So, I’m up super early again, about ten to 5:00 am. And it’s chilly. That oddly warm I’ve mentioned last update has passed. November is getting colder and colder by the day. But it's to be expected with this time of year.

I’ve got no real juice news this week. Sadly, with the cold weather comes a feeling of apathy and being just plain down. Yeah, I’ve done a little writing but not as much as I would like. I’ve been giving in to the chronophage known as {{{anime}}} to cheer me up. Chronophages come in many forms, sometimes they come with big eyes and small mouths.

I recently managed to accompany Zach this weekend to a “Shut Up and Write” meeting. “Shut Up and Write” are a local writing club and they meet at a coffee shop, chat a bit, then shut up and write then discuss their writing.

Here is a link to learn more about them.

https://www.shutupwrite.com/

Now, I did write something and I’m about to read it over. What on earth did I . . .

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So, yeah, that was a half an hour of reading nonsense. I’m reminded how weird I can be when writing on the fly and how being in a public space alters my mood. That Saturday had been a long one. And when Zach and I arrived late to the meeting, everyone was typing away.

So I did something. And I am about to share it. I wrote it in (notepad) which has become more advanced since I last used it. There is a spellcheck which came in handy when revising it. And I’m only going to revise this insanity once and give my thoughts afterwards.

Here. We. Go!

***

So, let's see how a notepad app works. I am currently at a cafe and still kind of wary of using local wi-fi in a public place. There are all kinds of horror stories about information being stolen and whatnot. So, instead of writing paranoia thoughts, why not delve into something I was discussing with a friend earlier.

Take something I've seen or read about online, and make it into a Call of Cthulhu RPG scenario. As anyone who has read the blogs thus far has learned, I have been listening to a lot of Miskatonic University Podcast. Well, they often discuss taking media they have absorbed and convert things into Cthulhu mythos investigations.

Let's take something that exists and makes it into a Call of Cthulhu scenario.

You ready for it? I'm not, because I'm distracted easily in a public place. Back in my day it was called ADD.

Okay, I'm not connected into interwebs right now, so I'm typing blindly . . . GO!

School Days the Anime.

I have not seen it, not yet. Will I, (((question mark)))? Maybe. But, I recall this anime being notorious amongst the anime clubs I used to haunt. Like, "you gotta see it to believe it" kind of notorious.

I'm on Crunchyroll one late evening and scrolling the home page for something to watch. Browsing away, there is a "Oh the Horror" section and School Days is just there. This anime is amongst all sorts of legit horror anime, Boobiepop and Jungi Ito collection. Horror anime that is obvious. But School Days looks like a typical Shojo high school romance anime, right?

Yeah, look it up. No, go ahead, look it up. I'll wait. In real time . . . not really.

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Okay, did you do a search, did you get a taste of School Days? Did you watch it? Yeah, I'll probably be adding it to my list and giving it a go some day. And that ending. Oh, by Tsathoggua's fat-hairy-butt THAT E-N-D-ing.

Yeah, so, that ending is an ending that is a thing. Anime is beautiful like that. Sometimes an anime looks like innocent cartoon tomfoolery but then a cute redheaded cat girl with invisible arms rips and tears through people like a barbarian rolling high with Greater Cleave.

So at this point, I am going to spoiler alert if you are at all intrigued by anything you have read so far about School Days. If you somehow have not looked it up and I've sold you on the mystery of why this anime is so well known, go right ahead and watch it. It's okay, I can wait as you watch 12 episodes and after episode 12 has ended, you can pull your jaw off the floor and come back.

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Or are you thinking about that fat-furry-badonkadonk of that Clark Ashton Smith deity? Should we just talk about the Garfield of the Cthulhu Mythos? Where he just naps, and eats, and causes people to lose their sanity. I got to be honest, I am revising and adding all kinds of things to this. For example:

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Those space breaks with periods were not there when I first wrote this, five minutes ago. I am so ready to derail this rant and make this about Tsathoggua. I am so willing to. I have no idea how much longer I'm going to be at the cafe. this is just a whim thing with a friend. I may never get to do this again. But, lets talk about Tsathoggua.

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Okay, this may be coming to an end. My friend is done typing and it is getting late. So! Last change to go watch School Days before spoilers happen. Or go look up Tsathoggua and have fun staring into the face of Elder God Garfield.

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You still here? Good, I'm going to type more dots down before finishing. Next one will be School Days evil!

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Anyway, so, murders are had and when murders are had, investigations are needed.

So, where to start?

You are the Keeper running a Call of Cthulhu scenario with School Days as the backdrop. The investigation starts after the conclusion of episode 12. Your investigators are employed by the three lead's parents, Boy A, Girl A, and Girl B. The investigators start with the school, because that is the perfect place to start.

So, they ask around and learn more and more about how just messed up the love tri-angle was.

There is a portrait of Rick and Morty staring into my soul . . .

Anyway, one or more investigators go to the roof of the school and find the janitor cleaning up. And there is a strong smell of bleach and disinfectant in the air. Something went down on the roof and the school is cleaning it up. Oh, and the janitor is so not getting paid enough, so grilling him for info is easy enough.

The investigators learn that Girl A was found dead on the roof by one of the staff. The principal, not wanting the school's rep to be tarnished, had the janitor remove the body and take it somewhere else to be found. So, the janitor did so but out of guilt, is willing to work with the investigators.

They find Girl A's body and it is not a pretty sight. Roll Sanity.

Next, they investigate Boy A's apartment and find his body. The head is missing. Huh, that's new. Roll Sanity.

And then, the investigators get a call from Girl B's family. They have a family boat that went missing around the time. The GPS was off before . . . now it is on. Hey, they might find Girl B alive and everything will be okay, right? Right?

So, the investigators rent a boat and go out to sea. They follow the GPS and find the boat. And the boat is covered in a black seaweed. And it's moving. Roll Sanity.

Has anyone lost their minds yet? No! Well, get those investigators' on the seaweed boat and explore.

Explore, until you find Boy A's head in the lower decks. The black seaweed is coming from his neck hole. He begs you to kill him, and he is sorry for everything that happened. But, at that point, ROLL SANITY and make it an Extreme check. People should be nice and manic by now.

Are people attacking now? Good. Seaweed Head has tentacles, which are essential to anything Lovecraftian. Some combat goes down, some limbs are removed, roasted seaweed and possible damage to the boat to have it sink. Funny times are had. Delicious chaotic fun.

So, any survivors of after combat left? Really? You have some investigators who have survived that? Well, have them get on deck just in time to see Girl B, now half fish monster, get all in their faces for murdering her boyfriend! Girl B monologues about how Girl A murdered Boy A, Girl A met with her with his head on the school roof and she killed Girl A and she went out to sea to be with her boyfriend together, forever. Then Dagon shows up, sympathizes with Girl B and resurrects her boyfriend as a seaweed monster. Dagon also made her a fish monster, because adoption at sea is like that.

Now Girl B is all pissed off because the investigators gone and murdered Boy A all over again. What is left of the investigation party then has a nice chat with Girl B about the importance of family and---Ha! No, none of that. Combat but before that starts, roll S-s-s-sanity! With all the penalties.

Your investigators then proceed until they all die or Girl B is fish fry.

And if there is any sanity left or bodies moving in the investigator party, as Girl B's body falls into the sea, Dagon shows up. And he is pissed that the investigators just murdered his newly adopted daughter. Yeah, round three of boat combat, out in the middle of the sea, against an elder god.

So, that should have finished things off, right? Your investigators have a grueling fight with Dagon, more go insane, or get maimed, or simply just jump into the water and embrace oblivion. And that should end it, right?

Wait? You had some investigators roll how high? On Extreme checks too? Well, they survive, but roll their sanity just to be sure. Well, those characters who survived maybe do investigations of Cthulhu mythos full time. Yeah for characters carrying over to other games, campaign in the making!

So, this was fun nonsense to write during a public outing. Maybe I'll do this again. I wonder if the text in this notepad thing will be different when I creepy pasta it into the blog? WE shall seeeeeeeeeee!

***

The answer is no, copying and pasting from (notepad) does not make the slightest difference. And there is no grammar check in (notepad), so I had to go through the rant again trusting the blue underlines and corrections are accurate. Because I’m not rolling sanity against that eldritch manuscript I wrote. I’m already rolling low here.

The word count of this blog was at 272. Now it is at . . . 1736?! That is about 1464 words of typing blindly for a little more than an hour. Wow, I could have written a chapter of something. Or an outline. But I had roleplaying and anime in my mind and there you have it.

Chronophages not only eat the time you spend with them, they also eat the time when they occupy your thoughts. Chronophages are evil!!!

The hilarious takeaway from all this is that I took the story from an anime I had not watched, used it as a backdrop for an RPG I have yet to play, all the while being distracted by the public atmosphere.

There truly is a fine line between genuine and insanity.

That or maybe I should lay off the podcasts and anime and actually read a book. And not an anime light novel before bed. I’m going to look back on this and just shake my head. And laugh.

At least I had a good chuckle and it’s 6:00 am right now. This blog is already twice as long as the ones before it. I’m going to make the head pic for this and write some more today but be a little more focused.

Just a little.

Good luck and you are a champ for getting this far,

—Buck

This blog was written before sunrise on 11/13/2024. The eldritch rant written during “Shut Up and Write” was written on 11/9/2024. Roll sanity check!