#Anyway it's almost 5 AM for me so I should stop typing about hedgehogs and go to bed already.

[jouska-the-deer]

People still suck at writing Sonic the Hedgehog

Interpretations of Sonic outside of media made by Sonic Team often seem either unable or unwilling to reconcile the fact that Sonic is both kind-hearted and intelligent, but I think I've noticed a recent shift in the way writers try to reconcile it.

In general, there seems to be this belief that smart people are inherently more pessimistic toward the world and that kind people are inherently more naive towards it. So, when writing for a character who's both smart and kind, less knowledgeable writers end up flanderizing them in one of two ways:

The first way, which is how Sonic was interpreted in Sonic Boom and prior, is making the character act like a jerk who knows best. At worst, they'll be outright rude towards their closest friends, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about being nicer to other people, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

The second way, which is how Sonic is interpreted now, is making the character a saint who solves everything with friendship. At worst, they'll give absolute tyrants a million chances, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about certain people being unwilling to change, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

You may have noticed I straight up copy/pasted a couple bits of those last two paragraphs. Well, that's because those bits reveal a bit of truth in how Sonic is portrayed by Sonic Team. Sonic's opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative, because of the lessons he no longer struggles with. Sonic already learned to balance his desire to give people a second chance with the fact that some people just have to be stopped. When? Since the very beginning. Sonic has always been trying to defeat Eggman for good while also giving second chances to people who he thinks deserve it.

But how do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? Guess what? Sonic answered that straight up in Sonic Adventure 1.

Do me a quick favor and if you can listen to Open Your Heart, specifically the Sonic Adventure 1 version (Click here). You may notice that there're two distinct sets of vocals; One clean and high pitched, and one distorted and low pitched. (And if you're wearing headphones the audio will even pan during the chorus.) For context, this is the song that plays while Sonic is fighting Chaos.

You can figure it out yourself from there, but if you want me to really dig into the topic, feel free to keep reading.

So like, I shouldn't have to say this, but the dark negative voice is Chaos' view and the light positive voice is Sonic's. But notably, they sing together during key points, specifically those related to the anger, sadness, and hopelessness that Chaos has been feeling for ages. Sonic has recognized that 1. imprisoning Chaos as suggested by Tikal wouldn't solve anything because, 2. Chaos is only acting this way due to being blinded by hatred for those he perceives as selfish monsters, and 3. he's still very much currently destroying the world and won't change his mind because he's lost hope that there's anything worth holding on to.

What does Sonic do then? Sonic may be an unstoppable force but Chaos is a seemingly immovable object. Well, he literally uses the positive energy from his friends and within himself to stop Chaos' rampage and prove that there are still good people in the world that want to maintain peace. After he loses the fight, Chaos is able to calm down and see that the cute defenseless chao he'd been protecting ages ago had survived, living among the very people he had assumed could only be power hungry monsters. He's able to let go of his hatred and live a peaceful life understanding that good people still exist and the world is still worth protecting.

And that's where the question is answered. How do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? You do everything you can to stop them, and if they're still around afterward, show them that they didn't need to fight in the first place. But that only works if they had a good reason behind why they were fighting, and would have chosen peace otherwise.

Sonic wanted to give Chaos a second chance because he knew that violence was not truly in his nature. Had he not been forced into those specific circumstances, Chaos would have chosen peace.

And that's what separates characters who have done a lot of harm but Sonic still gave a second chance to like Chaos and Merlina, from those who have done a lot of harm but Sonic wouldn't give a second chance to, like Eggman and Erazor Djinn. The former wanted peace but became convinced that it was impossible, and the latter only wanted power and were willing to hurt others to obtain it. The characters who Sonic won't give another chance to have proven that when dealt a better hand, they'll still chose to hurt others solely for their own gain, because that's what they want. To stop them peacefully, Sonic would have to convince them to give up their true dreams.

And that, is why Sonic's opinions get to always be treated as right in the games, because they are right. He has an absolutely kind heart, a nuanced understanding of morality, and the integrity to never give in to selfish desires.

None of this means Sonic is always right, though. Most people already know of his impulsiveness, which is his greatest weakest, but also one of his greatest strengths. Sonic never waits to act, which is great when innocent people are seconds from mortal danger... but not so great when a situation looks to be one way but is actually another. He teases Eggman for pleading for a second chance in Unleashed and he kicks the Cacophonous Conch from Eggman's hand in Lost World, and both of those were massive mistakes.

But, despite making those mistakes, his mindset wasn't the problem. How was he supposed to know Eggman was a shockingly good actor leading him into a trap? How was he supposed to know the people Eggman was controlling with the conch were equally as evil? (Yes Tails tried to warn him but literally if he didn't Sonic wouldn't have looked stupid and it just shows how poorly written Lost World was overall.) Had Eggman actually been pleading and the Zeti good people, Sonic's actions would've been justified.

Still, those were mistakes, and Sonic always wants to do what's right, so he does what he can to fix his own messes. He restores the planet Eggman broke apart. He stops the Zeti from sucking the life out of the planet. Sonic always makes things right in the end, and so he has the right to be so confidant in his beliefs. So confidant in fact that he doesn't care about looking like the bad guy if it means doing the right thing. Oh look, there's a song about that too. From Sonic's fight with Merlina in Sonic and the Black Knight. (Click Here.) Don't be fooled by the feminine vocals, if you paid attention to the themes of the game, the song is clearly from Sonic's perspective.

So yeah, Sonic is kind but he's also smart. He won't let anyone change his mind on anything, but he doesn't need to change his mind because he follows his kind heart and compassionate soul. He doesn't worry about looking like the bad guy because he and his friends know his true nature. When he gets angry he lets his rage fuel his desire to save the day. He'll never shed tears of despair because he knows that if he keeps fighting he'll make things right in the end. Sometimes his impulsiveness gets him into trouble, but it also helps get him back out. No matter what happens to him, he'll always make it out in the end either through sheer determination or the help of his friends.

Sonic is absolutely silly; He makes dumb jokes about his enemies and talks to himself when there's nobody around. Sonic is completely serious; He's willing to kill someone if it means saving the world and has felt multiple friends die before his eyes and in his arms.

Sonic is literally just some blue hedgehog who can run really fast.

Sonic is a god, and could kill god, and there is not a difference!

But most importantly, Sonic is all of those things at once. He is a wonderfully balanced character who's been right from the very beginning and has spent all his games sharing his wisdom with others simply by being himself. He isn't perfect, but that's not due to some personality flaw he needs to correct, but because nobody can always have all the answers and know how to avoid all potential mistakes.

The problem is, writing a character like this is hard. Writing conflicts for a character like this is hard. Most writers rely on making their protagonists work through relatable flaws to create an emotionally compelling story... but you don't need to do that. Sonic's conflicts are mostly external, but we care about him succeeding anyway because he's a good person who's just trying to live his life.

So really, if you wanna write Sonic well, you have to just let him speak for himself.

...By the way I mean that literally. Dude listen to his character theme it's all right there! (Click here.) Even when his theme was altered in Sonic Adventure 2 the only thing that changed was how confidently the same ideas were delivered. (Click here.) But seriously listen to literally any of the game themes, final boss themes, and ending themes. (I'm not linking all that.) No matter the quality of the games, if Sonic wanted to teach you something he was gonna teach it... through the power of having a music department detached from the nightmare that is game development time crunch.

And that's why Sonic Lost World is the worst Sonic game. Because it was so pointless that Sonic didn't have anything to sing about!

Wait... what was the point of this post again?

#Sonic the Hedgehog #StH #Sonic #Writing #Characterization #Flanderization #Jouska's Thoughts #Tag Ramble #BTW just so we're clear I like Boom!Sonic and Movie!Sonic. They're not Game!Sonic but they're decent interpretations of Sonic. #Boom!Sonic was often snarky but he was still mostly a nice person. Movie!Sonic is widdle and is getting better just give him some time. #I dropped off of Prime from boredom but it annoys me solely due to people thinking it's canon when you can tell it's not just by watching. #You can also tell because game Sonic would've totally said 'I love you too Shadow' and it's honestly gayer that he didn't. #Game!Sonic screams 'in my hands I hold the ones I love' meanwhile Prime!Sonic is too chicken to say he loves his friend even as a joke. #Huh? Too scared to say you love Shadow? Wouldn't want him to think you're serious? Why? You could just say you don't. Would you be lying? #Okay but seriously there was a WIP I wrote years ago where Shadow chewed Sonic out and he responded by saying 'I love you too Shadow'. #Sure it was a ship fic but that scene wasn't romantic. Sonic nearly got himself killed by being dumb and Shadow was just worried and pissed #And now if I actually used that scene for anything people would think it's a Prime reference and that annoys me too. #Anyway it's almost 5 AM for me so I should stop typing about hedgehogs and go to bed already.

[travel-hopefully]

@missmendelsohn did this and it seemed fun so i had a go...

1. What is your nickname? Sez, Sezzy, Sezla etc…

2. How old are you? 22

3. What is your birth month? January

4. What is your zodiac sign? Capricorn

5. What is your favorite color? All colours are beaut! My faves would have to be green and purple though.

6. What’s your lucky number? 2

7. Do you have any pets? Yes- An energetic whimsical blue roan cocker spaniel called Monty, a cute and sleepy CavaPooTzu called Rory, and a pretty sassy tortie cat named Jazz.

8. Where are you from?  England

9. How tall are you? 5′2 (actually 5’1 ¾)

10. What shoe size are you? 5.5-6 usually

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Too many! I think about… 18?

12. Are you random? Very very random… and weird!

13. Last person you texted? On text, my dad. On Whatsapp, my boyfriend.

14. Are you psychic in any way? I really don’t think so, definitely have never successfully predicted the future, apart from one-off coincidences.

15. Last TV show watched? The Handmaid’s Tale

16. Favorite movie? The Harry Potter series, and out of them, Prisoner of Azkaben.

17. Favorite show from your childhood? Scooby Doo! I was obsessed!

18. Do you want children? Yes I think so.

19. Do you want a church wedding? No not really… maybe something in the countryside or on a beach.

20. What is your religion? None.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Once, when I had a tendon problem in my right foot from Gymnastics.

22. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law? Nooopee!

23. How is life? Improving, but my anxiety is causing me a lot of hassle from time to time.

24. Baths or showers? It depends on my mood. If I’m feeling lazy and want to unwind I’ll go for a bath. If I want to get on with my day and wake myself up I’ll choose a shower.

25. What colour socks are you wearing? None!

26. Have you ever been famous? Lol… no.

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? No I want to have freedom to go places and not be recognised.

28. What type of music do you like? A blend of Indie, Pop, Rock and Television soundtracks!

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No but it could be fun.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? I have 5 because it’s a double bed… including 1 cute hedgehog cushion.

31. What position do you usually sleep in? On my side.

32. How big is your house? It’s a flat… quite roomy but not too big,

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? Cereal- normally chocolate hoops with milk, and a piece of fruit- either banana or kiwi fruit.

34. Have you ever left the country? Yes quite a lot of times.

35. Have you ever tried archery? Yes it was really cool! I’d love to try it again.

36. Do you like anyone? I like many people :) 

37. Favorite swear word? Erm…bloody hell… is that a swear word? I say it a lot anyway!

38. When do you fall asleep? Between 11 and 12.

39. Do you have any scars? One on each knee and a few mini ones on my right hand (Clumsy!)

40. Sexual orientation? Straight 

41. Are you a good liar? I can tell a good white lie but not big lies.

42. What languages would you like to learn? Spanish, German, Mandarin.

43. Top 10 songs? This is soooo hard! 1. Laura Palmer (Bastille) 2. Scare Away The Dark (Passenger) 3. Send Them Off! (Bastille) 4. Arsonist’s Lullaby (Hozier) 5. Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) 6. Lies (McFly) 7. Cough Syrup (Young The Giant) 8. Life’s For The Living (Passenger) 9. Any Tenth Doctor theme variations inc. The Doctor Forever & Vale Decem (Murray Gold) 10. This is Gallifrey (Murray Gold).

And that’s in no particular order :)

44. Do you like your country? Yeah its cool.

45. Do you have friends on the web? Yes a few :)

46. What is your personality type? INFJ (The Advocate)

47. Hogwarts house? Gryffindor

48. Can you curl your tongue? Yes I can!

49. Pick one fictional character you can relate to

Clara!!!

50. Left or right handed? Right

51. Are you scared of spiders? I’m petrified… sometimes I almost stop breathing if one comes near me!

52. Favorite food? Chocolate!!

53. Favorite foreign food? Greek is nice… especially Moussaka

54. Are you a clean or messy person? I like things to be clean but most of the time I procrastinate and leave things in a state  

55. If you could switch your gender for a day, what would you do? Probably something I shouldn’t say lol

56. What colour underwear? Black

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? About 45 mins to 1 hour

58. Do you have much of an ego? No not at all tbh

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Definitely suck :P

60. Do you talk to yourself? I do a lot!

61. Do you sing to yourself? Yes, often.

62. Are you a good singer? Nopppeeee, may people tell me I am tone deaf!

63. Biggest fears? Fear of death and losing loved ones.

64. Are you a gossip? I can be sometimes, but I can keep a secret when necessary.

65. Are you a grammar Nazi? I can be, but mostly I don’t care about that much

66. Do you have long or short hair? Mid-length – up to my shoulders, and very unruly

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? No chance!

68. Favorite school subject? Science – Biology and Chemistry; and Art!

69. Extrovert or introvert? Introvert with some extroverted traits

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? No but that’d be so cool!

71. What makes you nervous? I have anxiety so any anxious thoughts I have really. Also big social situations.

72. Are you scared of the dark? No, the dark is fine.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? If it is necessary yes; I wouldn’t do it all the time cause it would be annoying.

74. Are you ticklish? Yes, especially on my feet.

75. Have you ever started a rumour? No not that sort of person.

76. Have you ever been out of your home country? Yes on a few holidays in Europe

77. Have you ever drank underage? Yes but it was always with my parents permission :P

78. Have you ever done drugs? No!

79. What do you fantasize about? Being free from anxiety.

80. How many piercings do you have? My ear lobes, and one helix piercing,

81. Can you roll your R’s? No I don’t.

82. How fast can you type? Quite fast.

83. How fast can you run? I used to run very fast but then I injured my foot so not so much anymore.

84. What color is your hair? Brown with gingery tones.

85. What color are your eyes? Bluey- grey

86. What are you allergic to? Not much, some medications, lotions and plasters

87. Do you keep a journal? Yes, and I should write in it more often tbh

88. Are you depressed about anything? Yes, having anxiety makes me sad quite a lot.

89. Do you like your age? Yeah I suppose so, but things were better in my late teens,

90. What makes you angry? Myself and my negative thoughts

91. Do you like your own name? Yeah it’s okay

92. Did you ever get a foreign object up your nose? No, thankfully.

93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? One of each would be nice!

94. What talents do you have? Gymnastics- I do a great handstand!

95. Sun or moon? I appreciate both :P

96. How did you get your name? My mum and dad chose it…. They didn’t want anything too girly and wanted it traditional

97. Are you religious? No not really

98. Have you ever been to a therapist? Yes a few, I have a counsellor at the moment too.

99. Colour of your bedspread? At the moment- brown and white

100. Colour of your room? Purple

Anyone who wants to do this too, feel free!

#me #about me #my stuff #tagging #questions #100 questions

[geek-gem]

The Sega Dreamcast and the Sonic Adventure series

Now feel like making this and no tags well I'm wanting to be sure. But last night just was kind of interesting including went to bed early by mistake but woke up at 2:30 am maybe and was on the laptop for a bit yet tried to change the plug thing for the PlayStation 1 for the Sega Dreamcast. For anyone who wants to know also head be nice but the Sega Dreamcast was Sega's last video game console and the first of the 6th generation of video game consoles. It it almost put loved but it love again just it lived a short life yet it has its fan base including me. I'm gonna be honest I use to like sonic a lot when I was younger yet as I grew older I started to dislike the series more. Including naming sonic the blue bastard hedgehog. But also it's fan base I mean like the stuff and reboot's happening with the comics and what people want and sonic not having an identity for the series. It's a long story and I'm a guy who doesn't wanna be part of it. Yet as I grew older I learned to understand what people liked about certain parts such as the Archie Comics series and other things. Such as giving sonic more story and I'm not caring of putting a shift this thing for sonic but will try it anyway. Including just I learned to like some stuff a bit more. Along with that it was also the cause well the now distaste for the series of how it is. Including I'm terrified for having a opinion in this fandom yet luckily I have a friend who's a Sonic fan there got that who I can talk to. I'll say this I for some reason praise that Sonic OVA thing that was released in 1996 and I'm okay with Sonic X their are some things I liked about it. Yet it seems like okay I'll mention this I think some one on DeviantArt a person I never talked to they blocked me and maybe cause I have some weird thoughts some opinions of my own. Also they were one of the many people who liked the Archie Comics and even talked about how much they hated the first Sonic Adventure. Including some other games and.....also they liked Sly Cooper, Jak And Daxter, and, Ratchet And Clank and how those were better and just saying I agree. But the should I say mother fucker well just did lol the guy blocked me yet I think I never spoke to him. Yet hey remember reading one of their posts luckily some one also thinks of that upcoming Sonic movie all I think of is those Transformers love action movies. Sorry just really I think my interest got back to Sonic when my friend got me more into Game Grumps and I love their play through's of some Sonic games they've played. Also I'm gonna say I'm mainly like Arin Hanson when it's with Sonic and his games. Or mainly just what the series can do better. Even if Sonic Adventure was released in Japan first in 1998 and Sonic Adventure 2 was released in 2001 and Japan first I think also they did that a lot in the past for some Sonic games. I like some games including some of them stand out to be even some stand alone games. Yet I seem to like the Adventure series quite more. Because and I think many people as well think also that their was some good stuff with their games they weren't perfect but their were things I liked about them. If they were written better and remade during these days I might love them a lot more. Okay now about the games I deleted all of my data for them even if I never finished any of them I just wanted to anyway to get some what of a new experience. Also my Dreamcast if i don't play it a lot I have to adjust the time and date again. Yet for Sonic Adventure 1 it felt nice. Mainly played Sonic and during that honestly I seriously question if I should be recorded me talking about I want something cohesive such as the characters ages I'm just bothered by how some of the characters are stuck being their ages so one time on one day I thought to myself okay new paragraph. I thought should if the ages in their first game they appear in what year would they be born in and later on. Including I was using real years such as placing each Sonic Adventure game during the years they were released in. It's kind of funny and I sent this message to my friend on Tumblr when I was at Pizza Hut. Mainly it was for characters in the Dreamcast era such as the Sonic Adventure series, Sonic Advance but mainly the sequel cause of Cream and Cheese, and Sonic Heroes. What I discovered of Sonic's default age is 15 and he first appeared in 1991 now counting that arcade game where he's a keychain but his actual first living main game appearance as a actual character. He would of been in born in 1976 and as of now he would of turned 40 last year. You can laugh at that if you want and think of the games. For some reason keep thinking of the Resident Evil games where they have ages set for characters and I like that. So I thought of that for the Sonic series. Sorry but yeah their was that where I was randomly talking about what years characters would of been born in and saying Sonic is dead and just messing around and honestly the game plays well and for being released in 1998 original and released in 1999 to North America it's pretty good in a way, including me making stupid dark jokes like at the casino if it was a regular human. Mainly after I fought Knuckle's meh spoilers or whatever I decided to lay in bed and I fell asleep and woke up at 10 something. That time oh wait before I slept watched some The Loud House first and the I dozed off at 5 something I think or whatever. Then after taking a shower maybe was on my laptop and well forgot but I played a bit more and playing Sonic till I met Amy and played Tails but stopped at the first boss fight for him. Honestly the one game I seemed to think of the most was Sonic Adventure 2 and even it's GameCube version and HD version which long ago bought on my original PS3. Maybe it's cause it has some stuff I liked more and I just played it on Dreamcast. Honestly I think its a improvement and I enjoy it more then the original Sonic Adventure game. Stopped playing the Hero story when I got into the military base stage as Sonic, and for Dark story stopped when I got into the stage, "Sand Ocean". Including just well Loud House is also on at 8. Had to change ad to as and almost put ad again just before Sonic and just typos man. Even for the word put and again for put. I'm typing this on my phone. But theirs this guy on YouTube called Somecallmejohnny he's a video game reviewer and he's reviewed Sonic games and he's a Sonic fan and I like them. Including was watching some of him today. Some of them are long yet if you manage to make it through some of them I think just I'm being silly he's great and funny man. His reviews are maybe kind of how I see these games maybe. In fact will say this when playing the original Sonic Adventure I gonna stop pressing the same speech thing when I'm with a person and it reminds me when I kept grabbing a rocket launcher and switching my assault rifle a lot in Killzone 2 and I legit said to myself during that game this is why I'm autistic supposedly insulting myself and this happened with Sonic Adventure. Also another funny thing when in that jewelry store or whatever in Sonic Adventure just funny taking off that stone off and on. Sorry yet just.....honestly these Sonic games are ones I like. I think that Sony Sonic movie is what got me thinking again and hey wanna say Knuckles is a lol meme lol my body was moving just those reblogs about him saying and then just quiet laughing just the whole I lived thing and I say I lived mother fucker. But again sorry and you know.....I have ideas for Sonic but I'm kind of nervous and just.....honestly a almost left rabbit lol but a reboot of the Sonic series would be nice please. In fact just...kind of sad of how the series of what it's become. Along with that other Sega games are marketed or as made as much as Sonic. Yet with that news from years ago that cause of Rise Of Lyric and just the Game Grumps series of that shows what's so wrong with that game I've heard they wanna do better. I do have ideas yet they seem kind of fan fiction lol and along with the stories being more teen rated. Also it could be cause that Sony Sonic movie is in my head. Along with the Adventure games and some others. Which was why some hours ago listened to some music and thought about Sonic such as Linkin Park and others. Maybe I'll make them here just I need to think and just also I made this a bit better. But also wanna ask who wants the Game Grumps play Sonic Adventure 2 and see how that goes post just yeah I wanna see that and just what Arin lol Aron's but Arin's and Danny's reaction would be to that game. Also typos but seriously I want that to happen lol I want them to play ether version maybe the GameCube version they would go with lol if someone sends them something just I'll post them. But yeah I want that damn miss post lol....I wanna see that Game Grumps series