Steel Sponge

Well...

Best song by The Police since "Locked Out of Heaven."

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: Starting Over Day 4: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Translation finale Day 5: Trinity Leaf Pegasus(?) Day 6: Chemist Bob's Catastrophic Creations Cinema Day 7: A Member-Hosted Story Contest And now...here's the big one - I'm going to host my very own writing contest. Unlike the usual SBC event months, this will be its own separate thing, planned specially for my 15 year milestone. The last story contest on SBC that took place was merely last month during Snowcember, so the details won't be made known until January 24th, one day shy of my anniversary day, but still a reasonable time and day to start it while I making this known now.

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: Starting Over Day 4: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Translation finale Day 5: Trinity Leaf Pegasus(?) Day 6: Chemist Bob's Catastrophic Creations Cinema Day 7: ??? The one-off special for CBC3, which will feature the Nostalgia Critic, will be posted later this month. I should say in advance though that this will be a rather different approach compared to the Critic Chronicles, which I will clarify within the special itself.

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: Starting Over Day 4: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Translation finale Day 5: Trinity Leaf Pegasus(?) Day 6: ??? Day 7: ??? But um...while I'm still on the topic of neglected stories... Apologies that this isn't an actual update, but who knows? Maybe it will be TLP's year this time. But in the meantime, I hope you all appreciate the humor towards the Duke Nukem Forever of my writing catalog (or at this rate, may I call it my Winds of Winter?).

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: Starting Over Day 4: SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Translation finale Day 5: ??? Day 6: ??? Day 7: ??? I have a new planned release date for the final episode for this month as part of my SBC 15th anniversary milestone (there's one other major thing I have planned for that milestone, but more on that later...), because after delaying this up to three years now, I definitely have no excuses for not getting it done.

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: Starting Over Day 4: ??? Day 5: ??? Day 6: ??? Day 7: ??? Starting Over, my aptly-titled 101 Dalmatian Street fanfic, is still in the works with a new chapter on the way. The next chapter, titled "Turnabout Siblings" will be posted to AO3 sometime in January, and will be posted to SBC later afterwards. The story will be nearing completion by 2025 as there are six more planned chapters that will be written up.

Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: SBC What If's Day 3: ??? Day 4: ??? Day 5: ??? Day 6: ??? Day 7: ??? SBC What If's is, of course, the multi-collaborative writing project that I'm part of, so I may as well share at least one piece of news for it. I am going to continue writing for this series and I have one story on the way that will be titled as "What If...the fake Wikipedia SpongeBob episodes actually existed?"

It's time for the newest edition of 'Steel Presents.' Starting today and until the end of this week, I will announce one piece news regarding the state of my ongoing stories for 2025, and with today being the first day of these announcements, I better get that ball rolling. I have something very special planned to be announced on the last day, so do stick around for that. Even though 2024 is nearly ending, I do, however, have one exception to make for just one last-minute new release before the end of the year, and I decided that it will be for a series that I've neglected for some time, due to it, admittedly, not being one of my biggest priorities: Day 1: Total Drama Treasure Tour Day 2: ??? Day 3: ??? Day 4: ??? Day 5: ??? Day 6: ??? Day 7: ??? Total Drama Treasure Tour will return with a new episode on the 30th or the 31st...or later into the month, depending on how things pan out. There's also some plans to launch a week of five new premieres, but of course, I can't guarantee a date for that yet, or if I will go that route.

The Truth of Gold T’was a normal day at the Krusty Krab, when all through the day, not a Plankton was scheming, but customers were there to pay. It all seemed to be a normal day in Bikini Bottom, but the only difference was that it was winter, which of course was required to set up this story. Mr. Krabs, once again, was keeping the thermostat untouched and charged customers to be able to keep themselves warm. “Darn that crummy cheapskate for not heating up the restaurant during the coldest months,” the grouchy octopus cashier named Squidward complained. “It sure would be nice if I had some gold and then I’d never have to work again.” “If I had some gold, I’d have me business blooming,” Mr. Krabs remarked. “Why are you two talking about gold all of a sudden? Is it time for another one of our wacky adventures?” SpongeBob asked. “It would be an adventure that I would want no part of,” Squidward jeered, “but it means being far away from you, I’ll take a prospecting job in a heartbeat.” “Nice try Mr. Squidward, but the Yukon Gold Rush has been a long gone era and the deep blue has never felt a money craze of that sort of magnitude for ages.” Mr. Krabs replied. “Besides, if there is gold, I ought be the first person to know…” As tempting fate would have it, two oddly specific incidentals came bursting through the doors of the restaurant to conveniently share their exciting news. “Hey everybody, we found gold!” Nat announced. “Yeah right, you’re pullin’ me pegs!” Mr. Krabs argued. “Come and see it for yourselves and you’ll know that there’s no fooling!” Evelyn added. “Well, what are all standing here for, boys? Let’s peep this out!” Mr. Krabs said as he dragged his two employees to the site where the gold was found. As Mr. Krabs and his crew had arrived at the spot, they were already met with a large crowd, forcing Krabs to tunnel through, using his pincers like a pair of buzzsaws. “Look at that beauty, boys,” Mr. Krabs remarked as he and his employees got a closer look at the excavation filled with gold. “Soon, it will be all ours.” “What do you think we’ll do with all that gold, Mr. Krabs?” SpongeBob questioned. “I’m seeing so many dollar signs just thinking about all the ways that I could use this gold, I can hardly contain meself!” Mr. Krabs said. “I think there’s plenty enough gold to share with everyone else, do you think so, Mr. Krabs?” SpongeBob added. “Who said anything about sharing the gold, boyo?” Mr. Krabs replied as his head creepily turned 360 degrees towards SpongeBob like an owl. “With all this gold, I could press them into tributes of the $50 buffalo gold coin and sell them to suckers who’ll think it’s the real thing, struck from .9999 pure 24 karat gold and all.” “That’s a lot of nines.” “Yes, that’s four nines, boyo, and not only will I be the richest crab in the world, I can turn me restaurant into a conglomerate...no, I can make it an empire!” “I’m sure that sounds nice for you, but Bikini Bottom has a serious shortage of health clinics and recreational services for pets and children, so I think the gold could be put to good use for helping them, and we can use the rest of that wealth to give food and shelter to the homeless.” “…That be the dumbest idea I ever heard from you, boyo.” “I’m pretty sure everyone else has already thought of dumber ways to use up that gold,” Squidward remarked. “Look at all that gold, Karen. If we could get our hands on it all, we can run Krabs out of business in an instant!” Plankton said. “Didn’t you tell me yesterday that you had your single-celled eye on that anniversary USB drive?” Karen deadpanned. “Oh, but I...uh, wouldn’t forget to spend some of it on you, my darling,” Plankton replied. “I could finally buy all the things daddy wouldn’t let me have!” Pearl remarked. “I say, I think all that darn gold could make good use of bein’ spent for scientific research,” said Sandy. “Why, with that much fortune, maybe we could cure any disease! Although…I ain’t should be getting myself too greedy, but my treedome could use an expansion of sorts so I could have more room for my experiments.” “I don’t know what it is, but I want to exchange it for all the dried-up caramel in the world!” Patrick declared. The crowd of Bikini Bottomites continued to ramble on about what would they would plan to use the gold for, until a landowner stood in front of the gold mine alongside Nat and Evelyn. “If I could have everyone’s attention…” the landowner announced, “as it should appear, since these two were the ones who had discovered the gold, I’ve ultimately decided that I bestow this gold mine to them.” After a collection of groans and jeers from the crowd, they would be silenced once again as Nat gave himself the chance to speak… “Citizens of Bikini Bottom, we hear your concerns,” Nat spoke, “We know how much you all wanted a piece of this gold mine. Evelyn and I have decided…” “...We’ve decided that we’re going to keep this gold all to ourselves, suckers!” Evelyn finished. Nat and Evelyn’s statement was met with a wave of angry banter, while SpongeBob and Squidward watched as their boss’ spirit sank, frozen from his immeasurable disappointment. “Hey, wait a minute, that’s the guy that you bribed to say that he liked my chum!” Plankton said to Karen. “Why does he and that other background character get all the gold to themselves?” “Did you think he was going to share the gold with you?” Karen argued. “Well, that was the biggest waste of eleven minutes I’ve had all day,” one of the incidentals remarked as the crowd left the excavation site in disappointment, leaving SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs by themselves. “What’s wrong with Mr. Krabs?” SpongeBob asked. “Whatever it is, I want no part of it,” Squidward remarked. “Boys…” Mr. Krabs said with gritted teeth, “I have a very important job for the both of ye…” “What is that, Mr. Krabs?” SpongeBob questioned. “We’re going to take away all that gold from those two no-good freeloaders,” Mr. Krabs continued, “and we will not stop...until WE GET WHAT’S OURS!” “And what do you want us to do about it?” Squidward pointed out. “I don’t even know who those two nitwits are. For all I care, they can just keep the gold.” “You know what, Squidward? I’ve changed me mind about not sharing the gold with SpongeBob or ye,” Mr. Krabs replied. “Besides…if you help me, I can help achieve your dream of being a world famous clarinet player, or whatever it is that’s got your head in the clouds.” “What’s in it for us? How much of the gold will you promise to give us?” “How’s about this? You and SpongeBob can keep one percent of the gold.” SpongeBob and Squidward shook their heads with a ‘I don’t think so’ type of scornful look. “How about I double that offer?...Triple?...Okay, fine, I’ll split it 25 to 75.” “That sounds generous enough to me,” said SpongeBob. “So, what’s our plan?” “Plan, who said anything about having a plan, boyo?” Mr. Krabs asked. “Coming up with a detailed plan is past me own budget.” “Well…I do have one idea. We could ask Nat and Evelyn nicely if they could give us the gold,” SpongeBob suggested. In an instant, SpongeBob was shown to have confronted Nat and Evelyn in front of the gold mine they were keeping watch of. “Hey Nat, hey Evelyn, I hate to pile this on you, but my boss, Mr. Krabs would really love to have the gold that you found, so I needed to ask, would you be willing to give it us?” SpongeBob asked. Nat and Evelyn looked at SpongeBob, then at each other, and burst into spiteful laughter. “Wow, get a load of this guy, Evelyn! Oh, please, please, can we please have your gold?” The last sentence Nat uttered in a mocking tone. “Yeah, run along, short-stuff, we found this gold together, so it’s ours, and ours only!” Evelyn tormented. “Like they always say, finders keepers, losers weepers!” Nat teased. SpongeBob sadly walked back to Mr. Krabs to inform him that his attempt at a civil compromise didn’t work. “Big deal, if they’re not going to be civil, then we’re just going to have play dirty!” Mr. Krabs said. “I’m going to bring out the big guns for this one!” It was then that Mr. Krabs’ attempt of plan was to have his whale daughter Pearl show up in front of Nat and Evelyn. “Hey, daddy says he wants you two to give him the gold, or I’ll have to make things difficult,” said Pearl. “Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it?” Evelyn asked. Pearl then proceeded to assault the two with her signature wail. However, Nat and Evelyn were able to ignore her crying by plugging up their ears until Pearl couldn’t cry anymore. “Cry all you want, but we’re not letting up,” said Evelyn. “Better luck next time,” Nat tormented. “Hey, why didn’t you come back with me gold?” Mr. Krabs asked Pearl. “Forget the gold, dad! You should be getting me some eye drops!” Pearl scowled. “Okay, if that’s how it is, then we’re just going to have rely on dirtier schemes,” Mr. Krabs said while rubbing his claws together. “If we can’t get Nat and Evelyn to move, then we’ll make them move, and I just thought of the best possible plan to do that, ar-ar-ar-ar!” “Nope, no way, I refuse to comply…” said Squidward. SpongeBob and Squidward were then shown carrying a large cake towards Nat and Evelyn. “A cake, just for us?” Nat wondered. “Wait a minute...what is in that cake?” Evelyn asked. “All the ingredients of an ordinary cake, I’m sure,” “It’s got buttercream, candles...frosting, and absolutely nothing inside of it that’s suddenly going to take take away all your gold. It’s specially made just for you two, so don’t worry about sharing!” “Wow, you didn’t have to do this for us,” said Nat. “Mr. Krabs said to tell you that this is his way of saying sorry for all the times he tried to steal away the gold that you both deserved to keep,” SpongeBob replied. “No, I mean you didn’t have to this because we already have the precautions to make sure there isn’t attempts of betrayal of sorts.” Evelyn said as she sent called for a pack of guard worms to inspect the cake. SpongeBob and Squidward then both exchanged looks of instant regret. “So what of cake is this anyway? Crab cake? As you should know, they have a pretty good nose for crabs,” Nat taunted. With no other option than to reveal himself, Mr. Krabs popped out of the cake. “If you were expecting me, then ye’d be right! There’s nothing in it except a gold-snatching crab and some explosives!” On cue, the cake exploded right in Mr. Krabs’ face before he could be able to do anything. “SpongeBob...I thought I told ye to set a timer for that,” Mr. Krabs deadpanned. “Chase em’ way, guys, make sure they never get anywhere near our gold again!” Evelyn instructed towards the guard worms, prompting for the Krusty crew to run off and brainstorm yet another plan. “They’re just going to keep all that loot to themselves and I won’t sleep until I get it all of their greedy little fins,” said Mr. Krabs. “What are we going to do now, boys?” “What can we do? You were so petty that you had to resort to recycling one of Plankton’s schemes,” Squidward pointed out. “That’s enough backtalk from you, Mr. Squidward,” Mr. Krabs replied. “I’d hate to do this, but there’s one other method we can use to trick Nat and Evelyn into giving up their gold. We’re just gonna have to scare it off them. SpongeBob, you know those cheap costumes from our last Krustoberfest we kept in the supply room?” “Huh? But I thought this isn’t a spooky-themed story-” SpongeBob said. “No, I mean, we’re going to have to drag out the Dickens,” Mr. Krabs clarified. Minutes later, the Krusty crew were prepared to launch their next scheme unto Nat and Evelyn when they approached them in costume. “Nat...Evelyn…you two have both met a terrible fate,” said Mr. Krabs. “I be the Ghost of Bank Statements Past to warn you of what will become of your lives if you kept the gold.” “We know it’s you, Krabs,” said Evelyn. “Oh yeah, then how do you think I know about what happened that fateful day when you called the firemen to save your little Jimmy from a fire?” Evelyn let out a small gasp and responded, “You did?” “Oh I know many things that happen to people who will lead a miserable life,” Mr. Krabs continued. “Nat, I know for sure how guilty you must feel for the one time you wasted all your money on Plankton to contract food poisoning to prove a certain someone right.” “Even if you are really Mr. Krabs, then feel free to enlighten us. Why you think we don’t deserve all this gold,” said Nat. “That’s where one of my other ghostly pals will have to come in.” “Hello, I’m Johnny the Ghost, I’m a wisecracking, trumpet-playing friend!- I mean, I also happen to be the Ghost of Money Present,” SpongeBob said. “I am here to remind you of the harsh realities of when you don’t share the gold to other fish. There are plenty of children and animals in need of the gold, just like this fellow named Tiny Tim…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcSlcNfThUA “No, wait, not that Tiny Tim, I meant this guy!” SpongeBob corrected, showing Squidward dressed in the specific attire, with one of his tentacles on a crutch and all. “Food, shelter, medicine, nourishment! All those things that I need to make myself better and be able to walk with all tentacles like normal again! But alas, I’m afraid that I don’t have much time left to live in this world, and it’s all because no one could give a single dollar to poor ol’ me…” Squidward acted out in his usual over-dramatic flair. “So, have you both changed your minds about the gold yet? Yes or no, we can all agree that you wouldn’t want to have to consult the Ghost of Money Future…” Mr. Krabs warned. On cue, SpongeBob’s pet snail, Gary slithered over to Nat and Evelyn while donned in a black cloak, letting out a single and solemn ‘meow.’ “So, what do you say? Will you put an end to your greedy ways?” Mr. Krabs inquired. Nat and Evelyn looked at Mr. Krabs and then at each other, once again letting out a laugh. “Yeah, right, like anything bad will happen to us,” said Nat. “What’s next, you’re going to tell us that our terrible fate will be getting crushed by our own gold? Evelyn joked. “You don’t even care about the dire consequences of your selfishness, or of the unforeseeable future?” Mr. Krabs asked. “Yeah, we are jerks, and so what about it? Most people in Bikini Bottom are,” Nat replied. “We found the gold and we decided that we’re going to keep it. Deal with it,” said Evelyn. “I’ll make ye deal with it!” Mr. Krabs provoked as he lunged toward the two greedy fish. “Mr. Krabs, I don’t think that was in our script,” SpongeBob intervened. Before any violence could be dealt, however, they were all met with the landowner. “Break it up, all of you, I hate to make this confession now, but it appears that there was never any gold,” he said. Mr. Krabs, Nat, and Evelyn, all froze with disbelief, with the crab then saying, “What...what do you mean there was no gold?” “Look for yourselves,” the landowner continued as he showed the group the spot where all the gold was struck, being completely emptied out all of sudden, with nothing in sight except a certain pink starfish, feeling dizzy from a full stomach. “Turns out all that gold was actually a giant pile of dried-up caramel.” “It was all so...delicious,” Patrick groaned. “It was a bunch of worthless caramel and no one bothered to correct us on that?” Nat rejoinders. “I’m no gold expert, I just owned the plot of land that supplied it,” the landowner ensured. “You should all go home now.” The group of characters just sat in silence in misery over all the time they had wasted fighting over dried-up caramel that was now all inside Patrick’s stomach. “Hello? Can somebody help me?” Patrick asked. “I’m feeling kinda hungry again. I don’t think there was enough salt in that caramel.” Finally, SpongeBob spoke, “So...what have we learned?” “Absolutely nothing,” Squidward deadpanned. “Well, we did have ourselves yet another wacky adventure we could look back at fondly,” SpongeBob pointed out. "I guess you could say that was...the truth of gold!" “Put a sock in yer mouth, boyo,” Mr. Krabs chided. Because there was no other better way to end this crazy tale, the story ends with SpongeBob, of course, putting a sock in his mouth.

cryptic post

-Cubone Build-a-Bear plush -Four Pokemon blind box figures -Pokemon cards -Figurine display cases -Two Hunter x Hunter figures (one of Kurapika, and one big-aaa figure of Uvogin) -Spunch Bop mug -Foo Fighters But Here We Are album on CD -Chappell Roan Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess album on CD -Frightened Rabbit Midnight Organ Fight tribute album CD (Just realized that the original album on CD is pretty scarce) -Rolling pin -Stand mixer -3-in-1 slow cooker (only needed one, lol) -Gift cards for Nintendo and Barnes & Noble -IKEA bookcase (will take a pic once it's built and moved to my room)

no pantalones