#Sky's Sonic-verse

[the-sky-queen]

I love the idea of Sonic and Shadow being so similar but also complete opposites.

Sonic is publicly seen as loud and enthusiastic and Shadow is seen as quiet and closed off. But in private, when only the closest of their friends are around, Sonic is a lot more quiet and Shadow opens up a bit more.

When majorly stressed, Sonic completely shuts down and goes mute. But Shadow is likely to cry or scream.

Sonic's not big on touch except in special situations. Shadow craves touch, but only from those especially close to him, and only refuses it in the most stressful of situations.

Sonic gets a big family. Shadow gets a relatively small one.

Both are competitive, stubborn, and always do what they think is right.

They're reflections of one another.

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: The Funkin' Crew

Origin: Friday Night Funkin' (most of the group); VS Sky (basis for ErrorSky)

"Benjamin Miku here! Let's get into action!" - Benjamin Miku/Boyfriend

"Aww, yeah! That's how you do it!" - Grace Dearest/Girlfriend

"I already lost one iteration of my best friends, and I'm not going to let another meet that same fate." - Pico N. Grounds

"It makes no sense for me to be held by the shackles of my past. I have friends who need me in the present AND the future!" - ErrorSky

The gang from Philadelphia; an aspiring music artist, a daughter to a demon family, a ginger-haired bounty hunter, and a fangirl of the formermost. Each of them have had their major points in history, and here in IAB! is no different. However, these aren't entirely the same Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Pico and Sky fans have grown to appreciate over the years. This story focuses on an entirely new group.

The important point that kickstarted their new story was the events of Mario's Madness, which led to the deaths of Boyfriend and Girlfriend at the hands of Ultra M, and Pico being stuck wandering in the haunted cartridge until he came across some strange being that reset the ENTIRE FNF universe and created a new iteration; Dimension FNF-NEW-2023.

Right away, there are some changes; the counterparts of Boyfriend and Girlfriend are vastly different, being dubbed "Benjamin" and "Grace" respectively, and it's through this that gives Pico a new connection to them. He just wanted them to be together in this timeline, too, and cared very much about their wellbeing. Granted, Benjamin did date Pico for a bit during high school, though they broke up for Ben's safety after the school shooting.

Speaking of that attack, Pico had remembered meeting his counterpart from Dimension DS-2022, and took a hint from him; he went straight for Cassandra to ensure lives could be saved from the shooting, and thanks to that, Pico had less of an interest in professional work than he once did. As it happened, he was the only one whose memories remained intact after the big reset.

In this universe, quite a bit had changed. Benjamin and Grace were both instead high-school students, and though Benjamin lacked the very high levels of bravery his original self did, he's still done his best to tackle the challenges laid before him. He's also more careful around asking people to sing with him, and holds off if that person isn't in the mood for it.

Benjamin and Grace's families were also bigger in this new universe. Taking a page from MizanPloz's Genderswaps mod and other mods, their families include parents (fresh ones in Ben's case), siblings (including their younger "genderswap" counterparts, Kaity and Chris) and cousins. And the two even made new friends out of those they had singing matches with, which Pico really enjoyed seeing.

As for ErrorSky, she ended up coming into the new universe as an accidental anomaly, and found herself admiring Benjamin like most iterations of Sky would admire their Boyfriends. Predictably, it backfired in her face, but she came out of it not wanting to intrude on Benjamin's love life. Unfortunately, she became a prime target for the monster known as Toxinfect, but with help from one of the other victims of his wrath, she overcame the monster and guaranteed her escape, even reconciling with Benjamin and Grace afterwards.

During that same time, the Corruption struck Philly, courtesy of the Lemon Demon, though it lasted two weeks in total, and unfortunately for the Monster, it grew in sentience and soon betrayed him. Thankfully, Benjamin, Grace, Pico and their companions were all able to fight off the virus and get rid of it. And better still, they got on Daniel Dearest's good side permanently thanks to this. If Agent Blueballs' foothold on canon events were to apply here from Funkinverse, then the Corruption is their shared canon event.

After both these events, ErrorSky became besties with Benjamin and Grace, preferring to remain at a friend level to make up for her prior advances, though has been blushy in Grace's presence as well as Benjamin's. It's sometime after that the blasted cartridge incident came back, this time in the form of a disc with Mario AND Sonic horrors within. This time, they avoided death, freed SHM from the confines (who was Victim #1, or "Madeline") and overpowered Xenophanes, who was the REAL mastermind behind it.

Once that was all said and done, the four discovered the path into the Errorverse via an interdimensional portal. Thanks to going through it, they ended out aging down into teens, like Nitro and his siblings before them. Thanks to this, they ended up becoming more involved in the quests of those in this dimension; helping free the Literature Club girls from their game for good, Benjamin giving a kid dubbed "AE M." companionship (and leading to them becoming boyfriends), fighting off evil corporate businessmen and sentient viruses, and further expanding Benjamin's music scene overall.

Speaking of that, the influence of Funkin' culture has happened to be part of the multiverse's music scene, even if it's not to everyone's tastes. And it just so happens that it seems to be popular in Dimension MP-2021, especially with OMT!Tails. It's to the point where, when CR!Sonic told him to keep calm about the wall-clinging in One More Hero, he did some of the beatboxing from "Fresh" to keep him steady. Of his composed songs, of course, Benjamin isn't too proud about "Really Happy" from Sunday Night, considering its nature and the awful screen-shake effect it caused.

This later leads into More than One Universe, the point where Benjamin and his crew are brought into the events via the Errorverse link. Through this, they each lent a hand in apprehending the villains that had leaked through into the OMT universe. During this time, however, Benjamin almost fell victim to demonic possession from the Puhoi curse, with three outcomes; him escaping solo with Soul BF, him losing and branching into becoming Bently, and, in the case of the scenario post-EV-rewrite, Nitro interfering before it can hold for long.

After the end of it, Benjamin was happy to sign an autograph for OMT!Tails, since the kid was a pretty big fanboy of him, and EV!Sonic saw quite the potential in him, since Benjamin was an angel in this shared universe. The following day was when Pico finally came clean to Benjamin about the timeline reset, which he took pretty well, all-in-all. And that Christmas, he met Soft Benjamin (a younger incarnation) for the first time, he, the Mikus and Dearests gave the Fairests their karma and prompt arrest, and he decided to adopt Softie into his family, which the kid was really happy about. It's through Softie that he got to meet his other counterparts from other universes (like Neo, B3, Minus, B-Sides, D-Sides and Arrow Funk).

Amongst other things, he has also been taking good care of Evan from FNF: Childhood Memories, and helps babysit him each Sunday in his free time, the time they spend together reigniting some of Benjamin's childhood memories. Since Evan and Holly obviously aren't suited for combat, it's why neither actually appear in the base stories, as I've planned to instead feature them in more casual slice-of-life storylines to tie in to the mod while work on it continues.

Sometime after this was when The X struck during one of Salty's crusades, and the attack left Sunday, roommate of Carol and good friend of Ben and Grace, with protanopia, meaning they can't see red anymore. When Cam (Agent Blueballs) tried to recruit Benjamin into the Funkin' Society using Kenji as association, this backfired massively, and due to Benjamin's well-respected position amongst the Boyfriends, this quickly earned Cam even MORE ire amongst counterparts across the multiverse), including from the original Soft Pico.

After The X was successfully detained by the Quill Society, which took more work than you'd think despite him being weaker by the events of IAB!, EV!Sonic approached Benjamin for a potential place in the Quill Society, which he accepted, though was confused about.

As EV!Sonic explained later, Benjamin was offered this place due to a mix of him being an angel, him sporting the ECHO ability to keep pace with hostile villains, and indirectly hailing from a SEGA property thanks to his ties with Hatsune Miku. These were enough to give Benjamin his position in the group, and he was able to increase his connections through it. ErrorSky also joined in, having built her own community with other Skys. That said, she dislikes Miko a LOT, due to her being an internet jerk.

As for Pico, his quest to ensure a better future for his friends paid off, and he could get his closure for the original BF and GF in that their legacy would live on through his newer friends and their families.

To count any canon events each of the crew have gone through (relative to Blueballs' way of thinking in the Funkin' Society):

Benjamin:

He had dropped out of high school, though not immediately, only after the Corruption was gone to ensure it couldn't hurt any of his classmates.

Benjamin has three companions supporting him together; Grace, Pico and ErrorSky. The latter two are not committed relationships, which isn't a requirement.

The bad song Benjamin composed was "Really Happy", and he's actively not proud of it.

Benjamin has fought off the Corruption when it struck his world, and has never encountered or been claimed by any denizens of the Darkness.

Grace:

Like Benjamin, she only dropped out of high school in the aftermath of the Corruption.

Grace has Benjamin as her main supporting companion.

She encountered the Corruption much like her friends, though was never claimed by the Darkness.

Pico:

Pico dropped out of high school in the aftermath of the shooting incident, like his original self did, and moved to mercenary work. However, in the new timeline, it's only undercover work to get Daniel Dearest back on a good side.

Pico's supporting companions, as usual, are Nene and Darnell, though he's yet to make things click romantically with either.

Pico, as per his canon event, took a stand against the Corruption first-hand and aided in eradicating it after being freed. He also had to fight off one Darkness infectee and came out no worse for wear.

He lost the original Boyfriend and Girlfriend in his canon event.

ErrorSky:

As per tradition for Sky variants, ErrorSky had crushed on Benjamin in the past, though saw what she was doing was wrong.

Her parents died through her canon event, courtesy of Toxinfect.

Benjamin's top-selling songs:

A cover of Vocaloid song "Idol", deviating from his usual beep-boop singing act.

"Serendipity" from Vs. Radi and Lofie (ft. Lofie)

"The Division - Destruction of Boyfriend" (cover of his own sister's song; ft. Softie)

And as for a little extra trivia related to the bunch:

ErrorSky actively dislikes Miko and has gone to great lengths to vandalise her twisted social media acts for the sakes of others. She's also actively at odds with Faker Sky, those two being the ONLY Skies she hates.

Pico had been twice-shy around Nene, having once kissed her cheek to cheer her up, but feeling extremely embarrassed about it afterwards.

[galaxofmuses]

Human Jek be upon Sky!

"Hey! thanks for the tip! I appreciate it!" He just finished a song cover on a electric guitar and forms a grin at the pretty lady.

[teamskycomic]

Team Sky | Title Page

Welcome to my Sonic-verse fancomic: Team Sky! I hope you enjoy!

Prologue coming soon!

Website view

[northoco]

sonadow songs

a thing i’ve been thinking about recently is sonic songs that specifically resemble sonadow

now bare with me because i swear i have a point

the songs i think fit most are both adventure 2 songs, one of which is obvious and the other not at all as it’s a pretty underrated song!!

the obvious one is live and learn! the lyrics just scream sonic, and specifically him being the pov singing to shadow

sonic beats shadow around twice in the game, same for shadow beating sonic depending on if you play hero story or dark story — that second line to me is practically just sonic saying that. life is complicated, ‘tangling you up inside’. one moment the guys on the floor and the next hes towering above him, it goes both ways. right after that we have:

knowing roughly about the pain he’s dealt with and all he’s paid for, even if undeserved. however by following that grief and negative expectation from others he’s practically pulling himself further down, ‘putting him right back where he came’

then it hits with the live and learn which is obviously just the. you know. final kick. however the bridge sort of just beats you when you’re down because johnny what the fuck is this

this is just painful (in a sweet way). to me it’s sonic giving shadow that final hope. the entire rest of the song is pretty aggressive, kind of just yelling to live and learn and get over things but the bridge is such a gentle reminder of why he should do it in the first place. ‘hold on to what if’ aka the what if that shadow will move on from the ark and learn to live. that place sonic is referring to the line before is peace and home.

and then live and learn and shadow fucking dies lmao

but i mentioned two songs!! and that’s because the other song is shadows perspective which is somehow more miserable

this song is none other than supporting me for the biolizard, one of my probably top five sonic songs if not number one. i love it so much it’s so perfect

this song is pretty over looked. you hear it in the biolizard fight but you don’t really listen to the vocals. hell when i first played i didn’t even hear the vocals because i was too busy trying not to fall down the streams and slam my laptop in

the song, unlike live and learn, starts out gentle and soft, and only after the guitar picks up does the first line drop:

after all, it’s what shadow assumes is the final fight. it’s what he thinks is the last thing he needs to do to destroy the threat, hence the desperation.

the verse eventually comes, which could not start harder somehow

now, important. this song could be viewed as a song about maria and his final words to her before he moves on (which you’ll understand when i bring up the next lyrics) and that’s a perfectly good interpretation of it, and probably the intended one.

HOWEVER, it can still be interpreted as a song to sonic, and there will be more on that soon.

anyway, these lyrics are just so good and well sung. the line “i believe in my future, farewell to the shadow” is him accepting the idea of moving on once defeating the biolizard, and believing in what’s next to come via abandoning his past with the destruction of the ark.

‘it was my place to live, but now i need your hand’ the sibling/maria interpretation would be the fact maria died in what shadow thought was his place, and now he needs her support in?? i can’t exactly figure out the last line and it’s tie to maria— WHICH IS WHERE THE JOINT SONADOW INTERPRETATION COMES IN! it was his place to live, it’s his realisation and moving on of his grudges and self + outward hatred. he needs sonics help, and the thing that makes this more fucking painful is the fact it’s a FORESHADOWING OF THE SUPER TRANSFORMATION WHERE THEY REACH THEIR HANDS OUT TO THE SKY TOGETHER.

SHADOW TAKES HIS HAND METAPHORICALLY AT THE FIRST BIOLIZARD FIGHT AND LITERALLY AT THE SUPER TRANSFORMATION.

‘lead me out with your light’ and the line below it to me is what slowly underlines the tie to sonic. he spoke to amy shortly before this fight, and then went straight to sonic, being led out by his guidance to help save the world, the light that he was trying to destroy.

and then the fucking HOLY SHIT THIS PART

this is a straight follow up from the last line before. everything currently IS like an illusion to him, so much is changing and he can barely comprehend its reality.

‘i’ll be losing you before long’ WHICH PLAYS RIGHT AFTER THE LIVE AND LEARN RIFF???? it’s a strong foreshadowing of his death, and the person he’ll be losing is sonic!!! before long!!! it can also be mixed with maria. he’s losing both him and maria by destroying his home and what’s remnant of its present.

the last lines here are what really made me believe this was more towards sonic lmao. ‘i know you are supporting me’ as sonic is currently doing his part in the fight whilst shadow is facing the biolizard. he knows he’s supporting his decision to join his side, and to realise what the right path is.

anyway that’s about it uh shadria and other weirdos dni also go listen to supporting me

[dark-knightlight09]

inter-Dimensional hopper or (I-DH) Nine

Nine can travel to other universes. He got this power because of the amount of time he used the paradox prism and the energy he got from it. So he can travel across dimensions. He doesn't find out until he gets sick and wishes Sonic or anyone is there to take care of him. Unbeknownst to him, a portal opened up underneath him and sent him to the SCU Verse. The power is amazing, but it comes at a price. Other universe are colliding and are showing cracks. When he leaves a universe, that is when things get weird.

-----'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'-----

When (prime) Sonic sees the cracks, he freaks out because he doesn't wanna lose his friends again and rushes to Tails Workshop and sees his little brother looking at the sky shock as well.

Everyone in different universe are seeing the cracks and are scared and confused as to what going on.

Meanwhile, the eggmans are curious and want to know how this is happening it also giving them ideas.

-----'zzzzzzzzzzz'-----

I just love Interdimensional sonic the hedgehog universe meeting each other. Also NEW AU Yay.

[primroseprime2019]

Name: PrimrosePrime ❀❀❀❀❀

Nicknames: 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐺𝑒𝑚，ᒪITTᒪᗴ ᑭᖇIᗰᗴ, 🅟🅡🅘🅜, 𝔏𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔢

Age: 21 years old

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual, Lesbian, Polyamory, Demisexual, Xenosexual

Favorite Tv Shows: Transformers (Prime, Animated, Cyberverse, Earthspark and 2015’s Robots in Disguise), Star Wars Rebels, Gravity Falls, My Little Pony, Steven Universe, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, The Owl House, Lucifer, All American, Pokemon, Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, Miraculous Ladybug, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Stranger Things, Dragons: Race of the Edge and Defenders of Berk, Tales of Arcadia, Sonic Boom, My Hero Academia, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Lego Monkie Kid, Young Justice, The Sandman, Obey Me, Death Note, A Centaur's Life, Bob's Burgers

Favorite Books: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds, Lore, Divergent, Warriors, Chronicles of Narnia, A Monster Calls, Wings of Fire

Favorite Games: Five Nights at Freddy’s, Sky: Children of the Light, Switchcraft 3, Super Mario 3D World, Apex Legends, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Minecraft, Genshin Impact, Uncoven, Pokemon Go

Favorite Movies: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters, Avengers (Age of Ultron, Infinity War and Endgame), Godzilla and King of Monsters, Spider-Man: Into/Across the Spider-Verse, The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jigsaw/Spiral, Carrie, Shrek, The Last Unicorn, The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, How To Train Your Dragon 1, 2 and 3, Rise of the Guardians, X-Men, Ghost Rider, Descendants, Jurassic World 1, Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, Nimona, Split, Glass, Candyman (2021), Nope, Us, Kong: Skull Island

Loves: writing, drawing, reading, taking naps, making friends, stargazing, watching movies, painting

I am autistic and I support LGBTQIA+

I am a writer and I’m working on 55 chapter stories called Transcendants.

I ᵃᵐ 𝕒 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔣 ᙖY ᑎᗩTᙀᖇᙓ

☆☆☆ 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒰𝓃𝒾𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓈ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒫𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 ℐ𝓉’𝓈 𝒫𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒾ℴ𝓊𝓈 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 ☆☆☆

♱

WIPS: Transcendants: A Light in the Darkness (55/55)

Transcendants: Skyfall (55/55)

Transcendants: The Ghost's Curse (53/55)

Stars Colliding (5/30)

A Rose Among Thorns: (7/35)

Witch of the Moon: (6/60)

The Human Among the Elves: (6/30)

Curse of the Divine (3/?)

A Dragon’s Enemy (4/?)

Through the Spider-Verse (10/?)

[thegirlfromstationsquare]

1,2,16,25

For the OC ask game

Noelani because i haven't talked about her in a while

I like to imagine she and sonic tie the knot with their friends and family and a few other guests. It be a big party on the beach. Before that tho it's just with sonic and lani reciting their vows in private. They don't even exchange rings because they know they don't need physical objects to show how much they love each other. She didn't even want a ceremony but decided to do one anyways to not come off as a killjoy.

They'd adopt a couple of kids and name them Gale (as in gale force), Sirrocco (a type of Mediterranean wind) and Kahlani ("sea and sky" in Hawaiian)

Lani goes to school in the Movie verse in fact one of her arcs is learning to overcome her shyness to connect with other students. It's more vague in the games where she sometimes goes to school but otherwise teaches herself.

The reason I chose Noelani was to fit the stage she's based on (Emerald Coast), while also fairly common enough to showing that she's a normal girl. Also Noelani means "mists of heaven" tying into her hydrokinetic abilities and kind, sort of wispy personality. Her planned name Cameron wasn't interesting enough for Sonic aesthetic.

[sonicboomseason3]

Consider, if you will, in the spiderverse parody episode, sonic and shadow get into a really really petty and pathetic slap fight while simultaneously like fucking portaling across the sonic-verse or whatever. Like they’re having a cat fight while hurtling through a wormhole and it opens up into another dimension for a second and they’re sent hurtling through the sky in the fuckign like Splatoon au while still caught up in their business and then another wormhole opens up and swallows them. As a like 5 second gag we smash cut over to the void from sonic prime where prime!shadow is sitting on a rock and sulking and the boom!boys fly by screaming at each other and prime!shadow looks up with the most bewildered look in his face. I think that would be funny. All the other multiversal shadows would fucking hate the boom version.

i read the first half of this ask and thought "oh it would be funny if they end up in the void from sonic prime for like 5 seconds and the prime boys were right there to see these elongated versions of themselves kicking and biting each other and are just absolutely stunned at the sight but don't have time to process it before the boom boys disappear" so i guess that means i agree with you

[cassowariess]

The song nearly overwhelmed Michael Beinhorn. One week before he’d first heard the demo, the record producer attended the open-casket funeral of a close relative, and from the opening verse, the lyrics transported him back to a place of mourning. Each time he heard it, the feeling became more visceral than the last.

'Boiling heat, summer stench ’Neath the black the sky looks dead Call my name through the cream And I’ll hear you scream again'

Naturally, Beinhorn began to wonder what the hell the anthem’s author was thinking about when he wrote it. So he asked him. Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell’s response was simple: “Well, they’re just some words.”

That’s the contradictory beauty of “Black Hole Sun.” Soundgarden’s biggest, most enduring hit is deeply affecting. It’s also an inscrutable mishmash of clever phrases. The band’s late frontman never claimed it was anything but the latter. “Chris didn’t really like to have to do exposition on his lyrics,” lead guitarist Kim Thayil said in a recent interview.

The song is iridescent. Depending on your perspective, the colors change. It can be unsettling, uplifting, soothing, even scary. Or all of those at once. It’s a five-minute-and-18-second psychedelic journey—bifurcated and then ripped in half by a Thayil solo—that hardly resembles anything else in the Seattle band’s catalog.

“The best music has periods of tension and release,” Beinhorn said. “And ‘Black Hole Sun’ is … almost all tension. But it keeps dragging you along with it.”

That incongruity helped make it a mid-concert fan favorite. “There was just something about the sound of that song,” said former MTV VJ and programmer Matt Pinfield, who over the last three decades has grown close to the members of Soundgarden. “Even if it went on for six minutes you never felt like it was that long. It just had this incredible build.” Thayil saw it as the group’s “Dream On” or “Stairway to Heaven.” In other words, he said, “one where they hold up their lighters.” But sonically, “Black Hole Sun” didn’t exactly seem like a radio-friendly unit shifter. It blared, like a church organ on acid.

A quarter-century since its release, and two years after Cornell’s death, it remains as bizarrely evocative as ever. “‘Black Hole Sun,’” Beinhorn said. “You hear the words and you see it in your mind. It doesn’t matter who you are. You know what it looks like.”

[imichelle-l-rigby]

Reflections: Cillian Murphy’s Limited Edition

Season 3, episode 9

✨the penultimate episode✨

———————————————————————

*I am a music prof (predominantly classical vocalist), and I LOVE listening to Cillian’s music choices! That being said, sometimes I won’t like a song simply because of a vocalist (it’s a professional hazard - sorry!) 👩‍🏫

** The following are my own observations/opinions. We may not agree, and that’s ok! That’s what makes music fun! 😊

*** I wouldn’t say I’m well-versed in Cillian’s music preferences, but I do enjoy them (for the most part). I always wind up adding to my own playlists after listening to Cillian’s recommendations.

———————————————————————

I apologize in advance for the following “tired teacher” rambling 🙃

🎵Set 1 (Westward Bound - Music for the Sun King)

Westward Bound: nice, calm, and atmospheric. This is what he should put at the *end* to help you fall asleep 😴

Saturday Sun: a little soulful, a little jazzy, and very much perfect for the weekend. 😎

Music for the Sun King: it does have a reminiscent vibe of *the* “Here Comes the Sun King” by the Beatles, and I get that with the lower instruments. I like how this continually evolves.

🎤Talking Break

How did this (penultimate Ep) happen???

“Pepper in some highly uninteresting, obtuse facts”

🎵Set 2 (Southern Man)

Southern Man: oooh - I love her voice!!!

🎤Talking Break

“A tiny, tiny little piece”

🎵Set 3 (Trees Against the Sky -

Trees Against the Sky: what a fun, polyphonic/contrapuntal song!!!!! I love it!!

Aliante giallo.pt. 2: I’m sure it’s instrumentation, but I feel like I’m on vacation on the Mediterranean. 😎

Idag: while there’s nothing too shocking in terms of construction, this is just an enjoyable song!

🎤Talking Break

Cool that there’s Swedish music 👍

Cillian… your Italian needs some work 😬

I wanna explore more of Alessandroni’s work

It kinda bothers me that he doesn’t verify these facts 😅 I’m sorry - academia has ruined me.

I promise I thought that was my phone alarm going off! 😂😂😂😂

🎵Set 4 (heat on, lips on - Blood)

Heat on, lips on: so it’s interesting how many songs make use of “noise-like sounds” - that was a whole movement back in the ‘50s, and it was certainly an acquired taste. Nice that it’s seen in more than just film music or experimental music.

Zarubezh: is it strange to say this sounds like Lo-if meets urban soundscape meets studio vocals session? 🤔

Blood: such a wide variety of timbre - you’ve got mellow to bright represented!

🎤Talking Break

Interesting how it samples politicians. Not uncommon, but always interesting.

A poem!

Sketch IV_II: definitely get why it’s a “sketch”, as well as why it’s used as atmospheric sound to the poem.

Cillian loves a good pop song - noted!

And I guess his boys do, too!

🎵Set 5 (Someday - How Do I Know)

Someday: I feel like this song is used in so many ads 😅 I can’t disconnect this song from consumerism.

How Do I Know: this is a good pop song! Which is so funny because, once again, it’s a fairly monotone vocal line. The driving rhythms in the instruments is really what sells this.

🎤Talking Break

It’s cool that he knows the producers as well. I always forget about the producers, and I definitely shouldn’t.

🎵Set 6 (Won’t Give You Up - Rocket USA)

Won’t Give You Up: this is groovy in all the best ways. 😎 fun sounds, fun harmonies. And it’s also got a sax! 😂

CORRECT. nerves are important for performance! BE NERVOUS IF YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS!!!

Rocket USA: speaking of nervous, this makes me feel anxious with this background 😳

🎤Talking Break

Cillian’s performance nerves are backwards.

“But it ain’t”

🎵Set 7 (Twist - Dollars and Cents)

Twist: the popping sound kinda hurts my ears, but I also kinda love this. It has a good bit of layering going on, and it’s well-done. All the elements have a similar timbre, so the sonic construction really works here.

Dollars and Cents: why does this have a bossa nova feel to it??? Lots of interesting instances of dissonance/failure to resolve.

🎤Talking Break

Ask a reasonable question!

I’m with Sydney - the idents need an album.

“EP of dismal sounds”

“If ident mind” - omg is this a dad joke or just a dad pun? 😂

🎵Set 8 (Put It On - Holly Holy)

Put It On: I like this!! And I don’t think I realized it before, but Cillian must like sax AND island music.

Ain’t No Love: ooh this feels more early rock, but not! And I love larger vocal groups - they are so fun!

Morning Sun: a strange transition, but this is nice. It reminds me of “House of the Rising Sun” in a way because of the melodic contour. Large leap up, then small intervals back down.

Holly Holy: this sounds like something George Harrison would like.

🎤Talking Break

There’s an album called Clint Eastwood?!

Holly Holy by Neil Diamond. This is starting to make sense.

We’ve got Yorkshire Man!

I’m glad he explained sheep counting.

🎵Set 9 (Old Molly Metcalfe)

Old Molly Metfalfe: the descending ostinatos (mimicking the song proper) are intriguing, mysterious, and annoying. 😅 I do appreciate that he’s singing a cappella, but he goes under the pitch a little bit, particularly on the descending lines. Whoops - my voice teacher is showing. 🙃

🎤Talking Break

Oohhhh Catalonia…

🎵Set 10 (Paradís - Hyperballad)

Paradís: this feels like it has some modal construction rather than straight major/minor. And polyrhythms - y’all know that’s one of my favorite things!

Hyperballad: Björk is back! Idk if I said this before, but her vocal line is almost chant-like interspersed with repeated motifs.

🎤Talking Break

Nice… archive!

I’ve never heard Kate Bush’s speaking voice, and to everyone’s shock and surprise, it’s a lot like her singing voice!

🎵Set 11 (The Big Sky -

The Big Sky: this is a “pump you up” song - definitely gets you ready for the day! This is too energetic for a nighttime playlist, Cillian! 😂😂

🎤Talking Break

“It’s a total coincidence”

Ok, voice nerd here, but I love hearing him drop into vocal fry. That being said, it is a more taxing way to speak, so please use wisely. 😊

🎵Set 12 (The Storm -

The Storm (01-16-52): OK BUT YES TO EVERYTHING I AM IN LOVE 😍😍😍 It’s big band jazz meets city blues meets cool sound effects✨fave song of the episode✨

Bad Luck and Trouble (49-50): ok, did I speak too soon??? This is country blues (different from city blues because it’s a male vocalist and more rural sounding). ✨This might tie for favorite song✨

🎤Talking Break

Interesting final selections!

Just one more 😢

“Mind yourselves”

🎵Set 13 (Journey in Satchidananda -

Journey in Satchidananda: harp and sax should play together more often, that’s all I gotta say! Also, more music needs sitar. Way to go, this is 🔥🔥🔥

Twenty Trees: orchestral, percussive, and electric. The pulsing is a little strange, but I like this.

———————————————————————

Phew! Finally got this written! One more to go - I have mixed feelings about that, but onward we must!

Tag list:

@iammrsrogers @deliciousnutcomputer @mariamoonie @brownskinsugarplum76 @look-at-the-soul @kj-davis @neverroad @teapothollow @thepurplearmyposts @possessedmarshmallow

[the-sky-queen]

Apparently, hedgehogs hibernate in the winter and that is insanely cute. Now I'm just imagining all the hedgy characters being intensely sleepy for the entire season.

Sonic, Amy, Shadow, and Silver, all inexplicably ending up in a pile of blankets together and taking a nap for several hours. The four of them hogging all the food at Thanksgiving because of their instincts.

Sonic probably tried to fight Eggman like this one year early on and he ended up face planting into the snow and falling asleep. Eggman surprisingly took care of him until he woke up and now he doesn't attack during the winter months.

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Shared Universe Mentions

So just yesterday, I got praise from @robovoidfrog for the inclusion of their character in IAB!, and I'm honestly chuffed to get this feedback! So through this post, I just wanted to talk about the prospect of the shared universe idea between this project, Funkinverse and the original Spider-Verse trilogy.

NOTE: None of the mentioned points are canon to either of the projects outside of IAB! unless stated otherwise.

So first off, as you saw through the aforementioned post, The X not only had a run-in with this project's Quill Society, but he also seems to be the most remotely aware of the nature of film fics based around Spider-Verse. A lot of these indeed kick off with that world's iconic hero dying and someone else having to take their mantle for them, which leads them into quite the whacky crossover situation.

In this continuity, some things are different for the Funkinverse storyline due to what goes on with the base FNF universe here. For instance:

Boyfriend died long before through the events of Mario's Madness, and a universal reboot is what gave way to Benjamin.

Though, like in canon, BF's WI and Twinsomnia incarnations are generation counterparts in the base FNF universe, they're also separate counterparts in Funkinverse (Twinsomnia's BF being Brooke's little son).

Softie/Benjamin Fairest's counterpart in Funkinverse is separate to the one who's linked to IAB!'s FNF universe.

As Benjamin had befriended several of the other BFs and GFs (those from B-Sides, D-Sides, Neo, Minus, B3 and Arrow Funk specifically), any of those that are linked to the Funkin' Society are quick to understand after Cam's hostilities that Salty's in the right for aiming to save his legal guardians from The X and quickly switch sides against Agent Blueballs' ideals for canon events.

The Sky counterpart encountered by the Funkin' Gang is a more hostile variant compared to ErrorSky, who changed her ways after enough time.

As mentioned above, The X was successfully detained and neutralised by the Quill Society post-Funkinverse, but the fact that it took FOUR of its members to detain him, compared to just two (Pana and SS!Amy) detaining Speedy in his Chaos Emerl guise, speaks volumes of how he is indeed a threat on par with The Spot and Crimtake.

As Beyond the Spider-Verse isn't out yet, we still don't know whether or not The Spot was successfully beaten.

Sunday ending up with protanopia after their encounter with The X didn't sail well with Carol, Benjamin OR Grace, hence why Benjamin calls him out on it. To think it was all because of a little disagreement about breakfast foods.

The Childhood Memories universe canonically NEVER encountered the Corruption (which is apparently a canon thing, according to Agent Blueballs), and even if it did show up, it'd never effect any of the children's shows. Yeah, get lost, Pibby kids.

In the IAB! continuity, Lexi Robin ended up defecting from the Funkin' Society after seeing just how wrong everything is, and she was rooting for the Funkin' Gang and Benjamin's crew from the sidelines.

After Cam's clash with Benjamin, Soft Pico and Neo GF (their original counterparts) sided with Benjamin in a bid to get their boyfriends back out of the Funkin' Society and back to doing the right thing in general.

Identically to Funkinverse, there's a lone repeat customer that the therapist of the bunch dislikes. For Funkinverse, it's the Boyfriend/Keith from Earth-666 (I Can't Sleep) who Softie dislikes, whereas in IAB!, CD Alt Ending Sonic's disliked repeat customer is Charlie (the Sonic from the god-awful "Sonic 2 Lost Prototype" fangame). That said, he does try to bear with the guy's emotional turmoil, though the other major therapist of the Quill Society, Sara, seems to have caught on as well.

In terms of the Gangs' members having possible canon interactions:

Miles, Salty and OMT!Tails would definitely help learn from each other on how to better protect their respective worlds, and also find solace in the fact that they were all treated as anomalies at different points.

Peter B., Brooke and CR!Sonic would be the doting dads after their first outings and talk quite a bit about their sons/daughters.

Gwen, SNS GF and OMT!Mina would be a sort of comfort group to each other, considering their rough pasts and how broken each one is deep down. Gwen, having been most successful thus far, would definitely be the beacon of light girl the other two clearly need.

Noir, Toon BF and Mini Sonic would interact quite a bit about the Rubik's Cubes that they were given as souvenirs, and their different reasons for admiring the cubes.

Spider-Ham, Mobian BF and Mr. Needlemouse are definitely the kind to goof around with their cartoon antics. That said, with the lattermost being the biggest prick, he is prone to being called out for it by the other two, though barely giving a care about it.

Peni, Aloe and EX!Alice are the tech geeks of their respective dimensions and would love sharing their robot-building (maintaining, in Aloe's case) knowledge with each other.

Hobie and the D-Sides versions of BF and Mighty would find common ground in their ideals of screwing over intended consistencies and going their own way in life.

Pavitr, Golden BF and Black Knight Amy would have a way with each other being the naïve newcomers of their respective teams, and BK!Amy, harbouring the most experience, can share some tips for her companions.

The Sonias and CR!Manik would be happy to look after Mayday and Twinsomnia BF, due to them both being toddlers. Them being children sporting superpowers makes it click more.

Margo, Boom, Nicole and Nine could bond from their computer-based knowledge, and the majority could also aim to lift Nine's spirits if he's feeling a bit down.

So that's pretty much the basic gist of things. Another few tidbits:

Of those instigating the canon events, between four candidates: - Melanie / MP (the kid pictured below), despite having tried this himself, didn't do it willingly, and was forced into it by so-called "superiors" who got the short end of the stick big time from Nitro, even after their passing made it look like they could get away with it. - Miguel and Agent Blueballs, despite their cruel methods, at least have good intentions in mind for their approach, but go about it the wrong ways that alienate those around them. - Lost Memory Sonic is the only one of these four to stoop lower than the others would've done, and actually tries DESTROYING universes to maintain the status quo.

(Art will be updated when @mcgamejolter finishes it)

Of the major protagonists between the three universes, OMT!Tails is the only one that's rarely had to use his nanomachine gear to disguise his identity with. That said, he has used it when he visited the dimension of the Hues of Metal (Dimension HoM-2023), and the suit's robotic sheen actually FOOLED the robots. At least, until LM!Sonic was driven away from their base (apparently for, as Rocket Metal put it, being a stereotypical Australian tourist).

In the above point's case, Metallix is the one to catch out OMT!Tails when they're alone, though is ultimately overpowered... from OMT!Tails mentioning that a certain web series isn't officially canon, causing Metallix to go poof from existence. Again.

Despite being a supposed "canon event", Sonic.EXEs are surprisingly quite rare to see in universes that aren't meant to have them, like with the Corruption, Darkness and Venom Symbiotes. That said, the first documented case of one showing up in a Sonic universe in the Quill Society logs is in the Sonic Robo Blast 2 dimension (Dimension SRB-1998), a universe that doesn't even have a canon appearance of the demonic entity.

After "Rivals' Madness" (my unofficial expansion/sequel to Mario's Madness/Vs. Sonic.exe (RERUN)), several of the worlds encountered are their own universes, so the characters within are not solely bound as digital slaves to Ultra M, Xenophanes OR 2011!X.

Related to the above, pretty much all the major cast of FNF ended up dealing with the mess of Ultra M and Xeno in that one adventure, most of which put up with one enemy each; Sophie from Left Behind for Tankman, Mr. L, X.nes and Requital for Pico (the lattermost he fights again later), Stranger for Skid and Pump, OMT for Mommy/Martha Mearest, Awe's Chromophobiac for Senpai, and NMI (No More Innocence) for Daddy/Daniel Dearest.

There are alternate versions of Heaven AND Hell in the IAB! multiverse that aren't solely bound by the Christian bible's depictions. For instance, there's a genuinely friendly community in my version of Hell, which an alternate version of Benjamin dubbed "Keith" discovers after his passing.

Akin to @thestrongestjewel's Eepytale, the Frisk, Chara and Asriel of the IAB! continuity have been living together for some time, albeit independently from adoptive parents like Toriel. Kris also spends some time with them as the biggest sibling of the group, akin to their role in @akanemnon's Twin Runes series.

The full list of those lives lost to the "canon event" theory are as follows:

OMT!Sonic, OMT!Vanilla and OMT!Sally (OMT!Tails)

Uncle Chuck (Crossover Realm Sonic and Extraterrestrial Encounter Sonic)

Sonic and Tails (OMT!Mina)

Caffrin (EX!Alice)

Marc Smith (Nitro; he couldn't even avert this in the Rewritten universe)

Sonic (Antho and Mobiverse Tails)

Amy (ChaosIIUniverse Sonic and Sonia)

ALL of his friends (Hog)

Silver (Lost Memory Sonic)

Tails and Amy (CD Alt Ending Sonic)

The original Boyfriend and Girlfriend (via the original FNF universe's events that led to its rewrite)

Cassandra (both from a tactic Pico pulled to end his school's terrorism early in the new timeline, and for good following the Corruption's events)

Proto Man/Blues (alongside Wily, Bass and Treble) (Mega Man/Rock; these four lost their lives to a rogue Zero build who remains shut down to this day)

For now, that's all I can really discuss. Took me some time to think about all the stuff I could mention here. Until the next post, have a great day/night!

[sonicstorybook]

The King’s Champion

A SatBK AU where Shadow is the one sent to Camelot and Sonic is the doppelgänger- the one and only King Arthur!

Part: 3/4

Summary: Arthur the Hedgehog pulled the legendary sword Caliburn from the stone, and he became King Arthur, the ruler of Camelot. Shadow the Hedgehog appears in a flash of magic in the middle of his banquet hall, and he becomes Arthur’s problem. As the sun rises over the kingdom, a pre-dawn conversation between both hedgehogs also helps them reach... well, not quite a mutual understanding, but progress is progress!

(Shadow doesn’t know where he is, what’s going on, or why he’s there- but it doesn’t matter. He’s Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form, and he’s going to play this weird game by his rules.)

Contains: Pre-relationship/platonic Arthadow (Arthur the Hedgehog x Shadow the Hedgehog)!

Rating: G

Word count:   1,820

Note: I figured out the issue! The new post editor. C,: Back at legacy and no word limit- but I’m going to split the last part into another post so I can make another lil chapter header image ahaha.

Also, other characters introduced this part:

Sir Gawain is Knuckles the Echidna! Sir Lamorak is Jet the Hawk! Sir Kay is Scourge the Hedgehog! Sir Gareth is Mighty the Armadillo!

“Sire!” Well, more like broken open, as Gawain’s armored fist tears through the solid wood easily. (Arthur makes a mental note to get the tower and the door repaired.) The knight of the sun runs up to him, a worried frown darkening his face, “Are you well, my lord?!”

“I'm great!” Arthur tries to keep his composure, but he’s still energized from the unexpected adventure. Lamorak, his newest knight, is the first to follow after Gawain, followed by more of his knights. Kay is the very last one through the door, looking bored and unconcerned as he picks at his sharp teeth. Typical. His brother didn’t care about things outside of his area of responsibility, and he knew Arthur could take care of himself. 

Arthur gives his knights a reassuring smile, gesturing at them to lower their weapons, which most do with varying levels of reluctance. Lamorak, notably, does not, but the hawk is too hungry to make a name for himself to ever take a passive role. Most of his other knights seem content to let Gawain take the lead, “Shadow just showed me the most marvelous trick with the wind, ‘Wain! It was like a dream-”

“Is that so?” Gawain glances at Arthur, scanning him quickly for visible injuries, before turning his attention to Shadow. He puts himself between the hedgehogs, standing in front of his king as he eyes Shadow warily, “Where is your cape? Did this churl take it?”

Arthur sighs deeply as Gawain doesn't see him. His knight noticed his symbol of authority was missing, but Gawain didn’t notice the brightness in Arthur’s eyes or the genuine smile on his face. A true warrior and protector, so focused on the potential threat to the crown that he doesn’t realize the crown is fine. Actually, the crown is better than he has been in a long time.

“I’m a hedgehog,” Shadow answers Gawain defiantly with a chilly glower of his own. 

“And what do I want with a rag?” Shadow crosses his arms over his chest, a sign of dismissive self-assurance that has Gawain bristling. Only someone very brave or very foolish would dare face Gawain when the sun is so high in the sky, and Arthur isn’t sure which one Shadow is as he keeps antagonizing the knight of the sun, “Your king is simply careless.”

“How dare you!” Gawain takes an aggressive step forward, slicing the air with his hand in his outrage. Some of his other knights react poorly to the comment, too, making sounds of disagreement as their hands rest on their weapons threateningly. (It’s a pity Guin isn’t there. She’s mastered the art of laughing in her eyes while keeping her expression prim and proper, and she would have undoubtedly agreed with Shadow’s assessment. At least Lamorak, still so new to knighthood and not yet versed in the ways of the court, guffaws as his beak widens in an amused smile that makes Arthur feel like he’s more than just a king.)

“Do not speak to him so familiarly, imposter!” Gawain demands angrily, circling Shadow warily.  In his haste, the knight of the sun did not bring Galatine with him, but his armored fists and legendary strength are formidable enough on their own.

“Imposter?!” Shadow echoes back, offended, baring his teeth in a snarl. He matches Gawain step for step, quills bristling up angrily, “Me?!”

“You may look like Lancelot, but you cannot fool me!” Gawain cracks his knuckles, and stretches his shoulder, telltale signs he’s getting ready to fight, “I will not allow you to try and steal Lancelot’s place! Just like you took the king’s cape, no doubt! You are undoubtedly seeking to replace him as the Queen’s champion!”

“Gawain…” Arthur calls out wearily, knowing that now that he’s worked up, the echidna won’t listen to anyone- not even the king, “He didn’t take my cape, the wind did.”

Gawain, predictably, ignores him since his attention is glued on Shadow.

“You have Lancelot’s face, but nothing else!” Gawain reaches back and lunges forward, fist first. Shadow jumps out of the way, but the force of the wind nearly knocks Kay off of his feet, “You don’t have his skill!”

“Kay-” Arthur starts to call out to his foster brother, but the green hedgehog waves him off irritably as he dusts off the front of his robe.

“His grace!” Gawain roars, throwing another punch Shadow skillfully avoids, although the stone floor isn’t so lucky. Debris flies into the air as several cobblestones burst with the force of the impact.

Shadow doesn’t dodge the next punch so much as he disappears from where it was aimed. “And none of his honor- Huh?!”

Gawain only has a few moments to look confused before Shadow appears behind him in a flash of energy. The hedgehog’s eyebrows are drawn together tightly in a ferocious scowl, and in the blink of an eye, Shadow kicks the knight in the back of the head. 

Gawain’s helmet takes the brunt of the impact, metal meeting metal with a hollow clunk, but the force of it still sends the echidna flying face-first into the ground. It’s deathly silent as everyone seems to hold their breath, surprised and not sure how to react.

Shadow kicked Gawain in the back of the head.

Gawain shakes his head, looking at Shadow over his shoulder with a bewildered expression. The serious hedgehog glowers back at him, half-crouched down like he’s ready to continue the fight. Time has come to a standstill in this long, quiet moment.

It’s not funny that Shadow kicked Sir Gawain of Orkney, knight of the sun and a proud son of Camelot, in the head.

Gawain’s temper and hostility make sense- he’s worried about Lancelot. He sees a stranger with his best friend’s face and immediately assumes it’s Shadow’s doing. Quite a reasonable assumption, given Lancelot’s mixed experiences with magic. Even worse, Shadow is with Camelot’s king now, and is too dangerous an unknown to leave unchallenged. Gawain was simply getting carried away while trying to protect those he loved.

Shadow, for all his stoic indifference, is disoriented and frustrated. He doesn’t understand his new social environment, or realize how his words and actions are seen as provocative and insulting. Well, initially anyway. When Gawain unfavorably compared him to Lancelot, the echidna pushed on the still tender wound of his self doubt. Naturally, Shadow lashed out to protect himself and assert himself as powerful and capable by his own merits.

It’s not funny at all, in fact, it’s serious- Arthur only has moments to think of a suitable solution that keeps Gawain from being embarrassed, mollifies his knights, and somehow protects and restrains Shadow all at the same time. And yet laughter bubbles in his chest because Shadow kicked Gawain in the back of the head for calling him something other than ‘hedgehog.’ Just like he promised he would.

“Arthur?” Kay asks from his side in a moment, although he doesn’t look particularly concerned. His brother has a habit of sniffing out trouble and getting in the midst of it, no matter the collateral damage. Kay’s sharp teeth are pulled into a smile, blue eyes glinting with mean delight, which means he found this just as amusing as Arthur did, “Are you laughing?”

Of course his brother would use this opportunity to try and drag him into this, and make Arthur the object of ridicule instead! Kay’s sense of humor is as sharp and deadly as his green quills, and always pops up at the most inconvenient time.

“Of course not!” Arthur regains his composure quickly, laying a hand against Kay’s shoulder with a strained smile and a subtle glare to convey his annoyance, “I was choking in surprise!”

Kay, as expected, doesn’t look the least bit regretful, shrugging his brother’s hand off with a flippant wave. With a low sigh, Arthur makes his way to where Shadow is standing and Gawain is getting to his feet. He slips back into his royal persona like a glove, “Splendid! I asked you to impress me, Shadow the Hedgehog, and you have not disappointed!”

Arthur claps his hand on Gawain’s back, giving his knight a friendly shake, “Rare are those who can catch Sir Gawain by surprise, and rarer still those who can land a single blow! Particularly when the sun is casting her full blessing on him! You have proven yourself, and I will grant your boon!”

“A test.” Gawain brushes some dust from his pauldron, moving his arm in such a way that his rippling muscles are in full display. The echidna eyes Shadow with distaste, forgetting himself and demanding an answer from Arthur rather than asking, “Boon? What boon?”

Arthur lets it slide with great relief, elated that Gawain readily accepts the explanation without further questioning, “The boon of being given the opportunity to prove his worth in skill of arms, noble deeds, and succor to those in need.”

It’s not an uncommon request, in fact, many of Arthur’s current knights have asked for this same boon. Gareth the Armadillo seems to be particularly moved by this request, likely remembering his own path to knighthood. He exchanges a glance with Gawain, pointedly relaxing his posture as if proving to his older brother that there was no need for hostility. Several other knights follow Gareth’s lead, willing to give Shadow an opportunity to prove himself after his impressive demonstration against Gawain. 

Arthur feels his shoulders begin to relax-

“Strange,” Kay comments airily from the side, buffing his claws against his vest. His eyes are calculating and cold, scrutinizing Shadow in a way that leaves Arthur increasingly nervous. His brother’s voice is cloyingly sweet as he asks, “My King usually extends this boon to every hopeful, young squire who stumbles through the doorway… Not getting stingy, are you, Wart?”

“Sir Kay,” Gareth gives the green hedgehog a disapproving frown, voice cool but calm, “You would do well to remember your place and to hold that sharp tongue of yours.”

His ears twitch as the armadillo smiles in Shadow’s direction, “This fellow does not strike me as patient and forgiving as our king.”

“Hear, hear!” Someone calls from the left, setting off a volley of snickering that has Kay’s quills bristling in annoyance. Arthur does wish his brother would speak a little less loudly and boldly so the target on his back wouldn’t be quite so big. 

“Tch,” Kay sucks air between his teeth dismissively, biting his thumb in Gareth’s direction with a scoff, “Perhaps this Shadow’s request was just as pathetic as yours, Beaumains-”

“Kay!” Gawain comes in defense of his brother, looking over his shoulder at Kay in obvious warning. Much to the armadillo’s chagrin, who felt his ‘big brother’ weighing in on his disputes discredited Gareth’s own deeds and reputation. Gawain would answer back hotly, and this is would devolve into unnecessary family spat- 

“The King’s Champion.”

[nights-nonsensical-ramblings]

Sticks continues to entertain me and i want to see her reaction to all the crazy things in the game verse that would fit right at home with one of her conspiracies.

Knuckles living on a floating sky island spending all his time guarding a mystical ancient rock.

Seven other gems that grant special abilities.

A giant water monster destroying a city.

project shadow.

Rouge the literal government spy.

a transforming robot going round copying peoples abilities.

Physic hedgehog from the future .

Princess from another dimension who can control fire.

Sonic, shadow and silver kill a time god.

that whole thing unhappening.

alien invasion.

the entire planet breaking to pieces.

There's a god in the middle of the planet

Sonic becoming a werehog

magical colourful aliens

multiple planets being chained together.

being flung into a time void.

meeting their past selves

whatever's going on with the lost hex

Eggman taking over the entire world

The phantom ruby's reality warping abilities

And then whatever will be happening in frontiers

and i'm barely even touching on the weirdness. There's the stuff from the story book games, and i barely touched on 06 due to the whole thing unhappening

Sticks' sanity could not handle the game verse.

[jhopemusicbox]

#04 ‘created by j-hope’: masterpieces by a master storyteller

in this note on ‘j-hope songs as art’, i’d like to feature an artwork by j-hope himself, a triptych of photographs he took while in new york, captioned ‘NY vibes’ (IG, 31 december 2022) for ‘on the street (solo version)’.

‘photo by j-hope’ is one of many ‘created by j-hope’ artefacts to me because his natural talent in photography is as admirable as his genius in music. he has this exceptional ability to assemble various artistic elements (visual, lyrical and sonic) in a single composition with no hint of dissonance. consider how his music is characterised by a mix of genres, linguistic and literary techniques in his lyrics and lyricism and innovative use of ad libs and beats, to name a few. his photographs are just as brilliantly composed.

we know he loves and dares to experiment in music and he does it successfully. it is the same with his photography and with its beautiful results, proven by his polaroid era (which needs to make a comeback if you ask me). these NY photos while seemingly straight-up cityscape visuals, showcase his mix of natural talent and skillful use of techniques, most evident in how he uses the triangular composition in the photos to establish leading lines, symmetry and balance with the shape. additionally, they have much symbolic significance to his song ‘on the street (solo version)’.

in the classical tradition, triangular compositions were used because they created a sense of balance and harmony by arranging the subjects in a stable overall geometric form. triangles are inherent in perspective and in still images especially, create dynamism that adds visual interest to them. they guide the viewer’s eyes from one corner of the frame to another, thus encouraging a longer engagement with the photos. in j-hope’s triptych, each photo bears the triangular composition, reflecting momentum and direction even as they are still images. viewed individually and collectively, they also vividly represent the repeated line, ‘everytime i walk, everytime i run, everytime i move’ in the chorus.

photo 01 shows a couple of traffic lights and signposts at a street intersection where traffic flow transition takes place. the implied triangle shapes and overall composition, with the slight, low angle emphasise the buildings in the background, towering over the viewer. this illustrates the overwhelming feeling that comes with being at an intersection (literal and figurative) where decisions must be made for changes to happen, making this photo the perfect visual accompaniment to these lines in verse 2 of ‘on the street (solo version)’:

photo 02 is a shot of the brooklyn bridge from afar, its triangular composition more evident and its colours brighter than in photo 01. the viewer’s eyes follow the length of the bridge even as they look up to the sky and down at the water. there is a sense of liberation and that tight, crowded sensation in the first photo has eased off as well because now the towering buildings are pushed further into the background. this image is an apt illustration of these later lines in the same verse:

photo 03 almost envelopes its viewer in darkness, except for the triangular strip of light in the middle that highlights the buildings and part of the bridge seen in photo 02. j-hope captured a chiaroscuro (a classical painting technique that creates high contrast between dark and light, to put it very simply) moment in this photo that aptly conveys the idea of ‘dissonance’ (i.e. contrast and difference) in time and experience (‘knowing the path’ vs ‘walking it’), mentioned in these lines:

i’ve always loved j-hope’s photography style (which i discussed briefly in ‘With j-hope, IG stands for InGenious’). there is no official information on whether he has ever taken formal lessons on the art form but that is neither here nor there; what is more valuable are his keen visual instincts, evident in his photographs. it is no surprise at all how he has moved very comfortably and excellently, from still images to film, proven by his dance documentary, ‘HOPE ON THE STREET’. his ‘created by j-hope’ masterpieces - his music, his photography, his documentary, his product designs (among many other j-hope creations) - just prove what a master storyteller and visionary he is. i look forward to when j-hope puts up a photography exhibition, publishes his own photobook and even features his photographs as cover art for his future solo albums.

✍︎ hskrox

references: photos from hopeonthestreet.net and uarmyhope (IG) translation by genius and bangtansubs