#also detailed tom yippee

[drunkonduty]

Got a new phone have some tom doodles

[bonebabbles]

So since my rose-colored Gray Wing glasses have been torn of my face and stomped into tiny pieces, I’m now wondering if my perception of Clear Sky’s arc is also skewed. I thought his redemption arc was well done (until Star Flower came back) because he was sincerely trying, wasn’t expecting forgiveness, and (unlike a lot of redemption arcs) was not forgiven by most of the characters right away because of how bad his actions were. Until he got with Star Flower, I thought his redemption arc was damn near perfect. Do I have on rose-colored glasses for his redemption arc?

Clear Sky's "redemption arc" is one of the most incompetent bits of writing that has ever blighted the entire series and I promise you I'm not doing hyperbole. It is so bad that it drags down everything it touches, including Gray Wing, Thunder, Acorn Fur, and the entire concept of StarClan.

And, unfortunately, both things you cited there absolutely did not happen, I am going to have to eat your glasses. I'm gonna munch. I'm gonna cRUNCH

"He was sincerely trying"

He wasn't. He just stopped actively shredding random people on his border and then whines that he's "Trying So Hard," using it as yet another guilt trip tactic because he's still an abuser.

The SECOND anyone gives him any criticism (FOR BRINGING A WIFEBEATER INTO HIS CLAN MIND YOU), he twists the fact they're supposed to "forgive him" against them, starts calling Gray Wing slurs for having asthma, and gets offended at a warning while huffing, "no one tells me what to do!"

Like a big fucking baby

And he only let Tom into his clan (even implying he's not a REAL cat because he's fat + an ex-kittypet) because he promised he could show him how to "fight dirty."

AND ALSO he is fully aware that this man kidnapped children in a previous book; but Blazing Star completely forgets major details of the previous three books in a way that is absolutely unacceptable. You are practically reading a new continuity.

"He was not forgiven by the other characters right away"

He was. He was literally, immediately forgiven in the very opening of Blazing Star. By Gray Wing and Thunder, because the narrative decided that Everyone Is Responsible.

Even back in First Battle, right after the fight ends we get a line that gives Bramblestar a run for his money. "WE let it get too far." The narrative even scrambles for some reason to make a woman responsible and grabs Tall Shadow for some fucking reason.

Acorn Fur doesn't even mention that CLEAR SKY WAS STARVING HER FATHER before she decides to move in with him, because she would miss her parents too much on the moor... those parents who just died. In the battle Clear Sky started.

Everyone immediately forgives him and kisses his butt because "The guilt will hurt him more than any actual consequences :((( He was just under so much pressure of leading guys.... which is why he should continue to lead............"

I've actually had a hard time continuing my reread because I've actually been fucking enraged at how Thunder is swooning over his daddy "finally looking at him" uwu

This is painted like a good thing. This is a sweet and nice thing that finally, the abusive ghoul who shoved his face into a festering wound and said he shouldn't have been born just before trying to kill him and all of his friends 'respects him.' Oh Joyous Day Yippee Hooray!

How this ruins the other characters

It destroys Gray Wing because it makes ALL this dogshit behavior that he displayed for the first three books correct. In spite of how GOD awful this "Redemption Arc" is, you are supposed to believe that there is good "deep down" within Clear Sky. That all of this abuse apologia was wisdom. Gray was, and IS, right to take every insult and understand it as humility, and the Clear Sky on the page is actually a Good Boi who Really Does Love His Clan.

It ruins Thunder because even after ALL of that physical and emotional abuse and neglect, he's still supposed to honor Clear Sky as "You'll always be my father." These destructive impulses to want his approval are good and natural in this narrative, not something to confront or fundamentally question.

Fuck, just look at the Tom Redemption. The writers LOVE abusive parents. Even if they beat the shit out of your mom, get her killed, kidnap you, and had no part in raising you, "they still love you and would die for you." Tom's Redemption and Clear Sky's Redemption are just different lines in the same song.

Acorn Fur moves in with the guy who held one of her parents hostage and ultimately got both of them killed

And STARCLAN forms to "tell clear sky what to do," because in the baffling Fear vs Greed Dichotomy this series thinks is some kind of thesis, Clear Sky was just "afraid," not "greedy," and that means his fucked up little head can be fixed by the comfort a religious force can bring. He wasn't abusive because he loves having power over people, the thing that is right there on the page, nope, he really was just worried about death or responsibility or something.

This isn't even getting to the person he is in later material. He's a MONSTER in Moth Flight's Vision, as if his growth never happened.

And this is taking him all at face value-- in a meta sense, the sheer amount of female characters that get brutalized just for his man pain is legitimately dizzying. 2 mates die, 2 innocent women slaughtered, a child beaten and another starved to death, and even pregnant Star Flower gets pinned to the ground and licked on the face as her assaulter talks about how much he wanted her as a mate

This is the worst arc in the entire Warrior Cats franchise and it is spinning on the crap-axis that is Clear Sky's 'redemption'.

The arc is bad BECAUSE it is working towards this idea, that the best villain the series ever wrote has to become the writer's Poor Little Meow Meow halfway through 6 books, so we can get to our regularly scheduled Born Evil Foreigner Villains Who Hate Love And Friendship.

Imagine TPB but Fireheart cries that self defense against Clanborn cats makes you Just As Bad, Tigerstar was just scared or something, and you get two Diet Scourges. That's DOTC.

[star-scrambled]

OKAY!! Recollecting my thoughts is SO HARD RIGHT NOW cause the limited information that’s here is doing NUMBERS on my theories oh my GOD!!

So! I’m about to share the most notable content in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Mad Libs book, the only new book release that entails any kind of spoilers! (NOTE: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE MINOR SPOILERS OF ANY KIND DON’T READ AHEAD. IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE SPOILER TAGS LISTED BELOW FILTERED ID RECOMMEND YOU DO SO.)

To clear the air a little for those who want some clarity on how major these spoilers are: You won’t find ANY unexpected surprises. It doesn’t go into any detail about events assumed to happen a lot later in the film, such as Sonic running on the ocean, Robotnik’s huge robot, the tornado (not the plane but the actual one), etc. All the hype, high-stakes content is completely unmentioned. HOWEVER, you will find a lot of small spoilers vaguely describing some background information on Tails and Knuckles, amongst other potential plot points and details. It’s also important to note that, like the first movie’s Mad Libs book, some of this potentially isn’t addressed or occurs in the film! Still, if you’re highly sensitive to spoilers, I would recommend not proceeding, but if you’re cool with some new details, feel free to stick around!

I’m gonna summarize as best as possible and save some of the content that’s. REALLY itching my theory brain for last! Yippee! HERE WE GO:

- Knuckles IS the last of his race

- Knuckles’ destiny is to protect the Master Emerald, an ancient relic of his clan

- He’s been training since birth lol what a badass

- Knuckles’ abilities are listed off, which don’t include gliding, so I’m lead to believe it’s been retconned

- Ozzie the dog is potentially still at home with Sonic

- Tails is LITERALLY THE COOLEST. We obviously can’t assume he does all this, but according to this book he has the potential to invent things such as a device that can communicate with people in other dimensions, a contraption that scans a person to find out if they’re an ally or enemy, a tool that can translate Russian, etc.!

- Stobotnik page. Not as juicy as Stone’s diary thing from the 1st Mad Libs, nor does it include any new information, but it’s what it sounds like. It acknowledges Robotnik’s fake “Stone” from the end of the first film, “because clearly Robotnik couldn’t *verb* without him.”

- Tails owns the Tornado! Though it’s not referred to by name

- Wasn’t there a set leak tweet discussing dog sleds or something? Cause there’s a mention of it here that seems familiar

- Sonic and Tails go to a Tavern, as seen in the first trailer

- Mentions of a dance-off?? It’s super ambiguous, but I’ll share the most interesting details. One point mentions creating holograms, so this probably doesn’t apply to Tom and Maddie at the wedding. There’s also a mention of “having a dispute with a friend or a/an *noun*”

- Prior to meeting Sonic, Tails had heard stories about him! Tails idolized him and was excited to finally meet his idol when he found Sonic, expressing that he wants to be just like him when he grows up 🥺

- Sonic’s really excited about making a new friend!! He’s really flattered by Tails’ idolization, and thus agrees to take him under his wing 😭💖

- Also, the text mentions Sonic being glad to find a friend “his own age”. The assumption is that Tails is (obviously) still fairly younger than him, and by that he just meant hanging out with another kid and not adults all the time

- No new juicy info about ring portals, but I love the increased emphasis on it in the sequel that numerous sources such as this one are hinting at!!

- GUN (Guardian Units of Nations) is established!! Otherwise nothing too significant, but it’s cool! Then again, there could be game references I’m missing in this, so feel free to hmu for more info if ur itching for it!

- Knuckles training sequence page is here. Nothing major, not really interesting or telling of anything at all, but could hint to a scene like this in the film?

Okay. That’s most of the major stuff outta the way! Time to get into some things that made me audibly freak out in the store LMFAO

- AHHHHHHH AHAHAHHAHA IM SO HAPPY THE THEORIES THAT LONGCLAW AND THE ECHIDNA ARE ALIVE IN THE PRESENT DAY ARE FINALLY DEBUNKED!!!!!!! STUFF WENT DOWN BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO HAPPY YIPPEE THIS MAKES PERFECT SENSE ITS ALL COMING TOGETHERRRRR

- Some more context is included for Sonic stopping that crime at the beginning of the first trailer! My theory about him sneaking out of the house at night to do that is CORRECT YIPPEE! Same goes for Tom being the more strict parent in comparison to Maddie, who wants him to understand that Sonic can handle himself. I ABSOLUTELY believe this is going to lead to Maddie suggesting Tom talks to him father-son style, which cues the fishing scene the next morning!

- MY SONIC MONTAGE SCENE PREDICTION IS ALSO CORRECT?? He’s gonna do a BUNCH of fun stuff during the day, and then at night he’s unwinding with a movie (and popcorn ofc lol)! BUT what matters here is that it will SPECIFICALLY be an action/superhero movie!! And THAT ADDS TO MY PREDICTION PERFECTLY!! I’m praying we get a minute with Sonic just. Watching the film and longing for that life of helping others and being a “true hero”. I want the main character of what he’s watching to say a line that sticks with him throughout the rest of the movie’s events, a quote that at first benefits the hero image Sonic is striving for, but slowly twists into something that encourages TOO MUCH sacrifice on Sonic’s part for his family along with black-and-white thinking when it comes to him wanting to beat “the bad guys”, including Knuckles, who he’ll learn that doesn’t apply to.

And so we’ve reached it. The Power of Family page.

- Longclaw is mentioned, but not in any new information or appearances! Just a recall of her sending Sonic to Earth through a ring portal to protect him (the sentence goes on as “protect him from the *plural noun*” which could obviously go for the Echidna or generally other “war lords” out to get him)

- Sonic puts Tails on the same familial level as Tom and Maddie!!!!!!!!!!

- Vague references to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles’ team up ensues!

- So that’s all REALLY CUTE and telling of the message this movie’s gonna deliver, right? Yes! But. There’s one part that I had to read over multiple times before it’s implications hit me and my angsty theory heart like a truck.

- “In fact, when Sonic saved *first name* from danger, he began to understand that family can be more than the *plural noun* that you live and *verb* with. A family includes any *noun* that you would do anything to protect.”

- Now, at first you might think this could be referring to Tails, and I would do the same! It makes complete sense and, hey, I’d be surprised if this didn’t happen between the two of them. But, upon further inspection...this could apply to not just him?

- This sentence comes directly after this one: “But then he met Tom and Maddie Wachowski and a young two-tailed fox from his home planet, and guess what? Sonic didn’t feel so lonely anymore.” He already mentioned Tails’ impact on him, so where’s the sense in him having a different realization straight after?

- So what if he’s talking about Knuckles.

I want to keep going from there but my brains going to erupt if I proceed any further. What if he’s talking about saving Knuckles. He probably isn’t but like What If He Is. Knuckles teaming up with Sonic and Tails is ALREADY vaguely mentioned at the end of this same page, like I said before, so if he’s not a part of the prior message than why is he referenced suddenly. What if he’s talking abo