A Whispy Shadow Demon

Prologue

In an attempt to improve my writing & scratch the creativity itch I’m going to attempt to write daily. Usually, I write when I’m feeling inspired…but that’s not that often anymore. So I’m going to prompt inspiration & see where it takes me. Today’s prompt is…

A Whispy Shadow Demon

My 6-year-old daughter is fearless. In her mind at least. Unfortunately, she has inherited her mother’s delusions of grandeur. She’s the best at everything and afraid of nothing. I love her very much, but this is an awful trait for ANY human to possess. But there you go.

Introducing Bendy

One day, while randomly flicking through Youtube I saw a thumbnail depicting (what I now know as) Bendy & The Ink Machine. For those of you who don’t know who or what this is, it’s basically (as Wikipedia will tell you)

An episodic first-person puzzle-action survival horror video game. The game follows Henry Stein, a retired animator who returns to his old animation studio from the 1930s, after an invitation from his old employer, and discovers a nightmare of cartoon characters seemingly brought to life by the titular Ink Machine.

It’s a wonderfully scripted game with iconic characters brought to life using a 1930s style of animation (think Steamboat Willie) I am slightly obsessed…but not as much as my daughter.

From Fear to Fandom

When she first saw him I could tell she was slightly suspicious of him. Yeah, he looked cute…but he definitely has a demonic look and feel to him too. I had no idea about him, so when she asked me who it was and what he did, I made up all kinds of horrific (or as horrific as I can be towards a 6-year-old girl) stories. Stories of how he would chase children in their dreams if they didn’t behave for their parents (I never said they were original stories!) And the usual ‘boogeyman’ tales we know and love.

The Journey Begins

One Friday night it was just me and her, and she asked me if I would tell her more about Bendy. I told her I would do one better. I hopped back onto YouTube and found some playthrough footage (without commentary) and we watched it together. Two hours later, she was in love. She was fascinated by each character & the journey they took. She instantly became a fan.

Curiosity Inspires The Kid

The very next day she wanted to watch it again, but this time she knew what to expect, so she was able to quiz me more on the plot and characters (she is only 6 years old remember) after another viewing she wanted to write about him (she’s an avid reader and I’m very proud to say she is reading at TWO levels higher than what she should be) so she did. Now, I’m not saying what she wrote makes any sense, but the passion is there. And nobody should ever mock or deny a passion to create, especially in a child. I will always continue to motivate and help push her creativity, because who knows where it will take her.

Thanks, Bendy.

Poo Slime Royalty

Magic Moments

Having children brings you many wonderful moments in life. Yeah, they can be nightmarish at times and can make life stressful, but the good will always outweigh the bad. One of these wonderful moments (for me at least) is watching how my 6-year-old daughter learns, plays and grows with Youtube.

Back In My Day

Growing up, I had 4 channels. Channel 5 came along at the end of my teens, and we were too poor for Sky or cable. So we made do with what we had (which for me was a mixture of toys, stickers & cards, and video games) and life was good (well I enjoyed for the most part) now that I have children of my own I not only get an insight into what they like but also watching them react to things I liked at their age (check out my Detective Pikachu post for an example) and one of the hot ticket items of the moment, is slime.

Turtle Power

TMNT Retromutagen Ooze from 1989 was not only my first ‘exposure’ to slime…but it was also the best. Not only was it part of one I my all time favourite franchises (the TMNT) but it also came with a tiny glow in the dark pre-evolved turtle! It was amazing. Thinking about it now takes me straight back to shopping for it with my mum in Woolworths in Dewsbury (West Yorkshire) we had so many of those canisters growing up, they were an integral part of playing with our other toys. Fast forward 30 years later and my daughter is enjoying the exact same thing! Only this time, there’s a slight ‘twist’ to what she plays with.

They Play With What Now?

For whatever reason, (& it really is beyond me) children of today are OBSESSED with poo related toys. Seriously, it is EVERYWHERE. Some of the biggest play creation toy manufacturers in the world have poo related toys. Make your own poo, poo based board games, poo emoji cushions, you cannot escape it. It is everywhere. And the biggest ‘culprit’ of them all? Poo slime. That’s right, slime that is pretending to be the excrement of some magical mystical animal. I don’t get it, but it clearly works, so why not. The question is though…is it any good?

The Competition

The answer (I’ve found) is, yes! But only from one specific company. In my 36 years of living (& being a man child) I’ve played with my fair share of slime. Ecto-Plazm, Gak, Silly Putty and a whole host of knock-off brands, but there is one company out of all of these that has well and truly hit the nail on the head when it comes to branding, fun and slime consistency. That company is HGL.

A Plethora of Poo

Last weekend my daughter brought home a small tub of unicorn poo (yes, you read that correctly) the container of which is a couple of cms thick with the circumference being just a little smaller than the base of a coffee mug. Inside was this creamy white slime…full of glitter (her mind exploded when she saw it was glitter, but why wouldn’t it be, its unicorn poo) as soon a she got it out, hand to God, she had it with her all day. If she wasn’t playing with the other toys with it, she had it in her hand while she was watching TV, and fiddling around with it while she was reading to me. It did not leave he sight. When she eventually went to sleep, I finally got my hands on it (to see what all the fuss was about) and I was amazed at what I found.

The Testing

To get the full effect of it I placed it back in its tub for a bit to cool down and to reshape (she had been playing with it so much it was warm from her touch!) But when I did get my hands on it…my word, it was the real deal. The consistency is spot on; not too runny like a Mattel slime, and not to moldable like Silly Putty. They well and truly hit that sweet spot. The colour is mesmerizing (especially with the hint of glitter) the packaging and gimmick are cheesy but perfect for the target audience. It also plays well with other toys (I used an action figure and some lego and it didn’t leave any mess or residue behind) and when you put it all back in its little tub, it all folds back perfectly into a smooth ‘new’ consistency (after a while)

Final thoughts

If you’re buying slime for your children, ignore the fact that it’s ‘poo’ (I know some parents are put off by this, lord knows why, but some are) just buy this stuff. It’s a great price point (I paid £1 for each of these tubs, yes, I have my own now) and it will give your child hours of fun, with very minimal mess (as long as they are using it properly) it also works well as a relaxation tool too! I use mine all the time when I’m just sat watching TV. Open up your inner child. It’s way more fun than you imagine.

The Sims 4 StrangerVille Trailer: A nod to Momo?

The latest Sims game pack is soon to be available and the trailer for it has dropped. It seems that some form of alien life is inhabiting the bodies of the population. Specifically the army?

Now, call me a cynic, but it kind of feels like it’s borrowing from Stranger Things, which is fine…just a little out of time (I know season 3 will be dropping sometime in the future, but it’s not quite in the air at the moment) what IS rather disturbing is its (unintentional?) ‘homage’ to Momo. If you’re not familiar with Momo…well, you’re in for a treat.

According to Wikipedia, The ‘Momo Challenge’ is an alleged form of cyberbullying that spreads through social media and mobile phones. After phone users are enticed to contact a user named ‘Momo’ they receive graphic threats from the user and are instructed to perform a series of dangerous tasks. Despite claims that the phenomenon was reaching worldwide proportions in July of 2018, the number of actual complaints is relatively small, and no police force has confirmed that anyone was actually harmed.

It’s currently prevalent as recent as today, with schools up and down the country are warning parents about the ‘dangers’ of the game.

So what has all this got to do with the newest Sims game? Well, below is a picture of one of the ‘infected’ Sims characters, and below that, a picture of Momo…

Now, this is just my own personal opinion…but they’re pretty blooming similar…right? Even if you don’t agree, doI have a problem with it? Not at all. Is it intentional, who knows? Regardless, it could swing either way for the release of the game; other people may also see the similarity and try cause the game to be ‘banned’ (or whatever it is outraged parents do these days) or the potential publicity may help sales.

Or…all of this could be absolute pointless nonsense and the game is what it is. What ever happens, I look forward to seeing. I might even give it a play too…