#especially for idw characters

[starlightseq]

As someone who loves enamel pins, I'm very sad there are no official enamel pins for the IDW Sonic crew, so I designed my own for fun. 

 IDW, SEGA, if you're out there...

[decepti-thots]

an extremely arbitrary headcanon of mine is that drift privately fucking Loathes chromedome (all the warcrimes against PoWs the cons Definitely knew he did, after Soundwave nearly got shadowplayed) but literally nobody but ratchet has any idea, including chromedome, because drift is very good at pretending he likes people when necessary for the sake of not attracting attention to his past.

and yknow i think he'd like to NOT because he is ALSO someone who regrets basically his entire involvement in the war and is trying to be better. he's trying to let that one go because internally he's like mmmm BIT hypocritical. but intellectually knowing that really doesn't help, especially since nobody seems to hold anything against chromedome at all, as though they don't really think of it as Really Bad.

[naycelium]

Whisper is so cool... 🐺

[sage-nebula]

Personally, I love that Whisper is a little messy.

I love that she is—for a Sonic character, at least—complicated. Overall, she's a good person. She wants to help and protect others. She's compassionate, and brave. She accepts others for who they are even when it might be inconvenient. (Ian Flynn clarified on a Bumblekast that when Whisper replied "I don't" to Lanolin when Lanolin asked her how she handled Tangle in the Urban Warfare arc, what Whisper meant was that Tangle is her own person and Whisper doesn't try to control her one way or the other. It wasn't her being angry.) She's usually patient and owns up when she makes mistakes. She's smart and capable, but still humble. She's determined and diligent and loyal.

But she is also traumatized, and while some of that trauma comes through in Socially Acceptable™️ ways of being sad and soft-spoken, it also comes through in less Socially Acceptable™️ ways. She self-isolates to the point where it damages her inter-personal relationships, sometimes on purpose. She is willing to commit murder against those who have caused great harm and has attempted to kill both Mimic and Eggman in canon twice each. She can be terse and is hypervigilant and sometimes violent as a result of her hypervigilance, warranted or not. (Because although we know she's right about Duo being Mimic, that doesn't give her a pass to put hands on Lanolin the way she does.) She regularly fails to communicate her feelings until cornered or she hits a breaking point. She spent the vast majority of her time in the story steadfastly refusing to heal from her grief over the deaths of her friends by saving the recording of the moment they died so she could watch it again and again.

None of this to say Whisper is a bad person. She's not. She's a severely traumatized 16 year old girl. She deserves to be given grace. But she is complicated. She's messy. Saving the body cam footage of when your friends were murdered so you can watch it over and over and keep that grief and need for vengeance festering in your heart is not a healthy coping mechanism. Self-isolating to the point where you won't even say goodbye (as she was going to do when she left the Restoration prior to Trial By Fire before Tangle happened to catch her in the act) isn't great behavior, either. And while the topic of whether a villain deserves to die for their actions is a moral quandry comics fans have wasted decades arguing about, the fact remains that the willingness to do so is rare by Sonic hero standards. In fact, it's usually only the antiheroes (such as Shadow) who are willing to do it. But Whisper shot Eggman through the heart in Urban Warfare; he would be dead right now if she hadn't been stuck halfway in cyberspace.

Yes, Whisper is soft with her wisps and her girlfriend and her friends. She tells jokes about toasters. She gets very excited to chill at the beach, and she is willing to put herself on the line time and again to protect strangers. But she is also willing to do the things she feels must be done, no matter how her friends might not approve, and sometimes her coping behaviors (or lack thereof) are awful. This wolf contains multitudes.

And I love her for it.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

What if what if I what if if I what if if I could what if I went crazy what then what then what then

I know Sonic does manage to turn into Super Sonic just in time to save everyone after that idw panel, but at the time of reading all I could think was how Classic Sonic had arrived in the nick of time to save him before in Forces

But that this time there is no Sonic to show up out of nowhere to defend him or comfort him🥲😭

[cosmics-beings]

Can I ask your opinion on what you personally think a good redemption arc for Megatron would be? I agree with your opinion of IDW/ES’s attempts because it really feels like something is…missing.

this is kinda critical, and it may be strange coming from me because over the past year I've tended to be soft on megatron but I've also been looking at characters with a more critical lens....so if hardcore megatron critique offends you then just look over. also...these are MY opinions.

What is missing is actual accountability, because in none of Megatrons redemption arcs does he ever actually take accountability, at least not in a way, IMO, that does anything for the narrative or holds him accountable.

There’s a lot of things that could’ve been done different. while I don’t really agree with how things are going in ES in regards to his character, what I do like is that Megatron’s past actions are finally coming back to get him. And by that, I mean that all the Decepticons have practically turned their back on him, which I love. And it also shows the organization can and in some cases should exist without him. I think what I didn’t like about ES, is that his redemption fell flat because he didn’t really understand a lot of what he did wrong. Meaning that, yes he was very sympathetic about being a warlord, and causing war and stuff. we even saw how much he cared about the deceptions and how angry he’d get when he thought that Optimus was working with GHOST to subdue the cons.

However, Megatron’s care for the Decepticons in ES is very very conditional. Meaning that if any Con had an issue with I’m, or literally wasn’t worshipping his feet or seeing him as a leader, he was prone to violence. This was shown with the Seekers AND Soundwave especially Soundwave — whom his peaceful facade broke the minute Soundwave held him accountable.

So I can’t say I completely hate ES, because it shows the flaws in taking a war lord and trying to make him a family grandpa, when he hasn’t really, truly been held accountable. But that’s also the thing that kinda makes me not like his redemption arc in ES. He is free, with the Autobots, with the Maltos, while his people are not. AND YES, for whatever reason, Megatron betrayed them. Maybe Megaton thought he was doing the right thing, maybe he thought it was saving the Decepticons, regardless it was still a bad look imo.

I hope ES points that out, how hypocritical he is, how the Deceptions don’t really want him as a leader because of that. 

IDW/Lost Light...

I love the Lost light, and i have a soft spot for LL Megs, but I really don't think Megatron deserved a lot of the nuance and care he got, when other characters had to suffer and didn't really get that. LIKE soundwave and other cons/ex-cons also deserved that nuance and love he got.

I think what i really hated however is how Megatron's presence on the Lost Light overshined a lot of the other characters. There was this need to push an unneeded redemption to the point that other people's narratives were overlooked. Rodimus suffered MASSIVELY for this, and he became an addition to Megatron' s arc, wherein he still had so much more growing to do. Now his character is solely tied to megatron and to me at least, it's kinda annoying. He deserves to exist outside of megatron but because there was a need for redemption for Megatron, he doesn't get that.

The relationship between Magnus and Rodimus, which needed to be highlighted, was HEAVILY destroyed because the narrative wanted Megatron to be the main character. And Roddy's trauma with being a prime was essentially downplayed.

I think that Megatron probably should've fought Unicron with the others in the end. And similar to starscream and soundwave, i think death, certain death would've been a great redemption for him. I'm not saying he can't be on the lost light for a while but essentially he wasn't held accountable for anything he did. he got therapy, he got a family, and he also got to leave to go to the functions universe and live a life he wanted.

and yeah maybe he gets executed, but there is also another megatron who was created with another LL, who doesn't get that, and he gets to be free and happy, while trillions are still dead because of him.

I don't think he actually got a redemption arc in the LL simply because he wasn't held accountable for anything. He got a very compelling, sympathetic story that i guess worked...

but i never saw it as redemption because he never was truly truly held accountable for what he did.

that's just my opinion. all of this is just my opinion so you don't have to agree with my takes!

[rainbow-beanie]

Even a month after reading it, I’m still taken aback by how dark the metal virus arc was, cause not only did all the main characters go through tons of grief, but we also see a glimpse into how other characters feel that aren’t apart of the main cast.

The poor girl, who knew she was infected, and despite that she tried and pleaded not to be left alone, cause the world was falling apart, she was losing everyone she loved, and she was scared. So the last thing she wanted was to be alone. Seeing this kind of feeling displayed in a sonic comic of all things filled me with dread, cause it felt oh so realistic, cause I know people in rl would react the same way.

What makes it worse is that she was screaming and crying up until vector, who definitely didn’t want to do this, but knew that if he didn’t, more people would be hurt, picked up a car and slammed it onto her, crushing her. And if she hadn’t turned into a sombot after this point, that impact would have killed her.

[transingthoseformers]

Thinking so many Prowl thoughts now

[skyarly]

Hate when sonic character writing criticism boils down to "this character isn't the same as another incarnation of the character which is the 100% correct one"

There is no definitive Sonic, the guy is a new guy every game sorry your favorite isn't coming back. now judge the new Sonic as his own guy and not how similar he is to Sonic from sonic and the black knights.

[kuaille]

gotta be honest after seeing at least eight iterations of tmnt i need to say:

purple dragons and the whole "new york underworld" suck in 12 and rise

[true-blue-sonic]

I find it kinda sad how some of the fandom will characterize Silver as all "Whiney" and "annoying" because he was implied to cry once and she'd the slightest amount of tears in the comics (old comics) and it's just sad bc silver has so much more character then that. I think that's why I like your writing so much, because you give him more then just dorky kid and whiney child guy y'know? (Sorry if that got a bit rambling and stuff lol)

I figure that ties in into the massive mischaracterisation Silver suffers from basically all sides of his character, but where his 'babyfication' runs most rampant, in my personal opinion. Furthermore, for me him seemingly crying at the end of his storymode in '06 nicely ties into that overall plot point of the game, and makes for something meaningful and interesting to analyse. The whole idea is that the person containing Iblis may never cry, lest their tears call forth his flames. Silver never cries in the game no matter how frustrated he gets with his never-ending battle against Iblis or when he loses Amy as a friend or when Elise dies.... but then he loses Blaze, the one person he thought would always be with him and who he would never want to take on the burden he was going to inflict on himself, and that is what makes him cry. I cannot put exactly into words why I find it so meaningful, but I feel that they wouldn't have put in the sight of him wiping at his eyes for no reason considering how much crying played a central role in the game. And as for the The Silver Saga issue where he cries too, his friends were basically dying because at that moment he wasn't strong enough to defeat the Second Devourer. I can forgive him crying then, since he gets a second wind moments after.

So yeah, people seem to cherry-pick only certain moments that display Silver's personality, and then use that to determine that the whole of his character is like that. Silver is far more multifaceted than either an innocent naive uwu baby or a brooding murder machine; he's got touches of both, but that both is very important. Not one or the other, just... Silver, basically. Polite and friendly to the people close to him, a heart of gold, self-sacrificial, and with the best intentions for the world, but brusque and rude while on a mission, smug and overconfident, absolutely ruthless when he feels it is necessary even in situations where cooperation and just talking would get him to his goal much faster, displaying the occasional black-and-white thinking and tunnel vision, and not allowing himself much time for sad emotions. And yet in the Rivals games, he can absolutely be polite, tries to indicate to the other characters what might be going on, and multiple times calls to talk to "Eggman" first before getting roped into a fight anyway. So generally he's not baby who bursts into tears if you look at him funny and would never ever hurt a fly (seriously, I really wonder how the heck people get that perception of him?? The things I see sometimes are mind-blowing in how bafflingly ooc they are), nor is he excessively violent, unreasonable, and brooding (traits I would say are much more ascribable to a character like Shadow or Metal Sonic). What traits he displays most seem highly dependent on the state of the world and whether or not he is on a mission and has support from his friends.

Though, what I furthermore thinks also leads to people finding Silver more whiny is the fact that he got quite a young, inexperienced voice from Pete Capella. Quinton Flynn does it a bit better imo (he's my favourite Silver voice actor), but Bryce Papenbrook goes right back and makes him sound younger and a lot more cocky (to the point where in TSR I occasionally felt like I was listening to an even cockier Sonic than to Silver). But if you asked someone to listen to all three of those and then to Daisuke Ono, I think no-one will be able to tell the Japanese voice is for the same character, haha! In Japanese Silver's got very deep, serious voice whereas in English he sounded/sounds far more childish and rude, and that might also contribute to the perception of him being annoying and childish and ✨uwu cinnamon roll✨. So yeah, overall Silver suffers from massive ooc-ness and mischaracterisation, and it, well, sucks. It doesn't help that he was basically HATED during his first five years of existence until Generations salvaged his boss battle. I do not think it is a bad time to be a Silver fan, people seem to like him a lot more these days, but I do wish they'd take a less flanderised view of him sometimes, haha!

[pluralsword]

Gosh we love this piece so much... We commissioned @ VansZero (discord) & worked with them to make this four panel fancomic "That's So Lovely Sibling," focusing on Gauge & Sideswipe, he did such an awesome job with the art in our opinion. We did the writing, spot the references around the piece to who the two's six mentors are! (if you know us it's probably not hard to guess haha)

[holograph-skullz]

Tailgate braiding Whirl's hair because I thought about it on my way to work the other day and got really emotional

[sonknuxadow]

i think some people are setting their expectations wayyyy too high for what shadow will be written like now. "the mandates are COMPLETELY gone shadow is fixed now guys!!" no theyre not literally all they said is that the rules have changed a little. like dont get me wrong thats good news too but a lot of people are exaggerating and setting themselves up for disappointment in my opinion

[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?

[cosmics-beings]

being a starscream fan is always difficult because you have to navigate interacting with people who completely pacify him and excuse all his actions and paint him as a innocent person who can't be held accountable for the shit he does. and going as far as saying you excuse abuse if you try to hold him accountable for how he treats others. nevermind the fact that u yourself are an abuse victim and you wanna look at him multifaceted and you know, not excuse his abusive actions toward others.

but at the same time, you also have to navigate people who absolutely HATE him, and will act like they don't and claim they just see him critically, when most of their content is bashing him for his abuse, excusing it, saying he's an awful person and getting mad at people for seeing him as a victim or wanting him to have better. literally saying he deserves what happens to him. ike a lot of people will flat out slander him, while uplifting characters who are worse than him, will say that starscream doesn't deserve redemption, or saying that anyone who wants better for him is excusing him or worse, going out of their way just to be extremely unfair and critical to him.

it's difficult because i love starscream and i do see him critically. but it's hard being around people who will just pacify his actions, and then try to go to someone so you can have indepth convos about him only to realize that 'oh, this person actually hates starscream, they haven't said anything remotely positive about him'.