Welcome to Inkbunny...
Allowed ratings
To view member-only content, create an account. ( Hide )
Sonic GeneX: the Series Finale
« older newer »
2BIT
2BIT's Gallery (1109)

Ramblings of a Sonic Fan ("Essay")

Chaos Hearts Ch. 12 (Keyblade Graveyard)
j1.txt
Keywords sonic the hedgehog 56666, fandom 2738, writing 1632, journal 462
Sonic is a vexing franchise to be a fan of. Especially if you're actually into the games and not as invested in the spinoff content. Especially-especially if you find yourself actually liking most of the games and trying to enjoy them, but... then you spend some time on the internet and get 10,000 people in your face telling you why you're an asshole for getting any enjoyment whatsoever out of Sonic Forces. (or, for an easier to understand example; Sonic Adventure.)

And the series runs on kind of an endless cycle within the fandom where one minute a game like Sonic Adventure 2 is hailed as one of the best in the series, the next it's heavily criticized and held as an example of why Sonic was never good, and then later it's a good game yet again. The cycle spins on. Sonic 06 is considered good on some level by some of the fandom now... And you can bet your ass that in 10 years time, people will talk fondly about Forces in spite of how much this game fails. And yes, Forces fails. And yes, I love it on some level.

Even now I find myself falling victim to the odd cycle, asking myself "was Rise of Lyric really THAT bad a game?" Because hey, at least I could play as Tails and Knuckles in it (unlike other games of the era)! … (But yes, Rise of Lyric was very very bad. Worst game in the series in my opinion. No plans to ever play it again.)

I deeply cherish the Sonic the Hedgehog series and it honestly pains me to see the series struggle as it so constantly does. Though I do enjoy other game franchises, Sonic is the only one I think about on a consistent basis ALL the time...the only one I am 100% invested in. I would love to discuss various aspects of the series at length with you good folks, but there really isn't time for it, I could honestly go on and on about the series forever. Maybe this little ramble could open the floor for me to just start these discussions in small chunks... though, I still am unsure where to actually go with it.

I guess in this particular ramble, I just want to express how ridiculous fan hate for Forces and to a lesser extent Team Sonic Racing actually is. Why is it ridiculous? Mainly because we are finding ways to appreciate messes like 06, Shadow the hedgehog, and even Sonic R in this day and age. (Honestly, Sonic R is an absolute mess and aside from the soundtrack having quite the...interesting flavor...I can't understand where all the praise comes from. It's absolutely abysmal as a racing game, that's for sure. It's literally just "pick Sonic to win.")

And if we like 06 now, you KNOW we'll like Forces later. I mean, there's an audience within the fanbase for literally every Sonic game. There are the Adventure fans, the Classic fans, the Heroes fans, Unleashed, Colors, Advance, Black Knight, Rivals, whatever. Someone out there will admit their true passion for Forces when the heat's died down. Will I be there with them? I don't know. Right now I'm kinda meh on Forces. Which is overwhelmingly positive compared to the general consensus. I just find all the negativity very stressful and disheartening... I'd like to see the fanbase bonding over what they like, rather than what they hate. But I have legitimately NEVER seen that, and I've been a Sonic fan since 1991!

But yes, I enjoy something about every game in the series that I've played. Maybe that's something I can discuss in future rambles like this. I don't know. There's certainly a lot to critique in the franchise, too. But I do know one thing...

...and that is, if I'm really serious about doing Sonic rant/discussion/essay things, I will have to upload them as submissions. I'm starting this in a journal but no one will read it, and what is even the point of such a thing if I'm just a cranky old man talking to myself? Besides, it might be nice to get some conversations going.....if there's a chance that they could be calm, polite conversations. Yeah, that doesn't line up with the fandom's reputation...

I've just been wanting to speak for a while, so I decided to do it even if I'm just speaking about nothing. I hope something was somehow insightful.


Part 2

So, I've been thinking a bit more about fandoms. Recently, fandoms seem to have become a bit of a rallying point for insanity. It's funny, it used to pretty much be just the Sonic fandom that was thought of as "crazy," but now there's a degree of frustration and toxicity running through every fandom, it seems.

Why is that? It's a bit hard for me to say. I don't feel I can really say I participate in "fandoms" in the social sense... I can't even say that about my beloved Sonic fandom, because frankly I've always felt discouraged from interacting too much with Sonic fans...if I can even find them. My perspective on fandoms is generally that of an outside observer, and it certainly does seem like there's quite a bit of disconnect between different groups of fans in a single group.

For Sonic, maybe it's easy to actually explain. There's a bazillion versions of the Sonic series. And a kajillion more headcanons as a result. Literally every Sonic fan has their very own unique perception of the series and its characters. And everyone wants their version to be the definitive version... yes, even if your headcanon is rooted in porn, I think there's a part of you that still wants to believe your headcanon is true in some way. But the fact is...the actual official franchise is incredibly inconsistent. Sonic is a series that is plot-heavy (for a video game), so it technically relies on canon...but there is no canon. Not really. If anything, Forces proves that the current writers for Sonic couldn't give less of a crap about canon. With the truth of the series and its characters up in the air...discussions among fans can get quite heated, to say the least, as each fan wants their personal vision for the series to take over...to become canon. And with Sega having NO IDEA what to do with Sonic, with Sonic Mania being made by fans, with fangames being arguably more popular than the official games lately... It feels more possible than ever that your personal headcanon can somehow, someway become true canon. So these heated arguments can become as battlegrounds....for even though it's "just a game," fans are really very passionate about what they love.

After all, what's more worth giving your heart and soul to? Your boring dead end job? Or the fate of your favorite video game icon?

Right now, we live in an age where many of our beloved franchises are going through... let's say growing pains. Or maybe it's just age catching up to them. I've never considered any of the franchises I enjoy to be toxic fandoms outside of Sonic, but a few of them I will say are getting a bit frustrating to even listen to other people talk about. Pokémon is probably the biggest example, and it was going bad even before the National Dex drama. (I want to note that the whole National Dex thing was never specifically about the National Dex, though people fail to understand that. It was about Pokémon getting cut from the game. People could care less about actually registering them to a boring encyclopedia, they just want assurances that they can continue using their favorites in each game going forward...and that assurance is gone, replaced with a paywall to hold your Pokémon until you can maybe use them again) (I sure go off on tangents, don't I?) I was also surprised to find a lot of dislike for Kingdom Hearts 3 among parts of that fanbase... and now the Zelda fanbase takes great pleasure in declaring every game in the series sucks except Breath of the Wild, which I feel quite alone in having the opposing view.

This toxicity among fandoms... it's not good. I think it's part of why there's such a push among consumers to discover new ips in this day and age. To discover something unmarred by the scourge of opinionated fandoms, something where your own opinion feels like it matters more and isn't either forced to conform to an echo-chamber or fight against the tide.

Maybe... we as fans need to stop worrying about the validity of our own opinions. Maybe we need to relearn...how to just relax and have fun. If you turn off your brain for a while and just watch a movie or play a game, I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy it more than if you're sitting there analyzing what works with your headcanon and what doesn't... I know thinking about Sonic Forces ruined that game's plot for me... I enjoyed it to an extent when I was just playing for the sake of enjoyment and nothing else. But when I need to reconcile the plot with canon... it's terrible. That's not to say we should give them a pass for not even trying with the plot. I would have realized what was wrong with Forces eventually even without it being pointed out, it was that bad... (I just don't dig out old consoles to replay every Sonic game as often as I'd like, so certain things didn't occur to me on that first playthrough) Still... maybe there is a point where we're overthinking it.

But we overthink it because we love our media. So, as I stated in the last ramble, ultimately we need to learn to bond over what we love, rather than our differences in opinion. If we can do that, fandoms can be a uniting community rather than the gathering of lunatics that they seem to be from my outside perspective...


So, yes, I'm considering gathering these first 2 journals and posting them together as a submission at some point; sort of a 2-part essay. Maybe from there I will continue with more discussions, but I doubt they'll take up this much of my brain cells... Thinking is for college nerds and that will never be me. :P
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
page
1
page
2
page
3
page
4
page
5
page
6
page
7
page
8
page
9
page
10
page
11
page
12
page
13
page
14
page
15
page
16
page
17
page
18
page
19
page
20
page
21
page
22
page
23
page
24
page
25
page
26
page
27
page
28
page
29
page
30
page
31
page
32
page
33
page
34
page
35
page
36
page
37
page
38
page
39
page
40
page
41
page
42
page
43
page
44
page
45
page
46
page
47
page
48
page
49
page
50
page
51
page
52
page
53
page
54
page
55
page
56
page
57
page
58
page
59
page
60
page
61
page
62
page
63
page
64
page
65
page
66
page
67
page
68
page
69
page
70
page
71
page
72
page
73
page
74
page
75
page
76
page
77
page
78
page
79
page
80
page
81
page
82
page
83
page
84
page
85
page
86
page
87
page
88
page
89
page
90
page
91
page
92
page
93
page
94
page
95
page
96
page
97
page
98
page
99
page
100
page
101
page
102
page
103
page
104
page
105
page
106
page
107
page
108
page
109
page
110
page
111
page
112
page
113
page
114
page
115
page
116
page
117
page
118
page
119
page
120
page
121
page
122
page
123
page
124
page
125
page
126
page
127
page
128
page
129
page
130
page
131
page
132
page
133
page
134
page
135
page
136
page
137
page
138
page
139
page
140
page
141
page
142
page
143
page
144
page
145
page
146
page
147
page
148
page
149
page
150
page
151
page
152
page
153
page
154
page
155
page
156
page
157
page
158
page
159
page
160
page
161
page
162
page
163
page
164
page
165
page
166
page
167
page
168
page
169
page
170
page
171
page
172
page
173
page
174
page
175
page
176
page
177
page
178
page
179
page
180
page
181
page
182
page
183
page
184
page
185
page
186
page
187
page
188
page
189
page
190
page
191
page
192
page
193
page
194
page
195
page
196
page
197
page
198
page
199
page
200
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
next
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
previous
page
 
 
page
1
page
2
page
3
page
4
page
5
page
6
page
7
page
8
page
9
page
10
page
11
page
12
page
13
page
14
page
15
page
16
page
17
page
18
page
19
page
20
page
21
page
22
page
23
page
24
page
25
page
26
page
27
page
28
page
29
page
30
page
31
page
32
page
33
page
34
page
35
page
36
page
37
page
38
page
39
page
40
page
41
page
42
page
43
page
44
page
45
page
46
page
47
page
48
page
49
page
50
page
51
page
52
page
53
page
54
page
55
page
56
page
57
page
58
page
59
page
60
page
61
page
62
page
63
page
64
page
65
page
66
page
67
page
68
page
69
page
70
page
71
page
72
page
73
page
74
page
75
page
76
page
77
page
78
page
79
page
80
page
81
page
82
page
83
page
84
page
85
page
86
page
87
page
88
page
89
page
90
page
91
page
92
page
93
page
94
page
95
page
96
page
97
page
98
page
99
page
100
page
101
page
102
page
103
page
104
page
105
page
106
page
107
page
108
page
109
page
110
page
111
page
112
page
113
page
114
page
115
page
116
page
117
page
118
page
119
page
120
page
121
page
122
page
123
page
124
page
125
page
126
page
127
page
128
page
129
page
130
page
131
page
132
page
133
page
134
page
135
page
136
page
137
page
138
page
139
page
140
page
141
page
142
page
143
page
144
page
145
page
146
page
147
page
148
page
149
page
150
page
151
page
152
page
153
page
154
page
155
page
156
page
157
page
158
page
159
page
160
page
161
page
162
page
163
page
164
page
165
page
166
page
167
page
168
page
169
page
170
page
171
page
172
page
173
page
174
page
175
page
176
page
177
page
178
page
179
page
180
page
181
page
182
page
183
page
184
page
185
page
186
page
187
page
188
page
189
page
190
page
191
page
192
page
193
page
194
page
195
page
196
page
197
page
198
page
199
page
200
by 2BIT
This was originally posted as two journals; I am uploading them together without any editing and...seeing what happens, if anything.

If you would like to see more "discussion/essay" type things from me, let me know. They'd probably be mainly Sonic-related topics.

Keywords
sonic the hedgehog 56,666, fandom 2,738, writing 1,632, journal 462
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 4 years, 5 months ago
Rating: General

MD5 Hash for Page 1... Show Find Identical Posts [?]
Stats
49 views
2 favorites
2 comments

BBCode Tags Show [?]
 
Sonougefan
4 years, 5 months ago
This is why I'm trying not to interact with the larger fandom nowadays. Too me it feels like people just want to be mad and it stopped being fun talking to fans. Same for other fandoms I'm in like Power Rangers. I'm one of the handful of people who doesn't have a burning hatred for Ninja Steel. It's meh at best but people are still screaming about it like it's the plague and destroyed the show. Hell even when the current season, Beast Morphers, does something even remotely similar to it (Like having a comedy duo) people flip their shit about it.
2BIT
4 years, 5 months ago
I don't really know anything about Power Rangers, but yeah, it does seem like pretty much every fandom is going through something like this nowadays. Whatever happened to just enjoying media? :/
New Comment:
Move reply box to top
Log in or create an account to comment.