#◜✰ ◞ ‣ 𝐎𝐎𝐂. — let's show them the real super power of procrastinating! ❜

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hello beloved mutuals™ and happy holidays! i hope you all have a wonderful time if you celebrate, and if not, a good weekend anyway. i’m running low on spoons this week so writing is limited, but i may try for some festive stuff if i can... if not, you can expect a starter/ask call later. take care. <3

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I may have mixed feelings on how Frontiers handled Sonic as a character, but man, if it didn’t give us one of the best Sonic songs since Endless Possibility. One Way Dream is just so quintessential hedgehog, it’s such a heart anthem and it rules. If It Doesn’t Matter is like... the cake of Sonic’s personality, then One Way Dream is the frosting on top; perfect energy. (kiss)

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HAPPY FRONTIERS DAY i hope you guys have fun playing! catch you on the other side ✌️

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Now that it’s been a few days, huge spoiler warning under the cut because boy do I have some thoughts about Issue #50.

So ever since the dawn of idw’s run, I’ve had really... conflicting thoughts on how Ian decides to portray Sonic. He’s been writing hedgehog content for a long time now, and I appreciate what the guy does — but self admittedly, he’s rarely picked up and played a Sonic game, and has the most basic knowledge of the earlier titles. All of his current experience comes from three things: 

His time on the Archie comics.

SEGA’s asks and thoughts on what he creates.

Time spent on the cusp of fandom over the years.

... Which like, none of these are inherently bad, but I don’t think they’ve led him down the best path for writing Sonic as a character.

The most recent issue felt like a nail on the head for me, a kind of a-hah moment as to why I struggle to enjoy this portrayal of Sonic so much: he’s trying too hard.

A major selling point of Sonic’s character, for me, has always been his subtlety. Strip him down to the bare essentials and he should still be mostly the same, because what you see is what you get. But it’s in that simplicity that you also get to see what makes him shine — he’s all about slight expressions, doing rather than saying, living in the moment, ect ect.

But in the comics, I feel as if he loses a lot of this charm, and it’s replaced by a weird... arrogance? He’s almost ‘preachy’ at times, constantly telling those around him (not just enemies, but friends too) what the “right” thing to do is. Huge emphasis on second chances all the time, even when valid points are brought to his doorstep. Personal accountability is also a giant struggle, where it feels like he would rather blame those around him for choices he makes than admit he was wrong and... learn from it.

The fight with Surge highlights this issue really well, and it’s this one exchange in specific that does it for me:

This... isn’t Sonic to me. This feels so out of character.

He’s being so needlessly patronizing and righteous here, especially to someone he can visibly see is having a rough go. Fight her, sure — she’s threatening his friends and well.... everything, so he should raise fists. But look down on her, quite literally, with god rays shining down on him, to tell her how morally good he is? Explaining his apparent ideals to her, rather than just... living by them. Since when has Sonic ever needed to do that? (desperately ignoring the meta era, i am looking the other way)

Can you imagine if he did this to Shadow, how weird and different the tone of their interactions would’ve been? Chaos? Erazor Djinn?

Even with a closer example of Merlina: a fight where Sonic does ask what her motive is, he still listens for most of it. He’s observant and hears her out, and when he finally does talk, it’s because he has something meaningful to add. And when it’s questioned why he’s fighting? “I just gotta do what I gotta do, that’s all.”

But here, he’s not only giving a pseudo speech, but he’s practically saying he’ll be kind enough to grant her a second chance, because he’s the good guy. It feels so out of place, especially after he says that he likes to keep it simple? I just can’t see Sonic being the type of character to talk this much in the heat of the moment either... he’s always been the type to show his beliefs through action, not standing on a podium. He lives by example; again, subtlety that we’re missing.

In the name of giving Sonic ‘depth’ that he was apparently missing, I think that Ian has just made him feel... mean. I don’t think that Sonic was ever necessarily missing depth, either; a simple character doesn’t equate a bad one. This shares the same energy of the crowd that begs to see Sonic cry in the games, or any media, when he’s just not that type of character; he’s never needed to show extreme emotion to make an impact.

Also — “the doctors, too?” “Even them.”

This kills me because once again, in the games, Sonic doesn’t try and make peace with Eggman. They may ‘work together’ a few times against a common enemy, sure, but never for a second has Sonic ever stopped and been like hmm, maybe he’s just misunderstood! He understands that Eggman is the bad guy, cut and dry. 

“You and I have our own styles that we won’t change.”

It’s the whole core of their dynamic. But instead, Ian paints a picture in idw where Eggman isn’t... actually evil; it’s just hidden good deep inside that he needs to “come around” to, according to Sonic? Which feels oddly naïve for him. 

Sonic in these comics really does just try and force his so-called principals onto those around him, and it’s awkward to read. Another great example is his fight with Shadow in the earlier issues — a character who is deeply traumatized and has valid concerns about Eggman, concerns that Sonic should respect.

... But what does he do instead? Why, he manipulates Shadow into feeling bad for not trusting Mr.Tinker: “after all, if he can’t be forgiven, can you?” Like... in that moment, he doesn’t care that Shadow is trying to express his worries. Or that he’s very clearly sensitive about his past, and bringing it up so flippantly like that to prove a point is such a dick move. 

None of this is to say that I don’t want Sonic to have character flaws, because I do. I don’t mind the occasional temper, or even arrogance, and mistakes are natural! But I want to see him take accountability and actually learn. I want him to not stand around and tell everyone about his ideals, but live by them. 

This version of Sonic that would rather ignore the warnings of his friends and put more trust into his enemies, all in the name of ‘second chances’ or whatever else just... doesn’t do it for me. I hope that maybe in future issues, Ian can put a different spin on it, because as it stands now... 😓

I want to end this little thing on a positive note though: I really enjoyed how Eggman was handled in this issue. Like a lot. Love seeing him fucking punch Starling into the ground. And the exchange between Kit and Tails? That was really good, too! The art is lovely. I appreciate the time and love they put into idw, and my hedgehog thoughts are no baring on that. 

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🥺 ❤️

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two worlds theory is dead, bottles: popped 🍾 🥂

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like this post :-)

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thank you for participating in: would sonic fight you

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Hey OP, just wanted to say that your writing is amazing and i hope you have a lovely day! <3 Any tips for a struggling writer/roleplayer?

FIRST OFF: This has been sitting in my inbox for awhile now and I’m really sorry it’s taken me so long to reply?! It got gently buried in the depths of my drafts... but I really do appreciate the sentiment so much, and thank you for the kind words! ♡

The best ‘advice’ I can really give is to just get out there and do what makes you happy! Writing (at least for me) is all about inspiration, so if you have an interest in a particular thing, series, or character, just run with that and have fun. Roleplaying is all about fun at the end of the day — the reason I’ve stuck with Sonic for as long as I have is because not only is he my favorite character in... anything ever, really, but he’s also a joy to explore in writing. Silly little man.

In regards to the more technical aspect, if you mean reaching out and getting your blog off the ground (if you write on tumblr), don’t be afraid to toss a bone to other writers you may enjoy! Or if you’re too nervous to plot and such one on one, do some dash commentary, or an open starter. Dash memes! Stuff like that... it’s gud for generating activity, whether you want something heavy or light.

Last thought on the whole struggling thing, but when my brain juices are depleted and I just can’t form a coherent sentence to save my life, I usually put on some lofi or even like... Ambient Instrumental Inspiring Music Royalty Free For Writers on youtube LOL. Background noise (especially if it’s thematic or whatever) helps, but I can’t do lyrics, so I settle for this type of beat! I use calmlywriter as well, it helps me focus a lot! 

Thanks again for the ask, and good luck writing. <3

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i have legitimately no idea what possessed me today but uh. hello, it’s nice to see the dash so active,

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the x amount of months cycle of reminding the dash that ava stabbed tails is my favorite one

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a frightening glimpse into my creative process

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dash feels authentic, organic, love it very much, thank you

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Didn’t have a chance to make this post the other night, but hi, hello — I’m planning on boosting my activity here again! Took some... on/off breaks for the better part of this year, and it’s sorta helped my muse? Kinda! It’s gonna take me some time to get back into the swing of things, but TLDR, I’m gonna be around again.

Got my foot in the metaphorical RP door again by re-doing my rules + about pages the other day; feel free to check those out, if you want! And thank u as always for sticking around, can’t wait to write with you guys again ♥ ♥. I may do a starter call later... /thinking.

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     ⇢ Hey! Over the next few weeks, this blog is gonna go through some changes and updates that’ll effect how things are run here. I’ve made myself a handy little to-do list under the read-more, but it also serves as an explanation for some things, if you’re interested! Thanks in advance for checking it out. ♥

I was gone from this blog for about... a month and a half? About that; it helped my muse quite a bit! I’ve been missing my little blue guy, and writing as a creative outlet, but I was facing a bit of a problem — tumblr as a medium stresses me out.

It’s a vibe thing? It’s a vibe thing! Staff constantly breaks the interface, dash activity can be overwhelming, and occasionally there seems to be some kind of... underlying tension. It was making the blog experience incredibly uncomfortable for me, and that stress was spreading into other things such as my daily life, or even my love for Sonic as a character. It was super bumming me out, so I took a break and found a solution that works for me..!

- I’m making lightdash a private blog. What this means, as per my own definition (ik private means different things to different indie rpers), is that I’m not going to be actively seeking out new mutuals. I’m also going to reinforce my ‘not a follow back blog’ rule here; I’m sorry if this makes me seem like a hard-ass. I’ve always kept this blog semi-open, but it’s become just... too much? This seemed like a more reasonable set-up for me right now. (exception to this though is for people i meant to follow during my hiatus; but if you really think we’d jive and wanna send me a message, you can! i’m just not seeking out new partners myself).

- Unfortunately gonna be cleaning out my following list. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done this, and I realized the other night that I’m following lots of archive blogs, people that haven’t posted in months, ect. There’s also some mutuals that I’ve straight up never interacted with, and have a hard time seeing a scenario where we would. So if you come to find I’ve unfollowed you, I’m really sorry and I promise it’s not personal! Maybe in the future when I feel like I can take on more threads again, we could interact! Again, just... making this blog comfy for me again. Thank you for understanding. ♥♥

- I’m no longer giving my discord to mutuals, or joining any rpc discord servers. I realized that part of my exhaustion was simply that I was spreading myself a bit too thin with socializing; too many messages or pings to keep up with, too many conversations. It’s been really nice to get to know everyone, but my life is already so hectic outside of rp. I’m sleebyyy.

- Dash only for now. I dunno the last time I made light dash (HAH) only... not sure if I ever have? IT FEELS ODD but I can’t be fussed with a theme right now. He does however has a google doc with rules and info that I’ll put in his title, sooner or later.

- Not really related to lightdash, but I’ve also closed my other blogs for now and put them on a loonnnggg indefinite hiatus. If I ever come back to them, they may be on completely new blogs entirely! Who knows; thank you for roleplaying with them while they were up, though. I had a lot of fun! Sonic is enough for me right now, that’s all. ♥

It’s honestly a bunch of little things, but they make a big difference for the sake of my sanity on this hellsite — once again, I’m really sorry if I seem silly with any of this. I know this blog has always been high activity in the social aspect, both mun and muse, but I’m trying to reel that in a bit so I don’t run out of juice.

If you read this, thank you, and tysm for sticking around during my mini hiatus! If we’re already mutuals and you wanna plot anything or whatever, my IMs are always open. ♥

be cool be wild be groovy you guys know how it goes