#don't get me wrong i love sonic games that suck that's why i go here but this one isn't just bad it's SUPER WEIRD ..

[randomthefox]

The guy who made this tweet later said he was joking, but you wouldn't be able to tell since there are a lot of Sonic fans who say this stuff sincerely. They'll turn on a game within days of its release and say they "realized it sucks". So after playing it for a week and loving it, the controls suddenly became terrible? Either way, this "joke" pretty much confirms Sonic "fans" like shitting on Sonic games and making the franchise they claim to love look worse just for the hell of it. I don't know why, as a Sonic fan, you would want to make a game look bad, even though it's not. We all should how people on the internet treat Sonic. If you say a Sonic game is bad and don't clarify that you're joking, most will take your words at face value and just run with it.

There's also the problem of Sonic fans feeling the need to shit on one Sonic game to prop up their favorite. Whenever people compliment a Sonic game, it's never just "This game is awesome, it controls well, I love the story, etc". It's always "This game is awesome and way better than garbage like [insert Sonic game here]! Too bad Sega doesn't make stories and gameplay like this anymore."

I've seen Sonic Unleashed fans on Metacritic give Sonic Colors low scores simply because its story was more comedic and simplistic. Why do Sonic fans feel the need to make Sonic games look bad, especially Sonic Colors, a great game that critics generally liked? Putting down one Sonic game to make your fave look better isn't gonna draw people to the franchise, y'know?

Thank you for sending a screenshot off of anon, instead of sending a url to twitter under anon. Sincerely.

I'm sure the only reason he said he was joking was because he got blowback. He made the mistake of having an actual opinion instead of just following the herd off a cliff.

It's really just the inverse of the way everyone talks about Sonic Forces. People decided before the game even came out that Sonic Forces would be bad. And so after it came out that was the only acceptable opinion to have about it. People decided that Shadow Generations would be the best shit ever and a return to form for Sonic. So now after it's come out that is the only acceptable opinion to have about it.

People make up what their opinion about a Sonic game is before they even fucking play it. If they ever actually play it.

So when someone DOES actually bother playing it themselves, and they realize "hey this isn't like what everyone was saying it is like" they get mobbed and browbeaten into conformity. Which is annoying. I do not agree with unleash_yt's opinion, but it disgusts me that people basically punished him for expressing it and forced him into compliance with the accepted majority consensus.

I think it's perfectly reasonable for someone to get swept up in the hype train for a game, play it themselves, and realize "wait this actually blows ass." It happens all the time. Look at No Mans Sky. Look at Duke Nukem Forever. Look at Daikatana. It is a routine happenstance in the video game industry. And people really should learn by now to NOT get swept up in the hype machine. I was extremely critical of the hype machine around Shadow Generations for this very reason. I was saying at the time that Shadow Gens is just going to be a short little expansion pack for an existing Sonic game that was already short on its own, and while it would sustain ME a hyper Sonic fan, it would NOT sustain people who are more casual.

And. Like. I was right =P but because the majority consensus had already been decided about Shadow Generations before it came out, now nobody is allowed to deviate from it lest they suffer the retribution of Being An Individual. Like, I think his complaints are weird and dumb and wrong. The controls are just exactly the same as Sonic Frontiers. And the level design is no different from the level design of any other Boost era Sonic game. But he's allowed to just not like the game. At least in my book he's allowed. Obviously in the book of the Sonic """""fans""""" he's not allowed to have an independent opinion, he MUST conform to the majority consensus OR ELSE.

>There's also the problem of Sonic fans feeling the need to shit on one Sonic game to prop up their favorite. Whenever people compliment a Sonic game, it's never just "This game is awesome, it controls well, I love the story, etc". It's always "This game is awesome and way better than garbage like [insert Sonic game here]! Too bad Sega doesn't make stories and gameplay like this anymore."

Yeah I can't fucking stand that shit. You can't convince me your wife is beautiful by telling me how ugly every other woman at the bar is. At best it's just going to make me hate YOU, and at worst it's going to make me start thinking your wife is a bloated cow. Sonic fans have an EXTREMELY bad habit of this and it's completely idiotic because it can ONLY possibly appeal to people who already share that opinion. If the basis of your glazing up Sonic Unleashed is "SONIC FORCES SURE DOES SUCK ASS DOESN'T IT LOL" then only people who already like Sonic Unleashed and dislike Sonic Forces are going to agree with it. People who like Sonic Forces and don't like Sonic Unleashed are just going to be alienated. And people who think both games suck are just going to think you're a dumbass for thinking there's a difference when they're both the same garbage.

People need to go to the store and buy some fucking self esteem and figure out how to talk positively about the things they like entirely on their own merits without senselessly bringing up other pieces of media to compare them against for no reason.

[midnightshard06]

Mmmm the urge to randomly info dump has hit me, so Imma talk about some stuff for my Lost and Found AU. We going over mostly Shadow's past here. Buckle up, this is gonna be kinda long.

A tldr for those who don't wanna read a long post like this (more info in the long thing under the cut of course but this is the main stuff):

- AU is set a couple years after where we are in cannon, most games happened minus adventure 2 and ShTH 05 -Life on the Ark for Shadow was bad, but he was able to visit the Black Comet a few times thanks to Black Doom. He grew to like the Black Arms way more than the humans on the Ark. Minus Maria of course. Also manages to connect to the hivemind on his first visit. -Maria visited Shadow as much as she could (which sadly wasn't as often as she wanted to) and she was the one to give him his gloves. -Black Doom learns about the Ark raid before it happens and encourages Shadow to work with G.U.N. (temporarily of course) -Shadow does work with G.U.N. during the raid by acting like he's following all their orders, once Gerald and the information on Project Shadow are secured the soldiers turn on Shadow and he turns right back on them (with much more success). -Maria finds him after and the two make a break for the escape pods. Maria manages to convince Shadow to give the world a chance even with how he's been treated on the Ark. -Shadow is sent to earth after Maria is killed, and his pod isn't found until Sonic finds it years later.

So! I have had many thoughts. First I'll briefly touch on the "timeline" for this au. Basically most of the games have happened in the order you'd expect. The main difference being adventure 2 and ShTH 05 never happened (though I have plans for ShTH 05...). I'd set us some time past where we are in cannon though so everyone's a little bit older, not by too much though. This is not the most... relevant thing in regards to what I'm gonna talk about for the rest of this but yeah.

Now then. Life for Shadow on the Ark. To put it mildly? It kinda sucked. Everyone, minus Maria, was on edge pretty much all the time around Shadow because he came out way more "alien" than anyone expected. Black Doom of course is pleased by this and offers to help "tame" Shadow. This is just to appease the humans though. He doesn't intend to make Shadow more docile towards them at all. With some masterful convincing Black Doom does manage to get Gerald to allow him to bring Shadow to the Black Comet a few times. Most notably not long after he was created.

This initial visit to the comet is what cements the Black Arms as a group to be trusted in Shadow's mind. After all they treat him so much better than most of the people back on the Ark. He actually manages to properly connect to the hivemind during this first visit as well, something he hadn't been able to do on the Ark. In fact him not being able to do that, but still feeling its absence, is part of why he was so violent upon being released for the first time. It was more out of confusion and panic than anger. Hard to act rationally when your brain is screaming at you that something is wrong but you don't quite know what it is.

Maria visits him as much as she can, though it's not nearly as often as she wants to. Gerald doesn't love the idea of her being near Shadow so she has to see him when she won't be missed for a little bit. Each visit is a bright spot in Shadow's life and are probably some of his clearest memories. Also fun fact, his gloves were a gift from her. She'd probably been reading something on mobian culture or something and saw how often they wore gloves so she decided Shadow needed some too. Despite them being rather simple he'd probably maul anyone who tried to take them from him.

The Ark raid is... interesting. Black Doom manages to catch wind of it before it happens but doesn't warn anyone, except Shadow. He actually encourages Shadow to work with the humans who come and after the dust settles Black Doom will come for him. He agrees to this so long as Maria will be safe. Something Black Doom promises. Whether he had any actual plans to keep Maria safe for Shadow well... debatable.

During the raid Shadow waits patiently for some of G.U.N. to reach him. Once they do he does his best to act subservient to them, through his actions since he doesn't really speak at this point, even if he hates the idea. Somehow, despite the information the soldiers have on Project Shadow, they trust him. They release him and he actively helps in the raid, keeping an eye out for Maria the whole time.

Eventually things go sort of quiet. Gerald has been captured and the information about Project Shadow seized. Shadow is concerned because he hasn't seen Maria yet, but for now he chalks that up to Black Doom keeping his promise. He doesn't have too much time to worry about that though when the soldiers he'd been working with turn on him in an attempt to capture him. It doesn't go to plan and Shadow turns on them. They come out of it much worse than Shadow but he's not doing amazing at this point, mostly mentally.

Maria manages to find him in the aftermath and starts urgently ushering him towards an escape pod. Turns out she'd been hiding since she noticed Shadow was gone. The two don't find any resistance on the way and Maria's able to talk a bit with Shadow as she prepares an escape pod. She talks about how she knows Shadow isn't a monster and that he can do so much good. He can give the people of earth a chance to be happy. He can be more than his creators thought he was. Shadow of course takes this to heart, even if his only real frame of reference is most humans are bad. This is Maria though, and he trusts her. Maybe he can give them a chance, for her. (Black Doom at this point hasn't shared any future plans with Shadow so he isn't aware that promising to try and help the people of earth is contradictory to the goals of the Black Arms that he trusts)

Of course this moment is interrupted by soldiers finding them. They attempt to order Shadow to stand down but of course at this point he's not listening. He's torn on what to do though. He could take care of them easily but Maria is there. She's vulnerable and he's not sure he wants her to see him like that. He isn't sure he wants to shatter the image she has of him, since he knows what he wants to do to those people would do that.

Shadow doesn't have to make a choice though, because Maria makes it for him. In a surprising show of strength she manages to get him into the pod and lock it. The soldiers raise their weapons in warning but she stays strong, hand hovering over the launch button. Shadow wants to say something, to yell, scream at her to stand down. Help would be coming. He couldn't though.

And well... from there Maria sends him to earth and he's not found until Sonic stumbles across his pod all those years later.

I have... so much more to say but this things is already pretty damn long so I will cut myself off here for now. Expect more ramblings soon though since I still have the urge to get all this info in my head down somewhere lol.

Props if you actually read all of that lol.

[seventeendeer]

just played sonic frontiers for the first time for a couple hours and in my professional Sonic Expert(tm) opinion, we need to crowdfund therapy for whoever directed this game. or, if I ever manage to locate the willpower to finish this fucking game, for me

[rollflasher]

Sonic Heroes and Sonic Chronicles

Sonic Heroes

I really love this game and I think it's good, but not great.

Funny enough, I also have some history with this game since my hype for Heroes as a kid was astounding, so when I got the chance to play it for the first time I had a blast. Thing is...I sucked at the game and as a kid I thought it was because I usually fared like that in most games, but as I got older the game continued to be frustrating and as a teenager seeing reviews about it and other 3D Sonic games, I came to the conclusion that Heroes wasn't really a good game, but here's the kicker.

All that time I only played the PS2 version of Heroes.

Years later I found out about the difference between the different ports of the game and decided to give it a second chance, apparently the PC version was the most accessible one for me and fortunately it wasn't as broken as the PS2 one, so I downloaded and gave it a try.

And man does it make a difference.

While the game's slippery controls is an issue on all platforms, the game played so much better in PC that I could actually enjoy myself and beat it, and after that my image of the game became much more positive.

Great level design, the team mechanic is fresh and really incentivises to interact with Sonic stages in a brand new way, one of the things I love to do the most in this game is mastering switching to the point that it becomes natural and suddenly you feel that 3 characters control as one, at least for me there's something incredibly awesome on succesfully pulling that off.

As always the soundtrack is amazing and Heroes' is probably Jun Senoue at his purest. Every single track displays his style in all of its glory and I think this gives it a pretty strong identity making it stand out from the rest. Also hot take, this game has easily the best final boss theme in the series, and yes, I'm putting What I'm Made Of above Open Your Heart and Live And Learn, it's not that this song is necessarily better than the others, it's just that I don't think ANY other song really nails the feeling of a final battle as much as this one does.

The story...is not good, I'm just gonna say that. The plot is bare-bones, the Eggman getting upstaged trend was already getting tired by this point and there's not much to write home about it beside Metal's return and Shadow's survival. Besides that, the characters fight each other for stupid reasons and there is some slight flanderization going around in this game.

That being said, I do think it has some redeemable qualities. As cheesy as this game's script is, I think this is a better approach at making a lighthearted Sonic game than the Pontaff games, because while this game has memeable quotes such as the SUPERPOWER OF TEAMWORK! I do appreciate that this game's tone still focuses on action and the characters still feel genuine in their characterization. I never really understood why a lot of franchises think that making a lighthearted story must involve the characters being forced into cracking jokes and leaning more into humor so I definitely prefer Heroes' approach at making a more family friendly Sonic story by making things simple and focusing on classic action.

Don't get me wrong, this game's plot is still not good and those are mostly saving graces, they’re still not enough to make a difference.

Overall, I think Heroes' biggest weakness as a whole is how repetitive it is. The game is incredibly fun on a single playthrough, but having to play it 4 times to get the final story is a deal breaker since all the teams go through the exact same stages but with minor alterations, it's only Team Chaotix that truly changes things with its missions.

This wouldn't be such a problem if Heroes was like SA1, where all the characters played differently and thus each campaign felt distinct from one another despite them re-using stages constantly, but in this game the teams play almost the exact same except for the Team Blast and some minor moveset alterations. And this is a shame, since it really drags down a game that has a lot of brilliant ideas that unfortunately overstay their welcome because of the monotony this causes.

I think the worst part is that IIRC, Heroes had to be redone from scratch halfway during development, since this game was originally going to be a Gamecube exclusive but after taking the decision to port it into other systems, they were forced to change the engine of the game to one that was easier to port, this means that maybe the repetitiveness of this game is a direct result of that, this would also explain why Heroes has this feeling of unpolish in some areas. Really this is a big shame, because Heroes could have been a much better game if its development went through as it was originally planned.

Anyway, my best advice for this game is to take a break every time you finish one campaign and try the next one another day, that's the most you can do to mitigate the issue of this game being repetitive.

Good game, but it's rough around the edges and could have been so much better than what we got.

Sonic Chronicles

Eh, I used to like this game as a kid but I could never beat it, nowadays I dislike it because of all the innacuracies Bioware did with this title getting almost everything wrong about the Sonic series, I don't hate it with a passion but at the same time I think it's a good thing this game got kicked out of the canon. I know there is some people who like this game and think it's not so bad, and that's okay! The game does have some interesting ideas, but I find all it did wrong infuriating because of how much Bioware boasted about being ''Big Sonic fans'' and the amount of things they got wrong about this franchise with those claims shows how focused they were on one-upping Sonic Team instead of doing their homework.

This is downright embarassing.

Not to mention the game featuring gems like claiming Sonic and Shadow teamed up to stop Eggman in SA2, or how Team Rose is ''Team Amy'', among many other screw ups that could have easily be solved with a quick Google Search. Keep in mind this game was meant to be canon at first so the lack of care from Bioware after boasting really doesn't say anything good about them.

The less that’s said about the music, the better.

There's no Sonic curse or any bullshit like that, Bioware just got arrogant and produced a shitty game as a result. I still find it shocking that apparently this game got praised over Unleashed back in the day.

[rescueonefinancialnet]

I'm on a ledge and I don't know what to do.

Strap in, it's a long one.

tl;dr my husband and I are currently separating stemming from an argument we had and I'm trying to give space the best I can, but being outright ignored is killing me because I don't understand. I don't know if I stick it out and wait or I just call it because it's hard. I've never worked harder at something before. (I condensed as much as I could, but not to save face. I will offer clarity if I can.)

So my husband and I have been married 2 years, together 8 (almost) and we share a 5 year old daughter. We had our daughter pretty young and as we were still figuring out what we wanted in life and how to get there. DH always had a timeline planned for things, but like most things, those plans changed.

Our fights are almost always the same: me feeling tiny and yelling to feel big so my feelings are heard and acknowledged and DH shutting down because he can't process it all at once and just wants it to be over. This has gotten better in the past year with more resolving, but still isn't 100%.

The first few years with our daughter were hard because we moved back in with my mom and stepdad so we could put money back and I'd have help with our daughter if I needed it. I felt like I was maturing and worrying about so much all at once while DH could just suck and weave so easily through things. Eventually we got our own house and there were still arguments, but definitely cruised on a high note for a while.

I found out about him lying about credit card debt his parents had accrued in his name. Then I found out about a laptop purchase he had hidden from me. Then I found out about multiple other things. And those were arguments. Not because he had gotten items, but because of the lying and hiding snd I felt betrayed. One by one I worked through them and the trust was still hard for me. I nagged a lot. I asked a lot for clarity and to make sure things were on time. It probably wasn't helpful because I didn't realize at that point that it's deeper than him wanting to, it's learned. And then by me being upset, it makes that need to hide things he wants even stronger. I don't want him to go without, but my mentality is we need to save OR it could've been used a different way.

Last year, I chose to separate. Not because I was out of love and didn't want him, but because I was tired of being put second to everything and everyone else. During this time, I slept with my best friend. I spoke to my husband prior to it happening because I knew it MIGHT happen. We had also spoken of this prior to separation and I was offered a "pass". It wasn't what I wanted like I thought. DH realized he didn't want us to be over and wanted to try again. We tried the whole Tinder thing for him so the tables were even because I didn't want resentment. He was opening up more with strangers than with me and that was a big conversation. He apologized profusely and I truly believe he didn't realize how big that was when all I want is to feel connected again. I ended up on tinder eventually too and we were "Open". He never had any luck with Tinder and I sort of did. We had lots of discussions about it and I finally told him I didn't WANT or NEED any of that. I wanted it with him but I felt left behind so I did it too. As far as I knew, we worked through all of those feelings, talked it out, etc. Everything had shifted and we were GOLDEN.

Over the years I've had many jobs here and there. Never been fired. I have a lot of health issues and get to points where I can barely function because I'm so exhausted. He's always been understanding of it but this past year, with Covid and everything else going on, it was difficult. He took a welding job before the shut down and it was rough. Mentally, physically and spiritually, it was so hard on him. And we'd talk about it sometimes but I never knew how to help.

DH and our daughter got Covid in November. At the end of their quarantine, we took a joyride after going to Sonic and ended up in a 3 car accident and we rolled our truck. It was totaled and lucky DH and my daughter were fine, I was okay too but pretty beat up for a bit. Then we found out MIL had cancelled our insurance due to a fight she and DH had. We owed $26k on the truck still and (at fault party's) insurance still hasn't fully reimbursed us.

In March, DH started having panic attacks about work. Mandatory OT was supposed to end months ago and never did. So 54+ hour work weeks doing physical labor, having no time to yourself, etc wears you down. I got a text saying he didn't want to be married anymore, didn't want to fight about it, but he hadn't made the car payment or went to work. We had no money. Rent was due. It came crashing down. And my mind went to worry, not anger. I was confused. We sat and talked and agreed therapy needed to be started as a couple and solo. We'd keep working on our own until then.

We lost our rent house. DH messaged our landlord when we got the last stimulus and never returned her texts so she gave us an eviction notice. 3 years to the day of us moving in. We had 11 days to move out which was ass. We moved back to my moms which neither of us wanted to do. (DH and my stepfather have a rocky relationship) DH went back to the welding job because he ended up not quitting but taking LOA.

So here we are, 2 dogs, 2 cats, a 5 year old, and us in a loft size room in my moms house. Daughter is scheduled for a tonsillectomy, comes and goes without issue luckily. He's moved around on anxiety meds then starts Celexa and changes. Subtle at first but then our friends notice too. DH starts having panic attacks again and is waking me up before work to tell me. I try to console him the best I can, we go back to sleep. He quit the job the day after our daughters surgery.

He's then stressed with being home around my stepdad without a job. Had a prospect but never heard back. The box is getting smaller and the problems are getting larger.

Our 2 year wedding anniversary rolls around and I'm sick the entire day. Like slept til 9 pm sick. He's trying to offer me solutions and I snapped. I was overwhelmed. But it doesn't make it okay. I react too big and I always have. So I apologized and explain why I reacted that way and it's just silent. All I need is a response to know I'm heard, if we're okay, if we need to touch back later. Nothing. So I say "if you can't give me a simple answer, I need you to leave" but I didn't mean forever.

He comes to his cousins apartment. Tells me the next day that he's out. He can't do the fights anymore. It's a cycle. But my question was "what have you done to break the cycle?" And I couldn't get an answer from him. I've been on meds, talked to a therapist. I've put in as much as I can alone. There's a communication barrier and it has to be broken.

He needs space. He lost himself and needs to figure out what he wants. He applied for an apartment 2 days later. Says we can still be friends and talk but right now the relationship is on hold until he's 100%. We need to be coparents. Ok. Heard. But I don't get clear answers on how I can correctly give him space. Everything is silence or "I don't know".

Right now I'm at his cousins with him and our daughter because my mom lost her mind last night then I found out today my stepdad has covid. They're both vaccinated and so am I, but our daughter isn't. I have auto immune diseases. I'm panicking because I don't know what the best course of action is. He was receptive to me coming, but since I've been here, he's barely acknowledged me. I brought it up tonight and told him if I need to go, to tell me. Told him I was confused because he mentioned playing games and then he set the Xbox up and went back to the other room. But he took that as guilting. His cousin has talked to me more today than he has. I picked him up from work and we barely spoke, but he comes in and starts having a conversation with his cousin about work stuff.

Am I wrong to feel confused? He's saying one thing but then actions don't match. I don't want to walk away when I believe these are things we can repair and build stronger with the correct tools (counseling) to communicate effectively but I feel abandoned right now and I don't feel like a person anymore. I'm trying to respect his need for space. I don't want to be here at his cousins but it's the only place we COULD go. And I know he knows that. But I can't keep riding a see saw when I just want to understand but I'm not supposed to ask.

And in no way am I trying to downplay my part. Time apart has made me realize a lot of what I need to work on and I am. But i can't take the full brunt when it's not all me.

More debt relief tips at ROF review

[the-sapphire-general]

My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth (Part 2)

There was originally going to be just one part about what I think and feel about Sephiroth, but it turns out I have more to say than I thought I did. You can say I'm passionate about Sephiroth. Not a day goes by without at least thinking about him several times. Lol Anyway, if you haven't read my previous post, here's the link because I will describe things I have said in the first part in more detail.

My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth (Part 1)

As I mentioned before, I can identify with Sephiroth. At first I didn't consider him an idol considering how different we are, but I realized about the similarities we have, even if those similarities can be different. I hate mentioning my former friend, but she used to be someone that took advantage of me, a lot of the time without my knowledge. So I know how Sephiroth must have felt after discovering that everyone lied to him about his origins. Now his situation was extreme compared to mine, but the key thing is we were both betrayed somehow. It's difficult to handle, and we both took it hard, with Sephiroth taking it farther than me. Betrayal, whether big or small or somewhere in between the two, isn't pleasant, especially if those who betray you are people you thought you could trust. I know what that's like, and it's not an easy thing to just brush off as if it were nothing.

To further prove how Sephiroth and I are similar is our personality traits. For starters, we are both quiet. Now it's hard to tell online if someone is shy or outgoing, but believe me, I'm one quiet girl. I'm real timid in real life. I don't think Sephiroth was timid, and I bet he was just sheltered growing up. Be honest. Hojo sucked as a father, and Sephiroth wasn't treated like a human being. So Sephiroth may have been socially awkward, which can appear as timidity or coldness. I'm timid and I can get a bit anxious, but I hide it really well. I'm not a social butterfly, and neither is Sephiroth, but that doesn't mean I'm purposefully ignoring others. It's just I'm not good at socializing. I am socially awkward myself and people have to get to know me to know the real me. Others saw Sephiroth as cold and distant, but they didn't even try to get to know him. Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos saw past this and became his friends. Sadly others see me as cold and distant as well, and to be honest it hurts. I bet it bothered Sephiroth as well. Or maybe he didn't care, I don't know. I'll believe that it did bother him. Of course, despite our shortcomings, Sephiroth and I do have friends (well, Sephiroth used to have friends). I may struggle to be social, but I can bond with others. I mean, hello! I have my boyfriend, his friends, my family, my own friends, and my online friends. Sephiroth had a few close friends, but at least it's something. Angeal and Genesis. I swear, if things didn't get so screwed up, they would have been best friends forever. Heck, Zack could have been a great friend to Sephiroth if he was given the opportunity. In a way, they could have helped Sephiroth back in Nibelheim, but the damage is already done.. What I'm trying to say is I understand this real well because I've been there. It just makes me want to give Sephiroth a hug and possibly a kiss to comfort him and let him know that I care. Though he might be annoyed by my affection. Lol

The next similarity we have is we're intelligent. Unfortunately a lot of people don't see me as intelligent, but Sephiroth's intelligence is what has me striving to prove to others that I am all while improving my own intelligence. They just see me as a girl with average intelligence and I was once accused of being an idiot. I wonder if Sephiroth had naysayers always doubting him. Looks can be deceiving. I'm not what others claim that I am, and it's annoying. This brings me to my next point. When Sephiroth was still part of SOLDIER, others might have perceived him as so many things, which includes being cold and distant and such. I've said this already, but this isn't just assuming that someone is cold or timid or whatever personality trait. It's about others assuming things about others that may be false. Sephiroth didn't consider himself to be better than everyone else (prior to Nibelheim of course). Heck, he didn't even show interest in fame to the point that he allowed Genesis to take it, possibly unaware that he was jealous of him. Maybe he tried to do that to ease his jealousy. Though Genesis should have handled his jealousy better. Before you assume anything about a person, either get to know the person or keep it to yourself until you see who they really are. Otherwise, it can be damaging to them. It was to Sephiroth. Something tells me all those soldiers had mixed opinions about Sephiroth, many of them potentially formed out of false assumptions and simple ignorance. Okay I'm getting too deep into this due to my own personal experiences, so I will switch to the next similarity.

Sephiroth and I hate certain people. How else can I explain my former friend that I have mentioned plus other people? Although Sephiroth took it to an extreme and hates everyone, I can still relate. Now it doesn't mean I will be as destructive and cruel as Sephiroth, but I can relate. Everyone at ShinRa treated Sephiroth like an experiment without his knowledge. He was never told about his origins. He never knew his parents. Then again, never finding out that Hojo is his father is a blessing (unless he somehow found out already?). He was deceived and manipulated ever since the day he was born. Correction, he was manipulated BEFORE he was born! He has the right to hate those who mistreated him. However, that doesn't justify any of the horrible things he did. Now my case is nothing compared to Sephiroth's since I was simply deceived by certain people, but my dislike for them is reasonable. Seriously, who would be able to let someone pretend to be your friend only to harm you emotionally and verbally, try to control you, spread lies about you, and basically destroy you? That's what my former friend did, and I hate her. All the bullies I've encountered throughout school? I hate them too. But that doesn't mean I would try to hurt them back because that wouldn't make me any better than them. I was given one opportunity to tell off my former friend online after I cut off contact for years. I told her to get well because she was sick, but she was getting better. She insulted me, not directly, but she did imply it. I was furious. But what did I do? I kept my mouth shut, told her to have a good life, and bid her farewell. Telling her everything that she made me feel and how much I loathe her would have only caused trouble, and the last thing I need is for her to stalk me online or try to pick a fight with me since she's freaking insane. She got angry over tiny things, physically assaulted someone just for being rude, as in getting into a conversation between the skank and someone else. Like what the fuck?! She could have told him to wait until she was finished. She was not psychologically well in my opinion, but I'm not one to confirm it because I'm not a psychologist. I thought she had changed but I was wrong. All my suspicions I had about her have been confirmed. Everything. And I vowed to never speak to her ever again. So Sephiroth and I may have handled our hate differently, but it still counts as something we have in common. Looking back, I see Sephiroth as an extreme version of my hate, anger, and pain, making me picture what I would have been like if I had taken it too far. It's a bit terrifying for me to imagine, and I am glad that I have more good inside me.

Now the next thing is something that still affects me to this day, and it's this. Sephiroth and I have felt like we were different, that we didn't belong anywhere. Having an identity crisis isn't fun, and Sephiroth is proof of that. He's not like everyone else. He's the only one with long silver hair and green cat-like eyes, he's part-alien, he's the strongest of all, and he always felt different because of this. I feel like I'm different because I'm not as outgoing as many people, I get worried about what others think of me, I'm not as confident in myself and my talents, and people don't pay attention to a wallflower like me. So I'm trying to improve myself and find my own place where I belong. Sephiroth found his, albeit in a rather dark way, but I have yet to find myself. But I know I will soon, and I have loved ones who can help me.

With all of this that I've said so far, Sephiroth means a lot to me. He means a lot to me more than I thought, and just by typing this, I'm realizing that he's a character that I love and admire in the exact same level as Sonic the Hedgehog. And as silly as it may sound, I get defensive when others talk smack about my favorite fictional characters like Sephiroth. Why? Because he's someone that I can identify with, regardless of the myriad of contrasting characteristics that we have. Opposites attract!

Now what else I wish to talk about related to Sephiroth...Well, there's his current self. I can hear those that say he's a cruel bastard that will kill you at first glance in milliseconds. My boyfriend and his friends think so. Well, you know what? It's bullshit. If that were true, then why didn't he kill Zack, Tifa, and Cloud immediately? Why didn't he kill Cloud and his team right away during numerous points in the game (other than the fact he needed Cloud to get the Black Materia for him)? Because he's not just a one-track mindless killing machine! This may be an unpopular opinion, but really, Sephiroth doesn't go just "Kill kill kill! Stab stab stab!". You kiss him on the cheek, stab. You compliment him on his looks, stab. You try to join him in his cause, stab. You try to have small talk, STAB! It's boring, predictable, and annoying. Do you really think I would do that on my Sephiroth blog? I would have grown tired of it! I deleted the posts about this, but do you want to know how many characters, users, or whatever I've had Sephiroth kill in roleplays???........One. That's right. One, a character that a friend roleplays as here on Tumblr, in a span of....a year-and-a-half, I think? If I had followed the "logic" of Sephiroth the utterly mindless killing machine and does nothing else, I would have had him impale over 1000 characters, users, anons, etc., maybe 10,000. You get my point.

This sort of thing strips everything about Sephiroth. He's cunning, arrogant, and manipulative, so of course I would have to implement that in his interactions if I want him to harm or kill a character, for example. And in some cases, I portray Sephiroth as just being intimidating, mistrustful, and bitter towards characters. In others, he is intrigued by who he's talking to, and he shows a range of emotions (as long as they fit him). I make him multidimensional. Really, try portraying Sephiroth as just a killing machine and nothing else and see how long it takes for you to get tired of taking out tons of people's muses in split seconds. I'm sorry if this portion became somewhat of a rant but it has been bugging me. Moving on to another Sephiroth subject.

Ahhhh, the theories. I almost forgot about them. Let's see, the lab rat theory is kind of possible, but ShinRa didn't blatantly abuse him. Otherwise, Sephiroth would have had serious psychological issues prior to Nibelheim. If he had endured severe physical and psychological abuse, he wouldn't be calm and collected. Of course he was abused to a degree, but the thing is he didn't know he was abused. He had no idea ShinRa used him as just a tool. That's clever of them. Cruel and despicable, but clever. They had to be discreet or else Sephiroth would have questioned their motives early on or tried to get away from them. Sephiroth was their puppet, which does explain why he referred to Cloud as his puppet. If others manipulated him to screw him over, he will do the same back at them. Sephiroth basically gave them a taste of their own medicine. Unfortunately, he takes it out on the whole planet. Think about it, though. He was deceived and manipulated by others, and this is his way of showing others that he will never allow himself to be controlled by anyone anymore. And this brings me to the next theory.

Jenova possessing Sephiroth is a famous theory and I don't blame people for believing and supporting this. I confess that I used to believe this theory as well, but as I looked back at the events of Crisis Core and Final Fantasy 7, it doesn't make sense. First of all, after being used by an evil company his entire life, why would Sephiroth allow himself to be controlled by an alien that arrived to the Planet millennia ago? Yes, he was at the library at ShinRa Manor for a week reading endlessly about his origins without sleeping, and possibly eating or drinking anything. Obviously that must have left him vulnerable, but I don't believe Sephiroth would have been brainwashed easily. He was controlled by ShinRa, and he wasn't going to allow anyone else to control him again, especially Jenova. Sephiroth was the one who controlled her, not the other way around. If Jenova had gained control, that would undermine Sephiroth's reputation as the main antagonist of FF7. He is the villain, the real villain, not Jenova. Sephiroth burned down Nibelheim. Sephiroth killed many people. Sephiroth killed Aeris (or Aerith) in FF7. Sephiroth summoned Meteor to injure the Planet in order to absorb its life stream to become a god. Sephiroth created the Remnants to achieve his goal to claim the Planet as his own, become an unstoppable god, and bring despair to those who stand in his way. It's all Sephiroth. And besides, Jenova is a parasite. I doubt she would have planned all of this before trying to destroy the planet. I also doubt she's even alive. Sephiroth is the master of his ongoing desire to take back what he believes is his planet, conquer it as a god, and destroy anyone who stands in his way.

Alright then, this post has gone long enough. Now I'm not sure if this is all I have to say about Sephiroth. Well, I assumed that I did’t have much else to say in the previous post, and look! Here's another one. I like doing this sort of thing. It makes me feel good and I just love Sephiroth. I could go on forever if I want, but I’ll end it here. I hope you liked this and if there’s any more things that I haven’t said here, I’ll make sure to do a third part.