October 31st, 2021
Happy Halloween, everybody! I can tell today is gonna be fantabulous and here's why. I don't have to worry about running into The Purple Heart Pain because she'll be at home at a friendiversary party. On top of that, it's Melbourne and Victoria's first Halloween, so that'll be good. Speaking of which, my new invention can turn people into babies, so I'll get to know what it's like to talk to them and have them talk back to me instead of just dead silence and some stares.
Let's see. What am I forgetting? I really feel like there's another thing today that I'm excited for but I just can't place it. Whatever. Let's just use my machine. I don't mean to brag, but it's very easy to use, once you know how to activate it. I just sit down in it and it'll turn me into a baby. After that, I just wait six hours and I'll be back to normal. That'll leave me with just enough time to get ready to go trick-or-treating tonight. I can't wait to spend all day talking to Mel and Vic! It's not exactly common for me to get a whole day off from school and work, so it almost feels like I should have something else to do. Anybody else ever had that feeling before?
Since it's Halloween, I wanted to tell you all what costumes we're gonna wear. We've got some real good ones this year.
Mine is gonna be the mascot for Honey Smacks. I don't even like the cereal. I just did it.
Adelaide's is something that said 'Legends Arceus Hisui Region Galaxy Team' on the tag. When she sent me a pic of it, I didn't know what it was and neither did she. She said she bought it because it felt like it was important. So, I have a question for you people in the real world. Is it from one of those Pokémon video games you have in your universe? We don't have them here, so I'd have no way of knowing. And while we're on the subject, it seems so weird to me to make a video game where the main draw is just the fact Pokémon exist. That'd be like if someone made a video game where all you do is play football, or one where you just play guitar, or... Oh, wait.
I was hoping Melbourne and Victoria's costumes would be ketchup and mustard since they're twins who wear red and yellow, but they both wanted to be Reptar. You should've seen it. As soon as they saw a picture of him at the Halloween store, they started reaching out for him and doing little baby screams. It was adorable.
My dad's gonna wear the same Trainbacca costume he wears every Halloween.
My mom has my favorite one. Her Halloween costume is always a Pokémon that's meant to represent what the year has been like. Ever heard of Salamence? Before it evolves, it can't fly but really wants to. But then it grows wings and gets to live out its dream for the rest of its life. For me, 2021 was all about being happier than I was last year and Adelaide has been happier than ever before after she got an invitation to Sinnoh and our parents let her go. That's why Mom went with Salamence.
Oh, boy! Here we go! The babies just crawled up to me here in the living room. I told them about my invention earlier, which they're obviously ready for me to use. Time to give it a whirl. All I gotta do is sit down in this device of mine that looks like a salon hair dryer and activate it. And...BOOM! I'm now a zero-year-old and can only talk to other zero-year-olds. Don't ask me how it works. Newborns like us having our own language that no one else can understand is one scientific fact I have yet to even come close to understanding. Maybe this will help me with that.
Anyway, I think it's neat seeing everything around me be bigger. But that's nothing compared to being eye level with the twins!
"Wow!" Victoria says really slowly, astonished by how my invention worked so flawlessly. While we're on the subject, why do I talk like I'm the narrator in a book when I do my vlogs? I never noticed that before until earlier this month.
Melbourne looks confused and worried. I hope my machine didn't have some weird side effect on me and that's what's causing his concern. "Where'd Sid go and who's this?" he asks. That's not a good sign.
After looking at myself to make sure nothing went wrong, I say "Mel, it's me," to comfort him.
"But you said you were just gonna turn into a baby. You didn't say you were gonna make yourself smallerer too," he elaborates.
Carefully patting his head, I try to clarify what's going on to him by saying "I was never gonna look the same. This is what I looked like when I was your age."
"Okay, if you say so," he comments with a raised eyebrow. He then looks over at his younger twin sister and asks "So, what was that thing you wanted to ask Sid, Vic?"
"WHEN'S REPTAR GONNA GET HERE?!" the youngest Chang screams at the top of her lungs.
I don't get why she thinks Reptar's coming here. There's no reason for that. I hate lying, but I'll humor her since she's my baby sister. "Soon, sis. Just you wait," I answer. She's gonna have so much fun trick-or-treating for the first time that she'll forget I said that and not care that Reptar never appeared. At least, I hope so.
Unfortunately, Melbourne's gonna make that a bit more unlikely because he's continuing the conversation. "I'll bet he comes on Christmas," he says.
"What's that?" asks Vic, making her brother gasp. Since not everyone has seen my previous vlogs, and the people who have might need a refresher, let me fill you in real quick. Even though Mel and Vic are twins, they actually weren't born on the same day. Mel was born on December 23rd last year, so he's already gotten to have his first Christmas. Vic hasn't had hers yet because she was born exactly two months after Mel on my birthday. Isn't that ironic? She has a twin but he's not the sibling she shares a birthday with.
Anyway, I just know that Mel's explanation of what Christmas is will be way too long, so I hope you don't mind if I skim over it.
And now, Melbourne's weaving a magical tale of gumdrops and pennywhistles. He's telling of toy-making elves and flying reindeer, whatever those are. But best of all, he's telling of the one they call, Santa Claus. Surprisingly, Vic's eyes aren't getting wider. She just looks confused. Maybe even disappointed. Now I'm the confused one. Perhaps Mel finishing up his explanation will fix everything. "And everyone pretends to like the fruitcake," he says.
Vic's now just yawning. What on Earth?
I should stop looking forward to her reaction this much. I'll just let my little bro finish and then see what she thinks. "But the best part is you can text this guy, Santa Claus," he says while holding up a painting of the big jolly guy. Where did he get it and how is he able to hold it? I don't know. "and tell him what you want, and when he comes, he brings it to you!" Mel finishes before just tossing the painting away like it's nothing.
Now that he's done, there's an important line I need to say, but there's something else I want to address first. I can't believe telling Santa what you want for Christmas is now done via text. When I was a kid, it was done the old-fashioned way, in an email. I guess an update was bound to happen for kids born this decade, but Santa having to keep track of that many texts just seems impractical to me. Anyway, I should say that line now. I'll bet a lot of you know what it is. "JUST LIKE A GENIE!" I exclaim.
And now, the moment I've been waiting for. What does Victoria think of Christmas? "So, the presents come from this random guy?" she asks. Weird thing to say.
"Oh, he's no random guy," I excitedly correct her.
"But Mommy and Daddy are the ones who really get us presents, right?" she asks. Weirder thing to say. You think she'd be happy that someone she doesn't even know is giving her free stuff.
"A-course not," Mel responds. Man, I wish he wasn't wrong.
"That is..." Vic says before pausing. "The STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!" she shouts with tears coming out her eyes. Now she's waterfall crying, crawling away, and saying the word 'stupid' over and over again in a whiny tone.
Mel and I are both so surprised that there's dead silence for a few seconds before he says "What just happened?" once Victoria's out of sight. I think she went to the kitchen.
I agree with Melbourne that this was an unexpected result, but this actually isn't the first time someone in the Y Universe has thought Santa was stupid after learning about him. My friend Karli was born and raised in the X Universe. There, Santa is real and kept a complete secret from kids. He only tells people about himself once they're grown up and have kids of their own. Then he lets those parents tell their kids the presents are from them when they're really from him. When Karli learned about Y Universe Christmas after she moved here, she thought it was dumb how people care about Santa more than Jesus.
I don't understand why Victoria's upset about this. What difference does it make to her who the presents are from? Whatever the reason, we're her big siblings, so it's our job to find out what's wrong and help her feel better. "Come on, Mel. Let's go talk to her," I say. "Follow me," I continue while starting to crawl in the direction Vic was heading. After turning my head to make sure my brother's following me, which he is, I hear a knock at the front door. Since it's so early in the day, it's probably not a trick-or-treater. Doesn't matter though. Neither of us can answer the door or ask someone else to.
We've made it to the kitchen. Victoria's leaning up against the fridge and still crying. It makes me so sad to see this that now I'm crying too. I most definitely wouldn't be if I was still 14. Is Mel gonna cry? Yep. He's crying now. We're just a bunch of sad little babies doing what sad little babies do.
Unsurprisingly, our mother has come for us and picked us up. "Sid, why did you turn yourself into a baby already? What about your interviews?" she asks me. I don't know what she's talk... Oh, crap. I remember now. I have Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl characters coming here to be interviewed by me for this very vlog. That's why Vic asked about Reptar earlier!
What am I gonna do? I can't keep my guests waiting for six hours! The only one who knows how to activate my invention is me and I have no way of explaining it to anyone. I wish I could at least try interviewing them as a baby, but I'm currently unable to speak to them at all!
But right now, I prioritize finding out what's upsetting my baby sister. Mom just sat the three of us down on the couch. Let's get started. "Vic, if you're ready to talk about it, why do you think Santa sounds dumb and why do you care who your Christmas presents are from?" I ask.
"No! Vicky no wanna!" she whines while crossing her arms and looking away from both me and Melbourne. I've never heard anyone call her Vicky before though.
"Who's Vicky?" Mel butts in. I guess it's his first time too.
"Bro, she's clearly in a bad mood right now, so I'm gonna need you to get all the way off her back until she's feeling better," I say, realizing midsentence that he won't know what that phrase means or who I'm talking about.
"What?" he asks. See?
Anyway, the first guest to arrive is Sandy Cheeks, which is perfect. Since she's a fellow scientist, she might be able to figure out how to activate my invention. Now we just need to make her realize there's a problem. "I came here to see this universe's counterpart to Sid Chang. Where is she?" she says and asks. Okay, we're off to a good start.
"That's her, sitting in the middle," my mom answers while she points at the couch. "She invented a machine that turned her into a baby and she's the only one who knows how to change her back," she explains while gesturing at my invention.
"I reckon I can figure out how this here machine works," Sandy says while analyzing it.
"If you can, I better have something to pay you back with ready," my mom says before heading for the kitchen. I made some pumpkin cookies last night. I bet she's going in there to get them to offer to Sandy.
I've been trying not to, but I just looked at Victoria again. I really wanna know what's bothering her. "Ready now?" I ask.
"No!" Vic yells.
"How 'bout now?" Melbourne asks. Bro, why?
"Why should I have to tell you, Mel? You already know!" Victoria asks and shouts. I highly doubt she's right though.
"I do?" Mel asks. This is getting us nowhere!
My mom just got back with the cookies. "Eh, could've used more nuts," Sandy says after eating one.
"So do you think you can turn Sid back to normal?" asks my mom.
"No problem. It's a can of corn," Sandy answers. I can't wait to... Wait. Why's she putting on a...? Sandy, no! You're not supposed to...! She just karate chopped my invention in half! If I could talk to her, she'd be getting quite the earful right now.
You know what? I'm gonna do it anyway! "How could you possibly not have the common sense to know that's the opposite of what we needed you to do, you stupid electricity-free Pachirisu?!" I scream at Sandy.
"Stupid what?" she asks. Hold the phone. If she heard what I said, then that means... I'm looking around the house and then at myself. I'm not a baby anymore! I was so mad I didn't even notice. I have no idea how chopping the machine in half reversed the effects, but we take those.
And speaking of opposites, the adjective I used to describe Sandy was the opposite of what she really is. "Sorry for calling you stupid. The method you chose to use was apparently the right one, so you're actually smart," I say to her. Sorry to explain that to you twice like that. That was kind of pointless.
"Why, thanks," says Sandy. "So, how 'bout that interview now?" she asks.
"That would be fantastic!" I say. However, that's only true if Sandy can answer the following question. "Can you please help me figure out why Victoria here hates Santa Claus?" I ask while gesturing at my baby sister. "I kept trying to while I was a baby, but a good opportunity just never came up," I state.
"Why, that's not usually the kinda thing a person asks in an interview, but I'd be happy to," answers Sandy. "I'm just gonna need y'all to tell me a bit about her first," she goes on.
I just heard the doorbell ring. Since I can actually answer it now, I'm gonna have my mom tell Sandy about Victoria and see who's stopped by. It's likely another one of the fighters, so I'll interview them first and save Sandy for later.
And our first fighter to be interviewed, not counting that one question I gave Sandy, is the one and only Nigel Thornberry! "Mr. Thornberry, thanks for joining me tonight," I say surprisingly calmly. I was worried I'd get too hyped in the presence of a living legend and lose my cool. "For my first question, how has your first visit to the Y Universe been for you so far?" I ask.
"SMASHING!" he replies.
"And how did you feel about the game developers giving you such a silly moveset, including some abilities you don't canonically have in your TV show? Was it good? Bad?" I ask.
"SMASHING!" he replies.
"Okay, now I've got a hypothetical scenario I'd love to hear your thoughts on. If the people at Nickelodeon made an episode of The Casagrandes where you appeared as a guest star and helped the original Becca Chang out at her zoo, what would that be?" I ask. He's obviously just gonna say his iconic catchword again though.
Or not. "Interesting idea. With my reestablished relevancy, having appeared in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, I feel that now would be the perfect time for the crossover you have described to me," he says instead of what I expected.
Ooh! There's the doorbell again. Who's it this time? Only two more of the guests I invited agreed to stop by, so there's a 50 percent chance my guess will be right. I'm gonna put my money on the one who doesn't have a tail.
Yep. One tailless person is standing at my front door. Everyone, please welcome Lucy Loud. But not Lucy Loud from the Y Universe, the REAL Lucy! "Sigh," she says while stepping inside. Please tell me she's not about to do the same thing Nigel did but with a different word. "I came all the way here on my favorite day of the year, so this better be good," she says. Her anger and how demanding she's trying to be still come across despite her monotone voice. I love it!
Anyway, let's get the interview started. "So, on your show, you're just a regular kid. But the game developers gave you the ability to shift into vampire and ghost modes. Does that make you happy?" I ask. I know the answer's obvious, but I wanna keep these questions fighter-specific.
"It's wicked!" answers Lucy. Why is everyone keeping their responses so short tonight?
Next question. "Speaking of vampires, I just so happen to be one, so I was wondering if you..." I ask until I'm interrupted.
"That's what got me down here. Where's your proof?!" Lucy barks, but still monotone. I'm suddenly a little frightened. "There's no way a real vampire could lose to me in a fight, so I challenge you to a battle. Or, if you'd prefer, I can touch some garlic to your skin. Which is it gonna be?" she continues. I'm now BEYOND frightened.
Saved by the bell. Well, whoever's there actually knocked on the door instead of ringing the bell, but close enough. Through the process of elimination, you may have figured out by now that the only guest left is Reptar, so...
What the?! It's not Reptar! It's The Purp...
No, wait. Her hair is different. That means this isn't who I thought it was. This is the best Halloween surprise I've ever gotten!
Everyone, please give it up for our special surprise guest. It's someone who, no matter what anyone says, does NOT have an official counterpart here in the Y Universe. Coming to you from Great Lakes City, as seen in Nickelodeon's The Casagrandes, it's Ronnie Anne! "Hey, Sid Y," she says to me. You have no idea how good it feels to be treated nicely by her! "Sorry for making you think I was The Purple Heart Pain at first. Since it's Halloween, I thought it would be fun to wear a costume of her," says Ronnie Anne.
"That's quite alright. I'm just glad you're here," I say in response.
I wish this back and forth between the two of us could continue, but Sandy just stepped behind me. She's probably figured out what's going on with Vic. "Sid, has Victoria ever felt neglected by your parents?" the super smart squirrel asks.
I turn around and respond to her with "I was under the impression she was over it, but yes. When my mom was pregnant with the twins, we all gave Mel all of the attention because we didn't know there were two babies in there."
"Then it seems to me like she was lookin' forward to gettin' some more love from your folks. Now that she knows they're not the ones gettin' her gifts, she feels like y'all are ignorin' her again," Sandy hypothesizes.
She's got a great point, in my opinion. After the babies are done playing with Reptar, who should be here any minute, I'm gonna let Vic know she's got nothing to worry about. Right now, it's easy for her to be jealous of Melbourne because he seems like a big brother to her. That should go away in the future when they're big kids and the two month age difference doesn't matter anymore. I really hope she can understand that and it prevents her from developing an anti-Christmas thing. Those are hard to get rid of, especially when you don't have three ghosts who can tell you about the past, present, and future.
"Thanks so much for the help, Sandy," I say.
"Ready to interview me now?" she asks.
"Yeah, let's go for it!" I shout. "You wanna do the honors, Ronnie Anne?" I ask while looking over at the girl I wish was born in this universe. I mean- Uhh- I got over it a long time ago.
"Sure," answers Ronnie Anne. "How's it feel to be both the only Texan and the only squirrel in the game, Sandy?" she asks.
Sandy answers with "It'll sometimes cross my mind just before a match starts. When it does, I get more motivated to win 'cause I need to do my home state and species justice."
Ronnie Anne's next question is "And do you ever wish you could fight in the matches without being limited to only a few moves?"
"All the time!" exclaims Sandy.
Oh! Did you hear that? Well, no you didn't, but it was the unmistakable sound of a gigantic cereal mascot stepping foot in front of a house with vampires living in it. You know what that means! Our boy Reptar has arrived! And he's not about the same height as Patrick like he is in the game. He's gonna be his canon size! "Melbourne! Victoria!" I shout. I wish I had thought to say her name first since that might cheer her up a little, but she's obviously not gonna need it anymore after she sees who's outside.
Oh, man. I just had a bad thought. What if this is building to a twist and it's not actually Reptar outside? Let's hope not.
Okay, we're good. The big green man himself just ripped off the roof. Well, that's not good, but we can worry about that later. If you ask me, Halloween is the perfect day for stuff like this to be appreciated instead of hated since it's kinda scary in a way.
"WEP RAR!" the twins shout in unison.
"Their first words!" my mom yells.
Reptar just took a baby in each hand and is now walking away with them. I don't know what he's gonna do, but I just know they're gonna love it. I wish you could hear the adorable little baby fanboy and fangirl squealing they're doing.
"And now, there's one more person who needs to be interviewed," says Ronnie Anne, surprising me. "That would be you, Sid," she goes on, making me want to hug her. "First question, are you still competing in the next Sid Invention Duel?" she asks.
"Absolutely!" I exclaim.
"And do you have a birth mark shaped like Abraham Lincoln on your foot?" Ronnie Anne asks.
For those unaware, there was an episode of The Casagrandes on Nick where the original me revealed she has a birth mark that looks like Abraham Lincoln. "Nope," I answer. We tried like 50, maybe even 500, methods to get the birth mark to become visible, but I just don't have one. It would be pretty weird that I did, being that Abraham Lincoln killed a bunch of people in my species. On that note, I have really been underappreciating how awesome it is that hearing the name Lincoln no longer makes me think of vampire death. I should really thank the boy next door for that sometime.
Another thing that makes me happy is she didn't ask me any questions about The Purple Heart Pain. That would've been so stupid. You know what else would be stupid? If, in one of my vlogs, a friend of mine got mad at me for the way I treat a person and convinced me I've gone too far and need to change my ways. I'm sure glad that's not gonna happen.
Happy Halloween, everybody!