Welcome back to the Sonic Rantfiction show. At this point in time, the response to my last episode was overwhelmingly positive, which I am happy for. I didn't really expect a show about a cynical and sarcastic 15-year-old ranting about a blue hedgehog to become as positively received as it did, but I am very happy for this, and I want to say thank you. As a gift of thanks, I will give each and every one of you an Ian McKellen action figure because Ian McKellen is the best actor ever.
A common theme I see when browsing through this site is grittiness. So many authors try to make a Sonic universe that's dark, gritty, and realistic. Now, I am a person that enjoys a grittier Sonic, but there needs, and I mean needs to be a balance between humor and grit. I'm going to admit this right now: I'm a SatAM fanboy. I feel like it mixes dark material with comedy to make a Sonic cartoon that is both able to carry its own universe while still feeling like Sonic. A lot of people who write gritty Sonic stories, however, completely trash comedy.
I have seen multiple people add in adult material into Sonic fanfiction, like violence, abuse, sex, rape, and self-harm. These are Sonic fanfictions. Sonic cannot be realistic. Why? Because he's a cartoon hedgehog created for kids! No Sonic fanfiction should be filled with such adult material.
The thing that angers me the most about these fanfictions is that half of them aren't that bad on their own, but that begs the question: why not turn it into an original story? There are one or two websites where you can write your own stories (Wattpad is the first example I think of), and you may even be able to publish your story. The potential of these stories really bother me. It's like they make a half-decent story, but instead of building on their own universe, they decide to ruin an already well-established universe that was the childhood of many people.
Bottom line: if you're going to write a gritty Sonic fanfiction, leave Sonic out of it. I don't care if it's only slightly original. A simple name-change would make your story that much higher in quality. Sonic is just too well-established to be edgy. Sonic was made for kids since the very beginning, and he should stay that way.
Before I end this installment, I want to address something I forgot to address in my last episode (and thanks to Wolf Thornz for reminding me). Sometimes, the out of character nature of Sonic characters can be completely unintentional, which is absolutely fine. Nobody is Sega, so there's bound to be a few mistakes. The thing that bothers me is when characters are portrayed out-of-character and either the author calls it "his version" or just portrays them so out-of-character that Sonic acts more like the author than Sonic. Sonic was meant to be a cocky yet kind character, but authors usually make him a mature character and call him "their own version." Again, this is something I forgot to bring up in my last rant, which I feel was very important to bring up.
So, that was the second episode in Sonic Rantfictions. Join us next time when we cover another topic. "What is the next topic, MysteryManPerson?" I hear you ask. Well, let's just say that it gets a little "saucy." Until next time, don't forget to flame. (Yes, that's my new catchphrase. I rather like it)