Tumgik
#finally everyone can see I am real Sonic fan even though I have been fan for years but without any figure lol
tailshastwotails · 1 year
Text
My first Sonic figure for all the years and I am really happy for it to be this one
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
1 note · View note
Note
I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS CHALLENGE-
The Movie Series means so much to me. I've been a Sonic fan for more than 10 years. It's one of my personal favorite franchises but in the last couple of years in the 2010s, it was hard for me to enjoy literally anything if no body likes anything. Unfortunately it's still like that, but back then, it was BAD.
Then the first news for the first movie came to public and despite everyone's worries, I was EXCITED AS FUCK for the movie. I never even heard of Ben Schwartz until I heard he was gonna voice Sonic and the instant I looked up a clip from DuckTales and Rise of the TMNT, I fell in LOVE with his voice and his outstanding voice acting. (That dude is responsible for me becoming a fan of DuckTales, TMNT, Randy Cunningham, etc.)
The first trailer, the manhog one, kind of made the Sonic fandom a laughing stock for months. I honestly didn't think his design was that bad (Before I saw the redesign anyway lol) but I was excited for the movie regardless.
But DUDE... Nothing could ever make me fall in love with the franchise again, let alone replace a favorite version of Sonic of mine, than finally seeing Sonic Wachowski's new look. I never squealed so hard on my life.
Seeing the movie at theaters meant a lot because it was the first time I've ever been to a real movie theater since I was 2 or 3. I was nervous because of my sensory, but it won't stop me from watching the Blue Devil on screen. (My dad got me some noise cancelling headphones but they didn't even fit me that well so I just watched movie 1 and 2 without them and it surely was an experience. It wasn't until he got me much better sports professional ones when we went to see the Mario Movie on IMAX. Nice save dad. XD)
For a long time, I watched this movie every single day the moment I got it on Steelbook. I just love everything about it. How relatable it is, the dynamics between characters, the FX and CGI, the acting/voice acting from everyone, the story, everything.
This movie holds a special place in my heart, including Finding Nemo and Lilo and Stitch because they all have thing in common: found family.
Blue precious characters feeling lost in a big world finally finding something they found home, and said home loves them back. 💕
But I never realized how much of this version of Sonic mean to me until the second film came out. I think it changed my life forever. XD
...Actually, yeah, no, I DID changed my life. That wasn't even a joke.
Everything I loved about the first movie got doubled in the second movie. Every second on screen was a joy to watch. Especially the entirety of the third act. Besides the Rise of the TMNT movie, this is one of my favorite Ben Schwartz performances. He knocked it out of the park.
The second film helped me through a lot since post-pandemic. I mean the Sonic franchise alone helped me a lot, but the Movie Series especially. (I call it the Movie Series because it's more than just the movies.)
The Knuckles show was great. It wasn't what I was expecting but I had a lot of fun watching it. I kind of wasn't expecting some Whipple family drama involving Wade's dad since that side-plot was similar to what I'm going through. (Though the difference between Wade's dad and MY dad is that mine really cares about us and we're still getting along. XD)
People have the right to feel however they wanna feel towards anything, but no one's feelings on anything can be the same as mine.
I love the Movie Series so much. It helped me through tough times and it helped me get back in the fandom fully. I am planning on getting AO3 sometime around summer, and I'll be writing a lot. (Hopefully lol)
The Blueberry Muffin is super important to me. There is no other Sonic like him. I thank the whole Movie Series for helping me throughout this decade, and Sonic Wachowski for not making me feel alone. (Including you, Mystery.)
Tumblr media
Ohhh❤️🥹❤️
Thank you for sharing this with me. And thank you for feeling comfortable and happy enough to share this with me.
9 notes · View notes
edgy-ella · 11 months
Text
A new era begins!
(It’s hard to hear, but Sebastian said “criiiiinge,” which is why I told him to shut up)
I’ve wanted to play Sonic 06 for a long time. Not because it’s good, obviously—this is one of the most infamous video games of all time, perhaps the most to come out of the new millennia. No, I wanted to play it because I felt obligated to.
Of course, everyone “knows” 06 is bad, but how many people have actually played it? I hadn’t, and I don’t think it’s fair to shit talk a game no matter how bad its reputation is. I mean, I have my fair share of games that I like that have been critically panned as well as my fair share of games that I dislike that have been critically praised. No amount of lets plays and reviews can substitute actually experiencing a game for yourself. So, play it I shall. I also see it as a sort of hazing ritual as a Sonic fan.
A few years back, I got a used copy of the game on PS3 at GameStop for $10. Problem was, I didn’t have a PS3 to play it on. I thought one of my friends had one, but it turns out that she has basically every Sony console except the PS3 (as it truly had no games). This turned out to be a common trend with more and more people. But now, finally, I have a console to play it on—the PS3 at my college’s gaming club. So every Friday from 5-7 from this day on, I’m gonna be playing Sonic 06 until I beat it.
(A lot of people have asked me why I don’t just emulate it; you don’t understand. This isn’t just any game. This is Sonic 06. I don’t want to even for a single second blame any of the game’s…quirks on my computer’s poor specs or the emulator not being properly optimized. I want to play 06 the way God intended.)
After having played through Sonic’s campaign up to White Acropolis, I can say that it’s definitely the worst mainline 3D Sonic game that I’ve played. Wow, shocker I know. But, I think there’s a lot more to talk about here than just saying “game bad” and writing it off entirely. As someone who grew up hearing horror stories about how bad this game was, it is absolutely fascinating to analyze now that I’ve gotten a chance to actually play it.
I don’t think that Sonic 06 is inherently a bad game. A lot of its biggest issues are technical—the camera is awkward to control and often gets stuck, Sonic‘s physics paired with the awful camera make him a chore to move around with (though I don’t think he feels as sluggish as I’ve seen some people say; it’s more that everything else is fighting against him to make him feel slower than he actually is), the frame rate is HELLA inconsistent, yadda yadda yadda. With all that being said though, I don’t think the game is full of bad ideas, just bad execution.
The level design so far is okay. I’ve played through worse levels in a Sonic game, but I am also not very far into 06. Once again, the poor technical performance of the game is what holds the levels back, not their layout or geometry. Fun loop de loop sections are held back by Sonic being flung off them into the ocean because he was one degree off center, and the game doesn’t correct you on it like in similar parts of other Sonic games. I think the Mach speed sections would genuinely be a welcome addition to Adventure style games if Sonic had better handling (especially in the air). So the ideas there aren’t inherently awful, it’s just their execution (though you could argue that Wave Ocean plagiarizes Emerald Coast enough to say that the level design is lazy for taking so much from a level in a previous game).
Perhaps my most controversial example of this good idea, bad execution philosophy is with the boss fights.
Let’s talk about Silver.
Tumblr media
The first boss fight against Silver is one of the most memorable things from Sonic 06. When people talk about the game, if they don’t think of the cutscene where Elise kisses Sonic or the more recent Real-Time Fandub, this is what they think of. It’s no use!, Silver’s voice line where he grabs Sonic in this game, ended up becoming something of an unofficial catchphrase of his (though the comics often have other characters say it to Silver instead). I remember seeing multiple Top 10 lists back in the day where this fight ranked among the worst video game bosses of the 2000s. Not just for Sonic. For all video games of that era.
Needless to say, I was not optimistic going into the fight. I expected to get stuck, to rage, to curse the day Italian hedgehogs ever gained telekinesis. But I have to say…
The fight really wasn’t all that bad.
Granted, I had hindsight on my side going into it. But for a fight that I expected to suffer through death after death after infinite loop after death for upwards of twenty minutes, I ended up getting through it in a little less than five minutes. And I know that exact number because I had someone else at club record me playing from the second Silver showed up in the cutscene to the second I saw my A Rank after I beat him.
(In case anyone’s wondering; I don’t want to post the video since other members of the gaming club appear throughout it, and I don’t want to publicly post a video of any of them online without their permission)
The fight is annoying for sure, but that’s more the fault of the game’s preexisting issues. Sonic's poor physics and camera control really work against you in boss fights. But this is nowhere near the worst boss fight in a Sonic game, let alone of any game in the 2000s.
Now that I've actually played through the fight, I can kinda see what the devs were going for here. You start out right in front of both Silver and a circle of rings, both of which you are naturally drawn to run towards. This will prompt Silver to grab and throw you when you get too close to him, but the timing of how long it takes each of you to reach the circle of rings means that you should have at least one ring on you before Silver catches you. The devs likely wanted to use this as a way to safely teach you how to fight him: keep your distance and wait for him to pick up something else so he can't pick up you.
This is a fine idea in theory, but there's a few things that hurt this approach:
1) It's extremely unlikely that you will beat Silver on your first try. The more you replay the fight, the more you are conditioned to avoid Silver—meaning that you will want to avoid the circle of rings he spawns right in front of at the start of the fight. This makes it much easier for Silver to come in and one-shot you, since you most likely won't have any rings to back you up. I fell into this trap once, and I'm sure there's video evidence of a bunch of YouTubers doing the same. Though, with that being said, there is a Ring container in the southeast corner of the arena (if Sonic starts facing north), so if you’re clever you can book it there at the start of the fight. Which is easier said than done, because of…
2) THE CAMERA. Once again, the game's awful, awful camera control really bite you in the ass for boss fights. This was also an issue I had with Egg Cerberus, but Silver's smaller character model and faster attacks really elevate the issue. Since there's no way to lock onto Silver and turning the camera is so clunky, he will often manage to sneak up behind you and grab you before you have a chance to find him. In that sense, Silver almost feels like an enemy in a horror game here; you'll move the camera around a little bit, get jumpscared when Silver comes into frame, and hope you react fast enough to not get instakilled by him.
3) The homing attack has a habit of locking back onto Silver even when you try to homing attack away from him, so keeping your distance after you hit him once isn't as easy as it should be. This isn’t that big of a deal because you can just drop down and walk away from him, you just really need to fight muscle memory to avoid it
Once again, this is a case of 06 being hurt by its execution and technical implementation rather than just being full of bad ideas. There’s other examples of that in the fight too, like Silver desperately needing a cooldown after he grabs and throws you. This would fix the infamous loop where he traps you against the wall as well as the problem I ended up running into where he throws you towards the sky then grabs you again before you can reach the ground and grab more rings.
Is Silver secretly the best boss fight in Sonic history? No! But I understand what the devs were going for with this fight. If the camera and controls were more polished, I don’t think anyone would think twice about fighting Silver, wall loop or not. I can see why the Project 06 mod has been lavishing in such high praise from the fandom; buried underneath 06's rushed, sloppy coding is a solid framework.
So overall I’m…cautiously optimistic for the rest of the game? I can’t believe I’m saying that about Sonic 06. Sure, the physics and camera is a mess, but the game isn’t unplayable like so many others have claimed in the past. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for the adventure games, but I’ve played worse games than this. I understand that the worst is yet to come, like Silver’s ball puzzle or the multiple one hit kills in the Final Story, but hey, if getting past “one of the worst boss fights in video game history” was a cakewalk for me, then maybe being pessimistic about the future is just no use.
The story is still hot garbage though lol
12 notes · View notes
Text
Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait! Art block (Or writing block?) is the worst and I’ve been busy. I’m also trying to make this a gender neutral story and I’m not too experienced on this so hopefully I’m doing ok so far! Now with that out of the way, on to chapter 2!
“Falling (in love) So Fast That I Can’t Even Think!”
Chapter 2
You take a second to realize that he was holding you a bit tight around the waist, and the silence of the tension began to build every second that neither of you moved.
“Hi?” You ask him. You mentally smacked yourself in the head for that comment. At this point of view, you can see that the, now real and very handsome doctor, eyes were a shade of blue that could take your breath away and-
“Oh, um,” Eggman studdered out a bit softer and less confident the what you have seen him in the show. “Hi.” He finally decided to look around at his predicament and examined your room.
“Where am I?” Eggman finally pulled you back onto the bed, creaking slightly from the unexpected new weight. Your mind finally snaps back into reality as the warmth from his hands fades from your hips, already missing the connection he had. You need to relax, and not freak out the poor man sitting on your bed.
“You’re in my room.” You finally managed to push the words out of your lips. His face turns to confusion and worries at all of the merchandise of not just his universe, but the main Sonic series as well. His mind mostly likely wandered into a ‘crazy fan’ mode and tried to back up. You perk up and lean back slightly, making sure to not fall off the bed this time, but also give him some space to relax. Ivo’s movements began to quicken as he still backs up, almost falling off the other side of the bed. He catches himself and looks at you with a face of slight panic and worry.
“What’s all this? Who are you and what-” You cut him off with a hand slightly raised, signaling to calm down and to relax. “Breath, please. I won’t hurt you.” You promised him as you instruct him through a breathing exercise. After a small bit of confusion between the two of you, you lead the poor man into your living room, hesitantly on his part, and led him down on your couch. Just walking into your kitchen to grab two white ceramic mugs, you hear him clear his throat.
“So, what’s going on?” You can feel his gaze on you as the first mug is filled with hot liquid, the steam coming from the filling mug as your brain thinks of what you should do. You switch mugs, taking out his mug for yours. You take a breath.
You’re in my house, and not in your multiverse.” Finally giving him some type of answer as his, at this point, huge bear paw-like hands, envelope the mug and took a small sip. You went to grab your mug as he commented on the choice of beverage you had given him.
“Hot Cocoa?” The question you as you at on the opposite side of the couch, holding what you liked to think, that at this moment was your liquid courage. You take a small sip and taste the liquid pooling into your body. You almost blush as you remembered the ‘CowBot’ episode where Eggman offered Sonic and Tails hot coco and messed with them, waiting for his machine to arrive.
“I thought you might like it.” You confess as he stairs back into his cup, pondering on his whole situation. He takes a breath and looks at you.
“Can you explain to me how I may have gotten here?” All you could do is nod as you start the long trek into the explanation of who is and on all of your knowledge on how he may have gotten here.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
The next few hours were, as you expected, emotional. You had to start with who you were, where he was, and leading him into the conversation that may or may not have caused way too much emotion for the both of you.
“So the main series follows Sonic and his friends, but mostly Sonic, throughout his adventures fighting his version of the doctor. There in the form of games.” He takes a sec and has a look that tells you to keep going. You explain all the story of how the franchise came to be from the nineties till the game you were kinda worried about. Sonic Adventure 2. You tell him the basic plot points and slowly explain how the Main Univers Doc’s Grandfather died along with his grandchild, Maira. He winces when you explain this and see that he’s shaking whenever the two popped up. When you explained that Shadow was made by his Grandfather, his mood perked up and he getting giddy and you have to admit, his cute squeal of figuring out that somewhere he could be related to one of the most powerful people on his island. You smile and after his cute reaction, keeps the conversation going with more information about the franchise. By the time you had reached the current point of the history of the franchise, the man had a lot of questions.
“So let me get this straight,” Eggman’s posture was lax as he was leaned back into the couch, making himself more at home for the time being. “You’re telling me that the main version of me has released a water monster god, a prototype of Shadow, that is a giant lizard, a god within the earth that’s made of darkness, and tried to play with time and space like it was a toy?” He questioned as he took another sip of his now lukewarm cup of cocoa, stroking his mustache pensively, looking at you for a reasonable answer on why he would do so. “Well the BioLizard thing wasn’t truly his fault, but the rest were planed. And I’m saying ‘planned’ with quotes because I don’t think for a second that he thought a few of those through.” You chuckle at the main Doc’s decisions. While you did think his plans were really good, sometimes you think he may have never really thought things through before going to start his plans. Doc downs the rest of his drink as you realized that your cup is still half full. He sets it on the counter in front of the two of you and leans back into your couch. You smile at the thought that he’s finally warming up to you. In all reality, he could take you down with a swing of his fist and run anytime, but having him trust you this much to serve him a drink and have a nice conversation did bring up some fuzzy feelings you have been trying to push down withing the last few hours.
“So I’m still confused, how did I get here?” Doc asks as he cracks his spin a bit to relax better. You take another sip of your dink and set your cup down. You look him in the eye with a bit of confusion. “I’m not sure. I just watch the DVD and you were the one to start seeing me, after the ending of your battle with Sonic and Tails, that white light appeared and you grabbed me before I fell off my bed.” You look towards him and blush a bit, your face now warm from the memory of the save. “Thank you for catching me, I don’t think a concussion would have helped the situation now, would it?” You try and make the small joke appealing to make it less awkward. He blushes and nods, a small ‘no problem’ slips from his lips as you can see he’s trying to not make eye contact and his cheeks, just slightly visible under his mustache, a small bit of warmth wraps around his cheeks. Your brain gets hit with a moment of clarity and you jump up from the couch and take a second to grab your DVD player from your room, bringing it back to him to study. “I’m not sure if this would help you get back home,” You start, “ But it’s a start.” You also hand him the note that came with the box along with the Sonic figure. He takes the figure first and rolls it over a bit, looking at the detail.
“So this figure and the note came along in the box with the DVDs?” He asked as he set the figure down as he grabbed the note. You blush and remember that wasn’t the only thing in the box. You almost had forgotten the figure of the living breathing man in front of you. You ask him to give you a second and hurry back to your room. Searching the room, you almost give up on finding the figure, until you spot it halfway under the bed. You bend over and grab the figure and examine it. It’s still the same figure, but less detailed now. It actually looks like how one of the box set figures is. Cheaply made and having a missing paint splotch here and there. It still was a good-looking figure though, just not as best made. You start your very slow pace back to the living room, taking a small bit of time to think about something. The Sonic figure was still the same as it was before the doctor arrived, why did the doctor change-. You stop mid-way in your hallway to finally piece a big puzzle together. The figure of the doctor was some type of catalyst for his arrival. Like a gateway to get here. ‘And now that the figure is back to normal, does that mean that the Sonic one-’ You didn’t finish that thought as you hurry back to the living room, the doctor just putting the not back onto the counter. He looks up as grabs the DVD player and sets it onto his lap. He smiles as you enter the room.
“ Hey, you ok?” He asks you as you sit back down next to him, gently grab the Sonic figure, cradling it with some care.
“I’m ok,” You answer with some melancholy in your voice. “It’s just that I’ve been thinking of something that just came to me.” You look over to him, Doc staring back, patiently waiting for you to continue. You take a breath and look him in the eyes. “The box set also came with a figure of you as well.” You explain as you gave him the small toy, his face going into a slight pout over the quality as he looks it over.
“I’m much more handsome than this.” He sulks over the craftsmanship of his figure compared to the one in your hand. You pat him on the back with your free hand, feeling him tense for a sec and then relax. You giggle at the line, remembering it from the 30th-anniversary comic. Your mood lightening up a bit at his reaction. “It was actually just as well made before you appeared in my room.” You explained as you rub your thumber gingerly over Sonic’s quills. Your mood dampens a bit. “I’m really thinking that the figure was the way-”
And a giant flash of white engulfed both of your eyesight. You scream as you feel a sense of weightlessness as you clutch the figure closer to you. Opening your eyes after that flashbang of light, as see that you’re in. You blink and take a look around. You try and gain a scene of where you were as you feel like you were falling down. You see Eggman trying his best not to scream as he is also in the same predicament as you. You look at this ‘tube’ as you decided to call it and take a look a the warping walls. They move with colors that remind you of the goop In Super Mario Sunshine. The colors of yellow, magenta, and white mixing together and making the whole experience feel like a trippy dip around a pipe. The tube had some slight aura to it as it was some type of fuzzy feeling in the back of your spine, not good but not unpleasant either. You look down past your now slightly screaming partner in crime to see a large warp ring that looked something right of the Sonic movie, looking to land right over some type of woods. You realized from the rate your accelerating from and the height from the ring to the ground would lead to more than a few broken bones.
Holding your breath and snaping your eyes closed as you wait for the pain to hit, the now cool air of the new land you arrived on pools into your skin as you want to feel at least a bit of joy knowing that right at the end, you feel cool. You never did feel the ground but instead a pair of arms holding you and the sensation of rocketing back up. Opening your eyes, you see Doc holding you again, having been lifted from the ground by two sleek black jetpack type of wings protruding from the back of his jacket. He looks down at you with a smirk and chuckles a bit.
“We have got to stop doing this.” He’s sarcastic, and the potential way of flirting, way of teasing sends you a bit more than tomato red in the face as you wonder if it’s the altitude of the comment that making it hard to think right at the moment. You almost didn’t hear him as he starts to talk.
“It looks like we’re flying over Seaside Island Jungle.” He starts to explain. “I’m going to fly us back to my lair and we can figure out from there what’s going on.” You look over his shoulder for a brief second to see the portal closing and finally dusting away with a puff of gold sparks. Looking back and see a breathtaking view, seeing the full grand scale of the island from up in the clouds. You can even start making out at sever locations from both seasons. You only think of what’s going to happen next when you see golden sparks emulate from your closed hands and feel a heavyweight in your arms and Doc quickly getting down to the ground, getting to be just at the end of ‘Nameless village’ as your reflexes grab on tightly to what you were holding onto. You both look down and see a very unconscious Sonic the Hedgehog in our arms. You look him over and inspect the teenager and see that he’s breathing, and in an ok shape. You look back at Doc and even he’s surprised by this addition to the group.
“Is he ok?”You question him as he gives Sonic a once over. You getting used to finally landing on the ground, stretching your legs after that small adventure.
‘He’ll be fine after some rest, but he looks exhausted.” Eggman questions as you scoop Sonic back up into your arms, being careful of his quills, making sure you don’t end up looking like a human banana peel. You look over at Doc and he looks like he’s, and you have to look a bit more closely at his expression because he looks, jealous? You ponder on that thought that the man might be jealous of the unconscious blue blur as the both of you set off into town, wondering where to go from here.
“Hey!” You hear a cry from in front of the, three? of you. You look up and see four multi-colored anthropomorphic animals. “What did the two of you do to Sonic?” Cried the two-tailed Kitsune. You see all three, with the exception of Amy, who at this point is trying to stop the trio, of Sonic’s friends close in around you. You give a panicked look to Doc as it dawned on you that Doc and yourself were about to be attacked by Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks.
Shit.
101 notes · View notes
mobiusxyearslater · 3 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Rekindling (A Sonally Story)
A/N: This whole thing takes place about two years before the whole AU/Your Dork starts off for context. ~Mun @t-vict101
On a cool night in New Mobotropolis, Princess Sally Acorn is walking back to her cottage from the Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital. She witnessed her friend, Bunnie Rabbot give birth to her firstborn daughter Annabelle. The whirlwind excitement and joy practically drained Sally’s energy, it was time for much-needed rest. She quietly walked along the dirt path still thinking about her new niece, how cute she looked, and how happy Bunnie and Antoine looked. That’s the kind of love that could last lifetimes. Sally starts to wonder if she could feel that way someday. Well, she did at one point, the only person she felt happy with was-- 
“Hey there Princess! You’re out late!” Sally heard a voice pipe up.
She looked forward to see the source of the cheery voice, well who else could it be? The one and only hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog, sat there on her porch giving her a soft wave. Sally stared at him for a few moments unsure of what to do. The last time she saw him he was off fighting Doctor Eggman and saving the world once again. That was almost half a year ago. But that was how Sonic was. There was no tying him down after the job was done which led to their romantic relationship being more on and off if anything. 
The ironic part was that their last break-up wasn’t because Sonic wasn’t around. It was because Sally was too busy juggling her life between her duties on the council and her duties as leader. Sonic did confront her about it which led to a big fight then eventually they agreed to go their separate ways. There was a twinge of guilt in Sally’s heart because of that and seeing Sonic there acting as if nothing happened. All Sally could do is muster up a small chuckle as she looks at the blue blur.
“Well, you know me. I’m always busy with one thing or another.” she joked as she took a seat next to Sonic, who gave her a chuckle. 
“Oh, boy don’t I know it! So what was it this time?” He playfully props his chin in his palm, “Council meetings? Ribbon cutting? Oh! A big speech in front of the entire kingdom?”
Sally gives him a small nudge and shakes her head, “Oh shut up. If you have to know, Bunnie and Antoine just had their baby tonight..”
“What??” Sonic perks up, “Those two have a kid now? Man. I feel like I miss out on a lot.”
Sally chuckles and shakes head, “Well that’s what happens when you’re gone for months on end.”
Sonic chuckles and scratches his head, “Heh. Well, I do come back once in a while though so it’s not all bad.
Sally let out a small chuckle and nod looking out to the moon, “Yeah.. I guess so.”
The two sit in silence just watching the moon. There was a feeling that someone should say something but neither of them did instead soaking in the atmosphere. Somehow, someway, the silence was relaxing for them both. No one brought up the past or having to suffer the awkwardness of reliving the whole thing over again. But there was one burning question that rattled in Sally’s head. Of all places to go in the middle of the night, why hers? Sonic still had his parents, his Uncle Chuck, heck he could just crash at Tails’ place if he really wanted to. 
Sally cleared her throat, making Sonic’s ear twitch. “So, you just randomly decided to pop up here?”
Sonic sweats a bit and gives off a nervous chuckle, “I guess I made it too obvious huh?” He looked at her shrugs, “...I guess I just missed you.”
Sally quirks a brow tilting her head, “Is that right?”
Sonic huffs at her tone and tilts his head, “What’s with that tone? I really did miss you.”
Sally chuckles and pats his head, sighing out tiredly, “And I missed you too.”
Still unable to get a read of what she’s thinking, Sonic wags at her at a finger, “...Why do I feel there’s a huge BUT coming up.”
Sally frowns and sighs out, “But… This feels like a pattern..” 
Sonic gives her a confused look, “What do you mean..?”
Through her tiredness she starts to pet through the blue hedgehog’s quills, “...This. Us. You leave for a long time then come back saying you missed me. Old feelings come up and we try again. Then…”
Sonic watched Sally as her words tiredly trailed and looked down to the ground. He always loved Sally, that fact is the solid truth, but being committed was a whole different ball game. Thinking about her words more, he started to see the pattern too. Sure his feelings were genuine at the moment but he’s always changing his mind about them. He started to think that maybe Sally wanted more than just part of him. Maybe she needed all of him, just like he wanted all of her. Maybe just maybe, him leaving for months after each attack isn’t fair to her at all. 
Sonic huffs out a chuckle and slides his hands behind his head, “...You wanna hear something funny?”
Sally rubs the tired out of her eyes and looks at him, “What’s that..?”
Sonic rubs his nose a bit, “While I was gone I actually dated someone for a small while.”
All Sally could do is huff in response, “So you can here in the middle of the night to tell me about your exes to your ex?”
Sonic nudges her a bit, “Just listen for sec. While I was away, I actually dated Amy for a small bit.”
Sally’s brows perk up hearing the news, “Wow. You actually let up and let her catch you huh?”
Sonic shrugs letting a small chuckle, “I did. I was always running and she was always there. I figured that was something I wanted or something. At least I thought I did.”
His words slowly trailed off as he thought about his time with Amy. The pink hedgehog sure was a spitfire. Wherever Sonic went she gladly went along with him for support. He figured giving her one date wouldn’t hurt. Then it turned into two. Then it turned to something exclusive. Their honeymoon phase was sweet but soon after Amy found herself in a bit of a rut. Hopping from city to city, fighting badniks left and right, she was all in on that no doubt but she wanted something more. At first, she thought Sonic was that solution, but when she had him that feeling never really went away.
Sonic sighs out softly circling his thumb in his palm. “So she dumped me. She said something about traveling around to find her purpose or something.”
Sally stared at the dejected hedgehog and softly petted his head, “You’re number one fan dumped you. That must’ve been a blow to the ol’ ego of yours.”
Sonic stifles a small chuckle letting himself relax under Sally’s touch, “Yeah it was but I get it.  It was fine for a while but I guess somewhere down the line. She realized I couldn’t give HER what SHE needed.” He lets out a sigh and looks up at the sky, “...I am proud of her though. Whatever she decides on doing for herself, she’ll be great at it.”
Sally nods in agreement and lets out a small yawn, “Yeah. She’s too determined to let herself fail at anything that’s for sure. She’ll probably be the best.”
Sonic shakes his head and looks at Sally, “Alright, enough about my dating life. What about you? Anyone in your life?”
Sally huffs out a chuckle and shakes her head, “Not really. There have been dates here and there but my busy schedule made it way too difficult to really settle into anything.” 
Sonic snickers a bit, “Woo boy don’t I know it--” he stops himself when he watches Sally’s face slowly fall into a frown, “Come on Sal. I don’t blame you for your hectic schedule.”
Sally gives him a look and crosses her arms, “Isn’t that the reason you dumped me the last time?” 
And there it was. That sting of awkwardness they worked so hard to avoid has finally come to the forefront. The silence draped over them as they sat there with their thoughts. No one knew what exactly to say at that moment. Sally realized she still had her hand on Sonic’s head and quickly pulled away looking away.
Sonic took a deep breath, “I know I gave you grief about it before. I just thought we could be how we used to be when we were 17.” Sally opened her mouth to say something but Sonic held up his hand. “Which I realized now… It can never be like that. I guess… I was…. I dunno.. Anxious about everything changing. You and Rotor on the council, Bunnie and Ant having a kid, Tails being the next inventor of the century, even Amy…” He takes a deep breath and kicks the dirt a bit, “...Seems like everyone is running this race and I'm dead last.”
Sally hums a bit pondering about his words, “...I guess… You’re feeling everyone is outgrowing you…?”
Sonic’s ear twitches and lets out a small pout leaning his chin in his palm, “....Maybe yeah…”
Sally lets out a small laugh and Sonic gives her a pouty look. She nudges him playfully, “Oh stop. I’m laughing because you’re the hero of Mobius. Everyone loves talking about you and practically wants to BE you.”
Sonic huffs out and crosses his arms, “I KNOW! I know I just… feel like I can do… more… Like I could do more for the world, my family, our friends, even you--” 
Sally’s brows perk up at the last part Sonic started to say but cut himself off. It was kinda strange seeing him so vulnerable. Usually, he had a real cocky attitude with everyone and was the brightest in the room. Honestly, this was a side of him that she tried to bring out a lot of the time but he would always brush it off like it was nothing. He seemed almost embarrassed that he was saying all of this out in the open, especially saying it to her.
She softly puts a hand on his shoulder, “...Hey. It’s normal to feel that way. Almost everyone feels that way sometime or another, right?”
Sonic sighs out and looks at her, “Yeah but it’s ME we’re talking about.”
Sally huffs and stands up, “Yeah and I know you better than you think. You’re a guy who takes action. You’re always putting others first before yourself. You’re a hero that inspires everyone to be the best versions of themselves.” She holds out a hand to him, “...Now are you going to stop moping and do something about it?”
Sonic stares at her hand remembering those were the words he said to her years before. He huffs out a chuckle before grasping onto her hand and standing up, “You got me there. And you’re right, like always.”
Sally chuckles and shakes her head, “Of course I am. I’ve known you way too long to be wrong.” 
Sonic chuckles a bit and watches her make her way up to her front door. He leans on the porch rail and tilts his head, “So I’m guessing I shouldn’t keep you from your beauty sleep any longer huh princess?”
Sally chuckles and shakes her head turning back to him, “Well that all depends if you’re going to keep me up all night.” She opens the door and gestures inside.
Sonic gives off a snarky chuckle as he walks up the steps stopping in front of her, “Oh ho ho! And what exactly do you mean by that princess?”
Sally rolls her eyes and pushes him inside of the cottage, “I mean you’re sleeping on the couch!”
Sonic pouts and leans back in her hands, “Aw but I could really use a nice big warm bed after months without one!”
Sally shakes her head, “You should’ve gone to your parents then.” She lets out a soft chuckle before shutting the door behind her, “You big dork.”
END
143 notes · View notes
fyexo · 4 years
Text
200529 K-Pop Superstar Baekhyun On His Sweet Solo Single "Candy" & Delightful Second Mini Album
A soft humming is heard on the other side of the line while the call stabilizes — of course one of South Korea’s most prominent vocalists would be singing. Baekhyun, who debuted in 2012 as a member of the chart-topping boy group EXO, has just released his second solo album, Delight, and his excitement is palpable through the phone.
Just minutes before this call, he was interacting with fans on a live stream through the app VLive. There, he answered a series of questions while waiting for the album to drop at 6 pm on May 25 (KST). Nicknamed “Genius Idol” for his array of talents, Baekhyun has tried a little bit of everything throughout his career: acting, fashion design (he’s the co-creative director of the brand Privé by BBH), gaming, vlogging, duets, the EXO subunit EXO-CBX, and leading the supergroup SuperM — who was the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with a debut release.
His solo career officially started last year with the release of City Lights. The album sold more than half a million copies and became the best-selling physical album of 2019 by a solo artist in Korea. Delight follows the same footsteps: it amassed 732,297 stock pre-orders, sold over six hundred thousand copies on the first day according to Hanteo (a company that shares real-time sales data in South Korea), and topped the iTunes Album Charts in 68 countries so far.  
Sonically, Delight is a breezy, RnB-infused experience that showcases Baekhyun’s prismatic artistry. “I worked really hard on this album, and I was really happy working on it as well,” he tells the Recording Academy. Like “Candy”, the title track, each song has a different flavor. Deep cut “R U Ridin’” has a honey-dripping bassline, for example, while the bright “Poppin’” feels like chewing on sour candies, and the intense “Ghost” lingers with a coffee caramel aftertaste.
To deepen the discussion around his new album, The Recording Academy caught up with Baekhyun and talked about his inspirations, the development of his multifaceted persona, and, of course, his favorite candy.
This interview was edited for clarity, and an interpreter translated all answers from Baekhyun.
How are you feeling lately?
I’ve been really happy. There’s been a lot of excitement and expectation personally around the Delight release, so I’ve been relishing in all of that these days.
What were your inspirations for this album?
I wanted to try the RnB genre more, so that’s what I focused on for this album. In terms of the title itself, within EXO my superpower is “light,” so I wanted to emphasize that as much as possible.
[Writer’s note: EXO debuted under a concept where each member has a superpower, and that appears throughout their branding.]
Just the way the word “delight” sounds is pleasurable. What are some of life's delights to you?
Right now, the top ones would be being on stage and performing. Another thing is that I’ve been taking vocal lessons on the side, and that has been a source of delight to me as well.
What's your favorite song in this album? Are there any lyrics you would like people to pay attention to?
I have to pick the title track, “Candy.” If you listen to the lyrics, there is a part where I list candy flavors and ask “what more do you want?” I think it truly expresses confidence and boldness, that I can become whatever you like, just tell me and I’ll do it. That’s the part I want everyone to pay special attention to.
This ability to become whatever is needed at the moment also shows up in the contrasting sweet and sensuous styles you explore in the album. Can you talk more about that?
As you mentioned, that’s exactly what I was trying to do with the concept of “Candy” and of Delight in general. I wanted to showcase a variety of different sides that I have to myself. In the past, fans would always say that they like both my sweet side and the more sensual, performative side, so I wanted to capture both and present them in a bigger package.
Comparing Delight to your first solo album, City Lights, what are the main differences between them?
With City Lights, because it was my first solo album, I wanted to focus more on the vocals and showcase what I felt like I could present the best. If you listen to it, it’s definitely more vocal-focused. In Delight, I wanted to take a step further and show a different side to fans. I wanted to incorporate more performance, which means a lot of choreography and thinking about the visuals on stage. I also tried to make this album a little brighter and fresher than City Lights, so visually and performance-wise it’s different.
When I think of Baekhyun, the word that comes to mind is "balance". You have an impressive talent to blend light and dark, highs and lows, laughter and tears in your performances. Are you aware of this fluency in yourself?
Since I was younger, I always heard that I’m pretty honest with my emotions. People see the bright and happy sides of me, but they see the other sides as well. Because my personality is one that is honest about how I feel, I want to showcase my true self to people. I think that’s why people say that about me as well, of showing the balance between many sides of things. That’s what I want to do because it’s who I am, and also what I want to showcase as an artist.
You have been an idol for almost a decade. What has been your biggest lesson so far?
Going back to my previous answer, I realized that if you’re honest with yourself and you’re truthful in the way you act, talk, and interact with everyone, then people will know. People will know that you’re being genuine, and over the years I learned to be honest with how I feel when I connect with my fans. As time passes, I think they have been able to recognize that and connect with me on a more genuine level too. That’s the biggest thing I learned.
And what is the achievement you're most proud of?
My debut with EXO. Even though my training period was short when compared to other members, just to be able to work together, come together as a group, and debut together, it’s definitely my proudest achievement to date. And that’s what launched me to be where I am right now.
You were always known for your powerful singing, but during all these years you have developed yourself and are currently recognized as a multi-talented artist and skillful dancer as well. Can you tell us more about that process?
My vocals have always been my main strength, so it’s something I continuously work on and want to improve on. In terms of dancing, I have a friend named Kasper who is a dancer/choreographer, and he teaches me all the trendy dances, gives me advice on how I should do this or that, so that’s a practical way that I have improved my skills. In general, because I have a lot of energy, I felt like just my vocals weren’t enough for the amount of energy that I can showcase, so I always wanted to channel that through dancing, which is a different outlet.
Did Kasper create the choreography for “Candy”? And did you have any input on it?
Yes. Because we’re friends, when he would show me the choreography, I would say “what about we do it this way?” and then we bounced ideas off each other, especially when it came to the formations of the dance overall.
In the current world situation, it's hard to expect things or make plans for this year, but what is one thing you are looking forward to in 2020?
It’s hard to make plans for the rest of the year, but I’m hoping that things get better so I can finally meet my fans in person. That’s the one thing I’m looking forward to the most. Because of the current situation, we had to shift things to digital, but I’m also excited to meet my fans via different platforms as well.
Have the members of EXO listened to your album? What was their reaction?
When they listened, they said that it matches the seasons right now, as we’re going into summer. All of them commented on how it was a new style for me as a solo artist, like showing another side of Baekhyun, another vibe. They also noticed that I put a lot of effort into it, they’re really supportive.
If you could describe yourself as a candy flavor, what would that be?
Strawberry. Because its flavor encapsulates both sweet and sour, and that’s precisely what I want to do — show different sides. With this concept in Delight, you can see a more relaxed, confident side, but you can also see a very sweet and doting side of my character.
To sum it all up, what is your favorite candy flavor?
Green grape! In Korea they sell bags of green grape hard candy, those are my favorites.
Source: Tássia Assis @ GRAMMYs
86 notes · View notes
iamnotawomanimagod · 5 years
Text
Manic Review - From “Least-Best” to Best
Halsey released her third studio album on 1/17/2020, and it is easily her best. I’ve wanted to talk about it, but first, I need to figure out how I feel about each track in relation to the others. So this is mostly for me, but I’d love to hear how other people are feeling too!
I love all of these songs, I feel so blessed with this album, which is why this goes from “least-best” to “best”, not “worst.” 
(I know that’s kind of splitting semantic hairs, but I refuse to disrespect this album, lmao.)
So, without further ado, here are my favorite songs on Manic, starting with the one I like the least:
16 - “Alanis’s Interlude”
This is THE bisexual anthem we’ve all been waiting for from Halsey. It’s cool, sexy, and features some stellar vocals from both Alanis and Halsey. It ranks so low for me only because I’m not a huge fan of the chorus, the machine drums, or the melody, despite loving the message. But the verses are fire, and so are the vocals.
15 - “Still Learning”
I think this track will be a slow-grower for me, the way “Devil in Me” was. Maybe it’s just because it comes on the heels of the deeply, deeply impactful “More” - but I found this didn’t strike the chord I thought it would. It’s a beautiful song, though, and very meaningful to Halsey’s personal journey. I think seeing it live might change my mind about it.
14 - “Finally // beautiful stranger” 
This might be the sweetest side of Halsey that we’ve ever seen, especially when it comes to romantic love. The fact that it was inspired by Yungblud makes my heart ache a bit. I really love the duality of the different versions of Ashley in the video. That being said, the genre/style of song isn’t my personal favorite. Her vocals are amazing, though, and some of the lyrics are really poetic. I know this will be an especially tender one live, in front of a Halsey crowd. I can just picture everyone swaying and singing along.
13 - “SUGA’s Interlude” 
This interlude is such a soft, sad moment on the album, and it fits really well before “More.” SUGA’s Interlude is all about the way fame has changed both artists, and about how they’ll know when it’s time to step away from the spotlight - and how that might change them. SUGA has excellent flow, and Halsey’s delicate, pining vocals on the chorus is a perfect complement to his introspective rapping. It’s a really sweet song, and part of why it works so well on the album is because it creates such a heartfelt prelude to “More”. The song all about leaving fame behind, followed by the song about loving her unborn child, and how she badly wants to be a mother...gives me chills, man, literal chills. I think I’d like it more if I spoke Korean, but honestly, Korean Halsey fans deserve somethin’ special, so I’m okay with it.
12 - “You should be sad”
I still don’t know if I quite “buy” Y’allsey, but I can’t deny that this is a really fun song. Singing along to the lyrics is so satisfying, and the music video provided us with some serious Looks. The guitar riff between the chorus and the verses makes me feel things, and so does the line: “I’m so glad I never ever had a baby with you,” especially after hearing “More”. I like this song a lot, but compared to the rest of the album, it’s not in my top ten. I think it’ll be a really, really fun one live, though.
11 - “Without Me”
This song and I share a birthday! It’s also where Manic really began, although we had no idea that was the case, at the time. This was the first time Halsey wrote from such a specific and personal place, knowing we would all immediately recognize who the song targeted and why. She’s used this song brilliantly since then, coming up with a dozen different interpretations and set pieces, performing it while chained to a post, while revealing the messages of her cheating ex, while dancing with a beautiful girl, and even more. (It helps a lot that she performed this song with Jade Chynoweth, one of my all-time favorite dancers, and responded to the backlash of that performance by doing it again, but even gayer, just a few weeks later.) We owe a lot to this song. And, as it turns out, it really fits in with the story of Manic, and with the tone, from both a sonic and thematic perspective. I’m still a little tired of it, though, which is why it ranks so low. But - credit where it’s due!
10 - “Dominic’s Interlude” 
This one surprised me, although I went in with zero expectations, not knowing who Dominic Fike was. I wish Halsey was actually in this song, but other than that, I think it’s a great interlude. Not to mention: “If you’re looking for signs then you should know, there’s power in the words that you’re thinking.” That’s an incredible line, hit me hard. 
9 - “Ashley”
I both love and hate what this song means, because it scares the crap out of me. The way she described it as “a cautious goodbye” in an interview... It’s absolutely a letter to her fans, about Halsey, about who Halsey is, and who Ashley is, and how that balancing act both breaks her and makes her thrive. She can’t keep doing this forever. She knows how much she means to us, and this song is all about how heavy and scary that burden is, but that she’s committed to it, for now. Ending with that line from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was perfect. We’re the ones who shouldn’t assign her our peace of mind, y’know? Her vocals are stunning, though, and I think it’s the strongest opener from any of her albums. This song reminds me of a much less depressing version of “Batter Up” by Brand New, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it influenced her a bit.
8 - “Graveyard”
This song really feels like the older sister of “Without Me”. I love the racing speed of the melody and the rhythm, the way everything is layered so manically and frantically over the verses. It’s actually really easy to get lost in the musicality of this one, even though the lyrics are incredible. I think the music video is my all-time favorite of Halsey’s, because I love all the symbolism in it, and it was really trippy to see her without tattoos. I’ll consider this one a bop for a long, long time.
7 - “clementine” 
We’ve had this song for a little while, and it’s been one of my favorites. I was pretty sure it was going to stay that way, even after the album came out, but Halsey surprised me. That being said, I still love the way this song manages to be both playful and petulant, spirited and sad. It has some really beautiful images, and the music video is so pretty. 
6 - “I HATE EVERYBODY” 
We love a song full of contradictions! This song takes the humor/self-deprecation that started in “Clementine” and “Forever... (is a long time)” and turns it anthemic. The transition from “Dominic’s Interlude” to this song is so perfect, it’s hard not to listen to them one after the other. Halsey once again proves her lyrical prowess and ability to write a relatable bop, which is really what we love her for in the end, right? I love the way the song starts out pretty simply, than swells up into something epic.
5 - “3am”
I love this genre, so much, and I think Halsey completely nails it. This song wouldn’t make anyone bat an eye if you played it in 2007. Most other Halsey songs can’t claim that, and since I’m a sucker for the aughties, this one lives high on my list. It reminds me of P!nk, Avril Lavigne, and Paramore. The lyrics are super relatable, and I love the chorus and the bridge. It’s not the best lyrically, but that bridge honestly makes up for what the rest of the song lacks. Can’t wait to scream that one live! I do wish John Mayer wasn’t rambling on the end, but I also love how that leads into “Without Me”. 
4 - “929″ 
This might sound strange, but I love how this song starts with just Ashley talking; she’s speaking through laughter, challenging her friend playfully. This song feels so real. I love the stream-of-consciousness style of lyrics and the way the melody plays into that. Her voice reminds me so much of early, early Halsey - songs like “Tilt You Back” and “For Ruby”. I can relate so much to some of the things she says, and I love the way it ends. It’s such an interesting contrast to the way her previous albums concluded, too - “Young God” and “Hopeless” are both such epic, sweeping tracks. Ending her most personal album yet with such a tender ode to self-acceptance, and self-discovery, is such a beautiful way to show how much she’s grown, as a person, a songwriter, and a singer. This song makes me nostalgic, proud, happy, just a little sad, and feel so at peace.
3 - “More”
I almost don’t really have words for this song. Knowing Halsey’s story, her very honest and public experiences with infertility and endometriosis, made this song hit me a lot harder than I ever expected. I still can’t quite get through it without crying. It’s an incredibly beautiful song. Painfully, painfully honest, about a topic that’s so rarely openly discussed in pop culture. I don’t even want kids, but the yearning she shows, the hope she still has, the way she says that she’s loved her future child more than anything, and has always loved them; the reference to having already bought baby clothes; the sound of the sonogram machine, and the way it sounds like she’s singing to her baby from outside the womb at the end; it guts me. And again, I don’t want kids. I never expected this kind of honesty or tenderness from her. It’s such a special song, truly. (For the record, I listened to it again to write this and am fully weeping once more.)
2 - “Forever... (is a long time)” 
What a surprise this song was! I think it perfectly captures a certain kind of self-destructive behavior that so many of us end up falling into when it comes to relationships. The way the song goes from happy and plucky to this burgeoning feeling of dread, of spiraling down into those dark thoughts that trip all of us up from time to time. It goes from a love song to a break-up song in a matter of seconds, and the transition is spine-tinglingly perfect. The storm building in the background, starting with thunder and dissipating into rain. The way her voice comes back in with the same melody, but minor instead of major. The way the song sort of disintegrates into chaos, and into the realization: “talk to your man...tell him he’s got bad news comin’.” (This is definitely about the Yungblud breakup, right? Nevermind, my heart can’t take that. Gonna pretend I didn’t just realize that.)
1 - “killing boys” 
Jennifer’s Body is one of my absolute favorite movies, unironically. I love that Halsey loves it too, enough to include lines from it in the most badass boss bitch song she’s written since “Nightmare”. Her vocals are incredible (those high notes!) - the lyrics are the perfect blend of regretful and rageful - the beat, melodies, and overall composition just fills me up with this impossibly strong sense of “fuck yeah, fuck you.” I don’t have the words to describe how this song makes me feel. I had high hopes, based on the title, and it did not disappoint. This song has some of the cleverest lines on the entire record, and it makes me feel a way that no other song does. That’s what seals it at #1, for me (for now.)
Feel free to reply with yours, or tag me in your own review!! I’m really excited to see some of the more detailed opinions people have, now that the initial “IT’S HERE” hype has started to subside.
stream MANIC by HALSEY today
235 notes · View notes
dailyexo · 4 years
Text
[NEWS] Baekhyun - 200530 Grammy: “K-Pop Superstar Baekhyun On His Sweet Solo Single "Candy" & Delightful Second Mini Album”
"The multi-talented artist from EXO and SuperM talks about the inspirations and goals behind 'Delight': "I wanted to showcase a variety of different sides that I have to myself"
A soft humming is heard on the other side of the line while the call stabilizes — of course one of South Korea’s most prominent vocalists would be singing. Baekhyun, who debuted in 2012 as a member of the chart-topping boy group EXO, has just released his second solo album, Delight, and his excitement is palpable through the phone.
Just minutes before this call, he was interacting with fans on a live stream through the app VLive. There, he answered a series of questions while waiting for the album to drop at 6 pm on May 25 (KST). Nicknamed “Genius Idol” for his array of talents, Baekhyun has tried a little bit of everything throughout his career: acting, fashion design (he’s the co-creative director of the brand Privé by BBH), gaming, vlogging, duets, the EXO subunit EXO-CBX, and leading the supergroup SuperM — who was the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with a debut release.
His solo career officially started last year with the release of City Lights. The album sold more than half a million copies and became the best-selling physical album of 2019 by a solo artist in Korea. Delight follows the same footsteps: it amassed 732,297 stock pre-orders, sold over six hundred thousand copies on the first day according to Hanteo (a company that shares real-time sales data in South Korea), and topped the iTunes Album Charts in 68 countries so far.
Sonically, Delight is a breezy, RnB-infused experience that showcases Baekhyun’s prismatic artistry. “I worked really hard on this album, and I was really happy working on it as well,” he tells the Recording Academy. Like “Candy”, the title track, each song has a different flavor. Deep cut “R U Ridin’” has a honey-dripping bassline, for example, while the bright “Poppin’” feels like chewing on sour candies, and the intense “Ghost” lingers with a coffee caramel aftertaste.
To deepen the discussion around his new album, The Recording Academy caught up with Baekhyun and talked about his inspirations, the development of his multifaceted persona, and, of course, his favorite candy.
This interview was edited for clarity, and an interpreter translated all answers from Baekhyun.
How are you feeling lately?
I’ve been really happy. There’s been a lot of excitement and expectation personally around the Delight release, so I’ve been relishing in all of that these days.
What were your inspirations for this album?
I wanted to try the RnB genre more, so that’s what I focused on for this album. In terms of the title itself, within EXO my superpower is “light,” so I wanted to emphasize that as much as possible.
[Writer’s note: EXO debuted under a concept where each member has a superpower, and that appears throughout their branding.]
Just the way the word “delight” sounds is pleasurable. What are some of life's delights to you?
Right now, the top ones would be being on stage and performing. Another thing is that I’ve been taking vocal lessons on the side, and that has been a source of delight to me as well.
What's your favorite song in this album? Are there any lyrics you would like people to pay attention to?
I have to pick the title track, “Candy.” If you listen to the lyrics, there is a part where I list candy flavors and ask “what more do you want?” I think it truly expresses confidence and boldness, that I can become whatever you like, just tell me and I’ll do it. That’s the part I want everyone to pay special attention to.
This ability to become whatever is needed at the moment also shows up in the contrasting sweet and sensuous styles you explore in the album. Can you talk more about that?
As you mentioned, that’s exactly what I was trying to do with the concept of “Candy” and of Delight in general. I wanted to showcase a variety of different sides that I have to myself. In the past, fans would always say that they like both my sweet side and the more sensual, performative side, so I wanted to capture both and present them in a bigger package.
Comparing Delight to your first solo album, City Lights, what are the main differences between them?
With City Lights, because it was my first solo album, I wanted to focus more on the vocals and showcase what I felt like I could present the best. If you listen to it, it’s definitely more vocal-focused. In Delight, I wanted to take a step further and show a different side to fans. I wanted to incorporate more performance, which means a lot of choreography and thinking about the visuals on stage. I also tried to make this album a little brighter and fresher than City Lights, so visually and performance-wise it’s different.
When I think of Baekhyun, the word that comes to mind is "balance". You have an impressive talent to blend light and dark, highs and lows, laughter and tears in your performances. Are you aware of this fluency in yourself?
Since I was younger, I always heard that I’m pretty honest with my emotions. People see the bright and happy sides of me, but they see the other sides as well. Because my personality is one that is honest about how I feel, I want to showcase my true self to people. I think that’s why people say that about me as well, of showing the balance between many sides of things. That’s what I want to do because it’s who I am, and also what I want to showcase as an artist.
You have been an idol for almost a decade. What has been your biggest lesson so far?
Going back to my previous answer, I realized that if you’re honest with yourself and you’re truthful in the way you act, talk, and interact with everyone, then people will know. People will know that you’re being genuine, and over the years I learned to be honest with how I feel when I connect with my fans. As time passes, I think they have been able to recognize that and connect with me on a more genuine level too. That’s the biggest thing I learned.
And what is the achievement you're most proud of?
My debut with EXO. Even though my training period was short when compared to other members, just to be able to work together, come together as a group, and debut together, it’s definitely my proudest achievement to date. And that’s what launched me to be where I am right now.
You were always known for your powerful singing, but during all these years you have developed yourself and are currently recognized as a multi-talented artist and skillful dancer as well. Can you tell us more about that process?
My vocals have always been my main strength, so it’s something I continuously work on and want to improve on. In terms of dancing, I have a friend named Kasper who is a dancer/choreographer, and he teaches me all the trendy dances, gives me advice on how I should do this or that, so that’s a practical way that I have improved my skills. In general, because I have a lot of energy, I felt like just my vocals weren’t enough for the amount of energy that I can showcase, so I always wanted to channel that through dancing, which is a different outlet.
Did Kasper create the choreography for “Candy”? And did you have any input on it?
Yes. Because we’re friends, when he would show me the choreography, I would say “what about we do it this way?” and then we bounced ideas off each other, especially when it came to the formations of the dance overall.
In the current world situation, it's hard to expect things or make plans for this year, but what is one thing you are looking forward to in 2020?
It’s hard to make plans for the rest of the year, but I’m hoping that things get better so I can finally meet my fans in person. That’s the one thing I’m looking forward to the most. Because of the current situation, we had to shift things to digital, but I’m also excited to meet my fans via different platforms as well.
Have the members of EXO listened to your album? What was their reaction?
When they listened, they said that it matches the seasons right now, as we’re going into summer. All of them commented on how it was a new style for me as a solo artist, like showing another side of Baekhyun, another vibe. They also noticed that I put a lot of effort into it, they’re really supportive.
If you could describe yourself as a candy flavor, what would that be?
Strawberry. Because its flavor encapsulates both sweet and sour, and that’s precisely what I want to do — show different sides. With this concept in Delight, you can see a more relaxed, confident side, but you can also see a very sweet and doting side of my character.
To sum it all up, what is your favorite candy flavor?
Green grape! In Korea they sell bags of green grape hard candy, those are my favorites."
Credit: Grammy.
56 notes · View notes
Text
Survey #346
“i was in a car crash (or was it the war?)  /  but i’ve never been quite the same”
Do you take lessons for anything? No. Has something really heavy ever fallen on you? Not to my recollection. If you wear makeup, what colors do you usually wear? I don't wear makeup frequently whatsoever, but if I do put some on, it's always black. Does your shower have curtains or a glass door/wall? Curtains. If you have more than one pet, do they ever get jealous of each other? Well, one is a snake and one is a cat, so no, they don't. Is there a room in your house that you don’t like going in? No. Do you remember the last question you were asked? What did you answer? Well, besides in this survey, Mom asked me if I wanted some shrimp she didn't finish. A true stunner, but I didn't want anymore. Besides salt and butter, do you put anything on your popcorn? Nothing other than what was mentioned. Are you lonely? To be totally transparent, I'm extremely lonely on multiple levels. What’s your favorite magazine to read? Don't have one. Do you like pineapple? Yeah. But keep it off my pizza. Have you ever seen fireflies? Yeah, they're common in the summer here. Have you ever trespassed? Not to my knowledge. My sister, neighbor, and I regularly visited this shack as kids, just exploring and checking stuff out, and someone eventually did approach us and tell us to leave, but idk if anyone ACTUALLY owned the property? We never saw any signs. Do you tell your parents where you are going? Yeah; if I live with them, they have the right to know. Do you agree with the notion that all people were created equal? Yeah. Do you raise your hand or participate in class? I did. Do you like visiting the mall? Why or why not? Not really, no. Too many people, too many stores I don't care about, too much walking. Have you ever purposely hurt an animal? I've given pets a pop when they've done something wrong, but seriously hurt, fuck no. Would you ever see a therapist? I've seen a therapist consistently since the 6th grade. Are you afraid of heights? Yes. I used to not be, but it's a fear I've developed over time for no apparent reason. Are you afraid of the dark? No. Are you a jealous person? I was literally just thinking about this yesterday how much I hate how I've developed a jealous and envious side. It's not a feeling I used to experience like at all, so it's very uncomfortable to feel. When is your birthday? February 5th. What are you listening to right now? A John Wolfe playthrough of The Sinking City. It's really interesting and is making me wanna read Lovecraft books, haha. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing? Probably at some point. Are you still friends with someone from kindergarten? No. What is the most important thing to you? My mental health. Do you like whip cream? NO. The taste is fine, but I can't handle the texture of it. Are you close to your mother? Very. Are you close to your father? Yeah, but not as close as I am with my mother. Do you walk around bare foot when you're at home? Or do you wear socks? Yeah, I stay barefoot. Do you like chocolate popsicles? Yessss, I love them. Would you ever be your school’s mascot who wears that costume? Ew, no. Would you rather see the Great Wall of China or Big Ben? Probably the Great Wall. Have you ever written a poem? I've written loads. Would you ever be a tornado chaser? FUCK no. Never, ever, EVER. what is your favorite thing to eat with bbq sauce, if you even like that stuff? I hate barbecue sauce. Your parents tell you that this summer, you get to pick the vacation. Where do you plan to go? As a family? Maybe Alaska. What do you think is a good theme for a prom? Um, maybe princesses and princes? It sounds cute, leave me alone. Have you ever had to do a class in summer school? No. Do you get nervous when you go to the doctor? About what? Not very, but somewhat. I'm always terrified to get on the scale and am also afraid I'll find out I have diabetes with how heavily it runs in my family, and I'm not exactly healthy. Have you ever been to the rainforest? No. As cool as it would be, I would neeeever manage. The humidity would murder me. Have you ever created a website? Yeah, a few. Ever thought about writing a book? Yeah. Have you ever had a dream where you killed someone? I don't think so, but I have nightmares ALL the time where I'm fighting to defend myself. Do you ever make up stories in your head and wish they come true? Daydreams? Oh, yes. Which is worse: stuffy nose or runny nose? STUFFY. Having a runny nose surely isn't fun either, but at least you can have tissues handy. Which is worse: Sick to your stomach or sore throat? 100% sick to your stomach. I do nooot respond well to stomach pain. Do you think your last relationship was a disaster? Not at all. Have you ever solved a Rubik’s Cube? No. Who do you think is the easiest to talk to? Sara or Mom. Would you consider yourself to be emo? I don't care for stereotypes, I'm whatever. Do you have a favourite metal band or do you not like metal? I love metal, and my favorite artist is of course Ozzy Osbourne. What is your current desktop picture? My favorite picture of my late dog Teddy. Thick or thin blanket? I like thick ones. Cozier. Who are your favorite bands? Everyone knows my #1 is Ozzy, so I'll list some of my others that just fall behind him (in no order): Metallica, Otep, Marilyn Manson, Korn, In This Moment, Powerwolf, Motionless In White, Rammstein, A Day to Remember, Cradle of Filth, Mother Mother... There's a lot, really. How do you mark through your word search puzzles? It depends on what I have at my disposal, really. I think typically I would just circle the words with a pencil, but I'd prefer to use a highlighter. Have you ever sewn something? No. What did you eat for dinner last night? Mom made shrimp scampi with a side of white rice. It was delicious. Ever been grounded? If so, for what? Yeah, on multiple occasions. I think the longest was when I ran away from home. Have you seen all of the Jaws movies? No; I've only seen the first one with Tyler. I did, however, have the video game as a kid, and I LOVED it. I could never beat the final stage, though. :( When was the last time you played cards? (not on the computer) Months ago with my niece. She was hooked on playing Uno with me because I always let her win. Have you ever drank cherry Coke? Omg yes, I LOVE it. Have you ever had a black eye? No. Have you ever eaten a bug? No. Do you like pranking people? No. Did you ever take a cooking class in school? No. Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? No. Do you use Skype? Only to talk to Sara. Have you ever participated in local magazine cover girl searches? Definitely not. Have you ever been called a skank/slut because of the way you dress? No. Is your ex sexually attractive to you still? Two are. Describe the most romantic moment you’ve ever had. I'd rather not because it'll really set off my PTSD. Have you ever cheated on a test? Nope. Have you ever been to couple’s counseling? No. How often does your employer ask you to work overtime? N/A Did you often read for fun when you were a kid? I read A LOOOOOT as a kid. I was a total bookworm. When was the last time you were scared? Excluding in nightmares that I don't remember, uhhh probably back when my PHP therapist surprised me by whipping out a poem I'd written and sharing it in front of the whole group. It wasn't the "bad" kind of scared, but I sure did feel fear. What’s your favorite song by Rihanna? "Disturbia" has always been #1. There's this '80s synthwave remix of the song that I adorrrreeee. Can you speak binary? Nope. Would you rather live somewhere that had hurricanes or tornadoes? I've dealt with hurricanes all my life and they don't terrify me NEARLY as much as the mere idea of a tornado, so. Have you ever had a pet that you disliked? None that were mine personally, but coincidentally, I didn't like two dogs my little sister had. The first one was just mildly annoying, and as much as I hate admitting it, I literally hated her last dog. When was the last time you saw hail? Maybe like... a month ago or something like that? Time is kinda blurry for me on this. We had an absolute downpour of hail one morning, then just... nothing. What is on your mind right this second: I have this at-home sleep study tonight and I'm pretty much obsessing over "what if I don't have a nightmare?" when, for ONCE, I want/need myself to. To be real, I don't know exactly what will change in my life if I do have a sleep apnea diagnosis or something that we're not already doing, but. Mom more than anyone just wants professionals to see that something is seriously wrong and needs fixing. Have you ever given a nickname to your pet(s)? Both have them, yeah. I think I call Venus "Miss Venus" more than her real name, then she's also "baby girl," "pretty," "beautiful girl," etc. I call Roman just "butt" a lot, haha, then there's "son," "Mama's boy," "bud"... When was the last time you shaved your legs? Not since last October. Nobody sees my legs, so I just don't care. Do you ever try free samples at the store? Sure, if I'm actually interested in the food. Do you like boys with long hair? That's actually my preference. Do you like rootbeer? It's not insufferable, but I'm not really a fan. What is the best fast food place, in your opinion? Sonic. Do you have faith in yourself? What a question to end it on, 'cuz I don't have a fuckin' clue these days.
3 notes · View notes
shawtygonemad · 4 years
Text
What Is This Feeling: Chapter 4
Fem!9th Doctor x Male! Rose Tyler
WITF Masterlist
Tumblr media
The Doctor and Ross made their way back to the observation gallery. The Doctor went over to the panel on the wall and started to do scans.
"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." The Doctor turned to meet a tree. "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"
"It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me," Jabe replied.
"Where's the engine room?"
"I don't know," he paused, "But the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite. I could show you and your…husband."
"He's not my husband," she corrected quickly.
"Partner?"
"No."
"Concubinus?"
"Nope."
"Prostitute?"
Ross finally butt in, annoyed. "Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind?" He frowned. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson," he referred to Cassandra.
"Don't start a fight," she warned. She turned and took Jabe's offered arm. "I'm all yours," she smiled.
"I want you home by midnight," Ross called after them.
The two aliens made their way into the maintenance duct. They conversed a little as they continued down the hall of wires. It seemed like it went on forever.
"So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this," she asked.
"Respect for the Earth."Jabe gave a small smile. "Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasion."
"In case your share prices drop?" She smiled back. "I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."
"All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendent of the Tropical Rainforest."
"Excuse me," she pardoned herself as she took out her Sonic Screwdriver. The Doctor began to scan the door panel.
"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a woman only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence."
The Doctor froze. Jabe knew who she was. He knew what happened. The pained Time Lord stared off, flashing back to that fateful day.
"Even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am."
Jabe gently placed a hand on the Doctor's arm. She instinctively placed hers on top of his. A single tear dripped down her face. She quickly wiped the tear and opened the door to the engine room. The Doctor shook her head, ridding herself of the painful memories. They both stepped inside the engine room.
"Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?" The Doctor questioned while staring at the giant fans running at full blast. "Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro," she laughed and turned from the giant fans. She then began to scan another panel on the wall.
"Gotcha," she said as she pulled off the panel cover. A metal spider-like creature scuttled out and up the nearest wall. "What the hell's that?"
"Is that part of the retro," Jabe questioned, innocently.
The leather clad alien aimed her screwdriver at the spider as Jabe lassoes it.
"Hey, nice liana," she complimented with a smile.
"Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody," the Doctor reassured. "Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?"
"What does it do?"
"Sabotage."
"Earth death in ten minutes," the computer reminded.
"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on," she led Jabe back out of the wire pathway, and back to the hallways. They both quickly made their way to the steward's office.
Once they were outside the office the Doctor noticed the smoke, and smell coming from within. The steward was dead.
"Hold on. Get back."
She soniced the door's panel, causing the sun filter to rise.
"Is the steward in there," asked Jabe.
"You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend."
She quickly ran off, following the signal. She hoped no one was in the room. She soon found the room with the descending filter. The Doctor started to work on raising it as fast as she could.
"Anyone in there," she called out.
"Open the door," she heard Ross yell from within. She rolled her eyes, not even surprised.
"Oh, well, it would be you. Hold on. Give us two ticks." She spoke as she continued to work.
"Sun filter rising," the computer announced.
Ross and the Doctor both began to relax.
"Sun filter descending," the computer announced once more.
"Just what we need," the Doctor said, annoyed. "The computer's getting clever."
"Stop mucking about," Ross yelled.
The Doctor began to stress out. "I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back."
After a few nail-biting seconds the Doctor finally got the filter to rise, and stay up.
"The whole door's jammed. I can't open it. Stay there!" She told him before heading off towards the observation gallery.
The Doctor walked inside the gallery as Jabe was giving everyone a briefing. She took the spider from Jabe, and inspected it once more.
"I'm afraid the steward is dead," Jabe informed them.
"Who killed him," The Moxx of Balhoon asked.
"The whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face," Cassandra said.
"Easy way of finding out. Someone brought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master."
She set the spider on the ground. It scuffled off towards Cassandra, scanned her, and then moved on. It then moved onto the black gowned group.
"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse," Cassandra accused.
"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you think about it…" The Doctor moved towards the group. The leader swung its arm at her. She caught it, and ripped it out. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea."
She pulled the main control wire from the arm. All of the Adherents fell to the floor.
"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo," she nudged the spider. "Go home."
The spider quickly scuffled off to Cassandra.
"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms," Cassandra commanded. Her attendants raised their spray guns.
"What are you gonna do, moisturize me," she asked sarcastically.
"With acid. Oh, you're too late. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts; tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face," Cassandra smiled.
"Sabotaging the ship when you're still on it? How stupid's that?" The Doctor crossed her arms.
"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."
"Five billion years and it still comes down to money," the Doctor was astonished at the selfishness of humans.
"You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll tripe in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."
The space station shook as the spiders were activated. The force fields suddenly disappeared. They were vulnerable.
"Bye, bye, darlings," Cassandra smirked before she and her attendants beamed out.
The heat levels began to rise.
"We have to reset the computer by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill," she told them as she exited the gallery.
The Doctor and Jabe sped to the engine room. They only had two minutes to restore the system. No pressure. Once inside, the Doctor quickly searched for the switch. She spotted it behind the three giant fans.
"Oh, and guess where the switch is."
The Doctor pulled a breaker lever and the fans began to slow a bit. As soon as she let go and stepped away the fans reset their speed. Jabe grabbed the lever and held it down.
"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place," the Time Lord protested.
"I know," the tree told her.
"Jabe, you're made of wood."
"Then stop wasting time, Time Lady," Jabe used the correct gender term of her race. The Doctor grinned, and nodded.
She made it passed the first fan easily. Once at the second fan she looked back at Jabe. He was still okay. They could do this! She turned back to the fan. Timing it perfectly, the Doctor ran through. When she reached the third fan a cry of pain was heard behind her. She turned to look. Jabe had combusted, and was burning alive.
'No!'
She couldn't help him. It killed her. The Doctor had to keep going. Jabe's death wouldn't be meaningless. It'll be harder to get through the last fan since they were back on full blast.
The fans were going faster than expected. The only way she could get through is if she slowed down time. It was something they were taught to do in the Academy. It wasn't easy. It took lots of concentration.
She closed her eyes and steadied her hearts. Her entire body needed to be calm. She breathed slowly and focused. In her mind everything started to slow down. The fans were at a crawling pace. Holding her breath, she stepped through.
Once she realized that it worked, her eyes flew open. She bolted forward and pulled down the breaker.
"Raise shields"
The Shields raised just in time as the Earth exploded. Once her adrenaline slowed down, she decided to return to everyone. The Doctor walked back under the fans. She stopped and stared sadly at the ashes of Jabe. No matter how many companions she had, there will always be one constant one: Death. She turned away, and strode back to the main gallery.
When she stepped inside, she saw some members mourning their loss. Seeing Ross also lifted a weight off her shoulders. However, first thing she needed to do was inform Lute and Coffa. She stepped over to them and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.
"Jabe is dead," she spoke softly. "He died a hero. Make sure he has an honoured ceremony once you return home. I'm so sorry." She turned and stepped away to let them mourn in private.
"You alright," Ross asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. "She spoke angrily. "Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby."
The Doctor walked over to the displayed Ostrich egg. She smashed it to reveal a small device.
"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." The Doctor reversed the device. Cassandra beamed back in.
"Oh," she said, shocked.
"The last human," The Doctor growled, very cross.
"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the human club," Cassandra lied.
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."
"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, the Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter," Cassandra began to creak.
"And creak," asked the Doctor.
"And what?" Cassandra spoke, confused.
"Creak. You're creaking."
"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot," Cassandra cried out.
"You raised the temperature," the Doctor spoke coldly.
"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything," she begged.
"Help her," Ross said, sympathetically.
"Everything has its time and everything dies," She said stone cold.
"I'm too young," Cassandra cried before exploding.
Without a second glance, the Doctor left the room. She needed pace to calm down. She didn't return until everyone was gone. When she walked back into the gallery she saw Ross staring out where the Earth once was.
"The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just-" he stopped himself.
The Doctor knew just what to do. She gently took his hand. "Come with me."
The both silently held hands as they walked back to the TARDIS. When they were inside, Ross sat on the jumper seat, defeated. The Doctor moved around the console returning them to London. When they landed, the two stepped out into a crowd of people.
"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor took a deep breath. She was going to tell him. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."
"What happened?"
She looked at him with sad eyes. "There was a war, and we lost."
"A war with who?" The Doctor stayed silent. "What about your people," Ross went on.
"I'm a Time Lord… well, Time Lady. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else."
"There's me," Ross told her.
"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home," she asked, waiting for him to confirm her fear.
"I don't know. I want…" he paused, and sniffed the air. "Oh, can you smell chips?"
The Doctor laughed, "Yeah."
"I want chips," he smiled.
"Me, too," she grinned.
"Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is! My treat. We've only got five billion years till the shops close."
They grinned at each other before Ross grabbed the Doctor's hand, and led her towards the glorious smell of chips.
***
Thanks for reading! You're all fantastic!
2 notes · View notes
another-sonic-blog · 5 years
Text
Stages: The Final Stage
Stages: Lovers: The Final Stage (Chapter 20 The Last Chapter) Pairing: ShadAmy 2k3 A/N: Errors everywhere and very much rushed. Enjoy!
Previous: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/612426197692973056/stages-maybe-jealous
.
When Sonic and Amy had gotten back to Central City everything seemed to be normal.
It was a cold night when they arrived and if Amy didn't know better, she expected it to snow. Amy and Sonic finally arrived at Rouge's apartment. They were outside her door and Sonic was about to leave after he made sure Amy was safe in the bat's apartment. Amy knocked and a few seconds later, Rouge opened the door. It surprised her how fast Rouge had opened the door because usually, it took her a few minutes.
Rouge looked at Amy and then at Sonic. She took a moment to process the scenery in front of her.
Sonic smiled at the bat, "Hey Rouge! I haven't seen you in a while-"
As if Sonic's voice had triggered something in her, Rouge reacted.
"Amy! Shadow is looking for you!"
.
After talking and discussing the current situation, the bat kept the two hedgehogs around. She didn't want them anywhere but at her apartment at the moment. She explained the current situation Amy was with G.U.N and Shadow's plan. They tried calling for Shadow multiple times but he wasn't answering his phone nor his wrist communicator. On the meanwhile, Rouge was explaining the things that had happened during her absence. Amy felt like her mind could explode at any second while Sonic only understood one thing. He most protects Amy at all costs.
"Do you have any clues about who is behind this?" Sonic asked. He was walking right and left across Rouge's living room.
"If we knew, we wouldn't be in this situation," Rouge said. She was sitting down on the couch next to Amy. "Amy should leave the city as soon as possible. Shadow is getting everything ready. Knowing him, he should be done but I don't know why he is not answering his phone."
"Maybe we should go to his apartment." Amy looked over at Rouge who was sitting next to get and added. "What if he is in trouble-"
As destiny wanted, a strong knocking was coming from the door. Sonic was fast and he opened it.
Shadow tried his best to keep standing. He pressed his hand against his abdomen as he tried to stop the blood from coming out. One of his eyes was purple and swollen. He had open wounds all over his body and blood came out of them. Sonic had only seen Shadow in such a state and that was years ago during the war.
"We need ... to leave." Shadow breathed heavily. "Everyone ... now!"
Rouge and Amy quickly went over the red-striped hedgehog and helped him walk to the couch. Shadow sighed heavily as he finally felt his body rested on the couch.
"What happened?" Amy wanted for that to come out loud but it instead came out as a whisper.
Sonic joined the group and reluctantly sat across the dark hedgehog waiting for him to respond to the pink hedgehog's question.
Shadow looked at Rouge and Amy then at Sonic. He felt relieved that the three were good and after a few seconds he was prepared to say his story.
Shadow sighed one more time. He was surprised that his body was still hurting so much but right now it wasn't the time to think about that.
"I know who is behind all of this ..."
.
Shadow has everything ready to go. It was just a matter of time for Amy to show up so they could leave. A million questions were going on his head. "Would she go with him?" If she wanted to be safe. "Will she bring Sonic along with her?" He hoped she didn't. "Would he be able to tell her how he feels?"
Shadow looked at his apartment one last time before saying his goodbyes. It was a short amount of time he had lived there, but still, they only had good memories.
He had everything on his black backpack. They were going to leave town first on his bike, BB. Later on, they will meet with Tails who promised Shadow to have a plane ready to go for both of them to go to the Acorn Kingdom. From there ... well, he had not an exact plan.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard knocking from the door. Shadow walked over and opened the door. It was a red wolf with glasses, he looked naive and somehow similar.
"Hello sir, I am from 'Good Houses'. I am the estate agent-" The red fox made a pause. "Wait, you are Shadow the Hedgehog!"
"Yes, I am," Shadow nodded, he hoped that the wolf would focus on his job instead of admiring him. "Anyways, come on this a luxury apartment and I own the whole floor so just take your time and do your inventory-"
"Woah! I can't believe it! I am your fan!" The red wolf said as he began to look for pen and paper all over his suit. "I am sorry, can I have your autograph-"
The red wolf stood petrified as he realized that the black hedgehog was beyond annoyed. He didn't know whether to run or to stay. Maybe he needed to stay professional.
"Um, yes I will do an inventory right now and then I can tell you how much we can give you for the apartment." The red fox entered the place and Shadow sighed relieved.
"Please, do it as fast as you can," Shadow said.
"Nah, I think I will take my time," The red fox changed in personality. He walked to the sofa and threw himself on it. Resting.
He was way too comfortable. Shadow crossed his arms around his chest. He arched an eyebrow, wondering what had gotten over the red one.
"Excuse me? I am your client-"
"You are excused and no, you really are not."
Alright, Shadow was over this guy's attitude. He was going to kick him out, he walked over to him but his next gesture made him stop.
"You get angry about everything. I don't understand why Amy Rose likes you."
A few seconds of silence passed and Shadow was ready to beat the hell out of this guy. However, he needed answers. Just who was this?
"The war during Eggman must have been though ..." The red one said. "Many died."
"Tell me who are you right now and I promise not to beat you as bad," Shadow responded.
"Many died but we don't even know if Eggman is still alive or not."
"Who are you?" Shadow said louder.
The red wolf smiled, he enjoyed the state Shadow was. "Does that matter?"
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
"Shadow, my old friend ... you really don't know who I am?"
There was tension in the room. The red ones smile grew wider as he left out small laughs. He was enjoying seeing Shadow in such a situation and such mental frustration.
He snapped his fingers and his body began to transform. A red light came out of his body and in an instant, he revealed his true persona.
.
"Infinite, he is back." Shadow was still sitting in Rouge's coach as he finished his story. "Not only that but ... The Commander is dead. Infinite impersonated me and he killed the Commander in his office. Humans on Earth and G.U.N agents watch those cameras."
"He has gotten stronger ..." Shadow added, "I've never felt such power before."
"A Mobian killed a human ..." Rouge whispered almost in surprise. "This is political now, the two worlds may be at war. Shadow, they are going to want your head, you need to leave now."
A thousand thoughts were going through to Amy's head. But the one she cared the most about was Shadow's safety. She deduced that they had fought and Amy had never seen Shadow in such a state. He seemed like he couldn't even stand.
"We shall go to Shadow's bike. I'll drive it." Amy said as she stood up from her seat.
"I will escort you to the outside's of the city and then I will come back to find out more about Infinite." Sonic who was looking outside the window returned to the group. "Then I will catch up with you with you later."
"I'll just make my bag real quick and-" Amy stared but she was interrupted.
Rouge walked over the window of her apartment, "Too late, G.U.N. agents ... they are outside."
.
By a pure miracle, they were able to exit the building without being noticed. Amy was driving Shadow's bike while he was at the back, holding her by her waist. He still felt very weak. He knew he was bleeding but right now it wasn't the moment to think about that. What matters was to get Amy to safety.
Sonic followed close, making sure he no agents were after them. Rouge, on the other hand, decided to stay, mostly to serve as a spy for Shadow and Amy in case they needed information from G.U.N.
Amy looked over the horizon and if they were in a different situation, this scene could be perfect. The colors of the sky mixed between yellows, oranges, and blues.
A large plain full of grass and trees on their sides, the wind all over them.
And then,
Infinite showed up in front of them. Out of thin air, he made his presence know. Amy immediately stopped the bike, making them almost jump out of it due to how fast they were. Sonic was fast to stand in front of them. He looked back to Amy and Shadow who seemed to have passed out.
"Amy, you go ahead and don't stop," Sonic said as he smiled at her. "I'll stop Infinite as much as I can ... don't look back."
"Sonic, no I can help you-" Amy said but was once again interrupted.
"Amy ... Shadow needs you." Sonic smiled and Amy felt her heartbreak. It was as if they were saying their last goodbyes. She could only trust Sonic, that he will come back to her. Someway or another.
"Sonic ... you better come back to me," Amy said.
"I promise."
Amy turned on the bike again and without any other thoughts, she began to ride it once again. She had tears on her eyes as the wind was drying them. She didn't dare to look back.
BANG!
A shot, very loud and her heart broke once again. And even so, she still didn't dare to look back. Because she knew the moment she did, she would turn back.
And he promised him she wouldn't.
.
How did things end up like this?
It's nighttime and Amy and Shadow were hiding under a tree. Shadow was still unconscious and laying down on the grass. Amy made sure that he was still breathing and thanks to his good immune system, he was healing well.
They were already outside Central City and although she knew that G.U.N. agents most be after them, she decided to rest for a bit.
Amy was a positive individual ... but now ... now she just couldn't.
She ugly cried as she let all of her feelings out. Did she deserve this? All for loving Shadow the Hedgehog? For being with Sonic while she was still in love with him?
For all the wrong decisions she had made?
Shadow slowly opened his eyes as he recognized the female voice crying. He was feeling better than before and he mustered the strength to sit.
Amy quickly wiped her tears with her gloves and looked away from Shadow.
"I am glad you are awake," Amy said, her voice breaking in the process.
Shadow didn't know how to respond to that. He hated seeing the pink one like that and guilty overtook him.
"I am sorry," said Shadow almost in a whisper. "You are in this situation because of me."
"It's not your fault-"
"It is ... Infinite holds a great grudge against me." Shadow looked at Amy's eyes. "I should have stayed away from you when I had the chance."
"No ... I should have stayed away. I should have stayed away when I made you your favorite chocolate cake. When we fixed the bike I gave you." Amy responded. "If I didn't Sonic wouldn't have ...
Amy's voice broke again. "I regret it ... I shouldn't have fallen in love with you, never-"
It was unexpected. It was sad and beautiful.
Shadow pressed his lips against hers. His warm touch heated her cold heart. Her worries went away for a second as she got lost in his lips. He softly caressed Amy's cheeks as he kissed her. Amy was slow to reach, her eyes were still open but she closed them as she put her hands around him.
It lasted a few seconds until she pulled away. She couldn't do it.
"Yes ... I should have stayed away from you when I had the chance," Shadow said, their faces still very close. "But I don't regret it and I don't regret these feelings I have for you. We will pass through this. I promise you."
Their foreheads touched and even if it was a small moment, they forgot about everything. Only one thing matter at the moment and it was each other and their feelings.  
It was quiet, with no tweets of birds nor animals. Only the wind dancing through the leaves of the trees, flowers, and grass.
Hard times were coming but everything will be fine as long as they have each other.
As long as they are together.
Amy and Shadow looked at each other's eyes. Emeralds met rubies and their strong feelings were present again.
They were never meant to be together ... but destiny had other plans.
Shadow smiled at Amy and softly whispered ...
"I love you."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: The last chapter. I want to thank everyone who read this story. Even when it had multiple mistakes. I have to admit that I loved writing the first chapters but as the story progressed, I started to dislike it. 'Stages' was originally a series of 'One-shot's that developed Amy's and Shadow's relationship. Originally, it was supposed to be 10 chapters but due to demand, I made it longer. I was pressure to do this story and maybe it's why I don't like it anymore. I dislike this rushed ending. However, I think it will satisfy most of you. I just can't bring myself to write more of this. I wanted to finish it and that's why this last chapter is really rushed.
Even with all the mistakes and my strong disliking towards this story, I still deeply thank everyone who read it.
Thank you, everyone, who read this story on Tumblr and they like.
Thank you to my Wattpad readers who like and comment without fail every time I upload a chapter.
But special thanks to those who have supported my writing on all of my past stories and continue to read them even now.
'Stages' have come to an end but I will continue to write. I have a lot of ideas I would like to explore.
For now, I will start writing the prompt request and will be focusing on that.
Thank you, everyone, and until next time!
33 notes · View notes
crusherthedoctor · 5 years
Text
The Lutrudis Hadeer Design Concept Masterpost
Tumblr media
Every now and then, I get the occasional question about my very own Lutrudis, which I'm always gladly willing to answer. Yet for all the times I've answered such questions, it seems some folks are still a bit left in the dark as to how Trudy came to be. So I figured I could make one big post all about the creation process. Maybe not every single detail per say, but at least everything that I think is worth mentioning in a post of this sort.
I'm aware that fellow pal @benignmilitancy​ covered this subject herself recently, but I might as well do my part to back up what she said.
1. When did Lutrudis become an idea?
The basic idea for Lutrudis - and indeed, the setting of Viridonia and Beyond the Stars itself as a story - was thought up as early as 2014. When I say basic idea however, I really do mean it, as aside from the general concept of her being the latest Friend of the Week helping Sonic and Co fight evil on her home island, very little else about Trudy was set up, including her name and species. While some aspects of her personality were already set in stone by that point, I focused on the design first when I decided to go ahead and make her and Beyond the Stars a real thing. The idea being to use what personality traits I had in mind to create a mental image, then use that mental image to help figure out the rest of her traits, as a design can often help out with working out a personality.
So basically, I scratched my back, so that I could scratch it again. Made sense to me.
2. Why a horse? Is it because friendship is magic?
Maybe...
Tumblr media
Actually, I wanted a species that hadn't been used before, at least in the games, its continuity being the one Beyond the Stars takes place in. But at the same time, I also wanted to go with a fairly mundane species rather than anything rare, extinct, or extravagant, as I felt that the latter would undermine the story arc that I had in mind for this particular character. Compared to the likes of Sonic, Shadow, or Blaze, Lutrudis is more akin to Amy in the sense that she's ordinary by comparison, despite her living conditions and the magical brand of ammo she eventually decides to use. To have the arc of a “normal” lady becoming a hero in her own right be represented by a T-rex or a dragon wouldn't really land the same impact in the context of this universe.
Already, I was quickly warming up to making her a horse because of this. But then I realised that many of Trudy's personality traits - her loyalty, her passion, her elegance - were ALSO commonly attributed to horses in real life. And if you're not aware, I'm a big fan of letting Sonic and Co have character tics representative of their species, and a horse in particular had plenty of potential to have some funny and cute moments by letting their horsiness show itself. This additional thought helped make my decision on the matter final.
...Well, that and I wanted Trudy to have longer hair than the average Sonic female due to how, IMO, short hair wouldn't work as well for her. Obviously horses have manes, so that made it easier to get away with than it would have if she were a hedgehog, though it also helps that Trudy's hair is never any more detailed than the rest of her, meaning her hair actually looks like her own rather than her wearing an overly detailed wig to appease a certain disgraced comic writer, one of whom I will probably have the entirety of Beyond the Stars uploaded by the time he actually does something with his echidna libido-fueled comic at this rate... Looking forward to it in 2030.
As for what kind of horse she is, I decided to go with an English Thoroughbred, if only to further justify Trudy's English accent, which is nonetheless fairly mild compared to everyone else in Viridonia, who sound as though they jumped out of a 90's Rareware title.
Tumblr media
3. “THIS IS WHO I AM... But who am I?”
Believe it or not, but even by 2016, I still hadn't decided on what to call my little pony. I had already figured that whatever I was going to call her, it would abide by the same naming convention as Amy Rose, Miles Prower, and Ivo Robotnik, to help further add to the aforementioned notion that she's an ordinary lady who wasn't born with any superpowers. That, and because “___ the Horse” doesn't have the same ring to it as “___ the Hedgehog” or “___ the Echidna”.
So what did I do?
I looked up a list of female names for baby girls. Duh.
Well, it worked out, because I stumbled across “Lutrudis”, which was German for “strength of the village”. The more I repeated it in my head, the more it appealed to me. Sometimes, you can have various names that mean the same thing, yet one in particular will just have that perfect sound to it. That was me with this name. This horse being named Lutrudis felt right to me, even if I perfectly understood that it was perhaps a bit more exotic than your usual Sonic anthro name.
Not that it mattered too much, since I was quick to think of “Trudy” as a nickname for her, since in addition to being less of a mouthful, that name - also German in origin - had a similar meaning, “universal strength”. Fit her character and arc just as well.
So that was the first name sorted, but what about the surname? Well, when looking at a selection of appropriate words, I stumbled on “Hadeer”, and while the Arabic meaning of the name is slightly unclear - some sources say “adventurous”, others say “sound of the water falls” - I felt that the meanings associated with it were all equally appropriate regardless. Then I combined it with the first name, said the full name over and over again in my head, and thought “Yeah... this sounds correct.”
I realise the irony of a part-German, part-Arabic name being associated with an English character, but considering this is the same universe where a man who is presumably not Polish is given a Polish term for a name (Robotnik), I think we can let it slide.
4. “You guys know what EDS is, right?”
It's no secret that another friend of mine, @greenyvertekins​, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has a lot of unfortunate complications to it, but in laymen's terms basically means your body is more fragile than that of the average person's. This condition is rather rare, so much so that a majority of people have never heard of it. Sure enough, I was one of those people, until I became friends with Verte.
After hearing Verte talk about her EDS and what she's had to go through, along with doing my own research on the condition, not only was I considerably more informed on it, but I also felt very sympathetic to not only my friend, but everyone else who has had to experience it, particularly with how ignorant other people continue to react to it due to lack of public awareness. It made me want to do something in dedication, and in the process, a certain pony eventually crossed my mind.
Tumblr media
This wasn't done for the sake of appeasing blue checkmarks on Twitter. I genuinely wanted to help raise awareness of EDS however I could, and I considered that perhaps its inclusion in my story would help do that, so long as it didn't sacrifice everything else about the story or forget that it was still a Sonic the Hedgehog story. Yes, it's a fanfic, and thus not as well known as a Hollywood blockbuster or a bestselling novel, but if even a few people were to end up learning about EDS through Lutrudis, I would be happy.
However, I was well aware that the idea of a Sonic character having EDS might be seen as a bit jarring, and if done badly, could potentially be accidentally insulting. So I made sure to consult Verte about it, saying that I would only go through with it if she was comfortable with me doing so, and made it very clear that I would try to make its representation as tasteful and as faithful as I can, despite the inherent nature of the Sonic universe that Trudy is part of.
By the way, horses in real life can fall victim to very similar disorders, so that was yet another reason why I went with that choice.
5. “Hey Benign, I'm shite at art, please help.”
I can't remember the exact conversation that led to it, but after I talked to @benignmilitancy​ about Lutrudis, she offered to bring the character's design to life through her mad art skillz. Initially I was hesitant to take up the offer, since I felt guilty about having to rely on someone else to show people what my own character looks like, but I was giddily honored by the offer and decided to agree as long as she was willing. Luckily for her, she wasn't working with a blank canvas so to speak, as I had a relatively complete image in my mind regarding what Trudy would look like, having already reasoned to myself why this or that would apply.
Tumblr media
When putting my vision into words to Benign, I mentioned that...
- Since Trudy is the same age as Rouge, logically that should mean she's given a similar mature build as the latter, as opposed to the pipe limbs you see with the other female characters. Since Trudy spends a lot of time with Amy and Cream and has a lot of motherly interactions with the latter in particular, it helps signify that she's older than them.
- Being a horse, she would have two slits for nostrils rather than the usual dot nose that most characters have. Similarly, though you don't see them most of the time anyway, her feet are grey hooves, but they abide by the usual Sonic-style feet rather than being more realistic ala Clove's hooves, if only because the latter didn't look right for this character IMO.
- To add to her gentle warmth, her eyes would be a honey shade of brown. Just like how Cream has brown eyes. Again, it's like poetry, they sort of, they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with the last one. *shrug* Hopefully it'll work.
- Since EDS tends to apply several subtle physical traits to those who have it, at least some of them should logically apply to Trudy as well. Those with EDS often have a bluish-grey tint to their sclera, and they also tend to have paler skin than most, so Trudy would have those qualities too.
- To emphasize her love for Mother Nature and all its amazing sights, and also to contrast with Amy and Cream's colour schemes, Trudy herself would be green, albeit a more gentler green rather than the brighter tones of Vector and Jet, while her clothes would be blue, with slightly different shades depending on the clothing to prevent her from looking like a drab curtain. After a few initial sketches, Benign eventually suggested that some of her clothing could be changed to brown to balance out her overall colour scheme, as well as to further add to the subtle nature motif by having brown (trees) go along with blue (water) and green (grass). Needless to say, I wholeheartedly approved of this idea, and decided that the best placement for the brown sections would be for her leggings and glove cuffs.
- Speaking of, as a nod to her equine status, she would wear leggings that could pass off as Equestrian jodhpurs. (Not that she has an aversion to wearing skirts or dresses, since she's girly and tomboyish in pretty much equal measures, compared to how Sonic females usually lean towards one or the other.)
- People with EDS are unable to wear heels since they can hurt their feet, so heels were out of the equation for this little horsie. But I also figured that regular shoes or sandals wouldn't mesh well with the rest of Trudy's clothing, so I went with boots that were flat at the heels. They can allude to her adventurous streak AND allude to how there's a lady willing to kick ass behind that quiet, mellow, introverted demeanour. Plus, much like how being stomped by a real horse's hoof would be very painful to put it mildly, so too would being stomped by this horse's boot.
- Seeing how Trudy's arms have permanent scars on them - permanent scars being another common effect of EDS - she would wear elbow-length gloves over them, since she wouldn't be comfortable with showing them publicly. Note however that she would still wear long gloves even if she didn't have those scars, since they genuinely happen to appeal to her fashion tastes as well. Covering the scars up is just a bonus. And since long gloves are often associated with royalty and high class, they're also suiting for a lady who lives in a fancy castle (despite not being royalty).
- Her hair is kept in a big bouncy ponytail, not unlike Coco Bandicoot or Shantae, since it's both cute and tomboyish... that and because the visual pun of a horse with a ponytail was too good to resist, let alone it humorously mirroring the general shape of her actual tail.
- To contrast with Sonic's spiky quills, a lot of Trudy's design is emphasized to have a round quality, such as her tail, her ponytail, and her sloped ears. To add to this design philosophy, she would wear a headscarf similar to Wave's. Me and Benign contemplated on whether Trudy's muzzle should be more blocky like that of a real horse, before we agreed that the softer muzzle fit both the round aesthetic and her general character better.
- Trudy has trouble breathing in colder temperatures, and she also has a sensitive nose that reacts strongly to heavy scents. As such, she would have a bandanna that she could cover over her mouth and nose to help out with either of those things whenever the situation called for it, or any other scenario where she deems it appropriate. It helps that a bandanna suits a horse anthro anyway.
Truth be told, I was worried that I was coming off as too demanding. But Benign assured me that giving all these details helped rather than hindered. In any case, I was more than pleased with the final result, as it was precisely spot on to what I had in my head, although even her initial sketches during the work in progress were great stuff.
Tumblr media
6. If Amy uses a hammer, then Lutrudis uses...
Trudy has surprising arm and leg strength despite her appearance, which is mainly due to her horsie genes. But since she's still got EDS, it's still wise for her to equip herself with a weapon or two to even the odds. I contemplated a few ideas in this case, including a quarterstaff, but ultimately I decided that the following would be a little more interesting, while still remaining appropriate for the character in question.
I thought to myself “What's stopping her from having two weapons, one for short-range, the other for long-range?” I decided on the long-range weapon first: bow and arrows, the latter of which would eventually include the Ethereal Zone-powered crystals inside the cavern below her castle. Goes without saying that a bow suits her elegance and how it can be used from a stealthy distance, and the use of the crystals and their different abilities also helps to keep the reader guessing on what exactly is the nature of the elusive Ethereal Zone itself. I also reasoned that Trudy using a bow was a nice contrast to Amy's hammer, although I'm aware that Amy herself used a bow in the Fleetway comics. But no one uses a bow in the games (yet), so it's fine, right?
As for her short-range weapon, I thought it'd be funny if she had a whip that resembled a riding crop. Not only would it be used to give Eggman's robots the Simon Belmont treatment, it could also extend up to a certain distance to help grapple onto things and allow her to overcome areas that would otherwise cause complications for her body. Is it a bit ludicrous? Maybe, but so is a blue hedgehog fighting a Roosevelt lookalike. You just kind of have to live with it.
Tumblr media
So there you have it! Everything you need to know about how Lutrudis Hadeer's name, species, design, and EDS came to be finalised. Now when you turn her into a monkey without my knowledge or permission for the sake of dunking on her because you don't approve of me making fun of Kingdom Hearts rejects, at least you'll have a better idea on what you're actually talking about. :^)
62 notes · View notes
Text
Michael in the Mainstream: Sonic the Hedgehog
Tumblr media
Video game movies get a pretty bad reputation, I feel. There’s this common misconception where all video game movies suck, and I’ve just never found that to be the case. Like yes, there’s some bad ones (Ratchet & Clank, for instance) and some painfully dull ones (Max Payne and Doom), there are plenty of fun and interesting ones like Mortal Kombat, Ace Attorney, and most of the Pokemon movies. But hey, speaking of Pokémon, their movie based on Detective Pikachu finally helped bust that conception wide open and showing that you can honor the games and still make a fun, fresh experience accessible to fans new and old. And just when we thought we couldn’t get any better, an unlikely hero emerged:
Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic as a franchise has had a rocky history, but I think that the reason Sonic has endured like he has is that he just embodies a sort of carefree, high-speed fun. And this movie really captures that well even if it isn’t a straight up adaptation of any story from the games, which is all the more astounding considering the astoundingly bad original trailers. 
What really surprised me is that the acting was pretty solid across the board. Ben Schwartz is really fun and likable as Sonic, bringing that petulant youthful energy that made Sonic popular in the first place. I wasn’t surprised I loved Sonic, though; I was surprised I liked James Marsden. He was a legitimately great straight man to the insanity around him, and his friendship with Sonic was pretty sweet. The supporting cast was solid as well, with no one I could single out as truly bad or even weak.
But of course, the true star of the show is Jim Carrey. I hope they paid this man enough for the surgery he surely needed after breaking his back carrying the film, because good lord he is just amazing as Robotnik. From the fact he is explicitly a war criminal who staged coups in the Middle East to the fact he is an unrepentant sociopath with no regard for others around him and an ego so massive you can probably see it from space, he has all the makings of being a villain too needlessly dark for a silly Sonic movie. But here comes Carrey, channeling the spirit of the 90s comedies that made him famous, and he turns Robotnik into a glorious fountain of black comedy. He’s just so hilariously evil, perfectly balancing being a goofy and fun addition to the story as well as being legitimately threatening and scary villain. I’m not joking, this is easily in Carrey’s top five best performances ever, rivaling even Ace Ventura.
The humor is about what you’d expect. Aside from Carrey’s non-stop hilarity we have some pretty typical jokes, but I think there’s bough humor variety that SOMETHING will make you laugh. Even the product placement for Olive Garden is done in a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek way. And again, there’s plenty of Jim Carrey, and if he can’t make you crack a smile I don’t know what will. The fanservice is also pretty great. There are nods to so much Sonic stuff, that it’s readily apparent that even if this movie was made to make money off of Sonic, the people working on it definitely cared. Sure, I’m as sad as everyone else that they cut a Mean Bean Machine joke, but the infamous “Sanic” picture makes a cameo so can I really stay mad? 
There have been some criticisms of the film out there, but I tend to just disagree with them. Some have called the plot derivative, cliche, all those buzzwords people throw around whenever a film doesn’t reinvent the wheel, so I want to make something clear:
I don’t care. I really don’t care. So what if the movie isn’t a life-changing experience? So what if a movie uses a lot of tropes that have been done before? As long as a movie is enjoyable, what does it even matter? How is this a criticism? This isn’t even about standards, because I had no pretense that Sonic was going to revolutionize cinema; this is just a gripe I have with “it’s been done” being used as if it’s a criticism that has any weight whatsoever. Of COURSE it’s been done. 
And yeah, of course there’s room for improvement here! I’m certainly not encouraging people to be uncritical; being critical is honestly what saved this movie from being a hot mess. What I AM saying is that you can’t just judge everything on the same scale. As far as video game movies go, this one is great. As far as “cartoon animals on a road trip with live action humans” movies go, it’s the very best.
This definitely paves the way for even better Sonic movies down the road, what with the box office success and positive reception. This film is a really solid foundation to build a franchise on, and the two credits scenes promise even more great Sonic fanservice to come. If you just want to have a real good time, feel like a kid again, and just smile for an entire hour and forty minutes, this is the film for you. It’s exactly what it needs to be: a fun, goofy throwback to the wacky road trip films of the era that made Sonic famous, complete with Jim Carrey. We’re living in a dark time right now, and this movie is the sort of ray of sunshine we need.
14 notes · View notes
timeagainreviews · 5 years
Text
A Very Special Doctor Who
Tumblr media
The title of last night's episode "Can You Hear Me?" was a bit of a misnomer, or rather, a misdirect. In the tradition of Doctor Who names, I expected it to have more to do with the function of a creature. Something like "Don't blink!" or "You've got two shadows." Instead, it acts more as a reference to representation. Can you hear my calls for help? Can you see the signs of poor mental health? In many ways, tonight's episode was merely a vessel to deliver a message than the story itself. But was that to its detriment? Let’s get into it, shall we?
The episode opens on Aleppo, Syria in 1380. An interesting choice considering the history of the Crusaders. But they never once touch on the subject, they instead lean toward a simple monster invasion. It's not exactly certain why Aleppo was even necessary other than the fact that it looks really cool on-screen. It never really plays into the storyline other than being another location for the story to take place. I am guessing that writer Charlene James has some sort of personal history with the location. Perhaps she studied it and wanted to incorporate it into Doctor Who someday. Considering this is her first Doctor Who, that seems likely.
Tumblr media
Tahira, a young Syrian girl is running from the authorities. Evidently, she's some sort of adventurous klepto like Winona Ryder. She leaves the safety of the centre of the city to steal things for the thrill of it. If you don't remember this, don't fret, it has little to no bearing on the greater story other than informing us that she's a bit bored and looking for adventure. Her friend Maryam scolds her and they speak of monsters, in which Maryam does not believe. Later that night, we're visited by these monsters who take everyone but Tahira. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's still early on. My biggest bit of excitement came from the fact that the hand we see over Maryam's face was not the Slitheen. Having seen them in the trailer last week, that's who I was expecting them to be. You have to admit, their hands were very similar!
Tumblr media
The Doctor drops all of her companions off so they can go touch base with their home lives. Yaz sees her sister, who seems a bit worried about her. Ryan reconnects with his mate Tibo. And Graham plays cards with the boys from the bus depot. I was happy to see the continuity of Gabriel returning as Graham's mate. That was a nice touch. Over the course of their revisiting their friends, we learn that things have been a bit off. People have been having nightmares. Tibo seems to have locked himself away in his flat and complains that at night he's visited by a bald man with tattoos on his head. Luckily, his mate Ryan has been travelling with the Doctor, which means that instead of being laughed at, he's taken seriously. On top of that, the trio of companions are also given visions of the tattooed man. Except for Graham who sees a woman with Storm from X-Men vibes trapped between two planets. That night, Tibo is once again visited by the dream man, whose fingers detach and enter his ear. I don't know why all five fingers detached as he only needed one. Ryan witnesses this just as the dream man and Tibo disappear.
Tumblr media
The Doctor is also visited by this bald dream man which gives her something to do while dealing with the boredom of being away from her mates. The Doctor's own mental health has been a subject of discussion lately and it's apparent here as well. As she follows the intruder back to ancient Aleppo, she doesn't bat an eye at the fact that it appears to be ransacked. She's in her element. This is her bread and butter! The Doctor finds Tahira who alerts her to the presence of the monsters, as one is still present, hanging from the ceiling in a very creepy fashion. The make haste and give chase back to the safety of the TARDIS, but not before the Doctor finds a sample of the beast's fur. Strangely, the sonic picks up nothing. That's twice now in series twelve that the Doctor's sonic picks up no readings.
The Doctor picks up her companions where they've followed the source of Graham's vision back to a spaceship looking a lot like a Borg cube. The interior was like when you see a night club in the daytime. It's a bit weird. Also, there seems to be a network of fingers. Within this ship, they discover the bald man who calls himself Zellin. Apparently, he's some sort of Godlike immortal. For the classic Who fans, this was a treat as they name-dropped not one, but three different immortal species- the Guardians, the Eternals, and the Toymaker. I was especially excited over the Eternals, as "Enlightenment," is my favourite Fifth Doctor story.
Tumblr media
The Doctor and her friends help release the woman from between the two planets, who turns out to be an immortal named Rakaya. It turns out to be a trick, as Zellin is unable to break her out of the prison himself. Through an unusually helpful bit of exposition, Rakaya recounts their story to the Doctor in a beautiful sequence of animation. I really loved the art direction of this scene as it was something you don't often see in Doctor Who. It was a nice way of illustrating what could easily have been something boring. Kudos to the production team for trying something new.
Tumblr media
According to Rakaya, her and Zellin were both like gods, born into the universe and bored by their immortality. In order to entertain themselves, they pitted two planets against one another. But after a while, both species on each planet grew wise as to the nature of these gods and rebelled. They built a prison between their planets and trapped Rakaya there as punishment. I suppose they were done with their planets and decided they didn't need them anymore. I mean, after all, planets are a dime a dozen, right? The whole explanation is a bit hand-wavy, as is usual with god-like beings. The mythology trumps common sense. Zellin then set about using Rakaya's technology to free her while keeping her sane by feeding her nightmares he sourced from humans with his little flying fingers.
Tumblr media
Having locked the Doctor and her companions up, they set about causing mayhem on their new favourite planet- Earth. Naturally, this being Doctor Who, they land in England. Meanwhile, the Doctor and her companions are kept as prisoners aboard Rakaya's ship, locked up and having dreams harvested from their minds. Ryan dreams of the Earth's destruction and sees the Dregs from Orphan 55 again. He sees Tibo as an old man. Just one more person he's failed. Graham dreams his cancer is back, complete with a vision of his lost love Grace. Yaz's vision is a bit more abstract as we see her sitting on the side of a stretch of country road while a policewoman looks on from a distance. And the Doctor's dream was a further glimpse into who I believe is probably the Timeless Child. Though we get about as much elucidation on that concept as we have in previous episodes. The only difference here is that we see the same shot for a few more seconds. Nothing new or surprising there. Clearly, that's series finale stuff.
Tumblr media
What comes next is an absolute load of rubbish. The Doctor awakens from her dream, just because. After bumping her hip against her sonic, it flies up out of her pocket absolutely defying the laws of physics. For a second there, I wondered if she wasn't hanging upside down as that's the only explanation I could come up with for how the sonic was able to magically fly directly into her hands. While it doesn't ruin the episode, it was easily the worst moment. They don't even try and make it look believable. I'm not even sure they could have made it look believable. Had she dropped it, and then kicked it up into her hands, I could have maybe believed it. There's suspension of disbelief, and then there's just being stupid. In fairness, I'd be lying if I said this was anything new for Doctor Who. Who can forget Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor screaming at such a high pitch that it breaks a pane of glass to make an escape? That being said, it was still very bad.
Having escaped, the Doctor locks Rakaya and Zellin back into the planet prison. However, now they're joined by one of the beasties from Syria, which happen to be from Tahira's nightmares, hence why they never attacked her. The Doctor returns the ship's captive Syrians and Tibo. At this point, the episode still has a good ten or fifteen minutes left, but the threat has been completely neutralised. Or has it? Well, as it turns out, Zellin and Rakaya were not the biggest baddies this week. Instead, that illustrious title goes to none other than mental health issues! That's right, it's an awareness episode! This is why the entire story was so hand-wavy- it's just an excuse to talk about mental health!
Tumblr media
I wouldn't say it was exactly shoehorned in, but it definitely was not subtle. Ryan talks Tibo into getting professional help for his issues. This one made the least sense to me because they gave literally zero indication that Tibo needed group therapy. Sure, he was locking his place like Fort Knox and becoming a recluse, but he was quite literally being visited by an all-powerful ancient evil. You get rid of the ancient evil and suddenly, his biggest problems are gone. Instead, it's inferred that Ryan just knows his friend well enough to say "Hey buddy, you need some help." Which is fine I guess, but they in no way illustrated this throughout the episode. Even Tibo's standoffishness toward Ryan could be explained by the fact that Ryan had not been returning his texts. And considering that by the end of the episode, he now knows Ryan has been travelling with the Doctor, even that issue is resolved.
Graham's own fears make far more sense as cancer was a very real part of his life. Of course, he's afraid of his cancer recurring. I did really love the conversation he has with the Doctor as she offers very little comfort. Watching the Doctor awkwardly meander away was funny, but also somewhat confusing. I found it a bit weird that the Doctor listened to Graham talk about cancer without mentioning that she probably has the cure to cancer in gum form or something. She doesn't need to say anything comforting when she can say- "Sure Graham, let's just go to Medicalus 9, the hospital planet! You'll never worry about cancer ever again!" If the Doctor can't cure cancer, then it's like Amy Pond said- "...what is the point of you?"
Tumblr media
Yaz's story is easily the most welcome, as it offers up some much-needed backstory with her. We learn that Yaz had a hard time with bullies in school. After deciding to run away, he sister Sonya sends the police to find her. This is why Yaz's nightmare shows her on the side of a country road with a policewoman in the distance. Yaz's fear is that she will get to a point where she is unable to cope and needs to run away. Perhaps an even deeper fear is that her travels with the Doctor are one more form of running away. We learn why Yaz may have been inspired to become a policewoman herself, as the interaction between these two is a positive one. The policewoman makes a bet with her that in three years if things aren't better, she'll pay her £50, but if they are, Yaz owes her 50p. Remembering this bet, Yaz returns to give the woman her 50p, which you'll note was not a Brexit commemorative coin. Thank Zellin.
Tumblr media
And that was it, really. There wasn't a lot of meat to this episode. The baddies were dealt with quickly, and the plot resolved before things were even over. Was I mad about this? Not hardly. In fact, I applaud the show for taking the time to talk about mental health. It was clearly the driving force behind the episode and I don't mind at all. Using the concept of bad dreams to represent bad thoughts made a lot of sense in context with the show. Even if the story was devised as a means to deliver a message, it was still a pretty entertaining story. I've always had a soft spot for the immortal baddies of Doctor Who, so adding two more in was a treat. I had even begun wondering if Zellin wasn't the black guardian pretty early on, so clearly they had done a good job paying homage.
The BBC even took the time to drop a hotline at the end of the story, which I thought was a nice touch. It's no lie that due to the current political and social climate of the world these days, mental health is at an all-time low. A friend of mine who is in school for counselling messaged me after the episode, ecstatic that they were addressing these issues, and I have to agree. Doctor Who spans a rather large audience, and it's good to see them trying to take that responsibility seriously. Where I've questioned the show's capacity to address bigger issues, it seems as though they've found a bit of a sweet spot with series twelve, give or take. Keep the messages broad and incorporate them into the story. If "Can You Hear Me?" caused even one person to reach out for help last night, then it's done its job well.
17 notes · View notes
sparklerose222 · 5 years
Text
The Super Girls
Chapter 2
Word Count: 1,847
Characters: Moriah Heart, Noriah Heart, Julia Royal, Lara Lightwood, Vanessa Storm, Folmanus Evermore
Warnings: Minor violence, and I will edit if any more are found.
Parings: future platonic LAMPD
Summary: The Super Girls are formed.
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1
“You really think that I will accept this. She is a kid.”
“And so are Julia and you, I’m the only adult here. I mean, it is only a three-year difference between 12 and 15. She has been a hero for the same amount of time as us, fighting Folmanus alone when we are meant to be fighting him together.”
“It is not our fault that we were separated. We became heroes, we proved our worth, what has she done. I've heard nothing about Split other than the occasional robbery.”
“That is because Folmanus won't appear in any written history, none will ever be brave enough to write about him, and you know that. We thought that he will come in two more years and we were going to look for him then, but we were wrong. Because of our arrogance, we let the youngest of us fight him alone. Like it or not, she knows the most about him than any of us. You just need to talk to her like the equal she is and get to know her.”
“You guys need to quiet it down, I could hear muffled yelling from the main road, and that’s five miles away.”
“Oops.”
“Yeah, oops, by the way, my name is Moriah. I never told any of you my name last week.”
“Glad you found your way here, too bad I have to leave. My publisher wants my manuscript by tomorrow, and I still have 4 more chapters to write.”
“You’re a writer? How did I not know that? I’ve known you for seven years?”
“Even I knew that and I met her last week. I love your books, I was just too irritated that day to fangirl after you transformed back.”
“Well, good to know I have another fan. Tic, could you please portal me home. I would appreciate it.”
“Sure, even though I know that you are only doing this so that I am alone with Moriah. There you go.”
“Thanks, Tic, and you know I’m not that sneaky. I really do have to finish.”
That’s when a purple portal opened up, and Lara left me alone with TicTock. The very girl who still hasn’t told me her name.
“So, don’t you have school today.”
“I don’t know. Don’t you?”
“Smooth, real smooth. But I’m serious, I’m homeschooled, and my mom knows about me being a Super Girl.”
“Parent-teacher conference, and my mom thinks I have friends.”
“So, you don’t have friends. Maybe you should just stop being a Super Girl so you can have time to make some.”
“Thanks, I needed that, not. You’re never getting rid of me, I am a Super Girl like it or not, and there is nothing you can do about it. The reason why I don’t have friends is that I know I will be dead in two years, and I don’t need anything trying to distract me.”
“Okay, I think I struck a chord there.”
This girl gets me so angry; I don’t know how to handle it. Couple it with her irritation, and it only makes it worse. Sometimes I hate being an empath. 
“Hiya Split Yin, I’m Julia, by the way. Noriah and I were just catching up, what are you two talking about.”
“Nothing much, Nori, do you want to leave. I sure mom is going to be coming home soon.”
“So, that bad, usually my sister is very patient with people. After keeping her powers a secret since she was three, she is good at dealing with her emotions around others.”
“You’ve had your powers for that long and kept them a secret. From how many?”
“Everyone. The hardest part is keeping my powers hidden from my mom, dad, and older brother.”
Though it doesn’t help that my mom would prefer if people just didn’t use their powers at all and deny who they are. If she were to find out that I am a superhero, I don’t think she would ever let me out of the house again. I wonder if any more of these girl’s families know what they are doing or is it just TicTocks. Now an alarm is going off, which means Folmanus is back on earth. That was the best break I’ve had in six years.
“Great, why don’t you two stay here and hold down the fort? Come on, Juli, let’s go.”
With that, TicTock pulls Juli through the portal; she just open, and they were gone. Not even Noriah could run fast enough to get through before it closed. Leaving us behind.
I am going to blowout her eardrums.
Morie, come on, we need to get to the town's square before those girls get themselves killed, grab my hand we need to refuse.
Fine, how do you have a level head
With that, I grabbed Noriah’s hand and relinked our charms. Completing the symbol of balance, refusing us back together, and letting her take control so she can use her super speed. We were able to get the town's square in two minutes flat, cracking our charms along the way so we could transform. The jewelry we whare dampen our powers because they are too strong to handle on a day to day bases. I mean, I can feel the emotions of everyone in the city and pinpoint where they are. Though I’m glad that it doesn’t overwhelm me.
I am going to be giving a birds-eye view of this fight:
Just as Split ran in on the scene, Wonder was falling out of the sky unconscious.
“Yang, go check for civilians I’ll catch her.”
“Got it.”
With a sonic scream, Yin was able to slow Wonder’s fall enough that when she hit the concrete, it only left a few small scratches. Luckily, the low impact jolted her awake, albeit a little sore.
“Why are you just now getting here? TicTock said that you weren’t interested in fighting anymore. How can you think that’s okay? You are meant to be part of the team.”
Yin says nothing as she helps her up, and Yang runs up to them, not hearing what was just said.
“There were a few people trapped in their houses, but I got them out. Let’s get back to the fight and help the other two.”
With a nod, the two girls followed the other. When they got to TicTock and Storm, they were on the ground, struggling to get back up.
In front of them was the elven king, Folmanus. His skin was silver with his ears and teeth pointed. He was also wearing a Victorian like outfit that flattered him well. Almost every Super Girl thought that if he wasn’t trying to take over the world, they would try and date him, accept Morie, who was tired of fighting him. I mean, the guy even knew how strong women can be. He then saw the last three girls run-up.
“Finally, you get here Split Yin, I was getting bored with these weaklings who think they can win. Please tell me that you all together will make this fight fun again?”
“Sorry to bore you, Folmanus. We will do our best to fix that.”
Once Tic and Storm stood next to the others ready to fight alongside them as equals for the first time, not being aware of it, there was a spark that manifested into weapons. 
For Split, a double-edged katana that could break into two. Wonder received a staff that she could use to focus her energy into a blast of power. TicTock got a pendulum similar to one in old clocks that ticked to the time of the multiverse. Finally, Storm summoned a broad sword that can change its composition to whatever element that she wants.
“So you think little toys can help you defeat me? Bring it on.”
Without another word, the girls dove into attack as one. Folmanus was fast and agile, but with these five girls working better together than ever before, he felt himself being pushed back. They were far from perfect, and they almost hit each other a few times, but they were aware of each other this time, and they were winning. See, Folmanus realized there first fight with all of them together, he would have killed them without trying. Where’s the fun in that? So once they got a single nick on him, he retreated and took a break to see if they would get better. They did.
This time they pushed him back into his portal severely wounded. Storm slashing him along the length of his arm, TicTock hitting him in the head twice, Split Yin taking out his legs while Yang held him in place, and finally, Wonder using her staff to lift him and force him through the portal. It will take him a good bit to heal. But he’ll be back and was glad to have something that pushed him to his limit. Maybe he will get stronger without absorbing the Super Girls.
Once back in his house that he made centuries ago for if he needed to hide, Folmanus morphed into his human form that looked unharmed, but he was still in a lot of pain. He still got ready for the job he got six years ago, so he didn’t have to steal everything he needed. One day he will be king again.
“Did we do that?”
“Yes, Yin, we did that. We did some real damage to him.”
“Why is she so out of it? Is she really that surprised that we beat him?”
“We didn’t beat him. We just damaged him a great deal today. He is an eternal Elf that can not be killed so easily. I am surprised because the most damage Nori and I have ever done to him was a scratch. Today we hurt him as a team. That’s a big deal.”
“How do you think that we’re a team? A teammate wouldn’t just pick and choose when they help, and when they don’t.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about how she told Tic that she didn’t feel like fighting anymore and was going home.”
“No, Morie didn’t say that. Your friend TicTock told us to stay here and then left us behind. Some teammates. So TicTock does that mean that you are a liar and a sneak.”
“I’m sorry, I thought you would take the hint and go home, but I was wrong, and I am glad because I realized that we really do need you. I think you should know that I’m Vannessa. I hope you can forgive me.”
“You really did that? Nessa, that’s not okay. Why did you lie to me?”
“Because I thought that we didn’t need them, but we were getting pummeled until after they showed up. I'm thrilled you made it in time, I promise to never pull a stunt like that again.”
“I guess we can forgive you. As long as you finally see us as Super Girls.”
“Definitely”
“Yay, Best friends.”
“I don’t know about that one yet.”
“Agreed.”
————————————————–
Chapter 3 <3
Authors note: I tried to do a small fight scene, and I would really like some feedback on it. I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, thanks for reading.
15 notes · View notes
recentanimenews · 4 years
Text
The God of High School Script Writer Reveals the Challenges and Rewards of Writing for Action Shows
The God of High School, the newest project in the Crunchyroll Originals lineup, is easily one of the most anticipated titles this season. This action-packed martial arts anime based on the hit WEBTOON series by Yongje Park launching TODAY is for sure the show to check out this season for your shonen battle fix!
In anticipation of today’s launch, we took the time to sit down with the scriptwriter for The God of High School, Kiyoko Yoshimura! In the past, she’s written for anime titles such as GRANBLUE FANTASY: The Animation, GARO -VANISHING LINE-, Sonic X, and now The God of High School. She told us all about her job from her daily schedule as a scriptwriter to the challenges of writing action scenes and the many reasons why you should be watching The God of High School this season!
How did you get your start in writing for anime? I’ve always watched a lot of anime because I enjoy it, but I didn’t aspire to be a scriptwriter right from the beginning. I was an otaku who hoped to be a light novel author and submitted my writing to magazines all the time. I just happened to meet a certain famous scriptwriter on a certain anime fan site, and we started communicating by email. At the time, there was a shortage of anime production staff due to a sudden explosion in the number of anime series being broadcast, so that writer asked me if I wanted to try writing scripts for the project they were doing the series composition for. That project was Jibaku-kun, and I was already a fan of its author, Shibata-sensei, and I was able to dive right into the project since I had already read the manga. So that was my first success, and it was the starting point in getting to where I am now.
    What particular challenges do you face as a writer when adapting a script for anime from existing source material? When I’m in a creative role, I look for the things I personally enjoy and find appealing in the series, whether it’s the characters, the worldview, or the setting, and I focus on those positive feelings as I write. If I don’t feel anything positive toward a series as the writer working on it, then I can’t create something that other people will enjoy. From there, I write the scripts based on consideration of the visuals that the director wants, what everyone hopes the anime will be, and a web of other opinions.
  Are there any common challenges about writing for anime that fans might not realize? This connects to question 2, but I’m generally the type that prefers to write anime based on positive feelings toward it, whether it’s “This is fun,” “I like this,” “This is really interesting,” or “This is so cool.” It makes me happiest when viewers look at something I thought was awesome, and talk about how awesome it is.
  How did you come to work on The God of High School? I worked with Director Park on MAPPA’s VANISHING LINE, and Producer Otsuka asked me to work with them again on this project. VANISHING LINE was very well-received and showed me how amazing Director Park’s work is, so I accepted the job immediately. Also, I personally love battle stories and tales of young people growing up.
    How does adapting a WEBTOON series compare to adapting a manga? I didn’t really notice that many differences. As far as writing scripts goes, I think the best thing about shows based on manga is that the visual composition of each scene in the story already exists, and we can see the image we want to create right from the start. And in GOH’s case, the art and composition of the battle scenes look amazing, so those are the main benchmarks I use to write the scripts.
  What about The God of High School’s story drew you to it most when reading through the original source material? The fact that Mori, Daewi, and Mira start out so distant, but gradually grow closer and more bonded as teammates. Then, after Ilpyo comes into the picture, the scene where the four of them are seen walking away shoulder-to-shoulder really moved me. And also Jegal’s life of unanswered hopes ... He’s an antagonist, but just condemning him alone won’t fix things, and that really made me think about how harsh that kind of world is.
  Could you walk us through a day in the life of a scriptwriter? How do you manage your time throughout the day? An anime writer’s job basically consists of weekly meetings to read each other’s scripts, discussing problem points, going home and making corrections, then resubmitting them and meeting to read them again. It’s quite a mundane cycle. And working on GOH isn’t all that different from working on any other anime. Our meetings involved a lot of staff living in other countries, so we had a lot of remote meetings, but that’s about it. As for my home life, I’m also a mother with a son in elementary school, so I make his breakfast and send him to school in the mornings, help him with his homework, clean the house ... and do some writing in between. When things get really busy, I ask my own mother, who lives in my neighborhood, to help with some of my housework. I can’t express how grateful I am for my family.
  What is the process like for composing a script, from beginning the project to final delivery? The process varies a bit depending on the project, but generally, when I’m doing series composition, I start by coming up with a rough draft of the series as a whole, which is reviewed and discussed by the director and staff. Then we move on to each individual episode’s plot ... deciding what role the number of episodes will play in the series, determining the points where developments happen, and rationing out the work, and from there each writer starts working on their scripts. Occasionally, we’ll be working on a script for a later episode that ends up depicting some development that will require an earlier, not-yet-complete episode to be written in a certain way, so we make those adjustments as needed. When the scripts for all episodes are finished, we pass them along to the production and animation departments, and that concludes the writer’s role. From there, we look forward to seeing the finished product along with the fans!
  Could you tell us how exactly a fight scene looks when you script it? How much of the flow of the battle is in your script? I’ve heard that with things like live-action and tokusatsu series, the fight scenes aren’t written in detail in the scripts; instead, they’re composed right there on the scene by acting and filming specialists. But most anime projects call for fight scenes to be depicted in some degree of detail in the scripts. It directly connects to the time allotment and required number of drawings for the episode, so that needs to be controlled in the scriptwriting stage. At a bare minimum, the script needs to explain who does what, and what effects it has. I don’t usually write every single punch and kick in detail, but in a scene where, for example, a character who was thought to be right-handed suddenly uses their left hand and wins, those details need to be clearly written in the script. In the case of GOH, the battle scenes are composed in very fine detail in the original work, so I generally followed suit in the anime scripts. The most important thing was to make sure the changes in the characters’ feelings as they fought were in agreement with the visual highlights of the animation. If we focused only on the visual depiction, the characters’ emotional expressions would have been left out, and they’d all just be slamming into each other with flashy imagery. Portraying the emotions of a scene through monologues, flashbacks, other characters’ facial expressions, the announcer’s voice, etc., is the most important part of scriptwriting.
  South Korea is a fairly novel setting for an anime. Did writing for a real-world, non-Japanese setting affect how you approached your work at all? While most anime produced in Japan are also set in Japan, there are also many that aren’t, so I didn’t notice that much of a difference. VANISHING LINE, which I worked on with Director Park, was set in America! Still, even though Japan and Korea are geographically close, their languages are quite different (especially the pronunciation), so I did struggle a bit with things like proper nouns and place names.
  Action shows like The God of High School are never just action shows, they also have plenty of comedic and emotional aspects to them as well. Are there any specific tonal scenes you enjoy writing most? One is Mori’s birthday episode. It’s a scene where everything he’s accomplished comes together in the form of a strong bond. Murakoshi-san, the writer of that episode’s script, made that scene extremely emotional. Another is the final preliminary round between Mori and Daewi. It’s the first major climax in the series, and Daewi’s personal drama becomes deeply involved in it, so I tried my best to make it a really intense scene.
    Is there any character in The God of High School you’ve enjoyed writing the most? All the characters do have their own unique charms, but it’s hard to choose just one since it’s much more fun to see how they all bounce off of each other. They’re all strong, remarkable characters, but they have playful sides and even some cute weaknesses that are brought out so skillfully when they’re interacting. Mori and Daewi, Daewi and Mira, Ilpyo and Jegal, Commissioners Q and O, Commissioner Q and Daewi, Taejin and young Ilpyo ... yeah, I just can’t choose (lol)
  The God of High School is, of course, one of the newest Crunchyroll Original productions coming soon. How has working on this production compared to other standard ones you’ve been a part of? Director Park came up with several highly ambitious plans, and he was very passionate about making them into reality, so I couldn’t help feeling like this project was going to turn out well worth all the effort. It was very exciting to work on, and I’m excited to see it when it airs.
  Finally, do you have anything you’d like to say to fans eagerly anticipating the anime’s debut this summer? All of us on the anime staff devoted everything we had to faithfully recreating the intense developments of the original work in animated format. Unlike manga series that you take your time reading at your own pace, the animation will drag all of you into the world of God of High School with the speed and impact of a crashing wave. The action and drama are so fast-paced, you won’t have time to blink! I hope you all enjoy it!
  READ THE OFFICIAL GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL WEBTOON SERIES HERE AND WATCH THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL ON CRUNCHYROLL!
Danni Wilmoth is a Features writer for Crunchyroll and co-host of the video game podcast Indiecent. You can find more words from her on Twitter @NanamisEgg.
Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!
0 notes