I know I don’t post much but I fear I need to send out a bit of a call for aid.
Me and my partner are in a bit of a weird situation- I’m too disabled to work and attempting to file for disability, and my partner fled here from his home country after his parents tried to kidnap him, and isn’t legally allowed to work until he gets PR. Which he can’t get… until I have income. It’s hell.
Hopefully, next month my file will finally be approved- and I’ll stop being desperate for survival money. But until then, the two of us are stuck living in a tiny refurbished atrium with no door in an abusive household while we whittle away at freedom. Having eachother helps a lot, but it is cramped, drafty, wet and the sound of my family screaming at eachother carries down the stairs 24/7.
Unfortunately this all means we go hungry. A lot. And any amount to help us eat means the world, but first and foremost I need to pay our monthly bills that give him cell service for the applications he needs to do for the government and to pay for the meds that keep my blood from killing me.
I truly want this to be the last time I need to ask for help- ideally, our financial independence is finally on the horizon, and I will be able to do what I’ve dreamed of so dearly for years and be able to give back proper. But right now, *any* amount makes a difference.
I need about 60 CAD to pay for our utilities, and then anything else will keep us fed until my application is hopefully approved in mid-June.
Please, only give if you can do so safely and comfortably, and only give what is safe to give. Every little bit helps, and I hope I can pay back all the kindness I’ve been shown as soon as possible- it means the world to me.
Go to paypal.me/wizardmolars and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.
I'm growing increasingly frustrated with Tumblr's moderation bs and also increasingly bored with having to separate the "different kinds" of art I make, so if you don't mind, I'll be plugging my other social media account here now.
Go check out BOTH of these pieces on the butterfly app:
All Gold | No Gold
Half-marinated thoughts about the ending of The Chaotix Casefiles and Rouge’s utilization as a character:
Many have gripes about Rouge’s characterization and overall role in the story told by the audio-drama The Chaotix Casefiles. The main arguments seen online are that she keeps flirting with one of the protagonists of the audio-drama, Espio, which always ends the same way thrice, and when Espio manages to prove that he can do a task on his own with his mastery of ninjutsu skills, she runs off and exclaims she should’ve let him get shot. I want to explore how those two arguments can be justified at face-value, exploring her character as a storytelling tool, dissecting her characterization before and giving counter-arguments about her behaviour due to said characterization.
Let’s first get a picture of the story in The Chaotix Casefiles (TCC) and who helped create it. TCC is about a detective agency being given a case on stolen artifacts, which brings them to various leads, while exploring who they are as a team. It was written by Dan Jolley, an American author known for his comics in various franchises, such as DC and Warrior Cats. This brief overview of his Wikipedia page shows that he understands how storytelling for kids and family friendly media works. Whether they are well executed is a facet I will not explore here. The director, Ian Jones-Quartey, is an American animator and later known for his voice-acting in various children's media, including Steven Universe. He has been part of the executive team of the Steven Universe Movie, and has worked personally with Rebecca Sugar, director of said show. Sugar has written the theme song for TCC, though that is a known fact across those who are familiar with the audio-drama. It is clear that TCC was written and directed by people who have experience in telling stories for kids, not to mention the various input IDW comic writers, Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley, had as well. What were their input exactly is hard to tell for me, but all of this to say, these guys know what they are doing, even if it’s the first time they’re doing an audio-drama for a franchise that has known many ups and downs in terms of characterization.
In TCC, there are clear themes of identity and unity throughout it, even depicted with its antagonists. These are themes, I have noticed, that are often chosen when telling a story for the first time. For a franchise like Sonic, you want the status quo to be maintained at the end of the story. Sonic & Friends go on crazy adventures, and they are all self-contained to not make it confusing for anyone picking up a Sonic game for the first time. Furthering the characters’ identity and solidifying their unity as a group is an excellent way to keep the story fresh while still feeling like a classic adventure Sonic & Friends would embark into. I’m not the first one pointing this out, but I find it key to understanding why Rouge is written like that. All the arcs the protagonists go through re-inforce who they are within the Sonic franchise, and their only growth is re-afirming the characters known in the games. In media where the status quo must remain the same after the adventure, most characters will stay static, and the writer/director knew that very well when they chose themes that explored insecurities of one’s identity and working as a unity for this audio-drama.
To move along with Rouge’s case. She was conceptualized to be a femme fatale (key word on conceptualized), a spy/jewel thief that works for herself. Femme fatales are known to use their looks and their charisma to get what they want. Rarely do you get into the head of these types of characters, and their goals are hidden from the audience most of the time. In a more mature audience, characters like Natasha Romanov (Marvel) or Milady de Winter (Three Musketeers) are hidden behind mystery, you never truly know what they’re going for, and it’s part of the fun to dissect that, especially in the genre of spy and noir — of which Rouge is inspired by according to Tetsu Hoshino. People assume kids media would be straightforward, as they often repeat the themes, make things blatantly obvious, follow patterns that are easily recognizable. So when there is a femme fatale character, whose goals are always hidden, who only does things that benefit her, it can become confusing whenever they show up and do something you did not expect. In this case, Rouge flirting with Espio every time she meets him. Espio, in this audio-drama, has been finding life dull, unchallenging, where he can never truly show his ninja skills properly. A character like Rouge, who is a spy, who is a treasure hunter, who is a thief, can be an excellent comparison to Espio, even putting his skills to the test. Her purpose in TCC is to challenge Espio, to make him doubt his skills, and make him realize he is a good ninja. She uses her bat hearing to inspect her surroundings, immediately detecting Espio. She was always a character that has been one-step ahead of everyone, using her networking to her advantage. Of course, she would know how to retrieve the Red Specter file first, especially when she learns she has been impersonated. She has connections with G.U.N. afterall. All of her actions can be justified. Yes, even the flirting. Femme fatale characters use their seduction to get what they want. While we haven’t seen Rouge heavy-handedly flirting with any Sonic characters in any games like showed in TCC, it wouldn’t be that far stretched to imagine her using those skills. In the Sonic Chanel calendar stories, she has a flirtatious voice, calling Sonic a “bad boy” when he goes against her instruction. Her goal in that story was to take the Chaos Emerald found in Eggmanland, so she wanted Sonic far away from her so she could investigate.
You have to remember, those who wrote and directed this audio-drama know and understand storytelling and all the tropes that come with it in our western culture. There is a magic number always utilized, and that is 3. How many times does Rouge flirt with Espio to try to get what she wants? 3 times. In the last episode, she doesn’t even try flirting with him, she knows it won’t work. She even uses Espio’s sense of unity and teamwork to bring her onto the platform, saying “You can’t hit both switches at once.” Then she switches tactics by pointing out that “hitting both switches would take an impossible level of expertise”. It doesn’t work, and when you’ve been trailing this team like she did to get the lenses, it would be frustrating when it doesn’t work a fourth time. We have seen Rouge prone to frustration easily, especially with Knuckles, this is not the first time she let her frustration get the best of her. And she leaves because ultimately, she was never going to get those lenses, and she served her purpose: challenging Espio and making him gain confidence in himself.
Something about it, though, kept nagging at me. Using a female character to further the male character’s arc, and rendering her completely useless/irrelevant afterwards, doesn’t that sound rooted in misogyny? The femme fatale archetype is also rooted in male fantasy, using her seduction to ensnare those who dared to trust her, and lead them to compromising or deadly traps. Rouge’s character does not change, which we established was normal for a franchise such as Sonic that needs to go back to the status quo, but leaving the story once her foil managed to grow? It leaves many questions as to what her goals were in the first place, especially for someone who only works for herself. Jumping in with pitchforks would not bring any benefits to this story that is still satisfying in of itself. People within this fandom often wished their favourite character had the spotlight, was treated as they envisioned their character to act. In TCC, there are many female characters that contribute to the story in one way or another, such as Torii, Tangle and Whisper. Each character has a role, and once their role has been accomplished, it is normal for them to no longer being part of the story, especially in a franchise addressed at a younger audience. The foul taste in my mouth was mostly tied to Rouge’s being used to further a male’s story than her flirting with him. It was clear the writer/director wanted to lean more into that femme fatale archetype with Rouge, and subvert it with Espio’s moral sense of teamwork. Her flirting can be justified in many ways, and the audience is not supposed to know her actual goals. This has been fact since her first appearance.
My opinion stays my opinion. I am not an executive nor a director, I am simply a fan that loves good storytelling. Rouge the Bat is a fascinating character, in her mysterious goals, morally ambiguous morals, and in her charismatic sarcastic nature. Overall, The Chaotix Casefiles have highlighted all these qualities, while relying on the femme fatale archetype to construct her purpose in the story. An archetype rooted in male fantasy whose purpose was to further a male’s arc can leave a bad taste that covered in misogyny, and it is important to keep that in mind when dissecting characterization. Stories have nuances, stories are political, stories have biases, and when engaging in media, it is important to note all of these and question them in our own lives.
Really good points, I agree with everything said, but I do wanna add something on that I feel wasn't touched on here.
Maybe it's just me, but the biggest issue I had with Rouge in TCC is that she is the femme fatale played straight, which is sort of. Antithetical to Sonic character writing.
The Sonic cast is full of characters who are subversions of the tropes they are built around. Sonic is a speedster who is actually capable of slowing down and enjoying the little things, that's practically baked into the environmental messages that the series itself is built on. Tails is the "gadget using sidekick" who's actually his own capable hero who more often than not ends up just bumping into Sonic while they're both on the way to investigate a problem, rather than tagging along out of necessity. Keeping it to TCC, Vector is the "bumbling gumshoe" but he's actually a good detective, Espio is the "cunning and sneaky ninja" who is also a complete dork, Charmy is the "useless yet adorable mascot" except he's actually a valuable member of the team and a key part of their success.
And of course, the same goes for Rouge. She's based on the femme fatale archetype, and as you mentioned, the femme fatal's goals are never clear, her morals are always ambiguous, and she'll use her charm and good looks to get by.
Rouge's goals are almost always "Get the shiny gems," she is catty and petty but never cruel or mean and does genuinely care about the people around her even when it goes against her own goals (Her giving up the M.E. Shards in her Very First Appearance, and her entire dynamic with Team Dark,) and while she always has a bit of a flirtatious tone to her voice, she almost never uses her charm to get what she wants. Her flirtatiousness is more often than not just How She Talks, rather than another tool in her arsenal.
That's what makes her usage in TCC so off to me, especially her actually wanting the Lens at the end, rather than the previously stated "I just want to clear my name really," it's the femme fatale played straight, which is not what Rouge has ever been. And at the end, when she insults Espio and then flies off, that feels especially wrong because again, she may be catty and petty, but she's never cruel. I can see her insulting Espio and then sticking around to help, or I can see her going "Oh well, whatever" and then flying off, but being cruel and then leaving everyone to deal with the mess isn't what Rouge the Bat would ever do- the person who willingly gave up the shards of the Master Emerald even without knowing about their power and importance in SA2, the person who was concerned and saddened about Shadow potentially being a robotic duplicate in Heroes, the person who learned that the entire world would turn against her friend and reassured him that she would stay with him no matter what, the person who said THIS:
Is not going to just leave after she didn't/couldn't get what she wanted when there was still potentially a threat to deal with
