominmamma had been so kind as to lend him her kettle, since he had lost his own during the previous winter.

Snorkmaiden leaned onto the countertop slightly, batting her eyelashes up at him almost innocently. Girls could be so weird sometimes. “I know you like Moomin.”

“Oh?” Was the only noise he had been able to make at that moment.

“I think he likes you too.”

And that had sent a very undignified blush all the way onto his cheeks, though he tried using his scarf as cover to hide it.

Snorkmaiden and Moomin were dating. Snufkin knew this. And he wasn’t scared of a lot of things, you really can’t be a good nomad if you are, but on the other hand there was this belief that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Snufkin had not the slightest intention of finding out if this was true.

“It’s fine.” He said, abandoning the coffee half-done. “It’s nothing, really. We’re just friends.” And then he fled the kitchen without waiting to hear her response.

So far Snorkmaiden could only assume her purpose had been awfully misconstrued.

The subtle approach clearly wasn’t relaying her intentions correctly, for Snufkin had taken to darting away from her at every chance, much like a frightened animal will do when backed into an unpleasant situation.

She had tried most everything she could think of now to get the conversation going without having to resort to drastic and dramatic gestures. Snufkin wasn’t the type of person to go for those. It would make him uncomfortable, she knew. Then again, he had already begun to refuse to be around her at all lately, and by extension around Moomin too and that had quite been the opposite of her goal.

Though it would be unbecoming of a lady, she had no choice but to wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself and then do something completely uncouth.

The perfect opportunity did present itself a mere two days later. Snorkmaiden had been out for an evening walk, as she was sometimes wont to do, to admire the beauty of nature and also to get out of the house since her brother had worked himself up into a frenzy again about one thing or another.

She had stopped by the Moominhouse but her love wasn’t there. It was reasonable to assume he might be off with Snufkin then, but when she crossed the bridge who should she find but the wanderer himself, busy at work on alighting his fire pit.

“Snufkin.” She called, and the boy startled so badly he banged his head against the pot hanging above the fire. Snorkmaiden giggled, but hid it behind her hand. She was still a lady, despite what she was about to do.

“Snorkmaiden.” He said, without turning around and while rubbing his forehead gingerly. “Moomin isn’t here.”

“I know.” And she walked around to sit on the tree trunk opposite him.

She could tell Snufkin was thinking about running off again. He did that thing where his eyes darted around as if looking for convenient excuses. However, she didn’t think he was desperate enough to abandon his tent, which was a lot harder to replace than a fishing rod, and leave his dinner to burn completely. In fact she was counting on it.

“Can we talk?”

Snufkin stopped tending to his forehead (which was probably less a case of concussion and more of crippled pride) and returned to his pot. “Of course.” He mumbled. “We’re talking right now.”

“It’s about Moomin.”

“Is it?” He leaned back gingerly, the flames of the fire reflecting unsteadily in his dark eyes.

“I think he’s in love with you.”

“Do you?”

“I think you’re in love with him as well.”

“You reckon?”

Snorkmaiden crossed her arms and he looked at her for the first time since she arrived.

“I’m sorry.” He said then and she could tell he was trying hard not to get flustered again. “But I can assure you it’s really nothing.”

“It doesn’t have to be nothing though.” She said, getting up and walking over and he straightened, tensing.

He took a step back but she ignored that. “Snorkmaiden, I really didn’t mean to-”

She took both of his paws in hers then, effectively shutting him up. They were rough like tree bark, nothing like Moomin’s, but warm too. His eyes were wide, and when he took another step back she followed.

“Nothing happened.” He breathed quickly. “Really in fact, I think nothing ever happened or ever will. I do know how much he adores you and you adore him and surely you know I only wish to be a good friend-”

Snufkin was rambling now, voice just a tiny bit desperate and Snorkmaiden couldn’t help but think herself cruel. Of course she could remedy that.

His lips were soft. She pressed against them firmly, so there might not be another misunderstanding as to her intentions now, and he swallowed any other words as she did so, nuzzling against him slightly.

When she pulled back she couldn’t tell if his face was just that red or if it was the glow of the campfire.

“What was that?” He nearly squeaked, blinking numbly at her.

“It was a kiss, dummy.”

“Was it?”

Snorkmaiden glared at him, annoyed. She had quite forgotten kisses were probably not the same for a Mumrik as they were for a Snork or Moomintroll, but he had seen her do this with Moomin enough times to know, surely.

So she did it again, light and feathery and he closed his eyes, pressing into the motion, his paws still clasped in hers. She could hear the frantic movements of a tail swaying side to side rapidly but didn’t know if it was his or her own.

“Moomin?” He whispered, uncertain, once they pulled back. Snorkmaiden smiled.

“Oh, I think he will be quite pleased with the whole ordeal.”

Snorkmaiden wasn’t the type of person to think she was always right. Others might think she was self-absorbed at times, but really she only was in a round-about way. Things concerned her if they involved her and otherwise they were rather tedious.

The sun was still bright and the weather warm and lively for late autumn, though the trees had already changed hues to breathtaking colors. The flowers now were late-bloomers, the air heavy with their scent.

Snufkin shifted in the grass. Snorkmaiden didn’t know if he was sleeping or not, his hat discarded somewhere to the side, but he looked very comfortable with his head resting in Moomin’s lap. The troll was idly playing with their boyfriend’s hair, which was becoming quite long now.

She leaned against Moomin’s side, shoulder to shoulder and he turned to her and nuzzled her cheek for a moment. Then she leaned forward and booped Snufkin’s nose, just because she could.

“I can’t believe autumn is already ending.” She sighed, as he opened his eyes to look at them for a moment. “And then you’ll be leaving.”

He hummed in answer, closing his eyes again and then smiling slightly. “I will have to write two goodbye letters this year then, I suppose.”

“Or just one addressed to the both of us.” Moomin said matter-of-factly, then adding slyly. “A grand love declaration, with a poem and everything.”

Snufkin made a non-commital noise, using one hand to shield his face from the glaring sun, though it was more likely he was trying to hide his blush again.

He still wasn’t very used to that word, even in reference to their newly blossoming relationship. Snorkmaiden knew it would only be a matter of time though.

“As long as you be careful in watching out for yourself.” She said. “Then we will be watching out for each other. And missing you terribly.”

Snufkin didn’t comment, but it was clear that he knew. Next spring, there would be two people eagerly waiting for him to return.

[beatlemaniabear]

I don’t know if this will become a regular thing on here, but I’ll share a SuFin story real quick.

Timo’s day had been going fairly well. Nothing too eventful happened, and he walked into his math class in high spirits. He sat down behind Berwald, a boy that he sometimes did math homework with, took out his notebook, and started taking notes on the lesson. In the middle of the lesson, the art teacher came into the classroom and passed out some letters to the students who had submitted artwork to be featured in a school-wide art journal. Timo was one of those students, and he had submitted two watercolour paintings of scenes from the Moomins. He had worked tirelessly on those, and he was confident that they’d be chosen and that he’d be recognised as one of the school’s artists. Now, it was the determining moment. Would his dreams come true, or was he just delusional? He anxiously unfolded the letter, his heart pounding with anticipation.

“Dear Timo Väinämöinen,

We received many amazing submissions for the journal, and there were too many to choose from. We regret to inform you, however, that your artwork was not chosen to be featured in the art journal. We hope that you continue practising your artistic skills, and we hope you will participate again next year!

Sincerely,

The Art Club”

The anticipation that Timo had felt culminated in a resounding crush. Was his art really that... mediocre compared to the other submissions? He knew that he wasn’t the best artist at his school, but he thought he was at least somewhat good. Apparently not. He asked the math teacher if he could use the restroom, trying not to cry in front of everyone, and he ran out of the classroom towards the bathroom, found an empty stall, and broke down, not noticing the fact that there were other people in the restroom as well.

Minutes later, he heard a loud, stern voice coming from the door of the restroom, “WHO’S CRYING IN THERE?” Timo recognised the voice as the principal’s, and he sighed to himself. Why couldn’t he be left alone for once at this school? He walked out of the stall, his face and eyes red and his nose running, out the restroom door. He heard a few boys snickering at him, and he hung his head low like a dog who had been scolded.

The principal directed him towards his office, and Timo told him about the situation. Once he was done, the principal responded, “Oh, it’s because you made fanart, that’s why. Fanart isn’t real art; you should have made something original. You should probably head back to class now.” Timo walked out of the office, feeling much worse than before, back to the math classroom, and continued on with his day, trying to push himself through every period that followed.

At the end of the day, Timo walked home, still on the verge of tears, just like he had been all day. At home, he laid down on his bed, cuddling with his dog, Hanatamago, and sobbing. Suddenly, he heard his phone ding with a text. He opened up his phone and pulled up the text. It was from Berwald, his math study buddy:

“Hey, you seemed upset in math today. Are you ok?”

Timo didn’t know what to say. All day, everyone had either ignored him or belittled him, and finally, someone actually cared about his situation. He texted back:

“Yeah, I just got rejected by the art journal. Apparently they don’t accept fanart since it’s not real art... 😕”

“That’s dumb. Why not? Art is art.”

“I don’t know...”

“Can I see what you made?”

Timo found his Instagram page, where he had posted the paintings, took screenshots of them, and sent them to Berwald.

“Those are great! Much better than what I can do.”

“I doubt that... they only got twenty likes, I mean.”

“So? Still better than me.”

“Nah...”

Berwald didn’t respond for a few minutes. Had he overwhelmed him with his self-deprecation? Timo rested his head back on his pillow and sighed, but Timo’s phone rang once again with a text.

“I put all of my artistic talent into these.”

Timo scrolled down and saw that Berwald had recreated his paintings, but with stick figures and extremely simplistic backgrounds. He chuckled a little bit at this; Berwald definitely wasn’t much of an artist!

“Do you still think I’m a better artist than you?”

“Berwald... those are stick figures! That’s supposed to be Snufkin, not a stick figure with a triangle on his head! And don’t even get me started on the Moomins! Have you no respect? 😂”

“I know. I’m not an artist. You are though.”

“Well, certainly more so than you, no offence. But nah, I’m just another idiot with a paintbrush.”

“Think about it this way. Do you think you would have gotten in if you didn’t paint the Moomins?”

“Maybe...”

“But would you have enjoyed making it as much?”

“Probably not. I had a lot more fun making these...”

“That’s all that matters then, is that painting them made you happy.”

“I guess... it would have been cool to have other people see them, though. You know, make it known that I’m an artist too.”

“Well, you sent them to me, right? I’m someone else.”

“Yeah...”

“Then that’s exactly what you did. I think you’re an artist, and a great one at that. Besides, I’ve seen you doodling in your math notebook. I’ve been too shy to say anything, but I love your doodles.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“Sure. Are you better now?”

“Yep! Thank you so much, Berwald! You’re the best! 💕”

“Anytime.”

Timo put down his phone and smiled. He’d have to make sure to thank Berwald in person and give him a great big hug, not only for actually helping him with his situation, but for reminding him of the true purpose of his art, and laughing with him at himself.