And Here We See The Philza In His Natural Habitat, Trying Not To Eavesdrop On His Best Friend's New Secret

"So I know you sent me to kill the leader of the demons…but there have been some complications" The hero said, trying to hide the ring on their finger.

Thinking about Techno who works in a mermaid research/rehab facility and the three mermaids who are super attached to him.

Techno is not a marine biologist. He's a college student who picked up a janitor job at the place for some extra cash. He's only supposed to clean the walkways and maybe feed the mers by throwing fish in the tank occasionally. But somehow, he ends up with three mers who have taken a liking to him and the scientists don't bother discouraging the bonding since it makes them easier to handle.

Phil is an adult arctic mer. He is friendly enough, but very solitary and reserved - like most arctic mers are. They're prone to hiding. Techno is the only one who can reliably lure Phil out. Phil refuses to show himself when Techno isn't around. Catching him against his will would be stressful and could potentially harm him or the humans involved in the project, so the scientists see only upsides to encouraging Phil's apparent bonding with Techno. Even if Techno is around, Phil will not let any human except Techno touch him, so the scientists sometimes have to guide Techno through what he has to do when they need to do checkups and such.

Wilbur is extremely hostile, and will often attack anybody who comes close to him, his pod, or even his perceived territory. He's of indeterminate species, looks like a deep sea mer but seems to not need to live on the bottom of the ocean, so rather peculiar and his health is very weird. He's very dangerous though, and same as Phil he will not let himself be touched or lured by anybody except Techno for some reason.

Lastly, there's Tommy, a tropic mer. He's actually extremely friendly with humans! Maybe a little too friendly. He has injured and (almost) drowned several people working at the facility because he plays very roughly and is always so eager. He's younger than the other two, not having reached adulthood by mer standards. He's like a happy little puppy except a puppy that is very prone to mischief and doesn't know his own strength. Techno is - again, for some reason - the only human he seems to listen to. Tommy does not care when any other human says "stop" or gives an indication he's hurting them. He doesn't always listen to Techno when he says "stop" but does seem to care when he's hurting Techno. So there's that.

The trio forms a pod - traditionally, species is determined by where a mer is hatched, but they can live anywhere after. Most mer form a pod with other mers of the same species and don't leave the area they're born, but Phil, Wilbur, and Tommy all individually happen to get kicked out or lose their birth pods for whatever reason, ending up together in a strange three-person pod. It's a scientific oddity, which makes them so interesting to study.

They're not going to be happy being locked up forever though. Eventually, they'll get sick of the tank.

And who knows, maybe they'll take their favorite human with them when they leave :3c

c!phil and c!techno have a conversation (this is about c!dream)

"am I being annoying" are you aware that my heart is trying to crawl out of my chest to get to you

More Emduo but Epic musical stuff

I'm aware this is random timing but I've wanted to analyze this scene ever since I saw it and I was rewatching the Frontiers cutscenes so I decided "why not now" lol

This scene right here.

First of all, I'd like to say that Sonic & Tails's interactions throughout this entire game are IMMACULATE. And while I've seen some people complain that Tails "wasn't concerned enough" at the fact that Sonic was so clearly sick, this scene begs to differ.

It also shows, in both a good way and a sad way, how well Tails knows his big brother.

The entire time before, Sonic's been (for the mostpart) going around with a front. Pretending he's fine and brushing aside everyone's worries about him to turn the focus instead on THEM and THEIR problems, not his. ESPECIALLY with Tails. And this little fox knows probably better than anyone that Sonic doesn't like it when people fuss over him. So he's been playing along. Doing his part, doing the best he could in his digitized state, staying busy and all the jazz.

And sure, a couple times before this, Sonic was acting more tired than usual around Tails, but Tails didn't point it out. And he still doesn't point it out here, but his expression and body language say it all.

Now the corruption's getting worse, and Tails is just about done pretending along with Sonic that everything's fine. This time, unlike the last two times when Sonic had defeated a Titan when Super Sonic had flown down to find Amy and Knuckles, Tails is the one who runs to find him afterward.

He's clearly very worried, especially when Sonic barely acknowledges his presence and is really just doing his best not to keel over at this point. Tails reaches out in a vain attempt to touch him — whether to comfort him or help him up, I'm not sure — but still cannot touch him at all for obvious reasons. He pulls back and just watches him intently with this deeply sad, almost regretful look on his face. The End starts talking again and Sonic lifts his head a little to listen, while Tails just quietly shakes his head as he looks at him. As if he's saying, "Please don't do more, please just take a rest, I want you to be okay." 😢 Or it could just as easily be a sad sort of understanding, a resignation to what Sonic does, like, "I want you to rest, we both know you need it, but I know you, I know you'd sooner run yourself to death before you let us stay trapped any longer. And I can't do anything to stop you." 💔

And then, after having his fists clenched in obvious distress, Tails tries to reach out again, one more time. Almost unconsciously, as Sonic looks up to where the voice is coming from. Almost like he does want to stop him. He opens his mouth for a moment, too, like he wants to say something, but bites it back at the last second.

Then he pulls away again. His face is nothing but sadness and worry. Sonic tries making a quip at The End's new instructions, but he's still so clearly exhausted.

It's also interesting how Sonic won't look at Tails this whole scene, until Tails asks in that tiny, scared voice, "Sonic?" and he stands up, tells him to hang tight, reassure him they're almost done. Trying so hard to play the part of strong older brother even here, when Tails can so easily see how sick he is. 😔

Their dynamic will always be so fascinating and sweet to me. Even in these darker, more painful moments, the familial love they have for each other is beautiful. 💙💛💔

my girlfriend is so pretty

coffee run happened at a goofy time.

When the listener in the relationship becomes the yapper

i don’t want a ROMANTIC PARTNER. i want a DEAR FRIEND i can use as a HUMAN WEIGHTED BLANKET