#Sonic is allowed to have feelings for people other than Amy

[kittydoremi]

Adding on to a previous post

Sonic has feelings for Amy, but doesn't reciprocate her feelings in the sense of being a couple. She claims herself as his "girlfriend", but Sonic doesn't see it the same way. sonamy is canon in terms of feelings being hinted, but not an official couple, so I'd call it semi canon

When Amy is referred to as Sonic's "girlfriend", it's not because of Sonic necessarily agreeing with it. It's part of the running gag of their dynamic, with Amy claiming to be his girlfriend and trying to get him to be open with his feelings

At the moment, although Sonic has feelings for Amy, he mostly considers her a close friend. He isn't interested in being in a committed relationship, and it's most likely to stay that way in the game canon.

[essycogany]

Rare But Not So Rare Sonic Moments

Sonic Swooning Over Amy

So, Sonic’s been kind of the driving force of Sonamy recently. Let’s analyze that.

I’ll show Sonic having feelings for Amy in almost every media aside from Fleetway and the two cartoons she isn’t in. I’ll also present the “whys” in more detail then just “Amy calmed down.” While that’s part of it, I’d like to add my own can of worms. And possible headcanons too. Bear in mind I never grew up with Sonic, so forgive my mixed opinions.

While I love Amy having a crush on Sonic like the energetic sugarplum she is, nowadays Sonic’s oddly been the drive of their dynamic. Any examples of it beforehand? Let’s look outside of the games first.

Sonic X

This Sonic takes more time to himself. He’s introverted, so his feelings for her isn’t displayed as obviously as the others. In fact, most people think he didn’t like her in this show because of how much he runs away. He even manipulated her by flirting in one episode. In my opinion this show has Sonic running away from Amy more often than not. Hot take: Sonic and Amy never had a real conversation either. They don’t…talk like they do now. Unless you count,

“Oh, Sonic I love you!” “Ah! C’mon, Amy. Knock it off!” No, it wasn’t constant but still common.

From my point of view, the conversations were short lived to none existent. It was the same in the earlier games too. Compared to how they talked to other characters or now, you might be able to notice. At least until Sonic And The Black Night were he talks to both The Lady Of The Lake and Amy. The two would also have visual gags of Sonic getting aggressively hugged by Amy. Or Amy falling on her face while trying. Aside from one moment in Sonic Riders where Sonic put Amy in danger, it wasn’t good or bad. Just cartoony for lack of a better term.

Maybe I’m just insane. You decided.

Anyhow, their dynamic in X is clearly built on actions. Like Amy giving Sonic a seashell bracelet and Sonic giving her a rose. Those little things. While I do prefer them being able to hold longer conversations, I don’t mind how X handles them. But let’s get to Sonic’s crush. I assume in Sonic X Sonic is conflicted. He’ll run away from Amy or try to pull from her on most occasions and others Sonic would constantly hold onto her when he doesn’t have to. For a long period on time no less. Amy’s the same way. One moment she’d be head over heels and other she’s bashful. Goes to show how young they were I guess. I have no clue as to why Sonic liked her back because there wasn’t much to go off of. Except the bracelet moment or her general kindness like feeding him one time. She was a bit much to him and most characters back then.

It’s possible Sonic just liked her and that was it, but I’d imagine due to all of the hand holding and small reciprocated gestures were enough to convey something was there. Straight forward and simple like the show itself. I headcanon this Sonamy being where the boyfriend gets dragged into a relationship and is fine with it. This version of Sonic’s attraction seems to be chaotic pink hedgehogs apparently.

Sonic Boom

Should I even explain it? Might as well because not only do I have something different to say, but these two haven’t been brought up much. Sonic and Amy’s romance mostly is played for laughs. Not saying their love for each other means less because of that, but the humor is the main reason they exist. Much like why in the main canon they started out the way they did. Regardless, I’ll dive deeper into Boom!Sonic’s affection for Amy to the best of my ability.

Boom!Sonic is egotistical, so whenever he thinks Amy’s crushing on someone else, it bothers him. Apparently he’s the only one she’s allowed to like. No “Radical Speedsters” or “Celebrities” can take her attention away from him. Like in Sonic X he tries to keep his crush to a minimum. Even though both him and Amy are terrible at it.

The moment in “Fortress Of Squalitude” a episode where everyone is a bit rude to Amy, close to the end Sonic says, “We may have a hard time saying it Amy. But…well you know.” Then she responds with, “Yeah, I know.” It’s such a sweet moment. Not as powerful as most moments with them but for Boom it’s very nice. Sonic and the others still value her as part of the team, but it’s Sonic who expresses it out loud. Goes to show how much he cares about her for even attempting to open up in this instance. Didn’t even have to finish the sentence. Amy understood perfectly. I also noticed how much he tries his best to impress her. When he needs to returned her book back, finds her hammer in Archie, (Vector did it in the show and Sonic got jealous) shows off randomly or dreams about her, and stopped racing to get her some eggs in one episode.

The funny thing about this Sonic is how much of a people pleaser he can be. Especially since the towns people are very spoiled and ungrateful. He wants to be needed and that’s possibly why he goes out of his way to do special things for Amy like go out on picnics, implied dates, and comforts her. She’s very take charge in Boom and Sonic has no problem calling her out when he needs to. Much like Amy in the show and games. Sonic will even put effort into doing things he doesn’t feel like doing for her. How honorable of him. Sure, sometimes he tries to make her jealous and isn’t perfect, but he tries. I believe Sonic likes Amy because again like Sonic X Boom isn’t canon, so more outright reciprocated feelings are allowed in this case. Not to mention the dude likes being shipped with her in the show. Which is a win in my book.

Sonic enjoys bugging Amy much like a playful boyfriend. He probably admires her leadership, but I’m saying this by observation. It could be for anything. Maybe he thinks she’s cute when she’s mad and finds her temper amusing. It could also be for her stubbornness. Some people like each other because of how much they can relate to their partner and in Sonic Boom’s case they’re two cuts of the same cloth. Although still different, due to the show’s theme, they carry the same condescending, slightly self centered, hotheaded, stubborn, and humorous traits. But they’re still good hedgehogs with a heart of gold and usually makes reasonable decisions. Not to mention they’re both equally shy about their crushes. In Sonic Boom, Sonic and Amy is that married couple who doesn’t get along much, but when they do you’ll understand why they stay together.

Reboot Archie Sonic

I haven’t read the comics (unless you count watching a few dubs and internet reviews) but I’ll give my limited thoughts. Luckily there’s not much to say. Although most people believe it was unintentional, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch that someone from Archie thought it was a fun idea to have Sonic crush on somone in this reboot. Maybe it’s unintentional but it doesn’t seem that way.

I’m basically using this part of the post to ramble about how Reboot Archie’s Sonic still manages to be a casanova. He’s like a mixture of his old self and how he is in the games. That’s also why he acts the way he does around Amy. Could it also possibly mean he’s meant to like her canonically too? Reboot Archie did have to follow a more accurate way of writing Sonic after all. Anyways, let’s run down the list of Game!Sonic if he was allowed to be down bad for Amy like they’re already dating. Which is how I view this continuity. It’s basically if Boom and X had a weird fusion and this version of Sonic’s crush was the result. Except here he manages to be more bold and upfront. He knows what he’s doing. Here’s a run down.

First of all, THIS. No joke, more of these interactions would send me to the moon. I would explain why but the panel speaks for itself.

Sonic says, “I was worried about you.” Which he hasn’t admitted to her before this to my knowledge. He states this by giving her a side hug. Along with other out of nowhere physical affection and flirting. Not to single out Sonally fans. Sonic and Sally clearly have a close connection people appreciate and I respect that. In any case, Sonic and Amy in Reboot Archie also matches energies so much. They’re both clearly running off the same brain cell. You’d think they were together. They’d be a chaotic couple that’ll do the most outlandish things and somehow manage to survive them. After willfully risking their lives they’d do it again because being normal and safe is boring. I promise you, this version of Sonamy would be a huge force to be reckoned with.

-I’d also like to mention my friend Salty showed an example of Sonic being jealous of Knuckles coming with Amy on a mission and it’s brilliant. Dude gets all bratty about it too. Archie!Sonic does not play around. The post in question.

Sonic Prime

Already talked about this in another post, but I want to mention it again. Prime!Sonic is the most sensitive version of the character, so it’s no surprise he displays his admiration for Amy freely and out loud.

This moment says enough on its own. Sonic’s like this throughout the entirety of Prime and even changes the tone of his voice when speaking to or about her. It’s so authentic and adorable and makes him stand out against other variants.

Amy’s crush on Sonic in Prime is up to interpretation, but I don’t think she likes him in that way personally. Like other characters, Amy tends to be done with Sonic’s childishness. Guess she thinks he’s probably too immature to be boyfriend material whether she has feelings or not. Sonic on the other hand, acts how you wouldn’t expect. I personally see him as his own interpretation, so I’m fine with it. If he wants to have goo-goo eyes for Amy in Prime, it’s cool.

Prime!Sonic has it bad and I wouldn’t be shocked if he’d be the one wanting to go out on dates. Maybe he’d cook dinner for her sense he cooks in the show. I’d imagine Amy declining at first, but does it after his constant begging. They’d be swapped version of most emotional to least emotional. Prime!Amy would be a girlfriend who feels more like a parent than a partner.

Unleashed/Black Night

No one can bring up Sonic Unleashed without the lovely Amy meeting the Werehog scene. I love how Sonic didn’t like Amy hugging him, but right after she left he solemnly mopes around for probably the first and last time. He’s never in any game slowly moped around disappointedly before. Proving he only has certain reactions when it comes to Amy Rose. At least in some continuities. Unleashed gives you a choice to go on a date with Amy or not. Then the next game Sonic Team followed through with it, but ended up having Amy mad at Sonic for missing it. At least Sonic tried. Not to mention his reaction to The Lady Of The Lake and him flirting is fun to watch.

See how Sonic still likes her back but it isn’t because she’s “calmed down?” She’s still the same excitable love strucked Amy. There must be something more to it. Other than the obvious answer with Sonic Team wanting to do something with the pear. I have no idea why but having multiple hints even in the past must’ve been done for the fun of it. “We created this love interest but then railed back to Sonic not reciprocating her feeling. But we still want to market them as a couple in some way.” This franchise never cease to confuse me.

Amy encouraging Sonic in one of the cutscenes could’ve been where he started liking her back. Not in the way he does now, but he admired her none stop compassion and might’ve wanted to return the favor. “Eh, she’s sweet. Maybe a date won’t be so bad.” The fact he went out of his way to get her a chilidog and flirted with a different version of her should tell you enough. Of course it would take a while before anything else happened. 

IDW/Sonic Frontiers

Yeah, after issue 2, Sonic’s never felt the need to run from Amy. From the comics to Sonic Frontiers there’s a lot of moments of Sonic being somewhat emotionally candid. Not by much, but close. I believe Amy’s the reason for that in a way. Sonic’s not afraid to hang out with her anymore. He even hugs her back on some occasions. “Ames” was a nickname from fanfics and Boom which became canon over time and he occasionally calls her that.

Sonic wishes to share an umbrella and spend more time with her. He also gets excited to see her more often. It’s like Reboot Archie but slightly toned down. At least up until the hard to trigger lines from Sonic Frontiers. The same game where he outright admits to being worried about Amy and smiles back at her with a Coco looking between the two. Then he supports Amy’s decision to leave etc. We all know where we are now.

Crazy how the more you look into this franchise the more tiny details you notice. It’s also crazy how much Sonic’s been into the love interest he originally was already supposed to love. To me, Sonic had a crush on Amy in Unleashed but fell in love with her in IDW. What makes Sonamy gripping though is how unique it is compared to most romantic relationships. Leaves it to be more entertaining whenever something unexpected happenes. It keeps you engaged.

Why Sonic Crushes On Amy?

1. Amy doesn’t want to slow him down. Obviously because of IDW issue 2’s love confession with Amy saying “I can’t change you. I don’t want to change you.” Amy joins Sonic and he includes her more often because of that. His speed is no match for her persistence anyways.

2. She shows compassion and love for those around her. Not just to Sonic, but everyone. She’s the definition of soft hearted. Even for people Sonic and his friends would be weary about. Think about now in the recent comics and games where Sonic’s trying it out. I do think it should be more of Amy’s thing then Sonic’s but it just goes to show how much she probably inspired him. Who knows? Even in the past he had respect Amy for her tenderheartedness.

3. Amy’s energy matches Sonic’s. Though sometimes she can be overly enthusiastic compared to him. Even before now, Amy’s always been adventurous and that’s probably something Sonic liked from the start. Not in a romantic way, but in a respectful way. If he were to have a partner he’d need someone to keep him grounded and be on the same level. No exceptions.

4. Her loyalty. No matter what Sonic does (including times she disagrees) she’s one of Sonic’s most loyalist companions. Obviously other characters are too, but Amy has her being a long time childhood friend/Sonic 06 and Unleashed going for her. 06 for trusting Sonic over Silver and Unleashed for still loving Sonic despite his transformation. Heck, before she knew who the Werehog was she wasn’t disgusted. Amy’s commendable for that.

From all these points here physical attraction isn’t included. What I like about both characters is their crushes don’t stem to how they look. Though it is worth mentioning Sonic has called Amy “Radiant” in TMOSTH, but that’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to an outright physical compliment. From Sonic at least.

- Side note thanks to @saltynsassy31 again, Sonic and Amy’s dynamic can be summed up as not a relationship but rather a situationship. Yes, it’s a real word. What does it mean? Basically two friends who has crushes on each other but doesn’t do anything about it. Just a fun detail for you guys.

Why Did Sonic Run From Amy In The Past?

I’ll make this quick, but the reason Sonic ran from Amy wasn’t because he didn’t like her. On the contrary. Sonic always could’ve ran at his normal speed to get away from her. Sonic’s the fastest thing alive. Why would he let someone he “didn’t like” catch up to him? I personally think he enjoyed the thrill of the chase. It’s why I believe he misses it nowadays. Though I do understand Sonic didn’t often treat Amy like a friend. Not in a way I can understand at least. Not that I think their relationship was bad, but from what I’ve seen, it was more told then shown due to Sonic and the gang not including her on missions. Amy normally had to catch up with them which was a running gag. Especially in SA2. It might be why some prefere her in stuff like Reboot Archie, Boom, IDW, and Frontiers. Because Amy’s friends includes her on adventures now. At least in my opinion. Correct me if I missed anything.

Final Headcanon

Since Sonic in the games has been the one to push the Sonic side of Sonamy much more then Amy does for herself, I’d like to think in most cases (especially as their dynamic grows) Sonic would start carrying other versions of him traits like trying to mess with her.

He’d want to get her to chase him more often and Amy would probably ask once or twice, “What’s going on and why are you acting weird?” He’d definitely play it off as him fooling around. Sonic doesn’t know much about romance, but he does know what Amy likes. Maybe he’d ask her out or go on a bunch of traveling missions. Anything to get her to pay attention to him again. After all, there’s been examples of the guy feeling ignored by her in and out of canon. It’s possible.

-There’s also a consistent detail where Sonic’s finally ready to open up but has to deal with Amy doing her own thing. Or when he’s face with different variants of her, he’s flirtatious with them. For the fastest thing alive, he has terrible timing when it comes to making his mind up.

Conclusion

Welp, there you have it, darlings. Examples of Sonic crushing on Amy more than some would think. It’s a Sonic character analysis and Sonamy post all in one. I know there’s more, but I think this gathers examples from the actual content.

Stay Creative! 💜

[blahpanblah]

I don’t ship Sonic with anyone, but the funniest thing to Headcannon is that Sonic is also the star of a harem anime of a bunch of people who he doesn’t like that.

Like you have Amy, who has always had a crush on Sonic. And has known him longer out of all of the other people who have crushed on him. Childhood best friend.

And you have Shadow, who I imagine, out of all of these people, HATES that he crushes on him. Like, really? He in love with this chili dog licking motherfucker and not a normal person? He’s the ultimate life form for Gaia’s sake, he should have standards. Tsundere.

Then there’s Blaze, who is kinda like Shadow but less self disrespectful. Yes, she holds a lot of for respect Sonic. But she’s a princess of an empire. She can’t allow herself to indulge in feelings over someone who lives in another dimension. Foreign exchange student.

And finally there’s Jet. Who has big “We’re bitter exes, but we haven’t even dated and I’m going to act like we did but I totally broke up with you, and I’m gonna act like this because I would rather die than admit I have a crush on you. Also you suck, I’m better than you.” Vibe. Rivals to Lovers.

And for the record, again, Sonic doesn’t like any of them back. And I just find it hilarious that, in the background all four of these guys are pinning for this blue hedgehog fucker.

[coralchoral]

honestly thinking about the sonadow twitter takeover and how the plummeting to earth thing very much affected Sonic a lot more than it affected Shadow. like in a previous takeover Shadow even made it a positive memory about Sonic trying to save him.

Meanwhile in Prime, Sonic has a moment of saving Shadow from falling into the void that's very reminiscent of that other fall (in the same way Prime has a lot of motivations and references that only make sense from a fandom insider perspective).

Sonic also gets repeatedly tilted, loud and anxious, (which I'm pinning more on RCS's/whatever writer's sense of humor, as is all the voice acting gags) and is coping badly any time Shadow comes out ahead. I think Sonic's insistence on his ability to grow chest fur is as big a Cope as floaties=fashion statement.

But really, Sonic's repeat date suggestions and Shadow's own descriptions of Sonic's behavior (dragging out their races, etc "just to annoy me") reads, whether romantically or platonically, that Sonic just really wants to spend time with Shadow.

He feels he needs to justify it, though, insisting that he and Shadow have something other than occasionally getting in each other's way ("two sides of the same coin") (friendly competition being "why you keep me around-" seemed like odd wording to me).

Needing to make it meaningful, because that's what Shadow wants out of a relationship- Shadow /says/ he dislikes Sonic for being frivolous and inauthentic, that (for instance) his hugs don't mean anything, and that he doesn't want "(Sonic's) kind of hug."

Sonic really wants to spend time with Shadow because he's also intimately aware that that time is limited. Either Shadow's patience (and/or social battery) is limited and he's liable to make a batman exit if he doesn't want to be somewhere (not that we've ever seen Shadow do this in canon, he seems to awkwardly/quietly hang around as if he doesn't realize he can just hit the bricks (or he likes being there and has no idea how to express it re: smiling at Big the Cat) ), Or Sonic and Shadow will get caught up in their own lives again and not see each other until Fate Deigns to Allow Them to Cross Paths Once More.

And Sonic misses him.

(This ties in with my Sonic Frontiers is the Saddest Game Ever posting from a while back, too. Sonic is lonely AF and Needs Other People to Talk To or he'll start talking to the walls and robots, and Shadow will almost always either talk back or groan in exasperation, which is as good a reaction as any.)

All this, plus Sonic's opinion flip-flops (shopping with Amy vs shopping with Shadow, opinion on Orbot) could be either (Sonadow Optimist) Sonic is Down Bad and not even conscious of his mirroring Shadow/trying to appeal to Shadow, or (Sonadow/overall Pessimist) Sonic trying to appeal to the Most Popular Character Right Now and getting increasingly desperate as he is rebuffed.

A few of these Twitter Takeovers have had moments of Sonic in particular getting thrown off and not really able to recover. (which makes me question what the writing is like, if there's any at all and these VA's aren't just riffing on an outline. Considering they don't talk over each other constantly, there must be something like a script, but it also does occasionally feel like a bad roleplay (and I've been a bad roleplayer).) It leads to a Something Is Wrong feeling in the "We're doing this for fun" question-answering joke show. Sonic needs therapy. (We all need therapy.)

Meanwhile, Shadow really is pulling out all the grunts, groans, and whines with Sonic that, if scripted, would be egregious as hell to read or write. He doesn't make these noises in the games (or shows, really?) mostly because there's a sort of efficiency necessary to production that cuts out that interpersonal realism and partly because it's annoying? Shadow, you're the annoying one?

Unrelated, everybody latched on to Sonic's "Go off, King" but nobody even noticed Shadow's "Deal With It."(sunglasses drop) How soon we forget the sacred texts and/or the deep magic, I guess? (It's an old meme, but it checks out!)

[flygutzz]

MOAR SONIC FANKIDS

Me n @nortsauce 's characters!

nort: Davy & Chime Mine (Fly): Wivie & Blink

more about them under the cut!

Name: Wisteria-Vineyard "Wivie/Wivy/YV/Wist/Vinny" Rose Age: 15-16 Pronouns: he/him Basic Description Wivie is an empathetic and upbeat hedgehog created by the master emeralds as a counter weight to a great evil that was spawned in the world. he was found by knuckles and adopted by Amy. Hes obsessed with legends and becoming a hero. unfortunately he kinda sucks at everything and has a lot of work ahead of him. He has a high emotional intelligence and wishes to help people any way he can. After discovering his special abilities he trains under sonic to become control his powers and protect his world and the ones he loves

Extra

at first he looked nothing like a mobian when he was first found but as he grew he seemed to to take a more hedgehog like appearance

Mama’s boy!! Always suspicious abt any of Amy’s girlfriends

Loves skirts and dresses.

can read tarot cards thanks to his mom aswell as palm readings

can skate/hoverboard

Name: Davy “Jokes” Leavian Age: 15-16 Pronouns: she/her Basic Description An aggressive and headstrong girl. She's tough and a skilled fighter and is always ready to show off her talents. She doesn’t talk about her past due to her not trusting who’s in the Codfather’s mafia gang that she is in deep trouble with. She’s obviously connected with the forbidden parts of the deep sea in mobius but never questioned why. She lives on her own, and has trouble keeping friends, but wants to prove herself. Can be blunt but means well.

Extra

Leviathan child

Glows when powered up

can shoot her back “petals” to poison or grab things

Name: Chime (Chee-Mei OR just Chime either works) Age: 15 Pronouns: she/her Basic Description Chime is an excitable girl of few words who is an apprentice of Espio. She’s not always silent but prefers to be as quiet as possible, hard to do when she’s got 100 pound weights on her hair and a bell she never takes off. She’s loyal and loves making friends, but she also is very skilled and deft with any sharp object. She’s precise and cunning, but her lack of any sort of magical or enhanced physical abilities make her a little insecure. She’s said to be a part of a group protecting… something.

Extra

Very Fast and Agile

Skilled in “cutting” weapons (knives, swords, any bladed thing)

Very quiet

likes tea parties

due to her being very quiet and skilled many people feel threatened by her but she's a sweetie

She’s also forced to wear the bell bcs she kept sneaking up and scaring people

Name: Blink the Hedgehog Age: young??? Pronouns: Gender fluid, changes any chance they get Basic Description: Blink an eccentric kid who wants to become as strong as they possible can be. They love to run around and mess with people with pranks, especially at Team Dark. Blink has some violent tendencies because of how they were raised by mercenaries and a war machine, so Shadow tries to keep them away from a lot of people. They have a close but complicated relationship with shadow and a distant relationship with sonic, with either of them barely even knowing that each other existed for the first few years of Blinks life.

Extra

slower than sonic but higher endurance

calls his parents "pops" or by their names interchangeably (great relationship guys 👍)

has a clock on their right glove and a compass on their left glove: this helps blink control and reorient themself after "blinking*" through time and space

Abilities

Blink*: can bring them in and out of existence as a form of "teleportation"

Speed break: bursts of speed that allow them reach point A to point B in less than a second (tracer from OW)

No-Clip (lol) : can phase through objects (generally used during speed breaks)

Time Control (Only With a Chaos Emerald)

[writingtraumaforever]

A Courtship Christmas: Chapter 2

Notes: I just reeeeally enjoy writing these two in this universe. And I can't say that enough.

Summary: The gang engages in some Christmas festivities, and then Shadow and Sonic try to convince the Wachowskis to allow them to take a trip together..

Courtship Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

After sitting outside and allowing Shadow the time to gather himself some more and come down from his emotional distress, Sonic is eventually able to lead his boyfriend– Shadow’s words, not his– inside to the others. The reception to his arrival is positive as always, everyone having grown quite fond of Shadow. Even Knuckles, who still sees it as his duty to protect Sonic from Shadow, even if just emotionally, has learned to accept the hybrid as an addition to their clan. Even if not an official Wachowski. In fact, Knuckles and Shadow often tinker with their bikes together, and they’ll even go for rides now and then. Sonic will join here and there, racing alongside them on foot. As much as he likes having an excuse to hold onto Shadow from behind when he rides his bike with him, nothing can ever beat the feeling of the wind under his feet.

All this to say, Shadow, despite his relatively standoffish demeanor, is quite a light in their group of misfits these days. Most consider him the calm and observant one who brings reason to the group– which they desperately need since Sonic just acts far too quickly to actually think anything through, Tails gets too caught up in his inventions and is still just a kid, Knuckles doesn’t think in general, Amy often lets her heart override her brain which isn’t always the best balance, and Rouge–.. Well, Rouge is kind of a wild card, honestly. Shadow brings balance and stability. He’s confident, but not too confident. He carries an air of responsibility and loyalty with him that makes everyone breathe a little easier.

This is a stark contrast to when they first met him and all he did was terrify everyone.

Cream, in particular, is very excited to see Shadow. She jumps up and rushes right over to him, weaving her way through legs until she reaches him and immediately engulfs his waist with a big hug. Shadow chuckles at this, patting her head a bit awkwardly since physical affection is still something he’s working on with people outside of Sonic. 

“Mr. Shadow!” she cheers, beaming up at him with wide, sparkling eyes, “You’re here!”

“I am,” he nods with a small and sheepish smile, not use to children finding him so approachable. Which is a shame since Sonic has noticed that Shadow is great with kids and seems to like them more than most adults.

He kind of assumes this comes from the fact he was raised alongside Maria, often being her caretaker and comfort..

“I apologize for being late. I see you and your mother have integrated nicely with everyone else and the Christmas festivities,” he adds as Cream lets go to take a step back and look at him properly.

“Everyone has just been so lovely,” Cream swoons with her preciously high voice, her eyes so earnest and grateful, “I really like Christmas. And I think I might like earth some more now.” “Good,” Shadow hums, nodding at her warmly, “I’m very glad to hear it.”

Cream grins at this, “Would you like to sit by me while you make your sweater?? I have a lot of good ideas you could use.” “That would be delightful,” Shadow accepts the invitation by taking her small hand and allowing himself to be led to the table where most are finishing up their sweaters by now.

Sonic smiles and follows along, his heart swooning at how adorable the whole thing is.

Once seated, Sonic sits on the opposite side of Shadow as Cream, Rouge scooting a bit closer from her own seat and muttering to him with a quirked brow, “Everything okay?” “Yeah,” Sonic nods with a reassuring smile, “We’re all good.” “Good,” she smiles in return, “Knew he just needed a talk with you, and he’d be peachy.” Sonic chuckles at this, looking back over to see Cream already handing Shadow some black pipe cleaners she has fashioned to look like tires and handlebars. Apparently they’ll be making a festive replica of hit motorcycle for the front of his sweater, which Sonic finds very fitting.

He gets to work on his own that he never got to finish, having Amy help him to embroider some brown yarn on top of his chilidog to make it look like the chili. He and Shadow get into a very brief glitter fight after Sonic accidentally knocks some onto Shadow’s lap by hitting the container with his elbow. Maddie swiftly puts a stop to this, though, since glitter is pretty impossible to clean up. “Sorry, Mom.” “Sorry, Mrs. Wachowski.” They’re both covered in green flakes of glitter, though, shaking off what they could in the backyard before coming back inside with Maddie giving a defeated sigh at the trail they leave behind them.

They finally are able to get started on the tree eventually, Shadow being thrown off that they pull it out of a box rather than out of the woods.

“Didn’t you and Maria have an artificial tree back on the ARK??” Sonic asks with a tilt of his head.

“Yes, but Maria always said they had real trees for Christmas here on earth that they’d chop down and drag back to decorate,” his brows furrow, seeming confused.

“Oh,” Sonic’s ears droop slightly, hoping this doesn’t disappoint the hybrid too much, “Well, some people still do that. But most just buy reusable ones these days. Less trees chopped down, and honestly?? Real ones have been discovered to kinda be a health and safety hazard most days.” “Really??” Shadow blinks in surprise at Sonic.

“I dunno,” Sonic shrugs, “I think I read a Buzzfeed article on it once. Either way! It’s still super fun putting together and decorating the fake tree! Promise.” Shadow hums a moment, looking back to Tom and Randall who are working together to put the fourth and final section of the tree on top to complete the nine foot-er. He seems to consider all this new information a moment before he offers a small smile and looks back to Sonic, “It’s just a tree.” “Right,” Sonic smiles in return, happy Shadow is deciding not to let this minor inconvenience ruin his perspective of the holiday, “What goes on the tree is what matters most anyway. Like all my pinecones I’ve found!” Sonic dashes over to grab the basket full of pinecones sitting to the side and brings them back over to Shadow to show him, “Back with Longclaw? We didn’t have Christmas. But we did do something similar at the beginning of every year by decorating our homes with candles and pinecones and all kinds of other stuff to celebrate life. The owls called it ‘Beginnings’. Maddie and Tom let me kinda merge some of those traditions with Christmas to make me feel more at home.” Shadow listens to Sonic with fond eyes. It’s not often Sonic brings up Longclaw, but he treasures when the hedgehog opens up and talks about it. He knows it’s his equivalent to Maria in a lot of ways.. Losing a loved one so young. He’s proud of Sonic every time he finds the courage and strength to talk about it, big ways or small. 

His crimson eyes look down at the basket to examine the pinecones Sonic has gathered. Some look as though they’ve been dipped in paint, some have red and green glitter glued to the ends, and some are just plain pinecones.

“..They’re beautiful,” Shadow says with nothing but pure honesty, and Sonic’s eyes light up with something akin to pride as well as warmth. “Can I help you put them on the tree?”

“I’d love that,” Sonic replies softly, his smile soft and sweet as he watches Shadow pick one of the plain pinecones and look at the tree as if to find the perfect spot for it.

After about five solid minutes of pondering, Sonic realizes that decorating with Shadow is gonna be a task. The guy is a bit of a perfectionist. But once he places the pinecone on a spot in the center and properly fluffs out the branches around it, the others begin placing their own ornaments, too. And this obviously throws off whatever plans Shadow may have had on pine cone placement. So he very quickly learns that this isn’t an organization game, it’s more of a festive scramble. More about the nostalgia and joy each special ornament brings. 

Sonic takes notice in Shadow’s hesitance and how he begins to get a bit overwhelmed by the others’ careless placement of ornaments, so he steps over to him and takes his hand.

“Don’t overthink it, dude,” he places another pinecone in Shadow’s hand, this one messy with glitter and fake snow, “Just put it where you think it fits best. It’ll all come together in the end.” Shadow looks at the pinecone in his hand. Then he looks at Sonic. The tree. Everyone around him smiling and laughing and enjoying one another’s company.

“Yeah,” he smiles a bit, looking back to Sonic, “It will.”

Sonic smiles back, feeling like Shadow is having one of those profound personal revelations Sonic often misses out on but is grateful for regardless. They get back to placing the pinecones together, Sonic playfully poking Shadow with the pinecones’ spines now and then and Shadow retaliating by sticking them in Sonic’s quills messily. 

Knuckles had wanted to place grapes in the tree, of course, but Maddie said they’d rot and stink eventually. So they compromised with fake ones bought at the dollar tree, Knuckles putting them here and there all over the tree proudly along with some colorful feathers he tied together. He said they reminded him of his tribe’s armor they use to wear to battle.

Tails didn’t quite understand the concept of ornaments initially and started tying string to wrenches and hammers and all sorts of tools. Tom had to break it to him that they were a bit too heavy to have in the tree, but made it up to him by taking him to a local Christmas Market and letting him pick out all the ornaments he saw and liked. He came back with all kinds: ones shaped like tools, ones shaped like candy, and he even found a fox and hedgehog one! No echidna one, though. To compensate for this, he crafted his own and painted it to look like Knuckles with Maddie’s help. Knuckles cried when he saw it next to the hedgehog and fox one on the tree last year. 

‘I am not crying! I just got some fake snow in my gorgeously purple eyes!’

All these ornaments and more went up. Shadow even went and got the ones out of his bike’s bag that he had made at the GUN event with the children. Sonic helped him place those as well, finding perfect spots for them in the front of the tree. One was a bit too high up for him, though, and when Shadow noticed him looking up in thought on how to reach it, he took it upon himself to grab Sonic by the backs of his thighs and crouch down.

Sonic was immediately blushing with wide eyes at him, “What’re you–”Shadow moved his head between Sonic’s thighs and stood up using his legs, careful not to let his spines poke his boyfriend as he hoists him up onto his shoulders with only a small grunt. Like it was nothing. Like Sonic was nothing.

That definitely made Sonic feel things.

“This high enough?” Shadow questions innocently, tilting his head back to look up at the hero now sitting on his shoulders. Sonic, who is now a blushing idiot, just nods stupidly down at him and babbles out something like “Uhhh-yeah uh huh this is good mhm”.

Shadow just smirks a bit at this and watches as Sonic reaches to place the ornament closer to the top.

Rouge watches them from the corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a small smile on her face. They’re really good together..

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Knuckles clearing his throat next to her, blinking as she turns her head to find him standing there with a few feathers in his hand. He’s not looking at her, instead looking away with a very light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. 

She quirks a brow at him, her lips pursing in amusement, “May I help you?”

“It is tradition among the echidnas to deem a woman with the remaining feathers of their armor once done decorating,” he explains with his typical confident voice– except there’s a hidden nervousness in the way he keeps his eyes averted from hers, “I would typically deem my mother with such an honor, but she suggested I find another this year to bestow the feathers on.”

“Oh, did she now?” Rouge smirks a bit, her eyes searching out the room for Maddie to which she finds grinning mischievously into her cup of hot cocoa across the room watching.

It’s no secret that Maddie loves Rouge. Despite her stunts she pulls to make Knuckles uncomfortable at times, she thinks Rouge is good for him. Keeps him in line and is strong enough to stand her ground with him. Knuckles is.. Special. Different. A lot. And Maddie thoroughly believes that he’s met his match with the bat.

She keeps him humble and respectful, that’s for sure.

Rouge’s eyes return to Knuckles then, his still averted away.

“And you chose me?” she chimes, her head tilting with a little smirk, “That’s real sweet of you, Knucklehead.” “You are the next strongest woman of the clan,” he explains and Rouge doesn’t miss how he considers her a part of his ‘clan’. “It is simply the way it should be.”

“What about Amy?? She’s pretty strong with that hammer of hers,” Rouge points out, nodding her head to the pink hedgehog who is off in the corner holding cream up to help her put a chao shaped ornament she made on the tree.

“Indeed,” Knuckles nods in agreement, looking to the pink hedgehog as well, “She is very formidable. And scary,” he shivers at the thought, having been victim to her hammer one too many times before. “..But perhaps sometimes strength isn’t in one’s muscle, but in one’s heart.”

Rouge blinks at this, turning to Knuckles with wide eyes to find him looking at her now. Now she was blushing. Her lips purse into a smile, finding herself touched by his words and unexpected profoundness. 

“Where’d you hear that?”

“It’s a long story,” he says simply, not sharing any more. He didn’t exactly have the time to send her on a whole quest where she’d receive his story told in musical-number format like Wade Whipple had.

“Well..,” she sighs after a brief pause, “Feather me, echidna.”

Knuckles smiles slightly at this, nodding his head to her head and speaking, “May I?” She nods, staying perfectly still for him as he steps forward to lift the remaining feathers and string to the short fur behind her ear and tie them there. This takes a minute since he’s doing this with giant mittens on. Eventually he finishes and they dangle beside her neck, lightly grazing her wings when she moves her head. They’re a deep aquamarine color, much like many of the ones in his tribe used to be..

“They match your eyes,” he mutters without giving it a thought, to which Rouge looks at him in surprise at the unexpected observation. He blinks wide back at her upon realizing his words, his blushing returning even stronger than before as her lips curl into a wicked little grin.

“Didn’t think you’d notice my eye color,” she chimes teasingly, leaning towards him all flirty. 

“Well, I-I am a very observant echidna,” Knuckles justifies with a huff, furrowing his brows at her, “There isn’t much that gets by me.” “Mhm. Sure, Red,” she smirks with a wink, watching as he stumbles back a bit from her close proximity and nearly falls over trying to quickly leave her vicinity.

“Okay well that’s done, goodbye–”

She giggles a bit to herself as he disappears into the kitchen.

Eventually, the tree is done and everyone stands around admiring it in all its glory. Cream and Tails have that innocent childlike wonder in their eyes, Amy sighs happily at its beauty, Knuckles admires it a moment and then lets his gaze fall on Rouge who is smiling to herself as she fiddles with the feathers in her hair, eyes on the tree. Rachel and Randall and JoJo stand together as a family, JoJo holding Amy’s hand to which Amy tears up at. Vanilla stands with Cream, happy to have her daughter friends in this new world. Maddie and Tom stand holding one another, her head leaned on his shoulder as they overlook their family.. Their perfectly imperfect family. 

And Shadow and Sonic are sitting by the window looking at it too. And when Sonic looks at Shadow, he can see all the joy and peace in his eyes. Let him have it. He deserves every moment of it. 

They have a long next few weeks ahead of them..

When Shadow turns to look at Sonic, he sees the tears in his crimson orbs. Sonic is quick to shuffle closer and cuddle up to him without a word, Shadow resting his head on Sonic’s with a sigh. It’s bittersweet. He knows.

His first Christmas tree without Maria.

But Sonic will be there for him through it. And that makes it all better..

__________

“Okay,” Sonic stands in his living room with the tv behind him, hooked up to a laptop to which Shadow is standing beside prepared to help in their presentation. The time has come to tell Maddie and Tom of their plans to visit the Robotniks together, and they have to nail this if they want to convince them to let Sonic go with him alone. So what did Sonic do??

He made a PowerPoint, of course.

Complete with super cool star transitions and spinning texts and necessary gifs.

“So to start this presentation, we have an announcement,” Sonic says very seriously to which Tom’s eyes widen a bit and his hand moves to Maddie’s in concern. “Oh God–.. You two aren’t.. with child are you??”

This results in a resounding “WHAT?” from both Maddie and Sonic and a very appalled and judgy look from Shadow.

“They’re two boys, Tom!” Maddie huffs with wide and disbelieving eyes at her idiotic husband. “They’re aliens!” Tom defends with his hands raising up in surrender, “We haven’t exactly had the talk with Sonic, how am I supposed to know how their reproductive systems work–” “Ew ew ew– Okay! You’ve lost talking privileges, father,” Sonic gags, blushing at the very idea of him and Shadow having sex– let alone having a child!

“Yeah, for real,” Maddie huffs in disgust at him.

“Very distasteful, Donut Lord,” Shadow shakes his head disapprovingly at him from beside the laptop.

Tom just groans and rolls his eyes, “Okay! Okay. My bad,” he then gestures for Sonic to hurry this up, “Just get on with it.”

Sonic clears his throat, “As I was saying before I was so grossly interrupted.”

They all spare a moment to share one last glare at Tom to which Tom just sighs and shrinks in his spot on the couch.

“We have an announcement,” he nods his head to Shadow who clicks a button on the laptop to have the next slide of the PowerPoint appear.

It’s some random public domain picture of a large family hugging each other with a very poorly drawn Shadow the Hedgehog smiling in the middle of them and a big heart over it.

“Shadow has been invited to the Robotnik Annual Holiday Party!” Sonic grins and spreads his arms out excitedly, Shadow pulling out a small confetti popper and popping it in Sonic’s direction. It falls flat on the floor a few feet away from him, but the effort was there.

“Wait-” Maddie frowns now, her brows knitting up as she looks at Shadow, “What??” “That’s right! Turns out Maria has a sister, and she’s invited Shadow to a Holiday Party to meet him and the whole family!”

Maddie seems extremely concerned, and Tom looks a bit skeptical now, too.

“When did this happen–” “No questions until after the presentation please,” Sonic interrupts to which Maddie sighs and sits back in her seat for him to continue.

Shadow clicks to the next slide. “Shadow is very excited about this whole thing, and really wants to make a good first impression!”

There’s another poorly drawn picture of Shadow wearing a suit and bowtie along, he’s giving a thumbs up and dashing smile.

“But as I’m sure you can understand, he’s also very nervous and scared.”

Shadow clicks again and the art of him smiling turns into a frown and a thumbs down, tears going down his cartoon face.

Shadow, this entire time, looks completely unbothered by this whole thing and is simply going along with his boyfriend’s crazy antics– as always.

“Poor Shadow. Whatever could we do to make him feel better?? Well.. I’ll tell you what..”

Shadow clicks again and the screen star transitions into an explosion with sound effects and all, the large text reading ‘Operation Shadow Impresses The Robotniks And Sonic Is His Boyfriend’ spins onto the screen. 

“Operation Shadow Impresses The Robotniks And Sonic Is His Boyfriend is a-go!” Sonic beams, a gif of an audience applauding at the bottom of the screen, “Or OSITRASIHB for short.”

Shadow nods approvingly from his spot by the laptop.

Maddie and Tom just stare at the screen with increasing confusion.

“...Okay, I get the Shadow Impresses The Robotniks part,” Tom points out, “But why the Sonic Is His Boyfriend??” “Oh- because I just really like saying it,” Sonic nods a-matter-of-factly.

Tom nods in return, “Right. Of course.” “Mhm. Anyway! The operation goes like this: we take Shadow suit shopping and get him the perfectly tailored suit for the occasion!” The next slide pops up, a cartoon Shadow standing in front of a mirror in a suit checking himself out.

“Then we get Rouge’s help on getting our hands on the Robotnik’s records so we can buy the perfect present for all the Robotniks!”

A cartoon Shadow is now throwing presents into the air merrily, the presents raining down on the screen.

“And then we get Sonic a suit too because he needs to impress the Robotniks as well since this is my big boyfriend debut, after all–”

“Wait,” Maddie chimes in, leaning forward again now, “You can’t be going–” “I said please save questions until the end of the presentation Mrs. Wachowski, thank you,” Sonic interrupts with a wave of his finger at her. She groans and sits back again, obliging her sassy and over-the-top son for now.

“Once all this is done, we use a warp ring to get to our destination since GUN doesn’t like Shadow using Chaos Control unless on duty– portals opening and bringing more Mobians and all that jazz,” Sonic explains, brushing it off as no big deal to which Shadow just nods supportively at the side.

“We stay for a few days since the party is being held at a mansion, and Shadow is being offered his own room–” “Sonic–” “Mrs. Wachowski, please with the interruptions!” Sonic puts his hands on his hips and taps his toe impatiently at her to which she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

He continues, the next slide popping up to show a cartoon Sonic and Shadow now standing amongst the hugging strangers and smiling from ear to ear, “Between my charisma and charm and Shadow’s rugged good looks, we inevitably impress the Robotniks.” “Of course,” Tom nods approvingly, Shadow nodding at him in agreement.

“And they become a big happy family and accept Shadow as one of their own!”

The next slide is another explosion that transitions to a picture of Sonic and Shadow kissing under the mistletoe.

“And then we kiss.” “What?” Shadow blinks.

“What??” Sonic blinks back, dashing over to skip that image and have large text appear over it reading ‘THE END’.

Shadow just smirks and shakes his head at him as Sonic sheepishly smiles and dashes back to his presentation spot in front of the screen.

“I said ‘the end’,” he fibs, “Tadaaaaaa!”

Another confetti popper litters the floor thanks to Shadow who also blows on a party horn for added effect.

Maddie and Tom stare at their son a long moment, processing everything he just threw at them. They then exchange looks at each other. Then at Shadow who is now on the floor very meticulously plucking each piece of confetti from their carpet to clean the mess. 

Then they look to Sonic again who is still standing there with his arms outstretched and a big grin on his face.

“...Well?”

“Well..,” Maddie starts, already knowing Sonic is about to be dramatically disappointed, “We don’t really think it’s such a good–” “Yeah, sure, kiddo!” Tom interrupts, beaming at his son with a supportive clap of his hands, “Whatever you need!” “Tom!” Maddie hisses, grabbing his hand to stop his clapping, “Don’t you think we should talk about this??” “He had a solid presentation,” Tom defends with a shrug, Sonic nodding hopefully as he looks at his mother with pleading eyes, “And I think Sonic going along with Shadow to meet Maria’s family is a good idea.” “I don’t think that’s exactly the point,” Maddie argues with a disapproving frown. “Then what’s the point??” Sonic asks genuinely, brows knitting as a frown develops on his muzzle, “Seriously– what’s the problem??” Maddie huffs a little at Sonic’s slight attitude, “The problem is… first off, I don’t know how I feel about you and Shadow going off on a trip all by yourselves. You’re still so young!”

“I’m gonna be eighteen in a few months!” Sonic defends.

“You’re still seventeen now– and that’s just a number. Eighteen isn’t some magic number that just suddenly makes you an adult that’s capable of making adult decisions.” “But it is the age that makes me an adult legally,” Sonic counters with a finger held up matter-of-factly, “And I’m totally capable of making adult decisions! I save the world like– all the time. And Shadow and I hang out alone constantly. What’s the difference in taking a trip??” “It’s different, Sonic,” Maddie says a bit more sternly, “I don’t like the idea of you two sharing a room. You’re both still biologically–” she has to add that in so Sonic doesn’t point out that Shadow is like. Sixty, “--teenagers. And that comes with the hormones and the emotions and canoodling–” “If I may say something Mrs. Wachowski,” Shadow finally speaks, his voice quiet and respectful.

“Yes, Shadow?” Maddie sighs, looking at her son’s boyfriend who is still picking up confetti pieces from her carpet with a tilt of her head.

“Sonic and I wouldn’t have to stay in the same room. From what I’ve gathered of the location of the event, there’s plenty of rooms for him to have his own and I mine. There would be no..,” he clears his throat, “canoodling.”

Maddie sighs a bit at this, feeling a bit better about it all with that bit of information..

But it would still be the first time Sonic has taken a trip by himself overnight like this.. Without Tom, without her..

That’s her baby..

“That.. does make me feel a bit better,” she admits, Shadow nodding and returning back to picking up the confetti mess.

“But that doesn’t change my other problem,” she adds.

“What problem??” Sonic frowns.

“I understand that this is Maria’s family,” she says carefully, not looking to offend Shadow, “...But it’s also Eggman’s. Gerald’s.” Shadow pauses in his motion, freezing up a moment before he eventually continues picking up the confetti..

Tom’s hand reaches for Maddie’s as if to stop her from saying something she’ll regret.

“Yeah, but they’re estranged from them,” Sonic defends, “They have nothing to do with them. They haven’t since Gerald took his granddaughter up to space.”

“I understand that,” she says calmly, trying to choose her words carefully, “But it’s just a little odd that they’ve waited all this time to reach out–” “They didn’t know! They thought Shadow was the reason Maria was gone! They didn’t know the whole story!” “I still don’t know how comfortable I am sending you somewhere with those people,” Maddie argues, her own voice becoming a bit louder now since Sonic’s is. “Why not?? They’re not like them! We can’t just judge them because they have a few loons in their family!” “Sonic, I just don’t see what good can come from a Robotnik!” Shadow disappears. There’s a flash of light, and he’s gone. 

Maddie’s eyes widen at the empty spot he was just in, a pile of confetti left sitting on the end table by the couch.

She instantly feels terrible.

Sonic’s own eyes are wide, staring where Shadow had been before he turns his head to look at his mother with a glaring gaze, “Why’d you say that!?”

“Sonic, I didn’t mean–” “You did! You did mean it!” Sonic interrupts, now yelling and stomping his foot.

Maddie points a finger at him, “Hey! Don’t yell at me like that, young man!” “Shadow came from a Robotnik!” Sonic yells regardless, defending his boyfriend with a scrunch of his nose and a curl of his teeth, “And–And regardless of what Gerald has done, I won’t ever consider that a bad thing! I won’t ever think Shadow being created was bad!” “Sonic, I don’t think that either–!” “He already has problems thinking that himself! And then you go and say that!? What the heck, mom!?” “I didn’t mean it like that–” “But you still said it,” Sonic growls low, fists clenched at his sides, “He’s never gonna forget you saying that..” Maddie frowns, knitting her brows up and pursing her lips. She doesn’t know what to say..

Sonic stomps towards the door.

“Where are you going??? We’re not done with this conversation–” “I’m going to find Shadow! And you’re gonna say you’re sorry!” “Sonic!--”

The door slams.

Sonic is gone.

Maddie sighs heavy and drops her head into her palms, rubbing them up and down her face in frustration with her son– but mostly herself..

Tom sits silently with wide eyes and biting his lips together, blinking at how quickly that all just escalated..

Maddie drops her hands into her lap and looks at him with a deadpan expression, “...Well you were a lot of help.” Tom smiles small and apologetically, moving to put his arms around his wife and rub up and down her back as she leans into him, “Sorry.. I just thought you were handling it.” “We’re supposed to be a team,” she mutters with a sniffle, finding herself beginning to cry from being overwhelmed and feeling like shit currently, “Why’d you just tell him he could go without consulting me first??” “I didn’t see a problem with it,” Tom admits quietly, Maddie huffing at this and lifting her head to look at him. “You? You know how many times you personally have almost been killed by a Robotnik??? Several.” “I’ve almost been killed by an Eggman,” Tom points out with a small smirk, “Not the same.” “It is.” “It isn’t,” Tom argues and shakes her a little to which Maddie just groans, knowing he’s right.

Tom sighs a bit and hugs her back against him a bit tighter, “...I know he’s your son–” “He’s my baby,” Maddie whines and Tom kisses the top of her head with a small smile.

“I know.. But he’s not a baby anymore.. He’s been through enough to know how to handle things for himself. And he also knows Shadow needs him right now..”

Maddie just sighs, “What if I need him still??” “Oh, you’re such a boy mom,” Tom teases with a chuckle to which Maddie huffs.

“I am not!” “You totally are.” “Maybe I am, is that so bad??” “No,” Tom shakes his head, “No, it’s not.. Just means you love them more than most mothers ever could.. They’re lucky they have you.” Maddie sighs, sniffling as she wipes at another tear, “Then why do I feel so awful??” “Because you’re looking at this the wrong way..,” Tom points out as he softly rubs through her hair, “You keep.. Looking at this as losing Sonic. Him growing up and leaving us and you can’t protect him anymore.. But you should be looking at this as gaining a son.. We get Shadow..”

Maddie lifts her head to look at Tom then, her lip quivering at that thought, “We get Shadow..?” “We get Shadow..,” Tom affirms with a nod, “And Shadow won’t let anything happen to Sonic. And he certainly won’t let anyone take him from you. He loves you. You know that..” Maddie nods at that, her forehead pressing to Tom’s, “I need to talk to him..” “Yes, you do,” Tom agrees.

“And apologize.” “Mhm.” “I said a really shitty thing.” “You did, but in your defense, Sonic was pushing your limit.” “He was.” “He’s good at that.” “He is.” “He gets that from you.”

Maddie whacks Tom with a pillow at that, Tom chuckling and trying to block her hits with his arms as she scolds him.

“She didn’t mean that..”

“I know..”

“She was just upset and didn’t mean it to come out that way.” “I know that.” “She’d never purposely hurt you.” “I know, Sonic, it’s just–” Shadow sighs and tries to gather his thoughts, not become overwhelmed and unable to communicate how he’s feeling. Communication is key in a relationship. Mrs. Wachowski taught him that. 

Sonic sits patiently beside him, his legs swinging off the edge of the rooftop they sit on. The roof of the bowling alley. The spot they had their first kiss.

Shadow sits next to him with his legs crossed, eyes staring down at the ground below.

“It’s just that-.. If she can come to that conclusion so quickly.. What’s to stop Maria’s family from doing the same??”

Sonic’s brows furrow a bit, not quite understanding, “What do ya’mean??” “I just mean–,” he sighs in frustration with himself, often getting annoyed easily with how hard talking could be for him sometimes. How hard feelings could be. Sonic’s hand rests on his. That helps some.

“..If your mother.. Who knows me, knows the whole story.. Can think something like that–” “She doesn’t really think that–” “She thought it enough to speak it.” Sonic frowns at this, not arguing his point..

“...If she can think something like that, then what’s gonna stop the Robotniks from thinking the same?? From believing that nothing good could possibly come from Gerald??” “Nothing is gonna stop them from thinking that,” Sonic says softly, his hand squeezing Shadow’s, “..But you can change their minds.” “How?? I’m not– I’m not good at first impressions, I’m not good at-.. At socializing or communicating or any of it.. I’m only good at fighting. At being a weapon.” “That’s not true,” Sonic says sternly, reaching up to make Shadow look at him by turning his cheek towards him, “Look at what you did for Cream. Huh?? For her and her mom. You brought them together and made them feel safe and welcome enough in a whole new world to attend some strangers’ Christmas party. You managed to become friends with arguably the world’s most ornery bat. You won my whole family over– my brother who hates anyone who dares to intrude on his ‘clan’ adores you. I adore you..” Shadow’s brows knit as he looks at Sonic, his eyes looking puffy with tears that threaten to fall but Sonic knows they won’t. Shadow doesn’t like to cry..

“But I didn’t kill your sister..,” Shadow whispers quietly, Sonic sighing immediately and shaking his head as he presses his forehead firmly to Shadow’s.

“Stop saying that,” Sonic whines, his ears folded back as his noses rubs against his boyfriend’s, “You didn’t kill Maria.” “They won’t see it that way.” “You don’t know that, Shadow. You gotta at least give them a chance. They’re willing to give you one, or they wouldn’t have reached out, right??.. You gotta meet them halfway, Shads..”

Shadow sighs at this, closing his eyes and tilting his head to instead nuzzle his face against Sonic’s neck. Bury and hide himself there seeking comfort. Sonic sighs at this and moves a hand up to rub through Shadow’s quills, petting him there to try and work some of the tension out of him.

“..Come back home with me. We’ll talk this over with Mom, and get started preparing for this trip.” “What if your mom says no??” “Love her, but screw that noise. I’ll go anyway.” Shadow snorts at this, knowing damn well if he dared to help Sonic sneak away on a trip with him without her consent, it would be his funeral they’d be planning next.

“I don’t want your mother not liking me.” “She loves you,” Sonic rolls his eyes, “You’re like a son to her. Moms just happen to get pissy at their sons sometimes. Trust me. I know.” Shadow snickers at this, lifting his head now to look at Sonic properly again.

“...Thank you.” “What for?” “Always finding me..” Sonic has. From the very beginning. From jumping out of that GUN helicopter, to Prison Island, to chasing Shadow down in his own backyard that night to now.. Sonic has never once given up on Shadow.

He’s always found him.

“And for always knowing what to say..,” Shadow says quietly, lifting a hand to Sonic’s cheek. Sonic smiles all soft and leans into his palm. “What can I say?? It’s a gift.”

Shadow rolls his eyes and chuckles at that, shaking his head at him and taking a moment just to stare into the hedgehog’s eyes..

He’s such a mystery, Sonic the Hedgehog. A pure wonder of this world and many others..

A hero. A friend. A brother. A son. A god.. And somehow, Shadow has found himself lucky enough to have been a part of all of that.. To have caught the fastest thing alive.

“...So what was that in the presentation about kissing??” Shadow smirks, quirking a brow at Sonic.

Sonic immediately blushes and laughs all awkward, dipping his head down all shy, “Oh that?? Just a little something I threw in– ya’know? Happy endings and all–” He’s cut off when Shadow grabs his chin and lifts his head back up, a tiny gasp escaping Sonic as they stare at each other. Sonic’s eyes wide and Shadow’s half-lidded and looking at Sonic’s lips. Sonic swallows, his tail wagging again at their very close mouths..

“...Well, I’d hate to spoil your happy ending,” Shadow mutters, Sonic blinking as the hybrid lets his chin go to pat his cheek with a low chuckle. Standing from the ledge, Shadow offers a hand to Sonic to help him stand as well. Sonic just stares up at him with an absolutely bamboozled expression before a pout forms on his lips, taking his hand and standing up with his help. Dusting himself off, Sonic mutters, “The Ultimate Tease, I tell ya.”

Shadow’s head tilts back with a laugh and Sonic’s stomach does flips.

[randomthefox]

People who like Amy Rose are right that Amy is so much more than just her crush on Sonic. But they always kind of fall into this trap where they ONLY ever talk about her virtues. The positive attributes of her character. They glaze her up. They say "Amy Rose is a great character because she's a Good Person" and that kind of thing.

And that's a trap and it's what allows people to mischaracterize Amy and butcher her portrayals in shit like Sonic Boom and IDW Sonic. Because Amy is actually a crazy stupid bitch. And THAT is what makes her a great character. If you want to explain what makes Amy so great as a character, you need to talk about her flaws in addition to her virtues. Because her flaws being sandpapered away and disregarded because they're "sexist" or "problematic" are the REASON her character keeps getting fucked up and then that fucked up characterization gets held up as an "improvement" by people who never liked Amy.

Amy FROM HER VERY FIRST APPEARANCE in Sonic CD was an annoying clinger. LITERALLY. She would jump onto Sonic and cling onto him, making it impossible for him to move. When she meets Sonic at the ending of Palm Tree Panic she is literally an obstacle that you as the player need to avoid, and jump to shake her off when she grabs hold of you. And after the Metal Sonic fight, the act will not conclude until Amy grabs hold of Sonic. Stopping him from running off screen to the right, the way he does at the end of every other boss act. And the score screen showing the end of the act will ALWAYS last just long enough for Sonic's idle animation of frustrated impatience to start. From her very first appearance, Amy is an annoying bitch. This is a FOUNDATIONAL attribute of her character.

In Sonic Adventure Amy's story opens with her complaining about how bored she is, and how she misses the excitement of going on adventures with Sonic. Then when Birdie crashes into her she takes it upon herself to help this lost animal who is being targeted by killer robots. She is throwing herself in harms way risking her personal safety on behalf of a creature that is weaker than her.... PARTIALLY because she was bored and thinks this will be exciting. SelfISH motivations for selfLESS actions. And it pays off when she runs into Sonic and uses the whole situation of the Birdie needing protection as an excuse to get to spend time around Sonic by imposing the need for a bodyguard onto him without giving any thoughts to what Sonic might be up to.

THEN WHEN THE KILLER ROBOT COMES BARING DOWN ON THEM, AMY GETS CAUGHT UP IN THE IDEA OF A ROMANTIC DATE THROUGH TWINKLE PARK WITH SONIC AND RUNS OFF IN A FLIGHT OF FANCY WHICH COMPLETELY DISTRACTS HIM FROM FIGHTING SAID ROBOT.

Amy is immature, selfish, does NOT have her priorities straight, and is kind of dumb. These flaws and shortcomings being ignored and disregarded is why Amy gets turned into the sensible mature voice of reason with a good head on her shoulders - which is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHO SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE. These are character flaws that have NOTHING to do with her obsession with Sonic. But because her feelings towards Sonic are all anyone ever talks about, and because people who like Amy always want to present her in the most positive framing, these elements of her character getting sanitized are ignored.

Amy being sort of a super fucking annoying dumbass is WHY she gets treated like a punchline in games like Sonic Adventure 2. She gets caught up in her own little world, and because of that she gets left behind when everyone else is focused on more pressing issues right in front of their nose. All of her interactions with other characters in Sonic Battle are about how she's caught up in her little delusions about Emerl being her and Sonic's baby, and she lashes out violently at anyone who challenges that. You cannot have Amy without her being kind of crazy and kind of dumb.

Because these flaws are the REASON she's capable of her virtues. If Amy wasn't always getting swept up in her own little ideas, she wouldn't be there to find Shadow on the ARK and get him to remember Maria's wish and convince him to save the day. If Amy wasn't always charging off on her own flights of fancy, she wouldn't be the spunky little ball of energy and inspiration that helped Cream and Big rescue Chocola and Froggy. If Amy wasn't obsessively in love with Sonic, she wouldn't have gotten Blaze softened up to the idea of not needing to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I've not put much focus on Amy's virtues in this post because I wanted to emphasize her flaws and shortcomings, BECAUSE I feel those are important parts of her character that always get ignored. And ignoring those parts of her character make them easy to get swept under the rug. And that more than anything else is what results in Amy being mutilated in spin offs like the comics and cartoons.

Amy is more than JUST her crush on Sonic. She is more than just her hobbies. She is more than just her virtues! She is ALL of those things. And she is also REALLY fucking dumb. And REALLY fucking crazy. And those things should be celebrated as part of the whole of Amy Rose JUST as much as her love for Sonic, just as much as her enjoyment of fortune card reading and shopping and boxcersizing, just as much as her being a spunky inspirational leader who reaches out and touches the hearts of others and risks it all to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Love Amy Rose warts and all, or lose her.

[zerothejackal]

Arospec sonic but in a fun way, he holds hands with some of his friends, he was Knuckles' first kiss, sometimes it seems he and Shadow or he and Amy are a couple of sorts to bystanders.

But in reality Sonic just expresses like that he uses his body a lot to express, Knuckles or Amy want a kiss, sure why not? he doesn't understand why those things have to be ALWAYS romantic when they don't necessarily have to be, they're just his closest friends, plus he knows it probably means the world to them and may tease Knuckles about it.

But he simply doesn't feel a romantic attraction, and they all understand that, he's just like that, no one will ever force him into being in a relationship, nor take advantage of how he expresses.

On the other hand, always being unable to speak, having his body be nothing but a killing machine, Metal struggles a lot to express his love for people, he is a hopeless romantic, but he has a hard time "fitting in" with the norm of how romantic bonds work.

He was never allowed to speak, but now that he can he voices a lot how much he loves Amy/Shadow [met/amy/adow for the win], he takes every opportunity to say or put it into words, he uses as much processing power as he can to calculate new ways to say it

He is detached from his body as something that can work as more than just being a weapon of destruction, but Amy and Shadow try to help him connect physically too.

They hug him take his hand and kiss him, because he struggles to do so himself, he appreciates it, as he learns his claws can do more than slice things, that his body is more than just a death ray or engine, that despite being made for warfare, he too can love.

Metal and Sonic may have something going on however, that doesn't fit too specifically with normal conventions, is it love, friendship, perhaps something different, whatever it is, Sonic too wants to help Metal feel welcomed, despite being sworn enemies before, he's always seen something in Metal, a spark of goodness amongst the evil of Eggman.

[nightfurylover31]

I’ve seen a few recent posts about Amy’s character recently. Saying “she’s not allowed to chase Sonic is bad” or “they took her perkiness,” etc. Now, if you guys think how she’s being written is bad, then you guys should see Amy in the Fleetway comics. I read them, and much as I enjoyed her, there is very little “Amy about her.

While Amy did start off as the lovestruck girl, she would go through a lot of changes. Even though she was the newest member of the Freedom Fighters, yes Fleetway used the same name, she quickly rose to being the brains, as well as second-in-command. Whenever Sonic got pulled away on solo missions or incapacitated, which happened a lot, Amy was the one who took the lead. I do like how this Amy uses a crossbow instead of a hammer, this was before Sonic the Fighters.

And if people think Amy in IDW is bland, boy do they need a double check! While Amy did seem to have feelings for Sonic in the beginning, it would eventually dwindle completely out of existence. Nigel Kitching would later go on to say that crush might have been just to annoy Sonic. And while a lot of the characters have their own flaws, Amy pretty much has none. She’s always right, comes up with the winning strategies, sharp-witted, and hardly ever loses her cool. And all the cheerfulness and compassion Amy is usually known for is not there. Let me put it another way. You know how Amy was able to talk down Gamma and Shadow? This Amy would more than likely just shoot them with her crossbow.

I really, REALLY hate to say this, but Fleetway Amy is the one that really comes off as a Sally knock off. I like both characters, and it feels insulting to both of them to say that, but it’s true. Especially with how Deborah Tate and Lew Stringer took over for writing. Tate wanted a more level headed version for girls, but this took away anything lot that could lead to character development. Heck, even Amy’s backstory was changed. Even though she was easily captured in her first appearance, in issue #127, the origins of her pink coloring, she took down a base all by herself. This happened before she met Sonic.

While I agree Amy has been very toned down from what she was in the 2000s, some of her old habits are still there. She hugs Sonic, she gets lovestruck eyes, and throws out the occasional flirt. And she still has her moments of comfort and encouragement. Like reassuring Jewel during the forest fire, She also didn’t fully trust Surge and Kit, but still wanted to give them a chance to change. Amy can even lose her temper at times, she just doesn’t direct to towards her friends.

As for her leading, she was operations commander in Sonic Forces, and she has led her own teams in various other games. But leading an entire organization, one where Knuckles was no longer co-leader, that was too much. And we didn’t have an extended enough cast established yet for someone else to take over. If you look deeper into Amy’s character of how she is portrayed now, you still see some of her old self.

[vivyen-qwq]

Can we please talk about Knuckles history/ past?

I just saw a tick tock video, which topping was sad history and showed pictures of Movie Sonic, Tails, Knuckles (and that fanmade movie Shadow version).

That made me think.

When I was a kid, I always saw Knuckles as my favorite character because he was cool, red, and strong. But today, he is my favorite because of his sad story. And I personally think that he has the most sadest story of all Sonic characters. Allow me to explain:

1. He has no real family. His entire race died because they wanted to use the Chaos and the Master Emerald for evil stuff. They all died, and Tikal sacrificed herself to seal Chaos. So Knuckles had to grow up by himself, hunting/ finding food, without a mother or father or anyone, all by himself, alone for 16 years. I mean, yes, the little Chaos are there to keep him company, but they can't talk or take care of him much of him.

2. His feelings: He is naive and believed Eggman several times and teamed up with him, despite knowing that Eggman was evil, but still tried to see the good in him, which was all for nothing, because Eggman used him. Then we have Rouge, the flying bat thieve who is trying to get the Master Emerald. She would fight and flirt her way through to get what she wanted and now image. This boy never had someone to love him, so he doesn't really know what love is (I guess) and now imagine how it would feel to have a girl flirting with you, but not being sure if she is serious about this or just wants the Master Emerald. This makes Knuckles even more insecure than he already is because he is constantly alarmed when someone calls out Rouges' name like we saw in the Tails tube video.

3. Angel Island: Like I mentioned in the first point, Knuckles' ancestors wanted to use the power of chaos for evil stuff, so Knuckles wants to fix his ancestor's mistakes by guarding and protecting the island without any help from others. But the problem is, if he doesn't take the other's help, then he will never be free from that burden. Everyone can be on earth and go wherever they desire, but he can't. He is trapped on the island because he knows that no one except him will guard the Master Emerald without even a "thank you". A lot of people are not seeing how much Knuckles does to protect others by staying on Angel Island and protecting that Emerald.

Also, he is the only one who can communicate with the M.E. to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds' power. He will forever be bound to that big responsibility, whether he likes it or not. He is never going to be free, and he knows it. That's why he sees no real purpose in life except for having fun and doing your best (what he said in the Twitter takeover). I mean, yes, he leaves the island to watch "One Punch Man" at Cream's and Vanilas' place, but guess who will probably use that to his advantage: Eggman.

4. His friends: Sonic seems to be the only one who really cares about Knuckle's lonelynes. When they had that short, deep talk during Frontiers, Sonic said that his friends were there to support him. But in the last Twitter takeover, when it was mentioned that Knuckles had a fan, he talked very low of himself, seeing himself as a character who doesn't or shouldn't have fans. Sonic told him to be nicer to his fans, and Amy asked him about his personality, where he replied that everything sucks. It was quite obvious that Knuckles spoke very low of himself, but Tails tried to brush him off.

Why wouldn't his friends try to be more supporting, maybe saying that it wasn't really his fault? Or trying to make him see the good things in himself?

Like, Tails got into a big group hug when they were told that Tails didn't have a home back then. Or when they talk about Maria when Shadow is there, it is a sensitive topping, and they are making sure not to hurt Shadow's feelings. Or when Sonic had that dream about him saving the city and no one noticing, they gave him therapy.

But Knuckles doesn't get that treatment?

Yes, Sonic talked to him in Frontiers, but why not in the takeover? Why not get more support for him?

So yeah, that's what I've been thinking.

Knuckles sure had some character development, but it doesn't change his history or the fact that he will forever have to stay on the floating island.

I really would like it if someone stayed by his side and visited him sometimes so Knuckle could have some rest or simply would have someone to talk to for at least once in a while.

[pillotalkin]

My Little Pony: Chaos is Magic pt 3 ( pt 1 | pt 2 )

Thorny Rose (Amy) and Twin Tails (Tails) are close friends of Sonic Speeds', and fellow trainee knights. The three of them began training at the same time, fueled by their shared determination to protect the peace of Equestria. More details below the cut!

Thorny Rose, being an Earth pony, possesses great strength, which allows her to use heavier equipment than the Pegasi or Unicorn trainees can. Her weapon of choice is a hefty hammer imbued with magic that summon winds or grow plants, which she wields with a level of skill even her Earth pony peers can't seem to match. She is training to be a royal guard alongside Sonic Speeds, as she wishes to use her might to defend Equestria and the people she loves from any harm that may come their way. She's protective, and proud, and not afraid to speak her mind. At one point in their friendship she fostered feelings of love for Sonic Speeds, but he was clear about his disinterest, and she moved on quickly, having more pertinent things to worry about. Now, she merely admires him- and chastises him when his ego gets him in trouble. She's had to save him from sticky situations more than once.

Twin Tails, though still fairly young, has great talent in mechanics and engineering, so rather than undergoing physical training to join the guard himself, he instead works towards improving the technology of the Equestrian army. He studies more closely under Prince Brilliant Mind than most of the other trainees, as the Prince has a similar talent, being the one responsible for developing much of the weaponry, armor, and other machinery currently being utilized by the royal guard and Equestrian army. Twin Tails idolizes the prince for his intellect and ingenuity and longs to be as great an inventor one day, but he also looks up to Sonic Speeds, who has been like an older brother to him for much of his life, quite a bit. His lack of physical might at times makes him feel inferior to his friends who are training to fight for Equestria on the frontlines, but he puts his all into supporting them with his magic-imbued inventions.

When Sonic Speeds is sent on his quest to find Midnight Star, his friends stay behind in the royal city, worriedly awaiting his return.

[beevean]

As much as I didn't like Generations' original scene with Amy getting an eye full of Sonic's hand, you have to admit having Sonic outright ignore Amy as she's trying to handing him cupcakes feels ten times worse than if she got the eye full of hand again. Least the eye full of hand showcased Sonic acknowledged what she was doing, unlike the newest scene where he just flat out ignores her to talk to Tails.

Let's not forget how Knuckles' change in words implies Classic Sonic somehow ate the rest of Sky Sanctuary, even though that's dumb and nonsensical when the original simply had Knuckles ask if Sonic 'gained weight'. You know, because it makes more sense for Classic to rub his belly from a jab like that.

Pretty much. I don't like the OG scene either, but this is no improvement. The joke is the same: Sonic finds Amy annoying and not worth his time. Just because he doesn't literally smear chili all over her eyes it doesn't make him look nicer. As you said, it looks like he's purposefully ignoring her shoving her cupcakes right under his nose.

A similar scene changed sloppily is Amy pushing Knuckles into a tree: now she makes him slightly stumble, but the cartoony sound effect is still there and loud. Before one could say that the joke wasn't funny, now there's no joke in the first place.

also yeah you're right why did they change Knuckles' joke about Classic being more rotund than Modern? What, is that fatphobia? Really? We're doing this now? Again, same issue with Amy saying "I'll make up to you next time!" instead of "I was worried I'll never be able to flirt with you again!", you know because it was so cool when Amy said she's no longer a damsel in distress in Frontiers... but Sonic still facepalms to her like she's just so cringe, which made sense when Amy was being pushy but not now that she said a perfectly admirable thing. Why is Sonic such a dick to her?? Even better, in case someone thinks I'm only speaking from a Sonamy perspective, why did you rewrite these lines when they were perfectly fine??? Where is the improvement!

And I know that people will come to me and say "but Beev, you joyless bitch, it's a joke! It's slapstick! It ain't that deep!", well I am allowed to be annoyed by these pointless changes that contribute nothing except generating confusion! Sonic is much meaner than usual! They are putting their hands all over Amy (irony intended) and only Amy! The flow of the dialogue, which was very simple dialogue mind you, is being mangled!

Now I can't even trust them to re-release, for example, Sonic Adventure in case they shit all over the script for no reason other than to "modernize" it!

I don't think I can put into words why this bothers me so much, so this will be perceived as me being annoying over a game. Well, maybe I liked Generations. Maybe I wanted it to be as it was, flaws and all, since this is a re-release and not a remake. Maybe I don't think the current writing is that much better than what we had before. Maybe I don't want older products to be sandpapered for the sake of sandpapering.

[krafterwrites]

Ok, time for the one post I'll make about Sonic 3 itself now that it's out. Since there's already a full recording of it available online, I'm going to write down my "live reactions" (I already know basically everything that's going to happen, but I'm sure there's at least one or two small surprises left) below the cut so I can get this movie out of my system and move on

The first lines of dialogue are a "Cops love donuts" joke. Off to a great start

A gambling ad popped up right as Shadow broke out and started attacking people gljkdfgh

4 minutes in and they've already used the leitmotif of Live And Learn 3 times

Shadow being sopping wet and miserable is pretty cute

Ace already said this but wow they really did ruin the "Talk about low budget flights line", Sonic saying it feels soooo unnatural and shoehorned in

Unless it's for a really good sequence, I don't understand the point of playing a licensed song for literally 10 seconds

Wow the opening fight with all three of them against Shadow is super short

I'm glad that the gun isn't just for show and he actually gets to use it

I seriously cannot get over how stupid Shadow coming from a meteor is, the entire POINT of his character is that he was created. He was born to be the ultimate lifeform, to be a cure for Maria, to bring hope to humanity. Him just randomly showing up instead of specifically being created undermines his entire identity. Also, Gerald creating Shadow is incredibly important to his identity as well. It's almost impressive that they managed to fuck up so much with a single decision

The dialogue has already made me cringe a few times but that was definitely the worst instance so far. I wish they would stop

YIPPEE OFFICER DOWN!!!

Walters having a photo of Team Sonic in his jacket that was taken like 5 minutes beforehand so Rockwell can pick it up to illustrate that she thinks Team Sonic killed him is kind of strange and unnecessary

I thought that the show Eggman was watching was another gambling ad for a second

Eggman said boobs. Sure why not

I forgot that they're allowed to swear a bit

I thought they were going to reference Among Us when Stone said imposter. I wish they did, it would've been an actually acceptable pop culture reference

I'm kind of torn on the flashback montage with Maria. It feels a little too silly and lighthearted, but it is cute to see her and Shadow do a bunch of childish stuff together

However, her not being terminally ill and also not spending her entire life in space is dumb. Those are both very important to who she is, and consequently, who Shadow is (he was initially made to be a cure for her, and her love for the planet that she never got to see is what motivates him). I know both of these are consequences of them making Shadow come from a meteor, but there was literally no reason for them to do that, especially considering it messed up him, Gerald, AND Maria. Why would they make that choice when it doesn't add anything and has such a high cost

The Biolizard puppet is cute, though. They should've actually included it (along with Rouge, Amy, and all the other things they omitted), but I guess it's better than nothing

Oh god Gerald is here. I was thinking "So far this isn't as hard to watch as I thought it would be" but it's probably going to get significantly more painful soon

That was a Family Guy cutaway gag

How is a bunch of loose popcorn still in pristine condition after 50 years of sitting out in the open

That was a bad fourth wall joke. Also get on it, this has been going on for like 2-3 minutes

So if we're meant to believe that Shadow's quill is what kept Gerald alive, can Shadow basically just grant people immortality at will? Or is there really just no explanation for him living longer than any human should be able to

I'm glad that the scene of Eggman and Gerald doing stuff together in VR didn't go on for that long, because it felt like the scene of them meeting felt so dragged out

For a split second I thought the music was using the leitmotif of Dreams Of An Absolution, but then I realized that its Green Hill

The puppet only has like 15 seconds of screentime but it's still SO unnecessary

Shadow saying "revenge guac" is stupid but it did not make me cringe like some of the other lines have so far

Tom using the hologram tech to disguise as Randall... Not my place to speak so I'm not going to say anything, but I don't think that was a good idea

Pointless extended bit of Jim Carrey doing comedy with himself number 3. And I know there's at least one more after this. Why did they have to focus on him so heavily

YESSSSSS thank you Shadow, we all wanted to see that happen. Keep up the good work

I hate that Wade got to appear at all, but at least his screentime is brief

It sucks that we just get Gerald saying "It's not about what Maria wanted, it's about what they deserve" to convince Shadow to get revenge, because that's the opposite of how he motivated Shadow in SA2, he made it seem like revenge is what Maria wanted

When I first saw the commander trying to wrestle away the gum through a leak, I laughed my ass off. It's so stupid. Also I knew they would be cowards and not actually show her getting shot, but it's still annoying

Maria not actually getting to say her last words to Shadow, on top of him not being made by Gerald, really is a one-two punch of completely destroying his SA2 characterization (and his characterization in general). It's insulting to Maria too, how do you manage to take away agency from a character who's entire narrative purpose is to die for the sake of another character's backstory

Also, now that the plot has moved into space, I can say with even more certainty that there truly was no reason for them to use Tokyo and London instead of San Francisco. The only thing gained from using Tokyo is the Chao cafe, and the only thing gained from using London is about a minute or two of basic pop culture references. I'm pretty sure they only picked them because they're two of the most famous cities in the world, which is dumb

I hate that Shadow's arc is about letting go of anger and not seeking revenge, that's completely different from what his story is in SA2, they're barely comparable even on a surface level. His actual arc is about being unsure of who he is and why he exists, being used as a tool for revenge by Gerald, and eventually breaking free of that programming to discover that he was created to bring hope to humanity

The Eggman vs Gerald stuff is the stupidest shit ever, and it's made even worse by the fact that it keeps interrupting the Sonic and Shadow scenes

I hate to say that when I first saw Gerald's death through a leak, I (involuntary) burst out laughing. It's supremely stupid and I do not like it, but it's just so absurd that it's hard not to react in some way

The moon thing kinda makes me mad tbh. This movie loves to make references to iconic things from SA2 instead of actually adapting them

The finale is pretty cool visually, but conceptually, it's a really big downgrade from the original. It's comprised of a super form battle between Sonic and Shadow, a cartoon slapfight between Eggman and Gerald, Sonic and Shadow easily blasting through a bunch of GUN Hunters, them blocking the laser while it gets steered away with an actual steering wheel, and then Shadow physically pushing the ARK away by himself. SA2 featured everyone except Shadow working together to reach the deepest part of the ARK as it hurtled towards the Earth, Shadow rushing in to fight the Biolizard while Sonic and Knuckles neutralize the core's energy, and then Sonic and Shadow being forced to go super after the Biolizard fuses itself to the colony in order to continue Gerald's plan, ending with them both using Chaos Control together to put it back in place

I was going to write a summary after I finished watching, but honestly, Eggman took the words right out of my mouth when he said "It's been a real drag. Thanks for nothing" and then died in an explosion

[emistations]

So people on Twitter (I refuse to refer to that hellhole with a singular letter) have been debating which Amy was best…AGAIN. (Why am I even surprised) And after having a fair look on both sides, I’ve come to my personal opinion that…

BOTH sides are right!

Amy’s personality, back then, was way more than just “PlEaSe mARry Me SoNiC!!!” She was very upfront about her emotions, and also got frustrated at being left behind not because Sonic had gone without her, but also because she wanted to pull her weight and prove she could be a valuable asset as well! She still got through to Gamma and Shadow, and in the Pre-Reboot Archie comics was supportive of Sonic and Sally being a thing and didn’t let her personal crush on Sonic stop her from helping Sally because she wanted Sonic to be happy, even if his feelings were towards someone else! (And also she and Sally were friends too) It’s really unfortunate that a simple localization was all it took to taint Amy’s image in the US.

At the same time however, claiming that fans and writers of Modern Amy “don’t understand the character” feels a little unfair, considering that there are some people out there (like myself) who do recognize why 2000s Amy is well received by certain people, but still prefer the new Amy (mainly because the earlier Amy doesn’t exactly appeal to some.) And not to mention that in a Bumblekast episode Ian admitted that there were some merits to Amy’s previous characterization! Plus (imo) the writers of the newer stuff (IDW and TMOSTH) have shown that Amy can still retain her passion while moving on from her crush. I get that Frontiers!Amy was a little too melodramatic for most people (I do think that she should’ve had some bubbly moments here and there) but come on, guys. She had to go through a six-month war thinking Sonic was dead and manage an entire organization in the midst of a metallic plague! (If you accept the IDW comics as canon) That’s bound to leave anyone a little depressed!

At the end of the day, both Amys (again, in my personal opinion) are good, but everyone should be allowed to like one or the other (or if you’re like me, both) without having to be flamed for it.

I prefer early 2000s Amy more because she was not ashamed to show her Fisty personality and wore her heart on her sleeve proudly. But I salute TMOSTH and IDW!Amy (riders arc) for understanding the character and keeping her as she is while somewhat making her mature. She doesn't lose her charm because of this.

Game Amy is a mixed bag. They keep suppressing what makes her her in favor of references and a shallow definition.

That's my opinion tho. I do agree that people are right to like both sides and some modern writers like Evan and Ian Mutcheller do understand her.

[ragingphantom666]

Sonic World project plan: Sonic the Hedgehog (Vol. 2)

This series is not an assured project. It is a concept that can still be changed or scrapped.

Synopsis

Doctor Starline unveils his master plan. Surge and Kitsunami arrive and are determined to replace Sonic and his friends. Not everything goes as planned and the two are too villainous. Team Sonic hopes to calm them down or else they will be "recalled" by Starline.

Characters

Sonic the Hedgehog - The greatest hero of his world. He is known for being the fastest living thing on the planet.

Miles "Tails" Prower - One of the smartest people on his planet. He is best friends with Sonic and supplies Team Sonic with their tech. His two tails allow him to fly.

Knuckles the Echidna - The guardian of the Master Emerald until it was destroyed by Metal Sonic. He is on a quest to restore it, but will help his friends when needed.

Amy Rose - Leader of the Restoration and Sonic's biggest fan. She is known to have devastating attacks with her mallet.

Surge the Tenrec - One of Starline's test subjects. Experimentation with the energy of a Master Emerald shard has given her superspeed and electrokinetic powers. She is driven to beat Sonic.

Kitsunami the Fennec - Another test subject of Starline who acts as support to Surge. He hates Tails so much. His power is to control the shape of water. Howler built him a backpack that compresses a large amount of water so that the fennec has a lot at his disposal.

Doctor Starline - A scientific genius who has taken over the Eggman Empire following Eggman's disappearance. He used a shard of the Master Emerald to give Surge and Kitsunami their powers. His goal is to create a world that does not need heroes and he wants be seen as the greatest mind on the planet.

Howler the Wolf - Assistant and mechanic working for Doctor Starline. He serves as the voice of reason for the doctor and is not afraid to tell him off for his foolish behavior. During this volume, he feels like his services are needed less than ever.

Other Information

Starline's scheme is inspired by Syndrome's plan from the movie "The Incredibles."

[pixelrushiguess]

I don’t think anybody asked you this. But what are true thoughts on Sonic Dream Team?

Any praises? Any criticisms?

Well given the awkward nature of Dream Team, I’ve never actually played it so I can’t really comment on its gameplay. I will say I think the character animation is really nice, better than the official games to be honest.

Unfortunately that’s where the positives end for me because the story and writing is really REALLY bad.

I remember really worrying that the writing style of Frontiers would carry over to future instalments but I gave it the benefit of the doubt that it might’ve been a one time thing. And while Dream Team isn’t as miserable as Frontiers, it’s still pretty damn dull. No one acts like themselves, no one talks the way they usually talk. They all just stand around and make small talk like they met at a bus station. There’s no charm, no energy, no fun, nothing. Sonic is boring, Tails is smart and that’s it, Amy is...nothing, Knuckles is just there, Rouge is the only one with a hint of personality and Cream doesn’t really add anything. I really want to give Ian Flynn the benefit of the doubt, but if this is how he’s going to write going forward, I don’t think I want him writing for the series at all.

I’m no writer, I don’t know the first thing about it. But these are not hard characters to like. Every member of the cast is oozing charm and personality. You have to actively TRY to make these characters boring and somehow they did it. The writing in the 2010s sucked, but it at least made me feel something, I could still see the characters in there.

Ariem is nothing, she does nothing and means nothing. She’s a plot device, that’s it. There was no thought or effort in making her interesting, charming or likeable. There’s literally a million things you could’ve done with this premise and this character to tell a great story and it feels like nobody could be bothered. The game isn’t even about anything, like Sonic is a series that tackles a lot of different themes and the best Sonic stories are the ones that have a core message or allegory at the centre.

Adventure is about embracing positive emotions and dealing with anger and how anger can corrupt people.

06 is about love and freedom and allowing yourself to feel emotion.

Secret Rings is about healing from an abusive relationship.

Unleashed is about friendship and balance, seeing the world and experiencing new things.

Black Knight is about grief and mortality.

There’s tons of other examples but you get my point.

Oh and the voice acting is really bad too, everyone sounds bored or weirdly off and I don’t know why.

Anyway that’s my little tirade, didn’t think I cared so much about Dream Team, but there ya go I guess.