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transneonneko · 3 years

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Things from Archie Sonic that I would love to see return in the Mainline Games and/or IDW Sonic!!

Recently, I decided to read some of the Archie Sonic Comic, from like issue 186ish up until the first MegaMan crossover and the reboot, mainly because there were some gaps in my knowledge of those stories. Mainly Issues 198 till 235, which I never got to read as a kid and, I have to say, there were a lot of really interesting concepts during Ian's run of comics before the reboot that I really loved. There was a lot of really interesting concepts I love after the reboot too. I wanna celebrate that. A lot of these concepts and story idea I feel really deserve another chance.

So I wanna make this list of stuff I wanna see return in either for stories in the Mainline Games or the IDW Sonic comics. Before we start, I do wanna add somethings. This post isn't meant to be shitting on IDW and being like "IDW would be better if they did this". I really love the IDW comics and universe. I also know that some of these concepts likely can't be done due SEGA Mandates and I'm not gonna include stuff like "Bring back the Freedom Fighters" because I feel asking to bring back characters isn't gonna be very productive, as much as I would like to see their return. Anyways, let's begin.

The Fate of the ARK

One thing that really inspired this list was this scene right her. We'll talk more about Silver's Future later but for now, let's focus on the ARK. I'm gonna assume anyone reading this knows the story of the ARK from SA2 and Shadow. Sadly, the ARK hasn't really been revisited in the main canon since Shadow, despite how iconic of a set piece it is. In the Archie Comics, we get a look at Silver's future and one of things that may have been the cause of how bad things are is the ARK crashed. Sadly, Archie got rebooted before the writers could go more into it but, from SA2, we know that the ARK was set to crash into the planet if all 7 Chaos Emeralds are placed into it, wiping out all life on the planet. This could be an excellent premise of another Silver adventure, whether it be in the comics or games, where Sonic, Silver and some friends have to stop someone from making the ARK crash into the planet.

Expanding the Eggman Empire/Egg Bosses

Something I've always found a bit lacking in the game canon is how the Eggman Empire itself has been presented. In the games, the Eggman Empire is usually just made up of Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, a bunch of robots and (recently) Infinite. It's not really an Empire if it's just one guy and a bunch of robots. The main goal is the conquer the world but we hardly see Eggman actually see what happens when Eggman conquers a place, like what happens to the people who used to live there, besides like Colours and Forces, where the Wisps and Mobians are usually just seen being imprisoned. The Egg Bosses are the perfect solution to this and adds so much to Sonic's World.

The Egg Bosses are Mobians who, either willingly or unwillingly, aligned themselves up with Eggman for whatever reason, becoming commanders of the Eggman Empire. This usually comes about when Eggman has taken over a part of the region and the people living in that region have no choice but to join the Eggman Empire, for their own safety. Not only does this make the Eggman Empire feel more than just one person but it also makes Eggman more a villain himself. It able to portray Eggman as someone to be feared and, I mean, this is a dictator and genocider who is pretty much declaring war against the world.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts about the world. Characters like Maw, Thunderbolt and even Nephthys to a degree joined up with Eggman because they felt it was the right thing to do for the sake of the world, or in Nephthys case, to stop things getting worst later on, meanwhile characters like Grand Battle Kukku are plotting to usurp Eggman, with Clove and Beauregard only working for Eggman to protect family or close ones.

As I said before, having these Egg Bosses also makes Eggman look more threaten, both because he's able to look like a "bigger bad" next to these villains he has command of and, because almost all the Egg Bosses hate Eggman's guts, they are cyberized, a terrifying process in which those who work for Eggman are focus to have parts of their body replaced with cybernetics, with either bombs which will blow if they decide to leave or a locking mechanism that will paralyze their entire body, ready to be locked up.

If either in the game or the IDW comic, I would like to see the Egg Boss concept return. It doesn't even need to be the same characters or use the name "Egg Boss." It would help expand the army of the Eggman Empire, as well as provide some fun bosses for the games I think.

Mobians and Humans living together

This was always a weird hangup I felt the series had. In the case of games between Sonic Adventure & Unleashed, Sonic and friends were the only Mobians, humans made up the NPCs while Mobians were reserved for main characters. Then in Forces and IDW, Mobians made up the background characters, so then Eggman is the only human. I really prefer it when they have the two living together, it makes it seems more normal and, honestly, a better solution than the whole "Two Worlds" explanation.

Eggman Seemingly Defeated

Can I just that I love Issues 198-200? In these 3 issues, Sonic and friends Eggman's main base, the Egg Dome. This including fighting on the outside of the base, involving fighting hoards of the Dark Egg Legion soldiers and Eggman in the Egg Phoenix. After dealing with the outside, Sonic and friends raid the Egg Dome itself, taking different directions, with the Dark Egg Legion seemingly retreating, until they reach the center of the base, where they are blocked off by a barricade, which only Sonic can pass through, giving a "Point of No Return" vibe, Dark Egg Legion soldiers lining up and saluting Sonic. Then Sonic reaches the center and finds Eggman in the Egg Tarantula, starting their final battle which Sonic wins. This defeat is enough for Eggman to lose his sanity, seemingly ending the war Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have been fighting their entire life.

Of course Eggman returns but, god, it's just such a memorable couple of issues. There's a real sense of finality to it. I would a sequence like this in the games, something that feels like truly ending the Eggman Empire and defeating them once and for all. Of course, it wouldn't be the end, Sonic games are always needing to be made which would lead to...

The New Rulers of the Eggman Empire

In the comics after the defeat of Eggman, the Eggman Empire is taken over by some of it's Commanders, the Iron Queen and Iron King, who rules the Empire as their own until they are defeated and Eggman's return.

I love the idea that even if the Eggman, there will always be someone there to take his place. The games could do this by having Neo Metal or Infinite take his place. Hell, IDW did have Neo Metal take over but I think what made that less interesting was that Neo Metal wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for Eggman. I think this would work well if a concept like the Egg Boss was introduced in the games, maybe have one of the characters part of that group take over OR have a lot of the more ambitious Egg Bosses war against each other to take command, until eventually Eggman returns and puts them in line.

Silver's Future

Silver is one of the most recurring characters, who always joins the gang when his future is in trouble. The problem is that we never see his future besides 06. We have no idea what Silver's future is currently until it's in danger and, even then, we never see it.

We see Silver's Future in both continuities of the Archie Comic, with two different takes. Pre-SGW has a destroyed city vibe, like 06 but less lava. Post-SGW brought a whole new take where people are ruled by a corrupt council where people are put into class groups, and security robots will arrest if you are not at your job at the right time. They even re-contextualize Silver's bracelets as cuffs that the robots can activate. With Silver being my favourite character as a kid, I remember being obsessed with this new world and story, wanting to know more.

I'm not saying they would need to copy this world exactly but it would be nice if they gave us a concrete and consistence look for Silver's Future.

The Heroic Metal Sonic

Right before the SGW, we were introduce to Shard the Metal Sonic. His story is that he was the original Metal Sonic, the one that raced Sonic in Stardust Speedway. He appeared later in the comic, where Sonic made him realized there was more to life than just being Eggman's killing machine. He seemingly died, but was rebuilt to serve as a member the Secret Freedom Fighters.

This one would be tricky to be included. It worked in the Archie comic as they had been many Metal Sonics throughout the series, each one getting destroyed. Meanwhile, there's only officially been one Metal Sonic in the games made by Eggman (two if we count Classic and Modern). Admittedly, Gemerl fits Shard's personality and does need to be used more in the games but having it be Metal Sonic is just a cooler concept.

I think a solution to this is that we have Metal Sonic 1.0 made by Eggman and, in Rivals 2, we have Metal Sonic 3.0 by Eggman Nega from the future. But what about Metal Sonic 2.0? I think we could have a game where after Metal Sonic fails, Eggman builds a replacement, being 2.0, which would give reason to Metal Sonic wanting to revolt, which could lead to a redemption? While I am loving the IDW comics, I do really miss a lot of what both Archie continuities offered. I haven't mention the some other concepts and stories I liked that really focused on certain characters such as Naugus, Geoffrey St. John, Dimitri etc. Maybe I'll talk about that another day...

#Sonic #sonic the hedgehog #archie sonic #idw sonic #pre-sgw #post-sgw #sega #eggman #eggman empire #egg bosses #shard the metal sonic #silver the hedgehog

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beevean · 4 years

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SEGA and the eternal issue of “Sonic’s girlfriend”

[Translator’s note: here is the original article written by @latin-dr-robotnik, originally written on the 18th of May 2020]

Today we’re going to talk about one of the aspects SEGA is more secretive about: Sonic’s relationships.

[Translator’s note: this article was written to celebrate Seaside Hill Paradise’s 200th entry. If you’re fluent in Spanish, I highly recommend you to check it out! And if you aren’t, go follow Latin’s Tumblr blog if you haven’t already and you’re into Sonamy, analyses, gushing about music and shitposts.]

This article concludes my Sonamy trilogy, and I recommend you to read the previous two articles: “SEGA and the eternal issue of the Sonamy dynamic” and “’I love you’ – forbidden words in Sonic”. This means this is a shipping article – if you’re not interested into another essay about the love life of a blue hedgehog, I can redirect you to other articles such as “Sonic and speed: are we misunderstanding them?” and “What went wrong with Classic Sonic’s music in Sonic Forces?”.

Everybody else, welcome to today’s article!

It should be noted that this article focuses more on the semi-official and strictly official aspects, since there is really not much to say about the fandom. Nowadays the fandom has a relatively peaceful coexistence, creating art, fanfics and more, for all kind of ships; sometimes there’s an occasional fight between ships or a ship that clearly is not appropriate… but besides that, everything seems relatively calm, at least in my experience and compared to other fandoms.

Too cool for relationships...

Few things are as mentioned and yet silenced by the official SEGA media as the fateful words “girlfriend” and “Sonic” put together. In official terms, Sonic has always been this young, cool hedgehog, with a pure love for nature and never too worried about life, but with a moral code that makes him fight against injustices. During his first years, Sonic was almost impatient and a little emotionally distant, although as it was the ‘90s and things were not so clear for the young SEGA star, different interpretations would take the character through different paths - some more radical than others. As the years went by, and going through many redesigns, certain aspects of his personality would be perfected, exaggerated, or even flanderized. His position on relationships, on the other hand, would remain relatively constant over the decades, with a few particular exceptions.

The this is that Sonic, in the words of his own creator Naoto Ohshima, has always been considered “a young man with a child's heart”, which has helped to substantiate and understand why the character would remain relatively distant from his feelings, and much closer to his own interests associated with the life of adventure.

... or is he?

Despite everything I just said, they tried in many occasions, if not succeeded, to give Sonic a girlfriend, with various results.

As carefree as Sonic is, and as much as SEGA tried to clarify this point over and over again, the people behind his character have always tried to introduce one or more relationships into his life. Even Naoto Ohshima himself has made his own suggestion as to who might be a hypothetical partner for his character. The different interpretations I’ve mentioned have tweaked Sonic’s character to make it more apt to certain types of dynamics, and the cultural gap between the East and the West (which I analyzed a few years ago with the first article of this “trilogy”) also has a considerable impact on the type of relationships that would be established for Sonic from very early in his history until today.

Author’s note: the concept of “Sonic + human woman” of 1990 wasn’t completely forgotten, no no, it was brought back 16 years later, in… well… the worst way possible.

Let’s see an example. Going back to his very origins, in his pre-Sonic 1 sketches Sonic was often depicted with a stereotypical damsel in distress, Madonna, his own “Princess Peach” that ended up being scrapped for many reasons, including the similarities with Super Mario. As the years have gone by, this concept has not disappeared, but rather the writers and directors of the series have taken it down different paths over time. While Madonna was too cliché, other candidates for the role of “Sonic’s girlfriend” would quickly appear to try different dynamics, directly or indirectly endorsed by SEGA.

Sally Acorn

For many years, Princess Sally was for Western fans the first person who came to mind when they thought of “Sonic’s girlfriend”. Since 1993, and for 2 more decades, her relationship with Sonic has gone in many directions, but fundamentally the most amazing thing about this whole situation was that she was Sonic’s official girlfriend (at least in the Archie Comics canon). It was also one of the many headaches for SEGA in the last decade.

Originally a fellow fighter against the macabre Robotnik from the 1993 animated series Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic and Sally’s relationship was always marked by their opposite personalities; while Sally tends to plan ahead and is much more focused on the seriousness of the task, Sonic was the type to destroy robots first and think later. “Opposites attract,” they say, and by the (premature, I might add) end of that series both were already more than friends. They had already kissed a couple of times.

At the most critical moment in their relationship, Sonic, after a year of being missing in space and presumed dead by everyone, returns to Mobius only to end up back in potential danger, decides to ignore the wishes and warnings of Sally, who’s clearly emotionally traumatized and stressed by both the general situation and the responsibilities she had to carry out for her kingdom in the absence of her parents. The result of this explosive cocktail was one of the most infamous scenes in all of Archie Sonic, "the Slap", where Sally finally reacts violently to Sonic's selfish statements. The hedgehog's response? Well, a long exposure to the screams about her experience - also traumatic - up to that point. In the end, both end up screaming and crying in front of virtually everyone.

What followed in the next decades was an expansion of that original SatAM canon in the Archie Comics, in which its various writers introduced varying degrees of drama and increasing conflict to demonstrate the strong bond between them, destabilizing or even stabilizing it again, multiple times. They would be together for some time, then they would be apart, eventually rekindling the flame of love passionately, until a final sacrifice on their part and the eventual resetting of the entire Archie Sonic canon.

In their last years, after the Super Genesis Wave, Sonic and Sally’s relationship went back to being platonic. a good friendship with the advantages and disadvantages of their personalities - Sally’s leadership and Sonic’s extreme confidence - while the focus was put on the flourishing relationship between Sally and her best friend (and old computer!) Nicole.

Regardless of the way their relationship ended, it's undeniable that Sally has left a huge mark. Being a product of the West, her existence was never really accepted by the Sonic’s Japanese creators, but because the bulk of the fandom is here in the West, Sally's presence has been strongly associated with Sonic, the Freedom Fighters, the comics... and also the ship wars between her and the character we’re going to talk about next. Her very existence was a living contradiction to the Japanese central canon, an official girlfriend who broke all the ideas that existed for Sonic in terms of his conception of relationships and lead him through unique paths. Whether for better or worse, Sally broke the mold.

Eimi. Rosy. Amy Rose.

On the opposite side of the spectrum there’s Amy, a character that was originally conceived as the Minnie to Sonic’s Mickey, but with her own dynamic.

Despite Amy’s existence being strongly tied to Sonic’s, once again Sonic Team tried to avoid the classic cliché (in this case to copy Mickey and Minnie), opting then to establish Amy as the one interested in a relationship, while Sonic runs away from this idea. For this dynamic to keep working, Sonic’s feelings have to be kept hidden, with excuses like his “shyness”, which leads to ambiguity, or because, as said before, of his “child’s heart”.

The most interesting thing is that Amy kept her canonical status of “self-proclaimed girlfriend” since 1993, which makes her “official” and “not official” at the same time, but there are some traces left from the Sonic manga of 1992 (which in turn influenced Amy’s original design), where a prototype version of Amy (or, as it was spelled there, Emi/Eimi) played the role of Sonic’s girlfriend (or Nicki’s, to be more precise). With this detail in mind, Amy can be considered, at least in the East, the very first “Sonic’s girlfriend”, even before Sally – but her situation is much more complex.

Sonic Mega Drive (top) and Sonic Boom (bottom), representing some differences in different Sonic continuities.

In any case, the manga would be the first and only time Amy was officially considered “Sonic’s girlfriend”, because in the following decades and in several continuities the core of their dynamic shifted to Amy chasing Sonic. Both would get closer or further away depending on each case (in Fleetway, for example, Amy ends up marrying another character, while in Archie Sonic there would be only a few instances of potential interest, quickly overshadowed by convenience or other things directly or indirectly related to Sally), but generally no continuity would establish an official relationship. In some cases, such as Japan, it wouldn’t even be necessary to clarify the state of the relationship, since their cultures accept more easily the dynamic that Sonic Team proposed as an “official relationship”. Just looking at the artwork highlighted on Sonic Channel (run by SEGA of Japan) shows how much more accepted the relationship is, even though Sonic Team’s official artwork still avoids any kind of public confirmation. (Author’s note: I’ve written more about Amy according to the East and the West in the first article of this trilogy)

Unlike Sally, there is no “opposites attract” situation between Amy and Sonic, and, at first, there is no prior friendship from which a potential relationship could flourish. We witnessed their dynamics from the first moment they met, and it would not be until years later that there would be a minimal basis for interaction from which various official continuities would bring both characters closer together.

Technically Amy already knew that her destiny was tied to Sonic and the events of Sonic CD on Little Planet, thanks to her tarot cards (an element that has disappeared since then), but for Sonic it was just another day of adventure, and although we’ve seen how Amy's feelings have progressed, mostly in Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic has never reflected on his personal feelings; it’s an aspect of the hedgehog that to this day remains a mystery to the audiences.

Also unlike Sally, Amy has appeared in multiple continuities of all kinds and because of that her relationship with Sonic has been affected in various ways. The main videogames canon has remained ambiguous and unchanged for 25 years: Amy would stay close to Sonic and offer some good moments to reflect on her feelings about him (some of which I mentioned in my post about Sonic Unleashed and Amy’s emotional support), while Sonic would remain distant, uncomfortable, shy, and, more recently, potentially affected by her apparent loss.

Sonic X is the first official attempt (by Sonic Team no less) to offer an expanded view of our characters. There’s a lot of discussion about how Sonic is slowly opening up to Amy’s advances, and these developments follow a line that we discussed in previous articles of this trilogy, and how, during the 2000s, the Japanese writers of the series kept slowly deepening the interactions between the two, reaching very important symbolic moments like Sonic X Ep. 9, 52 and 76, among several others. I am purposely leaving out specific details to direct your attention to this fantastic thread by Yvanix Rose that highlights some key details about how this continuity worked the Sonic-Amy dynamic. [Translator’s note: the thread is in Spanish]

Sonic X, episode 76.

Another essential continuity for the development of this dynamic was Sonic Boom, since, despite having been a separate continuity with its own interpretation of the characters, its existence managed to influence the main canon in some way in the years that followed its original release in 2014.

Sonic Boom made two important changes in the dynamic: Amy did no longer externalize her feelings with the same frequency or intensity (speeding up a process that already started in the main canon in 2008), and Sonic was noticeably more nervous and insecure of his feelings for her, even being jealous in several occasions. These changes got the dynamic closer to the “friends who have secret feelings to each other but they’re too shy to admit it” trope, and in the second season it could even be said that there are signals of the “secretly dating” trope. Nothing was officially confirmed yet, but the changes to the dynamic offered a fresh perspective to work from: winks and inferences about a relationship that was not talked about but seemed to happen behind the scenes.

Sonic Boom S1E16.

Sonic Boom’s approach also opened the door to working a little more on the characters’ new personalities. Taking a little inspiration from the original foundations of Sally and Sonic’s relationship, Boom now presented situations where Sonic and Amy’s perspectives actively clashed with each other, leading to discussions and moments that showed a little more of the mundane details of the friendship they had, rather than appealing to more classic behaviors of the main canon, like Sonic leaving the scene in a hurry. Considering the way things turned out the last time we saw this kind of dynamic on screen, it was pretty safe to assume that their new opposites were now attracted; the implied secret dating and so on only helped to give it more sustenance - which the fandom would eventually take to the extreme.

And lastly there’s IDW Sonic, the comic series that replaced Archie Sonic after its cancellation in 2017, and the most recent arc that offers an interesting perspective. Starting its continuity from the end of the events of Sonic Forces (which at the same time took on certain characteristics from the post-Boom era, particularly as far as Amy is concerned), IDW Sonic didn’t waste any time in presenting the way in which it would carry out its dynamic between Sonic and Amy.

Amy makes her feelings for Sonic very clear, and he is surprised but unable to match them. However, Sonic doesn’t want to outright reject her, and suggests that she come with him; she refuses, claiming that she has duties to the Resistance, setting the tone for the rest of the series. (IDW Sonic #2)

“Sonic’s girlfriend” today

As I mentioned earlier, after the reboot Sally was no longer considered Sonic’s girlfriend, and her disappearance after the cancellation of Archie Sonic in general is a sign that we may not see her ever again, even as a friend. As of today, in 2020, only Amy has been left in her “unofficial, but…” state, with various minor events taking place both in the main canon and in IDW Sonic:

In 2018 the official SEGA shop wrote a description for a piece of Amy Rose merchandise that said “celebrate 25 years of Sonic’s girlfriend”; the mistake wasn’t immediately corrected, despite the fandom pointing it out immediately.

The video game canon has remained dormant, with Team Sonic Racing in 2019 featuring more of a regular friendship between Sonic and Amy, sharing rivalries and quiet moments alike.

On the other hand, since IDW Sonic and Sonic Boom laid their foundations, we've begun to see a certain shift in the way the two characters are presented. While we’ve talked about IDW Sonic already, Sonic’s social medias have done multiple “Twitter Takeovers” where Sonic characters answer questions from fans, and Sonic has always answered more like his version of Boom to the inevitable question about Amy and his “feelings”.

Recent official animations like Sonic Mania Adventures and Team Sonic Racing Overdrive have shown Amy flirting with Sonic in a more casual way.

The current dynamic seems to be pointing towards “Sonic’s hidden feelings”, and I think we are at a perfect point to change the approach. SEGA in general seems more open to the idea of bringing these characters closer, probably as a marketing strategy, but without yet separating themselves from the central ideas that defined the dynamic for the last two and a half decades.

Conclusion

The idea of “Sonic’s girlfriend” has been one of the most experimental and controversial in the almost three decades that this series has been around for. SEGA has opened the door to all kinds of ambiguities, developments and interpretations, all with their pros and cons, instead of settling on a definitive position. As iconic as these characters, conceived as Sonic’s “romantic interests”, have become, they have also had their share of criticism and controversy, especially in the fandom.

The presence of Amy as the only “official but self-proclaimed girlfriend” today says a lot about the control SEGA (specifically SEGA of Japan) regained over the characters, after decades of interpretations that offered different alternatives with various degrees of success. At her best, Sally represented an ideal relationship with Sonic, much more complete and profound than the back-and-forth game between Amy and Sonic. But at her worst, this same relationship represented everything wrong that could happen by associating Sonic with the emotional spiderweb of a romantic relationship. SEGA hardening its control over the characters seems to have put an end of this type of situation where Sonic ends up being involved in a romantic telenovela, but at the same time it has revitalized the flirting game and the implicit associations that give fuel to the fandom fire.

From my humble interpretation, I think we’ve reached a point where Sonic and Amy have shared enough stories and moments to solidify the core aspects of their personalities and their friendship, allowing them to take the next step, which is to play around with the idea of “something else”. 25 years ago it was hard to see how these two characters could work together beyond “it’s SEGA’s word”; today there’s enough of a story to find a rhythm and chemistry for them, and the series of situations they've put themselves in (e.g. IDW Sonic’s plot arcs) are increasingly helping this case. The topic of “Sonic's girlfriend” may be a controversial one for SEGA and the fandom in general, but the doors have slowly been opened for this debate to develop and be investigated with interesting results, and I think that, in this new decade of 2020, there’s a unique potential to explore this kind of discussion, without sacrificing in any way the central principles of Sonic as a character. Thank you for joining me in these 200 entries, and hopefully we’ll see each other for many more.

#sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #sonamy #translation #analysis #long post #happy birthday latin!#this one was so hard #i had to cut a lot of shp-related parts sadly #but this whole project was very fun and enlightening

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supaserajupiter · 3 years

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30 Day Sonic Challenge

Day 14. A habit you’ve developed when going through stages (how you deal with a certain obstacle/enemy, tricks to cutting your time, little daredevil stunts here and there, etc.)?

Oh yeah. I learned very quickly that if you want to avoid a lot of enemies/traps and get to the end of the stage quickly, you gotta take the top route! Always stick to the top route! |D That applies to the newer games too!

For the older games, I try to collect all the chaos emeralds no later than the fourth stage. It only gets more difficult to collect and keep 50 rings, so I really try to hit the special stages and get all the emeralds by the end of the fourth stage in any classic Sonic game. |D That way you can breeze through the rest of the game~!

Everyone knows about the jumping off the rail in Final Rush in Sonic Adventure 2 ( T-T I've only successfully done it like two times). I'm not really into daredevil stunts because I suck at pulling them off ^^;

Hmmm...yeah, that's really my strategy. Stick to the top of the stage and collect all the chaos emeralds early on in the game! Remember when you had to go into the special stage to collect chaos emeralds? I think the last time that happened was in Sonic Heroes...and then 14 years later in Sonic Mania. x-x

Day 1. How did you first get into the series (or first game/reaction)?

Day 2. What’s your favorite zone or act, and why?

Day 3. Which game drove you the most insane, or was the most difficult for you?

Day 4. Obligatory favorite character question, and why?

Day 5. Whose abilities do you wish you had the most?

Day 6. Your favorite idle animation from any character.

Day 7. Any characters you wish appeared more in the games?

Day 8. Obligatory favorite game question - what is it, what was your first experience playing it, and why is it your favorite game?

Day 9. Who’s the LAST villain you’d want to fight against?

Day 10. What are some headcanons you’ve developed about a character or something about the games (things that you’ve decided are true that aren’t mentioned by SEGA)?

Day 11. What’s your favorite form of Sonic’s (normal, Super, Hyper, Dark, Darkspine, etc)?

Day 12. Which is an aspect/character of the Sonic world that you wish SEGA would elaborate more on (i.e. that we had more information about)?

Day 13. Your favorite team (from Heroes, Riders, etc)

Day 14. A habit you’ve developed when going through stages (how you deal with a certain obstacle/enemy, tricks to cutting your time, little daredevil stunts here and there, etc.)?

14 alt. Favorite quote from any of the continuities?

Day 15. Character you feel that you relate the most to?

Day 16. What’s one Sonic game that you think is highly underrated or overlooked?

Day 17. If you were being attacked by Robotnik/Eggman and his badniks, which character would you want to come save you? Which character is the LAST one you’d want to save you?

Day 18. Got any Sonic merchandise?

Day 19. Your favorite piece of music (zone/act music, lyrical stuff, etc).

Day 20. Any moments in any of the continuities that provoked an emotional response from you?

Day 21. Favorite ship?

21 alt. Which Sonic game has the best plot, in your opinion?

Day 22. What’s your favorite type of special or bonus stage, and which is the most infuriating special stage design?

Day 23. If you could live in any of the zones or places (Station Square, Holoska, Angel Island, etc), which would it be and why?

Day 24. What’s your favorite non-game continuity?

24 alt. Is there a non-game continuity you’ve been interested in checking out?

Day 25. Who is one character you would like SEGA to bring back, and one character you want SEGA to drop?

Day 26. Your favorite chao that you raised - what does it look like/why is it your favorite?

Day 27. Something that you wish had never happened in one of the games.

Day 28. Any character that you wish you were best pals with in real life?

Day 29. If SEGA made a Sonic game just for you, what would you want it to be like (your ideal game)?

Day 30. Is there something that the Sonic series has helped you with or taught you?

#30 day sonic challenge #pro gaming tips #XD please don't listen to me

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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As someone who plays games and enjoys stories that aren't terrible, I always love it when the setting of a tale is allowed to truly manifest. That is to say, when there's just as much attention put into it as there is for the characters, to the point where the setting might as well be its own character. It doesn't always have to be completely in-your-face mind you, but generally speaking, if you can feel the amount of personality given to the location, there's a nine out of ten chance that I'm going to appreciate it. Bonus points if it's really pretty.

Naturally, this extends to the world of Sonic. Though the level of backstory varies when not taking Japanese manuals into account, the many islands/planets/theme parks in space/parallel dimensions Sonic has visited over the years nonetheless tend to hold a lot of charm with the way their zones and stages are presented. And when it comes to Sonic in particular - when they're at their best - his style of environments have the perfect aesthetic for my personal tastes: full of whimiscal, cartoony character, yet beautiful and sincere at the same time (or ominous and sincere, in the case of Eggman's moodier fortresses and the like).

So it goes without saying that this has been one major focus of mine while writing for Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars, my own little fanfic adventure for the blue hedgehog. From the moment I started putting my story into words, I wanted to make an effort to give the land of Viridonia the same love and focus that was given to the likes of Angel Island and the Little Planet in the official installments. Granted, it helps that the nature of my story already relies on a considerable amount of presence for my setting, but that alone would be insufficient. We have to go deeper. We have to go... advanced.

Long story short, I spend far too much time imagining locations in my head for my oh-so-epic fanfic where a 90's caricature confronts his breakfast mascot arch-nemesis for the nth time. Seriously, do not underestimate me on this. I think about the colour schemes. I think about the architecture. I think about not only what type of music would fit each location, but also the specific mood to go along with it. “No guys, it would have THIS kind of icy music, not THAT kind of icy music.”

Hell, I even make crappy MSPaint flags that represent each of the zones, Unleashed-style, which are “proudly” displayed in the appropriate chapters. I'm on a drug, and that drug is making Sonic settings come to life despite existing purely in written form. Please help me.

So I figured I might as well expand a bit on some details that may interest those of you who read my fic, that couldn't be acknowledged too much in the fic itself without severely ruining the pacing of the story in the process. Note that you will NOT miss anything important in the fic proper if you skip on these posts. It's just a fun bit of behind-the-scene elaboration on the thought and inspiration involved, if you're into that sort of thing. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh, and by the way? I hope you like Spyro the Dragon comparisons, because there's gonna be a lot of them as this series goes on, and I won’t be sorry for any of it. :] Yes, it's hardly surprising that my equal love for Spyro's environments (specifically Classic/Reignited Spyro, as I was never a Legend or Skylanders fan) plays a recurring influence in the way I visualize my Sonic zones, mainly with the way colour contrast is often used. That's not to say that the Sonicy aspects are lost or forgotten, though. After all, their universes are already pretty similar in terms of general aesthetic, so it's not too much of a stretch anyway IMO.

Anyhow, this intro has gone on long enough, so let's begin with the central hub of Viridonia, shall we? (I was originally gonna lump in Trudy’s castle and Gleaming Meadows in the one part, but each of them ended up being even longer than I expected, so uh, guess they’ll have to be separate.)

Creating the Hub: Lime Shores

Right off the bat, my goal with Lime Shores was very simple: to make it different from Station Square. No disrespect to Station Square, I love it as much as the next SA1 fan (especially its music!), but considering that a recurring motif of Beyond the Stars is to mirror certain aspects of SA1's story WITHOUT completely copying the whole routine, it was doubly important for the central town of Viridonia to have its own identity to help further that point. And since Lutrudis - and the rest of the folk on the island - are all inexplicably English to varying degrees and varying stereotypes, I knew what had to be done.

I’d make it look like Solihull, of course.

What? You thought it'd be based on London? HA. That comes later, in more Eggmanian territory. No, for Lime Shores, I wanted something a bit more gentle, something more quiet, something that looks rustic yet refined in equal measures... and something that contrasts greatly with the unique oddity that's been placed upon it.

Because let's not forget, as an everlasting side-effect of the Ethereal Zone's lingering power, much of the stony architecture has been given a nice gleam that causes it to change colour depending on the time of the day. Whereas in the daytime it looks suitably turquoise, the tones change to purple and pink by nighttime.

This might also explain why some occasional buildings look a bit... SEGA World-y...

It was important to make the town down-to-earth (for Sonic standards), because that way the Ethereal effects would be more striking. If it was a big proud metropolis like Station Square or Empire City, it wouldn't have the same impact. You'd still probably notice it, sure, but the contrast between the quaint vibe of the town with the increasing wonder if it was touched by aliens or some shit would be lost. (But don’t worry, a big proud metropolis is indeed featured in this story. You’ll get your Speed Highway fix in due time, though as expected, that too has an identity of its own...)

And of course, no area with Shore in the title is complete without, well, a shore. And sure enough, the waters near the shore are a slightly deeper sea green than average, even without the help of its nearby shiny rocks...

But what sort of music, pray tell, would accompany this unique town that kicks off Sonic's latest adventure? Well it may have a gentle disposition in spite of the Ethereal alterations, but it's still a Sonic adventure we're talking about, and Sonic is obviously going to be excited as hell to explore this new land with or without Eggman shenanigans in the mix. So to reflect his particular brand of upbeat passion, I think something along these lines will do nicely. (NOTE: I’ve decided to include two tracks for each location - some of them not even being Sonic-related - for the sake of more comparison and for driving the intended tone home all the more.)

youtube

But then, that's for the daytime. When it's night, however, we'll need something a little more relaxing and calm, yet still capturing a similarly mysterious atmosphere...

youtube

Also, there's a (completely optional) training simulator set up by Tails in Lime Shores. Should you ever try it out to brush up your skills in beating all those Eggman robots, the simulation would appear very reminiscent of the Colosseum from Sonic Battle, if it decided to trade in its green for blue. This is apparently the only noteworthy visual change in this piece of Miles Prower technology since 2004. Go figure.

And finally, yes, the town comes with such charmingly English luxuries like a post office, a tavern, a museum, a spa, and... a Chao Garden.

Yes, they would all have different music tracks of their own.

No, I'm not going to list what I have in mind for each one. That would make this post longer - and sadder - than it already is.

#Creating Viridonia #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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timeagainreviews · 4 years

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Are you there Xoanon? It’s me, Leela.

At the time of writing this article, many of you will have in your possession the season 14 Blu-Ray box set for Doctor Who. Within it are classics like "The Deadly Assassin," "The Robots of Death," and the controversial, but still much loved "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." However, today I would like to talk about an often overlooked gem in the form of "The Face of Evil." While the serial does introduce the companion Leela and showcases some classic Fourth Doctor moments, it has also received a fair bit of ire from certain fans over the years. I’ve found myself defending it in the past, to people whose opinions I value. My hope is that by the end of this review, some of you may come away with a new appreciation for what is one of my favourite classic Doctor Who stories.

For a little bit of background, when devising the character of Leela, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes were looking to do something new with the companion. They wanted a female lead that could also do heroics. The initial concept for Leela was a mix of Eliza Doolittle, Emma Peel, and Loana from "One Million Years B.C." The decision to make the companion more of an action star was one that was met with resistance from Tom Baker, who in this humble writer’s opinion would have been happiest acting alongside a sock puppet. While he claimed not to like the violence of Leela, I often wonder if it wasn’t because such a dashing co-star would pull focus from the main event- the Doctor.

The writer tasked with bringing Leela to life was Chris Boucher, an avowed atheist. And remember this fact, as it will remain relevant throughout this entire review. Right away, Boucher’s knack for comprehensive dialogue is laid out as we meet Leela, a young tribal woman, being cast out by the rest of her tribe, the Sevateem, for heresy. However, it is her own father that offers to take her place in the "test." Leela’s tone changes from defiance to pleas of mercy for the life of her feeble, but proud father. Right away we’re struck with a series of science fiction tropes, and it’s one wonderful pulpy delight after another. Also telling is the presence of anachronistic technology. Such as the gasket turned into a chest-piece adorning the tribe’s local zealot and shaman- Neeva.

In his element, the Doctor arrives at this frontier world by himself. However, as much as Baker would have relished travelling solo, it becomes immediately apparent why this would be a bad idea. Having no companion to sound off with, he resorts to directing his comments toward you and I, the audience. While I love the Fourth Doctor and his penchant for breaking the fourth wall, it’s not a sustainable recipe for good storytelling. The Doctor needs a companion, if for no other reason than to have someone to explain the plot to.

The Doctor walks through this wilderness without a care in the world as little critters scurry past in a Star Wars or Dark Crystal fashion. It reminded me of moments like when the First Doctor and his companions come across petrified creatures on the surface of Skaro. I wish modern Doctor Who would do more of this- tiny creatures that have no greater bearing on the storyline other than world-building. Leela, having been exiled finds herself walking deep into the jungle. However, it seems that exile wasn’t enough, as she soon finds herself being hunted by her former tribesmen. It would appear that allowing her form of heresy to live is not something Neeva, or his god "Xoanon," are willing to let happen.

Leela dispatches one of her would-be assassins, while another is taken care of by a sympathetic friend named Tomas, who followed the killers after overhearing Neeva’s scheme. While they never touch on it, I wonder if Tomas didn’t have feelings for Leela. It would make sense as she is fierce, intelligent, beautiful, and around the same age as him. Had things gone differently, perhaps they could have had a life together. However, Leela is past the point of no return, and his boyish crush. She pridefully tells him to turn back but warns him not to trust Calib, a man she sees as having more ambition than sense.

Leela walks past what is known by the Sevateem as a great protective barrier. Finding herself pursued by invisible monsters, she runs for her life but falls to the ground at the feet of a man unknown to her. Upon following her gaze up to the feet’s owner, she is shocked and terrified to see the Doctor, a face she of which she is surprisingly familiar. Despite the fact that the Doctor resembles the "Evil One," the Sevateem’s own version of Satan, Leela doesn’t know what to make of his friendly demeanour. This is a moment of great internal conflict for her as only a few scenes ago she was telling her tribal leaders that their god Xoanon was a lie. Now here she stands, looking the devil in the face and he’s offering her sweets.

I’ve always maintained that the story arc for Leela is one of atheism but in the most Doctor Who of manners. Much in the same way that the Doctor will go into a haunted house and prove that it’s actually an ancient alien force, the show has widely maintained the stance that the spiritual is just science we don’t yet understand. Leela’s first lesson comes in the form of the Doctor deftly dealing with their invisible predator. After discovering that a protective boundary is a machine that projects a sonic disruption, the Doctor deduces that the creatures must be blind and sense things by vibration. Using an egg timer, the Doctor distracts the monsters, while he and Leela make a break for it. It’s a great special effect, as even now I can’t figure out how they managed to crush a clock with what looks like nothing.

Back with the tribe, we learn that Neeva speaks with Xoanon through a transmitter that he believes is a magic relic that allows only the holiest to speak to God. Xoanon commands Neeva to go to war with their enemies the Tesh. But the chief of the Sevateem, Andor, wonders why their God would have them go into battle on empty stomachs. A reasonable concern which is met by Neeva’s assertion that Xoanon will feed those of true faith. The tribe gears up for war, but on their way past the boundary, discover the Doctor.

The men shoot a couple of warning shots across the Doctor’s brow, embedding themselves into a tree. While the men deal with the fact that they are now looking eye to eye with their version of the Devil, Leela slips away. Upon seeing the Doctor, the men do a sort of "Sign of the Cross," gesture with their hands touching their neck, their shoulder and their waist. The Doctor notes this is interesting as it’s also the method one would use to check the seals on a spacesuit. Using his newfound infamy to his advantage, the Doctor holds one of the tribesmen hostages with a "deadly," Jelly Baby. But the men call his bluff and the Doctor is taken to meet Neeva and Andor.

Seeing this as an opportunity to prove their faith, Neeva declares they should kill the Doctor without haste. However, Calib, an atheist in his own right, sees this as an opportunity to make Neeva look bad in front of the whole tribe. He suggests they put the Doctor through the "test." Knowing that if the Doctor dies, it will prove that he wasn’t a god, and if he lives, Neeva will look just as bad, as the belief is that only mortals can survive the test.

Knowing her father to have died from this test, an eavesdropping Leela sneaks her way in to stop the Doctor from being killed. Leela uses local Janis thorns on one of the captors, paralysing him in a rigid posture with no hope of revival. The Doctor is appalled by this and commands her never to use Janis thorns ever again. After making a break for it, the Doctor and Leela make it past the boundary where the Doctor learns why his face is so infamous. Out across the horizon sits a giant mountain with his own visage carved into its precipice.

Meanwhile, the rest of the warriors continue toward the mountain for their attack. I was genuinely surprised as I had never noticed the inclusion of a single female warrior with black braids in her hair. Initially, I had thought Leela was the only female in the entire story, but there comes braids looking like a badass. I instantly want to know more about her and to see her in extended media. Sadly, braids and a bunch of other Sevateem are cut down by beams of light before they can meet the impenetrable time barrier. Clearly, something about this was a trap put on by Xoanon, but why?

The Doctor decides that the only way to understand what is happening is by going back to the tribe, despite the death sentence. Upon returning, most of the camp is still deserted, allowing him and Leela a chance to snoop around. Upon discovering the room of "relics," kept by Neeva, the Doctor reveals them to be nothing more than the scientific instruments of the human colonists from whom the Sevateem and Tesh descend. The Doctor finds the helmet Neeva uses to speak to Xoanon and realises that Xoanon speaks with his own voice. Furthermore, Xoanon seems to think the Doctor and he are one.

Being one of the first to return from battle, Calib discovers the Doctor and Leela. Afraid they will ruin his plans to make Neeva look a fool, he poisons Leela with a Janis thorn. With little time, the Doctor demonstrates to Calib that the equipment they've been worshipping for years is actually capable or analysing and concocting a cure for Janis thorn poison. Leela is revived but slightly incapacitated, which makes her and the Doctor easy to capture when more, including Neeva, return from battle.

Now, remember the little critter I mentioned earlier? Well, it would appear that they're a carnivorous bunch known as the horda. Much like piranhas, they are able to strip a body of its flesh when in large numbers. The Doctor is made to stand above a pit of them while a rock tied to a rope slowly lowers, opening the pit more and more with every inch. Leela tries to give the Doctor a pointer, which causes one of the Sevateem to strike her. The Doctor's response is to kick a horda at him which causes him to run in fear. I mention this because any time the Doctor is violent is cause to pause.

One of the things I find irritating with modern Doctor Who is the insistence that the Doctor is never violent. The Third Doctor used Venusian Aikido. The Fourth Doctor practically breaks a guy's neck in "The Seeds of Doom." Hell, even in modern Doctor Who we see it. Like when the Ninth Doctor punched that guy, or when the Twelfth Doctor punched that guy. Or how about the Eleventh Doctor teleporting a bomb onto Solomon's ship in "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," written by Chris "I don't understand the Doctor's morality" Chibnall? My point is, that the Doctor isn't violent unless he needs to be. The Doctor is non-violent up until the point where either A) it's the only option left, or B) he's mad. In this case, it's B, he's mad.

What does it mean that the Doctor chose this moment to break his rule? I would venture to say he was punishing unnecessary cruelty in kind. But think even more about the theme of the episode. At this moment, the Doctor's morality isn't what's in question, it's his mortality. It's as if Boucher is taking this moment to compare the actions of a man to the expectations of a god. Before the Doctor shoots the rope with perfect precision, he's revealed himself to be a person subject to the whims of his own emotions. In this way, Boucher is asking the viewer to look at the vengeful nature of our own gods and to see the inherent humanity entangled within. Or in the Doctor's own words- "You can't expect perfection, even from me!"

With the Doctor somewhat exonerated by being able to pass this asinine test, he is given a bit more freedom to move about. But this doesn't mean an end to the unrest. The Doctor reveals that the Sevateem are actually descendants of a survey team (creating a portmanteau), and heads back to the mountain to discover the secrets of the Tesh. Meanwhile, Xoanon removes the barrier surrounding the Sevateem, allowing the invisible creatures free roam to terrorise the simple tribe. The Sevateem are quickly overtaken by invisible beings, which kill Andor and many others. The Doctor takes his leave to climb up the mountain into his own face.

The Doctor discovers a spacesuited man within the mouth of the carving. He also discovers a derelict rocket for the Mordee expedition. It's about this time that the Doctor begins to remember having come to this planet in the past. In an attempt to fix the AI, Xoanon, the Doctor linked his mind. Only instead of repairing it, he created a duality that drove the AI to madness. Thus creating a desire in Xoanon to reconcile these two aspects in itself. Its solution for this quandary was to influence the two groups of humans into two very different evolutions and see who would come out on top. The primitive yet cunning Sevateem, or the brilliant yet passionless Tesh?

At this point, the story takes a somewhat extreme turn as the Tesh are found to be rather advanced in every way by comparison to the Sevateem. The Tesh, being descendants of the technicians of the colonists, are more intelligent. They dress like the Great Gazoo if he went through a harlequin phase. They caper and cavort about in an almost jovial sense, but their belief in Xoanon is no less zealous than their primitive counterparts. They seem peaceful at first until the Doctor discovers they plan to atomise Leela. After showing his disapproval, the Tesh turn on the Doctor, subduing him with their mental powers which looks a lot like staring super hard at the guy until he collapses.

I absolutely love that with two reviews in a row I'm able to talk about two separate James Bond type laser scenes where our heroes are incapacitated in some way and are forced to escape the laser with a mirror. This isn't me calling out the show for overusing a trope. There were eleven years between these two episodes, and it's completely by chance that I decided to review them back to back, but how funny is that? And their titles both have to do with faces! I swear I didn't plan this.

As I said, the Doctor and Leela escape with a simple mirror. The Doctor uses the technology to imitate Xonanon and communicate with Neeva. However, Neeva surprises the Doctor when he calls the Doctor by name, showing that even the most fanatical is not so forgone as to be unreachable. The Doctor tells Neeva to instruct Calib to lead the men to the mouth of the mountain where the invisible beings cannot reach. Soon, the Doctor and Leela find themselves running from the Tesh through corridors. It's classic Doctor Who with the bad guys giving chase through endless corridors which are actually the same corridor. After a scuffle, the Doctor once more is forced to use violence as one of the Tesh comes at him and gets kicked into an electrified wall. The Doctor notes that the man appeared to be hypnotised, as if under the influence of Xoanon.

Leela is given a laser gun to fight off the Tesh, which I find to be the perfect metaphor for this entire story. The cave girl gives up her crossbow for a laser gun. It is as if her transition from a primitive to the scientist is coming full circle. It's as though she is claiming the birthright of her ancestors. She's gone from a person questioning her faith, to a person functioning within this new paradigm. Even though she still finds herself cowering when she hears the supposed voice of God, her confidence is growing.

Leela continues trading fire with the Tesh, while the Doctor seeks out Xoanon within the "Sacred Heart," a large computer complex. An array of large screens project the Doctor's face. But as the Doctor enters the room, Xonanon experiences an identity crisis, causing it to repeat the question "Who am I?" The panic creates a psychic assault on the Doctor, causing him to drop to the ground. As the question repeats, Xoanon's voice fluctuates between the Doctor, a man, a woman, and a child. The child's voice is a particularly chilling juxtaposition with the Doctor's frantic orange face screaming in a panicked frenzy. Fun fact: the child's voice is provided by Anthony Frieze who won a competition at his local school to be in the episode. For a kid that won a contest, it's surprising how much he nailed that take. It's quite easily one of the most effective moments in the entire serial.

The fourth episode of this serial is easily one of the weakest as it degenerates into a lot of your common science fiction tropes. As I said, once they enter the mountain, the tone of the entire story shifts. This is really my biggest criticism of the entire story. But it's also a bit of a further metaphor for the whole atheism argument. Man leaves the primitive world into the world of technology. But with false gods present, man still struggles to find an identity beyond their god. In their own way, the Tesh are no more advanced than the Sevateem. It would appear that Xoanon's little experiment in eugenics was all a bust.

The Sevateem arrive and fight back the Tesh. They also bring the Tesh's weapons into the fight against the invisible monsters, which turn out to be manifestations of Xonanon's id. This explains why the one time we do see them, they just look like a giant apparition of the Doctor's face. Having saved the Doctor from Xoanon's psychic assault, Leela and the Doctor continue trying to stop Xoanon. Because of this, Xoanon, in a last-ditch effort to stop the Doctor, takes over Leela and the rest of the Sevateem to kill the Doctor. However, having been broken from his own religious spell, the unlikeliest of heroes appears in the form of Neeva. Neeva shoots Xoanon long enough to stop the link and save the Doctor but loses his own life in the process.

The Doctor finally repairs Xoanon but gets knocked unconscious in doing so. Upon waking, he discovers he had been out cold for two whole days. A casual Leela sits beside him eating chocolate in peace. The Doctor assumes this means his plan worked and that Xoanon was stopped. The Tesh and the Sevateem are living together in a sort of shaky truce. The invisible monsters are gone, and Xoanon is now at peace. To prove so, Xoanon offers the Tesh and Sevateem the option to destroy it at the push of a button. They discuss needing new leadership and decide Calib is not the right man. Instead, the people (see: Tomas) want Leela to lead. However, Leela turns down the offer to travel with the Doctor, much to his chagrin. Leela has seen enough of this primitive planet. It's time to see the stars.

If you can't tell by now, the aspect I liked so much about this story was its delving into atheism and theology. It may seem like a heavy subject, but at its core, it's something that represents the show as a whole. The perspective that all problems, at their core, can be met with logic and reason. Furthermore, I greatly admire the way in which they continue this story arc for Leela over the remainder of her tenure as a companion. This idea of a woman raised out of ignorance into the realm of greater knowledge continues to build in her character until she becomes someone capable of living among the Time Lords themselves.

That is not to say this serial is not without its faults. For some, it may not be a fascinating storyline. They may not be as enthralled by its themes as I was. Which is fair. There are also some silly moments, such as the invisible monsters leaving footprints, despite being the projections of a giant head. The use of the word savage is also a bit dated, as is the whole concept of the "noble savage." Also, Xoanon got off a bit light. It was like at the end of The Dark Crystal when urSkeks leave like "Peace out, sorry about all the genociiiiide..." What kind of society are the Doctor and Leela leaving behind? Can the Tesh and Sevateem find common ground, or will it be war in perpetuity?

Truth be told, I rather like that it ends on a bit of an open-ended question. I don't believe it's always the Doctor's job to handhold and change the diapers of every developing society. The most the Doctor can hope for is that things have found some sort of balance, free from meddling or outside influence like aliens, robots, or in this case, himself. Furthermore, I love the concept of the Doctor taking a companion on reluctantly. It's almost a form of penance for the Doctor. You created this madwoman with a knife and Janis thorns, and now you've got to tote her around the universe. In many ways, I find Leela very sympathetic. Having come from a religious background, I know the struggles inherent in losing faith, how it shakes your foundation. This type of representation happens so seldom in fiction, and it's rarely a positive thing.

"I too used to believe in magic, but the Doctor taught me about science. It is better to believe in science." –Leela, from "The Horror of Fang Rock"

#Doctor Who #Fourth Doctor #Tom Baker #Leela #Louise Jameson #The Face of Evil #Xoanon #leela of the sevateem #sevateem #tesh #bbc #TARDIS #chris boucher

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sonicfanj · 4 years

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I’m a big fan of AUs and the freedom that fans have to explore Sonic or any fandom in ways that diverge from the source material, but with AUs and more recent Sonic stuff being what a lot of new fans brought in from the movie will see, the possibility of providing false information is far to high if we are not careful. That SEGA also spreads misinformation only makes matter worse and it is the heart of this particular post.

One of the biggest misconceptions of Sonic that SEGA perpetrates both through retcons and from Sonic Generations onward is that Sonic before the Sonic Adventure (Adventure henceforth )rebranding back in 1998/1999 is that “Classic Sonic “ as he is dubbed these days is possessed of an age of around eleven and is even shorter than Sonic’s 1 meter/3′3″ height. The height can actually be sourced to a profile of Metal Sonic’s that lists him at around seventy something centimeters as well as Generations making him shorter to account for the difference in proportions. But the truth is, Sonic was always listed at 1 meter tall, both before and after the Adventure redesign.

[Character height chart for reference - http://info.sonicretro.org/images/9/99/Classic_character_heights.svg]

Age on the other hand is where things get really strange. Again, a retcon for Generations makes sense to an extent, especially when you consider that the characters had their ages shuffled around as it was with the Adventure redesign. Amy aged up from 8 to 12 and Knuckles aged up from 15 to 16. Tails remained the same but Sonic actually received a subtle change. Bios that listed Sonic’s age before Adventure typically listed him at 15 to 16 years old. That would actually make him the same age or older than his Adventure onward counterpart. But it gets even weirder. According to the Sonic Technical Files (currently hosted by Sonnic Fansite Sonic Retro here - http://info.sonicretro.org/Original_Story) Sonic was actually originally thought about to be even older, around 18 years old. Suddenly, Sonic from his typically dubbed Classic Era is actually definitively older than his modern counterpart, yet is portrayed as a younger bubbly child from Sonic Generations onward. And I assure you, this is a retcon.

If you grew up in the 90s like I did and were introduced to Sonic when he debuted back in 1991, then you will remember the western advertising over embracing his teenager with an attitude description. And it wasn’t just in game ads, it was in all Sonic media available in the west. The US cartoons, the Archie and Fleetway comics, and so on, portrayed Sonic as an uppity teenager with an attitude problem (some cases being far worse than others). That teenager of a high school age mentality was the backbone for why the Archie Sonic comics were littered with teenager romance drama, which would look rather distasteful if you think about it post retcons now. But they were not at fault for portraying Sonic based on being high school age. The material and information they were provided told them as such and so they based their interpretations off of that available information.

But it wasn’t just a western mistake either. If not for input from key members of SEGA of America (henceforth SoA) Sonic would be rather different and would even have had a human girlfriend by the name of Madona who was anything but a child.

[Pic here - https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/d/dc/Madonna.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090313035151]

Madonna was not the only time it happened either as one of the last pieces of pre-Adventure release Classic Sonic material is the Sonic OVA or Movie produced by Japanese animation studio Studio Peirrot where a catgirl (read human girl with cat ears and a tail) was the main love interest and whom even Eggman/Robotnik wanted to marry (it’s weird, I don’t argue that). But more importantly, two of Sonic’s primary creators, Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima, were listed as Production Directors for the two episode Original Video Animation (OVA) and were rumored to be involved quite a bit with the film. You can typically find it on youtube though I recomend the subbed version, bad video quality and all, to get a better representation of the Japanese perspective. It’s really eye opening and was very nostalgic in when I first watched it post Sonic Generations release.

The thing is though, the OVA released in 1996, years before the Adventure rebranding, and is strongly believed to be how Naka and Oshima see the character. This is actually reflected in the Sonic Adventure redesign as Yuji Naka on record (a shame I can’t find the link) has stated that Sonic was redesigned to bring him closer to the original character idea and to erase the growing cute identity that he was developing due to marketing. He even goes on to say that Sonic was never intended to be cute and that being a cute mascot character would inevitably pit him against Hello Kitty which would not have ended well. Yet, SEGA retconned the Naka/Oshima Sonic into being a bubbly hyperactive kid who was much shorter and generally hyper cute compared to his more modern interpretation of the character. This retcon is only made even more complicated when SEGA decided they didn’t like their “New” Classic Sonic being treated as the same character as their Legacy Sonic and even retconned that come Sonic Forces to say that he was actually from a different dimension. Years after Sonic Forces release that decision still riles up many more dedicated fans as it breaks the series continuity. Arguably, it has too. After all, if Naka/Oshima Sonic is older than Legacy/Modern Sonic and has the same height yet New Classic Sonic is shorter and strangely mute then something had to be changed or it just starts to fall apart for a cohesive narrative. Of course Amy’s four year gain already threw things into question but on it’s own was fairly harmless considering her role in the franchise as the main female lead and primary love interest. But New Classic Sonic’s muteness is what this post will be carrying on from.

One of the biggest misconceptions of Sonic before the Adventure redesign is that he did not speak. The primary reason for this misconception I usually attributed to him not speaking in the classics. this is actually a false statement as Sonic speaks in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, and is quite the chatterbox in a Japanese only popcorn machine. Admittedly, these are all difficult to experience items, especially pre-Adventure, but by the time of Soinc Generations’ release a good deal of these could be researched and Sonic CD was readily available to the public again thanks in no small part to Christian Whitehead of Evening Star Studios. but even outside of the games SOnic was shown to talk quite a bit before the Adventure redesign. Again both the western comics and cartoons and even numerous Japanese comics all showed him speaking quite a bit before the Adventure redesign. Of a more canonical nature however, the Japanese instruction manuals for most of the games from the original onward will show Sonic talking.

So, where did this misconception gain enough steam to become a retcon? It’s hard to say, but there are a lot factors that could lead to it. Major fan backlash was threatened when Generations was first revealed if they got Sonic’s voice wrong and hat it’d be better if he didn’t talk at all. SEGA is known for overreacting to negative feedback at odd and seemingly random times and this appears to me to be yet another case of it. But his muteness only got weirder when people started latching on to him being mute as a matter of shyness. I don’t know where that one originated from, but Sonic’s shyness is actually a trait of his, but it is specifically tied to how he feels about his self-proclaimed Amy Rose. When asked about, Yuji Naka once said that Sonic does likely like Amy deep down, but is too shy to act on those feelings. Naoto Oshima expands further on that stating that Sonic has a boyish immaturity in regards to his feelings and thus won’t act on them but should he mature in that regard he would end up with Amy. In other words, boyish immaturity and shyness are part of Sonic’s character, but they only reflect on certain facets of his character. His shyness and immaturity of his feelings for Amy though were instead stretched out to cover most of his character resulting in New Classic Sonic being a mute, when Naka/Oshima, Legacy/Modern, BOOM! (just to throw in another iteration where he is shy about his feelings for Amy), and even Movie Sonic are all rather talkative.

So that there is three misconceptions about pre-Adventure Sonic that are perpetuated officially by New Classic Sonic effectively being placed over Naka/Oshima Sonic. Again, I don’t aim to bash fanfics and AUs as I love them and the way they explore the characters in new ways, but for the sake of new fans not being overly confused, it should be noted if your Classic Sonic is New or Generations based, or the Naka/Oshima, pre-Adventure version. There are hugely massive differences between them with things like height, age, and talkativeness being hugely noticeable. Otherwise, keep writing, drawing and having fun, and may all of the movie’s fans who find their way into the fanbase enjoy themselves

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic misconceptions #misconceptions born of retcons #misconceptions #retcons #Naka/Oshima Sonic #legacy/modern sonic #boom! sonic #movie sonic #long post #long rant #thoughts #my thoughts #clarification

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mobius-prime · 5 years

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15. Sonic the Hedgehog #11

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The Good, the Bad and the Hedgehog!

Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Barry Grossman

OH, OH BOY GUYS! HE'S FINALLY SHOWN HIMSELF! CHICKEN TENDERS HIMSELF!

Okay, so before I go any further I want to make something really clear. I do not hate Ken Penders. I don't like him, but I don't hate him either. I have a lot (a LOT) of problems with the man, but his characters and stories are not one of them. I'm definitely not averse to making fun of him or his concepts, but I don't think they're bad by definition since they came from him, and thus I'm going to be treating his stories with all the same respect that I have everything else so far. With that said, onto the story!

So this is the issue that really starts to introduce the concept of the multiverse, a concept that would remain a staple of the comic in years to come. Sonic, upon getting a call for help from the Freedom Fighters, decides to take a shortcut through the Secret Zone, on the Cosmic Interstate. However, on his trip he gets lost, and accidentally pops out into a version of Mobius where everything is the opposite - Robotnik is a kindly old veterinarian who takes care of hurt and sick animals, and the Freedom Fighters are a bunch of thugs who literally fight freedom, terrorizing the population for funsies. And here is where we're first introduced to one of the most legendary characters of the preboot: Sc- uh, Evil Sonic!

You can tell who the evil one is because he wears a leather jacket and sunglasses, the classic uniform of a bad guy. They give each other the runaround for a while, neither able to outrun the other, until Sonic leads his evil counterpart back to good-guy Robotnik, who is able to capture him. After explaining the situation, he's able to get a bit of last minute help before heading back to his own zone.

And after saving the day once again, Sonic gets another kiss! Wow, he's really racking them up quickly in these early issues.

Beat the Clock!

Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Barry Grossman

Oh no! We open this issue with a nail-biting predicament - the Freedom Fighters have all been captured (off panel) and tied up on top of a bunch of explosives! (Minus Bunnie, again - she's still absent for a lot of these early issues for whatever reason. All for the best I suppose, a bunch of lousy ropes wouldn't be able to hold her robotic arm anyway.) But this time, the culprit isn't Robotnik, but Coconuts the badnik, wanting to get back into Robotnik's good graces after his previous failure. He's created a deadly maze for Sonic to traverse before he can reach his friends, but luckily Sonic has us here to help him out. Time for some more audience participation!

And even in the face of certain death, Sally isn't losing her shine for Sonic. It's really becoming more and more apparent the longer the comic goes on.

Of course we know how this goes by now. Sonic bursts in with seconds left on the clock, rescues everyone, and they escape just as the explosion rattles Coconuts' coconuts for good. Or at least until his next appearance!

Food for Thought (or, You Are What You Eat!)

Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Barry Grossman

It's time for our first fever dream episode! Sonic wakes up at midnight on his birthday, and decides to make himself a little midnight snack of like, two dozen chili dogs, the madman. They don't really agree with him, and when he passes back out he has some, uh… pretty weird dreams.

That's right, everyone is sentient food. And perhaps more uncomfortably, Robot-burger appears to be some kind of food-cannibal monstrosity, as he has captured Tails the bag of french fries and is ready to fry him… again? Man I don't know, it's not like this was meant to make any sense in the first place. Sonic the Chili-Dog rushes off to save his friend, only to also get himself caught and strapped down to a conveyor belt about to pour mustard and ketchup on him before he's cooked! Aaargh, the humanity!

Luckily, it's all just a dream, and he wakes up to a plate of even more chili dogs that Sally has made him for his birthday breakfast. And well, despite everything, this is Sonic. He can't turn them down!

And with that we have the first issue with not one, not two, but three separate stories inside of it. Obviously, the more stories you shove into an issue, the shorter and more shallow each one has to be to fit within the page limit, so I'd say I generally prefer the issues with just one long story inside. But it'll be a while before we start getting to more of those.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 11 #era 1 the early years #writer: mike kanterovich #writer: ken penders #pencils: dave manak #colors: barry grossman

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aftermathdb · 6 years

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DEATH BATTLE Review: Mario vs. Sonic (2018)

A classic match… With the modern rules… Today, we are seeing an old battle with new rules, better animation, and superior research. Bare in mind, that since the original battle was animated, researched, and written by Ben, so there might be some new things, and there might be a lot of different ideas.

It’s also the first time we’re going to see Wiz and Boomstick animated too.

And the overall episode only really brings them into focus when doing a bit, a demonstration, or a bit of math. So it’s not like we’re watching these two do stuff like use a laser pointer to showcase certain things, we’re seeing them only when it would be funny, or when some math would be needed.

The initial preview states that they are going to focus on the core games, and any material from anything that would be supported from the games.

Mario’s Preview:

Mario’s preview has all the usual stats that you’d see in an initial preview.

And a quick thing about his full name is in a notecard.

(Personally, I’d go with what’s more recent).

And then there’s Mario’s arsenal. Which is uh… Pretty big.

Mario’s arsenal is very big. And with those indefinite uses, he’s got more on him easily.

(Mario easily takes arsenal in this scenario).

He’s also fast enough to react as a being of living electricity. From Mario Odyssey.

And a strength scaling feat is added too.

And Mario having a Tyrannosaurus tossing feat is backed up by the solid gold chain chomp feat back in Mario Sunshine.

And Mario’s feats are a sight to behold.

And Mario punting castles puts his best strength feat at about…

That.

By the looks of it, Mario’s definitely earned the title of Nintendo’s posterboy.

Sonic’s Preview:

And Sonic takes off at blinding speeds, with, what else, his background.

Sega’s lack of caring about how biology works in the Sonic universe is also mentioned. Like how real Hedgehogs aren’t that fast, they aren’t blue, and how Foxes are their natural predator.

Sonic’s equipment isn’t as vast as Mario’s, but it’s still pretty impressive considering that some of his are natural powers, and not limited to power-ups.

And Sonic doesn’t. exactly have Lightspeed capabilities. If one recalls from the Metal Sonic vs. Zero battle, Sonic isn’t exactly light speed, but he’s definitely at least hypersonic.

Sonic also can outrun lightning. Meaning that hypersonic is more or less lowballing Sonic’s speed stat.

And outrunning the black hole thing in Sonic Colors puts Sonic’s best speed at about…

That.

Sonic’s Super Forms also get a quick rundown as well.

And to top it all off, Sonic also has quite the tub of feats to pull from.

Sonic’s certainly earned the title of being Sega’s mascot.

The Battle Itself.

Blindferret is animating this bout, and it’s the second time they’re animating something since Smokey vs. McGruff. Mario will be voiced by Kamran Nikhad while Sonic will be voiced by Nicholas Andrew Louie. Music is done by Therewolf, and is called Retro Rivals.

So, if you saw the sneak peak, you know that the reason the fight starts is because Sonic decided to tan in Mario’s spot.

(And here I thought the reason for Yang starting the fight with Tifa was petty).

Sonic lands the first hit, and until Mario manages to land a good blow on him, Sonic is left to try for a Wisp. By the looks of it, Mario isn’t being granted Cappy, but considering Sonic’s ability to resist mind control, there’s probably no reason to believe that Cappy would have made a difference.

And after using his Catsuit and Double Cherries, Mario manages to force Sonic into the water, and get him to use up his Water Shield.

This forces Sonic to utilize his Super form, and makes Mario use his own Star and Wing Cap. Until the battle gets taken to space, where the resulting clash causes…

That. The resulting clash causes THAT.

Finishing Blow in

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

And the trip back down paints a clear picture as to who would win, considering that Mario up and throws Sonic downward at what can only be assumed to be way faster than terminal velocity.

(So uh… Does this mean that Luigi could beat Tails, or…?)

Verdict + Explanation.

So, in terms of arsenal, it was pretty even… at least considering what each power up could do. But Mario’s wider range of Power Ups gave him a leg-up.

Sonic had speed, no argument there. But Mario had strength. So the big question was if Mario could hit Sonic.

And considering that Mario could react as a bolt of electricity, and pilot the Star Diver, the answer would be yes.

Another factor in the fight would be durability. While both were impressive, Mario’s durability feat would blow Sonic’s strength out of the water.

And Sonic isn’t that much tougher than Mario either. It was only a matter of time until Mario managed to hit Sonic with an attack that could kill him.

Overall impression.

After thinking about it for a while, I came to realize the biggest reason Mario won was because he had more games in the time between the original and this than Sonic had. Mario didn’t really have many feats that could back up being able to hit Sonic back then, and while I’m trying to look at this objectively, I’m a guy who spent the last few years under the impression that Sonic would beat Mario more times than not. Not that I just blindly believed DEATH BATTLE, I just didn’t think that Mario could actually manage to hit Sonic at all to land a killing blow.

It’s a bit hard to come to terms with that, but when you write a story using the characters that appear in DEATH BATTLE and have to make them interact in a scenario where they’re not killing each other, you learn how to no longer give any shits about results.

Overall, the animation was stunning, and the music was really fun. The rundown was pretty good too, and it really feels like it was a big thing. Though, now I’m worried that the fans will start demanding that they go back on other episodes and do those over too, so that’s going to be fun. Can’t wait to see a bunch of angry fanboys demanding that they do Batman vs. Spider-Man over again because they’re still salty about the Dark Knight’s loss to the Web-Slinger (And yes. There are still people being angry and salty about it in the comments section).

8.5/10. It wasn’t a battle that I wanted, nor was it a battle I was expecting for number 100, but it was still fun.

Next Time…

I feel kinda underwhelmed by this matchup. And to be honest, I blame Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite for making people think that this was a better matchup than Ultron vs. Brainiac.

But I guess one extremist robot against another isn’t too bad of a fight. Though this now begs the question as to who Brainiac could fight.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Robo Extremist vs. Robo Extremist.

#screwattack #Death Battle #Deathbattle #review

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felinevomitus · 3 years

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Sebastian Melmoth: Imaginary Futures

Sebastian Melmoth l-r: Laura Michelle Smith, Peter Jordan, Ilia Rogatchevski, Tomoko Matsumoto. Photo: Artem Barkhin.

Sebastian Melmoth has seen various stages of activity since I established the project back in 2006. Intended to operate as a conceptual antithesis to popular music, to begin with, the group existed in name only. At the time, I was mildly obsessed with the life and work of Oscar Wilde and, upon discovering that Wilde took up the pseudonym of Sebastian Melmoth during his self-imposed exile in France (1897-1900), decided to call my imaginary band in his honour.

The name is referential. It is a combination of Saint Sebastian and Melmoth the Wanderer. The former was an icon for the underground gay community in Victorian England and the latter, a Gothic novel by Wilde’s great-uncle Charles Robert Maturin, first published in 1820. Due to his own castigation by polite society, it is likely that Wilde greatly empathised with both Saint Sebastian’s martyrdom and Maturin’s central antagonist (a man who takes to wandering the Earth after selling his soul to the Devil in return for immortality).

The literary nature of Sebastian Melmoth was the project’s founding principle. The first few years were littered with attempts at writing sincere songs that pointed towards literary hallmarks. Sunshine Blues, for example, namedrops Rodion Raskolnikov, the anguished protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment (1866), while Manskinner references a peripheral character from Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1994).

This way of working was typical for us. Books were read in parallel to the creation of the music, lyrics and visual artwork. Each activity informed the other, creating a fluid symbiotic network of overlapping information. Like is often said of Sonic Youth, I wanted Sebastian Melmoth to operate as an obscure gateway drug to other works of literature, pop culture and art with each release having a tight conceptual idea supporting it.

Sebastian Melmoth began life in earnest as a high school four-piece, with myself on rhythm guitar and vocals, Miranda Collett on lead guitar, Joe Dibb on keys and Elias Razak on drums. Peter Jacobs replaced Elias after a while, but before long the group downsized to an acoustic anti-folk duo in the vein of the Moldy Peaches. The underlying theme of our debut album, Insanity’s Insanity (self-released, 2010), was the absurd nature of everyday reality. This is evidenced by the title, which was lifted out of Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 play Rhinoceros.

While looking for a job on Gumtree, I came across a psychedelic indie outfit called Clinker (at that time a quartet, but now a duo consisting of Peter Jordan and Tomoko Matsumoto). They were advertising for extras to cast in their new music video So We Say (Dir. Ambrose Yalley, 2009). We became friends and eventually started making music together. They produced Insanity’s Insanity and even remixed a few of the tracks from that album, but our collaboration didn’t realise its full potential until a little later.

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Sebastian Melmoth - Sunshine Blues (DTT Mix)

Our next releases, In der Tiefe (self-released, 2011) and The Nausea of Being (self-released, 2012), were at the same time more ambitious and conceptual than our first long player. Pointing their fingers at the works of Carl Jung and Jean-Paul Sartre respectively, these companion albums broadly concerned themselves with existentialism. In der Tiefe (German, in the depths) took drug psychosis as its principal theme. Not unlike Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void (2009) the central protagonist uses psychedelic drugs to delve deep into the rabbit hole of his psyche in an attempt to capture and control his ‘shadow self’. The German title was appropriated from Fritz Lang’s silent sci-fi classic Metropolis (1927) and, in its original context, referred to the bottom level of the titular tiered city: the domicile of the working classes.

The Nausea of Being expanded on these ideas, rising, as it were, from the depths and surfacing on a desolate landscape of social destitution, political corruption, alcoholism, murder and religious dogma. Sartre, Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett all greatly influenced me around this time. I remember reading Sarte’s 1938 novel Nausea, where the narrator experienced crippling anxiety in the face of everyday interactions, and thinking that his experiences were not far from my own. Tracks such as Waiting for Godot, Paintstripper Blues and Godemiché echoed the work of the authors above and attempted to illustrate what I saw, at the time, as the core elements of the human condition: alienation, despair, lust, self-destruction.

Peter programmed the drums, played bass and, along with Tomoko, pretty much moulded our sound on these two albums, but the next couple of years saw a period of transition, both in terms of lineup and musical direction. Laura Michelle Smith joined us on drums, adding much needed rhythmic power to the live band dynamic, while Miranda left a short time after that to pursue other interests. Her parting contributions can be heard on Emetophobia (self-released, 2013). This eight-track EP was recorded entirely on GarageBand using drum presets and the inbuilt laptop mic for live instrumentation. Stylistically drawing from Atlas Sound’s Bedroom Databank series and the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s more lo-fi output, Emetophobia is still one of my favourite Sebastian Melmoth albums. The lyrics may be a touch naive and the sound imperfect, but these elements contribute to the album’s overall charm.

Being now in the business of making difficult music we found a couple of labels sympathetic to our way of thinking. After listening to an unsolicited copy of The Nausea of Being, Thomas Martin Ekelund commissioned us to compose thirty minutes of new music for his tape label. The result was In Ruins (Beläten, 2014), which is probably our best and most consistent work. It was described in one review as sounding “like a Britpop version of the Velvet Underground filtered through everything rock saw during the 70s, 80s and 90s”.

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Sebastian Melmoth - Miet Mitzvah

While on the surface In Ruins may appear to be a breakup album, at its core, it is actually a complex study of fanaticism, personality cults and terrorism. Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry’s account of the Manson Family murders, Helter Skelter (1974), and Stefan Aust’s The Baader-Meinhof Complex (1985) both fed into the album’s sense of isolation. The latter book, which recounted the history of the Red Army Faction - a far-left West German militant organisation - was particularly influential.

After becoming increasingly fascinated with their story, I rechristened each of us after the main Baader-Meinhof members: Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin & Jan-Carl Raspe. At concerts we wore all black, save for a red armband adorned with an inverted white triangle, and performed theatrical psychedelic noise rock to the general bewilderment of all. While playing Wrong Side of the Sun, for example, I would typically invade the crowd and strangle myself with the microphone cable. This performance had roots in Viennese Actionism, but also functioned as an extension of Guy Debord’s push for the Construction of Situations. What we were trying to say was that all forms of fanaticism are dangerous, irrespective of their ideological origins, but I’m not certain whether this came across particularly well.

By this time we were regularly rehearsing in a garage underneath the A104 in east London. It was a cold, dark and unforgiving place. Apparently, the space had been an illicit marijuana farm before it became a rehearsal room. With notable latency, this knowledge trickled down to the local gangsters and the garage was broken into on a few occasions. Finding nothing but piles of cheap guitars, broken amplifiers and no marijuana our new friends left the place alone, but not before holding our besieged landlord up at knifepoint. Tensions in the band were also on the rise. Laura and myself were becoming more interested in musique concrète, graphic scores and improvisation, while Peter didn’t like this new direction at all, feeling that our strengths lay in songwriting and the traditional band dynamic.

It was against this background that our last two full length albums were recorded: Felix Culpa (OKVLT, 2015) and Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta (Must Die Records, 2016). We worked on these projects in parallel in an attempt to appease our diverging interests.

Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta is a garage rock record that nodded to our punk rock influences while also including elements of surf, psych and noise. The record title is a reference to a council of Senior Aboriginal Women from the town of Coober Pedy, South Australia who protested against the Australian government dumping radioactive waste on their land. Coober Pedy, which translates from the local Aboriginal language as “white man’s hole”, is not only famous for its opal, but also the fact that many of its residents live underground to escape the scorching daytime heat. Having spent our fair share of time writing music underground, we felt companionship with these people. Peter wanted an accurate reflection of the band as a live unit and, I suppose, the album manages to achieve that (some of the drum tracks were actually multitrack recordings from our concerts). The production is far from perfect, but the energy is there, which, in the context of a garage rock album, is probably more important than fidelity.

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Sebastian Melmoth - Rooftop Surfing

Felix Culpa (Latin, happy fall) took on a slightly different approach. The majority of these songs were created during intense and heated sessions. Improvisation played a key role in its construction, but so did William Burroughs style cut-ups, digital manipulations and field recordings. At its heart, Felix Culpa explored the nature of the Fall: a condition of living in a permanent state of exposure; of opening oneself up to the Other. According to Slavoj Žižek, "the ultimate Event is the Fall itself, the loss of some primordial unity and harmony which never existed, which is just a retroactive illusion" (Event, 2014). Just like Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, this project also served to reflect what the band was at that particular moment in time: fractured, vulnerable and on the brink of disbanding. The album cover shows Gerhard Halbritter’s photograph of Andreas Baader’s death mask, which hints to the viewer that the creative drive behind Sebastian Melmoth had largely ceased to operate.

Each of our studio releases aimed to depart from the last. Not repeating ourselves was another key principle of the band. Towards the end, however, I began to feel that we were doing just that. I also felt that my songwriting had become contrived and breaking out of that mould was not an option supported by everyone. Additionally, I became uncomfortable with some of the characters in my lyrics. Songs such as Prosopagnosia or Foedi Oculi employ elements of sexism, sadism, oppression and violence in order to highlight the abhorrence of such actions. Even though I saw the explorations of these themes as a contemporary take on Maturin’s gothic horror, as time went on, it became increasingly difficult for me to justify them.

Our last show was at a tiny Clapton bar called Biddle Bros, in the summer of 2017. In my opinion, the show went better than expected. At that point we hadn’t rehearsed much or played live in a while. Peter disagreed. He felt that we lost something crucial along the way. Where once we had been theatrical, now we were just plodding along. I wasn’t convinced. Theatre is an open-ended format that can allow for modest gestures as well as flamboyant ones. We were coming from different directions and refusing to meet each other halfway. Peter was citing David Bowie and I was referencing Fluxus and Bertolt Brecht. At its core, this argument - not our first or last, but certainly our most public one - was saturated by our personal and professional expectations of one another. These expectations weren’t always met and neither of us were open to what the other person wanted. Whatever odd bits we had recorded around this time were self-released as an outtakes compilation called Devotional Songs for the Digital Age, in late 2018.

Not long after all of this, Olf van Elden aka Interstellar Funk reached out with a proposal to compile our more electronic cuts together on vinyl. We christened this new album The Dynamics of Vanity (Artificial Dance, 2019). The title is both a comment on culture's obsession with rehashing the past - the subject matter of Simon Reynolds's book Retromania (2010) - and our own personal navel-gazing. The title references a collage I had made as an art student that mocked the fashion industry's depiction of male underwear models. To my mind, they resembled intricate amphorae paintings and Hellenistic bronzes of Greek antiquity.

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Sebastian Melmoth - Icarus

Although The Dynamics of Vanity is not a studio album, we approached its production with the same attention to detail as we would any other record. For the cover, we wanted to get across the stark, archaic beauty of the human body in motion. Stripped, Rammstein’s appropriation of Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia (1938) was the main reference point, but so too were Andy Stott’s album covers, namely Luxury Problems and Too Many Voices. After some initial back and forth, the Amsterdam-based Australian designer Steele Bonus rendered these ideas in a post-punk fashion suited to our sound and aesthetic.

As we dug through our hard drives compiling the album, we unearthed a few unreleased remixes made by Peter and Tomoko. We decided to weave these rediscovered tracks into a new project, Imaginary Futures (MFZ Records, 2020), a record that reimagined our back catalogue as a suite of rave-ready dancefloor fillers.

While the album title, which alludes to the lost potential of disparate creative outcomes, was borrowed from Richard Barbrook’s 2007 book charting the emergence of the internet, it was the production, remix and DJ work of Andrew Weatherall that was the key inspiration for the our approach. The album’s flow and concept loosely mirrors Weatherall’s treatment of Primal Scream’s source material for Screamadelica, which itself resulted in their pivotal marriage of rock and acid house. The idea for the album was set before Weatherall’s passing, but his departure helped to calcify the direction of the mix.

Musically, our last two albums are pretty cohesive, despite the fact that they are both compilations and the material on them isn’t strictly new. They are collections of snapshots, taken over our decade-long recording history, that are bridged together by new contexts. The Dynamics of Vanity was curated by Olf and the bulk of Imaginary Futures was remixed by Peter and Tomoko, and my personal contributions to these projects was limited to administrative tasks, design and artwork consultation. That being said, they are fair representations of who we were: not ‘Best Ofs’ or ‘Worst Ofs’, but ‘Sort Ofs’.

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Sebastian Melmoth - Accidentally Grotesque (DTT Mix)

Much like the albums described above, this essay is merely a rendering of our story and far from the whole picture. The text is not intended to be canonical. Many events, people and releases have been omitted for the benefit of readability. What I hope the text does is provide some background of our origins, processes and motivations.

As mentioned before, we haven’t played live or recorded anything new since 2017 and I doubt that we will do either of those things again. After fourteen years of nurturing the same idea, it has come to a point where I have said everything there is to say in this particular format. I have enjoyed developing this band with my many friends, and seeing it change over the years, but it’s finally time for us all to move on to other projects and for Sebastian Melmoth to cease his aimless wandering.

The Dynamics of Vanity is out now on Artificial Dance. Imaginary Futures is available via MFZ Records. Follow Sebastian Melmoth on Facebook and Instagram.

Ilia Rogatchevski

#sebastian melmoth #artificial dance #mfz records #artem barkhin #imaginary futures #The Dynamics of Vanity #new wave #post punk #experimental

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spindashed · 7 years

Video

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1dV4YriZVM)

Over time, if you follow my blog, you will see me write “counter articles” in response to the fandom, and non-fandom videos, reviews... etc.

Lets begin!

1.) “Have an actual story this time.” I can partially agree with this. I do agree that having a in-depth story per console game adds to the value of the experience. More so than stories that are short and simplistic. Sonic Unleashed had an amazing story, and it’s gameplay was great! I loved the daytime stages, and I personally LOVED the nighttime stages too!(The werehog was a nice touch, it gave flavour to the story, and it had a very “God of War” vibe to it, both the game mechanics and the fact that you had to solve puzzles.. Huge points from myself especially since I love the God of war series.) That said! phrasing your first rant with: “Have an actual story this time.” Is quite an ignorant statement..

I strongly feel you’re grasping at straws with this one, because I could easily sit here and list the “actual stories” from each game. Sure some games had shorter plots, or plots that weren’t seriously in-depth like Unleashed, but there are stories there. Saying otherwise is just straight up ignorant. Besides! Sometimes simplicity is best.

2.) “Only put fan favourite characters in the game’s story if it’s for a legitimate purpose, however, no more of the ‘The adventures of Sonic and Tails’.” This one is a funny subject. When Sega had Sonic’s friends in game as playable’s, there came a point where people were LITERALLY bitching and complaining about how they’re so sick and tired of Sonic’s friends!!!! That all they wanted was “SONIC” as a playable..

Now that Sonic has been the only playable in most games, fans are now complaining about how they want Sonic’s friends back.. Smh.

For some fans, having certain characters as playable’s (I.e. Shadow.), would bring a lot of joy... Fortunately with myself, I’ve been a Sonic fan since 1991, and usually have a preference to only use Sonic, so I’m personally happy with Sonic only games. But my personal preference aside; I think it’s safe to say fans of specific characters would be far happier to see their favourites appear even if they are NPC’s (Non playable characters) oppose to them not appearing whatsoever.. In my personal opinion, I’d say if Sega/Sonic Team decide to have a NPC appear, they should have them doing something, even if it’s an Easter egg kind of thing in the background for fans to catch.

3.) “Don’t reply too much on nostalgia.” Alright! Green Hill Zone crybabies need to get over themselves. Wahhh, Green Hill Zone is back... Why! Wahhhh.. Are you sure you’re even a Sonic fan? The Green Hill Zone was LITERALLY the FIRST stage in the series! It was brought back, because it’s timeless it’s iconic just like Sonic himself. The Green Hill Zone is like Mario’s Mushroom Kingdom, like Cloud Strife’s Midgard, like Link’s Hyrule... I can go on.. Not to mention: It has COMPLETE justification to reappear in Sonic Forces, considering it’s where Classic Sonic spends a lot of his time. (This has been verified by direct source: “Sonic revisit GHZ often, because he really likes that Zone.”)

If Classic Sonic is brought back to the present time, where else would you expect him to be found? Gtfo.

(Green Hill Zone) “A lot of us are getting sick of it..”

Speak for yourself. I should also note, the most vocal fans in our fandom, often also tend to be the haters.. The same crybabies that whine about everything.(Wahhh Sonic’s eyes are green. Wahhh Sonic’s arms are blue...)

4.) “Stage to stage is fine, but if you’re gonna have a hub don’t be lazy with it.”

a.) I loved Sonic Unleashed too. I give you that.

b.) If you actually played the game in full, and paid attention to the concept of the story, you’d understand that the hub world stages being completely “white” was justified, and even when you bring life back into it, the background stays white because Time Eater FUCKING ATE TIME!

If there is nothing left in existence other than pocket zones (a.k.a the hub worlds.), it’s either going to be white space, or black space. Deal with it.

c.) Sonic Generations was one of the best games of the modern era... I think based on what the game was in it’s overall entirety, we can cut the hub world’s details some slack. Besides, what glorious games have you made? Talk is cheap, remember this.

5.) “No stupid cringe worthy jokes.” Alrighty, I can agree with this one. Knowing how to blend good humour in with the right action and seriousness is key for greatness.

I feel that because Sega has begun aiming the games at a younger audience, despite the fact that the younger audience of today actually play the same “serious” games that we adults play.. The jokes can come off a bit much sometimes. I’ve been a long time reader of the Archie comics (Which I’m sad to see it’s probably been canceled.) That said, I’d enjoy seeing Ian Flynn write for Sonic games, I think he’d be a wicked asset to the games.

6.) “If you’re going to have Wisps be more creative and actually make them fun.” I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again! For people who ACTUALLY play the games.. They obviously served a purpose in “Sonic Colours” storyline.

It was literally explained in “Sonic Runners”, why the Wisps were still in Sonic’s world. (After the events of Sonic Colours, some Wisps liked Sonic’s world so much, they decided to stay on earth/mobius.)

In Sonic Lost World, they were completely optional to use or not. Plus Wisps are basically items/power ups. KEY WORDS: “Optional to use.”

I don’t see anyone complaining about it when Mario uses his reoccurring power ups, so why must Sonic fans be so cringe.. And lastly, I’m starting to think people in our fandom are headass af.. This time around, in Sonic Forces, the Wisps aren’t there like they have been in the past. They are now “Wispons” as in they power up “Avatar’s” gadgets. (Maybe spend less time complaining, and pay a little more attention to the content revealed.. smh.)

The fact that people are actually complaining about basically an item/power up, which the Wisps literally are; is as headass beyond words as can be..

7.) “Make sure the custom character feature lives up to the hype.”

a.) Sega literally stated “Avatar” (Which is what Sega calls him/her.) plays a heavy role in the events/story of Sonic Forces. Again you would know this if you actually paid attention over flapping lips.

b.) Sega/Aaron Webber also literally stated that the Avatar character doesn’t actually talk, voice actors have been hired, and they do grunt and have voicing to some extent. This may or may not be something that will change. But as far as things go at the moment, they won’t have any real lines.

c.) Avatar is each person’s PERSONAL OC, which literally means, if Avatar doesn't live up to the hype, you as a player failed. Sega is simply giving fans a tool, it’s up to the fans on how to use it.

8.) “Have a Super Sonic final boss fight.” I agree having Super Sonic in the games is fun, mostly because I love Sonic including each of his forms.. But I find this one ironic, because you were literally just complaining about how Green Hill Zone has been back too many times, and how the Wisps were back again.. And yet you want “Super Sonic” to be just that. (Perfect example of the crybaby logic at it’s best.) Thank you for proving my point. *Thumb up!*

9.) “Try as hard as you possibly can to not make the game short.” I think you should go try to make your own game. It’s easy to talk, but if you have no experience in the industry that’s quite the ignorant statement man.. But don’t get me entirely wrong. I understand where you’re coming from. Games are not cheap these days, and feeling like we have some good content to really dig deep into goes a long way.

10.) “No stupid power up that spawns when you die too much so you can skip ahead to the next checkpoint. Not only does activating it happen on accident, but it’s like the game is holding my hand.” It’s funny, because Mario games have an option where if you die around 3 times, you have the option to let Luigi complete the stage for you. (I.e. skip the stage.) And no one complains about that. The only catch from what I understand is skipping a stage in a Mario game will keep you from unlocking everything in-game. I think it’s a pretty fair, or good optional thing to have.

11.) “Either change Sonic’s Voice or Roger Craig Smith Improves.” Jason Griffin was one of my favourite voice actors, no doubt! But Roger isn’t all that bad. Not to mention the voice actors do actively try to improve, but they’re also doing what Sega directs them to do. As far as I’m concern, this is a complaint based on bias, and is not worthy of the “my opinion” title.

12.) “Have a moment in the story that somewhat shocks the player.” Plot twist are great, but when you have fans that wear the “expect card” right on their forehead, even if Sega comes up with a pretty good plot twist, I’m sure the fans will find something to complain about. (Notice 99% of your video is a big complaint?)

13.) ”Have Unleashed-esque presentation.” I can agree with you on how epic Sonic Unleashed was all day. And I would love a “Unleashed-esque” presentation/depth to all the games. But lets be real, you and I both know the loud people in our fandom will find something to complain about regardless.

14.) “Don’t be kiddy.” I’ve been saying this one for a long time now. Sonic should always be catered to us long time old fans. The younger fans will come into the fandom on their own.

One of the hottest games for people was the “Call of Duty” games. Despite being rated for the older crowd, I cannot begin to tell you how many underaged kids were playing these.

My point is, kids like what we older fans like. (I should also note, I have never cared for the COD games.)

15.) “Make the gameplay more open than in previous games.” “Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric” was an open world game.

It was also meant to be a much fuller and in-depth game, but due to being rushed, and having to have massive game content cuts, it ended up being what it was. (Check out Sonic Synergy. What Sonic Boom RoL was meant to be, and it looks amazing.)

16.) “Fix the Ranking System.” This is the first time I’ve heard anyone complain about the rank system...

This one is also a ironic one, because if you check out the Mario games, those games are some of the easiest brain dead games you can play..... People eat them up, and yet when Sonic is time to time easier going, it’s a bad thing? Smh.

17.) “Fix the Ranking system animations.” This one is a bit better of an opinion. I did enjoy how Sonic would react to the rank in Unleashed, and how the music was dictated based on your play quality.

(I feel this one was an actual constructive criticism. Thus I accept this one.)

18.) “Have Crush 40.” There have been a few games without Crush 40 that had some real great OSTs. “Sonic Unleashed” was one of them. What I will say with this one is: I’d love more rock and even metal tracks in future games..

19.) “Have actual boss fights this time.” I’m pretty sure we’ll get a good serving of decent boss fights with Sonic Forces.

20.) “Fix the Classic Sonic Physics.” a.) Plenty of people wanted Classic Sonic back. And when Sega brought him back, being true to the cringe our fandom is judged on, the crybabies haters started pushing the bandwagon for all who wanted a ride...

b.) Classic Sonic had pretty damn well the play style he had in the classic games, I think you’ve lost your damn mind.

(*Note: I should add, anyone who dislikes Classic Sonic is headass. Without Classic Sonic, there would be no Modern Sonic. Respect the roots.)

21.) “Don’t make the final boss Eggman.” I’m not sure if I want to slap you or strangle you for this one.

Eggman is Sonic’s fucking nemesis. Get over yourself. Mario has Bowser, Cloud has Sephiroth, Ryu has Bison, Megaman has Dr.Wily, Blah blah blah blah.. The list goes on forever.

Every Super hero has his main villain. And it’s not ALWAYS Eggman. Sonic has fought other main bosses just as equally as everyone else in their own respective games.

22.) “Eliminate the lives system.” SMFH! That’s all I can do for this one.

This is by far one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I guess every other game best get rid of the lives system too right? Get the fuck outta here.

24.) “Put the Chaos Emeralds in the story.” Adding the Chaos Emeralds for the sake of adding them for what tiny fan service addition they give to the story, just like throwing in Super Sonic for the mere fan service would be literally no different from just throwing random Sonic friends into the story for mere fan service, your arguments are literally contradictory as fuck. Smh.

25.) “No false Advertising.” As mentioned earlier: Sonic Boom was what it was strictly because the game was rushed, and “Big Red Button” literally got a last minute notice that it was for the weaker system compared to what they had been making it for. Thus the game had significant content cuts, and was released incomplete.

Hence why Sega literally gave a public apology.

26.) “Bring back humans to raise the stakes.” Humans have both appeared and been absent across games. This will not make a difference to overall game quality so once again, this is a ridiculous complaint.

27.) Just make a good Sonic game please, is that too much to ask?” a.) Sonic fan’s expressing their opinions makes the game better ONLY if it’s constructive criticism! The games will not ever be better when the bitching and complaining is void of a positive point to improve said game. (i.e. “the constructive” part.).

b.) “I call it actually caring.” *See 27a. If you still cannot comprehend that, might I suggest getting a cat scan?

28.) “I’m in grade school.” Why is it, school kids always seem to think they know it all. lmao.

29.) “This is not a Sonic hate video.” Than how about making a video with a overall positive tone. This entire video was nothing but the same tired bs.. Complain, complain, complain.

Try talking about what you love, and if you’re going to give constructive criticism, back it up with a positive fix.

This fandom is already far too full of haters, and bandwagon riders that can’t think for themselves, we don’t need any more of that cringe.

“Sonic is my SECOND favourite game franchises.” Of course it is.

*Closing Note: The Sonic hate, complaining for the sake of complaining, and constant negative tone with out purposeful point is tired af guys. It’s also far from cool. Don’t be a bandwagon baby.

If you are in this fandom, and all you think of is negativity when Sonic comes to mind, it’s time to leave the fandom and never come back.

#video response #Fandom counter article #sonic facts

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theclarkystuff-blog · 7 years

Text

Yoshi's Wooly World

In 2011 when courting with my wife, we enjoyed a summer of various games with co-op options, which for most part ended on the Wii, one of those games which brought us the most joy was Kirby’s Epic Yarn. I found this to be a beautiful game with its quilt and patch art style and combined with the usual high quality found within Kirby games. While I had a great time with this game alongside my wife, the game was met with its critics, feeling the game was either too short or easy, despite these views Kirby’s Epic Yarn would go on to be one of the Wii’s highlights during its lifetime and Good-Feel was already talking about making another game but with Mario taking the starring role this time. Fast forward to 2013 and during a Nintendo Direct we are given an unveiling of Yarn Yoshi, a new Yoshi adventure coming out on Wii U, this game would remain on the quiet side for the best part of 2 years before re-emerging as Yoshi’s Woolly World, employing a different look based on woolly toys and art & crafts the game bore a similar appearance to Sony’s own Little Big Planet. Yoshi in his own respective of games has gone through highs and lows, ranging from Yoshi’s Island, released during the Snes twilight years powered on the SuperFX2 chip which made this game look like it could have been an early PS1 or Saturn game. The series has had several successors on N64, DS and 3DS, I always felt that the series had not managed to capture the charm nor challenge of the original until now.

In 2015 Nintendo would finally release Yoshi’s Wooly World with a 3DS port released later in 2017, renamed now as Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World. With the new port released I decided it was about time to finally finish the game after picking it up and dropping it various times. Booting into the game we are told that Baby Bowser has sent henchman Kamek to turn Yoshi and his friends into bundles of yarn and hidden them around neighboring islands, leaving it up to you and Yoshi's abilities to conquer obstacles and foes in which to take the battle to Baby Bowser personally. Getting control of the game you are thrown into a hub world, connecting all the islands you will explore and displaying various highlighted posts from the Miiverse, a feature also used in the loading screens to showcase art made by its players and provide hints like what to look out for. There are various tents found in this hub world which allow us to change the look of our Yoshi to another design which can be unlocked in game or the ability to scan certain Amiibo’s which will unlock various Yoshi’s based upon a look of whichever one you scanned, so if a Sonic or Pac-Man coloured Yoshi ever appealed to you, this would be your moment. While a lot of people have found Amiibo to be a new form of DLC locked behind a toy I was comfortable with the Amiibo support in this game as it was more merely a cosmetic bonus rather than a paywall holding back any game play based content like levels, the only other use they seem to have in game is making a second Yoshi appear during story mode to assist.

In game has support for various controllers ranging from the Wii U Pro Controller, Wiimote and Classic Controller, I ended up mainly playing with a Wiimote Motion Plus controller due to the extra control option found in it to aim eggs using the gyro for quick and accurate aiming. Before loading out for a level you can decide if you would like the assistance of a badge power, these badges can grant you temporary stats to help you either complete or find secrets in levels, while I can imagine these skills could maybe enhance a second play through or help younger or inexperienced players, I never really saw the appeal of them for my play through. In game we play through various islands containing levels which will require you to explore, defeat enemies and make your way to a goal post, dotted throughout the levels are jewels, flowers, wool and stars which will increase your health, finding all of these in a level will unlock features such as new Yoshi’s or a bonus game. The bonus games found in this tend to be based around small timed events which see you trying to collect fruits or jewels or overcome obstacles, while I found bonus rooms in the middle of the levels to be more fun, due to them mainly being vehicle based levels or new forms like becoming a mermaid, I found the bonus game at the end of each level to be a bit boring, as the bonus jewels feel somewhat redundant. The worlds vary on theme traditionally seen in platform games such as forests to tropical islands, lava worlds and ice domains, all of which contain there expected obstacles such as slippery surfaces, underwater caverns and wide pits. With previous Yoshi games I have found the difficulty to never quite be right, either being too easy or for some entries having certain levels which were either designed bad or just with weird difficulty spikes. Woolly World however manages to capture a balanced difficulty, very similar to the original Yoshi’s Island, from the every start the game is easy and forgiving while it allow you to become comfortable with your skills but the end you will need to master the flutter jump and various other skills to complete levels and defeat boss battles later on.

The co-op mode in this one I found to be better implemented than the likes of New Super Mario Bros Wii which I have found a bit too chaotic with the game moving usually at a fast pace and having 4 players on screen at once was just a bit too much for me, but with this game encouraging players to take things a little bit slower and to explore your surroundings to find collectibles or hidden areas, I just felt this game benefited more from that however there is no online play, while this may have been a great option for many I honestly think this game would be better played with someone beside you. Being able to work with a friend to unlock get to hidden areas which may normally require more skill is always great fun and can cause silly moments where you may eat your partner but this can provide an easy way to carry an ally over a tricky platform section which may give your partner problems. If the game proves to be too challenging for maybe younger or inexperienced players a Mellow Mode option exists which makes Yoshi invincible and gives him unlimited flight, a similar feature seen recently in New Super Mario Bros series and Donkey Kong Country Returns, while these options are maybe controversial to certain “gamers” I found no problem with these options being in the game, if these help players enjoy the game and be able to see all the levels, fair play, I never needed the option so I can’t really pass any comment on it.

Good-Feel has managed to take what made Yoshi’s Island into a great game and stitch it together in a game which I feel is good enough to stand up alongside the original, with its varied and challenging level design, well placed secrets and easy accessibility while leaving out various elements which may have dragged it down like character gimmicks or crying babies tied to a health system. This game was never going to save the Wii U but it did become one of the few shiniest gems the system offered, while it is now one of the many gems of the 3DS it is a game I was very happy to experience due to its wonderful art-style and fantastic level design, I enjoyed it enough that I would be happy to try the 3DS port one day just to experience the game again in 3D and that I am curious to see how the 3DS handles Wii U ports, as I felt a little disappointing in the ambitious port of Hyrule Warriors to 3DS. This comes highly recommended by me if you need a break from mainstream gaming or if you want to just have simple fun with a friend.

#nintendo #wii u #yoshi #yarn yoshi #nintendo 3ds #3ds #nintendo 3dsxl #n3ds #new 3ds #nintendo 2ds #2ds xl #new 2ds #wii u games #kirbys epic yarn #good-feel #wii

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commenter2 · 7 years

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ideas/suggestions Insomniac should consider using for Ratchet & Clank games (warning long list )

About 9 months ago I made a post that questioned what would happen next for the Ratchet & Clank franchise (here is the link if you want to read it http://commentron.tumblr.com/post/145432109598/whats-next-for-the-ratchet-clank-franchise). Since I have been making and posting a lot of my ideas on various things, I thought I make another one about ideas I have that I think have the potential to be in a Ratchet & Clank game, or just suggestions about certain things that the people at Insomniac should consider.

Insomniac shouldn’t try and use anything from the R&C reboot into the current R&C universe- I have noticed that Insomniac Games tend to reuse old materials from old games, like weapons, species and enemies, and reuse them in news games, or in some cases expand on them a bit. For example, after A4O (though happening in ACiT as well) several weapons like the Combuster, Warmonger, and Mr. Zurkon have been reused in games. Not enough, after Terachnoids were mentioned in briefly TOD they were a big part in ACiT and had parts in other games and the comics, same goes for the Zoni, who were a mysterious race as well as the secret Great Clock but after ACiT they were mentioned a lot more in future games to the point where the Zoni were a type of religion (even having saying like “for the love of Zoni”). The biggest example is that after All 4 One, things like the art style, some pictures, and even enemies from the game were used in later games as well, like FFA and ITN (though to be fair there have been other enemies that have been reused in other R&C games).

Knowing this I fear that after the release of the reboot, Insomniac will try and put things from reboot, like the new characters, enemies, and the plot of that game into the current R&C universe, which I think they shouldn’t as it could mess with the continuity of the series big time.

That’s why I think Insomniacs should just make the reboot game, and any other possible reboot games in the future, take place in an alternate universe, which should please fans both fans of the current R&C universe and the reboot universe.

More Ratchet & Talwyn moments- If you follow me on tumblr or deviantart, you may know that I am a big fan of Ratchet & Talwyn (or what fans of the ship call it Talchet) however not that many people know of there relationship, mostly because the relationship wasn’t confirmed until a panel at a gaming convention (here is the link to it if you want to watch, go start at 15:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXj8NJULu0).

Sure there are moments in the videogames and comic book series that show there feeling for each other but I feel like there should be more, not only to show that they are in the relationship to people that don’t know or believe it exist but also please the fans that do know there in a relationship. This can be fixed easily by putting in more romantic moments with Ratchet & Talwyn in the games, like flirting, or kissing, or even people mentioning there relationship in the games, one example is Qwark giving Ratchet romantic advice and/or sometimes tease Ratchet about not being one of the single guys anymore like him and Clank.

A Gadget that could be used as a weapon- After thinking back on old Ratchet & Clank games I remembered that some games have a gadget or two that could be used in combat in someway, like the Sonic Summoner, Refractor, and the Glob Lobber, so I thought maybe Insomniac should do this again. This got me thinking of my next idea.

A Flamethrower/Freeze ray combo weapon- I’ve noticed that in most of the Ratchet & Clank games there is always some type of Flamethrower or Freeze weapon in them, this got me think that what if Insomniac made a weapon that is part Flamethrower and part Freeze ray.

I could see it as having the same appearance as the Incinerator, mostly the part of it having the 2 nozzles that are stacked above each other. One shoots fire and the other that shoots frost, and every time after the weapon is used, the gun switches nozzles. Still don’t get it, lets say the first time you use it, it shoots fire. After your done using it the nozzles rotate, so that the next time you use the weapon, it shoots frost.

As I said at the end of the previous idea, I can also see this as a type of gadget as well, as it could be used to burn fallen trees or blocks of ice to get to places, or used to freeze bodies of water, make ice platforms, and put out burning fires.

Give characters more development/screen time- I have noticed that some characters have been put into the background, some characters that come to mind are Big Al, Aphelion, and Talwyn Apogee, and I am worried that they will be written out for good over time, but I have some ideas on how to fix it.

For Big Al I see him being a part of a game that either takes place in the Solana galaxy or be in the Polaris galaxy at the time for some reason, like a vacation or thinking of opening another store there. I could see him being the one who starts the “collect all RYNO plans” mission and builds it for Ratchet or having a part of helping Ratchet save the galaxy from the villain of the day by giving them either gadget they need or be like the gangs technical support and give Ratchet advice on how to get into places or how to use gadgets he obtains. He could also be good for the trilogy idea I mentioned in my previous post, where he helps Ratchet and the others stop Tachyon and his forces by not only using his knowledge to providing gadgets/devices as well as ship upgrades to Ratchet but also help find clues to find what stopped Tachyons forces the first time.

Aphelion should be a bigger part of the series cause not only is she the only true thing that remains of the Lombaxes to Ratchet but she is also used a lot by Ratchet & Clank but rarely has any lines or have a true role in a game. I was thinking she should talk to Ratchet and the other characters more. Maybe in one case, she teaches Ratchet something about the Lombaxes, or gives air support on ground missions but Ill get to that idea later. Maybe if Insomniac does another trilogy, like my return of Tachyon idea, maybe she uses her knowledge of the Lombaxes to help Ratchet find a clue to defeat Tachyon.

Then there is Talwyn Apogee, an important character who is not only a lot like Ratchet in a way, via a fighter, parentless, and good with machines, but also his girlfriend. She also has a lot of potential and tons of stories she could be a part of, one is finally solving the Max Apogee mystery and one of her getting over her lost of Cronk and Zephyr, maybe by going on an adventure to save Ratchet (another idea I had a while ago http://thenicecommenter.deviantart.com/journal/Ratchet-and-Clank-video-game-idea-278449290).

Bring back the use of the kinetic tether- In QFB, we were introduced to the kinetic tether, an upgrade to Ratchet’s wrench that not only grant him/the player the ability to latch the wrench onto objects to do various things, like move objects from distances, but also gave his wrench the look it has today. Sadly the gaming mechanic so far has only been used in 2 games and well as appear in one of the R&C comics. I just feel like with all the things Insomniac put into there games, they should at least try to put in the concept as well, even if it means cutting back on other things like Swingshot obstacles, maybe make it as a key item you need to use it to find collectibles.

Change the Grind boots, Gravity Boots, and Hoverboots back to there normal designs- Ever since A4O I have noticed that the following boots have changed in design dramatically to the point where they all look the same in appearance with the exceptions of having different colors. At first I thought it was just a result of the new designs the people at the newly opened Insomniac building was doing for the games (like A4O, FFA, and ITN) but after playing the R&C reboot game I noticed that they did the same thing for that games Grind boots and Magne boots.

Now I am willing to let go of the Grind boots and Gravity/Magne boots but changing the Hover boots is something I can’t let go of. They are relatively new in the franchise yet they change for some unexplained reason in Full Frontal Assault, sure they made it so that Ratchet’s shoes on his average outfit look like the old Hover boots design but still.

They should either make them look like what they did in ACiT or change it so that they don’t look like the other boots and give a small explanation on why they look different. My suggestion is that they say Ratchet (as the Smuggler said in TOD) decided to make them better so he reverse engineered the new pair from his old ones, however he was able to save the original boots and now wears them as regular boots in remembrance to not only his father but also Alister Azimuth. This could also explain why whenever he appears in his classic outfit, that was introduced in TOD, he wears boots that look like his old Hoverboots.

Have story DLC for the games- In this day and age most games offer additional downloadable content for people to buy to have more fun with said game, and the Ratchet & Clank franchise does this to but on rare occasion and when they do its mostly to get a weapon or armor. On several occasions I have noticed that it would have been an interesting and profitable concept to include a DLC that adds more to the game’s plot. One example of this is ITN, it would have been interesting to have played a level about the events that led to the capture of Vendra Prog, instead we got an app called Before the Nexus. Another example is the R&C reboot, unlike the original, the reboot lacks several planets/areas from it and having a DLC where you could go to some of the cut planets would have been fun. The story for that could be that unlike in the movie (spoiler alert) Drek survives and gather his forces to get some more items to complete his planet, which in the end leads to R&C fighting Drek like in the original game.

A weapon upgrade hunt side mission- This idea I got from looking back at QFB and ACiT, as well as Wolfenstein: The New Order. For the past few games now there has been a side mission where you can look for the all the holo plans of a RYNO so you can make it into a useable weapon but what if the game designers did a twist on this.

What if in a game Ratchet obtains a rifle like blaster as a reward for completing a mission, or as a prize from a combat tournament. It turns out the gun has several weapon upgrades to it, each making the weapon stronger in some way (like rapid fire, a refractor turning the one blast into multiple blast, and something that makes the blast more powerful) but they were discontinued as having all the upgrades on the weapon made it too powerful and dangerous, just like a RYNO. This causes a side mission where you can go to planets to gather all the weapon upgrades to build the super weapon. Also maybe instead of getting a scene or Ratchet holding the found upgrade into the air we get a scene of Ratchet adding the upgrade into the weapon.

Don’t make a “get all skill points” trophy- I mention this before briefly in my first R&C idea post but I just want to point it out again. In the HD Collection, all the games had a trophy where you had to unlock all the skill points to get it, to me this was a hassle to unlock especially since some skill points are a pain to get. If Insomniac ever does another collection they SHOULD NOT do this, especially considering some of the skill points in TOD and ACiT are a hassle (especially in TOD).

Reuse gadgets ?- Since Insomniac Games has been reusing weapons in the past few games then maybe they should do it with some gadgets as well, not counting the gadgets Ratchet always carries around though. One example is the Geo-laser the Zoni gave to Clank in TOD, I could see it coming back as a tools to get through places, maybe some of which lead to collectibles like Gold bolts. Another tool is a hacking device since there hasn’t been one in a game since TOD (not counting the one in the pS4 reboot game). Another gadget I can see returning is a hacking gadget like the Hacker or Decryptor, as the hacking feature hasn’t been used in a R&C game (besides the reboot) since Tools of Destruction, plus having an old hacking gadget would be easy to put in both design/code wise.

Multi-step boss fights- I’ve been thinking about boss fights and I have noticed that there are some boss fights where you go through obstacles while you fight the boss, some that come to mind are the fights with Momma Tyhrranoid, the VX-99, and the boss fight with Mr. Eye. I was thinking that they should do more of these in future games, as it’s a good change from just shooting at the boss. I had an interesting idea that is sort of a bit like the VX-99 boss but bigger. In this fight after shooting at it for a bit, Ratchet gets eaten by a giant matter eating robot (kinda like Unicron from the Transformers franchise) but instead of dying Ratchet escapes, and while inside destroys some of the robots vital parts to stop/slow down its rampage and after destroying a few of its important parts finds a way to get out and escapes but the robot is still active and tries to kill him so Ratchet must fight him via the shoot boss strategy. This idea could also work for an organic monster as well (except they attack its organs and escape through either one of its orifices from its head or a wound the monster got).

Ratchet using Azimuth’s Praetorian OmniWrench as the melee weapon- We know that Ratchet uses a wrench as his melee weapon but in the R&C comic series you see that he uses Azimuths wrench in the adventure, and I think it would be cool to let him use that in a game. I can see it not only having the same attacks that Ratchet can preform with his normal wrench but also have a feature where after building up attacks Ratchet can release a burst of energy that the Praetorian wrench is known to release. Another feature is that Ratchet can use it to charge generators, which would be an interesting new mechanic for a game.

Bring back “NPC assisting Ratchet & Clank feature”, at least for a game- In games such as UYA, Deadlocked, TOD, and ACIT, there was a feature where a character or characters fought along side Ratchet during fights, some of which were main characters of the game. I liked this feature cause it was a good change from letting Ratchet do all the fighting while the other characters sat by the sidelines. I was thinking the people at Insomniac should bring this feature back for a game, especially if they plan on doing another trilogy. Remember when I mentioned about Aphelion providing air support for Ratchet, they could use that for this feature, I could see there being a gadget/feature that Ratchet could use in big battles, where he could mark where Aphelion could perform airstrikes and in a few seconds she can shoot at the area from the air with a bombardment of laser blast and maybe a missile or two.

What do you think of my ideas, do you find any of them interesting ? What do you think the next Ratchet & Clank game will be like ?

#ratchet and clank #Ratchet & Clank #insomniac games #talwyn apogee #Bi Al #weapons #aphelion #Ratcet

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supaserajupiter · 3 years

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30 Day Sonic Challenge

Day 7. Any characters you wish appeared more in the games?

I had a character in mind but they would be better suited for an answer for a later question. This was a tough one because the most recent game had everybody in it (except Cream 💔) but Team Sonic Racing had everybody. Everyone has been showing up in the games, so really...the only ones I wish appeared more are Ray and Mighty!

Look at these two very good boys!!! T-T

Honestly, I never thought we would see them again, especially with those "missing posters" in Sonic Generations. But now that we got a taste of what this duo can do...I wonder if they'll appear in "classic" games only. Or maybe they'll just be placed into the newer games, no questions asked, like Team Chaotix! And with the two very good boys in the games, the Chaotix crew will be whole again!!! And then we can have a newer version of Knuckles' Chaotix! AND THEN- *foams at the mouth*

The possibilities are endless~! You can't just tease us with these boys and not put them in games! Please, Sonic Team! Don't shove them back into the Closet of Forgotten Characters™️

Day 1. How did you first get into the series (or first game/reaction)?

Day 2. What’s your favorite zone or act, and why?

Day 3. Which game drove you the most insane, or was the most difficult for you?

Day 4. Obligatory favorite character question, and why?

Day 5. Whose abilities do you wish you had the most?

Day 6. Your favorite idle animation from any character.

Day 7. Any characters you wish appeared more in the games?

Day 8. Obligatory favorite game question - what is it, what was your first experience playing it, and why is it your favorite game?

Day 9. Who’s the LAST villain you’d want to fight against?

Day 10. What are some headcanons you’ve developed about a character or something about the games (things that you’ve decided are true that aren’t mentioned by SEGA)?

Day 11. What’s your favorite form of Sonic’s (normal, Super, Hyper, Dark, Darkspine, etc)?

Day 12. Which is an aspect/character of the Sonic world that you wish SEGA would elaborate more on (i.e. that we had more information about)?

Day 13. Your favorite team (from Heroes, Riders, etc)

Day 14. A habit you’ve developed when going through stages (how you deal with a certain obstacle/enemy, tricks to cutting your time, little daredevil stunts here and there, etc.)?a

14 alt. Favorite quote from any of the continuities?

Day 15. Character you feel that you relate the most to?

Day 16. What’s one Sonic game that you think is highly underrated or overlooked?

Day 17. If you were being attacked by Robotnik/Eggman and his badniks, which character would you want to come save you? Which character is the LAST one you’d want to save you?

Day 18. Got any Sonic merchandise?

Day 19. Your favorite piece of music (zone/act music, lyrical stuff, etc).

Day 20. Any moments in any of the continuities that provoked an emotional response from you?

Day 21. Favorite ship?

21 alt. Which Sonic game has the best plot, in your opinion?

Day 22. What’s your favorite type of special or bonus stage, and which is the most infuriating special stage design?

Day 23. If you could live in any of the zones or places (Station Square, Holoska, Angel Island, etc), which would it be and why?

Day 24. What’s your favorite non-game continuity?

24 alt. Is there a non-game continuity you’ve been interested in checking out?

Day 25. Who is one character you would like SEGA to bring back, and one character you want SEGA to drop?

Day 26. Your favorite chao that you raised - what does it look like/why is it your favorite?

Day 27. Something that you wish had never happened in one of the games.

Day 28. Any character that you wish you were best pals with in real life?

Day 29. If SEGA made a Sonic game just for you, what would you want it to be like (your ideal game)?

Day 30. Is there something that the Sonic series has helped you with or taught you?

#30 day sonic challenge #ray the flying squirrel #mighty the armadillo

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aion-rsa · 7 years

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Rap’s Czarface Comes to Life Through Throwback Vinyl-Comic Combo

In “First Weapon Drawn,” debuting Saturday for Record Store Day, rap and comics fans finally learn the secret origin of the dastardly hip-hop heel Czarface in an immersive audio-visual experience that resurrects a nearly forgotten storytelling format, to impressive effect.

It’s a scheme as visionary as any a mad scientist might concoct. In the real world, Czarface is the name of the hip-hop supergroup comprised of legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper Inspectah Deck and veteran underground DJ/MC duo 7L & Esoteric, whose music blends vivid lyrical sparring with equally lavish head-nodding beats. On the page, Czarface is a nefarious antihero akin to the colorful archenemies of comic book and wrestling good guys.

DJ 7L compares the Czarface character to Eddy, Black Sabbath’s mascot, inspiration and avatar. Plainly inspired by classic Jack Kirby heavies like Doctor Doom and Darkseid, artist L’Amour Supreme’s depictions of Czarface have adorned the covers of all of the group’s albums and singles. Czarface’s metallic visage, signature red glove and cape primarily function as conceptual and thematic unifying elements to the music, but the character has been realized in action figures, tie-in comics and even a real-life armor set.

Until now, however, no one has truly known the character’s canonical beginning. And to tell that secret origin, the group wanted to find a way to not only share the tale but bask in its influences.

“Czarface: First Weapon Drawn,” written by Esoteric and drawn by Gilberto Aguirre Mata. Cover, Page 1.

Instead of Inspectah Deck and Esoteric trading barbs over 7L beats, their newest project sees Czarface taking a run at multimedia storytelling. Specially offered as part of the national vinyl-appreciation retail initiative Record Store Day, Czarface’s “First Weapon Drawn” is a throwback-style book and record set that packages a treasury comic detailing the character’s rise (or fall) from a career as a professional wrestler to an energy-crackling supervillain along with a vinyl album that dramatizes and scores the adventure.

CBR has an exclusive preview of the first six pages of the comic, written by Esoteric and illustrated by Gilberto Aguirre Mata, along with a preview of Side A of the Record Store Day release.

The project was modeled after the Power Records albums of the 1970s, which adapted Marvel and DC comics into bombastic read-along stories, with radio-style effects and voice actors. Long before fans could expect to regularly see their favorite super-powered titans in theaters, these albums were what brought characters to life in many readers’ imaginations. To achieve the intended effect, listen to the “First Weapon Drawn” audio while reading the pages, and feel the Czar-force wash over you.

Year One

Almost every supervillain’s origin begins with a slight — or at least a perceived one — and Czarface is no different. 7L & Esoteric had collaborated with Inspectah Deck in the past, but it was 7L who initially suggested they formalize the partnership. Esoteric was skeptical that he and his creative partner of 20 years would be able to land the famed Wu-Tang rapper for an album-length project, but given the chemistry they had all enjoyed on previous tracks, Deck agreed. Then, after Esoteric pitched the Shaolin rhymer on his idea for the group’s potential name and didn’t hear back, he got spooked.

Pages 2-3.

“I remember just talking to him about these different names. I had ‘Czarhead,’ I just wanted to go with something ‘Czar,'” Esoteric told CBR. He grew concerned that he might have offended the rapper he’d admired since hearing the iconic lyric “Swinging through your town like the neighborhood Spider-Man” on Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck” by suggesting a name too close to a contemporary.

Pages 4-5.

“[Czarface] was the one that we thought best fit, and I was like, ‘It kind of sounds like ‘Ghostface,'” Esoteric said, referring to Wu-Tang’s Ghostface Killah. “And I’m thinking, [if] it kind of sounds like Ghostface and he’s not hitting me back … Is he mad?”

But Deck loved it. “It never even crossed his mind,” Esoteric laughed. Ghostface would even go on to be featured on the group’s eponymous first album.

The Physical Challenge

Czarface’s 7L & Esoteric at Hub Comics in Somerville, Mass. (Photo by Sam Williams)

Now, three studio albums later, and Czarface is a phenomenon. After releasing the “A Fistful of Peril” LP in November, the group set sights on their creation’s next chapter. For guidance, 7L & Esoteric looked back to the roots of their friendship. “One of the first things that we connected on, when we first started making records in the early ’90s, was [7L’s] collection of Power Records,” Esoteric said.

They decided to recreate the Power Records sonics-meet-sequential-art experience that they had mutually dug in their youths. “We kind of always toyed with the idea that it would be a cool idea to do one of those,” 7L told CBR. When they began work on what would become “First Weapon Draw,” they had their model. “We tried to craft it, pattern it, model it after the things that inspired us back then.”

As with the action figures and limited-edition CDs they’ve made in the past, the project’s physical element held particular appeal. “We come from that,” 7L explained. “Collecting things and having things, you know — the latest issue comes out, the newest release, or just finding back issues or finding old records. That’s like in our fabric.”

While they understand the realities and conveniences of digital media and delivery, the Czarface guys are decidedly the types to appreciate a good dig in the crates, and the rare treasures that can turn up.

Page 6.

“Me, personally,” Esoteric said, “I don’t want to do anything if it doesn’t come with the physical copy.” Both his music and his comics have their places. “I want to have it and put it in the vault next to the other ones.”

A limited release aimed at drawing people’s focus off their digital devices and toward something decidedly more analogue held special appeal to the group, who had considered limiting their early music to underground, unofficial releases. 7L, the team’s resident vinyl-head, realized Record Store Day would present a unique opportunity to release something their diehards would truly appreciate.

Photo by Sam Williams.

“When we talked about the idea, [we realized] it’d be cool to do something that’s so limited that’s kind of different and specific that it’ll be this collector’s item,” he explained. To craft something worthy of the attention, they split the duties. Esoteric would pen the comic and radio script that told Czarface’s backstory (and lend his voice to the cast), 7L would compose the accompaniment, including a signature “Czarface Theme,” and all three would executive produce the effort.

If any musicians’ work lent itself to such play, it’s Czarface. Their songs are not only littered with shout-outs to the Spandex set, they’re punctuated with audio clips from old records and cartoons and otherwise. 7L cites De La Soul producer Prince Paul as an influence, noting an appreciation for his use of interesting vocal samples. “I think the humor of it with the seriousness of it is a little bit of, not a template, but an inspiration for me as far as approaching certain things,” he explained.

They committed to capturing an authentic feel for the story. “Musically, we really wanted to nail that element of it sounding like it was from back then,” 7L said. “And not being your typical rap beat — more like the source of what people would sample in hip-hop.”

Marvel honored the cover to Czarface’s “Every Hero Needs A Villain,” left, with a hip-hop variant to “Thanos” #1 by Mike Del Mundo

A Hero’s Return

Already at work on their next album, the members of Czarface were given reason to reflect recently when they were included among Marvel’s Black Panther Nation initiative, which saw them profiled in the pages of Ta-Nahesi Coates’ “Black Panther,” and released an accordingly themed song, “All In Together Now.” Not long after, Marvel paid homage to the cover to their second album, “Every Hero Needs A Villain,” with Mike Del Mundo’s hip-hop variant to “Thanos” #1. For a group who grew up loving Marvel comics, it was a significant recognition. Marvel Assistant Editor Chris Robinson even told Esoteric that with the exception of a possible Kid ‘n Play interview in the ’90s, theirs was the first hip-hop artist interview in a Marvel comic.

Appearing in a Marvel comic, and especially having the opportunity to see his son find his father among the the pages, struck a resonant chord with Esoteric. Long before his musical success, the lifelong comics fan had parted with portions of his prized collection to further his creative dreams. “I sold ‘X-Men’ #94, #95, #96 and #97 to pay for studio time,” he shared, referring to the first four issues of writer Chris Claremont’s seminal run on the title.

Then last week, following a European tour, Esoteric returned home to find a box from Marvel containing “X-Men: Blue” #1, “X-Men: Gold” #1 and “Weapon X” #1. The MC said it felt like his creative life had come full circle. Maybe the new issues weren’t worth quite as much as the ones the he sold all those years ago, but it’s difficult to imagine anything more mint and valuable than the way they got there. Better still, his super co-creation could take on those puny X-Men, any day.

Czarface’s “First Weapon Drawn” Book and Record Set can be found through participating Record Store Day retailers.

The post Rap’s Czarface Comes to Life Through Throwback Vinyl-Comic Combo appeared first on CBR.

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