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thankskenpenders · 7 months

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Sonic Superstars!

Superstars is out! And guess what? It's good! It's a worthy new entry in the series, and I mostly like it. Mostly. Except for the handful of parts I don't. As usual, allow me to share my thoughts.

(For the record, I got the PS5 version of Superstars. I can't speak for how it plays on older hardware like the Switch, or how the weird Steam version that seems to make you log in with Epic runs. But I encountered zero performance issues, personally.)

General thoughts

The thing is, aside from two notable flaws I'll discuss in greater detail below, I can sum up my feelings on most of Superstars quickly. You see, it's... a Sonic game. This will either be a blessing or a curse depending on who you ask. It's not a bold new take on the series that'll blow you away, but they also didn't fuck it up. There's no catch this time! There's something refreshing about that straightforwardness, given how rare it is to get a regular-ass New Sonic Game from Sega. It's just a new classic-style game where you can play as Amy, set on a new island with all new zones, and Fang is in it! This might be damning with faint praise, but that's what it says on the tin, and they did a good job overall.

(It also has co-op. That's nice. I didn't play it in co-op.)

It plays exactly how it should. At no point did anything feel Wrong. The graphics might not have the absolute highest fidelity, but I think the character models look really nice, and the levels look appropriately good with vibrant color palettes. A couple zones like Sky Temple gave me Klonoa vibes, which I like. One zone is an absolutely incredible homage that I won't spoil. The story here is minimal (as expected), but there are a few good moments of telling the story through the gameplay, particularly one very cute sequence with Trip. I did find a couple stage gimmicks moderately annoying (Speed Jungle 2 and Press Factory 2, looking at you), but like... I could say the same thing about Mania, and also damn near every other Sonic game ever made. There's always That One Level. Superstars may not raise the series to new heights, but it generally executes well on the standard beats of the series. It's an easy recommendation for all fans of 2D Sonic.

Really, aside from the two big flaws (we'll get to them), this game's greatest crimes are simply not being quite as good as Mania, and also coming out the same week as the more creative and polished Super Mario Bros. Wonder. If we hadn't gotten Mania, I would easily be calling this my favorite 2D Sonic game since... what, the Advance trilogy 20 years ago? I like the Rush games, but if you asked me to replay one or the other, I might have a better time with Superstars. And, yes, it beats the hell out of Sonic 4. It's not even close. Anyone who says this game is exactly like Sonic 4 is just being a hater.

...I guess I would say that $60 is a bit steep for this, but you know it'll be on sale for a more appropriate $30-$40 in a few months. This isn't a Nintendo game we're talking about here.

Nice little tweaks

Superstars also features a number of welcome quality-of-life updates over Mania, bringing it more in line with the design ethos of modern platformers.

You have infinite lives! No more getting a game over on the final boss and having to redo the whole final zone - or, god forbid, the entire game

Time overs are gone! It'll warn you before you go over ten minutes, but I have no idea why because it doesn't kill you anymore

The game features a hub from which you can easily replay previous levels, rather than needing to beat the game or put in a cheat code to unlock the level select

This means you can easily go back and hunt for any special stage rings you missed. However, as a tradeoff, it seems like you can only get one Emerald per zone now, rather than being able to get Super Sonic by the end of the first or second zone

You can swap characters between levels! No more having to start a whole 'nother save file to play as Tails

And those characters even have optional little movement tutorial rooms available from the hub, which is great for new players who may not know about things like the Drop Dash

And, finally, checkpoints now feature arrows pointing in the direction you were supposed to be going, in case you forget upon respawning

Of course, while you might not be getting game overs, Superstars certainly compensated with some bosses that kicked my ass.

Bosses

Here's what I would consider notable flaw #1.

I have mixed feelings on the bosses in Superstars. I don't think many of them are poorly designed - in fact, a lot of them are good, and offer fun moments of spectacle. But for a 2D Sonic game, they're REALLY long and drawn out, and by the late game this was starting to get draining.

Bosses tend to be the type where you have to dodge their attack patterns for a while until you get the chance to hit them exactly once, MAYBE twice. A few bosses seem to have quicker options if you abuse your post-hit invulnerability or play as a character with a double jump, but many will either be completely invincible or run away to the background for long periods of time, making it impossible to damage them outside of the allotted windows. And even if it seems like you'll be able to get in a second hit, many bosses turn invincible and skip ahead to the next attack pattern as soon as they take the first hit. Again, most of these fights aren't BAD, but because of this behavior they sometimes take almost as long to beat as the entire levels preceding them. This didn't bother me much early in the game, but against the more challenging bosses towards the end that kept killing me several minutes into a long fight, it got tiring. The final boss of Story Mode probably took me like an hour.

While this certainly isn't an uncommon style of boss design, part of me suspects they did this for the sake of co-op players. For one, playing in co-op means that you don't necessarily have to start the entire fight over if one person dies, so I assume the length is less of an issue. But in particular, true classic-style Sonic bosses that you can just hit repeatedly with good timing would go down in a few seconds against a team of four players. Likewise, the swarm of clones from the "Avatar" Emerald power would probably obliterate every Genesis era boss with one button press. So I get why every boss needs all these invulnerability periods, but still. I at least wish they'd made some of those attack patterns shorter and given you more frequent opportunities to deal damage.

Emeralds and their powers

Speaking of the new Chaos Emerald powers: they're neat, I guess? They're fine. I didn't use them much. Actually, I kept forgetting I even had them - although the game will play a noise and show an icon in the corner of the screen to remind you any time you reach a spot where a specific power is useful. Avatar, the first power you get, is at least good for getting a couple free hits in on the trickier bosses. Yellow's ability to slow time is obviously good, but, again, I always forgot I even had it and made it through just fine without it. I was also pleased to realize that the swimming power is useful for the water levels and not just for climbing up waterfalls.

Oh, and the new grappling-based special stages kind of suck, but they're not the worst, and I'll at least give them credit for trying something new. (Motion Sickness Zone from Sonic 1 does return as a bonus minigame, but I only did it once lmao.)

Battle Mode

I haven't played Battle Mode. Couldn't tell you if it's good or not. It did, however, give us official designs for Metal Tails and Metal Amy after all these years, and also it let me make this:

...Okay, enough beating around the bush. Let's talk about the thing that REALLY drags down the experience.

The soundtrack...

(This lengthy section on the music will feature some light spoilers for things like zone names and themes.)

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some bangers in here that I've been listening to on loop. But this is one of the most inconsistent soundtracks I've ever heard, and I'm not sure I've ever played another game where the music has such a sharp dip in quality in the back half.

As anyone following this blog knows, prior to release I was a little obsessed with trying to gauge what the soundtrack would be like. "Jun Senoue" and "new Classic Sonic game" naturally evokes the memory of Sonic 4, but from the start we knew Tee Lopes was involved as well, and almost all of the music previewed before released leans more towards the sound of Sonic Mania than anything else. I was hopeful! I was excited! Jun deserved another chance at doing another classic Sonic OST, and Tee is one of my favorite game composers of all time between his Sonic material and other works like the TMNT: Shredder's Revenge OST. I frequently thought back to this Sonic 4 remix medley by Jun and Tee as a reminder that these two could really be the dream team, bringing out the best in each other's work.

Sure enough, the front half of the game is largely dominated by the Mania sound, whether it's a track by Tee himself or one by an in-house Sega artist that's compatible with his style. Pinball Carnival Act 1 by Rintaro Soma (an up-and-coming composer who wrote a bunch of the Cyber Space themes in Frontiers) takes obvious inspiration from Mania's Studiopolis Act 1, to the point that I was shocked when Sega posted the track and revealed it wasn't written by Tee. Act 2, however, forges more of its own sound by leaning into the act's spooky haunted carnival theme. And despite being the music lead, the only level theme that I know for sure was written by Senoue in the front half of the game (Bridge Island Act 1) was actually arranged by Tee Lopes to give it more of that Mania sound. Hell, the level clear jingle is literally just the one from Mania. A few level themes by other composers don't quite match that style, but they fit in well enough.

But there are early signs that this sound won't be consistent throughout the game. Our first warning of things to come is the boss music:

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When early copies started floating around and the soundtrack leaked, many, many people hoped that this was merely a placeholder, like the literal Sonic 4 Episode II music used in the earliest previews of Speed Jungle, and that it'd get replaced with a day one patch. Oh, those poor, innocent fools...

Even if you don't mind the poor production with the returning Sonic 4 faux-Genesis sound, this is a very simplistic thirteen second snippet of music that then plays a second time in a higher key before it loops. This wouldn't be the end of the world if the bosses were as short as the ones in the Genesis games, of course, but they're not! This theme is used for a ton of lengthy fights throughout the game, including an EXTREMELY long and tedious autoscroller boss at the end of Golden Capital Act 2. Maybe I would've enjoyed the bosses in this game more if they were paired with some earworms that'd get me hyped up and sell how cool and exciting the fights are supposed to be, but grating songs like this just made the minutes spent fighting those bosses feel like an eternity.

Still, boss music (and menu music) aside, all of the level themes in the front half of the game ranged from decent to great, with the peak easily being the phenomenal Lagoon City Act 2 by Tee Lopes. And then... I got to the back half of the game. And the Mania style completely disappeared, replaced largely with the dreaded Sonic 4 sound. That isn't the style for EVERY song in the back half, but even the ones that try something different tend to be weaker than the material from the first six zones, with less engaging melodies and less intricate arrangement. Many sound straight up unfinished, leaning on extremely basic synth patches with no personality. And there isn't a single track from Tee in the back half. He just disappears from the project altogether.

What this means is that we go from this absolute banger by Tee Lopes in zone 6, which elevates what's otherwise a bog standard desert level to a thrilling adventure:

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To... this, in zone 7:

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It's EXTREMELY jarring!

The thing is, this is actually one of the better tracks in this style. I have to assume this is by Senoue, because you can totally hear a good Adventure or Heroes era Senoue track in there once you get past the crude synth replication of the Genesis era Sonic sound. Senoue is still a great composer, as you can hear clear as day with Bridge Island, but he's working with a restrictive sound palette that doesn't play to his strengths at all. If only he'd bust out that damn guitar, or at least pick some better synths.

(And no matter what people will tell you, no, this is not an accurate recreation of what the Genesis's YM2612 chip really sounded like, nor is it representative of what it CAN sound like at its best. Go back to the Streets of Rage 2 or Ristar soundtracks if you need a reminder.)

While I can at least see what the Press Factory tracks were aiming for, some other faux-FM synth tracks are just really bland. They don't have anything interesting going on, and they also don't seem particularly tailor made for the levels they accompany. They're just attempts to mimic what Sonic 1-3 sounded like on a very literal level. Take, for instance, the Golden Capital Act 1 theme, AKA "we've got Sky Sanctuary at home." While the better level themes in this game enhance the mood or even completely carry the vibes of a level, the weaker tracks can really suck all the air out of the room and make a level feel like more of a slog.

What kills me is that there are, in fact, a couple examples of how to do throwbacks to classic Sega FM synth music well on this very soundtrack! They're just not the Sonic 4 type tracks. I love the Frozen Base Act 2 theme, presumably composed by legendary Sega composer Hiroshi "HIRO" Kawaguchi, who's responsible for all-time classic arcade soundtracks like Fantasy Zone, Out Run, Hang-On, After Burner, and more, as well as the hacking and pinball themes from Frontiers. Maybe to an untrained ear this doesn't sound all that different, but it has a catchier tune, better instruments, and stronger production overall. I'm also a fan of the track for Sky Temple, which isn't perfect, but it blends a few Genesis-esque instruments like the Sonic 1+2 snare with other instruments for a richer sound. If the whole soundtrack sounded more like these examples, I'd definitely be complaining less.

I really just have to wonder... how did this happen? How did this end up being so inconsistent? Many fans on social media are jumping to the conclusion that Senoue is just extremely stubborn and refuses to ditch the style from Sonic 4. I can't deny this possibility, but some things just don't add up. The almost complete lack of "retro" style music in the promotional material. The fact that the style just suddenly shifts halfway through the game, then disappears for the final zone, as if that's not the note they want to end on. The complete lack of any tracks by Tee Lopes in the back half. The focus on the Mania-style tracks in the bonus "mini soundtrack." And most perplexing of all, the fact that three of the first tracks you hear in the game were Senoue compositions that were given extra attention with arrangements from Tee Lopes.

This is pure speculation on my part, but it almost seems like they straight up ran out of time.

Perhaps Jun wanted more of his tracks to get full arrangements from Tee, or for Tee to contribute more songs, but things were down to the wire and they chose to leave in some of the raw Sonic 4 style demos. The soundtrack being crunched out in a matter of months at the end of development would certainly explain why Speed Jungle had to be demoed without its music a mere four months ago. It'd also explain why a game that's only a few hours long needs NINETEEN composers listed in the credits. And also the fact that multiple zones just have completely different, unrelated music by different artists across their acts. Did they need multiple artists working on different acts simultaneously, completely independent from each other with no time to cross reference each others' work, due to extreme time constraints? I'd buy it.

Ah well. It's not the end of the world. I've heard worse Sonic music. But I'll always think of what could have been...

At least the final battle with Eggman at the end of Story Mode has a pretty kickass boss theme, which ALMOST makes up for how bad most of the preceding boss music is (and the fact that that very difficult fight doesn't have a checkpoint between phases and took me like an hour to beat lmao). It even seems like it might be written by longtime Phantasy Star Online composer and recurring Sonic contributor Hideaki Kobayashi. That's the guy who wrote NONAGRESSION!!!!!!!

The postgame

Speaking of beating Eggman! It turns out Superstars has a good deal of postgame content, as merely beating the last zone with all the Chaos Emeralds doesn't take you to the true final boss. In order to do that, you'll need to do something else.

Before we hit the big spoiler warning, I'm going to give any future players who are still reading a warning. If you value your sanity... don't force yourself to do all the postgame stuff. Don't make the mistakes I did. It's not worth it, and it may very well knock your personal score for the game down a couple points.

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SPOILERS FOR THE STORY, UNLOCKABLES, AND THE POSTGAME BELOW THIS POINT

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

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The bonus scenario

Sonic Superstars has a big surprise in store for anyone who beats the main story. For the first time since... what, Silver? In 2006? We finally have a brand new playable character in a new Sonic platformer! (I wouldn't count the player avatar in Forces as a full-fledged New Character.) Yes, after the credits roll, you unlock Trip as the super-secret fifth playable character. I was really excited to see this. Trip is cute, even if her masked appearance from early in the game is perhaps a more unique design than a Sonic-ified lizard girl who can only vaguely look like a real sungazer lizard. She IS the first new Sonic character Ohshima has designed since the '90s, though, so she gets points for that - and she gets even more points for literally turning into a dragon when she goes Super. We love a girl who can turn into a dragon, don't we folks? And her playstyle is fun, too, with a double jump and the ability to roll along walls and ceilings.

But Trip isn't just playable. Like Knuckles before her, she gets an entire alternate story mode of her own, which somewhat remixes the level layouts, generally makes things more challenging, and swaps out Eggman for Egg Robo. I was so excited to see this! It really felt like the game had so much more in store for me than I'd anticipated.

...Then I spent probably around three hours attempting to beat the new final battle with Fang at the end of Trip's Story. And it made me regret doing Trip's Story at all.

Once you learn the patterns, a lot of them are actually piss easy. But the difficulty comes down to a few misguided factors:

The fight is LOOOONG. On a successful attempt the whole thing will probably take the average player about, like... seven or eight minutes? Maybe longer? This is where I really started to get pissed at the game for making me wait through these stupid attack patterns before I could attempt to hit the boss once.

The fight is divided between two phases, one with Fang in a vehicle and another with him in a giant robot, with no checkpoint between them. Dying to one of Fang's bullshit attacks on the second phase means having to redo the ~5 minute first phase all over again. And, worst of all...

Fang has multiple projectile attacks that are guaranteed instant kills, even if you have rings.

Also there's a stupid desperation headbutt attack that can really easily catch you off guard and kill you, but I only got that far in the fight once.

It's the instant kills that got me. If those fucking immobilizing net attacks just made you drop your rings, or you could at least wiggle out of them by mashing buttons (EDIT: apparently you CAN do this but you literally have to button mash so rapidly that it's a crapshoot whether or not you'll physically be able to do it), it would have been totally doable! Kinda fun, even! Slow, but pretty cool in terms of spectacle. But nope! Three hours! Three hours on this! This is, without a doubt, the hardest boss I have ever faced in any Sonic game, period, and one of the hardest bosses I've ever seen in ANY game. All because of one attack pattern where making a tiny mistake means starting over.

The glitches didn't help, either. Something about the way the circular boss arena was set up in both stories' final battles seems to make the floor intangible sometimes for non-player objects. Occasionally my dropped rings, enemies I was supposed to knock towards Fang, or one of Fang's insta-kill projectiles would just fall through the floor randomly. This definitely wasn't my main problem, but it helped drive home the idea that this fight just wasn't worth my time.

After three hours of attempts, I gave up. I just went and looked up the ending of Trip's story, as well as the contents of the Final Story, on YouTube. Turns out I made the right call, because boy, that true final boss looks like dogshit. It's just a very dull fight against a big generic cartoon dragon. Apparently this is the thing Eggman was looking for. It appears and is defeated with little fanfare. I think I liked it better when I assumed the scary dragon being foreshadowed was just Super Trip.

...Also, hey, what's up with The End being very conspicuously visible in the background of the last zone?? I know it's just a cheeky cameo, but, like... isn't it supposed to be sealed away in Cyber Space right now? Should I be taking this literally? Does this have lore implications? This is one hell of a way to remind people that the timeline's been reunified, I guess

Closing thoughts

I really hate to part ways with Superstars on a sour note like this, because like I said up top, I mostly enjoyed my time with it! It's really just a small handful of particularly frustrating bosses and the inconsistent soundtrack that drag it down. Other than that, it's solid as a rock. Maybe wait for sales if you're not dying to play it, but it's definitely worth playing for any Sonic fan. Just... skip the true ending. I would have stepped away MUCH happier with this game if I'd done that.

I wanna try to end this on a more positive note but I'm tired, so, uhhhh... look, you can unlock a Metal Nights skin for your Battle Mode bot!!

Anyway back to jamming to about half the soundtrack on loop while pretending the other half doesn't exist, and looking forward to the continued Fang Renaissance with his upcoming IDW miniseries

#tkp post #other media

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paloma-ascends-into-hellfire · 5 months

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Moments in Epic that live in my head rent free (in order cuz i'm cool like that)

"Nestor, secureHelenandprotecther"

"Penelope... Penelope... and Telemachus... I fight for us, I fight for us"

"But when does a comet become a meteor? When does a candle become a blaze? When does a man become a MONSTER? "

"Forgive me"

"Six hundred men. Six hundred men under my command with only one goal in mind: make it back alive to our homeland"

"We're up, we're off, and away we go!"

"I see in your face, there is so much guilt inside your heart" [rip Polites]

The entirety of "Warrior of the Mind"

"You killed my sheep. My favourite sheep. What gives you this right to deal a pain so deep? Don't you know pain you sow is pain you reap?"

"My name is Nobody, Nobody, Nobody"

"Yes, you shall be the final man to die." "Wh-what? ...WATCH OUT!"

"Six hundred LIIIIVES at stake. It's just one LIIFE to take! And when we kill him then our jouurneyy's oooverrr. No dying OOOON us now. Defeat is NOOOT allowed!"

Like all of "Remember Them" but especially "They will not DII-EY-EYE IN VAIN! Remember them!"

"Who hurts you?" "It was Nobody, Nobody" "If nobody hurts you, be silent." "Don't go!"

"I am the reigning king of Ithaca. I am neither man nor mythical. I am your darkest moment. I am the infamous... ODYSSEUS!"

All of "My Goodbye"

"stOoOoOoOOOoooOoOoOrm!"

"at this rate we won't make it out aliive!"

"How much longer till our luck runs out?"

"you rely on wit, and people die on it, whoa-whoa."

"Hahaha! I am the wind, twisting and turning!"

"keep your friends close and your enemies closer (never really know who you can trust)"

"Everything's changed since Polites" [not the NAMEDROP]

"Just keep your eyes open..."

"Wake up! Wake up, Odysseus, they're open the bag, wake UUUUP!"

"I said to keep the bag closed, but you weren't compliant. If I had to guess, you're headed to the land of the giants!"

"OOOOODYSSEUS OF ITHACA! Do you know who I am?"

"but damn, you crossed a liIiIiIne."

"You are the worst kind of good cuz you're NOT EVEN GREAT! A greek who reeks of false righteousness, THAT'S WHAT I HATE!"

"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves! OURSELVES!"

"Ruthlessness is mercy-" "Die."

"ALL I GOTTA DO IS OPEN THIS BAG" "what."

#epic the musical #epic the ocean saga #epic: the musical #epic: the ocean saga #epic the troy saga #epic the cyclops saga #epic: the troy saga #epic: the cyclops saga #jorge rivera herrans #jay rivera herrans #musical theatre

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stagefoureddiediaz · 16 days

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ugh this is horrible news tommy is still around, hope to god he's gone in the finale. v

Maybe in your world Nonnie, but not in mine and I'm not entirely sure why you felt the need to come and complain about it on my blog, but here we are!

It makes perfect Narrative sense for Tommy to still be around in the back end of the season, and even possibly into the start of season 8. The show is telling a story of Bucks bisexuality, so why woould they get rid of Tommy so quickly? To do so would do a disservice to that story - a massive disservice. I'm guessing you're hating on this relationship becasue you see it getting in the way of Buddie, rather than viewing it as a vital step on the route to Buddie.

Lets put it into simple terms - Buck figures out he's bi and then begins to explore that newly discovered aspect of himself. The show has also taken the time to move Buck from someone who didn't really do relationships (of the long term variety), into someone who is looking for love and looking for forever. But in amongst all of that, he hasn't really had a healthy long term relationship, the closest he had to that was with Ali and that one didn't last especially long and she wasn't around for most of it

Buck isn't ready for an endgame queer relationship right now - he is still to immature from a relationship perspective - especially a queer relationship perspective. If Eddie was available and he and Buck got together - as they are as characters right now, they wouldn't last - they're not in a position to do so successfully. And this isn't me suggesting that they need to have figured everything out before they get together - to have fully healed etc, because thats neither realistic or something I would want to see - what it means is that they both need to get to a point where they are in a healthy enough place to put in the work together, understand each others flaws, and their own flaws and proactively work towards overcoming those things together and as of right now, neither of them are - they are getting their and moving rapidly in the right direction, but Buck needs to learn a bit more, and in many ways learn how to be with a man, before he will be ready to start anything with Eddie.

The growth we're getting to watch Buck go through right now - in the aftermath of the lightening strike, his reckoning with his mortality etc and the fact he's now off the hamster wheel and moving forward - in a healthy and faster way than we've ever seen from him, speaks volumes.

Tommy is also a far better developed love interest than any other love interest we've seen Buck (or indeed Eddie) with (Abby excepted but she was a main, so had her own purpose on the show)- I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling like I know Tommy more after 3 episodes plus what we got from the begins episodes he was in, than I managed to ascertain about Taylor or Ana or Nataila etc!

Not to mention, him figuring out he's in Love with Eddie as part of this process is going to be fun to watch. The show has made no bones about re-enforcing at every. Single. Opportunity how close, how entwined and how important Buck and Eddie are to one another - the show has quite literally been prioritising that over anything else Buck and Eddie related - Buck was there front and centre - placed very much on an equal footing with Shannon and even Eddie himself in 7x01, and then Eddie was the centre of Bucks bi arc in 7x04 and in his coming out in 7x05. They are literally moving chess pieces into place to tell an amazing story of queer love in later life and creating an epic slow burn for the ages.

And finally, Eddie is, as far as we know at this point in time, still in a relationship with Marisol - why shouldn't Buck get to explore who he is and what he want's within a relationship rather than sitting pining on the sidelines - that isn't healthy in any way shape or form. Eddie still has stuff to figure out about himself.

Even Tim and Oliver have stated in interviews that this is about a happy and joyful queer experience of figuring out bisexuality and therefore within that is giving the narrative a romcom vibe. But they have also stated that Tommy isn't going to be around for that long - that he is very much a narrative device.

It is worth pointing out that timelines on various aspects of the narrative may have been shifted because of the season 8 renewal - but that is only going to help tell the story because now it doesn't have to be rushed. I'm still fully expecting some form of feeling realisation from one of them by the end of the season (my money is on Buck), setting up for season 8 and Buddie going canon either 8a finale or early into 8b.

You have every right to dislike Tommy if thats you jam - have at it, but don't come to my blog and expect me to agree with you. I'm not a multi shipper by any means - I'm a one ship kind of gal and I will be a Buddie shipper until the end of time, but within that, I am here for amazing storytelling and amazing queer storytelling - the like of which I've not had the privilege to watch on my screen before - especially one that hits so close to home. Its a really important story to tell and I'd rather it not be rushed.

And if you had to pick - I'm pretty sure you'd rather have Tommy around for a bit longer that Marisol!!!!

#kym answers things #nonnie asks #We love Tommy on this blog so don't come to my inbox trying to spread hate!#I get not wanting to see half of your ship with anyone other than the other half of it I really do but to deny the narrative thats going to #get you to canon is just a fools errand - its precisely because of that narrative that will make the ship going canon all the more rewardin #911 spoilers #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie #bucktommy #kinley #tevan #911 abc #911 discourse

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hogwartslegacyreactions2 · 1 month

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Welcome back!!! :) We all missed you

Could you please write one in which MC is an animagus and the characters react to them transforming?

Thank you so much and take it easy 😁

HLC REACT TO MC BEING AN ANIMAGUS

A/N: since no animal was specified, we're going with the classic kitty cat :3

MC finally did it! After months of prep, and some good luck, they completed the animagus ritual....only to become a silver tabby. Not as epic as they would have hoped, but still cool. They needed to show their friends IMMEDIATELY.

~~~

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: "Well aren't you adorable." He chuckles as he kneels down to pet MC. "I'm not surprised you became an animagus. I'm just disappointed you didn't ask me to become one with you." He picks up MC and carries them off. "Now I have a perfectly valid excuse to call you Kitten."

OMINIS GAUNT: "You know, I don't find it funny when you tell me you want to SHOW me something. My wand has its limits." He huffs and waits for MC to do whatever they were so eager to do. His eyebrows rise in shock. One moment he detects a person, the next, a small animal. "What in Merlin's name? You're an animagus??" He hears MC meow and rub against his leg, just like the castle cats. He smiles a little and reaches down to pet MC. "Whatever will we do with you?"

ANNE SALLOW: "Oh, not fair! I was going to go through with the ritual myself but the blasted mandrake leaf wouldn't stay put. Even so..." She picks up MC and cradles then in her arms. "Since you're here. You can be my lap warmer while I study transfiguration."

IMELDA REYES: "You're as mad as I thought. You risked your life to become an animagus, only to become a cat? I'd get my money back if I were you." She watches MC flop over and make some air biscuits with the biggest eyes. "...I see your point."

NATSAI ONAI: She has stars in her eyes and immediately changes in her gazelle form. She and MC dance around each other happily and run down the corridors to cause some havoc. It was entirely worth the detention.

GARRETH WEASLEY: "Brilliant!" He watches in awe as MC transforms and starts purring against him. He picks them up and puts them on his shoulder. "Let's go raid Professor Sharp's storage room. He'll never suspect a cat." He now has a new mantra: Gain kitty, do crime.

LEANDER PREWETT: He looks around to see if anyone saw what MC just did. He leans down and harshly whispers to them. "You do realize that ritual is against the rules here right!? It's so dangerous! You could have died! Let alone the fact that you aren't registered. You could get in serious trouble if you're caught." MC flattens their ears and growls, he puts his hands up defensively. "I won't tell, but be more careful. I'm serious."

AMIT THAKKAR: "By the stars, that's incredible! Was the ritual as hard as it sounds? How many times did you attempt it? Was it difficult to actually keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth for 30 days? These are questions I must know that answers to." MC just meows at him. "Oh...right."

EVERETT CLOPTON: "Whoa! That's amazing! Could you always do that?" He kneels down to scratch MC under the chin. "Hey, I need a favor." He grins devilishly and points at a distant group of students. "See the tall one? I need you to scratch the hell out of his legs. No questions. I'll pay."

POPPY SWEETING: She nearly screams from how cute MC's cat form is. She immediately scoops up MC and cuddles them close to her chest. "Please, for the love of Merlin and all magic, let me put little hats on you. My grandma knits all sorts of little hats and sweaters for her cats and I just KNOW they would look adorable on you." MC is locked in her arms. There is no escape.

ELAZAR FIG: "Extraordinary!" He was sitting at his desk when MC came in to show him their new trick. MC jumped onto his desk as a cat and slowly blinks at him. He reaches forward and gently pets their head. "I've always known you were capable of strong magic, and I'm glad you trust me enough to show me this, but do be cautious. Being an unregistered animagus is a big deal to some in the Ministry. Tread carefully. For now, you're welcome to nap on my desk."

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy reactions #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #anne sallow #imelda reyes #natsai onai #garreth weasley #leander prewett #amit thakkar #everett clopton #poppy sweeting #eleazar fig

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insanityclause · 2 months

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When Tom Hiddleston landed his career-changing role in Marvel’s Thor back in April 2009, he never dreamed he would be playing the character for nearly 15 years. To be fair, no one did—except maybe Marvel’s mastermind Kevin Feige, who had begun laying the cinematic groundwork for a multi-billion dollar franchise. At the time, Hiddleston happily threw himself into extensive research and prep to play the duplicitous brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth). “I was cast in April 2009, and I had about eight months to build the character from the ground up,” Hiddleston says on this week’s Little Gold Men. “So that was a deep dive into everything Loki from any comic book, any Norse myth, any saga, everything—from the whole run of Marvel comics to the ancient Scandinavian stories, and how he pops up in The Ring cycle for Wagner, and Jim Carrey is wearing the mask of Loki in The Mask.” Hiddleston was trying to discover “this sense of, what's Loki's impact on human imagination and culture? And then synthesizing all of that into the story we’re telling. That was such a delightful period of discovery and curiosity.”

Hiddleston’s scene-stealing portrayal made him an instant fan favorite, laying a formidable foundation for a character who went on to appear in six more films and the stand-alone series Loki. The two-season series threw the character into a new dimension and timeline, stripped him of all his creature comforts, and gave the actor new challenges to tackle.

“In successive iterations, [my approach] has been, how do I keep it interesting?” he says. “I genuinely say this to myself and to others: ‘We're not reheating yesterday's meal in the microwave. We're cooking up something new.’ It's trying to find new ingredients or new challenges for the character, for us as actors, so that it feels like the same person is growing. Because that's what human beings do. They don't stay the same, they grow. Sometimes they regress, but there's always movement.”

Hiddleston has gone on to star in a wide array of projects outside the Marvel universe, of course, from his Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe-winning work in The Night Manager to Jim Jarmusch’s acclaimed romantic vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive and Steven Spielberg’s epic War Horse. But he’s definitely spent the most time with the God of Mischief. And though no official announcement has been made, the final episode of Loki season two strongly indicates the closing of a formative chapter.

The actor and executive producer stopped by Little Gold Men for a thoughtful discussion about the gift of developing and playing a single character for so long, the surreal fun of working with drama school classmates turned costars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Wunmi Mosaku, and getting to come up with the character's last line (for now). Listen below, where you can also read excerpts from the conversation.

Vanity Fair: Did the series version of Loki feel a little more stripped down, or did you have the same kind of mindset playing him as you did in the films? Tom Hiddleston: Yes. I think it was stripped down literally in the sense of taking away the costume, but stripped down spiritually and in his soul. I thought [the concept] was such a brilliant idea, and it wasn't mine. It was [executive producers] Michael Waldron and Kevin Wright, and the great and the good at Marvel Studios. I thought for any character, if you were presented with your life and watching a kind of highlight reel of it, what would it add up to? Would it be satisfying? Would it be meaningful? Would it be amusing? Would it be disappointing? And I thought to do that with Loki especially, as it's the journey of a life that the audience is familiar with, but he hasn't seen it. I just thought it was a brilliant conceit. And then I leaned into this idea of the leopard being challenged to change his spots. Because you'd have to if your life ended up in murder by Thanos and humiliation. You'd want to try something new.

And that was really fun, developing a story which was actually very philosophical. It asks the question of Loki, as I hope it asks the question of all of us: Are we in control of the course of our lives? Do we have any free will, and can we break free from any kind of predetermination? It seemed like a great question, and a fun way to ask it.

You’re also an executive producer on the series. How did you take on that role? What did you get to do?

Honestly, it was such an honor and I loved it. I loved the extra imagining and problem solving. I was invited into the writer's room really early, season one, even earlier on season two. And to borrow the words from Lin Manuel Miranda, to be in the room where it happens, and to sit around the table and break story and crunch through the great creative ‘what if’ questions—what if Loki did this? What if Mobius [Owen Wilson] did that? What if they couldn't find Sylvie? What if the TVA ran on an energy source, and it wasn't energy, it was time?

Can you take any credit for bringing Ke Huy Kwan or your RADA buddies Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Wunmi Mosaku on board? I love that that was a little bit of a through-line, that you all got to work together.

Well, when their names came up, Gugu and Wunmi particularly, I was able to say, those guys are great. And Ke was just an amazing idea because actually, [his character] Ouroboros was coming to life on the page. Somebody suggested Ke, and Everything Everywhere All At Once had just come out. And I was like, genius: somebody call him now before we lose him. He was so joyful and optimistic and happy to be there, so honored to be there. He'd wanted to be in a Marvel project his whole life, I think, and, and he brought everything and more to that character.

The day he landed, he came from the airport straight to the studio, probably thinking, ‘I'll just say hello and go back to my digs.’ And Owen and I were actually rehearsing the scene before Mobius and Loki meet OB for the first time. And he came in and he listened. And then we got to the bit where we were like, ‘You're in the next bit. Do you want to do it?’ He said ‘Okay!’ And he stayed and rehearsed for three hours. I think he felt completely crazy having just [traveled] across the continents, but it was so brilliant. And the chemistry was so immediate between the three of us, and so funny. We all love Ke.

Thinking about your journey with this character and all the places he has taken you, has there been a surreal aspect to it? I think about you being in drama school with Gugu and Wunmi—now you're getting paid to play.

It's a wonderful question, and I'm never unaware of the great gift that this job is. Especially because it happens all the time,: I go out into the world and I meet young people or children, and they're so amazed that they’re meeting Loki. I'm obviously not Loki, but the response is so immediate and so emotional and so joyful. What a gift. It's the best job in the world. And I never dreamed back then that I would be part of something with such reach and for so long. It just is the most unlikely, surprising, delightful thing. And we—Wunmi and Gugu I've known for a long time. It is amazing to look and go, ‘Can you believe we're here, we're doing this?’ It is exciting too, because it feels right in some way and they're great actors. They are brilliant.

Do you get recognized as the character, or are people starting to recognize you for your other work?

Oh, it's always different. I went to a friend's birthday party the other day—a friend and his wife, both turning the same age. They got a taco stand. I went to get my taco and the guys were like, ‘Only Lovers Left Alive, man. Love that film.’ And I said, ‘Thank you very much. That's very kind.’ Some people say The Night Manager. Some people stop me in the street and go, ‘It's you! You're the dancer.’ And they're referring to some talk show, some bit of dancing I did on a talk show from like a thousand years ago, which really tickles me.

Speaking of dancing, I wanted to bring up your physicality. With the most recent season of Loki in particular and that time slip, did you have to have massages and stretch after? Because it seems like such a jarring movement.

It's jerky, yes. I had to put my body under a kind of relentless physical stress. But I think it pays off in the way it's presented. In terms of movement and physicality, it comes from my own admiration for other performers when I sense that there is a really, alive and visceral physicality in the performance. Some of people are great actors, very cerebral, very intelligent, but sometimes not always fully embodied. And I love the actors who are giving me a sense that the whole body is occupying whichever space that is. They could be on a horse, they could be driving a car, they could have just run in through the jungle. I don't know, it could be anything, but a real sense of physicality is always something I admire in other actors.

One of my favorite things in doing a little research about your work on this season was that you got to craft Loki’s last lin,e and it also maybe came from going on a run. Can you talk about that? Well, first on running, I love it and it is a big part of my life. And a big part of my creative life. Running outside, in space, in the world with only your own legs to carry you and your own breath to fuel you, I find incredibly freeing. And it's where I do some of my best thinking and dreaming and imagining. Things bubble up from inside you. So I often run at the beginning of a day, very early and with an awareness of what's coming, what the scenes of the day are. Sometimes things will bubble up. And maybe that's just extra oxygen in the brain, who knows?

But to the point about that last line: one of the things I kept trying to guide our team back to was that the whole series, both seasons, was really about finding purpose, or re-finding, re-defining, re-discovering a sense of purpose. And I think a primal need in all of us, is that we need our lives to mean something. So I kept coming back to this line from The Avengers, ‘I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose.’ And we kept thinking, well, if Loki has a second chance, he gets to redefine his purpose or re-imagine it. I went for a run and was listening to some film scores, and it was a beautiful day. I was thinking about the journey of playing this character and where it started, and all the people that I have had the great good fortune to work with and become friends with—that completely unique kind of soul-sharing relationship where you make something together. And I remembered the end of the first Thor film, and how emotional that felt and. I just suddenly thought, that's what he should say—but it should mean something completely different. Loki's last line in Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, is, ‘I could have done it, Father. I could have done it for you, for all of us.’ And of course his effort to gain his father's pride has been misguided and ill thought-out. And then at the end of Loki season 2, 14 years later, he turns to Mobius and Sylvie and says, ‘I know what I want I know what kind of god I need to be. For you. For all of us.’ It felt very resonant somehow. I hope the audience picked up on that.

Are you able to just say goodbye when it's wrap time, or do you have any sort of meditative, formal way of saying goodbye to a project or a character?

That's such a good question. I think it's a very honest, immediate feeling of relief, which they say is the most intense human emotion. You'd think it was anger or grief or something, but actually relief is—the way relief kind of washes through you, and a sense of finality that some finish line has been crossed and there are no more miles to run. And for me anyway, huge amounts of energy have been stored inside myself which had been poured out over time—over maybe 20 weeks or however many months.

I love that feeling of completeness. The great joy of what I do for a living is that it involves very intense, very close working with a team. And the pride that you can feel with your teammates, with your crew, with your cast—you just hang around and say goodbye, but it never really is goodbye. And there's just a sense of, like, “that'll do, pig,” you know? Yeah: that'll do, pig.

#tom hiddleston #loki #little gold men #emmy fyc interview #babe

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subtle-as-an-earthquake · 3 months

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i am finally home and i'm pretty knackered but aaaahhh what a weekend!! ✨✨ so much happened in such a short amount of time, i'm still processing i think (also some personal stuff, that i won't bore you with). but yeah, the shows were absolutely epic, they were such good crowds for london standards. very rowdy but overall the atmosphere was amazing, and tbh that's probably in part because miles just exudes such incredible energy himself, if you ask me

just a little snippet of don't forget who you are from yesterday (night two) to illustrate:

also, a few random things i'm remembering now (which i'll put under the cut because i apparently remembered more than i thought):

miles seemed really really into it both nights, and really centered somehow? he was clearly having a blast and had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand, he's just SUCH an incredible showman. that's nothing new of course, but I was once again struck by just how very special and awe inspiring and just incredibly fun it is to watch him do his thing on stage. no one does it like miles fucking kane, baby

also, there were so many men in the audience who were just really letting go during the show, hugging their mates and singing the lyrics at each other, even full on crying when miles played colour of the trap (not even kidding, actual tears streaming down their faces). i don't think i've ever seen that at another gig to that extent, really. miles and his music seem to have - for want of a better phrase - a sort of liberating effect on a lot of men that's really nice to witness

on night one miles slipped on a spilled drink on stage and took a little tumble, but he recovered like a king and honestly it just made him look even cooler somehow lol

his arms and shoulders......... are sooooooo...... 🔥🔥🔥 dear fucking lord. his shoulders are broader than ever and honestly it was very hard to concentrate on anything else 🫠

after the show, we were chatting to ben for a bit who was just the sweetest and again talked about how he was a fan first (of arctic monkeys and tlsp and miles) and then sort of organically came to be a part of the band, and has just been having the time of his life so far! we were still chatting to him when miles came out after night 1, and when everyone started whooping, ben started screaming 'aaaaaahhh miles!!!' really loudly as a joke, before starting an impromptu chorus of the don't forget who you are 'la la la' that everyone joined in on. it was pretty hilarious

liam was super sweet too, and when he learned that i was dutch he was like 'oh we're playing a show in holland next week!' so i was like 'i know, i'm going!' and then he offered to put me on the guestlist, which was very kind of him even though i already have tickets lmao. he and ben both were very excited for that show for some reason, which made me even more excited as well!!

after night two ben and liam shared a massive hug outside and they both seemed really emotional, which was very sweet to see 🥺

nathan is the loveliest man alive. he said this tour was definitely the best one yet because the energy's just been amazing! he also asked us what are favourite album and song of the night was (his own fave was never taking me alive) and when I mentioned i just loved the bassline in coup de grace so much, he said it was as fun to play as it sounds, and that on the album it was actually miles who played it (that's probably common knowledge, but i didn't know!)

he also said that the band really is very close and they're all equals, and miles always says "we", and that he really is as kind and lovely as he seems 🥺 i mean, we knew that, but it was still really lovely to hear!

and of course, miles was once again just the most wonderful, gracious man ever with his fans, chatting to as many people as he could and taking pics with them and cooing at turtle paraphernalia, all while looking and smelling absolutely diviiiiine. he did seemed pretty knackered though, especially after night two, but that makes sense i think. and yet he still came out! truly a hero

as for my own chat with him, i for some reason went up to him like 'hiiiiiiiiiiiii' with my hands held out to him (idk man), and he just reciprocated my enthusiasm and took my hands and then held them and looked me in the eye while i rambled at him about how incredible i thought the show and he himself were, and he was just completely lovely, as always 🥺 such an angel

oh and finally, maxie is apparently staying with miles's mum while miles is on tour 🥺

i'm sure i'm forgetting things but this is already long enough 🙈 going to catch some zzz's now, i need them after this weekend

#sorry for rambling i am very tired #also my friend and i went to a pub after last night #and suddenly ru mine came on???#we just lost it #started singing along at the top of our lungs and made a spectacle of ourselves but man it was so fun #what a goshdarn good weekend #miles kane #one man band tour #minnie talks

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inspirationalucky · 19 days

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🪦 EPIC: The Musical: Act One: The Underworld Saga sentence starters. Going by the exact lyrics for the most part unless I'm making it less lyric and more dialogue. Definitely change things to fit your muse's situation<3

The Underworld

"No matter what we hear: full speed ahead"

"Full speed ahead until we find the prophet."

"This land confuses your mind"

"All I hear are screams every time I dare to close my eyes"

"I no longer dream, only nightmares of those who've died"

"Nothing's what it seems"

"The past seems close behind"

"Five-hundred fifty-eight men who died under your command"

"Why would you let the cyclops live when ruthlessness is mercy?"

"I keep thinking of the infant from that night"

"That voice, it can't be!"

"When you come home I'll be waiting"

"Even if you're the last thing I see, I'll be waiting"

"I'm right here, mom. Can't you see?"

"I took too long, and ventured too far."

"I'll always love you, I'll stay in your heart"

"Your past is always close behind down in the Underworld"

No Longer You

"I am the prophet with the answers you seek"

"I see past and future running free"

"There is a world where I help you get home, but that's not a world I know"

"I see the sacrifice of man"

"I see portrayals of betrayal and a brother's final stand"

"I see you on the brink of death. I see you draw your final breath"

"I see a man who gets to make it home alive, but it's no longer you"

"This can't be!"

"We've suffered and sailed through the toughest of hells, now you tell us our effort's for nothing?"

"I see your palace covered in red."

"I see your wife with a man who is haunting, a man with a trail of bodies..."

Monster

"How has everything been turned against us?"

"How did suffering become so endless?"

"Do I need to change?"

"I'm surrounded by the souls of those I've lost."

"I'm the only one whose line I haven't crossed."

"What if the greatest threat we'll find across the sea... is me?"

"What if I'm the monster?"

"What if I'm in the wrong?"

"What if I'm the problem that's been hiding all along?"

"What if I'm the one who killed you every time I caved to guilt?"

"What if I've been far too kind to foes but a monster to ourselves?"

"If I became the monster and threw that guilt away, would that make us stronger?"

"And now no one dares to piss him off"

"Who would care if we're unjust?"

"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves, and deep down I know this well."

"I lost my best friend. I lost my mentor, my mom."

"If we must sail through dangerous oceans and beaches, I'll go where Poseidon won't reach us"

"I'll become the monster. I will deal the blow"

"I'll become the monster like none they've ever known"

"So what if I'm the monster lurking deep below?"

"I must become the monster, and then we'll make it home"

#rp sentence starters #rp sentence meme #rp sentence prompts #roleplay sentence starters #rp starter #rp starter meme #roleplay meme #rp meme #epic the musical

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zeldathusiast · 18 days

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I'm currently listening to "The Underworld" from EPIC and haha oopsie I made it LU related. buckle up because this one HURTS. best read while listening to the song >:D

Warriors' face is hardened as he gives his orders, the boat creaking beneath the Chain- what's left of it- as they enter the Underworld.

"Alright. Malanya's instructions were clear. No matter what we hear..." he shoots a look at Legend, "... Full speed ahead, until we find the Spirit." He takes a deep breath. "This land confuses your mind. No matter who we find..."

The entire Chain winces at the reminder of the member they'd lost, then repeat Warriors' earlier words. "... Full speed ahead, until we find the Spirit."

"Good."

The boat creaks dangerously and the wind howls as long-forgotten souls grasp at the ship's sides. Warriors sees every solider, every friend he'd lost in the war, still in battle formation as though they cannot conceive that their duty is done. Here in the underworld, the past seems so close behind. 558 men who died under his own command. They cry his name, some angry, some desperately sad.

"CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN! WHY WOULD YOU LET THE SORCERESS LIVE WHEN RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY!?"

And then, terribly, the entire chain hears a young voice that's so horribly familiar.

"This life is amazing, when you greet it with open arms!"

Wind.

"Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart."

Someone is crying. Maybe everyone is. The visage of their youngest stands atop a nearby rock, smile as wide as ever, wind waker in hand as he speaks.

"No matter the place, we can light up the world, here's how to start: greet the world with open arms, greet the world with open arms!"

The boy's spirit blows away in the wind. There's sobbing from even the most stoic of them, but there's hardly a moment to breathe before another figure appears, one only their Smith is familiar with.

"Waiting..."

Four sobs, a broken "no" escaping his lips.

"Waiting..."

Four dares to look up, tears gathering in his eyes. "... Grandpa?"

"Waiting... little one when you come home, I'll be waiting. Even if you're the last thing I see, I'll be waiting..."

Four shoots to his feet, nearly tumbling over the side of the boat in his rush. "I'm right here, Grandpa! Can't you see?"

His Grandpa, still sharpening one of Four's favorite daggers, doesn't answer.

Four wails, sinking to his knees. "...I took too long."

His Grandpa continues, speaking to no one. "I'll always love you..."

Four only sobs. "I ventured too far."

"Waiting... waiting... waiting..." his Grandpa whispers, and silently, with a last swipe of the whetstone, he disappears into the breeze.

Four's voice cracks, barely above a whisper. "... Bye, Grandpa."

The boat creaks loudly again as it continues onward, and everything is silent except for a faint song on the wind that makes Legend cover his ears as though trying to forget who's singing it.

Finally, the home of the Spirit they seek appears on the water's horizon.

There is nothing to do but continue.

Full speed ahead.

#this is specifically engineered to breaks y'all's hearts enjoy #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu four #lu wind #lu legend #lu warriors #lu chain #epic the musical #epic the underworld saga

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darcylightninglewis · 5 months

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Good morning!!! Sorry to bother but since you are the most knowledgeable person I know about Hellcheer can I ask you if you have ever read a fic where Chrissy survives Vecna and then joins the group to defeat him? Thanks in advance and have a great day!!!

Okay, first off, you're never a bother, ever.

Secondly, I am honored by your ask. Sorry for the delayed response, it's...it's been a weird emotional exhausting few days but we're back!

Where my brain immediately went to

Chrissy and Eddie’s Infinite Mixtape by @little-scribblers-heart

What may be (to my reading knowledge) the most epic rewrite of S4, really can't recommend LovelyThings enough.

(sooner or later it comes down to fate) i might as well be the one by @majicmarker

Another great one and one of the best stream of conscious Eddie writers I've ever come across. Their fics always make me laugh.

someone reaching back for me by @enoughtotemptme

Okay, this one is gonna make you sad, but eventually very happy too! It was the first groundhog style fix its fics I read for season 4 and introduced me to the writer's work who I also can't rec enough.

EDIT

OMFG, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T INCLUDE @hangon-silvergirl!! Thank you for pointing out my mistake, @majicmarker <33

Bonus Tracks by @hangon-silvergirl

Everything by her is amazing and this is no exception. I love it when folks use things we learn from con's in fic (like Chrissy's would be Vecna song), superb. A WIP, but off to a killer start.

Now below these are ones that have been on my Marked for Later list because I'm just in need of pure uncut fluff these days but come highly recommended.

the pleasure, the privilege, is mine. by melodicvinyl

I just love the starting premise of this one, I can see it being a thing Eddie does to make her smile or it's actually his mundane superpower that finally comes in handy. Also love their other fics too.

Linger by CircusBones

Hawkin's High 10 Year Reunion! Class of 86! Chrissy Cunningham has built a life in California, far from the demons of her youth, from her mother to Vecna. There's people who were always good to her, though. Healing might have taken her away from them, and coming back has its own challenges. This story moves between the events of 1986, and Chrissy experiencing Hawkins ten years later.

I've read their shieldshock fics and love them so I'm sure I'll love this too.

like hands that tick on a clock by theredhoodie

What if Chrissy Cunningham wasn't Vecna's first victim, but she survived instead? How would that have changed things for everyone? A ST4 shippy rewrite.

aesthetic chills by sloelimbs

"aesthetic chills" is the literal translation of frisson, which is the feeling you get when listening to a really good piece of music.

put your lips close to mine, as long as they don't touch by Percyjacksonfan3

Here's the thing about Chrissy Cunningham: she actually is the straight laced dependable good girl that everyone thinks she is. She's also, until she starts having these weird visions that make her feel like she's going out of her mind, insanely bored. Or, alternatively, the fix-it AU where Chrissy doesn't die and she and Eddie try and figure out what the hell is going on with her. And with them. Also, the usual gang is there. Eventually. Because these two need some serious help fighting demons and figuring out that they are not just friends.

If I missed an author's tumblr name please forgive me, I'm preeeetty brain dead. If I missed any fellow Hellcheerios, please drop them in the comments as I'm sure this isn't an exhaustive list. But hopefully enough to get you started babes!!

Hellcheer to canon:

#fic rec #hellcheer #eddissy #st au fic #otp: you're a freak

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memekais · 5 months

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epic the musical sentence starters. the ocean saga. feel free to change pronouns as needed!

storm

these waves and tides have grown in strength and size.

is it nature or divine or a blessing in disguise?

our home's in sight.

this storm's our final fight.

brace for a storm!

with home so close, we must keep pushing forward.

head towards the island but avoid the crashing waves.

tread where the tide is flat and then you will be saved.

have them follow my ship, i'll ensure that we prevail!

we're taking too much damage to survive.

at this rate, we won't make it out alive.

grab the harpoons, as many as you can find!

we're gonna shoot for the sky!

everyone grab a harpoon and aim it high!

we're shooting for the island in the sky!

luck runs out

please don't tell me you're about to do what i think you'll do.

you've heard the legends of the island in the sky, this proves they're true.

i'm gonna climb to the top and ask 'em for a hand.

you could be caught off guard and lose your life or piss off this god and infuse us with strife.

don't forget how dangerous the gods are.

have faith, friend, we've come this far.

how much longer till your luck runs out?

how much longer till the show goes south?

how much longer till we all fall down?

you rely on wit, and people die on it...

i still believe in goodness, i still believe that we could be kind.

lead from the heart and see what starts.

what will we do when it tears us apart?

i just don't wanna see another life end.

you're like the brother i could never do without.

suddenly you doubt that i could figure this out?

how much longer till your great days cease?

how much longer till your strength takes leave?

thank you for the concern but brother I can assure you our journey is almost done.

i understand that we're tired, i understand that we're fazed but don't forget how much we've already faced.

if you'd like to speak more, let me pull you aside then i need to talk to you in private.

i can't have you planting seeds of doubt, i can't have you disagreeing each route...

i need you to always be devout and comply with this or we'll all die in this, okay?

keep your friends close

our path to home is blocked by an impenetrable storm.

i ask for your assistance so we at last can go the distance.

i am the wind, twisting and turning, i give the fire enough to stay burning!

if you win, you will get what you're yearning.

take a look right here at this bag, it has the winds of the storm all trapped.

sounds too easy, what's the catch?

keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

never really know who you can trust.

sometimes killing is a must.

the end always justifies the means; friends turn into foes in rivalries.

we cannot let the treasure rumour fly.

now they wanna get the bag open so they can have closure.

sometimes sneaking is a must

for nine days, i've stayed wide awake.

i can't wait to make some new memories.

time for me to be the father i never was.

why are my eyes and my heart and my soul so heavy?

i keep on tried to embraced you both. why won't you let me?

we can save whatever wind we have to use another day, come on!

[NAME].... do you know who i am?

ruthlessness

in all my years of living, it isn't very often that i get pissed off.

i try to chill with the waves but damn, you crossed the line.

i've been so gracious and yet, you hurt the son of mine.

i'm left without a choice and without a doubt!

guess the pack of wolves is swimming with the shark now!

i've gotta make you bleed, i need to see you drown but before you go, I need to make you learn...

ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!

you are the worst kind of good 'cause you're not even great!

a greek who reeks of false righteousness, that's what I hate!

you fight to save lives but won't kill and don't get the job done...

you are far too nice - mercy has a price!

it's the final crack we're about to break the ice now!

unlike you i've got no mercy left to give.

now it is finally time to say goodbye. today, you die unless, of course, you apologize...

we meant no harm, we only hurt him to disarm him!

we took no pleasure in his pain, we only wanted to escape!

the line between naïveté and hopefulness is almost invisible.

so, close your heart the world is dark, and ruthlessness is mercy.

i am your darkest moment... the monster that always draws near.

any last words?

#rp meme #rp prompts #rp sentence meme #rp sentence prompts #rp sentence starters #ask meme #prompts #sentence starters #meme

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madrone33 · 3 months

Text

Some of my fav lines/melodies in EPIC The Musical.

(In no particular order. Also this is not a completely list, just the ones I'm thinking of currently. Also also it's 1:30 am so soz if there's spelling mistakes :D)

*gentle, concern* (Po-li-tes! Po-li-tes!) What keeps you up so late at night, myyy friend?

(Aphro-diii-te~) *disinterest, sneer* Your little high and miiighty~ Odysseus.

*soft, longing, adoring* She's my everything... My... Pe-ne-lo-pe...

*absolutely done with this shit, passive agressive to the max* Everybody listen closely. See how this bag is closed: that's how it's supposed to be.

*so bored, plaintive* It's just me, myself and I. STUCK IN MY BEDROOM-

*disdain, pissed* You are the worst kind of good, 'cause you're NOT. EVEN. GREAT!

*mocking, amused* Tell me. Odysseus~

*smooth temptation, sly* Here in the root of this flower there lies such a power to take her onnnn... You must consume and digest it then you'll manifest a BEING of your cre-a-tion!

*scorn, dark rage, snarl* You don't think I know my own palace? I BUILT IT!

*mocking smile* En-lighten me... King of Ith-a-ca.

*grinning, excited, pshh* Nah! Don't be modest! I know you're a goddess! So let's be honest- You are ATHENA!! (Athena!) Badass in the arena! Unmatched, witty, and queen of the best stra-ta-gies we've seen!

*smooth, persuasive, cunning* Have a drink! One sip and you'll un-der-stand- the power that's in your hands! A wine so fresh, you'd never wanna eat hu-man flesh a-gain!

*grim, fierce* And if we're defeated they're good as dead! Straight ahead! That is who we're fighting. (PO-LY-PHE-MUS!)

*damning, cold* This-is-the-son-of-none-o-ther-than Troy's very own Prince. Hec-tor.

*rage, bitter, snarl* The next time that you dare choose not to spare, remember them. Re-member us! Re-member ME.

*proud, dark, spite* I'm the reigning King of Ithaca! (electric guitar goes hard!!!)

*tired, disappointed, cynical* That's what we'd get with o-pen arms.

*determined, upbeat* ... Lotus eaters~ [Dies Irae forshadowing RIP]

*aching, exhausted, longing* Who longs to see his wife. I long to see my fa-mi-ly! I long to see Peneeelope!

*exhaused, hopeful, adoring* and I'm getting closer to youuu! (Pene-lo-pe...) I can't wait to make some new me-mor-ies! (Tele-ma-chus...) Time for me to be the father I never was!

*dark promise, intent, soft* ... Or I'll raise the tide so high, all of Ithaca will die. Get in the water.

*awe, gentle, hopeful* Twenty years we've wandered, but today you're not alooone... MY SON I'M FINALLY HOME! [Crying]

*smirk, condescending, challenging* FIGHT, LITTLE WOLF, FIGHT! Wanna entertain me?

*bitter, spite, hurt* This way! You get what'chu waaanted. This way! You can save. Your. Time! Thiiis way. You close the door, and have your damn GOOD-BYE!

*impatient, clever, smug smirk* I-al-ready-know-your-tac- tics! When-you-swallow-you-a- ttack with.

*cold, malicious* Forty-three left, under your command.

*darkly amused smirk, sly* No I'm not a player, I'm a puppeteer. No I don't play, I puppeteer, yeah!

*smooth, charming, faux deferent* Lllady of the Paaalace! Sorry that I aaask this, but I hope that I've been mis-in-formed.

*pleading, tired, entreating* So I beg you, Circe. Graaant us mercy. And let us puppets, leaaave...

*triumphant?* Or maybe one day the world will need a puppeteer... MO-O-O-O-RE! (No she's not a player, she's a puppeteer! No she's not a player, she's a puppeteer, oh!)

*desperate, dark, dread* What if I'm the- (MON-STERRR!) Oh, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves... (MON-STERRR!)

*depair, gritted teeth* When does the rea-son become the bl-ame?

*desperate, despair, begging* I'd rather bleed for ya! I'm on my knees for ya! I'm begging please! (Oh, this is the will of the GODS!) ... Please, don't make me do this! Don't make me do this!

*snarling roar, bitter fury* GIVE UP YOUR HONOUR AND FAIIITH!

*warm, light, earnest* And so I think mayyy-be! If liiife didn't go as planned. Mayyy-be! You miiight wanna lend a hand! I don't think he'll miiind! If not his friend, then miiine!

*amused, mocking* To untie apprehensions, that were placed on that Greeeek?

*dry, tired, sceptical* If your plan's so great, then why'd you waiiit to say it? *pause, smirk* Well it's a li-ttle bit ✨DANGEROUS✨ my friend!

*delight, dark, snarl* There you are. Coward.

*desperate hope* Ohhh, could it be! Some kiiind of sign! That MY world IS all A-bout TO change?

*adoring, awe* Peneee-lo-peeee! Oh, how I missed you, my darling, my love!

*hurting, confused, scared* This re-sentment brims with pain! Someone tell me whyyy! Instead of strength, I've oceans in my eyes...

*fucking done, incredulous, distrusting* Is this some kind of trick? Pretending I can go? Because if so you're sick. My heart's already bro-ken. I'm tired of this! And I've run out of sym-pathy.

*intone, dismissive, harsh* If no-body hurts you, be SILENT! (Ody motif, he's deffo smirking here)

*smitten, adoring* 'Cause in my DAR-kest dayyys! Penelope's my driiive!

*tired, hesitant, quiet* ... Greet the world with o-pen arms...

*soft, warm* I only took the blow so you could live! WHOA!!

*bombastic* (HERA!!) Soooo many heroes! Soooo many taaales! Give me one good rea-son! Why yours should prevaaail!

*feral grin, challenge, declare* So ohhh BRING it on! I'm not dying here, I'm still fighting here!

*longing, loving, promise* Pe-ne-lopeee... Pe-ne-lopeee... And Tele-ma-chus! I fight for us! I fight for uuus!

*proud* And all he ever lived was the life of a legend! A life that was EPIC.

AHHHHHH I love it all so much!!!!

#long post #quotes #epic the musical #rambles #my posts

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