#i just...had to i guess

[marinaiguess]

some thoughts evoked by the poll thingy with blaze being in the finals. It’s not about the polls, I do know these are for funsies and stuff, the thought occured to me though because of it. 

I think blaze is a very mistreated and underrated character. 

Wow, okay, that was loaded. Still stands though. I guess I have none other than SEGA to blame, but either way, I do wanna analyze her journey in the franchise and also share my thoughts along the way. 

Blaze the cat had a great kick-off at the beginning of her career. What better way to introduce her than have her as a playable character alongside the main character in an exclusive game for the massively popular at the time, Nintendo DS. Sonic Rush sold more than a million copies and even though it was a pretty great game, it did more than that: it took care of Blaze. It established her character, her background, her story, it gave her an entire character development arc. What was there not to love about her? Sonic’s rival at first, a girl who could keep up with him in terms of speed and power, a princess from another dimension who could also control fire, having her own set of emeralds of which she was the guardian and even her own super form. So many things to consider. All those things were what made her super likeable back in 2005. Fans were actually obsessed with her. And they needed more. So, SEGA had to do something about it.

Here comes Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), changing quite a few things that we already knew about our favorite blue speedster. Possibly changing the entire franchise irredeemably. You already know where I’m going with this. We’re introduced to a new character, Silver the Hedgehog. Everyone is excited to play through his story and, right off the bat, we meet his company: Blaze. Everyone is cheering beacuse Blaze! She’s here, in a 3D game! Soooo, Silver is a character from Blaze’s dimension? Wrong. They’re from the future. Maybe Blaze’s dimension is from the future? Wrong. Blaze and Sonic don’t even acknowledge each other when they eventually meet, acting like they’ve never met before, like Sonic Rush never happened. Okay, fine, it can’t get worse than that, right? Wrong. 

Blaze, for the entirety of the game is treated like a cosmetic, acting solely as Silver’s sidekick, or even as his mentor if you will, and nothing more. We rarely see through her and her thoughts and we’re given little to no means to understand her character. For some people, Blaze was a newly introduced character, since not everyone knew her existence from a year prior. What they get is not the powerful princess we met in Rush, the one who understood the power of friendship and used it in her favour despite her bad past. No, what they got in 06 was a side character, merely existing to give Silver advice and suggestions for his own journey, which she follows no matter what path he chooses to take, even if she disagrees or is not entirely content with it. 

Her limited screentime used for fan-service purposes ended with a bang. Despite this huge journey of giving Silver a purpose (or helping him fulfill it), Blaze was the one who saved the future by using Chaos Control and sacrificing herself in the process, turning into a sort of Burning Blaze as she ascends to the sky. The only reason I felt bad about it was because I knew who Blaze was supposed to be, Blaze to me was the character introduced in Rush. But, given all the info from this specific game, I wasn’t really attached to this Blaze, I had no reason to. Her story felt too blank in comparison to everyone else’s for me to feel the impact of her death. I can understand Silver’s pain though. 

Which doesn’t matter in the end because the timeline is erased. 

So, does that mean Sonic 06 never happened or that it’s not canon? Nope. Everything happened and everything is back to the way it was. Except that the future is saved. How do we know? Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rush Adventure happened. 

I will stick to the latter for the time being. Sonic Rush received a not so commerrcially successful as its predecessor sequel, picking up from where it left off. Kind of. The game released in 2007, a year after 06, the events of which were never to be brought up again, at least until Generations (2011). So, as you’d assume, Sonic and Blaze act like 06 never happened to them, continuing their story after Rush’s events. This game gave more in-depth character development to Blaze, who strengthens her bonds with old and new friends. It doesn’t really matter though because this game didn’t sell well, meaning not a lot of people bought it. Basically, no one knew that game existed so they were wondering what the hell happened to Blaze. Was she dead? Was she from the future? Was she from a different dimension? Would we ever see her again?

Uncertainty prevailed and after SEGA realized how bad of an idea it was to release 06 at its terrible state, they decided it would be best to pretend like it never happened. Iizuka (if I’m not mistaken) when asked in an interview, said that the reason Sonic and Blaze didn’t recognize each other in 06 was “amnesia”. Which doesn’t answer anything and I believe an official answer right now would differ a lot from that. Blaze went on to be a playable character in a few racing games, she got a few cameos. 2009, she appears in Sonic and the Black Knight as Sir Percival. Once again, it doesn’t change anything because, this is a storybook game and doesn’t take place in the in-game universe (this is the arthurian kingdom/world/universe).

Many fans theorized that 06 happened before Rush, making Blaze die in 06 and being transeferred to a new dimension while she had used Chaos Control, forgetting about the past, hence why she didn’t know Sonic in Rush. This was further supported by the fact that Blaze and Silver didn’t recognize each other in Sonic Colors DS (2010), meaning they had forgotten each other. Blaze forgot about 06 and traveled to a different dimension and Silver was affected by the timeline erasure. Sounds pretty solid, right?

Sonic Generations (2011). Blaze is there because she is still relevant and a beloved character to the franchise. No one knows how she got there and no one explains it but no one cares, she’s there to celebrate Sonic’s birthday, the Sonic she knows through the Rush games. But stuff happens and she gets trapped, alongside many of Sonic’s friends, into this ‘white limbo’. Sonic saves her...from Crisis City. Which is a stage from the future of Sonic 06. You may think “okay, maybe SEGA just wanted to pay tribute to 06 as well.” and that would be fine, if it weren’t for Blaze stating that she “never thought she’d be here again.” She remembers 06. Theory debunked. This is never mentioned again, in any game ever. It is still canon however. 

After that, she appeared in Team Sonic Racing (2019), taking 8 years to appear in a game again...despite it being a spin-off. Nothing happens there really, she’s just there to talk to Silver and Amy who she races against for some reason. 

She does appear in IDW, and we now know that the comics are canon to the game timeline. And, I gotta say, I like her there. She hasn’t appeared many times but the writers made those times count. (I think it was Ian who wrote her all of those times, so yeah). 

To put it simply, Blaze is a lost opportunity. Talk about having a rough transition into 3D (hehe). SEGA could have used her in many ways and I think they were intending to, they were preparing her for something big. But they didn’t handle her as they were supposed to and this leads to where we are, where Blaze only appears in spin-offs and the comics, as if they are afraid to bring her back in mainline games. They could really capitalize on her character, if used correctly. They could use her as a playable character that uses the boost formula, as a character that has a super form. They could use her world to introduce new level designs, avoiding using Green Hill over and over again, right? 

I don’t wanna see her standing on the sidelines, doing nothing. I don’t want her purpose to be mentoring Silver. I don’t want her legacy to be Sonic 06. I don’t her to appear only in dire situations (even though, now that I think about it, she didn’t even appear in Forces despite there being a literal war in Sonic’s world). I don’t want her character development to be forgotten and erased. She was a girl with a unique personality that now feels empty, as if she hides behind the face of being a princess from another dimension and nothing more, barely being Sonic’s or Cream’s friend. Mainly focused on the games right now. 

It is said that Blaze is one of the fan-favourite characters of the franchise. But I don’t know if that’s correct. Because I’m not sure if people are a fan of who she is now, of who she is in their minds, or of who she is supposed to be, best depicted in the Rush games. Personally, I believe Blaze still has a lot of uncovered potential that they could take advantage of, so that they can show to everyone who Blaze is supposed to be. Strong and independant, her own character, her own hero.

Hopefully, we get to see more of that in the future. She definitely deserves it. 

#how many words is that holy shit #im sorry #i just...had to i guess #it's past 1am rip my brain #i had to take this off my chest. been holding it for a while #i just care for her yknow #blaze the cat #sth #sonic #character analysis #blaze the cat analysis #sonic the hedgehog #sonic rush

[skellydun]

I don't think I'm meant to be employed. It really cuts into my goofy silly haha time. and it makes it nearly impossible to have any wow life is beautiful let me take it in time.

#guess what our employee appreciation gift was. a chair. 100+ dollars on a camping chair for each HQ employee? why not just... #i was just like gee. glad u appreciate me. u ever heard of how companies can shower u with free swag but it doesnt distract from the #horrible culture??? #like yes dont give us that 100 dollars but give me an ugly chair with our company logo that i had to lug up a hill. #im just tired of this aspect of HR i think. need me some new scenery

[jasminebythebay]

thank you for your help 💎

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #ngl i'm not really feeling this piece :( #i had a super grand vision for what this piece would look like but it kinda just ended up meh #rip oh well i guess i'll just do better on the next piece #edit: APPARENTLY I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS IT'S MID??? LMAOOOO

[nnobodoodles]

Huh.

So I randomly remembered Croc is pretty much Italian.

#if Buggy had wheels he'd go Chop-Chop Car #this might be the stupidest thing I put effort in #Anyway I love them #One Piece #Cross Guild #Dracule Mihawk #Sir Crocodile #Crocodile One Piece #Buggy the Clown #OP Spoilers #One Piece Spoilers #just to be safe #in greek we say the same thing but use “scooter” instead #which is arguably dumber #Mihawk doesn't think highly of Buggy he's just guessing the wasted potential #nnobodiusart

[time-woods]

do you think theyll ever be able to escape that cycle of sadness ? or will they be forever stuck in the madness, together ?

they really are bound to that sadness madness

#simon petrikov #betty grof #fionna and cake #adventure time #adventure time spoilers #im so excited for the new episode today #guess whos staying up just to watch it #this deranged fellow #also realized ive never drawn betty before so i had to change that

[bluegiragi]

negotiations.

early access + nsfw on patreon

#dragons get so tunnel visioned when it comes to their hoard. often to their own detriment #y'all wanted to see price in action...you better savour it while you can #also i've not been intentionally neglecting laswell since i love her as much as the average joe #but i guess it just happened... #for the record she's still a human in this au but she keeps up with the best of them #ALSO also i had a ton of fun drawing this section #i hope it shows <3 #monster 141 au #captain john price #manuel roba #simon ghost riley #giragi art

[egophiliac]

like mother, like son, but less wholesome this time?

(I couldn't decide whether or not to put them together, so have them in all the different ways!)

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 part 6 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 part 6 spoilers #if i had a nickel for every time a draconia ob'd while trying to save lilia #and had to be taken out by a member of this one specific bloodline with sparkly celestial hair that a fairy blessed #et cetera and so on you know the rest #i mean we know it's going to end better this time but y'know. the parallels! #oh meleanor my beloved #of course...of course she ob'd...it makes sense... #everything about this whole situation just massively sucked for everyone huh #well at least silver's biodad felt guilty about killing her i guess #i dunno i'm just havin' some feelings about all of this #lilia had both the absolute worst and absolute best things about his life come out of all this #down the two great loves of his life and also his job and reputation and 200 years of his life and uhhhh kind of everything else honestly #up some kids though! #(also one of those kids is a baby dragon who is JUST the right size to put silly hats on) #they were worth it to him! or maybe they were worth not giving up? look i am DEEP in the blorbosauce right now #if you don't want to read emotional tags about lilia twistedwonderland then don't come to egophiliac.tumblr.com

[inkskinned]

before you know about women, you hear that you do not need to love the man, just that you need to love him through his manhood. which is to say you have seen the future painted in lamb's blood over your eyes - how your mother shoots you a look about your father's inability to cook right. how your aunt holds her wineglass and says i'm gonna kill em. men, right! how your best friend bickers with her boyfriend, how she says i can't help it. i come back to him.

you learn: men are gonna cheat. men aren't going to listen when you're talking, because you're nagging. men think emotions are stupid. they think your life is vapid and your hobbies are embarrassing. men will slam things, but that's because men are allowed to be angry. if you get loud, you're hysterical. if a man gets loud - well, men are animals, men are dogs, men can't control their hands or their eyes or their bodies. they're going to make a snide comment about you in the locker room, about your body, about how you're so fucking annoying. you're going to give him kids, and he will give you the money for the kids, and you're going to be running the house 24/7 - but he gets to relax after a long day, because his job is stressful. the man is on stage, and is a comedian, and says "women!"

and you are supposed to love that. you are supposed to love men through how horrible they are to you - because that's what women do. that's what good women do. wife material. your father even told you once - it'll make sense when you're older. it was like staring down a very lonely tunnel.

it feels like something's caught in your throat, but it's all you know, so. it's okay that you see sex as a necessary tool, a sort of okay-enough ritual to keep him happy, even though he doesn't seem to care about happiness as-applied-to you. it is relationship upkeep. it is kissing him and smiling even though he didn't brush his teeth. it is getting on your knees and looking up and holding back a sigh because he barely holds you as you panic through the night. it's not like the sex is bad and you do like feeling wanted. and besides! he's a man! like... they're another species. you'll never be able to actually communicate, right. he isn't listening.

you just don't get it. you don't feel that sense of i'm gonna climb him like a tree. mostly it just feels fucking exhausting. you play the part perfectly. you smile and nod and are "effortlessly" charming. and it's fine! it's alright! you even love him, if you're looking. you could have good life, and a good family, and perfectly happy.

in the late night you google: am i broken. you google i'm not attracted to my husband. you google i get turned on by books but not by him. you google how to get better in bed.

the first time he yells at you, it almost feels like blankness. like - of course this is happening. this is always how it was going to end up. men get angry, and they yell, and you sit there in silence.

you mention it to your friend - just the once - while you're drunk. she shrugs and says it's like that with me too, i just try to forget and move on. men are always gonna hear what they want to. pick your battles and say sorry even though he's in the wrong. you play solitaire online for a month. you go to your therapist appointment and preach about how you're both so in love.

after all, you have a future to want. nobody lied about it - how many instagram posts say marriage is hard. say real love takes work. say we fight like cats and dogs but the best part is that we always make up. how many of your friends say happy anniversary to the best and worst thing to ever happen to me. if you really loved him - loved yourself too - you'd accept that men are just different from you.

the first time she kisses you, it's on a dare at a party. something large and terrifying whips through your body. you wake up sweating from dreams where her mouth is encrusted with pearls and you pick them off one by one with your teeth. fuck. you sit at the computer and your almost-finished game of sim city. you think about your potential perfect life and your potential future family. you google am i gay quiz with your little hands shaking.

you delete each letter slowly. you don't need to love him. you just need to keep going.

#warm up #writeblr #this is also about being ace btw #my identity has slowly shifted over time and maybe if everyone is REAL cool i'll talk bout it #bc it's complicated and nuanced. but this is like #trying to warn u that if you find it “relationship upkeep” to have sex with ur partner #and don't actually enjoy it or seek it for urself. u might just not be attracted to them. #which is fine ! ace ppl can be perfectly happy in any relationship they feel good in! #but also i wasn't as straight as i had expected! #> the first time i saw dick i was like. huh. oh okay that's fine i guess #> the first time i saw pussy i was like. WAIT ACTUALLY HANG ON I GET IT #i just assumed sex wasn't all it was cracked up to be ya know #but also like. btw? this IS NOT saying ''u might be gay not ace'' #bc tbh i'm grey ace/demisexual #it's saying u might not be into ur partner. explore urself & ur feelings. turn inward. #TAKE THIS IN THE MANNER IT WAS MEANT> GENTLE AND KIND #AND NOT IN A WEIRD INTERNET WAY PLEASE #bc the truth is that there ARE ppl who are gay who assume that they just ''don't like'' sex #and ace ppl who might need a different partner w/different needs #and i would have REALLY needed to hear ''check in w/urself about if u actually like sex'' #WAY EARILIER in my life. but nobody said anything bc they assume if ur having sex. u like it. #not just the actual act of sex. not once ur turned on. do you ACTUALLY like it. or is it a burden? #even if ur gay. check w/urself. maybe ur more ace than u realized. in which case. ADDITIONAL FLAG BB #i love collecting my flags. i'm at like 354 at this point #but also btw this is about how toxic relationships are SO normalized that u can be in one #and have everyone around u being like ''THATS JUST MEN LOL''

[saewokhrisz]

final victor...?

#i am feeding into my own hc that ren is also a bit unhinhed and kinda not well in the head cuz why do you like akechi sm... #theyre so sicko4sicko #also im not big into ratiorine but this lc is rlly...smth...i just had to!! #idek if this deserves a caption on its own considering its not that original and is a redraw #but ah well #shuake #akeshu #ren amamiya #goro akechi #persona 5 #joker #crow #persona #hsr #i guess #my art #fanart

[zivazivc]

do you think freesia and jd would ever get back together? or will they stay sort-of friends?

I'm not going to lie, I kinda like the idea of them starting to date again and seeing where it takes them. 🙈 freesia sneaked into my heart for some reason (she kind of started this new trend of mine where i make ocs that were created to be dicks and then me just getting protective of them and trying to reason out their awful behavior kasjsdj)

also their ship already has a #1 hater and #1 supporter, both of which are doing it for the wrong reasons...

#bruce and clay join the fandom once floyd sends them letters saying he's been eating good ksjbhbfchf #trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls floyd #trolls branch #trolls john dory #freesia #trolls band together #this was a lot funnier in my head. i guess that's what you get when you don't lay down your panels from the start #my art #answered #freesia was all four of the brother's first crush (sorry i don't make the rules. it's just facts) #even floyd's who i headcanon is exclusively gay #jd and her started dating pretty young #and the other three had kid crushes on her because she was the big brothers cool girlfriend that made jd behave nice to them lmao #also almond and plum brownies <3 #floyd jd and branch all live in a sitcom in my head #it's beautiful #also i started coloring this and then i realized i actually DON'T want to spend another day on this when i can be drawing NEW comics

[vaguely-concerned]

So much of Garak as a person starts to make sense once you know his childhood was a fucking gothic novel. His main playground was a graveyard and he'd play pretend by perfoming improv eulogies to an imagined audience. For a long time his main touchstone for most important figures from recent history is 'oh yeah I know about that guy my dad buried him. great flower arrangements for that one'. He finds out later his 'parents' are actually a brother and sister who had to get married to avoid the utter shame and social devastation of having a child born out of wedlock, and they live in the basement of his biological father's house. (the madwoman in the attic vs. the tiny elim in the basement.) His biological father calls himself his uncle and locks him in a closet whenever he fails to live up to his insane and unpredictable expectations and everyone just has to act like that's normal and expected, and his will hangs over everything at all times, unseen but always felt keener than anything else. The father who actually raised him grows the world's most beautiful (and as it turns out, most poisonous) orchids and keeps the mask of a god hidden in a box in his work shed. Everyone in the house is choking down secrets like it's the only air they know how to breathe anymore.

What I'm saying is that right from the get-go this guy never had the faintest shot at turning out normal, so I'm glad that by middle age he's found a way to get a bit silly with it as he continues to be deeply deeply not normal about anything ever <3

#guess who's reading a stitch in time! #star trek ds9 #elim garak #a stitch in time #star trek #ds9 #I will make a monster post of asit thoughts eventually but just. jesus christ!!! what a start in life lmao #tolan and tain seem to have been... well not exactly friends probably but to have had some connection beforehand #did tain know him or mila first??? how was mila and tolan's sibling status presumably not known publicly? #at what point during all of that did tain start to have sex with tolan's sister. the more you think about it the more fucked it gets lol #under the circumstances... shoutout to tolan and mila for not leaving him somehow even more fucked up interpersonally than he is #and no thanks to tain for anything ever I hate him so much

[azurechicken]

It is a good thing that the BG3 team is attentive and we get updates all the time, but where does it end? If they are going to continue changing stuff about the game per request, what will be there left of what they envisioned in the first place? Especially for character traits and dialogue, like making them kinder and more likeable, just because there were two more people asking for it and they happened to see it. I just don't want to see characters shift into generic ones just because of a need to respond to everyone's ideas

#first it will be a small trait of a character #next we might see ppl sending enough requests to not be totalled by karlach like god intended. y'know? #i wanted to post about this for a while but i felt like it was just a me issue #then last night i had a dream about making a new pt to romance lae'zel and dream friend told me like. dude she is almost robotic atp #and does whatever the player wants. i woke up and that was my last straw #and here we are lmao?? #i feel like that ign interview was a similar issue to this #anyway it isnt that big of an issue or anything. i love that they listen and improve. its just impossible to please everyone #i'd actually want a body type upgrade more than anything but i guess that isnt being requested as much huh #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #larian critical #me own

[skidcd-megamix]

Fists of the North Star (lo)

BTW THERE WERE ZERO SOLOMON REFS ON GOOGLE I HAD TO SCREENSHOT A VIDEO cmon dudes where’s the Solomon appreciation

#teehee #fanart #shitpost #doodles #undertale yellow #undertale yellow Starlo #starlo uty #north star #uty fanart #solomon uty #cmon bro I gotta make a tag just for him #I also don’t know how solomon’s mouth works cuz his sprite is so small #had to guess #undertale yellow fanart #headcanon #starlo is a goober to me

[wildtornado-o]

Doodles :)

I think the Graham de Vanilys should have some cats and ferrets, Félix seems like a ferret liker <3 The doodles on the last image are old ones i never got aroun to posting, mostly consisting of the aged up designs i have 4 feligami

#Miraculous is eating at my brain again who wouldve guessed (me) #its always eating at my brain tbh tho #Adrien Agreste #Felix Graham de Vanily #Nathalie Sancoeur #Amelie Graham de Vanily #amenath #Kagami Tsurugi #Feligami #the names for the cats r based off a Felix ai I had a couple chats with #Do i just like giving characters im attached to cats because I have cats? yeah. probably. it brings me joy <3 #my art #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous adventures of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ml representation spoilers #ml representation #I am an its Amelie not Emilie believer btw #ALSO Felix would love Shad ow the Hedg ehog

[raveartts]

gonna take a break and make another sketch page later :3

#raveartts #hazbin hotel #alastor #i have like. 3-4 more screenshots i wanna redraw to practice #and then i guess i gotta think of a cool idea to draw him in #he's actually quite satisfying to draw once i actually...don't suck at it 😍 #i really love this man. like i saw him in the pilot and i knew he had potential if he got the necessary screentime #and they SERVED alastor to me on a gourmet plate <3 #and he's still got potential for season 2 as he's easily the most mysterious character #i literally just watch this show for him pretty much- #he's like the daniel of hazbin for me #though i like camp camp as whole actually but oh well. hazbin ain't terrible either

[egophiliac]

now that I can think semi-coherently again...whooooo's ready for Friday WEEHOO

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #stage in playful land #stage in playfulland #i've only had gidel for a day and a half et cetera you know the rest #guidel? gider? ah yes. what's that romanization. my favorite game #i'm gonna go with fellow and gidel until something official comes out i guess #anyway HEY it's spooky carnival time where everybody wears hats and then probably turns into puppets or something! i'm excited! #yuu and grim are probably going to be there also which means it doesn't canonically take place during glorious masquerade #which is unfortunate because that really is the most hilarious possibility #ace and deuce in unison: ugh you won't BELIEVE what happened while you were gone #these boys cannot just have one nice day without someone trying to take over the school or destroy all magic forever or something #such is life in twisted wonderland