#the IDW genuinely cares about these characters as much as we do

[chaifootsteps]

Hey I saw someone on Twitter saying you’re transphobic because it said in your Twitter bio “IDW Arcee is still a guy” even though the character is canonically trans. What’s your take on that? I’m not attacking you or anything I just genuinely want to know the context of all that.

Oh boy. Strap yourselves in kids; time for Chai's villain origin story.

So basically, IDW Arcee made his debut under the pen of Simon Furman, the dude who created Arcee in the first place. Simon Furman has a small massive chip on his shoulder over the notion of girl robots, but we're going to be talking in mostly Watsonian terms for now. IDW Arcee as he comes on the scene in Spotlight Arcee is the victim of a nonconsensual forced sex reassignment, we see right off the bat that this destroyed his life.

He's wracked with trauma and dysphoria over this, on a do-or-die quest to take out the mad scientist who did it (he succeeds and tortures said scientist for seven years straight), and is implied to suffer chronic pain.

This got a lot of criticism, but Simon Furman insisted it wasn't meant to be transphobic, just the opposite. When someone pointed out that this was a story about how traumatic it was to be assigned a gender you didn't feel was the one you should have, Furman agreed with this take.

Eventually Furman was shooed out and John Barber was brought in as writer, and nobody seemed to know how to deal with Arcee's backstory. So they just kind of...didn't. They wrote around it for eight whole years, never really acknowledging it, but frequently alluding to how traumatized he was from it. The only person to ever roll up their sleeves and tackle it head on was Mairghread Scott, the only person IMO to ever do justice to IDW Arcee.

By the way, this panel made me weep. This issue also includes a fleeting, but notable moment where someone refers to Arcee with they/them pronouns, and at the time, I was extremely excited for this.

Shortly after this however, the comic came to an end and John Barber decided -- in the very last issue -- to bring in an expert. And by this, I mean he found some trans lady on Twitter and let her write Arcee. The last issue has Arcee concluding that the whole sex change was consensual and the violent murder spree was the result of, I quote, "bad meds."

Yeah, basically Arcee killed all those people because the Spiro was a little off.

I got into a lot of internet fights with people over this back in the day, criticizing it for being worse than what we started with, but also frequently pointing out that it wasn't Twitter lady's fault, as she wasn't the editor-in-chief at IDW and that there's a very good reason professional writers aren't supposed to do this sort of thing. In return, I got accused of hating trans women and still get some real ugly things in the inbox about it to this day. It was the first taste, bitter as wormwood, of what I as a trans man could expect from my own community.

Regardless of all that, Arcee is probably the most important fictional character to ever enter my life. He helped me realize I was trans, got me through some dark days, got me through heartbreak and top surgery. He saved my life a few times, and every so often he continues to. I owe so much to him.

If writing a very gentle fix-it fic where Arcee has a long talk with Anode (one of the trans lesbian bots from the vastly superior sister series James Roberts wrote) makes me a transphobe in these peoples' eyes, so be it. I don't care what they think. They never reached out to baby trans Chai and held his hand and kept him breathing.

Arcee did.

#Anonymous #Arcee #Transformers #IDW Arcee #transandrophobia #actual blog post

[beevean]

I find it such, such a shame that basically every single OC (especially on the heroes' side) that IDW introduced has gotten flanderised and/or milked for all their worth angst-wise and such, despite so many having interesting backstories (or even just the slightest hint of prior existence in the world) that you can do something with. Belle has been unsubtly swooped right into the background now that her story is over(?), Whisper is not allowed to move on from the loss of her team and keeps being subjected to more and more horrifying experiences related to it, Tangle has swiftly become the silly goose of the bunch as opposed to someone with plenty of intelligence and emotional maturity in the Tangle & Whisper miniseries, Lanolin randomly turned into what was supposed to be the Competent Girlboss which falls entirely flat anyway because the writing's got more holes in it than Swiss cheese...

It truly makes me wonder if, in a new comic or manga if/when IDW goes down, we should want new canon foreigner characters to be introduced in there. Both Archie and IDW have proven that they will eventually turn into a drama story featuring mostly just the OCs and disproportionately dividing attention to those, with the game cast easily coming across as an afterthought or being written OOC to facilitate that drama (such as everything with Silver getting kicked out of the Diamond Cutters he never joined in the first place, or Cream's inability to fight off Rough and Tumble ruining her and Vanilla's cooking and getting turned into a bawling mess in the process. And that was just from among the most recent two issues). I feel like it has to do with the fact both comics had/have the same writers, but I also understand that it's easier to write a character from scratch than needing to stick to guidelines from higher-up... Thus, maybe if a character from scratch cannot be written in the first place, it would make an improvement? Some strange moments aside (e.g. Sonic insulting Knuckles to Blaze, Sonic being a shipper on deck for Silvaze), I don't have much to complain about the stories that have only game characters in them. And that is it: I'm just here to see fun adventures from Sonic and his friends, not the woes and troubles of new characters who have either completely failed to catch or lost my interest over time.

(Sorry for the long ask, I wanted to add enough examples. Feel free to ignore if you would rather not talk about IDW again ^^)

Some strange moments aside (e.g. Sonic insulting Knuckles to Blaze, Sonic being a shipper on deck for Silvaze), I don't have much to complain about the stories that have only game characters in them.

I'm not saying this in a mean way towards you, but I do. I do plenty. IDW Sonic is a genuinely awful character that only recently has stopped to earn my ire. And you know why? Because the story no longer features him in the spotlight, instead focusing on the OCs.

Flynn has admitted that they prefer to write OCs because they "have less oversight", basically they don't have to deal with the guidelines that come with the canon characters. With this amount of unprofessionalism, I gladly accept the OCs attracting the worst of their writing degeneration, instead of ruining further characters I care about.

Now, yes, it is a shame that perfectly good new characters have been squandered (poor Tangle didn't deserve to become an annoying "ADHD-coded" uwu shipbait), but like. At this point it's the less of the two evils. The problem is not OCs or canon characters: the problem is writers who strut around in their workplace, thinking they're misunderstood geniuses and that it's their mission to fix the bad writing from SEGA.

#fans don't look

[momentomori24]

Okie, I just finished the show. Maybe a hot take, but I thought it was solid. The ending being good is debatable (I definitely wanted more than what we got) but the characterization of everyone was absolutely solid. Nine was a fantastic antagonist. He's intelligent, troubled, selfish, clingy, lonely and self destructive, just as much of a danger to others as he is to himself, but very much sympathetic and understandable of a character. He feels like such a younger version of Shadow who is still so angry at the world, willing to tear them all to pieces to achieve his goals because they've never ones shown him kindness at any point in his life, leaving him with no kindness to give to others as a consequence. But he has a love for technology, self esteem issues, remorseless sass and a genuine attachment to Sonic, however dysfunctional it was. He's fundamentally Tails, but so warped and jaded that he feels like a refreshingly new character. Same goes for everyone else. No version of each character felt the same. Their personalities all felt unique to them and their character growth felt rewarding. And I have very unexpected attachment to Black Rose. I love every Rose here, but she out of them all felt so much like the old Amy with her unfiltered insanity, chaotic energy, readiness for violence and disrespect, overwhelming passion and leadership and compassion for those who look to her for strength that I utterly adore her. And she's a PIRATE for God's sake! Let her be free! Let her go wild! Let her go absolutely batshit and unhinged the way only Amy can!

Prime Shadow is absolutely one of the best versions (and my personal favourite) of Shadow we have-- his voice acting, his personality perfectly hitting the middle between being too cold and being too caring, not too edgy but not too soft, still a snobbish and harsh motherfucker who preferably acts alone and sucks at getting his point across without sounding callous but ultimately well-intentioned and trying his best to protect the people and world he cares for while not being prideful enough to reject the help of others to achieve that (and actually willing to run when he knows he can't win for now.) Something I missed about Shadow was his empathy and care for others while acting like he doesn't mean anything, and it really shined during his time with Sonic. He was pissed to hell about what Sonic did, and rightfully so, but he knows when his anger contributes nothing of worth to their situation and is able to stay rational and logical for both their sakes. And even in his anger, Sonic's remorse about everything was enough for him to calm down, taking a softer approach with him than he normally would've. He's--UGH. HE'S SO GOOD. I LOVE SO HIM MUCH. Like, I really like IDW Shadow, but Prime Shadow is just built different.

I really appreciate what the show did with all of them and even tho I would've liked a bit more for the finale I do like how Sonic's arc came full circle with him learning to listen and be more appreciative of his friends. While there were definitely some glaring issues with s3, and there are some things where I'm like ''WHY??'' (more on that later), but the story was great, the characterisation was incredible, the animation felt very bouncy and energetic, and overall it was a very fun show and exciting journey I loved every step of the way. Not just the show, but all the incredible fan works that was made along the way are absolutely priceless. I'm really glad this show was made.

#sonic prime #momento rambles #i really hope this all comes out readable i'm still recovering #but yeah i really like it

[crusherthedoctor]

Passing this on ~

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💞

Why Can't I Hold All These Sonic Fics.jpg

1. The big one is, unsurprisingly, the story that was formerly known as Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars, but is now known as Sonic Stellar. Yes, the former wasn't finished due to morphing into the latter, and the latter hasn't actually appeared on the site yet… and some of the changes made in the transition are almost opposite to how they were initially lol. But if it wasn't obvious from how long I've been working with the frame of this story, it's always been a work of passion for me.

The one-shots helped to warm me up, but with this, I wanted to make a full-on adventure. I wanted to share my portrayals of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and everyone else used in a context that comes with the textbook thrills, twists, and so on. I wanted to write the biggest, smartest, most ruthless version of Eggman I could, without sacrificing his comedic qualities. I wanted to create an OC that could endear instead of turn away, and help other writers - and critics - understand that it shouldn't be seen as an automatic death sentence for your story. I wanted to create a setting that had its own detail and character, one that could stand tall with the likes of Angel Island and the Little Planet. I wanted to pay the biggest tribute I could to the games. And all of this and more got amplified once IDW kept dropping the ball with all of it again and again and again and again and again and-

There has been stress, with how long I've spent on writing, editing, and re-editing constantly. There have been doubts, particularly when I compare it to what others have done in less time (I've always been self-conscious about not being an artist/animator, so when stuff like @skaruresonic's VN came out, I felt like a clown with how I only have words on a screen to my name). There have been fears of whether all this time spent will even be worth it reception-wise, whether any old readers will still like it after all this time, or if any new readers would see something they like. We can all say we write for ourselves, and that is true for me, because I'm not the kind of person to write something I would absolutely hate just because I have something to prove, but the fact of the matter is that we all want our work to reach out to others. We all want our stories to strike a chord with at least some people beyond just yourself, and to pretend otherwise is illogical, as is painting it as an inherently selfish or unhealthy thing so long as it doesn't consume you. Because if you did it only for yourself, if you didn't want it to connect with anyone else at all… why would you bother sharing it online?

But make no mistake. While I hope my story can appeal to those who could find an appeal in it, it's still firmly my story. I never made it, or spent all this time modifying it, for the sole purpose of appeasing anyone. It's always been my vision, and it should say something that despite all the stress, despite all the second-guessing, and despite all the moments where I've considered doing so when the fears of inadequacy and comparison have gotten too much… I've never gave up on it. Never gave up on Viridonia. Never gave up on Trudy.

2. Christmas Time, Christmas Island - Out of all the one-shots I've made, this is probably the one I'm most satisfied with. We've all had our own interpretations of what Sonic and Eggman's first encounter was like, and I'm happy my interpretation has its fans. I wanted it to have muh feels, but in a way that still portrayed Eggman as an unrelenting bastard that didn't actually care about Sonic. By making the bond seem genuine, it would cut deeper when it turned out to be a ruse cruise. It was also fun to write Sonic's recollection of it to Trudy, as well as her reaction to it.

3. In the Hall of the Would Be King - A deep dive into Eggman's psyche, and all without making him soft. Aside from naturally wanting to apply this treatment to my favourite character of all time, this was made as a stealth prequel to you know what, and despite the differences in the latter's current form as Stellar, it still works pretty well as one.

4. Tails and Amy Talk Things Out - The first one-shot I posted on here. At the time, I was sick to death of everyone hating on Tails to such an insane degree for his controversial Lost World portrayal (remember, there were people trying to petition his removal from the series), so I attempted to look at it from an angle that could feel plausible and in-line with his usual self. Casual interactions between Tails and Amy are also shockingly rare, so…

5. Shadow and Omega Get a Life - There are things I would have done differently if I made this one today, but overall I'm still happy with the intent, and writing Omega was really fun, to the point where I regret that he's not in Stellar since there wouldn't have been much of a role for him with everything else going on. Shout out to me for using the "Shadow looking at objects that briefly make him contemplate Maria without sending him into a breakdown" trope years before it became mainstream.

When will you write something that isn't Sonic, Crusher? I don't know, when will you write something that isn't full of shit, Ian Flynn? Haha gottem.

#Crusher's Asks #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

[icycream24]

Espilver? :>

You're here to ask me the most obvious ones 😭 alright then I'll answer in the most unexpected way ever!

They are my OTP: literally saw them first-hand in game and firmly believed they have chemistry since then. Not influenced by fanart at all bc there was none.

But I don't really dare say they're the best of the OTPs...? Genuinely I think some other pairs (Sonuckles/Knuxouge etc.) has more chemistry and an easier time to figure out how they work.

Espio and Silver supposedly live in different timelines, and Espio didn't even appear in games that often. Their chances of seeing each other is far lower than a lot of others;

They're not as sociable as Sonic or Amy, or any other talkative characters. They can't just meet each other on a whim. We have to think of a valid reason for them to meet in fanfics, with Silver's persistence on his time travel mission and Espio's ninja detective work in mind;

They're kinda too nice with each other, the enemies to lovers troupe wouldn't really fit in their current canon situation, neither does having major rivalries, conflicts, or any kind of tension. Obviously they can still have those, it's just harder to imagine them in these roles compared to others imo.

Ofc, they're still my obvious best of OTP in my brain, but if we're discussing the variety of them being a pair, then they're not higher than other ships.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD: That is true bc I literally ship them as OTP. But actually, I ship them in the angsty way first, did not imagine them with a happy ending due to their roles and burdens. Drew Silver dying in Espio's hands back in 2016, definitely not wholesome & cute haha

Overrated AND underrated at the same time? : Now this is a handful... I didn't imagine Espilver to be a well known ship at all, and certainly did not anticipate ppl actually shipping them even now. As to why this ship got popular, I couldn't help but think it was related with ppl wanting to support unpopular ships as an ally, moreso than actually liking the ship? Ofc, it's definitely not me who can decide what ppl ship them for, I wouldn't care that much as long as the ship gets more love! Actually I do care but I don't wanna gatekeep ppl for being not genuine and I don't wanna know if I'm actually wrong on that so by not dwelling on that I avoided the problems and consequences that might bring to me including those I do not forsee

Still, Espio and Silver, as I've told before, probably don't have as much chemistry to other ppl due to not being in more games tgt. Their compatibility basically flies over ppl's minds and it's unfortunate! So, Espilver is definitely underrated as ppl still hasn't yet be presented to the wonderful comfort and beauty this ship brings 💖

In conclusion, overrated enough to have IDW make a comic about them, since ppl would love it; also underrated enough to have IDW make a comic about them, since so few ppl know them enough to feel repulsed with their interactions.

I WOULD DIE FOR IT OKAY: No one's allowed to talk shit about Espilver/Silvespio except me✨

#My ask #Espilver #Silvespio #Ship meme

[thegeminisage]

it's tng update time.

we did. and you know this. because i made. i counted. 18 posts about it. "half a life." and of course: "the host" (honorific).

half a life: part of what makes the ep after this so wonderful is that THIS episode was so genuinely upsetting. it was a huge bummer. it was awful. the only fucking episode lwaxana troi has been in that cathy actually watched and she had a valid character arc. i was furious. and then we got into it and i was like. oh.

first of all, kudos to charles winchester from mash for being here. cathy caught a 4077 ref that i missed bc i wasnt paying attention. i cant believe he was gay when he did this

secondly. the fucking. ethical implications of. people who are infirm should be dead for their children's sake and for their own sake. like it's better to be dead than in a nursing home. when you're 60 time's up. parents care for their children so children should care for their parents. your aging parents are mortal and they'll die one day. your daughter wants you to kill yourself. you want to die and can't wait to kill yourself. you don't want to live and then you do want to live but you still have to kill yourself. you're 60. you're 60. YOUR DAUGHTER WANTS YOU TO KILL YOURSELF. when she is 60 your daughter WILL ALSO KILL HERSELF.

i think the most fucked up part of this was that lwaxana ruined him. she meant well, and for once i saw her point and her arguments as totally valid (i usually think she's horrible), it was like maybe the only semi-selfless thing she's ever done aside from the ferengi business we will not be discussing. but she ruined him. when he was fine with dying and he had to die, fine and whatever. when he wanted to live?? no longer fine. if he lives his people will hate him forever. his daughter will regret him living because he can't be laid to rest in the family plot. because he can't die with his friends and family surrounding him. but he's 60. people live to be well over a hundred in the star trek universe, other aliens live even longer. he's SIXTY. he's healthy. he has work to do. a planet to save. and he's gonna die knowing his work meant nothing and his planet might die and his grandson may have nowhere to grow up. live or die, he will be miserable either way, just because he was introduced to a different way of life. it's SO fucked up

i think i had more to say about this after it ended but i have clean forgotten all of it. like it's been blasted out of my memory which is probably for the best. the short version is, i am living at home taking care of my mother who turned 58 three days ago. i didn't need any of that.

but then.

But Then.

the host: what can i possibly. i mean. the sheer. the fucking

like the fucking MOOD WHIPLASH alone

i had heard of this episode years ago. so i knew beverly's bf was a parasite and he eventually jumped into a woman and i was made to believe she was super homophobic about it. i was prepared to look completely past all of this and enjoy not-quite-gay SUBTEXT. i was NOT prepared for ANY of the rest of it

to get this out of the way: as i said, though i miss wesley very much (ask catherine i say so like every episode) it's so fortunate that he was not here. i think bev finally hit menopause because her horny levels were CRITICALLY off the charts and this whole debacle would have been so awkward for him. i'm glad he sent her a letter god bless i'm so glad he's fine wherever he is

the BABY BUMP THIS GUY HAD. this i was not expecting. i didn't know we were doing pregnant men in this episode. i figured the entire episode would be about beverly being like "this is weird cuz idw fuck you now that you're a woman" i had no idea his ass would jump into RIKER

riker did amazing bg work in this ep too before he got to star. he gave beverly and her bf some KNOWING looks. at one point the following exchange was uttered: "HE knows they're fucking." "yeah he wishes it was him." apollo and the dodgeball.....

the fact that after that i literally did have the thought "yeah except he'd never fuck beverly. she's one of the few people who are off limits." lisa simpson dot jpg

and then riker's pregnancy, what can one say. beverly put a little worm in his body. i'm only sad we didn't get to see the baby bump because that would have been extremely funny

i spent the whole ep thinking no way can beverly fuck riker. they have to work together. she has to look him in the eye after this. AND THEN THEY DID.

like it's so insane. it's not even that i dislike the concept because the fallout could lead to some extremely meaty interpersonal drama except for the fact that star trek generally isn't about interpersonal drama and we didn't see riker again after he got possessed. we didn't get one word from him. the silence seems so calculated so as to avoid having to write his reaction. BUT I WANTED HIS REACTION. will he not tell us how it feels to be possessed and pregnant and FUCKING BEVERLY CRUSHER? genuinely this is the first time i've been tempted to look up tng fic. someone tell me there is fic

also, like, he only had 18 hours until he got a new body. she could have waited to fuck the new guy if she felt weird about it being riker. SHE didn't know the knew guy was gonna be a woman. like it had to be menopause

the fact that deanna condoned this, even suggested it, is INSANE. not only because she didn't consider riker's ability, or lack of ability, to consent, but because THAT'S HER BOYFRIEND. quasi-boyfriend. sometimes exes sometimes fwb. like it's NUTS.

their discussion was so wild too. like "what do i miss...his hands, his mouth...no, there was more than that" girl they were 5 more minutes away from discovering the split attraction model. actually i don't even normally like the split attraction model but this episode made me like it a little more. growth <3

actually on that subject quasi-exes are weirdly chill with each other on this show. picard and beverly are kinda dating and kinda not, the same way deanna and riker kind of are and kind of aren't. and picard is like...beverly whatever else i am to you i'm also your friend and i know this fucking sucks. do you want a hug. like that is SO chill and cool of him. and ik they probably do this bc they don't want to have to maintain character development but it winds up accidentally feeling really refreshing

anyway: The Woman

i can't believe that beverly can fuck riker, her "sort of "brother," but not this hot blonde lady. and i know it's because they can't be gay but ACTUALLY

i was SHOCKED that gender didn't come into it at all. like yes it was the elephant in the room but nowhere in beverly's dialogue did she say she couldn't do this because odan was a woman now. copypasting:

"Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited."

NONE OF THAT MENTIONS GENDER. none!!! the only part that could be interpreted as a gender thing was when beverly said bring HIM in, and was smiling bc she was about to meet the new version of her bf, only for her smile to drop when she encountered a woman. you could sort of read it as "a woman will be even weirder than riker and i just don't have it in me to go through that acclimation process again" BUT LIKE. like she's CHOOSING not to. not that she couldn't eventually adjust. to a woman. beverly just found out she's bisexual fr

like the wrist kiss was SO SENSUAL. LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. i can't believe they let two women do that on tv in 1991. holy shit. AND!!! they said i love you to each other. i did quite literally stand up out of my seat. it feels very progressive considering when it was written

and like it's a shame this was in the same episode where riker gets knocked up bc that distracted from the entire gay thing. i WISH the whole episode had been odan in a woman's body and riker had had his own episode to do all of that in later. like it would've been incredible. sexuality is fluid <3

anyway. wow. next time: "the mind's eye" and "in theory," two episodes i already feel sorry for because they will Never live up to all of that.

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb #good fucking lord.

[ppeachx3]

sonic opinion post: whos your favorite female character and how do you feel about them

i feel like everyone knows how much i love amy by this point so i'm gonna do something different and take a step back from the games to talk about idw.... cause i LOVE belle the tinkerer so much. her character arc made me cry even because it's just so personally relatable for me. her progression from clinging onto/remembering the good parent she once had to accepting the present and that parent's absence from her life, her journey towards finding herself and finding a new family who genuinely cares about her... i hope we see her again soon and that she's doing well T_T

[egg-emperor]

Do you like the way Pontaff wrote Eggman?

Yes, I do. In fact, I already loved their writing for Eggman specifically years before IDW and the comic only solidified my love for it forever and proved that it wasn't just nostalgia talking, there were things they handled well and especially so much better than IDW when it came to their understanding of Eggman's character. (My first game was also long before the modern era with Heroes, so people can't say I'm biased out of them being my introduction to the series' writing or anything. In fact, they didn't even write any of my top five Sonic games.) Pontaff's writing did have flaws in other areas but I don't care to speak for the rest of it as an Eggman focused blog. But when it comes to Eggman himself, I truly feel that their writing for him was spot on all the way through and it was a blast.

All the dialogue felt like himself, he had the strongest portrayal and consistency, he had entertaining and clever humor (with all the Colors PAs being one of the prime examples but even the other jokes land with me), and he still had great evil and threatening moments and plans that people overlook just because of the humor and lighter hearted tone of the games of that era overall. Even when he was betrayed by the D6, it wasn't a lazy way to write him off, instead he got even more focus as he still found his way after he lost everything taken away and was still the final boss. That's how you handle betrayal and it was the only time they wrote it in a main game and he was always the main and respected bad guy. Then they gave us even better with Forces with a great example of his evil and success and showed his competence in clever backups, solid plans, and adaption to changes like he always truly could with his genius. Wild that the last story they'd write for shows an understanding of that specifically, while our next writer has shown he doesn't understand it at all and it worries me that he'll ruin it.

The only problem I've had with their portrayal is how they could've done a lot more with him than they did at times and usually the same could be said with the overall plots themselves. Especially in Forces, as his actual personality, dialogue, and actions we did see were fantastic but they should've shown more of the evil and done a lot more with him keeping Sonic captive for 6 months, what it was actually like when he was taking over, treated his role as important as it should've been after accomplishing his dream instead of giving all the screentime to Infinite, gone more in depth with it overall, etc. They had great ideas but the execution was weaker and the potential of the concepts weren't explored to the extent they should be.

And while I adore all the humor with Eggman that people complain about and will always defend it, they could've done with not removing/having less humor but instead also adding some more focus on the evil and seriousness along with it. He was still very much evil in games where people claim he's nothing but a joke, he's never been nothing but one in any modern game, he still has his fucked up plans and actions and hasn't become less evil just because they don't focus and show it right in your face as much anymore (though there are still a lot of moments even then but people overlook those too). But I like to imagine that if they had put more focus on it, it would help more realize that. Also just because the ideas were so cool and I wanted to see them fully explored, instead of feeling like there was a lot of wasted potential after.

But that's literally it when it comes to their handling of Eggman. I don't have anything bad to say about what we actually did get to see Eggman doing in the stories they wrote because I genuinely love it. It was inspiring to me for many writings, headcanons, fics, analysis, theories, etc, of my own because their stuff felt true, reliable, and in character for Eggman all the way through. I'm going to miss Pontaff Eggman a lot and I'd be much less nervous if they were still writing for Frontiers than knowing that Ian Flynn is. Pontaff Eggman had the balance of funny and evil and fucked up that I love in Eggman, he was smart and competent, and no moment of his felt OOC. It only could've gotten better if they'd just had more moments where they explore certain story concepts to the full extent they could have. And done more with other characters and maybe changed a few things there but again, I only speak for their Eggman writing and overall stories.

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #opinion #my post

[sweetescapeartist]

[Sorry in advance if this gets too long]

After your post about Sonic Frontiers, and especially after reading your favourite character is also Tails, now I'm curious about the rest of your "Sonic opinions". Have you considered posting more of your thoughts on the Sonic series as a whole? Not necessarily multiple posts, it could be just one post with a compilation.

Regarding Tails's role in the series, there have been a few debates for a while after most Sonic fans' disappointment at his role in Sonic Forces. The big problem is that there seems to be quite some overlap between "badass Tails" fans and those Gohan fans who think he was ruined during the Majin Buu saga (the Dragon Ball fandom's endemic toxic masculinity is also added to the mix), while other fans genuinely believe Tails is more compelling when he only fights through gadgets at most and strictly stays an underdog as the story focuses more on his friendship with Sonic and Tails being raised by him. I wrote a post with my thoughts on that debate the night before the Sonic 2 movie was released [https://mashounen2003.tumblr.com/post/678734119366213632]. This is indeed a very complicated topic, with both sides being a bit hypocritical sometimes.

On an unrelated note (sort of), I've been working on a summary of ideas for a Sonic fanfic... although I barely progressed on it this year; also, I must warn you it's not set in the videogames' universe but in the SatAM cartoon's universe with elements from the Archie comics, and the SatAM & Archie continuity isn't everyone's cup of tea. Anyway... Both your Dragon Ball posts and those of DBMeta inspired me for many things I already added to my story or I'm planning to add in later chapters. Sonic does take a lot from DBZ after all, so why not fully embrace that heritage while also applying those analyses of yours in order to provide a refreshing experience instead of the average crossover fanfic?

And that's it for now, I guess. I hope you're doing well, and feel free to answer whenever you can.

(You're okay. I'll try to keep my answer short since I am often ling winded.)

Spoiler warning... I didn't keep it short. 😅

I haven't really considered posting my thoughts on Sonic stuff because I don't really care for the series after Sonic Unleashed in 2008, then 2009 when Jason Griffith & the other Sonic voice actors were recasted. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed & Sonic Mania were fun tho. Sometimes read the IDW comics too. Mainly after Sonic Unleashed, the series lost its charm for me. But I will keep it in mind to make a post(s) of my thoughts about the series.

Thats another thing... Making Tails and other not playable limits the storytelling. They cant be involved much in the story besides being a charafter Sonic bounces dialogue off of and has to save. These characters could save themselves. Heck! They have saved Sonic! Tails has done so multiple times. From the classic games to the Adventure games, Heroes, 06, spin off games, ect.

As for the "badass Tails" that some fans see? I don't see that and never saw that. That's an exaggeration. Tails was never a "badass." Tails falls under a different category of cool. Here's the thing about Tails that differs from Gohan; Gohan didn't want to become a fighter, Tails wanted to go on adventures. And furthermore, Tails originated as a high-speed adventurer & combatant of sorts. Sonic was fine how he was, but Tails needed something to make him stand out more. Later, to make him more unique, Tails was made into the brains of the group ALONG WITH his adventurous & combat experience. So we have Tails originate as a fighter, then become the tech-fighter who would often go on his own adventures when Sonic was on his. So thats one point I think we disagree on. I do not see Tails as a nerd Sonic. Imo, thats similar to saying Knuckles is a strong Sonic. These characters are unique enough and have their own personalities that they are not clones of Sonic. Tails being similar to Sonic is fine because brothers often share similarities. But they are still very different in tsrms of personality and gameplay.

The new stuff from 2010 to present that was written by Pontac & Graff is bad. It made Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles behave more like the Babylon Rogues than themselves. Th games of the 2010's stripped Tails of what was always an established part of his character and only left the "gadgets guy" part of his character. That's like taking away Knuckles strength or Sonic's speed. And they did so just to have tails sit on the sideline. This was because SEGA heard criticisms from critics and some fans that they hate "Sonic's stupid friends." so SEGA stupidly sabotaged their own characters. So how should Tails be? Like he was in Adventure 2, Heroes, the Sonic Advanced games, Riders & Zero Gravity, Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed. Tails was not always playable but he was going on adventures of his own and just happened to meet up with Sonic sometimes. And he may have been scared of what are basically demons in Sonic Unleashed, but he fought Eggman robots right along with Sonic during the flying stages. And in the meantime he was gathering intel or actively helping Sonic when he was playable. They took away a critial part of Tails' character and that is just dumb. Sonic Movie 2 understands Tails much better. (Which is why Sonic Team is trying to make Tails like that now, which is simply who Tails was in the 2000's. In Frontiers, Sonic says to Tails that he is fast like him.and smart like Eggman. The games of the 2010's took the speed and aventure away from Tails and left him with only brains. The Sonic Movie 2 captures both his speed and intelligence. Sonic Team has lost their way and are now relying on a movie to correct their own characters...)

The love that Sonic Team had back in the day is gone. Its saddening. The characters were awesome back then! They were inspirational and relatable. I feel that things started going further south after Yuji Naka left and SEGA made Sonic Team release games before they were ready just to have a holiday release, & kept splitting up the team for stupid reasons.

Even with Frontiers, I felt that Sonic Team is trying to copy what made the recent Sonic The Hedgehog Movies so great. The Sonic Movies looked to Sonic's past in order to make an enjoyable movie for the fans. Why can't Sonic Team do that? Becauae the love isnt there anymore. Not like it used to be. Frontiers has Sonic dancing more, give him blue lightning and eyes temporarily turning blue, Frontiers has "Don't Stop Me Now" by Freddie Mercury for their launch trailer music because Sonic Movie 1 had a scene with that song in it.

I think we might be better off if Sonic Team just made a game based off of the Sonic Movies and written by somebody else. The characters and story would at least be fun.

And as a comparison, Luigi is more iddntical to Mario than Tails is to Sonic. Yes Luigi & others are playable while SEGA made the mistake of limiting their cast in most of their games after 2010. If SEGA wants to copy Nintendo, copy their usage of characters & use that to seel merch which results in more revenue. Dont copy Mario Galaxy like they did with Sonic Lost World.

I do like the SatAM Sonic series. I dont remember much of it but it was enjoyable and fun. A fic anout that sounds cool. I used to write my own Sonic fics & even had ideas for games. I might need to read more Sonic fics tho. Been many years since I read them. (One I remember was a Tails and Blaze adventure which made me ship the two lol.) Curious as to what you write. I wont remeber everything from SatAM but I can still enjoy it. And I'm also a fan of DBZ elements in Sonic. That why I liked the games up to Unleashed & Sonic X. They kinda felt like anime stories. Best of luck to you.

And lastly, Gohan is not a badass like many fans think. Those moments are when he is out of control and regrets becoming arrogant/too prideful.

Also, I'm working on "translating" the images of my Non-Self State post to Spanish. That way when you translate my post, its easier for you & you can use the images I'll send you. I'll let you know when I'm done. 👍 And once I send you the images, you can add a link to my post within your translation like this...

Gohan is a scholar who fights. He's not a badass, he's a powerful goofball. Which is basically like Goku & Krillin. Gohan actually takes aspects from both Goku & Krillin for his character. Thinking he's a badass or just a weak nerd is silly. Those are fans who only have surface level knowledge of the characters or are fans who have been misguided by the fandom's inaccurate and beta male ideas of what masculinity is. A man takes care of what's his & will do what he needs to do to protect them. Not simply "fight fight fight." (Most ppl in the DB fandom are illogical "beta males" who think they are "alphas" or are women who are fooled by their own illogical thinking that "beta" characteristics are desirable "alpha" characteristics. Kinda funny how backwards so many ppl are.)

So, unlike Tails, Gohan did not want to get involved in combat. He was forced into it while Tails made the choice to fight along Sonic. Neither are badasses. But both are reluctant to fight at times. They are peaceful people. I never seen either of them as badasses. Just intelligent people and intelligent fighters when they need to fight.

#mashounen2003 #ask #Sonic The Hedgehog #Miles Tails Prower #Tails

[jiiyawns]

late, but, 3 4 5 6 & 27 for the sonic asks!

it's never too late to send me asks :3c

3. how long have you been a sonic fan?

oh god okay so my sonic origin story is that when i was around 11 or 12 i caught some of satam then ended up binging all of it, then found out that it half continues in the comic series and binged ALL of archie (by that point they were at least 220+ issues in along with the side series like sonic universe, so when i say all i meant ALL of it) ... so by all technicalities it's been a little over a decade now

back then tho i didn't do anything like draw or look for fanart or read fics specifically for sonic (aka like, "fandom consumption" i suppose), so it feels kinda weird to say it's been that long even tho it's true !! i saw a weird little blue guy sayin shit like "way past cool" and "gotta juice" and i was like oh i have to find out what his deal is actually

4. favorite male characters?

sonic characters are forever playing spinball in my brain to determine who's my favorite but im what you call a basic bastard and tend to enjoy main characters/protags/main cast of most media i consume and sonic is no different (ofc there are times where side charas become my favorite but. well. not this series)

runner ups include tails my boy my little guy my buddy pal amigo and goddamn ANTOINE IS ONE OF THE CHARACTERS I MISS THE MOST FROM FREEDOM FIGHTERS

5. favorite female characters?

when i was younger i thought blaze was so fucking cool, i would always pick to play as her for mario and sonic at the olympic games LMAOO she was by far my favorite kinda overall as a child ...

now im a misogynist /j i just tend to like a lot of the male cast over the female cast (which. well. it doesn't help that there's a lot more male characters and a lot more focus on them anyhow) the comics really tend to add a lot more cool female charas to help that out... i fucking Love bunnie and sally still, tangle and whisper from idw have really been getting up there + surge's design is so good

6. favorite games?

shy emoji i already answered this one with my confession i haven't played any sonic games hehe. teehee. tho i suppose if u count the olympic games one that's the only one on my resume for realsies so far </3 my favorites are based on plot and stuff like visuals .... i'm expecting sonic frontiers to become my first sonic game but i've also been meaning to play sa2 on steam whenever i get the video game urge again i've been slacking as a gamer

27. what do you like about the fandom?

sonic fandom is like. notorious. as we all know GJKLDGAS so i like to poke fun and stuff about it pretty often ... especially the more gamerbro side of it (the side that instantly panned frontiers as shit based on the first footage we ever saw of it that only really showed a bit of environment and movement. u know)

but it's genuinely such a passionate fanbase, like the sheer amount of fans and the amount of fanworks is always so astounding to me. it's notorious but that's probably because people care so much yknow ... people feel things A Lot for sonic as a series. if someone told me sonic has the most video game mods and fangames Ever i would fully believe that

+ fanart, fics, WHOLE animations and animated series and like the fucking sonic and tails radio my beloved and stuff ... so much is made every day even during lull periods between games or nothing rlly happening. crazy shit! people LOVE that goddamn hedgehog!!! so many people like it enough to MAKE stuff for him!!!!!! insanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#i've been on the internet long enough that 'fandom' is not quite a positively associated word to me GJASKLDJG #but! well! i'm always in fandoms because i too care greatly about things!!!!! so !! ! ! ! #anyways. thank you for the ask <3 i feel like my answers are boring but what can ya do im just a guy who likes typical stuff #sonic the hedgehog #chaoxfix #doodles #asks #rereading some post gen wave archie stuff bc of this ask btw i missed them #sorry to all 9 other characters im not tagging them bc they aren't the series name </3 #i drew them largely in order of fave (from left to right) but i think amy and rouge are ... swapped/tied #kinda depends. i really do love amy but she has more bumpy chara moments in a series full of em #sorry if small text is considered obnoxious now i used to be obsessed with formatting my tumblr stuff and the habit/desire still #i also get embarrassed whenever text or smth gets too long and the small text makes me feel better bc it looks. less GJASKLDJG

[vvatchword]

Kinda feeling strange about big tentpole media, including TMNT. I think I'm going to end up leaving TMNT. Just don't know how yet.

This feeling originated from my general grumpiness about capitalism in general and my hatred of the stream of remakes coming out of big-budget entertainment. Which is weird, really, considering i don't watch shows or movies much. Not sure which came first, the distrust of establishment and disgust at unfettered consumerism, or my disdain of milquetoastery.

Problem one: I'm a completionist. I long to understand everything possible about the things i love. It's fucking compulsory. I've tried not to care, but soon i find myself researching and reading and then I'm gone for months. I love context. It's the second-biggest reason i can't get into Marvel or DC--because the histories are too vast.

That is when i discover that everything is shit and it's shit all the way down--and not the good shit that entertains, either. I also start to see how I'm being manipulated, which i resent. Manipulate me to forget I'm part of the world? Yes! Manipulate me to buy garbage? Fuck off. Manufacture the most carefully bland piece of media to draw in the most people possible, removing nuance for the sake of overseas markets? Fuck off, but twice.

Problem Two: i have a deep aversion to boardroom art. it's the same reason i don't trust corporate Twitter or upper management: separation from real human behavior, needs, and complexity, in a bid to make money. Not to have fun, not to explore concepts, not to understand others or themselves better, just: this is for money's sake. What is human is anathema, messy, and frightening, and such groups/people generally irritate me by the levels they're willing to put between themselves and a genuine human experience.

It's been really hard for me to get back into the IDW run of TMNT because i can so easily see all the tentpole IP criteria and the boardroom decisions. The first-arc plot (up to the final battle between Shredder and, uh, everybody else) is chock-full of callbacks and nostalgia-bait. So chock-full, in fact, that there isn't room for anything else. There's no real human feeling, few long-term transformations that could disrupt the status quo (and those that do occur are essentially meaningless when it comes to character transformation), and worst of all, milquetoastery. Because we don't dare offend anybody in any way at all. (And lest you read this the wrong way: I'm not talking about progressive representation. I'm talking about an IDW series where Leonardo is A Bad Guy but does very little that is Truly Bad, because if he did Real Crime he couldn't come back to the team and reset everything Back to Normal.)

Problem Three: it just reminds me that I've been longing for a very specific kind of TMNT since childhood, and that it's never, ever, ever going to happen. What i wanted was TMNT that grew up with me--except with camp and violence and sex and brokenness and vulnerability and fuckups and Big Angst. But TMNT only had one chance to be that way, and that chance is long gone. Now it's both not allowed to die and not allowed to change. It's been overtaken by a kids' media conglomerate and it will never be for adults again and there will be no long-form evolution because long-form entertainment with stakes is so difficult and risky to do. And since it's easy money, why chance the golden goose?

Problem Four: The quality and output of TMNT material has improved, but the material is so safe that i can't begin to care.

What do i like about TMNT canon? Vanishingly little. Mirage-era TMNT and most films are objectively 99% garbage. The TV shows tend to be good, 1987 aside, but they're also for children, with all the awkward bits that make children's media unpalatable. IDW TMNT is just boring. And if i had to make a choice between garbage and boring, I'd pick garbage every time.

Garbage is actually pretty fun because at least it makes you feel something; at least it's messy, and there's something real and human and confident there, and it's fun to try and figure out what everyone was trying to do and what inspired them. At least someone is standing for something, even if that something is completely misplaced. I still remember the failed joke comic where Raphael runs into aliens, and the one where the boys all become home appliances, and Raphael turning into a dinosaur. I barely remember anything out of IDW. It just kind of exists.

Problem Five: All of this said, i realized that the problem lay with me. Plenty of people like all the stuff i despise. So, since this is all my problem, i decided to interpret myself.

I thought about my relationship with Star Wars since it's a touchstone. In high school, I read tons of Extended Universe novels, owned a book about Star Wars tech with every piece lovingly drawn out in technical detail, and watched the re-releases of the original films in theaters. I was deeply in love with the universe and how it could unfold in complicated glory--a lot of it messy and broken.

And then the prequels happened, and i felt oddly betrayed--surely not the first instance of nostalgia-baiting, but the first time i realized my loves could be manipulated by people who wanted my pocket change. Then i got a little older and i tried to return to the Star Wars EU only to realize that the books were not well written at all, actually. Eventually i realized that i had created an entire meaning for Star Wars that stood completely separate from what Star Wars really was, and it only lived in one place: me.

Every now and then the Star Wars love in me wakes up and kicks--The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Fallen Order most notably stirred something up--where suddenly i love it completely with all my being and i long desperately for a version of it that could only exist for one specific time in my life. It's incredibly painful. Probably why i feel like i have to leave it completely.

I just can't enjoy Star Wars, even when i try to separate only the stuff i like. I realized that just because i liked the OG trilogy, I don't need to be a fan of the whole thing. Except apparently when i leave fandom, i gotta leave everything behind, including the material i do like.

I suspect TMNT will be the same way. As will BioShock, for which I'm feeling similarly, i just now realized. For that matter, i gave up on The Legend of Zelda at Twilight Princess.

Problem Six: My biggest problem is perfectionism. I'm either all in or all out. It's either completely worth it or must fuck right off. And that's just not how life works. I may gravitate to certain fiction, but it wasn't technically made for me, and it's presumptuous for me to expect any fiction to scratch all of my unique itches. A lot of different people can go to different fiction for different reasons, including the og creators of the og works themselves.

I don't really know what to do about this. I don't actually like being a huge snob, but i also seem incapable of controlling what's fun to me. Sometimes i think that what i should do is try and write the fiction i want to see, but I'm such a slow worker...

I think I'll leave TMNT somehow. I actually thought about selling my comic book collection, which is saying quite a lot--it's nearly complete, IDW covers aside. Because if the only version i love is something inside of me, why worry about canon at all? Why worry about what it contains at any point? Why not just delve into private worlds?

#storysnob

[beevean]

I read IDW #50.

We already discussed plenty about the whole Metal part. It’s stupid. Sonic comes off as an arrogant, defensive dickhead, and that whole scene is literally a way to distract them without adding anything to the characters. Bad writing. Move along.

I see Kit is in his “I AM THE TALLEST OF MOUNTAINS I AM THE ROUGHEST OF WAVES” phase. It’s a nice contrast compared to his doormat behavior, so I don’t mind. The artist went a little overboard, but that’s a nitpick.

“If you had just taken them out, I wouldn’t have been made!” Oh, for fuck’s sake. Really? Again? Now Surge is the one blaming Sonic for not killing Eggman and Starline? I am so sick of this song and dance! This is the third time! We did this during the MV arc! We did this with the Zeti! Enough! I don’t care how compelling of a conflict it is, I don’t care that it makes sense for Surge to blame her woes on the person she’s programmed to hate, it’s boring! This is the fourth time, clearly Sonic isn’t going to learn!

Also, I can’t fucking believe this. Surge really made fun of Sonic’s “moral code”. I’m sorry Flynn, this lampshade you’re hanging isn’t quite bright enough :V

Nothing to say about the Eggman vs. Starline fight. It’s brilliant. Eggman is the best he’s ever been since the beginning of the MV arc, if not at all, and I love the way he serves Starline some humble pie <3

Tails is also pretty nice. Of course he’d take down Kit thanks to the Power of Friendship lol, although I hope he’s being genuine and not manipulative. And ngl, I always found Kit’s concept really creepy, so seeing him pretty much shortcircuit because 1) someone is complimenting him for the first time in his life, and 2) he’s being treated as an individual and not as Surge’s lackey... yeah alright that’s good conflict.

“Surge has to destroy Sonic! It’s all she wants! I won’t let you stop her!” nope still makes me feel nauseous. Intended reaction, sure, but still.

"I’ve fought a few folks with the whole ‘the world wronged me so i’m going to destroy the world’ schtick” uhhh chaos, shadow, and?

on a plus side love that Sonic is calling Surge’s whole personality a schtick. Yeah, Surge, you’re just a gimmick, sorry.

We also talked extensively about Sonic’s incredibly self-righteous, holier-than-thou speech. I hate it. It’s awful. Sonic comes off as an arrogant prick who only wants to look good but doesn’t actually want to put the effort into it. Moving on.

Okay, this is just funny. Okay, yes, this is Sonic’s canon mentality.. But after that whole speech, I can’t take it seriously lmao. Especially how Surge keeps mentioning Sonic’s “morals”, that’s way too self aware

The encounter between Eggman and Belle was totally pointless. “hey you wanna join me?” “no” “kbye”. Mayyyybe his delight at how Belle interfaced with Metal’s code is foreshadowing? Not counting on it, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt because otherwise boy was it anticlimatic.

Sonic immediately rushed to save Eggman when he was about to fall into the lava in Lava Mountain without any sort of joke or “truce”. just sayin’

i do like how petty surge is though lol

Why do you sound like such a patronizing asshole.

yeah, no one could survive that. right.

Welp. That was it. Underwhelming, but not totally awful. Kit vs. Tails was okay, but only because my boy was done justice and I can’t help but feel bad for Kit no matter how boring he is. Surge vs. Sonic 100% infuriating, I hate this Sonic too much, his conflict is annoying and repetitive and he just won’t learn, only shining point is that I relate to Surge accepting that no one gives a shit about her. Starline vs. Eggman, I need that injected into my veins, oh such delicious food in preparations of how they’ll treat him in frontiers i guess please stick with us emperor eggman of the great eggpire <3

#sonic the hedgehog #fans don't look

[un-pearable]

idk if you’re still doing this but 🔥 IDW sonic?

(heck yeah!! ty!!! sorry this is so long, i’m just rambling 😅)

hmmm, i really enjoy IDW so far, and the few things i have issues with i know the context to why they happened (like the amnesia plot being cut short at an awkward time so it was hard for them to rework it, it’s still sloppy in the end but,, it’s not worth harassing them over, i know they’re genuinely trying to tell the best stories they can) but for personal tastes? i think metal should get some emphasis again, that one story in the annual was amazing and i would absolutely love to see him in focus again, especially given SEGA’s recent treatment of him as a plot device instead of a character - he deserves the spotlight for a bit imo :> i know he was the main villain of the first arc, but the ideas they’ve already thrown around about his sentience and independence + the introduction of belle better before leading somewhere cool (or, if belle ends up becoming that female villain for a bit they were talking about i will be equally as excited)

in a similar vein but more actually unpopular like these are supposed to be (oops) i,, kinda get why they’ve adjusted shadow’s personality, i don’t like it per se, but i get why sega’s doing it: they’re trying to fit the cast back into archetypes like they started doing with sonic boom, and there’s a very big issue in that they way they currently characterize knuckles and shadow? they’re basically identical - they’re both the friendly, angry guy who sometimes works with the team but also has a duty to fulfill/some other responsibility. so they’ve adjusted knuckles to be more focused on team sonic instead of the ME and shadow to be more of the loner he (and knuckles, originally) used to be. it’s not a great solution, and it’s really irritating to the fandom who’s gotten used to their more nuanced personalities, but i think i get why SEGA’s pushing it

#this is all over the place but ty!! #sorry i’m bad at these but they’re fun agshdjd #i just. the people who spend so much timing hating IDW for things yhe writers can’t control is really tiring #here’s another unpopular opinion: if you’re not enjoying a story. you can just stop reading?? #no ones forcing you #go have fun with what you do enjoy!!!! #the IDW genuinely cares about these characters as much as we do #just read their work on archie!!! you want to see a fleshed out shadow? you’ve got tons of great content there and in Evan’s GotF comic #they’re just trying their best within the limitations of a liscensed comic #it could be a LOT WORSE #i’m having fun with it and i hope you are too <3 #sonic fandom’s lasted this long BC of how much variety of content there is #if you’re not enjoying the IDW take i’m certain there’s something out there you can find and enjoy #<3 #also i’m so sorry i know i’m gonna piss some people off with this #but like. i get you’re upset about shadow. but he isn’t the main character. he’s just not going to get the kind of focus you want bc that’s #not why he’s here??? he’s here to be sonic’s foil #he deserves better yes but keep in mind the context... this isn’t the sonic universe days where they had the page space for it sadly 😔 #okay this is really long sorry agshdjdkd #i have Many Thoughts and few are useful

[decepti-thots]

Thoughts on Optimus?

Ooooh.

Franchise wide, I can find Optimus kind of... frustrating? Because over time, the role they've allowed him to play has felt like it's been constantly fighting against Iconic Pop Culture status slash a kind of official flanderization. It's not a new observation to observe that since his original movie death, there's been a tendency to cast him in the role of infallible but shallow Hero TM in a way that can be very limiting and dull.

On the other hand, I think more incarnations have at least attempted to push back against that than people (me 100% included) always give credit for. TBH, I think the fact the TFP version of the character went so hard on that and was for so long the 'default' modern fandom for TF kind of gave a skewed interpretation of it. With more distance and TFP no longer being 'the' TF continuity we all default to, I think it seems less egregious than it once did.

Anyway. Here are some completely and absolutely subjective and deeply biased opinions on various Optimi across the board:

G1 cartoon s1 and s2: extremely fun. Absolutely Dad energy in the actual sense of Dads Are Fun To Be Around. We all know this, the man has sick dunks, etc etc.

G1 Marvel: I know very little Marvel. Furman's take always seemed kinda bland tho. Like the State Games backstory in that one prose story that wound up inspiring all the later Gladiator stuff however, that's interesting, I would love to see that come back for OP some time as well as the influence it's had on Megs tbh.

Unicron Trilogy, by which I mean Armada bc I don't care about the other two as much: kind of my favourite 'post movie Hero TM' OP take. He's nice. I would hug that guy.

TFA: my favourite Optimus, easy. Genuinely think TFA's pushback on the above is the most inspired take the franchise ever had. He's great because as just his own character in this show in isolation, he's a really appealing archetype that fits the tone TFA goes for fantastically and who is played off in a really fun way, with David Kaye giving a great performance. But even better in the context of being a big ol' TF nerd because the underlying concept if you know to look for it being 'what if Orion Pax never became Optimus Prime, conceptually speaking, but he was still the main character' is just a GREAT idea for a reimagining.

Bayverse: would be way more interesting if the movies acknowledged what a terrifying bastard he winds up.

TFP: fun to take an alternative reading on in a fandom context, but IMO the worst offender re: the above in the actual canon. I like playing around with him being 100% Serious All The Time Bc Prime in terms of like, why he's like that as a person, but in the actual show, it's played basically completely straight and I find it really ehhh. Feels like they were building to an arc in s2 I suspect was cut off by behind the scenes meddling for s3, which is a shame. Wish they'd done more with the Orion Pax arc in particular.

IDW: starts off an absolute infamous mess for ages in the sense that it's the worst possible take on Big Damn Hero TM Optimus imo: a take that looks at it through a really immature and narrow idea of what a Big Damn Hero should be. Kind of like Bayverse in that it makes a lot of underlying assumptions about what makes a big action hero character appealing that turn out to actually mostly make him come across as just an asshole. However, phase 2 made the ballsy decision to not try and soft retcon that out and just write him 'better' but instead take all that at-face-value stuff and actually make it into something you could examine and do something with, and I am forever impressed that they somehow actually just about succeeded at that. That was a much riskier decision than just 'fixing' the dumb bits of phase 1, and while it's not always 100%, it paid off IMO, in ways that resulted in storytelling opportunities that I don't think will ever crop up in the franchise again.

Cyberverse: I like him a lot. A very good compromise of the now-iconic stoic hero characterisation with the idea he should still be appealing by making him not necessarily the original G1 style OP, but instead layering on him being earnest and a little awkward underneath the speeches, so it's less pure noble stoicism and more being kind of a nerd when he's not in leader mode. Deserved that happy ending.

#ask meme

[rollflasher]

So, since I’ve been fond of writing pseudo-essay type of posts regarding Sonic, I might as well do another one that’s similar to my hot take regarding Shadow, in particular involving a topic I talked about with some friends that involves the character.

Those who follow my blog will be aware that as time went on, I became a lot more critical of the idea of Eggman getting softened in a misguided attempt at making him more human, mostly because this in turn comes with the implication that he’s ‘’not so bad after all’’, despite the fact that the character’s selfish acts don’t match up with that. Well, there is another reason I have for thinking that keeping Eggman an evil bastard gives the character even more depth than what could be initially thought of and it specifically involves his connection with Shadow.

Both Eggman and Shadow are the extensions of Gerald’s will, and the contrast between the two characters’ agency is incredibly interesting to say the least.

Now let me explain what I mean by this, last time I wrote a whole essay about why Shadow’s agency in his devotion to justice is so important, and why he shouldn’t be tied to a morality pet in order to be an unambigous hero, but when you look at Eggman’s character there is a surprising contrast in his own agency and there’s a lot to be said about it.

Just like Sonic, canonically we don’t know much about Eggman’s past other than the fact that Gerald was his hero and role model, but what we do know is that we all did it together he didn’t know exactly what went down when the ARK got shut down, so we can confirm that for all intents and purposes Eggman most likely never angsted about his grandpa’s death, chances are he may have not been aware of it and by the time he did, he probably couldn’t care less by that point. (As a matter of fact, in SA2 when he mentions he found Gerald’s diary, he was more interested in the benefits he could get from it instead of what exactly happened to his grandfather) With this in mind, it’s safe to assume that Eggman did not endure a difficult childhood and probably it was quite the contrary, after all we are talking about a psychopatic manchild who’s massive ego has an endless hunger for attention, that ego had to come from somewhere.

This is a stark contrast with Shadow, who’s past we know very well, he has every reason to hate humans and do evil out of vengeance, whereas Eggman quite frankly lacks any reason whatsoever to hold grudges against the world.

Not only that, but unlike Shadow, Eggman’s motivations are completely selfish. When you think about it, Eggman has gotten chances to redeem himself, he’s worked with Sonic before and in the end of SA2, he got a moment to reflect with Tails...and yet, he still decides to be evil and if that wasn’t enough, with each game he appears to get progressively worse. Why? Because Eggman lacks empathy, he understands others' suffering but is too apathetic, as long as it doesn’t affect him it’s not his problem. All Eggman cares about is having the world all for himself, as he puts it, it doesn’t matter how much damage he causes as long as there is something to conquer, even if he has to enslave others or take lives for that matter. He doesn’t care about allies and when he does show care for his creations, he’s pretty much congratulating himself and we know from the E-Series robots’ perspective that living as Eggman’s creation is not pretty. This makes quite the contrast with how Shadow is troubled by the idea of making a bad use of his powers.

Okay, but what does this have to do with Eggman and Shadow being the extension of Gerald’s will? Simple, Eggman goes against everything his grandfather stood for, but in a way serves as a perfect representation of Gerald’s genius being used for wrong, and in a way mirrors how he ended when he eventually went insane.

Gerald dedicated his life to the benefit of mankind and was genuinely a good man who loved his creations as family, hence him considering Shadow his son, and he clearly cared about life-forms like him and Emerl having a soul and being individuals rather than weapons of war. Eggman in contrast only lives for his selfish desires and prefers a world where everyone is devoid of a soul, only living for the benefit of him. Meanwhile, Shadow being a hero out of his own will fits perfectly with the legacy old Gerald had, not because such role was imposed on him, but because that’s his nature.

When Gerald went insane, you can say that he became just as selfish as the people he condemned, because once he jumped the slippery slope, he only cared about satisfying his own wrath and eventually threw away his previous philanthropist ideals. In a way, while not motivated by revenge, Eggman fits perfectly with that selfishness that corrupted Gerald and could be seen as a representation of that darker side of the genius of the Robotnik family being used for malicious purposes.

Shadow represents the good legacy of Gerald while Eggman represents the darkness of it. Both characters had moments where they could have taken another path, but whereas Shadow eventually had the maturity to move on and do good because that’s the right thing to do regardless of having every reason to hold a grudge and not do so, Eggman chose to do evil because he simply refuses to change, the world never wronged him and gave him chances for an epiphany but the doctor is just too emotionally stunted and self-centered to ever change his ways, if there’s no Eggman Empire, life simply has no meaning for him.

Honestly, while Sonic will always be Eggman’s nemesis, I find it fascinating to notice just how deep Shadow and Eggman’s parallels could get, in a way, they can really reinforce the message that it’s choices what defines people, not their past. I think exploring the deeper implications of this makes the Robotnik family more interesting and even somewhat tragic, and is something that could have a lot of potential. Shame that IDW had the perfect chance to explore that but completely wasted it, but that’s besides the point.

Am I analysing a bit too much a franchise about a blue hedgehog? Probably, but it’s still pretty fun.

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #dr ivo robotnik #dr eggman #opinion

[fanficmaniatic]

ok this is my last one. G1 Blaster to complete the Music Trio :)

YES THE BESTES RED RADIO BOIII....

favorite thing about them

Aww... There is just so much to love about Blaster... His voice... I LOVE THIS RADIO SO MUCH. and like, man I love how they didn't care if it was stupid or too cartoony... he just speaks like a radio reporter and I LOVE IT... Gosh I love him so much. He is so fun and caring, and he genuinely loves music. Yet this is not all there is about him, he is great at his job, and he does it wearing his spark on his “sleeve“

least favorite thing about them

not particularly G1 related… but how he was interpreted in the marvel comics… and that is sadly how he is also portrayed in most of the IDW comics. In there he basically just pretends to be like his G1 self when he is on the radio, and is instead greedy and serious… and though I am well aware G1 Blaster hypothetically could be like that some times, this being his 24/7 attitude is just… not it.

favorite line

@at soundwave “I’ve been waiting for this. You poor excuse of a sound system”

gets me EVERY TIME

brOTP

Jazz & Tracks. Disclaimer that I don’t think Blaster relationship with either of them has always been platonic… But they are besties.

OTP

Road Rage…… look… have they…ever share a frame or panel in the almost 40 years this franchise has existed? No… Do I care?… no… Is body Guard girlfriend with Party Dilf what is there not to like?

Also this is thecnically an ot3 because it is actually RoadRage/Náutica/Blaster….

nOTP

I honestly have not seen many Blaster ships and so far the ones I have encountered I am cool with… but I am going to say stars cream and prowl to be safe.

random headcanon

He is really protective of all the young bots in the arc. He tends to put relaxing music (equivalent to cybertronians lullabies) in their rooms to help them sleep.

unpopular opinion

the problem here is that I don’t really interact much with Blaster’s fandom content, he is one of my favorite, but like Arcee, I just don’t see a lot of fandom content I like for them, so in terms of “popular or unpopular opinions” idk exactly where my views of him land. So this is going to be and overall with the character, and mostly cannon content.

I really don't like how overall Soundwave always has at least one of his cassettes and blaster almost never has them???? or how his storyline in IDW1 lead nowhere???? Or how we never saw his relationship with Rewind even though both of them where in the lost light??

And look, I know many people don't like to interpret the host mech & the cassettes relationships as father/son. I am not asking for that. I joke saying Blaster is a diff because I think is fun, but I am not asking for them to make rewind a child. No, Rewind is an adult. But Soundwave is allowed to have a close relationship with his cassettes where they care and look out for each other... Why can't Blaster?

song i associate with them

This song SCREAMS BLASTER for me... It literally helped me write a really important plot point in CYCH (my continuity) for Blaster.

Favorite Picture of them

he looks so prefect standing there...

#Sorry for taking so long!! #But now the G1 music Boys are done! #ask meme #send ask #asks #thanks for the asks!! #tf blaster #g1 blaster #tf road rage #road rage x nautica #road rage x nautical x blaster #I WILL die on that ship #transformers #macadam #maccadams #transformers g1