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multi-fandomsfreak · 5 months

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Hi I was wonder if I request tom wachowski with a goth sister and she comes and visits and the trouble trio absolutely LOVE HER because she’s so sweet 🥺

Tom Wachowski with a goth sister

Hey there thanks for the ask!

Honestly I’ve been feeling like shit for the past couple of days so seeing this ask actually put me in a better mood. Hope you enjoy it ~ J/Blaze

Pronouns: Not mention but reader is referenced to be female

Warning: ⚠️Slight mentions of Tails and Knuckles backgrounds in the second movie⚠️

Requested: Yes/No

Characters: Tom + Maddie + Sonic + Tails + Knuckles

Proofread: ❌

Credits: Poster belongs to Sega and the people who created the Sonic movie + Banner by adorbbs on Pinterest

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- Let’s start this off with Tom absolutely loves you, your his sister of course he does. He doesn’t care what you look like or what you do, he's going to support you all the way just like you did for him growing up and defend you from anyone who bullies you about your style. Of course he’s not going to get physical because he’s not really that type of person but he’ll definitely give them a talking to.

- You two often like to hang out when you both have the time with him being a cop and all. Since you often like to come visit him this means that you get to see Maddie a lot as well and she absolutely loves you as well. She’s definitely impressed with your style and absolutely loves it. I feel like she’ll definitely hype you up about what you wear. She also really appreciates your kindness and how you are willing to help her with some stuff.

- Now onto the trio:

- For Sonic I have a feeling you’ve met him some point near the end of the first movie. At first you two were surprised with each other. You were surprised because there was this random creature who claimed to be a hedgehog standing in front of you and was talking to you. If it wasn’t for Tom and Maddie managing to calm you down you honestly thought you were hallucinating. As for Sonic he was mostly surprised yet interested in you. Like sure he’s seen some interesting people when he was totally not stalking the town of green hills but you're different. He honestly admires you in a way. And to think that your ‘Donut lords’ sister just makes it even cooler.

- He definitely opens up to you quickly, this is mostly because of how you are around him. You treat him so nicely despite him clearly being different from you. If you’ve seen the second movie he considers Tom like a father to him and I like to think that maybe he considers you as an aunt. He also may or may not called you aunt one time when you visited him and yes he may have gotten teased by Tom about it but honestly you didn’t even mind. You're just glad that he feels that comfortable around you that he called you that.

- He definitely asked you if he could try on some clothes and of course you let him. Although they clearly didn’t fit him due to the size difference between you two but honestly he didn’t care, he’s having fun with it and may even give you a little fashion show while he’s at it.

- For Tails and Knuckles they’re kind of similar. Both of them met you at some point after the second movie. They mostly likely met you when you decided to catch up with the other three unaware of tails and knuckles. As soon as they heard the door open and to Sonic happily going over to you excited to see you with Tom and Maddie following behind him of course they got curious and when they saw you they were immediately surprised.

- For Tails I feel like he’d be a little caught off guard when he first saw you. He wasn’t scared of you of course but just like Sonic he hasn’t really seen anyone like you. But despite the initial surprise from him he actually kind of admires you. He really likes how you're open about your style and not really caring about what people think about it. He really appreciates that.

- Again just like Sonic he opens up to you quickly as well. Maybe even quicker than sonic. Since he didn’t really have anyone back on his planet seeing how kind you were to not only him but other people makes him kind of want to be around you 24/7. He really likes it when you visit.

- When you do visit over he really likes to show you his gadgets that he created and hearing you saying how cool it looks and how smart he is he couldn’t help but feel really happy that you enjoy them. If you're willing to listen he’ll explain in a lot of detail about them, even if you don’t really understand certain terms he’s saying. Seeing that you're listening to him explain it is enough for him. Maybe if he has the time he might make something for you. As a way of saying thank you.

- For Knuckles as mentioned in some of my previous posts, it takes him a while to open up to people even if they’re the kindest person in the world he’ll have trouble opening up to them. If you consider his backstory in the second movie it’s honestly understandable why. But despite this he’s actually really interested in you. Unlike Tails who may be caught off guard or for Sonic who was initially surprised when first meeting you, Knuckles surprisingly took an interest in you. But despite this he’s still a bit cautious of you so he kind of admires you from a distance. Eventually Tom notices this and somehow manages to convince Knuckles in one way or another to talk with you. This then eventually leads to him being more open around you.

- He’s kind of the same like Tails when it comes to being around you. He’s definitely very attached to you although not as open compared to Tails but still it’s kind of obvious that he is even if he doesn’t directly say it to you. Due to this he can be protective over you. If someone even dares look at you the wrong way or comments on your looks he’ll tear one into them before you eventually have to take him somewhere else.

- I feel like after hanging out with you just like Sonic he kind of sees you like an aunt due to you being related to Tom and how kind you are to him. Maybe accidentally called you aunt as well and Sonic may have teased him for it but quickly gets shut down but Tom when he said he did the exact same thing.

- Overall, although they show it differently all of them really appreciate you.

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tenebraevesper · 1 year

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Not So Different (Sonic and Shadow’s Interactions With Metal Sonic)

After listening to Sonic_Speed’s podcast regarding Sonic the Hedgehog IDW, in particular Issue #12: The Cost of The Battle For Angel Island, I came to a little realization. Apparently, both Sonic and Shadow tried to convince Metal Sonic to defect from Eggman and live his own life at some point.

You’ll see what I mean, but first - a recap.

After his defeat as Master Overlord, Metal Sonic is beaten up. Sonic has Tails fix him (weapons deactivated, obviously) and they wake Metal Sonic up.

Metal Sonic attempts to attack Sonic, but he’s not in any shape to fight. Sonic then tells Metal how the fight is over, and with Eggman gone, Metal can now live his life on his own; be his own person, or robot. He isn’t asking him to be best friends, but he wants to call a truce and co-exist peacefully.

Metal Sonic is taken aback, stares at Sonic for a moment, then just slaps his hand away and rushes out, his answer being a clear “No”. I had been talking about this, but to keep it short, Sonic sees Metal as a person, not just a weapon of destruction and he really wants Metal to live his life without being Eggman’s enforcer.

This isn’t the first time someone tried to give a chance to Metal Sonic, as Shadow did the same way before:

This takes place in Sonic Universe Issue #1: Living Weapons, with Shadow referencing the events that took place during Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie) Issue #195: Hedgehog Havoc (Part 1) and Issue #196: Hedgehog Havoc (Part 2), as well as Sonic X, Issue #40: The End.

During their tussle, they end up in the Sol Dimension, Blaze’s world, with Shadow trying to talk to Metal Sonic. He calls him a thinking machine, a living weapon, just like himself, but he believes that there is more to Metal Sonic and that he shouldn’t let Doctor Eggman use him.

Metal Sonic’s response to this is to kick him on the head and hoping he’d drown. Once again, the answer is a clear “No”. Honestly, I really love the parallels here, and this little conversation even continues later on.

In Sonic IDW, Sonic once again addresses Metal Sonic in Issue #26: All Or Nothing (Part 1):

At this point, the Metal Virus has consumed the whole world, and Sonic and his friends (and Eggman and Metal) are on Angel Island, trying to find a way to save it. Sonic is frustrated at Metal Sonic for not following his advice to abandon Eggman. He saw him as someone similar to Omega and Gemerl, and it irks him that Metal just had to go back to Eggman.

Eggman overhears this conversation and tells Sonic that, no matter what he did, Metal was programmed to seek battle and conquest, so Metal wouldn’t have taken Sonic’s advice no matter what, even if Eggman wasn’t around to restore Metal Sonic.

Meanwhile, in Sonic Universe, Shadow has met Blaze and Marine, getting himself involved in another battle with Metal Sonic:

He once again tries to appeal to Metal Sonic, saying how it doesn’t have to be this way and believes that Metal was just being led astray by Eggman. He wants Metal to put behind his past as a weapon and help Shadow save the world.

Metal responds that, just like Shadow’s function is to protect his world, Metal Sonic’s function is to serve Eggman and nothing is going to change that, which is why he will destroy Shadow.

I think it’s really fascinating that at some point, both Shadow and Sonic tried to take the same approach in convincing Metal Sonic to do good instead of follow Eggman’s orders. Both fail, but it’s the thought that counts.

Also, before you go telling me how I shouldn’t be comparing Archie!Shadow and IDW!Sonic since it’s two different continuities, note that they’re both written by the same writer, Ian Flynn, and Archie!Shadow is basically 06!Shadow before Sega started to get stricter with their mandates.

So, yeah, both have failed in their attempts to redeem Metal Sonic, but amazingly, they actually manage to convince a different Eggman robot to turn their life around:

Shadow with Omega in Sonic Universe Issue #3: Old Soldiers...

...and Sonic with Mecha Sonic in the Scrapnik Island Miniseries Issue #4: Scrapnik Island (Part 4).

Honestly, it is quite fascinating. I guess Sonic and Shadow are not so different after all.

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer #sonic idw #sonic archie #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #metal sonic #dr eggman #miles tails prower #blaze the cat #marine the raccoon #e-123 omega #mecha sonic

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akarisandraws · 3 months

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What's your big opinion on every Sonic character don't skip any detail

Dude, do you know how many sonic characters are there?

Like a lot. So im gonna keep it on the main ones LOLL

Maybe i'll add to this tho. We'll see.

HERE WE GO!!

Sonic: He's my favourite character of all times! Such a funky fella. I love his way of thinking, (as in everyone deserves second chances and freedom is important) and of acting, with the whole attitude. He gives me a sense of freedom that i haven't felt from any other media at all! Its quite impressive honestly. I could write pages upon pages on how Sonic as a character is like the peak of literature in my eyes, but this post would get way too long. In summary tho, i like almost every aspect of Sonic the Character.

Tails: The baby! I also really love tails! I think his role as a sideckick is very endearing, and is a great balance to sonic in all possible ways. One problem with modern Tails, though. He's portrayed as a coward. And like??? That's not who he is?? Like C'mon sega.

Knuckles: He don't chuckle!! Final part of team Sonic, and Sonic's first rival! I really like the knucklehead. But as is the norm, Sega screwed him up badly on Boom. I despise that they're supposed to be the same Knuckles. Because they're not. I like Boom Knuckles, as his own character, but granted, Boom is an acquired taste.

Amy: Honorary part of team sonic! I love her! Mostly on the IDW Comics. I think they handle her excellently in there. I know that Amy is a hated character by the fanbase because most say that her only purpose is to be the "girl character love interest" and i can agree up to some point in some games, but in IDW she's sooo much better. We stan IDW Sonic.

Shadow: Yet another case of Sega making character assassination. Shadow's like, one of the most complex sonic characters there are, If not THE most complex one. And i love that! Though im very sad that Sega hasn't been able to replicate that SA2 Magic quite as well. Will SonicXShadow (heh) give him justice? Stay tuned.

Rouge: MY GIRL!! Ok so controversial opinion, Rouge's my second favourite sonic character, just because i think its hilarious that she (once) was the leader of team Dark. So She commanded a killing machine and An alien experiment. What a girlboss! 10/10 Character.

Omega: Gotta be honest, not much of an omega fan. But i really like his dynamic w/Rouge and Shadow. It's pretty sweet that they become friens :)

Cream: The other baby! I think she's the sweetest character. Like fr. I really want to see her more often on the games! Though i get why in recent games she hasn't appeared. Suddenly the adventures got way too serious. Still want her back in the games though!

Blaze: Fire princess! I fr am so salty that she isn't as much in the games. Like, what gives? She's such a successful character (With good reason btw) and you arent like, putting her in the stage?? outrageous. But yeah, i really Like Blaze. Her contrast and similarities with sonic are great! They make a great duo too.

Silver: The sweetest most unhinged boi in the sonic canon. I find it very funny that in his first appearance he was all angsty and stuff, but now he's full on optimism and sunshine. I love the juxtaposition on that behalf. Boi is cute but he can mess you up.

The Chaotix: Oh i love the found family trope. Espio's my fave for sure. He's the funny ninja, what else do you want? Though Vector and Charmy are great too. Vector has such a cool ass dad vibe. And Charmy... is Charmy. if yk yk.

AAAAND I think i'll leave it there. Should i include someone else? lmk.

Thanks for the ask!

-Akari

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transgender-battlekukku · 2 months

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Sonic opinions that may or may not be controversial

Sonic character design is at its worst when they try to make it as "Sonic-like" as possible, and at its best when it's at its most unconventional (i.e. Fang the Sniper, the Witchcarters, the Kukku Empire, the humans in Sonic Unleashed and Chronicles, SatAM and AOSTH characters, etc)

Infinite's maskless design is lame

Sally Acorn, Amy Rose, Princess Elise and Lanolin aren't the worst characters, you just want to hate female characters. There are way worse written characters and you choose those three to bash on

That said, Chris Thorndyke and Charmy Bee aren't annoying, you just hate children. Chris' unwilling to let Sonic go in the finale of Sonic X's season two wasn't a dick move, that's his character arc. And of course Charmy being loud, annoying and basically dooming the resistance by turning himself into a zombot to try and save someone makes sense. He's a god damn six year old

Ian Flynn trying to "simplify" Fang the Sniper takes away all that made him interesting, his weirdness and confusing design (he literally took away Fang's hybrid side and him being originated from the Special Zone. Blaze exists, why can't Fang be from another dimension too?)

Gemerl not having Emerl's personality isn't neither a betrayal nor a bad take on his character. In fact, it makes his contrast with Emerl and comparison to Omega and Metal Sonic better. Shard is not coming back guys. Cope

Sonic Forces should've been less focused on Classic Sonic and more on the Rookie. In fact, Shadow should've replaced Classic Sonic in the storyline

Sonic Colors is worse than Sonic 06 in terms of storyline and the DS version should've been the real deal

As fun and awesome and amazing as Sonadow is (totally not speaking from bias), making it non-canon is the best for everyone

Characters like Shadow and Omega shouldn't have a classic form, but it would be interesting to see other modern characters in classic form

Classic characters shouldn't be confined to the "classic universe". Archie's best parts were when classic and modern characters interacted (Mighty and the Werehog, Shadow and the Hooligans, Jet and Speedy)

The idea of the Babylon Rogues being associated to the Kukku Empire in the past IS an interesting concept. What isn't is the Kukku Empire being associated with the Babylon Garden. They should be their own villains

As goofy as Sonic Chronicles was, it wasn't a bad game at all

Western and eastern Sonic media should be treated with the same respect

Sonic characters acting immature shouldn't be a big deal. They are kids, no matter how many times you point out how they removed the ages at the Sonic Channel site. Amy Rose herself was at her best when she was an immature hotheaded girl

As much as I wish Silver was more serious at IDW, him acting excited and happy isn't bad either. He's healing from multiple broken futures

Silver and Blaze are better staying out as platonic. If Sonic and Shadow's tanabata references can be seen as platonic, then those two can two. That said, their relationship should still be seen as meaningful to both of them (perhaps more to Silver than to Blaze). Male and female friendships exist without it being instantly romantic

MORE. UNSEEN. CHARACTER. INTERACTIONS. PLEASE

Sonic Shuffle shouldn't be shafted just because of the weird gameplay and human-like characters. The Maginaryworld characters should make a comeback (ESPECIALLY with to the implications of the angel statue in Sonic CD's Wacky Workbench)

We need more truly irredeemable female villains (Surge doesn't count, I'm talking about characters like Witchcart, Lien-Da, Thunderbolt)

For the love of God, Sega. Bring Classic characters back

If you can give personality to Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic II, you can give to the other robots (and no, making Tails Doll an eldritch horror doesn't count)

Hyper Sonic should come back. Maybe even make it the "third stage" to the Super Sonic and Super Sonic 2 duo

As good and amazing as Amy's everything was in Sonic the Comic, that shouldn't be the blueprint of her canon character. At max bring back her crossbow (and her girlfriend)

Tails Adventure is better taking place before Sonic and Tails meeting. If he was confident enough to follow Sonic and help him defeat Eggman's ass he should be confident enough to abolish the monarchy (last part is /hj lmao)

Tails Adventure mentioned, the Kukku Empire should make a comeback too. If Shadow can come back the Kukkus can. They weren't cntrl+alt+del from existence like Mephiles was y'know

We don't want to see the classic universe. We want to see classic CHARACTERS

Sega. Hey Sega. Sega. Are you hearing me. Sega. Bring classic characters back Sega. Sega-

Post-genesis wave Archie character designs sucks ass. The color palettes make it worst (Antoine I'm looking directly at you)

#long post #sth #archie sonic #sonic idw #stc #sonic the comic #i am NOT tagging all the characters #sonic x #sonic forces #sonic colors #sonic chronicles #sonic satam #aosth #sonic 06 #sonic shuffle #sonic frontiers #tails adventure #text post

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lore-of-mobius · 5 months

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Many people have a problem with Sega's recent depiction of Amy Rose being relatively strong. I find this mainly stems from the fact that they had seen a video where the person who made it suggested she was normal. However, there is a decent amount of old material that was already for a while implying Amy was pretty strong. In the Encyclopedia there is a section for one of the Advanced games that talks about pairings. When you pair Knuckles and Amy up they are labeled as Power Type. With the description being, "Any team with Knuckles but without Sonic. Deal extra damage and access exclusive routes." As for the people that are so upset about Amy not being you know, normal, they ignore all the other characters. Cream, Vanilla, maybe Rouge, and Whisper are all characters that can be classified as normal. Or even Team Chaotix excluding Mighty and Knuckles obviously. These characters as far as I am aware can be regarded as normal, so we already have these characters. I think it's alright for Amy to be up there with Knuckles, Tails, Mighty, Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, and Silver when it comes to power vs normal. I also think that the people making a big stink about Amy being considered strong may have a certain view similar to that old dumb rule that only male hedgehogs can go super. I mean many of these people have also made a big stink about Amy having a super form at all, even though the Chaos Emeralds powers are supposed to be accessible to everyone.

#amy rose #amy rose is strong #ide amy rose #classic amy rose #classic amy #super amy #classic super amy #sonic #sonic idw #idw sonic #sonic lore #sonic canon #chaos emeralds #somic the hedgehog #amy rose power type #super classic amy

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blazehedgehog · 4 months

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We know that Sonic had staff in-fighting on how the series should be. SOJ vs SOA, Bollers vs Kenders. Some are even claiming Flynn vs SOJ. But, do you think the 2000's there was in-fighting between SOJ and SOJ? We know how Maekawa didn't like the Sonic before his time, and how he rewrote Blaze to be Silver's refrigerator damsel, or how Iizuka casually shipped Shadow and Amy. Tv Tropes calls this "Armed with Canon".

I think when you're put in charge of something, you have to take the reigns and put yourself into the production. You have to kind of make it your own, on purpose, in order to achieve control on the thing.

You are yourself, you have to put your stamp on the thing, because that's your brand as a director. You kind of have to act like a rockstar, at least a little bit.

I don't take it as a sign that anyone was at war with anyone else within Sega of Japan. Like, with Sega of America vs. Sega of Japan, we have recorded incidents where one side was pushing back against the other. The long debates over Sonic's visual design, or whether to name the fox Tails or Miles, the 32X colliding with the Saturn, so on and so forth.

Bollers vs. Penders, same thing. Bollers would write a story, Ken would undo it. There was a visible back and forth there.

There's less of that we're aware of for the Sega of Japan Sonic games. Like there's no great example that anyone was debating or fighting back against decisions. I'm sure there were debates, but wars? We just don't know enough to declare that.

We've heard more that Sega of Japan just ran those guys ragged. Takashi Iizuka getting his hands dirty and doing so much of Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog personally because fellow members of Sonic Team were suffering from burnout so bad it was jeopardizing their health. And that's less a fight and more "we're trying to keep our jobs at a publisher that doesn't respect our work."

That's more depressing than anything else.

#questions #trueutopian #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team

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mahoutoons · 2 years

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the sonic franchise has a misogyny problem

hello everyone, are you ready for another long essay by me? because i sure am. this has been on my mind for a while now. i've already talked about how the sonic fandom tends to treat the female characters worse than the male characters. but what about the franchise? do they treat the female characters better? well, in this essay i'm gonna talk about the misogynistic aspects of the sonic franchise. i'm not just gonna focus on the games, but also on other adaptations. so sit back, and lets have a long talk.

(art by evan stanley)

the lack of recurring female characters

quick question, how many recurring female characters can you name off the top of your head? no, the non game characters don't count, and no, the ones who only appeared in one game and then disappeared don't count. i can only name four recurring female characters - amy, blaze, rouge, and cream. maybe vanilla too. compare that to the amount of recurring male characters - we have sonic, tails, knuckles, shadow, silver, the chaotix, eggman. yeah you can see the problem. and these four characters aren't even utilized that well as of late. blaze especially has so much potential. she lives in another dimension for christ's sake. but sega just doesn't do anything with her. she deserves her own game to explore her dimension. like, there's so much potential with these characters but they just don't do much with them.

the way they treat their lead female character

amy rose is the main female character of the sonic franchise. i've already written an entire essay on how she's treated so i'm gonna try and keep this short. the way sega used to treat their main female character is appalling. she already got enough hate from the fandom, and sega just didn't make it better. just look at how the social media team used to treat her

i have never seen any sonic characters get this much jabs from the social media team as her. heck, i've never seen a lead female videogame character get treated as badly as amy. and the way they purposely go to exclude her? just look at what happened with mania. it was supposed to be a celebration of all things classic sonic but they didn't have her there even though she was a classic character. instead they brought two characters from an obscure arcade game. which... yeah its nice to see obscure characters get the chance to shine but you don't have to exclude a main character for that. and even in origins, though she's in the marketing and cutscenes, she's not playable. why? and before you say "oh its because she wasn't playable before", tails and knuckles weren't playable in sonic 1 either yet they were able to be included there. so what's wrong with making amy playable? what else am i supposed to call the purposeful exclusion of the classic era's only female character other than misogyny? seriously, i've never seen any other franchise do this to their lead female character. even PRINCESS PEACH gets treated better. peach got her own damn game. what's sega's excuse? if they treat their lead female like this, what does it say about how they treat their other female characters?

and one last thing. i've already touched on this before but it makes me angry so i'm gonna rant on it again. the way sega seems to think amy's role in sa2 in reminding shadow of his true promise to maria is replaceable. and every time she's been replaced, its a male character who took her place (chris in x, implied to be sonic in archie). and honestly, i don't have high hopes that they'll let her keep that role in the movie either. i don't even have high hopes that she'll appear in the movie. forgive me for being a negative nancy but i've been disappointed too many times.

archie's treatment of its female characters

lets talk about archie now. pre reboot archie sonic, especially before flynn came around, was an embarrassment to the franchise for many reasons. but what i don't see many people talking about is how they treated their female characters.

lets start with sally, since she's the comic's lead female. those who know her from satam know her as the leader of the freedom fighters, a strategic genius, a no nonsense princess who is determined in her goals. but in archie, especially when penders came along, her agency was taken away. once king max was rescued, penders didn't know what to do with sally. so she had little personality besides being a princess. and need i mention how he tried to kill off sally in the most anticlimatic way? she spent most of the time after the endgame arc being stuck in the castle, not joining sonic and co on battles like she used to. and need i mention the utterly disgusting aspect that is her """"""relationship""""" with geoffrey? there is one issue i particularly remember when geoffrey kissed sally without her consent and sonic saw it from afar. what does he do? does he confront geoffrey about it? does he protect sally? nope, he just thinks that sally is trying to make him jealous. what the fuck?! she's legit being sexually harassed and you're just going to blame her for it? i know this was the 90s but STILL. and to make matters worse, sally is 16 while geoffrey is in his 20s.

and let me talk about how characters are introduced solely to be a love interest. like mina mongoose. i've got nothing against her but lets face it, she was introduced solely to create drama in sonic and sally's relationship. and they even gave her super speed just so she could have something sally didn't, so she could be a "competition" to sally. they didn't even do anything with it later. and flynn has it retconned so that mammoth mogul was the one that gave her that power.

and speaking of which..... ig every female character has taken interest in sonic at one point. we have sally, amy, mina, fiona, bunnie.... it seemed like they wanted sonic to have as many love interests as possible. i mean just look at this cover

and if they weren't into sonic, they were into any other boy. mostly knuckles. and speaking of which, lets talk about julie-su. she's supposed to be this strong woman type character but penders made her whole personality being knuckles' gf. she occassionally showed her "girl power" when she was sticking it to vector (who was turned into a misogynistic asshole to make julie look good. granted this was before heroes gave him a personality but after that you'd think they'd change up vector's character). flynn and occassionally bollers tried to make her interesting but she just didn't do it for me imo. and lara-su, knuckles' daughter who was supposed to be the main character of the "mobius: 25 years later" arc, got sidelined in her own arc. she doesn't have much of a personality there other than wanting to be the next guardian.

now when flynn came along the treatment of the female characters got better. and even more so after the reboot. but i feel like this is something we should talk about.

"only male hedgehogs can go super"

this is, without a doubt, the stupidest mandate ever. i get it, going super is something not everyone can do and if that was the case, the super form would lose its specialness. but why specify only male hedgehogs? the "hedgehogs" part is already stupid enough because tails and knuckles have gone super before, but why the "male" part? why specify that? seriously, give me one good reason why only make hedgehogs should be able to go super. i can't think of any reason this mandate exists besides sexism.

female characters being less utilized than male characters

this kind of ties in to the first point, but the female characters are generally less explored than the male characters. we have few recurring female characters and sega doesn't even utilize them that much. again, blaze has so much potential. there's so much about her to be explored, but sega just..... doesn't do that. we don't even see her much in the games anymore.

and lately, cream is also being excluded from the games. the last mainline game she appeared in was generations. and tell me, what was the reason for cream to be replaced by the chao in team sonic racing? this is amy's little sister figure, and you're just gonna replace her without giving an explanation as to where she is? at least with espio and charmy, they had a reason to not be with vector here. but with cream, there's no reason she's not here.

the female characters have so much potential. they have interesting aspects to them, dare i say it, some of them are even more interesting than the male characters. but sega just doesn't see that.

that's all for my rant. in short, sega has a history of mistreating or underutilizing their female characters as compared to their male characters. though its getting a bit better, they still have a long way to go.

#sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #blaze the cat #rouge the bat #cream the rabbit #sally acorn #bunnie rabbot #mina mongoose #julie-su the echidna #lara-su the echidna #rebecca talks

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honoka-marierose · 7 months

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Sonic Frontiers, Sega’s latest (and surprisingly well-received) entry in the speedy hedgehog franchise, received its final free content update on Thursday. It seems this new update is proving to be way more difficult than the base game, as players who once bragged about how easy the game was are getting their generous blue asses handed to them.

Sonic Frontiers’ final update, appropriately titled The Final Horizon, advertised itself as bringing a new story; new playable characters in the form of Knuckles, Tails, and Amy, and new challenges. Apparently, Sega meant that last part with its whole chest because players are struggling to get to the finish line of The Final Horizon.

Since the update’s release, players have taken to social media in a mix of frustration and excitement over how difficult it is to either:

- Adjust to how differently Sonic’s companions move while completing challenges

- Complete trial towers (which don’t have checkpoints)

- Defeat the update’s tough-as-nails new boss Tank+, a spider tank that’ll riddle Sonic with bullets on sight, exploding the blue streak into a fountain of coins

To add more kindling to the blazing difficulty fire players are experiencing, some players are reporting that the game now requires them to perfect parry enemies during trials. That’s rough, buddy.

Read More: That New Sonic Game Is A Weird, Lonely Mess (That I Can’t Stop Playing)

While some players are finding The Final Frontier’s evident difficulty spike as a welcome update to the game, others are hoping Sega patches the free update to make its boss fights less of an uphill battle.

“God damn, [Morio] Kishimoto seriously took offense to people calling his game too easy. I love the challenge, but god DAMN,” SonicFanatic67 wrote on the r/SonicFrontiers subreddit.

“Sonic Team really took everyone’s complaints on how OP the parry was and just said ‘Aight, bet. Now you gotta time your shit. Have fun, jackasses.” xXWarriorAngelXx added.

“This shit ain’t even fun. There’s fun/challenging difficulty and then there’s spiteful/cheap difficulty. This feels like the latter,” YesHai wrote on Reddit.

“Hit the last challenge before the final boss in Sonic Frontiers DLC and yeah it’s probably the most difficult thing they’ve ever put into their games,” KZXcellent tweeted. “DLC has been the most fun I’ve had playing a Sonic game, but it’s not gonna be for everyone.

To add more kindling to the blazing difficulty fire players are experiencing, some players are reporting that the game now requires them to perfect parry enemies during trials. That’s rough, buddy.

Read More: That New Sonic Game Is A Weird, Lonely Mess (That I Can’t Stop Playing)

“God damn, [Morio] Kishimoto seriously took offense to people calling his game too easy. I love the challenge, but god DAMN,” SonicFanatic67 wrote on the r/SonicFrontiers subreddit.

“Sonic Team really took everyone’s complaints on how OP the parry was and just said ‘Aight, bet. Now you gotta time your shit. Have fun, jackasses.” xXWarriorAngelXx added.

“This shit ain’t even fun. There’s fun/challenging difficulty and then there’s spiteful/cheap difficulty. This feels like the latter,” YesHai wrote on Reddit.

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On the upside, The Final Horizon has a new Super Sonic form for players to enjoy. Hopefully, aside from being aesthetically pleasing, the newly minted superpowered Sonic will functionally aid players in conquering Sonic Frontiers’ final slew of challenges

#sega #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sonic frontiers #sonic frontiers the final horizon #kotaku #morio kishimoto #sonic team

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vertigo-express · 10 months

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The Problem with Silver and Blaze

Silver and Blaze (the 06 versions) work as characters but the intent with which they were originally created with was the most cynical SEGA was with Sonic up until bringing back Classic Sonic and the Deadly Six.

There are positives to them both. Their designs both fit well with the series, possessing a style both befitting of Sonic while being entirely of their own plus instantly recognizable. Silver in particular fits perfectly with the other two main hedgehogs. Sonic focuses on the present, has a bold colour scheme and is adventurous. Shadow frets over his past and later aims to honour it, is black and red and more lonesome. Silver is all about the future, uses a white-blue colour scheme, and is more cautious if a bit naïve in the same way Sonic and Shadow can be reckless and "pure" respectively.

However, Silver was created from the very beginning with the facet that he would be the face of his own game as Shadow was going to be with his own spin off in development. Despite having a strong design and purpose, the latter fails to strike out because he in 06 always is beholden to the idea that he is simply another Shadow. SEGA wanted Silver to have the same impact Shadow did in SA2, but Shadow was a character where Sonic Team (and Maekawa particularly) put meticulous detail into every aspect of his character, how he talks, behaves and what he goes through. Silver has none of this. He has the makings of a great character in concept but 06 never pushes Silver to the extent and grace SA2 did with Shadow, and post-06 reduces him to nothing more than another friend.

Blaze (in 06) contrasts Silver neatly because she never hesitates, she is quick to berate Silver when needed, clearly voices her doubts and doesn't falter in what is needed. Despite this, she had faith in Silver to the very end and helped him become more emboldened. From what I can gather, Blaze was originally created for 06, but she and Eggman Nega (from a PSP game about Sonic going to the "shadow world") were quickly slotted in to Rush after the aforementioned PSP game got cancelled to make Rush more substantial. Her Rush and current depiction is a very empty and unlikable character imo. Her backstory is a cheap repeat of Knuckles and Tails, the idea that her powers caused her to be a outcast which were worsened by her insecurities could work, but nothing about her in either Rush games show this. She is mostly polite, sociable if not a bit overwhelmed by Cream and the others and everybody in her dimension respects her immensely. Nothing about her presentation matches with her backstory and perceived character arc. Her background also is superfluous. Does she need to be from another dimension? What is it about her and the Sol Emeralds has to be connected to the concept of another dimension beyond needing to make her special because Sonic Team had that little faith in her as a standalone character. She could have easily been from another country or island and nothing would change beyond Nega.

Silver and Blaze are testament to SEGA being able to make iconic character designs but when you look beyond that, their chance to shine died out before they even properly debuted due to a whole host of factors both the fault of their designers and of external factors and that can be traced back to their routes of wanting to replicate Shadow.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #sonic 06 #sonic rush #Reposted from cursed bird app #full disclosure: I don't hate them or have much negative opinions of them at all #They just don't match up to earlier characters

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chrysalis-the-butterfly · 2 years

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Queer Ladies of Sonic the Hedgehog

The Sonic franchise doesn’t have a whole lot of romance. There’s the occasional ship tease, and that’s about it. And there definitely isn’t a lot of queer content.

However, there are some Sonic characters who have been confirmed to be LGBT+ in some way. It’s usually just a behind-the-scenes comment from someone working on the series, rather than representation in the story itself - but hey, it’s better than nothing.

I was interested in the women and girls in particular, so here’s all the (almost) canonically queer ladies associated with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Look under the cut to see the full list!

Sally Acorn is bisexual and Nicole the Holo-Lynx is in love with her.

Pre-reboot, Sally was Sonic’s girlfriend. Post-reboot, however, the writers place a greater emphasis on her connection with Nicole. This would suggest that Sally is bisexual.

Nicole loves Sally back, so - depending on whether you see her pre-reboot interactions with Shard and Espio as friendly or romantic - you could read Nicole as lesbian or bi.

At one point during the Spark of Life arc, Sally asks Big the Cat if he minds that Nicole isn’t organic like the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Big’s response is, “As long as they’re nice, I don’t care what anyone is.” This exchange could be read through a queer lens - in which case, Sally is checking to see if others are okay with her dating Nicole, and Big is suggesting that he’d accept them.

Ian Flynn has stated that he supported the Sallicole pairing and left subtle hints to it throughout the Archie Comics series. However, it wasn’t featured too strongly because he knew a large proportion of the Sonic fanbase would not accept Sally dating anyone other than Sonic.

Gold the Tenrec is sapphic.

Evan Stanley stated on her Tumblr blog @spiritsonic that she was “leaning towards either bisexual or lesbian” for Gold’s orientation. She added that Gold would crush on Blaze, Sally or Clove: “women who seem to have their s*** together”.

Gold’s sapphic identity was never established in the comic before it was cancelled. In the Silver Age arc, her only appearance, she was surrounded by boys and men - Silver the Hedgehog and Professor Von Schlemmer.

Clove the Pronghorn is a lesbian.

Aleah Baker has stated that Clove was intended to be written as a lesbian. Her conflict with Sally and Lupe had “a mix of admiration of their leadership with a bit of a crushing angle”; that was Baker’s mentality when writing.

However, there was “zero romantic angle” to Clove’s story, her lesbian identity was never acknowledged, and the comic ended before she could be put in a situation where romantic stuff would become relevant.

Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf are in love with each other.

The creative team at IDW Publishing is aware that people ship Tangle and Whisper, and has been leaning into it in subtle ways. For example, Whisper’s tail wags rapidly when Tangle puts an arm around her.

Flynn has explained that SEGA does not want the IDW comics to “go in-depth” with any romantic relationships - even Sonic and Amy are supposed to be “just very good friends”. So in a similar vein, Tangle and Whisper have to be written as “really, really, really, really, really, really the bestest of friends.” But hints are still being dropped.

Amy Rose and Tekno the Canary got married and had a kid.

In Sonic the Comic, Amy and Tekno were two Freedom Fighters and good friends who were sought out by the Ring of Eternity, a sentient dimensional warp which sent them on missions to right wrongs and fight injustice through time and space.

In an issue of the fan continuation Sonic the Comic Online which was co-written by Nigel Kitchen (someone who contributed to the original series), a glimpse into the future reveals that Amy and Tekno will settle down together and have a son, and that Sonic will be his godfather.

Given that Amy and Tekno also have a soft spot for the boys in their life (Sonic and Shortfuse, respectively), it could be said that they are bisexual in this continuity.

Rouge the Bat and Topaz had something going on.

When these two women first meet, Rouge asks Topaz what she likes to do with her handcuffs (a joke that was cut from the official English dub). She also teases Topaz about her age and weight.

However, it’s hinted that a more friendly, or even romantic, relationship has developed over time. When the portal to Sonic’s world is powered up, Rouge gives Topaz a gem - “a steal” from the jewellery store - as a parting gift. She then bids her companion farewell as she enters the portal, leaving Topaz weeping.

Rouge could be considered to be bisexual, given her canonical interest in both Topaz and Knuckles.

Emerald the Iguana is genderfluid, Crystal the Cat is bisexual, and Sapphire Flutterby is a lesbian. (And Jewel the Beetle might be a lesbian too.)

Emerald, Crystal and Sapphire are some of the “Jewel Crew” OCs created by Jennifer Hernandez. They have made cameos in the IDW series now that Hernandez is an official Sonic artist. And one year, for Pride Month, Hernandez posted a picture of the Jewel Crew waving various pride flags on Twitter. So I’m counting them as official queer characters. I know, it’s a bit of a cheat.

Three of Hernandez’s OCs are queer, and the other two (Jade the Cat and Ruby Ringtail) are allies.

One of the queer characters is Emerald, who is genderfluid. Emerald used to have she/her pronouns, but I don’t know if that’s still the case.

Secondly, Crystal (the pale pink cat) is bisexual, and Hernandez ships her with Mighty the Armadillo.

Finally, Sapphire (the butterfly) is a lesbian, and Hernandez ships her with Jewel the Beetle, as seen in her Patreon art. This could mean that Jewel is also a lesbian, or at least questioning her orientation.

And there you have it! All the (almost) canonically queer ladies of the Sonic franchise!

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caffeine-clouds · 1 year

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Me again! I think it goes without saying Sonic Frontiers had some great writing and fixed a lot of characters. Assuming the writing stays the same, who do you think should be the next character to have their personality fixed? I think Shadow!

Hello again anon! Oho! I absolutely agree with you there - I think Shadow needs some depth the most out of the cast right now. Silver is mostly fine - he just needs things to do, Rouge is pretty consistent - but each game will use a slider to determine how selfish or not selfish she is, and Blaze... yeah she's fine, just give her some damn screentime.

Shadow is the glaring, gaping hole that needs to be addressed. So in a world where I somehow snuck into SEGA headquarters and wrote Shadow's character for the next game - I wanted to say how I'd approach his character:

The less appealing way, to me, is to make him act back how he was in the 06 era. I LOVE 06 Shadow, he's my favourite Shadow - but that version of him is a far cry from the personality we've seen from him in the past decade. I wouldn't complain if this happened but I think there's a smarter way to go about this.

In much the same way as Tails was dealt with - I would achknowledge Shadow's portrayals in the latest games and comics - all his assholery, all of his fat ego in the way, and just not giving a damn about the people around him because SEGA decided he's not allowed to have friends now.

So take this asshole, and what do you do with him?

You humble him.

You get him a villain that just absolutely wrecks shop and kicks his shit in so hard that he's forced to rethink his life decisions. Let Shadow be confident entering in - like it's a rehash of Shadow vs. Infinite - but unlike with Infinite, this antagonist trumps him in every single way. This man's ego needs to be stripped the fuck down for any change in his character to happen.

He gets his ass beaten so hard that Sonic, Rouge, Omega or WHOEVER has to come save him, and they have to retreat

Cowards run, I win - Okay bitch, let me put you in a situation you're forced to run from. Is your outlook the same?

The game ensues with Shadow basically being hellbent on destroying this antagonist and trying to fall back into his old habits - but as the story goes on it becomes increasingly clearer that he needs the help of his allies.

Bonus points - I'd want a scene where Shadow's behaviour is actually called out by any of the prior characters, or hell - you want a callback? Let Amy do it - but I want a character to say to his face just how much of a nuisance he's been.

He learns to realise throughout the plot that those around him are not a burden - and are in fact very useful, he learns more about each of his peers - and sees that they all want to give him their friendship and that hey - kindness is kind of nice, actually. Maybe Shadow can admit to why he's been acting the way he has to Rouge and Omega - and finally recieve some damn consoling

I think of a fear of getting close to people is a viable explanation considering a certain blonde 12 year old. Shadow's moved on from tying himself to Maria's last dying wish - but it's undeniable that she and her death has impacted his psyche in many more ways. I hate to beat a dead horse but just as with Tails' recent cowardice in Forces - I did want to explain his turn in character.

In the end - he's able to defeat the villain with the help of his friends. He doesn't end the story with a completely different personality - not at all. On the other end, he's still got a large ego and he's our usual broody blunt man - but he's come out of the story with the realization that it's okay to be vulnerable and lean on others when he needs it. His strongest bonds are still with Rouge and Omega - and he makes the move to properly repair his relationship with them - officially forming Team Dark that will move forward together from now on.

Shadow isn't attached by the hip to them, per say - he has his independence streak, but now - he does actually have at least 2 friends that he works with frequently. But I hope his bond with the others would get to be strengthened as well. His relationship with Sonic is still complicated, but a little less hostile on Shadow's end now.

So yeah, SEGA decided Team Dark aren't a team anymore - so fuck it, I'll just make them a team a second time because I care too much.

Sorry I went on a tangeant because of your ask, anon! But this was really fun to explore. Thank you so much for the question :)

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #shadow the hedgehog #sonic writing #sth #team dark

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tenebraevesper · 1 year

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Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #59: Urban Warfare (Part 3)

Finally, it’s here! You guys have no idea how much I had been looking forward to this Issue, and for a good reason, but let’s first admire the art by Nathalie Haines, which was actually drawn like a classical painting. It’s magnificent!

*clasps hands*

Anyways, Urban Warfare (Part 3); what is there to say about it? Holy Hell, what isn’t there to say about it? Honestly, I had been losing my mind the moment I read the summary for it, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But, before I start, a little recap since it has been a while.

Sonic and the Diamond Cutters (Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin) arrived at Eggperial City to figure out what is going on, and have found out that the city is expanding by itself. As they plan their next move, the Diamond Cutters end up in a different dimension due to one of Eggman’s portals featured in The Test Run Arc, while Sonic calls for reinforcements. Tails, Amy, Blaze and Silver show up and as they progress through the city, they run into Team Dark destroying Badniks left and right.

So, I’m not even one page into the story and I’m already picking up Sonadow energy from this moment. Trust me, I had a field day with this one.

Sonic is genuinely shocked to see Shadow... and only Shadow. I can’t blame him though, considering how their last encounter went.

Yeah, I’m not sure how many of you remember, but Shadow’s last appearance was in The Chao Races and Badnik Bases Arc, where he made some rather questionable decisions, but not as bad as what happened during The Crisis City Arc (aka the Zombot Fiasco), based on how SEGA wanted him to be written in the story. Fortunately, regarding the writing, we had actually gotten some good news in the weeks leading up to Team Dark’s, and especially Shadow’s, reintroduction to the comics.

To keep it short, all that talk about Shadow having a bunch of locks and chains placed on him to keep him in line with their vision... well, they started to break. From what I understood, SEGA gave more workable guidelines for him that allow for more liberties with writing his character - or in other words, Vegeta!Shadow is finally gone!!! As a matter of fact, while reading through the story, the improvement in his character was remarkable. Admittedly, it might not be for everyone, but goddamn, I’m loving it!

Not to mention, this is the first time since The Crisis City Arc that we see Team Dark working together once again. Also, Rouge, why are you calling everyone else kids when you’re only 18? (And yeah, I know SEGA removed the ages for all the characters, but let’s be honest, who pays attention to that?).

Sonic quips how he’s flattered that they’re here to rescue him, but they’re late to the party and... Silver, what the hell are you doing with Blaze?

*laughs* Even Tails and Amy have noticed that Silver is holding Blaze upside down, while he didn’t register any of it. I suppose Silver is too focused on Team Dark’s reappearance to realize what he’s doing.

Shadow just leaps off the scrapped Badniks, replying to Sonic how he has no idea what he’s talking about, nor does he care. Sonic, on the other hand, looks a little disappointed with that answer. I suppose he had been hoping for some banter.

Rouge then quickly brings him up to speed, explaining how she called in “her boys” (I see this as another win for everyone who say Team Dark are friends!) to see what they could do about Eggperial City - aka destroy everything in their path, foil Eggman’s plans and maybe steal some kind of treasure.

Sonic figures that makes sense, but I’m still convinced he’s disappointed they (or rather Shadow) weren’t here to help him out.

Cue Amy shoving Sonic away to talk to Rouge. I saw people saying how she’s just being overprotective of her crush, but I was questioning where Amy’s line of sight is. Amy notes how this is awfully altruistic of Rouge, but as I said above, she’s in because she wants to raid Eggman’s private vaults for a handsome reward.

Tails and Silver are hyped up to work with them to destroy the city though.

Omega notes how the conversation is irrelevant to their mission, and Rouge notes how Team Sonic would just slow Team Dark down and they’d be going off on their own, with Omega also promising to not hit anyone in the crossfire. Honestly, I think this is the nicest thing Omega could tell them.

Meanwhile, Sonic looks so done with everything. We don’t get annoyed Sonic often, so it’s neat to see him like that, and it makes sense, considering how in a (I assume) very short time-span (depending on when Scrapnik Island takes place), he had discovered Eggperial City and was chased by Metal Sonic while keeping Tails, Kit and Belle safe and having his leg injured, fought Surge at least three times, discovered what Starline had done to them, got separated from the Diamond Cutters and is now trying to foil another of Eggman’s plans while being on his territory and having to deal with Badniks.

That, and Rouge said they were slowing Team Dark down.

Never tell Sonic he’s slowing you down. Never.

Oh, and as the cherry on top, Eggman decides to make an announcement. But instead of talking about how he’s gonna blow up the moon, he decides to explain to everyone how the Eggperial City works. It is a self-replicating and self-repairing metropolis. Anything they destroy, dozens more will rise to take its place. Eggman also figures that this would be a nice time to rise the stakes a little, so he calls in for a little surprise.

IT’S THE SHADOW ANDROIDS!!!

To note, we haven’t seen these guys since Whisper’s backstory way back in the Tangle and Whisper Miniseries and before that, we haven’t seen them since Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Going by Shadow’s reaction, he’s clearly shocked to see them again, and Eggman’s obviously going to use the Shadow Androids to their fullest potential.

Hell, Eggman has already the popcorn ready, all to happy to watch the carnage unfold. He calls it a stroke of genius in regards of building robots that mimic Shadow’s skills and holding onto them for the right moment (and that’s not even accounting for the mindscrew Shadow had to deal with when he encountered one for the first time).

Metal Sonic, though, is not happy about the Shadow Androids being dispatched. I’m certain that he wants to be the one on the battlefield.

While this is happening, the Diamond Cutters have infiltrated the control room, Lanolin and Whisper sneaking in, while Tangle just strolls inside like she owns the place, much to Lanolin’s chagrin, and points out how no one’s gonna spot them as she places her hand through Metal’s head. Lanolin just sighs, figuring this should make checking the room out easier, while Whisper stares in the screen in pure shock, realizing that the past is about to repeat itself.

She breaks down, and honestly, I really love the backgrounds in this page. We can see the darkness surrounding Whisper as she tells them how everyone’s going to die. However, the moment Tangle reaches for her and comforts her, the darkness slowly fades away, replaced by a ray of light. Tangle hugs Whisper, promising her how things will be fine, and even Lanolin joins in on comforting Whisper. While these three are still learning, they do make a great team.

Speaking of the Shadow Androids, we see Team Sonic fighting them, everyone being clearly in shock to what they are, with Tails being unable to get clear readings about them as they’re too fast. Even Blaze’s fire is not enough to keep them back and they’re strong enough to deal with Amy’s hammer.

Now, I’ll stop here to put a reminder. On the heroes side, no one but Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Whisper and Tangle here knows about the Shadow Androids. Whisper’s encounter with them is obvious, and Tangle saw footage of that, while Shadow, Rouge and Omega ran into them in Sonic Heroes, and Shadow had another (dubiously canonical) encounter with them in Shadow the Hedgehog.

Realizing just how dire the situation is, Sonic calls Silver for help so they can escape. Silver, being the awesome psychic he is, lifts the ground into a ramp and with Blaze frying the Shadow Androids that are after them, Sonic grabs everyone to get away from the robots in pursuit (also, nice Sonamy moment with that little blush).

Team Sonic finds Team Dark after the groups have been briefly separated, with Blaze grabbing Sonic and Amy’s hands and rushing over to help Team Dark. Yeah, there is an error in the panels, as both show Blaze grabbing hands with rings around them, suggesting she was grabbing only Amy’s hand. I suppose the artist forgot to erase the ring to make it clear she was also grabbing Sonic.

Back with Team Dark, Shadow assesses how Eggman’s trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers and how there’s no strategy to their movements, meaning they can be easily manipulated. He figures that, once they move to a better position, they can take them out.

Cue Blaze throwing Sonic and Amy (another error, both are blue instead of being blue and pink) with Sonic spin-dashing and Amy smashing the Shadow Androids that were about to attack Shadow.

With a nose flick, Sonic is right back to quipping, asking Shadow whether he had some cousins he never told them about, while Shadow responds with “Please. These cheap copies don’t deserve to wear my place.”

Have I told you how much I love these two together? (≧◡≦)

As the battle continues, Shadow explains how the Shadow Androids are cheap copies created by Eggman, and how he’ll pay dearly for this insult. Unfortunately, Omega loses his footing and is being brought down by the Shadow Androids, but he keeps on fighting. Realizing how things are getting dire, Rouge asks Shadow to use his own powers against the Shadow Androids, but he responds how it is impossible without a Chaos Emerald (makes me wonder what happened to the Chaos Emerald Rouge stole in the Sonic Annual).

Tails rushes in, telling Shadow how the crystals are also generating Chaos Energy, with Shadow agreeing, but notes how the energy is distorted.

“Fake Emeralds... I hate to stoop to using such a pale substitute, but... it will do.”

Okay, can I say that this panel is absolutely amazing, and what’s about to happen is jaw-dropping!

I swear, this was my reaction to seeing this page:

Not only is the art absolutely gorgeous, but it finally shows Shadow as a pure badass who has the skills to support his title of The Ultimate Lifeform! Honestly, words cannot describe how much I love this! Bow your heads low, all hail Shadow!

And to add a cherry to the top of this moment of awesomeness:

Absolutely badass! It’s really great to see Shadow let loose from time to time. Hell, even Team Sonic is amazed!

Tails, Amy and Silver are starstruck, Rouge is proud of her boy, Blaze is... stunned, to say the least (I suppose she never saw what Shadow was truly capable of), while Sonic figures he should too give it a try.

And yeah, I saw the Dark Sonic jokes floating around. Are you guys forgetting that Sonic was the first to use a Fake Chaos Emerald for Chaos Control back in Sonic Adventure 2? He knows how to handle them.

Shadow then points out that they’re not done yet and goes for another Chaos Control, only for something to happen...

A giant crystal shoots out of the ground, throwing everyone off, while Rouge asks Shadow what’s happening. Shadow is crackling with Chaos Energy, warning her that it’s too much and...

Holy frigging Hell! Shadow unleashes a blast of Chaos Energy, nuking everything surrounding him. Everyone escapes, and when Rouge tries to get back to Shadow and Omega, she’s stopped by the crystals, which are now shooting out from everywhere.

Eggman quickly attempts to regain control of the situation, figuring Shadow would cause trouble. Tangle wonders what happened, with Whisper answering how it was Chaos Overload (how does she know that?). I suppose Shadow used to much of the surrounding Chaos Energy and it was too much for him to handle since the Fake Chaos Emeralds were spread out all over the city. He may be a Master of Chaos Control, but even this would overwhelm someone like him.

Eggman activates the emergency limiter, rebooting the system, noting how it’ll take more to take out his city.

Team Sonic and Rouge observe the destruction Shadow had caused, with Tails figuring it was some runaway feedback loop. Rouge is worried about Shadow and Omega, but Sonic, Silver and Blaze assure her that not only are the two tough, they also know what they’re up against and they can deal with Eggman. Rouge is cheered up, while Sonic looks forward to Shadow’s expression when he saves him.

Yeah, Sonic will never let Shadow live that down.

Back with Eggman, the power has returned, the system got rebooted... and Eggman lost Sonic and co. Lanolin points out how the power surge nearly crippled the entire city, so if they trigger another bigger one, this should destroy it. But in that moment, all three of them become suddenly visible, with Eggman spotting them.

In two magnificent panels, we get an Eggman obscured by shadows, really creeping me out, as he figures they ran into his spatial-displacement trap. He explains how they almost got out when the power dipped, but he has a way of dealing with them, summoning another model of the portal and telling them how this will scatter their atoms into oblivion.

Whisper takes the shot, and honestly, if she still hadn’t been trapped in that other dimension, she would’ve killed Eggman then and there. The blast went right through his chest. Like, this was probably the fourth time she attempted to kill someone in cold blood (first Mimic, followed by another attempt at Eggman’s life, then Surge and now Eggman again).

What’s even more chilling is how calm Eggman is, well aware what his trap had done. It then surrounds Whisper.

Tangle screams for her as Whisper is trapped inside the device, and then spots another one flying for her, only for Lanolin to ram her out of the way and tell her to tell everyone what happened and what to do before getting captured herself.

Tangle is cornered, but she suddenly phases through the window, falling out of the command tower. The story ends on a literal cliffhanger.

Holy Hell, I absolutely loved this Issue! It was beyond awesome for all the reasons I already talked above, but there is one specific thing I wanted to discuss in the ending of this analysis - Shadow’s portrayal.

Honestly, I had absolutely no complaint with how he was written in this Issue. People might not agree with me, but I think Urban Warfare really redeemed him, as rather than being prideful and arrogant, he was more business-like and focused on the mission, pragmatic and patient in explaining to everyone what is going on, as well as having his moments of banter with Sonic.

As for him being taken out of the battle, alongside Omega, I’m actually fine with it, as it’s the manner with how he was put out of commission.

Seriously, compare this:

To this:

It’s not about pride, it’s about saving everyone with his own power, and that’s what I had been missing from IDW!Shadow for so long.

I really hope we’ll see more of this in the future.

Links:

#Previous Issue

#Next Issue

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer #idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #dr eggman #shadow androids #amy rose #miles tails prower #blaze the cat #silver the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e-123 omega #lanolin the sheep #whisper the wolf #tangle the lemur #metal sonic #orbot and cubot

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