#or at least the one for sonic superstars did

[sonknuxadow]

mannn when is the episode coming out dont these things usually drop in the morning

[skaruresonic]

I want to like Amy but her fans make it difficult.

Every other moment they're throwing another character under the bus to make Amy look better when that shouldn't be necessary. It's like they're playing victim over something that people don't do anymore.

If Amy is perfect like they claim then they shouldn't feel this threatened whenever another female character gets any kind of attention or praise. But without fail every single time another female character is girly, kind, brave, or anything else you can think of, it's somehow an attack on Amy.

Imagine if Sonic's fans got mad everytime there was a new character who was confident and athletic. That's how ridiculous this is.

Normally I'd say it's not really equitable not to give a character a fair shake just because their fans are being obdurate, but I can sympathize with your mindset when it comes to how folks gas up Sonamy. If they were chiller about it, I'd probably like it more. While I appreciate Sonic and Amy's dynamic as friends, I swear people portray it as an issue of life or death, and it's so freaking tiring.

Despite not posting about her much, Amy is actually tied with Maria for the third spot in my favorite Sonic characters list. Both girls are great characters for similar and different reasons. It doesn't make much sense to me to claim Maria is boring when Amy displays many of the same traits.

Heck, I kind of think people exaggerate how bad her Battle portrayal is, making it out to be the bad apple that spoils an otherwise good bushel. It's not fantastic, pretty Yikes(tm), actually; yet you'd think she singlehandedly ruined the game based on the way folks hone in on her portrayal at the expense of ignoring the others. ...and idk, I still laughed at a few of her lines. :v

Amy sits in the same boat as Shadow in that everyone holds their own interpretation of the character close to heart and will get defensive if you say otherwise. I've noticed a certain stubbornness among Amy fans that is also shared by Shadow fans. One time I said "I'm an Amy fan, I don't need a crash course on her character" in response to being linked a thread on her character, and got hit with "oh you're just saying what everyone else says." Like? bruh?

I'm just not one of those fans who's like "AMY DESERVES EVERYTHING EVER." She has her flaws and foibles, just like everyone else in the cast. She has a tendency to step on toes, be a bit whiny, overbearing and one-minded... and it can be simultaneously true that her kindness wins over hearts. Amy contains multitudes.

But it's almost like, for many people, taking her as she is isn't enough. She needs to practically be shown curing world hunger in order to be considered as valid as the boys or something… Which I kinda find more offensive to her character than dismissing her outright.

Why does Amy need to star in everything before you're happy, even though of the female cast, she's technically enjoyed the most screentime? Again, not to pit two bad bitches against each other, but Maria's representation isn't exactly sterling, especially considering how often folks objectify her as Shadow's morality pet or treat her death as something to shock non-fans into thinking the series is Deep and Dark(tm). If you're really for better female representation, you should be arguing for better representation for every girl character, not just saying "let Amy get hers and fuck the rest." This shouldn't be a competition. Everyone can have a seat at the table.

First the fandom consensus was "Sega sucks because they didn't include Amy in Origins." Then when they actually did that and included her in Superstars to boot, fans proceeded to move back the goalposts. Superstars doesn't count, apparently, because (insert spurious reasons here).

Maybe it makes me a bad Amy fan or whatever, but I find her crush on Sonic to be the least interesting aspect of her character in part due to how much emphasis people put on it. She and Sonic cannot have a single conversation without fans being like "OMG OMG THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER SONAMY IS CANON," even if canon implies that Amy is imposing on Sonic, such as SatBK's manual describing Sonic preparing for their date as "awaiting a stressful encounter."

Although I can acknowledge that Amy's crush is integral to her character, the way people talk about it makes it seem like female representation in the series as a whole is at stake every time she's mishandled. There's apparently a hashtag trending on Twitter called #letamylove that was made in response to what people perceive as Flynn's mishandling of Frontiers!Amy, FFS. They can't just say "Amy sounds too depressed in Frontiers," no, it has to be blown up into a near-political issue.

The other thing is that people who ship Sonamy often ignore Sonic's feelings and comfort in the matter. Ohshima's tweet that Sonic isn't a "real man" due to his reluctance to express his feelings towards Amy exemplifies this. It's like Sonic is considered some sort of prize that Amy earns through personal growth, when really, folks should be arguing for Amy's personal growth for her own sake.

[cartoon-buffoon]

Sonic X Shadow generations came out and cool but just as I expected I am beyond disappointed with the inclusion of metal overlord because it feels like fan service that somehow manages to slap the fans of metal sonic in the face at same fucking time. Now my main gripe with the fight in general is it's inclusion because ultimately—NO MATTER WHAT SHADOW IS NOT GETTING NOWHERE NEAR TO BEAT METAL, THE RED AND BLACK AND BOZO WOULD GET KILLED THE SECOND HE TRIED TO 1V1 M-OVERLORD!

This is gonna turn into a VERY LONG ramble of why I love metal more than anything however if you wish to indulge the words of a lunatic who loves a fictional metal anthropomorphic hedgehog then bear with me because this makes me IRRATIONALLY MAD! I have no reason to be this worked up yet I still am, shut up I'm allowed to be stupidly passionate about this. Also I would like to note the criticism that I have is gonna be located at the VERY END OF THIS (gonna reiterate) VERY LONG RANT and the criticism I have is gonna disappoint but I don't care and ultimately you should take my words with an ounce of salt because I'm a stupid cartoon yelling on a soap box here and if this nonsensical blame my ADHD.

Anyways disclaimer done: my main gripe with the fight as stated is it's inclusion because of the premise of what Metal Overlord is. Metal Overlord is the final form of Neo Metal Sonic which is Metal Sonic that was upgraded to the point he gained a voice and intelligence enough to know he did not need Eggman. With an understanding of his new powers and the ultimate goal of killing sonic to be the one true sonic (his metal empire plan was 100% second place to killing sonic lmao) he threw his own creator in a closet, locked him in there, and then proceeded to lead the sonic heroes on wild goose chases just to collect their bio data to perfect himself which—his perfection is the Metal Overlord form. That's at least what Metal Overlord is in a really quick summary that can be taken with only a quick look at what it is but the reason for metal doing all this ultimately stems from character development that kind of just happens off screen? Like I know there's Archie and the OVA which is forever gonna be the best sonic movie in terms of both plot and animation because holy fuck it is peak (go watch the Sonic OVA it's free on YT and it will help you understand why metal is such a great character) but ultimately his appearance in the comic and the OVA in general is non-canon to the mainline games and exists as side media. Metal's first appearance and really main appearance outside of heroes is Sonic CD which he acts as Sonic's first proper fake, look alike rival who stems to destroy him and help Eggman.

Metal naturally loses the race he challenged Sonic too and from there he moves onto his second appearance which is in Knuckles Chaotix where—I don't even know if that game is canon because it is a spinoff that DOES connect to CD because Metal Sonic's appearance as the villain of the game is if I remember correctly supposed to be after his loss in CD but it's never referenced or talked about like, ever? Anyways—Metal Sonic does appear in that game and he fights Knuckles and the Chaotix (and Mighty + 2 robots who presumably just die as their never referenced again) yet he still once again loses even after obtaining a pretty cool powerful form called Metal Sonic KAI. From there the events of Mania happen which we don't really know where it does because Mania IS CANON but on the classic timeline with superstars it's kind of messy, but it definitely does come sometime after Knuckles Chaotix because in Sonic mania metal gets his giga form which is directly based on his KAI form from Chaotix although his giga form is a sort of perfected version it using the Phantom Ruby. In any case his appearance in mania isn't as important as the series of short animated episodes called the "Sonic Mania Adventures" that were made because metal is in them and it gives us a clear idea of Metal's hatred for losing.

In the shorts Metal plays as a helper to Eggman as per usual with his main goal being to help the doctor track down the chaos emeralds, very standard setup. Once Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray arrive to get the two emeralds back from Metal and to stop Eggman from getting them all this turns out to be just one big trap and we see Metal use the power of the chaos emeralds to go "super" (not proper super like Mecha MK. 2 does but he does get a yellow aura) and single handily hold off Sonic, Tails, Ray, AND MIGHTY WHO IS STUPIDLY STRONG! Like Mighty iirc is stronger than Knuckles but he is more of a pacifist who prefers not to actually get into fights but is still more than capable of crazy feats of strength. The only reason why Metal loses is his systems were hacked by Tails who freezes him, knocks the emeralds outta him, and then once Metal tries to recover by harassing the master emerald power he gets suprise attacked by Knuckles stopping him before he could do that. From there we get a very sweet animation where we see Metal at first abandoned by Eggman although through Amy's help he reunites with his creator who manages to accept him back—however a small detail many misinterpret/don't catch is the start of Metal's tragedy and what I believe is the turning point for him.

In the 6th and final Sonic Mania Adventures short which takes place after the first 5 installments Eggman throws a temper tantrum after his defeat that takes place in the aforementioned previous 5 episodes. In this temper tantrum Eggman kicks Metal once out of frustration because he is an egotist and can't accept defeat thus naturally blaming the ineptitude of the things HE creates. Now after the first kick Eggman doubles down and kicks Metal more forceful the second time around, however I believe this kick wasn't out of anger and moreso as motivation and a way to say "get up! We have to go rebuild and come up with a new plan"

Now this doesn't work and Metal goes back to lying face down in the dirt, and I see a few people misinterpret this entire thing as Eggman getting mad at Metal and leaving him behind which is—in my firm belief—NOT the case! As evidence by Eggman's next expression once Metal goes limp he seems thoroughly surprised and only then does he get angered and storm off, almost wishing that Metal DID get up but he has no time for the angst of a creation who's not even old enough to be considered a teenager.

Now there is of course the argument to be made Metal was too damaged to get up and walk and Eggman didn't wish to bother with his creation which ya know, does effectively mean he abandoned him. However considering he does repeatedly move his head and DOES move his joints/body like when Amy saves him where he's on his hands and knees before getting knocked back down it does seem like Metal isn't damaged beyond the point of moving but it's moreso he doesn't care (that first kick probably did become engraved into Metal's memory and was probably a key factor into Eggman getting thrown into a closet in heroes though lmao). In any case it seems both by Eggman's reaction and the display of Metal moving that Metal simply lost all hope and fell into a sort of robotic depression. Only once did Amy physically drag him to Eggman's base did Metal finally go back to his creator, although once again if the context clues point to metal once again be PERFECTLY CAPABLE of movement then metal could at ANY POINT WALKED/FLEW BACK, but he didn't. He didn't go back because that defeat right there was what broke the camel's back, after the repeated loss after loss did metal finally be able to take no more and accepted his defeat. Cold, alone, and partially broken he remained there with nothing to do other than look through his memories because nothing points to Metal going into a sleep mode so we're sort of led to believe metal was turned on for that ENTIRE duration of time when he was in the dirt. And what does Metal's memories consist of? Oh that's right it's practically only filled with the repeated times he lost by the hands of someone who he deems inferior to the point he believes himself to be the superior version. I feel like this is the moment where the true bitterness brew, his choice of words as Metal Overlord demonstrates just how much Metal despises Sonic.:"Long time no see, Sonic, my loathsome copy!" Is a line that I always felt like so much power because Metal doesn't hate sonic, he LOATHES him. What was simple hatred grew into something so much more because reminder Metal's entire purpose is to beat Sonic and kill him yet never being able to do that ultimately lead to something more than just him merely serving his purpose, no, Metal's feelings towards Sonic turned personal.

Also really quick Metal does appear in sonic adventure which is after the classic era. He is playable in the DX version but he has no proper story and is merely a fun reward you get for getting all the medals, but his main appearance even in the OG version is in this vat in the egg carrier. It's possible Metal is still turned on during this considering his eyelights ARE on meaning he still could be thinking but there's no evidence to support he's awake or in stasis and because this model is ripped directly from SA2 battle which ya know, has him turned on. Still something neat to note but probably not important.

Anyways with all that being said the mania adventure shorts is something we got in this modern era to provide some lore on Metal Sonic and just some neat filler stuff that adds world building. Back then there was no little extra bit of talk or content regarding the canon game material with Metal as a character but stuff is still implied with all the dialogue written in Sonic Heroes where we see Metal in his ULTIMATE FORM. With his new Neo form Metal gains the power to copy the biological data of whatever life form he can thoroughly assess and he uses this power to scan everyone's data as well as the biological data of the primordial god of chaos which is in the form of Froggy who holds Chaos' tail and Chocolate which is a chao which are kin/apart of Chaos or at least the master emerald. Once with all the data in tow he transforms into Metal Overlord which is not only the pinnacle of Eggman's hubris but also a manmade god capable of adapting to whatever is thrown at it and becoming stronger. It's a learning machine that simply gets smarter and stronger the more you throw at it until it gets the power to best you with it now able to copy what you threw at it. It is such a threat that once Eggman sees this he truly realizes that he was Icarus who flew too close to the sun and is paying for it in the form of his creation which power far outclasses that of the chaos emeralds. As said by doctor Eggman himself who is known to be a man full of ego and pride he still understands how truly fucked they all are upon seeing Neo Metal transform with him saying "it's useless! Metal Sonic has combined your data with the power of chaos and super strong! We can't defeat it!" Even when he groans about the singular possible chance of being able to fight Metal with all the 7 chaos emeralds upon seeing them he doubles down on Metal Overlord's power by saying "even with the emerald's power our chances for victory are slim! It would take a miracle!"

Eggman himself makes the clear statement of even with the power of all 7 emeralds and the capability of 3 users of the power of super the odds are SLIM and dawg says it would take a god damn MIRACLE if they wanna win. Not to mention he says this with the most genuine fear ever because as I remarked before, my man is regretting the time he kicked metal and probably real quick turned from a man of science to one of religion and started praying to Gaia that he doesn't go to the Sonic universe's version of hell. Bottom line is Metal Sonic is ridiculously powerful and team Rose, team Chaotix, and team Dark which includes Shadow—AND FINALLY GETTING BACK TO WHAT THIS RANT STARTED OFF AS— can't do anything but hold him off while Sonic, Tails and Knuckles charge up. With all 3 teams attacking Metal Overlord doesn't really falter as all they're doing is catching him mid-transformation and simply fighting to buy time because as Metal states himself "You all are useless now that I copied your data!" And even Shadow understands this because after holding him off with Team Dark Shadow says "Sonic! We're counting on you!" Because he too registers that if Sonic, Tails, and Knux don't pull it off they are all totally fucked. Oh this is also not mentioning that after the 3 teams held him off Team Sonic could only hurt Metal in his overlord with team blast which was 3 people hyped up on chaos juice jumping him all at once! I don't need to go on with just how powerful overlord is as a transformation yet this is all a prerequisite to understand SHADOW IS NOT FUCKING TOUCHING METAL OVERLORD NO MATTER THE UNIVERSE OR WHAT NEW POWERS HE GETS!

Metal ultimately is better than Sonic but somehow can never come out on top. Despite being faster he still somehow loses races to his "loathsome copy". Metal is a cold calculating robot who can analyze whatever is being thrown at him and adapt even if not in his Neo form we see in the mania shorts without the chaos emeralds supping him up he goes for the master emerald trying to improvise and fight on the fly. Unlike Sonic who bleeds and will eventually fall to time and age Metal won't, metal will stay constant in his prime only ever getting stronger with each encounter and fight he's in with Sonic but in the end he will still lose. With his jet propulsion system and overdrive attack Metal is easily capable of out speeding Sonic, beating him at what he does best and being faster than the fastest thing alive, but his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. While it's true Metal is faster than the fastest thing alive ultimately that's what makes him inferior, his lack of life and a soul with the capability of only doing what he has ever known. Even when betraying his creator and getting free will he doesn't for a second stop his goal of being the one and only Sonic, in the process LITERALLY turning himself into a monster (which he acknowledges) but that doesn't stop him from trying and leads to his defeat.

AND THEN WE GOT SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS WHERE THIS RED SON OF A BITCH COMES OUTTA NOWHERE AND BEATS HIM IN A 1 v 1!

get the fuck out with this SHADOW FAVORITISM BULLSHIT SEGA! Do not fucking tarnish Metal's character by giving Shadow the ability to suddenly face him! Like I'm gonna go as far to say FUCKING BASE METAL outclasses Shadow because Metal is still capable of evenly matching what Sonic can output to the end, he's Sonic's lesser by a tiny margin and the idea that Shadow—WHO IS NOT STRONGER THAN SONIC MIND YOU—can magically fight the form that can be implied is stronger than fucking chaos is laughable and bullshit. So much bullshit in fact that I could create a healthy and thriving fucking garden in my front yard which is more dead and lacking of nutrients than the Sahara fucking desert's land! That's how much bullshit there is! Oh but of course the people who love riding that hedgehog's hog will go and say "um shadow also has a soul so wouldn't he be able to beat metal?" And my response is: IT WASN'T JUST SONIC'S SOUL THAT WON HIM THE METAL OVERLORD FIGHT! Sonic would of died there if not for Knuckles and Tails who are A KEY PART OF SONIC'S CHARACTER! The use of only using team blast to fight Metal is more than simply a game mechanic to prolong the Metal Overlord fight, it's also a key display of who Sonic is as a character and his development. Sonic had grown from a lone wolf character who was as free as the wind to now a complete extrovert who cherishes his friends and allies with his life, it's his friends who truly make him who he is because it's the power of friendship, their words, and the knowledge that their all counting on him that helps him press on, and having two of his closest friends fighting right by his side is just the push he needs to give it his all. That sounds cheesy as fuck but Sonic has always been a cheesy franchise and character, what's a chili dog without some cheese on top huh!?

Now with all of THAT being I'm sure a few people will ask "okay smartass would you prefer metal overlord to be totally forgotten and not included at all?" And to that I say: kinda yeah. But if you're looking for genuine criticism of mine then I do have one: remove Metal Overlord's wings and make him the imperfect overlord as seen here↓

... That's it. That's truly it, my one complaint and my correction.

"did you really write an essay as to why you hate this boss fight only to give the smallest design correction and nitpi—" I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF THIS IS A NITPICK THIS MATTERS! Metal has always been my favorite character and it's made VERY CLEAR his perfected overlord form is one of the most terrifying and potentially powerful things in the verse and I'm not gonna have all the character and depth behind it GO TO HELL FOR THE SAKE OF FAN SERVICE! It's not fan service, it's a fucking fan DISSERVICE! It's such a little change and would of been SO FUCKING EASY, they could of made Metal simply levitate or some shit with several jet engines as to make it different and diverse from the original Metal Overlord fight. This would also make sense because shadow did NOT fight perfect Overlord and instead fought imperfect Overlord when he was still connected to the egg carrier and properly processing things and powering up. Like did they forget that or did they just truly not give a fuck and decide to disregard the deep complex story behind as to why Metal Sonic is a giant monster because the design change isn't too drastic but even the untrained eye can see THE ONE ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARE TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS!

Like I made this entire fucking thing for this simple complaint which one may call childish which granted is kind of fucking childish but I don't fucking care anymore because I will NOT STAND FOR METAL SLANDER NO LONGER! I've seen people suddenly thinking Metal Overlord is some bitch ass transformation that shadow can single handily take down which is NOT the case and the implication that he could is dumb! I don't give a fuck if it's the year of Shadow Metal is one of the longest standing villains right next to Eggman and he gets fucking cucked for this red streak, speeds by, weaker than Sonic fucker who ISN'T EVEN THE FUCKING ULTIMATE LIFEFORM BECAUSE MAY I REMIND YOU SHADOW HIMSELF SAID SONIC MAY BE THE TRUE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM WHICH WOULD OF BEEN THEMATICALLY FITTING AND WOULD TAKE AWAY NOTHING IF SHADOW LOST THAT TITLE!

"are you just bitching about Shadow now?"

yes the fuck I am because this pisses me off to no end. I've GENUINELY got a headache as I'm writing this because Metal Overlord's inclusion irritates me beyond belief. Whatever you get my point, ramble over and Toon out I'm fucking tired

[randomthefox]

It's like the writers for idw see all the angry posts saying "there's no way it could get worse than this" and intentionally make the comic even more dogshit. But I know that's not the case. I know the comic is only bad because the people working on it are insane and out of touch with reality. But how can anyone with the intent of making something good end up making something so embarrassingly awful?

The quality of the comic is perplexing. This shit is actually baffling to me.

How has NO ONE been like "nah this sucks do something else"

I feel like I'm going insane

Well for Ian Flynn at least we know he's just a completely delusional narcissist at this point. He's so far up his own ass that his ego can be legally considered a rectal tumor. He literally thinks his shit don't stink. He literally thinks he can do no wrong, that everything he ever does or says is untouchable, and he surrounds himself exclusively with people who enable that state. He also has nowhere else to go. If he ever got the boot from working on Sonic, he probably wouldn't even be able to get a job as a greeter at Wal-Mart. It's sort of a unstable house of cards of his own construction.

For Evan Stanley, I dunno. I've never pulled my punches when talking about her writing, and I'm still mad at her about the "Sonic Forces but now Surge is there" meme. But she's a very talented artist and has a lot of potential for a future. Her work on the Superstars Triple Trouble animation was very good and showed a lot of distinct personality that made it stand out from the stuff Tyson has directed, while still fitting naturally into the standard they'd established with the previous animations. I'm genuinely very happy for her and that she's been getting scoped to do all these official SEGA projects like the tarot deck. And she doesn't seem like a bad person, going off her social media presence anyway. (Unlike Flynn, who is done absolutely NO favors by how he conducts himself on his podcast and on twitter).

And I've theorized before that I doubt she's getting paid a fair wage for the issues of the comic where she both wrote AND drew for it - reasonably she should get paid a writing fee AND an artists fee AND an inking and colorist fee for the issues where she did literally the entire god damn thing. But I SERIOUSLY doubt it, she probably just gets paid her flat rate per page. If ANYBODY is probably checked out when it comes to this comic, it's probably her. So if you wanted to tell me she was writing the comic bad ON PURPOSE as some kind of game to keep herself amused, I'd believe you.

Aside from them, the comic has a new editing team since the old guard who had been supervising the comic since day one fled from IDW like rats from a sinking ship. So they probably just don't give a shit.

So it's probably a combination of insanity, apathy, and POTENTIALLY the slightest hint of intentionally trying to drive the comic off a cliff.

[the-starlight-project]

So, in this AU, I guess Mania, or at least the encore mode, the comics, Superstar, the tv series, etc. don't exist?

What is a part of the in-universe sonic franchise? Just the main games, as tv shows?

I've answered this a lot, so I think this'll be the last time I answer one of these BUT!

To be crystal clear, only the main series Sonic games are considered canon actual TV shows that the studio helped produce with Sonic as the main protag. Any other spinoff you can think off - Boom, Superstars, etc etc - are either animated TV shows, actual spinoffs that have nothing to do with Sonic, or simply do not exist.

For example, Sonic Underground doesn't exist! It's not an animated TV show or a spinoff, it just .. doesn't exist! SatAM, however, did exist as an animated TV show.

Maybe eventually I'll put together a masterlist of what exists and what doesn't, but for now, I hope this clears things up.

[sonicjustbecause]

Shadow the hedgehog before 2010 - joy.

Sega Superstar (2004)

I like this one, he gives the vibes of a character who is very reserved and who takes things seriously, but there are hints of friendliness .

OG Shadow barely smiled and yet his gestures felt so sincere.

Sega Superstar Tennis (WiiMote already came ☹ unfortunately)

He might not smile but surely when he was happy he did let you know

He is way more confident, a bit too aggressive perhaps. But at least he is untied.

Sonic Riders 0 gravity (2008)

Another unleashed Shadow

Joy

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, KNUCKLES' 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL - THOUGHTS

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

It's that time, friends.

The year is 2024, and SEGA has declared it to be the Fearless Year of Shadow, making a big show out of showering the dark hedgie with all kinds of love over the course of the year.

This was certainly done to promote the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, but I can't help but feel that it's a bit unfortunate that the movie's release, and therefore the Year of Shadow, happened when it did, as 2024 is the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog 3 game on the SEGA Genesis - a game that marked the first appearance of Knuckles the Echidna. And so, where this could have been a year all about Angel Island's lone guardian, instead the spotlight has been dedicated to Sonic's other main rival for the bulk of the year.

Rad Red wasn't forgotten entirely, however, as just as they'd done with Tails and Amy over the past couple years, the folks at IDW gave us a nice little anniversary special dedicated to ol' Knux.

This story is not as strictly dedicated to Knuckles as the Tails and Amy specials were to their titular characters, however, as they also use the comic as an opportunity to commemorate one of the series' more recent releases with Sonic Superstars.

A good deal of this story centers around Trip the Sungazer, a new character introduced in Superstars who was the guardian of the game's setting, The Northstar Islands. I like Trip, if only because she's the first totally new playable character we've had introduced in a main series entry since Silver first showed up in Sonic '06, seventeen years before Sonic Superstars was released. It was really cool to get a new character with their own perspective on the adventure after such a long time, and they even got their own unique Super Form to boot! It was one of those little steps that helped make me feel like the series was going in the right direction again - or at least a direction I appreciated.

The story, penned by Ian Flynn, largely centers around Knuckles offering some one-on-one training to Trip in order to help her become the best Guardian she can be. He's an old pro, after all.

(Side note: I really adore this nod to Tyson Hesse's old "Knuckles is Great at His Job parody comic. That thing is comedic gold and this panel got a genuine cackle out of me.)

It's really interesting to see the comic run with this premise mere months after the Knuckles TV show premiered on Paramount+, centering around Knuckles training Wade Whipple in the ways of the Echidna warriors over in the movie universe.

The difference is this is good, though.

I know a lot of people were somewhat disappointed to see this Knuckles special dedicate so much of its time to Trip, especially after the Tails and Amy specials both put their titular characters in the spotlight to save the day from some kind of crisis, but I really love everything Trip brings to the table here.

Firstly, her presence gives us some really solid worldbuilding. I feel like, before Frontiers, it'd been entirely too long since we'd gotten a solid "Explore the Mysteries of an Ancient Civlization" story, and I feel like Sonic is often at its best when running with that idea.

When you think about it, that's kind of what Knuckles represents for this series. Stories about him are often the ones that do the most calling back to the lost peoples of old, the ones that really put in the work to establish this world's lore. Sonic 3 & Knuckles gives us the Master Emerald and gives us our first real storyline with the Chaos Emeralds at its center. Sonic Adventure tells the story of Chaos and the Echidna Tribe. Sonic Frontiers has Knuckles discovering the connections between Angel Island and the Starfall Islands, home of the Anicents who first brought the Chaos Emeralds to Earth.

This time, however, we're not strictly dealing with some long-lost society...

This was a delightful surprise to me. When playing through Sonic Superstars, I - like many others - thought the Sungazers were like the Echidnas: A bygone people all but wiped out in some kind of cataclysm, presumably related to the Sungazer Dragon, and that Trip, like Knuckles, was the last of her kind. Here, we learn that there just are other Sungazers around! Their civilization isn't gone at all! I think this is the first time we've gotten to see one of these ancient societies still existing in the modern world, and it's a really nice touch!

I do wish there was some variation in their color schemes, however. All of them using the same brown color palette kinda leaves a very... Ken Penders taste in my mouth. Blech.

Regardless, their designs are very nice and I like them, despite their shared palette.

As much as I like Trip and the Sungazers, the comic thankfully does not solely focus on Trip. Knuckles here does get his due.

The comic does a great job at displaying the juxtaposition between Trip and Knuckles, and how they approach their shared role as Guardians - Trip, who is just starting out in the Guardian gig and has plenty of people to help her learn and support her, and Knuckles, who has been a Guardian his entire life and lives alone on an isolated island with no one to help or teach him. Between this and his shared story with Blaze in the 2023 Annual Special, I really love the way IDW has been taking the opportunity to have Knuckles interact with other Guardians and offer his perspective into the way they approach their duties.

Through this, we also get a nice little peak into Knuckles' heart, and the way he approaches social interaction after being on his own for so long.

We get to see some of the difficulties he's faced understanding others after having to fend for himself for his entire life. In turn, we get to see how he's grown, and gotten genuinely closer to his newfound friends as a result.

We see him look back on the lessons he's learned, and use them to help Trip find her way as best he can. It's kind of beautiful that, between Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, Knux is the one most suited to an action story, and yet he's the one out of the three whose anniversary special centers entirely around him opening up and making a connection with another person.

Of course, Aaron Hammerstrom thoroughly knocks it out of the park with his pencils. The man is a juggernaut. It doesn't matter if he's trying to portray a style reminiscent of Yuji Uekawa or Naoto Ohshima, he absolutely delivers every time. I'm so happy we've gotten to see so much out of him lately.

His art is elevated by the lines of Rik Mack, whom I've been noticing more and more often lately, and the colors of Valentina Pinto, who does a phenomenal job with a comic that almost feels tailor(heh)-made for Reggie Graham. It's awesome to see them getting more opportunities to show their stuff.

All-in-all, I do wish we could get some more intense, action-driven Knuckles stories, but these introspective little bits of worldbuilding are also very nice, as was the opportunity to see Trip expanded as a character after her debut in Superstars. At the end of the day, I'm just glad to see Knuckles' 30th anniversary recognized among the tidal wave of Shadow love happening right now.

I do hope Shadow gets one of these stories himself one day, but it's tough to imagine him getting a dedicated 30th anniversary story when his 30th anniversary would also be the franchise's 40th. We'll see, I guess. In the meantime, we have a Chaotix 30th anniversary special on the horizon!

I'm super curious to see how that'll pan out. Will it be a Classic-era story, ushering the very first reappearance of the Chaotix's Classic designs since their original debut? Or will it be the first of these 30th anniversary specials set in the Modern era? Whatever the case, we're definitely going to be breaking some new ground. Before that, though, Issue 75 drops in about... eight minutes for me. So I'm gonna go get ready for that.

As always, thanks for reading!

[un-pearable]

okay post sonic symphony post recap :D

1st mezzanine sweep (could see both the orchestra + the singers excluding when they went in the audience at one point) + we were right next to the projector (cool!!!!) and some of the speakers (ouch)

orchestral:

setlist (as best i remember, i wasn’t writing it down, PLEASE correct me):

sonic 1

sonic cd

sonic 2

sky sanctuary

sonic mania

“welcome to 3D”

believe in myself/it doesn’t matter medley

chao garden

“three new ones”

rooftop run

aquarium park/planet wisp

frontiers medley w/ stuff from third DLC

i was so excitedly surprised to see the new visuals!!! they did a really great job combining the new origins cutscenes with gameplay and the timing was INCREDIBLE esp for a live show. infinite kudos and honestly i can appreciate them waiting two years to actually do this since the cutscenes really tied to first few medleys together

conductor absolutely CRUSHED IT dude was very understanding that the audience was going to be Losing It consistently and he made it work. so much love to that orchestra they did a stellar job and im so sad they’ll get overshadowed by the vocal parts (which. yeah obviously. but they did SUCH great work and the conductor did a great job directing the audiences applause to them)

felt bad they had to stop between every single medley for applause but such is life . also experiencing live audience reactions for stuff like the chemical plant zone drowning trap and amy being playable in the metal sonic race was amazing

enjoyed the sky sanctuary medley even though it took the place of the sonic 3k music overall, so much kudos to the video team that was SO cool (AND IT HAD THE FRONTIERS ANIMATED SPECIAL!!!!! YEAHHHH WIN FOR KNUCKLES FANS EVERYWHERE)

the believe in myself/it doesn’t matter one’s are always so sweet to me i love how they frame them using the cutscenes from each of their respective stories + the end card 🥺 now do that for everyone else’s themes!!!!!!!!!!

i’m definitely forgetting at least one bit in there but it was so delightful all around, the new arrangements were so fun, unleashed sweeps as always but one guy near me was SUPER passionate about aquarium park im glad he was happy. the frontiers medley ended w/ the new supersonic form and having not watched that trailer this was the BEST possible way to see that new content holy SHIT!!!!!!!!

intermission: that was the single most positive bathroom i’ve ever been in and i mean that in the least weird way possible. everyone was so so so excited and complimentary (ty to the person who liked my pins and whose fiancé liked the tails one. i like it a lot too :]) also kudos to the stunning wave cosplayer i saw she was killing it!!!!! molly whoever you were i hope you enjoyed the second half as much as i did

vocal tracks:

setlist (i actually did write this one down):

i am all of me

what i’m made of

open your heart

knight of the wind

escape from the city

(new!!) superstars intro theme

his world

reach for the stars

fist bump

endless possibility

(fake out ending)

break through it all

undefeatable

live and learn

the fake out of having only the orchestra on stage and then l having i am all of me just START even before johnny + jun got on stage. incredible. we were all so distracted i have to find a clip of the audible chaos when the music started going and everyone clocked it was SHADOW FIRST. anyway so so so funny they only showed cutscenes from shth . no gameplay. gee wonder why

interesting structure too, compared to the order of the OG one in 2021 (which focused more on ramping up to the classics + live n learn at the end) this order bookended some of the less popular songs (reach for the stars and the new superstars theme particularly) with the BIG names

you should have heard how much people lost it when johnny said “you are… what i’m made of” i’m so proud of you sonic symphony audience. we are all sonic heroes appreciators

oh also johnny + everyone’s clumsy attempts to name drop/imply song names in their inbetweens. hilarious. astounding. i’m glad we’re your knight johnny

^ re: prev i NEED a recording of that it was glorious. if anyone has one hmu

literally two minutes before the second half started i was telling my beloved friend i dragged along that all i needed to be happy was for them to have kept knight of the wind and it was the FOURTH SONG . WIN FOR JAY. 3 of my top fives within the first twenty mins of act 2. incredible

obviously escape from the city floored everyone. i think that got the most people singing but we were all already exhausted vocally it was very funny hearing what lines people mumbled. but it DID have the most call and response, with the biggest songs they would really just shut off the mics and let the audience sing a lot of lines it was so so fun

johnny took his leave from the stage (and complimented + thanked dave vives and also the fandom), said goodnight, and sometime around now tomoya ohtani was brought on (he deserved more applause and did eventually get it)

superstars theme was cool!!!! but right after city escape was funny bc . no one knows it. you go from most singable theme imaginable to everyone sitting as upright as possible and the half that wasn’t already recording to whip out their phones to capture it especially as they introduce it as “the first time this song has EVER played on this side of the ocean” lmao. hope you liked it london i’m glad you took us down a peg

his worrrrrrlddddd we all love it. we were all so tired. also we kept fumbling the lines bc we all like the zebra head version and rappings hard. i get it. video team did a fun job remixing the visuals for sonic + shadow + silver focus sections though it was really cool

reach for the stars really had people peetering out over the length partly bc we were all exhausted vocally and partly bc it’s sadly less iconic

i could not take fistbump seriously bc they had our beloved ian jr front and center for the whole video. it was glorious. they started w gadget for the opening bit and then bam ian jr everywhere. amazing . got a whole games worth of cutscenes with his beautiful face you did your creator (who was IN THE AUDIENCE) proud

good break before endless possibility though

possibilities are endless. ‘nuff said

jk the video was STUNNING and a lot of it was the opening cutscene which remains some of the best sonic animation ever to this day. and this song REALLY showcased how well the orchestra worked simultaneously with the band it was glorious . the use of the werehog transformation scene in time with:

mwa. stunning choice. and once again damn the band’s vocalist (dave vives) CRUSHED IT. johnny gave him a shout out for being a worthy successor at the shows he can’t attend and it was so so so deserved y’all are in for a treat

around here my ears + voice started genuinely feeling weird. the sacrifices we make for an absolutely wild experience (it’s all fine now though dw <3)

at this point they thanked everyone for coming + the band walked off stage and they turned all the lights off for a joke. me knowing they wouldn’t leave w/o live and learn was skeptical <- totally forgot they had a whole other guest star who hadn’t done his signature contribution yet

“one more” chanting ensued and my bro says he thinks they definitely had someone planted to say that but like. they did way more than one more. no way that was an intentional phrase

the band returned!!!! KELLIN QUINN KILLED IT

it’s dead. it’s dead and gone . my hearing and also the ability to play sonic music it’s been forever changed . hearing those incredible songs from frontiers + a full live orchestra backing up the astounding vocals (HOW) was incredible. this is when i could feel the literal balcony shaking . my vocal chords are going to kill me tomorrow

obligatory “just one more” was undefeatable and ngl im so glad they did it second, the hype up with break through it all made it even better despite them going the opposite in the game . should have used the cooler going supersonic clip from the trailers rather in game though . no one is immune to undefeatable + the extending music video was crazy good

ANOTHER “one last one” in which johnny was called back on stage, pretended to not know what people were asking for/what he was supposed to sing, got the ENTIRE crowd yelling the name of the song, and then and he + kellin absolutely crushed live and learn

it’s live and learn. it’s the perfect end note ft. quinn’s unparalleled vocals. what more do you need

they showed the really funny still shot of shadow overlaid on the moon for the last shot of the video and i know it’s the actual ending but it lingered for like 15 seconds and i couldn’t stop laughing . they showed all the dialogue captions leading up to him dying so i though they were going to show him falling to earth but nah. stock render brain store ass pose

still COOL AS HELL!!!!!!! they had us congratulate EVERYONE and all the individual band members and the orchestra and im so so so happy with how it went . one million thanks to these wonderful people they did a great job

a couple literally got engaged in the lobby. one group started belting sonic underground on like the third floor of the stairway. it was incredible. the oscar’s could never top this ty dolby theaterrr

absolutely incredible all around . special shout out to: the people lowkey cosplaying while still in formalwear (woman in a beautiful white dress wearing a rouge hairpiece i salute you. guy in blue suit and guy in orange suit you’re amazing. woman in the fanciest amy rose dress i’ve ever seen im in love). the people with awesome t-shirts i am among your ranks we love a fandom with cool shirt designs. people in full on cosplay i am so so happy for all the diversity in characters i saw. the line for merch that stretched all the way back into the theater at the end: what was the theater staff doing that was bonkers. the people handing out stickers that i missed i Will be stalking your online stores. all the people in normal formal wear carrying their plushies? amazing. the world is beautiful. goodnight everyone

[lunastars21]

Ok but like, on the topic of the Fang miniseries

I'm getting premonitions. I am seeing possible futures and with the way the series is heading, it's highly likely that Bark and Bean are just going to leave. And what's worse is the fact that IT WOULD HELP TIE THE COMICS INTO SUPERSTARS. IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT SEGA DECIDED FANG SHOULD WORK SOLO FROM NOW ON BECAUSE OF SUPERSTARS. And that is devastating.

IT REALLY Is SOBBING

The reason I got into sonic was because of this trio! If they break apart it'll break my heart!

IAN reaaallly needs to think if this as a good idea

There was a user in Twitter that I saw that was absolutely anti-hooligan. They hated them working together. But every time they posted something like that, many people would comment on how stupid it would be to separate them, so many people have proven they love this team!

They can't possibly think that one person hating it that they would split them apart! Not after this trio being together for years and rarely getting any content!

That's why many I've spoken to don't believe they'll just break up, and if they did, it would only be temporary. But still, it just bothers me that they would go in that direction, and I hope it wasn't because of one person being a piss baby about it! The reason I think that person is a reason is because I saw one of the writers gave them a full green flag to review this comic in the comments when they were complaining about the miniseries.

So that's why I'm paranoid, but I'll still not make quick assumptions, there's two issues left where fang can turn this around! The writers said that they think this series is cool. So far, it's just sad, but perhaps it's most likely the build-up! Plus, I'll give credit that the two issues do have their funny moments! So there's still a possibility that things can change, and Fang can at least get better. Would he still be a jerk? Yes, but hopefully, give his teammates more respect, or else team hooligan is done.

I'm totally not anxious right now :"3

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Political Themes In Mario

So there are people nowadays that complain about "politics" being "forced" in media such as Mario, whether or not this is the case. They often go on to say they just want things like Mario to be an escapist fantasy and to keep politics out. So I wanted to talk about political themes in Mario games similar to how I did for Sonic.

So to start off we have the 2 kingdoms the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdom which are constantly in conflict bringing monarchies into the mix. Peach in particular has asked Mario and Yoshi to help the Jewelry Land out from Bowser's conquest in Yoshi's Safari. She also has at least tried to met with the goodwill ambassador of the Beanbean Kingdom in Superstar Saga, she tried to deal with blorbs outbreak in Inside Story when she held a meeting, and has met with other Kingdom rulers such as Prince Florian. There is also several kings she rulers over and vast amounts of land that make up the Mushroom Kingdom such the Eastern and Western territories.

There is also the themes of exchange rates of coins and borders established in Superstar Saga. We also can't forget about the entire Koopa Army's existence. In Odyssey it is established places like New Donk City hold elections for mayors as Pauline was elected to be the mayor. Meanwhile in on Isle Delfino has an entire jury system that convicts Mario, alongside law enforcement.

In Super Mario Sunshine Bowser Junior pollutes Isle Delfino which Mario gets blamed for and has to clean up. This game as such themes are pollution ruining a beautiful island and disrupting the lifestyle of the islanders.

Speaking of pollution we can't forget about the Kremlings and how they not only polluted DK Island with Kremkroc Industries, but their homeland. As seen in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Crocodile Island has a been almost completely ruined by the Kremlings create a dark polluted atmosphere. All of this creating an environmentalist theme to these games. Now while some people might say environmentalism shouldn't be regarded as political which I agree with, it has been made political by other people. With many of the people who complain about politics in media often complaining about environmentalism viewing it in media as inherently political. This is why I am including it.

On top of that there is the hypothesis the Kremlings and K. Rool particularly in the Donkey Kong Country 1 could possibly represent a real world event and person.

More on the environmentalism theming, there is the existence of the Wild Yoshi Sanctuary and possible rewilding of Yoshies. Plus dinosaurs are often made inherently political by some people because of prehistory and evolution.

Also, of the Kremling, pirates are also political because of their connection to monarchies historical, especially being true for the Kremlings.

Finally Mario and Luigi are immigrants which should be self explanatory. In the games they lived in New Donk City for a time, while in the movieverse they are Italian-American immigrants living in Brooklyn, and many continuities. Mario and Luigi are plumbers and went through many working class jobs in the past like construction, bottling, and cement. On top of that Mario fought in an unnamed war as well in Mario Bombs Away.

And one final thing Bowser especially in the movie can represent toxic masculinity and some who can never take no for an answer. Such a theme is often made inherently political by some people. Also, the way Peach is described by Miyamoto can also be viewed as inherently political by certain people who hate the mere thought of someone like Peach being like that.

[blazehedgehog]

As someone who I know is intricately familiar with Genesis music and the FM synth it uses; why is it that many people (including myself) enjoy the Genesis era Sonic music but when Jin Senoue tries to emulate that sound using Genesis synth samples (Sonic Superstars being the most recent example) it just doesn't sound very good? I know it's literally become a running joke in the community that Senoue uses the Genesis synth too much but it's not like Sonic 1 or 2 had bad soundtracks even though they used the same instrumentation, and Senoue is obviously a very talented composer, so I don't really understand why his attempts to emulate the Genesis soundtracks always turn out so mid.

The general theory I subscribe to is that with the soundtracks to Sonic 1, 2, and presumably even Sonic 3, those games were composed by people who were just writing "real" music. They would pick out real world instruments and write for that sound.

If you've never heard it before, for the 20th Anniversary, Sega put out a compilation soundtrack for Sonic 1 and 2, which included the original demo tracks Masato Nakamura wrote for those games.

Now these are basically just MIDI files, because they didn't need to be anything more than that. But you can tell he was thinking in terms of horn sections, bass guitar, and so on.

Nakamura would submit these MIDI songs on cassette to Sega, and Sega's sound engineers would transcribe those instruments into something that sounded appropriate for the Genesis hardware.

Now, Jun Senoue did the same thing, to a degree. Jun's first major Sonic soundtrack was Sonic 3D Blast on the Sega Genesis, and Jon Burton (of Traveler's Tales) revealed Jun's own demo cassette. If you listen to Jun's tracks, they're all done on the Honky Tonk/Rhodes piano. There's no attempt to utilize real world instruments or have any kind of sound diversity. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Instead of writing music for a band, he wrote music for an individual playing a keyboard.

Worse still, it has eventually been revealed as of Sonic Origins that Jun Senoue had very little awareness of how to make Genesis sounding music. Again, he only submitted his songs on cassette. He was not responsible for the FM Synthesis conversion, just the raw notes, which were all written on, and for, a keyboard.

(throwing the rest of this ask under a "read more" tag because it embeds a lot more videos and even some images)

So when it came time for Sonic 4, and they had Jun Senoue do the retro style soundtracks for those games, he was probably pretty out of his depth. He was writing for style of music he did not really have a nuanced understanding of.

So we get this crunchy, grating, disassociated "this is what the Genesis sounded like, right?" sort of sound. The musical equivalent of one of those early 2000's "How to Draw Manga" books: somebody who thinks they know what they're doing, has actual talent in other adjacent areas, but doesn't actually get this particular niche.

This is one of the reasons why I'm actually a little warmer towards Classic Sonic's music in Sonic Forces -- it's not Jun Senoue. Somebody on that project understood enough and had Naofumi Hataya handle a lot of Classic Sonic's music. He has actual experience with chiptunes and wrote something that feels like it belongs in a Sega System 32 arcade game or something.

Not every single one of Classic Sonic's songs are stone cold bangers in Forces, but at least they sound more authentically retro than Jun's attempts, because they were written by someone who knew what they were doing.

Beyond that, I don't know why Jun doesn't just, like... do better, in a sense. I suppose I don't know his composing environment and how easy or hard it is to slot in what he'd need to sound more "authentic." I just know from my own perspective how easy it is to grab a VST or a soundfont for common Genesis/Yamaha instruments.

But even then, more authentic instruments aren't going to solve the problem that this style of music doesn't seem to be his strong suit, even if somebody at Sega keeps pushing him to do it. Thankfully, I think somebody finally realized it, given how Sonic Superstars seemed to be full of his Sonic 4 style fake-retro music and most of it got replaced at the last second.

[herrlindemann]

Sonic Seducer - June 2017, interview with Paul

Provocations have been part of the Teutonic craft at Rammstein since the early days. So far these have been directed against the establishment or the disdainful bourgeoisie. There have been quite a few live recordings over the years, so a completely different approach should make for a frenetic new fireworks experience. With the extraordinary film document 'Rammstein: Paris', however, the Swedish star video director Jonas Akerlund, who has been responsible for the video clips of the superstars in Hollywood for many years, has created such a manic, powerfully edited marvel from 30 camera perspectives that a concert visitor cannot be taken, alternate with crazy close-ups in a staccato editing sequence that is unparalleled. Surprising effects, which one would not expect in a live recording, round off the experience, but also have a polarizing effect on the fans. After a successful theatrical release in 46 countries, the Director's Cut is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray (the audio version on CD, vinyl and digital) in various configurations, some of which are very exclusive, for the home cinema format, and the inclined fan is after the unusual cinema experience something, certainly came to the conclusion 'PARIS KILLS, I have to see that at least one more time!'. The home cinema look-up now comes up with 30 minutes of additional playing time and contains the songs 'Sehnsucht', 'Links 2 3 4', 'Haifisch', 'Amerika' and 'Ich will' and continues the 'Made in Germany' tour from 2011-2012 a cinematic monument. The first part of the following interview is part of the 12-page title story of the previous issue, in which detailed impressions of the production of the new album can be found. Hear from Paul first-hand how the band responds to critical voices about 'Rammstein: Paris' and which concert variants are conceivable or not and some personal impressions.

Is it still surprising to you that, no matter which country you play in, your audience always knows the lyrics of all the songs despite the German language? It is also noticeable on the Paris recording that the songs are practically sung along with everyone.

Paul: It doesn't really surprise us anymore. We don't know anything other than the whole hall singing along at once. It's more like people from Germany who attend our concerts abroad are totally surprised and no longer understand the world when they see how many visitors are in the halls and how loudly they are singing along.

These effects, for example with Till's snake tongue in the song 'Mann gegen Mann', which are actually quite unusual in live recordings, were these also what you had in mind?

Paul: There are different opinions in the band. Let's put it this way: we think that's okay.

Was it planned from the outset that the film would be released in cinemas or was a DVD/Blu-ray recording originally planned?

Paul: That's a good question, I don't really know anymore. I imagine we were already on the clock to consider a theatrical production. But it could also have been the case that we first decided that we would see what the result looked like and then we would think about what we would do with it.

How do you as a band assess the result of the film? There were relatively polarizing opinions after the film's release, ranging from euphoric enthusiasm to criticism about the editing being too quick, too few long shots and hardly any audience images.

Paul: In principle, we as the band Rammstein see it the same way as the fans.

In my opinion, the Akerlund film has become something special and extraordinary. Our editorial team doesn't think it's so bad that there are a few critical voices. Since enough other Rammstein DVDs have already been released, we think it's good that you did something like this.

Paul: Personally, I see it that way too, I sometimes miss the long shots and longer shots of the individual musicians and the audience. I don't like the quick cuts that much and I don't like some of the effects that much. But the experiment was definitely worth recording in this form, both for the cinema and at home. The film is generally unique among live recordings and unique in this form.

Can you also imagine the recordings with an orchestra?

Paul: Personally, I think it's really bad when bands start with an orchestra at an advanced age and then, in the worst case, also sit on chairs. I hope the cup passes us by. We once had the idea that we shouldn't play as a band together with an orchestra, i.e. not guitar and drums, but that the band would actually become part of the orchestra and take over the appropriate instruments such as piano, timpani or triangle and play the Rammstein songs in this constellation . So it shouldn't look like Metallica and it shouldn't lead to such a strange result. But we're not there yet, we're having too much fun playing our songs as they are. So we put the idea of doing an opera house tour aside for now. If so, then it should really be completely classic and not 'rock meets classic', I always think that's really bad. In addition, we always have classical elements in our songs. We have often had strings, trombones and completely orchestral passages. It could also quickly happen that a complete orchestral implementation has no effect at all. When I think about it, it really doesn't feel good. What do you think about that?

Well, from my point of view Metallica's implementation failed and they still released it. I could imagine this well with some of your songs, but less so with others. I would imagine Till at the burning triangle would be quite funny. Pyrotechnics are unlikely to be allowed in any philharmonic hall. In this respect, Rammstein would be deprived of a characteristic element and would actually focus purely on the orchestral implementation. It really has nothing to do with ‘old people’. There is the ‘Gothic Meets Klassik’ event in Leipzig once a year. There, scene bands of different sizes study their songs with an orchestra or these songs are professionally arranged for live performance with an orchestra. Sometimes this works better and sometimes worse. The audience and the bands themselves have always been very moved. Some bands pick this up again later.

Paul: Well, I might be a bit too radical if I reject that completely. It probably really depends on the songs and how it's implemented. When an orchestra really gets going, it can be really good and moving, and you're absolutely right. But if it just comes out with some weird mayonnaise, that's really not nice.

You've played a few festival appearances and occasional concerts in recent years, but eight years is a long time since your last album. The other band members have released solo albums or books, for example. What does Paul Landers do?

Paul: Everyone in the band does it differently. I started windsurfing at some point. I then grab a small board with a sail and then we set off. Olli once introduced me to it and I fell into it. We pack up the boards and go to South Africa or Hawaii and then we start there and we're happy about it. I generally like to travel or go climbing, that's fun too. I also have a family and of course they want to see me too, and that's nice.

[princessconsuela120]

Chapter seven: Out of the Woods —✧

Series masterlist

Chapter Warnings: cursing, mentions of pregnancy

Authors Note: This ones a shorter one, but I couldn’t think of how else to make this more South Park coded. Don’t forget to comment like and repost! Enjoy!

Chapter art by @silvell

—✧

DRIVING UP TO MARK AND VANESSA’S FELT LIKE A FEVER DREAM. Just imagining that in a few months it would be my kid here and not me. I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought. At least I knew they’d have a good life, a really really good life. They had such a nice yard where they could play, a beautiful living area where they’d grow up, and it was as far away from the chaos of South Park as possible.

“Juno, I didn't expect to see you here.” Mark said, greeting me at the door as I walked in, looking in as I took in the scenery.

“I have something really cool to show you guys. Is Vanessa here?” I asked, pulling my bag off and searching for the ultrasound photos.

“No. Actually, she's working late tonight. Trying to accrue as much time off as she can before the..” he gestured to my stomach, making me nod.

“Oh, right. I hear these are quite the time suck.” I say, placing my hands on my bump.

“Yeah. I'm just having a ginseng cooler. Would you like one?” I gave him a strange look, which he mocked as he looked back at me.

“What is it with you rich people and your herb-infused juices?” I asked, sitting back on their couch as if it were my own. My amazing ability to make any place feel like home. I kept looking through my bag, deciding to forgot about looking for the photo for a second.

“Something to do with those sporty four-packs they come in. They're not bad though. Did you say you had something to show me?” He asked, reminding me to look through my bag before I continued to grill him.

“Behold, good sir, your future child.” I said happily, pulling the ultrasound photo out of my pocket as Mark came to sit beside me on the couch.

“Hey, look at that.”

“I think it looks like my friend Kyle.” I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. It’s kinda weird actually, the baby wasn’t even here and I could already see the small curve in it’s nose that Kyle had. It kinda made this all a little bit easier, knowing that a little piece of him was along with me for the ride.

“Is he also bald and amorphous?” Mark teased, but I simply shook my head.

“No, he's the dad.” I explained, and he nodded. I think he understood that there must have been something sore there, a kryptonite of mine to bring up Kyle. He didn’t push that part any further.

“Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?

“I can't. The doctor can. But I kind of want it to be a surprise.”

“Well, it can only go one of two ways.”

“That's what you think.” I said laughing, shaking my head at him. “I mean, I drank tons of booze and smoked so much old weed from my dads farm. He has this thing called the pandemic special, shit goes crazy...You might end up with one of those scary neuter-babies born without junk.” I explained, taking a long swig from my water bottle while raising a brow at Mark.

“Junk, huh?” He asked, seeming confused.

“Yeah, you know, its parts.”

“We definitely want it to have some junk. Please.” Mark said with a sigh, and I pressed my lips together in a frown.

“You don't need to worry about a thing. My mom makes me eat super-healthy. You know, I can't stand in front of the microwave, and no red M&M's. I hope you're ready.” I explained, but Mark seemed to ignore the question. The song playing from the cd player seemed to catch his attention.

“You hear that?” He said, getting up as he turned the volume up.

“What?”

“This is my favorite song. This is Sonic Youth doing "Superstar" by the Carpenters. What did you say your favorite band was?”

“Didn't. It's a three-way tie between Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana and Pink Floyd.”

There was a reason, of course there was. Though my favorite of all time was Billy Joel, but he asked about bands. When we were kids I don’t think I could survive without my earbuds in blasting any and all Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac songs. Billy Joel was me and Kyle’s thing. The first day he got his license, he picked me up and blasted Billy Joel music as we drove around. Vienna must have played 20 times before we even got home. And Fleetwood Mac was Stan. Even as children, when my mom would sing us Landslide to help us fall asleep.

“I'm definitely making you some CD's. At least while my kid's in there.” He said, making me smile slightly.

—✧

AFTER LISTENING TO A FEW SONGS, and establishing a very important argument of 80s movies, we ended up on the couch watching Terminator. It had been an all out war, I had to defend my stand on Swayze for my life. It was nice, a cool way of getting away from the chaos of my life, no South Park, no Cartman, no Kyle, nothing. It was a nice quiet alternative to the craziness of my life.

“I’m sorry but I just can’t give you the win on this one. Dirty dancing will forever be the winner.” I said, shaking my head as he sighed.

“At Least it’s Dirty Dancing not some bouge remake.” He said, making me nod as I leaned back, a new movie now playing on tv.

“Have you guys thought of any names for the baby yet?”

“Sort of, yes. Vanessa likes Madison for a girl.” I looked over at Mark with furrowed eyebrows, not being able to help the dirty look I gave.

“Madison? Wait, hold on. Isn't that, like, a little gay?” I said rudely, earning a look in return from Mark.

“Wow, pretentious much? Should everyone just have a mysterious name like Juno? Isn’t your brother's name Stanley?” He argued, and I just shook my head.

“My dad went through this huge obsession with Roman and Greek mythology. You know, while he was high on weed. So he decided to name me after Zeus' wife.”

“I got it.”

“Zeus, he had tons of lays...But I'm pretty sure Juno was his only wife. And she was supposed to be, like, really beautiful but really mean. Like Diana Ross.” I explained, and he smiled at me as I rambled. It was strange, the way he smiled at me, but I didn’t think much of it. He was probably just trying not to laugh at my ridiculous talk.

“Well, that suits you.” He said, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

“Thanks?”

“You are something else.” I was about to make a comment before the front door opened. “There's Vanessa. You'd better go.”

“What? Why?” I asked, confused, considering I had come in the first place to show them their baby.

“She hates when I sit around and I watch movies and I don't "contribute."” He explained, getting up and clearing the sofa canes we had downed while here.

“No, I'll handle this. I'm really good at diffusing mom-type rage.” I explained, having handled mine and Kyle’s mothers for quite some time.

“Juno, seriously…”

“Mark, where are you? I got some stuff…” Vanessa said, the bags in her arms bouncing against her legs as she walked in.

“Hey, Vanessa.” I said cheerfully, though Vanessa seemed worried by my arrival.

“Juno. What's going on?” She asked, trying to see if she could find anything wrong.

“Nothing.”

“What's wrong?”

“I went to the doctor today.” I explained.

“Is something wrong?”

“The baby's great. It's the right size and everything. I even saw its phalanges today. Here. It's a baby. It's your baby. It kind of looks like it's waving, you know? Like it's saying, "Hey, Vanessa, will you be my mom?"”

When I showed Vanessa the picture there was a certain sparkle that seemed to form in her eyes, one I realized made her even more beautiful. She was so entirely happy, and in awe to see the baby, it made it all the more magical. It made me grateful to be able to say I was helping her.

“It kind of does.”

“Right?” I asked happily, smiling when Vanessa looked up at us.

“Juno was nice enough to bring that over for us.” Mark said, as Vanessa’s worry slowly faded.

“Yeah, I came as soon as I got that ultrasound goo off my pelvis. It was crazy, actually. My mom verbally abused… The ultrasound tech, and we got escorted off the premises. Wow, what kind of swag did you score? Mall madness, huh?” I rambled, looking down at the millions of bags in her hands.

“It's just some stuff I picked up for the baby.” She said.

“Don't you usually get all that stuff at a baby shower?”

“I doubt anyone's gonna throw us a shower.”

“Why wouldn't they throw you a shower?”

“I don't think people know how to feel about the situation…”

“Because it's not set in stone.”

I looked up to see both Mark and Vanessa looking down, as if mourning a past child they didn’t get to have. It broke my heart.

“What isn't set...? No. You don't think that I'm gonna flake out on you?” I asked, but Vanessa smiled sweetly.

“No, I don't, Juno. We went through a situation before where it didn't work out.” She explained, and Mark frowned beside her.

“Yeah, cold feet.”

“You should've gone to China. You know, because I hear they give away babies like free iPods. They just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.” I explained, pretending to shoot a canon around. Mark and Vanessa shared a look before looking back at me.

“Your parents are probably wondering where you are.”

“No. I'm already pregnant. So, what other kind of shenanigans could I get into? But I should probably bounce.” I said, grabbing my keys as I began heading out.

“Take care.”

“Bye now.”

—✧

[aotopmha]

On my Sonic revisit, I'm now almost done with Sonic Mania, I revisited some of Sonic Adventure 2 and I haven't really been able to get back to Sonic Advance 2.

Firstly, I just haven't been able to get back to Sonic Advance 2 because I've wanted to play other games more. I absolutely like Mania and SA2 more, even if Advance 2 was fun in its own right.

Secondly, I love Sonic Mania aside from a couple of annoying bosses (the Flying Battery boss in particular) and some of the later stages starting to feel a little bit too long. It's not wholly original, but it has such strong gameplay identity between all of the stages.

And this strong gameplay identity between stages is what still keeps me interested in trying Sonic Superstars (despite how annoying some of the bosses look), some of the stages themselves look really good. I just hate that Superstars is still so expensive and it doesn't look like they've ironed out any of the jank.

There are sales here and there so I think I will eventually get it via those, but it's still crazy how you can get Sonic Mania for 6th of the price and not have kind of a mess of a game on your hands.

I do, however, wish for them to iterate on Superstars, just like Frontiers so I could maybe get their better, more polished sequels. They at least seem to have strong foundation to build upon even if I actually haven't played them.

Thirdly, I made it to Mission Street in the Sonic story of Sonic Adventure 2.

The Sonic stages of Sonic Adventure 2 are still evergreen. Every single one has been a blast to play and replay.

I also think there is something very evergreen about the awkward, poorly acted (and this absolutely is direction because Heroes sounds much better to me), but very fun and sincere story. It's great anime cheese.

I also actually don't mind the shooting or treasure hunting stages at this point. Treasure hunting is annoying because of the horrible radar, but all of it controls fine.

Shooting can even be a bit fun with the targeting combo system. I just rather would've had everyone have Sonic-styled stages with their own touch. I really do value how Sonic stuff tries to keep it fresh, but it's always in such imperfect ways.

The Adventure games are such wild games because I think they have the most discrepency out of all Sonic games I've played on which parts of the game I engage with after the first playthrough (that I actually like, I think the Wii version of Unleashed technically fits this, but in hindsight I do not think any of it was beyond alright, with Sonic stages being really simple and barren and the Werehog stages just overwhelming regular Sonic gameplay with just really standard platforming stuff).

I spent hours on the Sonic stages in SA1.

And I spent hours upon hours replaying the Sonic and Shadow stages in SA2.

They alone made the game worth it for just how evergreen they were to me and for just how much I played them.

In SA1 at least there were fewer stages for the other characters, so the less good characters also had fewer stages as a result, but it isn't even a 3rd of the game in volume in SA2 because the later treasure hunting stages can last so long.

But I have fond memories of these games because I had so much fun with this one aspect.

I haven't played the 360/PS3 version of Unleashed either, but I suspect I would feel the same with that game because the day stages look so much fun, but they're so uneven in terms of playtime.

Hoping for an eventual good PC port, seeing as how much of a mess the Colours port ended up being (and also did not end up entirely fixed) and also how imperfect the SA2 port is (still very fun to me, tho).

All of this said, looking at upcoming Sonic stuff, I think Shadow Generations looks really good as a game, but it's also once again fairly expensive, especially for a remaster with an addition to it that is supposedly not as long as the original and for a game that wasn't a full-priced release to begin with when it first released.

(This time it at least makes much more sense than with Superstars, however, considering they got a movie tie-in element with *Keanu Reeves* in it out of all actors. I actually still find it wild he's voicing Shadow in the third movie.)

I also expected Superstars to be really good and that absolutely came with its own issues that made me not want to get it right away at release price, so expensive or not, I'm just waiting for impressions.

Generations is probably my favourite 3D Sonic game, though. The Adventure games control better, but Generations is a game I really enjoy all the way through with the exception of maybe the last stage being too long and the final boss not being that good.

It's short, but sweet: a collection of infinitely replayable stages that are really fun to perfect and speedrun.

(Now do that, but with Adventure controls.)

So this is a game I really hope is really good and justifies its price (and also stops the series of janky rereleases).

Finally, I also watched the newly released animation for Shadow Generations, which was really good because it leaned into the sincere elements of Shadow's character as in SA2, rather than the unfun Shadow the Hedgehog stuff. (I even actually kind of liked some of Shadow's stuff in the 06 story more than anything in ShtH.)

If they somehow make any of that work better in hindsight, I'll applaud them.

[skaruresonic]

The ultimate thing that plagued fandom is how Sonic's personality outside attitude wasn't cared for since day 1. The heavy US marketing 1991-4 is the only thing the fandom and general public truly cared

Even after 1995 marketing stopped the rivalry, game forums and reviewers still tacked the "Sega does what Nintendon't" slogan till 2008 at least!

It doesn't help how it took till 1995 for manual lore to properly be translated. Even then, no one read it, so they just assumed the only serious Sonic is Satam. It didn't help how the 1995-97 period was devoid of legit games for Saturn, a game collection being done because even in Japan general audiences barely remembered him

So with Saturn's failure everyone was salty to find Sonic changed for Adventure, and disrupted US/UK alt media for a true canon. While Adventure had its newfound fans, older ones were bitter because it did not fit their misinterpretation. Then SA2 was the last 1st party game Sonic had, and both older fans and reviewers truly soured view of him

The advent of 2000s fancomics and fan parodies were rife with extreme bias. Sonic himself was used as a speaking piece to diss later characters, to perpetuate the outdated Nintendo rivalry, to in short, be a dick and shape opinion, as well as encourage a heavy anti Sega mentality, while also treating fans like they know better. Sonic Retro and Cult were infamous for the toxicity

It's also why I can't fault 06 soley for rep at the time, reviewers and fans were shitting on anything not Genesis. Spinoff 2D titles were just ignored, Shadow 05 failed for rep despite it literally answering the fandom's yearning for guns, and everyone acted like Sonic wasn't himself anymore, despite Sonic Team's continuity despite being light was stable

The toxicity is so bad Sega supported it for the Sonic 4 campaign, even the incorrect mistranslation of "Needlemouse". I'm honestly glad the game failed for rep, it'd be disastrous if fans got verified thinking they can shape everything

I'm not surprised there's a huge pushback of revisting what were once hated games, though it's clear the fandom just took on traits of the previous gen for later games. It's the same shit.

Similarly, it's very clear the fandom doesn't want to evolve gameplay or lore. The amount of finished samey fangames since early 2000s is depressing. More unique ones rarely get out. It's why SAGE started none Sonic entries

Nostalgia of the past gen games also sadly ignores historical and economical context, lending to rose tinting. For every SMB3 on the NES, there were 30 trash NES games no one cared. YouTubers harmed game talk for a decade with the shortsighted ness and bias

Similarly people think all PSX games look like either MegaMan Legends or Crash, with 0 inbetween. It's sad

I feel Sonic discourse represents a core problem with the gaming fandoms: it doesn't matter how talented you are, you all are dissing and ignoring history and context for a cheap nostalgic quip. No wonder 2010s gaming got super nostalgia catering, same with Indie gaming

I'm sorry for potentially Doomposting, but at this point I can't think of any solutions to fix fandom

It's almost hard to believe given the anti-Pontaff sentiment these days, but once upon a time Colors was considered the saving grace of the series because it offered a "return to form" of the Classic formula of Sonic and Tails embarking on an adventure to stop Eggman. You remember? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I feel like the "Sonic was never good" crowd have some kind of stick up their ass about the 3D games, but they don't want to come out and say as much for whatever reason. They subscribe to the idea that the Genesis games were the only good games, but the fact that they don't like Mania or Superstars either kinda tells me it's not the formula they like, but rather, the time period in which the Genesis games were made. A game that copies and polishes 3/4th of its content from the Classics somehow isn't good enough. It lacks the je ne sais quois of the original, they say, forgetting that the only difference is they aren't kids anymore.

Then ofc you get the real galaxy brains who contend that "Sonic was never good" because Sonic games... are linear... and require skill to build speed, as opposed to simply granting you speed right off the bat... And at some point, listening to them just gives you the creeping suspicion like they've never played a Viddy Game in their life. Somehow non-fans are after all these years still under the impression that Sonic games involve no skill, like it's just "boost to win" until you reach the end, and then they get mad when the game doesn't reward them for playing shittily lol.

---

It's also why I can't fault 06 soley for rep at the time, reviewers and fans were shitting on anything not Genesis. Spinoff 2D titles were just ignored, Shadow 05 failed for rep despite it literally answering the fandom's yearning for guns, and everyone acted like Sonic wasn't himself anymore, despite Sonic Team's continuity despite being light was stable Oof, I know. Sega really dug themselves a deep hole with the release of '06 and GBA!Sonic 1. Decades on, we still can't escape people saying "Sonic's had a rough transition to 3D," despite the transition occurring 25 years ago... A quarter-freakin'-century.

Also, I remember hearing they gave Shadow a gun because Sega was receiving letters from kids asking to give Sonic a gun. It's worth noting that CoD was really big at the time. ShTH!Sonic is a tad hyperactive, granted, but he's not terribly so to the point of flanderization. Fandoms be exaggerating. --- The advent of 2000s fancomics and fan parodies were rife with extreme bias. Sonic himself was used as a speaking piece to diss later characters, to perpetuate the outdated Nintendo rivalry, to in short, be a dick and shape opinion, as well as encourage a heavy anti Sega mentality, while also treating fans like they know better. Sonic Retro and Cult were infamous for the toxicity

You'd think porting SA2 over to the GameCube and the release of Advance 1 on the GBA would have put the kibosh on that, but old habits die hard, I suppose.

Personally, I don't remember seeing a whole lot of cynical, hardbitten Sonic in fan spaces outside of parody comics like inSONICnia, though it's possible that I just wasn't paying enough attention. What I do remember was seeing a lot of "Sonic's shitty friends." Namely, how there were too many of them, and how often non-fans called for them to die - sometimes going so far as to include Knuckles, Amy, and Tails! Like some people legitimately thought Sonic should have featured just Sonic and Eggman and no one else despite that never being the case since freakin' 1991.

The aughts were weird.

[sonicjustbecause]

Rouge the thief has no darkide? according to Sonic prime...

When Sonic shattered the prysm, we got pieces of all character personalities. Some got darksides, but some more appear to have a pure heart. And some are unsuspicious:

Sonic: Sonic didn't shatter but he has a counterpart since 2001. Yes, Shadow. The two guys are virtually identical and the only difference is their colours. Shadow's overall different experssion is over a face that is very same of Sonic. Like all counterparts, Shadow is not the opposite of Sonic in all aspect. In some aspect they're the same. Shadow was not mean to be Sonic's shadow but he is Sonic's reflection. One thing that underline this is that Sonic is overall right handed and Shadow is overall left handed. Yet there are things that are the other way (Shadow uses the right when using Chaos control, while Sonic favour his left).

They both love a good challenge.

If Sonic did statter I'm sure one of them would be the exact copy of Shadow (except the colour), with quills upward and outward. Another would be a drama queen, a cry baby (Sonic is known to be particularly good at holding back his tears. In one shatterspace, maybe the boscage, he would cry over the smallest thing, a sort of soy boy, or soy hedgehog). Another dimension would give us a Sonic who is a literal superstar. No place I think.

A shattered Shadow would give us a cheerful yet a bit delinquent Shadow, like the one from Chousoku Sonic. No place maybe. We can have a innocent version of him from boscage maze and a melancholic yet sociable version from New Yolk.

I don't know if Sonic and Shadow would have at least one evil counterpart.

Rouge: all Rouge counterparts from the shatterspace are good hearted. That's surprising since Rouge is a thief and thieves are criminal, although their crime may be minor. She might reflect the imaginary figure of the lady thief, she steal but she is kind and gentle.

Amy also has no evil counterpart. Rusty is a cyborg that was controlled by the chaos council but once she got her mind back she quickly chooses the heroes. Is not that surprising that Amy is pure hearted.

Big the cat is a large fluffy Siberian cat. And in all his countermarts, he is still a large fluffy Siberian cat. This guy is true to himself, pure, honest at the point to never change, it doesn't matter what.

Knuckes has one evil counterpart, Dread. Dread is literally a psychopath. He is funny at first glance. Then you discover a liar, a manipulator, he uses other people for his goals and he is attracted by power and lust. Once people around him aren't useful amymore they can go, well... to fuck theirselves. He seems having some Gollum traits ('My beauty' mirror Gollum's 'My preciousssss!').

Interesting that a so naive character like knuckles has a so sly counterpart like Dread.

Tails has one evil counterpart, Nine. Being 8 years old, Nine is just at the early stage of his role of the mad scientist. He is in the moment you discover something big you would never imagine. A power that you mean to use for yourself without meaning harm at the start. But the power is so big you get corrupted and drunk, wanting more and more without realizing. Nine was strongly against the idea of ripping apart the shatterspace... and once he gets the power, he rips the shatterspace apart, even making some world explode (like Ghost hill).

If Rouge, Amy and Big have no dark side, Eggman is pure evil. His counterparts are five, all cruel and all getting along. Is like the opposite of Big the cat.