#i feel like being friends for so long had influenced sonic as well. the not looking before leaping thing from before was a joke but | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

prowerprojects · 1 year

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(Modern Tails anon) {Don't worry, I totally get the need to vent. We all have our feelings on things, I'll try to my best to follow up with my own word vomit.} Heh, as long as he's doing something other than typing on a pad, that's seems to be enough for some people. /s (Archie didn't exactly do him better either; with everything else that was going on in it, but at least he had a few personal shining moments in it. IDW, Modern really hasn't had a definitive story yet. One that covers all his aspects and show his future potential, not just smarts and gadgets.)

Probably doesn't help that characters with superpowers tend to have a bias, compared to more "normal" ones. (I mean, Tails isn't normal either, but I think you get what I mean. Kid genius trope struggles.)

Hmmm, probably have to chalk that up to SoA localization changes; which omit the whole bullying thing and downplayed his inventor aspects pre-Adventure/Sonic X. Early cartoons playing hard into the 'kid' side didn't help either. (Underground completely removing him for real siblings certainly was a choice after AOSTH and SatAM went on about him and Sonic being surrogate brothers. At least the OVA balanced everything.)

Yeah, some are missing the point why Nine is the way he is and his current arc. As curious as I am about potentially seeing a "main antagonist" Tails, I can't help but feel it might hinder Modern Tails' outlook more or give even further wrong impressions of his character, especially in tangent to Sonic. (Frontiers is just words until we see what happens passed this game onward. I did sneak a look at the DLC leaks, and well, let's just say a certain trend of his we keep joking about continues and leave it at that. xD)

This is what I also mean about him interacting with other characters. How would he be as THEIR partner for a while? What if he took leadership and inspire others, just like Sonic has. What does he learn from those experiences? Considering he doesn't have personal contempt for most characters, him being mostly neutral allows him to talk virtually with everyone rather civilly. Including Eggman's robots. (Ah, someone else with the Tails and Sage vision. xD I'm hoping with their similarities, it leads to a cool dymanic between them, I don't quite see them fighting each other as much as Sonic and Eggman do.)

Heh, we don't talk about Sonic's admiration of Tails very much, or how they keep each other centered and it often leads to that lopsided view. Yeah, Sonic 'raised' Tails; more as guidance than the traditional parental sense, but Tails is one of the main reasons why Sonic is still alive. Sonic values Tails' opinion, even if it doesn't always align with his. His support and planning is why Sonic can succeed in his heroism. (Sonic isn't dumb by any means and can handle himself well, BUT can you say his adventures would have gone smoothly or quickly without Tails' help? Do you not think he enjoys Tails' company regardless and supports him with all his heart? Do you think why the dude who generally prefers solitude considers this fox close enough to be described as his family? Their bond has multiple layers, years of trust and is still evolving. Focusing and giving all the credit to one side of the team is disingenuous to both.)

Thanks, anon!

I wonder if idw would do something with Tails at all... maybe in a couple of years we'll see. I have other thoughts on idw, but I should stop myself because thinking about it too long is a bit upsetting. (I wrote an entire paragraph about him in the Metal Virus but. I should really stop thinking about it)

I'm really hoping we get a Tails-centric story in that 900 issues special, and if not, at least have him be a supporting character for someone he doesn't usually interact with much (so basically anybody who isn't Sonic). I looked at the list of the writers and I honestly have no idea who I'd want to write for him, since a lot of them only did a couple of sonic stories at most.

Technically Tails does have superpowers, he can fly and he's fast... but a good chunk of the cast also has those, so it isn't something that seems so special anymore. So he only has him being a kid genius to set him apart and yeah, I guess it isn't as awe-inspiring as being able to throw cars with your mind or set things on fire.

Yep. What I was trying to say in the last post, is Tails's backstory being kind of hard to figure out just from playing the game is the reason why the western adaptations were able to change him so much in the first place. (At least that's what I meant by "that's how we ended up with Tailses who thought math was hard"). Though maybe if those adaptations did have his game backstory elements being more prominent somehow, it would have created a different image of Tails for a lot of people in the west...

Interesting that the bullying thing was included in Stay Sonic, which is what the Fleetway comics is (partially) based on, and it is a part of his backstory in the comic as well. His bullies were other foxes, just like in Origins/Prime. (Kid genius thing was not included though, hence "Pixel Brain")

(Also it's interesting that aosth started to bring in some of the aspects of his game characterization by the second half of the show. The whole episode dedicated to him being a genius, and then his technological abilities do occasionally come up later on, him fanboying over a pilot and flying a plane in another episode, people occasionally commenting on how freaky it is that he has two tails, stuff like that)

Honestly I don't know what else I could add on the Nine thing, I genuinely don't believe he would be the final antagonist. If he does end up as one, I have no idea what it says about the actual Prime Tails, how are we meant to read it? (Also I just generally have a bit of a distaste for how fandoms would see a traumatized and hurting kid, who is maybe kind of angsty and isn't the best at managing their feelings, and immediately go "Oh evil! They're soooo gonna be a villain!" I understand it could be really cathartic to see a character who's been wronged and hurt to turn the tables and be unhinged and calling the shots, but 1) often in the end it ends up being self-destructive behavior, 2) while it could be cathartic for some viewers, and technically it's a plot that has a right to exist, the fact that it's a trend that I've noticed makes me feel like people associate mentally ill teenagers with being evil, which is not great (though maybe I'm reading too much into this), 3) I just genuinely think this isn't where Prime is going)) Tails could make for a terrifying antagonist, I'm just really struggling to imagine what could actually drive him to villainy.

Tails and Sage... my first thought was "Oh they're definitely gonna make them rivals. Considering that Tails used to battle Eggman, isn't that a bit of a downgrade?" But then I actually started thinking about it, and now I want it. I have some ideas, but the actual dynamic would really depend on where they take both of those characters after Frontiers. But it could be really interesting, and more importantly, different from the rivalries that we already have!

Yes, Sonic and Tails! As much as I would love for Tails to interact with other characters, he and Sonic do have a great dynamic together. Honestly I don't think I have anything to add. It reminded me of the recent Sonic Channel story, at the end Sonic says something along the lines of Eggman being the unluckiest person in the world because of all the people not to lose their memory, it was the two of them, which means he's definitely going down!

#sonic doesn't look before he leaps not because he's reckless he just knows tails would catch him #tails #hmmm I wouldn't call this one a rant #I've chilled out #project.txt #miles tails prower #tails the fox #sonic #how much sonic trusts tails is amazing to me #it really balances out tails's own admiration of sonic #i feel like being friends for so long had influenced sonic as well. the not looking before leaping thing from before was a joke but #I do think that knowing that he always has tails in his corner does influence some of his decision-making

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dovelydraws · 1 year

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If you don't mind me asking,

What's art styles ended up influencing .. Well your art style?

Oh, this is a fun question, thank you for asking!

Hmm, I think it's a little hard to say since I've been drawing since I was basically a toddler, lol. Every little thing I've ever enjoyed has had some sort of influence. I'll try to go through the timeline though.

When I was a little kid, I had a special interest in zoology (still do! but it's not as obvious as it was back then.) I used to wake up first in the house specifically so I could turn on the tv to the animal planet channel and just watch documentaries all morning, and I carried a giant animal kingdom encyclopedia with me to school every day to just flip to random pages and read whatever popped up. During this time of my life, I pretty much exclusively drew animals- particularly elephants, canines, and horses. I had no interest in people.

I had no real interest in stylization at this point- obviously as a little kid I was never able to achieve perfect anatomy or anything like that, but I was more interested in making my animals look real than cartoonish- which meant I was never really influenced by the disney movies I was watching, since they stylized their animals so heavily.

I remember the dreamworks movie Spirit held my attention for a very long time, and I think it may particularly have been that way because the horses looked and acted more real than they did in disney movies. They were still stylized of course, it was a cartoon after all, but it wasn't to any extremes. I still find myself wanting to mimic that in my animals now; cartoon, but not cartoon-y.

I think these two gifs help illustrate my point lol.

After this exclusive animal obsession (followed by dinosaurs, and then dragons) I got really into Sonic the Hedgehog around age 11. Drew sonic characters, and made my own OCs for it, for basically the entirety of middle school. I've pointed out in the past that it seems the way I draw hands was heavily influenced by this phase

Very round, almost rubbery, where the ends of the fingers tend to flare out a little bigger than they are at the knuckles.

Then after sonic, I got into my first anime, Soul Eater, and this is really where I first started venturing into drawing people and more realistic human anatomy.

Interestingly, this artstyle seemed to also do the Sonic Hands thing, lol

After this I had a big anime phase, as well as just a general "I want to study actual human anatomy" phase during early high school. I was following a lot of skeletal/muscular system tutorials during this time.

Following that I started getting back into american media, in particular I remember invader zim, steven universe, and tmnt 2k12. I'm not sure I can really tell myself where the steven u artstyle is present in my own, but I've had people tell me they can tell I was into it at some point after saying so.

Then there was the Rubberhose Boom of 2017, with the release of Cuphead and BATIM very close together; I had a big hyperfixation on that artstyle specifically at that time, and I feel like I may owe some of the loose-ness in my artstyle to that.

Then, I suppose, we come to Rise of the TMNT. That show ended up being a major inspiration to me, and I think I owe a LOT of recent artistic growth to it. Rise pushed me out of my comfort zone big time. I always liked doing dynamic poses, but rise encouraged me to push things further, and I started drawing more backgrounds and making bolder color choices because of it as well.

I think my artstyle became just a bit more angular after drawing so much fanart as well.

And I suppose that's where I'm now at presently! Aside from media, I also can't say I'd be where I am artistically today without the influence and support of my many friends. :) I owe a lot of things about my artstyle, particularly specific things like my lineart, to compliments my friends paid me which made me pay more attention to the things I was doing accidentally that they happened to like, then making it purposeful and more refined as a result.

#asks #long post #this was really fun to think about :)

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mimikyufriend · 1 year

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looking at the comics list I had on my "interests" page on my abt like forever ago

Always Raining Here - dropped this one bc the creators seemed fujioshi-ish (idk if they really are or not) also it had sex scenes with teenagers (not like explicit but still more than I was comfortable with seeing)

Ava’s Demon - dropped after all the shit with sexualizing minors came out

Balderdash - it doesn't update much, but I still like it, very cute ^_^

Boxer Hockey - the creator works on sonic stuff now which is so cool, I don't remember much abt his comic though >_<

Check, Please! - I haven't read this one in a while, cute, but not my favorite

Cucumber Quest - still love it, need to reread and catch up

Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name - I still miss it

Helvetica - I liked that there was a character with the same name as me ^__^ I dunno if this one's worth a revisit though, I don't think it'll ever be finished

Homestuck - I liked this shit for way too fucking long

Knight’s Errant - forgot abt this one, but the art was gorgeous

Lackadaisy - I'm sooooo behind but it's so exciting that there's an animation of it now

Monster Pop! - dropped this one bc I found art by the creator of the main character (college age) shipped with the ava's demon main character (under 15? idr her age) also she still seems to be friends with the ava's demon creator

Monster Pulse - dropped bc the creator drew art of chiyo gsnk making an ahego face (in a non-sexual context as a punchline but it was still weird)

Monsterkind - I haven't kept up with this one much >_<

Neokosmos - I think it's discontinued? lost interest

Never Satisfied - dropped bc the creator made dick jokes about their teenage bnha oc

Not Drunk Enough - I want to like this one bc it's by the hinabn creator, but it never totally grabbed me, I need to try it out again

Olympus Overdrive - the site for this one was taken down (sad)

Parallax - dropped bc on of the teenage characters had a sexualized design and bc the creator shipped sheith

Paranatural - very behind but I love it ^__^

Peritale - dropped bc the creator was weird abt the sazzed drama and maybe some other stuff idk

Phoenix Flair - I don't think this one will be continued but I liked it while it lasted

Prague Race - LOVED this one, too bad it's no more

Puu - completed, I should reread bc it's lovely

Rock And Riot - not my favorite, don't feel the need to revisit but it was fine

Sakana - ABSOLUTE FAVE

Scott Pilgrim - I can appreciate the art style and its influence, but I can't get past scott dating a high schooler, that's more than being a loser, that's being a predator

Skeptical - still love this one as well ^__^ need to reread and catch up

Sleepless Domain - very fun, need to catch up

Snarlbear - completed, loved how colorful it is, I should reread

Spacehop - I believe the creator is making a sort of reboot for it? looking forward to that

Super Mahou - same as peritale

The Property Of Hate - dropped bc the creator likes abot

The Well By The House On The Hill - same as peritale

This Is Not Fiction - mixed feelings bc like the author strung us along for the longest time to the point where it seemed like gaybaiting and then it wasn't... it was pretty cute though

Vibe - I think I just like lost interest and wasn't into certain character designs of women

Witchy - I like this one, but it's never been priority reading

#seasonal speak

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beevean · 2 years

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i think i would feel more sympathy for u if ur alienation from sonic wasn't.......completely self-imposed. even amongst the valid criticisms u have for modern sonic media, all of it seems to stem from this very......for lack of a better term, boomer-esque viewpoint. idolizing the way sonic characters and stories were written and told back in the classic era - dark era, and hating every even slight change to style of creating. because like i said even ur few valid criticisms are kind of rendered feeble when ur core reasoning for believing them isn't about objective quality, and way more about nostalgia-tinted longing for the past. after all even when u list the qualities u like about a newer sonic installment, u always gloss over them. as if the positive aspects of newer sonic that u like are mere afterthoughts, and u believe the flaws and negative qualities are worth dwelling on more. which is not a wrong outlook on criticism at all, but it certainly is a little suspect when all the negatives u focus on are centered around how everything is so different from older installments. this is not even to mention the "flaws" u point out that are blatantly the result of bad faith criticism, such as blaming the sonic material for you misinterpreting the emotional tone of a scene.

from what i see in the things u say, u just deeply want sonic to return completely to its older methods of storytelling. which is not only unfeasible but, if actually ever fulfilled, it would just result in actual objectively bad sonic material. trying to return to the "glory days" never goes well for anything. and even if u try to argue that u don't actually believe this, please have the dignity to be honest with urself. even if u convince urself u don't want sonic to return completely to its past style the way boomers tend to say, every viewpoint u have is way too influenced by classic sonic style storytelling, so much so that it blinds u. this viewpoint of urs exemplified by, once again, the majority of ur criticisms being made in bad faith. u always assume the worst and most insensitive interpretation of something even when ur interpretation is clearly wrong when taken in full context. it's as if u've already decided since long ago that u just dislike everything if it's modern sonic, regardless of the actual material. no matter how objective u attempt to be, everything u have to say is just so obviously taken from this tunnel-vision, inflexible point of view.

but of course not to say that classic sonic storytelling is bad, or u are wrong to prefer it so strongly. that's just objectively wrong, both writing off classic sonic as bad and trying to police ur specific personal taste. i don't wish to say or express either of those statements and i hope i can be clear about that at least. but the specific way sonic has been written back in the day is over now. it has had its run and it is now retired. modern sonic, as it is ongoing with all these new forms of media, comprises of the sonic creators trying out all new things to grow themselves and their creations better than before. honoring the past, both the glory days and the embarrassing mistakes, while aspiring to push their limits to newer heights. and yes all of it is extremely flawed and much of it could be vastly improved, but everything is being made from a genuine and earnest and passionate love for sonic.

and.........this might be a bit mean to say but. there really is something unsettling about the way u and ur little friends here always react with cynicism and irreverence when new sonic material has heartfelt moments. that u perceive these bits of writing which are just trying to express earnest and honest emotion as "emotionally manipulative", solely because the execution is clumsy and elementary and even hamfisty, is just..........very telling of the type of person u are. sonic is a children's franchise. of course the emotional beats are going to have the tone and complexity of a bleeding heart. maybe calm down.

there's nothing wrong with preferring older sonic material and really disliking new modern sonic media, but..........if that is the case then i don't understand why u continue to consume the newer version of the franchise. i think u've already been told urself but the rest of ur friends who might read this should be told the same: it would make u much happier if u gave up on modern sonic, only kept consuming the old sonic material u love, and moved on entirely. and if u are deciding to stick around out of a tiny sense of hope that ur desires will be filled, i say this with the most kindness: u have better things to do that are worth ur time and effort. please make urselves happier and just move on from modern sonic. it's been long enough that it's time to accept that the trajectory of where sonic is heading from now on? it is not for u and never will be

Well. This may be the longest "shut the fuck up" I've ever seen. I wish I had your perservance when writing my essays. Do I really annoy you this much? Although of course you still hide behind anon :)

even ur few valid criticisms are kind of rendered feeble when ur core reasoning for believing them isn't about objective quality, and way more about nostalgia-tinted longing for the past.

Who are you to tell me where my criticism comes from? I prefer A compared to B. A is older than B. It's not that hard.

is a little suspect when all the negatives u focus on are centered around how everything is so different from older installments

When I say stuff like "Lost World did the 'Sonic fucks up' plot better than IDW", it's not muh nostalgia talking (I haven't even played LW): I really believe Lost World did it better. When I say "Eggdad is stupid because it's OOC", it's because Eggdad spits in the face of 31 years of consistent characterization. You can disagree, but don't put words into my mouth.

such as blaming the sonic material for you misinterpreting the emotional tone of a scene.

Forgive me for being arrogant, but while I don't believe I'm right and everyone else is wrong, I always make sure to use the source material to explain where my interpretation comes from. Guess I shouldn't bother anymore!

u just deeply want sonic to return completely to its older methods of storytelling. which is not only unfeasible but, if actually ever fulfilled, it would just result in actual objectively bad sonic material.

every viewpoint u have is way too influenced by classic sonic style storytelling, so much so that it blinds u.

Are you talking to me, Beevean? I'm not a Classic fan. I grew up with the Adventure games. I thought it was obvious by the way I keep gushing about ShTH of all games.

u always assume the worst and most insensitive interpretation of something even when ur interpretation is clearly wrong when taken in full context. it's as if u've already decided since long ago that u just dislike everything if it's modern sonic, regardless of the actual material. no matter how objective u attempt to be, everything u have to say is just so obviously taken from this tunnel-vision, inflexible point of view.

Source for this claim? No, really. Since when did I express biased dislike for Modern Sonic? I don't even care to separate Sonic in eras.

(I also used to love IDW before issue #23 and I was super hyped for Frontiers which proves that I'm not some bitter bitch who loves to hate stuff for no reason, but whatever)

both the glory days and the embarrassing mistakes

Honoring the embarrassing mistakes is Sonic Team including Crisis City in Generations, and taking the chance to make good levels out of a stage coming from a reviled game, exploiting its potential. "Wildly inconsistent" and Eggman making fun of Baldy McNosehair feel too meta, because they come from an external writer, and not Sonic Team themselves "apologizing".

everything is being made from a genuine and earnest and passionate love for sonic.

"Passion" is not an argument. Sonic '06 had passion behind it and it nearly killed the franchise. You can appreciate the intent, but the actual quality is another thing.

and………this might be a bit mean to say but. there really is something unsettling about the way u and ur little friends here always react with cynicism and irreverence when new sonic material has heartfelt moments. that u perceive these bits of writing which are just trying to express earnest and honest emotion as "emotionally manipulative", solely because the execution is clumsy and elementary and even hamfisty, is just……….very telling of the type of person u are. sonic is a children's franchise. of course the emotional beats are going to have the tone and complexity of a bleeding heart. maybe calm down.

And this is why I don't do that. I don't. I don't care about what the others do. I did not make fun of the Tails flashback in Prime. I did not make fun of Surge's panic attack: I explained seriously why in my opinion it doesn't work. I did not make fun of The End because I don't think it's as ridiculous as other say. Ngl, even I'm bored with Frontiers criticism by now.

I'm the idiot who cries at Sonic's "alone" scene in Lost World! I wrote four fanfictions out of ShTH, the game that to this day is renowed for being shittly written! I'm well aware that Sonic doesn't have the deepest writing ever. I still like it! And there are things I don't like! And when I don't like them, I either give my serious piece if I think it's worth it, or leave it alone. Yes, I used to harp on IDW much more in the past, and now I regret it. Nowadays I keep it to myself unless I'm prompted.

Don't accuse me of things just because I interact with people who do them. I'm not part of a hivemind and I'm sick of this.

And you can keep your concern trolling for yourself. I know you don't really care about my well being and my happiness: you wrote a whole ass text because you want me to not ruin your fun. On anon. Instead of blocking me, you took 867 words to tell me "you're a boomer and you're such a drag". When you say "it would make u much happier if u gave up on modern sonic", what I hear is "get lost and stop bothering me".

Fine. Sorry for being a random blogger writing on my blog. Thanks for your concern.

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crusherthedoctor · 2 years

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cool copypaste bro

#Crusher's Asks

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welcometomy20s · 1 year

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May 2, 2023

#775 - p.h. (SEVENTHLINKS) [Flower]

Achievement Date: 23-04-01, Upload Date: 20-05-29

One of the little hits of the COVID year part 1, the idea of drug fueled addiction feels quite close at the time and the distorted flower voice is quite distinctive. Two-person group which kind of had a fallout, and therefore only left this song, apparently. Huh.

#776 - Dependent Fritters (Denpol-P) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-04-01, Upload Date: 14-07-09

Very different from his more modern songs, this song has that 70’s grease, especially with that whack effect on the intro, and there is a lot more effect on this song. And even the lyrics are your typical kind-of seduction song, which is an interesting turn.

#777 - Mikazuki Step (r-906) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-04-01, Upload Date: 20-03-26

r-906 follows Iyowa as the new and rising VOCALOID producer. This is their first real hit, at least this is when I first encountered them. Apparently the song got popular in late ‘22, so it needed to have a second bump to get here. I think this is more conventional of r-906’s work, which oddly surprises me, considering their later output.

#778 - Capriccio Farce (MothyP) [MEIKO, KAITO, Miku, Rin, Len, Luka, Gakupo, GUMI]

Achievement Date: 23-04-07, Upload Date: 11-10-29

Kind of the big season finale of the Evilicious series, with 8 VOCALOIDS, much akin to Hitoshizu x Yama songs. It really does sound like an ED to late 90’s serial anime. Only miff I have is that the tuning is bad enough that the words kind of get eaten sometimes.

#779 - SHANTI (wotaku) [KAITO]

Achievement Data: 23-04-09, Upload Date: 21-09-17

The latest KAITO song uploaded on this list since… Doctor=Funk Beat? wotaku’s unique tuning really sells what is otherwise an awkward VOCALOID. An intrigue premise and the arresting visual and what might be one of the best examples of wotaku’s signature sonic palette.

#780 - Anonymous M (PinocchioP) [Hatsune Miku, ARuFa]

Achievement Data: 23-04-18, Upload Date: 23-02-17

An expansion of the interview being turned into a song by one of the great masters featuring a friend and major YouTuber in his own right. Probably PinocchioP’s more cynical song that’s directly about Hatsune Miku… Compare to a song that would be coming up from CosMo soon. Very stylized, very 2020’s PinocchioP.

#781 - Love Song (LamazeP) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Data: 23-04-23, Upload Date: 13-10-31

It is an absolute travesty that LamazeP has only three songs on this list considering his influence (4 if you include Ochame Kinou), but this is a fine inclusion. LamazeP is known for his shitpost songs, but I like his genuinely sweet songs like this better.

#782 - GETCHA! (Giga, KIRA) [Hatsune Miku, GUMI]

Achievement Data: 23-04-27, Upload Date: 20-09-04

Big collision of western and eastern greats, only to be shadowed by two VTubers. Well, the original certainly lives up to that cover. Seriously, it really is one of best Giga/KIRA songs out there with expert tuning and K-Pop style that really pops out, and the GirlBoss lyrics are nicely welcomed, and the distinctive art… that’s good too.

#783, R-4 - Kiritan Wants to Battle Online Endlessly (GYARI) [Kiritan, Yukari, Akari]

Achievement Data: 23-04-28, Upload Date: 19-12-19

Kiritan has been a favorite lately, but this is an early version made by the VOICEROID and VTuber group head GYARI in… I think this is the final series on this list, making VOICEROID Singing series one of the few series where all the songs are in this list. GYARI nicely uses the drawling and flat voice of Kiritan to demonstrate the life and times of gamer’s playthrough of a popular game…

#784 - Superhero (Guiano) [IA]

Achievement Data: 23-04-29, Upload Date: 18-04-14

Another song in YouTube Top 100 finally popping onto this list. It’s also been a long time since an IA song got on this list, last one of Surges? Yeah… Certainly has that Orangestar summer IA feeling, which I think is the ‘correct’ way of using IA.

#vocaloid #music #review

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ninjapotatohead · 2 years

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You lost me at the exact moment you made the assumption that I require sympathy from some hypocrite hiding behind Anonymous.

#spud's inbox #sonic community nonsense

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aquillis-main · 2 years

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I JUST REALIZED THIS IS AN EFFING COPYPASTA

FUCKING HELL, WHY DO I FALL FOR THESE????

#Aquillis Answers #Shady Guy #Sonic the Hedgehog #Opinion

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kinopioa · 2 years

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Huh, you literally copy pasted this from Beevean's ask. I'm unimpressed

But I'll humor you

-using classic-dark era

Classic only lasted till 1993. There are way more eras between that and now. Dark era is also a cruddy fan term, done out of bias to Sonic 06

-Your core reasoning isn't about objective quality

Mkay, so tell me why a Sonic comic with the author directly saying in the 2018 interview "Eggman is top villain" has someone else completely taking the spotlight for 30+ issues? Tell me how IDW Sonic is compassionate when he dismisses Tails and others frequently? Tell me why ABT's art went from REALLY good the first 10 issues, to suddenly a blobby mess after? Tell me why Shadow was written decently in TSR's comic that would have the exact same "mandates" as mainline IDW? Tell me why for a supposed high tension fight or chase a joke punking suddenly occurs almost as bad as an MCU film? Why so many already established characters have little involvement overall, vs new OCs having multiple arcs of their own?

-Classic Sonic storytelling is unfeasible

I mean yeah, that's why they stopped starting with Adventure. No more having lore only in manuals since thay can be easily missed. Oh, you thought that was all of Sonic before Colors, too bad

-Sonic creators trying out all new things to grow themselves and their creations better than before

Ian is literally recycling his ideas scrapped from Archie. Starline became Snively 2.0 in harping Eggman, same with Surge becoming Scourge 2.0. His overall writing and mischaracterization is similar to Archie, only with Shadow being more off

-That u perceive these bits of writing which are just trying to express earnest and honest emotion as "emotionally manipulative"

Weird, I never posted anything about th- oh right, you copy pasted this.

Also, for Surge's case it very much was. It came out of nowhere, contradicts her hyper aggressive hide, and just makes her look more like a coward. Yet we're somehow supposed to sympathize that, someone who literally ignored Kit when on a rampage for no reason

Speaking of, rip Kit. Poor kid actually is deserving of sincere sympathy, but Blue hedgie and Green Tennie are stupid

-why u continue to consume the newer version of the franchise

Gee, someone missed my old ask. I'm here for da memez ;]

Also despite criticisms, I prefer Barnes and Caleb's writing vastly over Ian and Evan's. I wish to see both of them grow. Similarly, some of IDW's artists like Aaron are good, Jack becoming good after Scrapnik, and some other cover artists

For games, I'm fascinated by Frontiers gameplay, and to see how it'll be expanded on

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gritsandbrits · 2 years

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I'M NOT READING ALL THAT

#gb asks #what the fuck anon

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boobachu · 2 years

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I'm going to do my best to take this seriously because you obviously put effort into typing this, but I have a very hard time with walls of text so if I miss something, sorry.

I agree with the cowaboomer mindset, tho it's like... that's inescapable? Every single human is doomed to want the world they trained for to exist forever, that's just how we are.

Like, I've seen tons of people who are more used to newer iterations of Sonic read and watch the old stuff and are just absolutely turned off.

So that exists for everyone, the best version of a forever franchise is always what you grew up with, except for when it isn't.

2. I agree with the passion, like it's obvious effort is put into the games and comics, but aunno it just feels like an abortion... though I've realized there's literally no franchise left that doesn't feel like they're doing the bare minimum for max profit...

3. I dunno whenever I've said something was "emotionally manipulative"? The only time I can think Sonic was heartfelt in recent years was Sonic Lost World, which I liked how everyone died, the only thing I think that could be fixed was the voice characterization and writing... which more and more I feel like the problem is crunch than lack of talent as sometimes the VAs are just good? Like that SCU animation Sonic actually sounded cool?

Then Sonic Frontiers has Sonic sounding like a dad joke again and I realize SEGA wants Sonic to be horrible regardless if Sonic Team wants something else...

4. Sonic is mine. I'm willing to share cuz Sonic belongs to everyone, but I don't accept "Sonic is fer kidz" for that reason and the reason that children's media should have higher standards than adult media.

Like, I hate when people make abortions for kids just cuz they have lower standards because they can't know better. Like, something should be good when you're a kid and still good as an adult and impact your life.

I guess it can't ALL be gold, but it shouldn't be "who cares, it's for kids"

5. I dunno, the thing is Sonic keeps threatening to be good. Sonic Lost World had a great finale, and the one and only time I enjoyed playing as Sonic, but the beginning was so forgettable and they abandoned the gameplay for Generations 2

SCU animation had Sonic act like Sonic the first time since Black Knight but from what little I've seen of Frontiers (plan on blinding it next weekend) it looks like he goes back to being dad joke the guy.

Which???? I guess soorrrrta makes sense cuz he'd be like 45 or something if he was 15-18 in 1991 but I don't like it.

Tho it's like... it would take a LOT of effort to make Sonic Adventure 3 or Sonic Championship 2 or even Sonic Advance 4, and it would take cooperation and free time.

So the fans can't really fill the gap Sonic Team would leave by making whatever they make instead of fun platformers.

Heck that Sonic Omens was what looked like a well made game for fans, but even that was ridiculously hard if the Russian VA was anything to go off of (I still haven't played that game)

and I can't expect them to have Q&A, I can't because that isn't their job... it legally can't be their job. The only way the fans could fill that gap is if there was UBI and that's not happening.

So if I want a good Sonic game or a good Sonic cartoon or a good Sonic comic, I have to hope that SEGA pays for one.

IDW right now is the best Sonic is, but while I got into Sonic because of the Archie comics and ABC cartoon... the games are why I stayed with Sonic after the shows ended and the comic got boring after the new millennium.

and it's like... it was really good. I can't think of many platformers that held up to the standards of 1998-2004 Sonic, or heck 1992-1995.

So unlike Pokemon, which never was good and I simply grew up and noticed that they're just remaking the exact same game forever and wanted them to do better cuz I like Pokemon the designs and the comics and anime are actually good so what's Game Freak's problem...

I had hope Sonic would one day get good again and it just... didn't.

Frontiers has the biggest hope cuz next year they'll fix the game and Sonic won't be a friendless loser for the first time since 2006 (which I also need to play, I bought it but then I lost stable housing so ehhh)

That and IDW is better than post '90s Archie, by a lot. The metal saga may have had the worst ending that pisses me off to this day and the following arc was a total abortion and the superseding one was boring... but I'm loving where it's at right now and even when it's boring the art is stellar.

Sonic Boom was just total abortion, I take very little consideration in that so that's why I don't include it in the "Tails hasn't been playable since 1776" like he didn't even fly in that game, that wasn't Tails it was Butts.

So Sonic can get good, they have the means, and sorta seem like they have the will... but the same reason why Pokemon releases unplayable messes and gets accolades is why Sonic probably? won't make something with the high standards of the millennium games.

Though they might?!??!?? I mean Lost World was good! Forces almost was good! But then Frontiers looks so bad... and Mania was so awful... So no idea...

So that's why I can't give up on Sonic yet.

If this weekend we play Frontiers and it's absolute dogshit... then I'll probably put Sonic on the same shelf as Pokemon in "Literally only give anything except the main game a chance because it's dead" and then I'll probably bitch about it every release until that part of my soul dies and it's just:

"What do you expect, it's pokemon" then I try to stop thinking about it because there's literally nothing I can do but annoy my friends that still like pokemon...

Though if it's almost good... then I'll wait 'til next year when Amy's finally playable... hell I gotta play Amy next year even if Frontiers is the absolute worst, I dunno what I'm saying.

Though yeah. Sonic's almost at that point because it's officially been longer as a bad series than it has been a good series.

Like, I used to love Super Mario Bros. then in 1996 they made a dogshit game that just wasn't SMB, and in 2002 they made a slightly better game, then they made an actual good sequel to SMB in 2006 and then just gave the fuck up and it wasn't until NSMBU that I fully lost hope that SMB will ever make good games again.

Tho I guess since I also loved Sonic, that just sorta crowded out Mario and I didn't care too much until I'm reminded Super Mario 64 exists and go on a tirade.

So I mean if you've noticed my spiraling despair of hoping Pokemon stops sucking the past decade, Sonic Frontiers is Pokemon XY, so it'll probably be two more awful games until I begrudgingly relent that Sonic is irredeemable.

Though honestly at that point it'll probably be admitting that video games are irredeemable because... Sonic and Splatoon are the best video games right now and they're both awful for different reasons but for the same exact reason: max profit minimum effort

#Do you love the color of the Sonic rant #long post

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blastthechaos · 2 years

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Wow, I got the copypasta, I'm popular guys!

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the-fourth-knower · 2 years

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okay now I think someone is just throwing these around for the hahas

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ariesjupiter · 3 years

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Mitski Birth Chart Reading

This is just my interpretation based on Mitski’s birth chart and what I know of her music. Let me know if you have any suggestions of someone I should make a post on next! If you’re interested, I offer natal chart readings, just check my pinned post!

Libra sun: In terms of basic personality and ego, Mitski is focused on creating balanced, harmonic relationships. Intimate, one-on-one relationships are a major part of her identity. Libra is ruled by venus which represents love and beauty. After all, she is known for her lyrics relating to her romantic relationships. The lyric “I love everybody because I love you” is so profoundly Libra to me. She is friendly and charming. She sees herself reflected and other people and people see themselves reflected in her (for better or worse). Venus also rules the arts and Mitski is a natural artist in every sense of the word. Her music sonically is very unique, inventive, and creative as she experiments with mixing different genres. This is influenced by her sun in the 11th house. Sun in the 11th house also indicates an emphasis on friendships and memberships of certain groups and communities. It also indicates an importance of her hopes and dreams. Her sun in 3° explains why she is such a talented writer, communicator, and lyricist. Peak libra sun culture: “Young adult romance is the shit” (a real quote from the queen herself). And let’s not forget her iconic quote from 2016: “I’m a libra so my sexuality is essentially “you can really be any gender as long as you treat me like a princes.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Capricorn moon: Despite how personal her music is, Mitski is a rather private and reserved person, particularly when it comes to expressing her emotions. Also, Capricorn is associated with the father and she has been known to be especially private regarding her dad’s career. She is serious and intense with emotions but can sometimes get detached. The emphasis is on having control over her feelings. She is ambitious and a practical person. Her emotions are connected to her career. Those who do not know her well may see her as cold. In temperament she tends to be melancholic. Emotionally mature and wise beyond her years. Straightforward and honest with her expression. She is dependable, loyal, hard working, & realistic. Emotional fulfillment is often tied to achievement and success. Her moon in the 2nd house and 2° suggests material comforts make her feel safe. With the 2nd house being associated with venus, she is able to express her emotions in an artistic way. Could be protective over material objects. Sentimental. Music has a big impact on her emotions and mood. Peak capricorn moon culture: “I didn’t really feel anything. I’ve stopped feeling things for a long time” - Mitski, The Fader Interview, 2017. In all seriousness, I hope my capricorn moons are doing good.

Virgo mercury: Mitski is practical and detail oriented when it comes to communication and matters of learning. She takes the time to choose the right words to convey her thoughts. She is clear and concise. Mercury is in its sign of rulership here. Her mercury in the 10th house suggests that she will be known for her communication style. Has a lot of thoughts but is also organized. Analytical. Mitski likes making lists. Loves to give advice. Mercury is in 16° (cancer degree) and she has a soft spoken voice. Talks about the past and her roots (cancerian themes).

Virgo venus: In love, Mitski will assume a caretaking role and will gladly help her partner finish mundane tasks and chores. A devoted and faithful lover. Love is about the mundane and routine details of life. Love is about service. Acts of service tend to be virgo venus’ main love language. She wants to help improve her partner’s life. She is patient and observant. Values love that is simple and authentic. Appreciates a partner with whom she can have intellectual conversations. May have a tendency to be too critical on herself when it comes to love. Venus rules aesthetics & style and she tends to have a modest fashion sense. Mitski has voiced her interest in astrology and how she has asked people she’s interested for their birth times lmao. Her venus is in the 11th house, she treats a lover like she would treat a friend. In fact, romantic love probably equates to platonic love in her book. She has her venus in 24° which is a pisces degree, which explains this natural interest in astrology.

Gemini mars: Could be impatient because she moves quickly. Efficient. Has a lot of goals and likes to keep busy. She thrives when she talks to others and exchanged ideas. Likes to multitask. Very versatile. Probably has a flirty, bubbly energy when she’s attracted to someone. Attracted to intellect. Desire to see things from multiple perspectives. Gemini rules the hands so she’s skilled with playing instruments and writing. Likes to try new things. Witty and humorous. Could have nervous energy or fidget often.

Leo jupiter: The planet of luck and expansion in Leo is a big indicator of fame. Her jupiter is also in the 9th house and in 7°. Jupiter in the 9th indicates being born in a different country from where you reside now. Mitski is biracial and has lived in multiple countries growing up. She loves to learn, particularly about other cultures and ways of life. She is open minded, philosophical and values freedom and being independent. She attracts good fortune when she travels (touring!) and also when she focuses on partnerships/intimate relationships (7°). Combining this energy, Mitski attracts luck when she acts dramatically, demonstrates/teaches her knowledge, expresses herself artistically, shows her warm hearted and sometimes stubborn side, & takes chances, shows her bravery, and takes the lead. Be the Cowboy is big leo energy 🤠

Capricorn saturn: Mitski is responsible, practical, goal-oriented, and cautious. With saturn in the 3rd house, she probably had to grow up quickly and become mature at a young age. Capricorn saturn people tend to be very successful people. Strong willed. Tendency to be quiet and is a good listener. Could also be outspoken. With saturn in 18° (virgo degree), she’s very hard working but she may need to learn how to take a break and let herself rest and recharge.

Capricorn uranus: This placement also indicates that she goes after her goals and is efficient and practical in achieving them. Uranus being in the 2nd house shows that she could make money from being unique and groundbreaking. 2nd house also rules the voice! Her values are unique and she could be resistant to change them. Her self esteem could be in a constant state of flux and be tied to money. Her income could rapidly change, like maybe she did not get paid much but then suddenly she starts making a lot of money. Uranus is in 5° which is a fame degree. She’s famous for being authentically herself and very much an individual in the industry that can’t be compared.

Capricorn neptune: Capricorn neptunes are most likely realists. She is skilled at going after her dreams. Her dreams are practical and connected to themes of wealth, power, and control. Neptune in 3rd house shows a dreamy, poetic way of communicating. A very creative placement. Dreamy vibes. Could be elusive in communication, open for interpretation. Neptune is in 11° so this gives aquarian energy. Idealistic with friends and always searching for ways to achieve her dreams.

Scorpio pluto: Her power lies in her ability to analayze human interactions and be introspective with herself since it’s in the 1st house. She is very self aware. Mitski understands that life is about going through changes and she welcomes the ability to grow and rebuild. She has intense, deep emotions but has control over them and how she expresses them. Pluto in 16° adds a cancerian energy. Her strength lies in her ability to nurture and be empathetic.

Scorpio rising: First impressions of Mitski can be that she’s mysterious and secretive. A powerful and intimidating presence. This explains to me why she loves dressing in black. She probably has a strong dislike for anything superficial. She likes to get to know people on a deeper level and connect with them. She likes honesty and is probably very perceptive and intuitive. Privacy is so important to her! She has a lot of layers and wants people to unpack them, but it may take her a while to open up. She is powerful and has endurance. Her presence leaves an impact on people. Loyalty and intimacy is important. She’s not afraid to talk about taboo topics or scary, heavier emotions. Passionate and even a tendency to get fixed on or obsessed with something or someone. Her rising is in 15° (gemini degree) so she’s clever, curious, and thinks quickly. a little more flexible than a regular Scorpio rising would be.

Leo midheaven: People might see her as dramatic or arrogant. In the public eye, she was meant to be a performer. At her concerts she’s known for putting on a good show & includes interpretive dance and choreography. She becomes herself more when she’s on stage. The stage is where she shines. Has a lot of pride connected to her career. Reputation for creatively expressing herself and being brave and taking risks. Wants to be admired, especially regarding her career. Her purpose is to become a leader. Mc in 22° (capricorn degree) shows that she is a very hard worker when it comes to her career. She won’t let anyone stop her when it comes to achievement and success in her field. Another indicator of being at the top of her career and being publicly recognized for it!

TLDR: Mitski is a natural born singer, performer and artist. She is unique, talented, and an introspective writer. Being earth and water dominant, she balances practicality & stability with sentimentality & raw emotion. With all of her Capricorn placements, she is grounded and doesn’t let fame get to her head. Her chart ruler is Scorpio pluto in the 1st which means that major transformations will be a big theme in her life, especially regarding herself & her identity. She is always reflecting and looking at herself on a deep level.

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worldviewcast · 3 years

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The Origin of Worldview

So this is going to be a semi-personal, but also a semi-explanation post about alot of the background info regarding Worldview. Yes it’ll be a long somewhat boring wall of text for many of you, but to ME it’s words I feel need to be said and it would mean the absolute world to me if people would take the time to hear me out. Even if its only gonna be the five of you that continue on after this. Anyway...

Worldview technically started forming in my mind when I was probably about fifteen. (For reference, at the time of writing this, I’m about half a year to thirty-one) I was really into doing comics, I had done probably a hundred pages of a really dumb fantasy comic I came up with when I was TWELVE, a Sonic fancomic, and every morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I would upload my micron inked and colored pencil story about some DnD characters into the school scanner to post on Drunkduck which is probably all still there today. Adventure’s Guild is missed in my heart, for sure. But in between looking for my first job, the constant writing and doodling I was doing, and my schoolwork I was tossing another idea around in my head. A really DUMB idea, cuz ya know I was FIFTEEN. And I wanted to call it ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’. At the time I was influence by all the dumb anime I was watching and my best friend at the time who always wore black and stood about two feet over me. I don’t know if he’ll ever read this, but trust me if he knew I was talking about this he would recognize this story right away. Well. My first job came around, along with my post secondary college work, and then a tech school I paid for, and.....life really started to get in the way of development. I was more focused on drawing Adventures Guild and other doodles for a long time, and soon enough taking care of my daughter took precedence over everything, and then I started sewing, and doing conventions....and the idea of ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was just stuck in the back of my head. Sitting. Waiting. Forming slowly as it waited for its existence - its time in the sun. And at some point I decided I wanted Android/Robotic like characters too...some of my FAVORITE series are Kikaider : The Animation and Chobits (the books, not the infants show they try to pass a a fully written anime) - things like that. So I KNEW long before Worldview had a proper name I would be writing robot characters with a twist. But I couldn’t figure out what that twist was, what would make it work. The whole idea was still....building. It needed a push. Right around the time My Hero Academia came around everyone with a creative mind seemed to be suddenly struck with a similar idea - what if unique powers WEREN’T so unique in a world? This is fairly common now, but at the start of MHA I remember finding it weird that suddenly every half the new shows out had a whole population of super powered badasses in a world where living daily life with it was more the norm than the exception. And I remember finding it REALLY weird this all came out the same time I evolving a similar idea for my own thing.... I wish I could prove I was evolving this ideas before I saw em but I can’t. I have a much deeper theory about the evolution of cultural art and how influences drive creative minds to similar conclusions but that’s a LONG mental dive for another day. ANYHOW.

So my original idea in ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was the Ninja would be the weird super power in the normal world. NOW I wanted the NINJA to be the ‘normal’ one...and the younger sister would be the WEIRD one because she DIDN’T have some sort of power or ability. I fell in love with this new dynamic and now things were REALLY starting to come together in my mind, what kind of powers were people gonna have, just HOW mundane was it gonna be, how many fantasy elements did I want to have? Because I already KNEW another element I really wanted to include was modern day Paladins - and YES I WILL be covering modern-day style Paladins in Worldview proper, but this meant the universe needed a Deity system, a hierarchy or pantheon. And the world just started to grow....but something was still MISSING, the binding, the elements of what all I wanted to do - Aaaaaaaaaand then came UNDERTALE. And yes this ENTIRE long post is just me mini ranting about how WV came to be so people can TRULY understand just HOW much is inside MY universe so we can stop tagging it as part of the UT Multiverse please and thank you - it’s not that I don’t UNDERSTAND the confusion, but here is your ultimate ‘for the record’ post regarding mine and @little-noko ‘s personal frustrations. Undertale was obviously a HUGE part of pop culture, personal experiences, my life, MANY of my readers lives, I GET why the emotional connection is there and why its the first thing that comes to mind - but the ONLY part I truly was fascinated by with Undertale was the way the Souls were. PHYSICAL Souls - an actual magical entity that represented a person - THIS idea. This was my missing piece. To say artists get inspiration from other artists is beyond an understatement - even Sans and Papyrus are references to Helvetica, right? If not references, inspired by, or ‘great minds think alike’, whatever your argument there....its not uncommon. And Souls being PHYSICAL was the element I wanted to play with - the idea I wanted to expand on, and so much more I want to go into detail about but don’t want to go into spoilers yet so I’m not going to - and the absolute CRUX of my frustrations when dealing with ‘WV is just UT with different characters’. Worldview has.....humans. Only humans, divided into four race. Mechanoid. Masic. Skeleton. Metazoan. (The last one exclusively because I wanted an excuse to draw cute cat girls, so sue me) A pantheon of Gods. It’s own world map. Special BIOLOGY that I have developed to work specifically with the races I have built. Ability trees (diagram to come, don’t worry, we’re just still working out the kinks). It’s own countries, nationalities, and even it’s own tangible form of afterlife which I blame watching WAY too much Supernatural on but HEY Reapers are freaking COOL man. It’s absolutely gut wrenching painful to have people argue with me over a world that I have nurtured and slowly tended to for a good fifteen years...now that it finally, FINALLY gets a chance to exist and be worked on....I feel like the one binding element I finally found and played with and tried to expand on is the ONLY element that people care about. As if absolutely EVERY other element that I want to show just - doesn’t EXIST. We started with Finch because its a good transition from the old projects to the new and it’s the earliest event in the timeline - nothing more than that. But I’m almost starting to feel like that was a mistake because it’s TOO familiar. There’s no going back now, and thats fine. But it does make me anxious to move on to the next ‘chapter’ we’ll be delving into. MAN. I hope that helps clarify a few things. I love answering questions (those that I can) about WV...so my ask box is always open. For those that made it, thanks for listening. :)

#alainatalks #worldview #worldview origins #long post #semi-rant #mostly annoyances I just wanted to get off my chest but I didn't want to be mean about it #its just REALLY frustrating on my end #XD #thank you #!!

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solalunar-eclipse · 3 years

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Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 13

Chapter title: Finale

Word count: about 4200 words

Author’s Note: Thank you so much to everyone who’s read this fic. From the ones who were here at the beginning to the ones who joined in along the way, and even to the ones who are just reading this for the first time now: thank you! I really appreciate your support and willingness to read all about this idea of mine. I hope you enjoy the final chapter!

Warnings for nightmares and vague descriptions of violence, just in case.

First | Previous

...

In the end, another week or so was needed to finally get everything sorted out with G.U.N.- seven days which began to feel less and less stressful and more like an extended sleepover as time flew by. Eventually, though, the organization was shut down and most of their contacts closed off, leaving the country as safe as it could ever be for Teams Dark and Sonic to return.

Even as the former team began to move back into Club Rouge, setting up what little personal artifacts they had left (the suitcase they’d had was being shipped back to them from the motel in Central City where they’d left it), the club itself remained dark and empty, the three residents living above it still too wary to feel ready to reopen. Rouge, Shadow, and Omega spent about four days just living off their considerable savings and watching TV, attempting to get used to a somewhat normal life again after so long without it.

Rouge got to enjoy those late mornings she’d been hoping for, Omega was able to do his favorite activities without taking responsibility for the team anymore, and Shadow…

...there were good times and bad times, with him.

He would often find himself utterly at peace in some moments, cooking a meal after insisting that Rouge couldn’t eat takeout all the time as his two best friends shouted wildly at their newest favorite show, and he couldn’t help but smile at all the cheerfulness that surrounded him. But at the same time, he woke up screaming nearly every night, unable to stop seeing Rouge and Omega dragged off to an unknown fate by G.U.N., or worse, seeing them lifeless and sprawled on the floor, unable to do anything to save them at all….

Both his friends would always come into his room (they’d actually started sleeping in there now to help him better) and hold him until the panic dissipated, assuring him that they were alright and that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

This, however, wasn’t entirely true just yet.

One night, a would-be attacker (one of the last remnants of G.U.N.’s influence guiding them, most likely) picked the lock on the door and entered the club, sneaking across the ground floor. Rouge heard them first with her hyper-sensitive ears, whispering the situation quickly to Shadow. Suddenly, before she could stop him, he darted silently to the door, prepared to fight if necessary. The bat could defend herself just fine, of course, but he was still very much on edge.

It turned out that he didn’t need to worry, though, because as the intruder began to creep up the two flights of stairs, they glanced to their left on the darkened first floor. And spotted an absolutely terrifying pair of glowing red eyes staring at them from the darkness.

That alone would have been enough to make them scream and leave rapidly (they weren’t by any means as trained as some of G.U.N.’s other contacts) but Omega saw fit to point two charging laser cannons at them, too, and quite honestly even Sonic would’ve been surprised at the speed with which that intruder ran.

After that, Rouge decided that she’d had enough relaxing for a while and that she needed some structure in her life, so she opened up the club again and started it working (albeit on a limited basis, she wasn’t quite prepared for a full schedule yet). The well-known hotspot had been sorely missed, as evidenced by the large number of customers- and tips. The bat was delighted to see some of her favorite regulars again, and they were more than happy to accept the shortened hours just so long as it stayed open.

Eventually, though, as it became clear that the bat was fully prepared to just sweep the stress of this adventure under the rug and go back to daily life as it was before, she ended up subjected to quite a few discussions from Omega, Knuckles and even Sonic about her...habits. They were all too aware of how much strain she’d been under during their time on the run, not to mention all of the verbal attacks and physical stress she’d had to deal with beforehand. At first, she managed to brush it off, insisting that she was perfectly fine and that this sort of thing wasn’t necessary at all.

Omega had cornered her one day in her room though, with only a single sentence to say: “Think about the example you’re setting for Shadow.”

Rouge’s ears drooped slightly in guilt as she realized just how much a) Shadow based some of his behaviors off of her and b) how vehemently he had opposed the idea of therapy when it was first mentioned.

She sighed quietly. “Just one. For Shadow. And nothing’s going to come of it, you hear me?”

Two days later, she walked into the office calmly, her cool business face on and her skepticism high. The therapist she met with was young, friendly, and quite earnest and eager to help her in any way they could. As they listened to the story of her life, though, their face twisted in concern. “I understand you enjoy your job and the risks that come with it...but all those awful things people have said to you- that’s terrible!”

Rouge shrugged her shoulders. “It’s part of the job, y’know? Just have to grin and bear it.”

They looked down at their desk quietly. “How long have you been ‘grinning and bearing it’ for, exactly?”

“....a while.”

Rouge left the office after a little more talking with a distinct feeling of unease in her chest. She drove home quietly, with none of the usual music or radio that she liked on. The bat remained absolutely silent as she entered the house, too, which was the first major sign to both of her friends that something was wrong.

Shadow and Omega appeared at her side quickly, asking her what had happened and what was wrong (with quite a few threats of violence to the person who had upset her) which unfortunately had the opposite effect to what they were hoping for and instead just made her eyes start to water a little.

“Rouge, what’s going on?” Shadow asked, worried, as he pulled her over to the couch.

She managed to calm herself relatively quickly, and eventually found the words to explain how the biting words she heard every day cut deeper than she let on. How she took on mountains of emotional stress because she was the leader, and the oldest, and it was her responsibility.

The bat quickly tried to add that neither of them needed to worry about this, it was fine, that she was still the oldest and she’d accepted that responsibility and she could work out the stress on her own. As Omega began to insist on providing various objections to every last one of those arguments, Shadow vanished, only to return within a couple of minutes with a bag of mystery supplies.

“Today’s your off day, right?” he asked, with a determined look in his eyes.

“Yes, hon.” she said quietly. “I should probably go do the shopping at some point-”

“After therapy? No way.” Omega declared, putting a hand on her head and pushing her back down onto the couch after she’d started to get up.

“I’ll go shopping tomorrow.” Shadow said calmly. “I remember you haven’t been to the spa in a long time, and even if we can’t make you an appointment this late, we can still do something else.”

Omega pulled a packaged ‘hydrating and exfoliating face mask’ from the bag, holding it by the corner and looking as confused as he could possibly get. “I have no idea what this does, but if you like it then that’s fine, I suppose.” he said, handing it back to Shadow gingerly.

“Aww, guys, you don’t have to-” she insisted, disliking the idea of them having to do any work regarding her own emotional burdens.

“Yes we do.” they said in sync.

“And this needs to be at least a biweekly occurrence, too.” Omega declared.

“A Rouge day?” Shadow asked. “I agree.”

The bat protested weakly, but allowed herself to be dragged upstairs, and various soaps with relaxing scents to be placed in her hands. “And here’s a bath bomb. Or, uh, three.” The hybrid looked sheepish. “I don’t know which kind you like.”

“And do not come out until you are sufficiently relaxed.” Omega ordered her, before pushing her into the bathroom gently.

Rouge gave a quiet yet fond sigh as she looked down at the various self-care items in her hands. Those two could really be stubborn sometimes, whether about fighting or friendship.

Quickly, she swung open the door and gave them both a hug, then vanished back inside the bathroom before either could react.

The rest of the day was spent taking care of Rouge, whether it was Shadow painting her nails or Omega agreeing to watch her favorite show that night (even if he couldn’t seem to understand why people in drama shows didn’t just do what they wanted instead of agonizing about it so much). That definitely wasn’t the end of it, though.

Eventually, she managed to go back for a few more sessions just to straighten things out and figure out how to care for herself better in the long run. It didn’t hurt, either, that anytime Shadow or Omega caught someone insulting her (and her ignoring it), whether it be for her looks or her interest in a store’s jewelry, they would verbally tear into the person with such fury that Rouge was nearly embarrassed…

...but not quite. It felt good to be looked out for, she had to admit, and they were showing how much they cared about her in their own way.

It turned out that Shadow was showing it in another way, too, albeit one she didn’t notice at first. One day, as she checked through her finances, the bat realized that her bank account had begun to grow too quickly to be normal. When she checked through her balance, she discovered that someone was adding mystery payments every Friday.

Rouge found out why one afternoon when she came back from shopping early to discover Shadow standing in the living room, pulling off some sort of light green shirt and draping it over the back of a chair as he moved to the kitchen (probably for some coffee beans).

“Something you need to tell me, hon?” she asked, and was only slightly surprised when he yelled in shock, hands crackling with Chaos energy before he realized it was her.

“Ugh...Rouge, don’t scare me like that…” he sighed.

“You didn’t answer my question, Shadow.” she shot back.

He shuffled around nervously, seeming unwilling to provide her with a straight answer. Once he realized that there was no getting out of this, though, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of the hybrid gulping briefly before taking a deep breath. “I...I’ve been working part-time arranging flowers.” he said, rushing the words out as though that would keep her from understanding them.

“Honey, you know you don’t have to do that- we still have enough money to handle the club’s current hours for a while longer…” she began, worrying that he was pushing himself too hard.

Shadow folded his arms. “Keeping us afloat isn’t all up to you, remember? And I actually enjoy it- it’s kind of calming.” he said, almost defiantly.

“If you insist.” she replied. “But make sure not to mess up your schedule, you know you need to make sure you’re getting your rest after everything.”

The hybrid rolled his eyes. “I’m the Ultimate Lifeform, I don’t need-”

“Wrong answer.” Omega said from the doorway, folding his arms and glowering at Shadow. Rouge had an expression to match, seeming pretty distressed by what he’d said.

“Shadow, hon, you keep using that title as an excuse not to take care of yourself, and that’s just as unhealthy as me ignoring people who try and bother me.” she said softly. “I...think you should really consider talking to the same person I did- it’s really helped, you know that.”

The hybrid sulked in the car on the way to the office a couple days later, but didn’t actively attempt to resist, so he probably knew that Rouge was right. He told his story to them in the most calm, nonchalant manner he could pull off, though his friends did take over the story occasionally when his voice trailed off.

By the end of it, the young mouse was frowning at their desk again. “Honestly, I’m...I’m speechless. The fact that so many people were willing to treat you so badly- it’s horrible. So...I’m really glad you’re here, and I’ll do my best to help you however I can.”

Shadow was a little touched by this amount of concern from what was essentially a stranger, though he remained resistant to their suggestions at first. However, a day or two later, he had yet another nightmare- and a bad one too. Ordinarily, he’d just ignore it and lie awake for hours trying to get back to sleep, but this time, he happened to recall what the therapist had said.

“It’s okay to ask for help, Shadow. You deserve it just as much as anyone else- no matter what some people may have said.”

He tried to avoid the thought, but his mind wouldn’t rest and he couldn’t even begin to relax. (Truthfully, he was too scared to, in case the nightmares came back.) Guiltily, he got up, shuffled over to Rouge’s room, and opened the door quietly. It took him a long moment to even work up the nerve to walk over to her bedside, but eventually he did. He shook her awake gently by the shoulder, unwilling to meet her eyes.

“Oh, Shadow….” was all she said, before pulling him gently under the blankets with her and holding him tight.

The hybrid felt so pathetic and childish, yet he still buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting out a quiet sniffle. He could smell a mixture of her perfume and shampoo, and it calmed him slowly, as did the feeling of her arms around him. Eventually, he managed to fall back asleep to the sound of her breathing, and spent the rest of the night in relative peace.

When Shadow woke up early in the morning and Omega was right beside the bed, one of his hands resting comfortingly on his side, he didn’t even question it. He just placed his hand right over one of the giant metal fingers before resting a while longer, a small smile on his face.

As the days continued and the two Mobians started taking care of themselves more- with lower stress levels and many more peaceful nights as a result- Shadow finally even worked up the nerve to spend some time with Omega at the firing range.

They had made careful plans. There were noise-canceling earmuffs available for free upon entry, and Shadow wouldn’t even be in the same room as most of the weaponry. He had a katana sword and he knew where the practice dummies were, and that was enough.

They’d be able to see each other through a glass window and wave (and show off, of course). So while Shadow approached the building with a slight air of trepidation, he also felt rather excited to be able to work on his fighting skills once again, especially with his friend.

That is, until the attendant at the desk refused to give him the headset when he asked for it.

“You have to rent an item to get the free headphones,” the young woman said, looking bored and generally unsympathetic. “That’s the rule.”

“I don’t see anything saying that.” Shadow shot back, but inside he felt more nervous than anything. He couldn’t stay here if he didn’t get that equipment, but he’d really wanted to spend some time with Omega today…

The robot appeared behind him surprisingly quickly, wrenching aside the attendant’s computer to glower at her better. “I have seen others come in here and get headsets for free while bringing their own weapons, so you had better have a good explanation for why you refuse to give him one.”

“He’s got a sword,” she pointed out unhelpfully, “so he shouldn’t even need one. Headsets are only for people with projectile weapons, anyway.”

Omega’s fingers tightened on the counter until they made a noticeable scraping sound. The attendant winced and even the otherwise impassive Shadow’s ears twitched at the noise.

He lifted up his hand, revealing deep scratches in the stainless steel. “You should think about being fair and providing Shadow with a headset now. Before I become really irritated.”

“That’s- I shouldn’t have to make an exception, he isn’t going to be on the firing range!”

“He does and you should. My friend does not do well with the sound of gunfire, so he deserves to have one. Right. Now.” Omega insisted, glaring at her.

“Well, if he doesn’t like guns then he shouldn’t be here.” she said irritably. “I’m not giving him one. And that’s final.”

The robot turned away suddenly and stalked towards the door. “Then I refuse to spend one moment longer in this building. Congratulations on losing your establishment some money.”

Shadow followed his friend, feeling more than a little like he’d just experienced some sort of verbal whiplash. “Wait...what just happened?”

“I decided that this place is clearly not good enough to deserve our patronage. We can find somewhere else to spend our time.”

“But I thought this was the best place in the area- I don’t want to make you miss out…” Shadow said, feeling bad for his friend.

Omega put a heavy arm around Shadow’s shoulders. “Amenities mean nothing to me if the people there insist you suffer in the process.”

The hybrid leaned against his friend, grateful. “Thank you, Omega.”

(They did eventually find a new- if slightly less upscale- place to go, and Omega managed to hit fifteen bulls-eyes in a row before being informed that they didn’t quite have the money for prizes there. Shadow enjoyed being able to use his sword, and he got significantly more respect on the way out of the building as opposed to the general confusion and mild derision he’d received on the way in...particularly after he defeated one of the most respected patrons in five minutes flat.)

…

Nearly a month and a half after Team Dark left Angel Island, Sonic set up a little party with some friends to celebrate their general success, as well as their slow steps to getting better, day by day. The team had been pretty reclusive and slightly paranoid as of late, so this was their first proper social outing in a long while.

Once they got over to Sonic’s house, all three members of Team Dark were immediately greeted with a shriek of “GUYS!”, followed by the sudden appearance of one cheerful pink hedgehog. “Rouge, Omega, Shadow, hi! How are you guys? Do you need anything?” Amy Rose asked, managing to simultaneously be cheerful, sympathetic, and doting in a way only she ever could.

“We’re doing better all the time, hon. Thank you.” Rouge answered kindly, while Omega waved at her and Shadow offered up a quiet nod.

Amy wasn’t deterred by the latter’s behavior- she’d spent enough time with him to know that they were pretty good friends and that he was probably just a little overwhelmed, so she gave him his space. Blaze greeted them all politely as they entered the living room as well from her seat on the couch, but was quickly overshadowed by the other spacetime traveler present for the party.

Silver dashed over to the group, looking them all up and down worriedly. Upon seeing that they were mostly unharmed, albeit tired, he focused his attention on his personal hero and occasional mentor on Chaos techniques (Shadow).

“Are- are you going to be okay?” he asked worriedly, hovering (both literally and figuratively) around the other hedgehog. “Silly question, sorry, I just, if you’re not okay then I’m here if you need-”

“Silver.” Shadow cut the psychic off, but in a gentle manner. “I think I’ll be alright. If I’m ever not, though, I’ll keep your offer in mind. Thank you.”

“Okay.” He sighed, his nervous energy dissipating. It was replaced by a smile almost instantly, though, as he added, “Okay! I’m just so glad you guys managed to stop G.U.N. and everything. And that you’re alright now!”

Shadow offered him a small smile. “So am I.”

Soon after, Omega hurried down to Tails’s workshop with a shout of “What have you been working on? I need to see everything right now” and Rouge busied herself with scaring the living daylights out of Knuckles by sneaking up on him from behind. Meanwhile, Sonic stepped into Silver and Shadow’s conversation, at ease with both of them and enjoying the party. “You got some food yet?” he asked the hybrid, smiling warmly at him.

“No…?” Shadow said cautiously.

“Oh, man! There’s so much, you’ve gotta try everything!” Sonic exclaimed, dragging Shadow into the kitchen with one hand while Silver did the same with the other.

Moments later, he found himself with a plate filled with every kind of food available in the kitchen, from french fries to mini-sandwiches to cupcakes. Shadow startled slightly upon realizing that everybody else seemed to have brought several nice foods, and all his team had thought to bring was a bottle or two of soda. “I apologize for our lack of food-” he began, feeling somehow as though he should have done better, but Sonic silenced him quickly.

“Dude, no way! We’re having this party for you guys anyway because of all the stressful work you went through!”

Silver chimed in quickly. “We didn’t ask you guys to bring food because we didn’t want you to worry- you’ve done more than enough work for a long time.”

Shadow, in response, quickly shoved a mini-sandwich into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything too emotional.

Later, as they all settled down to watch the pilot episode of an old but well-known TV show, the hybrid found himself squeezed in between Rouge on one side, still flirting with Knuckles (punctuated by the occasional check-in on Shadow) and Sonic on the other side, in a surprisingly intense argument with Blaze about whether or not this show, Nebula Expedition: The Following Age, was better than the original.

Omega, meanwhile, was trying his best not to utterly crush the beanbag chair on the floor he’d been given after the couch had nearly tipped over the moment he sat down. Tails was leaned against him, while Amy, Blaze and Silver shared the other sofa.

Suddenly, Sonic turned to him, his expression intense and serious. “Shadow. This is the most important question you’re gonna answer all week. Which show is better: The Following Age or the original?”

The hybrid shook his head, a smile appearing on his face despite his best attempts to ignore it. It was crazy to think that he’d gone from the most important question of the week being “Am I going to be captured by G.U.N. and imprisoned?” to “Which show is better?”, and he couldn’t help but allow a laugh to escape him. It was just a quick little snicker, but it was enough for Sonic’s eyes to widen and for him to grin.

“What’s that all about?” he asked, half joking and half serious, leaning his shoulder on Shadow’s. “You think this question’s a joke? Your answer’s really important here, y’know!”

“Well, for your information…” the hybrid began.

Sonic leaned in a little closer. “Yeah?”

“I like Asteroid Battle the best. Only the originals, though.”

The hero gave a cry of dismay and flopped back against the couch, throwing his hands up in the air. “Asteroid Battle? Asteroid Battle?? That wasn’t even an option!” he cried. “It’s not even in the same franchise, for Chaos’ sake!”

“Too bad.” Shadow replied smugly, folding his arms and still smiling. “Because that’s the one I like best.”

Sonic smacked him on the arm and heaved a dramatic sigh. “Well, too bad to both you and Blaze, because it’s my TV and I get to pick the show.”

Shadow wasn’t the least bit bothered about that as he settled in to watch, surrounded by his friends and safe as he could be. This atmosphere- of cheer and kindness and laughter- this was what he’d wanted to be able to enjoy all along.

He wasn’t entirely there yet- and maybe he would never be able to know the freedom that came when people didn’t carry the memories he did. But in the end, he couldn’t say that he regretted that burden too greatly. Even through all the bad, he had enough good in this world that it was all worth the struggle in the end, if he got to be here, now, in this place with the people he cared for most.

Shadow met Rouge’s eyes briefly, and then Omega’s, hoping that the words he couldn’t say right now would be understood.

Thank you both so much. For being there for me, through the good times and the bad. For being happy with me and sad with me. For standing by me when I decided to take on the largest military organization in the world, and afterwards as well. Just...thank you.

For everything.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #(don't think i can tag all of them)#sycs #scars you can't see #sol's fanfiction #thank you all so much for reading!! i really really appreciate it #also as always please let me know if i've misrepresented anything (especially the mental health parts)#while i didn't get to explore shadow's flower shop job as much as i would've liked he certainly likes it more than working for gun #if you can guess what the tv shows/movies are that they're talking about at the end then good on you!#also for the last comment:#i was working on characterizing silver and figured i should probably check out the wiki #five minutes later i found myself rewatching shadow and silver pose during the mario & sonic olympic games for the third time #it counts as research right?#right???

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