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transneonneko · 3 years

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Things from Archie Sonic that I would love to see return in the Mainline Games and/or IDW Sonic!!

Recently, I decided to read some of the Archie Sonic Comic, from like issue 186ish up until the first MegaMan crossover and the reboot, mainly because there were some gaps in my knowledge of those stories. Mainly Issues 198 till 235, which I never got to read as a kid and, I have to say, there were a lot of really interesting concepts during Ian's run of comics before the reboot that I really loved. There was a lot of really interesting concepts I love after the reboot too. I wanna celebrate that. A lot of these concepts and story idea I feel really deserve another chance.

So I wanna make this list of stuff I wanna see return in either for stories in the Mainline Games or the IDW Sonic comics. Before we start, I do wanna add somethings. This post isn't meant to be shitting on IDW and being like "IDW would be better if they did this". I really love the IDW comics and universe. I also know that some of these concepts likely can't be done due SEGA Mandates and I'm not gonna include stuff like "Bring back the Freedom Fighters" because I feel asking to bring back characters isn't gonna be very productive, as much as I would like to see their return. Anyways, let's begin.

The Fate of the ARK

One thing that really inspired this list was this scene right her. We'll talk more about Silver's Future later but for now, let's focus on the ARK. I'm gonna assume anyone reading this knows the story of the ARK from SA2 and Shadow. Sadly, the ARK hasn't really been revisited in the main canon since Shadow, despite how iconic of a set piece it is. In the Archie Comics, we get a look at Silver's future and one of things that may have been the cause of how bad things are is the ARK crashed. Sadly, Archie got rebooted before the writers could go more into it but, from SA2, we know that the ARK was set to crash into the planet if all 7 Chaos Emeralds are placed into it, wiping out all life on the planet. This could be an excellent premise of another Silver adventure, whether it be in the comics or games, where Sonic, Silver and some friends have to stop someone from making the ARK crash into the planet.

Expanding the Eggman Empire/Egg Bosses

Something I've always found a bit lacking in the game canon is how the Eggman Empire itself has been presented. In the games, the Eggman Empire is usually just made up of Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, a bunch of robots and (recently) Infinite. It's not really an Empire if it's just one guy and a bunch of robots. The main goal is the conquer the world but we hardly see Eggman actually see what happens when Eggman conquers a place, like what happens to the people who used to live there, besides like Colours and Forces, where the Wisps and Mobians are usually just seen being imprisoned. The Egg Bosses are the perfect solution to this and adds so much to Sonic's World.

The Egg Bosses are Mobians who, either willingly or unwillingly, aligned themselves up with Eggman for whatever reason, becoming commanders of the Eggman Empire. This usually comes about when Eggman has taken over a part of the region and the people living in that region have no choice but to join the Eggman Empire, for their own safety. Not only does this make the Eggman Empire feel more than just one person but it also makes Eggman more a villain himself. It able to portray Eggman as someone to be feared and, I mean, this is a dictator and genocider who is pretty much declaring war against the world.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts about the world. Characters like Maw, Thunderbolt and even Nephthys to a degree joined up with Eggman because they felt it was the right thing to do for the sake of the world, or in Nephthys case, to stop things getting worst later on, meanwhile characters like Grand Battle Kukku are plotting to usurp Eggman, with Clove and Beauregard only working for Eggman to protect family or close ones.

As I said before, having these Egg Bosses also makes Eggman look more threaten, both because he's able to look like a "bigger bad" next to these villains he has command of and, because almost all the Egg Bosses hate Eggman's guts, they are cyberized, a terrifying process in which those who work for Eggman are focus to have parts of their body replaced with cybernetics, with either bombs which will blow if they decide to leave or a locking mechanism that will paralyze their entire body, ready to be locked up.

If either in the game or the IDW comic, I would like to see the Egg Boss concept return. It doesn't even need to be the same characters or use the name "Egg Boss." It would help expand the army of the Eggman Empire, as well as provide some fun bosses for the games I think.

Mobians and Humans living together

This was always a weird hangup I felt the series had. In the case of games between Sonic Adventure & Unleashed, Sonic and friends were the only Mobians, humans made up the NPCs while Mobians were reserved for main characters. Then in Forces and IDW, Mobians made up the background characters, so then Eggman is the only human. I really prefer it when they have the two living together, it makes it seems more normal and, honestly, a better solution than the whole "Two Worlds" explanation.

Eggman Seemingly Defeated

Can I just that I love Issues 198-200? In these 3 issues, Sonic and friends Eggman's main base, the Egg Dome. This including fighting on the outside of the base, involving fighting hoards of the Dark Egg Legion soldiers and Eggman in the Egg Phoenix. After dealing with the outside, Sonic and friends raid the Egg Dome itself, taking different directions, with the Dark Egg Legion seemingly retreating, until they reach the center of the base, where they are blocked off by a barricade, which only Sonic can pass through, giving a "Point of No Return" vibe, Dark Egg Legion soldiers lining up and saluting Sonic. Then Sonic reaches the center and finds Eggman in the Egg Tarantula, starting their final battle which Sonic wins. This defeat is enough for Eggman to lose his sanity, seemingly ending the war Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have been fighting their entire life.

Of course Eggman returns but, god, it's just such a memorable couple of issues. There's a real sense of finality to it. I would a sequence like this in the games, something that feels like truly ending the Eggman Empire and defeating them once and for all. Of course, it wouldn't be the end, Sonic games are always needing to be made which would lead to...

The New Rulers of the Eggman Empire

In the comics after the defeat of Eggman, the Eggman Empire is taken over by some of it's Commanders, the Iron Queen and Iron King, who rules the Empire as their own until they are defeated and Eggman's return.

I love the idea that even if the Eggman, there will always be someone there to take his place. The games could do this by having Neo Metal or Infinite take his place. Hell, IDW did have Neo Metal take over but I think what made that less interesting was that Neo Metal wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for Eggman. I think this would work well if a concept like the Egg Boss was introduced in the games, maybe have one of the characters part of that group take over OR have a lot of the more ambitious Egg Bosses war against each other to take command, until eventually Eggman returns and puts them in line.

Silver's Future

Silver is one of the most recurring characters, who always joins the gang when his future is in trouble. The problem is that we never see his future besides 06. We have no idea what Silver's future is currently until it's in danger and, even then, we never see it.

We see Silver's Future in both continuities of the Archie Comic, with two different takes. Pre-SGW has a destroyed city vibe, like 06 but less lava. Post-SGW brought a whole new take where people are ruled by a corrupt council where people are put into class groups, and security robots will arrest if you are not at your job at the right time. They even re-contextualize Silver's bracelets as cuffs that the robots can activate. With Silver being my favourite character as a kid, I remember being obsessed with this new world and story, wanting to know more.

I'm not saying they would need to copy this world exactly but it would be nice if they gave us a concrete and consistence look for Silver's Future.

The Heroic Metal Sonic

Right before the SGW, we were introduce to Shard the Metal Sonic. His story is that he was the original Metal Sonic, the one that raced Sonic in Stardust Speedway. He appeared later in the comic, where Sonic made him realized there was more to life than just being Eggman's killing machine. He seemingly died, but was rebuilt to serve as a member the Secret Freedom Fighters.

This one would be tricky to be included. It worked in the Archie comic as they had been many Metal Sonics throughout the series, each one getting destroyed. Meanwhile, there's only officially been one Metal Sonic in the games made by Eggman (two if we count Classic and Modern). Admittedly, Gemerl fits Shard's personality and does need to be used more in the games but having it be Metal Sonic is just a cooler concept.

I think a solution to this is that we have Metal Sonic 1.0 made by Eggman and, in Rivals 2, we have Metal Sonic 3.0 by Eggman Nega from the future. But what about Metal Sonic 2.0? I think we could have a game where after Metal Sonic fails, Eggman builds a replacement, being 2.0, which would give reason to Metal Sonic wanting to revolt, which could lead to a redemption? While I am loving the IDW comics, I do really miss a lot of what both Archie continuities offered. I haven't mention the some other concepts and stories I liked that really focused on certain characters such as Naugus, Geoffrey St. John, Dimitri etc. Maybe I'll talk about that another day...

#Sonic #sonic the hedgehog #archie sonic #idw sonic #pre-sgw #post-sgw #sega #eggman #eggman empire #egg bosses #shard the metal sonic #silver the hedgehog

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raziroo · 3 years

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Karma | The Marauders

[Chapter 3] The Mudblood Hate Organisation

Karma was nervous, and extremely so. Her visit to Diagon Alley, in which she'd been accompanied with some creepy bloke who she was supposed to call Professor Fisher, had gone surprisingly well. She'd bought books and robes and cauldrons and gloves and whatnot, and although they were all second hand, Karma was satisfied – she was going to school, and she would at least have a sense of ownership over her belongings, because she certainly didn't have any idea on how to use more than half of them. She'd also bought a wand – holding it was one of the best experiences she'd ever have, she knew of it.

Professor Fisher, in all his light ginger-haired and musty cinnamon-scented glory, lead the way to a narrow shop just down the street. It was old, Karma could tell – there was nothing on display in the windows, through which Karma saw that the shop was quite not as big as all the others she'd been to. Over the door was written,

Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.

As Fisher pushed the door open, Karma peered inside, not paying any attention to the tinkling bell that had rung somewhere overhead. This shop, Karma thought, this shop is the most expectedly magical thing I've seen.

And true her thoughts were, for the shop's each and every content – be it the awry chair that stood in a corner, the thousands of narrow and thin wand boxes that lay messily stacked in shelves, the dust that covered them, the very air - it gave an old, witch-like feeling that Karma had been expecting all along.

A man – old, wrinkly, and with a wistful look in his moon-like eyes – emerged from the shadows. He said in a soft voice, 'Good evening, Karma, I've been expecting you. Took quite long, long enough...' he trailed off, staring at Karma with those silvery eyes. It might have felt weird to some, but Karma couldn't help but stare back, right into the man's eyes. It seemed as if he had seen entire eras pass, and noting his appearance, he might as well have.

He spoke up once again. 'Your wand arm?'

'Uh... I'm not quite sure I- '

'What hand do you write with?' said Fisher, in an exasperated sort of voice. Karma didn't like it.

Mr. Ollivander, Karma assumed, just now seemed to notice Fisher's presence. He exclaimed, still in a quiet tone, 'Oh, Maurice, no? Maurice Fisher, Ash wood, 11 inches, unicorn hair... I expect it has served you wondrously, yes?'

Fisher nodded, still seeming tired of the very fact that he would have to use his voice. 'Yes, Mr. Ollivander.'

'Hm... well, Karma, time is precious, not to be wasted...' and he whipped out a measuring tape with silver markings, seemingly out of nowhere.

'Wand arm?' he asked again.

'Right.'

And so Karma was measured – not by Ollivander, just by his tape, mind you - shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head. He asked the wand to stop, and so it crumpled up and fell to the floor. Karma watched it vanish just before it touched the ground.

Ollivander piped up. 'Now, now, Karma, here, take this. Ash wood, dragon heartstring core, 12 ¾ inches. Give it a wave, go on...' Karma sort of jerked the wand, but it was abruptly snatched back by Ollivander.

'No no, that won't do, certainly not...' Another box was pulled out. 'Here – beech wood, unicorn hair, 13 inches, swishy and bendy...' Karma waved the wand around. It felt... not right, even when it made the spindly chair's legs break. It was promptly taken back.

After a bit of searching, now for a longer period of time, Ollivander pulled out a sleek cherry shaded box, which was so dusty its true colour was hard to decipher.

He pulled out the wand, a roughish looking affair with little to no design – there was an engraved loop around it, a little way off from its rear, and twine was encircled around this rear. As soon as her slender fingers gripped the wand, Karma felt a tingly kind of shockwave go through her body, and as she waved the wand in a roundabout motion, the chair's legs repaired themselves.

Ollivander had a smile on his face, but his eyes seemed so far away, Karma was almost sure he hadn't even seen her enormous grin, or the satisfied-but-still-exasperated huff of air Fisher had produced.

'M- Mr. Ollivander...? Are you alright...?' The man blinked his moon-like eyes twice, and said in an even softer voice, so that it was just above a whisper, 'This wand... this particular wand – alder wood, unicorn hair, 14 ½ inches – this wand has been in the shop since the beginning, the very beginning...' The man's wistful voice had a slightly grim tone to it; so slight, in fact, that Karma failed to notice it, but Fisher didn't.

'This wand, Karma, its existence... quite curious, quite peculiar, yes...' Karma seemed inclined to stay silent. She was scared that Ollivander would stop his words and lose his train of thought if she broke the silence. 'This wand... its core, as you know, is of unicorn hair... a core that is prone to melancholy... it might "die", you see; if mishandled, it will need replacing. It doesn't make for the most powerful wand. But what's curious, Karma, is that even though alder does not- should not, rather, compensate for that weakness, your wand is still a quite powerful one. The reason is what is so curious...'

Ollivander trailed off once more. After a bit, he said, 'The reason Karma, is that the tree your wand's wood was taken from... it was not normal... certainly not usual...'

'How so?' Karma's curiousness became too much to bear.

'That... my dear girl, that, is something better left untold...' and the man had once again retreated into the shadows.

All Karma could do was share a look with Fisher, who, for the first time since she'd seen him, didn't look exasperated.

That encounter had been quite nerve-wracking, but not this much; standing amongst a crowd of small people such as herself in the centre of the Great Hall, Karma felt nauseous. The queasy feeling in her belly wouldn't go away, and as she watched all the other children talk among themselves, she felt oddly singled out. The fact that about a hundred other people were watching wasn't helping. Even in the Hogwarts Express, she was sat with a third year Ravenclaw called Pandora who, apparently, no one wished to sit with. All through the journey, there was an awkward energy in the compartment, and multiple attempts by Karma to diffuse the awkwardness had been in vain, because Pandora seemed to speak only in riddles, that too in a voice dreamier than even Ollivander's. Karma suddenly knew why Pandora was a reject.

Although all the first years had been briefed about the Sorting Ceremony and the four Hogwarts houses, Karma was still feeling immensely overwhelmed. She had read absolutely nothing in her magic books; she'd been too busy sharing her excitement and sadness and disappointment with Jade and Morgan.

Her wand-

'Abbott, Hailey!' a voice said loudly. Karma's gaze focused back on the scene in front of her eyes; she hadn't really been paying attention to the Hat's song. As everyone watched McGonagall and the teachers all patiently waiting, a little girl, certainly undergrown for her age, briskly walked up the stairs and placed herself on the stool. McGonagall put the Hat on her head, and Karma was sure that before it even quite touched her head, a screech of 'HUFFLEPUFF!' echoed through the hallway. The table to their left, whose students were all clad in yellow and black, gave an enormous round of applause, and "Hailey" ran to her house table, smiling with glee. Next, a slim, pale boy with dirty blond hair, called "Geoffrey Bailey" made his way up the stairs. He was quite frail-looking. He quietly walked to the stool placed there, and took a seat. The Hat was sat atop his head, and after only a few quiet moments, it bellowed, 'SLYTHERIN!'

The table to the extreme right gave a quite unenthusiastic round of applause.

Karma wondered what surname Professor McGonagall would use for her; or if she would use none at all. Deep down, deep, deep down, so deep down she wasn't sure if it was there, Karma knew the answer. Although she hoped she was wrong, prayed that by some miracle she would be proven wrong. She was given the unwanted answer pretty soon.

'Beauregarde, Karma!' Said girl made a thoroughly disgusted face at the fact that she would now be known as "Beauregarde" by the school. Couldn't the teachers have picked a better name? Harrison as a surname had always sounded pretty cool to Karma, and Montgomery was a quite intriguing one, too. But no, due to stupid rules and regulations and laws, Karma would have to go around being called "Beauregarde", because that's what kids do, right? They don't ever address you as the person you're supposed to be, you'll mostly be called by your last name.

These vicious thoughts were swirling through Karma's mind when she sat on the stool, and it was only when the Sorting Hat was perched on her head did she stop complaining about rules and Beauregarde and who-knows-what.

'Eh,' a small-ish voice sounded, 'a bit tricky, but not to worry. Hmm... got a multitude of traits in you, have you? Impulsive, even a bit reckless, I'll go as far to say... not very chivalrous though, not very brave either, but quite outspoken, no unfair behaviour accepted... clever too, huh? But not bookishly, no... you'd rather read about ghosts than do your homework... self-preserving, definitely, borderline selfish... definitely not too kind, but you are loyal... bit of a surprise, honestly... not very ambitious, but still... you'd do good in... SLYTHERIN!'

The hat was taken off, the girl opened her eyes; Karma was speechless, because holy cow, the ruddy thing could talk!

But even though Karma tried to focus her thoughts on that personality-deducing, talking, tattered hat, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread off when she looked at the Slytherin table – its occupants all gave off a particularly vicious aura, even more so when she looked at them. They were all dressed primly, except a select few, and all looked like they would curse her into oblivion and shred her to ribbons, if only they could lay their hands on her. All, but not that frail boy – what was his name, Geoffrey? He looked just as confused as Karma, and actually shot her a sympathetic look. Karma was grateful, and she was hell-bent on making that boy her friend.

She took a seat on the very edge, as far as she possibly could without falling. She was in front of Geoffrey, who was now trying to ignore her, most probably because he didn't have a death wish; the other students were all glaring at the both of them with gazes so sharp they, Geoffrey and Karma, should have been split in half. And Karma was thankful that looks couldn't kill, because if they could, she'd have been six feet under.

After the Sorting, Slytherin had five new pupils under his wing – Karma (not Beauregarde), Geoffrey Bailey, Alec Hartley, Arabella Lestrange, and Adrian Pucey.

Karma knew she was scre- sorry, messed, because 1) her house members already seemed to detest her more than she detested Gertrude Beauregarde, or as Karma liked to call her, Beelzebub, which she hadn't thought was possible, and 2) the first thing Adrian had said after seeing Karma was, 'Ey, Lestrange! This scum here is a mudblood, no?' and Arabella (who was, by the way, too pretty to be just eleven) had responded in jest. 'Yes, yes, Adrian, she is... I'd consider her decent-looking, if only she hadn't been filth. And I would rather you call me Arabella, seei-'

Adrian hadn't let her finish. 'You know what, we should form a society against mudbloods. Call it, uh, We Do Not Support Filth, Scum, Or Mudbloo-'

'You fool, that's what you're gon' to call it? You purebloods, honestly, thinking you're better than the world-,' This was Alec Hartley, the kid who was so pale he could've been a vampire and it wouldn't've been a surprise, spoke at the speed of light, Karma was sure, and had donned a gray beanie hat for some reason.

'I never said-'

'-The name you've chosen would make it W-D-N-S-F-S-O-M. So dumb. Might as well just name it "We're Bullies Troubling A Fellow Pupil, But Will Most Probably Get Away With It Because Our Parents Are Cousins And We're Results Of Incest – W.B.T.A.F.P.B.W.M.P.G.A.W.I.B.O.P.A.C.A.W.R.O.I.'

Adrian flared up. 'Oh, is that so? Well, why don't you-'

'Yes, you dingbat, I already have a name, because I am not as stupid as you are, honestly, call yourself filth instead of the mudblood, such painful stupidity-'

'Shut up, you scrawny little-'

'Oh wow, resort to name-calling, wow, stupendous really, what pureblood values you have, Pucey, Slytherin would be embarassed-'

'Do not utter a word against my famil-'

'I never did, and you would've known that if you weren't so thick, but you know what, I'll just tell you the name, because knowledge is power, and knowledge conquers all, but pity really, that on one hand I have such an amazing mind, and on the other hand are people such as you, without brains; truthfully, I think your brainpower's also been given to me-'

'You-'

'Geez, calm down, will you, no need to wave fists around like that, the name will be "Mudblood Hate Organisation".'

Adrian had resumed a sitting position, having stood up to try and punch Alec; Geoffrey had been straining to prevent him from doing so. Arabella had barely even batted an eye, content with filing her nails using a nail filer which had diamonds on the handle; Karma had been watching the scene unfold with equal parts curiosity for the meaning of mudblood, amusement at Alec's way of speaking and Geoffrey's lack of physical strength, earnest awe at Alec's ability to find acronyms so easily. and fear for her life.

Adrian nodded. 'Well, that is a better option-'

'See, dumb; you could call it a better alternative, but no-'

'Hartley-'

'Ok, sor-'

'SHUT UP!' screeched Arabella, throwing her nail filer across the floor. Karma, and quite a few others, including but not limited to, Geoffrey, Adrian and the boy sitting next to Arabella. Alec hadn't moved an inch; he was too busy sketching cat portraits in a leather journal. 'Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut...up,' Arabella's voice lowered as she took quite loud deep breaths.

Karma asked in a tentative voice, 'Are you oka-?'

'Don't talk to me,' Arabella replied, her voice back to that calm, collected tone. 'I apologise for screaming, it's just that I was filing my nails, and misdid it because of all the disturbance. I have slight temper issues. And yes, "Mudblood Hate Organisation" is a nice name. Simple and to the point.'

'No one's looking out for us. Not for the Slytherins.'

#karma | the marauders #sirius black #peter pettigrew #slytherin #james potter #Remus Lupin #hogwarts #character x oc #raziroo #arabella lestrange #alec hartley #adrian pucey #geoffrey bailey

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shinneth · 4 years

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what is your absolute favorite ship? How did you start shipping Stevidot? And rant about any ship you feel like, good or bad? :))

… you fool

OH GOD ALL-TIME FAVORITE SHIP YOU SAY. YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I CAN’T CHOOSE ONE.

(it’d probably be Stevidot anyway; objectively I’ve done more for it than anything else I ever shipped in my life and it’s absolutely precious both in platonic and romantic forms)

BUT IN THE INTEREST OF FAIRNESS… and attempt to tone down redundancy, let’s see what other ships earned the “OTP” label from me!

I mean, I pretty much had to lowkey ship Mamoru Chiba x Ami Mizuno because Usagi/Mamoru is basically what Connverse wishes it could be as far as the Ultimate Ship goes. So at the height of my involvement in the fandom (you know, late 90s era), I was never brave enough to make anything for this ship. But the few times they get to interact in the classic anime is legit adorable stuff and I wish we could’ve had more of it.

Before Gem Ascension, before Travels of the Trifecta, my greatest multichaptered epic was a Digimon Tamers fic called By My Decision. I was a hardcore Digimon fan in my early teen years well before I ever got into Pokemon, in fact. And I shipped shitloads of pairings in Adventure and 02 - I can only imagine how many of those would be demonized by the new age fandom puritans of Tumblr nowadays. You can actually see literally everything I ever shipped on my FFN profile here.

But I didn’t really make anything for the first two seasons. Tamers was what really sparked my inspiration, because Takato and Jenrya… honestly, they’re just adorable together. They get to bond a lot, they’re really in touch with their feelings (contrasting to token girl Ruki who was a stiff hardass most of the time), and I often got the impression that Jenrya, unlike Takato, really doesn’t have any other friends.

So of course, I tormented these two on the regular in my story. I of course didn’t forget Juri (for I love her dearly); I was kinda trying a love triangle subversion with Takato angsting over loving both Jenrya and Juri… while Juri’s still got so much PTSD (story is 2 years post-series), shipping is hardly on her mind, and Jenrya’s outright in denial of his feelings for Takato to the point where it very literally screws him up and awakens some inner darkness of his own. I even had Jenrya and Juri bond, but it was pretty platonic stuff.

Still, this ship was way down on the totem pole at the height of Tamers’ fandom. Very frustrating. Takato/Ruki and Jenrya/Ruki were way more popular and I hated both of those ships something fierce. I love Ruki, but I just cringe at the idea of shipping her with either of her fellow leads. Then Jenrya/Ryo got something of a cult following that I couldn’t stand; admittedly I was jealous it was getting the representation that I felt Takato/Jenrya desperately needed more, and I also didn’t like Jenryo in its own right, anyway.

But yeah. Jenkato is a very underappreciated ship that I loved dearly and invested many of my teenage years into.

So, here’s a fun fact: While I played the classic games (my cousins had a Sega Genesis), the way I was mostly raised on Sonic was via the first two cartoon series and the Archie Comics version of the franchise. Archieverse was largely based on the SatAM cartoon; Amy Rose also didn’t exist in the show and it took about 25 issues for her to show up in the comic.

So I was big on Tails x Amy. For a long-ass time. And really, the ship was really only feasible in the Archie continuity. There, Tails is actually older than his usual depicted canon age and Amy is introduced to be around his age before she artificially aged herself with a magic ring so that she could later take on her Sonic Adventure design.

Before that… in these years, Sally was the most well-known love interest of Sonic in the west. So Sonic/Sally seemed like a lock (none of us knowing how Sega felt about that at the time) - and in retrospect I honestly believe it’s a far better Sonic ship than his more well-known modern alternatives.

So, because of Sally’s prominence, Amy was relegated to Sonic’s fangirl and her crush wasn’t really that big a deal. Honestly, that was for the best, as I by far found Amy way more tolerable in Archie’s incarnation than the majority of her other canon contemporaries (Sonic the Comic Amy Rose is more of a competent badass, though).

Tails and Amy had some good banter in Archieverse and the few times they were allowed time to do stuff together as a duo, they were very cute and endearing and I loved them.

Tails also had a lot more going on in terms of character development and backstory in Archieverse. Like, a lot more going on. He even had a “Chosen One” deal that sadly didn’t have a very good payoff, but. It’s more than what they really do with Tails in any other continuity.

Bear in mind, I started on these comics when I was eight or nine years old. Yet I followed this comic well into my late teens and even part of my early twenties, so you can tell Archieverse Sonic has shitloads of lore to it to have that long of an ongoing narrative.

After Sonic Adventure was released, then the Sonamy shipping started to explode. Amy was front-and-center in the spotlight, Sally became the obscure figure in the fandom, and it’s more-or-less stayed that way ever since.

But I was like “It’s okay! Tails and Amy are still tight in Archieverse! Sucks they have to adjust to Sega’s many changes but they’re still best buddies who’ll hopefully get married one day….”

Then 25 Years Later happened and for some goddamned stupid-ass reason, Tails was paired with Mina the Mongoose and I believe Amy was suspiciously never ever mentioned in the future timeline stories (as Sonic and Sally did become endgame in this little series).

Tails and Mina had little to no interaction, and Mina was largely there to be a potential Sonic love interest, and even after she moved on, she got together with another character and still didn’t interact with Tails.

I was sooooooo pissed off. Archieverse was my one hope for Tails/Amy becoming a thing and they ruined it for me. :(

I did get a consolation prize in Geoffrey St. John x Hershey becoming so canon they actually did marry. That’s another one I shipped ever since they first interacted years and years ago.

Of course, Hershey was then “killed off” - and was set for a major comeback, but Ken Penders put a stop to that and had them both erased from reality because fuck Ken Penders, I actually got a nice thing and you yanked it right out of my hands.

Genis Sage x Mithos Yggdrasill from Tales of Symphonia, a ship I hardcore loved enough to write about. Also a ship I think Tumblr would burn me at the stake for shipping at all, but you know what? Fuck Genis x Presea. It’s a boring-ass puppy love ship that in its own right should be lambasted similarly according to anti logic.

…. did I get sidetracked? I did? Pfff. Okay, let’s try and get to another question.

How I started shipping Stevidot?

Pretty simple story, really. I binged SU all the way up to Escapism (Change Your Mind hadn’t aired yet) last December/January. Also watched a looooot of Youtube clips. Most involving Peridot.

And inevitably, most involving Steven as well.

When I started getting into Peridot and SU as a whole enough to seek out fanfiction and whatnot, I didn’t really have any set shipping preferences at first. But when I made myself think about it… honestly, Stevidot just felt the most natural to me. I wanted to see stories about antics with those two specifically - I never liked Lapidot and Amedot did nothing for me ever. So Stevidot was like, pretty much the only thing I really focused on after a while.

Then I found A Gem Like You. And suddenly, INSPIRATION! I developed headcanons for Watcher’s fic, I started reading as much Stevidot as I could, and I was convinced it was the best pairing in the world and fucking hell I need to give it some representation after I noticed how relatively niche it was in the fandom.

And so, Stevidot consumed my soul for all time. I hope those clods are happy.

Rant about a ship, you say…

Good god, that really does need to be its own post. I have so much to say about various ships in general, I may need a bit to… uh, figure that out. Or throwing out some random ones I’d know about would help my focus, fff.

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starstruckteacup · 4 years

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Cottagecore Films (pt. 11)

A Little Princess (1995)

starring Liesel Matthews, Liam Cunningham, Vanessa Chester, Eleanor Bron

synopsis

I was extremely disappointed in this film, to put it lightly. The story itself was beautiful, but that is thanks exclusively to the novel on which it was based. The movie itself utterly failed to convey the magic and timelessness of the book. The acting was flat, emotionless, and forced at every point, from every actor (except for maybe Cunningham, but he was absent for half of it). One would think a gaggle of girls would have some form of natural chemistry, whether pulling them together or apart, but not a single child actor portrayed even the remotest semblance of a relationship to another. (Note: I describe in my review of Pan’s Labyrinth what quality acting from a child looks like, for reference.) Even Matthews and Cunningham could not pass a believable father-daughter relationship, despite the story being about that. As far as emotional acting, the adults were just as bad as the children. They couldn’t even feign a single moment of joy, sadness, or anger, regardless of the context. I actually laughed for the entire scene during which Sara nearly died because of how bad the acting from the adults was. At least Chester seemed somewhat worried; Bron and the nameless police officers stood around so vacantly it looked like they forgot what was happening. I really was appalled by the abysmal acting, especially when so much was handed to them in the story. I want to preface my next point by saying that yes, I know computer animation was still a work in progress in the 90s. But this was horrifyingly awful. I have never once, not in my entire life, seen CGI as terrible as the monster in Sara’s stories. I nearly gave up on the entire movie within the first five minutes because of that monster. And it kept showing up, which absolutely ruined whatever favor I tried to hold for this movie. If you don’t have the budget, which this film clearly didn’t, don’t try to animate a monster. It’s that simple. I wish I had more words for it but it was truly so atrocious that I’m at a loss. Any good will I hold for this movie is due to my fondness for the story (no credit to the film), the settings (while not exceptional, they were fairly pretty), and Liam Cunningham’s acting. 2/10

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

TW: blood, mild gore, torture, racism against indigenous people

starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Jordi Mollà, Samantha Morton

This film is the sequel to Elizabeth (1998) (see part 10 of my film reviews), which continues the story of Queen Elizabeth I as her rule progresses. Tensions between Catholic Spain and Protestant England grow ever greater, escalating to treasonous plots and assassination attempts. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and King Philip II of Spain conspire to depose Elizabeth and place Mary on the throne, restoring Catholicism as the national religion. Even as these events lead to war between the two superpowers, the court provides no sense of stability as new faces and new stresses surround the Virgin Queen. She forms a strong friendship with the pirate Walter Raleigh upon his return trip from the New World, where he seeks to establish colonies under the English flag. However, his stay is extended greatly when Elizabeth’s selfishness and pride take over, and are only broken down in the face of battle when she puts him at the forefront of the British navy. Outnumbered, Elizabeth will need Raleigh’s loyalty and cunning, along with the unwavering loyalty of her people, if they wish to survive the Spanish onslaught.

While still a drama, this film proved to be much more war-oriented than its predecessor, but I’m not sure it did either as well. I liked the deeper look this film gave us into the Elizabeth’s mind, especially with her social and emotional conflicts. They remind us that she is still human, despite the somewhat cold appearance the first film gave her at the end. She is more mature, and even more prideful, but there’s still a limit to what she can take as a person. I think the first film gave a better portrayal of her complicated mind, but this was a solid continuation of what years of ruling can do. I also liked how much detail they put into Raleigh’s character, which the first film didn’t do as well with its secondary characters. We got to know more about him, even if he did still feel somewhat surface-level. I think the dramatic aspects could have felt more high-stakes than they did, especially for the characters who were actually in danger. Even though so many characters were actively committing treason, I only felt that level of tension with one: Mary Stuart. Her death was particularly elegant and laden with symbolism, and even though I knew the outcome historically the scene still delivered the anxiety it was meant to. The others simply didn’t have the same delivery. Even the assassination attempt didn’t project any kind of concern, regardless of one’s historical knowledge. The war focus was a fairly different take than the first had, which I appreciated. The film established a strong balance between the tensions in England, Scotland, and Spain, and did a good job making the stakes very clear for each group. Given the uncritically positive stance on England that this film takes, I would have expected the film to villainize Spain a little more to form a stronger dichotomy between the two rulers, but Spain was presented rather neutrally to the audience. The Spanish ruler and nobles didn’t have much character, despite being the antagonist. As for that uncritical positivity regarding England, I do have a bit more to say. Although to an extent it makes sense that the film would lean in favor of England, given its content and the point of view from which the story is told, it became overbearing at times. England could do no wrong in this film, despite children dying in battle, indigenous people being humiliated and dehumanized for show, talk about slavery, and a complete disregard for the suffering of non-white and non-Protestant groups. In contrast, the first film heavily criticized England, from Mary of Guise shaming Elizabeth for sending young children to war, to Elizabeth frowning upon Walsingham’s torture methods (granted she never stopped them, but she didn’t approve as readily as she did in this film), and so on. Although England in truth did all of these things without rebuke, the film could have handled it more gracefully and came across less like propaganda, at the very least. 5/10

Loving Vincent (2017)

TW: suicide (action offscreen, death onscreen)

Sensory Warning: movement of the impressionistic paintings can be very disorienting for those with sensory processing difficulties. I had to break from watching multiple times so as not to become ill.

starring Douglas Booth, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jerome Flynn, Robert Gulaczyk

This fully hand-painted animated film follows Armand Roulin, a young man with a severe temper, on his way to deliver Vincent Van Gogh’s last letter to a living recipient. When he reaches the town where Vincent died, he begins speaking to a variety of villagers with their own stories about the artist, and their own theories about how he died. Armand tries to piece the puzzle together, wondering if the death was not a suicide as claimed, but rather something more sinister.

This film was spectacularly breathtaking. The amount of work that went into painting every scene was awe-inspiring, and definitely sets the bar high for any other films of its kind. The team of artists that created this film represented Van Gogh’s unique art style exquisitely through their loving application of oil-based paints, and truly brought to life the emotion he put into his works. I wish I hadn’t struggled so much with the constant movement, as I feel I would have been able to appreciate the film in its entirety better, but as it was I struggled to pay attention to the story because the art style consumed too much of my sensory processing capabilities. As for the story, I thought it was interesting, but I found it lacking despite the incredible artwork. Foremost, after some cursory research, I discovered that the homicide theory on which this film was based was only acknowledge by one individual, and spurned by hundreds of others. Although the film leaves the verdict open-ended, both to Roulin and to the audience, the story itself seemed to lean into the homicide theory, then completely give up on it with no resolution, so it came across as fairly noncommittal. I won’t argue for or against the theory, as I don’t know nearly enough about Van Gogh to assert an opinion, but I’m somewhat unsettled by the amount of weight it gave to it without any kind of evidentiary support, only to dump it as if the writers changed their mind themselves. The pacing was also slow for a murder mystery, which is basically what the story turned out to be. I would much have preferred the film to cover Vincent’s life, or even the days/weeks leading up to his death, instead of only featuring him in other people’s flashbacks. This kind of existential impressionism should capture the life of its creator, not the mundane views of people who didn’t understand him or even hated him. There wasn’t anything wrong with the film, per se, but I wish the writing was given as much love as the art was. 7/10

Part 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

#cottagecore #gardencore #naturecore #flowercore #cozycore #historical drama #period drama #art film #film #film review #movie #movie review #activities #mine

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paradisobound · 5 years

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Sail Away With Me: Part 2

Summary: It was a fluke. Dan shouldn’t have ever gone with Sam to a party on a yacht. He shouldn’t have trusted her to go. But in a chance encounter, he ends up in bed with Phil Lester, a billionaire CEO of a luxury clothing company. When he thinks he’s screwed up enough, he realizes he’s in way too deep. Because Phil Lester has fallen in love with him. The catch: Dan gave Phil a fake name and all Phil has to remember Dan by is the tattoo on his hip and the necklace he left behind.

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: A semi-explicit solo sex scene

Pairing: Instagraminfluencer!dan and CEO!Phil

This is a chaptered work. Updates every Monday around 1pm EST

**MASTERLIST | ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN | WATTPAD**

Phil’s POV

Phil awoke with a startle in tangled sheets with the screaming of his alarm coming from a distance. He groans to himself and rolls a bit as he tries to figure out where he put his glasses last night and where he put his phone. He knew from the slight swaying that he had stayed the night on his yacht but that didn’t mean he was able to forget all of his current obligations.

His head was pounding and there was a steady pressure behind his eyes as he found his glasses and pushed them on, sitting up in bed. His duvet gathered down onto his lap and he looked around to see if he could find his still screaming phone. He hated early morning meetings and he was definitely hating that he had one for this morning.

He finds his phone in a mountain of blankets and he manages to turn off the alarm long enough to see he has a missed call from Geoffrey. He quickly dials him back and puts it on speaker as he stands up and walks to his closet where he pulls out a fresh pressed button down and a pair of newly steamed slacks.

He’s putting them on as Geoffrey answers and begins going off about this months quotas.

“We’ve doubled our profit in the last month,” Geoffrey begins. “I was going to wait to talk about this at the meeting in an hour but I wanted to share the good news with you.”

“Glad to know our focus on LGBT families paid off. It was an endorsement close with my heart so I’m glad to see it work.”

Phil puts his phone on speaker and sits back on his bed again, smoothing out his shirt and pants with his palm. When had so many wrinkles shown up in his clothing? He should really learn how to steam and iron his own clothes and stop relying on other places to do so.

His call with Geoffrey continues until Phil ends it to shower and get ready as he lays back on the bed and squeezes the bridge of his nose between his fingers. A headache was beginning to take residence in his temple and he wasn’t appreciating it. Sure, he could pop a few paracetamol and call it a morning but he also probably needs some water and a proper shower first too.

Phil lets out a loud sigh and rolls on his side, snuggling back into his pillows for a moment when he feels something sharp jab into his ribcage. He hisses, sitting up quickly as he reaches under where he was sat for the intruding object. He moves his hand around for a moment before coming into contact with a chain.

He picks it up in his hand and studies it for a second. It’s a necklace with a a small ring on the chain. He looks at it closer and it’s nothing like anything he’s ever owned. He’s puzzled to say the least. Phil’s not sure where this came from and why it ended up in his bed.

Then it hits him.

Ethan.

It had to be Ethan’s right?

Phil thinks back to the night before. He doesn’t remember a lot of it, that’s definitely sure. But he does remember the chocolate eyes with matching curly hair. He remembers how lovely those lips felt against his and how pliant and soft he was around him.

Fuck, he was beginning to get hard in his pants remembering just how incredible Ethan was. He reaches down and squeezes himself, willing to stave off the need to get off for just a bit but all the touch serves to do is make him more eager to get off.

He pulls down his pants low enough to pull his cock out of its confines and give himself a few strokes. He lets out a breath through his nose and a moan threatens to break through his lips.

Ethan was just so…great. And it wasn’t even the sex that Phil was thinking about, even though that was definitely the blunt of it in his head right now as he stroked faster. Phil can still feel his breaths against his skin and his nails digging into his arms. He can still feel how warm he was around him and how soft his walls were when they squeezed him tightly.

He strokes a bit faster and feels the heat pooling in his abdomen as he finishes with a rush of air and an arch of his back. He lays his head back on the bed and shuts his eyes. He can still see Ethan in his head when he closes his eyes, see the way his tattoo sat on his hip.

His tattoo was beautiful, Phil supposes. But Phil doesn’t think a man that beautiful should have a tattoo. Not that having tattoos was bad, but just that Phil believed that Ethan was like a marble statue and his body shouldn’t be marked up like that.

Now that Ethan’s in his head, Phil can’t get him out. He sits up, tucks himself back in, and stands up from the bed. He grabs the necklace from where it laid beside him and sat it down on his bedside table.

Hand now sticky, he frowns and figures this is a good time to go to the shower so he walks to his bathroom and takes a quick shower. The shower isn’t ideal like it in is his flat but it works for the purpose of getting him clean. His chest is still heaving and he’s still a hit out of breath.

Afterwards, Phil gets dressed in his clothes and goes to meet his driver out on the dock. As he’s getting ready to leave his yacht for the time being, he sees Ethan’s necklace out of the corner of his eye and he quickly grabs it and stuffs it into his pocket. He doesn’t want something happening to it.

Phil leaves his yacht and makes his way to his car with his driver. Once inside, he answers some of the emails and important messages he’s neglected over the weekend and then decides to check out social media.

Phil wasn’t one to say a lot on social media. All he had was a twitter and most of the time, he didn’t tweet from it himself. He had his personal assistant do so. Of course, his personal assistant was off for the weekend and he’d been meeting up with them again now at the office so his twitter had gone a bit quiet.

He scrolls through twitter and suddenly gets the idea to search for Ethan. He doesn’t know his last name. But he does know what he looks like and his first name so maybe by some slim chance, he can find his twitter. That way he can message him about his necklace.

But there is also something panting in Phil’s chest. When he thinks of Ethan, despite their short encounter, he can’t help but feel his heart flutter a bit. He’s used to having one night stands with men. But Ethan was different. There was something about Ethan’s cunning nature and his cheeky smile that made Phil want to get into contact with him again. He wanted nothing more than to spend another night with the mysterious male.

All too fast, he’s at one of the many headquarters for his business. This one just happened to be the Italian one. He’s greeted at the door by his colleagues and his personal assistant Jeanna waiting for him. Jeanna is already telling him about how his meeting is in fifteen minutes and how he has a phone call with someone at 1pm and Phil’s head spins a bit.

He should be used to all of this but he doesn’t think he ever will be.

Instead, he heads straight for the conference room and ends up sitting at the head of the table with a coffee and some cookies waiting for him and the other workers filing in, ready to fill their own seats. There is a PowerPoint screen behind Phil and he already knows someone is gonna present something to him and he groans inwardly at the thought. He dislikes meetings so much. He wishes he never had to attend but it’s only business, he supposed.

The meeting starts by Geoffrey greeting them all and standing up in his chair. “As you all already know, our sales quota is up 15% since we started showing LGBT families in our advertisements. I think displaying LGBT families shows people that this is the norm and our clothing is going to show that.”

Another male that Phil doesn’t know the name of raises his hand. “So does this mean our clothing is going to be LGBT aimed now?”

The male seems a bit temperamental. Phil doesn’t like that. He doesn’t like that at all.

“With all do respect,” Phil chimes in causing everyone to turn and divert their attention to him. “Our primary sales for our clothing are young adults between the ages of 18-25. Therefore, we shouldn’t be marketing LGBT as a way for our sales to increase. Our sales are doing fine. But our target audience is seeing us include LGBT themes and they’re seeing it’s normal. Because it should be normal.”

The males eyes get a bit wide as he slouches back in his leather seat and folds his arms over the table. Phil cocks an eyebrow.

“You’re all well aware that I’m gay,” Phil says, as if that would come as a surprise. He’s sure that most of the world knows he’s gay. “My former partner Lukas and I were the ones that founded this company.”

Everyone nods and Geoffrey clears his throat, adjusting his tie a bit as if he’s uncomfortable. Phil knows it’s not about the topic at hand, but mostly because Geoffrey always hated confrontation, much like Phil. But Phil’s not afraid to defend his company if he needs to. He built this company from the ground up.

“On other news,” Geoffrey begins. “I think we should also begin to talk about next seasons line as fall is approaching soon.”

The meeting draws on for far longer than Phil would have liked hut by the end of it, they had all discussed new advertising techniques and how they were going to market their next season. They also discussed target pieces like clothes and themes for the material and Phil was told by his colleague Drew—or Dre, Phil couldn’t remember, that they would begin looking into the production.

Phil makes his way out of the conference room with Jeanna at his side, reminding him about the 1pm phone call that he had to make and he was honestly fed up with the idea of having to make said phone call. So he asked Jeanna to take it instead and then he asks to be alone and sits in his office.

He has mounds of paperwork to do and his computer has a bunch of emails and files he should be looking at. But he can’t be bothered because every time he tries to think, his mind is plagued by Ethan and his beautiful eyes.

Phil can’t stop thinking about him and the necklace in his pocket feels like it’s burning a hole through Phil’s trousers. He reaches down and feels it, breathing in a sigh. He should begin looking for Ethan.

But would he even see Ethan again?

His head begins to pound again and he bends over, rifling in a drawer in his desk as he finds a packet of paracetamol and he opens it, pouring the two pills in his hand. He takes his mug of cold coffee and swallows down the two pills, wincing at the stale taste.

Just as he’s getting ready to rest back in his chair, Jeanna knocks on the door and Phil calls for her to come in. She comes in with her tablet in hand and takes a seat in front of him. “So I took your phone call for you like you asked and it was a clothing company called Luxor. They were hoping to do a future collaboration on some pieces since they specialize in jackets and tailored blazers.”

Phil sighs. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s what I told them too.” She says with a nod. “I told them we would get back to them about it.”

Phil lets out a long sigh and then looks at the perky blonde in front of him. Jeanna is a nice girl. She really is. But sometimes Phil thinks she tries a bit too hard to impress him. Phil’s already impressed by her skills and how well she follows directions. Not to mention she’s much more organized than he would ever be. She doesn’t need to try as hard as she does.

But Phil doesn’t say that. He just smiles and nods at her and then asks if she can go through his emails and star the important ones he should look at. She agrees and Phil tells her he’ll let her know if he needs anything else. He doubts he will though.

Just as she shuts the door, it’s opening again and Geoffrey is walking in. His hair is slicked back and his suit is a bit ruffled by Phil excuses it.

“So how was the party last night?” He asks, taking a seat across form Phil as he leans back in his chair and throws his feet on Phil’s desk.

Phil just laughs. “It was party.”

“How fucked up did you get?” Geoffrey asked with a smirk. “Be honest.”

“I didn’t.” Phil smirked. “You know I don’t do that anymore. Not since…”

The words not since Lukas has been gone sit on his tongue but he doesn’t finish the thought. He tries not to think about his past if he doesn’t half to. It’s partly why he throws his parties: because there has always been one person willing to sleep with him to help him get his mind off from everything.

Geoffrey chuckled. “Who did you go to bed with?” He asked. “Any nice blokes?”

Phil scoffs. Not only at his words but also at how Geoffrey phrased it.

“One nice bloke.” Phil said. “He told me his name was Ethan but he was incredible.”

“Incredible?” Geoffrey asked.

Phil nodded. “I can’t get him out of my head.”

“Good or bad?”

“A bit of both.” Phil answers honestly. “It’s just...I can’t stop thinking about him.” Phil lets out a sigh. “The first time I ever met Lukas, I felt sparks and I knew instantly I wanted to get to know him better. Since Lukas is gone, it’s been so long since I’ve felt that with someone else. And last night, I think I felt them again.”

“With this guy?” Geoffrey clarified and Phil modded. “Did you get the guys number?”

Phil shook his head. “He didn’t seem too keen on staying.” He said, his voice a bit sad. “He quickly got up and dressed and then left. I asked for his name and he told me it was Ethan.”

Phil reaches down to put his hands on his thighs and he suddenly was shocked with the memory that he still had Ethan’s necklace in his pocket.

“His necklace also fell off in my bed last night...”

“Wow, that rough, Lester? Nice!”

“Shut it,” Phil chuckled. “But I found it this morning and I want to give it back to him. But I’m not sure where to find him.”

“You didn’t get a last name, you don’t know this guys number, and all you have is his necklace?” Geoffrey asked.

Phil nods.

“You’re fucked mate.”

Phil lets out a loud sigh and puts his head in his hands because he knows he is but it feels even worse when someone else is saying it. He knows that there isn’t much he’s going to be able to do but even if a chance encounter like last night leads to him being with Ethan again, he’ll take it.

Geoffrey offers for them to go to lunch and since Phil probably could use the food, he agrees to go. The headache in his temple is still there but it’s slowly diminishing and his bones still feel a bit like jelly. But he knows sitting in his office all day won’t help that any.

When lunch is done and Phil checks in on Jeanna one last time, he decides to go back to his home for the day instead of his yacht. He didn’t feel like spending another night sleeping on it. He texts Jeanna quickly to call for a cleaner for it and then he calls for his driver to take him to his home on the Amalfi Coast.

It wasn’t as big as his London penthouse but it was enough for him to stay for a few months out of the year to work in Italy a few months out the year despite his company being based in the UK.

Getting to this house, he walks inside the big double doors and heads upstairs for his bedroom, eager to lie down and spend the rest of his day resting. As he lays down in bed, pants and button down still on, he rolls onto his side and feels the necklace press into his thigh.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls it out, looking it over again. When he closes his eyes, he can see Ethan wearing it around his neck when they first met. It’s a bit funny actually, Phil supposes. It wouldn’t be a lie for Phil to say that him spilling his drink was a perfect opportunity for them to meet.

Phil had intended to go up to him, that much was true. But it also just so happened that he turned at the same time Phil stood up from his chair and they collided. Maybe fate had really brought them together, he’s not entirely sure.

He tosses the necklace onto his bedside stand and closes his eyes.

He’ll take a quick nap and then figure out what to do later.

#phan #phanfiction #phanfic #fluff #smut #angst #princesslexi763fics #sail away fic

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sage-nebula · 6 years

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I have progressed more in Octopath Traveler, so I thought I’d make a little update on my progress so far.

All of the characters I’ve “unlocked” so far are, in order:

Therion

H’aanit

Ophilia

Cyrus

Tressa

Olberic

And the chapters I’ve completed so far are:

Therion: 2

H’aanit: 1

Ophilia: 1

Cyrus: 1

Tressa: 1.5

Olberic: 1

I’ve decided that, unless Primrose and Alfyn really wow me somehow, my primary party is going to be Therion, Tressa, Ophilia, and Cyrus. Therion is mandatory because I started with him, so I couldn’t remove him until I finish his story even if I wanted to (which I wouldn’t). Tressa is not only versatile in the attacks she has, but her ability to steal coin from enemies is a huge bonus (not to mention that she randomly finds coin with every new area I enter). Ophilia is a healer, so she’s mandatory, and likewise, Cyrus has a lot of elemental coverage, so he’s pretty mandatory as well. That said, of these four, Tressa is the least mandatory, so she’s the one I bench whenever I start a new character’s chapter. It’s not that I want to bench her, but just that it’s smartest.

That said, because I want to just use this party I like, I’m putting off Primrose and Alfyn for now. I was going to put off Olberic, but he was close by to where I was at the time, and I had needed to level a little more before I took on Therion’s second chapter. I had considered collecting everyone before doing the second chapters, but since I was already at the level I needed to be in order to take on his chapter, I figured I’d just go ahead and do it. Then, since completing his second chapter put me near where Tressa’s and Cyrus’ second chapters are located (they’re in the same city), I decided to just go ahead and do theirs as well, particularly since, again, I’m at the level requirement for it. I chose to start with Tressa’s both because hers required a lower level, and also because I’m tbh more interested in her story than I am Cyrus’.

(Also, can I just say that Cyrus is basically traveling around with a bunch of kids? I looked up the ages, and Tressa is the youngest at eighteen, followed by Ophilia at twenty and Therion at twenty-two. Meanwhile, Cyrus is thirty. There’s a pretty big maturity gap there and I’m laughing about it. Meanwhile, Olberic is thirty-five, and we all know in JRPG standards that’s basically a grandpa, so. It’s probably for the best that he’s benched with H’aanit.)

Speaking of H’aanit, I’ve also decided that she’s permanently benched. She’s good in battle and her story is mildly interesting, but I hate, hate, hate the way she talks and I really cannot bear to read her dialogue (or the dialogue of her townspeople). It’s not even Shakespearan English; it’s butchered middle English. I did a bit more digging, and it turns out that, though butchered, this is the same style of middle English that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in. I fucking loathed Chaucer when I had to study him as part of my undergraduate degree. While the concept of The Canterbury Tales was interesting, the writing style was one of the most gruesome, unappealing batches of drivel I’ve ever had to suffer through. So all that said, it’s really no wonder that I can’t stand how H’aanit talks, because she talks in a butchered version of Chaucer’s writing. Why in the hell the English localization team decided to do this is beyond me, but they did, and it completely ruined H’aanit for me, to the point where I will not finish her story, RIP.

(I also read online that apparently there was no Chinese localization, so Chinese players are using the English version . . . and because H’aanit is so incomprehensible to them, they’re calling this game TEM-8 Traveler, as a play on the TEM-8 exam that’s used for English proficiency in China. They’re using H’aanit as practice for the Shakespearan English portion . . . which is bad, because not only does she not talk in Shakespearan English, but this version of middle English is wrong, agh.)

Anyway, back to things I like: Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m most invested in Therion’s story. I can already see that his relationship with Darius is going south in the flashbacs (seems like Darius is going to hurt him), and I might be wrong, but it seems to me that Cordelia has something of a crush on him already~. I could definitely get behind that ship, haha. Granted, goddamn Heathcote would probably get in the way, but . . . Tressa’s story is all right so far as well, and I’m kind of shipping her with Ali a little. I mentioned it in another post, but this feels a bit like a contestshipping merchant AU, so I can get behind it. The way he calls her “Green Pea” is cute, haha. Ophilia reminds me a little bit of Colette, and the Kindling reminds me a bit of the Journey of Regeneration (only without the sacrifice at the end), so while I’m not super invested in her story, I don’t dislike it, either (although I do dislike how her adopted father never told her to stop calling him “your excellency,” because really?). Olberic’s story is a bit more interesting, but Olberic as a character is not too interesting to me, and Cyrus is the opposite; I like his character well enough, but his story isn’t too interesting to me. We’ll see if any of that changes, though.

For now, I’m going to focus on my main party, although I might see about picking up Primrose and Alfyn at least before I start chapter three. My main thing is I don’t want Tressa to fall too far behind, but since Primrose and Alfyn are still in chapter one, my other three probably won’t level up as much when I go to pick them up, so hopefully Tressa won’t fall too far behind. Oh! But speaking of my party! While I certainly wish we got more of it, I really do like the “travel banter” that you get in each new chapter. It’s great to see the characters interact at least a little, and there have been some very funny bants so far, particularly between Therion and Cyrus (granted, I’ve only had one of those, but Cyrus walked right into a burn and it was glorious). I also really like Therion and Tressa’s interactions, because to be honest I was most interested in those, given that Tressa’s first chapter is about stopping bandits and she’s very big on honesty and integrity, whereas Therion is a thief. Surprisingly their first bant was very nice (in that they were nice to each other), but their second had a bit more fire coming from Tressa like I always thought, with her saying how she won’t take advice from a thief and all. Therion then thought that she has “steel in her bones,” which I thought was a pretty cool thing to have him say. (Although I was also laughing, because he was like, “Are you going to help Ali?” and I’m just like, gosh, Therion, you’re just working with so many people, aren’t you . . .) Whenever I’m running through dialogue in my head I imagine Therion and Tressa bumping heads a little more, considering Tressa should be rather >:( at him being a thief, but then I also imagine the two get really excited together as they steal items and coin from monsters and enemies, so . . . it’s a fun relationship to imagine, haha.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’m grinding for money before I finish Tressa’s chapter, because there’s a spear I want to buy her that I don’t have the money for yet, and since this is her chapter I figure it’ll probably come in handy against the boss. We’ll see how this goes, though.

#scrawlers travels on octopaths #//#///#////#/////#octopath traveler spoilers #ot spoilers

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queenhippolyta · 6 years

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okay okay okay so much. let’s break this down. buckle in because this is going to be long.

so first off, HOLY SHIT. so good. I loved it. and this episode was absolutely 100% payoff for the sometimes slow pace of the season and all the focus on the parents’ drama. the show has made the parents into interesting and dynamic characters that we can be invested in in a way the comics never did. I really like and value the ways that the show has departed from the comics because it leaves so many questions and plot lines open to explore and creates a really interesting group of characters the comics never had.

I think I have to start with the parents stuff because that’s what I weirdly have the most to say about at the moment.

first, I’m not counting Jonah as a parent because fuck that guy. if there is a single thing we can all agree on, it’s fuck that guy. but we do have to wonder who he texted. because I’m fairly certain that that is the ‘mole’ plotline we are getting (I’ll get to the Alex thing later but let me be clear I do not think Alex is now or is going to be a traitor and boy am I glad about that because Rhenzy is great and the character deserves better). so, mole. couple of options. Frank Dean - maybe and also definitely yes in a sense but that’s probably not who the text was from because that wouldn’t necessarily make sense in the context of the moment. however, Frank aligning himself with Jonah is interesting. like Leslie said, we don’t know where his loyalties lie. I definitely don’t trust him, but the question is if his motives truly lie in protecting Karolina or if they lie in gaining power. Frank is definitely something but I don’t think he sent the text.

I think that the scene is supposed to somewhat imply that the text came from Karolina, and I think there will be other implications of that next season, but even if that is the case (which like NO, please) Karolina will never end up truly being a traitor, it would be beyond out of character for her and if there is one single thing she loves it is her friends.

so the other most likely options are Leslie and Vaughn I guess? it could maybe have come from Vaughn but like? would anyone care? unless they’re setting him up to be more important next season since he’s ‘proven’ his loyalty to Leslie and the kids maybe think he might be a resource in the church should they ever need it. but still, that would be kind of weird.

which leaves Leslie. so. Leslie. I don’t trust her. not even a little bit. but I do think that she’s genuine in her wanting to murder Jonah. obviously she knows more than the other parents but I still think she doesn’t know everything and I think this episode solidified her not trusting Jonah. I think Jonah hurting Karolina is maybe the single line for Leslie, that that is the one thing she can’t let go, even if Karolina was okay. I think she doesn’t trust him. that said, I also think she’s the most likely candidate to have sent the text? but that’s what makes this show great. I genuinely can’t tell you. a part of me is like ‘nah she wants to murder that bitch, I’m 100% on board with Leslie Dean’s squad of murder parents’ and part of me is like ‘she’s a snake and she and Jonah can go fuck themselves.’ I’m genuinely not sure, and that leaves a pretty big question mark for what’s happening with the rest of the Pride.

so, the Minorus. surprise Jonah killed your daughter and Leslie knew about it. pretty god damn awful (and I think when Nico ultimately finds out we are going to see just how powerful she really is). I do think Tina redeemed herself a bit in this episode, she’s very clearly firmly against Leslie now and I think it’s clear she’s been mostly just trying to protect Nico because she’s known all along Jonah was dangerous. and now all the parents know beyond a shadow of a doubt what they always believed, that Jonah absolutely will kill their children.

we got more confirmation that Janet will always put Chase above Victor, as she should. hearing her scream at Chase to run away was rough.

the Yorkes. let’s be real they bring it every episode and this was no exception (they are tied for my favorite members of the Pride/parents). they definitely love their daughters and hate Jonah. however it’s their revelation that whatever is under the earth is alive that leaves me with the most questions. what the fuck is it. it could potentially be the gibborim? in a slightly different incarnation than the comics obviously. and I think that’s what’s most likely, that it is something that will be the equivalent to that. which still leaves the question of what the fuck is Jonah? is he an alien, like Karolina’s parents in the comics? would that make the Gibborim aliens, if the Yorkes’s assertion that he and whatever is under the earth are the same? when Chase looked at him with the x-ray goggles on he just saw blinding light, so? and those weird glowing rocks that the Hernandezes dug up were also kind of glowing light and seemingly alive so was that a part of the living entity that is under the earth? and did Molly get her powers from exposure to it? what exactly is Karolina? so many questions and all I have are half formed theories and no answers y’all.

alright, last. the Wilders. well they sure learned a fucking lot this episode. not the least of which is that their kid is the only one without a way to protect himself. and you have to admire that their first and only focus is finding their son, even though I think the rest of the Pride have a point in the idea that they have to take out Jonah before their kids will ever be any kind of safe. I love how much they love Alex and I think that, even if they are murderers, they’re fucking caring parents. they love their son more than anything else and that makes for some really interesting motivation as far as the end of the episode goes. can we talk about that line “we can’t risk Alex getting hurt. or any of those kids. none of this is their fault.” because I know that they are murderers but like I a little bit love Catherine and Geoffrey Wilder.

Alex obviously overheard them saying they needed to find him and also fuck Jonah and the Pride obviously and that’s going to be really interesting next season and I have a lot to say about the whole mole thing but I’m going to save most of it for when I talk about the kids. the biggest thing here is that if Alex or any of the kids align with their parents in any way it will be different than it was in the comics for the mere fact that their parents aren’t trying to destroy the earth, they aren’t the same kind of basely evil, and if any of them did forgive their parents at all it would be because they love their parents and to take out Jonah. but I don’t think that Alex is going to be a mole like he was in the comics and that’s a separate part of this. my biggest question here is do we think the Wilders made the call to basically frame the kids for Destiny’s murder? because Geoffrey says he’s going to get the kids to safety, and he is the one with the connections in the LAPD, but framing them for murder doesn’t really seem like ‘getting them to safety’ and definitely seems like risking them getting hurt? though I guess in the sense that it’s the fastest way to get them found, maybe? or do we think this wasn’t them? that somehow this was Jonah and that they had a different plan? either way, can’t wait to see the “and the, we go to war.” yeah, I just love the Wilders.

okay so I still have a lot more to say because I haven’t even gotten into the kids yet (HOLY SHIT. I love them all) but I’m gonna stop this post here and write a separate post probably for them, after I rewatch the episode.

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charmingyourheart · 6 years

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Diary of an Accidental Wallflower by Jennifer McQuiston

Rating: ❤❤

Verdict: The Doctor can see me now

Genre: Historical Romance, Victorian Romance

Synopsis: Pretty and popular, Miss Clare Westmore knows exactly what (or rather, who) she wants: the next Duke of Harrington. But when she twists her ankle on the eve of the Season’s most touted event, Clare is left standing in the wallflower line watching her best friend dance away with her duke.

Dr. Daniel Merial is tempted to deliver more than a diagnosis to London's most unlikely wallflower, but he doesn’t have time for distractions, even one so delectable. Besides, she's clearly got her sights on more promising prey. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?

Diary of an Accidental Wallflower is the first novel in the Seduction Diaries Series. Having never read this author before, yet being a massive fan of historical romance novels in general I was excited to read this. For me, this was just another run of the mill HR which was a little disappointing since I had heard she had been compared to the likes of Julia Quinn.

Clare Westmore is the daughter of a Viscount. Pretty and popular she knows exactly where she wants to go in life and with who. Clare refuses to show her true intelligence to anyone and decides being popular is vastly superior to being herself. In a word she is a total snob and for much of the book I detested her. But looking back, I think she was one of the more fleshed out characters in the book and the more I grew to like her.

Dr Daniel Merial is a half Romani doctor in London to work on his medical experiments. He is handsome, intelligent, and selfless to the point of almost ruin. His Romani heritage would have been interesting if it had been used as anything other than yet another way to ostracize him. He is endlessly kind and patient to the point he almost becomes unbelievable as a character. No one is that altruistic.

On the surface I enjoyed the story. Forbidden romance, Mean Girls esque friends, and a wonderful supporting cast. However, the book felt really shallow. There was no real chemistry between Clare and Daniel, instead the focus is put on his interactions with her younger siblings who were juvenile delinquents in their own right. The interactions between Daniel, Lucy and Geoffrey were my favourite aspect of the book. They were young teenagers in desperate need of guidance in the absence of their parents and their connection with him really helped them turn their lives around.

What really hurt my enjoyment of the novel was the sheer amount of times I was expected to suspend my disbelief. There was too much in this novel that was completely unbelievable and inconceivable that it was hard for me to continue at some points. I liked Clare as a character and felt she was the most believable of them all though some of her actions were completely ridiculous.

The term “wallflower” doesn’t really fit for Clare’s character. It is stated how popular she is and the only reason she sits out is because of a bad ankle. There is nothing else to suggest she is a wallflower at all. It seemed the author couldn’t make up her mind as to what Clare was. At times she was the vapid popular girl, other times a blue stocking, and when it was convenient a wallflower.

There were two things I adored about this book;

Refreshing Premise

Dynamic and Flawed Characters

There were several I hated;

Lack of Continuity

The Predictable Nature of the Big “Twist”

Flat Writing

Characters That Did Nothing

Modern Feel

Melodramatic

I could go on but the list would be endless. As far as the author goes, I would probably check out some of her other novels as I quite liked her style. The banter between the couple really felt like something Julia Quinn would write and it definitely had me smiling at points. I just wish there was something more about this book.

Recommendation: For more Doctor/Lady romance check out When Beauty Tamed The Beast by Eloisa James

#diary of an accidental wallflower #jennifer mcquiston #seduction diaries #volatile opinion #honest react #review #romance #historical romance #victorian romance #literature #book blog #book blogger #kindle #bookblr #adult bookblr #reading #sian reviews

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