#sonic prime ruined my life

[rosemaryreality]

So like...

I know that Sonic assuming that Nine would just do what he wants is bad, specially since part of his reasoning came from thinking he would be and act just like Tails would...but.

You can still see that Sonic was actually pretty excited to have Nine in Green Hill, at the point in time of those screenshots Sonic thought that Nine was fine going to live in Green Hill, there was no reason (from his pov) to convince him that living in GH would be great. To me at least it reads as Sonic being really excited about not just getting his world and friends back (which obviously he would be happy about) but also about Nine being there with them specifically.

He talks about meeting Tails, having fun together in green hill...like, dude really just adopted the kid. They were family now, no questions asked.

[rosemaryreality]

wait wait wait wait what if WHAT IF. THE THING THAT MAKES NINE SYMPATHIZE WITH SONIC AND HIS INSISTENCE ON BRINGING BACK HIS FRIENDS IS ENDING UP IN THE SAME SITUATION OF HAVING TO WATCH THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT BECOME SHADOWS OF THEMSELVES!!! THE GUILT OF NOT LISTENING TO THEM OMG!!!!

Nine's gonna regret everything so badly

Like Sonic is obviously not gonna permanently die but my brain is fucking running thru how they end up killing the dude like IMAGINE it’s in fucking front of Nine and he has to watch the only person he trusted shatter because of a miscommunication I’m going to throw UP

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Anyone else get that feeling that whenever it's about the Sonic games themselves everyone is like "the writing is just a mess and the characterizations are no different" but the moment it's about a Sonic adaptation (new show, movie, comic, etc) suddenly the Sonic cast has solid characters and the bad bad adaptation is making them so ooc?

[audhdreviews]

But seriously how can I be an adult and work a job when shadow the hedgehog is so fine and he exists for free???

[wonderinc-sonic]

Does anyone want to listen to this song and imagine Sonic Prime where just as the alternate versions are dying they remember who and where they were meant to be, and the incomplete shatterverse is where they'll be waiting for Sonic? No, okay, that's fine. I'll be here, totally being normal.

Lyrics under cut, if like me you gotta read and listen to things to hear them properly.

Balancing on

One wounded wing

Circling the edge

Of the neverending

The best of the vanished marvels have gathered inside your door

More than begin

But less than forget

But spirits born

From the not happened yet

Gathering there

To pay off a debt brought back from the wars

We thought we lost you

We thought we lost you

We thought we lost you

Welcome back

Sleeping for years

Pick through what is left

Through the pieces that fell and rose from the depth

From the rainwater well

Deep as a secret nobody knows

Less than forget

But more than begun

These adventures in solitude never done

To the names of our wounds

We send the same blood back from the wars

We thought we lost you

We thought we lost you

We thought we lost you

It will all come back

I know you want to

Run far away from one more

And that it's coming at a bad time

Some cold place

Heartless waste

For all we know

I know you need to

Breathe through

Come back

Come too

But it's comin' at a bad time

Tangled day

For all we know

I know you want to

Run far away from one more

And that's comin' at a bad time

Some cold race

Heartless ways

For all we know

I know you want to

Breathe through

Come back

Come too

But it's comin' at a bad time

Old scarred face

Survivor's guilt

For all we know

[essycogany]

Rare But Not So Rare Sonic Moments. Character Analysis.

Crying

A weird topic I’m more then happy to discuss.

Mandate: “Sonic’s not allowed to get overly emotional.”

I’m starting to think the mandates do break in a few instances. This one specifically is something I’m quite interested in because this is probably one of the rarest emotions Sonic displays. Getting sad/emotional.

Hopefully this essay will be a positive outlook on the mandate.

(Despite being a discussion about negative emotions.)

Examples Of Sonic Getting Emotional

I might not include everything, but the examples I have knowledge of will be stated. If you have anymore examples, I’d love to see them.

SATAM: Sonic cried when he and the Freedomfighters had to leave his Uncle Chuck in Robotnik’s lab.

Archie: The times Sonic cried/teared up was when the weight of a situation got to him, when something tragic occurred and all hope was lost, or when he was filled with joy after those instances ended. Those moments like others, didn’t go too far. (For the most part)

Pretty sure he never out right sobbed.

Underground: I think Sonic only cried when he was a little kid.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

X: In episode 52 Sonic allowed his tears to shed with his head turned away from us. He and Chris ran one last time before Sonic left through a portal to go home forever. It obviously crushed him even if we didn’t see his face.

Boom: Sonic cried/teared up in two episodes of the show. First when Tails was reminiscing about the Tornado and noticed Sonic wiping his eyes. Sonic replied, “What?” Then he, Knuckles, and Tails all cried when they thought the baby they took care of was gone. Also, in Archie when Stick’s rock friend broke or “Died,�� everyone in team Boom morned it. Sonic included.

IDW: Sonic shed tears in the Scrapnick Island Issue. Even if it was “Mecha Sonic’s” tears I’ll count it anyways because it’s a good loophole and it came out of Sonic’s eyes.

Movie 1: It’s implied he indeed cried during the baseball scene. The sources being a deleted scene and story-board of the film.

Prime: This doesn’t really count, but Sonic teared up in the first episode when he was held captive by the Chaos Council and had light blasted in his eyes, when he was in darkness. Then Sonic actually cried in episode 7 when he ate a seadog. Either because he was home-sick or starving.

(In the last episode of season two it’s implied he might cry in the next episode. Especially with the shot of him looking on the verge of tears and then covered his eyes in the background of the last shot, but we’ll see.)

By the way. You can see the instant improvement from episode 1 to 7 of the tears animation. Just thought I’d say that.

My Overall Thoughts

Hold on because this is going to be a long ride.

First thing I’d like to discuss is the mandate itself.

I personally don’t believe it means, “Sonic shouldn’t cry.”

(Which has been stated a bunch)

If that were the case, I don’t think this majority of moments (specifically the recent ones) would’ve happened. I think the mandate meant Sonic couldn’t and or shouldn’t go too far with his emotions. I don’t think the mandate existing makes any since, but I won’t get into that.

My point is, Sonic can cry, just not in an overly dramatized way unless it’s done for comedic purposes.

(I say that because of Sonic Boom and the 7th episode of Prime examples. Which are obviously not meant to be taken seriously)

My opinions on Sonic crying.

It’s not necessarily needed, but I don’t mind if it’s done well. I do believe Sonic shouldn’t go too far unless the situation does.

One Issue in Archie when Sonic’s entire life was basically ruined, is a good example. If you’re going to have such calamities happen to him, especially since he has zero ego or mask to hold onto, I think it’s a fair enough scenario for him to react as drastic as his misfortune.

But I believe if he were to cry in something like the Metal Virus. (Just for an example) it could be like how Espio teared up after Vector’s sacrifice.

Crazy idea. Let’s talk about Shadow for a minute.

Shadow is one of the most stoic characters in the entire franchise. He barely smiles, gets excited, or displays any overly positive emotions. While Sonic rarely cries, gets angry, or shows any harsh negative emotions. Shadow and Sonic are opposites because of that.

Sonic’s overall a positive and outgoing guy who wants to keep moving forward. Whenever he has the time to worry, he runs. Faces his problems head on. Sonic only let’s a small amount of his true emotions out when helping someone else. In general Sonic’s a pretty optimistic character.

Shadow on the other hand is a reserved and serious guy. Who wants what’s best for the world too, but in a more calculated and planned out manner. But for some reason, in Sonic Adventure 2 after Amy encouraged Shadow to save the world, (Which reminded him of Maria’s real wish) He sheds a tear.

I repeat. Shadow is the most stoic character in the entire franchise. Who rarely shows his emotions. And yet he cries.

Why can’t Sonic? To be fair, Sonic usually doesn’t have time to think, let alone worry about how he feels. But if Shadow himself can have a short moment of releasing his emotional baggage, why can’t the blue blur?

Is Sonic even as happy as he let’s on?

I’d say he’s genuinely happy half of the time. Then the other half Sonic’s internalizing everything negative in him. Everyone knows Sonic’s overall upbeat, but we’ve seen plenty of times (In the Metal Virus specifically) when he’s thinking, or enduring the chaos around him, he doubts himself. Sonic has these insecurities and emotions he barely let’s anyone see.

Besides Issue #24

Even in Sonic Prime while Sonic shows the most guilt, sincerity, anger, fear, and sadness in the show. He sometimes still puts on a front and acts like everything’s fine.

Sonic Unleashed I’m pretty sure was the first and only time we’ve seen him mope for a minute. All because Amy didn’t know who he was. So, he does have some level of insecurities lingering every once in a while.

Can Sonic crying even work?

How I interpret him crying is when he’s alone. Some people theorize in certain instances like SA2 and Unleashed with Shadow and Chip’s sacrifices, he cried a little. I’m fascinated by this idea. I believe it’s the most in character way to let him cry. Maybe even something like X when his face isn’t shown, but you know how he’s feeling.

Even if we do see Sonic’s face, him crying or tearing up could be shown without being over the top. Normalize it in a way that doesn’t fly off the handle. His expression could have a hint of frustration, anger, or exhaustion. Crying is normal and I don’t see Sonic crying as out of character because it’s been done plenty of times.

It’d be nice if it happened in order to make Sonic feel more believable and sympathetic. As long as the dude’s not on the floor whaling, I’m sure it can work.

Final Thoughts

There are other ways to show Sonic’s emotions. Again, crying doesn’t have to happen, but it does help the writing feel less unnecessarily limited of what kind of emotions can be displayed on this character.

Though there are benefits too. Like finding fun loopholes or small animated details like in IDW and Prime. Sonic not crying so much makes the times he does (or may do in the future) feel earned and impactful. The examples before prove it can be done without taking away what makes Sonic who he is. It just needs to be subtle, quiet, and quick. (Or humorous) Depends on what you think.

At the end of it all, Sonic’s a tough hedgehog. Him shedding a few tears won’t ever change that.

Stay Creative! 💜

[dr-spectre]

As someone who's been in multiple fandom circles and calls themselves a Splatoon fan, I've seen a lot of focus and discussion on "THE LORE!!" and "CANON!!!" and to be honest with you... it's getting really tiring and I think people are just WAY TOO obsessed with what a wiki or an intern at Nintendo says rather than forming their own perspective on events and coming to their own unique conclusions.

Now, I wanna say, if talking about lore and discussing which elements are canon or not makes you happy and you love talking about that, then that's perfectly okay. It's fine. It's not for ME personally because my focus on Splatoon is the gameplay, music and the storytelling chops of each Hero Mode.

Story >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Canon for me any day of the week i do not care.

Because, to get away from Splatoon for a second, for my Sonic fans out there, you remember when Sega and the people behind the show Sonic Prime said that it was canon to the mainline Sonic timeline? And if you said otherwise you were technically wrong because "oh Sega said this, so it MUST be true!"

........But then everyone said that Sonic Prime cannot be canon to the mainline Sonic timeline because it has a fuck ton of inconsistencies? Yeah.... funny. Basically, don't put a lot of focus into "what actually happened" and "oh this is what the multi billion dollar corporation said!" because there's always gonna be one guy out there that goes "um this information kinda fucking damages the story in a severe way." (And sometimes that one guy is me.... hehehehe....)

I could obviously talk about.... you know.... Hypno Callie again for the 50th trillion time.... (and i will)..... This bitch.... I wanna love you girlie i really fucking do but Nintendo and millions of people make it hard to....

Nintendo set up Callie's villain arc decently in Splatoon 1 with the Splatfest dialogue, the Squid Sister stories and the Sunken Scrolls, yet they ultimately damaged the progression of the arc by saying "nah fuck u she got kidnapped and brainwashed, removing all of her memories and free will because fuck telling a good story with satisfying set up and pay off that allows for character growth. Fundamentals of storytelling? What are those?" And it also destroyed Callie as a character by reducing her to an object that the player "must save from da evil Octavioooo" and "oh look at her! She put the stupid brainwashing shades onnn againnn!! such a dumb fucking moron dumbass piece of shit right guys?!? lmaoooooooooo!! explore the dangers of addiction and how you need to seriously change your life and be surrounded by those you love in order to change bad habits?? Themes?? PFFTTT! NAWWW! THAT'S LAMEEEE!! It's Callie! No one cares about Callie!! She's stupiddd!!!"

(I talked about Callie in a tumblr comment section one time and I got made fun of for by a guy way older than me. I love humanity.)

It also ruined DJ Octavio's character too because, if what Nintendo said is true about what he did then he cannot be redeemed in Splatoon 3. He cannot go back on the shit he's done. But they try to redeem him out of nowhere and now he's all chill with the New Squidbeak Splatoon and appeared in the Grand Fest.... Yet what he did to Callie which Nintendo loves to push is truly TRULY unredeemable and if that's the case then welp.... I call that bad writing, straight up. It's bad writing.

I really hate it when something happens in a story and you perceive it in a certain way where you feel like it elevates the events, but then the company behind the story chooses to pick the worst outcomes possible just because? And everyone rolls with it just cause? Ugh...

Lesson of today is, don't fucking listen obsessively to what a company says and suck it up. Consume media and come to your own conclusions on what happened. As long as you have tangible evidence to back up your claims you can make any interpretation you want to, whatever makes you feel happy bestie!

[flight-of-the-sacred-eagle]

So, I’m still yelling about Sonic Prime season 2. It’s. So fucking good?

And not just because someone on the writing team 100% ships Sonadow because, holy crap, so much of that episode feels shippy.

So, full disclosure. Shadow is my favorite Sonic character. Ever since I saw him in Heroes I loved him. As a kid I didn’t notice the real “constantly shifting character” thing. Now, having played almost every major 3d Sonic game (I didn’t play Forces and refused to play Boom), having watched shows like Sonic X and Sonic Prime (again, I stayed away from Boom but I’ve heard it’s amazing), I think it’s obvious that he gets wildly mischaracterized.

He’s angsty, yes. I mean, he watched his child best friend/sister get shot to death in front of him when he was… five (Look, he’s simultaneously Sonic’s age, over 50, and like five- his age is an enigma), that would make anyone angsty. But he’s also genuinely caring, even if he rarely shows it.

Look no further than 06 when he accidentally releases Mephelis because he picks up Rogue to move her away, or when he intercepts Silver so Sonic can go save Elise. He’s actively saved the world three times- SA2, Shadow the Hedgehog, and 06, with him sacrificing his life in his first appearance. And let’s not forget how he genuinely seemed upset in 06 when Sonic died.

Actually, 06 is the best characterization of Shadow since his introduction. And it can basically all be summed up in his own words. “If the whole world chooses to turn against me, then I’ll fight like I always have.”

He’s brooding. He’s harsh. He’s proud and independent. But by god will he fight to the death for what is right. He cares about people, but he uses actions not words.

Now, what does this have to do with Sonic Prime? Well, this is probably the best characterization of Shadow they’ve ever done. He’s still broody and much more reserved, but everything he’s doing is selfless. He’s not beating up Sonic just because.

He’s beating up Sonic because he, rightfully in my mind, sees Sonic as a threat to his world. He isn’t trying to prevent Sonic from saving the world, he’s basically trying to put him in time out for ruining the world.

This is more than proven when he not only realizes that he can’t do something, but he also realizes that the only way to fix everything is to work together. And he actively admit that. Reluctantly, yes, but he says they need to work together.

He’s still angry and is currently furious at Sonic, but… he kind of has the right to be. Interestingly, he actually spoke to Sonic before fighting him (which, side note, was animated amazingly).

And let’s not forget his cockiness. It’s done perfectly. He’s not taking it too far like Sonic tends to do, but him being a smug little shit is great. And I think it really helps to show the dynamic he and Sonic have because he’s just. Not like that around other characters.

Without using words, they managed to show that, despite the fighting that’s happening, there’s a bond between Sonic and Shadow. One that can only be forged by fighting to save the world side by side.

I think it’s also important to mention that Shadow clearly was enjoying his fight with Sonic. Probably because it’s the most normal thing he’s experienced in forever. His friends are gone. Green Hill is gone. The chaos emerald is gone (though I have a suspicion that it’s going to come back at some point. It fell into the void for a reason and that void was shown for a reason. My bet is that they’re going to need to enter the void at some point). He’s trapped in limbo.

Fighting Sonic is a constant. One he desperately needs.

I know I’ve been rambling but for the first time in over a decade, they’ve gotten Shadow’s personality perfectly. Makes me wonder if the writers, or at least some of them, played SA2 growing up. After all… it’s been long enough since he was introduced that the target audience for SA2 when it was released would be old enough to work for the SEGA team.

It also makes me crazy excited for the third Sonic movie. I know they’re different writers, but they have hit the nail on the head with each character, and if a different show can characterize Shadow that well… maybe Sega is relaxing their iron grip on him and allowing him to actively shine.

Also that scene with Shadow falling to the void and Sonic sounding genuinely panicked was amazing. You can tell he was getting SA2 flashbacks. Someone likened the scene to Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man watching MJ fall in No Way Home and catching her when he couldn’t catch Gwen, and yeah. The emotional impact seems to be the same.

Sonic couldn’t save Shadow then, but he can save him now.

Just… go watch Prime if you haven’t. Sonic fans have been treated well these past few years and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

[riah-yorke-lex]

Spoilers for Sonic Prime, like all of it.

^^^^^^^^^^

Sonic has ADHD and Nine has autism.

I mean I know the regular headcanons for Sonic and Tails are already there, but hear me out.

Neurodivergent people have trouble communicating a lot of times and miscommunicate.

Btw I have both, so I’m just speaking from my own experience.

Both characters are flawed. Sonic has lost his entire home and friends. Nine never really had friends and prefers to be alone.

Anyone who wants to say Nine is a villain can leave my page.

It’s a kid’s show, and Nine is the second most important character. The writers won’t kill him off or make him pure evil. Sonic will make up with everyone and find ways to save everyone in the end. Sorry to ruin suspense, but it is a kids show. I’m not saying that means it can’t have awesome character arcs. (ATLA has awesome character arcs, betrayal and redemption + lots of dark elements, but none of the main characters DIED)

Nine will probably cause something bad to happen in his rage, constructing something dangerous with the shards or he’ll cause the entire council to come after him, or both. Nine might cause something bad to happen and then feel guilty and help Sonic. If sonic can find a solution that doesn’t destroy those living in the shatter spaces, then Nine would probably come around. I don’t think Sonic realizes the consequences of his actions.

And that’s just the thing. Sonic jumps into every situation without thinking it through, something which irritates everyone around him. Meanwhile, Nine is incredibly methodical and thoughtful in his approach. Nine is driven by LOGIC while Sonic is driven by EMOTIONS. Not to say Nine doesn’t have emotions and can’t lose control, as we will likely see in S3. However, it’s generally how their brains work.

Sonic is gullible and falls into lots of traps. He isn’t all that smart. He’s good at thinking on his feet, but he often doesn’t think before he leaps into something. Shadow did mention about how the people in the shatterspaces aren’t real or whatever. He means that if they just put the prism back together, all those variants will cease to exist since they are all just different parts of the originals. Sonic sees them as real people though, and wants to help them, but he also desperately wants his reality back. He doesn’t realize that Nine would likely cease to exist if he simply put the prisms together. This would devastate sonic if he found out.

Nine is very rational in his actions. He doesn’t feel he can trust anyone as he has been traumatized by the world he grew up on. He longs for a place of solitude, a place he can go to whenever he needs to be away from everyone. He’s rather sit in his own head with his inventions. He wants Sonic to join him here because Sonic is the first friend he ever had. He intentionally doesn’t tell Sonic everything, because he has thought this through. He hopes Sonic will see his side and see him as a real person and not just another version of Tails. Sonic has an issue of projecting his vision of Tails onto Nine. He does it because he misses Tails. I know Sonic, DOES respect Nine as his own person, but Nine does not understand that, and Sonic, not thinking before he speaks, says something hurtful. Nine can come across as selfish, but all he wants is a safe place. As a neurodivergent person, that is so relatable. Sonic’s safe place is Green Hill, and he wants its back. From what we know (although I’m sure they’ll find a solution where everyone can live, again, it’s a kids show), those two things cannot coexist. If Sonic realizes this, he’ll realize he has to sacrifice his shatterapace friends to get Green Hill back, and is that a good thing after all? Nine is scared for his life basically, as he might not exist anymore. It’s a very valid fear.

They didn’t communicate their needs to each other because they were in the middle of fighting the council and didn’t have time to think it through, plus Sonic is impatient and also bad at communicating.

Nine is NOT a villain. He’s a traumatized autistic kid who has trouble thinking with other people’s needs in mind. Sonic wants to help EVERYONE, even people he doesn’t like much like Dread and Shadow, but he doesn’t consider the wider consequences of his actions.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[fleetsonourgecentral]

Yoo thought of a headcanon scenario, where Scourge somehow dreams about his super form[s] one night. 

His interaction with if it was the good Super form the opportunity to at least make a compromise would be fumbled so hard due to their clashing mindsets. And they’re both stubborn as hell in changing their tune. Shit definitely goes out the window when Super looks at Scourge the same way Prime looked at him when he got tricked into powering down saying something along the lines of, “What fucking goals do you even have, Scourge? At least I want to help people be something bigger and better than just being mean.” You can imagine how well Scourge takes it hearing the all too familiar words. So tragically, nothing really gets solved between them, just strengthened feelings of resentment and the need to fight for control when they can. 

Evil Super would however, strike a deal. 

He finds Scourge and his friends very entertaining. Why ruin that? He’s also seen Super Sonic being contained/in his eyes, become a withered shell of his former self, so it might be partially for his own self-preservation as well. He is chaos but so are they. One frightful dream ass-beating later (wasn’t even pissed at Scourge, who despite tried throwing hands like the green bozo he is, he just did it because he can), he offers his hand the way Scourge did with Prime, promising not to kill them only if… honestly idfk something like this???

“The road goes both ways, y’know. You’re full of untapped potential. To keep things running around on this stupid little planet, how about you acknowledge me as my own person? Don’t you even think getting rid of me. Then everyone can continue to rock on this universe, doing as we please. What do you say?”

Just simple acknowledgement as their own person and leave him as he is i guess.

He takes the deal [?] but….Scourge, how are you going to explain to everyone else that you can’t get rid of this super form like Sonic has done? On top of that, better count your lucky stars that your super form never gets bored one day.

who knows maybe Scourge finds another way to stabilize things before that happens maybe- hey wait a second how about a deal for the fucking ankles—

Scourge and a good super form would throw hands. I mean Scourge is throwing hands either way but he would throw hands even faster, and then proceed to tell everyone about the dream bc that is Not Normal even for chaos energy. I think the idea of a super form gaining sentience without being split from Scourge first would freak Sonic out and he'd make it a priority to try and suppress that chaos energy or get it out of Scourge entirely. Here's to hoping they could get it out of Scourge without it coming to life like Super did, though, or it would probably view Scourge as a villain to be dealt with. And, by extension, would have to fight the rest of the freedom fighters, too

I could see an evil super form trying to make a deal, but I also don't know if Scourge would trust it?? His instinct is to distrust and assume people are lying to him or trying to manipulate him, so even if he did take a deal, I don't think he'd trust his super form to hold up his end of the deal. He probably wouldn't tell the freedom fighters or Sonic about it, and he'd brush off any attempts to get rid of his chaos energy so his super form doesn't have an excuse to try and backstab him, but I think he'd be prepared for betrayal anyway and put back-up plans of his own in place. Scourge doesn't always think things through, but he isn't stupid; he'd be well aware he'd be entirely reliant on his super form's mercy, and he'd hate that. So he'd come up with a plan, even if he didn't tell Sonic about it

Ahjdhjsdjh smh the super forms will never realise all they need to do to get in Scourge's good graces is fix his ankles

[saltynsassy31]

I just finished sonic prime and I am inconsolable

And not just for the ending

I'm trying to find shadow and sonic stuff but....not ship. Don't get me wrong, I totally see the parallels and I get why it's propular

Which is why I'm beyond devastated that no matter how much I twist and turn, I simply cannot ship them, which is new for my multishipper ass

I can only seem to see them as brothers and nothing more, shadow being an older brother to him is just....idk comforting

And there isn't enough content for that, in 1 hour I already read all the fics there were of them in ao3 that happaned post prime that were platonic, my sister is looking for fanart maybe but only finds ship art and we are both beyond sad

Again, this isn't a dunk in the ship, and more frustration that I cannot join in on the hype 😭😭😭

I'm am inconsolable mess and I wish that there was a balance between the ship and brotherly relationship. I do not wish to abolish the ship, I simply ask for more brotherly stuff between them 😭😭😭

I'd do it myself if I wasn't already piled with work

But I guess I'll just have to find a way to cope harder 🥲🥲

It was an absolute mistake to watch prime right when the biggest events of my life are happening and I'm emotionally unstable, I did not think it would ruin me this badly

Idk why I'm making this post, I think I just wanna find someone who feels the same way that I could talk to maybe? Idk I don't think I'll find anyone besides my sister and a close friend 😭😭

But if anyone DOES see this, and know of any fics on other websites that has this brotherly theme between them, I'd be beyond grateful, or fanart/fancomics, DM or send me an ask with them, it is 2:30 in the morning, I really gotta sleep

[rosemaryreality]

Underrated Sonic & Nine moment

So i was rewatching Sonic Prime, specifically episode 7, when i took notice of a scene that i kind of didn't pay much attention to in first watch, what with everything that happened during and after that same episode.

Sonic and Nine are escaping from the CC when they find the place Nine's ship is at, Nine doesn't hesitate after seeing the guards, he sneaks his way close to them, and he takes care of them with his Tails. It was awesome.

What looked more interesting to me this time watching, however, was Sonic's reaction.

Maybe it's just me, but once Nine goes to attack the robots, Sonic looks a little confused.

It's after Nine jumps over the ship, behind the robots, that Sonic seems to understand Nine's plan. Then...

He smiles, and once again i could be interpreting this wrong, but he looks sort of impressed? Like, he wasn't expecting that Nine would do that but he seems happy for it either way.

Finally...

He tells Nine that he's full of surprises, and i can't describe his face as anything but fond.

But the best part about this is the context. See, i think the reason why Sonic was surprised was because that's not something he would expect out of Tails.

Now, sadly we don't really see *that* much from Tails, but we do get to see him in battle two times.

The first one is during the fight were Sonic fell for Eggman's trap, on this one, Tails is only seen in the Tornado. Now, this is a common sight, while the plane might be technically Sonic's, it is Tails that uses it more often. Now this by itself wouldn't tell us much, Tails fighting in the Tornado is normal, and there's no reason why he wouldn't use it.

No, what is interesting, is the other example of Tails fighting.

In this fight, we see that Tails fights using some sort of machine he created, the way it works he can shoot at badniks from afar, this way he can fight while keeping his distance from the enemy.

The way Tails fights here, it seems he prefers not getting close during a fight.

That was why Sonic was perplexed by Nine's actions, Tails's (probably) wouldn't have chosen to get close to the robots like that.

And that's what makes this moment even more sweet. Here we have Sonic witnessing one of the ways Nine and Tails are different, and feeling impressed by it! telling him he's full of surprises with a fond expression! Nine and Tails being different was presented as something nice!

This gives me hope that maybe at some point Sonic will tell Nine that he cares about him beyond Tails, that he has good qualities separate from him that Sonic admires, that under the projection and misunderstandings, Sonic and Nine did have a genuine bond.

[spruzu]

A Sonic Prime fanfic

This is the fanfic that was based on day 29 of the fanart challenge i just finished. Some parts arent as good as others and the ending is kinda rushed. Also kinda cringe...

This is a, per say, headcanon of what happened after Sonic prime. I hope you enjoy!

Everything was fixed. Sonic has his friends back well... the original ones. It felt great to have everyone back, to not have to worry about going from shatterspace to shatterspace the paradox prisms. But something still felt wrong. Sonic had so many questions that needed answering. Were the shatterspace still a thing? Where did shadow put the paradox prism? What happened to everyone? Were they dead?... Was nine dead? He didnt want to think anymore, his thoughts felt as though they were swallowing him whole and- "SONIC!" An exclamation was heard from beside sonic. He turned around, it was tails! "Only too you 3 minutes to respond. Are you ok? You've been kinda ''spacey-outy'' this evening, especially after that fight with Eggman." Tails came and sat next to sonic on their sofa. He had a slightly concerned look on his face. Sonic wishes he could have explained the story to him and his friends but Eggman just had to interrupt. "All good lil' buddy! Just thinkin' about stuff. You know!" Sonic responded, putting on a smile. Tails squinted his eyes, judging Sonic for a moment then decided Sonics response was good enough for him. "Ok, well i'm going to bed. You should too, you seem tired." Tails got up from the sofa, Sonic heard a click of his bedroom door shutting. Sonic hadn't noticed but, body felt droopy and worn out. He decided to head to bed as well. "Maybe i'll have less on my mind in the morning." He said to himself. --- New yoke. Why was he back in new yoke? He spun around and spotted Renegade Knucks and Rebel Rouge as he did so. He ran over to them, "Yo! Guys! How-" he gets cut off. "It's ALL your fault sonic. None of this would have happened if you had listened to your friends." Rebel raised her voice as she spoke. "What do you mean?" Sonic answered, raising an eyebrow. "You know exactly what she means." Knucks frowned, "We wouldn't have gone through the pain we did if it weren't for. you. This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!" Knucks threw a punch at Sonics head but before he felt any impact he was swept into boscage maze. "Sonic." Prim's voice came from behind him. "We wouldn't have suffered if it weren't for you." "We wouldn't have had that argument and almost killed off the forest if you hadn't interfered." Thorn came in front of him. "We wouldn't have starved if you didn't break that prism hedgehog." Knarly scowled at sonic. "Guys! You- you know i didn't mean to... Im sorry i'm impulsive and i didn't think!" Sonic said, his voice trailing off as they all came charging at his body. The scenery changed again. "You... I would have been the greatest pirate in the whole seas if you hadn't broken reality." Dread whipped out his sword and pointed it at Sonics throat. "Woah! What happened to being friends? You know i'm sorry, you all do. What happened? I helped you fix the problems." Sonic put his hands up as a self defence mechanism. "That. Doesn't. Change. ANYTHING!!" Dread swung his sword. Sonic was in the grim... "Sonic." Nine pushed Sonic the the ground and stood over him. "You ruined my life. You only cared about your self. You're a selfish, entitled, idiotic and stuck up enemy. I never liked you... I hate you. WE hate you." Sonic realised everyone of the different versions of his friends were stood around him. He also saw his other friends... Amy, Knuckles, Rouge... Tails. They were all dead, pools of blood surrounding them. "We had to kill them, just like you killed our hopes and dreams Sonic the hedgehog." Shadows voice swirled around his head. "I'm sorry, i didn't mean to... Please just... I don't want- why..." Sonic couldn't get his words out. He was staring at his dead friends, then the rest of his altered friends, then shadow. Sonic didnt know what to do. He curled up in a ball as voice started shouting over him. "Were dead..." "This is all your fault." "You imbecile." "I hate you, i NEVER liked you." "No one will ever like you." Sonic began to scream. He shouted for anyone, he wanted it to stop. His throat felt like it snapped in two, he continued to scream... and scream... and...

"SONIC!!!" Someone had their hands on his shoulders. His duvet covers were tangled in his legs. Tears were streaming down his face, his throat felt like someone had held a knife up against it, sweat pasted his forehead and body. "Its me, its tails." Sonic threw himself onto tails' body and sobbed. "Ive got you, take deep breaths. It wasn't real..." Tails rubbed his back as Sonic sobbed and hyperventilated. "It was though. Parts... Of it. I- i cant- i'm... I'm so- sorry." Sonic sobbed. Tails didn't know what to say. Why was he sorry? "Don't be sorry, it's ok." Tails attempted at comforting Sonic again. Sonic buried his face into Tails' shoulder and continued to sob. He was mumbling other words but tails couldn't make them out.

Once Sonic had calmed down he sat away from Tails and rested his head against the back board. "I'm sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to make you feel awkward or anything haha... I probably woke you up to." Sonic voice was tired and monotone as he spoke. "Sonic... How many times am i going to have to say this? You don't need to be sorry!" Tails sat in front of Sonic, Sonic moved his face deliberately not making eye contact. "You may have woken me up but i'm glad you did. You were in distress and i cant just leave you be to comfort yourself. I'm your best friend Sonic, your brother... I want to be there for you like you have been for me." Tails took Sonics hands as he spoke, Sonic looked at him with a tired smile, eyes red and swollen. "Now, do you want to talk about it? Your dream?" He spoke gently as to not seem like he was forcing sonic into it. Sonic paused for a moment then said, tapping the space next to him, "Make yourself comfy because the dream relates into a wholeeee different story you haven't heard yet." For the rest of the night, Sonic told Tails about what happened with the shatterspaces. When he finished it felt like a slight weight had been lifted off him. Maybe he should open up more.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Oh ho ho what a highly interesting question, anon👀

(Answered under the cut because it's a bit long)

ㅤ

Before I give my proper answer, allow me to explain a bit of my interpretation of Tails. I actually see him as a sort of naturally jealous person with some innate possessive tendencies who has grown used to curbing these tendencies of his, which he had to do due to a number of factors.

One major reason is due to Sonic himself. To me Sonic has always had a complicated relationship with different kinds of love or attraction (and I do see him as on the aro/ace spectrum). So, when absolute strangers (or those he doesn't particularly like) obsessively pursue him for clear romance/possessive reasons, he tends to react with strong rejection or indifference, in contrast to how he welcomes ego stroking and praise from those who can be merely categorized as "fans" (or those he does particularly like). To me, Tails' initial admiration and pursuit of joining with and becoming like Sonic very well parallels how Amy Rose began to admire and pursue a romantic relationship with Sonic. Even if we consider that Sonic did save Tails that one time from being bullied (according to Sonic Prime and a new animation for Sonic 2 present in Sonic Origins), his pursuit of trying to work together with his hero (which is detailed a bit more in the jp manual for Sonic 2, and includes Tails going so far as to follow after Sonic everywhere and modify Sonic's plane) really isn't any more "normal" than how Amy begins to pursue a romantic relationship with her hero after Sonic saves her from Metal Sonic. The only real differences here were that Amy was explicitly pursuing romance, and that Sonic rejected Amy's advances but eventually took Tails on as his sidekick/little buddy.

This is also not to mention the implications here and there in what we can find of Sonic and Tails' backstory that Sonic would continue to run away and pretend he did not care, while secretly keeping an eye out for Tails.

And beyond that, as one of Sonic’s oldest friends, Tails gets to spend a lot of time around Sonic, and gets to see firsthand how he reacts to romantic prospects, his complicated relationship with "love" as a concept, and is present as Sonic’s group of friends steadily grows.

With all of that, I at least see Tails learning to deal with his innate jealousy and possessiveness so

Sonic doesn’t reject him

Because he doesn't want to keep Sonic from pursuing relationships with others

And for the sake of one's image/being a good person

If Tails has learned that confessing and making his romantic intentions clear could lead to Sonic rejecting him or it ruining their friendship (since he's seen first hand how Sonic has reacted in certain cases to love confessions or overt romantic affection), it makes sense to me that he would try to hold his feelings back (both those that are not squarely platonic and are explicitly romantic and/or sexual). And when it comes to Sonic, there's a guilt factor and an impossibility factor when it comes to keeping him from other people. Not only would Tails feel at least a little bad for restricting him, but Sonic does not respond well to being controlled. Now of course, how he reacts does depend on the time of his life and who it is, but there is nevertheless a futility in trying to control Sonic "I have no master except the wind that blows free" Hedgehog. And finally, my view on both Sonic and Tails, well... I believe that image and visual alignment is a big thing for these two, and that the two are secretly more...in the gray (or at least, that they're surprisingly immoral so to speak). In their origins to me, Tails is just a kid, minding his business, who does not inherently seek to hurt others (though his faith in those around him does matter), and Sonic is just a kid, free as the wind, who doesn't particularly care about being a good guy, but loves the attention. Essentially, though he does save some people on whim, the idea is that Sonic originally fights Robotnik simply because the Doctor, his machines, and his pollution have such a negative effect on his home. So beyond this point, he fights as a hero both out of interest of having his home intact/being alive, and because (simply put) he likes what comes from being considered a hero (all the praise and perks). And so because Sonic is someone that Tails admires, because Sonic has to uphold a baseline image or reputation so he can still be considered a hero/good guy, Tails becomes accustomed to doing the same. That's a bit of an oversimplification (how I see them and why is the subject of a proper essay about that), but the point is that Tails is also conscious that trying to overtly control or manipulate Sonic would not objectively be considered "hero or good guy behavior", especially if it goes too far.

And so with all of that plus the fact that Sonic has never seemingly accepted anyone's romantic inclinations or dated anyone, Tails curbs his natural inclination towards jealousy and possessiveness so he can be content enough to be at Sonic's side. Perhaps there are more friends Sonic is going to get, people he's going to show an interest in, but Tails can put stock in the fact that it's unlikely that Sonic will date anyone. Plus, even if that somehow does happen, Tails is largely fine as long as he's guaranteed to be by Sonic's side no matter what. So as long as he can be with Sonic forever, no matter their relationship, he's as content as can be.

ㅤ

But then Sonic starts dating Nine, right?

And hahaha don't get me wrong here. Tails is pretty practiced. He's not gonna blow up or anything.

But once he gets past the initial shock of that being true, I think he just feels jealous and conflicted by default. I mean, he's just been accepting that there's no hope of ever being in that kind of relationship with Sonic. And not only has someone gone and done it, it's not just anyone.

It's a version of him.

And if a version of himself managed to do it (a version of himself who once lashed out at and fought against Sonic no less), then what does that mean about him? Does it mean that there's something about Nine Sonic likes better? Does it mean that he's had this entire situation wrong? Does it mean he lost his chance and he'd been so afraid for nothing? Does it mean that he could have had that this whole time?

And that's not to mention navigating this. Even if I believe Sonic is very very capable of having multiple best friends or even partners, it's only natural for Tails to get a little afraid of being replaced (especially if he learns that Sonic also considered/considers Nine as a best friend also)

But Tails is the type to not want to burden Sonic with all of this while becoming increasingly more worried. And although he would naturally have a complicated relationship with Nine, I still think he would generally like him and not want to take out his feelings on him. So with that being said, I think he'd sort of try to hold it in and act normal while really not acting all that normal, because though he could hide his feelings better if he wanted to, he still kind of lets it slip because he kind of does want to talk to Sonic about it or let his feelings be known.

I think that whenever Sonic eventually does see that Tails is acting a bit off he'll eventually talk to him about it or try to get him to, but, honestly, even if Sonic could say things (true things) that would make him feel better, I don't think Tails could be as content as he would be if it was idk... Knuckles or Shadow or what have you. Because if it was anyone else, Tails could be more content knowing that his relationship with Sonic is special and that he'll always be by his side, even if he's dating someone else.

But with the fact that the person that Sonic has chosen to date is another version him—a version of him which Sonic has also kind of clearly developed a similar "best friendship" with? I feel that even if Sonic tries to reassure him, Tails will forever be plagued with bitter and jealous feelings. Even if he'd never force Sonic to stop dating anyone, much less force him to date him, I don't think he can even really feel content here unless Sonic chooses to date him also if that makes any sense.

So, yes. That's my answer. Tails would try to be really good about it, but he's still bitter and annoyed and jealous and wondering if he's enough or has been doing something wrong. He's wondering why it couldn't have been him. And he won't be able to just be content at Sonic's side if he can't also be with Sonic. So while I can't say how long it will take, something will have to give eventually. I think at some point in their future, Sonic will have to tackle his specific feelings for Tails and they'll have to talk about their specific relationship, especially if he's dating Nine right in front of him.

[bluebunnyears-08]

What The Sonic Franchise Does That's Great and Why You Don't Notice It First As A Kid.

You know when I go back and watch some old playthroughs of Sonic games, I noticed that Sonic the Hedgehog is surprisingly mature for its time. Not so much that kids can't enjoy, but it's something you don't notice until you get older, you know?

In the early days, The Sonic Franchise actually dealt with some important topics and conveyed a lot of really good messages. Of course, there's the obvious Nature vs Industrialism, which is a really good topic to get awareness to. But it also dealt with very deep themes and topics that you don't realize they did until you got older.

For example, Sonic games and shows conveyed and actually showed trauma, death, and grief. In Sonic 2, if you fail to get all the Chaos emeralds, it turns out, Eggman KILLS Tails. It's not shown until the end, but the somber way Sonic turns to the stars and the Tails constellation is shown, tells us ALL we need to know.

Then there's Sonic Adventure 2, a game that features Shadow the Hedgehog, a creation made for a child he grew close to and loved like a sister until she died RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, SAVING HIS LIFE AS SHE DID. She tells Shadow to protect and fight for the world she never got to go to. This game isn't just a simple action game or a simple introduction to a soon-to-be ruined character (I'm so sorry Shadow...), it actually explores grief and the ways we can overcome it.

Not only that, but Tail's arc in Sonic Adventure is also to be mentioned. This kid was bullied for his extra Tail (to which some people can relate, not just for bullying, but being outcasted due to a deformity you never asked for), but ultimately grew proud of it, which again can inspire so many who relate to his issues. Not only that, but Sega manages to kill two birds with one stone, while Tails made a friend Sonic, he became dependent on him. When realizing this, Tails actively becomes independent, mainly from the fact that he owes Sonic SO MUCH and can't afford to rely on him for EVERYTHING. He fights against Eggman and saves Station Square ALL ON HIS OWN. This ties into the reality of every kid becoming an independent adult ready to face the world.

Unlike other games made in that time, where it's all simple action and colorful fun, Sonic had this...this...

How do I explain it?

Okay, look at it this way, in every early Sonic game and show there was this hidden walnut of maturity, that when found and cracked at the right time would show you all of the themes and messages of things you might've gone through during or when you got older and envelops you, showing you that you are strong, telling you that you're not alone; and that realization made me LOVE this franchise even MORE.

I think part of the downfall of this Franchise was how Sega brushed their trauma and development aside, and when they did include it, it was half-assed instead of a meaningful exploration. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE comedic shows like Sonic Boom, but I just miss that DAMN walnut (XD), you know?

Then Sonic Frontiers came out. And it was as if I was taking a breath of air after being smothered, that subtle but deep display of maturity was BACK. The exploration of these characters, and the delicate but STRONG handling of death and grief, I missed so much.

Then there was Sonic Prime, and my heart was EXPLODING with happiness. The way they handle Nine's trauma at being abused so elegantly, the subtle Amy under Rusty Rose (a ROBOTICED AMY), hell even the old Nature vs Industrialism is back!

This right here is what makes Sonic great, and I'm so happy they brought it back!

[cutegirlmayra]

I think Sonamy in Sonic Frontiers is better than Sonic Prime. I feel like they kinda make Amy a villain. Seriously, I want my happy-cheerful Amy with Cindy Robinson voice 😭 (Amy's voice in Sonic Prime kinda a mean popular girl with sassy attitude's voice)

Em, although I see what you mean, I think they did a really interesting angle with Amy in Prime.

Frontiers Amy felt too much like Archie Amy, the Game version of Amy is usually very supportive of Sonic, a bit 'Quick on her Heels' to jump into things, true, but she's not so sassy. She does counter Sonic abruptly in a few games, but never to the point that it comes off as abrasively insensitive. (Personally, I think Amy is a bit spicy in her quick conflict starters in Frontiers 🙄 don't sue me lolol)

(Gosh, this moment makes me CRINGE. It was all GREAT, but then this moment happened. Amy should never be animated to this line, because it's completely not her, and the Japanese changed it, and thank goodness. It's so hurtful to say this, knowing that's not what Sonic is saying. Amy is insightful, it's one of the wonderful things about her, she's so attuned to the emotions of life. This scene made me squirm at how confrontational it was. Everything else was fine, but this. one. scene. Ruined Amy's chara for Frontiers for me. She's the SASSY one, not Prime!)

Amy has always been the 'heart' of the team. Sonic is the 'will' and 'soul', that 'Spirit of Freedom'. Knuckles 'Might/Strength and Honor/Duty working in tandem, and Tails the 'Humble Brain' that sometimes falls to thoughts of self-doubts due to idolizing their heroes.

In Prime, Amy is the emotional counterpoint for Sonic. Tails is the focal point of his comradery and bravery. Knuckles is Sonic's sense of heroism, positivity, and never giving up attitude.

Through his friends in Prime, we see more of Sonic's true character. He supports and uplifts his friends, is funny with his cocky attitude, struggles when things are in disarray, and seeks unity again--knowing he's stronger with it.

The disconnect in Boom--for the video game--was Sonic was a loner, not understanding that his pride looked like arrogance and got him into a lot of trouble. He learned that things were easier and better with his Friends.

In Prime, he teaches the audience once more that although he is STILL the infamous Sonic The Hedgehog, fastest thing alive, he's also vulnerable without his friends, and cares deeply for them.

Amy shows how all her lessons have distilled in Sonic a sense of compassion with his firece justice attitude. he's not--"I'm right, you're wrong." Anymore. He's "There's a better way." which is Amy's role to show the audience that side of him. (It doesn't matter, now what happens. I will never give up the fight~ Long as the voice inside, drives me to run and fight. It doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right~ - A Sonic Theme centered around Sonic's personality. Lyrics and Song: (x) )

Tails's role in Prime teaches honesty of character. Sonic has grown so attached to his 'man in the chair' but also sees Tails as so much more, he's his best friend, but he's never had to 'earn Tails's trust' before. In the backstory, Tails admired him as a hero. In this world, Sonic has to now earn and give that trust back tenfold--the fans often complained that Sonic wasn't always 'brotherly' to Tails like they wanted him to be, this is SEGA building a character arc to say, "Sonic also admires Tails" and appreciates and needs him. In the media of Sonic brand, we know that we've only ever seen Sonic inspiring Tails, now we see him fully immersing himself in uplifting his little buddy once more--showing how much Sonic has grown throughout the years as a character.

Even Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge (Even Big ~Steadfast heart of gold!~) play a role in helping the audience see Sonic's 'True Character'. I felt it was written with a lot of care towards the true canon of Sonic and the casts character portrayals, although throwing them into an 'amnesia'-like clever trope to go through their 'characters' again in an entertaining way, that's just a personal preference of the script-writers in how they wanted to accuracy tell their view of the story and charas, but all the materials that make up their characters are still present and accounted for.

The writing is interesting, and there were times I actually FANGIRLED because I would have written THE SAME LINES if it were me in charge of dialogue. It was handled with more care than we've ever seen in the Sonic universe up to this point. (Referring to the string of some less-than-what-we-would-have-wanted stuff...)

I've lived through so many Sonic reboots, bad portrayals, and heartbreakingly bad moments as a Sonic fan... that seeing expert film script writers--I believe the same that worked on Marvel Spiderman or other comic-book titles who are HEAVY into lore--that Sonic's lore is finally being treated with respect and due research.

Is it made for kids? Sure. Was there a way to make the story for more our age audiences? Yeah. Did they do that? Not really, but that doesn't mean it's not a carefully considered love letter to the older fans as well.

Amy, in my humble opinion, had some interesting directions for Frontiers...

Amy in Prime, although they are ALL characterizations of 'spinoff versions' of their true selves, were--and maybe--are leading up to character arcs I feel I will probably approve of.

Why is this different? Why do I approve more of Prime--what should be considered a jump in fanfiction dimensions--verses a mainline game that supposedly should be more accurate of lore and character?

I never said that Frontiers didn't have lore! It had a great animated sequence showing off Knuckles, it had some great characterization moments with the cast and Sonic! Arguably a good few dramatic scenes of angst to boost too--though, that's not what's as important to me.

I want good story, good character, the works... what Frontier did was alright and good for being in a drought of long standing runs with no relief in a dry spell that Sonic has been trying to fight due to Sammy and other companies (watched a video on it, so much clarity!) not giving enough support to him--BUT!

Prime dives into the psyche of Sonic, and it has more emotional depth--in my humble opinion--of character-revealing moments of characters truly bonding and revealing their bond to the world, then Frontiers--which still had a nice blend--but not to the same extent.

How come?

One is a limited game with limited resources, the other was funded resources, given all the lore it could ever want and ask for, and braced itself for a narrative far longer than a few hours of skating on railings. (Not bashing gameplay, making a metaphorical 'tease' statement here.)

It's just differences.

Amy in Prime, seems more like Canon Amy's spirit, then Frontier's Amy... simply because Frontier's Amy didn't get enough screentime, presence, and greater bonding opportunities.

Prime Amys, though again, all separate and split 'pieces' are still 'pieces' nonetheless of the recognizable Amy Rose we've grown up with to love and know and love with assurity.

Yes, all of them. Because they are FOILS to Amy.

This one LITERALLY becomes Amy by the end of the episode! We just had to walk to get there, but we got there!

Does that mean Frontiers is worse or bad? No. Does that mean I hate Frontiers? No. Does that mean Prime is the supreme Sonic media in all the land? Again, no, stop that. You keep that kinda talk up, I'll lightly swat your hand and give you my best puffed-up, Amy pouty face you've ever seen! lol

Your argument, to me, is a discussion.

Is Amy portrayed as a villain? No. She's portrayed as a victim of circumstances where Sonic wasn't able to save her from becoming a damsel in distress. Is she a strong damsel in distress? Usefully, yes, because Amy's always been strong no matter what befalls or becomes her. Do they abuse that? Oh yeah! That's what makes this new idea of different versions of her so fun! She's one of the most versatile characters in Sonic media, simply because her personality, character role, and emotional motives are so much more vaster in starting plot points and meaningful, story and character driven narratives that she's one of the best dynamic writing tools to use in Sonic universes. All for Sonic's benefit? Well, yeah, that's one of her Character Roles, to reveal Sonic's 'merciful' side when it comes to fighting and destroying robots for his 'adventurous justice' streaks which I've discussed in earlier topics before.

"No. Mechanically enhanced. Survival required adaptation. As you will soon learn."

(This scene sets up Rusty Rose as "Survived on her own, used by the Eggmans, all because she was distraught because there was no such things as 'heroes' so she tried to 'save herself'." it's the tragic Damsel in Distress that tried to save herself and couldn't. In this dystopia, what a better character setup do you propose!? She's a victim who fought her own battles and--without friends--failed and so she gave in and succumbed to 'No Hope' a GREAT foil for her chara! She tried hope! It didn't work! Just made her this... able to be manipulated and controlled, losing her 'heart' in the process... quite literally...)

She does help the team reveal some of their hearts too, it's not all just for Sonic's benefit, but for the most part, that is her reason for existing in Sonic's world.

Is Amy happy-cheerful in Sonic Prime? Yeah! Until someone split a stupid Prism and made a world without Sonic's influence in it! Is Cindy the only good voice actress for Amy? I'd argue based on my own childhood experiences someone else, so it's really about preferences, and I would have to say that it's a human decision made by many factors, and doesn't define Amy's character. How can I say that? Because Amy's original voice is Japanese, and I could argue that if we want to be hyper-canon-specific, there are fans who don't even know Cindy Robinson because Amy's always had a Japanese voice actor, and doing an English one is the 'fake' one, so let's not get into semantics XDDD lolol

I agree that Frontiers has spice to her that doesn't really equal Amy to me. Amy sure has some spunk and pizzazz, but not in a confrontational way. She's too kindhearted to argue for no reason, she defends and inspires in different ways that help Sonic and the team, even bad guys go good... There are flaws in her, sure, but not to spark contrasting conflict just 'because'.

Some may argue this was done in Frontiers to give her more of a 'story arc with rising conflict' but if you're struggling that much... yikes.

Besides, Japanese dub does Amy some real cool justice in Frontiers, and I love the part in the flashback where she's trying to stop the lover from getting herself hurt as she runs into the fray for the man-chaos-looking-creature that she loves. (Which, that whole story is debunked by Sonic Adventure 1 sooooooo...)

(Sonic being a good hero bf T//^//T We stan a PROTEC scene where Sonic cares about Amy, but when she gets too emotional, can hold her through it!)

I loved that scene! It's Amy realizing how people see her actions, how she 'runs into the fray after Sonic' but begins to question whether that's really right or not. She loves love, but recklessly tossing aside life due to unspoken feelings that were too late to speak, to shy to articulate, not enough time..?

She has a 'come to the light' moment where she admits she wants to learn more, mature, and make herself someone that Sonic can respect (In Japanese, which is a really good rewriting in my humble opinion of the original English written script.)

And to agree with you, Sonic DOES support Amy in seeing that sometimes, her actions and views on love are a little exaggerated and skewed, leading him to reach out and show his consideration of her by not calling her 'foolish' or 'reckless' but instead stating that he's excited to hear all about her adventure when she gets back.

He also has some unspoken things, but until Amy learns the difference between real love and fictional exaggerations taught to people who 'dramatically' view love, she may never be able to understand how much he truly does care about her... because she wouldn't view his 'subtle realism' as how someone 'madly, deeply, oh, truly in love!' would act because of her current perceptions on how love--and subsequently people in love--are like or act.

She realized that maybe, both Sonic and her friend, show and express love in different ways. That's why she's going to discover those 'different types of love', to understand Sonic and love better. This is a Coming of Age.

Frontiers needed more time in the oven, personal opinion with the respects that I'm not an authority figure on anything, and Prime could have benefited older Sonic fans by having its rating not made explicitly for younger audience's parameters, but they did good with what they could work with--with what limitations certain ratings bring.

Now, as a conclusion:

Both are good, but I prefer Prime due to having more 'story-focused' time to bake in the oven and show us characterizations with just enough time for us to bond and see the meaning in it, but I also liked Frontiers and their character moments, but wished for longer moments and less 'confusing' story elements to add to those interactions.

My Cuties, I'm your girl, Mayra. And this rant was sponsored by Anon, who is so gracious enough to donate 1 million dollars to educating Japanese Sonic fans of who the heck is Cindy Robinson! :D Love you all and goodnight! <3