#sonic loves nature and he will die being surrounded by it i know this in my heart

[twentytwoarts]

the sky with stars so bright

[shadofiredragon]

Legends Never Die

{ AAAAND Chapter 7! Right after chapter 6 like I promised. Special thank you again to one of my best friends in the world @000marie198. If you like this fanfic and anything else Sonic, TMNT and/or dragon related, then you’ll love her blog! Please go check her out! }

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Part 1 ~ Immortal Escape

Chapter 7 - Heart of a Hero

Silver inhaled deeply. The air felt cool, refreshing. A deep sense of peace filled his heart as he walked ever deeper into the expansive, white landscape.

It didn't occur to him to wonder where he was, or what he was doing there. He was simply content to exist. So exist he did.

A strange sound rippled into the silence and his ear twitched towards it automatically. His head followed the motion, curiosity pulling him towards the source of the noise.

He proceeded forward. Was he even walking? Or was he just floating in this vast expanse of nothingness?

Curious to know the answer he looked down at his feet and was shocked to see a pair of boots covering the traditionally bare appendages. They were beautiful too, black, and teal, and polished. He'd never seen them before in his life and yet their presence felt natural, as if he'd worn them since birth.

A sparkle of gold and his eyes flew to his hands. He let out a short gasp at the soft, clean gloves pulled over his hands, their centers displaying his cyan marks with blatant pride. Even more startling than the brazenly displayed marks were the shining golden cuffs that seemed to keep his spotless gloves locked in place. He turned his wrists, eyeing the cuffs with fascination. A cyan line, etched into the middle of the cuff, glowed warmly at him, matching the marks emblazoned into the gloves.

Another noise, this time terrible and mind bending, screeched through the void. Silver covered his sensitive ears, grimacing in pain and praying that the glass-shattering sound would stop.

When it did he opened his eyes to find that his white surroundings had changed to pitch black, the darkness threatening to swallow him whole.

He lifted his eyes to look upon the only light that was dimly cast upon him and felt his body seize, freezing in place.

A colossal creature, with bone-like wings extending from its back, loomed in front of him. Its hulking frame took up most of the black space surrounding it and Silver felt as though the creature was literally swallowing up reality itself.

The massive creature reared, extending its wings and casting eerie shadows around Silver's tiny form. Its head opened and its maw released another mind-tearing shriek as a separate, sun-shaped part of its back extended outwards, adding the monster's horrifying mass.

Silver could do nothing but stare, terrified and trembling at the massive figure threatening to swallow up his very life essence.

"Okay!"

The voice snapped Silver from his terror and he jerked around to see a blinding gold light that he somehow knew was a person. The figure was indistinguishable, the golden glow from his body (the voice sounded male) so bright that Silver had to shade his eyes with his hand.

"It's all you, S———!"

Wait... Was the voice talking to him?

"Understood."

A second voice?

Silver whirled around and found, on his other side, a second figure, once again indiscernible through the golden glow surrounding him. The only difference was that this person's light was paler than the other's, a lighter shade of the intense gold that the other figure bore.

"Silver, it's your turn!"

The second voice... how did the second voice know his name?

Silver glanced down at himself, shocked to find that his body was also radiating a brilliant light, with his being an even lighter shade of gold than even the second figure's.

What was happening? What was all this?

He felt himself begin to panic, but then a calming presence from the very center of his being flooded into his mind. It was warm and inviting, whispering to him in encouragement and giving him strength. What was this thing? It wasn't his curse. He could still feel that part of himself flowing through his body, growing stronger from the alien warmth.

'What are you?' He wondered to it.

It didn't answer. Instead, the unknown energy that burned under his skin grew and expanded inside of him until he felt every part of himself being filled with its wonderful warmth.

He'd never felt so awake, so alert, so... Alive.

The constant buzz in his mind had become a powerful hum, harmonious with the life-giving energy burning within him. The warmth's presence brushed against his consciousness and he naturally reached for it, joy and courage spilling into his heart.

Silver pressed his mind into the warmth, trying to draw closer to the whispers inside of that ever burning energy.

'Please tell me what you are.'

A pause. Then, as quickly as the warmth had invaded his body, a cold chill spread inside his chest, poisoning the air in his lungs and making him feel both suddenly weakened and nauseous. The warmth swallowed itself, becoming dark and chilling. Silver nearly choked at the sudden sucking feeling that opened a cavern inside his chest. The sensation crashed into him like a tidal wave, desperation clawing like icy claws inside of his heart.

Within all of this, a whisper, like the most primal of urges, echoed inside his mind.

'Help.'

~•~•~•~

Silver shot up with a choked gasp, grasping at his heaving chest while the cold ache continued to stab into him. His heart was still painfully dark. Painfully empty.

His head hurt, but he barely recognized it over the overwhelming emptiness eating away at his lungs. Eyes wide open, the only thing he could see was darkness.

Cold. Cold. Why was everything so cold..?

He slammed his eyes shut, grinding his teeth and clutching the soft fur of his chest, using the sensation to ground himself into reality. The world felt off kilter, fuzzy and disorienting.

Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream...

His mental mantra calmed his beating heart and his mind slowly shifted into awareness, receiving signals from his body and concluding that he was sitting back in his bed. The air was warm, stiff with the scent of fire and sweat. His tongue was thick and he could feel how his quills had prickled.

He was awake. This was the real world.

Silver let out a heavy exhale, relieved. The coldness in his chest had begun to subside, the overwhelming emptiness receding into an unsettling feeling that something was missing.

But that was normal for him, and he had learned to ignore it over the years.

A throb pressed against the inside of his skull and Silver leaned forward with a groan, one hand pressing against his aching head. A quick glance over his surroundings betrayed no sign of an episode.

Maybe it was simply the dream that had given him the headache. It did happen sometimes. At least the headache was already going away.

Taking a few more breaths he slowly stretched out, relaxing his muscles and forcing himself to let go of the already fading dream. Dreams like that came and went for him. Nothing too strange about it.

At least, he never thought so.

Abelle had often tried to probe into the inner workings of his subconscious through his dreams. He didn't often remember much about them, but if he did, she'd always try to figure out why he had so many vivid recollections. After all, for the first few minutes after waking up, Silver couldn't always tell whether he was still dreaming or if the dreams were actually his reality.

Silver rubbed his eyes, trying not to think about the other times he'd woken up crying, screaming or with that horrible emptiness wrenching his chest. Those were worse experiences. But if he was asked later why he woke up like that, he wouldn't remember. Sometimes all he could remember was the terrible feeling of dread, fear, loneliness, or desperation that would linger even as the images of the dream faded.

Already the dream he'd just had was beginning to disappear into the blackness of his mind, dissipating like a veil of mist on a sunny day.

He sighed, pushing down the empty longing in his heart that had been reawakened through his overactive subconscious.

He looked up at his light source wearily, noting that the fire had not gone out as he'd previously feared from within his mind's pitch blackness but had only begun to wane, growing dimmer with every wavering flicker.

He stumbled to his feet, one hand still rubbing a sleepy eye while he trudged to the little pot. Dropping to a crouch, he rummaged for some small strips of wood and newspaper, tenderly feeding it to the tiny flame.

Tending to the fire and hearing its happy crackles helped him wake up more. Slowly, the weariness left him and he began to search his surroundings.

He wondered what time it was and how long he'd actually been asleep. Part of him hoped it was still dark out so he could go back to sleep.

Usually the other half that longed for social interaction would protest against his natural want for more rest and solitude. But today, logic leaned in favor of hoping it was still dark out. If Abelle wasn't going to be able to play or meet up at all, then going outside wouldn't be enjoyable anyway. It would be no use.

Scooting backwards on his tail he reached out and pulled away the tarp. Faded daylight streamed inside of the shelter and Silver craned his neck to look outside, as if trying to confirm that the dim sunlight was actually real.

After a couple seconds he pulled the tarp back in place, sighing heavily as he turned back to the tiny fire in its pot.

He poked at the flame with a thin stick.

"What do you think? Should I go out today? Or stay inside?"

The flame flickered but otherwise remained impassive.

He looked to his left, eyes landing on a canteen hanging from a pipe in the ceiling. He knew he should drink more water than he actually did, especially in the heat, but he just never felt thirsty. It worked perfectly, since he hated having to go fill up at the water hole anyway. Too many of the kids went there, some of them just because they had nothing better to do.

And those were the worst kind to come across.

Reaching out, he leaned as far as he could until the canteen rested in his hand. Unhooking its strap from its hanging place he pulled it to himself, opening the top and shaking the bottle warily.

A light sloshing sound at the very bottom of the canteen. Almost empty.

Did he really need water?

Yes. Yes he did. The dream had left his mouth feeling dry, and his tongue swollen.

Sighing, he brought the bottle to his lips, tipping it back until all that was left of the lukewarm liquid was poured into his mouth.

His parched mouth was instantly appeased, the thickness of his tongue relieved by the smooth liquid.

If only the hole in his chest would be appeased so easily.

Letting the last droplets of water empty from the canteen, he wiped his mouth on his arm, trying to ignore the slow feeling of dread and regret of having drunk the last of his water.

He'd needed it. And he could use a walk anyway.

Heaving himself back to his feet, he recapped the canteen and took the few steps to the shard of mirror where he'd left his attire. He wrapped his feet first, pulling the wrapping tight so it supported and protected the delicate appendages from any potential damage. Then his hands. Again, tight and secure. The last thing he needed was for the wraps to fall off while he was out in public.

Satisfied with his work, he pulled the hood over his head, rolling his shoulders under its comforting weight.

Tossing a couple last splinters of wood into the fire, he grabbed the canteen and headed out.

The air felt noticeably cooler, and Silver glanced up to see dark clouds shrouding the sun's normally harsh light and casting the world in ashen grey. He tipped his nose up. A slight breeze tickled it and he made a face.

Great. Rain was literally the last thing he needed.

Holding the canteen close to his chest, he squeezed through the narrow alley and out into the Mire streets. Working his way through the maze of alleys came naturally to him. Every side rode, shortcut and dark alley was familiar. If you could navigate the maze-like walkways of the back alleys, then you could handle the main roads. At least, that's what he told himself.

He'd usually avoid any wider roads or streets, since they tended to accumulate businesses and, in turn, busyness. Mobians would loiter about, some with nothing better to do and bored enough to heckle with any poor stranger dumb enough to make eye contact. But Silver was small and weird enough that a teenager or young adult might actually find it entertaining to bother him in any circumstance.

His tiny legs hurried their pace, his mind urging them to go faster, what with the ominous clouds looming overhead.

After cutting through multiple trash-filled alleys and winding streets, he finally reached his area's water hole. The streets opened into a littered square, making the place feel dirty and unkempt. In the center of the square was an old pipe with a long handle attached to the back. Moss spotted the cobblestones underneath the pipe's spigot, growing in the cracks between bricks, and speckles of blue mold grew in the nooks and crannies of the pipe's metal. To anyone else outside the Mire, just the thought of getting water from such a dirty place would be enough to make them gag. But to Silver, this was the golden fountain of life.

Silver glanced around the square, staying within the protection of a shadowed alley, and noted the lack of traffic.

On normal days, humans and Mobians alike would be ambling through the square. Some looking for simple conversation, and others waiting in line for water. He'd always found the socialization in this place to be more peaceful and soothing than in other places of the Mire. And even though he never talked to anyone himself, it was pleasant to listen to others chatting amongst themselves as if the world they lived in wasn't as horribly bleak as it actually was.

But today? There were hardly any people at all. One person bundled in rags was tucked inside a nearby building's doorway, and by his posture Silver assumed he was asleep. A second person hurried to the water hole, cranked the screechy handle, collected the water in his bowl, and hurried back away.

Silver glanced up at the clouds. It was probably the rain that kept people at home.

Oh well. Better for him.

He eased out into the square, uncapping his canteen as he approached the water hole. Darting up to the metal contraption, he rested his hand on the handle, ready to pull its stiff arm up, when his ear twitched.

"Please! I just wanted water!"

His sharp hearing strained from under the hood. It sounded like a kid. The pitch of his voice indicated that he might've been Silver's age, yet his voice sounded stuffy, like he had a cold.

"Yeah? And so did Mike."

Silver's stomach dropped, and his grip tightened on the handle.

"I said I was sorry!" The kid's voice sobbed.

Silver's eyes pressed shut, the logical part of his mind, run by fear and experience, trying hard to block out the voices.

It's not your problem.

"'Sorry' won't cut it, pipsqueak."

The voices were coming from somewhere behind him. Maybe a side road? If they hadn't noticed him, he could catch them off-guard..

No- leave things be. You don't know what'll happen.

A thud followed by a cry of pain.

"Please! I-I can get him more water!"

Maybe if he just intervened. At least to give the other kid time to run away and hide.

It's safer to stay out of it.

There was a snarl followed by a cruel laugh, not belonging to the first voice, and a small whimper.

"It was an accident!"

Silver couldn't take it any more. His instincts screamed against it, but he couldn't ignore the pulling on his heart. The innate urge to help was too strong, a feeling that billowed through his chest and into his limbs. A desperate ache that spun his body around and moved his feet, almost against his will, towards the sound.

It wasn't long before the culprits of the noise came into view. Three older Mobian children were standing in front of one smaller weasel sprawled on the ground. His tail was tucked close to his body and his lean figure curled into a tight ball. But without anything to protect him, he was still vulnerable to wound and injury. Specifically a tin can that had been aggressively kicked by an orange feline.

Silver's heart lurched, anger kindled inside of him and his face hardened, his feet quickly closing the distance between the bullies and the weasel on the ground.

"Hey!" Silver shouted, instantly drawing the three larger kids' attention, "Leave him alone!"

The largest of the three, a jackal with ashen fur and toxic green eyes, snorted.

"Or what? What're you gonna do, tiny?"

Silver froze in place, suddenly feeling much smaller than he had just moments before. The courage was fleeing his chest as quickly as it had come and he wilted beneath those hateful green eyes.

"I- I-" His eyes darted between the older, rougher, and no doubt stronger kids, but then landed on the weasel. The boy's scared amber eyes connected with Silver's, full of fear and the tiniest glimmer of hope.

Silver felt a bit of his courage come back, enough to straighten his posture and return the jackal's stare.

"I-I'll do something- you won't like."

Of course he was bluffing. Though the electric buzzing in the back of his mind stirred slightly to his elevated heart rate, it still remained within the confines of his mind. Not that he'd want another episode like yesterday's.

A dingo, the smallest of the three bullies with a nasty snaggle tooth, chortled at him.

"Aw I'm so scarwed," he mocked in a baby voice.

"This isn't your problem, pipsqueak," the jackal growled, ignoring his comrade's tease and taking an intimidating step forward, his hands flexing to show off his dark claws. "Just run away like a good little boy and don't stick your nose where it don't..."

The Jackal paused, his brow furrowing as he looked more closely at the hooded child in front of him.

"Wait a second..." His face lit up and he let out a laugh, "This is that little white freak!"

The other two looked at him in surprise, before smiling in recognition, their sharp fangs glistening even in the dimmed light of a cloudy day.

"The same kid that left during the storytelling yesterday?" The dingo questioned. Rhetorically, Silver assumed.

"Sure is," the orange cat grinned making Silver want to run away and hide in a small, dark burrow.

The Jackal's eyes grabbed at Silver's attention, and he found he couldn't look away.

"He left because his curse started acting up. Weak genetics can't keep his freaky, glowy hands from going off. Isn't that right?"

Silver winced. He couldn't help it.

"You can't even keep your stupid curse from embarrassing yourself! What could you possibly do to stop us? Huh?"

He didn't know why he cared. He shouldn't. These three were just a bunch of bullies. He shouldn't listen to what they have to say. It didn't matter.

Instead, he should be thinking about other things. Like how their attention was focused on him, not the weasel boy.

The other two bullies guffawed, amused by their leader's mocking words. But the weasel stayed where he was, a single glance from Silver betraying no sign of disgust. Shock and surprise were probably better words for the emotion in the weasel's eyes.

Silver forced the raw ache in his heart out of his mind. The bullies were still distracted and Silver took the opportunity to subtly gesture to the open road past them.

The weasel blinked, glanced over his shoulder down the empty street, and then back at Silver, fearful.

Gently, Silver mouthed, 'run'.

The weasel nodded and with trembling, terrified effort, gradually got back to his feet. Silver's gaze had locked back onto the bullies, who had slowly worked their way closer to him. Their eyes sparkled with smug delight.

Silver's quills bristled.

This wasn't good.

"Ya know what I think the problem is? I think freak here forgot where his place is." The Jackal sneered, pounding a fist into his palm expectantly. "Maybe he needs a little reminder."

Silver's heart jumped into his throat. The Jackal was still out of arm's reach in front of him but his two friends had stalked forward, flanking him on each side. If he didn't act soon, he'd be completely surrounded.

One quick glance and he saw the weasel, watching him, only a few steps away from the Jackal. His whole body was tight, ready to spring like a taut coil.

This was it.

Silver's lungs filled with air.

"RUN!" The moment the scream left his throat, he turned tail and bolted away, hoping the weasel had done the same.

He could hear the bullies shouting in surprise, then in frustration. Having two different targets was making them hesitate, giving both Silver and the weasel more time to escape.

The jackal growled out some sort of command but Silver had already ducked into a branching alley, their voices muffled behind brick walls.

Adrenaline raced through his veins. Who would they go after? The other kid? Or him?

He didn't dare stop and wait around to find out.

Already his lungs burned, and his legs ached. His skinny and malnourished body cried out against the sudden physical exertion. Maybe, if they weren't following him, he could at least slow down and catch his breath.

This small hope of relief was quickly chased away by the sound of shouting coming from behind him.

His heart jumped into his throat and he nearly tripped on his own feet. He shouldn't have been surprised, they always came after him. Of course they would. He was slow, small, and weak. But this acceptance did little to calm the dread rising inside of him.

The voices grew closer, angry and cursing.

"Little rat-!"

His ears twitched wildly, catching the sounds of heavy footsteps following behind him.

He took a right, hoping to lose them in the maze of alleys. It was a foolish hope. Two canines and a feline against a little hoglet? Yeah right. Silver didn't stand a chance.

"I see him!"

The declaration sent a jolt of terror through his body and he cried out, tears wetting his wide eyes.

"Get him!”

The three bullies gave chase, energy renewed by the closeness of their victim.

Silver felt his despair and fear literally debilitating him. The adrenaline pumping into his body should have given him an extra speed boost, but instead fought against him, turning his muscles into concrete. His movements ground to an agonizing crawl. Every step was taken in slow motion. No matter how desperately he willed himself to go faster, how terrified he was of getting caught, he still wasn't fast enough.

"Come on! He's not even that fast!"

The horrible realization that he was going to get caught hit him like a bucket of ice and his heart nearly stopped from the wave of panic that tackled into his body.

Only, it wasn't just the panic.

"Gotcha!"

A rough squeal broke from his throat as he was knocked to the ground by someone much bigger than him. Hands grabbed his arms, pinning them to the ground, and Silver felt a heavy weight on his back pressing his stomach and face into the dirty alley concrete.

Silver wiggled and twisted, managing to find enough space under his attacker to possibly escape, but it was quickly corrected, and Silver found himself thoroughly trapped.

"You're not getting away that easy, freak," the voice hissed into his ear. Silver recognized it as the dingo's.

"Nice catch!"

Silver's head craned around to see the Jackal and the cat jogging up to them, heaving heavy breaths.

"P-please!" Silver gasped. His lungs hadn't had much time to recover, leaving him as breathless as a landed fish.

The jackal grinned wickedly.

"Oh? What's this? The little runt's begging now?"

Silver pinched his eyes shut, wishing he had the freedom to curl up into a ball and scream until help came. Except, he couldn't. And no one would want to help him even if he could.

"Pick him up," the jackal demanded and the dingo obliged, grabbing Silver by his skinny arms and hauling him to his feet.

He squeaked in terror as the Jackal's face burst into his vision, so close Silver could feel his ragged breaths on his muzzle. His nose twitched, developing an itch.

"Ya know- I'd almost feel bad for you," the Jackal said, his bitter breath making Silver's muzzle wrinkle, "If you weren't so pathetic."

In one swift motion the jackal delivered a punch to Silver's gut. The blow had him doubling over, coughing and gasping for air.

The static inside Silver's head intensified.

"Hey look at this!" The dingo laughed, tugging on Silver's arms and forcing him to stand upright, "Freak's glowing again!"

The cat sneered, approaching Silver with flexed claws.

Silver shied from him on instinct, but was unable to pull away from the studious gazes directed to his throbbing hands.

The dingo barked out a laugh, "Cool! Free light show!"

The cat scoffed, "A useless trait. Messed up little creep. Maybe he's part glow-worm, and that's why he does that."

"N-no- I-" Silver's protest was interrupted by a sharp pain slicing across his cheek.

He yelped, cowering from the cat who was standing over him with hackles raised.

"Shut up, you freak. You're the only one to blame for this mess. We'll teach you to keep your nose out of our business."

Dread and fear was crushing Silver's lungs as the three older kids shared gleeful looks before directing their hungry gazes on him.

They took one step towards him, hands ready to hurt.

Silver could feel his curse pulsing inside his own body, fizzling just below the surface. He tried to focus it, a last ditch effort to protect himself from the abuse that was surely going to come. But despite his efforts, the glow never grew, and the usually uncontrollable energy remained impassive.

Without any way to defend himself, there was nothing else but to give up and accept his fate.

All Silver could do now was close his eyes, and hope that it would all be over soon.

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[cutegirlmayra]

If you are taking fan fiction requests, can you write a story about Sonic will be injured when protecting Amy, Amy will take care of him. She will calm him down. Thank you. 😄✌️

I’d be happy to oblige ^^

PROMPTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN! Don’t send any in till I post the grand announcement, okay?

(Thank you to @aadoodledoodle (x) For her Preview Image to this prompt! It’s perfect for this story, you’re the best! -If you’d like to have your art featured as a Preview Image, please feel free to submit your artwork with a link for your credit! I’m excited to have more images to use for my prompts, and to show off your amazing artworks to the world!)

Prompt:

‘This doesn’t look so good…’

Sonic squinted his eye open, trying to feel the heavy breath pump his blood through him for added strength. He held one hand tightly on his bent knee, trying to remain standing.

‘Doesn’t feel so hot either…’

Metal Sonic had set the whole place up to blow, but with such a deep cut in Sonic’s chest, there was no way he could run through the pain and find it in time. ‘If I knew where it was… that might help, but at this point…’

Metal Sonic readied himself, sharpening his blade-fingers before a loud cry sounded out.

“Wha..? Amy?!” Sonic fell back, watching her fall from the top of the broken pillars and slam into Metal Sonic. “Ah!” he looked at his large gash across his chest, and quickly tried to hide it with his hands, smiling weakly as to disguise the true pain he was going through.

“Right on time.” He tried to sound fine, coming up with his best charming tone and line, but sadly… he still looked pretty beat up.

‘How do I play this off so she won’t be worried about me? I got to keep my composure…’

Amy continued to fight but Metal Sonic just flew up into the air, showing the ticking clock in his hand,… the bomb would go off soon.

He flew off, as Amy sighed and quickly dropped her hammer to rush to Sonic.

“Sonic! I’m so glad I found you, what happened?!”

“N-n…” He wanted to say ‘nothing’ but didn’t feel like lying. ‘A small fib wouldn’t hurt.’ he decided instead. “Never you mind me, where’s that bomb?”

“Bomb?!” Amy’s eyes widened, “Y-you let me deal with that, just get out of here, okay? Here,…” Gently, a little too sweetly, she began to loop her arms around his waist.

Sonic twitched, worried that if he made a sound, it would call out his bluffing. “Th-that’s okay, I’ll be fine, Amy… I can help-” before he could finish, Amy lifted him up.

The pain caught his breath and left his mouth open, no sound escaped but his eyes shook as his spine seemed to carry the weight of his body up like an escalator straight to his brain. He couldn’t handle being on his feet.

For the first few seconds, he almost lost consciousness, and his full weight fell into Amy.

“S-Sonic!” Her eyes now scanned his legs, wondering why he couldn’t stand. Her grip became tight in her panic at his sudden limpness and finally–

“Ahh!” He let out a sharp cry.

“What?!” Amy draped him over her shoulder, lightly bending her knees to let him lean on her as he regained his consciousness.

‘I… I can’t walk.’ Sonic’s eyes shook in fear. ‘A…Amy…’ he put his arms, quivering, around her.

Amy felt the sudden tight pull and straightened out, ‘What’s happening? Is he okay? Why can’t he stand..?’ she looked to the side of herself, trying to see his face but couldn’t.

She saw that his hands had moved from his chest and realized that he was severely injured.

“Sonic…” Her breath almost felt like a warm plea. Don’t die… Don’t die…

“Sonic, look at me!” She suddenly found a strength course through her, unimaginably blocking out her own fear.

He slightly lifted his head.

“You’re going to be alright! I’ve got to get you out of here. If this place blows, it blows! Nothing can destroy a Chaos Emerald, right? It’ll just be flung in the explosion.” She knew they needed that last emerald… but if Sonic couldn’t even stand, how was he to become Super Sonic?

Then again, if he was Super Sonic, he might rapidly heal…

‘I’ve gotta found that emerald… It’s Sonic’s best chance.’ She took a deep breath and began to sling Sonic over her, carrying him like a soldier in war.

Sonic’s pride was abolished in that instant, but it was replaced by an even deeper feeling of comfort.

As his vision blurred, the pain jumping with the bounce of her footfalls, he was quickly reminded of a small but tough little girl he once met so many years ago.

“I can help too! I-If you want me too… One day, Sonic! I’ll repay you ten-fold! Then you’ll have no choice but to marry me!”

He found himself falling deeper into that memory, “Amy…” his eyes drooped, he was losing too much blood. “You’ve grown up… so fast…” he closed his eyes, his head falling down and his body turning into a ragdoll in Amy’s grip.

“Hang on, Sonic!” Amy called back, moving through the debris as the whole building began to shake as though experiencing an earthquake.

Outside, Metal Sonic had his arms folded. He was standing on a sturdy tree branch and checked the clock in his hand. 00:30… seconds away from destroying his arch-rival.

“Sonic,… Sonic, wake up!” the frantic voice had Sonic’s eyes blink open. “Oh good! I’m glad you’re back, at least… somewhat.” She tapped his face, and he could tell by the night sky that only a little time had passed. The building was still there… Amy was still there… Amy…

He loopily blinked his eyes, trying to focus them, but he couldn’t exactly see her. There were many versions of her, and his hands weakly moved up to try and feel where she really was.

“Amy… Amy, where are we..?”

“Outside the base.” Immediately, as though reflex, Amy gripped his grasping hands to let him know she was there. “I promised, didn’t I? For all the times you’ve helped me out, I would help you too.”

“Heh…” He smiled, “I remember… It’s weird, I haven’t seen you like this… not sense… sense…” his eyes began to get tried again. “I swear, I’m not this unreliable.”

She chuckled through her tears, placing his hand against her cheek, “You’re not anything but perfect, Sonic. Stop that. You’re hurt. There’s nothing you could have done about it.”

“I’m reckless, Amy… But what about Metal? The Emerald..?” He felt some strength, pushing up off the ground somewhat.

“You don’t know?” Amy blinked, amazed.

“Know… what?” he suddenly looked to his arm.

Then his body…

The gash…

He was glowing bright yellow.

Amy giggled through her exhaustion, lowering her head before smiling up at him again, “You’re in your super form, Sonic… I got the emerald.”

The building exploded.

In an effort to regain himself, and return the favor, Sonic instinctively wrapped his arms around Amy.

A burst of Chaos energy shielded them from the blast, but as the light faded and the embers flared, Amy was shocked to see that he was still holding her firmly, his face serious and angled in a powerful dedication to keep her safe.

“S…Sonic! That was-!” she was about to dote on him but noticed his super form fading. “Sonic… Sonic, wait-!” She felt his arms fall and his body sway to the side. “No!!!” she grabbed him, shaking him as he returned to his normal form.

The gash was healed, but even with Chaos Energy, his natural strength couldn’t control how much chaos energy he used. “Sonic!!!”

Metal Sonic landed behind the two, watching the scene as he revved up his engine.

Amy looked behind her, holding Sonic still and glaring to Metal Sonic. “Don’t you have a heart!?” her mercy cry didn’t faze him.

He threw back his hand, ready for a showdown.

“I won’t let you hurt him…” She held him tighter, “You’re gonna have to get through me first!”

Without hesitating, Metal Sonic dashed forward and went to strike right through her to get to Sonic…

But Sonic smirked, opening his eyes.

“Thank you… for still letting me feel like your hero, Amy.” He pushed her forcefully aside to the ground as he swung a fist to Metal Sonic.

“Ahh! Sonic! No!” Amy rolled to the ground…

—

The last thing Sonic remembered was having a sharp pain in his chest again but also seeing Metal Sonic’s head fly off his body at his own impact.

His fist hurt… but not as badly as the numbing from all over his body at the chest pain.

His heart didn’t seem to beat as fast as usual.

Sonic also now felt surrounded in water… strange.

He blinked his eyes open, but the water blurred his vision and stung a little, so he tried to bat his arms about to get out, but his head bumped the top of the machine.

“H…Huh?” His voice sounded muffled. He tried to touch his mouth but something was in it’s way… a life mask?

He breathed in and out, even though he was surrounded by water, oxygen was still being pumped through him, and his muzzle was completely dry under the mask.

He put his hands to the clear cylinder and looked around. ‘Where am I? This doesn’t look like Tails’s place…’ then he looked down.

Surprise, Surprise…

Sonic smiled.

Amy was on her knees, her hands bundled together and up in a prayer with her eyes diligently closed in respect for whatever higher power she may have been begging with.

He felt–not pain–but adoration for her then. He knocked lightly on the clear glass, “Amy… Amy, look up.”

When she heard the banging, she wiped some tears from her eyes and gaped at him. “Sonic! You’re awake!”

He winked and gave her a thumbs-up, “I’m okay.”

She jumped to her feet and ran to the glass, placing her own hands up to match where his were, “They said you might not make it, but I knew, I knew you would!”

That feeling sank deeper in Sonic, soaring a relaxing feeling throughout his weary body… Amy… She really had grown up to be an amazing young woman.

He was listening to her, but most of his attention was on her lively eyes, glossy from previous worry, but filled with absolute, undeniable love in them.

“I waited here for you. So did Tails and Knuckles, Cream and Vanilla, we all were right here waiting for you! They said it might take days or weeks, but it’s only been a day and a night! I knew you’d pull through!”

He lightly moved his head to the edge of the glass, ‘Amy…’ her words weren’t the only thing comforting him, but her actions were healing him too.

She was smiling. She believed in him. Her whole body was jittery at his presence and she was moving from foot to foot, eager to embrace him, he supposed.

She turned her head to embrace the glass, “I’m glad… I’m so glad I could help you. You saved me again though… I guess my debt is never to be repaid enough.” she wiggled her head against the glass, as though nuzzling her affections through it to reach his heart. As her head swayed around, rubbing the glass, Sonic noted the wagging tail and grinned even more.

He then leaned his head further against the glass, “So you’re alright, then? My heroine?”

She suddenly blinked at the strange term and moved a little back, looking at him clearly now. “Your..?”

He gave her a kind look, “Well, you don’t think I’m not grateful, do you?”

“Oh!” she jumped right up, “No-no-no, of course not! B-but I’m usually the one who’s thanking you…”

“Nah, I always appreciate everything you do for me, Amy. Even if it’s a bit excessive, just seeing you happy and alive like this… it’s enough to make me want to say it too.” He beamed, bubbles coming out from the clear oxygen mask to spray around the healing water container he was currently bobbing in.

“Say… what again?” she tilted her head, blushing.

“Pfft! Oh no!” Sonic leaned away from the glass, “You’re really gonna ask me to say it again? No way!” he shook his head, before feeling a tinge of pain and playing it off, just rubbing his neck. “Ouch… that’s cruel.” he pretended he was acting as though Amy’s antics were painful to bear, but it only made Amy giggle and smile brighter.

“Hey, is that a rosy cheek?” He tapped where her cheeks were, “I’d better watch out, if I keep making you smile like this, your cheeks may hurt and forever be stained red!”

“Oh, you!” she patted the glass, “Shut up, shut up, shut up!!” she covered her face, turning her body back and forth like the lovesick girl he always knew.

“That easy, huh?” He muttered to himself, but he seemed to enjoy the exchange. “So? Metal me blasted?”

“Yep!” she hopped back from the glass.

This… made Sonic swim–to the best of his abilities–up against the glass again to see her. “And the Chaos Emeralds?”

“Safely back on Angel Island!” she swayed her body, still swooning at his eyes on her.

“…And I can see that your rascal nature hasn’t changed.” he flirted slightly, seeing her tail more vividly now that she was turning away from him. “Tell me, which moves faster? My feet or your tail..?”

“AH!” she slapped her hands to her butt to block the view of her tail and turned around with a face brighter than a tomato, “Scoundrel!” she teased, “Quit looking there!!!”

It hurt to laugh, but also felt so… so good!

“Hahaha! Never change, Amy!” he felt his body sink down a little in the cylinder before Amy stomped right back up to him.

“You need to be careful, you silly hedgehog… Hmph! The Doctors here at G.U.N say that you’ll need to make a full recovery before-”

“I think I want to see it up close…” He smirked, his eyes darting up to her in a playful threat.

“…H-HUH!?” She fidgeted a moment before realizing he was about to-…

“S-Sonic! H-hold on a second! This isn’t-! Ahhh!!!” She at first tried to persuade him otherwise but seeing him angle his feet to the back of the cylinder… she knew his mind was already made up. She waved her arms out and then finally bolted as he spin dashed through the observation glass, dehooking himself from the machine, and spinning the oxygen mask off of himself.

Water sprayed everywhere as Amy jumped out of the way, before looking up through her hands to see him stretch out his body, fighting through any lingering pain and getting his muscles back into shape.

“Now then…” after a few more stretches, he playfully smiled to her, “How should I repay my darling hero..?”

“You’re… You’re teasing me and I don’t like it!” she shook her legs out and got up on her feet, trying to scurry away, “I knew you would beat everyone’s expectations but I didn’t think you’d beat out my own!” she admitted, still blushing as Sonic laughed.

‘She thinks I’m serious, doesn’t she?’ the innocence of that notion left Sonic utterly moved by her affections for him. He gripped his heart in a teasing fashion, ‘She’s still as cute as ever, but I’m sorry, Amy. It’s only an act.’ He sped off in a different direction…

However, while searching for a way out, spooking some G.U.N soldiers along the way, he noticed the whole place was a maze…

When finding Amy, he would nip at her dress, as though still giving her the illusion he was after her… Though she safe-guarded her tail every time, he thought it endearing that she really thought he was after her…

‘I’ll have to remember that…’ Sonic mused to himself, ‘How to make Amy really happy after saving my life? Give the girl a scare for a bit. After all,’ he flicked his nose, feeling something delightful stir in his heart.

‘I do owe her an unrepayable debt.’

[shedreamsofstars]

Cataclysm of the Heart - Epilogue

She’d waited so long to hear those words fall from his perfect lips. She’d never even stopped to consider that they might not be sincere.

They were going to die. He’d been sure of it. It had only been meant as a comfort. Something to keep a smile on her face as their end loomed.

Neither of them had counted on being rescued.

Start from the beginning 

… xxx …

Sonic rushed around the small clearing, his vision as clear as crystal as he rushed around in what others might have considered to be dizzying circles. Every now and then he glanced out towards the underbrush of overgrown trees, looking out for any signs of movement beyond.

"Why aren't they here yet?" he whined, coming to stop with a childish pout as he turned towards Amy. "It's almost noon."

The pink hedgehog sat perched delicately on a rock in the middle of the clearing. An amused smile played about her lips but otherwise she looked completely unbothered by her boyfriend's ridiculous antics. "It's still early Sonic."

"It's not that early," he countered, breaking into a run again. He sped up until he was a nothing but a blue blur, relishing the feel of the wind on his skin, the ground pounding beneath his feet.

"You know Sonic, most people like to be on time for things," Amy said, rolling her eyes endearingly. She startled as he came to an abrupt stop just inches away from her, almost toppling off the rock if not for a pair of strong arms circling her waist.

Sonic leaned in, closing the remaining distance between them as he brushed his nose against hers. "I'm not most people."

"I guess you're not," Amy replied, trailing a hand along his jaw.

Sonic's brows dipped into a frown. "You guess? That doesn't sound very reassuring Ames."

Amy bit her bottom lip but before she could say anything more, the sound of shuffling drew Sonic's attention behind him. He turned to see the leaves shifting precariously at the edge of the clearing. The pink hedgehog stood up to join him, her warm fingers entangling with his as they both waited to see who would emerge first.

"Tails," Sonic shouted happily, his face breaking into a grin at his younger brother's arrival.

"Hey Sonic and Amy," the fox said with a small wave. Beside him, Amy smiled happily as she returned the gesture, giving Sonic's hand a gentle squeeze as she did so.

"Have you found them?" someone called out in the distance.

"Yeah, I found them. They're over here!" Tails called over his shoulder as he headed towards the two hedgehogs. As his brother came to a stop in front of him, Sonic couldn't help but marvel at what a difference a year could make.

Sonic had always been older and taller than Tails, but sometime during the past year he'd lost the second advantage. Tails now stood a whole head taller than him and the blue hedgehog couldn't help but feel a rush of sadness that his little brother wasn't so little anymore.

Behind the boy, the leaves shifted again and Sonic's grin only widened as Knuckles, Rouge and Cream appeared.

"It's been a while, huh," Tails said softly, drawing Sonic's attention away from the others by holding out his hand and producing two single roses. "A whole year actually. Three hundred and sixty-five days and still …" The boy's eyes glistened as he clenched his fist around the stem of the flowers tightly. "I … I miss you every god damned day."

"Tails," Cream called out gently, hesitating to join him. Tails shook his head and took a deep breath. He leaned down and placed the two roses on the ground by Amy's feet, clenching his jaw as he stood and took a step back.

Sonic took a shuddery breath as his little brother covered his face with his hands, tears escaping through his fingers. He needed to be stronger than this. He had to be, he reminded himself as Cream abandoned the others in favour of pulling Tails into a tight embrace and placing a comforting kiss against his shoulder.

"When did that happen?" Sonic said curiously, doing everything he could to keep his spirits up and ignore the lump in his throat. He hissed in pain as Amy shoved her elbow into his side, rubbing the tender skin with a wounded expression.

"That was always going to happen," she whispered, a proud glow lighting up her eyes as Tails held onto the younger rabbit tightly. "You were just moving too fast to see it." Sonic spared his girl a single glance before looking away with a non-committal shrug. Knowing Amy, she was about half a second away from tears and if she started crying, then he would be a goner too.

Whilst Cream held Tails, Knuckles took the opportunity to step forwards. He crouched down on the ground, his face blank and stoic as he placed his own roses down beside the ones from Tails. "Everyone's always thinking of you both. All the time. I just …" The echidna shook his head, working his jaw as he tried to find the words he needed. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this."

He bowed his head deeply, hiding his face from view as he stood and stepped away. Amy made a noise of protest and Sonic stepped closer to her to remind her he was there if she needed him. He wanted to do more, wanted to hold her and tell her everything was fine. But if the past year had taught him anything, it was that the girl he loved needed time to feel her emotions in the moment.

They would have an eternity to comfort each other later.

"Alright kiddos," Rouge said as she walked towards the centre of the clearing. "I don't think sappy words are much use to anyone, so I'll keep this short." She glanced at the flowers in her hands, seeming to consider something before proceeding to rip off the petals.

Knuckles watched on in alarm but made no move to stop the bat as she collected all the petals in her palms and flung the empty stems into the trees surrounding them.

"I hate that I even have to say this, but I hope that you're both happy wherever you are." As she spoke, Rouge upturned her hands and the petals showered to the ground at Sonic and Amy's feet, studding the dirt like bright gems.

"Cream," the bat said, swiping at her eyes hastily. The rabbit turned at her name, reaching for Tails' hand as she led him back to the centre of the clearing beside Rouge. Knuckles joined them, the four of them linking hands in solidarity.

"We don't really know what became of Eggman, but we do know that thanks to the both of you, we'll be ready if he ever shows his face again. We all miss you terribly … Mr Sonic, Miss Amy, we hope you two like it out here."

Their friends had outdone themselves. The clearing they'd found for them was wild and free like Sonic and natural and effortlessly beautiful like Amy. It was perfect in every way that mattered.

"We do," Sonic replied, knowing that his friends couldn't hear him but needing to say it regardless. He smiled at Amy, using his thumb to swipe away the stray tears that had found their way onto her cheeks with a frown.

"I'm pretty sure we promised no crying," he whispered lightly, earning a playful shove from the girl beside him as their friends began to say their goodbyes and take their leave. Tails was at the rear of the group, and as he reached the edge of the clearing he paused and took a deep breath.

He turned back towards the single large rock that stood sentry in the middle of the clearing, the look of anguish and hurt in his clear blue eyes a mirror to the pain in Sonic's chest. He stared helplessly at his brother, and for a moment Sonic was convinced that Tails could see him standing there, that there was a flicker of recognition in his gaze.

But then the fox blinked, and the moment passed. Tails turned away and headed after the others, leaving Sonic with an all-encompassing sinking feeling in his heart, a reminder of why he'd stopped visiting.

With a heavy sigh, Sonic turned around to face the stone Amy had been perched on earlier. He fell to his knees, reaching out to run his fingers against the engraving of their names etched into the rock.

It hurt too much to see his brother live his life without him. It hurt too much to have to leave every time. It hurt too much to watch his brother slowly build a life without him. To watch him forget him, little by little.

"It's crazy, isn't it …" Amy said, dropping to the ground beside him. "The world turns, and life goes on whether or not we're around to live it or not."

Sonic nodded solemnly. Mobius had grieved for its fallen heroes, but it too would move on. To a day when the two hedgehogs who lost their lives for the world were nothing but a distant memory. But their friends, they would never let the world fall to ruin and that thought alone gave Sonic the peace he needed.

Both he and Amy were silent for a time, letting the other feel their pain alone. They would share it later and lessen the burden, but for now it was theirs alone to carry.

"Alright, that's enough sulking," Sonic said after a while, standing and nudging the pink hedgehog beside him. "We got to see our friends, so today is a good day." Amy nodded in agreement, but no matter how she tried to hide it, Sonic could still see the tell-tale sheen of tears in her eyes.

"I'm so happy they all came. I missed them so much."

"Me too. Although, I do kind of wish at least one of them had been considerate enough to bring chilli dogs."

"Sonic!" Amy cried, slightly scandalised by his blasé attitude.

"You know I'm kidding, and you love me for it," Sonic said with a cocky smirk before a sudden thought wiped it clean away. "Wait. You do love me … right?" he asked, sounding unsure.

A grin spread across the pink hedgehog's face.

"Why don't you catch me and find out?" she said, taking a teasing step backwards, an unfaltering smile on her face. She shrieked as Sonic threw himself at her, wrapping her up in his arms so quickly that she didn't have a hope of outrunning him.

"That's funny … I don't … see … you running … anywhere," he said between pressing kisses to any part of her he could reach. He paused as he reached her lips. "So … do you love me or not?"

"I've always loved you silly hedgehog, why would now be any different? But … do you love me?" she asked quietly, sounding almost as if she was afraid of the answer.

Sonic and Amy had been with one another this entire past year. Together they'd figured out the ins and outs of their new lives, the freedoms and restrictions. They were ghosts with heavy hearts and broken love in their souls, and it had taken some time, but they'd put each other back together piece by piece.

Yet over the course of the year, Amy had never once tried to define what they were to each other. They just were, and Sonic was a little surprised to only realise that fact now. Had she not mentioned it to keep from scaring him away when they were almost all they had left? The thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I think you already know the answer to that question," Sonic said pressing a quick kiss against her nose. "But in case there was still any doubt, then yes … you do still owe me that chilli dog date you promised me a year ago."

He chuckled at Amy's glare, dodging her half-hearted attack effortlessly by pulling her closer to him.

"Sonic? Please be serious for a second."

Sonic rested his hand against Amy's jaw, guiding her to look at him full on. Her face was unguarded and vulnerable, and the lost look in her eyes brought him back to the moment. "Alright fine. Ask me again."

Amy looked reluctant but asked again anyway. "Sonic, do you love me?"

He leaned forwards to brush back the hair from her face and meet her gaze head on. "Of course I do Amy. I don't think I could ever explain how much even if we had all the time in the world … which we kinda do actually. I love you Amy Rose. I will always love you."

Amy's eyes lit up at his words and the full force of her smile, the sheer joy it beheld, did him in. It was the type that shone like a beam of sunlight, caressing your soul until it knew no other equal. There was no resisting her, not anymore. He'd known it for quite some time now, but he still chuckled to himself wondering how he could ever have believed otherwise.

He might have been born touched by the gift of speed, but Amy was one force of nature he could never outrun, only grow into. Sonic let his lips fall into hers, his hands tangling in her quills as he let his kiss linger, long and sweet.

Alone, the two of them were powerful and constant, pushing and pulling at each other in their bid to come out on top.

But together?

Together they were cataclysmic.

... xxx ...

fin.

thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who read and supported this story! all of your kind words meant so much to me and i'm so grateful to have such wonderful people reading my work! i truly hope you enjoyed this finale. i rewrote the entire thing three times and i'm still not sure on it lol (don't you just love writers block?) i hope no one was too disappointed but like ... i had to go there. having them escape death a second time felt like too much of a cop out.

thank you once again and i hope you're all safe and happy. until next time guys!

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 195

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 46 - “Kawarino’s Heartless Scheme!” Date watched: 14 June 2020 Original air date: 6 January 2008 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/gXuIssO Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

It’s glowing so it must be important!

Christmas has come and gone, all latent feelings have been addressed, so it’s time to hunker down and find that last Pinky so the girls can help Coco, Nuts, and MIlk restore their home! But surely it can’t be that easy.... can it? Let’s dig in!

The Plot

The girls and their fairy friends all go to make their New Year’s shrine visit, where they wish for luck finding the last Pinky and restoring the Palmier Kingdom, although there’s some light squabbling between Nozomi and Milk about what they really wished for. Rin starts to discuss her own goals with Karen, but Nozomi and Milk’s fight interrupts them, while Komachi, Urara, and Nuts just look on in bemusement.

Notice how Milk immediately turns to Karen for help

Over in Nightmare, Bunbee is lamenting the defeat of all of his former colleagues to the board, and he contemplates turning in his letter of resignation. However, Kawarino appears and tears the letter up, before chasing Bunbee to the roof. With his back to the wall, Bunbee finally opens up about his concerns about Nightmare’s treatment of its employees, and Kawarino’s callousness and disregard for anyone. Kawarino retorts that he is only acting in Despariah’s wishes and then he blasts Bunbee off the roof, where he plummets to his (presumed) demise.

Die Hard (1988)

Later, at the park, Nozomi and the gang have gathered to try to find the final Pinky! They know it won’t be easy, but they put their hands together and promise to try their best! So naturally, the Pinky is sitting on Nozomi’s head.

it’s that easy

They quickly capture it, but their victory is short-lived as Bloody reveals he’s been watching on, and he turns the park into a mass of Kowaina arms, so the girls quickly transform. Dream is particularly intent on protecting the Pinky in her Pinky Catch, and the other girls surround her in order to defend her, but ultimately Bloody manages to capture her and attempts to barricade her off from the rest of the team. Undeterred, Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua all manage to overcome his obstacles and free their leader. Bloody finally transforms into his monster form, not willing to give up yet, and he renews his assault on the team, especially Dream, and he tries to subdue her with his sonic attacks. He’s caught off guard by a black Kowaina mask in his possession, but he refuses to use it, instead choosing to combine all the Kowaina arms into one colossal arm.

“Talk to the hand” indeed

Bloody demands they hand over the Dream Collet and the final Pinky, but Dream stands up and declares they won’t give him either, because this is the culmination of all their hard work and desires. They’re going to make their dream come true, and they won’t let him get in the way of that. Milk agrees with this, and jumps onto Dream’s arm so the team can perform Five Explosion. It destroys the Kowaina but Bloody manages to escape before it can get him, and the park returns to normal.

Back at Nightmare HQ, Bloody stumbles in, grumbling about how he’ll get the girls next time. Unfortunately, he won’t get a next time. He gets into an argument with Kawarino about his methods and the direction that Nightmare has been taken in, and lets slip that the girls now have the final Pinky. Hearing this, Kawarino tells Bloody that his services are no longer required, paralyzing him and placing a black mask on him as he sinks slowly into a literal pit of despair. Bloody uses his final breath to curse Kawarino.

Meanwhile, in Natts House, everyone is gathered around to watch the final Pinky transfer. Milk waxes poetic and Coco and Nuts are very eager. Rin, Urara, Komachi, and Karen watch intently when suddenly the door to the store opens. Coco goes to check it out and gets ambushed by Kawarino. “Coco” walks back inside, acting a bit strange, and demanding to see the last Pinky. Nozomi goes ahead and transfers it into the Dream Collet (gotta plug that toy one last time, even though the Rose Pact is only weeks away). It glows to signify its completion, and “Coco” asks to see the completed Dream Collet. Despite some hesitancy from everyone else, Milk snatches it and hands it to him. He begins to smirk and Nuts demands to know who he really is. “Coco” reveals himself to be Kawarino, and thanks them all for being gullible enough to be tricked so many times before disappearing with the completed Dream Collet. Coco is shown outside in his fairy form, beaten up, and the girls stare on in shock while they try to process what’s just happened. The final shot is Milk, looking very anguished over the consequence of her actions.

The Analysis

This is a nearly perfect episode. It expertly pivots from the somber mood of the previous episode into a false sense of security, and then turns it right back into upheaval for the final run. It shows at last, in no uncertain terms, how far Nightmare has fallen from their supposed former greatness, how little they value their employees, how sadistic Kawarino is, and even how truly powerful Bloody is, even if ultimately it’s not enough to save him. There’s a bit of levity during the New Year’s wishes and the scene at the park, but it’s short-lived to make way for the pressing drama of the episode.

The character moments really sell this one for me. At the start, you have Rin and Karen starting to discuss their newly formed plans, and Nozomi and Milk’s squabble in the background. Milk immediately turns to Karen for support while Nozomi turns to Rin, which is reflective on all of their relationships with each other. We knew Rin and Nozomi were besties going in but it’s been enjoyable to watch Karen and Milk grow closer over the course of the show. Then there’s the scene in the park when they’re looking for the final Pinky. They have this moment where they’re hyping themselves up, and as they get ready to go, there’s the pinky just sitting on Nozomi’s head. The other girls can’t even believe it, they deny it for a minute, walk away, and do a double take. It’s not the absolute peak of comedy but it is just a really funny moment, and I’m here for it. It’s an important final bit of levity before things get serious and don’t stop being serious for the rest of the show.

just look at these goofs

The fight with Bloody is absolutely fantastic and it just keeps ramping up. He uses his usual tactic of trying to demotivate his opponent with his words, but he’s also bombarding them with the Kowaina arms. I have always loved how he creatively uses these, and I wish other generals were half as innovative with their monsters, but as far as I can recall, he’s the only character in the entire franchise that uses monsters like this, instead of conjuring up a single object. It’s just really creative: he captures Dream in a ball, builds a wall, has the arms attack from every direction. Eventually, when he’s overpowered, he transforms and starts flying around himself and using his sonic attack and continues to try to talk Dream into handing over the Pinky. He wards off attacks from three of the girls simultaneously and makes it look effortless, before Dream swoops in and kicks him in the back. It’s a really intense and impressive fight and I love seeing him give it his all.

There’s also a fun moment in the middle when Lemonade knocks his hat off accidentally, and decides to try it on. It turns out, Bloody is bald! It’s not exactly a normal vampire look but somehow, he reminds me of Nosferatu.

Call her Zatanna Zatara

The only thing I wish had been done better was Bloody’s defeat. When the kowaina arms convalesced into a giant hand, it never actually did anything before the girls defeated it. I wanted a display of the power Bloody was boasting about, and we didn’t get that. This was essentially his last stand, his substitute for turning into a giant himself, but we were denied the full depth of his plan. Was it just going to squash the girls? Was it supposed to be his shield while he launched more sonic attacks? It really just serves as a convenient large opponent for the team to perform Five Explosion on in lieu of a colossal, monstrous Bloody, and I wish they had come up with a more elegant solution for this. Maybe they could have performed Five Explosion directly on Bloody, and at the last minute he summons all the arms to protect himself or something. It’s an anticlimactic way to finish off an otherwise great threat in a fight that, to this point, had been steadily escalating.

Possibly the most satisfying thing about this episode is seeing Bunbee finally speak out against Kawarino’s practices. At this point, he really doesn’t have anything left to lose, and it’s not like he’s changing anybody’s minds, but just seeing him stand up for himself is refreshing. He’s always shown a bit more concern for his employees than anyone else at the company, trying hard to give Girinma multiple chances, and always uncomfortable when Kawarino steps in with the black masks (except the first one, it seems he didn’t know what they actually did at that point). I’m not saying he’s boss of the year, but he at least had some compassion, which is more than can be said for his superior, and he lets Kawarino know exactly how he feels. So good on him for finally standing up for himself and his now deceased employees.

Bloody also does not hold his tongue. He’s been more openly disdainful of Kawarino’s methods for a while, and now he really unloads by expressing how far Nightmare has fallen. He chews out the boss and says he doesn’t think Despariah would approve of his sacrificial methods, and absolutely refuses to sully his honor by wearing the black mask.

Of course, it doesn’t amount to anything, since neither Bunbee nor Bloody were able to change Kawarino’s mind, but it does cement this picture of Kawarino as someone who is willing to sacrifice anything and everything for Despariah, and that’s something to keep in mind as we enter the final arc.

The conclusion to the episode is absolutely chilling. Kawarino sucks Bloody into despair, and quickly takes the girls’ highest moment and turns it against them by disguising himself as Coco and convincing Milk to give him the Dream Collet. No, he doesn’t even just run in and steal it, he lets them hand it over to him, because he knows that will make them despair even more. It’s haunting and sadistic and shows the depths of Kawarino’s callousness and evil. What a fantastic, terrible cliffhanger to end on!

Next time, the girls travel to the world of Nightmare once again to try to reclaim the Dream Collet from Kawarino and Despariah before they use it for their own selfish gain, in the first part of the three-part finale. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

[randomisthefandom]

a list of my favorite funny shadowhunter chronicles quotes:

it’s the mortal cup jace, not the mortal toilet bowl.

“how was the seelie queen?” “same as usual.” “raging bitch, then?” “pretty much”

no, i’m a very naughty boy. i do all sorts of bad things. i kick kittens. i make rude gestures at nuns.

“what’s this?” “it’s a girl, alec. your sister isabelle is one.”

the clave has the collective intelligence of a pineapple.

i thought i’d lie on the floor and writhe in pain for awhile. it relaxes me.

that’s simon lewis, and he is my boyfriend. so if any of you think about trying to hurt him because he's a mundie or--may the angel have mercy on your soul--pursuing him romantically, i will come after you, i will hunt you down and i will crush you to powder.

i was going to watch project runway. it’s on next

never trust a duck.

nobody calls me ‘blondie’ and keeps their kneecaps.

meanwhile, i wanted to tell you that lately i’ve been cross-dressing. also, i’m sleeping with your mom. i thought you should know.

speaking of hope, did you see that shot alec got off with his bow? that’s my boyfriend.

i think she asked if she could touch my mango.

i was alive when the dead sea was just a lake that was feeling rather poorly.

usually i’m remarkably good natured. try me on a day that doesn’t end in y.

a warlock who looks like a gay sonic the hedge hog and dresses like the child catcher from chitty chitty bang bang.

hot faerie threesome. i can say i knew you when.

i’m pure at heart. it repels the dirt.

“and i don't know how to be smooth, sexy vampire simon for you, either!" “you were never that smooth, simon.”

not necessarily. i turn myself down occasionally just to keep it interesting.

it isn’t against the law to be an idiot.

first candy and flowers, then the apology letters, then the ravenous demon hoards- all in one day.

demon pox, oh demon pox. just how is it acquired? one must go down to the bad part of town until one is very tired. demon pox, oh demon pox, i had it all along—not the pox, you foolish blocks, i mean this very song— for i was right, and you were wrong!

"a...lord montgomery? you dated a member of the nobility? how am I ever going to compete with that?" "you’re lord montgomery, simon!”

“‘will. do you care more about the plan being enacted or about getting credit for it?” “that. the second one.”

i am a man and men do not consume pink beverages.

oh, i’m sorry. is there a different highway you’d like to die on? because we can arrange that.

the meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited like me.

but he hurt jules, so when we track him down, i am going to chop him up and feed him to my fish. well, i’m going to buy some. i’m going to buy goldfish and feed them blood until they acquire a taste for human flesh.

when i first arrived in london, i so quickly tired of being surrounded by so many people that it was only with great difficulty that i refrained from seizing the next unfortunate who crossed my path and committing violent acts upon their person.

i see you have decided to follow in the long herondale tradition of poor decision-making.

“so you just came here to torture me and talk about yourself?” “oh, simon, simon, simon. you may not remember, but that's kind of our thing.”

i’ve heard the word ‘fear’, i simply choose to believe it doesn’t apply to me.

“i’m trying to figure out how someone could live in a brothel for a month and not notice. you must be terribly dull-witted. if it helps at all, it seemed to be quite a high-class establishment. nicely furnished, fairly clean...” “sounds as if you've visited your fair share of brothels. making a study of them?” “more of a hobby.’”

“jesus!” “actually, it’s just me, although i’ve been told the resemblance is startling.”

nice, bah. he’s gorgeous. you should leave him here. i could hang hats on him and things.

that’s why when major bad asses greet each other in movies, they don’t say anything, they just nod. the nod means ‘I am a badass and I recognize that you, too, are a badass’, but they don’t say anything because they’re wolverine and magneto and it would mess up their vibe to explain.

i’m a werewolf not a golden retriever.

i’ll crash the wedding. i’ll jump out of the cake, but not in a sexy way. like, with grenades

did you ever think that in a past life alec was an old woman with ninety cats who was always yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off her lawn? because i do.

“have you got a spider anywhere?” “why would i have a spider? do i look like someone who would collect them?” “no offense, but you kind of do.”

unfortunately, we are all out of bitter revenge at the moment. so it’s either tea or nothing.

“i’m not gay. i’m not straight. i’m not interested.” “your sexuality is ‘not interested’?” “that’s right.”

just kissing? how quickly you dismiss our love.

you had to make a crazy jail friend didn’t you? you couldn’t just count ceiling tiles or tame a pet mouse like normal prisoners do?

just coffee. black like my soul.

magnus did not have enormous respect for the law, but if he was breaking it he wanted to look good doing it.

i don’t want to grow up, i want to be an angst ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.

“magnus, you were trying to flirt with your own plate.” “i’m a very open-minded sort of fellow!” “ragnor is not. when he found out that you were feeding us guinea pigs, he hit you over the head with your plate. it broke.” “so ended our love. ah, well. It would never have worked between me and the plate anyway.”

“when will says 'enterprising', he means 'morally deficient.” “no, I mean enterprising. when i mean morally deficient, i say, ‘now that's something i would have done.’”

never believe the bad guy is dead until you see a body. that just leads to unhappiness and surprise ambushes.

“i promise to charm the dickens out of him. i shall charm him with such force that when i am done, he will be left lying limply on the ground, trying to remember his own name.” “the man's eighty-nine. he may well have the problem anyway.”

i thought: classic jace. never makes a mess when a catastrophe will do.

“that’s not the spirit of the law, emma. remember? ‘the law is hard, but it is the law’” “i thought it was ‘the law is annoying, but it is also flexible.’”

“a little girl robbed you?” “actually she wasn’t a little girl at all, as it turns out, but a midget in a dress with a penchant for violence, who goes by the name of six-fingered nigel.”

“goodness. if you keep seeing six-fingered nigel like this, he'll expect you to declare your intentions."

you told us to leave you in the desert, because you planned to start a new life as a cactus.

your pretense does not fool me, gnome. my eye will be upon you.

of course, for a badass warrior, jace is kind of prissy.

good proverb. however, like most proverbs, it sounds wise and yet does not actually clarify anything.

let me just follow up by describing what a big mistake you would be making if you broke up with alec. the lightwoods are seriously hot people. some people say the herondales used to be hot, but think about it-not only do we outnumber them, but we took their last hottie and we made him ours. obviously, we won the victory.

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E06 - System Failure

There's no way the title doesn't refer to the mechanic princess. The way she appears hidden in shadows in the OP makes me wonder if she's going to turn out to be one of the "bad guys," at least initially. It's interesting that she looks threatening _before_ revealing herself to the camera smiling, if she were a traitor it'd be the other way around, right? Hm. Anyway, enough speculation, let's do this!

What's with this horror house atmosphere

Huh. Is the princess a recluse?

They are really setting her up as some weird mad scientist.

I wonder if she's hidden in shadows because the war against The Horde seems to have some "Nature vs Tech" elements, so she's working in something that could be associated to the enemy. Hm.

Oh, she's like Scorpia but for the good guys (at least I hope she's one of the good guys) Same "first impressions don't match their personality" vibes.

cursed screenshot makes me gag just to imagine that amount of hair in my mouth

I really like the Doc Ock but with hair idea.

And here's She-Ra's excuse to visit her.

Or not.

She... doesn't have a lot of danger awareness does she

That's a cool visual. I keep wondering about the tech / nature divide. It's not really just that, right? Bright Moon _has_ technology, it's just better integrated to their surroundings versus whatever the Horde is doing in the fright zone, and they _were_ looking for "First Ones" artifacts in the first episode.

Huh. That's more obscure than the other names. I was expecting something obvious derived from working with machines.

Okay, so she doesn't have a bad reputation because of what she does. I guess I can discard that theory.

I love getting an in-show explanation for where Bow gets his weapons.

Who _is_ Bow anyway? We know more about everyone else.

There's no way this episode is going to end without Bow saving the day using his sonic arrow.

Hey, confirmation that She-Ra's transformations take real time. Can't wait for an enemy to attack her while she's transforming.

Interesting. The change in the subtitles make me think this is not as important as it could be but both Bow and She-Ra are talking about She-Ra as someone external.

Considering everything we've seen from the First Ones (other than the sword) has been kinda techy, maybe She-Ra's powers can also be affected by whatever is infecting the robots? It'd give Bow a chance to shine, which seems to be where this episode is going with all the mocking.

Are those ears? An antenna?

For some reason now I'm wondering if we'll ever see Catra's birth family or at least people of her species.

A zombie episode and it's just episode 6!

* facepalm * I just got Entrapta's name.

Yup, zombie episode. Love it.

I regret waiting so long before watching this episode.

She-Ra being kind of a meat-head makes sense but Glimmer? But I guess She-Ra does tend to distract her.

...you can teleport.

I love this episode already, so many good faces.

Welp, that explains her appearance in the OP. * sigh *, all that theorizing to the trash.

I have to agree with Entrapta, I _love_ tiny food. Makes me feel like a giant.

Aw, is Bow going to show them the power of being just a normal dude with arrows?

OH MY GOD

Oh, so it _is_ considered tech.

oh, she _dumb_

and also a lot shorter than I expected

Welp. Is the sword going to turn evil no– oh wait, does this mean that She-Ra is going to turn evil with accompanying dark menacing outfit? If yes please do continue infecting that sword.

Red eyes and what almost looks like a fang! Not exactly an "evil costume" but it'll do.

Unless "weird old first ones technology somehow disables She-Ra" ends up being a recurring plot, this feels kinda important.

Wouldn't this "virus" give The Horde a way to defeat She-Ra or even turn her into a weapon? Imagine infecting She-Ra while she's at Bright Moon, everything that Adora has done to overcome everyone's distrust would vanish.

Aw, self-confidence~

...she really doesn't seem to care at all about other people, just her tech

Maybe it's doing the same thing the temple did when it detected intruders?

I guess this is her "trait," like learned helplessness was Perfuma's and apathy was Mermista's. Both of them overcame their trait a bit in their episodes, is Entrapta going to learn the value of life~?

I can't get used to her being so tiny. Also great line.

Drunk Adora is everything.

That's really sad. Did Entrapta's parents die in the war? That'd be a good explanation for her behavior.

Glimmer is the best friend anyone could have.

"Shiny!"

I do have to admire Entrapta's one track mind.

So many good Glimmer faces, I feel blessed.

Also I can't wait to watch how Entrapta somehow makes something even worse than killer robots with that sparkle of Glimmer's magic.

Is Bow going to save the day?

So much for being a helpless cook that couldn't possibly hurt a robot

Somehow they managed to make Bow look cool. Is there anything this show can't do?

I'm still curious about Bow though, once it seemed to be clear that this episode was going to be at least in part about him, I was hoping it give us at least some backstory or something beyond what we already knew.

And this is how the Bow fan club is born

What _is_ Entrapta magic power anyway? Is it only her hair? That seems limited versus Mermista being both a mermaid _and_ being able to control water, or Perfuma being able to control plants. I guess her being a genius could count but I wouldn't have expected the kitchen staff to go "eh, they are magic, they can handle it" if that was the case.

Also, the kitchen staff doesn't seem to care much for Entrapta, not even one exclamation of worry or anything. That makes her backstory even sadder.

No one has ever said that so happily before.

The gem is protecting itself? Is the "virus" some kind of AI then?

Aw, his faith in them feels refreshing.

Considering She-Ra's sword doesn't seem to need power, I doubt this is going to work. Being "first ones" tech and all that.

There you go

Computers and arson, Entrapta's two passions.

Oh, I thought her drunkenness was just residual damage from having been infected while being She-Ra but she still had it in her.

The fact that the tendrils seem to be receding into the sword instead of vanishing worries me a bit.

Narrator: She feels that way at some point in the next 30 episodes.

Wow, Glimmer really can't get enough of She-Ra.

She really is a comic book villain in the making. Can't wait for this to happen:

Interesting episode and new character! I didn't expect a princess to be so grey, considering everyone else seems to be very aligned to their respective sides. It wouldn't even surprise me if the real reason Entrapta joined the rebellion was to have an excuse to make and test her weapons.

With the hints of a tragic backstory, her isolation from even her staff and her obsession with her machines, Entrapta really seems to be heading the wrong path. But, would she join or help the Horde if it meant getting more answers about the First Ones? I guess it depends if the Horde was responsible for killing her parents.

She-Ra's sword (and She-Ra herself) getting infected was as full of possibilities as Entrapta's future. There's no way it doesn't come up again when it disabled her so badly. Is the Horde going to find out how to activate it? Is She-Ra going to attack her allies if it happens? Lots of fertile ground for interesting drama. The infection could also be related to whatever happened to the First Ones, maybe they caused their own demise by delving too deep into AI?

I'm a bit disappointed by Bow's plot this episode, not because it was bad but because I was expecting more depth. It didn't reveal anything new about his character, it just spelled it out. Maybe that's all Bow is but I hope it isn't. How did he meet Glimmer? Was he always so confident about his abilities vs having magic powers? I want answers!

Until next time!

[mobius-prime]

202. Sonic the Hedgehog #134

Uh oh, that cover page doesn't bode well…

Home: Epilogue (Say What You Will)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

Everyone please welcome our newest penciller, Jon Gray! I wouldn't normally go out of my way to announce a new artist, but Jon Gray has perhaps one of the most heavily stylized and recognizable art styles of any other artist for this comic. You'll see what I mean almost immediately once I start showing panels. Anyway, a lot of this issue is devoted to Sonic simply catching up with family and friends, now that the immediate danger to Knothole is over and he can fully relax. When he and the others get back to the village, he's sent to Dr. Quack for treatment of his shoulder, and while there Quack scans him and notices the implant the aliens gave him to understand all forms of speech. Apparently it's bonded permanently to his nervous system, and Sonic panics a bit when he hears this, accidentally agitating his injury… which causes him to actually swear.

It wouldn't even be a big deal as the panel is fairly humorous and cartoony, but this actually makes Sonic one of only five characters in the entire comic who ever swear, at least that we ever see. Monk is one, Espio is another a few issues from now, and the fourth and fifth we have yet to properly meet. Anyway, yes, Dr. Quack lost an eye during the war while Sonic was away, and he's back to being a regular doctor, despite us never actually having seen him as a frontline medic. Sonic exits the hospital and meets with his family and Sally plus the queen, who inform him that there's going to be a huge celebration tonight to welcome him back to the land of the living. They exit the hospital and part ways with Sally and her mother, and are immediately blinded by a multitude of camera flashes from a press mob, all clamoring to ask Sonic a million questions about his year away. Somehow they manage to extricate themselves and head home, where Sonic is happy to see his old room exactly as he left it, his parents sadly explaining that after they thought he was dead they couldn't bear to change anything. He flops into bed for a nap while his mother fixes dinner, and wakes up to see his favorite pup, greeting him at the foot of his bed.

Sonic rushes out to confront his parents on why they didn't tell him such an important detail as Muttski learning to speak while he was away, but then realizes that his alien implant must be what allows him to understand his dog. Wait, so does this mean that Sonic can now understand any ordinary animal's speech? This is an amazing superpower! I would kill to have my own version of that. Sonic explains something else that he learned during his journey that he just remembered. Apparently, as he broke Ceneca-9009 out of prison, he had asked her why she deroboticized every Robian except for Jules, and she explained that due to the nature of Jules' injuries before his roboticization, reversing the process would bring back the same state of his body at that moment in time and ultimately kill him. This would explain why it took so much longer for him to be returned than the others - clearly Ceneca-9009 tried for a while to find a way to deroboticize him without killing him, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After dinner, Sonic heads to Knothole's airstrip knowing he will find Tails there, and they take a moment to catch up one on one before the party. It's not purely a social visit, though - Sonic has some important news for Tails as well.

This kid has never known his own parents, remember. His father disappeared the same day he was born, and his mother followed shortly afterward. Even when everyone else was getting their roboticized family back, he never looked for his parents, never seemed to expect to see anybody. Now he knows that he has two living and loving parents on the other side of the galaxy, waiting for him - and one day they'll be able to reunite once more. Something to look forward to, eh?

That night, the entire village celebrates, with Mina and her backup band performing for the crowd amidst flashing, colorful lights. Sonic takes the chance to hang out with all his friends, especially Sally, with whom he's resumed his budding relationship as though he never left. The king interrupts the festivities for a brief moment after Mina's set concludes, with an important announcement for the populace.

Mina happily runs to Sonic to hug him (with Sally looking slightly jealous behind them), informing him that in the course of the war she'd completely lost her stage fright and become a veritable pop star, singing and performing to keep morale up. As she introduces him to her stage manager (and boyfriend, as he gruffly informs Sonic) Ash the Mongoose, Sally's parents look at her from the edges of the party, with her mother expressing some concern about leaving Sally in charge while they're gone due to her seemingly fragile emotional state, evidenced by how she reacted when she saw Sonic take a hit during the battle. However, King Max says that he trusts her, as Elias never wanted to be king while Sally was born and bred to be a ruler from birth. Sally, for her part, seems to be eager to speak with Sonic about something, but they keep finding themselves interrupted by the arrival of more friends, this time including Knuckles and the Chaotix. Knuckles explains more fully why he's here, that while Sonic was gone Eggman invaded and captured Angel Island and he and his crew have been forced to stay here for a while as a result, helping the king in the war effort.

Rotor arrives with a rocket, and while he sets it up he explains to Sonic that he's since retired from active duty on the front lines to focus on inventing and science back home. Honestly, I always got the impression that Rotor was at least several years older than the others - like in his mid-20s or so - but apparently no, he's like eighteen, so "retired" seems like a bit of a strange word to use in this instance. But eh, whatever - he shoots off the rocket and it lights the sky with a barrage of colorful fireworks, including a special one that changes shape, taking the form of Sonic and Sally kissing and holding each other. Seems a little gaudy if you ask me, but Sonic is pleased, as is the crowd. Sonic then congratulates Geoffrey and Hershey on their impromptu wedding, and they say they're leaving Knothole for a while, to go on a secret mission for the king which will also double as their honeymoon. Fair enough for two people who live for the life of a spy, I guess! Sonic then gets to chatting with Bunnie, and asks her why she and Antoine broke up and where he got the facial scar from.

Ouch. That's not the Antoine we know and love. I'm sure we'll get more answers later on, though. After one last interruption, from a reporter looking for a photo of the royal couple, Sally is finally able to pull Sonic aside onto the now-empty stage for a talk. She informs Sonic that since she'll be acting ruler while her parents are away, she wants Sonic to stay away from the fighting and rule at her side while they're gone, ultimately retiring himself from the life of a front-line fighter. Sonic is surprised at the request and begins to try to argue, but Sally suddenly snaps at him, saying that she doesn't want him risking his life anymore if they're going to be together. Her outburst gets the attention of everyone at the party, who are now staring at them up on stage. Sonic seems sad as Sally reminds him of how she already lost him once, but firmly sticks to his guns, telling her he simply can't stop fighting while they're in the middle of a war. And thus, we have our lead-in to perhaps one of the most infamous panels of the preboot.

And with that, Sally runs away sobbing, yelling that Eggman can have Sonic all to himself.

Now, I definitely have some things to say about The Slap and everything that surrounds it. The reaction of basically every fan I've ever seen is that this is totally out of character for Sally, and one hundred percent a result of bad and biased writing on the part of Karl Bollers. I both agree and disagree, to an extent. Let me defend my position. I do agree that this is out of character for Sally, and not at all like what the Sally we've always known from before Sonic's space adventure would act like. However, I don't think that this is necessarily a case of bad writing as a whole. See, grief will make people do strange things, things they would normally never do. Please keep in mind that Sally, at this point in time, is all of sixteen years old, and, on top of what you would expect from teen mood swings, is dealing with the immense pressure of being a princess, and being ruled over by her parents after eleven prior years of being mostly free to be herself. And then, to add to all of that, she lost her closest childhood friend just as they finally admitted their long-standing feelings for one another that they'd repressed their entire lives, and proceeded to watch him die in front of her eyes. After almost an entire year, he's made a miraculous comeback, only to appear to die once more, again in full view of Sally who was in no position to be able to help. She's had the voice of her parents in her ear for this past year telling her that she mustn't put herself into danger anymore as the kingdom's future ruler, and likely been estranged to some degree from the other Freedom Fighters as a result. Yes, this is not how Sally Acorn would act - but I think that's the point. A running theme in this arc is that given time, people change, and not always for the better - and that's ultimately exactly what we're seeing here.

Furthermore, all that aside, I also think that this works from a plot standpoint in general. Think what you will about "will they won't they" type plotlines, but they're popular for a reason - they create drama between characters. Normally I myself am not a fan of that type of dynamic, but I do think it works in Sonic and Sally's case just because they're such different people from each other, so opposite in personality in so many ways that I can definitely see them struggling to find a balance as they work through their teenage years and try to figure out where they'll ultimately stand with each other. I mean, think about it - it would be a bit bizarre if they just stayed together from here on out, never disagreeing or having difficulties resulting from Sonic's stay in space, and there were no more avenues to explore regarding romance and relationships. We can't just have a happy ending where Sonic returns from space, reintegrates right back into his social circle without any problems, and continues his engagement to Sally without a hitch. The story and the world simply wouldn't work properly that way - it would feel too sugar-coated, too easy. One of the things I've always loved about the story that's told in the Archie Sonic preboot is that nothing is ever truly okay - at its core, the story of the comic differs so greatly from the stories in the games and anime because it's the story of a war, and how the youth of this world react to living in one. Even when things look like they're going well, there's always something else, something that once again shatters the fragile stability that everyone has worked so hard to build. Having everything be hunky-dory once Sonic gets back just wouldn't fit the type of story that's being told.

So ultimately, as much as I know a large portion of the fandom disagrees with me, I don't have a problem with The Slap. I feel that taking everything that has happened in the story up till now into context, it makes sense for Sally to start breaking under pressure like this, and leaves the story open to further character interaction and conflict that we otherwise wouldn't get to see if they stayed together. (Keep in mind as well that I am a big fan of Sonic and Sally as a ship, so this isn't coming from a selfish place of not wanting to see them together or something - it's more a case of me thinking it wouldn't make sense yet.) Ultimate I think there much better (or worse…?) examples of instances in the comic where characters behave out of character due to bad writing. Such as…

Mobius 25 Years Later: In Transit

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

…this abomination of a story arc! Seriously, this is one instance where I totally agree with the rest of the fandom on how bad it is. Granted, today's story isn't as egregious as some of the ones in the past or other ones to come, but even so. We open right where we left off, with Knuckles and Rotor discussing serious matters of world annihilation and such while two horny teenagers listen in. They accidentally cause a twig to snap, and Knuckles whirls around to find the source of the noise.

Now, see, this is actually an interesting plot point! Science has advanced enough in this world where if one loses an eye, they could easily have it replaced through cloning, and yet Knuckles has willingly chosen to forego such an option in favor of keeping his cybernetic eye instead. And surprisingly, I actually find this totally in character for him. I think Knuckles, in any canon, if he lost an eye, would likely choose to keep a cybernetic replacement in favor of cloning himself another organic eye - if not for the enhanced vision it could give him, then as a point of pride, perhaps feeling that he should live with the cybernetics as a reminder of past mistakes and failures that can spur him to keep moving forward. But we don't get to focus on the eye! Instead, Knuckles takes his leave of Rotor for now and heads to Haven Two, which is (obviously) the replacement for Haven after it was destroyed in the past. He greets his fellow Guardians and asks them a favor - to fire up the ol' hidden camera system across the island so he can follow the two teens who were spying on him and Rotor in the park. Apparently, he promised Julie-Su in the past that he would never spy on family, so he's never made much use of Haven's surveillance system, and this is something that Spectre feels he's being foolish about given who Julie-Su's half sister is. And, as it turns out, that's exactly who we're going to be spying on today! Knuckles tunes in in time to see Rutan and Salma being confronted by Lien-Da about their late-night excursions, and Knuckles explains Rotor's suspicions about the weather to the others while Lien-Da gets ready to scold her son after they take Salma back home.

Well well now! So Rotor and Cobar have intercepted the feed from Haven, huh? That's quite a feat - and quite suspicious of them, at that. Rotor then makes a comment about all this likely not surprising King Sonic… as apparently, Sonic doesn't like echidnas, and especially not Knuckles!

…what?!

So this is a really stellar example of what I was talking about earlier, about having better examples of out of character behavior! Apparently, in this timeline, Sonic and Knuckles actively dislike each other, going so far as to refuse to speak to one another and resenting having to interact for even short periods of time. This is so far off the mark that I'm kind of stunned at just how wrong Penders has managed to get these two's relationship. I mean, just, what? Sonic and Knuckles regularly butted heads when they were younger, sure, but in every canon they both exist in, the two always end up as good, if volatile, friends, who would trust each other with their lives! I seriously can't imagine a future where the two would end up hating each other. We're going to be seeing the exact specifics of why they hate each other in future issues, too, so strap in guys, cause this is gonna suck.

[loudlypanickinginvenezolano]

[WIP] Dolled up. (I think.) Half of first chapter.

TW: Violence (They are figthing.) Dealing with injuries. Wounds. Blood. No medical experience so, all of this could be very well absolutely wrong and very worthy of cringe. Mention of death. Body horror? I think? There is a very ugly looking monster. And I wrote how I imagined them to look, so... 

The blackened earth was smoking, the greyish thing going high to the darkened sky. Rubble was everywhere, disaster and chaos claiming what once seemed to be a very calm forest. Animals carcass lithered the burned ground, and Shadow worried for a while that maybe there wasn’t going to be anything growing in a very long time, and seeing how far the damage extended, it really was concerning.

Or, maybe not.

Strange things happening in Mobius was something Shadow was becoming used to. Things that should not happen were the normal here. People, Mobians and Humans for equal, had learned to stop questioning the around.

If it wasn’t something dangerous, then let it be.

He still hadn’t get the hang of it. But.

Well.

He gazed softly at the half burned bunnies and half dead squirrels (and that one bear.) praying softly in a low voice for them and the destroyed natural bunch of flowers and grass that were...well, everywhere. The smell of burning wood and fallen trees marked the path for him to walk, were the fight sounds have already subsided. Looking over himself, and deciding that he wasn’t that bad as if for not being able to continue, he quickly stood up, shaking softly as he ran to get rid of annoying dirt, fallen quills, hairs, rocks, and well, dried (And not so dried.) blood.

He just hoped he wasn’t going to find bugs crawling on him later on.

What remained of the big bio mechanical beast he and his companion had been battling was on the ground. All three of them had fallen at great heights, a stronger that he expected punch with long claws making him slip and fall before they stopped. It had hurt, a lot, more because they had been battling for quite the while, and he got the hit directly in already bruised areas. He had been dizzy, and unable to stand up or answer Sonic scream asking if he was okay.

There may be a few broken bones or strained, sprained muscles. A few burned patches, no doubt. Scratch’s, cuts, and bruises that were going to get swollen and hurt like a bitch.

He didn’t think there was internal bleeding? But maybe it was too soon to say?

Sticks broke under his skates, flowers and thick logs that have been throw around as spectators of the battle. The beast laid unmoving, debris all around. He could see a destroyed house not very far, an un-salvable fence and what could be a garden. He could hear some animals screaming near, and the desperate chirping of new baby birds whose parents had fled during the altercate.  

Feeling guilty, he made a mental note to try and search for them, see who could be saved and what needed to be put out of its misery.

— Shadow! — He heard Sonic screech, and quickly wiped around, trying to find from where the blue menace was screaming. He didn`t find him, but he, however, was found indeed.

Just that not by a very tired looking blue cute hedgehog, but by a miserable looking thing that tried to call itself a cyborg. The beast, no doubt an hybrid made in an experimental laboratory seemed to have lost itself in pain, and its feral stare cut sharply to unfocused hazy red eyes.

Fuck.

He dodged the attack with a pant, his body complaining at the every move. It seemed it had finally snapped, as it didn’t mind anymore the pain it felt. It barely growled at him when with a good punch, he managed to take off one of its various mechanical arms.

There was nothing under it, and the view evidently made Shadow feel very uneasy and uncomfortable, because at least there, there should be something. Uneasy enough to make him falter just a bit, and almost get his nose bitten. He got it licked, though.

Was he being mocked?

Was he a joke to Cyborg-thingy?

Falling down hard on his already hurting tail, he barely reacted in time to block its big maw with his skates, clawed hands digging on the soil beneath him as if to not get pushed around. He flexioned, bringing his knees to his chest in the most unexpected moment, making it lose balance for a second.

The second he needed to yank and make it fall forward hard, almost flying over his head.

Shadow felt like screaming, the agony on his body and that twist he did that pulled hard on already sensitive muscles was a lot to deal with, more with his old, still healing, wounds. He lifted his head from the ground, trying to look out for Sonic, wondering where the fuck was his ally. He found him battling with those annoying smoll winged beasts a good few meters apart from where he was, smile all but gone and seriously attacking those bitches.

He made a face, because Shadow barely could fight them without getting nightmares or feeling shivers running down his spine, not that, well, anyone knew. Those things creeped him out. Like. Really. Maybe it was how crazy their eyes looked? How...red? The scars and metal plates peppered over their bodies? The scary looking stiches on mismatched skin? The dark-feeling chaos energy they had?

His stomach lurched just thinking about them.

— Disgusting. — He muttered. They really made him nervous and tense.

"When something was so annoying, it was almost pleasant seeing them disappear or die." It just...He couldn’t get that feeling completely when battling them. Even so.

Erm.

Mh, Wasn`t Sonic being a tad too much on them? He seemed almost...angry?

Maybe he should follow his example. He just needed...5 more seconds. You know. Catch his breath. Swallow back his liver. Pray it goes to where it belong.

Cry?

The usual.

A loud creaking noise made him open his eyes abruptly, and he looked back at his own beast.

Did this dude didn’t know when to give up?

Or how to die?

He rolled out of the way, avoiding a tree being send flying his way. It crashed, hard, close the chaotic house.

Shadow could barely spare it a thought, though. Not when it sprinted towards Sonic, apparently deciding that Shadow was too much of a rough cookie and needed to try his luck somewhere else.

— Nope! — He muttered, standing up as well with a big effort. — Idiot! Wa-Watch out! — He screamed to his distracted rival. Or tried to. He could barely talk. He was becoming dizzy once again.

This was. Concerning. Had he got his head--? Forget it. Of course he did.

Skating the distance between them, he outran the beast, breathing hard, and started trying to attack it, or distract it. He stabbed, punched, pulled, heck, even gave a bite, but the thing ignored him, as if Shadow were nothing but a mere bug. Sonic had long noticed them, but the flying things didn’t left him a chance to go away. They clipped his skin, and avoided his spins. Didn’t reacted to his quills, and clawed at him, don’t letting him leave.

They were so many, it almost looked like a private tornado. Every time Sonic got one down, two more would pop out of nowhere and take its place. They were flying around him, circling, going high and then diving in attack. In made it hard to see Sonic.

Clinging hard to a bit of fur, Shadow managed to climb it. It started to pay him more attention, but didn’t change his direction, adamant in attacking Sonic. Unsteadily, he made his way and managed to make a deep cut on its neck. Digging his claws, he tried to break it. Make it quickly, and stop its pain.

Just end it. Give it peace.

The beast let out a big roar, and his shaking almost threw him at the ground before honestly scared green eyes. A few flying things started to attack him, making it harder to stay put. He really didn’t know if the blood he was seeing mating the beast fur was his, its, or from them.

Because he was kicking their asses as well, yes sir.

He squeezed harder, and the beast tripped and twisted with a yowl. Shadow had to jump before he got crushed beneath it, tackling Sonic on his way, as well, getting both of them out of the way of the beast by rolling on the ground…and well… rocks and branches.

One word.

Ouch.

No good. Really.

No good.

The winged ones flew all around them, in a very messy and menacing mayhem. A lot of them were surrounding The beast, clinging and... Were they taking off with it?

Their wings were beating them, flashes of green, brown, red, metal grey and blue all around. Even the sky above was darkened because of them. They clipped Sonic hands, arms, face, Shadows ears, back. Their screeching was disorienting, painful on sensitive hedgehog hearing.

This time it was Shadow who got pushed to the ground, his whines of agony washed out for all the noise, Sonic rolling them out of the way of a big, big, Winged One. He got a nasty cut (With a sting powerful enough to steal a high yelp of pain) on his side thanks to it, and a push forceful enough to throw him off Shadow and make them roll a bit. Two of them flew way to low, making both of them duck their heads and, in consequence, leaving them unable to see the next attack before too late.

Sharp claws pierced the skin on Shadow back, making him actually scream thanks to the excruciating pain and scaring the ever loving shit out of Sonic, who immediately reached out. Shadow clung to Sonic arms when his body was lifted from the ground. Sonic yelped as well, panic flowing through his body and mind as his upper part was lifted too and couldn’t find purchase with his shoes for 2 petrifying seconds. They weren’t taking Shadow from him.

They couldn’t.

Sonic refused. ___ Hi? Im sorry if this seems like too much, but im proud of how this is coming out, so ! Yes. I just dont know if I should publish only Tumblr. 

[stratamuzak]

Interview with Voltagehawk

STRATA: What artists in particular you are drawn to (alive or deceased) that you listen to for particular moods? Such as happy/sad/contemplative/etc… Explain why you might listen to one artist for a particular mood.

CHASE AROCHA When I want to feel inspired I listen to a lot of the different projects of Mike Patton. Be it Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom, or Tomahawk, the range of styles of music is so diverse that I’ve been listening for like 15 years and I haven’t gotten bored yet, haha. When I want to relax or chill, I love BadBadNotGood, an amazing jazz artist doing incredible arrangements all in a hip-hop context. It’s great! Or Ray Lynch, I really love his writing and use of counterpoint melody. Then if I’m getting hyped I put on something like Dying Fetus or Vitriol, or Maximum the Hormone. And any other time I’m blaring Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper and Sturgill Simpson.

DAN FENTON I think a lot of the time music finds my mood. Sort of more a spiritual or cosmic connection. When I was a kid my mom would make us watch musicals if we stayed home sick from school. Jokes was on her because I hated school but I loved learning musical scores and how to write dynamic parts and movements. The fact that people like Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra or Marlon Brand were also amazing actors only added to that unlikely education. I learned how to really feel music between that and the intense very bloody hymns we had to sing in church. I understand the sentiment but that shit is harder than a lot of black metal. “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb”. Hard core shit. Sorry, I digress. During the making of our most recent record which is called Electric Thunder and set for release later this year or early next (hard to navigate releases with all this pandemic shit) I listened exclusively to film scores, classical music and radio evangelists. I am not religious but I grew up in a preacher’s home and when I needed to get my creative push and anger at its peak, I listened to preachers who were clearly greed driven and motivated by the lust for power. It made my adrenaline rush in anger and it came out in the recording for sure. I am a huge fan of Hans Zimmer and Vangelis. Each of these artists move me in powerful ways. The juxtaposition of darkness and light both in traditional instrumentation and experimental synth based work. Just musical giants. When I am feeling frustrated about the social issues I see everyday in my East Nashville neighborhood I listen to KRS-One, Kamasi Washington, Outkast. A lot of protest music. I am in love with band IDLES from the UK. Such powerful lyrics tackling issues like the need for male vulnerability, equality for all and the  seemingly ironic brutal beat down of toxic masculinity. That band is great if you’re happy, mad, sad, whatever.

STRATA: Do you have a process you go through prior to writing, playing, and even performing?

CHASE AROCHA I do a lot of breathing exercises like the Wim Hof techniques. I have generalized anxiety disorder and I used to get horrible debilitating panic attacks, it helped me get into breathing and meditation. Anxiety will never go away but you learn ways to live with it and push through your panic. I think about how much this means to me and how long I’ve spent doing it, I try to see that I value myself as a person and then from that thinking I can just let go and play music. Only approaching it with love and not worrying about mistakes because that’s how we learn.

DAN FENTON The entire thing is one process. Like a heros journey of sorts. I listen and meditate everyday, I believe in a cosmic river of inspiration that flows from an energy that is and has always been. I believe if you listen hard enough and give yourself to the music the muse will send your mind transmissions that may only be a section of a song, or perhaps they are an entire album, but everyday I show up. A few years ago I read this book called The War Of Art, by Steven Pressfield. In this book he describes the invisible force he calls the Resistance. The Resistance may be things both “good or bad”, but they are anything that keeps you from showing up for your art. So I show up everyday, you can ask the dudes in the band, they receive a work tape maybe twice a week with new shit to try out. If I don’t feel that muse working I don’t force it, but I instead wait on further transmissions from the cosmic womb. All sounds crazy, but my story is crazy, so crazy makes the most sense. In the studio I have many processes. I found while recording vocals I perform better in complete darkness, I have realized how much I live inside my head and how active my imagination is and equally ADD my eyes are. So when I can’t see it brings to life the imagery and the passion of the song. I can see all those people I write about, all the landscapes, the love, lust, joy and pain. I also do some method stuff, keep things in my pockets pertaining to a character I may be portraying in a song. Wanna be Daniel Day Lewis shit.

STRATA: Your own current project, discuss the process your music went through as you built each layer. From beginning to the end of it. 

CHASE AROCHA This all started with our drummer Jarrad having a vision and going through trials and errors of finding the right people to execute that. Along the way Dan, Tyler, and I all came into the picture and that vision morphed into something we all felt was not even from us. Like we were an antenna receiving a signal and these riffs and lyrics quickly meshed into something I haven’t heard before. Part hard rock, part jazz, part punk and hardcore. All with this message of love and truth being the reason for living. To end the ones controlling our thoughts and dividing us or tribalism and greed. I feel like we made something worth listening to and that’s all I feel like you can really hope for.

DAN FENTON The self titled record that we have available now on all streaming platforms was two different profound stages in my life all in the making of one record. When we began, Jarrad and I partied a fuck ton, and I was descending into some serious personal shit with alcohol. It was bad, I couldn’t get through a day without way too high of a blood alcohol level. Before we finished vocals on the record, I stayed up one night working and drinking, perhaps I had never stopped from how many nights before, who fucking knows. Anyhow, I died for 9 minutes on the side porch of my house. Fully shut down, fucking dead. Mind you, I didn’t want to die, I just didn’t know how to lay off the bottle. Woke up in the ICU surrounded by my band, my wife and what few friends I had left. At that moment Voltagehawk became a complete family to me. I spent a stint in rehab (Jarrad drove me) and that was several years ago now. When I got out I went back to finish the record, make some amends and chase this thing out for real. So that was some info on the first record. The new Album which is a 13 song space odyssey named Electric Thunder, after our beloved Electric Thunder Studio owned and operated by our resident space wizard producer Geoff Piller, was not so dramatic. After I got my shit together and my mind cleared up I began to write everyday like a mad man. Song after song after song came like never before. I think we cut 15 songs out before we settled on the final 13. Our process as a band is often for myself or one of the other dudes to present a bare bones or often finished idea to the band and we run it through the Hawk Filter. The Hawk Filter is just the decomposition and reconstruction of every rough idea till it fits us. Which is silly to say because if we like, it we do it, not a matter of genre worship. Shit’s good, do it. Always do what’s best for the song.

STRATA: Can your music personally be an open door to breath and bend in the world of artistic exploration? In Other Words… how comfortable are you as an artist exploring other types of music and creating projects that might be totally  different than what you are creating now?

CHASE AROCHA There is so much great music in the world in so many styles, why shouldn’t we try to explore them all! I’m always trying something I haven’t done before, not always as a challenge, but I would hope it’s natural for people to do in art. We shouldn’t be the same people we were 2 years ago, let alone 10. I love jazz, Death Metal, and country music. If you can find a really fun and genuine way to blend those then that’s absolutely what you should do! Don’t be tied down to what kind of music you’re making and just make music.

DAN FENTON That’s all we do all day. Everything on this planet, and above it, and in it’s majestic seas and mountains, all these people of all the cultures of all the world and their energy and their culture all influence and musical inspiration is welcome. Our philosophy is never say no, and jump off the cliff, and pull yourself back up. Meaning: try all the musical options then settle on the one we believe is the most amazing. So much of our influence is from cinema and books, video games, you name it. I’ll pluck a support cable on every bridge I see ‘til I am dead just to see if it speaks to me. Sonically there are no fucking rules, and if you impose rules, fuck your rules. We love to create, to talk about creating and then to birth something new is beyond amazing.

STRATA: Are you open to change your style, genre even, and approach to how and what you create every time you enter a studio? Or do you find once you have a formula in place do you find it best to stay with what you know? Many times artists will change how they approach their songwriting and even their recording staff/producers.

CHASE AROCHA

Like I said before, I believe that you should just make music and with that should come constant experimentation. When we record we find sounds from all over the place. From children’s toy instruments, to skateboard wheels spinning to imitate rain. Our writing is kind of always evolving and changing. Dan is an amazing writer who literally has lyrics and melodies pouring out of his hands and face. Everyday he has new ideas and records and sends them to everyone. Jarrad is great at taking those riffs and making suggestions on how the structure could be of a song along with feel. I am obsessed with adding layers of guitars however I can, but I also write a lot and send tracks as well. Tyler is a tone junkie on the bass, filling in the bottom end and has such a great approach to being independent from the guitars with his lines. We send tracks back and forth to each other then we get in a room and flesh them out. The whole time in the process the songs are constantly changing and evolving into the sound we have. We are always open to change and never believe in the word No when discussing music and art. You try every idea and see what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes when one member has a vision of how a song should go and is trying to communicate that,  you should respect his idea and see it through. If it doesn’t work that’s okay, we tried!

DAN FENTON Voltagehawk is ever evolving. As it stands, we spend way too much time trying to pigeon hole what people will refer to our sound as. I don’t care what you call it as long as it moves you. I listen to everything from John Coltrane and Tom Waits to Napalm Death and Motorhead, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi to Kamasi Washington. IDLES and Bad Brains. If you refuse to evolve as an artist, experimenting, growing, trying new methods, all these elements then you cannot grow as a human being. Too many people are happy where they are, just okay, making the same music that their dads made and trying to cosplay some kind of yesteryear. We don’t do that shit, we’re us, that’s it. We grow, when you hear the Electric Thunder for the first time you will understand everything. If you burn some sage next to a photo of Carl Sagan while you listen to Electric Thunder, you will see the cosmic river in your minds eye. The world is full of people with a blockage in their brain. They cannot see that this bullshit we call a life is just a series of labor for hire gigs that leave us rapidly in the middle. We’re trying to break away from it all and follow our feathers, our truth, our search for enlightenment on our hero’s journey. I’ll leave you with this. Know Thyself.

[classicdaisycalico]

Amy-Whisper and Silver-sunlight for the prompt word ;D

soft prompts.

Oh boy. I thought I’d write 2 little, very short fics. Obviously, that turned out to be very wrong.

For those of you who want to read both, I put this under a “Read More” because of how long this got. Consider yourselves warned. If you are able to read to the end, I commend your efforts.

Send me a character (or pairing) and a word from the list in the link and I’ll write you a short (ish?) drabble!

Amy, “Whisper”

She was almost asleep on the hospital bed when she heard the first whisper coming from right next to her.

“I’m so sorry.”

It didn’t take a genius to know who said it; even though his voice cracked after trying to hold back tears, she recognized the blue hedgehog’s voice anywhere.

“It should have been me.”

This time, he wasn’t even trying to keep himself from crying. Amy, now wide awake, lying on her side away from Sonic, was shocked. It was so unlike him to cry, yet here he was, bawling his eyes out over her at a hospital. She couldn’t help but wonder if he would do the same thing if Tails were here instead of her, recovering from one too many nasty battle wounds.

She felt a hand on her shoulder now. While Amy did not flinch, her eyes did widen at the sudden contact.

“Just...hang in there, Ames, okay?”

His shaking hand indicated that yet another rack of sobs took over.

“I don’t want you to die.”

She was so tempted to take his hand on her shoulder, right then and there, to reassure him that she was healing quickly, that she would be fine. Even so, this sudden change in Sonic’s demeanor left her too shocked to move. For several moments, his hand remained there, as if he were unsure of what to do with it. She felt it shift several times, like he wanted to remove it but couldn’t.

Eventually, he got around to it, but his last words before he did shocked her even more.

“I love you.”

As soon as he pulled his hand away, she grew rigid. Hopefully, he didn’t take notice; it seemed he was crying too hard to care. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she flipped over, now facing the blue hedgehog, who was sitting at the side table next to her bed, head buried in his arms. No question about it, he was sobbing his eyes out.

All Amy could do now was sit there, surprised at this strange display of vulnerability. Did he really care for her that much? Did he really care about her well being that much?

Did he really mean it when he said he loved her?

She hadn’t exactly pictured a love confession going down like this, with her noble blue wind at the brink of desperation before his little pink rose. To be honest, she pictured it more for an occasion where she would be the one rescuing him, when he would be so in awe of her strength that he couldn’t help but love her back.

But that was years ago, when she was much younger. She hadn’t thought about things like this as frequently. Now that Eggman’s attacks were growing more frequent and increasingly dangerous, she had little time for childish daydreams. Instead, she had to prioritize keeping the mad doctor’s sinister plans at bay, along with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the rest of their motley crew, most recently with the War to Take Back the Planet.

She hadn’t realized how much she had grown since that day at Never Lake, meeting the blue hedgehog for the first time. Thinking back on it now, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Had it really been 4 years already?

“Amy?”

Her hands flew to her mouth as she realized Sonic just heard her. His head was now out of his arms, hands frantically rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t know you were awake, I just...kinda fell asleep at the table. That’s all.”

Oh, that liar. When he finished, he looked at a very skeptical Amy with her arms folded and a raised eyebrow in suspicion. He sighed, letting his hands hang to the side. In an almost uncharacteristic move, he looked away, trying not to let his eyes meet hers. “So...uh...you heard that?”

“Every word.” She pulled herself out from under the covers and swung her legs over the hospital bed. “You meant it?”

He looked over at Amy, and for the first time, she could see how red and puffy his eyes were from crying. Even so, he smiled, standing up and taking a step toward her, kissing her on the forehead. “Every word.”

***

Silver, “Sunlight”

The sunrise was always something Silver enjoyed watching. There were so many colors in the sky; red, orange, yellow, pink, and on occasion, purple. It was beautiful, just like the blue sky that was soon to follow.

The colors reminded him of fire. Not the Flames of Disaster that plagued the fallen city he once called home in a past life, but the warm and gentle fire that he knew a certain lilac-hued cat to control.

Naturally, he had invited Blaze to watch the sunrise with him one morning, not once considering the possibility that she might laugh and call him “naive”, like she always did.

He hadn’t considered her saying yes, either. She was oddly surprised when he asked, perhaps even a bit flustered, fussing with her hair or her dress every now and then, but she still agreed to do it, nevertheless.

So here they were, the two of them, sitting on a tree branch relatively high up in a tall tree, waiting for the first of the sun’s rays to peek over the horizon. He flew them up here himself, with Blaze’s arms wrapped around his shoulders very tightly as he carried her. Even now, her back was still glued to the tree trunk, despite Silver’s assurance that the branch was thick enough to hold both of them without breaking.

They used small talk to pass the time, but every conversation couldn’t last more than a few short moments. Finally, as the sky began to lighten, she turned to Silver. “Don’t you ever grow tired of watching the sunrise every morning?” she asked. “Any other person would think something like this would lose its meaning after a while.”

The light grey hedgehog only smiled in response. “I was watching it one morning and it made me think of something.” He gestured to the sky. “Look closer. What do you see?”

She peered closer at the expanse of sky that stretched out before her. Most of the horizon was inundated with warm colors. “I see...red,” she answered. “Yellow. Orange...”

“And what does it look like?”

She looked closer. With the sun’s rays peeking out of the clouds, it almost looked like the sky was lit with flames. “Fire,” she said.

“Exactly! But what else do you see?”

Her eyes glued to the sky again, looking for more colors. “Pink, in some places,” she replied. “More purple than pink.”

“Looks a lot like you, doesn’t it?”

She froze. Was this why he invited her to watch the sunrise with him? Blaze let her eyes wander across the sunrise. An occasional splash of pink or purple dotted the sky, surrounded by the other fiery hues. It really did look as if it were a timelapse of her, flitting about with an aura of flames around her.

“...I see,” she finally said, after a while. “But Silver...”

The cat turned her head away from the sky to face her psychokinetic companion. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Now it was Silver’s turn to be surprised. In fact, she could detect a small tinge of red dotting his cheeks. “Well...um...one day I was just looking at one spot in the sky,” he answered, “I mean, really looking at the colors in that spot, and when I saw the purple and pink, I was kinda surprised. I don’t normally see that much of those two.”

The blush on his face darkened. “I always knew sunsets were pretty and all...but those colors made it that much prettier, especially the purple. I couldn’t help thinking about you when I saw it for the first time.”

It got to the point where Blaze also felt her cheeks heat up. Did Silver...shy, awkward, naive Silver the Hedgehog...just call her beautiful?

“I knew I had to show this to you. I know you’re still getting used to your own powers, trying to think of them in a good way instead of a bad way. So...I wanted to help you find another way to appreciate them.”

And suddenly Blaze knew why Silver kept coming back to these sunrises over and over again. He took what she hated most about herself and compared it to something that had always been considered sublime, magnificent, breathtaking...

For the first time, she truly felt beautiful, and actually believed it. She inched closer to the hedgehog, away from her comfortable perch near the tree trunk, and in a moment of boldness, kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

He couldn’t help the stupid grin growing on his face, and she knew it. “Uh...you’re welcome,” he said, his cheeks heating up again as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

They remained in the tree branch for some time, even after the sunrise faded away to blue.

[1dreality]

Zayn Malik was never the celebrity you thought he was. If it wasn’t already obvious from his detached, often melancholic interviews in the wake of his 2015 departure from One Direction, it will be from the title of his second solo album. The very elongated 27-track Icarus Falls is comprised of more of the sparse R&B that Malik has perfected since his first release Mind of Mine in 2016, but like its titular myth is also indebted to themes of incredible ascent and crushing decline.

A decline not of Malik’s career, it should be said, but rather of his own mental health, the album serving as both an intimate meditation on Malik’s life so far and a dire warning about the trauma of instant fame. It all leads to one obvious question: Is Zayn OK?

In an age of millennial openness and Instagram confessionals, Malik remains something of an outlier: an enormously famous and highly visible celebrity, but one whose ambiguity allows us to project much onto him. In our collective consciousness, he has been the 1D-fleeing villain, smoking cigarettes, being mean to his bandmates on Twitter and looking miserable as well as the “soft boy” pin-up, a vulnerable figure in desperate need of a hug.

Much of that ambiguity is intentional. Along with declining to tour Mind of Mine, Malik is often press-shy, choosing not to take part in TV sit-downs or play the social media game in an era in which somebody like Ariana Grande spends much of the waking day interacting with her fans on Twitter and Instagram.

And while Malik has been open about some of his past struggles, including his battle with an eating disorder at the height of his One Direction fame and consistent difficulties with anxiety, they’re often revelations that feel accidental in nature. We learn of them during an unexpected moment of truth-telling between him and a journalist, the subject quickly changed soon after, or through lyrics that are just descriptive enough to imply deep truths. Even talking about his anxiety in an essay for Time Magazine felt like a necessary course-correction after a string of cancelled gigs led to unflattering rumours about his health in the press.

Whether Malik’s public persona is intended as a protective mask or not, it is still difficult, particularly in the wake of Icarus Falls, not to feel something for him. After all, his jump from a working-class kid to an international superstar worth a reported $50 million, practically overnight, is the sort of trajectory most of us would struggle with at the age of 40, let alone at 17 when Malik auditioned for The X Factor.

Icarus Falls doesn’t cover any new sonic ground for Malik as an artist. It sees him return to the same well of threadbare, silky R&B that helped Mind of Mine easily trounce his fellow One Direction bandmates in the “best first solo record” stakes. But it does whirr with a noticeable sadness, Malik repeatedly mourns the peace of his pre-X Factor past and beats himself up for mistakes he feels that he’s made since. And when he speaks of emotional pain, it often sounds not like something confined to history, but rather something he’s dealing with every day.

“I’d rather be anywhere but here,” he sings on Good Years. “I close my eyes and see a crowd of a thousand tears / I pray to God I didn’t waste all my good years.” On Insomnia: “I’ve been roaming and strolling all in the streets / Burning my eyes red, not slept for weeks.” On Back to Life: “I been flying so long / Can’t remember what it was like to be sober.” On Satisfaction: “Nobody said this would be easy / Nobody gave me a rule book to follow.”

Even typical love songs are fatalistic in nature, talk of Armageddon running through both Flight of the Stars (“I will follow / Hold you close standing on the edge of no tomorrow”) and Tonight (“Love me like tomorrow’s never gonna come”), while much of the album nods to an unnamed great love in Malik’s life that he needs to overcome incredible odds to be with – nothing new for love songs, but given a greater weight when paired with his statements over the years. Because if we know anything about Zayn Malik, it’s that he often can’t stand being Zayn Malik.

Through much of the little press he has done, Malik has expressed unease with most of the trappings of fame, particularly the assumptions that he ought to be personable and friendly with industry figures or musical collaborators. And when it comes to One Direction, he still appears burnt by the experience. While he told Vogue in November that he has recently been able to see his time with the band as “an amazing experience,” despite the “bulls---” of what he refers to as “the machine,” he also told GQ in June that he didn’t make any actual friends during the peak of his fame: “I definitely have issues trusting people.”

In the numerous articles that pop up every winter recalling how good The X Factor used to be, clips are embedded that showcase many of its most memorable contestants, and every year it becomes that bit more shocking how much One Direction looked like children during their time on the show. The scrawny limbs, those Justin Bieber haircuts, the awkward school-talent-show bopping and shuffling. It somehow worked, enough at least to turn them into a tween phenomenon, but in hindsight it’s indefensible that they were pushed as significantly as they were.

There was always something deer-in-the-headlights about the band in its early days, a sense that at least a few of them had been pulled along for the ride as opposed to having a firm grip on the steering wheel. The hunger so visible in pop bands of similar notoriety, whether manufactured or not, wasn’t always visible – and while all of them have transitioned into stable adults who are, for the most part, comfortable in the spotlight, their jarringly different responses to fame remain clear.

It’s important to remember, for context’s sake, that Malik was always a reluctant star. Only attending his original X Factor audition after being guilted by his mother into waking up early and making the journey there, he was, in his own words to The Fader, “a lazy teen”. And even during the audition stages, he expressed reluctance to properly join in, walking off stage during a choreography rehearsal and having to be coaxed to go back. At the time, Malik’s reaction registered as a petulant strop, but now feels oddly prescient.

Of Malik’s One Direction bandmates, Harry Styles was always the most naturally inclined to superstardom – such an affable schmoozer and networker that it was quickly no longer surprising to see images of him palling around with Mick Jagger or Stevie Nicks. Liam Payne always bore the personality of someone very eager to be seen, lack of self-awareness very much included, while the perpetually chipper Niall Horan has always simply appeared very, very happy to be there. But both Malik and Louis Tomlinson have often visibly struggled, uninspired by the more performative and fraudulent elements of celebrity, or the levels of attention handed to them by Simon Cowell and co.

“What I really can’t ever get used to, or really enjoy, are these super geared-up celebrity parties,” Tomlinson told Noisey last year. “No one actually cares. You see people who are beyond self-absorbed, and that’s why it can be a dangerous place.”

Malik has echoed similar sentiments. “I don’t work well in group situations, with loads of people staring at me,” he told GQ. “And when you say ‘star’… everyone wants you to be this kind of character that owns a room or is overly arrogant or confident. I’m not that guy, so I don’t want to be a star.”

What’s odd is that, for all his claims, Malik does bear all the superficial trappings of modern stardom. He’s a fashion darling but is permanently magnetised to the covers of cool indie magazines. Furthermore, his on-again/off-again relationship with supermodel Gigi Hadid has, since 2015, become a Generation Z equivalent of Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in its aesthetic-heavy, era-defining popularity.

But Malik is also simultaneously detached. The GQ profile, his most extensive recent interview, bears all the hallmarks of a journalist struggling to fulfil a word count because of an uncommunicative subject, writer Carrie Battan even expresses Malik’s tendency to reply to her questions in “friendly but anodyne one-liners.” Like the very best of pop idols, from Britney to Beyoncé, Malik is so compelling principally because he’s so hard to read. But this can also be a poisoned chalice: every expression of doubt or self-pity determined to be a cry for help, every revelation shaping an image that may or may not be real.

It means that listening to Icarus Falls isn’t an entirely joyous experience, Malik’s lyrics painting a picture of a young man still working through the discomfort of his sudden fame and the trauma of a moment in the spotlight marred by illness and fractured relationships, many of its scars still visible today. But it’s also a record that you can’t help but admire as a result, especially if it serves as a form of catharsis for him.

In the decade since Britney Spears was forcibly taken to the hospital surrounded by hundreds of paparazzi photographers, our collective relationship with the idea of fame has greatly altered, particularly for a generation who watched Amy Winehouse essentially die before their eyes. The one beneath them are currently coming to terms with a raft of recent pop star crises, from Demi Lovato’s overdose to the deaths of artists like Mac Miller and Lil Peep.

For all the obvious charms in Malik’s life, from his incredible fortune to a kind of artistic freedom that he never had in One Direction, you’d have to be particularly cold not to feel empathy for the sheer strangeness of his adult existence; a world of rampant, maddening attention that has historically led even the strongest of stars into tragedy.

The Zayn Malik of today is a little bruised, a little listless, his magazine profiles never complete without references to the cloud of marijuana smoke that lingers around him, or his need to lock himself away from the world. It doesn’t sound like the most ideal of outcomes for a man who calls himself a pop idol Icarus and sings with whispery detachment that he has “[flown] too close to the sun.” But we can only hope that it at least serves as a parachute.

[a-toast-to-my-real-friends]

LOVER RANKINGS

Alright, y’all may or may not know, I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Chad Willard posted his Rankings and Reasons for her newest album, Lover, and it inspired me to do the same. So, for the two of you who care about my personal Taylor opinions: here they are.

I haven’t sat with Lover long enough yet to really figure out where I am with it. Speak Now is my peak Taylor Swift album. I love the honesty and vulnerability on all those songs. My emotions oftentimes seem overwhelming, irrational, and illogical, and I feel like a crazy person because I tell myself, “Johnathan, you shouldn’t feel this way, so and so hasn’t done anything wrong, if anybody knew you were THIS upset about THIS situation, they’d all laugh and tell you to relax and calm down and that you were acting crazy.” And oh buddy, if I weren’t acting crazy before, best believe I’d act crazy after.

Speak Now makes me feel like it’s OK to be overwhelmed by my feelings, and Taylor does such a great job of saying exactly how I feel.

So I say all that to say, I’ll probably compare every Taylor album to Speak Now. Does Lover make me feel the same way Speak Now does? Yes and no.

I like Lover a lot. To be fair, I have listened more to the first half than the last, only because by the time I get to  “Death By a Thousand Cuts” I want to go back and listen to “I Forgot that You Existed” again. I’m going to agree with what Chad said that Hannah said: “our enjoyment of her songs oftentimes stems from where our current relationship status is.” I’m so happy that Taylor is in such a healthy, great place emotionally, and that she’s so deeply in love – and the songs she’s made are SO GOOD; but I think I’m having a difficult time enjoying them the way I would if I were in a solid, committed, tried and true relationship. I listen to “I think he knows” and “Paper Rings” and “Lover” and instead of being all glowy and glittery I just feel – sad, I guess. Which maybe explains why I like Speak Now so much, because a lot of those are sad and Overwhelmingly Emotional.

Anyway, TO THE RANKINGS!

18: False God. I just think it’s sonically boring. It’s not fun to sing along to, and the lyrics don’t do enough for me to raise it any higher. I’m gonna give it a little bit longer, maybe it’ll eventually grow on me, but it’s dangerously close to becoming a skip.

17: Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. I’m going to get dragged for this, but it’s got the same chord progression as “So it Goes” from REPUTATION, and tbh, that one is a skip for me too. Maybe I’m not deep enough or politically educated enough to see all the brilliance behind it, but I’ll give it points for the line “It’s you and me, that’s my whole world,” though.

16: It’s Nice To Have a Friend: Meh. This just seems like a list of unrelated things she’s done with Joe. Again, maybe I’m not deep enough to understand the brilliance, but what is she trying to say? And the song is so repetitive, it doesn’t keep my interest. All this snow, ya know?

15: The Man. It’s a fun song, good beats, fun to sing along to. But as a white male, the content is unrelatable to me. Which is the point, I suppose. The song isn’t meant for me. I appreciate it, for sure, and I think it’s important, but I just don’t feel the way she feels, so it’s just strange to sing along to it. I don’t wonder if I’d get there faster if I was a man, because I am a man.

14: Soon You’ll Get Better. OK, I LOVE this song, to be clear. It’s so sad, so relatable, so pretty to listen to. Hello Dixie Chicks, glad to have you back. I cried the first time I heard it, because I’ve followed along with her mom’s struggle with cancer, and I’ve two really close friends who have lost parents recently to sickness, and the thought of them feeling this way just breaks my heart. The only reason it’s so low on my list is because I like the other songs so much. Here’s where it starts to get difficult for me.

13: London Boy. This one is a lot of fun, it’s fun to sing along to, and I like the fast rappy bridge. Gotta work on getting those lyrics down. I also like the small details about the steps that we all take in relationships, specifically meeting all of his best mates and listening to his stories from uni.

12: ME!. Brendon Urie come through with those vocals. I think I’m a little biased towards this one, just because of the video, and the excitement that always surrounds a new Taylor era. It was the first thing we saw post REPUTATION era, snakes into butterflies, all the bright colors in the video, the peppy catchy chorus. I also strongly relate to “I know that I’m a handful baby…but I promise that nobody’s gonna love you like me.”

11: Daylight. Highly relatable content here. I always say Taylor knows exactly where I am and what I’m going through. Speak Now, I was living in New York, struggling in every aspect, and spent a lot of that era feeling pretty lonely and crazy, broken, losing friends and missing them but not knowing how to say any of that to them. Red was a carry-over. 1989 I had moved to Orlando, was living in the Wolf Den with a bunch of doods that I loved, everything felt neon and electric and exciting. Reputation I had been kicked out of my house and betrayed and felt very snake like, unforgiving, and hard-hearted. And February of this year, I moved into a house I had found, picked amazing people to move in with, and felt in control of my life again. And if you happen to follow Taylor culture, that’s the same month she posted the picture with the seven palm trees to her instagam, which kicked off the whole Lover era. I say all that to say, it was time for me to step into the daylight and let it all go. To be defined by the things that I love, not the things I hate, or haunt me in the middle of the night. I only want to see daylight and think of that that special person, you know?

10: Afterglow. Hello Speak Now. It’s all me, in my head. I’m the one that burned us down, but it’s not what I meant. I don’t want to do this to you, and I don’t want to lose this with you. It’s the perfect example, IMHO, of unconditional love. Here’s all my crazy. Here’s all my insecurities. They’re going to rear their ugly head, will you please love me even with those? Here’s what I need from you in those moments of temporary emotional insanity: Tell me that you're still mine, tell me that we'll be just fine, even when I lose my mind. Tell me that I'm all you want even when I break your heart. And when you do that, I’ll say “I’m sorry that I hurt you.” What a beautiful picture of loving and being loved in return.

9: You Need To Calm Down. I dunno how closely y’all follow my antics on Facebook, but when this video dropped, I casually posted it because I liked the message. As a believer in Christ, I feel the Christian community has done a HORRIFIC job of loving the LBGTQ community, and my simple post BLEW UP, proving my point. Sidebar, I also link the first listen of this song to being in Toy Story Land with Topher, Jessica, and Leslie, huddling around my phone under the giant Christmas lights for our second dive into New Taylor.

8: Paper Rings. Ok now it’s starting to get super hard narrowing it down. We’ve entered my True Jams™ section. The only reason this is at the bottom of my True Jams™ section is because I ain’t in love like this, so where I want to feel like glitter is exploding inside of me, I just feel like dried glue the glitter was meant to stick to. I love how deeply personal it is, I love the specificity, and the song is a BOP. Standout lyrics: “I’m with you even if it makes me blue,” and “I want your complications too, I want your dreary Mondays…”

7: I Think He Knows. A Bop. Fun. Sexy. Coy and flirtatious, while also owning her power. The rappy bits. I’ve never felt a longing for somebody’s body just by the way they hold a cold glass, but boy, does this song make me want to. What specifics, what detail. Also – “I want you, bless my soul.” HONESTLY. BLESS IT LORD.

6: The Archer. Giving me those Speak Now vibes. All my heroes die alone – I jumped from the train, I ride off alone. The LONGING. The wanting to be wanted. Knowing you’re good enough, knowing you have a lot to offer – but also knowing that it’s so much that maybe nobody can handle it all. I’ve got so much to offer, who could ever leave me? I’m too much to handle – god, who could put up with all of it?

5: Cornelia Street. My God can I relate to this. I’m ALWAYS looking for the ending, for someone I love to tell me they’re leaving because being with me is too much. I always prepare for the worst case scenario. And only recently have I started to believe that maybe the worst case won’t always happen? Maybe somebody will stay? But man, my natural impulse, my knee-jerk reaction, will always be to get as far away from any and all memories of the good times. I don’t want to be reminded of the beauty and joy and greatness because it will just keep reminding me that I don’t have it anymore, and there’s nothing I could do to get it back.

4: Death by a Thousand Cuts. Ahhh, yesss, Taylor. Speak to me of being left and of the heartbreak that brings. Also, make it a bop. I constantly find myself looking through the boarded up windows of past relationships, and I see the chandelier still flickering and see all the beautiful moments, though they may have lost the radiance they once had. Saying goodbye is the worst, endings are the worst, new beginnings mean something else ended stale. Also being given up like I was a bad drug – reminds me of a line from “Better Man”: “You pushed my love away like it was some kind of loaded gun.” Pure Taylor and I’m here for it.

3: I Forgot that You Existed. On repeat. Will dance and sing to this endlessly. Also always here for a good snarky twist of the kinfe.

2: Lover. Again, the longing. The vulnerability. Asking the questions that are scary to ask, that people would think you are insane for asking someone. Loving somebody so much that you put everything else aside, and all you want is to ask, “Can I go where you go?” Clingy. Needy. Co-dependent. As brave as it would be to ask a question like that, the fear of being seen as any of these things will keep most from doing it. Which probably hinders more than it helps, because if somebody loves us, truly loves us, we should be able to ask that without any fear of anyone or anything. But I’ll sing it and pretend.

1: Cruel Summer. SO. SINGABLE. I love the chorus. It gets stuck in my head. I love the lyrics. The frailty. A relationship that started as friends with benefits, her saying “it’s cool, no rules,” when secretly she’s falling in love and fears saying it, because she thinks it’d be the worst thing he’s ever heard. Yeah, OK, please stop reading my diary, girl. But the best part is, IMHO, he feels the same way about her, and also has feared speaking up, which is why he’s grinning like a devil, because he’s so happy because he feels the same way. 10/10 cant’ stop listening.

 And there you have it, folks. Time may change my rankings, relationships may change my rankings, but from where I sit, 10 days in, these are my thoughts. If you made it this far, I’d love to know what you think of the album, and your rankings!!! As if I’ll ever pass up a chance to talk about/listen to someone talking about Taylor Swift. Sound off!

[pacack]

Smash Bros. and Politics

So, I was seeing an argument on twitter that claimed that games have become steeped in politics to the detriment of consumers.

I thought to myself, “Alright, I know a game that spans game history from 1980 to now that we can look at to determine whether games have really gotten more political with time.”

Spoiler: Only 9.375% of the franchises represented by characters in Smash Bros. avoid political themes. Games are intensely political and always have been.

Actual spoiler warning: This includes spoilers for the general plot and themes of basically every game franchise included in Smash Bros.

Trigger warning: The following essay contains references to violence, death, war, emotional abuse, racism, racial and cultural stereotyping, sexism, minority oppression, poverty, gangs, animal cruelty, religious hypocrisy, pollution, and climate change.

Mario: Traditionally avoids complex plotlines entirely (though some games break that tradition,) but even the most barebones plots have “ruler who thirsts for power is a bad person, while ruler who does not is a good person.”

Donkey Kong: The themes are all blatantly environmental. The main characters are heavily intertwined with nature, while the big bad steals natural resources, uses technology that pollutes and disturbs the local area, and evolves over time from a corrupt monarch to a gun-touting pirate to a mad scientist. The evolution of the villain’s technology in the first trilogy is sending the message that oppression evolves over time to become more sophisticated.

Zelda: Varies from game to game but ranges from “bad guy literally is transformed into a pig because he desires power” to “crisis brings grief and makes us contemplate our morality, but that should make us value the connections we have more.”

Metroid: Game revolves around a skilled and wholly independent soldier/mercenary/bounty hunter that happens to be a woman. Laced with themes of “a person who is profoundly and intentionally alone does not need to be dependent on others to define herself” and “scientific progress that is intended for the betterment of mankind can and will be used to wage war by those who seek to do harm.”

Yoshi: “Communities should help and protect even complete strangers from those who would do them harm.”

Kirby: Themes range from “greed of a ruler leaves kingdom in poverty” to “people who band together in friendship can overthrow those who possess power.”

Star Fox: Tyrannical mad scientist plans to form an oppressive empire by using technology. Do I need to explain that?

Pokémon: Treat animals as partners and friends and marvel at the wonders of the natural world. Bad guys include:

an organization that abuses animals

an organization who aims to destroy the environment

an organization that doesn’t appreciate the current world and plans to reshape it into one where emotional attachment doesn’t exist

an organization that criticizes the current state of affairs in legitimate ways to hide their real intentions of stripping the common man from their power to resist their planned dictatorship

an organization that values beauty and power above all else (criticizing the French elite specifically)

A gang that recruits desperate people who feel they don’t have a family

A supposedly humanitarian organization that is headed by a possessive and emotionally abusive mother who is obsessed with owning things, people, and animals rather than loving them.

Earthbound/Mother: Discusses complex themes about love of family, pain of loss of and rejection from that family, the trauma one suffers because of that pain, and the importance of people learning form that pain rather than using it as justification for hurting others.

F-Zero: People meet one-another and trade, develop new social ties, have intellectual exchanges, and share technology, but some begin to abuse the framework of the system that brought everyone together to make themselves lavishly wealthy. These elites then develop dangerous sports for their own entertainment that the common man is enticed to compete in to improve their societal standing.

Ice Climber: Two characters that are coded as Inuit-Yupik enjoy themselves by cooperating and competing with one another in nature. While simple, the theme of connection between people over a shared activity can’t be recognized as completely apolitical when they’re in a minority group.

Fire Emblem: A just ruler is forced into conflict with a neighboring despotic country and must balance their duty to defend their people with their understanding that it is the innocent common folk of the other country that will suffer in place of the unjust rulers who began the conflicts. The game centers around meeting new people, many of them from the other side, who themselves are multi-layered and kind, but who live difficult lives. The unjust rulers are defeated, but a greater threat then brings all the people together, despite their differences, for the common good.

Game and Watch: Man juggles, cooks, and plays games with his friends :)

Kid Icarus: An angel who has a disability that prevents him from flying must save the world when circumstances leave him as the only person capable of resisting. He succeeds and is recognized by being promoted captain of the guard for his ability, courage, and tenacity. From that point on, the support of others allows him to live his life without his mobility defining what he can and cannot do.

WarioWare: The main character (who was conceptualized because artists’ freedom to create was limited by corporate greed and its insistence on maintaining the status quo) is a greedy man who plans on creating a poor, easily made product to sell to people as a get-rich-quick scheme with complete disregard for artistic integrity.

Metal Gear: The entire series began as a political commentary on the manipulation of soldiers by politicians in the Cold War. The series delves deeply into the morality of war and the negative impact that it has on a person, as well as discussing peace, revenge, racial violence, genetic engineering, censorship, societal loss of a person’s knowledge when they die, misrepresentation of history, and generational knowledge and bias. The main character, Solid Snake, is a critical analysis of the action hero trope, and the deconstruction of his character archetype reveals his increasingly broken spirit as he comes to see his life as unavoidably entwined with conflicts and war.

Sonic: Evil scientist destroys and pollutes the environment and abuses animals in his scheme to gain power, leading to the animals themselves revolting and overthrowing him for his actions.

Pikmin: A middle-class working man who cares only about supporting his family is made to work in dangerous conditions and suffers hardships because of his company’s desire to maximize profits.

Animal Crossing: A kind community of people welcomes a stranger and helps them to build a new life with them, teaching them how to survive and thrive on their own.

Mega Man: Society has advanced to the point that robots are used in day to day jobs, and an ambitious scientist hacks into them and uses the technology to throw society into disarray, with hopes of establishing a dictatorship.

Wii Fit: Fitness trainer teaches you how to exercise and become healthier :)

Punch-Out: A poor kid from the Bronx has dreams of becoming a star athlete, and his trainer, a kind, retired black boxer, trains and inspires him to achieve his dreams of having a better life. The international opponents in the game embody both harmless and harmful societal stereotypes of their cultures. The more ridiculous the stereotypes surrounding the group, the more ridiculous the opponent becomes. Ultimately the protagonist, a multiracial kid from one of the most diverse cities in the world, achieves his dreams and is respected globally for his skill and perseverance, reflecting the ideal of cultural harmony.

Mii: Customizable avatar characters play games :)

Pac-Man: Happy man eats food as cute monsters chase him around a maze :)…in a dramatic departure from the norms of the time in the industry, making the uncommon move of advertising to women by using cute, whimsical designs and appealing to and encouraging everyone’s common experience of eating. Avoided common themes of the time like violent space shooters, racing games, and sports titles, which were meant to appeal to young men.

Xenoblade: The plot revolves around predicting where the path you’re on leads you in the future and emphasizes heavily that there is nothing in life that decides your fate for you. Aims to explain that, while hardships in life can lead you to do the wrong thing, you always have the power to change that which seems destined in your life. It condemns those who use the hardships they’ve experienced to excuse wrongdoing and explains that a person has the power to learn and grow from those hardships instead.

Duck Hunt: You’re a duck hunter shooting down ducks with your trusty companion dog :)

Street Fighter: The continuity is a mess, but basically it boils down to an evil man being defeated by the honorable and pure philosophy of the protagonist. It involves different spiritualities that are a part of different martial arts and I’m not going to pretend to be qualified to talk about the cultural implications of them, but it generally discusses the morality of violence.

Final Fantasy VII: A soldier who lost his best friend in a battle long ago joins an ecoterrorist rebellion against a corporation that is draining the life force from the planet at the expense of energy. If I have to spell out the environmental themes there any more clearly you’re a moron.

Bayonetta: Sexual witch with guns sold her soul to demons and literally makes a living killing angels that are obsessed with the impending resurrection of God, the creation of a new world, and the destruction of the current one. Heavily inspired by and critical of Christianity, with the angels being named after virtues that they lack. The five main bosses in the game are the four Cardinal Virtues of Catholicism – Courage, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence – and the final boss is God herself, a self-centered and spoiled character that demands adoration from all. Contrasts the hypocritical, power-hungry, and overzealous forces of religion with the Bayonetta’s honest and unapologetic appreciation for worldly pleasures, her confidence in her autonomy, and her quest to understand her individuality.

Splatoon: Squid kids play paintball :)…except it’s actually a post-apocalyptic world where humanity died off due to climate change and cephalopods became the dominant intelligent life on Earth.

Castlevania: Heavy religious themes debating the worth of humanity as a man treks through a haunted castle to fight Dracula, a vampiric demon who keeps reincarnating and who occasionally quotes the Bible verbatim. Most games in the series center around the theme that, even though human life is fleeting, it is precious.

Persona: High school student goes into alternate world where his darkest subconscious thoughts manifest into a “persona” tied to him. Debates philosophical topics very, very heavily and questions the meaning of identity.

[masterserris]

FUNERAL FOR A MAGICIAN     Pt. 8 Home

Terrax vs Neo!

Characters: Neo Mysterio (Quentin Beck), Doc Ock (Otto Octavius), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Alexandria Beck (Alex), Maria Beck, Sandman (Flint Marko), Chameleon, Electro, Rhino, Terrax the Tamer, various Avengers (TU)

TU = Terrax Universe

THIS CHAPTER IS GRAPHIC IN NATURE AS PER THE WARNINGS BELOW

Warnings: Explicit gore and death, violence, mentions of past abuse, mental illness, physical illness

^These warnings are here for the story as a whole. If you get invested by reading a less graphic chapter, then be prepared for the warnings above in other parts!!

Captain America: “So, we got a fake magician? Where’s Strange?!”

Iron Man: “He’s fending off Dormammu or demons or whatever the hell he does in the magical realms! He’s been at it for a day and a half now! Maybe YOU should listen more as well, Cap!”

Terrax: “YOUR PETTY SQUABBLES ARE AMUSING, MORTALS. BUT IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU ON THIS DAY. FOR TERRAX KNOWS NO MERCY!”

Terrax swung his cosmic ax, sending a massive arc of plasma hurtling towards the Avengers, but just as they were about to be obliterated, they disappeared completely in a puff of green smoke.

Terrax: “WHA- WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?!”

Neo Mysterio: “You call me a fake. You call me a sham. You’re about to learn why you should never turn your back on the great and powerful Mysterio!!”

Neo had teleported them several blocks away, for they were in no shape to keep fighting. No, they would only get in the way at this point. Mysterio’s hands glowed with green plasma.

Terrax: “DELAY THE INEVITABLE ALL YOU WISH, HUMAN. THE RESULT WILL BE THE SAME.”

Neo Mysterio: “I’m sorry, Doc. I know this wasn’t part of the plan, but unless someone takes down Terrax, neither me nor Spider-Man will be returning. This world will burn, and billions may die. I just... can’t let that happen.”

Doc Ock: “...I understand,” he said through the comm link.

Neo Mysterio: “Do me a favor and record all of this through my helmet cam. I.... think I want my sister to know what I did here. Why I had to. Show anyone this recording all you want, I won’t care in the end....”

Doc Ock: “Right... Godspeed, Beck. We’re all behind you in this.”

Across town, Spider-Man heaved a steel girder, looking for survivors, when he was greeted with a familiar face. Perhaps faces. Ant-Man and the Wasp were doing their best to find people trapped, going into the crevices that no one else could reach. Growing to massive size, Lang could then shift the heavy debris safely. On this day, the bugs would be the ones people would thank for saving their loved ones.

That was until a deafening screech rung out from across the battered city.

Unleashing the full might of Neo Mysterio’s sonic weapons was very dangerous. Originally, they were meant only to suppress foes, maybe even deafen them. However, when cranked to fully capacity, the sonic blast could level nearby buildings. 

Luckily, on this day, everyone in the vicinity had been evacuated. Unfortunately, this barely made Terrax flinch.

Switching strategies, Beck knew he couldn’t fight Terrax one to one, not without Terrax crushing the life out of him. Cloaking was useless, for with the power cosmic, Terrax could sense his very life essence. Illusions, Beck’s specialty, would be completely worthless against him. This was incredibly unfair, Mysterio grumbled to himself as he dodged a rock being hurled at the speed of sound.

Thankfully, his own flight systems were hyper sonic, but to a herald of Galactus, it was dreadfully, woefully inadequate. The Silver Surfer could cross a galaxy at blistering speeds, Terrax could possibly be on a similar level. It just seemed that he was unwilling to actually exert himself on such weaklings today.

This could be exploited.

Beck teleported away, out of sight. This seemed to be the one thing Terrax could not see through, could not counter directly. Perhaps, Beck could at least buy a few seconds of time...

Immediately, Mysterio’s robots appeared surrounding Terrax, all launching towards him, striking for the kill. Even though these machines are each strong enough to take down Iron Man, created from solid carbonadium, Terrax shattered two of them with a single blow. 

Terrax: “YOU ARE A FOOL TO ASSUME THESE TOYS COULD HARM ME!”

The goal, however, was not entirely to hurt Terrax. Yes, Beck wanted to know how tough his rocky skin was against carbonadium claws, but that was not all. Two more of the robots leaped onto Terrax’s back. It did nothing to really slow him down, it was only an annoyance. As Terrax obliterated three more with his ax, the final few closed in.

In the confusion, one of the machines achieved it’s purpose and managed to shove a fear gas grenade into Terrax’s face, exploding the specialty toxin.

This was no ordinary fear gas. It was the high volume, high potency blend. One drop of the serum could cover all of Manhattan, causing mass hysteria and hallucinations. It was now detonated in a way that did not produce the usual cloud of smoke, but rather it stuck to Terrax’s flesh; who now had it coating his face, lungs, and eyes, it was just enough to sap his strength and focus. 

He easily battered the rest of the robots away, completely smashing them apart. For the first time, Terrax staggered, coughing, and failing to see straight. 

Terrax: “COWARD, YOU WOULD DARE TO POISON TERRAX? THIS WILL NOT VANQUISH ME, MORTAL! SHOW YOURSELF AND FACE ME IN WORTHY COMBAT!!”

He swung his cosmic ax wildly around, threatening to tear the city apart if his foe did not emerge. Beck had no intentions of wasting this opportunity, however.

Beck hurtled at Terrax at the speed of sound, blasting him with a bolt of plasma before closing the distance and throwing a massive sucker punch to the gut. In his weakened state, the power cosmic disrupted by the fear toxin, Terrax actually lurched in pain. Perhaps there was yet hope.

The Avengers witnessed this from a few blocks away, their strength rallying.

TU Iron Man: “Up and at ‘em Cap. Shake off that paper cut, this is our chance! He’s buying us time to come up with a counter strike!”

With Stark helping him to his feet, Steve Rogers surveyed the battle from afar. He noted that Beck was using a Wakandan fighting style, not unlike the Panther’s... He was able to land several hits while avoiding the titanic blows from the disorientated Terrax. It still was not enough. All of the attacks landed amounted to little more than scuffs and scratches.

All it took Terrax were two swift blows to the gut then head to send Beck flying, helmet smashed open and armor horribly dented.

TU Captain America: “Right, everyone, fall in position seven! Stark, reroute Rhodey to position twelve! We need to be ready for an assist!”

While the Avengers mobilized, Beck groaned in pain, coughing up blood from his broken ribs. Through all the beatings he’s faced in his short life, this was by far the worst so far, and it was dealt out in only two hits. He was lucky he wasn’t dead. Perhaps that was soon to be amended.

Slowly, Terrax was recovering. If he was going to be defeated, it would be now. Marching forward, Terrax’s ax gleamed a malicious golden orange in the light cast by the buildings smoldering in the distance. Beck picked himself up, wheezing as he felt his bones cracked and innards pulverized. 

As Beck was gaining his composure, something unexpected happened.

Terrax was lit up from two different angles as Iron Man and War Machine unloaded the last of their weapons upon him. Bringing the rain. 

Captain America rushed to Beck’s side with his leg still slashed open while Terrax was distracted, getting them both back to cover.

TU Captain America: “What’s the plan, soldier? You got a way to defeat him?”

Neo Mysterio: “M-maybe.. but I’ll need to get close to him again...”

As he explains his plan, Steve goes quiet.

TU Captain America: “That’s a suicide run... Are you sure about this?”

Neo Mysterio: “It’s the only way I can think of...”

Beck turned his head to the fight, trailing off. Iron Man was at his breaking point, soon the both of them would be torn apart. Steve matched his gaze.

TU Captain America: “Do what you need to, kid. And before you go...” He took Mysterio’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “Thank you.”

Beck turned his gaze away after a second, nodding sullenly. He leaped out from behind the rubble as Steve hurled his shield at Terrax, slamming the hunk of vibranium into the side of his head, throwing him off balance.

Unsheathing his blade, Beck flew at Terrax, managing to bury it into his side and pushing the both of them hurtling skywards, away from the city.

With an animalistic bellow, Terrax grabbed Mysterio’s arm, wrenching, breaking, and removing it from his side. The antarctic vibranium gleaming with his cosmic blood.

Terrax: “INSECT! NOW YOU DIE!!”

Terrax, still with a firm grip on Neo’s arm, buried the business end of his massive ax into Beck’s chest, completely impaling him upon its cruel blade. Quentin gasped as the cold cosmic steel sliced into him. He struggled for a moment, grasping in futility at the hilt. Terrax pulled Neo off of his weapon, gloating at Beck’s dying face as they continued to rise into the heavens.

Terrax: “ALL OF HUMANITY WILL KNOW YOUR FAILURE.”

Weakly, Quentin pulled at something behind his cloak. He managed at last to speak, stammering out some of his last words.

Quentin Beck: “T-they sure will.. My world.. and t-this one... heh...”

Terrax: “YOUR WORLD...? YOU LAUGH IN THE FACE OF DEATH!?”

Quentin Beck: “Nah.. just a-at you...”

Beck grit his teeth into a snarl and spat at Terrax with all of his spite.

Quentin Beck: “I’LL JUST BE SEEING YOU IN HELL.”

And with that, Beck wrenched his good arm around and shoved his teleportation device into the wound he put in Terrax’s side.

BEEP BEEP

Terrax momentarily released him, stunned by the sudden movement. He grasped at his side, unable to pull out the beeping device.

BEEP BEEP

Terrax: “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” WHAT DID YO--”

BEEP BEEEEE---

With a horrible flash of greenish white light, Terrax collapsed upon himself, completely imploding as the teleporter utterly wiped him from existence. 

Terrax was no more.

Mysterio plummeted towards Earth, mortally wounded.

Iron Man gently caught him and brought him to the ground safely; to home.

Doc Ock sat at his desk, a universe away. All he could do was sigh. The receiver was completed by this point. It was all just... Much too late.

[harrysdimples]

just gonna leave my thoughts about the 1975′s new album, a brief inquiry into online relationships, here bc I’m that type of dumbass that will forget what I thought of it 10 mins after i listen to it kksjsaknskas (this is me listening to the leak btw and obviously I will buy the album when it comes out on friday)

give yourself a try: ?? 10/10 excellent single choice. loves it so much!! the exact techno 80s guitar I needed to live my best life. sign of the times??? le gasp. so just giiiiIIIiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIveeeeeeeee yourself a tryyyyyyyyy....thank u matty for inspiring my self love once more

TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME: THE FUCKING BOP OF THE CENTURY. genuinely on blast 24/7. what a TUUUUUUUUNE. love this with my whole heart and is the wholesome bop I needed. just pop perfection. LAV IT. the video warmed my soul. thank u to whatever god gave me the chance to boogie along to this when I make my breakfast n tea

how to draw / petrichor: why does this intro sound like beginning of a john lewis christmas advert? I mean I’m not complaining, take me to winter wonderland pls. wonderful xylophone usage. this is a veryyyyyy long intro. OH WOW this vocoder i love. not entirely sure what matty is saying but you know ? I dig it. OOFT OK WE TAKING IT SOFT TECHNO IM HERE FOR IT. this feels like a song that if u put on in the background you’d be really productive. ok we’re nearly 4 mins in and not much has happened. im here for these oddly distant computer sounds. hmmmmm not sure how to feel about this. feels like I might be dreaming about 80% of this song but I’m not entirely sure what to think about this. oh the piano at the end pls I love. was this just supposed to be an interlude or?........

love it if we made it: I actually did not like this at all on first listen when it was released as a single but MAN after the video and the genius video I am HERE. FOR. IT. thank YOU matty my KING for this woke af song. we stan. 2 real sometimes tbh. AND I’D LOVE IT IF WE MADE IT. the ultimate headbanging in your car song.

be my mistake: oh.........bitch am I in for a ride with this guitar?.......shit. fuckin hell I’m tearin up already. MATTY JESUS CHRIST. I literally just got chills all over my body. this is like.......a sadder slower version of somebody else if that were possible. I’m literally crying oh wow???? this is so fucking beautiful holy wow. so simple yet so powerful. I am absolutely in love with this. possibly my favourite 1975 song ever and that’s saying something. I feel the urge to lie in the dark at 3am and listen to this song with headphones on & just cry. wow. I am literally in awe. this is one of the most sonically perfect songs I’ve ever heard holy shit. thank you. wow.

sincerity is scary: I’m still emotionally recovering from be my mistake jeez louise but I absolutely LOVE this song too. the mv for this was *italian chef kiss* and the entire message behind this song is so ! bloody ! important ! this three song stretch of love it if we made it / be my mistake / sincerity is scary is grammy worthy within itself. I will FIGHT the recording academy if this doesn’t get an aoty nomination. and this song better be fuCKIN recognised istg

I like america & america likes me: this vocoder......yes bitch. I have chills again. maybe that’s just cause I’m cold. OH THAT BEAT DROP?? YES??? yeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeesssssss bitch. this is lit??? vocoder is a personal peeve of mine in songs but this pops off? I’ll need to look up what the lyrics are for a lot of this bc I have no clue what he’s sayin 60% of the time in this song. long fade out but im here for it

the man who married a robot: this intro??? MEMES WHOMST??? I am ? wow ? I don’t know what’s going on rn but I’m going with it. this is supposed to be a deeper meaning of a reflection of society but I cannot take this siri voice seriously. confidentiality issues and porn issues with your computer is 2 real. I’m ? this was an eye opening interlude type thing. THE VIOLINS YES PLS. this is giving me those apple launch adverts for new phones background music realness. sad wanking?? here for it and harry approved

inside your mind: these violins??? oooooOOOOooooh this piano??? OKAY BITCH???? that low note ok wow???? these lyrics are slightly stalkerish but u know. oh okay we’re taking it there??? I see. this is a very nice orchestral accompaniment. 10/10 on vocals thank u. this shredding on the guitar in the back? im assuming this is supposed 2 be self aware creepiness & thank god for that. showing how fucked males are as a gender. seeing females as a vessel for their own personal pleasure and then when they either don’t get that or have used them for what they need, turn to violence as the natural consequence of his actions.

it’s not living (if it’s not with you): a vibey song that I needed. I’m lovin it. feels like it could be part of an 80s coming of age film, like ferris bueller’s day off or sixteen candles. the chorus absolutely SLAPS and thank you for this bop. an amazing song for a long car journey/road trip. 10/10 would recommend listening

surrounded by heads and bodies: oh........no........I thought I was safe after be my mistake but APPARENTLY NOT. these harmonies are heavenly. feel like this is what you hear as you are being lifted into heaven to calm you down. has that whimsical/ethereal vibe and I absolutely love it with matty’s voice. the lyrics are fuckin sad :( I am hurting. my hort :(  will be adding this to my sleepy time playlist on spotify of songs that lull me to sweet dreams, I look forward to falling asleep to this (and I mean that in the best way possible) 

mine: this flute? hm. oh......no.....another piano my heart is too fragile for this please no. this is so pretty :( oh no I am tearing up. pleaSE I LOVE THIS. SAXOPHONE AHHHHHH MY FAVE. JAZZY????? ALL I COULD EVER WANT PLEASE THANK YOUUUUUUU. I am IN LOVE WITH THIS. lookin back on 2009? was it really raining all the time? oh this is so melancholy and I love it :( this is the type of song u slow dance to at a wedding. OHHHHH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. please I am so emotionally fragile this is a lot for my overly emotional heart to handle. you are just fine!!! because I know you are mine!!! someone stab me in the chest please!!! when will I receive love!!!! a contender for my fave on the album

I couldn’t be more in love: judging by the title if this is another slow song I’m going to bawl my eyes out. oh fuCK. this is......sad........I am..........sad. matty’s voice oh my god????? my love.....I need to be held. baby I’ll rely on all the things i did BECAUSE I’LL GIVE YOU ALL THE YEARS OF MY LIFE FUCK OFFFFFFFFFF I AM SWAN DIVING OFF A CLIFF. THIS CHOIR??? RIP MY SOUL FROM MY BODY THANKS. I am thIS close from having an emotional breakdown. and this bloody guitar solo just solidified that for me okay wow I was not nearly emotionally prepared enough for this album. THAT KEY CHANGE BITCH?????? I am so sad but I’m having a musical eargasm. wow I loved that.

I always wanna die (sometimes): (that’s a fat mood) oh no I really am going to cry during this song. oh. fuck. holy fuck this is genuinely a situation I’ve been in before and I don’t know what to do with myself. 

I had to stop and listen after the first verse because this song hit me so much. wow. this is a masterpiece. the bridge is absolutely beautiful. one of the most meaningful songs I’ve ever listened to. god listening to this song after I’ve gone through is making me so emotional. and matty’s vocals are the most angelic thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t even know how to describe this song because it’s just that good. just wow. so fucking beautiful and the best closer to an album I’ve heard since hs1. I just love this with my entire being.

overall rating: 10. my favourite album of 2018 by far. just beautifully crafted and a genuine piece of art. this is the band’s best album. I need to go process what I just heard but wow. just so beautiful and I’m thankful my ears were so blessed to hear this. faves from the album are def mine, be my mistake, tootime and I always wanna die (sometimes)