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True story. I developed a hyperfixation for Sonic after I watched the cutscenes of Sonic Lost World (the scene where he was all alone really broke me), so for the first time I reached for the fandom. I found a small forum, joined, and poured my heart into describing how great of a character Sonic was for me, with all his strenghts and weaknesses. ...then, the freaking ADMIN of the forum replied, telling me "If you like seeing the emotional side of Sonic, forget about the games. He almost feels nothing there! Go read the Archie comics instead." They could have simply suggested me to search the comics, without downplaying the reason I joined the forum in the first place, but noo. THIS is the proper way to welcome a newcomer!

I'm very sorry to hear about that. That is definitely a very representative experience though, I'm sorry to say. So many people who call themselves Sonic "fans" really just genuinely do hate Sonic, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that about them. They hate the games, they hate the people who make the games, and often they are hateful towards people who enjoy the games. And it's incredibly alienating because in the english speaking community of the internet, they feel like the majority.

But the truth is they're just a vocal minority. Every Sonic game sells millions upon millions of copies. For every youtube video saying such and such Sonic game sucked that gets 100K upvotes from people agreeing with it, there are 900K people who bought and enjoyed that game and are just quietly staying in their lane about it.

Even Sonic Lost World sold 700K in its first year before being ported to PC, and it was a Wii U exclusive. Do you know how many Wii U's were sold in 2013, the same release year as Lost World? Around 3 Million. Meaning almost one third of everyone who bought a Wii U that year also bought Sonic Lost World. That is a massive slice of a very small pie. Anyone who acts like Lost World's sales (before it ported to PC) are indicative of anything besides the fact that the Wii U was a failure of a console is being economical with the truth.

Don't be discouraged, that's all I can say. If they can't appreciate Lost World then that's their loss. And their sour attitude is no reason to not also give the comics a fair shake if you're interested in them and want to come to your own conclusions as well.

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And what if I cried until I threw up

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Don't show this to Randomalistic!

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Redrew an old comic from 2022. Now in color!

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Lemons. Yes....

Лимоны. Да. Кто как, а я люблю их только в чае☕

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Sonic Lost World, the game in which Sonic displayed a range of emotions and vulnerability and made me feel empathy for the poor hedgehog, was the reason I decided to reach for the fandom, to find other people who felt the same way as me. ...you can guess how it went.

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You could make a compilation of moments from "Return to the underground" and name it "Leo, Raph and Mikey show their love for Donnie for X minutes". If there is one thing the 2k3 turtles are better than any other version, is how they never fail to let their Donnie know how much they adore him.

Oh goodness, I almost forgot about this ask dsjgkjgd this was a pretty easy compilation to make, though! Enjoy!

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Nerd alert

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It's really frustrating, but I think it needs to be pointed out that the fans of 2010 Sonic (yes, there ARE fans of 2010 Sonic) were harassed and mocked back then. By the same people who wanted Sonic to be as pure and heroic as he was in Black Knight, no less.

There was a particular individual who was completely hellbent in advocating his beliefs, he dragged the entire goodwill of the "Adventure Era Fans" to the ground. And those fans, instead of saying "this individual does not represent us, we do not condone his behavior" they let him be because clearly complaining about the writing of a cartoon hedgehog had the priority.

This is how the FIRST post of the individual started:

Ok, first, I really want to know what's so "great" about the Post-Colors personalities ? "Hurr durr Sawnik and Taeelz r in a bromance, Sawnik haz attitude, it'z all so light-hearted, funny and simplistic !1!"

He just joined the forum and he already mocked the intelligence of half of the users. Great.

Then he kept on quoting everyone who dared say something positive about Colors and basically replied with "No, Colors sucks". Every single time.

And his personal interpretation of Sonic's character in the Pontaff games was so... distorted...

But I want to know something : why so many people are so obsessed with having Sonic portrayed as a insensitive, idiotic, self-righteous and selfish bastard so much ?

How can you consider a character like this, who is supposed to be the hero, and hence to be sympathetic, LIKEABLE ???

This guy was also all over the place on youtube, where he unprovokedly looked down upon everyone who DARED to genuinely likes and fondly remembers Sonic Colors. At one point everyone knew his many nicknames (he kept changing name because of internet trolls), and still, the Adventure Era Fans kept ignoring the damage he was making to their cause.

Those were the times...

From time to time I go back to a thread titled "Sonic's ideal characterization topic", where defenders and haters of the 2010 games collided to a fierce battle to decide if the Sonic from that age was a jerk or not. I was there too, and ten years later I'm still mad that I couldn't get the upper hand on the conversation (and doubly mad that a moderator scolded ME for calling other people "jerks", when I clearly didn't). I can't let it go!

As I said earlier, this is why I rarely have the energy to bother with intense discussions about these things anymore. It's not fun. It's not insightful. It's tedium, alienation, and people patting each other on the back for having the so-called right opinions.

I know complaining about how insanely strict people can get about the characters might sound hypocritical coming from me of all people, since I take accuracy to the characters' portrayals pretty seriously, and continue to lol at the Muh Mandates crowd. But there's still a difference between that and the constant contradictions and moving of goalposts performed by the vocal majority of the fandom. For years on end. What's good one day is actually bad the next, and vice versa, and all the while, anything you say continues to fall on deaf ears. People wish actual violence or even death on whoever they deem necessary, but the moment "undesirables" express a teensy bit of frustration, you must be shamed and cancelled.

It's a fucking cesspool, even compared to other fandoms with their own brand of notoriety. And I'm sick of sitting through it for what ultimately amounts to nothing, for people who don't care.

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From time to time I go back to a thread titled "Sonic's ideal characterization topic", where defenders and haters of the 2010 games collided to a fierce battle to decide if the Sonic from that age was a jerk or not. I was there too, and ten years later I'm still mad that I couldn't get the upper hand on the conversation (and doubly mad that a moderator scolded ME for calling other people "jerks", when I clearly didn't). I can't let it go!

As I said earlier, this is why I rarely have the energy to bother with intense discussions about these things anymore. It's not fun. It's not insightful. It's tedium, alienation, and people patting each other on the back for having the so-called right opinions.

I know complaining about how insanely strict people can get about the characters might sound hypocritical coming from me of all people, since I take accuracy to the characters' portrayals pretty seriously, and continue to lol at the Muh Mandates crowd. But there's still a difference between that and the constant contradictions and moving of goalposts performed by the vocal majority of the fandom. For years on end. What's good one day is actually bad the next, and vice versa, and all the while, anything you say continues to fall on deaf ears. People wish actual violence or even death on whoever they deem necessary, but the moment "undesirables" express a teensy bit of frustration, you must be shamed and cancelled.

It's a fucking cesspool, even compared to other fandoms with their own brand of notoriety. And I'm sick of sitting through it for what ultimately amounts to nothing, for people who don't care.

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"Would you cORK it? We're doing the best we can!"

-Townsend Coleman as Michelangelo sounding like a genuinely exasperated teenager who has hit a previously untested limit.

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"I was too slow to save my buddy" vs "Na na na na na na", which scene is the sappiest?

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I finished the 87 series as a whole (except the European vacay season like I can't find it anywhere) and want to cry!!! My boys!!! I can't believe it's done!!!

What an awesome show. I might have to rewatch it just to write down more notes and thoughts. ;)

Anyways here's some headcanons about my sweet 87 boys and some show observations:

Hopefully with this people might give the show a chance. It's so delightful and charming. You won't be disappointed.

🐢🧡🐢💜🐢♥️🐢💙

The turtles are all basically 3-4 years old. They make tons of comments about living half their lives in a fish bowl and when Yoshi comes across them they're still babies. When they're shown mutating, they go from baby turtles to the older bipedal forms we know them by.

They're all identical sans their voices. (In the 87 show not only does April have trouble telling them apart at the beginning but so do the animators in every episode)

They all seem to possess super strength and some levels of invulnerability. Donatello in particular had a multiple story brick building dropped on him, which he just walked off. They've all shown varying skills such as bending metal with their bare hands. Raphael as a practical joke in one episode picks up a couch and hurls it at Donatello just to be smartass. Leonardo cuts metal like tinfoil.

They still think of themselves as turtles first and foremost, so they don't refer to each other as brothers. (despite the fact they're totally brothers) and simply address each other as friends. (They're brothers tho we all know the truth 💕)

Something not explained in the opening of the 3rd season, the turtles as babies, before they mutate, are shown with different shell patterns. While it's not obvious which turtle is which it is neat the artists went out of their way to animate each turtle with a unique pattern.

When you watch the show the amount of people and mutants that dislike the turtles is shocking. For a fun kids show made in the late 80's to mid 90's, it's basically a huge allegory to the civil rights movements and you can even take relevance to human rights movements of today.

Despite being so lovable they have only a small circle of friends. Most of those friends at some point have betrayed them too.

The boys have seen two different futures of themselves. (not counting their shared apocalypse nightmares) The first future is where they get old together in a mansion and they're heralded as heroes and everyone likes them. The second future doesn't show them but in the second future it's stated being a mutant is a crime punishable by death and all mutants are criminals regardless of deeds. This is before the red skies studio era of writing. That's before it's supposed to get edgy.

They all are highly intelligent. They can each pilot every vehicle ever present in the show despite none of them having a formal education, license, or understanding of the rules of the road. Michelangelo in particular seems to have a knack for US fighter jets.

In season 7 episode 11, titled "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!" We meet two new mutants named Rahzar and Tokka. They're a gay couple. You don't believe me? Go watch the episode. I'm not pulling your leg. I swear. I promise. It's a good episode go watch it.

Master Splinter calls them his sons. He also calls Carter, his newest student, son occasionally too. It's his term of endearment.

The turtles in this version are known to get sick pretty regularly. (probably because of their still developing immune systems). They always get sick as a group and they totally soak up the pampering.

They in the first season share a 4 stack bunk bed and then after the bunk is destroyed in the season 1 finale they each get their own alcoves which they treat as their own rooms.

I didn't remember which Punk Frog said it, but one of them called Leonard and Michelangelo his Bubba which is a term of endearment for brother. The punk frogs call each other bubba too. So unlike the turtles they were either all frog brothers who mutated together or after mutating they just decided they're brothers and they also adopted the turtles as their brothers too.

Mondo Gecko seems older in this series because of his appearance but he's the same age as the turtles and actually mutated from the same ooze as them on the same day at the same time so he in 87 is like a mix of their brother and cousin? He's related regardless. (We all know the truth in our hearts)

Shredder and Krang act like a married couple who've been married too long and are on the cusp of a divorce but they've been together too long so they just keep tolerating eachother.

They all love the unhinged gross unholy pizza combos. Michaelangelo's stated combos are actually tame compared to some of the things they've eaten. One episode the boys committed to the bit so hard they ate lit candles just to mess with Michelangelo. They get pregnant sardine fudge pizza cravings at midnight. They put cereal on regular pizza for breakfast. They hate vegetables though. They literally gag when Splinter eats sushi. They refuse to eat bugs despite their turtle origins (interesting enough the Punk Frogs don't even like pizza at all first unlike them) but like they will eat out of the garbage. But not fresh handmade sushi.

They're so casual about being in public. Like they have disguises but sometimes they just go out in public as themselves. They also have so many elaborate disguises. In the first episode their first instinct to blend in was to throw on bright neon shoes, various bomber jackets, and start publicly beatboxing and breakdancing.

The turtles get called slurs by Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady. The slur in question is "Shellback" . When Donatello makes an evil clone the first thing the clone does is call him that slur. It's so funny like that's yourself. Donatello basically called himself ugly. Why is that so funny.

Shredders go to threat in the show and many other villains go to insult is to straight up threaten to eat them. Like, do none of the villains care about getting salmonella? Why do all the villains want to eat them?

Something I've noticed, they refuse to use nicknames. They only use each other's full names. It makes me wonder why? I theorize it's probably to do with the fact Master Splinter gave them their names and that's the first thing they received? It's not like they're not playful enough to use nicknames.

Despite his fatherly role in their lives, the turtle boys don't call Splinter their father and this is more than likely to do with the fact they see themselves as turtles and know they have turtle parents. (Again we know the truth)

April in this show is an adrenaline junky. She's also a child endangerer. She's helped save the day a lot but she would much rather the world burn so she can film it as her next big scoop.

The boys treat April like their mom in this show. April herself doesn't really get that. In one episode she got poison flowers and thought it was from the boys and went to "let them down gently" because she thought they romantically liked her.

April on multiple occasions reads bed time stories to them. She in one episode read the same bedtime story 4 times just because they liked it that much. She was going to read it a 5th time just for Leonardo.

When Zack, the 5th turtle, was in danger instead of helping him April shouted "What a scoop!" and filmed a child in a death trap.

Splinter believes in wholesome gaslighting in this show. He once cured three of them of permanent balloon-itis with moth balls but made up a story about how it was an ancient mythical legendary cure. Then after they were better he said it was moth balls.

April actually got fired from her job because she wouldn't badmouth the turtles on live television (also for other reasons). She focused on freelance while helping the boys on the side.

April is really bamf. She's actually saved the turtles just as much as they save her.

I just want everyone to know I love these little guys. The turtles are pure little snookie pookie baby bookies. No one knows the amount of space these silly little fictional turtles take up in my heart.

I hope maybe with more word out people might give the 1987 tmnt show a chance. It's really cute and funny. A super enjoyable time. It doesn't deserve the ragging it gets from other shows and fanbases. They're just goobers.

Thanks for reading my ramble list. :)

Also! if there's any fanfic recs please let me know I'm making a list and checking it twice ;)

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One reason to love the TMNT 1987 cartoon: the videogames were animated just like everything else

Many cartoons from the 80/90s (two examples: Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends; DuckTales) always had that episode in which the heroes deal with videogames. And, for the animators, that should have mean "videogames=pixels as big as life itself".

Something that, for some reasons, gave me nightmares. Those squared, blocky, almost Picasso-esque figures were the bane of my childhood.

And that's why I'll always love the episode "Leonardo vs Tempestra" for being different. Look at that high definition!

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Rewatching the 1987 series. I forgot how sweet and compassionate this version of Michelangelo Is.

He's the most prone to tears

-when he has to say goodbye to Kala in "Hot rod teenagers from Dimension X"

-when he remembers his mom as he watched an endangered turtle successfully lay her eggs in "Turtles turtles everywhere"

-when he hears the laments of Splinter not being able to live alongside humans in "Splinter no more"

-when all the turtles are forced to take separate ways in "Splinter vanishes"

-when he's scared his brothers will never turn back to normal in "Michelangelo's birthday"

-when he worries for Zack in "Bebop and Rocksteady conquer the universe" (he actually bawls into Raphael's arms!)

Also

He befriends and helps a lonely rich kid in "Michelangelo toys around"

He stops at nothing to convert Mondo to the side of good in "Michelangelo meets Mondo Gecko"

He vows for Donatello's innocence in "Donatello's Badd time"

He shows a severe case of camera fright in "Turtles on trial"

He has a soft spot for pets (pets who never stick for more than an episode, but whatever)

He's all this and more in the episode "What's Michelangelo good for?"

Seriously, '87 Michelangelo is a living treasure :)