Something Important To Understand

Okay so I'm gonna do a bit of a personal little critique of a review for a second. (It's not straight up flaming, seriously that's fucked up.) But I'm also going to talk about a very serious issue which resonates with this story so much, and will hopefully speak to any of you who may be going through a tough time right now.

A loyal reviewer who has read the entire story TWICE (holy shit you are a damn trooper, this makes me so happy), has recently stated that the only characters who are truly in character are Scourge, Fiona and Zonic, all the archie characters, and that they've been taking God damned NOTES on how I write them which is SO DAMN DOPE. (Like holy shit I am so flattered right now man.) Their one complaint was of Big Blue and Mr. Sunshine, that they're static characters and are a bore to read.

Now while this makes me sad that they think this way, I can somewhat see what they're talking about in Shadow's case. The only major thing that happened with Shadow internally, was him understanding what true love was and arguably him seeing Maria again in spirit form. Thaaaat's about it. I do admit, I didn't do too much with Shadow, but mainly 'cause this isn't really about him. He's more of an extremely important supporting character for Sonic, so therefore he doesn't need to go through too many changes. There is ONE more thing he'll go through in the story, but that's spoilers. However, Sonic? I would argue to say that this isn't true.

My Blue Boy's been through a lot, that's the point of this story after all. That he faces someone so vile, so dangerous, that he is no longer himself: A careless happy go lucky energetic guy who rarely ever gets daunted from any enemy. But here, he struggles with the fact that he knows he's not himself, that's he's a lot more of a mope than we're used to, that he's a paranoid wreck, and that he finally loses his cool and breaks his personal oath never to take a life because of Scourge. So no, I don't agree that Sonic hasn't gone through change as a static character. Hell, he's literally going through a "change" right now during these past couple of chapters. (Heheh...)

Also, I don't agree with the fact that I personified any of the archie characters correctly. Let's keep in mind that any and all archie characters that are referenced in this story do not exist in the comics anymore. The writer is gone, and the existence of all of these characters is at stake and in question. Therefore, nobody really has a good understanding of any of these personalities. Scourge is kind of nothing but a stereotypical idiotic bad Sonic. That's why I wrote this story in the first place, 'cause they did him dirty. Fiona is nothing but a tool who sometimes tends to be more useful than her own abusive boyfriend. Again, nothing else much to her besides the fact that she holds a violent grudge against Sonic for a legit reason (I guess.) And Zonic? He literally had no personality in the comics at all because he's barely seen. That's why I joke around a lot that he's such a monotoned character in the beginning, cause, well, he is. Him being violent, him being super cheesey around Zhadow (a character that isn't even in the story at all), is arguably, entirely out of his expected character.

No, the thing is, I built up on these characters. And in my opinion, that's what you're supposed to do in a fanfiction. Build up on what the real deal won't touch on. That's why fanfiction exists at all, am I right?

- Sonic learns that, hey, sometimes you have to be cruel in order to be kind to someone who refuses to be saved. Sometimes taking the hardest way out is necessary.

- Shadow learns that there are different levels of love and that there doesn't need to be a reason to have it. He knows he doesn't want to lose this, and is actively proving that he's willing to die at any moment to prove it. And he's even willing to become extremely vulnerable to Sonic, just to show how much he trusts and loves someone, something he hasn't done before.

- Zonic learns that deception will only cause more misery, and that through his in-activeness as a true Overseer, he is guilty for the many travesties that have occurred in the past, and is willing to pay for it and make peace with it.

- Zhadow learns...that his boyfriend's pretty damn important. That's about it. (If you wanna complain about a static character, he's your guy.)

So I wouldn't say that I personified them well at all, you just like the take I put to them, which is mostly fabricated by me. And that's great!

But, there's one more important thing I need to say. This same very loyal reviewer also said that they do not agree with the idea of hating anyone, and that you can befriend them after they have been rightfully punished.

Now, I'm not here to judge or damn anyone's personal views on life. Especially not in a yaoi-gore-filled fanfiction about two anthro hedgehogs going super with the power of some magical rocks.

But, please PLEASE understand the absolutely most important message that I have been blatantly trying to say in this story:

- Villains can be redeemed, IF their crimes are forgivable.

- A villain can become an ally, IF their kindness can be salvaged.

- Everyone can be saved, if they WANT to be saved.

Of course, this is just my own personal beliefs, but these are the core of this story. I wanted Scourge to be someone irredeemable. I wanted Sonic to face someone who he too struggled against defending on a personal level, before growing so angry that he of all people threw compassion out of the window. This is an issue that MANY shows struggle with today. That just anybody can be forgiven and be a friend.

No, this is not true.

Hugging a Nazi is not compassion, it's suicide. Now on a more realistic scale, if you have someone who bullies and abuses you constantly, be it verbally, emotionally, financially, it doesn't matter. If someone is toxic to you, and if they are not willing to mend things or cooperate, then there is no use in trying to save or create any relationship with them. And it is not your burden to do so either. No one should have to be told that they HAVE to make nice with anyone who is a painful part of their life. And you are not a bad person for having any hatred or anger towards anyone. Anger is not a bad emotion. And you know what? Hate isn't either, so long as it doesn't grow out of control and consumes you. Sonic is right to hate Scourge in my eyes. He destroyed multiple worlds, and before that (canonically), nearly ruined and ended Sonic's life along with his friends. On the other side, Scourge deserves to hate Zonic despite it not entirely being his fault. When everything was said and done, Zonic still lied, still tried to cover things up, and still tried to paint Scourge entirely as the bad guy even before he was mutated, when this wasn't entirely the case. See how this goes both ways here? For both the bad guy and the "good" guy?

For Scourge's hatred for Sonic, this is where he's in the wrong. He hates Sonic for something he absolutely had no control of and cannot fix, and was even unaware of. Scourge was so jealous that his envy consumed him and made him become a monster. And this is where he is not at all redeemable. Scourge doesn't want to be fixed, he doesn't want to be saved. He only wants his way: Wrongful Vengeance on people who had nothing to do with his upbringing. (Except for the deities. Fuck those guys.)

To the reviewer, please do not take this long ass author's note as a personal attack to you. This is just my opinion, as yours were your own. If you don't believe in hating people, that's fucking beautiful bro. If you think Sonic and Shadow are boring, I am severely sorry for that. If you think all the archie characters are perfectly personified, that is awesome. The fact that you gain any inspiration from my work is probably the sweetest thing I've heard all year, and something I desperately needed to hear today. And in my opinion, anyone who's willing to take notes and learn how other people do things outside of their own personal methods is probably one of the smartest things you can do as a creator of any sort. So good on you, and again, thank you for your support! It means so much.

To anyone else who had these same issues with the story, again, I'm sorry for that, but I do hope you still enjoy it despite all this.

However, and again, I cannot stress this enough:

I do not agree with the idea of forgiving or befriending just anyone. This is one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to write this story with this concept in mind. This is my outrage to many other official writers of shows who create characters this way, and it bothers me so much because this is a lesson that can be applied to real life. I don't want anyone who is a fan of my work to have to force themselves to deal or try to fix anyone who is too toxic for them. If you want out, then you fucking crack your knuckles and walk the fuck out. If you have anger or hatred, don't suppress it like Sonic did with Dark Sonic or you WILL hurt yourself and the others you love. Do not be a doormat. There's a difference between compassion and foolishness.

Anger and hatred are not evil emotions.

In such a sensitive time like this, with BLM (I'm black btw) and this race-war going on, this is something people are not gonna agree with me on. But this is why I say hatred is fine, so long as you don't let it consume you or at least have a good reason for having it. Racists don't have a good reason for their hatred, and neither do Nazis. But someone who's been constantly hurt, abused, forced to be nice, grin and bear it, definitely deserves to have hatred and anger in their heart. And in my eyes, the only way to get rid of it, is to wash your hands and be done with it. To let go.

Release.

Give yourself peace.

That's the only way to end hatred, before it goes too far.

I didn't just want this to be a critique, I wanted this to be a personal message to all of you who might be going through something right now. Of course no one is blameless or innocent, but no one is entirely evil either. (Unless you're Hitler/a Nazi, sorry.) I do believe that everyone deserves a second chance or compassion, if they PROVE that they're not what everyone thinks they are. That's the thing with so many "redeemed" villains nowadays. They don't prove it, or constantly go back on their "probation."

Shadow is the perfect example of a redeemed character in the Sonic series. He was bad, yes, and he screwed up more than once, yes. But he's proved that he's better than that, and that he can grow to be a hero just like Sonic. He's committed terrible sins, and often he is a pain in Sonic's side for trivial/personal reasons due to their different senses of justice. But this doesn't mean Shadow is still the same bad alien we found in that frozen capsule back in 2001. He's proved that he can, and IS a good person.

Now, I will say this.

I do not know what future holds for me after this story is over, but ideas of a sequel is in the works. But most of all, Scourge will be in it. Not as a villain, but as a good guy.

WHAAAT?

I know, I know. Crazy. But please understand that this Scourge will NOT be the Scourge in this story, it will be someone entirely different, in a completely different reality. And I even want to reference this story in the sequel through an alternate reality, with Scourge being disgusted by the HNR version of Scourge. So for anyone who loves Scourge or hates that Scourge is a bad guy and dies, don't worry. If things go well, the sequel will be made, and you'll all have your green-snot bad boy back.

As for updates, ehh, sorry for them being slow once again.

The world...It's shit, man.

People hate each other, people are enraged, and my personal life and family is slowly falling apart. This is why I said the sequel can only happen if things in the future go well for me. Other chapters are being written right now, but again, it's a difficult process due to so much drama and sadness in my life right now. And in the air. Everyone's breaking up, divorcing, hurting their kids, hurting people they love, etc. It's just...Not a good year, you know?

But I do ask that you all be patient, and please strive to keep going. I'll try to do the same.

Good luck to all of you, be safe.

And if you're ignorant, do some research.

END

See you in the next update!