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zero-is-nebulous · 1 year

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Okay I can't take it anymore

Here's an in depth analysis on Sonic and Knuckles, their relationship to the other, and the sun and moon design trope

Sonic

Sonic is, at his core, a free spirit. He is constantly looking for adventure, and jumping into action whenever he is needed. This often puts him into opposition against various bad guys, because the more he defeats them, the more that pop up and want to have a go at the impossible challange.

And like, take over the world, I guess. Typical villain stuff

It's also important to note that, in cannon, sonic is 15 years old. Being a hero at such a young age, I mean, wow that's gotta be some responsibility. Originally, speaking from origins, Sonic just started out using his speed to help little animals get out of traps. Then, just a kid, he encounters eggman and finds out he's behind such a terrible thing. He doesn't know what to do, obviously, because he's a literal child, but knows he can't let his animal friends be hurt like this.

He also knows that he's not like the other mobians, he's faster, more resilient, and that makes him the perfect candidate for the job. He takes down eggman's bigger bots, rescues flickies, and everything is good!

Until eggman retaliates. Because obviously the evil bad guy can't let anyone foil his plans! Anyway, this is a rough timeline of events as to how Sonic most probably got stuck being the hero. He helped some animals, and the threat got bigger, but he stuck with it because he realised he COULD do some good with his powers. Then the threats escalated, and now the entire world depends on him.

(Also, it's worth noting here that Sonic has the 'live in the moment' mentality. Obviously he does heroism because he CARES, like a lot, and he wants OTHER people to be able to enjoy their own 'live in the moment' mentalities because he's an optimist and wants the best for people. Obviously that's also one of the driving forces of his heroism, he's a surprisingly complex character ok it's hard to put it all into words all at once. But this also means that he tries to have fun with it, he DOES enjoy his adventures. Hes clearly a bit of a thrill seeker, he makes the most of a bad situation no matter how dire it is because not only is that a coping mechanism, but one of his personal life mottos. I also personally beleive that he knows how dangerous his line of work is, and that if he DOESNT live life to the most while he has it, he'll regret it in the event that he doesnt make it back one day)

Anyway

Along the way, he's stopped worrying about himself, because he's developed a hero complex. All the pressure put on his character makes him disregard his own safety for others, always making HUGE personal sacrifices for the 'greater good', and pushing his pain aside just so he can help. Sonic is still a child, and he's grown up around violence and heroism and now he has a duty to protect people. Because he can.

Because he's the ONLY one who can

People say so on multiple occasions. When it's, not entirely true? I mean, don't get me wrong, Sonic is a force to be reckoned with, and at some point that statement may have even been true! But its just,,,not, anymore??

When shadow first arrived he was established to have speed that matches sonics, at least to some extent, and a steely moral compass as a result of his past with Maria. He joins GUN in an attempt to make good on his promise (and probably some other government stuff, I mean being an experiment from 50 years ago gets you tangled up in some shit), and he can TELEPORT, as well as hone chaos energy in ways that Sonic can't even manage.

Well, we've never seen him manage, at least.

Here's a quick list of all of Shadows abilities:

Super speed

Immortality

Increased stamina

Spindash

Ability to use firearms

Chaos control (teleportation)

Chaos control (ability to slow or stop time, apparently?)

Chaos spear

Chaos blast

Increased healing factor

Super form

Now, here's a lost of Sonics abilities:

Super speed

Increased acrobatics and agility

Resilience to damage

Strong sense of spirit

Increased stamina

Spindash

Hand to hand combat skills

Chaos control (+1 emerald)

Super form

Both hedgehogs have an impressive arsenal of abilities under their belt, for sure. But even with Sonics collection of skills, some of them are just that. Skills

For Shadow, Chaos energy runs through his veins so extremely that he needs to wear POWER CANCELLING cuffs. He was designed, built, for such power. Take note of how Sonics list includes more generalised and LEARNABLE skills, while Shadows includes more actual 'powers', so to speak

So. Is sonic the ONLY one capable of saving the world? NO! in fact, Shadow has helped do just that on multiple occasions. I'm not saying one is more powerful than the other, or better suited to the role, but Sonic is under the impression that he's alone in this when he's not

Shadow may not have sonics optimism, or social superiority, but he's a GOOD hedgehog, and they both possess amazing abilities that they choose to use for good. Sonics often telling people that they don't have to fight alone, but often takes the leap and does JUST THAT When he deems a situation too dangerous for anyone to risk their lives for

Once, he was the only mobian with powers strong enough to face great evils. Even with the help of Tails and Amy, they were both still kids, younger than himself, who were normal all things considered. Yes, Tails could fly, and yes, Amy could haul a hammer twice her size, but they were still not as strong as him. So, they couldn't be risked. Underneath it all, despite their help, he was always stronger, always the most fit for life threatening missions, and he would take it all in stride

And then there was Knuckles, and then Shadow, and then Silver and Blaze somewhere down the line. All superpowered beings to some extent, having chaos energy (or sol energy) running through them at such a rate that they could ACTUALLY compare to Sonic.

Once, he was the ONLY person strong enough to take on the threats alone. But now? There are others, strong and diffrent like him, who could equally take on the fight with or without his help.

And yes, as they grow and get stronger, the threats DO tend to get more dangerous, but that's why they're all there together. Obviously the threat level will increase, and they will always find away to defeat it per the age rating on the game being allowable for the delicate emotions of optimistic children (and me) that our hero's can concour ANYTHING. But still, they have so many allies that that almost doesn't matter

My point being; he does not need to take on all this pressure by himself.

A lot of the time, at least with major threats such as the metal virus or neo metal sonic (shout out to IDW comics for consuming my brain and producing the most gut wrenching storyline to ever exist in the sonic universe) he's almost FORCED to accept help? I'm not saying he wouldn't have already, but he had a bit of a tendancy to be like 'hey, I got this' *finger guns* when he does not in fact got this. And sure maybe he does eventyally and all that, but you have to admit a LOT of the threats he takes on are like ridiculous to the point you have to brace yourself when he goes into battle. Likes we know sonic is strong but Jesus, that little man takes on some POWERFUL enemies

(Quick case and point: metal virus, being captured on the death egg in forces, being KILLED BY MEPHILES!!! Clearly he isn't indestructible, sometimes he bites off more than he can chew alone)

Ok back on topic now.

The MAIN reason why people look to him as 'the only one who can help them' is because of reputation and carisma. You know why Shadow was disposed of so quickly during the metal virus arc? Because he would have been a GREAT help, and the two of them working together would have toppled the virus MUCH quicker

(And bc they reversed his goddamn character arc AGAIN bc nobody can get it right apparently)

Anyway, because Sonic has gone his entire life with his mentality, people have looked up to him on some kind of pedestal. This just deepens the cycle of it all, making him hold himself accountable, or bare too much burden, and the confident facade is just the icing on the cake.

Because people look up to him, as a hero, a role model, and as a GOOD, and FRIENDLY person. They see him, caring and kind and never giving up, and rely on him. In contrast, Shadow keeps to a distance and is mostly cold to civilians, with the exception of Cream and possibly Vanilla and the Chaotix (Although wether the chaotix should be considered civilians is up for debate). This means that less people call to HIM, when they're in danger. He's under less pressure, people don't put him under a spotlight, but they DO with sonic

And now, whether he wants it or not, he is THE hero

Admittedly, I think Sonic does enjoy being a hero

To an extent, he sort of has to be. He's kind and caring cause that's who he is. He runs because he wants to, and he saves people because he wants to as well. Obviously there's pressure there, but he got into it in the first place because he wanted to do good. And doing a good thing makes him...Happy. content. Proud, even

Hes free like the wind, is what they say, and he IS. He doesn't WANT to quit being a hero, but I'd imagine sometimes he thinks about it. It's a stressful life, every eye on you when something goes wrong, waiting for you to fix it. And sometimes he doesn't have the answers, and that's okay

But some people won't see it that way, see him as a failure. And that's the true bitterness of being worshipped

So yes, while he's sort of trapped in his role, I wouldn't say he wanted to let go of it anyway. He knows someone has to do it, which is a daunting feeling because he also knows that person has to be HIM- but, he enjoys saving people, so it's not all bad

Knuckles

Knuckles the echidna, the last of his tribe, stuck on a floating island in complete isolation.

Well, there's a lot to say about him, I'll admit. So, let's just start small

First of all, Knuckles' isolation has left him slightly naive, which was the original reason that he fell for eggmans lies. This is, of course, because he's been alone for SO long, that he hadn't a clue as to the social clues of a lie. That, and his ONE presumed purpose in life was to look after the master emerald, in which he would do anything to protect

So, a mixture of passion, protectiveness, rage, and naivety, were what lead to the events of Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

The absolute isolation and lack of alterior purpose leave knuckles struggling a lot. He has other ambitions and goals, obviously, he LOVES exploring, and he can read many ancient dialecs which come from his architect passion. The one thing keeping him confined to his island is the emerald

And the implications that follow. See, he's the last of his kind. And, because of that, he has NOBODY who can understand the EXACT and finite details of his situation on an emotional level. He can ask nobody for guidance, instead fumbling blindly under the belief that 'this is what they would have wanted', without actually being able to ASK

Knuckles protects the master emerald because he thinks it's what he's supposed to do. And, It is obviously, but he's so focused on not disappointing his fallen tribe that he disregards his own wellbeing a lot for it

He stays at the shrine 24/7, only leaving when the fate of, quite literally, the ENTIRE WORLD is at stake. He's on his island, alone. Speaking realistically, no one person should be assigned that task. Within the tribe before their passing, many would have protected the emerald, and in healthy shifts

Except, Knuckles doesn't have that choice. So he's cemented to his fate, but he does WANT to do other things. In fact, his time on the island has probably INCREASED the hunger for exploration and adventure

So, let's think forces for a second.

Knuckles was the captain of almost an entire ARMY, he lead them, and took on the pressure of responsibility, and that's something quite interesting. See, you'd assume that his time on the island would null his skills with others in that regard, but he has a striking skill when it comes to organisational battle plans.

Hes the same in the metal virus arc

Knuckles is often taking up big, important positions despite his initial lack of social grace. And, deep down, I think this is connected to his tribe.

See, he has this task that he's been confined to, with no guidance at all. He thrives off of the assumption of his tribe, and does his job with steely focus. When he takes up that position as a leader, he takes up the responsibility that weighs similarly to the responsibility of taking care of the master emerald

(Here, he's also able to give OTHER people the guidance he so needed in his times of struggle. By being that someone that can be trusted, and looked to for answers, I feel like it almost quenches some of his deep rooted abandonment issues)

In both scenarios, people are expecting him to protect something, and lead. Be strong, responsible, and altogether a beacon of hope. The key difference is that, this time, he has reassurance. He can see his efforts paying off, he can see his plans play live infront of his eyes, and he saves people. Directly, not just through avoidance, but ACTIVELY protects people

But it's a lot

Even for Knuckles, it's a LOT. because when you're guarding something with expectations of people who aren't there, there's no disappointment. There's only assumedly so, (which im pretty sure hes prone to exagerating because he holds his old tribe up on the same sort of pedistal that most hold sonic. In the sort of heavenly devinity that makes the 'they can do no wrong' thing really prominant, but also he knows about traditions and rules and probaly assumes that they would be SUPER strict, so he holds himself in extremely high expectation as if to please a god) and there isn't death. There isn't pressure that grows as tides change, as people leave and get presumed dead, as lives under his watch aren't at risk. War is an ever changing responsibility, where REAL lives that you can actually comprehend because they're right in front of you, are at stake

I imagine he originally took up the role because watching the master emerald is similar. He protects mobian and human lives alike by doing so, if he watches the emerald and stops it from being stolen, he protects people. And if he watches over this army of people and steers them in the right way, he protects people

Also, it's clear from frontiers that Knuckles is actually really interested in strategy and ancient combat and the like. So it's also possible it's a part of his architect and exploratory interest in diffrent historical events peeking through

When Sonic was taken to the death egg, people assumed he was dead. Sonic was, by all means, a beacon of hope. He provided determination, and gave everybody the idea that, eventually, they would get out of the tough spot

So, when he 'died', Knuckles was left with that job. He had to keep moral high, and hope imminent.

But he's not that good at it. He preaches glory, victory, an end to the war, but people lose hope anyway because Sonic is held in such high regard that people can't seem to beleive that he was bested. And if sonic was bested, then, well...what's the use in trying? NOBODY could match his skill, and he's dead now. So hope is gone and what's the point?

So, it's a tough spot for him. He's lost a friend, everybody is depressed, he doesn't know the first thing about sonics impression of hope, and he's stuck playing leader to a war he himself is giving up on

Don't get him wrong, he wants to WIN. wants to avenge those who killed his friend, and face glory and peace once again. But he just...can't. The pressure is piling up, and while he gradually builds up others confidence, he sees EVERYTHING. He sees the lies put in place of hope, and he doesn't know what to do

Sonic was the one who introduced him to the concept of anything and everything outside of his island, taught him hope and friendship, and now he's dead.

Anyway, while knuckles is a good leader, he's not mentally adjusted for all of its tribulations. As is common for leaders during GENUINE warfare, but I digress

Knuckles and Sonic are simular in the way that they both take on so much pressure. They both have tasks that they 'NEED to do' because they're the ONLY ones fit for the task. In knuckles' case it's much more literal, but LIKE sonics case, it just isn't like that anymore

Having friends now makes looking after the emerald easier than ever. He may not have his tribe, but he's sort of...built a new one, out of the friends he's made. He doesn't have to be there ALONE. People would help, hell, they could take a note out of Sonic underground's book and hand Knuckles a bunch of island defense systems. We all know tails would be more than up for the job

Still, he takes on this responsibility because he assumes its expected of him. And, maybe it WAS

But he's his own person, and he deserves his own life. He has a connection with chaos energy that makes him perfect as the protector, but thats not all he is. And he knows it.

Also, I want to bring back the hidden magic cave for the master emerald to live in. It would be so much harder to steal if it wasn't just sitting at an open air alter on the top of a floating island like a BEACON. Sonic 3 and Knuckles had that hiding spot on POINT, imagine how much safer the emerald would be, and how much more FREEDOM knuckles would have, if tails just upgraded that bad boy a little bit

It's a fixable problem, guys. I know sega wants to have an open plot point at ALL times, so they make the master emerald easier to steal, but Jesus man, you gotta give my guy a break. Why introduce an entire hidden space, perfect for the containment and protection of the master emerald, and then NOT put it there??? DUDE

(That's also probably another reason for the game not being considered cannon. Ik another reason is hyper sonic, obviously, but both concepts kick ass and I want them back. Petition to make sonic 3 and knuckles cannon)

Sonic and Knuckles

Okay, I know I touched up on their relationship a bit in the Knuckles' rundown, but there's a lot more to say. Also, I'm aware that the Knuckles section was disappointingly short, his character has a LOT going on, but there's not a lot to actually say since a lot of it is pretty obvious. Most of Knuckles' interesting attributes actually come out when prompted by others, due to his isolation, which is where Sonic comes in

Sonic and Tails were the second people he met in his LIFE. and he has a good relationship with Tails that I may talk on at a later date, but his relationship with Sonic is genuinely really interesting

See, Sonic was a literall PROPHECY. He was engraved into the rocks on the island, and he was most likely studied and theorised about in his time on the island.

For knuckles, with nothing to do but wait, I have no doubt that he read those texts RELENTLESSLY. so he knows of this hedgehog, prophecised to protect the world from threat, and then he meets a hedgehog. Obviously he's been tricked, but the dots don't connect until they're on the same side, because he's so disconnected from things outside his island, that he can't actually comprehend at first that THIS, right here, infront of his very eyes, is an actual PROPHECY. I bet he wasn't expecting to live at the same time as him, maybe he assumed it'd already happened, or would soon happen long after his own life. Its just not every day you befriend a prophecy okay, I Don't blame the poor guy

(Also, sidebar. How does he know how to read? To talk??? Ik echidna come from eggs so him being born there, fine, I can accept. But HOW is he possibly able to comprehend writings not only in ancient texts, but the more modern language as well??? Was it the master emerald? Does it talk to him? Did it TEACH knuckles how to fucking read? Talk??)

And in a way, that gives Knuckles a link back to his tribe. And that link, of all things, is SONIC

Because somehow, his tribe has prophecised his existence, and the good he'd bring with him. They had deemed this mobian so important that they carved his image into rock. Surely, he must have been a common topic

Would they be proud of knuckles for being the one to greet him? Or would they shrivel up in disappointment at their first interactions?

Sonic and Knuckles have an interesting character dynamic, because they're both simular, while also being drastically opposite from one another

They both uphold ridiculous responsibility. Sonic is the protector of the people, there to fight off any threats and keep them safe. Knuckles is the protector of the master emerald, a more behind the scenes method of protection, as if it was left in the wrong hands, people would surely die. More than that, they're both hero's to the public

They also both adore adventure and exploration

Knuckles is a solitary creature, moreso by habit than by introvertedness, and his passions in traveling are often squandered by his job

Sonic is an outgoing creature, always social and optimistic. This is partially his extrovertedness, and partially his general likeness. While I wouldn't say sonic is an introvert either, maybe saying he's an extrovert Is also not necessarily true. In sonic x especially, he's shown to very much enjoy his time alone, although fluctuates that mantra when in the company of those he trusts

Anyway, Sonic is free flowing, able to do whatever he wants really. And knuckles is the opposite. While they both strive for simular things, their actual actions are very diffrent

Sonic is also optimistic, outgoing, energetic, and generally quite relaxed. Knuckles on the other hand, is reclusive, cold, calculating and fierce. He often refuses to 'relax', taking his position as guardian VERY seriously

Their personalities mesh surprisingly well, considering all of this

When Knuckles was introduced to society via flying fox and prophecy 'god', that cemented the end of an era for him. Obviously he knew there was things outside of his island, but things like technology, and all the things that existed outside that he'd never even heard of, often turns a guys perspective upside down.

So Sonic and Tails introduced society, and friendship. Sonic is stubborn, not one to give up on things he's pursuing, and his friendship with Knuckles is no different. Because Knuckles is so used to isolation, he struggles to accept the drastic change that his life Is undergoing, and part of that change is the inclusion of people

So he acts cold on purpose a lot to deter people, as a protection for himself, and the master emerald. Cause, if someone gets close to him, he may let his guard down and then the emerald would be at risk. He's afraid of forming any type of relationships at first because he's never had to forge one before, and he doesn't know how to feel about it all

Luckily for him, Sonic is stubborn. He sees someone lonely, and able to kick his ass, and thinks 'yeah, we are actually going to be best friends I think'

Anyway because of Sonics stubbornness, and consistency, Knuckles and him are friends. I imagine that Sonic visits him, as well as their other friends, but Sonic specifically doesn't seem the type to just LET knuckles be alone on an island

Plus the tornado IS his plane, he could fly it up if he really wanted to

Anyway throughout the years, Knuckles and Sonic have a healthy respect for one another. They were rivals once, and then friends, but they aren't afraid to challange eachother because they're truly equals

So Sonic and Knuckles are friends. Cool, great. HOW does this relate to the sun and moon dynamic further than their original opposites?

I'm so glad you asked!

Sun and moon

So for some context, for those of you who are unaware, Sonic and knuckles designs are representing the Sun and moon by CANNON DESIGN CHOICES. Sonics tummy fur is meant to represent the sun, and obviously, Knuckles sidewards crescent moon is meant to represent, well, the MOON

The way that the sun and moon dynamic works is like this:

"a merging of opposites , unity and cooperation instead of conflicts, and rebirth"

Thanks Pinterest matching tattoo post!

Anyway, at the start, Knuckles and Sonic are at odds. They're complete opposites at a first glance. And then they're given the chance to be better, be friends, and suddenly their dynamic is just the best thing in the world ever oh god its SO PURE AND SLAY?!?!

The moons characteristics are as follows

Constant

Steady

Reliable

Straightforward / blunt

Compassionate

The sun's characteristics are as follows

Impulsive

Energetic

Strong willed

Intense

THESE ARE THEIR TRAITS!!!

Knuckles is often the one to have a level head. Yes he is shown to have bursts of anger, or lapses in judgement, but it's driven by his passion (And his emotional stunted upbringing). People often turn to him in times of need within their friendship group because he's well known to be wise, at least about chaos energy (which is most often what they need to know about anyway, hoorah for world centric magic types). He's blunt because of his lack of social awareness mostly. And while he's getting better, he's still pretty straightforward. He doesn't seem to care about sugar coating things for people, with the more 'this is how it is, undiluted, face the world and its problems' vibe

And Sonic. He's impulsive because he wants to live while he still can, he's energetic because speed literally RUNS THROUGH HIS VEINS like a vice, unstoppable and unrealistic. He's strong willed and determined, never backing down, STUBBORN in a way that Knuckles can almost match. Knuckles has been proven to share that drive, its one of their common grounds, but he also knows when to quit. That's their separation, because Sonic doesn't take no for an answer when lives are at stake. He's intense, all encompassing. His presence is almost distracting. Not only because of his social status but just because of his general vibe, sunny and bold

I like to bring actual science into this because it makes the metaphor even better IMO, so let me set the scene

Knuckles is the moon, because he is distant. He likes to keep to himself, and he is steadfast. He is strong, steady, and confident. He has an important purpose that he takes very seriously, and has lived his life in gentle solitude in tune with the nature away from him. He has spent a lot of his life floating, separated from people and their kinship

Enter: Sonic T. Hedgehog. He's intense in a way that is so noticeable that knuckles CANNOT ignore. Its a passion that he respects, and eventually, he finds himself closer than ever to him. You'd think being so close to the sun would get you burned, and it's maybe that apprehension that keeps him at a steady distance even still. Even when his light seems to bring out all of the best parts of him

Just like the moon only lights up the night sky because of the suns grace, Knuckles is only able to let himself flourish because Sonic had brought all of the best parts about him to light. It's cheesy, sure, but it's something he cherishes because he feels more like himself than he ever has in his solitude

There's still this fear, at arms length, because Sonic is so good. If he's a sun he is worshipped. He is looked up to and loved, people bathe in his light and leave gifts at his alter. He is so far away, it's insane

But maybe he doesn't notice, that people worship the moon too. And the sun is the biggest supporter. He shines so that people appreciate him, see all that he does. And people regard them together, because its the sun and the moon. They both float so far away from everyone else, only close enough to eachother by sheer magnitude. They're imposing and intense, and nobody else can even get close. And no matter how many people worship the sun, there is only one who may get close enough to FEEL his heat

And that is the moon

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beevean · 1 year

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I read your tags about Silver, and I hadn't considered that yet... so maybe you are right, haha. I just find it a shame; I love the idea of external Sonic media broadening the world and diving into stories the games can't tell simply because those are restricted to a game format the story must be tailored to. I really find it unfortunate that current external media like Prime kind of seem to fumble the ball for me with trying to have Sonic go through developments he does not need in the first place. And then if the premise also does not catch my attention on top, and the other characters allegedly got mangled as well... It does not make me unhappy, it's just a kids' show in the grand scheme of things, but again, it's just a shame. I want to love it and enjoy it, I really do, but so far it seems that things that would help make me love it, like IC characters and nice interactions between them, might not be in there.

I'm very salty that in 32 years, the only adaptation that tried to stick close to the game universe and tried to expand it has been IDW.

Yeah.

Even good adaptations are not very faithful - I like the OVA as many do here, but there was no need for the Land of Sky/Darkness and the odd catpeople populating it. Sonic X was basically a reverse isekai lmao. AoSTH was Looney Tunes Lite, SatAM was a huge exaggeration of the Classics' environmental message turned into a dystopic world, Boom was its own odd AU, the movies are very loose retellings of the games so far and set in the human world like X, and Underground was Underground.

And Prime keeps the tradition by being about the multiverse, and too bad that no universe can be as fleshed out as the canon one for obvious reasons. And it pretends to have depth by adding unnecessary "character development", which results in characters that are actually not the characters I've grown fond of.

I think the ideal Sonic adaptation should simply be slice of life stories, something cute like Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (this sounds so weird out of context jfdskfhk). Or like the last IDW issue - I liked seeing Knuckles and Amy travel through Angel Island to put an ancient artifact to its place, all while bantering. It was cute! It was about characters I care about! It was about characters that in the game barely speak to each other! It was about a location from the games, a game that I played and I can recognize and I want to see more of! That! I want that! Why does everyone insist on creating AUs that have nothing to do with the canon series? D:

#sonic the hedgehog #trust me friend: i've learned my lesson after netflixvania #sometimes... seeing your faves in a bad adaptation... is a worse insult than them being shafted

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gayemeralds · 2 years

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what's your opinion on Amy? And I wonder, do you have any theories revolving her?

I LOVE AMY she means everything to me. her story in the games and how she impacts sonic has always been important to me... it's because of her that i think sonic learned to forgive people who've crossed him. i don't think sonic would be able to befriend so many of his old enemies without her. we see it in sa1 for sure, when she defends gamma from him, and while its a small moment in game canon i do think it eventually paves the way for sa2 and after, where sonic will becomes friends with shadow and similar characters.

and taking into account that cd occurs before sonic 3, and even sonic 2, with amy being sonic's first friend... she leaves a VERY big impact on him in a way i don't think she entirely realises. because we all know SONIC leaves big impact on her- he teaches her to stand up for herself, to be herself, and to learn to fight for herself. he's her hero, and a very important friend.

but amy is also one of sonic's first friends, if not the very first. amy's the one who teaches him compassion, forgiveness. she teaches him just as much as he teaches her. they've both important to each other's narratives, no matter how small of a moment it was.

i love amy a lot, and im not super bothered by her crush on sonic. she's twelve, sonic saved her, and he's super cool! who wouldn't crush on him, honestly. and a huge part of amy's character is her unabashed passion and love! she's very very kind even if she's a little too harsh or loud. she always means well. i think she also makes a very good contrast to sonic- her heart is always on her sleeve, while sonic tends to be much more private.

i think the two of them work super well together- they bring out the best in each other, even if they don't realise it. it's give and take, a sort of opposites attract.

i always thought amy would be a little more fun if she got to be one of sonic's rivals, too. like if she can beat him, then she sort of proves her worth. that's bad phrasing but i think she would be a rival in that she wants to fight him to show him how much she's grown, and that she can protect him just as well as he can protect her. and also because i think amy deserves to fight more.

anyway, as for theories about her... i have this one half baked idea that she's actually knuckle's half sister or something. i always headcanoned that knuckles had parents, and they disappeared because they went to search down on the surface to try to find a better life for them and their son. however, when they get to the surface, they can't find their way back to angel island, and so they're forced to settle on earth. one of them dies and then they eventually get with a hedgehog and BOOM. amy is born. it can be edited and shifted around a bit but i really did love the idea amy was actually part echinda.

#amy amy amy i love amy #sonamy narratively can be SO good but it has to be done JUST RIGHT or else it's really really really bad #uncompormisable people learning to compromise....#master emerald brothel

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umbra-borealis · 2 months

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Once again begging people to understand that 'aging up a character' does not immediately mean the writer is sexualizing them. There are other reasons, plot driven reasons for doing it and exploring the concept. Fiction and media does it all the time and it can in fact heighten our affinity for characters if we can see them literally grow and change. You can't tell me there wasn't a single thing you watched, read or played that had a jump in time, a sort of 'where are they now?' segment. How many times did these characters happen to be children who grew up and maybe even started a family of their own? A fact of life is that growing up happens to literally all of us and if you wanna stay in a lala-land where that doesn't happen, sure, you do you, but don't harass other people about it.

For some of us childhood was dogshit, we have trauma, we have problems and it can help to see a character we've looked up to as a child navigate the same, or similar problems. There's a sense of solidarity and comfort in that that sadly not a lot of real people tend to have for you. It's also super insulting to say things like 'get help' or 'get a therapist' as a snide remark because that isn't easy for everyone. I in fact did have therapy and was 'let go' because my insurance wouldn't cover anymore sessions and I 'wasn't bad enough' to keep on, nor can I afford to pay it myself. Just, think beforehand you say that stuff. We all cope differently, we don't ask have the same options.

And before you go and ask me 'why do you need to see minors in explicit situations' I'd first ask you to look up the definition of the word because it definitely doesn't mean 'sexual'. Its means 'clearly'. Then I'd ask you to look towards the source content. It matters a lot of the thing you're talking about is Gumball or Sonic because the latter has a grown ass man trying to *kill* what are essentially children then, doesn't it? That's pretty fucking intense already, so what's the difference? Their 'powers'? So what happens to the kids in 'Into the Spiderverse' is also okay funi cartoon violence? Callum being possessed in the Dragon Prince wasn't severely traumatizing? So then why do the writers of those series, movies and games want to 'put kids in harmful/adult situations' then huh? And if you can't answer that because you "don't like that kind of content' fair I guess but I scratch my head at folks who both interact with that media and yet turn a blind eye to how pretty messed up and severe those things are to a child, if not the character then the children seeing that. I have nephews and a niece, the youngest of which sat on my couch, mouth agape and asking 'Is he going to be okay?!' when Tails got knocked out in the second Sonic movie. It's hypocrisy to me. And don't come at me if you're one of those people on tiktok with brainrot going 'I wish there was a movie where nothing bad happened in it ever!!' Because I mean... there are, it's mostly for toddlers though and even in those shows there's a *threat* (swiper no swiping anyone?) You clearly have yet to learn that we are being raised alongside the presence of threats not to harm or traumatize us, but to teach us how to recognize those threats and what to do when we encounter them.

Children aren't stupid, stop treating them like frail figurines to be kept in a glass display case, you're not helping them with that. You help them more by teaching them the ways of the world through fiction, yes, even the fantasy stuff. Also, sometimes media featuring children isn't necessarily for children but rather just an epic tale about unlikely heroes who we see growing up into warriors and kings. Its not about the kids or the fact they're kids, it's about the world they're in, the people they meet that help shape them. The adults they become are pathworks of their childhood, their friends, their family and yes, the hardships they went through and overcame *just like we are.*

I've rambled on long enough but I think it's just genuinely sad that if I want to write a story about an alt future for some sonic characters, I get scared there will be 'consequences' when it's got not a single instance of sexualization in it due to me having my own trauma and finding it hard to write that no matter who the characters are, even if they're my own, adult, OCs. Especially for an audience. It makes me gravitate more towards Sly Cooper where the characters already are adults but you guessed it! That's a kids stealth game with instances of trauma and violence! The main character *sees* his father being murdered at 7 years old!

We writers don't put children and minors through difficult or grown up situations not because we're out to get you specifically (if you're not a fan of that stuff) but because of a multitude of complex little reasons that could all fall under the same umbrella of 'for the plot.' Whatever happened to a good origin story where grief, revenge, anger and pain are something that can drive both a hero and a villain forward but towards different paths? Whatever happened to showing kids a character they can relate to, who's cleverly outsmarting a bad guy or fixing a situation with their strengths? I don't want to live in an environment where artists and writers can't raise difficult questions and situations, where they can't write about their own childhood trauma through the safer medium of fiction to get people discussing the matter, you have no idea how it makes people, regardless of age, feel seen when it's handled with attention to detail and respect for the subject matter.

And if you disagree, if you don't like anything I just did or still can't find the reasoning in why it's one of the most utilized concepts in fiction without immediately becoming 'sexually explicit' then I'm sorry but that's a *you* problem. Don't take it out on other people.

#Okay rant over thank u #I used to be Like That by the way I used to be horribly strict #that only good things could happen or I wouldn't even give it the time of day #It severely harmed me! :D #It only aided me in training myself to avoid difficult and negative emotions! :D #It took two years of therapy to unlearn that and I'm still not 'done' tbh #You're right fiction CAN affect reality though not 100% of the time #and not with every genre of fiction out there plus it can also affect reality positively!#But you're so busy with whether or not something hurts someone else that you didn't stop to question if its hurting *you*#I know you probably think the things that make you sad are immediately bad and you can just 'choose' not to be #But that's not how the human brain works and if you wanna find that out the hard way be my guest!#But don't harass me or anyone about it

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thecoolertails · 1 year

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youre so right i LOVE bollers writing and fry art... i think theyre just not talked about much because anyone who isnt an archie fan can only stand to bring up penders or how "weiirrrrdd" archie is, which doesnt rlly apply to these two its just straight up good. its a good comic book and its a good sonic thing as well. good sonic comic book. very glad seeing your thoughts and liveblogging abt these issues because i felt very similarly when i was reading the comic for the first time as well!!! its always nice to find someone who shares opinions about something with you ... and i am very excited to see your reaction to parts of the comic later down the line :)

its good! its really so good! i cant believe that #51-#159 is considered the "dark era" of archie when like. this is so good!?? imo post-mecha madness through endgame (eugh especially right before and during endgame) was the lowpoint of the series for me (actually even when i got to mecha madness the first time i couldn't really appreciate it bc gag era was wearing me down i was just kind of burning out at that point, but looking back on it now i can see that it was really pretty good. and i love spaz's art so there's always that)

the part im at now is peak sonic to me and its perfect that theyre approaching the adventure era because the tone of the comic at this point meshes really well with the tone of those games! they both mix in darker plots and concepts with the fun cartoony vibe inherent to sonic, with larger than life stakes and baddies. karl bollers feels like he really *gets* sonic, and everyone else on the team is pulling their weight as well like all the artists and the other writers (even penders has grown a lot. even if there's certain penderisms that'll always be present, he can at least write an engaging narrative now)

anyway its awesome we're in agreement abt archie stuff! you were definitely a big reason why i kept going back to it and sticking with it through the bad times after giving up and taking some long pauses, and now im super glad i did. and im ALSO really excited about what's to come down the line! i kind of know about some stuff through osmosis but even then i only really know the broader details, and obviously getting there myself will be a whole other thing

#like i knew about robo-robotnik coming back and was excited for it but actually reading through it??? oh my god #fantastic #eeee im so excited #my posts #archie sonic posting

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gbgamebun · 2 years

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Road to Cream 64 v1 Part 6-3: Vibin' in the Sky

So turns out there's actually gonna be four parts to this. Thanks, Eggy. ANYWAY

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Tall Tall Mountain: Sonic Adventure - Mt. Red: A Symbol of Thrill (Red Mountain) Secret Slide: Mario and Sonic 2014 - Slide (SM64)

Ya know after all these versions, I cannot find a track that better suits TTM better than this. I mean the two levels are kind of similar in structure, minus the random explosions and construction on Red Mountain. Still, can't go wrong with a classic.

The secret area is kind of a weird one. Cause I had originally set the music for the race against Gemerl, since the original version is also this same song. Around the time I was getting to the extra areas, I was hitting the original hard cap on sequence files you could add, which was 50 total. So here I would just end up reusing the race track for the slide since I didn't have much of a choice.

Smaller areas like the secret star levels are like this for the same reason, except for one.

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Tiny-Huge Island (original track): Team Sonic Racing - Lost Palace Actually Used: Sonic Lost World - Juice Archipelago Wiggler Cavern: Sonic Mania - Lava Reef Act 2

The level always had tropical vibes to me, so digging around I had a few in mind. Still trying to find tracks in games I haven't touched, I landed over to TSR and found this. Liked it enough to put it in for a bit and is even in footage I recorded for previews.

Eventually I felt it was a bit too fast paced for the level and ended up swapping it out for something a little less intense. And so back we go to the Lost World pool...Again not a bad track per say, just another instance of me grabbing a song from the game that's basically a Mario game.

Wiggler's Cave being Lava Reef Act 2 was kind of a "ehhh I guess it fits?" moment. I had nothing in mind and was just glancing at what I had put aside to use. In later versions, I would just remove it entirely and just reuse DDD's track cause of that hard limit I mentioned earlier.

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Tick Tock Clock: Sonic Unleashed - Rooftop Run Night

I had ask some people for ideas on what to use for TTC cause it's kind of a unique level type for Sonic. Sure, you had him going through factories or large mechanical structures but nothing like a clock tower.

It's funny cause my mind instantly went to this track but I never considered it at first till someone just went "well why not just use it?" and here we are, simple as that.

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Rainbow Ride: Sonic Runners - End of the Summer

So this is another one of those I had in my mind playing before I even had a chance to implement it into the game itself. It bares repeating, if you haven't had a chance to hear this game's ost, give it a listen. It's real good and it's a damn shame it's all stuck and gone in a gacha game.

I remember this track being part of a special event, no idea if it was ever actually in the sky, but it has that vibe of flying through the sky. Hopping from cloud to cloud, traversing the floating platforms. I just wish the track was like shorter by a minute but I refuse to remove it. It's too perfect to me.

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Princess Secret Slide: Sonic Advance 2 - Leaf Forest (unused)

So this track ended up being used twice: One for the initial splash screen with the giant Mario head, and the track mentioned here. It does become clear that this was meant mostly as a trailer track or even a menu track (or even back when Advance 2 may have been a slower platformer like the first one), it's hard to say but it's really grown on me and I wanted to use it somewhere.

And as mentioned before, this is the only other secret star stage to have its own unique track as I guess I had this in mind for that level rather than the Mario head screen, especially since I would just skip that part in later versions.

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Boss Theme: Sonic Adventure 2 - Master of the Desert (Egg Golem) Actually used: Sonic Mania - Ruby Delusions (Eggman Boss 1)

(Just left a link to the song in the Egg Golem header)

I was kind of shuffling between tracks to see which one I wanted to use. Sonic has a wide range of really good boss tracks so it was just a matter of preference and what games haven't I used. For the time being I went with the first one, since I haven't used many SA2 tracks and it's pretty short.

Eventually I gravitated toward Mania cause it's such a vibe. Sure it's longer and could eat up more space, but suddenly hearing that against King Bob-Omb should let you know what exactly you're in for with this hack. Still the boss track to the latest versions.

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Wing/Vanish Cap: Sonic & Knuckles Collection: Unused Track (Or well was unused)

Had this one in mind for a while cause aside from the allure of it being an unused track, let alone a super sonic unused track, it did kind of fit that sense of majesty with the wing cap. Not so much the vanish cap but they shared the same track so not much choice there (least for now).

For this I actually had to find a rip of the midis from the Sonic & Knuckles PC Collection and use that. Sure, there were other midis in the usual spot, but I thought it felt more appropriate to grab one from an official source since there was actually one I could use. On that same subject...

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Metal Cap: Team Sonic Racing - Team Ultimate: Amy Actually Used: Sonic & Knuckles Collection - Chrome Gadget

Did the same thing as Egg Golem for the TSR track cause of space.

The logic was that this was short and easy to loop plus a nice guitar riff for metal explorin'. Only reason it got replaced was to save up on space so there's another one. Shame, I do enjoy the TSR tracks but I don't think most of them fit the pace of SM64 which I guess makes sense.

I guess to keep things consistent between the cap themes, I chose another midi from the S&K Collection. Chrome Gadget is a bop but still it's just a bit silly in retrospect. Still, I'm happy I got to go ham with the Metal Cap sound bank and those percussion samples.

That just leaves the Eggman specific ones so that'll have to go into Part 4 ->

#super cream 64 #sc64 #road to cream 64 #rom hack #super mario 64 #sonic adventure #sonic and knuckles collection #sonic advance 2 #sonic unleashed #team sonic racing #soundtrack #Youtube

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ganymedesclock · 3 years

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Ooh ooh ooh, how about your version of Sonic for the powers thing?

You see, Sonic is fast, because if he doesn't keep ahead of his problems, he'll have to actually think about them, and then he'll have a crisis.

This is partially a fun opener joke and it's also not. I'll let you decide how much of each it is. In the meantime, I'm going to talk about what my reads of various canons inspire in me, and how that informs Worlds AU, a bit more than talking about Worlds AU itself.

So Sonic in the initial game canon, started out with an extremely simple conceit. You can see this mirrored across all of the non-Amy classic characters: Sonic runs, that's his thing; Tails flies, Knuckles punches, Eggman makes robots and also problems, which sort of condenses into one thing considering the role robots have in the classic games.

(that damn caterkiller has cost me SO many attempts at a chaos emerald...)

This sort of got to be a problem as the games advanced. In particular, the Sonic game I started on was Sonic Adventure 2, which pitted Sonic very prominently off of Shadow. At this point, character concepts are no longer about simple capabilities, and every other member of the cast has grown up. (even Amy... though not too much. sorry Amy). Tails is now building robots to go with how his flight allows him to reach unconventional 'tricky' routes; Knuckles is now more of an adventurer, explorer, and even a mystic given his history and relationship with the emeralds. This earthly pugilist sense grounds him in a more versatile skill-set.

Sonic... basically his gimmick was remaining true to the classic formula- he was still the one going fast, popping those shuttle loops, and tumbling through a chaotic universe. Yes, they absolutely polished this and put flourishes on it- now he's grinding rails and flipping on poles, this sense of street-smart parkour that carries him cheekily through any environment...

But he's played off Shadow, where the thing about Shadow, especially in the first game, is Shadow is a person who suppresses most of his personality for his context. Not in an inorganic or badly written sense, mind- but he outright says to Rouge at one point that it doesn't matter if anything he remembers is fake- in essence, that it's more real than he is, and a dead person's wish is more important than his life.

Shadow is a soldier, is an alien, is a bioweapon, is a teleporter and he shoots lasers. We are beyond the days of simple conceits; if he was conceived in the classic era, he'd have probably been either only a jet-skater or a teleporter, and that one conceit about how he moved through the world would've been through everything.

Sonic picks up the chaos control from Shadow- in direct reaction to Shadow- and this is commented on. In this scene, Sonic not only rejects Shadow's unhealthy obsession with context- that where he came from was everything- but mirrors it with an attitude that, frankly, to me, rings just as unbalanced- Sonic basically denies having a backstory whatsoever.

"What you see is what you get!" he says.

And that flew in the classic era. We didn't really have a consistent or strongly-drawn backstory over why Sonic was fast. Most continuities around that era point it to either an accident or a happenstance synergy with an outside force. But we didn't really need a story over why Tails can fly or why Knuckles had spurs on his fists.

But in the modern era... there's context. Many characters have superpowers. And more and more, there was a sense that those superpowers had context and history, whether the outright spelled, like Shadow (he was engineered to be capable of this; if you look at him, he has most of the abilities you'd expect of a boss fight in Resident Evil, minus the squelchy, infectious sorts and the Black Arms imply he could well have those and just not use them)

...or the simply alluded, such as Blaze's ominous comment that her flames are the reason she was always alone.

Sonic... clearly has powers. He's been reframed to keep up with he setting as it changes. But that exchange between him and Shadow- where Shadow looks at what Sonic is capable of, looks at him, and asks, verbatim, "what are you," and Sonic delivers a non-answer so naked and so certain that there's not really anything to say to that.

To this end, while I think it's highly intuitive that they picked the wind as the motif to spice Sonic up to- with its sense of freedom, and with its association with speed- I think there's also something about air in general that connects to Sonic.

Air is... omnipresent. It has an extremely complex seething system high overhead. Enormous paths and belts and spirals of wind curl over us all the time, pushing clouds the size of entire states around like it's nothing. When you look at the sky, it looks stationary. But wait, squint- it's actually moving. It's actually moving really fast.

One of my absolute favorite characterizing moments of Sonic is in Archie Comics, specifically the post-reboot series. To keep context minimal, Tails confides in Sonic that he's losing his memory of a certain incident that affected both of them, and he's worried; Sonic reassures him, typical hero big brother best friend, and gives him a big hug. The scene is warmly lit.

The very next panel is literally in the shadows, over Tails' shoulder and behind his back. And Sonic's expression is... troubled. Telling. We immediately understand from that alone he just lied, and has no ability to 'just remember for Tails'.

Sonic is not a vacuous person. He's not empty, he's not innocent, and he's certainly not just your same good nostalgic friend who never changed or got complicated so you don't have to reevaluate all of those things- the guy you can always count on, just like the sky is always there- but he sure pretends to be all of those things, and tries to keep the stormy weather as far away from other people as possible.

This is given another heroic-sounding-but-actually-concerning context in Sonic Unleashed, one of several games in which Sonic shows a maybe suspicious but profound aptitude for darkness where he guzzles and serves as a very powerful conduit for the energy of Dark Gaia, who is strongly connoted with rage, despair, denial, and other states considered bad for your health.

Sonic asks Chip- who he's just found out is Dark Gaia's counterpart- if it was his protection that kept him from losing his mind the entire time. Chip denies this, and states instead it's that "you never let the darkness win."

The thing is... anger and sadness are actually pretty important to feel. And it's actually not true that Sonic as a character doesn't feel anger- there's a few rather notable scenes in which he really loses his cool, some of them within Sonic Unleashed itself (he actually scares Eggman at the culmination of the Egg Dragoon fight) and in the game Sonic and the Secret Rings he actually achieves a super form powered by negative emotions- and that game also ends on a surprisingly melancholy note, where Shahra, when leaving Sonic, specifically gives him a bunch of tissues, a nod to how they met, and specifically "So you can cry as much as you need to."

Sonic is a good person. But Sonic is also... kind of a liar. He has this powerful connection to these highly destructive and dangerous entities- Dark Gaia, Chaos- and this is a thing he, pointedly, doesn't wonder about. And it's not arrogance, or an inability to consider the possibilities- in Sonic Colors he is very real with himself that he can't outrun a black hole, but only admits that once Tails is out of earshot on the one safe ride away from it- and while gearing up to try to do so anyway.

Wind is a contradictory thing. In the sky, we consider the possibility of ultimate freedom; flight and wings are often depicted as symbols of enormous power and efficacy because the very notion of being able to go wherever you want to captivates us.

On the other hand, though, a state of freefall is terrifying. In the unparalleled freedom of the sky, absolutely nothing can catch you if you fall.

(you know, except Tails, if you're fighting Eggman in Marble Garden- I'll leave)

We can talk about a bolt from the blue, a sudden storm or a just-as-sudden clear blue sky... the mechanisms of the air around us are often very hard to perceive for their superficial simplicity. And on sunny days when the wind lazes slowly through the leaves, it's hard to think of it as capable of hurricane forces.

I guess the note I want to leave this on is, it's pretty interesting how Sonic genuinely likes running, but he also tends to either outrun or fight anything that stresses him out- and "what he is" and "what he's capable of" is something he really doesn't like talking about even if he's happy to show or compete it.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic worlds AU #readmore

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mountaingoatsfirstlineaday · 2 years

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I've always wondered why John repeatedly says his guitar skill + compositional creativity has improved a lot from his early days (obviously everyone's does as they practice, not what I mean)—so much of his early lowest-fi stuff is really experimental and fun sounding to me! E.g. "Chinese House Flowers" with its G7, F7 E7 ending to say nothing of the main chord progression in the song, "Alpha Gelida" which is just fucking amazing, the coroner's gambit studio version of "Shadow Song" which is soooo much more powerful than the I V centric version of it I've heard live, tunes like "bluejays and cardinals" or "new Britain" that make heavy use of suspended chords... And a lot of these early tunes have little melodic picking parts in them too. I love all his stuff but to me the boombox stuff is a lot more sonically interesting than the heavily folk/country inspired instrumentation he sometimes uses on later songs. It's different and a lot of the new stuff is harmonically complex too, don't get me wrong, but I feel like he underrates some of the lyricism and songwriting of his early stuff. Sorry for the huge ask but I wondered if you had thoughts on this

ayyyy never apologize for a big ask!! i love getting stuff like this. give me your thoughts 😈

I get what you mean, though. And I agree with you -- I love the newer stuff deeply and with every inch of my soul but there is something very... interesting, and special, about the lo-fi era of tmg music. Imo it's a little less accessible, it makes you work a little harder as a listener to figure out what the hell's goin' on, and that makes it a different experience from the newer stuff. Not inherently good or bad, but very very different.

The first thing your question brought to mind for me is how he thought that The Sunset Tree was the last record he was ever going to get to make: "But then after we moved here, I, you know, I wasn't quite sure what we were gonna do and our original contract with 4AD was for three records, and I sort of, because I'm me and I'm kind of defeatist and I have a thing about worrying that nobody actually likes me and that someday this will all be taken away, you know, I was like, well, we're gonna get to the third album of the contract and then you have to go back to the nursing business, right. So that's why I sort of, like, opened up and said 'well, I'm gonna tell a story that is true for the third record 'cause it'll probably be the last Mountain Goats record that ever gets made', was the thinking in my mind." (source) (if anyone has a video where he says this speech, that'd be great! I only know it from the wikia page on tst).

And he thought this after he had made ahwt and tallahassee.

John Darnielle can probably see in a lot more detail than we can how and in what ways he's grown as an artist, because obviously he's privy to all of the inner workings of his music. I can speak as a person who's been doing creative things for my entire life, including songwriting, that having to interact with your old work can be incredibly painful. Not just in a cringy "I can't believe I ever made that" way, but also because it might remind you of old times, events, or feelings that you'd really rather leave behind. It can be easier and better for your mental health to diminish your old work to cringe, unintelligent drivel, novice shit, etc etc to make it hurt less. Obviously I'm not John Darnielle and am definitely speaking from my own experiences, but I feel like it's a valid theory. I also come from a mentally ill place, and was abused as a child, and all of that frequently makes its way into my art.

It's also possible that as cool and fun and experimental as his old stuff is, it just isn't what he wants his music to sound like! In the early days of tmg there's a really good chance that the music sounds more experimental because it is. He was probably playing around a lot more, trying to figure out what he liked and how to make those sounds. This is also something to consider in the context of the evolving nature of the band. We've got our core group figured out now (John, Jon, Peter, and instrumental mastermind Matt) but in the early days there were tons of lineup changes and studio changes and production + mixing differences from album to album, and even from song to song, especially in the case of the triplet comp albums of 1999 (Ghana, Protein Source of the Future... Now!, and Bitter Melon Farm) and in the case of an album/ep/etc that had recordings from radio stations. If I remember the liner notes of the 2013 ahwt rerelease correctly, ahwt is the only album that the descriptor of "one guy alone in his house with a guitar (and the Panasonic RX-FT500)". I suppose that now, Songs for Pierre Chuvin also fits this description :)

Honestly, I think he underrates his old stuff too. There will never be a love song that hits me in quite the same way that Masher does. Never another song that makes me feel as hopeful as Onions and Elijah do. Hearing Water Song at the show on the 19th, I mean, it was transcendent! It's really beautiful, special material; that being said I also understand why he might shy away from it.

I hope this at least sort of is what you were talking about? If not, feel free to send in another ask and I will happily discuss more! This is my jam, and we all know how jd feels about jam...

#asks #fuck12 #not a first line #tmg #the mountain goats #john darnielle #seriously love this it took me like 50 mins to write this out and fact check myself. talk about a lovely morning #:)

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canyouhearthelight · 3 years

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The Miys, Ch. 134

Since I am queueing this chapter the same that I queued the last one, I just want to say:

If you have found my story in the last week, and liked it, thank you. It makes me smile when that happens.

If you shared my story with others, and they liked it, or even found a little bit of themselves in it, I’m very glad. Thank you for sharing something with your friends that they enjoyed.

As always, thank you to @the-raven-fae, @anotherusrname, @baelpenrose, and @charlylimph-blog for being my ports in all storms and the family everyone deserves to have.

Annnd the podcast. Don’t miss the podcast! I don’t profit from it in any way, shape, or form, but the idea of a version of this story that is more accessible for people who would struggle to read it is something that should always be supported!

A week later, I was wincing and out of breath when I reached my office for the day. Tyche had enthusiastically agreed with Arthur’s suggestion, and after some tests from Maverick showed that I could apparently kick hard enough to break a grown man’s pelvis - although not without also breaking my foot - I had been expected to be in the gym for nearly two hours every day. My legs hurt and my feet looked worse than the time I tried to learn ballet en pointe. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I was also apparently very slow in reacting with my legs as a result of years learning to fight with, you know, my hands. Like a normal person. This meant I was also wearing five pound weights on each ankle, all day, including when sparring.

So far, the only thing I had noticed was a demonstrably shorter patience and a reduction in how much I bounced my legs. Or sat comfortably.

I was so absorbed in my bad mood and how badly my legs hurt that I had already gotten coffee, greeted my mentees, and sat at my desk before I noticed something out of place. As usual, Parvati and Hannah were across from each other at the table they typically sat at, but Parvati was standing and demonstrating something.

While using the table emitter, which they only ever used for my benefit.

Tilting my head in what probably looked like what Sparkle’s expression when she was denied a treat, I watched as Parvati picked up a vaguely pen-shaped object - it really looked more like a sonic screwdriver than a writing implement - and started making neon pink lines of various widths, swirls to test the slant it would make, and using it at various speeds before closely considering the color of each line.

“What in the world is that?”

“Paint testers,” Hannah explained. “Charly dropped them off with Vati last night, along with the programming to simulate how they work so we could test them with an emitter and not a wall.”

“Paint?”

“For the Festival. Charly designed these for us to use instead of trying to get permission to use actual spray paint. The fumes of spray paint are apparently very caustic to Noah.”

I shuddered. “Yeah, no spray paint, clearly.”

Apparently satisfied with the pink, Parvati keyed her datapad to clear the emitter and picked up a different pen. This one was a beautiful lapis blue. “She’s quite brilliant,” she murmured as she tested the pen. “The pens work like an airbrush, but she took some inspiration from something Arthur Farro gifted her several years ago and ensured the pigment will only last three Ark-days. It also only appears under certain lighting.”

“And it’s non-toxic, of course,” Hannah added with a smile. “Because, you know… Charly.”

I hesitated before asking the next question. “How non-toxic are we talking?”

To my utter horror, rather than respond, Parvati opened her mouth and used a different button on the pen to paint her entire tongue blue. “They’re edible.” She closed her mouth with a smile before her eyebrows shot up. “Oh! That one is pomegranate!”

Hannah furiously made notations on her datapad before looking back up at me. “Vati already tested them on canvas in her quarters, but we also wanted to make sure the simulation software works so that we don’t waste pigment trying to figure out the design elements.”

“We’re also rather curious about what flavor each one is,” Parvati admitted before swapping to a toxic-looking green. “This one is peach, I do remember that. The pink was popcorn.”

I shook my head. “Do you want people licking the walls? Because this is how you get people to lick the walls.” I walked over as I was speaking and idly picked up one that was labelled as Titan Black.

Hannah snatched it away quickly. “That one is scotch bonnet flavor. I found that out the hard way.”

“I get making them non-toxic, but why are they flavored?” Hannah arched an eyebrow at me and I held my hands up defensively. “Other than the obvious application. Why design flavored paint pens for the Food Festival murals?”

Parvati blanked the emitter again and swapped pens. “That is going to be part of the design and experience,” she started to explain. “We originally wanted them non-toxic in case of the non-zero event that Else tries to eat the paint off the walls.” I nodded since ‘non-zero’ was putting it lightly. “Then I had the idea to include the possibility of Else eating the mural into its design. Rather than worry that Else will eat it, I am planning on it: I am going to create a piece that changes as the various colors are devoured.”

“Annnnnd how do you plan on controlling what order Else eats everything in?”

She waved to the row of pens on the table. “These are each in a flavor that we know Else likes. I am currently testing in my quarters what the order of preference is.”

As my mind started to catch up, I started nodding. “Your test swatches last night.”

“Precisely. I have them laying out in a grid, easily accessible to Else, and they are being monitored. We will take the recording and determine what the order of preference is from there.”

I shook my head with a huge grin. “That’s one hell of a performance art piece.”

Hannah straightened her posture in an imitation of Pravati’s normal ramrod-straight demeanor. “There is nothing more fitting for a celebration of how humanity persists in surviving, despite how transient and brief life can be, along with a clear showing of how we intend to welcome and embrace the differences between ourselves and those most different from us - even those who once nearly destroyed us but wished to make peace.”

“That’s frighteningly good,” Parvati praised nonchalantly as she squirted a fluorescent yellow into her mouth. “It makes no sense for that one to taste of something spicy.”

I took the pen and forced myself to spray it in my mouth. I perked up when it was actually very familiar and delicious. “It’s gochujang…” They both looked at me skeptically. “Apparently Else likes spicy food?”

“I’m starting to think this is how she flavors her popcorn,” Hannah murmured.

My head shook on that one. “No, all her popcorn is decidedly popcorn-flavored. The coloring is added while it is being made, along with the flavoring. Same thing with her ice-cream, and with the candy bars.”

“I agree,” Parvati added. “This pigment is quite wet, it would never work on something like popcorn.” Pausing in her testing, she turned to me. “She has made popcorn in your quarters before, did you notice how she colored it?”

I thought back to the movie night, fighting through how nostalgic and relaxing it made me feel. “It has to be a high-saturation powder. Other than the actual oil she used to pop it, everything she put in was powdered.”

“But it was toffee popcorn,” Parvati argued. “I remember because it was such a lovely shade of purple.”

Hannah and I both glanced at each other before turning concerned looks to Parvati. I was the one who eventually spoke. “You make toffee popcorn by adding sugar and salt while it’s being popped, Vati. Both are powders.”

“And how am I supposed to know that?” she demanded with a scowl before picking up a pen.

I looked back at Hannah, who was as baffled as I was. “Vati? Do you cook?”

She scoffed. “Of course not. Xiomara is a brilliant cook, why would I give that up?”

“But you know how, right?” I prodded. “We always have cooking classes going on here.”

She decidedly ignored us. I gaped at Hannah, who eventually crowed with laughter. “Oh my god! We found something Vati doesn’t know how to do!”

“Xio does make a wicked roti with veg curry,” I tried to defend her. If she was deflecting, Parvati clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“And I can cook,” Parvati argued. “I can roast meat, and forage edible plants, and clean them both.”

“Works for me!” I chirped, trying to defuse the situation before Parvati actually got upset. “If you can cook enough to feed yourself in an apocalypse, I consider that a solid fundamental basis.”

Hannah finally took the hint. “Well, if you ever want to learn more, gods know you have plenty of friends who can teach you. Hell, Sophia taught Maverick to cook, and when they first met he had a very iffy relationship with the concept of food in general.”

That got me a look. “He had been through a lot, okay? You spend thirty years with everyone blaming your sensory issues with food on just ‘being picky’,” I used air quotes for emphasis, “and yeah, you start living on the three foods you like and a lot of vitamins and protein drinks.”

Parvati stopped in her tracks and slowly turned her head toward me before taking a seat. “How did someone who doesn’t even eat to live end up with two people who live to eat?”

I felt my face heat up, but managed to limit my reaction to a shrug. “If he said he didn’t like something, I took that at face value and didn’t make him eat it. If he never had it, I thought really hard about how similar it was to things he did or didn’t like, and offered it to him - or didn’t - based on that. I never took it as a challenge I needed to make him overcome, just as a challenge I needed to rise to.”

She considered this for a moment, glancing to Hannah who nodded in confirmation, before speaking. “This is why you cook.” It wasn’t a question. Parvati stated it as a fact.

And I confirmed it was, indeed, a fact. “One of the few things Huynh and I agree on is hospitality. I don’t want anyone to come to my table and feel they can’t eat. It’s how I was raised. There will be food they like, and plenty of it.”

I heard a popping noise from Hannah’s direction, and turned only to realize that it was her neck popping when she turned from Parvati to me. Eyes wide, she was barely audible when she whispered, “That’s why the Food Festival is so important to you…”

It took several attempts and a lot of nodding to swallow the lump in my throat. “We were all scared, and all strangers in this insane reality that we weren’t even sure was actually real. I thought - knew - it would ground us, and even start uniting us. If we could all see that arroz con pollo, paella, chicken biriyani, chicken etouffee weren’t all that different? What’s more familiar than chicken and rice, or fried puffs of dough, or pancakes?” I shook my head. “I remember my first day on the Ark. I was in a mess hall, and even with my sister and cat, I knew I was luckier than most but so lost. I just - “ I gulped and fought back tears. “I wanted shepherd’s pie so bad it hurt my soul. And I tried and tried to get it from the food consoles, and it was never the right thing. I must’ve tried eight times. It was so frustrating!” I didn’t catch myself in time to keep from slamming my fist a couple times on the table. “I felt even more lost. Someone came up to me and asked what I was doing.”

I took a deep breath to banish the concept of Arantxa from my head. “And dragged me to Conor because she realized that what I was saying and what she was hearing weren’t the same thing. That’s how I actually met him. And, bless his face, he knew exactly what I was asking for and got it for me if I promised to help him get French toast, of all things.” The memory made me smile. “Believe it or not, that moment mattered more to me than even waking up on the Ark when I should have been dead. Just… the idea that this person who knew nothing about me except what I wanted for dinner, was able to fix that lost feeling. I want everyone to have that.”

Parvati was staring at me like she was watching the most romantic story in the world, but at least Hannah nodded seriously. “Steak and ale pie. I always want that when I’m stressed.”

I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Exactly. And multiply that by every type of steak and ale pie anyone can possibly make on the Ark? I know I don’t have to convince you two to keep the Festival anymore, but yeah. That’s why it matters so much to me.”

I turned to Parvati, who was drumming her fingers and looking down somewhat sheepishly. “Most cultures have a kind of curry, so I never really thought about it,” she admitted. “But it makes sense, from that perspective. I never thought about it.”

Reaching out to pat her hand, I gave her a serious look. “That doesn’t mean you have to learn to cook anything more than what you already know,” I assured her. “It’s my motivation. No one else’s. If you ever want to learn to make something you don’t know how to, I’ll be happy to teach you. If you never want to learn how to make anything you don’t know how to, I will be happy to cook for you. Just… don’t ask me to bake? That’s a Tyche thing.”

She groaned. “Those mini black forest donuts….”

“Exactly. Don’t ask me to make them, I’ll ruin them ten times out of ten,” I laughed.

“She should make donuts for the Festival,” Hannah suggested wistfully. “Do you think we could talk her into it?”

I held up my hands in surrender. “I’m not asking her to do it, so have fun.”

“But you’re her sister.”

“How the hell do you think I know not to ask?” I gave them both a flat stare that set them giggling. “Donuts for the family? Fine. Donuts for the whole entire Ark? Not touching it.”

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#the miys #found family #charly #food festival #humans are weird #aliens #apocalypse #post apocalypse #post post apocalypse #humans are space orcs #humans are space fae #hfy #earth is space australia #science fiction #sci fi #original science fiction #original sci fi #original writing #my writing

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thespectral-wolf · 3 years

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(1/5) I def had the feeling Sonic isn't 100% in control in that form, we are talking about a literal god! I feel like he probably struggles to do stuff in particular too seeing as he's constantly fighting for control. I think he probably speaks in short sentences (with a deeper voice than usual) and maybe even spaces kinda frequently cuz he's mostly occupied fighting for control, *especially* at night. I also imagine that in the intro when Sonic first transforms he doesn't say anything to Eggman

(2/5) because unlike fighting for control over a small piece of Dark Gaia, he's fighting the actual Dark Gaia for control. I feel like cause of this he meets/wakes up Chip later than he usually does in the game. Of course when he does do this Chip is actually terrified (and not just scared) of Sonic. Then again, in his current state, would Sonic even think it's a good idea to wake him up? I mean he's gotta be somewhat aware of his new look cause unlike with werehog, he's grown a TON and not just

(3/5) just a little. This is making me realize just how much harder doing anything must be, especially when it comes to talking to people. While on the topic of his appearance, I feel like not even his friends would be able to realize it's him at first. He looks so vastly different after all! Though of course they all eventually realize it's him although probably after he talks/proves he's Sonic/shows he's not a threat of course. Everything must be so hard for poor Sonic... (do you think he's

(4/5) still got the stretchy arms?) For my 2nd to last question as of now, something I'm wondering the most, are the Dark Gaia monsters still a thing that happens? If so I imagine there's a lot less of them than normal, or at least a lack of the really strong ones. Thinking about it, I imagine that the monsters getting defeated isn't really the best thing for Sonic rn since I imagine the energy they're made of returns to the source (Sonic rn) making it much harder for him to stay in control...

(5/5) And now for the last question that kinda has to do with the last one, if he regains too much of the energy (assuming that the monsters even spawn) and/or completely loses control do you think he'd get another, even more monstrous, form? Tho I'm not entirely sure if you'd be up for designing such things I do feel like he should get some other forms depending on how much dark energy/control he has. Since this is super long so I don't expect you to answer too soon so don't pressure yourself!

Oh wow! You put more thoughts into this idea than I did so far! 😅

Anyway, my first idea for this "AU" actually would have this transformation happen during/after the final battle with Dark Gaia (something like the power of the Chaos Emeralds backfiring, I haven't figured that out yet). Kind of like an extended endgame.

But, if it were to happen at the start of the story, I think there would be still some Dark Gaia monsters going about, but this time instead of being the result of the god dispersing in its incomplete form, it's kind of its attempt to break free from Sonic's body (it's just as unhappy about this situation as Sonic). Or the remaining monsters are residues of Dark Gaia that weren't absorbed into Sonic yet. Either way, yes, destroying them would be bad for Sonic, since all that energy goes right into him, giving Dark Gaia more power. However, I think in this form, the monsters wouldn't actually be hostile towards Sonic, maybe they'd even treat him as a sort of brood-father (which is very uncomfortable for him, like, "no, I'm not your dad, shoo!"). This would result in nearly everyone mistaking Sonic for as a sort of leader of these creatures, which just makes restoring the world a lot harder (who knows, maybe even GUN gets involved in trying to eliminate him on top of Eggman being after him). Though Chip is by his side after Sonic shows he's not meaning any harm, and the rest of Sonic's friends eventually would realize it's him, so he's not alone.

As for the last question, I'm not sure if I want to design a more monstrous form for him though, I kind of want what I drew in my last doodles to be his final form.

#inbox #cattyanon

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agentnico · 4 years

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) Review

It all started with Sonic’s teeth. Ever since fans successfully bullied a studio into reanimating their titular hedgehog character after the abomination shown in the first trailer, fans realised that rallying together (on Twitter) can make a difference. So you’d think it would mean we could all come together to restore world peace and get rid of racism, injustice, poverty, war and negativity of all kind? Nope, nope it does not. But at least we get a better version of a bad DC movie that came out in 2017. I mean, baby steps I guess.

Plot: Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes -- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash -- it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

I recall my younger simpler self in 2017 at the early age of 20 soon to be 21, sitting down and watching the new Justice League film with zero to no expectations, as by that point the DC Extended Universe was a trainwreck and was a franchise that was literally falling apart before out unblinking red hay fever filled eyes. However, after watching Justice League I was baffled at the fact that I still managed to be disappointed after having zero expectations! With zero expectations this film took me into the minuses, and we all know I’m not great at mathematics so boy are we in the danger zone when we hit the minuses! Looking back at my review of the film back then, I used extreme yet fitting comments like “generic”, “predictable” “messy” and plain “dogsh*t”. Which is what it was. 2017′s Justice League is exactly how I’d imagine a dog’s poop would look if it was turned into an abstract film! It was truly abysmal. After that I thought I’d never have to talk about this film again. How wrong I was. But, in a rare turn of tables, I am glad that I was wrong...

A little history lesson first. Alright, settle down kids, settle down.... Rob, put the paper plane down, do not throw it, I said DON’T THROW IT! NO! Stop! Stupid child!! Headteacher’s office right now! Also, say hi to your mother for me, okay? I’m having brunch with her on Saturday and you better not be there as you should be doing your homework watching the 4 hour cut of Justice League and questioning your life choices!! Anyway, now let’s have ourselves a history lesson. The topic is - What In The Flying Fudge Happened Behind-The-Scenes Of Justice League For DUMMIES: Condensed Edition. A really condensed version as honestly none of us have the attention span to read loads and I’m probably losing the vast majority of you due to this overlong rambling session. So anyway, to the last couple of readers left, here we go! Following the success of Man of Steel, Warner Bros. gave Zack Snyder the reigns to oversee and create a DC cinematic universe to rival the success of Marvel. And so came Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which turned out to be a bit of a hodgepodge, receiving mixed to negative reviews and though was a box office success, earned diminishing results to what Warner Bros. originally anticipated. However, by the time Batman V Superman released, Zack Snyder was already hard at work on the big superhero team up film Justice League (which was meant to set up many characters and future films for the DCEU) with a lot of filming already underway, so Warner Bros. couldn’t particularly pump the breaks on it by that point, even though they evidently lost trust in the Snyder formula. To be honest, at that point I too lost trust in Snyder’s vision and the DCEU as a whole, but my opinion doesn’t class for a single dime, whilst the opinions of Warner Bros. executives make millions, so there aren’t any hard feelings on my behalf for them not enquiring on my thoughts. Anyway, midway through production Zack Snyder was hit with a family tragedy with his daughter committing suicide, so Snyder naturally had to depart the project to be with his family during this grieving time. Warner Bros. had the option to pause production and await for Snyder’s return, or progress at their own accord. Naturally they decided to do their own thing cause they are a business and want that dollar dollar bill baby!! So they hired Joss Whedon who was riding fresh off the success of two Avengers movies and obviously had experience in cinematic universes and such, to rework the Justice League movie by condensing it into a 2 hour film (from the over 4 hour material that Snyder shot) and reshoot scenes to fit the smaller runtime. So you cannot particularly blame Whedon for taking out so many great scenes as he had a contract to fulfil with Warner Bros, but then you look at the many forced jokes and unnecessary reshot scenes and you realise how self-indulgent Joss Whedon was during filming, as he basically was spitting on everything Snyder did and was trying to do his own thing. Low and behold, the mess that is the 2017 movie is created, where its the visions and creative minds of two director with evidently different styles clashing and not really mixing well at all, and as such we have a messy movie that doesn’t really make sense and is a bit of a middle finger to DC fans and honestly everyone and all. Also, there was that little aspect of Henry Cavill’s deformed upper lip due to the fact that during reshoots he had a moustache that he’d grown and was contractually obligated to have for his Mission Impossible role, so the visual effects team had to digitally remove it in post production and the result is, well, see for yourself...

Yes, they made the dashing handsome my-sexuality-questioning Henry Cavill look stupid, and that is UNFORGIVABLE. Funny, yes, very funny but unforgivable!! So for this and many other reasons the 2017 film turned out horribly. Then after that many months later, Zack Snyder and cast and crew members began teasing of this mythical version of the movie that was befit of Snyder’s original vision. You see, apparently before he left the project, Snyder actually filmed everything he wanted and it was only awaiting to be reworked with visual effects and edited properly, but then Whedon came in with his scissors and cut everything mercilessly with a cheeky grin and his ginger beard. Speaking of his ginger beard, is Joss Whedon Irish? Or has Irish roots? Honestly, I would Google it, but wait, I don’t think I really care. So anyway, Snyder still had all of his filmed scenes saved on his ridiculously oversized hard drive just waiting to be looked at again. This is where the fandom did its magic by creating a Twitter hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut and began spam posting for Warner Bros. to let Zack Snyder release what he originally intended to. Honestly, who would have thunk it, but this actually worked!! Warner Bros. allowed this, and not only that, but gave Snyder an additional $70 million to finish up the visual effects as well as to film a couple of additional sequences and gave it the prestigious honour to debut it on HBO Max, so as to boost the subscriber rating on Warner Bros. new streaming service. And here we are.

Honestly, I thought seeing this Director’s Cut of sorts wouldn’t bring much to the table as I didn’t believe that a film that was so broken had originally been in any way good. After finishing this 4 hour Snyder vision I must admit though that I was pleasantly surprised. Completely baffled by the studio and Joss Whedon, but really happy for Zack Snyder. The guy was fighting for it and finally was able to accomplish and bring out his true original vision, and though Zack Snyder’s Justice League has its flaws, its so much better than what we got in 2017, and in fact is a soaring science fiction sci-fi epic that literally feels epic!! It takes time establishing the characters and every single plot point as well as building out this rich mythology of this world of the DC Extended Universe, and so as you move into the second half of the film, there’s a feeling of pay off. You actually care about the characters and understand the plot points and it doesn’t feel rushed. Its truly astounding that there are producers out there who thought it was a good idea to get rid of all of that and instead bring out whatever the heck Joss Whedon did with the 2017 version. Look, I quite enjoy Joss Whedon’s work, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to Cabin in the Woods and his work on Marvel, the guy obviously has a talent, but also he obviously does not belong to the dark and brooding style of DC. Zack Snyder on the other hand, though makes his mistakes, truly embraces the epic feel of the DC material. And it seems once you give Snyder enough time and space, he can actually bring out something like this:

The main characters are all given so much more to do, or at least those that got side-lined in the 2017 version are given more to do here. One of my complaints with the original was how pointless the League turns out to be. Basically in the theatrical version the main team all end up being useless and only once Superman shows up he saves everyone’s asses and literally does EVERYTHING. Might as well have called the film Man of Steel 2 (feat. Justice League). However in this new version, every main character serves a purpose. Well most of them do at least. Cyborg and Flash are much more compelling characters with more layers and backstory, and in fact are a prime reason to defeating the great evil in the end. You now understand why Cyborg actor Ray Fisher was pissed at Joss Whedon, as the guy literally got rid of his best stuff. Superman strikes a cool black suit and is still powerful, however as the finale shows, he isn’t all-powerful and does need the help of the rest of the team. Wonder Woman gets a lot more to do in this theatrical cut, and in fact this is probably Gal Gadot’s best performance as Wonder Woman and she really shows herself as a powerful female superhero! Aquaman’s role stays largely unchanged, however to be honest Jason Momoa’s character was one of the only ones who didn’t suffer in the theatrical cut. That’s unsurprising seeing as Jason Momoa is such a naturally cool dude! A big panda that is friendly in real life, but when necessary can turn into a roaring bear. To be honest, the only League member that ends up a bit pointless is actually Batman. He still serves a purpose in the film in that he’s the one who assembles the team, but otherwise the rest of the group is so overpowered compared to him that in the end you do kind of think that he doesn’t really belong there. Still, Ben Affleck is great in the role and it’s a shame we won’t see much of him past Flashpoint film that will be released in the next few years.

There are a lot of characters in this film and one can still say the movie is overstuffed, but also seeing as the movie was originally intended to spring board the DCEU properly, all these teases are actually welcome. There are an abundance of cameos, and to be honest so many characters are so well cast that you do end up wishing that Snyder was given the opportunity to make his entire Justice League planned trilogy, but nevertheless at least we have this. There are truly an abundance of cool appearances here, from the menacing villain Darkseid (played by Ray Porter) to Willem Dafoe doing what Dafoe does best, only in this case underwater and I’m certain that’s gonna span many comparison memes with The Lighthouse. Joe Morton as Cyborg’s dad is given a lot more to do here and in fact is pivotal towards building up Cyborg into the important character that he is. There’s also a cameo from Jared Leto’s Joker, who in some ways redeems himself after his appearance in Suicide Squad. Also, we need to talk about Steppenwolf, who’s the main baddie in this film. In the theatrical cut the guy was the most generic one-note villain who also looked like a PS2 character. It was honestly embarrassing the way he was animated. Luckily in this version he’s been put through enough Skyrim mods to looks much more intimidating and is also given a better motivation. As we find out, the reason he does what he does is because he wants to go home. He’s been banished and he simply wants to earn his place back home, so it’s actually kind of sweet. Steppenwolf is a sweetie. I mean, yeah, he wants to destroy half of the world to fulfil his dream, but hey, haven’t we all taken something extreme measures to get what we want?

The film is far from perfect though. At the end of the day, the movie is just about a guy hunting down a bunch of magical boxes. That was the premise of the theatrical cut and its the same here too. Yes, there is more substance and gravitas to the proceedings, but at the end of the day the story doesn’t really surprise much. And with the entire thing running at 4 hours, it is definitely too long and there is the element where there is simply too much in this thing. Also visually, though the movie has plenty of gorgeous shots and Zack Snyder’s signature slow motion sequences are on full display here, there are still many sequences where the CGI and green screen are super obvious and look really fake. That being said there’s still so much visual goodness in this, and also I have to mention Junkie XL’s new music score that does reiterate the epic feel of this movie, in comparison to Danny Elfman’s weak uninspiring notes in the theatrical cut.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a massive surprise and completely changes the perception of what we saw in the original 2017 theatrical cut. It’s a sprawling massive adventure that’s a dream come true for any comic book fan. It shows how vital film editing is, and how important it is to have a cohesive plan when making a movie. Gone too are the silly forced jokes, and though there is still some humour here, it feels more grounded and fit of the setting and scenario. This is Snyder’s vision through and through, and though at times it is clunky, it overall is incredible to behold, as it’s this one guy’s mind and his love for the DC lore. It’s a credible achievement, and I’m actually sentimentally happy for Snyder that he finally managed to complete this. He even during the credits dedicates this to his daughter Autumn that passed away, and I found that to be truly bittersweet. Justice has indeed been served.

Overall score: 7/10

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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Why I (Want to) Love Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Salutations, random people on the internet who most certainly won’t read this! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons. I also LOVE the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Whether as a kid, or an adult pretending to be a kid, this franchise is one that I’ll always revisit no matter how old I get. So when I heard that a new version of the series was coming out in 2018, titled as Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I was excited about it. Then I watched the series...and most of that excitement went down the sewer drain.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some elements that seemed like there was some definite promise for a good series, but other aspects...I’ll have to explain.

But keep in mind, I am going to be spoiling a lot about the series. So if you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend you do so to form your own opinions. Because while it may not have grabbed me as much, that doesn’t mean the same can’t be said for you. With that out of the way, let's get started with--

WHAT I LIKE

The Animation: If anybody ever tells you that Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has awful animation, they are objectively wrong. Rise of the TMNT has some of the best, if not the best, animated fight scenes I've seen from any action series in recent memory. Probably because the show understands the number one rule of action animation: Good animation is a requirement. Not an exception.

For an action-oriented animated series, the audience needs to feel the impact whenever characters punch, block, or dodge in each fight. Yes, even dodge. Because if you can feel even the tiniest gust of wind that passes by a character's face after a punch, then you know the animators are doing something right. And trust me when I say that is present in the majority of most fights in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Are there moments when the movements are slow and rigid? Yes...during the dialogue and comedic scenes. Moments where good and quality animation isn't really all that necessary. You see this same technique in most modern anime: The animation is rigid and cheap for the dialogue-heavy scenes so the animators can give extra attention to the epic action set pieces. Not a single person complains about this happening in their favorite anime of the week. But when Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles does this, apparently it's a bad thing? Explain that logic to me!

The animation is phenomenal in this show. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise because those people are either blind or insanely stupid. Either works.

It’s Pretty Funny: And that's about it. It's nowhere near one of the funniest shows I have seen, and previous iterations of the franchise did a much better job at balancing humor and heart, but Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did a great job at getting a laugh out of me from time to time. It has a very random sense of humor that works well with its manic energy, similar to what Star vs. the Forces of Evil did early on in its first season. Even if one joke fails, about ten more take its place, most of them funnier than the others. There may be an occasional issue where a joke spoils a dramatic moment, but Rise of the TMNT is one of the few shows where that issue doesn't happen often. Besides, the series sets itself up as more of a comedy than other reboots and reiterations, so it wouldn't look good if it wasn't funny. Thankfully, it is, and in a way, the show is a success because of it.

It Tries to be Something New: This is what I respect most about the series. The downside about a reboot is that writers have to find a way to tell the same story but with adjustments that make it seem different. That's the same way Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles operates as a franchise. The original concepts of the stories and characters are always iconic, and I'll love them with my whole heart, but I will admit, there's a point where the same thing over and over again can be a little tiring. Then there's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which makes changes where other shows would ask "why," this is the one that asks "why not?"

Why not change the personality and backstories of characters that still fit with the spirit of the original?

Why not change the genders, races, and possibly sexualities of these iconic characters?

Why not make something new?

Now, some have argued that the show is a little too new. Which I can kind of see the point of. After all, what's the point of changing characters and concepts so drastically when you could just make an original series? But even then, most of the changes are pretty clever, that I think it’s worth remembering for future iterations. Like making Casey Jones a female. Casey is a gender-neutral name, and I legitimately thought this series would do it for that reason alone. So I feel bad that the writers never got a chance to allow the series to reach its full potential with ideas like this due to Nickelodeon screwing them over (Seriously, never pitch a show to Nickelodeon. It rarely ever works out, and it's not worth the risk). I can see how these ideas could result in an incredible show that might cement the series as one of the best iterations of the franchise. But I can't base a story on potential. I can only judge what I see, and what I see are brilliant changes that impress me from time to time.

The Creators Are Still Fans: Despite making something completely different, you can tell that everyone working on this show loves TMNT as the rest of the fans do. There are dozens of references to previous versions littered throughout the series. Whether it's shoutouts to the 90s cartoon to bringing back voice actors from the last one, there are moments where the crew behind the series emphasizes how much they care about the franchise. There are also times when a reference has such a deep cut to it. For example, the series has the previous VA for Splinter to voice the current version of Shredder. I shouldn't have to explain how that is a brilliant idea, especially given Shredder's relationship with Karai...which I can't fully explain due to it spoiling TMNT (2012). This might be a whole new experience, but it is clear that history is not ignored when it comes to Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Cast is Colorful: It's not precisely a diversity win to have half the Turtles voiced by black VAs, but it is unquestionably some good sign of progress. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are...accurately what they are called. So they are not defined by the skin tone of the VAs themselves. So having half of them be voiced by people of color makes me hopeful that maybe future reboots would consider more colorful castings. Hell, maybe one day we'll have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot where all of them are POCs, to the point that we'll have an all-Asian casting for these timeless heroes (which makes way too much sense to me).

And it's not just the casting of the turtles that impresses me. Because the series making April O'neil black is an idea that I'm more than ok with. It's implied that she's black in the original comics by Keven Eastman and Peter Laird, so it works as another deep-cut reference that proves how big of fans the crew is. Plus, who cares? I mean, if we're still having issues of changing the race of a character who was originally white, all I can say is grow the hell up. You can complain if they don't grab you, but if the issue is because of one decision that shouldn't negatively affect anybody, I don't see the problem. Besides, at this point, a character being white is basically the base plate for someone in the future to change their race at another time.

Also, let’s give the people behind the casting a pat on the back for casting Asian VAs for characters who are, well, Asian. It’s the bare minimum of common courtesy and avoids the trouble of having white VAs do asian accents that have become quite culturally insensitive nowadays. So it’s a pretty cool decision if you ask me.

Diversity is never an issue, especially since representation always matters for people who demand to be heard. It's definitive proof that anybody can be anything, whether it's a hero in fiction or the voice of that hero behind the scenes. And you can't really do that when everyone is so white that it's blinding.

Donatello: This is the best character in the series. Not only because Donatello has the most consistent personality (more on that later), but also because I'm a sucker for the cynical super-geniuses. These types of characters always have a quick and dry wit that never fails to get a laugh out of me, and this version of Donatello became my favorite just for that factor alone. Most of the credit goes to Josh Brener, who does a phenomenal job at his performance and comedic delivery. As for the emotional bits, he's...fine, but the drama isn't the show's best strength anyway, so it doesn't matter as much. Because the fact that it's Donatello who earns the spot as best character in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is an impressive feat in itself that any criticism offered for him is moot in the process.

WHAT I DISLIKE

Leonardo: I'm willing to make half of this a personal issue because I have grown to despise Ben Schwarts in the last four years. No offense to the guy, I'm sure he's a really great person in real life...but he has done nothing but play the same character in FOURS YEARS! Whether he's Leonardo, Dewey Duck, Sonic the Hedgehog, or even M.O.D.O.K.'s son (yes, that's a thing), Ben Schwarts has practically played the exact same character each time. The highly energized, dimwitted, and egotistical character who slowly tries to learn to be a better person in the end. AND SOMETIMES, NOT EVEN THAT! I'm sick of it, as it always breaks the immersion of the series as all I hear is Ben Schwarts and not the character he's voicing. But it's not just the voice behind Leonardo that frustrates me. Because the thing is, I can see how this version of him can be incredible.

It doesn't take a genius to know that this version of Leonardo is meant to be more childlike and carefree so he can morph into the more mature leader we all know and respect him as. The issue is that the writers barely do anything with that idea. Sure some episodes make this Leonardo more like, well, Leonardo, but they're far and few between the ones where he's the same Ben Schwarts character that I've grown to hate. Even when he is at his most Leo-like, as seen in the episode "Man vs. Sewer," it's so drastically different from how he usually acts that it feels less like character development and more like inconsistency. It's a shame too because I really love this idea. With a little more polish, it could work out. As is, it's just a huge chunk of wasted potential.

Raph’s Too Good of a Leader: This is a similar issue to what I've mentioned about Leonardo. Because, again, I love this idea. Raphael, in multiple iterations, complained about how he should be the leader and just as frequently learns why the job rightly belongs to Leo instead. So starting with this role reversal should be a well-executed idea that gives Raph what he wants while eventually giving the fans what they want. And it would be if not for the fact that Raph seems to be too good at his job.

I get it. If Raphael was too incompetent, the turtles would have gotten nothing done, and it would get too tiring too quick as Leonardo constantly proves why he should lead and why Raph should follow. This actually happens from time to time, and it is already tiresom. The issue is that the intention was to make Leonardo the leader in the end. So why spend so much time showing how Raphael is capable at the job and barely any time showing why Leonardo is a better fit? There are even times when Raphael seems like he really is a better leader than Leo, which I feel as though it is contradictory to the point the writers are trying to get across. In the end, it's nothing more than another really great idea met with insanely poor execution.

Master Splinter (Early Season One): ...Did anybody like this version of Master Splinter in the first half of season one? Because this character was atrocious, especially compared to the previous Splinter from TMNT (2012). We went from what is easily the best interpretation of the character to what was, at the time, the worst. He was lazy, selfish, and emotionally distant with his sons to the point where he only acknowledges them by the color of their bandannas. I understand that the writers needed a more comedic version of the character due to leaning extra hard into comedy, but I don't think I laughed once with his antics in the first half of season one. Thankfully, he's been gifted with a softcore reboot during the second half and onward. This Splinter is awesome, serious, he works well as a straight man, and he has a backstory that's easy to follow while still being kind of heartbreaking. It's a tremendous improvement from what we've been given, but it still doesn't change how downright painful he initially was. I won't complain about the results, but I do have the right to complain about what we got beforehand.

Characters are Inconsistent: A common complaint you'll hear about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that the main characters are the same. That's not true because there are definite differences that separate each one apart from the other...the issue is that the writers are not consistent with those changes. I've touched upon it with Leo, but the truth is, everyone in the main cast suffers from inconsistency with their personalities. If Raph is supposed to be the meathead with a good heart, why are there times when he acts like the smart one who occasionally enjoys violence? If April is supposed to be as wild and carefree as the rest of the guys, why are there episodes where she seems to be the sane one? If Mikey is supposed to be kind yet somewhat stupid, why are there episodes where he's selfish and more intelligent than Leonardo? Even Donatello, who is the most consistent out of the whole cast, still suffers through moments when he isn't as clever and cynical as he usually is. These inconsistencies are annoying, and at times, it feels like their personalities are dependent on what the writers need for a joke or for the episode. Characters are the most essential aspect of any story for any medium. If audiences don't care about the characters, they'll find it hard to care about anything else. And how can we care about anyone if we're not one hundred percent sure what their personalities are in the first place?

The Pacing: I sort of expected this when it was announced that this reboot was swapping the franchise's usual half-hour runtime for a ten-minute one, but in all honesty, it isn't that bad. It is slightly fast at times, but that's just as quick to get used to. However, there is one strange phenomenon about this show that I can't let go of.

You see, this series somehow has worse pacing with extended episodes and specials than it does with its usual ten minutes. I don't know how this is possible either. Because despite having as much time as the writers want to establish each plot point, it still feels like they fly through them a little too fast than they regularly would. It makes no sense, but it's constant in every extended episode, especially the series finale (which, to be fair, is partially Nickelodeon's fault. AGAIN!). So keep that in mind when watching.

The Characters Are TOO Overpowered: It feels weird complaining about this. Because making the characters capable of doing anything and surviving much more leads to some of the most epic action sequences in animation history, not just the series or the TMNT franchise as a whole. Despite that, though, there is one crucial thing that is always missing from those fight scenes anyways: Tension.

To fully explain why tension is required in action, I'll have to use Samurai Jack as an example. You see, the titular character can, at times, be just as invincible as these versions of the Turtles and survive even worse. But regardless of him being victorious after nearly every episode, no matter how high the deck is stacked against him, there was always a sense that he fought hard, literally and figuratively, for those victories in the first place. Jack losing articles of clothing or getting cut up gives the illusion that he might not win in the end. He still does, and he always does, but showing the audience that he can and will get hurt makes seeing that victory feel earned. The only times the Turtles, April, or Splinter get hurt is either for comedic slapstick or because the story says so. This is why I consider Shredder destroying the lair is the best fight scene in the entire series. The second he starts destroying their weapons, it gives the tension required to believe maybe, just maybe, not everyone will make it out alive this time. Because if the characters aren't careful, they will face intense consequences as a result. Thus making an adrenaline-pounding moment in the process. Unfortunately, this is the one and only fight scene where that happens. Every action set piece is still epic, don't get me wrong. But there's a reason why writers make even Superman seem less invincible than typical in a fight.

Baron Draxum: THIS is the biggest issue that I have with the series.

As a villain, I didn't give a s**t about Baron Draxum. He was a dull antagonist with a generic evil plot, but other than that, he was perfectly serviceable for a series like this. Even getting a few chuckles now and again...but then the writers decided to make him REDEEMABLE!?

This guy?

The maniac who wanted to commit genocide on human beings, all because of insufficient proof that they'll do it to his species first?

Didn't we already learn how that's awful reasoning after Steven Universe?

Actually, that's not fair...because Steven Universe has a better explanation behind wanting to redeem the Diamonds than Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles does about Baron Draxum! And I'm not kidding! For Steven Universe, the characters believe that it's better to end things peacefully than killing anyone, even if they're the worst criminals. It's a flawed mentality, sure, but it's one you can grasp and understand. What's the reason for redeeming Baron Draxum? It's because he's the reason why Splinter and the turtles are a family...F**k all the physical torture Splinter went through on top of the social ostracization he experienced because of it. No, no, it totally validates the decision to forgive and forget...Oh, wait, no, it doesn't. BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE INSANE!

Who in the f**k honest to goodness thought that would be a good idea? I'm all for finding silver linings in a bad situation, but that is just flat-out lunacy! Because it's the equivalent of saying, "Yeah, this person was a complete a-hole, but they're still the a-hole that made you who you are today." But that is a very dangerous lesson to preach to kids. Because here's the--Hey *snaps fingers* Here's the thing: If a person treats you like garbage, you don't owe them anything for who you are. It's one thing if a person inspired you or cheered you on, but if someone basically ruined your life and physically harmed you and others, don't forgive them. They don't deserve it. ‘Cause f**k Baron Draxum. And whoever thought this was a good idea, you seriously need some help.

Man, is this how it feels to be Lily Orchard? IT SUCKS!

IN CONCLUSION

And that's what I think about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It's a fantastic series! I just like everything except for the execution of ideas, most of the characters, and the overall pacing of it...that means it's not a good series, is it?

Yeah, it's a real shame that I don't like this. Because I want to. I really want to. The pieces are there, and I can see how this could be a great and memorable version of a series I loved since I was a tater-tot myself. But I don't. I'm sorry, but I just don't consider this to be an A+ series. It's a solid C, for sure, because it's mostly just style with very little substance. I still respect the amount of effort everyone put into this reboot, but for me, it just never had its chance to fully rise to the occasion.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #what i thought about #why i want to like

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another-sonic-blog · 4 years

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do u have any advice for writing amy rose? i am trying to get back into writing fanfiction again and i love yours so much so i thought i'd ask for ur take on her character.

A short analyzation on Amy Rose.

I want to start by saying that I really appreciate the support and I am honored that you asked my intake on Amy’s character. So, I am not a professional writer or anything for that matter however I will give you my intake on Amy Rose as a fan and how I perceive her as a character. So, let’s start!

The positive and negatives of Amy Rose

To write a good character we need someone who people can relate to. This character needs to be three dimensional, meaning that they act like a person. Someone who struggles, thinks, learns and develops. This character has good and bad. Good written characters are not all good nor all bad so let’s think about that while we talk about Amy Rose.

Canonically speaking Amy Rose has a lot of good traits:

-Loves unconditionally

-Loyal

-Kind

-Cares for others

-Determined

And negative as well:

-Has an explosive personality, gets angry easily

-Has no patience

- She takes other’s needs into consideration but hers. (This may be seen as a good quality but on the long run it actually isn’t. This is more of a personal opinion but I think it is important to consider our own happiness as well.)

-Obsessive (Although we can see she has grown out of this recently

-Stubborn

You can play around with these but we can talk about that later.

Amy’s uniqueness

Alright so now that we know her good and bad, let’s talk about her character. The unique thing about Amy Rose is that out of the Sonic characters she has been the only one who has shown development. (Besides Shadow in 06, but that didn’t happen so all his character development went to the trash lol)

So, we went from this:

To this:

In conclusion, Amy stopped being that obsessive, she developed. Our pink hedgehog is now independent and pretty much do whatever she pleases. She is not as attached to Sonic and although she still loves him, she now thinks for her own and may even question his decisions from time to time. I believe she does her own thing now and wants to give him Sonic his space as well. For me Amy can be described as ‘Cute & Dangerous’

Amy’s interaction with other characters.

Alright, so Amy Rose is a pretty solid character and it’s a cinnamon roll. So, her bad qualities are not going to show up as often. For these negative (and good) qualities to show, it all depends on circumstances and character interaction. Just take a few minutes and think about it …

How will Amy interact with Rouge? Would she be more open and let get girly side show up? Will they even be friends? Does Amy see Rouge as an older sister?

How will Amy interact with Shadow? Would they be friends? Or would their personalities just crash? Does Shadow’s character take out the worst on Amy?

How does Amy interact with Sonic? With Knuckles? Cream? Tails?

This also depends in what kind of story and circumstances you will place Amy in. Does she live in our world and is struggling to get by the days? Does that make her stop caring about herself and only focus on work? Does she still love Sonic but he doesn’t love her back so that makes her depressed? Will she be stubborn enough to get him to love her? Will she love him regardless and put her happiness aside? Or is she afraid that she won’t be able to find happiness or love? Maybe she has other things in mind besides love? Maybe she wants to do her own adventures? Or she just wants to open up a café and live a peaceful life forever?

As you can see, you can explore a lot of situations with her character. So, here are some (in my opinion) relationships that Amy would have with other characters. (Based on canon and personal opinion)

Amy/Sonic: Love interest of course, but its platonic romance. Care deeply for each other. Friends for life. Sonic is just not that interest in love right now but that doesn’t mean he can’t love others or Amy.

Amy/Knuckles: Older brother and sister. Both are matured when needed and protect each other.

Amy/Silver: Crazy all the time together, plan the stupidest shit and get away with everything. Besties.

Amy/Shadow: (I can honestly write an entire essay as to why this two have such good POTENTIAL platonic or romantic but anyways) They are ok with each other’s presence. Won’t willingly talk to each other unless they are forced to. Once they do though, I can see them hanging out from time to time. They are friends and nobody expects that from them.

Amy/Rouge: Rouge is the big sister and Amy the little one. Amy goes to her for advice and talk about things she can’t talk about with Vanilla or Cream.

Amy/Cream: Amy is the oldest sister and she takes care of Cream and advises her. Amy would do anything for her.

Amy/Blaze: I think she will be the closest to her. Amy has helped Blaze open up and they are really good friends.

Alright now, some tips:

1. Feel free to write your character according to your interpretation.

There is no good or bad way to write a character. At the end of the day everything comes down to character interpretation. I personally see Amy as a young adorable, fashionable girl who is not afraid to express how she feels. She can be sweet and dangerous and she won’t let anyone step on her unless is totally necessary. However, you may see her or interpret her differently and that’s completely fine!

2. Let your character feel, suffer and develop.

I cannot stress this enough, everyone is a sucker for a character development. Not everything has to be flowers and sunshine. Let your characters have flaws, let her to be annoying or a cry baby, what matters here is that you DEVELOP them throughout the story.

3. Plan ahead and don’t

First, write down the kind of story you want to write. Romance? Adventure? Mystery? Then start writing your characters. After you are done writing your characters, analyze them. However, I was once told that your characters are kinda like your kids. You made them but you don’t ever truthfully end up knowing them. Just like people, we have our embarrassing, sad, happy moments. We even have our ‘Out of Character’ moments. Just explore your characters, let them be free as they can.

Amy Rose is a very versatile character. If you think about it, Amy can literally be in any story and she still be such a good character to write about. She is funny, entertaining, stubborn and obsessive. She can be so many things! At the end of the day, it all really depends on how you develop her.

I hope this helps somehow? Like I said before I am no expert but this are some tips and character analyzation that has helped me when I write stories. I am honestly SUPER excited to see what kind of stories you come up with and if you ever need help with something else let me know! If you do end up writing a fanfiction, please do tag me! Or just tell, I will loooooooooooove to read it.

Again, thank you so much for the support! I am glad you enjoy my stories. I will keep working hard! I can’t wait to see what kind of stories you come up with!

#Amy Rose #amyrose #sonic the hedgehog #sonic fanfiction #sonic fanfic #sonamy fanfiction #sonamyshad #sonic boom #Shadamy #sonic fan character #character analysis #writing tips #character study

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idjitlili · 4 years

Text

What can I say I like a climb.

Thorin xhalf elf!reader

A/n:Bruh imagine having a crush on Andy from the office before just because you had a dream about him dressing up as Gaston and coming to your old high school only to see you slip on the grass. Yeah it happened a couple of months ago when I was still in high school

Summary:growing up as Gandalf's adopted daughter ,being apart of the company only to pass through Rivendell,only to make thorin rage with jealousy

Word count:1921

It was no secret that Gandalf wasnt your real father, you both looked nothing a like. However this didnt stop him loving you like you were his actual child,you werent sure if wizard could have children. You wondered if he ever got horny,it disturbed you but you did wonder. Anyways yiu didnt know your parents ,they were killed by orcs ,Gandalf found you crying as babe ,and thats all you know. You were half elf ,half human ,mostly Thorin didnt like that very much when he found out ,it just meant you lived longer than a human would.

So how you ended up in the company of Thorin Oakenshield was; simply because Gandalf didnt want to leave you with the elves again ,or leave you at home where you could be in more danger. You were more than capable of defending yourself,due to your many vists with Elrond they had trained you very well. You also became best friends with Lindir since he was responsible for most of your training ,plus being your tutor. Lindir was also abandoned as a child but was taken in by Elrond. He grew to become a marchwaden.

Lindir was a shy elf ,as were you ,yet around each other you were very comfortable. Many of your visits he would have to carry to your room ,because you had fallen asleep against him looking at the stars while he told you a story. You both very much enjoyed each others company.

However your feelings towards the dwarven king were much different to how you felt about Lindir. You knew you liked him as soon as you saw him at Bag end ,yes you were very much taken back by his looks ,you swear you fell in love with him right then and there. Of course you thought he could never like you ;he's a bloody king. Oh how wrong you were. He had no choice but to allow you on this quest ,being gandalf,s daughter and all. Gandalf told him to basically to shut the fuck up ,you were coming.

Thorin would never admit it but he did always make sure you were safe,and eating ,covering up with shes such a burden,or whatever. What about when he found out you were part elf? Yeah so you had just bathed and your hair was wet and pushed back and he saw your ears he was like

"you are fucking elf?" he had literally grabbed your elf ,whilst you were standing up ,looking at it ,you had groaned at the contact. Lets pretend that didnt make want Thorin touch your ears more roughly."part,not full,cant you tell compared to elves im an orge." and with that you had pulled your ear from his dwarven fingers walking away. He was left in shock ,how you could thik so low of yourself. shrek is hot though,but you thought you were an ugly orge.Thorin didnt like elves,but he definitly liked you had thought you were absolutely beautiful. With your e/c eyes ,h/l h/c hair,your height ,our form your personality everhting.

Anyways you had just arrived at Rivendell,Lindir hadnt seen you in a while ,and hadnt noticed you yet. You were led to dinner ,with was all veg,you had to agree with ori you could do with some chips right about now,or even some lembas bread. You werent surprised that he didnt recognise you you had developed more in body wise plus you were muddy and wearing a big coat and hat. He had looked for you when he saw Gandalf but when he couldnt see you he assumed you were at home ,he was disappointed..

Kili was sat next to you and Bofur ,he was admiring the elves,saying they didnt have enough facial half. "though that one isnt bad." he had gestured to a male elf,making the whole company burst out with laughter. "that isnt a elf maiden." kili face flashed red in embarrassment. You had nudged him still giggling "dont worry,young prince, I know which male elf I would fuck too." you had smirked eyeing lindir ,of course you wouldnt but if you had to you would. The company had laughed again "shes got a dirty mouth laddies." dwalin had pipped up, you smirked pulling off your coat and hat,as the company watched in confusion.

Standing up running over to Lindir ,jumping up onto him wrapping your legs around his waist,arms around his/ next. The company had gasped in shock."is she allowed to do that...?" bilbo had questioned,Thorin watched with a scowl on his face,Dwalin noticed laughing at his friend ,who scoffed. You had pressed a kiss to Lindir's cheek,who's arms now went around your back holding you to him,securely. "mellon, Its been a time." he had spoke placing you down,hugging you briefly. "it has indeed , I missed my bestfriend." you stood in front of him ,smiling ,thorin was still not convinced he was just your friend.

"youve grown mellon nin." he smiled ,speaking quietly trying to ignore the dwarves ,Thorin almost scoffed louder than a waterfall,as it was obvious what he meant. The dwarves watched carefually as the next thing out your mouth really made them think that they really didnt know you. "I know! my breasts have grown finally!" you had literally squished your boobs together over your tunic,making lindir blush in embarrassment ,but laughing. Kili and fili had watched you ,before looking at their uncle smirking ,he didnt even look at them. " i meant your slyness," you had giggled at him before hugging him again,before informing him you would talk to him later ,joining the dwarves again.

In which they all stared at you intensely. "so ,you and the elf then?" kili had spoken ,nudging you in the ribs like you had down to him earlier. "yeah we are bestfriends." thorin had scoffed,you had looked at him confused at this gesture. "just friends? right" his tone stern and disbelieving."we have been friends since I was a babe,thats all." you tried to hold eye contact with thorin but he just looked away with a hard expression. "but you said you rough it up with him." Dwalin tried defending his best bud. "it was a joke thats it,hes my bestfriend that all. not that it is any of your bloody businesses. " you stood up abruptly. "thank you elrond for dinner ,may I be excused."he had simply nodded his head ,you gathered your coat,and hat one for Lindir to come over taking them leading to you to your room.

His hand on your mid back,leading you away from the drama ,Thorin had watched you leave almost gulity for making you upset. Once he had gotten you to your room he had began to sort you a bath ,brushing through your tangled hair first,slowly getting you to relax."Ooooh I'm a dwarf I can give a joke ,but I cant take one, also my nose is bigger than my dick" you had mocked as Lindir finished your hair ,pulling you up shoving you in the bathroom. "you know they are only doing it because Thorin thinks you like me and not him. You mouth gapped open as he shut the bath room door aallowing your privacy.

You couldnt sstop thinking about what Lindir said so much so once you were in your night gown ,exiting the bathroom to meet with Lindir for a stroll in the gardens. You had tripped on your own feet, and Lindir didnt see as he was reading a book in a chair. Turns out you landed badly on your wrist ,screamed out in pain,Lindir became sonic rushing to you.You didnt even get a chance to explain before he rushed you to the healers. In which they gave you some herbs for the pain and wrapped up your sprained wrist,putting it into a sling.

Lindir had held out his arm for you ,and led you to a bench in the gardens ,your damp hair pushing it out your face in annoyance. Lindir notices this forces you to sit down,before he braids it swiftly ,before a voive clears their throat. Lindir finishes tying the braid off with a ribbon,he places a hand on your shoulder,before bowing his head at at someone leaving. You turn to see Thorin standing in front of you ,you quickly stand,hiding your arm in robe. You knew he would be furious if he saw what happen. His face is unreadable ,he's scowling as usual.

"uh..hi?" you had spoken unsure where to look,just generally confused why he was here. "you aren't together ,but he braids your hair?" he scowls ,you groan in annoyance,walking closer to him. "you know what you are bloody getting on my nerves, dwarf." you had growled out his eyes go wide slightly at your outburst,before returning into a scowl. "for the last time I am NOT dating lindir. The only reason he was braiding my bloody hair was because I sprained my wrist , and couldnt. Secondly even so he can because to elves and humans braids dont suggest we are bloody fucking." you had pointed your left hand ,pointer finger into his chest harshly. You tried not to go weak at the knees ,feeling the muscle he had on his chest.

Yet Thorin had became unbelievably calm as he forced you to sit with him on the bench,by guiding you with his hand on your mid back. "how did that happen?your arm." his hand reached over to move the robe from covering it,his hand lightly grazing the bare skin on your upper arm. Of course you were wearing an night gown under ,just incase you forgot. "..uh..weell i bathed ,then i walked out and tripped over my own feet ,thats it. Before you say anything thats why I was screaming not because lindir had his dick in me." you looked at him deadly serious ,he had sent you smile which was completely new to you.

"I believe you,y/n. I'm sorry for the way I werent around trying to find out if you were free to court?" you had choked at his words. "wait Lindir was right ,you do want to court me?" you had almost whispered ,he had nodded at you before you threw your one arm around him,hugging him tight ,which he does the same yet carefually,not wanting hurt your arm more.

"Lindir is going to tease me till the end of time,i swear."

bonus~in greenwood .

"and why does a half elf travel with dwarves." Thranduil had asked you circling you both , in reply you had jumped on Thorin ,wrapping legs around his waist.

"what can I say I like to climb" Thorin smirked at the elven king.

"guards remove her!"

"dont tell my dad!"

#thorin imagine #thorin x you #thorin x reader #thorin oakenshield #thorin the dwarf #thorin fic #thorin imagines #the hobbit x reader #the hobbit imagine #the hobbit imagines #the hobbit x you #the hobbit x #hobbit imagine #hobbit imagines #hobbit x reader #hobbit x you #hobbit

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