The Twilight Realms

Nitpicks and headscratchers about Sonic the Hedgehog games. In Sonic R, why was Amy Rose in a car and the others on foot (with the exception of Eggman, who rides in his hovercraft)? Sure, she may not be as fast as Sonic, but neither are Tails and Knuckles, and they go on foot. How come Amy gets a car and they don't? The Sonic Advance games show that Amy is at least as fast as those two, so it doesn't really make sense for her to need a vehicle. How the heck can Eggman (or Robotnik, whatever) run faster than Sonic in the classic games? I get that from a gameplay perspective, it's to stop us skipping the final boss, but from a story perspective it makes no sense. Sonic being able to walk on the bottom of a body of water makes absolutely no sense. Even if Sonic can't swim, he still shouldn't be able to sink to the bottom like that unless he was INCREDIBLY dense. And if he is that dense then he shouldn't also be able to run across the surface of water, no matt...

How to apologise and (at least sound like you) mean it Apologising is a finer art than most people think, and it can be tricky to deliver an apology that doesn't sound subversive or insincere. Basic Instructions has done a few strips on this, but here's my take on how to deliver a genuine apology. First off, it helps a lot if you specify why you're apologising. Don't just say "I'm sorry", say "I'm sorry for..." It lets the other person (or people) know that you're actually putting thought into your apology. Don't apologise for how they felt, apologise for what you did. For instance, if you offend someone, don't say "I'm sorry you were offended", say "I'm sorry that I offended you". It doesn't matter whether or not you "meant" to do something, the fact is that you still did it. Saying "I didn't mean it" or something similar is just an excuse and doesn't help anythi...

More Undertale pointless trivia, because apparently I can't get enough of it. Spoilers. There are many anagrams hidden in the game. "Undertale" itself is an anagram of "Delta Rune", a symbol that appears in the game and is tied to the backstory. The True Pacifist final boss, Asriel Dreemurr, is an anagram of Serial Murderer. Alphys's name can be rearranged to spell Shy Pal, which describes her perfectly. The song "MEGALOVANIA", which plays during the battle against Sans in the Genocide run, was first used in an EarthBound ROM hack that Toby Fox made. It was then used in Homestuck before finally being used in Undertale. Undyne is based on Vriska from Homestuck in both appearance and personality. The Mad Dummy was very clearly inspired by Dio Brando from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. During its battle, it says "Foolish! Foolish! FOOLISH!" and "Feeble! Feeble! FEEBLE!", which could be translations of ...

Sometimes, naming your character a certain thing in Undertale will give you a special message. I've listed the ones I managed to find below for your amusement. Most of these are names of characters in the game. If you think I've missed any, let me know. Also, spoilers, duh. Chara - The true name. Frisk - WARNING: This name will make your life hell. Proceed anyway? Flowey - I already CHOSE that name. Toriel - I think you should think of your own name, my child. Sans - nope. Papyru - I'LL ALLOW IT!!!! Napsta/Blooky - ............ (They're powerless to stop you.) Undyne - Get your OWN name! Alphys - D-don't do that. Alphy - Uh.... OK? Asgore - You cannot. Asriel - ... AAAAAA - Not very creative...? Mercy/Murder - That's a little on-the-nose, isn't it...? Aaron - Is this name correct? ; ) Woshua - Clean name. Catty - Bratty! Bratty! That's MY name! Bratty - Like, OK I guess. Temmie - hOI! Metta/Mett - OOOOH!!! ARE YOU PROMOTING MY BRAND?...

Infocom's old text adventure games came with hint booklets (written by Infocom themselves) that were intended to help you through difficult sections of the games. Each booklet had a "For Your Amusement" or "Have You Tried...?" section which contained little extra things and Easter Eggs that you might not see from playing the game normally (though some of them would cause you to die). Since Undertale has so many secrets and Easter Eggs, I decided to make a "For Your Amusement"-type thing for Undertale. Obviously, spoilers, don't read if you haven't yet played Undertale, blah blah blah. Let's go. Have you tried... ...exiting the game during Flowey's first conversation (before the tutorial fight), then reloading and talking to him again? ...buying a Hot "Dog" from Sans when your inventory is full? Several times? ...killing Toriel, reloading the game and sparing her, then talking to Flowey after the fig...

More (I think) pointless trivia about Pokémon. The Pokémon anime has a bizarre running gag of Jessie's Wobbuffet popping up and saying its name randomly. This made more sense in the Japanese version, where Wobbuffet was named Sonans, a reference to a popular Japanese comedian's catchphrase, "Sou nan su!" roughly meaning "That's how it is!" (Sonans is pronounced Sōnansu in Japanese). This is the case for its baby form, Wynaut, as well, whose name is Sohnano in Japanese, which roughly means "Is that so?" It's mentioned in Wobbuffet's Pokédex entry that it's very protective of its tail. Some fans have theorised this is because the tail is the actual Pokémon, and the body is merely a decoy. The tail does have two white spots on it that look suspiciously like eyes. In the Japanese games and anime, the leader of the Cerulean City Gym is named Kasumi, which means "mist" in Japanese. The English games and anime call her Mist...

Just a lot of things that people, even the media (especially the media) get wrong. Mostly about music. Nine Inch Nails is not a band - it's the stage name of Trent Reznor. And he didn't cover Johnny Cash's song "Hurt" - he wrote and recorded the song "Hurt", which Johnny Cash then covered. Similarly, Meat Loaf is one person, not a band. And it's Meat Loaf, two words, not Meatloaf. Inversely, Jamiroquai is the name of a band, not the name of a person - the lead singer's name is Jay Kay. Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd and Steely Dan are all also bands, not people (Pink Floyd mocked this in their song "Have a Cigar" with the line "Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" which is something they apparently got asked a lot). Wolverine's skeleton is only coated in adamantium, not made from it. And it's adamantium, not steel. Further, that's not actually his mutant power (and neither are his claws) - that would be a powerf...