#they make her pretty badass in the idw comics

[bixels]

is cadance more powerful than the average witch? or not a witch at all? im curious about her since her alicorn status in the show would assumedly put her closer to celestia and luna than the others

Yes. The alicorn equivalent in the AU is receiving a Canterlot name and joining Luna and Celestia's court.

Cadance is. Extremely powerful.

[randomthefox]

Okay let's talk about Vanilla the Rabbit and her characterization. I feel this is important considering the IDW comics recent portrayal of her and how it's. You know.

Awful.

And yet people defend and praise it because I legitimately don't actually know I assume they all just hate the video games it's "funny" or "badass" or whatever stupid crap. So I think a deep dive on how Vanilla is ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN as per how she is in the VIDEO GAMES is warranted.

This won't take long because she's not actually in very much of the video games. (Which makes her wildly OOC portrayal in the comics even more egregious.)

I'll be ignoring Cream for the most part although you could easily assert that we can infer a lot ABOUT Vanilla as a person based on her daughter, since children are in many ways a reflection of their parents for better or for worse. But stuff like how Cream is very overly formal and polite can obviously be chalked up to Vanilla's parential influence.

In Sonic Advance 2 Vanilla is a damsel in distress with no dialog so there's not that much that can be taken away about her aside from basic body language in the ending where she's basking in victory with Cream or showing appreciation to Sonic for saving her in the final ending.

Vanilla's only other game appearance and wherein she actually has dialog is in Sonic Rush. It's 22 sentences. Vanilla's entire verbal contribution to the entire Sonic series is 22 sentences. Again, the fact that the comic gets her so ridiculously wrong when there's so little TO get wrong is honestly very impressive. Anyway.

Vanilla welcomes her daughter home by asking her if anything interesting happened today. Because Vanilla is aware of and has no problem with the fact that Cream goes out and about doing her own thing all day, and her question shows that she's interested in finding out about her daily activities with is very encouraging although it does lowkey suggest a bit of laissez faire which I'll touch on more as we go. Cream brings a complete and total stranger home, and Vanilla greets her politely, being completely nonplussed about the presence of some random new person she's never met before being welcomed into her home.

Vanilla upon learning her name preemptively apologizes for any potential bothering that Cream did, which shows she's probably aware of Creams habits of interaction with other people. Considering Cream pretty much ambush befriended Blaze and then dragged her back home with her, Vanilla seems to be pretty much In The Know when it comes to what is typical for Cream.

Vanilla insists that Blaze stick around and have some tea, which Blaze is mildly disturbed by how open and welcoming these two have been to her so far (this reflects more on Blaze and her character journey in this game rather than saying anything about Vanilla). However we can infer from this that Vanilla is a pretty good judge of character, detecting that Blaze is a trustworthy individual she can except to be safe with in her home but also seems to pick up on the fact that Blaze is pretty high strung and thus uses a soft touch to try and get her to unwind. Blaze does ultimately accept the invite for tea, much to her own disbelief.

It's then implied that exposition took place of Blaze explaining to the bunnies of what her situation and goal is. I can actually imagine this vividly being portrayed in a comic, probably on a page turn. Smash cutting to Blaze sitting at a table with Vanilla sipping tea while Vanilla calmly reiterates the explanation she was just told.

Vanilla, having been rescued by Sonic, affirms Creams suggestion that Sonic is The Guy. And Cream herself of course has first hand experience with Sonic's abilities, but Vanilla agreeing with it seems significant to me since they could have just as easily not included that otherwise redundant line from Vanilla.

Vanilla is the first one to try and get Blaze to accept help from others which will be her primary character conflict for the rest of the game. Amy picks up that baton later, and Cream slow burns her into accepting help from others throughout their entire journey.

Vanilla then VOLUNTEERS CREAM to help escort Blaze around. This is, I would say, PRETTY SIGNIFICANT. Blaze is still ultimately a stranger from a strange land who has honestly been fairly awkward and aloof bordering on standoffish. And yet Vanilla entrusts her daughter with traveling alone with her while she quests for an unearthly set of magic emeralds. Ultimately this is with the intention of bringing Blaze to Sonic, even though Blaze rejects the suggestion of needing his help, but it's still Vanilla straight up sending her daughter off with some random woman they just met to do god knows what even as Blaze insists she doesn't want their help all the while. Eventually they wear Blaze down enough to accept the escort.

This is the laissez faire parenting style I was referring to. Cream is honestly a very independent and active child with a lot of agency to go off and do her own thing, and here we see Vanilla blithely encouraging it. Of course considering Cream's ability to protect herself and others, indeed Cream took it upon herself to help rescue Vanilla during Sonic Advance 2, this seems not so much irresponsible as it is entirely reasonable. This also demonstrates most effectively that the IDW comics are slanderous bullshit insofar as the Rabbits are written. Cream LIKES and is SELF CAPABLE OF going on adventures, and Vanilla cheerfully supports this. It seems clear to me that Vanilla is not INDIFFERENT to her daughter, but just has faith in the girls own reliability.

Sonic and Tails then later visit Vanilla

"what a welcome surprise" =3

also funny to me that she greets Tails firstmost.

So Vanilla assumes that Sonic and Tails are there to visit Cream. Implying that is more often the reason they would be visiting.

Now obviously the reason Vanilla doesn't recall Blaze's name in this scene is for story contrivance reasons. The mystery of Blaze is a driving element of Sonic's story, so if Vanilla were to just explain who she is and what she wants during this scene it would basically negate that. However I feel like we could infer a degree of ditzyness from this. Not in the sense of her being dumb, but more it feels like she might have her head in the clouds.

Vanilla's reaction to Tails aggressive questioning and their sudden absconding is a surprised anime sweat drop and to muse that "Creams friends" are "busy." This is supposed to be humorous of course because at this point Tails and Sonic don't know if Blaze is a danger or not (and indeed when they do finally come upon Blaze and Cream they tell Cream to get away from her because they assume she's a threat), so while they're taking the news as a serious concern Vanilla merely thinks they're in a hurry because they're "busy."

So that's literally everything, Vanilla has those 22 sentences of dialog in the entire game and she never appears again in the entire series. Sonic X is not in continuity with the video games, don't talk to me about it get that shit out of my face.

Like I said there's not really a lot to go off of. But there isn't NOTHING either. There's conclusions you can reach about the nature of her character based on what's in the script which can be expanded upon. The comic just MAKING UP an entire personality for her based on fucking NOTHING isn't okay. You can't just throw out the entire characterization she has in the video games and replace it with something new and call that good character writing.

[azuredragoonterra]

Alright fuckers time for the most cursed shit you've read today.

Sonic characters replacing the Berserk cast.

Its litterally just Berserk but instead the characters are Sonic dudes. Fuck my brain for coming up with this.

(Also to clarify, I'm not trying to draw meaningful parallels between the characters here, I'm just tossing them into the fiction blender and setting it to 10)

Alright so Guts=Shadow is so fucking obvious I don't even have to say it. Who the fuck else is gonna be that angsty and tragic.

This means logically we need to make Griffith=Sonic. It might hard to imagine the blue blur in such a villainous role, but like, he's pretty hard-lined about his ideals of freedom and independence. I could see him wanting to build a kingdom outta that. (Also he was voiced by Jason Griffith like c'mon this shit writes itself)

Casca=Amy is probabaly hella controversial but hear me out. She needs to idolize Sonic but still be able to form a strong emotional connection to Shadow. Take the badass leader role she took up in the IDW resistance/restoration and she fits like a glove. (Before you ask, I'm not writing this to ship shadamy, I'm just sick in the head.)

Ok so Rickert has gotta be Tails right? Like we've got our little inventor fox, idolizes Sonic, but ultimately has to find his own strength. Oh and can you imagine the slap?! Oblitetate that blue twink you funky lil fox!

Nearly forgot Puck! Initially I thought all the elves would just be Chao but then I realized... he's Chip from Sonic Unleashed. Chip as Puck is nearly 1 to 1 honestly.

E-123 Omega can be Zodd, why not. Big murder man who wants a good fight...

Shit wait maybe he should be Zavok... fuck that makes so much sense...

The Godhand are all just gonna be various eldritch super sonic bosses. Chaos, Iblis, Dark Gaia, etc. Make Void=Infinite for bonus irony points in the name.

The idea of evil is The End

Femto will be played by Neo Metal Sonic. I love the idea that Griffiths transformation made him cold, inhuman, not himself. While still obviously being who he always was underneath. Also keeps with the rest of the godhand being final bosses. Jumping forward a bit, I think when he reincarnates he oughta appear as super sonic constantly.

Ok we got the ever-green characters outta the way let's get granular.

The band of the hawk as Sonic bitches

So I don't wanna put too many iconic characters in the band and the actually relevant characters are sparce so real quick...

Corkus can be Fang/Nack. Cus he's a weasley little bitch (affectionate)

To that end let's keep team Hooligan connected and have Pippin be Bark the polar bear.

Gaston as Bean? Dude I got nothing gaston was kinda just there

Judeau however? Espio. Knife throwing.

While we're in the golden age...

Minister foss is Orbot

Charlotte's uncle, the guy Guts assassinates? Dr. Starline

Queen of Midland... Rouge? I deadass have nothing else for Rouge.

You can probabaly guess who the king and Charlotte are but they are at the bottom of the list for dramatic / comical /gross out effect.

Guts JRPG party as Sonic bozos.

Farnese shall be Blaze. They've got an affinity for fire, confidence issues, noble status, and a religious affiliation (blaze as guardian of the Sol emeralds, close enough)

Serpico is definitely Silver then. His close relationship to Farnese/Blaze as well as somewhat whimsical attitude all line up well. And Silver's telekinesis lines up well with Serpico's eventual wind powers.

Speaking of religious affiliations, Azan can be Knuckles! Hes goofy but strong and devoted to his cause.

Isidro has gotta be Charmy Bee. No not JUST because hes an annoying little shit... also cus his bee stinger subs in well for a dagger.

Shireke is gonna be Cream the Rabit. Mostly this is an in-joke on Creams high power in gameplay, and it also let's her elf Comapnion be played by Cheese the Chao.

By extension to the above. Flora ends up being Vanilia. I ALMOST decided skullknight would he vector just to continue the milf-hunter crocodile joke but came up with something better.

Ok if you've survived this far let's get into the dumb shit cus ohhh I've got some dumb shit.

SkullKnight is Big the Cat. I want all of his ominous warnings in the dopeyist voice possible. Also when he pops his helmet open to eat a Behliet (chaos emerald) it turns out it's actually just froggy in there.

Eggman is the King of Midland, SAGE is Charlotte. I'm sorry for all of the mental images this may have conjured.

Speaking of awful mental images, Gambino is Gerald Robotnik tortured over the death of his Granddaughter Maria when she caught the plague after taking in Shadow. This of all things is the one thing my brain automatically re-writes to make less weird. They ain't fucking.

That said? Gerald did make a deal... a transaction one might call it, with a certain Black Doom in sonic itself... I'm not elaborating yall can figure it out, yuck.

Elaine, aka broken Casca, is mid 2000s Amy when she had no good character traits. (Except elaine is still somehow like a million times better.)

The moonlight boy is a sonic Chao

[beevean]

I agree with anon. Like yes, every characters should have flaws just like people do but you just how to write it what makes characters relatable or likable, right. Like, if you ever watch the boys, they got female characters right. Yes, they do have flaws in the show but they write them in in a sense that they are in the wrong and how they going to to fix their makes. Like, Lanolin is bitch in the whole comic and if she trying to become " Good leader" you should have to sense that new guy is ain't right especially if Whisper saw Duo trip Silver. ( To remind Whisper fan that she is sniper, she not wrong of her skill to see the BS more then Tangle or Lanolin ever had.) The whole thing is just Archie silver all over again that making Silver and Whisper crazy one.

https://www.tumblr.com/beevean/728463941759533057/idw-fans-if-you-hate-lanolin-you-just-hate?source=share

I just find lazy to dismiss valid criticism with "you just hate [minority]!"

Misogyny in fandom would be actually using sexist insults like "slut" (unironic) and expressing the desire to see them die for the crime of being annoying. It would be shitting on a female character for not being stronk and badass, or redesigning her to be stronk and badass in a "I fixed her" way. (it's literally what Flynn displayed when he explained why he decided to create Tangle in 2018 btw, and what he did to Lanolin). It would be reducing a female character to a singular "cute" trait like the #girlboss, the #queen, the #onewiththebraincell, to then conveniently shoving her out of the way. It would be actually displaying, you in person, a double standard - example, someone who loves Scourge for being so cool and crazy but hating Surge because she's just a bitch, when they're pretty much the same character (and in fact Surge may be more complex lol).

Thinking that a character who is behaving like an asshole is, in fact, an asshole, does not automatically mean sexism. I shouldn't be forced to like a character I find horrible because we both have boobs or something.

[thisisvoided]

I'm bored so here are my thoughts on the current IDW Characters.

Tangle: She's interesting in that she's reckless and impulsive yet sees things for how they really are, or how they really are to her. Even when the chips are down, she has a seemingly unending well of optimism and empathy, although being comforting during emotional situations isn't exactly her forte. She's also evidently not used to trauma as a subject, seeming to have only a surface-level understanding of it due to Whisper's presence in her life. All-in-all, she's an interesting character. She also has a good design.

Jewel: Despite her not having as many appearances as other original characters in the franchise, I can say without a doubt that she's found a permanent place inside of my heart. She's different from other mainline characters in that she isn't a fighter and has doubts about whether her mind can make up for her lack of physical prowess, but when her confidence is up she's a natural-born leader and planner. Also, she owns a museum full of a ton of different types of minerals which I think is pretty epic. I like her design, it matches her personality and gives you a sense of who she is.

Lanolin: Fairly obvious PTSD which I'm hoping the comics will delve into more at some point. She's interesting and a well-written character, overall extremely consistent in her development. She also has obviously negative feelings towards the Chaotix and I'm hoping they might address that at some point as well. Her design is definitely one of my favourites, what with its practicality concerning her job and immediate distinguishability. Plus she looks like a badass.

Whisper: She's an intriguing character, what with her gray/ambiguous sense of morality and general history. I like the direction the comics are going with her, although the team name section I feel could've used some work. But I understand if the writing team wasn't allowed to do certain things regarding that. I like her a lot, especially when her mercenary past comes to light in certain actions and situations. It reminds readers of the fact that she isn't as much of a "hero" as people believe her to be. Good character design.

Mimic: I don't have much to say about him, honestly. He's a good villain; he's well-written, consistent, and there's seemingly no remorse from his side about the situations he's set into motion. Also, his character design is dope.

Diamond Cutters (Smithy, Slinger, Claire): Good characters overall, good designs too. Not much to say besides that the comics gave them a good amount of depth to give you a sense of loss when they died without overloading you with too much information.

Belle: Another one of my favourite characters. She's so interesting and distinct compared to the rest of the cast; she was created by Mr. Tinker to be a source of good, to rebuild and fix broken things and make people happy, but also to be her own independent person. She's so unlike the rest of Eggman's creations---while Orbot, Cubot, Metal, etc. were built to serve his every will and command like a robot would, Belle was built to be a person with her own thoughts and feelings. She's just so intriguing to me, and I really like where they've gone with her. Also, her design is really good.

Clutch: Another good villain. I think he works really well with Rough & Tumblr and I'm excited to see what the new issues have in store for him. He's got a sort of suave confidence to him which I enjoy, not to mention he's a surprisingly relaxed person despite being a criminal. All in all, there's not much to say about him besides that I think his character and personality are fascinating and I can't wait for what the new issues have in store for him. He also has a really great design and I love the big puffy coat for him---the size helps add to his imposing aura but the fluffiness makes him seem more innocuous which matches his energy of being more than meets the eye.

Rough & Tumble: Unironically my favourite villains so far. They're silly and ridiculous but also so interesting to me because there's so much story potential for these two---like what happened to Tumble's tail, how would they work with certain characters, and what's going on with these two and Clutch? Despite how little we've gotten for them I already love them so much, there's just something so special about these two that I can't properly explain. They feel like so much more than just comic relief, and I'm genuinely really excited to see where these two go. They also have a lot of possibility for redemption so I'm hoping we might see that start to happen in a future issue. Design-wise a bit plain in comparison to others but no less distinct or enjoyable.

Starline: A very good villain for the time he was here. I think he's definitely the cruellest antagonist we've gotten, moreso than Eggman himself, and the fact that his own hubris is what got him killed in the end is certainly fitting. I've seen a lot of hope that they'll bring him back, but honestly, I feel he fits better as a ghost that forever haunts the people that he broke and re-made into his own vision than as some sort of Tommy Turtle knock-off. His storyline was coherent and consistent without being predictable, and his design was enjoyable and caught my eye.

Surge & Kit: Both are very enjoyable and well-written characters. Not only is their current story extremely interesting to learn about, but their history and pasts are also an object of fascination and theorizing for me. They both have obvious childhood trauma from before Starline's experiments, and I'm hoping that the comics delve deeper into the psychological effects that the two deal with. I'm also hoping we get to see a sort of redemption arc for the two of them since that seems to be the path that the two are set to be on. Both of their designs are distinct and appealing without being too much and provide a layer of information about them without having to say anything. All-in-all, extremely good characters and antagonists.

Nite & Don: Not much to say besides that I think they're a really good pair and I liked the stories they were in. They work well as friends of the Chaotix, and I hope we get to see them again. The designs are pretty good, too.

Ron: His storyline was immaculate and heart-wrenching and made me more emotional than I'd like to admit. Despite his side character status, he's definitely in line to be a mainline character, and I hope we get to see more of him soon.

Just kidding! But I do really like him, solely based on the one scene he was in and his cool design. You will forever be in my heart, Ron the chilli dog vendor, and may you rest in peace in one-off character heaven.

[claire-starsword]

Watched a full playthrough of Sonic Dream Team, some spoilery thoughts under the cut:

Sonic last line being "glad to have you back" to Cream feels very much like a wink to the 4th wall lmao. While I still suspect her being added late to the game given the intro, the plot was very clearly written with love for her. I adore that every Cream plot is essentially "Cream gets to make a new friend who is something quite buckwild for a little girl to befriend". Otherworldly fire princesses, murder robots, and so on. I would if Gemerl and Ariem showed up together in IDW at some point.

Really wish the cutscenes weren't a bunch of panels flying around too, either do animated cutscenes or lean into the fact you're using still pictures and try to frame it like a comic, making a bunch of awkward slide transition just feels like the worst of both worlds here.

Back to the topic that matters (Cream), I love that "Cheese, get 'em" seems to be a catchphrase of hers now, but it rings very hollow in a game where, to my understanding, Cheese never attacks. To be fair the game seems designed in a way where no attacks other than homing attacks would matter, but it's still a bit sad that her return after pretty much two decades doesn't include her main concept, Cheese feels like just a decoration through the whole game. They could have done something in cutscenes at least, as opposed to making her a damsel in the final battle when the plot already is about rescuing her once. I feel it's a waste to not give her the occasional badass moment when she's a regular character in gameplay, and overpowered in certain games.

I do appreciate that Knuckles is the one to rescue her though, they don't interact much. And him lifting her up in the ending is super cute, though her bland expression in that kinda kills the mood, not the renders' best moment. We also don't get to see a hug between her and Ariem in the end which is evil. The whole thing has so many parallels with Advance 3's extra ending that I expected it to be just as cute. Missed opportunity.

Another thought on the ending is that, Tails is the only character to not have a moment in the final boss battle??? There's kinda of a plot reason for it but it's still quite sad. I do wonder if it's another hint of Cream being added late, if the battle was meant for five characters and they just gave her Tails' section and made up some plot to justify it, but that is pushing the conspiration theory a bit. Her role ended up pretty okay so I don't mind it was a late addition or what, it's just funny to wonder what happened.

[shadamyheadcanons]

Hi there! I was wondering about the IDW comics-is there a way to read them online? I've been trying to find a way to read them but it seems like you have to buy them one by one. Thanks!

Tbh, I’ve been reading them online here, but I’ll be buying them soon. I’m just not sure which format I want yet. IDW has digital copies on their website - issue #1 is $1.99, and volume 1 (the first 12 issues) is $19.99. Places like Amazon, ebay, and Barnes & Noble have them, too. The art is incredible, and I would much prefer to buy physical copies so I could see it on an actual page, but the prices are pretty steep, especially for those fancy hardcover volumes, and they’re frequently out of stock, so I’ve been hemming and hawing about it.

They did release a FREE issue about Tangle and Whisper, so if you’ve ever been curious about those two, check it out here! I really like them.

I’d highly recommend IDW not just to Sonic fans, but to literally anyone with eyes. It’s great for a million reasons, but I’ll focus on the art here. The covers are beautiful and action-packed, right from cover A for issue 1...

(Artists: Tracy Yardley & Tyson Hesse)

...to the latest, beautiful renaissance-inspired cover B for issue 59:

(Artist: Natalie Haines)

She made an actual painting for this, and she’s damn proud of it. As she should be. Just look at it!

More pretty IDW art and accompanying ranting under the cut.

I adore the introductions they give to the characters. Here’s Amy being a cute badass in issue 2. She’s earned it!!!

(Artist: Adam Bryce Thomas)

Side note: I like how they introduce characters in the order they were created, so Tails was issue 1, and issue 2 featured Amy. Knuckles didn’t show up until issue 3! This series gives Amy her proper place right from the get-go. It’s a nice touch.

Blaze is always cool in IDW--well, figuratively speaking. Look at her awesome introduction in issue 4!

(Artist - Evan Stanley, colorist - Matt Herms)

IDW’s artists do a great job portraying dynamic motion and physical impacts. There’s another really cool use of her powers later on, but I don’t want to spoil it! 👀

It’s not just the characters. The backgrounds and scenery are great, too. This is Angel Island from issue 9. Love the foreshortening in the back:

(Artist - Tracy Yardley, colorist - Matt Herms)

And the art being as good as it is fuels how strong the characters are. When was the last time the games properly showcased Amy and Cream’s friendship? IDW does it right, and issue 22’s art reinforces that:

(Artist: Priscilla Tramontano)

The context makes it significantly more heartwarming, too, but it’s another spoiler.

Apart from Amy, the one character who I think benefits most from this is Silver. This is his cutest, dorkiest, most endearing iteration yet, and I am here for it! Top two images are from issue 8, and the gardening segments below them are from IDW’s 2019 annual. It has some cute Silver/Blaze moments, and it doesn’t have any real spoilers for the main series. You can read it independently. It’s $3.99 on IDW’s website.

(Issue 8 artist - Evan Stanley, colorist - Matt Herms) (Annual 2019 artists - Jonathan Gray, Jack Lawrence, Jennifer Hernandez, and Diana Skelly)

I can’t help but smile whenever I see him. He’s cute in other iterations, too, but I always picture IDW when I write Silver.

Oh, and one last thing: after Amy and Silver’s cute meeting in Sonic 06, I headcanoned that she has a tendency to mother him. It fits well into the Shadamy-Descendent-Silver theory (y’know, that concept that was “sarcastically” suggested by Ian Flynn, Mr. IDW himself?), and I incorporated it into Shellshock. It was only after I’d gotten into the habit of writing them that way that I read further in IDW and ran into instances like these (spoilers removed):

(Issue 14 artist - Tracy Yardley, colorist - Leonardo Ito) (Issue 25 artist - Adam Bryce Thomas, colorist - Matt Herms)

And she is always the one to do this. No one else mothers him like this. Headcanon confirmed! Three points for the descendant theory!

[starlight-phantom]

You've probably done it before but :) Sonic for the fandom ask game! ^^

I actually haven't. Tbf I've got basically no asks for the past few months.

5 Favourite Characters:

Shadow The Hedgehog (When written well)

Silver The Hedgehog

Miles 'Tails' Prower (When written well)

Blaze The Cat

Sonic The Hedgehog (When written well)

3 OTPs:

I honestly don't really ship any of the characters in the Sonic series. Don't really know why, but I've never really felt like romance was needed, I just enjoy the friendship and found family between the characters.

I guess the characters I've come closest to shipping are probably Tangle and Whisper from the IDW comics 'cause those girls are pretty dang fruity and it's adorable.

Funniest Character:

I think, consistently, probably Eggman because even when the games had crappy writing, he still had some pretty good lines and Mike Pollock really made them work as best they could.

But also, I quite like Sticks from Sonic Boom, more specifically, the cartoon. But she's great because her character type is the type that could easily become very annoying if not handled correctly but they managed to make her really funny and I hope to see her in more stuff.

Prettiest Character:

I guess probably Blaze? I dunno, I like her colour scheme and her outfit and hairstyle have a regal feeling to them, which makes sense considering she's a princess. Also, maybe Rouge? Her outfit's great, especially the boots.

Most Badass Character:

Shadow, and that's excluding the whole using guns and riding motorcycles from his game. He was already badass, they didn't need to make him do all that stuff.

Character I'd Like As My BFF:

Honestly, it would probably have to be Sonic actually. And to clarify once again, well he's written well. So get the Meta Era Sonic out of here, not him. He's honestly one of the sweetest characters. It's really endearing how much he cares about his friends, but also, he cares too much and ends up putting himself in danger for them. But even without that, he always encourages them when they're down or anxious, he listens when they need someone to talk to, if they've got a sort of rivalry he will playfully tease them and egg them on because he knows they'll do the same right back.

It's honestly kinda funny how, when I was a kid Sonic was the coolest thing ever, but now that I'm an adult, he's the cutest. I just wanna give him a hug.

Character That's Ruined My Life:

It's probably a tie between Shadow and Silver.

Shadow, because his introduction into the series was easily one of the best and he was written so well (like do y'all remember that Shadow actually suffered from PTSD and you can see him experiencing those symptoms??? Sega doesn't.). And then he got an overly edgy game of his own and became a meme of Edgy The Hedgey and then Sega started to actually write him that way and it sucks. Like, honestly after seeing how the main cast were fixed in Frontiers, I am begging for them to fix Shadow next. He needs it. He needs it so bad. Write him well again, please. I am screaming and crying and biting, write him well.

And Silver, because he has so much potential. Like he had the misfortune of debuting in Sonic 06, a game well-known for being just a little bit of a trainwreck... But his personality and convictions and struggles were all really engaging and could very easily work for other stories. But then he appeared in the two Rivals games with some weird changes and it seems like the only storyline they had for him was "His future timeline is in danger so he comes back to Sonic's time to fix it" and the idea of him doing that over and over and over again... That just seems kinda cruel... Which sucks because I know Silver can be so much more.

[sshbpodcast]

Who’s the fairest of them all in the Mirror Universe?

By Ames

Our uniform chatter is all about over-the-top designs and lots of bare midriff and that can only mean one thing: we’re visiting the Star Trek mirror universe! This week, A Star to Steer Her By is looking straight into the dressing room mirror and mostly liking what we see because the uniforms and other fashion energy we get out of these episodes are just so wonderfully and appropriately extra.

Transport over to this alternate dimension with us and get on with your bad self… at least clothingwise. Catch our discussion on this week’s episode of the podcast (discussion starts at 50:14) and see which visions in the looking glass have us drooling as you read on below.

[Images © CBS/Paramount, Star Trek Timelines, IDW, probably others]

Star Trek: The Original Series

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing Kirk in that sleeveless gold spangly number? It’s so self-indulgent that you can’t help but love it. The mirror crew’s gold sashes are incredibly eye-catching, and everyone else’s tops are pretty much the same with some extra bling attached. And then Uhura stomps in looking like a freakin’ badass over here and we’re basically sold on this whole premise before DS9 overuses the hell out of it.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Klingon-Cardassian Alliance The KCA members and their little friends primarily go for a look of oppression: really dark colors and lots of sharp elements, straps, and dagger holsters. Secondarily or perhaps simultaneously, they make everyone look sexier in a very BDSM kind of way. Mirror Kira is a solid standout in her skintight stretch-vinyl suit that Nana Visitor wears perfectly. Garak gets pretty much the normal Cardassian look, and Regent Worf knocks the Klingon style up a few extra notches. Jennifer Sisko’s mad scientist jacket is mad fly, and Ezri looks like she just stepped out of a slightly evil Hot Topic. Odo could look more interesting since it seems his costume is just a dark grey version of his usual drab Bajoran one but with a belt.

Terran Resistance Okay, we’re straying from the concept of “uniforms” here since all the Terrans in DS9 just wear what they’ve scraped together, but for the sake of completeness let’s look at what our scrappy resistance fighters have donned. We definitely get the idea that they are the subjugated group here since their clothes seem to mostly be whatever they could find and fashion out of stuff, mostly in tans and earthtones. Just look at Smiley, dressed in a bunch of pot holders attached to a full denim suit, the poor thing. Everyone else looks scrappy and with nothing to lose, save Leeta who is here to be a sexy button at the end of an episode, but we’ve discussed that before.

Star Trek: Enterprise

We’ve been teasing things about the mirror universe episodes of Enterprise for a little while now (specifically in title card, opening theme, and title sequence), and now we’re getting a glimpse of the uniforms. And the mirror uniforms the crew is wearing are mostly just the normal ones with different emblems (which we’ve also already discussed). And if we’re not feeling let down as it is, we get a chance to feel subjugated as well because the only characters that get sexed up are the women. C’mon, people! At least Kirk got a sleeveless number too!

Star Trek: Discovery

Wow, and the winner for overdesign is the Discovery universe. All the costumes are bling as hell and exactly nothing like any of their prime universe counterparts in the way that the other series are. Sure, everyone looks super hot and the costumes are impressive, but is it really in the spirit of the mirror universe if there’s not a reflection of the normal show? I can’t really complain much more than that though because just look how stunning Emperor Georgiou looks.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Mirror Broken A couple noncanon examples from comic books here because I just couldn’t help myself. Star Trek Timelines even included the TNG characters from Mirror Broken, so I am compelled to as well because the take that the artist has on these mirror uniforms is spot-fucking-on! We recognize a distorted, jacked-up, sexed-up version of the TNG uniforms in here but the adjustments have the best mirror universe qualities. The sashes from TOS are back, which we appreciate. Inquisitor Troi may be hypersexualized, but it somehow works in its extravagance. And Crusher’s spiffy lab coat? *chef’s kiss*

Star Trek: Voyager

Mirrors and Smoke I didn’t find too much to share from the Voyager mirror universe comic Mirrors and Smoke, but we’re digging the Janeway look for sure. Just from this art, it’s tough to judge the rest of the crew since we’re compelled to say that they’re just not going far enough with the design to really capture our imagination. Perhaps we’ll look into the comics in the future to see where they’re going with it, or at least to see some more of this badass Janeway in her sleeveless uniform rocking a bandolier of bullets like a boss.

—

Let us ask the magic mirror which of these outfits reflect their best qualities and which have given us seven years of bad luck...

Favorites

Ames: TNG, specifically Mirror Crusher

Caitlin: DS9, specifically Mirror Kira and Dax

Chris: TNG

Jake: TOS

Least Favorites

Dishonorable mention: DIS

Ames: DS9, specifically Mirror Smiley

Caitlin and Chris: ENT

(Jake has no least favorites; everyone wins!)

—

It’s time to return to this side of the looking glass, but maybe keep some of these sweet lab coats. We’ve got another uniform week planned for next time, and of course much more Voyager to watch. So keep following us here, listen to new weekly episodes on SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts, hail us on Facebook and Twitter, and take those sleeves clean off!

[helenarlett-rex]

Helen rambles on in a long post about her her relationship with Ninja Turtles.

Something my readers may or may not know about me is that I am a huge old school fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was born at just the right time to be just the right age for the original Ninja Turtles cartoon back when it first came out in 1987. I lived through the big Ninja Turtle boom of the late 80s/early 90s when you couldn’t turn on a TV or step outside your house without having the Ninja Turtles shoved into your face one way or another. And I loved it. It was glorious. I fully blame Ninja Turtles for turning me into a furry. And I’m cool with that...

As a kid I watched TMNT every single day, read the comic books any chance I had to get my hands on them, and had a massive collection of Ninja Turtles toys. (Like... thinking back to the financial state we were in when I was a kid, I’m really not sure how my parents even afforded to buy all the stuff I had.) Until the day came that Ninja Turtles became “occultic,” and then I didn’t have any of that anymore... My mother bought into the satanic panic pretty hard back then so it was always just a matter of time before something I loved became “of the Devil” and it would be taken away from me. Once my Ninja Turtles collection (which would have been pretty fucking valuable today if I still had all of it) made its way to the dreaded bi-annual yard sale, I wound up slipping from the fandom.

I never fell out of it entirely. Yeah, I never got to watch the original cartoon all the way to the end of the series, but I would catch an episode here and there when my mother wasn’t around. And by the time The Next Mutation started airing in 1997 enough time had passed that Ninja Turtles wasn’t on my mother’s shit list anymore (she’d moved on to other things) so when I was a teenager I got back into watching Turtles with that series. I watched the 2003 series, and the 2012 series after that... But it never really went back to being something I was obsessed over like it had been when I was a kid. It was just something I watched on TV because it was nostalgic.

Ninja Turtles still held a special place in my heart... Always has... I’d even attribute much of career as a writer to the existence of TMNT. Eastman and Laird kind of came up with the idea as something of a joke, but then they published it anyways and despite how insane the idea was, it became a massive hit. So I’ve always looked back at Ninja Turtles and told myself no idea is too stupid or insane to find an audience or even become successful. But even with the esteem I hold for the franchise, I wouldn’t have considered myself in the fandom anymore.

So when IDW got the rights to start producing comic books for Ninja Turtles I didn’t really pay it any attention. I had read the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book published by Archie comics back in the day, but by this time I had fallen into just being a casual fan so I wasn’t really interested in getting back into comics. I was happy to see that someone was publishing comics for it again... Just didn’t feel any need to read them.

And then I heard that IDW had introduced a 5th turtle... A turtle woman... And I was like, that’s cool. We already had Venus de Milo back in The Next Mutation, so it’s not really a new concept. Despite the way many of the fans reacted, I actually liked Venus de Milo so it was nice to see someone giving a turtle lady another shot. I hoped this new one would have better luck than the last one did, but that was about the extent of my thoughts on the matter.

Then I saw her and I was like, okay... She’s actually kind of badass...

And I approve of giving her a body shape that isn’t any different from the guy turtles. Not that I hated Venus‘ more feminine body shape or anything... But portraying her as just another Ninja Turtle instead of feeling a need to draw attention to the fact that she’s a woman every single time you look at her is a nice change of pace.

This got me interested enough to look into the comic she’s appearing in and to my surprise I learned that the comic is being written by Kevin Eastman, one of the original two creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (The better of the two if you ask me.) Now suddenly I’m really interested... A new Ninja Turtles comic book by Eastman himself? Without Laird there to interfere with all of his bullshit...? Okay, that settled it. I was going to have to give this a look.

So I did... And not only have I found the comic to be surprisingly good... but then I get to see our new turtle, Jennika (Jenny) and see what she’s like, and... oh god... Not only is she a tough, smart, capable Ninja Turtle, but she’s also an ex-con who’s done time in prison and completely hilarious? And oh god... she’s self conscious of the way she looks...? That’s something I can relate to heavily.

Okay... You are already making me love this character far too much... I mean, the only thing left that you could possibly do to make her any better would be to have her come out a queer.

Okay and then it fucking happens!

You made a tough, badass, turtle lady with a shady past who looks like a guy, is self conscious about how she looks, dresses punk, is humorous without being over the top about it, AND she’s bisexual? It’s like... Did someone tell Eastman I stopped being a hardcore fan? Did he sit down and deliberately write a character I could relate to on nearly every level just to get me back? Because that’s what it feels like right now... I mean, she’s even dating a hot pig girl, which is very much to my tastes...

Eastman may not realize this was written for me, but... this was fucking written for me...

So I guess I’m back in the Ninja Turtle fandom again... *Shrugs*

[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.

[userpoe]

I've never heard of Poe x Rose but I'm really curious to know why you shipped them! The idea of them together is actually really sweet when I think about it 🥺

To tell you the truth, I honestly can’t remember why I started shipping them because I actually got the idea before TLJ even came out, but it made sense to me with what we knew about Rose at the time: she was very family-focused and had a hands-on job in the Resistance, like Poe. And since she was a mechanic, it made sense to me that they’d probably had plenty of opportunities to get to know each other.

And honestly, once we got to see Rose in action, that didn’t change for me, I still think they’d be a good match. Rose can be really sweet and dorky and idolizes Leia (a lot like Poe), but she’s also got this toughness to her that I love, she isn’t afraid to challenge people - or call them out on rash ideas or trying to sacrifice themselves. 

In the Forces of Destiny comics and IDW’s Star Wars Adventures #006, we learn that Rose was really shy before TLJ. She tends to think outside the box, but she was always really hesitant to put her ideas forward unless Paige encouraged or pushed her to show them to Leia...and we also learn the rest of the mechs were pretty rude to Rose, too, for how she often worked in a different way from them.

In SWA #6, Rose gets to meet Poe for the first time. I’m not really sure when the comic is set, but it’s around the time the Raddus gets added to their fleet. 

Rose decides she’s going to read the schematics/manual thing on the new cruiser, which prompts a lot of teasing from her other mechanics, but Poe immediately encourages her, and thanks her for her hardwork as a mechanic because we stAN ONE RESPECTFUL MAN *clears throat*

He doesn’t initially catch her name, but he still recognizes her by her voice later when he runs into trouble and she’s the only one to answer comms. While everyone else is pressuring her into hurrying up and finding a solution, Poe keeps calm and merely encourages her (Leia does as well, later in the issue) even whilst being tracked by incoming TIEs. The only time he really starts to urge her to hurry is when he’s seconds away from getting blown out of the sky. Also, Rose recognizes and challenges his tendency to make light of the situations he finds himself in, just within a short time span of knowing him!

And when Rose finds a solution? Poe cheers her on just as enthusiastically as Paige does (like, okay she did just save his life technically, but it’s REALLY sweet especially since Rose doesn’t seem to be really used to that kind of attention/praise from people who aren’t Paige??).

Throw in the fact that Leia trusts them both a great deal (Leia puts Rose in charge of the whole tech division after The Last Jedi, and she put Poe in charge of his own fighter wing the second he joined the Resistance), the way neither of them can turn their back on injustice, and the fact that they’re both Really Badass Dorks???? I’m sold.

[we-rate-tmnt]

rate RAPH

Bro I love Raph so much, he adds such a nice layer in the dynamic with his brothers in all the series and I’ll go over a bit of this below!

1987 Raphael

Besides Rise, I feel like this Raph is an overall chill dude. He’s mainly sarcastic and his ‘brute-ness’ is in his insults. Sure he fights a lot, but it’s at around the same level of violence as the rest of his brothers. I really love that he breaks the fourth wall so directly, it’s so neat to me when characters do that, which is a reason why I like Rick and Morty and Parks and Rec (although Parks and Rec is different because it’s live-action and the characters know about being filmed. Rick and Morty has them as cartoon characters that don’t know they’re a show, or maybe not. There’s a lot of theories, but I digress). He’s voiced by Rob Paulson, who also voiced 2012 Donatello, Foot Luteniet in Rise and is the voice casting director for Rise as well (This doesn’t add anything to the rating, just thought it was neat). Sassy, fun, mentions multiple times that the reality he lives in is a children’s cartoon, he’s great.

8/10

Next up is the tiny angy boi of the early 2000’s

2003 Raphie

I love this Raph’s personality! Smart mouthed, hot-headed and quick, I wish I could fire insults as well as he could. In this version, he’s more open about how much he likes fighting and physically trains quite a bit. Although, as a character, I feel that he’s lacking and a bit dry. The only episode I can think of where his character was expanded on was the time he looked out for a kid as hot-headed as he was. After that, I can’t think of anything else. He also HATES bugs for some reason, we don’t what reason, he just hates them and I wish they had more on that. I also wished there were more episodes with just Raph and Casey, they’re fun to watch with one being angry yet smart in battle with the other being semi laid back, but rushing in. On a surface level, he’s a cool character, but since he’s not Leo, he doesn’t get the spotlight that much.

5/10

And now, my SON I seriously love him wow

2012 Raph

He’s still angry, he’s still small but he has some more fun details to him! The rips on the ends of his mask, the crack in his shell, his two pet turtles/fire tortoise (???), his nerdy hobbies. I really liked that they were showing him saying stuff like ‘tickle attack!’ and also keeping the good ol’ ‘I give a flying-!’ kind of attitude. He not only feels like a teenager, but he feels pretty fleshed out. Unlike, 2003, his bug phobia is very prominent in quite a few episodes and I think that was a fantastic decision! He has hallucinations and panic attacks, which really grounds him as a character, his phobia is something that genuinely affects him and he manages to get past it. He still despises those creepy crawlies (who can blame him) but he makes sure it doesn’t get in the way when it comes to protecting his family and friends. Also, he’s just plain adorable, even when he’s ready to murder someone. He’s also the only one out of all the turtles in the 2012 series to have a lovely romantic relationship with this BADASS ALIEN LIZARD GIRL. And she’s not just there as a romantic fill in, she’s important to the turtles space adventures and in the final season as well (despite that we hardly see her after that episode, but I’m not going to get mad about that today). Let’s see, nearly cussed, sarcastic, hot-headed but soft, adopted a cute alien fire turtle, has an AMAZING BADASS LIZARD girlfriend, some noice character progression, squishy face, hit’s quite a bit on my checklist!

He owns all my uwu’s/10

I’ve noticed that this movie has the turtles and other characters involved behave quite differently, so I’m going to add this one to my list!

Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past Raph

Guys, this Raph was just so goddamn cute like bro. I feel like despite that this is supposed to be a continuation from 2012, the personalities of the characters have some pretty big changes. Raph, throughout the whole movie, seemed much kinder and seemed more open to his brothers. That pterodactyl scene just HMMMMM GOT ME IN THE FEELS. I think this rating is based mostly on cuteness, because it was a movie it can’t really do too much character development (especially for a silly one like this).

7/10

Next up is the Raph I just watched last night!

2014 Raph

I actually really enjoyed this movie! While a lot of people didn’t like the designs, I really liked them quite a bit (except for the antagonists). This Raph I think is one of my favorites, with the more ‘done with this bullshit’ attitude, gruff design and woodworking skills. I really liked how well they dealt with his relationship with his family. They showed how much he cared about everyone so much throughout the entire movie. I wrote that note down even before we got to the part with all of them seemed like they were about to die, and it shows that even before that scene, that impression of Raph is left with us. He also was able to form bonds with April very quickly because he knew that this whole thing wasn’t her fault and could see that she would still stand with him to get his brothers back. They handled his character very well and that’s hard to do with a movie. I also like the little toothpick detail and that he was so stubborn with keeping it in his mouth. Overall, a tough boi with a big heart and loves his family a lot.

9/10

Now for the newest Raph and the sweetest Raph to date!

Rise Raph

I really need to give him more attention! I really can’t give too much analysis because it’s hard for him to steal the scene for me. I only really notice Rah when a scene or episode was directly focused on him. However, when this did happen, they were always fantastic! I really liked the savage and Mrs.Cuddles episodes, which showcased Raph’s weaknesses. He’s big and strong, but I feel like that he just grew up too fast. He has to be careful with his size and strength, which are useful when it comes to protecting his brothers but he knows how much he could hurt them by accident. I really want to see when they’ll expand more on that, perhaps there was an incident involving his brothers in the past? It’s really fun to see how he’s handling the leader role and the dynamics this creates with his brothers. Just a big lovable boi with some trauma.

9/10

Next up is our good ol’ comic book turtle!

IDW Raph

The idea of him being separated from the rest of the turtles for the first couple of issues was so neat! I think it added to him getting his family bonds and making everyone’s dynamics and interactions with him different compared to the rest of the incarnations of him.  It made for an interesting connection with Casey as well. I’m still quite a ways away from the most recent chapter of this series, but will update this whenever I get to it! A good child that deserved a family and got one!

6.5/10

Storytime: I used to think his Sai’s were those little rake garden tools when I was little and would nab my mum’s to play ninja turtle if I was in a Raph mood.

[skull001]

Unpopular Sonic opinions.

* Personally, I think the idea of Knuckles being a close friend of Sonic, let alone be considered a brother-like figure in the same level as Tails is kind of a big stretch. There really isn’t much of a compelling reason in the main games for Knuckles to tag along with Sonic or want to be involved in his life, but also him being a “best friend 2.0″ negates almost all of the rival aspects of Knuckles’ character as well as any actual motivation he can possibly have outside of the Master Emerald’s safety. I’d rather him becoming involved in stories because he wants to best Sonic out of jealousy rather than whatever Sega has done with the character ever since SA2.

* The logic of Amy nay-sayers is pretty simple: everytime Amy does something good/positive that goes against their narrative of Amy being nothing more than a helpless Sonic fangirl, they will always, ALWAYS claim that it was never developed nor previously established... despite all of the evidence that proves them wrong (like the leadership thing). Bonus points if she also gets compared to a certain ground squirrel princess.

* The idea of 2-D Genesis-styled games being exclusive to the Classic era side of the Sonic franchise is pretty dumb. The Nintendo GBA had a trilogy of titles that prove the idea dead wrong.

* Turning Cream into “another sweet innocent girl who acts like a moral compass” was IMO a mistake on two fronts: First, it takes away from Amy her more endearing traits that sets her apart from the other characters (games like Sonic Rush, Sonic Battle and even the IDW comic have plenty of Cream doing the things Amy was known for, even the speech about people deserving a chance to be happy) and second, it denies Cream the right to be a more unique character that can stand on her own merit instead of shining at the expense of leeching off another character.

* I really dislike when people ship characters just because they are the same gender instead of doing it because of the idea that they can have a chemistry that could be developed into something else. For example, with Blazamy it feels like it’s done by many people just because it’s a girl/girl thing instead of how Blaze, a girl that has lived most of her life suppressing her own emotions, could become infatuated with the one that expresses them without any hint of shame. 

* I think Dr. Eggman is at his best when he is actively causing trouble. I really miss how in the games he shows up regularly to try to beat Sonic with some new mechanical contraption (that he probably improvised with haste before Sonic reaches him). Some games from the modern era lost that aspect and limited his appearances to be only at the start and near the end, just in time to be displaced by some “bigger, more menacing” bad guy. =_=

* Likewise, I prefer a cowardly Eggman. Not in the sense that he cowers and pleas for mercy on his knees before some “moar badass” Coldsteel the hedgeheg character type, but rather him taking advantage of other more noble characters, like when he kicked Amy into a zombot-ified Big to buy some time and escape. He should be an selfish opportunist and a bully who laughs and mocks others while getting away with his BS. He’s the bad guy, and as such, he’s a character with whom writers are free from some of the limitations that they have when writing for the good guys. He may be condemned to loose at the end, but before the story reaches that ending point, he should be free to be as mean as possible. 

* Sometimes I feel that in the games, the dynamics and interactions between characters that do not involve Sonic in them are treated as second-class. This is a shame because it limits the scope of what can be done with them.

* Amy’s crush for Sonic is not what holds her back from exploiting her potential. It’s Sega and Sonic Team’s fixation with the classic “trio” that excludes her from promotional material and games on purpose and for no good reason. It’s also a topic that I feel a lot of people don’t want to discuss because they feel/believe that questioning something Sega/ST says, even when there is a reasonable argument to do so, may make them be perceived as “not good fans of the franchise”.

* I think that Eggman being the villain is not really because he is the only (main) human in a franchise populated by technicolor, anthro characters. If anything, I feel that it’s more about how adults can sometimes grow up to become very selfish people (Eggman takes it to an extreme), while the Sonic characters, being for the most part kids, lack the malice that some may develop as they grow up and are not afraid to follow their hearts and do what they feel is right. This is also a very common theme that is explored in some anime series, such as Gundam (there’s a reason why almost all the main characters are young)

[jemstarearrings]

This might be late, but from your ask prompt, questions 1,6,8,10,12,15,16 and 18

I think I’ve answered a few of these already, so I’ll go ahead and answer the ones I *didn’t* do!

6. Do you read the comics? No, I don’t. Aside from not living anywhere near a comic book store, a few years ago an IDW writer found an untagged post on my personal blog venting about some identity politics regarding the Transformers (whether or not it was canon I don’t even remember, it was about someone trying to convince people that female transformers were all trans or whatever, some dumb bullshit hot take) and they called me a “whiny pissbaby.” I tried to defend myself honestly, but they just kept insulting me with childish insults and ignoring everything I said. Some folks dogpiled me, I got some really nasty anons, it was bad. Not as bad as my experience with Noelle Stevenson, fortunately, but enough to make me angry and bitter.

I don’t support IDW comics at all now. I don’t buy any IDW comics, and neither does the rest of my family. I don’t read them, either; no piracy, no standing around a store reading them, no nothing. I never have anything nice to say about IDW, and I never plan to. So help me god I will stay bitter and angry until the very end. “Whiny pissbaby” indeed.

That being said, I’ve seen plenty about the comics, and I’ve got Opinions™ that you could pretty much summarize as “I’m sick and tired of social justice warriors.” I know that phrase doesn’t have meaning in the year of our lord 2020 but whatever. I could get into it for ages, I better not. I just turn into Old Man Yells At Cloud.

8. Hot Take lmao speaking of hot takes. I just don’t like Raya and Jetta that much. I feel like they don’t add a whole lot to the dynamics, particularly Raya, who immediately turned into a background character after the season 2 premiere. Like idk, she’s just kinda boring. :\ I also really don’t like how she’s also pink, but Jem is pink, like, get your own color Raya, damn.

12. Least Favorite Character ...maybe Raya lol. There’s nothing wrong with her, I suppose, she’s just kind of boring. I’m not feelin’ her that much. Rio sucks absolute butts though. He’s always SO MOODY and unreasonable and explosive. Jerrica needs to ditch him until he straightens up, I swear.

15. If you rebooted Jem, what would you change? What would you keep the same? HAAAY lol. I don’t have a lot I’d change, but I do want to kind of emphasize the Jem/Jerrica difference. I’d want to make Jerrica more shy, less likely to kick ass and take names like Jem. She could totally come out of her shell and use that experience as Jem to get better at standing up for herself over time, but from the beginning I think it’d be legit to make Jerrica more of a pushover, so she could grow into this badass woman takin’ care of business. Like her alter-ego strengthens her and allows her to find that part of herself that means business.

I also would like to see Kimber and Stormer actually be a unit, because...my god, it’s so obvious what they wanted to do in the original series but just couldn’t. And granted the episode had to wrap up in 22 minutes so I understand why they couldn’t get into that even without Standards and Practices not liking gay things, but still.

As far as the same goes, I feel like I wouldn’t be as radically different as some reboots would be, I want to keep a lot of what made Jem special still present. The big hair, the outfits, the colors, the music, a lot of it is just timeless even if it’s from the 80s, and making it hyper-modern or even futuristic just...idk, it feels like it takes away some of what made Jem special. I’d like to keep a sort of timeless quality to it, where it could be happening in the 80s or the modern-day, but it doesn’t really matter anyway. I know that music recording technology has changed drastically since so I’d kind of have to pick a side, but eh? *shrug*

though honestly now that I’m thinking about it, the intro to the series is really convoluted and has a lot of stuff going on (Howard Sands, the mansion, the battle of the bands, countess duvo...however you spell her name, Kimber splitting the group, Ashley adjusting to being a Starlight girl,) I feel like if I made a reboot, I’d want to expand those first 5 episodes into the whole first season. Make it compelling, get a little deeper into each story, and that way when it all ties together in the end, it’s more satisfying because it’s a season finale. Then we can hop into the second season with the Starbright trilogy and probably stretch that out a little too. Get more mileage from the old story arcs before making brand new ones.

16. Ideal voice cast for a reboot? Oof, that’s hard. I don’t know a whole awful lot about who’s out there singing/voice acting right now. I do know I want Kesha to do Pizzazz, though I’m not sure if she would considering she’s changing her life in the wake of the whole Dr. Luke thing. I think Mandy Moore (Rapunzel) could make a cute Kimber...and naturally I’m inclined to pick VAs from shows I watch, like Grey DeLisle or that one woman who voices literally every black girl on TV Cree Summer. I haven’t thought about it enough.

Though something I wonder, Techrat was meant to be androgynous in the bible, but in the show he was this like, Cobra commander raspy whisper, so maybe Techrat’s voice should change completely...hmmm.

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

2019 in Retrospect

2019 has been fairly quiet, so I decided to start off this year by looking back on it. I’ll be dividing it by main fandoms/characters/ships because this year there were actually some new ones. That hasn’t been the case since, like, 2013. 

Sonic the Hedgehog

It was an...alright year for Sonic. TSR was fine but too light on content, Mario and Sonic Tokyo felt like a step down from Mario and Sonic Rio but was still alright, and I have not played SEGA Heroes (and haven’t bothered with the Chao in Space short). Lowest spot for me was the IDW comic; the Zombot arc has had one interesting story so far, but the rest has had either bad writing (primarily aimed at Shadow’s turn) or it’s just been wallowing in its bleakness in a way even Shadow the Game didn’t. Then again, I find zombie stories uninteresting to begin with, so no duh I’m not interested in a Sonic take on it. 

Chaotix kind of mirror that. Vector’s managed to get a good showing in, batting 3 for 3 on the game front, and having a key role in two of them. And like I said before, the Chaotix have genuinely had the most interesting stories within the Zombot arc, although with Vector and Charmy turned this may become more limited. Speaking of though, Espio and Charmy have had weaker presences. Espio managed to get into all three games in some form but to a lesser extent (one just by name), and Charmy was really left behind. 

As for Vecpio, it’s been pretty bare for canon material stuff. Espio got mentioned in TSR as contributing the report that reveals Dodon Pa’s true role (with him and Vector being the key to making everyone shut up about him being suspicious, proving they’re best as a team). And Mario and Sonic Tokyo has something if you headcanon some stuff; when Vector talks about the medals, Espio is the first person you’re directed to. Nothing is said by Vector about Espio in text, but you can implicate that Espio was chosen first because of his strong link to Vector, being the first one Vector would trust to compete at a gold level. Other than that? Dry. And with no announcements for Sonic games in 2020, this may just continue. 

Crash Bandicoot

On the reverse side, we have Crash Bandicoot having a really strong year. CTR:NF came out (which is a remake of my favourite Crash game) and has been doing gangbusters. On top of this, it has been going out of its way to revive pretty much every dead character in the franchise, to the point that we have RIlla Roo back in the fold (something I genuinely didn’t think would happen 19 years beforehand). 

Skipping straight to the shipping for this, I wouldn’t have imagined it for Crash ever, but there’s actually some in-game material for me to latch onto for DingodileXKomodo Joe! Dingodile has been pushed into a more jovial character since N-Sane Trilogy, being even more doubled down on in CTR:NF. However, for the past 20 years Komodo Joe has managed to avoid being given traits closer to Espio. This game finally catches up to him, and does it hard. Seriously, his character took a hard turn for the stoic badass Espio did after Heroes, and when did Joe ever use Martial Arts magic ever? Aside from making that dynamic naturally more matching, Slide Coliseum joins in the fun with the visual upgrade. It has holographic projections of a trophy girl repping a couple of racers dancing each, and guess who the devs felt could be paired up for how they go together rhythmically? That’s right, my reptile boys. Man. 

Super Mario Bros

What a weak year for Mario for me. What Mario got for new games this year were Luigi’s Mansion 3 (which I’ve not played), Mario Maker 2 (which isn’t new story content and doesn’t interest me in the slightest), Yoshi’s Crafted World (which I forgot was a thing) and Mario Kart Tour/Dr Mario World (which...um). 

Because of this set-up, Bowser hardly got anything to do so he’s really been on the backburner. Considering how he’s been pushed in the rest of the decade that’s saying something. In fact, the most character stuff he got was in Mario and Sonic Tokyo, and even that was mostly just alright (I think Bowser Jr got the best deal out of that).

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro was alright, but this one’s more understandable. With 2018 being the big year for Spyro’s return, 2019 was a rest for the little guy. That being said it wasn’t completely quiet; Spyro Reignited Trilogy finally got its port on the Switch, and to tie in with that Spyro got an appearance in CTR:NF. 

Because of the latter point, Gnasty Gnorc got a surprisingly strong year. Not only having more people learn about his glow-up in SRT, but bringing over that petty and angry character to CTR:NF. Seriously, his bit in the grand prix intro video is great, and he has more lines in his racing quips than any other game. 

OK KO

I don’t think I made a post about OK KO on Tumblr (or maybe I did one, I can’t remember). But I did manage to get into this just before it got cancelled so there’s that. 

I maintain that the Sonic crossover (aka the first thing I really knew about OK KO) didn’t give me a good impression of the show.It just seemed like “here’s the Sonic and Eggman dynamic but with more cartoon shenanigans*” and it spent more time making endless Sonic references. While some were deeper cuts which actually were impressive, most were references I could see in pretty much any Sonic-referencing material. It wasn’t until I decided to look up more info on Lord Boxman sometime after because I wanted to check if N.Gin was an influence that I found out the plot of the actual show (crossover notwithstanding) was pretty nuts and way more up my alley. 

Speaking of, there’s Voxman. Whereas other ships on here I have to dig through material to construct nuggets from them, this was literally in the text. And why not, they have a good dynamic and are usually the most fun to watch bounce off each other. And I still like the fact that if KO and Lord Boxman were the Sonic and Eggman parallel, the story ends with Eggman becoming Sonic’s stepfather. Let’s see IDW tell a story like that, it’d be better than the Zombot stuff. 

*I think that was the point but still. 

LEGO

Man I wouldn’t have thought they would have remade LEGO Racers but the one they made this year was gre--

Okay no, this year basically reignited another flame that I thought was snuffed out like 16 years ago. For a brief history of me and LEGO, when I was six I had a freestyle box which I used to make an elemental superhero persona. I played with this until I was 11. Before then, my sister got some LEGO Harry Potter sets (which we still have in the loft), I played LEGO Racers a lot (and wasn’t very good at it), and I owned two random other LEGO sets (the trike from Life on Mars and Lava from RoboRIders). 

After that, I only dabbled in LEGO when there was a Sonic set done for LEGO Dimensions. I did try to play more into it, but it was really prone to crashing in certain worlds so I eventually got frustrated enough to stop playing it. Sometime in the interim though my sister started enjoying LEGO films without me knowing, so when February came around I was dragged to see LEGO Movie 2 when all I wanted to see in 2019 was Toy Story 4. Dad insisted on it since we rarely have family outings. In retrospect; 

LEGO Movie 2 hit me in a way a piece of media hasn’t for years, or even decades. It’s shot up to be my third-favourite film of all time. And it’s revealed to me that LEGO is shockingly good at making endearing characters. So much so that breaking it down (pun not intended) has to be done by theme.

LEGO Movie: Part of the reason why I didn’t get into LEGO earlier was because I did see LEGO Movie back in 2014 when my sister was given it on DVD (she wasn’t into LEGO then) and I wasn’t impressed with it. In retrospect, I can appreciate what it did more, and I bring it up because it’s what makes Unikitty, Benny and Metalbeard so endearing when combined with what happened in TLM2. Lucy’s okay (moreso in the sequel), Emmet’s cute, President Business is fun but the MVP is definitely Rex Dangervest, who’s this feral monster but with Emmet buried away deep inside ready to flesh him out. When I make LEGO stories, I just have Rex change his mind on rescuing himself after getting the dinosaurs, and instead wreaking havoc in the present. This kills Emmet off in any story I do but it’s a worthy sacrifice. 

LEGO City Undercover: As a video game person I’m kicking myself for not getting into this before. Frank Honey is the best; he’s adorable and weird yet still feeling very much human and basically the Emmet of his city. Rex Fury has grown on me lots since my initial assessment of him,it’s infectious how much fun he has with being a criminal (while Vinnie is more fun when not doing criminal stuff and Chan seems to be more focused on doing criminal stuff as a job. I also think his calmer side is criminally (no pun intended again) overlooked). Also Ellie is underrated, she is the best straight man you could ask for. 

LEGO City Adventures: As I’ve said before, pretty much everyone in LCA is adorable, especially Duke and Harl. Still hoping for more Daisy time in the second season, she could be a riot if played properly and not just a Fendrich stooge. 

Ninjago: Coming in with the hot take here; I prefer the movie version of Ninjago to the series. I think the problem with the series is that it has so much baggage from before the series started to iron out some of its issues and cliches that it’s kinda hard to get into as a new person, whereas movie Ninjago is a lot more approachable and written better off the bat (although I do see why it wouldn’t go down well with existing Ninjago fans). This all just makes me think of that moment in series 11 where Nya sees her worst fear of being normal in an artefact and it shows her movie self, almost as a take that. It just makes me think the show writers are salty about movie Nya kicking show Nya’s ass in being a better character. Also shout outs to Kai, Cole, Zane and Lloyd for being great characters as well (Jay is cute in the movie, his show self can be punted off a cliff for all I care). And I am with the movement to have Cole come out as gay (or at least bi if they want to keep Tournament of Elements I guess). 

Nexo Knights: This show is regarded as another Ninjago wannabe, but it feels very different to Ninjago to me. So much so, there’s not a single one of the heroes I don’t like and they all need to be cherished. Macy gets props for being the best female character to me, Aaron is probably my favourite now and this is a house of Clance for future reference. 

So, with all that being said, what do I think of the prospects for 2020? I think it’s going to be quieter than 2019 to be honest, since there’s a lot winding down, and on the game side there’s been zero announcements. Crash and Spyro having a rest is understandable, Sonic’s going to have to get past the movie before gearing up for 2021 probably (for the record I have no interest in the movie) and Mario just needs to try harder. And with OK KO dead, only LCA is holding the fort for guaranteed new content I want to engage in right now. 

You know what would be fun though? Series 20 of the minifigures theme is due at the end of this year. Wouldn’t it be awesome to use the occasion to give some phsical minifigures to characters who never got them before? LIke, Rex Fury somehow still has enough demand to be a persistent feature in the customs market, give him an official figure (especially since he’s the only character from LCU that’s not Chase that’s even appeared in merch outside the game). Or let Sky Lane get her LEGO Universe look in physical form to go with her LIXS look. Or heck, finally give Rocket Racer his original look, that’s how I discovered the minifigure world in the first place!