#i have mbmbam on my list but the last time i tried to listen to it i just couldnt.

[thepringlesofblood]

bonus content for those who read the taz: petals to the metal graphic novel and haven’t listened to the podcast arc

so i decided to do another one of these bc I’m procrastinating doing my homework and I like doing shit like this.

basically, under the cut I’m going to be listing a bunch of stuff from the podcast that wasn’t in the graphic novel, or was changed.

this is NOT to say ‘oh i wished they included that’ - it is to say ‘oh look cool bonus content and extra information and context for me, someone who has not listened to the podcast’

It’s not crystal kingdom level, but petals to the metal is still a LONG arc with a lot of stuff in it. of course they had to cut things for time, or condense them, or change them. None of this is in a ‘um actually in the original it was better’  these are just observations of the differences/changes for funsies, and my opinion on them (mostly positive in case you didn’t notice)

(also important: you can be sad something wasn’t in the novel while still understanding why it isn’t and knowing that the final product is still great)

anyway. spoilers for pttm, but I tried not to spoil anything later than that, so people who have only read/listened this far can enjoy

ch. 1

the carnival was the first real lunar interlude, since ‘moonlighting’ is just them getting the job

the costumes are *chef kiss* perfect, although in the podcast taako dresses up as judge lance ito (lanzito? idk how to spell his name but i’m p sure he was the judge in the oj simpson trials???) bc justin saw a guy do it 3 years in a row at a party and thought it was funny.

that change is pretty obvious, taako does ross from friends in the book which gets across the ‘low effort reused costume thrown together at the last minute’ effect just fine

in the podcast carnival basically there’s just a guy with some cans they can’t knock down and they have some beef and that’s the only real game they play. the unicorn double-barrel special is 100% accurate though.

so in the lunar interludes garfield and the gashapon and the leveling all take place on their own before the carnival obvs, but they get all the same stuff and shenan the same shenanigans pretty much.

what IS notable is that in the podcast, this is the first appearance of garfield the deals warlock.

I don’t know how many of you know his dark origin story

but basically he started as a money zone goof on mbmbam and then griffin put him in the game

significantly, at this point he is an entry-level employee, while he’s the boss next time they meet him. in the book he has always and will always be the boss

there is also a functionality which never appears again where you can just name a price and do a contested roll against garfield’s charisma to pay that for something instead of the sticker price and like. magnus does that.

another bit that i’m very glad didn’t make it into the novel is when merle does this roll, he agrees that if garfield wins, he gets merle’s firstborn child.

(this is to buy the ring of recall, which gives you back a spell slot if the spell fails)

garfield wins. but. taako comes over to save the day with the 100$ extra money he has from selling angus’ silverware and helps him buy it.

so

yeah

that

eesh

also while the whole leon interaction is basically the same, leon actually bites the tokens to make sure they’re real, and everyone dunks on griffin bc he said the tokens were brass not gold

the shield in the book that magnus wants does not exist in the podcast. it was a choice b/w the mystery bag and the eyespy, which in the podcast is called the lens of straight creepin’ (this is where magnus rolls to haggle and wins)

the glass ball that stephen lives in is originally described as ‘softball size’ which is WILD

travis was not nearly as psyched about stephen as magnus was. he goes ‘well griffin it feels like when you ask your parents for a dog and they bring home a goldfish to teach you responsibility’ and griffin straight up is like YEAH THAT IS WHATS HAPPENING CAN CONFIRM but he learns to love him ^v^

the eclipse is the same. where the director is during the eclipse changes.

in the book it’s implied she’s been in her office the whole time, but it is never confirmed. we don’t see her at all before then.

in the podcast, we know beforehand she makes an announcement:

Griffin: The Director, you hear her voice amplified over the yard, and she says:

The Director: Attention, everyone. The Eclipse is about to take place, if you would like to join us in the yard, and join us for the viewing of The Eclipse. Uh, it should be here in just a minute or so.

so ‘us’ implies she is in the yard with them

later, afterwards, griffin says

“The— the Director is the first one to sit up and survey the scene.”

so, she was in the yard with them, and was knocked out when The Thing happened. And she recovers the quickest

they immediate run over to her, and this fun dialogue happens

Griffin: She’s a little bit disoriented. She just woke up, and—

Travis: I slap her.

Griffin: She slaps you back.       

Director: Booyah.

they go around waking other people up with “healing slaps”

taako uses prestidigitation to turn into the sun from the jimmy dean commercials because “he always makes me feel pretty good.”

there’s a time jump b/w the lunar interlude and ep 1 of pttm

ep1 it opens a fun scene of the boys sparring with Avi, Killian, and Pringles (this is where we start calling him Pringles, too) and then the director calling them to her office to inform them about the gaia sash.

highlights

justin, who has not yet confirmed taako’s sexuality, asks griffin if there’s any babes in the audience watching the fight

griffin, uncomfortable: yeah, i guess there are some women...

justin: yeah, there’s women, but are there any baëbes

griffin, catching on: no less than four beëhbes

the book combines the two director office scenes into one (v smart)

some fun bonus director dialogue

they establish that the bob official handshake is the one from Big, and the director says deadpan, dripping gravitas, ‘shimmy shimmy cocoa puff’ while doing it.

as she’s describing goldcliff and being like ‘surely you must have heard of goldcliff’ and this happens

Taako: We actually have only been to three places

Merle: And they’re no longer there.

Taako: …And most of them aren’t there anymore. [laughter]

she also gives them gorp to eat on their way to goldcliff, and tells them her secret ingredient is pistachios with the shells still on, making it pgorp (or gorpp, as taako puts it)

she tells them that last time on the way down in the ball they hit a bunch of unicorns that were endangered and had to pay fines for it. (this isn’t right they were pegasi)

merle horrifically mispronounces “icosagon” (like, I have it written down as omagobrakasbragsbron) provoking griffin to say: “If any of you can tell me what a 20-sided shape is called I will mail you 200$” (none of them get it. justin guess dodecahedron but that’s 12-sided shape)

ch 2

i will tell you right now - i don’t think merle ever uses dampen elements. but they emphasize that in the book instead of the other ability he gets, destroy undead which is Very useful, so maybe there’s an occasion I’m forgetting

when captain bane is like level 6?? in the podcast he also adds ‘i’m about to send three 6-year-olds into battle???’

merle and captain captain bane have a ‘gruff off’ since merle says he wants the monopoly on gruff voices. taako gives them the phrase ‘taako rules’ merle wins bc apparently clint can sound like the devil when he wants.

i. i cant. with the vines. it’s p much the same as in the podcast but please just listen to that one scene or look up an animatic. i can’t describe it. the only things i will put here:

justin says “Statistically speaking, at least one of our listeners has just discovered that they are in possession of the world’s worst fetish!“

griffin asked for it. he said with his mouth “just talk dirty to these plants.“ and clint did.

even funnier, when all of the boys turned against clint for this, clint shouts “YOU STARTED IT, MCELROY!”

you are all mcelroy. you all started it

the trent the treant fight is a lot longer with many more goofs, but the highlight of it for sure is when magnus chops trent in half, and is pissed off that he’s still alive

Travis: But… I chopped him in half!

Griffin: And he did take some damage for that.

Travis: Yeah, I should hope so!

the elevator scene...so beautiful. wonderfully done. the main difference is in the podcast, they have merle climb the stairs while magnus and taako take the elevator.

he’s almost able to save them, but he says he opens the doors at “the last possible second” bc he wants to be cool and dramatic, so griffin is like “welp. you get sucked in bc you tried to do it at the last possible second”

the other main difference is that in the podcast when taako casts blink shuffle jump, there’s no white eyes in the ethereal plane. he also blinks shuffle jumps earlier in the trent fight with no white eyes. given the knowledge i have as someone who has listened to the entirety of the balance arc at least 11 times, I’m pretty sure this is a “griffin forgot to do it in the podcast but dw we fixed it in the novel” situation. I’ll wager that any time taako visits the ethereal plane in the graphic novels going forwards, the eyes will be there. In fact, I really like seeing it here and him reacting to it.

there’s also a fantastic like, 20 seconds, that I would highly recommend listening to. Here’s the transcript

Griffin: Yeah, you climb the stairs, and, uh, it is, uh… It is an uneventful climb to the 20th floor. And a-

Travis: Floor 20!

Griffin: As- What?

Justin: [giggling]

Travis: [giggling] Floor-twenty!

[5 uninterrupted seconds of silence]

Griffin: [angrily] We’re not gonna say anything better than that, like-

Travis: Griffin we gotta fight some weeds at floor 20.

Griffin: [stunned] We, have... 30 more minutes to go,

Justin: [giggles]

Griffin: And, we’re not gonna say anything better than that.

Clint: [laughs]

Griffin: Did you even think about that?

sloane is pretty much the same - I love her so much

ch 3

the stuff with hurley folds out naturally enough, although sergeant detective strawberry isn’t anything more than a passing joke in the podcast. he’s just there in the book to tell you that silverpoint poison = bad.  and occasionally be someone for cpt. cpt. bane to talk to.

merle actually does cast zone of truth in the podcast, and everyone fails their save but him, so hurley tells them all the truth and merle tells some real dumb lies just because he can

later on this leads to this wonderful exchange of taako reassuring hurley about getting sloane back:

Taako: Uh, listen. I know you’re really worried about your friend right now, and I know you don’t know us really well. But let me promise you this.

Justin: Are we out of the zone of truth?

Griffin: Yeah, yeah. You’re far away from it.       

Taako: Everything’s gonna be fine.

speaking of, merle is a lot nicer in the books, mostly because clint has the benefit of reflection and time - the funniest improv is not always the most moral improv. He thanks hurley for saving his life in the book and it’s really sweet, meanwhile in the podcast he’s repeatedly suggesting cannibalism or gaslighting a guy into thinking god’s going to kill him with a train. not an exaggeration.

I forget exactly when, but at one point when they’re following hurley somewhere, magnus steals a keychain for absolutely no reason, then gives it back bc he got caught. gotta love it.

ch 4

i love love love the jumpcut of hurley telling them not to kill anyone to them throwing barbara off a cliff

yes, barbara. there’s. just so much of a scene of them getting rid of the 3 gang members guarding the entrance to their lair. they all have different ideas and decide to try them one by one. I can’t fully explain it here please go listen this is when gaslighting a guy into thinking god’s going to kill him with a train happens and it’s the funniest thing ever. (it’s episode 21, pttm pt 4, little over halfway through the episode.) quick overview

merle tries preaching the good word of pan to them but it ends up more like ‘what if you died? right now? what would happen? a train could run through this building right now and then where would you be?’ and he scares a guy with a train sound so bad that he runs off into the night.

important: the guy that runs off is Little Jerry. the guy that stays and does most of the talking is Jerreeeeee.  there is also a guy in the security booth.

then magnus comes over and is like hello i would like to join your gang please :)

theres a huge entrance fee though so at first he tries to trade stephen for it but doesn’t expect griffin to say yes and when Jerreeeeee actually agrees he’s like....not this fish. but I got a guy and he can set your whole gang up with fish, i’ll send you his chainlinkedin

eventually he gets Jerreeeeee to go inside and get the boss, then pretends to have something to do and leaves.

taako comes back disguised as Little Jerry (using the spell disguise self). but then the real Little Jerry comes back and taako casts sleep on him like ‘oh no an imposter! we gotta go check on the arcane core!’

and the dumb thing? security booth totally agrees with him. they’re all set to go until security booth’s like ‘wait we should take the fake little jerry and interrogate him’ and taako...doesn’t handle it well.

Taako: [as Little Jerry] When’d you turn in- When’d you go soft? Huh? When’d you go soft?       

Ruffian 3: Well no, it’s just like- we need to- gather information-

Taako: [as Little Jerry] When we were growin’ up- we were growin’ up together, in the streets. Out there, in the streets of Goldcliff. Y’know, we- You- were never soft.       

Ruffian 3: We met, like, two months-       

Taako: [as Little Jerry] You saw- you saw a dead bird, you-      

Ruffian 3: We met, like, two months ago!

Taako: [as Little Jerry] You saw a dead bird, you’d step on it. You’d say, ‘I hate birds!’ You were- you had, no heart. Heartless Hank, we called you. Was it Hank? Remind me what your real name is, ‘cause I can only remember the great nicknames I’ve given you over the months.

and security booth gives him an ultimatum - say my real name, right now, or I’ll kill you

and justin says...”It is completely conceivable he would have a nametag. Maybe.”

griffin: in a gang?! in a gang?!?

anyway. griffin lets justin guess. he has him take off his headphones, and tells the other two the name: barbara

justin comes back on and after some dithering says his name is taako “Psych, that’s just mine! Say my name! I cast magic missile.”

and barbara gets killed. and that’s who gets thrown off the cliff at the beginning of ch 4.

ok i s2g that’s the last of that scene it’s just so so so good i needed the world to know

from here on the main differences are that in podcast taako is disguised as lil jerry the whole time and maarvey is a man.

they probably made maarvey a woman to avoid having the only female characters this arc be our beautiful lesbian plant ladies who definitely don’t die - respect

also i appreciate the continuation of the new elfington joke

there’s a whole conversation when Magnus goes to pull the lever and squish the guys where Justin’s like “wait. wait. we were SPECIFICALLY told not to kill anyone” and they argue and decide that magnus should hit it once and then again to stop it, so they just pin the guys in place. they try to do this and griffin’s like “and the guys get squished anyway bc that’s not how any of this works!”

at one point Merle casts calm emotions to try and reason with Klaarg/G’nash. Klaarg resists but the guy he’s holding doesn’t and is very chill while he’s getting choked out and thrown around

also in the podcast they continue the theme of bugbears being like exploited and trafficked and stuff so the hammerheads supposedly “bought” him, glad they cut that shit out.

ch 5

in the podcast it isn’t like. super confirmed that hurley and sloane were dating. not queerbait but not explicit like it in the book.

griffin received some well-deserved criticism about this arc and the ‘bury your gays trope’ and making queer characters explicitly queer and he really took it to heart (he talks about it in a ttazz) so I’m glad to see the effects of that in the gn.

I feel like part of the gn series is like. fixing mistakes/problematic aspects. not in a bad way, not in like a shitty retcon way, but in a nice way that’s like ‘we recognize that we’ve made mistakes and hurt people unintentionally, and we want to show that we’re listening and trying to do better this time around’

that’s one of the things i really like about the mcelroys tbh is their willingness to say ‘we fucked up, how do we fix it’

sorry thats not pttm related ill shut up now

throughout the podcast, the adamant spanner is referred to alternately as “the adamant spanner” or “the arc-light spanner” or sometimes “the adamantium spanner”

p sure it started out as the arc-light spanner and then they forgot what it was called. fun stuff tho

as hurley keeps bring them stuff in boxes, griffin keeps pausing for dramatic effect when describing what’s in them and everyone else keeps cutting him off with other things

ya had to be there but example: “Its a really big…black…metal…” “DILDO” “DAMMIT” (the third time he anticipates it and says “and its dildos and pizza”)

the stone of farspeech call to sloane at the end of the chapter is new. i like it.

griffin mentions that although hurley does have a halfling size safety holster for merle, it’s tight on him bc of how stocky dwarves are, and there’s all sorts of jokes about fantasy spanx and it being very slimming on him while he simmers in rage.

glad they removed this one but the term “fantasy spanx” is hilarious

Hurley is the one who says the mice skeleton thing

in the podcast they choose which animals to look like, so taako like, chooses the mongoose.

the whole “fully realized creation” monologue is 100% accurate and FANTASTICALLY rendered.

hurley makes them based on their request which is nice of her

when describing the montage of the night before the race, he describes it as “This is like a summer vacation montage, not a rocky training montage. Like camp nowhere.”

ch. 6

the race. is. awesome. they kept almost everything from the podcast.

tiny thing: magnus uses railsplitter on the glass of the octopus tank, and the first time it just puts a crack in it, and he’s like ‘it’s glass???? shouldn’t it break???’ and griffin is like ‘it’s THICK glass it has to hold a giant octopus and a bunch of water’ but the second time he gets it.

merle actually gives magnus a buff (bull’s strength) before going into the battle, unusually doing a normal cleric thing.

Griffin: “His eyebrows grow three sizes and move half a foot up his face. He’s got a lot of face”

garyl actually gets got :/ he misses a dex save and is destroyed under the wheels of one of the battlewagons. he and justin assure the audience that as a phantom steed, he cannot die and can be summoned back at any time.

Klaarg/g’nash just. bounces off in the safety harness after the laser thing.

quality quotes

Justin: “Does it look dangerous? Does it look like it’s gonna hurt him”

Griffin: “last night I googled the most dangerous octopus and you know what came up?”

Justin: “It’s a very tense situation”

Griffin: “yeah its almost like I engineered it to be that way”

they spend way longer on hurley and sloane cute bonding moments in the gn and i APPROVE

what happens to the shark tank is. a bit gorier in the podcast. like a guy gets his legs sliced off gorier.

is taako allowed to say think outside the bun?????

they truly perfectly captured the wand of switcheroo moment.

in the podcast there’s some goofs bc when taako does it there’s still like a short amount of race left to do, so they’re all trying to beat each other now that sloane has definitely lost. its all pretty funny but def kind of defuses the tension a bit too much before sloanes big dramatic drive off the cliff.

ch 7

thank you mcelroys for having hurley explicitly say “girlfriend” in the gn. its not like avoided or hidden or anything in the podcast, it’s just less explicitly spelled out for you (for dramatic effect tbh).

goofy ass thing - taako calls himself “weasel-man” in the podcast instead of “man-goose” bc he forgot the highly specific mask he was wearing? or maybe he thought mongoose is a type of weasel?

(i looked it up theyre different species mongoose =/= weasel)

the arcane core getting sucked up into taako’s umbrastaff restoring all his spell slots. the gn is perfect, it’s just that the energy of the scene simply doesn’t translate. I just. I just need to describe it as it is described in the podcast.

basically taako goes to cast fireball again right? and he casts the spell and rolls the damage and griffin goes, “actually, keep rolling. I’ll tell you when you’re done”

and the tension just mounts. with every roll. until

Griffin: The sun basically comes out of the end of your Umbra Staff.

I copy-pasted the transcript bc it simply is such an iconic scene. skip if you want but it’s just *chef kiss*

(happens around 40 min into ep 27, pttm pt 10)

Griffin: Yeah, you point the Umbra Staff at the-- at this towering vine giant and fireball starts to come out of the tip of it but it’s like, really big?

Justin: Uh oh.

Griffin: And-- and it’s not-- it hasn’t like fully come out of it yet, it’s almost like a drop of water that hasn’t really fallen out of the faucet yet, so go ahead and keep rolling those D6s.

Justin: [Snorts] Okay… [rolls] 3 [rolls] 9 [rolls] 11 [rolls] 15 [rolls] 18 [rolls] will you tell me when to stop?

Griffin: Yup.

Justin: 22 [rolls] 23 [rolls] 29 [rolls] 33 [rolls] 37 [laughs] [rolls] 43 [rolls].

Clint: This is worrying me.

Justin: Yeah. 47 [rolls] 48.

Griffin: Okay, that’s good.

Justin: Okay.

Griffin: Okay, so it’s 48 on top of the 32?

Justin: Yeah.

Griffin: For a total of 160?

Justin: ...Yeah.

Griffin: The sun basically comes out of the end of your Umbra Staff.

an interesting thing to note. for longtime fans of the show. is that. magnus (who is definitely in the aoe of the spell) does not have to roll and takes no damage. he’s inside the vine monster but so is sloane and she definitely feels that fire. on a first watch this comes off as “this moment is cool enough that griffin decided not to hit magnus with the giant, giant fireball that just happened” and that could 100% be what happened

but if you’ll come into my little theory corner, where there are *SPOILERS FOR ALL OF TAZ BALANCE* i had a thought upon listening to this for the 17th time. taako cannot spellshape. griffin repeatedly tells him that since he switched from being an evocation wizard to being a transmutation wizard, he is no longer able to spellshape (meaning, shape an aoe spell so it only hits who you want it to hit, similar to what happened to magnus here).

So. taako is not spellshaping. that’s something only an evocation wizard is capable of. now who do we know who specializes in evocation and umbrellas? 0.0

just a thought. could be total crack. *END SPOILERS*

ch 8.

every beat of hurley and sloane’s final scene is perfect. no changes made or required.

one short joke right after the tree transformation that was skipped (fairly)

Justin: I notice Magnus reaching for Railsplitter and I say,

Taako: Don’t even think about it!

in the podcast, this is when griffin is still in the “roll a wisdom save against the grand relics to see if they thrall you” era,

taako goes up to get the sash and fails the save, and griffin has hurley and sloane speak into his mind and give him advantage (so they’re still ambiguously probably not dead in the podcast) and he still fails the save 

there’s a hilarious, terrifying moment where he lifts it up like he’s about to put it on and the other boys descend on him, merle making the save and magnus holding him back.

i like merle going up to the sash like its a frightened animal in the gn. it’s good.

“I don’t need your help, pal, to have sex with an onion!” is straight from the podcast. they just made it snappier for the gn. love to see it folks.

the gn makes clear at every point possible that they DID not die, and are cool dryad ladies now. originally none of that was intended - in the podcast, while they’re not really dead (see above), they’re certainly not up and walking about anymore.

in a ttazz griffin mentions that he wanted this first epic romance to have a tragic ending, so he intended for the turning into a tree to be the end of hurley and sloane’s story.

but then people told him about the ‘bury your gays’ trope and how it really disappointed taz’s predominantly queer listener base when hurloane seemingly died, and the madlad retconned it and worked hurley and sloane coming back as dryads into the finale. iconic. we love a man who can own his mistakes and work to better himself.

 ooh the scene w capt. capt. bane. the deciding not to drink the brandy.

in the gn its very cut and dry. bane asks abt resisting the thrall, and then proposes a toast, and they all say no.

i understand why it was changed 100%. in the podcast, after he proposes the toast to hurley, they all start making tree puns about it, not saying no but not saying yes, and he gets. antsy.

Griffin: He is uh, he is looking at the three of you sort of expectantly, and he looks kind of nervous as he’s holding this drink up.

Captain Bane: Uh, a toast- a toast then. Have you guys ever toasted before?

Merle: Marshmallows…

Magnus: I like toast!

Captain Bane: N-- [sighs] it’s bad luck if you don’t drink after the toast.

and that’s when they decide not to drink.

it just kind of gives more context then “they suddenly decide to not drink”

instead of cpt cpt bane losing it on them and getting physical, in the podcast taako casts charm person on him the second he gets too aggressive about them drinking the brandy.

but griffin says that it feels like taako’s charm person spell is being overpowered by another spell on cpt cpt bane.

and then the red robe goes all ham on the possession and makes cpt cpt bane drink all the brandy n shit

the red robe is like. way more cryptic in the podcast. ik you’re like “wait how is that possible???” but it is.

“are you afraid?...... are you afraid of the dark? ........you do not know how to be afraid”

some real theater kid shit. I like the gn version better, it makes more sense for the overall arc and flows better.

still talks about the hunger of all living things and the past relic users, but doesn’t mention the director.

instead, ends with “This is your first lesson.”

“lessons” never come up in any context ever again. i’m pretty sure a lot of this was griffin being vague and threatening so he can come up with stuff to back it up later, and that is so, so valid.

*minor spoilers*

in the podcast Griffin uses a gendered pronoun* for the red robe right out the gate, as does the director. this is the pronoun the red robe uses for the entire podcast. idk if griffin using the correct pronoun as the director is an assumption on her part of the red robe’s gender/pronouns, griffin just forgetting whether or not the director would know the red robe’s pronouns, or him trying to convey that the director does know the red robe’s pronouns, but just want to put that out there.

i also don’t know if knowing the red robe’s pronouns counts as spoilers. hence the warning

but in the gn when they talk to the director about it they all default to they/them - the spoiler here is that that isn’t the pronoun used by the red robe. you probably could’ve guessed that. hence the ‘minor’

*any pronoun can be gendered, but in this case I’m specifically talking about the difference b/w using they/them as a “neutral” option because you don’t know someone’s pronouns vs knowing the pronouns that someone prefers.

*end minor spoilers*

magnus does try to beat the shit out of an incorporeal being though and it’s exactly as entertaining.

ch 9

i just. this scene is maybe the most different. for the better.

first off, it takes place in the lunar interlude, and it takes place after the relic disposal chamber destruction bit

the director’s whole speech at the end is new, mostly to show off our cool new dryad ladies, v valid, and to drop some VERY big foreshadowing in that last panel!!

merle’s interaction with the director is much more sincere in the gn as well as being much more there.

but there’s just a LOT of lunar interlude stuff that gets skipped in the gn. I don’t think covering it all here would be helpful, just listen to lunar interlude II, it’s one of the best ones. here’s the transcript and the episode

stuff gets skipped for lunar interludes in general. I CANNOT recommend highly enough that even if you don’t listen to the rest of the podcast, you at least listen to the lunar interludes, bc it looks like that’s where they’re cutting out the most meat.

highlights from this lunar interlude (ep 28. Lunar Interlude II - Internal Affairs) include:

voidfish bonding time. so good. so good. a truly iconic, unmissable moment. if nothing else, listen to this.

they have to bring cpt cpt bane’s stuff down for the rites of rememberance (aka johann chucks his life story into the tank so it can get erased while the boys awkwardly try to eulogize about this guy who tried to kill them)

lucas is there and they meet him and hate him instantly. he leaves.

they say hi to the voidfish and it sings to them!

johann is like ‘it usually doesn’t sing like that’

and then magnus puts a hand on the glass and it puts a tentacle back...it’s so beautiful.

pringles has been thrown in the brig :/

the boys get a promotion! new quarters!

angus joins up with the BOB for the first time and the boys say hello to him again (with appropriate bullying)

quality gachapon (goshapon? gawshupon?) antics w leon. they get

defender’s dial - magnus

cloak of the manta ray - taako

physician’s pendant - merle (you will never hear about this magic item again)

first use of the official fantasy costco jingle. within the clutches of the costco...

the first appearance of the Flaming Raging Poisoning Sword of Doom. 

magnus gets the Shield of Heroic Memories and the Glutton’s fork (which is never used in the gn for good reason) but has to sell back his old shield signed in blood to afford them

merle gets the nitpicker, the phone-a-friend scrying bones, and a rusty can of cheerwine which he drinks, raising his max hp by 5 points.

taako gets the immovable rod, the plastic sheriff’s badge, and the anti-gravity sphere, and trades back the gustmaster 5000. this will be a minor plot hole later.

some of this bleeds into the beginning of crystal kingdom but no major spoilers.

plus, i wanted to make a list of things that are different so the boys don’t get sued by wizards of the coast (the dnd people). it’s mostly spell names, but also klaarg is actually in the lost mines of phandelver, the box campaign that the first arc started out as.

anyway here’s all the ones I noticed at least. formatted like: gn name = dnd name


UPDATE: made a more comprehensive post

g’nash = klaarg

haverdale = phandalin

shuffle jump = blink

dampen elements = absorb elements

blast of fire = scorching ray

magic rope = rope trick

sleepy-time = sleep

clair-vision = clairvoyance

diminish size = reduce

the spell is enlarge/reduce, and later on they use “enlarge” with no trouble - why is it “diminish size” here???

spirit steed = phantom steed

ethereal weapon = spiritual weapon

gout of flames = fireball

blessings of the cherubim = prayer of healing

concussive force = concussive blast(?)

Taako just magic missiles the boar in the podcast

they probably wanted to spice things up a bit since magic missile kind of has a Brand.

Concussive blast is a real 3rd level evocation spell that taako would’ve been able to cast, it just doesn’t actually happenin the podcast

levitate is still levitate

how is that one ok but “sleep” has to be “sleepy-time”??

zone of truth is still zone of truth, idk how they got away with that one

destroy undead is a toughie

it’s technically not a spell, it’s a use of channel divinity, at while at first it’s called turn undead, when you reach level 5 you get to automatically destroy any low-level undead (each time you level up you can destroy one level up of undead), so the ability is called destroy undead from that point onward, but you still do the turning bit too.

it doesn’t say the name, but on pg 123 taako casts “crown of madness” on the gerbil guy, which is a Horrifying spell

the crickets cast “dominate person” to control taako in case anyone’s interested. 


welp that oughta be enough bonus content for 18 years. we’ll see if I get a job this summer before writing the next one lol

#taz #taz b #taz balance #pttm #petals to the metal #the adventure zone #taz gn #taz graphic novel #original post

[toytulini]

i love listening to the mcelroy podcasts that seem to be like, more tangential to the big ones that everyone seems to focus on, and knowing jack shit about those like, no i dont know mbmbam or taz, im here to listen to sawbones and shmanners and go from there

#toy txt post #technically i think i listen to more smirl podcasts than mcelroy? between sawbones and then i occasionally dive into #still buffering or court appointed #i listened to the buffy episodes of whatever that was where travis and teresa reviewed like the first seasons kf some tv shows? i feel like #i have mbmbam on my list but the last time i tried to listen to it i just couldnt. #i think i watched some of the ones on youtube? i enjoyed those i think cos i could also like. see who was talking #i havent actually listened to griffin yet. i might give wonderful! a shot? maybe. im still catching up on shmanners #i know everyone loves those podcasts that are like. stories like taz and other dnd podcasts and those archives or whatever and like #listen. all of you are valid. but that is not what im here for. maybe in 3 yrs ill be ready for story podcasts who knows #but rn i just want...information. #listening to why are dads is fun but even that takes some effort. im definitely more excited about the ones about movies i at least know of #or have seen like i LOVE the batman returns ep. #anyway all this to say i started listening to the beatrix potter episode of shmanners and travis mcelroy was assigned cottagecore by #his wife teresa and it was SO funny to me and also. mood. me too buddy its okay i feel the same way everytime i put on a sweater lmao #also: i desperately want a sawbones crossover or something with this podcast will kill you. something. an interaction on twitter #im desperate. i want these shows to know Of Each Other. i want sydnee to know about tpwky and do a crossover ep and idk #have teylor help out with the quarantini planning. also im all caught up on tpwky and im sad about it. #i really enjoyed listening to the tpwky and then the sawbones for all the eps where they both covered that topic. if u like sawbones give #tpwky a try its like similar but without justin there being grossed out by parasites and instead its disease ecologists being like #'that is so COOL! I mean it AWFUL for the person infected with the parasite but that life cycle is so FASCINATING' I just feel like #sydnee would get along with the erins okay. and i want to hear them do an episode on a parasite together. also more crossovers w idop

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

have 8 million things to do very soon and I can tell that I'm riiiiiight on the edge of a depression spiral (which is itself at least partly caused by being overwhelmed, dealing with it poorly and becoming more overwhelmed, and hating myself for dealing with it poorly) which is SUPER GREAT TIMING. so obviously I'm making a list, because sometimes that helps.

things I absolutely must do this weekend:

finish the hair repaint on my current Etsy order so I can mail it Monday or earlier

do anything I might need to do for the other outstanding order that the customer also wants in time for Christmas somehow, so that when the parts arrive on MONDAY I can put the thing together and mail it almost immediately (damn well better show up on Monday, which is itself irritating because the site said free 2-day shipping but nobody really means that when they ship to Alaska)

wrap and prepare any gifts I want to mail out because I should also send those no later than Monday, and in fact earlier would have been better, but for some reason every year I'm like "eh, it's fine, there's time" right up until there suddenly isn't

do...whatever I still need to do with Tumblr. import to Wordpress, back up the whole thing to my computer with one of several methods I've reblogged, try to find specific posts I want to save (original posts and anything tagged "fic ideas" will be tedious but at least easy to find; no idea about other stuff)

semi-related: add something to my Dreamwidth profile so it's not...blank

haul some more stuff to Value Village and other donation sites, because I’m about to pick up a bunch of shit that will take up too much space in my car (somewhat related: books, music, movies, and toys are 40% off today and tomorrow, which is unusual for them)

set up the damn tree, like even if we don't put ornaments on it I'd at least like to have the tree up (requires digging it out of the garage, which is a disaster and very much not my disaster)

do something with my dad and sister for my birthday (but first, figure out what and when, and like...I don’t have the mental energy for that)

try to get more birthday donations for SPLC (I went with Trevor Project last year and got several donations without doing much to promote it, so I don't know if this one's getting a lot less because it seems more political, or algorithms are hiding this and a lot of my other posts, or a lot of people have deliberately snoozed me because of my political posts, or...something else, idk)

transfer stuff into my new planner, because my current one is close enough to the end that it's not very useful anymore

other things that don't necessarily have to happen this weekend but should happen in the really near future, both because they need to get done and because they're contributing to my overall mental load that means everything is overwhelming:

figure out how to send in the claim for my car accident last year to my life-insurance-and-a-few-other-things company, because it's worth $50 (should probably also see if I can get something similar for the earthquake, because I think it did fuck up my neck a little more, and $50 is $50 when I'm paying them that much each month)

list other things on Etsy...now that it's too late to take advantage of holiday sales 😖

sign up for actual training with Hazy

also, bug the rescue group again about recent vet info to figure out whether she has any pre-existing conditions and when she needs a checkup (maybe soon, because she seems to scratch herself a LOT and sometimes she gets kind of wheezy)

also also, try to figure out ways to work on her separation anxiety and general hyperness, which I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO because it's all a gradual process that I don't really have time for, and I have yet to find a smart/puzzle toy or a good chew toy that really seems to occupy her attention so I guess I still need to try more, and apparently mental stimulation through training can be good for anxiety and hyperactivity both so I should really be working on extremely basic commands on my own probably??

shit that's right I also need to figure out if I want to get her on VCA Care Club and do research for pet insurance that might be better than the one we had for Scully

get myself back into a better Planet Fitness habit, because I didn't go at all this week and I've definitely dropped off in the last few weeks, which is partly because I've been busy with other things INCLUDING THE GIANT EARTHQUAKE but partly because the main reason I was good about it before was that I literally tricked myself into wanting to work out so I could listen to The Adventure Zone, and once I caught up on that, nothing else I've tried (MBMBAM, occasional TAZ updates, Night Vale) has quite filled the gap of "hilarious goofs + suspenseful long-form narrative" that makes me actually want to work out, so...either I need to figure out how make myself go without that motivation (mixed success so far or I wouldn't be talking about it or feeling guilty about it) or find another podcast I want to binge. and try to figure out if there's any point to asking them to stop playing so many news channels (especially Fox two or three times and fucking OAN once) at the TV bank for the cardio machines, because that is...honestly another thing that makes me not want to go

related: somehow find a way to make myself do my core exercises regularly, because slacking on those and slacking on Planet Fitness is probably part of the reason my headaches and neck and general constant exhaustion have maybe been worse lately, AND ALSO start regularly doing the exercises that are supposed to help with my newish hand/wrist pain, all of which sucks because a big ol' theme here is me having a hard time forming un-fun new long-term habits (exercise, going to bed earlier) that are crucial for improving basically every part of my life and not worsening the health problems i already have

TYPE UP MY DAMN NOTEBOOKS and organize everything so I actually know how much I have in my current WIPs; now that my computer is back there's no excuse for not doing this

also like...write. in general. now that I have a Christmas-related idea I'd kinda like to do and I also want to do a Yuletide treat, and maybe Avengers: Endgame isn't really a deadline for lots of other fics but also it kind of is

actually organize my backups so they're not a disaster and it's not a crisis next time I have computer problems (plus like, I'm going to need everything backed up when I upgrade)

research and buy a CPU, motherboard, SSD, and maybe new PSU, ideally without spending a horrendous amount of money

make more progress in SWTOR because there's no guarantee how long it's going to be around and tbh it's ridiculous I haven't finished all the class storylines despite having been a subscriber for like. SEVEN YEARS

unfuck my iTunes library YET AGAIN

find a therapist, because I've probably been needing one for a while but a huge theme in all of this is being overwhelmed because I have too much to do and don't know how to deal with it, and then getting into guilt and self-loathing because I dealt with it badly and it got worse, and I'm increasingly sure it's my not-really-diagnosed-or-treated ADHD starting this old, old cycle to begin with and that means it's even more important to find a therapist who will actually. do stuff. with the ADHD. instead of just kinda...dropping it.

slight problem though, adding yet another regular appointment means less time for...everything else and that doesn't exactly help with being overwhelmed, so it's like...a disincentive to pursue it

the only thing I really want to do:

sleep for about a year

#bad adult #brains behaving badly #for future reference

[beholdthemem]

I find it deeply unfair that we don’t get to see what Avocato and Lil Cato are like outside of a high pressure situation, but when I try and picture them alive and at relative peace I always think of that MBMBAM video with Clint.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alAbyXGLLEA

Gary(In the midst of another Kiss Her Soul With Your Eyelashes conversation): So Avocato, what kind of music do you like to play when you’re gettin’ BIZZ-AY?

Lil Cato(Falling out of his chair): MY HEADPHONES ARE ON!

Avocato(Ignoring his son screeching in the background): Well, Gary-

Lil Cato(Frantically scrabbling in search of headphones): OR THEY WOULD BE IF I COULD FUCKING FIND THEM-

Avocato(Continuing despite interruptions): Well, it kinda depends on what you’re-

Lil Cato(In increasing desperation): WHERE ARE THEY THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!

Avocato(Like nothing is happening): What you wanna accomplish. If you’re trying to extend the experience-

Gary(Nodding seriously as Little Cato screams): Uh huh?

Quinn(Having arrived in time for the tail end of the conversation): Oh, Lord.

Lil Cato: *Incomprehensible yelling*

Avocato(Listing off musicians): Barry White’s not bad, actually-

Gary(Still nodding): Of course, of course.

Lil Cato: WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!

Gary(Fingers steepled): Now what if you’re actually having sex with Barry White?

Avocato: Nah, you don’t actually do it WITH Barry White-

Lil Cato(Falling to the floor): He’s DEAD! Like ME!

Avocato(Trying not to laugh): You let him play in the background. Cuz that would be a little creepy.

Quinn(Pinching the bridge of her nose): And this isn’t?

Lil Cato(Still on the floor): RIGHT?! 

Avocato: There’s a band called Climax... also a climax blues band-

Lil Cato(Face in his hands): Yeah, and there’s also a band called Jefferson Airplane and I WISH THEY WOULD HIT ME RIGHT NOW AND KILL ME IN THEIR PROPELLERS. I WANNA DIE. 

Quinn: Okay at this point this is both cruel and unusual, you two need to talk about something else. Anything else. Please tell me you’re done.

Lil Cato(Staring at her like a drowning man spotting shore): THANK YOU.

Gary: Absolutely! Right. Right, right, right, right, right. Enough of this! Now we move on.

[Quinn exits, rolling her eyes. Gary, Avocato, and Lil Cato wait in silence until her footsteps fade]

Gary(Swiveling back to face Avocato): So do you light any candles, or-

Lil Cato: JESUS FUCK.

Avocato(Dryly): Language.

Lil Cato(Ignoring him and staring at the ceiling): Is this hell? Is this what it’s like to be in hell? Listening to your own father talking about- about what- Oh God...

Avocato(As Gary tries and fails not to laugh): Yes, son. It is.

Lil Cato(Finding his headphones at last): I’m LEAVING. 

Avocato(Turning back to Gary, also trying not to laugh): But no, I don’t play music.

Lil Cato(Stalking out the door): You’ve never done it! It’s never happened! Never!

Avocato(Calling after him in mild indignation): Well, obviously I have at least once!

Lil Cato(Out the door): NEVER!

Avocato: Clearly I had to! Where would you have come from?

Lil Cato(From down the hall): A star left a crystal under a weird looking leaf and I appeared! I’M A GIFT!

#final space

[onyx-void]

1-200 >:) Skip any you don't want to do though, ofc

Okay~! Sorry this took a while, but. well. 200 questions. Under the cut, ofc.

1. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?

In bed :)

2. What type of music are you into?

I don't listen to a lot of music, but I do like most kinds! Especially instrumentals, classical, and, like, japanese soft background music

3. What was the best vacation you ever took and why?

Hmm, probably the trip to Cancun? I haven't been on a vacation in forever tbh.

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why?

Good Question. Somewhere with mountains? I just. really love mountains.

5, .What are your hobbies, and how did you get into them?

Wax seals, mainly? and I just wanted something to do with my hands, and I like the... romanticism? of Victorian love letters. I wanted to send one of my own.

6. What was your favorite age growing up?

Gah, that's a hard one. Probably when I was real young, before school :p

7. Was the last thing you read?

I read a *lot* of fanfic daily

8. Would you say you’re more of an extrovert or an introvert?

Definitely an introvert. No doubt about it

9. What’s your favorite ice cream topping?

peanut butter, or bananas, in chocolate ice cream. delicious

10. What was the last TV show you binge-watched?

I caught up to Money Heist (which just had it's series finale) and binged a new zombie show called Day of the Dead, which is. eh?

11. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music?

I do like podcasts but i don't listen to them. I used to listen to TAZ and MBMBAM with my sibling, and we went to a few liveshows together!

12. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why or why not?

I like christmas, cause it gets cold out around that time of year, and that's always a treat here in Texas.

13. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I feel like "pizza" is the correct choice here, cause of how many ways you can have it, but honestly? steak.

14. Do you like going to the movies or prefer watching at home?

Movie theaters are a nice experience with a friend, watching at home is more convenient tho.

15. What’s your favorite sleeping position?

I go back and forth on my sides alot

16. What’s your go-to guilty pleasure?

Hrmm... that's hard to say. Probably sweets, doesn't really matter what kind.

17. In the summer, would you rather go to the beach or go camping?

Camping if it's a cabin, beach if it's a nice beach and not like the closest one to me.

18. What’s your favorite quote from a TV show/movie/book?

"Uniqueness that no one will ever understand. Universality that no one ever tries to understand. Because he's so ordinary in everyone's eyes, no one will ever try to really understand him. Someone who will never be hated by others, but will also never attract anyone. He appears to be the crystallization of blissful days." I really like the "crystallization of blissful days" imagery

19. How old were you when you had your first celebrity crush, and who was it?

God, idk, maybe Jennifer Lawrence as Katness Everdeen?

20. What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?

Attention :p Asks, messages, questions, anything.

21. Do you have any pet peeves?

When people ask for things but don't phrase it as a question.

22. Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

Dinner

23. What song always gets you out on the dance floor?

lol no

24. When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not?

When I was really young I didn't

25. What activity instantly calms you?

Looking at mountain views, going on a walk, or listening to chill music

26. Ideally, how would you spend your birthday?

With friends, and loved ones

27. What do you do on your commute to/from work?

drive? i don't get this question

28. Do you have a favorite type of exercise?

Not really. Hiking?

29. What’s your favorite season and why?

Winter, cause it gets cold, but I don't appreciate this whole son's-gone-by-4 thing

30. What’s the best joke you’ve ever heard?

Beats me

31. What’s the phone app you use most?

Firefox? or discord if that doesn't count

32. Would you rather cook or order in?

order in tbh. I do like cooking if i have all the ingredients and Actually Know what I want to make

33. Have your ever disliked something and then changed your mind?

nothing that comes to mind?

34. What’s your favorite board game?

I used to play Life alot, tho Monopoly's also good

35. How do you take your coffee?

No, thank you

36 What’s your most prized possession and why?

I dunno if i'd call it "prized" but i do have a prop replica sword from my favorite anime that i love

37. Is there any product that you couldn’t live without?

nothing specific?

38. Do you sleep with a top sheet? Why or why not?

...okay tbh, i sleep with a top sheet as my bottom sheet. I really need to make my bed.

39. If you could have any exotic animal as a pet, which would it be?

Capybara!

40. What would be the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?

Buy a house! Life's dream right there

41. What’s your favorite thing about your current job?

I like building things, tho I don't have any jobs atm

42. What annoys you most?

My family, sometimes

43. What’s the career highlight you’re most proud of?

shrug

44. Do you think you’ll stay in your current gig awhile? Why or why not?

I do love being a carpenter, so im gonna try and stick with the title for a while, even if i switch employers

45. What type of role do you want to take on after this one?

Specifically a custom home builder

46. Are you more of a “work to live” or a “live to work” type of person?

Work to live, definitely. You should make it enjoyable, but work isn't life.

47. Does your job make you feel happy and fulfilled? Why or why not?

More than other jobs would

48. How would your 10-year-old self react to what you do now?

Probably wouldn't be Too surprised, but they might be surprised at the route I took to get here

49. What do you remember most about your first job?

Taking in carts

50. How old were you when you started working?

18? 19?

51. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

Courtesy Clerk at Kroger. Basically a bag boy

52. What originally got you interested in your current field of work?

I wanted to be able to take care of my house on my own, when I get one

53. Have you ever had a side hustle or considered having one?

I've thought about it for a few hobbies, but never did anything

54. What’s your favorite part of the workday?

Going home

55. What’s the best career decision you’ve ever made?

There are Too Many job related questions and im gonna delete any more

81. How much time do you spend with your family?

Just about all day every day since i live with most of them

82. Who do you most like spending time with and why?

Friends, though I don't reach out to people as often as I should

83. Were you close with your family growing up?

Yes, especially my sibling

84. How do you define your family now?

Bah

85. What traits are most important to you in your family members?

What does this even mean

86. Who are you the closest to and why?

Still my sibling, probably

87. Do you want a family of your own?

An SO? yes. Kids? not really

88. What’s your favorite family tradition?

we don't really have family traditions

89. If you could change your relationship with a family member, would you? If so, with whom?

Yeah, probably. Mostly with my dad

90. What was it like growing up as the youngest/oldest/middle/only child?

I was the youngest, and was -and still am tbh- babied alot, which was and is annoying

121. What’s a relationship deal breaker for you?

idk, it'd need to be pretty big. I'm a big proponent of constant, clear communication, so maybe if we couldn't get that between us?

122. If you had only one sense (hearing, touch, sight, etc.), which would you want?

Probably sight, but I think it'd be lonely if you couldn't feel another person against you

123. What is your definition of success?

Being happy and content with yourself and where you're at in life

127. Who do you admire most in the world?

I don't know if "admire" is the right word, but I do have this one friend that, well, admiration is definitely part of it.

128. Would you rather make more money doing a job you hate or less doing one you love?

Less doing something I love

129. Which of your personality traits are you most proud of?

I'm very calm and can take things as they come. Passive might be a word for it, but not exactly. I'm great at bouncing back from things and moving on

130. What’s the first thing you look for in a partner and/or friend?

They have to be nice, good people

133. How can someone earn your trust?

Just be a trustworthy person?

134. How can someone lose your trust?

Lie to me, go behind my back, tell other people secrets or things I say in confidence

135. Would you rather someone be honest and hurt your feelings or lie to protect them?

Honest, definitely. I can take it :p

136. If you could snap your fingers and instantly make the world better, what would you do?

Clean up pollution, get rid of nuclear weapons, set up nuclear power plants (assuming i can't just. snap clean energy out of nowhere), try and ensure people's freedom and security. idk, there's a lot to consider with that kinda power

137. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?

Not really, but I don't mind it or anything

138. Have you ever lost a friend? If so, what happened?

Yes, he kicked me out of our apartment after he cheated on his girlfriend with a mutual friend, and told me I had to stop being friends with them, which I didn't want to.

139. If you could only teach one thing to your (future) child, what would it be?

Love yourself.

141. Do you believe in second chances?

Yes, if they deserve it

142. Where do you get your news?

Online?

143. What is your biggest irrational fear?

Spiders and bugs

144. Are you active on social media, or do you prefer to be more private?

Mainly on tumblr, and kinda on discord

144. Are you an organ donor, and how did you come to that decision?

Yes, it just seemed like the obvious choice to make when I had to make it. Still does

145. Do you believe you should do one thing a day that scares you?

Not if you're not ready for it.

146. What, if anything, do you think happens after death?

I don't know. I want to believe the soul exists, though who knows what happens to it after death. I do like the Egg Theory

147. What line should someone never cross with you?

Betray me. sounds dramatic, but. shrug

148. How do you define beauty?

I like to see the beauty in the every day. I'm not sure it can be defined.

149. Do you believe in life on other planets?

Somewhere out there, sure

150. How do you interact with someone who disagrees with you?

try to explain my perspective, or agree to disagree, depending on what the argument is about.

151. If you could do anything, besides what you’re doing now, what would you do?

I'd wanna be with someone.

152. What do you regret not doing in the last year?

Moving out.

153. What’s on your bucket list?

A lot of things, but nothing written down.

154. If you had unlimited money to start your own business, what would it be?

Custom home building, I guess. Couldn't just start that with money alone, though. I need the skills too

155. If you found out today was your last day on Earth, what would you do?

Talk to everyone I can

156. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

The Appalachian mountains.

157. A genie gives you three wishes—what are they?

The power so everything I do is seen as normal by everyone else. and that's really all I need. I could pretty much do whatever I wanted with that. I'll save the other two for later ;P

158. If you had the opportunity to be immortal, would you take it?

Yes. Absolutely. Well, slightly dependent on the type of immortality, but otherwise yes.

157. If you could time travel, when and where would you go?

Assuming language barrier wasn't a thing, I'd wanna meet Jesus and commission a table from him.

158. Do you think you’ll likely accomplish all your dreams?

I sure hope so.

159. If you could magically become famous, would you want to?

On one hand, fortune comes with fame, on the other hand, that sounds really tiring.

160. If you could relive one moment in your life, which would it be?

Not something for my main blog lmao ;P

161. If you see a puddle on the ground, do you walk around it or over it?

Why is splashing in it not an option???

162. If you could have a super power, what would it be?

As mentioned earlier, the power of normality

163. If you could go back to anytime in history, where would you go?

I'd have it better than most as a straight white guy, but still no.

164. If you came back in your next life as an animal, what animal would you be?

Maybe a dog?

165. If you got to name a new country, how would you decide what to call it?

I am Terrible at naming things. Please don't ask this of me

167. Do you hit the snooze button or wake up immediately?

If I set an alarm, wake up immediately. Doesn't mean I'll be Getting up immediately tho

168. What’s the first thing you do in the morning?

Check my phone :(

169. What’s the last thing you do at night?

Get off my phone :(

170. Do you believe in any conspiracy theories (no judgement)?

No but I do love the "No Real Trees on Earth" theory

171. Do you think iced coffee should only be consumed in the summer or all year round?

It's a drink. Drink it whenever.

172. Would you rather be covered in fur or covered in scales?

Hmm. probably fur.

173. What’s your idea of a perfect date (yes, of the calendar year)?

Oh. Mid November

174. What’s the most unusual place you’ve fallen asleep?

Storage locker room floor in my highschool

175. At a party, where can someone find you?

They can't. or with the closest dog

176. Do you wash your legs in the shower?

yes?

177. Who would play you in the movie of your life?

If there is a god, young Keanu Reeves

178. When making a PB&J sandwich, do you put on the peanut butter or jelly first?

what do you mean. PB on one slice, J on the other

179. Do you have any allergies?

Cats :(((

180. Do you trust your own memory? Why or why not?

I have a Terrible memory when it matters

181. Which fictional character do you relate to most?

Mikiya Kokutou, see previous "crystalization of blissful days" quote

182. What, if anything, would make you walk out in the middle of a movie?

As a kid we once accidentally went to see a penguin documentary in theaters thinking it was Happy Feet

183. When was the last time you cried and why?

Probably the other day? idk i cry alot, and easily

184. What’s your most controversial opinion about something mundane?

no clue

185. Do you “stan” any celebrities?

LOL no

186. What’s your go-to midnight snack?

Whatever's easy. I've been eating popcorn alot these last few days

187. What was your all-time favorite Halloween costume?

The one I was most proud of was a homemade roadkill costume, but I did get Second Place as Master Chief in Junior Highschool

188. What’s the weirdest thing you do when you’re alone?

I pop like. every joint in my body. even my jaw

195. What was the first thing you wanted to be when you grew up?

a waiter, but pronounced "radar"

196. If you could own a mythical creature (unicorn, phoenix, etc.), which one would you pick?

Dragon or phoenix

197. What’s your least favorite place in the world?

idk. at the DMV or hospital?

198. Would you rather have your dishes or clothes be magically clean?

Clothes, definitely

200. If you could change anything about yourself, would you? If so, what and why?

Yes absolutely. I want to be fit(ter). and wings, i want angel wings. Bonus points if I can fly with them

#This was nice just to type out #thanks #I love gettings asks #they make my day #ask me more questions i'll tell you no lies #ask me anything #literally anything you can think of #i like a challenge ;P #i'll At Least answer privately if it's Really bad lol

[mmakehappy]

2017

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before? i’ll try to do this chronologically again: so at the beginning of january one of my best friends left to study abroad in rome which was sad and i missed her a lot. i saw rory scovel do stand up. i took an animation class which was fun for the first few weeks until i failed it lmao. actually my classes from jan to march did not go so well tbh but whatever i made it through. my sister came to visit me the weekend before st paddys day which was super fun and then we saw panic which was soooooooo fuckin rad i love them still wow! i went home for spring break and visited a local winery w my dad which was a lot of fun and then a week later uhhh me and @carrot-gallery became gfs!!! and my whole frickin life changed bc i love her so much wow!! but then a week after that i turned 22 and spent my birthday alone! which i tried to pretend didnt make me sad but by the end of the day i was very sad about it and thats when my sweet gf called me to sing happy birthday and i sobbed on my couch and ill never forget that!!! so okay then spring quarter classes started and i was a part of depaul’s visiting artist series which was super cool... i met a lot of new awesome people (both at depaul and the industry ppl that were our guests!) and made some great friends in that class! i was a house manager and camera op which was super fun. i went to a screening of my fave professor’s short film which was also rad. i saw a ghost story at the chicago critics film festival, which was amazing. i saw idiocracy in 35mm and then mike judge did a q&a! the very next day i was house manager for depaul’s student film festival at the music box! i saw chris gethard do a live recording of beautiful/anonymous and then also do some standup, that was awesome. i saw day wave live!!! amazing! i spent an entire dystopian day dealing with megabus. that was hell! i sat at an outdoor amphitheater and even tho i couldnt really see him i got to listen to seu jorge sing david bowie covers and life was magical for a few hours. my sisters came up to visit me and we saw aladdin the musical and had our minds blown, it was soooo fun! i went to the chicago pride parade for the very first time but i went by myself and at one point i was sitting on the curb just crying! not a high point but still memorable. i won a ticket to an advanced screening of the big sick where kumail & emily were there to do a q&a after the movie.... had a fuckin blast OBVIOUSLY and then saw the movie 9 other times in various theatres. i also made it into a commercial FOR the movie i just loved it that much lmao! i moved into a new (and my current) apartment! lorde released melodrama and fucking murdered me in my own home. otherwise i had a pretty uneventful but anxiety filled summer bc of financial aid stuff so that really sucked. i saw good time w taylor and the safdie brothers were there to do a q&a and they were such interesting guys i could listen to them talk for hours honestly. my mom and sisters came up to visit me and we took our mom to her very first cubs game which was sooo so much fun and they won that day too!! it was awesome and we had a great time :) watched the eclipse (or tried to anyway!!) fall quarter classes started and i honestly kicked ass at them, i got on the deans list (i almost typed honor roll lmao i mean its basically the same) i hung out with ari again which was cool!! we went to the aquarium! me and taylor saw beach fossils which was honestly the most buckwild concert ive ever been to i think, it was good shit. i got jobs at AMC (which i have since quit lmao) and starbucks and left my job at the paint place which was bittersweet! me and taylor saw mbmbam live!!! so fun!! and we watched trolls that night and goofed on it so hard!! i went home for thanksgiving and found out my big sister is gonna have a baby this year!! :D i saw mike birbiglia do stand up! which was soooo incredible of course (except i felt bad bc my mom was supposed to come w me but she couldnt go! so i brought taylor lol) UMMMMM MY DAM GIRLFRIEND CAME TO CHICAGO TO VISIT ME AND STAYED FOR A WHOLE DANG WEEK AND IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER SHE MAKES ME SO HAPPY WE HAD SO MUCH FUN AND I MISS HAVING HER RIGHT NEXT TO ME EVERY SINGLE GOSH DANG DAY <3 ;_____; and that was my year!!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? last year i said id like to read at least one book each month and watch at least 100 movies - i did neither! im keeping the movie resolution though bc cmon 100 movies should be EASY for a film major wtf am i doing!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? no but it will happen in 2018! 

4. Did anyone close to you die? not a person but we had to put down my sweet doggo, flash :(

5. What countries did you visit? still none :/

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017? More confidence that I actually deserve to be in college and that I can do this shit and I’m awesome <– that was my answer from last year and the year before but yeah. same. also money.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? ummm march 25 when me and gf became gfs and also dec 17 when she came to visit :)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? putting myself out there by doing VAS/Premiere, getting on the deans list for the first time since freshman year and then also getting a new job

9. What was your biggest failure? this summer i didnt do shit besides wallow and cry and it sucked!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nope

11. What was the best thing you bought? every movie ticket and the bras i bought for natalie ;-)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? natalie’s because she’s amazing and works so hard!!!! and she can always cheer me up and im so in love w her

13. Whose behavior made you appalled? mine bc i could never just get my shit together and do my homework when i was supposed to :) < thats from last year but lmfao same!

14. Where did most of your money go? RENT, movie/event tix, food, in that order

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? THE BIG SICK, the new season of sv, p much all of the events that i listed in the first question lol

16. What song will always remind you of 2017? umm honestly probably any song from melodrama

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? I’m a. happier, b. probably thinner? or maybe the same idk, and c. definitely DEFINITELY poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? read and write and watch movies and write and read about movies

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Spending money and also being bitter about everything for no reason <– last year and the year before that AGAIN and also same!

20. How did you spend Christmas? working at AMC which i hated every second of :)

21. Did you fall in love in 2016? yes with my amazing girlfriend @carrot-gallery

22. What was your favorite TV program? silicon valley, AMERICAN VANDAL, the good place, great british bake off

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? nah just politicians who like. actively want me to die lol

24. What was the best book you read? bitch,

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? mitski like why the fuck did i sleep on her..... tbh thats about it bc i still listen to the same music i did 10 years ago

26. What did you want and get? I wanted a steadier/better paying job and i have it!

27. What did you want and not get? idk i wanted to be financially stable on my own and i still dont have that

28. What was your favorite film of this year? ugh i hate this question! ok in no order: THE BIG SICK, GOOD TIME, A GHOST STORY, GET OUT, THE FLORIDA PROJECT

29. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying? uhhh having my sweet girlfriend by my side each and every day 

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017? sometimes chic, always sweaty

31. What kept you sane? Sydney, my best friend in the entire world. (This was my answer from last year and the year before that and the year before that AND THE YEAR BEFORE THAT but it still holds true) also everyone in the sv discord chat still AND natalie of course of course

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? kumail nanjiani duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, taika waititi, and martin starr always and probably more but i legit cant think of anyone rn lol

33. What political issue stirred you the most? yikes all of it. all of the issues (this was from last year but same lmao)

34. Who did you miss? i miss my dogs and my family and my girlfriend 35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017. You can set goals for yourself and talk about it all you want but it’s nothing until you actually start working towards it and doing something about it. <– answer from last year and the year before that and the year before that, still true!! imma keep that. also idk just like, there are good days and super bad days and ive survived all of them so its just a reminder to myself that ill be okay.

36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. These days will all seem better in time Waiting on that hindsight

#2017 #personal #sorry that my answer to the first question is SO LONG but i did a lot this year! #and its fun to recap anyway #also this has been sitting in my drafts for a week lol so here ya go

[kuchipatchi69]

aesthetic themed asks 😎 answer them all 😎

god ham ok

flower crown: when did you last sing to yourself?Today probably? I listen to music when I walk around campus so i kind of sing to myself

fairy lights: if a crystal ball could tell you the truth about anything, what would you want to know?If I will be happy in the future lol

daisies: what is the greatest accomplishment of your life?Actually making it to college

1975: what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?Everytime I go home and see my dogs lmao, i love them so much

matte: if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?I would do whatever I want tbh, no reason to not have a good time

black nail polish: do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things?uh!god i have no idea, im honestly winging it

pantone: describe a person close to your life in detail.Okay so we’ll do the Big Meme @chesapeakeripperWe’ve been friends for like, over 5 years and though we had a few falling outs, theyre literally my best friend lmao. Short, Salty, yet chill, and always a good time to hangout with. One of the only people I can spend more than a week with probably. Too edgy for their own good but has a compatible aesthetic and music taste. Edgy but loves folk music? A little shady, an asshole, yells at me for dabbing too much but then proceeds to dab or get mad when i dont take advantage of the good time to do it. ALSO the only person who i feel on the same level with rhythm games in general lmao

moodboard: do you feel you had a happy childhood?Oh yeah. My parents were good and I’ve realized how nice ive had it. We aren’t rich or anything but my parents always made sure we were comfortable.

stars: when did you last cry in front of another person?Oh god i dont even know. OH NVM YEAH, I cried in front of my vocal teacher and I feel so much closer to her honestly.

plants: pick a person to stargaze with you and explain why you picked them.Ok not to be gay but ham probably lol I mean? I would feel at peace probably, because I can talk to him about anything and I wouldnt have to feel nervous or anything.

converse: would you ever have a deep conversation with a stranger and open up to them?Oh yeah, I’m an open book and Most new friends reach out to me when im having a rough time so

lace: when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?Either Ham or Cain? Idk it wasnt anything too deep lmaoW Cain we just shit talk or talk about mbmbam? or pkmn cards lets be real. Cain is my bff and ham is a good guy

handwriting: if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom?FUCK IDK ID REALLY HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THISI’d probably tell my dad thank you and how much he meant to me

cactus: what is your opinion on brown eyes?Great, I love them

sunrise: pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally.“What” - anyone ever, I connect with it because I never know whats going on ever

oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?“I’m out here”

overalls: what would you do with one billion dollars?buy a lot of anime figures and also clothes and pokemon cards

combat boots: are you a very forgiving person? do you like being this way?IT DEPENDS! I can forgive people if I can see how genuine their apology is but if its something really shitty, then probably not lol

winged eyeliner: write a hundred word letter to your twelve year old self.Are you seriousDear newly gay Sydney (I didn't start going by Sid until highschool so),I’m glad you cut your hair off, and I actually want to cut it again. I know you cut it because you were experimenting with gender stuff, which I’m also glad you did. You can stop being so edgy and a weeb? Also stop being so into yaoi it’s Really cringey to look back on (esp bc you wrote mpreg and I’m still not proud of it S M H). I don't really remember Middle School and I’m glad because you were in your scene phase and you tried way too hard, eventually became a compulsive liar and just manipulative overall.I’m a lot gayer and more comfortable now than you are, so try not to be so fake-depressed because the real thing will hit you in a few years and yeah, you’ll want to die but its fine. Everything’s okay. This is supposed to be 200 words but i dont give a shit so heres this.Your more gay, and less uptight self, Sid

pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel?Oh god, punk, but tired

tattoos: how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? explain.I love tattoos and want to be covered in them, and I love piercings and want love them

piercings: do you wear a lot of makeup? why/why not?idk why this is under piercings but okI do! but I also dont! I dont wear makeup 85% of the time but I have so much makeup and I love to put it on :’)

bands: talk about a song/band/lyric that has affected your life in some way.Y’all.... Fall out boy has literally been there for me through all my years and have been the band I go back and listen to because I didnt share their music with anyone, and It makes me feel like I can go back to before life was so hard

messy bun: the world is listening. pick one sentence you would tell them.“Who gives a shit, my dude” 

cry baby: list the concerts you have been to and talk about how they make you feel.Jonas brothers (lmao)- I dont talk to the people I went with, my first concert, I didnt even plan to go lolFall Out Boy- Literally one of the best nights of my life and I got to spend it with my cousin and I’m so gladTwenty One Pilots- Though i dont really like them anymore, I became better friends with Maizie, who has literally had my heart for so long and I love her so much. I love both her and Jacob and wish I kept up better contact with them

grunge: who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from and what would you want it to say????????????? idk 

space: do you have a desk/workspace and how is it organised/not organised?My desk has: a makeup mirror, some cake, a lamp, pill bottles and anime figures. Its unorganized bc I dont work there

white bed sheets: what is your night time routine?Lay down, turn on MBMBAM, and then play all of the puzzle games I have until I’m out of lives before going to sleep l m a o

old books: what’s one thing you don’t want your parents to know?I went to some guys house one time and he tried to get me to do coke (I didnt do it dont worry)

beaches: if you had to dye your hair how would you dye/style it and why?MY HAIR IS BRIGHT YELLOW RN I WANT IT TO BE CURLY THO

eyes: pick five people to go on an excursion with you. who would you pick and where would you go/what would you do?Cain, Ally, Maizie, Jacob and Julia probably. We could go somewhere spooky

11:11: name three wishes and why you wish for them.To be happy-Idk im not as happy as I want to beTo be wanted- I have a lot of problems with self worth so To be happy w my appearance- Ive been overweight my whole life and I’ve always felt ugly lmao

painting: what is the best halloween costume you have ever put together? if none, make one up.Oh god I have no idea bc I usually just do makeup and go 

lightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high?Drunk text people how sad I am

thunder: what’s one thing you would never do for one million dollars?im not sure tbh

storms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why?only see one person? Cain probably only bc we get along so well even tho we get on each others nerves lmao

love: have you ever fallen in love? describe what it feels like to realise you’re in love.BRO okay yeah I have, it ended BADLY and a lot of people know the story. Of both the platonic and not. idk tho, its a good feeling to know someone is there for you no matter what

clouds: if you’re a boy, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re a girl, would you ever rock really really short hair?yeah, I LOOK like a 12 year old boy but its fine lmao

coffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone?Iced coffee, 6 pumps of simple syrup and half and half. Green tea smoothie or frap OR salted caramel hot chocolate. My orders are pretty normal so 

marble: what is the most important thing to you in your life right now?God, my friends. They’ve helped me so much and I could not be more thankful because I’m going through such a hard time

#criticaldensity