#we love using the villain's power against them 🥰 lol

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

I-

Oh my gosh

That was ABSOLUTELY A M A Z I N G

SLFKGHLJHS DR LUBELLE GOT SQUISHED BY A COW

CARLOS IS THE NEW DEAN AAAHHHH!!!

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭 HE'S INVESTIGATING THE DESERT OTHERWORLD!!!!

Also Cecil's attachment to the lights above the Arby's :'D like it makes so much sense obviously but just hearing him talk about it in the beginning and then at the end 😭😭😭 I literally can't :'))

And related to that, "ancient radio host" 👀👀👀 YESSSS we love when we vaguely acknowledge that ;)

And related to THAT, as I was thinking the whole time, I love how Dr. Lubelle didn't even try to explain Cecil XD. Girl really was just gonna leave him and the Ralph's lol, and that's how it should be 😌 I mena if it had to happen lol. Or just like, Cecil not being explained in general.

Anyway

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

YESSS EVERYONE'S BACK!!!

Except, of course, for one 😭

All Mourn the Glow Cloud <33

So yeah :'D I enjoyed this episode SO freaking much (the weather was beautiful by the way - not in a calm way, but just super good lol). Another year :').

Night Vale, I love you so freaking much <3. Thank you :')).

[aces-and-angels]

I’ve loved reading your ILW playthrough thoughts, especially Matty! I did all his variants because I’ve wanted a villain romance story from PB forever. Matthias is so well written. I felt completely fed! I found the betrayal route with MC and Matty living together to be the most satisfying for me. If I was going to be bad I wanted to see it play out fully. It was intriguing to see the villain have one weakness and it be MC. Matty lived his whole life obsessed with the Power and alone because of it. Then he found the one being who made him actually sacrifice his obsession at times so they could live their best “Power Couple” life. When Matty was willing to literally jump into the fire for MC I was like “Evil Daddy really is whipped huh?!”. Lol! The team gave us such a perfect “us against the world” storyline, even tossing in the potential for a divorce because that was classic overly dramatic MC/Matthias, haha! I loved it. I loved all the toxicity that was their dynamic. I’m glad that one of his variants was them sipping cocktails on the beach because that’s what I saw them doing in my mind if they won against Loha.

ANON- YOU ARE GIVING ME LIFE RN; thank youuu 🥰🥰🥰

This was such a nice message to receive ♥ As much as I loved playing through the game itself, writing up my thoughts on the story was equally, if not, more enjoyable to do. ILW is such an engaging story made by very talented individuals who put their whole ass chests into making it possible. Since I can't legally give any of them money, I thought at the very least I could share my thoughts lol

I've had a bit more time to digest Matthias' route in its entirety and have come up with more things to say (even tho I had titled that post as my 'final thoughts'- bit presumptuous of me- I don't think ILW is getting out of my head any time soon lmao) Plus, this gives me the opportunity to do a deep dive on a successful betrayal route😊I'll add a 'read more' section bc I got a tad carried away while writing it lol

So for anyone interested:

an impromptu final thoughts on the ilw finale: matthias edition pt. 2

(ch 23 spoilers below... and I guess above too... just avert your eyes lol)

---

First, I'm with you anon- we were desperately owed a villain story from PB. I can't think of many choices books that give players the autonomy to determine an MC's status as a hero/villain. There are definitely choices that you can make throughout their books that are deemed 'incorrect,' but when boiled down, the MCs generally are the same flavor personality-wise. Not saying playing the 'good guy' isn't enjoyable- it certainly can be if the story is engaging enough- but when that's your only option, it's very easy to grow tired of it.

The amount of ways Matthias' route can turn out is in itself very impressive. The several ways you can interpret Rowan in each of these scenarios is just as satisfying. (The juxtaposition of a genuine!Ro with a character like Matthias is wild- I'm still not over the divorce lol)

Anon, you made very interesting point on Matthias choosing to give up his obsession with the Power. I'd like to counter and say that he never did. (not saying you're wrong at all anon- as I mentioned before in other posts- players are free to decide how the story ends however they want). It is certainly plausible that Matthias is truly happy with Rowan. The language seen throughout the epilogue displays a clear devotion and inexplicable bond between the pair.

Your hearts beat as one, and you feel him even when he's not around. His power calls to yours in a way that makes your heart beat faster and you always ache to touch him. There are no words for the feelings you have for each other. Even to call them feelings seem trivial, since your love is now a foundational part of both of you. It's there, as solid and necessary as your heart and soul.

I think it's important to remember who Rowan and Matthias are at the end of ILW (in this route): the Power itself contained within a human vessel. So I see it more as Matthias' obsession simply changing its form rather than him giving it up for the sake of being with Rowan. As I said in my previously, there are always strings attached when it comes to Matthias' love/devotion. Some sort of condition that must be met. Rowan just happened to turn into the thing he desired most.

In the past two 'finale thoughts' posts I've written, I speculated what I believe will happen beyond the epilogue with Ro and whoever they end up with. Simply trying to answer the question, will they last?

To briefly recap my answers in the posts I've made so far in case yall haven't seen those-

Abel x Rowan (mixed route): maybe

Amalia x Rowan (blood route): forever and evah bby (and then a little bit after that)

My answer for Matthias x Rowan: not. a. chance. Here's why:

Going back to your message anon- Matthias and Rowan's relationship is toxic. No ifs ands or buts about it. When I think of these two together, the words that immediately pop into my head are:

Destructive

Violent

All-consuming

Volatile

I want to highlight this scene at the end of ch 22:

You grin, wide and satisfied... but then a new thought comes unbidden to your mind. Why should you have to share this glorious power with him? What does he matter? Who is her in comparison to you? That Power, that euphoric beautiful endless Power, it could all be yours. You're everything, an endless raging sea of power. What does this pitiful creature matter to you? - You turn to fully face Matthias, a manic grin plastered to his face. - Matthias: Is it whispering the same things to you as it is to me? Rowan: Yes. Matthias: Are you going to kill me, love?

You can argue that his refusal to kill Ro for sole ownership of the Power is enough to prove his unyielding loyalty towards them. But Matthias is first and foremost a self-serving character. If he had the same thought as Ro once, there's a very good chance that thought could pop up again. No way can an eternity go by without that thought creeping up in either of their minds.

What is required to bring their relationship to life brings the rest of the world down to its knees. For the rest of the gang in ch 23, Rowan and Matthias are an unstoppable force. The only thing that can stop them is each other. I think the epilogue more than hints at their fiery end by showing the literal destruction of their newly 'purchased' mansion during their... ahem... well y'know 😏

Rowan: I can't believe we broke everything. Matthias: Really? Because I most certainly can. --- Rowan: Do you think there's anything in this room we haven't broken? Matthias: Actually, I don't think we ever made it to the couch. Rowan: That's too bad. Matthias: Just give it a moment, my dear. We'll soon fix that.

A mansion that Ro decides they want on a whim- destined to be reduced to rubble. What happens when Rowan and Matthias are left with the world at their fingertips?

It burns. And when the world burns, they too will burn with it. (If you can't tell, I recently re-watched the Hunger Games on Netflix lmaooo)

Ending on a quote from ATLA bc Matthias ain't ever beating these fire nation allegations:

"I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of Fire, how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path. But Fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume. And without control, it destroys everything around it. Learn restraint or risk destroying yourself and everything you love." -Jeong Jeong

---

If yall are still reading this, what's good gang? ILW's main blog has an ongoing poll on which route players chose going into the final chapter. So far, it looks like the Blood route is winning. I'll be a bit nosier and ask a follow-up question. Good way to see how many people really made it to the end

[egg-emperor]

I apologize if you’ve been asked this or if you’ve spoken Apologies if someone has asked you this or if you talked about it before, but what are your thoughts on the audio series Sonic and Tails R? I know it’s fanmade but it features Mike Pollock as Eggman and it manages to write Eggman as a pretty powerful villain imo! I wanted to know since you are THE Eggman Expert to me, and very passionate about the way he is portrayed (which I agree with, lol)

The Eggman Expert? :O Ahfddjfnskjnfdsgdjsg thank you so much!

I haven't shared my thoughts in-depth yet because I wanted to wait until we heard it all to share my final opinion on his portrayal. But now we've reached the bittersweet end, so I'll share them here now. ^^

A lot of the hype for this fan series was around the official actors reprising roles for the first time in years, that's for sure. I get it because hearing Ryan Drummond return with my absolute favorite Sonic voice and multiple other actors is a real treat. But I barely saw anyone talk about Eggman's characterization and Mike Pollock's performance were as a result. So of course I'm gonna be that guy!

First I'll go through a brief summary of my thoughts on Eggman in each episode, then my final thoughts on his portrayal as a whole overall. So of course, this will contain spoilers!

Episode 1:

One of my absolute favorite episodes! I loved how it immediately started off with some really exciting action. Despite it being audio only, it was very easy to picture exactly what was happening. My favorite part was the sly and cunning Eggman and the way he was actually luring them into a trap with each phase and waiting for the right moment to use his tractor beam. It was great to already see him get the upper hand within in the first episode!

I love it so fucking much whenever Eggman talks with that lower quieter tone and whisper, it's absolutely thrilling. I'm just like sir... my heart is yours 😳🥰💜💘💕

Episode 2:

He was only in it for a short moment but it was a very important one. The way he was restoring emeralds and didn't understand why the emerald he was piecing together were leaking energy was worrying for a moment but his view on it was fitting for him to have. He was actually right for it to be no cause for concern because it never ended up being a part of his reason for failure, which I feared at first. It's nice when Eggman's plans don't backfire against him because of his own actions.

Also, the part where he puts the emphasis on the word "perplexing" always cracks me up. The way it's followed by his sinister excited tone as he wonders where the other six might be is a wonderful amount of range heard from him within just a few seconds. Mike never fails to deliver both Eggman's goofy and serious lines in the most entertaining ways!

Episode 3:

It was a relief that Eggman explained that the corrupted chaos emeralds still have just as much power as before. What was even better was that they could potentially be even more powerful than the originals, so his mechs could be more powerful than his super form. I love how something he wasn't sure of at first actually turned out to be something that was beneficial to him. It's a big refresher from the constant "Eggman creates a problem for himself that leads to his eventual failure" thing that makes people misinterpret him as an incompetent joke.

I love the way he threatens Sonic and Tails in this one. The impact of the way he began with a hushed tone and raised his voice with the threat was again, so thrillingly menacing and showing how dead serious he is about destroying them. I always wish for more moments where Mike gets to portray Eggman's darker, cruel, and intimidating side like this and I'm very grateful that this series gave him the perfect opportunities. I really hope there are more in the games soon!

(He wasn't in ep 4 so I won't talk about it here lol)

Episode 5:

Another favorite episode because I couldn't stop smiling all the while at his playful tone throughout, I love it so much when he's so mischievous and cheeky and he gets to have fun with his schemes! He knew he had a good reason to be so confident and giddy when he had a bomb set to detonate at the finish line so he could grab the emerald.

Something else that was awesome was how Eggman already had FOUR of the emeralds. He'd been doing a great job finding and piecing them back together all by himself! This series really showed his competence and ability to be well ahead of Sonic and friends. It was like Adventure again!

(He wasn't in ep 6 so not talking about that one here either XD)

Episode 7:

Another one of my favorite eps besides 1 and 5! It was cool that he made a fake Eggman in the style of Metal's fakes in Heroes that managed to trick, beat, and blast Tails and then blow up to knock him and Sonic out. The way he was so condescending towards Tails like he's seeing him as the eight year old child he is with the tone of mockery in his "you'll get over it" and "poor boy~" has me like 😩💗💜💕💖 Yes he's being awful to a little kid but COME ON he's being extremely hot while doing so, I can't lie lol

I love how all the focus was on him for his speech about how there's no one that Tails can depend on and that he's all alone. I like that he was trying to get into poor Tails' head to make him believe that if he can't always be perfectly independent then he's screwed because he shouldn't truly rely on anyone with teamwork. I like that Eggman is delivering that fucked up message because I enjoy lone wolf Eggman that believes he's powerful enough on his own, doesn't need anyone, and is comfortable in it due to his ego and confidence.

I like how he got to make Sonic and Tails feel helpless when he tells them that they practically just gave all the emeralds to him, just like in Adventure. But it's also thanks to his competency in how he was always a few steps ahead of them in finding the emeralds and the way his plan was so well thought out for a long way through that plays a huge important part in it too! He even got to go through with his earlier threat about blasting them out of existence, proving he wasn't all talk by bringing out his vaporization technology.

I'm so happy that we got to hear such a wonderful amount of chaotic maniacal bastard Eggman in this episode! That (unfortunately temporary) moment of victory was a joy that had me smiling so wide, I was so happy for him! This is why I love evil cruel Eggman so much, it's so thrillingly entertaining. With the cliffhanger you can really imagine that he finally killed Sonic and Tails and I love it. If it wasn't for what the emeralds and Tikal can do then he really would've killed them right there and then, once and for all! :D

Episode 8:

He wasn't in this one much but his "what happened?" and the return of his high-pitched gasp were cute. If only Sonic and Tails weren't the main characters so his win could've been permanent. :')

Episode 9:

Also one of my absolute favorites, of course!

Sonic says that Eggman shouldn't have hit them with a laser powered by the emeralds but it wasn't glaringly obvious that it would be an effect of the laser, so it was a way for there to be a flaw in Eggman's plan without it seeming like there was something extremely obvious to overlook. It wasn't at the expense of his seriousness and competency like it has been in IDW, so they did it better. Plus, he had already proven how he could plan well and ahead as he had the upper hand for a while up until this point.

The Egg-Gidorah was epic and I really like how the concept art shown on Twitter revealed that it was based on the dragon boss that was cut from Sky Chase in Adventure. The way it was golden as if it had its own super form from the emeralds was pretty badass. And it was supposed to be so huge that Sonic looked like a tiny speck of dust in comparison.

I love how Eggman clearly gave it his all after anticipating it for so long. He had multiple tricks up his sleeve and even pulled out the tractor beam to drain them of the emeralds' power again. With the speech he gave when he truly almost had them, I liked how he thought about everything that lead to this moment to build the suspense. His tone of mockery with the way he says he's "almost sorry it's over" and calling them his "admirable adversaries" and the delivery of that "crush them" had an amazing impact. Every time he uses that particular tone it makes me shiver with glee!

It's not just Eggman that gave it his all, so did Mike with his extremely impressive performance! Eggman had that energy, desperation, and determination to win in his voice on a similar level to the Egg Dragoon boss in Unleashed, which has always been one of my favorite performances from Mike. With the way he accidentally mispronounced Ivo aside despite getting it right two times before, I adore the energy in the delivery of the lines where Eggman says he's the greatest genius the world has and will ever know, and how they're nothing compared to him! He's so right 🥰💘

Episode 10:

I know he's a bastard but of course I felt bad for how grumpy he sounded about his defeat. I love this grumbly grumpy old man so much ajfjsmgkskgkkdh It makes sense for him to not be as pumped up about getting Sonic next time like he often is because there are still times where defeats hit him harder like we see in Adventure and Unleashed, and this was another pretty big defeat after how long he had the upper hand and how well thought out his plan was. It also wouldn't be the first time he's bluntly admitted to defeat.

At first, when he said that it turns out that Sonic's willpower was stronger than his genius, for a second I was like "HUH‽" because why would he say that when he's a narcissist that will always see himself as superior? But he obviously wasn't genuine, you could still hear the sarcasm in his tone and the "until we meet again, that is" line confirmed that. I might have written that part a little bit differently but it doesn't bother me much and I still think the writers had a good understanding of his character.

--------------------

Overall, this is one of the few cases of Eggman interpretations and writing within fan made content that's been right up my alley. I think they understand Eggman's character well and it's always a delight to see a genuinely evil and competent Egg that doesn't add fuel to all the misconceptions. I've enjoyed his writing in this so much more than his writing in IDW for a while now as a result. This series gave him the respect he truly deserves by having him as the one true villain with plenty of spotlight that shows off his skills and his evil bastard ways.

I adore how confident and smug he was across multiple episodes, especially 1, 3, 5, and 9. It's typical with his big ego but anyone will realize that he has a good reason to be with this plan because it was impressively successful almost the whole way through. He lured Sonic to the extractor, managed to acquire emeralds on his own, and easily snatched more from Sonic and Tails during their attempts to recollect them. He didn't give up to the very end despite every challenge and tried everything he could to defeat Sonic and Tails, so he never seemed like an incompetent joke.

I always adore Eggman being genuinely evil and villainous. When he's egotistical, eccentric, evil, threatening, funny, and charming I'm like THAT'S my boy! I'm delighted when he goes all out with his badass creations and is a completely ruthless and threatening bastard that's determined to win, no matter what. I love his maniacal laughter as he finds enjoyment in it, the thrill of the chaos and malicious intent of his actions, his threats and mockery, and the way he asserts his superiority and tries to make those he sees beneath him as nothing in comparison. He's powerful and believes in himself and his goal and he doesn't let anyone get in his way!

I really like how he was sinister and threatening while still having moments of endearing silliness that because that balance is important. It's a part of why he's so fun and entertaining and Mike Pollock also helps deliver it with his charming as ever performance! He brought him so much life and energy in a way nobody else could, so I'm really happy they could get him for this fan project. As usual, my heart started racing every time I heard him and I couldn't stop smiling. He never fails to impress and I hope it's not too long until we get to hear him play Eggman in any form of media again.

So in conclusion: Yes, Eggman's portrayal in SaTR absolutely has my approval and the series has become very special to me as a result. This has given me everything I wanted that IDW has been severely lacking. It's a great example of his true potential being explored by giving him the respect and spotlight he deserves. It's also a perfect reminder that he's genuinely evil, competent, and a serious threat. I will always treasure his portrayal in this series for that and I can't recommend it enough! 🥰💜💕💖