I reblog stuff

the scammers seemed to up the game by contacting you via misspeled tumb(l)r sup(p)ort account

This is obviously NOT a real tumblr staff related account, as those have badges!

Tumblr will NEVER send you DM's, asks, or tag you in a post in the comments of a post with issues related to your account!

You will get an email about it if there's ever any issue.

Additionally, please don't give a random person your email in Dm's, either, as they can send you scam emails pretending to be fake companies like Paypal saying that there are issues with your account.

Also the typos.. ffs the typos... 💀💀💀💀💀

Please be careful everyone!

Source:

like no time has passed...

I just realized something and have been having a meltdown over it for the past hour. oh my god...

Shadow's quills were designed to resemble a star, specifically a starfish because he got his DNA from Black Doom. Black Doom's Eye resembles that of a starfish and starfish are sometimes associated with space and actual stars due to their shape (there's even a Japanese movie about these alien creatures that look like Earth's starfish, which also became the inspiration for Pokémon's staryu/starmie). And in the original SA2 game, Shadow goes super and ends up "dying," falling to Earth like a shooting or "dying star."

"Okay, but why does that matter?" You may ask.

Well, because Maria's name has a few origins and meanings, but one specific meaning brought on by a Latin translation error, has her name meaning "star of the sea." Starfish are, quite literally, stars of the sea. But I'm not done yet! Because here is where it goes even deeper. The title "Star of the Sea" is in reference to the Virgin Mary (Stella Maris) who is a symbol of guidance and protection when navigating life's challenges. She is literally referred to as a "guiding light."

But it goes even deeper-! Maria named Shadow after the shadow that light casts: "Without light there's only darkness, but a shadow will show you where to find the light." Stars used to, and still do, guide people to where they need to go due to their light illuminating through the dark.

But I am still not finished just yet-!!! Because while the third live action film didn't use this same exact shadow/dark & light comparison, it did have Maria talking about stars and how their light reaches Earth. Which then prompted Shadow to say, "The light shines even though the star's gone."

Listen. Listen as I grab you by the shoulders and dig my nails into you, because I am near feral at this very moment and you need to understand.

L I S T E N

Maria is Shadow's star. His dead star whose light still shines even though she is gone. Her light is what casted Shadow. He is her shadow that leads back to her, and she guides him through his life and acts as his moral compass. They're both stars. One dead, and one that brushed with death but still remains.

Literally, star-crossed, torn from each other by fate, just like with Orihime and Hikoboshi, two characters who represent the stars Vega and Altair. An all too familiar story that Shadow and Maria read together during Tanabata (aka the Star Festival).

To be transparent, I first discovered STH on my cousin’s Sega Genesis in the mid-90s when I was a pre-teen, before moving on to the Sony PlayStation. I didn’t really engage with the franchise or join the fandom until Year of Shadow and the release of the third live-action film. I enjoyed the first two movies as fun, popcorn-style entertainment, with a cast I liked. Still, it was Sonic 3 that truly drew me deeper, mainly because of Shadow and Maria’s relationship.

When I first witnessed that girl and her hedgehog companion on screen, sitting in that bed of daisies, holding hands and gazing at the stars, I didn’t think of them as siblings. After I went down the information and character history rabbit hole, i.e., watching playthroughs of SA2, and ShTH, SxSG as well as scenes from the Japanese version of Sonic X, (because no way was I trusting a 4KIDS dub to be faithful to the original anime), I still didn’t see them as siblings.

At the conclusion of SxSG Dark Beginnings Episode 3, I couldn't help but notice a classic shoujo anime romance style filter in the scenes where Shadow imagines a life with Maria on Earth had she lived. It evoked memories from my childhood, regarding both anime and Western animation. Growing up in the 90s, I frequently saw interspecies romantic relationships portrayed as a common trope in the animated shows I watched. Think Gargoyles, TMNT, or Biker Mice From Mars; relationships like Vinnie and Charley, Leonardo and Karai, Belle and Beast, and notably, Goliath and Elisa Maza, were familiar examples. To me, Shadaria seamlessly fits into this group, which is probably why I love them so much, beyond their story and individual characterizations.

Of course, the ARK Siblings' relationship is an entirely valid view, as Shadow and Maria’s relationship is open to interpretation. And if the ship isn’t your cup of tea, that’s perfectly fine. What is not fine is the harassment and bullying that occur simply because one likes a ship that you don’t care for. I am a firm believer in the old fandom rule of ‘don’t like, don’t read’ or simply don’t engage if something isn’t for you.

(I know that's easier said than done in this age of social media, where likes and clicks drive the algorithms and engagement. That dopamine hit is strong, after all.)

That said, I will also address the other major issue with Shadaria: the mental gymnastics involving canon that anti-shippers engage in.

“Shadow and Maria have a canonical brother/sister relationship–”

My brothers and sisters in STH shipping fandom, ya’ll be out here shipping Sonadow so ya’ll couldn't care less about canon. But when it comes to Shadaria, suddenly canon matters? Pick a lane, please!

Anti-shippers cite the ShTH manual as reason and definite “proof” of Shadow and Maria’s sibling relationship. Um, excuse me, but never, not once in their entire existence thus far, have Shadow and Maria referred to each other as brother or sister in game canon. If they truly saw each other that way, they would let it slip a few times in game dialogue by now. You know, like Commander Abe Tower has regarding his own relationship to Maria, “Maria was like a sister to me,” and “the only family” he knew. How Maria herself has said that Abe “feels like my little brother,” and Gerald says in his journal that “Maria has become like a big sister to young Abraham.” **Note that Gerald doesn’t use the sibling descriptor when referring to Shadow and Maria's relationship.

I don’t put much stock in Western english language game manuals of yesteryear, such as the ShTH manual stating something like, “Maria was like a sister to Shadow,” as I lived through the DIC Sailor Moon debacle of “Haruka and Michiru are cousins", and 4KIDS censoring and localizing the original Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, and other series to appeal to a much younger demographic, cut and dry Western sensibilities and network advertisers. Heck, even Toonami edited its afternoon programming back in the day. And "like siblings" does not make them siblings. Being raised alongside someone does not necessarily mean you're related to them or that you perceive them as your brother or sister. It all depends how the characters themselves view their relationships with each other. Thus, I do not consider the SEGA America shared promo image of Dark Beginnings, which features Maria and Shadow reaching out to each other, captioned “like long lost siblings.” as gospel. But eh, to each their own.

Finally, I want to emphasize that Shadaria doesn’t interfere with your Sonadow, Shadamy, or any other Shadow ship you enjoy. Maria is long gone in canon, after all.

(I’m harking back to canon here, cause anti-shippers seem to consider it to be non-negotiable when it comes to fandom interpretation and works)

While the fan girl in me wishes SEGA would bring Maria back permanently, perhaps through reincarnation (in the vein of classic anime that dealt with that particular trope such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Inuyasha, Sailor Moon, and PSME) I highly doubt it will happen. And SxSG was, I feel, a swan song for Shadaria. Of course, that won’t make me love the ship any less, and it’s just my opinion based on where I see things heading within the franchise.

a million times this. “I don’t like these xyz fics” then don’t read them. THEY ARE NOT FOR YOU!!!!!!! no one forces you to read anything you don’t want to read. no one forces you to consume art you don’t enjoy. it’s so easy to click that mute or block button. instead of insulting fanfics or fan art for not fitting your personal liking, either choose something that does fit your personal liking, or write the fic you want to read yourself / draw the art you want to consume yourself.

michael if he was smart

It has been brought to my attention that the Tumblr system @/silvervinethesillies have been DATING A MINOR.

They are bodily 18 and the minor is bodily 14.

This is disgusting and needs to be shared and reported.

I have compiled a lot of screenshots in this doc. You can also go see for yourself, but I have the screenshots incase they delete the evidence. There are about a hundred screenshots, and that wasn't even everything. If I were to screenshot everything it would've taken forever.

It is horrifying. PLEASE SHARE THIS. WE NEED TO MAKE THEM STOP.

Over 500 years spent trying to cut down a whole trunk of human culture.