#and i find that i just play on instinct when i'm playing sonic and or avatar levels

[twigwing]

yeah i'm a gamer

my time was 21 minutes also

[sonicboomseason3]

a brief recap of what has been going on with the sonic movieverse in the past several months:

paramount has come out in public support of israel

keanu reeves, a man who has publicly rubbed elbows with none other than benjamin netanyahu, reportedly gets cast as shadow for the upcoming third movie

james marsden, the guy who plays tom, got exposed as having written a letter of support for a convicted pedophile

there's fucking??? zionist propaganda in the knuckles series???

kind of connected to the last point but adam pally, the guy who plays wade, is evidently pro-israel too

this is a complete and utter joke.

EDIT AS OF 4/30/24: if people see this version of the post, i'd really appreciate it if you reblog it instead of the other versions, as it's the most updated one with all the information that i want included. thank you :]

you know, it's been a few days since i've made this post, and some of you (not most) are staying determined in defending/justifying/giving the benefit of the doubt to keanu for that photo with netanyahu, whether it's because "it was a decade ago," "him being civil to someone he ran into at a party one time doesn't mean anything," "he's probably just silent because his pr managers won't allow him to speak up," etc. i've made my thoughts on the matter quite clear by directly responding to these people, but at this point, i'm tired of both seeing them in my notes and repeating myself, so take this as my final word on the issue.

i can't help it if you don't think the photo with netanyahu is damning, and i'm done engaging with everyone going out of their way to tell me that. i obviously disagree, especially after finding out that 1. the host of the party, arnon milchan, is a former israeli spy who has a history of developing israel's nuclear program and promoting apartheid in south africa (information that had broken out a few months prior to the party and thus would've been fresh news around the time keanu chose to attend) and 2. keanu has been caught hanging around at least two other weirdos, but if you don't find any of that to be cause for reasonable concern, then there really is nothing else i can say afaik.

with all that said, i'm beginning to realize how strange it is that these people's first instinct when seeing this post is to start debating about keanu's political stances without ever acknowledging any of the other bullet points. you guys realize that this isn't just about him, right? i know tumblr reading comprehension is known for being piss-poor, but like… you realize that i was trying to make a point of how there are MULTIPLE terrible things that have broken out about the people and company involved in the sonic movies, right? and yet, a lot of the people leaping to speak on keanu's behalf in my notes are completely ignoring the parts where i bring up paramount, pally, etc. all in favor of zeroing in on the singular point about keanu and making bad faith assumptions about me for holding him accountable. really makes one wonder where your priorities lie if, in a post that talks about so many other things, me accusing an a-list celebrity with, according to google, a net worth of almost $400 million is where you draw the line and apparently the only thing worth your acknowledgment.

ultimately, what i'm trying to say is that the intention of this post was just to gather up everything that i had been hearing for the past several months and put it all together in one place. there were a bunch of people who didn't know about at least one of the bullet points before seeing this post, and i'm glad that i could help inform them, that was what i was hoping to do! but as for the keanu thing, i've said pretty much all i can say for now, and i don't want to derail the original post even more than i may have already. unless something new comes up, i'm done talking about him.

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

Nobody asked me for my opinion on the controversy that dropped today when the Sonic Movie cast pay rate was revealed, which is fair ig since I try to stay positive on this blog. But in case you're wondering, yeah as a certified AFAB™ I'm pissed, but not really specifically at the Sonic crew. Actor pay rates are usually negotiated between agents and the production companies so just like all the other problems with the Sonic movies, this is most likely an issue with Paramount and their patented dumbfuckery. Disclaimer that obviously it could very well be a Sonic crew issue as well, obviously I don't know the inner workings of the entire film production.

Also, if you're mad about this: please be mad about the pay gap that has been going on as long as Hollywood has been alive. This isn't a problem unique to the SCU. I know the phrase "pay gap" is thrown around a whole lot but do you guys actually know how big an issue it is?

Recent percentages are that male and female actors have "a wage difference of about 25 percent," with an estimated difference of $1-2million between star-power men and star-power women.[x][x] Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone said she made $500k to Michael Douglas's $14mil– and when she was asked to be lead in a film being made in ~2022, the lead male, who was "new", was going to be paid $8-9mil, with her salary still at $500k. Last December, Biggest Monopoly In The World Disney was sued by 9,000 women over their pay gap.

This article is from 2019 but brings up some big fucking pay gaps between leads– for instance, Gillian Anderson was offered half of what David Duchovny was for the X-Files reboot as one of the two main fucking characters, Amanda Seyfried has disclosed she made 10% of what her male co-star made on an undisclosed film, Natalie Portman made 1/3 of the salary of Ashton Kutcher in No Strings Attached, and Ellen Pompeo, the titular character of Grey's Anatomy, was paid less than the actor playing her love interest, Patrick Dempsey. In fact, Dempsey was being paid almost double what she was.

However, BIG issue with the 2019 article: it only focuses on what White actors are being paid. Research shows that Black actresses make 57 cents to every dollar white actors make on a good day. Viola Davis, one of the most popular and talented actresses of our generation, has said that black women "get probably a tenth of what a Caucasian woman gets. And I'm number one on the call sheet." Octavia Spencer had to collaborate with Jessica Chastain to make sure they both got paid the same amount of money on a film they both worked on, and revealed that her new salary increased 500% afterwards.

At the end of last year, while promo-ing The Color Purple, Taraji P. Henson broke into tears while talking about how little she's being paid when compared to her white and male contemporaries. And when she talked about the gap, I find it so fucking frustrating that the general audience response was to immediately blame the only Black female producer on the film. I have a million gripes with Oprah Winfrey but TCP cast has said that she herself managed to fix a lot of the problems on set and was nothing but supportive to them. Oh, and there were a lot of problems on set, including a lack of food and dressing space for the main actors. And this is all from celebrity women. Just think about how Hollywood is treating women who don't have the star power to speak up.

Of course this isn't even a problem solo to Hollywood, let alone Paramount, let alone just one movie. And honestly it was probably really sad that when I saw the pay rate for the Sonic 3 cast, I wasn't even surprised, because I've seen worse on bigger projects.

[spdraws]

All of my current Leverage and Leverage Redemption headcanons!!!!!

• Every night, Eliot checks that everyone is asleep in their beds, checks the locks on the doors, and makes sure the security system is working.

• It really freaked Breanna out the first time she saw Eliot severely injured. Hardison's stories made Eliot seem invincible. Eliot had to hug her and assure her that he was alright.

• Sophie hates Converse and Vans. Like she has some extreme beef with them.

• Breanna and Harry play Pokemon Go together often. Breanna is Team Instinct and Harry is Team Mystic and they fight over gyms all the time.

• Harry knows how to braid hair because when he was still married, his wife insisted that he should be able to do his daughter's hair.

• Eliot has an entire cupboard of drugs, mostly painkillers, ambiguously labled. He has received calls from every single girl on the team boiling down to, "Eliot, I'm on my period, and I can't figure out which of your stupid white bottles is ibuprofen." He's become quite used to it, and now keeps a special area of the cupboard for period stuff.

• Parker steals a stuffed toy whenever the con involves a store owned by an evil person. She's amassed quite a big collection, but bunny will always be her favorite.

• Hardison, with contributions from Parker and Eliot, now sends so much money to Nana that Nana was able to save up to buy a new house in a better neighborhood for all her foster kids.

Edit: she instead invests in supporting local community programs because people have enlightened me that nana wouod never move

• Harvey and Brenna text terribly made memes to each other all the time.

• Breanna's contacts are as follows:

Eliot: Wallmart Batman

Sophie: 👑SLAY QUEEN👑

Hardison: 👨🏿‍💻

Parker: 🐈‍⬛️Cat Burglar🐈‍⬛️

Harry: STUPID LITTLE LAWYER MAN

• Weekly movie night choices:

Sophie: Downtown Abby

Parker: Finding Nemo

Eliot: The Last Mohican/Rocky

Harry: The Spy Next Door

Breanna: Sonic (for the memes only)

• Eliot's room is the comfort room. Bad dream, feeling kinda sick, a recent con weighing heavily in mind, go to Eliot's room. He's almost never asleep, he knows more than anyone about first aid, and he gives the best hugs. He'll act all annoyed, but he'll always make the whumpee stay until they feel better.

• Everyone assumes Sophie can sew because she's the mom friend, but she has no clue. The team seamstress is actually Harry.

• Eliot keeps an ever-growing list of everyone's favorite foods. He keeps extra ingredients around, so he always has what he needs to whip something up if someone's having a bad day.

• Breanna can be extremely petty when she wants to be. She has been known to hack alexas to say creepy stuff out of nowhere and streetlights to turn each one red just to mess with people.

• Harry really loves dogs.

• Sophie once owned a turtle named Mistress Shellington that now belongs to her daughter.

• Harry's favorite color is yellow.

• Breanna forcing everyone to see the Barbie may not be the worst thing to ever happen to him, but Eliot ranks it pretty high on his list of life tragedies.

• Sophie has noticed that Eliot, when it comes to Parker and Breanna, will always grab them (hand, elbow, shoulder) when crossing the street. Nobody gives him any grief for it because they know he just wants to keep them safe.

• Breanna, from upstairs: ELIOT WHAT'S AN 8-TRACK TAPE?

Eliot: *deep sigh* I'm so old.

Harry: *chokes on drink*

• There are so many dents in the walls, and Sophie loves each one. Scrapes from Parker's grappling equipment, divots from Eliot's throwing knives, dents from Breanna's drones. It makes the HQ feel like home.

• Harry is an honorary girly. Girls' night is more like girls plus Harry night.

• Hardison has a note on his phone of things Breanna has said that make him feel old.

• Eliot has resigned himself to the fact that he will be Parker's and Breanna's personal jungle gym until his dying day. Parker pokes his bruises and climbs all over him, and uses his shoulder as a pillow. Breanna is almost the same. She punches and pokes him, just like Parker, and she often lays her head in his lap when watching tv.

Sophie has a picture on her desk of Breanna, asleep in Eliot's lap, and Parker, asleep against Eliot's shoulder. Eliot has one arm around Parker, the other caressing Breanna, tucking her fly away hair behind her ear. A calm smile is on his face. It's one of Sophie's favorite pictures.

• Eliot follows the sidewalk rule at all times.

• Eliot always sits facing the door. If the team is somewhere in public and one of the others takes the seat with the clearest view of the entrances and exits, he will make them switch seats with him so he can see the doors. It's a military habit.

• Parker hides chocolate in the vents so that nobody else can find it.

[viacursecasting]

Sonadow Scenario #65

Hate.

Shadow could feel the hedgehog's burning gaze upon him as they waited at the lunch table for their comrades. He swore he could feel two holes singe his ebony fur.

Finally he sighed in frustration. "If you have something to say, spit it out already."

Sonic blinked, but then he swallowed. "Do you hate me?"

Shadow was slightly taken aback. "What?"

Sonic pursed his lips, mustering up his resolve. He said with a little more conviction, "Do you hate me?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You really want to know?" After receiving a nod, he stated bluntly, "Yes, I do."

The hero felt a pang in his chest.

But before he could say anything, Shadow continued, "I hate how stupidly confident you are with your talents. I hate how cocky you get before charging headfirst into battle. I hate how you always put others' needs above your own. I hate how you always play the hero, sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. I hate how you constantly put yourself in the line of danger. I hate how you still stand despite taking a beating. I hate how you smile as if that will numb the pain."

His features softened ever so slightly. "I hate... how my heart races when I'm around you. I hate how I admire you even though I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform. I hate how my thoughts always lead back to you. But most of all..."

He moved so that their noses were an inch apart. His tone was low, like a lover sharing a secret:

"I hate how inviting your stupid lips look."

Sonic burned red to his shoulders. For once he was at a loss for words. "You... I—!"

Suddenly Amy appeared, tray full of Meh Burgers in tow, Tails and Knuckles at her heels with various drinks and condiments. "Hey boys, we're ba—"

The hedgehogs quickly put a mile between them, but not before Amy took note of how close they just were, and she grew giddy with excitement. "Oooh, what have we here?? A sultry exchange between two lovebirds, perhaps?"

Shadow sneered, "There's a bird indeed." He then flipped her off.

Amy gasped. "Not in front of Tails!" But the kit only laughed.

Knuckles regarded the sky. "What bird?"

~

That evening, Sonic wordlessly escorted Shadow back to his cave. The tension between them was palpable.

They stopped at the mouth of the abode. Shadow addressed the hero, though he didn't meet his gaze. "You needn't have accompanied me."

"I know..." Sonic replied, regarding him with shining emeralds. "But I wanted to."

Ugh. Shadow's stupid heart...!

"Listen," Sonic continued. "All those things you said... Did you really mean it?"

Shadow kept his gaze averted, giving an almost imperceptible nod.

Sonic smirked, moving daringly close. "All of it?"

Shadow instinctively stepped back, finding his back pressed against a rock wall. Still, he nodded once more.

Sonic put his palm against the wall, trapping him. He teasingly cocked his head, their muzzles perfectly positioned for a kiss. He asked under his breath, "Do they still look inviting?"

Shadow stole a glance, regretting everything. He uttered, "Achingly so."

Sonic rested a finger under that tan chin, a tantalizing touch. Their lips brushed when he spoke. "Shall I ease your pain?"

Shadow could no longer take the pounding in his ears. "Just get on with it you foo—mphm!"

Sonic did just that, diving in for a harsh lip-lock. He was pleased to hear that the lifeform was still vocal, and it prompted Sonic to taste his whines and sighs.

A delicacy.

Shadow melted, held upright by the hero's tongue and firm grip around his waist. He thought the ache of longing would cease, and while it did, now he ached for more of Sonic. More of his citrusy scent, of his satisfied moans, of his warm caress. He craned his neck to let the hero explore him deeper, and trembled when Sonic read his mind.

Sonic treated the lifeform like his last gulp of air. He couldn't explain why he wanted—needed this. Needed him. He knew he should have run as soon as he laid eyes on the lifeform, a bright neon sign of danger. But that only made him more enticing. Anyone who chased after such a threat had to be crazy.

And Sonic was booked into an asylum.

Shadow finally gave the hero's chest a gentle push, catching his breath.

Sonic wore a stupid grin, admiring the flush across the lifeform's muzzle, tracing his thumb along those swollen, abused lips. "You're cute, you know that?"

Shadow clutched his bandana to bring him in once more. "I hate you," he muttered.

Before resuming their kiss, Sonic chuckled, a melodious sound. "I hate you, too."

[my-own-walker]

Someone You've Never Seen Before

A Kyle Spencer Fan Fiction

frat!kyle AU, fem!main character, sexual themes, mature language, use of drugs and alcohol, frat boy antics

17.

Learn to let go of what's not meant to be held.

It's easier said than done, but it must be done. It's something that carried me through the days leading up to Halloween. I felt that any feelings toward Kyle, negative or positive, were not meant to stay. I used everything I could to distract myself. 

I didn't dare look in his direction during class on Monday. The goal was to remain transfixed on my note-taking. I listened to music wherever and whenever I could, avoiding Sonic Youth like the plague for obvious reasons.

Lily took me everywhere she went if she and I didn't have class. We took a trip to a nearby shopping center to get our Halloween costumes in order.

"Hannah, would this cover my ass?" Lily asked, holding up the shortest red pleather skirt I had ever seen.

"Not a chance in hell," I laughed, turning my attention back to the rack I had been flipping through. She sighed loudly, dropping her arms down to her sides. "Wear shorts underneath. Or bloomers."

"It took me this damn long to find a red skirt, how will I find red shorts for underneath?" she whined, exasperated.

"Get your ass to work, Davies."

She planned to be a cute little devil, complete with horns and a pitchfork. She had already bought a headband with dainty sequined horns fastened on it and a black bustier top embellished with chunky red rhinestones. I, of course, was to be the angel. I already found a small pair of white wings.

My idea was to be an angel in the way Juliet was in the 1996 movie version of Romeo and Juliet. So when my eyes landed upon the long, empire-waisted white dress on the rack, I nearly squealed in the middle of the store.

Lily got invited to a party that was to be at the TKE house on Halloween. She asked me, very delicately, if I'd like to attend it with her. While my every instinct was screaming "no," I kept true to letting go of things that were not to be held. While my fears over what happened were very real, I did not want to rot away in my apartment for the remainder of my college experience.

Thursday, aka Halloween, was spent skipping class and running last-minute errands. We bought some red lipstick for Lily, a pack of rubber bands for my hair, and most importantly, liquor. I would only feel safe if we were drinking our own liquor.

We sat getting ready in my room, Lily sitting on the floor, my full-length mirror just inches from her face as she leaned in close to paint on some eyeliner. I sat at my desk with a tabletop mirror, creating two small braids in my hair that I would form into a halo with pins and elastics. Arctic Monkeys albums played softly over my small speaker. 

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, breaking the lapse in conversation.

"Me?"

"No, the other person in this room right now," she snarked. I turned to look at her. She had moved on to brushing blush over her cheeks. I opted for minimal makeup, so I was already done. She still needed her hair done.

"I'm a little nervous, I guess," I admitted, "but I think this will be fun."

"Just let me know if you want to leave and we will. No questions asked," she said sternly. "I'm not playing any games tonight. I will kill a motherfucker if I have to."

I pinned down one braid and dropped my hands into my lap, then turned to face her. "I love you, Lily. Seriously. You are my best friend."

"Don't on me with the sentimental shit right now, Martin. I will kiss you," she joked, turning to face me.

"I dare you," I replied, then breaking out into a fit of laughter.

We got to the party around 11. It was already in full swing. We got rather drunk while pre-gaming at the apartment, so no part of me cared about how crowded it was. I guessed everybody's week must have been tough, though. Everyone was drunk, loud, or pissed off. 

On the front stoop alone, there were two sets of people arguing about god knows what. The front door opened to a barrage of music and voices. It smelled of latex and hairspray with all of the Halloween costumes inside. We found a place to settle in the second living room along the wall.

It wasn't long before Lily found someone she knew and disappeared into the crowd. Not before asking me if I would be okay alone roughly thirty times. I insisted everything would be fine. I was confident I could find someone to talk to.

I meandered around for a while, stopping here and there to chat with a few people I vaguely knew. It was when I crossed into the kitchen, though, that my stomach turned. Standing next to the doorway I had just walked through was a tall figure.

"Hey, angel," his deep voice spoke. This voice was low and quiet, he said a secret no one else but me could know. I turned my head to my left slowly, my gaze landing on Julian's deep, tired eyes. His full lips curled into a wry smile.

Before, the way he towered over me was endearing. Something that gave me butterflies. At this moment, though it felt downright terrifying. Suffocating, even. He could easily overpower me and cause me harm. 

Without a word, I turned on my heel, crashing into the poor girl in the cat costume standing behind me. "S-sorry, I-" I stammered, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady myself before bolting for the front door.

The night was cool. I rushed to the edge of the stoop where there was a railing and gripped it for dear life, letting the cold metal remind me I was on Earth. I took in the fresh air of the night, but it was soured by a cigarette smell, making it clear that I was not alone. A boy with a mop of tight curls smirked over at me.

"Wanna smoke?" he offered, holding out his cigarette to me. "You look like you need it."

"Fuck it," I muttered, grabbing it from him and taking a long drag. I handed it back to him and blew a large cloud of smoke out into the night.

"You're Hannah?" he asked, unprompted, before taking a drag.

"Yes...what's it to you?" I inquired, brow furrowed. I was growing tired of men and their stupid attempts to talk to me.

"I'm Lance. Lance Hamont," he answered while exhaling smoke. He held out the cigarette for me again and I took it. "I'm in KLG."

I took a drag and blew it out upwards. "Right, right. I don't think we've ever formally met."

"Yeah, I've just seen you a lot is all. Guess that's how I knew you'd need a smoke," he chuckled.

"Oh?"

"You know, dealing with Kyle and all," he shrugged before inhaling more smoke. "I've seen you come through the house a lot this semester." His voice sounded funny as he tried to hold in the cigarette's vapors.

"That was for a project, that's all" I answered quickly, trying to end the Kyle subject. "He was my project partner for a class."

"Really?" he asked, cocking his head. "You weren't dating? The amount he talked about you I figured you were."

"Talked about me?" I exaggeratedly repeated. I reached for the cigarette and he handed it over. I took in a large puff of smoke and held it in for a beat longer like Lance had just done.

"Oh god, all the time. Just this week even," he scoffed. "You two close at least?"

"Not really," I trailed off, growing despondent. I handed him the cigarette back while staring off into middle distance.

"Damn," he laughed. "He's always mentioning 'Hannah' -er, you, in conversation. That's weird."

"Yeah..." I whispered, backing up a few steps before turning to walk inside. "Thanks, Lance."

"You owe me a smoke next time I see you!" he called after me.

I don't even smoke. I replied in my thoughts.

I found Lily in the front room sitting on a side table. She was talking to a girl in a cute sailor costume. I grabbed her shoulder to make my presence known.

"Hey, baby!" she exclaimed. Party vibes had already gotten to her. "Maddie, you've met Hannah, right?"

"Yes!" the sailor, Maddie, smiled. I didn't remember meeting her ever, but I returned the smile and nodded.

"Right," I grinned. 

"I was just talking to the most interesting person, Hannah," Lily smirked, raising her eyebrows. Maddie got bored and turned away to speak to someone else. "He was asking how you were."

"God, I can't even deal right now," I groaned. I screwed my eyes shut and tilted my head back. The night was already annoying enough as it was. No answer she was going to give me was going to make things any better. 

"Who was asking about me?"

Previous Part | Next Part

[upper-moon-4askblog]

You know as a child you find anything fascinating? But as an adult you look back on your child self and just ask…was I really that dumb?

I mean thinking back on my child self, I got into a lot of situations like swallowing pennies that almost choked me, a whole bottle of painkillers and somehow survived that as a child.

you’d think as a child we would have a bit more survival instinct but nope!

That leads me to this question…what were the main 4 clones like as children?

Sekido sighs and clenches the handle of his Khakkhara with an aggressive look on his face. — "There's no need for me to describe my childhood to you. What's the point?" He says with an agitated tone.

Karaku thinks about the question for a moment before answering it. His tone changes from mischievous to sincere as he answers your question. — ''As a child? I was quite rambunctious and mischievous, always full of energy and wanting to have fun with everybody I knew. I would always try to make people laugh, I had a quite big appetite; I'm unsure what I ate when I was younger because I ate so much that it became a blur! But I can certainly say that I was one of the sweetest little fellas around."

Aizetsu remained silent, taking a few seconds to think back about his childhood. His expression was now a mix of sadness and a bit of loneliness, as he spoke his memories to you. — ".. My childhood… was… not a pleasant one.. I was always alone and had no friends or anyone to play with.. My childhood was filled with tears and sadness instead of happiness and laughter…" He sighed heavily, now looking down at the floor with a depressed look and staying silent for a few seconds.

Urogi shifts his wings a bit and seems to be thinking about this question for a while. — "As a child? Hm… Well, my young years seem to be quite similar to that of a typical bird. Learning to fly and develop my strength and my coordination was one of the most essential parts of my life. I also learned to use my sonic screams and develop that ability further." He smiles fondly and seems to be delighted as he recounts his childhood memories.

[tayfabe75]

Love your blog. Been going down rabbit holes myself. I’m fascinated by the idea they may have met sooner than 2013/14.

Taylor’s first UK concert was August 22 & 23 at V Festival. The headline act was none other than Oasis, a band that Matty has a history of liking and excessively calling out for breaking up, both from Manchester area.

Ironically enough, Calvin Harris also played at that same festival.

So it’s possible he went to the show? I can’t find anything that says Drive Like I Do was playing anywhere that day. But they were starting to play gigs at this time & with Matty’s parents connections, it’s not far fetched he would be close to some of the acts there.

Also Matty does write in The 1975 song Mine the lyrics “looking back on 2009” & with the “Mine” reference on Guilty As Sin? it’s making my head hurt.

Who knows. I’m clowning. But interesting information if you have anything else from this time period.

Thank you so much!! I've been a bit quiet since I'm working on a pinned post that will better help users navigate the blog better, hopefully aiding in falling down more of those rabbit holes!

First and foremost, I personally believe chances are pretty good that Taylor and Matty knew each other before this 2009 festival you mentioned (more on that here). Here are all of my posts from 2009, so you can get a sense of what was going on for them around this time (most notably, Taylor appears on Loose Women and, please read this post thoroughly about when and where she started writing a 13 on her hand!)

As for Drive Like I Do, it's so hard to find information about their early gigs, but they seemed to play small bars around Manchester and occasionally in London. Even if DLID was not playing at the festival, chances are still good that Matty was there, since he has talked about going to music festivals when he was younger.

I'm glad you brought up Oasis! Taylor happens to have a very curious unreleased song from 2006 called Love to Lose. As much of a banger as it is, I don't think there's any chance it could end up as a vault track on Debut TV because of how sonically and lyrically similar it is to Wonderwall by Oasis!

Wonderwall: And backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out Love to Lose: Come on, gather 'round, I'm gonna tell you how the fire went out

Curious to me that she would so heavily base one of her early songs on not just a song from Oasis, but one of the most popular songs of that period? lol Like you said, a Manchester band that Matty once described as the "coolest band in the world". Wonderwall was also featured on her playlist from 2008.

My question is... could this possibly be a "plot device"? 'Love to Lose' would also come to have one of its melodies recycled in a 1989 vault track 'Is It Over Now' (listen here) (IION also uses of of Matty's melodies!) I can't shake the instinct that she uses these "plot devices" to tie songs, themes, and perhaps subjects together. I mean, we're seeing her do this in real time with her surprise song mashups!

While there's no telling whether Taylor meant her 'Mine' or Matty's 'Mine' in 'Guilty as Sin'… the song has a country feel to it, right? Another song with a country feel is 'Roadkill' by The 1975! Interestingly, at about 1:42 in the visualizer, the word "mine" starts floating around the screen! The storyline in the video is also worth analyzing, especially since the song shares lyrical similarities with 'Cruel Summer'.

Is any of it related? Who knows! But my "tattered" brain is stuffed with strange coincidences and parallels, so now I'm giving it to you to clown around with lol 🤡 As for Taylor's 'Mine', well she played it as a surprise song in Nashville with Matty in attendance, and gave a fascinating speech beforehand! Thanks for the ask! 💛

[overlordofcute]

Honestly pretty disappointed in IDW Sonic #64

Full disclosure, I've only started reading the comic from #63 onwards, so I realize I'm not getting the full picture here.

But man, as someone who actively despises the trope of "Antagonist joins the group and ruins the protagonist's life by actively causing harm while everyone thinks the protagonist is overreacting or acting out of turn (because why would the new guy ever do anything wrong)," (I find it tedious and frustrating, but that's a tangent for another day) I was somewhat hopeful in a subversion wherein Whisper ended up believing Silver and was willing to side with him. It seemed like the comic was going "yeah, I get that this type of plot might be frustrating to read, but we're going to move into them trying to actually catch him instead, since that's more interesting."

...Until we got to next issue in which their genius plan to catch Mimic was to stalk him, actively put him in harms way, assault Lanolin when she rightfully doesn't believe you given you don't have any evidence, and then proceed to assault Mimic (as Duo) in the misguided hopes that he'd instinctively blow his cover (when he's already demonstrated that he has no reason to when he can just play the innocent card and everyone will believe him).

It honestly just felt like a filler chapter, given all that was really accomplished is that now Mimic has access to the main office with Jewel and now Silver's been booted out from the Diamond Cutters.

As part of my disclosure, I realize I don't fully have a read on Whisper or this version of Silver like more long-time readers might have, but this just felt absolutely impulsive in a way that was very frustrating given the monthly release schedule (Which, another tangent, I need to stress I'm glad the comic book is released under, I don't think putting stories out weekly is something that is sustainable for the mental health of those working on the comic). I just don't understand what either of them were thinking when they did what they did, and I was left siding with Mimic given he felt like one of the few sane players in this plot that wasn't a neutral party such as Lanolin herself (Which feels very wrong to me given he's literally the antagonist here).

I'm going to keep reading because I want to see where this plays out, but I'm just disappointed that I waited a month to only be told "Nope, they're just going to mess things up and look like an idiot, wait until next chapter to see how this plays out."

EDIT: Some more thoughts:

I'm not frustrated that they didn't resolve the plotline immediately or anything. I'm more frustrated that very little was accomplished or taught to us. Realistically, I would've been less harsh on this if the plot was Silver and Whisper staking out Mimic to try and figure out what his deal was, learn his motivations or plans, and still are unable to convince Lanolin or the others that something's amiss.

In a way, all we're told is "Whatever Mimic is planning, he's playing a long con for it", as well as, I guess, "He's trying to cause discourse within the Diamond Cutters by having them try and oust him to no avail (given he's directly showing himself to be Mimic to people)".

But... I don't know. It just felt like I waited a month just to be told "nah, they're just going to attack him and hope that solves things. Wait until next time to see if he actually does anything."

I did think it was cute that it tied into the Sonic and Blaze B-plot by having a cute heart-to-heart moment between Silver and Blaze, though. I thought that was a nice moment even if the story that lead to it I felt was faltering in execution.

[symptoms-syndrome]

Ugh reading my old psych reports is always such a mixed bag. I don't rly know why I do it.

My most recent psych report is mostly just about autism. And it's fine. Says all the normal stuff about autism. Struggles with "reciprocal social interaction," also apparently they said I have a "very restricted affect," which is interesting. It's not something I'm aware of. I know that I do TRY and make faces sometimes to convey how I feel but that's very much a conscious effort. It said I have "low imaginative play" or something like that which I'm not sure what they mean by that. I know what it means for kids but not for adults.

But it also includes some background info from my previous psych tests, ones that were done somewhat punitively in middle and high school. It says I struggle to make relationships with others. I'm "paranoid and oppositional with those around [me]," "intense and volatile," and that I "place [my] needs before others, while simultaneously relying on positive feedback from those around [me] to feel good about [my]self."

On one hand, I know that that testing was obviously biased against me in the first place. I was also in a really, really hard spot. Plus, obviously, I don't have a full memory of what I was like to confirm or deny any of that. But on the other. What if they're right? They're the professionals. What if I'm so self obsessed I don't even see my own shortcomings? What if all that psychobabble is why I can't make friends like I want to? It's hard to fix something I don't even see. I wish someone could point out exactly what I'm doing wrong. I did wrong bad things a lot as a kid without knowing. People told me all the time that what I was doing was wrong or bad and it always took me by surprise because I didn't know.

I really, really wanted to make friends my whole life. I never really understood why I couldn't. It feels like I need to investigate, dig into what those professionals saw in me and eliminate it. Like digging out a bullet from a wound. How am I supposed to be a better person if I don't confront my flaws?

I also feel like I'm so, so buried under all the diagnoses I've gotten over my years in psych. BPD NPD OCD ODD PTSD MDD GAD all these fucking acronyms and labels all before I was even an adult!!! How am I supposed to know who I am when who I am has always been defined by a DSM code. I've always been a disorder or a sickness. My therapist says most of those diagnoses are bullshit, either just in general or for me specifically. Which, and I know I'm a biased party, but I agree with.

I want to be a good person so, so bad. I don't know why people don't think I am one. I feel like I need to try harder. There's something rotten inside me and I need to find it and get rid of it. But I can't find it. I'm trying my very very best but still can't manage to be a person who's okay for other people to be around and I don't know why.

TW for CSA stuff under the cut.

It also notes in both previous tests that I was "very sexual" and "had sexual relationships with classmates and adults." It says that I reported "it's what my brain did and I didn't like it" and that "I didn't know how to stop."

That makes me sad. I don't remember explicitly any of that, but the idea makes me sad.

It really is one of the ways I try to connect with others. It's the way my brain feels like it's wired. It's got very clear rules, it feels like. It's a clear exchange. And like. I don't know. It's something I know I can offer that people will want to take. "They want to have sex with me" is sort of my default...I don't know. Instinct when someone shows interest in me. I know it isn't true all the time. I just feel like sometimes it's all I can give. My other interests and everything is sort of secondary. Like...people will listen to me talk about Sonic or let me be weird or will hang out with me if I give them sex.

I hated hated hated being called sexual or a pervert or anything like that in school but it was also like. The thing that everyone defaulted to when talking about me. Even friends made jokes about it that I hated. I was always the sexual one. And at the time I didn't really know why, because I didn't feel like I was very sexual. Now I know that it was mostly dissociative barriers.

It just makes me sad, also, because like. Isn't that one of the big red flags for CSA? Why didn't anyone do anything about it other than punish me? Why was a child being punished for being sexual when they should have been...I don't know. Helped? It was clearly an issue that was fairly obvious. I don't know why I was punished for things I just didn't understand.

And now I'm all messed up about it. I don't know how to have close relationships because my brain just puts sex as a major factor so if people don't want to have sex with me...I don't know what they want.

[biggreenneatbox]

Tagged by @sadiemacoy -- list a favourite character from 10 favourite fandoms.

Now, do I even have 10 fandoms in ma brain *to* pick from.....

(Turns out, answer is "No". So I will be listing my favourite characters from what seems to be my brain's current fixations)

Critical Role - Caduceus Clay / Grog Strongjaw / Laudna

I couldn't pick individual people, so I've listed, in order, my favourites from each of the 3 main campaigns. We've got out of place asexual loner with a heart of gold and a penchant for reason in a world of chaos in Cad; No Thought, Only Heart and Instinct for Grog; and misunderstood weirdo with a love of both the arts and a strong independant woman what don't need no man (but wouldn't say no to a woman if she were to try and fill that void) in Laudna

RWBY - Neopolitan

I love this little shit so much! And now that I fully identify as Non-Binary, having my favourite character be someone who can alter their appearance at the literal drop of a hat makes so much sense. Also, Ice Cream Aesthetic

God of War - Kratos (Norse era)

I liked the overarcing spectacle of the Greek era, and TC Carson was a fantastic Greek Kratos, but Norse era Kratos is just a whole other man and I am here for his growth. Christopher Judge conveys so much with so little; he's like the father I never had

Star Wars - Anakin Skywalker (Clone Wars era) / Darth Vader

If you think about it, he's a Gifted & Talented Kid that got pushed to the point of breaking. Especially when we got Season 7 of The Clone Wars and we saw the overlap of it and Ep.III. And then there's Vader. I have never really seen someone command a presence in everything he's in just by being there. He literally needs to *breathe* and that's most people done. He just shows up in Jedi: Fallen Order and everyone *knew* that we were fucked

Sly Cooper - Bentley

(I have to pick Bentley because apparently "The track 'Paris Rooftops' from the Sly 2 OST" can't be a character)

Joking aside, Bentley overcame his nerdy social anxiety and thrived when he had to face the world alone. And then when Clock-la happens and he becomes paralysed, he didn't stop. He adapted. I thrive to be like that eventually. But also, turtle: things going bad? Just jump into your shell

The Last of Us - Ellie Williams

Ah, my little Les-bean. Reminds me of a close friend, what with the arting and the guitar and the singing and the gayness

Sonic the Hedgehog - Shadow

An even darker and edgier speedy hedgehog? Yes please! But also, Shadow (especially in the games I played as a wee lad - Sonic Heroes & Shadow the Hedgehog) had a whole lot of uncertainty in his life and had to discover and forge his own path. Being told he's so many different things and having to decide whether that's what he wants to do and listen to one of their stories, or become his own individual person away from the pressures of everyone else

Dragon Ball - Future Trunks

What's that? My favourite Dragon Ball character has a hero complex, wherein he tries to prevent any ill-fate before it happens by going back in time to change the past, hopefully making his future a better place, only to find out that protecting them did nothing for him and he ended up sad and depressed anyway? .........nope, can't relate ......to the time travelling part

DBZ Abridged also helped by constantly drawing Doctor Who parallels with him, and that was one of my many childhood / teenage hyperfixations soo.....

Dead by Daylight - The Dredge

Got to give thanks to HighKingMargo on AO3 for delving into some lore of DBD that I wasn't aware of in their amazing fic "This Hunger, It Isn't You", but when I looked and really paid attention to everything, I kind dug the vibe of The Dredge. Long story short - it's a SUPER fucked up amalgamation of cultish despair that manifested as a shadowy mass of limbs and general ick. I'm not much of a horror fan, but of all the (non-license) Killers in the game, I adore this disgusting thing

Marvel - The Hulk

A man with a curse to be the worst version of themselves when pushed, so decides to live a life of relative solitude and ease for fear that the less people are around them, the better? And with that, the absolute power fantasy of having almost free reign to be as strong as I need to be in any given moment. Hmm, I guess I'll focus on that one. Also, they're literally part of the reason my blog is named BIGGREENneatbox

BONUS 11th: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Uncle Iroh

It's Uncle Iroh.

Well, now that fustercluck and self-realisation journey is out of the way... @dvdson @geekg1rl3 @calxiyn you try

[dankusner]

The Courtney Thing

THE NEXT TIME I WENT TO LOLLAPALOOZA WAS A YEAR LATER IN 1995.

Lake and I drove there from Olympia in our shared baby-blue Dodge Dart.

We had backstage passes from Kim Gordon.

I loved Sonic Youth and was excited to see them play, but I’d seen them a hundred times and had never seen Sinéad O'Connor live.

The Lion and the Cobra had been my "I'm becoming a feminist" soundtrack, and Sinéad's songs were living in my skin like pockets of salve waiting to heal me.

Just as we stepped out of the car, we heard her singing a long note and began running for the backstage gate.

By the time we got there, the song had ended.

There was silence and then applause.

She was done.

We'd heard her last note from the dirty parking lot.

Sonic Youth's backstage was like a single-wide mobile home.

I went in to say thanks for the backstage passes and made a sandwich.

I didn't want to be in the band's way and was about to leave when Kim mentioned that she was worried that Courtney Love might start shit with me.

Courtney had gotten physical with Kurt's former friends before, and Kim thought I might be next.

Up to that point, I’d never met Courtney, and even though she’d gone to great lengths to insult me in interviews, I still defended her when people said she was crazy or difficult.

I knew what it was like to be called things like that.

I also loved the first Hole singe so much I played it almost as many times as I played "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath.

Kathi once sent Courtney a fan letter and Courtney wrote back, "Find the biggest bitch in town and start a band."

Little did she know Kathi was already in a band with two of the biggest bitches in Olympia.

Kathi stayed pen pals with Courtney, and when we lived in DC, Courtney offered to help us get on a major label.

Kathi told her, "Thanks, but we want to remain independent."

I don't know if that pissed her off, or if she was jealous of the attention Bikini Kill was getting, or what, but after that she made it clear in the press that she hated our band, so I wasn't exactly excited to run into her.

I needed a plan in case I did, so Kim and I came up with the sentence

"I would be happy to debate you at the college of your choice."

I figured if she yelled at me, I would just repeat it like a force field.

Hole played before Sonic Youth and Courtney kept shouting "Girls to the front" and other phrases I typically said at Bikini Kill shows between songs.

It seemed empty and weird because there was plenty of space to dance and no men were messing with women.

Lake and Amy glared at me as if to say, "Is she ripping you off?"

I took it as a bizarre homage.

When Sonic Youth started, we moved to the side of the stage near the railing where it dropped off into the gorge.

As the band began to play, something that felt like pebbles started to hit me in the head.

It was candy.

Who was throwing candy?

I saw Courtney Love walking toward me throwing candy from a basket.

She was flanked by two large dudes and she seemed WASTED.

My instincts told me not to make eye contact with her.

Courtney got in my face and started hissing like a cat and reaching out like she was going to claw me.

She began screaming stuff at me like, "Bye-bye! Are you leaving now, Kathleen? Go home and feed the poor!"

She held her lit cigarette up to my face and traced my features with it, like she was going to put it out on my face.

Then she dropped a sweater in front of me and bent down to grab it. As she stood up she coldcocked me in the face.

I fell down, put my hand up to my cheek, and felt blood.

From the ground I yelled, "I will debate you at the college of your choice."

She yelled back something like, "You can't even read, and I’m way more feminist than you!"

I'll never know why she did it.

Maybe because "trauma begets trauma."

Maybe she was on drugs and mourning Kurt's death; maybe it was the fact that Tobi had dated Kurt while he was writing Nevermind, and it was widely speculated that Tobi was the inspiration for much of that record.

Maybe Courtney was embarrassed because I'd seen her using my stage banter as an empty schtick.

Whatever set her off, it was ironic that a woman attacked me for no reason and then claimed she was a smarter, better feminist than I was.

As we left the theater's parking lot, I got directions to the nearest police station.

Not like I trusted the cops.

I just wanted the assault to be written down somewhere so no one could pretend it had never happened or say that it was a "fight," like they had when Courtney assaulted singer Mary Lou Lord.

Courtney later spouted off in the press about how she wanted to kill her.

Mary Lou was a street musician and couldn't drop everything and press charges.

So I had her in mind when I filed a report.

The state decided to prosecute Courtney for assault and I gave my deposition on the phone to avoid seeing her in person.

Courtney pleaded guilty, but she didn't receive any jail time.

I think, in the end, she had to go to an "anger aromatherapy" session or something.

Three days after she hit me, Courtney walked onstage with a bandaged wrist and said, "I hit a bitch, but she deserved it."

Later she told the media I provoked her by whispering "Where's the baby, in a closet with an IV?" under my breath, referring to her daughter.

I absolutely did not say that.

I don't even understand it.

Who makes medical jokes about anyone, much less a baby?

The "fight" became national news and was mentioned everywhere from Rolling Stone to Entertainment Weekly to the Washington Post.

The media was pushing the narrative that Courtney and I had been in a "catfight," which just reminded me that pitting women against one another sold magazines.

When I handed in my rent check that month, the woman who opened the envelope read my name and said, "Aren't you the girl who attacked Courtney Love?"

[frappes-random-reblogs]

Hi nobody is going to read this so I'm gonna rant about how TikTok DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO NOT SPOILER THINGS

I usually avoid TikTok when a new version of a game I like comes out, I play Hoyo games, mostly, so since a lot of people play the games, there's gonna be people who Speedrun the story. I spent 8 hours straight playing the story yesterday so I could not get spoilered

I knew spaces I was safe in, that is Tumblr and Discord

Unfortunately for me I opened TikTok because I was bored and I needed some short form content (I genuinely cannot find long form content that entertains me. I've been watching Markipliers playthroughs of things that aren't horror games atp. I'm on inscryption currently) and everything was fine! I saw a lot of people making content about the sandpit! I was really happy seeing that content because I wasn't in the sandpit for long due to wanting to continue story. But I made the mistake of going into search...

Now Tumblr and TikTok have biiiiiig differences. But one thing they have in common is A SHITTY FUCKING SEARCH SYSTEM ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

I don't know how well you know TikToks search system but to explain it simply: you cannot search for slideshows, you will get content you don't want, and if you're in search for long enough you'll see family guy clips next to slime.

I'm pretty sure the search system also doesn't have an algorithm.

Let me give an example on how shit TikTok search is: you will search for princess peach and eventually you'll end up on pregnant women. You will search Nine (from that one Sonic movie) and eventually end up on videos calling knuckles... Sigma... (I just wanted nine content because he seemed cool and got hit by that. Never recovered...)

Now the people who play hoyo on TikTok have this thing where they do not realize that everyone watches content within their own time. If you do not follow that games gameplay leaks, kit leaks and story leaks, you WILL get spoilered. So if you don't follow leaks and don't want to, Hoyo TikTok is your worst enemy.

So I get spoilered SOOOOO MUCH it's insane... I've mostly learned to just not open TikTok but I was stupid m'kay. And I got spoilered FOR THE BIG TWIST OF THE FUCKING STORY. THE CREATOR PIT OM THE VIDEO "2.1 SPOILERS" BUT DECIDED TO PUT SPOILERS IN THE CAPTION.

Now that's partially my fault for reading the caption, but I do that instinctively at this point, it's the first thing I read. So I blame instincts.

Anyway, TikTok is shit, people on it are shit (I can say this because I am one of them), and people need to know to NOT SPOIL STUFF FOR EVERYONE ELSE

Thank you.

Now I have some free time, I'm going to continue the story, and hope for dear god that even though I got spoilered, I still enjoy it

[silverisbestboy]

Werehog Sonic x Reader

Requested by anonymous: Henlo yes,,, could you maybe do Werehog!Sonic x Reader HCs? 🥺👉👈 I love him sm and there’s not nearly enough content for him as there should be,,,

You didn't know what to expect when you went to investigate the loud crash outside your house in the middle of the night

Clad in nothing bu thin pajamas and weilding a baseball bat you bought on a whim for protection, you thought maybe you'd see raccons in your trash bin or a drunk that stumbled into your yard

You certainly didn't expect to see a huge wolf-like mobian passed out on your driveway

Not knowing what else to do, you rushed up to him, asking if he was okay

The strange creature mumbled incoherently, and you saw blood slowly trickling from a wound on his large head

"Oh my god! Okay, don't worry, I'm gonna call on ambulance or something!"

He groaned at that

"No...n-no...hospitals."

"Then what am I supposed to do!?"

He gave no response as he drifted in and out of consciousness

Rather than go against the mobian's wishes and take him to a hospital like a reasonal person, you somehow managed to drag a (very heavy)bcomplete stranger into your home to patch him up with very little medical knowledge

Luckily, you at least knew some basic first aid, and were able to patch up his enormous head

You stayed up the rest of the night with the stranger splayed out on your living room floor, baseball bat close by just in case things got nasty

However, as the sun rose in the sky and you went to once again check on your new friend, instead of finding a hulking blue-gray wolfish being, you saw a mich smaller blue hedgehog in its place

"What the hell?!"

Your panicked yelp caused the even stranger stranger to wake up and promptly begin screaming in your presence

Which caused you to also scream

The match eventually ended when the two of you ran out of breath and y'all just kind of stared at eachother for a while

The hedgehog eventually inquired about his whereabouts followed by a wary explanation from you

"Oh...yeah, that was sorta me."

"...say what now?"

The hedgehog whom you now know as Sonic quickly explains to you thag he absorbed some of Dark Gaia's energy which causes him to transfrom into a "were-hog" at night

He tries to say his goodbyes and leave but you're insistent that he stay until he's at least healed

Luckily, Sonic bounces back quickly so he agrees

Over the next few daye, Sonic grows quite fond of you, despite some unsavory situations

You find that you enjoy the dog-like traits he inherits at night

One night, you reached up to scratch behind his ear which caused him to fall to the ground with a very loud thump

Let's just say that you pretyy much stayed in that position all night

Of course, Sonic's pretty pouty over it the next day, but much to his chagrin, that is not the last he saw of dog-lover within you

Another night, you played a video of wolves howling which is promptly followed by a certain werehog's own serenade

Once again, Sonic's not too happy about that the next morning

But you are unrelenting

Another night, you throw a ball across the front yard

At first he fights the urge top chase it but eventually is forced to give in once you bring a stick into the mix

But despite you're taking antics, Sonic finds that he doesn't particularly want to leave when he's all healed

Still, he bids you farewell Ann's turns to race away over the hills

But add he's running, he turns his head back for just a second to see you waving at him, to which he smiles

When the night comes, and his body takes on the instincts you so adore, he'll definitely be back

[tigerkirby215]

5e Rammus, the Armordillo build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

Yeah...

Any more words for an introduction would be excessive, alright?

Let's just get on with the build.

Okay.

GOALS

Yeah - Yuumi isn't the only one with Zoomies. Super Sonic style!

Alright - I'm rubber you're glue; whatever you say bounces off me and makes you explode.

Okay - What good is murdering anyone who touches you if no one gets close? Call them names (or just say "okay" in a very annoying tone) to force them to fight!

RACE

To carry a big shell on your back look no further than Tortle. (The spikes come later.) I'm going to invoke Tasha's ruling and suggest a +2 to your Dexterity and a +1 to your Charisma, to spin around fast and know just the right way to say "yeah" to piss people off. You have Claws that do a d4 damage, Survival Instinct for proficiency in the Survival skill, and can Hold Breath for up to an hour!

But of course there's two things we're here for: Natural Armor gives you a base AC of 17. Period. There is no way to increase this (other than wearing a shield.) Additionally you can go into a Defensive Ball Curl as an action for some Shell Defense, giving you +4 to your AC and advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. However while in your shell you can't move, are considered prone (meaning melee attackers have advantage against you), have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, and can't take reactions. The only action you can take is a bonus action to come out of your shell.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Rammus has to be saying something to get everyone to attack him.

14; DEXTERITY - You need Dexterity to keep rollin'. Also Strength is largely pointless to us because... Shell.

13; CONSTITUTION - You are a tank so more health would be a good investment.

12; STRENGTH - Just because you have a thick shell doesn't mean you don't have to push some things off you at times.

10; WISDOM - Living in the deserts of Shurima means you have to fight for Survival every day, even if it's more like the desert is fighting you.

8; INTELLIGENCE - You literally have 6 voice lines.

BACKGROUND

For Desert Survival the Outlander background is pretty good. You get proficiency in Athletics but since you already have Survival proficiency you can choose a different one instead. Truthfully: pick whatever you want, because Rammus is a closed book you can make him however you want!

You also get proficiency with a language of your choice that you're not going to use, and a musical instrument! Imagine if they made a Spirit Blossom Rammus skin and he played an instrument like Yone and Yasuo.

As a Wanderer of the sands you can easily remember the layout of terrain around you, and can also find food and water for you and your allies to survive in the jungle! "Alright."

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue because while Rammus may not look the part he's actually quite talented! Take proficiency in Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation to be the master of taunts and... well you may as well take Stealth proficiency for ganking. You also get Expertise in two of those skills: I'm going to recommend Persuasion and Deception as your two "taunting" skills.

Rammus doesn't talk much because he's a master of the subtleties of Thieves' Cant, allowing him to speak without actually speaking what he means to speak. "Yeah." But of course if you gank from the jungle you can Sneak Attack for an extra d6 of damage. If you have advantage or an ally nearby you'll get this extra damage out, and your Sneak Attack increases with levels. "Okay."

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues can optimize their jungle clear with Cunning Action, letting them Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. "Hm."

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype, and to be the master of one-on-one combat look no further than the Swashbuckler. Fancy Footwork is basically the mobile feat, making it so that the enemy can't hit you with opportunity attacks after you slam into them with Powerball.

Rakish Audacity meanwhile is basically two smaller features put together into one: for one you have a bonus to initiative equal to your Charisma modifier, so you can be the first one around for a dragon fight. "Alright." Additionally if you find someone alone in the river (without an ally within 5 feet) you can sneak attack them, even if you don't have an ally nearby or advantage against them! This means you can dash into someone with Powerball and then taunt them for a Sneak Attack. Speaking of which your Sneak Attack damage increases to 2d6. "Yeh."

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get their first Ability Score Improvement but Rammus isn't really meant to do damage? So grab the Durable feat for +1 to your Constitution and double the Constitution when healing during Short Rests, guaranteeing that you can heal up after a skirmisher and always be ready for a fight. "Right."

(Artwork by Kienan "Knockwurst" Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 1

Taking a level in Fighter for... well kinda just to get proficiency with Shields, really. +2 AC goes a long way! And the Defense Fighting Style can further increase that AC by 1, equaling a +3 to your 17 total which means... hey look at that! 20 AC! "Alright."

You also get Second Wind for a refillable potion, giving you a d10 + 1 (because we're not getting more Fighter levels) healing as a Bonus Action.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 1

People say that I make too many Warlock builds, to which I say... "Yeah." First level Warlocks get to choose their Patron at level 1, and to be the rolling speed demon of the desert the Fiend Warlock is a nice, universal subclass. That's because Dark One’s Blessing will give you a burst of Triumph (temp) HP when you down an enemy equal to your Warlock level plus your Charisma modifier.

But of course what we're really here for is Pact Magic. You get two cantrips from the Warlock list: Frostbite could be reflavored as a not-quite-Frenzying Taunt because it's basically just Vicious Mockery that targets Constitution instead of Wisdom. Inversely Mind Sliver will let you soften an enemy up for an ally's big damaging abilities!

For your leveled spells Armor of Agathys shall serve as your passive of which we will get many more abilities that do the same thing. Note that Temporary Hitpoints don't stack, but as a DM I'd be willing to say that if you get a new source of Temp HP while this spell is active its duration essentially gets refreshed. Inversely if you want a more direct source of retributive damage Hellish Rebuke will cause fire damage to anyone who hits you as a reaction. "Right."

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get to choose their Eldritch Invocations; gifts from the sands that make them better from the standard armadillo. Eldritch Mind is a surprise tool that will help us later, and you might think that we should've taken Resilient (CON) instead of Durable at level 4 to which I say... "Right." Anyways there honestly isn't that many other invocations I want until about level 5 so take what you want (Devil's Sight is never a bad thing) and we're going to keep going. You can also learn another spell but again: not much I want! Wait for...

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 3

3rd level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and we're still a Rogue first and foremost, so Pact of the Blade is still the best choice. You can summon weapons from thin air to always be ready with spikes on your shell.

You can also learn second level spells like Blindness / Deafness to make it harder for people to hit you, and Hold Person which is like a ranged taunt.

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement, and while Charisma controls most of what we do currently Dexterity still leads to kills which leads to more temp HP, so increase your DEX by 2.

You can also learn a new cantrip like Chill Touch for some Thornmail anti-healing. There are good spells at this level too (Misty Step and Mirror Image being two great ones) so take them for now but we're going to swap them out come...

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks get more Eldritch Invocations! For a start we'll be taking Thirsting Blade, letting you attack twice in a round for more chances to get a kill for some healing. "Hm." We'll also be taking Cloak of Flies for Sunfire Cape, or more realistically Turbo Chemtank as CoF does Poison damage and I'm writing this build during patch 11.8 when every goddamn jungler in the game is running Turbochem.

You can also learn third level spells at this level like Spirit Shroud for a Frozen Heart that also increases the damage of your weapon, and Counterspell for some magic "resistance." "Yeh."

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks can give themselves the boost they need to make it out alright. Dark One's Own Luck lets you add a d10 to a skill check or saving throw: you're probably going to mostly be using this on saving throws but boosting ability checks can be helpful to. You can only use this ability once per Short or Long Rest however, so use it wisely, yeah?

You can also prepare another spell but again: waiting for a level!

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation like... Devil's Sight? A bit late to be grabbing it (proper) now you may say, but it's a requirement for our one-two Defensive Ball Curl special!

First spell: Shadow of Moil! Along with heavily obscuring you (giving most enemies Disadvantage to hit you) any enemy that does hit you takes 2d8 Necrotic damage back!

Second spell: Fire Shield (from the Fiend Warlock list.) It creates light yes (which gets canceled out by Shadow of Moil) but you can choose between a Cold Shield (that blocks Fire damage and does Cold damage) or a Fire Shield (that blocks Cold damage and does Fire damage.) Regardless of which one you choose any attacker within 5 feet of you will take 2d8 damage (Cold or Fire depending on which shield you chose) if they try to attack you.

Here's the fun part: Fire Shield isn't concentration. That means that these spells do stack, allowing you to do 2d8 damage to anyone who misses you and 4d8 damage to anyone who hits you! I don't think I should need to explain why essentially getting a second level Chromatic Orb off every time you get hit is absolutely insane for action economy and overall DPS.

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement: Dexterity is still our main "fighting" stat despite most of our levels being in a caster, so a simple +2 would cap it off to guarantee that you're doing something in a teamfight even if the enemy isn't shooting you.

You can also learn another spell like Dimension Door, which is basically a very long ranged Flash. Like, a very long ranged Flash. "Yeh."

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 5

Hopping back over to Rogue because for some reason Rogues are very good at staying alive! Uncanny Dodge is part of that, letting you reduce the damage of an incoming attack by half with your reaction! "Okay."

Your Sneak Attack damage also (finally) increases to 3d6. "Yeah."

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills. I'm actually going to suggest the two skills from your background at this point: Athletics and Survival to continue optimal jungle pathing and escape grapples.

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion which feels like an oxymoron for Rammus. But here's the thing: they can't attack you with weapons without taking damage themselves, so what if they cast spells on you? Well if it's a DEX save you take half damage on a failed save, and no damage on a successful save! "Alright." Your Sneak Attack damage also increases to 4d6 at this level.

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement, and while more Charisma means better spell saves and more Temp HP when you kill someone I'm instead going to simply suggest the Tough feat for +2 HP per overall character level you have. It's 34 health points now and a total of 40 HP by level 20. "Hm."

(Artwork by SixMoreVodka Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - ROGUE 9

9th level Rogues finally get your goddamn Frenzying Taunt! Panache lets you make a Persuasion check against an enemy's Insight, and it works in one of two ways: if a target isn't hostile to you they're charmed by you! (I don't know what you're saying to charm them, but it's probably more than 6 voice lines.)

Alternatively if you Panache an enemy they get taunted by you, and have Disadvantage against all enemies other than you. Note that if your allies hit the taunted enemy they will lose this effect, meaning that you will have to constantly taunt them if everyone's focusing one target.

Oh and your Sneak Attack increases to 5d6 now, meaning that you actually do some good damage overall regardless of if the enemy is attacking you or not. "Hm."

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation: your ultimate just got reworked, so Otherworldly Leap will let you jump into the middle of a teamfight! ...With the Jump spell...

You can also learn 5th level spells now! There's a lot of fun ones but I'm going to suggest good ol' Hold Monster. It's like Hold Person, but it works on Dragon! "Right."

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 10

Our final level is the 10th level of Fiend Warlock for Fiendish Resilience. Choose a damage type to gain resistance to! This doesn't work against silvered weapons, so it isn't that good against ADCs but it does give you some resistance against spellcasters. (Most literally.) You have to pick the resistance at the end of a Short or Long Rest, so it does help to know what you're going up against.

You also don't learn a spell because lol Warlocks, but you do get another cantrip! So take good ol' Prestidigitation to put on a show after reaching max level!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Ok - I already mentioned how strong Fire Shield plus Shadow of Moil is. This damage goes against any enemy who hits you in melee, and can really hurt against multiple attacks!

Alright - You have plenty of ways to keep from getting hurt while you tank all the hits. Temp HP from Dark One's Blessing, Uncanny Dodge and Evasion, and of course 20 AC with just a shield!

Yeah - Despite not investing completely in Charisma your proficiency carries you a long way in social encounters. Just remember to say more than 6 words! (If "hmm" can even be considered a word.)

CONS

Right - All your damage is loaded against melee enemies, as you need to be in melee to hit them with Sneak Attack and both your shields only deal damage back to melee attackers. Ranged enemies are still going to suffer against your high AC and you're capable of spamming cantrips at them, but you really shine against melee bruisers.

Yeh - Only having 10 Warlock levels means that you only have two total spell slots. That's enough to cast your Defensive Ball Curl combo once. If you want to operate at maximum effectiveness you're going to need to take frequent short rests.

Hmm - Perhaps the biggest irony of Rammus is that being a Tortle doesn't really help us much. Being any other race would give you access to magic armor, as well as likely better racial features to generally be more useful overall. (Don't get me wrong: hiding in your shell is nice to boost AC but come late game the lack of movement will hurt you more than it'll help, especially since it makes you go prone.) My suggestion would be to make a Warforged for their innate +1 AC, or go for something like a Satyr or Gnome to resist magic.

But you can do okay no matter what the enemy lineup is. Hmm? You think you'll struggle, yeh? Well with the right team backing you up you'll do alright. Yeah.

(Artwork by Alvin Lee. Made for Riot Games.)

[descendant-of-truth]

Actually, let's talk about Sonic and Shadow in Boom for a bit, because they have one of the weirdest dynamics I've ever seen and I've never seen anyone else bring it up.

They don't interact much on screen, but the more I think about the timeline, it's possible that Sonic's known Shadow just as long or longer than he's known Tails and the others. Which is really weird to think about for some reason.

I know they haven't released an official timeline, but I've been able to track it somewhat using Sonic's character development.

Rise of Lyric has to happen first, because Sonic is still very much a loner and has a hard time engaging with his friends. I think he's a sociable person by nature, but this game gives off the vibe that these friends are relatively new, and they're still working out their dynamic.

What's notable about this is that he's already familiar with Shadow, talking to him like he's well aware of what to expect.

Yeah, they don't exactly get along. But for as much as Shadow seems to hate his guts in this scene, he comes to respect Sonic's abilities by the end of the game. (And due to time shenanigans, this is only a few seconds after their fight from Shadow's perspective.)

This is also the only time I can think of where we actually see Shadow smile honestly.

While I'm still on the topic of the timeline, though, I like to think that the first episode happens after Rise of Lyric, but further back than the rest of the episodes. Sonic has clearly retained his development from the game, but instinctively distances himself from Tails when he gets hurt. That just seems like something Lyric-era Sonic would do.

But let's talk about Shadow's other appearances. I don't know where to put the other games in the timeline, unfortunately, but I'll go over Shattered Crystal first.

When they first find Shadow, he's under the control of Lyric (is this an alternate timeline??) but they don't quite figure that out until they beat him. What I do think is worth mentioning is that Sonic seems much more comfortable approaching him here than he does in Rise of Lyric.

Like, he just starts joking around with him like he would anyone else, which is just really weird? They’re usually so antagonistic, what happened?

The real kicker in this game, though, is at the end. Shadow deals the final blow to Lyric, hangs around long enough to make fun of Sticks' teamwork speech, and leaves. But then Sonic drops this interesting line:

"Too bad that guy is such a hard case. He'd make a great addition to Team Sonic."

And there's the game changer: despite the fact that we've seen them fight with every encounter, Sonic would actually like to have Shadow around. And we have no idea why.

Then there's the season 2 finale, where we see the dynamics in both of these games combined into a delightful mess. Eggman asks if Sonic wants to fight Shadow, naturally assuming based on their previous encounters that he would. But instead, he's visibly surprised.

And he says no. That he's never really thought about it.

This is what I meant when I said they have a weird dynamic. Shadow has consistently fought him every time we see them meet, but despite them being some of the most intense fights in the series, Sonic is unfazed. He doesn't consider wanting to fight Shadow at all.

And that bit from Shattered Crystal where he'd like Shadow to join the team? Also lightly touched on in the finale. Sonic takes the opportunity to go with Shadow into an alternate dimension, where he does his best to work with Shadow instead of against him for once.

Shadow's pretty resistant to his attempts, but they make it work.

Of course, they go straight back to antagonistic because Shadow's just like that, but still. They almost made progress for a second there.

I really want to know what happened between these two for all this to play out the way it did. Why does Shadow go out of his way to insult Sonic every time they meet? Why does Sonic want Shadow around if he's such a jerk? How did they even meet in the first place?

Their whole relationship is riddled with questions like this, and it feels like hearing one side of a conversation without any context.

That being said, the only thing that really makes sense here is why Sonic's attempts at befriending Shadow have been so indirect. Given his current stance on friendship, the mere mention of it would probably be enough to push Shadow even further away - so Sonic has to get creative.

I just think that's a really neat way of writing them. It's also frustrating, because Sonic Boom has disappeared off the face of the earth, but this kind of enemies-to-friends slowburn is always something I enjoy, and it deserves to be posted about.