alastair-1205

[alastair-1205]

"If we didn't have a chance of winning, they wouldn't be trying so hard to stop us"

- Daniel Howell

Today on dnp quotes that go incredibly hard:

[alastair-1205]

i appreciate that i saw both of these on my dash within about five posts of each other. we’re gonna need both moods going forward, tbh.

[alastair-1205]

You know what's worse than living in "unprecedented times"?

Living in a completely and repeatedly precedented time where the majority is seemingly willfully blind to the writing on the wall because It Could Never Happen Here, and certainly not to me!

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I don't think most of my followers actually need to be told, but: y'all gotta let people switch sides.

I'm seeing a lot of "if you voted for Trump you're not welcome here" floating around. A lot of "haha the leopards are eating your face how does it feel". A lot of talk about the irredeemability of Nazis, with the strong implication that everyone who had any hand in bringing the current administration to power is a full-on Nazi and should be shot without trial.

People were fooled. People were lied to. People who genuinely tried to do their research were lied to by sources that had been reliable for decades. People who didn't have the time or the education to do their own research because they're fucking poor in America are finding out they were lied to.

If someone is trying to get out of a cult, you don't fucking lock them back in. You give them a place to run to. And if someone is trying to join your side in a battle that, at least hypothetically, is supposed to be settled by future democratic elections and therefore by strength of numbers, you fucking let them.

People are scared. People are finding out they were wrong. We are nowhere near the point yet where the wrong side is composed entirely of Bad Guys, if we ever will be. (Hell, eleven years after Hitler took power, some of his own generals tried to assassinate him with an exploding briefcase. It failed, but every time I see that stupid Tarantino gifset go by about "everyone in a Nazi uniform is irredeemably evil", that's what I think of. People are complicated, and everyone has their own breaking point.)

Where we *are* at is a point where people who don't want to be the bad guys are finding out what they were tricked into and trying to stop doing it. If you have any remaining faith in the democratic process at all, you should be helping those people join us and understand what the sides actually stand for, how they can actually fight for lower egg prices or whatever they were falsely promised. Even if you don't think democracy will help anymore, having a bigger group to fight alongside you is generally a good thing.

Or you could just take your hatred out on the most convenient targets, instead of on those who exploited them. Seems popular.

[alastair-1205]

Stone should get to be a fucked up evil guy in the 4th movie with THE WORST case of imposter syndrome to ever grace the planet actually.

Cuz hes clearly very smart in his own right but he also clearly has issues and would rather die than think that he's anywhere near Robotnik's level of intelligence/villainy/general coolness.

And then he makes Metal i don't make the rules-

[alastair-1205]

I don't think Robotnik ever saw Stone's affection as genuine. He's used to people only valuing him if he's useful. His own bosses call him a freak, yet they put up with him because of his "perfect operation record". He isn't even shocked when he learns the goverment erased him, he expected it and had a contingency plan ready.

He keeps calling Stone a sycophant and a barnacle, because why else would someone stay with him if not to gain something? Clearly, Stone is just a suck-up wanting to ride his coattails. And Ivo is fine with that! He gets his ego stroked and in return Stone gets a slice of the world-domination pie. Mutually beneficial!

This symbiotic relationship gives Ivo a sense of control and ensures that Stone won't abandon him like everyone else. It also keeps him detached: of course Stone waited months or him to return from space, that's his job. His admiration is inevitable, and meaningless.

Ivo develops a genuine, irrational attachment to Stone, one he's able to rationalize as just being transactional. Those emotional walls shield him from the fear of abandonment that comes with caring for another person.

Except...even after Robotnik becomes a liability, Stone stays. There's no benefit, no plans of ruling humanity, not even a paycheck. Yet despite everything, Ivo tries to keep the old boss/employee dynamic going. He can't fathom the idea that someone would stay for anything other than convenience.

Then Gerald shows up, and for the first time Ivo allows himself to put down those walls. As an orphan he had built up this idealized image of family that he thought he could never have. People will use you then toss you aside when convenient, but family? Family is different. Family will always be there for you and love you no matter what. Family won't abandon you.

And suddently Stone's grovelling is no longer necessary. Why would he need someone who just pretends to like him when he now has all the unconditional love he's always longed for? That's obviously why Stone got so jealous, it couldn't have been real concern, he was just afraid of losing his comfy position as the lapdog of humanity's new king. Between a sycophant and family, the choice felt obvious.

And, of course, Gerald turns out to be just like everyone else in Ivo's life: just another person trying to get something from him. The second he stopped being useful, he was tossed aside.

His image of family is once again shattered, but those emotional walls are already down. Now that Ivo experienced that betrayal he was so afraid of, now that he's about to die, he's finally able to be honest with himself.

Looking down on Earth, he realizes there had only ever been one person on that blue marble who actually cared. Someone who had always been there, even when there was nothing to gain. Stone had never abandoned him.

But he had abandoned Stone. He tossed him aside, just like Gerald did to him. Now that he's able to understand how Stone felt, this is his last chance to make things right.

In his final moments, with nothing to fear, Robotnik puts down his emotional walls and opens up as best as he can. Stone had done so much for him, asked for nothing in return, and now it was his turn to do the same. Ivo helped save the world, not for recognition or convenience, but simply out of love.

Stone had always been a sycophant to him, yes, but he had also been a friend. A sycofriend.

[alastair-1205]

guess what

[alastair-1205]

heh. yeah. bet you didn't see that one coming <- is the most predictable man alive

bonus break down sketches cuz people seemed to like the process while i was streaming:

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[alastair-1205]

Shh they’re having a moment

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lore accurate remake of the one i made before sonic 3

[alastair-1205]

vampire au- touched up the colors on an old piece from 2023 that i couldnt stand looking at , still not huge on this one since i was using my laptop trackpad but i think its a lot better than the og

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This scene from the trailer is replaying in my head 24/7 in 4K. I can't wait to see it on the big screen

[alastair-1205]

We really do need more villainous Stone in Sonic4🙏

[alastair-1205]

protective dads <3

[alastair-1205]

I don’t even care about the deleted scene

[alastair-1205]

hopeless romantics

[ID: A four panel comic with Amy Rose and Agent Stone from the Sonic movie franchise. In the first, Amy talks to Stone, who is in a Robotnik-esque villain outfit. She says "It's like he doesn't even know i exist..." In the second panel, she asks "What about you? Do you think you have a chance with whoever's on your mind?" In the third panel, Stone looks forward blankly, with the Ark's explosion behind him. In the fourth he responds "Not particularly." Amy nods solemnly. End ID]