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I like the idea Unleashed had of exorcisms where Sonic literally beats the negativity out of people. It implies that violence is not always an inherently bad thing.

However, I do also think more could have been done with the idea that negative emotions and deeds spawn Dark Gaia minions, which is only alluded to in the enemy bestiary. Dark Frights are born from gossiping and shouting at people in anger, while the Dark Moray breathes frost as a representation of people's sorrow and grief.

The scene where Chip and Sonic discuss Dark Gaia's influence makes more sense given that context. The way folks sometimes frame Chip's explanation for Sonic's resistance to Dark Gaia possession makes it seem as though Sonic is just so naturally pure of heart that he utterly lacks negativity, when that's not really what Chip is saying. Rather, Sonic's will is so strong that he unconsciously will not let any negativity he might have overtake him.

So it makes sense that Sonic doesn't really become spiritually tainted by Dark Gaia's influence. He's not the type of person to gossip about people behind their backs or shout at them in anger, nor does he give in to sorrow. Chip likely sensed this about him, if only on a subconscious level, and entrusted the task of healing the planet to him. The gameplay then exemplifies Sonic's strength of will through his combat ability.

I don't mean this necessarily in the sense of "give Sonic an existential crisis," ofc. I just mean that the game could benefited from just a little more connective tissue fleshing out the idea behind Dark Gaia's minions. As it stands, it sort of comes across as though Dark Gaia brainwashes people into acting not quite like themselves.

I always thought they could have presented Tails fleeing from the Titan as an early example of Dark Gaia possession, born from fears that he's helpless without Sonic. After all, you fight a similar swarm of enemies culminating in a Titan when you exorcise Charles, a medical student plagued by similar doubts of self-worth.

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does he even know the Gaia temples could be a concern at the start?

...Did Eggman need the Chaos Emeralds in Unleashed? Orbot chews him out for discarding them, making him out to be airheaded for it, but tbh the narrative doesn't really make clear what he would have needed them for beyond a vague "he wants to control the Gaia temples." When he threatened the Mazuri residents, he was looking for the Gaia Temple, not necessarily the Emeralds.

He awakened Dark Gaia in order to harness its power and even succeeded in that goal without the use of Chaos Emeralds, which begs the question of why the plot also takes the piss out of him for it.

It's like a weirder form of Tails taunting him in Forces. It's understandable that Tails would want to rub it in Eggman's face after the hell he put them through in Forces, but why is Unleashed's plot treating him like a stupid baka for neglecting something he didn't strictly need?

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Have a sadge Lanna being sadge.

... Yes, I am lining this. Maybe I may make some more sketches down the line.

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Got very into working on Chase before I head off to England for the Summer.

Anyone know how Scotland is doing at this time of year? Hopefully, there's no wildfires or heatdomes happening over there.

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Housing design for Grawoul! Admittedly, I'm no architect,so my design will definitely need a load of work before I fully feel good about it.

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Fret, Agraffe, and Trigger's parents: Valv and Palette, the Queen Consort and Queen (respectfully) of Farok!

Huh... they look loads younger here... especially that Shaggy from Scooby Doo looking asshole.

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I suppose the most logical explanation is that "he should try to keep Sonic from getting the Emeralds because he turns into a golden destroyer if he gets them" that's about the most logical reason i can think of for Eggman to nab them. But the game also shows that he can take on Super Sonic already so.

...Did Eggman need the Chaos Emeralds in Unleashed? Orbot chews him out for discarding them, making him out to be airheaded for it, but tbh the narrative doesn't really make clear what he would have needed them for beyond a vague "he wants to control the Gaia temples." When he threatened the Mazuri residents, he was looking for the Gaia Temple, not necessarily the Emeralds.

He awakened Dark Gaia in order to harness its power and even succeeded in that goal without the use of Chaos Emeralds, which begs the question of why the plot also takes the piss out of him for it.

It's like a weirder form of Tails taunting him in Forces. It's understandable that Tails would want to rub it in Eggman's face after the hell he put them through in Forces, but why is Unleashed's plot treating him like a stupid baka for neglecting something he didn't strictly need?

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The official Sonic Channel artwork for July 2025 features Rouge the Bat

https://sonic.sega.jp/SonicChannel/special/staffcolumn/20250704_008973/

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if you're in Europe PLEASE consider signing the Stop Destroying Games initiative. the deadline is July 31st 2025. i've posted about it before; it aims to create legislation for publishers to stop killing the games you pay for and to provide an end-of-life plan for live-service products. thank you!!!

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The unexpected reason why the drive-through line is so long

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"the three dots on the side" call her by her REAL NAME.. Meatballs Menu

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I was looking at Sonic Channel and saw they've got a section about the translation function, and:

So I guess that answers the question why the Rivals games aren't on there at all! They're not Japanese, and if Sonic Channel simply has as rule of thumb that no non-Japanese stuff can be posted about at all, it'd make sense that the Rivals games fall under that umbrella too, I feel like. But in the same vein, that doesn't equal to them not being canon, what with things like Eggman Nega being Eggman's descendant being part of Sonic Channel (before they removed his bio :( ) and Silver having met Sonic already before Colours DS and Gens. I feel like this might be the answer!🍀

The more you know!

This reminds me of that time Flynn dropped the bomb that apparently Spinball has suddenly become canon, despite the fact that it's very clearly a spinoff that has nothing to do with the canon lore, due to the presence of the Freedom Fighters lmao, and everyone was confused. That's an American game that Channel would have no reason to cover :P

But yeah, that makes sense. I'm not really sure where exactly this would place the Rivals games, because apparently they weren't developed by SoJ, but they still influenced part of the canon lore. Maybe "Silver now comes from a happy future and Nega is Eggman's descendant" was an idea they had while they were developing '06, and Rivals was just the first game that ended up implementing it?

Still, we have confirmation that the Silver we have seen since '06 (perhaps with the exception of Gens) does not come from Apocalypse the Lava City, and we can accept this information from Rivals and Colors DS :P

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34 years of racing, friendship, mysteries, and delicious cake.

Happy Birthday, Sonic!

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Rex's shading is done! Now, I need to finish off this for the highlights and to finish off the light.

Rex feels more and more complete...

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Wave, fish boy. Wave your half-Gillman, Half-Mermaid arm out.

Sparky! As a character, Sparky's the only humanoid that's not even remotely close to human - being the son of Gill Grunt and his mermaid girlfriend. As such, Sparky's looks are meant to be off-putting in general since he's not human. But I quite like him anyways, especially with his ugly design.