#bluedude(sonic);

[bluedudewithatude]

ooc; alright --

full disclosure time.

So. Like I said on that "announcement post," BlueDude is back. I know I had a really sweet goodbye post and everything, but the full situation is... I didn't feel done yet. I wanted to answer a few asks after I fought to keep this blog just to say goodbye and I never got around to it. I ADORED Sonic Frontiers and I wanted to pull a Lost World/Forces and do some vague posts that imply Sonic went through everything that happened in that game, but I thought it was dumb or I couldn't because at that point, it had been a year since I said goodbye. Goodbye is goodbye, right? Nope. One of my old personal blogs was deleted by Tumblr suddenly (keyword is "old," I wasn't using it,) and I realized that a sudden deletion could happen to BlueDude for inactivity at any point. I went to go archive some of my favorite posts, and got hit with this... wave of sadness. If I was done... wouldn't I smile because it happened, and not sit here and wish I could continue? I asked for some advice from an old friend and he was of the verdict that if I felt this way, why couldn't I come back? So. I took him up on it. And here I am. Now, thing is, things won't be like before. Like I said in my goodbye post, BlueDude became an obligation after a while, and I don't want to let that happen again. As a result, my rules have been changed to reflect this. I hope the wording of it doesn't scare you guys! I'm up for interactions just as I always was, I just need to put what I want from this blog first and foremost. I apologize if anything on this page makes people not want to read what I write anymore, but if that's the case, I still thank you for your support for the last 10+ years.

For now, I plan on writing on this blog whenever I find the time. I'm a busy guy, what with my job and other personal projects. I don't think I plan on ditching this blog again unless Tumblr kicks me off, which, uh, considering this blog has outlived every single blog I used to interact with, I don't think that's happening anytime soon, haha.

Now, I'm returning to this blog alone. While I'm still in contact with Tails and Eggman, they've moved on in their own ways. And that's fine! I'm just saying that so anyone doesn't get their hopes up. If they come back, that's their own choice, but don't hold your breath, okay?

Either way, I'm here to play around, talk, and write Sonic on my own terms. No matter if it takes me a while, just be patient with me, because... I'M HEEEEEREEEEEE REACHING FAR ACROSS THESE NEW FRONTIER--

[bluedudewithatude]

bluedudewithatude - Ten Years Later. [ooc]

Boy. Time sure flies, huh?

Yep. That's the very first post on this blog, exactly ten years ago.

Wow.

If you would have told me when I made this blog that I'd be posting on it ten years later, I wouldn't have believed you. But. Here we are. On a blog I made on a whim, celebrating how it's now ten years old. Just... wow.

... Okay. I'll come clean. Maybe I don't have the right to make this post with how I've been absent in the last few years, but Sonic Generations is why I made this blog, and the timestamp there says this blog is ten years old, so. I'm counting it.

Besides. I wanted to come on here, and... update you all. Talk to you. Let you know how I'm doing, and let you know something important.

... It's about time BlueDude came to an official end.

I know, I know. Why not just leave the blog in silence? Why not just... let it stay inactive? Why make this post at all, if all I'm doing is saying goodbye? Well, that's the thing. This blog means enough to me to give it an end.

This blog's seen a lot in my life. I've moved a lot, made lifelong friends, parted ways with friends I've thought I'd have in my life forever, gotten engaged to the love of my life, realized who I am (Trans rights!) and achieved my biggest dream as a Sonic fan and went to the Sonic 25th Anniversary Party. It's even helped me reconnect with some old family, believe it or not! And all of you were here for that.

That's why.

This blog was just a hobby, something I started on a whim, but it became not just a part of my life, but part of me. Running this blog meant so much to me. I had fun with it, but it also became an obligation. Even as I've not been around these last few years, every so often I'd think "I haven't been on BlueDude. I should hop on, make a post, reply to some asks and dust it off," but never gotten around to it due to other obligations. I also know thinking that as often, and frequently, as I have, isn't healthy. What is healthy, though, is moving on, as hard as it is to do.

Leaving BlueDude quietly wouldn't feel right, after everything the blog's been through. What's happened with it and what it's meant to me and all of you. I've kept this a secret for a long time, but BlueDude reached over 1,000 followers like... within the first two years. Which is... amazing! Incredibly impressive! And now it's... sitting at 4,000+? Like. Wow. So, how many of you are bots?

When I made this blog back when I was 17, I was scared that I'd never play Sonic as well as he deserved. Sonic was, and still is, my hero. I didn't think I could play him well at the time, nor did I ever think that I would... apparently do it so well, that all of you welcomed him and treated him like the real deal. I've always been honored, flattered, and humbled by it. I hope the advice Sonic's given you all these years has helped you and made you smile when you needed it.

I went from being unsure I could write my favorite blue hedgehog to enter Sonic fandom spaces and RP spaces to say "I run BlueDudeWithATude" to be recognized, and that... honestly just. Wow. I would have never expected that.

To all of you who have stuck by me despite my inactivity, and other things, thank you so much.

Now... I say this is the end, but it's not entirely. I'm not vanishing off of the internet or anything. In fact, I've got great news to share! Yours truly now works as a gaming journalist! I honestly can't believe I get to say that! I won't say what site I work for -- not really in the mood to doxx myself today, thank you -- but I might share it with those I trust privately. Either way, BlueDude might go without posts, but someday you might read an article about the latest Sonic game, see the name "Zack" attached, and smile fondly remembering me and what I've written on here. That would make me very happy. <3

And, truthfully, this is just a more formal goodbye in case I leave this blog to be silent again. I really wanted to give BlueDude a proper send-off, proper credits roll and results screen, so I had to reset passwords and get into some old emails just to make this post. So I may stick around to answer a few lingering asks and try and make some kind of dent in his ask box after it's piled up for years. We'll see.

Either way, I wanted to let you know what's happening, what I'm doing, and where I'm going next. Even if this blog doesn't get posts anymore, it'll still be part of my life, and I hope you'll remember my blog fondly.

I never expected this when I made this blog without any planning, and while thinking I'd never do Sonic justice. Just the fact that I could make fellow Sonic fans smile, laugh, and help them out in only the ways Sonic could, makes me feel very fulfilled.

From one Sonic fan to another, and from the Sonic you all welcomed and loved of the last ten years...

Thank you. Thank you so much for absolutely everything. <3

Catch ya later!

- Zackari, AKA, BlueDudeWithATude