#so that was 15+ years ago

[corvidaerook]

I'm trying to piece together my Rook's age + Viago's age + when Viago took him in + where Eight Little Talons fits in and man none of these numbers play nice with each other at all.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

i've managed to redownload an old comfort game called plant tycoon, where the objective of the game is to crosspollinate rarer and more interesting plants and sell them to be able to buy nicer gear for even rarer plants and maybe catch a few bugs with my net

so the issue

the issue is that I have the cross-pollination chart in a tab on another screen so I can see what my options are but

i guess I have

i guess i have a breeding tab now

[dreamyluigi]

METAL BROTHAAAAAA

[parisoonic]

He saw a bird and got distracted your Honour.

[letoscrawls]

Losing my mind because I was looking at old wips and found these headshots of Arya and Nasuada from the Inheritance cycle that I made THREE years ago. I feel like my art in 2022 was peak and I really need to bring back that vibe omg. I swear I could not make these again today my style dumbed down sm

anyways where's my eragon fam at

no no i'm serious if you read these books you're legally obliged to tell me exactly who was your favorite character and why. and if it's not eragon well.... we are going to have some problems (jk please i'm begging let me know)

[blossoms-phan]

many people are afraid to be real lovers. dan and phil are not

[aquanutart]

[charmac]

[nocek]

they unionized 😱

(bigger version of first panel without speech bubbles is here as a treat ;)

[peevishpants]

Cece Spring/Summer '23 Couture at Hateno Fashion Week #totk

[babyangelsdnp]

every time i see an old 2009 dnp interaction im like lol that’s so embarrassing for them but i actually want what they have so bad it’s stupid. can somebody please yearn for me the way these bitches yearned in 09. let’s fall in love so publicly we make it everyone else’s problem in the years to come when our fans look through the archives of our old interactions after we’ve built a social media empire together.

[darkxsoulzyx]

I do like my username still, and it has a near and dear place in my heart,,,,

But sometimes,,,, sometimes I remember that people have to *pronounce* it and then it falls apart from there LMAOOOOO

[bruciemilf]

Peter B admitting to Miles that the non stop tragedies and losses shaping their stories are hard, harsh, and , knowing they can do something about it, cruel even. Then saying the GOOD aspects essentially outshine them. But that's not true. That's a classic toxic positivity line, used to justify shitty, unequal politics. " But at least we have this one good thing" WE CAN HAVE THAT GOOD THING AND NOTHING ELSE. WE AREN'T MADE TO BE IN PAIN, AND PAIN SHOULDN'T MAKE A HERO.

What Miguel doesn't understand is they don't owe the world suffering.

[insertsomthinawesome]

Happy FFXV 8th Anniversary Art compilation (2/2)!! Once again inspired by this Lovely Post which enabled me I'm realizing as of this second post that I'm living back in like, 2022 when the post limit was 10 xD BUT YA KNOW WHAT i'm okay with that HAHAHAHA I'm so freaking proud of that first image? Its rare that I manage to actually draw all the available dynamics I want to, the fact that I managed it (despite as you can see, not finishing the shading HAHA) is wild and really cool to me. The forehead kiss was from a Comfortember I never finished! (or honestly got that far in HAHAHA i had two images) And in the middle, the Ignis and Gladio are from different years (2023 for Ignis and 2021 for Gladio) when I tried to draw on their birthdays, but Ran out of steam. Also i'm still so proud of that Prompto comic SLDKFJLKJASDFLSDFDS

[No Romance Included] Here's a link to post Number 1 if anybody wants to see that!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

When you try to Manipulate and Manwhore yourself out of a situation, and end up a Malewife.

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[sage-nebula]

Anyone who has followed me for any length of time knows that my favorite animated Sonic show is easily Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. This is not only because of nostalgia (though that does play a part), or because of the heavy focus on Sonic & Tails and the delightful goon squad they face (though those two things also play a part), but because I think that there are very interesting concepts in the show if you choose to dig deeper than it asks (or even expects) you to, and I love crunching on them.

Now, there are multiple concepts like this that I could talk about. One which I've brought up before is how AoStH is one of the few adaptations to really point out the realities of Sonic and Tails being homeless children, such as an episode where Sonic mentions that they've missed meals over the past few days. Another is how the healthy brotherly relationship of Sonic & Tails is directly foiled against the toxic brotherly relationship of Scratch, Grounder, & occasionally Coconuts (along with Robotnik being the latter three's abusive father). Digging into the foils and parallels between them all says interesting things about their characters.

But the reason I decided to open up this window and make this post is because I was just thinking about my favorite episode of the show, "High Stakes Sonic." I'm sure there are many who would think that my favorite episode would be "Tails' New Home" or one similarly focused more strongly on Sonic & Tails as brothers, but nope, it's "High Stakes Sonic." And this is my favorite episode because of the fascinating thing it says about Sonic's character, at least in this adaptation.

So, for those who don't know, "High Stakes Sonic" is how AoStH adapted the Casino Night Zone level into the show. The basic summary is that Robotnik owns Casino Night Zone, and is using it to drive mobian citizens into gambling-debt induced slavery so they build a monument to him (that looks like a sphinx, albeit of his face). Sonic and Tails find out about this, and decide to save the mobians from their fate by beating the rigged casino. As a result, Robotnik has the operator of his casino (a literal shark, representing either a card or loan shark) kidnap Tails in order to force Sonic to participate in a rigged bet: he has to race Grounder, with the mobians voting on who they think will win. When they obviously vote for Sonic, he'll throw the race and lose on purpose, selling them into slavery. And if he doesn't do this, then Tails -- being held in a location unknown to Sonic -- will be killed. (They don't outright use the word "killed," but that's the implication.)

Now, obviously, the episode ends with Sonic figuring out partway through the race where Tails is being held, rescuing him, and then rushing back to win the race to save the mobians. (Who Robotnik captures into slavery anyway, because obviously, so Sonic then has to go and save them for real.) But the happy ending of the episode isn't what has held my fascination for over a decade now. No, Sonic's reaction to the bet is what has held my fascination.

Because here's the thing: he agrees to the terms.

He's not happy about it, obviously. He's downright furious when he learns that Robotnik's henchman has kidnapped Tails and is holding him in some secondary location, and he gives a thinly veiled death threat of his own to said henchman if even a hair is harmed on Tails' head. But he still agrees to it. He agrees to purposely throw a race, knowing that doing so will consign hundreds of people into slavery, all so that he can save Tails. And again, he's not happy about it -- he's furious when he first learns, and he has slumped shoulders and a despaired look when the mobians ask him why he's not even trying to win the race when it kicks off and he has to walk the track. But he still agrees with it. He still goes along with it.

And I think this is fascinating, because it's a level of selfishness that often isn't shown in heroes like Sonic. Sure, we know that Sonic has a "my own way no matter what" attitude, and this is a demonstration of that, in that he's doing what he wants even if it wouldn't be seen as the morally right thing to do (given that he's sacrificing hundreds for the sake of one, even if that one is a child even younger than he is). But in most cases (in the games or other adaptations), Sonic deciding to do his own thing is usually for the benefit of others, and doesn't really harm people who aren't villains, at least not directly and certainly not in large groups. For instance, in the recent Riders arc in the IDW Comics, Sonic agreed to align with Eggman and become the Phantom Rider to disrupt the races so that he could figure out what was going on with Clean Sweep Inc. and how he and his friends had their gear sabotaged. But he didn't attack anyone, he risked his cover to save those he could when they did fall into danger, and he was trying to stop the villains. He did what he wanted regardless of what others would think of him, but his actions were still, overall, altruistic.

But in "High Stakes Sonic," that really isn't the case. Yes, he is doing this to save Tails' life; but not only is he sacrificing a hundred people to do so, but he's doing it not for Tails' sake, really, but for his own. Yes, Tails would die, and in the moment of death that would suck for Tails. But Sonic is the one who would be left behind. Sonic is the one who would lose the only family he has, his little brother and best friend, all in one fell swoop. And Sonic would rather sacrifice a hundred people to slavery than experience that.

One could argue that Sonic planned to rescue them later, when Tails was safe. And you know, he probably would. But he was still wracked with guilt in the moment. Because even if he rescued them later, he's still selling them into slavery and misery now. This is still a choice that he is making, to put his own needs and wants (having his little brother back) over the needs of these innocent people. (And they are innocent, because gambling is an addiction and they are being exploited.) And it's not like he makes this choice impulsively; he makes it over and over again as he goes through with throwing the race, even as they ask him why he's doing it with fear and despair in their own voices. He makes his decision and sticks to it, and only changes course when Grounder lets slip where Tails is being held.

And what does that tell us? That tells us that he would make the same choice again. Because even when he is faced with the direct consequences of making this choice (the mobians asking him why he's doing this to them), unable to distance himself from them at all, he sticks to it. It tears him apart, wracks him with guilt, but he does it anyway. And if he does it anyway, even when he is unable to avoid or pretend those consequences don't exist, that makes he would do it again, and again, and again.

There is a game known as Tales of Xillia 2 that had the tagline (paraphrased), "Will you sacrifice the world for the sake of a girl?" And setting aside the fact that Tails is a boy (except in -- I think it was the Latin America dub of AoStH that made him a girl), that's the question that is asked of Sonic in "High Stakes Sonic." And the answer is yes. Yes, Sonic -- in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, at least -- would sacrifice the world to save Tails. It would leave him guilt-ridden, but he would still do it, because to him the alternative is still worse.

One could argue that Sonic wasn't presented with the choice of Tails vs. the whole entire world. But I think that a hundred or so innocent lives is enough to get the point across. AoStH!Sonic, if faced with the trolley problem where Tails is on one track and five innocent mobians are on the other -- if he was faced with that, and there was no possible way for him to save all six, would choose to put the trolley on the track with the five mobians. He wouldn't be happy about it, it would eat him alive for the rest of his life, but he would do it. He would still do it.

And I think that this is just a fascinating trait for a heroic main character to have, especially in media for children. What does it tell us about Sonic's past, that he's this desperate to keep his one family and best friend alive and safe at all costs? (Literally, all costs.) What does it tell us about him, as a person, that yes he devotes his life to fighting Robotnik and yes he wants to save as many people as possible (and usually that's everyone), but he's willing to let them all burn if the cost is Tails? And what does it say that we're never shown if Tails ever learns of this, if Tails was ever made aware of the fact that Sonic was purposefully throwing the race to sacrifice the other mobians, all so that Tails himself would be safe? If we're never given any indication that Sonic told Tails about any of it? (Possibly because that would mean admitting it out loud, and Sonic can't deal with that part of himself, and would rather just leave it in the past where he feels it belongs?)

It's so crunchy, especially for a show that leans so heavily on the slapstick comedy, that doesn't ask nor expect you to take it seriously and dig deeper into it. Generally, it isn't that deep, but sometimes it is, or it can be. And this episode, and what it said about Sonic's character, is one that I've always come back to for that reason.