#he makes a show of it ESPECIALLY if sonic's at the event because he has to show off and prove hes better (silly)

[drowning-in-your-moonlight]

I'm on a date what do I say he's so cute and im nervous

[galaxygermdraws]

Finally designing the Sonic cast. or. at least. Some of them. There are too many characters in this franchise these are just the ones I think about the most often. So uh. Ya. I will leave any notes under the cut since I have a lot, although not every character will have notes because we haven't explored every character (and share them with @shadesofvermillionvoid)

(reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated. Thankyu)

Sonic

Sonic's earring is Chip's bracelet. I don't think Sonic particularly likes having anything on his wrists, and Sonic Forces made that worse

The regulators are based directly on Sonic Prime, as I love the regulators in that show and think the idea of giving Sonic something similar to Shadow's Inhibitor Rings makes a lot of sense

He got those little markings due to accidentally absorbing some of Chaos' DNA

Tails

Tails has goggles like in Sonic Boom, because I like Boom Tails' design

He still has his robotic bits from Sonic Lost World, he still managed to keep his free will, but what happened was Zavok used his ability to control robots to force Tails to fight Sonic. Since then, Tails has updated his cybernetics so he can filter out any suspicious frequencies that could take his free will.

The cannon arm from Lost World is now basically like the guns from Mario and Rabbids, where you hold it in your hand and it like covers your arm. It's like that

Tails is a skeptic. This is the funniest bit but also thanks to Boom (the bad luck episode) it has some precedence

Knuckles

Knuckles in our lore is deeply spiritual (we are developing Mobian belief systems because we are Insane) , and the first time he saw Sonic he noticed he looked similar to the murals in Hidden Palace. So when Sonic turned out to be good, that made sense to him, as Sonic was common in a lot of prophetic murals around the island.

Knux actually thought Sonic was a god at first. Then he saw him choke on a Chili Dog.

He put beads around his spines after the events of Sonic Forces, since the war was over and he could relax for the first time in months.

Amy

Amy, like Knuckles, actually has a deep connection to her belief systems. We haven't figured out everything exactly, but she and Knuckles quickly bond over this aspect of their lives

I styled her quills differently because I kind of like giving her something that makes it obvious she is a hedgehog

Similarly, I gave her a back spine, and the hedgehog nose, since I had never realized she has the same kind of nose as Tails or Cream

Shadow

Shadow wears eye makeup. He puts it on every morning. For a while he had to have help with it (from both Rouge and Amy), but eventually figured out how to do it himself

He has yellow sclera due to the Black Arms blood. Similarly, he has a longer tail than most Mobian hedgehogs, and he cannot retract his fangs. His blood is green

He has some less favorable urges. Mostly related to the whole "Black Arms feed on living creatures" things, but they don't crop up often

He and Rouge have matching earrings

Rouge

I based her design off of Sonic Prime because I honestly prefer that design more. One because she looks like an actual spy, and two because it's based on her Sonic Heroes design. Similarly, she has Prim's hair tuft

Gave her the bat nose a lot of people do because I like the way it looks

I don't have a lot of thoughts about Rouge as of right now I am so sorry.

She and Shadow have matching earrings

Silver

Silver has a lot more scrapes and burns from his future, even though it's been fixed several times

He is displaced from time. He doesn't feel connected to his current future, especially since in our lore he is one of the few people to remember Sonic 06 (it's because in our lore, Timeline B Silver got his powers from Mephiles, in the sense that those time powers had to go SOMEWHERE after the timeline reset.)

I am going to be designing a weird messed up form for Silver (like Werehog or Doom Morph for Sonic and Shadow) based probably on Mephiles to some extent

Blaze

Like Silver, she has remnants of powers from the previous timeline. She already had fire powers in Timeline A, but she has much stronger ones now, as she still has Iblis inside of her, although the powers are no longer destructive, as they were never provoked

Her dimension is actually a result of Solaris ceasing to exist. That power still existed and had to go somewhere, so it ended up resulting in the Sol Dimension.

[wiltedprayers]

i know Bastogne is universally recognized as the Best band of brothers episode and listen, I get it and also agree in the sense that the story portrayed is the most interesting and overall it's incredibly well written. but I'd just like to point out the excellence that's episode 5, "Crossroads."

(Crossroads is the episode that focuses the most on Dick Winters — ep 1, 2, and later 10 also do but it's not as centralized as it is here — We follow Dick through an anachronistic series of events, and the episode ends with E company moving towards Bastogne. It's directed by Tom Hanks.)

I love this episode because of all the different creative choices it has and how it stands out visually and sonically in comparison to all the other eps. so in technical aspects, it's my favorite of the bunch. this distinction is exemplary in the sequences that go from Dick writing his report quietly in his office to him leading the attack on the SS companies. It's very interesting to me how loud and obnoxious the typing gets for both Dick and the audience after a while; in the battlefield, there's nothing to pull Dick out of his concentration, always the focused leader. he has a mission to do, and he intends to carry it out as smoothly as possible (as seen in this episode). in the office, though, he's distracted, losing track of time, almost physically feeling the noises of the typewriter as if it was the sound of a gun going off inside his ears.

the back and forth between time periods is amazing. the sound design in this episode is my personal favorite (in a show with explosions and rifles, you wouldn't think a clacking typewriter and a man out of breath would be the reason for this). the combined sounds of Dick writing with the gunshots going off, the change in paragraphs with the tearing of the tape? Dick and the company running towards the enemy (clearly screaming) with nothing but the sounds of their breaths and footsteps making noise? just excellent sound design.

also, the cinematography. I could talk for hours about how good this episode's photography and lighting are. there's this particular moment I love after Alley is shown to be hit and bleeding on the barn table, where we immediately cut to Dick writing about this in his report. it's all about the stark contrast between the lived experience of seeing one of your men badly wounded and then simply writing and reading about it.

the night shots as well. it's very easy to fail in making a night scene both properly lit but also indicative of the time (some shows make it look dark as shit basically), but band of brothers does it well: in the first pic, you only have the moonlight as illumination, which is not much, but it helps to get you into Dick's perspective of having to go through this mission in the depths of night with such a limited field of vision.

there's several night scenes in this episode, most notably the battle on the Crossroads, but also Operation Pegasus, the night Moose is shot, Dick in Paris, and then Easy company going into Bastogne.

finally, the color grading. band of brothers is a strange show that's always changing in its color grading — maybe the different directors had no prior discussion before filming the episodes, as it happened with the writers' room, but I doubt this — nevertheless, Crossroads' color grading stands out, specially in the long-awaited scene of E company charging against the SS companies.

the high contrast of the dark shadows with the desaturated greens (and later reds) make for quite a sight, especially if you compare it to the warmer tones of the present scenes of Dick writing. the show wants you to know how different these moments are for Dick, who under fire is collected and focused but is ultimately crumbling under the bureaucratic pressure.

also I freaking love all the shots and framing of the typewriter. nothing to say other than they're cool as hell.

and this isn't even covering the emotional and character-driven aspects of the story! (that's a post for another day, maybe). for me Crossroads is a masterpiece of an episode in what it means to use camera, lighting, and sound to make your story as immersing as possible; it connects beautifully all technical aspects of filmmaking and, in my opinion, delivers one of the show's best episodes (that's accompanied with a great script.)

[funkii4-blog]

I need to ramble some more about the locket thing from the new episode to get it out of my brain before I sleep because I have a lot to say (mainly to argue in favor of it having 3’s picture)

So we’ve all seen the scene from the new episode “Mario’s Plane Trip” where SMG4 mentions something about ‘having someone waiting back home’ as he looks into a locket. However the scene is cut off by something else before we can see the picture inside, leaving everyone to debate about what or ideally who the picture was of.

Of course the most popular guess has been that the picture was of none other than SMG3, which would confirm that there is in fact a romance building up between them (as has been hinted a ton within the show, especially in the last year and a half). I agree with this 1000% and wanna list supporting evidence/argue against other guess;

A) The Scene’s Context; This line came up while 4 was having a heart-to-heart with Swag about their respective loved ones, during which Swag mentioned Sonic (whom he’s married to). Since the way the conversation started pointed at a romantic relationship, it’s fair to wonder if 4’s side of the conversation also was headed that direction before the moment was cut short.

B) 4’s Suitcase; At the start of the episode when 4 and Mario were getting their luggage scanned, we got a view into what was in 4’s suitcase. And of course two of the items really stuck out to me: one of 3’s bombs, and the creepy Mickey Mouse sculpture (the same sculpture that 3 suggested as a date gift in CEO Of Rizz). So maybe he gave it to him off screen? Either way it’s interesting to see half of 4’s luggage being items that were owned by 3 at some point.

C) No Joke/Punchline; Another heavy argument as to why this was meant to be a serious foreshadowing moment was that there was no joke to this scene at all before the cutoff. I’ve seen people suggest that the picture could have contained something silly like his computer or some memes, but I don’t think that’s the case because imo they absolutely would have shown the photo and made a punchline out of it. Especially since apparently the exact joke with 4 having a beloved photo of his computer in a locket has been used before (I don’t know the episode and was merely told this happened); if it really had been his computer again I imagine they’d just have reused the joke and shown the picture. But they didn’t show anything & left us wondering instead.

I also am intrigued that they kicked off pride month with an episode like this with such subtle yet strong hints at their relationship, and after 4’s search history even hinted we could get a significant event in the show this month. It of course leaves me super interested to see what the rest of the month will bring. Please glitch finally make it happen lol

[budgetaus]

I think it's funny I drew his anti version before I drew him. Anyways

Another installment in turning Undertale AU's Sonic! Welcome Fell!Sonic and his long post!!

Sonic with Scourge's personality but not his goals! He's a good jerk, peep the name! Sonic the Hedgehog! He calls his anti "Scourge" out of spite and vitriol.

A man-handling, pawning sleazeball who thinks he's both better and worse than everyone around who he both hates and cares so deeply for at the same time. He hates his shitty universe and the state it's in- constant war, bickering, drugs, traffic, depression, violence, etc etc, it's the red-skied, smoky cesspool he's live in all his life and he can't break from it so he has to fit in with it. Despite that- he actively tries to fix and protect it in valiant attempts to make it a better Hell. He's rough around the edges but he does occasionally show a good quality here and there, and while he's offensive and crude, he doesn't normally mean harm. He can be mellowed out but he still is an off-handed bully with a superiority complex- just a chill guy. It's just how EVERY Mobian acts on this Mobius. Terrible, mean, and downright awful. Even the kids. It must be a birth right or coded into their genes or something. Nature Versus Nurture...he saves to make it better, free-er. Though, he'd actively deny it- only leveraging his name as a "hero" (which he denounces) to get things- say he's not a good guy. Simple way cool loser. He knows manipulation tactics but he doesn't often employ them unless for things like "Redemption" or to con, nothing genuinely evil. He's more feral and wild with a brutal cunning in a fight and isn't opposed to getting down and dirty but he still has his own honor-system. He's always trying to be a better version of himself.

After certain events early in his vigilante career he received battle scars (a token of high respect and honor in this decadent society) and an upper hand when it came to Chaos Energy- simply a little more than the average Sonic. Nowhere near the level of his anti-counterpart, and he barely ever uses it unless he sees no choice. He doesn't know he can use Chaos Control and those of the likes without an Emerald.

His universe is under active siege from his Anti-counterpart, the desperate fight has been on and off. His Anti hates his guts because his universe has been the only one to fight back so hard like a dying animal. Fell-Sonic especially hates Anti for being a snake-in-the-grass he is and Fell-Sonic is one of the ones who Anti always drops his mask towards because Anti has already convinced his whole world that THESE are the villains and they could "better" it like he's done countless others. They actually HATE each other. Fell is secretly unnerved and creeped out by Anti and is just a tad scared of him.

He leads his own "Gang" of riff-raff called Anarchy Allegiance which he simply calls Clan Anarchy. He gives a new meaning to Anarchy as he challenges societal norms and fights for a better future. It has multiple subsections and bases with codenames such as The Revolution (The Resistance), The Revival (The Restoration), etc in order to maintain control and protection over his turf. Mob tactics are used but he mostly lords his ability to protect the innocence in exchange for some tribute. Knick-knacks, artifacts, rings, but also sweets. You could pay him a whole bucketful of sweets and he'd be like "Good enough" He's got a major sweet tooth. He's also willing to wait for his payment and when he gets impatient he usually tasks someone else to talk to them so he doesn't do something he regrets. He'll be as patient if he knows someone's in a bad sitch but he expects all of it plus interest and extra for wasting his time.

He recycles and does other things to try and improve the rotten environment around him. He loathes smoking (horrible for your health and it harms the lungs which isn't good for running) so he chooses to suck on lollies instead- he ALWAYS carries around cherry cola dum-dums. He also hates alcohol (The amount of child abuse on Mobius is CRAZY) and drug (especially specifically when in bad taste) and those of the likes. He especially hates it for his lil bro, Tails. Tails is an avid drinker and smokes despite having barely dipped his toes in tween-hood, barely past double digits. Whenever he sees Tails drinking or smoking he usually smacks whatever it is out of the foxes hand and gives a substitute. Lollies for cigs and root beer for alcohol. He's trying to get Tails to grow up better, with tolerance and understanding without a world of bad habits and self-destructive nihilism. He only wants the best for his protege.

His group- while outwardly mean- are built on true chemistry, loyalty, and understanding. He knows they would all die for each other and this substantial hope for a new world.

One without this pain and suffering.

Anyways, that's it for now on him. I will take him to digital and color him soon on popular request. I also got 2 other writing pens to ink with and one of them (gift from doctor) is the best drawing utensil I've ever used and I wish I knew the make and model...sigh.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

Any specific predictions for movie number three and/or the miniseries?

Hii!!

Okay! I have some predictions as well as hopes for both the Knuckles series and the third movie!

For the Knuckles show:

Lots of Wachowski family shenanigans 😁

Knuckles gets to keep his motorcycle in the end

Knuckles got his hat from Tom (or just the Green Hills Police Department lol)

Wade becomes an honorary uncle to the Wachowski bros

Knuckles' fire powers are either a one time thing or a rare power he has that's similar to Sonic's lightning powers

Pachacamac is a hallucination of Knuckles', though how he started hallucinating is a mystery 😂

Sonic calls Maddie Mom. Please, I'm begging. Tails, too!

Some kind of second hint about Shadow's coming arrival

For Movie 3!

Again, Wachowski family things! Silliness between the brothers, and of course the brothers bickering about stupid things is a NEED

All three boys using parental titles with Tom and Maddie!

Vivid, detailed flashbacks complete with dialogue of Space Colony Ark and Maria!

Ark sibling memories! They'll make us sad but I want them!

Maria with more personality!

I think it was one of the older Wachowskis who was involved with the Ark incident. Maddie saying there's been a Wachowski protecting Green Hills for over 50 years, that feels way too specific to be a coincidence. Not to mention it wasn't outright G.U.N. in this universe that did it, because it wasn't formed until after the events of the first movie. That would spin things into a WHOLE new context as to why Shadow has it out for Sonic, because he's a Wachowski 👀

Amy and Rouge will be in it! Please!!!

Amy will still like Sonic in it, and he'll just be super embarrassed and bashful about the entire idea, but I don't expect or necessarily want them to actually get together in the movie. (Especially since they're much more painted as KIDS in the movie. I still think Sonic will like her back, and I'd want them to be together EVENTUALLY, but not in the timeline of the movie.)

Shadow will end up getting adopted by either Wade, or Rachel! I think Jojo's presence, a sweet little girl, might remind him of Maria 🥹

Both Shadow and Sonic will go Super!

Fat Eggman would be hilarious!

If Rouge gets adopted into the same family as Shadow and they actually become basically real siblings I will officially die of happiness

Speaking of-- the Wachowski bros actually referring to each other as brothers!

Them interacting with the other citizens of Green Hills more!

That's all I can think of for the time being! Thank you so much for the ask!!!

[nagichi-boop]

My Thoughts Prior to Sonic x Shadow Generations (mostly Dark Beginnings)

This won’t have much rhyme of reason to it, but I want to go over my thoughts of the episodes and some related information released prior to the game’s release. So this is sort of a mix of a review for Dark Beginnings and predictions based on that and the promotional information for the game? I may reblog this after playing the game to expand my thoughts, or I may just make a new post and reference this one if it’s relevant. Well, assuming I make a post about my thoughts on the game, anyways.

Since this will likely be rambly, I will put my thoughts under a cut so as not to clog your feed. I’ll try to organise my thoughts as cohesively as possible. I’ll start with the Dark Beginning episodes as they give the most story information, then I’ll go over a few thoughts from the promotional material.

Warning - Spoilers! (But also…this is a really long post lol)

Episode 1: Shadow and Maria

The first thing that stands out is, of course, Shadow and Maria’s relationship. Shadow is certainly more the anxious type, perhaps in part to Gerald informing him on Maria’s condition. But they have such a cute sibling relationship! It was also nice getting a glimpse into Maria’s sickness and how Shadow handles it, and how Maria shows concern for his insecurities and such. They look out for each other. And you can see just how deeply he cares about Maria. The fact he went out of his way to view the aurora borealis in the present day shows just how deeply he cared about her love of nature and how he carries that with him.

We learn a little bit more about Maria’s backstory. Not only is it confirmed that she has in fact been earth prior to living on the ARK (some people thought maybe she was born on the ARK or smth?), but we also learn that the reason being in space helps is because the gravity keeps her condition in remission. As a side note, I love seeing characters with invisible disabilities in media. Maria has the capacity to run if she wants, but it comes with consequences. As someone with an invisible chronic illness, I appreciate the representation! And it’s nice to see Shadow being gentle yet firm with her when he reminds her not to exert herself. And when he holds her hand before running off, you can see him gently squeezing her hand. He is so careful and caring with her.

I haven’t played Battle, but it was also nice to see them referencing older games by including Emerl. I get that Generations is all about revising the past, but it’s nice to see them bringing stuff all together.

After the glass shatters (which I interpret as time/space shattering?), we see Shadow fall into the cell Gerald is in. I can only imagine how Shadow felt being there with him in this vision, especially because he saw the firing squad shoot him. He almost seems pained by it with how he grabs his head. And then he of course falls into some void space after reaching out for Gerald. Again, I see this as the timeline breaking, especially because we see Maria’s death portrayed in the cloud/mist. Then we get that brief glimpse of Black Doom reaching out and grabbing Shadow, which leads him to believe Black Doom is back.

It’s also clear just how often Shadow thinks about and has nightmares about what happens, to the point he more or less knows the timelines of events. We really get to see how much his trauma affects him. I’ll touch on this a bit more later, but this feels like a really good depiction of PTSD and trauma. In the past few games, he hasn’t really seemed as affected by the events on the ARK, as if he has moved on. But that’s just it - he can’t completely move on from his trauma. Sure, he appears to have a better understanding and is better at coping with it (again, I’ll expand more on this as I go), but him relapsing feels like an accurate depiction of how someone with PTSD, CPTSD, or really any mental illness will go through ups and downs with their disorder.

You could argue that this wasn’t a nightmare and was a vision of sorts because of the timeline distorting, but he speaks as though he does get frequent nightmares. He is able to differentiate this situation from a nightmare presumably because he gets nightmares so frequently. He also mentions it happening in view of the ARK. I interpret this to mean he didn't fall asleep (especially given he is standing when he snaps out of it), but more like a trance-like state. Maybe he looked at the ARK while admiring the aurora and it started the vision?

It’s also pretty interesting that he seemed scared at the idea of Black Doom being back. When he had amnesia in ShTH, I guess he didn't have much of a reason to be scared of Black Doom. But he knows how powerful he is, and with his memories back, he knows fully what Black Doom’s influence is on his past - sharing his DNA and making an agreement with Gerald that Shadow would later collect the Chaos Emeralds for him. We know from the next episode that Shadow isn’t the most fond of his Black Arms DNA, so it makes sense that he is worried he will have to confront that part of himself��I’ll come back to this thought later. Even without that, it would be pretty disconcerting to think about a foe you defeated coming back, especially after a vision like that.

Episode 2: Finding the Way

We get another wonderful glimpse into Shadow’s past. It’s a bit more speculation, but it’s somewhat reasonable to assume that Maria is the only one who has a friendly relationship with him. Abe calls him a freak, and though Gerald created him, Maria is the one who gave a deeper meaning to his name. Maria and Abe were also friends, so I imagine that she at least tried to get him to like Shadow, but it obviously didn't work. Maybe because Maria was the only one saying nice things about Shadow? Given what he went on to do with Shadow’s memory following Maria’s death, I can’t imagine even Gerald had the closest relationship with Shadow. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we don’t really have anything canon to show that he cares much for Shadow as an individual versus as his science project. It makes sense that Shadow is so weary of others and why Maria’s death hurt him so much - she was the only one among many who cared about him personally.

We see more of Shadow’s insecurity and his struggles with his identity. He seems genuinely afraid because of his alien DNA. This once again makes me think that Gerald was very clear to Shadow about what his origins were and his purpose, but perhaps not much more than that. After all, Shadow doesn’t believe he has a place on earth. If Gerald really cared, I figure he would have talked to Shadow about going home with himself and Maria about going home together, and he would have dispelled Shadow’s fears about being a monster because of his DNA. Besides, Shadow’s negative perception of the Black Arms had to come from somewhere, right? This is speculation, of course, but I can’t find much to suggest Gerald cared much for him. It’s heartbreaking to think that because Gerald messed with his memories, he could have used the ARK to destroy all life on earth - not too dissimilar to what Black Doom wanted. Can you imagine the guilt Shadow feels by almost becoming the thing he feared so much?

In the midst of Shadow’s worry, we get to see Maria being a sisterly figure to him. I love this scene so much - I genuinely teared up when I first watched it. Anyways, we see that Shadow clearly struggles with his origins, but Maria doesn’t view him the way he does - he’s not the heartless monster he thinks he is. She genuinely listens to his concerns, and when she sees him become depressed over his origins, she immediately comforts him She sees that he genuinely cares, even if he struggles to express it. Autistic Shadow, yay! To her, it’s what Shadow does, not what he is, that makes him a good person. She was perhaps the only person to view him as more than just a science project. And despite him being viewed poorly by others, Maria sees that he cares for others. This is supported by a scene later as well as one in the third episode, but I’ll get to that.

Fast forward to modern day and yay, Team Dark! It’s interesting that their introduction comes after Maria says that Shadow will find more people he can trust, aka Rouge and Omega. (I’d also argue Sonic is someone Shadow trusts and maybe Amy too, but we ain’t talking about them right now.) We get to see Shadow and Rouge’s friendly relationship with one another. They may not be partners per se, but she greets him like a close friend that she’s comfortable with. He, in turn, shows curiosity about why she’s there without a hint of malice. They both openly share why they’re there, which is a testament to their trust in one another. He was listening but also making sure to watch out for dangers and saves her, much like he does for Maria in the first episode when she collapses. It’s in his nature to look out for others.

We then get to see a glimpse of his leadership. Sure, I don’t know if you can really say they’re strictly a team. As much as I love Team Dark, they seem to mostly team up due to convenience and circumstance, but he directly but respectfully gives them an order and they follow without hesitation because they trust and respect him. When they’re together, they work as one unit. It’s also nice to see all three of them being more than competent fighters.

The way Rouge teases Shadow about him going to Sonic’s birthday party in return for her help adds to the idea that they’re familiar with one another. You wouldn’t really speak that way, nor call a platonic friend “handsome”, unless you had a degree of familiarity and closeness with one another. If they weren’t friends, Shadow would have gotten mad at her multiple times throughout this scene. Instead, he sighs in a way that is interpreted as a reluctant yes (again, he doesn’t deny this, so it is more or less confirmed that he was agreeing to go).

We also get more confirmation that Rouge is a free/double agent. She doesn’t work for GUN, but she still works with them occasionally. She will team up with whoever it’s convenient to team up with. Of course, I like to think that her teaming up with Shadow in this instance is more her being a friend doing another friend a favour. She doesn’t really have a reason to help Shadow, and her request doesn’t personally benefit her. She’s helping Shadow because she cares about him. You quite literally see her eyes light up when she notices Shadow is there. This went from a boring intel mission to something more interesting to her.

Episode 3: To the ARK

This episode hurt me so much and made me lowkey worried that I’m gonna cry when playing Sonic x Shadow Generations.

First thing I noticed - Shadow smiling? I love that for him. I do appreciate we are seeing more of that with Shadow. He isn’t constantly brooding and miserable - he has a more casual and fun-loving side too. We also see that he has a somewhat similar view of GUN as Rouge does. They have both worked on behalf of GUN in the past in varying capacities, but whether or not they are on GUN’s side fluctuates depending on their goal. It’s what separates them from Team Sonic - they act according to their best interests and what their mission is.

I don’t have much to say about the fight. It’s epic of course, but I’ll talk about production and such later. I will say it’s funny to see they’re continuing to show how destruction-hungry Omega is. I also mentioned earlier that this episode has a scene where Shadow shows compassion for others - I was referring to him saving the GUN agent. Strictly speaking, this guy was in Shadow’s way and was attacking him, so he could’ve left him. But he saved him, possibly because he recognised that he wasn’t attacking out of a vendetta, but that it was his job to protect GUN’s machinery and assets. That and we get to see that Shadow can teleport small distances as a natural ability, not because of a Chaos Emerald.

When Shadow is under threat of the spacecraft he’s in being shot down, you can see the panic in Rouge’s face. Thankfully Abe comes in and tells the GUN forces to stand down, but it’s nice seeing how much she cares about Shadow. We know she cares of course, but she definitely has a soft spot for Shadow. There’s the scene in Heroes where she worries about Shadow not being the real one, which also showcases Omega’s wisdom and own compassion. Then in 06 we get to see her assuring Shadow that she’ll be on his side, even if the world turns against him. And now in this episode and the previous one, you see that she gently pushes him out of his comfort zone, has a genuine comradery with Shadow and Omega. Not just that though, she clearly understands Shadow very deeply as evidenced by her conversation with Abe.

From Abe’s point of view, it’s nice to see him genuinely wanting to connect with Shadow. He is remorseful for the way he treated Shadow in the past and wants to be trusted by him. And he clearly has implicit trust in him - he did let Shadow fly off in the spacecraft without even knowing what he was doing.

I will say one minor nitpick I have with this scene is what Rouge said. When Abe scolds Rouge for not talking Shadow down, she says that only one person who do that - Maria. You could argue that Sonic and Amy can both talk Shadow down, though. Amy was the one who convinced Shadow to help everyone steer the ARK away from earth. And in the IDW, Sonic talked Shadow out of hurting Mr Tinker (Eggman), even though his worries came true later on. I assume what Rouge meant though was the Maria is the only one he will trust wholeheartedly and follow unwaveringly. With Amy, he backed down because she reminded him of Maria’s true promise. With Sonic, his past was leveraged against him, and seeing how hard Shadow is on himself regarding his past mistakes, you could argue he backed off out of guilt rather than agreeing with Sonic.

And then…that scene plays. Shadow daydreams about what could have been if Maria was alive, and the vocal track clearly highlights that he blames himself for her death. This causes him to get anxious until he snaps himself out of his daydream. The way he says “stop that” so softly breaks my heart. This is one of the first times we have seen Shadow be so emotional, and it makes sense. He had a vision that made him relive his most traumatic memory, and he was going back to the very place it all happened. Not only that, but there was the possibility of Black Doom being back - what would he do if he was there? Of course he was thinking about Maria!

I know some people don’t like that Shadow is going back to his old memories because they think he should be over it, but as I’ve already said in another post, PTSD doesn’t work like that. Even ignoring the situation at hand - the vision he had and having to return to the ARK with the possibility of facing Black Doom again - recovery isn’t linear. Of course he is going to fluctuate in how affected he is by his past. What happened to him was incredibly traumatic. We have now seen how Maria was perhaps the only person who cared about him and the only friend she had. His job was to cure and protect her and, by his definition, he failed to do the one thing he was created for - saving her. Not only that, but his memories then got screwed with, and his relationship with Maria was manipulated by the very person he was created by, causing him to do the very thing Maria didn't want him to do. He then had to struggle with his amnesia, deal with identity issues surrounding potentially being an android, and facing against Black Doom, who like Gerald tried to use his past to manipulate him. Those things aren’t just something you “get over”. Sure, he seems to be better at managing his symptoms, but he can’t ever really forget or get over what happened.

The song lyrics also reveals a lot about Shadow’s thought process in this scene. Him referring to his situation as a never-ending nightmare once again highlights his PTSD. It’s a memory that will likely haunt him for a long time. I would say for the rest of his life, but he’s immortal - I believe eventually he will come to focus more on the positive parts of his memories with Maria, but that will take time. Or maybe just Sonic x Shadow Generations? Who knows. He also talks about pretending to see Maria again and imagining a world where he saved Maria, which we see him doing in the episode. But we clearly see he blamed himself - he says he “failed” to save Maria and how he “can’t forgive the wrongs” he’s done to Maria. And the final line about him remaining alone? Obviously he has people he trusts and cares about now, but being lonely and feeling alone are two different things. He has people like Rouge, Omega, Sonic - but ultimately he feels alone because he struggles to get close to them emotionally. Think about it - this is perhaps the only time we have seen Shadow so emotional, but he does this when he’s alone. He struggles to be vulnerable with others, I assume in large part because those close to him have used and manipulated him in the past. Plus he holds on dearly to the title of Ultimate Lifeform - perhaps he views that it’s a weakness to be vulnerable. Or given how much self-blame he has, maybe he feels he isn’t allowed to receive help. Either way, it’s really sad that he feels so alone. I hope someday he opens up to someone.

Okay, so before I move on to my general thoughts and predictions for the new game, I just want to quickly talk about…

✨ The Production ✨

…because man, these episodes slap!! The animation is absolutely gorgeous. It’s 3D but it almost looks 2D? The lighting is amazing, especially when showing energy sources like Shadow’s chaos energy or the glowing tubes in the first episode. It’s so incredibly striking. And the choreography? Amazing!! The music is also so incredibly emotional. The ones that stand out is the one that plays when Maria grabs Shadow’s hand in the first episode, and of course the vocal track Without You in the third episode. I honestly don’t have the words to properly describe everything, it’s just so incredible.

SxS Gens — Promotional Material (Trailers/Interviews)

I won’t go super in depth, but I’ll briefly mention some of my thoughts about what we have seen so far. I’ll probably miss stuff out, but the game is two weeks away, so all will be revealed properly soon enough.

A lot of Shadow’s character so far has been him moving on from his past, but this game seems to be him confronting it. The two biggest hints for this is the Doom Powers and the return of Maria and Gerald. With the Doom Powers, Shadow is having to fully embrace his Black Arms DNA. We see how insecure he is about his origins in Dark Beginnings, but now he is going to have to confront that part of himself, face it head on and make it his own. With regards to Maria and Gerald, perhaps he will talk to Gerald and ask more questions? Not sure exactly what they’d talk about, but I hope they talk in some capacity.

I assume the biggest thing will be Shadow deciding between keeping Maria around or restoring the timeline. I’ve seen some people want a Life is Strange type decision where you get to choose which you want, but I highly doubt it. I would also argue that’s a regression in Shadow’s character. Not only would he be disregarding Maria’s wishes, but it would also be him backtracking on his growth in finding himself outside of his history with Maria. Also, I know he cares about Maria, but to think he’d sacrifice everything just to stay with her? It goes against his resolve to sacrifice himself for humanity and his desire to fulfil Maria’s wish to protect humanity. And it would also mean he screws over all his new friends. Sure, I reckon he’ll struggle with the choice, but ultimately it makes more sense for him to sacrifice her again, both in terms of honouring Maria’s wishes and to develop him as a character to show he is genuinely moving on. There’s also the chance they bring Maria back somehow while restoring the timeline, but I personally don’t think it’ll happen and don’t want it to happen. I love Maria, but it’ll be more impactful to have Shadow decide to restore the timeline instead of sacrificing it to save Maria.

A few points from the Developer Interview I’d like to talk about quickly. It’s mentioned that Shadow’s story will be “dramatic” and that we will be “emotionally moved by it.” Given the response from the just 10-15 minutes of animation in the Dark Beginnings, I can definitely see this game being emotional, and it seems that’s what they're trying to accomplish. They mention portraying him being in pain, which we have definitely seen the physical sides of in the trailers. But I assume he’s also going to suffer emotionally, both because of Black Doom and seeing Maria again.

They bring up Sonic’s birthday party and that Shadow isn’t there. Obviously we know that he was invited by Rouge, but my assumption is that he doesn’t show because he is already wrapped up with the Time Eater and/or Black Doom and so can’t make the party. Perhaps he is even taken to White Space before the Time Eater crashes Sonic’s birthday party?

From a gameplay perspective, it seems the Doom Powers are intended to let you traverse the levels in different ways. To quote the video: “We needed to make sure when we’re designing the levels that the player could find a different path if you use Chaos Control, or if you’re using the Doom Powers in a certain way or in certain locations and that those powers could create new ways of getting through the game.” This links up with the Famitsu interview where they state that “you can complete the game without using Doom Power.” It seems these powers are there to make revisiting the levels more viable by creating shortcuts and helping you reach different locations. It’ll be interesting to see just how much exploration the levels have!

It’s clear as well that they want this game to be a love letter to old fans and an introduction to new ones. That makes sense - being a new fan is likely intimidating given all the spinoff games and such. I haven’t played all of them and I’ve been a fan of Sonic since I was a kid! And bear in mind, as much as it feels aging to hear, Shadow was introduced in 2001 - over 20 years ago. Although my friends aren’t as intensely interested in Sonic as I perhaps am, they are aware of Shadow’s existence. But they definitely don’t know his backstory. It’s completely valid to not know the full extent of Shadow’s backstory - whether or not you’re a new - especially given it’s scattered across 20+ years worth of spinoff games spanning a variety of consoles. If you’re one of those people, you’re completely valid. It doesn’t make you more or less of a fan because you don’t know every little detail of the Sonic lore.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest, when I initially saw the game advertised, I wasn’t really hyped for it. I think I was nervous because if you ignore The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Prime, Shadow’s writing has been a bit mixed. (My thoughts on Shadow’s writing in TMOSTH can be found here if you’re curious!) There’s the infamous Boom characterisation, which I think is universally disliked. And even in the IDW, Shadow’s writing can be a bit iffy. I had lost faith in Shadow’s modern characterisation until TMOSTH and Prime came out, so I was desperately hoping they took the positive feedback from that and continued it. I was worried though, given that one was a short April Fool’s game and the other was a TV series.

Thankfully, it seems they are continuing to do Shadow justice!

Dark Beginnings has done most of the heavy lifting when it comes to my excitement for the game. Not only is it beautifully animated with gorgeous music, but the writing is incredibly emotional. It really feels like the writers poured a lot of love into it, and I’m so incredibly happy to see Shadow being more than just “Sonic’s edgy antagonistic rival”

Sonic x Shadow Generations seems like a good format to introduce new fans to Shadow’s lore. They’re clearly taking it all into account given how much they referenced in Dark Beginnings. Generations is about celebrating and exploring the past again, which feels like a brilliant opportunity to explain Shadow’s lore and how it affects to his future.

I’m sure I’m missing some thoughts and maybe I’ll sneakily edit this post as new thoughts and revisions come to me, but I feel like I’ve already said a lot. To anyone who read this far, thank you! I hope my thoughts were…interesting to read? Who knows! This was mostly just my way of infodumping in the absence of friends to talk to.

I can’t wait for October 25th!

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Prime (Timeline Placement)

So, now that the finale of Sonic Prime has aired (although I still wonder whether it was really the finale because were still missing one episode), everyone is asking themselves the question of when does it take place in canon.

After all, it is general knowledge that the producers stated that it should be treated as part of the Sonic mainline series canon. But, what does that mean?

I still remember how people weren't happy about Sonic's more immature personality, especially since this just came after Sonic Frontiers, where we saw a more mature Sonic, and even TV Tropes lists the statement as Fanon Discontinuity:

As well-received as the series is, when the producers of the show stated it was being treated as canon to the mainline series, this did not go down well with certain fans, believing much of what appears in the show appears to contradict what the games state, such as Green Hill being stated to be the home of Sonic and his friends. Probably the most egregious change is a flashback that shows Sonic and Knuckles' first meeting in Hidden Palace Zone (which, while there is a boss fight with Knuckles in that stage, the two meet much earlier).

Fans then started asking Ian Flynn about when the show takes place in the game timeline, with Ian's answer being that he'll tell them after the show ends. Now, the ending of the show revealed absolutely nothing in regards to when it takes place, with Ian Flynn posting this tweet:

Yeeaaahh, from what I've heard through the grapevine, people weren't happy:

Misblamed: People blame Ian Flynn for the rather vague suggestion of the timeline of when Prime is set, even though 1) Ian Flynn was not a writer of Sonic Prime. He was a consultant. 2) The Lore team weren't the ones that decided to make Prime canon. That's a matter that's decided by Sega's higher-ups. Likewise, any inconsistencies are the result of the writing team, who likely didn't (or couldn't) research every detail of the series' characters and lore within any time constraints they had.

That should explain things and it's bad enough that people are using Ian Flynn as a scapegoat over something he had no control over.

So, what is my opinion in regards to this situation. I believe that Sonic Prime's placement in the mainline series canon can be viewed from two different points:

Point 1) The show is a standalone story, taking place in a slightly different universe at any point after Sonic Advance 3. It has all the Sonic game characters and any detail that got messed up could be chalked to writer error as said above. It is connected to the main canon in some way, but not in the way that you could insert it directly into the mainline series games.

Point 2) It is an event that takes place after Sonic Advance 3, and connected to the mainline games despite the inconsistencies, but it is supposed to be treated similarly to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) in the sense that, as Ian pointed out above, Prime wipes itself out. It happened, but it has no impact on the main canon aside from the fact that Sonic and Shadow remember the events and probably won't ever be mentioned again.

Now, these are just general conclusions to Sonic Prime's placement's in the canon, but what about my personal view?

In my personal headcanon, Sonic Prime takes place sometime between Sonic Colors and Sonic Forces. Why after Sonic Colors? Because Orbot and Cubot made their debut there. Why before Sonic Forces? Because the Sonic the Hedgehog IDW Comics detail the events that occurred after Sonic Forces.

One could argue that Sonic Prime could be placed between the Sonic IDW Comics and Sonic Frontiers, or maybe even take place after Sonic Frontiers, but I'm certain that people's argument over Sonic's lack of maturity in Prime in comparison to Frontiers nips that theory in the bud. Not to mention, we already got a game that takes place after Sonic Frontiers, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and we saw how Sonic acts in that game.

Another thing I would like to add is that I'm treating Sonic Prime in the same manner as Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). It is a standalone story with minimal impact to the main canon, an adventure that happened and was subsequently erased, with the only ones who remember it being Sonic and Shadow.

So, these are my personal thoughts and before anyone starts an argument, I do not speak for the community. That said, what do you guys think?

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[yellowvixen]

I've never actually heard of the Robotized Metal Sonic theory! Could you please explain? It honestly it sounds really cool! (And also any mention of Robotization makes me happy because that means the SatAM show was acknowledged in some way)

Ooh yeah sure!! Others have probably explained it better, or maybe have slightly different takes on it but this is how I see it:

The events of Sonic CD happen without Metal being present which results in Eggman winning and actually capturing Sonic, leading to the bad future. He roboticizes him and then for whatever reason, sends him back in time. I've seen different takes on this, maybe Eggman wanted his victory to be even easier with the help of Metal, maybe Metal was defective (or rebelling) and he wanted to get rid of him, maybe Metal sent himself back to try fix what had happened. Either way, Metal ends up back in the hands of Eggman in a new timeline, with a new Sonic, and he loses. At this point I like to think Metal doesn't have many of his original memories, but he's still convinced he's the real Sonic - and he's not wrong! He was Sonic. But no one believes that.

It's all very fucked up if you think about it for a bit, especially the events of Sonic Heroes. (Metal tries so hard to be different to Sonic, to be something new and unique, and it still doesn't work. Again he loses his voice and his freedom and any uniqueness he had as Neo Metal Sonic, and no one even cares.)

Gayemeralds has written more about the theory, and has a series of fics about it here

Another one of my favourite fics about this subject is Corrosion - mind the tags on this one!

I've also drawn this based on the theory, which is kind of inspired by Corrosion and the second fic in that series, Dateline!

If anyone else has more to add about this theory please do, I'd love to read more fics abt it and I know there's a few posts about it here which send me absolutely insane

[egg-emperor]

Oh what has Oshima stated about Eggman? I'm curious.

This Twitter DM which was from quite a while ago, can't remember when, where from, or who to but it still gets spread around:

All respect to Oshima of course, like I said, the man is a legend and treasure. But that first part literally isn't what happens in the game at all. The way he's describing it makes it sound like Eggman came along with innocent intentions, Chaos appeared and started doing something evil and then he wants to protect the world and be a hero or something. But the game's events simply aren't anything like that at all.

Eggman specifically intends for Chaos to destroy Station Square, so he can build Eggmanland on the ruins.

Sonic story:

Tails story:

The only problem he has is Chaos betraying him and making him his enemy, which means he's now a threat to him too and that's when it's a problem.

Last story:

He specifically states that it's because he defied him/didn't follow his orders. Instead Chaos is doing it on his own terms and making him his enemy, meaning he can't build Eggmanland and is now in danger too instead. Otherwise he'd love that shit because it was literally his goal to destroy it XD

JP translations are showing me the context doesn't change and Eggman's reasonings remain exactly the same.

Sonic story:

Tails story:

Last story:

I like that last line, it perfectly represents his selfish "if you don't serve/obey me/aren't useful to me, you have no reason to exist" mindset. 🥰 But yeah, he's extremely blatant with his selfish reasoning in both versions.

But yeah what Oshima said about Adventure makes no sense. The Adventure guide also said something like him not thinking of himself as evil, I believe? Which is the only possible thing one could cite in relation to him "not being evil" in Adventure. Which doesn't make any sense there either for all the above and every game ever actually.

And what I have to say to the idea that he doesn't think of himself as evil in general is this post, showing just a few of the examples of him very clearly understanding that he's evil and doing bad things and not caring, and and specifically calling himself, his creations, and actions "evil". Bios which can and have been inaccurate in various ways for multiple characters don't change that.

Also I get where Oshima is coming from with the second part of the man/machine/science vs animals/nature thing but it seems like he's kinda saying it in a way that seems to imply that the one is just a threat to the other in general. When this appears to not be the case in Sonic CD, as good future is a world that can be both natural and mechanical in harmony. And I think that's a lot cooler.

Eggman represents the harmful, selfish, greedy, dark parts of humanity, it's clearly never been presented in a way that paints humanity as a whole as a bad thing. It's not a misanthropic all humans are evil messaging, just an example of the kinds of evil that humanity can be capable of, how they can destroy nature, how they can be greedy and power hungry.

Also the whole Eggman wants to make the world "beautiful" thing is true because as a selfish egotist, it will be the most beautiful and perfect it can be when it's under his control in his eyes, in by his own twisted definition, that's detrimental for nature, wildlife, and everyone else in it. Nobody else will want but will have it forced upon them by him.

People trying to present this as fact are ignoring how Oshima emphasized that it's his "personal opinion". That's not what determines decisions made during actual production and finalized solid canon, which in this case shows something completely different in the game, English and Japanese. But he's not trying to pass it off as final fact so I have no issue with him, it's the fans that are.

Word of god that directly contradicts canon events and characterizatiom doesn't hold up no matter who it's from. Something especially doesn't suddenly become true canon fact because someone was privately sent a DM about a creator's personal opinion, that they also specifically emphasize to be just that to them on top of that lol

I only ever note word of god in fact sharing or analysis I do if it's just reiterating/explaining what was already shown/described/implied in the actual games and very blatantly so, for reasons like these. As there can be stuff is literally completely different in the games and isn't just a matter of interpretation.

So yeah thought I'd finally bring this up and break it down properly since it's been around for a little while now but I've seen it getting spread around again like it's fact lately. Eggman is very aware that he's evil and he certainly wasn't a good guy in Adventure, nor any other game XD

[qianqiancandyjar]

Ninjavember 2023!

Here's completed version with a bunch of explaining below each picture! Just scroll down if you don't want to see me blabbering. (I tried to go short as much as possible)

(I have a lot of AUs and headcanons that only exist in my head and my sketchbooks. Forgive me for wanting to spill them out.)

Day 2: Randy was listening to music with earphones so he didn't know Theresa was sitting next to him. Imagine how embarrassed he would get when he knows.

Day 8: Tech-Ninja AU. It's about machinist Randy being set up by Mcfist for murdering the town hero Ninja with his invention, the Tech-Ninja armor. Then the spirit of the destroyed Nomicon travelled to his armor and become an AI, choosing him to be the next Ninja. So Randy accepted it and was determined to make up for what he caused, when nobody except Howard, the boss of Weinerman industries, trusted him.

Day 10: Apocalypse AU. It's about Randy lost the battle at the end of season 2 and became the prisoner of the Sorcerer. The Nomicon was handed to Howard before that, and they later recruited survivors to form a resistance against the Sorcerer. Then Randy was stanked, but instead of turning into a monster, he was brainwashed and given the power of creating his own red and black stank. And- You know what will happen. (Inspired by the Darkness of Randy Cunningham)

Day 13: Elemental trial AU. You can say it's my take on what will happen in season 3. The Carp god was under the cover of a random carpfish as Norisville mascot. After a series of events it was awaken and gave Randy the power of Ice Rage.

Day 14: I think there's more than just the blood of First Ninja's brothers, since nobody knows how to destank people at the beginning...

Day 17: The Warrior might have been living or sleeping there, waiting for some ninjas to wake him up or consult him about his forbidden arts. (Ha, It's kinda like Eclipsa in Star vs. the forces of Evil)

Day 18: Or it can be called the New Generation AU. In the future, Randy took the place of Messager as well as the Ninja Guardian, while Brent became the new Sword Smith and Sorceress became their main villain. I am not really good at designing OCs so there's no next ninja yet.

However, I read a fanfic of another fandom in the form of CYOA, and it gave me new idea: just let the reader be the next ninja, it will be fun, too. (Also, this AU was inspired by an RC9GN fanfic titled from the past to the future, where future Randy became Ninja Guardian. But I couldn't find it on fanfiction.net any more. Has anyone read it? I didn't dream about it, right?)

Day 19: During that time I got even crazier after I read Enter the Nomicon. It's hard to believe I had a crazy period of shipping Randicon, even for myself. Especially weird for me since I now have a completely different view about Nomicon (peek at my Yokai Ninja AU comics). Time really can change a person, wow.

Day 21: Yes, a whole page just for this headcanon. I used the screenshots in the show because it's too hard to draw. The barrier thing is kinda like the one that held Bill's power in the range of Gravity Falls.

Day 23: Danny: the Walking Air-Conditioner. Inspired by a chapter of Secret Quartet. Danny phased his hand through the scarf. Just imagine your friend put a cold hand inside your scarf in winter. *shiver*

Day 25: Besides Ninja vine ball, there are also spike ball, gas ball, sonic ball, rainbow illusion ball, tear ball and so on. I just pick the most common one from my ninja balls headcanons to put in here.

Day 27: You may see I prefer using numbers to refer episodes, because that's how I track and rewatch them. To be more specific, I list some keywords here: NomiRandy, First Ninja, Debbie, Tengu. As fellow RC9GN Fans I'm sure you get it.

Day 30: It's a half-baked AU thing. The flowers I tried to draw are rosemary?

Wow! I actually finished all the prompts! Thank you for holding the big event! @evilspiritweek

(I don't mind sharing more details about my AUs or headcanons. *wink*)

[marxist-amy-rose]

I feel like to some people, SatAM is just to Sonic what the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was to Mario, when it's not the case at all! SMBSS is just one of many branches of Mario Content, whereas SatAM was a franchise defining event, a turning point in history, it sealed Sonic's fate. Forces would not have happened without SatAM, or Archie, and no Forces or Archie, no IDW! You get what I mean? SatAM had more of an impact than X did, fight me on this, I will kill us both on this hill. Not to say that SatAM is better than X, just that, X's mark on the franchise was soft and shallow compared to SatAM's, SatAM's mark is downright problematic even.

What's gettin' me all uppity about it now? Well, again, I feel like people treat SatAM like the Sonic Bros. Super Show (when far more accurately, AoStH would be the Sonic Bros. Super Show), like it's a footnote, a side dish, and not as important as it really is to the public perception of the franchise and how Sega tries to play catch up with that perception, it's one of the earliest parts of Sonic's seemingly forever identity crisis. You know whenever someone says Sonic is a franchise about freedom and fighting oppression? You can thank SatAM for that. When you break it down, that kind of thing comes from SatAM. Sure, SatAM also started a trend of Sonic associating with monarch's, but no one really cares about that except me, so whatever. SatAM was the first thing people got pissed at for "All of Sonic's friends" and complaining about a "bloated cast", Sonally and Sonamy was the first shipping war, SatAM was the first Sonic Cartoon, the first split in Canon's, it was the first! It was responsible for Archie and all Archie became, and what eventually became IDW, and was so shamelessly copied but also ignored and disrespected by Forces. There isn't an equivalent, such an oddity of the franchise yet so impactful at the same time, even because of its status as an oddity, it is something special to Sonic!

(extended extra analysis under cut)

I kinda find Japanese purists in the Sonic Fandom, especially the young ones, obnoxious. Like, they're this odd brand of Sonic purists, not on a gameplay level or visual design level but on a conceptual level, Sonic is a flawless concept that represents freedom and not really a character with problems, the real Sonic plots in games are the original Japanese ones, those types. It's not a moral judgement, I don't even think they're wrong, I just think that it's ignorant. Sega was founded by an American, Sonic was made to appeal to juvenile Americans, he's Santa Clause Bill Clinton Michael Jackson Mickey Mouse. I'm just a Doylist about these things. What Sonic is to me is a moving conversation between America and Japan, and when you cut out one side of it you miss the whole thing. You can't cherry pick what is and isn't "really Sonic", it's ALL Sonic, that's the conundrum, that's the metanarrative. Sonic isn't "about" anything, especially not when you remove it from its creators and inspirations, and from the very earliest days, those creators were also USAmericans. Sonic 2 and Sonic CD, Sonic CD US Soundtrack and Sonic CD JP Soundtrack, Sonic Story (English Translation) and Sonic Story (Original Japanese), Sonic Comics and Sonic Manga, SatAM and OVA, etc. Sonic was never written to be about Japanese-American, dialectics lets say, but when you look at its fanbase and look at its creators and look at its history, that is what makes Sonic, that's the historical push and pull that has created Sonic, not as a singular forever idea like Mario, but as a moving living historical entity, even with its own goddamn looping lifecycle!

Hell, now with Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic, you can say Sonic is just dialectical at its heart as well as in its history. Then with Knuckles, Shadow, Metal Sonic, hell even Tails you could say. Sonic was made as, literally an antithesis to Mario, or an equivalent, a rival, whatever, Blue Oni Red Oni. The dichotomy, the dialectics are just in the blood and soul of what this franchise is on a larger level.

[chenouttachen]

so i spent my weekend writing 10k words of student comments and i’m coming down with something that’s making my throat desperate to escape my body BUT i have made progress in my thoughts on the pit babe dirty dancing au

okay so this au does not follow the plot of the movie - it takes characters and events as gentle guidelines and possibilities.

Charlie has just recently landed a summer job at Tony Chen’s vacation resort. He’s been looking after his younger brother Jeff for a while now, and he makes a deal with Tony to let Jeff stay at the resort during his summer break from uni. Charlie is working as an events person - running activities with the guests. He is immediately enamoured with Babe, who is a dance instructor.

Babe is in struggle city - he’s been dreading coming back this summer after a drunk hook up with Way leaves him mpregant (i’ve just decided now that yes, we’re keeping the omegaverse. although it could also work with Way just being a really shitty ex). Way is Tony’s nephew and cares about little except his reputation. He wants nothing to do with Babe and the pup. Babe doesn’t want to keep the pup, but cannot afford the procedure. He is, of course, smitten with Charlie, but can’t find it in himself to act on it because he’s very guarded at present.

Jeff, staying under the radar, doesn’t move around the resort much. He mostly sticks to employee areas and stays as far away from Tony as possible (he’s grateful to be here, but does NOT like the man). When he does venture out, he finds himself unconsciously drawn towards events that Alan is running, though he buries his nose in his book any time he thinks the older man might look at him.

Alan is the leader of the dance crew and a mentor to all staff (who aren’t loyal to Tony). He’s been working at Chen’s for years and has a loyal customer base who buy private lessons from him each year. He also runs accessible lessons for everyone at the resort. He has a firm rule about not getting involved with the guests (prior experience has taught him it’s a bad idea). He notices that Jeff is almost always around his activities, though he never participates. He mistakes Jeff for a guest (a very, very pretty guest), and despite the inexplicable butterflies he gets in his stomach after the 5th time he catches Jeff staring, he confronts Jeff and tells him that he either needs to participate in the activities or find another place to spend his time.

Jeff is mortified and immediately takes off. A couple of days later Charlie takes him to the staff’s party house, where the dance crew are relaxing and having fun. Jeff is in flustered awe of everyone’s moves (Charlie is too, make no mistake. Especially when Babe asks him to dance). It takes a while, but eventually Alan notices him. The older man is frustrated initially, thinking someone (probably North) has brought a guest into their zone and is going to get them in trouble.

He tells Jeff that he can’t be there, it’s for employees only. He’s very firm about it, and Jeff is so uncomfortable he can’t find the words to explain. Charlie is quick to realise, rushing over and slinging an arm around Jeff’s shoulders. He explains their situation, and Alan visibly relaxes (and it has nothing to do with the way his heart has been jumping in his chest like a goddamn kid). He apologises to Jeff, who just shrugs. Alan asks him to dance, but the younger man just shoots him a filthy look at leaves. They dance together a few nights later for the first time though and boy oh boy is that an experience for all involved.

Our other friends, all whom are of course included, take on various roles in this mess.

Sonic - a dance instructor who can charm and flirt his way into making everyone feel comfortable and included

North - he does a bit of everything. he’s Babe’s cousin (Babe got him the job), and he helps carry guest’s bags, shows people around, helps out the waitstaff some nights, runs around behind the scenes for activity leaders, etc. He’s been in love with Sonic since the first summer he worked here, but doesn’t think the other man has ever thought of him that way. (He’s wrong, obviously).

Kenta - is Tony’s long-suffering son. He carries out the old man’s wishes and actions, even when they go against his own morals. He is not in high standing with the staff. He stays on the off-chance that Tony will leave the resort to him when he retires (though it seems more likely the bastard would leave it to his asshole cousin or sell it outright).

Kim - a guest at the resort. He’s looking for a relaxing holiday after a very stressful working quarter, but, after seeing something he shouldn’t (maybe an altercation between Kenta and Tony), he somehow finds himself caught up in the drama of the staff.

Dean - a new dance instructor. It’s his first year at the resort, but he thinks he’s hot shit. He tries to push Sonic out of the spotlight to seize his moment, but Alan shuts him down real quick.

Winner - a waiter on staff. and just generally an asshole to everyone around him.

Pete - technically a guest, but is scoping the resort as a property he could buy and rebrand. This technically poses him as an enemy, but Kim is the one who connects the dots that this could be a good thing for everyone - Pete buys the resort, Tony’s out of the picture, Kenta could run things differently and they could fire all the absolute assholes that work there.

Way - as previously stated, is Tony’s nephew and does the dirty work that Tony thinks Kenta is unsuited for. He is also paraded in front of the bigwigs a lot. He and Babe had been friendly for a few summers, so when they meet at a party just before summer and drunkenly hook up, he thinks nothing of it. But when Babe tells him he’s mpregnant he’s sent into panic mode and back peddles out of that relationship so fucking quick. He has ambitions to run the resort.

And that, my friends, is all I’ve got. Please enjoy and run rampant with it. You can also talk to me about it!!

[niko-jpeg]

NIKO!!! HAI!!!!

Got any fun facts about Camp Green Hill (or any other AU's you might have) you'd like to share with the class?

Also stay safe! It's getting hot!! Drink water and wear sunscreen!

HI SCRAP!!! I do. I always do. I'll run through a bunch of misc Camp Green Hill stuff <3

Blaze has a family! She's the eldest daughter and in line to inherit the throne when her parents step down, and has a pair of twins for siblings, who are a few years younger than her. Silver is quite well liked among her family (and in the Sol dimension, lol), and they have a little nickname for him: Slipper! Both in regards to how clumsy he was growing up, and also just because its really cute. This is based on the intentional incorrect spelling of his name when referring to him affectionately in the fandom. It tickles my brain, lol. Not only is he practically a member of the royal family, but one time, one of the twins asked who would get the throne if Blaze were to not be able to. Without missing a beat, their mother informed them that it would be Silver, actually.

...He doesn't realize they're dead serious, by the way. If things really were to go wrong, they want Silver to take over until the twins are old enough to take care of the empire. lol. Also, Marine! She comes way late, but she does eventually show up!

Shadow is not only a trained agent, but also a trained therapy hedgehog! I'm serious. He was taught how to manage other people's emotions and act as temporary therapist. He's also warm, fluffy, and okay with being cried on, so he's perfect for the job.

Omega is in the au! He shows up later down the line, and after the events of the au, goes to live with Rouge and Shadow in the city working for GUN too.

Sonic has a horrible history with water activities and accidentally getting stuck in the mangroves and brambles lining the shore. Its really funny how horrible his luck is.

Shadow was based loosely on a hedgehog to appeal to Maria, since he was planned to be part time therapy-hog from the start. Mephiles was loosely based on Shadow. This makes Mephiles EXTREMELY far removed from a real hedgie to some degree. Its kind of hilarious.

Amy has a never ending stash of jelly bracelets, Shadow has a never ending stash of coffee beans, and Tails never seems to be in short supply of goggles. Where does he get them?

Tails and Sonic have their own rooms on the camp, but stay in the dorms with the rest of the campers during the summer!

Tikal is a really sweet ghost who haunts the ruins nearby. She's plot relevant, trust me ;)

The Storybook games are planned to be fever dreams from our dear Sonic while fending off a cold. But they could have a little more validity behind them than it may appear...

Rouge plays saxophone! In fact, there are several musically talented members of the camp, both campers and staff!

Uncle Chuck eventually gives up on paperwork and makes his campers swear that whatever happens in camp stays in camp. He decides this after the SA2 plot equivelent. Especially now with 2 whole government agents there, one working as a counselor and the other a camper.

The Chaotix are a fun bunch! Vector works whatever misc job he can get around the camp so Charmy and Espio can go for free. They're an inner city family, and don't have much money. He also has a crush on the camps' nurse, Vanilla. Espio wants to be a detective, and has a special interest in detective work. Charmy came into the equation more recently, as Vector took custody of the kid after a family friend begged him to.

I've always got more, if anyone would like to ask about a specific character, game, plot point, or ask about details on the camp! Asks for the characters will open very soon too, and you can send them in if you'd like. Thanks for asking <3

[scribe-of-hael]

Thundercracker HCs

TC headcanon that follow nothing in particular of Canon and is as very bias to my own au where I build him up to be kinda different because him and Sky are very underdeveloped and utilized. LETS GO

•TC is more well kept, and organized , he is able to throw down but at the end of the day he cares about himself to keep his up keep

•He is the youngest of the trine and it kinda shows with how more optimistic and far more light hearted he is than his brothers

•TC had always has had a fascination with , what? You guessed it! Writing !

•Writing is TC'a passion, it was one of the focal points he was hooked on when agreeing to join the Decpticons was because of Megatron's writing for when it first started. He was touched to his very spark with Megatron's words. He learned very quickly how words and working could affect one another.

•he researches endlessly of writing, works, and genres. He prefers stories with happy ending but he is also about drama and some dark themes.

•He is also a photographer, he loves to take picture of his brothers, the scenery or even important moments. It has gotten him into trouble for stopping in the middle to capture the moment.

•His writings are important to him, it doenst matter if he feels or even if he's hurt he will take some time out of his day to write. Because he reads do much, if its niche knowledge or even history you want to know you come to TC.

•Try to keep him on topic he will jump aorund and get a bit carried away with rambling /pos

•TC had always questioned the Decepticons almost as soon as he joined , it only grew with time and the more worried he got, worried he got for his brothers Especially Starscream and Megatron's growing abuse towards him.

•He is definitely a kind spark, who wants to see the beauty in it all, which some bots call him soft amd weak for

•he more sensitive and emotional ,this can be both good and bad. He panics and is filled with paranoia. He tends to overthink and complicate things.

•just because he is kind. Do not mistake it for being weak. He is just as fierce as Star or Sky and honestly probably could be more unpredictable about what he will do. He can be just as scheming , clever and resourceful. He is a Decepticons for a reason.

•he is prone to outbursts of emotion, if it is anger its connected to his abilities. His sonic booms can become more powerful when emotional driven. Nothing like shattering brain modules when he decides to have the pulse of five sonic booms in half a millisecond.

•His frame is way more durable than the other two because of the constant subjection to his own sonic blasts. Its reinforced but also allows its self to vibrate to allow the sound to travel.

•Oh and he writes Erotica and is kinda a freak/pos

•He is Demi though, having taken little to no partners because he could never properly feel a connection depsite having a desire for a partner. While he wants someone he wants to truly have a deep and lasting connection

•he is nothing but in love with being in love which makes him prone to being vulnerable and easily taken advantage of in hopes of finding someone fo love, which Star and Sky (mostly) intervene to stop their brothers spark ache.

•TC also loves animals, that includes his dog Buster whomst he'd give his life for

•He adore human culture so DAMN much this bot is also obsessed with vintage items humans have made.

•He wear glasses despite not needing them because he thinks they make him look cooler/smarter

•TC's main thing is he writes stories and incorporates real people into characters. There are many stories you will find character eqiailants to bots he's encounter or events he has lived. You'll come to find writing isn't just his passion, but his cope for the war and even after it.

[nordiccowgirl]

I was thinking about the Sonic movies recently and noticed that the theme of the movie is reflected in the people that Sonic interacts with and builds a relationship with through the movie. And maybe all this has already been said before, but I want to put my thoughts out there. Long post ahead.

Sonic 1 is about finding and making home. Tom's arc is thinking that he wants to leave Green Hills for better things and then by the end, he realizes that Green Hills is where he belongs and, more importantly, where he fits and where people love and care for him. Sonic's arc is finding strength in the relationships to the people and place that he's called home and using that to fuel his defeat of Robotnik. Although it's mostly played for laughs and not something that should be thought about too hard, the fact that Green Hills accepts Sonic without question at the end shows that Sonic belongs in the town and that his place is with his family, even though technically, he doesn't consider the Wachowskis his family until the second movie.

Sonic 2 is about loneliness and building relationships. This theme is carried over a little bit from Sonic 1, but Sonic 1 was more about finding home whereas Sonic 2 is more about finding family. Knuckles especially reflects this theme, but Tails does to some degree as well with his comments about being seen as a freak in his home world. That's really all we get about Tails, but the fact that he sticks around through and after the movie for basically no reason other than Sonic's unconditional acceptance of his friendship says a lot, I think. Knuckles is the more obvious foil to Sonic and directly connected to the theme of loneliness.

Knuckles and Sonic are stated multiple times to have lost everything in whatever event happened between Longclaw and the Echidna tribe, but the obvious difference between them is that Knuckles grew up bitter and alone where Sonic grew up kind and alone - it's kind of implied that he's been on Earth and in Green Hills long enough to have kind of been raised by the Wachowskis before the movie timeline even started, but I might be stretching on that one there. I think some of Sonic's optimism is just being Sonic, of course, but I think it's important to see the ties back to the first movie as well. However, during the course of the movie, Knuckles gets to observe Sonic's love and friendship for the Wachowskis and Tails and it chips away at his certainty of what and who Sonic is. This coupled with the betrayal from Robotnik at the temple to the master emerald is what ultimately brings Knuckles into the found family and after Maddie says "let's go get our kid," the entire cast is pulled together in this theme of found family.

Side bar: Even Rachel's hilariously weird side story ties into this theme. She's slightly less hostile to Tom in Sonic 2 and is ready to throw down with G.U.N. to help Maddie save Tom, Sonic, and Tails - yes it's fueled by perfectly understandable rage against Randall, but it's still an improvement from her moments in Sonic 1, where she's so hostile, she clearly displays a subtext that San Francisco is not where Tom belongs. It's unnecessary, but it's cool that it still fits perfectly with the theme of the rest of the movie. I also love her and find her an amazing side character. No notes.

I remember the Sonic movie creators saying that Shadow's arc in Sonic 3 is going to be an incredibly difficult challenge for Sonic, because Shadow doesn't have the same underlying emotional base that Knuckles does. (I couldn't find the article though, I'm sorry y'all - I'm writing this on Feb 2 and there has been a deluge of Sonic news today)

So this all got me thinking about the main theme that we generally see in Shadow's story - grief. Sonic Adventure 2, which they're going to pull from extensively for Sonic 3, is ultimately about how Shadow deals with the grief of losing his only friend/family. Yes, his memories were manipulated by Gerald, but even that stems from Gerald's own grief and rage at losing Maria, which parallels Shadow's emotional arc.

Sonic 3 is going to, if my theory and observations are correct and not just coffee fueled speculation on a cloudy Friday morning, explore themes of grief. Sonic himself is going to have to confront grief in a way that he hasn't yet in the movies before in order to get Shadow on his side (or as much on his side as Shadow ever is, amirite Shadow besties?) and that has me very worried about what that's going to mean. I love the Wachowskis but they're Sonic's family - if Sonic needs to confront the grief of a loss of family, one or both of them might have to meet the same fate as Maria.

Tragically, this would be a very strong tie in to the themes I've been discussing. Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 have been about finding home and family - Sonic 3 may be about maintaining that home and family, even when that family is gone. G.U.N. swooping in after Shadow starts running amok and killing Tom and Maddie would allow the movie to explore how Sonic deals with the loss of family versus how Shadow deals with the loss of family. Sonic, as he is characterized, would find a way to throw himself into the good of protecting Green Hills in Tom's absence - and eventually the Earth, because we all know how Sonic Adventure 2 ends - while Shadow deals with his grief by trying to nuke the earth until the end.

I would hate to see it but in a way that would make me absolutely feral, because as I said, I love the Wachowskis and I think they actually bring something to the Sonic franchise that other stupid human character inserts haven't, but I think that it would be a fascinating exploration of the Sonic and Shadow dynamic that we've never really seen before.

I can't tell if I want to be right or not, and maybe there's a less tragic theme that the movie could explore that could focus the foils of Sonic and Shadow. I'm sure there is. I'm typing this out mostly off the cuff and several years removed from my last revisit of Sonic Adventure 2, so I could easily be missing something. But I think that it's certainly an interesting way they could take the movie.