#so i have no issues with you

[sage-nebula]

Time for some hot takes™ about Sonic because it's been rotating in my mind since yesterday's bumblekast, and I'm hungry so it's an apt time to make a poor decision by posting unfiltered thoughts on tumblr (albeit unrebloggable because I might be hungry, but I'm not stupid).

The whole discourse over Sonic not killing his enemies is so mind-boggling to me on so many levels, both from the "why do you want him to take the easy way out" level, to the "it's really not that deep, he's a very easy to understand character so it's very obvious why Sega sees him this way" level, and also the, "the IDW comics have every single issue's script OK'd by Sega SEVERAL times before the issue goes to print, you can't say 'this isn't Sega's Sonic' because it IS Sega's Sonic, as in, the Sonic that Sega is putting forth right now at this very moment in time" level.

On the first level — maybe this is just because I grew up in the police state that is the United States, or maybe it's because I'm a naturally assertive-borderline-aggressive person, but to me, punishing a person for doing something heinous—whether it's punishment via incarceration or punishment via death—really is the easy choice to make. Like if I hear that someone has beaten a child to death, my first instinct is to want to beat that person to death with a baseball bat, or at least put them in a dark room to suffer for the rest of their lives. Does this make me a horrible person? Well, debatable—but regardless, my first instinct when I hear that someone has done something heinous is to want to punish them. I want to make them hurt, just as badly as they made that innocent person hurt.

And like, that's easy. I feel like for most people, that's the instinct, right? You do something wrong, you get punished. Only the social science says that this doesn't actually benefit society in any way. Incarceration is NOT effective at making society safer. The death penalty certainly isn't, especially when it comes to the fact that there are people who are sentenced who weren't guilty of the crimes they were convicted of. We know these things, and yet, the first instinct for many of us is still, "go to jail forever" or "die" when we hear about something like a man raping and murdering children.

So for me personally, on a logical level I totally understand why prison abolition is important, I'm against the death penalty, etc. But emotionally it can be so hard to not want to say, "except for . . ." because again, there are people who do truly heinous things. But if you are for prison abolition, or the abolition of the death penalty, you can't have an "except for." Either all people deserve civil liberties, or they don't. This isn't a thing you can go halvsies on. Because when you start drawing lines, then people start finding ways to finagle it so that the people they don't like cross those lines. Systemic racism, and how that is reflected in the American prison system, is a great example of this.

So to say, "well Eggman will obviously never get better and so Sonic shouldn't give him any more chances and should just kill him" — you're basically, imo, wanting Sonic to take the easy way out. Because it's SO EASY to just want to one-and-done it. It's SO EASY to say, "well he never will change, so why bother giving chances?" But the thing that's actually hard is saying, I know that he probably isn't going to change. I know that we'll have to teach this old man this lesson over, and over, and over again. But he's still a living person. And living people deserve freedom. So I'm going to give him that freedom, over and over. And I'll beat his ass when he uses that freedom to try to take over the world again, but I'll still give him that option. Because he's a person, and people deserve freedom, full stop.

Which brings us to level two, which is, Sonic stands for freedom in all forms, that is his BIGGEST thing. Like yeah, he's snarky and he cares about his friends and he likes to have a good time. But one of the driving points of his character from the very beginning is that he hates oppression in all forms. This is why he fights Eggman. Don't get me wrong, the fights are fun! But even if they weren't fun—even when he's very clearly not having a good time, like during the Metal Virus arc in the IDW comics—he still does it because he hates oppression and he wants everyone to be free. Free to do good, free to do bad—that's not his call to make for anyone else. His call is, "you're free to do what you want," and all the consequences that come with it.

Now of course, sometimes these consequences aren't good. Again, he has to teach Eggman the same lesson like a hundred times. Surge makes it clear she won't rest until he's dead. Metal Sonic won't override his programming to turn against Eggman any time soon. The Zeti will try to kill everyone if they come back, etc. The thing is, Sonic isn't saying, "my way is definitely the right way." The fact is, there ISN'T a universally right answer to this question, but even if there was, Sonic wouldn't be concerned with it. It's in numerous theme songs over and over again, but he thinks "it doesn't matter what is wrong and what is right," in terms of, whether people agree with his actions or not. This is why he's unbothered that Surge takes issue with how he lives his life (in the sense that, he doesn't care if she doesn't agree with him, but also he'd like her to be less murdery about her disagreement). All Sonic's concerned with is, do you have the freedom to make your own choices? Yeah? OK. That's it.

Now again . . . he's not twiddling his thumbs. He'll stop you from killing people. But as soon as the danger's passed, he peaces out. You can go on to make more bad decisions if you want. And he'll intervene then. But he's not going to take your freedom from you, either via jail or death. Because wrong or right, that's not who he is.

"But he imprisoned Erazor Djinn in the lamp and then threw the lamp in lava! But he killed Emerl and Biolizard and thought he killed King Arthur!"

Well, first off, I think there could be debate over how "alive" the storybook characters are. Sonic was isekai'd into books in those games. If you were isekai'd into a Mario game, and you stomped on Goombas, are you now a murderer? Should you update your tinder bio to say you killed people when you get back into the real world? Is killing Goombas while you're in the Mushroom Kingdom equivalent to killing a person who you meet out on the street in New York City? I ask these questions because I honestly wonder if that's where Sega's head is at on the storybook games—if perhaps Sonic acts the way he does there because to him . . . well, those "worlds" are just stories in a book. I don't know if that's the case, I'm just speculating.

The actual answer is that Erazor Djinn isn't dead though, just trapped in the lamp (though he still shouldn't be trapped but that's neither here nor there), with Emerl there was literally no other option, same with the Biolizard, and the actual Big Bad of Black Knight was Merlina and she didn't get deep-sixed by Sonic. At least according to yesterday's Bumblekast, those are Sega's official stances on those stories.

Regardless, let's suppose for a moment that there was a game from, I don't know, 2003 in which Sonic decided, "you know what, everyone sucks, I'm gonna go on a murder spree" and he did just that. Let's say that in 2003 Sega made "Sonic Murder Simulator" where you, as Sonic, went around killing people. That was back then. Right now, in 2023, Sonic isn't about murder, and he's not about imprisonment, because he wants everyone to have freedom even when he is personally fucked over by that, because to him, the freedom to do what you want, when you want, and how you want is the most important thing in the world. That's Sega's view on this character right now. It's not that deep, it's not that hard to understand, I honestly don't know why people are making up conspiracy theories that Ian Flynn is gaslighting this fandom, I really don't.

(But also, I honestly feel like there are some people in this fandom who just want Sonic to be Shadow. They want Sonic to kill bad guys. They want Sonic to be angsty about his past, burdened by trauma, and that's just not him. Like don't get me wrong, Sonic has been through some shit, but he's not the type to angst. He's not the type to brood. And he's definitely not the type to kill. If you want a Sonic character who is broody, reflective, traumatized, and willing to kill, the one you want is Shadow. He is right there. He has been right there for like two decades now. Go enjoy him, instead of wanting to make Sonic be him. It's literally what Shadow's there for, it's why he was revived.)

This is a long, unfiltered ramble that I might regret posting later, but either way I just had to get it off my chest. Especially the bit about "IDW Sonic is not real Sonic, he's not Sega's Sonic" because he literally is. Not a single micro-expression gets published in that comic without Sega's express approval. You don't have to like it. You can think that Sega is Ruining Sonic Forever. But to say that Sega's Sonic isn't in the comics is just batshit fucking ludicrous. Ian Flynn is not some criminal mastermind who's scheming to ruin your childhood or whatever. He certainly doesn't hate Sonic or Sega's vision for Sonic, because if he did, he wouldn't still be accepting work from them for this franchise. Whatever he does, and whatever Evan Stanley does, is with Sega's approval. Full stop. Like it or hate it, but at least take issue with the correct people, ffs.

Anyway, I need to go eat some mac'n'cheese now. Vent over.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[crabussy]

hey. don’t cry. crush four cloves of garlic into a pot with a dollop of olive oil and stir until golden then add one can of crushed tomatoes a bit of balsamic vinegar half a tablespoon of brown sugar and stir for a few minutes adding a handful of fresh spinach until wilted and mix in half a cup of grated parmesan cheese and pasta of your choice ok?

[normal-thoughts-official]

Please stop seeing politics as an identity and start seeing it as a collective means for change

[marrowridden]

You have a complex relationship with your body and need to keep some/all of your clothes on during sex?

That's okay, what you're wearing looks good on you.

You need to take a lot of breaks doing anything intimate because you're easily overwhelmed?

I understand, I'm just happy to be here with you.

You're on medication that impacts your libido/makes reaching orgasm really difficult?

No pressure, tell me what feels good for you, and if you get frustrated we can do something else together.

Sex isn't going to look the same for everybody and that's fine, that's normal.

Sometimes you don't orgasm, sometimes you need to stop because your mood changes out of nowhere, sometimes you get really self conscious and need accommodations to take your mind off of it.

People are too complex for everybody to go about it the same, just keep doing what feels best for you, regardless of how different it may seem from other people's experiences.

[foolsocracy]

put dick on a team and trust he will make sure they can perform as an acrobat troop

[talaricula]

Things I've seen tumblr memeing about James Somerton doing à la "How did no one see how bigoted he was!" as if those things haven't been a significant part of tumblr culture for over a decade :

Presenting untrue and bordering on conspiratorial versions of (queer or otherwise marginalised) history without any sources

Completely disregarding and disrespecting any expertise on socio-cultural topics/humanities and distrusting academics and historians (incl. acting as if no academics or historians could be queer or marginalised)

Downplaying the role misogyny played in the historical oppression of queer women and concluding that queer men must have been more oppressed than queer women

Bi women are, at best, not as queer as "real" queer ppl, and at worst, simply equivalent to straight women

Despite nominal trans inclusivity, transmasculine ppl are functionally women when convenient (combined with the above, bi transmascs are functionally straight women)

Despite nominal trans inclusivity (bis), shamelessly attacking, threatening and actively endangering any trans woman who questions them or smth they find important (often by unfairly presenting her as violent or as a threat)

Having absolutely fucking wild and reductive takes about ace ppl, the oppression they face and their place in the queer community

Stating that marriage equality is an assimilationist fight while completely ignoring its direct roots in the horrifying consequences of the AIDS crisis for partners of ppl who died of AIDS

Praising western media creators from the past for queer coding even under censure and in the same breath condemning current non western media creators for being homophobic bc their representation isn't explicit enough

Blaming China for all existing homophobic censoring in western media

Assuming all queer media would be better told by western creators and by western standards

Only out queer ppl get to tell queer stories

Heavily criticising almost all queer media created by women or ppl they see as such (see above points about trans ppl) or involving/starring a significant amount of women for any perceived or real amount of "problematicness", but fawning over and praising and negating criticism of queer media created by and starring mostly or even functionally exclusively men (even when it could be argued that, you know, not involving/seriously sidelining women is a pretty clear example of misogyny which should probably be considered "problematic")

And I'm probably forgetting stuff or there's stuff I have internalised myself and don't recognise as an issue

Like idk but I feel like the takeaway from Hbomberguy and Toddintheshadow's videos should maybe be "be aware of such patterns in your communities bc they definitely exist" and not "this guy is uniquely awful" and I feel like a lot of the discussion I've seen surrounding this has been severely failing at that. Most ppl who've spent any significant amount of time on tumblr prob either have internalised at least one of those thought patterns, have had to de-internalise them, or have had to be extremely vigilant to not internalise them (which is done by, you know, seeking out other sources, which also seemed like an important takeaway from the videos)

[cozylittleartblog]

@staff if you [change] the [design] of the fucking [dashboard] i will kill you

edit. i want it on the actual post that i am not actually making a de-th threat against the staff. that's shitty. the caption quotes the fucking costco hot dog meme, which i originally said in the tags. if any staff member sees this please do Not take it personally

[ravelqueen]

Lmao OMFG Martin. He's now confirmed to have been jealous of

- (possibly lesbian?) Cop for daring to have private conversations with Jon

- literal embodiment of death Jon has only metaphorically met in a coma-dream

- lady he talked to for half an hour, once

Truly he is the "you know other people" meme

[mythicalcoolkid]

You don't wish your disability was worse or more visible, you wish your disability was taken seriously. Please stop confusing the two, I guarantee you would not get the support you need JUST by being more severe or more visible. Please listen to visibly disabled people when we tell you it isn't better on our side

[loganspr1ncess]

born to take these photos, forced to save them off pinterest

[sunfoxfic]

We were so close to smoking not being cool anymore. We were so close. Then they flavored it mango and now it's taboo to criticize it anymore. People don't ask if they're allowed to vape indoors, they aren't considerate of people who may have health problems that are triggered by the chemicals or if it just bothers them, people don't care that they're supporting an industry built on corruption and greed, they can't see it draining their pockets and much less their health. We were so close to smoking not being cool anymore.

[courfee]

remus is very unimpressed, sirius is very happy :)

based on this post

[weekend-conspiracy-theorist]

given cass's canonical love of reality tv, I am absolutely certain that every year babs has to go into cbs's recruitment email and delete her survivor audition video

[redrobin-detective]

I can't stop thinking about how funny it is that Aang had all this secret lore on Zuko because of the Blue Spirit that he just, didn't share with the Gaang. That boy knew that Zuko was capable of fighting extremely well without bending, was excellent with swords and unnaturally good at infiltration and espionage. And then just never brought it up.

Katara's yelling at Zuko on how he thinks he'd be able to find and break into the Sun Warrior Temple while Aang is fidgeting in the background. Sokka starts giving Zuko a hard time about his swords, asking if a spoiled prince would know how to use them. Aang is vibrating unsure of how to explain that Sokka Might Die if he tried to swordfight Zuko unprepared but now its been too long and it'd be super awkward to bring up.

[bugbuoyx]

my #girltrauma means i think all people who look like men are nasty and evil, especially those queer men theyre probably rapist pedophiles invading womens sorry lgbt+ spaces. i guess youre ok if you used to be a girl but i think you need to dress more feminine, honey, like sorry im just uncomfortable around men and i think you i would be so much happier and prettier if you just dressed like a girl.