#Also if you are a Sonic fan looking for great Sonic songs to play at a dance or wedding

[unproduciblesmackdown]

in the power of Noticing Things The Xth Time Around the instrumentals-imitative "doot. doot. doot. dooWAH" vocals that kick in during the second verse of centerfold? superlative

[thankskenpenders]

Thoughts on Sonic 3!

On December 10th, 2018, I was on the last day of a trip to Milwaukee. The night before, I'd attended the wedding of one of my best friends, Jake, who I've known since high school. Even though half of us were sick the whole trip, it was a great time. Derek had asked the wedding DJ to play "One Week" as the first request of the night, and proceeded to lip sync the entire song on the dance floor. On that cold winter morning in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home, Derek and I groggily checked Twitter on our phones and saw the shocking news: Paramount had teased the design for Sonic from their upcoming live action film. Even in silhouette, the shape of his face and the realistic curvature of his limbs made him look like a grotesque little homunculus. This movie was going to suck.

Six years later, I've now seen the third entry in what's become a hugely successful Sonic film franchise. It features Keanu Reeves as the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog in a fairly faithful adaptation of his story from Sonic Adventure 2. At the time of writing, it currently sits at a whopping 86% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, vying for the title of the best-reviewed theatrically released video game movie of all time. Critics are saying nice things about the emotional journey of Shadow the Hedgehog. Never in a million years did I think I'd see this day.

I, too, have now seen this movie, and... yeah, it's pretty good.

I'm gonna get deep into spoilers here, so I'll just say up front that I liked the movie. It feels like just about the best possible execution of this version of Sonic. But that's also damning it with faint praise, depending on who you ask.

If you're a fan of the games who didn't like the second movie, you probably won't get much out of this one, either, unless you just really love Shadow so much that nothing else in the movie matters to you. It doesn't reinvent the wheel for this film series. It's still got a heaping helping of broad comedy, cheap pop culture references, bad one-liners, and characterization that diverges greatly from the source material. This is not high art, nor is it a direct adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. If you're the kind of person who hates this portrayal of Sonic and Eggman, or a lore nerd who'll hate that they let Shadow do Chaos Control without an Emerald, then just don't bother with this.

On the other hand, if you did enjoy the last movie, then you'll probably have a fun time here, too. Shadow is very cool. The action is the best it's ever been. There's a bit more focus on characters from the games, and less on human characters invented for the movies—with the exception of Agent Stone, who's in this a lot because everyone likes him. There's a lot of SA2 fanservice. They even play "Live and Learn." It's a fun time! Be sure to stick around through the end credits.

And now, to dig deeper, let's get into the spoilers! I'm gonna jump around a lot and talk about different aspects of the movie, spoiling everything along the way.

Shadow and his reams of lore

Here's the main thing you came for: Shadow is great in this! They really did him justice. Keanu Reeves is extremely solid in the role. He can be a bit flat as an actor sometimes, but I think he did well here. He can be tough and menacing, but he can also be earnest and emotionally vulnerable. Good casting call. Excited at the prospect of seeing more of him in the future.

Really, as a Sonic Lore Nerd I'm most interested in discussing the changes they made to Shadow's backstory. I'm sure there will be many fans upset with the changes, but for the sake of streamlining a complicated backstory that was subject to a bunch of retcons and multiple layers of amnesia and fitting it into a 110-minute movie, I think they generally made smart choices.

For one, Gerald didn't create Shadow using Black Arms DNA, because Gerald didn't create Shadow at all! Instead, Shadow arrived on Earth inside a meteor, and Gerald was merely the prominent GUN scientist who studied him after he was captured. (That meteor does have very strong Black Arms vibes, though, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them exploring that stuff in the future.) This simplifies things a lot and allows Shadow to be a direct foil for Sonic, kind of a version of our hero who was treated as a lab rat and lost the only human he considered family instead of finding happiness like Sonic has. Then later Shadow hurts Tom and Sonic wants revenge, and it mirrors Shadow's feelings about Maria, and after they fight they can empathize with each other over this, Shadow sees the error of his ways and helps save the world, yada yada yada. You get it. People predicted 95% of this movie's plot from the trailers, but it's effective.

Likewise, all of the stuff about creating Shadow as the ultimate life form who's immune to all disease to cure Maria's illness is completely cut out. Shadow's still called the ultimate life form, but he's treated as more of an energy source than a genetic research project here, playing off of the stuff about Eggman wanting to harness Sonic's natural Chaos Energy in the movies. The original intent behind the ultimate life form project was always hard to explain in the games and doesn't even come up that much, so I don't blame them for cutting it.

Because Gerald isn't doing genetic experiments and creating artificial life, the Biolizard also doesn't exist. It does, however, appear in an old monster movie Shadow and Maria watch in a montage, with Shadow later commenting that he worries he's a monster like the one he saw in the movie. That's a clever way to include it, I think.

The ARK sort of exists. There was no space colony back in the '70s, all of the events of Shadow's flashbacks just took place at a secret GUN base on Earth. Fair enough for a version of the story ostensibly set in the real world. The big space laser in the third act of the film is obviously supposed to evoke the ARK, but it's referred to as simply the Eclipse Cannon. It's still not a full-blown space colony, just a weapon of mass destruction Gerald designed for GUN in exchange for his release (while also secretly planning to use it to blow up the planet in an act of revenge). I am, however, pleased to report that the Eclipse Cannon still has a giant Eggman face on it.

And as for Maria: I like her in this! She's obviously not going to get a ton of screentime, and she's always going to be a very straightforward character, but she's more playful and lively here. She teases Shadow for being grumpy and plays with him a lot. She feels less like this perfect embodiment of everything good and pure in the world and more like an actual kid. She's still not a complex character, but it works.

And the most important question: do they show a child getting shot and killed by the military? The answer is almost. In the flashback, GUN soldiers chase Maria, Shadow, and Gerald and ready their guns, but the young Commander Walters (who's in his 20s rather than being a kid) grabs them and tries to stop them from firing on a child. In the chaos, a soldier fires, missing Maria but hitting a generator that then blows up and kills Maria. So, y'know, close enough I suppose.

So, yes, many of the details change here, but they captured the gist of Shadow's story from SA2. The emotional core is there. I will say, though, I almost feel like Shadow isn't in this movie as much as I thought he'd be? I think he's used effectively in all of his scenes, and they make room for his backstory, and BOY does he get to kick ass in his fights, but for much of the middle part of the movie he's overshadowed by Ivo and Gerald. Though this might be a compromise to leave more screentime for...

Tails and Knuckles

I'm relieved to report that Tails and Knuckles both get a good amount of cool stuff to do in this! They don't feel like an afterthought.

I was worried that Tails in particular would completely fall by the wayside, since even his debut movie didn't entirely know what to do with him. But he's good here. He pretty much just feels like the Tails from the games at this point, especially since they dropped that fawning admiration he had for Sonic with that running gag of him going "Only Sonic the Hedgehog could do that!" He often chimes in as the one who wants Team Sonic to stick together when Sonic and Knuckles bicker. He particularly gets to shine in the Mission Impossible-inspired heist sequence at the GUN headquarters in London that serves as the climax of the second act, which feels like it was tailor made to let him shine as the tech guy of the team. He also gets several opportunities to swoop in and catch someone for a save in an action scene. He's good in this!

Knuckles is... fine. He's definitely fallen into the role of the comic relief dumb bruiser since joining the good guys, but he's at least a little better than he was in his own streaming show. The jokes lean more into him just being really brash about his strength and skill, rather than him being this archaic warrior who doesn't understand anything about the modern world. He also gets a few more serious bits in the back third of the movie where he gets to shine a little more, so overall it evens out to him being fine. They could've done way worse.

As for the relevance of the Knuckles show: Knuckles is now said to be the guardian of the Master Emerald, like in the games, though with no Angel Island this amounts to him hiding it somewhere for safekeeping. It's eventually revealed that he just gave it to Wade, who gets exactly one scene (sorry, Wade-heads) for a joke about him using the Master Emerald as a hockey puck. So, the miniseries explained why Knuckles has a connection with Wade. That's it! Also I think Knuckles might use the Flames of Disaster a bit in fights, but they never called the technique out by name, so I never really thought about it. So, yeah, the six-episode streaming miniseries about Wade bowling has zero meaningful relevance to the Shadow movie. Who could have seen this coming?

Miscellaneous humans

For that matter, the human supporting cast is MASSIVELY downplayed in this one. Tom and Maddie are there for two key sequences (the beginning of the movie and the GUN HQ heist), but otherwise they disappear for long stretches of the movie. They don't go to Japan in act I, nor do they go to space in act III, and there's no subplot for them during those periods, either. There's nothing like the wedding subplot in Sonic 2 where they'd constantly cut back to Hawaii for comic relief with the humans and only reveal why this was relevant to the plot near the end. (There's also no random dance battle in Siberia.) If a human character is here, it's because they have something to contribute to the plot right away. Most people will probably consider this an improvement, and I'd certainly say it makes for a much tighter script, though I have to remind everyone that I thought the wedding being a GUN sting operation was such a funny twist that I'm a defender of the Hawaii subplot.

On the subject of Tom, something funny I've noticed is that they've just completely downplayed the fact that Tom and Wade are cops. Tom being a cop never comes up once. Wade being a cop only gets referenced via the fact that he's practicing hockey on the roof of the police station in his one scene, but he's not in uniform or anything. They clearly got the memo that we don't want Sonic to hang out with cops.

Here's something else funny: Rachel and Randall got character posters, but they're actually not in the movie! Not technically, anyway. During the heist sequence at GUN HQ, Tom and Maddie use some gadgets Tails invented to holographically disguise themselves as those other characters. But the real Rachel and Randall never show up in the flesh. It's a very odd way to shoehorn the actors into the movie. (Jojo is also absent. They did not give her Amy's role of being the girl who reminds Shadow of Maria. Instead they just let Sonic have the big heart to heart with Shadow that makes him switch sides.)

You know who IS in this movie? Krysten Ritter. Not as the voice of Rouge, as the fandom once hoped, but as a director for GUN. She gets like three scenes and she feels completely checked out the whole time. Can't say I blame her! She's not really a character, just a plot necessity. Commander Walters dies in Japan but gives Sonic one of two keycards needed to activate the Eclipse Cannon, and then Ritter's character assumes Sonic stole it and labels him a bad guy. So that's why they have to break into GUN HQ in the second act instead of just talking things out with them. Still, I am at least relieved that Sonic doesn't work with GUN for most of the movie.

I gotta be honest: when Walters pulled a credit card-shaped object out of his pocket, I thought he was about to give Sonic another Olive Garden gift card as his final act before dying. Part of me wishes that happened.

The supporting human character in this who really gets to shine is Agent Stone, which I'm sure most fans will agree was the correct choice. There's a LOT of Agent Stone in this. He's good. I don't have much to say about him, but he's fun as usual.

But, of course, the ones who steal the show are Jim Carrey, and his costar Jim Carrey.

The Robotniks

I've gone back and forth on whether or not I can actually see movie Robotnik as Robotnik. I think with this third and final entry in the Jim Carrey Robotnik Trilogy, I've landed on... yeah, that's just Jim Carrey playing a Jim Carrey character. He's absolutely having fun with the role, and I enjoyed watching him, but I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that I'm a millennial who grew up watching Jim Carrey movies. If you didn't like him before, this movie will probably be nails on a chalkboard to you, because now there are two of him.

Ivo's arc here leans very heavily into the fact that he grew up as an orphan and never knew his family, a thing offhandedly mentioned in the first movie that's never been a thing for any other version of the character. Here, he learns that he has a living grandfather who's also a mad scientist, and it feels like a hole in his heart has been filled. It certainly makes sense for a place to take this version of the character, and it fits with the movie's themes of finding and losing family, but the cartoonish, childlike affection Ivo feels towards Gerald and all the scenes of them frolicking and dancing together have basically nothing to do with the characters from the games. He's a fun villain for this movie, but he's overwhelmingly used as comic relief this time rather than as a serious threat. He doesn't particularly feel like Sega's Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the arch nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog who'd take over the world with an army of robots and a fleet of airships in the span of a day if Sonic wasn't around to stop him. He's a guy who lives in a big crab robot and has some drones. He has more in common with Carrey's depictions of the Grinch or the Riddler or Count Olaf than Dr. Eggman. Though he does, at least, finally get his outfit from the games by the end of the movie. So that's something. And also he's in a fat suit now. They only make jokes at the expense of his weight a little. Hooray...?

Gerald, meanwhile, is... largely the same character as movie Eggman, but older, so they can make jokes about him having saggy flesh and smelling funny and needing dentures. (Also, his voice kind of sounds like Homer Simpson sometimes?) To his credit, Carrey absolutely nails the handful of more serious scenes Gerald gets, whether it's Maria's death or his sinister turn when he reveals that he actually wants to destroy the Earth. But then it's right back to goofs about there being two of the same guy. Even the final battle features a lot of slapstick shenanigans with the two Robotniks fighting each other. I was able to enjoy the absurdity of it all, but if the humor doesn't land for you the dual Jim Carrey schtick is a hell of a lot of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more Gerald than Shadow in the movie, when you go and tally up their screentime. I was able to enjoy the sheer absurdity of it, but your mileage will vary.

I will, however, say that the split screen stuff they do with the two Carreys is EXTREMELY impressive, from a filmmaking perspective. They were absolutely flexing with their ability to pull the effect off. They don't rely on cheap tricks like cutting a lot, or having shot/reverse shot scenes where you're looking at the back of a body double's head. Instead they have a lot of long takes where the two Robotniks are talking to each other, you can see both of their faces, and they'll even hug and touch each other a lot, and the whole time the conversation maintains a natural pace like it really is two actors playing off of each other. It's really well done. It's an incredibly silly idea, but boy did they commit to it.

Sonic

I've hardly said anything about Sonic himself in all of this. It's his movie, isn't it! Well... I don't know, he's fine.

I feel like movie Sonic is a known quantity at this point, and either you like this take on the character or you don't. There was some speculation early on that this was supposed to be a younger Sonic who would grow into being the character we know from the games and comics, the one who's still got lots of quips but is also kind of aloof and cool, a free spirit who goes where the wind takes him, a figure the other characters look up to. And... no, that didn't happen. Once again he gets more serious as the stakes are raised, and he's totally badass when he goes Super, but the rest of the time he's still a little goober with tons of generic one-liners who learns schmaltzy lessons about the importance of family. He's still constantly going to undercut the tension of most scenes by cracking a pop culture reference that will make the average American parent go "haha I've heard of that." I don't think they're ever gonna change that. I think this just what the writers think Sonic is like.

And, again, for what it is, it's fine. He's a little annoying. You already know how you feel about movie Sonic. This third entry won't change that. But they do, at least, have him say "Talk about low budget flights, no food or movies... I'm outta here!" before jumping out of a helicopter. As my thoughts on the climax will show, I am not immune to fanservice.

The climax

God, the climax is SOOOOO fucking good. It's fantastic. Easily the best action these movies have ever done.

Rather than saving Super Shadow for the team-up with Sonic at the end, they have both of them go Super to fight each other first, and they just go full DBZ with it, fighting across the entire planet. It absolutely rules. I think this is the new coolest fight the two of them have had in anything ever. And then they have to stop the Eclipse Cannon together, and sure, there's no Biolizard. But Gerald DOES release a swarm of GUN Hunter robots, and the ensuing space battle turns into some Gundam shit. It's good! It's so good!!! The movie's flaws kind of melt away for me here when I'm watching Super Shadow take out an army of robots with Chaos Spears on the big screen. What a timeline we're living in.

And yes, they play "Live and Learn." They had to. They knew the assignment. They actually play a slight remix, but it's still got the original vocals, so it's perfectly recognizable. Actually, the tune of the song is used as a leitmotif for Shadow throughout the movie, first introduced via an acoustic guitar version played by Maria, and I really love that. I've been begging these movies to use more music from the games the whole time, and I'm glad they finally did so here. (They also use the traditional level clear jingle early in the film, and Eggman's theme from SA2 is very briefly used as a ringtone.)

... Anyway, uh, meanwhile Eggman, Tails, and Knuckles straight up just kill Gerald to save the world? They unceremoniously knock him into an energy field at the end of their slapstick fight aboard the Eclipse Cannon and he disintegrates like he hit a bugzapper. It's over in an instant. It's not graphic or anything, but it's, like... I didn't expect them to show it, or for it to be such a casual murder! Eggman has one quip about it and then immediately moves on.

Shortly after this, Eggman and Shadow sacrifice themselves to stop the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow's sacrifice doesn't stick, obviously (he's revealed to be alive by the end of the second stinger—pretend to be shocked), but Eggman's probably dead dead. I seriously doubt Jim Carrey's gonna come out of retirement for these movies again. His final moments before the big explosion are also SO dragged out and belabored. He has a dramatic final line like ten times in a row. It really just feels like the series saying goodbye to Carrey. And, again, it feels like a fitting enough end for this Eggman's arc, but it's an odd adaptation of the character from the games.

And so, that's what we're left with. This is far from Sonic Adventure 2: The Movie. It's not that, though there are many, many references made to that game in particular. It's a sequel to the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that has a similar tone and style, but Shadow and Gerald are in it, and Shadow gets some really cool fights, and there's a liiiiiittle more focus on stuff from the games than last time, and the script's a little tighter. If that sounds fun to you, you will have fun with this. I know I did. If it doesn't, you're probably better off waiting for them to inevitably do an animated reboot whenever this live action series runs out of steam.

It hasn't quite run out of steam yet, though...

The post-credits scenes, and the future

One of the big questions going into this was: what's next? How do they top a Shadow movie with heavy Sonic Adventure 2 overtones, in terms of hype for the fans? How do you fill Eggman's shoes after Carrey retires, for real this time? There are still more fan favorite rival characters to get through, but how many movies in a row can they introduce a furry foe for Sonic who inevitably turns good and helps him stop a larger threat by the end? And when the hell are we gonna see the girls?

Well, we now have our answer, and it's one I'm cautiously excited for: a whole army of Metal Sonics, and Amy!

Yes, Amy! Finally!! It's an absolute crime that we've gone three whole movies and a streaming miniseries without including the female lead of the series. I've complained about this ad nauseum (and also the fact that they cut Rouge from the story). But at least now they're finally doing something about it.

But now the question is, how will they characterize Amy? Sega's struggled with her for years, and there's a million different directions you can take her. Her one scene here has her smashing a bunch of Metal Sonics and wearing a cloak for the sake of a dramatic reveal, which gives her the vibes of a mysterious, badass action girl. This is, of course, completely different from how Sonic and Amy met in the games. What will her personality be like? She doesn't speak here, so who will they get to play her? Where did she come from? Will she even have a crush on Sonic? All of these have yet to be determined. So, like, I'm hyped to finally see Amy, a character who should've been in the movies from the start, but they could so easily end up playing it safe with an incredibly boring girlboss version of Amy who's no fun at all. We'll have to wait and see.

(My prediction: they're going to try to cast either Zendaya or Ariana as Amy.)

Metal Sonic, likewise, is very exciting, and he looks perfect. He looks just like the design from the games. But the question is: what will they do with this army of Metals? Will they be lead by one main Metal Sonic, perhaps Neo Metal Sonic, who gets to be a proper bad guy? Will they take some cues from Sonic CD, Heroes, and the OVA, or do something completely original? Where did they come from? Were they activated as a failsafe after Eggman died? Did they and Amy come from some sort of bad future, riffing on Sonic CD's time travel? Will they explore the fact that Metal wants to be the one and only Sonic? Or will they just be an army of disposable robot grunts for Sonic and friends to mow down like it's a Dynasty Warriors game, while some other villain takes center stage?

It could go so many different ways, and some prospects are more exciting than others. I mean, the Knuckles show had endless possibilities for what it could do with him, and none of the options on my bingo card were "Pachacamac's ghost tells him to help Wade win a bowling tournament." And while I'm a sicko who thinks it's funny that the Knuckles show is what it is, forgive me for keeping my hype about Amy and Metal Sonic in check here until we learn more.

Regardless of what they do, it'll still be hard to top the hype of Shadow, and it'll be hard to fill Jim Carrey's shoes for general audiences. So despite this clear statement of intent, I have no idea what the future of this film franchise holds. But regardless of what they do, I can say one thing for certain: the kids in my theater were hyped as hell for it. They popped off over Metal Sonic, and they were screaming their heads off with excitement over Amy. I heard a teenage girl on the opposite end of my row of seats say "finally!" over Amy's reveal, verbalizing my exact thoughts. She also said that this movie was "peak," though it diverged from the games, and she hoped they'd do a movie with Silver and Blaze someday.

The kids are gonna be okay.

[1800naveen]

My appreciation.

September 2023, I started the "a court of thorns and roses" series. Booktok got me hyped to read it so when I did, I really enjoyed it. (I fell victim to liking Rhysand and the inner circle, forgive me)

Feyre, Tamlin, and Lucien were my favorite characters. Their dynamic, how their relationship grew, I loved it all. (I was also a hater of Nesta but I changed now, my mind opened.)

I also saw spoilers on Tik Tok about acomaf and Rhysand which put me into a slump and I didn't continue reading the series again until April 2024. Yeah, it was that bad.

Finding out that people hated Tamlin for his later actions got me bummed because I really liked him at the time. I got spoiled for the rest of the series but I don't really care for spoilers that much.

During my slump, I made an account on Tumblr. I mostly liked posts but I would comment at times. I was afraid of making a post because I was just nervous.

I still had love for Tamlin so I avoided the Acotar side of Tumblr for a while. Because what if someone came after for my thoughts or opinions? That scared me. I felt somewhat alone when it came to not hating Tamlin or seeing him as a "villain" (he's more morally grey). I also still didn't like Rhysand because of the whole under the mountain thing which weirded me out.

Then one faithful day, I was looking through the Bryce Quinlan tag after finding out about her when I saw this post (it was about the crossover) and it was the first anti Rhysand post I liked.

And I clicked on the anti Rhysand tag and my third eye opened. When it came to booktok, I thought that hating this man was some sort of taboo.

These guys showed his wrongdoings, went on analysis, how he was toxic, how he treated certain characters, etc. Thanks to them, I was right to feel what I felt about him. He fucking sucks.

I then went on the pro Tamlin tag and I had finally found my people. Ones that shared the same thoughts as I did when it came to Tamlin and it gave me inspiration to make my first post on here.

(And the rest was history...) *cue the clapping*

Nah but seriously, I want to give my appreciation to the Tamlin, Nesta, Lucien, and Eris fans, the anti Rhysand people, the inner circle haters, and the people who just hate this series in general. I'm grateful for finding a community where I fit right in and where I won't get burned at the stake for my opinion (most of the time). I actually made friends on here which is great because I usually suck at making friends (Me and Tamlin twinning, can't make friends for shit) so this is great.

TIME FOR THE TAGS!!!

Giving my appreciation to the people who inspired me to become the blog that I am today: @szalonykasztan00, @copypastus (love your art❤), @shi-daisy, @arson-09, @thrumbolt, @achaotichuman, and @feyres-divorce-lawyer (so glad that I found you on tik tok first, a fellow Rhysand hater).

My mutuals where we are united by both love and hate: @sonics-atelier (thanks for making those analysis posts), @wingsdippedingold, @rin-u-pos, @positivelyruined (bless you for the Luke Eisner fancast🙏🏾), @nickel156, @viktoriaashleyyx, @thatapologisttoyourantis.

And those who I first found out on tik tok and then found them again on Tumblr (some are mutuals, some aren't and the first two I found out there asoiaf tik toks): @watcherintheweyr, @kataraavatara, @booksnwriting.

Yuh, that's about it. Just wanted to make something nice and sweet. Thanks to my 107 followers that I got for mostly being a hater or from other stuff that I post.

Me to all of you (This feels corny but I was born on the cob🌽):

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.

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(Here's the posts I was talking about.)

[taylor-on-your-dash]

Writing of 1989 Timeline

1989 changed Taylor's career forever. If Red had just sprinkles of pop sounds, 1989 was marketed as a pure pop album from the get-go.

While many fans and critics kind of expected that, it seems like:

Taylor didn't have a clear direction from the start (except for the cohesiveness): “I wanted it to be a sonically cohesive album, and it ended up really being the first I’ve done since Fearless. I also wanted the songs to sound exactly how the emotions felt. I know that’s pretty vague, so I really didn’t know where it was going to go, but I knew that I wanted to work with the collaborators I had such crazy electricity with on Red, like Max Martin. I wanted to do some things that sounded nothing like what we had done before.”

She knew that she didn't want another Red: “When people say that they like one of my albums, like when people told me that Red was their favorite album I'd done, I didn't take that as, 'So, I should make that again'. I took that as, 'Great, awsome, now I wanna make them like this new album just as much if not more than the last album.' But I want them to like it for different reasons.”

She was worried about the change of direction of her music: “I worry about everything. Some days I wake up in a mind-set of, like, ‘Okay, it’s been a good run.’ By afternoon, I could have a change of mood and feel like anything is possible and I can’t wait to make this kind of music I’ve never made before. And then by evening, I could be terrified of the whole thing again. And then at night, I’ll write a song before bed.”

October 17, 2012: [From a Lover Journal] Taylor writes This Love in LA. This will be the last song produced by Nathan Chapman and the only one recorded in Nashville.

“The last time I wrote a poem that ended up being a song, I was writing in my journal and I was writing about something that had happened in my life – it was about a year ago – and I just wrote this really really short poem. It said, 'This love is good /this love is bad / this love is alive back from the dead / these hands had to let it go free / and this love came back to me.' And I just wrote it down, closed the book and put it back on my night stand […] All of a sudden in my head I just started hearing this melody happen, and then I realized that it was going to be a song.”

Handwritten lyrics:

November 18, 2012: Taylor meets Jack Antonoff and his band, fun., for the first time in Frankfurt, Germany, while at the MTV Europe Music Awards. They bond over 80s music.

January 4, 2013: Taylor is seen in a boat without Harry Styles, ready to return to LA from the Virgin Islands.

She will wear the same dress in the Out Of The Woods music video (and also in Look What You Made Me Do)

January 10, 2013: Taylor tweets "Back in the studio. Uh oh...". She will confirm that the song was All You Had To Do Was Stay on October 27, 2014 on Tumblr.

Candids here;

“There’s a song on my album called 'All You Had To Do Was Stay.' I was having this dream, that was actually one of those embarrassing dreams, where you’re mortified in the dream, you’re like humiliated. In the dream, my ex had come to the door to beg for me to talk to him or whatever, and I opened up the door and I went to go say, 'Hi,' or 'What are you doing here?' or something — something normal — but all that came out was this high-pitched singing that said, 'Stay!' It was almost operatic. So I wrote this song, and I used that sound in the song. Weird, right? I woke up from the dream, saying the weird part into my phone, figuring I had to include it in something because it was just too strange not to. In pop, it’s fun to play around with little weird noises like that.”

January 11, 2013: Taylor is seen again at Conway Studios, likely to continue working on All You Had To Do Was Stay.

January 15, 2013: Taylor posts a picture of herself in the studio, with the caption "Somewhere in LA". She'll later reveal that she was writing How You Get The Girl.

“The song ‘How You Get The Girl’ is a song that I wrote about how you get the girl back if you ruined the relationship somehow and she won’t talk to you anymore. Like, if you broke up with her and left her on her own for six months and then you realize you miss her. All the steps you have to do to edge your way back into her life, because she’s probably pretty mad at you. So it’s kind of a tutorial. If you follow the directions in the song, chances are things will work out. Or you may get a restraining order.”

March 6, 2013: Taylor is seen going to a studio in LA.

March 23, 2013: Taylor posts a picture of herself playing guitar, which might mean that she was working on a new song: "Pre show. Columbia, South Carolina". This could be either Wonderland, New Romantics or a vault song.

May 27, 2013: While in Rhode Island for the Memorial Day weekend, Jack plays Taylor an instrumental track that will later become I Wish You Would.

“'I Wish You Would’ is a song that I wrote with Jack Antonoff and it was the first song we ever worked on together. I think, for this song, we wanted to create a sort of John Hughes movie visual with pining and, you know, one person’s over here and misses the other person but is too prideful and won’t say it. Meanwhile this other person is here and missing the same person; they’re missing each other but not saying it. And I had this happen in my life and so I wanted to kind of narrate it in a very cinematic way where it’s like you’re seeing two scenes play out and then in the bridge you’re seeing the final scene, where it resolves itself. So it says, 'It’s a crooked love in a straight line down, makes you wanna run and hide but it makes you turn right back around.’ It kind of is like that dramatic love that’s never really quite where it needs to be and that tension it creates.”

[Voice Memo Intro Transcript] “This is another way I’ve written songs recently. This is a song I did with Jack Antonoff, and Jack is one of my friends and so were hanging out and he pulled out his phone and goes ‘I made this amazing track the other day. It’s so cool, I love these guitar sounds.’ And he played it for me and immediately I could hear this finished song in my head, and I just said ‘Please, please let me have that. Let me play with it, send it to me.’ And so he sent it to me and I was on tour and this was me playing the track on my laptop recording me singing the vocal into my phone and it ended up being a song called 'I Wish You Would', because Jack wrote back and said ‘I love that’. So this is another way of writing, it’s writing to track.”

[Secret Sessions] “Taylor said that she wrote ‘I Wish You Would’ a couple of months after her and Harry Styles broke up, and they decided to become friends again and she said this was the first time she had become friends with an ex, to the point where they were comfortable enough to talk about why the relationship didn’t work out. She said he told her about how, after they broke up, he bought a house literally one road adjacent to hers. Every day he would drive home, and accidentally turn into her street, and he told her how he just wanted to stop at her house and see her, but he never did. She said this song is about while he was in the car making the decision to get out the car and see her, she was sitting in her bedroom, wishing he would make the move and go back to her and just pitch up at her house. She compared it to a classic John Hughes movie where both parties want the same thing but neither has the guts to say anything. Honestly, she spoke so fondly of that relationship.” [this is from a secret sessioner and therefore it should be taken with a grain of salt]

Between May 28 and June 2, 2013: Taylor writes I Wish You Would. She settled in Rhode Island basically all summer, so it's possible that she went to Jack's studio in New York by car without being seen and especially photographed, cause I couldn't find any pictures with the same outfit. Conway Studios are also credited but it's possible that she recorded background vocals there. Taylor was in LA in late August.

June 7, 2013: During an interview at the CMA Music Festival, Taylor confirms that she has started writing her next album.

[Transcript by me] “[The new album] is starting, all the anxiety is starting and when the anxiety starts, then the writing happens right afterward usually. I like to write for about two years before I'm finished with an album because at this point I kind of know that whenever I read in the first year is going to get away, because I'm going to like it but it's going to sound a little bit like the last project I had, and the second year usually ends up sounding like the next project. So I think at this point I feel like staying the same is the easy way to go but it's not the way that I want to go creatively. I think you need to challenge yourself, I think you need to change up your influences, I think you need to be inspired by different things that you've been inspired by before. It's harder to call people you don't know, it's harder to think of topics you haven't covered and think of new ways to say old emotions that everyone feels. I think one of the things that I'm happiest with in the last year is the acceptance level in country music for me experimenting and for me trying to evolve and challenge myself musically because I think it's never felt better to be on that stadium stage performing knowing that and so welcoming of change.”

July 13, 2013: After a show in New Jersey, Taylor has an interview with Rolling Stone, where she says that she has been writing a lot.

“The floodgates just opened the last couple weeks,” she says of the songwriting process. “I’m getting to that point where I’m irritating to be around because I’ll be with you for half the conversation and then the second half of the conversation I’m clearly editing the second verse of whatever I’m writing in my head. I really loved collaborating: you work with a lot of different people and you find the people you have this dream connection with in the studio. I know those people and I know the ones I want to go back to. But I also have a really long list of the people I admire and I would really love to go and contact. So that’s kind of where that is. I think that the idea of having a different approach to every single one of my albums is so exciting to me. I never want to make the same record twice. Why do it? What’s the point? It’s so overwhelming that when you’re starting a project there are such endless possibilities if you’re willing to evolve and experiment. If you’re willing to become a different version of yourself, you can really go anywhere with it. And that’s kind of where I am. The kind of the laboratory experimental stage of really catching onto a new thing that I’m liking.”

Somewhere around June and early September 2013: Taylor and Jack write Sweeter Than Fiction. No credits are available but we know that it's the second song on which Taylor and Jack worked, so that places it before I Wish You Would and Out Of The Woods.

In 2014, Lena Dunham (Jack's girlfriend at the time) posted this photo of Jack and Taylor working on the song at Jack's house.

September 15, 2013: Jack completes the instrumental track that will later become Out Of The Woods, after his show was cancelled.

[Jack Antonoff] “When I did the track for Out of the Woods, which is a Taylor song that I'm really proud of, there was some issue at a venue and our show was canceled that night and I didn't have my stuff, I had left it on the bus, so I only had these old samples on what was on my laptop, and caught up that 'oh oh'' thing, and I only had one drum kit on there, and these dumb little things sometimes turn into a great song.”

Somewhere around September and October 2013: Taylor writes Out Of The Woods.

Voice memo here;

[Jack Antonoff] Although Antonoff and Swift shared studio time for some of their other 1989 songs while working throughout 2014, “Out of the Woods” was completed as a long-distance collaboration. “She’s very natural -— when she gets an idea, it just happens very quickly. I would send her these tracks, and when an idea would happen, we’d be 5,000 miles apart or whatever, but she would start emailing me these voice notes like crazy and it would just be happening so quickly that there’d be this excitement. There’s a frantic feeling in the song,” he says. “What’s interesting about ‘Out of the Woods’ is that it doesn’t really let up. It starts with a pretty big anthemic vocal sample that’s me, and then there’s a drum sample that kicks in that’s kind of huge, and then you don’t really know how you’re going to get any bigger, but then the chorus hits and it just explodes even larger. And then the bridge hits, and it gets even more huge.“When I was working on the track, I was thinking a lot about My Morning Jacket,” Antonoff continues, “and how everything they do, every sound is louder than the last, and somehow it feels like everything is just f—ing massive. And that’s the feeling that I went for. It started out big, and then I think the obvious move would have been to do a down chorus, but the idea was to keep pushing.” Antonoff is excited to share the rest of his work with Swift on 1989, but he views “Out of the Woods” as a highlight on the project. “This song means a great deal to me. On a production level, on a writing level, Taylor’s lyrics and her melodies — there’s something very important about this song.”

[Jack Antonoff] “After 'I Wish You Would' and 'Sweeter Than Fiction', we did 'Out Of The Woods'. So it was the third thing we worked on together, and probably the easiest. I sent her the track for it, and she sent back a voice note with the verse and chorus in what felt like five seconds. And it was just perfect. It's eerie how similar it is to what the final product is.”

“It kind of conjured up all these feelings of anxiety I had in a relationship where everybody was watching, everybody was commenting on it. You’re constantly just feeling like, ‘Are we out of the woods yet? What’s the next thing gonna be? What’s the next hurdle we’re gonna have to jump over?’ It was interesting to write about a relationship where you’re just honestly like, ‘This is probably not gonna last, but how long is it gonna last?’ Those fragile relationships... It doesn’t mean they’re not supposed to happen. The whole time we were having happy memories, or crazy memories, or ridiculously anxious times, in my head it was just like, ‘Are we okay yet? Are we there yet? Are we out of this yet?’”

“That line is in there because it's not only the actual, literal narration of what happened in a particular relationship I was in, it's also a metaphor. 'Hit the brakes too soon' could mean the literal sense of, we got in an accident and we had to deal with the aftermath. But also, the relationship ended sooner than it should've because there was a lot of fear involved. And that song touches on a huge sense of anxiety that was, kind of, coursing through that particular relationship, because we really felt the heat of every single person in the media thinking they could draw up the narrative of what we were going through and debate and speculate. I don't think it's ever going to be easy for me to find love and block out all those screaming voices.”

October 21, 2013: Sweeter Than Fiction is released. Big Machine was originally not on board with the release since they wanted a dormant period between album releases.

Late 2013: Taylor writes Bad Blood, after Katy Perry announces her Prismatic World Tour.

“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not. She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends,or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?’ Then last year, the other star crossed a line. She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.’ And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it.”

“That was about losing a friend... But then people cryptically tweet about what you meant. I never said anything that would point a finger in the specific direction of one specific person, and I can sleep at night knowing that. I knew the song would be assigned to a person, and the easiest mark was someone who I didn’t want to be labeled with this song. It was not a song about heartbreak. It was about the loss of friendship.”

October 20 to 22, 2013: Taylor is in Cape Town (South Africa) shooting The Giver. One of the members of the cast is Alexsander Skarsgård. He is said to have inspired Wildest Dreams (or at least he's the most popular theory, as far as I know), because the music video is set in Africa and it features Clint Eastwood's son Scott as love interest, just like Alexsander is actor Stellan Skarsgård's son, but we don't actually know more about the song.

“I think the way I used to approach relationships was very idealistic. I used to go into them thinking, ‘Maybe this is the one – we’ll get married and have a family, this could be forever’. Whereas now I go in thinking, ‘How long do we have on the clock – before something comes along and puts a wrench in it, or your publicist calls and says this isn’t a good idea?’”

Note: Selena Gomez was present when Taylor wrote this song.

Handwritten lyrics:

November 19, 2013: Taylor records Blank Space. This is based on the wall behind her on an Instagram post from this day, the credits, and the behind the scenes clip.

Voice memo here;

Behind the Scenes here;

“Every few years, the media finds something they unanimously agree is annoying about me. 2012-2013 they thought I was dating too much, because I dated two people in a year and a half. ‘Oh, a serial dater. She only writes songs to get emotional revenge on guys. She’s a man-hater, don’t let her near your boyfriend.’ It was kind of excessive and at first it was hurtful, but then I found a little bit of comedy in it. This character is so interesting, though. If you read these gossip sites, they describe how I am so opposite to my actual life: I’m clingy, and I’m awful, and I throw fits, and there’s drama. An emotionally fragile, unpredictable mess. I painted a whole picture of this character. She lives in a mansion with marble floors, she wears Dolce & Gabbana around the house, and she wears animal print unironically. So I created this whole character and I had fun doing it.”

November 21, 2013: While at the American Music Awards, Taylor tells Billboard that she has around seven or eight songs ready.

[Transcript] “We got a lot already,” says Swift. “There are probably seven or eight songs that I know I want on the record. It’s really ahead of schedule for me. I’m just stoked because it’s already evolved into a new sound, and that’s all I wanted. And I would have taken two years to make that happen, but it just kind of happened naturally, so that’s all I could really ask for.”

December 2013: Taylor meets Diane Warren and they write Say, Don't Go.

[Diane Warren to Rolling Stone] Warren, who typically writes on her own, says the two of them “sat down and wrote the song,” which was released Friday as one of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)‘s vault tracks, “from scratch” during the last few days of 2013. She remembers being impressed with how specific Swift was with her lyricism and how considerate she was about how her fans might receive it. “She was very particular about how she said certain things. It was a really interesting experience. She gets her audience,” Warren says. “She’s deeply aware of how her fans want to hear something. I can’t explain it, but that’s probably why she’s the biggest fucking star in the world.”

2013: Taylor writes New Romantics and Wonderland. Not much is known about these songs, except that they were both written in 2013.

[About New Romantics] “People will say, 'Let me set you up with someone', and I’m just sitting there saying, ‘That’s not what I’m doing. I’m not lonely. I’m not looking.’ They just don’t get it. I’ve learned that just because someone is cute and wants to date you, that’s not a reason to sacrifice your independence and allow everyone to say whatever they want about you. I’m not doing that anymore. It’d take someone really special for me to undergo the circumstances I have to go through to experience a date. I don’t know how I would ever have another person in my world trying to have a relationship with me, or a family.”

New Romantics handwritten lyrics:

Wonderland Handwritten lyrics:

January 1, 2014: Taylor records Say, Don't Go.

[Diane Warren to Rolling Stone] Several days after writing the song together, they got into Warren’s office to record a demo, where Swift played it on her acoustic guitar. “We demoed it on New Year’s Day. And I’m a workaholic, and that’s fine for me,” she says. “But I remember being impressed that she did, too. Everybody’s on vacation, but she showed up.”

January 6, 2014: Taylor decides to look for a house in New York.

[Lover Journal] LA. So I've decided I want to look at places in New York. I know I went through this phase months ago, but it has to mean something that i've circled back to it, right? You know what they say, if you love something let it go and if it comes back... blah blah blah. so I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. Dating is awful. Love is fiction/ a myth. I'm over it all.

January 21, 2014: Taylor sends Ryan Tedder the I Know Places Voice Memo.

January 22, 2014: [From the 1989 Booklet] Taylor and Ryan finish and record I Know Places.

“I had this idea of like, when you’re in love, along the lines of 'Out of the Woods’, it’s very precious, it’s fragile. As soon as the world gets ahold of it, whether it’s your friends or people around town hear about it... it’s kind of like the first thing people want to do when they hear that people are in love is just kind of try to ruin it. I kind of was in a place where I was like, ‘No one is gonna sign up for this. There are just too many cameras pointed at me. There are too many ridiculous elaborations on my life. It’s just not ever gonna work.‘ But I decided to write a love song, just kind of like, ‘What would I say if I met someone really awesome and they were like, hey, I’m worried about all this attention you get?’ So I wrote this song called ‘I Know Places’ about, ‘Hey, I know places we can hide. We could outrun them.’ I’m so happy that it sounds like the urgency that it sings.”

January 23, 2014: Taylor and Ryan Tedder write Welcome To New York. Ryan produces a demo in three hours. This demo is the one included in the album.

“I wanted to start 1989 with this song because New York has been an important landscape and location for the story of my life in the last couple of years. I dreamt and obsessed over moving to New York, and then I did it. The inspiration that I found in that city is hard to describe and to compare to any other force of inspiration I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s an electric city.”

[Ryan Tedder] “I thought we were going to walk in and start something from scratch because that's what I was used to. Then she calls me and says, 'Is it cool if I already have an idea?' I said, 'Sure.' She said, 'I have this song, I'm obsessed with New York and I just moved there, I want to write an ode to New York because no one's done it in a long time.' And then she sent me a voice memo. She's like, 'I want it to sound like the 1980s.' So the next day I brought in a Juno-106, which is a very 1980s keyboard, and I literally programmed that entire song right in front of her. It was very much on the fly, and that song was done in about three hours. And I did the rest of the production I think later that week.”

Handwritten lyrics:

January 26, 2014: Night of the 56th Grammy Awards. Taylor delivers a legendary performance of All Too Well, but loses the Album Of The Year Award to Random Access Memory by Daft Punk. This will prompt Taylor to make a "sonically cohesive" pop album.

[Lover Journal] January 25th. LA. It's the middle of the night and I was at the Clive Davis Party tonight which means... the Grammys are tomorrow. Never have I felt so good about our chances. Never have I wanted something as badly as I want to hear them say 'Red' is the Album of the Year.

“It was the night of the Grammys this year. I remember going home and playing a lot of the new music I had recorded for some of my backup singers and one of my best friends. We were all sitting in the kitchen and I was playing them all this music, and they were just saying, ‘You know, this is very eighties. It’s very clear to us that this is so eighties.’ We were just talking and talking about how it’s kind of a rebirth in a new genre, how that’s a big, bold step. Kind of starting a part of your career over. When they left that night, I just had this very clear moment of, ‘It’s gotta be called 1989.’”

“I woke up one morning at 4 a.m. and I decided the album is called 1989. I’ve been making ‘80s synth pop, I’m just gonna do that. I’m calling it a pop record. I’m not listening to anyone at my label. I’m starting tomorrow. I liked the idea of collaborating. But with 1989 I decided to narrow down the list. It wasn’t going to be 10 producers, it was going to be a very small team of four or five people I always wanted to work with, or loved working with. And Max Martin and I were going to oversee it, and we were going to make a sonically cohesive record again.”

January 2014: Taylor writes You Are In Love. This is actually speculation but it's based on (1) Taylor going to NY in early January and (2) Jack Antonoff confirming that it was the fourth song they did and (3) it's the only Antonoff-produced song that is copyrighted in 2014. Based on the credits, I'm pretty sure that Taylor and Jack worked on the song separately, with Jack recording the instrumental at the Jungle City Studios in NY (which is a studio that Jack used in 2014 to record Bleachers' first album Strange Desire) and Taylor recording the vocals at Conway Studio in LA.

“I wrote it with my friend Jack Antonoff who’s dating my friend Lena. Jack sent me this song, it was just an instrumental track he was working on and immediately I knew the song it needed to be. And I wrote it as a kind of commentary on what their relationship has been like. So it’s actually me looking and going, ‘This happened and that happened, then that happened and that’s how you knew you are in love.’”

“I’ve never had that, so I wrote that song about things that Lena Dunham has told me about her and Jack Antonoff. That’s just basically stuff she’s told me. And I think that that kind of relationship — God, it sounds like it would just be so beautiful — would also be hard. It would also be mundane at times.”

“We first worked on that song together and realized we kind of have a good thing, and the next thing we did was ‘Sweeter Than Fiction,’ which was on the [One Chance] soundtrack, and after that we did ‘Out of the Woods’ and another song called ‘You Are in Love.’

January 26, 2014: At the Grammy's, Diane Warren reveals that she and Taylor wrote a song together (aka Say, Don't Go).

[Transcript] “I worked with Taylor Swift on a great song. I don't even know what she's done [for her next album], I'm excited about the one that we did, it's pretty cool.”

[Billboard 2016 Interview] “I know [Swift] likes it, so hopefully it will see the light of day. I know she really likes the song. She didn’t want me to give it away, so hopefully that means she wants it.”

February 9, 2014: [From the 1989 Booklet] While in London, during the European leg of the Red Tour, Taylor and Imogen Heap write Clean in just 9 hours at Imogen's home studio. Taylor will sing the song just two times.

Voice memo here;

“'Clean' I wrote as I was walking out of Liberty in London. Someone I used to date – it hit me that I’d been in the same city as him for two weeks and I hadn’t thought about it. When it did hit me, it was like, ‘Oh, I hope he’s doing well’. And nothing else. And you know how it is when you’re going through heartbreak. A heartbroken person is unlike any other person. Their time moves at a completely different pace than ours. It’s this mental, physical, emotional ache and feeling so conflicted. Nothing distracts you from it. Then time passes, and the more you live your life and create new habits, you get used to not having a text message every morning saying, ‘Hello, beautiful. Good morning.’ You get used to not calling someone at night to tell them how your day was. You replace these old habits with new habits, like texting your friends in a group chat all day, and planning fun dinner parties, and going out on adventures with your girlfriends, and then all of a sudden one day you’re in London and you realize you’ve been in the same place as your ex for two weeks and you’re fine. And you hope he’s fine. The first thought that came to my mind was – I’m finally clean.”

“'Clean' is the last song on the album for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it felt like the complication of this emotional process I’ve been going through for the last couple of years. You know, I feel like my personal life was really, really discussed, and criticized, and debated, and talked about to a point where it made me feel almost kind of tarnished, in a way. And the discussion wasn’t about music. It broke my heart that I had made an album that I was proud of, and I was touring the world, and playing sold-out stadiums, and still they managed to only want to talk about my personal life. At a certain point I felt a switch and it was at the end of recording this album that I began to feel like my life was mine again and my music was at the forefront again. I was living my life on my own terms and I really no longer cared what people were saying about me. That was when I started so see people talk less about the things that didn’t matter.”

“I had this metaphor in my head about being in this house, there’s been a drought but you feel like there’s a storm coming. Instead of trying to block out the storm you punch a hole in the roof and just let all the rain come in, and when you wake up in the morning, it’s washed away.”

[Imogen Heap] “We met at my studio in London. She had the bare bones of “Clean.” She had the lyric, the chorus and the chords. I thought it was brilliant.I was really writing the tiniest amount just to help her do what she does. I put some noises, played various instruments on it, including drums, and anytime she expressed she liked something I was doing, I did it more. It was a really fun day. She recorded all her vocals during that one session. She did two takes, and the second take was it. We always thought she would probably re-record it, because we thought it can’t possibly be that easy. But after we lived with it for a few months, we felt it was great. I knew she loved it. She said she loved it and her mum loved it. But I wasn’t sure it would be included on the album. But everyone felt it had something special. It came together really magically.”

Imogen's detailed blog entry about this songwriting session.

[Taylor about Imogen Heap] “The coolest thing about Imogen for me was that there was no one else in the studio. There was no assistant; there was no engineer. It was her doing everything.”

February 11, 2014: Taylor gets a haircut. (I'm including this for funsies)

February 15, 2014: Taylor, Max Martin and Shellback write Shake It Off.

Voice memo here;

[Lover Journal] LA. This week I've been in the studio with Max and Johan every day and it has been the most creatively successful and fulfilling time. The first day, Johan just made a really up tempo drum beat because we decided we needed something up and light. We worked at it for a few hours before i just started singing "shake it off, shake it off, shake it off" And then the best way i know how to describe it is that the chorus just fell out of the sky. It ended up being this song about doing your own thing even though haters are gonna hate, and you just have to dance to your own beat. We all went home and I wrote the first and second verses and brought them in the next day. We wrote this chanty cheer leader bridge that I absolutely LOVE. We spent all day doing vocals and the next day recording the background vocals. I think it'll end up being the first single and Max said it's his favorite song he's ever been a part of.

[Max Martin during the lawsuit] “Shellback started out with a drumbeat. Shellback, Taylor, and I then collaboratively developed the melody and other lines of ‘Shake It Off’ to Shellback’s drumbeat. I did not write or provide any input into any lyrics in ‘Shake It Off,’ which were written entirely by Taylor.”

“I've had every part of my life dissected – my choices, my actions, my words, my body, my style, my music. When you live your life under that kind of scrutiny, you can either let it break you, or you can get really good at dodging punches. And when one lands, you know how to deal with it. And I guess the way that I deal with it is to shake it off.”

“The message in the song is a problem I think we all deal with and an issue we deal with on a daily basis. We don’t live just in a celebrity takedown culture, we live in a takedown culture. People will find anything about you and twist it to where it’s weird or wrong or annoying or strange or bad. You have to not only live your life in spite of people who don’t understand you, you have to have more fun than they do.”

February 19, 2014: Taylor, Max Martin, Shellback and Ali Payami write Style. This is the last song made for the album.

“I loved comparing these timeless visuals with a feeling that never goes out of style. It's basically one of those relationships that's always a bit off. The two people are trying to forget each other. So, it's like, 'All right, I heard you went off with her, and well, I've done that, too.' My previous albums have also been sort of like, 'I was right, you were wrong, you did this, it made me feel like this' – a righteous sense of right and wrong in a relationship. What happens when you grow up is you realize the rules in a relationship are very blurred and that it gets very complicated very quickly, and there's not a case of who was right or who was wrong.”

“This song is about those relationships that are never really done. You always kind of have that person, that one person who you feel might interrupt your wedding and be like, ‘Don’t do it cause we’re not over yet.'”

[Guitarist Niklas Ljungfelt] “I played on “Style,” a song I started with Ali Payami for ourselves. He was playing it for Max Martin at his studio; Taylor overheard it and loved it. She and Max wrote new lyrics. But I recorded the guitar on it before it was a Taylor song. It was an instrumental. I didn’t have a clue that Taylor would sing on it. The inspiration came from Daft Punk and funky electronic music.”

1989 is officially done!

[Taylor On Ryan Seacrest] “I'm pretty sure after we finished this one I knew the record was done. Shake It Off and Style were the last two songs to be written for 1989.”

February 19, 2014: While on tour, Ryan Tedder produces another three versions of Welcome To New York.

[Ryan Tedder interview] “I was in Switzerland on a tour bus, and I did four versions of 'Welcome to New York,' one of which I liked personally more, but the thing about artists is they become very obsessed with the demo. She was in love with the demo so no matter how hard I fought, she brought it back to the demo, so really what you hear is what I did on the first day.”

March 22, 2014: Billboard reports that Taylor and Ryan Tedder have worked together in LA in January

March 24, 2014: [From a Lover Journal] Taylor moves to New York.

[Lover Journal] So in the last few weeks, I've completely moved into my apartment in Tribeca. That's right, I'm writing this from my new bed in my new place, watching Law and Order with Meredith. Strangely, I've never felt more busy.

May 1, 2014: 1989 Photoshoot.

Behind the scenes photo shared by the photographers Sarah Barlow and her husband Stephen Schofield.

May 29, 2014: [From a Lover Journal] Taylor chooses another photo for the cover, after having a nightmare of the previous one being not enough.

May 30, 2014: Taylor chooses the album cover.

[Lover Journal] Shanghai. So we got to China at around 2pm and I knew it would completely ruin me if I slept when i got to the hotel, so I decided to work out. WHY IS THIS PEN RUNNING OUT?! Just went to my purse and got my pen. So a crazy story unfolded in the last 24 hours. Last night, I had this vivid dream where the photo I'd chosen for the album cover wasn't good enough, intriguing enough, artful enough. it woke me up. I couldn't shake it and it stayed with me all day. Because that nagging feeling I'd been pushing back for weeks was now confirmed in my gut... it wasn't good enough. I went to the venue, mind racing, wandering if I'd have to do an entirely new photo shoot... I got to my dressing room with newer versions of the "cover" I looked at it and felt nothing. The team pulled up this new scanned file of the polaroids we had taken during the shoot. I saw it within 10 seconds. The shot. The cover. It's a polaroid of me sitting against a beige wall with a blue seagull sweatshirt on. You can see my red lips but the photo cuts off my eyes. For some reason unknown to me it's the most intriguing photo i've seen. I think it's the mystery of not seeing my eyes. Maybe it just looks effortlessly cool. The craziest moment came when something caught my eye. The cover photo is photo 13. I kid you not. I played a sold out show in Shanghai tonight and the crowd was amazing. Tomorrow we go to Tokyo, where they'll have the whole ticker tape parade at the airport. Smile and wave...

Mid To Late 2014: Taylor and Jack write Now That We Don't Talk.

[Tumblr Music] "Now That We Don't Talk is one of my favorite songs that was left behind. It was so hard to leave it behind, but I think we wrote it a little bit towards the end of the process, and we couldn't get the production right at the time. But we had tons of time to perfect the production this time, and figure out what we wanted the song to sound like, and I just think it's, I think it's the shortest song I've ever had. I think it packs a punch. I think it really goes in for the short amount of time we have, I think it makes its point."

Conclusive notes

What 1989 represented for Taylor:

“The 1980s was a very experimental time in pop music. People realized songs didn't have to be this standard drums-guitar-bass-whatever. We can make a song with synths and a drum pad. We can do group vocals for the entire song. We can do so many different things. And I think what you saw happening with music was also happening in our culture, where people were just wearing whatever crazy colors they wanted to, because why not? There just seemed to be this energy about endless opportunities, endless possibilities, endless ways you could live your life. And so with this record, I thought, 'There are no rules to this. I don't need to use the same musicians I've used, or the same band, or the same producers, or the same formula. I can make whatever record I want.'”

“In the past, I've written mostly about heartbreak or pain that was caused by someone else and felt by me. On this album, I'm writing about more complex relationships, where the blame is kind of split 50–50 ... even if you find the right situation relationship-wise, it's always going to be a daily struggle to make it work.”

Bonus: Secret Messages

Author's note: I wrote this timeline around 2 years ago. While I found some dates later on, this is 100% my research. If you use this timeline for your posts, research or whatever, PLEASE, credit me! I'd be very thankful. This is 2 years of work.

Links to my other Timelines:

Writing of Fearless Timeline

Writing of Speak Now Timeline

Writing of Red Timeline

My Spreadsheet with a timeline overview

Credits:

Most of the quotes have been copy-pasted from Taylor Swift Switzerland.

Taylor Swift Pictures for the candids.

Heather from Nerdy by Nature for the WTNY handwritten lyrics picture.

[masquayla-the-splendid]

Things I noticed about the music-realm of the fnaf fandom as of recently.

[From the person who did Paranormal Powerhouse]

My brain just fired an interesting set of neurons. I was thinking about how JT Music "remastered" some of his older fnaf songs, like Join us for a Bite, and Five Long Nights. Usually, JT Music never misses with his songs. Except for when he redoes them. Normally, I would describe the remakes of feeling too processed and the OGs more organic, but that's too vague for my point to get across.

I got a Reel on my feed the other day about the new Beetlejuice movie that showed images of behind the scenes pictures from the original movie, and the new one. One of the comments said that although the new movie was good, Beetlejuice's outfit from the original felt more authentic, and the new one felt too much like it was a costume. (I can see it in the hair most, imo.)

That's how I would describe this situation with JT Music. Heck, even just current Fnaf Fan songs in general.

I haven't heard any new fnaf songs that stuck out to me in a while. To me, the new ones just sound like someone just picked a cool synth and played 4 chords and went "OOG THE BEAR IS APPROACHING~" lmao.

Idk they just sound less...from the heart. Compare the "You might look at me-" "-you're not alone, Baby" part of the original Join us For a Bite, and the remake. They got rid of the huge chords the vocals did on "crazy," and the delivery doesn't sound like she's about to lose it. She just sings it and the autotune does the rest.

A number of other songwriters that made pretty good songs back then have fallen off too, I noticed.

Idk if it's because this is how these artists are making a living, so they gotta pump out content all the time. Tryhardninja has been uploading multiple music videos for songs from like, 2016. (They're good animations though.) It's all in the matter of taste though, I guess.

But it's a shame, because all the older songs that were fire, the writers ended being creeps, or have just been absent from the internet or the fandom for a while. Mandopony's songs felt like they came straight out of a musical. They made great use of harmonization, and painting a scene in your head. [I've never come across a song made by a brony that was mid.] That kind of style has yet to be replicated, because I don't want him returning anytime soon.

Idk what happened to Groundbreaking, other than he stopped making fnaf music specifically, but he was really good at writing character, and catchy instrumental breaks. The sounds he chose for each character song fit them very well. His style was very electronic and industrial.

Similar notes for Griffinilla, with the added bonus of the scenes in Stay Calm. Then he turned into Fandroid. His Freddy song is pretty good too. The lyrics are pretty generic, but I like the wacky instruments used. Not a fan of the Ballora song. I did recently hear about him being a groomer though. Can't have nothin in Hurricane.

Shameless plugin, that's why when I wrote Paranormal Powerhouse, (and Bolts4Brains) I was taking those aspects into account. I never hear vocals harmonize anymore, or singing in character, or silly voices in general. Those add texture, imo. The instruments I chose were very specific. I wanted it to sound mechanical and haunting, while keeping the overall lighthearted campy nature these games have, thus, the title of the song. (Totally has nothing to do with the level "Lava Powerhouse" from Sonic Spinball.) Even the drums are meant sound like clunky robotic movement.

The Genesis is capable of very harsh and edgy sounds, which would be perfect for the industrial side. It's capable of atmospheric sounds as well, ex. Ecco the Dolphin. It also shares a soundchip with arcade cabinets from at least mid 80s, so I tried to replicate instruments from certain arcade games, because FFP has an arcade. The Snes plugin was used for softer sounds the Genesis couldn't achieve the way I wanted, like the wonky piano.

I did add a sort of autotune to my vocals, but a real quality autotune plugin costs money, so I used Reaper's built in manual pitch correction. On top of that, I added a light chorus effect for the main melody, and a bit crush at that part where Phone Guy starts to break it down, and the animatronics provide a counter melody, leading up to Chica's solo.

Idk maybe I'm just not in the loop with the current music scape, and when I am, I just get really unlucky. It's hard to tell, because I hardly ever come across a fnaf fan that's also a music nerd. Like I'm just finding videos talking about the Watch Your 6 motif. Did we all like subconsciously know this and just decide to talk about it, or did the right people just start noticing it at the right time?

[kingprinceleo]

Hi there! Playlist anon again. I listened to the whole thing and here are my thoughts. I hope this isn't over reaching cause I really enjoyed it overall and would love to see the rest 🙏🏽. Buckle in this is longgg

Rivers is a Vampire- Sonic would dance fight Shadow to this song (like in the original puss in boots, look up the scene I swear it's great).

Loose Cannon- it's both so Shadow and Sonic coded but it's funnier if it's Shadow realizing he likes Sonic. More likely it's supposed to be Sonic @ Shadow and it really fits. 10/10 putting it on my personal playlists.

Genius - this is Sonic having a jam sesh in his bedroom. 7.5/10 very in character, you're going to make me start liking rock music.

Assassin- 9/10 Shadow in his emo boy bag. The verses feel like Shadow in his head thinking he's hot shit (he's right), but the chorus feels like Rouge trying to talk him down. Overall big fan.

Lost- Honestly really love the vibes of this one. It sounds like Sonic and Hoax fighting/ talking or just Sonic debating with himself. Love the jaunty music with the sinister undertones.Fading World- 7/10(<- could be higher depending on personal taste) A nice interplay between Sonic's cheery friendliness and Shadow's.... everything. A nice world building song if that makes sense. If vamp au! were a level in a game this would play.

Moon Trance- A vampire nobility song if that makes sense. Kinda gives off Blaze if Sonic were dropping in with EDM beats. World building song.

Phantom of the Opera Overture- Shadow once again in his emo bag. Listening to this I imagine him dramatically posed as Ophelia in the river as Rouge looks on utterly unimpressed. Another world building song.

Dear Wormwood- 10/10 Devastating. This feels like when Shadow discovers Rogue is a vampire (if that's still canon?) and could work for the Sonic/Hoax reveal but to a much lesser extent.

Galacta Knight Theme- 5/10. Not bad but I'm not entirely sure how it fits. Feels like a world building song but lacks the rock and goth roots of its predecessors. I wanna say it feels like an Eggman song?

Trouble- Rouge song very fun (Shadow if you get a microscope). Good for a chase scene or playful fight.

Look What You Made Me Do Remix- Shadow after Sonic sneaks an extra sip of blood. 8/10 Shadow wouldn't be a Swiftie but he would bop to a song or two.

Bodies- GODDDDD 10/10. Shadow tracking a vampire to a party in his vulture outfit and having to maneuver his way to stealthily kill them (can't remember clearly if Shadow's actively a vampire hunter in the au rn but you get the vibe /pos).

Vampire Culture- like I said before Shadow being a hater /pos. Somebody get this boy a weighted blanket he needs to chill 8/10. I imagine he plays this as he puts on each vampire repellent stud and piercing.

The Magic 8- A very Sonic song in message but also Amy with the talk of magic. Funky duet? They'd probably sing this at Shadow 9/10.

Who's in Control- 10/10 Another Sonic/ Hoax talking song (I interpret their dynamic to be that Hoax has less inhibitions than Sonic and is overall allowed to be looser. hopefully that's close).

Why Do I- Sonic after Shadow realizes he's Hoax and they have a falling out. It feels do very Teen Beach Movie /pos. He'd get a whole musical number with backup dancers and rad sad choreography.

Blood Red Moon- World building song. Funnily enough I think you'd introduce Shadow with it. Dark foggy night, random vamp running away/ person being attacked by one, cut to Shadow standing ominously with a lightning strike for good measure. Lowkey has cowboy vibes.

Born of a Star- Feels like a happy future. The type of track that would play towards the end of a boss fight.

Drumming Song- 8/10. Very much an Amy song I like it a lot plenty of witchy vibes. Feels like it would play when she performs a powerful spell/ ritual (not sure exactly how her magic works). The chorus especially also sounds like Shadow describing the effect Hoax has on him :).

You've Created a Monster- Shadow. That's the review. This plays during a hunt or just during his morning routine. Just goofy enough to hide the emotional turmoil but serious enough to show his issues 8/10.

This is Why- Shadow whenever he sees Hoax. He's his biggest hater. Also Shadow at his job with Knuckles (he's about to punch someone's teeth in).

Figure 8- Sad Shadow hours. Probably around the time he just met Hoax and made the deal. Sounds like he's questioning his whole identity :(.

Shoot to Kill- 6/10 World building song. It's giving gathering of elders in the vampire kingdom.

Punching Bag- I've been associating the Set it Off songs with Sonic so far so at first I was thrown for a loop, but honestly? I can see him singing this after someone (Shadow) tries to kill him. It can also be a Shadow song but I find the Sonic angle very interesting.

Vampire- 9/10. ROUGE SONG. She's about to rob a man, GOOD FOR WOMEN.

Sirens- Not sure exactly this would apply to but very fun. Sounds like Shadow falling in love in a very overdramatic way but could also be Sonic. 8/10

Again sorry for the length and I hope I didn't interpret anything egregiously wrong 😭

I think the band In This Moment and their albums GODMODE, Mother and Ritual could maybe fit.

Thanks again for sharing :)🙏🏽

~🩸🎵

anon i am literally kissing you on ur nonexistent smooth gray mouth HHJDFHHSDH this is the nicest thing anyones ever given me im so giddy about this DHFSHFHSDJDSF that being said this is gonna get so long so i am adding the under cut LOL

Rivers is a Vampire- youre so fucking right for this and i wanna draw it so bad ... JKDFJKSJKF

Loose Cannon-set it offs elsewhere album is a whole banger and highly recc the whole thing >:]]] and this song is a shadow centric one ! about how hes always on the edge around everyone bc of his paranoia, and esp around hoax lol, he gets mad about being called out </333

Genius - sonic jamming to this is also so correct fdjghjdfg contrary to shadow, sonic in vampire au is just here to have a good time LMAO (u should get into rock :} BDSFBH its fun here)

Assassin- this one is rlly interesting to me bc the ENTIRE thing is intended to be a shadow callout post from sonic/hoax pov. i would not have considered this being shadow reflecting on himself at all ! but damn the rouge pov also works out really well too, i never considered that either! (originally i figured the only rouge mention would have been 'you hear whispers when were just talking' which would have been sonic and rouge talking to each other and shadow thinks they are conspiring </3)

Lost- this one is a lil complicated in my rat brain shdfhj !! this one is shadow pov! its like. about his perspective shifts across the plot in vampire au- first trying to hide from the scary vampires </3 and the screams are getting louder line ....is about maria...... i eated that part up.... "please dont find me im not ok" is a very shadowcore line and the final lost chorus meant to rep shadow eventually becoming 'lost' in what scared him but like. embracing it. this one. is hard to convey JJSDFJSD prob would need art to get across what i mean i suppose Fading World- this one is a Maria and GUN song ! :]c (dont worry about the fact its bass boosted. i am just guy who likes bass......)

Moon Trance- close !!! silver and mephiles :3333 jbhdfjdj(meph is blazes royal advisor so it does tie back to her kingdom ehe). boys who prowl and will bash your head in to this in the woods somewhere

Phantom of the Opera Overture- "Shadow once again in his emo bag. Listening to this I imagine him dramatically posed as Ophelia in the river as Rouge looks on utterly unimpressed. Another world building song." I NEED TO DRAW THIS SO FUCKING BAD AHAHH u are SO FUCKING RIGHT FOR THIS. side note, a general rule of thumb (not always but a lot) anything that sounds this fucking dramatic is shadow pov and how he imagines vampires, the real guys are just chilling dfbhgfhsd with their nerd music. shadow is vampires #1 hype man without even realizing

Dear Wormwood- this one is Primarily a shadow and GUN song !! tho there are little tidbits of others who he has discovered lied to him like rouge eggman and sonic !!! (and yes shadow finding out rouge is a vampire is still canon >:])

Galacta Knight Theme-close with the eggman bit !! a theme for geebo <333(Lance)

Trouble- very correct vibes !! primarily rouge but i would add sonic in there too !! they both have that fun playful air to them tbh that i think a lot of people overlook in their canon dynamic hfgdhj

Look What You Made Me Do Remix- Shadow @ everyone tbh !! buttt primarily this is during his GUN arc when hes just so fed up with being lied to (he doesnt even know) i think if u remixed enough taylor swift into rock or metal he could get down to it fdgbjgdhjf

Bodies- YOURE SO RIGHT FOR THISSSS. esp the vulture part :]c... and the vampire hunter part is .. a little complicated ! he kinda is sometimes? theres a specific circumstance that makes him more willing to actively hunt and kill

Vampire Culture- he is absolutely blaring this in his mind while he gets ready lmaooo . big fan of weight blanket shadow tho dhgfdjg....something to draw.... fun lil fact tho... i imagine that smooth voice to be the head of GUN....

The Magic 8- i think sonic is the one singing it! but its all about amy! about her arc with her desperation to prove herself, getting consumed by her ambitions, and working with dark magic :)

Who's in Control- the sonic and hoax angle is SOOO interesting to me! i would have never thought of it bc frankly they are chill af, he does not have much turmoil about it! this has always been a HUGE shadow song esp 'living in fear, living afraid, hysterical everyday"

Why Do I- this is actually shadow @ sonic !!! reverse hehehe. this is one of the more accurate songs lmaooo, like 'wake up in cold sweats screaming your name" this song is the canon point in time where shadow first realizing he has a crush on sonic !! sonic is the reason the bastard drinks </3333

Blood Red Moon- absolutely obsessed with your version of it oughhhh, but its always been an eggman song to me (esp with that laugh lol)! and one of his silly little schemes. defo gonna draw that shadow idea tho thats so sick (and it is SO cowboy. do not be surprised if it winds up in the desert vampire playlist)

Born of a Star- this one is a death song ! self reflection and "how did we get here"

Drumming Song- close with the chorus part ! but the entire thing is Sonic pov about how yummy yummy shadows blood is 😋 shadows heartbeat drumming in his mind !

You've Created a Monster- i was SO fucking confused when i saw this bc!!!! youtube is hiding that video from me "its not available" !! and apparently you can see it but i cant!!! im so mad but i also owe you my life bc i found the song again and it BANGS SO HARD and it is 100% shadow wanting to kill maim <3333 its also a 3 way song for shadow @ everyone/ Hoax @ shadow about how shadow seems to be forcing hoax to be the monster he fears to justify his hatred/ uh oh amy fucked up !!!!

This is Why- THE JOB ANGLE IS SO CORRECT AND FUNNY, obsessed with that. but also yeah shadow doesnt like outside </3 rouge is the one saying the coast is clear </333

Figure 8- the deal interpretation is so good...... thats all im ever gonna think about now. honestly "all for your sake, became the very thing that i hate, i lost my way, spinning in an endless figure 8" was meant to be a shadow talking about maria line! but thats all i really got from the song, the deal idea is so good.......

Shoot to Kill- i personally saw this as a shadow GUN song !! bro is more intense and focused than usual

Punching Bag- THIS CHANGED ME WTFFF, i was struggling to see it as shadow and GUN, but oh my fucking GOD, the sonic pov is so raw and i am OBSESSED with it. pissed him off one too many times !!!!!!!

Vampire- WE SUPPORT WOMENS WRONGS !!! YAY ROUGE!!!!

Sirens- this is a shadow and GUN song !! solace in their song is propaganda !! shadows ready to shoot !!! shake off some blues kill vampires !!! HES BACK IN THE NOOSE!!!! SONIC GIVE HIM ALL YOU GOT BECAUSE IF NOT THEYRE GONNA DROWN HIM OUT !!!!!!! ehe :]

i listened to Mother and couldnt immediately feel anyone out with it but ill look thru their other stuff and rack my brain !!! ty for the suggestion !!!! but omg ty SO MUCH this was so fun if u ever wanna hmu for the other playlists...... i am looking so hard.. (but no pressure !! this was already so much and im so grateful !!!)

[archoneddzs15]

Nintendo Game Cube - Sonic Mega Collection

Title: Sonic Mega Collection / ソニック メガコレクション

Developer/Publisher: Sega (Sonic Team) / VR-1 Japan

Release date: 19 December 2002

Catalogue Code: DOL-GSOJ-JPN

Genre: Compilation / Variety

You know of the first four Sonic games already - good platformers. These are presented in mostly their original form, except for a few graphical modifications. These do not affect the overall experience, and die-hard fans should not be put off. Sonic Spinball is a slightly mediocre game - imagine the pinball areas in the Casino Night levels of Sonic 2, with the difficulty upped and the gameplay quality lowered - this one's an acquired taste (I personally hated it as much as that Dinoland game from Wolfteam).

Mean Bean Machine is excellent - this is just Puyo Puyo with a Western twist, and the Sonic license slapped on to make it sell. Flicky may be off-putting due to the dated graphics (I'm not kidding - I played it 2 times on my Mega CD already) but is an addictive game which originally started back in the arcades in 1984. Ristar is the best game on the disc, but you probably didn't know that this was there. Do you know why? Because in Sega's infinite wisdom, the company has chosen to lock it out until you start every other game 50 times. Personally, I think that the people putting the disc together thought they were funny.

One HUGE scar on the surface of this pretty little optical disc - NO SONIC CD: the best 16-bit Sonic game ever (IMO) has been sadly not included in the compilation due to hardware emulation difficulties (the game was on the Mega CD; a port of the 1996 PC version would be included in Sonic Gems Collection). Knuckles' Chaotix (32X) is also missing, and while I miss it, I don't see this as a huge problem.

Visually, the games still look great. Of course, they have technically aged, with the possible exception of Ristar - its use of the Genesis hardware and its extreme colorfulness make it too hard to criticize. (Make sure you're using the RGB cable, or if you live in North America, the next best thing, is S-Video - or Component if you can afford it!) The audio's also hard to fault. Some of the menu songs on Spinball are so grating you'll wanna put your TV on mute (thanks a lot, GEMS sound driver!). But the catchy songs of the other games (Chemical Plant in Sonic 2, anyone? Starlight Zone in the original?) are still good after all those years.

Oh, and the Japanese disc also includes The Ooze and Comix Zone. I liked Comix Zone's music. Despite using GEMS, the music is strangely awesome.

Along with these classic games, Sonic Mega Collection has some extras up its sleeve. Remember the lovely Sonic CD anime intro which we also got to see in Sonic Jam on the Saturn? Well, you probably would, if that game was on this disc. On the Mega CD, the frame rate was poor, the video size was tiny, and the colors were nasty. But it was a stunning intro. The PC version of Sonic CD lets fans see the intro in its proper colors. Squashed into a tiny window and badly resized (read: pixilated!) Sonic Jam came closer, but Sonic Mega Collection finally lets us see the intro (and ending sequence) in broadcast quality, full screen, full speed. The sequence was animated by Toei Animation, who I believe is also to blame for "Digimon", and is stunning. This version has the American music "Sonic, You Can Do Anything" dubbed over the original Japanese rap song, but in all honesty, I prefer the American version as far as the one in this disc is concerned.

It's not perfect though. A graphical smoothing option on the emulator would have been nice like is available on PC emulators. The rest of the movies are cop-outs. Rather than giving us the selection of TV commercials on Sonic Jam, Sega has decided to give us advertisements for current and upcoming games. Oh, and a really bad "History of Sonic" video, nowhere near as good as Sonic Jam's museum section. There are also lots of comic cover scans, some of which are nice, but because these are the American Archie comics, some are painful too.

Overall, Sonic Mega Collection is worth picking up, considering how many titles you're getting on one disc. The fact that Sonic CD isn't included is a huge kick in the stones, but considering Ristar is here (albeit in a nearly impossible-to-unlock form), as well as other classic Sonic games, movies, and illustrations, it's hard not to recommend.

[greenerteacups]

Merry Swiftmas! I saw your note at the end of the most recent chapter. What are you Tortured Poet Department thoughts and feelings?

Literally just got back from a listening party so this is all coming in VERY fresh and unprocessed but first reactions:

The unfortunate exigencies of Industry Shit have kind of hurt Swift creatively because (1) she's been taught she can have her cake and eat it too with the Grammy-winning 15-track sonically cohesive tone album if she just drops it separately as the first act of a 30-song behemoth deluxe edition/multiverse of bonus tracks, and (2) the Vault Tracks have taught her that fans actually do want to hear every single thing she writes, even if she (rightly) might have thought it wasn't release-quality 5-10 years ago. Long story short there is a good album in here but it needs to be TIGHTLY pruned out because a lot of these songs are either underwritten or underdeveloped or both. She should've focused her energy on improving a smaller set (i.e. cleaning out some of the clunker lines, tightening melodies, giving each song its own identity) and cutting like, more or less the last third of the tracks. That being said! I did like a lot of it.

I also think some people fail to understand Swift is a pop artist making pop music. When we say she's a good lyricist, we don't mean she's fucking Samuel Coleridge, it means she uses the medium of a pop song successfully to communicate a mood or an emotional experience. Pop is vernacular; it's supposed to evoke the kind of language you hear every day. Not surprisingly, I find her at her best when she's not trying to affect some kind of heightened poetic mood. Songs like "Would've, Could've, Should've" straddle this line pretty well for me, because it's not affected, it's just... intelligently thought-through. It's a single metaphor, taken from multiple angles, explained well, and set to a great melody. It's not trying to impress you, but it still does. Anyway.

Miscellaneous/specific thoughts:

"Guilty as Sin?" is my favorite, it's going to be one of my most played songs of the year, both for reasons of Oh Shit It Me and because I'm just straight up in love with the sound of this motherfucker. No analysis it makes the happy juices in the brain go

Other favorites: So Long London, Fresh Out The Slammer, The Bolter, Daddy I Love Him

"thank you aimee" is a reprise of "Mean" addressed semi-obviously to Kim K/the Collective Nation of Haters of Taylor Swift, which was a weak diss track when it was a teenager singing it and has not improved in the mouth of a 30-something artist

"But Daddy I Love Him" is conversely a very successful ironic reprise of "Love Story," and I'm fond of it because it reads like a love letter to the girls who grew up on that song

Interesting strains of Reputation on "Little Old Me," I feel like there was an earlier draft of this song that went harder on the Bad Blood/Don't Blame Me vibe, but she's still scarred from the critical reaction to reputation and hasn't fully gone there since. Which is why someday I will throttle the Pitchfork editor with my bare hands

Florida!!! feels like it needed some more production besides Jack Antonoff sitting on the synths with a jackhammer but I do like it. The bridge/second half sounds a lot like a Bleachers song (compliment)

"So High School" was sweet and I was surprised by how much I liked that and "The Alchemy," both of which are fun but ultimately simple and sentimental — which is GOOD to be clear I don't go looking for Proust in my pop music, and simplicity can be a virtue

However, I scream-laughed in a full room when I heard the line "you can ball and I know Aristotle," and I look forward to thinking about it once a day for the next forever. Insane. So good. Also, like — Taylor, have you read the Politics? You are legally obligated to tell us now if you have read the Politics.

[fuzzafterhours]

Penny's Big Breakaway

First played on February 21st 2024 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955230/Pennys_Big_Breakaway/ I have... a lot to say about this game... I love it, I love it so so SO much, BUT it absolutely wrecks me to say that it is a little under baked. I will start off by saying I was extremely excited to play it since the words "from the team behind sonic mania" were uttered on that one Nintendo direct. I followed development closely and consumed every piece of content that was drip fed throughout the months. I was absolutely floored when the game was shadow dropped. Now, I LOVE 3D platformers, and I'm inclined to call them my favorite game genre. Despite all the flaws I do have with the Penny's I would put it firmly in my top 10. I also want to mention that I'm a little freak that plays games I like in weird ways so any strange issues I have with it might not apply to the average person. I want to talk about the movement first as it is the most important thing to me in a 3D platformer. the game is stellar... when it works... Penny's is one of the smoothest platformers I've ever played until your momentum is cut off by some random bit of jank, whether that be the roll move deciding to randomly stop, environmental hazards like water and lava having 0 grace period, and clipping into walls, which happened way more often than id like to admit. Its clear to me that the game needed a good amount of polish time before shipping. Level design in this game is largely fantastic although I think its a bit homogenized if that makes sense. excuse the dreaded act of comparison but, a similar game like super Mario 3D world for example, designs its levels with a central mechanic in mind and then elaborates on it throughout a level. Penny's does this sometimes but a majority of levels feel like a strange blend of ideas that leads them to feel kind of unfocused. this Isn't necessarily a bad thing as I think the game has free enough movement to warrant it. The game never got boring per say, but id be lying if I said it didn't lose some steam towards the end. I think another part of the game that gradually got a little stale is the art direction and environment design. again, never bad, but I noticed areas getting less creative in the last third of the game. I do however want to say, despite my gripe, this games visual direction is OUTSTANDING and like nothing I've ever seen. it starts incredibly strong and despite becoming a little uncreative it is always a treat to look at. An aspect that I can give absolutely nothing but endless praise is the soundtrack of course. Nearly every song is masterfully composed and instantly memorable. As a big fan of Tee Lopes previous work there was no doubt in my mind that this ost would knock it out of the park. although it is not a one man show, Sean Bialo was a more than welcome addition, they are responsible for some of my favorite tracks on Spark the Electric Jester 3 so it was great seeing them here. Some of my favorite tracks on the Penny ost are:

Puppet Pioneer

Jig's Up, Penny

Outside The Eidophusikon

Balearic Birds

Penny in a Pinch and my absolute favorite track in the game:

Refracting Feelings (Pengo Mix)

I want to exclaim once again, I LOVE this game, its currently a frontrunner for my game of the year and I don't want a couple of minor gripes to taint the view of what is otherwise an excellent, beautiful, and just straight up fun game. Play Penny's, listen to its soundtrack, share it around. We need more games like it. I think everyone at Evening Star should be more than proud of what they've created. I can feel this game oozing with love and passion for the medium and I don't think any minor issue I have with it could take away from that. It wants to exist and it wants YOU to play it.

[cutegirlmayra]

I think Sonamy in Sonic Frontiers is better than Sonic Prime. I feel like they kinda make Amy a villain. Seriously, I want my happy-cheerful Amy with Cindy Robinson voice 😭 (Amy's voice in Sonic Prime kinda a mean popular girl with sassy attitude's voice)

Em, although I see what you mean, I think they did a really interesting angle with Amy in Prime.

Frontiers Amy felt too much like Archie Amy, the Game version of Amy is usually very supportive of Sonic, a bit 'Quick on her Heels' to jump into things, true, but she's not so sassy. She does counter Sonic abruptly in a few games, but never to the point that it comes off as abrasively insensitive. (Personally, I think Amy is a bit spicy in her quick conflict starters in Frontiers 🙄 don't sue me lolol)

(Gosh, this moment makes me CRINGE. It was all GREAT, but then this moment happened. Amy should never be animated to this line, because it's completely not her, and the Japanese changed it, and thank goodness. It's so hurtful to say this, knowing that's not what Sonic is saying. Amy is insightful, it's one of the wonderful things about her, she's so attuned to the emotions of life. This scene made me squirm at how confrontational it was. Everything else was fine, but this. one. scene. Ruined Amy's chara for Frontiers for me. She's the SASSY one, not Prime!)

Amy has always been the 'heart' of the team. Sonic is the 'will' and 'soul', that 'Spirit of Freedom'. Knuckles 'Might/Strength and Honor/Duty working in tandem, and Tails the 'Humble Brain' that sometimes falls to thoughts of self-doubts due to idolizing their heroes.

In Prime, Amy is the emotional counterpoint for Sonic. Tails is the focal point of his comradery and bravery. Knuckles is Sonic's sense of heroism, positivity, and never giving up attitude.

Through his friends in Prime, we see more of Sonic's true character. He supports and uplifts his friends, is funny with his cocky attitude, struggles when things are in disarray, and seeks unity again--knowing he's stronger with it.

The disconnect in Boom--for the video game--was Sonic was a loner, not understanding that his pride looked like arrogance and got him into a lot of trouble. He learned that things were easier and better with his Friends.

In Prime, he teaches the audience once more that although he is STILL the infamous Sonic The Hedgehog, fastest thing alive, he's also vulnerable without his friends, and cares deeply for them.

Amy shows how all her lessons have distilled in Sonic a sense of compassion with his firece justice attitude. he's not--"I'm right, you're wrong." Anymore. He's "There's a better way." which is Amy's role to show the audience that side of him. (It doesn't matter, now what happens. I will never give up the fight~ Long as the voice inside, drives me to run and fight. It doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right~ - A Sonic Theme centered around Sonic's personality. Lyrics and Song: (x) )

Tails's role in Prime teaches honesty of character. Sonic has grown so attached to his 'man in the chair' but also sees Tails as so much more, he's his best friend, but he's never had to 'earn Tails's trust' before. In the backstory, Tails admired him as a hero. In this world, Sonic has to now earn and give that trust back tenfold--the fans often complained that Sonic wasn't always 'brotherly' to Tails like they wanted him to be, this is SEGA building a character arc to say, "Sonic also admires Tails" and appreciates and needs him. In the media of Sonic brand, we know that we've only ever seen Sonic inspiring Tails, now we see him fully immersing himself in uplifting his little buddy once more--showing how much Sonic has grown throughout the years as a character.

Even Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge (Even Big ~Steadfast heart of gold!~) play a role in helping the audience see Sonic's 'True Character'. I felt it was written with a lot of care towards the true canon of Sonic and the casts character portrayals, although throwing them into an 'amnesia'-like clever trope to go through their 'characters' again in an entertaining way, that's just a personal preference of the script-writers in how they wanted to accuracy tell their view of the story and charas, but all the materials that make up their characters are still present and accounted for.

The writing is interesting, and there were times I actually FANGIRLED because I would have written THE SAME LINES if it were me in charge of dialogue. It was handled with more care than we've ever seen in the Sonic universe up to this point. (Referring to the string of some less-than-what-we-would-have-wanted stuff...)

I've lived through so many Sonic reboots, bad portrayals, and heartbreakingly bad moments as a Sonic fan... that seeing expert film script writers--I believe the same that worked on Marvel Spiderman or other comic-book titles who are HEAVY into lore--that Sonic's lore is finally being treated with respect and due research.

Is it made for kids? Sure. Was there a way to make the story for more our age audiences? Yeah. Did they do that? Not really, but that doesn't mean it's not a carefully considered love letter to the older fans as well.

Amy, in my humble opinion, had some interesting directions for Frontiers...

Amy in Prime, although they are ALL characterizations of 'spinoff versions' of their true selves, were--and maybe--are leading up to character arcs I feel I will probably approve of.

Why is this different? Why do I approve more of Prime--what should be considered a jump in fanfiction dimensions--verses a mainline game that supposedly should be more accurate of lore and character?

I never said that Frontiers didn't have lore! It had a great animated sequence showing off Knuckles, it had some great characterization moments with the cast and Sonic! Arguably a good few dramatic scenes of angst to boost too--though, that's not what's as important to me.

I want good story, good character, the works... what Frontier did was alright and good for being in a drought of long standing runs with no relief in a dry spell that Sonic has been trying to fight due to Sammy and other companies (watched a video on it, so much clarity!) not giving enough support to him--BUT!

Prime dives into the psyche of Sonic, and it has more emotional depth--in my humble opinion--of character-revealing moments of characters truly bonding and revealing their bond to the world, then Frontiers--which still had a nice blend--but not to the same extent.

How come?

One is a limited game with limited resources, the other was funded resources, given all the lore it could ever want and ask for, and braced itself for a narrative far longer than a few hours of skating on railings. (Not bashing gameplay, making a metaphorical 'tease' statement here.)

It's just differences.

Amy in Prime, seems more like Canon Amy's spirit, then Frontier's Amy... simply because Frontier's Amy didn't get enough screentime, presence, and greater bonding opportunities.

Prime Amys, though again, all separate and split 'pieces' are still 'pieces' nonetheless of the recognizable Amy Rose we've grown up with to love and know and love with assurity.

Yes, all of them. Because they are FOILS to Amy.

This one LITERALLY becomes Amy by the end of the episode! We just had to walk to get there, but we got there!

Does that mean Frontiers is worse or bad? No. Does that mean I hate Frontiers? No. Does that mean Prime is the supreme Sonic media in all the land? Again, no, stop that. You keep that kinda talk up, I'll lightly swat your hand and give you my best puffed-up, Amy pouty face you've ever seen! lol

Your argument, to me, is a discussion.

Is Amy portrayed as a villain? No. She's portrayed as a victim of circumstances where Sonic wasn't able to save her from becoming a damsel in distress. Is she a strong damsel in distress? Usefully, yes, because Amy's always been strong no matter what befalls or becomes her. Do they abuse that? Oh yeah! That's what makes this new idea of different versions of her so fun! She's one of the most versatile characters in Sonic media, simply because her personality, character role, and emotional motives are so much more vaster in starting plot points and meaningful, story and character driven narratives that she's one of the best dynamic writing tools to use in Sonic universes. All for Sonic's benefit? Well, yeah, that's one of her Character Roles, to reveal Sonic's 'merciful' side when it comes to fighting and destroying robots for his 'adventurous justice' streaks which I've discussed in earlier topics before.

"No. Mechanically enhanced. Survival required adaptation. As you will soon learn."

(This scene sets up Rusty Rose as "Survived on her own, used by the Eggmans, all because she was distraught because there was no such things as 'heroes' so she tried to 'save herself'." it's the tragic Damsel in Distress that tried to save herself and couldn't. In this dystopia, what a better character setup do you propose!? She's a victim who fought her own battles and--without friends--failed and so she gave in and succumbed to 'No Hope' a GREAT foil for her chara! She tried hope! It didn't work! Just made her this... able to be manipulated and controlled, losing her 'heart' in the process... quite literally...)

She does help the team reveal some of their hearts too, it's not all just for Sonic's benefit, but for the most part, that is her reason for existing in Sonic's world.

Is Amy happy-cheerful in Sonic Prime? Yeah! Until someone split a stupid Prism and made a world without Sonic's influence in it! Is Cindy the only good voice actress for Amy? I'd argue based on my own childhood experiences someone else, so it's really about preferences, and I would have to say that it's a human decision made by many factors, and doesn't define Amy's character. How can I say that? Because Amy's original voice is Japanese, and I could argue that if we want to be hyper-canon-specific, there are fans who don't even know Cindy Robinson because Amy's always had a Japanese voice actor, and doing an English one is the 'fake' one, so let's not get into semantics XDDD lolol

I agree that Frontiers has spice to her that doesn't really equal Amy to me. Amy sure has some spunk and pizzazz, but not in a confrontational way. She's too kindhearted to argue for no reason, she defends and inspires in different ways that help Sonic and the team, even bad guys go good... There are flaws in her, sure, but not to spark contrasting conflict just 'because'.

Some may argue this was done in Frontiers to give her more of a 'story arc with rising conflict' but if you're struggling that much... yikes.

Besides, Japanese dub does Amy some real cool justice in Frontiers, and I love the part in the flashback where she's trying to stop the lover from getting herself hurt as she runs into the fray for the man-chaos-looking-creature that she loves. (Which, that whole story is debunked by Sonic Adventure 1 sooooooo...)

(Sonic being a good hero bf T//^//T We stan a PROTEC scene where Sonic cares about Amy, but when she gets too emotional, can hold her through it!)

I loved that scene! It's Amy realizing how people see her actions, how she 'runs into the fray after Sonic' but begins to question whether that's really right or not. She loves love, but recklessly tossing aside life due to unspoken feelings that were too late to speak, to shy to articulate, not enough time..?

She has a 'come to the light' moment where she admits she wants to learn more, mature, and make herself someone that Sonic can respect (In Japanese, which is a really good rewriting in my humble opinion of the original English written script.)

And to agree with you, Sonic DOES support Amy in seeing that sometimes, her actions and views on love are a little exaggerated and skewed, leading him to reach out and show his consideration of her by not calling her 'foolish' or 'reckless' but instead stating that he's excited to hear all about her adventure when she gets back.

He also has some unspoken things, but until Amy learns the difference between real love and fictional exaggerations taught to people who 'dramatically' view love, she may never be able to understand how much he truly does care about her... because she wouldn't view his 'subtle realism' as how someone 'madly, deeply, oh, truly in love!' would act because of her current perceptions on how love--and subsequently people in love--are like or act.

She realized that maybe, both Sonic and her friend, show and express love in different ways. That's why she's going to discover those 'different types of love', to understand Sonic and love better. This is a Coming of Age.

Frontiers needed more time in the oven, personal opinion with the respects that I'm not an authority figure on anything, and Prime could have benefited older Sonic fans by having its rating not made explicitly for younger audience's parameters, but they did good with what they could work with--with what limitations certain ratings bring.

Now, as a conclusion:

Both are good, but I prefer Prime due to having more 'story-focused' time to bake in the oven and show us characterizations with just enough time for us to bond and see the meaning in it, but I also liked Frontiers and their character moments, but wished for longer moments and less 'confusing' story elements to add to those interactions.

My Cuties, I'm your girl, Mayra. And this rant was sponsored by Anon, who is so gracious enough to donate 1 million dollars to educating Japanese Sonic fans of who the heck is Cindy Robinson! :D Love you all and goodnight! <3

[izunias-meme-hole]

Saw The Mario Movie and…

It’s a solid 9/10 movie.

- Jack Black’s Bowser was the MVP, as expected. He was funny, genuinely menacing, a simp, and legit everything you’d expect from a pre-Mario rivalry Bowser without seeming out of character in the slightest, outside of being more callous towards his minions than in canon. Still he has room to grow in the softness department in a sequel, kinda like how Jim Carrey’s Robotnik became more like his game counterpart in Sonic 2.

- Princess Peach was a legit girlboss since the mangas, her own game, the party games, and RPG’s, and I’m glad the movie acknowledges this. However she also cares a lot about her people, and considering that the Toads basically raised her, it makes sense that she’d care about them so much. Only problem I have with her is that her actress, Anna Taylor Joy, would be more fitting playing Daisy, given the type of voice she gives Peach is how I imagine Daisy to sound.

- Seth Rogan IS Donkey Kong. Like he’s literally just using his normal voice, but here it works with the arrogant and goofy showoff that DK is in this movie. Also his chemistry and rivalry with Mario is fun.

- I wish we got more Luigi scenes, because Charlie Day is somehow as great as Charles Martinet is in the role. He just captures Luigi’s timid and scared nature so well, while also giving him a backbone when he needs it.

- Now Chris Pratt… is not a good Mario, but Mario in this movie is written pretty well. Also Pratt took the early 90′s Mario route and voiced him with an italian Brooklyn accent rather than a full on italian accent, so you’re not gonna die from cringe listening to him. I’m conflicted on Mario because he’s written pretty good, while also having a not-so great actor.

- The plot is pretty simple, but it’s still good. It’s not a reinvention of cinema, but again it’s a Mario Movie. You don’t need to try TOO hard with a Mario Property, unless you know what you’re doing.

- While more stuff from the games could’ve been added, and others could’ve been added better, I like how the references to the all games make the movie a fun easter egg hunt to veteran Mario fans.

- The pacing was shit unfortunately, but the fun factor kinda makes up for that.

- I will never forgive Illumination for the unnecessary 80′s songs being used in some scenes.

Overall rating: like the first Sonic film, it’s a 9/10 and I would watch it again. If you’re looking for something on the level of The Godfather, you won’t find it in this film, but you will find a fun Mario adaptation.

[p-receh]

For an April fool's game, they have no right to make this good...but they still did it.

IT'S SOOOO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD LIKE HOLY HECK?!

Where do I start? Okay, history-ish lesson time.

This is not the first time that Sonic's PR team make a game specifically for an april fool's joke. During Aaron's era, there was an infamous website game titled 'Big's Big Adventure 3'. And as the name suggests, it tells a story of how Big showed up in random places like you might/might not see him as a cameo during the SA2 event.

Same format as TMoSTH, a visual novel style game with uh....flappy bird-inspired game, and of course the fishing segment as sub content.

And that's it. I like the story not gonna lie. I enjoy playing it. Full of meme content. But the existence of the game itself was huge in 2016. It may not be the best thing to re-live it in this era in my opinion.

I bet the website is down now but you can still watch some playthroughs from youtube though.

And after seven years, the new Sonic PR team create a game for another april fool's joke. But this time....I don't think this is not full of memes to be laughing by the community. It's...unexpectedly something else.

Sure the highlight of the trailer first and foremost: "Sonic is dead" was a real deal. It was all over the internet even though you were not active on sonic at that time.

I personally didn't watch the trailer yet I knew that highlight. So I play it blindly without any knowledge of what the hell happened before this existed.

But as I open the game, I was shocked. It starts with deep and slow music like typical mystery games you played, great art designs, and a nice choice of colors that encapsulated the title itself. Simple, yet the qualities that represent are almost like it was not made for such a free game, even as a joke for that day.

I have yet to start the game but it left me with such an impression.

I love everything about this game. They nailed every. single. one! Even with each traits that were being misrepresented by fandom, somehow corrected to their very core! What is this? What in the world am living right now??

And this is one of the stories that I want to read in fan fiction. Just a group comes together creating unexpected events or just doing their normal life. Whether Eggman got in the way or not is up to you. It has silly and quirky moments freely.

The jokes landed perfectly without making them OOC. In fact, I got a bunch of new headcanon from that game. It has so many memorable scenes that you might already see most of them on the internet.

For the protagonist, yes I can confidently say I related to Barry that much. Even at some point, I felt I was inside the train surrounded by these extravagant abnormal people. I truly thought every response that Barry had was exactly like mine if I was in that scenario. (looking at you Tails)

For a mystery game, I kinda think how they summarize the whole case cooouuld have been better. The sub-ones did a great job to wrapped up the messes. I don't hate the whole problem tho. I actually adore it. Hmm, I might need to replay it again soon and see if it could change my mind about it.

Mini-games! It might be my personal bias so apologize for my taste. If I want to, they should add an additional setting to adjust Sonic's position. I struggled A LOT during mini-games. God why Tails had to toss every thinking section to me, please stop T_T.

For Music... wow I didn't prepare how well thought out this music has. The ost of this game is uniquely true to its theme and It still stuck in my head for days. The theme song and the interrogation section are my favorites. Some mini-game section is also catchy and upbeat!

Artstyle! Oh I loooove the design throughout the game. Each character got well design clothes that are creative and also stay true to their character with a bonus to the lore of the story! Deegeemin has my list as one of fav sonic artists.

Conclusion?

please play the game

[maplewoodstreet]

Sonic Superstars First Impressions

I’m a good amount into Sonic Superstars and I have some opinions.

First off, Trip is precious and must be protected.

The movement feels great! A great step-up from 4, Generations, and Forces. It’s just like the Genesis games!

What’s not like the Genesis games are the art direction and music. Jun Senoue is a fantastic composer and guitarist, but it’s been unfortunately clear since Sonic 4 that he just can’t do Classic Sonic music anymore. (I’m aware he was part of the sound team in Sonic 3. That was the ‘90s. It’s 2023 now and clearly something isn’t the same despite it being the same person.) The other musicians do great! I wish that Jun either wasn’t involved in the game or just stuck to composing while giving the other musicians the option to arrange his music.

Here is a really cool video of a song by A M 4 N that better evokes the classic Genesis games and music:

The visuals do not evoke Classic Sonic. Everything is very cute. To me, Classic Sonic isn’t cute. He’s cool despite looking cute. Eggman is threatening despite looking goofy. There’s very little cool or threatening in the character models, animation, and especially the environment art design. If the goal was to recreate Classic Sonic art style, they didn’t really do well. Classic Sonic art design was geometric, abstract, and influenced by anime. Superstars art design is round and cartoony. Nothing about it strikes me as “Sonic”. Even the badnik and boss designs are cartoony. This was one of the more disappointing things for me.

The bosses are not fun. They are slow. They are aggravating and frustrating. I would rather be able to hit the bosses a bunch in quick succession (like in the Genesis games) than hit the boss once, wait for it to do its attack pattern, wait, wait, wait, and then FINALLY get another window of opportunity to attack. That’s not ideal but it is bearable for minibosses, but for main bosses that take more hits it’s just agony.

Also why do the bosses make “fire alarm low battery alert noise” when their eyes gleam? And when doing a drop dash? The sound design is very odd in other areas throughout the game and also seems to be missing sound effects sometimes???

I might be the only Sonic fan that also plays for score. The score isn’t visible in the HUD. However, beating a level will tally up your score and enemies still give points and have point popups when you bop them. But your score isn’t visible the vast majority of the time… It’s very strange. :( 

Sonic Superstars is good, but its frustrating parts will prevent me from replaying it like I do Mania, 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles. Honestly, you’re better off playing those games instead. Or the plethora of excellent Sonic ROM hacks and fan games! People get really pissy sometimes when people say “SEGA hire these guys!” because they don’t want to undermine the efforts from Sonic Team or Arzest, but when they hired fans with Mania it turned out great and when they didn't it turned out meh.

[tricktack]

sorry for not responding earlier! anyway here’s everything wrong with matpat’s latest video on sonic frontiers.

a few months after sonic frontiers was released, matpat made a video titled “Game Theory: Sonic BROKE His Own Lore! (Sonic Frontiers)”. it is generally very shitty and…. may not even contain a theory in the first place?

before i get on with complaining, i want you to guess at what point matpat first says something that shows he knows nothing about sonic.

it’s less than 10 seconds in.

matpat starts the video by saying “let’s be honest. sonic the hedgehog wasn’t originally designed with in-depth storytelling in mind. Mainly you’re just running, jumping and ♪rolling around at the speed of sound♪”. and this man. had the balls. to show FOOTAGE OF AND SING A SONG FROM SONIC ADVENTURE 2, A GAME WHERE THREE MAJOR CHARACTERS DIE, THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT STORY ROUTES AND WHERE SHADOW THE FUCKING HEDGEHOG FIRST APPEARED. AND THE SCENE MATPAT REFERENCED WAS ONE WHERE SONIC WAS BEING CHASED BY THE FUCKING MILITARY.

and it’s not even like the sonic series has really been fumbling its lore for a long time. it wasn’t until sega released sonic 06 before it was finished and got backlash for that that sonic’s stories started getting a little blander (although they didn’t really stop being good until sonic lost world released in 2013.)

after this matpat proceeds to use the old “rough transition to 3D” narrative which is just…. not true in the slightest??? sonic adventure was great, sonic adventure 2 was great, sonic heroes wasn’t as grandiose as other games but it wasn’t bad at all, the first actually bad 3D sonic game was shadow the hedgehog, released 7 years after sonic first became 3D (and the issues with it mostly came from sega wanting to capitalize off of a few fans who wanted guns in sonic games but that’s a whole other story and also gamma, omega, eggman and tails already use guns although gamma is dead but that’s also a different story)

not to mention he also shows a picture of the werehog from sonic unleashed in this part which like. fuck you matpat werewolves are cool actually (and also that game is from 2008 so it’s also not an example of sonic’s “transition to 3D”)

once he starts actually talking about frontiers the video gets a little better for a few minutes. he does slander black knight a tiiiiiiiiny bit but that pales in comparison to the other things he says so i’m not gonna make a big deal out of it. (i would recommend satbk if you can find a wii or a wii emulator though, it’s got a great story and atmosphere)

so after a few relatively peaceful minutes of matpat praising frontiers, he uh. well he fucks up again. he says that sonic frontiers ties together the stories of all the sonic games and “now we actually have to take sonic’s lore seriously.” but frontiers is far from the only game reference other games - the whole thing is one continuous story with a bunch of different arcs. a lot of people don’t realize this without playing the games, since they usually compare sonic to other games that don’t really have very complicated stories, like the mario series. still, matpat should have done some research on sonic’s lore before making a whole video on sonic’s lore.

he also claims sonic frontiers is a multiverse story based on literally one line. it is not a multiverse story. he would know that if he played the fucking game.

anyway. his theory has to do with the aliens that were revealed to have brought the chaos emeralds to earth before most of them were killed by the End (we still don’t know what that is) and the rest were mutated by chaos energy into chao, little baby pudding creatures who you can raise in the adventure games. chaos, the main villain of sonic adventure, is a mutated chao, and he looks just like these aliens. so what is matpats theory in this video?

five minutes of him pointing out something that doesn’t make sense and then showing clips from an interview with ian flynn, a writer for the game, to make said things make sense. that’s not a theory. that’s canonical information.

the only theorizing matpat does in the entire video is that he claims the master emerald must have undone chaos’s mutation. first, that’s not how mutation works. second, wouldn’t more chao have mutated back, since most of them were on angel island, very close to the master emerald? mutations occur naturally. chaos doesn’t need an emerald to be a mutant chao.

so anyway matpat doesn’t know shit about sonic and he apparently doesn’t know what a theory is either

(sorry if this doesn’t make sense, i’m not really that great at writing things out like this)

okay so what i'm gathering is... the dude who most notably runs a channel called Game Theory... has never touched a sonic game in his life. one of the most popular video game franchises. isn't sonic in a few of the intros GT has had over the years ???? i haven't even played the games and I know that there's tons of lore and plot behind them ???

AND just restating stuff that has already been said by one of the writers 😭 you're right that's not even a theory he's just relaying canon information. maybe he should not take credit for something that was already explained

thank u for the ramble because i would not know otherwise just how Wrong he is about a lot of things lmao

[djnusagi]

11, 25, 29 for the music asks!

ok so I wound up having a LOT to say for these

11. a popular song you think is Good, Actually

this is hard cuz I actually do love pop music and admire pop songwriting as an art form. call me maybe is definitely a song I would consider to be great, like the whole thing is brilliantly written and arranged. I love Avril Lavigne’s early work. I also love all the big singles from the black eyed peas’ “electro era”, I gotta feeling, dirty bit, imma be etc. I also like most of katy perry’s early hits but her output hit a brick wall for me when she switched from dumb but well made party anthems like tgif and california gurls and started making faux inspirational empowerment anthems like roar and firework. thank u next by ariana grande was brilliantly produced even though the lyrics are oversimplistic in a way that hurts the vibe and the lyrical gimmick gets old imo.

25. a music artist you like(d) but don’t tell people you do

I was a huge deadmau5 fan for many years and even saw him live in 2017. I don’t really listen to him anymore mostly because his music doesn’t appeal to me as much anymore, his recent output is kind of trash, and I’ve also come to loathe him as a person. obviously there’s the transphobia but beyond that there’s two main things I kind of hate about deadmau5 as a person. the first is his approach to and perspective on music. he seems to view music production and the creation of electronic music generally in terms of a meticulous, rigid set of rules that you have to follow, and the closer you follow them the better your music is. this can manifest positively in his music. his track are incredibly detailed and precisely controlled and every SOUND in his tracks is gorgeously crafted. however, this (combined with his fetishistic obsession with analog purity and large, expensive hardware) also wound up leading to his creative stagnation and the increasing blandness of his music. it also plays a role in my second big issue with deadmau5, which is that he’s a juvenile egotistical jackass. aside from just generally being a noxious shitbag he holds every piece of music to his arbitrary standard of technical perfection, ignoring that a track may be using it’s mixing and mastering for creative aesthetic purposes or that it may be prioritizing sonic experimentation/songwriting/literally anything else over “being perfectly suited to a big club system or an expensive hi-fi”. his view of music and the world is fantastically narrow. I think Joel’s noxious personality is best exemplified in a livestream clip where he “reacts” to the song love u need u by slushii, and just keeps calling the song “aids” and “seriously autistic shit”.

29. what do you look for in a song or artist?

this is really hard to answer but I guess anything that really grabs me and stands out as unique and special. but I also have a lot of appreciation for songwriting, production, sound design and lyricism as “crafts” on their own. even if it’s not terribly unique I can still appreciate it if it’s “well made” if that makes sense.

[thegothicarchitecture]

10,000 gecs - 100 gecs

10,000 gecs isn’t a perfect album, but it may be the ideal summer record.

That may be a strange declarative statement to start on, after all I’m reviewing the newest batch of tunes by snickering Hyperpop hooligans Lauren Les and Dylan Brady, who seem to not care at all what you think about them (or care deeply that you don’t think that they care what you think of them). 

But this album feels like Summer, or it at least sounds sunny. For as manic and colorful as hyperpop music has sounded for its first few years of existence, sonically a hyperpop album has never sounded this sunny.  Compare this with Brakence’s moody and self obsessed Hypochondriac last year, which seems to brilliantly evoke Autumn, or WhoKilledXIX’s misanthropic and boastful 19.  Even Food House’s debut, as much as I love love LOVE the production on that album, sounds like colorful and happy music you’d blast at in indoor rave in a cold, dystopian hellscape. The same way 90s techno was an escape for the queer clubbing scene from the masses but applied in a post Covid, terminally online world, Food House captures the storm before the calm.

The new attitude on 100 gecs latest release is just screaming “we don’t care.” The infusions of ska, hip hop, nu metal and bedroom pop are balmy and refreshing, and never feel pigeonholed by the hyperpop genre label floating over the duo’s head(s) since 2019.

In fact, this album branches far away from hyperpop at times.  I Got My Tooth Removed is a straight up ska song, no punches pulled and no apologies made.  The humor comes from the song itself, a funny melodramatic ballad about losing a tooth like a lover with all emotion snapped out of it under the weight of a heavy handed, ska laden chorus.

The Most Wanted Person in the United States is another hilarious song, Laura Les doing her best Kreayshawn impression with a bright and choppy rap verse.  The instrumental uses a glut of sound effects in a manner reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s Logan Rock Witch, utilizing a walky talky sound and a sample from “Insane in the Membrane” in lieu of the sounds of toys.  But also what might be the sounds of toys. It’s pretty crazy.  

The punches don’t stop coming for the fans of the original hyperpop “gecs,” as 757 might be one of the bands punchiest songs to date. I heard a leak of this song from concert footage, and got to see the band play this song at Outside Lands last year, but to my surprise the vocals sound even wetter and more reverb boosted on the album.  This might be one of my few nitpicks, but some of the EQ-ing choices make the vocals sound washed out (even for 100 gec standards) and contrasts with cleaner vocals at various points in the album. However, this doesn’t ruin what is, at the core, one of my favorite 100 gecs tracks from a song and lyric writing standpoint.  

The only song I didn’t really fall head over heels for was Billy Knows Jamie, which doesn’t seem to know how to get out of first gear.  The loud breakdown truncating the song at the end is interesting, but doesn’t seem to build off of anything preceding it and makes the song feel incomplete and a bit underdeveloped.  As a whole the song is still a cool Limp Bizkit pastiche, just doesn’t meet the high bar the group has set for themselves. 

Overall, if your looking to get into 100 gecs without the proper background this album is a great introduction. In fact it might be a better introduction than their last studio record, as there’s no obvious filler like I Need Help Immediately or gecgecgec to pad out the runtime.  This album is a lean 27 minutes to be blasted by the brave, fun loving and adventurous.  All killer, no filler.

Highlights:  Dumbest Girl Alive, 757, Hollywood Baby, Most Wanted Person in the United States, I Got My Tooth Removed

✮ ✮ ✮ ½ (Excellent)