#Also brothers Sonic and Tails real

[daydreamdoodles]

I found the most perfect sonadow fluff fic and frankly I won't be able to recover from this find

It's All Hail Nurse Shadow on Ao3 btw

[willyhoos]

simultaneously wanting to cry out "HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME HERE" and "NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN"

aka what happens if you combine prime!sonic (sweetest boy) and fof!tails (most traumatized boy)

bonus: HE DOESN'T KNOW

[sonknuxadow]

see i do think there have been actual instances of fandom people just deciding two characters are siblings with no real basis and acting like its canon and forcing that interpretation on others and getting mad at people who disagree . but a lot of the characters i see people list as examples of this happening with are just actually stated to or heavily implied to see eachother as siblings by the source material and at that point i think you just dont see adopted siblings as real siblings idk what else to tell you

[drylagooned]

gif credit (x)

im glad that instead of trying to change himself to be the person sonic wants him to be, nine fires back here and demands the recognition and respect he deserves as an individual separate from the one sonic knows. he’s done it repeatedly through both seasons and im ridiculously proud of this little 8-year-old for having the gumption and resilience to stand up to someone he clearly wants acceptance from bc that’s an extremely hard thing to do at any age. but nine is such a strong kid and he knows it’s his right to be treated as the person he is and not the person sonic wants him to be.

and i do like that we see a look of realization and regret on sonic’s face here— it says a lot. namely that sonic hasn’t meant to undermine nine’s identity. sometimes you just hurt ppl without meaning to and sonic has clearly done that by being so dismissive of the fact nine is a person wholly disconnected from the tails he knows. he even goes so far in this moment as to try and make nine feel bad for not being more like his tails.

that’s a cruel and manipulative thing to do and i think we’re seeing sonic begin to understand that he really hurt this poor kid without realizing it.

[myymi]

they’ve been found family since tails was made tf do you meaannn 💀

bro literally called sonic his mom, dad, and picket fence in aosth, which sonic responded to by saying “i love you lil bro”. that show came out in 1992.

plus sonic has been calling him lil bro since he could talk.

they’ve ALWAYS been siblings. found family and otherwise.

saying they aren’t real siblings is not only false, but also can be hurtful to irl people with adoptive sibs/found family. they’re as real as any pair that’s blood related. shut up.

ROUND THREE!

[mama-qwerty]

Let's talk about this little scene.

(gif by @iwasbored777)

They're looking for Shadow, and Knuckles notices that the GUN truck is falling toward them. He shoves his brothers out of the way, and catches the truck, neat as you please.

He could have grabbed them and pulled them away, making sure they were safe when the truck landed. He could have punched the falling vehicle, shattering it to bits and causing all sorts of rubble and debris.

But he didn't. He pushed his brothers behind him, and caught the truck.

He showed off his strength, following it up with hefting it on one hand, and boasting once again about being "one million percent muscle".

Knuckles may have settled into family life, may have found a new tribe, but he's still a warrior, and is proud of his strength. He's proud of the abilities he has, and I think sometimes feels like they're not appreciated enough, as they're for fighting and after the last movie, he and the other boys have seemingly settled into a nice, quiet, non-violent family life.

Tails likely has been instrumental in fixing or improving various things about the house or town, and Sonic is the first child so he's already found his comfy spot in the family and community.

But what about Knuckles? His strength likely isn't as big a benefit in daily life. May be a bit of a hinderance, if he doesn't pay attention and control it properly. So he may have been hearing "Watch your strength, Knux," or "Not all conflicts require violence to solve, Knux," which is so different from what he's used to.

While he doesn't always immediately jump to violence to solve all his problems, that's his strength, no pun intended. In his journeys through the galaxy, he had to fight to survive. Fight to keep himself safe. And even in circumstances where he didn't want to fight, he was usually forced into it. So this is his norm.

So I feel like he caught that falling truck not only to save his brothers, but to remind them what he's capable of. It was kind of a "Look, I am your brother, I am happy in my new tribe, but I am still someone to be respected because of my abilities."

It could have also been a lowkey show of how he would protect them. Anyone could pull someone to safety, but only he could catch a falling multi-ton vehicle as though it were nothing more than a tossed baseball.

But now it's discouraged. Maybe he feels he's getting weak. Getting soft because he's not being forced to fight on a regular basis. Which is I think why he so willingly rushed to fight Shadow when it seemed like talking wasn't working.

In the novelization of the movie, after Shadow kicks his butt, when the others ask if he's okay he tells them that he "might be a bit rusty". His pride is what took the real beating, and may have added to this feeling of his strength being dismissed. Of him losing what made him special.

This is further enforced by being essentially benched during the raid on the GUN HQ. His greatest asset is his strength, but it's not being utilized except "in case of emergency". Which, based on how the others behaved, they didn't think it would be necessary. So they essentially told him he was the failsafe, the backup, even though they--and likely HE--did not expect to need him.

His constant boasts about how easily he could break the glass may have been as much for his own morale as convincing the others he would be there if necessary. He is a formidable warrior, he has bested many a foe in his years. He is still a force to be reckoned with, even if he hadn't been challenged much in the months since the last battle with Robotnik.

He needs to feel useful. To feel important to the rest of his tribe. And maybe he's felt that the others kind of forgot just how impressive he is in his own right.

His adventures during the series showed him how it was okay to let his guard down and not be so serious all the time. And we see that in the film. We see him content with simply being a member of the family, we see him goofing off with his brothers. Even while they went over the plan, he sat with his little hat and munched on some bread.

(The grumpy face is undone by the beanie, sweetheart.)

Knuckles does best when facing threats head on. He prefers to run in and deal with the problem up front, and get on with his life. Stealth and plans and even working with other people is new to him. But he trusts his brother, he trusts his tribe, and he will stay off to the side until he's needed. (Maybe even moreso now that he saw that rushing in to fight Shadow didn't get him anywhere.)

But when he's needed, he will show them that his strength is just as much an asset as Tails' brains and Sonic's speed. Even if it had unexpected consequences.

Knuckles has a much bigger adjustment to Earth and family life than either of the other two boys. Because his life up to that point was fighting, keeping on the move and ahead of bounty hunters, and searching for the one thing that meant more to his people than any other. He had a huge weight on his shoulders, one that neither Sonic nor Tails could understand. Even the humans in his life couldn't possibly comprehend just how important it was for him to find the Master Emerald and allow his entire species to rest in peace once more.

But now that his quest was done, and he doesn't have to look over his shoulder as much as he used to, he likely struggles with how he fits in with the world. For the longest time he was The Most Dangerous Warrior in the Galaxy, and the Last of the Echidna. Now he's simply Knuckles. And he may be having a hard time finding what that actually means, to him and to those he loves.

~~~

Check out my other Sonic 3 analysis posts

[cc-cobalt-1043]

Arctic Snow:

Arctic Fox Tails au where he gets his winter coat and his brothers are confused by his new look:

Winter was fast approaching green hills, it's residents had all noticed a bitter chill changing in the air, additionally ice had begun gathering on the pavements and paths meaning that the roads and paths would soon need to be gritted.

Snow had now began to fall and Sonic was especially eager because he could now show his new brothers the joys of playing in the snow. Plus they could all wrap themselves up in scarves hats and gloves Maddie had specially knitted for them.

"Sonic, look at my new winter things." Tails cheered his grey and white tails wagging in delight as he held them out.

Sonic took a look and saw a pair of silver grey and white mittens with light blue accents, his new scarf and hat (made specially to accommodate Tails' ears) were both the same colour.

"Looking good little bro, it goes with with your fur so well." Sonic said before suddenly ruffling Tails's bangs.

"Sonic, cmon stop." Tails giggled trying to swat Sonic's hand away and failing.

Sonic continued to ruffle his hair, the giggling only making him do it more.

When he did stop he was surprised to find a large clump of grey fluff come up in his hand and immediately panicked.

"OhmygodTailsI'msosorryIdidn'tmeanit..." He didn't mean it panicked at the thought of accidentally hurting his little brother.

"Sonic calm down, I'm just molting see." Tails said brushing his stomach and sonic noticed a few smaller bits of fluff fall off of Tails and onto the attic floor.

"Oh yeah, I think mom mentioned it, you're getting your winter coat." Sonic said.

Tails nodded.

"Yeah, though I'm probably gonna be leaving fur in a lot of places so sorry in advance." Tails said.

"Don't worry about it little bro, you can't help it, though we should probably warn mom and dad they're gonna be cleaning up more fur than just Ozzie's." Sonic said.

Over the next couple of days Tails' summer fur shed and his winter coat began to slowly come in.

Tom and Maddie took this in stride and everytime Tails got upset about his fur being in places they reassured him it wasn't his fault and it was just his body getting ready for the cold weather.

Sonic and Knuckles also helped out comforting their brother and in addition they made sure his bed was as cosy as it could be as it was a common fact that real foxes  tended to grow more malcohent and tired when shedding their fur and this fact seemed to apply to Tails too.

After about four days Sonic was in for a surprise.

He woke up that day and stretched rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up.

He climbed out of bed and went over to Tails' blue plane themed bed.

"Tails little bro, time to wake up, it's a brand new..." Sonic cut off when he saw something unusual with Tails.

The little fox was curled up in a ball on his bed, but his fur was different.

Instead of the grey and silver it had been the day before, it was snow a bright snow White, as a matter of fact the kit was now completely white like a giant snowball.

Just then Tails let out a squeaky yawn his sky blue eyes fluttering open and gazing at the cobalt blue hedgehog.

"Hmm, Sonic what is it?" Tails asked yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Tails, your fur." Sonic said surprised.

"What about it...oh right." Tails said as though suddenly realising something.

"What's going on bud?" Sonic asked confused.

"This, oh this is just my winter coat." Tails said.

"How come it's all white?" Sonic asked.

"To blend in with the snow, you know like earth arctic foxes." Tails said.

Just then Knuckles awoke.

"Good morning brothers, I hope you have rested well." The echnida said getting up and stretching.

"Knux, check this out." Sonic said indicating Tails' snow white fur.

"Fox, you look different." Knuckles said.

"It's my winter fur Knuckles, what do you think?" Tails asked.

"It is very well suited for this snowy weather fox, and a great camoflauge against any enemy that may attack." Knuckles said.

"Thanks Knuckles but I highly doubt that'll happen." Tails said.

"Maybe so but you never know...plus it is very soft." Knuckles said gently stroking the fur behind Tails' ears making the kit purr.

Sonic tried and indeed Tails' new coat was very soft, somehow even softer than earlier.

"He's right Tails, you look and feel like a fluffy cloud." Sonic said.

Tails giggled and blushed but his wagging tails betrayed the embarrassment he felt.

"Cmon let's go see what's for breakfast, I'm starving." Sonic said before racing out the attic.

Tails' felt his own stomach rumble loudly and giggled in embarrassment.

"It seems you are hungry too fox, come, let us dine on Mother's delicious breakfast feast before the hedgehog eats it all." Knuckles said lifting Tails onto his shoulder and carrying him out of the attic, the fox cheering in excitement.

Inspired by @0vergrowngraveyard's arctic fox Tails art

[sleepyskeleton-0]

SPOILERS FOR STH 3!!!

Scene analysis (heavily focused on Knuckles).

So there’s this scene in Sonic 3 in London where Sonic decides that despite their initial intentions to never use the master emerald anymore, he insists on using it for vengeance (after Shadow hurts Tom).

In this scene Sonic and Knuckles stand head to head and get worked up to the point where they’re charging up their powers, (Tails in kinda in the middle trying to calm them both down).

I got emotional in this scene, like full on tears in my eyes for a split second. Let me tell you why:

This is the scene that shows Knuckles’ endless patience for Sonic and Tails.

We know as an audience that Knux is always eager to go into battle, perhaps even too eager, but when it comes to his siblings, he’s always patient. So when Sonic tries to start a fight with him, he gets riled up at first but then takes a moment to calm himself down.

He refrains from hurting his brother and instead tries to talk to him calmly, to reason with him.

And if that’s not an oldest sibling strait I honestly don’t know what is.

I don’t think some people realise how hard it is to stay calm when your younger siblings are angering you. Like not teasing but properly pissing you off, especially if your sibling is a younger teenager (think 11-14 or 15).

At some point, you as the oldest have to realise that you have to be the calm one because naturally, teens are hormonal as shit and they can’t really help it (sometimes). We’ve all been there and we all know what it feels like to get wound up easily as a kid, and as an oldest child, you didn’t have someone who would calmly deal with you. Your parents would just get angry or chalk it up to a phase, so it’s either too much discipline or none at all for their first kid, then leave them to deal with the others when they grow up (obviously this isn’t the case with the trio here bc they were all taken in as teens so it’s different - the attention Tom and Maggie would’ve shown to them as babies and children are being shown now that they’re actually a family).

So shout out to all my oldest siblings out there, including Knuckles, because it’s like constantly taking punches to the face and actively remaining steady on your feet without letting your anger get the best of you.

This especially goes for a traumatic or high anxiety situation, like Tom’s injury. Sonic’s love for him and his worry and regret is consuming him in this moment and throwing him into a blind rage. Tails is also really worried, and as the youngest, it goes without saying that you try to cushion any pain as much as possible, so he’s not gonna be expected to help. Who’s left then? To help deal with Sonic? Knuckles.

He realises Sonic’s having a hard time, knows what it feels like to lose loved ones, understands the worry of “will they return home?” and how the reality of the situation can hit at any moment and how crippling it can be.

So Knuckles swallows his pride and tries to reason with Sonic.

And it’s really fucking hard to do that. Especially when being put in this position.

This rant feels repetitive but I have to get it out there just how hard it is to do this. At the end of the day, even if we are the oldest sibling, even if we have an obligation to be the bigger person, we still have feelings. All this emotional burden is gonna build up. It’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just the position we were born in. It’s our job to be that pillar of strength for our younger siblings, but if you keep throwing small stones at a pillar, eventually it’ll start to chip and crumble. So to have the strength to remain steady is the real superpower.

Like holy shit, talk about dual burden. Knux is also feeling the pain of potentially losing Tom, but he’s still there to comfort and protect his family and also shoulder his own difficult emotions. Because no one was there to do that for him when he needed it the most. He may never have anyone to protect him quite like that, and an older sibling will protect their younger ones even if it means making sacrifices. Remember that parents don’t have the same effect as siblings. Adults can only have so much understanding, but growth moves with the times, and each coming generation develops in unique ways, so grown ups will never grasp the full extent of the younger generation’s struggles, just as us younger people will never understand what they went through and how they dealt with it.

So props to Knuckles, he really is 1000000% muscle, and his most important muscles, his heart and brain, work together incredibly well. He doesn’t have to be book smart, his emotional intelligence makes up for that.

(Disclaimer: this is just my interpretation so just take it with a grain of salt, also sorry for this utterly incoherent rant, I have feelings about this movie- and this silly little echidna.)

[itsaflyingiraffe]

Like imagine being eight growing up in a world full of people who hurt you for no reason then finally having a dude who treats you like he’s known you his entire life come along and chuck a few authentic compliments your way only to find out he’s talking to you like that because you’re the shadow of a person that he loves. Imagine literally being face to face with the image of this person, this ‘you’ that you could never be and having to live with the fact that the only thing between you and that ‘you’ was him. You’re the you you are because he never came. You’re more ‘you’ than this hologram because you decided all alone who you were going to be. All the pain and suffering you endured, for all you tried to help he still can’t see how it’s all for nothing when he still chooses the ‘you’ who never felt it all in the first place over you like you were nothing more than a placeholder. When he’s the only him you’ve ever known. He’s the only him you ever needed, and he’s failing you again and refuses to see it.

and also you’re eight

starting S1 of Sonic Prime and laughing my ass off at the concept of ‘angsty’ tails only for nine to obliterate me physically and mentally for a season and a half moodboard ✌️✌️✌️ (🥲)

[papagabu]

I was originally going to keep this to myself and just finish this later, but I decided I wanted to vent about this. I started this a couple of days ago and couldn't finish it because, for some reason, I can't figure out what to do with the Metal Emperor’s legs! like I like the design so far, but I can't do the legs for some reason. It’s so frustrating not being able to finish the design of my main villain because I can’t come up with a design for his legs.

Also, his little brother, Tails Doll, is there. Yes, little brother. I mentioned Metal Emperor having brothers before. He has two other robots he considers brothers, and that's Tails Doll (the youngest) and Mecha Sonic (the middle sibling). They're siblings in title alone; he doesn't particularly have a real familial bond with them, though he does like Tails Doll.

My AU's version of Tails Doll is heavily inspired by Archie's Tails Doll. But the backstory is that after Metal Emperor seized all of Eggman's assets, he found a prototype Tails Doll he gave sentience to and named his youngest brother. this Tails Doll later realizing how nonthreatening it was physically requested upgrades, transforming it into a shapeshifting monster made of nano-machines.

[lazorbeanz]

Another continuation to my list of random thoughts and reactions to STH3

(Part 3🫠)

!spoilers ahead duh!

- NOOOOOOO TOM!!!! HE CANT BE DEAD!!! SHADOW DID NOT JUST KILL TOM (I was literally shaking AND oh was I on the brink of tears too aakdjsjsnjs)

- more parallels 😭

- omg the new suits looking like how they do in the games o yaaaaas

- uhm someone care to help eggman he looks like he’s having a seizure

- okay now I definitely feel bad for stone :(

- idk why but this part in the movie I could NOT stop rambling to myself about it

It was after the ambulance had driven away with tom and maddie

How Sonic was just filled with so much anger and hurt he was willing to break the promise he made with his team about not using the M.E

Knuckles ofc was fully against the idea as using the M.E could be too dangerous, especially using it for something like vengeance. Then also saying that Sonic is in no right to make any decisions esp in his emotional state

Because emotions (especially anger) can cloud your judgement. you’re not always thinking straight therefore leading to irrational decision making

And knuckles, always being known as the hothead, short tempered, sometimes leaping into battles with just fists and no brain. He of all people probably knows what happens when you make decisions based off your emotions

And iirc doesn’t the power of the Master Emerald (or the chaos emeralds) reflects (or is based of) the person’s heart? Having someone who is feeling a whole pile of negative emotions wield such power can have severe consequences (which I’m pretty sure has already been demonstrated)

But anyways Sonic couldn’t care at the moment, he was even fine with going solo if no one “had the guts” Hecc, he was even ready to throw hands with Knux just to win it over and I was like “oh shiz it’s gonna be STH2 all over again” cuz y’know they both got all charged up

But then Knuckles was reminded about the OTHER half of their promise…to trust each other, and he was going to make sure he kept that promise even if Sonic broke it on his end, even if Sonic chooses to go with what could be a very reckless choice. When knux swears a ✨sacred oath✨ he is bound to keep it regardless.

So he stands down and lets Sonic have his way

Idk did that not just scream maturity or character development to you?? Bc knux usually wouldn’t make a stretch like this esp with the M.E. Idk maybe I looked too far into it help

(Also I’m not in any way condemning Sonic for being the way he was…poor guy has been thru a lot from dealing with another hedgehog, to 2 eggmen, GUN, and now his “dying” father. He has every right to be pissed)

- oh is it who I think it is-

- OH MY GOSH WADE HAHAHAHA YESSSSS THE NEW FEARSOME GUARDIAN OF THE MASTER EMERALD ALL QUIVER BEFORE HIM

- BUDDY YOU DIDNT EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU TRIED-

- NAAAAA NO MORE SAD FLASHBACKS :(

- OH STUFF’S ABOUT TO GET REAL

- SUPER SHADOW ENTERED THE CHAT!!!!

- SONIC JUST PUNCHING SHADOW ACROSS THE WORLD DAAAAYYUUUUMM BROS ON A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF VIOLENCE

🎶Brazil, Morocco, London to Ibiza-🎶 (shh it’s totally accurate)

- I’m crying WHAT IS THIS SORCERY

- SONIC SHED A TEAR I REPEAT SONIC SHED A TEAR I SAW IT

- ahh yes beautiful trauma bonding

- OMG OKAY ITS HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- LIVE AND LEARRRRNNNNNN

- old people and insects…

- BANGER SCENE + BANGER SONG = PEAK CINEMA PT.2

- THEY DID THE THING!!!

- oop there goes eggman

- WAIT WHERE DID TAILS AND KNUCKLES COME FROM DID I MISS SOMETHING?

- lmfao Gerald gets his ass zapped by his grandson and then incinerated by pure chaos energy the karma is reallll but uhm rest in pepperonis ig

- THEY PISSED ON THE FREAKING MOOOOOOOON

- AAAAAHHHHH TAILS SEES HIS BIG BRO PLUMMETING TO HIS DOOM AND-

HES IN TEARS IM UNWELL

- YESSSS GO SAVE YOUR BUDDY!!!!

- sayonara Shadow the Hedgehog and Dr.Robotnik 🫡

- NOOOO TAILS LOSING CONSCIOUS YOU TRIED ITS OKAY

- YEEEAAAAHHHHH HERE COMES KNUCKLES TO SAVE BOTH HIS LIL BROTHERS!!!!! 💪💪💪

- TEAM HUG AWWWWW LETS GO

- DONUT LORD IS ALIIIIIVEEEE YESSSS

- MORE DOGGY TRANSLATIONS :D

yes ozzy u get all the loveeee

- YES WE GET THE REAL RACE THIS TIME TO TOP IT OFF

- I love this movie

- *proceeds to jam out to the credits*

- welcome to the SCU Amy 🩷 ALSO GURL UR SO PRETTY WOWZERS

- I need STH4 NOW

[artificialchaoscola]

This is so random but when Shadow meets Surge and Kit in IDW I hope there's a level of kinship that exists between them. Rambling inbound!

Like, I can totally see at first Shadow needing to fight the two/finds Surge REALLY annoying given how she's snarky like Sonic is, but I hope that at some point he finds out about their past and is able to offer some advice on how to... idk, maybe cope with the fact that they're not like everyone else? Or that their pasts were robbed from them? That they were created as tools, but they can be something beyond that if they worked at it?

I think Sonic and Tails are good at showing Surge and Kit the kind of heroes they could choose to be, but I don't think they should be the ones to finally push them on the path of redemption. The two brothers' existence is the root cause of their suffering, after all. Their existence is why Starline robbed Surge and Kit of everything. Not to mention the two are very idealistic and hopeful by default. I think it would be more meaningful to have someone who shares their trauma to some extent be the catalyst for change. Shadow won't sugarcoat anything for them, and what he says may even be harsh asf. However he would go about it, I think he'd keep it so real and they'd grow as a result.

(Or hey, maybe he says something that can make it even WORSE. Maybe Shadow doesn't give a fuck because he has his own issues that the writers want to explore. Who knows! As long as they meet and they're able to explore different aspects of the characters outside of just a fight I'm down with it frfr)

...Also, I don't have a therapist but this page would be why I need one, thanks IDW very cool!

[zuziknux]

˖♡~*✯ My headcanons for Movie Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as brothers! ✯*~♡˖

( @litlledaisycat wanted this! ^^)

💙 Sonic 💙

`-🌀 Sonic is the middle brother (like in the picture! xD). He is confident, friendly, funny, lively, courageous, but also loving, caring and protective of his brothers, willing to understand and help his brothers cope with anything that bothers them at the moment.

`-🌀 When they're all bored, Sonic still tries to think of something fun to do! He wants to keep the time great and enjoyable every second!

`-🌀 Sonic especially loves movie nights with his brothers. When the curtains pull down and they sit or lay down on the sofa and watch good movies with popcorn. Yeah, that's called fun!

`-🌀 Well, now... something a bit about him and Tails. He loves his lil buddy Tails and cares for him and how he feels deeply and always wants him to feel himself and not act the way he doesn't want to or doesn't feel comfortable with.

`-🌀 Sonic is more than happy to always accept him anytime! That's what family is for, isn't?

`-🌀 Speaking of this, he accepts Knuckles too, the way he is. He got used to his behavior about being a warrior and how he's always talking serious and tough. He sometimes actually even likes it a little! At least Knuckles is a real muscle and knows how to protect his brothers and fight off jerks or villains!

💛 Tails 💛

`-🎗️ Tails is the youngest, lil brother. He loves his older, big brothers and he sometimes also clings to them~

`-🎗️ Sonic and Knuckles find it cute though and they don't mind, if Tails gets so comfy he falls asleep in their arms <3

`-🎗️ Tails just likes getting attention and affection from his older brothers! He likes getting headpats, hugs, nuzzles and cuddles from them! It makes him feel safe, all warm and cozy!

`-🎗️ Tails is happy and grateful he has met Sonic and became his bestest friend and lil brother, because he doesn't feel lonely or alone anymore and has a great, loving family :)

`-🎗️ He is also happy he can be himself in front of his big brothers and don't have to hold anything back, as he's still little and sometimes a little shy and unsure about himself and sometimes also just spends time alone inventing stuff, as he's the smartest. He just sometimes likes alone time as well, but loves being with his big brothers of course!

`-🎗️ Sometimes, Tails is secretly fascinated by Knuckles' warrioring and is always wondering, how he just... did it all and is so strong, muscular, mighty and not to mention, serious and tough!

❤️ Knuckles ❤️

`-🌹 Knuckles is the oldest of them, well, in terms of his serious, tough personality and his deep voice too...

`-🌹 Knuckles is the most protective. He is very protective of his brothers and wants to keep them safe and protect them at all cost, that's his vow.

`-🌹 Knuckles is especially protective of his lil brother, Tails. The fox is just so cute, adorable and still little! He wants to keep him safe from harm's way.

`-🌹 He likes giving Tails headpats or carrying him, like the big brother he is.

`-🌹 Sonic has grew on him too over the time. Knuckles secretly admires, how he's growing up and being understanding, when he has problems or some trouble and that he even tries to help his big brother! <3

`-🌹 Knuckles is secretly proud of Sonic and would like it, if he were also interested in warrioring later or be interested in improving strenght and combat skills, so it would be his pleasure to train him, if he wanted to!

`-🌹 Knuckles is the oldest, biggest of them, but he's not the smartest or a big brain. That's Tails. But Sonic and Tails must admit, that he is very funny and witty and he can entertain his brothers! Sonic admires that about him.

[sonknuxadow]

idk if this is an unpopular opinion among unbreakable bond enjoyers but i honestly dont think sonic raised tails in the literal sense of the word. i mean yeah theres no parents in the picture here so sonic is probably the closest thing to a caretaker figure that tails has but even then i dont think sonic himself ever really saw it that way he probably thought they were just hanging out

[max-nico]

Sonic has been called an "overprotective big brother" over the years many times. Not his fault that Tails is small, impressionable, and reckless. He's known the kid since he was a toddler, if anyone else had been around that long they would understand too.

Or at least he thought they would, but it seems he was wrong because his own two best friends–Amy and Knuckles–are the ones who call him overprotective the most. This is a huge betrayal on their part, especially when they bring up valid points like Tails' intelligence and skill, because how could he disagree. Sonic has the coolest, most awesome and amazing, little brother ever. 

With that being said, Sonic is pretty sure he has the right to interrogate the little fox this time. He's like 90% sure his panic is warranted when he sees his little brother load and cock a very real and deadly gun. Because that kid is 9. He is 9, and he is putting on his watch and his plane gear to leave, and for some reason he needs a weapon wherever he's going. Sonic thinks he has a right to exercise at least a little big brother privilege here, honestly it would be negligent to not at least question him. 

"Hey bud. Whatcha up to?"

Tails' ear flicks toward him as he packs a few things into the Tornado. "You remember that hard drive that GUN thought they stole from me, but I actually knew they wanted it so I lowered a few of my defense systems so that they could grab it and leave me alone?"

The answer is no, Sonic has no recollection of that happening at all. Though he supposes it's his own fault for only half listening when Tails was talking. He's really gotta break that habit.

"Sure do." Sonic lies.

"Well, I actually have a little bit of data on there that I forgot to back up to another hard drive since I didn't think I needed it, so I'm going to go get it."

"And you need a weapon for that? Why don't you just ask Shadow?"

Tails finally turns to face Sonic, floating down off the Tornado and in front of Sonic. He stands with his hands on his hips, leaning just a little into his personal space. He takes the chance to absentmindedly scratch behind his little brother's ears, making him push his head into his hand.

"I did, actually. He's the one who told me to bring some weapons, he said he wants to help me improve my stealth techniques."

"Huh, and he didn't even bother to text me about it." Sonic huffs. It comes out playfully, but he won't deny being a little peeved that Shadow didn't message him. Tails is a genius and can make his own decisions, sure, but he's also not even in double digits. Sonic is literally his guardian, he feels like he should've been consulted about this. "I find that quite rude."

Tails smacks Sonic with one of his tails. The fur gets trapped in the small quills on his face, which makes his brother giggle.

"Then how do you find that, hm?"

"I find that the person who did it has another thing coming."

Sonic is so gonna fill his pillows with quills and shaving cream again. The fox constantly complains about not being able to get his quills out of any furniture, but he also got his fur stuck on Sonic's face, he figures this is pretty good retribution.

"Sure I do."

This is what Sonic means. Where did his wholesome brother go? Ignoring the fact that he has been a little menace since they first met, this is obviously team Dark's fault. Their devious ways are corrupting his little brother, who has obviously only learned nice things from him, like dad jokes and spindashing.

Tails has been constantly hanging out with team Dark for a few months now. After spending time with Rouge on Amy's last birthday he seemed to acquire a sort of childish fascination with them. Honestly, Sonic didn't really see it as a bad thing at first. They got Tails to spend more time out of his lab, and they always seemed to take care of him so Sonic had no qualms as long as Tails was having fun.

Then the habits came. Habits that Sonic had managed to completely purge a couple years back. Sure, he's not building bombs willy nilly anymore (as far as he knows anyway), but a few weeks ago Tails showed him the Empire nuclear launch codes just because he could.

Just yesterday they were having a conversation about a grocery store in station square. Amy had apparently told him that the cashier was kind of rude, so he asked if she wanted him to "blow up the entire store". She laughed and said no thanks, but when Sonic just shook his head at him Tails had the audacity to say "he'll make sure there's no one in it", as if that was the problem with what he said.

Sonic will not claim to have clean hands. He will not say he's never killed anybody on purpose or on accident, but is it so much to want to spare his brother from the same fate? Sonic still has nightmares over things like that, and even if his little brother is joking, he just can't find it in himself to laugh.

It's obvious Sonic will have to talk to Shadow and Rouge soon, he would talk to Omega as well but the robot honestly just does whatever he wants. Sonic can respect it. He cannot, however, respect Shadow and Rouge teaching his kid brother bad stuff, like how to get away with murder and other things of the like.

"I'll be back before you know it, Sonic, I swear!"

It's obvious Sonic has just missed most of the one sided conversation Tails was just having with him, he zoned out again. Damn it.

"And I'll have my communicator on me so if anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to know! I'll stay safe, Shadow will be with me."

Tails says that as if it's any comfort to Sonic. He may trust Shadow with his life but he does not trust him with children. He's sure Tails will come out physically unscathed, but mentally? This is going to be a trainwreck.

Sonic sighs. He already knows he won't be able to convince him not to go, at least not in the small timeframe he has, so he just pulls the kid in for a hug instead. "Call me as soon as you're able, okay?"

"I will, promise!"

"And if you're not back and not answering in 24 hours, I'm coming to find you myself."

"Yes, Sonic." Tails says, pulling away.

"And I'll give Shadow a piece of my mind if I have to, you know I will."

"I'm leaving now."

"And so will Knuckles and Amy!"

"Goodbye!"

"Remember what I said about calling!"

"I can't hear you anymore!"

Sonic smiles as Tails starts his plane, the kid will be fine, he knows it. After all, he's sure Shadow and Rouge know the consequences if he's not.

woe, the brothers be upon ye I wrote this in like two sittings and its barely been edited, I'll probably put this on ao3 later after I've looked at it again lol. you're welcome to hit me up in my dms or askbox, but if it's a request I would prefer my ask box lol. Remember you have to be nice to me forever and ever and ever if you decide to talk to me btw

[sage-nebula]

Anyone who has followed me for any length of time knows that my favorite animated Sonic show is easily Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. This is not only because of nostalgia (though that does play a part), or because of the heavy focus on Sonic & Tails and the delightful goon squad they face (though those two things also play a part), but because I think that there are very interesting concepts in the show if you choose to dig deeper than it asks (or even expects) you to, and I love crunching on them.

Now, there are multiple concepts like this that I could talk about. One which I've brought up before is how AoStH is one of the few adaptations to really point out the realities of Sonic and Tails being homeless children, such as an episode where Sonic mentions that they've missed meals over the past few days. Another is how the healthy brotherly relationship of Sonic & Tails is directly foiled against the toxic brotherly relationship of Scratch, Grounder, & occasionally Coconuts (along with Robotnik being the latter three's abusive father). Digging into the foils and parallels between them all says interesting things about their characters.

But the reason I decided to open up this window and make this post is because I was just thinking about my favorite episode of the show, "High Stakes Sonic." I'm sure there are many who would think that my favorite episode would be "Tails' New Home" or one similarly focused more strongly on Sonic & Tails as brothers, but nope, it's "High Stakes Sonic." And this is my favorite episode because of the fascinating thing it says about Sonic's character, at least in this adaptation.

So, for those who don't know, "High Stakes Sonic" is how AoStH adapted the Casino Night Zone level into the show. The basic summary is that Robotnik owns Casino Night Zone, and is using it to drive mobian citizens into gambling-debt induced slavery so they build a monument to him (that looks like a sphinx, albeit of his face). Sonic and Tails find out about this, and decide to save the mobians from their fate by beating the rigged casino. As a result, Robotnik has the operator of his casino (a literal shark, representing either a card or loan shark) kidnap Tails in order to force Sonic to participate in a rigged bet: he has to race Grounder, with the mobians voting on who they think will win. When they obviously vote for Sonic, he'll throw the race and lose on purpose, selling them into slavery. And if he doesn't do this, then Tails -- being held in a location unknown to Sonic -- will be killed. (They don't outright use the word "killed," but that's the implication.)

Now, obviously, the episode ends with Sonic figuring out partway through the race where Tails is being held, rescuing him, and then rushing back to win the race to save the mobians. (Who Robotnik captures into slavery anyway, because obviously, so Sonic then has to go and save them for real.) But the happy ending of the episode isn't what has held my fascination for over a decade now. No, Sonic's reaction to the bet is what has held my fascination.

Because here's the thing: he agrees to the terms.

He's not happy about it, obviously. He's downright furious when he learns that Robotnik's henchman has kidnapped Tails and is holding him in some secondary location, and he gives a thinly veiled death threat of his own to said henchman if even a hair is harmed on Tails' head. But he still agrees to it. He agrees to purposely throw a race, knowing that doing so will consign hundreds of people into slavery, all so that he can save Tails. And again, he's not happy about it -- he's furious when he first learns, and he has slumped shoulders and a despaired look when the mobians ask him why he's not even trying to win the race when it kicks off and he has to walk the track. But he still agrees with it. He still goes along with it.

And I think this is fascinating, because it's a level of selfishness that often isn't shown in heroes like Sonic. Sure, we know that Sonic has a "my own way no matter what" attitude, and this is a demonstration of that, in that he's doing what he wants even if it wouldn't be seen as the morally right thing to do (given that he's sacrificing hundreds for the sake of one, even if that one is a child even younger than he is). But in most cases (in the games or other adaptations), Sonic deciding to do his own thing is usually for the benefit of others, and doesn't really harm people who aren't villains, at least not directly and certainly not in large groups. For instance, in the recent Riders arc in the IDW Comics, Sonic agreed to align with Eggman and become the Phantom Rider to disrupt the races so that he could figure out what was going on with Clean Sweep Inc. and how he and his friends had their gear sabotaged. But he didn't attack anyone, he risked his cover to save those he could when they did fall into danger, and he was trying to stop the villains. He did what he wanted regardless of what others would think of him, but his actions were still, overall, altruistic.

But in "High Stakes Sonic," that really isn't the case. Yes, he is doing this to save Tails' life; but not only is he sacrificing a hundred people to do so, but he's doing it not for Tails' sake, really, but for his own. Yes, Tails would die, and in the moment of death that would suck for Tails. But Sonic is the one who would be left behind. Sonic is the one who would lose the only family he has, his little brother and best friend, all in one fell swoop. And Sonic would rather sacrifice a hundred people to slavery than experience that.

One could argue that Sonic planned to rescue them later, when Tails was safe. And you know, he probably would. But he was still wracked with guilt in the moment. Because even if he rescued them later, he's still selling them into slavery and misery now. This is still a choice that he is making, to put his own needs and wants (having his little brother back) over the needs of these innocent people. (And they are innocent, because gambling is an addiction and they are being exploited.) And it's not like he makes this choice impulsively; he makes it over and over again as he goes through with throwing the race, even as they ask him why he's doing it with fear and despair in their own voices. He makes his decision and sticks to it, and only changes course when Grounder lets slip where Tails is being held.

And what does that tell us? That tells us that he would make the same choice again. Because even when he is faced with the direct consequences of making this choice (the mobians asking him why he's doing this to them), unable to distance himself from them at all, he sticks to it. It tears him apart, wracks him with guilt, but he does it anyway. And if he does it anyway, even when he is unable to avoid or pretend those consequences don't exist, that makes he would do it again, and again, and again.

There is a game known as Tales of Xillia 2 that had the tagline (paraphrased), "Will you sacrifice the world for the sake of a girl?" And setting aside the fact that Tails is a boy (except in -- I think it was the Latin America dub of AoStH that made him a girl), that's the question that is asked of Sonic in "High Stakes Sonic." And the answer is yes. Yes, Sonic -- in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, at least -- would sacrifice the world to save Tails. It would leave him guilt-ridden, but he would still do it, because to him the alternative is still worse.

One could argue that Sonic wasn't presented with the choice of Tails vs. the whole entire world. But I think that a hundred or so innocent lives is enough to get the point across. AoStH!Sonic, if faced with the trolley problem where Tails is on one track and five innocent mobians are on the other -- if he was faced with that, and there was no possible way for him to save all six, would choose to put the trolley on the track with the five mobians. He wouldn't be happy about it, it would eat him alive for the rest of his life, but he would do it. He would still do it.

And I think that this is just a fascinating trait for a heroic main character to have, especially in media for children. What does it tell us about Sonic's past, that he's this desperate to keep his one family and best friend alive and safe at all costs? (Literally, all costs.) What does it tell us about him, as a person, that yes he devotes his life to fighting Robotnik and yes he wants to save as many people as possible (and usually that's everyone), but he's willing to let them all burn if the cost is Tails? And what does it say that we're never shown if Tails ever learns of this, if Tails was ever made aware of the fact that Sonic was purposefully throwing the race to sacrifice the other mobians, all so that Tails himself would be safe? If we're never given any indication that Sonic told Tails about any of it? (Possibly because that would mean admitting it out loud, and Sonic can't deal with that part of himself, and would rather just leave it in the past where he feels it belongs?)

It's so crunchy, especially for a show that leans so heavily on the slapstick comedy, that doesn't ask nor expect you to take it seriously and dig deeper into it. Generally, it isn't that deep, but sometimes it is, or it can be. And this episode, and what it said about Sonic's character, is one that I've always come back to for that reason.