...because of this this Sky Fibre/Toy Story ad:

Specifically the part where the toy hedgehog says: "those are my rings!" suggesting it's a Sonic game. Except if you pay attention you'll notice the game itself looks a lot more like Mario, and the item collection noise is definitely the coin grab sound effect from SMB on the NES.

Calling it: they're deliberately trolling me. Like, specifically me.

That or it's time for my meds. Could be either now I think about it.

I'm gonna start this one by saying the audience for this blog post is probably pretty niche. I don't have a justification for that. Yup.

But on the off chance someone not in that niche audience is interested, have some context: Tikal is a member of an ancient race Echnidnas of whom Knuckles the Echnida is a decedent (you can tell from his name), from the Sonic the Hedgehog mythos.

Tikal's story allegedly began (more on that 'allegedly' part later) when she stumbled upon the alter of the chaos emeralds. There she met a group of creatures known as chao, and their protector, Chaos. She befriended Chaos and the chao as they lived peacefully in their obscure home.