r/Sonaze_Central

No way this isn’t an coincidence Sonic and Blaze are meant to be no matter how much the franchise tries to removed them lol 💙💜

I’m going to take advantage of the fact that another wave of depression has just hit me to get these thoughts out of my head and at least have people to listen. You might make fun of me, but honestly, I like reading the comments and whatever people have to say about what I’m thinking.

To be honest, if there’s one thing I often regret as a Sonic fan, it’s becoming a fan of the Sonaze pairing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the ship, and I have a history with it that I’ll share another day because I just don’t feel like it right now, but there are times when I feel like I made a mistake by becoming a fan of it.

Ever since I joined the Sonaze fandom, I’ve felt in one way or another even more rejected than I already was. I clearly remember that when I first got into it, everyone I knew who was a Sonic fan (or knew anything about the franchise) looked at me strangely for starting to ship that pairing. Even my girlfriend, who was actually the reason I started shipping Sonaze in the first place (the first time I played Rush, Blaze reminded me a lot of her, and since I see a bit of myself in Sonic, I just put two and two together; it’s not rocket science).

Over time, I grew fond of them and started drawing them every now and then, looking at fan art, reading fanfics and comics, coming up with headcanons, and so on; the typical shipper stuff. But the deeper I got into it, the lonelier I felt.

I’m going to be honest here (though I think it’s pretty obvious): I envy the Silvaze fandom. Yes, I admit it; I envy them for having it easier (or at least, that’s how it looks to me).

Whenever I saw Sonaze art on Twitter, Instagram, or any social network, all I saw were attacks on the artists or nothing but GIFs or images of Silver or Amy crying or angry. It was a toxic, radioactive attitude that made me feel like I was doing something wrong because, deep down, *really* deep down, something told me they were right, that I shouldn't be shipping Sonaze.

To make matters worse, whenever Silvaze fanart appeared in my feed, it had thousands of likes compared to a few hundred. And it wasn't just that; there were retweets from SEGA and the comic book crew, and incredibly talented artists creating pieces that looked like genuine works of art... hell, I think there’s even Silvaze fanart pinned to the walls of the SEGA offices.

Seeing that I got nothing but insults for shipping Sonaze made me feel... unwanted by anyone.

What made it even harder was that Sonaze was a lifeline for me back then; my parents were separating, and there were legal issues regarding a piece of land that still stress us out to this day.

Then there was the massive harassment I endured on Twitter for four consecutive years, and the whole thing with that ex-friend who tried to steal my girlfriend by using the Silvaze ship as a weapon against me. (I won't go into detail about that.)

And well, amidst all that, the envy grew so intense that I forced myself to like the ship; but the more I did, the more I hurt myself.

And you know what the sad part is? It seemed like people liked me better as a Silvaze fan than as my true self. So I was right: I *had* made a mistake by choosing Sonaze.

I wish I had what they have: approval from Sega itself, affection from almost the entire fandom, unanimous validation, and fan art and fanfiction of enviable quality.

And what do I have? Artists who left due to massive harassment; few fanfics, or ones abandoned because of that harassment; a sense that both Sega and those involved in the franchise hate the ship (the only bit of Sonaze fan service was that hand-holding panel in issue #63, released in 2023); and this crappy *Your Name*-themed drawing I made.

Even the game's director dislikes the idea of the *Rush* ending being viewed as a romantic scene—yet that was exactly what made me fall completely in love with the ship.

It makes me sad to think this way, but when the only response I get to saying "Hey, Sonic and Blaze make a cute couple" is thousands of people writing essays on why I'm wrong—and knowing they're right... well, how could I not hate being a Sonaze fan?

In fact, these thoughts have affected me so much that I can no longer listen to romantic music or watch romance movies, anime, games, or books—anything romantic—without thinking about how perfect it would be for Silvaze, and how, if applied to Sonaze, it would turn into horrible trash that everyone would hate because it disrespects the characters and established canon.

To be honest, I do have regrets, but at the same time, I can't help but feel that both *Rush* and the Sonaze pairing represent a significant part of my relationship with my partner.

I only started shipping Sonaze because of her; she gave me the original game when I went to visit her, and we even said goodbye using the same line from the *Rush* ending when I had to return to my country: "We'll see each other again."

Still, I can't help thinking that everything would have been easier if I had chosen the silver hedgehog instead of the blue one.

But anyway, what's done is done.

Burning Blaze doesn’t get any love so wanna to make something for her the flames being apart of her hair down ugh this was a pain to get done took 5 days to do over and over again still not happy with this but oh well Enjoy! less

Art from my dA account (JCFanfics) made three years ago, with Sonic and Blaze trick-or-treating. They are dressed up as Rolf and Nei, two characters from Phantasy Star II.

Link to art: Sonaze Halloween 2023 by JCFanfics on DeviantArt