#and hes not even one of the sonics whos included in stuff like this and given that weird dynamic with movie sonic im talking about

[sonknuxadow]

its kinda strange to me how people act like movie sonic is a little kid compared to other versions of sonic and have the other sonics like. baby him. in crossover stuff. yeah movie sonic is a little guy hes like 13-14. but most other sonics are 15 so theyre also little guys and theres really not a big age gap here. and they also have friends who are younger than them that they dont treat like that. so idk why they would be acting like movie sonic is a little 5 year old if they ever met him

[thegainingdesk]

The Spider to the Fly

Statement of Oliver Barrett, dated 22/05/2023

The rent should have been the first red flag, I know that, but fuck me, have you seen the rents in Dublin these days? Worst than fucking London, if you can believe it. And there's this guy, right, four-story townhouse, twenty minute walk from my new job, says he just wants a tenant to make this place feel less empty, all for a grand a month, bills included. In this market! Too fucking right I didn't question it.

Well, I say a grand a month. One thousand euro and one cent, to be exact. The cent didn't bother me at the time, why the fuck would it? The man wants to add a cent to the rent, I'll give him a cent. Maybe it was to get over some threshold for something, or some tax dodge, or whatever, I didn't know and I didn't care. It was still €999.99 less than I'd be paying anywhere else in Dublin for some damn sight nicer digs. Now though, knowing what I know, after everything that… well, anyway, it bothers me more now. It feels significant. Like those old penny rents you hear about, or something. Something symbolic, and old.

But anyway, there was a cheap room going, in a good location, a good house, it was bloody better than anywhere else I've come across, and I was only in Dublin for a weekend before I properly moved to get everything sorted, so I didn't ask too many questions. So I go to this house, and it was gorgeous. We're talking Edwardian or Georgian or, I don't know, fancy. Some Upstairs Downstairs shit, like there were servants quarters and a coal cellar and whatever a scullery is. I didn't really think about it at the time - again, I'm not really in a position to ask questions - but you usually see houses like that in a row, right? Like terraced? This one was just there. On its own. On a nice street, don't get me wrong, but it was taller than any of the other houses, set back a little, and the style's all wrong. Maybe I thought the rest of the street had gotten destroyed in the Blitz or whatever they had in Dublin, it's not like I know anything about history outside of naming a couple of Henry the eighth's wives.

So I walked up to this great big, not quite right house, and I pulled this rope by the door and it fucking clanged. This wasn't some little ding dong electric doorbell, this was some fucking machinery. It felt like the house was vibrating from it. And while I'm reeling, this Victorian era sonic torture device still going off in my ears, the door swung open, too fast really, faster than you'd expect someone to get to the door, even if they were by it.

I don't know who I was expecting but this guy was hot. Like, something else. I'm talking movie star hot. Fuck, maybe he was a movie star, there's so many movies these days, right? He could have an Oscar for all I know, maybe that's how he could afford the house. I'm looking up at him, checking him out, and I don't have to look up at many people but this guy is real fucking tall, six-six maybe? And rail thin, but in a way that he makes work, he wasn't gaunt or anything just… angular. He had this jet black hair and his eyes were somehow even darker - at the time I probably would have said they were like ink or the night sky or something sappy, but looking back all I can think of is how shark's eyes look. I don't know, maybe that's just me projecting stuff after… well you know, after what happened. And he's just stood there, completely still, but, fuck, I really don't know if I can explain how fucking still this guy was. And that's not me looking back after the fact, at the time I was a bit creeped out. It was like looking at an optical illusion or something, like my eyes couldn't put together this guy that I'd just seen open a door in double-speed with how fucking still he was now. It was like someone had pasted a photo into the middle of my vision. And even though he was so fucking still, there was this, I don't know, this tension to him, like I could just see some energy there, ready to… fuck, I don't know, pounce. Like a tiger or… well, like a… but that's for later I guess.

Anyway, I'm checking this guy out, because he was sort of giving me the creeps, sure, but he was also fucking hot, and suddenly he wasn't so still anymore, and he’s looking me up and down and he's smiling and I'm starting to feel like this guy's checking me out right back. I don't know if you're gay, but there's this look, right, every gay guy knows it, this discrete little up and down, maybe with a little smirk and it just says, you know, "I'm gay, you're gay, let's fuck sometime". Now, I've had my share of guys in the past, I'm not about to be humble about it, I know that I'm hot myself, or, well I guess, you know, back then… but you know, I really was a great looking guy. Square fucking jaw, little dimple right in the middle of my chin, real broad shoulders, you know, I've always played rugby, and you could tell, because I had some decent fucking muscle on me, still do, probably, somewhere under all this fucking… whatever. The point is that I've had guys lining up for a chance to bounce on my dick, so I wasn't exactly shocked when guys checked me out but this guy, I mean, he was out of my league, you know? Out of everyone's league. It's insane to think guys that look like that would check anyone out.

So I was feeling sort of cocky, like maybe I could get more than a room out of this deal. And I know, don't shit where you eat, and definitely don't fuck your landlord, but fuck me this guy was hot, right? I couldn't pass up on this. And everyone in the fucking city's probably going for the room, it's not like I was likely to get it anyway, not with an advert that attractive. Sorry, what's that? Where did I see the advert? No, sorry, I can't quite… No, no, I don't think it was on a website, maybe a… Listen, I don't fucking remember, okay?

Anyway, so this guy smiled and he stepped back, and with his long legs he was all of a sudden right back in the shadows, and he let me in and the door closed behind me and all of a sudden it's just so dark. And I sort of stumbled around and I hear his voice, somewhere off down the corridor, and he said, and I remember this, because it's the first time I heard his voice, all soft and whispery, like I'm imagining it more than I'm hearing it, and there's this light, coming down the corridor from some door, but it's not like the hallway gets any brighter, it's just this beam of light for me to walk to. And he said, right, he says "Why don't you come into the parlour?" I remember that, exactly, because who the fuck says parlour, but it's in my head too, like it echoes in there. Anyway, so I walk towards this light, but it feels, I don't know, like I'm pushing through something, like- fuck, sorry, can we stop for a minute, I just need-

[Archivist's note: the recording was paused here at the subject's request. The subject was provided with a cup of tea and a member of the museum staff brought some food. After around five minutes, the subject was happy to continue the interview.]

Sorry, it's just, that's sort of where it feels like it all started. Walking through that hallway towards that voice and that light and that… that parlour. I'm not sure I really even remember what happened next. We spoke, for a while, the house rules and stuff I guess, when rent was due. I don't even remember agreeing to taking the room, it was just assumed. He certainly didn't give me a tour. He didn't even tell me his name, I don't think, not then anyway.

The next thing I knew I was back blinking in bright daylight, disorientated to be out of the dark and out of the warm, heady air of my new home. I flew back to London the next day, and spent the next few weeks preparing for my move. I received a contract in the post and found out my landlord's name - Damhán Alla. The contract was short, and was lacking a lot of the details I was expecting - nothing about a deposit, no bank details to transfer money to, none of the usual stuff. And what was there was odd - the contract was for one year and one day, no naked flames, the basement was out of bounds, I wasn't allowed to use certain spices or cleaning products, and I specifically wasn't allowed to do the hoovering myself. But like I said, if he wanted to run a tax dodge or whatever it was by renting me a cheap room, and if he was a little particular about his cleaning, or he's got some allergies, I was happy to help him out.

I turned up with all my worldly possessions in a few bulky bags - I'd either sold a lot of my stuff or sent it to my parents for storage, there was no realistic way I could haul much of anything to Ireland. My new landlord opened the door and was once again eye-achingly still for a moment or two, and then suddenly he's all charm, welcoming me in, taking my bags from me once I'm over the threshold, asking me how the journey was, if I wanted something to eat or drink.

I stuck my hand out. "It's Damhán, right?" I said. "I don't think we actually exchanged names last time." Thinking back, I don't even know how he knew my name and address to send me the contract.

His laugh was soft, but with a cruelty hiding somewhere deep in it. There was another sound there too, coming from his throat; a clicking maybe, or bubbling, and a hissing behind that. "Damhán," he corrected my pronunciation. "Not 'Damn-ham'."

"Down," I tried again. He shook his head and repeated it, slowly. "Dow-un," I said, doing my best to replicate him. He shrugged and gave a small nod - it would do, obviously.

I had the attic room - a whole floor really. In contrast to the rest of the house it was light and airy, with large windows and modern furniture. It had an en suite, a little kitchenette, even my own sitting area. I never needed to use the rest of the house if I didn't want to, but Damhán assured me from the shadows of the stairwell that I had the run of it, reminding me once again about the contract's stipulation not to go into the basement.

I got the full tour. The house was huge - I mean huge, you know. Bigger than it looked from the street, it must have just gone back and back. Loads of empty rooms, which makes sense, I guess; what are you supposed to fill that much space with? I remember at the time asking where his bedroom was, you know, just so I'm not stepping on his toes, and him avoiding the question. Thinking back I don't think I ever did figure that out. And the whole house was dark, curtains drawn in every room, hardly any lights. And cobwebs absolutely everywhere. And these cobwebs weren't dainty little strands, you know, they were thick. I'd occasionally walk through one and actually get stuck for a second or two. I remember thinking that if I had enough money to afford a house like that I'd hire a cleaner to come in a couple of times a week, but rich people are weird, right?

We made our way through the dark to the kitchen - me stumbling, my new landlord silent - where he started pulling out pots and pans to cook me lunch. I can't remember if I'd mentioned being hungry, but I suppose I must have been, anyway, after so long traveling.

Once he was set up, he led me through to the parlour where we spoke that first time, and told me to sit down. He left and I could hear him cooking in the kitchen.

He came back in after a while and placed a plate filled with bacon sandwiches in front of me. The bread was thickly sliced and freshly baked, the fat on the bacon was still sizzling slightly, and I could smell the butter before it was even close. There must have been three or four of them on the plate, each one piled with bacon and far too much for me to eat in one sitting usually. I remember salivating and licking my lips. Damhán licked his lips as well, and watched me tuck in.

Damhán wasn't much of a talker, I quickly learned, but he liked my company at meal times. Whenever I did try talking to him, he'd always end up laughing - with that hissing, bubbling, clicking sound beneath it. I learnt after a while to not make him laugh. He'd not eat with me, he'd just… watch me. Each breakfast and dinner time, and lunch on weekends, he'd call me into the parlour, place a pile of food in front of me and watch me eat it all. Always huge portions, always rich and fatty, always fucking incredible. Some of the best food I'd ever eaten, honestly. Every time I'd think, I'm never finishing that, y’know, always a proper pile of food, and then I'd take that first bite and… Look, it did taste amazing, it did, and I'm sure that was a part of it, but really… I don't know. I just ate. Like I entered a trance, or I was sleepwalking, or… I don't know, okay? All I know is he'd put food in front of me and watch me eat and then it was like, I don't know, like I knew I was eating but I didn't feel it. Like someone else was eating and I was watching them as well.

I started snacking at work as well. I've never been much of a snacker, got to watch my figure you know. Ha! And you can see for yourself how that turned out. But all of a sudden I'm just hungry all the time, I'm stashing chocolate and biscuits in my desk and in my coat, and all day I'm just mindlessly eating and- no, no, not like when he was watching, not that kind of mindless, just, you know, I didn’t ever think about it, it was just, I don't know, habit or instinct or automatic or whatever.

I didn't notice at first. The weight gain, I mean. God, I mean I must have noticed it, but I didn't notice it, you know? Like I could see it happening, I could see myself getting doughy and could see my gut puffing up and how my clothes weren't fitting right, but it's not like. I don't know. I thought with the move and the new job and living in a new country, it was just stress. Like, my weight goes up and down sometimes, this was just an up, there was nothing to notice.

But it kept on going up. And up. And at some point I'm bigger than I've ever been and my clothes aren't just fitting weird or too small, they're tight. Like, couple of sizes, bursting out, buttons not closing tight. I don't know what everyone at work thought. God, I must have been obscene. Actually, I think I, yeah, give me a moment, I've got a picture from around then, some work drinks thing… ah, yeah, here you go.

[Archivist’s note: the subject here showed a picture of himself in a small crowd, at a bar or similar. The subject looks to be around 250 lbs and wearing clothes several sizes too small, with skin showing where his shirt has ridden up, and shirt and trousers showing clear signs of the fabric straining. This picture, along with several others the subject has provided of themselves during their time in Ireland, can be found in the supplemental materials attached to this statement.]

I still didn't see it though. Like, you can see what I looked like, and, I mean, god those trousers! They must have killed, you know? And I can remember how painful they were to wear, remember noticing my body getting bigger, but my brain, I don’t know, just didn’t make the connection that I was actually getting fatter.

It was fast. Really fast. There was this woman in the office, Sarah, right, and she was maybe six months pregnant when I started. Well, obviously, couple of months later she's going on maternity and I looked over at her and I think its the first time I clocked how big I was getting because I realised my belly was bigger than hers. Even accounting for, you know, different heights and builds and stuff, my gut still looked bigger on my frame. One day just before she was due, she mentioned she's put on over two stone, and I remember people saying how much that is. I get home and I weighed myself for the first time since London. I was eighteen and a half stone. I'd put on about five stone since moving. I literally put on more than twice as much as a pregnant woman, and I did it in only a few months. That's mad, right? After that I tried to pay a bit more attention to my weight, step on some scales occasionally, but like I say, it was difficult. My brain just couldn't focus on the idea.

At some point in all of this, some point before I realised I put on more than Sarah I mean, Damhán one day just appeared in the parlour while I was eating some, I don't know, mound of potatoes and meat, and he just put this pile of clothes next to me. Didn't say a word, no mention of how it's because I'm bursting out of my own clothes or where they've come from, just puts them next to me then stands back to watch me eat.

I tried them on later and they fit perfectly. Well, I mean. They fit, anyway. I think I was so used to my clothes cutting in everywhere by that point that anything that was actually reasonably my size felt like it was tailor-made. They must have been expensive though. Real wool suits, tweed trousers. Not really my style, you know, bit old fashioned, but I couldn't deny they looked good, and by that point I was just happy I had something where I could get all the buttons to close.

I remember one time, not too long after, I think I was a bit over twenty stone at that point. I’d come back from the pub - I started drinking a lot, during it all. I think on some level I recognised how fucked up it all was and was just trying to… I dont know. Numb myself. Get out of the house. Whatever. I came back, took off my coat and shoes and whatever, get upstairs and collapsed. The next morning I had this hangover from hell, but at least I knew Damhán’s going to have sorted a slap up breakfast to help me through it. So I went downstairs and… god, sorry, it's just… right, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I just need…

[Archivist's note: The recording was once again paused here, and the subject was given some cake and biscuits while he became settled.]

Sorry, where was I? Right. I went downstairs and he’s standing in the hallway with his palm outstretched. Completely still, like he's been there hours, just waiting for me to come down. He had a lighter in his hand - I must have nabbed it off someone in the smoking area, you know how it is on a night out, you just sort of pick these things up, don’t you? Anyway he’s stood there with this fucking lighter in his hand, just staring and staring at me as I come down the stairs, and he said “Your contract said no lighters”. That's it. No “good morning” or “how's the head” or whatever. “Your contract said no lighters.”

And I said, you know, sorry, won't happen again, few too many last night, as you do. And he doesn't move. Just stood there with his lighter and he just repeated himself, louder: “No lighters, no naked flames.” And I realise, this guy’s angry. Really, properly, fucking livid. He was almost shaking with it, you could hear it in his voice. His face wasn't really showing it, not really, a little bit around his mouth maybe, but his eyes were… fuck they were blank. This guy was furious about this lighter, probably waited for hours for me to wake up, and his eyes were just blank.

So I'm there realising just how badly I've fucked up, that he must have some phobia or something. I’d seen all the hobs and whatever were induction whatsits, but I'd not really thought about it until then, just thought, I don't know, fuck, that they were just induction hobs, didn't think to care. I started to apologise again, told him I understood. I don't know if he heard me. He just went on and on about lighters and fire, getting louder and louder all the time, until suddenly he just stops and turns around and walks away down the hall.

For a second he stopped outside the door to the basement and put his hand on the knob and turned to look at me. It was like he was sizing me up, looking me up and down. Clearly he decided against whatever he was planning because he carried on to the kitchen and just snapped at me to go sit in the parlour. I remember that moment really clearly. And to say it now, it's nothing, right? He went to open a door. Decided against it. But… fuck me, it felt important at the time. Like my whole life depended on whether or not he opened that door. Maybe it did.

Fifteen minutes later he walked in and just put two big frying pans down in front of me, one piled up with bacon, one filled with eggs and sausages. He walks away and comes back with a loaf of bread and a couple of packs of butter and throws those at me and says “eat”.

And there was a part of me that, you know, obviously wanted to ask about the deconstructed breakfast sandwich I've just been served, and a part of me that was just absolutely boggling at how much food there was, but then there was… I mean the biggest part of me, the bit that wins out, just says to eat.

So I ate. I reached out and I grabbed some bacon with my bare hands out of the frying pan and I just shoveled it in my mouth, and just carried on until it was all gone, all the while with Damhán stood watching. Then the eggs and sausages, just with my hands, you know, with the yolk just, fuck, just dribbling down my arms. When that was all gone I started taking bites out of the bread. Didn't slice it, didn't butter it, just ate until it was gone. Then Damhán just carried on watching me and I… I got that feeling. Like I was in a trance and the only thing I knew is that I had to eat. So I bit into the butter. Just took a great big bite out of it. And another, and another. Fuck me, I ate it like it was chocolate. And I was screaming at myself to stop, right? Obviously I didn't want to be eating butter by the block. But he didn't force me, or threaten me, or whatever, didn't even tell me to. I ate it. I did that. Me. And he just watched.

Once I was done he walked out and left me alone. I won't lie, I cried. Pretty fucking hard. My stomach hurt, I was covered in butter and grease and egg. I felt huge - I was huge. And I just felt so ashamed.

After that it all picked up pace. He never mentioned that day again, but meals got bigger. A lot bigger. Each one could have fed a rugby team. Occasionally he'd just put a block of butter on the side, like it was a fucking dessert or something. I always ate it. He never told me to. I just knew what I was supposed to do.

And I started swelling up. I was gaining fast beforehand, but this was, fuck me, I reckon it must have been over a pound a day, maybe two. Must have been, honestly, considering how fast it all was and how big I am now. Clothes just seemed constantly uncomfortable; even straight after he'd given me bigger ones, they'd not quite fit right. My back hurt all the time from hefting around this gut, my feet hurt, I got these stretch marks fucking everywhere. It was just a lot, all the time, and my body never got a chance to adjust.

It was around Christmas, I must have been, maybe twenty-six, twenty-seven stone - who knows honestly, it all went by so fast. I went to my work’s Christmas do. Fuck knows what they must have all thought of me - can you imagine? They hire me at thirteen, fourteen stone, and not even a year later I'm pushing double that and not showing any signs of stopping?

Anyway, the Christmas do. I'm wearing the biggest Christmas jumper that I could find in M&S, and even that's, you know, riding up on me, fits me like a sausage casing. People are being friendly, nicer than I'd be if I was watching someone inflate in front of me in real time, if I'm being honest. No jokes or anything; not to my face anyway. And someone asks if I'm going home for Christmas, and I say no, I'm staying in Dublin. They ask, you know, very reasonable questions; am I not seeing family, my friends back in London? And I couldn't answer them. I had no clue why I wasn't going back home.

Eventually someone asks will I be doing anything with my housemates. I said it's just me and the landlord, so they get to asking about him, you know, what's he like, is he alright, do I get on with him. And at some point I mention his name and a couple of people give me funny looks, one woman laughs at me. I assume I've just said it funny, you know how Irish names are. And someone tells me that Damhán Alla means spider in Irish. I sort of laugh and say I must be saying it wrong, I spell it out on a napkin and someone says, no, that’s definitely just ‘spider’. And they keep on asking questions; is it his first name, full name, do I know if it's a nickname, just finding it absolutely mad that the new fat English bloke at work is claiming his landlord’s full name is Spider.

It makes me feel weird. I think they eventually just accept it as a weird name, like celebrity parents calling their kids Apple or Moonbase, but it really stuck with me. And I didn't really talk the rest of the evening, I just sat thinking about the cobwebs, and how dark the house is, and how dark and empty his eyes were.

At some point I followed someone to the smoking area and made a point of nicking a lighter. I didn't know what it was supposed to do, what I'd use it for, but fuck it, if Damhán didn't want me to have a lighter then I'd make sure to have a lighter. I tucked it into my pocket, and from that point on I always had it hidden somewhere, slept with it under my pillow, even kept it in sight when I was having a shower.

Nothing changed for a while, not really. I had my lighter, and I was thinking about Damhán differently, but honestly, it's not like I'd trusted him for a good while anyway. I was still eating the insane piles of food he put in front of me, still getting fatter and fatter. This goes on for a few months, and remember, I reckon I'm putting on over a pound a day at this point - a few months is a good long time to be putting on that much weight. But, as I got bigger, I felt like Damhán started to act differently towards me. I could see him eyeing me up sometimes, like, I was some fruit he was waiting on to get ripe enough. He even asked me, a couple of times, how much I weighed. I'd always tell him, between my bites of butter. One time I said I wasn't sure and he followed me up to the bathroom and watched me weigh myself. I remember him laughing when I read off the weight - bubbling and clicking and hissing again, making my stomach turn - and telling me I was doing a good job.

One Sunday in March, breakfast was huge. I mean, I was pretty used to eating a lot of food by that point, but this was just a crazy amount of food. He just kept bringing out plates and plates of it, didn't even watch me like he usually did, just kept on going back into the kitchen to whip up more. Eventually the sausages and eggs turn into roast vegetables and chicken and gravy, and there's some steaks in there, a load of it was just ready meals still in the plastic, and it all just keeps coming and coming and I just keep eating and eating. Eventually it got dark and the food stopped coming. He never says what the fuck just happened or that it was over, he just stops coming in with trays of food. Anyway, at some point a bit after that I heard him go through the basement door, which, I mean, I should have realised then that something was about to happen. Because I've never been down there, obviously, but I also don't think I've ever seen him go down there either.

Anyway, I sit there burping and farting and digesting until I feel human enough to pull myself up, and fuck me I was used to putting on weight by that point, but I could literally feel all that sudden extra weight. And I stagger up the stairs, probably travelling about a foot a minute, really fucking sluggish, until I collapse into bed, in the same too small pyjamas I had on that morning, my gut fucking looming over me, not even enough strength to pull the covers over me, fuck knows if I’d even be able to reach over my gut to grab them in the first place, and I’m asleep within a few minutes.

At some point I woke up. I didn't think too much about it at first, because I'd started snoring pretty bad somewhere in the first hundred pounds or so, bad enough that I woke myself up with it sometimes. But eventually, I started to see a shape somewhere above me. Like, the room was pitch black, but there was a section above me that was even darker. And I felt something drop onto my face, like something wet and slimy. I reach over to turn my light on and there's Damhán leaning over me, with his mouth wide open, long lines of saliva falling down onto me.

And his teeth were, fuck, I don't know if I'd ever seen his teeth before. Like, maybe he never opened his mouth when he spoke? Or maybe it was the same as how I didn't think about how much I ate or how big I was getting and he just made me not notice them, but they were… fuck me. His mouth was full of these huge, sharp, black fangs.

And even though he had his mouth wide open, wider than I've ever seen any human ever open their mouth, it sort of felt like he was smiling. Like this sadistic, shit-eating smile.

I backed away, as best as I could, what with my being the size of a small hatchback and the fact that he was close enough that even a normal sized person wouldn't be able to really put that much space between him and them, never mind me with my gut almost touching him. I realised that I was covered in cobwebs, thick ones, so that I had to pull them off as I went. And he laughed. His mouth didn't move, but he laughed, and it was so much worse than any other time I'd heard. It was that same gurgling, hissing, clicking sound, but it was like he wasn't bothering to cover it up anymore. I felt like throwing up.

I reached under my pillow and I grabbed my lighter and held it up to him, lit. It seems mad really, how he reacted to it. A tiny little flame like that, and that fucking monster cowered from it like I was holding a gun up to his head. I’m not particularly maneuverable, these days, so it was a struggle, but I made sure as fuck to keep that little flame between him and me at all times as I heaved myself out of bed.

I backed towards the door, and I think he panicked that I was going to get away because he lunged at me and… fuck. He went up like he was covered in petrol. The flame barely touched him. And he started going around the room, bumping into things, and they went up as well.

I couldn't exactly run, but I turned around and I lumbered out of there as quickly as I could. At one point I turned round and the whole landing had gone up behind me. I couldn't believe how fast it was all burning. I think it was all the cobwebs.

I got downstairs, with my heart pounding, and I turned around one last time to see the basement door open. I heard this clicking and gurgling, like when Damhán laughed, and these legs came out round the door, like spiders’ legs but huge. Six, eight feet long maybe. I didn't wait to see whatever they were attached to. I barrelled the door down, and I think it came off its hinges - this much weight will do that.

A neighbour must have rung 999, because the emergency services got there pretty sharpish. The paramedics put one of those foil blanket things awkwardly over my shoulders, like it was supposed to cover me up, and I got given a cup of tea and sat in an ambulance for a bit, then got taken to the police station for some questioning. I lied, obviously. Just told them I woke up when I heard the fire alarm and that's all I knew. I mean, what was I supposed to tell them? I set fire to my surprisingly flammable landlord because he was fattening me up to feed to a spider god he kept in the basement? Is that… I mean, do you think that's what it was? No, no, I suppose you don't know any more than me.

Someone at the station must have picked something up about why I wasn't giving any details, or they had additional information about the house or something, because someone mentioned I should give you guys a call. That you've smoothed over cases before where some of the details have been, I don't know, weird.

And I guess I thought you might be able to give me some answers. If you've seen anything similar, I mean. Like why did he have to make me so fat? Okay, you've got a spider-thing in your basement and you want to make sure its meals are nice and big and nutritious, but then why take so long? Just feed it a normal-sized person a week, not, fuck, not the fattest person you’ve ever seen after a year.

No. No, I suppose you haven't. Sorry, I just. Yeah.

I've been to a doctor about the weight. They didn't even have any scales that could weigh me, they had to refer me to a specialist who had some bariatric scale things. Fucking four-hundred and eighty something pounds. Thirty-five stone, or near enough. Have you ever even seen someone that big? Ha, I suppose you have now, yeah. Anyway, yeah, they've got me on some special weight loss regime, you know, restricted calories, physical therapy which is basically just walking for ten minutes until I'm knackered. I need to lose a load of weight before they can even talk about surgery.

That's it, I guess. Will you- yeah, no sorry, you've got your own procedures and stuff. Yeah, I can see myself back to reception. I don't suppose you have any more of those biscuits, do you?

[Statement ends.

Final archivist's notes, dated 05/11/23: The details of Mr Barrett’s statement have been verified as far as possible. There is a record of his move to and employment in Dublin, and while there is not a record of his renting with Mr Alla, there is a record of the existence of a building matching Mr Barrett’s description at the address provided and of the fire Mr Barrett described [see supplemental materials].

There are 17 reports of missing persons logged in Dublin where the missing person had gained a significant amount of weight prior to their disappearance, going back to 1909.

The name Damhán Alla appears in four previous statements, dating back to 1907. We have added the name as a searchable tag to these statements, although none seem to deal directly with him.

In recent follow up interviews with Mr Barrett's family, friends and doctors, it would seem that his weight loss plan has been unsuccessful, and he has gained somewhat more weight since moving back to London. His family and friends have noted that he seems in good spirits, despite his rather unique trauma and ongoing circumstances. His father made a mention of a new hobby - a newfound interest in spiders.]

[starrysharks]

🦈💫PINNED POST 💫🦈

name: ZENO

age: 15-17 (don't wanna share my exact age sorrey)

gender/pronouns: maybe genderfluid, probably just cis girl - use any pronouns you'd like but she/her and he/him are best

race: ghanaian AND PROUD 💯💪🏿🇬🇭 (living in bumfuck britian tho)

MORE ABOUT ME AND MY ART DOWN BELOW!!!

other than that basic info, i am a CARTOON ARTIST inspired by stuff like invader zim, sonic the hedgehog, and moe anime, who enjoys drawing primarily CUTE GIRLS... but also some GUYS too i don't discriminate. i'd say my art covers around 50% fanart 50% OC art. i LOVE my ocs so much and so should you, so check out the tags for them and ask lots and lots of questions about them please.

(HERE is where i'll eventually put links to my OC comics and projects when i finally finish them, so look forward to that!)

i also do COMMISSIONS! i can draw for absolutely anything you want, and these days i've been wishing to be commissioned for a T-SHIRT DESIGN, ALBUM COVER, or MUSIC VIDEO... so if my comms are open when you're reading this, GO COMM ME WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?! (BY THE WAY even tho i am a MINOR all comm money goes into an adult relative's paypal account, so your money is 100% SAFE!)

also, if you're wondering how i draw SO WELL... I HAVE AN FAQ!!! SO PLEASE STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS ABOUT BRUSH SIZES AND SUCH BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY ANSWERED YOU!!!

other than art, my interests include nintendo games like SPLATOON, POKEMON, and the like, other games like TWDG, SKULLGIRLS, LITTLE NIGHTMARES, WORLD'S END CLUB (the best game danganronpa guy ever damn made), and KATAMARI DAMACY, cartoons and comics like INVADER ZIM, JTHM (which everyone should totally read please it's so good), DUNGEON MESHI, MLP, SOUL EATER, FLCL, SCOTT PILGRIM, and DOROHEDORO, and a million i forgot to name, and movies like THE SAW SERIES, SPIDERVERSE, and PROMARE!!!!

also i don't talk about it much, but i love NU METAL... i love KORN, LIMP BIZKIT, KITTIE, COAL CHAMBER, NOTHINGFACE, AND SLIPKNOT as well as many other music artists nu metal or otherwise!!! (notable ones being MCR and literally every vocaloid producer under the sun.) (i will reblog posts from haveyouheardthisband constantly to recommend my followers music, it's my god-given right)

i also LOVE TO HATE (am a critical fan of) DANGANRONPA and COOKIE RUN from time to time...

anyway even tho this is an account mostly for art posting and question answering, i do actually care about serious stuff going on in the world and will reblog posts talking about it sometimes... AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!

also i don't really have a DNI, just don't follow me if you're like. racist or something man that's fuckin' weird... also don't follow me if you're a TERF, NSFW account, or ED/pro-ana account! (SERIOUSLY)

ok i think we're done? cut the cameras

[magicwhiskers29]

More Prime season 3 thoughts/analysis, because I'm not done!

Time to talk about Shadow again!

He honestly came back after episode one a lot faster than I was expecting, haha. I really thought they would do a season 2 again, and wait until like. The final episode to give him time to do anything much, except for maybe give the odd line here or there, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him from episode five onwards! (I also did keep expecting him to have a snarky one-liner for Nine any time we cut back to Nine exasperated at stuff not working, but... That wouldn't exactly make sense with the explanation for where Shadow was...)

For starters, yeah, him having just been fighting robots the whole time checks out. That... was what he said he was going to do... Makes his uh... bloodlust? For a fight with Nine more understandable too. I'd want a fight with the guy who'd been sending robot clones after me all day, too.

But... His dynamic with Sonic! This was such a good conclusion to it! In episode one, we saw him finally show a bit of trust in Sonic, and here we see him fighting alongside Sonic, that trust paying off best it can. He offers to keep helping. This is a big display for Shadow, who previously in this show wanted to just get things done himself.

I was a bit concerned at first about how they seemed to be not including him as part of the friends Sonic wanted to save, but no, they were just holding back. And I think that divide is deliberate, the same way it is with Nine. Shadow isn't just someone he's found in the Shatterverse and wants to now save; Shaodw is someone he knows from home. The kind of saving Shadow needs is very different.

And... the thing is, defining Sonic and Shadow's relationship in this show is difficult, and also really interesting. (Yes, they're every fruity aghkgkghgjkhhhjjh, but in a more serious sense...)

At first, we get the sense that they don't like. fully hate each other, but that they do not listen to each other, and definitely would be best known as rivals. The implication at the start of season 1 is that they show up weekly to brawl or something. Because they don't agree on things, and tussle over the smallest things.

In season 2, Sonic is thrilled to see someone from home, even if it is his rival, and basically seems to use that to declare Shadow his friend on the spot. (Kinda like how he assumes all the Au versions of his friends are just his friends because the originals are, at first.) Shadow still sees Sonic as his rival at this point though, and more importantly, as someone who caused this mess, and is thus too unreliable to fix it. He attacks Sonic to get him out of the way, and probably also to vent a little bit. They are not prepared to work together in s2e1.

Through out season 2, we see them have to work together, for better and worse, and yeah, they still don't really losten to each other. Sonicnot about Nine, and Shadow in only focusing on the mission -- still assuming Sonic's flaws are faults. They aren't really team players.

But then! S3e1! Shadow starts to plan around Sonic's flaws, and Sonic starts to listen. They actually put trust in one another, and it's quite clear that they do care about each other, even if before they'd both just thought of each other as rivals. I've talked about this before. Shadow starts trying not to get angry at Sonic fo his mistakes, and they both try to understand each other.

And when they reunite? They start fighting together again fairly seemlessly. Shadow has Sonic's back for the big fight scenes, even if he has gone off to do his own thing again. (Sidenote, I really like the implication that maybe Shadow really did want to prove himself better than Grim Sonic, quite possibly just because Sonic said it could be modelled after him too lmao) Shadow doesn't even complain too much when Sonic hugs him and introduces him to everyone! He just gets on with things, becaus ehe knows things are serious, and he does sort of trust Sonic.

And hey! By episode 6, he's not the one saying that they can't trust Sonic's plan! He has no objections to it, and goes along with it!

He goes for Nine still at the end, because of course he does, but he stops when Sonic tells him to. He does trust in Nine for Sonic, and... Well, he lets Sonic make the sacrifice. His facial expressions (Sorry, don't have screenshots this time...) make it clear that he is reluctant to do so, and hates this, but he doesn't complain. He knows it's the only way, even if he has now realised that it will hurt him to lose Sonic.

Shadow standing on the other side to Nine, flanking him too, in the sacrifice scene, alongside him being the first to mourn, really does put into perspective how Shadow here has come to care. How he is more than just another in the crowd of Sonic's friends.

And THE ENDING. AGHHHHHH! Him saving Sonic at the end was adorable, and the line about hugging? He doesn't even deny it! He likes being close to Sonic now!! 🥺

And I really do get the sense that he's learnt something too, in the end. He trusts Sonic and Sonic's growth, so they work together in the retake of the prism fight. That little nod before the chaos control of the prism is everything. (Sonic 06 vibes haha)

Their banter is also on point... When Sonic mocks him saying "Modest, too" after the first Ultimate Life Form line? Love it. Made me laugh a little in shock. Same deal with the hugging line, haha.

They're immaculate. From a sonadow perspective and a character dynamic perspective, I love their dynamics, and I love the feeling of their parallel arcs where they grow around each other and for each other.

Oh, also I forgot about it before, but when Sonic yells out for Shadow and sounds so worried mid-battle?? That's his link back home! That's the guy he's doing this quest with!! They both want the same thing, so it's so fitting that they need each other for it, and in the end, they make it together. Shadow saves Sonic by bringing him through the gate to Green Hill, and that is the big symbol of change.

He couldn't go through gates before. But just like at the start of the season, thanks to Sonic, he finds another way. He makes it through in this new, fixed universe that he helped to make.

[fernsnailz]

Not sure if you’re familiar with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time but I feel like Sonic Prime is the animated version of that game like the plot/style doesn’t really fit Sonic games while Crash both stays in that arcade jungle setting AND has the shattered time and space themes which they focus heavily on the recent game. The villains already are a bunch of scientists and I feel like either the team from Crash games or someone specific like Nicholas Cole just slapped Sonic Prime on the script for a Crash Netflix show and edited some characters

okay i understand the point you’re trying to make, but unfortunately you sent this ask to someone who works in animation and i need to set the record straight here: that is not how TV animation works

first, you’re right that Nicholas Kole worked on both Crash 4 and Sonic Prime! he’s also done work for the Spyro series, some Disney projects, and a bunch of other cool stuff. however, he specializes almost entirely in character design and concept art. this means that he helped develop specific parts of the visual look for Prime REALLY early on, such as designing some of the characters like Knuckles the Dread. however, that was likely the extent of his involvement in the show. character designers and concept artists normally do not edit the script, and often these artists draw their concepts before the script is even finished.

this is all stuff that happens VERY early in a show’s development, so Kole’s work on the show is probably multiple years old by now. and yeah, that jungle art DOES look a bit like the stuff that he did on Crash 4… because that’s just what Kole's art style looks like. he uses bright colors and varied shapes in a really distinct way on EVERY project he works on, which is probably why they hired him on Prime!

but even if that concept art was inspired by Crash, the jungle universe doesn’t even look like the concept art in the final version of the show! because it was concept art!! it was meant to be an exploration in styles, not a definitive look at the final product. this jungle below is a COMPLETELY different look than what was explored in the concept art. it sooooorta looks like the style of Crash 4, but it's FAR different from the initial concepts presented earlier.

(any person who modeled and painted this environment would ALSO have to be a dedicated Crash fan if they wanted to just turn Sonic Prime into Crash Prime)

and so far, this is completely ignoring the fact that the jungle concept art included in the ask probably isn't even Kole's. it looks very different from his style to me, and as far as i can find no artist has actually been credited for the leaked Prime concept art floating around. Kole has only mentioned his contributions to the character designs on Prime.

this is all a HUGE tanget from the actual argument you're trying to make in this ask, and i apologize for that - but my main point here is that this is a trend i see a lot in online fandoms, where people really like to place blame for issues in media onto one specific person and say "hey it's THIS guy's fault that this show is bad." what a lot of people don’t seem to understand is that these are collaborative art forms. there are so, so many people who worked on Prime, all the way from the first draft of the script to when it was being exported for Netflix, and a lot of these people probably don’t even show up in the credits! if there’s something you don’t like about this show, it’s unfair to single out a specific person to blame because TV shows are not made by one person. they come from a team of artists all working together to try and make something great, not one of the concept artists trying to turn the new sonic show into Crash 5. Nicholas Kole is a single character designer that worked on Prime. he is not solely responsible for an artstyle that you may dislike, because he is not the only person that developed the artstyle. there is no specific person to blame here.

regardless, i can’t really say much about your main point concerning the similarities between Crash 4 and Prime because i don't know as much about Crash series. my instinct is to just go “yeah of course they’re similar, multiverse stories with brightly colored rocks are the big trend in all franchises right now and they’re both 3D platformers from similar eras of gaming that have always featured cartoon talking animals fighting evil scientists, so of course they’ll seem alike.” but hey i mean what do i know

that's all, please know that this isn't meant to be an attack against you or anything! i'm just really used to seeing people blame individual artists and animators for stuff that isn't their fault, and i'm just. kinda tired of it. i will also spare you from my second ramble/disagreement about a sonic game or show in the crash style. because i think that would look fuckin INCREDIBLE

[tiny-smallest]

Sonic Movie Universe prediction: Robotnik is an orphan because of GUN

I think what was supposed to be, tonally, a silly throwaway line is actually winding up to punch us in the face later.

Bear with me.

I barely remember the first movie since it was so long since I watched it, but aside from one, maybe two, of the comic universes, this line is the first time we have ever gotten anything at all about Ivo Robotnik's personal backstory. And it's that he's an orphan. In a story series that explicitly sets him up with a human identity- none of that Eggman stuff as his identity, not even a whisper of the name until it's a silly insult Sonic throws out later- this movie bothers to give him a Normal Human Society Firstname Lastname and a job.

(Okay, so Robotnik isn't exactly a normal human surname. But it's established canon that is the family name so. Suspension of disbelief.)

A series that we know will later delve, at least a little, into the story of Professor Gerald Robotnik WHO IVO APPARENTLY, ACTUALLY, DEFINITELY KNEW IN THIS CONTINUITY, AS HE HAS A SPECIFIC GRANDPA NAME FOR HIM AND NEARLY CRIES.

The original line was a ridiculous rebuttal to Tom during the fight in the house during the first movie. "Rub that in my orphan face," he says in response to Tom sharing a detail of his childhood during Silly Action Scene Banter. While there is a sort of tension there since the movie universe makes no bones about Sonic being an actual child and he is confirmed to be an alien, thus making the danger present of government capture and experimentation very real and kind of horrific, the scene as it plays out isn't overly out of character for something you'd expect in a Sonic movie. And although Robotnik is the threat here, he plays a large part in also keeping the scene lighthearted because of how utterly he fails to respond like a normal human being to literally anything. The comment about being an orphan at least makes sense based on what Tom said, but it's still weirdly personal and, therefore, kind of inappropriate to say. Like dude back up you're trying to kill a child why are you sharing your trauma with me that's uncomfortable.

Which brings me to the obvious point of that line- it's not just to make the scene funny, it's to show us how set apart from other humans Robotnik is. This is a man who has no idea how to interact with anyone, like, absolutely nobody, and every single scene he's in reminds us of this, including this one.

Now that the third movie has explicitly drawn a line between Shadow's backstory and themes of pain and loss, and we see Gerald Robotnik weeping over what I think is Maria's body in the aftermath of the murder (jesus that's dark) I have to connect a few dots of my own.

The first movie had another piece of foreshadowing they threw at us, this one way more obvious: at the end of the first movie, a government agent is sent to speak with the Wachowski couple. He tells them that Ivo Robotnik has been thoroughly erased from existence. As far as any documentation of him ever existing on Planet Earth, there is none. He hasn't merely disappeared- it's like he never was.

If they did this to Ivo after this catastrophe it's not a stretch to think they did the same with Professor Gerald. Hell, I thought that after movie number one. "That has to come up later- we have a character the government explicitly turns on in this series. Like, as a major plot point. The defining moment in several characters' stories. No way does their ability to erase someone not come up later."

But now I think they went a step further.

They've already murdered a little girl and broken an old man in their efforts to contain the genius they were frightened of.

Personally, I don't think it's a stretch to think that Ivo Robotnik, very young himself at the time most likely, is an orphan because GUN decided to eradicate the entire family line in an effort to prevent anyone like Gerald Robotnik from ever existing again.

Except. The son survived. Well shit. Uh. Stick him in an orphanage and keep an eye on him, I guess.

And where does he end up as a adult? A branch of the government. Where they can keep an eye on him.

(More than that, if they did erase Gerald, Ivo clearly remembers him... so Ivo may have joined them specifically to look for traces of the grandfather he knows existed and who doesn't seem to have any records proving that whatsoever. But that's Ivo's motivations and we're talking about GUN's, so, moving on.)

It's likely based on his sheer intellect, assuming Ivo wasn't embellishing too heavily, that he didn't have to grow for very long before that brilliance was obvious. Though the government's decision to let him live was strategic, weighing the gamble of assassination with the gamble of him inheriting the genius and deciding that risking him having the same genius as his grandfather was better than trying to kill him at this point, the gambit ultimately failed. Even though he was more than likely still only a child, they'd let him live too long. In just a few short years he quickly became a very real threat to the government- as in, if given a reason, he could be a very real threat. And nothing Ivo does is ever subtle or quiet, so his genius was probably very loud, and there was likely lots of attention, making an assassination impossible, because if there would be too many questions before, there would be an insurmountable amount if he died or disappeared now.

So, since they couldn't kill him, they continued to keep an eye on him and took him on at the government when he was old enough with the intention of keeping their enemies closer. Except all of their caution still wasn't enough and he went rogue the first time he was presented with the opportunity to grab at power they didn't already have, power capable of things beyond their wildest imaginations- a monster of their own making.

Ivo, who never asked for what happened to him, very likely a victim of circumstances he had no hope of ever controlling, who responded to this trauma by making his choice that power mattered more than anything- more than morals, more than hurting people who are just like he was once. That shaping his own world after all the horrors he planned to do in pursuit of that may finally, finally "be enough."

(Be enough for what, exactly, Ivo. You never did explain that. "Who knows? Maybe that will be enough." Elaborate.)

Whether he knew the truth about why he had suffered or not, Robotnik made his choices. He stood at that crossroads that demanded he make a choice about what kind of person he was going to be in the face of all the pain and loss, and he made his choice. This movie is about Shadow making his.

If this movie really wants to beat us all to death it won't just draw comparisons between Sonic and Shadow, but Shadow and Ivo Robotnik.

(If this movie wants to exorcize our souls after we're dead, if it intends to be a trilogy and not make more movies in following the original vision for Sonic Adventure 2, it'll place Ivo at a new crossroads, and this time, he'll make a different choice.)

(Especially since Professor Gerald, in a much worse state of madness and malice than Ivo, who the movie is setting up specifically as someone Ivo loves, admires, and almost certainly misses, probably won't.)

[bestjeanistmonster]

Sonic au summary list

Just to give a rundown of each one!

DC (Sonadow Harlivy) AU- Sonic and crew take on the roles of DC comics heroes and villains, shenanigans ensue as i pick and choose what i want to include and/or change from the multitude of dc comics timelines and continuities and mixing it with Sonic stuff for fun. The most significant roles are Sonic as Harley Quinn and Shadow as Poison ivy

SONIC & TAILS SWAP AU- Tails is the adventuring hero of mobius while Sonic is a pilot/mechanic who's a low-key genius

But along with the role swap I'm also changing Sonic's relationship with his own speed. I'm thinking that Sonic is insecure about his speed due to bullying and other jerks calling him a freak, he acts like it doesn't bother him and laughs it off but he doesn't run and if he has to run he deliberately slows himself down

His boots are even weighted down so that it's harder for him to reach high speeds

They have the same abilities, but because of how different their lives have been they utilise them in different way and have different interests and stuff like Tails’s smarts are targeted towards something different, he’s more interested in ancient ruins and learning about different cultures and stuff which leads him to go on some wacky adventures OZ AU- a sonic storybook situation but Shadow is the one being transported out of nowhere to the land of oz where he must travel great lengths to meet with the wizard of oz and find a way back home and face off against Oz's greatest threat, the wicked witch of the west who is... Sonic??? ROADTRIP AU- a coming of age, slice of life au where Amy makes an ill advised purchase while sleep deprived. She buys a bus. She buys a yellow school bus and for reasons (yet to be revealed) she decides to go on a trip to get away from home for a while. She ends up picking up a series of hitchhikers on the way, making friends, enemies and discovering things about herself on the way!

ONCE UPON A TIME (OUAT) AU- Eggman places an evil curse on the land which leaves our heroes stuck in a world with no chaos energy, no powers, no way out, stripped of their heroic deeds. Our world. They now reside in a town called storybrooke with no memory of their past lives, trapped and robbed of their happy endings, doomed to live in misery. Time is frozen in this town until someone special comes to visit, a saviour to rescue the fallen heroes and undo this evil curse.

Then all the way in station square, Cream the Rabbit is gifted a mysterious storybook by her mother on her 6th birthday, something her father left behind for her, and Vanilla informs her daughter that they will be moving into her Father’s old family house as per his final wishes, located in a town called ‘Storybrooke’.

And Cream will soon find that the town’s residents seem awfully similar to the characters in her new book…

[madelynhimegami]

To my knowledge, you like Puyo Puyo! But what do you enjoy most about it?

Honestly, it might be easier to explain my intoduction to the series. Ideally we'll get there in the end either way. You ever seen one of those "What I Played/What I Expected/What I Got" memes? My story is pretty much like one of those.

I don't remember when I started learning bits and pieces about it, or when Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine went from being itself to a Puyo game in a trenchcoat in my mind. But by mid 2017 I knew the aforementioned (I called the CPZ boss in Sonic Mania a Puyo boss on twitter when I played it), recognized Carbuncle, recognized Draco Centauros (thanks to a friend who is still a big fan of her), and had heard that there was some sort of story to it, but didn't know a lot of details.

Then in September of 2017, a friend of mine mentioned that he had been playing Puyo Puyo Tetris lately as his go-to "pick up and play" sort of game. I looked it up in the eshop, saw it was cheap, and thought a pick-up-and-play game was what I needed and bought it. Not that I knew shit about playing Puyo well, but I at least had some basic competency at Tetris to balance things out.

And hey, at least the story mode would be a good way to learn! So I dove in to the story and started playing.

I was expecting the story to be inconseqential to my enjoyment of the game. Something either generic or corny, with characters that ranged from "tolerable" to "painful anime cliche."

The thing that knocked me on my ass almost immediately was that the writing was actually funny, made better with the English cast's fantastic delivery.

Those are all from just the story's first chapter! The first one is from the prologue! The other two are from the third scene (couting dialogue before and after a round of gameplay together as one scene)! And it kept going!

For the record, even though I was picky with what to include, and stitching lines from the same scenes together, I still had almost fifty (50) funny moments I wanted to drop out of context, in a game with a rough total of two hours of story material collected to write this post. And then I had to narrow it down further just so I wouldn't hit the image limit too quickly.

Was it a little corny and awkward at points? Sure. Several voice actors had to grow into their roles. Plus, the impression I always had from the script-- an impression that's only gotten stronger the more I learn about this series and then come back to this game-- is that someone on the development team was not expecting this to be all that successful overseas. And not for no reason, since Puyo Puyo's tried to get its foot in the door in the west several times by this point. But the end result of this lack of faith was a localization team that tried very hard to make this game stand on its own merits with as little understanding of the games that had come before as possible. Which, honestly I think they did a pretty dang good job of! Especially since it didn't shy away from the hard-hitting stuff when it came. Which I'm going to intentionally leave even further out of context so as to not give away all of it.

There was also this line here, which was what first clued me in that the writing's quality wasn't an accident, that the writer is actually thinking all this stuff through:

Fun fact, the only people you will see in your dreams are people you have seen while you're awake. The parts of the brain responsible for dreams can't make up new faces, or throw together composites of preeviously-known ones. Hence, this question, which does in fact get answered in the next scene, in a way that made me go, "Ohhh, that's really smart, actually!"

But yeah. That was just this one game. It took me a few more years before I tried other games that had been translated, fan or otherwise, but the more I've played and the more I learn about these characters and their worlds, the more engrossed I get. It's a hyperfixation now. It seems like there's always something new I'm learning about it, but it's not overwhelming, it just feels like I'm knowing a good friend better and better. The modern artstyle is deceptively simple and very endearing, and so many of the characters are interesting and fun. And the current writer is just so galaxy-brained, I'm not even kidding.

The characters in the Puyo Puyo series are all morons. They're all crazy. But at the end of the day, they care about each other, no matter how little they want to admit it. And they all have their own theming to the magic they use. It's a lot of fun. From your standard-fair RPG spells, to cosmic forces, to math terms,

I can't recommend this series enough, no matter what your skill level with puzzle games is! There's something in it for everyone.

Unless you're looking for genuinely evil characters, I guess. Like, there are characters that are intimidating or sinister or threatening, but almost none of them are actually evil. Fraid the closest to that this series has is a(n as-of-now) gender-ambiguous Elon Musk with better hair in the Japan-excusive gacha game.

Further reading from the author (that isn't already on their tumblr):

[1]

[2]

[3]

[sonic-oc-showdown]

ROUND 3

Squabble belongs to @sonic-adventure-3

Zenyx belongs to @grimsdeadb0nes

Find out more about them below!

Squabble the Pigeon:

incredibly cheerful untrained pilot and mechanic for a trio of freelance postal workers/hitman. LOVES airplanes and explosives and tinkering and package delivery, is a chronic pipe bomb maker, and has a boundless joie de vivre. she operates on cartoon physics, and has a messenger bag that functions as a hammerspace where she keeps her exposives, revolver, second identical revolver that pops a flag, bazooka, and everything else including the kitchen sink. incredibly cheerful and completely lacking in common sense or a coherent moral compass. about twelve, and on the short side.

Zenyx:

Zenyx is a(n Offcolor) Zeti hailing from the Lost Hex, hidden from the eyes of all but a small handful for her own safety.

Described as exceedingly versatile and a fairly composed wild-card, she acts as The Deadly Six's secret Seventh member! The full extent of her outwardly behaviors is dependant on who she may be around or the situation at hand. She can be quite sweet and very caring to those she likes or is loyal to (which is a very limited list), but can otherwise be just as malicious as the rest of her Pack tend to be towards outsiders. However, unlike the other six, she won't always go out of her way to cause harm or misery UNLESS given proper reason to or provoked. She can be alittle hissy at times, but she's not inherently hot-headed like some; she just doesnt like her buttons being pushed or being lied to- or worse yet, her Pack being messed with.

Zenyx is extremely loyal to the Six and may be described as "caring alittle too much", as she enjoys keeping an eye on/spending time with each and every one if possible and making sure they're okay. She's very keen on stealth and being observant, a quick thinker that thinks ahead, and maybe a slight bit of a people pleaser towards certain individuals- but she isn't afraid to give her two cents either and often lacks a filter at times, offering a touch of sass and attitude. She can be very performative (to an extent) and likes trying to make things fun, being ultimately much more (surprisingly) pleasant than the rest of the Six.

In my Lost World Rewrite (currently still being worked on as of this Poll, yet to be properly revealed!), she is the main inclusion-difference and is by all means another rough obstacle for Sonic and Tails to get through. She managed to remain hidden while the rest of the Six were "conquered" by Eggman for a time, staying out of sight and scheming or helping behind the scenes- as well as working on a way to aid in their freedom before Sonic inevitably kicked the Cacophonic Conch from Eggman's grasp, speeding up that plan tenfold. Eggman was none the wiser to her existence until much later in the story, even going as far as aggressively denying the existence of a seventh in the stretch of area he had taken over when asked about it by Tails, because "If there was, I would have conquered them too!" or something.

She appears in much further stuff planned but thats all hush hush rn ;3!

[thankskenpenders]

I haven't really been posting about the IDW comics on here recently - the ask box being off means I don't get asked for my Hot Takes every issue. But I am, of course, still keeping up with them. I've been really enjoying this period of shorter stories jumping between a wider variety of characters (including the return of backup stories, finally!!!), as well as the juicy melodrama of Mimic infiltrating the Diamond Cutters. Good stuff with lots of good character moments throughout. And the Amy special was very cute. And the 900th Adventure was fun, even if I did think it was let down a bit by ending on its weakest segment after how creative a lot of the middle segments were.

Unfortunately, despite looking forward to it, I found the new Halloween Special about the Chaotix pretty underwhelming. I'm curious if anyone feels the same way. (read more for spoilers)

It feels very... kiddy-ish? I know Sonic is always for kids, obviously, but the IDW comics have pushed dark and spooky stuff quite a bit between arcs like the Metal Virus and Scrapnik Island, so I guess it stands out that the actual Halloween issue is an extremely low-stakes story about stolen candy without even, like, a cool spooky robot or some ghosts or a haunted house or something. Before long we learn that the villains are just other random kids who came up with a scheme to steal candy. They get a very blunt moral about sharing and not taking things that don't belong to you, really cementing the feeling that it was written for a younger audience than most of the other IDW comics.

The Endless Summer special was also very light in tone and low in stakes, though (even if that issue also had some character development for Jewel that felt like it gave it a bit more meat). Similarly, that special lacked any villains, instead using the Babylon Rogues as a nuisance on the beach and having the heroes make peace with them by the end. So I kind of suspect that these seasonal one-shots are intentionally being written for a younger audience, especially younger kids who might not be following the rest of the comics but might be swayed to buy a one-shot with the words "Sonic" and "Halloween" on the cover. I do feel like new writer Mark Bouchard captured the characters' voices well, though - I really love the exchange between the Chaotix on the very first page - so I'm hoping they can come back and write some more Sonic stuff that lands better for me.

Oh wait no the actual worst thing about the Halloween special is that everyone else gets to have a fun costume (Tails gets an absolutely incredible line about his that I won't spoil)... but Sonic doesn't! No costume for Sonic! He doesn't even get a line about him "going as himself" or anything to acknowledge it or turn it into a joke. I can only assume corporate interfered here.

The main series issue that dropped simultaneously (#65) was very good, though. Many, many incredible Knuckles faces courtesy of Mauro. So it's hard to stay disappointed.

[clarasteam]

further spoilery reflections on the Rogue novelisation: post-audiobook random stuff edition

some things I enjoyed in the book that we didn't get in the show, though I see why we didn't:

the highly developed animosity between Ruby and Lord Stilton Barton, including her telling him "Don't hang out in a library unless you wanna get read" and standing him up in the middle of a quadrille, as a result of which he is actively planning to kill her

the description of the Doctor "giving the TARDIS a little comforting tap" in response to her indigestion groan

the Doctor ruthlessly breaking up Rogue's large weapon disseminator (variously described as his precious creation, his favourite gadget, etc) and using bits of it to reprogramme the trap (R: "I can't believe you broke my stuff!") - interesting that in this version Rogue is the one who's incautiously handing over his tech, rather than the Doctor handing over the sonic

the Doctor telling Rogue "Don't pout too much. When we're not trying to kill each other, we're a good team."

Rogue and the Doctor's dialogue in the garden after the Scandalous Gay Dancing/Fake Proposal OR WAS IT:

"Quite the show," Rogue said with a sly grin.

"You did pretty well yourself," the Doctor replied, adjusting his collar.

I hope someone is writing fic about Professor Sarsha Melenney of Capriskia University, the only survivor of the Chuldur invasion; my heart goes out to her. I like the grimness of this chapter, and how it moves from jokes about inheritance tax fraud to the way people would rather claim they'd been duped by a shapeshifter than "admit to being friends with, or related to, someone awful."

Ruby getting a stitch from "running about after eating all those finger sandwiches" and reflecting that you don't see that on tv

the Chuldur butler being fed up that not one person has accused him of murder, and being told it's the wrong era for it AGAIN (see tvtropes: The Butler Did It), and his pleasure when he finally gets to be the murderer (bumping off the vicar in order to perform the marriage)

more Duchess action, and the family tensions between her and [her annoying middle sister] Miss Emily Beckett, including the Duchess's plan to have a fling with Barton at her next event, "just to help her sister realise that their marriage was bogus" (& KH and BR generally having fun with poisonous family dynamics in this story)

in general, it feels as if Ruby gets more to do in the book than she does in the episode - there's more Ruby-and-Emily, more Ruby-and-Barton, more Ruby-and-the-Duchess. Ruby even makes sure nobody else gets killed by the Chuldur, at the point where Lord Frampton threatens to become "a grey-haired gentleman in a gold waistcoat" so that he can act as "father of the bride":

"Can we all stop messing about, please?" Ruby interrupted. "It's my wedding, and I want the Duchess to give me away." (at this point the Duchess still thinks Ruby is her annoying sister aka Emily, but she agrees to it anyway because she wants to be centre stage)

I am still happily cackling at the title and author of the book Ruby whacks Emily with :)

listening to the audiobook brings out different emphases, and changes the pace for me; there were other bits that made me laugh that I now can't remember, and some that made me have something in my eye...

[imsparky2002]

Miraculous Animal AU - Science Class

Zoe the Wasp - Though her and Chloe are not technically related, they've been together since birth and see eachother as sisters. Even though they're sweeter than Chloe, Zoe has a sharp pincer that she uses for hunting her food. She also loves movies and punk rock songs that play on the record player. They adore their hedgehog mate, Cosette, and often fly on its nose.

Aurore the Swan - Aurore's a big, beautiful and elegant bird, who also happens to be a nervous wreck 90% of the time. Due to society's expectations of swans to always be radiant and magestic creatures, Aurore can be a perfectionist, scared of failing in the eyes of her elders. It's only thanks to being with her friends and her penguin mate Mireille that she's learned how to relax and simply live life for herself. One of her favorite things to do is to honk about the weather with her girlfriend to the other animals on each farm.

Mireille the Penguin - Mireille is as quiet and chill as the temperature they prefer to live in. She's often waddling around to see what the weather is like, and their favorite pasttime is going for a nice swim in the pond. She often finds it hard to open her beak and speak up, but is working on it with the more extroverted animals. They also like visiting their older brother, Theo, who is the pet of a famous artist.

Jean the Macaw - If you want to see an animal with flair, vigor and theatricality, look no further than Jean. A particuarly passionate parrot, Jean loves to strut his stuff wherever he goes, showing that they can squawk the squawk and walk the walk. They adore the theatre, listening to all sorts of musicals from the record player and copying certain words that he learns from the scripts. They also put on little shows for their friends, with the help of some of the more theatre-loving animals. He cherishes his mate, a nerdy deer named Austin T.

Lacey the Cheetah - Lacey always has a need for speed, so don't coop her up. As the fastest not just of Farmer Olga, but of all the farms, it's Lacey's job to catch any troublemakers trying to sneak in. She also loves parkour, racing for glory against Kim, Alix and Aggie. Because of her low stamina, she can often be found napping in various parts of the farm. Be thoughtful and don't wake her up.

Denise the Bison - Denise is one bulky bison. They grazing, rolling around in the dirt, and prefers to be in a herd rather than alone. A very social bison, they want to make sure everyone feels included in daily activities. They may be huge, but they're one of the friendliest and calmest animals on the farm, always willing to be pet. There's only one animal that can make them blush, that being their serval mate Simon.

Simon the Serval - A snarky and slender serval, Simon's a cat who is always trying to nab pieces of technology to use for himself. Some of his friends call them "Keyboard Cat" since he constantly paws at the computer as if it were a majestic artifact of God. They also can be rather grumpy in the morning, needing to climb a tree or mark territory to cool off. Sometimes, he likes jumping onto the back of his bison mate and going for a ride.

Cosette the Hedgehog - A spunky and spiky critter, Cosette's always in the mood for exploring, digging and foraging. You can often find it sniffing its' friends, rolling around in a ball, or digging with its claws for treasures. They love makeup, and have made some out of various substances found on the farm to put on its' animal allies. One time, Cosette and their foxy friend Alya tried to recreate something they saw from a Sonic movie. They were sad to find out foxes couldn't actually fly.

Ismael the Raccoon - A witty little gremlin, Ismael proudly identifies as a "trash baby". He likes digging through garbage, collecting various items from the bins to put on display at his room for the other animals to see. He's a night owl for sure, usually hanging out with the other nocturnal animals around the various farms. You can often hear him chittering with a meowing Simon, as they snark about various things.

Reshma the Elephant - A polite and elegant elephant, Reshma never forgets to cherish her friends. She often trumpets about new ideas for fashion, and her best friend Ismael is as protective of her as she is with him. Her fashionista friend is Marinette, the little ladybug. They are always working together on new animal attire, despite being vastly different in size. She loves wrapping her trunk around her cheetah mate, Lacey, and her polar bear mate, Margo.

And that's the Science Kids! Thanks to Coco and Weebs for the animal species ideas. Make sure to watch out for the Recess Class who will be the next farm to show. Give a thumbs up and show your support in the reblogs and replies. @artzychic27 @msweebyness @nerd-chocolate

[julie-sufan]

The In-Depth Look at Julie-Su Part 6: Knuckles #16-23

Issue #16 is a one shot. Here Knuckles is upset after finding out that his mom plans to marry her new boyfriend. He runs off not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.

First (But definitely not the last) time that Julie kisses Knuckles. Then they share a nice quiet moment together.

Issue #17 & 18 features yet another past echidna guardian with a ton of backstory. He meets Julie-Su who is riding an absurdly evil looking horse type of creature.

Love that she's giving him attitude even when in the thrones of death.

In issue #18 she stops by Lara-Le's house (Knuckles's Mom) for some tea and cookies and to hear about of Tobor's (The echidna with the unique eyes) backstory.

Another moment I like. Here we see Julie-Su going from being in complete denial about wanting a relationship with Knuckles to hugging him on the exact same page. Kind of reminds me of Michiru from Fruit of Grisaia who would also fail at trying to be a tsundere type.

Second kiss scene.

Issues 19-21 barely has Julie in it and centers around the Royal Acorn Family. It really feels like a plot that should have been in the main Sonic comic series but for some reason ended up here.

Issue 20 features the first full appearance of Elias who would later show up in the Sonic comic.

After this point Julie gets knocked out for pretty much the rest of the arc.

Next arc 22-24 is going to be a bit tricky to talk about without getting political because it features politics. Please keep in mind that this arc was written way back in 1999.

It features a importance first appearance of Julie-Su's half sister Lien-Da working with the Dark Legion to smash stuff up. No matter what you're views are I like to think that people would come together against the anti-flat screen party.

Did some quick research and found this from howstuffworks. Flat screen tvs used to be called HDTVs when they were first released around 1998.

"Those sets came from manufacturers like Panasonic and Sony, and had a different appearance -- they were wider than standard televisions. That's because the new HDTV standard also included a new aspect ratio. The standard aspect ratio was 4:3, the new ratio was 16:9. They also came with a hefty price tag -- the first sets on the American market cost $7,000 or more."

Lien-Da has never looked more sinister. You can really tell that the artist (Jim Valentino) enjoyed drawing the Dark Legion and it's various members.

Nice Chaotix group shot. This upcoming full page scene I'm going to let speak for itself and that's all I'll say on it.

Hope you enjoy seeing Julie hang upside down because that's what she spends the most of issue 24 doing.

Next up: More hanging around and the Dating arc.

[bloodypeachblog]

My Hazbin Hotel OC: Vendetta

(image made with NovelAI and edited by me)

Name: Vendetta (Ven) Nicknames: Babe (Vox), Sweetheart/Sweetie (Velvette), Madam/Miss Ven (Alastor), Dearest/Sparrow(Zestial), maldita perra/perra [fucking bitch/bitch] (Valentino), Venny (Niffty & Rosie) Age: ageless, but appears to be in her 20s-30s. Death year: mid to late 1980s Cause of death: decapitated due to an onstage accident Gender: Female Pronouns: She/Her Sexuality: Pansexual Height: 6'2 Weight: 164 lbs Likes: music (all but country), DJing at her club, 80s stuff, sex, TV, technology, horror movies, spiders Dislikes: Jerks, useless fights, ungrateful and disrespectful people, country music, bacon Friends: Niffty, Angel Dust, Velvette, Charlie, Vaggie, Emily, Blitzø, Loona, Octavia, Rosie, Lucifer Enemies: Adam, Lute, Stella, Valentino Frenemies: Alastor Relationships: Vox (boyfriend), Velvette (best friend), Niffty (best friend), Zestial (2nd boyfriend) Speaking/Singing Voice: Susan Egan Abilities: Super hearing: she can hear a pin drop from 2 miles away even when music is blaring. She mostly uses it to catch unruly customers at her club. Sonic Boom: a scream that can reach 160 decibels and extend over 200 miles, causing massive damage, even physical. She can wipe out an entire city if she screams loud enough. Telepathy/technology interference: her headphones can play the thoughts of whoever she wants into her ears, they can also pick up any phone calls or radio/tv signals (audio only, of course). Killer Queen: She can summon black long arms and hands and use them in fights, from binding an opponent up to ripping them to pieces. She can manipulate them by using her own arms and hands (kinda like Nico Robin's Hana Hana no Mi from One Piece). ~~~~more under read more~~~~

Her personality and wit are a mix of Meg from Disney's Hercules and Chel from the Road to El Dorado, but she can be kind, sweet, and loving to people she cares about. Just don't make her mad, or your dead body is for dinner.

She runs Hell's music industry and she owns a majority of singers' souls in it, an example being Verosika Mayday. She treats her souls fairly and like they're people instead of possessions, but she won't hesitate to put an ungrateful bitch in their place.

She wouldn't call Alastor a friend, nor an enemy. She is civil when they interact, and she has nothing too personal against Alastor. She just doesn't like his uncaring attitude.

Alastor has no ill will on Vendetta and allows her to run her radio station, as long as she doesn't overstep her boundaries and try to take down/take over his radio station. They even collab on music sometimes, making electro swing works

Vox and her have been dating for eons, she isn't too keen on Valentino, who Vox is friends with benefits with, but tolerates him because of Vox.

Ven despises how Val treats the souls he owns, any of his workers, or even the other Vees, especially Vox.

She tries to keep Val from absolutely pummeling Angel Dust, and if unsuccessful, she treats Angel's wounds and comforts him.

Velvette and her are close, almost like sisters. They hang out and gossip whenever they can.

She makes her own music under her record label, Baphomet Records, playing it on the radio stations, music videos, and at her club.

Her and Niffty are best friends, Ven absolutely adoring Niffty. Niffty thinks she's really fun to hang out with. If you just looked at them together, you'd think they were related, like aunt and niece or mother and daughter.

Ven sometimes visits Rosie and they talk over cannibalistic lunches. Ven likes to buy meat from Rosie's store from time to time. Girl's gotta eat.

Vox and her are very close and very loving to each other. Val may be Vox's fuck buddy, but Ven is his true love.

She has 2 tv shows, including a TRL style show, where she shows the latest music videos. She also has a talk show where she talks about various topics and answers questions asked by viewers, sometimes having interviews and special guests. She even broadcasts the audio on her radio station.

Vox has Val as a fuck buddy, Ven has Zestial. The only difference is that Zestial actually cares about Ven, where Val couldn't give less of a shit about Vox.

She calls Vox 'Voxxy', Velvette 'Vel', Zestial 'Zest' and Valentino 'Mothman', 'Moth-brain', or just 'Asshole'.

one time, she saw Val abuse one of his souls and Ven called him pathetic and weak because he only uses violence to establish dominance instead of using respect. When he hit her in response, she took it like a champ, not even flinching, proving her point.

All of Ven's music equipment was provided by VoxTek. The nightclub even has VoxTek as one of its investors. Vox had offered to give it to her for free, but Ven feels better paying for it to support him. She does get good discounts tho.

the kind of music she makes: [SCRATON - Another Girl] [Madeon - Imperium] [Porter Robinson - Unison (Knife Party Remix)], [Madeon - Pop Culture]

Her and Zestial are very close, like almost husband and wife close. They definitely fuck, but they help each other out with anything bothering them. Like, they lay in bed and talk about anything after they have sex. Vox is pretty jealous about this, but he has Val, so he can't say shit. But he has told Zestial that if anything happened to him and he wasn't around anymore, he'd trust Zestial to take care of Ven.

When Ven was alive, she witnessed the AIDS epidemic firsthand and lost many friends due to it. When she entered Hell, she was an advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness. She doesn't promote condoms or anything like that (she would, but since who in Hell is gonna use them? Do they even exist down there?), but more like awareness, like 'hey, make sure you know what your partner has before you go and have fun, cuz otherwise your afterlife's gonna suck!' kind of stuff.

Her weapons are the following: An angel spear and an angel gun she took off of a few dead angels from Extermination Day. She easily gets the angel bullets from the black market. She also has a regular 1911 pistol and a silver dagger. She only uses the angel gun for instances where she wants the target to never come back, or absolute emergencies. More headcanons will be posted as time goes on! Feel free to ask any questions about her you have! Taglist: @omniuravity, @fatgumsurpremacy-remastered, @neonvehk

[project-sekai-facts]

whats 4kids?

Anon you grew up with good dubs.

4kids was an american licensing company that used to own the rights to and dub lots of non-english shows, particularly a lot of anime. they're also very infamous for the ridiculous amounts of edits and such that they made to americanize the shows. like some of their most (in)famous dubs include: One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh, some early seasons of Pokemon, Sonic X, and one of the English dubs for Winx Club's early seasons.

People often joke about them for bad dialogue and how ridiculous the censors were. Like especially in One Piece from what I've heard, because they had to physical alter the animation to remove blood and change every single gun to be a popgun or water pistol. Like here's a 2hr 40 minute video covering all the changes they made to OP. It wasn't a good time.

Speaking from what I know in the Sonic X and Winx Club side of things, the Winx dub is fairly disliked within the fandom for not being very faithful to the original. They changed a lot of scenes within the episode around and cut lots of stuff that honestly wasn't even that bad (as far as I'm aware this is something they did with their other dubs too). Also they changed some of the characters' personalities and loads of lore for absolutely no reason (okay one of the changes was probably to avoid the MC having a dead sister so they made the ghost of the sister be no relation but other than that).

Same in Sonic X particularly in the final season there was a pretty strict no death or sad things rule. While there was an instance of major character death in the finale that was entirely unavoidable, they still toned it down massively and removed a lot of the heavy grieving scenes connected to it. Also they removed two (very plot important) instances of children dying, one of which ironically ended up with Shadow being killed off in the finale due to the scene revealing he's still alive showing the grave of one of these characters being cut (it's a long story please don't ask me to explain Shadow the Hedgehog lore or it'll end up being longer than any of my project sekai essays).

Yeah so basically 4kids is like the epitome of bad dubbing and is a treated as a joke by. most people who grew up with it.

Oh also they changed all the music in the shows they dubbed which was also bad but gave us some really iconic songs like the original english pokemon theme.

And one last thing

See ensekai localisation isn't amazing but it could be worse. Especially if it was an anime and was dubbed 20 years ago.

[blazehedgehog]

You know how characters introduced as a rival to Sonic mirror him in some way? Which ones do you think do the best/worst job of it?

I feel biased because I really like Metal Sonic. He was kind of always this, but they've really leaned into making him this cold, ruthless machine, who, at least according to the comics, secretly questions his own identity.

He is the ultimate evil Sonic: extremely fast, endlessly acrobatic, but with absolutely no heart. All business, no pleasure. He exists to get a job done. And, like, guys like Shadow have their own business going on. Metal Sonic exists for one reason, and one reason alone: be the anti-Sonic.

The worst is hard to pin down because there's so many jobbers. I know people like Sonic 2 GG's Silver Sonic, but I've never been a huge fan of him (he's cute and weird sure, but I dunno). Then there's Pseudo Sonic, from the Adventures of Sonic cartoon.

I'm going to jump into hot water, though, and I want to preface this by saying: I have still not read Sonic the Comic. I am judging these based on very limited information.

(So, so many images incoming)

I really do not like "Sonic Badnik."

This design is such a strange looking mess. It feels like the sort of thing they didn't expect to draw more than once. Like there were no design meetings, it's just, this was it. This was the first draft, right here.

Skimming the rest of the issue, that rings true, given "Sonic Badnik" doesn't even look totally correct page to page.

Details change, colors change, it's like the artist is drawing his own character from memory and he can't remember what it looked like three pages earlier.

It can be forgiven. This was issue four. I don't think anyone was taking the job very seriously yet.

I'm also not a huge fan of Emperor Metallix.

I also don't know tons about Doctor Who, but I understand enough to know this is a Dalek thing. It makes it comparable to all those dumb Archie Sonic comics where they snuck in so many Star Trek and Star Wars references that the upper management supposedly had to lay down rules blocking that kind of material because it was starting to clog up the book.

Also the idea of a big Metal Sonic permanently fused to a big chair doesn't seem very scary, even if he is commanding an army of Metal Sonics. It's sort of like being scared of a refrigerator. Was he even mobile? I suppose if the chair could fly around and had weapons and stuff built into it, maybe that could be scary. I see some images where that's suggested, but I also see images where it looks like he's attached to the floor and walls.

Even if he can fly around, he seems like he basically only exists to pass orders down. That's pretty boring. This guy is a boss only in the sense his employees do all the work.

Also, let's turn the lens back towards Archie: I think Anti-Sonic himself is lame.

Again: it's Archie going back to the well of Star-Trek-isms. Star Trek has the mirror universe, where an evil version of the Enterprise exists, with evil versions of Kirk, Spock, etc. We see Mirror Kirk literally do the nazi salute!

Side note: Mirror Universe TNG is hilarious because everybody is sexy, edgy, and super ripped. It's REALLY dumb, but in the best way.

Anyway, that's literally all Anti Sonic is: he's mirror universe Sonic. He's evil, and we know he's evil because he dresses like a PUNK. That means knee-high boots, a leather jacket, and sunglasses. And that's it. That's his entire personality.

Oh and I guess he lusts after everyone, including Sally's computer, Nicole (notably when she was still just a computer and not yet her own character) and even himself, I guess.

Ian Flynn eventually turned this guy around by changing him into Scourge the Hedgehog, and fleshed out his identity a lot more. I am probably not the first one to note that the current IDW Sonic character Surge the Tenrec feels like a do-over in terms of Scourge the Hedgehog.

Which is basically: an attitude turned up past 11. Both are deeply broken individuals.

But I'm getting off topic: the original Anti-Sonic sucks. He's a one note gimmick, and a bad one.