BZBA | Jackie Sparkles
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beelzeburbia.bsky.social
BZBA | Jackie Sparkles
@beelzeburbia.bsky.social
180 followers 300 following 130 posts
Rob is a 27-year-old fighting game obsessed he/they with a tattoo of the echochrome figure on his upper left thigh. They are currently a 2nd Dan in beatmania IIDX, albeit of the HAPPY ANGEL Refugee variety.
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beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Also, thanks to local player (and Mystery Clash regular) FMD, the pot is now at $350, allowing for Top 4 payout! You don’t have to contribute to this any further, as I run this tournament for the enjoyment of the local community, but if you want to add to it, I wouldn’t mind it at all!
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
@travelingctrlr.bsky.social & I present the latest iteration of the much-beloved MYSTERY CLASH series at Balance Patch on DECEMBER 19TH @ 8PM!

💵 $350* pot!
👺 BOUNTIES!
🏅 Medals for TOP 4 (CB-style)!
🎥 TOP 4 streamed!

FREE TO ENTER!
REGISTER HERE: https://challonge.com/4thefansthefriendsthefreaks
In the background (with a vivid light filter and a light blue overlay), Jackie Sparkles wears a ushanka. Over him is hot pink text reading the following: “Traveling Controller & The BZBA Collective present the mystery event you’ve been training for… JACKIE SPARKLES’ MYSTERY CLASH IV THE FANS. THE FRIENDS. THE FREAKS.” At the bottom, it reads: “DECEMBER 19TH, 2025 $300 POT BONUS - MEDALS FOR TOP 4 - BOUNTIES APLENTY”
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Please come to the @bostonbluebeat.bsky.social (bi)monthly/local on Saturday for some #ArcSysSMS action that'll whet your appetite in ways that'll have you feeling thankful when it's all said and done!

Doors open at 2, SMS starts at 4!
$10 venue, $5 entry!
Come through!
November 6, 2025 at 12:12 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Sorry for the wait! Here are the results from last Friday’s #ArcSysSMS bracket at Balance Patch!

🏆 @lucyelise.bsky.social (Moon)
🥈 @tcurls.net (Venus)
🥉 Cat Fancier (Mars)
October 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Magicalgirlfrenzy(!) will soon be upon us, this Saturday, at @bostonbluebeat.bsky.social Beach Episode in Waltham, Massachusetts!

With 36 #ArcSysSMS players from the US and Canada, and a wide spread of talent across both pools, you definitely don’t want to miss the action!
A comic book-esque cover featuring Sailor Chibi Moon (civilian name: Chibiusa Tsukino) doing one of her signature poses on top of a pink background. From top-to-bottom, we have a variety of elements: On the top banner, we have the logo for SMS Con — the event-within-an-event that’s tied to Boston Blue Beat’s Beach Episode event — the words “Number 3,” “July 2025,” “$10.00 us,” and “$13.69 can.” Underneath that is the logo for the game this poster is promoting: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Jougai Rantou!? Shuyaku Shodatsusen (released for the Super Famicom on December 16th, 1994). To the right of all of that, is stylized, pink text reading “Magicalgirlfrenzy!”. On the main image itself, we have, from top to bottom, text reading “Sailor Chibi Moon,” “Chibiusa Tsukino,” “O/B (“organized by”) Boston Blue Beat,” “LD (logo design) SNESJW,” and “PD (poster design) Jackie Sparkles.” Further down, next to Chibi’s right arm, is the “bzba” logo and, across from that, is a box that typically holds a barcode, but, instead, holds a QR code for the tournament’s Matcherino link, as well as the red, Magneto-esque logo of Matcherino. On top of both of those items in the white rectangle are the words “DIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS.”
July 17, 2025 at 5:39 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Almost two months ago, I greatly disliked playing Asuka 120% Limit Over. Whether it was due to how the game felt or my inability to find a character that "spoke" to me, I just didn't like it in the same way that many others did.

Almost two months later, I win a medal in that same game. Wild.
A hand holds a silver and black medal. On it, from top to bottom, read the following: "2025 COMBO BREAKER FINALIST" The reverse of that same medal, reading, again, from top to bottom: "10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY" "All In Together at CB2025 Asuka 120% LimitOver 4th Place"
May 24, 2025 at 2:35 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
My third CB! I can't miss this event for the world!
A Black dude who still bites his fingernails occasionally holds up a black and green lanyard. On it, it contains a circular "CB" logo, adorned with leaves. Below the seal, it reads: "10" "A Decade of Dedication" Below that is the OP's tag, Jackie Sparkles. He says hi. To the upper right, a "25" is seen.
May 23, 2025 at 2:16 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Fiending for more Asuka 120% at Combo Breaker? Well, the BZBA Collective is gonna give you more in the form of a SP2 bracket on Saturday night at 9PM (CT)!

FREE ENTRY! SHINOBU! SILLY PRIZES FOR TOP 3! GOOD TIMES ALL AROUND! BYOC AREA!

Register here: challonge.com/tournaments/si…
A picture of the cover for Asuka 120% Special (Version 2) is covered with an orange tint. On top of it, from top to bottom right are the following: “The Black Dot Special A late-night Asuka 120% Special Ver. 2 bracket” “Saturday, May 24th, 2025 9PM (CT) BYOC Area Played on MiSTer TO’d by BZBA’s Jackie Sparkles” In the bottom right-most corner, there is a black dot, referencing the thing that distinguishes the two covers for Asuka 120% Special.
May 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
The Sailor Moon S bracket at Combo Breaker is looking mighty stacked (thanks, everyone, for entering)! To further encourage players to play their hearts out (and to sweeten the prize pot), we have decided to create a Matcherino (w/ special thanks to @chemicaljade.bsky.social)!
On the right, Sailor Moon is doing her classic Moon Tiara Attack pose from the anime, adorned in a Magneto-esque helmet fit to her face to the poster designer’s best ability — said “Magneto-esque helmet” is the logo for Matcherino. Below her right leg is her logo for Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Jougai Rantou!? Shuyaku Shodatsusen, a letter x (in this instance pronounced “cross”), and Combo Breaker’s circular “CB” seal/logo. To the left of her are the words “(Legal) tender and tiaras.” Below that is a QR code with the words “$150 Pot Bonus to be added soon!” The background is the Night version of the Crystal Tokyo stage from the aforementioned Sailor Moon S game, but in black-and-white.
May 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
If you're entering #ArcSysSMS @combobreaker.org, here's some important information for you to keep in mind!

Date: SATURDAY, MAY 24TH

Times: 12:00PM (CST) [Pool 1], 2:00PM [Pool 2], 4:00PM [Top 16]

Signups are still open at start.gg/ait2025 until May 21st!
A promotional poster for the Sailor Moon S bracket that'll be held at Combo Breaker, between the dats of May 23rd to 25th (or "Memorial Day Weekend"). On the top, it reads: "DON'T BE FURIOUS! GET LUMINOUS!" in red font in all caps. Below it, it reads: "Ever been bothered because you didn't understand why the person on Player 1 side won that throw exchange, despite the fact that you totally threw them first? Ever wondered why Neptune's crouching hitbox looks (and works) like that? Ever wished you could apply all of those oddly-specific techniques you learned over the months (or years) in a real, tournament setting? Well, you can do that! Join in the lunacy. Enter the competitive fighting game bracket created especially for you: BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILOR MOON S: JOUGAI RANTOU!? SHUYAKU SHODATSUSEN as part of COMBO BREAKER'S ALL IN TOGETHER COMMUNITY TOURNAMENT SERIES. It takes you around the universe to encounter the universe's best." Below THAT are, from left-to-right, height-ordered, Sailors Chibi Moon, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. In front of Mars and Jupiter are a black box with a white outline containing the game's logo, the words "Pool 1: 12:00PM, Pool 2: 2:00PM, and Top 16: 4:00PM," "(Check the AIT start.gg page for more details)," and the logos for both BZBA and Combo Breaker. Above Mars and Jupiter is a date in red: "SATURDAY MAY 24TH 2025"
May 13, 2025 at 5:09 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Okay, I can't hide it any longer: here's what the SMS @ AIT poster was referencing.

Oddly serendipitous, given all of the PBS talk, as of late.
Pictured here is a horizontally-aligned poster, advertising "3-2-1 Contact." On top, the poster reads, "DON'T BE FURIOUS! GET CURIOUS!" in big red font. Below, it reads: "Ever been bothered because you didn't understand how something worked? Ever wondered why some animals behave the way they do? Ever wished you could find out the secrets of nature and technology? Well, you *can* find out! Join in the discovery. Watch the TV science show created especially for you: 3-2-1 CONTACT. It takes you around the world to explore the world." Below that, a height-sorted assembly of kids and adults hold up a really chunky snake. In front of the backmost individuals, a black box with a white border contains the show's logo. Under that, it reads, "Every Weekday on your Public TV Station" and "(Check local TV listing for time)." Lastly, the logo for the Children's Television Workshop -- now Sesame Workshop, as of June 2000 -- is shown below the white-bordered black box.
May 7, 2025 at 6:38 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
"DON'T BE FURIOUS! GET LUMINOUS!"

Here's the poster for the Sailor Moon S bracket that'll be held as part of Combo Breaker's All In Together!

Sign up at start.gg/ait2025 (until May 22nd)!

Medals for Top 4! A poster you can sign! Fun times! Goofy (and cool) prizes! What else do I have to say?!
A promotional poster for the Sailor Moon S bracket that'll be held at Combo Breaker, between the dats of May 23rd to 25th (or "Memorial Day Weekend"). On the top, it reads: "DON'T BE FURIOUS! GET LUMINOUS!" in red font in all caps. Below it, it reads: "Ever been bothered because you didn't understand why the person on Player 1 side won that throw exchange, despite the fact that you totally threw them first? Ever wondered why Neptune's crouching hitbox looks (and works) like that? Ever wished you could apply all of those oddly-specific techniques you learned over the months (or years) in a real, tournament setting? Well, you can do that! Join in the lunacy. Enter the competitive fighting game bracket created especially for you: BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILOR MOON S: JOUGAI RANTOU!? SHUYAKU SHODATSUSEN as part of COMBO BREAKER'S ALL IN TOGETHER COMMUNITY TOURNAMENT SERIES. It takes you around the universe to encounter the universe's best." Below THAT are, from left-to-right, height-ordered, Sailors Chibi Moon, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. In front of Mars and Jupiter are a black box with a white outline containing the game's logo, the words "At Some Point during Memorial Day Weekend," "(Check the AIT start.gg page for more details)," and the logos for both BZBA and Combo Breaker.
May 4, 2025 at 7:25 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
On a related note: Fortnite Festival is a boatload of fun (and a fun thing to laugh at, with regards to the many goofy things you can see characters getting up to, mid-song). I can see myself checking in on this every now and again to get that DJMAX-like fix I crave often.
This image is a doozy: Three-quarters of the screen are filled with characters on pedestals. From left to right: Sabrina Carpenter (obscured by the song stats for Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With The Flow"), some...unicorn fella, another Sabrina Carpenter (getting really jiggy with it), and Ariana Grande forming a "W" with her fingers. The remaining, left-most quarter of the screen shows a score, some gold stars, and options.
April 9, 2025 at 7:50 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Sabrina Carpenter de Leon de Colde. (Listen, I was going to shoehorn both of my fighting game references into this post one way or another.)
A screenshot of the various pickaxes I have acquired in my time playing Fortnite. Oh, and Sabrina Carpenter with two rapiers (the "Hot Pokers" in question) and a black, shadowy cape is there, too (on the left).
April 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Where I post from:
A screenshot from the 2022 video game, Gran Turismo 7. In it, the OP is in Brand Central, specifically browsing the splash page for the in-game Ford dealership. In a demonstration showcasing the prowess of those aforementioned Ford vehicles, a car passes by a building called... Freak's Store.
March 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Albany came by for Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and, with them, came a special guest!

However, this post is not about VF5 -- for these are Sailor Moon S results from last night at Balance Patch. Here they are:

🏆 @lucyelise.bsky.social (Moon)
🥈 @tamns0n.bsky.social (Mars)
🥉 @floatsfan.club (Jupiter)
The Top 3 picture of the Sailor Moon S bracket. From left to right, we have Winters (or Lucy), standing tall in a nice blue ensemble, masked up, and throwing up two peace signs (which, frankly, is what we need now more than ever). In the middle, leaning against the balltop of Tamn Son!'s stick, is a plushie of the Pop'n Music character, Pochiko, serving as a representation of the third placer, floats. The aforementioned Tamn Son!, owner of the pink and purple adorned Razer Panthera that Pochiko is leaning on (and the bracket's runner-up), is locked into a project in Adobe After Effects on their laptop that was due at midnight. We are proud to report that Tamn Son!, did, in fact, turn it in on time and got a 100% for the rough draft assignment. The writer of this post could never.
February 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Bonus, because I can't believe that I forgot about this absolute banger that I saw over the past summer:
The theatrical poster for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. You may also know this one by its memetic name, "The One With the Whales."
January 31, 2025 at 8:07 PM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
Introduce yourself with four movies!
Sailor Moon R: The Movie: Promise of the Rose I Married a Witch "IIIIIIIIIII love you truly/TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-LYYYYYYYYY!" Life is Beautiful(!) Oh, what I would give to see this again for the first time... Innocent Blood ...is definitely a 6.5/10 movie, but it goes so hard.
January 30, 2025 at 6:46 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
(con't)
Everything just sucks, and it will continue to suck, but I will laugh through it anyway, for I cannot bring myself to cry about it (though I’ve tried — guess I’m as dead inside as I think I am). I just want to do something in journalism (that’s what I went to school for, after all). I just want to help people and do something that makes me feel good. I want to continue my work as a Tournament Organizer. I also want to do things in Event Planning and Organization! And, above all else, I just want to do something that allows me to do that thing, but also gives me enough of a work-life balance to do all the things that I already love. If I move away, I will feel extremely guilty about leaving the New England Mystery Game scene behind with no one to run mystery games on Mondays. And, honestly, the less I say about leaving New England Sailor Moon S/Hype AF Fighting Games (and BBB, to that end) behind, the better — those losses would break my heart. All of them are my family away from home. Furthermore, and I’m going to get vulnerable here, I still live with my parents (and it’s a miracle they haven’t thrown me out to find my own way). They are both older folks (with one a few years away from 70 and the other, the aforementioned “pops,” turning 74 this year) and I am eternally grateful to them…but it just scares me knowing that my chances to “make them proud” (beyond graduating college) are dwindling, and I don’t want to have that bite me in the ass. I’m just stuck and super, super frustrated with the general course of my life, is what I’m effectively saying in far more verbose terms. I should’ve done so many things different [sic] regarding the aftermath of the layoff (i.e. putting stuff away in savings, not getting too cocky about finding a new job in a snap, and a whole lot of other things), is also what I should be saying. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for hearing me out. I love you. Oh, and one more thing — a piece of advice: Never work for a charter school. If they lay you off, they’ll give you a nice little jar full of empty platitudes (and severance pay, but the jar is what you’ll remember for how lousy it is after being called “an excellent worker” and an “inspiration to the kids.”)
January 29, 2025 at 1:06 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
"Life, Recently (in Written Form)"

TW for a lot of things, but namely (threats of) self-harm and a whole lot of depressing thoughts surrounding the wall of frustration in my life. Read with caution! I just feel like I should really tell people what I've been feeling/going through. That's just fair!
Last night, while I was paying my venue fee at Game Underground for the fighting game weekly, a certain person who I love dearly (the current “face of GU,” as it was) asked me a question — one that many people have asked me a lot through the years: “Are you okay?” While I did say “yes,” as I was, in that moment, doing fine, she — in all her infinite wisdom — called my bluff. If anything, she’s the only one to consistently do so (outside of some of my BlazBlue-playing friends, you know who you are). In doing this, she gave me a skeptical look. I wanted to keep up the facade that I was okay, but, y’know, it’s pretty hard to lie to someone who has, more or less, watched you grow up since your sophomore year of high school (more specifically, since mid-2014). So, I gave it up and straight up told her that, yes, things are not good right now. In fact, let’s extend “right now” to “the past almost two years.” I would say that this fall from grace started back in June of 2023, upon getting laid off from my last full time position as a humanities tutor at a charter school as part of an effort to “restructure the tutorial department.” To me, such a thing was…understandable, I think. The tutorial department were, by that point in time, glorified babysitters and we weren’t exactly doing a whole lot of “tutoring,” outside of independent reading time and pulling students out of hectic classrooms into less hectic environments. In retrospect, the layoff came at a perfect time for me, honestly. The job was beginning to feel stagnant, as the kids were not improving behavior-wise, and they sure as hell weren’t improving much on the academic end of things, either. As the old adage goes, it was not too dissimilar to drawing blood out of a rock, day after day. But, if there’s one thing I miss about that position, I would say that I enjoyed building a rapport with the many students that I helped out in my tutorial sessions, many of whom I miss dearly, even today. Sure, much of the experience was sifting through the rough to find the diamonds, but, my, what diamonds they were (and still are, I’m sure, with many of them now in the latter half of their senior years). Oh, yeah, I probably shouldn’t have said that the layoff “came at a perfect time,” as it was dropped on me not too long after I came back from Combo Breaker 2023 — one of the happiest weekends of my life (and a high school dream realized from back in the UFGT days). After the school year ended, I basically enjoyed my summer as originally planned, but once late August rolled around, I would start the job search. Oh, what a foolish mistake that was. As of right now, I’ve been holding on by a thread with regards to the whole “maintaining some kind of income” thing, namely through doing the occasional part-time gig and trimming down the excess amounts of things that I own (as in, selling them to places and hoping for a good return). I could go back to streaming on Twitch (outside of doing it for Boston Blue Beat, shout outs to them), but I just don’t know what I’d do outside of playing random games and yapping about goodness-knows-what. I basically have an Affiliate status that’s been collecting dust for three years (and I’m sorry for abandoning it and not finding the time to pick it up again)! My passion for writing is at an all-time low, as is my passion for reading comics/graphic novels and reviewing them like I used to in college. My passion for video games and music, though? Stronger than ever, maybe. But, going beyond the financial, I just…really hate my life, if I’m being completely honest. With some exceptions, my life is pretty much static concerning the things that I do in it: Mondays, I go to GU, run Mystery, and play IIDX for 30-40 minutes. Wednesdays, I anxiously wait to stream UNI2 for BBB with minimal issues on the connection/performance front (it has been going well so far). Fridays, I go to Balance Patch (“BP” hereafter) and enter BBCF and whatever the monthly game is, and run Sailor Moon S (which I enjoy very much). Saturdays, I either attend a BBB offline monthly (and enter BBCF/run SMS) or I go play D&D with my friends. Sprinkle in the job search on as many days as I can fit it in and you get something that resembles the life that I truly lead — it’s not as glamorous or as carefree as it once was, nearly two years ago. Sure, I may have a 3rd place medal in the game that I love traveling around the New England region (and, in some cases, namely in May, other parts of the country) with, but even hardware can’t fix the pain that I feel in my heart and in my mind every day. For many days and many nights, I have dreamed of one day offing myself ([pulling a Superman] in front of an oncoming train, [having my head asplode], [oh-dee-ing] on the cocktail of medications I take, etc.) and, quite frankly, I’m surprised that I haven’t yet, especially with all of this news going around in my country. I mean, yeah, it was never great to begin with, but goddammit, man, things were way better than this! I feel like I’m running out of time and even though I’m just 27, I think that my days might as well be numbered. I’m still learning how to drive (but can’t bring myself to open and take notes on the damn manual). I’ve rarely gotten to go on adventures (beyond visiting family and taking that yearly trek to Illinois. It also sucks that I haven’t had a use for my passport yet). I’m still struggling to find a full time position in my own region (to the point where I’ve been looking for jobs in Montreal and Illinois and anywhere else that isn’t New England, because unless you’re someone who works in the healthcare industry, have a (computer) science degree, or do things pertaining to education, you’re not getting jack shit outside of retail, and that’s just how I feel and that’s probably how it is). I’m still wondering if there is a place for me anywhere beyond Massachusetts. (There probably is, in the form of Rhode Island, the state of my father’s birth, shout out to pops, but that’s not going to help much outside of visiting.) I would love to move, but with what car (and with what money)? I would love to go back to college (if only to drown out the pain of this current presidential cycle, much like I did back in 2016-2020, but, again…) with what money? And, really, with what plan? Do I go back for a degree in education? Sports broadcasting? A different kind of writing? Environmental Science? I would love to say another one of these to complete the “rule of three,” but, with what else to say? Within the past few weeks, my stalker from college sent me another friend request on Facebook (who I fucking despise with every fiber of my being for being such a bigoted, gun-loving, mustachio’d piece of human garbage), my creative partner (and one of my closest friends) is getting confrontational/acting belligerent with everything that moves (including a mutual friend of ours, who has an incredibly busy job — something they can’t grasp), and I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that my human rights (on several fronts) are being eroded away at speeds previously thought to be impossib…
January 29, 2025 at 1:06 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
IIDX posting on my Bluesky account, commence!

Shout out to the RANDOM option. It makes a whole lot of clunky charts less so (especially from earlier Styles).
Man discovers the Random option, turns a FAILED result into a CLEAR on one of those virkato tunes that IIDX is known for. Man continues to make use of the Random function, and AAAs "BAD BOY BASS!! (dj Remo-con MIX)" by hitting the AAA threshold exactly (with 832 points). "Tomorrow Perfume," a thorn in this user's backside, has finally been conquered with the power of the RANDOM option. It is a 6 on Normal. Make of that last sentence as you will. Here's another picture of someone realizing that RANDOM is a good and valid option, actually. Pictured here is the results screen for the song "YAKSHA," which this user previously failed a year (or two) ago. During tonight's quest to clean up their Failed folder in the song wheel, they finally turned the FAILED into a CLEAR and trimmed off 41 misses from his previous best attempt. IIDX is a very good game.
January 28, 2025 at 2:35 AM
beelzeburbia.bsky.social
A breadboard, a whole lot of wires, and a LCD screen that says "Play SMS."
January 20, 2025 at 4:02 AM