#this is not a comprehensive list of every single one of his appearances but it is all major runs

[mamawasatesttube]

hi do you have any kon comics recs?

oh boy do i!!!!! ♥

for his origins, you'll want to read "reign of the supermen" (probably easiest to read it as a tpb, because the individual issues are all over the place). this details his creation and escape from cadmus, his relationships with clark and john henry irons, and his early attitudes!

after that, of course. well. superboy (1994). i love this comic. it is deeply flawed. it's 100 issues long, so it's a bit of an undertaking, but in my opinion it's essential reading to actually understand kon as a character. he gets groomed and exploited in many ways in this book, and it is not handled well because it's treated as acceptable as the fantasy of any teenage boy (the grooming and sexual abuse), or played for comedic effect (the financial exploitation). but understanding those facets of kon's backstory are vital to get a read on him as a character. sb94 also does a really great job of establishing him as someone kind, creative, and incredibly lonely and depressed. he's passively suicidal for pretty much the entire run. he's a really good boy. and some of his relationships with his supporting cast (roxy, serling, dubbilex, guardian) are just sooo <333

next up: young justice (1998)! this is the fun one with a lot of shenanigans. the depth here is mostly understated for characters like kon, tim, and bart (who have their own solos outside of it) and i'd say the kon experience here is enhanced by having read sb94 first, because there are certain arcs that follow up on things going on at cadmus and stuff. after yj98 is teen titans/young justice: graduation day, which basically shows how yj disbands after donna troy's death.

after that is the unfortunate mess that is teen titans (2003). this comic is not good, but it is important. this is where the lex retcon happens, the mind control arc happens, and the tie-ins to infinite crisis all happen. kon dies in infinite crisis, returns in final crisis, and rejoins the team towards the end of tt03.

next up is adventure comics (2009), the first six issues of which get into what kon does in the wake of his resurrection. superboy (2011) (i) (not to be confused with the n52 superboy solo) follows up on some of these themes and shows his adventures in smallville! both are pretty solid.

if you Really wanna dig into everything going on towards the end of postcrisis continuity, i'd rec getting into a tpb of the new krypton arcs! kon isn't around for everything there (he's dead for the first parts), but by last stand of new krypton, he's back and running around with the legion (this includes the last few issues of adventure comics '09, too).

in n52 kon is just. not there. the "kon-el" in n52 is just straight up an entirely different guy. (incidentally, this guy is where the edgy "kon means abomination" thing comes from. this is a retcon. kon's name originally is the name of a dead cousin of clark's that clark says he would be honored if superboy would accept.)

if you want to read anything post flashpoint, he gets reintroduced to continuity in young justice (2019). then the house of kent arc in action comics sort of explains his situation in prime earth continuity. stuff like yjdc (which i have not and will not be reading, so i certainly can't recommend it) takes place after this, and kon appears some in various other action comics arcs going on lately, but none of those are major appearances really. he did have his recent mini solo superboy: man of tomorrow, which was... fine. nothing spectacular imo, but the covers are cute and i have all six issues sitting on my desk because kon <3!

i know this is kind of long. my bad i love to ramble about kon kjsdhf but!! if you have any questions or anything i'm happy to elaborate or clarify further!! but in the meantime. go forth, and happy kon reading ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷💖

[local-lesbrarian]

Yesterday, the board of trustees for the library I work at voted unanimously against banning This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson! This was a huge relief for me (and my fellow staff), and I just wanted to share a few takeaways from this experience.

For context, a library patron had submitted a formal request to have the book removed after seeing it displayed alongside other recent additions to our YA section. He took issue with, of course, the chapter on sex ed and provided pages of out-of-context quotes and straight-up lies to make the book appear "dangerous." Lots of the homophobia and puritanism you'd expect. Per our policies, we formed a committee to address his request, and the committee decided the book was fine where it was. Again per policy, he had the option to appeal to the board of trustees, which he took.

We found out he was doing this 5 days before the next board meeting. And even with that short warning, we had over 150 people show up to a small-town library board meeting that often has few or no public attendees! We couldn't fit everyone in our biggest room! Look at us all!!

Public comments are limited to 3 minutes or less, and that still lasted for more than an hour. People spoke who were parents, teachers, nurses, therapists, voting activists, workers at other libraries, and of course, many queer people. They talked about censorship, freedom of expression, freedom to read, the positive impacts of this book and books like it on youth, their own experiences as queer kids and teens or parents or such, and more--too many perspectives to list here. Every single speaker opposed the book ban. Every. One.

The patron who initiated this challenge was present, but left before public comment was over, without speaking.

So, those takeaways:

This is further evidence that campaigns of censorship and queer erasure are perpetuated by individuals and small groups, and don't represent the common view. You can check out stats on ala.org to back this up, but most people, including most parents, oppose book bans.

This turnout was gathered mainly through texts, email, chats (like Discord), phone calls, and word of mouth. Every town and city has people willing to fight and support those fighting the tides of fascism--keep in touch with your community and your allies, your local friends and trusted acquaintances, and when the time comes for action, they will show up.

Pushback, especially public, visible pushback, demoralizes bad actors. These are often people with little to do except organize and promote their hatred, often people with few material problems demanding their attention. (In this case, a retired eye doctor.) Give them a fight, and they often back down. If they don't back down, see #2 and beat them with numbers and passion.

Even after a victory, stay alert. We're prepping for litigation (not that we think he has a case, but he does have a reputation). We're also keeping a close eye on the smaller libraries in nearby towns and townships. Even if someone like this backs down once, they might try their luck somewhere easier. Keep those contact networks from #2 ready to go.

None of this is comprehensive, and your particular situation may well require different tactics. I'm not an expert, just a chronically online trans woman and librarian who's gotten unexpectedly attached to her current town. It was incredibly heartwarming to see so many people stand up for queer teens where I live, when it usually feels like nobody cares about what's happening to queers in the States. This post has already gone on longer than I expected, I'm just still quite emotional and wanted to talk about it. (Also still mentally drained from the past few days of stress...)

Huge shoutout to everyone who helped make this community action happen. Many of them were more eloquent or piercing in their comments, but here's my 3-minute spiel. It was delivered with none of the eye contact or dramatic reading I'd rehearsed because, holy shit, there were a lot of people there!

[bewilderedbuck]

Devi vs. David: aka a comprehensive list of every single time ben gross has referred to devi as one or the other (season one edition)

okay, first things first, i am linking this post and this one, both by @catty-words, because they're so well-worded and honestly, probably explain a lot better than i can about the whole devi vs. david thing (even though those are about s2 and this one is about s1). seriously. go read those, then come back. this post is just going to be cataloging every instance in season one where ben calls her one or the other, with context + insight but i'm likely not going to be going super in-depth. i mainly wanted to document this for my own purposes. i will also be creating a separate post for season 2, so expect that sometime in the near future.

ANYWAYS. here we go, i guess.

"...was just about the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”

here we have the first instance of ben referring to her as david. they're still nemeses, obviously — this is in 1x01, they're not close, they know each other but still only really see the other in the negative sense. (or so we're told, at least; i have a whole theory about how ben has been crushing on devi the whole damn time but we'll get into that at a later date) he calls her david here because it's part of their banter, and we can infer that he has likely been calling her that prior to 1x01. this is also the same instance he refers to the un, which she calls him out for, as she should! but you know what she doesn't call him out for? david. from this very first instance we can infer that she does not give a shit that he calls her david.

"...because you went straight-up psycho and couldn't walk for three months.”

okay, so bear with me here, this might be reaching, as well as a few others down the line. but i think his tone is softer here than it tends to be when they banter pre-friendship. he knows he's hitting close to her trauma, to the cause of her paralyzation and reason for seeing a therapist. calling her david while referencing to her biggest trauma just would not be in good taste, imo.

"...I know how hard it is to memorize seven facts.” / "Yeah, Devi, please share your mumble with the rest of the class.”

ok, so they're in a classroom setting, and he has just, in his own words, "pwned" her as her "intellectual superior" (way to be humble, benjamin). he's got this hoity-toity air about him in this scene, calling her devi because it's more mature of him and as her "intellectual superior" he should appear that way. also, they're in a classroom setting and shapiro is paying attention to them (not that anyone else in the class is lol)

okay, so he doesn't refer to her as either devi or david after 1x02 until we get to 1x05. here, he's on the defensive, obviously. she is threatening to nuke him. literally. no time for banter or nicknames when your entire country is about to be wiped out, am i right?

he doesn't know why she's mad at him yet. he's trying to slip back into their banter, to worm his way back into that sliver of not-quite-nemeses-anymore-but-still-not-quite-friends that they had going on for all of two seconds in 1x05. he wants to go back to normal, or at least some version of normal, where she only hates him because of their academic rivalry and not whatever it is she’s holding against him now. (which of course he immediately learns is the whole sleeping-with-pax thing, but he still doesn't know why she's upset about that.)

this is obvious i feel like i don't have to explain that he calls her devi here because he's having dinner with her family lmao anyways moving on

"...I actually think I am going to have a party tonight.”

boy is crushing HARD. he is SO JEALOUS. speaking up immediately after pax makes the "you look great here" comment? having a party just so devi will come? ok, jay gatsby jr, i see you. ANYWAYS. imo he calls here david here to take back some of the control he just lost after pax showed up. because "david" belongs to ben and devi and nobody else.

the smile on her face in this scene when he greets her. the smile on his face when he sees her. they are in love, your honor. anyways. this is, imo, the first time we see david being used as a term of endearment. their friendship has been solidified after the events at the end of 1x06, and it shows. she is excited to see him and he is, very obviously, excited to see her.

"...Um, did something kinda weird happen? Or did I do something dumb at my party?”

aaand we are on the defensive again lol. david once again being used as a means to control the situation and deflect away from that horrifying failed kiss attempt back in 1x08.  dude is freeeaaaking the fuck out, because he knows now that he has this stupid big crush on devi (that he’s probably had the whole damn time, even prior to 1x01, if we’re being real here), but he just got her as his friend and doesn’t want to screw it up. so. blame it on the booze. throw in a friendly nickname. hope for the best.

obv i don't have like, concrete evidence for this because we only see the literal last day she stays with ben, but i have this theory that during her stay, he defaults to calling her david to keep his guard up. because again. he knows he has this stupid huge fucking crush on her. so, keeping up with the old nickname helps establish those boundaries in his head. (this is also the last time we see him refer to her as david in season one.)

but then there's this, immediately after he refers to her as david in front of his father. because he is worried about her. because she is making rash, dumb decisions without thinking anything through (you know, like trying to get emancipated from her mom and refusing to spread her dad’s ashes)

again, he is going for serious, worried as fuck, for the same reasons listed above. hoping that her friends will see reason for concern just like he does, because his friendship with her is so new and if she’s going to listen to anyone, it's going to be them. this is the first time we ever see ben refer to devi to other people without her being present, and this is also the last time we see him refer to her as devi in season one.

[astrobolical]

Perhaps not the way I was intended to find fun in this game (not that it’s not fun overall) but I’ve been really enjoying uncovering and, in some cases, finding some sources of errors in What in Hell is Bad? It’s… an oddly cathartic experience.

This is just a list of things I’ve experienced, so definitely not a comprehensive list of the experiences overall.

I’m just having fun, by the way! Absolutely no hate towards the devs— this is a massive undertaking for a small team, and it’s completely expected. Especially given their issues with their servers at launch.

Active Bugs:

L-Class Artifact “Shiny Leather Gloves” can break boss fights — presumably because it attempted to erase the boss, which leaves the units confused and stagnant while the boss continues to attack

L-Class Artifact “Sweet Cup Dessert” doesn’t seem to adjust when levelled? It always says “…he becomes invincible for 0.00s once during battle” which is arguably useless. May potentially just not be coded properly? Or I may be misunderstanding it (I have since levelled it again to 14, and still no change)

Graphical error in the “My Devils” screen— the word “Information” does not properly fit within the button

Another little one on the “My Devils” screen — when attempting to sort, changing the order will reset other options and doesn’t seem to work by itself regularly? Sometimes it does, often it doesn’t

When playing in a chapter, if a unit dies it sometimes appears to cause the enemy units to become undying. They stop attacking, their health bar appears to be at 0, but they remain and the level will not end

UPDATE ON THE ABOVE POINT: It seems to be when you move units. In one case I moved Beelzebub, and then moved him elsewhere again but the enemies still stopped where he used to be and he took damage as if he were in range of them. Subsequently, when he died the level broke.

During “Hell-oh! Talk” chats don’t simply end and you get the reward, if you click away you’ll need to go through the chat again and click once it’s over

Sometimes suggested character types are not actually viable in the levels

Sometimes when retrying a level the game will not bring up the devils to select, and if you leave the entire games graphical interface is messed up and you must restart the app

Necronomicon Exchange - Solomon’s Tears option does not properly reset with the week, giving users an error saying it’s not available when it should be

Already purchased items in the shop will not properly show that it’s no longer available— this will give you an error and restart the app

Already purchased shop items that should not be purchasable again will charge you, tell you it’s not available after that, and restart the app. You’ll be charged but not receive anything Add

Additionally to the above, should you have his charge you will then be plagued with “Item not available” messages each and every time you attempt to sign in

Fixed Bugs:

Gacha screen not properly displaying when pulling. Spotlights would not show, and Satan was missing his irises so you could only see his eye whites (it was creepy)

On the “My Devils” screen, the circle for the artifact was on the character’s abdomen, and was not selectable to equip an artifact at all

In the level select, for some reason all previous chapters I had cleared suddenly became locked again, but it did resolve itself

Text Errors:

This is obviously not going to cover every single line in the game, or grammatical errors (of which there are a lot, especially in early levels). This is more for one-off lines around the game outside of story.

I actually don’t remember a ton at the time of writing this, but I’m sure I’ll come across more or remember them.

During Foras’ Ultimate it says “I can’s see the enemies anymore.” When it should be “I can’t see the enemies anymore.”

On the Home Screen if you have Leraye set, one of his chat bubbles ends in “A10:AJ10” which is incredibly out of place. “His Majesty Satan brought a new teddy bear! My collection will soon increase too!!A10:AJ10”

And for even more fun!

Potential Quality of Life Improvements:

When pulling on the gacha, allow users to click to ‘interrupt’ a devil who was pulled (I sincerely do love their voices, but I don’t want to hear it every time if I have before) (Coming Oct 25th)

Automatically “sell” tea leaves for maxed out characters for pancakes during the gacha sequence

Have a “quick select” party you can quickly select from at the start of chapters rather than having to scroll through your list of devils each time

More accessible “friends” functionality— while not pivotal, I’ve found the screen once and then never again

In the chats during story missions, adjustments to text speed or a selection for speed so the characters aren’t talking so rapidly if someone can’t keep up with it

Grammatical improvements overall, though I noticed as the game goes on they’re either not as noticeable or I’m becoming desensitized

On the “Unholy Board” Auto scroll to the furthest active node

On the level select, auto scroll to the most recently unlocked level if not all levels are completed in the chapter

On certain levels a large portion of the map is not viable to place your units on even when it appears it should be— if something should not be accessible, make it clearer that it’s not (looking at you 3-86, you miserable thing)

On certain levels a bit more visibility — it’s not bad, but often scrolling still doesn’t show the whole map even if an enemy spawn is there (will only be partially visible)

Clearer UI for things like selling items from your inventory — it’s not readily obvious, so some people may simply believe it’s not possible if they’re not familiar with the game’s format

Ability to open all of an item if applicable (i.e. “Random Hallucination Devil Pie Piece Chests” and similar items)

Auto-Battle for completed levels (especially in Dark Sanctuary) — if you’ve already cleared it perfectly once, have it “remember” your team/movements from that battle (Arknights does this, and allows you to take over when needed) to make it a bit less repetitive and cumbersome. If that is too much, simply auto-clear it without showing us the battle since it has been proven we can beat it perfectly regardless. (Coming Oct 25th (Auto Clear option after perfect))

[chickenstrangers]

#5QLS tag

tagged by @waitmyturtles 🥰

When you get this, list 5 songs from the Asian QL shows that you actually listen to. 🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series. 🎶Non-western tracks only. Let's support Asian music and languages! 🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating. 🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

1. Tilly Birds - เพื่อนเล่นไม่เล่นเพื่อน (Just Being Friendly) - My School President, Cutie Pie, Cupid's Last Wish

This is the song that started me on Thai music and I'm so happy for it. It's still probably my favorite song on this list. I love the original version, the MSP cover, NuNew's singing, but I especially love evil!Tilly Birds in Cupid's Last Wish when its the prelude to them getting lost.

2. NuNew and/or Zee - ใจรัก (LOVE) - Cutie Pie

Zee and NuNew both have amazing covers of this song (Zee's version) and with Just Being Friendly, this was I think the second song on my playlist. The actual scene in the show is one of the most excruciating scenes that I could barely sit through from second-hand embarrassment, and then Kuea sings it the next episode which is honestly kind of rubbing salt in the wound. But the song itself I love.

3. Dark Blue Kiss Opening Theme

I couldn't find a normal version of it without linking an episode, but this is genuinely my favorite opening sequence to a show, and it is one of the only ones that I will watch every time, even if I accidentally come upon it when trying to find a specific scene. Okay, I may be more obsessed with the video than the song itself, but the song definitely sets the tone. This opening is a roller coaster, starts dramatic, gets super cheesy, makes me laugh, but every time Kao comes on screen and a single tear rolls down his cheek I am instantly on the verge of tears.

4. Mix and Earth - ไม่ไกลหัวใจ (Closer) - Cupid's Last Wish

Though DBK has the best intro video, this is probably my favorite opening song to a show. Gets you in the mood for a fun lighthearted road trip to reverse a body swap. Honorary mention to their ATOTS Our Sky 2 song which I could not stop listening to and watching when it came out. I think the lyrics really capture the theme of the special. Yes I am putting 2 songs on this list spot.

5. ฟัง – SIN feat.โอม Cocktail - My School President

There's a lot of songs from MSP that could be on the list, but other than Just Being Friendly (which I am counting as a general BL song given how often it shows up) this is probably my most listened to song on the soundtrack.

6. Phai Phongsathon - คนบ้านเดียวกัน - Laws of Attraction

I was really trying to stick to 5ish main songs but then I remembered @recentadultburnout post about this song which appeared last episode and I have been listening to it a lot since then!

I have mostly kept to songs I haven't seen other people mention in their posts, so here's a quick list of my favorite songs that have already been discussed but that I second (not comprehensive):

Gunsmile - Pass (from Love Sick)

Wetter - Who (from The Eighth Sense)

Tilly Birds - I'm Not Boring, You're Just Bored (from Only Friends)

Anonymouz - 夜行性 (from Jack O' Frost)

Ayumu Imazu - Sunshower (from Eternal Yesterday)

CITI - Today (from You Make Me Dance)

And lastly, two of my favorite songs that barely fit because I don't think they were in any shows, but they were covered at the MSP concert, so I am counting them:

sorry for adding a million songs but hey why not talk about more music this is my post. tagging (if you want, no pressure, feel free to ignore) @recentadultburnout @distant-screaming (I love both your recs; I listened to MILLI for a week straight after a soundwin post haha) @ranchthoughts @dudeyuri @shannankle @miscellar @kattahj and anyone else who wants to share!

[jeannereames]

Out of curiosity, were there any facts (inasmuch as we can have in history) about atg/h that you were surprised to learn? Ones that are now in your view of them but when you learned them you thought them ooc or unrealistic

Sorry if this question doesn't make much sense, it's very late at night haha!

After studying them so long (over 30 years now), it can be hard for me to remember reactions, but two things do stick out:

When I realized Hephaistion wasn’t ethnically Macedonian.

While this is now pretty well-accepted, when I first stumbled over the name issue, back around 1995/96, working on my dissertation, nobody had assumed him anything other than a Macedonian. My discovery to the contrary was pure chance. The only place his origin town was given in our sources (Arrian) also happened to list Leonnatos as from Pella, but we know he was from Lynkestis. So I thought, “Oh, hey, I’ll go check and see if the names Hephaistion or Amyntor pop up on tombstones anywhere else in Macedonia.”

That was one BIG rabbit hole, let me tell you!

At the time, as a young scholar—even with oversight from two excellent senior ancient historians—I didn’t (in retrospect) do as thorough a job with the name search as I should have. I’ve remedied that since. My definitive work on Hephaistion’s ethnicity is now, “Becoming Macedonian: Name-mapping and Ethnic Identity. The case of Hephaistion,” with accompanying digital history mapping. But even back in the late ‘90s, my rudimentary onomastic (name) search was good enough to make my point so that it now appears in many/most entries on him. But it certainly wasn’t anything I expected to discover. An off-the-cuff question for my dissertation turned into a major rethinking about Hephaistion’s origins and helps us to better understand Macedonian naturalization.

The second surprise also concerns Hephaistion: that his military assignments were largely logistical and/or diplomatic.

When I set out to write my dissertation, my goal was to show that Hephaistion was more important than typically recognized in modern scholarship, so I collected every ancient reference to him, in all ancient sources. At the time, I did it on 3x5 cards. This research started in 1992, right after I got to Penn State. (Yes, I already knew what my dissertation would be on; I just had to convince Gene Borza that it was doable.)

Anyway, as I was playing with my cards, trying to sort them into broad types, I noticed some odd discrepancies. Now, first, be aware that statistics are a problem in ancient history because we have such SMALL samples. But looking at differences of 3-to-1, that got my attention.

That’s when I realized most of Hephaistion’s assignments were of a specific TYPE: logistical and/or diplomatic. Again, that’s now a generally accepted detail, but it wasn’t until I started making piles out of my 3x5 cards. Some of these conclusions were later published as “The Cult of Hephaistion,” with, yes, tables of these assignments.

This is a good place to make an important point for young scholars. Get in there and do the counting. Be comprehensive. Keep lists. Make 3x5 cards or sticky-notes. Record citations physically on large sheets of paper so you can visualize how it stacks up. In the day of digital, we lose track of just how much we can learn from SEEING in physical space.

Below are a couple pictures I took recently (2022), while recording Every. Single. Religious. Reference, in our 5 original sources. LOOK at it. Note the differences in patterns on the pages. That yielded a really interesting (to me) book chapter on how our sources talk about Philip and Alexander’s use of religion on campaign. This will come out in 2024 as part of a Companion book edited by Ed Anson. (Yes, there are tables!) I took the pictures to show Ed I was hard at work on it, as I was running a little late. But I’m glad I did take it, as it really illustrates how much one can deduce just from seeing.

I’ll be taking the same tactic as I move forward on my study of Hephaistion and Krateros’s careers. I’ll do for Krateros the same thing I did for Hephaistion (I still have those cards!). But I’ll also sort references by ancient author, to see patterns in how each represents the two men. I think it’s important to look at both, a horizontal examination of the type of reference, and a vertical look at trends within authors.

Yeah, I like my lists/tables. But I believe in being thorough. Impressions are suspect. Show me the numbers. (Even if I went into history to avoid math!)

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Some random PotO moments that I love

(Some of these are little acting details from Jon Robyns' second performance on the West End aka the only live version I've seen)

This is also not a comprehensive list of all of them because everything in this show is great

Okay, everyone loves this, but the chandelier rising with the overture is incredible and deserves to be on every list.

The fact that The Phantom gets about 20,000 francs a month (which I'm convinced he just uses to keep his candle collection thriving).

"INSOLENT BOY, THIS SLAVE OF FASHION"

The fact that Erik was like "I'll show Christine the mannequin I have of her in a wedding dress. That'll go great!"

And then she passes out and he leaves her on the floor. 😭 (He does put his cloak over her though).

Is Erik that invested in his opera (Jon did have some very excited scribbling) that he didn't notice Christine wake up or was he just like "oop, she's waking up. Act natural, Erik. You are cool and mysterious. ACT NATURAL."

Jon half crawling half dragging himself across the stage during Stranger Than You Dreamt It (sir, how can you still sing like that???)

The whole Poor Fool sequence was very funny to watch and the cast nailed it!

Raoul being an adorable dork during All I Ask of You. 🥰 Matt Blaker is great.

The Phantom's reprise of All I Ask of You being one of my favourite vocal moments in the entire show! 🔥

Monsieur André's incredible sparkly skeleton get-up.

Carlotta's batwing dress!

Erik being the dramatic bitch he is and vanishing just to appear the top of the stairs again. Do you think he rehearsed that bit in his little sewer lair?

That sparky skull cane thing that Erik is waving around in the graveyard. 💀

Page Blankson is an absolute joy to watch as Christine.

Piangi drawing his coat around himself when The Phantom says he needs to lose weight and then him doing the same thing when Madame Giry asks Carlotta if they can be sure he's not watching rehearsals. Nice little detail.

The fact that in The Point of No Return The Phantom looks like the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come from The Muppets Christmas Carol.

Me watching Raoul jumping into the lake and thinking "that's a big drop from the stairs to the stage" only to watch him disappear below the stage.

Erik's organ slam because he has to be a drama queen.

Erik being like "if only I wasn't so ugly, then you would love me" and Christine pointing out that his face is not exactly the problem in this entire situation.

Jon's, Matt's and Paige's vocals!!!

Jon's delivery of "make your choice" coming across as a little broken and scared is *chef's kiss*.

*Christine kisses Erik* Erik.exe has stopped working

Jon's delivery of "LEAVE MEEEEE!"

The little Masquerade reprise that makes me cry. Every. Single. Time. 😭 (It's the hand over the monkey's face. I can't do it 🥲).

"Christine... I love you" *cries harder*

"IT'S OVER NOW THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT"

Erik disappearing from the chair because he needs a final Dramatic Bitch™️ moment.

[upagainstthesunset]

Metron's Shirt: An Evolutionary Tree

So this is it. This is what I've spent way too many hours on. My most recent magnum opus, if you will. Without further ado, I am pleased to present... 130 thumbnails of Metron's costume across all appearances in comics!

Click here for a full size version of the image from archive.org

[Image: A tree diagram of 130 cropped images of the DC comics character Metron's costume. Each one depicts the design on his chest from a different comic issue. All images branch at some level from a single one, which is from Metron's first appearance. /End]

Keep reading to learn more about the process and findings...

But Why?

When I started going through Metron's reading list, I noticed that artists often took liberties with the design on his chest. Some made minor adjustments, while others really went off the deep end. But for each one it was still recognizable for the character. So I thought hmm, it'd be interesting to try to map this out and see if I can spot how these changes have evolved over the years. And that is precisely what I set out to do.

The Process

I first took screenshots from every single appearance using my reading list, which I like to tout as the MOST complete and comprehensive Metron reading list in existence (suck it fandom wiki). It took a long time, but eventually I had 202 thumbnails. Now, I should mention that he's been in more comics than that, but sometimes his chest is not shown, or he's depicted so small and far away that the design was not discernable. Of those that I captured, I removed any from the same run that were incredibly similar, leaving only significantly different designs.

Then I went oldest to newest, starting with Kirby's first published depiction, and for each tried to find which images seemed like the closest matches. This means a given image is only ever inspired by those that chronologically came before it. For runs that had multiple images, I tried to make the first occurrence the parent of the others. This wasn't a hard and fast rule I followed, but did help model some of the evolution.

When matching, I limited it so that a single image would have no more than two parents. Of course, it is incredibly likely that some of these depictions really have a large swath of influences, but I really didn't want to make a jumbled web, so for my own sanity we're sticking to only the two most prevalent influences. That said, there is no limit on number of children, so a single image may have inspired many others.

The Criteria

While matching, I did my best and went purely off of visuals after satisfying these other limitations. Here are the points on which I made these evaluations:

Neck lines - Presence, number

Horizontal bar (line crossing the big circle): Position

Vertical bar (line going through big circle and/or chest): Presence

Dongle (little circle in the big circle): Presence, position, thickness, orientation

Tab (little inverted T shape under the big circle): Present, shape

Tentacles (wavy lines from the bottom of the big circle to the bottom of the design): Presence, thickness, angle/shape, length

Vestigial tentacles (subcategory of tentacles but more like tiny claws): Presence, shape, orientation

Bulge (curved shape at the bottom of the design that meets the tentacles): Presence, shape

Side dots - Presence, number, size, orientation relative to the edge of the background, circle vs rectangle

Background (outer shape the design sits in): Presence, shape relative to the big circle, shape near the waist or hips, border lines

Overall line look: Thickness, business/extra designs, glowing effects

Various colors: lines, big circle background, little circles, chest background, etc.

Findings!

These are just a few interesting points I wanted to share, but there are many more connections to be made as you follow some of these evolutions.

It's no surprise that Kirby's original run inspired many other artists, but a surprising amount branched off of Metron's Hunger Dogs appearance specifically.

A surprising number of depictions don't have the bulge shape, creating sort of a family of designs.

Another family of designs has very angular tentacles, which to me seem to have been inspired by Kirby's Mister Miracle run.

I was very unsure where to put New Gods 1998 #1, but it really spawned a whole set of overly complicated designs.

My favorite discovery is the origins of the "vestigial tentacles" from my criteria list. They can be trace backed to two vertical lines coming off the big circle in Who's Who in the DC Universe 1992!

Naming Conventions

There is a file name under each thumbnail, which starts with the word "shirt", followed by the comic title, the year the run originated if needed for disambiguation, the issue number, and finally the page number. This was done to make referencing these easier, which I'm so glad I did.

And the reason I started each one with "shirt" is because guess what, his chest design was not the only thing I recorded. I just so happen to have a folder of 199 thumbnails of the Mobius Chair waiting to be processed.

Some Caveats

I admit there were some I still feel iffy about, so I'd be surprised if you don't find a few you disagree with. Part of the fun is trying to determine what might've actually inspired what, versus artists who by chance came to the same conclusion with the design. All of this is guess work, and without asking the artists directly, I don't think we will have definitive answers. But if you take a close look, I think there are definitely some we can feel fairly confident about!

Apologies that there's a lot more to see here than I'm going to be able to describe in the image description. If you have any questions about the details, feel free to ask.

[greypetrel]

✍️ for aisling and ☺️ for all of them :3

Heyyyyy!

Thanks for asking, you gave me the chance to slip something out of the top hat too... :P

Tis the prompt list

✍️ : What is your muse’s handwriting like? Is it neat? Sloppy? Fancy?

Aisling: Very sloppy. She may write stuff that's comprehensible if she wrote slower, but as for many things, she rushes in and writes quickly. In cursive. So, it doesn't make for anything much readable. Through posting doodles here it has been decided by popular vote that Cullen's the only one who can instinctively read her cursive with little issues. (Dorian and Solas joined forces in compiling a manual on "Aisling Epigraphy") Oh and in private letter she doodles. She can't draw, but that won't stop her. Here's an example and no, I know she's better than me but I asked and she's not available to draw everything here, I have to do it myself.

☺️ : What is your muse’s smile like? Do they smile often?

Alyra Mahariel: She doesn't smile often. She has a severe case of resting bitch face and the fixed expression of a person who is judging you. Harsh. Will make you sweat. When she does, it's a proud smile, no teeth, and it feels like a hard-earned prize. She smiles more around children, particularly after becoming a Warden. Still a little hard around the corners.

Raina Hawke: Smiles a lot. She's witty and highly sarcastical, so she'll smile at you amiably as she's low-key telling you you're an idiot. That is a cold, sharp smile that makes her face even sharper, nose more prominent. Her real smile is for her friends and family or for evenings at the Hanged Man. She'll smile enthusiastically and with her whole body, will shine with it and laugh very loud. There's an awkward smile that gets her cheeks pink and is little, but that's just for Merrill and Isabela.

Garrett Hawke: Smiles a lot, he likes to smile, thinks smiling is the very basic of politeness. It's sweet and honest, his moustaches and beard curls up and there are laughing lines under his eyes. He means every smile, even when he's sad or angry. Will smile with an open mouth expecting a laugh at every single dad joke he does. And he loves dad jokes.

Aisling Lavellan: Loves to smile, will smile at random people on the street just to make their day better. Will smile at waiters and random workers and if you keep the door open for her to pass. It's a shy, sweet smile that reaches her eyes and lights her up, or be so bright you won't be able to help but smile with her, as a reflex. Smiling is the thing about the Game that comes the easiest to her, even if that particular, circumstantial smile has the shyness more pronounced and the corners of her mouth are always somewhat downturned.

Radha Lavellan: Doesn't smile all the time, but she won't refrain from it. She's aloof and elegant and will appear to be detached... But she's not, she just likes to listen and not as much to talk. Her smile melts some of the sterness of her face, and will show up she's really a very caring person, that under the haughtiness there's a soft side, very motherly. She won't smile out of circumstances.

Pavyn Lavellan: He's a social butterfly who will make friend with everything and everyone if given the chance and not offended. He smiles very often, there's always something clever and sharp behind it, in the way he curls one side more than the other, just so slightly. His eyes are observant and keen, but he's easy going and a talker, and you won't be able to resist much before smiling and laughing too.

[atthebell]

ok i do watch my streamers but im eternally worried about mischaracterizing what would u say are the best cellbit and roier vods to watch for getting a good grasp on characterization

i mean i don't think a list is helpful bc it's more about exposure versus like. specific characterizing vods. like watch the big important ones but i think if you've watched a decent amount of their streams over time and seen what they've gone through and how they've reacted to it, and how they continue to react to things, that's what's important. you don't need to have seen every single lore-relevant cellbit stream to get his character, but you need to have seen at least some of his streams, especially the heavier roleplay ones, and you need to understand the events that have led to him acting the way that he does, and same goes for roier. i think for me what's most important is depth and breadth versus a to-do list of vods to get to. if you've watched enough roier, you know how he feels about revenge, about the federation, about bobby, about cellbit, about everything.

and there's some things that are, i think, vital and still very easy to watch-- neither cinta is that long, and both contain a ton of info on why roier is the way that he is, how he reacted to cellbit staying on egg island. clips from cellbit's early days show his paranoia, how wrapped up he gets in mysteries and how fiercely protective he is-- you don't need to watch every moment of his 7 hour long vods. if you really super duper want specific vod recs, i can give those, but i think if you're regularly watching them both and understand the series of events that have brought them to where they currently are, you'll have a solid grip on them.

however, are there people who've seen every second of roier's streams and still don't understand him? absolutely there are and they drive me crazy. i think understanding the character on their terms and not slotting them into how you want them to be is also important. sometimes even a character you adore doesn't act the way you expect, and understanding how and why isn't like. a matter of having seen such and such vod, it's about media comprehension and narrative significance and understanding how roleplay works, among many other things.

idk i'm just some guy and i don't want to posit myself as a sole authority, nor do i think there's a method to perfectly nail characterization. also i think in fic specifically nailing characterization, or at least appearing to, mostly comes into play with dialogue, which also requires exposure to the characters (so regularly watching streams) along with just being good at writing how they talk. @/echotunes has a doc of notes on how to talk like certain characters; idk if he's done cellbit and roier, but i could also write up some of the things i do for both of them when writing their dialogue (not rn, i am so sleepy, but if you want me to eventually just send an ask at some point and i might get to it). so yeah idk there's a lot involved in characterization but also if you're watching streams regularly then it shouldn't be terribly difficult to know the characters pretty well

[colors-of-my-heart]

since this production has been living in my head rent free since I saw it a week ago… a cluttered (but comprehensive) list of notes on Phoenix College RTC.

- Virgil pre-show. he just skuttled around the stage for a full minute before the lights went down.

- without exaggeration, this was probably the most Virgil-heavy production of RTC to date. in every other version of the show I've seen, he does his little guitar solo at the beginning and then kind of just disappears for the next two hours. that was NOT the case here, my boy was kicking around for the entire show and for that I will be eternally grateful. 

- there were long stretches where he just sat there vibing to the music and shyly mimicking the choreography to himself. everyone was the amazing of course (and i’ll get to that) but Virgil in particular has my heart. - the set was super impressive!! you could definitely see inspiration from the Off-Broadway production in the colors, patterns and set pieces. the thing that stuck out to me the most in its uniqueness was the big crystal ball cutout they used for the bumper footage and projections. 

- golden cast. perfect. iconic. not a single ass was halved. everyone fit their roles perfectly, brought so much personality and flair to them, and had amazing chemistry with one another.

- Virgil immediately terrifying the choir the moment they arrived in the afterlife, and then proceeding to poke Noel in the back repeatedly with his tail and then pretend like nothing happened the entire time Karnak introduced himself

- l don’t know if the actor playing Noel had a lot of friends in the audience, if everyone was just very familiar with RTC, or if his stage presence was just that powerful, but everyone lost their minds whenever he did ANYTHING (and deservedly so).

- Mischa had a very large and very clearly homemade tattoo of Talia’s name on his forearm 🥺

- The audience yet again loses its collective mind the moment Jane enters (the energy in this theater was feral in the best way possible)

- Noel is absolutely captivated during Jane’s monologue and claps ferociously when she finishes

- Noel cackles maniacally when Karnak explains that the winner will be chosen by unanimous vote after WTWN

- Noel aggressively flipping off Ocean the moment she turns away after the “you challenged my preconceived notion that all gay dudes are fun the be around” comment (the sibling-rivalry-esque energy between these two was immaculate here)

- Noel gestures towards Mischa while delivering the “I wanted a man who would drive me to drink” line

- The feather boa during Noel’s Lament was absolutely distrintigrating, like every little movement sent a flurry of little green fuzzies adrift. by the end of the number it was basically a string with a few spare feathers clinging on for dear life, and while it was almost certainly unintentional, let me tell you it WORKED. it’s what Monique would have wanted.

- “In my home country it is natural for two men to show affection by kissing… nnnot always in heeeelssss 😏🥴” this production very much said nischa real

- Mischa trying to stare down Ocean after the “my song will only have profanity in chorus” line only to get intimidated and back off

- clips of what seemed to be a homemade music video were interspersed throughout Mischa’s bumper and it was delightful

- ALSO he was wearing a custom Bad Egg hat and WHERE DO I GET ONE

- I didn’t put the pieces together until way later when I saw someone else point it out, but when they showed the projections of Talia, apparently it was just Noel in a wig. I was very confused why everyone was laughing when she appeared, I’m not good with faces ok

- Ricky awkwardly joins in when Noel and Mischa hug it out after Talia. He was third-wheeling it big time but it’s the thought that counts ❤️

- During SABM, when Ricky goes behind the curtains with the cat ladies, Cat!Mischa and Cat!Noel cover their ears in discomfort until he comes backs out in his costume change (which included a silver helmet and arm bands. Iconic).

- Ricky got the crowd to clap in time with music near the end of the song and it quite literally felt like a religious experience

- TBOJD was so good holy fucking fuck

- the actress portraying Jane just had a fantastic voice and captured her physicality so so well. her deadpan expression was unwavering and just everything about her was so tragic and haunting

- the members of the choir carried these black funeral umbrellas throughout the number, but when it reached the ragtime portion they flipped them to reveal Christmas lights underneath. there was an audible gasp across the audience when this happened and it gave me goosebumps

- Noel got absolutely SLOSHED after one swig of vodka and I would expect nothing less

- Constance looked like she’d been saving up that punch for a LONG LONG time, Ocean is lucky she was already dead because she did NOT hold back

- Right as she sang the word “heartbreaker”, Constance stepped on a light and it shattered. the timing was honestly so perfect it’s hard to say whether or not it was intentional? I’m going to go with it wasn’t because a stagehand came to sweep up the glass a minute later and the cast later had to sit on the floor of that general area. but it honestly added to much to the moment, gave me chills

- the audience proved itself to be the true villain of the show when Karnak said that in five minutes was his “appointment with a rat named Virgil” and several people cheered. LOOK I love him too but can we NOT encourage him?!?!?!

- karma came a few minutes later when we were forced to actually watch Virgil bite into the wire and convulse violently until he stopped moving :( F

- i felt like an asshole but I couldn’t help but giggle throughout the ending of Its Just A Ride because, as the choir was singing and dancing cheerfully in one final celebration of life, Virgil was just lying there in the Peter Griffin death pose like two feet away. there was one point where Constance did a little hop and I thought for a split second she was about to stomp on his hand

- besides the callous disregard of the corpses right next to them, they played around with some of the props from earlier in the show throughout the number and it was very organic and wholesome

- in a continuation of my favorite modern RTC production trope, they had Jane come out sans makeup (so now Penny) at the end of the show to round it out 🥺 this production gave me everything I wanted

I think that’s all of it but also the moment I hit post I’ll probably remember something else. point is though this was a very good production and I’ll probably never recover

[pandoradeloeste]

The Bright Sessions fic recommendations

I haven’t seen one of these in a while, so we’re partying like it’s 2017 and making a fic rec list!

I wish this could be as comprehensive as I want it to be, but the fic writers in this fandom are on another level, and unless I want this to turn into an AO3 feed, I can’t list all the good ones. But here’s a representative sample:

Shipping

Better Forms of Communication  (T, no word count because it’s a text fic formatted as graphics) Caleb and Adam texting each other and their friends as they circle each other and (slowly!) get around to getting together. 

Light My Heart and Light My Shadow (M, 2K) An alternate version of Caleb and Adam’s laundry room scene from College Tapes #shameless self promo

Anchored And Flying (T, 3K) Adam’s radio show at Yale — featuring Twitter, medical kink jokes, “What’s New Pussycat”, and helping resolve some adorable gay pining

The Ultimate Double Dare (T, 20K, WIP but only technically, the two chapters that are written stand on their own) Caleb and Adam get secretly married before college for the financial aid. Caleb is The Absolute Worst at keeping secrets. Hijinks ensue.

Chamomile Tea (T, 3K) Some cute post-College Tapes hurt/comfort, and some Caitlin-Adam friendship (I am weak for those two)

Caleb Michaels Has A Lot Of Feelings (About Adam Hayes) And Sex (With Adam Hayes) (E, 10K) Caleb and Adam exploring empathy and sex. This has the distinction of being the first ever explicit Caleb/Adam fic. Vivacious_turpitude walked so that the rest of us could run.

an antisocial pessimist, but usually I don’t mess with this (T, 2K) Caleb’s football team gives Adam a shovel talk and tries to explain what a first down is

Nobody Said It Was Easy (Oh, Take Me Back To The Start) (T, 15K) Jewish Oliver, Mark taking a path that isn’t true to himself and then finding joy anyway, Tier 5, this one’s got it all

I’ve Got The Feeling You’re The Right Thing After All (T, 30K) Sometimes you want a fluffy getting-together fic about two clueless idiots in love, and these two are adorably clueless

Have I Ever Told You How Good It Feels To Hold You? (T, 2K) “Oh my god there was only one bed” is out, “there were two beds but we chose to sleep in one” is in

Barnacle Tales (six-work series, 17K total - the first work is M, the rest are T) Some more fluffy getting-together fic about two clueless idiots in love

perfect for you (G, 1K) A sweet little Brytz proposal

without you, I’ll never be home (T, 4K) Oliver and Mark moving in together in slow motion. In my advanced age of 38, I am a sucker for people taking their time in relationships and deciding which steps of the relationship escalator to take and when.

Something Dumb To Do (T, 7K) Mark and Oliver fake-propose to each other for the free desserts and fall in love. (This is also shameless self-promotion.)

my power was constricted in my heart (M, 137K) A royalty AU where Prince Mark Bryant and his manservant Oliver Ritz get kidnapped, then kidnapped again, then kidnapped a third time, and find home somewhere along the way. Every single TBS character, large and small, makes an appearance at some point. This is one of those fics that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until it’s 4 AM, your phone’s battery is at 1%, and you’ve been emotionally destroyed at least three times. (Full disclosure, this is a WIP, but I have it on good authority that it hasn’t been abandoned.)

Vienna Waits For You (G, 14K) Brightgreen coffee shop AU, cute as fuck and the found family that Joan and Owen deserve

Take Anything You Need (M, 4K) Mark/Damien, dealing with an alpha rut during the road trip. I think this might be the only (at the time of this writing) A/B/O TBS fic? And it works. It’s sweet, it’s hot, it’s a version of Damien I wish was canon.

I Like My Body When It’s With Your Body (E, 28K) Mark/Damien nonsexual D/s — also sweet, also hot, also a version of Damien that I wish was canon, one that isn’t consumed by fear of not being in control every second of every day

ain’t gonna run from the wind and the thunder, when we’re dancing under the rain (T, 4K) Mark/Javier. The other Tier 5 survivors are fascinating to me, and I love the chance to explore Javier. And we get to give Mark a cute boyfriend, that’s always fun

I haven’t touched a pretty thing in forty days (T, 5K) Joan and Beck talk about trauma, loneliness, and moving forward. In a strip club. As one does.

and the reason comes on the common tongue of your loving me (E, <1K) Ben and Frankie having some fun, and we love to see it

Gen

the flame is gone (the fire remains) (T, 4K) Alternate ending for College Tapes. The grief is visceral, the narration is nonlinear, and the ending is beautifully tragic

on being raised on fairy tales in which you are the monster (T, 2K) Villain origin stories are fascinating to me, and TBS does tragic villains like no one else

All I’ve Ever Known Is How To Hold My Own (G, 3K) Parallels between Joan/Mark as kids and Joan/Sam as adults; you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wish you could punch Papa Bryant in his stupid face

A Secret I Never Wanted To Tell (G, 10K) Vanessa Turner sells Mark out to the AM. Joan finds out. Fireworks ensue

I’m somebody desperate, I don’t know what to do (T, 3K) Damien’s bi awakening, which of course becomes delicious angst because Damien is an angsty, touch-starved motherfucker

i want to feel all the ache I can feel (T, 5K) Canon divergence where Adam gets the Pokemon evolution, and an exploration of trauma as it affects atypical ability and expression

A Regular Decorated Emergency (G, 1K) The story of Caleb’s quidditch quadball injury, and all the brotherly Caleb-Mark interaction that we were robbed of in College Tapes

to say that I’m a rainbow and tell me that I’m bright (G, 9K) Sam, Mags, Mark, and Oliver going to Pride. It’s been over a year and the line “These are my flags. That’s me.” makes me cry to this day

You got troubles, I got ‘em too (G, 1K) Sam and Joan taking a moment to breathe and grieve at the AM

I got it all (but I don’t ever wanna grow up) (T, 5K) You know how College Tapes never actually addressed Caleb’s quarter-life crisis? Here’s a fix-it fic for that, along with more Caleb-Mark brotherly friendship

Atypical Revolutions (because if you leave TBS fans alone for five minutes, we come up with ways to make atypicals go public and get justice)

Your Enemy Whispers So You Have To Scream (T, 240K) Mark and other Tier 5 survivors go public after someone leaks evidence of the AM and Tier 5 to the general public. Oliver spends the next year failing spectacularly to avoid being drawn into the growing tension between atypicals, the government, and non-atypicals. This is the last bit of shameless self-promotion.

TPWKY Episode 222: DNA Meth(ylation) And Atypicality (G, 7K) A crossover between This Podcast Will Kill You and TBS, this assumes that atypicals have been forced to go public, and goes deep on the social and scientific ramifications. Mark ends up the public face of atypicality. This fic was a lot of the inspiration for Your Enemy Whispers.

Bryant vs. United States, Decision, Communication No. 947/2027 (M, 2K) Exactly what it sounds like — Mark goes public and sues the AM. The formatting for Your Enemy Whispers owes a lot to Bryant vs. United States (as does a certain UN resolution). I really, really hope it gets finished, because you know how you read a fic, or even just hear it described, and it keeps you up until two in the morning crying because it’s just that good and tragic? That was me when the authors dropped their plan for this fic’s endgame.

gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie (M, 37K) Oliver accidentally-on-purpose lets his family think that he’s dating Mark, on the same weekend that files go missing from the AM. Come for the fake dating, stay for the atypical revolution. (Fair warning, it is a WIP, but it’s not abandoned)

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Jay-Z - The Blueprint

Nobody in their right mind would disagree that this is Jay-Z's best album. Hova is at his peak in terms of rhyme schemes, flow, and confidence. But he's got one more thing in his back pocket that blasts The Blueprint into the stratosphere and that's amazing beats. The production team features a few names that you don't recognize: Bink, Just Blaze, Taskmasters. But Kanye fucking West brings the heat on Takeover, Heart Of The City, and Izzo (H.O.V.A.) and it's the latter of the three that wound up being the lead single and one of Jay-Z's biggest hits. The way that these beats seem to challenge Jay-Z to get even more creative with his rhymes and lyrics is apparent when you hear how he wraps verses around the Jackson 5 sample in Izzo. The Blueprint is one of the best hip hop albums of all time and honestly I think it really does belong in the top 50.

OutKast - Aquemini

The funkiest OutKast album and the one that took them to the top of the charts. The massive hit Rosa Parks shows off all the group's strengths. Andre 3000's complex rhyme schemes contrast with Big Boi's straightforward lyricism tied together with a funky hook and more than a little bit of country influence. The whole album is like that, but Rosa Parks is an exemplary song if you wanna hear what the peak of dirty south hip hop is like.

Bob Marley And The Wailers - Legend

Holy shit c'mon you already had Exodus on this list are you really gonna say that a greatest hits is better than that? Hell half of Exodus is on this fucking comp. I'm gonna start biting soon I swear to god.

Ramones - s/t

This album more than any other wound up being the blueprint for the US punk rock scene. Short, fast and stupid these songs are the perfect teenage rebellion. There is more vibe than meaning and Joey Ramone's vocals are bare comprehensible most of the time anyway. It captures the raw punk rock spirit of aimless rebellion against a world that is alienating.

Paul Simon - Graceland

Graceland may be a Paul Simon album, but it is anything but a solo effort. Every song on the album features significant contributions from a monstrous cast of both South African and American artists. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes and Homeless heavily feature isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and band leader Joseph Shabalala shares writing credit on both. Bakithi Kumalo's fretless bass permeates the entirety of Graceland and lends a unique cohesive sound to the musically diverse album. The title track is a peak example of South African and American fusion, Simon seeking to make an mbaqanga track, got guitarist Ray Phiri. Phiri was inspired to emulate American folk and country based on the Graceland theme and the result is something that sits perfectly in between, not quite an American folk song and not quite a South African mbaqanga song. There are a diverse cast of non South African musicians here too, Senegalese pop star Youssou N'Dour makes an appearance and American acts The Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, and Los Lobos get to hang. Graceland is an incredibly unique mix of styles, ridiculously catchy, unrelentingly beautiful. It is one of my favorite albums of all time. I listen to it on a monthly basis probably.

Prince - Sign O' The Times

I don't get why Prince isn't considered a queer icon. He changed his name to a symbol that was a mix of male and female gender symbols, his own lesbian band mates called him a "fancy lesbian", he cancelled an entire album because he was scared that his female alter ego was trying to escape and take over his life. Sign O' The Times has a song called If I Was Your Girlfriend. This is such a queer album. It's also funky and super fun and horny as shit. Prince is great.

Nas - Illmatic

East coast hip hop peaked with Illmatic. Nas engages in the tightest internal and multisyllabic rhymes without ever sacrificing clarity of purpose. The beats are sparse and reflect the stark subject matter. There's no bragging, it's actually much more pessimistic than that "Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high, cause you never know when your gonna go" "I never sleep cause sleep is the cousin of death". The lyrics speak of a difficult life with no room for braggadocia. Not only is Illmatic gunning for GOAT of GOATs status, but it is also one of the most destructively influencial albums in musical history. Until Illmatic the most successful hip hop albums were the work of single dedicated producers, but Illmatic features a large production crew. The producers on Illmatic all work well together and there was a concentrated effort to keep the album cohesive, but all imitators saw was a laundry list of famous names and from them on hip hop production teams became bigger and bigger. So every time you hear a completely disjointed album where all the tracks sound like they belong on a different album you can thank Illmatic. Oops.

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Hip Hop and jazz are obviously highly linked genres, and a lot of hip hop artists use jazz samples, but only A Tribe Called Quest would get legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter as a feature. The interplay between rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg is pretty much the basis of A Tribe Called Quest's sound and they are at their tightest here trading verses casually and playing point with incredible skill. The production is probably the most meticulous since I reviewed Aja. Every sample has been scrubbed clean until there is no surface noise and the balance of melodic bass lines and punchy drums is unparalleled among hip hop records. The Low End Theory sounds perfectly clean and crisp, every element completely essential and placed perfectly where it belongs. It's an incredibly precise album and the production matches the tight and precise rapping.

Radiohead - OK Computer

Their sophomore record, The Bends, may have been an exquisite piece of alt rock but OK Computer is when Radiohead really started to flex their creativity. Stepping slightly outside of rock they experiment with some electronic sounds while still keeping the songs mostly fairly catchy. No one song is completely experimental or completely mainstream alternative. There's a balance here that is very delicate. Admittedly I think that the completely, unabashedly experimental Kid A is their best work, but there is something to be said for a good catchy hook too.

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

This is the best Stones album by a narrow margin. From the psychedelic anxiety attack of Gimme Shelter to the country rock of You Got The Silver to the heavy blues of Midnight Rambler this has the best variety of any Stones album. Keith Richard's blues guitar solos are the best they will ever get and Mick Jagger really stretches out his vocal chords on the aggressive Monkey Man and the deranged serial killer energy of Midnight Rambler.

[presleyhearted]

Yours Truly - Journal entry no. 2

・❥・Pairing: Elvis Presley x original female character

・❥・Genre: slow burn, mystery, angst, fluff.

・❥・Word Count: 468

・❥・Summary: In which a 21-year-old girl suddenly finds herself having consecutive dreams of a particular rock ‘n’ roll star whom she has never met and who died 45 years ago.

・❥・ Ratings & Warnings: SFW. This is supplemental material to the on-going series 'Yours Truly' please DO NOT read this if you have not read the previous chapters 1 to 10.

chapter index | prev | chapter 11

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AN ENTRY FROM NOVA'S JOURNAL 

December 9, 2022 

Dear journal, 

Well, I suppose here we are with the second entry. I thought it was about time I gather my thoughts somewhere, on what has happened in my life so far. 

First and foremost, he is still appearing in my dreams. There has never been one single night that he hasn't. Just last night. . . he helped me cross another item off my list - crashing a party. or a wedding reception, more like. I just can't explain how I can always remember every detail. It's not like a snapshot of a blur of photos. No it's more than that. 

I remember our conversations. every single word. And how each one is said. I remember how he smiles or gives me that mischievous grin of his. I remember the way the sun touches my skin and the chatter of people and the music and his sneaky kisses. 

All of it puzzles my mind. 

I do know that I can't tell Luke or Charlotte about any of this. They are my good friends, but this is beyond the level of being comprehensible. Heck, even I would give them a look if one of them told me something like this was happening to them. It does not sound remotely logical. It does not sound very. . .Nova. 

But there are a few things that I am sure, that I am certain of. I while ago I asked him if he was real and he nodded. There is a chance he's real. He mentioned at our first meeting on the train that he is aware that he died. Then that could only mean that he is a ghost appearing to me from the afterlife? That is the only logical answer I could pinpoint. Even coming to terms with that, it clutches at my heart, an indescribable feeling I can't quite comprehend. Overwhelmed and painful. I don't know. 

But if he is appearing to me from the afterlife. . . why won't he give me clear, straight answers? 

He even said that when his song came on the radio- that was his doing. But the one thing that nags at me a little is the band-aid on my knee, from when I fell off his motorcycle. . . in the dream. The dream. Last time I checked, whatever happens in dreams do not transfer to the real world. This one still really makes my head spin. 

I do enjoy his presence - it bewilders and excites me. 

But it still does leave me with the question. . .

Elvis why are you helping me? How do you know me?  Why and how do you know all these details about me?

Till next time journal. I do hope next time I'll have more answers. 

Nova. 

next

[troglobite]

i'm bored & in a permanent Stand By Mode bc of Life Situations, so for absolutely nobody but me, a comprehensive ranking and review of all villagers who have lived on my very first ever acnh island, illyria

ranked from worst to best for those currently on my island, i've also included their current catchphrases.

29. huck

-500000000/10. he was the worst. his face and nasty grey and yellow design made me nauseous. he was obnoxious and irritating. his house was ugly. i was forced to take him as my first smug villager. i resented him every single day. i even tried to give him a chance, and i just hated him all the more bc he kept saying and "translating" specifically spanish words incorrectly. i hated his guts. i hit him with nets, locked him inside his house and in random spots around the island whenever i saw him. i ran inside when he'd try to talk to me. and this was all before i even knew how many cool and adorable villagers were out there. that is how much i hate huck.

28. joey

0/10 i didn't interact with him at all. he was an autofill that happened purely by accident. tammy moved out and i fucked up time traveling and he moved in. i was DEVASTATED. however i got SO LUCKY. i jumped ahead two weeks to kickstart the moveout process and instead i got blanche in my campsite. i spent a few hours getting her to kick joey out. anyway, i didn't have time to develop a personal hatred of joey, but his appearance Upsets me. what's w the eyebrows and the dead eyes? no shade, but the diaper looks WEIRD when no other villagers really wear bottoms except for the superhero looking ones. what's your deal, dude?

27. rhonda

2/10 initially she was fine, but she ended up getting in fights with katt and vivian and flora all the time, so i grew to dislike her. initially i was like "oh cool, i like her white and purple design" but eventually she just got weird to look at. her catchphrase is bigfoot and that was. idk man it got weird after a while. i didn't really get along w her. i let her leave p much as soon as she asked, iirc.

26. benedict

3/10 he was a cutie. his cheeks looked silly. he was mostly sad all the time? and talked abt bugs too much. i know that's what the lazy villagers do, but truly he was OBSESSED. like i had sasha later on--benedict was OBSESSED, okay? and truly he mostly cried and was hurt and sad by the other residents of the island. it just didn't work out.

25. pinky

4/10 i went into the villager hunt without really any idea who i was looking for. this was quite early on. she's so forgettable i literally got to position 18 on the list before i realized i hadn't ranked her yet. whoops. she also had the MOST annoying habit of sitting EXACTLY WHERE I WAS TERRAFORMING. EVERY TIME!!!!! fucking maddening. she's also the only villager i've had that was significantly taller than my character, and i didn't really like it. she had her cute moments, though.

24. wolfgang

5/10 he was fine. i found him on a nmt island. i had no complaints. he was okay. his house was nice. but he was quite boring. i took him bc i didn't feel like continuing to hunt or look for anyone on nookazon (or whoever i wanted simply wasn't available on nookazon). truly just straight down the middle unremarkable. he was mainly a proof of concept that i could have a cranky villager as long as it was a wolf, bc the voice combo for them doesn't make me feel sick (butch the dog's voice makes me feel so nauseous). he was also the cranky to teach me all the reactions.

23. rosie

6/10 listen it's going to be increasingly difficult to rank all the villagers i've really liked. rosie was fine. she was in the campsite, i took her bc she was fun and interesting and purple (fight me) and i was bored. i believe she kicked out agnes? anyway, she was fun. i liked her. she didn't really offer anything unique and eventually her face kinda freaked me out. but she was fun.

22. lopez

7/10 beautiful eyes, look, hair, horns, everything darling. what a gorgeous lad. i'm not fond of orange so there's that. he was the first smug i allowed to stick around long enough to teach me all the reactions. he was fun while he lasted, but eventually it was just that his vibe didn't mesh with illyria's vibe. such is life. but he was a fun get from the campsite. i went through a brief campsite phase, i guess. lol

21. audie

8/10 fun and silly w a cool backstory and house but as you can see from the above, i'm not fond of orange. i eventually got sick of her design. she was also kind of aloof for some reason? it was odd. idk we never got THAT close. i found her on an island and took her bc i was like "oh she's named after that grandma!" so that was fun.

20. shino

8/10 once again v cute and fun. the novelty of her design was v cool. i was v excited to have found her on an island. i was looking for dobie but i figured i'd take her bc she'd sell for a lot on nookazon which would help me either buy or find dobie. she was really fun to have around while i had her! i also got to redesign her house which was nice. she was also kind of aloof, but i think i got her picture p quickly. so y'know, fun times.

19. whitney

8/10 just pretend all these 8/10 villagers are separated by .1 every time. lol whitney has a v pretty design and a lovely purple home interior. she was surprisingly sweet for a snooty villager and she gave me her photo quickly, too. she was chill but loved hanging out. i really enjoyed her. i almost took her a second time recently but meh. lol i think i had her at the same time as wolfgang briefly? not sure. but the trio of wolves, if it happened, was surely fun. she and vivian at least really got along which was cute.

18. ione

8/10 love her design (apart from her silly hair lol) and her eyes when she got shocked or excited were so cute. i amiibo'd her in to replace aurora. she also gave me the idea for the area around her house which ended up being really pretty. the redesign of her house was like, kind of meh. but it worked. anyway, i had her a good long while. she was cute and fun to have around.

17. sasha

9/10 he took SO LONG to ask me for a catchphrase, a greeting, and a nickname! SO LONG! i did find him on an island though which was special. and his eyes were literally so fucking cute that i hemmed and hawed abt letting him go for AGES. his dialogue got stale quickly, but he definitely didn't talk abt bugs as much as benedict did. he was more about the food which was significantly cuter to me. i also built him an entire sweets and plushies shop in front of his house. all v fun and cute. allowed me to explore my saccharine sweet side.

16. tammy

9/10 what a DELIGHT of a cub villager. she looks sassy and silly and yet So Fucking Chill. dream blunt rotation, y'know what i mean? i don't like yellow but i loved her. she never got in fights with other villagers. she and cat got along. she even got along w vivian. her house was really cute--i loved that we had some of the same furniture. i just loved having her around. i don't even remember how she came to move to the island, but it might've been an autofill or a really quick villager hunt. she's not someone i would've taken had i known the breadth of villagers available, but i'm so glad i had her on the island. i love her.

15. claudia

9/10 one of the first villagers i found on a nmt island after i was forced to take huck. i had so much trouble letting claudia go--i convinced a friend to take her bc she's a tiger and therefore technically a cat and fit her entirely cat island aspiration. lol i LOVE her purple and pink design. child me would've wanted as much merch of her as possible bc of the pink and purple shit. lol she was fun and kind and funny and i liked her house and her music. she and vivian were friendly. lol

14. kiki

9/10 maybe i just haven't built up a relationship with her yet, but she's the lowest scoring current resident of illyria. she just keeps saying/doing shit where i'm like ??? okay? excuse me? initially she was PRECIOUS. she was a campsite move in and i used her to kick out ione (i have like 5 ione amiibos, it's fine lol). i love her design for the most part but i DO regret giving her hats in the hopes they would be cute on her--they are not. why do only the beanies cover up cats' ears and NO OTHER HATS? it looks so stupid! anyway she's fun, she's cute, i like her. but really i mostly knocked it out of the park with her HOUSE. i redesigned the fuck out of that hideous monstrosity and it's SO CUTE, especially the outside. she hasn't asked me for a catchphrase yet and instead just took goldie's which is RIDICULOUS. it's woof!

13. blanche

9/10 MY BIRTHDAY TWIN! MY SAVIOR WHO KICKED OUT JOEY! i love her. she was so wonderful to have. i love her design, she's gorgeous. she and vivian were great friends. she got along with everyone. celebrating our birthdays together was so cool. her house was cute, too, esp in a time before we could redesign them. i was v grateful to have her and i was sad to let her leave. but i think i made sure she went to someone's island instead of getting voided. it's been a long time so idr. lol

12. agnes

9/10 the only pig whomst i love. what a fun gorgeous design. the sickeningly fashionable black/pink color combo? her cool af house and interior? her sassy vibes and how much she loved me and hanging out w me? impeccable, unstoppable, amazing. there's nothing to say except i loved having her around. found her on an island, and am so glad that i took her.

11. aurora

9/10 my darling sweetie pie, siblings w roald, cutie darling who was so round and sweet and cute. i got her off of nookazon to match roald so they could be siblings and i moved them nextdoor to each other briefly and their interactions were ADORABLE. eventually life on the island got a little stale so i wanted to shake things up. i had (have) 4 normal/sweet villagers, and i'd given aurora a vacation home and just felt that anything i built her was going to be. eh, idk, weird or not fit on the island. but luckily someone on nookazon who DESPERATELY wanted aurora, the way i had, took her from me. they loved what aurora was wearing and we celebrated happily that she went to a great loving home ☺️

10. roald

9/10 one of my two original starters. round meme boi who loved exercise and is round af. i love him. he's silly and sweet and stupid. he looks SO GOOD in the outfits i give him. it's adorable. i redesigned his house a few times to make it acceptable for a penguin who loves exercise. lol he's been getting a little boring lately, like he doesn't quite fit, but he's literally been on the island SINCE ITS INCEPTION. some of the very first screenshots/pictures i have from acnh in march 2020 include him!!! if i decide to let him go, he HAS to go to someone specifically. i can't void my perfect blue round boi. his catchphrase has been the same for years, as well: gaymerz.

9. flora

10/10 i was SO SAD to let her go, but for whatever reason, i decided to. luckily, she autofilled on a friend's island so i was able to visit her later on!!! she recognized me and we chatted and i about cried bc she's so fucking sweet. something abt her is just unbearably endearing. yes she talked abt popstar stuff, but more often she just talked abt fashion and friends. she was SO CUTE. she loved giving me nicknames and asking for catchphrases. her house was so cute. and her favorite song became MY favorite song for a while! kk condor. it's so fucking good. anyway, i love flora, i love my darling. i hope she had a nice time on the island of lesbos. if she's still there, i hope she's having a good time. if she left, i hope she got delivered or voided somewhere else nice. 💜

THIS IS WHERE THINGS BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE

8. poppy

10/10 her design is so unbearably cute. her little tail. her ears. the color red she is. her little FACE. her tiny little v mouth! her autumn-themed home! how adorable she looks in all the outfits i give her! she's been v sweet to me. i wanted her VERY badly back in 2020. a (former) friend of mine found her on a villager hunt and took her just for me. before they reset their island, they made it so poppy was ready to move out so i could take her. i've had her ever since. she's just so dang cute. she became part of my normal/sweet triad with goldie and maple. her catchphrase is peanut!

6. a two-way tie between maddie and shep

11/10 shep is the newest resident on illyria. i found him on a 238 ticket hunt where i was actually looking for punchy or purrl (both of whom i have previously passed on....😬 Regret lol). he was a back-up, but i met him and he was immediately so sweet and so cute and i just LOVED him. maddie i also found on a villager hunt--i was actually specifically looking for her! i'm a sucker for the dogs and a sucker for a lot of the peppys, so i REALLY wanted her. a friend of mine had her and i was like "holy shit, if you ever want her to move out, i'll take her" and then instead i found her on a villager hunt myself. lol they're tied because maddie's been here a lot longer, so the novelty is wearing off. i need to revitalize her living arrangement. but she's still ranked super high bc of just how fucking cute and sweet she is. how much she loves everything i do, how many times she's asked to come over or for me to come over. she's a DELIGHT and her design is SO FUCKING CUTE!!!! and shep is new so we don't have that unbreakable bond, yet! but oh my god he's adorable. he's SO FUN to dress up. i've given him so many hats and glasses which is the funniest possible thing. he loves the color blue and yet always wears a brown argyle sweater i gave him. he's so hilarious and sweet. unlike previous smug villagers i've had (mainly the first one, he who shan't be named), shep ALWAYS gets his languages CORRECT. and rather than being egotistical, he's concerned w aesthetic and FRIENDSHIP. he's delightfully sweet and fun. together, they're two of my three beloved dog villagers, and i love them. maddie's catchphrase is lesbi-chic, and shep hasn't asked for one, yet. he just took dobie's, which is palone-omi (which is polari for lesbian).

5. vivian

11/10 another one of my OG villagers. i think she was 7th to the island overall. she just...idk what it is about her vibe, but i can't get over her. delicate, elegant, silly, untouchable, kind of 80s/90s but in a classic way. i love her design, and i love how much she loves me. lol not all snooties get THAT close/sweet. i love her for it. she also rarely asks to leave, which i appreciate. lol i've been struggling to complete her house area bc of inspiration and practical difficulties wrt having inventory space and doing terraforming--esp since i now wanna redo a lot of stuff anyway. but she does currently have domain over a sushi restaurant next to the beachfront fish market. lol anyway, i love her. her catchphrase has been the same for years, too: sapph-chic.

4. goldie

12/10 the villager who replaced he who shan't be named! my FIRST EVER time actually hunting for a villager! i agonized and stressed and panicked. at the time it was EARLY days, so friends bought and donated nmts to the cause! lol (bought w nook miles, not irl $). found her on ticket 27 which i still remember to this day. she's such a cuteipie. i gave her a bakery/restaurant with all of the pompompurrin furniture. she also wears the clothes from that set. you cannot comprehend how cute she is, i stg. even though her face design is a little strange, i simply can't let her go. i love her. her original catchphrase was so cute i've refused to change it. right now it's "woof woof" though. lol

AND NOW THE TOP THREE

3. maple

12/10 in terms of character design, she is, objectively, The Cutest Villager Of All Time. she's so simple and classic and perfect like that. she was the SECOND villager i went specifically looking for after goldie, and i got her on ticket 6. there was no way i was passing her up. someone i knew on figure skating twitter had her and let her go bc she was "boring" and i was like BLASPHEMY! luckily i found her myself not long after. lol anyway, i've redesigned her house, i've given her so many clothes, i just celebrated her birthday recently! it's june 15th and i'm back on june 17th in-game bc of how i've been playing. lol anyway, i love her. her dialogue refreshes and gets interesting again every once in a while, and i have a video of her dancing on a festivale stage--fucking ADORABLE. lol her catchphrase is honeybun. lol

2. dobie

15/10 best old man grandpa what a wonderful design what incredible vibes. i gave him an antique shop to run! i've got pictures of him sweeping in it. literal perfection. his dialogue is always so funny or sweet. he's always cooking. he's just so goddamn endearing and fun to have around. i gave him one of my spare mom's sweaters and bro he looks adorable in it. i redid his house, too, bc i was like THIS MAN HAS NOWHERE TO SIT OR LAY DOWN!!! so i gave him a bed and a couch as well bc i'm like !!! HIS OLD BONES!!! THEY GOTTA REST! HE MUST HAVE PLACES TO NAP!!!! he simply deserves the best and that's all he gets. i found him about 70 tickets into a hunt specifically for him? it was raining and i loved him. success! once again, his catchphrase is palone-omi.

katt

50000/10 my first my best my darling. my everything!!! what a perfectly adorable strange unique cute design. i LOVE her. she is my wife in the game. we're married. she runs the farm and i run the farmer's market for her. i redesigned her house to give her a ~cool vibe~ to match her history of playing in/loving various bands. i'm thinking of redesigning it again to make it more homey for her! but she is the litmus test that all new villagers must pass. if they get along w katt, they're good in my book. not getting along w katt has been the death knell for a few (rhonda in particular). vivian and katt have had disagreements, but not in a LONG time, and they get along v well now. katt's design is perfect and adorable. perfect line between real/believable colors (an unofficial metric for my favorite villager designs) and cartoony cuteness. her white paws? so cute. the white tip on her striped tail? stop, adorable. HER LITTLE TEEFS?! SHE HAS SHARP POINTY TEEFS!!!! SO CUTE!!!! i can't stand it, i love her. katt is forever the best most important wonderful darling sweetiepie ever. she is my first acnh villager and the best. i want an amiibo of her just to frame it somewhere. i want an amiibo of her to use in all future animal crossing games if she doesn't show up of her own accord. katt is also the perfect soft butch lesbian. i give her cool clothes, which she loves, all in red and black for the most part. she loves being butch and cozy. her catchphrase has been and always will be some variation of "gay purride", the first wonderful catchphrase gay pun i ever came up with. i've stuck with it ever since. katt is perfect in every way and i simply will not hear a bad word against her. i love her so much. if i could have a girlfriend p much exactly like katt irl, i'd be happy. what a name! katt! what a vibe! sweet and mischievous but so heartfelt and sincere! what a lil cutie w such fun taste! she loves gardening and experimenting w recipes! she loves naps and staying up late! her favorite song is kk disco, and objectively fun song! she loves singing and dancing all around the island! i love katt so much. ☺️💜

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

sonic dash character wishlist for fun lol

and I guess this also could apply to Speed Battle, but yeah idk I just had this thought and it seemed fun. Tried to keep it reasonable, as in didn’t do Archie characters because christ.

every exclusive character in Speed Battle and vice versa - kind of a no brainer there, just kinda have everyone that’s in Speed Battle only get in Dash. Your Gawains, Super Shadows, Chaos, Tikals, Eggmans, every fucking variant of every character ever in existence, several more, yeah. And vice versa because sure fuck it Speed Battle can have Pirate Sonic and Captain Shadow.

Super Silver - like we already have Super Sonic and movie Super Sonic and then Speed Battle has Super Shadow so you know, round out the trilogy. And give us what I believe would be Super Silver’s 2nd game appearance ever? Would be cool.

Burning Blaze - we do have more Super forms than the literal Super forms! Give Burning Blaze some love she’s been MIA since 2007 and the world needs her.

Lamorak and Galahad - so Gawain is only in Speed Battle and Dash+ for Apple Arcade atm but it’s easy to assume he’ll make it into main Dash and then we’ll have all the playable knights from Black Knight. But only the single player. So yo give us Lamorak and Galahad too, round out the collection, would give Jet and Silver more alts, would be cool, you know, the usual stuff.

Emerl and Gemerl - putting 2 for one here because would just be reskins anyway, but fuck it why not, right? More cool robot characters. I could maybe pass on Emerl since canonically dead but tbf for a mobile game without a story that shouldn’t really matter, but either way there’s no excuse for Gemerl give my man a chance.

Classic Tails, Knuckles and Amy - Classic Sonic is in these games but these other characters despite having been featured in recent classic media are not. Add them, like, fuck it right?

Mighty and Ray - and while we’re on the classic train these dudes came back and got in Mania yo! And if they’re stuck to be considered classic characters only then whatever I’ll cope but yo throw them in the funny mobile game.

Fang, Bean and Bark - same as above actually, though with less emphasis because they didn’t get to be playable in Mania and also I do not like them as much.

Marine - tons of people want this dead character to return and I say fuck it why not, a harmless mobile game appearance could be fun.

Sticks - seems to have been adopted into modern canon anyway with the reference in Frontiers plus recent Sonic Channel artwork and stuff so hey put her in Dash, give her more time in the limelight.

every Boom variant of the rest of the cast - I’d be less bothered to get this than Sticks since she’s actually a new character but still would be fun, make Dash and Speed Battle even more kinda comprehensive in their collection of characters from across the franchise.

at least Riders Sonic - see I was playing Jet in Dash for the hell of it because I just pick whoever and I thought “god extreme gear is cool” and it made me think “huh they could put Riders Sonic in this game as a variant and give him his board and stuff” and actually that’s what inspired this entire post lol. It’s “at least” because if you’re gonna do Riders Sonic you may as well do Riders Tails and Knuckles and Shadow and Amy and so on and so on

Zik, Zomom and Zor - yeah I don’t really like the Deadly Six but the other 3 are in Speed Battle and in this hypothetical world get into Dash so you know, may as well actually complete the Six part of the Deadly Six.

Surge and Kit maybe? - I’m less sure about this one because frankly I don’t really like either of these characters that much but yk, Tangle and Whisper already made it so IDW precedent is there, and Surge especially people do seem to like a lot. Could just throw them in and it would be neat like yeah.

Movie Shadow and Movie Super Shadow - like honestly if there’s anyone on this list that I fully expect will make it into the game it’s these, but it’ll have to wait until movie 3 actually comes out so like lol. But hey just mentioning them ahead of time because then I get to claim I predicted it and everyone will call me badass and a gamer.

the Chao lmao - I think it’d be funny if you could play as Chao in Sonic Dash lol. Just do like Cheese and a Hero Chao and a Dark Chao and maybe the three Chaos Chao variants, are we pushing this out of the realm of possibility yet?

some more robotic Sonics - Neo Metal Sonic because fuck it it’s an alternate form he has that why not have in a silly mobile game. Mecha Sonic and Mecha Sonic mk.II (aka Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic lmao) both appeared in Lego Dimensions and then respectively appeared in some toyline and the IDW comics respectively so like sure SEGA haven’t forgotten they exist. So put them in Sonic Dash for the fun of it!!!!!!!!

okay yeah I think that’s all I’ve got right now. List definitely got a bit sillier and me less passionate about some of the characters as we got further down but idk I think this could be neat. That’s it end post.