#idw liveblog time

[transsexualism]

he mad 😂😂😂

[000marie198]

Oh

Oh no..

Oh he is broken... his ego shattered into a million pieces

The poor grieving husk of what he once used to be

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

anyway i do remember screaming when i first saw him

[themyscirah]

NOOOOOOOO OLLIE NOT THE DOG 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[pichlive]

Main

Hello! I'm Pichu/Peaches.

This is my liveblog-- currently liveblogging Lily's Well.

The way this will operate is I'll mainly focus on one media at a time-- if I want to explore said media more, or finish up extra content, I'll be putting those on separate blogs dedicated to said media. I'll still be using the tags I used here though.

I'll also review things once I've finished them, and give my final thoughts on them-- or at least as they're finished so far. Some stuff I'll play on here will be technically incomplete.

I'm always happy for suggestions! Just be patient. It can take me some time to get through stuff. Some things because of the category they're in or length may go onto a different blog-- more on that below.

My policy on any content that could be spoilery for a tag is that I'll put it behind a read more, and then after a month or so, it'll be unspoiled-- if it needs more time behind a read more, please tell me!

My tastes on this blog will vary a huge amount, and thus, i cannot guarantee that everything will be sfw (anything too nsfw/nsft will be warned and behind a readmore). Minors can follow, but at your own discretion.

I'm also going to say that if you don't like something that I'm liveblogging, that you either filter that particular tag or block the blog in general. Otherwise, for the most part, I'm not down to be bullied or lectured about for what I'm playing on here. There may be some exceptions here and there, but they're more likely to be very circumstantial (ergo-- more likely to be more indie projects wherein the creator is doing something extremely harmful and I feel like my liveblogging is spreading their influence further-- but again, extremely niche situation).

No strict DNI, will block if needed. Bigots blocked on sight.

Some content is segmented into different blogs-- usually because the length of said content would make it very hard to focus on other things on this blog, or because I just find that other blogs make it easier for me to focus on other content I'm also curious about.

They are as follows:

Archie Sonic

One Piece

Ultrakill

Slay the Princess

Undertale Yellow (other than True Pacifist)

Webcomics

My tags are also as follows:

#pichlive is my general tag

My liveblogging tag for things will be #pichlive [name of media]-- if you want to filter out my content in the media tag, just blacklist that if you don't wish to block.

#pichlive answers is for answering asks

#pichtalk is, for, well, general talking

#pichreview is for whenever i review content, typically after i've finally finished it/done a general playthrough or whatever or whatever.

#pichstop is for any mid-reviews of what i've done so far of the media i'm consuming.

#reblog

more will be added as needed.

Current To-live-blog list:

immortality

I cannot Drown

Lost Cartridge: Cold Read

penthos

shipwrecked 64

Catboi game series

casette beasts

dialtown

Who killed sonic the hedgehog

hi-fi rush

caligula effect: overdose

caligula effect 2

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist

pokemon concierge

my friendly neighborhood

ghost trick

needy streamer overload

Milk outside of a bag of milk outside of a bag of milk

Oxenfree 2

chants of sennar

Ddlc +

Catch up on Sonic Prime

Catch up on Sonic IDW

Scarlet Hallow

spec ops: the line

utena

american arcadia

pizza tower

f is for family

Infinity Train

Amphibia

Mob psycho 100

bastion

paper mario series

Off

anthology of the killer

celeste

Will add as I find even more stuff I wanna experience

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic the Comic Liveblog: Issue 75

Hmm…. this pun has a negative second interpretation I don't think they anticipated. Anyway, as always Amy's outfits never miss.

Ok, so it's a April Fools/Easter special! If only I'd started this a week earlier, then I'd have been right on time

Starting off with a one-off story. From the ears I don't think this little guy is a bear, but if he was then the joke writes itself

I know they say this is due to Robotnik, but places with fond memories shutting down or otherwise being inaccessible is one of those sad aspects of life and the passage of time.

Wow, I'm kinda getting the vibes of that one IDW cover with Sonic and Surge from this panel, just with the way Sonic is posed in this kinda threatening way

I'm always impressed with the level of detail that goes into some of these panels

This badnik is so friend shaped

Oddly casual Swatbots

Ok, we're returning to this story! It's definitely an indication of long it's been since I last read this comic that I completely forgot that the floating island can apparently be piloted????

Aaannnnnd there's the end of this issue's part of the story. There really wasnt much for me to talk about

Next story! And thats one hell of a panel

Surely badniks wouldn't need to eat?

I just noticed this little guy has cursed blob feet rather than paws

I forget if this prize was debuted in an earlier issue but I gotta say it's not a bad prize.

[themetalvirus]

ive read idw a bunch of times but i liveblog every time i reread a section because im cool and awesome and everybody loves hearing me talk

[khalewren]

And, after 290 issues of archie sonic, 94 issues of Sonic universe, around 10 issues of Mega man, two issues of Sonic boom, and a few other spin-offs like the Tails miniseries and Sally miniseries, my Sonic archie journey has come to an end. I’m happy i finished genesis of a hero and sonic universe before the main story, because while those were still really good, this was a perfect ending to archie in my opinion. Climactic, satisfying, and emotional. While this readthrough has definitely had its ups and downs, i’m honestly happy i did this. Yes, the bad parts were REALLY bad, but it makes the good parts even more satisfying. As an IDW fan, i’m hoping that the restrictions on them loosen (which is already the case with some mandates, looking forward to better shadow!) because post-issue 160 archie really show off how good of a writer Ian can be with less restrictions. And while Evan hasn’t been lead writer for too long, i can tell that it’s the same case for her. The few stories she wrote in archie, notably silver age, were really damn good, and i dont doubt that she’ll do more amazing things on IDW as lead writer.

And, i’m thankful (and apologetic) to those of you that have followed me along on my journey! There aren’t too many of you, but i appreciate yall!

So, i’ll most likely make a long post or thread rambling about stuff i liked & disliked in archie, what arcs i recommend n all that kinda stuff, but as for the readthrough, it’s done. I’ll make sure to liveblog other sonic media i’m experiencing for the first time, like sonic X, because this has been a blast.

Thank yall for reading this unecessarily long post, ill see ya soon!

[sage-nebula]

Well, it was Penders shenanigans who forced Sega to step in so I don't blame them for watching the comics like hawks.

I don't like Penders at all—I think he's a petty, misogynistic creep and a bad artist to boot—but I think it's reductive to blame it all on him.

First, he wasn't the only writer on Archie who got up to some nonsense back in the day. I won't pretend to be an expert on Archie by any means, since I've only read two issues myself (one where Sonic got mind controlled for an issue and beat up his friends, the other was the Sally/Nicole stargazing one because I'm gay), so everything I know about it, I know via osmosis, mostly thanks to the ThanksKenPenders liveblogs. But I do know that Penders was only the lead writer on Archie for a certain amount of time, and that there were other writers after and I think before him. Penders is the most infamous because of the lawsuits and because he has a chronic case of Can't Shut The Fuck Up Disorder that constantly rears its ugly head on twitter, but he's not the only one that got up to some bullshit in the Archie comics. He's just the most notorious.

Second, while Sega undoubtedly started laying down more mandates once they finally started paying attention to what the Archie comics were doing (e.g. I've heard it was because of that cover with Sonic crying that Sega was like "no, don't show our hero in distress in that way"), it's to be honest standard fare for companies to pay close attention to how their license is used and it's stranger that Sega wasn't paying attention back in the 90s than it is that they are paying attention now. Like for example, Nintendo is notorious for how strict they are with their IPs, but they're far from the only ones. Hasbro has oversight with Transformers and My Little Pony, in both comics and cartoons. Disney controls portrayal of Mickey Mouse in any licensed games that are made. Part of why Voltron: Legendary Defender was such a mess is because of fighting between the writing staff and the desires of the brand executives, so on and so forth. The fact that Sega was so hands-off with Archie is an exception for how licensed properties are handled, not the rule, and my guess would be that there was some sort of leadership change within Sega that made whoever got put in charge step in and fix things.

So it makes sense for Sega to closely scrutinize what goes into the IDW comics, to make sure that it's promoting a positive representation of Sonic and the franchise as a whole. It's what pretty much every other license holder would do when it comes to a licensed work. The sun would burn out before Nintendo would let someone run roughshod with a Mario comic*, and the same with Disney and Mickey Mouse. I think it's fair and just that Sega protects Sonic in the same way, especially since the IDW team has proven that they can still produce very good comics even with the mandates in place.

(*In fact, Archie actually pitched the idea of a Mario comic to Nintendo, which would have been written by Ian Flynn. Nintendo of America approved it, but Nintendo of Japan said no, so the project was scrapped. Nintendo is very protective over their IPs, and I think it's good that Sega has started following in a similar example with Sonic.)

[anacecherry]

I posted 8.114 times in 2022

That's 6.898 more posts than 2021!

576 posts created (%7)

7.538 posts reblogged (%93)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@zonic-the-zone-cop

@mizumaranza

@lesbiacebian

@spark-is-tired

@borrelia

I tagged 4.799 of my posts in 2022

Only %41 of my posts had no tags

#rottmnt - 590 posts

#fave - 533 posts

#ace's cherry - 483 posts

#[tumblr] - 443 posts

#video - 324 posts

#sonic - 222 posts

#tiktok - 202 posts

#cats - 117 posts

#🦀 - 89 posts

#toh liveblog - 87 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#idw haters be like: why sonic saying 'big oof' is the worst decision in writing history and ian flynn should kill himseld‚ a thread (1/836)

My Top Posts in 2022:

5.

Would've been really funny if there was a post credits scene and it was just Draxum coming back to New York from his vacation and everyones like "Oh hey Berry, welcome back. The world almost ended while you were gone, could've really used your help but anyway how was Florida?"

892 notes - August 5, 2022

4.

See the full post

1.111 notes - Posted July 19, 2022

3.

See the full post

2.376 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

2.

I don't know what to caption this. Just take it.

3.355 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

7.159 notes - Posted May 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sagethegremlin]

Liveblogging my brother reading the IDW comics one last time because I cannot get over this one

He had absolutely NO REACTION to Charmy becoming a zombot but CRIED when it Cheese and Chocola did

[transsexualism]

ok i made a tag for my trek comics liveblog -> idw liveblog time <- if you want to mute it peace and love xx

[lord-squiggletits]

[daisyachain]

IDW MegOP

Pre-Kaon: Megatron is the single biggest influence on Orion’s philosophy and mission and he is somewhat aware of Orion existing

Pre-war: Orion is a necessary ally to Megatron, Megatron is part of the future Orion sees

War: Megatron hates Optimus for continuing the institutions of Cybertronian (Primes, Autobot) and thus betraying everything they fought for, Optimus hates Megatron for betraying him personally and sacrificing organics for the good of Cybertronians

Post-war: Optimus just wants to forget about Megatron, Megatron sees Optimus as one of the Ones that got away

[thankskenpenders]

TKP Addendums: The Endgame Arc (Archie Sonic #47 - #50)

I wasn't planning this at all, but the Endgame arc has become surprisingly relevant again for very stupid reasons. The main one being that my mortal nemesis, The Screen Rant Guy, wrote a short clickbait article comparing and contrasting the (only halfway finished) Imposter Syndrome miniseries from IDW to "Archie's best arc," Endgame... solely because we're nearing issue #50 and Starline used the word "endgame" in a random sentence. No, really, that's it. Penders himself then butted into a Twitter thread to proclaim that fans have declared the Endgame arc a classic and that it "will never be topped." In the past he's even called it "the greatest storyline in Sonic history."

So, you know what? Fuck it. It's been a long time, and it can't hurt to go back and write something more thoughtful about it, compared to my original play-by-play liveblog. I also never said my Addendums had to be in order. So... is Endgame actually a classic? Or even any good?

No, it still sucks. Thanks for read - no okay fine

It's easy to understand why Endgame always stands out in older readers' memories because it's practically the first arc where anything consequential actually happens in Archie Sonic

Sure, there were memorable events within the first 46 issues and their various spinoffs. The introduction of Knuckles, Mecha Madness, Sonic reuniting with Chuck, rescuing King Max, etc. But rereading my archive a few months ago, it really struck me how little actually happens in that span of time aside from those bits. The series was largely content to rely on its status quo. Robotnik would hatch an evil scheme, the Freedom Fighters would go on a mission to infiltrate Robotropolis (that never resulted in anything). They'd go back and forth like this for a few years. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a status quo, of course, and I'd absolutely take those first 50 issues over the shit Penders wrote later. But the general lack of dramatic consequences prior to this instantly made the Endgame arc stand out. It really does feel like the series finale it was originally written to be

Of course, I'm not reading this as a 9-year-old in 1997. I already know this isn't the end, but rather one of many status quo shifting milestone stories from a series that would last nearly 250 more issues. And like I said back when I first covered this arc seven years ago, the sources of drama here are mostly lame as hell

I'll avoid ranting about Sally's death too much here, but it has to be addressed. It sucks. It's dramatic and it grabs your attention for sure, but it sucks that Sally doesn't even get a heroic death, but rather a sudden anticlimactic death on a random mission with no clear goal, just because Penders thought she "cramped Sonic's style" and didn't know what else to do with her. She had already been largely reduced to a prize for Sonic and the ever-skeevy Geoffrey to fight over, but her fridging here only takes that even further. In her death she is fully transformed into a mere concept for the guys to fight over, not a character with any agency of her own. Hell, this could have been a setup for a twist where Sally has her own counter-plan at play and makes a triumphant return in the climax to reveal that she was actually alive the whole time, and then take part in the final battle with her friends. (The possibility that the report of Sally's death had been a lie was being teased as early as issue two of this arc.) I didn't like the similar storyline in her miniseries, but I'd take it over this. Instead, she's only thawed out at the very end to give Sonic a kiss. She's not a character, she's a reward for Sonic

Actually, a thing I couldn't do when I first covered Endgame was compare it to the series finale of SatAM, as I hadn't seen that at the time. And the difference there is night and day. In the show, instead of being written out, Sally is more present in the climax than ever, to the point where she literally shares Sonic's super speed, allowing her to be there at his side for their final victory. The difference is so stark that it's actually kind of hilarious

(Side note: Some of my critiques in the early days of this blog came off as more black-and-white than I would like. A few times I may have skirted a bit too close to the whole Strong Female Character angle, where a female character has to be an ass-kicking, "empowering" aspirational figure in order to be considered a good character. I'll say very bluntly that there's nothing inherently wrong with writing a story where a female character dies a pointless, tragic death, nor is it inherently bad to write characters with no agency in their lives. (I am a known Gundam liker.) The problem here is that the way Penders writes Sally is part of a larger pattern with his typical Baby Boomer view on gender roles.)

But, okay. I said I wasn't gonna dwell on this. Let's set the decision to kill Sally aside and look at what Penders and co. do with that twist. For one, it's there to shock the reader. And, yeah, it sure did that. But it also turns the early part of the arc into a murder mystery. A classic premise! So, is Endgame a good murder mystery?

Nope!

As I ragged on repeatedly in my original coverage, Sonic immediately gets blamed for Sally's death, and it's pure nonsense. Nobody believes that Sonic, the main hero of the team, has any motive to kill Sally. Because he doesn't. But they don't do anything to disprove it, even though this is a series where Sonic alone has been mind controlled into acting against his will, impersonated by his evil universe doppelganger, and replaced with a robotic duplicate - not to mention how often this shit happens to other characters. When Endgame began, it had literally only been seven issues since Sonic was put on trial for crimes he didn't really commit following the Mecha Madness event. And yet we're already doing this again

Even the question of who really killed Sally doesn't get to be a source of intrigue. None of the established characters end up being a traitor, despite the presence of a traitor being the entire focus of issue #46, and it isn't even an old returning villain or anything like that. No, it's Hershey. A brand new character introduced after Sally's death. But she didn't do it of her own free will - the whole thing was orchestrated by Drago, a confrontational member of the Wolf Pack the Freedom Fighters met literally one issue earlier who was already immediately suspicious, and King Max, who had been replaced by an Auto-Automaton off-screen... somehow. (It's revealed in the end that Robotnik had actually discovered the location to Knothole and sent troops to replace Max all the way back during "Battle Royale," while Sonic was out of town. Why didn't he just blow up Knothole then and there? Who knows!!!)

The actual explanation of how New Friend Hershey could possibly have killed Sally might be even more nonsensical. As Drago reveals, he tricked her into wearing a lifelike full body Sonic costume designed by Robotnik that has an augmented reality display built into the head that makes everyone look like Snively. So Hershey thought she was killing Snively, and everyone else thought she was Sonic because of the costume. Why did Hershey think she needed to come along on that mission and dress up as Sonic? Who fucking knows!! More effort goes into explaining what happened to fucking Crocbot over in Downunda - no, seriously, he gets two whole pages of exposition in #49!

Overall, the best explanation we get for why Robotnik's plan is so complex is that he just seems to be playing mind games to pit the heroes against each other while he finishes the Ultimate Annihilator. But, again, the story devotes very little time to this tension within the team because of how quickly the question of who killed Sally gets resolved, and the only ones who really bicker are Sonic and Geoffrey, who were already constantly at each other's throats long before this

And, yes, the subplot with new characters Hershey and Drago devolves into a domestic abuse story. As I said years ago, I think it's a good thing to teach kids how to spot abusive relationships, but this isn't a well told story about abuse. Drago is a one-dimensional exposition dumping villain who also hits and insults his girlfriend. It feels like it was mostly setup for Hershey to turn the tables and beat the snot out of him in the last issue (which admittedly is kinda satisfying after having to read about Drago for multiple issues), but no matter the intention it's just a bizarre inclusion in this already overstuffed arc

This is all part of what's probably the overall biggest problem with the arc, which is that despite being intended as a sendoff for the series, so much of it revolves around new characters over the actual main cast. Hershey, Drago, and Dr. Quack all get a lot of screen time throughout the arc and are integral to the plot. So is Geoffrey, but at least you could say he was an established character who had fans at that point. (This was years before folks realized the age gap between Geoffrey and Sally, or before Penders made That Tweet.) Most of the Freedom Fighters are totally passive for most of the arc. Rotor, Tails, Chuck, and Amy contribute basically nothing. Dulcy does exactly one absurd thing and then Sonic tells THE GIANT DRAGON she doesn't have to help fight. Antoine starts tailing Drago when he realizes something's probably up, but he and Bunnie are immediately caught and shipped off to literally the opposite side of the planet and kept out of the action until the finale. (How they manage to travel from the Midwest to Australia and back so quickly is a mystery, but nitpicks about travel time are the least of this story's problems.) Even Sonic himself doesn't contribute all that much to Robotnik's defeat in the grand scheme of things, and he spends most of the arc just going "man it's fucked up that Sally died and everyone thinks I did it"

But finally, we come to #50. (Or, well, the "Director's Cut" version of it released as Sonic Super Special #6, which has supplanted it in canon.) I'll stand by my statement that this final issue is the best part of this arc. Broadly speaking, it feels like a proper ending. I like the way it's bookended with Robotnik's arrival in the Acorn Kingdom and his death. It's got some action that feels appropriately climactic, and there's good Spaziante art mixed in there. At the very least, the last issue is in the shape of a good series finale, with the heroes starting at their lowest point and then rallying together to win once and for all

That decent climax is just massively let down by the story surrounding it. The cracks start to show very quickly with the infamous scene where Dulcy reveals that dragons are all walking lie detectors. (Sure would've been convenient to know that three issues ago!!!) Even in this expanded Director's Cut, they just need to get the ball rolling and convince Geoffrey of Sonic's innocence as quickly as possible. Then the Ultimate Annihilator is FINALLY set up after somehow not being mentioned the whole arc and the fighting begins. Again, another concession: Knothole finally being put in danger by Robotnik's invasion and then the U.A. is a smart move. An obvious one, but a good one to raise the tension nonetheless.

Then we get the final showdown between Sonic and Robotnik, which is still pretty good, and after that it's all plot cleanup. (Contrary to what I've been saying for years, it isn't actually said anywhere that Sonic uses his billionth ring to avoid getting blasted by the U.A. I'm not sure where I got that idea from, other than the image of him coming out of a ring.)

Said plot cleanup is just wall to wall nonsense, as if this story wasn't full of that already. The reveal that Knothole has been blasted three hours in the future, a fact that never ended up mattering. Author's pet and Bones McCoy expy Dr. Quack revealing that everything is actually HIS fault, because he's such a super genius inventor that his "Dream Watcher" had the exact part Robotnik needed for the U.A. and that's how he was able to locate Knothole off-screen. The fact that Snively was actually the one to ultimately defeat Robotnik due to him tampering with the U.A. off-screen. (He doesn't even get to gloat about it!) And, of course, the reveal that Sally was alive and recovering the whole time, because readers (rightfully) complained. They kiss so that she can be Sonic's prize for winning, despite the fact that he actually contributed very little to Robotnik's defeat. Roll credits

Yeah, Endgame just isn't good, y'all

Again, I get why this was a big deal to fans back in the '90s who read this as kids. This story has actual drama and stakes and consequences on a level that nothing leading up to it had. Sure, Sally's death was undone, but Robotnik's mattered. The problem is that, as with so many other Penders stories, it only has the shape of a good story. The actual details that make it up are all fucking nonsense. The needlessly convoluted plot, the focus on brand new characters and pet characters of Ken's over the actual main cast, the tonally bizarre soap opera drama. It's trash. And not even particularly fun trash

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic the Comic Liveblog: Issue 82

Maybe I'm spoilt by IDW and it's range of beautiful artworks for covers, but it's so odd to see cover art that's just so… empty looking. Although I suppose you could argue that when you're publishing in such short intevals it's better to focus the time on the interior artwork

Now that's a pretty cool prize. Wonder how many of these things are still floating about nowadays?

As interesting as it is to see StC Sonic with confidence knocked down more than a couple of pegs, it's also pretty fucking funny that he's still making That One Pose he always makes in StC

One interesting thing is that StC often depicts the inbetween stages of the Super Sonic transformation. Most other Sonic media goes the direction concealing the switch between with a flash of light, which I would presume is for budget and time reasons.

Yeah I figured they weren't really dead. Although what I'd really like to know is why they didn't reveal to him that they were alive once the transformation wore off last issue.

WEEKS!!! They let Sonic think he killed his friends for weeks?!

Beautiful artwork again <3

OH I SPOKE TOO SOON THIS IS EVEN PRETTIER!!! I would genuinely hang this up on the wall if I had a decent print of it

Ahhh… I aware already that the two get separated at some point. I guess this is how it was done.

The lad already has back pain at such a young age, oh boy I can relate to that.

Not much to comment on about this story other than I predicted the twist of the sea creatures actually being the limbs of a bigger creature

Yet another one-issue solo Tails story that I have nothing to talk about.

I am noticing a remarkable different in how Amy is drawn and written between this story and the on-going main story

Brutus' big naturals

If Brutus wasn't a robot that'd be a very gory Mortal Kombat fatality right there

…what's that about Knuckles' skin????

Ah! Unless I have missed or forgotten something I think this is the first mention of Sonic X-treme by StC! Will be interesting to see if they ever officially annouce it's cancellation or if they'll just kinda stop talking about it until one day the news is all about the arrival of Adventure