#but it was worth it just for that. every interaction sonic and shadow had made me smile so wide i could watch a whole

[infizero]

oh yeah i finally watched season 2 of sonic prime today

[thevioletscout]

Got to see Sonic 3 early at a fan event! If you saw a brunette white girl in a black and white striped jacket who had keychains on her cat backpack of a dark chao and knockoff Shadow, that was probably me.

Gonna share my thoughts because I need to. Spoilers under the cut.

- I personally still like 2 the most. That doesn't mean 3's bad, it was great, but 2 just felt like a stronger film.

- I was honestly pretty wary about Keanu Reeves as Shadow, but I think he did excellent, and for a very peculiar reason that surprised myself; At certain points, he sounds like a teenager. Obviously its the kind of gruff Shadow voice we’re all used to, but there were times he would sound strangely youthful, and its a nice reminder that despite the 50 year stasis, despite the ultimate lifeform thing- Shadow's still a kid, just like Team Sonic.

- My brother even pointed out that Commander Walter objected to shooting the Robotniks and Shadow when they were escaping because "they're kids!" He said kids, plural.

- I think Jim Carrey did great as both Eggman and Gerald Robotnik. There was even a scene near the end where he was downright scary as the latter. That said, I wasn't a big fan of many of the scenes where they interacted. It kinda felt like the plot of the movie would get pulled to a grinding halt so we could just watch extended Jim Carrey comedy. I could probably be in the minority about this, and I can accept that, I just personally think cutting out some of the bits would have helped the movie flow a bit better.

- Fight scenes were so cool. It's not usually something I’d care that much about, but I think with Sonic in general getting the action right is a huge draw, and damn did this get it right.

- I'm not a big fan of Maria's illness not being referenced at all. I can kinda understand it because they're on Earth the whole time now, not in space, but it removes a lot of the important factors of Maria's character. It especially feels bad in the wake of Sonic x Shadow Generations, where the effects of her condition were actually shown, and when compared to the Wicked movie adaptation where they actually went out of their way to do a more respectful depiction of a wheelchair user.

- I like her using rollerskates though. That feels like a cute parallel between her and Shadow, and that could have been an interesting detail Robotnik worked into Shadow's design if he was actually made by him in this version.

- Sidenote, I swore that the whole Shadow was found in a meteor thing was a coverup for the real story, but no thats just his origin in the movies. That definitely carries some interesting implications for Shadow in the SCU.

- They kinda cutely referenced Sonic and Shadow looking alike, but otherwise it didn’t affect anything. G.U.N. didn't even try to use that to frame Sonic for what Shadow was doing. I kinda don't mind that though, I think there's enough retroactive implications to draw from.

- I wasn't sure they would actually use Live & Learn, but they did and holy shit it was so worth it! And Sonic and Shadow did the Adventure 2 pose!!! Theater went nuts, and I was going nuts with them.

- I'm once again probably going to be in the minority about this, but I kinda wish we got more Tom and Maddie. Like it or not, they were major characters in the previous movies, but in this one they just feel like they're there. I would say that it probably would have made Tom's near death experience more impactful, but to be fair my entire theater was in shock and scared out of their minds that they actually killed him so I think it was plenty impactful.

- They just straight up yeeted Gerald into incineration. I get it, there was no other neat way to take him out but damn. Tails and Knuckles killed a man.

- And finally the mid-credits scene holy shit.

- Okay so- I want you guys to know that I was a "Amy's secretly in the movie" truther. Every time Team Sonic was in trouble I was waiting for Amy to suddenly make her debut. I had this vision of her hammer being the first thing we see before Amy herself is slowly revealed. And yet, nothing. Every time they would find a different way out and around the G.U.N. infiltration I finally accepted that Amy wasn't going to appear.

- But then that scene during the credits. Sonic is confronted by Metal Sonic- who looks FANTASTIC btw. That's when I knew we were probably getting Amy next, but I wasn't sure when and how. Then Sonic gets surrounded by several of the metal copies, and like I predicted; first we see her hammer, flying through the air as it takes out several of the bots. Then we see her, dressed in a cloak to hide her features just a bit longer. Finally, she puts the hood down and- GOD SHE'S SO CUTE, I LOVE HER.

- I cannot impress upon you how crazy everyone in the theater went. We love this pink hedgehog.

- Wade only had one scene thank fuck.

There were probably a few other misc things I can talk about but I need more time to process it all. As I said to someone sitting in front of me; "How am I supposed to wait another two years???"

EDIT: ONE MORE THOUGHT

- One thing I find interesting is that after Shadow escapes, he just wants to be left alone. Most of what he's doing when Team Sonic finds him is just self defense from G.U.N. If I remember correctly he even tries to tell Sonic and the others to just walk away, and he dips on the motorcycle as soon as he's able to, once again warning them not to follow. He even spares Sonic and simply handcuffs him to something when the fight's over. It seems like it isn't until Gerald finds him that the revenge plan even gets started for him. He didn't want to go out of his way to hurt anyone, he just wanted to grieve in peace. Unironically, such a good understanding of Shadow's character.

[sophfandoms53]

There was something magical about the way the crowd at Sonic Symphony on Saturday was just so connected throughout every single song. Not even just all the screams and the cheers and singing of the lyrics.

That memory of a sold out theater filled with Sonic fans with no shame about loving this franchise and it’s music I will truly never forget any of it. It was something younger Soph would have never thought could happen to her but I’m so glad I can stand here for my younger self and tell her it happened and that she has nothing to be ashamed about🥹🫶

It was just a night of joy and fun. Everyone just had a good time with it. It was so surreal.

Things in this franchise that were memed and made fun of were celebrated. I honestly couldn’t believe it while I stood there.

When they started I Am All of Me and the way everyone screamed the moment Shadow pulled out that gun. The way we cheered when Maria got shot was so unserious 😭 (there’s footage of this online btw)

Everyone singing the lyrics to I’m Here’s section of the Frontier’s medley.

That one person yelling “Here we….” And the rest of us finished it with “GO!” during Unleashed’s medley.

The speech Ty made before leading into Endless Possibilities about what it was like for him growing up as that nerdy kid into video games and music and how he never let that stop him and look where he is now because the possibilities truly are never ending. It made me break beyond words during Endless Possibilities.

The “Good! Great! Awesome! Outstanding! Amazing!” BOTH times during Planet Wisp.

The chant for Live and Learn.

The JOY for both His World and Knight of the Wind.

How we all collectively lost our minds during Escape From the City.

And how they added in an acoustic version of One Way Dream as a thank you to us for selling out the night and being such an interactive audience. And knowing One Way Dream was Sega’s love letter to the fans for sticking by just made it hit all the more harder for me🥹

To any Sonic fan, if you can, go see this show. Your younger self and your current self will thank you for it. It’s completely worth it and it makes all the love and dedication to this franchise and to these characters mean so much more.

[heckinconfusedparade]

The time Shadow threatened Tails and Tails fought back (SCU)

This was certainly not one of Tails’ better ideas. He had located Robotniks hidden (well not so hidden anymore) lab and decided he’s going to yoink the chaos emerald he has. If you had asked Tails what mindset he had going into this, he’d tell you “I don’t know.”

Tails sneaks down the corridor silently telling his stupid thumping heart to shut up. Every small sound made him nearly leap out of his skin. He knows Robotnik himself and his assistant is in the kitchen, but what is currently scaring him now is that he has no idea where Shadow is. Every interaction he’s had with the dark hedgehog up until now has been less than pleasant, and he is so not looking forward to their next meeting.

Tails takes some deep breaths. Ok. He can do this. Maybe. Hey is it getting hot in here? Maybe this was a bad idea.. maybe he should turn around, go home, slither into his warm bed, and forget any of this happened! Unfortunately it’s too late now. He’s already at the heart of this concrete cold base. Tails reaches a back room that looks preeeetty important! It’s the computer room! He starts shuffling around some files on the computer hoping to maybe catch a glimpse at future plans. He used his Miles Electric to take pictures of the screens whenever something of interest pops up. So far he’s received intel on chaos data, Ultimate Lifeform logs, and something about an ARK Colony in space.

“Interesting..” he says, “Robotniks grandfather created a space colony AND Shadow… 50 years ago?! Man.. maybe I should ask Shadow for his secrets on staying young!” Tails chuckles to himself. He’s funny. It’s also a way of settling his nerves.

While jotting down the coordinates of the lair to save for later, Tails hears some footsteps outside the room. He hides behind an island and covers his mouth to muffle his breathing. Tails can hear his heartbeat and feel it in his throat. Then he turns his head and spots something on a low shelf. It’s blue and it’s glowing! He recognizes it as “Sonics quill..?” He whispers. He starts to slowly crawl towards it.

But then he feels a hand that stops him in his tracks. The hand is cold, strong, and unforgiving. The hand grabs ahold of his two tails and drags him out of his hiding spot roughly, triggering Tails to whimper in pain. He is lifted upside down to dangle by his tails. He feels a cold shiver when he realizes it’s Shadow; holding him up like a prized fish.

“Hello, Tails.” Shadow says coldly. Shadow looks around and hums “looks like it’s just you here.. you came here alone. That’s dangerous.” He tightens his grip.

Tails shuts his eyes.

-

“Hey, guys, look who I found!”

“Hah! What a wimp! Thought you could hide from us, freak?”

“P-please put me down..!”

“Not a chance. You’re a freak of nature! You should be put on display!”

“Hey- hey I wonder.. how much that extra tail is worth?”

“Ohohoho I do wonder! Maybe if we keep tugging on one of em, it’ll snap off! Then he’ll finally look normal!”

“How’s about it, Tails? We’re doin you a favour.”

-

“Leave. Me. ALONE!” Tails roars and kicks Shadow right in the face. Shadow coils back holding his face in pain, dropping the young fox. With tears pricking his eyes at the unfond memory, Tails scrambles to his feet and balls his fists. He’s scared out of his mind, but that one kick filled him with the adrenaline he last felt fighting those badniks in Green Hills. Right when he’s about to reach for one of his weapons in his backpack, Shadow growls and looks at the fox with fire in his eyes, and chaos crackling around him. Tails gulps.

Shadow grins “that was a rough kick.. you’re stronger than you look.”

Tails feels the urge to move- and fast. Tails darts to his left, and discovers his gut was right, because right when he moved, Shadow charged at him. Shadow quickly repositions himself and prepares to deliver a round house kick to Tails who flies out of the way but feels the heat of Shadows air shoes graze against his side. Shadow looks frustrated “give up and submit. You know I’m faster than you!”

Tails, in a brief moment of absolute 300 IQ brilliance says “then how come I keep dodging you?” he feels his heart stop when Shadow grabs his feet and plucks him out of the air and pins him on the cold ground. Shadow makes a mistake of letting go of his legs and going for his arms. Tails learned this move from wrestling with his brothers.. the ultimate little sibling move! Tails delivers multiple swift kicks to Shadows torso to get him to back off. Shadow does back off, but to Tails’ both surprise and horror: he’s smiling. Shadow has deemed Tails a worthy opponent.

Orange and red chaos energy crackles around Shadow once more “I never considered you’d fight back more than your ‘brother’. He just wanted to talk to me. But you.. you’re smarter than that. You know the only way you’re getting out of this alive is by fighting.”

Shadows words resurface another one of Tails’ recent memories.

-

Sonic limps inside the Wachowski house alongside Knuckles, holding his side and dirty. His parents rush to his side along with Tails.

“Sonic, what happened?!”

“Oh my god- baby are you ok?”

“I-I’m fine..”

Sonic groans in pain, talking seeming to hurt right now.

“He and Shadow fought again. Sonic did not fight back. Sonic wanted to talk to him, but Shadow did not have anything to say. I found them right when Shadow kicked him in the ribs.”

“Sonic…”

“Tails. Buddy, I’m ok.. I’ll be ok. This is just.. a-a temporary!.. setback!”

-

The memory sets an angry fire within Tails ablaze. This guy hurt his big brother. Sonic is strong. It takes a lot for him to show pain outwardly. And this guy.. the Ultimate Lifeform, made Sonic hurt so bad he came home barely able to speak more than a sentence at a time.

He stands up.

Tails’ tails swish sharply. He feels some static around him, then the boost of chaos. Around his body, yellow chaos energy crackles along his fur. His eyes turn a bright shade of yellow. Tails seems to notice, but decides not to take long to address it now- balling his fists once more, allowing the strength of chaos to freely flow around him. Shadow has a look of slight surprise then lunges at him. Tails’ attempt to dodge doesn’t work this time, and he takes a low kick to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and his body slams against a cart. Tails shakes it off, the adrenaline dealing with the pain, and shoves the cart at Shadow to slow him down. Tails leaps into the air, taking Shadow by the arm along with him. He hoists him up, and uses a flurry of kicks to the torso to keep Shadow up, then swings his tails down to slam Shadow back down to the ground. The room shakes, Shadow now lies in a small crater. Tails finds it in him to smile. He just did that!!! Knuckles’ training is really paying off!

Shadows not done yet. He rises from the crater. Tails returns to the ground. He tries to hit him more, but Shadow keeps dodging him. There’s a scuffle of fists and kicks thrown back and forth. Shadow grumbles something about beginners luck then grabs Tails by his neck. Tails starts clawing at Shadows hand.

Shadow has some thoughts.

He could kill him.

He could snap this kids neck right now.

He could choke him to death.

They’d never find the body.

His parents would never have to bury their child, but be forced to wonder for the rest of their lives where their baby was.

His brothers would no doubt come looking for him with vengeance.

As great as that all sounds, killing a child is not what Shadow wants to do. Maybe that’s what Robotnik wants, but not Shadow.

Shadow locks eyes with Tails’, whose eyes are slowly returning to their original blue colour. Shadow throws Tails where he had found him, breaking the surrounding cabinets and shelves at Tails’ impact. Tails feels his consciousness fading in and out as he takes deep breaths to recover. His hand digs around behind him, not minding anything sharp that could possibly hurt him. He grabs Sonics quill from its place in the rubble. He clutches it in his fists.

The energy feels like a power up from a video game. Utilizing his own power and the power within his brothers quill, he dashes forward in a spin dash, knocking Shadow off of his feet and into the large monitor set. Glass shatters everywhere. Tails leaps back to avoid it. Tails can hear two pairs of footsteps running toward the room. Tails looks around in a panic. All this broken stuff.. then bingo! A green chaos emerald! He grabs it and stuffs his Miles Electric and Sonics quill into his backpack.

Tails holds the chaos emerald, now fully panicking. How does this work again???

He takes a deep breath.

“CHAOS CONTROL!”

. . .

Back at the Wachowski house, things were tense. Sonics injured, Knuckles is angry, and everyone is worried sick about Tails who walked out just little over an hour ago when they weren’t watching.

“Thank you..” Tom hangs up his phone “Wade says he’ll spread the word to surrounding counties and cities.”

“Oh, Tom.. I hope he’s ok.” Maddie wipes some tears from her eyes. Tom hugs her “we’ll find him, Maddie. Promise.”

Sonic blames himself. Had he been smarter and not let his ass get handed to him and get injured, Tails wouldn’t had felt compelled to leave.

Knuckles also blames himself. He wishes he had stepped in sooner. He wishes he had kept a closer eye on Tails.

Ozzy struggles to bring back the happiness to his people. His tail wags lowly and slowly as he goes to sit by Sonic and Knuckles for pats.

A bright light fills the room. When the light fades, Tails is standing there. Tails feels like he can finally breathe again, “it worked-! IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!” He holds up the emerald. Then he realizes his family. They all stare at him with wide eyes before smothering him in a group hug.

“Where were you?!” Cries Maddie, her tears now of relief.

“You had us worried sick, Tails!” Tom is so happy his boy is home.

“Tails, I’m so sorry..” Sonic whimpers, hugging his brother the tightest.

Tails shifts his gaze to the hedgehog “wait, what are you apologizing for?”

Sonic looks at him, now confused, “didn’t you leave because of stress or because you’re angry I got hurt?”

Tails raises his hands in a ‘so-so’ manner “I’m angry you got hurt, but I’m not angry AT you. I left to gather intel!” Tails pulls out his M.E. And shows the pictures he had taken of the computer screens. Sonic blinks in shock.

Knuckles asks the bigger question “did- did you just use.. chaos control? Where did you find that chaos emerald?”

Tails laughs sheepishly “yea.. uh… so. I found Robotniks lair.. and I. Maaaaaybe snuck in?”

“WHAT?!” The family all says together.

Knuckles’ expression turns to horror “TAILS YOU COULDVE GOTTEN KILLED!! Why did you go alone?!” His booming voice makes the room shake.

“B-because-! I dunno..”

“What do you mean ‘I dunno’? Tails, you know how dangerous that man is.” Maddie continues to hold her son.

Tails avoids eye contact with everyone else “he didn’t find me.. but Shadow did.”

Maddie starts immediately checking him over for any injuries. She finds some spots that could become bruises, but nothing major.

“M-maybe he held back?” Sonic says hopefully. Shadow has been quite a pain.

Tails makes a face. Should he tell them?

It’s Tom’s turn to look afraid “why are you making that face?”

“He didn’t hold back.”

“Pardon?”

“Holding me up by my neck isn’t holding back.”

Silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

Tails continues “he found me.. and held me up by my Tails, so I kicked him in the face.. it’s my first time in a real hand to hand fight! And.. it really hurt. It sucked, even. I didn’t have time to think, he moves so fast! Then something weird happened- y’know that thing Sonic and Knuckles do that kinda looks like electricity? That happened to me! I had the upper hand for a second! And! I had the high ground. So I brought him higher, then much lower. It was so scary.. but so empowering! It felt like I had enough energy to power the town!”

“You.. beat.. him?” Is all Sonic can ask at this point.

Tails looks down “when he had me by the neck, I think it was then he held back, in the middle of that. He coulda killed me.. but he chose not to for whatever reason. He threw me instead.. and I found this!” He pulls Sonics quill out of his backpack and hands it to his brother.

Sonic blinks “my.. my quill? He still had it?”

Tails nods “Mhm. That quill brought back the energy I had lost. So I ran at him. Things got real dizzy. And then he slammed against the computer wall. Then I heard people coming so I shoved everything in my bag and chaos controlled back here!”

Knuckles can’t hide the fact he’s impressed. He has no reason to doubt Tails. He pats his little brother on the back “sounds like my training was of good use to you.”

Tails smiles “sure was!!”

Everyone is so happy he’s ok. Tails gets to pick what to have for dinner to celebrate his victory!

. . .

Robotnik and Stone appear at the scene. Shadow drops to the floor and groans in pain. Stone rushes to his aid “Shadow, what happened? Can you stand?” Shadow shakily lifts himself to stand up. Robotnik boots up emergency monitors and pulls up security footage. Nothing in the corridors as of recent going in or out besides him, Shadow, and Stone. Then he pulls up the recorded footage from the room they’re in.

“A-ha! Found you, little one..~” Robotnik chuckles as he brings up the footage of Tails sneaking around in the room. Stone joins his side. Together they watch the recording of the fight. Robotnik narrows his eyes. "you let the child beat you?" he slowly turns to face Shadow who only says "he is a lot stronger than we thought. His strength, speed, and intelligence is something we need to keep tabs on."

The other two nod.

Stone gets to repairing the damages “he took Sonics quill and the chaos emerald. Should we retrieve them?”

“No,” Robotnik says “they’ll know we’re coming now. Let’s wait until our next encounter.. then we can get him and our belongings. That sly thieving fox won’t know what hit him.”

Thus begins the planning.. revenge is a fools game, and nobody here is foolish. The only one foolish is the fox who thought he could get away.

[saiyanhajime]

My First Artist Alley at a Comic Con… What I’ve Learnt

I’ve thought about selling my wears in artist alley for something like ten years now… And aside from feeling like my stuff isn’t good enough to compete until relatively recently, the main reason I hadn’t given it a whirl until now was the cost. I couldn’t understand how it would be financially viable, and if you’re here to find the quick answer to that same burning question, the answer is it’s not - at least for me. But if I’m being honest and perhaps a little harsh, I can’t really see how it could be what I would consider truly “worthwhile” for all but the most successful artists in the alley when you factor in all expenses.

But would I do it again? Hell yes. Did I have fun? Absolutely! Was there value in networking, making friends and social media gains? Yes, yes and yes!

I went to London Comic Con Spring run by Showmasters. I choose this con because of a few reasons, namely that it was the next local con with tables left when I started seriously obsessing over wanting to do this.

The stall was very reasonable at £80 (but I paid an extra £30 for an additional person to help out.)

This convention is a lot more Film and TV focused than was ideal for what I thought my audience would be - with their main highlight being their guest signings. I knew this going in and my assumptions were right, I think. That said, the “small press” section of the event was wildly varied, but it did feel like actual comic creators were doing the best of us all.

The Expenses

The costs add up, fast. A £ here and there and you’ve racked up £500 or so worth of expenses before you’ve even factored in potential travel, food and hotels… Let alone time. I know you’re probably thinking you wouldn’t spend that much, but believe me - if you record EVERY cost related to getting your stall together, you’ll be shocked how fast it accumulates. You’ll find yourself looking at all the £3-5 you spent on bits n bobs wondering how the final sum is so high.

I know what you’re thinking… You can do it cheaper. I just didn’t try hard enough to get these costs down. But believe me, I did.

I spent way more time than was worthwhile researching costs - these prices include VAT & they include shipping -  I wanted the most accurate picture of the hard cash I would actually have to spend up front… And the oddly expensive ones like the postcards cost so much because I effectively paid a premium to have multiple designs. My logic was to try lots of different things, learn as much as possible, but have few in quantity of each design. That way, the flops hurt less. You pay more per item for that privilege, but what’s the use in having 100 of something that won’t sell? I’d rather learn from x10 of something even if I’m making half the profit “per item”. 

That’s a mistake a think so many businesses make - don’t think of profit per item, think of it in profit on entire expenses. I made a huge loss, just like I expected. :) My 100 postcards for example costing £50 makes them 50p each, and selling at £1.50 means £1 profit per postcard. That’s £100 profit! Except I only sold 10 - that means a £35 loss for the time being. It’s not a profit until you recoup the whole cost. And I thought of the whole cost as that £550 sum from the get go. Only once I cover all accumulated costs am I making a profit.

But most of these costs are reusable… I could go to another con tomorrow and only pay an additional £150 or so for the table, travel, etc. and have enough stock and a decent display. And that’s my intention - don’t give up, do a few, then evaluate. THEN give up. :)

So realistically, you need to be willing to waste £800+ to find out if this game is for you. That’s a big chunk of money not to be sniffed at and you should be aware of that before you jump in.

The Products

What should I take? Who should I order it from?? How much stock do I need???

These are unanswerable questions because they are highly personal. I see soooo many “where should I get prints from??” with people expecting an easy answer. There isn’t one. But I can try and explain why there isn’t one. I think a lot of newbies assume creators don’t want to share their suppliers because they’re being protective or don’t want the competition - nonono, it’s that the answer is different for everyone. An established, popular and successful artist in the alley is likely ordering huge bulk orders from a supplier that has a minimum order of hundreds or thousands. What good is that information to us newbies? It’s useless.

Prints 

In the end, I took 7 print designs…. All fanart, with 4 of the designs being Dragon Ball, 2 of the designs Sonic the Hedgehog and one of GLaDOS from Portal 2. Two of the designs were on A3 and the rest on A4.

I ordered A4 and A3 prints from different suppliers, as they were cheaper this way, EVEN with the postage factored in - which is absolutely ridiculous I know, but you begin to see why “x company is best for prints!” is a useless piece of advice. But sit tight, cuz it gets way worse.

I ordered as few as possible, but a couple of websites had the same price for 5 as the other did for 10, etc. so I went with the one that offered more for the same, obviously. I had x6 (including the display print) of each A4 print and x10 of each A3 - not because I thought they would sell twice as much, just because that’s the least I could get for the cheapest price! And to make matters even more complex - I made those orders based on coupons I had found and you often can’t see the total inc postage until you’ve got everything in your basket and entered your address and email. I looked at maybe 20 suppliers. Imagine how long that took, just for prints. And if I did the same thing tomorrow, it wouldn’t be the same suppliers who were cheaper - coupons and offers change the game, quantity required changes the game. Getting 30 A4 prints might be cheaper on one site, but it might be better to get them from another if you’re after 40, and it definitely will be if you’re wanting them to be all the same - then you can probably get 100 for less than I paid. Nightmare. And you find yourself going “but I can get 100 of the same print for £17 - maybe it’s worth the investment…” Maybe? Who knows! Probably not though.

I don’t think I’d bother with ordering A3 again anytime soon - the main reason is that A3 cellophane bags and carrier bags big enough for such a large print are quite a considerable added expense… And a lot of potential buyers commented how they loved a print but just don’t have the wall space. I also couldn’t find a supplier that would offer to print less than 10 A3 prints in one design. One buyer commented that they would get one of my other prints if it was larger - but would they? I know from experience selling online that people often say “oh man I’d so get a ____ if you did one!” and you do and you even link it to them and then silence. Don’t take what potential customers say too seriously, unless you’ve got a decent number of them telling you the same thing. But for me, 3 people telling me that on top of my other reasons for disliking A3 is enough to go, ok… Forget A3.

Perhaps my best piece of advice is to sign up to every supplier's newsletter. I get emailed deals almost daily now and if you’ve got the time to play with, it’s worth getting your stuff ready for print and just sitting and waiting for that coupon to drop. 15-20% off can make a huge difference to your margins. I purposefully waited until January to place my orders, expecting a post Christmas assortment of deals, and I was right. Bare in mind that many suppliers can take a while to get stuff to you and it might not be right - so don’t cut it too late to order things. I ordered everything just under two months ahead of the con and had plenty of time to then play with and practise setting up how I was going to display things.

So, how did the prints do? I sold out of the Sonic and Shadow print - including the display, which I sold at a marked down rate. I sold 2 of each A3 print - Great Ape Vegeta vs Goku and GLaDOS… 1 of Majin Vegeta, 2 of Fleetway Super Sonic. None of Gogeta or Shenron.

So, Dragon Ball wasn’t so hot, Sonic absolutely was. Is that a long term trend, or just this con? Hell if I know.

I didn’t have a portfolio book with my prints in on the table - I thought that was a waste of space if I can fit them all up on my display - but with hindsight, you get two types of people... Those who aren’t interested in artist alley stalls and pass through at a distance and a print up high MIGHT catch their eye and bring them over. But the vast majority of people you’ll sell to have their eyes down at the tables as they pass. This was the most important thing I learnt - I’d read so much about how important it is to use “vertical” space and tried to get as much off the table as possible, but by day 2 I was spreading more out on the table until every inch of it was covered. I often had to tell people about my prints and they would look up having not noticed them! I had read that people recommend having a portfolio book for people to thumb through - but I hadn’t really understood the benefit of that. Having people touch and interact with stuff on the table is such a valuable interaction that sparks natural conversations. It’s really important to have physical stuff ON the table, perhaps more so than getting a fancy vertical setup. If you’re strapped for cash - ditch the idea of grid cubes or similar completely. Just lay stuff out.

Postcards

When my postcards arrived I immediately realised I’d made a stupid mistake. I was obsessed with getting the display vertical and having lots of different designs. Having so many different postcards to display was a nightmare that I think impacted the whole setup. The wall they created took light away from one side of the display, they were really quite oppressive! - and I knew this before I even went to the show, but I didn’t know how else to display them. I don’t think I would order postcards again, they barely sold… But the 90 I have leftover will be displayed in a photo album on the table next time for sure. Seems so obvious now! They were a HUGE waste of money - they’re expensive for what they are to get made and the retail price of them is abysmal. But, there were a couple of times when people who didn’t have the money for a big print maybe wouldn’t have bought anything, but I had something cheap and cheerful to offer, which was nice. The other cool thing about them is you can have your website on the back and it doesn’t seem out of place or weird.

The main problem with finding a postcard provider was I couldn’t find anywhere that would do small print runs to allow me to order several designs, so I ended up going with the one company I knew who’d do that - Moo. But man are they expensive - I could have got 500 postcards of one design for less than half what I paid for 100 of 25 diff designs - but again, having the variety mattered to me.

Postcards are a pain and not worth it, which explains why I so rarely see them for sale. Lesson learned!

If you have a decent inkjet printer, postcards are super easy to make and I used to do this before I lost patience with inkjet home printers and switched to laser. Just get thick photo paper, already the correct size!

Stickers

I had a mix of kiss-cut and die-cut stickers that by day two I was spreading out on the table and absolutely getting more sales as a direct result… They still didn’t do exceptionally well, but I don’t regret having them. They’re a solid low-retail-price staple of the artist alley table. Pieces of art with a purpose, especially in the age of reusable water bottles. A couple of fellow artists noted that my stickers were very cheap priced at £1.50 and I kind of agree. I think next time they will be £2 and this won’t negatively affect sales. There’s a common fallacy that making something cheaper will increase sales - the likelihood is that it won’t, and when you think how many more sales you have to make to gain the same profit, you realise this is the case. Just that small difference of 50p would mean you have to sell 25% less stickers to make the same amount of money. Isn’t that insane? When you think of it this way, pricing your items right really matters.

I also had sticker sheets - the Baa (from Dragon Ball) ones I only sold one of, to a child who I’m not sure even knew what they were from, but the Sonic sheet did pretty well! I didn’t see many other artists rocking Sonic stuff - or even much Sonic stuff on the wider show floor - which is surprising given the recent film release. I guess I just tapped into a niche, but it’s hard to tell.

Several suppliers of stickers offer multiple designs as standard, or a small surcharge for having multiple designs. Shop around. Stickers are overpriced from many suppliers. The popular choice of Stickermule often run deals where you can get 50 for £19, but even this deal price is quite expensive for x50 of the same sticker. They are by far the best quality stickers, to be fair to them… But you don’t need x50 of one sticker for the purpose of artist alley. I’ve jumped on Stickermule promos in the past where they charge £1 for 10 stickers. That’s a great opportunity to try out design you’re really not sure about. I can’t stress enough how important newsletter signup to suppliers is!

Honestly, Zap Creatives are the only company I’ve used that I would recommend without a second thought. Their customer service is exceptional, their postal packaging is not only environmentally friendly but also adequate (I had a lot of issues with other suppliers packaging and items arriving to me damaged! Another reason you need to order far in advance.) and their prices are transparent and extremely good value. They have free postage (globally, I believe!), which makes it so easy to see how much you’ll be spending at a glance. They have detailed “how to” pages for setting up your files. They’re a dream come true. Sign up to their newsletter, follow them on socials, give them your money - they deserve it. Not sponsored, just genuinely impressed.

Comic

Back at Uni a friend and I made a little comic, and I got some more copies made and took it along because, why not… It is COMIC con after all, and this convention actually calls the artist alley “small press”. It sold pretty well for an independent original to a wide variety of people, young and old. It made me really happy to see an original work sell! You’d be surprised how cheap getting a book printed can be - but be willing for the pages to be slightly misaligned and the paper quality eh. But if you just want a cheap comic printed or a zine, it is very doable in small runs even as low as 10. Remember that stuff doesn’t need to be perfect. Don’t stress over imperfections. I wouldn’t recommend the supplier I used because their delivery was an abysmal royal shit-show, but their customer service made up for it and then their re-delivery was only a slightly less abysmal royal shit-show on the second attempt. So, I won’t mention them.

On that note - if a supplier isn’t good enough, get in touch with their customer services and be nice but tell them it’s not good enough. Give them a chance to fix things.

Traditional Art Originals

I took a lot of traditional media original artworks with me, mostly because I had them already. I sold one low value original.

This was a little heartbreaking because the sale of just one high value original would have pushed the worthwhileness a long way - but it is a lot of money to expect people to spend and is a luck of the draw situation, for sure.

However, the larger ones definitely attracted attention to my stall and created conversation - so I’d say if you have larger originals or small low value quick drawings, they’re worth bringing, but I wouldn’t make any for the intent of selling in the future.

I don’t think a single person thumbed through my plate rack of originals. It was a poor display idea. Don’t recommend it at all. But I can’t think of a better idea other than individual easel displays which take up valuable table space better used for spreading out other items flat.

How could I have done better?

I think having more variety of franchises in my prints was the only HUGE mistake that I kinda knew before I arrived might be an issue. The reason I didn’t was I was worried about space and this could have been avoided had I just listened to the advice I read and had a portfolio out - I even have an A4 portfolio book! Stupid. I’m stupid.

Would I have done enough better to make a profit? No way haha.

How did other people seem to be doing?

It didn’t seem like anyone was doing particularly well… But without knowing peoples numbers, it’s hard to say. And I doubt many people keep the obsessive books I do.

I am pretty sure a lot of convention artists don’t realise the amount they are spending vs the amount they aren’t making… But I could be wrong. There’s a lot of talk of “making table” which I did make back, but I came nowhere close to making back all associated costs. I think for it to be legitimately financially “worthwhile”, you’d have to take about £2k over a weekend - to account for the time and all expenses and paying yourself a decent wage. And if your prints are £10 each, that’s more than 10 prints sold an hour. No one was anywhere near this busy. No way.

A few artists told me this isn’t the most amazing show in the first place and they’ve done worse than they did at this same show last year, even if it seemed physically busier at times this year. A lot of this game is luck of the draw - who’s turning up, how much do they have to spend, what's the weather doing, etc. etc…

Do I need a card reader?

My sales were about 50/50 cash and card… But I ran out of exact change at one point, so being able to take card payments saved the sale. I have a Sum Up reader as it was the cheapest to buy up front and I had no issues with it the whole weekend. At £20 it was a bargain. I think I would rather have that than the cube display grid, for example.

Do you have any cost shaving tips?

Oh hell yeah!

First up - like I said before - sign up to every single potential supplier newsletter. Some of them send out coupons almost weekly.

I bought very little in the way of display equipment and salvaged the rest...

I borrowed some plate stands from my nan, I took empty cardboard displays from ASDA and Sainsbury's (I’d try Walmart or Target in the USA). These were great because they fold down flat for transporting, are light and FREE! Keep your eyes peeled when you’re out shopping for ones which might be the right size for your products. Often times you can transfer the one or two items left in them to another box in the store, or they’re simply empty. I found ASDA best for having completely unbranded boxes. I also made some stands for my small originals from thick card rather than by expensive display racks that are heavy to transport and cost a bomb.

Pick local shows if you can and research thoroughly your transport options and the cost. Parking, trains, hotel costs and eating out can be extortionate additions to your overall expense that are easily forgotten.

Make sure you can carry your setup and don’t need to spend additional money on an Uber or something to help you move shit around!

Use what you have. Don’t buy storage boxes and suitcases and trolleys if you don’t have to. Sure, they might make your life slightly easier, but maybe wait and see how your first few cons go.

Any other tips or things you wish you’d known?

One thing that was kinda stressing me out was leaving stock overnight, but I realised there’s a whole show floor of high value figurines down there...

Leaving the stall unattended isn’t a big deal, either. Obviously take your money with you, but your neighbors can let potential customers know you’ve popped to the loo and I saw several “Back Soon!” signs throughout the day. I took a friend mostly as company, but I would confidently do a con alone having seen how much of a non-issue this is. Having a friend is great for chatting and having a chance to have a look around the show and chat to other artists, though!

I’m not sure carrier bags are necessary. They’re a pretty substantial extra expense you can skip.

Check all your stock as soon as it arrives in the mail. I had an order of cello bags for A4 prints where about 50% of the pack were unusable as the bottom seal with just... open.

Oh! And the “Sundays are always quieter” rhetoric? My Sunday was twice as good as Saturday, despite being quieter on the show floor.

Overall...

I really enjoyed myself. I loved everything. Chatting to customers, chatting to artists, seeing what people were selling, people watching, eating junk, setting up, tearing down and having a friend to chat with and chill the whole time. I gained a pretty significant Twitter follower boost over the weekend and gave away approximately 150-200 business cards as well as meeting some awesome new friends.

I’m not sure if I will be back for the same show next year - we’ll see. I’d like to try a bunch of different shows with different audiences. Many overlap in terms of being around the same time of year. And all the while I’m carrying limited stock to see what works and what doesn’t, I’m reluctant to book two close together.

I’m lucky enough to live in London - so I have access to several big conventions throughout the year on my doorstep.

I have a table at Hyper Japan in July. A very different con to this one with a table almost half as big. So I suspect most of what I’ve learnt won’t even apply! But that’s kind of exciting. My logical brain tells me not to make more stuff, but I think I’ve got the con bug now and just wanna make more profits!

I hope this has been slightly useful to anyone toying with the idea of doing a convention. I recommend checking out @howtobeaconartist​ here on Tumblr as well as Ben Krefta’s incredibly detailed experiences of being a UK convention artist.

Another thing I found helpful was to watch youtube video walk-arounds from previous years at the same show - see what people are selling, their set-ups, get a feel for space, see if you see the same people returning year after year. Here’s a video from the show I’ve just done! Artist alley starts at around 7:50.

[crusherthedoctor]

The Lutrudis Hadeer Design Concept Masterpost

Every now and then, I get the occasional question about my very own Lutrudis, which I'm always gladly willing to answer. Yet for all the times I've answered such questions, it seems some folks are still a bit left in the dark as to how Trudy came to be. So I figured I could make one big post all about the creation process. Maybe not every single detail per say, but at least everything that I think is worth mentioning in a post of this sort.

I'm aware that fellow pal @benignmilitancy​ covered this subject herself recently, but I might as well do my part to back up what she said.

1. When did Lutrudis become an idea?

The basic idea for Lutrudis - and indeed, the setting of Viridonia and Beyond the Stars itself as a story - was thought up as early as 2014. When I say basic idea however, I really do mean it, as aside from the general concept of her being the latest Friend of the Week helping Sonic and Co fight evil on her home island, very little else about Trudy was set up, including her name and species. While some aspects of her personality were already set in stone by that point, I focused on the design first when I decided to go ahead and make her and Beyond the Stars a real thing. The idea being to use what personality traits I had in mind to create a mental image, then use that mental image to help figure out the rest of her traits, as a design can often help out with working out a personality.

So basically, I scratched my back, so that I could scratch it again. Made sense to me.

2. Why a horse? Is it because friendship is magic?

Maybe...

Actually, I wanted a species that hadn't been used before, at least in the games, its continuity being the one Beyond the Stars takes place in. But at the same time, I also wanted to go with a fairly mundane species rather than anything rare, extinct, or extravagant, as I felt that the latter would undermine the story arc that I had in mind for this particular character. Compared to the likes of Sonic, Shadow, or Blaze, Lutrudis is more akin to Amy in the sense that she's ordinary by comparison, despite her living conditions and the magical brand of ammo she eventually decides to use. To have the arc of a “normal” lady becoming a hero in her own right be represented by a T-rex or a dragon wouldn't really land the same impact in the context of this universe.

Already, I was quickly warming up to making her a horse because of this. But then I realised that many of Trudy's personality traits - her loyalty, her passion, her elegance - were ALSO commonly attributed to horses in real life. And if you're not aware, I'm a big fan of letting Sonic and Co have character tics representative of their species, and a horse in particular had plenty of potential to have some funny and cute moments by letting their horsiness show itself. This additional thought helped make my decision on the matter final.

...Well, that and I wanted Trudy to have longer hair than the average Sonic female due to how, IMO, short hair wouldn't work as well for her. Obviously horses have manes, so that made it easier to get away with than it would have if she were a hedgehog, though it also helps that Trudy's hair is never any more detailed than the rest of her, meaning her hair actually looks like her own rather than her wearing an overly detailed wig to appease a certain disgraced comic writer, one of whom I will probably have the entirety of Beyond the Stars uploaded by the time he actually does something with his echidna libido-fueled comic at this rate... Looking forward to it in 2030.

As for what kind of horse she is, I decided to go with an English Thoroughbred, if only to further justify Trudy's English accent, which is nonetheless fairly mild compared to everyone else in Viridonia, who sound as though they jumped out of a 90's Rareware title.

3. “THIS IS WHO I AM... But who am I?”

Believe it or not, but even by 2016, I still hadn't decided on what to call my little pony. I had already figured that whatever I was going to call her, it would abide by the same naming convention as Amy Rose, Miles Prower, and Ivo Robotnik, to help further add to the aforementioned notion that she's an ordinary lady who wasn't born with any superpowers. That, and because “___ the Horse” doesn't have the same ring to it as “___ the Hedgehog” or “___ the Echidna”.

So what did I do?

I looked up a list of female names for baby girls. Duh.

Well, it worked out, because I stumbled across “Lutrudis”, which was German for “strength of the village”. The more I repeated it in my head, the more it appealed to me. Sometimes, you can have various names that mean the same thing, yet one in particular will just have that perfect sound to it. That was me with this name. This horse being named Lutrudis felt right to me, even if I perfectly understood that it was perhaps a bit more exotic than your usual Sonic anthro name.

Not that it mattered too much, since I was quick to think of “Trudy” as a nickname for her, since in addition to being less of a mouthful, that name - also German in origin - had a similar meaning, “universal strength”. Fit her character and arc just as well.

So that was the first name sorted, but what about the surname? Well, when looking at a selection of appropriate words, I stumbled on “Hadeer”, and while the Arabic meaning of the name is slightly unclear - some sources say “adventurous”, others say “sound of the water falls” - I felt that the meanings associated with it were all equally appropriate regardless. Then I combined it with the first name, said the full name over and over again in my head, and thought “Yeah... this sounds correct.”

I realise the irony of a part-German, part-Arabic name being associated with an English character, but considering this is the same universe where a man who is presumably not Polish is given a Polish term for a name (Robotnik), I think we can let it slide.

4. “You guys know what EDS is, right?”

It's no secret that another friend of mine, @greenyvertekins​, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has a lot of unfortunate complications to it, but in laymen's terms basically means your body is more fragile than that of the average person's. This condition is rather rare, so much so that a majority of people have never heard of it. Sure enough, I was one of those people, until I became friends with Verte.

After hearing Verte talk about her EDS and what she's had to go through, along with doing my own research on the condition, not only was I considerably more informed on it, but I also felt very sympathetic to not only my friend, but everyone else who has had to experience it, particularly with how ignorant other people continue to react to it due to lack of public awareness. It made me want to do something in dedication, and in the process, a certain pony eventually crossed my mind.

This wasn't done for the sake of appeasing blue checkmarks on Twitter. I genuinely wanted to help raise awareness of EDS however I could, and I considered that perhaps its inclusion in my story would help do that, so long as it didn't sacrifice everything else about the story or forget that it was still a Sonic the Hedgehog story. Yes, it's a fanfic, and thus not as well known as a Hollywood blockbuster or a bestselling novel, but if even a few people were to end up learning about EDS through Lutrudis, I would be happy.

However, I was well aware that the idea of a Sonic character having EDS might be seen as a bit jarring, and if done badly, could potentially be accidentally insulting. So I made sure to consult Verte about it, saying that I would only go through with it if she was comfortable with me doing so, and made it very clear that I would try to make its representation as tasteful and as faithful as I can, despite the inherent nature of the Sonic universe that Trudy is part of.

By the way, horses in real life can fall victim to very similar disorders, so that was yet another reason why I went with that choice.

5. “Hey Benign, I'm shite at art, please help.”

I can't remember the exact conversation that led to it, but after I talked to @benignmilitancy​ about Lutrudis, she offered to bring the character's design to life through her mad art skillz. Initially I was hesitant to take up the offer, since I felt guilty about having to rely on someone else to show people what my own character looks like, but I was giddily honored by the offer and decided to agree as long as she was willing. Luckily for her, she wasn't working with a blank canvas so to speak, as I had a relatively complete image in my mind regarding what Trudy would look like, having already reasoned to myself why this or that would apply.

When putting my vision into words to Benign, I mentioned that...

- Since Trudy is the same age as Rouge, logically that should mean she's given a similar mature build as the latter, as opposed to the pipe limbs you see with the other female characters. Since Trudy spends a lot of time with Amy and Cream and has a lot of motherly interactions with the latter in particular, it helps signify that she's older than them.

- Being a horse, she would have two slits for nostrils rather than the usual dot nose that most characters have. Similarly, though you don't see them most of the time anyway, her feet are grey hooves, but they abide by the usual Sonic-style feet rather than being more realistic ala Clove's hooves, if only because the latter didn't look right for this character IMO.

- To add to her gentle warmth, her eyes would be a honey shade of brown. Just like how Cream has brown eyes. Again, it's like poetry, they sort of, they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with the last one. *shrug* Hopefully it'll work.

- Since EDS tends to apply several subtle physical traits to those who have it, at least some of them should logically apply to Trudy as well. Those with EDS often have a bluish-grey tint to their sclera, and they also tend to have paler skin than most, so Trudy would have those qualities too.

- To emphasize her love for Mother Nature and all its amazing sights, and also to contrast with Amy and Cream's colour schemes, Trudy herself would be green, albeit a more gentler green rather than the brighter tones of Vector and Jet, while her clothes would be blue, with slightly different shades depending on the clothing to prevent her from looking like a drab curtain. After a few initial sketches, Benign eventually suggested that some of her clothing could be changed to brown to balance out her overall colour scheme, as well as to further add to the subtle nature motif by having brown (trees) go along with blue (water) and green (grass). Needless to say, I wholeheartedly approved of this idea, and decided that the best placement for the brown sections would be for her leggings and glove cuffs.

- Speaking of, as a nod to her equine status, she would wear leggings that could pass off as Equestrian jodhpurs. (Not that she has an aversion to wearing skirts or dresses, since she's girly and tomboyish in pretty much equal measures, compared to how Sonic females usually lean towards one or the other.)

- People with EDS are unable to wear heels since they can hurt their feet, so heels were out of the equation for this little horsie. But I also figured that regular shoes or sandals wouldn't mesh well with the rest of Trudy's clothing, so I went with boots that were flat at the heels. They can allude to her adventurous streak AND allude to how there's a lady willing to kick ass behind that quiet, mellow, introverted demeanour. Plus, much like how being stomped by a real horse's hoof would be very painful to put it mildly, so too would being stomped by this horse's boot.

- Seeing how Trudy's arms have permanent scars on them - permanent scars being another common effect of EDS - she would wear elbow-length gloves over them, since she wouldn't be comfortable with showing them publicly. Note however that she would still wear long gloves even if she didn't have those scars, since they genuinely happen to appeal to her fashion tastes as well. Covering the scars up is just a bonus. And since long gloves are often associated with royalty and high class, they're also suiting for a lady who lives in a fancy castle (despite not being royalty).

- Her hair is kept in a big bouncy ponytail, not unlike Coco Bandicoot or Shantae, since it's both cute and tomboyish... that and because the visual pun of a horse with a ponytail was too good to resist, let alone it humorously mirroring the general shape of her actual tail.

- To contrast with Sonic's spiky quills, a lot of Trudy's design is emphasized to have a round quality, such as her tail, her ponytail, and her sloped ears. To add to this design philosophy, she would wear a headscarf similar to Wave's. Me and Benign contemplated on whether Trudy's muzzle should be more blocky like that of a real horse, before we agreed that the softer muzzle fit both the round aesthetic and her general character better.

- Trudy has trouble breathing in colder temperatures, and she also has a sensitive nose that reacts strongly to heavy scents. As such, she would have a bandanna that she could cover over her mouth and nose to help out with either of those things whenever the situation called for it, or any other scenario where she deems it appropriate. It helps that a bandanna suits a horse anthro anyway.

Truth be told, I was worried that I was coming off as too demanding. But Benign assured me that giving all these details helped rather than hindered. In any case, I was more than pleased with the final result, as it was precisely spot on to what I had in my head, although even her initial sketches during the work in progress were great stuff.

6. If Amy uses a hammer, then Lutrudis uses...

Trudy has surprising arm and leg strength despite her appearance, which is mainly due to her horsie genes. But since she's still got EDS, it's still wise for her to equip herself with a weapon or two to even the odds. I contemplated a few ideas in this case, including a quarterstaff, but ultimately I decided that the following would be a little more interesting, while still remaining appropriate for the character in question.

I thought to myself “What's stopping her from having two weapons, one for short-range, the other for long-range?” I decided on the long-range weapon first: bow and arrows, the latter of which would eventually include the Ethereal Zone-powered crystals inside the cavern below her castle. Goes without saying that a bow suits her elegance and how it can be used from a stealthy distance, and the use of the crystals and their different abilities also helps to keep the reader guessing on what exactly is the nature of the elusive Ethereal Zone itself. I also reasoned that Trudy using a bow was a nice contrast to Amy's hammer, although I'm aware that Amy herself used a bow in the Fleetway comics. But no one uses a bow in the games (yet), so it's fine, right?

As for her short-range weapon, I thought it'd be funny if she had a whip that resembled a riding crop. Not only would it be used to give Eggman's robots the Simon Belmont treatment, it could also extend up to a certain distance to help grapple onto things and allow her to overcome areas that would otherwise cause complications for her body. Is it a bit ludicrous? Maybe, but so is a blue hedgehog fighting a Roosevelt lookalike. You just kind of have to live with it.

So there you have it! Everything you need to know about how Lutrudis Hadeer's name, species, design, and EDS came to be finalised. Now when you turn her into a monkey without my knowledge or permission for the sake of dunking on her because you don't approve of me making fun of Kingdom Hearts rejects, at least you'll have a better idea on what you're actually talking about. :^)

[nicomoviewatchinpsychopath]

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Review

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: VIDEO GAME BASED MOVIE IS FORMULAIC BUT OFFERS PLENTY OF FAST-PACED FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AS WELL AS LONGTIME FANS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

The world’s fastest hedgehog hits the big screen in Sonic the Hedgehog

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SEGA

The blue blur (or Blue Devil as the movie calls him) makes his big screen debut in Sonic the Hedgehog, based on the beloved Sega video game franchise of the same name. Believe it or not out of all the video game franchises, my favorite is and always will be Sonic the Hedgehog and have been a proud supporter of the hedgehog since childhood.             

Granted, it wasn’t until after Sega became a third-party developer for consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo when I became a fan of the blue hedgehog, but ever since I got my hands on the Nintendo GameCube port of Sonic Adventure 2 as a kid, my Sonic fandom was pretty much instant. I’ve played many of the video games both old and new, watched all the cartoons, read the comic books published by Archie Comics at the time, and I owned several action figures, plushies, and other Sonic merchandise throughout my childhood…in fact I still have most of those even to this day.             

I’ve been clamoring for a Sonic the Hedgehog theatrical movie for years despite video game film adaptations usually being critical and/or box-office poison. But given the popularity of Sonic especially during the 90s when he was rivaling Nintendo’s Mario franchise who already had a theatrical film released in 1993, I’d assume one would have been made back then or at the very least in the early-late 2000s when Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and Sonic Heroes as well as the hit Saturday morning anime series, Sonic X were released, I was so eager for a Sonic movie that a couple of friends and I got together and made movies of our own when we were kids (They sucked BTW!).             

After years of waiting and Sonic making a few big screen appearances prior in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph movies and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, the beloved hedgehog finally gets a movie of his own which leads us to today. The film is directed by newcomer Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut, produced by Neal H. Moritz (Fast & Furious franchise, XXX, 21/22 Jump Street), and executive produced by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and is a live-action/animated hybrid (Yep, just like Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Smurfs), which had me very worried when it was announced back in 2014 and was even more worried and disgusted when the first trailer came out last year which had an absolutely atrocious design for Sonic, fortunately they fixed it.

So, how does Sonic’s first movie hold up? Honestly, while I can’t call it the Sonic movie I wanted as a child, I had a fun time with it. It isn’t a perfect representation of its source material and the plot is pretty generic, but the charm of the film’s leads, humor, and subtle references to the games that inspired it are enough for me to overlook that flaw.             

The film follows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz-Parks and Recreation, The Other Guys, The Walk), blue anthropomorphic talking hedgehog from another dimension with extraordinary speed who travels to Earth to escape from those who want to capture him and harness his power. However, when he accidentally causes a power outage while hiding out in the town of Green Hills (Get it?), Sonic is targeted by the government and the tyrannical mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey-Ace Ventura 1 and 2, The Mask, The Truman Show) who plots to use Sonic’s power for world domination.             

This forces Sonic to team up with Green Hills sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden-X-Men franchise, Enchanted, Westworld) who agrees to help Sonic on his adventure to find his missing bag of magical rings that have the power to get him home. Of course, while getting into all sorts of trouble along the way.             The film also stars Tika Sumpter (Ride Along 1 and 2, Get On Up, Southside with You) as Tom’s wife Maddie, Adam Pally (Happy Endings, The Mindy Project, Iron Man 3) as Wade Whipple, and Neal McDonough (Star Trek: First Contact, Band of Brothers, Justified) as Major Bennington.             

Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog probably isn’t the movie longtime fans wanted, but it still manages to be an entertaining and fun adaptation in its own right. It’s easily one of the best films based on a video game alongside Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and The Angry Birds Movie 2 and shows that we’ve come a long way since the dark days of Uwe Boll’s directing career.

As mentioned before, the plot is nothing special and rehashed from other kids’ movies however what sets this apart from things like The Smurfs or Masters of the Universe is that Sonic and Tom do have a strong chemistry together. It’s amusing to see them interact with each other on their road trip, cracking jokes, getting into trouble, and over the course of the film they learn more about one another thus making you care more for them over ANY Smurf or Chipmunk. 

While there are a few jokes that don’t quite stick the landing, the humor for the most part not only made me laugh but there were moments in this movie where I laughed hard. Whether the film was poking fun at the entire Sonicfranchise, a particular running sequence that’s obviously a reference to the Quicksilver scenes from the X-Men movies, or Sonic breaking the fourth wall similar to Deadpool, I was laughing while also admiring how clever some of these jokes are, and let’s not forget Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, but we’ll get to him momentarily.

The redesigned Sonic is a lot better than what we could have gotten, he doesn’t have those ugly small eyes, questionable muscular arms and legs, or the terrifying human teeth anymore. Now, his appearance is more faithful to the source material recreating the hedgehog’s cartoony nature but is different enough to stand out from the rest of the character’s previous designs and be its own unique creation, this is a really good design for Sonic and had the filmmakers went with their original version, this movie would have crashed and burned even harder than Sonic ’06.

Besides Sonic being more appealing to look at now, he’s also just as entertaining to listen to, Ben Schwartz while he’s far from being a replacement for Roger Craig Smith, Ryan Drummond, Jason Griffith, or even Jaleel White, does a solid job providing Sonic’s voice and captures the cocky, arrogant, but good-natured attitude Sonic is known for having. He actually almost sounds like Ryan Drummond’s Sonic voice without sounding like a cheap impersonation.             Moving on to Sonic’s new friend that doesn’t have two tails, James Marsden as Tom, his performance is decent even though he doesn’t quite make as big an impression as Ben Schwartz’ Sonic and especially Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik. With that said, he gets some funny lines once in a while and as mentioned before has good chemistry with Sonic, so yeah, believe it or not James Marsden was partnered up with another CG animated character and this time came out with his dignity unlike his performance in Hop.             

Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik owns every scene that he’s in, he’s no Mike Pollock and is a radically different Robotnik than from the games, but Carrey’s energetic and wildly animated personality shines through and gives a million percent whenever the crazy evil genius is on-screen. He’s certainly a lot better than Dennis Hopper as Koopa from the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Hopefully, this movie will be a hit during its theatrical run because I’d love to see a sequel especially if it introduced other Sonic characters like Tails, Knuckles, or even Shadow. Don’t make this like the recent Power Rangers movie, I need my big screen version of those characters!

Whether a fan, newcomer, or just looking for something fun to take the kids to, Sonic the Hedgehog should make everyone happy. It’s not perfect but it has enough action, wit, and charm to make it worth checking out. You’ll be “Up, Over, and Gone” before you know it.

For more movie reviews please visit: https://moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com

[mdhwrites]

Okay, I’d actually like to talk about how AMAZING these people actually show the Sonic cast is, and why there are so many, because I hear so many people claim that Sonic’s friends don’t matter, or don’t need to exist. Here is the thing: In gameplay they can be hard to implement. As characters... Well Sonic: He’s your normal,goofball, never give up protaganist. He’ll always do what’s right, but his belief in his own skills is both his greatest strength and flaw. He’s gullible, cocky, and if no one holds him back is likely to rush face first into danger with no plan to get out. It’s a classic and always a lot of fun. Tails: The obsessed engineer. Not a lot of stuff plays up how shy or socially awkward Tails can be, but when he has to interact with people outside of his field, his mission, or his team you can usually see it, and that’s because he is always working on the tech side of stuff. He loves his passion, but without someone to push him out of his comfort zone he wouldn’t ever grow. Knuckles: The serious hero. He can be silly, but that’s usually at his own expense. He isn’t the brightest, but he has a heart of gold... Or warm steel might be the better term for it. He’ll smash before he talks, but unlike Sonic will focus on the mission. There’s no distracting him because his goal is always the betterment of him and his friends, so he’ll also give up a victory of his own to give it to someone else. What matters is that things got done. Rouge: The prankster/flirt. She appears to not take anything serious, but it’s because she wants to have fun! Her tricks may be a little mean, but never to the extent that they’ll leave the recipient scowling for too long, and she is the one who’ll give a few heated, impassioned words in an ear to make someone’s day brighter more than anyone else. This isn’t just sexual teasing though. A prankster and flirt has to be able to read people to get under their skin (or other parts), and this makes her great for compassion, care, love, and bringing anyone up who is feeling too down. Just be careful, because she’s also the best in putting you back in your place should it go too far to your head. Omega: I don’t know this character very well, but I’ll still try with what I do know. He’s the outsider. The one who doesn’t know the world, but is trying his best. His intentions are never ill, but he wasn’t made to be good, so it’s hard for him not to do damage, despite how desperately he wants to keep everything safe. Fortunately, with the right-ish moral compass, his weaponry can be used for good and he is slowly learning how to be funny, sarcastic, and everything else that can make him increasingly human in the eyes of other people than his friends, who know just how wonderfully alive he is behind his awkward voice. Shadow: Yeah, he isn’t a hero. He is selfish, narcissistic, and ready to be an asshole to anyone to get his way. He doesn’t play well with others, but that’s because he is what matters... in the short term view. He is still a hero, but the kind that is harder to see the merit of. He would abandon his friends if he knew getting the job done was what mattered, and that he could do it himself. He wouldn’t technically like it (not if it actually cost lives. Here... Fuck em. They fucked up) but it’s what he would do for the job. He’s the best guy to work with, because he’ll always get it done, but don’t ask him to move or else you’ll be paying for the beer, pizza, and it better line up with his schedule or he’s just teleporting all of your stuff in a heap onto the roof because he missed your third floor apartment. Eggman!: The rapacious scoundrel! He honestly isn’t the best at world domination. It’s not his thing. He makes flawed creations because he enjoys creating doodads, thingamobs, and wants people to appreciate just how good his death laser is! At least, in a lot of his best incarnations. He’s of course older, more bitter, and all of this has been cranked up to an eleven, but come on. He names things like Egg Carrier, and puts a moustache on his car. If there isn’t a child somewhere in there wanting attention and a friend who understands him, then I don’t know what more they could do to show that. This is also why he’s not usually the final boss in a lot of more modern Sonic games I feel. And now *cracks knuckles* The hard mode. Covering not only characters not in this, but also ones who are either less popular, or less canon. Warning: I have been exposed to a lot of Sonic, but I have consumed very little Sonic, so feel free to correct me on any of this. Big the Cat: Okay, going to admit it now: Could still use work. However, he is supposed to be the zen amongst the insanity. He is the one who, given the chance, would just relax, sleep, and play with his frog, even while everyone else is playing EXTREME, DEATH, CHILLYDOG VOLLEYBALL! He doesn’t want for much except his friends and trusts that his more capable friends can take care of themselves. He’ll do anything for his smaller, less defensible friends though... like Froggie. Cream: The shy, earnest girl. She’s more in touch with nature, she cleans the base while everyone’s out on mission, and develops a new anxiety disorder everytime the phone rings. You could want no one better to just listen to your problems, and she’ll do what is necessary if she must, Just don’t expect her to come home and be ready to squash a spider, even if she just saved the world. Amy: The tomboy turned girly girl. If allowed, she’d learned to cook, bake, clean, and sew, because to her those are the traits that have been ingrained into her by society as right for what she wants to be: A wife in a peaceful time, surrounded by those she loves and who aren’t afraid of her. This likely stems from losing a couple too many friends after she showed off she could break a mountain with her hammer. In actuality, she’d be at the most peace if she accepted who she was, while still trying to calm down and manage her anger, but what we get instead is someone filled with a lot of complex emotions, whose definition for romance do NOT fit with her knight in shining armor, and who will break you if you so much as lay a finger on her Disney Palace dream. Chaotix: Uuuuuuuuh, skip! Okay, to be fair, they are additional archtypes that aren’t there already, especially as less typical heroes, or heroes for hire. They follow something other than pure morality to decide what it is they care about, but they won’t turn to straight up criminal work in order to get paid either. They’re good guys, but they live in the real world, to each their own extent, and are trying to get by despite that. Princess Sally: This is my last one, because I pretty much run out of knowing enough at this point. However, I do want to touch on her. We have heroes, villains, anti-heroes, but they almost all have one thing in common. Confidence. Sally is the character who, when asked to put on a speech, takes a deep breath, wipes the nervous tears from her eyes, and steps out and performs spectacularly. Everyone knows she’s capable of moving the Earth except for her. The weight of her position and her situation weigh on every action she makes and it exhausts her, almost to the point of stopping her. Almost. Her reserves of strength make it so that even when she has to show she’s scared, she can keep going. And sorry if I am SUUUUPER off on that last one. But yeah, to everyone who says all of Sonic’s friends are stupid, blame that more on poor game writing. These characters have AMAZING designs and concepts behind them that manage to show themselves in spite of how rough the writing or time for character development can be in their games, and it’s part of why I can’t actually make that much fun of the Sonic community. You were given an entire season’s worth of anime characters to play around with and grow up with and you want to see them done well and given the characterization you know is there. Add to the fact that the games are fun (to some people, I am unfortunately not a big fan) and I entirely sympathize with you all, and I hope you get more good games in the future, and that they keep adding to this great rouge- OH SHIT! Silver: Yeah, if you thought Shadow seemed a little extreme, Silver is what you get when you have someone with literally nothing left to lose. He lost his planet, and he will destroy a galaxy to set it right. He doesn’t trust because he grew up in a time where that got you killed. He has likely lost friends, homes, everything to the future, and will do anything to get them back. This also leaves him in a reeeeally awkward position in peace time and treating paintball as a game instead of a training exercise. Blaze: Making the best of a bad situation. While Silver let him embroil himself in the rage of his world, Blaze still fights to temper it. To be able to manage a small smile from time to time, and find silver linings in failure. When something goes wrong, she’ll publicly tell everyone how great they did and how they’ll be a next time, but please give her a hug. She’s crying on the inside because she’s had it just as rough as Silver, but also thinks she actually has something to lose still beyond her life, and that fact terrifies her. Sorry for forgetting about those two, but that should be about everyone. If I missed someone you expect me to know, especially from the games, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all liked this, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[sonic-wildfire]

Aftermath - A Sonic Forces AU Fanfiction: Chapter 4, Part 2

If you are seeing this first, I strongly advise you read from the beginning to make sure you’re not confused on the main plot.

Reposting this because Tumblr’s being a little bitch again.

Fast forwarding seven hours later, the quintet was awake and as rested as they possibly could have been. While Amy, Knuckles, Gadget, and Silver drowsily congregated on the couches surrounding the coffee table, Sonic was perched on a stool in the kitchen, taking a sip of his coffee. Last night’s dream left the blue racer in an almost vegetative state; he was still aware of what was going on, but his body gave off a completely different impression; his ultramarine quills dulled to a lackluster blue-gray, his emerald green irides had jaundiced considerably, his peach skin became anemic, and his expression mimicked that of a thousand-yard stare.

As Gadget stood up to refill his own cup, he noticed the dejected warrior with his head down as his eyes anxiously scanned the hardwood floor beneath him.

“Sonic…?” the canine asked. “Are you okay?”

Gadget received an incoherent grunt in response.

“...Would you mind telling us about what freaked you out during the night?” he queried.

Sonic looked at him, slowly set down his cup on the counter nearby, and turned his back clearly agitated.

“Sonic?” Gadget began walking towards the hedgehog.

“Hold on,” Sonic grumbled.

After a couple moments, Sonic asked if he could talk about it with Gadget in private. He agreed, and the two headed upstairs to the wolf’s bedroom. Gadget locked the door behind them and Sonic sat down on a chair while Gadget sat on the bed.

Sonic then proceeded to tell Gadget every detail about the dream he could remember. He recalled seeing his friends in the same dire predicament; he recalled the pain of the branding iron pressed against his exposed flesh; he claimed he could still hear the screaming as they were all tortured in different ways.

“I also wanted to thank you,” Sonic admitted.

The auburn-furred wolf was baffled. “Thank me? For what?”

“For giving me a what-for a few minutes ago,” he answered. “To tell the truth, particularly bad night terrors have me go completely ballistic the morning immediately after. Every single one of them is exhausting and not fun to experience. Thank you for bringing me to my senses before things could get worse.”

Gadget could hardly reply. He was stunned.

“...You’re welcome, Sonic.”

As the two opened the door to go back downstairs, they were greeted by Amy, Knuckles, and Silver right there in front of them. They had been eavesdropping on the conversation the entire time.

Sonic gave a chuckle and sighed. “Yeah, okay, I should’ve shared this with the rest of you too.”

Three hours later, the quintet decided to take a stroll throughout Station Square to distract their minds from the events of the previous night. They stumbled upon a plot of non-urbanized land within the city. Thinking this would be the perfect place to relax, the five eagerly sprinted across the open field as they effortlessly scaled the numerous rolling hills it had to offer.

Reaching the other side of the field, the grass beneath their feet soon became sand as they trekked onto the Emerald Coast beach and reached the hotel. As they took a poolside seat, they noticed an ebony creature sitting alone in one of the deck chairs. His top quill faced down while the rest of his quills faced up, he had a patch of chest fur, and what appeared to be rings around his wrists and ankles.

“Shadow?” Sonic blurted out, not meaning to say out loud.

As the unknown visitor turned his head in their direction, it was instantly clear that Shadow had also come here. He had flinched at the sound of his name, and was even more surprised to discover it was his comrades. He sighed and shook his head.

“You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog,” he muttered.

“I tend to do that well, don’t I?” Sonic bantered with a cheeky grin across his face.

“Don’t get too self-confident, faker,” Shadow retorted. “Perhaps you should stick to aimlessly running around like a dolt.”

The blue speedster simply chuckled at the other hedgehog’s comment. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well, right now, I’m just taking a break,” the Ultimate Lifeform replied.

“Just right now? Well, what’s the reason you’re in Station Square to begin with?” Knuckles asked.

“Well, I was coming here so I wasn’t just having night terrors in a familiar setting every night,” Shadow admitted. “But since that hasn’t worked, now I’m just having night terrors in an unfamiliar setting. So now, instead of just having a hard time trusting anybody, I’m now having a hard time trusting anybody and anything.”

Sonic simply looked down into the water, picking up the sound of the tiny splashes of water that reached the pool’s edge.

“Yeah, I definitely feel you,” Knuckles chirped. “I always found it easy to trust people, but all that changed after the war.”

As the echidna finished his sentence, the roar of a jet engine overhead startled the six anthropomorphic animals. As they looked up, it was traveling tremendously fast and dangerously close to the ground. Thankfully, the plane zoomed off with no harm done.

Sonic instantly felt anxiety beginning to settle in; this time, however, he didn’t feel that a meltdown was imminent. He excused himself as he entered the hotel lobby and sat on one of the benches nearest to the door in order to regroup.

As he stepped back out, he assured everyone that he was fine and that it was simply “butterflies in his stomach.” The other five took his word for it and Shadow soon parted ways with the group as they moved away from the beach in search of other activities to do in the city.

After twelve hours of touring Station Square’s lesser-well-known places, the quintet headed back to the apartment. That night, Sonic’s memory of the plane speeding overhead began to give him anxiety again but, just like last time, he didn’t feel an attack was about to happen. Sure enough, none happened and he fell asleep without incident.

A week later, Sonic was back at his old stomping grounds in the city. They had left Station Square not too long prior and Sonic informed his friends that he would prefer to spend some time alone for a short while immediately upon returning home. They obliged, and Sonic was on his own. As he glanced out the back window to gaze at the early morning sun, he began to wonder if the support he had received from his friends throughout the weeks and months following the war was either actually genuine or worth it.

For the last year, he had, for the most part, shied away from interacting with others no matter how hard he tried and the bland lifestyle he was leading as a result was beginning to isolate him from others even further. Sonic sat down on the couch and pondered. He had never realized it until now, but he was beginning to lose it as the months went by; his once-carefree demeanor had almost completely erased itself from existence, his depression got exponentially worse, and he barely found any joy in the activities that had once given him such a great time.

The blue hedgehog was asking himself so many questions. Did he truly want to keep pushing forward the way he has been over the past fourteen months? Was there really a reason to do things anymore? Would anyone care if he was gone?

He quickly concluded his answers to the first two questions, but struggled on the third. On one hand, his friends have repeatedly expressed how important that Sonic had been in their lives and how they were grateful for him. But on the other hand, he kept thinking about how his actions would cause more harm than good on occasion.

“It’s my own dumb decisions that gets everybody else into trouble. Not putting the fake Chaos Emerald into the Eclipse Cannon before going to save Amy so we could have avoided the entire thing with the giant lizard. Being careless in my super state and getting captured because of it, subsequently tearing the planet into pieces. Nearly losing my closest friend because of my dimwitted ways back on the Lost Hex.”

“No,” Sonic said. “I think things would be better for them if I weren’t in their way. I’ve become so toxic and unlikable, my friends merely tolerate me rather than like me.”

After a long while of thinking to himself, he made his decision.

“I’m taking the easy way out.”

[Prelude] [Previous Part] [Previous Chapter] [Next Chapter]

[diegest]

2010 V.S. 2019

Age 15 and almost 25

(This is long a messy but I wanted to make some kind of post about it before the year ends.)

I was making a stink face bc my then best-friend was over and said something funny before she took the picture and afterwards we busted out laughing. We were at my then step-dads parents house out in the country walking down to their creek either just getting done swimming in their pool or intending to get in it after going to the creek.

I was most likely a freshmen or sophomore at the time of this picture. (Probably right before sophomore year started...) It was definitely during Summer. I either had a flip Nokia phone or an LG Neon at the time as I upgraded from one to the other. I had my first “job.” I was a veterinary assistant after school for a few hours a day and did some work out there during Summer as well. I wasn’t paid and used my time as a volunteer to play with animals, hold them down for simple procedures, walked dogs, and it helped me gauge whether or not I wanted to actually pursue being a veterinarian. I had competed in track for 6 years in a row by this point and was probably finished with it by the time this picture was taken. (Two Elementary School leagues, all three years of Middle School, freshmen year of High School). I was crushing HARDCORE on my childhood best friend whom I’ve known since the age of 6 but neither of us could handle our feelings for the other and things would become super awkward until we had actually dated 7 years later. I was tan as hell because of track practice, walking to both pools in town, and walking to Sonic with friends during sleepovers.

I was struggling trying to find my identity as a teenager while maintaining being in the middle of my parents joint custody battle and being forced to be 100 miles away from my friends two weekends out of the month. I was a cynical older sister of two step-brothers and did not use my time with them as wisely as I wish I could have, sometimes being a real bitch to them looking back at it. I had no control over my hair color or length and remember desperately wanting to layer it to look like a scene kid despite how naturally thin it is. I had just started dabbling in eye liner (not pictured, as I preferred and still prefer my poolside activities over makeup), wore converse every day I wasn’t wearing flip flops for the season, wore baggy jeans, the same Paramore hoodie daily, and had an extreme creative drive that I miss deeply. I was bullied horribly for my teeth, nose, skin (I had terrible eczema that pool water, cortisone shots, and Summer weather in general helped tremendously with!), height, cup size, fashion, hobbies, having split parents, and then some. My metabolism was extremely high and I was in my athletic prime. I had a touch of internet fame by drawing my own personal characters on deviantArt.com as well as fan art for games and shows I was super into using my first Wacom tablet on my first laptop and to this day still have a folder of fan art created for me on my computer. I was obsessed with cats, rock music, anime, and drawing. I could drive a boat and got both a high five as well as scolded for that time I flipped myself into the water to retrieve my dads hat while we were going full speed over white-caps because I was too impatient for him to circle around and wanted to impress him and the rest of the family. I was for the most part unafraid of most things.

I was secretly extremely depressed and suicidal during the school year to the point I had missed my period for 5 months because of stress alone and I’m certain at the time this picture was taken, I was almost breathing a sigh of relief I was off from school for the summer. I had a close knit group of friends still before it had combust the following school year. I was “working” as a veterinary assistant but also had interests in pursuing being an animator, art director, cartoonist, children’s book illustrator, or graphic designer by this point and my mom encouraged me to pursue whatever I was comfortable with. I wasn’t really boy crazy like my friends were, instead having my heart set on one in particular and probably still having a soft spot for my ex whom I was with for 3 years prior. My bedroom contained my artwork, sports posters, cat posters, band posters, and trophies/medals from my days running track. My friend and I, though not legally allowed to drive, would occasionally sneak to Taco Bell using her parents car if they weren’t home and we never got caught or pulled over for it. My grades were A’s and B’s, though I could not pay attention in History to save my life because I was too preoccupied with doodling on my papers and ignoring this asshole who was two classes above me who had called me ugly but then admitted he liked me at one time because of my attitude?? He’s still an idiot from what I’ve heard only he’s an idiot who knocked up a few women post-high school, is apparently married now, and no surprise to me - is still stuck in that same small town with no goal to go anywhere outside of it.

I was scared of the outside world beyond my small town and had no idea how rough it would get for me. The family issues and my trip to family court had not happened yet. I had yet to become estranged from my family. I was small and awkward as hell. I struggled to hold conversations or make eye contact unless it was with people I felt most familiar with since people were kinda fucking mean. I could argue back but would immediately break down and cry from the interaction at the first chance I’d get. I’d use books, art, and video games for the escapism. Life felt scary and fragile and so very uncertain but at least I had a few individuals in the world whom I loved so much and who I know loved me.

I’m 24 now. I’m now in control over my own hair cut and color. I choose to keep it long as I didn’t even like the way it looked short when I finally chopped it as a teenager. It’s been red, reddish blonde, blonde on top and brown on the bottom, dark brown to blonde ombré, and now platinum blonde with my natural color as a shadow root and I quite like it. I don’t really dabble in makeup unless it’s for an occasion except for covering up my acne as my body decided that having zero acne in my teen years was just too good for me while I was battling eczema instead. I’m not nearly as tan or athletic as I’m forced to be inside at most times. I still love to swim though and I take every opportunity to go to my childhood beach during the Summer when I can in particular. I still don’t consider myself to be family-oriented despite this year really challenging that for me. I have a ton of amazing friends and people who care about me and feel like recently in particular, I’m always busy with someone doing something and making memories as we do whatever.

I have a bachelors in Psychology and a minor in Art, though I did not pursue a masters in art therapy like I had originally intended. I was heavily burnt out from school and my baby brothers worsening medical conditions and the news that he had been in a children’s hospital for quite some time with my family deliberately choosing not to tell me made me choose not to pursue one for the time being. I was working at Dairy Queen while technically sharing a lease with my ex before finding a job at a psychiatric hospital that I loved and getting my own apartment to myself and my cat, whom my ex gave to me as he saw she benefited me more than she benefited him. Though I lost that job, I can now say I have two years of field experience in Psychology and almost 6 months worth in social work and feel like I’m always learning something.

I’m not as creative anymore because the years of crippling depression, anxiety, and being forced to create for school absolutely ruined any creativity I had once had. Though occasionally I’ll have the opportunity to channel that creativity into a video game or quick doodle for a child.

I’ve moved to two cities after moving out of my high-school “home” town (not quite home but a good chunk of my upbringing!) and have every intention of doing it again within the next year after I save up some. I don’t take shit from anyone and have taken after the best parts of my moms personality in my opinion with the added benefit of my dads patience and keen eye. I’m known for making people around me comfortable and able to laugh and decompress and have been fortunate enough to use that power professionally. I would like to go back to mental and behavioral health as I miss the thrill and excitement as well as the camaraderie with fellow staff members in the pursuit of helping individuals. I’m very likely starting a new position in my company as early as next week and have been extremely excited about the pay and hour boost. I’ll be getting my dog in just over two weeks and am excited to start our life journey together. Though I had developed my moms serial-monogamist trait for a while there after my 6 year-long relationship had ended in the pursuit of finding someone to fill that gap, I feel very comfortable lately simply being pursued and wanted without the commitment. I’m addicted to sushi bowls, coffee, and chocolate. My passion is helping others. I feel comfortable in my body enough that I would love to pursue modeling of some sort and have been lucky enough to dabble in that a bit already. I also have a bit of a love for fashion now, though I rarely feel the urge to actually properly plan my outfits unless my goal is to dress to impress or for the sake of photography.

I’ve learned to allow myself to enjoy the things I enjoy without the fear of judgement from others. I still love nerd-culture and have somewhat recently taken an interest in cosplay and want to attend more conventions. I’ve learned that it’s an accomplishment for me to have gotten this far, to have my own place, and that it’s alright that I don’t have everything figured out and not everything has to be figured out right away. I don’t have the same best friend I had 10 years ago, but we’re still in contact and I love my current best friend tremendously though I don’t get to see him often. I’ve learned that my current group of friends may be temporary, but while I’m lucky enough to be around them I’m going to do what I can to make them feel as loved and cherished as possible and make plenty of memories. Ivy and I are doing well and I know we will continue doing well even with Atticus by our side. I value traveling way more and will continue to travel and see new things when I’m able to. Eventually I’ll narrow down a Masters program and go back to school when I feel ready. I might even work alongside my brother at some point as we had talked about working on a project together and I’m pretty excited. This is getting really really long oops

I also just look dope as all hell with blonde hair and have gotten the notoriety of being “that blonde girl who wears the leather jacket” and I’m beyond thrilled about this. I’ve come a long way and I’m proud of myself. It’s hard to believe that lanky, tan, dark haired, greasy-headed kid is me but I think she’s come a long long way and I’m genuinely proud of her for doing so and not ending things when she’s had the opportunity. Here’s to 10 more years of careful and concise progress and glow-ups~

[wannabecritic-blog1]

Review In Progress: Sonic Team Racing (Chapter 1-3) (Ps4)

So super short, and super simple. The game is pretty good Okay now to be a little serious!

Pick Up And Play

If you’ve played any other racing game on the Ps4 before this, then the controls will be pretty familiar. R2 to accelerate, L2 to drift, basic stuff. The Tutorials it gives you are a little strange. The game expects you to know how to drive, meaning you know how to press R2. Once you start driving and before you make the first turn, a small box at the top of your screen will tell you to press L2 to drift. As soon as you finish reading that, a tutorial pops up on your screen to tell you how the game works. I find this as a problem because a tutorial would have been better placed before the race starts. A tutorial before the race can give you the basic controls and any other tips the game has. (Tips, by the way, are super helpful.) Another alternative could have been maybe going slow motion on the first turn to show you how to drift. I didn’t like the tutorials popping up in the middle of a race, but again it was helpful even though it was a slight annoyance.

The game itself though is incredibly easy to figure out with or without the tutorials and once again, the tips are amazing to read. Those appear during the loading screens. Often times you’ll learn how to do something you saw other NPCs doing like the boost while the race starts.

Not A Mario Kart Clone

Despite what some people have said, Team Sonic Racing is far from a Mario Kart clone. If it isn’t obvious, the focus is on team-based racing which is a nice twist to traditional racing games. The game relies on a point system to justify who really one the race. Yes, you get bonus points for finishing first, but if another team had more “Team interactions” (I don’t know if that is the proper name.) then they won the race because of a higher score. Funny enough, this feature is far from frustrating. The first two chapters of the game don’t really show off the team side of the game too much, meaning you can race your heart to first and not really worry about the other team. At some point in the middle of chapter two is where the team stuff starts pushing. This isn’t a bad thing.

I found myself breezing through the game until Shadow’s team was introduced and they started beating me. At this point, I was only trying for first and giving items to other team members when they were far behind. I didn’t notice I was losing until the end of the last lap. Shadow’s team had passed me in points in some way or the other. (Still not super clear how all that works, but that’s why this is a review in progress.) After losing two more times, I really started focusing on the smaller team skills I was thought in the first chapter. Barley missing a teammate as you zoom past them gives you both a small boost and team points that also fill your ultimate meter. The ultimate meter (triggered by Triangle) is a gigantic speed boost that lasts for a few seconds. I do not know if this is the same for every team or not. (I am running through the story with Team Sonic. Once again, I’ll cover all of the teams and other small things once I clear the game and am able to write a proper review.) The game made me focus more on strategy than just simply being first. It is a really nice change and I am incredibly happy with it. It’s a simple system as well. easy to understand.

To Be Continued

These are my thoughts on the game so far, again I haven’t finished it and have not explored everything I can explore in the game. For what it’s worth though, it’s a very enjoyable game with a fair amount of challenge. I’ll probably write another Review In Progress tomorrow or at least have one ready for tomorrow. Thank you again for reading this and have a wonderful morning, afternoon and night.

--WannaBe

[classicdaisycalico]

Sonic and Mario ;D

Give me a fandom and I’ll tell you :

Hoo boy, a twofer! Let’s do this thing!

(Edit: I’m putting this under a “Read More” because this shit got L O N G.)

SONIC:

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: Silver the Hedgehog. Poor baby; he deserves better and he has so much potential, but given the way SEGA is treating every character besides Sonic, Tails, and Eggman, I don’t think it’s gonna be getting better any time soon. Part of me blames Pontaff for this, for some reason…FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Blaze the Cat! I just love her character development from the beginning of her creation all the way up to now. Look how much more comfortable she is around her new friends!LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER: Elise. Dear God, why was she even relevant again?FAVORITE SHIP: Shadouge. Sonic series OTP forever. I know not a lot of people ship it, but there’s just something about the way they work together and how they consider each other to be best friends. After all they’ve been through, I feel like anything could happen with those two. But, ya know. Ships are subjective, and the Sonic fandom is all about subjective, as we both know.FAVORITE FRIENDSHIP: Sonic and Tails. There’s a reason they’re called the “Unbreakable Bond”. They’re just such good buddies and they’ll stick together through thick and thin and thick again!FAVORITE QUOTE: “Even if you believe everyone will be against you, know that I’ll always remain by your side.”~ Rouge the Bat, “Sonic ‘06″.Yeah, the game sucked, but it says a lot about her character. She may not be the type to form any kind of relationship with anyone; Rouge always struck me as someone who is perfectly fine with literally flying solo, but dammit, she will put in just about any effort into a friendship if that person is worth her time. And Shadow is definitely worth her time.WORST CHARACTER DEATH (IF ANY): Probably Emerl. I gotta admit, it gave me a fair share of feels.THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA MOMENT: See “Favorite Quote” for more details.SADDEST MOMENT: Probably when Blaze sacrificed herself for Silver in “Sonic ‘06″. And to rub even more salt in the wound, she basically told Silver she liked him before physically carrying out the act. Imagine if the person you like had to give themselves up in a time of dire need, while all you can do is stand there and watch. And right as they’re about to die, they tell you they love you. What could have been is now nothing. And that really, REALLY hurts.FAVORITE LOCATION: I’ve always been partial to Apotos, for some reason. “Sonic Unleashed” is a really good game in a lot of respects, and the plot line is one of them. But there’s just something undeniably beautiful about Apotos. I think it’s how it’s based off of Greece. Now, I’ve never been to Greece, but I’ve seen a picture of Santorini and…OH MY GOODNESS. It’s so fucking gorgeous. I want to travel there. Really badly.

Well, that’s it for Sonic. Now for Mario!

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: It’s-a Luigi, Number One!Okay but honestly, I really adore Luigi as a character. He’s sweet and kind and totally genuine and isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve. So he’s not afraid to cry or be afraid or anything. He’s like, the polar opposite of what “being a man” is, and I think that’s beautiful. Not everyone has to Be A Man to be a hero. He can be his own kind of hero as long as he gets the job done! And he does! Super well, I might add! And people really like that! It lets people know that this kind of thing is perfectly okay! (We need more guys like Luigi in the world.)FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Princess Daisy. I mean…it’s kinda obvious? My blog is named after her, after all!But let’s talk for a second. Just like how I like that Luigi doesn’t fit into the traditional “Be A Man” hero mold, Daisy isn’t a typical frail-and-pale princess. And that’s totally okay, too! Actually, it’s super great, because just how Luigi’s spiel tells guys it’s okay to be emotional sometimes, Daisy’s character tells girls it’s okay for girls to be loud, strong, and sporty while also enjoying traditionally feminine princess things like picking flowers, drinking tea, and wearing dresses. Look at Nintendo, breaking societal norms all over the place!LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER: I don’t actively hate any characters in the Mario-verse, per se, but if there’s one I do find annoying, it’s Koopa Kid. I know Nintendo killed him off because they no longer found him necessary, but that’s just it. Why did he exist in the first place? He literally existed nowhere else except in the “Mario Party” games. So if you REALLY want to talk about being stuck in spin-off purgatory, I think our dearly departed friend KK had it the worst.Still, if that was his only relevance was Bowser’s right-hand in “Mario Party” 1-7 and nowhere else? That’s pretty sad.FAVORITE SHIP: Luigi and Daisy. They’re my Mario series OTP and I’ve basically been shipping them since before I even knew what shipping was. But remember what I said about Luigi and Daisy smashing gender norms and how great that is? WELL GUESS WHAT? The two of them as a couple lets people know that these kinds of people can still find love in a toxic society that pressures guys to bottle in emotions and pressures girls to just sit and look pretty. It lets people know that people like guys who aren’t afraid to be sensitive. It lets people know that people like girls who are unapologetically loud and proud. Keep doing what you’re doing, Nintendo. And while you’re at it, can we get some real character building behind this ship? I want more interaction outside of spinoff games, ya know? We can’t keep Daisy in spin-off limbo forever. It’s gotta end someday.FAVORITE FRIENDSHIP: Peach, Daisy, AND Rosalina. In the midst of the more toxic side of the fandom pitting these princesses (and one queen) against each other when talking about “who’s better”, I prefer to think that these girls are all super great in their own special way and would definitely support each other like the badass girl squad that they are. (We need a platformer with all 3 of these girls as playable characters. Maybe throw in Pauline, as well, since she needs more love, too!)FAVORITE QUOTE: “All life carries the essence of stars. Even all of you.”~ Rosalina, the end of “Super Mario Galaxy”Space Mom just dropped some bomb-ass knowledge. But I think this particular quote is probably the most motivational quote in the entire Mario series. In the context of the game, she’s addressing Mario, Peach, and even Bowser after this giant Big Bang recreates the entire universe up to just before the very beginning of the game. And before that, she says something about about the cycle of life never repeating itself the same way, which I guess means she had a hand in saving the cosmos (and their lives).But out of context? Say that to somebody who doesn’t feel like they’re enough. And they’re gonna feel like the most powerful being in the universe. Because it’s true! Everything in the entire universe is made of the same stuff as stars. And stars are super powerful, enormous, BEAUTIFUL celestial bodies with enough energy to unleash EXPLOSIONS when they die. And even before stars are created, and even after their remains are scattered around the cosmos, we see these magnificent clouds of gas and dust that goes into creating these powerful stars. People look at pictures of this stuff. Scientists look through telescopes to find this. Artists paint pictures of this. And all of them think this stardust is the prettiest sight they’ll ever see in the universe. This stardust goes into creating humans. WE ARE MADE OF STARDUST. To tell someone that they are just as admirable and mesmerizing as this glittering stardust is probably the biggest compliment to give to someone when they’re feeling down. You are literally a star. The universe made you out of a star. YOU ARE WORTH EXISTING IN THIS UNIVERSE, because THE STARS THEMSELVES saw something special in you while they created you. And that, I think, is the most beautiful thing to say to someone.WORST CHARACTER DEATH (IF ANY): I think the Lumas sacrificing themselves for Mario at the end of the first “Super Mario Galaxy” was definitely a heart-wrenching moment for me. They wanted the hero who saved the home of their Space Mom (Rosalina) to stay alive, but their home (the entire cosmos) was dying because of a giant black hole that will swallow up the entire universe whole, so what do they do? They throw themselves into the black hole as a last act of heroism to let him and his friends live. And I’m talking about thousands of these little cuties. And technically, in the Luma phase of their life, before they permanently transform into comets or planets, this means they’re still children. So it hurts even more when you think about that.But that’s okay, because then we have that giant-ass big bang that resets everything back to the very beginning, thus prompting the events of “Super Mario Galaxy 2!”THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA MOMENT: That statue in Daisy Circuit? Both of them, actually. The ones of Luigi and Daisy holding hands and dancing together? I don’t know the context behind it (even though I really REALLY want to), but this basically cemented my OTP as canon. And I think the fact that Nintendo made one of them as babies was kind of a way of saying “these guys are totally meant soulmates. They’re made for each other”. #LegitCouple #SteadySweeties(Although I think a very close second would be Daisy’s trophy cutscene in “Mario Power Tennis” when she calls Luigi “sweetie” when he gives her the trophy. Also, that slow-mo moment when she catches the trophy in the air after Luigi loses his grip on it? He’s totally staring at her. Actually, I think “gawking” would be a better word for it.)SADDEST MOMENT: See “Worst Character Death” for more details.FAVORITE LOCATION: I know nobody’s seen it in decades, but Sarasaland. I want to see it again. In 3D. In HD. In a mainstream Mario game. The most we got was it’s debut game, “Super Mario Land”…and that’s it. Ever since then it’s been reduced to nothing but mere mentions in Daisy’s character bios. That’s not fair. Younger fans who are still growing up with the Mario series have probably never even seen Sarasaland for themselves, and now that we’ve seen what the Switch can do and how powerful the Switch is, I feel like Nintendo has literally zero excuse at this point.So Nintendo, bring back Sarasaland! Put it in a mainstream game! And put Daisy in there, will ya? It IS her home, after all!

***

Phew. That took forever. But thank you so much! :D

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

Our Favorite 7 Of 73

For ID@Xbox Summer Game Fest, Microsoft released 73 demos for upcoming indie games on Xbox One. The demos are all free but they'll only be available to download and play until Monday, July 27.

It would be quite the ask for any one of us to play through all 73 demos in order to tell you which are the best ones, but as a team we've managed to check out a hefty sum of the games made available. The demos detailed in the following gallery are all of the ones that stuck out to us the most--some left us nostalgic, others offered something brand-new we'd never seen before, and still more just scratched an itch that we've been looking to satisfy for a long time. Regardless of our reasons, these are the demos that made us the most excited to play their respective full games when they release.

We haven't listed the demos in any particular order. This is just a list of demos that we think are cool or at the very least hint towards an exciting game. Maybe they'll all meet expectations, maybe they won't. We'll just have to wait and see.

Xbox Series X And Xbox One News

Halo Infinite Is A Platform For The Next Ten Years Of Halo

Halo Infinite Gameplay Debuts At Xbox Series X Stream

Xbox Series X Event: Every Game Announced

New Fable Announced During Xbox Event

Xbox Series X: Release Date, Specs, Price, And Everything We Know

Kaze And The Wild Masks | PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

You'd be forgiven for not knowing if you didn't happen to grow up in the early 1990s, but following the breakout success of Sonic the Hedgehog there was a veritable flood of me-too 16-bit mascot platformers that never quite caught on. From Ristar to Acro the Acrobat to (deep sigh) Awesome Possum, it was the battle royale of its era. Everyone wanted to make one.

Playing Kaze and the Wild Masks brought me right back to those heady days, sitting on the carpet and playing the latest copycat rental from Blockbuster. That's not a slight against Kaze, because these platformers weren't actually bad, just oversaturated. Almost 30 years removed, it's as comfortable as your favorite sweater. The art style is beautifully vibrant and colorful, the platforming is familiar and accessible, and it's just a great nostalgia trip. I love a lot of recent games that have taken a fresh look at modernizing classic platformer tropes, but Kaze is the much more explicit throwback I didn't know I wanted. -- Steve Watts

ScourgeBringer | Xbox One, PC

ScourgeBringer is already out on Steam Early Access but the Xbox Summer Game Fest demo is the first time we have the chance to play it on console--it was also my first time actually trying the game after oohing and aahing at trailers for the past few months. I love it a lot.

I've always been a fan of video games where you're encouraged to fight quickly, especially if you're further rewarded for being skillful enough to fight without touching the ground--games like Titanfall 2 and Hollow Knight. ScourgeBringer goes a long way towards scratching that itch for me. Though you can platform between enemies, ScourgeBringer rewards players for playing aggressively and doing midair dashes between foes. You remain airborne while slashing or shooting so you can reasonably clear out entire rooms without touching the floor if you're good enough.

I also like ScourgeBringer's hard but fair gameplay loop. Enemies can kill you quickly if you can't pull off deflections and dodges, but there was never a moment where I died and thought, "Dammit, how the hell was I supposed to counter that?" The game is harsh in its punishments--it's a roguelike where you pick up temporary power-ups with each run and slowly unlock permanent abilities over time--but it's fair. It also helps that the game reloads relatively quickly, so you can just jump into another run upon death. -- Jordan Ramée

Haven | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

More than most of the demos I dabbled with, Haven defies easy categorization. At first blush it's a visual novel telling a futuristic love story between a couple of stranded spacefarers. Even in the course of a relatively short demo, though, it opens up considerably and blends together a few disparate genres and mechanics, which all illustrate a sense of duality and interdependence.

Cooking a meal is performed by coordinating ingredients from the left and right sides of the user interface. Similarly, the RPG-like battle system appears simple at first, but it quickly becomes clear that coordinating your attacks to perform them together is the only effective way to fight. When you do defeat a monster, you pacify it rather than killing it, a sign that this pair are ultimately peaceful scientific observers.

Inside the ship you're a first-person observer, a choice that seems self-consciously voyeuristic in a story about a romantic couple. Outside of it, though, Haven's best feature shines. Movement through the world has you float through the tall grass with balletic grace, with the ability to swerve, u-turn, and drift with ease. It's all based on just a few simple commands but it's so well-executed and intuitive that floating around the world is just a joy. -- Steve Watts

SkateBird | Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

After playing a lot of the hardcore skateboarding simulator Session, in which both thumbsticks control each individual foot on the board, Glass Bottom Games' charming SkateBird is a sigh of relief. Not just because it's far simpler to control than Session, or even the Skate and Tony Hawk franchises, but also because it's incredibly cute and cozy. The small demo available on Xbox One as part of the Summer Game Demo Event, while lacking in variety, had me hooked on its aesthetic. And though I wish there was more to do in its limited sandbox, SkateBird makes skateboarding approachable.

The vertical slice strips everything away--story missions, alternate locations, bird customization, etc--and left me with two activities and a fully skateable "park" on a desk. The cute little skatepark consists of kickers made of office supplies, ramps and quarter pipes with bendy straws as coping, and various other obstacles using Thrasher magazines. The controls are simple and the trick list is much more contained than other skateboarding sims, but watching a tiny bird push around on a tiny board before busting a hardflip into a front crooked nosegrind never gets old--no matter how limiting or restricting the demo is and how many times I performed the same eight or so tricks.

While there's a lot left to be desired in the demo, what's currently available had me itching for more. It'll be interesting to see everything SkateBird has to offer when it launches in 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. -- Jeremy Winslow

The Vale: Shadow Of The Crown | Xbox One, PC

Frankly, I've never played a game like The Vale: Shadow of the Crown before. Or, I guess I have--it's technically your run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG with towns to visit, side quests to fulfill, weapon and armor to buy, magic to learn, choices to make, and plenty of battles to be had. But the game flips a lot of that on its head by putting you in control of someone who's blind.

In The Vale, you have to navigate the world, fight enemies, and interact with NPCs all while looking at a nearly completely black screen. There are a few flashing lights on the screen, but they don't help you. It feels like they're just there to give your eyes something to look at. So you're forced to interact with the world via sound and touch--the former via headphones and the latter via controller rumble.

This makes tasks that are almost trivial in most RPGs, like sneaking past a group of enemies or navigating a busy market square, into daunting endeavors. But it's also a rather interesting and novel way to play a video game. The Vale might not be much to look at, but the demo is pretty fun to play and I'm intrigued to see how the gameplay will evolve throughout the full release, which I assume would crank up the difficulty after the tutorial. -- Jordan Ramée

Freshly Frosted | Xbox One, PC

Freshly Frosted brings together two of my favorite things, donuts and conveyor belts. The donut-factory based puzzle game is focused on making zen-inducing factory-lines that automatically make a variety of donuts. I love puzzle games that focus more on relaxing the brain than frustrating it, and Freshly Frosted is incredibly relaxing. It's very easy to adjust the factory lines whenever I make a mistake or miss a topping for my endless line of donuts.

I also appreciated how Freshly Frosted takes a very simple concept of a donut factory and continuously adds more and more steps or ideas to create a puzzle game that feels fresh throughout the demo. Having to feed three different types of donuts through all of the different toppings is a cute and fun experience that is definitely worth playing if you like puzzles and relaxation, or just need an excuse to order some donuts. -- James Carr

9 Monkeys Of Shaolin | Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Despite being just two and a half levels long--with the half being a tutorial introducing the controls and story--I found myself growing a little bored during the 9 Monkeys of Shaolin demo. Developed by Sobaka Studio, the Russian team behind the underrated isometric twin-stick brawler Redeemer, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin has this staunch air of familiarity to it: The story--in which Japanese pirates invade and pillage a remote Chinese country--echoes a similar set-up to Ghost of Tsushima and the control scheme is eerily reminiscent of (yet surprisingly simpler than) Redeemer's. Even the enemy types and environmental backgrounds are familiar and generic.

And yet, after finishing the short demo and re-watching the 2018 announcement trailer, I was still intrigued by the RPG elements and excited for what's to come.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a side-scrolling beat-em-up that put me in control of the fisherman Wei Cheng. The combat is simple yet fluid, with the controller's face buttons performing one of four actions: kicks, slashing strikes, thrusts, and dodges. Every action can be canceled into another--for example, the three different attack types can be combined together or immediately interrupted by a parry move--which allows me to remain aggressive and reactive when surrounded by multiple enemies. Though the arsenal was limited, the short demo seemingly belies the depth 9 Monkeys of Shaolin has buried within it. There's also online and offline co-operative play, which should make the combat even more chaotic during later levels, especially when you acquire new moves and better gear and magical spells.

With being a small, vertical slice of the final game, the 9 Monkeys of Shaolin demo is by no means indicative of how the game will look and play when it drops on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. But the demo does make the case that, if anything, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin will be an enjoyable action romp when played with a friend. -- Jeremy Winslow

from GameSpot - All Content https://ift.tt/30FMC9D

[m-green-writing]

Top 10 Best Doctor Who Episodes (05 - 15)

So recently I went over my worst episodes of modern who, but there are so many other good, arguably great, episodes out there. Now granted, not every episode is an instant classic, but there are some that stand head and shoulders above the rest regardless. Seeing as how I did the worst, it only makes sense to cover the best, so here they are: my personal Top 10 Doctor Who Episodes. 

10. Under the Lake/Before the Flood

If you read my “worst” list, you may have seen me mention that paradox stories are notorious to write. Pulling them off takes some severe talent. Luckily, writer Toby Whithouse has that talent. Themed around the “bootstrap Paradox” (look it up) the episode is incredibly well put together, and never strays too far. It’s a two parter, hence why I’m putting both on here, and both, whilst different, are incredible television. The monsters are brilliant, the scenes are suspenseful, the idea is inspired, it’s all wonderful to watch. The Fisher King looks and sounds intimidating, even if he’s not really seen all that much, and there are some clever ideas with the use of one of the deaf characters. If I had to choose though, I’d say under the lake was the better episode. The mystery and intrigue is so genuine, and the scientific approach to ghosts is wonderfully played out. They could have so easily dropped the ball, but they didn’t, and what we got was one of the best episodes.

9. The God Complex

Series 6 may have been bad, but luckily there were some that made it all worth while. The God Complex sees the Doctor and company in a hotel of horrors, with each room designed to make you afraid. Then, in your fear, you’re devoured by a monster. My explanation doesn’t do the episode any justice. It’s creepy and inspired all the same. There are so many clever ideas going on here, and the mystery unfolding grabs your attention from start to finish. Toby Whithouse is the writer of this episode too, wouldn’t you know it, and i have to say he’s one of the more inspired writers on the team. Considering series 6 had so many half-baked ideas or overly ambitious stories, it was fantastic to have an episode that had a cohesive beginning, middle, and end. Speaking of the end, it is a little bit of a cop out, but it does the job. It may just be that this was a diamond in the rough, or it could have been elevated by the lows of the series, but either way I love watching every minute of it.

8. Doomsday

While the finale to series 1 was a brilliant (and classic) climax for a Doctor Who run, leave it to series 2 to raise the stakes without missing a beat. Series 1 finale had the Daleks return in full vigour? Doomsday had the Daleks and the Cybermen at war. Series 1 had real consequences, with people dying? how about having people turned into machines instead - a fate worse than death. It truly was a step up, but of course the most special thing everyone agrees on is Rose’s farewell. I particularly didn’t love Rose, but even so, the way this episode is done manages to nail the relationship between her and the doctor perfectly. The episode’s finale is probably one of the most emotional moments of any TV show, with the doctor using the energy of a dying star just to say goodbye. Yeah, we know she comes back in a later series, but even so it was a punch in the stomach the first time around, and that alone makes it a great episode.

7. The Girl in the Fireplace

Girl in the fireplace is about as perfect a Doctor Who story as you can get. It ticks all the boxes. Time travel; space travel; romance; emotion; humour; clever ideas; creepy villains; tragedy; it’s like getting a full house on Doctor Who bingo. This is one of Steven Moffat’s originals, before he became the show runner, and it is one of my favourites. Despite Moffat’s reputation online, there’s no denying the guy has some amazing creative talent and every muscle of it is flexed in this episode. One of the best parts is that it is a stand alone in every sense. You can go in without seeing the previous episodes, and you can stop after watching it, and you’ll still walk away satisfied. I would go into more, but I feel anything further is a spoiler. one way or the other, I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking to get into the show.

6. Flatline

Sure, everyone loves the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Master, but what Doctor Who fans really enjoy are the new monsters. The new dangers who, like  the others, may come back in the future. Enter the Boneless; 2 dimensional creatures that kill people by turning them into imprints on a wall. On the surface, it may not seem like anything too spectacular, but there are a lot of good themes explored here. The Doctor, for one, doesn’t want to stop the Boneless as they may be intelligent life that is simply trying to understand 3 dimensional existence. Of course, when he realises their intent is malicious and they intend to replace 3 dimensional people with their own creepy selves, he steps up and stops them. Another great thing about this episode is the horror of the mundane. Walls are everywhere so imagine if there were things inside them trying to kill you. Not only that but towards the episode’s end when the Boneless reveal themselves in physical shapes, they’re some of the creepiest creatures of the shows history. What’s even more alarming is that the Doctor is trapped inside the TARDIS for the whole episode as the boneless are draining the TARDIS’ energy to manifest themselves - so he’s not about to save the day when you need him most. Flatline is a spooky joy to behold from start to finish, and it’s easily one of Capaldi’s best in my opinion.

5. The Doctor’s Wife

The only other episode from series 6 making my list is one of the most endearing episodes ever. Written by imagination extraordinaire, Neil Gaiman, The Doctor’s Wife explores the idea of what if the TARDIS could talk and what if it and the Doctor interacted. The concept would feel right at home in the fan-fiction segment but the plot and the writing compliment the idea brilliantly. The banter between the Doctor and Sexy (the TARDIS’ preferred name) is some of the funniest and most witty dialogue the rebooted series run has ever seen, and the candid performances from both actors is wonderful to watch. Tie it all together with a theme of relationships - with Amy and Rory - and you’ve got a gem of an episode that is too good not to love.  

4. Last Christmas

You know, despite him not being my preferred Doctor, I have to admit Capaldi has probably had the best track record of episodes. Take his debut Christmas special for example, which is nothing short of amazing. I have to say, we’re really getting into a different league here. All episodes mentioned so far have been great, but these last 4 are pretty much perfect episodes - masterpieces in their own way. When it comes to the Christmas specials, everyone always says the Christmas Invasion (i.e. the first Christmas Special) is the best, but I couldn’t disagree more. Last Christmas is easily the best without a doubt. Why? because it’s not a Christmas special; it’s a doctor who episode tied together with a Christmas theme. “Oh but aren’t all Christmas specials like that?” No. They started a little like that, I’ll admit, but when Moffat took over they started to get a little too focused on Christmas to the point where it got ridiculous. Here however, we’re right back on track and it’s brilliant. The monster involved, the fearsome space crab, is terrifying; the cinematography and direction are masterful in every way; the ideas are wonderful; and the writing is so beautifully on point it even manages to throw Santa Claus in there and it gets him so right without ruining it for children. This is as classic a Doctor Who as you can find. You’ll be transfixed from start to finish, all from behind the sofa.

3. Heaven Sent

Here we are: the final three. These are the very best “new who” has to offer; starting with Capaldi’s best episode, Heaven Sent. Hell Bent, this episode’s second half, doesn’t deserve to be in the same sentence as this episode. Where do I even start. Heaven Sent made me sit up and pay attention. It was an episode that had me honestly blown away. The concept; the ideas; the direction - oh it’s so good. The Doctor is trapped. Trapped in his own personal hell with a mystery to unlock and a monster on his back - the nightmare educing “Veil”. No companion. No TARDIS. No Sonic Screwdriver and no back up. It’s him, and only him. Sure, bit of a vanity run, but the Doctor’s charm and charisma drive everything and you’re there for the ride. The more the episode plays out, and the more the Doctor talks to himself, the more you feel like the companion on this adventure. There’s also a hell of a lot of themeing going on here. Themes of grief are explored as the Doctor continually thinks he’s talking to Clara (who died in the previous episode). These scenes in particular are stellar and also kind of creepy as a faceless Clara interacts with the Doctor’s repartee. Furthermore, themes of death tie it together nicely as the Doctor is running from death, both in the literal and the figurative. The Veil has a very Grim Reaper vibe about it, I must say, and the way it relentlessly pursues the Doctor throughout like a shadow really hammers the point home: sooner or later, death catches up to you. The twist in the episode, while obvious about half way through, is still fantastic and I dare not spoil it here. You’ll just have to see the episode for yourself. Then skip over Hell Bent.

2. Amy’s Choice

Moving on to the number 2 spot and we have Matt Smith’s best episode of his run. What’s this? No space battles? No Time Travel? No Daleks or Cybermen or worse? How can this be the best Matt Smith adventure. Because it just is. This episode is phenomenal. It’s set in a quiet little village where Amy is pregnant and Rory is a Doctor himself. We’re quite a ways on from the last episode it seems, or are we? This episode is phenomenal. It’s set in the TARDIS and the team are about to crash into a freezing star. They’re against the clock to try and get the TARDIS working again, or are they? Two realities, one real, one fake, both filled with danger. The stakes are higher than ever, and it’s never been so exhilarating to watch. The mystery and intrigue will have you from the outset, and we are introduced to the nefarious Dream Lord, played beautifully by Toby Jones. I’m just gonna say it, this guy is one of my favourite Doctor Who villains and he’s only appeared once. That’s how good he is! He is having an absolute blast in this role, and so are we. He is the Joker, to the Doctor’s Batman - in total control and loving every minute of it. Amy’s Choice is also heart wrenching, forcing the Doctor’s companion down a sub-conscious labyrinth of uncertainty. Choose life with the Doctor or life with Rory. Two men she loves, but she must abandon one to that reality. Tweet Tweet, time to sleep...or are you waking up. With so many great episodes, and Amy’s Choice being one of my all time faves, what could possibly be so good to trump all of the above?

1. Blink

As if it could be anything else. David Tennant’s best episode is a masterpiece. It was the episode that launched Moffat into the lime light. It was the episode that made Doctor Who not safe for kids anymore; and it was the episode that gave us one of the best new additions to the franchise: the heartless weeping angels. These demonic creatures are responsible for so many nightmares. That’s the thing about Moffat, and arguably the key to nailing “scary-who” episodes, you have to take something harmless and make it dangerous. Doesn’t matter what it is; clocks, walls, statues - whatever it is, make it lethal. Much like Flatline, the episode also puts the audience in a state of fear, because the Doctor isn’t around. The hero, the knight in shining armour, the one who fights the monsters won’t be there to save the day this time. Furthermore the method in which the angels kill is actually pretty terrifying; transporting you back in time and letting you live to death in a period that isn’t your own. Your friends and family gone and you’re stranded with no way back. To anyone, that prospect is quite monstrous. The acting here is brilliant, not to mention the writing, and the music sends a shiver down my spine. The scene when the Doctor spills the beans on the weeping angels is just perfect - hitting all the right notes of humour, dread, and above all panic. His warning “they’re coming; don’t even blink; blink and you’re dead. Good Luck” is scary enough, only to be followed by some of the most frightening scenes in the series history. “You’re not looking at the angel”; “neither are you”. I think I speak for all when I say we weren’t ready for what came after that. Blink is just the best. Hands down. If you don’t believe me, even people who hate Doctor Who recognise that Blink is just fantastic television. It’s the episode that makes whovians out of haters and it’s truly the best episode of new who out there. Just be sure to watch it with the lights on.