(This was originally written as a response to this stamp on deviantArt: link)
Given the circumstances surrounding Blaze's role in Sonic 2006 and how she became so closely affiliated with Silver, I'd say we have ample reason to complain, not just because we support Sonaze, but because we support Blaze as established in the Sonic Rush series. Blaze's backstory in Sonic 2006 contradicted her backstory as told in Sonic Rush, and her character was also altered, removing most of the brusque hot-headedness that served as an interesting counterpoint to Blaze's normally level-headed and cold disposition in Sonic Rush, making her much blander as a result. She was cast as little more than an accessory to Silver, and her backstory was changed to reinforce her status as such.
When Sonic 2006 erased itself from the timeline, this should have sealed the fate of Silvaze as little more than a crack ship. However, circumstances prevailed as Silvaze gained traction among the fanbase relatively quickly, no doubt helped by the fact that many supporters of Sonamy, the largest ship in the fanbase, saw Silver as a convenient character to ship Blaze with. Even the release of Sonic Rush Adventure the following year, which returned to us the Blaze we all loved from the first Sonic Rush, did little to impede the rising popularity of Silvaze. Confusion over Blaze's backstory spread, with many fans (often Silvaze fans) creating frequently ridiculous theories attempting to connect Blaze's backstory in Sonic 2006 to that of Sonic Rush, usually by proposing that her "sacrifice" caused her to be sent to another dimension where the altering of the timeline did not affect her, and theorizing that this dimension is the same one as in the Sonic Rush series, thereby establishing Sonic 2006 as some sort of a "prequel" to Sonic Rush. This theory ignores the fact that Sonic and Blaze's dimensions have parallel timelines, so what changes the timeline in Sonic's world would likely affect Blaze's world as well. Eventually, Takashi Lizuka himself attempted to settle the issue by confirming Blaze's backstory as told by Sonic Rush, but it was too little, too late. Silvaze had already risen to the status of one of the largest ships in the Sonic fandom and the absolute most popular ship involving Blaze.
Why does this concern us? The botched character and backstory of Blaze portrayed in Sonic 2006 still persists in the minds of many Silvaze fans, and this can be seen in Silvaze fan fiction, the majority of which is written with Blaze's portrayal in Sonic 2006 as it is the root and foundation of their ship, and also because it is nigh impossible to write a Silvaze story that does not change the back story or origins of either character, as they live so far apart from each other with so many boundaries that a relationship would be impossible. This would not concern us had it not began influencing SEGA in their later writings of Blaze, which often feature her paired up with Silver playing much the same role as she played to him in Sonic 2006 (e.g. M&S at Winter Olympics DS, where she is shown partnered up with Silver challenging the player to Dream Ice Hockey. In this scene, she mostly follows Silver, who is clearly the main focus of the scene), and also downplaying her brusque and hotheaded side much like in Sonic 2006, turning her into a fairly bland character. When under fire for their choice of pairing, many fans attempt to defend their pairing by arguing that "pairings don't matter". Yet, I would argue that if Silvaze did not become popular like it did, SEGA would likely have not considered continuing to write Silver and Blaze as partners due to it's origin in Sonic 2006, which SEGA have been trying to bury and distance themselves from for years as it was arguably the nadir of the franchise and a massive stain on their reputation. When SEGA do refer back to or take aspects of the game, it is always the more popular aspects, such as Crisis City being chosen to represent Sonic 2006 in Sonic Generations, or Silver, who may have been criticized when he was introduced, but has since became one of the most popular characters in the series, especially among younger fans. As Silvaze became popular among the fandom, SEGA probably saw it too as an acceptable aspect to partially integrate into the games. Even though Marine would have made a better partner for Blaze due to her power and personality contrast, and having the same origin as Blaze, SEGA still decided to make Silver an unofficial partner to Blaze, scrapping Marine likely due to her being unpopular. I myself, to be honest, rather liked her and thought she had potential to grow as a character, especially concerning the hidden power she unveiled at the end of Rush Adventure, which to this day remains unexplained.
Despite having nothing to do with Silver in her origin series, Blaze continues to be written as something of a sidekick to Silver, much like she was written in Sonic 2006, and I cannot see any other explanation why but the influence of Silvaze. Blaze had a sidekick that SEGA could have used in Marine, but she was scrapped for Silver. Even her relationship with Sonic is starting to get downplayed in favor of Silver (e.g. special victory animation for Silver and Blaze in M&S at Sochi Olympics, but none for Sonic and Blaze, despite Sonic being much more important in Blaze's character development than Silver and arguably her closest friend?). Silver and Blaze are being written as partners for no reason other than to appeal to fans of a crack ship. It annoys me further when SEGA writes scenes such as the Silver and Blaze scene in Sonic Colors DS that absolutely reek of Silvaze fanservice.
Take the time to read all of this and analyze it before you call me a "whiner", and do note that I do not hate Silver himself (in fact, I rather like him), but merely hate how he is written as a partner to Blaze when she originally had nothing to do with him and has better options for partners that would better complement her personality and powers. I am a firm Sonaze fan, indeed, but I stress that my opposition to Silvaze and Silver as a partner to Blaze goes beyond merely defending my choice of pairing. I was introduced to Blaze via Sonic Rush, and she has been my favorite character ever since. I know why I liked Blaze in the Sonic Rush series, and Blaze recently has been somewhat lacking in these traits. I noticed Blaze has been somewhat lacking in what I liked about her in recent titles, and when I noticed that Blaze is being written eerily similar to how she was written in Sonic 2006, the correlation between the increasing popularity of Silvaze and Blaze's decline and simplification as a character after Sonic Rush Adventure became clear to me. I speak this not just as a Sonaze fan, but as a Blaze fan who is concerned about the treatment of his favorite character. Excuse me for this being so long, but I feel details are necessary to get my point across.
Given the circumstances surrounding Blaze's role in Sonic 2006 and how she became so closely affiliated with Silver, I'd say we have ample reason to complain, not just because we support Sonaze, but because we support Blaze as established in the Sonic Rush series. Blaze's backstory in Sonic 2006 contradicted her backstory as told in Sonic Rush, and her character was also altered, removing most of the brusque hot-headedness that served as an interesting counterpoint to Blaze's normally level-headed and cold disposition in Sonic Rush, making her much blander as a result. She was cast as little more than an accessory to Silver, and her backstory was changed to reinforce her status as such.
When Sonic 2006 erased itself from the timeline, this should have sealed the fate of Silvaze as little more than a crack ship. However, circumstances prevailed as Silvaze gained traction among the fanbase relatively quickly, no doubt helped by the fact that many supporters of Sonamy, the largest ship in the fanbase, saw Silver as a convenient character to ship Blaze with. Even the release of Sonic Rush Adventure the following year, which returned to us the Blaze we all loved from the first Sonic Rush, did little to impede the rising popularity of Silvaze. Confusion over Blaze's backstory spread, with many fans (often Silvaze fans) creating frequently ridiculous theories attempting to connect Blaze's backstory in Sonic 2006 to that of Sonic Rush, usually by proposing that her "sacrifice" caused her to be sent to another dimension where the altering of the timeline did not affect her, and theorizing that this dimension is the same one as in the Sonic Rush series, thereby establishing Sonic 2006 as some sort of a "prequel" to Sonic Rush. This theory ignores the fact that Sonic and Blaze's dimensions have parallel timelines, so what changes the timeline in Sonic's world would likely affect Blaze's world as well. Eventually, Takashi Lizuka himself attempted to settle the issue by confirming Blaze's backstory as told by Sonic Rush, but it was too little, too late. Silvaze had already risen to the status of one of the largest ships in the Sonic fandom and the absolute most popular ship involving Blaze.
Why does this concern us? The botched character and backstory of Blaze portrayed in Sonic 2006 still persists in the minds of many Silvaze fans, and this can be seen in Silvaze fan fiction, the majority of which is written with Blaze's portrayal in Sonic 2006 as it is the root and foundation of their ship, and also because it is nigh impossible to write a Silvaze story that does not change the back story or origins of either character, as they live so far apart from each other with so many boundaries that a relationship would be impossible. This would not concern us had it not began influencing SEGA in their later writings of Blaze, which often feature her paired up with Silver playing much the same role as she played to him in Sonic 2006 (e.g. M&S at Winter Olympics DS, where she is shown partnered up with Silver challenging the player to Dream Ice Hockey. In this scene, she mostly follows Silver, who is clearly the main focus of the scene), and also downplaying her brusque and hotheaded side much like in Sonic 2006, turning her into a fairly bland character. When under fire for their choice of pairing, many fans attempt to defend their pairing by arguing that "pairings don't matter". Yet, I would argue that if Silvaze did not become popular like it did, SEGA would likely have not considered continuing to write Silver and Blaze as partners due to it's origin in Sonic 2006, which SEGA have been trying to bury and distance themselves from for years as it was arguably the nadir of the franchise and a massive stain on their reputation. When SEGA do refer back to or take aspects of the game, it is always the more popular aspects, such as Crisis City being chosen to represent Sonic 2006 in Sonic Generations, or Silver, who may have been criticized when he was introduced, but has since became one of the most popular characters in the series, especially among younger fans. As Silvaze became popular among the fandom, SEGA probably saw it too as an acceptable aspect to partially integrate into the games. Even though Marine would have made a better partner for Blaze due to her power and personality contrast, and having the same origin as Blaze, SEGA still decided to make Silver an unofficial partner to Blaze, scrapping Marine likely due to her being unpopular. I myself, to be honest, rather liked her and thought she had potential to grow as a character, especially concerning the hidden power she unveiled at the end of Rush Adventure, which to this day remains unexplained.
Despite having nothing to do with Silver in her origin series, Blaze continues to be written as something of a sidekick to Silver, much like she was written in Sonic 2006, and I cannot see any other explanation why but the influence of Silvaze. Blaze had a sidekick that SEGA could have used in Marine, but she was scrapped for Silver. Even her relationship with Sonic is starting to get downplayed in favor of Silver (e.g. special victory animation for Silver and Blaze in M&S at Sochi Olympics, but none for Sonic and Blaze, despite Sonic being much more important in Blaze's character development than Silver and arguably her closest friend?). Silver and Blaze are being written as partners for no reason other than to appeal to fans of a crack ship. It annoys me further when SEGA writes scenes such as the Silver and Blaze scene in Sonic Colors DS that absolutely reek of Silvaze fanservice.
Take the time to read all of this and analyze it before you call me a "whiner", and do note that I do not hate Silver himself (in fact, I rather like him), but merely hate how he is written as a partner to Blaze when she originally had nothing to do with him and has better options for partners that would better complement her personality and powers. I am a firm Sonaze fan, indeed, but I stress that my opposition to Silvaze and Silver as a partner to Blaze goes beyond merely defending my choice of pairing. I was introduced to Blaze via Sonic Rush, and she has been my favorite character ever since. I know why I liked Blaze in the Sonic Rush series, and Blaze recently has been somewhat lacking in these traits. I noticed Blaze has been somewhat lacking in what I liked about her in recent titles, and when I noticed that Blaze is being written eerily similar to how she was written in Sonic 2006, the correlation between the increasing popularity of Silvaze and Blaze's decline and simplification as a character after Sonic Rush Adventure became clear to me. I speak this not just as a Sonaze fan, but as a Blaze fan who is concerned about the treatment of his favorite character. Excuse me for this being so long, but I feel details are necessary to get my point across.
