#because sonic is a mass murderer

[twerk4mothman]

Next on Out of Pocket Shit I Have to Say at Work: I get where you’re coming from but please don’t compare real life people to cartoons

The context is: the student said that sonic and hitler are the same

[hopeful-dawn]

Man, movie!Shadow is so baby. He genuinely feels like a kid. An abused, isolated kid whose grief and completely justified anger were manipulated by the one person he thought he could trust.

He's clearly been taught how to fight and weaponize his abilities, and at first that does make him seem older than our main three boys, especially when combined with his deep voice. But then you see him when he exposes his soft and vulnerable side, or his silly and playful side, and you're hit with the undeniable fact that he is a child.

I'm glad that they explicitly called him a kid multiple times too, because it really drives it home. He's a child, who never got a childhood because he was being used and abused by the U.S. military during the Cold War. He is a child who crash landed on earth with no memories, and was immediately captured by a hostile, suspicious government, who later wanted to use him for his powers.

He's a child who lost the one person he could call a friend in the worst way possible. He's a child who spent 50 years in a semi-conscious dream-like state where he was forced to relive her death over and over. He's a child with severe PTSD, who is actively suicidal and being told that mass murder-suicide and global destruction is the morally correct and justified choice.

He's a child who is understandably grumpy and wary of people, but also well-behaved and obedient, for the most part. He is a child whose seriousness is sometimes unintentionally very funny ("revenge guac..."), and who is playful with the people he trusts if they initiate it (Maria and Sonic).

He is a child who doesn't like monster movies where the monsters/aliens are treated like they're dangerous enemies that need to be killed. He's a child who loves the stars because they remind him of his best, and only, friend. He's a child who likes dancing, when it's with Maria, and who is implied to use his air shoes like skates at least partially because Maria loved to rollerskate.

He's a child who was forced to learn how to fight and taught to be a weapon, but who doesn't enjoy violence and fighting. The only times he attacks first are when Gerald prompted him to and when he thought he saw Walters, who betrayed him by trapping him in a literal nightmare for 50 years, and the only time he seems to take any amount of pleasure in fighting is when he and Sonic are destroying those robots together.

He's a child who gets upset when people are scared of him and think he's dangerous. He's a child who wants to be accepted, and who welcomes touch from the people he trusts (he seemed to like holding hands with Maria, and didn't let go of Sonic's hand after he pulled him up on the moon, until they started flying).

He's just. A very soft kid, underneath the initial prickliness. And I love that they went that direction with him.

[brights-place]

Can

Can u maybe do Sonic exe x reader please? 🥺

[Creepypastas] Sonic EXE x Reader Warnings: Gore, Cursing

A/N: Never in my life have I thought that someone would request sonic exe... BUT HEY WHATEVER YOU LIKE LETS GO the gender is not specified

Summary: Just headcannons of Sonic EXE the creepypasta which I never have thought I would do with an x reader character thats abit creepy

- There was many differences between you two in body and personalities mostly with him being a mass murderer plus the fact he's an anthropomorphic video game hedgehog and you're well a a human - He's a cursed item and a short one too - Short king who cares for his partner and would kill for her or kill her when he gets bored lucky enough he hasn't gotten bored of you he enjoys playing and toying with you - Sonic EXE can say some disturbing ass shit that will frighten or startle you or will say the most gruesome things about his recent victims out of nowhere but if he feels like he’s gone too far he will apologize to you but don’t expect him to do that for anyone else - When he first did that was when you were making him some chili dogs and he stared at the chili - "You know that reminds me of when I gutted this weird ass girl who were trying to get to me but i gutted her because she would always fail the levels ugh I should taken out her eyes too would of been fun to-" and here cues your horrified face staring at him - When he's running he enjoys you boosting his ego - He’s never encountered a human that had the nerve to challenge him actually he has but they all were too cocky but you? being aware of your flaws and using it to your advantage made him entertained - This hedgehog cannot die so every time you get so angered in a whole another level he watches as you lash out and for some reason he enjoys every time where you lash out on him - he loves suggesting for you to snap his neck or kill him a horrifying way that he loves to describe as you always say you'd never kill him - He comes back bloodied and would have you wipe away the blood dripping down his red irises and voidless eyes - you both had made a schedule for when he can come to the real world so you both can hangout and pamper each other or when he does his little sprees to kill victims - When he's in his little game hes always watching, making sure your okay you're happy, if there’s any sign you’re unhappy with a person they make you uncomfy they are dealt with personally - His god complex is high so is his ego you boost it for him a lot - Enjoys bringing back little items from his world to you though he enjoyed the face you made when he gave you a fluffy tail keychain that was quite big the yellow fur and white was beautiful - But when you noticed the dripping at the end where the keychain clip was pierced you pause staring at the tails cute fox videogame character missing one of his tails.. - He enjoyed pampering you he calls himself god he calls you his spouse - kisses are kind of hard to do due to his sharp teeth but hey it works for you both - Love language 100% would be gift giving and words of affirmation or 50/50 he's hard to understand - He does pull strings behind the scenes to keep you safe and make sure you are treated like the royalty you are - Even if he gets his hands dirty I mean he already has them bloodied with the past so whats wrong with another person who messed with you to be his next victim

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2024 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Ah anyway, I mentioned wanting to rewrite that mine scene from arcane s2 yea, alas autism took over and maybe one day some day I will rewrite it with the Actual Sisters in mind instead of the hedge-fox siblings

Either way please enjoy 2,827 words of tension between siblings and maybe open doors to some sort reconciliation possibility at the end..?

———

"At least they didn't live to see the psycho their child turned into."

"Which one!?" Nine immediately blurted back, a pool of new-sprung resentment brewing at the bottom of their stomach, "I didn't come down here, wearing a spiffy enforcer uniform with new pals, gassing people and shoving topside guns in their faces!"

Sonic seemed genuinely taken aback for a second while Nine went to catch his breath after that wordy sentence.

Of course he didn't think about the actual fallout and implications of his actions until it was thrown into his face after the fact. Typical.

The hedgehog then, took a step forward. His almost toxic green eyes staring daggers at the other as he tried to come up with a reasonable retort.

"Topside guns or not, I tried to fix the mess you made. You have blood on your hands." Taking yet another step, he pointed an accusatory finger at the fox, since the retort was indeed, falling flat, "You blew up whoever Ivo pointed you to without a single thought. You killed and terrorized people, innocent people. Symbol of the Underground's hope my ass, you started a fucking war."

Nine stood his ground, even though they wanted to bite Sonic's nose off.

A fucking hypocrite this guy was.

The gal of him saying that, as if he didn't dawn on a badge that says 'I kill whoever the council tells me to for fun and because I can!'

Not to mention this "war" was long time coming anyway.

Nine didn't go to poor people's houses purposefully releasing poison gas on them and then arresting them en masse. That, alongside all the other shit the council has allowed and ordered to happen, thank you very much.

They simply shot those that got in their way, or fired first. Most "innocent" people had the sense to move out of the way before bullets started flying. Or they wouldn't even be in Nine's line of sight anyway. And if Sonic's talking about Topside, then honestly, that's a whole another can of worms.

"No one Topside is innocent." Nine hissed, "They're the reason we don't have a mom and dad you know. Or Chuck, in his regular non-murderous, hedgehog form. Or Eggman... Although ok, the last one might be a slight stretch, it-it still counts."

Sonic rolled his eyes at the drop of seriousness in the fox's tone.

"Eggman got whatever he deserved." He scoffed with air quotes around the nickname. "He poisoned you and the Undercity enough. He's the reason Chuck is dead and that I was thrown in jail for I don't even know how many years and that you turned into–" He paused, wildly gesturing to Nine's entire frame. "This."

Nine pinned their ears back at such a careless dismissal.

Not only of Eggman, but them, and the entirety of the Undercity. While Nine could hardly dream of ever achieving Eggman's efficiency at political planning by pulling the strings, they sure as hell won't have all those years of effort go to waste.

Sure he wasn't perfect, and like, got people killed and addicted to dead God drugs, but it finally got the Topside assholes scared of consequences for what they're doing down here.

For what they've done to their brother.

Sonic had no idea what he was talking about.

Just how bad has that enforcer bastard brainwashed him...

Nine wished there was at least a sliver of acknowledgement of just how much that old man meant to them.

And now he was gone. By no one else's fault but their own...

"Ivo didn't make me do anything." Nine resolutely shook their head, derailing their train of thought into background noise and clicked their mechanical tails together in annoyance, "And guess what, he actually fucking appreciated me for what I was. Unlike some people." They shot their brother a glare, pinning the 'someone' onto his stupid big blue forehead. Or green. By Chaos that green dye was stupid. Why did he go with green...

The hedgehog only balked, actually jabbing the finger into the X formed by the string holding their old, tattered shirt together.

"He turned you into his perfect little killing machine! Manipulated you so well that even after his death you can't see that! Everyone hates you because you let him play you like a fiddle and then serve as his mouthpiece of chaos."

Ok, Nine knew Sonic didn't see past that really, really biteable nose sticking from his muzzle, but they wished he chose to pick on literally anything else but the poor old man.

"He was doing the exact same you used to, allow me to remind you." Nine pointed a finger of their own, actually stabbing it into the hedgehog's chest as they twisted their face in vitriol.

"Except, you know, he didn't chicken out when I finally made my bombs explode properly."

Sonic didn't move, but his expression temporarily lost its edge, a grim memory resurfacing.

Nine took a stern step back, rising to their full height (which was just slightly above Sonic's anyway), and put their hands on their hips.

"That is to say; keep Eggman's name out of your mouth and keep walking."

Sonic scoffed, letting his hand drop. He took a sharp breath before stepping to the side, trudging deeper into the mine.

Of course Nine fully intended to drop the conversation there, but the bag was already cut open, might as well get that cat out of it.

"There's someone else I'd say played you like a fiddle." They turned on his heel dramatically, trailing after their brother, who opted to pretend they weren't there apparently. He didn't spare even an ear flick in their direction while the tap of those oversized prism-kicks periodically triggered the bioluminescent fungus when hitting a stray bolt or pebble.

"Where is he now? That fancy-pants topside, no-fun-at-all." The silent treatment didn't deter Nine in the slightest, "Don't tell me he dumped you so soon. You were suuuch a perfect couple." the last sentence was leaking sarcasm of course.

Sonic though, kept silent. The only change to his face was a progressively deepening scowl.

"Did he send you to the pit or you actually got some sense into you and left on your own?"

"Can it Jinx. Before I do something I regret again."

The hedgehog suddenly exploded and fully faced him, balling his hands into fists at his sides.

"Aww, gonna punch me in the face again big bro?" The fox teased in a venomous, sing-song voice. That phantom ache on their cheek haunting them for years panged again, but at this point, they learned to ignore it. "You kind of fell off though, used to be better at it."

Then that fist was raised above their face, adrenaline from a seemingly endless fight bleeding from their veins, sternum uncomfortably crushed beneath hot metal plates and—

All Sonic did was shot him a silent warning glare. The plates on his kicks reconfigured, hissing out steam.

Nine blinked the flash memory away, pulling their lips in a frown

"Sheesh, you really are in a mood today. Almost like you're not happy to see me or something."

At that he sighed through his teeth, hanging his head low.

"Hm, go figure."

Silent treatment. Again. The darkness of the tunnel became thicker, almost physical as they went on. Particles of near static dust parted before them after every loud metal step. The quite literal monster lurking somewhere in there was stashed into the backlog of noise.

Neither of them might've been saying anything, but of course, Nine's head was anything but empty. A stray screeching in his ears, clink of metal against rock and a few pebbles falling to the ground. Hard to tell which one of those had an actual physical origin.

In the dim organic light, they observed the stoic silhouette of their brother. Shoulders squared and a steady step. No fear in what he might bump into between the flickers of light. At least he appeared so. Those spines of his were hard to read when so messed up and badly groomed, they looked to be on end almost constantly.

Nine wasn't afraid of the dark, because they knew what danger await them in there exactly, and everything else was either not real, or could be taken out with a well aimed blast of pure prism energy.

But they remember the days of being scared of the dark, a long, long time ago. But they were scared of a lot of things back then.

There was always a certain someone that would comfort them if it ever became unbearable. Someone that held their hand whenever the monsters would creep in and threaten to snatch them away.

Sonic has never felt as far away as he did now.

He was right there.

Arms reach away.

They could call out to him, grab him by the shoulder, punch him in the face, tackle him to the ground and shoot him in the face— yet for some reason it felt Nine couldn't move any further to the hedgehog then they already were.

A static flicker, Nine could swear the hedgehog had that awful hair dye washed out of his quills and stood much shorter. A reassuring smile on his lips.

A blink and it was gone.

Nine stepped on one side of the eroded mine cart rail, balancing on it with little to no effort as they continued onward.

"You know... I do miss the time when we were kids." Somehow they fished out their voice, stuck somewhere in the back of their throat, "Unaware of the complexity of just how thoroughly fucked everything was. Just you and me, my mistakes and your fixes. Never giving up on me even when everyone else kept telling you to do so..."

Nine was mostly just rattling off thoughts out loud. A sudden bout of reminiscence taking over them. They missed this blue now emo idiot.

We're they actually talking, or just though really hard about doing it? Well it certainly felt like sound was leaving their mouth, so the most likely option was Sonic just deliberately ignored them.

"Until of course, you did give up which... yea ok, fair. But, still think about it from time to time."

No response.

He used to be their entire world.

Now he wouldn't even look at them.

Nine shut their eyes forcibly. Already feeling a familiar chill crawling up their spine.

That reassuring smile was nothing but a hallucination, they knew.

Nine stepped off the rail as it got way too wrinkly and rusted to walk on properly.

That, and their legs were getting wobbly when thinking about the possibility of the memory from which that face came not being real.

It wouldn't be the first time their memory was wrong, there wasn't a whole lot they could fully trust back there.

So maybe...

Maybe all those times they remembered of Sonic taking the blame and the brunt of their "jinxes" weren't real. It's possible, that Sonic never actually cared all that much, or at all.

Maybe the two of them just happened to spend a lot of time together due to one circumstance or another, and in a poor attempt to cope, Nine's mind twisted the words and misinterpreted actions of the past into something that could get them through the day.

Maybe all of those compliments they remembered were meant to be backhanded and Nine, as a desperate and naive child, just didn't catch it.

Because by all the recent evidence, it would make sense.

A grim conclusion, but... Sonic did abandon them, 'I swear, I'm never going to abandon you again..' punched them, 'BECAUSE YOU'RE A JINX!' came back from the dead '...nothing, is ever going to change that.' only to lead a fucking enforcer on their trail and merrily try to kill them alongside that bastard. 'They're not getting away again!'

Trying to look past all that in an attempt at reconciliation was just another big mistake of theirs, wasn't it?

'The two-tails always jinxes everything.'

They really can't fix a single thing, permanently or right.

'Soon enough he'll realize just how much of a liability you are—'

No one will ever want them around.

'Don't cry. You're perfect.'

The only person that ever did is dead.

'...Ray was right—'

'Don't listen to him!'

'who would've expected— Every time she's around— it's almost like you're the— They blew it, again!— never anything right— Just one thing— nothing good—'

And it all began melting into incoherent noise and ringing.

In a futile attempt, they tried to muffle it by clasping their ears as close to their skull as possible. Of course, they knew it wouldn't work, it wasn't possible to shut out the sound of one's own brain there was no way to just turn it off and they tried unholstering their gun to get rid of the closest thing to the cause of this chaos except did they really want to kill their brother here and now of all places and times after they tried to reconcile with him—

It was like they breathed in for the first time after years then, as an audible hiss of steam shot through the suffocating wall of blurry noise and shattered it into temporary silence.

A steady hand was placed on the back of their shoulder, grounding them somewhat back into reality, rubbing gentle circles on their back while the gun fell from their hand and it didn't take too long to clatter. Soon it became clear they were much closer to the ground itself than they initially remembered.

There was a voice, but Nine couldn't process the words at all.

They looked up, meeting green eyes staring down at him. Concern and mild panic were all they saw before the tunnel went completely dark. The only light left being Nine's tails and the prism shards in Sonic's walkers.

The hand which shook the gun from their hand moved to their cheek, cupping it just as gently as the one on their back.

Nine was almost sent barreling straight into another episode for the exact opposite reason if Sonic stayed quiet for one more second.

"...can you hear me, like at all?"

Nine swallowed thickly, after what felt like years of silently gawking at nothing, they regained motor control of their own body enough to nod and speak.

"Loud and c-clear. Clear."

Without any further questions, Sonic pulled their hand over his neck and helped both of them upright.

They stood in silence, neither knowing whether to let go or what to comment on, if anything at all.

Eventually, Sonic decided to be the icebreaker this time, and do it with the smallest voice ever heard from the hedgehog

"Do you... do you deal with that often?"

Nine immediately cracked into a grin

"The voices and hallucinations? Yea. Have been for a while now."

They pried their hands back from the hedgehog, quickly picking up, dusting and holstering their pistol, but made no further attempt at increasing their distance.

"But they've been a lot more chill lately. Eggy's pretty nice, and the rest just pop in from time to time to make sure I don't forget about them or something."

"The rest...?" Sonic asked carefully, taking a natural step back with a glance over his shoulder. The lack of a heavy metal footfall was distinctly notable.

Nine's eyes trailed down, seeing the haphazardly tossed away boots by the tracks a few meters away from the two of them. Huh, Sonic stepped out of his fancy slippers to comfort them, how nice.

"Yea. Mighty, Ray..." Though they began answering pretty nonchalantly, they paused, looking at Sonic innocently, "You."

Sonic audibly grimaced, traces of guilt visible within, before he let out an indescribable noise. And fully turned to retrieve the boots.

The display sounded remorseful enough, so Nine was willing to interpret it as an attempt at a "sorry."

Either way, half of a boulder fell from their chest.

Maybe in the most tucked away corner within Sonic, there was a part that still cared for them. And always has.

The hedgehog tried to lift the Atlas Walkers after they toppled over in what was most likely a hasty stepping out of them. Except he refused to bend down and actually adjust the boots properly so it ended up looking like a really poor attempt at football tricks.

Nine didn't even think to hold back a snicker right before the hedgehog booted himself back up and stood a few centimeters taller.

Still too short to reach their forehead.

They shared a look, even if they couldn't really see the other, and by the time Nine clapped to light up the tunnel, Sonic was already with his back towards them.

The silence going forward was much more bearable. But they only got about two actual steps in when a distant thumping in an otherwise dead silent mine shook the walls.

[evangelifloss]

Oh my God guys they actually chose a child actress for presumably Maria. This is fantastic news

Maria's bond to Shadow and relevance to his character, is intrinsically tied into the anti-military message of the OG SaB2 storyline. Ageing her up would have been tragic, of course, but it wouldn't carry the same weight. Maria didn't choose to live on the ARK, she wasn't an adult who was in charge of how she wanted to live or where she wanted to go. Gerald Robotnik made those decisions for her with her best interests at heart as any good parent (or in this case, grandfather) would do. She was terminally ill. She was on the ARK so that she could receive immediate treatment for her terminal illness once Robotnik found a cure via Project Shadow. And you know, the ARK would've been an incredibly sterile place-- another safeguard to keep her alive. It's even said the lighter gravity on-board helped ease her progressing disease.

And due to decisions made by the U.S Military based on arbitrary reasoning, they shot her. Point blank. She had no weapon, she was running away, and she was twelve years old.

She was only on the ARK because the same people that authorised her murder, had authorised Project Shadow ergo, the ARK, to begin with.

Robotnik wanted to heal. To help. He took the offer from the U.S Military to lead the Project, because an 'Utimate Life-Form' would theoretically be medically Perfect. No genetic mishaps, no illnesses, viruses, or anything to threaten its life outside of physical attacks. Something like that, could become a blueprint for cures. He could cure Maria, and ontop of that, start to heal others like her.

The caveat of course, was to create a lifeform with immortality and he decided if there was a chance to give his granddaughter an opportunity to grow up and see adulthood, the price was worth paying.

However his experiments whilst chaotic in nature did too well and the whole thing was shut down. All personnel related to Project Shadow with the exception of Robotnik himself, were to be killed. Age, race, relation, rank, if you worked on Project Shadow or knew what it was, you were to be shot on sight.

And that's why sonic/shadow fans go so rabid for ANY Sab2 content as this backstory ties into the whole plot of the game whose main links run straight to Maria Robotnik's fate.

Granted, it has become somewhat of a meme regarding how many times we get to see her die and in how many formats of that horrific sequence of events but the root message behind it carries more weight than many post Sab2 games. In fact, we rarely get to see such narrative driven themes from SEGA due to its constant mis-handling of the sonic franchise.

So yea, shoot that blond child on screen in cinemas. I want that white girl ELIMINATED on screen in front of parents who thought it was going to be a "lol sonic go fast" movie. The Masses Must Know that Sonic games Can and Will Go Hard (when Sega puts effort in.)

[egg-emperor]

Speaking of Eggdad I don't remember which video it was but it had Ian discuss how family bonding between Eggman and Sage would be destroying villages and subjugating the inhabitants HAPPILY together. Eggman and Sage are new team dark if anything. In fact, if we got a new Sonic Heroes type game it'd be so awesome if we got a playable Eggman team featuring himself truly, Sage, and Metal Sonic.

Yeah every time Flynn has talked about Eggman and Sage that I'm aware of, it's not without him explaining how Eggman has messed up perception and conditions behind his embracement of the dynamic, or emphasizing that they're still very much evil together. It's cool that he doesn't seem to play into the hyper pure wholesome fanon idea because of how the fandom mass misinterpreted it and clearly prefer it that way, when he very well could. Goes to show that it really was never actually the written intention of their real dynamic in the games

Because it just reiterates what we already see to be the case in the game already, with Eggman's dynamic with Sage being anything but traditional and in fact very self-centred and conditional with just as selfish motives as ever, and Sage clearly being on Eggman's side of evil even after her developments by staying by his side as he laughed at Sonic's cyber corruption death and the way she says the world is his to conquer. She's still very much evil and her development is only likely to make her more so to please her father and attempt to bond with him

So the idea that closest to family bonding is through that instead of all the traditional things/at least with an original evil twist on them in the very rare occasion that they might be is great. Eggman wasn't the type to suddenly get into tons of traditional domestic family activities to please someone who was literally created to serve him, so Sage instead joining in on all the things he already enjoyed doing before she existed and her just being happy to be included makes way more sense. And it's way cooler to think about what fun diabolical things they can get up to together!

It's fun to think about how they work together in business and schemes and happily destroying villages and subjugating inhabitants. Also how Eggman could indulge in his love for theme parks with her, not by wholesome trips to Disneyland but showing how they really should be with Eggmanland, twisted and deadly dangerous thrills. Same with carnivals. And with his love for circuses, he kidnaps and showcases stolen animals like Circus Park. And he said he could turn Sonic and co into toys for Sage to play with in The murder of Sonic, teaching her that people are their playthings

It is pretty much his answer to a new Team Dark, though he prefers the name Team Eggman now, probably because he considers himself the founder and creator of the original Team Dark and feels it was highjacked with him being cast out and replaced by Omega so he wants to assert extra hard that it's his this time so it won't happen again, can't forget who it belongs to or replace him when he's in the name lol. And then he can show how much better he can be on a team with his own superior creations built in his image instead of with Shadow and Rouge!

While it's funny that he had Zavok on his Team Eggman last time, reflecting his cush and obsession with the guy lol, Eggman and his own creations makes the most sense long term. The best way for him to team up with anyone is if they're his own obedient creations that won't - or literally can't ever think of betraying him with the programming like Metal (for the most part!) or have the genuine enthusiasm like Sage and most of the "teamwork" is really mostly them serving him and him getting all the benefits and glory. Metal and Sage are the perfect fit

Also if going by team types again, they don't fit into the Heroes team structure as none fit Flight type much but certainly fit the Team Sonic Racing one. Sage Technique, Metal Sonic Speed, and Eggman could be Power class again like he really always should be and would've been again if Zavok hadn't stolen that spot in TSR! Eggman being the brains and the brawn when he wants to join the action and show off his physical strength, Sage also being brains and skill with her programme abilities and Metal being the speedy killing machine he's always been

Diabolical dream (nightmare?) team there! XD They could get up to some great evil together!

[beevean]

Honestly, as unfamiliar as i am with the broader sonic lore, seeing people say Eggman Nega is the actual evil guy compared to Eggman sounds silly. Iirc, in the Rush games both were cooperating to wreck the dimensions for their megalomaniac dream, and even both chafed w eachother occasionally over their massive egos. There's no particular moment where Nega does something that Eggman wouldn't/hasn't done, nor a moment where Eggman disagrees for non selfish purposes. Tbh it feels like they just saw the designs and decided Nega's outfit was more evil lmao

It's all based on this one scene from Rush Adventure:

Dr. Eggman: Nooo! Curse you, Sonic! Eggman Nega: Haa ha ha ha ha! It's time to die, fools! Dr. Eggman: Nega?! Wait... what are you doing...?! Eggman Nega: HAAA ha ha ha! Dr. Eggman: What? No! You're mad! Don't push that button...! Eggman Nega: Planet-Buster Laser, FIRE!

An earlier line:

Eggman Nega: Now, the world shall be my plaything! I shall bring about an age of fear and chaos! And it shall be glorious!

And his plans in Sonic Rivals:

Eggman Nega: [Takes out camera] All I have to do is transfer the energy to the camera on my rocket, and I'll turn this whole planet into a card! Silver: What!? That means my future would be destroyed as well! Eggman Nega: [Takes out a card] If I can't change the future, I'll simply destroy it! There's nobody who can stop me now! Farewell.

In short, Eggman Nega is seen as more insane than Eggman because he, like other villains, want to destroy the world and is not above trying a murder-suicide stunt. It's a classic argument, that Eggman is "softer" because he merely wants to conquer the world :^)

Have a TvTropes as a treat:

Foil: To our own Dr. Eggman. While both scientists are incredibly arrogant utter jerkasses, the good doctor we all know and love is frequently shown to have a degree of rationale below his surface of hamminess and immaturity most of the time, aiming to rule the world rather than destroy it. Nega, by contrast, comes off as soft-spoken and relaxed on the surface but thrives on destruction and lacks any sort of restraint. Also, whereas Eggman tends to walk off his various defeats and try again after a brief fit or two, Nega is a Sore Loser unable to handle the humiliation given by failure, and would be willing to blow up the planet if it meant he could get a win.

The Sociopath: Unlike the goofy Eggman, who despite being evil, has shown to have some form of self-restraint, Nega is completely devoid of empathy and his dream is to turn the world into a playground of destruction.

Viler New Villain: Intended to be what Eggman would be like without his more sensible or endearing traits. While Eggman'll pull an Enemy Mineso the world doesn't get destroyed, Eggman Nega is Ax-Crazy and wants mass-destruction in his plots (if destruction isn't his flat-out goal). And in contrast to how Eggman's goofier traits hide a somewhat pragmatic schemer, Nega's seemingly collected persona hides a stark raving lunatic.

"some sort of restraint" which is why he attempted to nuke Station Square in a fit of rage and even went to detonate the missile itself when it failed. or why he fired a warning shot at the moon. or why he split the entire planet into pieces to awaken a world-destroying deity. or why he attempted to tame a time manipulating abomination with the purpose of eliminating Sonic from the timeline. much restraint, very morals.

Look what they focus on. Eggman is goofy, while Nega is more "suave". That alone makes Eggman look less threatening. Once again, it's all about the Vibes. Who cares if Eggman is not above murder and enslavement, if he's funny about it?

[silenceofthewave]

hc 🗡🎡🚬📿

- weapons headcanon 🗡️

After its reformat, the datacables became Soundwave's main weapon. The datacables' primary functions relate to its intelligence gathering role, but when its battle protocols are online, the cables act as conductors for powerful electric shocks. Soundwave can control the ampage it uses, and calibrates it based on target size, basic scans, plating and frame type. The cables' electricity can be used to kill, but it prefers to disable them than outright murder. The murder comes later.

The cables are also prehensile, so they can twist and choke and restrain; all of that is common knowledge.

It also has access to an arm blaster, but it prefers not to use it; the thing takes up way too much energy for what could be considered economical. Megatron insisted that Soundwave at least have some kind of blaster for its protection, much to its chagrin.

Before its reformat, Soundwave had access to powerful sonic cannons that were situated on its arms, much like how Megatron's fusion cannon is. These cannons elicited powerful sonic waves that were capable of disorentation, stunning an opponent, and even knocking them over if they were a lighter frame or already on unsure footing.

Soundwave has always been a little...weird, even before its reformat into its stealth frame. Its sonic cannons and datacables were as "technologically advanced" as its personal combat got. It prefers hand to hand combat, sometimes with a weapon, but usually with its servos.

Speaking of servos, they transform into talons when its battle protocols are online. What's the point of long spindly digits on a cryptid if you're not going to go full feral with them?

- hobby themed headcanon 🎡

Soundwave actually really enjoys music. All kinds of music, from Cybertronian to Earthling, to other species they have come in contact with.

Because of this, it has a massive personal database of music that it has collected.

The database is sorted several different ways, mostly because Soundwave finds sorting data into quantifiable groups, subgroups, and lists very relaxing. Some of these groups are sorted by species, types of music, musical crossover between species, instrumentals, and ambiance.

Along with these groups, it also just has regular playlists (theres a big difference between the two!). The playlists are mish mashed of all types of music, and they fit certain moods, certain tasks, whatever it desires. If it is feeling something very particular, it has at least 15 playlists to choose from. It also likes to listen to these internally whenever someone like Starscream is ranting incessantly at it, and it needs to drown out his blathering.

- bad habit headcanon 🚬

Soundwave picks at its biolights when its Especially nervous. It only does this when its alone, never in front of anyone else. It would show weakness, and that there is a person behind the visor; neither of those things suit its purpose.

But, when its alone, and things are going terribly, it will pick and pick. Sometimes the biolights will break. Theyre an easy enough fix for its internal repair systems, so its not really an issue. But it does hurt, and that brings it focus.

- faith themed headcanon 📿

Soundwave only believes in Primus simply because it cannot find any other logical explanation for the Primes, the Allspark and the Matrix of Leadership. Its a begrudging acknowledgment of the diety that forged it, but nothing more.

It hated the organized religion around Primus and the original Primes with a fervor. It was oppressive, it was intended to keep the masses in line, and worst of all, none of it was true.

It detests the way that mechs and mecha will worship the ground that the Primes walk on, as if the Primes weren't determined by the very same mechs that oppress them.

Soundwave has a complicated relationship with religion, and it prefers not to think about any of it too deeply. It's in fact grateful that with the destruction of Cybertron came the destruction of the stain that was the Church of Primus. That was possibly the only good thing that came from losing its planet.

[erros429]

rwby characters as who i think they’d main in super smash bros

ruby: sonic because speed but also bc i think she’d just be a huge sonic fan in general

weiss: pyra/mythra because of how versatile they are, similar to her semblance

blake: sheik!! the ninja-like qualities + the personalities fit pretty well

yang: captain falcon ofc! falcon punches her way to victory every time. i also think it’d be funny if she was wario because she’d use her motorcycle the entire time fbshfjsjfjs

jaune: young link. idk it just fits him super well through design and fighting style

nora: kirby. duh. pink and hammer and also adorable.

pyrrha: considering i had to give pyra/mythra to weiss, i’ll just have to give her sora. i think she’d fall off the edge a lot so she’d want someone with a really good recovery

ren: greninja. same sorta logic as blake

oscar: pokemon trainer. he likes the versatility that comes with playing three different kinds of characters in one. either that or villager because he matches the vibes

qrow: joker but mostly b/c he thinks he looks badass lmao

sun: diddy kong!!!! monkey boys!!!!!

neptune: luigi. no reason for this i just think it’d be funny

emerald: bayonetta. the vibes fit SO well

mercury: (i also wanna say bayonetta because the boot guns but that’d be a copout so) i’ll say sephiroth because he’d spam his projectile moves and laugh

cinder: can’t imagine she’d play but if she did then she’d kick ass as byleth

neo: jigglypuff. and then she’d commit mass murder

winter: lucina because the vibes. would also only play b/c either weiss would beg her to or qrow would taunt her until she did

[crystalstunes]

crystal's tunes #2: WORRY. by Jeff Rosenstock (2016)

i was going to wait a while before talking about this album, but i mean come on, it's literally got a track called June 21st. if i was gonna do it any day it'd be today.

WORRY. is an album that's very special to me. i originally discovered it via James Acaster's book Perfect Sound Whatever (named after the closing track of the album), and in the years since it's become one of my most listened to albums of all time. i'm not going to link any specific songs here, because i feel like the album is meant to be listened to in its entirety.

this was the second studio album Jeff released after the end of his previous project, ska-punk collective Bomb the Music Industry!, which in itself was born out of the end of his previous-previous project The Arrogant Sons of Bitches. this album really feels like a culmination of all of his work leading up to this, refined to a T and bursting with energy.

"We're not stupid people but this financial oppression has got everyone believing all that we can do is nothing/'Cause we organise through avenues they lace with advertisements so the ones we rage against are still lining their pockets" - Festival Song (Track 3)

thematically, the album discusses a variety of issues with modern-day America, such as landlords/gentrification, the coroprate sponsors of festivals and culture, social media mining your data, police brutality, and how the world just keeps getting worse due to capitalism in general. this is especially evident on tracks such as Festival Song, Staring Out The Window at Your Old Apartment, Blast Damage Days, HELLLLHOOOOLE, and The Fuzz, but is present throughout the album. he also touches on some more personal issues, such as alcoholism and the struggles of being a DIY musician.

the production here is absolutely top-notch, every single element is balanced perfectly, guitars are clear and crushing when they need to be, drums are punchy, vocals cut through well and instruments such as saxophones, glockenspiels and synths are used in certain songs to offer various different sonic textures. its not just the instruments that are varied here though, he also travels across a number of styles such as his classic ska-punk on the 91 second track Rainbow, to more hardcore punk on 30 second track Planet Luxury.

the A-side of this album is fantastic, with tracks like We Begged 2 Explode, Pash Rash and Festival Song becoming fan favourites and staples of his live sets, but i think this album really comes into its own during it's B-side. every track from Blast Damage Days through to the final track Perfect Sound Whatever perfectly transition into each other, creating a medley of different punk subgenres that is absolutely incredible. it's cathartic and danceable all in one, and its one of my favourite things he's done on an album.

"Whenever we feel ashamed, being alive and awake in such an era of hate and military police/These are the mass murder days, we are the blast damage age, where we can't love anything, because they keep us afraid/Oh, I will be there, kicking, fighting, beating, screaming 'There's no fucking way I'm ever letting go of you!'" - Blast Damage Days (Track 9)

the album builds up in energy until its final anthemic, gang vocal repetitions of "Perfect always takes so long, because it don't exist/It doesn't exist!", which is one of Jeff's main mission statements creatively. the first Bomb the Music Industry! album Album Minus Band has anti-piracy hiss throughout from various plugins he used the demo versions of instead of buying, and a track that's project files corrupted so he couldnt mix it properly, but all of that just adds to the artistry of it all. nothing can ever truly be perfect, so just be honest and authentic and do what you want, because in both art and people, our imperfections are what make us whole. i'm not a perfect person, and that's alright. i may have my own anti-piracy demo plugin hiss in my brain, but that's just part of what makes me myself - i wouldn't truly be me without it, and that's beautiful.

i think this album is truly great because despite the overwhelmingly negative topics being discussed, in the end its hopeful, even if the world or your life seem like theyre fucked, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. the penultimate track ...While You're Alive, ends with the verse "And it's not like the love that they show us on TV/It's a home that can burn, it's a limb to freeze/It's worry/Love is worry". this can just be taken at face value as the fact that when you love someone you worry about them, but i interpret it a different way, especially with the context of the rest of the album.

when the government and systems are against you, you're fighting your own brain, and you're overwhelmed with worry, that worry is coming from a place of love, because you wouldnt worry about something you dont care about. you love yourself, you love the world, and in a way, your anxieties are really just a form of expressing your care and love even if it feels like fear, and anger, and sadness. and, for me at least, that's one of the most reassuring messages i've ever been given from an album. thanks, jeff.

"Because it's June 21st, and this winter was the worst we've ever seen, but we made it through the freeze/And now it's June 21st, and this winter was the worst we've ever seen, now it's 84 degrees forever." - June 21st (Track 14)

[dustedmagazine]

Dust, Volume 10, Number 8

Orcas (not Oasis)

Welcome to our all-Oasis edition of Dust!

Just kidding. We slog through August bemused by the excitement over big ticket tours, though we will, if pressed, admit to a fondness for “Wonderwall,” a song often sung jubiliantly by someone we love on the way to track meets and XC ski practice and theater rehearsal years ago (though not as many years ago as it first emerged).

Anyway, we once again trawl the slush pile for the good stuff, opine briefly on its merits and share it with you. We’re sure you’ll find out what the Gallagher brothers are up to from other sources.

This month’s contributors included Bryon Hayes, Ian Mathers, Jonathan Shaw, Tim Clarke, Jennifer Kelly, Bill Meyer, Mason Jones and Christian Carey.

Ark Zead — Niptaktuk (Glacial Movements)

The Italian label Glacial Movements specializes in music that’s chilled, immense and slow, just like its namesake. Niptaktuk continues this icy throughline, offering a series of highly resonant, frost-tinged drone passages. The creator, of which no information is known, sourced these textures from gongs and singing bowls, stretching the frequencies into lengthy, subtly shifting tone clouds. They cleverly balance lighter shades against darker hues, layering pre-dawn shimmer over sub-sonic bass pulses. The delicate patter of scraped and stroked metal adds a sense of the real to these otherwise uncanny soundscapes. Ark Zead drew influence from the cold northern Canadian winter when they created these sounds, yet the experience of listening doesn’t evoke frostbite or blinding blizzards. Instead Niptaktuk, which is an Inuit word that implies oncoming clear skies, is a remedy against frostiness, a kernel of warmth that seeks to melt the winter ice. 

Bryon Hayes

The Body & Dis Fig — Orchards of a Futile Heaven (Thrill Jockey)

At this point, at least going by actual releases, surely there are no greater collaborators in heavy music (in all its forms) than The Body. In addition to their stellar work as “just” a duo, Chip King and Lee Buford have at this point collaborated with a real murderers’ row of bands and artists, and those albums absolutely refuse to stick to any particular formula. That they’d work with Dis Fig (aka Felicia Chen), who’s made an excellent, emotionally/sonically challenging record called Purge and sang on a full length by The Bug, makes perfect sense. The result, as with many “The Body &” LPs, is so seamlessly satisfying you’d think this was everyone involved’s main gig. The thunderous drums, harsh noise, and King’s peerless shrieks are all present, and Chen gives a hell of a lead vocal performance to centre it all. The closing one-two punch of “Coils of Kaa”/“Back to the Water” is one of the best endings 2024 is going to get, Chen wailing in rage and despair as the music collapses buildings around her.

Ian Mathers

Demiser — Slave to the Scythe (Blacklight Media/Metal Blade)

Retrograde throwback thrash isn’t exactly a growth area in metal, or a particularly enlightened undertaking, culturally speaking. But dudes in denim and bullet-lined bandoliers don’t make records like Slave to the Scythe because they foresee mass-market opportunity or stadiums full of fans in the immediate future. Mostly they don’t see much future at all. Demiser seems to share those perspectives — live fast, die faster, have as much fun as possible in the brief and weird interregnum. Is Slave to the Scythe fun? Depends on your sense of humor, and your tolerance for metal’s more reductive shenanigans. The fellows in the band have given themselves stage names like Gravepisser (he plays guitar) and Infestor (he drums), and they have supplied us with the sublime song title “Hell Is Full of Fire”; no points for innovation, but maximum points for unconquerably up-for-it idiocy. Motörhead seems as significant to Demiser as early Exodus and Kreator (especially the genius of Pleasure to Kill). Sort of nice to hear a thrash record that’s more interested in the riffs than the solos. Sort of fun to play this record really, really loud. Sort of certain that doing so results in becoming materially stupider. That’s okay — it makes that aforementioned lack of a viable future a little less awful to contemplate.

Jonathan Shaw

Dummy — Free Energy (Trouble In Mind)

Dummy’s debut, Mandatory Enjoyment, lived up to its title; it was a record difficult not to appreciate. In her Dusted review, Jennifer Kelly praised it as “a listening experience that simultaneously braces and soothes, agitates and lulls.” Dummy’s second album, Free Energy,has a similar appeal, but knocks this listener off balance with its bizarre fixation on dated drum machines and backwards sounds that bring to mind the baggy indie-dance of the 1990s. You know the stuff: Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Jesus Jones, Pop Will Eat Itself. There are some great songs here, such as “Nine Clean Nails,” but you have dig around amongst the misfires to find them. Dummy still have an ear for a good tune, so you can forgive their more questionable aesthetic decision-making.

Tim Clarke

“Father” John Misty — Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said to Crawl (Sub Pop)

With streaming supplying abundant amounts of playlists, one might reasonably ask why a greatest hits compilation would be useful. Curation instead of algorithms. “Father” John Misty’s Greatish Hits presents the high points in his catalog, beginning with early songs“Real Love Baby” (2016) and “Nancy from Now On” (2012). It is by no means a chronological survey, nor is it front-loaded like so many collections and playlists. The popular “I Love You Honeybear” (2015) is saved for the penultimate track. The finale, “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All,”  is new. At eight and a half minutes long, it stretches out with saxophone, bongo, and electric piano solos interspersing bluesy pop vocals. Worth the wait - don’t skip ahead!

Christian Carey

Ben Felton — A Lot (Island House)

Ben Felton lets the drones linger, layering sounds on top of sounds, like primary-toned transparencies on an overhead projector. You can spend this album watching the colors these tones make when the light shines through them, hitting one, two, three or more guitar/synth textures before getting to the other side. Complex yes, but peaceful, drowsy almost. One track called “A Foghorn or a Loudspeaker,” sounds like just that, an uneasy truce between natural serenity and amplified buzz and hiss. The space it lives in is large and echoey, a cathedral or, more likely, a vast underground cavern with water lapping at the walls. Occasionally, the electronic mode predominates as in the airy percolation of “What You Need.” Yet though the blippy motif is bright and uncorroded, it sits atop a woozy soup of tone; guitar notes crash in sporadically intimating a rustier, more industrial territory nearby. Felton comes from New York but now resides in more bucolic Carrboro, North Carolina. His soundscapes find a meeting place between folk-adjacent ambience and rougher, noisier music. The album gets more propulsive as it goes. Shaken-not-stirred “The Fifth Day,” turns a three-note upward lilting motif into something approaching rock anthemry. You can’t blame the sustained notes for hanging around. It’s nice here, and you want to stay.

Jennifer Kelly

Margarida Garcia And Manuel Mota—Domestic Scene (Feeding Tube) 

Upright electric bassist Margarida Garcia and electric guitarist Manuel Mota are part of Lisbon, Portugal’s experimental/improvisational music scene and have worked together with and without the participation of others on seven records besides Domestic Scene over the past decade. It is their first LP to be released in the USA, and there’s something poetic about that fact, because it feels like an echo of the work of one American musician — Loren Connors, and more specifically, 21st century Connors in solo mode. It shares his sparseness, boiled-down lyricism and willingness to disappear into a haze of noise. Since Garcia has associated with him at times, there’s definitely a shared aesthetic. However, these are not young copycats. Mota’s spare progressions proceed according to a different logic, purged of blues and baroque elements, guided by a north star of sequential consonance that adds up to quiet dissonance. And Garcia’s subdued, bow-born cries have an ability to compound, making the music thick with atmosphere, but still stingy with note counts. Play it late. 

Bill Meyer

Geneva Jacuzzi — Triple Fire (Dais)

Geneva has been making bedroom synth pop for years. On Triple Fire (named after her astrological sign), the production values tick upward, and several of the songs are club ready. “Laps of Luxury” is a case in point, with Geneva’s dulcet singing abetted by backing vocals, early digital synth sonics, and mechanized beats. “Scena Ballerina” recalls her early bedroom pop, with a taut riff and harmonic swerves. Trebly synths and out of the box percussion underscore an emotive vocal on “Take it or Leave it.” Geneva’s speechsong in “Art is Dangerous” and “Speed of Light” recalls Laurie Anderson’s 1980s work, while “Heart of Poison” has an art rock ambience that incorporates tenor saxophone and is rife with shimmering synths. “Rock and a Hard Place” is an aggressive example of dark wave electronica. The closer, “Yo-yo Boy” is an anthemic piece of minimal synth-pop that reminds listeners of Geneva’s roots while presenting memorable tunefulness. 

Christian Carey

Katatonic Silentio — Axis Of Light (Midnight Shift)

Axis Of Light by Katatonic Silentio

Italy-based Mariachiara Troianiello is a long-time DJ, and independent audio and ethnomusicology researcher at the University of San Marino. She also creates electronic music under the name Katatonic Silentio, and on Axis of Light explores a spatial dub, filled with palpating beats and flickering synthesizer sounds. The five tracks on this EP are all based on rhythmic frameworks that skitter and thud with a dark, night-time vibe for the most part. As the title indicates, opener “Drip in the Cave” is indeed subterranean in nature, with rubbery pads and liquid drums reverberating in tactile space. “Bridging the Gap” is lighter and bouncier, bubbling at a fast tempo and filled with electronic hoots and blips. The other pieces mix slow with fast, and machine-like rhythms with heartbeat-like pulses, all swirling in a warehouse ambience populated by ghostly static, quiet bells, or spooky, whistling tones. It’s all a neat combination of machine world and organic atmosphere, like a science-fiction world populated by real, messy people.

Mason Jones

Nicole Marxen — Thorns (Self-Release)

Nicole Marxen puts an eerie shimmer over rough crescendos of metallic noise, keening in the ghostliest, most disembodied way amidst vibrating slabs of guitar sound. “Thorns,” the album’s spiritual center, floats a chilly line of vocal melody—think Beth Gibbons or Chelsea Wolfe—over a machine-like industrial beat. Fragility blooms in an apocalyptic afterworld. “The Executioner” is heavier, more ominous, slithering to life out of the flickering buzz of downed powerlines. A stolid march emerges soon, swaggering with drums, swelling with amp-frying volume. Marxen presides like a high priestess, unperturbed amid flares, fills and violence. Like Jarboe astride a Justin Broadrick wall of noise, she stakes her claim, with operatic trills and whispered confidences. Dramatic, large-scale stuff.

Jennifer Kelly

Magda Mayas’ Filamental — Ritual Mechanics (Relative Pitch)

Keyboardist Magda Mayas’ music has often evidenced expansive thinking, but it took the resources of a festival to first bring her large group Filamental together. Once convened, she took full advantage of her octet’s assembled potentialities for imagination and sound. Having had one such experience, Mayas wasn’t going to wait for a festival to marshal such a breadth of mindpower and material again, nor was she going to let the impediments to travel and gathering imposed by a world pandemic get in the way. So, she sent out an invitation to an invitation to Filamental’s members and turned their gathered input into two pieces that run a bout 20 minutes in length. Each sets small, contrasting gestures dancing atop a consonant surface of elongated, layered sonorities. Ritual Mechanics is not so much a drone piece as an expression of continuous, focused action, richly detailed and consistently focused.

Bill Meyer

Rob Mazurek — Milan (Clean Feed)

Rob Mazurek has been recording for nearly three decades and performing much longer. His methods encompass composition and improvisation using brass, electronics, voice, and other instruments. In any body of work so broad, there are themes, some more dominant than others. Milan is a successor to Rome, which together comprise a smaller trend that involves recording solo performances in Italian radio studios with nice pianos. Recorded nine years apart, they offer a measure of how Mazurek’s work has changed in that time. Instead of cornet, he plays concert and piccolo trumpets; sternly ceremonial vocalizing and fistfuls of percussion dropped purposefully into the piano assert a more explicitly ritual intent. And, perhaps reflecting the amount of work that Mazurek has done with Damon Locks of late, the electronics now include playback options, so that vocal and instrumental samples (Is that Sun Ra I hear in there? And maybe some Ocora ethnic recordings?) as well as beat patterns muscle their way through the sizzle and smash of the prepared piano. Explicitly conceived as a journey, it’s quite a trip. Mazurek’s ensemble work can be pretty widescreen, but Milan reminds us that he can be epic on his own.

Bill Meyer

Nadja — Jumper (momentarily records)

Out of the many, many records put out by ambient and/or doom metal duo Nadja, it’s truly rare to find one that doesn’t feature Aidan Baker’s guitar in one form or another. But on Jumper, originally released as a bit of an art object on cassette (the online cover art is a look at the contraption that the tape comes in), he restricts himself not just to their drum machine but to layering and processing one particular pattern from it. Leah Buckereff provides bass, a more typical entry in the credits of their release, but here the way the slowly accreting digital noise plays over and around its pulses and feedback gives the whole album a very distinct feeling. Despite the use of drum machine there’s almost no rhythm to the whole hour here (until a surprise right at the end that catches me off guard every time), instead the effect is one of meditative harshness. The result is absolutely industrial, like a factory that’s weirdly compelling to listen to.

Ian Mathers

Orcas — How to Color a Thousand Mistakes (Morr Music)

Orcas — Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoît Pioulard — haven’t recorded together in a decade, but they have been abundantly busy with their own projects. How to Color a Thousand Mistakes is consistent with past Orcas recordings and also reflects the music they have made in the interim. “Wrong Way to Fall” stands out in both regards, with Pioulard’s husky vocals over shimmering electric guitar solos, synth riffs and minimally complicated, but driving, drums. “Riptide” is populated by a number of different synth parts against a terse countermelody in the guitar. “Swells” has a strong vocal performance, while vibrato and pitch bends in the synths and economical guitar parts make for a memorable arrangement. “Fare” covers all the bases, with Pioulard’s voice double-tracked in a soaring chorus alongside mellifluous electronics, emphatic guitars, and plenty of drum fills. The recording’s closer, “Umbra,” has an extended introduction with a bass melody and warm synths. Then tangy dissonance and glissandos abound in both voice and instruments. It epitomizes the atmospheric textures that Orcas seem able to summon at will.

Christian Carey

Oxygen Destroyer — Guardian of the Universe (Redefining Darkness)

Guardian of the Universe by Oxygen Destroyer

Guardian of the Universe is another slab of monster-movie-themed, death-metal-inflected thrash from Oxygen Destroyer. The Seattle-based band’s previous LP, Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Mankind (2021), expanded their long-standing kaiju theme to include colossal beasts from outside the canon of the Tojo Studios Godzilla movies. The new record shifts tactics, focusing exclusively on Gamera and the giant turtle’s films for one of Tojo’s competitors, Daiei Films. It’s hard to know how much the record will appeal to listeners for whom those inside-baseball kaiju references mean little to nothing. But if you’re down for songs that attempt to replicate the absurd pleasures of Gamera in flight — head and limbs retracted into its massive shell, which then spins and shoots sheets of sparks from the holes, natch — this may be the record for you. Guardian of the Universe is non-stop fireworks: crazy, thrashy riffs; maniacal flat-out sprints; dive-bombing guitar solos. Should we take any of it seriously? This reviewer won’t hold forth (again) on the cultural stakes of post-war kaiju films. If you know, you know. And mostly what matters here is the band’s complete conviction and the joys of the music’s excesses. In these dog days of summer, it’s exactly what some of us need.

Jonathan Shaw

Peel Dream Magazine — Rose Main Reading Room (Topshelf)

Rose Main Reading Room by Peel Dream Magazine

It’s been four years since I’ve checked in on Peel Dream Magazine, whose second album Agitpop Alterna I described in my Dust review as “just like early Stereolab, with occasional blasts of shoe-gazey guitar thrown in for good measure.” I missed PDM’s third album Pad, so this brings us to album number four, Rose Main Reading Room. There’s still plenty of Stereolab in the mix, especially in the Mary Hansen-style backing vocals, the Farfisa, and the squelchy synth sounds (see “Oblast”). But here there’s more of a lean towards the baroque pop of Sufjan Stevens circa Illinois, mainly thanks to the chunky glimmer of vibraphone and the spiraling flute lines, which really brighten up proceedings. This balance between droning indie-rock and tuneful pop is very pretty, with sufficient musical complexity to invite rewarding repeat listens.

Tim Clarke

Plastic Bubble — Circular Breathing EP (Garden Gate/Moon Control)

The Circular Breathing EP by Plastic Bubble

Here’s a slab of happy, giddy, psychedelic garage rock which, except for the 2024 release date, wouldn’t be out of place in the Elephant Six universe. Lexington, KY’s Matt Taylor and Elisa McCabe are the chief blowers of bubbles, spinning out rough but iridescent songs like “Recontextualize,” where a guitar vamp grinds but vocals drift in pop ideality, “ah, ah, ah,” indeed. A classic indie boy-girl vibe permeates these five songs, with McCabe especially fetching in “Bright Morning.” “Forever” pulls back on the guitar roar to uncover a jaunty, girl-group bounce, with sweet counterparts and harmonies weaving in and around McCabe’s part. The set closes with a banger, part Who, part Fountains of Wayne, and all the way infectious, “Anything and Everything.”

Jennifer Kelly

SUUNS — The Breaks (Joyful Noise)

The Breaks by SUUNS

Elusiveness characterized SUUNS’ last album, 2021’s The Witness. As I noted in my Dusted review, “There’s no denying that its elusive character is part of its charm, but there are stretches where it feels more evasive than elusive, stubbornly refusing to engage more directly.” On their new album, The Breaks, the Montreal band are more direct in terms of the sounds they’re employing, but more evasive when it comes to songwriting. The majority of contemporary pop music is based around heavily effected vocal melodies and beats, which The Breaks seems to take as a cue towards similar immediacy. However, aside from the title track, the nagging piano of “Road Signs and Meanings,” and the loping stomp of opener “Vanishing Point,” this record is a tough nut to crack.

Tim Clarke

Tatsongs — Bushcraft (Self-Release)

Bushcraft by tat songs

Tatsongs are neither tat, nor really songs. The former implies fussy decoration, and these long, glacially evolving pieces seem as raw and elemental as rock formations. You can almost hear an icy wind blowing through their sheered off contours. The latter argues for a Pavlov’s buzzer of pleasing tone arrangements, and Tatsongs’ Tom Sadler is really not concerned whether you can guess then next 10 seconds of his compositions from the preceding 20. But even so, there’s something to be said for looming, sheeny layers of guitar and synth sounds that carve space and time into epic, barren landscapes. Tones vibrate in and out of true, zooming close and fading back, twitching in rhythm and coalescing in static fuzzed drones. Not a song in the bunch, nor much embroidery, but powerful stuff nonetheless.

Jennifer Kelly

TELESTIALVISIONS — Taurus in a Field (Island House)

Taurus in a Field by TELESTIALVISION

As Dittocrush, Pittsburgh resident Trevor D. Crush assembles tape loops into ambient symphonies. He often adds layers of live instrumentation from other musicians, such as Island House associate Chaz Prymek (Lake Mary, Fuubutsushi) and guitarist Ryan Fedor. TELESTIALVISIONS is his latest project, a tag team with New York guitarist Brinton Jones. The pair offer up a frothy brew that tastes rich and complex. Their debut Taurus in a Field is a pair of woozy collages that, while undeniably loose, are sharp in focus when compared to Dittocrush’s ghostly soundscapes. Crush’s tapes construct tangible shapes that intersect in a variety of patterns, while Jones unveils angelic melodies with his guitar. These two are telling a story that’s more Borges than Burroughs, a fantastical tale that defies conventional logic but manages to meander toward a graspable conclusion.

Bryon Hayes

Tycho — Infinite Health (Ninja Tune)

Infinite Health by Tycho

Tycho is Scott Hansen, and Scott Hansen is a designer. You can hear Hansen’s day job in Tycho’s music: the clean lines, the smart use of space, the sheer digestibility of it all. But should music go down quite this easy? Listening to Infinite Health feels a little bit like you’re at a trendy gym, playing a bit-part in an advert, or hitting up a bar packed with influencers. The common denominator is wanting to feel seen; everything plays a part in attracting attention. The synths sound like Boards of Canada, some of the funkier electro-pop moments sound like Daft Punk, and there’s an expensive sheen over everything. It’s hard to deny it’s appealing, but it also feels like experiencing capitalist obsolescence in real time.

Tim Clarke

White Collar—S/T (Static Shock)

White Collar by White Collar

Listeners with a long memory for North American hardcore might flash on those mid-1980s records by White Flag when listening to this new release from White Collar. Like that earlier Inland Empire band, White Collar frequently turns its critical gaze and its caustic smart-assery on the contemporary cultural climate of punk and politics as lifestyle (and your reviewer uses that odious term advisedly here). Songs like “Compassion Fatigue” and “Petition Signer” snarl at and spit on liberalism’s excesses of self-righteous smugness, to often hilarious effect. There’s a puritanical element to Gen Z’s dispositions and discourse that White Collar finds deeply irritating — not that the band is against strong ethico-political speech; check out “Meat Market” and “Equal Wrongs.” This is not the space for sustained analysis of Gen Z punk, and the extent to which we may want some sort of political purity from punk in the first place. But certainly, it’s an intrinsic good for punk to have snotty, disputatious and nasty voices in the mix. White Collar’s songs are short and sharp, and vocalist Loosey C’s performance is memorably unpleasant. Snarl on, punks.

Jonathan Shaw

[rainbow18]

Sonic Nine and Main Character centered morality.

Once again. This wasn’t made to say Sonic should be highly criticized, but a lot of things people are complaining about Nine doing are things Sonic done.

1. Having a Giant Accident while trying to help the place they love.

When Sonic was hoping to help Green Hill, he had an accident. He didn’t mean to break the universe, he just wanted to help. However he ended up breaking everything, So he became concerned about it and wants to fix his mess.

When Nine was hoping to help The Grim, he had an accident. He didn’t mean to break the Shatterverse, he just wanted to help The Grim. However he ended up breaking everything. So he became concerned about it and wants to fix his mess.

However Nine received more criticism than Sonic. In fact, A lot of People have developed self serving memory and began pretending that Nine’s destroying everything on purpose. (Which is something he never claimed he wanted to do.)

But there’s a GIANT PLOT HOLES with that interpretation. Why would Nine want to destroy The Grim? Why does Nine become fearful and angry every time he sees the Shatterverse breaking? Why does he voice a desire to help when nobody is around to listen? (Consciously or not, Nine’s becoming more like Sonic each time they see each other.)

If it’s because Nine didn’t want to commit suicide, First off, that’s victim blaming. Secondly, Sonic didn’t want to help The Grim. So why should Nine help Green Hill?

(Relationships can’t be “All Take. No Give.” If Sonic wants Nine to help Green Hill than he should help The Grim. It’s only fair. )

2. Bad Consequences while trying to clean their mess.

Until The Final Season/Part 3 trailer opens up the possibility that they found a secret 3rd option, It was highly theorized that The Shatterverse will cease to exist if The Prime Characters are saved. Sonic also began stealing the shards.

Some Fans justified this by saying things “Sonic’s mass murder and thefts are okay because he wants to fix his Mess.”

While when Nine realized that he needs to get The energy in Sonic to save the day, He began targeting him. Fan’s reaction? Criticizing him by saying things like “Wanting to stop everything from vanishing isn’t an excuse to target Sonic and he is completely unredeemable for it”

Well, if Saving Millions isn’t an Excuse to Harm Just 1 person, why should Saving a Minority be an excuse to Commit Mass Genocide?

Since Sonic’s plan involves WAY more deaths, while Nine’s plan involves only 1, if Nine is unredeemable than Sonic is unredeemable.

Besides, even if Nine does end up merging the shatterspaces, it still wouldn’t be worse than what Sonic’s doing.

3. Justifications.

When defending Sonic, people often use one of the following.

It was an accident

he doesn’t realize what he’s doing.

He just wants a home.

As I proved, There’s not a single one that doesn’t apply to Nine. Nine just wanted a home. No, calling the Grim superior doesn’t mean he wants more because then you’ll have to give Sonic the exact same scrutiny for acting like Green Hill is better than The Grim.

Throughout everything, Nine only expressed a desire to help The Grim. He never expressed a desire to harm anyone who isn’t currently attacking him. Nine’s mind is unstable due to his fight with Sonic, he isn’t thinking clearly.

Before anyone goes “But Sonic”, Sonic doesn’t count because 1. Sonic’s death is necessary to save the day and 2. Sonic likely still wants to fix Green Hill therefore he’s a threat.

Sonic became ghostly and everything appears to be stabilizing unless the Portal is the only one left in existence.

The fact that Sonic isn’t already in there, heavily implies that Nine still has the prism in The Grim. Nine isn’t attacking so if he still angry, it goes to show that Nine has a “I’ll leave you alone, if you leave me alone” mindset.

(How interesting. Despite Sonic’s Claims that It’ll be “Game over” if Nine gets to him, the end implies that it’s actually “Game On” if Nine gets Sonic. )

[a-fantastic-time]

Guide to a Fantastic Time!

Hello everyone! Thank you for coming, I hope we have a grand old time. First things first, this is a 18+ Rp area, so I hope you please respect that we should do just fine. Rps do not need to go down that route, I am 100% down for SFW rps, but I mainly prefer NSFW. Just pointing that out now. Also I will absolutely will not do anything with anyone under age, characters or people.

Muses! Unfortunately I do not have a set listing for muses. I actually love to play as many characters as I can from different fandoms, or OCs that I have sorta made up and never really put them to pen and paper. So feel free to ask me about them, and I will gladly talk your ear off. Note that I do play any gender, be it Male/Female/Herms.

Fandoms! I will do my best to get as many of my favorite Fandoms/interest listed down, I will be editing this when I can, so if you ever have an interest, or show, or game that you like and you do not see it on my list. Please feel free to ask me about it, and maybe I can add it to the list.

List of Interests-

She-Ra The Dragon Prince Glitch Tech Transformers (series, not movies) TMNT(series, not movies) Steven Universe Big Hero 6 RWBY Marvel(Comics/Shows) DC(Comics/Shows) Halo Pokémon Digimon Mortal kombat Mass Effect Dragon age Final Fantasy (Any game/series) Boku no hero UnderTale DeltaRune Sonic(Series) Ben 10 Diablo League of Legends Wakfu Miraculous Ladybug Bleach D&D Yu-Gi-Oh Gargoyles Aliens(Franchise, and in general) Kaiju(Monsters in general, not just the franchises) Gundam (any series) Hazbin Hotel Helluva Boss Murder Drones Starwars Critical Role Destiny Warframe Panty & Stocking Resident Evil(all series)

RULES: More may be added at a later time. But for now please read and follow.

I absolutely do not "one line", I have told many people this and sometimes I do make exceptions depending on the situation like if you are tired and its late, or you are not feeling up to rp. If you continue to one-line after I give you a warning, After that, I will simply not reply.

I do not in any shape or form condone rape. I am ok with rough sex or maybe being dominate with my partner, but I will not participate in rape of any kind sorry.

I will do my best to message you first as soon as possible. If you do not get a message from me right away, its most likely because I thought I did or I forgot. So please let me know if I have yet to talk to you yet. I do not treat anyone as a number.

If you have a problem with the way I RP, then please let me know. I have no problems changing things to make the rp more pleasant for both parties. Whether it be either grammar, or possibly with how you prefer actions or talking to be placed in either ** or "". Please just let me know, and I will see how I can change it to make it more pleasing to you.

I am completely fine with rough to kinky sex, but I hate abusive sex. Examples: forcing me to suck, ride, fuck you when I do not want too. cussing me out while we fuck for the sake of demeaning someone during it to make yourself seem superior or saying you can do that just because your Dom/alpha is bullshit. If you do this I will tell you to quit it, but if you whine about not being allowed to be yourself you will be blocked enough said.

I enjoy futas/shemales/dickgirls as much as everyone else. But if you plan to stick anything in me, you will get the same treatment in return. Its how I see its fair. I do not care of your "DOM" or "Your only comfortable with giving". With that said, I do have a preferences towards woman, and futas.

Sorry guys, not into you! Especially not into fembois, sissies, or traps. With that stated, didn't think I would have to emphasis this, but I am not into Men. I will play them, but will not ship with them. So to make it clear. I do not do M/M, nor Futa/Male. Trans is questionable, and needs to be discussed with me.

AGAIN!!! I PLAY MALE MUSES, I DO NOT RP WITH THEM!! if you see on my page M/F, it means I am playing male. It does not mean you get to be reply with a male muse and expect me to play what ever muse you think I am playing.

[valleyfthdolls]

As much as I loved Sonic 3, their depiction of Gerald as like, comically evil did not do it for me. I liked that they depicted his revenge plan as a mass murder-suicide bid at the end because that itself says a lot about Gerald's psyche, but beyond that, it just wasn't it imo. Gerald is like Shadow- he's not evil, he's angry. Also, they did so little with him narratively that keeping him dead all along would've worked fine if not better.

[meet-the-chef]

RED Chef Personal Info:

Full name is Akari Tanaka

Any pronouns, but prefers he/him most of the time

26-28 (older than Scout but younger than Sniper)

Born in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan

Birthday is on June 31

BLU Chef Personal Info:

Full name is Aoki Aojima

Any pronouns, but prefers he/him most of the time

26-28 (older than Scout but younger than Sniper)

Born in the Ryūkyū Islands, Japan

Birthday is on May 24

(None of the chefs are clones, however, Akari and Aoki are half-siblings, fact that neither of them are aware of yet)

About:

Chef is one of the newest and most weird members of Team Fortress.

His roles are quite simple: He cooks, but also provides assistance as a full-time mercenary during matches, making him the tenth class of the team and also a potentially dangerous individual with sociopathic traits. He is obsessed with sushi, the only kind of dish he is able to make due to a generational curse that forbids him from cooking literally anything else.

Not all of chef story is known by his team, but his personal files state that:

Apparently he got brainwashed by the Japanese government as a child and forcefully trained to be a ninja, living most of his life under the service of politicians and high profile people as a living weapon until one day when he accidentally got back his free will, proceeding to murder his superiors so he could flee to America and follow his new dream.

Chef is currently banned from Japan and highly wanted over the crimes of mass murder, mass poisoning, manslaughter, shoplifting, terrorism, throwing bubblegum on the street, accidentally breaking a light pole and more. Same reason why Miss Pauling has asked her to keep a low profile in the meantime.

His dream is to become a famous celebrity chef, have his own cooking show and open his own restaurant, a dream kinda difficult when the only thing you are able to make is sushi and also need to keep constantly a low profile for the crimes you committed in the past.

Load-out:

Main: Suhijiki knifes, which he can use both as a melee weapon or throw at enemies, the only disadvantage is that he can only throw 4 knives per load, but the chances of a critical are high and they make a lot of damage anyways.

Secondary: Smoke Impact bombs made of wasabi, the damage they make is ridiculously low (-3 hp), but the special thing about these bombs is that they liberate a cloud of green smoke that can last around 10-15 seconds and make it very difficult to see anything through them, ideal for dealing with snipers.

Third: Bento Box full of sushi, Its actual role pretty much similar to the sandvich, you can throw or give sushi to your allies so they recover partially their health, the healing obviously isn't as high as a medi-kit or a medigun, but it comes handy to help your Medic not do the work all by himself.

Ability: Besides their loadouts, Chef's unique ability is that he can make up to 3 "super-sonic jumps" with each one taking around 8 seconds to load (think about it like Tracer's teleportation from Overwatch), in other words, he can jump almost immediately to locations near him in a short range due to his training as a ninja.

Fun facts:

Chef's best friend is the Scout, usually with the ones that are on his same team.

The reason why their eyes are an intense color like red or blue unlike the rest of the people is because it's the way on which their generational curse takes form.

Chef can sleep standing up, do not ask her though because she looks creepy as hell when doing it.

His hobbies include calligraphy, meditating, fishing, and obviously cooking.

He is un-familiarized with some western concepts due to the time he spent brainwashed as a ninja, like yogurt, Christmas, modern medicine, etc.

Her thoughts on the gravel wars are pretty much neutral, he doesn't enjoy the idea of having to kill under someone's orders again, but the pay is more than decent so he doesn't complain.

From what is known, Chef's entire family is dead, but after a few DNA test and studies, it was discovered that perhaps... Someone might still remain alive.

[moomingitz]

I really don't see what's so special about Helen from Sonic X. When I see her and fans say how she should have been protagonist instead of Chris all I think of is the character of Zoe from MLB and how she was used as stand-in for the show's creator to shit all over the character he hated. I don't want a repeat of Zoe no thank you.

You mean a character that would only exist in a story purely to serve as a replacement for a character that a lazy hack writer makes abundantly loud and clear that they're biased against and actively hate, and when suggested to just write 'said character better they make up every excuse not to as if the character is sentient and will stop them if they try? A character who doesn't really have any actual character flaws beyond just not believing in themselves enough or something and being so shy which is so endearing and kawaii UWU and don't you just want to protecc, because they're just too nice and timid, complete with having the most excessively cute and harmless looking character design you can think of? Like the Sonic franchise isn't already saturated with the Nicey-Nice Timid Moe Girl archetype.

And if the character the writer hates/is biased against is still present in the story, then the writer will beat the audience over the head by reminding them how evil and irredeemable they are, unlike the perfect little angel Messiah who can do no wrong and can't be corrupted. Whether it's through the writer doubling down on portraying the character they hate as cartoonishly evil to the point of flanderization, or they have their Messiah be the only one who will even tolerate them because they're just that pure of heart. Remember, neglected children with shitty parents are worse than terrorists or mass murderers, who don't deserve any empathy, and should be viewed and treated with less dignity than them. And don't you dare pin even a grain of blame on the shitty parents who messed up their child in the first place. They're just poor misunderstood adults who are just being held back by their little selfish demon child they chose to bring into the world! 😢 They shouldn't be held accountable for any of their shitty parenting, or lack of it. The abused or neglected child should have just sucked it up and dealt with it better, like the perfect little victim the writer certainly doesn't favor more.

A character that for whatever potential they legitimately have ends up undermining it by being used as a weapon against a character that a petty writer doesn't like, where their reasons for thinking they would make a better main character/protagonist pretty much boils down to them being 'unproblematic' or, "At least it's not the character I dislike!" As if there's something remarkable or special about a protagonist being nice. Complete with making unfair comparisons between two completely different life circumstances, downplaying the hated character's own problems or trauma to the point where I would unironically say it falls into victim blaming.

If that's what you're getting at, then yeah. Definitely.

But unlike Chloe, Chris wasn't a bully type character(hell he wasn't even a "mean" character, and Nelson and Lindsey weren't the biggest pieces of shit to ever exist(but they're still shitty parents with no business having kids). But still, when you actually look at Chris and Chloe's circumstances and upbringing(or again, lack of it), their actions make perfect sense.

Oh, but favortism towards certain characters to the point of not even hiding their biases in their writing decisions, to the point of being outwardly spiteful and mean spirited about it, is perfectly okay when they do it! They don't need to practice what they preach.