#i think that out of the sonic cast knuckles would probably be the worst with computers actually not shadow

[sonknuxadow]

as funny as the idea of shadow being completely unable to use technology is i feel like it doesnt actually make much sense because like . yeah he basically fell asleep 50 years ago and woke up in the modern day and theres been a lot of changes in culture and technology that he'd have to get used to. but he wasnt living on earth with zero exposure to computers he was living on a space station where the science was advanced enough for them to be able to create him. maybe he'd struggle a bit using modern computers/phones/etc but i dont think he'd just know nothing about technology either. you know.

[kaylatoonz]

Amelia Rose Thorndyke (movie Amy Rose)

I know there’s a slim chance of this happening but I think it would be interesting if they gave the human characters from Sonic X another chance, the Thorndyke to be more specific.

Context: (probably take place in movie 3)

Backstory- Just like in the show, Chris is a pretty lonely kid until Amy Rose crashes into his life 6-7 years ago (literally crashing into their family pool). After a late-night rescue, Chris takes in the small pink hedgehog to make sure it’s OK. Chris originally wanted to keep Amy a secret, but those plans were ruined the very next morning when Chuck, Ella, and Mr. Tanaka discovered her when Chris was trying to find food suitable for the little pink hedgehog. They were a bit skeptical at first, but after some convincing from Chris’s end was allowed to stay until he could confront his parents about it. Chris was concerned that their growing friendship would be cut short once his parents returned, luckily Amy managed to warm her way into the hearts of everyone in the household, even his parents and uncle. Years later Amy Rose is considered a part of the family and is spoiled with love thanks to Lindsey and Ella. Over the years Amy was able to chase away Chris’s loneliness but unfortunately not her own. Although Amy spends much of her time with Chris and her family, she feels isolated from the outside world. She understands the rules set by Mr. And Mrs.Thorndyke to never go outside to keep her safe, but she still can’t help but feel sad that she can’t meet anyone new or someone like her.

Those feelings come to an end when a shocking new cast reveals three beings that were like her, the blue hedgehog the most. The second the story was over Amy rushed over to her parents begging them to take her to green hikes to meet these heroes. They immediately shoot down the idea, saying it’s too dangerous, and it could be a trap. This leads to a heated argument between the three ending with Amy being grounded until further notice. Feeling defeated Amy goes to her room as told. Left alone with her thoughts once again she came to one conclusion, she was going to take things into her own hands. That night she runs away to find the three heroes and hopefully go on an adventure to remember.

Sonic and Amy- unlike other iterations of Amy and Sonic's don’t see eye to eye as much at least at the start. Before Amy met the gang she built this image of the heroes that don’t quite compare to who they are. Despite this she gets along with knuckles and tails (though they are nothing like she imagined) it’s Sonic she has a problem with. Not only did he fail to meet every expectation she had for him, he’s also a jerky, reckless idiot in Amy's eyes. Sonic was always doing or saying something stupid getting them into trouble. Not to mention he always left her behind and never took her seriously (that is no way to treat a lady). This prompts her to prove him wrong by jumping head-first into danger that she believes she can handle (she is a bit of a hypocrite). On Sonic’s end, he sees Amy as a spoiled reckless brat who doesn’t understand anything. It’s a bit harsh but it's hard not to think that she is constantly getting into trouble when she can barely control her powers and keep making things difficult when he tries to leave her somewhere safe (sonic is also a hypocrite). Worst of all she left behind a perfectly good family to go on an “adventure”. Sonic would have done anything to have Tom and Maddie as a family on day one, so Amy's drives frustrated him. These frustrations grow during the adventure eventually leading to a heated argument between the two hedgehogs (similar to the argument Sonic had with Tom in the first film). Amy leaves the team hurt and conflicted by her original hope and goal.

“Was she selfish for running away in hopes of meeting others like her? Should just return home where she’d be safe and out of their way?” She couldn’t help but feel guilty for her behavior towards the team (specifically Sonic) and her parents. She had come all this way to meet them only to show how much of a burden she was and she probably had her family worried sick. Wanting to set things right she decided to head back to the team to give them a proper apology before returning home where she would be out of their hair (quills) for good. Before she can do anything she gets kidnapped by Eggman or Shadow.

Back with team Sonic, Knuckles and Tails are disappointed by how Sonic handled things. They agree that Amy can be a bit of a handful at times but she has also proven to have her strengths (though there’s room for improvement). Tails even insisted that they have a lot in common if they BOTH take the time to get to know each other. Sonic disagrees that he’s anything like her until he crosses paths with Chris.

It turns out that as soon as the Thorndykes found out Amy Rose was missing Mr and Mrs Thorndyke heard straight to green hills while Chuck and Chris followed their trail to find Amy ( behind Nelson and Lindsey's back of course). This leads to them eventually catching up with Sonic and the gang but still no sight of Amy.

Upon meeting with the humans, they both learn that Amy has been kidnapped. Like everyone else, Sonic shares concerns for Amy's safety, though he lets slip an offhanded comment about her getting into trouble again which Chris and Chuck don’t take lightly.

On the way to rescue Amy, the team gets to know the new humans leading to a heart-to-heart between Sonic and Chris (this could work with Chuck but I think Chris needs some redemption after his Sonic X iteration). Chris let Sonic know that there’s more to Amy than her sometimes feisty nature. She’s always proven to be the most kind and compassionate person he has ever known and is always doing something amazing when no one‘s around to appreciate it (foreshadowing of the scene with Shadow and Amy). He also laments his mistake of not noticing sooner how lonely and isolated Amy felt which caught Sonic’s attention. As Chris continues he reveals to Sonic how having a family from the beginning Amy never had as much freedom to explore or had any friends of her own. She didn’t even know there were others like her a couple of weeks ago. Knowing this Sonic felt he owed Amy a second chance and maybe an apology.

Fast forward after rescuing Amy, Shadow, and Amy’s scene, the team saves the world (this going on long enough)

With the day bringing save and families reunited Sonic and Amy meet face to face once again. Before Sonic can voice his apology Amy starts to tearfully apologize to Sonic about her behavior. To comfort her, Sonic hugs Amy telling her he’s sorry he wasn’t the nicest guy either. Sonic even suggests that they could start over and she can join the team. Amy agrees to start over but suggests that she hold off on joining the team for a bit. She doesn’t believe she’s ready to team due to her lack of control over her abilities (at the time sonic and Amy didn’t know about the impact Amy had on shadow and how it helped a lot in the long run. Amy also feels she needs a lot of self-reflection after their adventure (she’s still guilty for causing so much trouble for the team and possibly being responsible for Shadow's sacrifice himself).

After some parting banter (less rough compared to their first meeting) Amy promises when they meet again for their next adventure she’ll be stronger than ever.

First thing when the hedgehogs arrive home both get teased by their siblings/family about their new friend).

Bonus content:

Chris and Amy have a sibling relationship, so like siblings, they can get on each other's nerves from time to time.

Nelson and Lindsey both help fund the Wachowski’s expenses that the government won’t help cover for Sonic, tails, and knuckles. Chuck also helps fund tails projects cause he has taken a liking to the little fox (though the project Chuck and Tail work on together can get a bit wild).

Chris, Chuck, and Tails whenever they visit each other work on new inventions together. This may include an explosion or two, much to the concern of the adults (between the Wachowskis and the Thorndyke).

Although Sonic and Amy are on better terms they often have a hard time complimenting each other face to face stating that it would “go to their head”. Occasionally a compliment sometimes does slip out from one of them which causes both of them to become flustered whenever it happens.

Sonic and Amy, both still share banter, though it comes out a bit flirtatious to onlookers which knuckles, tails, and Chris happily teased them about.

After their adventure, Amy loses a bit of confidence in herself and holds a lot of guilt for nearly costing Sonic his life (when Sonic got shot into space trying to rescue Amy) and the loss of shadow. This is one of the many reasons Amy is hesitant to join the team even when she gets better control of her powers. When Sonic learns of this, he isn’t having it, giving Amy a heart-to-heart talk about how she should give herself more credit ( and maybe mentioning how he’s been through something similar).

Sonic eventually learns about what Amy did for Shadow and other “small” deeds that helped the team a lot more than Amy thinks. Sonic gained a lot of respect and admiration for her after that. (He’ll let her know that whenever Amy is being too hard on herself with her shortcomings).

Whenever Sonic and Amy go on their “not date” dates Sonic offers to pay for the expenses despite Amy being loaded. (Amy’s not sure if he's just being a gentleman or he forgot she’s rich but she’ll take it).

Despite having a rough introduction with Ella(Amy nearly gave Ella a heart attack when she first arrived), Amy and Ella have the strongest bond, especially in the kitchen. They both enjoy cooking delicious meals and baked goods for the whole family to enjoy. And whenever Sonic and the gang come to visit she always appreciates the extra hands she gets in the kitchen. The boys also appreciate the food Amy and Ella make for them when they visit.

Mr. Tanaka serves as a butler and bodyguard to the Thorndyke household. He gives both Amy and Chris self-defense lessons to show that he cares about them in his own way (and to keep them safe). Mr. Tanaka was originally on the fence with Sonic due to Amy losing so much of her confidence in herself the last time she interacted with Sonic. Once he gets both sides of the story, he’s more understanding, though he is still protective of Miss Rose when Sonic is around.

Sam Speed and Amy often have a hard time seeing eye to eye with each other due to Sam’s blunt and overconfident nature. Similar to Sonic X, Sam developed a rivalry with Sonic once he learned of Sonic's super speed.

[generic-sonic-fan]

I’d love to hear your headcannons on what G.U.N. thinks of the sonic cast! Idk what it is exactly but the idea of G.U.N. coming up with a bunch of plans in regards to (mostly) a bunch of teens and kids is intriguing to me

This is such a fun and interesting prompt, thank you so much for sending it! I love worldbuilding in the Sonic universe lol. LONG post below cut

Sonic:

The ultimate worst case scenario.

Much in the same way an ICBM can be anywhere in the world within 30 minutes, Sonic can be anywhere at any time and cause MASSIVE amounts of destruction.

GUN wasn't nearly as worried about Sonic before they tried to frame him in SA2. They thought it'd be easy to pin the blame of Shadow's behaviors on Sonic and then pardon him later.

They were wrong.

Now GUN threat evaluators place Sonic just behind Eggman in world threat level. They struggle to understand what his morals might be and all their attempts to reach out to Sonic and ask him to clarify have been met with a "nah!" from the hedgehog himself.

There's one group in particular within the organization who are extremely paranoid about Sonic to the point of suggesting proactive measures against him.

. . . which everyone else in the organization either laughs at/ignores/prohibits.

There is no set-in-stone contingency for Sonic, as nobody can agree on one, but the plan that has the most consensus is to somehow utilize Team Dark.

Any attempts to discuss this with Team Dark have been turned down. Shadow refuses to speak of it, Rouge laughs it off, and Omega refuses to collaborate because he promised Shadow he wouldn't.

Tails:

Due to Tails' extensive social media presence, GUN feels like they have pretty good tabs on what's going on in Tails' head at any given moment, so they're a lot less paranoid about him.

A very exclusive group of people brainstorm what the contingencies might be on the off chance Tails does present a threat to the world.

(Because even in discussing Tails, they're much more worried about Sonic's reaction to them have contingencies for the fox)

A lot of their contingencies for Tails are the same as those for Eggman. GUN feels pretty prepared for any sort of Tails Overlord scenario, actually.

Minus Sonic, that is.

Current GUN protocol is to treat Tails very very nicely so that Sonic doesn't start getting concerned.

This is why Tails is allowed to be Omega's primary mechanic.

Knuckles:

GUN sent drones directly to Angel Island. Once.

Their old protocol was for him to remain "uncontacted". Yikes.

After Knuckles started getting more involved in struggles against Eggman, GUN started doing more research into him.

Because he mostly stays up on Angel Island and acts as a competent guardian of the Master Emerald, GUN isn't too worried about him? If anything, they're glad that someone with a significant power level is preventing Eggman from stealing the ME.

They've tried to initiate diplomatic contact with him but he's turned them down every time

He knows that GUN monitors the ME from afar- sometimes on clear days he sees a GUN drone floating a few miles off of Angel Island.

It's a bit of an uneasy truce honestly. GUN's biggest concern is that Knuckles could start using the ME for his own purposes, but so far it hasn't looked like that would ever be the case.

As for contingency plans- GUN has asked Rouge if she thinks she'd be able to steal the Master Emerald. (To which she's replied yes, of course.)

The plan is to get the ME off of Angel Island and into a specially designed GUN stronghold in an undisclosed location.

Once the guardian is separated from his emerald, GUN is pretty sure they'll be able to deal with him.

(They are VASTLY underestimating him due to a lack of data)

Amy:

No contingency plans. She's flying under GUN's radar.

They probably should have something in place for her honestly.

See Knuckles' note about vast underestimation due to a lack of data.

Shadow:

The contingency for Shadow is the most detailed contingency file GUN has.

. . . and Shadow himself has helped write some of it.

The file has a long and storied history reaching all the way back 50 years. It's always been something on GUN's mind.

The current contingency is based on the idea that the first thing he'll do once he goes rogue is try to collect the chaos emeralds.

A lot of the plan involves setting a trap with lots and lots of firepower.

There's also an addendum of the plan about utilizing the other members of Team Dark, either to combat against Shadow or as hostages. Shadow is unaware of the latter. In either strategy, Omega is considered vital.

GUN has a lot of scientific data on Shadow's weaknesses to certain kinds/amounts of chaos radiation and all that jazz, so they feel a lot more confident about their ability to bring him down compared to Sonic.

Something about the enemy you know being better than the enemy you don't.

Rouge:

GUN has determined that Rouge is very unlikely to be a world-ending threat.

But a GUN-ending threat? Absolutely.

Rouge going rogue is the worst case scenario for GUN's continued survival as an organization.

They know they can't keep her out of their files or any of their locations. If she wants to sell all of their secrets or steal all of their tech, they know they're very unlikely to stop her.

Current contingencies include using the other members of Team Dark to persuade her against destroying the organization if they're willing to cooperate, or taking them hostage to negotiate if they're not.

They also plan on a public smear campaign against her- basically revealing everything they know about her while she tries to reveal everything about them.

Rouge knows about all of these plans, of course.

There's definitely a tension between her and GUN because of this.

The current plan is to treat her well and convince her to stay on GUN's side at all costs (usually through bribery!)

Omega:

GUN's contingencies for Omega are really, really barebones.

It pretty much just boils down to "destroy him".

They aren't too worried about him, kinda like with Tails. GUN knows how to destroy Badniks. They've been destroying Badniks for lots of years at this point.

If anything, they consider Omega to be the least threatening member of Team Dark and the best lynchpin for if either other member of the team goes rogue.

(It should be noted that they still expect any scenario where Omega goes rogue to have the highest number of immediate civilian casualties.)

See my fic on this

Silver:

HOO BOY, is GUN worried about Silver.

Not because of his powerset- GUN is pretty sure they can just knock him on the head to neutralize him.

(Like Knuckles and Amy, they are vastly underestimating him)

But the time travel shenanigans scare the shit out of them.

GUN is the sort of organization to have protocols in place for working with future or past versions of themselves.

They also fund a shitload of research into detecting changes and potential threats in the timeline.

(They detected the Sonic Generations incident when it happened and it remains one of the most intensely studied events.)

(They've also detected a strange sort of time blip over Soleanna, but every time someone gets interested in studying it, their drive seems to wane until they're no longer concerned about it. Strange. . .)

TL;DR: They treat Silver like a fucking SCP. Current protocol is for all agents to limit contact with him in order to prevent damage to the timeline.

Honestly if GUN wasn't so scared of him, Silver wouldn't exactly be opposed to getting their help managing the timeline shenanigans.

Blaze:

Blaze has not initiated any sort of formal diplomacy with any government or organization in Sonic's dimension.

GUN tracks the unique energy signatures of the Sol Emeralds through their strange link/interaction with the Chaos emeralds.

They haven't quite figured out what's going on.

And frankly, they don't actually know that Blaze is from another dimension.

They see her very rarely. They know that something is strange about her energy readings but just assume that she's one of Sonic's lesser known friends who doesn't get out very often.

Team Chaotix:

I'm grouping them together because GUN doesn't have any contingencies for them. Vector, Espio, and Charmy are all under their radar.

They should be worried about Espio. They're already worried about Rouge's stealth capabilities. I'm pretty sure whoever's managing these contingencies within GUN would have a heart attack upon learning that somebody on this planet figured out how to actually turn invisible.

And that's it!

I'd actually like to end this post with a bit of a weird note- I don't think that GUN would be evil for developing contingencies like this.

I myself work in the field of safety. This field includes things such as occupational safety, and most pertinently for this post, emergency management. I've actually helped write protocols for companies about what workplaces should do in the event of an active shooter or other outside threat such as a natural disaster or a civil conflict.

(If I lived and worked in Sonic's universe, I would most certainly have to write safety protocols about what to do if Eggman attacks, for example!)

It's important to have protocols in place for the worst case scenario, no matter how unlikely or unthinkable that scenario is. And in Sonic's universe, this is especially important! This is a universe where society is regularly attacked by a mustache-twirling, robot-building terrorist! Of course GUN is going to keep tabs on other individuals who could post a similar threat and plan on how to stop them should they ever become a threat to the public.

I'm definitely not excusing GUN for any of the shady things they've done in canon, but it is an interesting point to think about that they're the best equipped to handle any sort of Dark Sonic/Sonic.exe/insert your favorite name for "this character but evil" here/mirror universe scenario.

[crusherthedoctor]

1, 7, 12, 18 for Sonic :P

1. the character everyone gets wrong

All of them.

If I had to pick one, then I'll be predictable and go with Eggman. Other characters may come close or even exceed in terms of how often they're turned into something they're not (Sonic and Shadow being the two that immediately come to mind), but for obvious reasons, it's a bit more personally infuriating when it pertains to the good doctor.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how the fandom acts about them

I try not to let fandom alone sway my thoughts on a character too often, since I prefer to judge a character through… well, the character, and their showing in the actual product(s).

That said, there have been exceptions that are too overwhelming for me to ignore. Usually this relates to characters I already hated in the first place, like Surge, so it's no major loss. But for a more regrettable example… Amy.

Now let me make it clear that "hate" is MUCH too strong a word in this case, since I wouldn't say she's a straight up bad character or wish she'd be removed. I still like the basic concept of her character, and I still appreciate her good portrayals and what she's able to bring to the table.

But for a multitude of reasons - most notably, the one-two fuck you punch of Frontiers and Prime making me realise that the amount of times where I think she's been portrayed legitimately well pale significantly in comparison to how many times they've dropped the ball with her, even compared to other characters - she's unfortunately been losing me all over again. And the fandom's current attitude with her, such as their tendency to defend everything she does when they'd eviscerate her if it were any other character, their tendency to break their own rules in order to give Amy preferential treatment ("Respect the ordinary girl!… but plz let her go Super and be more powerful than Knuckles and Tails combined and one-shot Eggman's strongest robot and beat the entire cast in a fight tee hee"), their tendency to spark #Rally4Sally-style hysteria every single time she's not in something, and rabid Sonamy fans… acting like rabid Sonamy fans, has only amplified this.

Maybe the tide will turn yet again if she gets a string of better, less eyeroll-worthy portrayals in the future. But for now, when taking her overall history into account, I've come to the regretful conclusion that she's arguably the most overrated of the recurring game cast at this point in time, and ultimately the fanatic sides of her fandom are no different to that of Sally's.

There's also Silver. Like with Amy, "hate" is an exaggeration, but it's no secret that I've never found him that interesting, whether in his canon game form or the flanderized penis hour mood that Evan Stanley loves to turn him into. But in the distant past, I had frequent encounters with fans who would lash out at me if I said so much as a single negative thing about him. Needless to say, this did not raise my enthusiasm for the character.

Finally, the Freedom Fighters. On their own, they're probably not the worst conceptually, even if Sonic being a member himself doesn't work and goes against his character. But they are so hyped up the ass and touted as being infinitely superior to the game cast that I can't muster any goodwill for them anymore. This only increased after I was reminded of just how often they made massive dick moves in Archie, and how they rarely got called out on it in any meaningful capacity. So even putting their fandom aside, they're kinda hard for me to like anymore.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Obligatory mention of Black Doom for being the Best Shit Villain, compared to Mephiles and all the other ones who are inexplicably popular. Black Doom was the key to all this, so I'm glad they got him working, cause he's a funnier character than we've ever had. He's stylistically designed to be that way. (Jokes aside, how sad is it that even with my unironic goggles on, there have been so many shit villains in this franchise that Doom isn't even in the top ten worst at this point?)

For a more sincere example, we have Marine. Everyone had a hateboner for her at the time, and some people still do (one of them being Flynn apparently), but I never found her annoying. I understood the development they intended for her, and I thought it was handled decently for the most part. I also scratched my head at the flack she received for her Australian accent and lingo, since I never saw anyone complain about Bunnie and Antoine's stereotypical Texan-ness and French-ness respectively… oh, right, they're Freedom Fighters, so they can get away with it. -_-

Then there's Elise, who was just underdeveloped at worst (that and having a realistic human design, but that wasn't exclusive to her), and did not deserve the vitriol that she ended up getting. As far as non-Blaze princesses go, I actually prefer her over Sally at this point, because Elise doesn't have an extended history of being an unreasonable prick to Sonic for bullshit reasons, and never tried to change him either. That Elise was the one in '06 who got labeled as the worst character of all time, when a literal recolor was standing right there, was one of the early indications to me that this fandom might not always have the most agreeable takes.

She's not outright hated like Elise is (was?), but since she has a similar dynamic with Sonic, I'll mention Shahra as well. I used to think she was a bit bland outside of her relationship with Majin Ganondorf, and I expressed that opinion even quite recently. But in the past month or so, in light of how much I've grown to either hate or be disillusioned with certain other characters, I'm beginning to appreciate her non-abusive partner-related traits a lot more now, and her bond with Sonic is admittedly sweet. The Sonic Likes Tall Girls meme we have going on may have also contributed. Secret Rings is still by no means a game I care much for outside of its villain and some level aesthetics, but Shahra is a good character in retrospect IMO.

And I share your appreciation for Infinite and Zor. I approve of the intent with Infinite's character and think it was handled well despite some rushed aspects, and fail to understand why people single him out for being one-note when this franchise is stacked with one-note villains, and Zor's lines are genuinely hilarious and I will die on that hill. The latter's transformation into Unironic Generic Edgy Guy #6 in IDW was devastating for me. :(

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

Actually playing the games.

Eggman being a villain.

Eggman being a competent villain.

Rouge being more than who she is at first glance. As in, someone who is deceptively intelligent, more caring than she lets on, and will ultimately do the right thing despite her jewel thievery hijinks. AKA, not a villain.

The Hard-Boiled Heavies. They were rightly beloved come their debut, but ever since Mania came and went (and not counting their appearance in Seasons of Chaos that I'd prefer to forget), it's like fans collectively forgot about them. I'll say it till the cows come home: they had more personality in a game without dialogue than Sage did in a game with it.

Darkspine Sonic. It does have its fans, but it tends to get overshadowed by the lame as fuck Dark Super Sonic from X, and the equally lame as fuck Fleetway Super Sonic. I may not love Darkspine per say, but as far as dark forms go, I can recognize the thought that was put into it, and I appreciate that it allows Sonic to utilize his feelings in a positive way via keeping his rage focused on the guy who deserves it. This is much more in-tune with Sonic's character than a generic evil form would be, and it also avoids the unhealthy and unrealistic implications that anger, sadness, etc is inherently a bad thing that must be dismissed or concealed at all costs.

The Advance trilogy's soundtracks. Yeah, they get their kudos, but still not enough. >:[ I consider these compressed GBA ditties to be among Sonic's best, and find them more memorable and impactful than many a generic orchestral soundtrack you hear in plenty of games nowadays.

In light of Grass Simulator 2022, Sonic having an actual aesthetic of any sort. Other games did this so well, including CD, the Genesis and Advance trilogies, Mania, SA1, Heroes, Colours, Secret Rings, the Riders games, some of SA2, some of ShtH, even 3D Blast of all games. You can have all the technical graphic detail you want, but in the end, a plain grassy field does not fill me with inspired wonder in the same way as environments like Studiopolis, Night Palace, Red Mountain, Quartz Quadrant, or Twinkle Snow.

[sage-nebula]

IDW Cast Plays Among Us:

Sonic: Mains Blue, of course. Most often not an Imposter, but is also always kind of sus because he spends more time exploring & trying to find the Imposters than doing his tasks. When he is the Imposter he's usually caught pretty quickly because he either isn't convincing during the chat or because someone saw him vent because he didn't think to be cautious about it first.

Tails: Mains Orange. Likes doing the tasks and gets frustrated when emergency meetings are called or dead bodies are found when he's in the middle of one. Gets caught the first time he's Imposter because he blurts out "how did you know?!" when someone accused him; every time after that he often won by knowing not to confirm and also blaming Shadow immediately because everyone always thought Shadow was the most sus from the get-go.

Shadow: Switches between Black or Red. Only gets to play Imposter ONCE, and is IMMEDIATELY booted off by Rouge, who was the OTHER Imposter and who booted him to give herself convincing cover. He will hold a grudge forever about this. Also is usually the one booted off very early on because even though he's almost never the Imposter, everyone always thinks he probably is. Hates playing with these guys.

Rouge: Mains Purple. Usually the Imposter, usually wins, is a master at venting without being caught. Despite being the Imposter so often she's so good at persuasion that she can usually throw suspicion off her even (or especially) with Shadow being like "IT'S ROUGE VOTE HER NOT ME" every time.

Knuckles: Mains Green. Is the absolute worst at this game. Very easily convinced to vote however everyone else is voting, and the one time he was the Imposter he exposed himself by saying "I went through the vents" when someone asked him how he got in a room without tripping the sensors because he didn't realize lying was necessary. He would probably understand the game better (and get better at playing) if he could play reliably more often, but wifi is terrible on Angel Island and he usually struggles with either severe lag at best or getting d/c'd at worst.

Amy: Mains Pink. Very good at playing the Imposter because few suspect her and she's good at deflecting suspicion off her. She helped Tails get better at playing Imposter after his first disaster. When she loses as Imposter, it's usually because she avoids killing Sonic even when it's necessary to win.

Whisper: Used Cyan the one time she played, when she didn't really know what the game was. When she realized the game would require her to kill her teammates if she was Imposter, she quit on the spot because, even though it's a game, it brought up too many bad memories for her.

Tangle: Mains White. Like Sonic, almost never the Imposter. Unlike Sonic, almost never sus because she's eager to help out with the tasks. This usually gets her killed early on, especially because she never suspects anyone.

Jewel: Mains Cyan. Very good at not being suspected of being Imposter even when she is because she seems so innocent all the time, but also really bad at sabotaging because it makes her feel bad, so she's usually not too useful to have on an Imposter team and her fellow Imposter(s) usually kick her pretty quickly.

Omega: Mains Yellow. Refuses to play if he's not the Imposter and thus can't kill people, resulting in him either d/cing immediately or being immediately found out because everyone knows he's the Imposter if he doesn't d/c. Usually not invited to play after the first couple of times.

[bulgariansumo]

The Messy Relationship Between Sonic and Localization

Ask any Sonic fan and they’ll tell you that the fandom is one of the most fractured things to ever exist. It’s a miracle whenever we can all agree, and that usually comes from us collectively hating something (Sonic Movie’s original design, Ken Penders, etc.)--and even then, there’s a dedicated few who disagree. Many of us have such differing opinions on what the series “should” be, that satisfying all--or even a majority--of Sonic fans is next to impossible. How did it get this way? I think it has a lot to do with localization.

Classic Era

The 1990’s wasn’t the best decade when it came to localizing anything, especially not video games. Often, some creative liberties would be taken when adapting a source from Japanese to English.  The Sonic franchise was no exception to this. The first split comes from the game manuals. Me and @rontufox​ already made a post discussing this, but the Japanese manuals gave a little background info on the series’ lore and worldbuilding. The English versions gave a bare-bones description of the premise of each game, but that’s about it. There were no mentions of an apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds, of Sonic finding the ring that would foreshadow Knuckles Chaotix, or of Knuckles thinking the Death Egg was a ‘Dragon’s Egg’ described in ancient legends. Sonic went to a bunch of colorful zones, beat up Dr. Robotnik, collected some magic stones, and maybe a new character or two would tag along, but there was nothing else to it. There was no dialogue and few cutscenes in the games at this time, so the English localizers could get away with this.

Since there wasn’t much to go on games-wise, English fans at the time got their perception of Sonic and his world from various comic and cartoon adaptations. The American-produced ones portrayed Sonic as an in-your-face smart aleck who was almost completely full of himself. The UK-produced Sonic the Comic starred Sonic as a self-described “cool guy” who cared little about the people around him, including friends. Whatever worldbuilding these adaptations had either didn’t exist or diverged completely from the games, because the writers, even if they did care, didn’t have much to go on. There also weren’t a lot of Japanese Sonic adaptations at the time, and the only one that got localized was Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (aka Sonic OVA). To English-speaking fans, Sonic was an arrogant but funny hedgehog who despite everything, got the job done. Aside from Dr. Robotnik, other characters were an afterthought and could be replaced as needed.  

Adventure Era

Sonic Adventure released in 1998 with fully voice-acted cutscenes, and localization differences started catching up. Some things were easy to fix, such as Dr. Eggman (Robotnik’s name in Japanese) being a nickname for Dr. Robotnik. Other things weren’t that simple. For instance, some of those little things mentioned in the Japanese manuals started showing up again, specifically the apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic Adventure was a soft-reboot, where most previous characters and worldbuilding are still there, but some details are left behind so that newcomers have an easier time entering the series. There also might be changes in the series’ tone. For example, Sonic Adventure was somewhat more serious than previous games could be, but still overall lighthearted. This was also the first of many mainline games during this time to have an ensemble cast. Instead of just playing as Sonic, or maybe Tails and Knuckles, you were required to play all three of them plus other characters, with different stories and gameplay styles. This was a tall task, but these games pulled it off well enough to be very popular at the time. Themes of friendship became very prominent in the games around this time, and to further cement it, Sonic X, a Japanese-produced anime came out and got localized in the United States. Sonic was still a little cocky in English dubs of the games and anime, but he was also free-spirited and very supportive of his friends instead of being preoccupied with being the coolest person in the group. For the most part, his English and Japanese portrayals were nearly indistinguishable. Other characters also got more screentime and focus on their personalities, and popular new characters like Shadow and Rouge were introduced to the cast. All was going great.

Then 2006 came around. Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic 06) came out, ushering in a period of very poorly received Sonic games, the latter being seen as a contender for the worst game of all time. Shadow the Hedgehog was an attempt at explaining why the titular character was alive after apparently being killed off Sonic Adventure 2, but the gritty and somewhat melodramatic tone was seen as ill-fitting for the Sonic franchise. The gameplay was also lacking, in part due to other characters tagging along with Shadow and repeatedly telling him hints and mission objectives. The problem of characters talking a lot mid-gameplay was present in Sonic Heroes, but the gameplay itself was passable enough that the game didn’t completely suffer for it. Shadow the Hedgehog tied up the last plot threads the Sonic Adventure series left behind, so the series had to go somewhere different. Sonic 06 was another soft-reboot, so that newcomers wouldn’t have to study up on the games from Sonic Adventure to Shadow the Hedgehog. Because the game was rushed for the holiday season, it was glitchy, didn’t feel good to play, and the writing was… very flawed. The game’s tone was slightly lighter than Shadow the Hedgehog, but still a little too melodramatic for most fans.

With all of these changes in mind, further splits in the English-speaking fandom occurred. Many vocal Classic fans were thrown off by the series being heavier on plot, worldbuilding, and Sonic’s friends. They wanted to go back to a time when none of that existed, and when Sonic was just an arrogant jokester--a time that only existed in 90’s US and UK. Newer, Adventure-era fans grew up with these new changes and loved them, though many of them were also not happy with Shadow the Hedgehog and subsequent games’s handling of these things. Because of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06’s spectacular failure in handling different characters’ gameplay, one sentiment was repeatedly echoed--that only Sonic should be playable. Since then, with very few exceptions, only Sonic has been playable in mainline Sonic games. This still wasn’t enough to save the games. Games after Sonic 06 often had a core gimmick to them, many of which weren’t received well, and the ones that were got replaced by the next game. The writing had the same feeling to it, though. It shied away from the melodrama of the most hated entries, but still retained the sincerity of entries like Sonic Adventure.

Modern Era

That changed in 2011 with Sonic Colors. Instead of Sonic Team writing the games, they hired Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, two American writers known for working on Happy Tree Friends. Neither had much knowledge of the previous games’ characters, worldbuilding, or stories, but this was intentional. Sonic games sell less in Japan, so Sega probably wanted to put more focus into pleasing audiences in America and Europe. The two went off some basics about the characters and setting, and what little they knew previously. There is some supervision by Takeshi Iizuka, a longtime Sonic Team member who is currently the head of the series after creator Yuji Naka left in the mid-2000’s, but he is interested in the series going in a new direction. Sonic Colors was another soft reboot of the series, but because of the writer’s lack of knowledge about the series a lot more details were lost and changes made than in any of the previous ones. The writing is lighthearted, but most of the sincerity has been traded for attempts at comedy, which tend to be hit and miss. Sonic as a character retains his free spirit and some kindness towards his friends, but some of the self-importance of his English interpretation is making a comeback. Many of the characters from previous games make returns, but they’re written oddly (“Y’got this, Sssonic!” - Shadow, Sonic Generations (2011)) and the writers don’t quite know how to integrate them. Sonic Colors was well-received for its gameplay, and even the writing was praised at the time, but most subsequent games have middling reception. None are considered outright bad (except Sonic Boom, but that was a spinoff that Sega contracted a different company to do) or outright good (except Sonic Mania, which Sega contracted a team of fans to do.)

Conclusion

As it stands now, the Sonic franchise is a strange hybrid of the Japanese and English interpretations of Sonic. A lot of the Adventure Era fans are old enough to start noticing the changes in the writing in the Modern Era, and some aren’t big fans. Some are, though. Some of the Classic fans are satisfied with these changes, others aren’t impressed either preferring the Classic or even Adventure Era. Some people like the Classic Era, but not the English interpretations of the series. There are likely Modern fans who grew up with this version of the Sonic franchise and love it, but there may be ones that have seen previous iterations and prefer those better. There are many differing opinions and few can agree on what would be good for Sonic. Would things have been different if localization had been handled differently in the 90’s? Who can say? All we have to go by are ripples from the errors of the past.

[red-dragon-archfiend]

Top 5 sonic characters go

See, when I was a kid I would have an easy time answering this question. But now that I'm older and my tastes have matured some, I can't really say much beyond "Shadow and Knuckles are still my favorites but for more complex and nuanced reasons than why I liked them as a kid". As I've grown older, especially as my love for the Adventure games has grown, I've learned to appreciate most of the cast more as proper characters. I love how Sonic Adventure builds on themes established in the classics and explores the main characters in more depth than was possible on the Genesis. I love how Sonic Adventure 2 carries over the character development from Adventure 1, at least in the case of Tails and Knuckles. And I... don't love that Heroes threw all that out the window. I can't really say with certainty who my favorite characters are anymore because characterization and writing styles have changed so much over the years. I find pre Colors Sonic to be an inspiring character with a strong philosophy and sense of self. I find Colors and onward Sonic to be slightly funny at best and obnoxious and boring at worst. SEGA mandates have done no favors for the depictions of their characters, and I don't like how I can't honestly say most Sonic characters are, well, good characters anymore without putting an asterisk there. Shadow wasn't always a tryhard edgelord who hates everyone for no reason. Knuckles wasn't always a dumb meathead whose main job was "comedy relief". If we were talking about older depictions of characters, my current list may look something like:

5. Sonic or Rouge

4. Blaze

3. Metal Sonic (I just think he's cool and fun to play as)

2. Knuckles

1. Shadow

If we're looking at MODERN versions of the characters, at least as of Sonic Forces, then... well, I'd have a hard time picking out ANY of them I liked. Eggman is kinda fun still, I guess, but starting with Heroes it became hard to really care about him as a villain, because while him being upstaged as the final boss was a fresh idea in Adventure 1 and made sense in Adventure 2 where he was a playable character (and that was made up for for his characterization in the rest of the game), there wasn't much reason to keep doing that in every game afterwards aside from sticking to trends and having no confidence in him as the main villain anymore. I could go on, but basically all my grievances have been said better by other people, and this is already far longer than you probably expected. I can honestly say I like the depictions of ALL the main characters in the two Adventure games (except Amy in Adventure 2 but you probably know why), and I'd be happy to go into more detail about those if anyone's curious on my thoughts on any of them specifically.

[spicysonictakes]

Chris Thorndyke is... not the worst possible child stand-in? Like, his existence makes sense. Kids shows do need to have at least one character that’s relatable enough to allow them access to the world of whatever it is. But he’s still ultimately kind of unnecessary since he 1) isn’t great at being relatable, 2) isn’t the only character in the show with the potential to act as a stand-in (and is certainly less interesting than the other options), 3) weakens the plot and setting of the show by acting as a weight and tether to the rest of the characters in a way that doesn’t complement the show’s premise, and 4) has way too much emphasis put on him for a character that doesn’t fit in with the other characters in the show and isn’t all that likable.

After the timeskip, these issues become way less notable, but only because by that point he mostly gets relegated to side character status and doesn’t have too much bearing on the plot and direction of the show. Also, he’s significantly more likable. In the first seasons, though, Chris’s spotlight ends up just overall weakening the show, and let’s take a second to walk through exactly why.

1) He isn’t relatable.

The number one thing that a child stand-in needs to be is relatable to the kids watching. The point of Chris is for the audience to see the bond Chris has with Sonic and his friends and feel like they’re in on that; Chris may not be a supersonic hero, but he hangs out with one, so that makes him (and the audience) cool by proxy. However, Chris himself doesn’t really do much to support that image. For one, he’s super rich and the only thing that seems to go wrong for him is that his parents aren’t around a lot, because they work. While those would be fine on their own, anyone watching would love being put in Chris’s shoes and the parent thing makes sense and adds something to his character, the fact that Chris nonetheless is very moody (against what the audience might feel in his situation) and in fact ends up causing a significant number of the show’s conflicts for no easily understandable reason makes him seem a lot less like someone the audience can relate to than someone the audience is supposed to have an opinion about, good or bad.

Compare to another audience stand-in in the Sonic franchise, the avatar from Sonic Forces. Whether or not you think the avatar was a good inclusion to the game, you probably don’t have too many strong opinions on them as a character; you aren’t supposed to. They have an impact on the plot, but not because their personality is a given way that makes them take given actions; their impact is supposed to stand in for your impact, and their relationship with Sonic is supposed to stand in for yours. Not all stand-ins need to be THAT much of a blank slate, of course, but giving a stand-in traits that could make them in any way unlikable, someone the audience could conceivably disagree with, is very counter-intuitive toward making them relatable and, thus, an effective stand-in.

Chris acts halfway between a stand-in character and his own unique character and, as a result, ends up mostly failing at being either.

2) He didn’t need to exist.

The reason why the production team probably thought Chris (or, more generally, a stand-in character) would be necessary for Sonic X is because Sonic is meant to act as a larger-than-life hero; that is, they didn’t want to sacrifice Sonic’s static moral-touting character from the games in order to make him a more relatable, growing protagonist that could carry the story. As such, they felt they needed to add a new character who was meant to grow and change along with Sonic’s lessons in heroism.

The problem is, not every character in Sonic X is Sonic, and the other characters could have played that role just as well, if not better.

The first name that comes to mind is Tails, but Amy, Cream, and even Knuckles have also been used in the past as foils to Sonic, making mistakes and changing in response to Sonic’s actions in the exact way that Chris was made to. In fact, this even comes up in the show; at multiple points during the Sonic Adventure and Adventure 2 arcs, Chris ends up doing the same things Tails or Amy did in the original game, but with significantly less impact since he... well. He isn’t Tails or Amy.

This all adds up to both Chris’s inclusion feeling redundant and the non-Sonic main characters feeling underutilized. In particular, Chris’s arc feels like it would have made a lot more sense and felt more meaningful if it was given to Tails, who has in the past had arcs based around feeling like he needs Sonic in order to be important or successful. In fact, if Chris’s spot was given to Tails, that arc would make even more sense since it would be able to actually be resolved; Chris’s arc never ends up resolving, since... he does end up needing Sonic, actually. Without Sonic, he isn’t really all that interesting. That particular arc would work much better on Tails, who is a VERY interesting and fun character, even without Sonic.

3) He weakens the show.

This point was already touched on earlier, but Chris’s inclusion isn’t just unnecessary. It actually, in a way, takes away from what the show could have been. What he ends up becoming over the course of the first part of the show is a stable rock that Sonic and the rest of his friends can orbit around but always come back to; he becomes the arbiter of the show’s status quo, if you will. This is a problem because the status quo he sets up isn’t one that works well with this particular set of characters.

Sonic’s whole shtick is that he’s a free spirit who doesn’t like being tethered to anywhere, anyone, or anything that he doesn’t want to. You’d think that one of those things he wouldn’t want to be tethered to is a mansion where he has to hide against his will, or a kid who clearly can’t keep up with him. In fact, this comes up in the second episode; he tries to leave, but Chris ends up convincing him that Sonic needs his help, only for it to turn out that... really, he didn’t. He needed Tails’ help, but again, Chris isn’t Tails. Thus, by the end of the conflict, it’s been proven that Sonic really doesn’t need to stay.... and yet, he still does. He stays with Chris for his entire time on Earth, despite the fact that he really had no reason to outside of liking the kid, and he had plenty of reason to want to leave.

Okay, maybe if he just up and left, that’d make Sonic kind of a jerk. But the point still stands that Sonic isn’t really the sort of person that would go back to a mansion at the end of the day, hiding away out of “necessity” that he knows more than anyone isn’t necessary. The way the story frames it is as Chris helping, but again, Chris isn’t actually helping, and neither is his grandpa; everything that the status quo perpetuated by Chris’s continued existence in the story provides is either unnecessary or actively detrimental to the end of seeing Sonic do cool Sonic things! It ends up feeling very forced, and you can’t help but feel that Sonic and friends would be doing much better if left to their own devices, not needing to constantly deal with a friend that doesn’t and can’t help. Sonic doesn’t need to slow down for Tails or Amy or any of his other friends, but he does for Chris, and that isn’t fun to watch.

Chris just doesn’t have a place in the story, and forcing it makes him feel like a nuisance more than a likable character.

4) He became the show.

This is the big one. Sure, Chris isn’t a good character for the show he’s in, but that wouldn’t be such a big deal if he weren’t made so important so constantly by the narrative.

Nearly everything that happens in the show has something to do with Chris even when it doesn’t need to; he tags along on adventures he can’t possibly help with, he’s always given input on decisions that have very little to do with him, and he ends up causing way more conflicts than he resolves. The result of this is that, wherever he is and whatever he’s doing, he feels shoved in. The viewer simply can’t get a break from Chris Thorndyke, the stand-in, while characters that are meant to draw their attention, like Knuckles (in particular), get shunted to the side and used only sparingly.

While Chris has all the traits and makeup of a side character (and maybe even an alright side character at points), the way he’s presented is as not only a main character, but THE main character, maybe even more than Sonic! This is despite all of the problems mentioned earlier and the more general fact that he just doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the cast.

For all intents and purposes, Chris Thorndyke is Sonic X, and as a result, Sonic X sometimes feels forced and pointless.

Now, I personally really like Sonic X, actually! It has a lot of things that I absolutely adore, like the characterizations of most of the Sonic characters and the occasionally very interesting attempts at telling original stories that are still based on the setting and characters that the gameverse set up. But still, it has a lot of problems, and a lot of those problems were either directly or indirectly caused by the unnecessary inclusion of Chris’s character.

Chris as a character isn’t terrible; he’s just a kid. The Sonic series has a lot of kids, some of which do much less than Chris does. Nonetheless, the way he was integrated into the show was just so messy, pointless, and ultimately harmful to the story as a whole that I can’t help but think the show could have been much better without him.

(He was perfectly fine in the Metarex saga, though! Again, they managed to fix most of this for the last season. That’s good, at least.)

[toras-muse-cabinet]

Precisely HOW numb is Knuckles to the idea of death, destruction, etc.? I am curious. O_O

I’m not sure what else I’ve said on this topic asino

cw Talk of Character Death

Knuckles is completely numb to the idea of his own death, his constant fights with Eggman only get more and more deadly. He doesn’t think Eggman will kill him without him putting up a heck of a fight, the war really proved that, but he knows that with all these bots and guns Eggman uses it’s possible he will die. It’s not that he’s really at peace with the idea this might happen but he’s made preparations for the worst case scenario. If Knuckles falls in battle Chaos knows that the Master Emerald and Angel Island are his responsibility (again).

He’s also very aware he’s Sterile and the Last of his Tribe so he’s completely at peace with the fact that once he dies his entire lineage will probably go with him. I do have some ideas of how Knuckles would become a biological Dad but for the most part once Eggman was defeated for good he’d probably focus on doing Foster Programs, Summer Camping Programs, ETC to get to be a Dad.

Knuckles isn’t completely numb to overall destruction and death, it's more he’s burnt out getting upset over it. Mobius has been in a near constant Alarm State so Knuckles just emotionally can’t keep up anymore. He’s shutdown and at peace with it in the most unhealthy way. He doesn’t know any better than to let himself shut down like this. Honestly the entire Sonic cast probably needs to see therapists.

[ahiddenpath]

Vidja Games

So I checked out Game Informer’s list of the top 300 greatest video games, and they are objectively wrong, lol (I can’t imagine the fights that went into making this list??)!

I’m no critic, and I’m not interested in attempting to objectively rate games, but here are my (subjective) faves in rough order-ish, if you’re interested!  They are arranged by franchise for my sanity below the cut.

The Elder Scrolls (TES)

My all time favorite video game series is TES, although I wasn’t able to stomach playing I and II.  In order, my favorites are: Morrowind, then Oblivion, then Skyrim.

Morrowind is unfriendly to casual gamers, and even experienced folks need to learn the lay of the enormous world, how to fast travel, and even how to level and plan characters to best effect.  The learning curve is enormous, and if you decide to play a different type of character later on, you’re stuck!  You might even have to start over, since you level your character by increasing the major and minor skills you chose upfront.

But I have never experienced such an open, imaginative world.  The later installments felt both smaller and less varied.  In Morrowind, you’ll find everything from sprawling floating cities to houses built into enormous mushrooms, with ashlands, swamps, and mountainous terrains in between, complete with hell-on-earth smack-dab in the middle of everything.

Oblivion is more user-friendly than Morrowind, and it has some of the most engaging quests in the series.  What it loses in environmental diversity and sheer exploration potential, it almost- almost- compensates for in fun quests (there’s much less ‘fetch me some swamp muck’ involved), easier transportation, and the wonderful world of Shivering Isles, an expansion.

Skyrim is the most accessible of the three by far, and it’s forgiving in that it allows players to change their play style on the fly with little repercussions.  It also has the best combat.  Sadly, the repetitive environments make it far less compelling to explore than its predecessors, which is a huge part of TES’s charm for me.  I also found the enemies repetitive.  The more fanciful enemies are almost absent, and the few that exist are tied to specific daedric quest lines.  Do you know how hard it is to recharge enchanted items when you only encounter a handful of daedra?  Wolves and trolls just don’t fill them back up well.

Also, while the accessibility widens the target audience considerably, it cuts into the customization options previously available to more experienced gamers.  That was a huge disappointment for me, personally.

To be clear, though, I still adore Skyrim.

Personal anecdote:  My Morrowind strategy book was so worn that it fell apart, so I punched holes in the pages and kept it in a binder.  I took out the fast travel map and the local map of whatever area I was combing to find a dungeon door tucked into a cave hidden behind ivy or whatever.  I still have it; it’s a sentimental treasure.

The Sims

The more open-ended a game is, the more I like it, and The Sims is king of that arena!  For me, 3 is by far the best installment.  2 introduced the idea of having types of Sims with personal goals to meet to create direction for the player, but ultimately, it felt like I was stuck with the same five Sims over and over again.  The wishes and moodlet system of 3, along with the five slots for personality traits, gave me so much more power to create Sims that felt like actual characters.

I... don’t even want to know how much of my life I’ve put into The Sims...

My ranking:  3>1>2>4

It should be noted that I didn’t mind 1′s lack of direction, since my imagination alone is way more than enough to pull me forward in a sandbox game.  In comparison, 2 felt restrictive by creating five character types, limiting me to that in a way I couldn’t ignore.

Personal anecdote:  I received the original Sims for Christmas when I was in middle school.  I accidentally played from bed time until 4 AM, which is the closest I’ve ever come to pulling an all-nighter.

Sonic the Hedgehog

WHERE DO I EVEN START WITH THE BLUE BLUR.

Sonic was an enormous part of my childhood, guys.  I played all the games.  I watched both cartoons (the one with Sally and the Freedom Fighters and the one where it’s just Sonic/Tails/Eggman/some robots), I learned to read with the comic books.  I have a vivid memory of my brother taunting me by refusing to let me see his comics “because I couldn’t read”...  So I spite-learned using the comics when he wasn’t paying attention.

I don’t think I can pick a favorite!  As a kid, I played Sonic 3 the most; I was a huge Knuckles fan, so that might have played a role (also the original Sonic was too difficult for me at the time, although I certainly tried).  But I also loooooved Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.  And Sonic Generations was so much fun!

Mario Bros

Lord, I was playing Mario games before I could read, I don’t...  Mario has always been around for me, okay?  It’s a huge part of my story, and the franchise is so iconic that there’s little for me to say.  There are way too many amazing games in this franchise for me to name, but personal faves include: Super Mario RPG, Super Mario World, and Yoshi’s Island.

The Legend of Zelda

This is another franchise where I don’t know what to say...  It’s too iconic for me to offer much.  Zelda games are known for their exploration and adventure, even from the beginning.  Ocarina of Time was a big part of my childhood, but I also adore the newest installment, Breath of the Wild.  And I know this may be silly, but I love Hyrule Warriors!  I can’t wait to play it on the Switch with all the DLC.

And the music???  Guys?????  THE MUSIC?!?!?!    

Bioshock 

Amazing atmosphere, fun game play, and one of the best stories in gaming history add up to an unforgettable experience.  Also a fore-runner to the idea of playing dialogue and recordings while the player explores, a trend that caught on in a huuuge way.

Persona

It’s hard to describe Persona games...  They basically combine Jungian psychology with various mythologies, sprinkle in some horror (or glob it on in the case of 3), throw in an RPG, and add a heaping serving of everyday high school life.  The games tackle a wide range of ideas and game play, creating a unique experience that has drawn a devoted following.

I’ll make this quick:

3:  Best story and atmosphere, worst/most needlessly frustrating game play, very prickly cast lol

4:  Best characters and character development

5:  Best game play (exquisitely polished game play, really), best overall style, worst story and character development

My ranking is 4>3>5.  It should probably be noted that story and character are king for me, so while 5 was incredibly polished mechanics wise, the comparatively weak story and characters sunk it to the bottom of the list for me.  It was one of those games where I understood where they were going hours ahead of time, and then they would explain “the twist” to the player for half an hour over and over and over.  Frankly, it was... kind of insulting, and soured the experience for me.

Also, Mona, I swear to god, how am I supposed to pass school if you don’t let me study or do my homework because you think I need to sleep at 5 PM every day ahhhhh!  XD

Harvest Moon

Oh god, here’s another franchise I don’t want to delve into in terms of hours I’ve spent playing O_O

I can’t even explain why I like these games...  In HM, you are a farmer, and your job is usually to prove to the villagers that you’re a valuable member of society so that they won’t evict you from your own inherited property.  (I’m curious about their deeds and legal policies, lol.  How do you write that clause up?).

These games combine farming with socialization and light dating sim elements, and time management is the name of the game.  They pull in players by tapping into the universal desire to create order and advancement.

My favorite installment is Friends of Mineral Town.  I also adored Harvest Moon 64, but the controls are sadly too dated for me to replay it.

Pokemon

I’m sure I’ve missed at least one, but I’ve played almost every mainstream release of Pokemon since Red and Blue came out.  It must be doing something right, lol!

I’m a huge sucker for games where you choose monsters to raise.  It’s so fun to assemble a team based on your tastes and raise them just so!

My favorite release is the remake of Gold and Silver.

Monster Rancher 2

OH MY LORD I played this game to the point where I’m shocked the disc still works.  In Monster Rancher 2, you find monsters by placing discs into your Play Station, which each encode a monster.  In order to access the strongest monsters, you must raise your rank as a trainer by winning official tournaments.

I wish I could explain why I latched on to this particular game so hard, but...  I think it had something to do with the massive variety of monsters, the difficulty of the tournaments (I never did hit S rank, and not for lack of trying!), and the myriad of odd ways to unlock special monsters.

Mario Kart

Seriously, who doesn’t like smiting friends and family on the race track?  MK is a fun, family-friendly way to deliver a beat down...  As long as you contain your desire to cuss like a sailor, anyway.

It’s so hard to pick a favorite here!  It’s hard to top the original for the challenge...  But Double Dash and Infinity are contenders, too.

Danganronpa

Danganronpa games are visual novels that mix survival, horror, and crime-solving into a dark, bizarre, unique experience.  I’ve written a ton about this series lately, so I won’t delve into it here, but you can check out the danganronpa tag on my blog for more.

Kingdom Hearts

These games are so charming and fun to play!  I’ve never completed one on my own- linear games are rough for me- but I’ve seen my husband play them all, even the (many) extra installments.  KH2 is probably my favorite, although Birth by Sleep was amazing, too.

Final Fantasy

I’ll admit that I don’t really enjoy playing Japanese RPGs; linear gameplay doesn’t appeal to me much in general.  But the FF franchise is famous for its sweeping narratives, imaginative environments, and breath-taking music, and I enjoy them for that.  I’ve watched my husband play X-XV, and I briefly joined him in playing XI and XIV.  My favorite is probably X...  Although I have an enormous crush on Ignis from XV.  

My favorite FF game to play is Theaterhythm: Curtain Call.

Mass Effect

How do I say this...  I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that better simulated becoming an entire universe’s hero and moral center.  In Mass Effect, you shape the world and the political climate in unprecedented ways.  By the end of 3, every player is so deeply invested in their Shepard and the world s/he created.  In that sense, it’s en epic experience without peer.

Destiny

I love playing Destiny with my husband and our friend!  I’m a titan, Tony is a hunter, and our buddy is a warlock, and together, we are... three guardians, lol!  

Okay, so the vanilla Destiny release needed some help, but it became a great game with the expansions.  I’m still waiting for that breath of rejuvenation for 2, but I treasure the time we spend together kicking ass as a team.

Left 4 Dead

This game redefined what co-op meant to me.  I always thought of it as Halo, basically competing on the same team against other players.  And yeah, you do that in L4D...  But the cooperation angle that this game brought to the table was more or less unprecedented.

In L4D, if your team of ragtag survivors doesn’t work together, it’s unlikely that anyone will survive.  I spent a lot of free time in college playing this with my friends spread out over different schools.  I had so, so much fun with it.

Although 2 had more varied game play, which was great, I enjoyed the original more, mostly because the online game play wasn’t as loaded in favor of the zombie team.  Objectively speaking, though, the sequel was the more robust game.

Personal anecdote:  L4D is where I learned about dealing with males online.  With Halo, which I also played at the time, I only enjoyed it enough to play it with people I knew.  I loved L4D so much that I would log in to play even when my friends weren’t available, which meant that I was teamed with random players.

I have a very feminine voice, which apparently means that I am meant to be treated like crap online.  Even though it’s a co-op game, and communication is important, I spent most of my sessions with the headset turned off.

Borderlands

THIS GAME, I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH IT!  The crass humor, the expanse of wastelands, the gun-slinging insanity, the incredible couch co-op!  What’s not to love?

Sadly, the sequel was a downgrade from the original, but the first game was an amazing ride.  I’ve been considering replaying it with Tony with all of the DLC.

Metal Gear

I’ve never played these myself, but I watched my husband play the first three.  They’re so cinematic and goofy and over-the-top and awesome!  I love breaking out my Solid Snake gravel voice, too.  My favorite is... probably 3?  It’s hard to pick between 2 and 3, though... 

Disgaea

Hmm...  How to describe these games...  They’re tactics games, I guess?  And there’s a lot of story, too...  Game play wise, the later installments perfect what the earlier ones started, but you can’t beat the story and characters of the original.  Laharl is still one of my all-time favorite male video game characters.  He’s... such a brat?  I love him???

Honorable mentions in no order (ie, I’m tired of writing descriptions, sorry to the rest of these games):

Halo, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Ratchet & Clank, Resident Evil, Portal, Soul Calibur, Tetris Attack, Uncharted, Ms. Pacman,  the Batman Arkham games

EDIT:  I forgot Nier: Automata and Super Smash Bros!  FOR SHAME!

[crusherthedoctor]

Can you list anything you unironically like in the games (and cartoons and comics) that you don't like?

I won't bother mentioning music, since that goes without saying and is to be expected for a Sonic game... unless you're Chronicles.

Sonic Adventure 2 (mixed gameplay-wise, annoying story-wise) - While I prefer Sonic's SA1 levels for a number of reasons, I still think his and Shadow's gameplay in SA2 is fun on its own merit. I also don't mind the treasure hunting gameplay returning or how big the levels are this time around, since Knuckles and Rouge are still fast and not '06 levels of slow. It's mainly the gimped radar that creates the unfortunate domino effect of making them a problem.

- Introduced Rouge, one of my favourite characters for how playful she is and how she's a lot more nuanced and intelligent than you'd expect.

- Some genuinely good scenes, like Eggman's trap on the A.R.K and Sonic escaping from the G.U.N. helicopter.

- Had some good ideas going for it, like the Pyramid Base and the Biolizard as a scientific monster instead of an ancient one.

- Despite my thoughts on the backstory itself (or rather, its execution), Shadow has enough depth and subtle qualities and occasional unintended hilarity to stand out from the typical dark rival characters you see in media.

- The Last Scene's music in particular is one of my favourite cutscene tracks in the series.

Sonic Heroes (mixed gameplay-wise, loathed story-wise) - The gameplay is fun when you're not being screwed over by repetitive combat, overly long levels and/or ice physics.

- Boasts some of the most consistently Genesis-worthy environments in the 3D games, up there with SA1's and Colours'.

- The in-game dialogue that isn't the same tutorial drivel repeated ad nauseam can be interesting, funny, etc.

- Reintroduced the Chaotix, which provided me with another character I quite like in the form of Vector.

- Bringing Metal Sonic back in full force and front and center in the plot after a long absence (not counting cameos and the like) is a perfectly fine idea. Just... not like this.

Sonic Battle (decent yet repetitive gameplay, mixed story-wise) - Emerl's arc is compelling, and it earns the emotional weight of having to put him down at the end.

- While some characters are iffy (read: Amy), other characters are extremely well-handled. Shadow is probably the prime example.

- Gamma's belly dance healing animation is fucking hilarious.

- When I was young, and the game was first announced, I was really excited about being able to play as Chaos. This proved to be my downfall when it turned out he was arguably one of the worst characters in the game due to being slower than me during the writing process, but I still recall that excitement fondly.

Shadow the Hedgehog (comedy classic) - The sheer amount of legendary stupidity this game has going for it makes it practically impossible to actually hate. It helps that it's not quite as white-knighted on the same level as '06... usually. You know you're in for a unique experience when you hear a gunshot every time you click something in the menu.

- By extension, Black Doom never gained an unironic fanbase like Mephiles/Scourge/Eggman Nega did, which means I'm a lot more willing to take Doom's dumbass brand of villainy in stride. He even has a unique design... a terrible one that rips off Wizeman granted, but alas, even that is a step-up from Fridge Shadow and Bumblebee Eggman.

- Despite being... well, Shadow the Hedgehog, some of the environments would fit right in with any other Sonic game, like with Circus Park, Lava Shelter, and Digital Circuit. Even the Black Comet levels look pretty cool.

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

Sonic '06 (what do you think?) - The obvious one: Shadow's character was handled pretty well, even if it came at the cost of everyone else being a dummy and being forced to interact with Mephiles.

- Like SA2, there are some good moments, like the Last Story ending sequence with Sonic and Elise.

- In the greatest form of irony ever, I like Solaris as a concept and design(s), and its backstory has potential to serve as a parallel with Chaos without being a complete ripoff. Iblis sucks, Mephiles sucks, but I'm fine with Solaris.

- Introduced legendary characters like Sonic Man, Pele the Beloved Dog, Hatsun the Pigeon, and Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove.

The Rivals duology (apathetic outside of Nega-related grumbling) - There were some cool zone ideas in both games that were sadly let down by the restrictive and limiting gameplay. I particularly like Colosseum Highway for thus far being the only full-on Roman level in the series instead of merely having a couple minor hints of Roman, and Meteor Base for the unique scenario of the space station being built into an asteroid. These level concepts and others deserve a second chance IMO. (At least Frontier Canyon got a second chance in the form of Mirage Saloon, amirite?)

- Ifrit has a better design than Iblis. Not saying it's amazing, but the Firebird motif it has going on is a lot more interesting for a fire monster than the Not-Chaos schtick they had with Iblis.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (a very frustrating gaming experience) - Erazor Djinn, A.K.A. Qui-Gon Djinn, A.K.A. Dr. N. Djinn, A.K.A. I'll Take It On The Djinn, A.K.A. Not From The Hairs On My Djinny Djinn Djinn, is one of the best villains not associated with Eggman in the series. He's a Mephiles-type character done right, and there's actual weight and reason to his actions, however sinister or petty.

- I don't have strong opinions either way on Shahra as a character, but the Sonic/Shahra friendship is sweet and well-handled.

- The ending is one of Sonic's greatest moments. The sheer contrast between how ruthlessly he deals with Erazor and how comforting he is towards Shahra speaks volumes... Still gonna make fun of the mountain of handkerchiefs though. (Before anyone lectures me, I understand the significance of it and can even appreciate it from that angle... doesn't mean I'm not allowed to poke fun at it. :P)

- Another game with some redeeming environments. I love the aesthetic of Night Palace, and Sand Oasis looks gorgeous too.

Sonic Chronicles (my personal least favourite game in the series) - Uh...

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

Sonic Unleashed (overrated game and story IMO) - The obvious two: the opening sequence and the Egg Dragoon fight deserve all the praise they get.

- Seeing Eggmanland come to life was an impressive moment to be sure. While part of me does feel it didn't quite measure up to what I had in mind (ironically, the Interstellar Amusement Park ended up being closer to what I had in mind), it still looks badass and works well for what it is. I also don't mind the idea of it being a one-level gauntlet... key word being idea.

- Obviously, the game looks great. Not a fan of the real world focus (real world inspiration is fine, but copy-pasting the real world and shoving loops in it is just unimaginative), but it can't be denied that the environments look good.

- This game pulled off dialogue options a lot better than Chronicles did, since they didn't rely on making Sonic OoC.

Sonic and the Black Knight (just kind of boring all around) - Despite my gripes with the story (Merlina wasn't nearly as fleshed out as her unique anti-villain status deserved, which ends up severely undermining the ambition of the plot in more ways than one, and the other characters go from being useless yes men for King Arthur to being useless yes men for Sonic), I will admit it provides interesting insight into Sonic's character.

- Like '06 and Secret Rings, the ending is very nice... well, aside from Amy being an unreasonable bitch ala Sonic X at the very end.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (apathetic) - The admittedly few new concepts sprinkled within had promise. They may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, but level concepts like Sylvania Castle and White Park, bosses like Egg Serpentleaf and the Egg Heart, and story beats like the Death Egg mk.II being powered by Little Planet, all could have been brilliant had they been better executed.

SatAM (apathetic outside of SatAM Robotnik-related grumbling) - I'm not a fan of the environments on the whole due to them looking too bland or samey, but there are some exceptions that look pleasant or interesting, like the Void.

Sonic Underground (apathetic) - The character designs make me feel better about myself.

- Does "large quantities of unintentional meme material" count as a positive?

Sonic X (mostly apathetic outside of Eggman's handling) - Helen was a better human character and audience surrogate in her one focus episode than Chris was throughout his entire runtime.

- Actually, most of the human characters not named Chris were legitimately likable. Including everyone in Chris' own family not named Chris. Hilarious.

- Despite arguably having the most Chris in it, I actually don't mind the first season that much, partly due to slight nostalgia from seeing it on TV when it was new, but mostly because Eggman actually acted like a villain for the most part, and certain other characters weren't quite as flanderized yet. It's season 2 and onwards where things started going off the rails IMO. (Incidentally, Helen's episode was part of season 1...)

The Boom franchise (apathetic) - Along with Chronicles, the games provide yet more proof that just because someone isn't SEGA/Sonic Team, that doesn't mean they're automatically more qualified to handle the series.

- The show had some good episodes here and there, and Tails' characterization was probably the most consistently on-point out of the cast.

- Despite not exactly being favourite portrayals for either character, even I'll admit that many of Knuckles and Eggman's lines in the show on their own were genuinely funny.

Archie Sonic (pre-reboot is mostly terrible, post-reboot is mostly... bland) - Whenever I doubt myself as a writer, I think back to Ken Penders, and suddenly I'm filled with a lot more confidence.

Sonic the Comic (apathetic) - Fleetway isn't a comic I tend to recall much of aside from how much of a loathesome cunt Sonic is, but IIRC, Robotnik's portrayal is pretty good. Different, but good.

IDW Sonic (stop pissing me off, comic) - Putting their handling aside (and being too obviously "inspired" by MGS in the latter's case), Tangle and Whisper are good characters IMO.

- Same goes for Starline, before he was killed off-screen and replaced with Toothpaste Snively.

- Execution aside (noticing a pattern?), the zombot virus was a fine concept on its own and an interesting new scheme for Eggman.

- I get to remind myself that I've never drawn scat edits and posted them publicly on Twitter.

[crusherthedoctor]

5, 23, 26, and 30 for the fic ask meme, please?

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

You can guess the obvious ones: killing characters off (bonus points if it's unnecessarily gory and/or extremely obvious that they're being killed off because the author doesn't like them), turning Eggman into a harmless villain or non-villain, turning certain heroes into OoC assholes/sociopaths/yanderes, flanderizations (Sonic, Amy and Rouge probably get it the worst, though Knuckles and Shadow aren't far behind), Mary Sues and Gary Stus that can do everything better than the entire official cast, with the smug personality to match...

Outside of that...

- I tend to roll my eyes at high school fics, especially given how oddly common they are.

- Alternate universe fics aren't usually my thing either, although part of that is because I'm not into AU stories in general, because I find a lot of them boring at best, and obnoxious at worst (since they tend to use it as an excuse for turning characters inside out to the point of being said characters In Name Only, rather than smartly playing around with them.)

- Archie-tier soap operas? No thank you.

- Villain teams up where they specifically make a point about not including Eggman because he's too pathetic. Doubly hilarious when some of the members needed to rely on Eggman and/or his resources in the past, like Eggman Nega, Lyric, the Deadly Six, etc.

- If Sonic and Eggman are forced to team up, no matter how briefly, I’m closing that shit. Because goddamn am I sick of THAT happening in the series as it is.

- I tend to immediately check out if Sonic says "Ames" or Amy says "Sonikku". Because I'm extremely petty, apparently.

23. What's your absolute favourite trope to write?

Too many to name, so here's a list of some of them:

- Build up. Whether it involves character development, the characters' interactions and fee-fees with each other, the background lore, establishing the villain's threat and personality, setting things up near the beginning or middle that may or may not be noticed by the reader the first time around, only to have a big payoff later on that gives earlier chapters a whole new context...

- Creating memorable locations and giving them their own details. Already talked about this in the previous ask, so I won't repeat myself here. Although, to add onto it...

- Creating a primary setting for the story as a whole. While there are exceptions, I've found that a lot of my favourite games tend to focus on one place in their world rather than going all over the place. (South/Westside/Angel Island in the Genesis trilogy, Dragon Realms/Avalar/Forgotten Worlds in the Spyro trilogy, DK Island/Crocodile Isle/Northern Kremisphere in the DKC trilogy, Beanbean Kingdom/Rogueport/other examples in some Mario games...) I think this might be because there ends up being a lot more passion put into their environments and overall character, rather than treating them as a footnote.

- Giving the villain a group of henchmen that have their own different quirks, yet are no less dangerous than their master. (Eggman has the Hard-Boiled Heavies of course, while Razor has "The Gifted".)

- Pushing the hero to their physical and/or mental limit, only for them to triumph through their determination/super power of teamwork/etc.

- Showcasing the friendship and loyalty shared between the heroes.

- In the case of new characters, making them stand out and be memorable without falling into Sue territory. With Trudy, it's fun to give the readers a feel of her personality, and (hopefully) endear herself to them without being annoying or overpowered.

- Letting shy or mellow characters come out of their shell. (Yep, Trudy again.)

- A final battle where everything around you is constantly changing.

- The heroes have triumphed, the nightmare is at an end, and peace has finally returned... but at a great cost, to cement how much of an impact the villain had even despite their ultimate downfall.

- Tastefully-handled aesops that either aren't as common, or are done in a more unconventional way. For example: "you may have your limits due to reasons beyond your control (like having a condition), but that doesn't mean you should limit your quality of life, and it doesn't mean you can't see the world".

26. What's your biggest distraction from writing?

It's a tie between constantly second guessing myself and worrying if my writing is good enough, and being discouraged by how it's a lot harder to get your fanfic noticed when compared to fanart...

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

(It's over 300 words, but screw it lol.)

"You... you..."

"What? No one-liners? No petulant nicknames? Or did you jump into all this with the expectation that I was in over my head, with forces beyond my control, being the ~mere mortal~ that I am?"

"But how...? How could you... do this...?"

"You were so pumped up and ready to lecture me, weren't you? So certain that this was another Chaos. Another A.R.K. Another Gaia. Another opportunity to point and laugh at the man who simply wanted a worthy empire."

"This isn't about your stupid empire," Sonic muttered breathlessly. Rage and confusion plagued his mind in equal quantities. "It's about-"

"Well you thought wrong." The doctor playfully wagged a finger, mocking the hedgehog's own tendency. "I took my time with this one, you see. I can do that, you know, despite what you may believe. Everything was set up perfectly, not that YOUR room temperature intellect would be able to appreciate the beauty of it. No one else on the planet could achieve this, not even dear old grandad, tried as he did... but I did! And this sad fossil right here...?"

His glance turned towards the motionless figure slumping between them. Then gave the body a kick for good measure, followed by a smug chuckle.

"Never stood a chance."

"You... you have to stop this," Sonic's fists were trembling uncontrollably. "This is wrong! WRONG! Even for YOU! Look around you, Eggman! Look at all this insanity! It doesn't have to be this way!"

"You're right. It didn't have to be this way."

He walked closer to him. Slowly. His grin carefully rearranged itself into a bitter scowl. Sonic could swear there were daggers pointing at him from behind those glasses.

"But you pushed me, Sonic. You pushed me. You pushed... and pushed... and pushed." His tone was quiet. Too quiet. As if he genuinely felt betrayed by not getting what he believed was entitled to him. "I have waited so long for my respect in this world, and it's all because of you. You and your insipid army of squeaky-voiced sheep. You've gotten in my way every time... every single time... and I'm sick of it. Sick of it. Sick of you not knowing your place like the rodent you are..."

Sonic's intense glare remained frozen. He never denied that the doctor was a villain. Never questioned that he was a menace. But with all their history together, there was a side of him - perhaps a selfish side of him - that wanted to believe he wasn't like the rest of them. He wanted to believe the doctor was a step above all those other monsters he faced through the passage of time, no matter all the things he did.

But...

He couldn't really do that anymore, could he...?

"You were fun in your time, hedgehog. I can't deny that there was some entertainment to be had between us, and had things been different... I may have remembered you as a worthy adversary. But like all toys that were brand new once upon a time, you became worn out just like the rest of them. And now?"

He pulled out another switch.

Sonic's heart almost stopped.

"I don't want to play with you anymore."