I (20M) am currently studying engineering and I started to realize that I fell for my former classmate in high school. She (20F) is now currently studying nursing and I happened to come accross her during a meeting of our colleges as we coincidentially enrolled in the same university. A little bit of backstory; during my days in highschool I typically focused on my academics and never really became interested in dating/ relationships. One day, I partnered up with her during a class assignment and only talked with her regarding classworks.
However, day by day as I interacted with her I started to feel close and comfortable with her. We had the same interest such as in music and dancing. We started to hang out, singing songs and practicing dance routines. All through out our time together, I never showed any motive of having any crush or liking to her. I saw it as a platonic friendship. As for her, I observed that she was very understanding and caring. It was like having someone who was of the same mind and heart. The thing was that she was only specifically like this towards me and dumb stupid me at that time took it as a show of friendship (this is from my perspective and I did not like to assume anything romantic). This continued until we graduated highschool.
Fast forward to college. When we met at the meeting I was very nervous and fidgety while sitting next to her. I also picked up that she was feeling the same as most could have observed from out body language. No worries though, I started to strike up a conversation with her and we instantly felt comfortable sharing what we did in our new college life. I felt the love I have always felt for her during our conversation and as always tried to disregard it. The meeting ended and we soon parted ways. Consequently, I found her fb account and sent a request. As of now, I had a deep reflection of my self and sorted out my feelings. I will not confess my feelings, but I will continue to love her and make her my inspiration up until I finish University. I am afraid to assume what her feelings for me might be and I am afraid to know. Call me a coward if you will...
I might continue to be her secret admirer until these feelings fade or until it consumes me. I have no reason why and just because. It is known that a part of your brain shuts down when madly in love so as third party observers, ano po ang masasabi o pwedeng maipapayo nyo?

Hi! I've been wanting to vent out about this before but I just didn't know how to start and where to start. I've been carrying this burden in my heart for quite awhile now. This is regarding our Pastor. To start, I just want to say that he is a good person. Knowing him from the time we moved here in the province four years ago. he is indeed a good man. I remember the time he was dreaming to have a big online platform. I was there when he was just starting four years ago. I was the one who managed and organized his facebook page and his youtube account. I was the one who edit his videos and photos early on. He gave me money few times in exchange of my service but most times, I was doing it for free. Honestly, I didn't mind doing it for free because I love doing something for the ministry.. for God.. for Jesus Christ. I was a very active young people in the church back in the days when we were still living in the city. It has indeed become my lifestyle even after we moved here in the province. You know, I've noticed something about him. The things that he wanted me to edit, it's like the branding was focused most about him. God's word second. Like for instance, he wanted every thumbnails his face is in it. For the photos with bible verses, he always wanted to have his photos included. I was able to keep it to myself for such a long time, eventually I grew tired helping him. I've lost my motivation to edit because in my heart, something wasn't right.
Fast forward, I stopped doing it. But I was entrusted to do another assignment at church, I was assigned to do the projector during service. I'm not complaining about my task. I always love doing things for God. Going back to our pastor's platform. He is getting close to having 100k followers on his FB page now, but a lot of people are bashing him because according to them, he doesn't practice what he preaches. He is very worldly for a pastor. His videos speak volumes. Also, he is becoming toxic in dealing with people in the comment section. He would lashed out at every people who were trying to rebuke him in a loving way. It's like to him, they're always against him and he is always right and as if there's nothing wrong in what he does. For me, it's sad and heartbreaking. It's like he values his fame now more than God. It's like he would be okay to do bad publicity to become more famous. Bad publicity is still a publicity. His page will still has engagement from it regardless. More engagements means more revenue.
Actually, he believes in a hypergrace teaching and that's what he teaches in the church. One day, I've made a decision that I would temporarily stop going to that church because I want to grow more in faith and in God's grace even if it entails that I have to be alone in the wildnerness. I wasn't growing there. There was no discipleship.. the praise and worship was taken for granted.. there was no bible study.. there was no spiritual accountable partners. Basically, just going to church every Sunday and come out from the service just like nothing happened. I don't want that. I told him that I would stop going to church temporarily and come back soon but all the more I don't want to go there anymore. I want a leader who can rightly lead me, not blindly lead me. Just right now, he is viral because last Sunday after the service, they recorded a video of them dancing to a secular song inside the church. A lot of Christians were disappointed and upset. But as for him, he is boasting about in his facebook account. It's heartbreaking to see how fame and the greed for fame can change a person. Actually, after he got monetized and received his pay, he kicked me out of his page already without telling me that he would do it. But when he was first starting it, he told me he would make me an admin. I understand that it was his page but it's sad on my part that when was just starting, he told me that he would involve me but when he's becoming famous, he just kicked me out without notice. if you were in my shoe, do you think it's reasonable for me to stop going to that church? Probably some of you would suggest for me to find another church, but after what happened, for now, I just want to stay home and listen to preachings online.

Hi! I've been wanting to vent out about this before but I just didn't know how to start and where to start. I've been carrying this burden in my heart for quite awhile now. This is regarding our Pastor. To start, I just want to say that he is a good person. Knowing him from the time we moved here in the province four years ago. he is indeed a good man. I remember the time he was dreaming to have a big online platform. I was there when he was just starting four years ago. I was the one who managed and organized his facebook page and his youtube account. I was the one who edit his videos and photos early on. He gave me money few times in exchange of my service but most times, I was doing it for free. Honestly, I didn't mind doing it for free because I love doing something for the ministry.. for God.. for Jesus Christ. I was a very active young people in the church back in the days when we were still living in the city. It has indeed become my lifestyle even after we moved here in the province. You know, I've noticed something about him. The things that he wanted me to edit, it's like the branding was focused most about him. God's word second. Like for instance, he wanted every thumbnails his face is in it. For the photos with bible verses, he always wanted to have his photos included. I was able to keep it to myself for such a long time, eventually I grew tired helping him. I've lost my motivation to edit because in my heart, something wasn't right.
Fast forward, I stoped doing it. But I was entrusted to do another assignment at church, I was assigned to do the projector during service. I'm not complaining about my task. I always love doing things for God. Going back to our pastor's platform. He is getting close to having 100k followers on his FB page now, but a lot of people are bashing him because according to them, he doesn't practice what he preaches. He is very worldly for a pastor. His videos speak volumes. Also, he is becoming toxic in dealing with people in the comment section. He would lashed out at every people who were trying to rebuke him in a loving way. It's like to him, they're always against him and he is always right and as if there's nothing wrong in what he does. For me, it's sad and heartbreaking. It's like he values his fame now more than God. It's like he would be okay to do bad publicity to become more famous. Bad publicity is still a publicity. His page will still has engagement from it regardless. More engagements means more revenue.
Actually, he believes in a hypergrace teaching and that's what he teaches in the church. One day, I've made a decision that I would temporarily stop going to that church because I want to grow more in faith and in God's grace even if it entails that I have to be alone in the wildnerness. I wasn't growing there. There was no discipleship.. the praise and worship was taken for granted.. there was no bible study.. there was no spiritual accountable partners. Basically, just going to church every Sunday and come out from the service just like nothing happened. I don't want that. I told him that I would stop going to church temporarily and come back soon but all the more I don't want to go there anymore. I want a leader who can rightly lead me, not blindly lead me. Just right now, he is viral because last Sunday after the service, they recorded a video of them dancing to a secular song inside the church. A lot of Christians were disappointed and upset. But as for him, he is boasting about in his facebook account. It's heartbreaking to see how fame and the greed for fame can change a person. Actually, after he got monetized and received his pay, he kicked me out of his page already without telling me that he would do it. But when he was first starting it, he told me he would make me an admin. I understand that it was his page but it's sad on my part that when was just starting, he told me that he would involve me but when he's becoming famous, he just kicked me out without notice. if you were in my shoe, do you think it's reasonable for me to stop going to that church? Probably some of you would suggest for me to find another church, but after what happened, for now, I just want to stay home and listen to preachings online.

Is it seeing the progress pic of fellow reditors and thinking if they could do it then why not me?
or is it listening to motivation songs/raps?
or is it imagining yourself with the new fitness that you are striving for and the benefits that it will give you.
I am thinkg of cliche type motivations.
Is it seeing the progress pic of fellow reditors and thinking if they could do it then why not me?
or is it listening to motivation songs/raps?
or is it imagining yourself with the new fitness that you are striving for and the benefits that it will give you. I am thinkg of cliche type motivations.
Things that motivates you doesn't necessairily be any of these.Things that motivates you doesn't necessairily be any of these.

For stamina I am striving to have the ability to run 1.6km in 6mins. That's the requirement of Sub-Inspector ranked police. I have no plans to be a sub-inspector or any police in fact. But I am aiming for this as a milestone. In that process I became demotivated seeing even after one month of practice I am being able to run 1.6km in 9:05minutes. or .5km in 2:25minutes. I am fur away from my goal. That made me think how difficult or easy is this aim for me given that I am in my mid thirties.

For the past 2 years, I have been trying to get Lisa to listen to the song “How Could You Leave Us” by NF in hopes it would put some fire and motivation in her to give up before her children lose their mom too. It’s a song giving a young boy’s perspective who’s mom is going thru addiction and losing everything slowly before it finally takes her. It’s super emotional and gets me to tears everytime.
https://youtu.be/wOzQMCyPc8o?si=oyHl3NAygI9dvNPq

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/xndjskos
I am asking you on a date
Originally posted to USMC
Previous BoRU
Original Post Apr 18, 2023
Hi I'm [20F] long story short my boss hates me and wouldnt stfu bragging about her bf who's like 20 years younger than her and in the ARMY. Wanted to make her shut up so my dumbass said "yea mine is a marine". She insists I bring my "bf" to her birthday party. Guys pls help
Edit: god damn thanks for the award! Feels like I won an Oscar or something..
RELEVANT COMMENTS
Otherwise-Bad-7666

Just 1? We travel in packs. When and where is the party?

OOP replied

next weekend, oceanside. also, do you stay sane when you travel in packs too?

[deleted]

No, no we definitely do not.

Httplickmyballllss

Okay I’ll do it, but I’m gonna be drunk

OOP replied

Don't get me fired.

Cogadh87

Congrats on your wedding in 3-6 weeks.

OOP replied

This is ridiculous

TOP COMMENTS FROM THE USMC
ObviouslyNotALizard

I need one motivator to accompany the nice lady to the event. Hit on the boss, top her GOARMY boyfriend then throw up in her car

Apache1One

Fuck it, I'm in. I mean, I've been out for 10 years, and don't exactly look like a Marine anymore, but hey, once a Marine, always a Marine, amirite.
DM the address and I'm there.
Edit: if you're ugly, I'm leaving.

Dry-Tangerine-4874

Do you mind being picked up in a Dodge ChargeChallenger?

Curious_Location4522

Only if it’s 40% apr financing agreement

Update - 6 months later Oct 28, 2023
Hey there, it's been a long time lol. The last time I posted on here was when I asked for a guy to accompany me with my boss. I'm gonna delete reddit soon but thought I'd update some of you guys since you've asked for one. I was getting hopeless since some people in my dms were asking to fuck after the night and some weren't at the same place as I was. I was about to text my boss and tell her that I wouldn't go until I got a notice from reddit and decided to give it one last shot and THANK GOD I did lol. I ended up taking him there and we had such a great time. It was kinda awkward at first and we had to come up with the same stories but it was so worth it. We've been together since then and he told his family and friends about me. Shoutout to the folks who encouraged me to give it a shot.

NEW UPDATE

Update!! AGAIN Jan 5, 2024
Yall remember me from the boss thing? Some of yall asked for me to post this when I told yall so here's the last update
-hopefully-
He proposed! I KNOW!!
I said yes -obviously- but this is crazy how everything ended up the way it is, we've been dealing with a bunch of issues through the relationship but I'm engaged to that mf rn ♡
I'll try to find pics of that boss party thing we first met at too I think this whole things so wholesome lol
Anyways thank you everyone for encouraging me to give it a shot! And I'm sorry I stopped responding to some of you guys, hoping that there are no hard feelings. The big day is somewhere in September btw
Love yall.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
RiflemanLax

A Marine proposing after knowing someone for a ridiculously short amount of time?
Totally unheard of…

Unlucky_Reading_1671

How else are you going to get out of the barracks?

~
Unlucky_Reading_1671

Tale as old as time. Tune as old as song. He'll get drunk and find some strange. You'll fuck his SSgt out of rage. Learning you were wrong.

OOP

Whyd you gotta be such a bummer😂

~
psybro3r0

Thats one way to one up your boss. Being married to a Marine comes with it's own special set of challenges but also rewards (I'm married 33 years now so I'm gonna assume there's something in it for the wife, cuz she ain't left yet.)

~
Outk4st16

Engaged in less than a year? A true Marine Corps love tale.

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP
DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

Hi all. This sub gave me the motivation to try to do something about all my struggles, and I got an evaluation scheduled for next Monday. I’m new to the mental health world and only started therapy for the first time a couple months ago, but that’s going well and I like the therapist.
What will the evaluation be like? This is probably dumb but I’m nervous I’ll “fail” - like my symptoms won’t be “enough” to show how hard it is. I’m one of those people that you’d think has it all together - I generally look presentable and put together, I have a good job where I perform well, I’m good with people, I manage the mental load and most other things in my house and I’m a mom to an autistic 6 year old.
On the flip side, I can’t make myself drink water, I tune out of important conversations and meetings and don’t absorb things tend to feel lost and behind my colleagues, I get a lot of sensory overload, I have binge eating issues and overuse medical marijuana (for focus - it really does help but I can’t go on like this forever). My brain never stops, if it’s not just singing random snippets of songs on repeat then it’s playing out imaginary scenarios like a movie and I get lost in my thoughts. I hate that I can’t do a task that I need to do without it getting down to the wire, and then my perfectionism kicks in and I always manage to pull it off, so there’s never a consequence.
I’m just so mentally exhausted all the time, and when people describe the mental quiet that medication can bring, all I can think is, I want that.
I also can’t help but wonder medication would help my constant impulse control with food. It’s been like this my entire life and I just thought everybody’s brains were like this.
Anyway, just commiserating. I’m nervous for the appointment but eager to hear what they think, whether it’s ADHD or just a ton of anxiety. Thanks for being an awesome community, ladies.

By popular demand, I guess...
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a new edition era where there would be no vocational barriers for adventurers based on their race. Soon, the world began to see roguish halflings that also venerated Helm, while tending to the wilds as a druid. Half-orc bards also studied as wizards while manifesting natural arcane abilities as sorcerers. Tiefling paladins took their crusades to the wilderness and served as rangers, while sidelining as clergy to Mystra. The world was now a liberated place, free to not make any goddamn sense in a myriad of new ways. At one point, Lady Mazzy Fentan of Trademeet (now formally a paladin) crossed paths with a dwarven shadowdancebard and in that moment she regretted everything. Seriously, just take a moment and picture that. It would look fucking ridiculous.”
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's Ward's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”

I'll go first: high school me.
I had this realisation last night that highschool me would have really benefited from her music. I remember struggling so much with so many things and being so naive and lost that idk, it just occurred to me that highschool me really needed an influence like that.
It's not like other artists like I do have moments where I find an artist and it's like "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE" there are songs I stumble on with lyrics that speak to me and would go on to be my depression anthems for a few years.
But this is different it's not just the music, it's her as a character I genuinely find her persona so endearing and her motivations and thought process, the mild misandrist vibe she gives off I feel like I would have really found some solace in that back then.
I really needed that strong woman, man hating energy back then. Not that she inherently gives off man hating but it's her authenticity that stands out for me. I think that knowing her and who she was back then would have helped me so much with my identity. I'm grateful to have found her when I did (which was like last year). I truely feel like I would have felt more comfortable in my skin if I came across her music before.
Edit: just had another thought, when I was in highschool I felt so alone also because my friends had lives I just couldn’t relate to, or didn’t experience the emotions I did at that age they just couldn’t understand my experiences (unstable family dynamics, etc). There are themes Fiona touches on that really would’ve made me feel seen back then.

Here’s a sample of the song: https://x.com/valentinaforsos/status/1789522551942545734?s=46

OOC: co-written with NotTooSunny
It was an ordinary day at the New York City Library. People wandered in and out of the building, unaware of the monster that lurked among them.
The only people who seemed to know the danger these mortals were in were Harper and Amon, who entered the building with glowing bronze swords at their hips. The bulky weapons seemed to have escaped the notice of the other library patrons, which was a good thing. The job description had made it clear that they were meant to remain inconspicuous in completing their task.
Harper had traded her usual bright orange camp shirt for a more discrete cropped black t-shirt and pleated pants. She had been insistent on coming up with a persona for them on the train ride from Montauk Station into New York City. They were meant to act as high school students researching for a World History paper on Ancient Greece. Now that they were inside the library, she had stopped her incessant rambling to peruse a riddle book, in what she had insisted was preparation for their job.
As they wandered through the bookshelves, she remained absorbed in the dog-eared children’s book, thumbing through the pages to find a riddle that would be fitting of a sphinx.
“Here’s one, Amon,” she said, narrowly avoiding a collision with another library patron as she read, “What is something that runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?”
The dark-haired son of Apollo glanced over from a shelf of dusty atlases, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “That is an easy one,” he replied simply. "River. Try me with something more challenging next time around." He adjusted the collar of his striped button down, which he had layered with a navy blue sweater in preparation for the chill of the air-conditioned interior.
“The real riddle is where we can find this sphinx,” Amon glanced around the spacious reading area, eyeing the dark wooden staircase with its ornate railings. “The boyfriend and girlfriend who tried this last time, they found her by a bookcase.”
“A bookcase,” Harper repeated derisively, closing her book to theatrically scan their surroundings. “That narrows it down.”
Ignoring Harper’s mockery, the son of Apollo paused suddenly, his dark eyes glazing over with concentration. His hearing dulled, the surrounding footsteps and rustling pages fading into the background as if muffled by a thick curtain. Amon searched for the energy signature of the monster he knew lurked among the mortals. It was a subtle shift, like trying to discern a whisper in a crowded room, but he felt a faint, abnormal energy hanging somewhere up above.
“I say we try the second floor,” he said as he snapped out of the tracking trance, offering no other explanation to Harper.
“We could do that, sure,” Harper said, words laced with blatant doubt at his sudden certainty. “I say we try asking the Visitor’s Center. I know she's supposed to be disguised by the Mist, but the librarians have to have noticed something.”
“You can go ahead and do that.” The small smirk from earlier was now spreading across his face. “But you can’t be upset if I find the sphinx and solve her riddle before you even get there.”
Harper rolled her eyes, but she made no attempt to stop Amon from walking towards the staircase. After a moment she set off after him, footsteps even against the wooden steps.
Up on the second floor, Amon moved quietly, his dark eyes scanning the hallway for anything out of the ordinary.
I know you’re up here.
He stopped at every heavy-looking mahogany door, peering through each muted glass insert. He felt the air grow thicker with ominous energy at every step, so he knew the monster must be near.
One of the doors was slightly ajar, a suspiciously open invitation. Or a trap. The dark-haired boy caught sight of a cat-shaped figure on the other side before ducking down and motioning sharply for Harper’s attention. He unsheathed his kopis from his belt, bracing himself for confrontation.
Harper crouched against the wall, hand on the hilt of her sword as she tried to peek through the frosted glass pane. She held her breath, ready to move at Amon’s signal. He held out three fingers and then put them down one by one. When he hit zero, they stood in unison, flinging the door open together.
When Amon and Harper stepped inside, the body of the sphinx lay motionless on the floor.
The rest of the room was in disarray, littered with disheveled chairs and broken bits of chalk. A window on the other side of the room had been forced open, the curtain fluttering in the wind.
“No way,” Harper said. The door clicked shut behind her as she pushed past Amon into the room and kneeled to study the monster’s limp figure.
The sphinx had the large body of a lion and the eerily human face of a middle-aged woman, hair tied back in a severe bun and foundation caked onto her high cheekbones. Fangs jutted out of her red-painted lips, and eagle wings sprouted out of the space between her shoulder blades, folded tight against her back.
“Monsters dissolve into dust when they die,” Amon remarked, keeping his distance as he watched the subtle rise and fall of the monster’s ribs. “She must have been knocked unconscious.”
“Right,” Harper agreed, “The real question is who. And why.”
She hovered a hand over the cat's shoulder, set on rousing her. Before she made contact, the sphinx's eyes snapped open, round irises surrounded by shocking yellow sclera.
"Slain!" she wailed. Harper staggered backwards. Amon’s arms instinctively reached out to catch her, but she didn’t stumble near enough to make contact. "I am slain!"
With feline grace, the sphinx rose to her feet. A white tape outline marked the placement of her previously prone body on the floor. The muscles in her legs rippled as she paced in front of Harper and Amon, massive velvet paws silent against the carpet.
"And you, my dear heroes," she roared, eyes narrowed in an accusatory glare, "were too late to save me!"
The sphinx sniffed, composing herself. She leapt onto a wooden table. The table legs creaked underneath her weight. "Fear not," she tutted, "Fear not. For you can still avenge me. If you are able to determine the murderer and their weapon, then I will obtain justice, and all will be right with the world.”
“Your riddle is a murder mystery,” Harper said, confusion written across her face. Amon raised an eyebrow. The sphinx chuffed, a low rumbling sound reminiscent of laughter.
“You sought that hackneyed question about man? The Sphinx that the storytellers remember is far less adaptive than I am. I am not interested in your ability to regurgitate the information you have read. Nor am I interested in taking advantage of the nonsensical rules of your English language.”
“I am here to satisfy my own curiosity: does modern mankind still possess the ability to engage in deductive reasoning, or do they only seek to make themselves appear intelligent? Do not speak,” the sphinx said, a pointed look at Harper, who had opened her mouth to interject, “You will answer my questions when you play my game.”
“The potential murder weapons are scattered throughout this room,” she continued, leaping off the table. “And the suspects have already provided their testimonies for your review. Rest assured, I have made certain that their statements contain no lies.”
A shimmering, translucent energy began to swirl around Harper and Amon’s feet, beginning to take shape as holograms with a flickering, ephemeral quality.
A projection of Cerberus materialized first, his three massive heads snarling and snapping in unison. A ribbon of text appeared by his paws to translate his growling: "I was guarding the entrance, my duty unbroken."
Next came the Minotaur, his towering form pacing within the labyrinth on Crete. He snorted and pawed at the ground, the holographic maze shifting behind him in the background. The translation text appeared: "Confined within these walls, no escape for me."
Lamia's projection flickered into view, her serpentine lower half coiled around her as she wept in her cave. She glanced mournfully at the holographic images of her lost children: "My grief consumes me, innocent of this crime."
A shimmering Hydra emerged next, its nine heads snapping at invisible foes. Each one moved independently, showcasing its ability to act on its own. The translation for the hissing head at the center read: "Engaged in battle, I could not have killed."
Typhon materialized with a thunderous roar, his colossal form fighting against restraints under Mount Etna. His immense size and power were palpable, even in scaled down holographic form: "Bound by chains of the earth, I could not have roamed free."
Echidna’s hologram appeared last, her form a mix of human and serpent, lounging in a dimly lit cave. She looked directly at the viewers, her expression both defiant and amused. The translation text by her side read: “I dwell in my lair, uninvolved in such petty affairs.”
The sphinx swiped at the last projection as it faded, deeming her handiwork satisfactory. “There is not enough information to deduce the killer using evidence alone. Because I am fair, I will provide you with three hints before your final guess. Be forewarned: if you fail to provide a correct answer, you will both perish. Is this understood?”
Harper spoke. “If we answer correctly, you will leave this library for good.”
“If you answer correctly, I will permanently relocate. It is a preferable option in comparison to another death. Now, do you agree to the terms and conditions?” the sphinx said primly, regarding Harper and Amon with casual disdain. The pair nodded. “Very well.”
The sphinx dropped onto the floor and let her head loll back, pretending to be dead once more.
Hint #1

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

Soon after the Sphinx had laid back down, Harper and Amon began to scour the room. A small pile of prospective murder weapons formed on a nearby table.
“We can easily eliminate the siren song,” Amon rushed to speak over Harper, eyeing the small glass vial of swirling gray matter that they had found nestled behind a row of books on metalworking. “It is a luring mechanism, not a murder weapon.”
“We could rule out Cerberus’ fang too,” he pointed at the enormous yellowing tooth, about the size of the small baseball bat Amon used to have when he played in the little league. “If we take the hologram as ground truth, all of his teeth were intact there.”
Harper used her kopis to prod at the stained tunic that had been hidden in a desk drawer, being careful not to touch it with bare skin. “The Shirt of Nessus is a viable option. It would be easy for any of the suspects to lay it down and wait for the hydra venom to kick in.”
“I am not ready to rule out the bronze sword either,” Amon noted. “Monsters have access to heroes and the weapons they leave behind.”
“Most of these monsters don’t even have opposable thumbs,” Harper argued, running a hand over the sword they had found by a power outlet. ”They don’t have the dexterity to wield a sword.”
“I do not imagine that the technicality would be that granular.”
Harper laughed. “Oh, the number of teeth in the Cerberus hologram tell all, but we’re drawing the line at opposable thumbs.”
“I suppose that that logic would also rule out the harpy talon and the encyclopedia easily as well,” Amon admitted. “Which would be too easy.”
“I’m just that good at logical deduction.” Harper said proudly. “If my assumption is correct, then the poisoned shirt is the only one that makes sense.”
Amon scoffed, folding his arms across his chest as his dark eyes bored into Harper. “It would not necessarily matter what our first guess would be anyway.”
“Can you provide an argument for any other weapon? Or are you intent on purposely making an illogical guess?” she countered cooly.
“Fine,” Amon acquiesced. “Since you are so adamant about the shirt, we can guess the shirt, and be incorrect. It does not matter. What about the suspects themselves?” He clasped his hands behind his back, his steps measured as he started to pace across the plush red carpet of the room.
Harper smiled, smugly accepting her victory. She strode towards a chalkboard at the side of the study room, inscribing the list of weapons and suspects with a fresh piece of white chalk.
“All of them have alibis,“ she began. “I think that-”
“Some make more sense than others,” Amon spoke over Harper, irritated by her minor triumph. “Cerberus, for example, is under the service of Hades. He says he did not leave his post, and he could not have done so without permission or dire consequences on the process of the dead.”
Harper silently seethed as Amon spoke, meeting his rationale with reluctant acceptance before starting again in a louder, exaggerated tone. “I think that the ones with the shakiest alibis are Lamia, the Minotaur, Typhon, and Echidna. No witnesses can confirm their locations. In fact, Lamia provides no location at all.” Harper circled those names. She looked at Amon with a forced smile, allowing him a moment to provide more commentary.
“Lamia? Well,” there was a hint of mockery in the sneer that tugged on the corner of Amon’s lips. “I would imagine her emotions rendered her… Too fragile and unstable to carry out such an act.”
“You’re kidding,” Harper scoffed, searching Amon's face for the slightest hint that he was joking. “Her grief is what moved her to kill children in the first place. I doubt it would suddenly be incapacitating. She’s just appealing to your sense of superiority, and I can’t believe that you’re falling for it.”
"It is not about superiority. It is about logic," Amon retorted, bristling in defense. “You cannot deny that emotions cloud judgment. Maybe the sphinx wants us to leverage our knowledge about her past crimes to reason that she was not thinking clearly in this case either.” Amon had no other evidence that pointed towards Lamia as the top suspect, but he had dug deep enough where he was now ready to stand firm in his reasoning.
“Murder,” Harper countered, eyes narrowed in a venomous stare, “-does not require you to think clearly. Haven’t you heard of a crime of passion? If anyone’s judgment is clouded right now, Amon, it’s yours.”
The son of Apollo squared his shoulders, his expression hardening. "I understand the concept of crimes of passion, thank you.” His dark-eyed stare returned Harper's gaze, unflinching at the intensity. “But our investigation must be rooted in facts, not assumptions based on emotions. And the facts are,” he resumed his pacing once more, “that Lamia cannot be the culprit, as she is the only suspect that openly admits to being innocent of this crime.”
Amon had considered this from the very start, but provoking Harper like this had proved to be far more amusing.
Harper crossed Lamia’s name off of the board. She swallowed down her anger, fighting the urge to continue pressing the issue in favor of returning to their list of suspects. She pointed her piece of chalk at the next names on the list. “The Minotaur and Typhon are trapped, or so they say. How could they have done anything?”
“Their alibis revolve around their inability to escape,” Amon pointed out. “Not that they were unable to commit murder. The Labyrinth, in fact,” he raised a dramatic finger, “has several moving passages that could have permitted the Minotaur to move and commit murder without an official escape.”
Harper considered his words for a long moment, trying to find the flaw in his reasoning. Seeing none, she placed a dot next to the Minotaurs's name.
“Typhon escaped his prison in the Second Titanomachy. He could do it again,” Harper said thoughtfully. “Though I don’t understand why he would do something like this. He’s the Sphinx's father. The same goes for Echidna.”
Amon, who had been nodding at Harper’s assessment of Typhon’s abilities, pursed his lips at her observation of parentage. “I do not see how this could possibly be relevant to the logical puzzle at hand.”
Harper spoke slowly, as if the answer was obvious. “What motive would they have to kill their own daughter?”
“Harper,” Amon began curtly, folding his arms across his chest. “Half of the Greek myths revolve around immortals killing their own children.”
“Then we should pick one of them,” Harper declared, pivoting her argument instead of admitting her logical blunder. “They would have more of a motive than the rest of the suspects, if anything.”
“The Minotaur can escape much more easily than Typhon can. Motive aside, it is the most logical guess,” Amon concluded, adjusting his collar haughtily. “I will remind you that we picked your choice of weapon. It is only fair that I select the monster.”
“Fine.” Harper agreed, her gaze stormy as she turned back towards the sphinx. “We accuse the Minotaur of killing the sphinx with the Shirt of Nessus.”
The sphinx opened one eye. “None of these are correct!”
Hint #2

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

“Two more hints left.” Harper announced, crossing off the Minotaur’s name and the poisoned shirt on the chalkboard with a flourish. It was not ideal that her initial logical deductions had been incorrect, but at least Amon had also been wrong. She couldn't resist a snide comment. “I knew it wasn’t the Minotaur.”
“So you still think it’s Typhon.” Choosing to ignore Harper’s taunting, Amon rested his hand on a nearby desk, studying the lists on the chalkboard before him. He had taken the Minotaur error as a personal failure, and was determined to get the suspect right this time.
“I do.”
“Why not Echidna?”
“She’s too emotional to kill someone, obviously.” Harper said sarcastically. “Her frail female arms are probably too weak to even hold a weapon.”
The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. “Objectively,” he began, ignoring her quip once more, “Typhon could not have lied about his inability to roam free. A natural disaster freed him from Mount Etna during the Second Titanomachy, but he could not recreate those conditions on his own.” Though his tone remained aloof, it was clear that Amon was relishing in the opportunity to flaunt his mythology knowledge.
“Maybe,” Harper argued, stubborn. “But Echidna’s statement was less ambiguous than his. Typhon just explains his predicament; he doesn't provide a real claim. Echidna explicitly says she was not involved.” She thought for a few more moments, rolling the piece of chalk in her hands. “Echidna could have released him? They would be accomplices.”
Amon shook his head. “There was a single murderer. Not two. The sphinx would not lie about the premise of the game.”
Harper stared at him coldly, but could offer no rebuttal. She turned her attention to the board. “Typhon is a giant. He’s capable of using the sword.”
“But the specificity of Echidna’s denial is still incredibly suspicious. ‘Petty affairs’ is a strange way to phrase a murder. But,” Amon added reluctantly, “I understand the logic behind Typhon. I suppose it is your turn to choose the monster, and we will still have another guess to work with.”
“As for the weapon,” he continued, “I still think the sword is the most viable option, given that the siren song and the fang can be ruled out and the shirt with the venom was, well,” Amon pursed his lips, fighting the urge to smile, “incorrect.”
Before Harper could interject, Amon turned towards the sphinx at the front of the room. “We accuse Typhon of killing the sphinx with a Celestial Bronze Sword.”
“One of these is correct!”
Hint #3

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

“Aha!” Amon raised a triumphant finger before pointing it at Harper. “I told you,” he gloated, “Typhon had no escape route.”
“You were right,” Harper admitted, staring down at the carpet so that she would not have to look at his smug expression.
“Let’s get this over with,” she muttered, and turned back towards the lioness with crossed arms. “We accuse Echidna of killing the sphinx with a Celestial Bronze Sword”
“One of these is correct,” the sphinx announced. Her mouth twisted in amusement, fangs bared in a menacing smile.
READ PART 2 HERE

(29M) About a year ago I got out of an abusive relationship. My former partner(Female a year older than me) would not hesitate to be mentally abusive, and on some occasions physically. She was also financially abusive. And controlling. My former partner had BPD and knew lots of ways to manipulate my neuro divergent tendencies. Things like telling me i was stupid, I was nothing without her, I didnt have any friends ect. The instances of abuse were always framed as my fault because in her words I "just pushed her and pushed her and pushed her". a year ago I escaped that situation and since then have not really shown any interest in having an intimate relationship with anyone in that time. I was also in therapy and still am. Even though I didn't try to pursue an relationship, women would still show interest in me and these things have been detrimental to my self worth because these women show interest and then for whatever reason are deterred from ever talking to me again. The first instance was a girl that showed a lot of interest and even gave me her number with out me asking for it we texted for 2 months and she began to text me less and less. I eventually just asked her about it and said that she didn't want to give me the idea we could be more than friends even though she was the one who pursued me and wanted to talk about deeply personal topics like the kind you would if you were romantically interested in some one. I decided to just move on but this did make me feel really dejected and like I was unfit for anyone to really want to consider me as their partner unless they had ulterior motives of control and abuse as those seem to be the only relationships I've been in throughout my adult life. Which is only reinforced by my cycle of thinking as I didn't date or even have a lot of friends in my teen years. After this I met a girl at a bar who was actually working there. I know that bar staff are supposed to make you feel welcome and be overly friendly as I've been in quite a few, but this was different. I would come to this bar with a friend of mine and it was known and would be well on display that I was the designated driver. I've never really been much of a drinker, my friend on the other hand enjoys his libations. He tends to ask me to go because he knows I can keep him in check, and because I train martial arts can keep the situation under control if things get out of hand. Essentially he knows I can ensure he's safe and I can keep a conversation going. Anyway this girl notices I'm the dd because I'll only get a water when we come in and starts to leave from behind the bar and bring me a water when we walk in regularly. We also start to engage in conversation pretty heavily. So one night I came in by myself because my friends work schedule had changed I gather all my courage and ask her for her number. She seems pretty happy about this since we had been talking for the better part of 3hrs before hand and she even gave me a hug before I left. I texted her a little while after leaving the bar so she would also have my number. I received no reply. I figured she was busy so I didn't think too much of it. A whole week goes by with no reply. I finally decided to send a text jokingly asking her if she was ghosting me. I get a one sentence reply stating "heeyyy I've been busy" about an hour and a half later. I text her back "hey don't apologize I'm here when you're ready to talk" I meant it as a nonchalant reply like "hey no rush I'd just like to talk when your free" I wasn't upset or anything but I suppose it could've been misconstrued as being passive aggressive. That being said she never replied to me again. The feelings I mentioned previously creep back in and I don't even talk to another woman until almost 7 months later. This was also not a planned instance as I had gone out to a bar to participate in a kind of baby shower type get together a friend of mine was having. I didn't plan on talking to anyone who was woman, especially since the party I was going to was divided by gender as some celebrations of a child being on the way will be. I had already been at this bar for a few hours and was planning on leaving until my friends wife decided to bring her party over to the same bar and it ended up being just a casual hang out as the women that were involved with the mother's part of the get-together were now intermingling amongst us. As this was happening I had noticed one of the women had a tattoo of the avenged sevenfold logo on her back. I struck up a conversation with her about how I was a fan of theirs in junior high and so were my friends. We then continued to chat and I found out that we actually had a lot of things in common not just music taste,and that we both played guitar, but also stances on politics and humor and just about anything else we talked about. I talked to this woman for close to 8hrs we even went around the corner to a pub to get food. While we were doing this she invited me to come over to her apartment we then proceeded to sit on her couch and share different songs and genres we liked with eachother and talking about life, while smoking weed as she had a prescription and I suppose didn't want to be rude so offered me some. I'm not a smoker really but obliged. While this was going on I did disclose to her my financial situation and that I lived with my parents because I was trying to get back on my feet again. She seemed really supportive about this as well. We later started watching the show black mirror and were starting to get closer physically her legs were draped over one of mine. Her chest was over top of mine. My arm had slid behind her back and our faces were a bit close. I'm really cautious about consent and personal space because of the abuse I went through so I asked her "hey would I ruin the vibe if I kissed you?" Kind of nervously as I was a little high. She just kind of giggled and said she liked to take things slow. I said it wasn't a problem and respected her decision and we continued watching back mirror in the same position. Later she said she was going to go to bed and I said I would sleep on the couch. I kicked off my shoes and was laying on the couch still high. The door to her bedroom which was across the apartment from the couch only about 8ft away was open and I turned my head and asked "hey did you want me to come to bed with you?" She said yes so I promptly went into the bedroom and we began cuddling. I fell asleep. The next day I woke up and we still cuddling. We both kind of woke up at the same time. We talked a little while still pretty much spooning eachother. While we were doing this she kissed me. We then kind of softly made out, talked a little got out of bed sat on the couch, kissed a few more times, watched black mirror. This whole time I've gotten 2 calls from a friend of mine who I am in a band with we practice on Sundays and I was going to be late I considered not showing up but ultimately relented and decided I didn't want to be clingy and wear out my welcome especially since I hadn't planned on any of this and she had slightly been hinting about starting her Sunday routine and I didnt want to throw off her process to get her week started. So I decided to leave. I kissed her again told her I'd really like to see her again and left. A few hours later while I was at band practice I sent her a meme She replied about a day later. Since then our texting was really scant. She did disclose when we met that she wasn't on her phone a lot and didn't text that much so I chalked it up to that. I tried to really have a conversation going but couldn't. I also asked if she wanted to hang out that Thursday as I had the day off. She said she was busy which I thought no problem. Oddly enough I got an update on Facebook that she had posted in a musicians page I'm a part of about wanting to meet up and jam with other people that same day. Also we didn't add eachother on social media so she had no idea if I would see this. I though it was weird but didn't really think anything of it outside of "hey I play guitar too why can't we hang out and play?" After that I got sick and she happened to stop texting me. The next week I sent another meme and sparked a sparse text conversation that went nowhere. Then a few days after that on the advice of my therapist I decided to just ask her out on a date. I was ignored. This made me feel like utter fucking shit. As well as being confused as to why she would spend so much time with me, kiss me, and even half ass text me. To just ignore me. The thoughts I previously mentioned crept back into my skull and were very intense. I started to spiral and think why it would happen. I thought about my physical attributes, about how I was over six foot tall, about how I was in decent shape, about how even some of my male friends and people in a professional environment had told me I should be a model, that I was "handsome". I'm kind and compassionate. I try to be a great conversationalist. It just didn't make any sense to me it didn't feel fair. I was heartbroken as I thought I had met someone who actually appreciated my taste in music (she Even told me I had good taste in music), the fact I was kind of awkward. She liked my point of view and ideas on things. She liked that I looked out for my friends. She seemed to accept me. After all of that she didn't it wasn't even real I guess. Since then I was having a lot of negative thoughts I even found some old Facebook messages this girl I had known had sent me when I was a teen in which she was emotionally manipulating me Essentially wanting me to be limerent (she had even posted on my wall about how she cared about me and was sorry she couldn't make it to my graduation that she never intended on going to) which added to all of this negative thinking I had been experiencing lately. (I even thought to myself I sounded like an incel which also was disheartening those people suck and I dont even want to be considered in the same catagory as men who would treat women that way) I really just don't know what my problem is and I just don't want to try to get back in to dating as well because I don't like this feeling of being dejected and not feeling worthy of some one else's love. I'm left with this deep hurt and I just want to say fuck it I'm done.

Been learning to play for about six months now. But very quickly I lose motivation and quit if something doesn't work out. How can I overcome this? I can barely play a couple songs right now

When you felt that you were losing interest in your partner, what did you do? I’ve been with my boyfriend for two years and I don’t know, I’m finding it hard to want to continue staying in a relationship with him. I feel like I can’t be myself around him because when I am, he takes it the wrong way and it results in us verbally arguing or being petty. Whether I try joking with him or trying to have fun, he takes everything so seriously and it kills my vibe. We used to do things in the beginning that we bonded over tremendously, whether that was playing video games together, always being on FaceTime, sending each other songs or memes to laugh at, but now we hardly do so because whenever it happens, it results into us arguing. He has a very tough and toxic living situation back at home that I think has been affecting the way he communicates with me, though he says it’s not and would never project. We live an hour apart from each other and I’m the only one with a license and car to go see him. He basically can’t save or do anything for himself because his mom takes all his work money as “rent”. I know we’re both young (21), but I am so focused on building myself and my future to be successful and attain the dreams and goals I have set for myself while for him, the only things he wants for himself is to “survive”. I’ve tried motivating him, helping him do better to get out of the situation he’s in, but it all feels like no use. I don’t talk to my friends about the negative, or not so good parts, of my relationship because I’m self-conscious of people knowing my business. But I think that may have been doing more harm to myself than good. I just need words of advice from people who have been in this scenario before. Is it because we’re an hour away from each other that’s making things even harder? I don’t want to finally move in with him and then feel like this is something I don’t want to do anymore. I also don’t want to ruin this because this love feels real and authentic, not lust filled or terrible like the other horror stories on what dating in our community is like.

I was thinking about this when arguing with some very disingenuous fans with ulterior motives (I'm sure we have encountered them at this point but anyway) who argued Gatwa isn't a good Doctor because "he is just playing himself, a gay black man again like in Sex Ed". This obvious a load of crap and a massive double standard since Tom Barker literally takes the character of the Doctor and makes it Tom Baker, and Jon Pertwee was told to play Three as an idealised version of himself, which he does with the motor vehicles, action man antics ect... So its totally fine that Gatwa's personality and natural charisma informs his incarnation.
But this got me thinking and this maybe just a personal interpretation that only I can see but, Fifteen oddly feels a connection with Three. The action man antics (jumping over roof tops, riding motor cycles) and the impeccable multi outfit fashion sense. A more tenuous connection would be the pairs propensity to singing (the goblin song and the operatic vocals at the beginning of Inferno which always stands out to me). Maybe this is just informed by my love Pertwee and Gatwa's comments that he likes the Third Doctor in interviews. But IDK it just keeps coming back to him: [Spoiler Description](#s "the season 14 finale said to be featuring a Pertwee era returning plot point.")
Anyway I just wanted know if anyone else has picked up and interpreted these same vibes and if there are any other comparison to other Doctors people have noticed?

Title says it all, this post is a deep dive into the Sonic Adventure 2 OST, specifically all the songs pertaining to Knuckles. This is for a few reasons that I’ll get into in a moment, but from what I’ve seen Knuckles’ and Rouge’s soundtracks tend to get overlooked or written off by fans (More so Knuckles’) unfairly so in my opinion.
This post will serve, not only to analyze the music itself, but also Knuckles’ characterization, as you’ll see the two are basically intrinsically linked.
Just a quick disclaimer, I’m not a musician nor am I that musically inclined, this isn’t an expert’s opinion or analysis, just a listener’s thoughts.
A bit of background of me before we start, I grew up around hip hop when I was young so I can really appreciate Knuckles’ soundtrack probably more so than a lot of other people.
Ever since I was a kid, Knuckles has always been my favorite character, I always found his complicated friendship and rivalry with Sonic to me a much more interesting dichotomy than Sonic and Shadow (I know, fight me).
That and I’ve always just adored his character (Before they forgot how to write him) he can be hot headed and stubborn like Sonic, but he’s got a bit of a Yin and Yang thing going on, with his Chill nature conflicting with his Quick and Explosive temper, as well as his questioning of his purpose in life and duty to the Master Emerald.
Anyway, enough context on myself, let’s strap in and get to the meat of this veeeeeery long post (My bad guys).

BACKGROUND

So for starters, I think it’s best we talk about the style and influences that are quite evident in Knuckles’ Music, that being Hip Hop/Rap, but it goes a bit further than that.
For some historical context, Sonic Adventure 2 came out in 2001, I’m not sure how many hip hop fans hang around the subreddit but by 2001 the Golden Age of Hip Hop had been firmly left behind. Biggie and Pac had been dead for a while, and the stars of yesteryear began to fizzle out as the young blood cropped up onto the scene.
The early 2000s Hip Hop scene was mainly dominated by the East Coast and the Dirty South, lots of stars of this generation of rap included 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Outkast, Ludacris, The Game, Three 6 Mafia and Xzibit, but you also had older legends like Nas and Snoop Dogg who were still culturally relevant.
This modern sound of hip hop differed greatly in sound to the early 90s, everything was a lot more clean and refined, samples were still used but weren’t as common as before and the West Coast sound that characterized the early 90s had been long gone.
It’s important to bring this up, because comparing SA2’s Hip Hop tracks to the climate it was released in, they sound almost out of place. Listening to Get Rich or Die Trying, or Stillmatic and then listening to SA3’s tracks you’d be convinced they were separated by many years.
The Tracks in SA2 are definitely rooted in early 90s hip hop, it’s very clear that those early Gangsta Rap albums like Straight Outta Compton and Black Sunday greatly influenced this part of the soundtrack. And you don’t have to take my word for it, go and listen to the instrumentals of songs like Express Yourself or Insane in the Brain and tell me that they’d sound out of place playing in one of Knuckles’ Stages.
Early 90s Hip Hop makes heavy use of sampling, primarily of the work of Black Artists of the past two decades, because of SA2K’s early 90s hip hop influences, it too has a lot of roots in 70s/80s Black music. Elements of Soul, Funk and Jazz are commonly heard in Knuckles’ Stages, think James Brown or Isaac Hayes.
So what Groups or Artists seem to inspire SA2K’s sound? Well the obvious choice is NWA, though specifically Straight Outta Compton, Elif4zaggin has a much different sound. However I don’t believe that’s entirely the case.
Whether it’s pure coincidence or intentional, Too Short (stylized as Too $hort) was a decently popular artist from Oakland, which is up in the Bay Area of NorCal which is the main inspiration for most of SA2’s urban environments.
Anyway, Too Short was actually quite a pioneer in Hip Hop as he formed the Dangerous Crew, a Hip Hop Band who played actual instruments instead of using samples, it’s because of this that I believe Too Short and the Dangerous Crew to be the main inspiration of SA2K’s sound whether intentional or not, not only are the two defined by their funky beats, but also their use of live instruments. I recommend listening to songs like The Ghetto, Sample The Funk and Just Another Day to get an idea of how his music influences SA2K.

UNKNOWN FROM M.E. (REMIX)

Honestly I find this track to be an improvement over the original, it definitely leans a lot more into the R&B aspect over the rest of the soundtrack but it’s still distinctly hip hop with the record scratches, drums and Hunnid-P rapping over it.
Speaking of, let’s address the Elephant in the room briefly. I know Hunnid-P or Hunnid-Pacent isn’t everybody’s favorite person on this sub, either on the track or behind the scenes, and while his antics aren’t relevant to this post, I don’t necessarily agree that he’s as bad as people say he is on the mic. Is he the world’s greatest emcee? Absolutely not, but he does his job pretty well, he has good flow and a pretty good voice. I think people clown on his lyrics too much, I’m not saying he’s an Inspectah Deck level lyricist but I think the guy has dropped a few bombs and this OST has some gems, but we’ll get into this in a bit.
Getting back to the song, the content of the lyrics is basically Knuckles’ inner voice, this is basically the entire soundtrack, though Unknown From M.E. is more of a general character overview of Knuckles, its standard stuff now but at the time it was a pretty deep dive into the character of Knuckles’ in a decently subtle way.
Most of the song centers around Knuckles’ self imposed isolation on Angel Island, his duty to his people and the world to protect the Master Emerald, but also him yearning for something more and the inner conflict that stems from that.
This song actually has some underrated lines, some standout lyrics include:
“Clench my fists tight, become more redder - I don't wanna hurt her, my passion observed”
The last line is in obvious reference to Rouge and an interesting insight into Knuckles himself. He clearly doesn’t like violence and isn’t interested in hurting anybody, but his duty as a guardian and his quick temper often means he can get a bit too carried away as the line implies, good stuff.
“Been lonely all my life, does it matter? - Here for the mission, whoever want, it bring it”
Here we can clearly see Knuckles trying to reason with himself here, specifically after meeting Sonic and experiencing a life that isn’t just his duty. Here we see the Guardian side of him, he’s always been alone and it’s never been problem before, why should it be now? At least that’s what he tries to tell himself.
“Don't approve of him but gotta trust him - This alliance has a purpose - This partnership is only temporary”
I’ll get more into this when we get to Death Chamber, but these lines are obviously alluding to Sonic and the plot of the game. It’s clear that Knuckles still doesn’t completely like Sonic, however the key here is that he trusts him, he’s gotten to a point now where he knows Sonic is well meaning and their goals align. However, just like real people, he’s accepted the arrangement but he doesn’t have to like it, he still believes Sonic is brash, arrogant and takes far too many risks, it will take more than a few adventures for Knuckles to fully change his opinion on Sonic.
Hunnid-P and Marlon Saunders do a great job of bouncing off each other on this song, their voices and cadences clash with each other nicely almost like how Knuckles’ inner turmoil is split in two.
The beat is tantalizingly funky, for starters that bass line is smooth as butter and the song has a nice tempo, you get the occasional organ flourish and guitar riff that crescendo and just help to enhance the song even further. Overall a really solid track in my opinion, the content of the lyrics is interesting and the delivery is great, all over an extremely funky instrumental.

KICK THE ROCK - WILD CANYON

Probably my favorite song out of all Knuckles’ Stages, this one is definitely the most Jazzy and parallels nicely with Rouge, but has a distinctly Knuckles Twist.
That Sax and Organ combo just cause an absolute eargasm and those drums form such a nice tempo that makes this track such easy listening. Honestly there’s not a whole lot going on with this track and that is not a bad thing at all. Its simplicity is probably its biggest strength and is quite noticeable compared to something like Unknown From M.E.
Some Lyrics I found particularly interesting are:
“I'm feelin her in mysterious ways - That's why I stay on point like every single day - I gotta protect this place, I do it for my race”
Yeah yeah I know everybody finds this line and the play doh line inappropriate and funny, I understand the latter but honestly I could never get the outcry over this one
“I’m feelin her in mysterious ways” honestly, in my opinion, it’s not what you think. I’ve never really seen it as a sexual line “I’m feelin you” is basically another way of saying I get you, it’s basically Knuckles saying he gets Rouge, but he doesn’t know why and that kinda bothers him.
The context matters here and the lines after do give my interpretation some weight. It’s basically Knuckles saying to himself “I get this girl and I kinda mess with her, but I gotta job to do” Knuckles is intrigued by Rouge, he’s never met anybody like her and he obviously has some feeling towards her, though because of his lack of interaction with others he struggles to understand these feelings and instead of addressing them, he tries to ignore them and remain true to his job as Guardian
“Who could'a did this, that snitch named Rouge! - When I catch her, I'ma get her with these tools”
More obvious than the last one, but it still shows that Knuckles, despite his various different feelings toward Rouge, knows he has a job to do and tries to center himself to stay committed
Honestly it’s hard to choose between this or Unknown From M.E. as my favorite Knuckles track but either way its up there and definitely something I can bop to on the regular

A GHOST’S PUMPKIN SOUP - PUMPKIN HILL

The one everybody knows and honestly I get it, it’s got that smooth piano/guitar I can’t really tell what it is but it definitely slaps. It has that distinct G-Funk whistle which pops up occasionally across SA2K that simulates that stereotypically ghostly sound nicely
It’s definitely in contention with Deeper for the most lowkey Knuckles track and that’s saying something.
Not much content lyrically, but I managed to find a few interesting lines:
“I ain’t gonna let it get to me, I’m just gon creep - Down in Pumpkin Hill I gots to find my lost piece”
Something we don’t actually see a lot from Knuckles, fear! Most of this song is about Knuckles’ fearlessness being tested, if you view this as Knuckles’ internal monologue (Which if you don’t at this point then I’ve been doing something wrong 😂) its less about the song telling us how tough Knuckles is, but Knuckles reassuring himself that he can do this.
He’s obviously trepidatious over being in Pumpkin Hill and he has to take a moment to center himself and reassure himself that “I’m Knuckles, I’m not afraid of anything” again this goes back to how Knuckles uses his job as Guardian and his duty to motivate himself and push forward through situations, regardless of his own fear.
“I’m hearing someone saying “You a chicken, don’t be scared!” - It had to be the wind, cause nobody wasn’t there”
Considering the haunted theming of this level, this very clearly (on the surface) seems to be Knuckles encountering a ghost taunting him, but I might present another angle.
This is just Knuckles’ inner thoughts again, though this time its doubt, he doesn’t believe he can find the pieces of the Master Emerald and he doesn’t think he can make it through Pumpkin Hill, yet he pushes through anyway. This one’s kinda far fetched but it’s a nice idea
I don’t adore this track as much as a lot of other people (ironically) but I can still Jive with it.

DIVE INTO THE MELLOW - AQUATIC MINE

First of all, this track does a great job at just sounding watery, the filtered organ and the echoey bass just make it sound like cave ambience turned into music
Most of this track’s lyrics center around Knuckles’ yearning to be something more than just the Guardian of the Master Emerald and to be his own individual, these are:
“Makes you wanna sit back, enjoy the life - And do things you like doing, get to shine”
Knuckles, if it wasn’t for all the enemies and hazards, obviously enjoys being in Aquatic Mine, so much so that it brings his thoughts of a better life to the front of his mind.
This shows what Knuckles really wants, to be unburdened from the Master Emerald and to just be free to kick it wherever, in a way he’s jealous of the freedom Sonic has and wishes he wasn’t tied down to Angel Island.
“I stay Knuckled up, I’m in a deep cut”
Knuckles, despite his ideals of peace and relaxation is always ready to do what he believes is right, again this whole OST is basically Knuckles reconciling his wants and his duties.
Again Knuckles isn’t really equipped to deal with these feelings and instead of addressing them, he pushes them down and buries them under his duty and tries to keep himself busy, though once he gets to Aquatic Mine where he’s forced to slow down and explore methodically, he’s suddenly unable to distract himself from his true feelings.
“In a maze, and I don't know what to do Guaranteed though, imma find the Emeralds”
Again an obvious allusion to the labyrinthine Aquatic Mine on the surface, though I believe this too has a deeper meaning.
Knuckles is lost and confused emotionally, he’s confronted by these different feelings that conflict with everything he’s ever known. His thoughts on freedom and his feelings for Rouge which he doesn’t quite understand both conflict with his role as Guardian and he can’t reconcile them.
“I don’t know what to do” in a rare moment of vulnerability, Knuckles admits that he has no idea how to manage these feelings and he’s grappling with the monumental task of managing his panicked thoughts.
Then, just as you think Knuckles is gonna start making a breakthrough, what does he do? “Guaranteed though, imma find the Emeralds” That’s right, instead of finally addressing his swirling thoughts, he pushes them down and once again distracts himself with his duty.
Honestly, like Pumpkin Hill, I know it’s a reach but it tracks with what we know Knuckles’ character has been up to this point and it gives him insane depth and really humanizes him.
A funky beat, a nice flow from Hunnid P and some really humanizing characterization of Knuckles, Dive Into The Mellow is definitely a hidden gem of the OST.

DEEPER - DEATH CHAMBER

Sooooooo chill, honestly this song is so calm and smooth, it’s so underrated on this soundtrack it really is another hidden gem like Dive Into the Mellow.
First off I absolutely adore the bass this track has, it sounds like it’s been bit compressed for a Gameboy and honestly I’m all here for it, gives it a nice techno Eggmany twist. The funky guitar and sax just enhances the mood, the song sounds almost echoey like you’re actually standing in a Death Chamber.
Lyrically this song is unique in that it’s basically just a long conversation between Sonic and Knuckles instead of Knuckles’ inner thoughts/monologue.
It’s an interesting dynamic where Sonic is actually the reasonable one, willing to put aside his and Knuckles’ differences aside for the greater good. Knuckles however is initially a bit more standoffish, but Sonic talks him into it by appealing to his guardian nature and calling him out on his stubbornness, basically forcing Knuckles to admit that Sonic is right and that they’ll be much better off working together.
Honestly not much to say, it’s pretty much all spelled out in the song, but interesting nonetheless. An understated and uniquely funky beat make this track stand out among the others nicely, definitely a great listen.

SPACE TRIP STEPS - METEOR HERD

Finally, the last song. In my opinion, Space Trip Steps is probably the weakest track musically. That doesn’t make it bad, far from it, I just can’t groove with it as easily as the others
This song takes a lot more inspirations from G-Funk than the other tracks which does give it quite a unique sound amongst the soundtrack, it wouldn’t sound out of place on The Chronic or Regulate… G Funk Era. The wavy synths and sharp base with the fast tempo give it an almost garage feel too, definitely not a sound for everyone but I think it does a good job at sounding very ethereal and space like
As for lyrics, this seems to be a turning point for Knuckles as a loner:
“Took a shuttle to space and left from our homes At least we're with friends and I'm not all alone”
Knuckles is in a completely foreign environment and feels completely out of his depth, however he feels comforted by the fact that he’s surrounded by the people he’s finally started to call his Friends, the first time he’s admitted such.
He’s forced now to acknowledge that he can’t do everything by himself, and that asking for help from his friends doesn’t make him any less of a man, he finally accepts that he can trust outsiders, but he still has a ways to go.
“Bad thing was that the Emeralds spilled - Gotta search space, man, time to get ill”
Still, Knuckles is bound and almost blinded by his duty, forcing himself to abandon his friends to search for the Master Emerald pieces that were scattered in space.
It’s clear now that Knuckles isn’t too happy to leave his friends, but as we’ve come to know him, he does the typical Knuckles thing of pushing his feelings to the side in the face of doing what he believes is right. This just tells us Knuckles still has a lot to work on before he can really come to terms with who he is.
Again, a pretty unconventional track so it can be an awkward listen and definitely not my favorite on the list, but it does something unique which I can definitely give it props for, Hunnid P even has a completely different flow, dragging out his words like he’s getting further away, hammering home that space theme.

CONCLUSION

And that’s it, if you made it this far through my long winded ramblings, then I’m extremely impressed 😂 I tried to trim the fat as best I could but I ended up getting a bit too attached to most of what I wrote
Honestly I feel like these songs have been unfairly painted as the silly crappy Knuckles rap songs with bad lyrics that are only good because of their instrumentals, and I just can’t agree with that.
I feel like in a lot of ways these songs do a much better job of characterizing Knuckles than SA1 or SA2, I really wish we got see more of his inner turmoil and him butting heads with Sonic in the game itself.
I think it’s a sad thought that for a long time, Knuckles has been a shadow of his former self (Har har) and has just been relegated to the token meathead that’s about as one dimensional as a square. Frontiers is definitely a step in the right direction and I’m excited to see what the new writing team can cook up with for his character.
But what are your thoughts though? Do you agree? Disagree? Did I manage to change your mind or have you always felt this way? Maybe you have a different take or something else to add? I’d love to hear it.
ML

I made a song for my mom and my motivation was not to please people on the internet, it was to do the best I can because that's what she deserves...
I made a pretty decent song... it will never be critiqued tho
I realized I get validation from positive and negative reviews of my music
At some point I began making music just for the responses
Are you doing that right now?

Hej DKbrevkasse. Jeg vil blot skrive tusind tak for alle de kommentarer der kunne male et nyt billede for mig. Alle de kommentarer der opmuntrede mig og gjorde mig i stand til at sortere mine tanker. Det er ikke nemt at stå i med tvangstanker og vanvittige forsøg på at “finde løsninger” på hvorfor det gik galt mange måneder efter et brud, for når alt kommer til alt så fortjener jeg så meget bedre. Mennesker jeg har mødt efterfølgende har ude af kontekst og i samtaler jeg har overhørt, perifert også snakket om samme person jeg datede, og fortalt om episoder eller aktiviteter hende jeg datede lavede forud for mit kendskab til hende, som nok ville have fraholdt mig fra overhovedet at skabe kontakt til hende i første omgang. Det er vildt at når de rosenrøde briller kommer af, så er det ligesom om at universet fortæller mig hvor godt det er at det ikke gik mellem hende og jeg. Jeg er ved at genfinde min selvrespekt og min motivation igen. Jeg er ved at konstruktivt arbejde på mine ængstelige mønstre og mit selvværd, og det skub jeg har fået af at genlæse de kommentarer på mit tidligere post og Dm’s jeg har modtaget har været guld værd. Så tusind tak, i kære, søde mennesker på den anden side.

Im constantly switching between obsession and apathy in everything that i do. One week i could be working obsessively on a project that i find extremely fun, addictive and rewarding and the next week just the thought working on the project almost makes me nauseous because of how much i don't want to do it.
This pattern is present when i make songs,beats,youtube videos, while im programming and when i make game art and it's extremely annoying because when i actually do obsess over something, im usually good at the said thing or if im not then im able to find the motivation to become better and in my mind this path leads directly to greatness. The issue though is that out of no where i can lose every single bit of motivation i posess, then completely start to hate what im doing, have litteraly zero motivation to learn anything and if i try to brute force the process, my mind just goes blank. The only fix is to abandon what im doing, let the brain fog pass (which can take days or weeks) or find something else to obsess about.
I want this to stop and im willing to do almost anything for it to because it's quite litteraly ruining my life currently and i can sometimes spend a week straight without doing anything productive. I hate to say this but i got to admit im someone that's really lazy in nature and i also tend to hate when things get difficult and i think there's an obvious correlation between this and my current situation.
having said this, i find the extreme contrast of obsession and apathy to be really weird and it often seems like a middle ground just can't exist. It honestly feels like it's bigger than me sometimes and i just can't do anything about it ( it might be just a state of mind thing though)
Can anybody relate to this and if you can, how do you manage or fix this?
im diagnosed with ADHD, can this be it? i often don't believe i actually have adhd because i think it's massively overdiagnosed but the only times where i have trouble denying that i possibly have it is when i actually try to work on something boring without being distracted (it's almost impossible)
thanks and any answer or theory is welcome and apreciated