Everyone Needs A Hug - Tumblr Posts
A Month of Whump Master list
Fandoms: Star wars The Clone Wars/The Bad Batch
Summaries and warnings will be at the top of every story.
Day 1: Environmental
Day 2: Captivity
Day 3: Spy/Military
Day 4: Fantasy
Day 5: Sickfic
Day 6: Team Dynamic
Day 7: Angst
This was definitely a fun challenge! I'll say the hardest one to come up with was fantasy! I'll be participating in the Whumpril challenge next so look out for that!
How Prime Has The Potential To Be A Great Psychological/Lovecraft Horror
I know, I know, all of you are probably looking at this thinking I lost my mind.
But let me explain and show you how it could be a horrifying experience.
First, all of you are probably commenting on how Sonic is a family friendly franchise, but that doesn't necessarily mean EVERY media of Sonic SHOULD be this way. There are some family friendly franchises with mature and more serious spin-offs or adaptations.
So Prime can be a good start to deviating from it's other media's. But I'll get to that later, I should probably explain how it can be, and in a way is, a psychological and Lovecraft horror, more than just another cartoon. At least to me.
1. (Psychological) Exploring The Character's Emotional Trauma and Internal Conflicts Is a Different Approach to Most Sonic Medias
While most Sonic media's focus on action and saving the day, Prime takes a different approach. Instead of just being action and "Sonic saving the day", Sonic completely breaks his home, unintentionally shattering everything, including his friends. Shadow is also inadvertently dragged along, using a Chaos Emerald to save himself from the blast, but ending up trapped in the void.
If the variants being shards of the main characters is true, then Prime is working to deconstruct the characters, but some variants caught my eyes. There's Rusty, a robotized Amy, which sure, that's cool, but remember Amy's first known introduction in the Sonic CD? I only remember some parts, but wasn't Amy kidnapped by metal Sonic to be robotized or something? Another obvious variant is Nine, who was basically abused for being different, only this time Sonic wasn't there to help him? And Dread, a greedy Knuckles, kinda reminding me of how Knuckles was tricked by Eggman so the Doc could steal the master emerald?
Something just seems a bit more about these variants.
1. (Lovecraft) The Variants Situation if The Shard Theory Is True
If the Shard theory is true, then the variants existence is a nightmare.
Imagine having flesh and bone, imagine having thoughts of your own, imagine having a backstory of your own; only for it to be revealed that everything, your body, your thoughts, your experiences; your existence, to be a mistake. You weren't supposed to exist, and if the putting it back together = Shattered Space disappears is true, then you're doomed to die.
Doomed be mashed together with other shards, to be pieced together into someone you don't know, and will never meet. Your very existence is a lie, something that needs to be fixed with your death.
Yeah...not a pretty picture, is it?
2. (Psychological) Sonic's Emotional Turmoil
Sonic suffers a lot in this show. No, I don't mean the physical pain, that's a gag, I'm referring to the emotional suffering, which is very much there.
Sonic is horrified by these events; breaking his home, shattering everyone he loved and cared for, having to experience hatred, scorn, and hostility from those who look so much like his friends; from people who don't recognize him, and having to witness or hear about his friends suffering, being unable to really do anything about it without being met with apprehension.
He's clearly not enjoying any of this, or having any fun, at all.
2. (Lovecraft) The Paradox Prism Is Unsettling Itself
What is the Prism?
We know it's powerful as hell, being able to rip apart reality, and possibly time, and is capable of creating new spaces. But what else is it capable of? Where did it come from? Why is it here beneath the Green Hills Bedrock?
Whatever it is, it's the one in control after Sonic breaks it, ripping apart the world, throwing Sonic through dimensions, trapping Shadow in the void, and even responding to certain contacts.
It's glow almost seems like it calling, beckoning for someone to find it, to use it, to break it.
3. (Psychological) Shadow In The Void
How is Shadow doing in this void?
All memes aside, it's clear he isn't taking everything so well. As when he first makes contact with Sonic, he sounds despondent and absolutely devastated, stating: "It's broken! It's all broken!". His voice is slightly shaky when he does so too. But in his final contact with Sonic, is him furious and violent.
From his first contact to his last furious one, Shadow's mental state isn't exactly stable. Being stuck in the void doesn't help anything either. Some development happened to Shadow off screen, one I really hope we'll see.
Yeah, Shadow is not having a great time either. But development can never be fast, it takes time, which brings my next theory in mind below.
3. (Lovecraft) The Void
Ending up in the void is something I'd choose death over. Mainly because, when thinking about it, it's something nobody would wish on their worst enemy. Which makes Shadow being there so much harsher.
The void is an empty space, nothing but shards surrounding you, you're alone, with nobody to talk to. You're alone with your thoughts. But the scariest thing would be how long it must seem.
From what we've seen so far, time runs differently in the Shattered Space, the void can't be any different. It could've been years to Shadow, but time doesn't seem to run in the void, only in the Shattered Spaces. If anything time seems to pause, or just stop working in the void. It doesn't exist there.
Shadow definitely isn't having fun, especially when you consider his alliance with Rouge and Omega, and even worse, his promise to Maria to keep the world safe.
4. (Psychological) Nine Being A Part Of Tails Says Something About All Of Us
One of the things talked about a lot is how Nine, if the shard theory is true, was a part of Tails to begin with. This bitter, jaded, violent, desperate, traumatized, in pain child was a part of the happy, jolly fox we all know and love.
But, if the theory is true, Nine having been a part of Tails all along speaks about how there's a hidden side in all of us. All of that bitterness, cruelty, selfishness, trauma, denial, desperateness, and love/touch starved hope is in all of us. But we try to deny, to hide, to avoid acknowledging it, which only makes it never go away, or makes it worse.
It isn't just Tails that denies it though, which is a whole other thing of itself...
4. (Lovecraft) They Can't Be By Each Other's Side, Both Are Doomed To Be Alone In Some Way
One of the saddest truths about Prime is that Nine and Sonic can't be by each other's side, they can't be there for each other: no matter how much they don't want to be, they have to be alone. Sonic is from a universe that's now destroyed, thrust into the remains of his actions face-first, he can't connect with these variants of his friends, and is emotionally alone.
Nine is just a part of the universe Sonic can't stay in, so there's no chance of them ever staying by each other's side, he's alone in both ways.
The universe, the shards won't allow it, thrusting Sonic from Nine via shard or by Sonic himself. Not to mention the inevitable fate that Nine has to face along with his fellow variants.
Their entire relationship is a world of inevitable pain.
5. (Psychological) The Dark Matter, Symbolism, And Complex Themes Of Prime
There's no denying it, at its core, with the sprinkled moments of unease and signs of deeper depths in the first batch, so far Prime's setting up a dark story, one filled with harsh tragedy. Pretty much every character suffers and is going to suffer even more in the second batch, the aspects of Sonic that save the day, Friendship and Hope is actually deconstructed in this show, showing how friendship can become a means of escapism and can't really save the day, and how hope can instead damage someone to denial.
Sonic is without his friends here and the friends he made out of the variants is going to be shattered once they find out the truth, so friendship can't be used, and his hopes to fix the world are...almost desperate, like he doesn't want to acknowledge that maybe it can't be fixed.
Another thing is that Prime actually has a lot of symbolism hidden in it. The Grim being a literal landscape of escapism, Nine's nine tails, the variants themselves being representations of different traits, the palm tree being a symbol of desperate hope, and more.
The final thing is the early complex themes in the show.
The inevitable fact that the variants has to die to restore the world is a very grim one, but it shows how painfully insignificant and meaningless they are in the grand scheme of things. They’re just shards that need to come together. That’s the universe for ya.
The use of "Man vs. Self" in this show instead of having Sonic just save the day and defeat bad guys
The exploration that there's a dark, sad, traumatized part in all of us
The need for balance in everything
The exploration of desire vs need, and most importantly:
Selfishness vs selflessness.
5. (Lovecraft) The Grim Is A Lovecraftian Horror Of Itself
The Grim is hauntingly beautiful. The sky is every color of blue, filled with stars, the ground is orange and endless, and silver crystals jut out of it, some partly buried.
Look at how small and insignificant Nine and Sonic looks here, how vast the Grim is that you can't see where it ends. It's truly an unsettling wonder. It looks unsettling and it is unsettling, not at all an ideal place to live in.
There are no trees, no water, no signs of any life. Nothing. You're alone, surrounded by absolutely nothing. The only thing there is you and your imagination.
Why isn't there any variants here? Why is it so empty? Why doesn't it end?
There's no answer except your own thoughts, speaking much louder now that there's nothing to distract you from them. You're alone, an insignificant speck in a vast world of beauty and isolation.
Paranoia would kick in, you'd think you heard something, but there's nothing there.
That's what the Grim is, it's nothing but you, there's nobody here, there's nothing here, this place never ends, it's the physical representation of isolation, of perfect escapism.
And that couldn’t be more terrifying…
We, as the Marauders Fandom, should really acknowledge the existence of the Bon Iver song ‘The Wolves (Act I and II)’ more. Because that song feels so much like Wolfstar during the first war that it’s almost physically painful.
Click the “See More/Keep Reading” button to see the lyrics to the song.
Someday my pain
Someday my pain will mark you
Harness your blame
Harness your blame, walk through
With the wild wolves around you
In the morning, I'll call you
Send it farther on
Solace my game
Solace my game, it stars you
Swing wide your crane
Swing wide your crane and run me through
And the story's all over you
In the morning, I'll call you
Can't you find a clue
When your eyes are all painted Sinatra blue
What might have been lost
What might have been lost
What might have been lost
What might have been lost
Don't bother me
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
(Don't bother me)
What might have been lost
What might have been lost
Ah, ah
Someday my pain
Someday my pain, my pain
Someday my pain
Someday my pain