"You would think with all the Triple S fan comics out there that Sega would capitalize on the combination?" Blaze's tail swished to and fro like a serpent as she leaned back against the wall.
Sonic, Shadow, and Silver were starring in a brand new fan comic on the three of them. Sally had little to do now a days with the cancellation of Archie so she tagged along. Rouge and Blaze were the love interests of Shadow and Silver, respectively, so they came by to witness filming so they can prepare their performances. The three of them were in the break room as an important piece of wiring snapped. It would take hours to fix.
"Sega doesn't listen to fans, and when they do, they totally miss the point," Rouge was lying down on the velvet couch.
"Hating on Sega is so old. I've been apart of this franchise since the 90s and we were making fun of Sega even back in those golden days." Sally sipped a glass of soda from her chair.
"Oh my god, she's right."
"What?"
"Blaze, Sally has is the senior member here, it's easy to forget."
"You were apart of Archie Comic too."
"I know but you are like the butler. Always there but easy to forget because of your omnipresence."
"And like the butler I have a million and one grievances against the boss." Sally stood up from the chair. The squirrel moved to the center of the room.
"I am like the red headed step child of this franchise," Rouge chuckled at the irony.
"I'm serious. Amy is always being paired with Sonic even though the pairing breaks both of their established characterizations. I had an onscreen kiss with Sonic, in my cartoon I was paired with Sonic. That's way more than Amy got in even Sonic boom. The fan base as a whole though prefers the fan-girl despite the fact if they ever got their wish it would lead to the obsolescence of Amy's character, rendering her useless. I like Amy as she is, that's why I don't want her to end up with Sonic." Sally put her hands behind her back. She started to pace.
"My merits to being with Sonic seem to earn me even more derision from fans. They can't stand the thought of me ending up with Sonic. It seems everyone only remembers my character from the horrible rut the Archie Comic was in the late 90s. That's like judging Mario from only the Super Mario Show. I mean why can't the fandom just remember my characterization from the cartoon and certain issues. Nobody holds Other M against Samus." Sally became self conscious from the glances of the other women so halted. However her fire was still rising.
"All my friends hold me high esteem. I'm one of the few people Sonic will consider taking orders from. The freedom fighters are loyal to the end. Tails calls me his aunt for god's sake. Amy is a sonally shipper. Knuckles and I were ship teased long before Rouge. Yet, when this is brought up I am labeled a Mary Sue."Sally slouched back to her seat.
"Some people are going to hate me no matter what." Blaze never likes the sight of self loathing, especially from respectable people like Sally.
"I have had issues with my place in the franchise as well," confessed the feline.
"Don't you have two," joked Rouge.
"Precisely," Blaze smacked her hands together.
"Sonic 06 messed everything up for me. Am I Silver's partner from the future or a pyrokinetic princess? That is a confusing mess. It's even worse when fanfiction writer try to come up with a solution like I ended in Silver's future for some bizarre reason. That falls apart when I didn't even recognize Sonic in 06. You could say Sonic Rush happened after Sonic 06 but then that raises the question what games happened before and after the reset, since chronological publishing can't be trusted. It's so aggravating." Blaze was fired up, pun intended, by the other's rapt attention.
"Then Sonic team can't make up their mind either. They have me and Silver near each other but never truly connecting. They know that the backstory from Sonic 06 is preferred by some fans so they reference it but can't make up their mind. And the fans are awful too. The fans either make me an aching butterfly that is rife with insecurities that I need to cry into someone's shoulder, usually Sonic but it can also be Silver, or a dragon lady bitch. My characterization is suppose to be of a prim and proper warrior who is very honor driven but has a soft side. Is it that hard to get right?"
"Kitty, when it comes to characterization you can not complain until you are me. I have people flanderizing the sexual aspect of my character until it consume my whole being. I have people who slut shame me. I have people who turn me into a nympho. They all ignore the interesting arc I am suppose to possess. That I started off as a Cat-woman type criminal, and developed into a female James Bond. If you think about you'll be hard pressed to find anyone in game canon who has such a dynamic arc, with the exception of Shadow."
"Yeah but shipping kind of annoys me, Rouge. Sally's grievance is that everyone ignore her OTP status, or vilifies her for it. When it comes to me I have people who pairing me with Sonic, believing it would "fix" me. I have people pair with Silver, that is the closest to my OTP, but it the process they often distort both our characters. They turn me and Silver into people who's only character trait is that we are in a relationship with each other."
"What about the times they pair you and Rouge together," Sally was aware she had lesbian pairing too, but they weren't very popular. Bunnie didn't count.
"No homo," Blaze and Rouge said in unison.
"And my relationship with the other characters is something I have a problem with. The only characters who I have really well defined relationships with are Sonic, Marine, Gordon, and Silver. Sonic is a cherished friend, Marine like an annoying sibling who's attached to my angle, Gordon is like a father figure to me, and Silver is my comrade, best friend, something of a slight junior under my wing, and a potential romantic partner. So where did everyone get the idea that Amy Rose and I are best friends? I only tolerate Marine because she follows me everywhere. Why would I curse myself with another Marine? This one less annoying but bigger and more troublesome to deal with."
"I don't have grievances with my cast dynamics. In fact I am honored to be a source of so much shipping conflict. The sonamy and sonally ship wars are bad yes, but the knuxouge and shadouge ship wars come close."
"Why must you always brag about yourself?" Blaze crossed her arms annoyed.
"You can brag too. People fight about whether or not you should be with Sonic or Silver."
"Yes but your shipper pay closer attention to your character than mine."
"In the fandom you are held in high regard as one of the coolest characters," Sally temper had clocked out when Blaze's punched in.
"True."
"Don't take things two seriously, really," Rouge started.
"Sally you persist in the fandom long after Sega has stopped using you. Your comic book is cancelled but many fans will make sure you live on forever. Characters who are out of use usually don't get that, and never to the same degree. The closest there came was Mighty and Ray and even they didn't have your following. You are what people think of when they hear Freedom Fighters, not the Fleetway Freem Fighters. And don't lose hope. Mighty and Ray made a come back after many years of fan demand. Give it time, you'll make a come back. Until then you will be harbored by the fans." Rouge let out a yawn.
"Blaze you continue to be seen as one of the coolest characters like Sally said. View the constant analyzation by arm chair psychologist and exploration of your insecurities as a way of trying to purge you of weakness by concerned fans. And people are excited about love. When they ignore you character it's understandable. They feel happy to see you with who they think will make you happy."
Sally and Blaze were left speechless. Rouge had never been this reassuring before, if anything she was known to only inflame things further. Yet she just calmly diffused their complaints.
"Where did you get this wisdom and maturity from all of a sudden?" Sally was a cross between amused and bemused.
"You might have been here longer but I have been dealing with a far more toxic fan base. So toxic that I got use to it quickly."
"I can't believe I am saying this but maybe I should follow your example."
"I thought that's what the push up bras were for."
Everyone in the building would only hear Rouge and Sally's laughter accompanied by hissing and fire. When the fire fighters arrive, Sally and Rouge were still laughing to hard to speak. Blaze was too red and flustered to try even if she wanted to.