#boom: a film about the sonics

[greensparty]

Documentary Reviews: Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal / BOOM! A Film About The Sonics

This week I got to review 2 different types of documentaries: a doc mini-series and an indie doc that is finally getting released a few years after it's festival premiere:

Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal

I have to say, I've been digging the recent music documentaries on Paramount+. Notably, the recent doc mini-series Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza looked back at the alt-rock music festival. Best of all is that Paramount+ is able to pull footage from MTV News since MTV is a part of Paramount. So now a new 3-part music documentary mini-series has dropped this week, Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal. Based on the 2021 book of the same name written by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock (he co-wrote the companion book Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, which I'm a fan of), this doc is a deep dive into 1980s hair metal. The main emphasis is on L.A. and the Sunset Strip scene, but there is a few bands from outside L.A. featured as well. The give a segment to each band and then there is intersecting of bands at various points thereafter. Just some of the bands covered include Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Extreme, Skid Row, Vixen, and Trixter among others. There are a lot of talking head interviewees and some of the anecdotes get animated sequences to emphasize the absurdity of some of the stories.

doc poster

When I was a kid I got into metal and as a teen I was a metalhead for a while. Early tapes I owned included Twister Sister and Motley Crue. As I got older, my musical tastes evolved and some of the hair metal I was into earlier seemed ridiculous in contrast with alt rock, which seemed to have something more meaningful to say. Now as a grown up, I can look back at hair metal and realize some of it, even if it was completely over the stop, was fun and some of their songs were melodic and catchy. I've always had a special place for some of these bands. In the case of Boston's Extreme I was a big fan after discovering them on V66 as a kid I was thrilled to interview some of the members for my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66. This doc features their guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, recounting many tales. Some of these bands didn't look at themselves as hair metal, they actually wanted to be long lasting and alas then metal got wiped out by grunge and many of the bands were dropped, broke up, or imploded. I thought it was cool they had other interviewees like director Penelope Spheeris, Steve-O, and Riki Rachtman too. As a fan who remembered that scene and was fond of the scene, I dug this doc series. But it could be that I'm too close to it to be able to judge this as a documentary and clearly say how good or comprehensive it was. They definitely hit a lot of the bands and touchstone moments of that era, but I do wish they had maybe discussed MTV's Headbanger's Ball, metal press (RIP, Circus, Hit Parader, or Metal Edge) and some of the tragedies of the scene (Steve Clark of Def Leppard comes to mind). They briefly touched upon female artists like Vixen, but I think there was room to dig deeper since there was a lot of misogyny in the music and the industry at the time. Bottom line: this is good as an overview, but with so much ground to cover it only scratched the surface at times.

For info on Nothin' But a Good Time

3.5 out of 5 stars

BOOM: A Film About The Sonics

Documentaries about the "band that time forgot" is a fascinating sub-genre within the music documentary sub-genre (a sub sub genre!?!). The idea that a band never got super famous, but made just enough of a splash to influence others and amass a cult following has become quite a popular theme in the last 10-15 years. Case in point is the Tacoma, WA garage band The Sonics, who began in 1960. I didn't know them too well, but I had been hearing a lot about the documentary BOOM: A Film About The Sonics since it had it's festival premiere in 2018. It is now being distributed by the Forge with a number of indie cinema screenings including The Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA this past week.

doc poster

Formed in 1960, the quintet had a raw garage rock sound that influenced the likes of The Stooges, Nirvana, The White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, The Hives, and more. They released two albums in the 1960s on Etiquette Records. There is a line drawn between this band and the Seattle music scene that everyone knew in the 80s and 90s. Among the featured interviewees in addition to the Sonic members are Nancy Wilson of Heart, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Mark Arm of Mudhoney, and Chris Ballew of Presidents of the United States of America. Ballew sums it up best when he pointed out that were was fun party music like The Sonics from Seattle and it wasn't all gloomy grunge.

I didn't know too much about The Sonics beforehand, but I was attracted to this mainly because of the interviewees and my love of Seattle music. As someone who didn't know them, I kind of wished they had spent a little more time on the music itself and not just on the band history. It does show some of the band's many reunions since the 60s and how many Seattle luminaries hold them in high regard (I spotted Nirvana's Krist Novoselic in a clip of their reunion show). The director did a move that can go either way, which is injecting himself into the doc with his intro and outro. There's a joke that some documentarians set out to make a film about a subject and then they just end up making a doc about themselves and their interest in the subject. Director Jordan Albertsen managed to do it effectively by not overtaking the doc but just giving a brief anecdote about discovering them through his father. Bottom line: the doc is interesting and more than anything I wanted to go out and listen to this band more after watching the doc.

For info on BOOM

3 out of 5 stars

[tiffycat]

Watched peak the other day

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

i love tails' little mischievous laugh so much

[rayatii]

Depending on how the situation turns out, once I finish my filmmaking degree (which might take until I'm 30), maybe I'll make an anti-war movie actually titled "Sonic Boom Chronicles" (in Arabic, of course, which would be something like "يوميّات جدا�� الصوت").

[cececat]

STH FanStory Recommendations:

As well as writing, I have found myself also reading an awful amount of Sonic-related fanfiction and comics recently… So, I thought I’d share a few of my favourites in case anyone else has found themselves hyper-fixating over this fandom like I have recently 🦔

I’ll try to put them in sections but please note that quite a few of the topics tend to overlap. Oh and also, there happens to be an awful lot of Sonadow shipping too, because even if it’s not always the key focus in the story, it always seems to make its way into the things I consume now apparently 😅 So I’ll be sure to tag with 💙🖤❤️ if that’s relevant.

I hope you like this list (it took quite a while to put together) and be sure to show all of these stories and creators some love! 👇👇 👇

And obviously I had to start this list by plugging my own fanfiction stories, because I've been putting so much work into them and they will be updated regularly, while also making lots of other stuff as well... So please follow and/or subscribe for that... 😉 archiveofourown.org/users/cececatcreates

Live Action Universe:

Concord by EvieNyx (@evienyx) - [Complete] 💙🖤❤️ Focuses on Shadow after the third SCU movie. It’s really cute, and I feel like it accurately portrays movie-Shadow’s thoughts and memories, mixing together elements of the films with fan theories and other STH media canon.

Project Guardian by AealZX @aealzx - [Ongoing] Again, after the third SCU movie (there’s quite a few of them 😅) but Shadow is taken in as a fourth Wachowski sibling, who has to recover from severe injuries. Some art is included, and it’s just really sweet all-in-all.

Secrets In Our Quills by @nebrasska-alasska - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ I’m sure many of you are already aware of their amazing stories, but this one is the longest so far, and also the closest to being completed. But if you like Sonadow slowburn and plenty of gay fluff, you should definitely read all of their incredible fanfics.

A Junk Yard Of Possibilities by CrazyForClones (@crazyforclones) - [Complete] This story looks at what happened to Agent Stone after Dr Robotnik’s death and focuses on the potentially adorable friendship that could blossom between him and Tails.

Family Loading… Please Wait by Humanities_Handbag ( @humanityinahandbag) & Invader_Sam (@smerfols) - [Ongoing] This quickly became a favourite, as it did with many others. 💕 It starts all the way back with the Wachowski’s adopting Sonic and then Tails and Knuckles and eventually Stone and Shadow, and it’s just the biggest, cutest family dynamic.

What Makes Us Who We Are by EmmaSmoke ( @emmasmoke8) - This is about the Mobians doing certain things their Earth animal counterparts would naturally do. My favourite parts are definitely Tails doing adorable fox things and Tom and Maddie trying to figure out what the heck all their anthropomorphic alien children are doing. 😅

Suspended by CheetahBoy (@90sfr3sh) - This looks at what could have happened if Sonic and Tails didn't get rescued by Maddie and Rachel during the second film. It's such a cool concept, I'm very excited to see what happens next! 😁

General / Alternate Universes:

Sonic Wave by Sharp_Silver (@sharp-silver-fanfic) - [Ongoing] I really love this story! 💕 It’s basically a full retelling of the STH universe lore, taking elements from all different bits of media. It’s been crazy good so far, so please give them your support!

Weird Science by satan_official - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ This one is really interesting and it sort of makes me think of Equestria Girls (for any MLP fans out there!) but instead it’s Sonic and Shadow who are stuck in human bodies on the human world. It’s a bit different but really great so far 😁

Fixing Fractured Worlds We Briefly Broke by TheLittleStar_tm - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ This is a fellow Prime fanstory, focusing on the trauma of all the Green Hills characters we already all know and love in the aftermath of season 3. 💔

Boom To Another Dimension by Gamerblade - [Ongoing] Explores what could happen if the SCU Live Action film characters were sent to the Sonic Boom universe, with pretty regular updates being uploaded so far. 😊

Into The Tailsverse by TheCatCacoon - [Ongoing] This one has a bunch of my favourite little two-tailed foxes, and, as someone who is also exploring bringing different Miles Prowers together, it’s intriguing to see how someone else writes these characters 🦊

Culture Shock by foggystarrs (@foggystarrs) - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ Purely a Sonadow fanfiction, but it looks at hedgehog / Mobian courting behaviour and is just really cute 🥰 If you are a fan of oblivious gay and alien hedgehogs, you’ll probably love this one.

Others / Comics:

Sonic Desolation by Wren Rivers (@sonicdesolation by TrenchCoatGecko) - [Ongoing] This is a crazy detailed comic set around the events of the Sonic Forces game where Sonic is struggling with PTSD from what Infinite did to him during his imprisonment.

Heart Of A Monster by SuperEmeralds (@the-heart-of-a-monster by @superemerarts) - [Ongoing] Another insanely detailed comic, which is a retelling of Sonic Unleashed. Its so well done, plus there's a gentle sprinkling of platonic Sonadow.

Team Dark Supernova Odyssey by @sharpedgedfool (@teamdarksupernovaodyssey) - [Ongoing] This is a space opera comic revolving around found family and adventure themes, set as a hypothetical spin-off to the Shadow the Hedgehog video game.

Sonic Boom Revisited by @multiisketch , @mama-qwerty. & @star-stages (@sonicboomrevisited) - [Ongoing] This comic is amazing. A bit darker than the original series, but has just been so gripping so far. Regular updates too! Definitely recommended! 👍

Second Chance by @sumju - 💙🖤❤️ - Who doesn’t love a Sonadow comic?? Plus Tails is adorable as usual (and reminding Shadow of Maria 😭) so that’s an added bonus 🧡

Infested by @flightyalrighty - [Ongoing] Viewer discretion advised for this one, it seems pretty dark...

Ask the Sonic Verse by @verizzafai (@asksonicverse) 💙🖤❤️ - [Ongoing] This is a fun, silly ongoing series which focuses on different versions of Sonadow all being stuck in the same room and getting sent questions from the audience.

Low Light by @verizzafai (@soniclowlightau) 💙🖤❤️ - Only a few pages so far, but looks very promising!

Broken Future by @teamchillidogs 💙🖤❤️ - [Ongoing] A tragic re-telling of an alternate ending of Sonic Adventure 2.

Silver's Parent Trap by @evilgenius-prower 💙🖤❤️ - A silly AU where Silver is actually the adopted future child of Sonadow and goes back in time to try and save his dads lives.

Eggsperiments by @prince-less - This is a new concept so there's not much content about it yet, but I really hope it becomes either a proper comic or fanfic or something similar, because I'm such a sucker for alternate stories of Sonic and Tails being the best brothers, and this a really cool idea 🥺

Sonadow Future by @torusonicpilled 💙🖤❤️- [Ongoing] Another newer one, with a few fanfic chapters and a few comic pages, but they've already got me interested from the idea that Tails can be resurrected, so I'm excited to see where it goes next ☺️

Sonic & The Olympus Heroes by @miitarion - Not sure if this will be continued as it was only shared quite recently, so might just be a one-off, but the art is incredible; Definitely worth a read! ✨

@mercurio-shadowz - They've not been following a particular storyline, but their art and short comics (especially about Shadow being a closeted gay disaster) are awesome. 🤩

Incomplete / Unfinished:

These are a bunch of stories that I really grew to love but they either stopped too long ago and so are presumably forgotten about, or may have been abandoned entirely and will likely never receive any conclusions. I’ve included when they were last updated, but only read these at your own discretion! ⚠️

• Can’t Defeat A Genius Without Taking His Brain by xenoon [4 months] • Deepest Desire by Tirainy [5 years] 💙🖤❤️ • Mad About You by Cherivide [1 year] 💙🖤❤️ • Sonic The Second Speedster by ItsZaira [1 year] • Sonic the Vagabond Hedgehog by @trekkerac (@tatck) [1 year] - This quickly became a favourite; Sonic and Tails' relationship is so adorable 😭 But you might only want to read the first issue and think of it as complete, since the second issue isn't complete and hasn't been touched for a year or so... 😔

I've tagged as many people as I can and might come back to this list later if I find more that I enjoy, but for now I think (hope!) it's mostly up to date 💖

[miimo96]

Things I Do and DON'T wanna see for Sonic 4

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SONIC 3⚠️ DO NOT READ yet

With the introduction to Sonic 4 being Announced, here something's I wanna see happen in the 4th Sonic movie, now keep in mind these are just things I wanna SEE happen in the 4th movie and not that I know they're GOING to happen, it's just something I think Paramount/ SEGA should decide to do if Sonic 4 is going to be PEAK

1 thing I would absolutely love to see adapted into the Sonic films is the inclusion of rail grinding, Since it's obvious that we're going to be getting a metal Sonic storyline and therefore possibly a time travel one, I think seeing Rail grinding in probably an Apocalyptic future setting would be absolutely an amazing thing to see in live action, especially since it's pretty much a staple in Sonic games and hasn't really been adapted yet. Another thing I would love to see is the inclusion of the iconic Soap shoes, since this movie was basically taking inspiration from Sonic A2, not including the soap shoes was surprisingly a shock to me, especially since they're so iconic in that game, However I understood their reasoning probably being that they're just not in style anymore and therefore wouldn't really be serving a purpose, other than just being fan service, HOWEVER, if they were to include them in the 4th movie being that we're probably going to be seeing a possible Apocalyptic setting, then seeing Rail grinding and Soap shoes would definitely be a possible thing, especially since the Soap shoes would Definitely fit in with the overall futuristic vibe

Next up is Sonic and Amy's relationship, tbh I HONESTLY do not want her to just be solely obsessed with Sonic, I get that's her character and all but there are so many different ways you can go about it, With how she's been characterized recently, I think she'll be more than just that but I really hope they actually go that route and change her, as much as I hate the show, I really love how she's depicted in Sonic Boom, her design is beautiful, her voice is on point, and her relationship with Sonic is just so damn cute because she's not just a damsel and is actually an effing fighter and leader, Also 1 more thing I whole heartily want to see, is Sonic to just be awkward around amy and actually have him experience/ fall in love for once, most Sonic games and shows like to keep him closed off from amy and kinda deny his feelings for her, i think it would be cool if they would break away from that trope and actually have him acknowledge his feelings for her instead, Maybe that's just because I'm such a huge Sonamy shipper and have been since the beginning but it's whatever lol

Finally one thing I DON'T want to see them do again for this film is bring back Dr eggman, I feel like This will be the absolute perfect opportunity to determine weather or not the Sonic movies are ONLY Successful because of Jim Carey. if they decide to not bring back robotnik and actually decide to focus on a whole New villain and are still able to succeed in the box office, then this will undoubtedly PROVE that the Sonic films are the BEST way to do a video game adaptation and were meant to be successful with or without Jim Carey, because let's be real, if it wasn't for Jim Carey's performance then the Sonic movies wouldn't be doing as nearly as good as they are now, that isn't to say they're BAD cuz they're NOT, it's just to say that they wouldn't do as good or as well if it wasn't for robotnik. Going forward without Robotnik I think would be a Great way to test the franchise and not only give a New Villain a chance to shine, but would also prove to Paramount, that they can still COOK with or without Carey, in my opinion, having Metal Sonic be the Main Villain of the next movie would not only give you the chance to adapt other Sonic villains in a unique way, but I think probably make THIS ONE the SCARIEST villain of all time, especially with Metal/NEO Sonic.

A Villain with No emotion, No alternate motive, no remorse, No DEEPER meaning other than simply having the "I Want to KILL YOU" mindset and is just STRAIGHT UP Evil is something I haven't seen done in a Long time, tbh you can probably make him the Ultron of the Sonic universe and have him JUST be evil and it wouldn't bother us at all as long as you write him well, Plus robotnik LITERALLY had the greatest character arc in this film, from wanting to take over the world, to ending up being the one who saves it, yeah it doesn't get better than that. I Guarantee you that if Robotnik DOESN'T come back and we Actually get a new Villain that will be the BEST move for the Sonic films as a whole and I think will have the chance to ACTUALLY expand on more of his cast from here out, anyway those are just my thoughts but whaddya think?

[smallpwbbles]

Oh gosh, I think it's time for me to speak up!

I first became intimately acquainted with the Sonic franchise in 2022, just about as soon as Sonic movie 2 came out. My meet came out completely by accident, I had just watched (what I thought were) all the interesting movies, which at the time I thought were Marvel, Mandalorian, and Transformers.

I wrote "family movies" in a search engine, and went to a random site with a list of movies. And lo and behold, almost at the very end I saw the cover of the first Sonic movie and a brief description. I thought the look of the movie Sonic was weird but funny and decided to watch it. The whole day that followed was like I was missing from reality. The first movie was followed by the second one, which was just filmed on an amateur camera in a theater , with crappy sound and freezes and casino ads then.

I was puzzled: the movie wasn't serious and childish, and my media sensitivity screamed that the movie was silly and meant for preschoolers, but my imagination exploded. I couldn't stop thinking about the hilarious and explosive nature of this guy, and his story in general, I was literally IT'S STUPID, IT'S HORRIBLY STUPID BUT I LIKE HIM SO MUCH, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH GOD WHAT AM I GONNA DO, and the tragic character stories, the graphics of the movie, the cute relationship between Sonic and Tom was a pain in my brain. The second movie was just as well received. I watched them several times in a row, downloaded all the music from there and was no longer embarrassed by my "childhood fascination" and marveled.

Soon after that I started reading in Wikipedia who Sonic was, and it turned out that there were many comics and animated series about him (I didn't realize that he was a game character, and had little interest in games). I watched all of Sonic X and was impressed. Sonic's funny nature for me at the time was intertwined with seriousness and coolness then. Sonic Boom I only watched a few episodes, and the ones with Shadow in them I liked the best. After that came Fleetway comics and something similar. After a while I discovered IDW comics and Ghosts of the Future.

It wasn't until the end, after creating my Tumblr account that I started learning about Sonic games and their stories. And only in the last six months I started to notice some flaws in the plot of games, movies, but I never treated it with criticism. Sonic became for me a symbol of freedom and a ray of light leading me through life, no matter what kind of games and movies, critics and fans presented him.

Everyone sees something in Sonic that makes them love this guy! And I'm glad I didn't get into Sonic fandom before I watched and read his story from various sources and formed my own independent opinion about him :]

This just put a stupid smile on my face god I love this so much for you!

[essycogany]

Rare But Not So Rare Sonic Moments. Character Analysis.

Crying

A weird topic I’m more then happy to discuss.

Mandate: “Sonic’s not allowed to get overly emotional.”

I’m starting to think the mandates do break in a few instances. This one specifically is something I’m quite interested in because this is probably one of the rarest emotions Sonic displays. Getting sad/emotional.

Hopefully this essay will be a positive outlook on the mandate.

(Despite being a discussion about negative emotions.)

Examples Of Sonic Getting Emotional

I might not include everything, but the examples I have knowledge of will be stated. If you have anymore examples, I’d love to see them.

SATAM: Sonic cried when he and the Freedomfighters had to leave his Uncle Chuck in Robotnik’s lab.

Archie: The times Sonic cried/teared up was when the weight of a situation got to him, when something tragic occurred and all hope was lost, or when he was filled with joy after those instances ended. Those moments like others, didn’t go too far. (For the most part)

Pretty sure he never out right sobbed.

Underground: I think Sonic only cried when he was a little kid.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

X: In episode 52 Sonic allowed his tears to shed with his head turned away from us. He and Chris ran one last time before Sonic left through a portal to go home forever. It obviously crushed him even if we didn’t see his face.

Boom: Sonic cried/teared up in two episodes of the show. First when Tails was reminiscing about the Tornado and noticed Sonic wiping his eyes. Sonic replied, “What?” Then he, Knuckles, and Tails all cried when they thought the baby they took care of was gone. Also, in Archie when Stick’s rock friend broke or “Died,” everyone in team Boom morned it. Sonic included.

IDW: Sonic shed tears in the Scrapnick Island Issue. Even if it was “Mecha Sonic’s” tears I’ll count it anyways because it’s a good loophole and it came out of Sonic’s eyes.

Movie 1: It’s implied he indeed cried during the baseball scene. The sources being a deleted scene and story-board of the film.

Prime: This doesn’t really count, but Sonic teared up in the first episode when he was held captive by the Chaos Council and had light blasted in his eyes, when he was in darkness. Then Sonic actually cried in episode 7 when he ate a seadog. Either because he was home-sick or starving.

(In the last episode of season two it’s implied he might cry in the next episode. Especially with the shot of him looking on the verge of tears and then covered his eyes in the background of the last shot, but we’ll see.)

By the way. You can see the instant improvement from episode 1 to 7 of the tears animation. Just thought I’d say that.

My Overall Thoughts

Hold on because this is going to be a long ride.

First thing I’d like to discuss is the mandate itself.

I personally don’t believe it means, “Sonic shouldn’t cry.”

(Which has been stated a bunch)

If that were the case, I don’t think this majority of moments (specifically the recent ones) would’ve happened. I think the mandate meant Sonic couldn’t and or shouldn’t go too far with his emotions. I don’t think the mandate existing makes any since, but I won’t get into that.

My point is, Sonic can cry, just not in an overly dramatized way unless it’s done for comedic purposes.

(I say that because of Sonic Boom and the 7th episode of Prime examples. Which are obviously not meant to be taken seriously)

My opinions on Sonic crying.

It’s not necessarily needed, but I don’t mind if it’s done well. I do believe Sonic shouldn’t go too far unless the situation does.

One Issue in Archie when Sonic’s entire life was basically ruined, is a good example. If you’re going to have such calamities happen to him, especially since he has zero ego or mask to hold onto, I think it’s a fair enough scenario for him to react as drastic as his misfortune.

But I believe if he were to cry in something like the Metal Virus. (Just for an example) it could be like how Espio teared up after Vector’s sacrifice.

Crazy idea. Let’s talk about Shadow for a minute.

Shadow is one of the most stoic characters in the entire franchise. He barely smiles, gets excited, or displays any overly positive emotions. While Sonic rarely cries, gets angry, or shows any harsh negative emotions. Shadow and Sonic are opposites because of that.

Sonic’s overall a positive and outgoing guy who wants to keep moving forward. Whenever he has the time to worry, he runs. Faces his problems head on. Sonic only let’s a small amount of his true emotions out when helping someone else. In general Sonic’s a pretty optimistic character.

Shadow on the other hand is a reserved and serious guy. Who wants what’s best for the world too, but in a more calculated and planned out manner. But for some reason, in Sonic Adventure 2 after Amy encouraged Shadow to save the world, (Which reminded him of Maria’s real wish) He sheds a tear.

I repeat. Shadow is the most stoic character in the entire franchise. Who rarely shows his emotions. And yet he cries.

Why can’t Sonic? To be fair, Sonic usually doesn’t have time to think, let alone worry about how he feels. But if Shadow himself can have a short moment of releasing his emotional baggage, why can’t the blue blur?

Is Sonic even as happy as he let’s on?

I’d say he’s genuinely happy half of the time. Then the other half Sonic’s internalizing everything negative in him. Everyone knows Sonic’s overall upbeat, but we’ve seen plenty of times (In the Metal Virus specifically) when he’s thinking, or enduring the chaos around him, he doubts himself. Sonic has these insecurities and emotions he barely let’s anyone see.

Besides Issue #24

Even in Sonic Prime while Sonic shows the most guilt, sincerity, anger, fear, and sadness in the show. He sometimes still puts on a front and acts like everything’s fine.

Sonic Unleashed I’m pretty sure was the first and only time we’ve seen him mope for a minute. All because Amy didn’t know who he was. So, he does have some level of insecurities lingering every once in a while.

Can Sonic crying even work?

How I interpret him crying is when he’s alone. Some people theorize in certain instances like SA2 and Unleashed with Shadow and Chip’s sacrifices, he cried a little. I’m fascinated by this idea. I believe it’s the most in character way to let him cry. Maybe even something like X when his face isn’t shown, but you know how he’s feeling.

Even if we do see Sonic’s face, him crying or tearing up could be shown without being over the top. Normalize it in a way that doesn’t fly off the handle. His expression could have a hint of frustration, anger, or exhaustion. Crying is normal and I don’t see Sonic crying as out of character because it’s been done plenty of times.

It’d be nice if it happened in order to make Sonic feel more believable and sympathetic. As long as the dude’s not on the floor whaling, I’m sure it can work.

Final Thoughts

There are other ways to show Sonic’s emotions. Again, crying doesn’t have to happen, but it does help the writing feel less unnecessarily limited of what kind of emotions can be displayed on this character.

Though there are benefits too. Like finding fun loopholes or small animated details like in IDW and Prime. Sonic not crying so much makes the times he does (or may do in the future) feel earned and impactful. The examples before prove it can be done without taking away what makes Sonic who he is. It just needs to be subtle, quiet, and quick. Or humorous. Depends on what you think.

At the end of it all, Sonic’s a tough hedgehog. Him shedding a few tears won’t ever change that.

Stay Creative! 💜

[usafphantom2]

Sonic boom certainly had its place in history.

The Sound of Freedom. 51 years ago, on May 2, 1972.

During the Vietnam War, the word was out that the prisoners that the Vietnamese had captured were being tortured. They were struggling to find a plan to rescue the POWs. Attempts to escape had been met with beatings for the entire camp of prisoners of war if one person attempted to escape. In May 1972 a new plan was installed telling the POWs that if they hear the sound of thunder that they were to escape and run down to the river where there would be Navy SEALs waiting to rescue them. There was disagreement among the inmates about whether to risk another escape. A senior POW convinced them that it wasn’t right to make everyone in the camp suffer if they were captured during the escape. Without knowing that the POWs were not going to escape the plan went forth.

The plan was for two SR-71 Blackbird planes to fly over the Hanoi Hilton.

The flight plan was to fly the SR‘s so close that their sonic booms would be only 30 seconds apart. On May 2 and May 4 this happened. POW signal, May 2, 1972, SR-71 number, 979, first of three aircraft. The first indication I had that we might fly a mission like this, (where two SR-71 would crisscross over North Vietnam thirty seconds apart), was when one of the planners asked me at the OL “how close, in time, can you come over a point on the ground?” I told him, “as close as you want.” I don’t think he believed me because he said, “can you come to the point within thirty seconds to two minutes?” I said, “of course, we can control airspeed and reach the point at the time you want us to be at the point in space.”We had this capability because we had insisted at Edwards’, in 1965, that we know the time to the next point, (time to go) something the computer experts and engineers at Edwards’ never thought about and never understood why we needed this information.

Bob Spencer and I, Richard “Butch” Sheffield we were the senior crew in the wing at the time, and Chief of the Standardization Division; were selected to lead both the missions and take off first. Darrel Cobb and Reg Blackwell was the spare crew and took off later to position themselves to replace either aircraft. Tom Pugh and Ron Rice took off about an hour later and met us over Hanoi.

After refueling over Thailand, we climbed to altitude and heading north along the China boarder. Once we reach the speed were our inlets and spikes programmed properly, we clicked our mike to single Cobb and Blackwell that we were OK and going on to the target. They flew a random course back to Kadena. About three days after we landed back at Kadena, the staff decided to look at Cobb and Blackwell’s film collected on the random course back to Kadena. A POW camp was found.

On May 4, 1972 we did it all over again the same exact mission (SR-71 number 980, first of three).

Same results, but we shaved one half second off the separation time to thirty-one and one half second.

We came across Hanoi on a southerly heading at seventy-six-thousand feet at Mach 3.17; Pugh and Rice came across the same point, thirty-two seconds after us, at seventy eight-thousand feet on a westerly heading.

The mission was a complete success. No one could believe that we came within two seconds of the mark

I understand that some SR pilots who came along years later have been saying the booms were simultaneous. That is not so, they were thirty-one seconds apart. I served on two promotion boards with former POW’s, they said they heard the two distinct booms, but did not know why we did it.

I now know that it was to signal the POW’s, the book, “Operation Thunderhead”, written by Navy SEAL Kevin Dockery that confirms it.

I am proud of my father that he participated in and helped in the planning of the mission of the sound of freedom.`Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X

[icetobes]

michie x sonic

- ruth compares them to sonadow ONCE (because she’s like that yk i love her)

- max: knows nothing about sonic, really loves being compared to a cool hedgehog

- richie: knows everything (tails is his fave tho)

- richie would tell max all of the shadow lore and max WOULD cry about it

- max learns about the characters and becomes emotional and maternal over cream <3

- max asks richie if they can watch all the sonic films (live action) and max enjoys them THOROUGHLY!!!!!

- richie makes max watch sonic boom and sonic prime (max can do an incredible pirate knuckles impression - richie does sonic impressions, all. the. time.)

- max buys sonic 2 just so they can play together (he hasn’t learnt about the other games yet)

- they both enjoy the gamecube videos, they become bedtime rituals while they’re winding down (laughing their asses off while ‘trying’ to go to sleep)

i cannot think of anymore rn but they’re so dear to me, im also not a HUGE sonic fan, i am max in this situation where i just kinda latch onto characters and parts of media, though ive only ever played like 2 sonic games

feel free to add onto this if you have more sonic knowledge than i do (it’s highly likely)🫡

[un-pearable]

internally: decent movie. more tolerable than the previous for most parts. rewatchable. FINALLY has a soundtrack that sounds like sonic and DOESNT have gratuitous plot-irrelevant human scenes. sonic gets to do sonic stuff!!!!! characterization makes sense given previous movies and (very slightly) nudges him towards something potentially interesting. not inventive AT ALL (missing everything intriguing about SA2) but could be worse

externally: while some lore omissions make sense given the world established by the previous films, those choices are boring and others they make are completely baffling changes. rouge omission harms the whole thing. i dislike the entire direction they’ve taken with their sonic characterization and the themes and they fundamentally miss key traits for everyone involved . why did we do this. what was the point

it’s fun. more consistently enjoyable than the previous but that’s mostly bc the scenes that bothered me with the aggressive Carryness had tails in them so i could just watch him be cute.

lore change to make him another mystery alien is annoying but frustratingly makes sense given the context. i’m not torn up over it <- don’t care about shadow and didn’t expect much going in . the missing part of maria’s story is ridiculous though (why is she just there??????)

i love herrrr i love her 70s energy and outfits and i will incorporate the roller skates. its soooo cute . the godzilla movie with the biolizard is pretty funny but that’ll totally piss off diehards. i do think they do good job of showing shadow + maria as friends and why he cares so much about her but that’s mainly just the scope of a film vs a video game

COWARDS THOUGH . SAYING “THEYRE CHILDREN” ON SCREEN TO INTERRUPT A SHOT-FOR-SHOT RECREATION OF HER DEATH??? THATS THE POINT. SHES A CHILD. ITS A TRAGEDYY

the shots directly from the shadow 2005 intro…. unbelievable . hilarious

akira bike slide ON VERTICAL BUILDING is cool i’m here for it

low budget flight and actual sonic-esque music…. i accept my crumbs

knuckles is lame. literally stolen joke from sonic boom w the team knuckles stuff. i wanted him to fight sonic over the ME so bad

the wade reveal is physically painful like i knew it happened in the show but he sucks sucks and right after the only satisfying scene w the humans (shadow fuckin up tom) . ME you deserve betterrrrr

torn on the overall message. i think it’s a more coherent film than the last two and the message isn’t terrible - it aligns with sonic’s overall freedom and choice vibes. but having shadow be a tag along to eggman’s schemes is a weird choice given he was pretty explicitly the one who wanted to . yknow. blow up the earth in the first place and just gave eggman the tools in SA2. this version takes a lot of agency out of his story bc gerald is here. which is weird since the whole explicit theme is choices!!

fucking gerald. can i kill someone. mr carrey i hate him

extremely dragon ball combat. which is fine but unexciting . WHERE the fuck did the emeralds go at the end they just??? gone??? they detransform and (incorrectly) sonic falls out of super and shadow dies but the emeralds flat out do not appear in the film again after they initially transform . what happened

FINALLY giving us a heart to heart AND live and learn for the fight ONLY TO CUT AWAY TO TWO MINUTES OF CARREY SHENANIGANS. illegal . egregious. im glad he’s dead

the shift from sonic having to inspire shadow to be better and move onto his past to . shadow pulling a ‘you’re just like me’ is lame. hello again scourge .

like it’s a logical change especially given the target audience and the kind of stories that are popular rn but it’s sooo less interesting than SA2’s thing

shadow being confronted by sonic bc he challenges his belief of being exceptional and makes him reconsider what it’s possible to be -> shadow being sonic’s narrative parallel bc they both had one (1) human they liked who they would do anything for

^^^ it’s bad. not unwatchable like sonic 1 but bad change. makes sense for this established universe tho so i get it

tails is great . colleen should be paid more

WAIT THINKING ABOUT LIVE & LEARN AGAIN. I CANT FUCKIN BELIEVE IT at least they had the music still playing when they cut back to the fight scene but that bullshit w the egged men. torture

yay shadow dead!!!!! no that final endcredit didn’t happen

the moon shot was cool. sadly now sonadow fans will claim the moon <- IT WAS SONKNUX TERRITORY FIRST

rouge would have made this film 1000000000% better

why so many metal sonic???????? hi amy

at least she’s cute i’ve seen so many bad edits since 2020 at least she’s cute. i’m intrigued w the cloak choice what’s going on here. just to hide the outfit so they can change it? reference? hmm

fascinating implication for whatever 4 is going to be. in my heart carreybotnik stays dead and we get a pseudo heroes where metal is pretending to be him. but alas i fear the family focus for eggman in this film is leading up to. him making metal sonic and treating him as his kid. which could be fucked up in fun ways but i’m so tired of carreyisms

they did say 2027 though which is an extra year than the last two got…. what are you budgeting guys

why oh why is shadow consistently the only character who gets any emotional arcs or storytelling it taunts me…. can’t even hate the guy bc he’s the only one with interesting stories . this story sucks and it’s still better than what knux got . orz

sayonara shadow the hedgehog

[rascalentertainments]

The Wedding of Boost the Badger 🦡💒👮🏿‍♀

I spent too much time on a ship from an alternate dimension of a superhero world I made, but I love it still.

All characters are inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog and various video games, but they are completely original!

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Boost the Badger had been through nearly every kind of danger you could imagine:

Nearly fed to ravenous piranhas while being suspended from the ceiling. Escaping the primal eyes of a world class hunter bent on claiming his head as the ultimate prize. Saving a city from a robotic invasion from Professor Benedict. Even going up against a mecha version of himself created by the mad doctor.

However, none of that even comes close to his greatest challenge yet: His own wedding.

To say Boost had cold feet was understatement. He was the fastest badger in his dimension, but when it came time for the ceremony, his paws were shaking.

He looked at himself in the mirror. Instead of his usual blazing red racing jacket, he on a sharp black tuxedo top, with a black tie and silver cufflinks. Boost looked a bit strange even to himself. His friend Boxer the Bear had mentioned it was rare for the badger to dress up.

"Come on, you can do this." He told his reflection.

But this was something he had to do. He loved Janet for years and proposing to her wasn't exactly done in a normal way. They had a bit of rocky, and pretty hilarious first meeting.

Janet was going the wrong way as she was sent on a mission to infiltrate his arch nemesis' base. Boost had happened to be on the same highway as her and just wanted to tease the lost driver. Boost in his usual cocky way, let her know the right way to go. From then on he joined her on the mission in case she needed back up, despite Janet's protests.

Neither of them knew that would be one of many meetings they would have on adventures would bring them closer. Eventually, they wanted to meet up outside of missions and became good friends. As time passed, it developed into something much more.

The badger had dated in the past, it came with being a popular hero in his home city, Blue Sky Zone. They were quick, just like himself. Always moving onto the next thing. However, something about Janet made him want to see her more than once. Perhaps it was her firey personality, or the way she handled her weapon when up against an enemy and refused to back down. Or maybe he liked the way her long, black, curly hair blew in wind during an explosion in background like an action film.

Everyday he wanted to see her, so he always found a way to visit her, or drop in the Protection Force's zone for a team up.

Janet taught him to slow down and appreciate the things around him in the present. And he's been seeing the world in a whole new way ever since. There was so much of the world he was missing, and he didn't want to miss anymore of it. Or see it alone.

After three years of dating, Boost eventually proposed to Janet using one of his famous silver dollars he used for extra power. And he asked her to go to the next level with him. That brings us to today.

Boost smacked himself slightly on the muzzle. It was ridiculous for him to be acting like this. He was Boost the Badger for pete's sake!

His friend Boxer had burst through the door, seemingly reading his mind. "Come on, bro. Janet's gonna be out there soon. You should be the last creature on Earth to get cold feet!" his deep voice boomed through the room. 

Boost laughed at the bear. "Yeah, you got me there. I guess I've been nervous about all this. Boy, I'd never thought I'd say that about anything..."

Boxer scoffed as he took a handful of nearby peanuts from a bowl.  "You can fight an army of mechanimals in a single afternoon, but this makes you nervous? If Benedict knew this was your weakness, he would've beaten you years ago!" He crushed the peanuts in his large claws, freeing them from their shells. Boxer then shoved them in his mouth, crunching loudly. "You better not keep her waiting, she's the only woman I've seen deal with your antics this long."

"Let's just hope that he doesn't try anything right now. The last thing we need is a wedding crasher with mecha animals." Booster laughed half-heartedly. "Well, gotta run!"

And with that, he zipped out of the room, leaving a gust of wind blowing in the room. Boxer grabbed his cap before it flew out the window. He couldn't help but chuckle at his friend. He was always one to run head first into something, but he never thought it would lead him to marriage of all things. It seems like he had the same outlook on this just like any other adventure. "Heh. Still the same Boost.... Janet better know what she's getting into with this guy."

In her own dressing room, Agent Janet Diamond was having her own nervousness about this day. Not the extent of Boost, but she certainly had jitters. She was excited to finally tie the knot, she just never dreamt it would be him. Out of all the people and all the lands in their video game melting pot world, she fell for the fastest badger alive. It surprised everyone: her team mates, family, and even herself. Considering he came off pretty annoying in the beginning.

Janet could vividly remember their first meeting. She was sent a mission to find out what dangerous chemicals were being used during Professor Benedict's new line of super charged mecha animals. This was largely outside the Protection Force's zone, but the invasion could've spread to their land quickly.

Driving there, Boost appeared almost out of nowhere on the hood of her car. While she was driving it.

He annoyed her at first by teasing her going the wrong way, but he ended up helping her get on the right track. Janet didn't want a partner on this mission, but the badger had no plans on leaving her to her work.

The two of them had worked surprisingly well together, as his quick thinking and speed complimented her battle ready additude and and long distance combat training. Together they had cleared Benidict's tower reached his main lab, but one of his henchmen triggered a trap door into a pool of laval for Janet when the two got separated. As she fell, believing she was going to meet a fiery grave she cursed herself for letting her guard down again.

She believed she could handle it all on her own. After all, her last partner (and boyfriend) left her to defender herself from a chimera laboratory collapsing in on itself. Even though he was fully capable of going back and saving her, he chose to save himself. Janet never trusted another person to be by her side. That is, until Boost had appeared like lightning, jumping into the trap after her and saved Janet's life before it was too late.

When asked why he came back, the badger replied with a grin on his fuzzy muzzle: "Leaving you behind just isn't my style." Right then and there, she fell in love with Boost the Badger.

Janet had admired his sense of justice, even with his slightly cocky attitude. He genuinely cared about the people in his city and protecting them from the robot obsessed villain. She could talk to Booster about anything, as she chatted with him for hours as they shared cheeseburgers. Exchanging stories with each other about their wild adventures prior to meeting each other. Despite him being significantly shorter than her (not that she minded), his charm and wit more than made up for his height. He could also look pretty dashing when he was running at top speed or in battle.

She wanted to see him, no matter the excuse. Even to a point where they called each other nearly everyday, even when they couldn't see each other. Despite her fellow teammates having concerns about their relationship, (which she denied she was even in for a long time) she just ignored them. Even her best friend had asked, "Out of all the people in the world, why did you have to fall for him?"

All Janet could say in response was, "I guess I wanted something new." 

After they started dating, Janet grew comfortable with Boost zipping in unexpectedly. In fact, she loved when he dropped in and surprised her. It usually meant he had something exciting for the two of them, whether it was a secret adventure or taking her to a beautiful sight he had seen on his travels and wanted to show her.

She never told him, but she really look forward to the holiday season with Boost. As he grew a fluffier fur coat during the winter, it gave her an excuse to snuggle with him many times for warmth. (Not to mention he looked more rugged when said fur had grown on him)

Janet's thoughts were interrupted by her best friend, Princess Rose. "Janet, darling. Are you listening?" she asked in her light tone.

Janet shook her head to get her focus back. "Oh, sorry, Rose. My mind was somewhere else. What did you say?"

The princess was holding two rose bouquets, one red and one white. "Which color of roses would you like? They both look fabulous to me, but it is your wedding! Or did you want something else? Daisies? Violets? Or are you looking for something less common?" She was brimming with excitement over the whole event. Rose even volunteered to be the wedding planner and organize nearly everything from the venue, to the music and even wedding cake flavors. She even paid for everything with her family's fortune!

Janet was greatful for everything she had done, but there were times where she could be a bit...much. 😅

"The red ones are perfectly fine, Rose." She looked back the mirror at herself. "I guess I just feel a bit weird in this whole outfit. Heck, this whole wedding feels surreal."

Janet rarely wore different outfits. If it wasn't for an undercover mission, or when she went somewhere special with Boost, it was usually the same old uniform she has during missions. Being in a dress-a wedding dress-felt strange to her.

Princess Rose gasped. "Please don't tell me you're having second thoughts about this. I've spent five months preparing everything and it would be devastating if you chose to leave!" She said in a dramatic flare

Janet couldn't tell if she was over-reacting or being serious, it was hard to tell most of the time with her.

"No, no! Of course not! I still want to marry Boost. I just can't help but wonder what will happen to us after the wedding." Janet walked over to the window and looked outside. The 8-bit birds were flying high and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a bit odd to feel this much safety since most of her life has been one action filled mission after the other.

"I mean, are we going to feel the same as we are now? Will we be around each other too long and start to get on each others' nerves? What if I can't protect him like he does with me?" Before meeting Boost, she wasn't much of a talker. Now she felt comfortable after countless hours talking to the speedy creature.

Rose laughed. "Oh darling! There's nothing to worry about! You can be quite determined when you want to be. While I still don't understand what you see in that badger, he makes you happy, and that's what matters. You should trust that you two will be even happier than when you first met!" She twirled around making her violet dress glide slightly up. 

Janet shook her head. How did she get such crazy yet loveable friends like her? "Well, I appreciate that at least you've come around to the idea of us."

Rose put a finger to her chin as she joined Janet by the window, looking down at the gathered crowd. More specifically Boost. "Though I must admit that he his quite handsome. Those eyes of his shine like onyx gems. And that coat of fur is- " 

"All right, all right. I get your point, Rose. Thank you." Janet replied with an annoyed tone. Those compliments sounded a bit too nice for her taste.

But she quickly waved it off. Janet could be stubborn sometimes, and had doubts at times about how a plan should go. But one thing was certain: She loved Boost with all her heart. Even if she couldn't say it out loud sometimes.

"Come on, I've got a wedding to get to." Janet smiled at her friend. As she headed for the door.

Suddenly, there was a large creaking sound that tore through the room, along with the floor shaking and rumbling.

The roof tore open and an army of robots dropped in and surrounded the two women, barring their mechanical claws and fangs at them.

Meanwhile outside, Boost was waiting with the rest of large cast of friends and family. Both the Bride and Groom's families were very concerned about their blooming relationship a few years back. While some still objected to it, the rest of both sides gave in protesting. However, Boost's family was a lot more open to Janet as time went on.

The speedster badger was beginning to tap his foot so quickly, his shoe looked like a blur. It was obvious that he was getting more nervous.

His younger friend Glide the Squirrel stepped on his foot to get him to stop. "Can't you stay still for more than a few seconds? I thought you were cooler than that!"

Boost grabbed his foot and made sure nothing was broken. "Yeah, yeah. I got the lecture from Box already. Look, even heroes get nervous you know. I just hope she hasn't changed her mind..."

Glide looked around and noticed that Janet and Princess Rose we're the only ones missing from the wedding. He was pretty good seeing from long distances both on land and air, but he didn't the two women anywhere. "Now that you mention it. She's taking longer than I thought. I wonder what's the hold up?"

Suddenly a dark shadow was cast over the wedding, followed by loud rumbling. Everyone looked up and saw a giant metal ship floating slowly descending from the clouds that seemingly only appeared when the ship arrived. It oddly looked like a breakfast sandwich, but despite its funny design, there was terror waiting inside.

"Aw, crap. Don't tell me he's here. Not now!" Boost growled. He knew all to well who this ship belonged too.

At the bottom of the breakfast themed ship, a much smaller egg shaped hovercraft descended from it. As it slowly got closer into view, the shell cracked open and a large rotund man with a bushy mustache burst from the shell. He had a wicked grin as he finished his dramatic entrance with a bow.

"Professor Benedict..." Boost snarled as he grit his teeth.

"HAHAHAHA! Congratulations on your wedding, my badger friend!" Professor Benedict announced with his southern accent. "But I must say I'm deeply hurt y'all didn't invite me!" he pulled out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe a tear away.

"Why would I ever invite you to my wedding?" Booster shouted at the man, clenching his fists and took a fighting stance.

"Cause I bring the most explosive gifts to every event!" The professor snapped his fingers and multiple colored packages with the words "Just Married" written on them fell from his ship.

Gilde recognized what those gifts really were. "Everyone, take cover!" He yelled as he flew a nearby kid away from the dropsite.

Everyone scattered away and screamed as the gift went off. Each one made an explosion of destructive confetti as it blew parts if the ground to smithereens.

Boost zig-zagged across the field as he grabbed as many guests as possible and saved them. He was stopped in his tracks by a mecha rooster that had his metallic red eyes set on destroying the badger.

"Oh! And I hope you don't mind that I brought some guests with me. They really wanted to join the fun, so you better have enough food for everyone!" Benedict teased. He looked around and saw that all the guests were indeed heroes and allies from the other zones. 

"And knowing this happy event will be your last, I wanted to meet the lucky lady who stole your heart!" He pushed a button and two mecha gorilla jumped down from the nearby castle and slammed to the ground. Each of them held Janet and Princess Rose tightly in their arms. Both of them were struggling to break free.

"JANET!" Boost shouted at as he was his fiance in danger. He dashed above the mecha rooster's head and attempted to reach her, but the robo bird grabbed his leg and threw him against a tree instead.

Benedict laughed once more. "HOHOHO! I sense someone's being protective! Who would've thought you of all people would settle down for married life? You've been getting soft after all!"

Boost struggled to get up, but the mecha rooster grabbed him by his neck and raised him up in the air to keep him from running and having a fighting chance.

Janet saw the scene and reached for a hidden holster on her leg underneath her wedding dress, pulling out her plasma gun. She shot the metal menace in the back. It was a direct hit! The rooster fell, and Boost got his feet to the ground. He immediately dashed across the ground and kicked both of the mecha gorillas in the head, freeing the women from their clutches.

"That was ten times worse than being kidnapped by King Serpent..." Princess Rose gasped as she looked at her bridesmaid outfit which was now covered in oil and dust from the mechanical beasts. "Those animals ruined my dress AND everything I set up?!"

She looked directly at the speedster and shouted. "YOU BETTER KICK HIS BUTT FOR ME, MR. BOOST!"

Boost had no idea of how big Rose's temper got when she was angry, but he agreed. "Can do, Princess! This'll be way past easy!"

He then called over to his bear friend. "Yo, Box! Take the princess to a safe place, I don't think that electrician that usually saves her is coming today."

Box stepped in and kicked up the princess in her arms. "No problem. Then it'll be time to kick some metal butt!"

Rose blushed at the sight of his strength. "Oh my, such brute force!" It was taking quite a bit of her own strength to remember that electrician friend of hers.

After the civilians were further away, Boost, Janet and their friends worked together to beat the mecha army. Meanwhile the professor was eating popcorn and watching the while fight unfold. He was confident his victory was close.

Fur, nuts and bolts flew as everyone fought their hardest. Not to mention the explosions coming from the weapons the mecha animals fired at them.

"Even on our wedding day we have to fight somebody off? I know this might be a bit selfish to say, but I'm glad something else exciting happened today!" Janet shot her plasma gun at several mecha pandas, knocking them over like bowling pins.

"To be fair, I didn't even plan on this. Leave it to this wack job to mess things up as usual!" Boost said as punted a spare kid's ball into the head of a mecha pig.

"Hey, I heard that!" The professor warned them.

"You're not even nervous about any of this at all! Its like just a regular Tuesday to you isn't? Makes you have second thoughts?" Janet questioned as she shot more three more robots.

"Of course I'm nervous!" The badger replied as he kicked a mecha crocodile in the stomach then threw him into another mecha croc, causing them to explode on impact. "I know I seem like the most perfect guy you've ever seen. But I mess things up sometimes, and I just don't want to mess this up with you."

Janet smiled when she heard that, not even looking at the incoming mecha dog coming for her. "You mean that?" She grabbed the dog by the collar as it leaped at her, then threw it into the water fountain. "All this time I thought I was the one thinking too hard about this. I just want us to be together..."

(Talking about their feelings like this was normally reserved for when they were in private, but this was something different.)

Boost punched another robot so hard it actually shut down when it fell. The whole time he looked at his fiance with shining eyes. "Me too...I love you, Janet." 

"I love you, Boost..." she whispered back. 

They stood in the battlefield and held each others hands. It was as if there wasn't any deadly robots after them. It was only two people in love.

Professor Benedict spit out his popcorn. This wasn't part of the plan! "What? No! You're supposed to be arguing, not being lovey dovey! That's not how marriage works!" 

As the professor raved, Boxer took advantage of him being distracted and punched the craft down to the ground. He ended up landing on some the destroyed robots. As the smoke cleared, he saw his entire army was nothing but scrap. Boost and Janet looked ready to give him some payback.

Benedict gulped. "Maybe I could just send you my gift in the mail instead?" He sheepishly grinned.

Boost looked as his fiance. "Wanna do this together?" He asked as he offered his hand to his soon to be wife.

Janet returned his grin and grabbed his hand. "I wouldn't miss this chance for the world."

Together, to two of them brought in a massively powerful kick to Benedict's egg craft and sent him flying back into the sky.

"CURSE YOU, BADGER! AND YOUR NEW WIFE TOO!" He yelled as he took off. His voice echoed as he disappeared into the clouds.

The crowd cheered as they bid the professor good riddance. At least until came crawling back with a new scheme.

But for now, Boost and Janet just wanted to get married already. 😆

"Say, you mind if we go ahead tie the knot now? At least before another crazy villain interrupts today." Janet asked the preacher. She looked a bit tired from the battle, but she still held Boost's hand tightly.

"Hehe, you read my mind! Let's get this going!" The badger winked.

The preacher nodded and looked at his bible, then back at the couple. They pretty much declared their love during the whole fight. "Well, there doesn't seem to be a need for vow exchanges now!" He laughed. "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, badger and wife! You may kiss the bride!" 

The badger laughed. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

Boost then surprised Janet by quickly scooping her up in his arms and they finally shared in their first kiss as a married couple.

While their friends and family cheered both for the couple and their victory, Professor Benedict was slowly flying away on his egg craft, which was sputtering from being beaten to smithereens. He was coughing up a bit of smoke from the explosions.

"I hate weddings..." He groaned as his mustache twitched in annoyance.

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Author's Notes:

This was requested by @munamarvel14, who loved the idea and storyline I shared about my OC, Boost the Badger. He's the star of a video game series in the SuperZeroes universe, but Boost really exists in another dimension where all his adventures and friends are real. As well as other video game heroes, and they all live in one world together. The wedding story waa something she requested I write to get an idea of Boost and Janet's relationship!

Somehow I ended up writing out this guy more than the main SuperZeroes cast, lol. I guess because I want to write an episode where Boost ends up in the SuperZeroes dimension and teams up with Richie. But I hope its still a fun thing to read.

Also, this relationship is not only inspired by Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Felix and Calhoun from Wreck it Ralph, but also the original idea of Sonic the Hedgehog having a human girlfriend named Madonna. She planned for his very first game, but was later scrapped and we instead got Amy Rose. It was such a crazy idea that I loved so much, I wanted to use it here. Janet Diamond is a shout-out to both the Madonna character and Janet Jackson back in 80's. (At least design wise, still haven't finished it yet)

I love couples that are odd when you first look at them, but once you see their relationship grow and unfold, the two characters really love and respect each other. Its the same case for Boost and Janet here. Yeah, it is weird that they're together and most people in their world think they'll never work, but these two proved them wrong. Boost and Janet absolutely love and adore each other, and they're a battle couple when it comes to going on missions together! (SonAmy inspired there) They find comfort in each other after hard day or their villains cause trouble. So now they get to start a family and have a new adventure together. Leveling up is so much better with someone you love.

Anyway, thanks for reading all this, it was WAY longer than I planned, but I enjoyed writing it! Let me know if you want more of this couple and dimension! Its also on Ao3 if you want to read it there too!

BTW, their ship name is "Speedway"! 😉

(Uh, I dunno who else to tag, so I'll tag the ones who are also doing original works 😆) @thesafireartist @snackara @jojo-ker06 @your-ne1ghbor @iagomorales @kenihewa

Also, @cielos-pintados! Since you wanted to read this story, I'm tagging ya too! (Don't worry, I will respond to your messages soon, just been busy!)

[etaleah]

What Is the Appeal of Sonadow?

I have a lot of thoughts about this ship, what draws people to it, and why some of the criticisms of it are exaggerated or less than honest. Putting them under a cut because it’s gonna get long.

First of all, the critique of “Lol why do people ship them when they beat the shit out of each other whenever they disagree on something, they’re abusive!” is dishonest framing for two reasons. One is that it ignores the fact that Sonic and Shadow are allies far more often than they’re enemies, and even when they are enemies, it’s usually over something serious, not just a minor disagreement. The other is that it’s bad media criticism to apply real human standards to a cartoon animal universe.

When you watch the classic Looney Tunes short where Bugs and Daffy are arguing over whether it’s Rabbit Season or Duck Season and Bugs tricks Daffy into shooting himself, do you see Bugs as abusive and evil? Probably not, because the laws of physics don’t apply in cartoons and Daffy getting shot in the face doesn’t actually hurt him. He’s still completely fine afterwards because he’s a cartoon and is therefore invincible. The same is true for Sonic and Shadow. Have you ever seen either of them seriously injured after one of their fights? Has either one ever needed to go to the hospital because the other beat him up so badly? No, of course not. They groan in pain for about two seconds and then they’re fine. If the creators wanted to convey them being injured, they could show bruises or blood or have bones snapping and the characters limping, but they don’t. The fights are never meant to be taken that seriously. I find this criticism every bit as annoying and overzealous as people who insist that Pinky and the Brain are abusive because Brain bops Pinky on the head. They’re cartoons, y’all. They’re not realistic, were never meant to be realistic, and shouldn’t be treated as realistic. Different standards apply.

To the second point, Sonic and Shadow don’t actually fight that often. In all the interactions they’ve had together, it’s only been a handful of times. They’re allies in the Archie comics, Sonic ‘06, the canon ending of Shadow the Hedgehog (they’re only enemies in that game if the player wants them to be), Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and most of the IDW comics, along with the endings of Sonic X, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes. They’re allies for much of Prime as well. But hey, let’s break down the times they do fight:

Sonic Adventure 2: Shadow’s memories have been tampered with and he and Sonic are literally fighting over the fate of the world.

Sonic X: Same thing for season 2, and in season 3, they’re fighting over whether Cosmo should live or die. Sonic says killing her is wrong, Shadow says stopping the Metarex is what’s most important and if that means little Cosmo has to die, well, them’s the breaks, pal.

Sonic Prime: Sonic has broken their world, Shadow is trying desperately to save it, and Sonic is valuing the Shatterverse inhabitants over Green Hill.

IDW: Shadow says Eggman is too dangerous to leave alive and if that means Mr. Tinker has to die too, well, them’s the breaks, pal. Sonic says killing anyone is wrong no matter the reason.

You see a pattern here? Most of the time what they fight over is literally life and death. They’re not going at each other’s throats over petty bullshit like who gets the last slice of pizza or who gets to pick the film for Movie Night. They fight over serious moral differences. I would argue that Amy and Knuckles have gotten angry at Sonic for way less than what Shadow does.

Now, there are a few instances where their fights are stupid, namely Sonic Boom and Sonic Heroes. But I think it’s pretty universally agreed that Shadow is out of character in Boom, and honestly, all of the fights in Sonic Heroes are very forced. There was no reason for Team Dark or Team Rose to fight Team Chaotix; their goals don’t contradict each other in any way and it’s clearly just manufactured conflict to give the player another boss fight. And these are the exception; most of their fights are over serious ideological divides.

Those serious ideological divides are exactly what makes Sonadow so interesting. I personally prefer ships where characters can learn and grow from each other, where their differences can clash until they learn to reconcile them. I don’t find a ship like, say, Sonamy nearly as interesting because I don’t think there’s many (if any) moral stances Sonic would have that Amy wouldn’t. They already agree on the important things. I’m not bashing anyone who likes that ship; if that’s your thing, good for you. It just doesn’t appeal to me because I think Sonic and Amy already having a lot in common morally means they can’t really grow and change from interacting with each other in the same way.

Sonic can bring out the best in Shadow, teach him to trust others and lighten up and learn how to live in the moment rather than being tethered to the past. Shadow can teach Sonic how to think before he acts, to view the world more realistically, and to consider the impact that his insistence on moral purity will have on others. That setup makes for some amazing stories.

Also? These guys love fighting each other. They’re both athletes and very competitive. Look at how much they smile when they fight:

Like…they love this. It’s so much fun for them. Sonic and Shadow are both competitive athletes who love pushing themselves, but in terms of speed, no one is any competition for them except each other. No one else can beat either of them in a race. Imagine spending your whole life winning so easily that there was no accomplishment in it, and then suddenly this guy comes along who’s actually as good as you or maybe even better. Finally you have a challenge and can really enjoy the feeling of being the best. That’d be amazing. They give each other something no one else can, and to me, that’s what good romances are made of.

And all of that is combined with the fact that Sonadow offers an Odd Couple setup, which is always fertile ground for fun, comedic situations that require opposite characters to work together. Plus the Enemies/Rivals to Lovers aspect, which adds a bit of “forbidden fruit” to the mix because we all know that the most tempting and appealing relationships are the ones that are Forbidden (TM). That’s literally the premise of Romeo and Juliet, people who aren’t supposed to be together but end up wanting to be anyway.

I wouldn’t want Sonadow to be canon, but I definitely enjoy exploring it in fandom. It’s a fun ship that offers a lot for a writer or artist to work with. And while I would never force it on anyone, I wish the criticisms of it weren’t quite so shallow and disingenuous.

[bring-cringe-back]

Okay I might just be reading too much into this. But while I was watching the episode *cough cough* procrastinating *cough cough I realised that they don't show how the Doctor and Ruby got there.

And I know that it's probably just meant to be vaguely like 'they just went for fun'.

BUT this is the third episode in a row where we haven't seen them arrive. And for 73 yards it was clearly a doctor who episode when it started but it immediately gets rid of the doctor. ( I know that for 73 yards and for dot and bubble it was because Ncuti Gatwa was filming other stuff but let me cook) In Dot and Bubble you could effectively be forgiven for assuming that it was a random Black Mirror episode or something similar until the Doctor turns up, and tbh if you were just flicking through channels and haven't been watching Doctor Who you could probably basically not know for much longer. In Rogue they are just there, except for the title screen (the same for dot and bubble) you could basically watch it as a Bridgerton episode until the Chuldur turn up.

(And there's whole other rant about how the Chuldur fits into the theory about this basically being a TV show within a TV show, I don't know the name for this theory)

But anyway these episodes are increasingly separated from the Doctor and Ruby as plot points particularly in the beginning of episodes. They are more and more like an excuse to tell the story or explore the topic that the writers want to explore. Which isn't totally different from the occasional episode of previous series, but this is a lot more in my memory at least from previous series. So it feels a lot like they are skimming over the more sci-fi doctor who elements. Which fits in in my mind to the idea that the 'One who waits' is a representation of story telling. I've seen theories that it's Ruby but she doesn't know it which makes sense, I think it would also make sense for it to be her parent(s) who left her, or alternatively just it's own thing all together. But it feels very like that bit where Amy is living a life and starts to realise it's all fake.

The narrowing down of these episodes into not showing them arriving, and at least in Rogue - I can't remember in the others - not showing them leaving the story, feels very different.

It feels more and more like story telling. They have covered fairy tales, Period pieces/Romance, Dystopia, War/SciFi, Musicals, Political Drama. They are also showing the doctor playing his role, something that we see companions doing often enough but we seldom see the doctor doing it.

In Space Babies he is scared of a new creature. In the Devil's Code he sings a song that makes little sense in the story, he doesn't question the road making noise. In Boom he's more himself but it's also the closes to his 'normal' environment. In 73 Yards they just fully remove him from the story, which I realise was done for filming requirements but would have been so interesting to see the doctor in a Political drama. In Dot and Bubble he plays the role of the outsider bringing information to those living under a Dystopia, how is he UNABLE to access the inside, sure he plays a role that's fairly similar to himself but Doctor Who is really Dystopian.

In Rogue he is becoming more and more his role, he is playing the role of a sort of Elizabeth Bennet style character, a strong romantic interest for the brooding man. Which is great, he makes fun of the genre, but he is hyper aware of the genre and still ends up in its pitfalls. He trusts a man so quickly he ends up handing over his sonic, he gets proposed to and basically immediately accepts. Now I am really hoping that Rogue gets to stay around I really liked him as a character, regardless of which theory of his identity if any are true. But the Doctors reaction to him is still a little out of character, he is feeling what he is SUPPOSED to feel and he is acting how he is SUPPOSED to act.

It just feels to me like an increasing number of these episodes are more and more story like and more and more separated from the more Doctor Who elements. And the lack of an introduction of how they get there, and the lack of them leaving in the TARDIS is so unusual to me and stands out to my brain so much.

It feels like they are removing elements that don't fit the genre. Anyway not sure if that makes any sense but I'm vibing with it.

[sonicjustbecause]

Sega mandate one by one - what I think

Game characters cannot have relatives unless they're established in the game canon (Cream the Rabbit, Battle Kukku XVI, Eggman and Shadow the Hedgehog being the only exceptions, as they're the only game-related characters to have physically present parents (Black Doom, Great Battle Kukku XV, Gerald and Vanilla)). (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate, which may explain why Tundra Walrus aka the post-SGW version of Sherman Walrus is a thing)

I can live with this... Though I like Uncle Chuck

Sonic cannot get overly emotional (which is often paraphrased or misinterpreted as "Sonic can't cry."), since Sega considers it completely out-of-character for Sonic to act like that. (Though we did see Sonic cry in some instances such as Scrapnik Island #4 (albeit with Mecha MK. II's tears) and Archie STH #254).

This one is a bit extreme if not too much extreme. Crying Sonic happened in games (SA2), Sonic X, Sonic Prime... the issue is that eyes had to stay dry (even if this don't make sense). Or that we could not be allowed to see his face. This applies on Japanese media too (and is not a Japan issue since lots of character cry in japanese media, is just Sonic)

Sonic seems to be allowed to cry only when he does it comically

I don't say Sonic must pull his quills when desperate, that would be stupid. But if the contexts requires him crying, he should.

I strongly disagree with this mandate.

The planet cannot be named, as "Mobius" cannot be spoken or mentioned as the name of the planet, and it is not allowed to be called "Earth" either—The only name SEGA confirms that it's simply "Sonic's world". (Though Mobius is used in the Paramount universe)

I'm neutral about this. But Moebius is a nice name, it should stick around the fandom.

Characters restricted to one of the two different time periods cannot appear in the other time period and vice versa. As Mighty, Ray, the Hooligans, Trip, Battle Kukku Army, and possibly even Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles are restricted to the classic time period and are banned to appear in modern material. And even though the infamous "Two Universes" mandate being retconned since November 2022, the characters restricted to certain time periods are STILL unable to appear in the other time period and vice versa.

This one is fair. There are already too many characters in the sonic franchise, most are not even interesting. I would even cut off more characters (In reality I would do nothing with this , that would be unfair toward the fans)

Sonic always has to win. Even if Eggman does get the upper hand for a short period, Sonic has to immediately overcome him.

It is not what happens in most stories? (not only Sonic's)

None of the game characters can have a steady relationship, and Amy cannot like anyone but Sonic. Sonic and Amy cannot date at all as they would lose their dynamic. (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate)

This is fair.

Characters and material from other licensed properties and past incarnations of the franchise (Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Sonic Underground, the OVA and Sonic X) cannot be used. This is due to a combination of legal issues (at least in the case of the nasty legal battles regarding the Archie Sonic comics, since their entire character roster and the SATAM cast are now hanging in legal limbo) and, per word of Ian Flynn, Sega simply not being keen on giving attention to past incarnations of Sonic that aren't their own and wanting to keep the focus on Modern Sonic product, and have thus forbidden using them. Elements and characters from the Paramount films and even the Sonic Boom universe (except Sticks) are also forbidden.

This is also fair, too much is too much. (personally I would save uncle Chuck and Stone, but here things are more complicate than just mandates)

No characters can be killed-off.

Fair

None of the cast are allowed to change their wardrobe or wear any different wardrobe at allunless approved.

At least they should change according to the outside temperature.

According to Ian Flynn, Sega says that Team Dark are not a consistent thing and the name is strictly a marketing term. In other words, the three of them are not an organized team and often spend most of the time doing their own things, and seem to work for G.U.N. as freelancers as opposed to agents in their employ. Shadow apparently also doesn't consider Rouge and Omega "friends" (though Sonic Battle shows that he prefers to call them his "allies" instead, given his emotionally distant personality).

Disagree. They, at least Rouge and Shadow, have been shown to be friends. Rouge in games tried to cheer up Shadow many times and to stay on his side in his bad moments. Shadow also did something like this once.

Omega is a machine that is learning how to recognize emotions. in Snic 2006 he felt guilty when he aknowledge what the would do un the future.

Male characters that aren't humans, can't wear pants.

Quite extreme.

Naming the animals Mobians is banned.

Already talked about Mobius. Same applies here

Characters and elements from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are off-limits too, likely due to a combination of the game taking elements of the Archieverse, the game being non-canon, SEGA keeping Knuckles as the last echidna, the lawsuit of Electronic Arts/EA and SEGA by Ken Penders from 2011 and to not to get into trouble with Ken Penders despite him not owning the characters.

Fair. I liked Sonic Chronicles personally, but Penders seems to be uncontrollable over the echidnas. His stories in Archie often get a little bit too weird.

[zombiebastian]

Talking about the Sonic 3 movie, so if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be spoiled don't click below

Anyways. So at the end of the movie there are 2 end credit scenes, one where we see Metal Sonic and Amy Rose for the first time. But there is also one at the very end where we find out Shadow is alive. When I went to the cinema to see this film literally everyone in the theatre other than me, my family and like 2 other people had left before this second end credit scene with Shadow, heck at least half of them had also left before they got to see Metal Sonic and Amy

So I'm starting to wonder how many kids who aren't familiar with Sonic game lore (because come on even if that end credit scene wasn't a thing, those familiar with Sonic lore know Shadow would probably come back next movie cause he came back in Heroes after "dying" in Adventure 2) actually think Shadow is dead and gone forever and will never come back in the next movie

I pity those kids man, if I thought Shadow was dead forever I'd cry my eyeballs out he's my favourite Sonic character in both the games, movies and the cartoons (well Knuckles is actually my favourite in Sonic Boom cause Shadow doesn't show up often in that series but you get my point)