#one of my favorite sonic games and stories for sure

[sophfandoms53]

GUESS WHO FINISHED FRONTIERS ON THE NEW YEAR AND CRIED A LOT

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Out of the grandmansters/egg bosses in the Archie comics, which one was your favorite?? It can be either from pre reboot or post reboot!

Hehehe unfortunately for you, anon, my fav becomes a grandmaster before the super genesis wave and therefore is my immediate first choice without contest

*Bangs fist on table* I love her so much

[edgy-ella]

IDW SONIC READERS, PLEASE READ THIS!!!!

I am begging you. On my hands and knees. Begging. More so than anything else I’ve asked of this fandom.

Please please buy the Fang miniseries when it comes out

Don’t just read it. Buy it. I will admit that I’m very guilty of reading through a lot of IDW Sonic through…less than legal means, and I know I’m not alone in that regard. But I think it’s really important that for this miniseries in particular, you actually go out and buy the damn thing. Show your support with your dollar.

Really think about it for a second—they gave Fang his own miniseries. Fang! An underutilized, underrated fan favorite for sure, but hardly a mainstay of the series. I’m sure that this was at least somewhat prompted by Superstars, where Fang is a major antagonist…but Bean and Bark weren’t in that game, and it already received its own online promo comic prior to the game’s release (notably, with Fang as the star).

Classic Sonic stories have also exclusively been relegated to one-shots in IDW, not a full on miniseries like what Fang is getting. Basically all of the IDW Sonic miniseries we’ve gotten so far have been plot relevant side stories to the main IDW comic that focus on side characters with little to no involvement from Sonic himself. Tangle and Whisper, Bad Guys, Impostor Syndrome…the only odd man out besides this Fang miniseries is Scrapnik Island.

Really think about it for a second. FANG is getting his own focus comic BEFORE KNUCKLES.

And that’s why it’s so important that we buy it.

I think Sega is using this comic to test the waters to see if people like Fang and want to see him in more future projects—be it comics, games, or even cartoons. But there’s more to it than just that.

See, Superstars hasn’t been doing that great. I know I said in an earlier post that people seemed to like it, but I retract that statement. It was damned by faint praise at launch, and now most of the discussion I’ve seen surrounding the game revolves around its flaws (chief among them being the middling OST and that the Steam version stealth installs an Epic Games service along with the game). No sales numbers have been projected as of writing, but it’s definitely been beaten out by Mario Wonder and Spider-Man 2.

So, Classic Sonic games aren’t doing too hot right now (I’m sure that many modern fans are jumping for joy at the prospect). But the classic characters are.

People really like the extended classic Sonic cast, just as much as they love the extended modern cast. From my experience, the two fan favorites are Mighty and Fang. Fang stands out to me in particular for a couple reasons: people were really upset that Sega specifically said no to Fang, Bark and Bean coming back after Ian snuck in a reference to them in IDW Sonic #3 (using their old team name from Archie, the Hooligans), and the fanmade 16-bit remake of Triple Trouble, Fang’s debut game, received private praise from many members of Sega and Sonic Team. People like Fang and the media he’s in, and Sega is starting to take notice. That’s why we’re getting this miniseries.

That’s why it’s so important that the miniseries sells well. If the big boys at Sega and Sonic Team see Superstars’ iffy reception but see Fang’s comic sell above expectations, then Sega will want to continue to use Fang (and potentially other “classic” Sonic characters as well) in more narrative driven projects. That means modern Sonic.

“But Sega won’t let any classic Sonic character into a modern Sonic project!” I hear you thinking. And to that I say, so? Sega changes its mind all the time. Remember that whole two worlds nonsense? That was thrown out with in Tailstube. Characters debuting in Boom and the comics were previously barred from the mainline games, but they’ve broken that “rule” in both Speed Battle and Frontiers. Hell, they’ve even been talked out of some of their sillier comic mandates, like characters not being able to wear different clothing.

For all their flaws, Sega does listen, and money speaks louder than anything. If this miniseries fails, Sega will just assume that people aren’t hot on Fang or the extended classic cast anymore and throw them back in the bar. But if the comic sells well, then Sega might take it as a sign that, hey, people like this character (and his two lackeys), we should put him in projects that fans are more interested in. Mighty and Ray probably wouldn’t be too far behind, especially given Mania’s success. Whether that means comics or games, modern or classic, who knows. What’s important is that it sends the right message to Sega, and they will listen to their consumers. That means us. If we don’t support this miniseries now, we might have to wait another thirty years for another chance.

[thankskenpenders]

And now for something new

So, here's something I was never planning on doing, but I just couldn't shake the idea... Thanks Ken Penders is gaining a sister blog featuring an entirely different comic franchise!

Introducing... Thanks Steve Ditko, a blog where I read the Earth-616 Spider-Man comics, starting all the way back in the '60s! It's gonna be much more casual and less thorough than how I run things here on TKP, though, which I'll explain in a sec.

If seeing me post weird bits from old Spider-Man comics sounds fun and you need no further info, then just head right on over to Thanks Steve Ditko. But for longtime TKP readers, I know you probably have questions...

Number one: Why?

Spider-Man's always been my favorite superhero, and with the Spider-Verse movies kicking ass and my excitement building for the new Insomniac game, I've been in a Spidey mood. Inevitably, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should actually read the comics that everything else is built off of and see the wildly varying contributions of all the original creators, rather than filtering them through big budget adaptations. If I can power through One Piece and all these other manga with hundreds of chapters, it can't be that hard... right?

And, well, after a few issues I quickly realized that my options were to either clog up my other accounts with random Spider-Man panels for years, or to just make a side blog. And so the side blog was born.

Two: Will this blog replace Thanks Ken Penders?

NO!!!!!!!!!

Okay but prove it

To allow the two to exist side-by-side, Thanks Steve Ditko will have a different format than what Thanks Ken Penders developed. Rather than an in-depth guided tour that critically analyzes every story beat of every issue, TSD will just be a place for amusing panels and brief thoughts as I casually read the comics at my own pace.

If you've seen me make a few tweets about reading Spider-Man recently, I'm basically just moving that to a dedicated Tumblr. It's a place for me to dump these things so that it doesn't fill up my media tab on Twitter for the next decade. (You know, assuming Twitter is still around in a decade.) There will be many issues where I only post two panels that I thought were funny. There will be issues where I don't have anything to say at all. Maybe I'll reach a run that I just cannot get into, and I start skipping around more. Who knows!

This may sound similar to what I thought this blog would be before it blew up. Aside from the simple fact that there's already mountains of Spider-Man commentary out there and therefore less of a void for me to fill, one of the main steps I'll be taking to avoid repeating the past is not enabling an ask box on TSD. I do not need people to ask me to go into ten times more detail on everything. I do not need to write seven essay-length responses to questions about Spider-Man minutiae every day. I do not need a place for people to chide me for not covering certain scenes, issues, or ancillary series.

It also won't have any kind of update schedule. I'm trying to keep it very casual. I'm reading these comics at my own pace, and if I feel like sharing a moment or commenting on something while doing so? It goes there. That's it.

(On the subject of format changes, I'm also listing the issue, writer, and penciller in the body of every post. This is a thing I wish I'd done on TKP so that people didn't misattribute every weird Archie Sonic panel I post to Penders.)

Three: So when will TKP come back from hiatus? You said it'd come back after you finished SLARPG!

I don't know! Sorry. I have a couple things on the backburner right now for TKP, but I'm not sure when I'll get back to proper updates where I read more comics.

I wanted to bring TKP back this year, and that's still possible. The main hurdle is that I want to reread my own archive (again) as a refresher, which is, uh. A lot of posts. I've developed a high standard for myself on here, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job right if I forgot half the ongoing subplots and character arcs and didn't bring them up in my analysis. Especially when I'm discussing the work of an author as obsessed with continuity as Ian Flynn. Unfortunately, the nature of this blog means that every time I go on another long hiatus for Life Reasons I have even more comic continuity to catch up on than last time.

(This is a big part of why I'm making Thanks Steve Ditko an extremely casual blog instead of promising to become a Lore Expert on 60+ years of Marvel.)

Mostly I've just been very burnt out this year after having finally finished a video game that took almost eight years to make. I haven't really had the energy for any creative projects, including TKP. But I feel a little bit of a spark here with Spider-Man, so I'm chasing that feeling to try to get back into the swing of blogging about comics - no pun intended.

So, basically, bear with me on this as I start this low-energy side project. But hopefully folks will enjoy Thanks Steve Ditko as its own thing, too.

Look forward to goofy shit like this

[ponett]

I think SLARPG might unironically be the best entry in the "Earthbound-inspired indie RPG about depression" subgenre because it's the only one that legitimately sparked my interest on first sight and then followed through in actual gameplay and story. Personally, what's your favorite game in the "Earthbound-inspired indie RPG about depression" subgenre aside from the one you made?

Excuse you, I'll have you know it's an EarthBound-inspired indie RPG about anxiety, thank you very much

No, but idk. Mother is definitely a big influence for me, and EarthBound and Mother 3 are two of my favorite games ever made, but I think it's easy to overstate how much I was trying to emulate Mother with SLARPG in a reductive way. (I don't necessarily think you're being reductive in this ask, I'm just using this as an excuse to talk about a broader trend.) It broadly influenced the types of games I wanted to make when I was a teenager, but there are very few specific elements in SLARPG where I was trying to directly evoke or mimic EarthBound. The geometric spell animations were inspired by Mother for sure, I'll give you that, but half the reason I did that was just because it was easier than animating realistic effects frame by frame. I'll also admit that Claire building her own dungeon was almost definitely influenced by EarthBound's Brick Road, but I don't think that was a conscious decision on my part. And hell, some things that may come off as nods to Mother are, in fact, things that Mother took directly from Dragon Quest. Silly, cartoonish enemies with pun names? That's a Dragon Quest thing!

While Mother was one of my influences, I would just as readily point to classic Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, the Mario RPGs, 2D Zelda, Mega Man Legends, Pokemon, Kirby, Sonic, comedic point and click adventures, and a bunch of other things as similarly big influences. But I wasn't trying to mimic any of these 1:1. It was a blend of different influences along with my own creative goals.

Uh, anyway, to answer your actual question: I can't answer your actual question, because I haven't really played other "EarthBound-inspired" indie games, other than Undertale and Deltarune (which I adore, obviously). I generally avoided playing them while working on SLARPG because I wanted to do my own thing and avoid ripping off other similar games, and then in the time since finishing SLARPG I've just always had other things I wanted to play.

Also I kind of don't believe that the "EarthBound-inspired indie RPG about depression" is a trend that exists on any meaningful scale. People just looked at Omori (and, to a lesser extent, YIIK) and decided that the other popular indie games with some amount of visible EarthBound influence must also be about depression. It's just a meme

[e-vay]

Evay QA Bulk Post 5

Here we go again! These do not include Domino or Phlox questions as I plan on addressing those in a separate post. I couldn't get through as many questions this time around but I did what I could. I'm sorry, I'm just a little mentally and emotionally overwhelmed right now so I can only respond to so many at a time.

Thank you all for reaching out ☺️ Despite my brain, I am always very appreciative to hear from you!

PERSONAL ASKS

sayain-princess-vegenta asked: What is some original artwork or stories you've been working on lately? I know you probably get a bunch of questions for established fandoms but spoil us with your own thoughts! 😇

A: Well that's very kind of you to ask! To be perfectly honest, I mostly stick to fan art or creating original characters that exist in an already established world. I only have one personal project that is completely original, but so far it's only character designs. I don't have a full story or world built yet. I'm not sure if I'll ever share it on here.

Anon asked: Who or what made you wanted to do art?

A: There wasn't anyone or any particular thing that made me want to draw. I've just been drawing since I was able to grasp a pencil (or crayon) in my hand and I've never stopped! 🥰

Anon asked: Have you ever caught someone stealing or drawing your art?

A: Ohohoho, allllll the time

-

MISC SONIC ASKS

Anon asked: Do you still like sonic boom or are you over it?

A: My love is everlasting!

Anon asked: Hello Evay_art I always wonder have you always thought doing Amy Rose game???

A: Hi! Do you mean for me to make an Amy Rose game? I don't have the talent to do that, but gosh do I want there to be an Amy game so badly! ☺️ She deserves it! I would love to play a game devoted to her. I thought The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was especially great because she was a major character in it!

Anon asked: What is your opinion of Sally Acorn? Do you like the idea of her and Sonic have had a relationship? In fact, something I never got an answer for, is she considered canonical?

A: I'm not a fan. Plenty of people can argue for or against Archie characters, but Archie is not considered part of the game canon like IDW is.

Anon asked: I keep on hearing everyone talk about Hell Hath No Fury, so I finally got curious enough to read it! I have to say that it was coming out really good! Do you plan on working on it again any time soon?

A: Thank you for checking it out! I'm glad you were enjoying it. Yes I do plan on picking it back up eventually.

Anon asked: Does HHNF take place in Sonic Boom(Sorry if this is a stupid question)

A: It's not a stupid question at all. HHNF is a Modern Sonic story, not Sonic Boom. Also, it is not part of my AU. It's a completely separate story 🖤

fungus101 asked: Can you do more Werehog stuff

A: Oh I plan on it! I love drawing werehogs!

Anon asked: I have a question since sonic boom has been over for a while now. Do you still like the designs from it or have you moved on? Cause I know the sonic boom designs are somewhat of a future designs for some of your comics. I was just wondering if it would be Recon at this point

A: I still love the Sonic Boom designs and they're still part of my canon. I try to draw more than just Boom (I've been especially neglectful of the Modern designs and I need to do a better job of that), but the Boom designs are still my most favorite to draw.

sonicx1027 asked: Hey Evay, I’m curious if you are going to make another comic in the future, especially with the new Sonic Characters being added from the IDW series. If you are, have a story in mind?

A: I definitely plan on including IDW characters in future comics! I need to catch up on the IDW comics before I feel comfortable enough to write anything. I want to make sure I keep them as in-character as possible. But in the meantime I do have plans of having them make little appearances.

itsyourboysworld asked: on a scale of one - ten how made are you that we still don’t have a trailer for sonic the hedgehog 3 because for me it’s infinite

A: WHY ARE THEY TORTURING US?! GIVE US A TRAILER!!!! I am sure it will be worth the wait but it's killing me.

Anon asked: How do you feel about Mighty the armadillo?

A: It's funny because I think one of the Tailstube videos (or perhaps it was one of the Twitter takeovers) made the point that Mighty is basically just a more mellow version of Sonic and I do agree, I've always thought that. I actually think he's like a fusion of Sonic and Knuckles, but super chill.

-

MY OCs/AU ASKS

emceevoices asked: In Boom Baby, what was the movie Sonic, Amy, and Eggman were watching? In my dub, I had them watch the 93 Super Mario Bros movie, but did you have any specific movie in mind?

A: I believe you're talking about Chapter 5.1 of My Gal. They are watching my own make-believe Overwatch movie lol I just wanted an excuse to draw Mercy as a Mobian

toonfan91 asked: Oh my gosh I thought your tumblr was dead, as a fan of your work it is stellar seeing new Sonic art from you again, or art at all really. I do have one question, if you were to have the time and willingness to, would you draw designs for the Freedom Fighters (Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor and Nyx) that fit in your AU and try to work them subtly into it?

A: I'm still alive! Haha 😄 Thank you so much, I'm really glad you are enjoying my new work! I'm sorry to disappoint but I was never a fan of the Archie comics or characters, so no I do not include them in my AU. Sorry!

milangakokoros asked: Has pensado dibujar a whisper y tangle como si fueran parte del AU donde Aurora existe? Como serian sus vidas? Dime que estarian casadas jajsjj

A: I do plan on adding Tangle and Whisper 🥰 I need to get caught up on the IDW comics to make sure I'm writing them in-character, but they will make an appearance in the near future.

furrylovergril495 asked: Also how old is Aurora? Ps I think she one of the nicest fan kids I ever since

A: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like her! 💗 I don't like to include exact ages because I don't think Mobians age the same way humans do. Especially since SEGA has redacted the Sonic characters' ages. But for majority of my drawings, Aurora is the human-equivalent of about 20-23 years old.

Anon asked: can you draw super Aurora and tell me what abilities she has

A: 😊 I've drawn Super Aurora (aka "Aurora Borealis") quite a few times! [x] [x] [x]. She has all the standard Super Hedgehog powers (Flight, strength, invincibility, etc.)

thechosenflow asked: How does Metal sonic interact with Aurora? Are they friends or does Metal act as a guardian?

A: I've only drawn the two crossing paths once. I like to think that Metal Sonic is secretly in love with Amy, and so when Amy and Sonic get married he is pretty devastated. Maybe he gets his own Metal Amy and has his own Metal family??? 👀

Anon asked: So we know that Sage is best friends with Aurora but how is she with Rouge and Knuckles son's? I forgot their names😭

A: That's okay, I have a lot of characters. You're asking about Ruff & Tumble! Honestly I don't see her having much of a relationship with them. They are quite a bit younger than Aurora so I don't think Sage would have much reason to be around them often. HOWEVER! I do write Sage to have a friendly-competitive relationship with CC, and since CC does not care much for the hyena boys, that means Sage automatically gets a kick out of them.

antooogamer asked: What happened to Sonic's scarf? Do you keep it or when you retire will you give it to one of your grandchildren?

A: With how much danger that hedgehog gets in to, that scarf would have been ripped to shreds! No way it survived long enough for his grandkids to have it 😆

Anon asked: Have Aurora ever met Blaze, Sliver, and Amy's parents?

A: Blaze and Silver are friends with Sonic and Amy so she definitely would have met them at some point. I originally wrote Amy's parents as having passed away before she and Sonic got married, but I recently decided to change that! The Rose 'rents will be alive in my canon! So yes she'd have met them, too!

cyberdiesel asked: What is Aurora's relationship with the Gogobas and Froglodytes (including Og) like?

A: Aurora does not have any relationship with them (I did not care for them so I don't plan on ever drawing them haha)

Anon asked: What did Sonic and Aurora do for Amy on Mother's Day?

A: They spoiled her rotten by making her the most delicious, sweet, unhealthy breakfast imaginable with pancakes and ice cream and all the flavor syrups! Sonic even cleaned up after!

Anon asked: Does Aurora loves Chillidogs like his father?

A: Nobody loves chilidogs as much as Sonic haha But she does enjoy them. She kinda has to, chili dogs are a staple in the Rose household!

medi0creartz asked: There’s something I’ve been thinking for a long time. I don’t know if someone asked you this but has Cream and her Mom Vanilla ever meet Aurora?

A: Of course! Cream is Amy's best friend. Aurora absolutely would have met her!

echidnapower asked: So, difficult philosophical lore math question for you. 👀 Aurora and Sage are besties. Aurora is the daughter of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sage is Dr. Eggman’s daughter. Dr. Eggman wants to destroy Sonic and take over the world. Sage never wants to hurt Aurora. Eggman hurting Sonic would hurt Aurora. Sage is "presumably" loyal to Eggman. Solve for X, if you know what I mean. >:)

A: echidnapower you always ask the tough questions! It might not be very exciting, but Eggman mellows out in my AU as he gets older and he even adores Aurora, so he has no intention of hurting her. Sage does want to rule the world and make the Eggman Empire reign supreme, but she wants to do it passively and by intelligent means, not through destruction ;) Sorry that's a boring answer for you!

km0901 asked: Hi again! A question that's been on my mind lately comes from your "Time travel" comic. In it, we know that Aroura goes back in time to save Shadow, but from what? I first thought it might be DR. Eggman, but he has seemingly moved on with his life along with everyone else. This leads to the big question, who or what is this new menace?

A: I know this is a disappointing answer, but I can't reveal what the threat behind that storyline is yet! You'll have to wait when I can finally write that story out as a fic. All I can confirm is that the threat is invented by me. It is not an antagonist from the game canon. I'm so sorry I can't share more!

Anon asked: will you ever draw your human AUs for sonic again sense you have a newer art style ( btw speaking of art style i Love it and absolutely adore everything you post)

A: You are such a sweetheart, thank you! I'm really happy to hear that. I'll draw human Sonic characters again, just not sure when :) Some people really hate the way I draw the gijinka Sonic characters so that's why I don't do it much. But whatever, it is what it is. It's not going to stop me forever lol I'm happy you like it!

Anon asked: I love the design for Movie Aurora!! Since Tom and Maddie are like Sonic's adopted parents (if Aurora lives on earth), would you see Tom and Maddie show her tons of affection like grandparents?

A: Thank you so much! Yes I'm sure Tom and Maddie would be over the moon to have a grandbaby! I have the cutest vision in my head of them having to buy doll clothes for her since she's so little.

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: Now that i thought, have the Shadora Offspring ever met Black Doom? If they did what's their relationship with him?

A: The Shadora Horde are aware of their lineage [x] [x], but no they don't have a relationship with Black Doom at all. If Black Doom were alive, Shadow definitely wouldn't let him anywhere near his kids.

-

SHIPPING ASKS

aeroranger100 asked: What inspired you to make My Gal? Or maybe I should ask, what got you on board the SonAmy ship in the first place? 💙🩷

A: My Gal came about simply because I thought, if Sonic were to ask Amy out, how would it go? Although I love sappy romance and angst, I actually prefer writing comedies so I put it in the Sonic Boom universe because I could go super silly with it! Though, I still think their date might go sort of like the events of My Gal no matter what universe it takes place in 😉 As far as why I first started shipping Sonamy, it was simply by learning who Amy was in the first place! The moment I saw her and got to know her character I thought, oh, this girl is the one. I wrote a very detailed post about it a long time ago if you'd like to read it! It wasn't meant to persuade anyone, it was just meant to illustrate why I'm so passionate about those two!

Anon asked: Your Sonamy art always gives me life and I love whenever you draw them smooching😘😘 Question: Do you have any art of Sonamy making out? Or if you know of another artists could you point me to them? I'm having cravings!!

A: Thank you so much! Honestly I feel like I draw them making out all the time 🤣 The entire ending and Epilogue of My Gal is just them kissing constantly haha! I'm working on some birthday drawings that should satisfy that craving of yours 👀

Anon asked: Hope I’m not annoying but what are Shadow’s, Sonic’s and Amy’s orientations(sexualities)? I know you answered What are shadora children sexualities but I really am curious about this. Also,love your art💜🙌

A: You're not annoying and thank you for the compliment! Honestly I can only answer for my own characters because they are 100% made by me. Unless SEGA officially confirms what Sonic, Shadow, and Amy's preferences are then I can't say for certain. We can all just imagine what we want.

Anon asked: Are Sonic and Amy still an active couple when their grandparents? And what do you mean by active e-vay? 😏Plz explain if you want😊…. I’m very curious 😂

A: Anon, you are too funny. You can't ask me a question and then follow it up by "what do you mean" when it was your question! 🤣 Yes they're still very active, however you mean it to mean! 😜

Anon asked: Do you think boom sonic has feelings for amy as well?

A: Absolutely I do! He was so sweet on her in that show!

Anon asked: What if sonamy was a same gender couple?

A: I've said it before but I'll say it again: As long as they're together and they're happy, I'm happy!

Anon asked: hi e-vay what's ur fav sonamy universe?? (boom, prime, etc.)

A: Hi! Wow, that's really difficult for me to pick. Boom was definitely the most fun for me. That show made me laugh so hard and Sonic and Amy were both so handsome and pretty, and they were so funny the way they interacted. I am still 100% of the belief that they were secretly dating during that show!!! But Modern has the most potential. It can be fun and it can be serious, so if they ever wanted to take Sonic down a romantic path I think it would be more meaningful in the Modern context.

Anon asked: desearía tener más contenido tails x cc realmente los amo!!

and makarov asked: More cc x tails comics pleeeaseeee🥺? And will you do an cc x tails animation?

A: I'm so happy you like the LoveBytes (TailsXCC) ship! I promise I'll draw more in the future 💛 I'm sorry for the wait. I don't know about an animation but definitely more drawings to come.

nightfurylover31 asked: I’ve been listening to Backstreet Boys again to relive my childhood, and the songs “Shape of My Heart” and “I Don’t Wanna Lose You Know” feel like perfect Sonamy songs! 🥰💙🥰🩷

A: Backstreet Boys! Talk about ROMANCE! I love those and of course now I will associate them with Sonamy 🥰 Thank you for sharing!

blueberryydraw asked: hey e-vay! I love your works and I'm a big fan of Sonic. Would it be possible for you to make a Sonamy movie? :)

A: Thank you so very much! Are you asking if I could make a sonamy animation some time? If so, I can't say much about it but there is a very special project I'm working on! It won't be ready for a very long time, but when I can talk about it, I will!

ultimate-guardian asked: What do you say about Knuckles x Mighty?

A: I don't personally ship the two of them together

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: Sonic does not want Shadow to date Aurora cause he thinks he might hurt her or is it because they don't like each other?

A: It wouldn't matter if it was Shadow or not, Sonic doesn't want Aurora dating anyone. He doesn't think anyone is 'good enough' for his daughter.

–

Thank you all for the questions!

Evay QA Bulk Post 1

Evay QA Bulk Post 2

Evay QA Bulk Post 3

Evay QA Bulk Post 4

[welcome-to-green-hills]

the vibe I’m getting from the movies thus far is that they pick new characters based on how much hype they’ll bring and how much they can raise the stakes from the last film. With that in mind, Amy and Rouge don’t fit either category, so I can’t see them showing up at all :/

Hello my dear!❤️✨

I completely understand the frustration that you’re feeling on your end. Let me assure you that it’s perfectly okay to feel upset not seeing your favorite character(s) on screen. It’s a normal feeling. I promise.

This information is all in my pinned post. I think that it goes back to the “January” tab. (I’m not sure, my brain is fried from course work today). The way that the crew includes characters is based on how the story is projected, as well as audience familiarity with characters. They also follow a standard of introducing one or two characters at a time.

Sonic a very popular game franchise. It’s been that way since the 90’s. This logic would actually fit myself (a 20+ year fan) and my mom, who was a fan of Sonic in the 90’s with her cut-off year being Sonic 3 & Knuckles. They’re going to include Sonic characters that people know. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik, and Shadow are recognizable characters.

It’s understandable that they’re going this route. I do recall that I’ve said back in 2021 not to expect Amy Rose or Rouge. With what I’m seeing so far, the main story revolves around Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik, and Shadow. And that’s okay. Shadow has a lot to unpack and it’s one of the most rememberable stories in the franchise.

Here’s the good news: the SCU crew engages a lot with Sonic fans. That, and most of these crew members have worked on Sonic games. They listen to fans a lot and value feedback (if you’re civil, mind you). I believe that if you’re vocal about it, then you could get them included in a potential fourth.

I hope that this helps, my dear.

[tireddovahkiin]

🖤"Forever devoted to you."🤍

Howdy yo, my people, and welcome to my realm of shitposting, memery, art and fic dumps, and endless amount of pining on my fictional blorbos!!! ^^

Here's something about me :]

(INFP | Pisces | Atheist | Maladaptive Daydreamer | hypersomniac | selective mutism | stimmy | energetic | sensitive)

I'm an [age regressed!] adult with ADHD/who is Neurodivergent! I consider myself a hikikomori, asocial fella who suffers from social anxiety T0T also a bit touch starved hehe 👉👈

My regressed age is about 7-9! But my true age is 19 ^^

I'm genderqueer, and use any prns (She/He/They)! I'm also Cupioromantic, Aceflux, Polyromantic and Bicurious!

I'm in a constant state of sleepiness, and a bit of a softie, who likes plushies, fresh/flowery/soapy/baby scents, soft blankets, feeling clean and warm ^^

I love to draw, read, play video games and listen to music in my free time! Oh, and play with my favorite plushie lol XD

My favorite animal is raven! My favorite color is red, white and black! My favorite food/drink is pasta, chocolate and coffee! My favorite music genres are classical/dubstep/breakcore/vocaloid/electronic/rock/pop/osts (im srs yall i like everything💀)

Some of my icks/dislikes: feeling cold, being in public, talking when I'm sad/angry, bugs, feeling tired, (which is always😒), little children, people touching my plushie, feeling lonely, loud noises/yelling, people being inconsiderate/non-understanding/judgemental, feeling dirty

This blog is mainly SELFSHIP/ORIGINAL PLOT LORE/AU oriented!!!

Here, you will often find self insert/OC relationships and stories with canon characters from other fandoms/my own AUs/gushing over F/Os and other stuff, as well as art/fics! Slowly but surely, I will be introducing some of my characters or new f/os as time goes, who I ship with and which fandom they belong to! The relationships could be either queerplatonic, romantic, just platonic, or familial!! There are also f/oes🤫

My artwork here will include selfship/ OC x Canon ship, fanart, mostly some doodlery and sketches and bit of fake edits/screenshots then and there! I usually draw traditionally, but I also recently started digitally, and I'm still practicing!

Fandoms I'm interested in: Transformers, Cookie Run, JJBA, OMORI, FNAF, Call of Duty, Sonic The Hedgehog, LOTR, Skyrim, Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Friday Night Funkin', Madness Combat, Deltarune, Undertale, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, Monsterverse, ENA, Marvel, The Stanley Parable, HALO, One Punch Man, TADC, Fran Bow, Little Misfortune, Honkai SR, Pizza Tower, Ace Attorney, Final Fantasy 7 (yes, a long list i know💩)

Here is my F/O list!!!

(Please read it before you interact with me!)

My two main F/O's are Sephiroth (from Final Fantasy VII) and Hanami (from Jujutsu Kaisen!). I love them both so much <3

(if you selfship with these two + those labeled with '🖤' on my F/O list, please dni :( Im not comfortable with sharing at all.)

WARNINGS!!!

⚠ PROSHIPPERS /COMSHIPPERS /RACISTS /LGBTPHOBICS /HATERS /ZOOPHILES /PEDOPHILES /FURRIES (SORRY) /TOXIC PPL /SEXISTS /NAZIS /TERFS /ZIONISTS /AI ART USERS DO NOT INTERACT!!!

⚠ I have age regress, so I may act brash and not so 'adultey' as I'm expected! the tone I use may be a bit too energetic, so, if you find it annoying or uncomfortable, feel free to block me! But just to make sure other age regressors know, it is not safe for littles!!!

⚠ I cuss a lot!

⚠ I can be quite forgettable (ADHD things)! If I happen to ghost you/forget to answer/don't remember some of the things you said, I'm really sorry, it was never my intention🙏

⚠ My OC and S/I lore is very... Unrealistic, which means, they are usually non-human and/or immortal beings with a bit of overemphasized powers and such. No rlly a Mary Sue, but still. If that bothers you, feel free to block me!

⚠ It is a safe space for any LGBTQ+/Neurodivergent person, and any Race/Ethnicity/Age!

⚠ If OC x Canon/Canon x Canon art bothers you, no hate, just block please!

RULES!!!

⚠ Feel free to send any drawing requests/fanart/f/o letters/asks regarding to my ships/characters. But keep it sfw ^^ (pls do)

⚠ I won't do SA, incest, minor/adult, zoophilia, age play, or any other fucked up shit.

⚠ If I didn't answer your ask, that only means two things: I deleted it because I felt uncomfortable answering it, or I'm too busy to answer it.

⚠ If you approach with pure hate/toxicity and act like a creep, you will be blocked and/or reported.

⚠ No drama, please. I don't want to be part of anything related/unrelated to me. Trying to start any drama results to an instant block.

⚠ Do not spam in asks/messages. Have in mind that I, and any other people, have life outside these blogs, and can be busy quite a lot if it happens.

Instagram: @/yourlocalhikikomori (art acc), @/yumedelulufarm (selfship acc)

Twitter/X: @/tireddovahkiin

Discord: @/wondersofthemind

Tiktok: @/tireddovahkiin

[Ty for reading ^^ <3]

[bltngames]

Mod Spotlight: Sonic Forces Overclocked

So this is an interesting little thing. For those of you not aware, Sonic Forces Overclocked (if I'm remembering right) was originally an attempt to "fix" Sonic Forces by expanding all of the levels and even completely rewriting the story. Obviously that's a big task, and the developers eventually realized that, scaling it down into what could best be described as an "Encore" of sorts -- an epilogue story where the villains make one last desperate final push, spread out across remixed versions of eight of the game's best levels. All told, it's about an hour worth of content.

Which is... actually totally fine. With eight (technically seven, but the final boss still counts) levels, there's plenty to see. Actually, pacing is probably Overclocked's strongest suit.

The original Sonic Forces was a pacing disaster; levels often felt like they were cut off at the knees, usually ending just as they were getting started. That's never true in Overclocked, as each level took me a good 3-5+ minutes to finish. Levels in Overclocked are also massively improved in other ways, too -- all that extra length is put to good use with Sonic's trademark alternate pathways, new enemies, and new interactive elements. Interactivity is up across the board. Sonic Forces loved to lock you into long, obnoxious scripted set pieces but Overclocked keeps you firmly in control most of the time.

Which brings me to something I'm not entirely sure is a complaint: difficulty balance. If you've been reading this blog long enough you know I can be pretty picky about difficulty balancing, and the way its handled in Overclocked is interesting.

Generally speaking, Overclocked treats the boost like "expert mode." It's there for people who know the levels already and want to push themselves to do it faster. At first it's fine -- boosting means you'll miss some alternate paths (shortcuts, most likely) but you can still bumble your way to the end of the level and coast by on C ranks. The further you get into the game, though, the more it starts to punish you for trying to go fast without knowing what you're doing. The safety nets that would catch you in earlier levels go away and Overclocked tells you to either slow down or get serious.

Which... I think I'm fine with? The thing it brings to mind for me is the two Sonic Rush games. My favorite one is Sonic Rush Adventure, because it's more accessible (read: easier to learn) than the first Sonic Rush. At the same time, the first Sonic Rush ends up being the more replayable of the two games, because it's a lot harder to master. The higher skill ceiling has kept me coming back to Sonic Rush long after it felt like I wrung all of the gameplay out of Sonic Rush Adventure.

So the idea of a Sonic game not only facilitating a higher skill ceiling but maybe even encouraging that? Not the worst way to balance things, as long as you keep the less skilled players in mind and communicate things correctly. Which, at least for me, I feel like Overclocked does. It started to kick my butt at certain points, but never in a way that felt too mean or unfair. And that's exactly the way it should be, though it should be noted I haven't exactly put myself through the hell of trying to go for higher ranks.

The one real complaint I have about the levels is something I've been observing for years, and unfortunately my fears came true: the lighting.

I've talked about my monitor in the past. I bought it somewhere between 2011 and 2012, so it's getting up there in years. I believe it was the first thing I ever purchased with my Youtube Earnings. It's starting to get kind of dim in its old age, and it's exacerbated by the fact I like to keep it on its "Theater Mode" setting, which gives me really good black levels (for an LCD) and amazing color. But it's an aging monitor, so those amazing black levels end up feeling a little dark, depending on the game. For those of you who caught my halloween streams this year, you know I ended up switching my monitor to its "Standard Mode" because it flattens the contrast and makes the darkest darks more visible. It could be argued that I should just leave the monitor in "Standard Mode" at this point, but I can't stand how Windows looks with it turned on.

To cut to the chase, I had to turn on "Standard Mode" for Sonic Forces Overclocked. In keeping with the theme of this being an encore, a lot of levels have wildly new lighting applied to them, with many levels set later in the evening or at night.

This blankets a lot of levels in a single color and lots of high-contrast shadows, which makes character, enemy, and hazard visibility incredibly difficult. In some levels with a lot of high-frequency noise (like Chemical Plant) it can be difficult to tell where your character even is on screen sometimes. In other levels, like the revamped Mystic Forest, the blue-on-purple-on-teal color scheme makes for a readability nightmare (as does the Death Egg Core level with Buddy, with a red character navigating a level full of orange fog, lit by pink and yellow lights).

When you're running through these stages at a couple hundred miles per hour, it all blurs together into something that's sometimes either too dark or too muddy to parse. At one point Sonic jokes that Infinite's aesthetic is "monochrome colors" but I'd rather have the levels be readable at a glance than hanging a lampshade on it. Things just need to be a little brighter, with a little more diversity of color to highlight the edges of roads and incoming hazards.

The story is... fine. It's not incredibly deep, and it doesn't need to be, so it works well enough. There's actually a surprising amount here, though, from mid-level chatter, map screen debriefings, and even full on cutscenes. Voice acting duties seem to be handled by Adrenaline Dubs, who I subscribed to last year for their surprisingly good dubs of Archie and IDW Sonic comics. They turn in some pretty high quality work here, often rivaling Sega's official dubbing efforts. My only real complaint is that Sonic's dialog is a little too referential; his call-outs during levels often reference other infamous lines from different Sonic games ("The whole city's on fire!", etc.), and sort of like how the game pokes fun at the monochromatic lighting, there's a line where Sonic even cringes at his own dialog a little bit. "We're admitting it's bad, but still doing it anyway" is not a healthy design ethos.

Earlier I mentioned cutscenes, and rather than the complex, high-budget cutscenes Sega had in the original Forces, Overclocked instead opts for motion comic videos. Artistic duties for these cutscenes are shared between a handful of 4 or 5 different artists, each bringing their own art style to their scenes. Generally, I think this is a good move. A little more consistency between artists would make it feel a bit more polished, but seeing the art style change between scenes has its own charms, too. It really drives home how much of Sonic Forces Overclocked was not only a team effort, but to some degree, a community effort. Many different hands touched this project, and it is better for it.

It's easy to focus on the negative things I said about Sonic Forces Overclocked here and think I came away not really liking it. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think this is a genuinely impressive mod, with significantly better level design than the base game. It has a few problems, sure, but the overall product, when taken as a whole, is absolutely wonderful. This might be a bit incendiary and hyperbolic, but this close to the top of the list as the most fun I've had with a Sonic game this year. If you own Sonic Forces on Steam, it's not to be missed.

Download: https://gamebanana.com/mods/485051

[pixelrushiguess]

this has got to be one of your funniest animations yet! 😂

https://x.com/adampixelrush/status/1829894389646422415

But in all seriousness though, I’m curious… What are your GENUINE thoughts on Sonic X Shadow Generations? (Just curious).

Personally, from what we’ve seen thus far, I’m both kind of excited but also a bit skeptical about it (Shadow the Hedgehog is my least favorite game in the series, so the fact that they’re bringing back Black Doom already was kinda off-putting for me). I mean, in terms of gameplay, it looks FANTASTIC, and I definitely think it’s going to be one of the best games to play. And while I do think that Shadow's Doom Powers are a… questionable decision at best, I can’t deny that it’s a very creative concept and could make for very entertaining levels (my favorite one is probably the Doom Surf).

Now as for the story… considering the same hack writer behind Frontiers and Dream Team is involved, I honestly have zero hope about the story being good. But hey, even if it’s trash, at least I know for a fact the story will be better than the utter nonsensical trainwreck that was Shadow the Hedgehog 😂

But what do you think about it?

It's actually been kind of nice to not be on the hype train for a change. Like I'll play it and I'll probably enjoy it, but I'm not foaming at the mouth for it, you know? I think Frontiers burned me so bad that I'm not letting myself get excited until I'm sure it'll be good. In terms of gameplay it looks pretty neat, the Doom Powers are something different but I also hope the don't stick around after the game.

The only real concern I have is the story and characterisation, so I'm holding off my thoughts until I see what they do. I trust the Japanese side, ESPECIALLY because Shadow is Izuka's baby and I know he's very involved in this one. It's just the English localisations I'm worried about.

But yeah, not super hyped, not dreading it. We'll just have to wait and see.

[garrothromeave]

this is pretty niche but i’m sure most mcd fans will catch what i’m getting at, but to give a general understanding: i’ve been hyperfixated hardcore on sonic for a while now and there’s some neat things i’ve taken from trying to force mcd/sonic aus, lol.

in the game sonic and the black knight (my favorite game. no i don’t have a type/j), sonic goes on a quest to save the kingdom of camelot from the underworld, of which king arthur is trying to take over - but, in the end, it turns out that he’s just an illusion puppeted by the kingdom’s sorceress, merlina. merlina goes crazy, merging the underworld and the kingdom in order to make the kingdom live forever - because she’s saddened by death.

tl;dr sonic beats the shit out of the wizard merlia after she tried to take over the kingdom with immortality and then has this incredibly touching moment: “merlina… every world has its end. i know that’s kinda sad, but… that’s why we have to live life to the fullest. at least, that’s what i figure!”

and i can’t help but connect that to aphmau. to me, aphmau is PERFECT for sonic’s role - even if their personalities are very different, their core traits are still the same. make sure everyone gets to live life. to live freely, and to love!

another core feature about sonic, is that generally, he’s not meant to change. he changes the world around him. he, despite being the main character, isn’t the focus of the story - the people and the world surrounding him are! and i LOVE to imagine aphmau in that similar role, not necessarily changing herself, but everything else. motivating people to be their truest selves, liberating everyone for that chance of freedom, and giving second chances.

and honestly - she is this character. in season 1, aphmau stays primarily very much so the same. she’s the strong, fun, light-hearted one who never seems to take things too seriously (while still taking them as they are). that’s what’s so appealing about her! she’s driving the world to change! she’s making huge influences on the people around her! she’s the main character, the story-driver, the reason the world is going uphill.

and then by season 2, we lose that.

there’s nothing wrong with character development. obviously! it makes for characters to feel more real and 3-dimensional, and i’m not even saying that mcd’s format would have supported this type of character anyways, but truly… i think the concept still remains dear to me. aphmau is not meant to change; she’s meant to change the world around her. support everyone else into achieving what they’re meant to achieve. etc :(

kinda rushed art below but. consider. consider

[beevean]

Favorite Sonic story?

Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Which I know it sounds like the grumblings of a Classic purist who hates that Sonic talks now :P but for real, it has a great progression, a way of communicating events without words, a memorable climax, and a good Knux.

Sonic Adventure too. It's just solid all around, give and take some timeline inconsistencies, it has an Eggman at the top of his game until the end, and I like the idea that some characters are less involved with the main plot but go through their own character arcs. Of all monsters, Chaos is by far the most interesting, tragic, and the one with the best lore, and I like the way Sonic decides to take it down, not just by bashing its brain, but with the realization that it needs to be calmed down, not sealed away and forgotten.

... and my big hot take: Sonic Lost World. I really really like the idea of Sonic and Eggman working together from the beginning of the game, but it's clear that Eggman is plotting something behind his back, and the two constantly quarrel - the scene where Sonic is appalled at Eggman's proposal of destroying Lost Hex is just a good incapsulation of their different mentalities to me. I like the idea that Sonic's recklessness causes dire consequences, and he genuinely tries his best to fix his mistake (unlike another story with a similar premise hint hint). I like the idea of Tails feeling insecure that Sonic prefers Eggman's genius to his (although Tails should have apologized, not Sonic). And the Deadly Six aren't peak villains, sure, but neither are the dozen mindless monsters in the Adventure era + Frontiers, so it's fine, Eggman carries the whole thing for me :P (also Zor is hilariously self aware and Zazz is Liam O'Brien-voiced so they have my approval) I don't know, I will never understand why this game was the one that made the fandom flip a switch :(

[myymi]

unpopular opinion but like. i kind of don't want amy to be in the third movie

it's not because i think she shouldn't be. she's my second favorite character in the franchise and i love her to death. she should've been introduced before shadow, honestly.

however. with the third film being marketed as shadow's movie, i don't trust paramount to be able to give amy the focus and development she deserves. they couldn't even manage a half decent balance between knuckles and tails debuting in the same movie which would be a million times easier than balancing shadow and amy.

we got to watch knuckles' growth play out. we got to see a glimpse of his past, we got to watch him learn to trust sonic, we got to watch him finally fulfill his destiny to guard the master emerald.

we didn't get to see anything with tails. sure, he helped sonic learn a bit more responsibility, but any character could've been used for that role. tails is just there. despite the marketing for the second movie being more tailored towards him, he doesn't have any sort of huge impact on the story. sure, minor details would've changed if he wasn't there, but there's no reason the second sonic character to ever exist should only change minor details. he deserves better than that.

if amy is introduced alongside shadow, she's 100% going to get sidelined and i don't want that for her. it sucks to see a major character get cast aside because a different one is the fan favorite.

if they really want to bring in more game characters they need to stop the movies at a trilogy and move to a full tv show. there's only so much time to share between a cast in a movie, and with their obvious bias towards human characters there's not much left to give to sonic and co.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Gamer’s rage; Rocket raccoon x gn! reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this is a combined request for an anon and @itsscromp​ but first I must apologize because I no ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about video games, I did some minor research for Call of Duty so if there are any COD fans out there and I’ve f-ed it up about what the first game does, I’m sorry because I’ve never played it and nor any real video games for that matter (my last video game was Bratz Rock Angels).

Not really any warnings just gamer rage, swearing, and gun violence (both video game and in the story. C’mon it’s Rocket guys what’d you expect?)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queen-paladin​

@queensdivas​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

@austynparksandpizza​

____________________________________________________________

Rocket and I sat a few feet apart from each other but refused to look at the other while Peter was pacing in front of us and the rest of the Guardians were scattered throughout the ship.

“Okay, can you please tell me why the hell the ship looks like a bomb went off in the southern deck?”

“As him!” I snapped.

“Ask me! You’re the one who had the blasters in your hand!” Rocket yelled at me.

“Well I wasn’t the one who threw the actual bomb!”

“Well how else was I gonna stop you from acting like a psycho!”

“You know what?!”

“What!?”

“ALRIGHT ENOUGH!!” Peter screamed at us to stop.  “I don’t care who started it or who used what, I just want to know why the hell you guys blew up my ship!?”

“I am Groot.” Said Groot.

“Wait what?” Peter asked.

“I am Groot.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” Said Rocket. I laughed sarcastically as Rocket snarled at me baring his teeth.

“I let you take one round and then when I start winning, you go ballistic!”

“Oh bull!”

“Hold on, you mean to tell me the reason you guys nearly destroyed my ship and aren’t speaking to each other is over a stupid video game?!”

“Not just any game Quill, it was a battle for one’s right to destroy the villainous monsters that were the pansies.” Drax said in awe.

“Nazis, Drax. They were called Nazis.” I corrected him.

“Like the ones Steve fought.” Mantis added.

“Well he mostly fought off Hydra officers but I guess they’re the same thing. They were both douchebags of history.” I said.  I guess you’re wondering just what the hell is going on, well let me take you back to how this whole mess began.

*Flashback*

On our base at Nowhere I was going through the itinerary supplies for the Nowhere Trading Company (or NTC as I called it).  I was going through the black market goods we managed to swipe from some pirates just 4 quadrants from reaching Xandar’s atmosphere.

I opened up the crate and looked inside to see that it was filled with some classic video games back on Earth.

“Holy shit.” I reached in and grabbed a Spyro the Dragon (yep the first ever Spyro game).  “God I hadn’t seen this game since I was a kid.” I continued to dig through and found Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure.  “Oh my god, they got almost everything in here.”

The first Mass effect games, the original Super Mario Bros, Mario cart, Sonic the Hedgehog, but I let out a gasp as I quickly dug through the games and pulled out my all time favorite game and felt my arms shaking with excitement.

I ran across Nowhere with the game in my bag, I just had to find him there’s no way he’d ever refuse a game like this.

“Rocket! Rocket! Yo Rocket answer me! Rocket! ROCKET!!”

“Geez I’m right here what’d you blow a gasket or something kid?” Rocket said.  I quickly turned to see him remodeling one of the buildings into our storage units, he lifted his goggles over his head and set the blow torch down.  I bounded on the balls of my feet excitedly.  “You sure you don’t need to use the bathroom kid?”

“You’re not gonna believe what I found.” I sung out.  He sighed and came down from the building and walked up to me.

“Alright I’ll bite. What’d you find?” I reached into my bag and handed him the game still bouncing excitedly.  “Call of Duty?”

“The first Call of Duty game ever made. No other game could beat out the overrated game that is Halo but this game doubled not only in sale ratings but graphics and story as well.”

“It’s another mind-numbing game. I swear you and Groot are cut from the same cloth when it comes to video games.”

“Come on! I’ve got a feeling you’re really gonna like this one.”

“Not interested, now if you don’t mind I gotta get back to work before Quill gets on my back about finishing this storage unit.” He handed me the case back and climbed back up the stairs.  That’s when I said.

“You get to shot at people and blow things up.” He stopped midway up the stairs and turned back to me and said lowly.

“I’m listening.”

“Like Halo, this is a first person shooter game. That’s when you become the character, not just you controlling a character like most video games are. And this takes place during a real life war that happened in my world, the one that Captain Rogers fought in, and you get to shot and kill all the Nazi soldiers you want.”

“What about the blowing things up? You said I could do that right?”

“Oh yeah. Trust me Rocket, this was the first Mature rated game I played at my friend’s house and my god did we blow some shit up.”

“Well screw Quill then! If he wants this storage unit done, he can do it himself. Now uhh—how do we play this thing exactly?”

“There’s gotta be a game station in one of the other boxes where I found this along with a bunch of other games. C’mon.” we raced back to my station and we looked through a couple of more crates until Rocket game across the one that was filled with a bunch of various gaming stations.  “Ah-ha! Here it is, PlayStation. Just what we need!”

“Think I might have the perfect place for that.” I followed Rocket back to our ship and that’s where we had set up the game console in the Southern levels of the ship where we had all the monitors and TV/Radio transmitters.

Rocket hooked up the PlayStation to the monitors and after a few switches and wire sparks (better not to ask about that part), once I turned on the game the PlayStation opening rang off and showed off its logo.

“Oh yeah! Alright Rocket hop and squat and prepare to get your virtual ass kicked.”

“Please, I’ve been firing guns since you were in diapers.” He said as he grabbed his controller and I took mine and went through the menu to choose our battlefield.

“Well shooting people in real life vs. virtual works a little differently. But I’ll take that bet there Rocket.” Once the menu showed our options and the title card of the game, I selected my character while Rocket chose his.  Next I chose our mission and once we were ready, I scrolled down to the BEGIN MISSION option and the screen went black as it began to load.

The first round of our mission obviously I won but it gave Rocket a chance to learn the ropes of the game and how it worked.  So when the next round came in, he got the upper hand and killed me.

“Alright kid, final round is mine for the taking!” Rocket exclaimed.

“Don’t get cocky Rocket just cause you won this round.”

“Please I got this game in the bag.” He selected our final mission and we began our mission.  Guns were fired and each side of our screens went red with blood until I came out on top and won the final round.  “WHAT THE—”

“HA! In your face Rocket! I am the winner! I am the winner!” I said doing my little victory dance.

“No fair you cheated!”

“Yeah right you just can’t admit that when it comes to virtual shooting you suck at it.”

“I’ll show you who sucks at shooting!” he soon pulled out his gun and fired a warning shot right at me.  I flipped over the shot and ducked down.

“What the fuck man!”

“You wanna say I suck again!? Go ahead and say it.” He challenged me.  I took out my own gun and fired it at him as he jumped out of the way.

“Warning shot. Next one wont miss.” I warned him.

“You better hope not.” Next thing I knew, the two of us were shooting at each other trying to kill the other, throwing insults at the other for a terrible shot.

Which leads us back to the present.

*Flashback ends*

At the end of our story, Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head disappointedly.

“So can you tell a certain Terran that they’re an arrogant asshole and shouldn’t mess with a true professional?” Rocket said.

“Only if a certain rodent knows that real life shooting and virtual shooting aren’t the same. And that they’re a sore loser and should just suck it up and put on his bog boy pants and accept that someone else can be as good as he is.”

“Like I’d ever admit that!”

“You know you are such a pest you know that!?” I snapped.

“Takes one to know one don’t you think Flea!?”

“I told you to never call me that again!”

“I’ll call yah whatever I want and right now you’re a flea!” I roared as I pounced on him and the two of us began to rumble with each other.  Growling and screaming at each other until Peter forced us apart.

“ALRIGHT! I’M CALLING A TIME OUT!!”

“No Quill. I was placing all my money on (Y/n) to win.” Drax said.

“Drax what have we said about placing bets on each other to die whenever a fight breaks out?” Peter said.

“You really suck the joy out of everything. Groot do not take my money, the bet is on halt.”

“I am Groot.”

“After these two, I’m having a talk with the both of you.” Quill released us and began his reprimanding.  “You two wanna act like children? Okay then. Go to your room and I don’t wanna see the two of you until you learn to make up and be friends again.”

“As if.” We both said as he still refused to look at each other.

“If not I could always use some target practice dummies.” Nebula suggested.

“We’re not dummies!” we both exclaimed.

“Then it’s your choice. An hour or so in isolation together, or one of you is going to be holding this on top of your heads.” She pulled out a crushed piece of tin and held it out to us.  With no other choice we grumbled as we walked away.  Shoving each other nonchalantly as we grumbled insults at one another.

*3rd Person POV*

“Ugh I swear those two. Being as good friends as they are, when they fight oh god. It’s literally like trying to separate two dogs who want to kill each other. But thanks for that reverse psychology move on them Nebula, I appreciate it.”

“That wasn’t a psychological move.” She said.  Everyone went silent before one by one each decided they needed to be somewhere other than where they were right at that moment.

*My POV*

One bad thing about sharing a room with your (ex) best friend, is having an intense argument and having to be in that same room with your (ex) best friend.  Rocket and I sat back to back of each other with our arms crossed and a permanent scowl on our faces in dead silence.  The air so think with our anger it could be cut with a knife. But after a while of cooling down, I uncrossed my arms and said.

“I’ve heard how the video games have turned people crazy, but I didn’t think it’d ever happen to me.”

“So you finally admit it?”

“What I’m trying to say asshole, is that I don’t want our lifelong friendship to end over something so stupid. We were both in the wrong.”

“Yeah. Guess you’re right kid.” Finally we turned and looked at each other and I said to him.

“Maybe it was better I didn’t find those stupid games.”

“Now don’t go blaming yourself kid. You were hit with uhh—what did you call it again, nausea?”

“Nostalgia.”

“Right yeah that. Hell if I had a life like yours before I was made, I’d be doing the same thing.”

“I’m sorry Rocket, for nearly trying to shoot your brains out.”

“And I’m sorry (Y/n). For calling yah flea and for…..being a sore loser.” We smiled softly at each other before I hugged him.  He tensed up at first but relaxed and I felt his arms wrap around me.

[likeadevils]

I've seen people say she has a habit of choosing the wrong singles for albums. Aside from Lover, i think she's done pretty well in that area? What are your thoughts?

i dont think she's bad? but i think her single choice did lead people to view her as a worse songwriter than she actually is. especially lead singles were consistently the most frivolous songs on the album from 2012-2019. like for the general public that will only hear the lead and maaaybe second single, unless a later single blows up, it's just. financially lucrative but not gaining widespread artistic respect.

which i think is a big reason why she's blown up once a) she put all her songs on streaming and b) tiktok came on the scene. like, you're adding structures to throw fan favorite songs into the general public's face-- stuff that wouldn't have worked on radio, like enchanted or all too well, or stuff that just never got it's day in the sun like don't blame me or cruel summer. like, folklore and red tv where also massive turning points, but giving the general public actual, physical evidence of how good her deep cuts where across all her albums goes a long way, too.

(specific album thoughts under the cut)

i think debut and fearless have excellent single selection. speak now is a tricky album to pick singles for and i think she did the best that she could but was also just kinda cursed for that album.

red is weirder-- wanegbt is a perfect lead single, but i think it set off a pattern of like, frivolous lead singles that didn't end up in a good place. but on its own, wanegbt is perfect and i wouldn't give it up. i think begin again is a fascinating second single and i'm not sure i would make the same choice but i understand why she did it. in general the country singles off the album are a bit weak, to me, but then i wasn't immersed in country radio in 2012/2013 so i don't know what was popping off in the market. BUT i do think i bet you think about me would make a good touch back song, which is one of many reasons why i think it should have made the album. or hell, even throw in all too well, once you know you're leaving the genre in a couple months. just a big swing with a lot of artistic merit and nothing to lose. also holy ground should've been a single.

1989 is where i think the pattern starts-- at least for the lead single, not the rest of them, it's hard to go wrong with picking a single for 1989. but in terms of what to start with, shake it off is an interesting choice. like, i think shake it off is a necessary part of the story she's telling on 1989, but it doesn't gel with the rest of the production as smoothly, so establishing it as like, "yeah, shake it off, we've all heard it" goes a long way to smoothing over any little mental speed bumps. that being said, it's not the best song on the album, and blank space and style are, i think, the more natural lead single choices-- blank space especially establishes the "i don't care about my reputation" element of shake it off, but from a more cynical place that could be fun to build off of. also it proves that she's serious about the album being 80s pop

reputation is tough one. there's no song on that album can't be clowned on to hell and back, and there's no way the next taylor swift single wouldn't have been clowned to hell and back after 2016. i guess you could make a big swing and go new year's day, which isn't as meme-able, at least, but that's not what taylor was going for and it would have been false advertising. so like, i don't know. maybe don't blame me or i did something bad instead of end game. but i do like the story lwymmd -> ready for it -> end game -> delicate tells, i think it's neat. and even though it kinda ruins that story, you gotta go getaway car for the closer. like i get that negotiations with bmr had likely broken down and she didnt want to make them a bunch more money, but getaway car -> cruel summer is a once in a career album handoff. sonically, story wise, just. it all clicks

every swiftie on earth knows their opinion on the lover singles and i'm not going to change anyone's minds, but i think anyone can admit that this was the album that really set in stone her reputation of bad single selection.

folklore is just a fun thought exercise, like you basically get one single. definitely one music video, and the cardigan music video is general enough that you can kinda click it into another song, so you can go as far as to say you get this music video, find the song for it. cardigan is very understandable and obviously not a Bad Idea, but with the benefit of knowing the fan favorites, august is just, kinda perfect? i think seven would've also really worked. but also its an Album, not a single, and i don't think a song could've ruined that

evermore is similarly fascinating. i think willow is just kinda meandering and hard to grab onto as a song, but it lends itself well to that music video she made and the music video is a good overview of the full album. that being said, i would've gone no body no crime-- i think you can make a really engaging mv of it without having two people in the same room together, which flows with covid regulations pretty well. or tis the damn season, but i admit that personal bias clouding things (but like? it functions as a christmas song, so you could get airplay in december! and it sets up the main storyline of the album!). but similarly to folklore, hard to drive down public opinion of this album with one single.

midnights solidly breaks the curse, to me. like there were songs on this album that would've set it off on the wrong foot, and then anti hero was the perfect song on every level. as for other singles, they shouldn't have done that to ice spice's verse. that was so mean why did they do that just have it be the beat that's on the rest of the song it works so much better

[krissiefox]

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Movie Review!

While I was sick recently, I was holed up in my room trying not to infect the rest of my family. I'd been reading Sonic fanfics in the meantime, and this gave me the idea to finally watch the DVD I got of the the 2020 Sonic movie, and then of course, I wanted to write a review, because it's fun (and my wife seems to like them)! I'll put a divider here, because this review does contain spoilers for most of the plot points, so this is your warning before you read on!

To get the unfortunate bits out of the way, the movie had a rough start, with the strange first design of Sonic becoming a social media trend of snark and negativity that I remember making me pretty depressed. In response to the backlash, Paramount changed up Sonic's design to something cuter. I've heard mixed claims saying that during this time the artists for the movie were abused with crunch, while others claim this didn't occur, so I'm not sure about whether or not it happened, but I hope not.

A worried Sonic ball, hiding from badniks....

With that unpleasantness out of the way, the movie eventually finished and came out, and at-least on tumblr I saw a lot of folks seemed to really enjoy it. My little brother expressed interest in watching it with me, so eventually while out shopping with my wife I picked up copies of the first two movies.

This movie does commit the act of "Hollywood Video Game Adaptations" by largely changing the source material and basically creating another AU for the Sonicverse, and I know that's a turnoff for some, so this wouldn't be every one's cup of tea as many folks would prefer something rooted in one the already established Sonic worlds. I was able to enjoy the film though, and found it quite cute, sweet and funny. It also gave warm fuzzies to see my favorite childhood video game hero in his first big screen movie adaption.

The Story follows Sonic as he is ousted from his home world by his owl mom to live on Earth, after a tribe of echidnas attacks their house. Sonic is ordered to live in hiding, and is given a bag of magic teleportation rings that he is to use only in an emergency to escape to another place.

As ordered, Sonic lives on Earth in secret, in a town called Green Hills. He spies on the humans and enjoys learning about Earth, but is still very lonely as he isn't allowed to interact with them. Some of his favorite humans are a local couple that he has named "Donut Lord" and "Pretzel Lady". One night, while playing at a baseball field at night, Sonic gets so upset about his isolated life that he causes a massive power surge with his speed, drawing attention to his location.

Dr. Robotnik meets Donut Lord!

The government calls in Dr. Robotnik (and his minion/boyfriend Agent Stone), whom in this universe is an earthling rather than a resident of Mobius. He is played by Jim Carrey as a delightfully fun and strange villain throughout the film. He takes over the search for the source of the power surge, and eventually closes in on the cave Sonic has been living in.

In a panic, Sonic decides he'll need to bail on this world, though he hates the thought of having to do so, being so fond oft it. He sneaks into Donut Lords home to use one of his teleport rings, when Donut (aka Tom) finds him and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart gun. One of Sonic's rings opens up and since Donut's shirt made Sonic think of San Francisco, that's where the portal leads to and Sonic's rings end up there.

After getting to know each-other, Sonic and Donut end up fleeing as vigilantes both from the government and Dr. Robotnik. Eventually they make it to San Francisco, Sonic gets his rings back, and he has a big showdown with Robotnik where he ends up sending Robotnik through a portal to the mushroom world he was originally going to go to. Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady end up adopting Sonic, and the movie wraps up as Sonic sees his new bedroom in a really sweet scene. Mid credits, we also get a teaser showing Tails arriving on Earth!

One of the movie's more badass looking scenes.

Outside of the aforementioned issue that creating an entirely new Sonic AU for the film will alienate some folks, my only other criticism is that I would have liked to learn more Sonic's owl mom, as she seemed pretty cool. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. It was colorful, pretty, Sonic was adorable, Robotnik was very funny, and Sonic's new friends were quite likeable. Definitely a recommended watch for anyone curious about the film. :) I may end up watching the sequel sometime soon, too!