#(<- very much implied)

[inkedkoi]

Hold On To “What If”: Overanalyzing and Rewriting Sonic Prime

aka Masterpost & References: Part One

💬 “But, Koi, Prime finished months ago…”

Hmm. What do you think I should do, Shadow?

Shadow: "Determine your own destiny, just as I have."

Well, you heard the hedgehog. What better way to celebrate the Year of Shadow than by talking about the show where he had the best characterization: Sonic Prime. I may have my own bias towards the show due to a personal connection, but overall I think the show is pretty good. Animation, voice-acting, music/sound, editing, they were amazing. The writing, aside from Shadow’s character, is ok. There are definitely some good lines but there were “eh” moments as well. (We’ll get back to that.)

I thought I would give an insight into what I thought about Sonic Prime, from overanalyzing every single frame to rewriting Season 3, and finally explain whatever the hell I had on my bingo card (the one I made before Season 3 was released).

Due to the image limit, this will be the masterpost for all of the sections:

References: [this post] // 2 // 3 Plot Holes (x) Connections: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 Bingo Card: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 Rewrite 1 // 2 // 3 Remaining Questions & Final Thoughts (x)

(also available in the "🌻 hold on to what if" tag down below)

⚠️ Spoilers for the whole series, all media here belong to their respective creators. ⚠️

✨//🌻//✨

Before we get into it…

As the internet is, I want to clarify some things:

1. I’m not a die-hard Sonic fan so some things may not be 100% accurate. I honestly entered into the fandom when Sonic Frontiers was announced. My first exposure to Sonic at all was the Sonic Unleashed Animated short film, “Night of the Werehog”, when I was like 14 so I caught myself up with Sonic lore in between releases of each season of Prime. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about anything.

2. There's this whole debacle on whether or not Prime is part of the canon. News has recently been brought up that the Prime Team didn't acknowledge the comments made by Ian and the lore team about inconsistencies. It didn't surprise me at all. The show wasn't going to be part of the canon to begin with, which was abundantly clear by the show's writing. It feels like the writers copied from a wiki. There were so many scenes where instead of taking the moment to breathe and have character development, they put fighting scenes, more so in season three.

💬 "What about the references, Shadow's characterization, etc?"

Actually, we wouldn't have them if not for some of the crew fighting SO hard to get that into the show. The animators, storyboard artists, voice actors, editors, and many others — some are legit Sonic fans and others wanted to please the fandom. They have done such a great service to the fans with what they could, so could we just give a round of applause to the creative crew behind this? 👏👏👏 To the crew, you did what you could for us, and we can’t thank you enough.

Back to the whole "canon" thing, for this essay, we'll treat Prime as a stand-alone thing unless we absolutely have to affiliate it with canon.

3. Netflix did the weird thing of splitting up all the episodes of the series and called them “seasons”. I personally call them “batches” and I know there are some people who do the same, but for our sakes, they’ll be referred to as seasons, just so we don’t get confused. Okay? Cool!

Finally, this is for funsies, don’t take this too seriously. I want to establish that I have nothing against the people behind Prime or anyone else.

So grab your snacks, and get comfy. Now, let’s lock in, chat!

References: Part One

Here’s a list of references to other Sonic media I picked up in Prime. Some of them on the list are from Felipe Sonic Hacks YT video I saw while drafting my bingo card predictions, so you can check it out (Link). Whether or not these are intentional, that’s up for interpretation unless said otherwise.

Chilidogs (EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)

"Gotta Go Fast" (just an iconic Sonic line)

Sonic’s iconic gestures: waiting stance (S1 EP3), finger-wagging (S1 EP6) and nose-rub (S1 EP6 + S2 EP5)

look at this lil' guy :)

[S1 EP1]

Eggman’s Badniks — the usual (designs primarily the same ones from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 1)

Sonic’s super peel-out animation — a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog CD (and other games beyond)

“...sonic boom of a headache” — a reference(???) to the Sonic Boom show

New Yoke City — a design reference to Eggman Land, he wasn’t wrong about the neon (seen in the game: Sonic Unleashed)

Sonic balancing on the edge — a reference to Sonic’s balancing sprite animation from Sonic Games (matches perfectly with one in Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Sonic’s breakdancing — a reference to Sonic’s S Rank victory animation from Sonic Generations

I mean, Sonic definitely is a breakdancer and incorporates it in his fighting style, prove me wrong.

Orbot and Cubot — returning characters from the franchise

Side note: I screamed in joy when I first saw them :)

1992 — the year of Tails’ first appearance (Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

This whole scene explaining Tails' origin story — also a nod to the pixel games

Obstacle test — a reference(???) to Chemical Plant

[S1 EP 2]

Shadow’s hand back-spring in the first Sonic vs. Shadow fight — the same move done in Shadow the Hedgehog when Shadow encountered robot replicas of him

1998 — The year of Big the Cat’s first appearance (Game: Sonic Adventure 1)

[S1 EP 3]

Sonic’s free falling from an edge — similar move in Sonic Movie 2 (does that count as a reference???)

Rebel’s drill maneuver in beating the bots in the stairwell fight — same move Rouge uses in Sonic X (that I know of)

[S1 EP 4]

The Berries the Boscage Crew scavenged for — a nod to Chao Garden Fruits (confirmed to be intentional)

(right photo credits to ChaoProfessor on Twitter)

Sound FX when Sonic getting prickled by spikes — same sound FX from the games

To be continued...

Next Part

[dreamweave01]

Part 2 ->

*Penguin waddles into room inconspicuously*

*Drops first half of comic with a pat on the head*

*Jazz hands and mystically teleports into thin air before mob arrives*

[heph]

CEASE THIS MINDLESS SNUGGLING THIS INSTANT!!!

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[knightofleo]

Angela Orosco Silent Hill 2

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[divorcedfiddleford]

hold shifty gentle like hamburger

[thatsitso]

Come on in

[emiplayzmc]

Doodles based on conversations about Twisted Glisten and Rodger with @tdlizardowo :3. Mainly with the Mini AU thing I doodled the other day where Rodger does solo runs down to the Twisted floors to meet with Glisten.

|| "Well, what do you normally do when I'm gone?"

|| "Wait for you to get back..."

Based on an idea we had that Glisten literally just. Sits outside the elevator waiting for Rodger to return whenever he leaves. Probably sits with his head turned to the side so he can listen against the wall for the elevator moving in the shaft.

|| "he's gonna come back for this isn't he

he wouldn't leave this it's his favourite briefcase he wouldn't leave it

if he comes back for this that means he comes back for me right

he's coming back right

|| please please please please please don't leave me alone again please"

We also made the headcanon that when Rodger was first going to see Glisten and trying to get his trust back with him, Glisten had such low self esteem and such high anxiety at that point that he thought literally anything was holding more importance in Rodger's eyes than himself. So Rodger would catch onto this and leave items down there with Glisten, the latter of whom would basically hold them hostage until Rodger came back (I also think sometimes Glisten would outright take to nicking stuff off him to hold hostage as well, something he felt was significant enough that Rodger would come back for it had he lost it).

Rodger would slowly get Glisten to realise that, by doing this little habit and being nonchalant about whether an item goes missing or he leaves something on accident, that he really isn't caring about whether he leaves stuff down here or not - notes, a briefcase, research, whatever - it's *him* that he's returning for, because helping Glisten and keeping him company until he can find a way to cure him or get him safely up to the lobby without other Toons being worried or scared of him is the most important thing to him. Glisten is more important to Rodger than some silly items. :)

(Also I choose to believe the briefcase has lore as being a birthday / debut anniversary gift from Toodles to Rodger that she convinced her Toon Handler to help her get for him)

Also the OG SpongeBob scene for the first image :)

[cabinette]

Tim being cutesy

[dantevhell]

soooo funny (and by funny I mean a little fucked up) how mira is constantly spilling demon hatred all of the movie and rumi is internalizing that shit like crazyyyyyy.

Mama, a half demon right next to you...

[bumblingbabooshka]

Thinking about marriage/women's rights on Vulcan Some may think that T'Pring not being allowed to divorce Spock was because he was going through the pon farr but if she were allowed to divorce him at all she probably would have done that a long time ago, confirmed by T'Pol when she's speaking with Koss, who isn't suffering from the pon farr. She says that he can choose another mate (without invoking a fight it seems: note the difference between a 'mate' and a 'challenger') and after he makes it clear that nothing she says will change his mind about marrying her, she finally threatens to declare a kal-if-fee. It's clear that Vulcan women cannot divorce/refuse to marry a man they've been betrothed to under any circumstances if A) He himself doesn't consent to ending their marriage or B) She doesn't have someone else waiting in the wings to be given to in his stead. Though, if the challenger she selects fails to win the fight, she'll have to marry her betrothed anyway unless (again) he decides he doesn't want her after the challenge. That seems like an incredibly unfair system, heavily biased towards men. SNW is an alternate universe in many obvious respects but most egregiously in that T'Pring has a lot of non-canonical agency over her relationship with Spock. It's interesting to me that Vulcan society has women in many positions of power and treats women as equal to men from what I've seen despite these laws. We don't really see Vulcans exhibiting a misogynistic attitude towards women in general but in TOS (perhaps because of its general writing style but it's still interesting to note) both Sarek and Spock take on patriarchal attitudes specifically regarding wives. Amanda says that 'of course' Sarek commands her because "he is a Vulcan and I am his wife." It's worthwhile in my eyes to note that she specifies 'wife' instead of attributing this attitude to women as a whole. Again, with TOS' writing style it wouldn't be out of place for her to say "he is a man and I am a woman." Spock, while in a pon farr induced irritation, states that it's "undignified for a woman to play servant to a man that isn't hers" - again implying that there's something specific about being a Wife in Vulcan society which is different from being a woman in general and demands subservience to a husband. This could perhaps stem from the extreme sense of ownership that Vulcan law has permitted men to have over women. A woman legally cannot point blank refuse marriage. There is no option which guarantees she won't have to marry her betrothed other than death. When T'Pau speaks of T'Pring she refers to her as being 'property' and Stonn, before being interrupted, states he's made 'the ancient claim' - we don't know what this is because he gets cut off but it's obvious they're both using the language of Vulcan law. Men are permitted true freedom to choose. If a woman wants to choose someone else to be with there is no option available to her other than the kal-if-fee which might result in the death of the one she wants to be with. And, if her lover fails, her husband can still just decide he wants to marry her and she'll be forced to. T'Pring gives two scenarios: One where Spock 'frees' her and one where he doesn't - it's still ultimately his decision which is clear when he ends the conversation with "Stonn, she is yours." This again isn't just because of the pon farr as T'Pol also goes through this. Koss can choose another mate and when the option is talked about there's no implication that this would result in any sort of fight (both by the casualness of its mention and by the fact that there's no formal word for it unlike the kal-if-fee.) Also, the fact that Koss does eventually grant T'Pol a divorce and it's all fine means that T'Pol isn't lawfully required to have another man waiting if her HUSBAND doesn't want her. It's ONLY required if SHE doesn't want her husband. Tradition must take precedence over individual desire UNLESS!!! You're a man. Then it's fine. Like, your parents might not be happy but legally you're golden.

[gaywineauntsstuff]

I love the idea that one of my very cool mutuals presented me a few months ago which I will call the “Cool Grayson” theory

Where basically we call know that Dick generally is a pretty cool guy. He’s like if Superman had Batman’s chill and broody abilities

But naturally he is the loser big brother right

He is old and uncool and super cringe and fail and all that other violently embarrassing jazz

Up until you put him around like his og teenage friend group and suddenly??? Bro is acting like a normal person

Except he’s not bc he’s cool

Like really cool? Which is embarrassing bc Steph would rather die than admit Dick was cool. Nightwing yes, Dick Grayson fuck no lmao. TIM thought?? Dick was cool which automatically makes Dick the least cool person in existence??? Tim Drake used to rat on parties to kids parents if he heard someone brought beer. If Tim Drake thinks you’re cool you’re automatically about as cool as plastic man

He’s so goofy around babs, like in a sitcom cutesy way. Like the parents where the dad is always tryna play cool but the mom is so obviously cooler. STEPH AS SEEN IT??? When in his life has he ever been this smooth!?? She feels like she has to cover her eyes after one conversation between Nightwing and Starfire. GODDAMN

And like okay??? She knows that he regularly wears a leather jacket, okay. Ofc he doesn’t take that shit off it’s his dads or something sappy. But it was like sappy and sweet?? That old ass leather jacket looks cool for once?? And it’s giving her culture shock

Anyway she goes back to Gotham about as shellshocked as a man in a psych hospital in the 40s okay

And Jason who is around for Terrorizing Bruce related reasons takes one look at her and goes

“ah so you met the titans”

“They-“

“Yep”

“And he-“

“Uh huh”

“So he’s a loser-“

“Entirely on purpose bc he thinks it’s funny yeah exactly”

“… I kind of want to punch him”

“Him and Roy have matching tongue piercings”

“….huh”

“Yep”

“Wait- how do you know that”

“Dick was supposed to be babysitting me but Roy texted him about it so he took me with him”

“Wait Bruce let dick babysit you in tower?”

“Bruce didn’t LET me do anything, when I was bored I’d hitchhike over”

“See this is why you’re the robin who died first”

“Fuck you very much Steph”

[elitecabela]

Extra Flat crops because the rendering is muddy af but I can't bear a minute working on it any longer

[616ioi]

"Don't get me started on samura" Please dooo 🙏. Need this man torn apart, screaming and sweating in ecstacy

❛ #STUPID! KAGURABACHI.

────────── who is he to show up to your after-party and assume nothing will go down? .ᐟ.ᐟ

⤿ pairings. samura seiichi x gn reader

⤿ contents. no exact dom/sub roles, pwp, angst, cheating, bathroom sex, blowjob. this contains mature content, read at your discretion.

⤿ thoughts. fam, forgive me.

Someone in my asks practically said suicidal old men have weak game, and I couldn't agree more. That man is physically thirsty with want and need. He tries not to consume himself in lust, it isn't going to do him any good, it'll only make him feel worse about himself.

The thought of being loved and chased after all the sins he's committed... he hates it. He doesn't do it, he won't do it. But I like to think that once in a while, his desperation can get unbelievably unbearable.

Isn't it funny?

He tries to deny himself of love, no matter how much he craves it. Which is why I think it's the most effective method in ruining this man. Samura can say what he feels is just lust, but he knows. He knows very well that this desire will break him.

You're just another townsfolk, but you treated him like he was normal. Not some war veteran, not some war criminal, not a hero; someone to admire, not an animal; someone to look down upon. A regular person.

You treated his daughter with respect, as if she was your own, and that's what got him. His heart would pound in his ears any chance he saw that two of you together — but oh man, it isn't love.

Nope, nope. He's stupid. So stupid. So insensitive to your feelings. He pushes you away, everyone away and tries to justify it as 'I don't want you to get hurt'.

'Coward,' — you called him. It's not an insult, its the blunt truth — 'you'll enjoy my hatred because you're scared.'

He agrees. Crass man.

He's gone through so much stuff, battles, war, hunger, lonliness, bears so many scars, emotionally and physically, yet he can't even think of you with another one without the horrible churn in his stomach and the painful ache in his heart.

Something closely related to committing a sin.

He wasn't your lover. He has no right over you, no choice.

He's always been dumb with love. He knows enough to pull away. Nevertheless, he still shows up to your wedding.

He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't feel a heavy rock in his heart nor the burn behind his eyelids. He's so stupid. Get up, and leave. He can't even see anything!!

He stayed. Until the very end, fingers twitching around his glass of sake — a typical celebratory drink - now turned sour. He huddled himself in a small corner, trying his best to stay as invisible as possible, but then he got a whiff of you, and his back straightened up like a dog awaiting its owners return.

Your scent fills his senses, alarms going off in his head, as you thank the guests for showing up. You're a foot away, there's no way you haven't spotted him. His fingers clench in a fist, nails digging into his palm for some sort of support.

Maybe he should've bought some company. Maybe he shouldn't have put so much effort into his appearance. Who is he trying to impress? Yeah, he reels himself as he feels the smile radiating off of you, it's you.

Why? Why?? It's not like you'll leave your beloved for him. What has he got that makes him so special.

"Seichii." This is hell. His name sounds so sweet on your tongue. "...It's nice to see you again."

He's sweating bullets as he forces out a small, nervous chuckle, "i could say the same... but - i can't... see, heh.."

Oh. That was just his way of saying he's going to hurt himself when you turn away. Just kidding.

"Yeah," you exhale air from your nostrils. He'd like to think you actually found his joke funny, the corner of his lip quirking up to form an awkward smile. "Seiichi?"

"Yeah?" How embarrassing. He didn't mean to reply so eagerly.

"Thank you for being here." He thinks this truly is hell. "I worried about you living all alone up on the hill.."

He isn't alone. He's got his 'guards', and he's capable, but he misses the doting. "It's my p-pleasure, hah?"

He swallows thickly when your finger taps under his small cup, gently prodding it to his lips, he shuts up quickly.

You laugh at the sight. It's a hearty, genuine laugh. His heart squeezes, "We'll be having an after-party. I hope to see you there -"

He isn't going.

"...Sei'."

Oh, brother.

You turn away.

He permits the alcohol to sit on his tongue before letting it dribble back into the cup, as gross as it sounds.

Your last words ring in his head. That little nickname only you called him.

Sei. Sei. Sei — "Sei."

Nonononono.

Samura grips onto the bathroom handles, the tight stall stopping him from slipping. His arms feel like jelly!

"Haven't you thought of this?" You muse, lips dancing across his hip bone, squeezing his thighs in reassurance. "I have. Ruining you, messing you up so badly you'll fall in love again. I've always had a feeling you loved me. Did you?"

Samura's cigarette goes slack in his mouth. The temptation to light it is strong. His breathing deepens, it's a visible reaction to your actions. "Ngh — w-we shouldn't do this.."

Though he throws his head back, flaunting off the multiple hickeys given to him, his adam apple bounces as he gulps.

You laugh, warm hand gently pumping his shaft, fingers barely touching him — he came in his pants from kissing you, it was so cute. He acted like a virgin — "as you've been saying. Do you really want me to stop? Just say the word.."

He's barely just got out of his clouded mind, he needs to think straight, but man, does it feel good.

Samura huffs out shakily, eyes darting around under their lids. His sensitivity is to the roof. And it doesn't help that your teeth sink into the root of his pelvis, nibbling on him.

"Ahh!"

It feels like a claim. This is a reminder that you'd always be a part of him, even if you marry another. Even if you sleep with that person, even if you have children — he'll be your property for life.

You're married. You have been compromised. Your spouse is outside, partying at his own wedding. What if they're looking for you? Your friends? Family?? Lover???

"Ahh," you mock him by opening your mouth and taking only the head of his cock into your mouth, soft lips closing around the curve.

He shakes, knees bucking underneath his weight. He holds himself up with his forearms, ignoring the burn of the plaster against his skin as his arm slips from the thin walls.

Your tongue lays flat.

Movemovemove.

Do something. Anything. Don't pull away.

Ah, he wants more.

He looks down as if that'll make him see again. He shakes his head rapidly, nononono. He can't do more.

"[Name]." He utters your name so softly, like a prayer. His glasses slip down his nose, and he's quick to bring a trembling hand to fix them. "You can't do this to me..."

His words come out like vomit, one of his hands clench at his white dress shirt, right over his heart as if he's in physical pain. He thinks so, but it's mixed with pleasure.

His foot taps against the tiled floor, hunching over your crouched figure. "It's h-hngg hurts...!!"

"Me hurch ya?" You muffle out, tongue lapping up all his leaking pre on his tip, it smears against your tongue. It tastes salty and thick, but it's worth it. His hips are clumsily thrusting up into your mouth, and his leg jumps like a ruthless rabbit in heat.

You pull off of him, leaving him whining into the hot air. "That's inevitable."

"[Nam-]!"

"Don't you hear that?" Your hot breath fans across his twitching cock, he tries to listen in but his only senses are filled with you. You, you, you. "Someone's calling for me. How do you think this'll look?"

His mouth waters.

He falls back onto the toilet, thankfully the seat is covered, thumb rubbing away at the wet head, sinking his nail into his urethra in a shaky, desperate motion to at least sooth the insufferable burn his feverish red tip feels.

"How will we explain this? Maybe I'll tell them you dragged me in here to make me watch you masturbate."

His hips lift and squirm into his hand with a gasp.

"Or I can tell them the truth," you whisper to yourself. "But that'd only be if you let me have you."

Samura can't have that.

"Can't!" A sob nearly forces his way out when he hears the thud of your knees hitting the floor, your fingers dig into his muscular thighs, spreading them apart to wedge yourself in between them.

Samura nearly closes them shut from the thought of being stimulated.

All it takes is for your mouth to engulfe him, and he's shooting a load into your mouth. Your eyes widen at the unexpected moment.

Is he that easy?

His hips lift off the seat, arching deeper into you as his wavering hands scramble to find footing underneath his body.

"G-gahh!!" He yelps. His thighs shake in your tight hold, the sound of his belt buckling echoes in the empty bathroom stall.

His head hits something porcelain. He doesn't care.

He was palpitating with delight.

You detach yourself from him with a pop, and he whimpers from the loss of warmth only for it to be muffled when your fingers find his jaw, prying his mouth open. Spit dribbles down, and you watch in satisfaction as he jolts.

"Hah?" He pants in confusion.

And then he feels it — a salty tasting and thick substance on his tongue. His eyebrows furrow with need. A whimper leaves him when your tongue meets his messily, pushing the liquid into the back of his throat, giving him no other choice but to swallow.

When you pull away, you finally make up your mind, a string of drool connects your lips. You wipe it off with your thumb, pushing whatever you can into his maw. His tongue peaks out to take you in. His body quivers with aftershocks, hips melting and spent cock relaxing against him.

"I will disappear, and you will not have to endure me any longer."

Oh. He's so stupid to think you'd fight for him.

Stupid man.

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.