#just watched sonic 3 and I'm about to make it everyones problem

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of the idea that YouTubers in the 2010s are the reason Sonic had/has a bad reputation?

It's really stupid. Completely unfounded.

You know why Youtubers in 2010's felt that way? Because a lot of people outside of the Sonic fandom felt that way.

I was in high school when Sonic Adventure 1 came out. I got my Dreamcast for Christmas in 1999. Purely by surprise, my brother sent me $200 for Christmas that year after not hearing from him for a decade. I was living in Colorado, and we'd had a white Christmas, meaning the roads were too slick to drive anywhere on December 26th. But I knew I wanted that Dreamcast.

The local Wal-mart was a little over a mile away. So, I bundled up and hiked it. With other money I got for Christmas that year, I had just enough for the Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure, an off-brand VMU, an issue of Official Dreamcast Magazine with a demo disc, and a lightgun -- I'd wanted House of the Dead 2 and I was desperate for a home port of The Lost World.

I played Sonic Adventure all day, every day, for like a week. Some of that was the fault of the cheap VMU I got -- it wasn't even a VMU, it was just a memory card, and it was half the price of the official thing. For whatever reason, Sonic Adventure (and ONLY Sonic Adventure) had trouble saving to that thing. My saves would frequently corrupt and disappear. I didn't mind as much as you'd think. I willingly and happily replayed Sonic Adventure over, and over, and over, and over.

When I got back to school in January of 2000, a lot of other kids had gotten Dreamcasts and Sonic Adventure. And it turned out I was the Sonic Adventure evangelist.

I wouldn't say everyone hated Sonic Adventure, but they were pretty frustrated with it. The main talking point was that there were too many characters in the game and most of them weren't very good. Everyone had their ranking list for who they'd rather be playing as, and universally, everyone just wanted to keep playing as Sonic. Knuckles, Amy, and Big brought up the rear for the most-hated gameplay styles. A lot of kids were saying they weren't even going to bother finishing the game if it meant having to play as Amy and Big.

My point of view was that it was normal. Sonic 2 introduced Tails, Sonic 3 introduced Knuckles, so it makes sense that Sonic Adventure would introduce new playable characters as well. It did little to address their complaints that most of the non-Sonic characters were annoying.

This sentiment never went away. A year later, in 2001, Penny-Arcade, basically the biggest webcomic in the world at that point, awarded Sonic Adventure 2 "the best Sonic game where you do not play as Sonic" award, which was less of an actual award and more of a jab at how Sonic wasn't actually in 75% of that game.

Then the Gamecube ports started coming in, which, if you've watched my Definitive Way to Play series, you'd know that SA1 and SA2 were quick and dirty ports that introduced a lot of problems in visuals, control, and sound. Reviews for those versions deservedly slammed them, citing poor music that drowned out the dialog, rapidly dated visuals, and a generally buggy presentation, on top of all the problems people had with the original Dreamcast releases.

After that, the decline really hit its stride. Sonic Heroes, then Shadow the Hedgehog, then Sonic 06. A real triple whammy of things just getting worse, and worse, and worse. Sonic 06 in particular was so much worse that it hit the fabled point where it wrapped around to being kind of funny for some people.

All of this was YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS before "2010's Youtubers" ever stepped in front of a microphone. Those people were just recounting the lives they had lived.

Anyone who thinks 2010's Youtubers did anything are just revealing how young they were back then, and how ignorant they were about the general temperature of things beyond "after my nappy time and my juice box I'm going to play the colorful animals game, yay!!!"

Before that gets me into too much trouble, I'd also like to say that obviously, times change. Opinions are a fluid thing. There will always be a "younger generation" that thinks about things in a different way than the older generation. Anyone, no matter what era they grew up in, can go back and find some beloved nostalgic classic getting blasted by critics. (For example: recently I rewatched Howard the Duck, a legendary bomb for Lucasfilm, and I loved that movie as a kid)

Loving something that you realize everybody hated when it originally came out is kind of just part of the human experience. A rite of passage, almost. But it helps to embrace that perspective, understand it, and realize you can still keep liking that thing regardless.

2010's Youtubers did nothing except exist.

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

A KAREN EPISODE?! LET'S GOOOOOOOOO

(the following is my live reaction:)

oh, hey Luke, promoting the merch I see. [*gives thumbs-up to the SMG4/Glitch Team*] Good for you :)

Karen, hi! Hmm, not much going on, huh?

Dude, I feel bad for her. Like, can we get her an actual job and more than just minimum wage?

I'm gonna guess and say she took it only because she'll be in low profile from being a former assassin.

can she work in Three's Coffee & Bombs? please please please please please please

It makes total sense for her to take the night shift, her kids would be sleeping

Augh, and it's 6 am when she gets home. Girl, please get some rest! I know it's not gonna be a lot but it's something

also nice nod to the Alarmo clock, gotta be consistent

and i oop

damn, even Shroomy quit

... [*slow tap on the head*]

oh god, I legit thought Karen was gonna give an iPad to Katie, glad I was wrong (NOT THE IPAD KIDS)

[*wheeze*] sorry but I was rewatching the Sonic 3 trailers (bc they're fire) and just seeing Cory speed-dancing on the wall changed everything for me, I can't unsee it now

...FNAF?

Oh I wasn't the only one, ok

As a sibling, I can confirm that siblings share the same braincell

back by unpopular demand [*opens the door*] Me! /ref

never expected the SMG4 Theory episode to come back but here we are :)

[*breakdances epicly*] Mario's brain never stopped dancing since the Mario React episode from last week

"If you joiiiiin, you'll be able to behave your kids. You just gotta vow your life to our religion." Mario, that's a cult

YEAH KAREN, EXACTLY

wait... NONONO GO BACK!!! Do you guys remember the "We Must Kill Mario" episode?

a spaghetti cult...

is Marty still running it or Mario just missed it so much and thought it was a good idea to copy what they did? hmmmm

[*points at the screen*] there it is, I was waiting for it haha

Love that Mario is scared of reading but has no problem reciting anything related to spaghetti (honestly mood) but also it's way funnier if he was like "oh, I just made that shit up on the spot, I can't actually read"

...there isn't any poison, is there?

awwww, you're willing to do anything for your kids

loving family, my one weakness [*dies*]

NOOOOO NOT THE PHOTO

man, Karen, I know you have to discipline your kids and you're frustrated but that wasn't the right thing to say

AND YOU HAD TO SHOW ME THAT, STOP I'M FRAGILE

that's good, she's calmed down and willing to apologize

have you seen the spaghetti? well, now you have :D

HOLY SHIT did they make Minecraft models just for this? Hell yeah!!

A brawl is surely brewing, you're up!

oooh hold up, this animation though, that's fire

you activated a trap card!

ofc Karen's skills come in handy here, it all pays off boys

it's good that Karen acknowledges all of this and sees how awesome her kids are (no, I'm not crying, what are you talking about?)

i'm so normal ← SOBBING

how dare they show me sweet loving family moments? THEY CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS

just Karen spending time with her kids at the end is so sweet

... and Mario's still here too, ofc

THE SPAGHETTI GODS HAVE RISEN

everyone has to bow before the all-mighty (yes, even you c'mon)

Congrats to rPrP_99 for your art being featured at the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a fantastic episode, bravo! I absolutely loved how in-depth Karen's character was. Being a parent is hard with the ever-lasting question of "how do you give them happiness but also be their guide?"

In a way, Mario did teach her how to parent in his own way, which is very on-brand for him let's be honest here. I find this episode curious because of how different Karen was, compared to Mr Puzzles' dad. (That's right, I'm bringing him into this.)

Mr Puzzles' dad is a complete hypocrite, telling his son not to follow his dream and yet critiquing him for not having creative vision. He neglected his son who ended up watching TV all day and eventually cutting off his own head. (No, we're not going to pass by that.) And this was merely the tip of the iceberg, who knows what else his dad did to his son. Now, I'm not excusing what Mr Puzzles did because (1) we don't have the whole story, and (2) how much accountability Mr Puzzles truly had. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr Puzzles because of his character but I am neutral about him potentially having a redemption arc.

Change is a big step and it takes a lot of bravery to take it. It's one thing for someone to offer help, but it's another to seek it yourself. If Mr Puzzles wants to change, then sure, let him redeem himself. If he doesn't, well then it's the choice he made. That's the reality of it all that some people don't want to change and we have to accept the fact that we can't do anything to change their minds. I truly believe his dad was one of them, he would be a narcissist.

In comparison, Karen is very complex, having to take multiple jobs to support her family. But no matter what, she loves her kids and tries every way to bond with them. Support them. Even if she doesn't fully understand it, she tries and that means a lot more than one could think. Of course, when it comes to kids, you have to earn their trust, and sharing interests is one of the ways to do it. Bonding is meant to be natural and it's what Karen learned. To observe. She admits that she was in the wrong and apologized to them. She said it herself, she was proud of her kids, how they could be so creative and resourceful. And that should be no surprise, they're her kids after all.

So yeah, all of this to say, "and the best mom of the year award goes to..."

ANYWAY, I loved this episode overall and so glad that Karen got to be in the spotlight again. We even got to see some of her assassin skills come into play! Also, that animation in the Minecraft world, that was awesome. Whoever animated it, props to you 👏👏👏 The only critique I have was that the kids in the chaotic parts were a little too much for me, but maybe that's just me idk.

That's all from me! Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna go back to writing angst :)

[beevean]

Hey I found your post about the Castlevania shipping somewhat unlike you, in the past I have seen you defend nsfw art of Sonic characters who are minors, or brushing of shipping kids with adults but you're clearly upset at problematic power imbalance and noncon tropes in shipping adults. I just wonder does that mean you have changed your mind on the topic ???

Alright, I can see why it seems that I'm being a hypocrite. I'll try to explain myself in the best way I can, even if I question your wording.

I don't hate power imbalance and noncon/dubcon at all. They're some of my favorite tropes, and I am not particularly shy in talking about it :P and it's precisely because I an fascinated by them that poor writing incenses me and I can't stop thinking about it. However, this is the part I have to highlight: poor writing in official products, because comparing a very popular Netflix show written by a respected professional who got paid and promoted for his work, with a 20 kudos fanfiction written by some nameless teen for free, is disingenuous. One has tremendous reach and the other has not.

In the responses in that post (I'm assuming you're talking about this one - hope it's this one because otherwise I'd look dumb lol), I eventually said "I have more respect for the fans who just find the abuse hot". There are thousands of fanfics that are irrealistic when it comes to abusive dynamics, that are literally nothing more than fetish fuel - and that's fine. I wouldn't read them, I would appreciate if people did more research, but they're harmless. Disgust is not harm and in this I have not changed my mind.

My problem with that particular ship is not necessarily the "noncon" part (which is not even noncon: it's dubcon, it's deliberately murky). It's that the noncon part, and not even in a porn fic but in an official product that is praised for the depth of its writing, gets brushed off, because the writing was rushed and made artificially more "wholesome". The dissonance of morals is too big for me to ignore, and the resounding success that it got from its audience even more so - not even from the "step on me mommy" crowd or the "wow I love toxic relationships, they're so fucked up <3" crowd (hell I'm one of them), but from the people who genuinely agree with the story that "yes, this is cute".

I wouldn't care so much if this was just a non-canon ship. There are plenty of popular non-canon ships that make me angry because I think they have a terrible dynamic and I don't understand the appeal. I don't care. But this is not a ship, it's not just some dozens of fans findind two characters hot: this is a story. And this changes everything.

I believe that an official product, that is incidentally praised by nearly everyone, should have been more responsible with its messages. Not in a "fiction affects reality" way, but in a "this story is terribly written, I try to understand why I seem to be in the minority in thinking so, and the justifications are eerily reminiscent of real life abuse apologism" way. I'm not saying that NFCV fans will watch the show and think "oh boy! my eyes have been opened! maybe if I, a woman, raped a man into slavery, he'll love me too!"... but let's be real: unlike the boogeyman of incest, female-on-male abuse is still widely misunderstood. Rape that is not "man violently forces himself on a woman he doesn't know" is still widely misunderstood. The show had the chance to challenge those misconceptions, but instead, it only confirmed them. The fact that it happened mostly out of shoddy writing makes it even worse, because there is not even full authorial intent.

I can safely say that the overwhelming majority of people who draw porn of Tails are well aware that sexualizing real kids is wrong. This sort of moral cannot be influenced by porn, because it's too rooted in our consciousness (people who sexualize real life kids are born that way and it's a completely different topic). Those people have their own reasons for drawing that kind of porn. I don't want to know them, I don't want to see them, please keep it in your corner and tag your shit, but it's just tasteless fanart at worst and I don't care. I grew up in a much edgier era when genuine graphic torture porn was written for no reason other than to shock others, so I don't really bother to wonder why someone would write or draw something disgusting. As long as it's avoidable, it's fine. It's harder to avoid a popular official product that is always touted as an example of excellent writing and also happens to be the adaptation of a franchise I've grown to love, considered superior to said franchise to boot.

It doesn't help that there is proof of the writer in question being a prolific sex pest whose crimes eerily match its writing. So in his case, I do wonder why he wrote certain things.

Just as a note, I don't really talk about it here, but I used to be a fierce anti-Twilight back in the day, and it was for similar reasons: I was appalled at that series' sexism and misanthropy and abuse apologism and I thought it was a real issue, because I think widespread stories ought to be more careful with their themes than fanfics and fanart. Not even necessarily to "teach" a lesson (NFCV is for adults anyway, it's not meant to be educational), but... well, as respect for your audience, you know?

And as for the people who don't see any issue... again, I don't want to assume anything about their morals. Maybe for them it really is just an intriguing ship. But I would like to at least urge someone to think about what they're saying, because when you say "no, he wasn't raped, merely seduced, and anyway he deserved it for being stupid, and he got a good deal out of it so why did he have to ruin such a beautiful relationship?", now that is the thing that could affect real people, not shipping a 12 yo and a 15 yo cartoon hedgehogs.

tl;dr: official stories and ships/fan content have different impacts and I judge them differently. This also happened to be about a topic I very much care about.

[insidekaz]

One Day, I'll write something as influential as Sonic The Hedgehog

(I know, I know. Very bold claim coming out of my mouth, especially for someone who just wrote out how hard it is for me to finish a project, but let me explain.)

Hello Internet. Kaz here, back with yet another entry cooked up from the inner workings of my mind. I know, a dangerous place to be at any time of the day, but what's life without a few risk? Anyway, I hope everyone is doing rather well during this forcefully and unfortunately commercialized holiday season. I'm doing good, inspired perhaps being a better word to describe my feelings right now. If it wasn't already clear by the title of this blog, I've recently had my nerdy spirit revigorated (big words for Kaz) after seeing the new Sonic The Hedgehog 3 movie that's currently in theaters.

First off, before I get ahead of myself,

NO SPOILERS IN THIS BLOG

As of the time that I'm writing this, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 was released on December 20th, 2024 and has only been in theaters for five days. I know a lot of people don't read these blogs, but I'm still not going to spoil anything here. What I will say is that Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is an amazing movie, one that I believe both Sonic and Non-Sonic fans alike should see! I will give a small word of warning though. The movies do draw inspiration from the games, but follow their own canon. This is just something to keep in mind when watching the movie. Trust me, this doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment. It just helps to have this bit of knowledge before going in.

Now then, to address the bold proclamation in the blog's title. When I say that I want to write something as influential as Sonic The Hedgehog, in no way do I mean I'm going to attempt to compete with SEGA and their mascot. That would be absolutely idiotic idea for me to have, both mentally and financially. Even as someone who makes some very questionable decisions from time to time, I'd have to be pronounced braindead before thinking I could triumph over one of the biggest video game companies in the world. Plus, I respect SEGA way too much for that.

No, what I mean is that I want to write something that could inspire millions someday. I wish for my work to lift the spirits of anyone who reads it. I want to my works to leave people on the edge of their seats, happy when the best happens to my characters, yet still holding onto hope when the worst comes. Like the Sonic franchise, I want people to fall in love with each character, both the heroes and the villains.

Trust me, I know that none of this is gonna be handed to me on a silver platter. The work I'm gonna have to put in requires dedication, me actually putting in more hours than I have recently. I don't really know what it is, but something about seeing Sonic 3 really lit a fire in a metaphorical way. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I've been a Sonic fan for decades now, the series being one of my top three favorite game series, the only thing before it being Gravity Rush and the only thing after it being The Legend Of Zelda.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I mean, there's nothing wrong with having ambitions. It's just the procrastination that's a problem. I'm not perfect, I'll admit that. I've just been really bad with managing my own time lately. Like I said in (I believe) my last post, I might have to hire people to pester me into doing work. I've been having both my partner and my best friend on my ass to get content out, and I'm slowly getting there. I was going to try and get a video out before the end of this month, but I've decided that it would be better to push something out in January instead. Better on the mental state, ya know?

Anyway, that's all on my mind for today. I hope everyone has a rather happy holidays and a pleasant New Years. I might type out a few more blog post before the end of the year. Until then, I wish everyone a good night.

Bye!

-Kameron D. Kazma

[ohandcounting]

Early 3D Sonic Games and The G.A.S. Scale.

I'm sure you've seen this image going around, about how Sonic had a rough transition to 3D. Which is arguably true, here's a fantastic video about it from a guy who loves Sonic Adventure. I've watched many videos in his series "Sonic was always good" and I realized that there's a pretty good scale for rating the 3D Sonic games that's very similar to the W.A.S. scale for anime.

Good (up to 10)

Abuseable Jank (up to 10)

So-Bad-Its-Good (Percentage)

Good is obvious, it is how good the Sonic game in question actually is. If you like fish, you could replace this with Bad and invert the scale. HOWEVER: You need to acknowledge that nobody actually rates anything they like outside of 7-9, and ignore that pressure. You need to leave behind you Jackie Chan/10's and A Little Bit Of Something For Everyone and give an actual real rating out of 10, unweighted from societal usage. How much of the game you genuinely believe isn't a mistake.

Abuseable Jank is a separate scale. This can be a good or bad thing depending on who you are, and how much knowledge of the game you have. Like yeah you can just spam spindash the entire time you play a speed mission in Sonic Adventure 2 to go incredibly fast, not everyone is going to enjoy spamming a button the entire mission. Or if you don't know something, it could make it harder to enjoy the game if the best part is breaking it. Like all of the gems Sonic gets in Sonic 06 that let him jump infinite times and shoot himself into the sky. This would be added or subtracted (or completely ignored) to the Good rating depending on the person, bringing a games potential to all the way down to -10 or up to 20.

So-Bad-Its-Good is a percentage, it's in the name but to be more clear it's about how much you can enjoy making fun of the problems the game has while playing it. Shadow the Hedgehog would have an incredibly high percentage. Yeah, the cut scenes make no sense and the story is confusing with how it's laid out. It also has the 2 most iconic lines in the Adventure Era of "that DAMN 4th chaos emerald" and "Like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me" which are only elevated by how out-of-nowhere they feel. The mostly-skippable vehicles that are almost entirely useless are hilariously bad, but largely unobtrusive. Missing a single collectable and having to run through the entire level again uh, isn't fun ever though. So it wouldn't count towards this percentage.

The reason why it's a percentage is to denote how much of the missing Good rating can still be fun to play with the right mindset. Sonic 06 has a pretty solid 1-3* in the Good rating, but it's in such a truly awful state that you can do so much dumb stuff in it that it has a So-Bad-Its-Good rating of like 90% for some people. That alongside an Abuseable Jank of score 8-10 can legitimately make Sonic 06 peoples favorite Sonic game from the Adventure Era with a score close to the maximum of 20.

I'm not going to give any of my actual opinions on the Adventure Era games myself because I haven't played them in like 10+ years, you'll just have to form your own opinions on a reblog to this post if you want to see a full rating. (Shadow the Hedgehog is my favorite though)

*Some people think it's worth giving points for the good level design & story in Sonic 06, despite the fact the rest of the game's problems makes it entirely unenjoyable.

[semi-sketchy]

I guess I'll give my Sonic Prime thoughts now.

Yeah the show is pretty ehh and honestly I don't feel like trying to write a deep dive into why right now, so this is just my ramblings.

Many people have already criticized how poorly paced season 3 was, how bad Thorn's episodes are, what that ending even was (seriously, where did Shadow even take the Prism...? Did everyone else make it back to their worlds okay...? WTF was the outcome with Nine?) I agree with that so I'm not gonna repeat it all.

The premise itself had more potential, but it's just so...generic. I know, the idea of Sonic traveling across a multiverse of other canons was never going to happen, but the alternative of Sea World™ and Jungle World™ were so bland it hurts.

I wonder if part of the visual blandness is from the 3D. I know, as a show and not a movie, it has a very different budget, but I believe Boom had better and more lively environments. It's like the entire set modeling budget went to New Yoke while everywhere else got completely shafted.

Which...why was New Yoke the only place that got an Eggman? Er...Eggmen? Like I know the idea of there only being one Sonic is because he broke the Prism, Shadow doesn't have counterparts because he wasn't in the cave, but neither was Big? Like happy to see Big, but also I'm wondering where the consistency is.

Though all the counterparts are so stereotypical it hurts. I think Dread was the one I found the most compelling, though maybe I just like pirates. Also is it bad when Chaos Sonic showed up and even Sonic was like "do you EVER shut up?" all I could think about was IDW like that guy was ANNOYING AF

As for Sonic, he is VERY vocal in this show. If he's not talking, he's grunting or screaming. It's like the audio department didn't know what to do if a character wasn't making noise, like YouTuber who constantly uses jumpcuts to hopefully keep your attention. That's what it felt like. In a cinematic story, sometimes silence is better, but nope! Sonic is falling again! He got hit! He's running really fast! It's like they use the same 3 high energy sound clips for the whole show and I just got tired of it. It's not the VA's fault, this is entirely on the audio mixing/direction and it's only really a problem with Sonic because he's made out to be a clumsy, lovable and meme-worthy dork.

Sonic himself really is the biggest problem for me. Even putting aside how OOC he is, his shtick is just...tiresome. He's the idiotic embodiment of stereotypical ADHD. He's designed to be marketable as a silly internet blorbo rather than a compelling character. It's kind of hard to look past how the show heralds him for his emotional talks bringing everyone together when it's so...shallow.

There are some parts of the show I found compelling, like I know many disagree with this, but honestly? Shadow was the best part. Sonic and Shadow fights are cool and I liked how he had a solid reason to be angry. Not like Boom where he just shows up to kick Sonic's teeth in because he can. No, Sonic broke reality and Shadow is pissed about that! Trying to simply fix it himself when he's been watching Sonic stumble through all these Shatterspaces going "huh aren't you my friends?" eight times like an absolute buffoon tracks to me. Maybe if Sonic was written competently I would think it's silly, but if Sonic is going to be this dumb, yeah Shadow was right to try and take the reins. Although I realize the biggest reason people like him is because Sonadow, I'm just happy to see him not being a mean edgelord.

I don't really have more to say about the series than this because it's just a bowl of nothing soup. I can see an attempt to blend action and comedy, similar to Boom, but the jokes aren't funny and the action isn't exciting. Boom recognized its strong suit was comedy and focused more on that while Prime just slowly got worse.

Legit the only thing that improves over the course of the series is the overuse of flashbacks, thankfully that's relegated mostly to season 1, but everything else just goes downhill. The pacing suffers, dialogue gets repeated at agony and Prism Sonic wasn't even made interesting.

The conflicts aren't good, the slapstick is bad and honestly the best joke in the series is when they all had to keep pausing and ducking under the laser in episode 2. The whole thing is just so...forgettable.

I think at some point in a year or two, after I get through all the other Sonic cartoons, I'll rewatch Prime and see if I change my mind at all. Though for now, I'm glad it's finally over.

[over-the-time-flow]

Killer the Butcher (yes, he is named like a sonic character), second-in-command in Gaizok's army, laughs at the foolish humans for waging war amongst themselves as usual, as everyone watches on in shock. Why and how are they alive? Their mothership should have been destroyed alongside the Zambot 3... all Butcher is willing to share is that even though they did lose that battle, the god of Gaizok gave them another chance.

Amuro: "Impossible... so Uchuuta and Keiko died for nothing...?"

Amuro's shock serves only as amusement for Butcher, who mocks him for being so worried about one or two lost lives, when he wages wars that take thousands. From Butcher's point of view, there's no difference between Gaizok, the UNE or Neo Zeon.

This pushes Amuro over the edge, and the only response he can muster is barely contained rage. This is a rather rare occurrence for Amuro, even in SRW.

We pass turn, as everyone had their moves used up cleaning up the remaining Neo Zeon soldiers (btw, had we waited another turn, Butcher would have appeared and all the Zeon soldiers would have retreated) and could no longer move.

On their turn, the Gaizok's Mechaboosts inch ever closer. In this game, Mechaboosts aren't really threatening post-movement, but they have lots of HP and Armor, and their pre-movement attacks tend to hit hard and have a lot of range. This applies a thousandfold to Tracid (Trashidd? Tolashiddo? Whatever, the tank-looking one)

Casting Focus for safety, i move Raul on up and take aim at a Tracid. It's gonna be very important for us to watch Raul and Chan's positioning from now on.

Raul has no trouble hitting or evading this thing.

Chan, meanwhile, is in a delicate position. Her HP's in the red thanks to some overzealous Support Defenses in the first half of the chapter, and though she has a full tank of Spirit Points, i'm not willing to part with any of them because i'll need them later. Support defense should be able to protect her well enough, so my main worry is attacking this turn. It'd be nice to get her another kill to further raise her Will, but if she doesn't kill whatever she aims for in one shot, it'll hit her back and destroy the BWS, which would be a huge problem for our purposes...

It's at around this point that i recall i gave her a repair kit, which eases a lot of our worries.

I place Amuro on the empty spot to the north of where i plan to place Chan, so that once she moves, she'll get the Love boost.

Though she obviously doesn't kill this full health enemy in one shot, i have her weaken it now that survival is no longer such a pressing worry. Plus, at this range, the long-range combatant Tracid can only counter with its weakest move, so even the rather fragile Re-GZ can power through it.

I move the Ra Cailum up to provide Raul Support Defense if needed, and it grazes a Mechaboost while it's at it. Not for nearly enough to even be worth notice, however. Then, i move Hathaway two tiles up to shoot at a mechaboost from the safety of the asteroids tile, with Kayra's powerful Incom support to boot.

Well, it worked, but it took a lot from Hathaway. We'll have to be extra careful this enemy turn. I have Kayra cast Indomitable for safety and aim for the Mechaboost next to her.

Not only does it deal sizeable damage, she manages to dodge the counterattack, meaning Indomitable is still live. I brace myself for a rocky enemy turn where most enemies will be aiming for Kayra...

...But instead, most enemies aim for Amuro and Bright! And when a Doyozler carelessly fires missiles at Amuro, we get to see...

The Shoot Down animation! Just as stylish as ever.

The Bandok moves closer to us, and with that it's our turn. The Bandok is butcher's "mothership", shaped like a Dogu. It's incredibly tanky, can hit decently hard, and has a MAP attack (rather rare for enemies in R). But the most annoying part about it is Butcher. Butcher is a huge coward, and SRW makes sure to always adapt this by making him a retreating boss, and he nearly always has cool goodies that we want, on top of a nice cash money Funds payout for shooting him down. As such, it's our duty to find a way to stop him in his tracks.

[thespectral-wolf]

so I have a question. what exactly is your Sonic Lost world rewriting idea? it dose sound interesting and a breath of air to the other rewriting ideas of the sonic media?

Ohoho, I’m glad you asked :3

A lot of rewrites I saw involve taking just the core parts of the game/story and then the writer going hog wild with their own ideas. Which is fun, but not what I want to do with Lost World.

You see, I think Sonic Lost World had a lot of good ideas for its story... but it was terribly undercooked. I don't remember where I read it, but apparently because of complaints about the long cutscenes in previous Sonic games (let's admit it, Unleashed is a sure offender of that) SEGA decided to cut back on them and you can really feel it in the recent games. I don't think outside of the intro Lost World even have cutscenes longer than a minute. And that's a detriment to the story. I have mentioned it once, but the scene that's after Eggman's "death" where Sonic tries to contact Amy and Knuckles to no avail could have been so powerful, if it lasted for longer than 10 seconds. So this is what I'm aiming for: expand on the story that the points that were supposed to be emotional actually have an impact.

I haven't figured everything out yet (I honestly don't know what to do with the zeti yet) but so far these are the things I want to expand on:

Giving a little lore behind the Lost Hex and the zeti. Not going full Tolkien on them of course, I just would like to sprinkle in some explanation of what is the place and why it's like the way it is etc. This is also something where I would put a little tension between Sonic and Tails throughout the story. Tails, fascinated by stumbling upon a place of legend, is constantly trying to look up info about the Lost Hex, but Sonic is focused on saving the animals and stopping Eggman and is not listening/asking Tails to save the loredump for later. This isn't the main tension between the two, it's more of just comedic element, although it will lead to some problems later (see next point).

I would like to also expand the moment when Sonic yeets the conch and the zeti break free from Eggman. So it's established for Sonic that he hates oppression, right? So what if when he and Tails stumble upon Eggman using force on the zeti, Sonic's first thought is that maybe the zeti aren't on Eggman's side (he's right on that one). This takes place after Colors, so it's not the first time Eggman enslaved an alien species. So Sonic acts on the basis of "the enemy of my enemy" and hopes that he can work with the zeti against the doc (he was wrong on that one). Tails of course, already reading up on the inhabitants of the place and sensing in that moment that something isn't right with the electronics, tries to warn Sonic, but it's a moment too late. Don't know if I will actually keep this, but I think it would be a nice in-character moment and not just Sonic acting too quick.

The conflict between Sonic and Tails. Everyone's favourite (not). Yeah, I decided to keep this because I want the challenge of making a believable buildup for it. It's been a while since I've watched the game's story, but there is a scene where Tails tries to fix Cubot by putting his head on an Eggpawn(?) but the other robot's aggressive programming almost gets Tails hurt. I'd put that scene somewhere early to show that while yes, Tails is capable of working with Eggman's machines, however the doc is the one who knows exactly what makes them tick and turning off the unfinished world-lifeforce-sucking machine ASAP is a top priority, whether they like it or not. I'm still working on the details for this.

The two scenes that are supposed to be emotional: the one where Tails gets captured and the one mentioned earlier where it seems that Sonic had lost everyone. They need to be impactful. I'm actually working on a comic for my rendition of one of the scenes, I may actually get around finishing it someday.

Actually showing that Tails wasn't turned into a cyborg. Like they couldn't even put a single line to explain that smh. He turned off the machine's programming an made a convincing costume with it. There, fixed.

One thing that I'm keeping is the personalities of the zeti. I don't want to make them overly serious, I think they were one of the stronger comedic elements in SLW (I know it's not a high bar, but still).

This would be all so far. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to go for a full rewrite or just making smaller concepts, but I think it's a fun thing to experiment with :)

[wildcatofgreen]

5. Have you read/watched/played anything new thanks to the rpc this year?

12. Tag a blog whose character inspired you this year.

End of year asks: RPC Edition!

5. Have you read/watched/played anything new thanks to the rpc this year?

((iiiiiiii don't think i have, actually! ive absorbed information about a lot of things i dont know about through osmosis, really.

((i will say, RPC made me wanna play frontiers more, because i thought itd have a massive effect on my lore [and also i wanna rp with a sage {frontiers in fact, did NOT have a massive effect on my lore and i have not rp'd with a sage yet so... 0 for 2}] but like

((i'm a sonic fan. i was gonna play frontiers either way.

((though i havent watched prime yet... im trying to pester my bestie into watching it with me because i REAAAAAAAAAALLY wanna watch it--everyone i know says its good and that makes me EXCITED.

((but alas, they havent taken the bite yet. we still have to finish jojo part 6 and higurashi and one piece and spy x family and mob psycho season 3 and double zeta and witch from mercury and--

((im never gonna watch sonic prime am i))

12. Tag a blog whose character inspired you this year.

((@atangledfate @sonorous-strings @aureumdraconeus @hoverboardhoodlums @fexrtherexper

((azure with their cavalcade of characters, but most notably tangle, surge/kit and--not on their sonic multimuse but--lilac and milla. they have driven my passion for all of this SO ffucking hard.

((and ofc like, sonar. like. me and sonarmun have done so many fucking threads its insane and theyre great and THE PASSION STARTED THERE Y'KNOW. ITS SO FUCKING GOOD AND FUN AND ADNIRF4JTGBHJRNE bless them bless them so much.

((AD is sick as shit and i love their threads and like, we havent DONE MUCH, I AM AWARE, BUT IT IS SO COOL THAT YOURE EVEN HIT WITH THAT SAME PASSION BUG I CAN FEEL IT. havent interacted with much but the blaze but man it drives me. your blaze is so cool. youre so cool. i wish to do more and to continue the more i love it i love it i love it

((AND THEN EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE BIRD QUADRIO. QUARTET? WHATEVER ICHIYAMA IS COOL AS SHIT AND LIKE, I LOVE THOSE BIIIIIIRDS MAN. FROM THE FIRST INTERACTION WITH JET TO THE PRED THREADS OH BOY OH MAN ITS LIKE SO GOD DAMN COOL.

((and of course xujints with BAPHO. THE FIRST THREAD HELPED CAROL WITH A HUGE PROBLEM SHE'S HAD FOR YEARS LIKE HOW COULD I NOT. IT WAS SLOW GOING BUT IT FINISHED EVENTUALLY AND IT WAS OS COOL DOING ALL THE THINGS AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I LOVE BAPHOMET SO MUCH AS A CHARACTER and like, to go back to the last question ((if i WERE to pick up a new thing, it'd probably be the comic bapho comes from. because it sounds so interesting and COOL and its already mlp related of which my dumbass is ALREADY interested in.

((these have been the REALLY BIG INSPIRATIONS and ive taken bits and pieces from these threads and these people and thrown it into my work, whether consciously or not. of course there's all sorts of inspirations i get from just looking at my dash or just thinking real hard but id have to say these are like. the main ones.

((wait that says tag a blog

((eh FUCK IT. SHARING THE LOVE BETWEEN MY FRIENDS))

[beevean]

I think Frontiers has such low replay value for a few reasons:

While you can traverse the islands non-linearly, there is legit just very little that rewards your curiosity. There's no cool hidden items that you can find if you search for them, at most a few pretty places you probably would have gone to anyway if you want to complete the map for 100% each. So once you've gone and fully completed each map, you've basically seen it all already.

The game can be rather rail-roading: on Chaos Island, for example, there's a few smaller islands you can basically only ever go through in the same one or two ways. Picking the wrong way will bring you to a place where you don't need to go to anymore. Good luck if you can't find the correct paths, though, because it is very difficult to make out just where the heck rails and the like lead you.

Talking about the items: there's like... five, six of them total to be found on the map? You've got the attack and defence fruits, the Koco, the memory tokens, Experience Points, rings... and that is basically the gist of it, even if I feel like I'm forgetting stuff (which is not a good sign at all, since that means it is forgettable). It gets very boring very quickly to have those be the only things you ever find. To bring back BotW, if you went out of your way to go explore the game usually rewards you with a strong weapon or useful item... because it's got hundreds of weapons and items you can collect. Not just a mere six or so on the islands, who eventually become moot anyway if you've fully upgraded Sonic and his skill tree.

The world is just empty. There's legit nobody interesting to talk to, other than perhaps Sage and Sonic's friends, who disappear afterwards from those spots. And furthermore, they have the problem that you can go through their developments completely unhingedly depending on where you find them, so you can easily have Sonic and Sage chat cordially on the final island and then go back to the first and have her be blunt and rude instead. I would have liked a 'good ending' where Sonic helped his friends and Sage through taking the time to talk to them fully on each island before going to the next and a 'bad ending' where he did not do that, but alas...

So yeah, overall the replay value is low because once you've put in some effort on your first run, there is nothing that rewards you for doing more. Everything you get is the same constantly, and if you went and 100% completed the maps and talked to everyone the first time, there's just nothing new to be found on new playthroughs.

Btw I should add that the game has such poor replayability to me that I haven't even picked it up despite the various updates throughout the year already, so maybe things have become better and I just haven't noticed them yet. Maybe😅

As always, huge W for ShTH, King of Replay Value ❤️

I'm starting to think that it's not my issue if I can't watch a playthrough of the game without getting bored lol. But more seriously, it's a shame, because Sonic games have usually high replay value, through their level design with multiple routes or the ranking system, or exceptional cases like Advance 3's gimmick.

Sage was really wasted. Her interactions with Sonic are 99% "you will die" "how?" "go fuck yourself I'm not telling you", until we're supposed to care about her and her NANANANANANA. A sidequest where you have to make the effort to befriend Sage? Teach her what a loving relationship is, making her realize that Eggman doesn't actually care about her like she hoped to? And maybe unlocking her as help during the final boss? It would have been something new and interesting! oh well.

(also yeah I read that part about Khaos Island. It doesn't sound fun. Why rail road part of your open world like that?)

[needtobreathe-throughsmoke]

By James Shotwell

Love is a rebellious act. Anyone can light a fire or throw a punch, but not everyone is comfortable being vulnerable. Love requires vulnerability. More than anything else, love demands that we position ourselves to be hurt over and over again. Some would claim that such decisions are a sign of insanity, but anyone who has ever known true love will tell you that it's always worth the risk. The warmth of a loving embrace is perhaps the most comforting force on this planet. To be seen and accepted for who you are rather than what you hope others believe you to be is the most empowering experience in life.

NEEDTOBREATHE understand risk. For the better part of two decades now, the South Carolina rock band has consistently challenged themselves and their fans to be more transparent. Their songs rip open every scar and suture we use to hide our weakest moments and worst traits in hopes of bringing understanding and empathy into the world. For them, building community is everything, and the only way to forge a foundation of lasting bonds is through unwavering truth. They ask listeners to find comfort in being themselves and demand they make spaces for others to do the same. As Kurt Cobain would say, “Come as you are.”

“Into the Mystery,” the lead single off NEEDTOBREATHE's eighth studio album of the same name, finds the road-weary group recommitting themselves to their purpose. It's a love song written for anyone who needs to feel less alone. Some will undoubtedly interpret the lyrics as a cry to Christ or God or some higher power, but I don't feel such connections are necessary. A savior is anyone or anything that reaches through the fog of fear and discomfort to make you feel like you belong. It's not about some physical form that rushes into bad times and saves you as it is a feeling you get when you know you can breathe easy, even if only for a moment. As the lyrics describe:

Love is not a cage, love is not a path

Love's a steady hand waiting for the storm to pass

You loved me then when you needed me

But will you still when it's not so easy

Growing up, I always idolized my grandfather. He was a Presbyterian preacher who spent most of his life doing good deeds for the communities that welcomed him. There was no potluck, fundraiser, wedding, funeral, or graduation party he would not attend. If someone lost their spouse, he made sure they were fed and cared for as long as it took for them to process their grief. If someone needed a man of faith to oversee their wedding, he was their man. He would put the world before himself and never think twice. For him, acts of service were his purpose. He knew that making people feel like they were a part of something bigger than themselves was of the utmost importance.

I remember countless days where I watched as my grandfather welcomed a revolving door of people into his home and office for the sole purpose of offering them comfort. I never really knew what they were going through, and I got the sense that he didn't either, but it didn't matter. People were suffering. They had money problems, romantic entanglements, demanding children, and unruly relatives. Some had received news from their doctors that things were never going to get better. Others didn't even know what was wrong, but they could not shake the feeling that nothing would ever be good ever again. Maybe my grandfather couldn't always give them what they wanted, but he gave them what they needed. Sometimes, just being there is enough.

You don't need God to believe in the power of community. A shared belief in an omnipresent being certainly helps create spaces where people can gather and share, but it's not a requirement. All that you need is a willingness to be vulnerable with strangers. To find within yourself the strength to accept others as they are and to admit the things you are not. If you can shake loose from the shackles of whatever lies you tell yourself to avoid getting to the heart of what makes you tick, then you can find yourself surrounded by others who feel just as lost as you, and through that shared understanding, beautiful things can unfold.

I don't know everything the members of NEEDTOBREATHE believe, but I know they recognize the tremendous power of music. Their songs are open calls to people in need of something. They are moments in time committed to tape for the sole purpose of providing comfort in a world of endless chaos and heartache. Like a letter from someone that you haven't seen in ages, "Into The Mystery" is a reminder that we are never truly alone as long as we have songs. We are always just a few clicks or gestures on a stereo away from feeling the sonic embrace of people who, like you and I, are doing their best to make sense of something nobody in the history of humankind has been able to comprehend.

To end here without acknowledging that sometimes a song or album isn't enough would downplay the sense of longing and isolation that many of us feel. When those times arise, I recall a passage from mindfulness leader Ram Dass that I recently had tattooed onto my right arm. He believed that what often weighs us down is our obsession over everything other than what is happening right now. We are worried about what will happen next week or overthinking actions from the past. Ram Dass found that the best cure for these moments of anxiety is to reset yourself. As he wrote in his iconic work Be Here Now:

Ask yourself: Where am I?

Answer: Here.

Ask yourself: What time is it?

Answer: Now.

Say it until you can hear it.

We control so very little of our lives that it is astounding any of us make it through any given day without total catastrophe befalling us. We are infinitesimally tiny creatures on a small blue ball suspended in infinite space that is constantly expanding. There may be life beyond our planet, but it doesn't matter because most of us don't even know our neighbors. We are painfully alone in almost every way you can measure such a thing, and yet our spirits endure immeasurable hardship because that is what humans have always done. The only moments of relief we get are when we gather and connect through whatever means are available to us. In those moments, we are fully alive in the present, and that is where I want you to exist.

We are sons and daughters

We are flesh and dust

We are pulled from the wreckage

We are not alone

We are lovers broken

We are vicarious dreams

We are tumbling in space out of control

Into the mystery

Into the mystery

If you feel alone right now, please know that I, too, will follow you into the mystery. Who knows? It may be the adventure of a lifetime.

A serious question

Someone recently asked me if I had any long-term goals for my newsletter. The question honestly left me a bit speechless. As much as I may have made a career out of writing, I have never been one to know where I was going from one moment to the next. The fact I've written nearly a dozen of these over the last year is nothing short of a miracle. I like to believe that I will continue writing for as long as I have thoughts to share, but I am genuinely surprised every time a new idea strikes.

I had to tell you that quick story so that you understood the following thought. I don't know what will become of this newsletter in six months or a year, but I want the stories and perspectives I share here to exist outside these emails. My solution is to gather together every essay I've written over the last 2 to 3 years and release them in a tangible, physical form. I want you to be able to hold my words close to your heart. I want to gather dust on your bookshelf.

With that in mind, I'm asking: Would you buy a collection of my writing? I know money is hard to come by for many of you, so I'm thinking of creating a zine or short-run paperback that will cost $10 or less. It's not about making money for me. I would probably donate the revenue to a nonprofit. As much as I want to make a career out of my creativity, part of me believes that communicating thoughts and ideas should be a pure act. If I start doing it for the money, then I've already lost my way.

So — let me know! Do you want a book of my essays in your home?

[volleypearlfan]

I posted 192 times in 2022

8 posts created (4%)

184 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@plutovhs2020

@official-ducktown

@ankle-beez

@science-bastard

@strangeauthor

I tagged 76 of my posts in 2022

#steven universe - 12 posts

#evangelion - 8 posts

#sonic - 6 posts

#ready jet go - 6 posts

#su - 5 posts

#sailor moon - 4 posts

#spy x family - 4 posts

#the owl house - 4 posts

#dead end paranormal park - 4 posts

#lain - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 64 characters

#also gumball and ttg are quite cynical and are popular with kids

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Follow up to cringe culture essay: animated film edition

My post about cringe culture, fandoms, and kids media, which you can read here, briefly mentioned how outsiders mock animation fans for using animated kids shows to say that animation is for everyone. I want to follow up on that point.

I had the displeasure of seeing an awful post on my Twitter timeline that went “the ‘animation IS cinema’ people always pick the dweebiest movies to make their argument. Just post Beavis and Butt-Head Do America guys, nobody would disagree” Wow okay mr edgelord. You sound like a stereotypical Disney Channel bully.

The ‘animation is cinema’ image comes from The Mitchells vs the Machines, which is a family-friendly movie that many hold up as a good example of an animated movie, and how animation is for everyone. This gets mocked by outsiders (usually snooty Letterboxd types) who think that this movie uses the “Grubhub art style” or some BS like that. As you can see, people who act like that think animation is only for children, and plug their ears and go LALALA when you bring up good animated kids’ films with mass appeal. Whether you like it or not, animation always has and always will be cinema.

This brings us to another problem: a lack of mainstream adult animated films. Thanks to the stigma that animation is only for children, we never get mass-marketed animated movies for adults these days, and any movies that ARE for adults are only shown at art house theaters. Sausage Party was a mass-marketed adult movie, but it alienated its audience with its crass humor and kiddie appearance (Silly Rabbit, CGI animation is for kids! /s)

I feel like if adult animated films were marketed more, they would reach a wider audience. As much as I love Mitchells and most of Pixar’s output, animation fans should definitely check out movies specifically aimed at adults. Expand your palate a bit. It’s okay to watch kids stuff, and it’s okay if you only like kids stuff, but adult animation needs to be appreciated more, since it suffers a stigma that it’s all low-brow, poorly animated, offensive comedy.

ADULT ANIMATED FILMS TO CHECK OUT:

Beavis and Butthead Do America (as well as Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe) - These are more teen movies then adult movies, and they are low brow, but they do it (badumtsh) in the best possible way

Heavy Metal (1981)

Watership Down*

Fantastic Planet

Akira

Ghost in the Shell

Perfect Blue

Paprika

The End of Evangelion

Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer

Princess Mononoke*

Princess (2006 danish movie)

The Plague Dogs

Entergalactic

The works of Ralph Bakshi

I Lost My Body

The Spine of Night

Pink Floyd - The Wall

The Prince of Egypt*

*these are technically aimed at kids, but I mean it when I say that they deserve higher ratings and feel more adult than family-friendly

Feel free to add more suggestions

13 notes - Posted December 10, 2022

#4

I’m watching the spectacular spider-man and I think this meme represents Harry’s character arc

19 notes - Posted December 8, 2022

#3

See the full post

74 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

#2

On Cringe Culture, Kids' Shows, and Elitism

i'M nOt rEaDiNg aLl tHaT" Ok, scroll down for the TL:DR. (Also on SpaceHey and Blogspot)

The now ex-CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, has stated the animation is only for children. Never mind that this is the same company that owns The Simpsons, and was founded by a guy who said, and I quote "You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."

Naturally, this has caused universal backlash within the animation community, with many people defending animation as a medium for everyone, not just kids. However, the animation community was also mocked by outsiders for using kids' shows, such as Gravity Falls, to prove that animation is for everyone. In fact, the animation community (more specifically the western animation community) has always been cruelly harassed by outsiders for watching cartoons, especially ones aimed at children.

There is nothing wrong with watching children's shows AT ALL. Watching kids' shows doesn't make you immature, a pedophile, or whatever bullshit that outsiders want to spew. Remember the Walt Disney quote above; many kids' shows are designed to be appealing to multiple audiences, including adults. Kids' shows with adult appeal (or ones that don't annoy the living daylights out of parents, or are legitimately good for kids) are more likely to be praised and recommended by said parents than, say, Cocomelon.

However, because of the stigma attached to kids' shows, many animation fans feel the need to hate on/ignore slice-of-life or comedy cartoons, while only praising plot-driven or "dark" ones like Gravity Falls, The Owl House, and Avatar, and say that they are "not for kids." Again, there is NOTHING wrong with liking kids' shows (these shows do feel more YA-ish though, but that's another subject for another blog). All three of these shows are very high quality, and you don't need to justify your enjoyment of them to outsiders. The constant prioritization of dramatic cartoons over lighthearted ones in the cartoon fandom creates a sense of snobby elitism, and leads to...

...fans of lighthearted shows like Big City Greens and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic being bullied for liking said shows because they are "childish." Which, in turn, leads to fans of lighthearted kids' shows trying to make their shows seem dark in order to make the elitists like them. Back in the day, many bronies made dark fan works based on MLP such as "Cupcakes," "Smile HD," and "Rainbow Factory" and put them out in public with no age restriction, resulting in a bunch of traumatized children. The bronies also acted like they were the target audience and not children.

Apart from the bronies' fan works, MLP also suffered from exaggerated darkness on TV Tropes subpages. Speaking of TV Tropes, there was a very infamous incident regarding the kids' show "Ready Jet Go!" Aside from the stigma surrounding general kids' programs, you also have the stigma attached to preschool shows that they are dumb and for babies (never mind that babies/infants are too young to watch TV, and if they watch it before they turn 2, it would really hurt their brain. Look up the Baby Einstein controversy for more info), especially with GoAnimate users making it hip to hate on Dora and Barney. Not every preschool/elementary show is the same as Cocomelon. There are many high-quality programs for the little ones such as Arthur, Cyberchase, Sesame Street, Bluey, Mister Rogers, VeggieTales, Oswald, Blue's Clues, LazyTown, Bear in the Big Blue House, and WordGirl. Can you really blame fans for liking them when they’re just so good?

With all this in mind, someone once made a Nightmare Fuel page for Ready Jet Go on TV Tropes in order to make it more popular, because the user felt alone in liking the show and it was a big comfort for them. They also cited the snobbery of the cartoon community as a reason for their making the page on the Nightmare Fuel cleanup thread. The page was eventually deleted because it was mocked cruelly by 4chan. It didn't make the show more popular, it gave it a bad reputation.

The user shouldn't have to had made that stupid page with examples exaggerating the show's supposed scariness. If it weren't for the cartoon community being a bunch of elitists, as well as the kids/preschool show stigma, this wouldn't have happened. The sad part is, even though the page is long gone, the page STILL gets brought up by RJG haters to mock the show, its' fans, and TV Tropes for "pissing their pants over Ready Jet Go" which is beating a dead horse at this point. Seriously, make like Elsa and LET IT GO. Please stop bringing it up, and if you’re reading this blog, please don’t look it up. Please have sympathy for Ready Jet Go fans. We’re actually a very nice fandom.

The 4chan bullying also ties into cringe culture. On sites such as DeviantArt, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, and 4chan, many people are considered "cringe" and cyberbullied for "crimes" like making a colorful character or watching cartoons. The cyberbullies in question are just a bunch of pathetic lowlives who bully people for being happy, because they think that bullying happy people will make them feel better about their disgusting selves.

As noted here, cringe culture affects autistic people the most. Autistic people tend to get really passionate about their favorite things, or "special interests," and like to talk about them all the time and make their own characters. But according to some unwritten rule of society, your OCs have to be as deep as Shakespeare, and you're not allowed to like 'childish' things even a little bit. (I think it's worth mentioning that the Nightmare Fuel person was autistic themselves). Many proponents of cringe culture participate in concern trolling, acting like they don't want so-called "cringe" people to be bullied and want them to be good artists/writers. Cringe culture doesn't make people become better creators, it makes them become boring creators and repressing their true passions.

Every autistic person is different, which is why it's called the autism spectrum. However, it is true that a lot of autistic people enjoy children's media, likely because of how calming and simple they tend to be. For example, Thomas the Tank Engine is very popular with autistics because the engines' emotions are easy to tell, and the show has a chill atmosphere (by the way, the Thomas fandom is a frequent victim of cringe culture). Plus, it legitimately has Tolkien-level lore dating back to the 1940s. I'm not even kidding, look up "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways." It always pisses me off when outsiders act surprised that "tHOmAs tHe tRaIn hAs A fAnDoM?!?1!" It's based on a book series that's existed since 1945, of fucking course it has a fandom, dumbass.

TL;DR - 'Animation is for everyone' and 'it's okay to like kids' cartoons/lighthearted cartoons' are statements that can and should co-exist. Also, autistic people can like whatever they want and those who harass them are the scum of the earth.

458 notes - Posted November 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I love you stylized CGI I love you spider verse I love you arcane I love you the peanuts movie I love you the bad guys I love you Mitchells vs the machines I love you Puss in boots the last wish I love you Entergalactic

1,048 notes - Posted December 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[xhda1449x]

I posted 6,921 times in 2022

That's 3,417 more posts than 2021!

136 posts created (2%)

6,785 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@xxlet

@sobredunia

@methane-skies-uwu

@mist-the-wannabe-linguist

I tagged 3,095 of my posts in 2022

#kingdom hearts - 407 posts

#kain - 135 posts

#cz - 120 posts

#rin's textposts - 101 posts

#ace attorney - 99 posts

#the owl house - 98 posts

#sonic - 95 posts

#gdg. no i won't elaborate - 59 posts

#tw unsanitary tw they're going to hell - 50 posts

#sso - 39 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#but i kinda want to move there again when i have the money for it. being closer to a forest than to a street where cars regularly go through

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

sigh.

this is what I get when I show someone aitsf. Not complaining though I just hate that they’re not wrong

68 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

#4

I love that feeling when I complete one (1) task and all of the sudden I’m a neurotypical healthy individual with no issues whatsoever

86 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#3

Crazy ex girlfriend changed me in many ways

Like, I've only seen like two people talk about this but the episode names? The evolution from "Josh!" to "Josh?" to the chaos of season 3 to season 4's open ended titles??? Amazing.

The fact that it's a musical is also kind of integral part of the plot? I like musicals as they are but having the songs be essentially Rebecca's inner monologue and her interpretation of things to show how she sees the world??? Perfect. And it's linked to her development too.

Also I really like how it's both real and exaggerated, it's very fun to watch, even if the plot gets heavy. And when it gets heavy it's kind of really well done??? I still rewatch That One Scene from Josh is irrelevant. every few days. It makes me emotional even though I know all the lines and just... Dammit it's great

I honestly can't pick my favorite season, though maybe 4 since it's kind of the best season for Rebecca, idk I really enjoy seeing her get better after the mess that was season 3 (in a good way, it's probably my second favorite season)

The characters are all great too. Even the ones that only appear in one episode are very neat, and I don't even mind not seeing them more because I feel like they do have a life outside the plot.

Idk this was meant to be a "hahah, I'm now naming my chapters like CXGF episodes" post, but I can't go too long without praising the show for everything. It's just that good and everyone should experience it

140 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

#2

I'm definitely biased as a big fan but damn, some people really don't get KH huh. And I don't mean they don't understand the plot and worldbuilding (though sure they don't get that either), I'm talking about how they're like "KH isn't about anything, there's nothing to really like about it aside from the combat and music, most people are probably in it for the nostalgia and the story isn't really a story anymore, because it has no interesting character arcs or ideas, basically KH1 and 2 were good but Nothing Else Was" and like... Okay... I don't know how to explain my exact problems with this kind of criticism but to me it feels like They Don't Understand KH. I don't know where I was going with this

640 notes - Posted May 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i had to

2,132 notes - Posted March 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[cutegirlmayra]

I actually meant that if Sonic and Amy had a family together (you're right, I should've clarified that 😅) But that fanfic was so good. Sorry if I'm being a pain btw

Part 1 (x)

No, I wanted you to clarify and write me back if it was bad XD haha, could you explain what you meant by keeping it a ‘family’ without ‘love’ in it? Cause… Cause… I think families are romantic XD I mean, you know, my mom and dad weren’t always shy with being cute in the kitchen. I would lean back and be like, “Love is in the air~” when they started dancing and kissing lightly or just hugging one another. Like… families are cute, man XD

But I understand there is discord in family too, there’s always opposites to all things. Ehem, so an ‘unromantic’ moment with the family, is that it?

I hope you don’t mind, but I’m totally inserting my headcanon sonamy family, okay? We all good with that? No complaints? alrighty then.

Prompt:

“Speed, don’t forget your shoes.” Amy leaned down to try and help Freedom put on his own, as the oldest, Speed, looked down and lifted a food up, seeing it wasn’t dressed and made a face, looking back to his mom.

“You know, if we don’t wear clothes in the first place, what’s wrong with going barefoot too?”

“Don’t get snarky with me, young man. You can think outside the box once you’re at school.” she gave him the motherly eye of warning and he rolled his eyes up with a smile, waddling back to get his shoes.

“Mom, are you gonna get mad if I take my weapons with me?” Rebel had her medieval book in hand, since she could summon weapons based on if she’s seen them before or not.

“Absolutely not!”

“But I haven’t memorized them all yet!”

“You’re father really should stop reading you so many violent fables.” Amy fanned for Rebel to quickly come to her so she could fix the bow in the back.

“I hate bows… just take it off!” She stomped her foot down, pouting and folding her arms.

“Hey…” Freedom moved his foot from where hers had fallen, afraid she may hit him.

“There, there. You’re sister’s not gonna kill you.” Amy patted his head and then patted Rebel’s butt to get a move on. “Okay, everyone in the car!” She started to hurdle them, getting the baby before remembering she was with Sonic.

“Okay, there fine. There really fine. Hmm…” she whimpered to herself, trying to calm her racing motherly heart as instinct almost took over her to go after him.

“Okay, Freedom?”

“Here, Mommy.” he was fiddling with a racecar in his hands.

“Uncle Tails says you can play at his industry if you promise to get an good grade this next test and show it to him, okay?” she adjusted the mirror in the car, seeing her quills messed up, she brushed them down and tried to look cute, before smiling as if trying to fool herself.

“Really!?” Freedom’s eyes lit up, “Can I help him work, momma?! Can I, can I!?”

“Ugh… as long as it not radioactive, a prototype, or anything sharp and potentially dangerous.” Amy started up the car, sighing.

“Aww.. that’s all the fun ones.. hmph.” he folded his arms, upset, before throwing them down and making the toy racecar go around with sound effects.

“You’ll get over it.”

“Mom, Sandy said she’d come to my band practice today.” Speed pulled his backpack around to his lap, and chilled in the backseat. “That’s cool, right?”

“Sandy… Sandy… Don’t you mean- Veronica?” Amy was pulling out onto the street now, trying to remember out of the hundred girls her eldest son mentioned, which one was Sandy.

“Mom! Veronica is totally dating Kyle! I’m talking about Sandy~ Baby~ Oh why~ did you leave me~ Oh, Sandy~” he started singing and hitting things around him as if trying to make a beat.

“Right.. and she’s special, because-?”

“Mom! For the last time, I’m not a player!”

“You’ve called me about every blonde chick that walks by you in a 5 mile radius, Speed. Now I love you. But remember. I expect one wife out of you, one day. Just one day, hon.” she teased him, as he made a face ‘pfft’d to the side, kicking a leg up over the other.

“You’re so immature.”

“Me?” Amy pointed to herself, and then laughed. “Hey, I had one love. And one love alone. Let’s give mommy some props, here. I way got your father, and there ain’t no other version that can be told of THAT story!” she proudly stated, and a headstrong, bold passion in her voice.

Speed rolled his eyes, “Well…” he leaned his head back, spreading his arms out on the armrest and the back of the seat. “If I find a girl like you, Mom… I’ll take her home.���

“Awww~ Speed~” she was so touched, placing a hand on her heart, almost tearing up and fanning herself.

“Chill, Mom.”

“Oh my gosh, I’m just so happy you said that.” she wiped a tear away, getting into traffic. “Oh boy, I’m so happy you’d bring her home first.”

He suddenly shot out of his seat, “WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN!?”

“GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT. YOU DIDN’T HAVE A SEATBELT ON!?” Amy suddenly reared the car over to the side, having angry horns blast her way as she forced the car into a park from speeding to avoid accidents.

Once the car screeched to a halt, Rebel looked calm as she stated, “Now you’ve done it.”

Amy flung around from her seat, swinging an angry arm out at him. “YOU PUT YOUR SEATBELT ON YOUNG MAN OR I’LL COME BACK THERE AND-”

“Mom! Cop!” Speed quickly pointed ahead of her.

“Oh no.” Amy looked forward but Speed had time to roll the window down and race out, waving back to her as she gasped.

“See you after practice, Mom!”

“Oh, that little…” she gripped her wheel tighter, before banging her head on it and seeming to give up. “He’s his father’s child… and yet, he’s got my heart all reversed.” she rolled her eyes, looking up, and getting the car going again. “He just needs to meet the ‘one’ and all my problems will be solved.” she joked, pulling the car back out into the street.

-With Sonic-

“Now, this is how you roll.” Sonic formed a fall, and rolled backwards, before unrolling and laying on the ground again.

A little hedgehog baby blinked her eyes, before bending her head down and just keeping it there.

His smile faded as he looked like he wanted to help. “N-no, no, no. Journey, come on. It’s instinct. You’re sister got this her first try. Okay, no pressure. Let me just-” he used his fingers to help her roll over, but she fell straight on her back, and started tearing up.

He freaked out, looking around at the gymnastic instructors and quickly tried to calm her down. “No, no, sweetheart! Stay strong! Not here…” he picked her up over his shoulder, bouncing her but winced as he knew what was coming….

Squinting his eyes, he saw an instructor walk over.

“What on earth is going-?”

A sonic boom erupted from her mouth, as her cries morphed into sound-waves that had everyone shaking in their bones, and the equipment shake so badly they fell apart.

Sonic held a baby carrier over his chest with two sports bags full of baby necessities.

He sighed.

“That’s the twentieth place you’ve kicked us out of.” He looked dead-ahead, before looking to her sucking on her favorite chilidog squeaky toy.

“You’re mother’s gonna kill me.” he shook his head, knowing he had promised Amy he would try and find some sort of sport for her to do.

“Maybe you could sing?” he held his head up a moment, before the image of a rocker using that sonic sound-wave made him shake his head. He laughed and looked back down to Journey, using his nose to rub her head and tickle her.

“Nah, probably not. You’d literally bring the house down.” he started to run off, not at his usual speed though because the docs once told him he could cause brain-injury going that fast with a infant. So instead, he just leisurely strolled, before going passed the old people’s homes and-

“AH-HA!”

Sonic looked ratted out, and slowly turned to the open window.

“Greetings, old man.” he saw Eggman, old and worn out, leaning out of the window, looking happy to see him.

“I’ve caught you, Sonic!” he triumphantly stated.

Sonic shook his head, “With what? A baby?”

“A baby?” he squinted his eyes, “Could of sworn that was a pre-deposed of bomb…”

Sonic shrugged, lifting the two bags of baby stuff with the action, before letting it drop. “Same diff.”

“…. What are you doing with a baby?” Eggman looked confused.

“I’ve told you a thousand times Egghead…” Sonic lowered the bags down, then unstrapped Journey and placed her on his head, pointing to her as she clung on and looked around.

“This is my kid.”

“Oh, the little one? Yeh high?” he motioned with his hand the height. “Purple or magenta or… something?”

“That’s Rebel.” Sonic drooped his eyelids down. It had been a while, but Eggman’s memory loss was starting to get worse and worse. Sonic was glad he was able to find a home for him that would put up with his lousy inventions going haywire.

“Ah, oh, I see… R-Rebel, was it? Who names a kid a Rebel? Sounds like a bad omen.” Eggman shook his head, still leaning out the window.

“Ha…ha…ha… That comment gets better each time I hear it.” Sonic had clearly heard that comment over and over again, as he stretched out his back and watched Journey learn to cling to the his quills when he even made a slight movement.

He opened an eye to look up at her, and chuckled as he put her down and back in her strap.

“Well, I guess you forgot. So I’ll say it again, old chum.” As he strapped her in, he looked lovingly back at his old enemy.

He winked and saluted, “Thanks for the many years! And even for the advice to settle with Amy.”

“Huh? I said that?” Eggman pointed to himself. “Was I deaf?”

“No, but you weren’t blind.” Sonic clicked his tongue, giving the him the double-guns with his hands waving around, and then walked off, getting the bags again.

“Mr. Robotnik! Please get down from that window at once!”

“Oh, hehehe~ Hello, nurse~

“I swear, Mr. Robotnik, we are NOT a couple!”

“Ho! Says you! Look who keeps barging into my laboratory!”

“It’s a living quarters!”

“You don’t need to pay any entrance fee of mere quarts to stay here, babe~”

“AUGH.”

Sonic raced off home, before stopping to see if Rebel was out playing for recess yet.

She was!

“That’s my girl.” he watched her playing basketball and pwning the other kids, but noticed she was so good that the other kids were leaving, since she was playing mostly with herself.

“Ah, come on, kid… learn to make a friend.” he looked worriedly to her, frowning to the side of his muzzle before the baby cooed, and he looked down and smiled.

“Ah, don’t worry, Journey. You’re my girl too.” he assured, as she laughed in a baby’s way of joy before raising her hands up, wanting to play with him.

He chuckled and let her suck on his fingers before he leaned over the gates to see a boy coming up to Rebel, trying to talk to her.

She seemed to look at him and then ignore him.

Highly intrigued by this new development, Sonic looked up and scaled a tree.

He patted Journey so she wouldn’t cry as she was a bit spooked by the sudden jerk upward, but was calmed down as he moved his body up and down, trying to keep her calm.

The boy was still speaking?

“Heh, I’ll give him props for effort.” he commented, but didn’t know quite how he felt about this.

Rebel threw the ball and the boy clapped at how many times she had gotten it in.

After a moment of her not speaking to anything he was saying, she dropped the ball and walked away, as the other kids came back to play. He pushed through the crowd, though, following after her.

Now, Sonic could faintly hear the conversation.

“H-hey! Wait up!”

“No, you can’t get my father’s autograph.”

“I-I wasn’t gonna ask that!”

“Well, then… don’t ask anything about my famous dad!”

“…Okay… I won’t.”

She suddenly stopped storming off, and looked angrily over her shoulder.

“…What do you mean, you won’t?”

“I.. I honestly just wanted to talk to you.” he gestured out to her, looking afraid at her hostility.

She looked away from him and at the ground.

Sonic leaned a bit more in the tree, trying to see and hear more through distance and the leafs getting in the way, before he heard a whistle and a teacher point him out.

“Stranger danger!”

“AHH!!” he quickly jumped out of the tree, racing away as she kept blowing the whistle.

“Call the cops!”

“Eeek!” Sonic’s face strained as he tried to not run too fast, still worried about Journey.

“Now your mom’s really gonna kill me!”

The cops were on his heels as he kept trying to get away without running at his full speed.

“Stop! In the name of the law!”

“You’ve gotta kidding me…” Sonic sweatdropped, before seeing a car swerve in and the door open up.

“Huh?”

he paused and blinked a moment, before hearing a familiar voice.

“Get in!”

Amy sped down the street as she lost the cops, and then glared at him as he knew he was in trouble.

“Hehe… this is why I married ya.” he joked, but she turned her gaze to the baby.

“Is she alright?”

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

Journey spat out a twig.

“…YOU.” she glared “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF BACTERIA COULD BE SPREADING THROUGHOUT OUR CHILD’S BODY NOW?”

“Honey, she was just at kids gymnastics place, I think she’d had it worst off there then in a tree.” he strapped her out and let her bounce on his lap.

“A tree!? What were you doing in a tree?! You were once a respectable hero, and now look at you! Getting chase by cops. Where’d I go wrong!” Amy went all melodramatic as Sonic laughed, putting a hand up to his head before the car turned off a ramp and wings popped out. (Sonic all star racing reference I think?)

“Amy, I’m sorry.” he shook his head down, before looking back up at her. “There was a kid with Rebel today. He was trying to sweet talk her or something. I think he may end up a friend.” he smiled to her, hoping she was getting what he was saying.

Amy gasped, her head moving from him back to the sky. “What? Really? Oh my gosh, this is happening! My little girl! Ohh~”

“Don’t spaz out yet. She flat out rejected him.” Sonic kicked his feet up, holding the handstrap above his head as Journey laid down on his stomach, seeming to fall asleep.

He patted her back as he continued, “She’s too much like me. That worrisome.” Sonic seemed lost in thought for a moment.

Amy lovingly looked over to him, worried about what he meant by that, “You turned out alright.” she gently stated, and put her hand to his on Journey’s back.

“She’ll be a good kid.” she patted his hand and put her own back to the wheel.

He shrugged, then held up Journey and sniffed. “Wow, still good.” he grinned, surprised she hadn’t-

“You had to say something.”

Amy heard the sound of an unpleasant explosion happening in Sonic’s arms, as he looked away, and gently, slowly regretting his last statement, strapped her back to him.

“Well, bath time was always a great bonding experience.” Sonic clearly was being sarcastic.

Amy rolled down the windows. “For you or for me?” she hinted at doing most of the work again.

He tried not to breath in much, but still sighed, “How’s the rascals?”

“Speed’s got a fling.”

“AGAIN!?” Sonic, in pure shock, double-taked and shook his head, “That boy just had a crush a week ago! What was her name? Verri? Verah?”

“Veronica. Yeah. Apparently she’s off with a new boo.”

Sonic flung his hands up and let them drop. “You snooze, you loose.”

“He’s got a girl named… ~Sandy~… coming to his band practice today.”

“…Like.. hillybilly?” he mocked with buck-teeth. “Sandy, or like… oooh… Sandy.” he bounced his eyebrows up as if he saw a cute girl.

Amy shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Probably blonde.”

“That kid really needs to slow down.”

“He’s much like us.”

“Like us? You mean, like YOU.” he directly poked her in the shoulder, gesturing to her before sitting down.

“Nah, he’s got my eyes, my good looks, but he lacks…emm.. class.” He rubbed his fingers together, as Amy looked at him and ‘pfft’d.

“What?”

“Class? Sonic, please.” she called him out on his bluff.

“What?! I totally had you at ‘hello’!” Sonic leaned back, trying to act sexy.

“Really? I believe I said, ‘hello~’ first.” Amy seductively said ‘hello’ but  still was being feisty about her statement. “Sonic, you could woo a girl, but you just never were in the mood too.” she landed the car as Sonic looked offended, pouting.

“At least you admit I could.” He gave her an look as he moved his head down, then flicked the car open, as if trying to have style as he got out.

“I married a poser.” Amy got out of the car, but gave him a joking smile as he walked over to her.

“You know a man looks even more sexy with a baby strapped to his stomach.” Sonic confidently walked up to her, sticking his chest out with the stinky little baby on it.

She giggled, pretending to be impressed as she admired the baby. “Ohh~ I love the color.” she teased, as he laughed lightly and they leaned with a kiss.

After getting home, bath time was Sonic’s turn, and yes, he had to take one too.

Amy got a call from Tails that he’d pick up Freedom to teach him more about electronics, since her kid was kinda a nerd for building and racing cars.

She ‘okay’d it, before getting another call that Sandy had come, and that Speed rocked his heart out to her, but you know, totally subtle about it. He said it would be weird to get her number but totally had her eyes on him the whole time.

Amy rolled her own eyes and thought that was nice.

Rebel came home and Sonic questioned her a little about the boy, but she simply said he was just a friend, but her father knew better, and grinned from ear to ear.

“Riiight~” he winked to her, putting his arms on his hips before picking out a book. “It’s about time we had a little talk..”

“SONIC!”

“Not that one!” he cried out the door to Amy, and then sat down with Rebel to read her another adventure. “Just about how boys are stupid and women are-” he leaned down to Rebel’s ear, “Sometimes stupider.”

She gave him a frown. “Only because men lead the way.”

“OW!” Sonic pretended to have a knife in his chest and pulled it out. “That sass almost killed me!”

She laughed, as he read her a story and tried to tie it back to safety around boys.

(I love Sonamy fam, so much T-T And yes, this will be a fanfiction. I’m planning on it :3 here’s a sneak peek at the kids! lol)