pengilly

My sister is so lucky; she can find no shortage of stuff for her fictional crush.

But there's such a dearth of stuff for Surge! But I still came up with something! I commissioned a locket with a custom photo and engraving on Etsy. I showed it to my sister, and she thought it was cute!

I've been wearing it every day. ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝) Super sappy, I know, but it makes me feel more confident, having a bit of her with me.

I had already read this volume from the library via Hoopla. I had so much fun with it that I bought a physical copy of the book when I went on a birthday outing last month.

I'm only posting this now, but better late than never!

As I mentioned in my last entry, I only read the first issue or two before skipping all the way to here, but it was easy enough to get the gist of the prior plot thanks to my sister explaining the gist of the plot prior (and Sonic's inexplicable bird-expositioning in the first page).

I really liked Rough and Tumble, the villainous skunk brother duo. I feel like the fandom sleeps on these two! I never see them as a focus in fanfic or fanart, or even widely shipped with other characters, but they are so funny! I especially liked Rough's "tragic backstory". The way he talks constantly about having lost his tail makes me feel like he's trying really hard to be one of those sympathetic villains everyone roots for. My favorite is definitely Rough. Yet I wouldn't want to go without Tumble. Somehow, them being a duo just makes the whole thing.



( Read more please I worked hard on this there's a lot here )

After learning there was a lot more to the Precure franchise than the two series that got English dubs, I've been on a quest to find the ideal Precure for me. I read a few Reddit threads that felt a bit vague in their recommendations, then I watched a video where a woman was recommending Precures based on their tones and story elements.



The Gigantic franchise that's "Impossible" to Recommend by doreimani

I was midway through, but I got a little impatient, and decided to look at the Precure wiki to see a full list of Precure season summaries to see which ones jumped out at me. It was a well-made video though. I'll have to keep watching it later, and see what else I can find.

I saw Star Twinkle Precure a bit further down the wiki's list, and one thing that stuck out at me was its space motifs and 80s inspired bright aesthetics. I really loved the old mecha shows from the 80s and 90s, and that vibe in general, so I was immediately intrigued.

I watched the first episode of it the other day. I liked it so much, I figured I should write my thoughts on it now while my first impression is still fresh! (I had watched a bit of Princess Precure, I may have to give my thoughts on that one as well).

It focuses on Hikaru, a teenage girl who loves astronomy. She accidentally summons an alien when she draws a constellation in her magic notebook. which sets off a chain of events that leads her into outer space to protect the creature, and become a legendary Precure!



There was a fair bit of high-pitched screaming/squealing in the first few minutes of the first episode, when the cute magical sidekick, in typical anime fashion, slams into the protagonist's head. There's some more of that sprinkled throughout the episode, but it didn't feel too excessive. And if you can get past that, it looks like a very promising show! I love how it leans heavily into sci-fi elements while still having unapologetically girly, cute aesthetics. Both appeal to me, but it feels rare for shows to combine the two.

In addition to being bright and engagingly animated, the theme song is also an absolute banger! I've had it playing on loop, alternating between other Precure songs for the past few days!



If you find realistically written preteens annoying, this probably isn't the Precure for you. Though Hikaru (the main character) was a little annoying, for me it was in an endearing way. Her exuberant energy and nerdishness reminded me of myself when I was around her age.

Though it's clear the showrunners care more about her characterization than flattening her into a pure "genki girl". You see Hikaru stopping for about a minute to speak with her parents, even bowing when told to, so you can see that she does have a more respectful side to her.

I also loved the way she didn't freak out when meeting the aliens, but instead geeked out. Even at the villains! You could just tell she had been waiting for something like this to happen her entire life. The fact that this is exactly what I would have done at that age in that scenario! The more I watch the episode to grab screencaps for this review, the more I see that she's practically a self-insert of myself from my preteen years, help!

Though I like Hikaru, it's hard to say who my true favorite character is yet, as I usually only decide my favorite character after I've had time to see what each character contributes to the plot.

But I did like that poor jellyfish alien! When Lala (alien girl Hikaru meets) was too shy or surprised to say anything to counter Hikaru's recklessness, he had to step in. Or at least do his level best.

Fuwa is especially cute too. Perhaps my sense of humor is broken or irony poisoned or something, because during the flashback, when those older-looking Precures told the little puffball alien that she was "their last hope", and she was just like:

...

Fuwa? (A cute, blushy sheep face kaomoji)
F    u     w     a     ?   ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა

I burst out laughing!

I dunno. Maybe "Fuwa" is my favorite. She is awfully cute. I was literally almost tearing up from how adorable she was when Hikaru was teasing her with the donut she was eating. Her increasingly delighted squeaks as Hikaru kept moving the donut closer to her face...they just have to be heard to be believed. .·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·. Maybe she'll turn out to be the god of the home planet, or a secret monarch the whole time, or something funny like that.

I can't say if I'm proud or ashamed to say that I started reading the IDW Sonic comics just so I could learn more about Surge the Tenrec. Most of what I learned about her is secondhand/thirdhand. Skimming wiki pages, hearing other fans talk, that sort of thing.

Funny thing is, I wasn't even intending to read the IDW Sonic comics. My sister had been trying to convince me to read them for quite some time, but usually when she talked about them, she was venting about how woefully OOC Shadow or Amy (her main Sonic blorbos) are. I don't feel quite so strongly about those two, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. Epecially when I saw how Silver was portrayed as an adorable, happy-go-lucky cinnamon roll. (He may be naïve, but he would never grin ear-to-ear like he does in the comics! Just look at 06! He is a brooding, rude, and desperate antihero! 06's reset be damned, if you're going to make him that different, just make an original character!)

She did have a lot of good things to say on Sonic's characterization though. And Sonic is probably my favorite character across all Sonic media. His stoicism, smiling for his friends even in the face of the Metal Virus, especially sounded interesting.

I've heard some mixed reviews on the way Sonic's morality is handled (framing his repeated fights with Eggman as a result of mercy, as opposed to circumstance or the Egg's ingenuity), but my sister thinks some of this is overstated.

But what really cemented it for me was when she told me about Surge's introduction. For my sister, Surge was just "Oh, okay, another villain.". But she knew I would adore her. I've always loved characters with tragic pasts, who have been manipulated by authority figures, and are forced to carve their own (ethically dubious) path. And — this is the juicy bit — make their trauma EVERYONE ELSE'S problem. Surge does all this and then some.

So I decided, what the heck, it's time I read it already! And if Sonic is mischaracterized, at least me and my sis can commiserate over the butchering of our blorbos!

I'll have to see how much of the online takes on Surge are fair, and how much of it is ignoring context/telephone gaming others' takes. I see mostly positivity regarding her backstory and personality, with some critique pertaining to her inconsistent badassery/woobification and redemption arc. But honestly, if I can enjoy Elise in spite of her flawed writing in 06, there's no reason why I cannot do the same with Surge. If we can hate without reason, can we not love? (This may come as a surprise, but I hated Elise at first!)

For Surge, it was love at first sight really. Lol! She is unbearably cute though.

One thing that I frequently find maddening as a fan of Princess Elise is when people confidently spread misinformation about her, parroting takes that strip nuance.

I don't like the idea of doing one of my pet peeves with a character, even if it would be positive. There's only so far you can get in fandom by regurgitating other peoples' takes. Even when it comes to material that diverges heavily from canon, like AU fanfiction. Yet another reason to get into Surge's source material.

I also look forward to seeing Kitsunami the Fennec. I was wondering if a character whose existence is so closely tied to another's might be bland, but my sister has a lot of good things to say about him. Just hearing her talk about the selfless-but-villainous boi makes me want to give him a hug! And I've always been partial to fennec foxes.

A few months back, I had already tried reading the comics right from issue #1, but I got a bit bored. Skimming ahead, it looked like Sonic was repeatedly introducing himself to individual characters. Felt like it was written for fans who didn't know much about Sonic. So my sister, who has already read ahead to forty-something-ish, suggested I start off with Vol. 4: Infection, or the very start of the Metal Virus Arc.

I finally read it the first time around (thanks Hoopla!). I aim to read it again before it's due so I can organize my thoughts and make another, more in-depth post on it.

Word of mouth advertising is something else, huh?

Thank you for checking out my request letter! I hope some of the ships here speak to you! Any of the likes are purely optional, please don't feel like you need to cram every one into one work, especially if you're unfamiliar with the fandom!

General Likes

• Fluff
  
• Artwork, especially traditional
  
• Light Angst
  
• Awkward First Times (Kissing, Handholding, Sex, etc.)
  
• Temporarily unrequited love
  
• Feelings realization
  
• Embarrassment over crushes
  
• Height difference cuteness (Sonic standing on something to kiss or hug his gf, being lifted up so they can kiss, sitting in a partner's lap, etc)
  
• Pregnancy
  
• Hand kink, provided it's not laid on too heavy
  
• Mundane AUs, provided the characters are still recognizable and have references to critical parts of their canon selves (If they have powers like super-speed, preferably they still have it but use it for a job other than being a hero)
  
• Robot feels
  
• Guys being simps!
  

General DNW

• No violence more graphic than would be allowed in a PG film
  
• Any fetishes or kinks not requested, including things like rape, incest, and dubcon
  
• Another love interest arriving and fighting over a character, or shown being jealous
  
• Making a relationship a result of cheating on a partner or otherwise bashing a rival love interest 'in the way' of a ship
  
• Species changes that don't occur in canon (e.g., please don't turn Zelda into a Hedgehog "so she can be with Sonic")
  
• Sonic being aggressively forward/flirty/objectifying towards a love interest
  
• Poking fun at Sonic being attracted to a human(oid) character
  
• Explicit works where the characters aren't aged up (though it's rarely brought up in canon, Sonic is 15/16 depending on continuity)
  
• Trans headcanons that don't line up with a character's canon gender expression (e.g, trans male Sonic is fine, but no trans female Sonic)
  

Here are the ships listed in order of interest (though I will be ecstatic to receive something for any one of these ships! The number of times I've re-ordered this list lol...). Many of these relationships only appeared in a single episode or film available to watch on Youtube, and when this is the case, I will link to it!

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Title: Dramatic
Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog
Pairing: Sonic/Elise
Word Count: 288
Rating: G

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